Of Dreams and Wishes

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I have yet to read xxxHolic manga — all my current knowledge regarding that manga series stem mainly from Wikipedia and some other sites. But I'd read the manga later for references for certain parts. This fanfic would mainly follow xxxHolic anime with some addition from the manga. But I would be changing the order of the episodes around and wouldn't include all the cases.

Of Dreams and Wishes takes place after the Inuyasha series, with changes with its ending and certain details. Also, most of the characters from Inuyasha and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles would not be mentioned extensively in this fanfic.

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Vocabulary

Hitsuzen — inevitable, fated

Sengoku Jidai — Feudal Era

Shikon no Tama — Jewel of Four Souls

Miko — priestess, shrine maiden

Youkai — demon

Jaki — miasma, evil energy

Miko ki – priestess energy

Ofuda — protective wards on parchment / paper wards

Osuwari — sit; it's Kagome's command word which triggers a spell on Inuyasha's rosary, sending him flat onto the ground

Ja ne — see you later

Sensei — teacher

Chapter 4 Cost of Greed

"Just how much do you have in that treasure warehouse of yours?" Kimihiro asked, both hands resting on his hips, wearing his customary white apron and bandana. Kagome, on the other hand, had opted to simply wear a tank top and short. She didn't quite understand how Yuuko and Kimihiro could stand the heat in their respective yukata and school uniform.

They were currently moving everything out of the warehouse and into the front yard while Yuuko watched on from the porch, drinking her tea.

The Dimension Witch, as Kagome had eventually discovered the other woman was known as in several other worlds, tapped a slender finger on her chin. "Let's see…" She then adopted the expression of a carefree child. "A lot?"

"If it's just gonna pile up, pile it up!" Kimihiro complained. "If you're just gonna shut it up, then shut it up." He gestured at the large pile of a variety of objects. "Don't you know just bringing it outside is a pain! Geez!" He lifted up one of the boxes. "Ah! I can't believe you have all these ceramics just piled up on each other! At least wrap them up in paper." Then he shook off the dust of a hakama. "And this isn't packed in kimono wrapping paper! Don't you have any camphor either?" With a war cry, he patted everything in sight with his duster, sending clouds of dust in the air.

Kagome giggled from her spot where she was wiping a vase decorated in daffodils — it had magical powers, as did many of the items currently spread around them. Kimihiro-kun would make a fine housewife — his food is the best and he was very good at doing chores. It was just a pity it took his parent's death and him living alone for over a decade before this skill set developed.

"And what is this?" he growled, roughly picking up a black fur ball.

She reached out a hand. "Ah! Kimihiro-kun, that's—"

The fur ball uncurled itself and jumped up. "Mokona!" he cheered, bouncing around the increasingly frustrated Kimihiro. It was really cute and amusing how lively and emotional the older teen was. Her temper, one that was usually accompanied by a series of "Osuwari" and thuds, had reared its ugly head less and less as time passed. First, it was due to her general lack in interest in life after the well sealed. Now, it had more to do with her having fun around Kimihiro-kun, Yuuko-san, and all the craziness they brought into her life. Besides, there wasn't anyone here who pushed her buttons as much as Inuyasha had. And she found herself playing the role of a protector rather than the one being protected more here.

"I told you, didn't I?" Yuuko said, after Kimihiro noticed Moro and Maru trying to hit a moving butterfly pattern on a carpet. "That my treasure warehouse is a treasure mountain."

"If that's the case, then how about treating it better?" he exclaimed.

"I do maintenance from time to time."

Kagome tuned off that conversation when she noticed a presence by the fence entrance. It was a young woman with short chestnut hair and equally brown eyes. She wasn't dangerous, but something about her aura was worrying. It was people like her that hitsuzen liked to mess with, in a really bad way.

"Excuse me," the woman called out. "I'm interested in the items you've lined up in your garden." She gestured to herself. "Ah, I'm studying folklore at my university. I go around visiting antique shops and individual homes. I understand that there're many things people won't part with, but I can study just by looking. That's why I just stopped by."

Kagome glanced at Yuuko, who donned on an uncharacteristic frown on her face, and backed up until her shoulders hit Kimihiros's.

Yuuko strolled forward. "That's fine. After all, it was inevitable that you'd come here. What drew you in?"

