Hello everyone!

How are y'all? I got a two-fer for y'all. When I thought of this sequence, I got really excited, but now I find it a little... boring? It could just be that I've been looking at it too much, so i'm putting it out here anyway. I hope y'all like it, and i'm excited to come out with the next update soon.

I'm starting up on a new venture in my life. I'm not really sure how it'll go, but i'm pumped and feeling confident. If all goes well, I'll share the good news with y'all :)

Anyway, enjoy the chaps!

Chapter 36: Aokigahara

They had made it. There was an uncertainty as to whether they would of not. It was too calm. They were sure that after so long, the woman would attack. But thus far, the only encounters they had dealt with were with demons and bandits. Wherever the Jaakuna were, they were hiding from them, and none of the beasts had been seen either. Yet they knew that eyes were upon them; they could feel it. Every night, at least one of them would say, "as long as we're on the move, we're safe", but none of them believed it.

It had taken another two weeks and three days to reach Aokigahara. They had avoided stopping by Edo for fear that their presence would bring danger, but it was a decision that they all regretted. There wasn't a single one of them that wasn't homesick. Maybe, if this trip proved useful, they could make their way back. Even for just a day.

"So… who's going in first?" Shippo asked, craning his neck up towards the tall trees. The forest, with leaves that rustled and swayed like waves, extended along the side of the mountain whose tip touched a cloud, and whose width was like an ocean.

"Good question. How 'bout you first?" Inuyasha said, and he placed a foot against Shippo's back.

"Ack! Stop pushing me Inuyasha!"

"Maybe we should figure out which way we're going first," Sango warned before clasping onto Aimi's hand and whispering to herself, "it's rather large. We could get lost."

As if to make matters worse, a low rumble echoed from the cloudy sky; another storm. This autumn was turning out to be a rather wet one, and them without a tent. The last thing they wanted was to be lost and wet.

"Keh. It's just a forest. You act like I won't be able to just jump up and see our way out."

"I think we should listen to Sango, Inuyasha," Kagome said, placing her uneasiness into her balled fists. She eyed the forest suspiciously, the dark shadows beneath the canopy seeming to move as though something was watching them. Beasts maybe? And all the while there was a pull, like the one she had felt in her dreams when she would see the cave with the bell on top. The call of the unknown; Was that what Bokusenou had called it? She preferred to iterate it as the call of the void; A deep falling into nothingness that yanked at you anyway.

"Figures," Inuyasha grunted, and her gaze flickered to him. "You always listen to everyone else over me."

What is his problem lately? He's acting so… pissed off.

Lately? Ha. From my observations, this is the norm.

No, no. It's different. He's really angry with me. What the hell did I do though?

"Inuyasha," Miroku spoke with more firmness than usual, "perhaps you've forgotten, but my children travel with us."

"Yeah, and?"

"I will not go walking blindly into a forest we know nothing about with them at my side. For all we know, this could be the woman's home."

"Well, I'm up for any other suggestions if you got any." When Miroku did not respond, choosing instead to slant his eyes and clench his jaw, Inuyasha, feeling a slight bit superior, sneered and mocked him. "Hmph. Just what I thought."

"Lord Sesshomaru," Miroku looked to him then, surprising Inuyasha who turned back with a look of hurt sketched across his face, "do you have any suggestions?"

Sesshomaru did not respond immediately and instead passed his gaze towards his brother who in turn glared at him as though he had taken something very precious away from him. He was tempted to say something to his little brother. To make it clear to him that the actions of his friend were not based on he, Sesshomaru, but rather Inuyasha himself and the childlike way he handled himself at times with his so-called friends. Sesshomaru often found it difficult to understand why at times Inuyasha proved to be capable of handling himself in a very mature and respectable manner and yet chose to act in such deplorable ways at others. Was there some reason behind it? A childish need, perhaps, given how childish the action seemed? If so, was Inuyasha aware of it all?

He buried these speculations deep into the recesses of his mind. It was not his place, after all, and given the circumstances, he could not bring himself to care enough to prod. It wasn't as though he and his half-brother were close, so how Inuyasha chose to deal with the fragile relationships he had created with these humans was his own plight to deal with. It was simply an interesting phenomenon to Sesshomaru.

