If the Roles Were Reversed

by Glon Morski

I: Until he fell down the well and 500 years into the past, Inuyasha didn't believe in legends. His beliefs were challenged when he found himself in a world in which said legends are reality. Problem? He wants to leave that world behind, while it is unwilling to let him go. And so he begins a search for a substitute for a duty, aided by Kagome, his slef-proclaimed hanyo protector.

33. Kagome's Resolve

Hello people! I hereby present you with this month's issue, chapter 33 :D But hey, is it just le or does it really feel like an eternity since the last time I updated? But in exchange, this chapter is extra-long :) Not that I'll actually late or anything, now that I think about it *scratches her head* Oh well, I'll give you an extra-long chapter anyway :D

On another note, a few reviewers told me they expected the last chapter to be more gory than it actually was. I apologize for that, but I want you to know that you shouldn't expect too much gore from me, for multiple reasons. One is that I never wanted this fic to be M-rated, which it would have to become in its unedited version if I put gore in every chapter or in a whole arc. But mostly, I don't write much gore (despite enjoying it) because for me, it's a way to put emphasis on something. Think about it – the first time I wrote gore in this fic was when Inuyasha saw a demon devour a human for the very first time. It was bound to shake him and it did, so in order for the reader to be somewhat as shaken as Inuyasha, I described what he saw. Afterward, however, I consider the immediate surroundings to be more obvious, so I don't go into much detail – we all know what Inuyasha's dream/nightmare looks like, no need to go on and on about how gory it is. Besides, too much gore makes it loose its charm, don't you think? ;) So yeah, gore will be few and in-between, but when it's there, I'll do my best for it to be truly gory :D

And with those words, I'll only add that there IS SOME GORE IN THIS CHAPTER, BUT I DEEMED IT MILD ENOUGH TO NOT DO ANY EDITS and that if you think I should censor this chapter like I did with chapter 31, please tell me and I will do so, before wishing you all happy reading :3

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ANONYMOS REVIEWERS:

inufan 123: Glad you enjoyed it. As for the answer to your question… read on and you'll know, ne ;)

happyface2107: As always, I thank you for your review. As always, I'm happy to hear you enjoyed, and as always, I hope you'll like the rest of it, too :) As for your questions about the story, wait and read on and you'll eventually find out (about the beads of subjugation, Kagome turning demon or not etc., I mean). And I wish you and your friends a happy belated birthday :] Forgive me for not wishing it sooner, but sadly, I couldn't write you a PM. Hope you enjoy the chapter – consider it a late birthday present, ne ;) And as for the 'happy anniversary'… don't you mean 'a few days late', not 'early'? LOL

animefan 21: Well, if there weren't any cliffhangers, it wouldn't be fin, right? *smirks mischievously* Read on and you shall know what happens, I hope you'll enjoy :]

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Tracks for this chapter :

SID: Monochrome no Kiss

Do As Infinity: Need Your Love

The Last of the Mohicans: Fort Battle

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What happened last time: Kagome came to the inn to find Inuyasha and Miroku fast asleep. Suspecting them to be cursed, she enters the inn to find the source of it despite being currently human, knowing that if she defeats it, they would both wake up. However, she soon finds out she had fallen asleep herself and upon miraculously leaving her own dream to enter Miroku's, she learns of the culprit behind the situation: the Baku. A demon who exists only in dreams and feeds on the powers of spiritualists, using dreams to get to its food and causing the spiritualists to die when it eats all of their reiki or houriki. Meanwhile, in his own dream, Inuyasha finally finds the demon he dreams about, just in time to see it trying to kill a dream-image of a human Kagome. Unaware that he's dreaming and believing Kagome to be in actual danger, Inuyasha draws his sword in order to protect her, determined not to let her die…

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Chapter 33 – Kagome's Resolve

For what felt like a few hours after their talk, Kagome and Miroku spent their time trying to find the Baku and, if possible, defeat it. Of course, both of those goals would be very hard to accomplish, one because they didn't know what form the Baku took now – as Miroku informed the hanyō-turned-human that it could take on any form it wished within the dream it created – and two: because neither of them could truly fight it as they were now. With her youki dormant, Kagome seriously doubted she'd be able to take on a yōkai and kill it. Sure, she knew how to fight in this form. But still, that didn't mean she had a chance against demons. Usually, she avoided them during her human day, knowing full well that as a human, fighting a demon was suicidal (of course, that begged the question of why she entered the inn in her own dream when she knew she'd have to fight a yōkai then, too, but whenever her conscious brought it up, Kagome found something else to occupy her mind with). And with their opponent feeding on spiritual power, there wasn't much Miroku could do, either, except using his Air Rip – though for reasons Kagome couldn't name, he suddenly didn't seem to think it was a very good idea.

In the end, they have been unsuccessful in both areas – they neither found their opponent, nor did they defeat it. Instead, they found something else.

"Another one of those… wonder if it leads to Inuyasha's dream this time," Kagome commented as they slowly approached the portal-like oval in the wall. It was different than the one she had used to come to Miroku's dream, however, and she thought it important to point it out. The monk beside her was immediately intrigued, if not even slightly worried.

"You came through something like this?" he asked with narrowed eyes, his voice betraying the uneasiness Kagome wasn't able to catch in his scent at the moment. "And it was different?"

"Well, yes, to both questions," Kagome answered slowly, her now grey-blue eyes moving from the portal to the monk walking beside her. Noticing how his eyes seemed to ask her to continue, she complied. "That other portal was less organized for one. It was just a hole in the wall. But, more importantly, it was filled with blackness, not with light. To put it bluntly, it was the complete opposite of the passage in front of us," she said.

Her observation was also quite accurate. In contrast to the portal that led her from her own dream into Miroku's, this one was obviously prepared in advance and meant to always be in one place. It wasn't exactly designed to blend in with the surroundings, either, unless a glowing oval on the wall was considered normal. But if its surface was reflective instead of the blinding light, it could have passed for a mirror – a very expensive one and thus one out of place considering their dreamt-up surroundings, but a mirror nonetheless. That wasn't the case, however.

As it turned out, though, the houshi was far more intrigued by the part she didn't elaborate on.

"Kagome-sama… are you telling me that you came here from you own dream through a portal resembling this one?" he asked slowly, as if wondering whether he should ask such a question. Kagome narrowed her eyes, suddenly wary as she locked her eyes with his.

"Yes," she replied slowly. "Is there something wrong about that, Miroku-sama?"

"Plenty," the monk replied bluntly before sighing, effectively getting Kagome on high alert. She didn't need to ask for him to explain his reasoning, though. "Think about it, Kagome-sama. Baku exist only in dreams and in order to eat, they create dreams for us. But a dream is an illusion made by our own mind, is it not? So how could you possibly pass from one dream into another? It would imply you left your own mind and entered someone else's," the monk said in a grave tone, as if that information was fatal. Kagome failed to see what was so surprising about it, however.

"It's not unheard of, to enter someone else's mind, is it?" she asked rhetorically and continued even before Miroku had the chance to open his mouth to answer: "there are mind controlling curses and demons who have the ability to control other's minds. How would they do it if they didn't somehow connect their own mind with their victim's?"

"'Connection' is the most important word here," the young monk countered. "But what you seem to have done is not connect your mind to mine, Kagome-sama. You left your own mind in favor of entering mine. And that shouldn't be possible."

"Up until a few hours ago, I also thought it's impossible that there could be a yōkai that not only wouldn't be purified by a spiritualist, but one that ate a spiritualist's powers to boot," Kagome answered easily. "What are you getting at, Miroku-sama?"

The monk didn't answer right away, choosing instead to study the portal in front of them with a grim expression on his face. It was obvious he wasn't happy about it being there, but Kagome had yet to figure out why that was. So far, these portals allowed her to follow the Baku and find one of the two people she had to find a way to wake up (or, well, considering she herself was now sleeping as well, one of the three that needed to be awoken), so she wasn't complaining about their existence. Miroku, however, was clearly displeased at their presence.

"These portals are like walkways between the dreams," the monk said suddenly. "These are the paths the Baku takes to go from the dream of one victim to another. But except for their creator, no one should be able to pass through them and they shouldn't stay open, either… so why…" he trailed off before sudden understanding shone in his eyes. Whatever explanation he came up with, though, he didn't seem to want to share it, at least until Kagome probed.

"These pathways should close once the Baku uses them. But they're the only thing that would allow us to follow the Baku. The only thing that gives us a chance of finding and defeating it," Miroku said and Kagome rolled her eyes as she leaned against the wall next to the portal. 'I figured out that much on my own, monk,' she couldn't help but think, though she refrained from commenting as Miroku continued talking. "Somewhere deep down, you must have known this, Kagome-sama, so you forced the portals to stay open."

"I forced them to stay open?" she repeated, now with a disbelieving look in her eyes. "And how would I have done that?"

"You willed them not to close, I believe," Miroku replied easily. "As I said, the Baku can control the human mind, but a yōkai or hanyō is a different story."

"Did you forget, Miroku-sama? I already told you that I'm human even in the real world," Kagome deadpanned, though the monk didn't seem very concerned by that idea. "I don't have any youki right now," she tried to drive her point home, but the monk merely shrugged in acknowledgment of her words, his whole attention dedicated to the portal a frown slowly formed on his face. Kagome was slowly starting to get the distinct feeling that he was telling her one thing, while his brain tried to figure out another, and she wasn't quite certain if she wanted to know what that other thing he thought about was.

"True, you told me that," he acknowledged in a low tone, quite obviously having his thoughts wandering elsewhere. "But you still have Tessaiga with you, right Kagome-sama? And it also possesses youki, which it might have lent to you."

'Tessaiga?' Kagome wondered as she lowered her head to glance at the sword at her hip. Without really realizing it, her hand brushed over the old sword's scabbard and then the hilt in a gentle gesture. 'Tessaiga lent me its power?'

She hadn't really thought something like that was even possible before. Sure, she realized Tessaiga had its own mind in the truest meaning of the words. It was a sword, yes, but it was also a living being in a way. She had known that from the start. With the way she felt it pulse almost like it had its own heartbeat each time she drew it, it was hard to think otherwise. Plus, what demonic sword had no mind of its own? They wouldn't be dangerous to humans, wouldn't be able to control them if they hadn't. She knew all that, she also knew that Tessaiga had a mind of its own… and yet she did not truly realize it until now.

The world around her faded and was suddenly replaced by a scenery she had seen only once in her life, but would most certainly never forget. The inside for her father's tomb. Not far away from her was the pedestal with the old sword stuck in it, although she was also sure that she held that same, sheathed sword in her hand. Not far from the pedestal stood Sesshōmaru and his little vassal and Kagome knew that if she just looked up and strained her now weakened eyes a little, she'd see herself and Inuyasha hiding behind one of her father's ribs, watching what was going on with attentive eyes.

