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There was nothing quite spectacle about little "family meeting" held on the evening of Momiji's visit. Except that Momiji came to visit them without Haru, there was nothing unusual. The raven was the only exception. The black bird was absolutely breathtaking. The flowing feathers shimmered under the pouring light of the living room, and yet the pitch-black color held no sparkle of light. The bird held the beauty of irony. Shigure took one last short glance of the bird before he switched the light off and lay on his soft bed, which was right across from the bundle of blanket that the raven was resting on. Somehow, he felt embarrassed to sleep with the bird as if he was sleeping with a woman in the same room.

"What am I thinking!"

He silently chuckled to himself before he closed his eyes and drifted to world of darkness.

The dream kept looping itself in particular sections of the dream, such as the part when Kyouko forcefully bounded her to be guardian of her house, or when she wholeheartedly blessed the lucky charm that was used to bind her. The repeating vignettes of the painful memory crushed her little light. The pain, overwhelming sorrow, despair, those were just too great for Kagome to handle in her emotionally vulnerable state.

"…shall be bound to Honda Kyoko and her daughter Honda Tohru until she is released by the owner of her life."

Her voice rang through her head again. Owner of her life: now that Honda Kyoko was gone, her life was bound to Honda Tohru, the innocent and benevolent child of the very woman she despised yet loved. Kagome scoffed at yet feared the ambivalence. The contradicting feelings of love and hate daunted her, shaking the already precarious state of her sanity. Kagome still managed to have a hold of her sanity, but she knew her grip would slip. It was only a matter of time before her hand will let go and the last ray of light will dissolve into the darkness.

Then she would go insane.

He was flying in his dreams. There were occasionally sounds of flapping wings and swishing wind that tickled his ears, but other than that, he could not hear any other sounds. In front of him were stretches of blue sky and green forest, and he found it strange that he couldn't sight any hints of cities. He tried to look to his left and right, but strangely he couldn't move his head, almost as if he wasn't in his body. And then he saw the familiar wooden house just a few miles ahead, located in the clearing of a forest. He felt his heart thumping wilder by each second as the flapping of the wings got faster along with his thumping. Just as he thought he arrived at the house, he felt sudden drain of energy from his body and started to fall fast. In the midst of wild sensation of fear of free falling, he felt something starting to shift in his body. His hair grew longer as he could now see long ebony locks of hair flowing wildly past his ears and somehow, he felt as though his body was being stretched. But he soon lost his focus on the changes made to his body as the ground was now near him, and he started to fall through the thick branches of the trees, crashing down to the floor. Before his sight went black, Shigure thought he saw himself looking amazed and shocked as his other self reached out his arms to catch the falling-self.

Panting, Shigure shot up from the bed and wiped the dripping sweat from his wet skin. Strains of dark hair clung onto his face, but he didn't care. Or, he couldn't care. That dream, that situation, it felt awkwardly familiar to him that it almost felt like a déjà vu. Then it clicked in his mind—the day he caught a falling girl: Higurashi Kagome. Possibly he just dreamed of that even from her perspective? But that led him to one mystery: how could a human fly? But again, she had that neat trick of disappearing without a trace. Shigure looked at the raven sleeping in the bundle of blanket. It seemed the bird didn't wake up yet. A gentle smile caressed Shigure's lips as he stood up and gently approached the bird. Sitting cross-legged in front of the raven, Shigure reached out his hand to pat and stroke the bird, which seemed to whimper at that moment.

"Are you…?"

The bird stirred under his touch, and Shigure simply chuckled at the soft feeling of bird's feathers. Though he knew such thing was impossible, he somehow wanted to believe that this bird was she.

Eventually the dream subsidized and Kagome was left to open her eyes, which she gladly did. She did not want to stay in that turmoil of emotions, nor did she want to lose her sanity just as her painful memories wanted her to. She noticed the warmth surrounding her body, and she snuggly rested her body in the warmth's embrace. Opening her eyes, she saw the pink and yellow blanket, which she assumed was the source of warmth. She peeked above the wall of blanket to see a very familiar room structure with very familiar furniture...where was she? She remembered falling unconscious in the town, but it seemed that some generous person had decided to bring her into him home to take care of her. Slightly relieved that she didn't go back to her human form, she tried to untangle herself from the jungle of blankets, but her struggles proved to be futile that she couldn't free herself. Just then she heard a male chuckle, which she thought was also familiar besides the room.

"Do you mind if I help you?"

She heard the man ask, but she pretended not to understand what he said. Surely the man will freak out if she suddenly nodded her head as if she could understand him, and that was the least that she wanted: a man freaking out a bird. She cocked her head and fixed her beady eyes at the man who was wearing a dark green kimono. The room was dark so she couldn't take a clear look of the man's face, but somehow—once again—she thought she knew this man. She let her superstitions slide as she let the man lifted her from the blankets and settled her on the wooden floor.

"There you go. How do you feel?"

She quacked the man's question, and then used her beak to organize her slightly disheveled feathers. There was another deep chuckle, and Kagome was just starting to get annoyed with his way of chuckling when she heard someone knock on the door. The man let the person come in, and Kagome instantly froze at whom it was.

"Shigure-san! I see the bird is awake!"

"Ah, Tohru-chan. Perfect timing. Will you get something for this bird? I think it may be hungry since it didn't eat for few days."

"Sure!"

Kagome couldn't believe how twisted her fate was. She was back again—to the Sohma's house.

Hi guys! Sorry for the late update TT

During the break was I was really busy with the whole cram school business, and it's quite ironic that I have more leisure time after the school started lol.

So here is the new chapter! :)

Thanks to: Fairy Demon26, RT, kakashixangela, ShikiKira, 917brat!

Also about the raven common in Japan thing, since this is fanfiction, let's just assume that ravens aren't as common in Japan.

Thank you for those who reviewed, and for those who waited for this chapter!

-Izno