Chapter 34: Different Perspectives

The next day, the wind whips harshly though the forest, howling between the trees as it rips leaves from the branches. It continues on its way, uninhibited until it comes across a rarely used road and a small group that travels down it. Despite the meager number of travelers, the wind quells in its presence as cold golden eyes seem to stare at it reprovingly for its folly.

These same eyes train themselves on the castle in the distance, unable to keep a slight distaste from coming to them as their owner picks up a faint but definite scent, "Bah! Inuyasha," he mutters under his breath so the others in the party can't hear, "you dishonor out great fathers with your negligence. Honestly, allowing wolves to mark on your land…"

He seems to abandon these thoughts and he continues forward, surrounded by his best men. After they move on, the wind once again roars like a wild animal, looking for those who would tremble against its might.

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"Tag, you're it!" the young voice cries out.

Souta sits pouting in the snow. "I don't get it. You're just a little cup, how do you move so quickly?"

His playmate smirks up at him "It's 'cause I'm so small. I can get in little places that are quicker to go through than around. Plus my small size means I'm quicker!"

"Obviously. Hey! Wanna go bug Kaede until she gives us cookies to go away? I heard today she made snickerdoodles!"

Shippo quickly hops onto his shoulder, "Well, what are we standing around here for? Let's go!"

With that the boys rush through the hallways, barely dodging various servants that roam the hallways, doing their tasks just as if the Lord of the household was awake and well and everything was as it had been for ten years before. The servants had quickly learned how to handle the two rambunctious boys when they got together, which was most of the time. The most effective tactic was to simply stay out of their way, sometimes needing to press against the side to keep from getting tripped over. However, for some the strategy was impossible. One such unlucky servant was Keade, whom the boys seemed particularly fond of, if only because, if annoyed carefully enough, she would always have some kind of sweets to get them to leave her be.

She knew this was going to be much the same case when she heard Souta's relatively loud footsteps from down the hall. She sighs and shakes her head, she really should be more strict with them. Well, that would just have to change today, these cookies, which she'd just pulled from the oven, were not for them, but for Lady Kagome. She had to keep up her strength somehow, and Kaede had finally figured that if nothing else, the smell of freshly baked sweets could possibly wet her appetite. The poor dear had gotten to barely touching any of the food brought in front of her, though she did seem to be eating slightly better in the mornings.

As soon as the boys come in, Kaede abandons the sad thoughts and puts on her toughest exterior, cutting both of them off before they can begin their routine. "Good, just the two boys I was looking for. I need the two of ye to bring these up to the Master's bedchambers and try to coax Lady Kagome into eating at least some of them. Who knows? Maybe the smell will do something to help Master Inuyasha awake as well."

The boys close their half-open mouths and nod a bit more seriously. If the two were fond of Kaede, they loved Kagome, for obvious reasons as well. Kaede well knew that they had both been quite distressed at the young girl's deteriorating condition, and she knew that they wouldn't leave the room until she had eaten at least half of the plate.

With their new mission firmly in mind, the boys took off towards their destination, careful as to not cause the plate to tip over. They achieve the doors before slamming on the brakes, nearly hurling themselves and their cargo into said doors in the process. After regaining his poise, Souta quietly knocks on the door before opening it slightly "Kagome? Are you awake in there?" he says, poking his head in the door.

Sure enough, the girl's awake, though looking pale as a ghost from lack of nutrition and sunshine. She sits in her customary place in a chair beside the bed, looking intently at Inuyasha's face while holding his hand close to her. She doesn't move from her position even as the two young boys move into the room and beside her, looking on sadly at the comatose young man that they both held in such high regard. After a moment's silence in respect, Souta turned to his sister and placed the plate on her lap, making sure that it wouldn't fall once he took his hands away, "Please sis, you've GOT to eat something at some point. Come on, Kaede made this yummy cookies just for you."

No response, it didn't even seem like she knew that either of them were there. Shippo then tries his hand, "Please Kagome, just eat one. How do you think Inuyasha will act when he wakes up and sees you like this? You don't want that, do you? Please Kagome, just one."

Again, not even the bat of an eye, as if she were just as dead to the world as the hanyou lord, just with her eyes open. Souta gets a bit frustrated at this point. "Fine, you can ignore us, but we're not going away until you eat the whole plate!" With that he walks away, only to return moments later with another chair, which he places close to his sister's and then sits in, staring just as intently as the girl was at her target, Shippo following suit.

Little did they know that Kagome indeed was just as dead to the rest of the world as Inuyasha, the fragile bond that neither of them fully recognized binding their souls together closely, allowing one to help the other without entirely realizing it. However, this bond also gave them a weakness, as they were now, neither could do anything, completely focused on each other, and completely vulnerable to any outside forces that should decide to take advantage of their state.

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This did not go unnoticed by two very different individuals, though for very different reasons. One saw this as the closing in of his master plan, the time coming when all his plans would come to bear fruit. The other though, watched impartially, though a bit surprised that after all these years, Inuyasha had indeed changed, or at least it seemed that way. The question still remained though, had he changed enough? The test to see if so would be coming soon enough, and so only a bit more patience was needed. "I have waited ten long years," the figure whispered to the wind, "a few more days to a couple of weeks shall be nothing."

A.N. I am so so so so so sorry this took so long to get out guys! Writer's block kicked me right in the teeth and I've been struggling with it for practically a month now! Now I've got at least a vague concept of were I want this to head, and I'm praying that my muse doesn't abandon me again. Also, as I have gained some slight criticism for taking up so much space with Reviewer Replies, I've decided to rework them. I will thank all of those who reviewed in the main author's note, and then answer any questions or otherwise separately. As such, I'd like to thank RebelWriter, Lil-Yasha, ThatOneNerd, animekat, Provoked, SitDog-Boy, Ame-sama, harryptaxd204, glenlightarrow, Inu Youkai Gurl, galaxy guardian, RoseMaiden, silveryuki06, New Salem Witch, MeMe, and Hanyou Vixen. Now for individual responses.

Lisa- Honestly, I'm not sure. But if I had to take a ballpark guess, I'd say probably closer to forty chapters then forty-five.

Neko-Yuff116- To answer your questions, I'm pretty sure it's a bit of a mixture of both. Inuyasha's blood how he feels for Kagome, and thusly the animalistic instincts already are pointing towards protecting her, but it's probably using it to it's advantage as well, at least a bit. And yeah, Inu-chan can be cute at times.

Ceaseless Cloudy Days- First off, thanks a lot, and I'm glad that I could end your search for you lol. As for the rating, I've got no clue, I've been writing this since well before they changed the ratings, and they changed them on their own, so I'm just going to leave it as is. Part of the reason that I answered your review separate was because you brought up something that a couple other reviewers did, the replies. I'm glad to hear that you understand why I do them, and I hope that this new way is better. I'll do my best to lengthen the chapters as well.

Well, that's all for now, R&R plz!