Thanks for the feedback from those who had the time. It's nice to know that someone other than my roomate really cares what's going to happen next in my little saga. I'm hoping now that I'm out of school I'll have more free time to sit and write instead of trying to manage to take notes and get a thought down at the same time in the middle of class. Thank god for laptops and their ability to have multiple documents open at once. But I digress...besides, I'm sureyou'd all rather get on to more important things than my ranting about school. Enjoy, and tell me what you think:)

It took her a few moments to fully catch her breath, but her mind was racing. She didn't remember any notification that classes were going to be canceled today, but nevertheless the building was dark and shut down, and besides the two of them, completely deserted. Thinking back, she wondered if this was what Kanota had wanted to talk to her about earlier today. He certainly didn't seem surprised by the unexpected free afternoon.

"What's going on?" she asked finally, her voice still raspy from her run.

"Take a look for yourself," Kanota replied, glancing over toward the main doors. Her eyes followed the direction of his to notice a white piece of paper taped to the closed entryway with a message in bold lettering.

Students:

Due to an unexpected gas main leak, classes are canceled for the day.

Studies will resume as scheduled on Monday afternoon. Thank you for

your understanding.

Hikaraka School Administration

"So you had no idea about this either," Kagome said finally, but still feeling as if she had missed something important.

Kanota's eyes were bright and active. "Are you disappointed in the perspective of a free afternoon? I can't say I'm all that upset not to be spending the rest of this gorgeous day sitting inside another classroom."

"No, that's not it at all! It's just that up until a couple of minutes ago I thought I was going to be spending it at home because I was going to be locked out of my class."

"And just where have you been?" he asked, reaching out to pluck a blossom from her hair and examine it. Embarrassed, Kagome quickly started running fingers across her head, trying to brush off the pink specks, but Kanota reached out to stop her. "Don't," he said smoothly. "I think it looks kinda nice…a little magical even."

By this point Kagome's face was beyond a deep shade of red, but her hands came down to rest at her sides. "So, I guess there's no reason to stay around here…"

Kanota spoke quickly and with authority, not really giving Kagome a chance to refuse. "Since we have the time, we should go get some ice cream or something. Besides, I still need to talk to you."

For a split second, Kagome's jaw dropped as her mind processed this statement. It was almost as if he was asking her on a date, but at the same time he stood there so casually as if they had known each other for years and already knew that she was going to accept his offer. This thought was quickly followed by the realization that she really did want to go with him. Something about Kanota sparked her curiosity, and she found the more time spent with him left her wanting to learn more about him. Still, the prospect of being able to spend a little more time with her friends in the past crossed her mind as well, and she quickly debated the chances that the group would be back at the village waiting for her so early in the afternoon. But as much as she wanted to believe that there would be a happy reunion, Sota's words from earlier that day stuck with her.

"Ice cream would be nice," she said with a smile. "Where did you have in mind?"

The two walked down the street towards town discussing various flavors of ice cream and what substance to drench them in. Happily giggling at the thought of mixing bananas and hot fudge in a bowl of vanilla yumminess, Kagome hardly acknowledged the small gnawing feeling in her stomach and the nervous lightheadedness she felt while she walked. "I must be hungry," she thought to herself. "Ice cream will be just the perfect way to start my weekend before I head back to the past." Hurrying to keep up with Kanota's long stride, Kagome never noticed the dark mist crawling its way out the main door of the school and dispersing amongst the outside air, nor did she see the tortured human face place his cheek against one of the windows and weakly knock on the glass in a last ditch effort to catch the attention of anyone who might be outside before slipping into unconsciousness.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The Higureshi temple was peacefully quiet and empty as Inuyasha emerged from the well house, but the picturesque grounds did nothing to alleviate the rising sense of dread. Of course he hadn't expected to find Kagome right away as soon as he stepped out the well, but he hadn't expected the feelings of uneasiness to suddenly become more urgent just by showing up in her time. He had to find her fast before something happened, provided nothing had happened already. His body responded instantly to his thoughts by tensing up, expressing the need to move, but not knowing where to begin. He decided on Kagome's room for lack of anyplace better. Nimbly he jumped to the roof and entered through the window as usual, but the room was neat, tidy, and empty.

"Shit. Where now?"

Senses told him right away that there was no one upstairs, so he headed to the lower level for any clues as to her whereabouts. It was soon clear that Kagome had not been there for hours, much to Inuyasha's growing frustration. Obviously this was not going to be easy, a realization that raised his alarm even more. Kagome's world was huge and complicated. Finding her without help was going to be difficult, and his resources here were limited at best.

His ears tweaked, alerting him to the footsteps coming down the hall towards the kitchen. Instantly his mind began processing the information his senses began firing at him. Whoever it was, it was human, more specifically a male human, and judging by the way the floor was groaning underneath his steps, this particular human was short and squat. By the speed and shuffle of his step, this person was upwards in age and wearing traditional temple robes, but any identifying scent was completely masked by the heavy incense of what he recognized to be a combination of several pungent temple herbs and spices. It didn't matter. He already knew who was coming and allowed himself to let his guard down slightly.

"Inuyasha!" Grandpa greeted excitedly. "It's been a while. Are you here to see Kagome?"

Grandpa grinned excitedly in recognition of his granddaughter's friend, obviously giving no impression that he was concerned about Kagome at all at this particular moment. Inuyasha took this as a good sign even though it did nothing to subdue his own unease. Still, if anything, time was not on his side, and he needed to determine if the old man knew where Kagome was without raising too much of a sense of crisis. After all, he'd dealt with Kaete enough to know that old people were pretty much only useful for getting in the way in situations involving conflict, and he fully anticipated conflict before this day was over. That, and any kind of stress never seemed to be good for them.