The woman quickly walked up to a cabinet and picked up a blue tube-shaped container. "It's this. What is this?"

Yuuko's frown deepened. "What do you think it is?"

She examined the container and something rattled within it. "Well, it can't be a kaleidoscope, right? Because you can't look inside it…" She shook it. "Is there something inside?"

"Yes."

Now she looked even more excited. "Could I take this with me? I have no idea why but I was drawn to it at first glance."

One of Kagome's hands reached out and grasped her friend's sleeve. "Kimihiro-kun, I don't like that," she whispered. "It feels wrong." Though it was more like she hadn't sensed its presence at all until the woman picked it up. But now that she noticed it, she knew there was definitely something dangerous about its contents. It felt similar to the Shikon no Tama, and nothing good ever came from the cursed jewel. And if an ordinary woman was drawn to an object even she didn't notice, there was no doubt that something really bad was going to happen.

Hitsuzen, as Yuuko-san would've phrased it.

"I'd advise against it," the Dimension Witch said.

The woman blinked. "Is it valuable?"

Yuuko shook her head. "No. But, if you want it anyway, promise me this… Never open that tube."

With a cheerful reply, the woman left, holding the container close to her chest.

"Is that lady going to be okay?" Kimihiro asked, once again tidying up the yard. "You think she'll keep the promise about not opening it?"

Sitting on the porch, Yuuko blew out a wisp of tobacco smoke. "Who knows?"

"Watanuki, Kagome-chan, you didn't even realize the tube was there, did you?"

He shook his head. "No, not at all."

"I only sensed a faint energy from it after the woman picked it up," she replied.

Yuuko blew another trail of smoke. "There's a strong seal on it."

Kimihiro scrunched up his eyebrows. "Is it something that terrible? Then, wouldn't it be better to contact her and tell her that exactly?"

"I could, but when it's time to open, it will open. If not, it won't."

Kagome frowned, carefully packing up several ceramic bowls into a box. "I don't think she'd listen to anything we say, Kimihiro-kun. She's too interested in that container. If you tell someone not to do something, especially if they are interested in that something, they more they'd want to do it, regardless of your warnings."

She had been told not to free Inuyasha, but she had done it anyways (though ultimately, it had been a good call). Miroku-sama had repeatedly been told to stop groping and flirting with woman, but he never learned, despite all the head bashing and slaps he had gotten from Sango-chan. Rin-chan had been told to stay away from Sesshoumaru-sama, but she had forsaken humans just to follow him.

Doing something people told you not to do wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes…

XxXxXxXxX

When school ended, Kagome made her way to the floor where Kimihiro and Doumeki's classroom was — the boys had cleaning duties today. She had arrived just in time to see the woman from yesterday introducing herself to her coworker.

"— I'm Nanami Natsuki. Starting tomorrow, I'd be undergoing my teacher trail. Such mysterious fate." Kagome stiffened on the staircase when she heard that. Fate had a very bad sense of humour. "That kind of stuff happens to me a lot! Whatever it is, it certainly seems to have a strong pull on me." The woman took out the blue tube from her handbag. "This drew me in too. I still don't know what's inside yet, but I think it's something with a history."

Kimihiro leaned forward, frowning. "Ah, about that…" However, before he could finish his sentence, the folklore student received a phone call from her university professor and walked a few steps away.

Kagome hurried over and tugged on her friend's sleeve. "She's gonna open it."

"Yeah," Doumeki said from behind them. "Saying that she doesn't know yet means she's planning on finding out eventually. What's in that tube?"

"I don't know," Kimihiro replied. "But Yuuko-san said not to open it."

When she finished her phone call, Nanami-san glanced at them and said, "I've got to get going. Until next time!"

Kimihiro tried to stop her, but she had already gone down a flight of stairs and bumped into Himawari, causing the blue tube to loosen from her grasp. Himawari instinctively caught the tube, and Kagome gasped. Her friend's tainted aura instantly eroded away the seal. When Himawari handed it back, the container popped opened, revealing a mummified hand wrapped in ofuda and a cloud of jaki.

The miko groaned. A seal strong enough to erase the tube's presence from other people and prevented the container from being pried open shouldn't have broken so easily, even with Himawari-chan's unusual aura. Hitsuzen was really out to get Nanami-san, wasn't it? There won't be a happy ending here.