The sound of calm footstep made the hanyō-turned-human quickly focus her attention on her brother as he walked towards the pedestal and reached for the battered hilt. Kagome knew what would happen now. He was going to take it in his hands, to try and pull it out and he was going to be rejected.

However, she didn't expect time to seemingly slow as her brother's claws came into contact with the sword's hilt, closing over it almost in slow motion. The colors surrounding Kagome seemed to dim slightly at that moment, but the momentarily-human girl hardly noticed, her eyes transfixed on her brother and the sword he was trying to take. That was when a weak voice, almost a whisper reached her ears and her eyes widened. She didn't know who it was that was talking… and yet at the same time it was a voice she felt like she had heard many times, a voice she should recognize…

"Cold. Bitter. Uncertain. But powerful and confident at the same time," it said as Sesshōmaru's fingers closed over Tessaiga's hilt at an impossibly slow pace. What should take not even a second seemed to be taking minutes, but Kagome hardly noticed it. Then, the voice spoke again.

"You're not the one," it whispered and in the next moment, the colors around Kagome got more vibrant once again and time sped up, allowing Sesshōmaru to finally tug on the blade, only for a few sparks to emerge from it and force him to back down.

"He was ever so cautious," the daiyōkai spoke calmly, but with a certain, cold undertone in his voice Kagome did not remember hearing in his voice at that moment. "There's a spell on it."

"There's no spell on me. You're a fool if you think any spell could ever seal or control me, Heir to the Western Lands," the same half-whisper Kagome had a feeling she knew spoke again, causing the black haired girl to tune out everything else around her as she tried to find the source of the voice. She didn't see anyone who could have spoken, however, and what was even weirder was that neither Sesshōmaru, nor anyone else for that matter, seemed to hear the voice. Kagome didn't remember it talking back then, either.

"Kagome-sama! Please, draw the sword out!" Another voice cut through her reverie and Kagome's head snapped up, only to stumble backwards in surprise – although her footsteps never made any sound – as she saw herself standing in front of Sesshōmaru, glancing over her shoulder at one of her father's bones where Inuyasha was, along with Myouga, the one who had just called out. "Sesshōmaru-sama was unable to pull Tessaiga out…"

"Are you saying that whelp can?" Sesshōmaru interrupted, his voice calm as ever, though it was obvious he wasn't very pleased at such an insinuation.

"But of course! Kagome-sama was meant to inherit Tessaiga! The fact that the tomb was entrusted to her is proof of that!" the little flea yelled back, though he didn't sound very sure of himself, a fact Kagome heard herself mutter under her breath a while later as her hanyō-self approached the pedestal.

Once again, someone reached for the hilt. Once again, the colors around Kagome seemed to dull as she watched herself reach for the hilt. And once again, time seemed to slow down. Agonizingly slowly, Kagome saw her own hand touch Tessaiga's hilt as it slowly moved to close over it in a firm grip. And once again, that mysterious voice spoke up.

"Pain. Guilt. Regret," she heard it listing and her eyes widened. She somehow knew what… or rather whose heart this mysterious voice was talking about. She suddenly understood what should have been obvious all along. "Bitterness. Anger. Fear," it continued listing, making the black haired girl freeze. Just how much did it see in that little moment? "But… Also hope… Pride and honor… Resolve…" it trailed off, as if overwhelmed by what it saw or maybe just stunned to see so much. Kagome herself knew there was much more, and she wasn't the only one. "Your heart is deep and it carries many scars, but it remains strong and true to itself," the voice spoke again, now almost sounding uncertain, just as Kagome saw herself finally close her hand over the hilt of the sword, after what felt like an eternity. "The only the thing I cannot see…" time suddenly sped up again and Kagome saw herself frown as she held the sword before giving it a light, almost unnoticeable tug and finally letting go with a huff.

"…is a reason," it finished right before the image in front of Kagome's eyes shifted and rippled, like water disturbed by a stone thrown in a lake, only to settle once again just as suddenly. She was still in her father's tomb, but it was no longer a more-or-less peaceful setting. She knew exactly which point in the fight that occurred then it was, too. 'That was right after Inuyasha tried to finish off that little imp,' Kagome easily recognized. With the way the both of them were lying on the pedestal with her on top of Inuyasha, it couldn't be any other moment – although Kagome had to admit that back then, she had been far from noticing just how that position might have looked to a random bystander. Hell, Kagome herself flushed at the sight of the position they were in, despite the fact that she knew just how she had gotten into it.

It wasn't long before she saw herself getting off of the black haired teen, however, only to turn to her brother while berating the kannushi behind her at the same time. During that discussion, she saw her clawed hand slowly reaching for Tessaiga's blade. This time, seconds didn't turn into minutes and the colors didn't dull, but she still heard that same voice, speaking once again.

"Again you reach for me. Again, I see all that you try to keep hidden. But tell me, Daughter of the Western Lord, what is your reason for fighting? What does this resolve stand for?" it asked before falling silent for all of a second, just as Kagome saw herself turn her head towards Sesshōmaru, yelling a response at the daiyōkai that the mysterious voice seemed to accept as an answer for its own question as well. "I see. That is what it is," it said, almost sounding like it was laughing. "You are truly your father's daughter," it added approvingly and somehow, Kagome knew what it was going to say next, even though she was sure she hadn't ever heard it speak while she was in the tomb.

"I shall help you," the voice said, and as if responding to the voice, Kagome saw her other self glance at the sword she was holding. "Your reason is just, so I shall help you, as your father wished I would and as I wish as well. Draw me, Daughter of the Western Lord," the voice commanded softly and, as if hearing and reacting to the half-whispered mix of a command and a request, the hanyō-girl that was facing Sesshōmaru pulled the sword out of its pedestal and swung it down in order to gain a little time to escape her brother's attack.

Her surroundings faded again and she blinked as the wall with the portal materialized before her again. The sudden change of surroundings didn't surprise her as much as it probably should, but she easily brushed it off as she once again glanced down at the sword in her hand. 'We were both wrong,' she thought, feeling silly for not having realized it sooner. 'There is no spell on Tessaiga and no demonic barrier to overcome. The only test there was was a test of heart. A test that Tessaiga itself decided who passed and who didn't,' she thought. 'And the so-called demonic barrier is in place only because Tessaiga does not wish to be touched by those it deems unworthy…' it seemed so obvious now, after that vision she had. So obvious she almost felt ashamed about not having realized it sooner. 'And that's not all. Tessaiga… it didn't just deem me worthy to wield it. The moment it allowed me to draw it from that pedestal, it decided to aid me.'

So lost was she in her thoughts and what she had just realized that she didn't even think to wonder what the vision she had just had even was…

… or to listen to what Miroku was saying to her.

"Kagome-sama, can you hear me?" his voice finally registered in her head and Kagome blinked, only now truly coming back to reality. Or what pretended to be reality, anyway.

"Huh?" she asked as she felt someone shaking her shoulder to get her attention. Turning back to the monk, she let out a sigh at his raised eyebrows and questioning look. "I'm sorry, Miroku-sama. I zoned out," she admitted as she absentmindedly put Tessaiga back in its place at her hip.

"I noticed that. You didn't hear a word I said either, did you, Kagome-sama," it wasn't a question, but the houshi didn't seem angry or even annoyed. He seemed more curious than anything else, but Kagome figured now was not the time for lengthy explanations on things she herself didn't fully understand.

"I'm sorry," she apologized again. "What were you saying?"

The curious gleam immediately vanished from the monk's eyes as he instead turned dead serious, easily recognizing Kagome would not satisfy his curiosity and tell him where her mind had wandered off to. Seeing this, Kagome pushed all thoughts of her sword and what had just transpired aside, focusing only on the issue at hand. She could think more about all that later. First, they had to kill the Baku and kill it before it killed one of them, with Inuyasha and Miroku being more likely to be the targets than Kagome.

"I think I know the reason behind the difference between this portal and the one that led you here, Kagome-sama," Miroku said, glancing once again at the shining oval in front of them, glued almost innocently to the wall. "As I said before, those portals might connect the minds of the people whose mind the Baku controls to create the dreams. But it already knows that you're not a spiritualist, so the possibility of it still controlling your mind is slim. That would mean it left your mind with no intention to return there, since it would not get any food from you," the monk said, his eyes thoughtful as he stroked his chin.

"I see. Well, at least I know I shouldn't go through black portals then. I can't afford to go back to my own dream right now, much less to wake up while you two are still stuck here," Kagome replied casually as she walked a few stapes back, obviously preparing herself to jump straight through the portal and into Inuyasha's dream. There was no time to dilly-dally anymore, they've lost enough of it.

However, Miroku stopped her.

"I believe it would be far wiser for you to find the portal leading back to your mind and return there, Kagome-sama," he replied gravely. The hanyō-turned-human shot him a questioning look, but didn't need to ask anything. The monk knew very well what she wanted to know. He sighed. "Baku don't only draw spiritualists into the dreams. They usually start with a usual human and create a dream for him he would not wish to wake up from, in case he notices it is indeed a dream. That eventually leads to suspicion when he sleeps too long. And when someone's suspected of being cursed, usually a monk or miko is sent for," Miroku said and Kagome nodded, though she still didn't understand what he was aiming at.

"True. And?"

"Once the spiritualist arrives, the Baku draws him into the dream next and releases the bait," the monk continued as if Kagome hadn't said anything. "That is what kind of happened in your case, Kagome-sama," he explained, turning serious eyes on her. "The Baku drew you into a dream believing you to be a spiritualist like Inuyasha and I. When it noticed you were not, it released you and left you to finish dreaming on your own and to eventually wake up. But you didn't stay in your dream. Instead, you came to mine, leaving your own mind behind with no connection to rely on except that portal I hope is still open.

"If I were to go through this portal now, I'd leave my dream and come into Inuyasha's. That is more than likely. However, the Baku still has a hold on my dream and it won't release that hold until it is finished eating or until it dies. So I still have a connection left between Inuyasha's dream and my own. If I were to be in Inuyasha's dream when the Baku was defeated, I'd be dragged thanks to that connection back to my own mind before Inuyasha's dream vanished along with its creator and I would then wake up. But the same cannot be said for you.

"Without the connection the Baku creates, there is almost no way for you to return to your own dream. If you stay in someone else's dream too long, you'll become part of that dream. And then, when the Baku is defeated and the dream collapses and vanishes, you'll most likely vanish along with it. Do you understand, Kagome-sama? You need to go back now, or else you can be certain that you'll never wake up again," Miroku finished grimly, his voice far from joking, and yet somehow still sounding calm as ever. Kagome knew he was serious… and yet she chose to challenge him.

"How do you know that, monk? Have you fought a Baku before?"

