Well, here's chapter number 3. That would be tres, trois, san, three, and all that good shtuff.
Uh, yeah.
I'm excited now because I'm actually getting close to the end of all the stories that I'm currently redoing for the internet! YAY!! 'Cause that means you'll get part 2, 3, and 4 much faster than you're getting this one. So everyone say it with me.... YIPPIE!!
Its been hard work though. Almost a half a year old, this series is. :nods: Very old. Not as old as Guardian Angel (Ama Koneko) or Turnabout is Fair Play (Ookami-chan) maybe, but 'tis old to me, since I put my very soul into this.
~~~ Chapter 3 ~~~
"So you could see it through my window," Kagome questioned Inu Yasha once they were outside. He nodded. He found that he was concentrating so hard on his unsteady limbs that he couldn't even spare a word.
And, boy, had the stairs had been fun.
She was supporting him by the waist and helping him walk when he had trouble. When they arrived outside, their noses picked out a strange scent and followed it to a row of shrubbery lining the boundries of the shrine. Pinpointing where the scent was originating from, Kagome helped Inu Yasha sit down in a spot nearby. Then she walked back to investigate. Finding renewed strength every moment, he said as loudly as he could,
"Be careful, Kagome!" She looked over her shoulder and nodded. As she crept closer to the bush, it began shaking violently. Then, all of a sudden, a small figure popped up and out of the bush. It resembled a small child, but had strange markings over its face and hands, looking like meaningless scribbles with a pen or marker. Its skin also glowed a pale yellowish color. After a few moments of staring at it, Inu Yasha realized what it was, remembering what old Myoga had told him once.
"Kagome," he shouted to her. "It's a Yumekodomo. A dream child. That's what's been giving me the nightmares!" The ghoul glared over Kagome's shoulder at it's prey.
"You were my food! Why do you still live in this conscious world?" it screamed at him in a high-pitched screech that didn't seem possible for such a small creature.
"Did you actually think you could've killed me?" he shot back. "I'm half demon, you know!"
"Yes, and all the better," the Yumekodomo hissed. "The longer you live, the more memories you have that I can terrorize you with. Remember that, half-breed..." And with a snap of it's ghastly fingers, it vanished. Kagome walked over to her love. She stared over her shoulder, at the spot she saw the Yumekodomo disappear.
"It won't stop...." she muttered, then turned down to look at Inu Yasha. "I know it won't stop until it's killed you." He glanced up and met her gaze, almost quizzitively. Her gaze dropped to the ground and she slowly sat beside him. A soft sigh escaped him, followed by a huge yawn. She watched him tentatively. Noting her gaze, he turned to meet it again.
"But you also know that I'm not easy to take down." She grinned weakly, though she was thoroughly worried on the inside. He was putting on that brave kind of 'I'm hanyou! I'm invincible!' act. But as she gazed at him, for the first time, she saw it fail, and as he turned his head away from her, she glimpsed fear filling his eyes again.
"Inu Yasha...." she murmured. The golden gaze dimmed as another sigh left his lips, this time louder. "You don't know how scared I've been over the past couple of days," she said softly. His head snapped up.
"Why?" A soft, sorrowful grin turned the corners of her lips.
"You couldn't wake up on your own. I had to wake you up both yesterday and today, and it took you a really long time to come to." There was silence. "And your eyes were red, Inu Yasha...." She glanced up out of the corner of her eye to see that his had widened.
"Wh-what?" he stuttered.
"Your eyes were red. It was the most frightening thing, especially since your youkai blood only takes over when you're close to death. And it hasn't happened in such a long time..."
She finally looked up to meet his gaze. "I'm afraid to think that the nightmares really are that serious, Inu Yasha, but you really looked horrible this morning. You were muttering in your sleep.... Things like, 'No, no, not Kagome...' and 'Kagome's dead'" He gasped, cutting her off, and went rigid. "What?" Kagome asked worriedly. "What's wrong?" He shook his head slowly, and reached his hands up behind his ears. "Inu Yasha! What's wrong?!" He was panting, and shaking all over again. "Inu!"
