Chapter 9
"Obsession or Possession?"

Inuyasha picked up the last of the dead birds from the small overhang, sighing at the one who seemed to refuse to die.

There was no saving him. Neck was broken and the fact that it hadn't died yet was both impressive and disheartening.

"Sorry, little guy," he whispered and finished the job the window had started. It stopped moving and fell limp in his hands. He placed the still little body in his sack and tied it off before leaping down to put them in the can her mother had mentioned. He glanced up at the overhang as he walked towards the shed.

Six birds flying into a window? One was uncommon but not noteworthy.

Six though—six meant something was not right, not normal. He dropped the bag into the can, placing the lid back over it.

Kagome was legitimately scared of something, but he hadn't sensed anything out of the ordinary at all while he'd been here. Something was wrong, he just didn't know what.

It was . . . irritating.

He rinsed his hands off in the spigot on the wall, shaking them dry before heading back inside. Maybe he should just let Kagome sleep it off, and then they could start fresh in the morning. She looked exhausted already, and maybe a good sleep would let her think more clearly.

She was afraid to talk to him, and that wasn't like her. Kagome rarely ever questioned herself and what she did, and this wasn't her usual behavior.

He rubbed his eyes as he opened the back door and stepped inside, wiping his feet on the mat they'd put there for him.

"Inuyasha?" Her mother called.

"Yeah," he answered, stepping inside the kitchen to head up the stairs.

"Did you have any problems?"

"Nah, I put them in that can like you told me."

"Thank you. I'm afraid Kagome and I don't have much of a stomach for that sort of thing."

"It's fine. I'm gonna go check on her," he said, pointing to Kagome's room.

"Good night, Inuyasha. And thank you again." She gave him a genuine smile, and he nodded before ascending the stairs back towards her room.

The room was completely dark when he walked up, not that it was a big issue. He could see just fine with the light from the hall and the moon through the window, and he knew the layout enough to actually wander through her room blind without hitting anything if he had to.

It was damn near muscle memory at this point. He shut the door behind him as he entered.

He noted the lump under the blankets, her frantic breathing as her whole body trembled underneath the sheets.

He turned the dial on her lamp that made it light up. He really didn't understand how it all worked, just that it did.

A small whimper escaped the lump next to him.

"Kagome?" He asked, and she curled up tighter than before instead of emerging like he'd thought. Frowning, he sat on the edge of the bed, and Kagome shifted away from him. "Kagome?" That couldn't be a comfortable position to sleep in.

He could always smell her tears before he saw them. The smell always made him feel—inadequate. Like he hadn't done enough to prevent her from being upset, no matter what it was. Sure, he understood that it wasn't always his fault, and that sometimes girls just cried, but damn, if it wasn't a kick to the balls that he'd failed her in some way.

"What's wrong?" He asked. "Was it the birds?" No answer. "Come on, it sucks, but it's nothing to cry over." He shook her shoulder, and she shrugged him off, curling up into a tighter ball. "Come on. Get out here."

He flipped the blankets off enough so that he could see her face. She was clutching a stuffed animal to her chest, and he was struck dumb by the sudden desire to replace the animal with himself.

She sniffled, and he shook his head slightly to clear the errant thought.

"It's dumb," she mumbled, wiping her face roughly with her hand.

Hardly, he started to say, but instead waited for her to continue. Silence often worked just as well as goading her when he wanted her to talk.

"Can we just go to sleep?" She whispered. "I don't want to talk tonight."

He frowned. They'd been so close to actually talking about what was happening, and now she didn't want to?

"Yeah. We'll talk tomorrow?" He watched her as she hesitantly nodded. "Fix your pillow. Can't sleep if you're in a ball like that."

"You sleep in a ball," she grumbled, unmoving.

"I'm half-demon," he explained with an obvious air of superiority, and she snorted, still unmoving. He ripped the pillow out from under her and tossed it against the headboard. She let out a small shout of surprise, and he slid his arms under her armpits to bodily move her back to where she normally slept, dropping her unceremoniously once her head was on her pillow.

"Jerk," she mumbled, rolling over to face him, still holding onto the stuffed creature, and pulling the blankets up to her chin again.

"You want me to stay?" He asked her, and she nodded.

"Please," she added after a moment, like he needed convincing. She never had to plead or beg. He'd stay forever, as long as she never sent him away.

Her hand grabbed his wrist, holding him tightly. He glanced down at her small fingers wrapped around him, and then drifted back to her face. Her eyes weren't meeting his. Instead, she was staring at where she grabbed him, holding him in place, her grip like an anchor, keeping him pinned to the bed. He slid off the side, reaching to turn off the light.

"Wait!" She clenched his hand, and he turned to face her as she made a noise in protest. "Can we leave it on tonight?"

"You want to leave the light on?" That—wasn't like her at all. "Kagome did something happen?"

She shook her head slightly but didn't meet his eyes. He had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't being entirely honest, but he didn't want to start a fight tonight.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow they could argue the hell out of this.

He let out a small sigh.

"Go to sleep, Kagome," he whispered, tapping the pointer finger of his entrapped hand against the back of her own. He was kneeling next to her bed, resting his head on his arm. She's scared. He doesn't need to smell it to know. She's clutching onto him and the stupid doll like they're the only things that can keep her safe here. Which is dumb as hell because what's that stupid little doll going to do for her?

