So, not much to say except that Inuyasha will meet Kagome this chapter, and I created the curse storyline, because I felt the need to give a reason for the dwarves living and working together when they were so different.

Edited: 12/22/2011

Disclaimer: I do not own the story of Snow White or Inuyasha.

Black as Night, White as Snow

Chapter Five: The Clearing

It was weird, to say the least.

Kagome knew she was dead, but she didn't feel like it—not really and truly. It was almost as if she was at the brink of awakening. Not dead, just deeply asleep. And she could hear people. She could hear voices, yet they were detached and faded.

Although she felt like she was eavesdropping, she ignored it and listened in.

"Kikyou must have done it!" a very Miroku-sounding person announced.

"Really? Like none of us could have figured that one out!" Sango snapped.

"I was just saying," the monk retorted, sounding a little hurt.

"She's dead! Kagome is dead!" Shippou wailed.

SMACK

"Ouch! You big bully, what was that for?" Shippou whined.

"You were getting annoying," Naraku huffed.

"But she's dead!" Shippou yelled right back.

"No, she isn't!" Miroku shouted to stop the argument.

"Yeah, she is," five voices, excluding Hojo, yelled back at him.

"No, seriously! All we need to do is take that magical obi off," Miroku told them calmly.

THWACK

Kagome winced at the sound of flesh connecting with flesh. That had sounded like it really hurt. Poor Miroku, Sango certainly hit hard.

"DON'T GET PEOPLE'S HOPES UP, YOU STUPID MONK!" Sango roared, causing Kagome to wince again at the volume of her voice.

She wanted to just sit up and yell at them all that she was alive, and it was really rude to yell when someone was trying to sleep. But, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move. Not even to breathe, but somehow that didn't really scare her.

Miroku muttered some very un-Miroku-like curses (that caused Kagome to secretly smile to herself) before continuing on. "No, really. I've read about something like this. All you need to do is remove the obi, and her breath will come rushing back, essentially reviving Kagome."

"No, it won't! She's dead!" Sango shouted.

"Yes, it will," Miroku said calmly.

"Shut up! It won't!"

"Yes, it will."

"No!"

"Yes."

"No!"

"Fine!" Kagome could just picture Miroku throwing his hands up, exasperated as he shouted this. "I'll show you." There were a few echoing footsteps as the monk came closer, and Kagome felt a slight tug as he grabbed one end of the obi. With a single pull, the obi was ripped off.

Kagome felt the air rush in and expand her lungs. Panting slightly to make up for the several hours that she had been deprived of precious oxygen, she sat up. "So, uhm… Hello, everyone?"

The seven dwarves blinked.

The dead body was moving!

"Kagome?" Sango asked hesitantly.

"How'd you do that?" Kagura rounded on Miroku. "Even my dance of the dead can't get corpses to talk! You're going to teach me, monk!"

Miroku rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhm, Kagome?"

"Huh?" Kagome asked intelligently while still gasping for breath.

Miroku turned to her with a still face and held out the obi. "Without this, there isn't anything holding your kimono closed. Just thought you'd like to know."

Kagome gasped, Naraku sneered, Kagura winced, Shippou and Hojo blushed, Kaede sighed, exasperated…

…while Sango slammed her bone boomerang into the side of Miroku's head.

Needless to say, Miroku didn't do much talking the rest of that evening.

Kikyou glided smoothly down the steps to her dungeon.

"Urasue?" she called out as she stepped into the dark stone room. Shelves on all sides housed healing herbs and killer poisons. Odd things to have in the same room, but Kikyou ended up using both often.

And old hag appeared from the back room. She was ancient and looked just like the old woman who had just made an attempt on Kagome's life, except her eyes were stark black and not gray; it was Urasue who Kikyou had modeled her disguise on. "Yes, my dark queen?"

Smiling slightly, Kikyou drew closer to the sorceress. "I just returned. The obi worked perfectly; I watched her take her last breath."

"Lovely," Urasue complemented with a nod. She hesitated before lowering her head, murmuring, "I am glad this plan worked, but I am still sorry about your monkeys."

Immediately, Kikyou clasped a hand to her mouth as she was overwhelmed with sadness at the words. "My monkeys," she breathed. "Whatever did happen to them?"

