Chapter 40: Moonless Night

Kyoko yawned as she looked down at the village. "So… Are we going back now that Kouga-kun has left?"

Inu Yasha shook his head slowly. "I want to stay out here another night. I'm tired of staying in that village all of the time."

"Okay… I'm gonna go for a walk—I'll be back in a while."

Inu Yasha nodded and watched as Kyoko wandered away into the depths of the forest. He turned his gaze back to Kagome. "Kagome, I have a bad feeling about tonight."

Kagome smiled reassuringly. "It's okay, you always have a bad feeling about this time of the month."

"I suppose you're right." Inu Yasha sighed as he looked towards the forest. "But… I still feel weird."

Kagome smiled as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Everything will be fine, I promise. You probably feel weird because you're tired. You didn't sleep at all last night, did you?"

Inu Yasha blushed as he sheepishly replied, "No."

"Well, I know for a fact that you aren't going to sleep tonight, so why don't you go to sleep now?"

"You expect me to be able to fall asleep during the day? It's high noon!"

"Fine. The shrine around the well at home is always pitch black inside, why don't you go and sleep there?"

"Why are you so insistent that I sleep now?"

"If you don't, you won't be at full strength in the event that something does happen."

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

Kyoko leaned against the base of the tree and let out a long sigh. She bit her lip as she looked at the clouded sky. [Sesshoumaru still hasn't come back yet… Inu Yasha didn't exactly tell me when he was returning… but I suppose that he took the time to tell Inu Yasha that he is returning is a good sign…] Kyoko sighed as she lightly touched her left arm and then winced as pain shot through it. [I'd hate to see what would happen if I was attacked… the way this arm is…] Kyoko shook her head in annoyance of her injury and leapt to a thick branch just a few feet above as she settled down to sleep.

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ Later ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

Kyoko jumped as she awoke, panting and sweating. [That dream again… Except… Inu Yasha was human… what was that supposed to mean? … Sesshoumaru-sama… please come back to me…] Kyoko looked around herself and noticed that the sun had nearly set. She dropped quietly out of the tree and returned to where Inu Yasha had set up camp yet again. She hesitated as she approached Inu Yasha and Kagome. [Inu Yasha… he smells… human!]

Kagome smiled as she greeted Kyoko with a quick wave as she finished her dinner.

Inu Yasha grinned as he pulled the aluminum foil lid from the top of the styrofoam cup of instant ramen. He shifted his gaze up to Kyoko, a smug expression donning his face. "You get lost?"

Kyoko shrugged as she stared away into the horizon. "I went to sleep."

"In the middle of the day? Geez, Kyoko, didn't you get enough sleep last night?"

"My arm is still healing and my body needs the rest. Besides… I have a bad feeling about tonight."

"Feh, you're not the only one."

Kyoko cocked her head to one side, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You'll see in a few moments." Inu Yasha sighed as he shifted his gaze to the horizon, where the sun had now fully disappeared. He stood and popped his knuckles, one by one, waiting for his transformation to occur.

Kyoko watched Inu Yasha, confused still. She gasped when she felt a pulse of energy and she saw Inu Yasha's hair turn black and his ears changed into those of a human's. His claws and fangs also shrank, and soon his human scent was more than apparent to Kyoko.

"You see, Kyoko, since I am hanyou, I lose my yokai powers once every month, on the night of the new moon, and become human. As you see, there is no moon tonight."

"…Perhaps that should serve to explain my uneasiness. But…" [That dream… Inu Yasha was human then… perhaps that means… no… not now…]

Kagome leaned forward to better see the worried expression on Kyoko's face. "Kyoko what's the matter?"

Kyoko shook her head and forced a smile. "Nothing… nothing at all."

"Feh, she's just uptight about this." Inu Yasha mumbled, holding out a few strands of his ebony hair.

"No… It's something else completely…"

"Feh, sure it is… Don't worry, you're not the only one to be like this about my changing, it's happened before."

"Inu Yasha, as long as you've known me, have I ever lied? I don't care about that! If it's the way you are, then so be it! I don't care! Just don't accuse me of lying to you about something, got it?"

Inu Yasha's eyes widened as he caught Kagome's glare as well. "Gomen nasai… but… What is it that would have you so worried all of the sudden?"

"I have my own worries, but they are not to be of everyone's knowledge, understand?"

"Kyoko… I—"

"Don't worry about it. Just don't worry about it." Kyoko sighed as she walked away from Inu Yasha and Kagome. She walked on, continuing until she reached an old, dead tree that stood alone in the clearing. She leapt into the tree and sat on one of the branches, staring into the starry, moonless sky. [Now… Now I hope Sesshoumaru doesn't come for a while… I cannot let that nightmare be realized… I cannot lose him…]

~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ Elsewhere ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~

Sesshoumaru sighed happily as he stared into the fire. [Tonight is the night of the new moon. I said that I'd return to her… I have completed all preparations for her arrival at my home… Even some of the human lords of the area will be there…]

Rin giggled as she held a dark purple flower she had found up to Sesshoumaru. "Sesshoumaru-sama, look, it's the same color as Kyoko's new kimono that she was wearing when she came back!"

Sesshoumaru glanced at the flower the child held so that she would no longer bother him. His eyes narrowed though, when he saw the flower the child held. [That's a burial flower…] "Rin, put that thing down."

"But, Sesshoumaru-sama… it's pretty."

"I said to put it down."

Rin smiled as she dropped the flower into the fire and skipped around, chasing fireflies as they lit and flew about. "Sesshoumaru-sama, when are we going to go see Kyoko-san again? I miss her."

"Soon, Rin, soon." Sesshoumaru gazed into the fire, watching the dark violet petals burn. [I'm not one to be frightened by superstition… but… finding a flower such as that growing in the wild is supposed to be considered a warning for death… I… I must get back to Kyoko as soon as possible… from here, I could reach her by morning…] "Rin, are you ready to go?"

"Go where, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"We're going to retrieve Kyoko."