"Bokusenou had said there was no true path in nor out of this forest," Sesshomaru said as he returned his attention to the tall, looming trees before them. Hemlocks and Veitch's fir trees were the most prominent species in the forest, their coniferous leaves jutting out like needles, ready to survive the winter and to scratch anyone who walked by. This was no problem for himself -he would hardly notice the pricking nuisances- but he worried about his human counterparts. They were so fragile and he had a hard time judging just how fragile they were. More often than not, he would misjudge and think them stronger than they really were, but trees? He had to be underestimating them now, for sure. Again, he flicked his gaze momentarily to the priestess, having already lost count of how many times he had looked her way today, and studied the small mark on the leg. She had forgotten to heal the small cut she had gained on the day they had left the village, the day Inuyasha had returned, but it was healing on its own. Slowly, yes, but well nonetheless. Yes, he was underestimating them, he was certain of it now, and as his worry slipped away, he spoke with new confidence. "We will need to make our own."

His response was resolute, and it comforted the others in the group who had been anxious and unsure. More than anything, what they needed was guidance, and Sesshomaru was providing that.

"How do you propose we do that?" Sango asked, not defiantly but curiously. It took him no time to think of an answer, not even a second.

"Mark the way. We will create a trail from start to finish, and when we are through, we will follow it back."

"It's a waste of time. We can just jump and see, you know that!"

"It is your comrades who ask for a form of security, Inuyasha. I am simply providing them one."

"Well, what kind of mark should we choose?" Shippo inquired, hoping to redirect the conversation to prevent a fight between the brothers. "Should we leave a symbol? Like a cut on a tree or a pile of rocks?"

"That might be a little risky," Sango informed, "these kinds of woods are always full of animals and demons, and both of them like to leave marks as a sign of their territory. If any one of them took down one of ours, we could end up veering far off the trail, never knowing we missed a turn until it's too late."

"Maybe we could leave food behind, like Hansel and Gretel." Eyes blinked at Kagome, confused. There was only one set of eyes that also held a glint of intrigue. "It's a book, a fairy tale, from my time. Two kids get lost in the woods and leave a trail of breadcrumbs behind to find their way out."

Sango blinked her confusion away, satisfied, but shook her head. "It's still the same problem. The demons and animal would just eat what we left behind."

"Right. Good point." Kagome bit her lip. She couldn't remember the story very well, but she thought that maybe that was what had happened in the story as well. How else would they have gotten so lost to end up at the witch's house? "There has to be something."

"Oh!" A dry voice squawked, "I know. What about string, My Lord?"

No. Kagome thought, becoming rigid.

"String? Where the hell do you expect us to get string?"

"Hmph. I'll have you know I have string in Ah-Un's pouch."

No.

"Is that right? I should have guessed an old toad like you would be into knitting."

"I am not old!"

"Is this the string you were talking about?" Sango asked as she pulled out two large balls of red twine, each filling up and spilling over her hands. There was more within the pouch.

No!

"Hmph. Yes, it is."

"My, so much string. Why would need to carry this much around?"

"For when things need repair, monk. Such as Ah-Un's harness and saddle, or, more frequently, whenever Rin's clothes are torn."

"Ah, so you are into knitting."

"It's very helpful and therapeutic!"

"Jaken, enough," Sesshomaru said, pulling back against the need to pinch his nose, "we will use the string-

"No!" Her yell was loud against her own ears, and it came out like a wildish cry of someone about to die.

"Kagome, what's wrong?" Sango placed her hand on Kagome's shoulder, a look of worry strewn across her face. Anxious regret quickly found its place in Kagome's heart.

"It's nothing- I mean it's something, but…"

"Priestess, what is it?"

She looked to Sesshomaru, her heart instantly calming, and she took a breath. Speculative gazes be damned, she was desperate for that sense of comforting security, and she was grateful he provided it.

"It's... something from my time. If someone took string into the forest to mark their way, it meant…" she paused, looking down at the children on Kirara's back, "it meant something bad would happen."

"That's rather specific," Sango commented, "What an odd thing to take note of. And you suspect that something may happen to us if we do the same?"