The sorceress shrugged, her old shoulders creaking with the movement. "There was an incident including a pail of water— all that remained was a pile of goo and the fez hats."

"Oh, well, I suppose it doesn't matter in the end. We succeeded without them, Kikyou conceded with a delicate shrug."

Urasue had worked for Kikyou's grandmother, mother, and now Kikyou herself. "Good, my queen. Is there anything else you require of me?"

"No, that is all." Kikyou sauntered out of the room. Her thoughts now were of how without her sister to distract her, she'd no longer have to worry about not getting Lord Inuyasha for herself. Odd, she thought. I haven't seen him since he got the wonderful news of our engagement. I wonder where he ran off to.

(Inuyasha leaped through the trees, more determined than he'd been about practically anything else in his very privileged life. "I've got to find that voice!" he muttered to himself.

It had been bothering him all day since he had woken up. What if he hadn't imagined it? What if there really was someone out there that needed help? It's wasn't as if he was some kind of Good Samaritan, but he had nothing better to do.

Plus, although he wouldn't say it, he really wanted to meet the owner of the voice. Twice now, he'd heard it—once, singing on his way to the castle, and then again when she called for help. He needed to track it down.)

"Looking glass, looking glass, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" Kikyou asked as soon as she opened the door to her bedroom, not even checking to see if Kanna was there to answer.

Of course, Kanna was there; she wouldn't have missed this for the entire world.

"Kagome is alive; she has foiled your plot.

She still has the beauty that you've sought."

The queen paused from where she was undressing, the kimono she used for sleeping lay out on the bed in front of her. "That's not right. You're wrong, Kanna. I was there to see her dying breath. She's gone," she told the demon child slowly, her voice calm and carefully detached.

"To have the magical item work, here is the key:

After death, one mustn't remove the obi."

"What?" Kikyou's gray eyes widened slightly, the news finally settling in and hitting her like a punch to the stomach. "Since when? Who in their right minds would take it off? The girl was a corpse when I left her."

Too tired to come up with yet another rhyme, Kanna merely shrugged. "Grave robbers?"

Growing angry, Kikyou scoffed at the ridiculous suggestion. "Kagome must be a genius! I bet she planned for this, that… that little bitch!"

Meanwhile, the following morning…

"How'd you know to take the obi off?" Kagome asked Miroku the following morning. The two were the only ones so far seated at the breakfast table. "You must be a genius!"

Modest for once, Miroku shrugged. "Not really; I only made an educated guess."

"Feh," Inuyasha scoffed in a grumpy voice. "This'll have to do. If I travel any further, my legs will fall off."

The sun had barely risen, and he had been crashing through the forest for hours. There were so many scents of animals and woodsmen, that he was unable to pick out the one that had to belong to the owner of the voice. He'd searched all night, backtracking and going in circles before he finally realized how exhausted he was. With the barest hint of dawn on the horizon, the half-demon found a wide, grassy clearing.

He stretched out at the foot of the tallest tree. It was time to make up for the sleep he'd lost the morning before. "G'night," he mumbled to no one in particular around a large yawn.

"Goodbye! See you! Talk to you soon! Have a good day! I'll miss you!" And then, finally, Kagome topped it all off with a perky wave.

"I think we get the point," Naraku growled to Kagura under his breath so that the human woman wouldn't hear him. Thankfully, she was several yards away, standing in the doorway of the cottage. "BYE!" he called loudly back to Kagome, adding his own (sarcastic) wave.

Sadly, this farewell started her on a whole new round of pleasantries.

So the group walked quickly away, but not before Miroku called loudly back, "Don't open the door for anyone!"

And Kagome called back with her usual answer of, "I won't, don't worry!"

"That's what you said last time," the monk muttered uneasily under his breath, finally turning away after one last worried glance at his new friend.

One hour later found Kagome in terrible trouble. (As if that were at all surprising.)

"Oh, crap!" Kagome wailed.

She'd forgotten, of course, later on that morning that the well was dried up… Whoops. Then again, the previous day had been filled with all kind of excitement and even her own death. Really, though, all it meant was that Kagome was forced to find a clean spring to draw water from to last them until the following day.

