A/N: YES! I am alive, due to contrary belief. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but let me just say STTUPID SCHOOL, STUPID HOMEWORK, STUPID PEOPLE! BURN, I SAY!

Ah. Now that that's out of my system...Anyone up for shout-outs? : ) (For Chapter elven too, sorry I missed you guys)

DestinyManifested: You mean just Kag's friends? Well I imagine the hospital's pretty far from where they are or whatever...Sorry that idea just didn't come to mind. Thx for the review!

Goodcomment: Aw no worries they're all gonna be fine! I don't really know what's gonna happen eithe, lol, but yay, I rock, huh? Whoot.

Muffinduster: Sorry about calling him 'Gina' I was kinda out of it for a while. Oh well, T is an over-rated letter anyways..lol. BTW, thanks for reviewing, like, 3 times!

Sabster: lol, yep, that's totally from Inuyasha!

Purplefr0g: Yep, and u sure know how to do it! Thank-you! Hope this chapter is okay! Froggy's one of my favourite reveiwers!

Hpfreak2: I hope to see more of Inu's emotional side too!

SkyWolf: lol, I didn't mean for Inuyasha to REALLY mean that, sorry if I confused you about that. Imagine those three in Sengoku Jidai!

Hpangel589: Yeah they definitely come up a lot, and their match-maker mode when they're with Kagome really is annoying! (Gives Hpangel Miroku plushie) Enjoy!

Also thanks to: Naito-Kage, fantasytraveler, and seida02. Huggles to everybody and enjoy the chapter! I'll try to update ASAP!

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Inuyasha couldn't wait any longer. He didn't care (at the moment anyway) that Naraku was out there. He had his mate on his back, whole and healthy, and she was staying in his time. Forever. If he didn't have something to show her, he would be jumping around and dancing.

But, since a little over three days have gone by, he needed to show her what he was concocting. He had paid good money for it, and had disappeared a couple of times to help with it's constructing, and now it was time to show her.

Besides, he couldn't wait any longer even if it isn't finished.

Dodging trees, limbs, animals, and lesser demons, he sped towards his destination. Kagome had dozed off on his back, hands wrapped around his neck and face hidden in his hair, a while ago. He let himself grin slightly, but felt his heart jolt a bit in fear every time he moved the wrong way and she threatened to fall.

Without delay, the path opened up before him. The wide meadow and down hill decent was the same. The village below hadn't changed, except not enough to be caught easily. Upon further examination, a lot of the demons were gone. Inuyasha's delight dropped a bit as curiosity took over. He edged down towards the village now, then, upon sensing no danger and that Kagome was still asleep, he started to move faster.

Kagome woke a few seconds later to a strange tingling sensation flowing through her. She smiled groggily at it, knowing it wasn't her emotion but she was feeling it anyway and why not lavish in it? She made to close her eyes again when she realized where they were. The demon/human village?

Inuyasha felt her curiosity and her slow movements. She's awake. He thought with a bigger grin. Good. That takes care of figuring out how to wake her nicely. He continued walking down the dirt roads, eyes set before him, until someone ran right into his chest.
He let Kagome slide off his back while he looked down at the boy.

The kid, maybe only twelve, looked back up at him.
"What are you running from, kid?" Inuyasha asked.
Rahari's gaze, the boy, turned fearful and he glanced back over his shoulder. "Demons! Not the ones who live here, but others, fighting! Thousands of them in the woods! They're heading here, they're gonna kill us, so momma told us to run!"

Inuyasha helped the kid up and looked ahead of him. He sniffed the air tentatively. "Blood."

Rahari nodded. "All the demons from this town went to fight, even some humans went. But they can't hold them off."

"Well then, might as well go see what they're up to." Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and looked back over his shoulder at Kagome. "Stay here. It shouldn't be too hard as long as the other demons are still alive."

Kagome looked like she was going to argue, since she was wearing her arrows, but Inuyasha shook his head before she could even open her mouth. Of course she was going to argue. Still, Inuyasha did not want her hurt again and the farther from danger she was, the sturdier Inuyasha felt.
He reached for the Tetsusaiga's hilt.

Kagome reached for her bow.
Inuyasha sent her a warning look and growled low. "Stay."

Then he left.
Kagome scoffed. "I'm not a dog, you know!"

Inuyasha grinned to himself, but had to put it off, push the laughter away before she felt it. If she did, she might think it was okay to go. Act serious, be serious. Inuyasha growled to himself as he flew through the woods toward the scent of blood. Come on, it shouldn't be that hard.

