I watched the Inuyasha episodes where they found out Kikyo was alive and Kagome saved her, and all I could think was "WHY WON'T THEY LET THE CLAY POT BITCH DIE, ALREADY?" I mean, almost no one likes her (though we now know how she acted while she was alive, which wasn't much different) and she's just a dead…clay pot…BITCH! –Ahem- now that I've gotten that off my chest, here's chapter seven! (Oh, and this chapter was written mainly to get rid of my writer's block, so most of it is just major fluff)

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Her body fit perfectly against his as he held her closely to himself, cradling her fragile, soft frame against his toned and muscular chest. His voice whispered her name over and over again, as if to make sure she was really there while he began stroking her hair lovingly. Her only response to his tender actions was a warm smile into his chest before she snuggled closer to her hanyou. Despite the dark of night that shadowed the earth, a smile was evident on both of their faces. When she didn't vanish as she had done before, he sighed contently into the hair on her crown, shakily inhaling her wonderfully powerful and alluring scent, pulling her as close as he could without cutting off her circulation. Though his breaths were shaky, he wasn't crying- they were hesitant breaths, as if to check and make sure that this was all real.

"Inuyasha…" Just hearing her whisper his name not from desperate gasps of air, but in a soothing manner as if to comfort and ease away his fears, made him want to truly feel what it was like to have her full, luscious lips against his own. He however, refrained from doing so (though the desire still lingered). His hold on her tightened, as if to silently assure her that he never intended to let go.

"I'm so sorry it took me so long to find you, Kagome…" She shook her head against his warm chest, the heat relaxing her tense muscles. She knew that this wasn't real, but he was blissfully unaware that this was all simply a wishful thought the two shared, another connection between them. She didn't want to have to inform him, either; telling him would mean that it would be over sooner, and right now it was evident that the two just needed to be held in each other's arms, if only for a moment. She had no choice, however; she was the only one there to tell him, the only one that knew. And besides- the sooner he awoke, the sooner this could be made a reality. The conclusion was ever more bittersweet, as Kagome took a shaky breath of his rain scent before bearing the angstful news.

"You know that this is a dream, don't you?" She said, though it sounded more like a statement than a question. His entire frame went rigid. No…this couldn't be a dream; this was all way too real! He could feel her warmth, her sweet, wonderful scent…

…her heartbeat…

"No…not again…" He mumbled painfully into her ebony tresses, his arms tightening their hold on her. Her heartbeat was existent…but not full, not truly there…hollow. The heart itself wasn't truly within Kagome's body anymore. Wherever it was exactly he didn't know. He wasn't going to let her go this time. Not now and not ever. Wherever she disappeared to, he would follow without complaint, so long as he was with her.

She raised a dainty hand and began to tenderly stroke his silver locks of hair soothingly, more for her own comfort than his. His actions told her that he had no intention of letting her go, despite the fact that he wouldn't have much of a choice in a few moments.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha…I'm so sorry…" She mumbled into his chest as her hand continued to comb through his silver hair. He buried his head deeper into her ebony locks, almost in a pleading manner. In a sense, he was pleading- he was silently pleading her not to leave him.

"Dammit don't be sorry, Kagome! Just don't fade away again!" He yelled against her crown, holding her as close as the laws of physics would allow him. She shut her eyes and leaned into his chest more, which he responded to only by tightening his hold on her.

"Shh…Inuyasha…" She whispered soothingly to the vulnerable hanyou in an attempt to calm him, her fingers still running through his thick locks of silver hair. This continued a moment before she pulled back only enough to gaze intensely into his eyes, a loving smile finding its way onto her face. The hand that was combing his hair pulled away to gently hold his left cheek. His amber eyes shimmered desperately as they searched her features, his face absolutely a broken reflection of his heartache and pain that he had so carefully masked in reality though could not in his dreams.

"Kagome, onegai suru ie no iku!" (Kagome, please do not go) He begged one last time, though he knew deep down that she had no control over any of this, nor did he. Her thumb rubbed across his smooth tan skin softly, slowly. He leaned into her touch without a second thought as to what he was doing. She leaned in close to his ear,

"Inuyasha oboeru…" She whispered softly into the white triangular appendage attached to his head. A white light began to encase the space around them, giving Kagome a sort of fading appearance.

"…watashi ga soko…itsumo."

"Kagome…"

"KAGOME-!"

His eyes snapped open in horror. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead, leaving sluggish trails of perspiration upon his moonlit face. A black gloved hand unconsciously reached up and wiped furiously at the cold trickles of sweat that stained his features. He was panting for air, even that much was hard for him to consciously register in his mind as he tried to let his heart calm itself.

He failed miserably.

Hastily putting the navy blue blanket away safely in the backpack, he focused his attention on the rising sun, its powerfully bright rays letting him escape the heartache and agony of waiting for all of these visions and premonitions to become a reality, letting him forget, just for now, that darkness lurked all around him, searching for him, craving his death.