"No. But many other spiritualists have and while there are only very few spiritualists who claim to have fought a Baku and came out of it alive, that still allows to gather some information. Most of their stories, I find hard to believe. But some of them are true, of that I am sure, unless my knowledge of the creature is misplaced. It does not look like it for now, however. I am not making this up, Kagome-sama, you can be certain of that," Miroku replied seriously. Oh, she could trust him not to lie alright, she knew it. Didn't mean she was going to listen to him, however.

"And if I ditch you and go back to my own dream, what are your chances of defeating the Baku with just you and Inuyasha?" she asked calmly, though she already knew the answer. Miroku didn't reply for a while, but she really didn't expect him to. Instead, she grabbed his cursed hand and forced him to raise it so it was between them, his palm facing towards her. Vaguely, she noted that there seemed to be something wrong with his Air Rip, but she pushed the thought aside, deciding to ponder that later. "If I were afraid of dying, Miroku-sama, I would have never let you join us. But that doesn't mean I want to die, either. So do me a favor and at least trust me to keep myself alive, if nothing else," she said calmly as she let go of his hand and faced the portal once again. It was time to go.

"Why are you so determined to protect Inuyasha, Kagome-sama?" Miroku suddenly asked, catching Kagome off guard, though she didn't let it show on her face. She didn't have to think long to know what to answer him, though.

"I swore I would protect him. And I'm known to keep my word," she answered simply. The houshi shot her an almost disbelieving look.

"You would really go as far as risking your life to save his just because of a promise? Is that really all there's to it, Kagome-sama?" he asked, hesitating only slightly when he spoke of her 'risking' her life. She knew what he really wanted to say then – she wasn't risking her life. She was almost surely giving it up. Her chances of survival if she were to continue were slim to none. But she still decided to go. And for what? Just her honor? Just because she swore she would protect him? 'No,' she admitted in her thoughts. 'There's more to it than just me giving him my word.' But Miroku didn't need to know that. No one needed to know that, actually.

"Yes. That's all there is to it," she replied calmly before jumping through the portal, the monk following close behind her.

XxX

While Kagome was fighting the Baku in her dream, only to finally follow it into Miroku's and find out what was truly going on, Inuyasha was trying to get rid of his own opponent.

He was doing fairly well so far, at least where defense was concerned. What he had problems with was offence, though not because he didn't have an opening to use. He did and he used them. He just couldn't get a hit in, much to his frustration. 'How the hell can this goddamned thing do the things I saw it do when I feel like I'm fighting a fucking ghost?' the young priest thought angrily, refusing to call the creature a yōkai even in his thoughts. He had met many yōkai during his short stay in the Feudal Era and none of them did the things this thing did, so it couldn't be a demon. Inuyasha frankly doubted it was even a living being. If it was alive, he'd be able to cut it. At least that's how he saw things.

The idea that this might be a kind of demon he had simply not met before didn't really cross his mind. Now wasn't really the time to think of such things, though.

With another loud swish, Seiryuu cut through air once again as the demon turned into smoke, only to re-materialize a few feet farther away from the priest with a loud snarl. It probably didn't like the priest interfering with another try to grab the food and leave, but Inuyasha wasn't trying to please the beast any.

"I told you already, you won't touch her," the black haired teen grunted, his eyes never leaving his opponent. He was referring to the still unconscious girl behind him, whom he vowed to protect from the fate of the other girls he'd seen without fail. He wasn't going to fail when for once, he could do the protecting as it always should be.

No, failure was definitely not an option, no matter what the opponent was. He just needed to keep it at bay until he got an idea how to actually cut it. He'd figure something out eventually.

At least, he hoped so.

[T]

When his opponent didn't move for a while, only staring at him with angry eyes – or rather eye-sockets, since the eyeballs weren't even there, and Inuyasha wasn't even sure how he knew its gaze was angry – the black haired priest felt compelled to attack first, but thought better of it before he even started to move. His eyes narrowed. 'This thing's after a meal,' he thought, shuddering slightly at the way he had put it into words, even though it was by all means true. 'And Kagome is right behind me. If I strike first and it dodges, it'll have a free way to her,' he told himself, forcing himself to stay put despite the anxiousness to continue the fight and, preferably, end it fast. 'I have to wait for it to strike first…'

Just as he thought that, the demon in front of him growled and jumped, it's arms extended and baby-hand-sized claws ready to strike. Sidestepping the first swing easily, Inuyasha ducked next to avoid the return-slash that would have otherwise hit his back, already expected such a trick to repeat itself. He retaliated, his blade glowing faintly as it flew towards its target in a diagonal, upward cut. He didn't miss, but just like the other times, the demon disintegrated the very moment that Seiryuu reached it, only to materialize behind Inuyasha. He had been expecting this, however, and swiftly turned on his heels while standing back to his full height without ever stopping his swords movement, guiding it behind his back in a full circle to bring the blade back above his head, before bringing it down with all his might, effectively not only blocking the incoming attack, but also causing his opponent to stager.

Not planning on wasting the opening, Inuyasha took a step forward and thrust his sword, but just like any other time, he met only air. Huffing in annoyance, he quickly turned around again, his gaze following the black smoke that was the demon until it re-materialized again. His eyes widened when he saw just where the smoke was flying towards.

"Oh no, you don't!" he all but yelled as he ran over to where Kagome lay, his blade ready to strike. When he was but a foot away from her, he swung his sword in a wide, horizontal arc just as the demon materialized over her unconscious form. Letting out a sound somewhere between a hiss and a growl, the demon jumped back, just barely avoiding the tip of the blade that would have otherwise slashed through its abdomen (or at least where Inuyasha suspected was its abdomen).

"I told you, you won't touch her," Inuyasha growled angrily, repeating once again what he already said multiple times during the fight. His eyes shone like they never had before. Had Kagome been there, she would have been surprised at the sheer killing intent coming off from him – it was almost as if he were a different person altogether.

He didn't fail to notice something rather interesting, if not even reassuring. 'Just now, it didn't disintegrate, it dodged. So… It can't disintegrate if it just took on its physical form,' the black haired priest though, the grip on his sword tightening as he jumped forward, deciding to go on the offensive. If his best chance to cut the demon was after it stopped pretending to be smoke, then he just had to force it to disintegrate and then strike when it materialized again.

The demon seemed to realize what he had learned, however, for each time it avoided him with his ghost-like ability, it made a point to take on its physical form when it was far enough from Inuyasha to strike immediately. After a few moments of such ridiculous cat and mouse game, Inuaysha's movements slowed as he tried to force his breathing to do the same. 'This is getting me nowhere,' he grumbled in his thoughts.

Just then, the yōkai attacked again and Inuyasha blocked the blow, noticing the attack a second too late to attempt a dodge. Seiryuu glowed brighter once again and electric sparks shot from the blade as the demon's claw came in contact with it, but it only jumped back for a millisecond before striking again, now forcing Inuyasha on the defensive as he noticed, not for the first time that somehow, while Seiryuu was unable to touch the yōkai while attacking, it was more than capable of keeping it at bay and blocking its claws.

Stepping slowly backwards from the force of the blows and with no way to break away from the continuous onslaught, Inuyasha grit his teeth and waited, hoping to eventually find an opening to strike without risking losing his head in the process. It wasn't until his back hit the wall that he got one, and he didn't waste any time using it, trying to cut the demon down with a diagonal slash, missing once again as it turned to smoke and flew towards the middle of the room.

Panting slightly, Inuyasha followed it slowly, knowing better than to stay pinned to the wall where he had limited movement. He stopped dead in his tracks, however, when suddenly, just as the demon took on its physical form again, a bright, shining oval appeared behind it, the sudden light blinding the teen for a short moment. He thought he saw something fall out of said oval before he was forced to close his eyes, but he wasn't quite sure.

When his eyes got somewhat used to the sudden source of light, Inuyasha looked at his opponent again, squinting as the light still blinded him. He saw enough to see something that made a cold shiver run down his spine.

On his eyes, the yōkai in front of him was surrounding itself in some sort of grey smoke. It was different from the smoke it had become each time it disintegrated, but that wasn't what bothered the black haired priest. The fact that he knew exactly what kind of smoke this was did. 'It's like when Sesshōmaru turned into that gigantic dog-form,' he thought, images of the great daiyōkai changing flashing before his eyes for a second before all he could see was the yōkai before him. 'Don't tell me this thing… it has some a real form, too? This wasn't its real form up until now?' he thought a little frantically, unable to help the little bit of fear he was feeling. He had seen only one demon ever reveal its true form and that was Sesshōmaru (that nameless ōkami from a few days back just didn't count). If this things true form was anything like his… how was Inuyasha supposed to fight it?

His eyes fell on Kagome for a second, who lay a little ways away to his left. The demon seemed to have forgotten about her for now, but the moment it remembered, it would want to devour her. He couldn't allow that. He had to protect her!

Steeling his resolve, Inuyasha focused once again on his opponent, just in time to see the demon change.

The dark smoke-like thing enveloping its body (except for its limbs) suddenly became more dense and flew apart, taking on the form of black angel-like wings, though they originated from the creature's neck, instead of its back. Long claws resembling scissors more than anything else suddenly grew from the tiny hands and many spikes also appeared on the yōkai's legs and elbows. But that wasn't what shook Inuyasha the most – the now-revealed torso and abdomen of the creature did.

There wasn't a single strand of meet, muscle or skin on the demon's body (if it deserved to be called such), giving Inuyasha the perfect view of not only perfectly white bones of the spine and the ribcage, but also all the organs housed between them, though most had definitely seen better days.

Some of them were brown or green or the mix of the two. Others were showing signs of fungi growing on them. Others still were cut open, bleeding profusely and coating the rest of the creature's body in blood, except for the bones which miraculously stayed clean. There didn't seem to be even one organ that escaped decay, except for the heart – but that was because it wasn't even there, the veins and the artery that should lead to it leading into nothing and allowing more blood to fall onto the other organs like a small waterfall.

All the liquid didn't seem to bother those who seemed to live within the yōkai's body, however. Countless flies wandered here and there, some as big as a human's thumb. A rat nose or two could be seen from one of the cut-open organs (Inuyasha suspected it was the kidney), the rodents shamelessly munching on what seemed to be their home, along with many other bugs Inuyasha couldn't quite identify – not that he was really trying to.

Inuyasha's sword shook in his hands and he looked away from the gruesome sight, trying to calm his flipping stomach and calm his raging nerves. That was a mistake, however, as the demon lunged at him just then, the wings flapping madly and making it go even faster. It was just dumb luck that Inuyasha hadn't died right then and there – dumb luck that he couldn't yet control his spiritual powers.

