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.

41. The Demon's True Nature

Well, here we are again, time for a new chapter of IRWR. And this time, I don't even have much comments or information to relay to you, so without firther ado, let's get on with the show. Hope you enjoy! :D

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ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS:

Forever Bound: Well, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it and that it was worth the wait :D Hope this one is, too.

Dino-Rogue: Ok, viewing the current number of chapters, not to mention the number of chapters to go (which keeps growing as some chapters turn out longer than I expect them to be… *laughs sheepishly*), I agree this is not a 'little' work. But it IS little in any other sense of the word, I believe. There's way better out there. But anyway, again, don't worry about fast-forwarding from time to time. Believe me, I do it too. That's why I have this story as far planned out as I do LOL And I hope I do keep up the good job, although that's ultimately for you and other readers to decide. Still, I hope you enjoy this chapter as you enjoyed the others :3

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Tracks for this chapter:

The Tourist OST: Bedroom Dreams

Standard Disclaimer and Reder's Key apply

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What happened last time: After coming back from his time, Inuyasha learned that while he was away studying for tests, Kagome and the rest of the group had gone off on a yōkai-hunt. They could not have afforded to wait for him, nor could they come get him as the well refused to let Kagome through now that Kikyo's bow, along with the enchantment Inuyasha had subconsciously placed on it, was broken. Refusing to sit back and wait, Inuyasha decides to use his powers and find Kagome by following her youki. The trail leads him to a seemingly small cave, which quickly turns out to actually be a subterranean maze. When he finds Kagome and the rest of the group, they're in the middle of battle, although Kagome is the only one fighting – and visibly losing. Wanting to help, Inuyasha entered the fray when he thought the moment was right, but for some reason, Kagome had intercepted his attack and, on top of protecting her own enemy, was purified and rendered human by Inuyasha, which made the following attack the yōkai threw at her deadlier than any other attack Inuyasha had witnessed her suffering as of yet…

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Chapter 41 – The Demon's True Nature

"How long do you intend to feel sorry for yourself?"

The question Shippō had just asked was the first to cut through the silence in a long while. Inuyasha jumped slightly, startled out of his thoughts by the sound. He was the only one who had any kind of reaction, though, as everyone else had long since fallen asleep while waiting for Kagome to wake up. And as for the half-demon, she was still unconscious.

And, unfortunately, she was still human.

If Inuyasha had been aware of how fast Kagome was actually supposed to turn back into a hanyō after a forced transformation into a human, and if he hadn't been so preoccupied with worry and self-hatred, the future-born priest would have been awed at how powerful his reiki seemed to be, considering its accomplishment. As it was, however, the kannushi's mind was entirely elsewhere.

Inuyasha turned his head to glance at the young kitsune who was still waiting for an answer, but it quickly turned out he could only guess at the general direction where Shippō was. As Kirara had fallen asleep, the fire at the base of her paws lessened considerably and barely sufficed to illuminate the cat alone, much less anything surrounding her. And that, in turn, left Inuyasha in complete darkness, which was something he wasn't very comfortable with, now that he actually took notice of it.

Shippō seemed to notice the priest's sudden discomfort, along with the reason for it. That's what Inuyasha suspected, anyway, as a few seconds later, a few tiny fox-fires danced around them, bathing the tunnel in an eerie blue light. Inuyasha quickly found himself wondering what was freakier: the darkness that made you feel like you were in some kind of void, or the ghost-like light Shippō's kitsune-bi provided.

[T]

"I'm not feeling sorry for myself," Inuyasha finally answered, his voice quiet and much more subdued than it ever had been. If it was physically possible to be crushed by one's guilt, the black haired priest certainly would have been by now. Alas, it was not something that could happen, and so he was left to drown in his misery and self-hatred while waiting for Kagome to awaken. If the hanyō-girl ever would, that is.

"Don't ever say that!" Shippō suddenly said, or nearly yelled, actually, his voice sounding a bit strangled and more than a tiny bit fearful. "Don't ever say that, baka! Kagome will wake up! I'm sure she will. She's strong, she won't die here. She'll wake!"

Had Inuyasha still been talking aloud? Well, apparently yes.

The young kitsune's words caused the future-born teen to turn his head and glance at him. There was no doubt Shippō had wanted to sound certain of what he was saying, and had also most likely wanted his words to be like a reprimand to Inuyasha for doubting Kagome's abilities to prevail. However, the way his voice shook and trembled, it only served as proof that Inuyasha wasn't the only one worrying and fearing the worst. The little fox's eyes were a bit watery and he was shaking, showing Inuyasha all the more just how terrified Shippō was by the possibility of Kagome dying.

He wanted to reassure the squirt. He really did. But when he actually voiced his agreement that there was no way Kagome would die, his voice betrayed his inner thoughts even more than Shippō's had. Still, the kit seemed to ignore the obvious uncertainty and fear in Inuyasha's voice, concentrating only on the words themselves. Nodding once again in agreement, the little kit curled up on the ground besides Inuyasha's legs and decided to go to sleep, assuring himself aloud that when he woke, Kagome would be awake and well, too.

Left once again alone to his thoughts in complete silence, as now truly everyone except him slept (or was unconscious), Inuyasha desperately tried not to recall what had happened when Seiryuu collided with Tessaiga. He had seen it happen before his mind's eye enough times already and he feared a few more would simply push him beyond his minds limits. After all, there was a certain breaking point within each and every person and with the onslaught of guilt, regret and sheer agony that came with the knowledge that Kagome's condition was all his fault, Inuyasha was quickly reaching his.

'Enough… Enough already. I get it. It was my fault. It will be my fault if she dies. I know that already! Stop reminding me!' the black haired priest tried to command his mind, but it helped little. Again and again, his conscience plagued him with the memory of that bright light, of the fact he had indeed purified Kagome, and worse still, her screams of agony once the demon got its filthy hands on her kept resonating in his mind. Unable to take more, Inuyasha brought his knees even closer to his chest and raised his hands to his ears, as if he could block out the sounds that way. Needless to say, it didn't work.

Inuyasha whimpered mentally, wanting nothing more than to make these images and sounds vanish from his brain, wishing for just a second of peace – something he had been denied ever since the whole mess happened. Not that he deserved any peace, he knew that. But still, he longed for it, his heart unable to stomach the memories of the biggest mistake he could have ever made and its repercussions any longer.

Just then, as if to liberate him from the pain he more or less consciously forced upon himself, a sound that definitely did not come from Inuyasha's head cut through the darkness. Inuyasha's head snapped up as soon as his ears caught the small disturbance in the silence, a small gasp of surprise escaping him. But otherwise, he remained completely still and silent in an attempt to reassure himself he wasn't dreaming.

He heard the sound again, then again and again. There was no doubt where it came from, or rather who it came from. If the soft, but regular gasps were anything to go by, Kagome was finally waking up.

As soon as Inuyasha's mind came to that conclusion, thinking went out the proverbial window. In a flash, he was on his feet and almost ran the tiny distance between where he sat and the curve of the tunnel that blocked the half-demon from his view. He only spared a millisecond to be glad that Shippō's foxfire didn't seem to need the kit awake to keep burning (unless the little fox-child was only faking to sleep and was in fact wide awake), then his focus turned completely to the hanyō only a few feet away from him, and a small step away from being visible.

When Inuyasha passed the sharp turn that kept Kagome hidden and finally saw the now human girl, however, his body froze and refused to move an inch further. His mouth went dry and his heart seemed to drop to his stomach, the sight before him causing all the fear, dread, regret and any other ill feeling he had the time to feel while waiting for her to wake up to hit him all at once and harder than ever before. He almost fell to his knees as something within him seemed to break, making breathing harder than it should be. Unable to stomach more, Inuyasha closed his eyes and hung his head, but what he had seen had burned itself into the back of his eyelids and the image refused to fade.

Kagome was crying.

Kagome rarely cried, so to see her tears was unsettling in and of itself, even though he had witnessed it once before. But that had been nothing compared to what he had seen just now.

What he had taken for soft gasps for air as Kagome came to and became aware of the pain of some injury or other were in fact more or less contained sobs, muffled by the hand the young girl held in front of her mouth. She was hugging her stomach with her other hand, her back pressed firmly to the stone-wall behind her, most likely to keep herself upright. Her gray-blue eyes were wide open and overflowed with tears Kagome couldn't, or maybe didn't even want to stop and her whole body shook with each muffled sob that escaped her lips despite her attempts to keep them contained.

