Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Three: Dream?

"Where have you been, wench?" Inuyasha snarled grouchily as he pulled her out of the well by her backpack.

Kagome grinned at him as he lowered her to the ground and tried to keep her fingers from rubbing his cute little doggie ears. They were always such a temptation, especially when they twitched like that. She felt that she must have the greatest self-control of anyone in the whole world, and in two time periods, to not pet those ears every time she saw them.

"I overslept."

"Keh, you always oversleep. Those shards won't find themselves you know." Inuyasha turned his back to her. "Hop on. Let's get going. Wench."

Kagome froze.

This was familiar.

Why was this so familiar? Her blood felt like it suddenly turned to ice as she recognized where the feeling came from. It was like in her dream, the one where Inuyasha was a regular boy who went to her school. They all did. Even Shippo.

It was such a realistic dream though. She closed her eyes as the images from the dream threatened to overwhelm her.

"Kagome?"

Maybe this was the dream. After all, she remembered her childhood with human Inuyasha. She remembered playing Hide and Seek in the park. She remembered going camping with him and his family every summer. She remembered their first day in Kindergarten. She remembered cutting her hair when he pretended he thought she was Kikyo and how horrified and apologetic he was after she did it.

Worried golden eyes appeared before her. His nose was almost touching her nose. She could feel strands of his hair against her face. She could feel the heat of his body and could almost hear the beat of his heart. But was this real?

"Are you real?"

"What?"

"Is this real, Inuyasha?"

"Don't be stupid, of course it is." He sounded offended. "What is wrong with you?"

Kagome was close to tears as she wrapped her arms around her middle and hugged herself tightly. "How do I know? How do I know it's real?" She looked up at him with watery eyes. "In my dreams you're a regular boy who goes to my school, my best friend since we were babies. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo are there too. Kaede is the school nurse! It's so real!"

What if the man before her wasn't really a man at all? What if he was just a dream? After all, how could there be such a thing as demons and magic? How could SHE possibly be a miko? How could any of this possibly be real?

The tears escaped, slowly turning into heart wrenching sobs. Startled by the hysteria, Inuyasha wasn't sure what he should do. Her breakdown was so unexpected. Dumbfounded he watched her cry for a moment, then he carefully pulled her into his arms and held her, patting her head awkwardly. He kept his mouth shut, figuring that was probably the best, but he tried to make comforting sounds.

"Am I going crazy?" she asked through the tears.

"Let's talk to Kaede about the dreams," he said as he finally pulled away. "Hop on."

The trip was short considering the speed Inuyasha was traveling. It was the speed he usually reserved for when he was racing an injured Kagome to safety. She could tell that he was worried. Quite frankly, she was rather worried herself. The dream was far too real for her comfort.

She hugged the hanyou tightly. Surely he was real. Wasn't he?

As clear as day she remembered finding him pinned to the God Tree by Kikyo's arrow. She remembered every battle they fought in together, every little scratch Inuyasha received. She remembered the long days traveling over dusty roads as they searched for the jewel shards. She remembered every time she held his hand in hers and every time he held her to comfort her. She could even still feel the kiss they shared at Kaguya's castle. No, this Inuyasha had to be real. It was her companion that she went to school with who was the dream.

It just seemed so very real.

"Oi!" called Inuyasha as he stomped into the hut and set Kagome on her feet. "Old hag, where are you?"

"You could stand to be a bit more polite," grumbled the young miko.

"KAEDE!"

Kagome rolled her eyes at the temperamental hanyou and went to put her bag in the corner to wait for the other miko's return.

"KAGOME!" She was almost knocked to the ground by the little furry cannonball. "I missed you! Did you bring me pocky?"

"Oi, brat, where's the old woman?"

Shippo looked up from peeking in Kagome's yellow backpack. "I think she went down to the stream to get some water."

