Wow! Here I am, back again! Its only been what? Four months? Five? God... I'm really sorry about my late update. And the sad thing is, I've had this chapter written forever, just never got around to posting it. The random reviews actually spur me to update, so its nice to get random ones every month. Reminds me that there are readers out there... somewhere...

Anyway, now that I'm back on some kind of schedule, I should be updating every week or so. I can't say I'm going to be updating this story every week, though... I'm going to try and keep up all of my stories. Thanks for waiting so long!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. But if you do... How does five dollars and a new chapter sound to you? (Because I can give you the new chapter upfront... heh heh)

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Corrupted Thought

Chapter Five: Fractions

By: Kaji-chan

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Kagome awoke slowly... almost in layers. Everything seemed to peel away from the darkness that swamped her vision, the silence that dampened her hearing, the weight that hung over her body.

The first that came to her was sound. She could hear the soft crackling of a fire, not too far from her head. The sound of birds twittered, but they seemed far away, almost as if they were hidden behind some object that she could not yet see.

Her eyes blinked, slowly; very slowly. The darkness began to swirl before her, dampening into a clouded haze of blurred colors. The colors were faded and soft, and a light shadow hung to the ends of her line of sight. She blinked again, this time lacking the full drowsiness of the first, the blur slowly coming into focus.

She slowly, very slowly, moved her head, looking up along the incline of the wooden floor, the floorboards creaking as she did so, her eyes focusing upon the light glow of the fire. She could feel its warmth begin to creep over her skin, soaking into her clothes and sinking into the cold that dwelt deep in her cheeks. Where was she?

Her eyes trailed lazily down the length of her, falling upon the soft overcoat of a thick blanket, the source of the light weight upon her body. She was lying on an old, familiar futon, and her head rested upon a square, traditional pillow. Kagome breathed, her breath light and still. She was in Kaede's hut.

She pushed herself to a sitting position, touching her forehead lightly. Something was bothering her, nagging the back of her mind, but she couldn't quite touch it, couldn't quite understand what it was. Her hand slipped from her face, falling lightly in her lap as she stared blankly forward.

What had happened?

She gazed down into her blanketed lap, and a sudden, unexpected lump rose in her throat. Where were her clothes! Her hands shot up to her chest, concealing her exposed breast with frazzled, tensed palms. At least, she thought with a swallow, whoever had undressed her had left on her underwear... Her eyes then shot from her lap to across the room.

A sigh drifted from her lips as she saw the neatly folded pile of clothes in the corner of the hut, sitting next to another, more familiar school uniform. Both were smeared with blood. They then fell upon a basket of medicinal herbs by the fire, a roll of her bandages leaning against them. Kaede must have seen the blood on her clothes and assumed she was injured, undressing her in the process, before discovering that she wasn't wounded, as Kagome inferred from the lack of bandages upon her body.

One hand fell from her chest to rest upon the fresh set of clothes next to her side, brushing over the worn fabric of red and white. Her fingers clenched against the miko robes, feeling a terrible bile rise in her throat. She... she hated wearing these clothes. She had a sudden, strong yearning for the skirt and top lying upon the floor, far from her reach, but knew that they were certainly damp from the washing Kaede had serviced them. And since she had soiled her only other school uniform barely a night before, she had no other choice.

She couldn't help the reluctance that tugged at her conscious. Without her uniform, she felt almost alien. She felt that she wasn't herself any longer, that she was trying to be someone that she wasn't.

And the last someone she wanted to impersonate was Kikyou.

A sigh escaped her lips, turning away from the robes, her eyes trailing to the other side of her, to find a turned form in the corner, the bandages wrapped around his lower torso, barely visible from the silver hair which hung over the naked back. She froze, the hand resting upon the robes sliding over to fist in the blanket. Was he still sleeping?

"Are you awake...?" he asked quietly, his voice lowered by his turned head.

A gasp held tight in her throat, and her free hand whipped from the blanket to cover her exposed breasts with both hands. "You weren't sleeping!" she exclaimed, her horror concealed in a whisper.

He sighed, his sigh heavy. "I heard you waking and turned over. I assumed you didn't want me to know that you aren't wearing anything..." he mumbled, as gruff as usual.

"What do you... You didn't see me naked, did you!" Her eyes were wide, and she could feel the embarrassed blush stain her cheeks.

He remained turned from her, concealing his expression. "N-no..." he said awkwardly, the muscles in his back tensing ever-so-slightly.