"Stop!" he yelled suddenly, squeezing his eyes shut. She promptly closed her mouth, regarding him with worry and fear. "You were dead," he close to shouted. "You had died, Kagome! He killed you! He tore you away from me....."
"Naraku?" He shook his head. Now a bit of confusion mixed with her anxiety. "Who, then? Who is he?" Inu Yasha shuddered.
"S-Sesshomaru..... My brother killed you....." Kagome remained silent, somewhat surprised that it hadn't been Naraku that he had seen kill her, and even more surprised that it was Sesshomaru. She was shaken from her thoughts, though, by his shaky voice breaking the silence. "H-he had you bound.... so you couldn't run.... And I was trapped.... I couldn't reach you..... couldn't save you.... He killed you right before my eyes, stained the ground before him with your blood...."
"Inu Yasha...." the young female hanyou began, but couldn't find a way to finish. So she got up from beside him, making him look up to see where she was going to. But she merely kneeled in front of him, so that only his outstreached legs were in between them. The fierceness in her eyes sent a shiver down his back, and he lowered his hands from the back of his head. "Don't think about it, Inu Yasha. You'll only hurt yourself more if you do."
"Kagome...." he near moaned. She hushed him by leaning forward and placing her fingers over his lips.
"Be still, now, koishii," she said softly, the ferocity melting away to comforting relief. She trailed her hand down his cheek and cupped his chin up so he was looking her directly in the eye. But he sighed and closed his eyes and let his head drop. "Inu Yasha....." Kagome took a deep breath, not quite knowing his reaction to her next comment. "Love, you're acting as if Kikyo's still alive."
He moaned, and she flinched.
But she continued anyway. "You won't look me in the eye, and its as if you're afraid to meet my gaze." A quick upward glance was her only warning. With almost dizzying speedand unexpected strength, as just minutes ago he had barely been able to hold her downhe reached up over her back and pulled her down, so that her forehead rested in his chest. His grip was extremely tight, almost as if he was afraid to take his hands away.
"Kagome.... Y-you have no idea.... the fear I held.... for you...." She suddenly felt extremely guilty, though she couldn't set a finger on exactly why. She pushed up a bit, asking for his grip to lighten. It took a minute, but eventually he let her up. Slowly readjusting herself, she moved so she was sitting beside him, and leaning forward onto his torso. Her pointed ear was pressed up against ribs, listening to his heartbeat as it quickened and slowed, then quickened again. His breathing followed suit, both from adreniline and fear of the memory taking firm hold in his mind.
She could easily sense his discomfort, and it vexed her knowing that she could do nothing about it. Taking one hand from his chest where she had placed it, she looked up and stroked his cheek, as she had done earlier that morning. His eyes remained shut, and his breathing evened out. She frowned, noting the signs of sleep. Carefully, she pulled from his grip and sat up on the balls of her feet, hunched over in a squat.
"Can't leave him here," she muttered, knowing her mother would have a heart attack if her daughter walked into the house carrying an unconscious male hanyou. Glancing up in the general direction of her bedroom window, she got up and walked around the house and hopped up to slide the panel of her window back. Bounding back down, she effortlessly picked the male half-demon up in her arms.
She knew it was somewhat of an awkward image, or at least in her mind. In her opinion, she and Inu Yasha should have switched places.
But she pushed that aside as she jumped once again up to the second story, a bit slower and more deliberate with the extra weight she was carrying. She landed heavily on the floor of her room and laid him out on her bed. Leaning over him for a moment, she brushed her hand over his cheek and cleared the bangs from his eyes. Kissing his forehead lightly, she stood up again and began to head out of the room. But a low moan followed her and she quickly glanced back to see what was wrong.
His brow was furrowed. That was the only thing she could find wrong. But she could sense the discomfort emmitting from him in waves. She glanced down at the door, torn between staying with her love and going down to her family. Slowly, she closed the door, latching it softly. He flinched at the sound.
