Demon Inuyasha pressed hands over his ears as an elderly woman gurgled on in reply. Then Kagome's piercing voice came again causing him to flinch.
"What is wrong?" screeched Kagome letting it all out. "What is wrong! Two people love me is what's wrong. And I'm scared. I'm too scared of choosing one of them or even saying forever because it's all moving too fast. He didn't even like me. He didn't even like me a week ago and now he's asking me to marry him and the other was trying to make love to me and I almost let him. I even encouraged it. But I'm scared. I'm scared of losing both of them, or one of them because I love them both so much. I love them both for different reasons but they're the same person underneath, the same person that I lost. The same person that I love so very much." The young woman buried her head in her arms and sobbed. "I just wanna see his doggie ears again Grandma!"
"I thought so," Demon Inuyasha growled out to himself. He listened to the casual conversation inside for a while, then the gentle pouring of tea. Carefully gauging his timing, the inu-youkai steeled himself for what he was about to do. Rapping on the door gently, he waited anxiously for the door to open and soon enough, the tingling of a bell signified the slow inward creeping of the door. Before the old woman could say anything, Demon Inuyasha shoved the door open and stepped inside the dusty room, the scarlet shadows there blending in with the brilliant red he himself was clothed with.
Across the room, Demon Inuyasha could see a startled young woman with her hands on a teacup. "Inuyasha!" she shouted dropping it so that it splattered and rolled across the floor.
"Hurry up wench," said Demon Inuyasha pulling her out of the chair by her arm. "We have to hurry if you want to save the man you love."
"Huh?" thought Kagome.
"Hurry up bitch!" growled out Demon Inuyasha angrily throwing her upon his back. Kagome wrapped her arms around his neck for dear life as he threw himself out the shop door and down the street, leaving a very confused old lady behind.
"I'll have to apologize to her for this some day," thought Kagome as they pelted down the street. Not three thoughts had passed before Kagome found herself being pulled through the expanses of time and a blanket of blue flung herself and her companion into the past she had come to know so well.
They arrived as suddenly as they had entered. With one quick bounce, Demon Inuyasha cleared the rim of the well and kept on going at a jog, slightly less rapidly than the pace he normally held. It was almost like he was avoiding something, or delaying the inevitable that he was so anxious to get to.
"Inuyasha!" shouted Kagome goading Demon Inuyasha with her heels. "What do you think you are doing? Why are you acting so bizarre all of a sudden?"
The demon she was presently seated on slid to an abrupt stop. Kagome nearly fell off and would have if a pair of strong arms had not wrapped themselves around her waist to lower her down gently.
"Kagome, I…" muttered the demon not willing to look at her. "I did something unforgiveable.
"What?" said Kagome her heart all-a-twitter, a thousand possibilities running through her mind. She grasped hold of the cuff of his firerat robe and leaned into him.
"Please tell me you didn't kill anyone," she said in a hollow voice. "Was it... Shippo?"
The demon before her did not say anything. Instead he stood there, staring down at her with his expressionless gaze. Kagome trembled.
"Was it…Kaede? Miroku, Sango, or Kilala? Was it all of them, please tell me it wasn't all of them!" The hold on Demon Inuyasha's robe had gotten painfully tight. He could see her fingers reddening and gently he pried her loose, backing away from her.
"I'm sorry," said Demon Inuyasha breaking his silence at last. "I may have hurt the one you love the most. I sold him out to Kikyo. I told her… she could have him."
The demon ended speaking in a low, throaty growl and Kagome had difficulty discerning what he said but when she did puzzle it out, her face fell.
'Oh no," spoke Kagome her face like a sheet. "Please tell me he didn't go to hell with her. Not after, not after we nearly… oh no!" cried out Kagome her voice rising by multiple decibels. She grabbed hold of the firerat robe once more, binding herself as closely to Demon Inuyasha's arm as possible. Forcefully, she tugged at his sleeve imploringly. Her eyes were wide and brilliant, with no sense of doubt.
"Please Inuyasha," the miko begged. "Please, take me to your human half. Please I'm begging you!"
"Are you sure this is what you want?" said Demon Inuyasha gazing upon the plain expanses of her heart. He wandered there for a moment, lost within her gaze and reveling in the beauty of her true soul.
"Yes," breathed out Kagome tears leaking from her eyes. "It doesn't matter to me. It doesn't matter even if he still loves her because I can't stand to see him suffer, and I can't stand to have him taken from me. Inuyasha you are such an idiot!" the miko screamed out tears splashing the demon's front. He brushed off a few tears which had splattered onto his coat.
