A/N: Inuyasha and all characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, this story is the brainchild of Kajatk8, and belongs to her.

Now reviews! I've had several guests post reviews, thanks so much for reading, but I can't get back to you if it's just a Guest. =/ Otherwise, I sent out responses to all my reviews in my backlog! So sorry about the wait on that!

And now back to your regularly scheduled Chapter…

Chapter 5. Endless Sleep

Jinenji opened his eyes and glanced out of his only window at the beginnings of a brand new day. He took in the sweet scent of his fields, the dew on the warming plants and the crisp morning air. The sun had begun to peak its way out from the horizon. He rose and ducked under the low doorway, moving the bamboo screen aside stretching his arms out wide, yawning. When the villagers had helped him rebuild the hut he shared with his mother after they had it burned, they'd re-built it exactly the same. They had in fact built it to the same specifications as the old one. Except, as he stood and stretched out the kinks in his muscles, he rubbed his head in mild annoyance. 'They should have made it bigger,' he thought grumbling. At least the door for Kami's sake…

Jinenji always looked forward to the week of the new moon. Kirara would come retrieve him and he would fly to Edo, where he would assist Kagome for a week in her study of medicinal plants. He was even able to see Rin, who had so reminded him of Kagome when they'd first met. Jinenji had been thrilled that he had friends that would want to see him and even send for him every month. On top of that, they weren't just friends, but girls.

Even though Kagome and Inuyasha had married, and Sango and Miroku as well, he still felt lucky to be in the presence of a girl and hold a conversation with them. Kagome had been the first person to treat him with kindness – like a human being. She'd never teased or mocked him, thrown stones or stabbed him with a hoe. She'd treated him like a man and always with respect – not a monster as every other human had been wont to do. She managed to somehow put him at ease. Well, except when it came to her newfound "project" as she liked to call it.

Kagome recently got the idea in her head that he needed to be "set up;" which in Kagome's mind meant taking unwed village girls on romantic strolls with him. He didn't mind though. The girls didn't fear him. He'd become a frequent visitor to Edo, and had helped several families with remedies to illnesses, antidotes for an accidental poisoning or relief from pain during childbirth. In fact – he'd become quite popular with the women of Edo. Not for romantic reasons of course, but because he was such a good listener. Many women felt that no one who spoke to them actually listened, so he would. They would talk to him about their life, and he would listen and occasionally offer advice.

This of course meant that the men groused when he came around, because they all thought he'd steal their women. Miroku had joked that Jinenji was whipping up secret love potions to get the girls to fawn all over him. He had even taken Jinenji aside and asked him privately for his secret, because clearly he was doing something. Yet, when Jinenji told Miroku what he did, Miroku brushed him off and scoffed saying, "Of course I listen, you must not want to divulge your secrets."

But, Jinenji possessed no potions or secrets. Of course he wouldn't steal a woman. He was a friend – a friend who would listen to their woes, usually aiding them with an herb or a plant, or sometimes even a spice for cooking. On top of everything, Jinenji never felt that special spark with any of the village girls. The spark his mother oft spoke of when reminiscing about his father or if she'd had too much sake. That very same spark he thought he'd felt when he first sat with Kagome at his side, pulling weeds.

It was a sense of peace. Despite the painful drum beat of his heart pounding in his chest, the sweat that glistened on his brow and palms; and how difficult he'd found it to breathe – he felt that he'd belonged there, right next to her. He'd never felt such belonging or contentment that strongly before in his entire life. Of course, Kagome had no clue.

And she never would.

She was happily married to Inuyasha, and she'd never, ever, ever find out how he truly felt.

Ever.

However, this didn't mean that he didn't enjoy her company. And lately Rin had been spending more and more time with him as well. He'd started feeling that spark again then too. But he'd dismissed her ludic behavior and cheery attitude. How she always had a smile on her face, laughter in her voice and held the warmth of the sun in her eyes. He'd chalked it up to her just being a child who didn't fear him. It had been a good feeling.

Thinking about his friends Jinenji again cast a glance towards the sky in hopes of seeing the fire-cat descending, ready to carry him to Edo. However, as he raised his hand to cover his eyes, he saw no fire-cat in the sky.

He frowned, Kirara was always on time. He felt a deep sense of foreboding come over him.

"Oka-san?" He asked his mother as he walked back inside.

"Eh? Jinenji? Is Kirara here to take you?" She mumbled almost incoherent and he could tell that she wasn't quite awake. She'd had a bit too much sake again last night, and he doubted she would be up before midday.

