Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize doesn't belong to me. Anyone you don't, does. Especially Kusaraku Fujii. He's my pride and joy.
Title: Body, Mind, and Soul
Chapter: Nine – Fear and Confusion
When they all awoke, it was near sunset. Inuyasha was pissed. Very, very pissed.
"Damnit! He got away again!" His eyes narrowed and he let out a growl before getting in Kagome's face. "And it's YOUR fault, wench! Why the hell did ya sit me! Why ya tryin' to protect him!"
Kagome resisted the urge to shield her ears against the onslaught of shouting. Closing her eyes, an eyebrow twitching, an angry sweatdrop on her brow, she spoke two words.
"Sit, boy."
Glaring down at Inuyasha's now prone, facedown form, Kagome shouted, "You idiot! That wasn't Naraku, that was someone from my time, and now he's in danger because of YOU!" She stormed quickly out of the hut.
Sango and Miroku watched, bemused, as Inuyasha got up, growling under his breath. "I know what I saw, and that was Naraku!" He, too, stormed from the hut.
Less than a minute later, Shippo came in. "I was playing with the kids in the village, and just got back… Why's Kagome mad at Inuyasha this time?"
Sighing, Sango looked at Miroku, then Shippo. "I'll explain to you both as we follow them. Come on."
Kusaraku hated to admit it, even to himself, but he was scared. Very scared, and rather confused, too.
The last thing he remembered from before he awakened was talking to Higurashi, and then her falling, him trying to save her, and then darkness…
When he had awakened, he had barely had time to register that the surroundings were unfamiliar. He'd been attempting to gather his thoughts when someone had come into the hut to ask the old woman if he had awakened yet.
When Kusaraku had seen the speaker, his eyes had widened in shock. It was that silver-haired guy from Higurashi's sketch, from his dreams. With him also was the monk.
When the young man had looked down at him, his golden eyes had, like Kusaraku's own eyes, widened in shock. But then an unbelievable hatred and rage had flooded into them and, before he knew it, he was up off the floor and in the air, being held by the throat. Kusaraku rubbed at the painful marks on his throat in memory.
And then Higurashi had come in and yelled something at the silver-haired guy that caused him to be slammed into the ground, but he still hadn't released Kusaraku, so Kusaraku still couldn't breathe.
And right in that moment Kusaraku had been sure he was going to die. He didn't even know why, what he had done to make this person want to kill him, but he was going to die.
What had happened next was what confused him. As he was slipping into the darkness that had been calling to him, it was like something inside Kusaraku suddenly awakened and roared. No! He couldn't die! He had so much more to do, he wasn't done living yet!
There had been a surge of power in him like nothing he had ever felt, and then it was released in an immense shockwave that knocked out everyone in the room, including Higurashi.
When he was able to free himself, Kusaraku hadn't quite been able to think. All he knew is that all those people he had dreamed that hated him were there, including a silver-haired dog-boy who had obviously been intent on murdering him.
So he had run.
And now, here he was, lost in this forest, and it was getting very dark. From the patches of sky he could see through the treetops, he could tell that the sun was setting.
From the way the people he had seen had been dressed, other than Higurashi, it seemed almost as though they were dressed old-fashioned… like people had used to dress in ancient Japan.
And this forest… he knew that there was no forest this big in the city he was from. In fact, that he knew of, there really wasn't a forest within miles and miles of the city.
He didn't want to think on what all this meant, and he was getting tired, but he knew that when they awoke, that dog-boy and the others would be hunting him.
What was he to do?