Disclaimer: According to "The Man" I have to put one of these up for every chapter, well you know what; PTTHB! On the man, anyways, I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters, if I ever have a character that I do own I will surely let you all know.

Now I give you…

Ashes, Ashes

An awkward situation

Inuyasha sat quietly in the tree, watching the others from above, his amber eyes beginning to stare off into the distance of the clear morning. Not to far from his tree Kagome packed up her bag, Shippo standing beside her and handing her random items.

"What's with Inuyasha this morning? I mean, he's been acting strange today."

Kagome looked over at Inuyasha who seemed to be off in his own world and sighed

"I'm not sure," she paused for a moment to stare at the blanket she held in her hands, "He was gone from camp since last night, I know that much, I woke up to the sound of his feet scampering off into the night."

"So much for being stealthy," Shippo commented smirking as he sat down, picking up a leaf and tossing it into the air. Kagome ignored his last comment and straightened, picking up her bag; "Hey Inuyasha," She called, "Are you just going to sit there all day or are you going to come on?"

Inuyasha looked up as if dazed, he then shook his head slightly and glared at her, "Oh shut up, I'm coming."

"Inuyasha," Miroku said quietly, holding the demon back a few steps; "What?" Inuyasha asked irritated, he had never been terribly fond of the monk, let alone being held back by him, he had always assumed it was to get a good look at the back end of the female parties.

"Miroku, if this is one of your schemes to blame me for something than I swear I'll—'' He was stopped by the raising of Miroku's hand, which only annoyed him more, however, before he was able to protest anymore the monk began to speak.

"Inuyasha, I am usually not one to pry,"

"Blasphemy!" Inuyasha began, yet again, he was stopped.

"Please, let me finish," Miroku sighed and began once again, "I noticed you left in a hurry last night, and you have seemed distant all day today, and you've seemed especially cold towards Kagome…Would you mind telling me what she has done to annoy you?"

"You are full of it Monk," Inuyasha spat; he didn't want to admit that he had dreamt of killing the woman who only walked a few paces ahead of himself, he didn't want to admit that he was afraid; and he didn't want to admit that he could be shaken by something such as dreams. Miroku began to speak once again, yet again; conversely, Inuyasha cut him off, "Listen, even if there was something wrong, what makes you think that I am willing to talk about it with you?"

Miroku opened his mouth to retort nevertheless, he closed his mouth, there was no use in arguing the subject with Inuyasha at this point, as to whether or not he would share it with anyone later was an unknown matter.

Instead, he looked over at Kagome and asked in a more cheerful tone: "Kagome, if I may ask, we've been going this way for a while and I was wondering, how much closer are we to these supposed jewel shards?"

It was true, they had been going in the same direction for quite some time now and had found nothing save for a few patches of trees and piles of bones.

"I'm telling you," Kagome insisted, "There is a jewel shard nearby." She stopped, the wind brushing her skirt slightly as she put her hands on her hips. Shippo hugged onto her leg until she broke her regal stance and picked him up.

"Besides, have I let you guys down before?"

The others gave a distracted look, "Listen Kagome," Inuyasha growled stepping forward, actually speaking to her directly while facing her for the first time that day "We've been going this way for two days on the notion that you say there is a jewel shard nearby."

"He is correct Kagome," Sango commented quietly beside her, "this does seem a bit abnormal, we should've found it by now."

"Well I don't know," Kagome bit her lip uncertainly while loosening her hold on Shippo to let him down. "Maybe it's moving."

"Oh yeah Kagome, real credible; this jewel shard must have sprouted legs and is sending us on a wild goose chase; I think you're just malfunctioning." Inuyasha said crossing his arms.

"Well excuse me, if I'm malfunctioning then maybe you should just look for jewel shards on your own for a while!" Kagome turned to stalk away but stopped momentarily to continue, "And did you ever think that maybe a demon has the jewel shard or something."

"I would have smelled it by now."

"Maybe your nose is malfunctioning."

"Or maybe," a voice intervened calmly from behind, "this demon is hiding its scent; it wouldn't be the first demon to do so." Inuyasha snapped his head, snidely remarking, "Leave it to the amorous monk Miroku to save a girl from a losing battle,"

"What is up with you today Inuyasha?" Kagome said staring at him boldly, "Nothing is up with me Kagome," he mocked her voice when saying her name, "I'm just getting really agitated at the fact that for the past few days we have been running across the countryside and beyond searching for something that isn't—what the!"

A cracking noise hit a nearby tree causing it to snap and plummet with a crash to the ground; "Shippo, are you alright?" The little fox demon had fell backwards staring wide eyed at where he had just been standing, "Did you see that, I could've been killed there!"

"I think that tree is the least of your worries Shippo," Inuyasha said slowly looking upward, his hand gradually reaching for Tetsuiga; above it flapped, it was hideous, with the face of a young woman it stared down at them, smirking. "A harpy? I…I thought you said they didn't exist anymore." Kagome whispered, as if the beast could not see them but rather hear them; "I assumed so as well, however this does make sense, this used to be harpy territory, quite a few roamed here, though they were solitary from each other." Miroku said in an equally quiet voice.

