Disclaimer: I'm not Rumiko Takahashi
Save some face, you know you've only got one Change your ways while you're young Boy, one day you'll be a man Oh girl, he'll help you understand Smile like you mean it Smile like you mean it
A full moon shined its light through the teenager's window. He couldn't sleep, knowing just how haunting the two-week field trip to the frozen ghost town tomorrow was going to be. Inu-yasha rolled onto his back in his bed. He just hated it so much. Going on long field trips like this was dangerous, especially around his immature friends, emotionless bastard of a brother and those two annoying girls that constantly argue over him.
Inu-yasha sighed and sat up in his bed. He pulled himself up and out, walking over to the window and looking out at the moon. He sighed again and plucked at the beaded necklace around his neck. His old nanny had given it to him when he was a pup and he never took it off. Yawning, Inu-yasha scampered back to his bed and hoped to get some more sleep.
The two-week field trip wasn't the only thing that has been haunting him lately. It was the strange dreams about a beautiful young woman. He'd never seen a girl like this, but taken by her clothes, he guessed she was a girl from ancient times. She had a smile like no other, a smile that would make even the coldest of hearts turn soft and warm. He liked this girl and hoped he'd meet her some day. Well, until the dream started comming to its end, a horrible end. The end that was the most haunting for him. There was lots of fire. A whole village was on fire and in one of the small huts was the girl. She was lying there, sleeping, so it appeared.
Every time it would show the girl's face in the fire, Inu-yasha would wake up and it would be morning. He's had these dreams ever since the class knew of the field trip to a freaky, frozen ghost town. Inu-yasha growled and rolled over when his mother shook him.
"Come on! It's time to get up!", she chimed and walked out of the room.
Inu-yasha groaned and finally stood, crawling out of bed and getting his school clothes on. Inu-yasha just wished for the trip to already be over. He knew it was going to be a disaster. After getting ready for the grueling day at school, Inu-yasha, his brother Sesshoumaru and his mother got into their car and drove off to the school building.
"Have a good trip boys!", his mother exclaimed as Inu-yasha and Sesshoumaru got out of the vehicle.
Sesshoumaru and Inu-yasha both just snorted as his mother drove off. Inu-yasha suddenly ducked before a girl flew right over his head. Inu-yasha then rolled his eyes and jumped, the other girl running underneath him. He turned and looked behind him, watching as Kikyo and Kagome fought each other. His ears twitched when he heard a chuckle from behind him.
"Man, you're lucky. You have women fighting over you.", Miroku teased as he mounted his hand on Inu-yasha's shoulder.
Inu-yasha shrugged it off.
"They're not women. They're just a couple of girls who can't seem to open their eyes..."
Inu-yasha started walking towards the class room. Miroku followed close behind with a smirk. They got inside and Inu-yasha sat down, sulking slightly. Miroku sat down in front of him, facing Inu-yasha as he pulled out an article of some kind. There, on the piece of paper, was a picture. But not just any picture, it was a black and white picture of the girl from his dreams. Inu-yasha stared curiously and Miroku smirked.
"Pretty, isn't she? According to Professor Myouga, this girl's a ghost. But not just any ghost. She's supposed to be the ghost that haunts the streets of the little ice town we're going to. She died of a terrible fire in the village she lived in, but her soul refused to crossover. At least, until her true love comes to her and holds her one last time...or so the professor says. Interesting, huh? My opinion is that she'll be waiting for a long time...", explained Miroku.
Inu-yasha wasn't even paying any attention. He was too busy looking at the sorrowful expression on the ghost's face.
"This was a picture from a town's person. He was minding his own business, walking down the streets at night until he suddenly saw this girl. See that cat? She's a two-tailed fire demon cat. She traveled with the ghost before she died. Weird huh? I myself don't believe in ghost stories, but..."
Inu-yasha shook his head and Miroku smirked.
"She must be really pretty for you to not even pay attention..."
Suddenly, the door slammed shut and an old, short man walked to the front of the room.
"Alright sit down, all of you! Now, today is the first day of the field trip. I hope all of you are happy to go!"
There were a few groans that were supposed to be cheers from the crowd. A few minutes later, Inu-yasha found himself on a bus, sitting next to Miroku, driving their way to the haunted ice town.