A sudden sound of electric shocks brought him back to reality and Inuyasha's head snapped up only to see the demon a few centimeters away from him, its long claws trying to reach for him but being blocked by a barrier the black haired teen had subconsciously erected. In Seiryuu's light, which was once again stronger than before, Inuyasha saw the demon's head again, which had also changed after its transformation.

The brownish skull was cracked in many places and there was a hole in it on the right side, where an ear should be, revealing a disturbing, bluish-yellow liquid within that threatened to spill any second, yet miraculously stayed within the confines of the bone. Two twin rivers of blood flowed from the jackal's eye-sockets, although those were no longer empty, tiny, red, beadlike eyes glaring at Inuyasha angrily through the barrier, seemingly caring very little for the spiritual energy trying to fry the claws that tried to swipe at him.

For a moment, they stayed like that, barely a centimeter from each other as the yōkai tried unsuccessfully to break through the barrier. That was, until Inuyasha felt the sword shake in his hands even more strongly than before, though this time more out of fatigue than anything else. 'Pull yourself together, baka!' the black haired teen yelled at himself, trying to shake off the fear and disgust that suddenly made moving very hard. 'You wanted to prove you weren't weak! That you could fight for yourself and didn't need protection! Well then act like it!'

Invigorated by his own words, Inuyasha glared at the demon in front of him and pushed it back with renewed determination. He wouldn't be defeated by the likes of this thing. He was stronger than that, damn it, and it was time he proved it – and not only to himself.

Throwing the demon off him, Inuyasha tried to slice through it with a vertical slash, but the demon merely sidestepped and thrust its claws towards his head. Ducking to avoid the blow, Inuyasha then rolled away as the same claw tried to come down on his back. He got back up just in time to block another slash of the long claws, his blade glowing brighter briefly and shooting sparks until the demon retreated.

Following after it, Inuyasha prepared to swing his sword horizontally, but when he did, the demon dodged it. Unfazed by it, Inuyasha followed his blade's movement like he had seen Kagome do many times, switching hands mid turn to gain more speed and slicing again while taking a step forward to extend his reach.

He would have hit had the demon not chosen that very moment to fly into the air, although it seemed it had not escaped a bit of Inuyasha's spiritual assault, as Seiruyy once again sent little lightning bolts towards his opponent. It wasn't anywhere near enough to purify it, though and Inuyasha cursed under his breath.

Attacking from its position above him, the demon extended its claws to strike and Inuyasha barely managed to avoid it, causing the demon to crash into the ground, its claws getting stuck in the wood. Deciding to use his opponents momentary inability to move, Inuyasha stepped in for the kill, his sword raised high above his head before he brought it down with both hands, the blade easily embedding itself in the demons neck – although to Inuyasha's great surprise, it didn't pass right through like he wanted it to.

The close contact with a source of shouki, however, caused the blade to glow almost while as it literally exploded with electrical discharge stronger than Inuyasha had even seen. He couldn't help but smirk at the sight, though, more than persuaded that no yōkai couldn't be purified by that. It was over. He had won.

[/T]

Unfortunately, because of the bright light his own blade emitted, he couldn't see anything around him. Which is why he hadn't seen one of the yōkai's wings move until it was too late. It slammed into him with enough force to not only force him to let go of his sword, but to even throw him against the wall on the other side of the room, where he slid to the ground.

His head was pounding and he was slightly dizzy, but he was still aware enough to realize what was happening in front of him, so he saw the yōkai fly towards him, Seiryuu long since ripped out of its body and forgotten somewhere on the ground. Inuyasha saw it… but was unable to control his body enough to do anything about it, suddenly realizing just how drained he felt – as though all his strength had leaked out of him like water from a leaking bucket.

The yōkai would have most likely gotten to him, too, had it not been for the arrow that suddenly cut through the air and imbedded itself in one of the wings, effectively bringing the yōkai down. Blinking to clear his still-spinning vision and to reassure himself he had indeed seen it right, Inuyasha slowly turned his head to see where the arrow had come from and his eyes widened in surprise. 'Kagome…?' he wondered, a part of him somehow finding the energy to be angry at himself. She had saved him again.

As for Kagome, she allowed herself a small sigh of relief when her arrow hit, although she cursed the fact that it had glowed blue before it hit its mark. She had forgotten Inuyasha had also used his powers on her bow and that its arrows were holy when he was around – and this was one battle where reiki and houriki were really uncalled for.

She and Miroku had just gotten out of the portal they had followed the Baku through, and had been lucky enough to find themselves exactly where Inuyasha currently was, along with what Kagome believed was the Baku and an unconscious image of herself which had quickly dissolved into thin air – apparently, the same person couldn't coexist in the dream with the dream image of him or herself.

The demon and Inuyasha were in a heated fight, and although Kagome had wanted to help, there wasn't any way for her or Miroku to enter the fray at first. In the light of the situation, she had remained where she landed with her bow at the ready, while Miroku slowly circled the fighting pair, looking for an opening of his own.

Watching the ongoing fight, Kagome had to admit that Inuyasha was faring much better than she expected. The only problem was his lack of control of his priest powers and the fact that this particular opponent could feed on it. Which was why she had prepared her bow the moment Inuyasha managed to strike the demon's neck, but was unable to fully behead it, for unlike him, she expected the yōkai to retaliate. She didn't blame him for not expecting it – he was not yet aware of what he was dealing with, after all, and so it was normal for him to assume a reiki-blast like the one just now would finish the yōkai off. In any other case, he wouldn't have been wrong, either. Kagome couldn't help but worry, however, when she saw the way the black haired kannushi had been blasted against the wall.

Slowly, the demon got up from the ground and easily ripped the arrow out of its wing, snarling savagely at her. Hardly paying attention to it or to the yōkai's looks, she aimed another arrow at the demon. She wasn't really planning on hitting it, of course, that would only strengthen it. But she had to find a way to make it leave. She had to get to Inuyasha and make sure he was alright. Killing this thing would have to wait. She doubted she'd be able to do it before sundown in the real world, anyway.

As the demon stalked towards Kagome, Inuyasha forced himself to slowly get up from the ground, ignoring his pounding headache or the pain coursing through his body from his encounter with the wall. One little hit wouldn't keep him down and he was done letting Kagome protect him all the time. This time, they'd fight together.

He had just reached his sword when he heard her scream, and his head whipped around to see what was happening, his eyes widening at the sight.

"Kagome!" he yelled as he quickly grabbed his sword and stood, intent on getting to the demon and stopping it from doing… whatever it was doing, his legs quivering only slightly beneath his weight, proving him to be more tired than he thought – quite abnormally so after one little fight, he couldn't help but notice.

But the hanyō-turned-human hadn't screamed out of pain or fear, but rather surprise. Whatever she had expected the demon to do, it definitely wasn't producing some sort of black gas that would surround her. It quickly turned out it was rather harmless, or at least that what it seemed like and she was about to draw her arrow again when the smoke brushed against her bow. It reacted instantly, pink energy shooting in all directions wildly, forcing Kagome to close her eyes and almost causing her to drop her bow. The fact that she held on didn't mean much, though, since as suddenly as the bow's reaction started, it also stopped and the wood broke in her hands, something within Kagome breaking along with it.

Surprised at the sudden pain originating from her chest, although she was certain she wasn't bleeding, Kagome fell to her knees next to the remains of her bow as the black gas slowly retreated. The black haired girl followed its path towards the demon and then looked up just in time to see it wasn't headed exactly towards the demon… but towards the priest approaching it from behind.

"Inuyasha, look out!" she yelled as loud as she could, but it was already too late and the gas (or maybe it was fog?) surrounded him swiftly. Not long after that, bright blue light shone somewhere from the inside, but not one sound was heard. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. That gas was sucking the priest it had captured completely dry of his reiki. "INUYASHA!" Kagome screamed in terror, unable to do anything to help him right at this moment – since her own encounter with the fog-like thing had somehow affected her also, though she still didn't quite understand how – and hating herself for it. But in that moment, a staff came soaring through the air, cutting through the gas as it went and effectively dispersing it before it slammed hardly against the yōkai's skull, succeeding in confusing it. In the next second, the monk, who had up until then been waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike ran straight in front of the demon and held out his right hand, easily ripping the prayer beads off.

"Kazaana!" he called as the black hole within his hand opened and started to suck everything in front of him, including the gas that had by then retreated from Inuyasha's form and obviously tried to get back to its master, or capture a third victim, which ultimately led to its demise. The demon did a formidable job of trying to resist the wind, but in the end, there wasn't anything that could withstand the Air Rip, especially not at point blank range. With a howl, the demon struck the ground, causing a small explosion that sent a cloud of debris in the monks direction, though all of it was sucked in easily. Weakened by the hit, the old wood that covered the floor crumbled under Miroku's feet, forcing him to close the Air Rip, lest he sucked in someone whom he shouldn't suck in while falling.

"Miroku-sama!" Kagome called when the wind died down, easily noticing the new hole in the ground and the lack of both houshi and yōkai in the room. Slowly standing up, she shook her head to clear it and walked towards the hole, glancing cautiously into it. She didn't know if it was very deep or not, but it was definitely dark enough down there for her not to see the bottom. "Miroku-sama, are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me, Kagome-sama!" came the reply from within. It didn't sound very far away, so the hole couldn't be very deep and Kagome didn't know whether to be happy about it or not. On one hand, it was precisely because the hole wasn't very deep that Miroku hadn't been hurt thanks to the fall. On the other hand, the deeper it was, the less likely it was for the demon to try to fly back out, so there was a rather big chance it would come soaring back and Kagome didn't really think that fighting it in that very moment was a good idea.

She was brought out of her frantic musings by the sounds of something breaking down there, along with a muffled curse and a howl. Taking a wild guess, she figured Miroku was keeping the demon busy. Biting her lip anxiously, Kagome fought to remain calm and think logically what her best course of action was. 'I can't be of any help right now, anyway. And Inuyasha even less so,' she thought, resisting the urge to run to him right away. She had to make sure they were safe first and staying where they were didn't count as safe. Worried as she was, she couldn't allow herself to freak out right now. She knew better than that. 'Out of all of us, Miroku-sama has the biggest chance of surviving. He's human and very used to battle, unlike me who's weakened because I'm human. And unlike Inuyasha, he can control his houriki, so the demon shouldn't get much to eat from this fight,' she acknowledged to herself. So it was rather obvious that there was only one thing she could do.

"I'll keep it busy for a while, Kagome-sama, you see after Inuyasha," came Miroku's call again, his idea being exact the same as hers. She nodded, despite the fact that the monk couldn't see it.

