Chapter 30

Wow, first things first: I actually had to go and delete all of the documents still saved from my 'Someone I once Knew' story in order to make room for this and future chapters I have yet to post. I forgot there was a fifty document limit on here... Man, I have the feeling I'm gonna have to delete some other things on there as well if I want to be able to finish my story.

Second of all: To you readers that were upset over the last chapter, please let me explain:

After Naraku had taken it upon himself to beat Sonya senseless, he used the shard and placed it in her heart. It is not in fact keeping her alive, if anything it's a sort of backup trigger switch should his plan go wrong. All he has to do is remove it and she dies. So while it isn't sustaining her life like Kohaku's does, it can kill her once it's removed because of the delicate spot it was placed in.

Another thing: She was brainwashed by the tainted shard, she now firmly believes that Naraku had saved her life with said shard. She developed feelings for him because all he's shown her is a kind lord that needs help and has taken care of her. She doesn't see the nasty side of him (Besides the few flashes and his sudden irritation with her pulling away)

She firmly believes he is the man she wants. But her instinct (Much stronger now that she is infact a Youkai) tell her otherwise and she is trying to fight it because the memories she has basically tells her that her instinct is wrong.

Now that's out of the way, I just want to say, that kiss isn't the only thing he will attempt. I wouldn't normally tell you this, but he will try to do other things.

I'm simply telling you this because of the reaction I had gotten and wanted you all to be prepared to see something similar happen again. Just remember, Sonya is under the influence of false memories at the moment, she honestly doesn't know who Naraku actually is right now.

I hope I don't loose any readers because of this, but it is my story and I will write it the way I want to. I will not change that because some of you are uncomfortable or upset over what I write. Yes, the story is under the genere 'humor' because it is very funny. But I do not just write funny things into my stories. There will be angst, and there will be struggle. There will be dark themes simply because I believe it works.

Please understand this. I understand not that many people care for Naraku interactions like this, but I personally find him seductive in a very dark and dangerous way. He is the perfect villain to use to seduce and confuse a character away from what they were doing.

I really want everyone to know this and understand where I am coming from. While the reviews I have gotten weren't precisely 'flames' they were pretty upset over what I wrote. I just wanted to make my intentions clear so there aren't any actual 'flames' in the future when I write more intricate encounters with him.

That's all I really have to say about it. I hope you all understand and agree with me on at least some of this if not all.

-I do NOT own Inuyasha or it's characters

-I DO own Sonya and the plot

~TL S0nya

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Sitting alone in her room, Kumo stared at the wall across from her blankly, arms wrapped around her legs that were pulled to her chest as she huddled in the center of her futon in absolute confusion.

'I wanted him didn't I? For a month I desired his attentions.'

Cringing inwardly at the memory of his kiss, she couldn't fight back the bile that rose in the back of her throat.

'What makes me act this way? He's never done anything to harm me, he's taken care of me, desired me even.'

Grimacing slightly, she let herself fall onto her back, simply laying there with her arms spread out and legs almost painfully straight as she glared at the ceiling above her, watching the flickering moonlight dance along it's surface.

'What is wrong with me? Is there something I'm missing?'

A flash of the Inu's face appeared in her mind's eye, making Kumo huff out in frustration. His eyes were what drew her attention at first. Seemingly cold, but once she really looked, she could see everything. Worry, stress, and obvious relief once he saw her.

'They thought I was this... Sonya.' Rolling over onto her side, she closed her eyes and tried to relax and fall asleep, determined to go out and find the odd group again and gather some answers. It was hard for a youkai to mistake someone for another if they could smell them. And there was a hanyou, Inu and an odd dragon there.

Humans could be excused for mistaking someone's appearance for another. But a youkai, even hanyou were less likely to be misled like that.

Frowning in thought, she curled up into her usual ball, pulling the blanket over her head and simply cuddling down into the futon in an attempt to get comfortable. It was nearly impossible for her to sleep anymore, she accounted it to being used to sleeping in the large den with her clan. But something tugged at her mind, saying it wasn't the closeness of her clan but a certain scent she missed as she drifted off.

'But what scent is it?'

The late morning sun saw the unusual pack of shard hunters travelling across a large open plain, the grasses tall enough to tickle Kagome's hips as they made their way slowly through the thick greenery.

Heaving a small sigh, she shifted the pack on her back higher before it's weight was lifted from her shoulders completely. Looking over in surprise, she watched Inuyasha sling it over one of his own shoulders and tossed a silent look over at her before tipping his head in a gesture to keep moving.

Feeling a small smile pull at her lips for the first time in months, Kagome fell into step beside him, brushing up against his arm in silent gratitude for his gesture.

A sudden explosion of dirt and grass directly in front of them pulled the entire group to a halt, The warriors of the group instantly falling into a battle ready stance while Kagome gripped her bow tightly, ready to pull an arrow out if needed.

Waiting in tense silence, they watched the dust clear enough to reveal a figure cloaked in the damned pelt Naraku normally wore. But their frame much smaller than the spiders.

Sesshomaru was the first to react, darting forward and yanking the pelt completely off to reveal Sonya glaring up at him, her claws held out, ready to defend herself at his sudden proximity.

"Sonya..." Kagome breathed quietly, hoping in desperate silence her friend came back because she remembered them.

"I have questions and you all will answer them." Sonya suddenly stated in a no-buisness tone, stepping back from the towering Inu that stood in front of her, one hand twitching slightly as if she itched to grab the scythe from her back.

"Quickly I might add. The Samyousho won't take too long in showing up." She added, tossing a look in the direction she came from, a small sneer on her face as she remembered Kagura's shocked expression when she simply jumped from her feather after ordering her to return to Naraku.

