Sorry for the extremely long wait. I've been really busy and stressed for the past year and I couldn't find the time to continue this fic. I even went into a stage where Inuyasha wasn't my favorite anime for a while. Luckily, my love for it came back full force. My problem is the I'm not a big fan of Ayashino Ceres so it's kind of hard considering it's part of the story. And my final exams are coming up as well. I will repeat that I'm not giving up on this work even if it's not all great. Also, I'll be really busy in the next few months. So don't expect the next chapter until my graduation done and over with. I have a lot to deal with right now. FOURTH YEAR IS HELL!!!! By the way I slightly edited the past chapters. Minor changes.

Disclaimer: I don't own the two animes...

torrie: I thank you for the bottom of my heart for liking my fic. I'm glad you liked it.

Chapter 8: Mystery

To say that I was surprised would be an understatement. I was shocked, so shocked that you would think that my jaw would've drop to the floor! But, here I was confronting the person who saved me from the cold hands of death. I couldn't move. I was rooted to the ground.

"Um…I…I," I stuttered. For some reason I had great difficulty in just forming a single sentence.

He continued to hold his firm, beautiful gaze. His eyes seem to look through my very being, shaking the foundations of my soul. I didn't want to look away. Nevertheless, I felt that even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to for some reason. Call me crazy for feeling such a strong attraction to this man; but I can't help but feel as if I've met him before. But who is he really? I have to know.

"W-Who are you?" I finally said, still looking at him in the eye.

He stayed silent as if he had no intention of answering my question. He closed his eyes finally breaking the eye contact and walked towards me. I took a step back unaware of why I did so. Was I scared? Nervous? I'm not sure. Then we just walked pass me! He was going to leave! I turned to face him not wanting to waste my chance to talk to him. Who knows when I'll get the chance to see him again?

"Wait!" He stopped several feet away from me. "Why wasn't what happened this morning in the news?"

I thought he wouldn't reply again although that didn't stop me from hoping.

"That event never occurred." He said in a smooth monotone voice.

"What do you mean?" There were so many questions I wanted to ask. I don't understand why what happened earlier did not happen. I was definitely not dreaming. I was there, Chidori was there, and a lot of people were there! Heck, even he was there!

Once more he chose not to answer me and strode a few more paces farther away from me. I may not get the answers I wanted, but at least I tried.

"Um…Thank you for rescuing me!" I shouted as he got even farther away from where I stood.

He stopped for one final time, looking at me with those hauntingly stunning green eyes before he disappeared into the darkness of the night.

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A few hours ago…

"How are things?"

"Everything has been normal, sir."

"As I suspected, our superiors mentioned did mention that we still had to wait."

One of the computer technicians whispered to her fellow co-worker, "Wait? Again? We've been here for God knows how long and nothing has turned up."

"We can't do anything about it. Besides we still have some tests to run and debug some programs."

"YOU! STOP GOSSIPING AND GET BACK TO WORK!"

"Yes Sir!!!" They both quickly turned back to their respective computers.

Naraku then entered the room, his lab coat on but his clothes underneath were all wrinkled. He let out a soft yawn, running his fingers through his dark tresses.

"No development, Doctor Goshinki?" He asked the scientist in charge of the area.

"I'm afraid not, Sir. It seems we'll have to wait as you said."

"Typical." He let out a menacing snarl. He was getting more impatient as the days went by. 'I've waited long enough'. He was about to leave the room when loud alarms suddenly went off. He stopped just in front of the exit, a smirk making its way on his face. 'Finally, I can make my move.'

"What was that?!?!"

"It's a reading! We finally have a reading!!!"

"I thought we still had to wait another year?"

"Stop babbling and get me the location stat!!!"

"Yes sir!"

"Put it on the monitor where I can see." Naraku ordered Goshinki.

"You heard the man! Put in on the screen!"

The gigantic monitor displayed the Earth where there was a single blinking dot in the continent of North America.

"Target locked on. Getting the coordinates now."

The monitor zoomed in on a single town where the blinking dot still visible.

"It's somewhere in Canada."

All of a sudden the dot disappeared.

