Author's note: Thanks to blulily07, Miara, Ramen2, and Lord Sesshomaru for writing, and thanks LilNezumi LilInu and Inu-kami for writing again!
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With a wave of his hand, the sky darkened. A demon wind rose up and screamed, whipping itself into a small tornado about the group. The earth quaked with a sickening lurch, knocking them off their feet.
Inuyasha reached out and grabbed Kagome, holding her close to him. He had a bad feeling about this "your worst nightmare" stuff. Mildly reassured when she clung to him, Inuyasha tried to peer through the darkness, but he could no longer see the red-haired man. Dammit!
He struggled to his feet, pulling Kagome with him. "C'mon!" he shouted. "We have to find him. Can you sense his jewel shards, Kagome?" He turned to her and froze in horror. The face that looked back at him was not Kagome's at all. This face was horribly disfigured. Old gashes crisscrossed a shriveled, sheet-white face. Her eyes, once vibrant with passion and color, were dead and grim. Her beautiful, raven black hair, what was left of it, had become gray and scraggly, but none of that hit him as horribly as the lack of life in her body. She was little more than a standing corpse…
And it was all his fault.
He knew beyond a doubt that his carelessness had lead to her condition. Hands shaking, he dropped the Tetsusaiga and touched her cold face…
She crumpled to the ground.
Inuyasha fell to his knees, throat closing. I did this to her…it's all my fault…
Dimly, he registered the sound of laughter in the background. He turned his head slowly to see an arrow pointed at his face. Kikyo, glowing with a purple miko light, pulled back the arrow.
"I'll see you in Hell, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha simply turned back to Kagome and gathered her broken body in his arms. Overcome, he tightened his hold on her and buried his face in the remains of her hair. Gods, I'm sorry Kagome. I'm so sorry…
This truly is a nightmare…
Wait!
His eyes snapped open. Nightmare! None of this was real!
"Die, Inuyasha!"
With a grunt, he hurled himself out of the path of the arrow. He lurched to his feet, grabbed the Tetsusaiga, and pointed it at Kikyo. "I know you're not real, 'Kikyo.' Take this!"
With one swing, the darkness, Kikyo, and the dead Kagome disappeared. He was standing in the village again, light warming his skin. He rested his weight on the Tetsusaiga. Thank the Gods…thank the gods it wasn't real.
Turning, Inuyasha spotted Kagome curled on the ground, surrounded by her own web of darkness. Gritting his teeth, he reached out to shake her out of the dream, but the moment he touched her the darkness spread to envelop him. He was standing next to Kagome, but she wasn't looking at him. Instead, she was crying as she watched the rest of their group get tortured by Naraku. Kikyo's shattered remains littered the area. Kagome fired arrow after arrow at Naraku, but nothing reached the evil demon. As she fought, Inuyasha spotted another figure as it stood and turned towards her.
It was…himself?
A phantom Inuyasha scowled at Kagome. "Wench! You'll pay for all the trouble you've caused me! If it weren't for you, Kikyo would still be alive!!"
The real Inuyasha's jaw fell open as he watched his phantom self rush at Kagome. "I'll kill you!!"
No! Inuyasha ran forward to head off his nightmare version. No way. I'd never turn against Kagome like this! He leapt in front of Kagome and pulled out Tetsusaiga, preparing to slice open his false self…
But the phantom Inuyasha ran right through him. He can't…he can't hurt me. Inuyasha gasped. But he can kill Kagome!
He spun about. "Kagome! That's not me! Fight him!!"
Her eyes were wide with fear as she stood, but she gave no indication of having heard or seen the real Inuyasha. She put her hands up as the fake hanyou rushed at her…
"I'm sorry!!"
A flare of purple light blasted from Kagome's body, incinerating the fake Inuyasha and her dream bubble. Dropping to her knees, she stared at the real Inuyasha apprehensively. He stepped forward.
"Kagome, it's me. The real me."
She blinked slowly, then gave a cry and flung herself at him. "Inuyasha!!" She wrapped her arms around him and started to cry. After a moment of surprise, Inuyasha returned her embrace, holding her tightly. Heart pounding, he buried his face in her hair, reassured when he inhaled her scent.
She sobbed, then leaned back to look at him. "I could hear you. I could hear you yelling for me to fight, that it wasn't really you. If you hadn't, Inuyasha…" Her eyes brimmed with more tears. "I might've… I might not have been able to…"
He tightened his arms around her and shut his eyes. "I know. I know what you mean." He took a moment to calm his frazzled nerves before reluctantly releasing her. "Come on. We have to save the others."
She nodded and took her cue from him, touching Miroku's back. After they managed to convince him that he wasn't really sucking up Sango with his wind tunnel and that he wasn't about to follow her (interesting that hurting her was his worst nightmare), they rescued Sango. Her dream had her bound with chains and being manipulated by them like a puppet to slaughter her brother Kohaku. Finally, they rescued Shippo from every big enemy they'd faced together…the Thunder Brothers, the witch Urasue, the ogres of the Hell painter, Sesshomaru, Naraku, a swarm of demons, and many others they couldn't count.
