Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha. My wish goddess doesn't like me. She never grants me any wishes.

Flashback: I scowl at the splintered bark of the oak and turn, lifting my short legs with difficulty, scampering like a lost puppy after Kagome's scent. Cherry blossoms and vanilla. I smile. She hadn't changed, had not changed at all.

Tainted

Chapter 4

I have one more transformation left, a week left. Time had passed by so fast, and I haven't done anything, haven't made any move to even begin my task. Kagome has apparently pushed herself so far that she does not remember my death, or anything else about us. She does not seem to know who Sango is, and I guess that she does not know of Miroku or Shippou either. I huff. It's not like it was bad. It might be better if she forgot about the brat kitsune and the houshi. I scowl again. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I smirk as I step inside the house, not aware of the fact that my dirty footprints followed me.

"There you are, you little brat!" I swear I must have jumped at least twenty feet into the air. I put on a mischievous grin and turn around, sticking my tongue at Kagome. I pause as my tongue collects the dust in the air. Kagome seemed a bit… angry… I smile nervously. In fact… her hair was sticking up in all directions and her eyes were red… I think… I flash a toothy smile in her direction and run, leaving behind a trail of muddy footprints. I can hear Kagome stomping after me in fury, muttering words under her breath. If only I can talk… I sigh and hop out the back door.

We continue our little chase out back, among the pinks and purples once again. This was getting stupid. I turn around and stick a hand out, halting her to a stop. "What?" she snaps at me.

I shake my head nothing. I still wish I could talk. I point to her, then back at me, indicating that we have to talk, in hopes of her forgetting about destroying poor little me. I think she understands when she sighs and shakes her head helplessly. Holding a hand out, she offers to talk back in the house. Cautiously, I took it. We wind our way through the flowers and back in the door. Kagome makes me go upstairs to clean off my feet. What am I? A little kid? I snarl and shoot daggers at her; I obey anyway. It surprises me how much control she has over me… the last time I remember, I was the one who had control over her. I roll my eyes. Who am I kidding? Kagome and her "sits" kept me busy. Busy in pain, that is. She had always had control. I mean… she still is now. I sigh and kick up invisible dust. I seem to be sighing a lot lately too.

I pull Kagome over and sit her on the most uncomfortable chair I could find, then sit myself on the bed. I laugh at her annoyed expression inwardly. This was fun…

I point at her, then gives her a look.

"What? You wanted to talk?"

I nod nervously and slide off the bed. Oh great. Now that she was here, what do I talk about? I chew on my lip and decide to play a little memory hunting. The faster I complete my task, the sooner I get her back. Walking over to her desk, I take the photo of her family when she was a child and makes a great deal of displaying it to her. I was sure she understands when she says, "Yeah that's me, when I was little." And then she looks at me and I give her another look. "Uh… memories as a kid?"

I nod excitedly and hold up five fingers, then I eliminate the last three fingers and the thumb. Now I have my index finger pointing upward, but that isn't my point. She understands once again when I look at the first word… and the last three… you have… memories?" her meaningfully. She counts the words she just said and explains my supposed game of twenty questions. "Take out the words?"

I nod again.

"Memories? What about memories?"

I spread my arms out and shake my head. Then I held up one finger again and look at her.

"One memory…"

I smile.

"What about a memory?"

I point to my ears and twitch them, then pointed to her shoelaces and my neck. It feels strange to not be wearing the accursed necklace, but I am trying to get Kagome to remember. "Uh…"

I don't think she understands… I repeat the gestures and give her a look. "Lace… neck… ears?" She looks at me strangely. I shake my head no. "Necklace!"

She understands! It was the only thing that is going through my head right then. "I don't get the ears part…"

I sigh and point to myself, then snarled like a dog. Pointing to my short nails, I look at her again. I've been looking at her a lot today…

"Something about you. That's it! What about you?"

I nod at the first part, then point to myself, repeating the necklace gestures. "You wear a necklace… huh?"

I nod again. Our conversations were always like this, but this was getting lame. We aren't progressing at all. Looking at her in the eye, I mouthed, "sit".

"Sit?"

I smile at her and nod again, glad that gravity isn't pulling me down this time.

"I still don't see the relation between sitting and necklaces…" She lifts and eyebrow at me.

I shake my head and pointed to myself, then at her mouth. I mouth, "sit" once again. I then proceeded to slam myself on the floor. She gasped softly at my actions.

"You sit when I say sit?"