"I wonder where the closest stream is…" Kagome stood thoughtfully with a rickety bucket in each hand. "Oh, I know, it's that way!" She pointed in a random direction and started walking in it as though she were completely sure about her choice. She probably shouldn't have been.

As her usual entourage of wildlife joined her on what they assumed to be a normal, mid-morning walk, Kagome began to sing. Instead of any of the songs commonly sung by minstrels, she chose a soft lullaby to pass the hour she spent aimlessly wandering around the woods. Soon enough, she heard the sound of trickling water, and Kagome rejoiced in the fact that she didn't have to walk any more. Her aching feet agreed.

"There now, we're all done!" She smiled at the deer walking beside her. "Which way did we come from again?"

Miraculously, the animals didn't answer back.

"I guess we can just go this way… I don't know why Miroku was so worried this morning," Kagome swiftly changed the subject. "Kikyou is probably really sure of herself that she successfully got rid of me. How could she possibly know that I'm still alive? She always was quick to jump to conclusions. She'll think I'm dead and not bother to come after me again; it's not like she has some magical tool that will show her that I'm still around or something."

Stumbling over a particularly rough patch of bushes, Kagome crashed into a clearing. The grass was thick and deep green, while the sun streamed down in the break in the treetops, lighting up everything. The area was fairly, but small. Setting down her two pails of water, Kagome scrutinized her surroundings.

"It's so pretty," she whispered. A puff of butterflies flew up and around her head, and a small breeze tossed her hair. Two plump rabbits hopped closer to her, settling against her ankles. "It's so green and blue and… red?" Kagome took a step forward to get a better look at a splash of red at the far end of the clearing. "Is it…" She paused and gulped, forcing herself to get even closer. "Blood?"

Of course curiosity got the better of her, and Kagome crept across the clearing until she was right underneath a large, shady tree. The patch of red was clearly fabric, not blood. Soon, she noticed something else, something that was white or silver.

"Oh, wow," she gasped, finally realizing what was she was looking at.

It was a boy.

No, wait, that wasn't quite right. It was young man.

"Are those his ears…?" Kagome got closer and dropped to her knees in front of the stranger. Leaning forward until they were practically nose-to-nose, she said as softly as she could, "How cute!"

That was the moment the man woke up.

Gold clashed with blue until Inuyasha forced himself to blink. His eyes were scratchy with sleep, but he'd felt some inexplicable worry that the moment he blinked, the owner of those sky blue eyes looking at him would… disappear.

Even after the man had closed his eyes, Kagome continued to stare. She could barely even breathe, despite her best efforts. It reminded her painfully of the experience with the magical obi. What is he thinking? I just completely pushed the boundaries of personal space, she thought frantically.

Inuyasha cracked one eye open and sighed in relief when the girl was still there. Opening both eyes all the way, he twitched his nose as the woman's scent flooded in. Lavender, roses, fresh water, cut grass, and anything else fresh and clean in the world… He nearly shook his head, worried that this girl had managed to cast some kind of spell over him. It wasn't unheard of. She smelled like… Like just after a summer rainfall…

Oh, man… he was getting nostalgic.

During all this, while she felt his eyes take her in and judge her, Kagome stiffened. She wondered almost stupidly if he would see her if she managed to not move.

Which was, of course, completely ridiculous.

"Hi," the man said, almost cheerfully. His voice was rough and tough, and it sent a shiver racing down her spine. Quickly, Kagome tried to determine if that was a good sign or not, but she failed miserably.

"Oh, I…" And that was it. She couldn't come up with any other words as her mind went blank. No matter how much she scrambled to find something to say, nothing came to her.

However, the man didn't wait long. He didn't seem much interested in hearing her saying anything else. In fact, he didn't seem interested in that particular function of her mouth. Instead, he used her momentary helplessness to crush his lips against hers.

Blue-gray eyes going wide, Kagome gasped, which then allowed an opening for the stranger's probing tongue.

Just what could he be thinking? You did not wake up and kiss random, completely innocent women. The nerve of him…!

And no matter how much it made her heart pound, or how good it felt when he weaved his fingers into her hair, it was still a stolen kiss. Her first kiss, even. Unasked for and most definitely not granted.

