Chapter 3

As she was walking up the stairs to her room, Kagome realized she had absolutely no idea where she was going. At this startling realization she sank to the floor in avid terror. Every time she was going to go after demons she was with Inyuasha, but this time she was completely alone and she would be going to a foreign country. Well, grit your teeth girl, and get up and get going. For once she actually listened to the little voice inside her head and got up.

When she neared her bedroom she caught a reflection of herself in the hall mirror. She was horrified at what she saw. There wasn't a living girl in front of the mirror, but instead a porcelain white face, which made her turquoise eyes and ruby lips look like an angry black line on a white piece of paper. Her hair was matted from the sweat on her face, yet her clothes were dry and even seemed too big on her. Well I guess I have enough time to take a shower before I leave she thought.

An hour later Kagome walked out of the bathroom, gentle wisps of steam tenderly trying to transport her back into the warmth and safety of the affectionate water. Kagome ignored this and went to her room to pack. As she was packing she felt a new sinking sensation. Reaching out with her mind she felt it again. It was his aura.

When she dropped her bags at the front door Kagome knew she had to do what she had been dreading for the past hour. She went to the kitchen where her mother was washing dishes. The steam was trying to do the same for her mother as it had done with Kagome. It seemed to be working, the steam would rise and Kagome's mother would tilt her head back with a look of tranquility on her face. Kagome inwardly smiled, she was going to miss the short time of peace she felt when she had come home.

"Mom," Kagome felt like she was a small child coming to tell her mom that she had had a nightmare and she was frightened. "I have to leave now. I don't want to stay here if that puts you in danger, he will try and come back." Her mother never turned around but instead said;

"Where are you going to go?" Her voice almost cracked, yet Kagome could tell she was doing everything in her power not to let it.

"Tokyo; and then-"

"No don't tell me, I don't want to let that fiend know where you went." When she finished saying this Kagome's mother turned around.

Years later someone would ask Kagome what she said in return to her mother's statement, but Kagome would say she couldn't remember. All she recalled was the way her mother looked, like a hero. Kagome said she wondered if a hero could stand there in pajamas, a flower apron, and soap suds up to her elbows.

Both were at a loss for words, yet they stood there and hugged and before long Kagome let go and wandered to the door. Before she looked back she heard a sizable sniff and then nothing except the sounds of clinking dishes trying to sooth away the loneliness. With that Kagome opened the door to the great expanse of darkness trying to sweep her away.

With one last look back Kagome closed the door and was swallowed up by the night. I'll come back, as soon as this is all over.

"All trains leaving for Tokyo are now boarding at platforms A, B, C7 and G." Said a woman's voice over the intercom, Kagome wondered if they actually interviewed women who could sound wonderful over the air but speak so fast that the only thing you hear is the first word and the last syllable of the entire message. She rolled her eyes and hoisted up her backpack and grabbed her suitcase.

When she finally got to the correct platform, Kagome found an empty compartment and shoved her suitcase in the rack above her head. The compartment was nice and clean with a wide window at one end and glass doors at the other. She bunked down and fell fast asleep only waking when the ticket man came to clip her slip of paper.

When she finally reached Tokyo she hailed a cab and made her way to the airport. The instant she walked through the sliding doors she heard the intercom voice again. She wondered if both the train company and the airport used the same kind of people for the job.

After she checked in, thankful to finally drop her suitcase off, she decided to find a restaurant to eat something.

When she sat down at a small table eating ramen she finally had a chance to think about what she was getting herself into. She decided to list everything down in her head to try and make sense of it. 1) Naraku was back, Kagome didn't know how but he was, and he was even worse than ever. 2) He seemed to gain even more power, again no idea how but he seemed to be twice as powerful. 3) He has gained followers, the one she met was human but it was only a matter of time before he awoke the demons. 4) She had no followers, but she could sense a very pure source of power very near to Naraku. FINAL PLAN find whatever this pure source is and then use it against Naraku.

She nodded her head and then woke from her stupor, only to find that she only caught the last part of the announcement concerning her flight. The waiters had seen fast before but when that girl took off she set the record of "speedy exits."