Disclaimer: For some reason or another, nobody seems to believe me when I say I own Inuyasha . . .

WARNING!!! SOME MAJOR GORE AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER!!!


Jiko slowly opened his eyes to the darkness around him, his arm still throbbing at his side. The face from before still hovered over him, blurred by his misted vision. "Mom . . . my?"

His mother's face cracked instantly into a smile. "You're finally awake!"

Her voice sounded different to Jiko, but he shrugged it off as some illness messing with her vocal cords. It was incredibly cold . . . but then . . . why wasn't he cold?

The hanyou took in his surroundings more carefully, noticing an incredibly warm blanket over him and his arm set in a splint and wrapped in bandages. He couldn't help but smile. His mother had found him and was taking care of him like always.

"I finally . . ." His voice was weak. "Found . . . you . . ." He tried to sit up, breathing hard while only using his good arm.

"What do you mean?" His mother took on a look of confusion.

"You . . . You left me. . ."

She raised her eyebrow, then turned to face someone else in the hut. "Lady Kaede? What does he mean?"

"He's just confused . . . that's all, child." An old woman stepped forward and kneeled next to Jiko and his mother.

"Do you think we gave him too much medicine? It does seem to have strange effects on people." The girl gave the boy a worried look, hoping he would be alright.

"Nay, Tasuke. His fever has gotten to him. The poor lad." The old woman gave the hanyou a look of pity.

"Tasuke?" Jiko cocked his head. "You're wrong . . . that's Mommy . . ."

His mother looked quite taken aback.

"She couldn't possibly be your mother, boy. She is but a child. Yer age if I'm not mistaken."

The boy's eyes fell on the girl again, now noticing that there could be absolutely no way that she was his mother. His countenance dropped considerably, and out of nowhere, he was stricken with his natural reaction to this kind of situation: fear. He had never once encountered strangers that didn't show him hostility, and the only reason he was being spared now was because he still appeared as a human.

The young girl looked at Jiko with a confused expression. "Is something wrong, Lady Kaede? Why does he look so scared?"

The old miko looked down at the boy with sympathy. "It's alright, boy. We will not harm ye."

'So you say . . .' Jiko thought, wishing more than ever that it really was his mother sitting beside him. Where was she anyways?

"Should I get some more herbs for his fever?" The girl stood, looking ready to do anything to help the boy she didn't even know.

"Aye." The miko nodded, then turned her attention back to the boy, picking up a bowl. "Ye look like ye haven't eaten in days, child." She gave him a warm smile, handing him the dish. "Ye can eat yer fill."

Before he knew what he was doing, Jiko was eating the contents of the bowl like he hadn't eaten a decent meal in years. After a few minutes and a few helpings, he looked up at the old woman, smiling "This reminds me of some of the stuff Mommy makes!"

"So tell me, child. Why were ye found alone in the forest injured so?"

The hanyou's face grew long. "I was . . . I was looking for Mommy . . ." His throat was dry and he cleared it, all the while tightening his face.

Kaede gazed at him, pity evident in her old features.

"She left me alone in the village . . . and those boys . . ." Tears pricked at his eyes for the umpteenth time, but he remembered his vow and swallowed them. But why? Why had his Mommy left him? Why hadn't she come back? He wanted to know. She wouldn't have abandoned him...would she? He shook his head. No, his Mommy would never leave him. She loved him. But why wasn't she back? Was she hurt?

Tasuke chose that tense moment to return, her arms filled with all sorts of herbs. "Lady Kaede!" She dropped them down in a basket by the door. "He's gone! He's not in the Goshinboku!"

"He left?!" Kaede's voice was alarmed as the hanyou helped himself to another serving. "But where could he've gone?! Surely he hasn't gone looking for her again!"

Jiko looked curiously up at the two, trying to balance the bowl on his lap while eating with one hand.

"I shall go searching for him. Ye look after the lad while I'm away."

Tasuke nodded sternly as the old miko left.

"What was that all about?" Jiko set his now empty bowl to the side, licking his lips.

"You don't have to worry about it. You just need to worry about getting better." The girl sat down next to him with a bright smile, pulling the basket over to her along with a stone grinder.


He had smelled it. That unmistakable sweet aroma.

'Kagome . . . did you come to see me? Have you changed your mind?' He leapt quickly from tree branch to tree branch, following the delicate aroma. 'I don't care if you haven't! I have to see you again!'

He skidded to a halt in a clearing and got down on all fours, sniffing the ground where the scent was strongest. 'She was just here! Where could she've gone?!'

Inuyasha stood up again, cursing his timing. She had left again. She had left him alone again with only her sweet scent to tease him. "Damn it, Kagome! Are you doing this to me on purpose?!" He punched the ground, eyes shut, trying to make the torment end.