When they all burst out of Shippo's dream bubble, they sighed in relief. "Man, Shippo!" Inuyasha grumbled. "As if fighting them all once wasn't bad enough…talking you into it was a nightmare."
The others scowled at him, and he blushed slightly. "You know what I meant."
Finally, they turned to Ishiyana. Unlike the others, who had all been curled on the ground in fear, Ishiyana was kneeling and staring into the distance with a grim expression. They reached out to touch him, wondering what his nightmare could possibly be.
As they entered his dream bubble, it started to rain. They found Ishiyana crouched before a cracked gravestone. The earth from the grave was scattered all over the place, and the grave lay empty. The group looked around, but they could find no person attacking him. How could a dream like this kill him?
Kagome squinted to read the smudged, chipped name on the gravestone. "Ishi…yana?" She gasped. "That's his own grave!!"
Startled, the others finally noticed the mud and dirt splattered all over the boy. "He must have…he must have been buried alive and clawed his way out!" Shippo stammered.
Miroku frowned. "But if he has already escaped, then why is his nightmare persisting?"
They watched as Ishiyana looked down into his grave with vacant eyes. He reached in and pulled out an urn. Slowly, he lifted the lid and dumped the ashes. With a howl, the ashes swirled and took a human form. Standing before him was a man with long black hair and a sinister expression.
"You fool. You should never have returned to life." The man took out a long sword and positioned it over Ishiyana's neck. "You are no son of mine." Ishiyana closed his eyes. "Die. We have no more need for you."
Kagome gasped as the sword was raised. "No! Ishiyana, don't let him kill you! This isn't real!"
Ishiyana's eyes snapped open. "What?" He spun around, but from the way his eyes darted about it was obvious that he could not see any of them. "Kagome??"
His eyes snapped to the side as he heard the faint shriek of the sword. With a grunt, he threw himself to the side, but the sword caught him in the midriff. Gasping, Ishiyana stumbled…
And fell into the grave.
The man disappeared, but the dirt started throwing itself back into the grave. With a smothered yelp, Ishiyana tried to clamber out of the grave, but the dirt started pushing him back. He choked.
"Ishiyana!!"
At the sound of Kagome's voice, Ishiyana gritted his teeth, sank beneath the dirt…
And launched himself out of the grave.
He hit the ground and rolled, clutching his side. A hissing sound filled the air as his nightmare dissipated. Groaning, he sat up and stared at the group around him.
"How did…" he trailed off, staring over the tops of their heads. The others turned about to see Kiori stand up on a rooftop.
Kiori laughed softly. "So, you survived…but perhaps you will not be so willing to fight if all you have to fight are yourselves!"
Immediately, doubles of each person launched themselves at the originals. With so many copies of each person running about, it was impossible to figure out which one they were supposed to help.
Boomerangs flew through the air, arrows darted about, and giant tops spun wildly about the village, decimating several buildings. As Inuyasha dodged a Tetsusaiga, a Kagome called out to him.
"Inuyasha! Help me!"
He glanced over, but then several Kagomes jumped in.
"No, help me!"
"I'm the real one!"
"Inuyasha, please!"
Gritting his teeth, Inuyasha turned away. I can't figure out which one is real! One of his doubles barely missed his side with its claws. This can't go on much longer.
The wind picked up as several Mirokus unleashed their wind tunnels. Shoving his sword in the ground, Inuyasha watched one of his doubles go flying into a wind tunnel.
Ok, this is bad. What if one of the originals gets sucked up?? Fending off a double, Inuyasha glared about. That bastard Kiori has to be here somewhere…
"Kagome!" he yelled. "Quickly! Where are his jewel shards?"
Several Kagomes looked over at him, but only one responded. "He's over there. In that hut!"
Catching a glimmer of movement, Inuyasha leapt into the air, took aim, and fired the Wind Scar. A bright yellow light decimated the hut, and with a scream, Kiori's twisted form dissolved. As Inuyasha landed, all the doubles disappeared. Miroku helped Sango to her feet, for once refraining from rubbing her bottom. Not the time for it.
With a frown of concern, Inuyasha went to Kagome, who held her shoulder with a grimace. She smiled painfully at him. "One of my doubles stabbed me with an arrow. I'll be fine once I wrap my shoulder." She walked over to the area where Kiori had been defeated and gathered up the four jewel shards. Instantly purified, they shimmered in her hands. "I'd better put these away."
She slipped them into her little glass bottle, then looked up at Inuyasha. "You saw all of our nightmares. What was yours, Inuyasha?"
Instantly, that horrid vision of her death came to him. Scowling, he turned away. "It was nothing. Nothing at all."
Kagome sighed and nodded. Probably something to do with Kikyo.
After a moment of silence, he gestured at her wound. "You should tend to that." He glanced at Ishiyana, who sat doubled over in pain. "You should tend to him, too."
* * *
Later, they sat around a fire in a clearing. Ishiyana hissed as Kagome applied a stingy antiseptic to his wound.
"Where did you find THAT stuff?" he grumbled. She rolled her eyes.
"You know, you and Inuyasha are a lot more alike than you want to admit."
