Chapter 4

Co-ed Dormitory

Tokyo Japan

People were everywhere...she watched them pass but could feel the eyes that bore into her...someone was watching her.

He was watching her.

Stop thinking like that. He was gone.

She took a few more steps and stubbed her toe on something, looking down she saw a large rock that was half buried in the ground with grass grown up around it. Keeping her head down she continued towards her destination to make sure she didn't trip on anything else. When her hand reached out to grab something, she saw blue...blue and black...some sort of handle.

The explosion caught her completely off guard. But she didn't really have time to think about it because her body was wracked with convulsions and any comprehensible thought was gone...

"Kagome."

She slowly became aware of someone shaking her and she barely cracked her eyes open to see the fuzzy image of her friend.

"Kagome?"

She mumbled something incoherent and tried to draw the sheets higher up, but the shaking continued. "Sleep..."

"Yeah, I know that'd be nice and all, but we're going to the soccer game, remember?" At the hint of laughter in Sango's voice, Kagome slit her eyes open again. "You've gone on study overdrive, haven't you? You've killed you're brain cells with information overload." The look she received was icy, but she only laughed. "I'll refresh your memory. You, me, Miroku-kun? Breakfast at WacDonald's? Soccer? Cute guys in shorts? Any of this ringing a bell?"

Kagome glare only deepened. "If I didn't like your company so much..." She yawned and then stretched, deciding she wouldn't get any peace until she had started to get up and prepare to meet Miroku for breakfast. It'd been nearly a month and a half since she'd met Miroku and Sango. Shortly after Sango's roommate had taken sick, the girl had dropped out of the university, leaving Sango with a free bed in her dorm room. Kagome had gotten the okay from her mother and immediately had applied for the free space. She'd been lucky and gotten it.

"Cute guys? Soccer?" Kagome sat up and sighed, stretching. "Now if only every day held such promises." She smiled, coming back to herself. "Okay, I'm up now. You can go take a shower or whatever." She glanced over at the older girl and her smile widened seeing that Sango had already gotten herself ready. "Okay, I'll go take a shower. I'll be out in a second. I promise!" She threw the covers back and jumped out of bed, grabbing her shampoo and other things.

Sango grinned as she grabbed the cordless and flopped on her own bed to call Miroku and let him know they were almost ready. Now, that was the Kagome they were used to. She had been worried when she first went to wake her friend. The younger girl had started whimpering in her sleep and she was afraid that one of those death dealing, blood curdling screams was about to be released. It seemed Kagome's nightmares had continued despite having confessed herself to her and Miroku and the fact that they were trying to help her. Now, though, it seemed Kagome had become more reluctant to tell them what was in her dreams that scared her so...she only said it wasn't her father's murderer.

Kagome stood in the shower and let the hot water run over her now shivering body. It was getting harder and harder to keep her usual optimistic demeanor in front of Sango...especially right after waking up from one of those dreams. She shivered again. These new dreams were really starting to wear on her. Only twice before had she had such nightmares. Once right after she'd come back to the real world when she'd dreamed that she was being engulfed by flames but that everything around her had belonged to someone else. She'd screamed out about a fire and had the entire retreat facility in a fit till they realized there was no fire. Then, three days later, in the middle of the night, a faulty wire had sparked and set the carpet of another girl's room in flames. Kagome's dreams had been plaguing her those three days as well and by the time she realized that it wasn't just a dream, they had almost been too late. As it stood the other girl had suffered first and second degree burns and smoke inhalation. But she was still alive. That was all that really mattered. And the house hadn't been damaged too much. For this they had all been thankful.

She shampooed her hair, trying to push those thoughts out of her head, but they kept coming back. Again, her ninth grade year, she had been plagued by dreams and the sensation of being hit by a moving object - a fast moving, very hard on impact, moving object. She had also realized that she wasn't herself in the dream, but someone else. She had never expected to see one of her classmates trying to cross the street on the way to class one day. But he did wander so far from his normal route. She had not expected the careless driver to come speeding around the corner, hurtling straight towards the unsuspecting walker. But it did. And she would have never thought herself as having been able to fight the fear that threatened to consume her. But, somehow, she did. She raced forward, faster than she would have ever imagined herself to be able to go, and grabbed the boy by the shirt, just enough to be able to give him a hard tug backwards, sending them both tumbling to the pavement as the driver honked his horn and swerved, barely avoiding them. He had been so thankful he had showered her with gifts for a year.