"The reading's gone!"

"It vanished!"

"Were you able to get the coordinates?" Goshinki asked.

"Um…we were only able to get the coordinates of the area where it was, not the exact location sir." The girl wearing her hair in pigtails hesitantly answered. She was obviously a new in her job. She had circular lenses and had the same white lab coat everyone was wearing.

Doctor Goshinki's eyes darkened and approached the girl. He pulled on her blonde locks and backhanded her.

"Do your job right, you useless little girl!!!!"

"Forgive me, Sir! I'll do better next time!" His hold tightened making her cry tears of pain.

"You runt! You better or you'll receive a punishment worse than what I am doing to you right now!" He bellowed, enjoying the sight before him. The other workers made to motion to intervene, they kept to themselves as if there was nothing new happening.

"Goshinki."

"Yes Sir?"

"Forget their slip-up for now. I have what I want for now. Send those coordinates to me office right now." He turned to leave with a sadistic smile on his face.

"You hear that? Do what he says and get back to work!" Goshinki scowled as he threw the poor girl aside and went back to his post.

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"I can't believe that woman!" Inuyasha muttered on his way back to his room. "Who does she think she is...?"

Today had been a long hectic day for him. He had to attend three boring classes, do some errands for his stupid brother, clean his room since his supposed best friend abandoned him to do most of the work and then some stuck-up girl punches his girlfriend. Lady luck without doubt hated him these days.

"I wonder what that pervert wants to talk about. I'll have to ask regarding that dim-witted friend of his." He got on the elevator. It was getting late and all he wanted was to lie down and sleep. However, he still had to talk to Miroku, who won't let him have his peace until some facts were straightened out. 'Kami! When can I have a break from today's hell?'

'Have you ever lost someone very dear to you?' Her forlorn voice rang in his head remembering their encounter this afternoon.

"Keh! Why am I remembering that stupid wench anyway? It must be some act to gain my sympathy." He stomped his way to the room. He fumbled with the keys and inserted the right one in the key hole. As expected, Miroku arrived way before he did and passed the time looking at his favorite type of literature while waiting for him.

"About time you decided to come here." Miroku said, as he placed his playboy magazines back in its secret box hidden behind a cabinet.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "You'll be dead when your girlfriend finds out about those."

He rubbed the back of his head. "Hehehe. It won't kill me if my dear hime doesn't know."

"How are you so sure I won't tell her? I could do it as revenge for cleaning the room all by myself." He shifted the things in his path with his feet as he made his way to the end of the room. He sat down on the black leather couch which was yet to be moved to its proper spot.

"Wow. It sure is fixed." Miroku replied with a sarcastic tone from the kitchen.

"Keh! It is damn neater than when it was this morning! And make me some ramen while you're in there!" He should be grateful. Initially, the room was filled with unopened boxes that filled up every space in the room. It was a miracle that Inuyasha was able to fix most of it by then. Still, there was still so much to fix.

"Yes almighty one." Miroku entered with a tray of three bowls of ramen. It saved him time and energy by making an extra bowl for his roommate since most of the time Inuyasha wouldn't eat less than one bowl of ramen. "But anyways, we have to talk."

"You bet :slurp: we have to talk. Tell that :slurp: bitch :slurp: that she should lay off my girl." He said in between gulps.

The young monk hit him on the head with his slipper ignoring his growl of protest. "One, don't talk while your mouth is full. Two, her name is Kagome and not 'bitch'. Third, your girlfriend pissed off Kagome in the first place."

"That wench shouldn't have punched her then!" Inuyasha yelled after putting down his finished bowl of ramen and grabbing his second serving.

"Well, I wouldn't blame her for doing so." He said calmly. He knew wouldn't help if both of them would be shouting. And as the more mature one, he had to deal with Inuyasha's aggravating childish anger.

"Go to hell! :slurp: I don't understand :slurp: why you're protecting that :slurp: wench."

"Don't make me hit you again for your bad table manners. And why wouldn't I protect her? She's one of my best friends like you are. And anyone would've done what she had done." He put down his own bowl and took a long sip from his glass of water.