Kagome kicked the dirt slightly, looking down. But it was half-heartedly. She didn't want to get in the middle of a demon fight, for she wasn't demon. And yet, something was nagging her about that. Being mated to a demon, the new keener sense of smell....but that was it. Nothing to get all hyper about. Maybe she was just becoming more aware of her nose after being stuck in a cave in the dark for a few hours. But her hearing too.... Strange.

"It's nothing. I'm sure it's nothing." But Kagome couldn't completely eliminate the doubt.

Rahari was looking at her strangely. "Are you okay?"

Kagome shot him a look, but then softened it. "Yeah, fine. I talk to myself a lot now a days."

He nodded, but took two more steps away from her. "Right."

She sighed and shook her head before making a move to sit down. Suddenly, too suddenly, she felt it.

"Jewel Shard! A big piece too!" Kagome jumped straight again and reached out with the sense. Her sharp intake of breath made her gag. "Naraku!"

"Naraku?" Rahari looked at her confused. "Jewel Shard?"

"Stay here! Stay!"

At some level, Kagome was surprised that she had used the same wording Inuyasha had, even though she was pissed that he had told her to stay. But, on the rest of her levels, she didn't care. As long as the kid stood behind or ran the opposite way, she didn't care. The jewel shard, a very big chunk of it, was about fifty yards away to her right.

She had a feeling that Inuyasha had sensed him as well, for she could fell his sudden flare of rage. It made her anger rise as well. She was seething by the time she reached the spot she knew he had to be in.

She stopped.
It was a meadow. A pretty meadow and a big, wide one. Flowers of all different colors swayed to a gentle handed wind. Long green and yellow grass swayed to the secret beat as well. The sun, bright and yellow, shone down more brightly here it seemed than at the village. Little animals were scurrying around her feet, snakes and mice alike, and none were bothering her.

She felt her body tighten up in fear as the memory of perhaps a week ago's incident came back to her in fresh detail. Seeing the snake...and the mice... She shuttered, but suppressed the urge to shriek. She couldn't go all psycho over a few mice and snakes that weren't even demons.

Something moved to her right. Before she herself knew it, she had an arrow knotched in her bow and the string pulled taunt. She was surprised at her own speed, but thanked her reflexes. They were getting better.

But she had no reason to let the taunt string go and the arrow to fly. Out of the brush Kirara sprang with Miroku on her back. Sango must have stayed back in Kaede's hut for she wasn't with him. Her injuries were probably keeping her behind. Kagome had a feeling that Sango was not happy.

Behind her something rustled the bushes. She turned around and was just about to let the arrow fly when she spotted Kouga and Yume. Her fingers got a better grip on the string and she turned back to the front.

"So....I wasn't the only one who felt it." Miroku said quietly as he slid of Kirara's broad back.

Yume snorted and then collapsed into a coughing fit. "We were in the battle with the demons when we spotted Inuyasha." She stopped again when the coughing became worse.

Kouga forced her to sit down and took her hand away from her chest to gaze at a deep chest wound. "He told us to help. He'd be here as soon as he finished with a stupid demon that got on his nerves."

Kagome let the bow relax and slipped the arrow back into it's carrying case. "Yume, how did that happen?"

Yume laughed carefully. "Stupid me got distracted while going hand to hand with a betrayer of the village. Another Wolf."

The rage drained itself from her and concern took it's place. "Maybe you shouldn't-"

"Don't tell me I shouldn't be here, Kagome. We're here because Inuyasha had told us to come and we're staying."

Kagome knew better than argue with Yume. She hadn't really known the Wolf demon for long, but it seemed as if she knew Yume better than any of her friends in her own time. Besides, if Inuyasha had told them to help, he must have known Yume would be able to or he would have told her to stay behind.

"Alright."

"Thank you Kagome."

Rustling made everyone tense and snap their heads towards the noise. Nothing. No more movement, nothing. With string taunt, staff in hand, claws ready, the four advanced towards the noise, but slowly. They didn't want to be ambushed or surprised.
Anxiousness passed through the four as they awaited yet another movement. Their patience was paid off. The bushes rustle yet again.

Yume suddenly let out a snarl and took a few steps forward. "It's you, you dead bitch!"

Kagome, caught up in the sense of the jewel shard, hadn't known exactly what Yume was talking about until the figure stepped out of the bushes. At that small movement, Kagome had her bow string as taunt as it would go and had her aim at the woman's head. Kikyou yet again.

