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

Chapter Six: Crazy

Inuyasha stood over her bed. She was sleeping so peacefully that it was almost a shame to wake her up.

Almost.

The hanyou scooped up the girl and grabbed her yellow backpack. He hoped she had some extra clothes in there, he didn't really feel like making another trip to the future. In fact, he would prefer it if she didn't come back at all.

Which was actually his plan.

She would eventually forgive him for what he had planned. Once the well was destroyed she wouldn't have to worry about this other Inuyasha. Kaede hadn't figured out a blasted thing about the dreams yet, so it was up to him to fix things. As usual. Destroy the well and the problem would be fixed. Women just tried to make things harder than they should be.

One foot was on the window sill when he noticed that the bag was rather light. Gently he set Kagome back on the bed and opened up the pack.

Empty.

Inuyasha glared at the bag.

Then glared at the girl.

Why is the bag empty? She was supposed to be back this afternoon. He didn't want to think about the icy feeling in his chest when for a brief instant he thought that she wasn't planning on ever coming back. But that was just stupid. Right?

Right?

Squatting down on his haunches he studied the bag. No clothes, no ramen, no books, no candy or chips… nothing. He poked around it on the inside, trying to recall a time he had ever seen it empty. Never. He couldn't recall every having seen the bag empty. He poked again. Why was it empty? It just didn't make sense.

Maybe… maybe she wasn't planning on coming back…

Inuyasha sprung too his feet, fiercely shaking that disturbing thought out of his head. He snarled out a curse about it being just too bad as he opened up her dresser drawers and started pulling out clothes he recognized Kagome wearing. He stuffed all the uniforms that she was so fond of wearing into the bag. He also packed a few of the clothes he had seen her wear, like the sundress and sweater. The clothes would make her feel more comfortable while she made the… transition. Eventually he would find someone to make her other clothes when these wore out.

Then he added the other clothes that he only saw a few times, even though he knew he wasn't supposed to, and hoped he brought enough. She seemed rather protective of those scraps of cloth considering no one ever got to see them.

The books were ignored. Well, not ignored. They were sneered at and kicked under the bed. They weren't, however, put in the bag.

After making a quick trip to the kitchen to raid it of all of its cups of ramen, Inuyasha came back to check on the sleeping girl. Good, she was still asleep. He heard her whimper, and knew she was having another nightmare. Probably about math again. Nodding to himself, he confirmed that he was doing the right thing.

He found her sleeping bag and a pillow and set them by the bag. He'd strap them together before he left. What else was he forgetting?

Ah ha!

He remembered all that bathroom stuff she liked so much. The soaps and shampoos. He went into her bathroom and picked up everything he could find. They wouldn't last for long, so she would eventually have to find something to substitute. There were similar smelling flowers that he had come upon on their journey, maybe they could find some way to turn that into soap.

He took out a couple cups of ramen to make room for the soaps.

Beside her desk he noticed pads of drawing paper and several boxes of crayons, obviously special for presents for Shippo. He looked at the bag then at the paper and crayons.

He took out a few more cups of ramen to make more room.

There was a family photo that she would be upset if she never saw again, so he grabbed that too. The one of her friends from this era was left behind. She didn't need reminders of THEM. He surveyed the room once more to make sure that he didn't miss anything, then he strapped the pillow and bedroll to the overstuffed backpack then put it on. She would forgive him for this one day. He just hoped he survived the sittings until then.

"Let's go, Kagome," he whispered to the girl as he picked her up gently.

He gave the room one last glance before he turned to the window. He would miss this room too. He would miss the smells and the sense of peace that he found there. But, he told himself, it is just a room. I'll make Kagome a new room.

Inhaling deeply he said good-bye to the room and to Kagome's family. He turned to the window and got ready to jump.

"Inuyasha?"

He froze.

The girl in his arms rubbed her eyes and looked up at him with sleepy eyes. She looked confused. He tried to decide if he should chance it and bolt for the well with her and hope she didn't catch on too quick. Or he could try to talk to her and convince her to go back. He'd destroy the well while she was off taking one of those baths of hers.

"You were taking too long, so I came to get you."

"You… came… to get me?"

She shook her head and looked at him like she had never seen him before. He hated that look. Hated it. HATED it! The talking thing just wasn't going to work out, he could tell, so he bunched up his muscles and got ready to run. Then she melted his bones as her eyes cleared and a smile bloomed. It was one of those smiles that made you feel all warm and stupid inside.

"INUYASHA!" she threw her arms around him and held him tight. "You came to get me!"

"Keh. I just said that, wench."

Then she started crying. Nothing made him feel more useless and pathetic than Kagome's tears. She mumbled some nonsense at him, but he couldn't figure out what she was trying to tell him. Then he heard it. HE had been here.

Growling, Inuyasha set Kagome on her feet and prowled around the room, trying to pick up the scent. He ignored her giggle and continued to hunt.

But he was overwhelmed with Kagome's scent. Eventually he made himself ignore her scent and focused on the other scents. Her mother had been in the room earlier in the day. He followed the trail. She had moved from the door to the dresser and to the closet, but that was it. Her brother's scent was light, as if he had only come in a few steps then left. Her grandfather's scent was outside the door, but not inside the room. But that was it. No other human scents.

Leaving the room he sniffed his way down the stairs to the kitchen and living room. But there were still no other human scents.

"We worked on our homework at the kitchen table then went into the living room to watch television," Kagome told him.

"I don't smell anyone else," he told her as he stood back up. He studied the girl in front of him. She wasn't telling lies. She believed what she told him. And she was getting dangerously close to a panic attack.

"Maybe your sniffer is broken!"

Inuyasha touched his nose. "It ain't broken, wench!"