"We'll catch up to you later, Miroku-sama. Don't you dare dying before we do," she yelled back into the hole, then stood back up without waiting for a response. Biting her lip in worry, she walked over to Inuyasha, who had yet to move after falling to the ground once Miroku had freed him from the smoke, or whatever it was. Kagome refused to give in to her worry and slight panic at how immobile he was, though. 'First thing's first. We need to get somewhere where I can keep watch on my surroundings more easily,' she thought. Indeed, the room they were in now was far from what she considered safe in the current situation. There were too many doors, not to mention the hole in the ground. There was no way she could keep watch on all of them at the same time, and she knew she couldn't trust her senses to tell her when something came at her from behind right now.

The only other problem was, there was no way she could move Inuyasha very far. She might have been able to carry him on her back as a hanyō, but since she was now human, she seriously doubted she would be able to it just as easily.

Walking swiftly from one door to the next, Kagome quickly realized she was in luck, for one of them led into something akin to a closet. It was a small room with very little space to spare, but there was only one door leading there, so she'd easily be able to keep watch on it. Of course, fighting in such close quarters would be difficult, but she wasn't planning to fight for now. What she was looking for was a place to hide and this was perfect.

Nodding to herself, Kagome quickly walked back over to Inuyasha and attempted to lift him up. She was quick to realize, however, that in her current state, she wouldn't manage even that. Huffing, she did the only other thing she could and dragged the limp teen into the room, her worry slowly getting the better of her as he remained unresponsive. 'He feels like dead weight,' she couldn't help but think, but quickly banished the thought. 'Don't think like that! He isn't dead. He isn't dead!' she chastised herself. She could still almost hear a sadistic voice whisper in her head saying: 'he isn't dead yet', but she refused to believe he'd die so easily. He was stronger than that. He had to be stronger than that!

Unable to control her emotions any longer, Kagome quickly slid the door to their hiding spot shut and fell on her knees next to Inuyasha. She didn't fail to notice that he still hadn't moved a muscle, or that he seemed to be paler than she recalled his complexion to be. Biting her lip in worry, she slowly reached out a hand to touch his face, almost jerking away when she noticed how cool to the touch he was. Not deathly cold yet, but well on the way there.

[T]

This was the first time Kagome remembered ever truly cursing the fact that she was currently human. Usually, it didn't bother her that much, despite all the weaknesses she knew she had compared to her hanyō-form. But she made do even then without complain. To her, the fact that she turned human once a month was just part of who she was, part of her legacy to her mixed blood and to detest it would be to detest herself and the two people who gave life to her.

However, right now wasn't usually. Right now, she wished she could be hanyō this very moment just to reassure herself that the future-born teen wasn't dead. If she were hanyō, she'd be able to hear his heartbeat and smell… or rather not smell death on him. But as a human, her senses weren't anywhere near strong enough for her to hear or smell something that would indicate that Inuyasha was indeed still alive, and she didn't know how humans checked each other to see if they were alive. She never needed to know, so she never learned, plain and simple. Now, she regretted it.

'Come on, Inuyasha… Don't you dare die on me… Don't you fucking dare,' Kagome thought desperately as she frantically searched him for any sign of life, but sadly coming up empty handed. The black haired girl blinked a couple of times when her eyes suddenly seemed to burn slightly, slowly getting rid of the sensation as she slowly leaned over the unconscious teen. 'Come on, Inuyasha…'

"You can't be dead… you can't be, you hear," she finished aloud, once again blinking when her eyes burned again before stopping. When the sensation faded, Kagome gasped slightly as an idea entered her mind. Of course, she couldn't hear his heartbeat right now because of her weakened hearing… but if she got closer to the source, then even her weakened hearing should hear a heartbeat, right?

Nodding to herself, Kagome slowly leaned forward, pressing her ear to Inuyasha's chest, hoping with every fiber of her being that she'd hear something. She stayed like that for a few seconds, slowly losing hope when she finally caught a sound from beneath the bones that protected the one muscle she wanted to hear working. Sighing in relief, the hanyō-turned human sat back up, although her worried frown had yet to dissipate. Yes, she could hear his heartbeat… but it was so weak… like any beat could be the last…

Kagome shook her head. 'Don't think like that,' she chastised herself. 'Inuyasha's strong. He'll get out of it. He'll be fine. He'll be fine.'

But no matter what she told herself, the burning behind her eyes wouldn't stop anymore. Biting her lip and blinking a few times again, Kagome tried to reign her emotions with an iron fist, like she usually did. But as a human, that control had always been more frail and easier to overcome, so eventually, despite all her tries to stop them, tears slowly built in her eyes and spilled outside of the confinement of her eyelids to flow down her cheeks.

That was why, when Inuyasha finally came to, he thought it was raining, for a few droplets of water landed on his face. But when he opened his eyes, he quickly found out that the water was no raindrops, because he was under a roof. Frowning, he glanced to his side to see a very human Kagome beside him.

"Kagome?" he asked slowly, for some reason he himself couldn't name unsure if it was really her. Something just wasn't right with the picture he was seeing.

"Inuyasha," Kagome replied as he slowly sat up, holding a hand to his pounding head and trying to stop his vision from spinning. He was dizzy and he felt weak, like he had absolutely no muscles in his whole body. What the hell happened to him? "You're OK," the black haired girl beside him spoke, her voice more relieved than he had ever heard it before.

"Yeah," Inuyasha said slowly as he turned to face her. "What…?" he started, wanting to ask what had happened to him, but stopping short as soon as he got a good look at the should-be-hanyō and immediately noticing why he thought something wasn't right.

Kagome was crying.

Stunned, Inuyasha could only stare at her for a few moments. He had never seen her cry before. He never thought he ever would, either. She just seemed too strong to shed tears for any reason. She wasn't a person he'd ever expect to cry – not because she was unable to, but because she was above it, above showing any sign of weakness. And yet, he was now seeing proof of the opposite. And he already knew he never wanted to see her cry again – just like with his mother, or any other woman for that matter.

"Kagome," he started slowly, his voice unsure as he kept his eyes on her, unable to look away. "Why are you… why were you crying?" he corrected himself when he saw her wipe away the tears, as if trying to hide them. The question came out slowly and unsurely out of his mouth while he asked himself if it was really a wise idea to ask. He didn't want to cause more tears to fall.

But luckily, Kagome didn't seem upset over the question, merely lowering the hand she had used to wipe away the last proof of her momentary lose of emotional control from her face and looking away with a half-angry frown. 'Because I'm a human and as such can't control my emotions as well as I can as a hanyō,' she thought irritably. It was by all means true and it would, in a way, answer his question. But Kagome surprised even herself when instead of avoiding the answer she knew Inuyasha wanted, she told him the truth.

"I was crying because I was scared," she whispered, not daring to look him in the eye. She hated how weak she must have looked right then. She didn't even remember the last time she had allowed anyone to see her so vulnerable. But somehow, she knew Inuyasha wouldn't use it to his advantage. With him, she somehow knew she could let her guard down if only a little bit. She could show him a part of herself she hadn't showed anyone in a long time, fifty years worth of sleep or not.

'Scared? Of what?' Inuyasha wondered, his eyes never leaving the suddenly frail girl in front of him. Never in a million years would he have expected to see Kagome acting like she was now. But another part of him understood what this was all about. Somewhere deep down, he knew that she was allowing him to see a part of herself she had kept hidden from most other people. And seeing this other side of her made him want to protect her even more than before. It wasn't just because he was the guy and she the girl, at least not anymore. For once, she looked like she needed protection and Inuyasha found himself wanting to be the one providing it.

'The only thing I can think of would be that demon…' he thought with a frown. The idea seemed so foreign to him he wanted to laugh out loud. Kagome, scared to tears of a demon? That just wasn't possible. But what else could she be scared of if not that? There wasn't a thing that came to mind. He sighed.

"Never thought I'd see the day when you'd be scared to tears of a demon," he muttered, only too late realizing that he had actually said it aloud. Wincing, he braced himself for the angry yell he knew was coming. He wanted to cheer her up, yes, but it had come out all wrong! She'd be pissed now… but then again, he definitely preferred dealing with an angry Kagome than with a sad, scared, or (even worse) crying one.

He didn't expect her to get mad enough to slap him, though.

"I wasn't scared of the yōkai, you idiot, I was scared you would die!" she all but yelled at him, effectively causing Inuyasha to freeze as he slowly turned to glance at her, since his head had snapped to the side from the force of her hit. Absentmindedly raising a hand to his stinging cheek, Inuyasha blinked, staring at Kagome with wide, unbelieving eyes.

"Scared… I'd die?" he repeated slowly. It wasn't so much that he was surprised that he had apparently been in a situation that might have potentially cost him his life. He was more surprised that this was the reason for her tears. 'She was crying… for… my sake? She was shedding genuine tears… the first tears I ever saw her shed… for… me?' he thought slowly, disbelief practically coursing through his veins. Kagome only huffed.

"Yeah," she said quietly as she looked away from him, an angry gleam in her eyes. "Remind me next time not to care," she added after a while, a bitter undertone to her voice. Here she was worrying about him… and he was mocking her! Or at least that was what it looked like.

Neither of them said anything for a longer while after that, both trying to regain control of their feelings after that rather unpleasant conversation. Kagome had removed herself from Inuyasha's side in favor of sitting next to the door, where she could keep sound-watch on what was going on in the other room better. Inuyasha didn't know why, but her sudden cold treatment of him made him feel like he had done something awful. He hadn't wanted to upset her so much, though. He just didn't know how to handle crying women. He sighed. That wasn't really an excuse, was it.

"I'm sorry," he finally said into the silence, his head lowering when Kagome didn't seem to acknowledge his apology. She had to be really peeved then. He winced inwardly, but pressed on, anyway. "I… didn't mean it like that." he said slowly. What 'like that' meant, he himself wasn't sure, but he left that for Kagome to interpret. "I just… I didn't think…"

"It's alright," Kagome interrupted his stuttering. "I overreacted, anyway. I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have hit you."

"As if it hurt," Inuyasha snorted, causing Kagome to raise an eyebrow. 'The way you were just rubbing your still-red cheek says otherwise,' she thought, but wisely refrained from saying it aloud. It wouldn't do start another argument when they were just apologizing for the previous one. Shrugging, Kagome continued as if she hadn't been interrupted.

"From what little I saw of your time, it's very different from mine. Safer. You don't have to worry about losing your life every second. So I guess 'worrying the other person wouldn't be there with you in a few moments' isn't exactly part of the definition of friendship of the people from your time."

He understood what she was saying, of course. She meant she wasn't mad for his misinterpretation of the reason why she had been scared. Her explanation would have worked in most cases, too. Sure, people still died of other things than old age and illness in his world, too, but it wasn't as often as in the feudal era, so while 'friends' in his time would have worried for each other if one of them had been hurt, the idea of death wasn't on everyone's mind every moment of the day, like it was in Kagome's time, where you just couldn't know when your last minute would come. Any day could be your last here.