And this time with a bigger piece of the jewel shard than Kagome thought Naraku would ever lend anyone.

But she wasn't alone. Beside her stood a white clad girl with a face as emotionless as a stone and a white mirror held at about the height of her stomach. She was watching Kagome with those dead looking eyes. From behind Kikyou came a woman, much older than the child like girl on Kikyou's right. Kagura, sorceress of the wind, smiled at all of them with her fan held up to hide the smirk.
"Kagura!"

Kagura's smirk grew wider and it reached her eyes, causing them to squint slightly. "And it's the wolf-boy. Kouga was it?" Kouga growled and she chuckled lightly. "I thought so. I'm guessing you still hold a grudge from our last visit."

"Damn right!"

Kouga took two steps forward, seething, when Yume's hand shot out of nowhere and gently but firmly grabbed his arm. He stopped his fevered walking, but his growls reverberated in his throat. Kagura was going to pay dearly for what she had done to his Tribe before! Pay with her life!

Kagura turned her eyes to the woman who held Kouga's arm, Yume. She raised an eyebrow and her smile somewhat disappeared from her lips hidden behind that fan.
"Your the runt thrown out of her own Clan, right?"

Yume blinked. "People like to talk, don't they?" She muttered under her breath, then gave Kagura a hard, deathly stare. "Yes, I'm called Yume."

Kagura waved her hand in front of her fan as if the words had become solid and she was just batting them away.

"Your name isn't really Yume. I remember my master telling me about you. Nothing but a no good runt of a she-wolf who couldn't even keep a man."

Yume hissed, growled, and charged forward. "Alright, changed my mind Kouga. She's dead!"

This time it was Kouga who had to hold her back. Miroku stood in front of the seething she-wolf and tapped her gently on the head, as if she were Inuyasha.

"Look at that little girl in white. Who do you think she is? Don't you think you should wait to make sure it's not a trap, Yume?" Miroku asked.

Yume stopped struggling to get at Kagura and stood still for a moment, almost literally chewing on the words. That little girl was strange, just standing there and holding her little mirror, all dressed in white. She was kind of pretty, in a strange, statue type way. The kind of dangerous pretty you don't want moving around.

So Miroku was right, they should probably find out what the little girl has up her sleeve. Besides a harmless mirror.

Kouga's firm hold on her diminished until his hand was just barely rubbing the smooth skin that was her arm. He wanted to keep his hand close to her, just in case she decided to charge. There was also something else about that small contact. It just felt right, calmed him somehow. He hoped it was the same with her.

Miroku looked between the enemies and his friends. They seemed extremely uptight, and he was as well, and there was good reason for it. Neither of them moved, only growled or sent death looks. This wasn't normal, they definitely had something up their sleeves. Suddenly, he wished Sango was here.

Kikyou, after staring down Kagome for a good ten minutes, finally moved and spoke.

"Kagura, Kanna, it's time. We've waited long enough for Inuyasha..." She turned dead eyes to Kagome once again. "...I'll get to him after I get through his friends."

Kagome's fingers loosened slightly on the bow string in her hands. If Kikyou even moved a finger, Kagome would have two arrows in her before that finger moved a centimeter. She was going to be as much resistance as a mean of stalling.

When Inuyasha arrived...
Miroku suddenly appeared at Kagome's side and tugged her a little closer to him. She didn't resist, but also didn't take her eyes from that dead priestess.

"Yume's going to take on Kikyou and stall her for a while. The moment Kikyou moves, Yume will be all over her. She wants you to be on guard of that little girl and Kagura."

His voice was as grave and serious as Kagome thought it could get, but, to her surprise, it became even more grave. "Kouga's helping, and so is Kirara."
When Miroku ended, Kagome got the sense that he was keeping something back from her. She suddenly realized that Miroku forgot to tell her what he was supposed to do and her eyes slid slightly to give him a questioning look.

He sighed. "I'm supposed to bring you to Inuyasha. Kouga has already told Yume what Kagura is capable of and since they were sent to help you..." He let the sentence hang.

"So that's why she wants to take on Kikyou?"

"Yes."

Kagome nodded. If Yume was sure she wasn't supposed to be there, then she was leaving. She didn't wish to leave her friends, but she also didn't have much of a say. Besides, she was going to get Inuyasha and would be back soon. She could even feel his rage coursing through her own being. Probably angry at the demons.