"You'll stay here? The whole time?" She whispered.

"'Course. No ghosts while I'm around," he whispered back, sliding his thumb along her skin. She watched his thumb for a moment before squeezing his hand briefly, but not letting go. He kept up the motion, and watched her fight sleep for a few minutes before she finally just gave up.

Once he was sure that she was asleep, he frowned.

Ghosts didn't just reappear. Not after two years, unless they were like that youkai spirit that woke up after the seals failed.

But something made those birds fly into her window.

And something was clearly distressing her beyond normal standardized Kagome level worrying.

He let his chin rest on his arm that laid across her bed, curling his legs underneath him as he watched her sleep. She held onto his hand the entire night.

It was quiet. Kagome sighed into her pillow. Cracking open her eyes, her room looked normal enough. Her eyes skimmed the edge of her bed, but something was amiss. Frowning, she leaned over the edge, but there was nothing there.

No Inuyasha.

Scrambling to her hands and knees, she frantically looked around her room for any sign of him or Hina or anything.

He'd promised that he wouldn't leave. Had something happened? Had Hina done something?

"Inuyasha?" She called quietly. He'd hear her. If he was nearby. If something hadn't happened to him. But what if something had happened? What if Hina finally did what she kept dreaming about?

She leapt off the bed, threw her door open, and screamed, staggering back a step or two before falling back onto the floor.

"Shit Kagome! What's your problem!" Inuyasha shouted, somehow balancing a tray in one hand.

Kagome coughed twice, as she pushed herself back up to a sitting position.

"What're you doing scaring me like that?"

"Me?" He sounded incredulous and irritated at facing the blame, but Kagome was relieved that there was nothing seriously wrong. He was okay. He was fine.

But then there was that sudden fear that crept over her.

This was real? Right?

She was awake? Not dreaming?

"Kagome?"

She jolted when she realized that he'd knelt down in front of her, hand reaching out.

"I'm awake," she whispered. "Right? I'm awake, right?"

He tilted his head at her question, eyes scouring her face for answers that she didn't know the questions for.

"Yeah," he answered before reaching back to the tray. He held up a plate to her as a reason. "I was coming to wake you up."

She let out a stuttering breath and nodded. He stood, placing the plate on her nightstand before moving back to her side.

"You should be in bed," he stated, holding his hands out to her, and she groaned in response. "Hey, you're supposed to be on bed rest, remember? Mother's orders."

She reached her arms out to him, for once not really upset at his insistence and glad that he was there and safe.

He reached for her, drawing back after just a moment and gripping her elbows, forcing her hands above her head.

"Inuyasha! What are you doing?"

But he was staring above her face, at her wrists. She looked at them, unsure of what—oh. Dark bruises encircled her wrists.

"Who did this?" He growled, shaking her arms slightly. "Who else was here, Kagome?"

"I don't know," she stared at the marks. She hadn't had them last night when she went to bed or at all yesterday. How hadn't she seen them? It was like something had grabbed her, hard enough to bruise, and no one had touched her.

Well, Hina had grabbed her in the bathroom, but that was just one wrist, and her other one was marked up as well.

She hadn't shown him the one on her chest either, and it would stay that way if this was any indication of how he was reacting. Though she really shouldn't be surprised by this.

The dream came to the forefront of her mind, Hina had transformed and grabbed her wrists. Right before she got slammed into a wall. Kagome winced at the memory.

"What?" Inuyasha asked, leaning forward, closing in on her personal space.

"Uh, nothing?" Kagome stuttered out, like he wasn't going to pick up on that and run with it. Inuyasha did not disappoint.

"Nu-uh, don't give me that crap. Who did this to you?"

But she couldn't risk it. Not after what Hina had threatened her family with. She couldn't tell him and risk Hina taking out her anger on anyone else.

She shook her head, clamping her eyes shut to keep them from watering, but it was too little too late.

Why couldn't it just be easy? Why did everything have to be so difficult?

Wait—

"Okay, just—look—I'm sorry." His ears were flatted to his head, as he searched her face, looking for something. "Let's get some food in you before it gets cold." He picked her up from the floor and setting her in her bed which was only a couple steps away.

He grabbed the tray and set it in her lap.

"Inuyasha," she started.

"Just eat," he said, nudging the tray towards her with his finger. "We can talk later, okay?"

She really wasn't hungry. Nothing actually sounded good anyway, but he was looking at her so intently that she knew if she refused, she'd only upset him more, and she'd already done enough of that without meaning to.

She took the chopsticks and began to slowly nibble at her breakfast. Mostly to just appease him, but the thought of eating the entire plate made her nauseous. After watching her, Inuyasha reached for the other plate on her nightstand and began to eat as well.

A surprising thought occurred to her.

"Did you wait to eat breakfast?" She asked him.

"Eat your meal, Kagome," he said, continuing to eat and ignoring her question.

And so she ate in silence, waiting for the next terrible thing to happen.

She ate—eh, half maybe?

Inuyasha was unimpressed, judging by the way he glared angrily at her plate. She'd kinda mushed food around with her chopsticks while she nibbled at her food.

"You haven't been eating enough," he commented as she handed him off her plate.

"I haven't been hungry," she replied with a shrug. He stacked her plate onto his own in the tray, and then picked it up, glancing at her over his shoulder.

"Stay in bed. I'll be right back." He opened her door, stepping out to carry the tray back downstairs, probably to her mother.