"Come on then," Demon Inuyasha said gruffly regaining his commanding demeanor. "We have to hurry before it is too late." Kagome nodded and took her place upon his back again.
The rustle of air flew past Kagome's ears and she shivered, revived by the familiar sensation. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, yet, she could not help but feel hopeful stretched out as she was on Demon Inuyasha's warm shoulder. She had always relied on his strength before. True, he had been partial cause to the current dilemma, but at this time none of that mattered. All that was important was that she get to Human Inuyasha and Kikyo as quickly as possible.
Kagome and Demon Inuyasha landed by the riverside and Kikyo did not so much as blink. She did not even bother to move but rather stood there icily observing the two.
"What is the matter Kagome?" she said chillingly. "Is one not good enough for you?"
"No it's not," said Kagome angrily sliding down from Demon Inuyasha's shoulder. "Free Inuyasha's human side Kikyo, he doesn't belong to you."
"Oh, but he does," said Kikyo wrapping her soul-stealers more tightly around the already unconscious mortal. "Before I sealed him to the sacred tree, Inuyasha promised that he would become human for me. I will not allow him to break that promise now that fate has finally delivered his human self to me."
"Don't be so selfish Kikyo!" Kagome shouted heatedly.
"Humph. And you're not?" said Kikyo sending a few soul stealers looping towards her. A pair of claws sliced them down.
"Ah yes," said Kikyo turning her gaze towards the demon she had been ignoring. "Someone else I have to deal with. Someone who is in my way even more so than Naraku."
A white-feathered arrow slid against a taut string, sending sound vibrations shivering through the air. With flawless precision, the death-white miko raised the sharp arrow head, lining her shot so that it would strike directly into the heart of her adversary. Demon Inuyasha growled, flexing his claws.
"So, priestess," said Demon Inuyasha in a low, gutteral growl. "It all ends today."
"Yes it does," said Kikyo with a soft smile at the recycled words this same enemy had spoken long before she had died.
Kagome held her breath, panic-stricken. Like everyone else, she failed to notice that the fourth person present had long woken up.
"Kagome," shouted out Demon Inuyasha trying uselessly to stare down his foe. "Take my human half and go. Be happy together."
"Inuyasha, I can't!" shouted back Kagome miserably. "I won't leave you!"
"Do it!" he barked angrily as the string tightened even further. Growling, Demon Inuyasha began to move forward fully knowing that he was far too late. With an angry twang, the arrow was let go and sunk deeply imbedding itself into flesh.
"Arugh!" Human Inuyasha grunted out in pain, leaning against the Tetsusiaga's sheath, an arrow sticking out of his shoulder.
"What the hell do you think you are doing human?" snarled Demon Inuyasha.
Human Inuyasha grimaced in pain, staggering as blood dripped out in small blots along the ground.
"Ingrate," he finally muttered out. "What were you thinking nearly getting yourself killed? Besides, how would that have solved anything? Kikyo's soul still wouldn't have been saved. You know that is all I'm after. Forgive me Kagome. Forgive me, my demon side."
With that, Human Inuyasha collapsed on the ground out of sheer pain and blood loss. Kikyo looked down at him somewhat concernedly yet with the angry, pouty look of a jilted cheerleader.
"I will return for you another day," promised Kikyo lifting up amidst a tangle of soul stealers.
"Dang, Kikyo gets away again?" thought Kagome to herself. "What a reoccurring nuisance. Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed." Coming out of her daze, she fell to her knees beside the wounded human and tore his shirt away.
Human Inuyasha woke up slowly, blurry images forming themselves just beyond his vision. Clarity of pain settled in, and a feeling if stifling warmth. Swallowing his tongue which had seemingly stuck to the roof of his mouth, Human Inuyasha sought to bring the room into focus. Attempting to sit up, he found a water-soaked rag stuffed in his mouth, a rough hand shoving him backwards onto his pallet.
"What the," growled Human Inuyasha through the sodden rag. Water was forced down his parched throat using the rag and finally the offending object was removed.
"Keep down," barked a bossy, commanding voice he well remembered.
Suddenly Human Inuyasha had the sensation that he was being mistaken for a chair.
"Hey you," said Human Inuyasha speaking to his demon side. "Mind telling me why you are sitting on me? Get the hell off my ribs you idiot!"
