Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha

A/N Now that I'm back in school and that portfolios are due soon, I probably won't be updating very much. I'll try my best though, since I seem to function better when I release some of my scattered thoughts onto word documents. Well, read on! Oh, and thanks for all your reviews! Love you guys!

Awakened Dead

Chapter 8. November 7th

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They had been arguing hotly ever since Kagome had arrived at the monk's home. Kagome had unceremoniously kicked out Inuyasha due to her immense irritation and her rising levels of untamed miko powers flowing through the home. Ever since the topic of tracking spells had come up, Miroku had been determined to let Inuyasha know of the existence of the book Kagome hid under her mattress. Not that she didn't trust the hanyou, but she felt that the book should stay hidden for the time being until she's positive she can completely trust him.

"But Kagome-chan, my tracking incantations aren't very powerful and would take sometime to do, time we don't have!" The monk tried to argue.

The flustered girl shook her head, "We have the weekend to do this! There's no way we are using that to find the guy's remains! Who knows what else it will do in the process… I think it's way more powerful than it looks!"

"As I recall, it called for a powerful charm and a few candles—"

"Black cat bones and weird spices?! I think not!" Kagome bursted, "We are going to just have to rely on the school map we have and a crystal pendant for dousing." She concluded, glaring at him darkly, as if daring him to go against her wishes.

Laughing nervously he had leaned away from Kagome and held up his hands in defeat, "W-well, I suppose we'll have to do it that way… But we may not find it in one night, especially if it is something as small as a fingernail."

"Fine by me!" Kagome crossed her arms and sat back down in Miroku's computer chair.

The seconds ticked by silently, though the hostility around them began to die down and so the air felt more relaxing than awkward. Miroku had mumbled something about food just as the girl's stomach began to growl and they had gone down to the kitchen to find something to eat. He told her that his parents had passed away when he was younger and that he lived with an old drunk that knew his grandfather. So every night he would be responsible for his own meals and often cooked healthy for the sake of the drunkard.

That night's meal consisted of stir-fry and noodles. Some of which had landed on the floor because of Inuyasha's abrupt appearance while Kagome had been walking back to the table with a plate full of food. Needless to say, Inuyasha had been forced to kiss the floor for spooking her.

"You abuse these damn things, you know that?!" Inuyasha hollered, yanking at the beads around his neck.

Kagome snorted, "Oh please, you deserve it most of the time." She ate another noodle quietly while Miroku shot uncertain looks towards the hanyou.

"Well uh," He cleared his throat. "Why don't we go to the school after dinner to try dousing? It would be a good place to start." He suggested.

"Fine by me," Kagome answered.

The monk had looked over at Inuyasha and earned a grudging nod. 'Alright…' He thought and looked between the pair silently. Somehow, he knew that this was going to be a long night. Especially with Kagome in one of her moods, 'At least I don't have to worry about the beads of subjugation… If Sango-san had her way, I'd be in hell right about now.'

He cringed at the thought and decided that he wouldn't think about it anymore and would rather concentrate on eating.

-X-

Kagome rubbed her arms to keep warm while they walked through the school. Most of the lights were off and at times they would have the need to hide because of a wandering security guard. If it weren't for Inuyasha keeping look out they would have been screwed over a long time ago. When they reached the second floor of the school they had sat down in the centre of a hallway and laid out a map of the school.

"What now?" Kagome whispered, turning on a flashlight to see the map more clearly.

"We use the crystal necklace to douse… You should do this since you've seen him more than me." Miroku reached into his black shoulder bag and removed the piece of jewellery, handing it over to Kagome.

"M-me?"

Inuyasha grunted, "Listen wench, we don't have much time to argue. Just do what he says and track that mother fuckers remains before he finds us first."

Kagome shot glares at him before wrapping the chain around a finger and dangling it over the map. The crystal hung in the centre and she looked over to Miroku for some help. Honestly, did she look like a professional ghost hunter? How could they expect her to get this done! Miroku was supposed to be the one doing this, not her.

"Just close your eyes and focus on him and his remains," He spoke.

She mumbled a few curses under her breath before she closed her eyes and thought of the boy from the newspaper clipping she found. She imagined how normal he once was before he turned into such a twisted spirit, killing innocents because of his past. Then she thought of why he was still here, what bound him to this school, this world. 'Where is it… I want to know where you are…' She thought.

She remembered how the hentai had said that it would take a while before actually locating the remains. That thought had upset her, because at any time, that boy ghost could strike again. With the practices that are held on weekends for sports, there's no doubt Shiba would be tempted to hurt another jock.

