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"MINNA-SAN, WAKE UP!! KAGOME-CHAN IS MISSING!"


True Identity
By Sunflowerobi
Chapter Three: Searching


Inuyasha stirred and his eyes slowly lifted open. A bit unhappy, he glowered at Sango. "Damn it, woman! Keep your voice down!"

Sango turned to him, terrified yet angry. "How can you say that?! Kagome-chan is missing! And I was foolish to think you cared about her!"

Now Inuyasha is fully awake. "WHAT?!" He was ready to jump down and question Sango face-to-face when he found out that... he couldn't. He couldn't mover his legs! "WTF?" He tried desperately to move, but his lower body wouldn't budge. "Dammit!" He cursed again and again, over and over, until-

"It's no use, Inuyasha-sama." A voice squeaked out from the position of his left shoulder.

"What's going on?" Shippou sat up, rubbing his eyes and pouting.

"Yeah. What's all the noises about?" Miroku yawned as he lifted his head, now awake as well.

Myouga glanced at them all closely. "I see."

"What do you see?" Inuyasha growled, impatient and annoyed.

"Inuyasha-sama, may I say that you were all under the control of a sleeping spell?" Myouga jumped up and down on his lord's shoulder, waving his little arms frantically as he suddenly burst out.

"WHAT?!" Inuyasha yelped and jumped up on the tree branch, wide eyed. Sniffing the air, Inuyasha's expression darkened. "Sesshoumaru, that bastard." Without another word, he leapt down from the tree and prepared to walk away when Sango's voice stopped him.

"Wait- Inuyasha! Where are you going?!" Sango looked like a lost kitten, unsure of what to do.

"To find Kagome." He muttered simply, although his golden orbs boiling with angry flames. Furious was the only word to describe his state of mood at the moment, even though there's hardly a trace to hint about it. Now Sesshoumaru had done it. He had kidnapped Kagome, and so he is going to pay. That'll teach him to mess with Inu-chan's life twice.

"B-but... WE DON'T HAVE A SINGLE CLUE!!" Everything from Sango's life-long training evaporates into thin air as she fretted about Kagome's safety, not so sure about anything any more.

Suddenly Miroku stood and appeared at her side. Squeezing her shoulder comfortingly, he looked at her with grim eyes. "Come. We'll all search for Kagome-sama. And I'm very much sure Inuyasha has a clue already." He looked at the hanyou.

Inuyasha nodded. "Let's go."

***

After a few hours of searching, Inuyasha lead the small party deeper into the dense forest, cursing each time he had to cut down some branches of bushes in the way. The small group was extremely tired, but Inuyasha made it clear that he refused to give up.

"Come ON! Walk faster!" Inuyasha snapped when he saw their progress was getting slower and slower by the minutes.

Miroku sighed. "Inuyasha, as much as I am concern about Kagome-sama's welfare, you can be a little bit easier on us."

Shippou chimed up. "I want to rest! But I want Kagome, too!" Little teardrops started to appear in his eyes.

Inuyasha scoffed. "Grow up, brat. You can only choose one thing or the other. You can't have everything in your life, you know."

"Wow. How smart of you, Inuyasha," Shippou stated dryly.

Inuyasha chose to avoid that comment; finding Kagome is the most important thing right now. So instead of replying to the 'nasty' comment, Inuyasha decided to lead the party on, even deeper into the thick forest in search of Kagome.

"Come on, move it."

***Meanwhile...***

Sesshoumaru stood over a high cliff, watching the kilometers and kilometers of land below him. The wench lay on the ground behind him, dozing peacefully under a tiny spell he had put on her. After all, he wasn't about to take any chances of being attacked from behind unexpectedly.

"Sixty-six years..." The youkai lord whispered, not really paying attention to his surroundings as he sort through his thoughts. ...sixty-six years... Kyoko...missing... for sixty-six years...

He blinked something... watery from his eyes. No, it's not tears, for youkai don't cry. (Or at the very least, superior youkai don't cry.) A familiar scent tickled his nose, and his narrowed eyes widened ever so slightly. ...Kyoko...?

After a slight hesitation, the Lord of the Western Lands brushed it off as a trick of he mind. Turning away from the cliff, he paced toward the dozing girl and picked her up, intending to continue on his -- no, their -- journey toward his castle.

Victory sang in his mind, and a smirk tugged at his lips. Heh, he chuckled mentally, we'll see who is the winner, eh, Inuyasha?

He did not even have to think what he wanted to say next, for the wind knows well and sings well: The older ones always win with victory in the end, for many worthless youths, one such as the hanyou by the name of Inuyasha, lack the many valuable experiences of true life...

***

Kagome looked around at her surroundings: left, right, front, back, above, and below. Wherever she looked, there is only darkness... and more darkness. Occasionally, foggy mist will rise from who knows where. The almost-sixteen-year-old girl huddled in a small ball, scared out of her wits. "Inuyasha...Inuyasha..." she whispered his name over and over, wishing he would come to save her from this horrible lonely void.