"Well… no," She said after she thought about it. They weren't going for that reason. Plus, as she had noted before, that was a trend from her own time. It had nothing to do with the forest now. "I don't think so. It was something fairly new from my time. I just… overreacted for a moment. It's something that was very serious in Tokyo."

"Well, okay then. Still, we'll be careful just in case. At the first sign of something wrong, we'll turn back and think of something else, alright?"

"R-right."

"Pfft," Inuyasha huffed, "this is such a waste of time."

The idea was simple. They would tie the string at one tree, and cut it off at the third before traveling a little further, and repeating the process again. Despite the amount of string Jaken had, they were not keen on the idea of running out in the middle of their trek, and there were miles to go before they could even reach the base of the mountain. And they were expected to find a village in the middle of it all. Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack.

Sango assured them that using string would be more reliable than any other options they had come up with. Even if an animal or demon tore through a line, there would be enough visually prominent residue to assure which direction they should go. So they walked into the forest, with no clear direction as to where to go.

Once they stepped through the initial brush of the forest, where shrubs, bushes, and vines reigned abundantly, the forest gave way to the canopy's shadows where passage was made much more easily. With only a few streaks of sunlight illuminating the area, there were very few plants that had managed to survive alongside the tall trees. More winding and jutting roots were seen than bushes, though branches were bountiful and teeming about. Carpets of moss-covered all surface areas, a membrane of dull, greyish-green mixed with yellow canvasing rocks, roots, trees, branches, and anything else that stayed still for so long. It was a different world, one that Kagome had seen glimpses of but never so profoundly; a location separate from anything else, respiring a thick, foliage environment, where everything, every nook, and corner, was green. And amongst this green was a wet and sticky humidity that clung to their clothes, their skin, and their hair; the membrane eager to envelop them as well. It was uncomfortable and almost difficult to breathe through. Despite the humidity and the thickness in the air, however, the area was cold. Viciously cold, with air that seemed to seep directly into their bones and lick at the marrow with wet ice. This set Kagome in a constant shiver, and as moss-laced pine entangled themselves into her attire and hair, she couldn't help but notice the perpetual silence as well.

Their steps were muffled, soaked up by the trees and moss and perhaps something else. She had never experienced such silence before, as though something was eating up the sounds, and regardless of her efforts, she failed to hear any animals. No fluttering of wings or bird songs, no quick dash of an animal running away, or even the scurrying of claws along tree trunks from squirrels. It was as though they were the only living, breathing, moving creatures in the whole expansion of the forest. They were alone.

Kagome was tempted to shout. To yell out "hello!" in the loudest voice that she could, but she refrained. What was odder was how isolated she felt even with her friends an arm reach away. If she closed her eyes, a gut tightening apprehension would rush through her, convinced that she would open her eyes to find herself alone and lost in the green thicket, never to be found again. It was this irrational fear that lead her to hold onto Sesshomaru's hand.

The others walked ahead of them, their eyes focused on their steps and keeping in line with Inuyasha, and so she blindly wagered on the chance that they would not look back. If Sesshomaru was worried, she could not tell as she did not look at him before nor after wrapping her hand around his. The only sign she attained of his reaction to all this was the comforting circles he made on her skin with his thumb as he held her hand in return. Thank you, she mentally breathed and ignored Midoriko's scoffs.

"What did you say, Inuyasha?" Sango asked.

"I said we better start trying to figure out where this village could be located. Geez, how much louder do you need me to shout?"

"What was that last part?"

"I said open up your ears so I don't have to shout!"

"I've never known you not to shout though," Shippo laughed.

"Whatever. Let's just find the village."

"Alright. Do you have any ideas Inuyasha?"

"Obviously not or I wouldn't have mentioned it, Sango. I would've just done it."

"I may have an idea," Miroku said, halting everyone, and Kagome hid her and Sesshomaru's conjoined hands behind her back.

"Well, what is it? The sooner we find the village, the sooner we can get out of these disgusting woods."

"It's something you've already mentioned, Inuyasha. Just jump up and take a look."