Kagome relaxed a bit, but there was a hint of disappointment on her face. She stiffened at her own reaction and turned her face away, swallowing her expression with a frown.

"I'll wait for you to get dressed," he continued, keeping his back to her, not allowing her enough of a moment to think of what kind of horrible things she could spout at him, pervert probably near the bottom of the list. He pushed himself up from his laying position and leaned awkwardly on his right arm, but did not turn to face her as to allow her a bit of privacy.

Her palms tensed against her chest, not wanting to expose herself for a second to slip on the haori, still untrusting. She bit her lip, staring at the back of his head, quiet for a while. Though she didn't want to sit there, half naked, she didn't want to wear those clothes, either. Sango was sure to come soon, and she could ask her for her other clothes, wherever they were. Her tight expression slowly faded, and her fingers relaxed, reaching down with one hand and pulling the blanket up over her chest as a makeshift modesty. "Inuyasha..." she began gently.

He slowly turned his head, as if cautious. His expression was curious, and, upon his quick glance at her chest, it gradually became nervous, perhaps as he realized her continued state of undress. "You're still..." be began to point out, but the embarrassment seemed to keep him from completing his sentence. He turned his head back to the wall quickly. It seemed, as she suspected, that he was uncomfortable by her naked torso.

That was fine. She probably would have been uncomfortable if Inuyasha was only wearing a towel around his waist. It had happened before.

"I just want to wait for Sango to bring me my uniform is all," she explained, careful not to mention any detesting of the miko robes.

"Whatever," he mumbled, glaring away into the wall irritably. She swallowed. If he was so disgusted, he could just leave...

She bit her lip, nervous--but probably more embarrassed, now--herself, drawing the blanket closer and tieing it above her chest fairly securely. "Um... what happened, exactly?" she asked, abruptly avoiding the subject of her disrobed state, fumbling with the knot.

He paused, as if unsure how to answer. "I..." he began, swallowing, "I don't remember."

She was quiet, attempting memory. She had been near Kikyou's grave, and then... he...

She couldn't remember.

He was studying her attentively, watching for some sort of remembrance on her features, shocked when her eyes snapped up to his, widening. "Do you... do you remember anything?" he asked. She didn't remember when he... did she?

Kagome's trailed from his eyes, pausing on the torn haori tied around his waist. She bit her lip, clutching her blanket tightly around her upper body before crawling towards him. His eyes widened as she slowly drew closer, and his hand twitched, as if he wanted to back away, but couldn't seem to move. She stretched out to him, her hand reaching for his waist, closing the gap between them with an awkward stumble on her knees. He leaned back, his mouth opening, but unable to form sound. "Wha--what are you doing...!" he exclaimed, grabbing her wrist a few inches away from his waist.

She paused, looking up at him with confusion. "I'm taking your haori off of your waist! How am I supposed to sew it back together if you're still wearing it?"

He paused, giving her a strange look, biting back his response. "Then why didn't you just ask for it?" he snapped, shoving her hand away, ignoring the stung expression on her face. With a gruff snort, he reached over himself and untied the torn red cloth, holding it out to her.

She took it, sitting down and readjusting the blanket around her, settling the haori in her lap, pausing and staring at it for a few moments, as if forgetting something. "Oh, I left my needle over by the fire, didn't I?" she mumbled to herself, making to crawl back towards her backpack.

His hand jerked out, grabbing hold of her arm. It hadn't been quite sudden, but she certainly hadn't been expecting it. For a brief moment, she felt a strange sensation of fear sweep through her, her eyes shooting back to his. Her alarm deserted her as quickly as it had overcome her, fading back into silence as she made contact with his still-gold eyes. He seemed to notice such, his brows drawing lower over his eyes, appearing a bit pained by her reaction. "How..." he said softly, as if trying to soothe her, "How did you get these?" he asked, his grip loosening as he looked down at the marks on her upper arm.

Kagome followed his gaze, finding herself staring at the barely healed wounds on her upper arm. "Oh... they..." How could she lie to him? It was obvious they were claw markings. She looked up into his eyes. He knew it.

She wrapped her free hand around her shoulder, as if to cover it from him. "It's nothing..." she said carefully, forcing what she hoped to be a convincing smile for him. "It doesn't hurt or anything... I'm fine." Besides, these were from a few nights ago. Even though they hadn't really healed--

"Did I do that?"

She couldn't bear the look in his eyes, feeling a sting in her own. "No," she replied, her voice barely safe from cracking. "No, you didn't."