"No, Oka-san, she's not here…She's late." Jinenji said.

"Hrmm… Why don't you head over there yourself?" His mother yawned out.

"Will you be alright on your own?" Jinenji asked. He really wanted to go and see what had kept Kirara, but lately his mother's health had been deteriorating. She had aches and pains in her joints that came from working in the fields day after day. He'd tried all the herbal remedies he'd known, but in the end, she found that a bottle of sake helped her to sleep. Much to Jinenji's chagrin, he discovered that sake helped her a little too well, and more often of late kept her in her futon until midday.

"I'll be fine," she yawned again and promptly fell back into a deep and snore-filled sleep.

Jinenji shook his head and gathered up his bag that he'd packed with herbs which Kaede had asked for. He stooped to grab some provisions for the journey. Without Kirara it might take him two days to get to Edo on foot, one if he walked all night and didn't sleep.

He glanced back at his mother before closing the bamboo curtain over her sleeping form. "Sleep well Oka-san, goodbye." He said, before turning around and heading northeast towards Edo.

Jinenji had been on the road more than half the day. The sun which he'd been walking towards for hours had made its swift and steady journey over his head and was now trailing far behind him and beginning to sink towards the horizon. The day had been unseasonably cold for the season of summer. But, at the same time, he felt as if he'd been working in the fields during the hottest part of the day – he was drenched in sweat. To him, such things generally meant a demon or witch was about, and their power filled the air.

The feeling had left him with unease all day, and the hairs on the back of his neck had been standing erect for the past several minutes. He felt as if he was being watched, but he knew that he wasn't. He strained his ears and reached out with his demonic aura. He'd felt no presence save that of a few birds and rodents in the fields that he'd passed.

Still, he wiped the sweat from his brow and quickened his pace. He continued on for several more hours before he felt it. The feeling of unease had become stronger the more he traveled east, and a sense of wrongness overwhelmed him. He was staggered by how thick the air felt, never having felt such an evil presence before.

He continued to walk until he came across a village he knew rather well. The first sign that not all was as it should be was the smell. The wind carried with it the scent of death. Meat left to rot in the sun, the lingering remains of copper – dried blood, and even the smell of excrement. Someone had been eviscerated. Overwhelming his senses he also smelled smoke – the lingering remains of a fire, charred hair and burnt flesh. He hurried forward until the village came into full view.

What he saw disgusted him. What had once been a blossoming village was now a darkened and blood soaked smudge on the landscape. It was obvious what had happened, the village had been surrounded by demons and ravaged. Bodies were strewn everywhere, and more often than not, just body parts.

Jinenji felt bile rise to his throat as he looked on and the scent of death became ever stronger. Unable to look away from the total destruction of a village he had known and had aided several times before. Shio Mashu had stood here, a once and proud village. There had been a prominent miko, Tsuki, he thought her name was, who had cared for many orphaned children. As he looked towards her hut, all he saw was bile, dirt and the blood stained ground. No body or anything that could be recognizable as a container of life remained to be seen. All he could see were bits and pieces. He glimpsed a lone strong arm still forever holding a pike in its death throws.

He looked away and straight into a single small form of a child charred so unrecognizable, he couldn't tell if it had been male or female. It was just coal to his eyes, in the ghost of a child's shape.

Anger sliced through his body, redder and hotter than he'd ever felt before. His eyes flashed red and his muscles seemed to burst with his fury as a blue aura encased him. The strength of his outburst surprised him. He'd never been one prone to anger before, yet, it seemed so natural to him, almost as easy as breathing.

Inuyasha had warned him of this. He warned him what being a hanyou meant, and until this moment, Jinenji had never felt his own level of control over himself slip. He attempted to regain control of himself.

"Destroy," a dark sensual voice spoke to him.

Jinenji spun around but there was no one there. He was alone in a village filled to the brim with body parts and evil jyaki.

"Find them and destroy them, whoever did this," the voice said again. "Tear into them. Make them pay."

Jinenji realized that the voice was coming from within. It was the death and darkness that filled the air, but had gained a voice. It was this voice that was attempting to encourage him to do evil on its behalf. His aura swirled around him and he pushed down his youki until it receded.

Then he turned and fled, as fast as his legs could carry him. Images of Kagome and Rin's bodies transformed into bloodied legs, arms and bits and were strewn across a field. Images of their deaths steeped in evil made him run faster than he ever had before. He seemed to not even touch the ground with his great long strides. It would have appeared he was flying across the land if the illusion weren't marred by the sound of his great thundering strides. He couldn't remember what he saw after the village: fields, bridges, trees, mountains, roads; they all took on a greenish brown blur as he ran.