Yume, Kouga, and Kirara watched as Miroku and Kagome slipped away. Though not unnoticed, it seemed as if the two women and the one little girl didn't care. Yume's eyes stayed locked on Kikyou, awaiting any movement. Kouga watched the wind sorceress, or more correctly watching her fan. Kirara kept her keen eyes locked on that little girl and her mirror.

"Well, let's get this party started."

Kagura started to move her fan away from her face. That smallest movement sent the three demons jumping in different directions to escape anything that was coming and to put a little more room between themselves.

Yume landed away from Kikyou, something she hadn't aimed to do, while Kouga landed in front of the dead woman. Kirara landed a little farther away, but in the direct line of, Kagura. Yume stared at the little girl and her strange mirror.

"Now, Kanna. Take that runt of a she-wolf."

Surprised at yet another voice coming from nowhere yet sounding as if it came from all around, Yume growled and tried to pin point it with flicking ears. Nothing. And yet, she could feel the evil aura, that choking aura...

Kanna moved. Not much, but it was enough to grab a hold of Yume's attention. Every muscle tensed for an attack, but the only thing the girl did was turn her mirror. The reflection was that of Yume. It seemed like the last thing Yume saw.

The mirror started to glow and Yume felt suddenly violated in one of the worst ways. A fiercely cold hand had reached down into the part of herself that no hand should touch and was savagely ripping something precious away from her. She could feel it, even as all she saw was dark and became suddenly deaf. The mirror drew her soul within it and all that was left was Yume, only a shell now without it.

Kouga felt it happening as if it was happening to him himself, only a little farther away. He roared and his attention fell away from Kikyou to Yume. His eyes widened at what he saw. Yume was just standing before that little girl and her soul was being drawn into that damned mirror. Growling in rage and sudden despair, he bent his legs to reach his love.

"You may want to bring your attention back to me, Wolf." The dead, monotonous voice froze Kouga in his tracks.

His attention, though split, turned back to Kikyou and he just barely managed to avoid an arrow in the face. He threw himself to the ground and welcomed the physical pain; it was better than the pain he felt within. When another arrow was aimed at him even before the other whizzed past his head, he rolled and jumped back up. The arrow tore into the ground where he had been lying.

Growling, he disappeared in a whirlwind and reappeared with a high kick ready for Kikyou's face.

A flash of white and Kouga hit the ground, hard. He heard growling above him, felt clawed hands wrapped tightly around his neck, smelt the sweet almost intoxicating scent of someone extremely familiar to him. He couldn't place it at first, his head rung and all he could see was black, then the realization hit him harder than the flash did.

Squinting both eyes, Kouga forced the darkness back. The darkness receaded quicker than he thought and then he suddenly wished he was blind again. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. Yume sat upon him, hands in a death grip around his thick throat, eyes soulless and merciless. The eyes he loved to look at, those beautiful eyes with all their emotions playing just underneath the surface, had been replaced by cold stone.

Panting, he tried to draw breath to speak. "Y-Yume...what...what's going...on?" He half growled, half asked.

His hands reached up to try and pry her hands off of his neck, but the moment his fingers touched her hands they clenched even tighter. He felt his eyes bulging in their sockets and couldn't draw even the smallest of breaths now. Frantically he tugged at those soft hands until they finally gave enough for him to toss her away.

When she stumbled to her feet in jerky, ungraceful movements, Kouga scrambled up as well. This was not his Yume and yet she owned her face, her hands, her power. Over her shoulder, Kouga could see that little girl. Rage suddenly flooded through him in realization. She had taken Yume's soul, she controlled it. Defeating her would free the one he loved.

A snarl escaped his lips and he charged for Kanna. Again, a body slammed into his and he was tossed relentlessly to the ground. This time, Yume punched him flat in his face. He felt a tooth fall onto his tongue and spat it out bitterly. A mouth full of blood followed.

"Damnit, Yume! It's me, Kouga, remember?!" He shouted at her, catching her wrist when she moved to hit him again.

Those words sparked a small amount of fire in her eyes, but it died as fast as it had come. Still, Kouga had caught it. So Kanna hadn't taken all of her, just most. The real Yume was still hiding within those stone eyes.

Her other hand spiraled down from the sky and made to hit him, but he caught that one as well. When she realized her hands were captured, she started tugging. Kouga slowly stood up while keeping a strong hold on her wrists. It was the only thing he could do that would stop her from hitting him and keep himself from harming her.

But he forgot one vital thing he should have easily remembered. When her hands hadn't come free, she lifted her leg and belted it into his stomach. He released her hands instantly and fell to the ground, eyes wide in pain, spickle falling from his mouth. She then proceeded to drop kick him.