"Well... What do you want to know?" Sango ventured slowly, drawing the wolf's eyes to the slayer in contemplation. "I want to know why you all, even the youkai here seem to think I am this Sonya person. Humans can be easily mistaken by appearance alone. But not by scent..." She shot a look at Sesshomaru then darted another over at Inuyasha with her brow furrowed together.

"I have no memory of any of you. But... You seem to know who I am. Despite what I've been telling myself, I have decided to give you the benefit of a doubt."

Hearing that, Kagome felt a slow smile break across her face. 'Only Sonya would ever give someone a chance. Even if they claimed to know her and she didn't remember them at all. She trusts her instinct more than most people do, even while she was human.'

Suddenly an idea came to her and she tugged on the straps to her bag that Inuyasha still carried in excitement. "Put it down, Inuyasha. I have an idea!" Blinking at her, he set the bag down and watched as she began digging in it, tossing various items aside before pulling up a familiar, albit worn down, book and walked towards Sonya.

"Can I show you something?" She asked hesitantly, holding the book out towards the wolf with a hopeful smile. "If you don't believe us after this. Then we won't argue and you can leave. Okay?"

Narrowing her eyes slightly, Kumo studied the woman in front of her, a soft voice inside telling her she was the one she could trust no matter what the situation held. With a nod, she sat down in the small clearing she had made with her appearance, waving for the other woman to sit with her and waited as she opened the book and began paging through it quickly.

"Ah!" Kagome smiled once she got to the picture she wanted and pulled it out of it's sleeve, looking down at the smiling faces fondly.

It had been after one of her routine trips through the well. While there, Sonya had vanished for a while only to turn back up with a disposable camera in hand and a evil smirk on her face.

It didn't take long for Kagome to figure out just what her friend was up to once they returned through the well. In the dead of night, Sonya had taken a marker to Inuyasha's face and snapped a picture before he woke up during one of his rare moments of sleep.

After that initial picture, the camera remained untouched until Kagome eventually found it in the bottom of her bag before her next trip back home and insisted they all take a group picture.

After instructing Kiade how to use the camera, they all gathered around the well, even Sesshomaru had been there, after Sonya had drug him in and forcefully held him there with the threat of claws going where he didn't want them to go the first chance she got. Deciding that being on guard for the rest of their entire quest was too troublesome, Sesshomaru had relented and stood stiffly in the back, as Kiade snapped the picture, Sonya clinging to his arm with a wide smirk on her face.

"Here... I'm not sure if you remember, but this was taken by a device called a camera. It makes a sort of painting without using a brush." Kagome explained and held the photo out for Kumo to take and examine under a critical eye.

Looking over the faces, she could easily see each of the pack members now standing around her were standing around a strangely familiar well. Moving from one face to the next she froze at the sight of her own face staring back at her with a mischievous grin on it and two hands clutching the arm of the same Inu that towered over her now.

"Witchcraft." She snorted and tossed the picture back at Kagome, refusing to believe the warning bell that went off in her head that clamored they were speaking the truth.

Heaving a sigh, Kagome dug through the bag again before producing another camera and held it up to snap Kumo's picture. After a moment, a small square, similar to the one she had handed her before popped out the bottom.

Pulling it out, Kagome waved it in the air a couple of times as the image developed and handed it to Kumo too, showing her that it was indeed her in the picture and not some strange spell that made it.

"But... How?" Her voice was small as she compared the two images and found no fault with the first one. Nothing was different besides the actual image. The scent, energy, even the shape was the exact same. If the first had been tampered with, there would have been a small touch of something wrong. But this... Had the same signature as the one the woman had just given her.

"Because, you are our friend." Sango broke in quietly, watching as the wolf looked back and forth between the images with a pained expression on her face.

"But... No. I can't be. I never met any of you before in my life!" She burst out, jumping to her feet and backing away from them slowly, her hands tightening around the photos, enough to grip them, but not enough to ruin the images.

"Kumo... How much of your life do you remember?" Miroku asked suddenly, earning a few questioning glances from the others. Much like Sango and Kagome, they assumed it was the same situation as it was with Kohaku, who simply couldn't remember anything at all.

"I... I had a clan in the northern mountains. We were attacked and I was the last one alive. Naraku found me and saved me." She said unsteadily, a hand raising up to touch her chest over her heart where the tainted shard resided. "He had a shard on him when he did and placed it in my heart in an attempt to keep me alive..."

The group shared a look with each other, spare Sesshomaru who continued to stare at Kumo with a thoughtful gleam in his eyes.

"He cared for me! He saved my life! Why are you trying to destroy him if he hasn't done anything wrong!" She shouted suddenly, fear beginning to cloud her judgement as she took in the looks the pack in front of her shared. It was impossible! She didn't know them, they were trying to trick her. Yes that was it, they knew she was with Naraku and wanted her to join them so they could use her to kill him!

She couldn't allow that to happen.

With a sudden snarl, she leapt back away from them and reached for her scythe when they all tried to advance on her. "No! You stay away from me! I will not let you kill him!"

With that, she turned and sprinted away, instantly wishing she hadn't sent Kagura back to the estate when she heard the sounds of pursuit coming from behind.

'Damn! I can't believe I almost listened to them! How stupid can I get. It's obvious they did something to that photo, I don't know what, but I will find out. And when I do... I will destroy them.'

Dodging around the trees, she almost wept with relief when she spotted a small cloud of samyousho heading towards her. Racing towards them, she stopped and cast a glance over her shoulder. "Keep them stalled." She ordered curtly before darting off again, desperate to get away, and knowing full well those buzzing stalkers would only be a small distraction.

Hopefully enough of one for her to get away.

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