Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

Author's Note: At last an update! *rubs back of neck* Gomen ne minna. Stupid writer's block stuck to me for a while there but here's the next chapter.

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Kagome's eyes snapped open with a start and shot straight up into a sitting position. Her eyes darted around, taking in the surroundings in confusion. Arms tightened around her waist and she froze.

Inuyasha had woken from his light sleep the moment she had moved. He pulled her back into his chest and brought one hand up to cup her chin and force her to meet his eyes. He frowned when he noticed the wild look she wore. Her heart rate had accelerated drastically and he could hear it clearly from where she had her fist pressed against her chest.

"Calm down Kagome," he murmured softly, watching her eyes carefully for the moment her jumbled thoughts smoothed out.

She shook her head, clearing it of the screams that had broken through the black landscape of her unconscious mind. "I'm all right, Inuyasha," she assured him, her voice a bit scratchy from her sleep, "How long was I out?"

"The rest of yesterday and this morning."

Kagome stared at him, shock very clearly showing in her features before she shifted herself in his lap and pushed herself from the branch. She landed very neatly on the branch beneath it.

"Inuyasha!" she called up to him, "We've got to hurry. I know where they are now." And with that said, she took off. Not on the ground running as she usually would have done, but jumping from tree to tree with a speed that blurred.

Inuyasha stood, watching her go briefly with a saddened look before he too took off.

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Sango looked down at her hand in surprise, feeling the warm pressure even though nothing was there to give it. Although who the hand belonged to was no surprise to her. The feel of a thick rope of beads pressed against her palm were more than enough proof of that.

'Then . . .' she thought slowly, 'This isn't real? Is it an illusion?'

'Huntress,' a voice called in her mind, 'You must choose which path to take.'

"I choose to go back," her voice was clear and firm. Sango squeezed her hand around his for a fresh burst of determination, "I choose to return."

A thick silence engulfed her before the quiet voice returned, though this time, holding a sharp edge, 'Very well then.'

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Miroku found himself sitting in a clearing as he opened his eyes. There was no wind or movement in this area and an eerie stillness filled the atmosphere. A familiar figure came up from behind him but to his surprise, it just brushed past him, saying nothing or even glancing his way.

"Sango," he called out, reaching out to grab her before she got to far away. Just as his fingers brushed her shoulder she began running, Miroku found, to his dismay and shock, that no matter how hard he tried or how much he moved, he stayed in the exact same spot, watching Sango run from him.

"Sango," he tried again but, just as the last time, she did not react to his shouts. As he watched, yet another familiar figure appeared beside him.

"She will come to me," the boy spoke, "You know she will. She'll stay with me when your quest is over and you'll just have been another random man in her life." And then he too ran off, leaving Miroku behind him as he ran to catch up with the fast disappearing woman.

"Wait! Kohaku!" Miroku shouted desperately, trying to ignore the sudden clenching in his chest.

He sank to his knees when they both vanished from his view. 'Is it true?' his mind betrayed him with the questions it hurled at him, 'Will she leave? Just like Inuyasha leaves whenever Kikyo-sama is around, Sango also goes when she hears of Kohaku. Will she forget me so soon?"

He shook his head viciously, 'No. Don't think like that right now. I have to figure out where this place is and how I got here.'

The beads around his hand rippled and he looked down at his gloved hand in surprise, wondering at the sudden pressure pressing the rosary into his palm. 'That's right,' his mind went back to what had happened before he had lost track of his mind. 'Sango,' he knew, 'It's Sango.' If he looked close enough, he could almost make out the brief outline of a hand squeezing his. 'How do I get out of here?'

"That's easy enough."

Miroku jumped at the sudden voice. It was light and had something that hinted at amusement. "Who's there?" he shouted, his muscles tightening as the clearing faded into a complete black. His staff was gone, he noted bitterly, and with no light at all, he was blind as well.

His eyes narrowed at the sound of laughter around him. It wasn't hysterical but enough that it began to irritate him after a few moments. Miroku closed his eyes but the continuous tic in his right eye clearly gave away his annoyance. "Would you mind," he began slowly, with all the calm that he could muster, "making it so that I could see you?"

The laughter died down to a more comfortable volume. "You wouldn't know who I am, houshi," the voice was low and still carried the occasional chuckle to it, "But nonetheless, to return to your physical form, just walk towards your right."

Miroku opened his eyes slowly, peering into the darkness where he could barely make out a figure. "Arigato gozaimasu," Miroku bowed to the figure, turned to his right, and began walking.

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They were sprinting through the trees at a blinding speed. It had been roughly two hours since they had started out but Kagome seemed to know exactly where she was going and hadn't stopped once.

'This would be fun,' Inuyasha thought miserably, 'If the wench would just smile.' But Kagome just looked determined, there was none of the usual fun and laughter in her changed eyes, but the murderous intent was obvious. And it scared the shit out of him.

He was surprised, to say the least, when Kagome jumped to the ground and slid to a stop. He followed suit, skidding and stopping just inches away from where she stood.

"Kagome?" he asked hesitantly after a few moments of silence. But Kagome didn't so much as twitch at the sound of her name. Inuyasha followed her dead gaze to a small hole in the dirt before them.

"There's something about this place," she murmured, almost as if she was talking to herself, "Something that I should remember . . ."

All at once, brief flashes of things she had done exploded in her mind, things she had no recollection of doing. She squeezed her eyes shut, her hand raising to press against them and a short sound of pain escaped from her clenched teeth.

Inuyasha caught bits and pieces of the images scrambling through her mind and shook her, "Ignore it Kagome," he ordered her, capturing her eyes with his own when they opened, "Look at me. Focus on me."

She pushed the images to the back of her mind, "I'm all right now, Inuyasha," she told him after a tense moment, "And there's where we must go." His eyes followed hers once again to the hole.

Her hand slipped into his and she smiled up at him when he glanced down at her in surprise, "Let's go, Inuyasha."

He nodded, walking with her towards the hole that seemed to grow bigger with every step that they took towards it. But there was no hesitation from either of them when they stepped into it.

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Jap. Translations:

Houshi – Buddhist priest

Arigato gozaimasu – Thank you very much

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Author's Note: A short chapter, I know. And I'm sorry for taking so long with it. But now that I have a clear direction to head in and I can almost see the end so hopefully, the chapters will be out faster, reviews would give a helpful push as well. I'll be at camp for a week starting on Saturday so don't expect anything before I come back. ^_^ See you all then! Ja.