"Stay in bed," she grumbled, mocking his voice. She actually really needed to pee, now that she thought about it and the panic had subsided. Not to mention she wanted to wash her face at the very least. And brush her teeth. Probably change her clothes.

Standing up, she trod to the bathroom, completely prepared for the verbal onslaught that he'd unleash the moment he realized that she'd disobeyed his direct orders.

She shut the door behind her. Right now, she felt coherent enough to argue with him about being bedridden for the day. There were things that she needed to do. Places she needed to go.

She grabbed her toothbrush and began her morning ritual.

"I know you're in there," Inuyasha growled through the door.

"Good for you," she remarked, mouth half full of toothpaste and spit. He grumbled something, and his footsteps wandered off towards her room. She preened at her, albeit small, victory and continued brushing her teeth.

The big question here was how to convince Inuyasha that she didn't need him to restrict her to bed rest. She still wanted to go by Hina's grave, just to see. The spirit was making such a big deal about it, and she had a gut feeling that there was something more to it.

Obviously, there was going to be a fight about it. But she needed to figure this out. She couldn't risk Hina or whatever she was attacking her family when she left for the Feudal Era. There was no way to really overpower him; he'd just cart her back off if she tried to sneak out. He was going to take a firm stance on how her mother had insisted she rest for the rest of the weekend.

Kagome spat into the sink.

Conundrums to say the least.

She turned on the tap to wash her face; the water felt refreshing against her skin. Kagome sighed and toweled her face dry.

And just how was she supposed to convince Inuyasha to let her out?

Then again, maybe she should just say she was getting a snack or whatever and just bail. It would take him a few minutes to figure it out anyway. She could probably make it off the shrine grounds by the point that he realized it.

Eh, maybe.

He could be pretty focused when he wanted to be.

She hung the towel back up and caught sight of her bruised wrists.

A thought struck her, and she looked at the mirror before raising the hem of her shirt, slowly turning around and looking at her reflection.

A blue-black bruise covered her lower back, and she stripped off her shirt to see the damage.

It was even darker across her shoulder blades.

This was bad. This was so bad.

Inuyasha could not see this at all. At least the one across her chest was yellowed and would be gone in the next day or two.

He'd freak out completely if he knew about this.

That means she would definitely be sneaking out.

She slipped her shirt back on and prepared herself for the onslaught that was Inuyasha's worried concern.

Opening the door, a flash of red appeared in front of her.

"'Bout time. Thought you were gonna spend all day in there," he commented, arms crossed.

"Yeah, I just forgot to grab a change of clothes."

"What for? You're just gonna be in bed all day."

"I'm not spending all day in bed, Inuyasha."

"Uh, yeah," he argued, "you are."

Kagome deadpanned a look at him over her shoulder.

"Don't look at me like that. We both know you need the rest." Kagome grabbed her clothes and started back for the bathroom. Inuyasha snagged her arm, gripping her above the elbow. "You're not doing anything today."

"You've made that clear."

"So why do you need to change clothes then?"

"Just makes me feel like a productive human being, okay?" Kagome waited for a moment, and then Inuyasha just let her go, crossing his arms and looking displeased. Though he almost always looked displeased about something in life.

She patted his shoulder and disappeared back into the bathroom.

After finagling her bra several times over, she just accepted that it was going to hurt no matter how she wore it. The straps and the band dug into the bruise no matter how loose she made it.

She dressed, taking a deep breath to settle her nerves. Inuyasha and his freaking super senses always managed to figure out when she was anxious, and he always questioned her about it. Her long sleeves covered the bruises across her wrists. She didn't want to alarm her mother, even though it wouldn't help Inuyasha, since he seemed to hone on in on any injury even when it was covered.

Opening the door, she put on her calmest demeanor and headed down the stairs.

"Hey!" Inuyasha shouted, coming up behind her as she looked for her mother to change her bandages.

She was stalling. She needed a plan, because running away from Inuyasha wasn't going to work. Not by a long shot. And if he caught her, then she was going to be under some serious house arrest.

If she could get him distracted then she could get away and find the grave. There had to be something there. It would not try this hard if there was nothing to be gained. The real question was what was even there.

"Mama?" Kagome called and her mother's head poked out from the laundry room. "Oh! I thought that we could help with some chores. Well, small ones, before I left for the Feudal Era on Monday." She held up her arm as Inuyasha huffed behind her. "What?" She snapped, glaring at him over her shoulder.

"Watch the attitude," her mother commented, and she gave a sheepish smile.

"Sorry."

Her mother gave her a reproachful look, and Kagome just tried to look as apologetic as she could, so that her mother wouldn't lecture her.

"Be nice, Kagome," she reminded her, and Kagome merely nodded.

Inuyasha leaned against the counter behind her, with his arms crossed.

"Your arm has been healing really well." Her mother took a sip of tea. "I think that you're going to be fine to go back with Inuyasha on Monday as long as you get some rest this weekend though. No chores for you right now."

Her mother turned over to look at Inuyasha, when Kagome heard a knock at the door. Inuyasha's ears flicked towards the sound, and he narrowed his gaze in the direction of the entry.

"I can get it," she said as she withdrew her arm, and then headed towards the front door.

Inuyasha followed a step behind her.

"Inuyasha, I can get the door," she whispered as she reached for the door knob.

The hanyou growled, and she patted his arm.