She frowned and approached the bed again. "Inu Yasha...." Another low moan met her ears, and his eyelids tightened. "Lovemy loveplease wake up..."
"I'm awake," he murmured.
She smiled. "The entire time?"
A slight grin turned the corners of his mouth. "Yeah..."
"Why am I not surprised?" The grin widened a bit and his eyes opened to slits.
"Why should you be?" She shook her head and laid her hand on the side of his face, twisting the silver tendrils of his hair through her fingers. He sighed and closed his eyes again. "I'm dead tired, though." A frown furrowed Kagome's brow.
"Maybe you should go back, then," she suggested softly. He snorted. "Its the only place the Yumekodomo hasn't effected you, right?" He opened his eyes once more to stare at her, but only for a moment before turning away. "Inu Yasha, I'm right, aren't I? Please tell me I'm right."
"You're not," he said quietly, almost too quietly for her to hear.
"How so? How am I not right? Tell me! What have you been keeping from me!"
"Its nothing. Just memories...."
"Like?"
"Kagome...."
"No, don't 'Kagome' me. I want to know!" He turned to look her in the eye.
"You want to know that badly?"
"Of course I do!"
Sighing heavily, he slowly picked himself up off her bed, causing her to draw away. He stood hesitantly, trying to find his balence, then walked silently to the open window. "The night after the new moon this past month," he began reluctantly, "I dreampt of the fight the first time you met my brother, and how, even though we hadn't known each other that long, I still wouldn't have been able to bear losing you. I dreampt and remembered every detail of that fight."
Kagome had gotten to her feet, and was about to say something when he continued.
"The next night, it was the battle with Hiten and Manten, and the next our encounter with the Spider-heads." At that comment, he turned to face her, his face not revealing any of his feelings. He had put up his emotional block, but his voice was still filled with compassion and perhaps even a little bit of shame. "Each night following the night of the new moon, I've remembered something that I wish I could have done differently, that might have put you, or any of our friends, out of danger."
"Inu Yasha," Kagome called softly, "you're only one person. One person can't do everything at once. Don't feel as if the past is something that you regret and look back upon with scorn and shame. Take the darkness away, and what you have left is light."
"How am I supposed to do that?" he nearly yelled, his weariness mixing in with all the many other emotions he was feeling to create frustration, annoyance, and impatience. "What is good about the fact that if I had handled the situation differently, none of us would have come so close to death..."
A loud smack seemed to ring through the room, and Inu Yasha's head jerked to the side, his eyes wide. Raising a hand to his cheek, he fingered the reddened skin tenderly. Then he turned back to Kagome. She was simply standing, her arms relaxed against her sides, her brown eyes staring up at him with slight agitation shining in them.
"Am I dead?" she asked, her voice hard and sharp.
"What?" he asked, quite taken aback by the suddenness of the question.
"Am I dead?" she repeated.
"..... No...."
"Are Sango, Miroku, or Shippo dead?"
"No..."
"Then you did nothing wrong, love." Her voice softened with her last remark, and she stepped towards him. "If anything, you've gone through more pain than any one of us, because you were able to take more abuse than we ever were able to. You always risked your life in battle for everyone. So don't feel like that anymore, okay? Its not healthy." His head drooped somewhat, and he moved around her.
"I'm going back. You're right. The Yumekodomo hasn't effected me as much in my time as it has in this one. I'll see you when you come back to me."
"Inu Yasha, no. Wait! I didn't mean it like that..." But he was already out the door and heading towards the front entrance. "Inu Yasha....."
~~~ ~~~
Kagome stood, head down, turned towards her bedroom door, wondering if she should stay or go after him. She sighed heavily.
He was really upset, she thought. Those dreams really upset him, and when he turned to me, I made him feel worse. Her head dropped a bit more, until her chin was nearly touching her chest. "I'll wait," she said decidedly. "He may need a little time to think about it, and I don't want to make him feel uncomfortable." So she made her way downstairs to find her mother.