"...Kyoko, Sesshoumaru, you two are engaged to each other," an old male's baritone voice stated.

Startled, Kagome snapped her head up to look around again. Still dark, but a light fog was beginning to thicken up. "...wha-?"

"...How are you doing, Kyoko-chan?" This time it's a young boy's voice.

"...who?" Kagome squinted her eyes, trying to make out the outlines of shadows. If there's any, that is. Suddenly, brightness lit the dark void, too bright to make it possible to see anything. The shikon detector yelped in surprise. As she tried to shield her eyes from the light, she found out that it's impossible to do so, as the light seems to come from within her vision. Slowly, the lights dimmed, and scenes of countryside displayed themselves within her vision.

A boy was standing before her, smiling slightly. She could tell it's a youkai, for his ears were pointed, and he had snow white hair and amber eyes, with a fluffy-looking object resting on his shoulder. Dumb-founded, Kagome stared. This...boy seems... familiar to her. Hold on. Something's... something's on his forehead... It's a-

Before Kagome can make out the mark on the boy's forehead, the image was gone, replaced by a younger looking boy. The younger boy turned toward her, blushing. Like the former one, he had a head of shocking white hair and amber eyes. However, this... boy had... DOGGY EARS?!

Surprised, Kagome gasped softly. ...I-Inuyasha...?! Putting the pieces together, Kagome's eyes widened as she realized that the first boy could be... Sesshoumaru. But, what she couldn't understand was, why in the world was she having visions of them as little kids...?

As abruptly the younger Sesshoumaru had disappear, the younger Inuyasha was suddenly gone, this time replaced by a gentle-looking male in his mid-age. Somehow, just by looking at the gentle smile on the man's face made Kagome felt safe... Then the man was gone, in his place was dozens of pictures and scenes. Clutching her head, Kagome screamed in agony: it was just too much. Quickly falling to the floor as her knees buckled, Kagome held out her hand to where she thought the man had once stood. Just right before she fell onto the cold floor of the void unconscious, she whispered, "Chi...chi..."

***

Sesshoumaru sniffed at the air, tasting the sweet fragrance of the flowers surrounding him. Turning around, the Lord of the Western Lands spare a moment's glance at the wench wrapped up in his tail. Occasionally, she would twitch once or twice, whimpering slightly in her sleep. He frowned: this was not suppose to happen. The spell was meant to put her mind in a blank state, killing any thoughts that might come across her brain. Yet this was not the case here.

Trembling, his brother's wench twisted this way and that in a form of struggling. The young lord's eyebrows dipped as he scowled and wrapped his tail around the girl more firmly. The shivering stopped, and the lord sighed in relief as the girl went limp.

Looking ahead, Sesshoumaru eyed the path they were supposed to be traveling on. Sighing in frustration, he took to air, continuing on their way to his castle. It seems I have to hurry. The wench is... special, as proven by her struggles with the spell, not that it'll ever work. And, after all, she did freed the Tetsusaiga.

***Back With Inuyasha...***

Inuyasha once again lead the small worn out searching party. "Come on!! You've got your rest, now hurry up!" He growled impatiently at their slow progress. "Dammit!! If you guys don't hurry, who'll guarantee that Sesshoumaru won't try to harm Kagome?"

Miroku suddenly stopped in his track, his posture tensed.

"What now?! You cowarding out?" Inuyasha taunted, not happy that they'll delay more time than necessary, by his standard.

"Inuyasha," Miroku hissed, "Be quiet or we'll be attacked! THAT will definitely delay our time!"

Inuyasha clamped his mouth shut in obedience, although his eyes hinted something else.

"Let's move hastily before we get found out." Miroku advised as they moved silently in the thick forest. The others nodded in agreement, Inuyasha included.

Alas, they were not so lucky, as they soon found out.

"Ahhh~! There they are!!" a silky voice whispered, the sound full of delight.

"Attack them!! Seize the Shikon no Kakera!!" Another male voice, however stronger and less silky, chorused.

A swarm of low-level youkai appeared before the group, baring their fangs at them and attacking.

"Feh! Just a group of small fries!" Inuyasha raised his transformed Tetsusaiga, swinging it down with some anger.

Immediately, all the youkai was gone, leaving on the ground their corpses. Everyone gaped as Inuyasha sheathed Tetsusaiga calmly.

"I-Inuyasha?" Shippou called out weakly.

"Let's go." Inuyasha strode away.

Deciding not to provoke the hanyou any further, the trio followed at a slow pace, with Kirara bouncing after them, trying to put distance between themselves and the angry hanyou.

"Boy, Inuyasha sure is scary, ne?" Shippou whispered into the other two's ears, who could only nodded mutely.

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TRANSLATIONS:

chichi: Father, Dad.
Shikon no Kakera: Shikon shards.