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"Dry wood?" Nanami-san said, staring down at it, deep in thought. "No… This just might be a Monkey's Paw!" she grinned.

"A Monkey's Paw?" Kimihiro parroted as the three of them headed down the stairs. What was that

"I've seen them in books. It's an item that grants wishes."

Kagome stumbled backwards, accidentally stepping on his foot. "Ow."

"Ah. Sorry, Kimihiro-kun, but I…" Her face was pale and her eyes were wide opened. "There's nothing good about objects which grants its user a wish. Nothing at all." She looked up at him, eyes desperate, begging him to do something about this situation. "You should know, Kimihiro-kun, wishes always comes a price. Yuuko-san could evaluate a wish's worth and what the wisher could give. But objects can't. They don't have a mind. They just take the nearest equivalent price. There's nothing good about objects like that. Nothing good at all."

Her small frame trembled in his arms as he tried to calm her down. Kimihiro didn't like this. Kagome-chan was honesty frightened, and she wasn't scared easily.

Shikon no Tama

That word instantly crept out from the back of his mind. He still hadn't asked her about how she had gotten involved with it — five hundred years ago no less — but she had undoubtedly been affected by the object.

After that night, he had done some research. The Shikon no Tama was said to be an object made from the souls of a very powerful miko, Midoriko, and hundreds of youkai. It also had the ability to grant wishes, when whole, but from what he had read, nothing good had ever stemmed from it. Many, including its guardians, had come to a sticky end. Moreover, most of the information referenced back to the Higurashi Shrine, Kagome's shrine.

It made him wonder if Kagome really was more than five hundred years old or whether she had somehow immersed herself in the memories of those who had been involved with the Shikon no Tama.

Either way, she was deeply affected by the darkness she had witnessed.

"I had no idea!" Nanami-san exclaimed, completely ignoring Kagome's warning. "Until now, I just thought I had an inexpensively bought lucky find… That I'd just found some rare second-hand article…" Her eyes were bright from excitement. "This is good luck. I'm sure of it! Ah, that's right. I should test this right away to see if this is the real thing."

His breath hitched. "I think it's best if you didn't." Kagome had stopped shaking, but her body was still very tense against his.

She didn't seem to hear him at all. "How about this?" She looked at them, grinning toothily. "Let it rain from here until tonight."

The sound of a twig snapping was heard. Minutes later, the sky completely darkened with clouds and rain poured down in buckets.

XxXxXxXxX

"And so, this rain…" Yuuko said, staring outside from the porch.

"Yeah," Kimihiro replied, wiping his wet hair with a towel. Earlier, he had brought Kagome to her room to their second home (sometimes, he found himself wondering when Yuuko-san shop had become just that to both of them). She had fallen asleep minutes after Moro and Maru had helped her dry down and changed her clothes.

"Well, with that, something like this would be easy." She poured sake into a small cup and took a sip.

He glanced at her. "You mean, it's the real thing?"

"But the compatibility isn't good."

"You mean, between Nanami-san and the Monkey's paw?"

She looked up at the sky. "I doubt she recognizes it, though. She overestimates herself."

Kimihiro frowned. "If they're not compatible, what'll happen? Earlier, Kagome-chan said that nothing good would come from it."

Yuuko poured herself another cup of sake. "That depends on her. But Kagome-chan was right to be wary. She knows very well about the consequences of wishes, especially ones granted by a magical object. Surely, it'll be like a tumbling stone…"

He stayed in one of the guest rooms that night, the one located right next to Kagome's, as he usually did when it had gotten too late. Despite the king-sized bed with its comfy cushion, he found it hard to sleep — his mind too occupied with the Monkey's Paw, Yuuko-san's warning, and Kagome-chan's fearful wariness.

XxXxXxXxX

It was the talk of the school the next day — all the pool water at school vanished without a trace.

"There are stories about the Monkey's Paw in my temple's storage room," Doumeki announced, taking a bite from the bento Kimihiro had prepared for them.

(She couldn't stress it well enough. Kimihiro-kun was the best cook ever! It wasn't until she met him that she finally understood why people would sometimes say they could marry someone for their cooking. If this quality of food was to be expected every day, she wouldn't mind marrying Kimihiro-kun and keeping his food all to herself. But, then again, she was also happy enough that he had been teaching her how to cook better.)