The kit looked shocked when Inuyasha gave him a quick pat on the head before tearing out of the hut. Shippo just blinked. Then he turned to Kagome.

"What's with him?"

Kagome shrugged, amused that in his haste to find Kaede that he actually patted Shippo affectionately. Of course, most of his displays of affection were on accident. "Guess he really wants to find Kaede." She dug through her bag and came up with a box of strawberry pocky. "Where are Sango and Miroku?"

"They are in a hut towards the edge of the village. Sango is tending to his wounds."

Kagome gasped. "Wounds? What happened?"

"Sango." He swallowed his mouthful of treats. "He was flirting with some girl and Sango may have whacked him a bit too hard. He lost his balance and fell and hit his head on a cart and knocked it over."

"Oh my."

Shippo snorted, "But that isn't the best part."

"There's a best part?"

"The cart was filled with manure for fertilizing the fields… and Miroku got buried in it!"

Kagome tried not to laugh. She pulled her knees under her chin and rested her head on them. There was no way she would make up a story like that. More proof that this was the real world. The thought made her feel better. What kind of person would she be if she had imagined such a horrible life for Inuyasha, including getting shot through the heart by someone who looked just like HER? And if it really was her dream, wouldn't it be less… messy? Half her time in the feudal era was spent cleaning demon guts out of her clothes and hair. Besides, if it was her dream, Inuyasha would have declared his undying love for her ages ago.

She sighed, a little sad that the other Inuyasha was just a dream. He was so very sweet to her. They had fun together. They were the best of friends. And… well… she might love him. It is a different kind of feeling than the one she had for the dog eared Inuyasha, but it was a feeling of love all the same.

"I am able to walk on my own," complained a voice from the doorway.

"Keh, you're too slow."

For a moment Kaede looked like she was going to respond to the hanyou, but then she took a good look at him. He was impatient, as usual, but also very concerned. And the only one who ever brought about THAT type of concern was a certain girl from the future. So instead she ignored the young man and turned her attention to the girl sitting with her back against the wall.

"Good afternoon, child."

"Hi, Kaede."

"You need to fix her, old woman. Tell her about the dreams!"

Kagome and Kaede scowled at the dog demon, both making similar comments about rude and impatient dog demons.

"Tell me of your dreams."

So she did. She told them about the well not working and looking up to see a human Inuyasha. Then she told them about a human Shippo. She went to school with Miroku and Sango as well as the two demons turned human. She also mentioned that in her dream that Kikyo was her cousin. But what she stressed was how very real the dream seemed. That when she was there, that this world seemed like it was the dream.

Shippo was interested in the dream, just like the human teenaged Shippo from her dream. Inuyasha looked angry. And worried.

"Dreams are mysterious things. I am sorry, child. I have no answers for you, but I will try to find out more information." She looked out the doorway. "Perhaps when Miroku is… feeling better… he will be able to be of some help."

Once Miroku recovered, he and Sango listened to the problem that Kagome was having with her dreams. Inuyasha seemed even angrier the second time the story was told. Unfortunately, Miroku also had little to say to put her mind at ease. In fact, he was a bit too interested in the lives of the dream Miroku and dream Sango for Kagome's peace of mind. He was worse than Shippo!

"Does Sango wear an outfit like yours?" he asked.

Inuyasha glared at him and Sango blushed.

"Yeah, all the girls do. Boys have to wear uniforms too." At Miroku's horrified look she explained further, "Though they wear pants, not skirts."

Inuyasha growled. "No one wants to hear any more about your stupid dreams." With that he bounded off to the trees. Kagome knew that her dreams were bothering him as much as they were bothering her.

No one mentioned the dreams in Inuyasha's presence that day when they started off on another journey. The next day, however, Miroku and Shippo were so curious that they had to find out more information, so they would hang back to whisper their questions to her. Even Sango would ask about the dreams. No matter how quiet they tried to be, Inuyasha could always hear them, and it always ended up with a lot of yelling. Soon he just kept Kagome at his side and glared at their companions whenever they tried to pull her into a conversation of any kind. Kagome would have scolded him for his behavior if she wasn't so tired of talking about the dream. It was really beginning to freak her out. She was beginning to question her sanity.