"I still don't get you monk." Inuyasha put his last bowl down looked at Miroku with an irritated expression.

"Let's put it terms where you will understand what I'm trying to say." He faced his friend, his eyes serious. "What would you do if someone bad-mouthed Kikyo?"

"What else? I'd beat the crap out of him!" Inuyasha roared forming a fist with his right hand.

"So you're saying Kagome can't do what you plan to do if she wanted to defend someone who is as dear to her as Kikyo is to you?" His eyes dared his friend to answer wrong.

Inuyasha emitted a deep growl. "I'm saying that she'll have to answer to me if she hits Kikyo again!"

They began a staring contest, neither one wanting to back down. It's as if the loser of this silly game of theirs was the one who was wrong in their conversation. Miroku didn't get why Inuyasha still protected his girlfriend who was obviously the one at fault. But it was futile for him to make his friend understand what he was trying to put across right now. Besides, Inuyasha had the upper hand in this immature game

"Never mind." Miroku gave in closing his sore eyes. "There's no hope in getting anything through that thick skull of yours."

"What the hell are you implying?"

"Anyways, it's still a shock that your girlfriend is the arch nemesis of my dear friend. You never mentioned that she was Kikyo."

"You never asked."

"I suppose so. :sigh: Things are going to get ugly. Inuyasha, do me a favor and please make Kikyo stay at least a mile away from Kagome."

"My girl is free to do anything she wants." He crossed his arms in front of his chest while leaning back further into the couch.

'Have you ever lost someone very dear to you?' Inuyasha once again recalled what she said. It somehow bothered him for some reason. It was like she wanted to share something hidden about her.

"Miroku, has that wench ever had a boyfriend or something?" He asked all of a sudden.

Miroku nearly fell of the sofa when he heard him. He look bewildered at first but he soon put a naughty smile on his face. "My, my, Inuyasha. Are you planning on two-timing now?"

"Of course not! Are you crazy or something?" He glared at the pervert who was getting ideas from one single question.

"And why may I ask are you interested in Kagome-sama?"

"Keh! It's just something that she said earlier that's been bothering me?"

"Hmmm. It seems you guys did more than just talk" Miroku took notice of his wrinkled clothes which was covered in dirt and his black mane which had some leaves stuck on it.

"Hey don't look at me as if something happened when I followed her! We just fell off a tree so that's why I looked messed up."

"Really now?" Miroku pressed on still not convinced. "What did she say then?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

"She asked me if I lost someone dear to me with me this sick gloomy look. I bet she's trying to make me feel sorry for her or something!"

Miroku's face turned solemn and stayed silent for a while looking at the wall in front of him.

"What's wrong with you, monk?" His seriousness was starting to creep him out. One minute he was all nosy, next minute he's all sober. Talk about mood swings.

"Inuyasha." He said.

"W-What?" The atmosphere felt heavy and a bit suffocating for Inuyasha.

"Please don't judge Kagome so harshly. She's been through a lot." He continued in his monotone voice. "And it's true. She did lose someone dear to her." He put on a sad smile as if he was reminiscing.

He raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to tell me what happened?"

Miroku smirked, a bit amused at the blockhead's sudden interest. "Why do you seem so interested?"

Inuyasha snorted and exclaimed, "No reason!"

"Well, I can't really tell you."

"Why the hell not?"

"It's not my place to tell. Besides, if you hate her so much why bother getting to learn more about her?" Miroku stated making a point.

"Damn bouzo." His companion mumbled.

"I heard that! I'll have you know, I'm a highly regarded monk."

Inuyasha snorted, "Yeah. You are highly regarded for being a nosy, irritating, lecherous monk."

"You wound me my dear friend" Miroku put a hand to his heart feigning hurt. "But I'll tell you one thing, she used to be so cheerful before."

"Cheerful? That witch?" Inuyasha asked disbelieving.

"I'm telling the truth! She used to wear such a radiant smile everyday." Miroku contradicted reaching for his wallet located in his back pocket of his pants.

"A smile of death?" Inuyasha whispered while snickering.

