A/N: Hey guys, I know I didn't drop an author's note last week to fill you in with what's happening. There's a basic explanation on my profile page but with any luck I should be getting back to updating this more frequently. I've been writing so many school papers lately the writing style of this story may have changed. Now I'm not sure anyone notices or cares but I'm trying to fit it back to form.
Anyways, about the last chapter. I cut this during the initial proof but I'd have to insinuate later on. Long story short, in the last chapter, Kouga heard everything but what Inuyasha whispered in her ear.
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Frustration gnawed at Kagome. She still stood against her shaking muscles but the overwhelming fatigue threatened to make her knees buckle. Sango and Miroku had already dashed through the doorway with weapons ready. The screaming got louder outside.
Kaede snatched up her bow and arrows. She was soon to follow leaving the gasping villager holding onto the wall to calm his breathing.
Kagome watched fairly helplessly. The fox at her feet held on to her ankle trying to calm her. The demon had come looking to her and her friends were going to fight it.
Only Kouga hesitated by the doorway.
"What could they want for me?" She asked.
Her head kept spinning. She couldn't see the shards anymore. Did the demon come looking for the shikon jewel? That wouldn't just put her friends in danger; it would put Kouga in danger too.
She debated her options when Kouga answer.
"It doesn't matter Kagome, I'm not going to let them touch you." He growled.
Marching up, he swept her into his arms while ignoring the fox kit's surprised squeak.
"Now that the mutt is out of the picture, I'll be the one protecting you." He said into her ear.
Uncertainly initially swarmed him about jumping on the dog's case so soon. But with Inuyasha out of the picture, his Kagome would have to know and accept the fact that it was now only him keeping her from harm. He swore he'd protect her with his life and he was going to do it.
"Kouga-kun." She said in his chest. Her cheek pressed against the coldness of his armor and she wanted to relax into it. But since her encounter with Naraku's incarnation, she stayed focus on the danger at hand.
"Please go help my friends," She asked him, "Inuyasha isn't here to do it anymore."
Kouga hesitated for half a second. He nodded firmly.
"Scream for me if you need me. I'll be here to rescue you." He said.
A light flush ran her cheeks when he popped a kiss on her forehead. Shippou made yakking sounds at her feet but they both ignored it. While it didn't fill the gap in her heart, the warmth helped. It helped lift her spirit energy up.
He released her and with a cocky grin and a kick start tornado, he rushed out to help the others.
Kagome pushed her back up against the wall. Even with the pick-me-up, her world was threatening to spin.
"So are you guys like dating now?" Shippou popped his head up and asked her. His eyes had grown wider but Kagome couldn't detect any disapproval in them. Shippou had run across them before so the shock had probably left his system. But it would still hurt if the fox kit, which she considered a child, disapproved of her new love interest.
"Not really." It sounded odd on her tongue. "I'll explain it later." She told him.
The villager left on the floor gave out a sickening gasp. Loud and broken, it sounded like fluid had collected in his lungs. Kagome's attention snapped back to him.
"Are you all right?" She pushed herself off the wall to go to his aid.
The man looked middle-aged at least with sunspots, over tanned skin, and a balding head. His mouth stayed a gap, tilted to the floor. His spidery fingers clenched at his old tattered brown shirt, hovering over his heart.
Shippou sprung over too.
"Are you okay?"
The man suddenly twisted back. Cracking his back against the wall, he slammed his fists against together.
Shock hit Kagome hard. She sprung back.
The man's face started to change. The tan skin started to dust. His black eyes started to glow, expanding outward of his pupil until the entire socket turned black. His open mouth stretched downward, suddenly revealing his white teeth. They morphed. The teeth turned to fangs and his forked tongue flickered out of his mouth.
Kagome screamed.
Shippou clawed at her feet.
"Kagome! Kagome! It's the demon!" He cried.
Kagome's heart froze.
She staggered backwards, slipping when her muscles refused to hold her up. Her backside smacked the ground hard.
"Shippou! Get over here!" She held out her hands.
Shippou landed in her arms. They both slid back watching in horror.
The demon's skin stopped dropping. When the dust cleared, a white bone showed beneath. Kagome gasped when she realized it was a skeleton.
"Kagome!" It hissed. Its head rattled like a bobble-head, twisting to the right and left. Abruptly, it snapped to the side in an unnatural angle.
"What do you want?" Kagome tried to shield the fox kit.
"I've coming searching for you. Searching for you when I heard them screaming your name."
Kagome blinked.
"Who?"
Its head snapped back straight.
"You know who. They're calling for you everywhere. Calling for you from the underworld. They're going to come. They are going to come for you."
Kagome's blood ran cold.
"I don't understand."
The skeleton suddenly dropped to the floor. On all fours, it crawled. Kagome slammed her back against the wall.
"Shippou, Shippou please go get Kouga."
She shook the fox kit. He didn't respond at first, his eyes wide.
"Come on you can do it!" She tried coaching, well aware that her own voice was breaking. The demon looked like nothing she'd seen before.
The fox snapped into action. Dashing out, his tail in the air, he disappeared through the doorway.
"Can't you hear them?" The skeleton asked.
Kagome didn't answer. Horror slipped over her. The dreams returned to mind. The twisting purple sky, the screaming, the trembling ground.
The skeleton was talking about her nightmares. It knew about her reoccurring nightmares. The realization sunk in.
"What is it they want? I don't understand." She drew her courage from the confusion. "What are they talking about?"
The images she chalked up to nightmares seemed too real now. And the skeleton knew about them. She had to figure it out. If it was real, she had to figure it out.
It drew back. Its bones clicked on the ground as it crawled back.
"I hear them talking about it all the time. I wanted to see you. I wanted to see the miko who would join us soon."
Kagome's heart skipped a beat. A clatter rushed from the doorway. She barely saw the tornado dissipate and the fox demon scamper in.
The skeleton locked its empty eye sockets on her.
"In less than a week, you will die."
Kouga lashed out in a blur. The skeleton smashed into the opposite wall. The pieces of bones shattered upon impact. Dust rained down.
Kagome screamed, holding her hands up as the cabin filled up.
She didn't feel the wolf prince pick her up. The cold brushed them when they slid out the doorway. Only halfway down the road did Kouga stop.
"What the fuck was that?" He screamed.
She didn't hear him.
The skeleton's words still circulated in her brain.
In less than a week, you will die.
