-Chapter 14-

"The Wound Grows Ever Larger"

Black light enveloped silver hair as Inuyasha ran through a moonlit forest. Fear was coursing through is veins as he yelled out for help. He wasn't sure what he was running from, but when he looked back he saw fire and pure blackness following him.

There was a small sound and Inuyasha tripped and fell into the arms of another man. Amber eyes looked up to see Miroku's face looking back at him, smiling and pressing the hanyou deeper into his chest. But before Inuyasha could make a noise there was a flash of red and billions of images flashed before his eyes while a demonic growl ripped and tore away at the pictures; diminishing them.

He was helpless and could do nothing but watch as all of his memories flooded back to him and were promptly eaten away by the demonic growl which hissed from behind him, threatening his very life.

"...Do you want power hanyou?"

Inuyasha shook his head and tried to mumble Miroku's name but felt a shove on his back push him to the ground where he fell continuously through blackness.

"...He will die Inuyasha...He will die and you will never see him again..."

Amber eyes flashed open as a searing pain flashed across his forehead and ran through his skull. He screamed in agony and writhed as he felt what seemed like his head being split open. Sunlight was pouring through the slats of the trees overhead and everyone was around him when he finally regained the use of his eyes and ears.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled at him, tears in her eyes as she looked at his motionless body.

"Kagome," Miroku's voice cut in as he surmised the situation of his partner, "Go into the woods, find a violet flower shaped like a heart, and then bring it back here immediately!"

Kagome nodded and Miroku got up and mumbled something to Sango who nodded before speeding off into the woods herself. Miroku grabbed some paper from Kagome's bag and scribbled something on it before returning to Inuyasha.

Violet eyes made contact with amber orbs.

"Headaches my ass." he said very pissed off before bending over and looking at Inuyasha carefully. "You can't keep these things from me Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha averted his eyes as he regained the use of his nerve endings. It's nothing monk, I'm fine.

"You're still pulling that?!" Miroku shouted. "Its not okay! Your dying!"

Inuyasha bit his lip and heaved himself up off of the ground. Was he dying? The past few nightmares would certainly be a clue to as such an outcome, but was that the truth?

"Miroku..." Inuyasha said, softly, his silver hair masking his face as he sat, bent over on the grass. "...are you going to leave me?"

Miroku's eyes flashed an emotion Inuyasha hadn't seen before; a mix of confusion and sadness.

"Why would you say that Inuyasha?" Miroku calmly said as he put his hand on the hanyou's back. "What have you seen..."

Inuyasha felt hot streaks beginning to flow from his eyes as he lifted his head to Miroku's.

"...You..." Inuyasha said shakily.

Miroku smiled a little bit as the breeze blew over his face.

"I wondered how long it would take before you remembered it." Miroku said sadly. "But we have time to prevent it Inuyasha, would you rather fight or accept a depa-"

"No! You're not going anywhere!" Inuyasha yelled. "Not yet!"

Inuyasha stood up and tried walking by stumbled, his shaky form caught by the hands of a monk.

"We have to get going." Inuyasha said, his head pounding still.

"Inuyasha, at least wait till Kagome comes back with the flower."

A sigh escaped the lips of the hanyou, and Miroku felt the form beneath him surrender.

Just wait Inuyasha...

- - - - - -

It wasn't too long before Kagome arrived with the flower and administered it to Inuyasha. After the administration, Miroku walked towards Kagome and talked with her b briefly.

After that they headed out, Inuyasha walking somewhat normally again, though his head still hurt horribly, his mind laden with thoughts and incomprehensible images. There was too much at play for him to ignore currently. He was pretty sure that he had pieced together much of the events properly and even analyzed the meaning of many of the dreams and signs around him, but he still had only a slight clue of the curse's meaning.

So far he was pretty sure that the images he was witnessing were part of something that was going to happen, though he wasn't just yet about to steak his will on that one. As for the dreams he was having, the voice he was hearing was his inner demon, that he was confident about. Nevertheless he wasn't sure why it was happening.

Miroku trudged beside him as they walked along the dirt path which led to Sanjyoku. Was there really something that they could do to prevent the inevitable?

Amber eyes caught violet and Miroku fluttered a smile that wrecked the hanyou's insides again. On top of all of this Inuyasha still couldn't seem to even grasp his feelings towards the other man, nor was he confident about their ability to continue to hide it from their other traveling partners.