He watched her, carefully, his fingers reaching towards her shoulder, brushing hesitantly against her skin. Clenching his fangs to bite back the self anger so obvious in his eyes, he ran his claw along the line of abrasion, concern and guilt gentling his touch.

She hissed, turning her eyes away. "You said it didn't hurt," he snarled, drawing his hand away.

Kagome bowed her head, frowning. "Only a little," she mumbled.

He reached out again, running his claw a bit above the scar. "Does it hurt here?" he asked gruffly, watching her for a reaction.

"No, not as much," she answered, her eyes still downcast.

He trailed his claw over the curve of her shoulder to graze against her collarbone, following another scar, not seemingly connected with the first. It didn't seem to be from claws, however. It seemed to be more of an odd, blue discoloration starting between her collarbones and slithering into obscurity beneath the blanket. His claw ran over the length of it, traveling down to the extent of where the sheet forbade him, watching her intently for reaction. "What is this, Kagome?"

She bit her lip suddenly, a strong intake of breath sharply pulling at her lungs, but she suppressed it. A wave slid through her, running sharply down her spine, her hand moving from her shoulder to grab his wrist. His eyes snapped from her scar to her upturned eyes, catching the violent flash that overtook them, her hand clenching against the blanket. Her lips parted to speak, but couldn't voice more than a soft, clenched note.

She turned her head slowly, her eyes sliding up to his, almost apprehensive. "Please..." she whispered shallowly, "don't do that again..."

It was as if every muscle in her body ached from the power drain, and she had yet to heal from it. Even with his touch so gentle, it pained her for him to touch her anywhere close to her chest, especially the bruise running along her collarbone. It seemed to be particularly prickly when bothered.

But... it wasn't just the pain that was making her nerves go wild, either.

He paused, uncertainly, almost confused as he drew in her scent. Kagome's lids were heavy, and her gaze fell from his, staring jadedly forward through low lashes, her breathing forced and discomfited. He read her scent with widening, confused eyes. But it wasn't the overwhelming scent of pain that shocked him--it was the second, fainter one which furrowed his brow.

He moved his hand back to her, her hand still loosely encircling his wrist, and curled his claws lightly upon her shoulder, careful not to brush the scar on her chest, dragging them slowly down her arm. He watched her with a curious intensity, waiting for her reaction.

This time, she couldn't force down the gasp, and her hand clenched almost painfully around his wrist, her eyes snapping to his. Her body went rigid, and she drew the blanket sharply into her, twisting her legs underneath it and pulling away from him. Her eyes were dilated, her lips falling open as she stared up at him, eyes wide and drugged. "Stop it!" was all she managed to say, her voice raw.

His drew his hand away, reaching up and drawing a finger along the line of her jaw. Her wide eyes fell from his, calming as she leaned her cheek into his palm, the tight grip on his wrist loosening. There was no mistaking it then--

He watched her face, his expression unreadable, holding her in his palm with a light silence. Slowly, he reached out and laid his other hand gently on the curve of her neck, sliding his hand down her shoulder. Her eyes rose to his, and he looked away, following the trail of his hands.

He pulled her forward slightly, leaning down towards her. She looked up at him, almost afraid. Was he...? But he turned from her eyes, tucking his head into her shoulder, breathing lightly upon her neck. They didn't speak, merely pausing there. His hands flexed against her arms, but he didn't move. Her hand held tightly onto the blanket, and she didn't push away, allowing him to bury his face into her neck. "What are you...?" She broke off, suddenly forgetting what she was asking, too confused... too detached.

It was quiet... almost hauntingly quiet. She felt his lips move against her neck, and the warm puffs of breath against her skin as he spoke, breaking the silence. She paused, her eyes tilting to the top of his head, listening. "What if you didn't wake up?"

The question had been so unexpected that she found she couldn't answer him. Her hand twitched against his wrist, as if to draw away, but found she didn't have the strength to pull from his hold. Before she could find her voice, he drew away from her slightly, just barely lifting his face from her shoulder. His hand trailed down from her shoulder, her hand releasing his, wrapping around both her shoulders, his other hand sliding down and wrapping around her lower back, pulling her tightly and abruptly into his chest.

What was going on? Why was he suddenly so affectionate? Had something happened while she was unconscious? But it had only been a day... right?

Her hand trembled against the blanket, crushed against him, her eyes pained and relaxed in the same instant. Her fingers pulled out of the cloth, pushing through his chest and wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling herself into him. How could she pull away? How could she turn away the affections that she had longed for the last three years?

She couldn't.