"I can prove it!" He pulled out a random picture from his wallet and held it in front of Inuyasha's face. "Here!"

It was a picture of Miroku, Sango and Kagome. Miroku was proudly holding Sango close, keeping his hands to himself for once. Sango was relaxed in his embrace and had a tint of pink on her cheeks. Kagome was winking while embracing Sango's right arm. She had a care-free smile on her face. It was innocent, genuine and somewhat sweet. It was something Inuyasha hasn't seen before. It was as if her smile made others want to smile as well.

He ignored the foreign warm reaction he felt and grumbled. "I feel like puking."

"You are so rude." Miroku got back the photo and inserted it back in his wallet.

"Of course I am. Now move your butt so we can finally fix this poor excuse for a room."

Miroku made a move to escape into the bedroom. Unfortunately, Inuyasha got to him first and grabbed him by the back of the collar of his shirt. "And this time you are going to help!" He growled with a murderous gleam in his brown eyes.

"Hehehe…Sure." Miroku sweat dropped.

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"Kagome, are you sure you're okay?" I asked while putting a hand on her shoulder.

She seemed to snap out of her daze and put on a weak smile. She put her hand atop my own. "I'm fine Sango-chan. I'm just a little tired."

"Okay." Although I still wasn't convinced.

Our class before noon just ended and we walking down the corridor making our way to the stairs. Kagome has been acting weird the whole day. Anyone would be more than concerned if they knew how our day was so far.

It all started out this morning when I didn't find Kagome on her bed which was left undisturbed that night. Instead, she was fast asleep on the study table that we placed beside the computer. The lamp was left on since I one who was using it the night before fell asleep while studying. Her hair was disheveled, her head rested on her arms and there was a wide open book in front of her. I sighed and shook the girl wearing her favorite puppy pajamas. It took like an entire thirty minutes to wake her. I told her to take a shower while I finished cooking breakfast. She nodded, her eye drooping. I turned to the batch of pancakes I was making until I heard I sudden bump! It was like something big fell to the floor. I called out to Kagome and when she didn't reply I ran to the bathroom. She was sprawled on the floor swirl-eyed, dizzy from the fall. Thankfully, her slip didn't cause major injuries but she had I small bruise on her head and knee.

After breakfast, I changed into a simple green top, and a long denim skirt, and some dangling earrings. When Kagome walked towards our walk-in closet, I was putting my hair up in its usual ponytail. Then suddenly I heard a banging sound of Kagome colliding face first to the closet door. I helped her dress into simple black cargo pants and a black sleeveless for she was only half-awake and we were going to be late if I left her to dress by herself.

I don't believe everything that happened that morning was plain bad luck or a coincidence though. I think my friend was not totally conscious of what her surroundings. My suspicion is that she finally is feeling the major after effects of her studying too much and overexertion. She even bumped into around six walls when we went to the university. And for the first time since the first day of classes, she wasn't taking down notes! She was spacing out during class!

Even if I asked Kagome several times if she was feeling alright, she would put on a mask as if nothing is wrong. I know she doesn't want me to worry but if this goes on, I'm definitely going to bring her back to our room so she can at least rest. We only had one class after lunch anyway. The ringing of my cell phone snapped me out my reverie.

"Kagome, can we stop for a second?" I asked pulling out the device. I didn't want her to wander around alone in her state.

"Sure." She said looking at the path ahead of us which was the stairs.

I flipped open the phone and faced the other wall to meet the suave voice of my boyfriend.

"How are you me dear Sango??? I miss you!!!!" He wailed.

I had to fight the blush that was starting to show on my face.

"I'm fine, Miroku."

"Want to eat lunch together???"

"Okay. Kagome and I were just heading out."

"How is she?" His voice turned from overexcited to worry.

"I think she's nearing her breaking point. I told her to take a rest for at least three days a few days ago but she insisted on studying."

"What makes you say that she's near her breaking point?"

"Well, for one thing, she slipped in the bathroom, bumped into the closet door, bumped into several other walls in the campus!!!"

"I see." I heard him sigh. "Well, she is really stubborn if you think about it. She won't even give herself some time to relax despite how much stress she's feeling."