If only for a moment, all evils were forgotten.

He nearly missed the arousal of his friends from the coming rays of the sun. Hastily turning to them, he bid them a gruff good morning before picking up Tetsusaiga and sliding it into the holder on his black belt as he stood.

"Inuyasha, how much longer do you think we have before we come to the Yama no Kurai?" Sango asked curiously as she lifted her now navy blue Hiraikotsu over her shoulders to let the silver strap slip to hang from her left shoulder to her right hip. Inuyasha placed a thumb under his chin in thought.

"Well, if we keep going at this pace, I say we'll get there in about…two…maybe three days…" He stopped when he realized the same thing as everyone else.

"Two or three…days…" He whispered sadly. No one, not even Shippo or Kirara, needed to be told why that was such a sad conclusion. None of them knew Kagome's condition, not even Inuyasha. That left open the option that Kagome might not have two or three days to be held captive. Two or three days was something that they couldn't chance. Not with a situation like this.

"Well then- we simply won't rest until we are at least at the foot of Kurai-sama." (Mt. Kurai) Miroku concluded, dusting off his black cloak. Inuyasha blinked at the group in awe. He shrugged it off and put on his tough guy act, as usual.

"If you think you can handle it, I'm not complaining." Inuyasha gruffly replied, trying his best to hide his joy and excitement. Shippo raised a hand and punched the air with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, we can handle it! Right, Kirara?" The fire cat youkai (demon) gave an ecstatic 'mew' in reply as she pranced in place to show her excitement. Sango nodded in agreement to the idea, utter determination written across her face. It wasn't until that very moment that Inuyasha realized that he and Kagome had such dedicated friends that were willing to go through such a challenge of endurance just to make sure that their friend was back safely. His chest puffed up in pride knowing that he now had a family, a place to belong. He hadn't felt like that since his childhood.

"Let us hurry, then." Miroku said urgently. Inuyasha nodded in agreement.

"Hai, then let's go." (Hai means yes) Without a word, the five of them left the hut and were once again on their way to Dark Mountain.

"Hey, Inuyasha, are you feeling okay?" Shippo asked from Inuyasha's shoulder plate as he ran to keep up with Sango and Miroku riding on Kirara above the two. The hanyou snorted arrogantly.

"Feh, of course I am, why do you ask?"

"Well, I heard you whimper in your sleep last night…" The kitsune's voice trailed off, afraid to finish the sentence.

"…" The hanyou fell silent a moment, mentally cursing himself for acting out his emotions in his sleep.

"I wasn't 'whimpering' or anything, Shippo. You were probably dreaming or something." Normally, Shippo would have argued back like the little child that he was, but fell silent for the rest of the trip; he knew Inuyasha didn't deserve to be hassled for having intense feelings for Kagome.

When Shippo fell silent, Inuyasha returned his thoughts to his dream. He was still thinking of Kagome's last words to him before he woke up. Not that he had much choice- the words were there, plain and clear as day, haunting him to no end. But he didn't mind; it wasn't a sort of upsetting kind of haunting, but rather an unforgettable reminder of something wonderful.

"Inuyasha oboeru…watashi ga soko…itsumo."

Remember…I am there near you…always.

The words lingered in his mind, in his heart. He grinned at that. He liked this sort of lingering warmth inside his body. It was sort of like she was near even though he knew she wasn't. He was so enthralled in this new feeling, he nearly failed to hear Sango's scream above him.

"What's wrong, Sango?" the hanyou called up from beneath the flying neko (cat) demon. The taijia said nothing, but pointed a shaky hand just ahead of them. Turning his head to follow her gaze, his eyes widened at the sight. A young boy, no older than thirteen wore a black demon slayer's outfit with light green shoulder pads and a matching loincloth on the outside of his pants. A matching katana was strapped on his left side, a long, sleek sickle made of a sharpened youkai bone on a wrapped up chain was on his right. His black hair was pulled into a short pony tail resting high on his head. His empty violet eyes bore into the five of them as Kirara landed beside Inuyasha.

"Kohaku…" Sango called out softly to her little brother as she dismounted Kirara. Inuyasha stuck his arm out in front of her to act as a sort of barrier against the saddened taijia. Sango looked over at Inuyasha, who simply shook his head sternly, refusing to break eye contact with the young boy. Shippo took this as his sign to leave, so he quickly hopped off of Inuyasha's shoulder and bounded off to the sidelines alone.

"Sango, we can't fight him, but in the state he's in, I highly doubt he's our friend."

"I agree with Inuyasha, Sango. There's nothing we can do but hope Naraku hasn't sent him to finish us off." They both faintly heard Inuyasha suppress a snort.

Kohaku whipped out his sickle chain and began to swing it over his head in a circular motion with his right hand, the rest of the chain gripped in his left. Sango's heart began to break at the thought of having to fend off her very own ototosan (little brother). His sickle flew from his finger tips in an arch over his head, the chain trailing behind it like a demented kite string.

