Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha

A/N Thanks so much for your reviews. I'm glad so many of you like my story. And I'm sorry I didn't update earlier. I moved to another apartment and the Internet didn't get hooked up till today (Thursday) so I couldn't update. I suppose I could have walked over to the school with a flash drive and bummed one of their computers, but I'm too lazy for that. Haha. Either way, thanks for the reviews! And now…

Review reply zone

That's right. Got question? I am here to answer!

SO! Kagome'sdaughter asked how Inuyasha's knows Kagome is his soul mate. Well pretty much he's found out that she smells way better than anyone he's ever cared for, Kikyo included. He also feels a very intense connection with Kagome even though they've pretty done absolutely nothing to forge such a connection. Haha, so yeah.

On with the chapter!

"Kagome's voice"

'Inuyasha's thoughts'

"Inuyasha's speech"

Awakened Dead

Chapter 18. Unknown Time Frame

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Where was this?

Everything was so dark and numb…

The only things that shone were the stars in the sky. So many brilliant little dots hanging high above him, some partially covered in smoky clouds while most remained bright.

'So beautiful…'

A gust of wind tousled his dark bangs from his lost amethyst-grey eyes, the breeze providing neither warmth nor cold. It was just air capable of moving his hair, and not nearly strong enough to carry his clothing into it. Not that it could happen considering he was lying down flat on his back, simply staring up at the glittering stars.

He didn't know why but… He was lying in a pile of snow. The ground was covered in it and yet he couldn't feel its blistering cold temperature seeping into his skin. This place he was in, it wasn't normal.

It didn't feel real.

What was this place?

'The last thing I remember is… That overpowering heat, the blinding pink light and… talking to someone.' He blinked slowly, observing the sky. This place felt almost familiar, like he had been somewhere similar to this before. This numbing sensation of loss. He knew it well. 'Just like when I was first sealed into the Tessaiga. It was just like this. Except I was floating in darkness. With only my own thoughts to keep me company.'

"Gomen nasai… Gomen nasai I-In-Inuyasha…"

He again blinked slowly, a mumble of a voice disrupting his peaceful silence. 'Who was that?' He thought with a small frown.

Maybe… maybe it was someone who knew him?

Soft steps jostled him from his thoughts, the human not even aware that the other person had gotten so close to him in such a small span of time. 'I guess that's what happens when you have human senses. You can't hear a damn thing till it's too late.' He shifted his eyes to the newcomer, not even flickering once in fear or astonishment.

Simply emotionless.

It was another man, one with silver hair and golden eyes. His face bore dark bluish, jagged stripes as well as his wrists, and his clothing were exactly as his own.

Dark red haorie and matching hakama's.

But something was very wrong. Though this man looked similar to him, he was also unfamiliar and most of all, barely even visible. He was very transparent, as if holding on to his existence by only a thread. 'Is this me? Is that me?'

"We're the same." He responded out loud, staring down at Inuyasha with his dark amber eyes. He sat slowly, crossing his legs and placing his hands in either of his sleeves. His hair was braided back, unlike the dark haired human laying in the snow, and his human ears slightly pointed as opposed to being dog-like atop his head. "Well?"

The Inuyasha laying on his back continued to stare blankly before speaking. "What do you mean 'we're the same'? We can't be! I'm clearly solid, and I'm human. We are not the same. I am Inuyasha!"

The barely visible man snorted and glared. "Obviously. But so am I. I am Inuyasha. I am you and you are me." He withdrew a hand form his sleeve to stare at it solemnly. "The only reason why I'm not solid is because I'm weak. I barely survived without you to protect me."

It was as if a light bulb had turned on in his head. He knew now who this person was. "You're my other half. My demon blood." Inuyasha spoke. 'I remember now. Heh to think my human half would come in handy for once? This is a change.'

"Hai, that is what I am." He sighed and replaced his hands into his sleeves sluggishly. "I was separated from you during the purification process. If it weren't for you, I would have been completely destroyed. But you saved me."

"I did huh?" Inuyasha shifted his purple gaze so that he could look up at the stars again. "I don't know how I did it, but I'm glad." He admitted.

"So am I. This means we can remain in existence. Well, we can continue to remain in existence once I heal. Until that happens, we'll stay as we are, separate from one another." The transparent demon Inuyasha said, a grumble of impatience laced into his voice.

"Onegai, Inuyasha, come back to me. On-onegai…"

The human Inuyasha heard a small whimper from the other, raising a brow in question. "Do you recognize that voice?"

