Chapter 37:

The Dream…

--- --------------------- ----- ----

…Mm?

Kagome opened her eyes but sees nothing but the darkness surrounding her.

Where…am I ?

She looked around to see any sign of life other than her. But all she could see was just plain darkness and she was starting to get worried.

…Mom? Souta? Oji-chan?

Deciding it would be useless just standing around waiting for something to happen, she started walking into the darkness with no knowledge of where to go or what to do. After she thought about an hour of walking, she gave up and fell flat on the floor.

Where is this place anyways? What am I doing here? Where did everyone go?

She looks around again in hopes of finding something new.

…Hm? What is that?

She slowly stood up at the sight of a small light some distance away from her. She started running towards the light thinking there might be someone or something that can help her.

Maybe everyone is over there waiting for me. Maybe I just got lost or something…yes. That must be it…I'm just…

" She's a failure…"

Eh?

Kagome stopped as she approached closer to the light, hearing a deep voice of a man. But couldn't see who was talking.

" A failure…sir?" Another voice said, sounding much younger than the other one.

" Yes…only the outer part of the body is created perfect…but the inner…not good."

Failure? What are they talking about?

" So, sir. What shall we do with her?" The young voice asked.

There was a moment of silence, which made Kagome consider the other man is thinking about it. There was a sound of rustling and she wondered what they are doing. Who are these guys?

" We'll have a few more tests and then if she still is not qualified…then…"

Kagome heard an intake of breath and strained her ear to hear more.

" Are you for sure, sir? Even if she is just an experiment…she is still a child." The younger man said almost hesitantly.

" Yes…she's useless…there's no reason for me to keep her." The deep voice said firmly.

" But…"

" Enough. We'll be going on to the next one."

"…yes, sir."

There was a sound of footsteps walking further away and then disappearing. Kagome slowly looked into the light, half wanting to know and half afraid of knowing what she is going to see.

She slowly peered in and saw a man, wearing a long white coat, which she remembers something that an actor/tress on the television who is acting as a scientist or a doctor would wear.

Who is that?

The man seem to be staring at something in front of him, but Kagome couldn't see since the light was only small enough to see only the man standing. The man then held out his hand and touched the thing he was staring.

" I'm sorry…," He whispered softly, almost sadly. " I'm really sorry."

The man then looked up and Kagome gasped in surprise. He is…!!?

--- ----- ------ ----- ----- ----

" Kagome!"

" Kagome!!"

"…Mm? Huh?" Kagome slowly opened her eyes to see an outline of a woman staring down at her. " …Mo…m?"

The woman sighed in relief, " Are you all right, dear? You've been sleeping for the whole day…"

" Eh?" Kagome said and then slowly sat up, her vision getting clear every second. " I what? Slept the whole day? What about school?"

" I've sent a letter to the school saying you won't be going, they understood." Ms. Higurashi smiled, " Are you okay?"

Kagome placed a hand over her head and nods. She looks up to see her mother still wearing a worried expression on her face. " I'll be all right, mom. I just…feel a little dizzy."

" Do you want something to eat, dear?"

She shook her head and made an attempt to get out of the bed. But her mother placed a hand on her shoulder, pressing her to stay. But she smiles at her, assuring her it's okay, and slipped out of bed.

" Do you want to take a bath then?" Her mother insisted.

Kagome smiled and turns to her, " I think that'll be a great idea. It'll wake me up."

" I'll be waiting at the kitchen if you need me," Ms. Higurashi walks towards the door, " And Kagome…"

"Hm?" Kagome turns to her while gathering some clothes in her hand. She noticed the concern expression on her mothers face, " What is it?"

Ms. Higurashi stared at her daughter with worry but soon smiles, " Be careful."

" ?" The black-haired girl blinked her eyes in confusion. " About what?"

" Just…everything, my dear."

" Hm? Well…okay. Thanks, Mom."

Ms. Higurashi smiled again and left the room. But before she went down the stairs, she took one last look of her daughter's bedroom. ' Soon…the time will come.'

--- ------- ---- ------- -------

"Lalala…lala…"

Kagome was humming inside the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair.

" Aah, this feels good." She stretches her leg in the warm water.

' But that…dream? Or was it?' She thought as she splashed herself with the water and trying to remember the dream. ' That man in the dream…that was…my father. Then whom was he talking to? What experiment? What do they mean by ' failure' ? '

She didn't get to see the man who owned the deep voice. But she did get to see the other. It was her father. No mistake. Because she just saw him the night before.

' So, he really is a scientist…because he was wearing that white lab coat. So does that mean the other guy is a scientist too?'