"Oh, hey, now you're talking. Great idea, Miroku. I wish I'd thought of it before. Alright. Stay here, everyone." Inuyasha bounded up a tree, jumping from branch to branch until, at last, he jumped out of the canopy ceiling and onto the top of a tree. He placed a hand on his forehead, blocking the glare of sunlight from his eyes, and then he became still. From below, his friends watched, patiently waiting, as he stood there, motionless, until then almost too quickly, he turned a full 180. A second of pause and he bounded to another tree, giving no explanation to anyone below.

"Inuyasha, what's going on?"

He did not respond. Twisting and jerking around as though he had suddenly become mad, a steady uneasiness surged unanimously through a number of the group, and panic was abruptly a part of them.

"Inuyasha, tell us what's going! What do you see?"

"Nothing! I don't see anything, Miroku!"

"Okay, well we just have to go further-

"No! I mean I don't see anything!"

"Uh… c-care to explain?"

"There's nothing!" Inuyasha swerved once more. "There's no mountain! No end! It's all just," he looked down then, and his voice fell silent. He thought to blink, but he couldn't. Suddenly, taking in a breath was like inhaling the arctic, piercingly cold and freezing his lungs, and that ice only spread through his veins. There were no words in his head, no thoughts, no anger nor anguish. There was only what he saw. His brother's hand in Kagome's.

Kagome…

"Just what, Inuyasha?"

At last, he looked away. Miroku's call was enough of a distraction to startle him out of it, but his mind was so fragmented that for the life of him, Inuyasha could not remember what they had been discussing.

"Uh-eh, what?" He stammered, struggling to not look back at what he had seen. There's no way. She can't be holding his hand… but she was. And he was holding- agh! What the hell? What does this mean? Is there something going on with them? But, no, that doesn't make any sense.

"What do you see, Inuyasha?" Miroku shouted, annoyance laced in his voice.

"Forest," Inuyasha, at last, replied, throwing his gaze back to Kagome's and Sesshomaru's clasped hands, "all I see… is the forest."

That night was especially brutal. Harsh, threatening rain crashed down through the canopy, and lightning and thunder trailed each other side by side; glaring, flashing lights for a sky set rock show. The wind and rain smacked them and had it not been for Sesshomaru's quick thinking, that is how they would have remained.

He took to commanding them quickly and readily. It was a natural position for him and it showed, especially when Inuyasha seemed to be taking the path of ignoring him instead. A quick, no-nonsense lecture and Inuyasha was helping, grumbles and all. In short, the brothers brought down trees, bashing into them like they were enemies, and then, with everyone participating, stacked and tied them up so they made a medium to large size tent with a leaf ceiling and low, angled wooden walls. A miniature, bastardized version of a hut, Kagome analyzed, but she was highly grateful to be out of the storm.

"My, what a storm."

"You could say that again," Kagome said to Sango as she wrung her hair with her hands. The others were doing their best to dry off too, excluding the older demons around them.

"What are we gonna do guys?" Shippo asked after he shook his body out like a dog.

"About?"

"About what Inuyasha said." On all fours, he jumped to Kagome and Sango, "You all heard him. He said all there was was the forest! What are we gonna do?! What if we can't get out? How do we find our way?"

"I don't know, Shippo," Sango sighed, and placed her hand on Aimi's head as she held Isas with the other. Kagome, feeling Sango's worry, placed a hand on Isas's head, and then on Aimi's.

"They're both so warm."

"I know…"

"Inuyasha, are you sure about what you saw?"

"Yeah, Miroku, I'm sure. Nothing but trees."

"But how is that possible? What about the mountain? And we've barely covered any distance. We should be able to see the forest end-

"And I'm telling ya it ain't there!" Inuyasha slumped against the wooden framing of their shelter with a gruff, "it's not like I don't know what's supposed to be there, I know what I'm supposed to see. But that doesn't change the fact that it's just not there."

"It's like we've been tossed out to the middle of nowhere," Sango whispered with a whine in her voice and her eyes glazed over.

"Like we've been swept out to sea," Kagome added, and with a shake of her head, she bit her lip, "it's like Bokusenou said. A sea of trees. We should have been more careful."

"You think its another trap, Lady Kagome?"