"Keep it down, stupid." Demon Inuyasha growled out. "You're squirming around too much when you should be resting. Besides, Kagome told me to keep you warm and she and Kilala aren't here. They've gone searching for more herbs otherwise I wouldn't be doing this. You were lucky though you idiot," said Demon Inuyasha with a smile the other could not see. "When you first got here she stripped down right down to her pink panties and wrapped herself around you. It was quite a sight to see."
"What did she do that for?" said Human Inuyasha struggling in vain to get up. Demon Inuyasha shrugged.
"To treat your shock. Humans don't seem to be as hardy as demons," said Demon Inuyasha mildly. "We just keep bleeding until we die, or don't die at all." He yawned and got his ass off Human Inuyasha's chest. The human swallowed down a few deep breaths to fight off the oxygen starvation he had been starting to develop.
"You don't make a good nurse you know," the human shuttered out thinking longingly of the starched hospital bed he had lain in a few weeks ago.
"Yeah, well I ain't a miko or a babysitter," said Demon Inuyasha rising to his feet and rotating his shoulder before walking to the door of the small hut. "By the way, you and I need to talk later so be up in half an hour. Kagome won't be gone for long."
"All right," replied Human Inuyasha.
He rested for about fifteen more minutes then used the Tetsusiaga's sheath with the useless Tetsusiaga in it for a cane. Carefully, he pulled himself out of what surely was Kaede's hut and made his way to the one place he was certain that his demon side would go for their important discussion.
"You're late, human," said Demon Inuyasha standing with his arms crossed before the waterfall. He didn't even have to turn around to know that he was there.
"Yeah, well, whatever," mumbled Human Inuyasha as unapologetic as ever. He gazed at the liquid white silk before him, tufting around softly in the breeze. A longing to have a shaggy mane of that color once again filled him for a moment. Then he shook it off.
"What is it you want to talk about?" asked Human Inuyasha having a good guess.
"You know why," said his companion turning around to rivet an intense glare upon him. "Tell me. Who do you think it is that Kagome wants. Is she in love with a demon… or a human?"
"Neither," Human Inuyasha forced out after a long while. His demon counterpart nodded.
"Exactly. You know what that means. We have to become whole once again. It's the only way to protect the woman we love and to be the man she loves us for."
"Meaning we will go after the kitsune?"
"Exactly," said Demon Inuyasha. "Glad we're in agreement."
Not having to exercise another word, the two began to trudge slowly back to the village.
"Kagome's probably gonna tan our hides," said Human Inuyasha idly.
"Hah," said Demon Inuyasha. "Probably. But who says I like to listen to every little thing she says."
"I hear ya," said Human Inuyasha leaning heavily on his make-shift cane. Directing their footsteps unswayingly, they marched into the village where Demon Inuyasha received a roundful of sits and Human Inuyasha was chewed out while being ushered back into his sickbed.
Scaling down the side of a cliff, Miroku and Sango approached a human-sized opening. It was perched just a few feet above a floodable stream-bed making it a precarious choice in home-site yet a certain raccoon badger they both knew of abided there.
"Hachi!" called out Miroku rapping his staff against the rock face by the entrance. "Hachi, we need to ask you a question!" he yelled. Sango watched patiently anticipating something coming out of the hole. She waited in vain however because there was no reply.
"What is that?" said Sango catching glimpse of a sheet of paper beneath a rock. It looked reminiscent of a note from one of Kagome's old notepads with Hello Kitty on them. In fact, it was when Sango bent down for a look of further examination.
"Miroku," she said curiously looking at the Japanese printing. "This note says, 'out visiting'. I suppose that means we'll be waiting here a while."
Miroku lay a hand on his head and shook them both mournfully. "Of all the timing," he spoke out loud.
"Stop complaining Miroku," said Sango. "Let's go inside." She stooped down a little to go through the doorway and Miroku followed.
"It's been a while since I've been to Hachi's den," said Miroku looking around thoughtfully. The first thing his eyes fell upon was a little pot on the stone cold firehearth.
"Hm," thought Miroku opening the lid and lifting the ladle. "Left over rice? I guess that means that Hachi is doing well."
Miroku scooted his eyes around Hachi's other possessions. A washtub and scrub board for doing laundry. A bed of straw and furs. A half-dozen flutes and pipes for merry making. Strangely enough, one of Kagome's umbrellas was there too, a pink one with a yellow duck on the side.
"I wonder if Hachi has been swiping things," Miroku unknowingly thought out loud. "I wouldn't put it past him, the old raccoon-dog."
"I wouldn't put it past you either," said Sango taking the umbrella from Miroku's hand and closing it up before returning it to the floor. "Neither of you are exactly the honest type."