After a while of washing herself, she slowly got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her wet body. ' Nevermind… it's no use thinking about it with so little clues. Maybe I might dream of another one again. Then I could think about it later.'

--- ----------- ----- ----

At the same time in Sengoku Koukou,

" What's with the long face, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked as he approached the silver-haired teen, who was staring out the window almost boredly, " Bored without Kagome-sama?"

" Keh!" Inuyasha just bawled and then decided to ignore him.

" But, really. I wonder why Kagome-chan is absent today. Is she sick? She didn't seem sick yesterday…" Sango said in worry. " Maybe I'll go visit her after school."

" I'll follow you, Sango. I was asked by the teacher to give this assignment to her anyways," The Houshi said and then turns to the silver-haired teen beside, " What about you, Inuyasha?"

" . . . . . " Inuyasha stayed silent but Miroku took that as a yes. He turns to Sango and started talking about what to bring to cheer her up.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, just continuously stared outside, ignoring Miroku and Sango's conversation. His mind had been on Kagome for the whole day and it was irritating him.

' Damn, that stupid girl! Making me worry so much!' He thought half angrily, ' I'm gonna get her for doing this to me. Damnit! Damnit!'

Suddenly, the door opened and Kikyou peeked in. But when she caught the sight of Inuyasha, she walked in without hesitation and walked towards him. Inuyasha, though, still had his mind on Kagome, didn't notice her approaching.

" Inuyasha." Kikyou spoke, surprising Miroku and Sango. But Inuyasha stayed mute as though he didn't hear her.

" Inuyasha…" She tried again, this time with a firm tone.

" Hm? Huh?" Inuyasha looked and then almost fell from his chair, " K…Kikyou!? What the…What are you doing here!?"

" Come. We need to talk. " Kikyou said, ignoring his question and grabbed his arm.

" H…hey, wait!" Inuyasha shook off her hands, " Why can't we talk here?"

Kikyou took a glance at Miroku and Sango. She then crossed her arms, " Fine. It'll be quick anyways."

" What then?"

" Is it…true?" She asked, making Inuyasha confused. " Is it true…that…that you confessed to Higurashi Kagome?"

" How the hell did you find out about that ?" Inuyasha asked back in surprise, his face slightly red from embarrassment.

" Just answer the question!" Kikyou said strictly, " Is it true?"

". . . . . . ."

Kikyou grabbed his arm, shaking him. " Tell me it's not true. Tell me that it's just a stupid rumor. You're not going to leave me, right? You promised!!"

" Kikyou…" Inuyasha lowered his gaze as though to avoid her eyes, " It's…true."

Kikyou widens her eyes in horror, " No! It can't be!! You promised, Inuyasha! You promised that you wouldn't leave me!!"

" That was a long time ago, Kikyou!"

" Inuyasha…"

" To tell the truth…I still have feelings for you…but Kagome. Kagome needs me right now! I need her!! She needs help, and I'm going to help her. I'm sorry, Kikyou…but…but…we need to end our relationship. "

" No! I won't let you!!" Kikyou wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's body, pulling him closer. " I need you, Inuyasha!! If it's only to get you, I don't need anything else! I only need you, Inuyasha. I don't care what happens to that Kagome bitch!"

" Kikyou…!!!"

" It's the truth! I don't care what happens to her!! I don't want to lose you, Inuyasha!! Please!!!"

Inuyasha looks up at Miroku and Sango for help but they just shrugged their shoulders, not knowing what to do. The silver-haired teen sighs and separated her arms away from his.

" Listen, Kikyou. I'm sorry…I'm sorry for leaving you like this. I know I'm such a bad guy. There're other guys better than me out there." Inuyasha spoke softly, " But, Kagome. I'm the one for her. She needs me right now…and I want to help her. Sorry…so sorry."

Kikyou stared into Inuyasha's eyes for a moment before turning it away, " I…understand. I'm sorry for being such a selfish woman…I understand. I won't…I won't say any further. Thank you…Thank you for everything you did for me, Inuyasha."

" Kikyou…"

The Miko girl turns to leave, her face hidden. " And Inuyasha. I…I hope you'll be happy with Kagome." She turns to face him, a single tear flowing down her cheek, " …Good-bye."

Inuyasha watched as Kikyou left the room. Miroku and Sango looked at each other almost worriedly. They turned to face Inuyasha. Miroku placed a hand over his shoulder.

" It's not your fault, Inuyasha."

" I know…" He said, " But…I just kinda feel guilty about it."

