Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and them. And, as is the case in this chapter, I don't own 'Must Be Dreaming'.

Chapter 2: Must Be Dreaming

I let out a scream that would have made someone being attacked by three-hundred pound flaming mosquitoes feel ashamed. I've had nightmares before, but never had I experienced anything like this. They just felt so...real. Like I was actually standing there, witnessing the events. I even remembered the cold. It was intoxicating, and I could have stayed there forever if it wasn't for her. Her, the one who killed Kouga, and the only one who saw me. But, she –was- me. Confusing.

I looked around the –cave- I was in. What am I doing in a cave? I wondered. There were no caves around when I landed on Sess's head. In fact, the last thing I remembered was slipping on the ice... which had crystallized beneath my feet. I'm going crazy. The thought that this was all a dream had been immediately dismissed once I noticed the excruciatingly painful pounding in my skull. My new theory was that I'd gone insane. By the way, I'm –not- already insane, thank-you-very-much. Actually, that idea could have been true, due to the history of crazy people in my family. Again, I am not one of them.

Ignoring my, uh, headache, I slowly stood up. I needed to stretch my body, so I started walking around the cave. It was a nice cave, though it didn't have anything in it. The fact that it was empty made me think that Sess had left me here. That would have been possible, but why would he? I mean, he is –such- a nice, caring sensitive guy. (Some more of that sarcasm stuff.) Still, why would he take the trouble to bring me to this place if he was just going to abandon me? Ouch. I shouldn't think so hard- it's not good for my overall health.

As hard as I tried, I just couldn't push that dream out of my head. I kept seeing Kouga...dead. Because I killed him. Why would I do that? Sure, Kouga isn't the greatest hero there ever was, but he isn't Naraku. And he seemed so surprised to see me, like we had known each other, so we had obviously met before. I need to get my mind off this. So, I started singing.

Pay close attention

Don't listen to me from now

George'll be flying this one

And it's anyone's guess how he does

This is the right turn, wrong universe

Taking me in full bloom

Fire ball, careful with that there

See what you made me do

(chorus)

I must be dreaming or

We're onto something

I must be dreaming for

I don't fall in love lawlessly

I must be dreaming or

Pinch me to waking

So undeniably yours

As long as I'm losing it so completely

(end chorus)

Incendiary glance

Be come and collide in me

zoom in enhance hold

While I go helplessly

Sky high

Magic eye

Sugar rushing

Don't stop

(chorus)

Euphoria

I can't take

Any more of yah

I'm losin it

(chorus)

Sess listened to me singing outside the cave. (I'm not psychic-I found this stuff out later) He had been sitting outside waiting for me to wake up. He closed his eyes, but it was an unconscious action. He was actually enjoying my singing. (Of course, who wouldn't? I have a great voice, if I do say so myself.) I always knew that he was a sensitive guy deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, down. Of course, as soon as he realized this fact, he opened his eyes very quickly and stood up. Still, he couldn't forget the passion he heard in my voice. "She seems to love singing," he said to himself. Then, he erased all thoughts like those and walked inside the cave.

I sighed as I finished my song. The lyrics were so beautiful, but they only last a minute. Just as I was about to start on another song, I heard footsteps. I knew it was Sess. (I take it back, I am –so- psychic. How else could I have known who was walking into a cave in the middle of nowhere?)

"You're up," he stated simply.

"Yeah," I replied oh-so-elegantly. I was still a bit shaken by the dream...or vision. I wasn't all that sure it was a dream.

"Are you prepared to answer my questions?"

"Depends on what your questions are." Of course. That's why he carried me to the cave- he wanted to know why- and how- I had fallen out of the sky onto his head. Oh well, at least my reply didn't get me into anything, like being forced to answer questions I didn't want to.

"Who are you?"

Sigh of relief. Very simple question, I think. Who am I again? Oh, yeah. "My name is Kariko Hoshi,

I'm 14, and I live in Fairview Heights, Illinois. My mom's American and my dad's Japanese, and I go to Pontiac Jr. High, and-"

"Maybe a better question would have been –what- are you?" He cut me off before I could finish my autobiography, which really sucked because I love talking about myself.

"I'm a –human-," I replied in a 'duh' kind of voice. I mean, that was probably the most stupid question I ever...wait, I forgot about Val.

"You may look human, but your not. Did you not notice the ice you were creating?" Sess explained/asked.

"Oh, yeah. What's the deal with that?" Even though I knew I wasn't dreaming, it was still –extremely- fun to talk to him like that.

"I assume you're asking how you froze the water." Sess asked what even I knew was a rhetorical question. "You're a demon. An ice demon, to be more specific. How could you not know?" His tone was a –bit- mocking when he said that last part. I didn't catch it, though. I was busy thinking of what Val would say if I told her I was a demon. Some thing like: "I always knew deep down that you were an evil creature from Hell meant to destroy my life."

"Where I come from, demons and stuff are only in fairy tales. They aren't real," I mumbled as I looked down at my shirt. It was black in color with rhinestones arranged to look like the moon, stars, and the sea. My jeans, in contrast, were very light in color. Add in the dirty sneakers, and you have a fashion disaster. I don't care, because I always thought fashion was idiotic. I'd rather spend my time doing something else, like watching anime. Look at my black hair. (It used to be brown with blonde highlights before I got tired of that.) It was simply pulled back into a ponytail. Oh, sorry. Enough about my clothes and back to the story.

"Where did you come from?" Sess asked in his usual icy tone.

"Dude, didn't I just tell you that? I come from America. It's a place in my world. Where I come from, you and this place only exist on T.V." I wasn't my usual –charming- self due to the fact that I was tired, and a bit depressed. Homesick. Yeah, homesick. I guess that's what you call it. Now, if I had been with Inuyasha, I wouldn't have cared.

