Disclaimer: InuYasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, who I will personally send a box of Russell Stover chocolates if she will send me Sesshomaru for Valentines Day.


Chapter Twenty Eight

A Single...


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Koga poured the last of the water over the camp fire, making sure the flames had been extinguished. He was getting frustrated, about ready to give up on trying to figure this out on his own and start questioning the woman, Aya, if that was even really her name.

So much of what she had told him had already been proven false.

Then there were the flashes. Since he got the first flash, the one where he tried to claim the girl in the strange clothing as his mate, he'd had many more. Sometimes they came like lightning bright and frequent. Other times they were bits and pieces, like a reflection on calm water that has been broken when the water is disturbed.

He might be able to dismiss them as dreams if it weren't for the fact that every flash was linked together by a single constant. Or two you could say. They were in every flash, even the ones he'd had from before he could walk, he called them Ginta and Hakauku.

When the girl in the green skirt was in the flashes, they called her nee-chan.

He pulled his sword from the scabbard and sat to sharpen it while he waited for Aya to return. Lately she had taken to taking long walks alone and there was something about it that Koga didn't like, not in the least. Something about betrayal…involving a woman…

"You killed my comrades you bastard!" Koga looked at the InuYokai, his voice dripping in hate and rage.

"No Koga" The woman, the one he had wanted yelled while she stood behind the bastard Inu, the guilty one. He would kill her for her betrayal after he killed the Inu…the bitch had pretended she wanted her pack to befriend the Ookami…and then the Inu had killed them.

"Koga! It wasn't InuYasha!"

"You'll die bitch" he thought as he prepared to attack "right after your fucking Inu-lover" He jumped at the Inu, not caring that the girl was in the path.

"What the hell…" Koga gasped for air, he felt the rage rising in him, once again as fresh as if it were new, at the senseless slaughter of so many…so many Ookami comrades that he had known and loved his entire life.

But why…what motivation did the Inu have for…

The black-haired woman stood over the mass of dead Ookami, laughing at Koga while he lay dying on the ground, the false Shikon no Tama shard polluting his injured arm…not far from him the InuYokai lay badly injured in a pool of his own blood.

"BAKA! I'll finish you both!" she shrieked on a laugh, but she hadn't counted on the girl or her arrows.

The woman had killed them, not the Inu; it was that evil bitch …the one that worked for…

"I'm sorry Kagome…I attacked an innocent person…"

"Koga…you didn't know…you were set up, like we were…"

Kagome…her name was Kagome…Koga cared about her, but…she ….

. He approached the blankets and peeled them back slightly, revealing Kagome and InuYasha.

Koga opened his mouth and let loose a blood curdling scream.

"AYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHGAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"What the fuck?!" InuYasha yelled

"Mutt…Ka…" breath, breath "dog breath! What the …Kagome! What the FUCK! MUTT! Kagome! In …sleeping …with…mutt face and his arms…and she…" Koga took a deep breath and shook his head

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING SLEEPING WITH MY WOMAN YOU FUCKING MUTT BREATHED BASTARD?!"

Kagome still sat blinking "Koga? What are you doing here? How did you find us?"

InuYasha roared to life, jumping over Kagome.

"KEH! SHE AIN'T YOUR WOMAN WOLFSHIT!"

"YES SHE IS!"

"NO SHE ISN'T, SHE NEVER WAS!" He grinned smugly

"Besides baka fleabag, you gave her to me when you went off to return to your pack. BAKA!"

"That wasn't for forever baka!"

"He "gave" me?" Kagome blinked over at the two arguing.

"Kagome, tell him your not his" InuYasha stomped back to the alcove, he sat down and crossed his legs and arms.

"You don't want that baka ugly mutt do you Kagome?" Koga stood by the door looking smug.

"Well…" she began.

"Keh, Kagome, tell that scrawny wolf turd who you belong to." InuYasha looked down at her, his eyes pleading.

"Yeah, tell the mutt your mine Kagome."

"What happened to "Kagome isn't anybody's property???" She turned a teasing look on InuYasha.

He smiled at her, his voice softening "That was before you were mine."

He picked up her hand, kissing her fingers.

"Quit spitting on her hand with your stinking inu breath baka mutt!" Koga growled, rolling his eyes.

"Kami Kagome. You didn't really take up with that inukkoro did you?"

Kagome blushed and nodded.

Koga shook his head. Shouldn't that have made him made? Instead he seemed to be more or less joking with the mutt.

Mutt?

"Koga"

Koga shook himself a little; clearing his mind then looked at Aya.

"I'm back, we can go now." Aya prepared to drop the feather. Koga stood quickly, grabbing her arm and ripping the feather from her hand.

"Not so fast…I want answers and we ain't fucking going anywhere till I'm satisfied."

"Aya! What the fuck…." Kin burst through the brush, Ayame's hand held tightly in his.

"Koga?" Ayame yelled

Ayame lay in the strange man's arms, naked, his lips devoured hers, his hands caressing the pale fragile flesh that was suppose to be his. Koga felt a flash of white hot rage and he turned away to calm himself before he did something stupid…then the woman came to him…

"Who the fuck are you? Get your hands off my woman!" Koga burst out

Koga felt the back of his ear begin to itch and he reached back to scratch.