"Now, go, I'll be up in a minute, okay?"

He growled.

"What happened to fucking resting?"

"I am resting," she countered, jumping as the visitor knocked again. "Can we have this argument later?"

He bared his fangs at her, but leapt up the stairs, disappearing into her room.

"Stubborn dog boy," she grumbled and opened the door.

Hojo smiled at her, and she quickly darted outside, shutting the door behind her.

"Oh, Kagome!" Hojo looked surprised to see her. "Should you be up? You weren't well yesterday."

"Yeah, I got some sleep, and I feel loads better!" She waved her hand at the notion that she was still unwell. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, well, you see," he rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "I actually came to check on you. You looked really upset yesterday about not being able to go see Hina's grave, and I was worried about you."

"That's really sweet of you, Hojo, but—" Her voice died off as she realized that this was her moment. "Actually, I still really wanted to go to Hina's grave. Are you busy right now?"

"Are you sure?" He asked, a concerned frown passing over his face. "You really should be resting."

"Of course, I look better, don't I?"

"Well, you do, but—"

"I swear, I'm fine. And I would like to go now before it gets too busy. You know how taxing a busy train can be!"

"Well, you have a point." He tapped his chin. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. It's not that long of a trip."

"Great, just let me grab my shoes and let Grandpa know that I'm leaving."

"Of course," he answered, and she ducked inside, pulling on a pair of flip flops before closing the front door carefully behind her.

Part of her raged at sneaking away from Inuyasha and knowing the absolute dumpster fire she was going to have to deal with when she returned, but she had to do this. She just—she had to. Inuyasha would understand.

Eventually.

"Let me just let my grandfather know I'm leaving with you, okay?" She said.

"Here, I'll follow you," Hojo offered, falling in step after her as she found her grandfather sweeping the steps that lead down to the street.

Perfect!

What luck!

How long had it been since something went in her favor?

"Hey Gramps," she said, touching his arm.

"Oh, Kagome," he said, turning to look up at her. "You look better."

"I'm heading out with Hojo for a little bit, okay? I'll see you later."

"Kagome!" Her grandfather grabbed her uninjured hand. "You're feeling well enough to go?"

She nodded with a smile on her face, hating that she was lying to him. She felt better, but she was far from okay.

"Alright, but don't be long."

"Yes, sir!" She said, stepping back towards the stairs and motioning Hojo to follow her. He did so easily, and Kagome guided them towards the station. They needed to hurry before a certain hanyou figured out she'd given him the slip, especially when she'd promised that she wouldn't be long.

"Why the rush, Kagome?" Hojo asked, following at her pace easily.

"Oh, you know, just eager to get there and back. You know how it is," she explained hurriedly.

The station came into sight in record time, and since there wasn't any sign of mayhem following her from the shrine, she guessed that Inuyasha wasn't questioning her absence just yet.

"Of course," he agreed.

They went down the stairs, and she realized at the turnstyle that she'd neglected to grab her transit card before she left.

"I'll get it," Hojo offered, swiping his card for her.

"Thanks, Hojo. You're really the best," she said as she stepped through and he followed a moment later.

"Hardly," he said with a grin, grabbing her hand in his. "Come on, this way."

He guided her to the correct platform, and she followed obediently with a blush forming across her face, because she could feel it. The heat blooming across her cheeks.

"Do you visit her often?" She asked, and he flashed her a smile.

"Not as often as I probably should. She was a friend after all."

Kagome blanched at the thought that she hadn't visited since the funeral, and that was well over two years ago.

Some friend she was.

"How long until the train?" She asked, glancing around the station. At any moment, she just knew Inuyasha was going to show up and—she shuddered—explode. Hojo kept her hand in his grip.

"Not too much longer." He tilted his head at her question, thumb running circles across the back of her hand, making the hair on the back of her neck raise in—something. "Are you in a hurry?"

"Huh? Oh! No, not really. I'm just—it's been a while, you know? And I don't want to be gone for too long!" She stared at her feet, avoiding looking at their joined hands. "You heard my grandfather." She smiled up at him, quickly turning towards the sound of an approaching train.

"Ah, this would be us. It's running on time today," he commented, and Kagome cluthed the hem of her sleeve in her free hand as the train slowed and then stopped in front of them. The doors opened, and Hojo tugged her by the hand onto the train.

The tension in her shoulders eased as the doors closed and the train took off. There was no way for him to track her now. She could do this one thing. If she was lucky, she'd even settle this whole problem, and it wouldn't matter at the end. She wouldn't even have to tell him anything else. It would just disappear and become a bad memory.

It would just be a really bad week, and, one day, maybe she could laugh about it.

"Everything okay?" He asked, squeezing her hand gently. He gripped the same pole as her, facing her as the train rocked gently underneath them.

"Of course!" She chirped back. "Why?"

"You looked like you were upset about something?" He stared at her. "You were scowling and everything."

"Sorry," she grabbed onto the bar as the train lurched in a turn. "It's been a rough week."

"Yeah, you really haven't had a good one, have you?" He said with a laugh, thumb brushing across her knuckles. "Dog bites and being sick all week? Not the way I'd like to spend my time."

Kagome laughed and shook her head.

"Tell me about it."

"Was that friend of yours visiting? The one that Eri usually talks about? I heard you talking to someone before you opened the door."