Now determined, she tried her best to focus on her task. She absolutely needed to find the source keeping his spirit here. She needed to stop him from hurting more people. She really needed to stop him, tonight. Now.

Images of the school flashed in her mind. The classrooms, the hallways, the lockers. It was as if she was being guided through the school to a specific location.

An image of the boy's washroom door had quickly passed through her thoughts just as a sudden rush of cool air had flowed through her body until it tingled through her fingertips, and finally to end of the pendant.

"There, the washrooms," She vaguely heard Miroku say.

Well, that was a lot easier then she had anticipated. It also made sense to be in the washroom since that's where the overdose had happened.

"Kagome-chan? You can open your eyes now," She heard him speak again, but found that she was too deep to really respond to that. Almost as if her body was shut down as her consciousness buried itself very much within her mind. 'Miroku-san? Why can't I move?' She thought.

"Shit, she's in a meditative state monk! I knew you should have been the one to do it! Now she's stuck until she can figure out how to wake herself up!" She heard Inuyasha howl. She flinched at how loud his voice was, 'Jeez, can you being any more obnoxious?' She thought with a mild temper brewing.

"W-wait, look at that Inuyasha! It looks like she responded to your voice," Miroku's voice entered her mind again. Judging by how nervous he sounded, she'd bet that Inuyasha had approached him while flexing his claws. 'Oh god, please tell me that this isn't some weird mate thing Miroku mentioned yesterday. Whatever that means…' She thought.

"You think?" Inuyasha's voice had calmed and she could feel her face flushing for some reason. It's like she could feel how close he was without even looking, she just knew his face was inches from hers, looking inquisitive. "Kagome, if you can hear me, listen carefully. I need you to force yourself to be aware of everything around you. I need you to focus on bringing yourself back to the real world." He sounded much too serious to be the hanyou that she knew. That's for damn sure.

"Try real hard wench, 'cause if you don't wake up, I might just take advantage of your uh… predicament." Ah, that's the egotistic baka she knew, and she could practically hear the smirk in his voice. The nerve of him! Thinking he could take advantage of her? That… That insufferable-son-of-a—

In that moment her eyes had whipped opened and the word had rolled off her tongue oh so easily.

"Sit!"

As suspected, he was just in front of her, and now he was kissing her lap rather painfully. She winced at the piercing pain from his face colliding in her thighs and she held back repeating the word. She also shot glares to the clearly amused Miroku who sat little ways away from them. More of less out of slapping range. Clever little thing…

"God damn woman!" Inuyasha growled in her lap, lifting himself from her thighs to glare at her viciously, "I didn't deserve that!"

"Oh please! You were going to take advantage of me! Of course you deserved it! Pervert!" Kagome bit back.

"I did that so you could wake up you stupid—"

"Ahem, I believe we have other things to—"

"Stay out of it!" Kagome and Inuyasha said in unison.

Miroku sighed wearily, their bickering making him oddly think of Sango. Standing up, he patted his school uniform to rid the dirt and looked up boredly to peek around the halls. He felt an odd sensation before the rest of the lights that were on had begun to flicker. He was about to curse under his breath when Inuyasha had beat him to it, and stood next to him with Kagome and the map, "It looks like we attracted our ghost friend." The houshi said tightly.

"Kagome, monk, go to where the remains are. I'll hold this prick back for as long as I can," Inuyasha cracked his knuckles loudly, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"B-but—"

"Come on Kagome-chan, nothing will happen to him. Unfortunately for us however, we are humans that are quite capable of dying." Miroku told her, taking her by her wrist and tugging her along.

She shivered when the lights finally went out, leaving them in the dark with only a flashlight to lead the way. Well, there was a flashlight lighting their way until it too had flickered and went out, leaving them in complete darkness. 'Okay, don't panic! Miroku-san seems to know his way around in the dark. No worries Kagome' She mentally cooed, trying her best to stay cool. Before she knew it, they had stopped running and she found herself in a washroom… That was definitely not the little girls room.

"What is that smell?" Kagome gagged, covering her nose with one of her delicate hands.

"Oh that?" Miroku inhaled deeply, "That, is the permanent stench of man. Many have tried and failed to find out exactly where it's coming from…" He shrugged his shoulders, "You kind of get used to it."

"Oh gross," Kagome coughed. "Let's just find the stupid remains and get out of here before I die from this rancid smell."

"Right, well do you still have the crystal?"

Kagome nodded her head and stuffed her hands in her pocket to retrieve it. Her breath hitched in her throat, and it wasn't because of the stench. Checking her pockets again she had come to the conclusion that she had dropped the crystal while they had booked it down the halls. 'Oh god.'

"Kagome-chan?"

After a few minutes she had sheepishly smiled, "Uh, I don't have it."