The reason for her tears was pretty obvious, too. The reason for her current condition must have been the first thing that she thought of the moment she woke up, and the knowledge that a person whom she trusted had betrayed her must have been too much for her – after all, Kagome had often said that she had a harder time controlling her emotions while human than while hanyō.

Knowing that made Inuyasha feel ill. Each sob cut through him like a blade, causing wounds that would never bleed, but which in turn hurt much, much more than any flesh wound. This was worse than the screams that had resonated in his head a while ago. Those had almost brought him to begging for it to stop so the pain he felt would lessen, if nothing else. The sobs caused him to wish he could just die right there so he would never feel that kind of agony again.

That didn't happen, of course. Instead, the sounds escaping Kagome's covered lips slowly died down as the girl forced herself to calm down once her eyes caught sight of the shocked priest. The small foxfires dancing around provided enough light for her to be sure who it was, but she still decided to make sure.

"Inuyasha?" she asked softly, her voice still raw from the tears she had been unable to stop. The soft question seemed to wake him from whatever trance he had fallen into (though from his expression it was fairly obvious he wasn't enjoying any nice visions) and he slowly raised his eyes to glance at her. Kagome barely stifled a gasp when she saw his eyes, or, more importantly, the feelings reflected in them: pain, regret, dread and so many more she couldn't even distinguish them all. She swallowed, forgetting all about her own small breakdown as worry for the young kannushi filled her. "Inuyasha?" she asked again, her voice a tad bit fearful as to what might have caused such feelings to fill his eyes. And that was all it took for Inuyasha to finally break.

He had expected many reactions from the half-demon when she laid eyes on him. He had expected anger and had fully prepared himself for the verbal leashing he would without a doubt obtain. He had expected hatred, and although it would be painful to be faced with it, he had tried to accept it as something inevitable. But fear had never been a possibility he considered. It wasn't something he had been in any way prepared for. And because of that, it was much, much worse.

The fact that Kagome seemed to be afraid of him now was just too much.

Inuyasha's mind shut down at that moment. Gone were the usual male pride and confidence, gone were the attempts to look tougher than he was. All that remained was the unexplainable need to at least attempt to make everything right, even if it should logically be impossible.

Before Kagome could so much as blink, Inuyasha grabbed her hand and roughly pulled her towards him. The hanyō turned human inhaled sharply as pain shot through her entire body, but before she could even think of fighting Inuyasha off, she fell against his chest and his arms encircled her firmly, yet gently. The pain ebbed away slowly, but Kagome hardly noticed, too focused on the desperate, but gentle hug Inuyasha had enveloped her in. Her head rested on his shoulder while he hid his face in her jet-black hair and simply held her tight for a moment. Kagome didn't push him away, but she didn't relax, either. In fact, she went completely rigid in his arms.

"Inu…"

"I'm sorry!" he interrupted her before she could ask anything. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he repeated the apology over and over, his body trembling slightly and his voice sounding so broken that Kagome couldn't help crying again. She didn't ask anything or say anything since she knew very well what he was apologizing for. Slowly, her arms rose to hug him back as a reassurance that she didn't hold it against him, that she didn't blame him, but before she could actually do that, a voice she had heard only once or twice before, but still recognized easily, resonated in her head.

"Get away from him!"

Without thinking or questioning the order, Kagome obeyed, her arms roughly pushing the priest away with enough force to make both of them stagger a few feet back. Pain shot through her body again, but she tried to ignore it and glanced towards Inuyasha, instead.

[/T]

"Kagome… I…" the teen started slowly, his voice barely above a broken whisper, but even if he had been able to complete whatever he was trying to say, he wouldn't have gotten the chance to for in that moment, Kagome succumbed to the agony coursing through her and a coughing fit brought her to her knees. Eyes widening, Inuyasha took a step towards her and tried to reach for her before he stopped himself mid-step. Kagome had just pushed him away. What more proof did he need that she didn't want him anywhere near her?

His hand fell to his side lifelessly and he hung his head, his fists clenching as new stabs of sharp pain caused by regret hit him with each pained cough on Kagome's part.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again as he fell to his knees in front of her, his legs no longer able to support him as Kagome's coughing became worse for a moment before finally ceasing. Still, Inuyasha didn't look up. "I'm so sorry…"

"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered weakly, but even if the future-born kannushi heard her, the soft whisper went ignored.

'I… I didn't mean to. I swear I didn't. It was an accident. A stupid accident that was still my fault, yes, but it wasn't on purpose! And it'll never happen again. I won't allow it to. I'll learn. I swear I'll learn and I won't allow anything like this to ever occur again. So please… I know I don't deserve it, but please… Please, forgive me, Kagome. Please,' Inuyasha begged mentally. It was too bad none of these words ever left his mouth, but it felt as though his throat had completely closed up and he wasn't able to utter a single sound anymore. He could only kneel there and wait for her verdict – for the words of how she had trusted him when she never should have, of how she should have left him to die long ago, of how she shouldn't have ever bothered protecting him, much less wasting her time training and travelling around with him, of how she...

"It's OK."

…accepted his apology?

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open in disbelief, but he didn't dare look up at the girl opposite him yet. Could it really be? Would she really forgive him like any other mistake he'd made? It almost sounded too good to be true, too easy… but it was indeed happening, right?

He couldn't help the tiny seed of hope that slowly started growing inside of him. Maybe all was not lost. Maybe Kagome would give him another chance.

"It's not like I ever blamed you to begin with," Kagome continued softly, unaware of the mixed feelings within the priest. All she knew was that he was obviously suffering, that he was forcing that suffering on himself, and that she wanted to make him stop hurting. Saying the truth seemed to be the best way to go about it.

Unfortunately, as soon as she spoke those words, Inuyasha forcefully smashed that tiny seed of hope inside of him before it could grow too much and threw himself back into the ever-growing sea of despair inside his soul.

"How could you not blame me?" he asked quietly, now knowing for certain she must have been lying. Typical Kagome, hide her own feelings to make others feel better. She must have forgotten that he knew her too well by now to fall for a trick like that. "That's bullshit, and we both know it. I attacked you. I almost succeeded in killing you. Maybe not on my own, sure, but still. How can you say you don't blame me?" It was surprising how hard it had been to tell her a simple 'sorry' considering how easy it was to put himself down right now.

Kagome, on her end, suppressed a sigh. Despite being half-human, and currently even fully human, she was quite sure she would never fully understand those mortal creatures. Or rather, she was quite sure she would never understand Inuyasha. One moment, he was saying he was sorry for what happened and his body language screamed regret and silent pleas for forgiveness, the next he was doing everything he could to make sure she didn't forgive him. Where was the logic in that?

"Are you trying to make me hate you?" she asked after a moment of silent pondering, though she was unable to come up with another explanation for his sudden turn in behavior. Inuyasha froze at the question for a brief moment before finally shaking his head mutely. Of course he didn't want her to hate him. In fact, if possible, he wanted the exact opposite. He wanted to be forgiven. But even though it seemed Kagome was willing to do just that, he had a hard time actually believing it, because he was well aware of the fact that he was far from deserving her forgiveness. Kagome seemed to think otherwise, however.

"Then why are you trying so hard to make it all look like it was your fault?" the should-be-hanyō asked, her voice betraying her confusion. Inuyasha's shoulders slumped.

"Because it was," he answered in a mere whisper as his voice failed him. He wished he could just shut up and not say more because he feared that once the words were actually said, Kagome would decide he was right and not forgive him after all. And yet another part of him couldn't help saying these things.

"It wasn't," Kagome countered, the confusion in her tone vanishing in favor of sadness and irritation, though Inuyasha didn't really notice.

"Yes, it was!" he replied louder this time. He tried to sound like he wanted to leave no room for argument, but he sounded far too broken to ever come across as convincing to anyone other than himself. "I attacked you. I turned you human. I… I basically helped that demon in killing you. That's the same as killing you myself!"

He didn't think his voice had ever sounded so watery before. If not for the fact that his eyes were still completely dry and didn't even burn the slightest bit, Inuyasha would have believed he was close to tears. But although his voice sounded like he was, he knew crying was not something he would do.

And for the first time in his life, the black haired priest actually wondered whether it was a good thing or not.