"Inuyasha! What are ye doing out here by yerself?" Kaede walked into the clearing, armed with her usual bow and arrow in case the hanyou had run into trouble.

"Kaede . . ." He stood up, hiding his bloody hand in his sleeve. "It's nothing. Just go home, old hag. I don't need you to babysit me."

"Inuyasha . . . we've all been worried sick about ye . . . please come back . . ."

"You don't understand anything, Kaede." The hanyou looked away from her.

"I understand this, ungrateful dog. If ye continue to punish yerself like this, ye'll never see Kagome in this world again." Kaede said with narrowed eyes and a look of authority about her.

Inuyasha gave her an extremely cold glare. "You weren't there, Kaede. You don't know anything." 'You don't know about how she betrayed me. How she hates me. How she's probably laughing at me for my stupidity.'

"If ye truly want to rid yer mind of Kagome forever, then why are ye so intent on keeping her in? Either go search for the lass or return home and live yer life again, like ye did after ye awoke from my sister's spell."

The hanyou growled as he thought it over, picturing Kagome's chipper face smiling at him the way she used to and the fluttering of his heart when she did so. 'I can't just forget her like that . . . I can never forget her . . .'

"Currently, there is a young boy in much greater need than ye are. I shall return to attend to him and will await yer return, Inuyasha." With that, Kaede left the hanyou alone in the clearing to go over his thoughts.

He growled after her, feeling incredibly abandoned. He could either try to track down Kagome's scent, or return back to the village and try to live his life without her. But how could he do that? Everything reminded him of her. And if he went after her . . . it would just wind up the same way as last time . . . He put off a disgusted look at the thought of him finding her with yet another child.

'I refuse to go after her anymore. I won't be made a fool of.'


Tasuke gently wiped the sweat off the now sleeping boy's forehead. It had taken a lot of convincing on her part and a lot of medicine, but he had finally given in to her request to sleep.

Kaede walked in, concern back on her old face."How is he, Tasuke?"

"He's doing alright, I guess. Though it does seem like he's having quite the nightmare . . ." She looked down at Jiko, tossing and turning restlessly.

The old woman sat beside the girl, tending to the fire. "Ye should get some sleep, child. Ye have been up all night caring for the lad."

The girl noticed the stern look on her mentor's face and couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with Inuyasha. "How . . . is he?"

"The boy?" Kaede gave her a slightly confused look.

Tasuke shook her head. "No. Inuyasha."

The old woman's face contorted into a look of pity. "He is not doing well at all . . . the poor hanyou is at his wit's end in grief . . ."

The girl frowned, then looked back at Jiko. 'It has to be more than a coincidence that Inuyasha started to act this way when this boy arrived . . . I can feel it . . . They're connected some way . . . but the only question is . . . how?'


Jiko's Dream

He was walking alone in complete darkness, not seeming to go anywhere, but feeling the need to move to keep it from consuming him. He just kept walking, never seeing any change, never moving at all it seemed.

Out of nowhere, a dim light appeared before him on the ground, and he immediately ran for it, coming upon a dark lake reflecting the non existent light. Falling onto his knees beside it, he saw his reflection in the murky depths, his messy red hair and dirty face staring back at him.

Not seeing any purpose in merely looking at himself, he stood, but as soon as he did so, a small ripple echoed across the water, making his figure abstract.

After a while, it stopped, and it wasn't his reflection staring back at him anymore.

An evil smirk crossed its face, narrowing its fiery eyes.

Jiko didn't know why, but he was incredibly scared of this person, turning and running away as fast as his legs could carry him.

The figure suddenly rose out of the water, drawing all the darkness into an evil cloud around him, two huge, glowing red eyes staring after the boy.

It growled, then began to slowly move after him, consuming everything in its wake.

Jiko put every ounce of energy into his running, whimpering as he chanced a look over his shoulder every now and then. It seemed that no matter how fast he ran, the creature was always gaining on him, a dark and evil laugh echoing from it.

"MOMMY!!!" The hanyou couldn't prevent it. Tears started streaming down his cheeks out of complete and utter fear. He wanted nothing more than for his mother to hold him close to her right now. To protect him from the inescapable creature that now tormented him.

As if in answer to a prayer, her figure appeared before him, her back to him.

"Ji . . . ko . . ." Her voice seemed like a small echo, barely audible even to his keen hearing.

"MOMMY!!! HELP ME!!!" He prayed that she would be able to stop it, looking over his shoulder at the now much larger darkness.

"Ji . . . ko . . ."

Jiko ran up to her, scared out of his mind and forcing her to face him, hugging her tightly.