The youkai Inuyasha growled at the other one and glowered. "Don't you know? Remember? She is our woman. The one who sent us here. She's in pain and waiting for us to get back."

'The one who sent us here huh?' He mentally repeated, searching his memory for that persons face. A flash of black hair and blue eyes appeared in his mind, her joyful smile forever imprinted in his head. 'Kagome…' Her name echoed into his mind, over and over again. Her small smiles, her giggles, and her clumsy moments replaying again and again. "She keeps calling us." He spoke in a bit of a slur.

"Yes." The youkai Inuyasha answered with a small noise of discontent. He wanted to go to her, comfort her as a mate should do. But he couldn't. He was stuck here, trying to heal himself after such a strong attack. "She wants to see us."

"How do we get back?"

He rolled his golden eyes and stared at the motionless human Inuyasha in the snow. "I already told you, I need to heal before we can return. Until I am visible again, we're stuck here listening to our mate call to us."

"Well why the hell do we have to go back together? Why can't I leave?"

"Because." Inuyasha answered with a rumble. "You can't return as a human. If we ever want a chance at life again, we need to go back as a half demon. Not a full demon, or a human. But a hanyou. Our soul needs time to mend itself. Once that's done we can merge again together and return to our mate." He explained harshly, his eyes flashing briefly red.

"A hanyou? Feh, what could be the worst that happens?"

The youkai turned away from him, his voice grumbling in annoyance. "Not only would you only be a human soul. But if ever our body were to be set free of its curse, possession and all, we would go mad with power. Without me there to balance our soul out, our body would go berserk. We would die and never be able to return to the living world again."

"Well ain't that just swell."

"I didn't mean to, I swear. I was so angry and felt so betrayed. I didn't know what I was doing. I-I d-didn't know."

If he had dog ears, they would be drooping right about now.

"She sounds so sad." Ningen Inuyasha remarked softly. "Isn't there any way to speed up this whole healing thing?"

"Mm, no, not that I know of." He stared at his transparent hand again and grunted. "We need time. In time, I will be myself again."

"Damn it all." The black haired man cursed, staring up at the starry sky angrily. They needed to do something. Hell even something to pass the time. He couldn't really move, but at least his form was solid unlike his youkai counter part that could move freely, but was barely in existence.

'I'm going to lose my mind soon.'

-X-

He didn't know how much time had passed. The stars didn't change, and he couldn't see any moon hanging in the navy sky either. He just laid there, waiting, hoping this torture would end sooner rather than later. His other self wasn't at all entertaining either, which left him to be bored out of his mind for the most part.

"I went to school today… Kouga-sensei's been light on our homework. I think it's because he knows how crazy our lives are right now…"

Damn that baka ookami youkai. He bet that he wasn't just keeping her homework light for that reason. 'Probably sucking up to her.' Ningen Inuyasha thought with a sneer.

"Though he's incredibly cocky, wolf bag wouldn't be that stupid." Youkai Inuyasha piped up sincerely. "I think his intentions are right." He was still pretty transparent, but not as much as when he originally appeared. His form was slowly returning.

"I've also been training more with Mushin-shishou. I meditate for three hours a day now and I-I'm even learning how to control my emotions! S-so… so you'll be okay around me. I promise this w-won't—"

It crushed him to know that she was feeling such pain all because of his moronic idea of keeping the truth from her. He shouldn't have kept this secret from her at all concerning her father and her Necromancer abilities. Damn, how did things get to be this bad? 'She can't even speak properly without crying or hiccupping.' He inwardly whimpered, the guilt sitting heavy in his heart.

"A-ahem… gomen, I'm telling you about my control over my emotions and here I go and start crying. Ha…Anyways, Miroku-san is also looking for a necromancer teacher for me. We've even asked for Sesshoumaru-sama's help to find one. Seeing as this is a bit of an emergency and all."

Was involving his half brother really necessary?

This had both Inuyashas' in a growling fit. Neither very appreciative when it came to their older brother. "There's no way he would help us unless he wanted something in return."

The other youkai Inuyasha shuffled in his seat in the snow. "He's sticking his nose in other peoples business on purpose. He should know better then to trespass into our territory."

"Keh! He doesn't give a shit as long as we're like this. Floating spirits in limbo. Until we get our body back, this territory is fair game to him." The human Inuyasha barked, clenching his hands.

