Disclaimer (sung to the tune of Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone):

Oh why, oh why can't this manga be mine?

Oh why, oh why can't it be?

But I guess I'll have to be satisfied,

With driving the characters crazy!

Chapter 4: Torture from the Past:

The next morning, she woke up to the sunlight streaming into the cave and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Inuyasha…" she looked around the cave and realised he was not there. He's not here. Where did he go? Oh god! What if Naraku comes while he's not here! She started to panic, the nightmares of last night fresh on her mind.

Dream

She was running again and this time there was no Inuyasha to save her. She tripped over a branch. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. She banged her head against a rock and sat up, dizzy from her fall. Blood trickled down her face. Then HE came up behind her.

"Got you!" he whispered into her ear. She screamed and struggled against the tentacles that had grabbed her. Naraku chuckled.

"No. You're not going to escape this time! Now I'm going to have my fun with you!" with that he laughed evilly. She screamed, louder and louder as he got closer…

End dream

Inuyasha was making his way back to the cave when he caught a whiff of panic. Worried he quickly made his way back to the cave and ducked inside.

"What's wrong?" he said. Startled, Kagome jumped and then realise it was him.

"N-nothing." She hesitated before going on, "Just a bad dream"

"Keh. You humans are so weak." He said it without meaning it. He knew what nightmares could do to you.

She gave him a glare before asking, "Where were you?"

"I went to…get some food." Now it was his turn to be hesitant. She didn't push him and seemed to buy the lie and he relaxed.

"Here, can you cook? I can't." he said, tossing two freshly caught quails.

"Okay." And with that, she got to work.

A while later, they were digging into the delicious meal that Kagome had made.

"Mmmm. This is so good! Where did you learn how to make this?" Inuyasha asked her, so enrapt by the meal that he didn't insult her.

"My mother taught me." She said, thankful for the complement but then her face fell.

"What? What is it?"

"Nothing. It's just that…" she stopped, unsure on whether she should go on now that painful memories had resurfaced. The pain was still fresh. She stood up and leaned against the wall, away from him, holding the flood in.

"Go on." He had been watching her closely and had seen the grief on her face, the tears forming in her eyes. She'd better not cry! I don't think I could stand her crying. It would break my heart. Wait, where did that come from? She's just a stupid human! I don't like her! Do I?

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. But sometimes, it's best to let it out before it festers…" He knew. He had held it all in for a long time and it had grown into a monster. One day he had realised that he should not hold his grief in and had cried for a long time. He had felt better after that. Tears bring the release of sorrow. He voiced this last thought aloud.

"Thank you." She hesitated. She was afraid of bringing it up, afraid that he might shun her but she threw caution to the winds and went on. I trust him. I don't know why, but I do. I guess that it's because he saved my life. She began hesitantly, unsure of whether she could tell him without breaking down.

"Remembering her…it's just so painful…I still can't seem to grasp at the fact that I'll never see her again" she said all of it, her voice breaking, before turning and running from the cave. Inuyasha just stared after her bewildered. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I should have known that it would hurt her! It didn't look like she would be coming back anytime soon.

"Aww, crap! She's going to get herself killed!" and with that, he ran after her.