The evil that he'd felt standing inside of the village seemed to lessen, and he could breathe easier the further he went. Nonetheless, the evil didn't leave him completely; he felt the presence within festering and this spurned him on even faster than before.

What seemed like an endless amount of time, but in actuality was probably a little more than an hour judging by the suns sinking below the horizon; Jinenji crested a hill and saw below him the village of Edo bathed in twilight.

His heart jumped up into his throat and he forgot to breathe for a moment.

"No," he breathed out in a pained gasp and slumped to his knees defeated.

There was the same darkness surrounding Edo just like there had been in Shio Mashu. From so far away and in the dwindling light he wasn't sure what was happening, but it was clear a battle was being waged. There were also bodies strewn around the village like he had seen before. He prayed these bodies were whole and weren't dead. He hoped the Kami's were listening.

'Not his friends. Not the girls. Not Rin. Not Kagome. Not his new family. Not them! Please – don't let them be dead!' He thought frantically.

Desperately he looked towards Kaede's hut and there at the door sat a large priestess-sized lump and a purple bundle next to her. They appeared to be fighting the darkness, with a barrier of bright blue glowing around them and many children cowering within.

Jinenji jumped to his feet, all thoughts lost from his mind except protecting the village and saving the girls.

Little did he know, a stoic demon clad in white had been hard at work at that very job for the past day.

Jinenji arrived at Kaede's hut in a flurry of legs, dust and arms.

Kaede and Miroku were sitting together both in lotus positions and praying. Each of them were glowing slightly blue from their reiki as they attempted to keep up the barrier. It was clear they had been attempting to keep the darkness at bay for a long time. They were clearly exhausted.

"Jinenji!" Kaede exclaimed startled. He had moved so fast, he appeared to have erupted from the ground right at her feet. Miroku opened his eyes and grunted at him in greeting then went back to his prayers. The children cowering behind Kaede also shrieked and cowered at his sudden appearance. But many recognized him and several faces peaked out hidden behind arms and hugs after the other children had called greetings to him. Jinenji ignored them completely, eyes only for Kaede.

"Where's Rin and Kagome?" Jinenji said rather harsher than he meant to.

"Rin is safe." Rin spoke up and stood directly behind Kaede, with her small bow and quiver over her shoulder.

Jinenji's heart leapt for joy. She was safe, and alive. But she'd elapsed into her old speech patterns, referring to herself in the third person. She must be terrified. Then Jinenji noticed that Kagome wasn't among those who were shielded within the barrier.

"And Kagome?" Jinenji said.

"She's not back yet, she's still away at the Harmony Shrine." Rin replied quickly.

Jinenji briefly remembered that Kagome had gone off to a shrine to learn the art of shikigami, but he had assumed that she would have been back by now. She said she'd be back by the time he came to visit again. He swallowed down the feeling of apprehension that crept into his chest.

"What happened?" Jinenji asked finally.

"We don't know. Something attacked the village, but it has no form. Darkness came, and then moths filled the sky and a powder rained down and everyone dropped where they were standing." Rin said, at this pointing to several villagers who he had thought dead.

He walked over and touched the closest man Rin had pointed to, checking for his life signs. He appeared to have just fallen asleep. But this was a sleep unlike anything Jinenji had seen, aside from poisonings.

Jinenji crouched down and listened for the man's breathing which was deep and even. He opened an eyelid and peered into the man's unseeing onyx-colored eye. The pupil remained lifeless and wide and didn't contract at his intrusion. He lifted the man's arm and felt for a pulse, it was low and slow. Jinenji let go then and watched as the man's arm plummeted straight to the ground like a rock. As the arm hit the ground a dusting of a dark bluish purple powder puffed out from the body. Jinenji ran his finger over the man caking his finger in the powder, he brought it to his nose and sniffed.

A wave of exhaustion washed over him, but he batted it away with his hand like one would a pesky fly. He was a youkai from the Earth. He worked in fields all day with herbs, some as innocuous as a dandelions, but some as deadly as nightshade. He knew poisons. This powder held several different herbs, all of which would normally be found in a sleeping draught that he often made for patients in pain. Yet, he felt something underlying the powder. There was a spell – a thick coat of darkness akin to what he'd first felt in Shio Mashu. Again the voice called to him.

"Destroy, free yourself and kill," it whispered seductively.