"This isn't the time for a history lesson Miroku, how do I kill it?" Inuyasha growled eyes still on the bird hovering above. "You won't be able to attack it head on; it'll be smart for that,"

"So, they're smart huh," Sango cut in knowing all to well what a harpy could really do but a bit to shocked to say it. "Yes, and it makes sense it could cover its scent from Inuyasha."

"Enough already, how do I kill the damn thing?" Inuyasha shouted annoyed with the all talk no action. "Well, I'd recommend attacking it from behind, but it'll need to be distracted for that plan to work."

"To hell with it!" Inuyasha jumped slashing Tetsuiga at the already bothered harpy, causing it to give an ear-piercing screech as it dove away from Inuyasha's attack and then delving back at him wind streaking fiercely behind. Inuyasha pushed off the tree, trying for another blow, only to miss the creature once again, only enraging it more. Kagome watched as she noticed something in the Harpy's left eye; 'A jewel shard,' she thought to herself, she knew that she had been on the right track. "Inuyasha! It's left eye!"

"What?" Inuyasha yelled diving away and swinging a sharp hand at the harpy, "A jewel shard! In its left eye!"

"Left eye? Got it! You're going to hell you hag." The harpy cackled, speaking for the first time, its voice raspy and warped, "Kill me, fool, I am immortal, I can never be killed."

Inuyasha smirked, "That's all I needed to hear," he pushed with powerful feet off of a tree trunk and over the harpy's head, landing on it's feathered back. The harpy gave a squawk and thrashed trying to free herself from Inuyasha's grasp. Then with a powerful slice, he cut through the harpy's left eye, sending both him and the wounded harpy to the ground. Kagome rushed and disgustedly looked at the eye, "Don't just stand there! Get the jewel shard!" Inuyasha yelled trying to keep the mad harpy down.

"Oh, gross." Kagome complained pulling the jewel shard from the film-covered eye. The harpy lunged at Kagome, throwing Inuyasha off balance for a moment sending him to the ground on his own, a boomerang whistled through the air, hitting the harpy in the temple causing blood to trickle down the side of its scraggly head.

"These things are hard to kill," Sango said jumping up and catching the boomerang; Inuyasha leapt onto the harpy once again, it crying out and fighting it, weaker now without the jewel shard but still strong; then it came to Miroku, "Inuyasha, the head! It may be immortal but it'll die if its head is severed!"

Inuyasha did not need to hear more after that, however, before he could get a chance at the overgrown buzzard's head he received a scratched across his cheek, a result of the harpy flipping over and lashing at the diverted demon. With a vicious swing, he lopped the harpy's head clear off sending it rolling before a still dazed Shippo's feet.

"Huh, what?" He looked down seeing the one eyed bloodied head of the harpy and scrambled away either disgusted, horrified, or perhaps both; the others had never seen him run faster.

The fire blazed brightly, Kagome's eyes reflecting it sparkling within it; she had tucked the jewel shard away safely and was now in her own state of mind. Inuyasha watched her from up in the tree and shuddered, he could not bare the site of her now; he stood and walked out of the camp.

Miroku stood as well, "Where are you going?" Sango asked him as he got up, "Somewhere," was his only response as he to disappeared into the shadowy trees.

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha's ear twitched at the call of his name, he paused then recognizing the voice as the Monk's he turned, "What is it Miroku?" Inuyasha mumbled in an unkind manner.

"Hear me out," The Monk spoke quietly, "All day today I've noticed you; giving Kagome odd glances, not acknowledging her or looking her square in the eye. I'm not even sure if you have spoken a single kind word to her all day. Now come on, first you run out of camp last night without reason and are distant…What's going on?"

Realizing now that he was most likely not going to be able to avoid this any longer, Inuyasha sighed and sat down in the cool grass, Miroku soon followed sitting in the same, criss cross, fashion.

"Last night, I had a dream, it was like no other I had ever had before; so realistic, it was one of the most gut wrenching things I have experienced. I was high into the trees, snow whipping around me, I was chasing something, someone, they were below me, I knew who it was, however, I never wanted to admit to it. I chased this person, I chased her, until I hit the earth and went into a ground chase, she tried to jump over a fallen tree, but I leapt onto her, and told her vile things, horrible things, things I would never want to say to her. Nevertheless, she spoke as if she cared for me past a level of friendship, even though I was scaring her…And liking it."

Inuyasha stopped and sighed heavily, nonetheless, the Monk remained quiet; Inuyasha looked to the ground and continued.

"God Miroku, don't you understand?" He stood, now, defiant of the Monk's silence, "I told Kagome that she was my favorite person!" Miroku stood with him, "And what is wrong with this?"

"You still don't get it," Inuyasha said with a sad smile on his face, which quickly turned to an irate glare

"I told her she was my favorite person…To kill."