Four Souls
Part 4: Well…

An Inuyasha Fanfiction
By Azurite
sailor_andromida@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/azurite_moon
PG

Legend
Remembered
"Spoken"
* Thought *
Emphasis
Sound effect

[ Letter ]

Author's Notes: Gwah! This fic is coming out faster than any of the others I've ever written! But you are forewarned, I'm trying to work on my cliffhangers. I also have a tendency to post whatever pops into my head (the whole bubble bath analogy) so if I post something ridiculous, please don't flame me! ;_; Also, thank you to all the nice people who reviewed… even if they were confused at first. That's the point! ^^ Wait till you read this part now… maybe things will get a bit cleared up. Oh, and "sort of similar" to this is my other recently-posted fic "Stream of Time." If this bores you, read that! I'm not a completely bad writer… honest! Oh, and there may be a touch of OOCed-ness on Inuyasha's part in this chapter… forgive!

Oh, and about this chapter title, "Well…" hehe… it's kind of a pun. Read and see if you get it.

RECAP OF PAST EVENTS:

            Startled, the hanyou looked about. Kagome…? B-But… she couldn't be here. Kikyou was alive now, so that meant…

            The implications of that thought nearly drove Inuyasha to his knees. So unsure was he of Kikyou being… alive again, that he hadn't time to think about what happened to Kagome—the girl, with her own mind, her own body, her own personality. Could she be…?

            His eyes alighted on the well not too far from the village's border. The Bone-Eater's well and the passage from this warring age to Kagome's… if there was even a chance…


            Using all the speed his half-youkai power offered him, Inuyasha ran to the well, and jumped in. He was unaware of a pair of dark eyes trained on his backside the entire time. The figure turned once Inuyasha was out of sight, the slight jingling of beads sounding in the still night.



            Startled, the hanyou looked about. Kagome…? B-But… she couldn't be here. Kikyou was alive now, so that meant…

            The implications of that thought nearly drove Inuyasha to his knees. So unsure was he of Kikyou being… alive again, that he hadn't time to think about what happened to Kagome—the girl, with her own mind, her own body, her own personality. Could she be…?

            His eyes alighted on the well not too far from the village's border. The Bone-Eater's well and the passage from this warring age to Kagome's… if there was even a chance…


            Using all the speed his half-youkai power offered him, Inuyasha ran to the well, and jumped in. He was unaware of a pair of dark eyes trained on his backside the entire time. The figure turned once Inuyasha was out of sight, the slight jingling of beads sounding in the still night.

Post-Script: Do you really need to guess who the person with the beads is? ^^
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Kagome trembled slightly as she crept through the darkness. It was the new moon tonight, so there was no light to go by, save what dimness came from the flood-lights down the block.

* Damn cat! Stupid, stupid Buyo! *

But she had seen the oversized cat slip out the open porch door, and she had to get the cat back tonight… the last time Buyo had gotten out, he had killed an assortment of birds belonging to a neighbor, and left messes on every stair leading up to the Sunset Shrine. Grandfather had not been pleased.

Kagome and Souta had begged not to have Buyo put to sleep or given away, so both Ms. Higurashi and Grandfather made them promise to make sure Buyo never got outside the house again. They'd made well on their promise for so long; Kagome didn't want to see Buyo given away. She didn't know why, but sometimes that darn cat felt like her only friend…

            "B-Buyo… here kitty, kitty…" Kagome snuck around the bushes near the legendary Bone-Eater's well. She thought she heard a rustle of something, and whipped in that direction.

            * I should have brought a flashlight… *

            Kagome chattered as well—she was cold. All she wanted to do right now was find Buyo, and climb back into her soft, warm bed. Sure, she had school tomorrow morning, but sleep was the most wonderful thing in the world, and Kagome wouldn't miss it, if she had the choice. But at the moment, she didn't have a choice…

            She crept close to the bushes where she'd seen the rustle, and dared to call out, just a bit louder…

            "Buyo? Here kitty, kitty, kitty…"

            Kagome kept her eyes focused on the bush, and then jumped back with a silent gasp when two very non-feline eyes stared back at her.