I sigh sadly and nod. She laughs and I look up. Her eyes are bright and amused. "So when I say sit, and you have a particular necklace on, you sit?"

I nod. Well… at least she understood the main concept of that part... I sit myself on the floor and relax, knowing Kagome is fully capable of understanding my body language. She gets up and walks out the door, fluffing up my hair and giving my ears a nice, nice rub. I grin like crazy. I like it when she rubs my ears. It feels very, very good…

She gives me a smile and I smile back. As she skipped down the stairs, I emit another sigh and plops on the bed. At least she understands that little part. Now I had to move on to more things… like my death and things like that. I had to make her remember what happened five years ago. I had to.

I randomly wonder when I could kiss her again, and when she will start looking me as a full-grown demon. Or hanyou… whatever. I roll on my back and spread my arms out. I missed my tetsusaiga. I would normally kill myself for saying this, but I miss my fights with Sesshoumaru and chasing after Naraku and the Shikon. I miss the pathetic fights with Kouga and slapping Miroku on the head when he tried to make a move on women, or when he wanted to spy on Kagome and Sango at the hot springs. I actually missed throwing the brat kitsune back and forth… To put it all together, I want to go home. And I want the Kagome I knew with me.

I hop out the window when Kagome's frustrated growl reach my ears. I shrug and swing myself up onto the roof. At least I had managed to get her to forget about killing me for a minute. Too bad it was only a minute. I sigh and lay back, hands behind my head.

Kagome tore open her third bag of Doritos. Ranch, of course. Sighing, she munched on a chip. She had finally given up when the brat was nowhere to be found and settled to chewing on chips. She thought back to their weird conversation.

Inu-Yasha and necklaces… it reminded her of something, something that she could not grasp. It was just like those other times… she knew something, but she doesn't know it. Reaching in the bag, she grabbed another chip and tapped it against her lips. She knew this, she was sure. Just not right now.

Standing up, she grabbed the bag of chips and wandered out back, around the house to the old well. Leaning over the dusty edge, she peered cautiously down the well. Moss and weeds covered the dirt ground and had Kagome wondering about its age. How ancient was it? She rolled her eyes and bit on another chip. The well had always fascinated her for some reason. Turning, she strolled leisurely back to the house, finishing her bag of Doritos whilst walking.

The "talk" with the white-haired boy still had her in a semi-daze. She just couldn't get the peculiar feeling out of her mind… and the feeling told her that she had known this… she had known this… before.

When was before? Kagome could not recall anything. It was as if a strange hole occupied her mind, and that hole probably could've told her what "before" was. A nostalgic scene popped into her head… it was exactly the same as what she saw that night in the woods when she was with the stranger. A stinging pain shot through her head and she gasped. Then another… and another…

"What the hell do you think you're doing? You could've been killed!"

"I don't believe you! Is this how you treat the people who have just supposedly saved your ass?!"

"I don't think I asked for your help."

"You're such a jerk!"

"Wench!"

"Idiot!"

"Bitch!"

"Asshole!"

"…"

"I win! So there, nah!"

"You're such a child."

"I am not!"

"Are too."

"Not!"

"Too."

"Not! Not, not, not, not!"

"Too, too, too, too, too, too, too."

"Ooh… I so do not have time for this!"

"Feh."

Another twinge of pain.

"The only reason you love me is because I look like Kikyou!"

"That's not true, how many times to I have to tell you this?"

"You don't have to tell me anything because I don't want to hear anything from you! All the words that come out of your mouth are lies! Lies and broken promises!"

"Shut up! You don't understand!"

"Well, neither do you! I hate you!"

"Kagome…"

The chair creaked as it turned over, seat facing the clean tile floor. The world was disappearing again… she hated this. What was happening to her? Spasms came after spasms, images came after images. Words and more words flooded her head as Kagome bit her lip, trying to contain her scream.

"Damn you… damn you for everything… I hate you. I hate you! I wish you could die!"

Small footsteps thumped down the stairs rapidly but Kagome couldn't hear. Everything was about images and pictures. Everything.

"No! Come back, come back! Come back… please… don't leave me…"

Small hands placed themselves on her shoulders and shook her hard. Kagome opened an eye and clutched at whatever was holding her. Everything was woozy and blurry… and everything inflicted pain on her. Everything…

"I'll always be here… always."

Darkness.

O.o I know, I know.. weird chapter, weird way of writing. I rarely write like this... must be the evilness of school. xX