"What kind of stories?" Kimihiro asked — his curiosity stronger than his irritation with the other boy.

"Well, a mother wished her son back to life."

Kagome blanched. That was something she was unfortunately very familiar with — Kikyou, Kohaku, Bankotsu, and Jakotsu, to name a few. All of them, except for Kohaku who didn't have a clay body and had Kikyou's blessings, had eventually crumbled back into bone, graveyard dirt, and dust. All of them had suffered in some way after returning from the dead.

Himawari spoke up, "That's a good thing, isn't it? The mother wouldn't have to mourn for her son anymore."

"The son had died from being crushed by machinery. And when the mother made her wish, he was brought back into that broken body," Doumeki said nonchalantly.

This time, both Kimihiro and Himawari also paled.

Wanting to change the subject, Kimihiro asked, "Where do you think the pool water had gone?"

"It's a mystery, isn't it?" Himawari chirped, savouring a pastry.

The two of them continued on brainstorming ideas, some more ridiculous than others — Do you think that some really thirsty animals came by last night? or Maybe someone came by to steal water so he wouldn't have to pay his water bills.

"Maybe it's the Monkey's Paw," Kagome spoke up, having finished her desert. "Yesterday's rain water has to have come from somewhere. You can't make something out of nothing."

She still couldn't believe she had a breakdown yesterday. She was mortified by it. Normally, in such as situation, her tempered would've flared and she would've snatched away the Monkey's Paw without a second thought. Maybe it was the pent up stress from her situation with the Shikon no Tama.

Back then, her thoughts had been too preoccupied with collecting the Shikon no Tama and worrying over her friends to have a breakdown concerning wish-granting objects. And once she had returned from Sengoku Jidai, there hadn't been anything to trigger her breakdown. Until now.

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Kagome-chan snarled — she had actually snarled — when they came across Nanami-san afterschool.

The folklore student had been telling them about the new mirror she had gained from wishing on the Monkey's Paw when his friend did such an uncharacteristic action.

Kimihro placed a hand on her tense shoulder, hoping to calm her down, but it was as if she didn't notice anything but the woman and the Monkey's Paw. "You're such an idiot!" Kagome growled. "Like many before you, you've become too enthralled by an object's wish-granting abilities. Your wishes may have started small and have lesser consequences, but you'd definitely make greater wishes. Soulless objects like the Monkey's Paw could care less about your well-being. Sooner or later, something really bad would happen to you."

Nanami-san quickly recovered from her shock at being yelled at by a younger student, and held the tube close to her heart with both hands. She smirked. "It'll be just fine. I told you before. I have really good luck. I'll show you I can hand this properly." Without another word, she spun around on her heels and walked away, chin high and back straight.

"She just doesn't understand," Kagome scowled, gritting her teeth. "Nothing good would ever happen between an arrogant person and wish-granting objects. If she wanted a wish to be granted, she should go to Yuuko-san instead."

Seeing the black smoke emitting from the Monkey's Paw, he would have to agree to her statement, even if he still thought Yuuko-san was a coercive saleswoman and witch-devil. Kimihiro patted her shoulder. "It's alright. We'll try our best to make her stop."

"She's not going to listen to anything we say. Not until she experiences a horrible consequence. I'll meet you back home later, Kimihiro-kun." Then, grumbling to herself, she stomped off.

XxXxXxXxX

Higurashi stormed into the archery field, barely remembering to take off her shoes. Ignoring all the looks the other club members were giving her, she strode over to him and took his longbow — "I need to borrow this for a bit, Doumeki-kun. And your arrows as well." Wanting to see where this was going, Shizuka had stepped aside.

To his surprise, she took on a perfect stance and firing arrow after arrow, with barely a second's pause in between, muttering angrily to herself. All of them struck the bull's-eye, and there was even one which had spilt another arrow (it was the one right at the center point of the board), much to everyone's awe. He also noticed that some of the arrows had sparks of pink energy flickering from them.

Shizuka recognized the energy — it was her miko ki. Ever since he had decided to venture deeper into their world, she had occasionally came over to his shrine and taught him how to focus his energy without the use of his bow — which was why he had no idea how good she was at archery until now.

Still, what made Higurashi-san so riled up that she was leaking out her miko ki?

