She was not the only one training. While Kagome was learning to manipulate her miko energy, so was I. At first, I thought to keep these sessions a secret, reserving them for when she was bathing or changing (for I long ago pointed out I could not turn off my eyes). However, it was quickly revealed that Kagome could no longer mentally connect to me when I depleted my miko ki stores, and it would have been rather suspicious if I suddenly stopped responding to her with no explanation.

"1 minute and 28 seconds," my handwriting scrawled across the page. "That's how long I can hold my form with the minimum amount of energy required to manifest." About a minute went by so I finally wrote, "I cannot hear you anymore, Kagome-san. Nor see."

"Longer than last time! :) " The words reached me as the ink absorbed.

"Perhaps you can just spare a little bit of energy so we can communicate more easily." There was another pause before the sounds and smells of the world bloomed into awareness.

"Better?" The girl asked.

"Yes. Another dose and I may be able to see."

"Chotto matte kure."

A few minutes nudged by, and I imagined my space aglow with her ki before colors exploded around me.

"Now?" Kagome's words reached me and I could tell it was through her mind rather than through her voice.

"Better." I echoed back to her.

It was a tad bit vexing that this mental communication could only be sustained by her energy and her consciousness. She had to be the one to initiate the call and keep the line open while I stood by the phone twiddling my fingers.

'Why Tom-san not warn me?!' she dared to hiss as a boy approached her group of friends.

'I did. You just weren't very receptive to my warnings.'

The girl disconnected from me and took a gift from Hojo with both hands. They chatted for a few minutes. Probably longer than she would have preferred. She finally sighed and waved goodbye to Hojo and her girlfriends.

'Ugh. Thank goodness Eri saved me from him. It's much easier now that they think Inuyasha my boyfriend.' She began walking on autopilot towards the train station.

'Is he not your boyfriend?'

Kagome grew quiet and then shrugged. '...no...maybe….no…'

'Red light.'

'I see it.' She stopped at a corner. 'Inuyasha and Kikyo have connection from long ago.' The girl sighed.

Not wanting to have girl talk with Kagome, I changed the subject. 'You're getting better at focusing on the real world while still leaving your mental connection open to me.'

'It make me tired to do it all the time though. I wish Tom-san can connect to me instead of me connecting to you. Tom-san probably better at concentration.'

'Well, I do still think it would help if you wrote in my diary more. I feel my connection to you gets stronger when you do.' The suggestion was worth a shot.

Kagome shook her head. 'Kikyo say I shouldn't write in diary too much. She say using impure objects can make me think bad thoughts and make my purity more weaker?'

'...so this diary is impure and dark enough that she can sense it?' I feigned curiosity and worry.

We eventually arrived home and I was squeezed between two textbooks. Honestly, why does she bother bringing her schoolbooks when she hardly ever opens them in edo jidai?

'Yeah. Now that I have more training, I can tell book is bad also.' She sat at the lip of the well. 'No worry Tom-san. I get you out of that prison and save your soul,' she said with determination as she traveled through time. At least it was the horcrux she recognized as dark and not me.

A/n: so...I realized that I actually never watched the end of Inuyasha. Just from reading fanfic and summaries, I knew the gist of what happened but no details. So I started that free month trial of hulu just so I could binge Inuyasha the Final Act as inspiration and "research". Hopefully I remember to cancel my subscription before they charge me next month... :P Also realized Kohaku doesn't start following Kikyo til a while after Kagome heals Kikyo but whatever...Also, ugh my tenses are everywhere in this fic. My English teachers in grade school would be so disappointed. One day I'll go back and edit...