Indecision

Chapter Seven: True Concern, True Emotion

Disclaimer: I am a mere fictionist, and didn't create any of these awesome, brilliant, lovable (YEAH!!) characters.

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Kagome sat up, terrified. " When will it stop?!" she thought, breathing heavily. She had just had the same nightmare again, and it was really starting to concern her. " I've been having this nightmare for months now, and it still won't go away! What could it mean??"

Once again, Inuyasha was watching her from above, wondering why she was awake. He studied her carefully, trying to see if there was a hint of why she couldn't sleep. It was already obvious that she was having bad dreams, but the question was; what could be so terrifying? And why did it happen every night?

" Kagome...why won't you tell anyone that something's wrong?" he thought, concerned. He hated seeing the same thing every night; hated hearing her muttering nonsense in a frightened tone. Especially when the utter nonsense was yet another sit command. He had gone through a lot of them lately, since he was wide awake when she spoke. " What's scaring you so much?" For once in a long time, he forgot to be indignant, and felt pure worry for the girl below him; felt an emotion he still had not found the name for. He waited patiently for her to fall back asleep, and jumped out of the tree. He landed by her side, and that was where he stayed for the rest of the night.

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Kagome was running once again in her dream, frightened that Inuyasha was chasing her, ready to slit her throat with his claws. As she ran, she thought to herself, " Why is he doing this? Why does he want to kill me??" Suddenly, she saw a figure ahead of her. " Help!" she cried, waving at them. " Please," she begged, " Help us!" " Why am I asking for help for 'us'? It's not like we're both being chased!!"

She drew closer and closer to the figure, whom was hiding in the shadows. Soon, however, the figure stepped out of the darkness, and revealed itself. When Kagome saw, she gasped. " Naraku?!!!" she exclaimed, stopping. Her mistake; her demise shortly followed at her love's hand.

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That was when Kagome woke up. She had been so frightened, she even started crying. " ...Why?" she softly asked, shaking from the fright she had just experienced. " Why are my dreams so frightening?? I don't understand...what I've done...why..." She lay back down, and cried herself quietly to sleep.

Inuyasha had picked up the scent of her tears, and suddenly felt a slight urge to cry himself. It was a very small feeling; almost imaginary, but it was really there, and it moved him. " How pathetic!" he thought to himself, refusing to cry, " I'm not the one with the problems here! Besides, it's just Kagome!" He froze the moment those words even entered his mind. " Why am I being so defensive? No one can hear my thoughts...Kagome...I want to know why you're so scared..." His eyes started to droop, and that was when he lept out of the treetops onto the ground, and he decided to rest close by Kagome. He sat by her, and closed his eyes.

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When the sun rose, the hanyou opened his eyes. He looked to his left, and saw Kagome, whom was still asleep. Realizing that everyone would be awake soon, he lept back up into the tree before anyone might have seen him.

It was perfect timing; Shippo yawned and opened his little eyes. Sitting up, he looked at the others, whom were actually waking up as well, and he jumped up.

" Good morning!" he shouted. Then, he looked up in the trees, and saw Inuyasha. " Heya, Inuyasha!" he shouted, " Do you ever sleep?"

" Hn." was his reply, and Shippo sighed.

" Some people never change!" he muttered.

Sango, Miroku, and Kagome all sat up, rubbing their eyes sleepily. Shippo took notice, and grinned. He ran over to Kagome, and jumped into her lap.

" Kagome!" he exclaimed, " Sleep well?"

Inuyasha's ears perked up as he eagerly awaited the girl's reply.

Kagome sighed, then put on a happy smile. " Mmm-hmm!" she replied perkily, getting up. " Like a log!"

Inuyasha stared at her from his perch, though she didn't notice. " That's a lie!" he thought, upset. " Why don't you tell the truth for once, Kagome, and tell us why you aren't sleeping!"

" Is anyone hungry?" she asked warmly.

Everyone replied with a mmm-hmm, and Kagome giggled. " Great!" she replied, her expression quickly changing. " Hey, where's..." she started. It was then that she looked up in the tree, and saw Inuyasha. Their eyes met again as they had the night he saved her from Koga, and, for a brief moment, Kagome felt as if time was standing still. She smiled slightly at him, and he looked at her, almost as if he were confused. She sighed, and said, " Oh, there you are, Inuyasha! Do you want any breakfast?"

Miroku looked at Sango with what was becoming a familiar expression, and whispered to her, " Did you see that?"

" Hn?" she asked, whispering back, " You mean...yeah, I did."

" Isn't that a bit odd..." he started.

Sango nodded. " Usually, he looks away, and begins acting arrogant, but this time he didn't even look away...you don't think it's because..."

" She looks like Kikyo?" he asked, making sure he wasn't wrong. When Sango shook her head, he nodded in understanding.

" So I was right..." he thought. " I wonder how long it will take for him to admit it, at least to himself?"

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After breakfast, the gang packed their things, and continued on their journey.

" Do you think we'll find any jewel shards today, Kagome?" Shippo asked.

Kagome shrugged. " I don't know," she replied, " Though I have a pretty good feeling about today." She kept her eyes on Inuyasha, who was ahead of her only slightly. " Inuyasha," she thought, as he stopped to sniff the air, " Are you thinking about her? Of course you are, why wouldn't you? After all, you've always loved her, right? Even if I am her reincarnation, I can never be Kikyo, and she's all you've wanted this whole time..." She froze, realizing that her own words sounded similar to those that he had spoken in her nightmare...They echoed through her mind.

