"La la la, I'm so boreeeeed…" Masao was singing annoyingly as InuYasha tried to think. Back at the hut, he tried to get Kagome to spit out the reason she went to Koga (who was now thankfully gone). But more importantly, was he really this dog boy everyone keeps saying he is? Is this "Mother" real or just something his imagination made up?

"Kagome," Masao called. "Is the rice ready yet?"

"No! Shut up!" Sango called back.

"Come on, Sango," Miroku said. "There's no reason to get annoyed with him…" InuYasha and Masao heard a Sango Slap (it has a name now) from inside the hut, proving that Miroku's hand was somewhere it shouldn't have been.

"I don' want rice!" Masao whined from the log he was sitting on. "I want burgers!"

"Burgers don't exist here!" Yomi said from where she was cooking.

I like burgers!

"SHUT UP!" InuYasha hit his head to try to make Spirit be quiet. Masao stared for a minute, but quickly went back to whining about burgers.

Don't be mean! I'm helping you! Or at least trying! Come find me! And with that, Spirit was gone. It wasn't like InuYasha hated Spirit. Spirit was just so annoying sometimes.

"What are burgers?" Shippo asked hopping onto Masao's shoulder.

"Ngh," Masao moaned. "So… delicious…" InuYasha stayed silent and continued to think. The name Kikyo had been coming up a lot. He felt like he had a deep connection with her.

"If you don't want rice," Sango yelled. "Get some fruit or something."

"NO! Even worse!" Masao slapped his hand over his eyes and lay down. Yomi came outside. She looked up at the sun and shaded her eyes with her hand.

"I like it here," she said happily. "The weather's nice, there are lots of pretty birds, and the air's clean…"

"BUT THERE AREN'T ANY BURGERS!"

"HIRAIKOTSU!" A tan blur hit Masao's head and he was out cold. InuYasha rolled his eyes. His hunch must've been wrong. He thought the two looked useful, but now Masao looked useless. He sniffed the air to be sure Kagome was still in the hut. She was, but she wasn't saying anything. Was it because she was sad? Mad? Guilty for completely ruining his life?

"Does anyone else sense that?" Miroku asked looking to the sky.

"There!" Sango pointed to the horizon. Hundreds of demons were coming.

"Gah! What th-?!" Masao, now awake, began to panic.

"Sango!" InuYasha shouted over the demons' roars. "Take Yomi and Masao and run!"

"No!" Yomi protested. "I want to come too!"

"Fine," InuYasha said. There was no time to argue with her. "Just don't get in the way."

"Kirara!" Sango's tiny demon cat became a lot bigger. Masao jumped on her back and Sango right behind him. They took off to the sky.

"No!" Masao yelled. "Land! I hate heights!"

"You're scared?" Sango asked almost smiling.

"Yes! Now land!" Masao was clinging to Kirara for dear life. Sango sighed and Kirara landed. Sango jumped off and Masao lay on his back, still holding Kirara's fur.

InuYasha wasn't sure how long they could hold them off. Kagome had run out of arrows and Yomi was using a sword she borrowed from Sango (she preferred Hiraikotsu anyway) to protect the priestess. Miroku was doing his best with just a staff and sutras. InuYasha was somehow able to kill them with his bear hands. Just when it seemed hopeless, the demon stopped. A girl walked out from the cloud of monsters.

"Kasumi!" InuYasha said. It was true. She wore a frighteningly serious expression. She had modern day clothes too: shorts with black leggings and boots. She suddenly ran past them, demons disappearing.

"The demons were a distraction!" Miroku said noticing it was all an illusion. InuYasha ran after Kasumi, the others following close behind.

"It looks like we've gotten pretty far," Sango said walking alongside her demon cat. "We should be safe." Masao stared up at her blankly. "Masao? Something wrong?"

"Everything looks red," he said. "Like blood."

"Huh? Masao?" Sango was a little creeped out. Since when did he act like this? And she could've sworn she saw him crying.

"Yomi, I'm scared," he said.

"No, it's Sango!" she said, now worried. She couldn't help but see a scared child in his eyes now. She heard someone coming and whipped around. Kikyo? No, Kikyo was dead forever now! Her thoughts were interrupted by Masao. He started screaming like his life depended on it. It was so loud and full of fear, Sango had to cover her ears.

"Demon!" Masao yelled. "Witch! Go 'way!" But the girl came closer and Masao grabbed Sango's hand and held it tight.

"Stupid boy," the girl said. Kirara roared at her but she didn't even flinch. "He has such a useful power. Too bad he must go into an insane state to use it." She looked into Masao's eyes until his eyes closed and he went limp. Sango quickly caught him before he fell off Kirara.

It wasn't long after they started chasing Kasumi when they saw Masao crying and then go limp.

"Masao!" InuYasha shouted.

"It's okay!" Sango called back. "He's just asleep!"Kirara shrunk down to normal size and jumped onto her shoulder. Shippo (who was on Miroku) stared at Kasumi.

"I'm not Kikyo if that's what you think," she said to him. Then she looked at InuYasha. "I just wanted to see you one last time." And with that, she disappeared in a whirl of ice shards.

"Kasumi!" InuYasha knew she couldn't hear him anymore, but he called her name anyway.

"Huh?" Masao sat up drowsily. "What I miss?" He rubbed his eye.

He's useful.

"You again," InuYasha groaned.

"Who?" Kagome said.

"I sort of have this 'spirit' guy in my head who never shuts the [insert curse word of choice here] up," he replied. "What do you want now?" ]

Masao's power is what Sango just saw. This is why you brought him here. Although he can't activate his power by will and needs to be insane to use it, he can see what is really there. He can see what others cannot.

"I don't know how useful that's going to be," InuYasha said. He then told the others what Spirit told him.

"Well, I don't remember any of that," Masao said blushing and looking at Sango.

"And how is he going to tell us anything if he's insane?" Miroku asked.

"Don't ask me," InuYasha said shrugging. "But I-" He couldn't finish his sentence.

The reason I had to see you, he heard Kasumi say. Was to put this spell on you. Forgive me.

He was about to say something when he saw Yomi back away and hold onto Masao's arm. Were they scared of InuYasha? Kagome and the others took a step back too. Why?

Suddenly, all he could focus on was Kagome. She looked like Kasumi.

"InuYasha." Kagome said his name, but he didn't recognize it. He couldn't even think anymore. His black hair became lighter, like someone was washing the old color away with water.

Kagome was in the way. Kasumi again.

"He's a demon!" Shippo exclaimed.

The reason I did this…

"Uh," Masao groaned and dropped to his knees.

…is because if you fall in love with Kagome…

"Snap out of it!" Kagome yelled.

…How could you fall in love with me?