When he showed no signs of stopping, Kagome fought against the feeling of frustration welling in her stomach. She refused to allow herself to be swept away by such a surreal moment. He may have begun the kiss, but she decided it was only fair that she made the first move to finish it. Summoning what strength she had (for some reason, she was feeling awfully weak in the knees), the girl began to pull away… and very nearly screamed in aggravation when the man kept her in place by cupping her jaw with a clawed hand.

Enough was enough. Kagome had to stop this indecent (and slightly wonderful) experience before it completely demolished her pride (and her senses)!

Almost—but not quite—feeling guilty about what she planning, Kagome bit down on his tongue, causing the half-demon to yelp and leap backward, only to crash into the tree he had been sleeping against. Using leverage from where her hands were on his shoulders (I wonder how those got there…), she kneed him rather harshly.

Taking advantage of his confusion (and pain), Kagome lurched to her feet and ran as quickly as she could from the clearing, miraculously managing to not crash into too many things along the way.

Inuyasha, forcing himself to ignore the pain flooding his system, stood up to watch her go. "Ow…" he muttered, his voice only slightly higher pitched than usual.

Kagome, just out of sight, leaned against a tree to catch her racing breath. Mentally kicking herself over her choice of how she'd taught him a lesson, she reluctantly slunk back to him, suddenly feeling very badly about her actions. It had been shock, she told herself, which had made her act so unladylike.

I'm going to regret this! she mentally scolded herself as she pecked the poor, abused boy on the cheek. "I'm sorry about that," she whispered as she, for the second time, ran out of the clearing, feeling utterly horrified at what she'd just done.

"Yeah, okay…" he answered in a daze to a girl who was no longer there.

Eyeing the spot she'd just occupied, Inuyasha twitched his nose in thought. That voice…

"I think I'm in love," was his last coherent thought and words before he crumpled to the forest floor in the fetal position.

"Uh-oh," Kagome winced inwardly as she finally pushed open the kitchen door to find…

…seven very angry faces staring back at her.

"Kagome? Where were you?" Sango demanded, her arms crossed against her chest. She stalked forward, forcing Kagome to take a step away.

"I…"

"We've been home for over an hour!" Naraku hissed. His concern momentarily confused and touched Kagome.

"Um…"

"Why do you smell like a half-dog demon?" Shippou asked innocently.

Kagome blinked blankly… and then began to turn a very bright, embarrassed pink.

"What?" Miroku asked, dumbfounded, as he turned to face the fox cub.

"There's a new scent all over her," Shippou answered with a shrug. "It smells male and like a dog demon. And human, too… so he's a half-demon."

"So that's what he was!" Kagome snapped her fingers, grinning with the realization.

"Er… Kagome? A male dog demon?" Miroku quirked his eyebrows as thoughts whirled through his brain. Bad, dirty thoughts, of course. This was Miroku, after all.

"Half-demon," Shippou corrected promptly.

"Okay… So, moving on…?" the girl said, snapping her finger to gain their attention once more. "There's no more water in the well, so I had to go get— SHIT!" Kagome broke off in a curse, remembering the buckets she'd dropped earlier during her encounter with the mystery man.

"Kagome!" Kaede cried as she covered Shippou's ears.

Shippou blinked.

"I can still hear…"

"Oh. Ye can?" Kaede hesitantly removed her callused hands.

"I," Kagome began, rubbing the back of her head, ashamed. "…I kind of forgot the water and the buckets back in a clearing. I got distracted…" She trailed off, blushing slightly.

"I bet you did." Miroku completed this statement with a waggle of his eyebrows.

THWACK

"Sango? …Where on earth did that come from?" Miroku asked as he turned to find the brunette wielding her bone boomerang.

"From off my back, idiot, where it always is!" Sango yelled. "But I was thinking of finding a new place to store it. Maybe in that space between your ears or up your—!"

"Sango!" Kagome interrupted, horrified.

"—nose," Sango finished.

Kagome, along with the other six in the room, sweat-dropped. "Oh."

"The buckets?" Kaede nudged them all back toward the topic at hand.

"Oh, right, of course…I'll go get them tomorrow," Kagome promised.

