Hey, ya'll. Yes, I'm updating again, because I wanted to get this part out and get the plot moving along. Thanks to the few of you who reviewed. I'll write more later, but for now, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 4

Into The Past

He was there again, she knew it. It was a typical old west saloon. The room was filled with various gambling tables and fluttering women. Men talked and laughed, some argued or bellowed loudly for more beer...or women. Kagome stared at the stack of gold piled high, wondering how much the money would be worth nowadays.

Once again she moved slowly through the crowd when she saw him again. He was once again sitting at a dealer's table, again with only a few men. She couldn't stop staring at his face; it was beautiful...and flawless. His hands were eloquent as he passed out the cards to his gents. She watched, feeling a small spot of envy, as a woman sashayed up to the table, laying a bold hand upon his broadshoulder, the casual touch filled with promise and sexuality.

Kagome was surprised when the red headed male merely laughed and waved the woman away. That was when he looked up and she was once again drowning in his eyes. Rising, he began walking towards her with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

And she just stood there as he stepped closer...and closer.

Kagome jerked awake once again, but this time without the heart-stopping fear. She'd seen him again! What on earth was going on?

"Kagome Higurashi, you are going completely insane," she muttered to herself before rising from the beckoning bed. Glancing at the clock, she realized it was a quarter past two, much later than she orginally intended to stay, and proceeded to take a shower and pack up her things, before heading out the door. As she walked on and towards the exit of the park, Kagome couldn't help but speculate what it was about Kurama she was drawn to. For one thing he was dead. But there was something in his eyes. Each time their eyes seemed to meet, she was left feeling like someone had punched her in the gut.

Her thoughts wandered to Inuyasha. She'd never been this attracted to anyone, not even him. Sure, everybody always told her how handsome and wonderful her husband was, but she rarely ever saw it...or him for the matter. She was now beginning to believe that it was the best choice to leave him. But that certainly didn't mean that she would go and start looking around again for another man. No, she was done with men. It was time to get back to the real world. Back to her quiet mother and now teenage brother. Back to traveling and digging up mysteries for her book. She had more than enough to start now and Bodie seemed like a great started piece.

Walking along, Kagome's body started to sweat as the hot sun blazed down around her, practically frying her hair with its intensity. She didn't see any other tourists, odd but maybe not. Miroku had proclaimed that there were days when hardly anyone ever came through. And suddenly, it struck her how quiet everything was, something that almost felt eerie, though it was the middle of the day. When she reached a corner of the small city, she had to stop and pause as the strangest feeling she'd ever felt washed over her. The sky turned dark and all of a sudden a blinding sandstorm struck her from out of nowhere. Sand flew in her face, causing her eyes to burn and water,and Kagome gasped and tried not to breathe in the musky, clogging dirt and debris. And then all at once, everything stilled and became silent, as if nothing had happened.

How...bizarre, Kagome thought, before continuing on. Now she really wanted to get out of here, before something else happened. But before she got very far, something caught her attention. Out of the silence, a piano began to sing and people began talking, cutting through the eeried silence like a vice.

It wasn't her imagination, she really heard it! She glanced across the street at the sign where the music was coming from. It was, "The Queen Of Bodie." Kagome frowned. She hadn't recalled actually coming across the little saloon on any of her previous tours. Kagome glanced at the street posts, smirking slightly at their names, Maiden Lane and Virgin Alley. It wasn't hard to tell that this was the red-light district. Feeling shaken but very curious, she found herself walking closer and closer to the saloon, wondering if some kind of demonstrationwas going on today that Miroku forgot to mention.

She could hear voices now, people laughing, women talking, men shouting, and Kagome stepped up the steps and into the crowded room. She pushed her way through the bizarre crowd, momentarily stunned. People were dressed in old fashioned clothes; men dressed in red shirts and tall black boots. A long bar stretched from the door and across from the bar was a restaurant. Kagome had the oddest sensation that she'd been here before.

Her mind in a tumble, her first thought was that this was some kind of movie shoot. She became excited about this once in a lifetime opportunity and eagerly made her way further into the crowd. She couldn't help but notice how several of the men leered at her legs and the way she was dressed, but hey she had nice legs. She was used to that.