"I know what you mean." I put on a small smile. "Let's bring her somewhere for a little vacation! It wouldn't hurt to miss a few days of classes."

"That's an idea. We'll talk about it later."

"Yeah we wi-" I turned to check on Kagome. To my horror I saw her stumbling towards the stairs. She was going to fall!!! Time seemed to slow down as my friend neared the edge of the steps.

"KAGOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

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A few days went by fast and pretty soon the first day of college arrived at last. I woke up extra early since I was really excited and nervous at the same time. I put on a plain white shirt that had an elegant lace as its belt, and a dark blue tie dyed spaghetti strap and some white clogs. I also put a black bandana on and some silver bracelets on both my wrists. I went down to cook breakfast because I was the first one who woke up and I had nothing to do for the next few hours. When Aki woke up much later than me, he looked like he wanted to go back to bed and sleep longer. I giggled putting breakfast on the table.

"Aya, can we play hooky on the first day?" He suggested before taking a bite of toast.

"Of course not!" I exclaimed as I took a seat beside him. "Aren't you at least a bit excited?"

"No. It's school all over again."

"Mou! You're just lazy!"

As soon as we finished dinner, we were out the door. Mom seemed to have left earlier this morning for her new job. We took a cab which took about thirty minutes from home to reach the university. The campus was big and had about seven buildings. Luckily, we were able to meet up with Chidori after several minutes of wandering around.

"Aya! Aki!"

"Yo." My brother greeted her before letting out a yawn.

"Chidori, thank goodness. I thought it would be hard to find each other in this place."

She chuckled. "Yeah, it is easy to get lost when you're new around here."

"Isn't class going to start soon?"

"Mine starts in ten minutes. Joy…" Aki made a move to leave. "I'll go to my building now.

"Don't fall asleep in class Aki!" I warned him as he waved bye.

"Looks like your brother is still half asleep." Chidori and I started to walk to our class.

"Seems that way." I sighed. "He was groaning this morning about how unfair I was since my class starts one hour after his."

"Huh?" She asked confused. "How is that unfair?"

"I don't know. I said it doesn't make a difference we're both going to have classes today anyway."

"How weird!" Chidori laughed.

I nodded my head. We entered our classroom where only a few people were present at the moment. I guess people were taking there time since our class was going to begin a little later.

"Aya." A hand touched my shoulder.

I turned to see Yuhi behind me with a smile on his face. "Yuhi! Are you in this class as well?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Hi." Chidori shyly greeted him from beside me.

"Hey." He said to her.

She flushed and quickly faced the front of the room not looking his direction.

"So, are you planning on going anywhere later?" He turned his attention back to me.

"Hmmm…I don't think I am."

"Would you like to get something to eat with me?"

"Sure!" I smiled.

I ignored his hopeful look and turned to the red-faced girl at my side. "Chidori, you're coming right?"

"Huh??? Well… I…" She was struggling with her words. "I-I…um…I guess."

"So we'll meet you later, ok? My brother's coming along as well." He looked surprised but he quickly put on a grin.

"Ah…okay. I'll see you later." He returned to his seat as the professor walked in the room.

Class was going pretty smoothly. Although I could see that Chidori had this dazed look in her eyes and was still pink in the face. She looked spaced out. The professor didn't seem to notice though. But I had to admit that when he reached the topic I studied last week, I got bored. I decided to half-listen since I pretty much new what he was discussing by heart. I turned to look outside the glass panel which gave me a good view of the corridor outside the room. After a few moments someone familiar passed by. My eyes widened.

'What is he doing here???'

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I honestly wasn't aware of what happened after I agreed with Sango-chan for stopping a while. All I remember was my body getting heavy and that I space out. I felt my knees go weak and I staggered forward my vision getting blurry. I could hear Sango shout out my name before closing my eyes, nearly blacking out.

"Kagome!!!!!!!" I hand grabbed my wrist and jerked me to a hard chest.

I snapped out of my daze gazing up to meet Kouga's apprehensive stare.

"Kagome, are you alright?" He asked, still holding me in his embrace.