She slowly brushed her fingers through her hair as she rinsed out the conditioner, lost in her thoughts. That had been the last dream she'd had of that sort. After that her sleep had been gentle and peaceful, filled with happiness and love. Until just recently...for the past month she had gone back to the restless and troubled sleep of her childhood, but up until the last week it had simply been reliving her time in the Sacred Forest, living in the Goshinboku. Then last week things had taken a deadly turn when she had started dreaming about an explosion in a public area. She was walking towards something...but all she could see was the grass, as if she were walking with her head down. Then her hand reached out and touched some sort of handle...then...

Shivering, she turned the water off and grabbed her towel robe. Stop it Kagome. Stop doing this. It was just a dream. People have bad dreams all the time. It doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean anything!

Kagome wrapped the robe around herself and gathered her stuff, heading back to Sango's room, kicking out a waiting (and whistling) Miroku so that she could get dressed. I refuse to think about it. I absolutely refuse.

Apartment Building

Tokyo, Japan

Kikyo had not given up her search for the red eyed youkai that had ripped apart the life of a certain young girl so many years ago. She had just finished emailing the young girl with the details of her latest trip with Mr. Not Right But To Rich To Ignore and was searching the internet for any sort of clues. There was a file open on the desk in front of her with the print outs of numerous police reports and website information, as well as a notebook that had her own dainty scribbles in it, short handed into notes that only she or someone close to her could translate.

Three break-ins spanning a sixteen year period. Each with no physical evidence left to point towards a suspected offender. Each to had similar MOs. Security tape of scene is fuzzy, with nothing useful for a suspect sketch. One feature in common with each burglar. Red, glowing eyes of a daemon.

1. Shikon Pearl (aka Shikon no Tama) - circa 985 a.d.; heirloom necklace of the Higarashi family of Tokyo, Japan; current insurance estimation $213,937.74; last known owner, Haruki Higarashi of Osaka; current location kept private from public. (Higarashi Shrine, Tokyo Japan, Kagome Higarashi); legend, to have the ability to grant the holder their heart's desires. (not true); attempted theft, November 1984.

2. Twin Katanas, Tetsuseiga and Tenseiga - cica 842 a.d.; heirloom katanas of the Takahashi family of Kyoto, Japan; current insurance estimation $500,000.00 per katana; last known owner, Sesshomaru Takahashi; current location kept private from public. (assumed in Takahashi's possession); legend, Tetsuseiga to have powers of destruction while Tenseiga to have powers of life and healing. (highly doubtful)

3. Kazaana Sutra - circa 1124 a.d.; heirloomed ofuda/sutra of the Takaeuchi family of Tokyo, Japan; current insurance estimation $200,561.43; Currently owned by Mamoru Takaeuchi; current location, unknown; legend to have been the sutra used to curse the Takaeuchi family with a wind tunnel in their hand until the curse was broken. The curse survivor was left with a sutra wrapped around his hand - the same sutra that had caused the wind tunnel. (air voids in peoples hands? Please!); stolen from Tokyo museum April 1998.

4. Haraikotsu (Youkai Bone Boomerang) - circa 1001 a.d.; heirloomed weapon of the Miyazaki family, once professional taijiya's of Sengoku Jidai, protectors of the Shikon no Tama and the Miko no Shikon (interesting...a connection); current insurance estimation $873,948.09; last Known owner, Kohaku Miyazaki, the elder; current location unknown; legend to be made completely of youkai bone and be gifted with aura breaking powers. (finally, something believable); stolen from Osaka Museum August 1990.

Myth: Each heirloom possesses a power of its own and a value to bring the owner a tremendous wealth. On a more mystical side, it is believed that someone with the ability to bring the four objects together could obtain god-like status and become immortal and indestructible, capable of ruling continents with ease.

She sighed and tapped the eraser end of her pencil against the notebook, trying to think. There was only one item that hadn't been part of an theft or attempted theft. Sitting back she pinched the bridge of her nose to relieve the pressure of her eyes. When the doorbell rang, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Coming!" Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she stood up and stretched, headed for the door. "Who is it?"

"Flowers for Mrs. Ten'nou."

Flowers? She unlatched the lock and opened it to find a man with long, wavy black hair holding a bouquet of red roses. Smiling she opened it further. "Domo arigatou gozaimazu. Wait here and I'll get your tip." She turned her back, leaving the door slightly ajar to find her purse.

The door clicked closed softly, but with enough noise that she was able to hear it and she turned around to see why. What she saw there made her violet eyes widen in surprise. "Nani? Who are you?"