"Alright, fine," Kagome finally agreed, causing Inuyasha to go completely rigid and rendering him unable to breathe. Her words felt like a punch to his gut. This was it. He had officially killed what little will there was left in her to forgive him. She'd never do it now, not when he had made her see reason. She would hate him forever…

"It's your fault as far as the fact is concerned that Miroku-sama had warned you something like this could happen and you didn't listen to him. It's your fault as far as not noticing that your powers were already starting to go out of control," Kagome agreed softly, each of her words feeling like a knife that was cutting his insides up. He knew she was right, of course, but hearing her agreeing with him made the truth all the more painful. "But, you aren't the only one at fault."

"What?" he breathed, scarcely able to believe he was hearing her correctly. Slowly, he raised his head and dared to steal a peak at the black haired girl. But Kagome wasn't looking at him anymore as her gaze had fallen to her knees.

"You aren't the only one at fault," she repeated, then continued before he could so much as open his mouth to contradict her again. "You didn't attack me, Inuyasha. Originally, your attack was meant for the demon I was fighting, right?" Not knowing where she was going with the obvious question, Inuyasha nodded slowly and Kagome sighed. "And who was the idiot who jumped in front of your attack?" she finally asked, her voice filled with shame.

Wait, what?

It couldn't be. What she was implying was impossible. She would have never done something like this. There was no reason for her to. And yet… her words didn't sound like she was lying.

Inuyasha gulped.

"Are you saying… you interfered with my attack and took the blow willingly?" he asked incredulously, fully expecting the currently human girl to deny his claim. It just didn't make any sense. Kagome would have never done that. Never. Something like this was asking to be killed, even he knew that.

So why the hell was she nodding?!

"So you see, I'm as much to blame as you. And that's why I can't blame or hate you. After all, the energy that rendered me mortal was supposed to incinerate my enemy. It was my own fault for getting in the way," Kagome said softly, although she didn't offer the explanation Inuyasha wanted so much to hear. He opened his mouth to ask that one, simple question 'why?', but before he could, Kagome asked a question of her own. "Besides, you would never attack me on purpose, right?"

She wasn't actually asking because she doubted it. Kagome believed the future-born teen would never willingly do her harm. And yet, after this little episode, even though she still believed it, some tiny part of her yearned for a confirmation. One which Inuyasha wasn't unwilling to provide.

"Never," he replied vehemently, his voice now turning desperate. He didn't know why she felt the need to ask that, but he was desperate to make her believe him. She was giving him another chance and he was not going to waste it. "I'd never do it on purpose. Never. I swear I wouldn't," he said, his hand reaching out to grasp her hand to make her look at him and see the sincerity in his eyes. But Kagome shied away from his touch and Inuyasha froze. "Kagome…"

"I believe you," she said quietly and even raised her head to smile at him briefly in reassurance. Inuyasha had a hard time believing her words, though. How could he if her actions contradicted her claims?

"I believe you," Kagome repeated, her voice stronger this time as if she was aware of his thoughts and was willing him to believe her in return. Her eyes hardened, but not in a malevolent manner. Rather, she looked determined. Determined to make him believe her no doubt. "I believe you say the truth. I trust you would never hurt me on purpose, Inuyasha. But, I can't trust you not to hurt me with power you cannot control."

She didn't have to elaborate for Inuyasha to understand what she meant. Kagome was definitely talking about his reiki. Frowning, the young priest stared straight into the gray-blue eyes Kagome had while human.

"Then I'll learn to control it," he said resolutely – or more like vowed, actually. "Something like this will never happen again. I swear it won't. No matter how long it'll take, I'll learn to control this power of mine. I will."

"I know," the hanyō-turned-human answered, once again moving slowly away from the priest when he tried to reach for her. The determination left Inuyasha's eyes, replaced by sadness and confusion.

"Then why do you keep shying away from me?" he couldn't help but ask quietly. It didn't make sense. Kagome was human right now, so his power shouldn't do anything to her. Why was she so vehemently trying to stay away from him?

Could it be that she was lying and didn't trust him anymore, after all?

"Because right now, you're still unable to control your spiritual energy. And because, though your power usually isn't able to kill me, in my current condition, it could."

"What?" Inuyasha asked in astonishment and even slight fear, causing Kagome to sigh.

"Considering that I'm human, I should by all means be dead now," she confessed quietly, but couldn't say more as another coughing fit seized her. Inuyasha wanted to go to her, but her words that his power could kill her right now kept him rooted in his spot. When Kagome stopped coughing and removed her hand from her mouth, he noticed that it was stained red.

Kagome was coughing up blood.

Dread washed over the black haired priest in a cold wave as his eyes moved between the blood-stained hand and Kagome's face. When the should-be hanyō remained silent, he demanded an explanation.

"Kagome, what…?"

"I was human when that yōkai attacked me, remember? Heck, I'm still human," Kagome interrupted him, trying not to sound as frustrated and worried as she felt. She had been purified before, of course, sometimes accidentally and sometimes not, but she had never remained human for that long afterward. She didn't think Inuyasha had managed to turn her human permanently, but it was still unnatural for her youki to take this long to regenerate.

"And for a human, that attack was deadly," she continued her explanation, deciding to ponder the implications of her prolonged transformation later. "The yōkai's energy might not have caused harm to my body on the outside, but it devastated my insides," she admitted quietly. 'Plus, I'm sure I have a couple of broken bones, too. Did the yōkai throw me against a wall or something?' she wondered briefly before continuing her explanation. "As a human, I should, by all means, be dead. The only reason I'm not is this," she said, her hand running over her father's fang. Inuyasha blinked.

"Tessaiga?" he asked slowly and Kagome nodded.

"Tessaiga was made from my father's fang. As such, it is filled with his youki. And yet, it has a will of its own, like any other demonic sword. So in a way, the youki it was created with is its own. And right now, it is lending me its strength."

"What… do you mean?" Why was he so afraid of her answer? It couldn't be anything worse than what he already heard. On the contrary, it could only be good. So why was he scared?

"Tessaiga is lending me its youki to keep me alive," Kagome explained. "It's not enough to actually turn me back into a half-demon or to heal my wounds, but it is enough to keep me alive and in more or less good shape while my youki regenerates. Once it does and I turn back into what I should be, I'll heal and everything will be fine. But…" she broke off for a moment and glanced at him worriedly, then sighed and continued: "but, should your power go out of control again while you tried to help me in any way, it could purify Tessaiga. We both know you're capable of that. You've done it before."

Yes, he remembered that little mishap with the wolf who had stolen the Jewel from him. Yet another time when he was in the way despite wanting to help. Inuyasha cursed mentally.

"And if I purify Tessaiga then you'd… die?" he finished, asking although he knew the answer. Kagome nodded slowly.

"So, for now… please, stay away from me," she asked slowly and quietly.

Inuyasha tried not to wince. Of course, he knew she didn't mean anything bad by that. It wasn't because she didn't trust him or couldn't stand him. She wasn't saying that in order to hurt him.

But still, hearing that soft plea hurt. Even more so when the real reason for her demand suddenly hit him, despite the fact he should have already been aware of it.

As he was now, the young kannushi was a danger to her. To her, and to the other demons in the group, too.

Inuyasha felt ill again.

"Should we… go to where the others are?" he asked clumsily, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence between them. It was a stupid proposition, he knew, as the others were sound asleep and not even five feet away from where they were. But Kagome nodded anyway and they both rose to their feet, Kagome visibly slower than Inuyasha. The future-born teen saw the black haired girl wince as she moved and heard her sharp inhales of pain, which made him want to reach out to her and help her. But he couldn't. If he did, he was only risking making things worse.

Gods, why hadn't he listened to Miroku when the monk warned him of his powers possibly going out of control?

When they passed the turn that had previously hidden Kagome from view as Sango had tended to her, Inuyasha sat down in his previous spot while Kagome slowly eased herself into a seating position opposite him. He winced with each tiny proof of how much pain she was in that Kagome couldn't contain. Finally, when she sat down, he couldn't stop himself from asking quietly:

"Was that why you were crying?"

"Eh?" the black haired girl asked, not understanding the question. Inuyasha gulped.

"Your wounds," he said slowly. "Were they the reason you were crying?"

If not for the fact that doing so would cause her much more pain than it was worth, Kagome would have laughed. As it was, she merely scowled.

"As if a little pain would make me cry, baka," she replied angrily before she could think it through. Of course, her pride didn't want anyone to think she would cry just because she hurt a little. But, on another hand, denying such a reason begged for a certain question Kagome was now hoping Inuyasha wouldn't ask. Alas, that was not to be.