"Oh, Kagome," Ms. Higurashi summoned her daughter to her. "I just saw Inu Yasha walk outside. Is he feeling better?" Kagome's mind suddenly kicked into gear, wavering between telling the truth and lying.
"Yeah, he's feeling a bit better. He's gone back to his time, though. He told me he was more comfortable there than here." It was quite far from the real story, but it would buy her a little time to stay.
Until she heard her mother's words.
"But shouldn't you go back with him? I mean, you know, wouldn't he be more comfortable with you there?" Thinking quickly, she shrugged.
"He just told me that he needed to go home, nothing else. And when I asked if I could stay, he just shrugged." Her mother nodded and moved to her daughter's side. Slipping her arm around Kagome's shoulders in a motherly fashon, she leaned down and whispered into Kagome's ear.
"The dishes next to the sink need washing..." this statement was promptly interrupted by a groan, causing Ms. Higurashi to raise her voice slightly, "....and the clothes out on the clothesline can be folded and brought in, and the shrine steps need to be swept."
"Mom! Do you know how much work I do in the past? I have to do that stuff every single day to be able to stay in the village as a half-demon!" Her mother stepped away and turned to face her.
"Really? Then you wouldn't mind doing it for me?"
Kagome's shoulders slumped with defeat. "Where's Sota?" she asked deflatedly.
"Out at his friend's house. Or else I would tell him to help you. But as soon as he steps through the front door, he's going to be out there folding the clothes too."
"Oh, good. I'll save that one for last," Kagome stated, walking to the entryway where she could pick up the broom.
Outside, it was a cool daynot freezing cold, but just cool enough to enjoy the weather. Kagome took a nice deep breath, and was rewarded with smells of tar, carbon monoxide, and the stench of a mass of people. Coughing, she began sweeping the steps that led down to the street.
~~~ ~~~
Three hours later, after every single chore had been completed and a shower taken, Kagome laid on her bed, facing the ceiling, deep in thought.
And to think that I came here for a bit of relaxation... she thought with a sigh, closing her eyes. Immediately, a picture of her love came up from the back of her mind, and she opened her eyes again. "Inu Yasha...." Then she frowned and sat up. "No, I can't worry about him right now. He's gone back to his home, to our home.... through the well..." A sudden tingle running down her back warned her of something close by, something that shouldn't be there. She stiffened and sniffed the air, looking around for the source. A sudden gust of wind blew the curtains in front of her window into the room, and her gaze shot to them. A small shadow, shaped like a young child, was drifting in midair behind them, and when they settled, Kagome could see the Yumekodomo levitating just outside her bedroom window. And it had a smirk on its face.
"Thank you, dear hanyou," was all it said before it shot out of sight, headed straight for the well.
"No! Come back here, devil!" Kagome shot out the window after it, but it had already reached the well house. She was just in time to see its ghastly figure disappear through the wood of the sliding doors. No! Inu Yasha! In one desperate bound, she cleared the roof of her house and made straight for the small shrine that housed the well. Leaping into it, she jumped from the top step of the wooden stairs into the well, and through the time barrier that held her world from Inu Yasha's.
~~~ ~~~
Inu Yasha had been reunited with his friends and was enjoying a nice dinner with them in Sango and Miroku's hut. They were merrily talking about the fond memories they had together, and even some funny or embarrassing ones about life working in the village. One such memory that Inu Yasha had shared took place just after Kagome had turned half-demon and was trying out jumping long distances when she fell into a lake and Inu Yasha had to go after her to fish her out.
"Where is Kagome?" Shippo asked innocently, looking up at the hanyou expectantly. There was a loud whack, and the kitsune cried out, holding his head. "I just asked you a question, Inu Yasha!" he wailed. "You could have at least answered it!"
"She'll be back later," Inu Yasha said with a grunt.
"But really, Inu Yasha," Sango asked. "Where is she?"
"Like I said, she didn't come with me," he said, shooting a glare in her direction. "She's still back in her world."