But that wasn't the real reason why he hadn't thought that she might have been crying for his sake. The real reason was that he never thought anyone except his mother would ever bother. Why would they? He was just another person among thousands of people in Tokyo, and if his reputation had been anything to go by, he wouldn't be one of the better people, either. If something ever happened to him, no one would really care, except his mother. That's what he had thought. The only person who could ever shed tears for him would be his mother – and since he hated to see her cry, he made a point to not give her a reason to. But anyone else? Why would they? They didn't know him, they didn't care for him. If he had any friends, maybe there would be someone… but the truth of the matter was that he didn't have any friends. In fact… Kagome was the first friend he had ever had. And even though he had thought of her as a friend before, he never thought she'd care so much for his life. Sure, she protected him when he needed it, as much as he might hate that fact, but he always thought it was more because of the Jewel than anything else – since he was the only one who could protect it.

But it seemed Kagome had more than just that one reason.

"Kagome…" Inuyasha said lowly, causing the half-demon-turned-human to turn her head and glance at him.

"Yeah?" she asked just as softly, causing him to blink and look away.

"No… it's nothing," he said, hoping her weakened eye-sight couldn't detect the blush that was now covering his cheeks. Without turning his head, he glanced at her through his bangs, not wanting to be caught staring. He couldn't help the small smile that slowly formed on his face as he kept his eyes on her, though.

He had once thought that he didn't need any friends and that he would be just fine on his own. Now he was wondering how he could ever repay Kagome for showing him how wrong he had been and for giving him the gift of her friendship.

Of course, he wasn't aware that for her, his presence by her side was payment enough.

[/T]

"How are you feeling?" the young girl suddenly asked, breaking the silence again.

"I'm fine," Inuyasha replied easily, ignoring his still pounding headache. He was less dizzy than before, but his vision was still spinning a little and he was feeling a bit nauseous. She didn't need to know that, though, plus, it wasn't nearly enough to keep him down. Kagome raised an eyebrow.

"Are you really?" she asked skeptically. Inuyasha glared at her.

"You think I'm lying?" he asked her with narrowed eyes, causing Kagome to sigh.

"Sorry," she said softly. "It's just that you're the type of guy to say you're fine even though you're not because you're afraid it would make you look weak. But right now, I'm human, so I can't say if you're lying or not. And in case you are and we're attacked again after we get out of this room… I wish I could guarantee I could keep you safe, but I can't. Not as I'm now," she admitted, refusing to look at him as to not let him see how afraid she actually was of the idea of failing him. She had allowed him to see more of her true self than she ever thought she would, anyway.

Inuyasha bit his lip as he looked down at his lap. Part of him felt guilty. Kagome was only worrying for him and all he was doing was making her worry more – exactly like with his mother, when he didn't want either to worry about him. Another part of him was angry that she still seemed to think him too weak to protect himself. He didn't know how to react to her words at first, but in the end, the angry part of him won out… kind of.

"I can protect myself you know. I'm not as weak as I was before. I can fight," he said in a low tone, a bit of his anger detectable in his words. Kagome shook her head.

"Not against this demon, you can't. Not if you consider what it eats," she replied calmly, completely nonplused about the rage she knew was mounting within the priest. "It's not that I think you're weak. It's just that this is a demon you can't fight," she said quickly, wanting to avoid another outburst and possible argument. They really didn't need a conflict between then right now. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, trying to make heads or tails of what she was saying, but sadly being unsuccessful.

"What do you mean?" he finally asked and Kagome gave a mental sigh of relief that he was willing to listen to her first, instead of jumping to conclusions.

"Do you even know what we're dealing with?" she asked, although she was well aware of what the answer would be.

"No. But you seem to know," Inuyasha replied, but didn't elaborate. The unasked question didn't hang long in the air, either.

"It's a Baku."

"A Baku? Like… those creatures that devour nightmares and bestow us with good dreams?" Inuyasha asked, stunned. Kagome blinked and turned her head to look at him. He shrugged at the question in her eyes. "What? There's some myth about them in my time," he said defensively. He might hate legends, but he did knowthe absolute basics, especially since he lived at a shrine and representations of Baku were common at Shinto Shrines and Buddhist temples as a way to ward off evil.

"Then that 'myth' of yours is pretty off," Kagome replied. "Although I would have preferred if your version was the correct one… unless it is for people who don't have something the Baku wants, that's possible, too," the young half-demon pondered aloud, only managing to confuse Inuyasha further.

"Would you mind explaining this a little more clearly?" he finally interrupted her, his voice sounding just a tad bit irritated. Kagome blinked, as if only now realizing she had been talking aloud. Nodding, she leaned against the wall and repeated everything she had learned from Miroku.

"According to Miroku-sama, Baku are creatures that exist only in the dream realm. As does everything they need to survive, food included. Well, their food exists in the real world, too, but they get to it through dreams. Basically, they drag you into a dream you won't want to wake up from and once they have you believing it's truly reality and they have you in their grasp, they turn that dream into a living nightmare, while still keeping you persuaded that it's actually reality. Then they fight you, thus getting from you what they want – their food, which is reiki and houriki. And if they succeed in sucking you dry of it, you die," she said quickly, barely hiding how uncomfortable she was admitting that last part. "Do you see now? You can't fight the Baku. It's not that you're weak. It's just that with your control of your powers, all you'd achieve in doing is feed it and make it stronger," she said, willing him to understand. 'And probably die in the process,' she added in her thoughts, but refused to say it aloud. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was a lot stronger than at the beginning already, either," she muttered under her breath. "You fought it well, but you also, more likely than not, gave it quite a feast, too… not that I'm any better," she added after a while, her mind slowly wandering back to her broken bow. It didn't take a genius to figure out why it had given way. The old wood was just too weak without the support of the spiritual powers.

"A demon feeding on spiritual powers? How does that work? I thought they were supposed to purify yōkai?"

"I didn't think it was possible, either," Kagome admitted. "But that's the way it is and the fact remains that because of the way things are, you can't fight. And neither should Miroku-sama."

"You shouldn't fight it, either," Inuyasha countered, but before he could say anything more, Kagome interrupted him gently.

"I'm not planning on fighting it as I'm now," she said. "The plan is to wait until sunset, because then I'll turn into a hanyō again. Once my youki is back, the Baku can't do anything against me."

Inuyasha didn't answer her, opting instead for looking away with an angry scowl on his face. Of course, he understood that this time, she didn't want him to sit back and watch because she thought he was too weak to fight. But even though him fighting could only make things worse, he wasn't planning on letting the half demon fight alone. He was sick of letting her fight for him. It was time she fought alongside him. So he couldn't control his powers very well, big deal. They hadn't reacted to yōkai at the beginning when he wanted them to, he could make them unresponsive again.

Kagome, however, seemed to know exactly what he was thinking, because in the next moment, she was right in front of him with one hand on his shoulder while the other turned his head to make him look at her. She sighed.

"I know you hate to stay out of the fight," she said as she slowly moved her hand from his face to his other shoulder. He blinked, stunned at her sudden proximity and didn't say anything, allowing Kagome to use the silence to continue. "I know you hate it and I know you want to prove to me and everyone else that you aren't as weak as you think others believe you are. But… Please, Inuyasha… let me fight without getting involved. Let me protect you just this one, last time. Please," she pleaded softly, something in her voice causing Inuyasha's will to refuse to crumble.

'This one… last time?' he repeated in his mind. Did she mean she wouldn't ask of him to stand back and let her fight ever again? That he could finally fight alongside her from now on and protect her like he always should have? He certainly hoped that was what she meant, and with the way she was looking at him, he found himself unable to refuse, anyway… though it was more than likely that if push came to shove, he'd barge into the fight either way.

Unbeknownst to him, however, Kagome had meant something completely different. Of course, Miroku told her she had a small chance of surviving, should she defeat the Baku while within someone else's dream. Small, not none. But she knew better than to trust in such a small chance. She highly doubted to get out of this encounter with the Baku alive. Surprising even herself, though, she realized that she didn't care. So long as Inuyasha was safe and sound and awake at the end of it, she could die without fear or regret – his safety was more important to her than even her own life, though she had to wonder just when it had become thus.

Before Inuyasha could answer Kagome's plea, a loud noise from somewhere not very far interrupted them and Kagome's head jerked towards the closed door of the walk-in closet they were in. 'I think the fight is moving back here,' she thought with a frown, only now truly realizing just how much time has passed since Miroku had been separated from them. It was high time to find and help the monk – trained as he was, there was no guarantee nothing would happen.

"We should get a move on… if you're really fine," she said slowly, moving back to the sliding door.

"I am," Inuyasha replied slowly and moved to stand, surprising even himself when he didn't stop there and actually admitted he wasn't as fine as he pretended to be. "Just a little dizzy," he said as he stood, immediately reaching out a hand to steady himself against the wall when the dark room spun dangerously and his knees threatened to give way. Kagome shot him a worried look, obviously weighing her options. Inuyasha didn't fail to notice that, but didn't get to reassure her he was ready to go, because she spoke first.

"Alright, thanks for admitting that," she said with a soft smile. "Then if you think you're ready to go, we'll get going. But if it gets any worse, I don't want you to push yourself, got it?" she asked seriously and Inuyasha nodded. Satisfied, Kagome slowly opened the door and glanced into the empty room, making sure it was indeed empty. When she was positive no one was there, she pushed the door open fully and stepped out of the closet, Inuyasha following slowly behind her, his dizziness fading slowly – though sadly, the same couldn't be said for his pounding headache.

Instead of immediately leaving he room, however, Kagome found herself approaching what little was left of her bow and kneeling beside its remains. There wasn't much. Only a few splinters and the magatama, the only part of the bow which hadn't been crushed by the demon's youki. Sighing sadly, the currently-human girl slowly reached out her hand and gathered the little beads, wanting to keep at least a shadow of her now-broken connection with Kikyo with her. Once she had tucked the beads safely away, she turned back to her companion and motioned for him to follow her, which he did without a word.

For the next few minutes, they just walked around pretty much aimlessly without a word. It didn't take them very long to find the monk they were looking for, though, a fact Kagome was grateful for. They found him in one of the worse-looking rooms of the inn, hidden among the mutilated corpses of the people the yōkai had previously devoured, the shadows doing a very good job of hiding the fact he was still alive and not nearly as cut up as the bodies around him. It was actually pure luck Kagome and Inuyasha hadn't missed him, he was that perfectly still.

"Ah, you are both alright. I'm glad to see it hadn't caught you again," the monk said quietly, keeping his voice down so the demon wouldn't be alerted to where they were, in case it was near.

"Good to see you're alive, too," Inuyasha replied, although his voice seemed a little strained. Kagome quirked an eyebrow in question at his sudden, seeming unease, but he didn't see it in the dim light. He still ended up answering her silent inquiry, though. "But why did you have to hide here of all places?" he asked, making Miroku also raise his eyebrows in question.