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The girl looked down at her reflection in the water of the river, thought she knew herself to truly be a priestess because of the way she was found, there was something she found uncomfortable about the clothing she had been given by the old woman to wear. As if the traditional red and white garb of the priestess held the power to hurt her somehow.

She smiled as the old woman approached her with a large barrel filled with vegetables.

"Good morning." Kaede smiled "I did not hear you wake and leave."

"I came to wash, and I kept you up so late last night, I wished to let you sleep." The girl splashed water over her face, happy to displace her reflection on the water. It hurt to not even recognize ones own face.

"It is incredible what you told me about how they found you."

"Yes, you know I have no memory of the time before it…only when the group of young houshi found me in the middle of a meadow, and I was protecting myself with a barrier and I was…uh..." The girl looked away in shame at having been found with her clothes torn from her back, her body bared. Tears came to her eyes.

"But you say you weren't "disturbed' child that is in fact a blessing."

The girl smiled "Of course it is. Somehow I don't think I have been a priestess long, obviously it was my erecting the barrier that saved me the indignity" she blushed profusely "just not quite soon enough"

Kaede smiled. Now that she was clean and rational, she was convinced it was Kagome. The frightened muddy girl who had wandered in a week before, she'd hadn't seen much of the young vivacious girl in. Kagome had been missing six weeks; the houshi had found her three weeks ago and taken her to a convent to recover enough to travel. That still left three weeks unaccounted for. Then a day away from the village, the girl and her escorts had been attacked by bandits, her escorts killed, and the horses stolen. They must of had some fear of kami, because they let Kagome go untouched…in a horrible thunderstorm.

She stood and walked to the elderly priestess to offer her help.

"Please, you must let me help. There is so much! Are you expecting to feed an entire country?" she joked

Kaede laughed "Heavens no child. I am expecting a guest though. This will be just enough for him I believe."

"He must have quite an appetite this friend."

"I don't think I could describe InuYasha's appetite."

"We found her in the forest of InuYasha!"

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"InuYasha!"

"Kagome!"

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"InuYasha….can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah."

"Will you let me stay?"

"So you'll stay with me?"

"Mmhmm"

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Kagome sat back on the ground hard.

"His name is InuYasha? That's an unusual name…"

"My friend is an unusual personality. Actually he is a hanyou."

"Quick Kagome, say the word of subjugation!"

"I don't know it!"

"Anything will do!"

"SIT BOY!"

"What the….!!!"

"A han…hanyou?"

"Oh yes, InuYasha helps around the village and…"

"arrrrrghhhhhhh" Full yokai InuYasha leapt from the moth yokai's trap, tearing it to shreds. He shredded the yokai,

"You won't escape"

Then the human bandits.

"Aren't hanyou dangerous?" she asked, extremely distracted.

"Bah…InuYasha seems so, but he's all bluster and…."

"Give me the Shikon no Tama and I won't have to start sharpening my claws on you."

"Do you think I'm too gentle little girl? Not when you reek of the woman who killed me!"

"I'll kill you bitch!"

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"Surrender to beast inside you! And when you are a full yokai..."

The girl suddenly felt claws…claws digging into her shoulders.

"Bring me the flesh of that girl!" a woman in red spoke to the beast that held her, the beast with horrible evil red eyes

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"Get away from me! I don't know what I'll do!"

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Kagome gasped, dropping the hand full of vegetables she had been washing.

"Kagome…?" Kaede said without thinking.

"What did you call me?" She whispered

Kagome didn't wait for an answer; she turned and ran from the river bank, then through the village and onto the forest path as if her feet knew where she needed to go.

She didn't stop running until she fell, panting and crying, on her knees among the roots of Goshinboku.


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InuYasha could only stare at Shippo.

"InuYasha no Baka!" Shippo hit him on the forehead "Did you hear me?"

"I heard you" InuYasha thumped Shippo, though with only half the usual force. "Come on, let's go."

InuYasha moved to mount Kirara, but he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Beta…" InuYasha might have hit Sesshomaru, but he was stopped by the obvious concern in his voice.

"Alpha."

"A moment."

"Now? Sesshomaru…"

"This Sesshomaru asks only a moment, and then you can be on your way." InuYasha nodded sadly

They walked away, within seconds InuYasha was angry and looked ready to pummel Sesshomaru, slowly Sesshomaru calmed him and was able to reason with him. InuYasha returned then and swung up on Kirara because she was the quickest way to the village, and despite his bluster, InuYasha still had not regained his full strength.

"Miroku, I'm sorry to take off like this, but you're better off with Sesshomaru anyway. His sense of smell is stronger than mine is, you'll be able to locate Sango a lot faster with him."

"I understand InuYasha. Take care of Kagome

"Shippo…go with Sesshomaru and Miroku, they can use an extra nose to look for Sango"

"Okay InuYasha."

"InuYasha…" Sesshomaru looked at InuYasha with concern

"I know. I'll fucking remember. Okay? Can I fucking go now?"