Looking back at sunsets on the Eastside We lost track of the time Dreams aren't what they used to be Some things slide by so carelessly
It was sunset when they finally got there. It got very cold and Inu-yasha hated it. He hated the cold, being so used to the warm weather. The bus stopped in front of the only hotel in the small group of buildings. The bus doors opened and all the kids, with their bags and other junk, quickly got off the bus.
Inu-yasha heaved a heavy sigh when they got into their room. He was forced to share a room with Kouga and Miroku, the most immature friends he had. Miroku sat next to the hazy Inu-yasha on his bed and smacked his back.
"Come on Inu! Wake up and help me throw socks at Kouga!", Miroku exclaimed before Inu-yasha back handed him.
"You guys are so immature. We should be getting ready for bed..."
Myouga walked in, announcing it was time for them to get in bed, for it was already dark. Inu-yasha groaned and took off his shirt, throwing towards his stuff and falling onto his bed. He crawled under the covers and shivered. It certainly wasn't warm in this place. It took Kouga and Miroku about an hour to settle down and finally sleep. Inu-yasha lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. Why couldn't he sleep tonight?
Inu-yasha stood and walked over to the window and opened it. The air was freezing and crisp. He stuck his head out and watched his warm breath disappear into the night. He looked down at the snow covered street and his eyes widened at what he saw. A young woman, with a ghostly appearance stood at the opposite side of the street. She was wearing a light colored, pink yukata with a red cloth of some sort over her head. A large, two-tailed cat stood at her side and looked up at Inu-yasha. She growled and got the girl's attention, who looked up at Inu-yasha as well.
Her face was so sorrowful. Her eyes were soulless. She looked distressed over all. But when she looked up at Inu-yasha, a small glint of happiness could be seen in her eyes. It was a small sparkle that anyone could mistake as light from the moon reflecting off her eyes. The girl blushed and looked away, fading into the darkness with her demon cat.
Smile like you mean it Smile like you mean it
Inu-yasha's ears perked up in surprise when the girl disappeared. He sighed and closed the window again, walking back to his bed, though he didn't want to sleep. He wanted to go after her, to talk to her and try to make her happy. Perhaps she was the ghost that Miroku was rambling about? After a long moment of debating, Inu-yasha closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
OOO
"SANGO!", he called, but was held back from running into the burning hut.
"No Inu-yasha! You mustn't go after her!", the monk holding him back told.
"No! Let me go! Sango! SANGO!", the troubled hanyou called.
He wasn't wearing the majority of his cloth-of-the-fire-rat. He used it to keep Sango warm while she was ill and now it's come to this.
"SANGO!", he called again and tried over and over to get loose from the houshi's grip.
His dog ears twitched at the faint call of his name.
"Inu-yasha..."
OOO
Inu-yasha sat up in his bed, covered in beads of sweat. He was panting harshly, trying to catch the breath he had lost during his nightmare. He turned to the window. It was only dawn. He let out a sigh of relief, his ears twitching to the sounds of Miroku and Kouga getting up.
"What the hell man!", Kouga called while trying to get his pants on. "Stop throwing your socks at me, damn it!"
"Well, you started it!", Miroku argued back.
Inu-yasha merely groaned as he slipped his shirt and then three sweat shirts on.
"Do you really need that many sweat shirts Inu-yasha?", Miroku asked, while putting his light purple shirt on.
"He doesn't like the cold, stupid.", responded Kouga, throwing his socks back at him.
Professor Myouga walked in, announcing it was time to come down for breakfast. The three boys finished getting ready and followed Myouga down the stairs of the hotel. It was also a small restaurant for the visitors' convenience. Inu-yasha licked his lips as he stared down at his delicious breakfast. He picked up a fork full of food and stuffed it his mouth, ignoring the fact that Kagome and Kikyo were sitting on either side of him.
Kouga and Miroku sat across from him at the same table, talking about how lucky Inu-yasha was to have two girls constantly arguing over him. Inu-yasha chomped down on his food and when he was done, he flung the fork at Miroku.
"What was that for?", Miroku asked.
"I don't know, you were in the way of my fork."
"All right children settle down.", instructed Myouga. "We're going to the ruins today. Now, I want all of you to behave. The people of this town talk about ghost stories and we're going to see if any of them are true. Hurry up and eat. We're leaving in fifteen minutes."