The man grinned and lifted his eyes which had suddenly gone blood red to match the sinister laugh he emitted. "Your nightmare."

"Iie!" She put up her hands, now crackling with bluish purple energy. "Ikinasai! Ikinasai!"

Her screams and her purification energy did nothing to stop him as he advanced towards her, feeding off the fear that radiated from her being. "K..K..Ki...sa...ma..."

Co-ed Dormitory

Tokyo University

Kagome mentally grimaced when she collided with a very unwelcome chest. She and Sango had been goofing around in the downstairs hallway while Miroku grabbed his wallet. Sango had bumped her playfully, neither noticing that a certain silver haired student had come up on them. When Kagome had stumbled she had tried to regain her balance, she had been blocked by a very hand chest covered in gray material.

"Na...nani?" she stuttered trying to collect herself, flushing involuntarily. "Umm...sorry about that...didn't see you there..."

"Feh, whatever." He shrugged.

"Well, arigatou, for catching me anyway, Inuyasha." The past month in Chem. Lab had been so awkward for her. Her mind was telling her how rude and mean he was and how uncivilized, but she couldn't help but think that he was cute. What with those adorable little ears, that long silver hair, and those haunting gold eyes...and there was something in those eyes that called to her, something hidden that she didn't quite understand. Then there was the way that he spoke...not the haughty, tough guy attitude, but the way he spoke when he really got into his work (he was really very good at science) and he had to explain the purpose behind an experiment or the reason certain chemicals reacted the way they did when she didn't fully understand.

"Kagome?"

Miroku's voice pulled her out of her stupor and she realized that she and Inuyasha had been staring at each other all during her contemplations.

"I didn't have much choice, you kinda fell on me." Inuyasha rolled his eyes and started to storm back off down the hallway.

"Well, thanks anyway, Inuyasha!" She called after him, determined to be kind even though she had already expressed her dislike of him and his of her.

Sango grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. "Inuyasha?" She whispered. "As in Chem. Lab hottie Inuyasha?"

Kagome blushed again. "Yeah...that's him..."

"You never said he was that cute." She giggled even louder when Miroku seemed to take on a rejected look now that they were talking about another boy. "Your description didn't do him justice."

Kagome giggled too. "Yeah...I guess not. But his looks are all he's got going for him. I mean, he's rude and arrogant and mean and uncivilized and snobbish and ungrateful..." She trailed off with a sigh before a mischievous grin graced her features. "Nothing like our Miroku."

Inuyasha had seen the girl, his lab partner, teeter on the verge of falling and had not been able to stop himself from reaching out and catching her. Angry at himself for letting himself be concerned for another person (his brother would be disappointed), he had snapped at her until he had caught her gaze straight on and had been lost in those deep blue eyes. She seemed so familiar. Something in her voice pulled at a memory long buried and her vanilla scent had haunted him since that first day in lab. What was he supposed to know about her? It had to be something for it to bother him so.

The dorm room was occupied, much to his dismay, when he got there. Ayami and Koga sat on the floor, her in his lap, going at it. The wolf youkai had snarled and growled angrily at the disturbance and the hanyou had closed the door with a snarl of his own before finally turning in the direction he had come from. Might as well go to the soccer game...

Soccer Field

Tokyo University

Spreading a blanket on the ground and looking around at the small crowed, Kagome smiled happily. They had gotten there early to make sure that they got a spot close enough to see the game where they sat.

"Hey, Kagome-chan?" Sango called, unpacking their breakfast from the WacDonald's bags.

"Hai?"

"Did you or Miroku get the cooler?"

Kagome winced. It was a tournament game and would last all day long, so they had packed drinks and a few other snacks for later that day. "I'll get it after the first game's over. I don't think we'll need it before then, will we?"

Sango shook her head and settled down, opening her breakfast. "I guess not." Kagome saw her tense and go red from the corner of her eye before she heard the resounding slap that she knew would be following. "Damnit Miroku! Just once can't you try and show a little restraint."

Miroku smiled, obviously pleased with himself despite the handprint now splayed across his cheek. "My dear Sango, the day would not be complete without the feel of your tender caress on my cheek...or mine on yours."

"Kami, you're such a lecher," Kagome said, shaking her head.

"And you love me anyway."