It was only about 3 hours before the rooftops of a desolate town came into view. Inuyasha gazed upon its rooftops and began to analyze it until a strong emotion burst into him and he stopped dead in his tracks. He had felt this before, was it fear? No, it was something close but not quite fear. No this was more like something unknown, something more daring that came into his heart, like he was about to do something that he had not done before.

"Are you okay Inuyasha?" Miroku asked as he shot a glance towards the motionless hanyou.

Inuyasha nodded.

"Yea, I'm fine." he said before picking his feet up again and trudging towards the town again.

As they entered the town, Inuyasha became increasingly aware of the fact that the town seemed no more alive than a corpse. Every now and then you'd see some old person hobble into their house, and others sitting on benches.

"Could it get any more creepy?" Kagome said as she held Shippou in her arms, Kirara on her shoulder's.

It was then that Inuyasha noticed.

"Where's Sango?" Inuyasha asked as he turned to Miroku.

"She's with Sanichii." Miroku said as he continued to walk.

"This is the place..." Miroku said as he stopped a few yards ahead at a fragile looking hut.

Inuyasha raised his eyebrow, an activity long forgotten to him. Miroku had sent Sango ahead? Why? Still he couldn't deny that he felt compelled to continue walking and follow the monk rather than ask questions.

When they entered the shack there were many things that caught him off guard. The first thing was that everything changed from shabby and frail, to strong and polished. The inside looked more like a priest's temple than a shack. There was a fire in the middle of the room, sunken in a pit.

Crowded around the fire were to shapes, one was a very old woman who bore nothing but a simple green kimono. The other was Sango, whose form rose immediately and came to greet them.

"You got here!" She said thankfully to Miroku before eying the hanyou, her lips pursed. "Is he okay?" she asked quickly as though she had to do something to explain her staring.

"I'm fine." Inuyasha said calmly.

Sango nodded. Her lips still pursed, and led them to the fire, to which Inuyasha took his seat across from Sanichii and next to Miroku. The old woman lifted her head and eyed Inuyasha's form with a look of concentration.

"You want to know about the curse then, eh?" She said croakily.

"Yes." Miroku said before Inuyasha could open his mouth.

She turned her gaze toward his; performing the same sort of operation she had upon Inuyasha. She gazed a little longer before sighing and taking a sip some tea from a nearby cup.

"There are many forces at work here," she said as she lowered the cup, "Not the least of which is Love."

Inuyasha shot a frightened gaze towards Miroku, who maintained a calm face; though Inuyasha could tell that the last comment has somewhat upset him a little bit.

"We'd prefer to hear about the curse instead." Miroku said stiffly as he eyed the old woman.

There was a noise that came from the creaky old figure, that Inuyasha was sure sounded like a dying cat.

"You don't get it do you?" she said as she picked her head up and turned it to the two men.

"If you haven't already noticed, things are getting worse; and they aren't going to get any better." She added.

There was a hint of annoyance from Miroku's twitching jaw line.

"I'm sure you've noticed the full moon correct?" she asked, receiving a nod from all of the participants.

"What you don't know is that he," she gazed towards Miroku, "Cannot see the moon whole."

Kagome's head flung towards Miroku's and Shippou looked like he was about to say something until Sanichii spoke again.

"You have all been put under an immensely powerful Time seal, one that was bound together by the mere existence of Naraku himself."

"Time seal?" Kagome asked curiously.

"Indeed." she said as she took another sip of tea. "But you are not affected like they are."

"Whys that?" she continued prying.

Sanichii looked toward Miroku and glanced towards Inuyasha briefly before speaking.

"They wish me not to disclose it." she said, a small smile crossing her lips.

Kagome looked as though the most confusing math problem had smacked her straight in the face.

"When Naraku met his fate, his existence ceased, and thus the seal cracked." She continued on, despite Kagome's confused puppy look. "This is why you remember things that you don't remember happening."

"Remember?" Inuyasha asked. "You mean-"

"Indeed hanyou, the events you are witnessing have already come to pass."

Inuyasha felt as though an enormous weight had just been lifted from his chest. Hearing this meant that he might not have to lose the monk. Something must have shown on his face though because Kagome suddenly asked, "Inuyasha, what have you been seeing exactly?"

A chill ran up his spine, a trembling in his veins emerged; there were no words to tell her without revealing the secret of him and Miroku.

"I-…"

"Why not tell them monk." Sanichii said calmly, sipping her tea. "It's going to be an inevitable event sooner or later."

