AN: Well I was somewhat quicker with posting this time. I've just started my first real full time (40/hrs a week) job and it's a big change in my free timeseeing ashowI'd been unemployed since I graduated about two months ago. I'm still adjusting, to my new schedule. The scene in this chapter was the first part of this story I saw in my head and actually the inspiration for the whole thing. When it came time to write in this chapter it literally wrote itself.

Chapter 4

"As you can see B, representing the double knock-out, shows a dramatic decrease," Yuri informed an empty room. She was presenting to an empty classroom in Gordan Hall. These rooms provided excellent environments for students to study in at night. Yuri was taking advantage on these on this particular Sunday night to practice an oral presentation she was set to give on Tuesday. "C in this diagram represents the control. Next they looked at the lung samples as you can see here…"

Yuri let her voice trail off when she became aware that there was a guy standing just inside the doorway watching her. The guy was actually kind of cute. He had incredibly clear blue eyes and brown hair. But there was something about the way he was looking at her that was making her uneasy. "I'm going to be using this room for awhile and as you can see I'm giving an oral presentation so if you could find another room to study in," she informed him hoping he would do the polite thing and leave. He didn't. He just stood there. There wasn't something about the way he was looking at her that Yuri didn't like. She wasn't sure what but something was putting her off. She tried again, "Look I was here first and I can't practice with you in the room, and I'm sure there is another empty classroom." He didn't even get an indication that he heard her.

Yuri was about ready to yell "leave" when he finally spoke. "You shouldn't have come back," he told her.

"What are you talking about?" Yuri asked.

"What's the matter Kagura, don't recognize me? It's me, Kouga." There was mocking in his voice but it had a dangerous tone to it. Yuri should have felt relieved that he called her Kagura, that he called her by the wrong name. She could just tell him that he had the wrong person, that he'd mistaken her for someone else. But she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that this wasn't the case. For one thing there was something vaguely familiar about him like an old childhood nightmare.

"I'm not Kagura." she told him. "My name is Yuri."

He wasn't listening to her. "You weren't supposed to come back. You not supposed to have a second chance. Who the hell said you get a chance at happiness." He was glaring at her now and shooting her a look of immense hatred.

Yuri could feel her heart thumping hard in her chest. At this moment it gave her no comfort. This was crazy, he had the wrong girl. She had to make him see that; she had to make him leave. "You have the wrong person." She said loudly and clearly. "I'm…not…. Kagura."

"No you're not." He agreed with her, shocking her. "Your name is Masuya Yuri. You were born on April 13 about twenty years ago in a small suburb just outside of Tokyo. You broke your arm when you were seven and you are afraid of snakes." As he made his speech he strolled into the room. Kouga paused to let the implications of what he said sink in. She stared at him unable to comprehend that he knew this stuff, and all this time she thought Sesshomaru was stalking her. She took an involuntary step back.

Kouga gave her a cocky grin. He was clearly enjoying her discomfort. He continued, "You're Masuya Yuri and you're just an average college student. You've never unleashed blades of wind or dance of the dragon. You're a fucking human. You've never made a corpse dance just by waving your fan. You never murdered my pack. You're fucking innocent. Right?" Yuri took another step back keeping her eyes focused on him. He was crazy, she had no idea what he was talking about and he was crazy. "Right?" he snarled at her again.

Yuri nodded. Agree with him she told herself; just don't make him madder. "Right," she agreed with more confidence then she felt.

"Of course, you're innocent. There is no blood on your hands. But it's still on your soul. God, Kagura did you think that it would just disappear. That if you came back as a fucking human with no knowledge of your previous life that you would be free. Did you think that your past deeds wouldn't follow you? Haven't you every heard of karma bitch?"

"I…I don't know what your talking about." Yuri admitted finding her voice. She wanted to run but her legs wouldn't obey.

"Of course you don't you're fucking innocent. Well let me enlighten you and break your naïve little bubble. Do you believe in reincarnation? 500 years ago you had a different face, a different body but the same stinky soul. You were called Kagura then. You were a demon, a wind witch hell-spawn of Naraku. He set a trap for me and you were the one who pulled it off. You slaughtered my wolf tribe. You laughed at their deaths. You moved your little fan and made their corpses dance. I swore revenge on you. I swore that Kagura's blood would stain my hands."

Yuri's legs finally obeyed her. She tried to make a sprint to the door. Kouga moved impossibly fast and blocked it. Yuri had to stop so abruptly she almost fell. The last thing she wanted to do was get close to him.

"Oh no, your not getting away from me this time Kagura, I've waited 500 fucking years for my revenge."

"That's impossible," Yuri blurted out before she could stop herself.

"Haven't you figured it out Kagura? I was, I am a demon too." He smiled for her and she could see he had fangs. "A wolf demon." He clarified.

Kouga had waited 500 years and apparently he'd figured a few minutes more wouldn't hurt any. He let the silence hang allowing Yuri to let his words and his threat sink in. It was impossible; she couldn't believe what he was telling her. But there were some aspects of his story that seemed familiar. She would have to wait for her head to stop spinning in order to figure out what they were. In the mean time she searched for loopholes. If she really was this Kagura's reincarnation then that would mean, "Kagura died," Yuri said, "You got your revenge."