Sango flipped the Hiraikotsu off her shoulders and stabbed it firmly into the ground in front of her to serve as a shield against the weapon sailing at her. The sickle ricocheted off of the bone boomerang and landed idly a few feet away from its target.

"Kohaku, that's enough. I'll take it from here." Aka said, coming from seemingly nowhere. The young taijia nodded, collecting his sickle and retreating to the sidelines.

"Just who in the hell are you?" Inuyasha demanded, ripping Tetsusaiga out of its sheath and cocking it in front of him in a fighting stance. Aka didn't react to the hanyou's stance or his weapon, acting as if he really didn't give a crap whether or not he was attacked.

"Me? Why, I'm Aka, I'm just the guy that is responsible for collecting the purest of heart." Inuyasha growled as his body shook with rage.

"You mean the seven priestesses?" Miroku asked gruffly, gripping his prayer beads just in case this guy should decide he preferred to die in the monk's wind tunnel. The red haired man nodded nonchalantly, flicking a bang of crimson from his face.

"You savvy pretty well over there, houshi." (Monk) Aka replied darkly to the monk, who had released the prayer beads from his grasp to grip his sword's sapphire handle in his right hand, prepared for combat. Inuyasha's growls grew ever more audible.

"So you're the bastard that took Kagome, along with Naraku!" The hanyou couldn't contain his anger any further and charged at the man in the grey cloak. He swung his blade horizontally with all of his strength, his every intention to decapitate the asshole. Just before the Tetsusaiga made contact with the man's flesh, he whipped out his own sword and countered it with a back shuffle. Inuyasha swung his blade over his head, only to have Aka raise his horizontally above his head to catch it before pushing it off of his sword.

"One could say that, though Naraku was responsible for her capture. I only extract their hearts, nothing more." Inuyasha stopped in mid swing of his steel fang, lowering the blade slowly.

"You didn't…" His glare grew darker and darker with every passing moment as his rage escalated to new heights such as he had never experienced before. He could feel it coursing through his veins like some sort of drug that added fuel to the fire growing inside of him.

"Of course I did, that's why we needed you."

"Where is she?" He growled venomously through clenched fangs. When the crimson haired male didn't answer, he raised his voice.

"I said: WHERE IS SHE?" The hanyou demanded one last time.

"You'll see her once you give into the darkness…just like she did." Tetsusaiga pulsed an electrifying blue that spread throughout Inuyasha's body. This rage, this fury, it was…indescribable. The anger and rage he experienced in his youkai form paled in comparison to this, although he was still in absolute control of himself unlike when he was a full blooded demon. He brought the blue Tetsusaiga above his head slowly, finding his strength increasing to new heights because of his love for Kagome, his determination to save her, matter of fact- just because of her.

"I HOPE YOU DIE A PAINFUL DEATH TO ROT IN THE SEVEN HELLS!" Inuyasha sent the blade crashing to the ground, causing all of the pulsing blue light to flow from his body to the blade and be sent off toward Aka. All of that rage, the hatred, the anger, was all swirling in a vortex of an electric blue aura that was sent crashing toward the crimson haired demon, leaving behind it a trail of deep cuts and gashes into the ground, much like the wind scar did. The man never stood a chance. The pain consumed him as he began to succumb to the light encasing him.

"You…fool…" He whispered to the hanyou before his body disintegrated into a black ashy nothingness in the light as it began to disappear.

Inuyasha panted, not from exhaustion, but from trying to calm himself of pure rage as he stood there, his blade still on the floor, the hilt in his grip, his eyes never leaving the place where Aka had stood. He knew he would be seeing the bastard again; that one single attack, whatever the hell it was, or no matter how powerful it was, wasn't enough to get rid of someone with the smell of hatred practically radiating off of his aura. He sheathed Tetsusaiga and turned around, calming himself steadily.

"Kohaku…" Sango whispered painfully as she picked up one of his light green shoulder pads he had left behind. Miroku walked over beside her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder for support.

"We will find him and restore him to who he was, Sango…I promise." She looked over at him and nodded a thank you before she tucked the green shoulder pad into a soft blue sash she had brought. Standing up, she and the houshi-sama (lord monk) mounted Kirara again. Shippo hopped up onto Inuyasha's right shoulder pad, as he had done before as they took off once again for their destination.

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Okay, so the dream was corny, but hey, so was 99.999 percent of the Sora/Kairi fluff in the games, so it's allowed. Stick around, pretty please! Inuyasha, do the puppy dog face.

Inuyasha: Why should I?

EmberFalcon: -death glare- -hellish flames-

Inuyasha: -yawns-

EmberFalcon: -takes Kagome plushy away from Inuyasha-

Inuyasha: NOOOOOOOOOO GIVE IT BACK!

EmberFalcon: Then do the puppy dog face, damn it!

Inuyasha: -sweat drop-…stick around pretty please –puppy dog face-

EmberFalcon: Good boy –hands plushy back-

Inuyasha: -huggles Kagome plushy-