"Oh, you heard that?" She grimaced, grabbing onto the bar again as the train turned again. "Yeah, he came to help out when he found out that I'd had some stitches. He's helps out around the shrine when he's here though."

"That's nice of him."

"He's actually a really nice person; he just doesn't go about it the right way all the time. I feel bad leaving him there."

"Are you two—" he paused as if trying to figure out his own question, "are you two dating?"

"Oh, no!" God, that stupid blush was back. "No, we're not. We're just really good friends, I think." Her face had to be bright red at this point.

"You think?"

"Well, I consider us good friends, you know?"

Hojo hummed a response that Kagome couldn't really read at all. But all that spread out was silence and the sounds of the train moving along the track.

"We've been on the train for a while. I didn't remember it being out this far."

Hojo looked up at the station map above her head, swaying as the train moved.

"We're the next stop, so just another minute or so."

"I'm so glad that you were willing to come with me."

"Of course, Kagome, why wouldn't I?" His eyes drifted to hers, and he smiled down at her. She really felt nothing other than friendship for the boy, but he just seemed to happy that he was able to do something for her.

He really was a good friend.

Who hadn't dropped her hand in the entire trip on the train.

She internalized that particular grimace.

The train slowed, and then stopped, and Kagome, forcibly dropped his hand as she moved towards the door, stepped off the train and into the station. Hojo pressed a hand to her lower back, ushering her forward, but the contact of his hand made her skin crawl up her spine. It felt like her hair was standing on end. She stepped ahead of him, breaking the contact, and thankfully, Hojo didn't instigate it again.

"Here," he said, turning down a hallway that looked rather empty. "This way is faster, and it takes us right up to the street where the cemetery is."

"Okay," she said, following him through the corridor. He opened a door, the hinges squealing as he pushed it, and she stepped past him.

Not right, her gut screamed at her.

This wasn't right.

The hallway looked the same as the one before it, but clearly unused or at least not cleaned regularly, which meant that the public didn't trek through here often.

"Hojo, I think you made a—" The door squealed and then slammed shut behind her, making her jump. "A mistake. This doesn't look like the right way."

"Oh, it's the right way. I promise you that. Would I ever lead you astray, Kagome?"

"Well, I—no, I don't, but—" Hojo's hand on her shoulder made her stop talking as he gently pressed her to the wall, and put his lips to her own.

Uh.

Wha?

Hojo was kissing her!

Repeat.

HOJO WAS KISSING HER!

How? Okay, well the how was easily answered. The bigger question was not.

Why?

His fingers gripped her hips, bringing her brain back online, and her shaking hands pressed against his chest, pushing him away. Hojo, dense idiot that he was, didn't take the push for what it was and stepped closer, increasing the pressure of his mouth on hers.

She pushed him away again, shoving at his chest and shoulders roughly, trying to get him off of her; his fingers were bruising in their grip now. Twisting her head away, she managed to get her forearm between them, breaking his lip-lock on her.

"Hojo, stop!"

His face a breath away from hers, and she pushed at him again.

"I've wanted to do that for years," he mumbled, leaning back towards her.

"Hojo! Stop!" She shouted, her forearm the only thing stopping him from reaching her as she turned her face away.

"Kagome?"

"This—This isn't right. Get off me."

Her eyes darted between his as she watched him. A flicker of something dark passed over his face, but he stepped away, dropping his hands away from her.

Exhaling, she clutched her hands to her chest. How was she going to handle this? And not offend the poor boy?

Why had he kissed her anyway?

Oh, right. Idiot. Who knew announcing that she and Inuyasha weren't dating would be all that he needed to act on his feelings?

She was so dumb. She should've seen this coming.

So dumb.

Hojo turned away from her, and she did the same.

Great.

Now she was probably going to ruin another relationship with another friend.

All because she couldn't stop liking some stupid hanyou who loved someone else.

Great.

Just great.

Kagome turned to face him, watching him pull the fire axe off the wall next to the fire extinguisher and then swing it into the door handle, knocking it off completely and sending it rolling across the floor. She'd covered her head with her hands, eyes wide at the damage.

"See? No choice but to move forward," he said in a surprisingly chipper voice despite her refusal of his affections a moment before, swinging the axe up onto his shoulder, letting it rest against him.

"What are you doing?" She shouted at him, taking a step back.

Honestly, she could not handle this bipolar swing of his personality.

And she really wasn't feeling safe with him holding that axe.

Though she felt like she was holding things together rather well at the moment.

"What?" He asked. "Oh, this?" He motioned to the demolished door handle on the floor. "Don't want you chickening out again, Kagome. We should all hold ourselves accountable for our actions, Kagome. We should always do what we say, Kagome. Isn't that right, Kagome?"

"What do you want?" Every single nerve was on edge, feeling like the air itself would spark at the slightest movement.

"Poor, poor, Kagome," he mused, stepping closer to her, close enough to reach out and touch the hair over her shoulder, "you really have no idea? Really? And all this time I admired you for your brains." He twirled her hair between two of his fingers.

Knocking his hand away, she took a couple steps back from him. Hojo wasn't acting like himself, and this version was making all the hair on her arms stand on end.

Maybe, it wasn't?

"If you don't leave me alone, I'll scream." Her threat died on her lips as he outright laughed at her, doubling over to rest a hand on his knees, the head of the axe falling to the ground.

"And who would hear you?" He grinned at her, and she opened her mouth to retort.