"Then why?"

"That's none of your concern," she replied, her voice harder than she intended it to be. Inuyasha blinked at the sudden hostility in her tone and Kagome turned away with a scowl. It really wasn't any of his business and she was not going to talk about it if she didn't want to. Which she did not.

Unfortunately, Inuyasha didn't think much of her warning tone. He knew her well enough by now to know she wouldn't actually do anything to him. A little probing every now and then couldn't hurt, right?

"But Kagome…"

"I said it's none of your concern," the should-be half-demon interrupted him before he could say anything more. Inuyasha sighed and thought about giving up. Obviously, Kagome was not going to tell him anything about that. Still, despite the currently human girl already telling him that she didn't blame him, Inuyasha couldn't help but feel slightly scared of one possibility.

"Was it… because of me?" he asked slowly, earning himself another scoff.

"Why would I cry because of you? It's not like you did anything," Kagome replied and Inuyasha frowned.

"Then why?"

"I wasn't crying," the young girl finally said as a last attempt to get out of it. Now, it was Inuyasha who scoffed.

"Yes, you did."

"Even if I did, the reason is none of your concern."

"But I want to know…"

"And I want you to get off my back," Kagome's tone brooked no room for argument and this time, Inuyasha wisely shut up. It wasn't for long, however. With everyone else asleep, they were surrounded by silence and, safe for Shippō's kitsune-bi, in total darkness, neither of which Inuyasha was comfortable with. He felt the need to fill the silence. So he did, his mind moving to another thing he didn't understand.

"Kagome?"

"What?" she asked, visibly irritated by now. Inuyasha hesitated a little before speaking, but in the end, curiosity won over reason.

"You said you jumped in front of my attack of your own volition. But I don't understand… why did you? I mean, it's… well…"

"It's an action so stupid that even a baby would know better than actually doing it, right?" Kagome finished for him, her voice now sounding tired. Inuyasha shrugged.

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that, but… it definitely doesn't sound like something you'd normally do," he said carefully. Kagome sighed and her shoulders slumped. She had expected Inuyasha to ask, of course, but she had hoped to have more time before he did. She wanted to think through how she explained things to him. After all, there were things he was better off not knowing – and the full reason for her actions was one of them.

"I'm sure you noticed that I was the only one fighting, right?" she finally said after a moment of thought. She continued only after Inuyasha's affirmative nod, even though it would have been impossible for him not to notice such a thing. "Didn't that strike you as weird? I mean, Shippō-chan not fighting was to be expected. Kirara is too big in her adult form to fight freely in these caves. And Kohaku still isn't ready to wield his weapon."

'That's not what it looked like to me,' Inuyasha couldn't help but think. Kohaku certainly didn't seem incapable of or not ready to fight. The second Kagome had fallen, he had jumped in and protected her. In fact, the young taijiya boy was the first to react after Kirara, who had saved Kagome from the little stone-avalanche that would have otherwise crushed her. And by the way he handled his chain sickle, Inuyasha really didn't think the boy wasn't ready to fight. He was more than ready.

In the end, however, the young priest decided to say nothing and listened to Kagome instead as the hanyō-turned-human went on.

"Still, those three aside, wasn't it weird the other two didn't interfere? What of Kohaku's sister and Miroku-sama? Why do you think they stood back and let me fight?" she asked, but Inuyasha was only able to shrug in response. He didn't know the answer, after all. Kagome sighed. "They stood back because I asked them to."

Inuyasha's eyes widened, but he didn't utter a word in response. It shouldn't have been that surprising, really. Kagome often preferred to fight alone, after all. But still, it had been so long that she had asked any of them to stay back and let her handle things that Inuyasha had not expected it. As much as Kagome obviously preferred to fight alone, she was also visible getting accustomed to fighting alongside someone – or a group of people, as it were. So why would she ask them to stand back this time?

As if reading his mind, the black haired girl went on.

"I asked them to stay back, because to fight this yōkai in a group is suicide."

Another thing he absolutely hadn't been prepared to hear. And one he didn't understand, either.

"How come?" he asked slowly. He didn't think there was any demon that could possibly be easier to fight alone than in a group. As they say, 'nic Hercules contra plures'* – Inuyasha was certain that saying applied to yōkai, too, so Kagome's claim that this demon was easier to fight alone just didn't make sense.

"It's an illusionist-demon. A powerful one at that, and one that knows how to use its illusions best," Kagome answered with a scowl, obviously not very happy because of this. This time, Inuyasha understood exactly why.

"So, if we fight as a group, it would use its illusions to make us fight each other, huh. Is that what happened when I… well… when…" Inuyasha couldn't complete the question. The words just refused to leave his mouth as the memory of what happened once again shoved a lump down his throat and caused his heart to clench painfully. Thankfully, Kagome didn't need to hear the full question to know what he meant.

"Yeah," she replied calmly, her tone absolutely neutral, as if she didn't care about what had happened at all. It made Inuyasha feel a tiny bit better, although the guilt was still very much present in his gut and very happy to feast on his insides.

Kagome was unaware of Inuyasha's thoughts and feelings, however, too focused on her own internal pains to take notice of someone else's this time. It weren't just physical pains, either. Actually, her physical discomfort had long since been forgotten as dark thoughts invaded her mind and threatened to make her cry once again. Her emotions were always much harder to control while human.

'It's not that it would use illusions to make us fight each other,' she disagreed in her mind, knowing full well that the yōkai's actual capabilities were much worse.

The demon's illusions didn't affect its surroundings at all. In fact, they only covered the yōkai itself, though quite thoroughly. While it could only put an illusion on itself, the demon was capable of covering everything – from looks to voice and even down to its scent. That was probably how it had led the children away. Or maybe it was how it made the girl looking after them come here and the children, intrigued by their care-taker's weird behavior, followed her.

The worst of it was, along with the power of illusion, the yōkai also had the power of truth. Which meant, the moment it so much as laid eyes upon you, it knew everything and no lie or illusion could protect you from its all-seeing eyes – and by all-seeing, Kagome meant exactly that. The yōkai saw everything, from your personality, through your habits and believes to your darkest memories. And it was the knowledge of that last one that it used.

"So you would attack me, half-breed? You think you can take my life?" the demon's words resonated in her mind and Kagome shuddered as they were followed by a disappointed sigh. "As if a worthless being like you could ever do anything to anyone except the truly defenseless." The young half-demon flinched at the memory and her eyes watered.

'Doesn't matter what you say. I don't care. I don't care,' she told the disembodied voice in her head, the voice that belonged to a yōkai but sounded like someone completely different.

"Let me end your misery, half-breed. You do not deserve to live anyway."

'So what if that's what you think? It's not like your opinion matters!'

"A monster like you should have never been brought to this world."

'You're the monster, not me! Which is why I'll kill you the next time we meet!'

"Keep clinging to life all you want. It's useless in the end. The likes of you are not permitted to live long. You simply do not deserve it."

'You're the one who doesn't deserve to live.'

"Persistent, aren't you, hanyō. Are you that desperate to live? You would even strike me down?"

Kagome bit her lip, willing herself not to cry at the disbelieving tone in the illusionist's words from her memory. It didn't matter what it said or how it said it. It didn't matter! It was just another yōkai she needed to defeat, nothing else. It was not who it looked, smelled and sounded like. It wasn't…

'It's not kaa-san,' Kagome told herself again and again. 'That wasn't kaa-san!'

Her mind knew the truth, of course. But her heart, now human and rendered all the more vulnerable to emotion and emotional pain, refused to believe her rational mind over what her senses had perceived. And they had perceived her mother.

Her eyes had seen a face she had never thought to see again.

Her nose had smelled a scent that she hadn't smelled in two centuries.

Her ears had heard a voice that she would never forget in her life.

The look, the voice, the scent, all of those were that of her mother. Only the words and behavior didn't match, but to Kagome's heart that hardly mattered. Her mind might know it was not her mother, but what of it if her heart was fooled and overrun her rational mind?

That was exactly why she had told the others to stay back and let her fight alone. For them to join her in battle would be to ask to be killed – most likely by her, too. For if they attacked the illusionist under the disguise of Kagome's mother, chances were her heart would command her instincts and reactions instead of her mind, and she would end up defending whom her heart believed to be her family.

That was exactly what had happened when Inuyasha had tried to help.