"Why such the face?" Miroku prodded further. "Did you two get in a fight?"
"Shut up, Miroku," Inu Yasha growled.
"What are you hiding mutt-face?" Koga asked from the corner. Inu Yasha started, amazed that he hadn't sensed or smelled the wolf's presence until he had spoken.
"What the hell are you doing here, runt?" he asked, his voice much sounding calmer than he felt. Then he realized that there was a bandage over Koga's nose. "Hey, you tried to follow me and Kagome, didn't you?"
"Answer the question," Koga shot back, blushing a bit. A huge grin covered Inu Yasha's face.
"It wouldn't let you through? Ha!" Laughter shook the half-demon's shoulders, and Koga's face contorted in anger. A strong aura filled the hut, emmiting from the wolf-demon in the corner. Miroku shuddered at the feeling, but that went unnoticed since Koga had gotten to his feet and was walking towards Inu Yasha. Grabbing the front of his kimono, Koga single handedly lifted the dog-demon off the ground and held him in front of him so their noses were nearly touching. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo just stared on in awe.
"Where is Kagome?" Koga hissed, almost too quietly for Inu Yasha himself to hear. He grinned despite his position and threw the wolf-demon's hand away.
"Why would you want to know?" he taunted. "Even if she were here, she'd pay you less attention than she does any other filthy demon. You know that." A growl boiled in Koga's throat. "But if you really want to know," Inu Yasha continued, shrugging casually and moving to sit down again, "she's back in her world resting. Since she works so hard here, she wanted some relaxation, so she went back."
"Then why didn't you stay with her, mutt?" Inu Yasha's casual gaze sparked suddenly with an angry twinge. He turned slowly to the wolf and was about to say something when Miroku cut in.
"We.... were wondering the same thing, Inu Yasha," he said hesitantly. There was surprise in Inu Yasha's gaze as he turned back to face the monk, then what seemed a bit like emotional pain. But he snorted to cover it up and looked away from everyone.
"If Kagome wants to tell you, I'll let her. But I'm not saying anyth" He stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes wide and his body rigid. The entire hut stiffened and fell silent with the hanyou's action.
"Wh-what's the matter, mutt?" Koga asked, reluctant to break the silence that had fallen. Then he saw the lightly glowing strands of the net stretched over Inu Yasha's head and shoulders. Slowly, the half-demon lifted his hands from in front of him, where they had been tucked inside the large sleeves of his haori, and moved them behind him as if to support him. They shook with exertion, and moved so sluggishly that it seemed that just to move them took great amout of strength and energy. That in itself was frightening, since he was so much stronger than he had been before Naraku had been defeated. Then he lifted his head to the ceiling, staring unblinkingly up at it.
"Inu Yasha, what's wrong?" Shippo shouted at him. He turned his gaze down to the fox, and every person in the hut saw the fear in his eyes. A sound very much like a whimper came from his throat, before he slid his eyes shut and slumped to the floor.
"Inu Yasha!" Miroku and Sango jumped to their feet, and Shippo leapt to the half-demon's side. Koga stared on in utter amazement as Shippo jumped back again. The Yumekodomo slowly appeared, hovering over the unconscious form on the floor, a grin on its face.
"Keep away, or I'll kill 'im," it hissed, then disappeared. Immediately after, a cry of pain left Inu Yasha's throat, and a shudder shook him harshly.
~~~ ~~~
"Its too fast," Kagome panted. "Its probably already made it to Inu Yasha..." She had just reached the edge of the forest and bounded down into the village. Dodging around villagers and huts, she made her way towards the hut she and Inu Yasha shared. Then something caught her nose, and she skidded to a halt. It was his scent. And coming from the opposite direction than she was headed.
He's at Sango's? Why is he there instead of at home? But she changed direction anyway, and sped through the deserted streets. But before she was even halfway there, a cry filled the night air. She gasped, her eyes wide with fear. Inu Yasha, she thought despairingly. No... Just hang in there a little longer.... With agility only despair and fear could supply her with, she leapt over houses and huts until she reached her destination.