"Yeah," he answered quickly. "I really need to see Kagome quick. We need her help with something." Best not to give too much information. Keep it as general as possible.

"Well you're going to have to wait until Kagome gets back from class. She has her cram school for another hour or two, and we don't usually see her home until around dinnertime."

"Can you tell me where this cram school is?" Inuyasha pushed for whatever information he could get but trying not to sound too desperate. "I'll just go get her if that's okay."

"Hmm, let's see. I think it's somewhere downtown, a few blocks from the market. No, wait, that's the movie theater. No, I'm pretty sure it's on the same street as that new post office they just built…"

Just as Inuyasha was ready to give up hope on the rambling old man, Sota's voice came billowing through the hallways of the house as the door slammed shut, announcing his return from school. Seeing the demon in the kitchen, Sota instantly glommed on to his sister's friend, fishing for news and stories from the Feudal Era since her hiatus. While normally Inuyasha would revel in the attention and opportunity to talk about his battle glories, today just wasn't the time, and he needed to make that point clear to the kid fast. Grabbing Sota by the collar, Inuyasha waved goodbye to Grandpa who was still talking himself through the directions to Kagome's school, and quickly moved outside, Sota's excited chatter trailing behind as they exited.

As soon as they reached the privacy of the courtyard, Inuyasha put Sota down and faced him straight on, the seriousness of his expression instantly silencing the boy. He wasted no time. "Listen, it's essential that I find Kagome right away. She could be in a huge amount of trouble."

"What do you mean? What kind of trouble!" Sota asked, suddenly panicked.

"That's not important. I just need to get to her right away." He hoped Sota would get the impression not to ask too many questions and would just give him the information he needed.

"She should be at her cram school right now, but I don't see how she could be in any danger there." He smirked. "Unless of course she didn't really study for her test and got caught cheating or something. I've heard those teachers are ruthless about that kind of thing."

"Whatever. Can you get me there fast?"

Sota nodded, finally catching on to Inuyasha's mood, and instantly found himself swept up underneath the demon's arm and headed in the direction of downtown faster than he'd ever traveled on foot before. Other than shouting directions, he remained silent for the ride, Inuyasha's seriousness weighing on him as well. Whatever was going on, Inuyasha seemed really concerned to the point that his entire focus was on Kagome and nothing else. Not once had he uttered a word of self-glorification like he normally did, nor was there one word of complaint about the trouble Kagome was putting him through just to locate her, both of which were completely out of character. Butterflies hit Sota's stomach in a sudden flurry. Was his sister really in trouble?

Traveling by rooftop in long leaps and bounds, it didn't take the pair long to reach the building, and it took even less time for the two of them to determine that something was definitely wrong. Where a busy campus usually sat, instead they were faced with a dark and seemingly deserted location that sent a shiver down Sota's spine. For a moment he stood staring at the building shocked. Where was everyone? Normally at this time of day there were still students and instructors hanging around all over the place. Scanning the building for clues about what was going on, Sota quickly spotted the note attached to the door and ran to see what information it had to offer. He read it quickly, and was immediately relieved by the explanation it provided. Kagome wasn't here, thank goodness, but it meant that they were back at square one as far as locating her.

"Inuyasha!" he called out over his shoulder. "Look! The school's been closed for the weekend for maintenance. Kagome's not here. I'll bet she's off ditzing off again with her friends or something. I swear, sometimes she can be-"

"Sota!" Inuyasha's voice was short, curt, and deadly serious, catching the other by surprise. "Get away from there right now."

Sota had never in his life been ordered with such intense authority, and he obeyed without question, backing away from the building slowly as if it would strike him at any moment if he made a sudden movement. Reaching what he finally deemed to be a safe distance, he turned to Inuyasha and was frozen in his tracks. The demon stood fully silent and motionless, head bowed slightly, eyes gleaming with what Sota recognized in some deep part of his being as being pure and absolute hatred. For the first time in a long time, for a brief moment, Sota was terrified of him.

"Sota," Inuyasha's voice was quieter and some of the edge was gone, but there was no reduction in the authority it possessed. "Go home now. It's not safe here."

"What do you mean? What about Kagome?"

"I'll take care of it," was all he said. "Now go!"

Sota hesitated for a minute, not wanting to desert when obviously something important was going on, but a trigger in Inuyasha's voice convinced him otherwise and he nodded. "Please bring my sister home," he said softly before turning and heading back toward the temple.

It wasn't until Sota had rounded the corner and disappeared that Inuyasha released his breath in a low growl. From the moment they had arrived, the stench of miasma had been unmistakable, but it lacked the vile tag of belonging to Naraku. He could feel his heart rate start to rise. Who else had any reason to attack a school? Had some other demon become aware of the presence of the jewel shards when Kagome brought them back? If this was the case, their strategy was going to have to be reevaluated quickly. Dealing with Naraku in one time period was hard enough, but it would be impossible to front a defense in two different worlds at the same time. School or not, Kagome had to come back with him now.

She had been here recently, he was certain, but Sota was right that she wasn't here anymore. He had caught her scent when they had arrived traveling away from this place accompanied by someone unfamiliar to him. She was unharmed, somehow he was sure of this, but there was no telling how long this would last. As he took off running down the road, Inuyasha was acutely aware that time was short, but also consumed with a surge of rage. Whoever was responsible for the school was undeniably powerful, but there was no doubt within every fiber of his being that if Kagome was harmed in any way when he found her that someone was going to die.