Fifteen minutes later, the students found themselves walking towards the ruins. To Inu-yasha, it was like de javu. The ruins looked like an ancient village, only it had been burnt. Inu-yasha looked around cautiously, wondering if it was truly the village where in his first life he lost her.
And someone is calling my name From the back of the restaurant And someone is playing a game In the house that I grew up in And someone will drive her around Down the same streets that I did Down the same streets that I did
"Oh... This place creeps me out...", Kagome whined.
"If you're afraid, you can huddle up against me, Kagome...", Kouga suggested, giving off a perverted grin.
"I'd rather huddle with Inu-yasha."
Floating above the class, invisible to the human eye, stood the sorrowful spirit that refused to cross over. A small smile formed on her sad face when she heard his name.
"So it is you, Inu-yasha... I've waited a long time...", she whispered, petting the top of her fire cat's head.
The cat flew onto the ground, landing in front of the group. Myouga stopped the stunned class in mid step.
"Ah... There she is... The two-tailed fire cat named Kirara, the helper of the lost soul Sango! So she truly does live on, refusing to cross over! Oh, this is so exciting class!", Myouga exclaimed, jumping up and down as he did so.
Kirara hissed lightly, fixing her gaze upon Inu-yasha. All of a sudden, Kirara released a light blue mist from her ankles and the ends of her tails. She hissed some more as the mist surrounded the class like a heavy fog. Everyone coughed and chocked. Some screamed and tried to get away.
"Now, children, don't panic! The last thing you want is for the ghost to come after you-"
As he said the Inu-yasha yelled out in a panic as the two-tailed fire cat kidnapped him and was getting away with it.
"Inu-yasha!", Kagome yelled out.
"We have to help him! We have to help him now!", Kikyo demanded as she shook Myouga violently.
"We can't do anything! He's in the ghosts' clutches now!", Myouga responded, getting dizzy from the girl's shaking.
Kirara took to the skies and flew off with Inu-yasha on her back. After a while she descended and landed on the ground. Inu-yasha fell off once she landed. The cat rolled her eyes and started to walk off in a certain direction.
"Hey! Don't leave me here!", he called.
"Do not fear, Inu-yasha...", a voice calm, yet hurt, called.
Inu-yasha turned around and saw the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, the girl from his dreams. He blinked a few times then took a step forward.
"Inu-yasha, I've missed you...", the ghost's eyes filled with tears as she clutched tightly to the cloth-of-the-fire-rat. "Why did you leave me? How come you never came that night, to save me and to comfort me? You promised..."
Inu-yasha watched as she fell to her knees and started to weep. He slowly walked up to her and kneeled next to her. He reached his hand out to her, but was afraid to touch her.
"Hey...don't cry...", he told her, trying to be as comforting as he could.
Something inside him told him to just grab her and hold her. But, something held him back. He wasn't sure what to do.
"Oh, Inu-yasha... Why?"
Suddenly, it hit him. The dream he had last night, maybe that was the reason...
"The fire...", he mumbled.
"What...?", she asked, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes.
"The fire... It was burning and spreading... I tried to rescue you, tried to save you... but, I was held back... by Miroku...", he mumbled some more. "Sango... I tried... I really did... I knew you were very ill, so I left to find something for you... I came back and the entire village was in flames... Miroku... He must've given up... But I couldn't. I needed to save you, Sango...my love..."
Smile like you mean it Smile like you mean it Smile like you mean it Smile like you mean it
Sango inched closer, filled with anticipation.
"He held me back, telling me it was too late... Telling me there was no hope in saving you from the fiery pits of Hell... And yet, you are here... Why...?"
"I refused to cross over. Inu-yasha... I wanted to be held one last time... To be in your loving warmth again..."
Sango found herself in Inu-yasha's loving arms again. She closed her eyes and sat there in his comforting warmth. Inu-yasha wrapped his arms tightly around her form, until she started to fade.
"Sango..."
"I have fulfilled my last wish... I must cross over now... Good bye Inu-yasha...", she whispered and completely faded away.
But before she was completely out of his sight, Inu-yasha saw her smile. She smiled like she meant it...
Oh no, oh no no no Oh no, oh no no no
OOO
Fin.