Some might think in that case, it would be far better to sit the fight out and let her friends handle the demon. But Kagome knew better. If the yōkai faced anyone else from the group, it would undoubtedly use an illusion to look like someone dear to that person. For Kagome, who was half-human, it was already hard enough to face her enemy in such circumstances. For a human, it would be impossible, for one's heart would never allow him to kill his enemy. Not unless the human in question was an emotionless monster, anyway. And even if they did, even if their head knew it was only a demon, the emotional scar from the fact would remain, and another member of the group would end up like Kohaku, or close to his condition.

No, the others could not hope to defeat the demon. Out of all of them, Kagome had the best chances. While she was half-human, and was thus affected by her emotions like any other human, she was also half-demon – and like any other demon, she could force those emotions down and disregard them, at least partially. But it would be enough. It had to be enough.

Besides, even if the others had more of a chance of defeating the demon than her, Kagome still wouldn't have stood for it. She knew better than anyone, except maybe Kohaku, what it felt like to kill someone you loved. It was a feeling she would never wish on anyone and one she would not force on anyone if she could help it.

"Then what do we do?" Inuyasha suddenly asked, causing Kagome to come back to reality. She blinked as she raised her head to look at him.

"What?" she asked confused, not sure what he really meant by the question. Inuyasha bit his lip.

"If we can't fight it as a group because of its powers… then what do we do?" he asked again.

Truth was, he didn't actually need an answer. He was pretty sure he knew what Kagome's response would be. The question was merely an attempt to break the silence that had fallen between them, and which had only been interrupted by Kagome's more or less regular coughing fits.

The black haired priest flinched when Kagome coughed again before a reply could leave her mouth. Despite the fact that Kagome had forgiven him, he still couldn't forgive himself, and so each of her coughs tore into him like a sharp, red-hot blade. It didn't matter how often he swore to himself to learn and to ensure his powers would never react to people he didn't want to hurt again. It didn't help the fact that it had already happened once. He could swear all he wanted, but he couldn't change the past, no matter how much he wished to.

He felt the need to apologize again as Kagome slowly calmed down. But what good would it do? No amount of apologizing could ever make up for what he did, and even if Kagome forgave him, he was certainly not going to forgive himself. Not anytime soon, anyway.

"We wait for the others to wake and for me to turn back," Kagome replied easily as if she hadn't been coughing up blood mere seconds ago. "Then, we set out to find that yōkai, and when we do, I'll end its life myself."

Her mind was made up and she would not budge on it. She would fight the demon and she would defeat it. Of course, she would have to face the emotional consequences afterward, but she wasn't afraid of that. She had defeated that darkness before, she could do it again. Just as she had unwillingly killed her mother before – she could certainly do it again with an impostor who dared to put on her mother's face.

She would have to.

~ξ~

Though Kagome and Inuyasha did not have to wait long for Shippō and Kirara to wake (though, in all honestly, Inuyasha doubted Shippō ever slept to begin with, the fox probably just faked it for some reason), it took another two or three hours for the three other humans to return from dreamland to reality. Once Kagome found out how long she and the other have already been in the cave, however, she wasn't that surprised at their exhaustion.

"Two days, huh," she murmured under her breath and Inuyasha nodded.

"Yeah… But how did you not know?"

"It's kinda hard to keep track of time down here you know," she replied drily and Inuyasha didn't reply. Kagome sighed. "That, however, means that we really need to hurry, or we won't find anything other than corpses… or worse."

"Then I believe we should get going," Sango said, and for the first time, Inuyasha didn't hear a single note of hostility in her voice as the taijiya spoke with Kagome. She was obviously still cautious, but nowhere near as hostile as she had been before, causing Inuyasha to wonder what had happened while he was away to cause the change. Kagome noticed the slayer's lowered hostility-level, too, but unlike the future-born kannushi, she had an idea where the change came from.

'It's probably because of what happened at the entrance of the cave,' she thought, recalling how she had lost her composure there. Upon reaching the yōkai's den's entrance, Kagome had planned to snatch Souta from his feet and wake him up. Unfortunately, that plan had failed when, as soon as he sat one foot inside the cave, a barrier had flown up and blocked the passage right before Kagome's nose. Enraged, and knowing Souta had just gotten into more danger than she had ever been willing to allow him to get into, the hanyō had drawn Tessaiga and tried to break the barrier open, to no avail. It had taken her a good five minutes to calm down (though even then she had not stopped cursing) and allow Miroku to break the barrier so they could enter. Ultimately, the little rage-fit had done nothing but cost them precious time, but Kagome had not been able to stop herself, and Miroku's following attempts to calm her down had only made her angrier.

"How I can I be calm, Miroku-sama, when I know that Souta had just wandered into the demon's awaiting hands?!" she had all but yelled and now that she thought back on it, she was surprised and amazed that Miroku had remained completely unfazed by her outburst. The monk had not been allowed to try and continue trying to placate her, either, however.

"What difference does it make to you, hanyō? You have not cared before and were ready to sacrifice that child. So why would you care now?" Sango had asked coldly, effectively pushing Kagome over the edge. She had stopped thinking straight at the point and before anyone could have reacted, she had pinned the slayer to the stone wall and was holding her by her throat, as if planning to choke her. Sango had seemed to have been frozen in shock, but that wasn't anything to be surprised about, as Kagome was sure her eye right then had been conveying every bit of fury she had felt – at Sango, at herself, at the demon, and the situation as a whole.

"I care because that child is my cousin," she had growled low in her throat, her words almost undistinguishable to the human ear. Sango's eyes had widened at the admission, but Kagome had paid no mind as she snarled savagely, like the demon she was. "And while I was able to bring myself to take the risks I have taken to find the other children, I will not let him die, no matter the cost. And if you believed otherwise and still went along with it, face the truth that you're more of a monster than you thought I was."

She had let Sango go afterward and they had entered the cave in complete silence, speaking only when necessary. Eventually, Kagome had calmed down, but had not talked with the taijiya-girl until now. And now, the woman was obviously starting to re-think her opinion, or at least that's what Kagome believed. There couldn't be any other reason for that than the fiasco at the cave's entrance, really.

"We should. We lost enough time as it is," Kagome agreed, her voice hard in an attempt to disguise the fear and worry she felt. Slowly, she started to push herself to stand, trying not to dissolve into a coughing fit that would ultimately push her right back down. Inuyasha watched her worriedly, but didn't dare trying to offer waiting longer. He understood Kagome's need to go on and find the children, for she had told him of Souta's involvement.

In the end, however, he was obviously not the only one to worry and think they should not set out yet as Kirara mewled, her red eyes watching Kagome worriedly.

"Kirara says that it would probably be a better idea to rest a bit longer," Shippō translated for the humans around him. "And I think she's right, Kagome…"

"No. We need to get going," the girl replied hardly, having finally stood to her full height, although with a wince. Miroku narrowed his eyes at her.

"You are still wounded, Kagome-sama, and you admitted yourself that these wounds, in your current state, could potentially become deadly. I believe it would be wiser to wait until you feel better," the houshi said calmly without moving from his spot on the ground.

"And how long will that take?" Kagome spat back, her irritation rising and effectively disguising her worry, even from Inuyasha's ears. Truth be told, she was becoming anxious. Considering the fact that her transformation was forced by purification, as opposed to the natural one once every month, she should have turned back already. The fact that her youki had yet to regenerate was quite disturbing and, if she was being honest with herself, Kagome was starting to fear Inuyasha might have purified her permanently, destroying the demonic part of her beyond its abilities to regenerate itself.

"That, I do not know."

"Exactly," the hanyō-turned-human interrupted before the monk could say much more. "It could take hours for all we know, and hours is time we don't have."

"But," Kohaku's soft voice cut in suddenly, "even if we set out immediately and somehow find the children, there's no way we can safely guide them out without meeting the demon. And you cannot fight as you are, Kagome-sama."

That was an argument Kagome found no answer to. Indeed, Kohaku was right. There was no way she could face the demon right at this moment. She could barely stand, let alone fight, not to mention that her eye had yet to fully heal. While one-eyed-sight was something she could live with as a hanyō, in her human form it became much more problematic and rendered her pretty much useless in battle, as if her injuries alone hadn't done that. And she had already decided that she would not allow anyone else to slay this particular demon, who was most certainly where the children were – to find the children meant to find the demon and that, in turn, meant battle Kagome could not afford at this very moment.

But, dilly-dallying could cost the children their lives.