" I want Kikyo back, not you..." " I never loved you, Kagome!" " What made you think I could ever be in love with you?!"

Tears began to sting her eyes, and she hung her head quickly, so no one could see.

Sango looked at her friend, but kept silent. She glanced at Miroku, whom was about to speak, but the look on her face silenced him as well. Shippo started to talk, but Miroku grabbed him.

" Hey!" he exclaimed, " What's the big-" But, Miroku covered his mouth before he could finish.

" I strongly suggest that you don't say anything to Kagome right now..." he whispered.

" Why not?" the little fox child asked sliently, but one look at the way Kagome was walking was all it took. It seemed that most everyone understood that she was upset about something, all except for Inuyasha, whom hadn't turned his head to make sure the gang was still close behind. Even the little flea, Miyoga, had seen how sad she was, and kept his silence.

Kagome could sense an awkward tension in the air as she walked, and, wiping her eyes dry, she looked up.

" Why is everyone so quiet?!" she asked nervously. " What's wrong?!"

" Oh, nothing, Kagome!" Sango said.

" Yeah," Shippo replied, " I'm still a little sleepy from all the walking we did yesterday."

" We didn't do that much walking, you weakling!" Inuyasha complained, turning around to glare at the child.

Shippo crossed his arms. " Easy for you to say!" he replied, " Your legs are much longer than mine, you should be more considerate!"

The hanyou picked him up by the collar. " Wanna say that again?" he demanded, and Shippo sweat-dropped.

" Can't you just ignore it for once?!"" he asked, flailing around, trying to get out of Inuyasha's grasp.

" Hn." he replied, tossing him down on the ground. " Come on, now, we haven't got all day!"

Kagome sighed, and looked at the ground again. This time, he saw, and he started to feel worried again.

" Why am I so worried?!" he thought, " She's fine!" He silently growled at himself, and continued walking. But, the feeling wouldn't go away.

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As the day wore on, and late afternoon rolled along, everyone continued walking in silence.

" Everyone is being so quiet..." Kagome thought, looking up at them again. " What's going on?"

Miyoga spoke up. " Master," he asked, " Where exactly are we headed?"

" West," Inuyasha replied, " I've been picking up a strange scent coming from this direction. It seems somehow familiar, but I'm not exactly sure what it is."

" I'll bet he really knows what it is," Kagome thought sadly. " I'll bet it's Kikyo, and he just doesn't want anyone to know. I'll bet-"

Suddenly, Kagome felt something rush past her. She jumped back, and screamed. " What was that?!?!" she cried.

The scream made Inuyasha jump, and he quickly came to Kagome's side.

" Are you okay, Kagome?" he asked, and she immediately recognized concern in his voice. It made her shiver with delight, but she decided she would have to ignore it for now.

" I'm fine," she replied, " Just a little creeped out. What was that?"

Inuyasha sniffed the air. " It was nothing." he replied, looking up in the trees. " Just birds."

Kagome gasped, and turned to see Sango, Shippo, and Miroku staring at her oddly. Her face turned scarlet. " Oh, great," she thought, " I must have sounded so stupid!"

" Kagome..." Sango said gently, " Are you feeling okay?"

Kagome froze. " Uh, well..." she stammered. " Yeah, of course I'm fine!" she quickly finished, chipperly, " Why wouldn't I be?"

Miroku sighed. " You've just seemed...well, not like yourself today..."

" Yeah, we're worried about you, Kagome!" Shippo added. Then, glaring up at Inuyasha, he said to him, " Aren't we, Inuyasha?!"

" Hn." he replied aloud. Inside, he thought to himself, "You're lying again! Why won't you just admit you're not feeling well?!"

Kagome put her hands on her hips when he replied, but she smiled as well. " I'm fine," she said quietly, " Really. That bird was just too close! Honest, I'm fine!"

Miroku sighed,and Sango said, " Even so, maybe we should stop for the day. It'll be dark soon, and we need to collect firewood before sunset."

" Right!" Kagome replied, " So, where should we stop?"

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It was late, and everyone was asleep. Everyone, that is, except for Inuyasha. He was keeping a careful eye on Kagome. He knew that if nothing had changed from all the other nights, Kagome would be having trouble sleeping, and she would be waking up soon. " When she wakes up..." he thought, " I'm going to find out what's been going on once and for all!"

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Author's Note: Ending another chapter! I want to thank my reviewers:

Keyo-Red Angel of Hope: ROFL!!!! I loved your review! Tell you sister that my good friend, CCD, is also a fan of Fluffy-chan (heehee), and tell her not to worry; he will live (or, will he??) Keep on reading!

XxXsarahXxX: 'Feh'? ...Meh. Thanks for the info, but it's kinda something I've grown attached to, using 'Hn'. I'm glad you're enjoying the fic, though. Let me know if there is anything else I'm messing up on. I hope you keep checking up on the fic!

Also, in case anyone did or didn't notice, I've been mispelling Miroku's name lately. I'm not 100 percent sure how far back it's been going (I'll check my saves), but as soon as I pinpoint all of them, I'm going to update the incorrect chapters. I'm big on good spelling, and if you ever see typos in here, then it's probably because I either didn't see it, or I didn't know it was mispelled. 8sighs8 Anyway, I'll be writing more soon! LYL, Trin