"He was here! I know he was here! Ask Mama! We ate cookies!"

Inuyasha looked away, hating the pleading expression on her face. He hated the tiny edge of panic in her voice. He almost wished he COULD smell the other Inuyasha. Anything to take away that pinched look that said she was trying not to cry.

"We'll figure this out, Kagome," he told her, laying his hands on her shoulders to keep them from shaking so badly.

Quickly he dashed upstairs to grab the bag. With luck he could get Kagome out of the house and down the well before she had a chance to think.

But Inuyasha wasn't really a lucky dog. By the time he got downstairs Kagome was insisting on a bath and changing out of her pajamas before she left.

PAJAMAS! That's what he forgot! While Kagome splashed around in her bath, Inuyasha grabbed the two sets of pajamas for her that he found. He left the bag by the door, hoping that she wouldn't want to check inside before they left. But sure enough, that's exactly what she wanted to do. As soon as her fingers touched the bag he snatched it from her grasp and threw it over his shoulders.

"We're already late," he informed her as he grabbed her wrist to start hauling her towards the well.

"Late? For what?" She didn't get an answer. They were down the well before she got a chance to ask again.

The glow had not even entirely faded yet when she heard her name.

"KAGOME!"

Shippo leaped into her arms as soon as her feet touch the ground on the other side of the well. She smiled at him and hugged him tight.

"You're early!" he exclaimed.

"Early?" She shot Inuyasha a scathing glare. "I thought we were late?"

Shippo cocked his head to one side and gave her a funny look. "What would you be late for? It's the middle of the night."

Kagome sent Inuyasha a look which he ignored.

"Do you have any pocky?" Shippo asked excitedly.

"Hmmm… I'm not sure." She smiled at him and reached for her bag. "Let me check."

But Inuyasha moved the bag from her and stalked off, with his arms wrapped tightly around it, towards the village. He yelled back at them to hurry it up, that they didn't have all day. Kagome and Shippo looked at each other. Then up at the dark sky where the stars still twinkled. Dawn had yet to break. Then they shrugged and followed Inuyasha back to the village.

As they approached Kaede's hut, Inuyasha heard Miroku and Sango whispering in hushed voices. They were talking about Kagome.

"Perhaps the lady Kagome has been under too much stress of late. The mind sometimes plays tricks. Inuyasha does push her too hard."

"Perhaps," agreed Sango. "But it is also possible that these are just dreams. Maybe she is dreaming up the perfect Inuyasha. One who is not so pushy and overbearing. One who does not have someone else that he also loves."

"Because the Inuyasha in her life pushes her away, she creates one that wants her?" Miroku made a humming sound. "That is very possible."

"Though you may be right about the stress. Sometimes when a mind is close to breaking it creates something that it can handle."

Inuyasha ground his teeth. Were they actually blaming HIM? He was about to storm in there and yell when he noticed how still Kagome was standing beside him. Good thing she only had weak pathetic human hearing, other wise she'd… were those tears? Oh great. She did hear.

Dropping her bag by the entrance he snatched Kagome from her spot and threw her on his back and as he tossed Shippo through the doorway. The kit could explain their absence to the others. The way he was feeling right now it probably wasn't safe for him to be around them. He was FURIOUS! So instead he ran until he felt Kagome stop shaking, either from anger or sorrow, he wasn't sure. But he wasn't quite up to facing either one of those extreme emotions.

A nice open spot was chosen to have the confrontation. That way he didn't have to focus so hard on trying to sense demons AND have an intelligent conversation about what they just heard. The open area would let him see danger coming a mile away. He let her slip from his back. When she sat on the ground he crouched beside her.

They sat in silence and watched the sun rise.

"They think I'm crazy."

Inuyasha snorted. "No they don't."

"They do. I heard them."

"Are you sure we heard the same conversation? 'Cuz they didn't say you were crazy."

Kagome turned her head towards him and he could tell that she was trying not to smile at him. "It's what they meant though."

"Feh."

Another few long moments passed in silence.

"Do you really like him better?"

"Huh?"

He looked away, ears flicking to catch any sound of approaching danger. He half hoped that something would appear so he could escape.

"The other Inuyasha. Do you really wish I were more like him?"

When she didn't say anything right away he turned his eyes in her direction. He couldn't tell if the stunned look was a good thing or a bad thing. So he looked away again. Now would be the perfect time for a demon attack. Heck, he'd even welcome any sign of Kouga at this point. He was about to make some lame excuse and take her back to the village when he felt her soft touch on his hand. He looked down to see her fingers covering his own.

"I wouldn't change a thing about you, Inuyasha."

He smirked. "Maybe I was too quick to say you weren't crazy."

Kagome laughed, squeezing his fingers. "Idiot," she said.

Slowly, Inuyasha let his fingers interlace with hers. They were warm. He looked down at them and let his thumb move over them slightly. They looked so small compared to his. So incredibly fragile. How was he going to protect her from this? If only it was some demon he could destroy. Some THING that he could attack. His every instinct screamed at him to protect her. But he didn't know how.

"You're not crazy, Kagome," he said, a little surprised that he believed that one hundred percent. "And I know you aren't making up stories. And I know it isn't just some dream. I don't know what it is yet, but we'll figure it out." He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. "I promise you."

She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Thank you."

ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Author's Notes:

I noticed I left off a letter of a word when I first posted this chapter as well as a few inconsistencies with the tenses (I noticed too late, but thanks for pointing it out aradow, tenses are a pain in the keister), so I fixed it, deleted it (the chapter), and reposted. I also couldn't help but change a few things here and there while I was at it.

I hope all the problems are fixed this time around.

Next chapter coming soon!