"Eh? What happened?" I was confused and a bit lightheaded. I wiggled out of his hold, since he was too near for comfort.

"Kagome!" Sango-chan rushed to my side and hugged me. "Oh my God! Are okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Sango-chan, what's wrong?" I looked at her, unaware of what just took place.

"You nearly fell down to the stairs. Thank goodness Kouga got you in time." She explained, relieved to find I was safe and sound.

"Really?" I turned to Kouga. "Kouga-kun, thank you for saving me from a nasty fall."

He smiled a toothy grin showing his fangs. "Anything for my woman. Luckily, I'm a fast demon who sensed his woman was in danger."

I sweat dropped and chuckled lightly.

Then I heard a small voice through Sango's cell phone which was still grasped in her hand.

"Sango? What's wrong?!?! Did something happen to Kagome?!?!" He was shouting and sounded as if he was starting to panic.

"Sango-chan, Miroku's already freakin out." I smiled.

"Oh shoot!" She put her phone to her ear and started to tell her boyfriend to calm down. She excused herself for a while explaining what happened to Miroku.

I turned to Kouga again. "I'm really grateful for what you did. If I fell down the stairs, those two might not let me out of my room for a long time."

"It's really no problem." He took my hands in his own. "I can understand why your two friends are so worried about you though. You smell like you're starting to get sick and you're getting thinner and paler nowadays."

I sighed. Kouga was a demon so naturally his senses are heightened so I guess he can sense my weariness.

"I'm fine really."

"I was going to ask you out, but you need more rest." He flashed a grin before letting go of my hands. "Just take it easy for a while okay?"

"I will thank you." I gave him a smile and waved at him as he turned to leave.

Sango was beside me as soon as she ended her call.

"Let's go eat lunch Sango-chan." I started to descend down the stairs. Suddenly Sango took ahold of my hand walking a bit ahead of me.

"Kagome, we have to talk." She guided me down the stairs. She was being extra careful now.

I sighed. "Okay."

"Miroku's waiting for us at Wacdonald's."

We exited the building, Sango still leading the way. I knew I was going to a long sermon later.

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"I'm telling you guys! I'm fine!!!" Kagome insisted. She was starting to get annoyed because we kept pestering her about taking a short vacation.

"But Kagome-chan…"

"Sango-chan, I thought I said I don't need a vacation." She stomped so she was leading their group of three.

"No matter how much you deny it Kagome-sama. You need to relax and take a break." The sun was starting to set and the trio skipped their last class much to Kagome's dismay. It all began in Wacdonald's where the couple mentioned the idea of going to the hot springs for a week.

"Who says a need a break? Not me, that's for sure." The girl huffed.

"The fact you gave Sango and I a heart attack by nearly killing yourself a while back screams that you need some rest." The two walked in front of the Kagome making her stop."

"Please, Kagome-chan. At least consider it for a while."

Kagome's eyes softened under the gaze of her two closest friends.

"I don't know."

"Kagome-chan, please?" Sango rested on her shoulders determined to convince the stubborn girl.

"Kagome-sama, you don't want us to worry us to death, do you?" Miroku said giving her a smile.

She looked down. "I'm sorry, if I causing you such trouble, you guys." She looked at them. "I'm sorry, if I am constantly worrying you."

"You're our friend! Of course we would worry." Sango exclaimed. "I don't want you getting hurt just because you're not taking good care of yourself."

"Sango's right. We only want you to recover from the hell you've been experiencing lately." He added.

"You're not just talking about my studies are you?" She gave a slight smile.

"You know what I'm talking about Kagome-sama." He gave her a wink and a pat in the back.

She let out a sigh. "Fine, I'll think about it but that doesn't mean I'll agree to this."

"Thank you Kagome-chan." Sango gave her a tight hug.

"Now, ladies. It's getting late and we should be heading back to our dorms." Miroku said to lighten the mood. He put his arms around the two. "And it would be my pleasure to escort you two."

The two girls giggled.

"Thanks Miroku-sama." She unwound his arm from her shoulders. "But I'll walk a bit ahead so you two can have some time alone while going back." She gave them a wink. She made went ahead to a distance where she was still in sight a few feet in front of them.