"Besides, if we were out of time, then the demon would have to go hunting again, or at least get closer to the entrance to spread its influence wider to make its prey come to it. Houshi-sama or Inuyasha would have felt it moving if that were the case. Since they have not, I'm quite sure it's safe to assume we still have time," Sango added her own few cents to the conversation, causing Kagome to stare.

Was the taijiya actually trying to make her feel better and give her hope?

Then again, Sango knew exactly what it meant to lose a loved one, particularly family, and while the slayer obviously wasn't very fond of Kagome, the currently black haired girl was also quite sure Sango did not wish the same kind of pain she had to go through on her.

Sighing in defeat, Kagome slid back to the ground.

"Fine, you win," she bit out.

'Good,' Inuyasha thought, relief coursing through him. While he had not dared to voice his opinion, he did not want Kagome to move around yet. In fact, if at all possible, he didn't want her to move until her youki regenerated and healed her fully, but that was wishful thinking, he knew. The moment she turned back into a half-demon, Kagome would disregard her injuries and keep going, no matter how much he, or anyone else, protested.

Fortunately for Kagome, she did not have to wait much longer before she felt the familiar pulsing as little by little her youki returned. It was still weak at first, proving just how much of a beating it had taken when it had tried to resist Inuyasha's spiritual might, but it was returning and soon, Kagome's demonic features started reappearing. With a familiar pulse from Tessaiga, Kagome also felt the sword's youki leaving her body and returning to the weapon, causing her demonic energy to immediately focus on the damage. Of course, this halted the process of transformation, but the hanyō did not complain. It was better if her injuries were at least partially healed before she set out to hunt again, she knew, even if her heart despised the idea of waiting more and more.

Of course, she was nowhere near fully healed when her hair finally turned completely silver and her dog-ears reappeared on her head, but that hardly mattered. She could move and she was in no immediate danger, so that was enough. This time, when she got to her feet and said it was time to get going, no one protested.

Kagome led them down the tunnels at a slow pace. She couldn't go to fast or she risked losing the rest of the group in the darkness, as they had decided to travel without light. Kagome's one good eye, along with Kirara's and Shippō's were good enough to see in the dark tunnels and the caves had somehow more light, so the group decided to not add to it, as there was a risk of the demon finding them faster that way.

That, of course, left them with the ability to travel only very slowly as the humans could hardly see anything. In order to not get lost, they had to even go as far as to take each other's hands and move one after another, despite the tunnels being wide enough for at least two people to go side by side. And soon enough, the latecomer to the hunting party had enough of stumbling blindly in the dark.

"Why can't we just use a flashlight?" Inuyasha grumbled as he once again stumbled and almost crashed to the ground. Until finding his friends, he had used the futuristic device without problems and it didn't draw anything to him, so he couldn't understand why they had to wander in the dark now. A few feet up front, Kagome sighed, her demonic ears having easily picked up the question.

"Because the risk of showing the yōkai we're there before we're aware it's near is bigger that way," she replied easily as she stopped briefly at an intersection before choosing to turn left. The others followed her without question or complaint.

"I was fine when I was looking for you," Inuyasha grumbled back, trying not to think about how that had ultimately ended. "I don't see how it'd be any different now. Besides, wouldn't it be easier to know which way to go?"

"My nose doesn't need light to find my enemy," the hanyō replied, her own words causing her to stop suddenly and Kohaku, who was right behind her, to almost run into her back. "But now that I think of it, how did you find us in this labyrinth?" she asked, suddenly on edge. Inuyasha shrugged.

"I followed the feel of your youki," he replied simply and Kagome's eye narrowed.

"OK, good enough of a plan," she admitted. "But if something happened, anything at all, how were you planning to find your way back out?"

"I… didn't really think about it," Inuyasha admitted slowly, wondering why he was so unwilling to admit that. Kagome froze for a second before anger overtook her.

"Are you a complete moron?" she hissed.

"Hey, it's not like anything happened!" Inuyasha defended himself reflexively, only adding fuel to the proverbial fire.

"But it could have. What if for some reason one of the tunnels collapsed or something? What if you had somehow been trapped in here?" she asked, reflexively reaching out to grab Inuyasha's arm, but stopping herself just inches from actually touching him, her instincts yelling in warning. She didn't realize that her sudden retreat and refusal to touch him hurt Inuyasha more than any other action, despite the fact that he knew she didn't mean anything hurtful by it. It was just instinct. Survival instinct to stay away from danger.

Still, it hurt to know that he was the danger.

"You would have found me, no? Like you said, you don't need light in here, you would have smelt me," he replied, trying not to let the hurt be heard in his voice and trying to prove his trust in her. But Kagome only snorted.

"I've been down here for two days and still haven't found the main den. That should tell you how big this labyrinth is. Do you really think I would have found you if I didn't even know you were in here?" the half-demon asked disbelievingly before sighing.

"I do," Inuyasha replied before Kagome could say anything. "And if you didn't, I would have found you. I said I could follow your youki." Sure, it had been harder than it should be, most likely because his control of his powers was so lacking, and it had drained him a lot, but he could do it.

"What about the yōkai that made its den here? Can't you find it that way, too? It might be faster than following the scent trail which can be so easily made to lead us in circles," Shippō piped up suddenly, obviously not understanding the true importance of the exchange he had just interrupted.

"I do not think Inuyasha can do that. Not right now, at any rate. It is in fact quite astounding that he had managed to follow Kagome-sama's youki until the cave and inside the labyrinth itself," Miroku said before Inuyasha could say anything.

"Is his control of his power that bad?" Sango asked incredulously, as if a notion of an untrained priest was completely unimaginable to her. And actually, it probably was. Inuyasha cringed, suddenly glad for the darkness that hid his expression from view.

"It's practically nonexistent," Shippō said with a small chuckle that sounded more than a bit mocking to Inuyasha's ears. The young priest scowled, not appreciating being laughed at at all.

"Oi," he started to say in a warning tone, but Kagome interrupted him.

"Shippō-chan, this is not a laughing matter," she chastised, and the kit sobered up instantly, whispering a soft 'sorry' to get back in Kagome's good graces. Whether he had succeeded or not, however, remained a mystery.

"How come Inuyasha-sama hadn't been taught to wield his power, especially if he's so powerful?" Kohaku asked, just as astonished as his sister had been. Kagome didn't blame them. They didn't know the truth yet and as such, could not comprehend how Inuyasha had not been trained – especially with his obvious potential.

The young priest in question tried to get a word in edge-wise to tell Kohaku to drop the '-sama' part, but before he could, Kagome answered the boy's question.

"Where he comes from, his powers are neither needed, nor considered as existent, so no one even noticed he had them. And since he didn't need them, they didn't manifest on their own, either, and fell dormant instead."

"Where could he possibly be from where reiki would not be needed or even considered real?" Sango asked doubtfully, causing Inuyasha to roll his eyes.

'Only a small half-millennium in the future,' he answered in his thoughts, but didn't dare actually voice the answer yet. Of course, Sango and Kohaku would eventually find out the truth, but Inuyasha doubted they'd believe him if he just told them straight out.

Even if he had wanted to answer, however, he wouldn't have been allowed to as just in this moment, Miroku suddenly grabbed Inuyasha's shoulder and pushed him hardly against the stone wall. Kagome did the same to Kohaku, who in turn pushed his sister back as well.

"What the…" Inuyasha started, but didn't finish the question as the ground beneath his feet and the ceiling above his head started to shake suddenly. Behind him, Miroku cursed.

"That wave must be bigger than the others," he called over the noise their surroundings were making.

"Probably. Either that or… Find cover!" Kagome yelled suddenly as a small explosion could be heard not far from where she was standing. Debris flew every which way as everyone in the group reflexively raised their arms to protect their heads. It soon turned out the debris wasn't the only problem, however, as a gigantic wave of lesser yōkai appeared out of the darkness and flew right at them.

Much to Inuyasha's surprise, however, instead of attacking, the demons simply flew by without so much as glancing their way, much like the wave of yōkai he had run into shortly before finding Kagome and the others. Blinking in surprise, Inuyasha waited until the last yōkai passed him before lowering his arms.

"What was that?" he asked when it was finally safe enough to move away from the stone.

"Yōkai," Sango replied matter-of-factly. Inuyasha snorted.

"I know that. What I meant is why didn't they attack?"