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            * Damn! I didn't know it was the new moon tonight… * Inuyasha grumbled as he climbed out of the well. The powers he treasured so dearly—being able to extend his senses beyond the capabilities of any normal human—were gone with the ebbing of his youkai blood.

            It seemed that, besides the several hundred years that separated the Feudal Age and Kagome's time, there was an hourly difference as well—making the day come faster in Inuyasha's time. He hadn't kept track of the weeks since his last transformation into a human, and now…

            The dog-demon heard a voice—

            "Buyo…? Here kitty, kitty, kitty…"

            * It's Kagome! *

            Then Inuyasha was frightened—if Kagome really didn't remember him… maybe…

            * Hide! Hide, hide, hide!! *

            Inuyasha crouched down in the bushes, trying to keep his breathing level and soft. Without his ability to smell from a great distance, he had to depend on his handicapped vision to tell when Kagome was coming closer—or when she wasn't.

            The dim lighting cast her slender shadow on the concrete before Inuyasha, and he held his breath. Oh… if she saw him…

            It was then that Kagome gasped aloud—softly, but nonetheless, she gasped.

            * Kuso! She knows I'm here… *

            Indeed, Kagome stared into Inuyasha's eyes, hidden by the bushes as they were, in surprise.


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            * Courage, Higurashi! Don't be afraid! *

Inside, Kagome was knock-kneed and terrified. What if it was a… a thief, or a robber, or… any number of horrible people could be hiding in the bushes surrounding her family's shrine! Any kind, and with who-knows-what for weapons to coerce victims with…

            Kagome gulped. She paused. If she just turned and walked away… then maybe…

           * Then maybe he'll ignore you? Yeah, right. * Kagome sighed at her own mind's sarcasm. Besides… what if it was just Buyo, and she was just imagining things.

            * Mom always said you had a vivid imagination. * Kagome mustered up all her courage, and turned back to the bush. The eyes weren't there anymore, but…

            Kagome bent down to see if Buyo was there, and froze when someone tapped her—on the head.

            * Oh… crap…*

            When Kagome looked up, her face turned a brilliant red—standing there before her was the most handsome man she'd ever seen!

            * Gaaah! What am I thinking? Oh geez… oh geez… *


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            * This better work… * Inuyasha grumbled to himself for the umpteenth time. Perhaps if Kagome didn't recognize him, then it was for the better that he was in his human form. Besides, what harm was it to just… check on her? Right…?

            "Uhm… are you Kagome?" Inuyasha asked bluntly.

            * Pray she doesn't think you're insane for wearing a kimono and wandering around in the middle of the night. *

            "… how did you know my name?" Kagome asked, taking an unsure step backwards. He sure looked okay, for a guy in a kimono… and he was awfully handsome…

            * That doesn't mean he isn't some convicted criminal!! It's always the nice ones who hurt you the most! *

            "Well… uh, your… your reputation precedes you! You're quite popular where I come from." Inuyasha attempted a false grin. Kagome eyed him critically, still keeping her distance. It was then that her eyes alighted on the Tessaiga.

            * A sword? What is he, some kind of martial artist? *

            Inuyasha knew what she was looking at, and unsheathed the ancient sword, handling it just so Kagome could hold it.

            "Eh…?" She stared at the rusted blade simply plopped into her hands, and then back up at Inuyasha. Suddenly, a strange feeling overcame her… as if this were all… familiar somehow. The blade in her hands wasn't just some rusted old blade from some ancient dojo…

            ZZN … ZZN … ZZN

            * What… is this thing? It… feels as though it's… it has a pulse!? *

            Kagome handed the blade quickly back to Inuyasha, and before she could ask him about that odd vibe she'd just gotten from the sword, he smiled at her.

            "Listen… would it be okay if I stayed the night? I uh… I'm not really familiar with this area, and I heard that the Sunset Shrine was…"

            "Where did you hear all this from?" Kagome asked, narrowing her eyes, hands on her hips. Then she answered her own question with an exasperated sigh—"Probably my idiotic friends from school. It's a wonder they even hang around me anymore, with all the silly things Hojo keeps embarrassing me with, or those excuses Grandpa made when I…"

            Inuyasha stared at her, wondering what she was going to say. He knew very well that Kagome's foolish grandfather had to make excuses for her absences from that… 'school' place. Kagome often complained about them, saying how it was impossible, and only made her life in her own world more difficult.