"Ji . . . . . . ko . . . . . ."

The hanyou opened his eyes only to find that he now had a face full of blood. "Mommy?"He took a few steps back, shaking in horror.

Her entire front was covered in blood. A deep wound gushing it out from her stomach, claw marks coming from it up through her shoulder. Her eyes were glazed over, and a trickle of drool dribbled down her chin.

"Jiko . . ." she whispered, reaching a hand out for him. "What have you done to me?"

The hanyou was completely paralyzed in fear, watching in horror as solids escaped the wound with the blood, her bones evident inside of her.

"What have you . . ." She reached him, running her bloody hand down his face, then pulling him towards her in a sickening embrace.

He simply whimpered as she stroked the back of his head gently, the blood from her wound entering his nose and mouth, making him want to retch.

"I . . . love . . . you . . ." She held him slightly away from her, then looked up at the approaching darkness. "Run . . ."

His mother threw him behind her, holding out her arms as if to stop the creature from harming her son.

Jiko simply lay there, whimpering as he watched the darkness come ever closer to her. "MOMMY!!!"

"Run!"

Jiko simply stared at her for a second before he got a determined look on his face. He stood up and started to run again, doing his best to keep from looking back.

The growling of the darkness formed itself into words as it finally reached his mother. "Foolish miko . . ."

A choked scream sounded from behind him. Tears made clean trails through the blood on his face, and he did the one thing he hoped he wouldn't do.

He looked back.

Another scream was heard, but this one wasn't from his mother. It was from him. "MOMMY!!!!!"

The darkness had produced from itself deadly claws that had forced themselves through his mother's throat. Her limp body dangled from them, the last of her blood spattering vividly on the dark floor.

Within seconds, the creature had completely engulfed the gruesome sight, chasing him again.

Screaming at the top of his lungs in agony, Jiko continued to run from the darkness.

She was gone now. He was alone. No one could protect him anymore.

Wait.

There was someone . . .

The only person who had ever treated him like an equal besides his mother.

Inuyasha.

"INUYASHA!!! HELP ME!!!"


"What the hell is it, you old hag?" Inuyasha followed Tasuke into Kaede's hut, annoyed by her incredibly urgent request. He looked curiously at the dark haired boy who was sweating profusely. "And who the hell is he?"

Kagome's scent still tickled at his nose, but he ignored it as best he could.

"He is the reason we called ye here." Kaede stood up from her spot near him. "Are ye acquainted?"

"Never met him. So what?"

"Inuyasha . . . help . . ." Jiko whimpered, tossing slightly.

"He's been calling you for a while now." Tasuke looked up at the confused hanyou. "He must know you somehow."

Inuyasha's gold eyes narrowed. What was thegirl jabbering about? He didn't know who this human was! "I'm telling you. I've never met him!"


Inuyasha suddenly appeared in front of him, this time facing him and in perfect health.

"Inuyasha!!! Please help me!!!"

"Get behind me, kid. I'll take care of this lowly demon." He cracked his knuckles, flexing his claws.

Jiko nodded and ran behind him, still whimpering.

The darkness soon caught up, the red eyes glaring down at Inuyasha. "Move, hanyou."

"You ain't touching the kid, you sad excuse for a demon!"

"Then die." A double edged sword suddenly shot through the darkness.

"Get back!" Inuyasha pushed Jiko behind him just as the blade pierced through his skull.

"INUYASHA!!!" The silver haired hanyou merely stood there, eyes wide, and the younger one began to cry his eyes out, ignoring the fact that the blade was an inch from his own forehead.

"Run . . . Ji . . . ko . . ." He fell to his knees, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. "Run . . ."

He fell forward, the hilt of the sword making a sickening scraping sound against the cold floor.

"No . . . Inuyasha . . ." The hanyou whimpered. Everyone that could've possibly helped him was now gone.

Out of the midst of the blackness came a man. The man from the reflection. His hair and eyes resembled his own, red as fire, his lips curled into an evil sneer.

Walking up to the lifeless corpse, he grabbed the sword, ripping it out of his head and sending more blood everywhere.

Jiko merely continued to whimper, seeing no point in trying to run. 'Mommy . . . Inuyasha . . . you're both . . . dead . . .'

The youkai licked some of the blood off the sword, smirking at the hanyou's fear. "You're next, boy."

Jiko couldn't stop. He simply stared at the body, hoping against hope that he would come back to life and save him.

The demon held the blade over his head, blood dripping onto the floor in sickening splats. "Die."

The hanyou closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate, when he was suddenly overcome with a desire to live. His eyes glowed red under his eyelids, and fire began to radiate from his body.