Miroku cursed, "I was hoping you wouldn't say that."

"Sorry."

Shaking his head he had taken out sutras from his bag, "You will have to focus on your own now instead of channelling yourself through the crystal. You will have to go deep again into that meditative state."

Kagome squeaked, "B-but what if that creep comes in here?"

The monk lifted his sutras, "Not to worry, I am a trained monk. And besides, I'm sure Inuyasha won't let anything happen to you either."

Kagome laughed weakly, "Right." 'As if, I bet he wants me to die dozens of deaths for having sat him so many times.' She thought before closing her eyes to focus again.

Beside her, Miroku searched through his bag, taking out a small bag of salt. He figured it could come in handy in a tight situation. Looking up, he dully noted the girl's closed eyes as he narrowed his own to better see in the dark.

Things were far too quiet for his taste. If anything, he should be hearing Inuyasha's struggles against the other poltergeist, not this absolute silence. 'Where is he..?' The monk thought, letting out a breath he had been holding. Looking down, he could see the small puff of hot air mixing with the chilling cool air. 'He's near.' He grasped one of his sutras in preparation and opened the bag of salt.

"—Die!"

"Duck monk—!"

Miroku dropped to the ground quickly, just barely catching two glowing figures above him. The first was the deranged student, the second was a really pissed off Inuyasha leaping over him to tackle the spirit and hold him back. He winced hearing all kinds of cracks and screams from the dead student as Inuyasha continuously snapped bones and ripped flesh. Of course everything would right itself after a few minutes, but generally speaking in those moments of vulnerability, a hunter would have just enough time to purify the spirit.

Too bad this stupid thing was so tainted. Otherwise the monk would have purified its ass a long time ago.

"What the hell are you bakas doin'?! Find the god damn remains—" Inuyasha was cut off by a wild scream from the student and was struck back harshly through one of the walls of the washroom.

This left the crazed spirit to battle the monk instead, it's body completely twisted from all the broken limbs that were shifting to heal. The monk had cringed and tossed two of his sutra spells at the ghost. He had gaped when the papers had burned blue before touching their intended target and for a moment, he was frightened.

"I'll… Kill… You…" The ghost of Shiba dragged his feet lazily across the floor, one of his shoulders popping loudly back into place as well as his elbow.

Miroku backed up slowly from the approaching enemy 'Oh boy...' When his back had collided with the cement wall of the washroom, he had swallowed loudly and watched the spirit get closer to him. The boy's neck had snapped back up into place just as he was within an arms distance of the monk. Mentally muttering a small prayer, the monk had grasped the little bag firmly in his hand.

"Take this!" He bellowed, showering the spirit with the salt.

Screeching, the poltergeist had dematerialized in a puff of black smoke.

Dropping the sac, Miroku had grasped his chest to try and will his heart to slow down. That had been a very close call for him. 'I hate malevolent spirits… I just hate them.' He thought with a small sigh.

"I found it!" He heard Kagome's voice echo in the room. "The remains, their in the wall!"

He was about to congratulate her when hands had suddenly wrapped themselves around his neck, cutting off the air circulation to his lungs. 'No!'

The miko, still unaware of what was going on around her, had called out to the monk uncertainly, "Miroku-san? Are you there?" She asked, squinting her eyes to look around the washroom more clearly. She could hear ruffling material and small but distinct noises coming from her right side. 'Oh god, please tell me he's still alive.. Oh my god please don't be dead, don't be dead…' She continued the mental mantra for a few more seconds until the sight of Miroku had entered her line of vision. 'Oh thank jes—' She screeched finally seeing the faintly glowing spirit hands around his throat.

Without a second thought she had yelled at the top of her lungs, "Inu-yashaaaa!" The ghost strangling the monk had walked through the wall while still keeping a firm hold on him. He had looked back at her, a sly grin forming on his face. This boy Shiba scared the living crap out of her. His eyes were beyond psychotic and it frightened her to see someone who used to be so good be so bad. 'Oh god, oh god, oh my freaking god!! Inuyasha! Inuyasha!' Kagome thought, wild with panic.

Miroku's choked voice sounded softly, "B-burn… re—mains.. Ka…" He was silenced by a worsened pressure again his throat.

"You die now! Die!" Shiba laughed maniacally.

His face was turning from blue to purple, though you couldn't see it in this darkness. His mind was also beginning to shut down and his eyesight fading, until three golden claws of light had appeared across his vision, blinding him for a moment. A whoosh of fresh air entered the monk's lungs immediately, and he realized that none other than the ill-tempered hanyou removed the ghost. About damn time too.