            Moments like those made Inuyasha ask her why she didn't just stay –with him, as the case would be—but his own embarrassment, and his foot-in-mouth syndrome prevented him from even riding that train of thought.  

            "Never mind. Uh… I guess so… you don't look suspicious. There's no guest room, but… I suppose the living room would be okay…" Kagome started walking back to the house, and nearly tripped over Buyo. She smiled at the cat and picked him up, completely forgetting her anger towards the feline from earlier.

            Inuyasha followed her with some silence. So far, so good, but she showed no signs of recognizing him.

            * I have to find out what happened… she has to remember me! She has to! *

            Only minutes later, Kagome had Inuyasha nicely settled on the couch in the living room.

            "It's… uh, a bit cold… but…"

            "It's fine." He smiled. Kagome couldn't help but gulp, and she was glad for the darkness to cover her blush. She pulled Buyo up to her face and muttered something about having a nice sleep, and then she skittered upstairs.

            Inuyasha settled on the couch—it was far better than a branch, at any rate. He placed his hands behind his head and drifted off into a sleep, where he had dreams of Kagome being the one by his side, back in the Sengoku Jidai.


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            The next morning, Kagome was up like a shot—she wanted to be up before her mother, grandfather, and brother, so they would not question her as to why a strange young man was sleeping on their couch.

            But when Kagome got downstairs, there was no one on the couch. The blanket was in a heap on the floor, as if whoever he was had gotten up and left in a hurry.

            "He-Hello…?" Maybe he'd gone to the bathroom or something. But there was no one at all downstairs. Everything in the household was intact, so he hadn't been a robber…

            * Geez. Maybe it was a… * Kagome's eyes settled on a folded piece of white paper sticking out from one of the cushions.

            "Dream…?" Kagome muttered the last part of her thought aloud, as she sat down to read the note. Indeed, it was from her mysterious "friend" and was addressed to her. The handwriting wasn't all that great—and some of the kanji looked downright ancient—but it was enough to read by.

            [ Kagome Higurashi –

            Thank you for letting me stay last night. I'm sorry I had to leave so abruptly, but there are only so many hours of light on a day, so I was forced to leave at dawn. But you have my utmost thanks. I hope I have the pleasure of meeting you again. ]

            "Ke… he didn't even sign his name!" Kagome sighed. But she smiled as she read the letter's last line again. She giggled girlishly and then went back up to her room.

            * I hope we meet again, soon too, stranger. *


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 I know, I know, not another non-cliffhanger. =P Oh well. Maybe next part—

Part 5- Third Soul: Inuyasha

"… It's you!" Kagome exclaimed, taking a step back. But she wasn't frightened. Startled was the more appropriate word for it, because it had been almost a month…

"Yeah…" Inuyasha looked around, as if expecting to see someone else—to indicate his presence wasn't welcome. At this time of night, he was sure no one was awake and about… besides Kagome. He didn't even pause to think why she was out there… that maybe she was expecting him?

She'd been so happy before, and this time, he wasn't totally sure if he should go back and take that away from her…

* Every time I look into Kikyou's eyes, I see Kagome… Kikyou isn't supposed to be alive… is she? *

"Well… come on in… stranger." Kagome smiled at him, and Inuyasha looked back. The Bone-Eater's well—where his real past, present, and future lay… where Kikyou was waiting for him, a smile on her face. She no longer had any intent to kill him… didn't even remember what Naraku had done so many years ago that had resulted in her death, and his fifty-year sleep on a tree.

But then… there was Kagome. He'd put her life in danger more times than he could care to remember… and she made him feel strange… like it wasn't bad to be a hanyou. The choice was his… because now, Kagome and Kikyou were most definitely two different people…

Inuyasha swallowed slightly, mustering up what courage he couldn't find in his human form—and followed Kagome inside.                   

Stay tuned for more!

Azurite