He grimaced, but he didn't reply. He stared at the half demon, who was gazing up at the sky with a rueful expression on his face. Ishiyana turned to Kagome. "What's his problem?"
She looked over at Inuyasha, then followed his gaze skyward. "There won't be a moon tonight." At Ishiyana's puzzled expression, she explained. "Every new moon, Inuyasha loses his demon powers and becomes human."
"He does?" Eyebrows raised, Ishiyana took in the hanyou. "Interesting."
As night descended, Inuyasha's hair turned black, his ears migrated down his head, his claws disappeared, and his expression turned surly.
"Perfect. Just what I needed." Inuyasha scowled as he glared at the stunned Ishiyana. "Now I look just like you. This is the reason I want to use the Shikon Jewel to become all demon."
Ishiyana was quiet for a second, then he frowned. "Yeah, you do look like me." Tension started winding itself visibly in the boy's body, and he leaped to his feet. He started pacing back and forth, ignoring Kagome requests for him to sit down. The others watched him pace.
"What's the matter, Ishiyana?" Shippo asked, hopping into Kagome's lap.
Ishiyana shrugged. "I don't know. I always get…itchy when there's a new moon." He continued to pace, his expression getting darker. With a lurch, he came to a stop and glared at Inuyasha.
"Hey, Inuyasha. You planning on having kids?"
Silence.
"What the hell kind of question is that?!" Inuyasha turned bright red and refused to look at Kagome, lest anyone think that he had ever thought of having a future with her. Immediately, the image of her standing before him, a smile on her face and a white-haired baby in her arms, planted itself in his mind. So what if I've imagined it. It's never gonna happen. When everyone continued to look at him, he snarled. "What does it matter? Why are you asking?"
Ishiyana waved a hand jerkily. "You've mentioned using the jewel to turn all demon. Are you sure you're going to do it?"
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, why?"
"That's good, because you can't have them as a half breed."
A stunned silence met his words. Inuyasha blinked. "Wha…what are you talking about?"
"It's a little something called biology." Ishiyana shrugged a shoulder. "If you cross two completely different species…" He gave Inuyasha a pointed look. "And I think it's pretty safe to say that a dog demon and a human are not the same species." He turned away. "Then the resulting child is infertile."
The others stared at him first, then Kagome. "Is this true?" Miroku questioned in surprise.
She bit her lip. "I think I remember hearing something like that, yes."
Miroku sighed, walked over to Inuyasha, and patted him on the shoulder. "No wonder you're always in a bad mood. To never be with a woman…" he shook his head, "'tis a fate to be pitied."
Inuyasha decked him.
Ishiyana gave an exasperated sigh. "I didn't say he was impotent, I said he's infertile. As far as I know, Inuyasha can do the deed as much as he wants. It's just that so long as you're a half demon, you can't have kids. My guess would be that the only night you're capable of producing a child would be a night like tonight, when you're only human."
Inuyasha was shocked. Is that true?? If I remain a half demon, will I be unable to have kids? "You…that can't be true!"
"Listen. Have you ever heard of or met a quarter demon running around? Full breeds and half breeds I'm sure are everywhere, but have you ever seen a quarter?"
"No…I haven't." He'd just assumed they were out there. Slumping, Inuyasha shoved his hands in his sleeves. This new knowledge rolled around in his gut like rancid meat.
Sango looked up at Ishiyana, who continued to pace. "What of you, Ishiyana? Are you not part demon yourself?"
"What are you talking about?? I told you, my parents are human. H-U-M-A-N!"
"Perhaps they were…but it would be impossible for you to use the Tetsusaiga if you did not have some demon blood in you." Her eyes followed him back and forth. "A soul alone is not enough."
Miroku, rubbing his jaw, decided to comment. "Perhaps your ancestors had some demon blood as well. If they married humans and continued to marry humans down the line—"
"I told you, half breeds can't—"
"But they turn human for one night! If your ancestors were conceived on those nights, they would appear to be human, but would still have some demon blood in them. Perhaps your parents are carriers."
He stopped pacing. "I didn't think of that. If my parents both had some demon blood in them, then it would make sense that I'd have some."
"It would also explain why you react so strangely once a month."
"But…no! If I were part demon, wouldn't I look like Inuyasha? I mean…the way he normally does? And wouldn't I lose power every so often instead of gaining it?"
Miroku shifted. "Not if you have a very small concentration. It would seem that yours is just enough for you to use the Tetsusaiga and to give you a little extra strength."
"…Oh."
Inuyasha felt slightly better knowing that he could still have a kid, but the idea of having only one night each month to do it really got on his nerves, not to mention the fact that his kids would be human. He'd kind of enjoyed the idea of having kids with his ears.
Inuyasha looked up as Ishiyana stopped in front of him and glared down at him.
"You know, I think I've figured out why we can't get along, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha scowled. "And why is that?"
Miroku coughed. "Could it be because of Kagome?"
The two glared at him. "Actually," Ishiyana started. "It has nothing to do with Kagome. Even if she weren't around, the two of us would never fully get along."
"And why's that?" Inuyasha crossed his arms. Smartass.
"Because for me to exist…you, Inuyasha, have to die."