"I . . . will . . . avenge . . . them . . ."

It was at that moment that he awoke, his eyes wide. He covered his sweaty face with his hands, trying to erase the horrible memory from his mind.

"It was just a dream . . ." He looked through the cracks between his fingers at the light pouring in from the open flap of a door. 'It's morning . . .'

His eyes widened considerably as he remembered his fate as a hanyou, and he looked around at the staring women.

"You're a . . . you're a . . ." The girl he had thought was his mother scooted back just a bit. "Hanyou . . ."

It was then that Jiko knew it was all over for him.


...shudders... Gruesome gore . . . ...huggles Jiko, wailing... You poor, poor child!!! How could such an awful fate befall you!?!

And here's ...sniff... the shout-outs . . . ...blows nose...

animefreak321654 (first reviewer!!!): You probably think I'm even eviler now, don't you?

OniyuriGaaru: Poor you. Well . . . at least try to put a few more comments this time. Not that I'm complaining or anything. Just a review is good enough for me.

Mage of Swords: Did anyone ever tell you that you are a genius? ...huggles Jiko till he's purple... Poor Jiko baby!!! And yes, I think it's cute that he's human too. And what excellent timing too! But I guess that's all my doing, huh?

Mizukithepanda: I shall tell you this much about Jiko's Daddy. He is a fire youkai. That is all. You'll eventually figger out his name, but that's for later . . . thanks for reviewing though!

kutiekerrie01: He will. Don't worry. Now the only question is when. ...grins...

sweet-girl8270: Well . . . not quite . . . even though now he and Jiko are in the same hut, probably staring at each other. They'll get back together soon enough, but not until quite a bit more evilness has passed. ...grins evilly and holds up the peace sign...

Maboroshi Kaji: Fire illusion, huh? Well there's something pretty ironic about your name, I'll tell you that much. And, unfortunatly, it wasn't Inu, but Tasuke. I don't know why, but you just can't help but like that girl. But Inu still gets to see him! I hope at least that makes you happy!

Kira/Sarah: Yeppers! You were right! Go Kira/Sarah! Go Kira/Sarah! (Try saying THAT three times fast!)

ShadyLady06: Tonka! (That means thank you in my own little world) That's why I had him how I had him! Thanks for sympathizing too. Some people just don't know the pressure.

brigurl: Now hopefully, you didn't have to wait too long. So . . . does it being a booshi chapter a good thing . . . or a bad thing? You use it to insult people and then you use it to describe my fic? ...doesn't know how to feel...

x-ikaru-x: Thanks. I try. I personally don't really like those kinda stories either . . . unless of course I want something happy to cheer me up after writing a chappy like this.

EternalMist: Ya know . . . that's a GOOD question . . . where IS Kirara? Ummm . . . let's just say that she's with Shippo out doing something for a week or two . . . how's that sound?

Leona: ...sighs sadly, then turns evil glare on Inu... Let's hope he does, or I'll make him and Jiko switch places! And yes . . . it is sad . . . he should've figgered out what happened before he did all that . . .

xblackheartx: Now you probably feel even worse for the poor guy . . . ...wails and huggles Jiko... POOR, POOR JIKO!!!

luvinukagome: No! Don't cry! ...gives you tissue... Me know it evil! Me know! Just don't cry! You make me cry now!...starts crying...

Sanci: Yes. I'm answering you anyway. That would be cruel and unusual if I didn't! And yes, poor Inu-baby's gonna go crazy! At least know that ...shifty eyes, then whispers... you didn't hear this from me . . . but Inu's gonna get to kill that bastard eventually . . . ...end shifty eyes... But he did find him, and that's all good! Now we just have to see if and when he finds equally poor Kagome. Thanks for being my beta-reader and all that though! Mucho gracious!

foxgirl: No need to be so demanding! lol j/k! I can understand perfectly how you feel! Me want them be better! ...starts beating fists on keyboard... But you'll have to wait and endure the evilness a while longer. Me promise on my honor as an author that they WILL be better!

NeverEndingHeartbreak: ME TOO!!! He's so cute when he's sad! Wit de dwoopy eaws and de wittle pout and de ...is hit over the head with a stick... Alright! Alright! Enough baby talk from Over! But I think that's kinda funny that you had a nightmare about this wittle ficcy! Tell me, was it anything like Jiko's? Cause if it was, I'll shut up. Right. Now. I'd probably be put in a mental institution if I had that kind of dream. Then again . . . I've had incredibly gross dreams before . . .

femalewolfdemon8 or child-of-darkness-and-night: Yay! Now we can all kill him! ...grabs nearest bag of pens... (Don't ask)

And that's all of ya!

Ciao, minna-chan!

Over