A/N: Here is chapter six, guys! Sorry for the long wait...I've had about four essays and three projects due in the last two weeks, and it's my senior year, so school has been rather hectic. I finally found time to finish this one. I hope you guys like it!

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Where You Are
Chapter Six: So Much More

"This entire situation has me completely confused..." Miroku frowned.

Shippo glanced up at him with questions shining in his eyes. "What do you mean, Miroku? Sango already explained it."

"I know that, Shippo. I was just thinking...why would the demons go through all of the trouble? I mean, think about it...the elaborate story about love setting Kagome free was obviously not exactly the truth. Manami and Koji are probably digging around in Inuyasha and Kagome's souls right now, getting a good laugh at the control they have over this whole situation..."

"Miroku!" Sango snapped.

"And for that matter, why choose a powerful spiritual priestess and a hanyou as hosts? Obviously our friend Koji is having trouble gaining control of Inuyasha, or he would have already reared his ugly head...and we all know what Kagome was capable of, even though her body was occupied..."

"Shut up, monk! We're right in front of you! Do you want them to hear your mumbling?" Inuyasha growled. "I say we just find that damn village and get this over with. If I have to kill every damn demon in the joint to get this trash taken out of Kagome and me, then I will..." he threatened.

Kagome sighed. "If you're able to..." she said under her breath. "We don't know just how much power these two have, remember? We could have a bigger problem than we think we have."

"Kagome...how much worse can things possibly get?" Inuyasha asked her, frowning. The answer, though, did not come from Kagome. It came from inside Inuyasha's head. They can get a lot worse, hanyou. Our comrades are not actually going to assist you in ridding yourselves of us. You could kill them all, and it would do nothing. There's only one way either of us is coming out, and neither you nor your stupid wench is going to like it.

"Don't call her stupid!" Inuyasha snarled. "Get the hell out of my head!"

Kagome stopped. "Inuyasha?" She blinked several times. "Who were you talking to? Don't call who stupid?" she asked him after a moment.

"I don't know. There was...there was a voice inside my head." he whispered.

Sango and Miroku glanced at one another. "Koji," they said in unison.

Inuyasha stopped in his tracks. "I figured that much," he said in an annoyed tone.

"How far are we from the village?" Kagome questioned, her voice soft with worry.

Inuyasha raised his nose to the air. "It won't be long now," he told her.

It's useless. You and your Inuyasha would both have to die to expel Koji and I from your bodies. Did you honestly think that returning to that village would somehow help you? Kagome shivered at the voice inside her head. "No, we won't..." she whispered.

Sango took a cautious step away from her best friend. "Kagome?"

"Inuyasha...stop." Kagome waited, and the impatient hanyou stopped in his tracks and turned to the side to face her. She took a deep breath. "We can't go back to the village. Manami's voice is in my head now, too...and we already know she can take control of me. She said..." Kagome paused. "I can't say it..."

"What did she say, Kagome?" asked Inuyasha, his voice soft.

Kagome sighed. "She said that we would...that we would have to die to expel them from our bodies..." she reported to the group. "Do you think...that it's true?" her voice broke slightly. "What are we supposed to do?"

Give up, said the voice inside her head. I promise it's not painful, and it will make things so much easier for us...

"I won't give up!" Kagome yelled.

Inuyasha blinked. "What happened?"

"Nothing. Never mind." she nearly snapped.

"Something happened, Kagome..." Inuyasha tapped his foot, not buying her story.

Kagome sighed. "Damn voices." she grumbled, and Inuyasha's eyebrow rose. She looked up at him. "I don't want to go back to Kaede's village...especially since we obviously don't know what we are dealing with. I think I might know one person who would at least be able to handle Koji and Manami if they decided to be a problem, though."

Inuyasha looked confused. "Huh?"

"Sesshoumaru." She whispered.

"I absolutely refuse to..." Inuyasha began.

Kagome stomped her foot. "Inuyasha, if she is right, Sesshoumaru may be the only one who can really help us?"

"If she's right?" he repeated, his voice soft. "Kagome...don't you get it? Sesshoumaru doesn't care. If he had to kill us, there would not be any coming back. That's the one thing Sesshoumaru wants even more than our father's sword..."

Kagome seemed to think on this a moment. "Maybe Kouga would know what to do?" she thought out loud.

Inuyasha scowled deeply. "All right. That's it. We're going to see Sesshoumaru right now."