She felt her cover begin to slip from her chest as she pulled against him, but she found that she didn't care anymore. This may be the only moment she would hold with him, so helplessly embracing each other. After so many years of this life, after so many narrow escapes... How many times had she nearly died? She was forced to face the reality that this may very well be her last day, or the last day she would have eyes to gaze up at him with, or hands to fluster in his hair. It was a sad reality, perhaps, but she would rather ignore it entirely.

She closed her eyes. But, in a strange twist of irony, it was also another reason for her to let their carefully set and guarded boundaries of their friendship slip... just ever so slightly. Her fingers twisted against the back of his neck, tangling in his hair as she buried her face into his chest, memorizing the feel of his bare chest against her cheek.

"Kagome," he whispered. Her eyes fluttered open. No... Her hands flexed against his hair. It had only been a few seconds; she didn't want to let go.

He pulled away slightly, their bodies separating as he drew away from her. Her hands slipped from his neck as he leaned back, sliding to rest upon his chest, her eyes remaining closed. She felt the blanket begin to slip again, and she looked down at its unsupported balance, realizing that the knot had come undone.

Inuyasha followed her gaze just in time to see it fall completely from her chest to pool innocently at her waist.

There was an awkward silence as they both stared down... Kagome staring at the blanket, and Inuyasha staring elsewhere.

The bittersweet moment quickly evaporated.

A red hot blush began to creep over both of their cheeks, and Inuyasha tore his eyes away, looking to the side awkwardly as she hastily pulled the blanket back up to cover herself, stuttering incoherently.

"Inuyasha!" came a voice from outside, "Are the two of you decent?"

Their eyes shot to the door, Inuyasha freezing. Kagome quickly stood, stumbling away from him to rigidly make a grab at the folded robes by the fire, drawing the blanket around her tighter as she fumbled off into the connecting room to change.

At that moment, Sango and Miroku walked in, thankfully the few seconds later than situational irony would have it, blinked at Inuyasha's terribly red face, and then blinked at Kagome as she stumbled into the other room and out of sight. Sango paused, shifting the weight of the water bucket on her arm as she stared at the flap concealing Kagome from view. "She's awake...?" she said, her expression shocked. Her eyes suddenly shot to Inuyasha accusingly. "Why didn't you tell us that she had woken up!"

Miroku opened his mouth to note Inuyasha's flustered expression, but the more obvious banging in the small connecting room--where it sounded as if Kagome had tripped over the blanket trail and fallen into the wall in her attempts to get dressed in a closet sized room--cut him off. The two of them redirected their attention to the adjoining room and winced.

After a moment of awkward silence, Miroku slowly turned his gaze back to Inuyasha, who had, by this point, managed to swallow his embarrassment and replace it with a gruff frown. Inuyasha was blushing and Kagome was tripping all over herself... it didn't take a genius to unravel the evidence.

"Um... did we come at a bad time...?" Miroku offered, moving to leave.

"Kagome-chan, do you need help in there?" Sango called, ignoring Miroku and starting over for the small flap to the room where she was changing, disappearing behind it.

Miroku glanced from Sango's vacancy to Inuyasha again, raising an eyebrow. "Did she just wake up?" he asked.

Inuyasha grunted, shrugging and looking away. "That must have been awkward for you, Inuyasha, with Kagome topless and the like..." Miroku continued, looking off with a thoughtful smile.

Inuyasha sent a glare his way. "Bouzu..." he snarled, obviously not as amused as he.

At that moment, Sango reappeared, a still-frazzled Kagome following after her, avoiding eye contact with Inuyasha, as he avoided any catching gazes as well. As if to break the silence, and, possibly, to divert Sango's curious staring, Inuyasha stood, grabbing his white under layer and shrugging it onto his shoulders. "I'm going out for a bit," he said suddenly, making his way towards the door.

"But... you really shouldn't be moving so much, Inuyasha, especially with those abdominal wounds--" Sango said, moving to stop him.

"I'm fine," he brushed off, heading to leave.

"Um..." Kagome said quietly, turning everyone's attention to her. "I... I may go back home to get a set of clothes..."

Inuyasha paused before the door, glancing briefly in her direction. "Do what you want, then," he replied gruffly, moving through the doorway, the flap swishing in his wake.

Sango watched him leave, then turned back to Kagome. "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

Kagome looked away, a bit embarrassed. "N-no... I'm fine. Thank you."

"There isn't anything we can do for you? If not, we would very much like to speak with you," Miroku stated, his expression remained concerned, though his tone was serious and calm.

Kagome took a step away, glancing at the door. "I... I really should go home quickly."