"Be quiet." Jinenji snapped. He could feel his body again begin to glow blue and his eyes change to red. Jinenji closed his eyes and fought for control. He would not lose himself. He'd heard too many horror stories from Kagome, and he was already living in one. He didn't want to become the monster too.

"Jinenji?" Rin asked in a voice that sounded as if he had frightened her.

"The powder is spelled to cast an endless sleep." Jinenji said calming his aura.

"I thought as much, no one has woken, though it has been a day." Kaede said.

Jinenji looked across the village at all the bodies he'd thought were dead. They were just sleeping. His heart lightened at once and he felt he could breathe easier. A poison he could fight. This is what he did for a living. No one was dead – yet. And he wouldn't let anyone die either.

A clash and a brilliant crackle of green lightning almost as bright as day brought Jinenji out of his inner reverie. Above him, Sesshomaru floated in the air with Bakusaiga drawn and a sour look upon his face.

"Escaped again, tch." Sesshomaru said before touching down next to Jinenji.

"You are not affected." Sesshomaru said. Jinenji looked at him and shook his head. Sesshomaru looked ruffled. In all the time Jinenji had known him, he'd never seen him look ruffled. He worried at what that meant.

"They have no form; it is not possible to cut them down." Sesshomaru said looking towards Kaede.

"Kagome, we need Kagome. She could … She could help us." Kaede said her voice weakening and her head careening forwards.

"Kaede-sama!" Rin exclaimed reaching out to her mentor and propping her back up into a sitting position. "She's exhausted; I don't think she can hang on much longer."

"Jinenji – go get her. For some reason you're not affected by the poison. We cannot stand against this foe alone." Kaede managed to get out though her head was in her robes, and her voice was strained; she was visibly weakening.

Behind her the few children Kaede and Miroku had saved were whimpering and holding onto one another. Jinenji glanced at them, and only saw terrified faces meet his own. They appeared far more frightened when they had seen Kaede almost keel over than when he had first surprised them with his arrival.

"Hurry." Sesshomaru prompted and gave him a piercing look. Sesshomaru turned his head slightly and his eyes lingered for a moment on Rin before taking off into the sky to battle against the unknown foe. Again he cut through the air with Bakusaiga, but his opponent remained hidden. Only the green lightning flashed, brightening the sky.

Kaede seemed to decide something and her face took on a dark shadow. "Take the road west; they are a week's journey on foot. But a day's travel astride Kirara," Kaede said.

Kirara stepped out from where she had been ensconced by the group of children. It appeared that she had been attempting to keep the group of children distracted with her cute antics.

"Mew," Kirara responded.

"B-But I can't. If you lower the barrier...!" Jinenji spluttered in dismay.

"Yes, we will likely join those in… sleep." Kaede said slowly.

Kaede gave him a hard look before dropping her hands. She and Miroku stopped glowing and Jinenji felt the reiki barrier that had been tickling his senses since he'd arrived drop away.

Kirara jumped into the air and transformed pulling Jinenji along with her. She darted off heading east towards the Harmony Shrine as fast as she could go. But Jinenji was struck dumb and watched as one by one, everyone who had moments before been protected, fell over motionless.

The monk was the first to fall with a heavy thwack – likely completely overtaxed from the cost of reiki. Kaede soon followed after him and then the other children, with soft plumps.

"Hur—r – ry." Was the last sound he heard from Rin before she too fell to the ground with a soft thump.

Jinenji couldn't help but feel a little ill at leaving his friends behind like he had. He trusted in his ability to cure any ailment caused by poison – yet these were his friends. His new family who had adopted him, he didn't know where he would be without them. He knew that they would need Kagome if they were to defeat this foe. He only hoped that she would be up to the task. He urged Kirara forward faster and didn't look back at the growing lightning that colored the sky in a sharp green glow.

A/N: So finally getting into some action! Huzzah. Oh no! Will everyone be alright? Looks like its sleepy time. ZzzzzzZzzzzZzzzzZZzzzzzZ

I'm going to try to incorporate a word a day from the online Mirriam-Webster dictionary into my writing. Sort of like a prompt, but with a single word instead.

When I wrote this the word was ludic: adjective lu·dic \ˈlü-dik\ : of, relating to, or characterized by play : playful ludic behavior a ludic novel.

As always, if you like this chapter, review. If you hate it, review. I will respond to everyone! And it encourages me to complete a chapter faster. Thanks all!

Edit: 08.19.2016 - Fixed grammatical and spelling errors, small edits.