~~~ ~~~
There was nothing but darkness for a few moments after he opened his eyes, but his keen eyesight pierced through, making out a few dim shapes and figures. He stood from where he had been laying on the ground. Walking towards one of the dim objects, he noticed something directly in front of him, just before he hit it. Upon contact with his body, whatever it was shot fire through him, throwing him backwards into another row of bars. Realization hit him as he slumped to the floor. He had been caged. Slowly, he lifted his head and took a better look around. He approached the bars again and tried to break them, to get free. But he was thwarted by the fire that ran through his arms. He recognized this fire as electricity, but was it possible to conceal it in bars of metal? One of the dark figures moved slightly, and his eyes snapped to where it was and stayed there, trying to make out who it could be. It was still incredibly dark, so he could not make out who or what it was. He growled and tried to shout, but he had no voice. He heard a strange sound, much like the notching of an arrow to a bowstring. All of a sudden, a bright light seared toward him. A moment later, the arrow struck him and knocked him backwards, into the electric bars. It had lodged itself in the wall behind him, pinning him against the deadly metal. Through halfway closed eyes, he could see the form take more and more shape, until it was remarkably familiar.... No...! Kagome? He tried once again to call out, but he couldn't speak. He couldn't even make any noise in his throat. To make matters worse, his energy was quickly depleting from being shocked. He slowly moved his hand towards the arrow that bound him to the cage, but when his hand came within a few inches it, the spell repelled him painfully. He couldn't move, couldn't shout, and could only stare as the figure that resembled Kagome grinned evilly, entertained by his agony....
~~~ ~~~
"Inu Yasha," Kagome shouted as she rushed through the door of the hut. Miroku, Sango, and Shippo were crowded together about two feet away from where he lay, Miroku trying as hard as he could to find out what was happening from that distance. Koga was seated off to the side somewhat, but his expression showed that he was just as worried about the situation as all the others. At Kagome's entrance, however, he jumped to his feet and watched her curiously, remembering Inu Yasha's words earlier. "Everyone, get away from him," she ordered. They obeyed as quickly as possible. She walked quickly over to him to comfort and try to silence his shouts.
"Wait, Kagome," Shippo cried, stopping her about three feet from his side. "The ghost that took him told us that if we got too close, it'd kill him!" She shook her head.
"It can't. It needs him to be alive for him to be any use to it." She didn't know how she knew that, but it was as if the information came to her mind itself. And she trusted it enough. "I need to be alone with him tonight. He and I have to get over this together." Sango stood up defiantly.
"I'll stay with you as long as it takes Inu Yasha to come to reality again."
"Sango, I beg you not to..."
"Please, Kagome." The female hanyou bowed her head in defeat, and allowed her friend to stay. When she had accepted Sango's presence, Miroku, Shippo, and Koga all stood up as well. But Sango was the one to order them this time. "Out, all men out!" Miroku looked at his love a bit strangely, but said nothing as he walked out of his residence and towards the hut that he shared with Sango and Shippo. Koga looked at Inu Yasha sourly, unnerved by the accuracy of the half-demon's remark. But he too walked out of the hut to find a nice tree to sleep under.
"But Sango," Shippo pleaded, grabbing the hem of her kimono.
"No," she said sternly. So the kitsune turned to Kagome instead.
"Kagome! Please let me stay!" But the hanyou shook her head slowly.
"Sorry, Shippo. Sango and I have to be alone." Shippo's shoulders drooped and he nodded and turned to follow Miroku to where ever he was headed. Sango followed him out to see which directions everyone had gone. Miroku and Shippo headed up to the healers' hut, where Kaede and her student, Kayu, took to living. Koga was working his way towards the forest.
A sound from inside the hut distracted Sango, and when she turned and reentered the hut, she saw Kagome busily trying to make a more comfortable place for Inu Yasha to lie.