"What else could it be?"

"Great. Just what we needed. Keh. Alright, well what now?"

"I guess you didn't hear what Sango said when Shippo asked the same thing."

Kagome said this with a smirk, a light joking jab that had been sorely missing between them, but Inuyasha returned her smirk with an impassive gaze. It was non-comparable to Sesshomaru, who had perfected the stone-cold serious stare, but Kagome spotted it easily. It wasn't as though he were making an attempt to hide it, and the longer he looked at her, his eyes narrowing and his brows knotting as though it were a mixture of both looking at a stranger and bitterness. He's acting even weirder now. What on earth is going on with him? He looked away from then, suddenly and despondently.

"We will track our way back with the string." The conversation continued on, and Kagome pushed Inuyasha's odd behavior to the back of her mind.

"Do you think that would work, Lord Sesshomaru?"

"It's worth a try," Sango responded to Miroku's question, "That was the whole reason why we placed them down in the first place."

"Alright," Miroku nodded, "tomorrow, we'll follow the trail back. Hopefully, it'll work."

With the matter settled, the group returned to their usual routine of mainly eating and preparing for bed. Their meal consisting of only fruit, seeds, and a small bit of jerky this time around as their supply was running low, so there were no filled bellies tonight. Especially not Airi's, who surprisingly declined to eat at all despite Sango separating out a plate for her. Still, throughout it all, the shelter proved to exceptionally efficient in protecting them from the elements, and the short mound Sesshomaru had instructed Shippo to make along the shelter entrance was working to keep any flowing water from reaching them. In other words, they were drier than they ever could have hoped to have been in their circumstances, but they could still hear the wind and thunder, and see the bright flashes of lightning. Within their cramped quarters, where they laid beside each other with only a centimeter of space between them, it would be a difficult night to sleep through.

"Airi, come over here now. It's time to sleep."

"No." Airi barked from the corner of the shelter.

"Shhh, Airi. You'll wake Isas. Now come over here and sleep beside your sister. That's not a request-

"I said NO!" Airi shouted and glowered at her mother before turning her back to her. Sango looked to Miroku.

"Airi, you can't speak to your mother like that," Miroku said as walked up to lift his daughter, "come on-

"No! Let go of me!"

"Airi, what's wrong?"

"I don't want to be with Aimi or mommy! Leave me alone!"

At that, both parents flinched back with a start, and after a moment of confused silence, Miroku shrugged his shoulders with a sigh. He returned to Sango and his remaining children, and the exchange looks of worry.

"Miroku…"

"She's never acted this way before. It may be best to give her space, just for a little while, before trying again. If we do that, she may be willing to speak to us."

"Okay… alright. We'll try it your way."

At that particular moment, a loud, crashing thunder rang out with a blinding light, and young Isas awoke with fright.

It was cry they should have been used to by now, but regardless of how many times they heard it, the sound of it was alarming and piercing still. Unrest within the group quickly showed itself as complaints and retaliation were hurled.

"Oh, not this again!" Jaken shouted, "can't that child stay silent for more than five minutes?!"

"Knock it off, Jaken. He's sick, stop acting like this is how he normally is. Sango and Miroku are doing the best they can!"

"Will you both stop shouting? It's hard enough to think with Isas crying!"

Hmph. Well, look who else is shouting, kit!"

"I'm warning you, Jaken. You better not say one more mean thing to Shippo."

"Hak! The half breed does it all the time, and you never do anything to him!"

"That's enough." Sesshomaru's voice cut through the noise, silencing their shouts and, seemingly, the thunder as well. There were pouts, but he paid no mind, instead choosing to focus his attention on the crying baby. A curious expression crossed his face, and with a calm approach, he knelt down beside Sango and Miroku and stuck the knuckle of his pinky into Isas's mouth. The stunned parents did not remark as Isas's cries halted, his small mouth closing of Sesshomaru's finger before Sesshomaru pulled away and the crying continued as loudly as before.

"Your son is teething," he said matter-of-factly before turning to Inuyasha, "watch over them while I'm gone. Try to keep them from each other's throats."

"R-right."

"Where are you going?" Kagome asked, but was immediately shot down by Inuyasha.

