AAAHHHH! I can not believe that it's taken me this long to update! Having taken several people's advice, I tried making the chapter longer, although that also meant that updating would take longer. So Sorry about this! Between School and Homework and my Bday next week.. I haven't had much time for this story.. But that'll change soon..

Let me know what you think..

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha.. Don't give me a problem for this harmless bit of fun.

Kara-Kaze (Dry Wind)

Kagome made her descent into the well with a heavy heart. She longed to see her friends, but the knowledge that she would have to turn her back on them someday was too much for her to bear. She felt the familiar swish of air encircle her before she felt her feet hit the dirt floor, littered with old bones. She looked up and saw the familiar sight of clear blue sky above her; the shrine was, as expected, not above her any longer. She climbed up side of the well and heaved her bag over the wooden well wall. She lifted herself up and sat for a few minutes, just allowing herself to take in the surroundings.

She enjoyed being back in this time. Back at home, she was just one of many girls, all pretty, all smart. She didn't stand out in any way. In Feudal Japan, she was someone exceptional. Villagers respected her and she had powers that she never thought possible. She had grown strong, both physically and emotionally. But, were these things enough to allow her to turn her back on her family? Could she possibly find happiness 500 years in her own past? She knew the answer her heart was telling her, and it was breaking her heart.

Sighing, she picked up her bag and made her way through the forest towards Kaede's hut, where she hoped her friends would be waiting. Her fears were alleviated when she heard Shippo's voice, complaining loudly to someone Kagome could not see.

"Oh, come on! Tell us what happened to Kagome? When's she coming back? She didn't even say goodbye." whined the small kitsune who, Kagome could now see, was standing on Inu-yasha's shoulders and pulling his hair for an answer.Inu-yasha merely growled and smacked the little demon off of him.

"Get off of me! I told you, she's not coming back." he growled.

Shippo, having landed a few feet away, picked himself up and whirled around, pouting, when he saw Kagome, who was now standing just a little way from them.

"Kagome!" cried Shippo, running up to her and jumping up into her arms.

"Hi, Shippo!" she said, more cheerfully than she felt. She looked at Inu-yasha hesitantly. He did not seems pleased to see her. "Here, help me take these things inside." she added, as she hugged the little demon closer to her body and turned her back on Inu-yasha.

She made her way to Kaede's hut, greeting Miroku and Sango warmly as she entered. Sango gave her a questioning look, but Kagome didn't seem to notice. Kagome chatted to her friend as she unpacked her bag, trying, without success, to sound carefree.

Before she could finish unpacking, Inu-yasha came in, his face tense, his eyebrows knit in frustration. He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, looking down at the floor.

Kagome looked sideways at him and noticed that he was refusing to meet her gaze. Sango looked between the two and excused herself, deciding that the tension was paramount to her desire to talk to Kagome.

Kagome kept her back to Inu-yasha, busily fiddling with her bag, but grew painfully aware of his presence.

'His silence is making me crazy.. Please say something' she pleaded silently. After several minutes, Kagome had finished unpacking and turned to walk out of the hut.

"Why are you back? I told you to stay home." said Inu-yasha, grabbing Kagome's arm as she passed, but still not looking at her. He was barely whispering, but there was no gentleness or warmth in his voice.

"Why? Because you think I'm so weak?" She said, angrier than she felt. Inu-yasha was still holding her arm to prevent her from leaving, "I can take care of myself, Inu-yasha! I'm not going to abandon my friends just because you're afraid of getting hurt." She wrung her arm out of his grasp, wincing as his claws scraped her arm.

Kagome was surprised to see that he had flinched and had grimaced at her action, as if she had somehow been the one to hurt him. Kagome, again, regretted her words.

'Oh.. Why did you say that, stupid! Stop being so hot-headed!' She opened her mouth to apologize, but Inu-yasha cut her off.

"Damn it, Kagome. I.. I can't be responsible for you anymore." He said with difficulty. "I can not protect you. Stay if you want, but I can't help you if you get into trouble." He nodded towards the door, his eyes still shut tight, directing her to leave the hut.

Kagome stood at the doorframe and stared at Inu-yasha.

'Why is he being so cold to me?' she wondered.

Inu-Yasha turned away from her, his arms still crossed against his chest. She decided there was nothing left to say and went outside to spend some time with her friends.

The remainder of the morning progressed quietly among the small group. Miroku and Shippo passed the time playing cards, although Miroku was more intent on watching the girls preparing the afternoon meal by the fire. He kept losing hand after hand to an excited kitsune, as his eyes slid curiously from a silent Sango to a miserable looking Kagome.

"Is Inu-Yasha still inside?" he asked the girls, finally breaking the silence.

Without looking up, they shrugged.

"Yeah, he's inside, and he doesn't look happy! What's wrong with him? It's like he enjoys being miserable" said Shippo.