Kouga hit the ground prostrate and didn't move.

Kikyou was long gone and Kirara knew it. She hadn't had time to stop her while still evading Kagura's slices of wind. Already she was panting with the exertion of energy.
Wind sliced into her shoulder and she roared in pain. She landed gracefully on all fours, stood there defiantly for a moment while staring Kagura down, then collapsed. The wound was bone deep and bled a river of crimson. There was no pain, which had to mean there was some serious damage.

Kagura advanced and Kirara tried to stand upon her three remaining legs. When she finally succeeded, Kagura stood near her. The woman with her deadly fan tisked the demon cat.

"And I thought you'd put up a better fight. I guess your nothing without your master."
Kagura lifted the fan and Kirara made to move, but collapsed again. Instead, she watched as the fan sliced through the air, almost finished on it's downward arch. Kirara closed her eyes as she awaited the inevitable....

"Keep away from Kirara!"

Kirara's ears perked up and a cry escaped her lips. She heard the noise slice the air and then heard Kagura's yelp of pain. Opening her eyes wide, Kirara watched the Hiraikotsu fly back to it's bearer and then watched the bearer herself step defiantly from the bushes.
Sango, still in pain though no longer as weak as she thought she would be, took another step towards the wind sorceress.

She held onto the boomerang tightly and hoisted it a little higher over her shoulder.
Kagura held her abused hand in her other. Her fan lay on the ground near her feet, not forgotten, but pushed out of her mind for the moment. This girl, so much younger than Kagura, had dared strike her? She hissed in rage and reached down to pick the fan up in her good hand. Her bad one lay across her stomach.
"You'll regret that, wench." She hissed as she brought the fan around once again.
Sango smirked. "We'll see about that."

Yume stood above Kouga with soulless eyes. She traced his prostrate figure before looking back over at Kanna. She had yet to tell her what needed to be done. Kanna didn't speak, but suddenly Yume knew. She would make sure this somehow familiar Wolf never took another step in his life.

She brought her naked claws near her ear and allowed them to hover there for a moment. Within seconds, her hand became enveloped in a silver blue aura that flowed up towards her arm. When she was sure she would have enough power to deliver a final blow, her hand shot down like a coiled snake in waiting.

The prostrate figure, though, had other ideas. In one faster than lightning movement, Kouga was on his feet, though his chin still rested on his knees. In another faster than lightning movement, he pushed off the ground and inserted his shoulder into Yume's stomach. The downward arch of her hand was stopped instantly and both hand and arm fell still.

Yume still stood on her feet though and Kouga gritted his teeth. He bent his knees once more. The force of his next thrust would knock her out or knock her down for the time he needed, but that didn't mean he wanted to. He was hurting his Yume, something he had always been against fiercely, but he couldn't let her kill him. He also didn't want her to harm herself.

He shot up from the ground again and imbedded his shoulder into her tough stomach. Her eyes widened, her mouth dropped open, and she suddenly became limp. Kouga caught her falling form before gently setting her down on the ground.

"I'm sorry, Yume-love. Please forgive me."

He cradled her head momentarily, then gently set her down. He had a little girl to deal with and a mirror to break. Roaring in sudden rage, he disappeared in his whirlwind and reappeared where Kanna had been standing. Confused, Kouga looked around. He sniffed the area a few times before realizing that the girl had no scent. She seemed like more a ghost than a real person. He roared in rage again.

Kanna was gone, but that other woman was still here. With a growl, Kouga ran for her.

Sango watched as Kagura's wind slices flew at her. She dodged them all effectively, but the movements had torn open a few minor wounds. She winced and decided next time she'd try using the Hiraikotsu as a shield instead.

When she landed after another attempt, she hardly had time to see Kouga racing up behind Kagura. That weird little girl had vanished. Kagura turned her head suddenly just as Kouga leaped up and was coming down with fist raised. A blue aura wrapped around his arm.

Kagura gritted her teeth and dodged the attack. Hissing through clenched teeth, she brought the fan up and then down quickly. More wind slices tore up the ground, the very air. Kouga grabbed a hold of Sango and leaped out of the way. Kagura sent more the moment his feet touched the ground.

"Why don't you just stand still, Kouga? I've heard these slices of wind make death quick and almost painless."

Kouga snarled a reply before once again dodging more slices.

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Okay, there you go! Read and review so I get a nice surprise when I write the next chappy!! :)