--- ------ ----- ------ ---- ---

Hiten was walking down the hallway, holding some textbook under his arm. He shot a glance outside the window and saw someone familiar standing.

' Ch…' He clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned.

" Hiten?" Yura had just come out of the room to find Hiten leaving. " Where are you going?"

" Just outside…" Hiten said, " You stay here."

" But…"

" Just do it if you don't want to get hurt."

Yura stares at him worriedly but nods her head. " Okay…be careful." She then goes back into the classroom to continue on grading tests.

Hiten smiles softly before straightening up his expression and walk outside. He approached the place where he saw the figure but finds noone there. Suddenly, he felt something cold touching the back of his head and raised his arms as though to surrender.

" Never thought you'd actually betray the organization just because of a woman," said a cold, high-pitched voice behind him.

" Never thought you'd actually come to a place like this carrying something like that…" Hiten said coolly as he slowly turned to see a gun pointed towards him, " …Abi."

Himedori Abi, one of the assassins of the same organization Hiten was in, smirked coldly as she pressed the gun on his forehead. " Oh, don't worry. I won't shoot you just now…just came here to checkout the woman who made you decide to leave our organization."

" You came here to see Yura?"

" So is that her name? …I just can't believe a cold-hearted assassin like you would fall for a mere woman. How really surprising…I didn't believe the first time when I heard that you failed to kill Higurashi Kagome and leave the organization. I didn't believe it…but…when I look at you right now…" Abi said in disgust and anger, " Why? Why, Hiten? You know what happens to those who betray the organization. Half of the jobs you were given were to eliminate those betrayers. So why?"

Hiten stares firmly at the woman in front of her, " Because I feel that she is far more important than what I've been doing. Than all this…"

" Well, why not me then?" Abi said, a small smile on her face, " Why am I not the one to be loved by you? Aren't I almost the same?"

" You don't have what she has…something that all of us, those who live in the dark, have long wished to have." Hiten said calmly.

" A woman like her has something that I don't?" Abi let out a cold chuckle, " You make me laugh, Hiten." She took back the gun and placed it back on her hoister. " You know that I have power to kill her anytime, anywhere, anyhow I want. Let's see what she'll have now if I…"

She stopped, looking a Hiten's expression on his face, which gave her a small chill behind her back.

" I'm warning you, Abi. That if you lay any finger on her…or if you even dare try to kill her…that I will make sure you will suffer a painful death before you can go to Hell." He said, his normally cool and calm expression gone, with pure anger on his face.

Abi smirked, " So, I guess it's true that you care more about her than our organization."

She turns to leave, " Now that you're out, the organization gave me the orders to kill Higurashi Kagome. Now, even if you managed to stop me, you know that there will be more assigned. You won't be able to stop the organization yourself, Hiten. You know that really well yourself. And now that you have betrayed the organization…you and everyone else you have relations with will be targeted. Including her…so I suggest you watch out for yourself."

" Why aren't you killing me?"

" I told you, I'm just here to check out the woman and you…" Abi smirked, almost jokingly, " Besides, I want to see how you will get out of this. Good luck…"

She walks towards the gate and then smirked one last time at Hiten, before disappearing around the corner.

" . . . . . . ."

---- -------- ---- ------ ----

Ding Dong

" Yes, I'm coming." Ms. Higurashi said as she walked towards the door. She opened it and made a surprised expression, " Oh…hello, Taijiya-san."

" Hello, Ms. Higurashi. Umm…we came here to visit Kagome-chan." Sango smiled.

"Oh, thank you for coming all the way," Ms. Higurashi smiled. She noticed Miroku and Inuyasha behind her, " Oh…is this?"

"Oh," Sango said as though she remembered, " This is Houshi Miroku and…"

" Kagome will be happy to see you," Ms. Higurashi smiled at Inuyasha, which surprised Sango and Miroku.

" You know her, Inuyasha?" Sango asked.

" ……yeah." Inuyasha mumbled softly, " I came here once…for Miroku's party."

Miroku smiled, " Ah, I see. So, how is Kagome-sama, Ms. Higurashi?"

Ms. Higurashi cocked her head to the side at the sound of '–sama' after her daughter's name but smiled, " She's all right. She just had some dizziness. She'll be able to see you guys…here, come in."

She led the three into the house and towards the living room. " Kagome should be coming down, I'll bring some tea."

Sango sat uncomfortably on the sofa as she looked around, " Such a nice house. I'm sure it's better than mine."

Miroku sat beside her, wrapping one arm around her waist, which she flinched at. " Miroku!"