Suddenly a voice rose over the crowd, stunning everyone into silence. Kagome turned swiftly, desperate to hear who was making all that racket.

"You dirty cheat!"The same man cried again. The crowd began to depart after a moment of silence, giving her a clearer view of the commotion. There, an obvious miner, stood up from a tiny gambling table, waving his hands about in an angry fashion. His face was red with anger as he pointed. "Damn you, Kurama, you cheated!"

Kagome heart began pounding in her rib cage harshly and she struggled to breathe.

The other gambler stood up, his movements slow and deliberate and Kagome had yet to see his face, though something told her she was justabout to. "I don't have to cheat, you're just a poor card player. That's all," the other man drawled slowly, standing up as well and making small, deliberate motions to back away from the angered man. He obviously didn't want any trouble.

The angry man's face grew increasingly frustrated as yet another gent grabbed his arm and told him not to attack, that he'd only get himself killed. And through all this drama, Kagome could only stare at the somewhat vaguely familiar scene, yet...she knew she'd never been here before. Slowly a trickle of fear slid down her spine as Kagome glanced around. She recognized this place...the one from in her dream.

And, she thought with dread, the man at the gambling table was a dead ringer for the man she'd seen in the jail...Shuichi Minamino.

She began to sweat and then she was shivering with cold, icy fear and then the light-headedness set in as she swayed on her feet. She felt herself falling as a loud buzzing rang through her ears. The floor rushing towards her facewas the last thing she saw before her world faded into darkness.

Kurama darted forward and caught the falling woman with a questioning look on his face. Easily swinging her into his strong arms, he called for someone to follow with her bag. He effortlessly made his way up the wooden staircase and enteredhis rented hotel room, gently depositing the sleeping woman on his bed and simply staring at her. He'd never seen anyone quite like her before. Where had she come from?

"Who is she?" The attendant, Yura, asked.

Kurama only shook his head. He had no clue. The only thing he knew was that she was very beautiful and like nothing he had ever encountered before; an intriguing mystery he may have to look into.

"Well, if you need anything..." The dove's voice dropped low and sexy, "anything at all..." Her short, bobbed hair bounced with each step towards his person.

Kurama merely grinned but didn't reply, knowing she would never attract his attention. No other girl in this town ever had and he was not looking for a fling with one of the doves.

Kurama turned back to the woman on his bed. His thoughts were jumping a mile a minute. Who in the hell exactly was she? And why was she dressed so...scandalously. He stared at her shirt, which read "Jekyll and Hyde", written in red and white. What did that mean? he wondered. Suddenly a gasp alerted him to his awakening guest as her eyes began opening. Her eyes were fluttering prettily and soon her preciousblue eyes had opened and were blinking sleepily at him.

"Wha-what happened?" she whispered, blinking confusedly.

"You fainted," he remarked casually, trying to keep the manyquestions from bursting free in rapid succession.

She scoffed lightly. "That's ridiculous, I don't faint," she replied, attempting to sit up. Kurama couldn't help but let his eyes wander over the smooth, creamy skin of her bare legs, admiring their long length and wondering what it would be like to run his hand up her fantastic thighs

He shrugged. "There's a first time for everything." He gently reached around and tried to help her sit up, smirking slightly when she blinked owlishly and tried to push him away. When his shoulder came into contact with hers, at first she stiffened and then relaxed.

Her eyes moved over him, searching every inch of his faceand trying to spot where his mask fell into place. But no luck, his face was a pale white, only lightly tanned after years ofliving in the desert. His body was perfectly toned and in shape, he obviously did something to keep those muscles in shape. His eyes were a crystal emerald green which gazed at her with an intensity she had trouble defining. And his hair was the oddest shade of red she'd ever seen, ruby in color, pulled up into a low ponytail. He had a black Stetson placed casually on top of his head, drawn low over his brow. Kagome glanced up when she noticed his eyes were regarding her with the same kind of scrutiny she was bestowing upon him. She immediately blushed and looked away, wondering why it was so hot all of a sudden.

"Did you bring me here? Where are we?" she asked all in one breath, noticing she was in a building she'd never seen before.

"Well, I could have left you on the floor," he chuckled and winked. "But we're in my room."