A deafening thunder roared past them, the sound of scraping metal ricocheting off the walls.

Oh.

No one.

"See?" He patted the ceramic tiled wall beside him. "The trains run right by here."

Eyes widening, she did the only thing that she could.

She ran away.

But the hallway was long and narrow, and there were not many doors and each one she tried was locked. Or stuck. Hojo didn't run after her; she glanced over her shoulder to see him casually strolling along, following her panicked path easily.

What did he know that she didn't?

The answers that rattled through her head didn't make her feel any better, because none of them, quite frankly, were good news.

Turning a corner, she sprinted to put distance between them, and nearly sped past a door that was partially ajar.

She shoved it with her shoulder, closing it behind herself, and backing away. She spun around the room looking for a hiding spot, but there wasn't really a good safe space for her to hide. She'd literally busted into an empty room with a couple boxes piled in the corner. And it really wasn't a room, more like a really dirty janitor's closet.

Enough space that she could stretch her arms out without touching both sides, but that was only by a 'just barely.' Emphasis on 'just.'

No window or any other exit.

This was a bad plan.

A bad, bad plan.

Seriously, what was she thinking?

She should have kept on running down the hall where there might have been an exit.

Stupid lizard brain making her do dumb things.

A sharp thud came from the outside of her door, and a harsh grating sound, like a metal axe scraping the floor. Kagome clapped her hand over her mouth as the sound of his dragged axe grew closer, smothering the sound of her own frantic breathing.

Well, whatever she might have been planning, it was too late now.

Sound stopped in front of her room, and she could feel her own pulse in her fingertips as she dug them into her cheeks, covering her mouth, trying to stifle any sound, including that of her own breathing, which sounded cacophonous in the empty room.

Just let him walk past the door.

Just let him keep going down the hallway and ignore her.

The doorknob jiggled, and Kagome shifted so that she stood directly behind door, not that it would do her much good at this point, but maybe he would see it was empty and move on.

With a soft grunt, the door opened, and she pressed herself against the wall, the tiles seeping cold through her thin shirt.

A half shadow drifted across the room as the light from the hallway spilled into the small room.

"Where are you, my dear little Kagome?" Hojo sang. He stepped inside, and the moment she saw the leather toe of his loafer, she pushed off the wall, slamming her shoulder into the door. She felt it make contact with a satisfying crunch. He hit the wall as she wrenched the door away from him, seeing the blood gushing from his nose and down the front of his shirt, staining it a bright and deep red.

Twisting around the door, she leapt over his prone from as he let out a rattling groan but crashed into the ground as he snatched her ankle out from under her.

"You absolute bitch!" He roared, and Kagome kicked out her other foot towards his face. He howled as her shoe connected with his nose again, and he reflexively let go of her, howling. Scrambling to her feet in a half-crawl, his fingernail clawed at the bare flesh of her ankle but failed to successfully ensnare her again.

Using the wall, she clambered to her feet and took off running again. The hallway was narrow and again, doors were few and far in between, making routes for escape feel like an impossibility.

Any door that actually opened led no where but small rooms and closets, or so packed full of stuff there was no way that she could get in or see a way out.

Rounding a corner, she reached an intersection with two options, right and left.

And this was when she realized that she no longer had any sense of which direction would lead her back to the station instead of further into the winding tunnels of the underground maze.

"Kagome!" Hojo called, his tone a warning. "Come back here!" A loud twang echoed along the walls; it sounded an awful lot like an axe hitting something, and Kagome made the instinctive choice to go left and hope that she hadn't just sealed her fate and life into these small hallways.

It became clear that she was in a maze of windowless hallways that had no clear exit. And she was utterly trapped, like a rat in a terrible maze.

She'd watched a video in school once where they set a mouse loose in a maze, forcing it to figure out the maze in order to get food. If it stopped, they shocked it, forcing it to keep moving, keep searching. Or else it would die.

She was the in the same position.

With an axe-wielding Hojo.

And that statement alone was enough to make her question her sanity.

Maybe it was a dream. Maybe?

Because the Hojo she knew was incapable of—whatever this was.

So dream. Definitely a dream.

Though she wasn't quite sure how she felt about that, because this felt really, really real.

Disturbingly real. But didn't they all?

Real enough to at least question her sanity on the smallest of scales.

The corridor opened and she turned to the right this time, only to find herself at a dead end.

"Honestly, Kagome," Hojo griped as he rounded the same corner. "Where did you think you were going?"

"Why are you doing this?" She cried.

He shrugged, blood caking his face and belying some of this nonchalance.

Her back pressed against the cool wall. Vibrations permeated the brick, revealing the machinery hidden behind it.

"This isn't you, Hojo!" She tried to reason as she searched for an escape. But the closer he came, the fewer and fewer options she had.

She'd been so very foolish.

She should've waited for Inuyasha.

"Hojo, please," she begged him. He was within touching distance now.

"Now you beg?" He stopped pressing forward as his voice rose in volume. "You want to beg for your life now, Kagome? You want mercy now, Kagome? How long have you been pretending, Kagome?"

Why did he keep saying her name?

He stepped forward stepping in on her personal bubble as she pressed back against the wall as far as she could.

"Wh-What do you mean?" She stammered out. "I don't understand?"

His face contorted into something she'd never seen on him. He was mad, furious even. She'd never seen him like this.