"I'll admit this much kid, you can pack a punch," Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. "I won't let that happened again, I can promise you that," His claws glowed with the intent of ripping apart the boy.

Kagome had run behind Inuyasha for brief cover before kneeling next to the injured houshi and helping him up, "Are you okay Miroku-san?"

"F-fine," He coughed violently and rubbed his throat. "That's going to bruise," He chuckled softly.

Kagome rolled her eyes, "Please don't joke right now. I need you to be serious and help me with the remains."

"R-right."

She heaved him to a particular section of the washroom, eying the poltergeist wearily. It seemed that Inuyasha and Shiba were have a Mexican stand off. Shaking her head she had let go of Miroku and pointed to a brick in the wall. "It's painted over, but I know it's in there somewhere."

The monk had brushed a hand against the painted wall, "Right well…" He reached into his bag and dug around, pulling out a Swiss army knife casually.

"W-what are you doing with that?!"

Miroku shrugged, "It's practically an unwritten rule that a guy carries one of these around."

Shiba, had turned to them and snarled, dematerializing and reappearing behind them in a split second. However Inuyasha had been quicker, and had stopped the boy from remotely getting near Kagome in a violent manner. Releasing a snarl of his own, Inuyasha had slashed the boy to pieces before turning sharply to the frozen humans behind him, "Don't just sit there. Hurry your asses up!"

Miroku had started to carve around the block of cement, chipping away at the paint until he had fully gone around the entire thing. Shooting Kagome a brief look, he had begun to pry at the thing awkwardly before he managed to get a good grip and fully remove the surprisingly very light cement block. "It's hollow," He remarked, dropping the block on the floor loudly.

The girl next to him had wandered her fingers over the top of it until she found a small latch that took off the top part of the block, revealing its contents on the inside. There sat an old syringe with blood no doubt still on it, some papers, a substance that looked like marijuana completely and utterly dried to the point that if it were touched, it looked like it would just disintegrate, and finally a pair of rubber gloves.

"Oh this is so gross," Kagome cringed.

Miroku had shrugged his shoulders and opened his bag, taking out a small bottle of lighter fluid and some matches.

"No! I won't let you! Not after all they did!" A screeching voice exploded from above them. Though despite his efforts, Inuyasha was determined to keep the boy back.

"Goddamn it! Houshi!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Miroku shouted back, covering every object in the box with the fluid for good measure before lighting the thing up.

"Wraaaa!" The boy howled in pain, trying in vain to grab Inuyasha and drag him down with him. Though try as he might, only his soul burned up to ashes.

And just when they thought that from here on, things would lighten up, they didn't. A moment of silence was all they had before the damn school fire alarms began to go off due to their mini bon fire.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

"Get outta here, I'll stay back to make sure everythin' gets burned up," Inuyasha ordered.

The two students didn't have to be told twice, and had left the premises quickly, the sounds of sirens echoing throughout the streets as they ran to the safety of a side road. Both gasping for air, they looked at each other with a sense of pride, sharing a weak high five and loose smiles.

"Gods, I never want to enter a guys washroom again," Kagome moaned later on that night on their slow stroll home. Miroku had kindly offered to escort her since Inuyasha had yet to come back.

Laughing lightly, he replied, "It wasn't that bad. I can't imagine the girls washroom smelling like flowers either."

Kagome stopped and looked at him dumbly, "Oh but they do. For some reason it always smells like fresh spring blossoms."

Miroku stared in disbelief, "That's just not fair."

Kagome grinned, "Life just isn't fair these days now is it?" She started to walk again until they reached the shrine grounds. They bid one another good night, Kagome entering her dark house as quietly as possible as to not wake up any of her family members. Saying she was exhausted would be an understatement. She was beyond tired and felt so drained that she hadn't even bothered to change out of her outfit. Instead she had crashed onto her bed, eying the clock to see the time. Of course it was close to one in the morning, as if ghost hunting could take any less time.

'How the heck were we gone that long? Well whatever…' She had just drifted off to sleep, unaware that her special watch hanyou had returned and seated himself outside her window, keeping an eye on her as she slept.

-X-

"So another job done, eh?" A voice drawled out.

"Shaddap! And don't give me that look! They were all over this one, I could barely get to the evidence without that damn mutt sniffing around and catching me there," The other man scowled, watching from his parked car all of the firefighters gathering around the school as well as some policemen.

"Mm, we should get out of here."

"Ch, I couldn't agree more," Revving up the engine, they had driven off.

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A/N Yeah, total inspiration sooo comes from Supernatural! Love that show! Dean is soooo sexy, Sam… could use a haircut. Lol. Well, I hope you guys liked this chapter! R&R please!