" Don't worry, I won't do such things here, Sango." Miroku smiled innocently.

" You better…" Sango glared at him.

Inuyasha just sat on the other sofa, crossing his arms, waiting for Kagome. He closed his eyes, deep in her thoughts, wondering what to say if she comes.

" Inuyasha?" He looked up to see Kagome standing with a surprised expression on her face.

" Kagome-chan!" "Kagome-sama!!"

Miroku and Sango said almost the same time, which surprised Kagome again.

" Wha…What are you guys doing here?" She asked.

" We came here to visit you, Kagome-chan. We worried because we thought you might've been sick and…" Sango said relieved to see that she was okay, " Oh, Kagome-chan! I'm just glad you're okay!!"

" Here's the assignment Mr. Myouga gave me to give you. He said we're going to have a quiz on it tomorrow," Miroku said as he handed her a folder.

" He's what!!?" Kagome made a horrified face, " A quiz!!? I better study hard then!"

The Houshi boy smiled, " It'll be all right, Kagome-sama. It's not that hard. Just know the basics."

" Thank you, Miroku-san. I'll keep that in mind." Kagome then turns to face Inuyasha, who was trying to avoid her eyes. She makes a sad face for an instant but smiles and turns to face Miroku and Sango, " Thank you for coming to visit me. I'll be okay; I was just tired…from all the stress and all. But, I'll be able to get back to school tomorrow."

" Are you sure? You don't have to force yourself, Kagome-chan." Sango asked in worry.

"It's all right. I'll be fine." Kagome smiled, assuring them it's okay.

Ms. Higurashi came in with warm tea shortly after and served them with some delicious homemade cheesecake. She thanked everyone for coming to visit and said that they are welcome to come and visit anytime they want. She then left them to talk by themselves and went off washing some clothes.

" So…" Sango spoke as she drank the tea, " Is everything going well?"

Kagome lowered her eyelids for a while. She placed her teacup down and looked up, " Yesterday…after I left Inuyasha at the Hospital…I…well, met up with Kagewaki-kun."

" You did?" Miroku said, " And what happened?"

" Well, he offered me to walk me home so I accepted his offer. We talked a little on the way…and…and on that way, I met…my father."

Sango and Miroku, who was listening, almost spit out the tea they were drinking.

" Y…You what?"

" I met…my father. Or I think he is. He looks exactly like the one in the picture…"

" Where's that picture?" Sango asked. Kagome pointed towards the wall where her family pictures were hanging.

" Over there…the little small one hanging on the left." She said as Sango went to pick it out. " Well anyways, I met him…and he seemed to know Kagewaki-kun. They talked a little but he kept looking at me while he was talking. I stared at him too…I wanted to ask him some questions but…I never got to. I never told my mother or anyone about this except you guys. I don't want her to be worried."

"Hmm…" Sango peered into the picture, " Do you know what your father is doing?"

" Well, Kagewaki-kun said that he is a scientist. He didn't know what kind of things he was working on though." Kagome answered. She wondered if she should talk to them about the dream. She looked up to see Inuyasha and their eyes met.

Inuyasha stared at Kagome for a while before he spoke, " So…tell us the freakin' reason why you were absent."

" Inuyasha!" Sango exclaimed but he just glared at her and continued.

" I understand if you had all this stress getting to you and everything…but you still didn't tell us the exact reason why you were absent. Were you absent because you met your father? Because you were confused about everything? Come on, Kagome." He grabbed the picture frame from Sango's hand and looked at it, " Besides, who the hell is her fa…ther?"

" Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha was staring at the picture with a shocked expression, his face slightly pale and his eyes wide.

" Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

The silver-haired teen looked up at Kagome and asked with trembling lips, " Y…You said this is your father…"

"…yes. What is it?"

" It…It can't be…" Inuyasha shook his head as though in denial, " It can't be…because…this man is Kikyou's father."

----- --------------- ------ -----

- Hikaru

Hi! Hikaru here!

::gasp:: Kagome's father is Kikyou's father!!? (wait…did that sound weird?) But anyway, yes…I've had this setting a long time ago. Does this make Kagome and Kikyou sisters!!? Well…we'll see…

In the next chapter, Kagome's secret shall be revealed!! For those who already guessed what's going to happen…Sssh!! Don't want to spoil the other readers!! I ask you kindly to keep it to yourself…

I thank you all for reviewing, sorry for not answering back. I'm just not the type to answer back reviews…but I will start next chapter!! Again, thank you all for reading this far and hope you enjoyed the chapter!! ::wink wink::