"It is the best spot to hide," he replied as if it was obvious. "Though the Baku doesn't feed on meet, it pretends to be a carnivore-yōkai for now, so it will act like any other carnivore-demon. It won't look twice at a plate it knows it had already emptied. But I have to wonder why it would take on this form… I didn't think a mere carnivore-demon would be all it took to scare you, Inuyasha," he explained, a little mischievous smirk on his face as he teased the future-born teen. Inuyasha huffed in annoyance.

"I wasn't scared of it," he said hotly.

"Probably not of the demon per say," Kagome said gently when she finally understood what this was all about. "But probably disturbed by what you saw it do, right?"

She didn't really expect him to answer. It was more of a rhetorical question than anything else, really. She couldn't help but laugh bitterly in her mind, though. 'What irony,' she couldn't help but think. 'I had left the inn because I didn't want Inuyasha to see how cruel humans could be in this time. Instead, he learned just how horrible yōkai can get. I doubt that's any better.'

Just as she predicted, Inuyasha didn't answer, but he didn't need to. The answer was written all over his face and she knew she had hit the nail on the head. The young should-be-hanyō sighed.

"Better get used to it. This might be a dream, but it's based on grim reality," she finally said. Her words made Inuyasha freeze.

"What? You mean to tell me demons like this thing exist in the real world?" he asked with wide eyes.

"Does that surprise you? Did you think demons were tame creatures that just sometimes got out of control?" Miroku asked then, also seeming pretty stunned, but for different reasons. "If so, my friend, then you need a reality-check. Because what you see in front of you now is what you'll find more often than not when you get somewhere a yōkai has decided to eat or play around."

"Instead of worrying about that, how about we think of what to do until the sun sets?" Kagome interrupted them. A conversation to explain to Inuyasha just what some demons were capable of wasn't really what she was looking forward to. Miroku surprised her, though, when he actually smiled.

"I believe we won't even need to wait, Kagome-sama," he replied as he slowly got out of his hiding spot, careful not to disturb the bodies around him. Although it was apparent he wasn't bothered by his surroundings as much as Inuyasha was, it was also quite obvious he wasn't feeling at ease, either, and neither did Kagome. As far as everyone in the group was concerned, the sooner they got out of where they currently were the better. Kagome narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean, Miroku-sama?" she finally asked, to which Miroku merely nodded at them to follow him and walked off, Inuyasha and Kagome close behind him.

"As I already told you, Kagome-sama, while only few, there were some spiritualists that managed to survive an encounter with a Baku," Miroku said slowly as they walked. "But we both know they couldn't have done that by defeating the Baku. We spiritualists are hardly able to fight it without strengthening it as we go and making things harder for ourselves."

"If they couldn't fight and kill it to get free, then how did they do it?" Inuyasha asked, mindful of keeping his voice down like Miroku had. He might not want to admit it, but if he could avoid meeting the disgusting creature the Baku pretended to be, he'd only be happy.

"Using that," Miroku said as he suddenly stopped, pointing at something around the corner. Frowning, Inuyasha and Kagome slowly peeked over the wall to see what he meant, the half-demon being mindful of reaching out a hand behind her to stop Miroku's wandering one. She sent him a glare, only to get an innocent smile in response. She huffed, turning her attention back to what he wanted them to see.

It wasn't anything special. In fact, it didn't look out of place at all. It was just a door like any other. The entrance to the inn, to be precise. The only thing remotely weird about it was the tight lock keeping it closed.

"All I see is a door," Inuyasha muttered.

"But the lock on it is kinda suspicious, don't you think?" Kagome pointed out, turning back to look at Miroku again. The monk sighed.

"If we were in a normal inn, outside a dream, then this would lead outside. However, we're inside a dream and the dream-realm we're caught in is this inn. So instead of leading outside, this door should lead to the waking world," Miroku said with a sigh. Kagome nodded in understanding.

"Hence the lock. It wouldn't do if the exit was so easy to access to a potential meal, right?" she said sarcastically. Miroku merely nodded.

"Indeed. But the lock itself isn't the problem. If Inuyasha and I were to combine our remaining powers, we should be able to force it open. Ironically, the lock can be broken by the one thing the Baku wants to get for itself."

"Inuyasha doesn't know how to control his powers, though," Kagome sighed before they could rejoice too soon. But the monk didn't seem overly worried by this.

"That's not the problem. I can guide his powers along mine if need be," he said.

"Then what is the problem?" Inuyasha finally asked. The way this was going, there had to be catch. This was just too easy. And sadly, the black haired teen was not disappointed.

"The problem is, we'd need time to do it. And as soon as we start to fumble with the lock, the Baku will know where we are," Miroku said.

It was in that very moment that Kagome felt a surge of power at her hip. It faded as soon as it appeared, only to surface and disappear again, in the rhythm of a heartbeat. Glancing down at the source of it, Kagome knew there was only one thing which's heartbeat she could feel as well as her own. 'Tessaiga?' she wondered as her hand ran over her sheathed sword. It pulsed again at her touch and a sudden sensation she hadn't noticed she had missed before filled her before the sword went completely silent once again. But Kagome already knew what was going on. It wasn't actually Tessaiga's power she had felt just now. It was her own. She had just transformed in the real world. She was hanyō again. Smirking, she glanced at Miroku and Inuyasha, who were both staring at her with curious expressions.

"If time's all you need, then I can give you time," she said confidently. "You go open the door, I'll keep the thing occupied."

"But Kagome…" Inuyasha started to protest, but didn't get to finish his sentence.

"You don't have to worry, Inuyasha. This demon can't do anything to me anymore. The sun has just set."

That was all it took for both spiritualists to understand what had just happened. Still, that hadn't helped Inuyasha to calm down any. He didn't know why, but he just had a feeling that he shouldn't let Kagome go on her own. As if he'd never see her again if he did. The thought was ridiculous, he knew. Kagome wasn't one to die easily. But he still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something very important that he was missing. Something she wasn't telling him.

"You go open the door. I'll take care of the yōkai," she repeated, her grip on Tessaiga's sheath tightening. "When you open it, call and run through. I'll be right behind you," she assured, locking gazes with Inuyasha in hopes of reassuring him before looking towards Miroku. Her silent message to him wasn't one of reassurance, though. It was rather a plea. One that Miroku seemed to understand as he nodded grimly.

"We'll see you in the waking world then, Kagome-sama," he said, and even though her hanyō-sense weren't yet truly awake, she could already say he was lying and he also knew it. He didn't expect to see her again. And truly, neither did she. "Be careful, it's gotten quite strong during all this time," he added and Kagome nodded in acknowledgment.

"I will. Now go," she said and closed her eyes, willing her youki to come to her and fight against the Baku's hold on her mind, willing herself to transform in this dream, as well. She didn't notice when Miroku and Inuyasha ran off towards the door, but she did notice when her transformation ended and she also noticed when the Baku started to close in on their current location, its steps suddenly much louder to her now much more sensitive hearing.

[T]

Stepping out of her hiding spot, Kagome glanced only once towards the two spiritualists, both concentrating on breaking the lock and thus not noticing her, before turning towards her quickly approaching opponent. Bending her knees, she rested a hand on Tessaiga's hilt and prepared to draw the great fang, knowing she'd need it this time, for her last battle.

She had thought she was ready to lay her life on the line for Inuyasha if need be. Now she knew that was lie, because right now, she wasn't putting her life on the line.

She was throwing it away.

But she really didn't care. As long as Inuyasha lived, that was all that mattered.

It was with those thoughts that Kagome drew Tessaiga and lunged at her opponent as soon as it was close enough.

Hearing the first sounds of battle, Inuyasha's eyes snapped open and he turned his head to glance at the half demon fighting to give them time. She was faring well, not that he should have expected anything less, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that he should be by her side. Or she should be right here with him, anything but her fighting that monster alone.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku's call brought him back to reality and he turned his head back to glance at the other priest. "Concentrate! We have to open this door. The longer we take, the more time Kagome-sama has to win for us," he said urgently.

"I know," Inuyasha snapped. "But…"

"No buts," Miroku interrupted, but his expression was surprisingly gentle for how annoyed he seemed to be. "Listen Inuyasha, fighting isn't always done by crossing weapons with an enemy. You don't always protect someone using only brute force and fighting techniques. You can't always help someone in the way you think you'd help most if you want to actually help," the monk said, slowly, but urgently. "This is one of such situations. You want to help Kagome-sama, right? Well then, concentrate and help me open this door. That's the only way you can help her right now, understand?"

Surprised at Miroku's tone of voice, but understanding his words, Inuyasha nodded and put his hand on the door again, next to Miroku's. A soft, blue glow appeared and the lock gave out a hissing sound, slowly seeming to dissolve. But just then, Inuyasha's concentration was broken again as a loud explosion sounded behind him. Forgetting what Miroku had just told him, he whirled around immediately and the monk had to grab his arm to stop him from running to where Kagome was.

A second explosion blasted the wall a few feet from them to pieces, the Baku flying through it and hitting the wall on the other side of the corridor. It was quick to stand up again and shield itself with its wings just as Kagome came down on it with a spinning-slash. The speed and raw strength of the blow were enough to cut through the wing, but the yōkai had gained enough time to prepare to block and easily caught Tessaiga's blade between its clawed baby-sized hands, bringing Kagome to a halt in mid-air. She scowled as she saw the creature smirk before it made a move to slam her against the ground. She was expecting it, however, and easily turned, using Tessaiga's hilt as support.

Easily bringing herself out of her horizontal position and landing on her feet, even though said landing was a bit rough from the force the demon used to throw her down, Kagome quickly stepped forward without relinquishing her grip on Tessaiga, her other hand swinging in a wide horizontal arc to try and cut the demon in half with her second blade. 'Wait, second blade…?' Inuyasha blinked in surprise. Indeed, Kagome was fighting with two swords instead of one, though where she had gotten the second one from was beyond him.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku all but yelled and shook him for good measure, finally catching the black haired teen's attention.

"Right," he nodded, knowing exactly what the monk was telling him for the last two minutes despite not having heard a word. Once again, he turned his back on Kagome and her fight, concentrating on the lock instead.

Had he continued to watch, he would have seen Kagome duck and roll out of the way of a rather vicious attack, only to block the claws that tried to pierce through her next by crossing both of her swords in front of herself. With both of her weapons immobilized, the yōkai smirked again and lifted his free hand to strike. But it never got that far as it was suddenly attacked from behind.

The attack wasn't anything near strong enough to kill it, sadly, but it had destabilized the demon, and Kagome used that to her advantage as she skillfully threw her opponent off her, then stepped forward while spinning with both of her arms extended, both of her blades cutting her opponent in the exact same spot but neither cutting deep enough to finish the job. Snarling, the demon jumped to the side, almost making Kagome and the one who had helped her collide, though both were skilled enough to stop before hurting each other and then turn toward their opponent.