She giggled while Sango shook her head and rolled her eyes. She looked up and saw a flash of gray material and silver hair just across the distance and felt her breath catch and a blush paint her cheeks. Yes, she had told him during their first meeting that she didn't like him, but it was not in her to actually dislike someone for something so simple. Yes, she knew hate. She felt it deeply - so deeply that she thought it might consume her, but she thought it might consume her but she never let it. Kaede had talked her through that years ago with Kikyo's help. When she had first come back to herself and had worked through the pain and grief, the anger had come next and had been much harder to reign in and so, though she had said she didn't like Inuyasha, her conscious would not allow her to dismiss him or that masked pain in his golden eyes, so easily.

"Inuyasha!" She called suddenly, surprising herself as much as anyone. "Why don't you join us?"

He glared in her direction. "No thanks."

She sighed and shrugged. Well, she had tried.

Kagome cheered, clapping her hands as the first game ended. "Whoo!" Sango and Miroku clapped too, though the girls were more into cheering for how the guys looked in their uniforms. As the players left the field, Kagome stood and stretched. "I'm gonna go get the cooler out of the car." She picked up her purse. "I'll be right back."

Humming to herself, she walked through the crowd towards the parking lot where her car was parked. She was still several feet away when she clicked the unlock button on her key chain.

Inuyasha had left the crowd just before the game ended going to the parking lot to stretch his legs. That the girl had asked him to join her and her friends still tugged at his mind. Why? Why had she asked when she'd always been so put out with him in class that he caught the familiar vanilla scent that he recognized to be his lab partner. He turned and saw her strolling calmly towards a car. He was close enough to the vehicle to hear the click of the door unlocking, but there was an extra click that seemed to ring in his ears. Something wasn't right. He strained to hear or smell what was off.

Tick

What was that?

Tick, tick

Yes, undeniably, that was a "tick". A constant, quiet sound coming from the car. Understanding seeped into his bran just as she called his name.

"Oi, what're you doing out here?" She smiled slightly and reached for the car door.

"Iie, Kagome..." His voice was calm, but commanding and caused her to pause. "Run."

Urgency laced the sound and she gave him a surprised look mixed with curiosity but something told her to listen. However, before she could turn, he was beside her, a clawed hand grabbing onto her waist and pulling her to him. Then she had the sensation that she was flying.

The explosion started a panic. Miroku and Sango jumped to their feet, Sango grabbing his wrist and dragging them to the front of the crowd that was starting to run towards the sound.

Kagome screamed when the bang echoed through the lot. They were still mid air at the time and Inuyasha lay his ears back to protect his sensitive hearing from the sound. He twisted as they came in for a landing, maneuvering so that he took the brunt of the impact on his shoulders and then rolled to shield her from the debris. She grabbed his sleeves and tried to curl beneath him, whimpering slightly.

When things came to an end - when the debris stopped falling and the smoke started to clear - he rolled off of her, helping her sit up.

"Oh...my...Kami-sama..." She was staring at the burning mass of metal that had once been her car, in something like a daze. "I don't think my insurance will cover this."

"Insurance? Your car insurance?" He asked in disbelief.

"Hai...my car insurance. It's only partial coverage. I don't think it's going to cover an explosion."

"You baka bitch!" Don't you realize you might have died back there?" He exclaimed getting irritated with her uncaring remarks. "And you are worried about your fucking insurance?"

She turned her head to stare at him and started to speak when the screams around them started to sink in. She looked around only be tackled by a fierce female in pink. "Kagome-chan!" Sango exclaimed. "Thank Kami you're alright!"

"You are alright, hai?" Miroku questioned, frowning in worry.

At that moment the shock that she had been in wore off and terror sunk in as Kagome started to shake in Sango's arms, sobbing wildly.

Inuyasha stared, in shock himself at her sudden change and then moved to get up, wincing when he rotated his shoulder.

"My car...I could've...but...Inuyasha...saved me..."Kagome's broken sobs caused both friends to look at him. "He...protected me..."

Sirens sounded in the distance and people were gathering. "Sango-chan and I thank you, Inuyasha, for saving our friend from such a gruesome end."

"Feh." The hanyou's groan afterwards however caught Kagome's attention and drew her out her sobs.

"Inu...You're hurt!" She just managed to catch the hanyou as he fell face forwards, unconscious.

Goshinboku - God Tree

Youkai - daemon

Shikon Pearl - My version of the Shikon no Tama

Kazaana - Wind Tunnel/Air Rip

Domo arigatou gozaimazu - I thank you very much

Nani - What?

Iie - no

Ikinasai - Be gone! Go away! Scram

Kisama - You bastard

Hanyou - half youkai/half human

Hai - yes

Kami - god

Oi - hey

Baka - fool, idiot, stupid