"Now my dear Sango," said Miroku acting heart-broken. "You cut me to the quick! My intentions are all too honest when it comes to you."
"Save it," said Sango sitting down. She motioned for Miroku to do the same. "I suppose we should play cards or something. It may be a while before he gets back."
"I suppose you are right, my dear Sango," said Miroku settling down. "But first, I want to see what is in that large cabinet over there," said Miroku scrambling to his feet.
"What cabinet?" said Sango interestedly. She hurried over to the cabinet too and they both stood there with a hint of mischief in their eyes.
"Shall we open it?" said Sango with only partial hesitancy.
"You know you've been around me far too long to resist an innocent misdeed," said Miroku grinning. "Besides, this is Hachi we are talking about. If anyone deserves some mischief it's him after what he did while impersonating me."
"Oh, all right but only a quick look," said Sango shoving him over to wrench the cabinet open. "Between you and this spell I am being corrupted," she grumbled.
"Yet you remain such a peerless woman," Miroku reassured her as he opened the first of many boxes in the cupboard.
"Look at this!" said Miroku pulling out what was undoubtably a slinky from Kagome's time. "I remember this, Shippo traded it to Hachi in order to keep him quiet about eating all of Kagome's noodles. You know that ramen kind that Inuyasha loves so much. Inuyasha got about ten sits out of that one," ended Miroku scrunching up his face to replay the memory of multiple face plantings. "Yes, definitely ten. And in a bog no less."
"If you knew it was him why didn't you tell Kagome?" asked Sango. Miroku shrugged.
"I guess it's because he already got punished for it. And it was amusing to watch after all." Miroku flung the slinky around a few times before returning it to the closet.
"Look at this," said Sango excitedly pulling a second box off the shelf. "Kagome's Princess Escargo costume! She brought it over to show it to me. It's so soft and there's so much fabric. I just have to try it on!"
"Go right ahead my lovely lady," said Miroku grinning like a fool.
"Turn around you," said Sango whirling him around by the shoulder and marching him off a few feet.
"Don't you dare turn around," she warned him slipping off her demon-slayer's robes and stepping into the bountiful dress.
"I won't," said Miroku happily polishing his staff with his sleeve and angling the metal edge so that it made a reflective mirror. "A bit disappointing but better than nothing, hehe."
"I'm not done yet," said Sango hastening to fasten the clasps.
"Take your time my dear Sango," said Miroku too happily. Sango marched up and smacked him.
"What was that for?" he said conversationally while she snatched his staff away.
"I don't know," said Sango. "But you were acting far too happy for some reason."
"Nonsense my dear Sango," said Miroku. "You look very beautiful," he said off-topic.
Sango looked down at herself and whirled around.
"I do don't I," she said the spell speaking. She pranced around a bit then pulled a crown out of the box and placed it on her head.
"Ah, the ruler of my heart," said Miroku practically crowing. He placed a hand over his chest in a patriotic manner.
"I suppose we should put this back now," said Sango looking guilty.
"Nonsense dear Sango," said Miroku digging into yet another box. This time his hands found themselves on a flask of what only could be last remaining dribbles of the sake they had fetched from the Sake Sages for Monk Mushin when he had been supposedly dying.
"Look what we have here," said Miroku happily. He remembered all too well what had happened last time Sango had gotten drunk (she had hit on Inuyasha and tried to take off his head) but since they were on better terms now and Inuyasha was not here, maybe he would be the lucky man getting the kiss instead?
"Miroku," said Sango warningly. "I can still knock you out if try anything funny. Besides, doesn't that sake belong to Hachi?"
"It is possible that he received it for some sort of service," said Miroku rubbing his chin in askance. "However, even if he did, surely my old friend would not mind sharing in some of the bounty? After all, Hachi has almost no tolerance as I recall."
"If it's really his we're going to have to pay him back, although we actually got it in the first place," said Sango.
Half an hour later a drunk Sango and an equally drunk Miroku were laughing their heads off. Somehow, they had both changed robes.
"Look at me," said Sango marching around opening and closing her hand mimicking Miroku's windtunnel. "Whoosh!" she shouted. "Whoosh, in you all go, kah --kah-kah."
"And I am evil Naraku in a dress," scowled Miroku.
"Oh no!" squealed Sango leaning back. "Begone evil demon, I will exercise you!" Sango began to make as if she were throwing reams of paper while Miroku pretended to shrivel up and die. He lay down in the corner twitching.
"Hey," said Sango kicking him with her foot. "Are you all right?"