"Kagome-sama, this is fairly important. Can it wait? You shouldn't be moving around much either, especially after such a fever," he said with concern, the rings on his staff jingling lightly as he moved towards her.

"I..." Her eyes darted between the both of them, afraid of their solemn expressions and what this conversation may imply. "I really should go now, while I still have the chance..."

"The chance for what, Kagome? Your family isn't going anywhere at noon--"

"My, ah... my brother has a ceremony. The shrine might be locked if they're gone so I should probably leave..."

Miroku's expression was almost guilty. "Are you sure... are you sure it's today, Kagome-sama?"

She was confused for a moment. "Of course its today. Why would it not be today?" When they didn't answer, she took the opportunity to take a few more steps towards the exit. "We can talk when I return. I won't be long, I promise!" she said, quickly making for the door and slipping through the flap without another word.

Sango sighed, crossing her arms as she and Miroku watched the flap swing back and forth, gradually coming to rest, a silence hanging over them. "We're going to have to talk with her sometime, before it catches up to her and puts her in shock."

The monk nodded, silent for a moment. She watched him curiously. Miroku leaned his staff against his shoulder, crossing his arms as well and drawing in breath to speak. Sango turned to regard him, the grave glint in her eyes retracting slightly.

"We're all alone..." he said offhandedly.

"..."

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Kagome stood before the well, peering down into its depths. Sure... she had wanted to go home when she padded towards the Goshinboku, but as she drew closer and closer to the clearing, she realized that it really had been only an excuse to get away from Miroku and Sango's questioning. Only now she felt obligated to go... if they came back and found her standing there, they would certainly be able to wriggle a conversation out of her, and it was one she didn't want to have.

Her eyes trailed to the grass fluttering silently near the well's base, biting her lip. She could still see the red coating its strands. Was that blood?

Suddenly, the previous nights events slammed back into her. It was so forceful that she almost crumpled to her knees, her eyes wide and alarmed. Blood... claws... her powers...

She squeezed her eyes shut. She could see them, staring at her. Staring through her. Unnerving her. Grasping her.

Red eyes.

Her hand reached shakily to her neck, as if she could still feel the slow dragging of his tongue across her flesh, her fingers trembling. "Oh my God..." she whispered. It had barely been two days, and it was so frightening that something inside of her was already trying to cover it. This transformation... it hadn't happened once.

It happened twice.

Is that what Miroku was going to ask her about? Is that what Sango was worried about? What if they had seen the blood by the well, and on her school uniform... and put the two together? Did they know that she was keeping this from them?

She probably would have been able to cover her story if she hadn't have lied to Sango yesterday morning. Or was it even yesterday? How long had she been sleeping for?

The worst part about hiding things from friends was that when they found out, they would either be offended because they didn't understand or angry because they did and demanded why they were underhanded. If it were anything else, she might have told them...

No. If it were anything else, she knew that she would have told them. When she slunk back into the room that night, she almost woke Sango up and told her on spot.

And then Kikyou appeared...

Kagome sighed. Now she knew that something was going on with Inuyasha... and it wasn't just about the transformation. It was that someone was forcing him to transform... and it may very well be that someone that Kikyou had spoken of.

Now that she knew there was some kind of connection, there was no way she could tell her friends. Not yet. Something told her that it needed to be a personal matter. Just between her and Inuyasha.

She bit her lip. Unfortunately, something was holding her back from even mentioning this to Inuyasha... If she told him, would he avoid her even more? Her selfishness didn't want that. She wanted him to stay with her, especially if being alone would put him in danger.

Maybe letting him know would be the right thing to do...?

She couldn't seem to think straight. Her hands reached up to wrap around her torso, suddenly feeling very, very cold.

Suddenly, she realized that it she was very... empty.

Her eyes slid in and out of focus, and a dull throb sounded in the back of her head. And, for some strange reason unbeknowest to her, these sensations were oddly familiar. Kagome reached up to bury her face in her hands, closing her eyes as another shiver rolled down her spine. Her hand reached up to her chest, feeling a dull throbbing beneath her palm. She suddenly felt extremely cold, as if the warmth had drained from her body. But it was still summer...

What was happening to her?

She fainted.

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Bwahahaha! Cliffhanger! (I wonder how many times I'll be saying that in the next couple of weeks?) So, what's happening to Kagome? Why does everything seem out of place? Well, unfortunately neither of those questions are going to be answered in the next chapter, but there will be a few hints and more questions! I'm already excited, aren't you?

Next chapter: Another