"Oh," Kagome didn't know what to think. "Who are you supposed to be?"

He raised one, pencil-thin eyebrow. "Shuichi Minamino."

"No, really, what is your real name? I think you're taking this acting thing a little too far." He looked a little annoyed.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked. "Maybe you need a doctor."

"Okay, stay in character," she muttered to herself. She shot her eyes to his. "I've got to go."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," he said, attempting to take her arm and make her stay seated until he was fully sure she was recovered from her fainting spell. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine, now goodbye whoever you really are." With that she attempted to walk out the door, shaking legs not allowing her to get very far.

"Here." Kurama got up slowly and approached the apparently daft woman. "Sit down. And stay." His words left no room for complaint as he left the room. She huffed loudly, wanting to make sure he heard her discomfort, and distracted herself by glancing around the room curiously and impatiently as she waited for her his return. That's when she noticed all the old and outdated furniture. There was a chair in the corner of the room and the bed she'd been laying in had a wrought-iron frame.

Noting a small wooden table that held a small pistol, Kagome carefully stood up and walked over to it. The initial S.M. were engraved on it, she noticed, as she picked it up.

"Be careful with that, it's loaded," Came his voice from behind her. Startled, she almost dropped the gun, but he was there in less than a second, taking the gun from her hand and placing it within its holder on his belt.

"What is that?" she asked.

"A gun," he raised his eye in wry amusement.

She rolled her eyes. "No, not that. What's in your hand?"

"It's red wine, to calm your nerves," he handed the drink to her, watching as she took a long slow, luxurious sip and seemed to calm a little.

She sat back on the bed, sipping more of the delicious treat, and watched him alertly for any sign of deceit.

"What is that you're wearing?" he remarked once she was seated, staring quizzically at her shorts and t-short.

"What?" she asked, looking down at herself. Did she spill something and not notice?

"That shirt? And your pants?"

"What's wrong with them?" She demanded crossly. Was he trying to insult her or something, make her seem less attractive than she already felt at the moment?

"A lady would never wear something quite so...revealing," he casually remarked as she felt his eyes rake over her features.

"Revealing?" she questioned. This was revealing? She would hate to hear what he had to say about some of her old friends' attires...or Kikyo's wardrobe for that matter. Eri, Yuki, Ayumi, and Kikyo had some of the worst sense whenit came to showing off their bodies.

"Your arms and legs are exposed."

For a moment, Kagome started to laugh until she realized he looked serious. "You've really immersed yourself far into this role, haven't you?" she asked suspiciously, wondering what his deal was andwhy he refused to come clean and take off that wig and make-up.

"Role? What role?" he frowned at her. "What are you talking about? You must be daft. Maybe I really ought to call for a doctor or something."

"I am not crazy!" she raised her voice. "And I don't need a doctor, thank you very much. I'm leaving!" Kagome pushed him out of the way, grabbed her over night bag, and raced out the door. He tried to stop her but she merely brushed past and ran down the stairs and out the saloon doors. She immediately halted. Where there had once been decaying buildings and rotting outposts, were now fully furnished homes and saloons. The street was clogged with people and the air thick with dust and sand.

She slowly turned her head, watching as the man who claimed himself to be Shuichi Minamino made his way towards her, holding out his hands in anon-threatening manner. No! No! No! She thought. This cannot be!

Kagome's blood ran cold, despite the glare of the afternoon sun. Her hands began shaking and Kagome knew something was terribly wrong.

Here he was, Kurama, only this time he did not appear in a jail cell, nor in any of her dreams. This was a real flesh and blood creature. But what was he doing here? Alive! She glanced again at the scene before heras a wave of nausea rushed through her. And before she tumbled to the ground for the second time that day, the last thing she heard was, "do you have some place to stay?" This from her savior, her ghost, turned man. With that, she quickly tumbled back into oblivion.

Hey, guys, I'm ending it here. So there you have it? Did any of you expect what happened? Anyway, if any of you are curious what a dove it, that's what they called hookers back then. hrough out this fic I will refer to them as doves instead of using the word hooker. Anyway, I hope you guys liked it. And they finally met! So that should make some of you happy. Anyway, I'll write more later. See ya'.

Ja ne

Kura-kun's-lovr