Kouga gave her a look that raised the hairs on the back of her neck. "Oh you died alright, but not by my hand. You were a slave to the lowest most disgusting half demon ever to taint the earth with his presence. And you were a traitorous slave loyal to no one, a bitch that didn't even care about anyone but herself. Your master killed you for your disobedience for plotting to kill him. You should have stayed dead. Or come back as a cockroach so I could crush you under my foot. Instead you came back as fucking human, but I can still crush you. I swore that I would get your blood on my hands and fangs and now I have the chance."

He reached into his pocket and threw her something. Yuri caught it. It was a fan. It looked old, like an antique. It was hers. She had bought it from an antique store she'd been in once. Something about the fan had attracted her. She liked the way she felt when she held it posing like a Kabuki dancer. The fan was supposed to be back in her room in a box of mementos. Kouga had been in her room. The idea made her sick. Then she realized that it wasn't her fan, the pattern was a little different. It was similar but hers was probably still safe in her room. Now she held the fan open. Holding it felt too natural, it made her feel like this Kagura person. Hastily she snapped it closed. "How do you know I'm Kagura?"

Kouga snorted. "You think I wouldn't recognize you. You think that after all you did to me I wouldn't recognize you even if you came back as a cockroach. Don't even try and convince me I have the wrong person. I'm not the only one who recognizes you. Why do you think you've seen Sesshomaru and Kanna? They both know it's you." He gave her his predatory grin again. "Ready for our rematch Kagura? Fight me."

Yuri never had a chance. Before she could blink Kouga had reached her. He grabbed her wrist and yanked the fan out of it throwing it across the room. Then he shoved her backwards hard. She hit the wall behind her. Kouga put his hands against the wall on either side of her. Her head was screaming for to the try and run but she was petrified. She probably couldn't have gotten away anyways she told herself. Kouga stood for a little bit with his body in front her and his hands blocking her in. He was clearly enjoying how uncomfortable she felt, practically drinking the fear that ran through her veins. He leaned in, his face mere centimeters from hers and took a deep breath. He leaned back out and with a look of disgust on his face announced, "You still reek of Naraku." Then his hands went to her neck. He lifted Yuri off the ground. She tried to pry his arms off but his grip was like a vice. She feebly swung her legs in an attempt to kick him but things were already going hazy. This was it. She was actually going to die. Yuri thought she heard a wolf cry in the distance.

Suddenly Kouga dropped her. Her raced out of the classroom so quickly that he was chocking her one moment and gone the next. Yuri lay where she'd fallen taking in air in great gulps. Once her lungs had had their fill she climbed shakily to her feet. It suddenly occurred to her that the last place she wanted to be was alone in the room. It didn't matter that Kouga had left. She would later marvel that she had the presence of mind to gather up her papers. She ran out of the room and down the stairs as fast her legs would carry her. She was so concerned with getting out of there that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. So it wasn't a surprise that she crashed into someone just outside the door to Gordon hall. She was afraid to look. She was so scared that it would be Kouga. Here he'd run away and she'd gone and crashed into to him. She was so stupid sometimes. Yuri couldn't help it, she started shaking.

"Yuri? Yuri? Are you alright?" Ginta asked.

Slowly Yuri raised her eyes and found Ginta was gathering the papers that had scattered when she dropped them. Apparently he was the one she'd crashed into. "Yeah, I'm…" Yuri broke off, she didn't feel like she had the strength to lie. Without looking at him she dropped the ground to pick up the rest of her papers.

When they picked them all up Ginta approached her and gave her the ones he was holding. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, "You look pretty shaken up?"

His eyes held so much concern Yuri couldn't look in them. She stared at her shoes. "Will you walk me to my apartment?" She asked. "I…I don't feel safe alone."

Ginta gazed off in the distance for a moment. "Of course," he replied, "Where'd you live?" She told him the campus apartments and they walked in silence. He didn't ask again if she was all right or what was bothering her, something she was grateful for. After she'd reached her door he told her, "I hope you feel better, I'll see you Tuesday in class."

"Thanks." Yuri told him in a small voice. Her heart was pounding so hard when she opened the door to her apartment. Never before was she so relieved to have a roommate. Still she checked her place over to make sure no wolf demons were hiding. Her roommate was already in bed asleep and she was careful not to disturb her. As she got ready for bed she replayed her encounter with Kouga in her head. She didn't want to believe his claim that she was Kagura but she had a bad feeling that it was probably true. She'd have to investigate her claim tomorrow. He seemed so familiar, did she really recognize him from a past life. If what he said was true, then she couldn't even think about it. Had she been a demon and a killer in a past life? The thought made her sick. Kouga claimed that Kanna and Sesshomaru both thought she was Kagura. She didn't know who Kanna was but she could get the truth out of Sesshomaru next time she saw him.

It wasn't till she was lying in bed that she thought about Ginta. It had been nice of him to walk her to her door and not push her for an explanation. Why hadn't she liked him again? You remind me of someone I hate. Yuri's eyes shot open. Was he talking about Kagura? She ki-hurt people that were important to me: my pack, I mean kin, no, my friends. Yuri's heart started pounding again. What had Ginta really been talking about? He had said: she ki, and then changed it to hurt my pack. Had he started to say killed. Did he mean a wolf demon pack? Was he from Kouga's tribe? Yuri could feel her heart pounding under her shirt. Had she really been safe with Ginta?