"By all means, and Beta…this Sesshomaru wishes nothing more than to be completely wrong."

InuYasha nodded. "Fucking you and me both."


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InuYasha looked up into the expanse of blue sky, it seemed like there wasn't a cloud in all of Japan that day, except for the dark gray storm clouds that rested firmly over his spirits.

"Leave it to fucking Sesshomaru to ruin good news." InuYasha grumped. Having personal knowledge of how good it felt, he leaned over and scratched behind Kirara's ear, making her purr and quickened her pace somewhat.

"Kami" InuYasha thought "please let my bastard of a brother be wrong"

Sesshomaru knew that there was a new threat for InuYasha and Kagome, one that was possibly more dangerous than Naraku had been in that they had no personal knowledge of this evil. Neither had enemies that could want to hurt them enough to go to this extreme, besides the two who were already dead. And that was what was bothering his baka brother.

He feared that while Naraku had been killed, his power had not. Atotori had once absorbed Naraku's power, who was to say that someone even more evil and twisted than Atotori hadn't absorbed the dark hanyou's power?

One simple fact haunted both brothers and try as though they might to pretend, they couldn't escape it.

Atotori had died far too easily.

They had spent more than a year trying to defeat Naraku, Atotori had in fact delivered himself directly to the gates of castle Inu no Tashio, storming the castle looking for "his Miko" like a mad man, a raving lunatic.

Atotori had been Naraku's only living incarnation. Sesshomaru suspected that Atotori had somehow betrayed Naraku, and Naraku had anticipated that and someone set a curse on his power and it was the curse that drove Atotori mad.

Sesshomaru believed that the true evil was still out there growing in power, that this sick game of four corners was meant to distract them while the evil grew in power. His belief was that the first thing this evil would do, would be to come after the hanyou. This dark evil had already to an extent successfully used one Miko for the task, and that Miko had died.

Sesshomaru's greatest concern was that this evil would try to use another Miko, and this time it would be Kagome.


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Kagome tried to catch her breath; she pulled herself up to kneel, facing the ancient tree.

Then a strange thought came to her...

"Why am I afraid? Thats stupid...when I am with InuYasha," she thought "nothing in the world can hurt me, cause he protects me."

Snow...she was surrounded by snow...but she should be freezing, still she was warm, because he was there...InuYasha was with her...

"Kagome…?"

"InuYasha? Is that you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine…I'm kinda surprised your not here"

"I came home"

"Got scared did ya?"

"No! I just…your right, maybe I did run away."

"Stupid…you never change."

"What do you mean, stupid?!"

"InuYasha…"

"Oh…Hey, you are here Kagome,…So, what have you been worrying about?"

"I just feel so helpless, I even ended up hurting you InuYasha…I thought you'd be better off without me around."

"Would you stop going on like that?"

"InuYasha…don't move, you'll open your wounds."

"I need you with me Kagome…Haven't you realized that yet?"

-

"I Love you as a hanyou InuYasha!"

-

In the cave...InuYasha... he said...

"What the fuck's a guy got to do to get some time alone with the woman he loves?!"

-

"InuYasha…I wish I would have said yes…"

Kagome felt the itch at the back of her ear and she swiped behind the lobe, pulling the charm away.

"What is…" she barely got the two words out before she was flooded with the rest of her memories.

Kagome sagged against Goshinboku, her hands clutching the rough bark and wishing with every drop of blood in her veins that she was clutching InuYasha instead. In those few seconds she realized that in the time she had been in the village, she hadn't once seen him, it could only mean…

Kagome fell against the ancient tree, sobbing and laying her cheek against it; she let the rough bark absorb her tears, just as it had absorbed InuYasha's blood and the arrow that held him. Let it be another connection to him, just in case…in case….in case he wasn't…

And then she heard it…

A single sound, so slight that had the wind not picked it up and carried it to her, she might not have caught it the first time.

The sound of a footstep snapping a twig on the forest floor.

A single name, whispered lovingly, longingly on the dewy spring breeze…

"Kagome…"

Kagome stood slowly, afraid to turn around, afraid to hope or believe. Afraid it would be a dream. Then she turned, slowly, her eyes closed.

A single gasp and her eyes flew open.

A single tear, leading the way down both of their cheeks, breaking the path for the many to follow.

A single smile, as she let go of the ancient tree and took a single step towards him.

He closed the gap in a leap, sweeping her up in his arms, crushing her heart to his heart, her lips to his lips in a tangle of arms and hair. Her feet left the ground, then his as he carried her to the highest branches of the ancient tree.

Soon enough they would have to see the villagers and the others, InuYasha's brother awaited news, as well as Kagome's family, but for now there was only room on the branch for two.

And that was perfect...

...they were the only two in their world.


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Chapter 29 preview

Now that Koga has remembered and the four are together the Poo's gonna hit the fan.

InuYasha and Kagome have an interesting nighttime experience

(NO IT'S NOT A LEMON YOU PERVERT'S!! LOL)

AND Duh DA DA!

Miroku gonna get the shock of his LIFE!