The youkai Inuyasha sighed loudly, his body hunching over in mild defeat. This was taking too long for him and the human him. They needed to merge again, and fast! Without them back in the human world, it left Kagome unprotected. 'Damn it all, I need to heal faster than this! Our mate needs us. So maybe… maybe if I try to increase my energy, I can heal sooner.' He closed his amber orbs in concentration, trying his best to raise his youki slowly.

"W-what are you doing?" Human Inuyasha craned his head up to see his counter part surrounding himself with his aura.

"Trying to get us out of this hellish place faster."

"I don't know if you should be doin' that." The black haired man pointed out nervously.

"Does it look like I care what you think?" Youkai Inuyasha snorted, continuing to ramp up the power at a slow pace.

It was shortly afterwards that ningen Inuyasha winced and yelped loudly in protest. His skin burned painfully as the aura expanded slowly over his body. "Stop that! You're not helping anyone!" He cried again in pain, feeling his lower limbs sizzling.

The silver haired man stopped his actions with a glower, the thick cloud dispersing harmlessly. Some of his form had returned with the gentle increase of his aura, but not by much. Something that wasn't worth trying again if he was only going to damage his other half with his youki. "Damn it all." He cursed, tightening his fists.

"Dumbass…"

-X-

More time had miserably gone by in silence. Though the two half souls discovered that they didn't need to speak aloud to one another. They were perfectly just fine with thinking instead, their minds already connected. Call it laziness. They just didn't have the energy nor the patience to speak out loud. This world was also driving them mad, the youkai Inuyasha having pointed that they had created this place in their subconscious a long time ago. This was their save haven from the world. This was their mind.

'A place that even Kikyo couldn't reach.'

'Only our mate can speak to us in here. She's the only one with the deepest connection to us.'

'Now I can see why we created this place. It's so peaceful. It can only be this quiet during the winter.'

'It was always easier to relax in the winter. We could hear from further away due to all the hibernating animals. It would get to be so quiet not only at night but even in the day. We could spot dangers from miles away.'

'I miss that, in a way. But I also like this new world we're in with Kagome. I'm curious about it.'

A cool gust of wind alerted the two souls immediately that something was nearby. Their bodies had pulsed in reaction to the disturbance, the youkai Inuyasha standing to his feet quickly in a battle stance. The wind that caressed them had a feel to it, something that wasn't possible in this place. Something else was causing this chill. But what could have the power to enter his mind and manipulate it like this?

"Huh? The clock stopped working."

Human Inuyasha gasped and shot a look to his counterpart. "We've got some serious company."

"I'm well aware moron. I can smell her getting closer." The youkai hissed, his hackles rising. "Looks like we might've accidentally attracted her with my little experiment."

"Great, let's just put an even bigger target on our heads 'cause maybe the one we've got ain't bright enough!" The ningen snapped, struggling to try and move his body from the fluffy white mountains of snow. I was no use though. His body was stuck to this spot while his other half struggled against his instincts to attack. The thing that was coming, that brought the cold with her, and stopped time. There was nothing in the world that could do that except for one thing.

A Reaper.

"M-Miroku-san! Inuyasha is fading! Quick, Miroku-san! Mushin-shishou!"

"Your soul is much more unique than I thought it to be." An emotionless voice spoke, a white clad woman now standing next to the two boys in the snow. She was very pale and thin, faded blue eyes paired with long pale blond hair, and a long ragged gown that gently billowed up and around her due to her aura. This revealed that she was barefoot in the snow, and had marking running up the sides of her legs.

"Piss off, we don't need you here." The youkai Inuyasha barked, his amber eyes flashing red.

The girl twisted her head to look at him, her lips twisted into a frown. "You do not have a body, and your spirit has been severely damaged, yet you wish to remain here? In limbo?" A long scythe appeared between her thin fingers, the curved blade gleaming in excitement.

"Just 'cause we're like this, doesn't mean we won't get better!" The black haired man spat from the ground.

"You are nothing but a lost soul. The afterlife is waiting for you, Inuyasha." The woman said, her dull blue eyes boring holes into the males' amethyst-grey orbs.

"Feh!" The youkai regarded the Reaper with a stony look. "Reaper or not, you can't take us away."

"You are a soul—"

"Woman, we have a body. It just isn't accessible yet, but it will be. Till then, why don't you go make yourself useful and bother some other ghost that actually needs to cross over?" He flexed his barely visible claws threateningly, letting a growl rumble through his throat.