"I'll go see if it's anything that can be helped, since you girls don't seem up for conversation." Miroku said, before rising from his kneeling position and making his way towards the hut.

He pushed aside the bamboo door flap and peered into the shadowy hut. Once his eyes adjusted to the dim light, his gaze fell upon Inu-Yasha who was sitting crossed legged on the dirt floor, his back to the door.

"Inu-Yasha, the girls appear unhappy. Have we done something to upset them?" asked a wary Miroku.

"Keh.. I don't care to know what you've done, but I don't have anything to report to you ." spat Inu-Yasha

"Well, it appears that a fowl mood has taken you as well. I guess I'll just have to spend some time with Shippo until this dark cloud passes."

"Do what you want." shrugged Inu-Yasha.

"Houshi-sama! Inu-Yasha-sama! Come quick!" Sango's voice was heard calling them from outside.

Miroku ran outdoors and Inu-Yasha quickly followed.

"What is it, Sango?" Miroku cried.

"I've just spoken with one of the villagers who told me of a village about a day's journey north of here. It seems that they're being terrorized by a demon. I tried to get more specific information from him, but he seemed hesitant to say more."

"Hmm.. Could be something there worth looking into. What do you think, Inu-Yasha?" Miroku said while rubbing his chin. He turned to look at Inu-Yasha and was surprised to find that Inu-Yasha was staring straight at Kagome.

"Inu-Yasha?" Miroku called again, wondering why Kagome didn't notice the intense scrutiny she was undergoing.

"O.K." he answered, still not looking away from Kagome. "We'll set out as soon as possible and see if there's a shard up there. But if there is not, we're heading right back. I don't want a fight if there's nothing worth gaining.". He then spun on his heels and walked back into the hut, arms crossed and hands in his sleeves.

The sun rose the next morning to find the troop packing up their make-shift camp and extinguishing the campfire. Kagome had been awake much of the night anxiously peering over at Inu-Yasha, but if he had noticed her glance, he didn't acknowledge her.

They set off walking again in complete silence. Inu-Yasha marched well ahead of the rest of the traveling group and wouldn't sit with them to rest or eat. He refused Sango's offer of ramen, having completely ignored Kagome's offer.

He felt worse than he'd felt in a long time. He couldn't even describe the exact feeling that was growing in his chest and he was glad Miroku and Shippo had stopped pestering him. Ever since he saw Kagome walk out of the forest yesterday morning, his stomach had tied itself in knots, and it hadn't loosened up since.

'What am I doing? I should enjoy the time we have left with her', he thought to himself, 'but there's no point if she doesn't want to be with me. She's leaving. Sango was wrong, Kagome told me herself that she had no reason to stay here with me.'

Several times he noticed Kagome looking in his direction, but he forced himself to look forward, refusing to acknowledge her gaze. A few times, while Miroku teased the girls and Shippo bounced alongside Kagome, Inu-Yasha felt a twinge of regret about not enjoying the walk, but he refused to be weak about this. He had to get used to the fact that Kagome was not going to be around much longer.

"Inu-Yasha!" called out Miroku suddenly, "Do you feel that?"

Inu-Yasha perked up his ears and took a quick sniff of the air, "Yes!" he answered, kicking himself for being so wrapped up in his thoughts to not notice sooner. "It coming downwind of us," he called back, his eyes suddenly stinging "and it's coming fast!"

Sango whipped off her kimono and drew her Hiraikotsu as Miroku braced himself against the floor. Inu-Yasha withdrew the Tetsusaiga, eyeing Kagome as she dashed behind a tree, clutching Shippo to her chest.

'She'd better stay out of the way' he snarled to himself.

"Inu-Yasha!" Sango shouted hoarsely, pointing at a clump of trees in front of him.

"Oh!" gasped Kagome

"What's happening to the trees?" whispered Shippo in awe.

The group watched as the leaves of the trees quickly lost their color, faded to beige, shriveled and fell from the limbs. Whole branches became withered and knarled as if winter had come early and unexpectedly.

"The trees are dying," whispered Kagome as Inu-Yasha jumped out of the way of a falling branch. She felt her chest inexplicably tighten and felt her breathing become laboring. She glanced down at Shippo to find that he, too, was having trouble catching his breath.

The group looked up to see, from the center of the path of dead trees, an emerging man, his skin gray and ashy. His raspy breath audible from a distance and his grating breath blowing white flakes into the atmosphere. He dragged his foot into the ground, leaving a trail of dead skin in it's wake.

"Who are you?" yelled Inu-Yasha.

"I am Kara-kaze… and you?" he laughed abrasively, "well.. you will all be dead soon…"

That's it.. I hope it's length was enough to satisfy you for now. I will be updating very soon.. Kara-kaze translates to "Dry Wind" in Japanese, and I don't think that will be giving away a lot.

Please Please Please review and let me know if you like the direction the story is taking.. I'm also up for suggestions as to where you'd like it to go.

Judi.