"Because they're not hunters. They're the prey," Miroku answered calmly. Up front, although it went unseen by everyone save Kirara and Shippō, Kagome nodded.

"Or at the very least, they feel like it," she corrected. "That, Inuyasha, was a wave of demons desperately trying to get away from something."

"Probably the main den then," Inuyasha guessed.

"Could be. But I doubt it," Kagome replied.

"Why?" this time, it was Sango who spoke up.

"Because when we met that demon that made this maze into its den, I quickly learned that, while it's annoying to fight it, it's not strong. Not enough to cause all those lesser demons to flee like their life depends on it, anyway. Whatever it is that's driving them away, it's got to be something else."

"Great then, another demon to take care of before we're out of here," Sango sighed, and Kagome noticed that for the first time, she had managed to hold a conversation with the slayer without the two of them jumping at each other's throats at one point or another.

It seemed Sango was truly starting to give Kagome a chance, at least.

'That's got to be the first time that ever happened, especially with a taijiya,' Kagome thought, unable to stop the surprise from showing on her face, but the darkness hid it perfectly, anyway.

"Let's keep going," she finally said and they set out again, carefully avoiding the hole that the demons had made in the ground – apparently, this time, the wave had come from below.

The group didn't even move forward as much as five steps, however, when the sound of rolling stones hit Kagome's ears, along with a gasp and Sango's scream.

"Kohaku!" she called, just as the boy let out a terrified scream of his own, although it was swiftly cut short. And although Inuyasha could barely see in the darkness, he reacted just in time to stop Sango from jumping after her brother, who must have slipped and fallen into the hole the demons have just made.

"Let me go! Kohaku!" Sango called desperately as she fought against Inuyasha's hold. The only reason the priest didn't budge was because Miroku had by then started to help him to hold the taijiya down.

"Sango, stop," Inuyasha started to tell her, but the slayer was not listening at all and only fought harder, at least until another voice cut through the silence. And that one came not from behind or the front, but from below.

"Calm down, taijiya, I got him," Kagome called, her voice freezing Sango instantly, a fact for which Inuyasha was grateful.

"What?" she whispered, but in the next moment, a small fox-flame appeared in front of their noses, illuminating the hole. Apparently, Shippō figured now light was truly necessary.

A few feet into the hole, just barely in the light's reach, hung Kagome. She had driven one of her hands into the stone to stop herself from falling, while her other held Kohaku protectively to her chest. The boy wasn't complaining at the close proximity, either. Quite the contrary, he seemed to cling to Kagome for dear life – and he probably did. In the current situation, it wasn't exaggerated either, for if the boy let go, he would fall and Inuyasha didn't even want to think when he would hit the rock-hard bottom.

When it became obvious Sango had calmed down some, Inuyasha slowly released her arms. The taijiya sunk to her knees close to the hole's edge, although she was obviously careful not to fall in herself.

"Kohaku?" she called tentatively, despite being able to see her brother perfectly well. The boy in question raised his head from where it was pressed to Kagome's chest.

"I'm alright, ane-ue," he called back, though his voice shook a little with fear.

"Hold on, we'll get you out," the taijiya-girl called resolutely, earning herself a snort from the half-demon who saved her brother.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "As far as I know, rope isn't exactly part of our equipment."

Inuyasha cursed under his breath. This wasn't the first time he regretted not having a rope with him.

"Can't you just pull the both of you out, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked, calm as ever. Sometimes, Inuyasha wondered where the monk got all the calmness from. To everyone's surprise, Kagome shook her head.

"Not with one hand," she said. "If I could use both arms, then it wouldn't be much of a problem. But that's risky, especially since Kohaku would have to move to my back." She didn't need to explain why such a move was risky. Doing it was simply begging for Kohaku to slip and fall down again, this time to his doom. "However," Kagome started slowly, turning her gaze to look below, "I can see the bottom of this hole. It's not that deep. I mean, a human probably wouldn't get out of falling down there unscathed," 'if he'd survive at all,' she added in her thoughts, "but I can land down there perfectly safely. Though I doubt I could just jump right back up to you guys."

With that said, Kagome looked back up, her eyes easily finding the very obviously worried Sango.

"It's your call, taijiya," she said, her voice stern. "We can take the risky way and I try to climb out. Or, I carry Kohaku down there and you'll have to trust me to protect him while we're separated. Which will it be?"

"Let's just go down," Kohaku said, although his voice was not loud enough to reach Sango's ears. "It's the safer way…"

"Which risks your sister wanting my head if she does not agree to it," Kagome bit back, effectively denying the possibility of any argument.

For a moment, all was silent as the group waited for Sango's decision. The slayer-girl had obviously trouble deciding, too, something which Inuyasha just couldn't understand. To him, it was obvious what the better choice was. But then again, unlike him, Sango believed Kagome to be a monster, even if she seemed to start to think otherwise.

"You will protect him?" Sango finally asked, her tone just a tiny bit doubtful and definitely fearful. Kagome didn't know how much her reassurance would help in the matter, but she decided to try it, anyway.

"I won't let anything happen to him," she said with conviction. Sango sighed, her expression still torn, but she had obviously come to a decision.

"Then… carry him down," she finally said, though she didn't seem to convinced that she had chosen correctly. For Kagome, however, that was enough and she did not plan on letting the taijiya time to think her decision through a second time.

"Alright," she called. "Shippō-chan, you know the scent which I was following. Lead the others wherever it leads, then you should find the main den eventually. We'll meet you there."

"Alright, Kagome," Shippō replied with a shaky voice. He obviously wasn't very fond of the idea of being separated from his new mother, but Kagome knew that she could not ask him to jump after her. Kirara did not know how to talk in a language that humans understood, so she couldn't be left as the guide to the humans. Plus, if the need arose, Shippō could make light, while Kirara's ability in that regard was much limited, especially since in her bigger form, she could move nowhere near freely enough in the narrow tunnels.

With all the direction given, Kagome let go and let herself and Kohaku fall into the hole, quickly disappearing in the darkness beyond the light-beam of the kitsune-bi. Shortly afterward, the vertical tunnel ended and the young half-demon landed lightly in a small circular room similar to the one where they have first met the illusionist-demon. But then again, all of these caves looked similar.

"Stay close to me," Kagome commanded softly as she deposited Kohaku on his feet. The boy obeyed, immediately taking Kagome's hand in his, much like he had before to not lose his way. This time, however, the young hanyō could feel the boy's hand shaking in her grasp. She stifled a sigh. "And don't be scared. I said I'll protect you and I meant it."

"I know, Kagome-sama," Kohaku replied, his voice still a little shaky, though visibly less than a mere minute ago. "It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

But Kohaku didn't answer and Kagome didn't press him, focusing instead on which way to go. She didn't need to focus very hard on the way, though, as the source of the scent she had been following had visibly gotten closer – and with it, the main den probably as well.

For a long while, they traveled in silence, until Kohaku finally spoke up.

"Kagome-sama, the demon we're fighting… you didn't tell us to let you fight him alone because it could use its illusions to goad us into fighting each other, did you," he said, sounding suspiciously sure of himself. He hadn't even phrased that as a question, and that alone was enough to make Kagome freeze in her tracks for half of a second.

"And what makes you say that?" she asked, trying to avoid the answer. She disliked lying as a whole, and Kohaku really wasn't a person she wanted to lie to, no matter what. So instead, she avoided the answer.

"When Kagome-sama had been knocked unconscious I… I couldn't stop myself," Kohaku answered, sounding partially scared and partially surprised. "I didn't even think about what I was doing. I just acted."

"You attacked it?" the young half-demon asked incredulously as she turned her head to look at Kohaku over her shoulder. The boy nodded.

"I fought it," he affirmed. "And I noticed that not once did my surroundings change while I did. The only thing that happened was the yōkai's form changing, that's all. That's why I think Kagome-sama's reason to fight alone was different than what you said it was."

"And what form did it take?" Kagome asked anxiously. Kohaku gulped audibly, but answered anyway.

"I'm not quite sure. It didn't change fully. But I think… it wanted to turn into my father," the boy replied with a shudder. "But then Miroku-sama also started to help, and the demon fled."

Unable to stop herself, Kagome sighed. It was no use trying to wiggle herself out of it. With how things were, it would be safer to just tell Kohaku the truth. He knew one of her darkest secrets anyway, so he was at least safe to reveal the truth to.

"Let's see how much an aspiring taijiya knows about yōkai, then," she said. "Tell me, what is the opposite of the power of illusion?"