She didn't stop until she realized that her quiver of ten had been emptied up onto the target. Higurashi handed his items back, with pink dusting her cheeks. "Sorry, I needed something to vent out my anger before I vent it out on that stupid girl and her stupid Monkey's Paw," she muttered darkly. "Urg! Even thinking about it makes me mad. I really should ask Yuuko-san if I could set up an archery range in her garden. I can't believe I forgot how relaxing it could be. I must've really been out of it when I returned here."

"You over there!" the club captain called out, walking over. "You're Doumeki's friend, aren't you? Would you like to join the archery club?"

Higurashi chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "Ah, thanks for the offer, but no. I came over here cuz it was the nearest place I could vent out my anger. I'm usually busy with a part-time job. And I tend to destroy arrows since I split them so often. I tried not to today, but my concentration slipped and I split one of them. Sorry. Oh, and the targets as well. Well, I get really angry, I sometimes can't control myself that well."

Shizuka could attest to that. He had seen firsthand some of the destruction their energies made when they didn't control it well enough. If Higurashi poured more of her miko ki into the arrows, they would've shot right through the targets, destroying it after one session, or less.

But he was really impressed that she had deliberately peppered the arrows all over the bull's-eye.

"Thanks, Doumeki-kun, for letting me borrow your bow and arrows. The bow is really well made, even if it was a bit too big for someone my size. I'd better get going back to the shop now. Ja ne!"

As soon as she was out of sight, his fellow club members crowded around him, all asking about Higurashi-san. Hm… Maybe he should take a leaf out of her book and get out earlier today.

XxXxXxXxX

"At gym today, Nanami-san told us she has made her third wish," Kimihiro announced, at they walked back to Yuuko's shop.

Kagome hummed. "Then she only has two wishes left now. Did she tell you what she wished for?" Ever since she had yelled at her, the folklore student had taken to avoiding her and sending her smug, superior, looks whenever their eyes meet.

"Yeah, she said that she wished for research material for her thesis. She said that her professor thought it was so good that he would introduce her to a publisher."

She frowned. "It's already too late for her."

Kimihrio glanced over at her. "What do you mean by that, Kagome-chan?"

"Remember what Yuuko-san said? The Yata mirror she had wished for was actually stolen from an antique store by the Monkey's Paw. Where do you think her research materials came from? If the other person finds out about it and have proof that the research material originally belongs to them, Nanami-san would be accused of plagiarism and would forever have that black mark on her record. She'd undoubtedly try to undo the damage by wishing on the Monkey's Paw, but in her grief and anger, she might say the wrong words. Like I've said before, the Monkey's Paw doesn't have a soul. It'd take her words literally as they are said, regardless of how it would affect other people as well as the user."

Back then, when she had been stuck inside the void that was the Shikon no Tama, she had almost succumbed to her own fears of being alone. If she hadn't heard her friend's voices from within the darkness, she would've made the wrong wish and become swallowed up by the jewel.

Nanami-san didn't have that luxury, simply because she wasn't willing to listen to anyone.

XxXxXxXxX

"Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"There was an accident in the subway station this morning. That's why Nanami-sensei was late."

"Eh… Really? What happened?"

"A woman fell into the tracks and was crushed by the train. Instant death."

"I heard that Nanami-sensei was there when it happened."

"Eh! Poor Nanami-sensei. No wonder she looked so terrible in class today."

Whispers like that spread across the campus like wild fire. Everyone gave the folklore student a wide breadth and pitying looks. Her face was pale and she was constantly seen walking in the hallways muttering to herself while biting on the flesh of her thumb. To those with the Sight, there were wisps of jaki following her everywhere.

XxXxXxXxX

Nanami Natsuki was never to be seen again. Her cell phone was later found in the music storage room — the last call being from a professor at her university. Apparently, the folklore student hadn't cancelled the call after being notified of her plagiarism; and the professor had heard her blaming something, telling it to erase everything. Then there was a scream, a gurgle, and nothing more.

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What do you think of my fourth chapter? Please Read and Review. I would love to know how good and how bad my fics are. If you want to flame me, at least make it constructive criticism.

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from the xxxHolic, Inuyasha, and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles aren't mines; they belong to their respective owners. Anything else belongs to me. Please ask for permission and getting it before taking my things.

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May fantasy guide your writing through it all - Dementra