CHAPTER TWENTY

x.

"So," Naraku mused, "that was all it took to make them scatter."

His scarlet eyes narrowed as he watched Kanna's mirror. In its reflection, he could see Kagome wandering through a darkened forest. Then the image rippled, and he saw Inuyasha in a rage, tearing through a forest with his good hand. He was shouting a name.

Naraku smiled slightly. "It's useless, Inuyasha. You can search as long as you want, but you cannot find her until I want you to. With your senses deceived, you will only see the trees and hear the wind." His smile widened. "But eventually you will find her... and then you will kill one another. Before that happens, I'll make sure that you are too rattled to recognize her. You will witness your heart's deepest fears... and so will she."

x.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome called. "Inuyasha?"

Her voice echoed hollowly through the forest. Nervously, she slipped through the trees and watched the dim sky through the branches. It was like someone had pulled a veil or screen over the sun.

One minute she had been standing in the clearing, trying to fend off the swarms of demon wasps. Then she had been.... somewhere else. Deeper in the forest, with no sign of the wasps... or Sango and Miroku... or Shippo... or Inuyasha. The trees rustled when there was no wind, and the clouds had swallowed the sun.

"What is this place?" Kagome said out loud.

Something darted just out of her view.

And for a monent, she thought she heard a voice calling her name. "Inuyasha!" she shouted. "Inuyasha! INUYASHA!"

Her heart was pounding as she raced through the woods. If he was here, he might be covered up by the demon's illusions. "Inuyasha!" she called. "Inuyasha! Can you hear me at all?"

Her running slowed and stopped. "Who am I kidding?" she murmured, discouraged. "He probably can't even hear me."

X.

"Damn, damn, damn," Inuyasha cursed under his breath, clutching at his left shoulder. A sharp, hot pain had started in his shoulder, where the feeling had left his muscles. Did that mean it was getting worse? He didn't dare to think about that. First he had to find Kagome and make sure that that illusion-spinning bastard hadn't hurt her. Then he was going to give the aforementioned bastard a one-way trip to the afterlife.

He drew Tetsusaiga and began running through the woods once more, glancing around the forest. Then a pair of figures caught his eye, so shadowed that they were nearly invisible. Inuyasha skidded to a halt... and his heart almost stopped as well. Koga was standing there, with a wide smile on that sneering face of his.

And one of his arms was around... Kagome.

Inuyasha could feel his breath quickening. She was listening to every word that scrawny wolf-demon said, with a sort of dreamy expression that she had never had when Inuyasha spoke to her. Suddenly she giggled at something he said. The sound made Inuyasha start to tremble. His heart felt as if it were ripping itself to pieces as he watched them.

It's not real, he tried to tell himself. In his head, he knew it was true. But it looked so real...

Suddenly she seemed to notice the half-demon. "Oh, hello Inuyasha," Kagome said, smiling at him. "Sorry, we were just leaving."

Koge tightened his arm around her shoulders, nuzzling the side of her face. "Seeya, mutt," he said, flicking a hand casually at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha couldn't seem to breathe. He watched the two figures walk off together into the darkness, then slowly sank to his knees, clutching at Tetsusaiga. It's not real, he reminded himself. That wasn't really Kagome. That bastard... he's just trying to shake you up.

But all the same... it frightened him that even knowing that it was all false, the demon had played on his heart. Just like Naraku always does, he thought angrily. With an effort, he got back up to his feet, and began running through the woods again. What I saw wasn't real, he reminded himself.

TO BE CONTINUED