Miroku looked thoroughly annoyed now.

"Andwhy is it, exactly, that we can't hide it forever?" he asked, a very underlying and faint sneer in his voice present.

Sanichii locked her gaze into his violet eyes and stared.

"Because,monk, the reason you cannot see the moon as a whole, is because your lifespan is trickling away."

A silence fell and the hanyou froze in his seat. So he was going to die? Inuyasha felt a burning in his eyes. No sooner did he receive a breath of fresh air, when he was thrust back into the contentions.

"WHAT?!" Shippou yelled, sadness in his tone.

"How does that intertwine with me having to give up my secret?" Miroku said, almost as if being given the date of his death wasn't enough to so much as cause him even the slightest of discomfort or fear.

A very creepy smile creaked across the lips of the old woman.

"The power of two must be brought together, not privately, but publicly." She said.

"Right," Kagome said, "But we still don't know what the 'power of two' refers to."

Sanichii rolled her eyes this time, looking very pissed off herself.

"Monk-…"

"We have our reasons." Miroku said firmly.

"Whatever, you're going to have to make the choice eventually, and it doesn't really matter where you make the decision; just so long as you do, indeed, do so…" She said exasperatedly.

Kagome now looked seriously confused and darted in the direction of Sango, her usual source of comfort when Inuyasha wasn't cooperating; but Sango had her head bent over and was staring into the flames. Miroku apparently noticed this just as Kagome had and it didn't take long before he suddenly realized what had happened. A look of horror was swept over his face as his eyes shot from Sango to Sanichii who was quite calm.

"You didn't-"

"I did." She said as she lifted her head up to him. "You were never going to tell her, and you know it. The fate of the world rests in your hands and you would have killed us all rather than admit to her the inevitable."

Miroku trembled slightly as his eyes met with Sango's.

"Sango… I-I can explain." He said.

"Miroku," she said as her face twisted, trying to hold back a storm, "It's okay, I-I don't… care…"

These words were an obvious farce as she trembled, leaking tears from deep, brown eyes.

"What's going on here?!" Kagome demanded.

"Tell them hanyou," Sanichii said calmly, "You have to sooner or later; or the world is doomed to suffer because of Naraku's malice.

Inuyasha's eyes met with Miroku's and a silent conversation ensued within seconds. A small nod escaped his head and Inuyasha turned towards Kagome.

"Kagome," Inuyasha said with a quavering sense of stability, "If you hate me after my next words, I don't blame you, but I have to tell you this for the world to get better."

Kagome looked utterly confused, and Inuyasha couldn't blame her.

"Kagome… Miroku and I are-"

"Everything…" Miroku said, finishing Inuyasha's sentence.

At first Kagome's face was twisted with confusion, as though trying to process what had just happened and what was going on. Then, after a few seconds, it dawned on her and a blank and terrified look replaced the puppy-dog expression which had previously resided on her lips and eyes.

"W-What do you- you can't be serious- this is a joke." She said trying to laugh. "This was a very amusing set-up guys. Haha, bravo."

Her eyes lifted up to meet Inuyasha's, whose amber eyes fell to the side, averting the gaze of someone he knew he had just hurt very badly.

"I don't believe it." She stated, as though she had gone mad. "I won't believe it. You'll have to make me."

Inuyasha felt a hand on his back and turned to face Miroku.

"We need to go now." He said.

Inuyasha felt his heart sink as he brought his eyes back up to meet with Kagome's.

A nod came from underneath the draping silver bangs.

"I'm sorry…" Inuyasha muttered as he got to his feet and walked past Kagome. For a split second, time seemed to slow as the hanyou passed the girl.

Time seemed to stop…

.T.

A/N: As Promised, I have tried to update sooner. We are coming ever so dangerously near to the part where I have only just begun to start writing at again so after the next update it may be a little while more, but no more than half a month hopefully. I got Gravitation and the Second Season of Inuyasha for Christmas along with Gutterflower by the Goo Goo Dolls, so I'm all fired up for a brand new year and a brand new start to some writing. Again I apologize for my absence from the Fanfiction scene, my other ambitions seem to take up much of my precious time, as does the wonderful invention of school -'. So yes. Love you all and please comment if you have time for they help to drive me in writing more. I feel as though I have more of an audience to write for.

CHEERS,

P.L.U.R.,

-Stewie2kill

"rave on"