"T.V.?"

"Television. It's like, uh, it's like...a book with pictures, but the pictures move across a screen. Real people play the parts. This world is only an anime show, which is basically an animated picture. It does...doesn't..." I finally surrendered and let myself yawn. You'd think that I'd be wide awake after being UNCONSCIOUS for who-knows-how-long. But I guess the visions –dreams- didn't allow me much rest. Whatever. I was tired and I wanted to sleep. I didn't care what that idiotic assassin had to say about it.

"Why don't I come back once you've gotten enough sleep to make sense." If I hadn't known better, I'd have sworn that, if only for a moment, he was being a little –gulp- sensitive.

I was still yawning, so I just nodded my head and Sess left. Unable to sit up straight anymore, I gave in

and went to sleep. It never crossed my mind that I would have more dreams.

-Valen, my best friend, was watching T.V. Well, she wasn't actually watching a particular show, just channel surfing. She stopped when she reached channel 54, a.k.a. Inuyasha. She loves that show –almost- as much as I do. Val laid down on her mom's bed and got ready to watch the show. The previews from last week weren't enough- she had to see the actual show.

Just as she was about to watch Inuyasha, something hit her window. She let out a low growl as she reluctantly crawled out of her bed. Uh-oh. This person was gonna pay. Val opened the window and leaned out. She had a deadly look on her face, like someone had just insulted Miroku. She has a crush on Miroku that is rivaled only by my crush on Inuyasha.

"Who is it?" She yelled in a menacing tone.

"It's just me, baka," I yelled back. Uh, dream me yelled back. It was a very weird situation- I was watching myself do all these things.

"What are you doing?"

"Jump!" I answered in a happy voice.

"What? You're missing for two days, then you just show up in my backyard with no explanation at all and tell me to JUMP! Are you CRAZY?"

"Yeah, but that's beside the point. Trust me. Wait, go downstairs and let me in. Then I'll explain everything to you."-

This time I didn't wake up right after my dream. I think I actually slept for a couple of hours before opening my eyes. When I did, the first thing I noticed was that Sess wasn't there. I was a little annoyed by that. I had quite a few questions to ask him, and he wasn't even there. Therefore, I decided to go looking for him.

Once I got out of the cave, I realized that I couldn't see. At first I thought it was because it was night time. I have horrible night vision, by the way. Even when I'm wearing my glasses. Wait a minute. Where are my glasses? I wondered. They definitely weren't on my face- I checked.

"Oh, chikusho. I must have lost them when I fell," I said to myself. I wondered how on earth could I –not- have known that I wasn't wearing my glasses. I really am slow. (Comment and you die a very slow, painful death.) I figured that my glasses were kind of important, so I decided to go back to my world and get my other pair. It was a simple solution, except for one thing- getting there. That's why I need Fluffy.

"Sesshoumaru!" I yelled at the top of my lungs from the entrance of the cave. Yelling seemed like the best way to locate Sess. I mean, I never considered that there might be, oh, a demon or two passing by on their way to kill innocent humans.

"Sesshoumaru..." I continued yelling. I thought this guy was supposed to have super-hearing or something. Guess not.

Then, I got an idea. Not a very smart idea, but still. "Oh, Fluffy! Fluffy!" I called, hoping it would annoy him enough to find me, but not so much that he would want to kill me. A very delicate balance.

Just as I was about to start yelling again, I heard something hiss. It sounded like a snake. I hate snakes- they are second only to spiders on my list of fears. So, when I heard the hiss, I froze. I had heard that if you're really still, the snake won't bite. I think Keia told me that. She obviously had never heard about demons.

When I saw the snake yokai, it looked about thirty times as big as a regular snake, but I was only judging by the light of the full moon. It could have been longer. The creature had dark eyes and scales with fangs that were way too sharp for my liking. Oddly enough, the snake appeared to be smiling.

I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. I guess the snake couldn't risk a strong demon coming along to help me, so it decided to finish me off then and there. Fortunately, I was able to dodge the first attack because I saw it coming. The snake was also a little slow for a demon. Keywords: for a demon. It seemed pretty damn fast compared to me.

"SESSHOUMARU!!" I screamed as the demon lunged at me again. I didn't know what else to do- I was completely helpless.

Or was I? At that moment, I thought of something. Like it or not, it seemed as if I had some sort of power over ice, so I might as well use it. Remembering the crystallized ice and the dream I had, I made a decision to fight back.

This time when the snake lunged at me I didn't dodge the attack entirely. Oh, I definitely evaded the fang, but remained close to the reptile. Reaching out my right hand, I touched the yokai's scales. I just kept thinking 'Freeze. Just freeze.' And guess what? It froze. Ice spread quickly from the spot where I was touching the snake to the rest of its body. Any other demon might have been able to easily escape this, but not a reptile. As everyone knows, snakes rely on heat for motion. Winter brings cold temperatures that make them unable to move. I trusted this fact when freezing the snake. Thank Kami I was right.

As I released the demon, Sess came walking up. I was –extremely- angry at him and his horrible sense of timing. You know, showing up right after I almost get killed by a humongous snake yokai.

"You slew the demon?" he asked.

"No, it just fell over frozen to death on its own free will. Of course I slew it." I tell you, these self-important demons can be ridiculously stupid at times.

"I have no time for this. You will answer my questions, and then I will decide what to do with you."

I was a –little- offended by that. "Excuse me. You can't decide what to do with me. Only –I- decide what to do with me. And right now, I want to go home." That brought up another point. "Could you perhaps show me the place where I fell on your head."

"If you answer all of my questions, then I will consider taking you to that spot when morning comes."

I had no choice but to agree.