"Never better," said Miroku poking upright. "The sake seems to be wearing off so let's see what's left in the closet. I must say, I like you loosened up my dear Sango. Who would have known you had a sense of humor? Here you go," said Miroku plopping down the largest of the boxes.
"Oh, let's see!" said Sango excitedly dropping to her knees. Miroku wrenched off the box lid and before she could see inside he slapped it closed.
"What is it?" squeaked Sango.
"Too horrible," said Miroku faking a grimace.
"Dead bodies?" said Sango skeptically. "We see them all the time."
"Ha ha! Just fooling," said Miroku whipping off the box lid to reveal a large dog plushie toy and a million other things. Such as a snippet of Inuyasha's hair; and a dozen pictures of him sleeping; and an entire notebook of dramatic sketches picturing Inuyasha as a charming rescuer.
"Who knew that Hachi had such taste," said Miroku horrified. "I hope he doesn't turn stalker on me."
"Miroku," said Sango slapping him. "It's clear to see that these things belong to Kagome-sama. See here, in the last entry after the story entitled, 'the names that Inuyasha and I will name our two daughters and why.' It says right here that, 'I am giving this collection of knick-nacks to Hachi since Inuyasha is hanging around my house a lot more often and I don't want him finding these things in the closet. In return I am giving him an umbrella, a ladies' dress, and ten full-size cases of instant cup ramen."
"I wonder why Hachi needs a ladies' dress," said Miroku. "I'll have to ask him about it later."
"Look at this!" said Sango happily digging into Kagome's forbidden treasures. "Baby booties! And a rattle with little doggie's on them! And a T-shirt saying 'my daddy is top-dog!" She had to stuff a fist in her mouth to stop laughing.
"Now, now," said Miroku reprimandingly. "There's no need to trivialize Kagome-sama's feelings. If she indeed suffers from such a dream, then I can only sympathize with her ailment. I only wish it was me she set her eyes on at the beginning."
"I thought it was me you liked, Houshi-sama," said Sango glaring.
"Yes Sango," said Miroku blinking through the pain he suddenly was feeling.
Hachi returned to his humble den by the creek sometime in the mid-afternoon. The sight that met his eyes was a strange one. Sango and Miroku were sleeping shoulder to shoulder by his fireside. Sango was wearing a pair of fake doggie ears and had 'x's and 'o's painted all over her face. Similarly, Miroku's face was bedecked with a multitude of squiggly ink lines. Although he was wearing his usual purple brocaded robes, he smelled curiously like a mixture of sake, fireworks, and Shippo's kitsune glue. Little did the dog-badger realize that the couple had spent the last fifteen minutes before dozing off to sleep busily gluing teacups to the ceiling.
"Miroku," said Hachi trying to take on a serious, frowning expression as he shook Miroku awake.
"Ah, you're back," said Miroku rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "It has been a long time since I have last seen you my friend."
"Master Miroku," said Hachi respectfully in his somewhat high-pitched, plaintive voice. "What brings you here Master? I assume you're still engaged in battle against Naraku?"
"Indeed I am," said Miroku moving around to face his friend as Sango groggily moved from his shoulder. "The battle with Naraku is a long and difficult one. However, at this time it is imperative that we find someone."
"Meaning you need a ride?" said Hachi suspicious of his long-time friend and his frequently questionable motives.
"Perhaps," said Miroku seriously. "However, what brings us here Hachi is a question. Tell me, do you know of any kitsune whom is capable of casting a spell of disclosure?"
"The spell of disclosure?" said Hachi thinking hard about it. "That's something that even I as a demon have never heard of. It may be a rare ability, or some kind of knowledge which only kitsunes know. They do not like to share their secrets with raccoon-dogs because my kind competes with them for their place as best trickster. Still, if I ask one of the elders of my kind, perhaps they will know something about it."
"Thank you Hachi," said Miroku standing up. "Sango and I must return to Inuyasha and the others. However, once you learn something please come to us at Lady Kaede's village. It is imperative that we break the curse that Inuyasha and Sango are under as soon as possible."
"I will do my best, Master Miroku," said Hachi bowing.
"Oh, and Hachi," said Miroku turning back to grin. "Sango and I will bring you back a couple jugs of sake, okay? Have a good night."
"That Miroku," thought Hachi to himself. "With that kind of grin I know that he scammed me somehow."
At his end of things, Demon Inuyasha was not waiting any longer. Now that he had decided to remerge with his human self, he was determined to take things into his own hands. For this reason, two days following Human Inuyasha's injury by Kikyo, he practically dragged two mortals out of Kaede's hut, leaving Shippo and the unnamed two-tail behind.
