Hello, people. And animals. And robots. And other life forms. (Ya don't wanna neglect possible audience members.) It's been a while. I went to New Yawk and Massawchusetts. (Yes. I spelled them wrong on purpose.) It was fun and I got to tour MAD magazine's HQ! Fafafa!

To those of you offended by your reference in the rap poem: gomenasai. I had fun with it though.

To those of you confused by the last chapter: I was very tempted to erase the whole 'dad' thing, but decided not to. Now it's here to stay, and though I could simply replace the chapter, I won't. As Kagome is finding out, even innocent pastimes have repercussions. I can't simply undo the past, can I? No. Besides, the event turns out to be important anyway.

Hope everyone's faring well. Registration today for the upcoming school year was a DISASTER. Keh.

P.s. Don't forget what I said. Like a rhapsody, this fic should be a mix of humor and drama and romance. (Don't ask about the whole rhapsody thing. Or actually, since you asked, it's a musical piece made of different moods, like a collage. I hope that's a good definition!) Now we hit the more dramatic type of stuff.

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Chapter Twelve: Mangled Motivations

Kagome hoisted herself out of the well into her own time, emotions battling inside her. She would love nothing so much as to just hide in the Sengoku Jidai and think things over, but there was no time for that.

This man was not her father. She knew he'd died when she was a baby. There was no way her mother could have lied to her about it– that wasn't her style. She'd even gone to visit his grave, once every year on the date he'd died.

This was so, so very creepy. He was dead. And now he was back?

Luckily, Mrs. Higurashi had noticed Kagome's increased need for computers, and bought a desktop Apple with Ethernet connection. She'd even allowed it to be in Kagome's room, though it meant Sota had a surefire excuse for barging in. And now it would come in handy, explaining the devastating events of the past half-hour.

She had to check the story on her computer, the one where she'd caught a glimpse of the story ahead and had to stop reading it because of its sensitive nature. The one that talked about her father coming home– her mother having lied about his death– and then…

She opened the door to the house cautiously. Loud voices were coming from the living room. Was her mother crying? Kagome felt tears well up in her own eyes, but snuck past the living-room door and up to her room. She had to know what she was getting into.

Here was the fanfiction…she sped-read as best she could, eyes skimming. No sooner had she reached page four than she began to wince and then to tear up. Sniffling and wiping at her eyes, she put the fanfiction in a drawer, slowly and carefully, trying to stop trembling.

There was no doubt about. The man in her living room– the man who her mother recognized as her father, the man talking so loudly, the man whose touch she still remembered on her back– he wasn't real.

He was something conjured from someone else's mind, and stuck into her world.

Fanfiction didn't seem so harmless anymore.

She went slowly downstairs, praying for strength. I will face this, she told herself. My mom needs me. She imagined her backbone being made of Tetsusaiga. She pretended Inuyasha was there with her, to protect her. She reached the hallway, and drew a deep breath.

And screamed as someone spoke from behind her.

"Kagome!" shouted Inuyasha in her ear.

"AIEEE!" screamed Kagome.

Mrs Higurashi and the old man came rushing out of the room. They froze dead at the sight of Inuyasha– especially at the new and 'improved' Inuyasha form.

"Inuyasha?" said Higurashi-san slowly, tearfully.

"Inuyasha!" screamed Kagome, horrified. Inuyasha had to grab at his sensitive ears.

"What's the matter?" 'That man' came out of the living room, concern written exaggeratedly on his face.

"Oh god, Inuyasha," sobbed Kagome into Inuyasha's haori front, scrunching it in her hands (made considerably difficult by a pair of reasons.) "Why did you come!"

Inuyasha winced and shifted uncomfortably under Kagome's touch. Then he stiffened. She was crying!

He bared his teeth at the strange man, the one who'd undoubtedly caused the pain. "You! Who the hell are you!"

"Me? I'm her father. Who are you? Keiko, should I call the police?"

Mrs. Higurashi shook her head, biting her lip.

The father was staring at Inuyasha. "Are those real ears?" he said amazedly.

Kagome was brought to her senses. How dare she be weak when Inuyasha was in danger. "Get out of here!" she yelled, shoving him out of the door. Inuyasha stubbornly dug his feet in. "I wanna bitch-slap that dike!" he said, snapping his fingers. "He's got a strange aura around him, Kagome! He's dangerous! Let me at him!"

"You– can't! Just go!" Kagome shoved him out the door and locked it. He started pounding on the windows, but she ignored that. "That's my friend from high school," she said to that man, swallowing her disgust. "He– I mean, she– likes to dress up. She's showing me the Halloween costume she'd been planning." She went over to her mother and gave her a strong hug.