Sango blushed crimson and Miroku chuckled.

"Um…Miroku." Sango hesitantly said. "Can you let go of me?"

"Why?" He grinned ear to ear. "I like holding you like this."

Sango still red in the face let his arm stay where it was.

"At least Kagome-sama is going to think about it?"

"Yeah…I thought we wouldn't be able to consider."

"I guess she doesn't want to make us worry anymore."

She nodded, still embarrassed that his arm was still around her as they walked.

"By the way, want to go on a date tomorrow?" He asked out of the blue.

She quickly glared at him. "No! You know how dangerous it is for Kagome to be alone right now? She might get run over by a car if I'm away on a date!"

"Now, now Sango. I was just asking." He replied allowing his hand to move further down.

"Asking my butt!" She suddenly stiffened feeling a familiar sensation on her back side; the irony of it all.

She wretched out of his grasp and gave him a good slap.

"Ow! That hurt my dear." He said rubbing his cheek.

"Serves you right you no good pervert!"

"But Sango-chan, I was just…" He stopped when he looked in front of them.

Sango followed his gaze to what lay a small distance away from them. Her eyes widened. Kagome had collapsed.

"KAGOME-CHAN!!!"

"KAGOME-SAMA!!!!!"

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They rushed to their friend who had fallen into a state of unconsciousness.

"You look uncharacteristically happy."

The figure hidden in the shadows smirked. "Do I now, Kagami?"

"I heard we have the possible location of one of the main subjects." The man, known by the name of Kagami, wearing a dark gray suit with a navy blue tie, sat in one of the chairs in front of Naraku's desk. "Is that why you've been sitting here quietly smiling to yourself instead of impatiently visiting all the different sectors?"

"You are 80 percent correct?" His revolving chair turned to the side so he was facing his partner. He was still in the same state as when the organization got its first reading which was three days ago.

"80 percent?" He took notice of the several folders cluttered on the desk. "What else, may I ask, has made you very pleased?"

Naraku made a move to open two folders exposing data on two men. "I must say that I am more than glad that they finally appeared and I don't have to waste time waiting another year. And I can finally make my move." He paused. "I am also in high spirits because the energy from the celestial maidens you captured was very abundant. Not enough as of now, but I know you can manage."

"Naturally." He closed his eyes and smiled. "From what you've told me, I'd say you're happy for everything is going smoothly."

Naraku stayed quiet and Kagami took his silence as a yes.

"Although it's a bit troublesome, I have to find more celestial maidens now. The past ones already expired."

Both smirked. "Do as you wish." Naraku said. "And if we're lucky, we'll have one of the main stars here by two weeks."

"You sent someone already, I see." Kagami raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "So who exactly did you assign to do your dirty work?"

"I sent two humans to a quiet little neighborhood in Canada." He let out an evil chuckle. "I'd like to how things go. Surely enough, those vermin can handle a simple job like this."

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Aya rushed out of the classroom as soon as the professor dismissed them. It was quite a revelation that he was here of all places.

"Aya! Where are you going?!?!" Chidori yelled.

"Gomen! I have to do something!" She rushed in the direction of the person she saw the passed by during her class. Fortunately, she was dismissed five minutes after the person disappeared from her sight.

She ran fast and hard. She had to see him.

"Where did he go?" She whispered, taking a breath.

Then she saw a figure go into the library. She followed him cautiously, hoping that she wasn't mistaken. She took a peek from a bookshelf to see the man with the same red hair and green eyes reading a book.

'It is him!' She said to herself.

He still had a mysterious aura surrounding him although he wasn't wearing his usual outfit. He wore a dark purple polo and some black slacks. He looked like he was a professor or a senior attending the college. He didn't acknowledge her presence and was engrossed in the book he was reading. Aya began a debate with herself, whether or not she was going to confront the man and demand the answers she was looking for. She wanted to know who he was, his reason for saving her in the first place and how he was able to by himself. The girl didn't notice that, as she battled with herself, two pairs of sinister eyes were taking note of her every move.