"How long were you planning on keeping it up?" He struck the wall next to her head, and she yelped, hands coming up reflexively to protect her face.

"Hojo, please!" Blood dripped down his knuckles as he pulled his hand away.

"No, tell me," he ordered, snatching her stitched arm in his grip.

Yelping at the pain rocketing up through her forearm and into her shoulder, her knees buckled as she gripped his wrist in return.

"Hojo, you're hurting me!"

"And you're not doing the same?" He shouted back as she cried at the pain he was inflicting.

"I'm sorry!" She cried. "I'm sorry!"

His grip tightened, and she couldn't stop the agonized cry that it wrung from her.

Dreams did not hurt like this.

Dreams did not hurt at all.

But the last few dreams had been literally bruising in their violence.

So maybe—

"Please, it hurts!"

He made a noise and released her arm, which she clutched close to her chest, taking in deep breaths to help ease the sharp and radiating ache. She looked up at him with watery vision as his fist connected with her cheekbone, sending her to the floor.

Surprisingly, her face felt numb, even though her ears were ringing. But her head was spinning. She'd never taken a real punch like that to the face, and she wasn't sure if it was the blow or the shock that he'd actually hit her that made it so hard to focus.

Hojo had just punched her in the face.

No, not Hojo. This wasn't her friend.

But it didn't really matter who it was as the axe raised up over his head and came down at a sickening speed.

She was going to fucking get it when he found her.

It had taken every ounce of self-control to not pitch her dresser across the fucking yard when he figured out that she'd run off with that little human brat. It wasn't like the little prick couldn't see how tired she was, how much she needed to actually fucking rest. One night of decent sleep wasn't going to fix her.

He landed on a nearby roof, high enough to survey the familiar-and-yet-not land.

How he'd missed it though—he punched his arm through a brick wall, grimacing at the destruction for a moment before shrugging it off.

If they didn't want it punched, shouldn't have put it in his way.

So now, he's fucking scouring this fucking nightmare place trying to find a whiff of her, but there's just fucking nothing.

Fuck.

There wasn't even a trail leaving from the fucking shrine.

If her grandfather hadn't come in to say that Kagome had left, he'd have never known.

And he knew her scent. Knew it so well, he could find it days and miles later and follow it no problem, but now he's gotta rely on being able to see her, and in these crowds, it's a fucking nightmare. He's already made the run to her school, but there was no one there. And no sign of her.

But something's wrong. He can feel it deep down in his bones, and that unease only further unsettles him more.

Damn that little bastard!

He'd break his jaw for stealing her away like this! Because he'd have to have done something. There was no way that she was able to sneak off like this without some sort of magic being involved.

And how in the fucking fuck is he supposed to find her if there's no fucking trace of her leaving? It's like she just—vanished, disappeared.

God, where was she? And why couldn't he smell her?

She wasn't well, and while she wasn't sick, per se, she wasn't exactly healthy either. She needed to rest, but of course, the little bitch couldn't stand to listen to him for once.

That's it, one more circuit around this fucking place and then he'd check back in to see if she'd returned.

He leapt off the edge of the roof, sprinting on the edge of the buildings as they rose into the sky, watching the ground below for any sign of a familiar head of black hair.

Bitch was about to learn the meaning of overbearing.

Beads or no.

She'd gotten lucky, if it could even be called that.

Landing a kick directly to his knee knocked the axe off course, sending it into the floor right beside her head. The sharpened edge had buried itself into the stained linoleum, and she'd taken the advantage as he crumpled onto the floor and bolted for the complete opposite direction, shoes slipping on the floor.

She had to put some space in between them.

She had to figure out what was wrong with him.

She had to save Hojo. She couldn't leave him like this, possessed or whatever was wrong with him.

"Hojo, I'm sorry!" She called over her shoulder. "I'll fix this! I swear!"

Kagome ran down the hallway, turning a sharp left at another intersection, catching her shoulder on something jutting out of the wall and tearing her sleeve wide open. She kept going; she had to figure this out.

"Kagome! Get back here!"

She was running out of time and ideas. The corridors were never ending, and she was starting to suspect that she was running in circles. But Hojo was keeping pace with her, more easily than she was maintaining it. Though she felt more like she was being hunted, to be honest, like he was just playing with her. Hojo was in great shape. It wouldn't be surprising for him to be able to out run her. His times in PE were always faster than hers, and the fact that he wasn't actually outpacing her was a little surprising.

He was taunting her, letting her think that she was winning, that she had hope of escaping him at all.

A partially open door attracted her attention at the end of the hall. She hadn't seen that one before.

Heavy footfalls came up behind her, and it was only a second before arms wrapped around her middle, bringing her down to the hard floor. She cracked her head on the tile, letting out a small cry. She'd thrown out her arm to brace herself, but it had crumpled quickly underneath her own weight, sending sharp and substantial bursts of pain up from the stitches, which she would be lucky if they hadn't busted already.

"Found you, Kagome," he sang, axe dragging against the floor to rest by her face as she tried to pull herself away or push him off, she really wasn't quite sure what she was trying to do. But she was all flailing arms and legs, just trying to get him off of her, but it was all to no avail. Hojo had her pinned at the shoulders, his hips and legs pushing her own back into the floor. She couldn't even buck him off.

"Let him go!" Kagome shouted. "Let me go!"