Kohaku was obviously more than a little put off at the sudden, seemingly irrelevant question. Still, he seemed to know Kagome well enough to know she never asked questions that weren't relevant to the situation in some way, so he answered in the end.

"The power of truth," he said. "It allows one to see through illusions and lies."

"Good. And can a yōkai have both of these powers at once?"

"Yes, although since they're polar opposites, they tend to 'war for dominance' in a way, or cancel each other out. If a demon has both of these powers, then both are weak, or one becomes dominant and weakens the other, making for a very unbalanced equilibrium. But, Kagome-sama, are you implying this illusionist holds the power of truth along with the power of illusion?"

"What do the terms 'weak power' and 'strong power' mean to you? For each of those abilities?" Kagome continued her questioning, ignoring Kohaku's own question. Since she didn't deny it, however, Kohaku knew without having to say so that he was right. Narrowing his eyes, the young taijiya dug through his memories before answering.

"The strength of an illusionist is seen on the radius his illusion can have and which senses it can fool. Strong illusionists can make big illusions even to the point that the sense of feeling is fooled. Weak illusionists can normally fool only the sight and hearing, and their radius of illusion-making is much smaller.

"As for the opposite, the so-called truth-seers, when they're strong, they can see through any illusion and any other kind of lie. Lying to them is virtually impossible, in any way. They can see even through lies that are not spoken aloud or directed at them. Weaker truth-seers can only see through illusions and small lies, nothing else."

"And into which category would you put the illusionist we're hunting?"

XxX

"From what I just told you, it's obvious that illusionist-yōkai isn't that strong," Sango said as they walked. Once she had calmed down some more, she had started talking, which Inuyasha imagined was her way of getting her mind of her worry about her brother. To Sango's credit, however, she did not just babble on. In fact, she was talking about something very important.

"Alright, so its illusions are limited to its own body and can only fool our eyes and ears. What of it?" Inuyasha asked, not understanding the problem at all.

"It means the hanyō was lying to us," Sango said a bit angrily, though Inuyasha noted she didn't insult Kagome this time, but merely called her a half-demon. "Though I don't know why."

"What do you mean she lied to you?" he asked, still feeling like he was missing something.

"Kagome-sama told us to let her fight alone because the illusions of that yōkai could fool us into fighting each other," Miroku said, a frown marring his face and making him look quite eerie in the bluish light of the fox-fire that Shippō had kindly provided them with so that no one else would fall into some unseen holes in the ground. "However, that's impossible if the illusion is limited to a very small perimeter around the yōkai itself."

Now that Miroku pointed it out, it actually sounded quite obvious. Inuyasha felt like smacking himself for not noticing something like this himself.

"In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the illusion would be limited to the yōkai's look and nothing more," Sango said again. "Remember how it started changing when Kohaku and I attacked it?"

"But that would mean that its illusions can't do anything like what Kagome-sama said they could. In which case, her will to fight alone makes absolutely no sense," Miroku interjected.

"Unless she wanted to drag the fight out for some reason. Like to keep us here longer than necessary and let the children die," even as she said it, Sango sounded doubtful. Still, Inuyasha felt the need to contradict her, anyway.

"Kagome would never do that," he answered. "Besides, when I actually tried to help her in the fight, didn't exactly what she feared happen? We might not know what exactly it was if it wasn't an illusion, but something had made her protect the demon from me."

"She could have done it on purpose," Sango tried again, although once again, she didn't sound like she believed her own words.

"No way."

"You sound sure."

"I am."

"Do you trust her that much?" the question seemed to be one Sango had wanted to ask for a long time. Though the question was not directed at him, Miroku nodded, a silent affirmative of trusting the hanyō to not do something that could cost them all their lives. Inuyasha, on the other hand, voiced that trust.

"With my life," he said, finally feeling like he wasn't lying to himself in any way, shape or form. "And I know that trust is not misplaced."

His words left Sango visibly utterly speechless and they proceeded on in silence.

XxX

"But I don't understand. If its illusions are so weak, why use them to fight?" Kohaku asked after he categorized the yōkai to the best of his abilities. His result wasn't much different from Sango's – in his belief, the illusionist-demon was in fact pretty weak, at least where illusions were concerned.

"Think about it, Kohaku. What form did the yōkai try to take when it fought you and your sister?"

"My father."

"And how did it know how your father looked? Or that it should turn into him, of all people?"

"I don't know," the young boy replied, sounding ashamed.

"You said strong truth-seers can see through lies even if they're not spoken aloud or directed at them," she said, trying to bring Kohaku to the correct answer. When the boy still seemed lost, she pushed further. "When you try to force yourself to forget something, or wish it hadn't happened and try to act like it didn't happen, isn't that a form of lying, too? If you try to repress a memory and fool yourself into believing it did not happen, isn't that the same as lying to yourself?"

Finally, understanding crept in Kohaku's eyes, but along with it came also the fear and the boy blanched.

"You mean..." he started, unable to finish the thought. Kagome nodded grimly.

"Yeah," she said. "Its illusions might be weak, but the power of truth it holds is ridiculously enormous. And it knows how to use it best. The moment it looks at you, all the lies you try to tell yourself for whatever reason are gone and it sees everything. From the most unpleasant truth about who you are, to your worst memory which you want to forget above all else. It's that knowledge that it uses."

"So… that woman that it became when it fought you… Kagome-sama, was that…?"again, Kohaku was visibly unable to finish his sentence. And again, he didn't have to as Kagome answered anyway.

"Yeah. That was my mother. Although the real her would have never said half of what that demon did."

"Then, what will we do when we find it?" the young slayer asked, now truly understanding the terror of the demon they had come to kill. Kagome merely shrugged.

"You stay out of trouble, I'll do the dirty work."

"But wouldn't it be better to fight in a group? Then it wouldn't know what form to take."

"Eventually, it would choose. And imagine it would choose your father's form. Even if your mind knew it wasn't him, would you still let someone else kill him without interfering? Would you be able to kill him yourself?"

The silence was more than enough of an answer.

"See? And I'm sure it's the same for your sister, Miroku-sama, and Inuyasha, too. That's why I'm taking that responsibility on myself."

"But, Kagome-sama…"

"No buts," Kagome said, her voice suddenly hard. "I take care of the demon, you make sure nothing happens to the children."

It took only looking around Kagome at what was in front of her to understand the sudden change in her attitude. The two of them had reached yet another cave, this one much bigger than the others and illuminated by a few oil lamps, probably brought by one fooled human or another. The walls of the cave were filled with holes of tunnels, effectively leaving many ways in and out of the main den. There was only one part of the wall where there weren't any tunnels, and that was exactly where a group of children sat huddled together, trembling in fear.

In the middle of the cave stood the demon, its face one Kagome immediately recognized as that of her mother. She was smiling, the cold, mocking smile in the familiar face causing a shudder to run down Kagome's spine. Still, the half-demon didn't back down and instead reached for Tessaiga, trying to stop her hands from shaking.

"This time, you're going down."

---

* 'Nic Hercules contra plures' – a Latin saying which I don't know the English version of. Translated, it means: 'even Hercules can't do anything against a crowd', or something like that. At any rate, this saying implies a crowd is always stronger than an individual, no matter how strong said individual is.

---

And here it is. So, who, expected the yōkai to be somehow able to take the form of Kagome's mother? Yes, I know, some of you did, but most didn't mention the idea if they thought of it LOL Well, the upcoming battle sure promises to be interesting, ne ;)

On another note, remember chapter 27 when Kagome hugged Inuyasha before sending him down the well? Well, he finally hugged her back :) And it took me only what, 13 chapters? I'm fast, aren't I.

And a third point *glances at her notes and plans for the upcoming mini-arc* Well, in a chapter or two, we'll be entering a majorly angst-filled and emotional part of the fic (and probably THE most angsty and emotional mini-arc of part I), so I'd advise you to get some tissues near you for the next couple of chapters. Maybe not the next one, but definitely the one after that. You have been warned.

Oh, and before I forget: I posted a new one-shot lately and it's looking a bit sorry review-wise (yes, I know, reviews isn't everything, but stil...), so if any of you feel like checking it out, feel free to do so. It's called 'Sayonara' and I swear it's not as sad or angtsy as the title makes it out to be ;)

And with that, I leave you for another month. Cheers.

Next Chapter: A Yōkai's Mask

See you then.