After a few days of hunting for shards, the group came across a rat demon with a shard. It wasn't a particularly tough demon, but he was quick and good at hiding. But he wasn't good enough to escape from Inuyasha. It was quickly disposed of and another shard was added to Kagome's growing collection.

"I'm hungry," Inuyasha announced as he wiped the rat demon's blood off of his sword. "I want Ramen."

"No surprise there," Kagome murmured, feeling a bit queasy even thinking about food after the giant rat was dismembered.

She dug in her bag and came up with only four cups of Ramen. Uh oh. With a sigh she pulled out her traveling kettle and went to find a stream for some water. Sango went with her to keep her company, and to protect her.

"The dreams are really bothering Inuyasha," commented the slayer as they reached the cool stream.

"Yeah, I think so too."

Sango gave her a smile. "I think he's jealous."

"Don't be silly," Kagome laughed. "Inuyasha? Jealous?"

With a full kettle, the two women walked back to where the others were clearing out an area for them to sit and eat. Kirara was in the middle of blowing a fire into the makeshift fire pit when they arrived.

Kagome started some water boiling then filled each cup. When they were finished she gave one to Shippo, one to Miroku, one to Sango, and one to Inuyasha.

"Where's yours?" Inuyasha asked between mouthfuls of noodles.

"That was the last of it," she explained as she continued to rummage through her bag. Luckily she found some granola bars and trail mix. Not the most nutritious dinner for a growing girl… but then again… neither was Ramen. "I guess I'll have to go back for some more."

There was grumbling and fighting about her going back to the future, there always was. But with Ramen at stake, Inuyasha let her have her way. She didn't even have to say "Sit" once.

The next morning he walked with her to the well. She set her bag on the edge and looked down. Suddenly she was nervous about going back.

"Do you want to come with me?" she asked as she leaned up against the well, unwilling to look down it.

"Why would I want to do that?" His cheeks were red and he quickly turned his face.

"Mama might fix you a special dinner."

"Keh."

"Souta will want to play video games with you."

"Don't threaten me!"

Nervously, Kagome played with the hem of her skirt. When she realized what she was doing she put her hands behind her back to keep them still. "I'll let you come to school with me."

"I ain't going!"

Kagome sighed. She had sort of hoped that he would. Maybe if he was near he would be able to fight off the dreams. Without him, it was impossible to tell dream from reality.

"Can I see your hand, Inuyasha?"

Gold eyes opened wide. He didn't pull back when she took one of his hands with both of hers. He held his breath as she gently placed it on her arm. He didn't know what she was doing, and by golly he wasn't about to jinx it by questioning it.

Suddenly Kagome jerked her arm away, and blood stained his claws. Her blood.

"Kagome! What…!"

She winced as she felt her arm sting, and felt blood flow down her arm. Perhaps she had done that a bit too hard, it hurt like the devil! Then she looked at Inuyasha. He looked torn between wanting to beat her to death and comfort her. In the end he looked like a whipped dog.

"I had to be sure," she explained. "Sure that this… that you… that it isn't a dream…"

Inuyasha scowled. "I'm going to talk to Kaede again. This isn't right. Maybe she can do something to fix you."

She nodded.

"Kagome…?"

She looked up at him from her place at the well.

"Never do that again. Never."

He waited at the well until she made her jump with her trusty yellow pack before racing off to find Kaede.

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Author's Notes:

Thanks for your reviews everyone! I really appreciate them. :o)

Thanks to Shoomy2003 for looking the chapter over for me and catching those grammatical errors. Funny how you can proof your own work and not catch the errors no matter how many times you look it over. … at least… I hope that's not just me…