She blinked slowly, taking in the information the youkai told her. She wasn't happy being mocked or yelled at by these simpletons, but they did have a point. "You are infuriating, boy, but I will leave you in peace for now. Your body is still available, yes, but the moment it is not, I will be there to drag your soul into the afterlife."

"Like ya did with those four annoying brats? Heh, I'm shakin' in my boots." Youkai Inuyasha snarled.

"The Reaper with the charge of those humans was foolish. Rest assured I will not make the same mistakes." She promised, sudden winds increasing around her body until it completely engulfed her. She had disappeared in the flurry of wind and snow, leaving a few white feathers behind in her place.

The human Inuyasha let out a breath he had been holding, and glared evilly at his youkai half. "Were you fucking out of your mind? Challenging a Reaper? You asshole! We could have been yanked into the afterlife 'cause of you!"

The youkai sat back down into the snow, his shoulders slumping tiredly. "Heh, well I had to do something. My instincts were howling to get rid of her. If we were back together, we would have done the same. It can't be helped. We're not ready to leave the world of the living yet, not while we know our mate is there waiting for us. I wasn't about to let that shitty Reaper take us away without a fight!" His eyes flashed again red, his aura increasing as well as his form solidifying.

'He's right, I'm not ready either to go anywhere now that I've found Kagome. K'gome…' A bubble of warmth sparked inside his chest. 'Kagome.'

"W-wait, he's looking more opaque."

The youkai snarled viciously, his inner animal showing itself for once. Red eyes, glowing amber aura and ferocious barks shook his form, his once transparent looking body pulsing with his aura. His soul slowly mended itself, solidifying with every pulse that shuddered through his body. The snow that used to fall slowly around them increased till it was a full-blown blizzard; the stars no longer visible but covered in dark stormy clouds.

He looked down at his counter part, fearing the worst. "Damn it! If you don't settle down you're gunna rip me apart dumbass!" The black haired man shouted above the storm. However even as he was yelling, he could feel the power within him increasing too. The warmth that now enveloped his body was shielding him from the storm as well as allowing him to sit up in the snow. 'What the hell is happening?'

The blizzard dropped around them, leaving the black haired Inuyasha to stare at the youkai version of him. Again, he didn't know what the hell was happening. Just that his counterpart had suddenly gotten pissed off and at the same time so did he. Maybe it was because of their need to see Kagome again. It fuelled them both to increase their own natural power.

The human part and the demon part.

Was this really happening?

"His hair! It's getting l-lighter."

The youkai pulsed, as if his entire body held a heartbeat. His eyes had closed from the earlier demonic winds and storming weather. Now that everything had settled, he slowly opened them, revealing the same colour of eyes as his demonic aura. The innate aura before it had been tainted from the possession of his body. Though he was not completely healed, he was almost completely solid and feeling much stronger than he had moments ago.

"We need to get back to our mate, and protect her."

The human Inuyasha grinned at him, rolling back his shoulders in a mild stretch. "I couldn't agree more." He stood easily, dusting himself off as his mirrored self stood similarly like him.

"His demonic aura is getting stronger."

Youkai Inuyasha stepped forward into the snow, his body glowing differently now and lighting up as bright as all the stars above. The ningen Inuyasha was the same as he also took a step forward, and when they were nose to nose glowing as they were, their forms shimmered and merged together.

In a bright, blinding light, a shadow of a man stood.

The snowy clearing he stood in dispersed around him, the stars no longer visible, no bare trees or silent night. Just darkness, a pit of darkness that wanted to swallow him up before he could escape from it. 'I won't let it.'

"Inuyasha."

Because she was waiting for him to wake up.

Kagome.

A speckle of light opened up above him, her voice getting louder from that direction.

Mate.

He looked up and shuffled around the darkness, a slow smile warming his lips. She was there, so close to him. His dog-ears twitched upwards to her voice, the hanyou crouching eagerly. 'Here I come.' He flipped his head up before giving a fierce push, bounding upwards towards the light in one single leap.

Kagome!

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A/N Well? Wadja think? His mind is pretty weird huh? I mean who imagines a snowy place as their save haven from the outside world? … Not me of course… Cough cough… Anyways, I hope you all liked this field trip inside the Inuyasha's head. It is meant to be short like this and strictly in his mind. So the next chapter will be back in the real world and a bit longer. We'll get to see every body's reaction and their story. Till next time! R&R!