"How 'bout you leave him alone, Kagome? He said he'd be back." Inuyasha refused to look at Kagome but rather nodded to Sesshomaru, who, after a brief glance to the priestess, stepped out of the shelter and into the rain. A few steps and the curtain of rainfall blocked their view of him. Isas continued to cry.

Shippo, Kirara, Jaken, and Ah-Un all chose to cover their ears, while Miroku and Sango tried to soothe their baby, and Inuyasha and Kagome bickered.

"What the hell was that about, Inuyasha?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh really? You expect me to buy that? So I guess I just imagined you biting my head off right now."

"Guess so."

"Hmph. And early when you gave me that look? How 'bout last night when you picked a fight with me over Kikyo, acting like I didn't want to save her? Or how 'bout the day before that when you didn't say one word to me? Was that all in my head too?"

"How should I know?"

"How should you- Ugh. I swear. You make it so hard to talk to you." Kagome shook her head and then huffed. "You know, if this has to do with us breaking up, you can just tell me."

"Keh," Inuyasha scoffed, "that's what you think? Please. I couldn't care less."

Kagome knew what that was. She knew it the moment she felt tightness in her spine wind up as it had many times before with him. That was a smack. His way of getting at her without actually having to touch her, and for the first time since that night he broke her arm, there was hate in her heart. Asshole, she thought, but still that tightness remained, and it spread deep into her stomach, into her chest, and into her throat. Her eyes threatened to water for the strain, but she refused to falter. Damn it. Why? Why does he have to know how to push my buttons? Why can't I be strong enough for him to not affect me like this anymore? Why… she refused to think the words, though they itched within her mind resounding with truth. It wasn't that she hated him. It was that she hated herself for ever letting him close enough to know how to hurt her… and for still having him so close. Why did she have to have him so near to her heart?

"Fine," Kagome said, a sureness in her voice, but she stood as well as she could beneath the low ceiling so he would not see her tearing eyes, "don't tell me."

"Kagome, wait." Inuyasha grabbed her wrist, and though she did not sit back down, she did not try to pull away.

Damn it, she cursed mentally. He was not letting go, though his grip was soft, and Kagome ground her teeth. Damn it! What is this? Why? A warmth was spreading from her chest, and she cursed it with every word she knew. It was how it always was before; he would hurt her, and then with a small glint of affection, she would melt. No. Not anymore. Kagome, so focused on the torment inside her, did not notice when Inuyasha's hand began to move, lowering from her wrist, onto the balled knuckles of her fist, gently nudging her fingers to relax. To loosen. With her fingers laid open, and her palm exposed, Inuyasha wormed his hands into hers.

Kagome gasped and pulled her hand away. "What are you doing?"

She looked fiercely into his eyes, anger strewn across her face, and he looked at her with condemning arrogance. His features were plain, with no exaggeration, but they were tight. His chin was a degree higher than he normally held it, enough so that he appeared to be looking down at Kagome despite their positions, but there was a slant in his eyes and brows, and a pinched rise of his lip that flared a single nostril. If Kagome had to put words to it, she would say that it was a look as though something had been confirmed, but it was a confirmation he did not care for.

"Lord Sesshomaru," Jaken yelled louder than was necessary, most likely due to him still covering his ears, "you've returned!"

Sesshomaru ignored him, and went straight to Sango, Miroku, and Isas, handing them vibrant green leaves with small white flowers. From where Kagome sat, they smelled strongly of vanilla.

"What is it?" Sango asked.

"Honeysuckle. I noticed shortly before it began to rain. It will help with the fever, and give him something to chew on."

"Thank-," but Sesshomaru walked away before Sango could properly thank him.

He returned to his seat at the shelter's entrance, across from Inuyasha, and while Kagome yearned to run to Sesshomaru's side, she decided against it. Something about the way Inuyasha had looked at her set her on edge, and currently, she did not do anything in his line of sight. So, as a number of them began to turn in to bed, Kagome laid on the floor, and turned to her side, placing her back to Inuyasha. She took one last look at Sesshomaru, who was looking out at the rain and closed her eyes. It was a good a night as any to try to sleep again she supposed.