"Can you help, Sango?" she asked, picking up a folded blanket from the corner and shaking it open. The demon exterminator nodded silently and stepped back outside to get a load of hay from behind her hut. After she came back inside, she and Kagome worked for a few minutes, spreading the hay around on the wood evenly to make a comfortable bedding. Kagome then spread the blanket over the bed of hay and smoothed it. That done, the two friends half carried, half dragged the sleeping dog-demon onto the makeshift bed.
Kagome sat beside him, supporting his head on her lap. Sango positioned herself a little further away from him, but not too far, in case she was needed for something. After a few minutes of silence, she heard quiet sobs coming from her friend's direction. Startled, she looked over at Kagome. The tears were leaking out of eyes faster than Sango had ever seen them. She moved closer to Kagome and put a reassuring arm around her shoulders. After the half-woman wouldn't make eye contact, she looked down at Inu Yasha. Sweat poured down his face as fast as Kagome's tears ran down hers.
"It's all my fault," Kagome muttered. Sango looked at her in surprise. "I told him the Yumekodomo wouldn't follow him here...."
"What's happening? Why...?" Kagome waved a hand to cut her friend off, then wiped her tears away.
"I'm not exactly sure of the entire story myself, so bear with me.... But its a spirit called the Yumekodomo. I think it uses the nets it weaves to enter someone or something's mind, then terrorizes it until it loses the will to live. Then it feasts on what's left of them." She shut her eyes tightly, as to not see the shocked expression on Sango's face. Doing so, the tears she had tried to brush away fled down her cheeks once more. "That's why its my fault," she choked. "I told the Yumekodomo how to get here, and now he's been taken again...." Opening her eyes, she reached for his limp hand and brought it up to her chin. He let out a soft groan when a tear hit his hand, and his fingers flexed slightly.
Then his eyes fluttered open.
"Kagome," he murmured. She gasped. She had closed her eyes again while cradling his hand in hers, and didn't see his eyes open.
"Inu Yasha," she whispered. "Y-you're alive!"
"You think something like that could kill me," he said weakly, managing a smile. "I don't think so." She grinned back at him, a bit feebly since she had been crying before.
"You're not as tired as you look, then." He shook his head slowly. "Well, can you sit up?" she asked him. He thought for a moment.
"I can try..." He busied himself with trying to lift himself off the bed while Kagome went to get a bottle of water that she had given her friends to keep. Sango had taken to helping him up, and supporting him so that he didn't fall back down to the floor. Kagome turned back to them, a half-full water bottle in hand. Unscrewing the top, she held it to his lips and tilted it. He took to it as if he hadn't had fluid for weeks, and drained the entire bottle without stopping. Afterward, he laid down once more, panting slightly. He still shook every once in a while, and was still tired from both this attack and the one from the night before. "Kagome," he called to her quietly. She was by his side immediately. "How long has it been? How long 'til sunrise?"
"I-I don't know," she replied, dropping her gaze. "It seems to have been a lot longer than it probably is in reality, but I really don't know." He nodded and looked around a bit, before his eyes fell on Sango.
"Where's Miroku and everyone? Weren't they here for dinner?" Sango nodded.
"They were, but we chased them out," she replied with a shrug.
"Huh. You didn't have to do that..." He turned back to Kagome and reached out for her. She met him halfway and caught his fingers between hers, intertwining them. He smiled, his eyes gleaming happily for a moment before they closed and his hand went limp once more.
Looking up above his head, Kagome caught a glimpse of the Yumekodomo, a malevolent grin on its child-like face.
~~~ ~~~
Well, how was that for a chapter? Didja like it? I hope the changes I made make the story fit together better.... Just wait for the next one.... ^-^
Please review! If you review more, I'll post faster, I promise! Let me know how many people are reading it, so I know how popular it is. In the depressed state I'm in right now, I need as much praise as I can get.
Okay, well thanks for sticking with me so far. Hopefully I'll get Chapter 4 up before spring break. Until then, ja ne!
~Tennyo