Her mother was trembling. Was this man, supposedly her father, that frightening? Higurashi-san bent into Kagome's hair and whispered, "Kagome, I'm afraid that…"

"Mama," said Kagome, frightened by her mother's fear.

Had the dad in the fanfiction seen Inuyasha, in the story? How much control did that fanfiction have over this man, anyway? Would he really start to drink…and do other things…? Had he been so awful to her mother? She felt herself beginning to get angry.

"Kagome," said the man suddenly, "you don't believe I'm your father."

The pounding at the door stopped, but Kagome visualized the Tetsusaiga and Inuyasha at her back. "That's right," she said to him. "I don't. I don't even know what you're doing here."

Which was true.

There was a sound of shattering glass from upstairs, and then pounding feet.

"Inuyasha!" groaned Kagome.

The man was staring at her with an odd expression on his face, half regret and half something she couldn't recognize. Anger?

She turned and ran upstairs, crashing headfirst into a stair-barreling Inuyasha. "Ha-HA!" he shouted with glee that he'd found a way in.

Kagome didn't know how much more of this she could take.

Inuyasha was swinging through the air, a grim triumph on his face, raising his sword about his head, ready to cleave the man in half, part his head from his body: "HYAAA!"

"No!" shouted Kagome. In desperation she dashed in front of Inuyasha, and shoved the stranger out of the way of the blade, focusing all her attention in her hands, her strength, her fear.

No sooner had she touched him she felt a great jolt. She was pouring miko power out of her hands and into him. He stared in open fear at the purple light gleaming at his chest and her fingertips.

The room spun, jolted– up, down, swirled around…Kagome was sucked into blackness as though down a drain, and into unconsciousness.

• • •

Kikyo was walking toward the river when a great pain pulled at her chest. Gasping, she stumbled forward, clutching at her heart. The world around her seemed to be buzzing. She could feel it on her skin, in her artificial bones.

When her vision cleared, she was kneeling on the grass, blinking. The buzz and the pain was gone. Everything was normal. Oddly normal.

Except that when she looked up, Naraku was bending down to peer into her face. "Hi there, Kikkles," he said cheerfully. "Whatcha doing down there? I need you."

Kikyo jumped to her feet, arrow nocked before Naraku could draw breath. "Easy there, Kikyo," he said, with a nasty grin. "You could put someone's eye out with that."

She glared. "What do you want?"

"Where's Inuyasha?"

Kikyo stared. "How dare you even think to ask me!"

"Is he here?"

"No, he's not, thickwit!"

"In that case he won't mind you coming with me!" He tried to grab her.

"Quit it!" She whacked him with her bow. "Just you try and touch me! You'll fizzle away to nothing, remember? I've still got your grave dirt, here in my pocket."

"Nice to know you're thinking of me. But unfortunately for you, that won't work. Now don't give me any trouble, I'm giving up my housecleaning just for you!"

"Housecleaning?"

Naraku rolled his eyes. Normally, when he lost his demon powers as he did once a month, he'd rearrange his body, but today he had so many errands, how was there time? He'd have to wait til next month to rearrange his body into a much hotter, built shape.

"Just come on. I'm a busy man, you know. Time is money."

"You're a demon. You don't use money."

"Shut up!" And he grabbed her. In shock she realized he wasn't being blasted away by the grave dirt's protection.

"You're not a demon right now, hanyou!" she scorned him. "You think my arrows won't hurt now?"

But she was bluffing. She had to wait for Naraku to gather the Shikon no Tama before she purified him and it together. She couldn't kill him, even in this vulnerable state.

Speaking of the Shikon jewel…

Maybe, if she went with him, she could get some spying done. What had Naraku been up to, these days?

Tempted to punch him, but resisting, she allowed herself to be carried away– but while thinking sadly, Inuyasha, where are you? I once promised you no man but you would touch a hair of my head. I've broken my promise. Though perhaps the question was academic. After all, now, Inuyasha was a woman.

Sesshomaru watched Naraku carry the limp form of Kikyo away into the sky in a cloud of saimyosho. What is that woman thinking?

He was tempted to go after them. After all, how daring of Naraku to emerge from his hideaway as a puny human! He, Sesshomaru, could have cut him down in a second. But there were strange things happening in this world, otherwise pretty much uneventful except for the occasional dramatic demon battle showdown or war. He took his hand off his sword.

And walked away.

Sesshomaru was not one to be left out of the loop, and so he went to find something he believed could clue him in: the strange fanfiction. Fresh off the tree.

-end-