"This thing is pretty good," Kagome's companion said, his blue eyes narrowed dangerously. It was none other than Kōga.

It hadn't taken Kagome long to figure out that with her youki present, not only could she fight on even ground with the Baku, she could also somewhat control the dream around her, even though it wasn't her own. That was why, as soon as she realized that she wouldn't be able to hold off the Baku for long on her own, she created someone to help her. And Kōga had been the first one to come to her mind to help in such a situation. Just like in her own dream, he had also handed her Yougo, which was why she now held two swords instead of one. It was her first time fighting that way, so she was mostly improvising, but she was surprising even herself at how well she fared. Still, it was quite obvious she felt more comfortable fighting with only one blade, which was why she was putting Yougo behind her belt right now.

"Do you think I would have called for you if it wasn't?" Kagome asked, her eyes never leaving her opponent. Kōga laughed, making a shiver run down her spine, although it was not an unpleasant one. She was once again forgetting too easily that he was just a figment of her imagination. A figment that would soon disappear along with her…

"True, true," he said, but the laughter quickly died on his lips and he got serious again. "Here it comes," he warned, despite the fact that Kagome could see that herself. Nodding, she raised Tessaiga's hilt near her temple, ready to take the demon on again. When it was near enough, both of them jumped in opposite directions, only to move in again one after the other to attack, easily forcing the demon on the defensive again.

Suddenly getting an idea, Kagome suddenly stopped her assault, giving Kōga a sign to take over for her. He did so without complain, his attacks doing little against the yōkai even though it obviously had trouble to avoid them all because of Kōga's speed. Slowly, but surely, they moved just in the right position where Kagome had her back to the exit and her opponent was in front of her. That was what she was looking for, a moment to strike without having to fear that part of her attack might ricochet towards the two spiritualists trying to open the door. But if things worked out the way she planned, then they most likely wouldn't even have to open it anymore.

"Kōga-kun, get out of there!" she yelled as she raised her sword, not wishing to harm him despite knowing that he wasn't real. Without waiting for a response and knowing he was fast enough to listen to her and not get hurt, she swung the blade down with all her might. "Kaze no Kizu!" she yelled as the bright light exploded from her blade and engulfed the demon. As soon as the light vanished, revealing that the demon was gone, the ground shook violently, almost making the half-demon fall to her knees. She watched with wide eyes as gigantic cracks appeared in the walls and floor, tearing the inn apart before her very eyes. It wasn't hard to figure out what was happening. With the Baku gone, the dream was breaking.

"KAGOME!" She heard Inuyasha's voice yell behind her, but before she could even turn around, the ground beneath her feet crumbled and she fell into darkness.

[/T]

Mere minutes before Kagome managed to kill her opponent, Miroku gave out a sigh as Inuyasha opened his eyes yet again, leaning against the wall in fatigue as the lock finally broke and fell uselessly to the ground. Grinning like an idiot, Inuyasha easily pushed one half of the unnaturally gigantic door open, while Miroku took care of the other half, light immediately blinding him until he turned away to call for Kagome to get over to them.

Before he could, however, he saw another light as it tore through the ground and his eyes widened. Of course, he knew by now what that light was. But he didn't expect Kagome to unleash the Wound of the Wind on the demon. It seemed to do the trick, though, for when the light faded, the yōkai was nowhere to be seen. And right after that, the ground shook and the whole inn started to fall apart.

Surprised, Inuyasha could only stare for a while, leaving Miroku to jump into action as he grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the open door. Or rather, the monk was pulled by something towards the door and was thus pulling Inuyasha along with him. Losing their footing, both of them flew towards the open exit. But Kagome wasn't following them and Inuyasha reached out a hand despite knowing he wouldn't reach her. He was well aware of the fact that she was too far and he wouldn't be able to grab her, but that didn't stop him from trying. She had to come with them. Why was she just standing there so dumbly?

"KAGOME!" he yelled her name, just as the light engulfed him and he fell through the door.

Next thing he knew, he was sitting straight up in his sleeping back, his breathing harsh and sweat rolling down his face. He was still at the same inn he had fallen asleep in and nothing seemed amiss. But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong.

"Inuyasha!" a childish voice yelled behind him and he turned around to see a crying, yet smiling a relieved smile Shippō. "You're awake!" the kit yelled excitedly and quickly turned to the other spiritualist in the room, who was also waking up. "You both are!"

"Yeah…" Inuyasha replied, more to himself than the kit. "We're awake…"

"Kagome! Kagome! Wake up! Look they're both awake now! Kagome!" Shippō called to the hanyō-girl Inuyasha only now realized was lying quite close to him. Unlike him and Miroku, she was still sleeping, however. Inuyasha frowned while Shippō's calls slowly quieted down and the kit stared at the sleeping half-demon worriedly, his eyes once again filling with tears.

"Kagome…" he sniffed, trying to sniff her and getting more hysterical as he did so. "Kagome wake up!"

"I'm afraid she will not, Shippō," Miroku said calmly behind them, making both kit and kannushi turn around to stare at him. Shippō sniffed a few more times while searching Miroku's face for any sign of a lie, but when he didn't find any, he erupted in tears again and fell against Kagome's still form. Inuyasha only stared at the monk with wide eyes, fearing the truth of what Miroku meant.

"Why the hell wouldn't she? We woke up… why shouldn't Kagome wake up, too?" he asked, somehow managing to hide the fear that wanted to creep into his voice. Miroku sighed before explaining Kagome's particular situation within their dream to Inuyasha. When he finished, his expression was grave, but accepting, while Inuyasha shook his head in denial.

"You're lying," he whispered, wishing it were true. But the fact that Kagome had yet to open her eyes was speaking against him. Miroku sighed.

"I'm not," he said calmly as he slowly stood and walked over to Inuyasha to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Kagome-sama knew what would happen," he added slowly, causing Inuyasha to still as his eyes widened in surprise and he turned to stare at the monk disbelievingly.

"What…?"

"Kagome-sama knew," Miroku repeated, interrupting the question he must have known Inuyasha wanted to ask. "She knew, but she decided to stay within your dream and help you rather than returning to her own. She could have survived, but she chose to remain with you and help you," he said then turned to the sill crying kit and moved his hand from Inuyasha's shoulder to Shippō's head, no doubt as a means of comfort. "Don't cry Shippō. Let us all pray for her soul."

"Quit talking like that!" Inuyasha snapped, but didn't turn around. He couldn't bear to see her the way she was now. She seemed to be truly dead. But she couldn't be. She just couldn't!

"Inuyasha," Miroku sighed again, "if it's any consolation for you, know this: I'm quite sure Kagome-sama died without regrets, for even as she sacrificed her life, she knew she was saving yours."

"But… I didn't want that. I didn't want her to," Inuyasha admitted softly, hardly aware that he was talking out loud. "Why does she always have to keep fighting no matter what? Even while she was human she wouldn't back down! What's up with that! I told her I could fight for myself! But did she listen? No, of course not!" he ranted angrily, his voice growing steadily louder as he spoke.

"Uhm… Inuyasha…" Miroku started, suddenly sounding like he had said something irrational and was only now realizing it. The black haired kannushi ignored him, though, too caught up his own ranting – or rather yelling.

"You're so stupid, Kagome!"

"Gee, thanks," a sarcastic, but definitely female voice spoke behind him, effectively silencing the priest.

"Kagome! You're alive!" Shippō called happily as he jumped into her arms once she sat up fully. She easily caught him and ruffled his hair, although her irritation was obvious to anyone who knew her just slightly.

"Yup, I am," she answered, forcing her voice to sound calm as she glanced at Miroku out of the corner of her eye before setting the kit on the floor and focusing on Inuyasha's back again, as he had turned away at some point. She huffed. "You really thought I'd die so easily? And you dare say I'm stupid? Look who's talking," she snorted. Clenching his fists, Inuyasha turned around and yelled at her, not caring that he wasn't alone with her and that he was revealing to more than just one person something he hadn't thought he'd ever admit to anyone – something he could barely admit to himself not long ago, even.

"So now I'm stupid because I don't want you to fucking die on me? How's that stupid, stupid? Or did you think you were the only one who was worried someone else would be gone from your life before you even knew what was happening?!" he yelled at her, managing to surprise her for all of a second before she covered it up and shouted back. She wasn't planning on letting him win that argument.

"It's stupid because you should know by now that I'm not going to die so easily! Why can't you at the very least trust me to keep myself alive?!"

"How can I do that when you keep almost dying on me on an almost regular basis?"

"I wouldn't have to risk my life so often if you would just listen to me and not get yourself in situations that would have cost you your life if I hadn't been there!"

"Listen to yourself, hanyō-wench! Who doesn't trust who to keep himself alive here?"

"How can I trust you to keep yourself alive when not so long ago, you didn't have to worry about staying alive at all? It's not something you can learn overnight, baka, so I'm just keeping my priorities straight!"

"Priorities? Priorities?! Are you insane? You make it sound like one life is more important to you than another!"

"That's because it is!" Kagome yelled, effectively stunning Inuyasha into silence before he could yell anything more. Seeing he had 'calmed' somewhat, Kagome let out a frustrated sigh and spoke again, this time in a quieter tone: "Your life is more important than mine, that's all. So when I have to choose between keeping myself or you alive, the choice is pretty simple," she said easily, explaining her way of thinking before Inuyasha had even a chance to protest. "You're the protector of the Shikon Jewel and so far, the only person who can keep it safe. If you were to die, I don't even want to know what could happen. I, on the other hand am just a half-demon. It wouldn't be that big of a loss if I were gone."

"The fuck, Kagome? What are you saying…"

"Just the truth," she interrupted him with a shrug and the stood up. She quickly walked over to the open door to the garden and glanced outside without looking at him, keeping her eyes on the garden and Miroku and Shippō, who had wandered out sometime during her argument with Inuyasha, no doubt to give them some privacy – not that they used it very well given how loud they were… conversing.

"How can you even…"

"Get your stuff together. We've stayed here too long. Night setting in or not, I'm not planning on staying another night in this place," Kagome interrupted him again and from the tone of her voice, Inuyasha knew that no matter what he did, he wouldn't be able to continue this conversation. Not now, anyway. Didn't mean he wasn't going to give her a piece of his mind on the subject later.

---

Whew. Well, that'd be it for now. Long, wasn't it. And so much happened… but still, we're not even close to even the middle of the fic, much less its end, so stay tuned until the next chapter comes out, beginning a new arc – one many of you have been waiting for, I'm sure *smiles meaningfully*

I'll see you in the next installment :D And hopefully hear from you before then, too :]