"Or what? You'll send that half-bred mutt after me?" He snarled, slamming her head back into the tile with one hand. Her chin connected with the floor, and she was sure she'd chipped a tooth when she'd cracked them together.

"What?" She mumbled, still trying to push him off of her. "Who?"

"Don't play dumb, Kagome," he stated, pressing his hand on the back of her neck, pinning her in place. "That friend of yours," his fingers twisted into her hair, dragging her head back until her neck couldn't crane back any farther, "the one you called 'nice,' remember?"

She whimpered, and he only pulled harder.

Her reiki blipped across her body, and she took the opening for what it was, pulling it forward and surrounding her as much as possible. Maybe she could fry or purify whatever was possessing Hojo, because that was the only believable answer for this behavior.

He had to be possessed by something.

Or someone.

"It's you, isn't it?"

"Hmm?"

"Hina. You're doing this."

"Figured it out finally," Hojo laughed at her, pulling even hard, so hard that something popped in her sternum against the pressure. "Took you long enough."

Why hadn't she figured it out earlier?

So dumb. So stupid.

"Why?" She gritted out.

Hojo released her so suddenly that her head snapped back to the floor, nearly cracking her forehead against it.

"That's a vague question," he mused, letting out a little laugh at her expense. "Why anything? I mean," he leaned his head down next to her ear, "really, why you?"

She jerked her torso, trying to break his grip, but he just laughed.

"How scary it must be for you, little Kagome," he whispered to her, hand digging into her shoulder blade as he used her for leverage. "How can you trust anyone now? How can you really trust any of them? Is any of this real or merely a delusion? Are you really dreaming? Is it me or the half-breed? Speaking of which, let's really piss him off, shall we?" A wet tongue ran up the side of her neck and all the way up the side of her face. She squealed and tried to duck her head into her shoulder, but there wasn't enough room to maneuver. He leaned over and licked the other side.

"Why are you doing this?" She cried, feeling Hojo's grip on her shoulder shift ever so slightly as he rose back up.

"I already told you, Kagome," he said, reaching for the axe. "I've been waiting to do this for years."

Using his hold on her shoulder, she wrenched her opposite elbow back, feeling it connect solidly with his—something.

"Ah! Fuck!" He howled, wrenching backwards. Bucking her hips, she dislodged him enough that she could scramble to her feet, spinning on her feet, and grabbing his wrist with both hands and letting her reiki loose, forcing it out through her fingertips and palm, flooding his system and hopefully frying Hina's spirit out of him and back into the afterlife.

There was a pause. A brief moment where nothing happened, and she panicked.

And then he howled, back arching at an almost impossible angle as he thrashed for a moment, before stilling completely and letting his head loll forward to leer at her with a sickening smile.

You cannot hurt me with that, remember?

Taking a panicked step back, her heel kicked the axe hard enough to send it skittering across the floor.

Hojo laughed and started to stand to his feet.

"Really, you think that was enough to stop someone like me?

Clenching her hand into a hard fist, she punched him, putting her entire body into the swing, connecting with the side of his head, and sending him to the ground in a groaning heap. She took a step forward and then stopped herself. She had to go. She had to. Before he collected himself.

"Sorry, Hojo," she whispered and took off running for the door at the end of the hall. Bursting through it, she slammed it shut behind her, flipping the deadbolt on the other side to lock him in. It wouldn't do much against the axe, but if her reiki didn't purify Hina out of his body, then it would at least slow him down.

Her down?

Him?

Whatever.

She jogged out and found herself back on the subway platform. She looked up at the sign. Okay, so not the same one that they'd been on, which would explain why it felt like she'd run forever in those halls.

Because she had, hadn't she?

A few people stared at her, but she ignored them and got on the first train that headed back towards her home.

People gave her a wide berth when she stepped onto the train, and she ducked her head. She probably did look awful. She felt like Hojo had beat the crap out of her.

No, not Hojo.

That wasn't Hojo.

She dropped her head into her hands to hide her face.

She was so stupid.

Hojo hadn't wanted to go with her in the first place. And then kissing her like that? She should've known then.

How long had he even been possessed? And following him through that door was just utter perfection on the map of her stupidity. The chef's kiss to her incompetence.

Inuyasha was right. She was an idiot.

Riding the train eased some of her anxiety; the more distance she put between them, the better she felt. Hopefully someone would find him soon. She didn't actually want to hurt him, but it was the only way to get out.

Maybe she could try to call the train station? Warn them that there was someone down there? Stifling a groan of frustration as she sat in her own personalized isolation, she waited for her stop.

They'd gone so far, and she'd just blindly followed him.

Well, of course, it was Hojo. What could possibly have gone wrong?

Snorting at her own joke, she stared her hands. The knuckles of her right hand were already turning red, and a couple knuckles were scraped up. Her left hand hadn't fared too much better. When had that happened? She didn't remember hitting it with anything, but who knows at this point? Not to mention that she was scared to even look at her face right now.

Her mother was going to freak.

And if she thought that was bad, Inuyasha was—God, he was going to be insufferable, and she couldn't even get mad at him, because she'd done all this herself. She'd done it all by herself this time.

So dumb.

The speaker announced her stop and she climbed off, keeping her head down and arms crossed in front of her chest as she headed up the steps, feet aching, trying desperately to ignore the comments about her appearance as she hurried down the street towards the shrine.

A/N: This chapter feels like it went sideways on me.