"Maybe you should take an escort. You are, you must remember, a young maiden. A princess at that!" Miroku scolded, a perverted grin twisting his lips as he imagined all the things Kagome could get up to if left alone. He naturally forgot that she just wasn't that kind of girl.

"No!" Kagome protested a bit too quickly. "I mean, there's no need… It's not like I'll ever see him again!"

"So you admit it was a 'him'!" Miroku triumphantly yelled.

THUNK

"Ouch. My dearest, was that truly necessary?" the monk whined.

The fight that ensued was loud and dramatic enough that Kagome took it as an opportunity to slink away unnoticed. Too bad it didn't work.

"Kagome?"

"…Yes, Shippou?"

"Why is the scent all over you? I mean, why is it on your skin and your kimono and in your hair and—?"

"In her mouth?" Miroku supplied suggestively.

In absolute horror, Kagome watched as the small child walked a little closer, his little nose up in the air. "Yeah, it's in there, too. Why would it be? Was he giving you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?"

Still horrified, Kagome clapped a hand to her face, her cheeks flaming. "Excuse me?" she mumbled around her fingers.

Shippou shrugged. "I don't know what that is, and no one will tell me. I hear Miroku ask if he can give it to Sango all the time!"

This comment was light-hearted enough that Kagome found herself chuckling, along with most of the other adults in the room. Sango, however, was blushing, while Miroku looked defensive.

"Did she ever say yes?" Kagome asked the fox, sounding almost too innocent.

"Actually—!"

"SHIPPOU!" Sango roared before chasing the small boy around, waving her fists.

Miroku leaned toward Kagome conspiratorially. He winked before saying, "I'm sure you can guess where the boy was going with that."

Not entirely willing to think about it, Kagome let the comment slide.

"So, who was this half-demon?" Kagura asked, winking and nudging Kagome in a temporary truce.

"No one! And I have no idea what Shippou is talking about. He simply helped me up after I tripped—!" Kagome began, flustered.

"—Right onto his mouth, I bet," Naraku sneered.

"Yes— I mean, no— I mean, I have no idea!" Kagome threw her hands up and stomped out of the room, effectively ending the discussion.

Inuyasha slowly, and painfully, woke up from the comforting blackness.

"Damn," he grumbled as he rubbed his head and flicked his tongue to make sure that it was still in one piece. "Wait… is she still here?"

He leaped up and cupped his claws around his mouth to yell out for her. To apologize or just to kiss her again or…anything as long as she came back! How could he have just let her leave? He had her, the owner of the voice that had haunted him for the last few days, and he had just let her go!

"Idiot," he scolded himself.

Taking in a deep breath, he started to yell…

…Nothing.

What was he supposed to call her? 'Girl,' 'Wench,' 'Bitch'— and then get kneed in the crotch again?

Casting a glance around the clearing, his eyes fell on something, and a smirk curved his lips. "Perfect."

Now all he had to do was wait. He settled happily back against the tree.

She'd come. He knew she'd come. That girl had forgotten her buckets! She had to come back. And then he'd…

Well, he didn't know what he would do, but it didn't really matter. She'd be there with him. That was enough, right?

Plus, maybe he'd find some excuse to kiss her again.

Kagome rolled over on her bed. Who was he? she wondered.

It didn't really bother her any more that he'd kissed her. Who'd be able to hold a grudge against that? But… his voice had actually sounded familiar.

But where from? It wasn't like she got out much or met that many people consider the sheltered life she'd been leading up until running away. She needed to hear him speak again to figure it out, and she wasn't really jumping in happiness at the idea. What if he tried something? What if he was some thief who would kidnap her and try to use her to get a ransom from the dwarves?

Kagome gasped.

Her eyes widened.

What if he's really a woman, and I had no idea? His hair was so soft, and he had such perfect eyes and…

Oh, wait.

That was just the paranoia that set in with insomnia talking.

Kagome smiled as she rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling.

"What does it matter?" she whispered almost inaudibly to herself. "I never plan on seeing him again, and I have no reason to want to anyway." Yeah, no reason at all… Kagome absently brushed her fingers against her lips before falling into a deep sleep.

That had been a wonderful first kiss, though.