"But I thought..." Kagome began.

"This way..." Inuyasha pointed.

Sango laughed.

"I see nothing funny about this situation, Lady Sango..." Miroku frowned.

"Kagome, that was brilliant," Sango smiled.

"I don't understand..." Miroku scratched his head.

Sango shook her head. "It's a girl thing, monk. Don't try to understand it. It will just make your head hurt."

Inuyasha, grumbling to himself, was walking ahead of the group and incoherently mumbling to himself about the stinky wolf and his jerk of a brother.

Kagome coughed. "Inuyasha I..." she began, but stopped suddenly.

"You what, Kagome?"

No...

"Aw, Koji...was that woman trying to tell you something?"

Inuyasha turned on his heel. "Damn it, Manami! Bring her back!"

"Why won't you let Koji out, hmm?" she frowned.

Inuyasha sighed, his cheeks reddening in anger. "Because the two of you are in our bodies, stupid wench, and we will not be responsible for what you do. Bring Kagome back. I swear, my brother will kill both of us without a thought if it means getting rid of you..."

"Really? Because it seemed as if Kagome was doubting his willingness to help you two...even you doubt it..." she smirked.

Inuyasha scoffed. "Would you be willing to stake your life on it?"

Manami quieted. "You wouldn't sacrifice yourself..." she snapped at him.

"In a second," he promised, nodding.

"Inuyasha, I don't think..." began Sango.

Inuyasha cut her off, taking a deep breath. He could tell from the scent of the forest around him that his brother Sesshoumaru was watching from somewhere nearby. "Sesshoumaru!" he screamed. "Come out! I've got a proposition for you!"

The forest was quiet for a long time.

"Inuyasha..." the voice of his brother finally responded. "What kind of trouble have you managed to get yourself into this time? Whatever it is, if you expect my help, you are sadly mistaken..."

"I want you to kill Kagome." Inuyasha said quickly. "And bring her back afterwards. There is a leecher demon inside her and one inside me. Isn't that right, Manami?" Inuyasha asked.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku screamed. "What are you thinking?"

Manami did not reply.

"Inuyasha, you have finally lost your mind. It was silly of me to think a half demon like yourself would be of a full mind, anyway, but it is still rather...pathetic." Sesshoumaru commented, his voice low with amusement.

Inuyasha shook his head. "I'm serious, Sesshoumaru!"

"If you do indeed have leecher demons inside your bodies, that would mean that I would have to kill you both." Sesshoumaru smiled at this, and Miroku cringed. "What makes you think I owe you anything to bring you back once you are dead?"

Inuyasha growled. "I am not in the mood to play your mind games, Sesshoumaru. This is serious." He snapped. "Look, I...I love her," he whispered, "but if...if nothing else, think of it this way...we all need Kagome. Not just me. You need her, too. We all need Kagome if we are going to beat Naraku...without her, we're sunk...and if Naraku figures out that me and Kagome are, well...possessed, then we'll all be in even more trouble than any of us can stomach..." Inuyasha rattled off quickly.

Sesshoumaru looked thoughtful. "Has he been able to gain control of you yet?" he asked finally.

Inuyasha shook his head. "No, he hasn't." He paused. "He's having trouble because I'm not entirely human, I think...but Manami has shown up several times already..." he snarled. "Damn wench. If she doesn't bring Kagome back soon, I swear I am going to..."

"Calm yourself, Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru ordered. "I know what must happen. However..." he looked around. "You are aware of how it works, aren't you?"

Inuyasha blinked. "Kagome said...that we would have to die..."

Sesshoumaru coughed. "Manami left a couple details out, didn't she? Father told me about leechers once. They are very troublesome. Their carriers have to die in order for them to be expelled." Sesshoumaru told them. "But it is a bit more complicated than that. If you kill them while the leecher is in control...it does basically nothing..." He looked at the ground. "The host would be dead and the leecher would be free to inhabit the body all the time. In order to actually get rid of the leecher, the host has to be killed while they are in control of their own body..."

Inuyasha swallowed hard.

"Inuyasha?" Sango's voice squeaked slightly.

"We have to kill Kagome while she's..." he stammered. "I can't do it if she is..."

His skin paled considerably.

"Isn't that why you called me here?" Sesshoumaru smirked.

"Sesshoumaru, I..." Inuyasha frowned.