"What is going on with you" said Kagome tersely as Demon Inuyasha carried her bridal style towards Goshinoboku with his human half jogging behind.
"We're going after the demon kitsune," Human Inuyasha spoke up surprising her. He carried Kilala in the crook of one of his arms and the two-tail was looking up at him expectantly.
"What?" said Kagome alarmed. "But I thought you didn't know how to find it."
"You never asked," said Demon Inuyasha frowning, "and I didn't want to tell you before."
"Inuyasha," Kagome spoke heartfully. The demon before her crouched down. "Get on," he said to her. "Hold on no matter what."
"What does that mean?" said Kagome as she felt Demon Inuyasha quiver beneath her. A visible youkai wind began to swirl around her startling her as the form beneath her shifted, growing larger and wider and more… furry… with every passing moment.
"Inuyasha!" said Kagome gasping as the ground beneath her shot further and further away. Before long, she could not see it at all since everything was blocked by enormous furry haunches. Trying to get her bearings, Kagome angled her head around and caught sight of a long sweeping tail and a fuzzy white head with two large, triangular ears much like the ones that her beloved hanyou used to have.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped out peeking out at the trees so far down below they looked like toy train miniatures. She quickly scooted back and wrapped her hands as tightly as she could within his silky fur.
"Kagome!" called out Human Inuyasha popping up behind her flying on Kilala. The seasoned fire-cat landed on Demon Inuyasha's back so that the two could take their place behind Kagome. "Hold on tightly, Kagome," he said sliding behind her and protectively placing both of his well-toned arms around her.
"Hey you!" Human Inuyasha shouted up at his other half. "Let's go!" Kilala mewed, happy to get on in the action as the foursome took off into the sky.
"Inuyasha," Kagome shouted over the wind to her only human companion. "What are we doing?"
"My demon side is going to sniff the kitsune out," said Human Inuyasha simply. "It will be easy since he can fly over the area we last saw her."
"All right," said Kagome somehow feeling uneasy about it.
The early morning was lit with a brilliant sun. Touching the landscape with a stroke of golden ochre, the sun floated about in an amber somewhat akin to Inuyasha's lost hanyou eyes. The sight was saddening, a little nostalgic, but it made Kagome feel happy all the same watching the shadows slip beneath her as she sailed through the sky on an enormous dog-being she had NO idea had been trapped within her sweet hanyou love. Behind her, Human Inuyasha tightened his warm and caring arms around her and muttered reassurances in her ear. For all its troubles and uncertainties, the morning was not all that unwelcome to the young miko.
The little group flew on and on across the freedom loving sky. For a long time, they simply sailed on into the blue banner without changing course but at last Demon Inuyasha veered downwards and began to alter direction so that he landed inside a little field just beyond a human village. He slammed into the ground with a mighty thud and out tumbled a four-tailed kitsune from the grasses, trembling violently.
"EEK!" the kitsune screamed trying to use fox magic to escape in a puff ball of smoke. Demon Inuyasha wasn't buying it however and laid a paw down on a boulder which had miraculously appeared coinciding with her disappearance. The female kitsune poofed back into her original form and struggled valiantly to escape.
"Quit it," said Human Inuyasha sliding down from his Demonic self with the help of Kilala (also known as Kirara).
"Undo this spell you've cast on me and I'll let you go."
The kitsune trapped beneath the paw stopped squirming.
"But I haven't cast a spell on either of you. The only ones I have played a trick on recently are a hanyou and his companions."
"Exactly," snarled Human Inuyasha raising a fist threateningly. "Your damned spell split me into two. Now reverse it."
The fox demon's eyes widened. "The way to undo the spell is to lie in order to protect the one you care for the most." Slowly, demonic Inuyasha removed his paw from the kitsune's chest and the fragile being removed herself from the ground gingerly.
With a flash of kaze, Demon Inuyasha poofed down into his human-like form. Unexpectedly, he ran up to Kagome and grabbed a hold of her. With one arm wrapped around her neck like a noose, he raised a claw up to her belly and paused at it.
"Tell me that you never loved her," said Demon Inuyasha jabbing at her belly. Kagome's eyes widened slightly but she said nothing.
"Hah, you would never do anything to hurt her," said Human Inuyasha before halting. Dumbfounded, he watched a spot of brilliant crimson appear on her clothes, trickling down to pool at her feet. Demonic Inuyasha smiled wickedly.
"I thought I told you to lie, mortal," he said cruelly. "Unless you want the woman you love to die." More blood continued to trickle down to her feet.
"Stop hurting her!" Human Inuyasha yelled out trembling.
"Then say it," demanded Demon Inuyasha pressing his claws against her as a speechless Kagome shut her eyes and began to mumble what might have been a prayer.
"I… I never loved her!" Human Inuyasha shouted out. Demonic Inuyasha threw the woman onto the ground and backed away while his human half anxiously picked her up.
"Are you okay, how bad is it? How dare he do such a thing!" his human side growled.
"It's all right," said Kagome standing up easily. "He didn't hurt me at all." The human side seemed shocked.
"Hah, you still lack faith in me, mortal," said Demon Inuyasha holding out a hand triumphantly. The palm and back of his wrist were covered with deep scratch marks.
"You always thought you were more clever than me but perhaps I have proved you wrong. You are so very gullible. Unfortunately so are we."
Demon Inuyasha ran up like a blur and slammed the escaping kitsune to the ground using one hand.
"Who said you could leave," he hissed at her. "The spell isn't over kitsune. Why are we still separate from one another?"
"I don't know!" the unfortunate demon squeaked out. "I swear to you the kitsune magic is gone! But whatever it was that caused a division is still in effect. I can not help you." She hid her eyes and prepared for the worst which strangely was not forthcoming.
"So does that mean we are stuck this way forever?" said Demon Inuyasha calmly. The kitsune before him only nodded. The demon once hanyou backed away.
"Let us return to the village," he said to his companions before taking the dumbstruck group away.
It was a quiet journey home. Not a word was heard, not a growl was uttered as the four flew back to Kaede's village and landed in the glade near Goshinoboku and not distance from Kaede's hut. Two sets of footsteps crunched down on the grass followed by the noiseless crunch of a cat's feet. Then, a soft rushing roar garbled down into a nonexistent wind as two small footprints began to tread a path out into the woods.
"Inuyasha," said Kagome raising a hand up in the air as if to stop him with sheer will. "Demon Inuyasha, I mean. Where are you going?"
"Away," said Demon Inuyasha quietly.
"But why?" pressed Kagome. "It isn't your fault."
"Yes it is," said Demon Inuyasha so softly it was nearly mute to her ears. "It's my fault you lost the man you love. It's my fault he will never return."
"Wait!" Kagome cried stumbling after him as he began to meet the distance. "I love you too!"
"I know," said Demon Inuyasha sadly. "This is why I have to go away." With one final turn, the man whom meant half the world to her, hid his face from her and then, he simply disappeared.
That night, Kagome Higurashi lay twitching yet fast asleep on the floor of Kaede's hut. Shippo suffered for her restlessness since he had snuggled down upon her belly for night and sometime during the duration of the hours cloistered by dreams, he found himself being squashed and squished and other wise being rolled over by Kagome as she thrashed about moaning, "no, no, don't go away."
Her dream had started simply, ambiguous in its meaning. At first she had she had opened her eyes to find herself wearing a soft cotton nightgown, something she had not worn for years and surely she had never gone with a bottomless one before, something she associated with motherhood. Looking down upon the floor, she spied a pair of pink floppy bunny slippers and again she felt that this mind she found herself within belonged to someone other than herself as she slipped along in her actions. Yet, Kagome Higurashi found herself playing this other woman's role. With a small, inward gasp Kagome spotted the sight of a woman's wedding band winking against the moonlight as she lifted up her hand to blot out the glow from an unobtrusive nightlight. Joltingly, she felt herself rise up in response to a sharp and undeniably noisy baby's wail. Yet the woman whose heart she herself was filling felt happy, concerned, and weary over it. Following the phantom woman's wants and desires unwillingly, Kagome sat up carefully amongst the deep shadows cast within her room. Lovingly, she bent down to gaze upon the gentle face and brawny muscles of her long -term husband. Tenderly, she tucked a few of his raven locks behind his ear before she slid her bare feet to cold wood floor below and tiptoed away. Somehow, Kagome knew where she was as she glided along. There, on the right was the bedroom of their eldest daughter. She stopped to pickup a blanket this girl had left on the floor after snack time. There, across the hall from her eldest daughter's room was that belonging to her second. She could see the foam plastic lettering of her name and various learning numbers on the door. Turning to the left and padding softly towards the stairway, the phantom known as Kagome found the nursery door and pushed it open. There, the hapless dreamer caught hold of a sight which stole her breath away. It was a child, no a son whom looked exactly like Inuyasha on the night of a new moon. He had the promise of the same nose, the same gentle features. Breathless though this was a dream, Kagome leant down to collect their youngest, a son, in her arms. The girl now suddenly a maternal woman looked down upon her child and saw within it an ordinary and yet somehow happy life, half-happy, half-sad. In that half, she saw the gaze of a human she truly admired. Yet in the other half, she saw the wild tangles and adventurous gaze of someone she had loved so much, yet had lost, and with him she had lost half her heart as well. The young woman known as Kagome could not stand it.
"No!" she cried out desperately within the dream. It spat her out from her semi-nightmare, casting her into another land and restoring her youth. With an endless spiral she fell down and down until she simply decided to fly and landed in a meadow where a fiery eyed demon lay. She found herself wearing a see-through red gown suitable for a demoness and she crept forward on her knees to the man who lay sprawled in the flowers. Quietly, she laid her hands within his shaggy man to see if he was real.
"What's up, love mate?" said the man catching hold of her wrist as he dragged her to himself. His clawed hands curled themselves around her exposed waist and scratched lightly. Golden chains which adorned her wrists and waist clinked gently as he savaged her mouth, raking her neck with his tongue and the tips of his teeth.
"Inuyasha," Kagome muttered headily while she found herself being pushed down beneath him, his knee tangled between her own. She held him back. "What about the children?"
"What about them?" he said breathing on her ear nipping it gently. "We've only been married half a century but we can start some if you want to."
The Kagome in her dreams pushed him away. "I'm sorry Inuyasha," she muttered scooting away from him. "Maybe we can go running to get some air."
The demon beside her smiled, the light of a thousand stars and the brilliancy of the moon caught within his tumbling locks and creamy skin. The flaming red of his red firerat robe remained deep crimson from the night.
"Yes love," he teased her gently. "Remember, we can run to the ends of world and back if we want to. Better yet let's fly," he whispered to her, gathering her up in his arms. The two rose up on a silken cloud and gazed down upon the sleeping world of mortal men, the earthern hills, the rushing waves of an ocean that stretched out a wide as the sky. Filling her nostrils with salt air, Kagome whispered to her companion that she was ready to return home and found herself whisked away to an underground palace.
"Kiku missed you," said a demonic Inuyasha laying a hand on a firecat's head as they entered. "Your ladyship is feeling anxious tonight so do your best to consol her." The cat with black stipes marring her cheeks came up to Kagome's hand and purred gently. The Kagome in her dream looked down upon it for a moment observing a silvery dagger strapped to the cat's side. The next moment she found her hand jerked away and she herself was led to the back of a room as large as a cavern. There, at the very end was a platform covered with blankets almost a silver as the moon and that of her beloved's hair. "Come with me," he purred sinking her deep into the platform. "Come with me, my beloved mate."
She felt puncture wounds within her neck. "But what about the children?" Kagome muttered again. "There never will be," a voice muttered. "Remember that you promised me that there would be no more hanyous to suffer."
"What?" said Kagome moaning as spirals swirled before her eyes. She could feel a bare chest come in contact with her fingertips.
"Isn't it enough that you're queen?" said the demon huskily. "Isn't it enough that we will live… forever?"
"No," said Kagome cried out to herself. "No, no, no! Osawari!" she shouted bringing a halt to that expanse of dream. She found herself drifting eerily along back to the base of old Goshinoboku. She collapsed on her knees and found herself sitting between two semi-transparent retreating forms.
"No, no, no, don't go away!" Kagome shouted at the two of them. Both of them turned around simultaneously.
"I'm sorry Kagome," said Human Inuyasha dismissively.
"It's just that you have to choose one or the other," Demon Inuyasha finished for him before they both simply walked away.
"No, no, no!" shouted Kagome wrathfully. "Don't you walk away from me mister! I refuse to be a pawn for fate! I refuse to stop trying! I refuse to give up on the man I love!"
"Then what are you waiting for Kagome," said a hanyou standing before her momentarily. So clearly she gazed into his crystalline golden eyes, like pools of amber. Then he disappeared, before she could catch him within her grasp.
"I wait for you!" Kagome shouted out staring at a blinking red stoplight. "I wait for you! I wait forever!" She felt herself pick up a stone, and then she cast it. The dream fell apart like to the shattering of glass.
"Urg," said Kagome sitting up so suddenly that Shippo, whom had finally managed to crawl free again, was dumped off. Woefully, she rubbed her eyes and cast her gaze into the consuming glow of the dimly lit embers.
"Inuyasha," she muttered turning around so that she lay on her side. "I'm gonna get you tomorrow, you idiot."