He shook his head. "No, Inuyasha. You said it yourself. As much as I hate to admit it, we do need this human girl you claim to love. If you want her back, this has to happen..." He stopped a moment, looking toward Kagome. "Unless you are willing to deal with Manami's appearances...and the fact that you no longer have control over your own body?"

Inuyasha was silent a moment, until finally, he shook his head. "No...I don't want that...I know what has to happen. It's just...I don't like the idea at all..." he answered in a low voice.

"You think I'll ever let her come back now?" Manami smirked.

Inuyasha looked up. "You won't have to. You don't have complete control of her...and you know it. It is just a matter of time until we have her back again..."

"And until she dies at your hand..." Manami added, as if it was some sort of sick afterthought. "I'm sure that's a lovely thing to look forward to..."

"Shut up." Sango snapped.

Inuyasha sat down. "Kagome..." he whispered. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry for that which you can not control, Inuyasha. It makes you look weak." Sesshoumaru glared at him.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious..." Inuyasha retorted. He looked up. "Sesshoumaru?" he blinked.

"What? I am doing you a big enough favor simply by staying here..." he reminded him.

Inuyasha stood. "You are going to come back to the future with me...Someone is going to have to explain this to Kagome's mom. I can't do it...and maybe...maybe if Kagome goes back to her own time...she'll come back..."

Sesshoumaru scoffed lightly to himself. "You want me to travel with you?" He laughed. "That is the most amusing thing I have ever heard..."

"I'm serious!" he snarled. "Are you going to come or not?"

Sesshoumaru stared at his younger half brother for a moment.

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"What are we doing at this well?" Sesshoumaru growled.

"This is how we get to Kagome's home." Inuyasha said quickly. "Just...grab my haori and jump in at the same time I do...or you might get left behind..."

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "Whatever..."

The purple light engulfed them both as they jumped into the dark well. In mere moments, they landed at the bottom...in Kagome's era.

Sesshoumaru's nose scrunched up uncomfortably. "This place is foul, Inuyasha." he groaned. "What is that stench?"

"The future. This is Kagome's home."

"I smell no demons." Sesshoumaru noticed. "None but you and I..."

"That's because there aren't any..." Inuyasha sighed as he carefully let Kagome down when they had landed on their feet in the well house.

Manami frowned in unhappiness. "You think that this is going to work?" she smirked. "This is ridiculous."

"Inuyasha! Kagome!" It was Kagome's mother. She smiled at the two of them, but her expression went blank when she met the cold eyes of Sesshoumaru. "Who is...?" she began.

"Ms. Higurashi...please, just sit down..." Inuyasha frowned deeply. "We...we have to talk to you. This...this isn't Kagome. What we did...we thought that it worked...but it didn't. There is only one way that we can get rid of the demons..."

Inuyasha looked to Sesshoumaru, who rolled his eyes as if he was bored, and began to speak. He told the woman, Kagome's mother, everything that he had already told Inuyasha. He spared the small woman no detail, and her skin grew more and more pale at his speech. Finally, when he was done, Kagome's mother was leaning all the way forward in her chair, staring at him with wide eyes.

"You are going to have to kill her?" she gasped.

"You don't miss a thing, do you?" Sesshoumaru retorted.

"Sesshoumaru..." Inuyasha warned.

"...and Inuyasha knows how to bring her back to herself, don't you Inuyasha?" he continued.

"Shut up, Sesshoumaru..." Inuyasha yelled. "This isn't a game!"

"You have to reach her," Sesshoumaru continued, pretending to be oblivious to his younger half-brother's pleas, "if you want her back, really want her back, she is going to have to die first. I have already explained this twice."

"Inuyasha..." He heard Kagome's voice in his head, and he blinked.

Sesshoumaru pulled one of his swords from its sheath and tossed it to Inuyasha, who caught it by the hilt and stared at it curiously. "What am I supposed to do with this?" he demanded, the confusion obvious in his tone of voice.

"Your sword will not kill humans...remember, Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru reminded him.

Inuyasha gulped. "You're...making me..." he stammered, paling to a shade that rivaled that of Kagome's mother. Blinking, he slowly wiped his forehead, and took a deep breath. "You...promise to bring her back...?" he whispered.

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A/N: I do so love a good cliff hanger. Please review and let me know what you thought about this one. The next installment should be up within one or two days, as will a sequel to Don't Cry for Me, as I promised earlier. Again, sorry for the long period between updates, and I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter.