InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Parallel Dimensional Fairytale ❯ Black � ( Chapter 9 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A Parallel Dimensional Fairytale

Chapter 7

Black Â²

Disclaimer: No Mangaka with only a hint of common sense would leave something as precious as Inuyasha to me... alas, I don't own him.

Tears still streamed down Kagome's face when her soul reassembled in the interdimension. She'd never before seen someone die, not even her own father, and seeing someone die in agony as intense as Inuyasha's face had mirrored it was an experience she wished she had been spared. And the pain must have been unbearable, what else could have possibly made him want to lay his head on her lap? The fact that he was basically dying because of her did not help her feel any better about it.

“Ah! Kagome!”

She opened her eyes and saw Miroku lying on a comfortable looking leather couch. She glanced around for Sango but the goddess was nowhere to be seen. Just as well, that meant Miroku was going to get it first. She stomped towards him and staggered.

“Careful!” he smiled. “Give your soul a little rest!”

There he was again, so friendly and innocent, when Inuyasha's pain was just as much his fault as it was hers. Why hadn't he told them more? About her miko abilities? About - Kagome was about vent her anger, that was more of a disappointed confusion, verbally when suddenly a red and white blur shot past her and grabbed Miroku off the couch to press him into the wall to their left. Ah. So Inuyasha was back, his soul not the slightest bit deterred by the sudden change of form.

And in an even worse mood than her.

“Do it again and I'll run an experiment on the killability of a soul, and you'll be the object of my researches.” He laid a single claw against the side of Miroku's neck, just about where Kagome, who approached hurriedly, reckoned his main artery lay. But Miroku's smile never left his face.

“You'll excuse my confusion, Inuyasha, I dearly hope , for I haven't the slightest of ideas what you are talking about.”

Kagome wasn't all that sure but she thought she heard a snort from somewhere behind her. When she turned to look though, all she saw was an empty armchair.

“Yeah, sure! The first time I would have dismissed as a coincidence, but after that last dimension!” The single claw at Miroku's neck was joined by the rest of Inuyasha's hand, now slowly closing itself around said part of the monk's anatomy.

Kagome decided that even though she was mad at Miroku and Sango for telling them so little, those crimes where not punishable by death. It was time for an interjection on her side. She laid a hand on Inuyasha's arm, he didn't seem to mind her touching him all that much after all. “Aww, come on Inuyasha. We don't even know if it was on purpose. And what do you mean 'the first time'? What else are you so mad about? You've only ever seen him when I was around, too, and I didn't notice anything.”

Miroku beamed at her words. “Both of you, you are confusing me gravely. What has transpired to enrage you so, that obviously completely slipped my attention?”

This time Kagome was sure she heard someone snort.

Inuyasha seethed. “You shut the fuck up, bouzu! You know damn well what I am talking about. I ain't taking your shit!” He lifted the object of his fury off the ground.

'With one hand,' Kagome thought in awe and mentally smacked herself for her inanity immediately. The poor man obviously was suffering, judging by the way his eyes began to water.

“Sango, please,” he rasped out.

The goddess suddenly appeared on the couch next to them, snorted again, and gave him a stern glare. “You know as well as I do that he's 100% right about you. And you still expect me to help you? You can't die. Be a man or something. Besides -” Her aura suddenly seemed to bristle and flicker like an open fire. “- after what you did yesterday you can't honestly expect me to save your lecherous hide, now can you?”

Well, she seemed to know what Inuyasha was on about. Lucky for her. Kagome still didn't have a clue.

“Inuyasha, please let him down. Whatever he's done, he can't deserve you strangulating him!” She gestured towards Miroku's gradually bluing face.

Inuyasha's eyes never left his victim's, which were glazing over slightly. But he loosened his grip nonetheless and dropped the monk, who crumbled to a motionless heap on the ground before him. He crouched down to poke at him. “Fucking asshole.”

Kagome moved to kneel beside him. “Gods, really. “ She traced the imprints of Inuyasha's hand and the tiny red spots where his claws had nicked the skin a little with her fingers. “Besides not informing us well enough, what did he do?”

Inuyasha bristled once again. “What do you mean, 'besides'? My counterpart died because of them! You got hurt because of them! And about the other stuff: You remember when he so stubbornly insisted that I go in first?”

Well, yes she did, but she'd thought nothing of it at that time. “Yeah?”

“Guess what my counterpart was right in the fucking middle of when I merged with him? Huh?”

She shrugged.

“He was right in the middle of a sprinting lane, running his ass off. Now imagine yourself suddenly taking over a body and finding it moving at approximately 25 fucking km/h.”

Oh. Well that sure wasn't all that pleasant. “Ouch?”

“Damn right. I fell, and the whole fucking sprinting team stumbled over me for what it felt like.”

“OK, that's not so nice but how can you be so sure he did it on purpose?”

Inuyasha squatted onto his haunches and balanced himself with his arms between his legs. 'Kind of like a dog, and look at those ears!' some superfluous part of Kagome's mind remarked. But she chose to ignore it.

“I wasn't sure, just wary, until we left the first dimension. The least he could have done would've been to fucking take me out first, and not leave me to face that maniac after she's just awakened from two days of unconsciousness. You think that girlfriend had quite the temper?” He rubbed his jaw. “Damn, that girl completely freaked out, but was she fucking asking me what was going on or anything? Noooo. A straight punch to my jaw to solve it all. Jeez.”

Kagome bit back any comment pointing out that this reminded her awfully of his way of dealing with conflicts, not about to provoke yet another 'disagreement' between them when Sango was around to go apeshit on them about it. Instead she focussed on the still very much out of it Miroku.

“I'll admit it's possible that he did it on purpose, and SHE seems to agree, but still. Did you really have to strangle him? He seems like a nice enough guy to me.”

“Keh! You saw for yourself what happened next! He sent you in first again, and I got to enter a fucking running body again! Now tell how there's no fucking pattern!”

He shoved the still unconscious monk angrily. Whew. That violence probably was part of his personality, Kagome tried to calm herself little. 'And it isn't like he just bursts out completely unexpectedly, like some kind of lunatic.' But he still startled her when he suddenly charged onto Miroku like a rampant bull. The same mixture of seemingly aimless aggression and lightning quick efficiency she'd witnessed him fighting with before, just that his tactics obviously were a whole lot different with his original body. 'But still, he sure is violent.' Maybe she was too forgiving here, thinking that Miroku didn't deserve that kind of treatment but - Kagome stopped dead in her thoughts as she suddenly felt something warm settle itself against an up to that point securely guarded part of her at the very rear of her body. She just about had time to look behind her and take in the purple cloth that identified the culprit when she felt herself being roughly swept away from the offending hand. The rising growl identified her saviour and she directed the only words appropriate to him.

“I'm taking it all back. Kill him now!”

He raised a clawed hand and struck but it only cut air. An invisible force had lifted the lecherous monk and swept him over to the couch where Sango sat seconds ago. She now lounged in the armchair and glanced at the ceiling.

She sighed, then shot them a stern glare.“Keep those emotions in check! You can argue and be mad at him all you want inside the dimensions but not here!”

Miroku dropped onto the couch and played dead again.

“And you! Don't think for a second that this will not have any consequences! I wish, really wish, I could block out your thoughts sometimes. You're sick, you realise that?”

Miroku rose carefully, rubbing his bruised neck.“Yes, dearest Sango-mistress, but you keep me around nonetheless so my attractive qualities must still outweigh the more appalling ones,” he smirked and Inuyasha snapped again.

“I'll wipe that smirk - “

“STOP IT!”

Uh-oh. The flames were back. Inuyasha disappeared right before Kagome's eyes and reappeared behind her. Hah. So even he got scared sometimes.

Sango gestured for them to sit down on another couch that had just appeared.

Well, they seemed to be in no particularly pressing hurry so Kagome decided to finally voice her bewilderment.“So what's it with the changing sets all of the time? And the clothes?” Sango was now wearing a simple black sweater with matching sweatpants (just as inappropriate for a goddess as having headaches, in Kagome's mind).

She raised an eyebrow. “You mean why do I keep changing them? Dunno why really. Since everything you see is me it's nothing of an effort to give it any form I like. I just do what comes to my mind and is useful.”

“Ah.” That was a little disappointing, just like all the rest about her. You'd think a deity of unlimited power would behave a little more.. dignified.

“Yeah, yeah. How I longed to know that. Let's get to the important part. Why didn't you tell us about the wench's powers? We could've made good use of them if only she'd known how to use them.”

“Well- “ Miroku started but Sango hushed him with a flick of her wrist.

“You shut up! Leave!” And he disappeared.

“Now as to your question, assuming you mean her ability to use her spiritual energy as a means of offence; the kind of power she possesses is called raw or wild ki, which means that her powers are latent and untrained, but strong. That kind of power can, at least at first, not be used at will but needs to be triggered by a very intense emotion or imminent danger. We could have told you but it would have been no use, quite the opposite. For the powers to develop freely it is actually necessary that they overwhelm their host at first. She'll develop a better sense of her limits that way.”

“Riight.” Kagome wasn't sure she fully understood, but what she did understand was that Sango and Miroku weren't really to blame.

“And about that bouzu! Why does he keep doing all that shit?”

“Well... “ Sango appeared a little uncomfortable all of a sudden. “He's got a strange sense of humour, and he's a pervert on top of that. I'll make him stop.”

“Why are you keeping him around anyway?” Kagome dared ask. She'd been asking herself that question before.

“That's not for you to know. Now, there's another thing Miroku did not tell you until now-”

So there was something going on between them, why else would she avoid the topic that vehemently? “But with the events inside the last dimension it became kind of obvious that you'll need to know about it.” Sango leaned forward in her chair. “You mustn't die. If you, or rather the body of your counterpart, were to die both souls will detach from it. That will cause them to, how do I explain this- Miroku!”

At her call the monk reappeared inside the room again.“Yes, Sango?”

Sango leant back in her armchair.“Explain to them why they mustn't die, I just know they won't get it if I do.”

“With pleasure.” The monk turned towards them and graced them with a blazing smile that faltered slightly when Inuyasha growled at him. But Kagome agreed for once. She wasn't about to forget what a... not monk he was.

“If you die, not only your soul but also that of your counterpart will leave it's current body and, of course, be reborn, but firstly into the body of a newborn and secondly most probably anywhere on the planet but close to the shard you're supposed to find. There would just be no way to get the two of you into the dimension together, and sending one of you alone is not an option for the obvious reasons. So the death of each of you would gravely endanger your mission and of course your reward, if I may remind you.”

“You mean I wouldn't be getting my life back?”

Miroku nodded in affirmation.

Panic surged through Kagome at the sheer thought. To think how often one of them could have died inside the last dimension! And she'd never get to see them all again. Her mama, her br-

“Stop it woman! You don't want her to freak out on us again, do you?”

Ah. She'd been doing it again. She'd have to be more careful what she thought about, the sadness and self-pity were still lurking in the shadowy corners of her mind it seemed. And why was that block head of a hanyou so attuned to that very nuance of her emotions? He always knew when she was about to cry, almost before she knew herself. Weird.

“So what about the next dimension? Anything we might wanna know like what species our counterparts belong to, or that the youkai are so friggin' large we better bring along something else than stones to defeat them? Might be useful, you know.”

“... no. Your next destination does in fact not differ as much from yours as the one just now, it's inhabited by humans only. The technical and cultural progress in the region you will be travelling is on a level comparable to that of the late 17th or early 18th century in your dimension, a pre-industrialisation aristocracy. Your counterparts are both inhabitants of a larger country estate, the summer and spring palace of a count. The shard is in the possession of the neighbouring county. It's part of their family treasure but, as far as we know, not in direct use. The problem is that there is some kind of an underlying animosity between the two counts, the slightest disturbance might cause a feud to break out, so you'll have to be rather subtle in whatever you do to get the shard.”

“So no fighting?” Inuyasha asked with a touch of disappointment. Really, he'd just been more or less killed by a giant spider youkai and was still that eager to fight more?

“At least not as long as it is avoidable. Is there anything else you feel you need to know?”

“Well,” Kagome hesitated, it was a stupid question really. “Who am I gonna be? You know, a maid or... “

“Your counterpart is the youngest daughter of the count.”

Yay. She was going to be a princess. She looked at Inuyasha.

“What?” he snapped defensively when he realized her staring.

“Well don't you want to know who your counterpart is in that estate?”

“Keh. Why would I care? Besides, knowing my luck he'll probably turn out to be the stable boy or something.”

“Quite right, Inuyasha.”

“See? ... The fuck?! I really am gonna be a fucking stable boy?”

“The assistant of the official stable boy, to be precise, but he is of such an age that calling him boy is hardly appropriate.” Miroku obviously tried to subdue a smirk, whether because he feared Inuyasha or Sango Kagome could only guess.

“Fucking great!”

Kagome, too, suppressed a chuckle. “What's your problem with that? Come on, the stable boy and the princess, that's a classic!”

“Yeah, a classic 'romance novel' plot... uhm.”

Kagome choked on her chuckle as blood shot to her face. He was right, she'd read a load of these when she was younger... well, a few months - maybe days younger... and that paring did appear quite often. If only she'd read some of the less... steamy ones she'd probably not have to wipe out all the unwelcome pictures popping up in her head. It did not exactly soothe the heat in her face that Inuyasha's t-shirt had drawn taut over his chest and stomach when he'd sat down... no, not at all. She closed her eyes. Shirtless stable boys... dog eared, shirtless stable boys danced on her closed lids. That didn't help either.

But Inuyasha seemed to be thinking somewhere along those lines too, what she saw of his face peaking out under his bangs was of a more than healthy colour.

A sudden shuffling made them both look up and they saw Miroku hastily flee to some far corner of the room. His shoulders were shaking.

“Yeah right.” Even Sango's voice was laced with amusement. “Seeing as you can discuss these things inside the dimension just as well, I say you're gonna go there right now.”

A thought broke through the layers of embarrassment and annoyance surrounding Kagome's mind. Discuss... that reminded her of something. Ah yeah! Inuyasha and she were supposed to talk about their constant quarrelling before they entered the next dimension. He probably thought he was gonna get away without it, and honestly, he almost had, because Kagome had forgotten about it during the fight and when he was dying on her lap.

“No! Could we first get some time alone, Inuyasha and me? There's some things we need to talk about.”

A strangled sound came from Miroku's direction. Inuyasha groaned, but for a whole other reason.

“No. I won't risk you having any strong emotions in me again. That wave of embarrassment was unnerving enough already. You can talk inside the dimension, you'll probably spent a little more time there anyway, since you'll first have to figure out a way to reach the neighbouring county without sparking a feud.”

“Ah but -”

“Yeah, that's OK. Let's go then.” Inuyasha agreed eagerly. He thought he was gonna get away like that. Well he'll see.

Alright.”

“Fine. Miroku!”

Miroku had calmed down again in his corner. “Yes, beautiful?”

“Send them in. And if I were you, I'd watch what Inuyasha's counterpart is doing. I won't save your lecherous hide again.”

Blackness.

As her mind slowly gained control over her new body that was the first thing she saw, or rather did not see.

By the time her soul had merged with the body of her counterpart completely she realized she was surrounded by darkness.

'Not this again!” she yelled in frustration.

But she refused to panic before she knew what was going on. She definitely was not back in the nothingness room again, because she could hear the distant sounds of some people talking, feel the brush of her clothes on her skin and realized she was lying on something bouncy, a bed most likely.

So maybe she was in her counterpart's bedroom and the curtains were still closed. Yeah, that'd probably be it, she decided, slid off the bed and went searching for the windows. She was obviously wearing a rather cumbersome robe, she judged by the way the cloth weighed heavily on her shoulders. Had that princess been sleeping in her dress instead of a nightgown? Weird.

Now if only she'd find that stupid window she thought as she felt her way through the room. It was rather large, and full off furniture- ouch, now she'd hit her toe on some ... chair.

She turned right and moved forward even more carefully. Suddenly her fingers encountered something cold and smooth. 'That feels like glass... “ But that couldn't be, it was completely dark, how so if the curtains weren't drawn?

Ah, maybe it was her mirror. Yeah, that was it. She turned again and moved into another direction. By now she didn't have the slightest idea any more where the bed stood she'd come from. Great, just how insanely large was this room?

Kagome was about to decide that this room simply had no windows, but an insane amount of mirrors, when suddenly someone knocked on her door.

“Kagome?”

“Inuyasha?”

“Yeah. Come on, open the door, it's locked from the inside.”

“OK, wait a minute.” Kagome moved into the general direction of his muffled voice carefully.

“What are you doing in there, woman? Hurry the fuck up, I don't think anyone will to pleased seeing the stable boy hangin' round at the princesses' door! Bad enough that I had to ask my way to it.”

“Just wait, it's completely dark in here, I'm having trouble finding the door.”

“Dark?”

There, her hands met something wooden. She felt for the handle and found the key beneath. The door swung open as soon as she turned it. She was pushed into the room and heard the door being closed hurriedly.

“About fucking time, someone was coming.”

“Well you're in now.”

“Keh... Umm, Kagome?”

“What is it?”

“You know, you said it was completely dark in here... “

“Yeah I know, I couldn't find the curtains.”

“Well they're drawn.”

“What?”

“Yeah, the rooms completely alight. Dunno why you - oh.”

“Oh?” That did not sound good.

“Your eyes... “

“What about them?”

“They're white all over.”

“You mean... ?”

“Yeah, I think your counterpart is blind.”

OK, maybe it was now time to panic a little. “Gah! That's - that's - !” She threw her arms into the air in a vain attempt to demonstrate her unutterable feelings that way.

“Ah, could be worse.” Inuyasha commented as he caught her wrists and stilled her arms. “You could be deaf and mute for example, and then we'd really have trouble communicating.”

“But I- “

“And it's only temporary anyway. You're gonna have your eyesight back as soon as we find the shard, so we'll just hurry up with it.” he reasoned.

Wow, he was being kinda nice for once. And he was right, it really was no use complaining now.

'And' that unnecessarily honest part of her added, 'You're really only disappointed that you won't get to see yourself as a princess... and Inuyasha as a shirtless stable boy.' 'oh shut up, that's not true!' At least the latter wasn't. But she really would have liked to see her dress. No girl ever forgot about her little girl fantasies of castles and princes and glass shoes, well, Kagome obviously hadn't.

“So what do I look like, then?” she asked before she realized the words leaving her mouth.

“Huh? Dunno, like a... slightly dishevelled princess of about twelve?”

Gah, he must have been thinking she was crazy... but she really wanted to know about it. The shard could wait, curiosity decided.“What's my dress like?”

“... Green.”

... Inuyasha wasn't exactly the one to talk about such things with. Too bad.“And the castle? What's it look like?”

“Dunno, it's rather big, but not that big since I had no real trouble finding you. There's lots of people around, servants and whatnot. I think there's some kind of party coming on, they're decorating 'n stuff.”

Crud, a ball maybe, and she was unable to see it.

“Look woman, I-”

“And you? What do you look like?”

He sighed. “... I'm a boy. Body of someone who works hard. And dirty. I guess I must be smelling off horses.”

He was right, she hadn't been paying attention to it before but he did smell off fur, straw, mud and horse muck. Hah, they never considered that in those stupid romance novels. Why would someone fall for a man who smelled off horse crap?

Although, on a second sniff, the combination of those smells with that of male sweat and skin made for a more... interesting than appalling melange...'Gee, Have I been listening to my own thoughts recently?' Really, she should try and focus a little, on the shard for example.

“So what do we do to find out about how to get to the shard?” she asked in a matter of fact tone as if she'd not just been behaving like a little girl.

“Well, I'd say you try to pry some information out of your counterpart's pals, her family and such, and I'll go ask the staff.”

“But I can't see! I'm hardly able to walk on my own, and besides, how am I supposed to distinguish between the staff and the others?”

“...yeah, that might be a little problematic.”

They fell silent as they contemplated these difficulties.

“I'll just lead you, and we'll do it together. The staff usually knows more anyway. That is, unless you want to stay here alone.”

“No, take me with you.”

“Thought so. Then come on.” He grabbed her arm and pushed her forwards. She all but stumbled over the hem of her robe.

“Careful!” she hissed.

“Keh.”

But his grip loosened and he lead her through the door with caution.

They wandered around the castle for a while, and did indeed meet lots of people, who according to Inuyasha all seemed to be too busy for a little chat, despite the fact that they all watched them confusedly.

“Maybe if we went to the kitchens... ? There should be so many people around there, at least one of them must be willing to talk to us.”

“Why not. Come on, this way.”

They found the kitchen easily, Kagome mused that she would have been able to find it on her own even, she'd just have had to follow the increasing noises and smells. When Inuyasha stopped everything around them fell silent suddenly. Something metallic clattered on the floor.

“Milady?” a hesitant voice asked after a moment of awkward silence.“Is something amiss, Milady?”

Inuyasha nudged her. Ah. They were talking to her. “No. I just... felt like taking a little walk. Inu- this polite lad here helped me around.”

“... In that case, does Milady mind us taking up work again?”

“... No, no that's alright.”

The noise picked up again and Kagome turned in the general direction of Inuyasha. “Doesn't seem like anyone's gonna talk to you if you have me in tow. What do we do?” she whispered.

What Inuyasha's answer to her question was she never found out, because the next moment someone stomped up to her and shrieked.

“But Milady! I have been looking for you everywhere! And where do I find you? Amidst the...-” the person lowered their voice, now only sounding like a parrot instead of a heartbroken Banshee. “-commoners. Let us pray that his Lordship, your father will not find out about this!”

Kagome was grabbed by a strong pair of hands and hurriedly led away. “But- “ she protested weakly. The woman, her counterpart's maid most probably, ignored her and rushed through the corridors of the huge house.

“Milady, Milady, what has gotten into you? Letting that young man of... dubious reputation get so close to you! More than one of the maids that had to quit duty here named him as the culprit, but to think that he would show so little respect as to even lay as much as a common eye on his Lordship's treasured daughter!”

She let go of Kagome for a second, to open a door Kagome guessed, then took her arm again and led her into the room ahead.

“Oh my, your hair! What a mess, let me take care of it. Just sit down here.”

Kagome did as she was told and carefully lowered her behind until it met the soft cushion of some chair. The maid began pulling the needles out of her hair.

“But that stable boy, we cannot let him get away with this outrage. Taking advantage of your weakness in such a way! Maybe we should still tell your father, that boy needs a good whipping.”

“No!” Kagome protested, for the first time finding her tongue since the woman snatched her away from Inuyasha.

“Milady?”

“I asked him to lead me to the kitchens, he's innocent!”

“Innocent is not what I would call him, but if Milady is sure...”

“Yes! No whippings.”

“What business did Milady have in the kitchens anyway?”

“I just... “ Now that was the part about all the dimension traveling she dreaded most, except for the youkai maybe, finding plausible explanations for their counterparts' weird behavior without knowing a single thing about them.

“I just felt like walking around among people a little.”

“Milady is not... “ The woman hesitatingly stopped brushing her now freed strands. “ Milady does not feel she is being forced into that engagement?”

“Enga- “ Kagome interrupted herself in time. So her counterpart would be married soon? Hadn't Inuyasha said that she looked to be around twelve? Wasn't that a little young, even considering the time?

“The Fantenburoughs' heir is a fine man, Milady, his Lordship would not have it any other way.”

“... Yeah, I guess.”

“But Milady! Such language, so common! Has Milady been... associating with those of little standing more often recently, without me knowing?”

“No, I never felt like it until today.” That was probably even true. Still Kagome couldn't shake the feeling that every further word from her would make her all the more suspicious to her maid. The woman would most probably not suspect that her Lady's body had been taken over by the soul of her counterpart, but she'd most certainly jump to conclusions about her mingling with the common folks in a vain attempt at escaping some arranged marriage. Now if only there was a way of getting rid of her - well, she was a princess now, after all.

“Leave me alone now.” Kagome cringed at her own harshness “ Please. “ she added.

“As Milady wishes.” The maid stuck a last needle into her hair and moved away, towards the door. “He is a fine man.” She said, just before the door closed behind her.

At the faint clicking noise Kagome released a sigh of relief. It seemed as if the simple act of leaving the estate, which no doubt, had to be the first step of any shard obtaining action, might prove to be close to impossible, at least for her. Maybe they should try sneaking away at night, if Inuyasha had found out anything useful already that is.

As if on cue someone knocked on her door.

“Kagome? Are you in there? I saw that stupid woman leave just now.”

“Yeah, I'm here, come in.”

The hinges of the door creaked and someone stepped in. “Jeez, I guess now the whole staff thinks the stable boy and the princess've got something going. You should've seen those people in the kitchen freak out on me after you left. Said I was gonna be beheaded `n stuff. Your counterpart is gonna be married, did you know?”

“Yup.” Kagome was strangely relieved to hear Inuyasha's - well not exactly voice, but unmistakable tone of voice. She'd been right about what she'd told him back in the other dimension. They really were each others only person to relate to.

“Well, but that's not all there is about it. Guess who's gonna be her beloved husband?”

“You mean... ?”

“Yup, the son of exactly that neighbour her father, selon that son-of-a-bitch monk, loathes.”

He'd moved across the room and was now standing somewhere to her left. She turned her head in that direction, still feeling obliged to face a person she was talking to, even if she was unable to actually see them. “But why would he do such a thing? Why marry his daughter to the son of his nemesis?”

“Well that's where things get interesting. I played dumb and asked the same back in the kitchens and they were all eager to explain. It seems as if the act of offering you as a bride is, despite the immense dowry, actually some kind of a subtle affront the other count simply can not counter without breaking the laws of the aristocratic code of behaviour.”

“An affront?” Kagome asked although she had a feeling she knew what the explanation would be.

“Yeah, you know, with your counterpart being blind and being the youngest, actually too young to be married `n stuff, she's not exactly a good catch, but it seems to be expected that the other guy takes the offer, 'cause there's no tangible proof that the offer is anything but a peace agreement. Insane if you ask me.”

“The poor girl. Really, suffering from that kind of disability must be tough as it is, I'm sure it doesn't help her if the whole world makes her feel that she's worthless because of it.”

Silence lasted a split second too long. “... I guess...” Was it her imagination and her over sensitized hearing or did Inuyasha sound a little strained?

Suddenly he spoke again, his tone determined.

“But that's none of our business anyway. Now about the shard...”

.At Kagome's suggestion they decided to indeed just sneak away as soon as everyone else was asleep, and try to get a first overview of their target county. Since it was, according to Inuyasha, only late afternoon, Kagome decided to catch a few hours of sleep in advance and Inuyasha guided her to her bed wordlessly.

“What are you gonna do in the meantime?” she asked, knowing already that he would most likely not even consider sleeping.

“I'm gonna make an appearance in the stables, I guess they're wondering where the stable boy is already, and I'm gonna try to find out more about our friendly neighbourhood count.”

“OK, see you later then.”

“Hm.”

And as the door clicked shut behind him Kagome felt a little lost again. Not only was she blind and practically helpless, but she was now again an easy prey for all the things she didn't want to think about, even more so because of her lacking sight. So she lay on her bed and began to sing again, since that had worked the last time.

Thankfully sleep claimed her after a few songs, this counterpart really did not have an all too pleasant singing voice. But she woke up again after what felt like no more than half an hour, when someone knocked on her door.

“Yes?” she called.

“Palea? May I come in?”

“Who's there?”

The door hinges squeaked as the door was opened.

“It's me. Oh, have you been sleeping? I'm sorry, little one. Shall I come back later?”

Little one? Maybe that was her counterpart's older sister, the voice at least was that of a young woman. Well it couldn't hurt talking to her, she might know something useful about her counterpart's intended's family, after all.

“No, that's alright, come on in.”

The door clicked shut, the swishing noises of heavy cloth swaying neared her and then her mattress bent as the woman sat down on her bed. A hand suddenly touched her cheek and it was all she could do to suppress the urge to flinch.

“How are you, little one? Anemonia told me that you visited the kitchens today? She said you might feel bad about that engagement...”

“Well... I don't really know him, don't know what he's like. Anemonia -” she assumed that was her maid's name, “said he was a fine man, but... “

“Well I know you only met him once, and he hardly said anything, but he didn't appear unfriendly or cold-hearted to me. Still... “

Suddenly the woman stood. “I still think it's unfair! You are hardly of the age to be married, father really should know better. And besides that, I can only begin to imagine how hard it will be to orient yourself in that completely strange castle.” Her voice dropped and she sat down again. “ My poor, beautiful little one, I understand if you feel trapped, I guess in your place I would try to break free in some way, too.”

Wow. So her counterpart had a really nice and considerate sister, at least.

“But I hear you had a rather... dubious companion today. Palea, I have my severe doubts about that boy's intentions with you.”

Whew, obviously Inuyasha's counterpart had some kind of a bad reputation along the female inhabitants of this estate. Still, she felt she had to defend him, the one to help her hadn't been him but Inuyasha after all. “Oh, no, it's not like he came up to me or anything, I asked him to help me and he complied.”

“But what was he doing on this floor? I take it you met him here.”

She'd actually 'met' him in her room but she best not tell her that. “I don't know really, I didn't question it.”

“You see? Palea, please heed my advice as your sister, keep away from that boy, he knows no shame, that one.”

It was actually getting more awkward by the second, having this conversation with a girl she barely knew but who at the same time thought she knew her very well. She couldn't possibly just send her away like she'd done with the maid, the woman was her counterpart's sister and a noblewoman just like her. Her excuse came when she was overwhelmed by a jaw splitting yawn.

“Oh, I'm sorry little one, I didn't mean to interrupt your sleep this long. I will go to bed early tonight, too. With the ball coming on in two days we will need all the energy we have.” She stood. Then something moist brushed Kagome's cheek. “Sleep well, and think about what I told you, will you?” The swaying cloth retreated and she was gone .

Kagome reached up to touch her face. Why was it that since she'd started doing this dimension travelling all kinds of girls kissed her? ... or she kissed them. She felt her face heat at the thought.

When she said that the kiss had been her first she'd actually meant that it had been her first... French kiss. She had actually exchanged some chaste kisses with a boy she had a huge crush on when she was twelve, but after that her love life had been despairingly non-existent.

So being all of a sudden forced to share that first bout of actual intimacy with a stranger...ess came as a surprise and a wake up call to her dormant needs. Since then she found herself thinking of kissing more often, especially now, after all the allusions to Inuyasha's counterpart's womanizing antics... She wondered what he looked like, if he had women falling for him so easily. Well, she chuckled, he was the stable boy after all.

Kagome smacked herself over the head and twisted on her bed. What on earth was she thinking about again? Really, had she always been that easy to divert? Well, not that there were so many things she could be diverted from but still, this was most definitely not the time to be thinking about kissing. She buried her face in her cushions. Was it already dark outside? Would Inuyasha be coming soon to save her from her own rampaging thoughts?

The hand that shook her awake probably meant that she had fallen asleep again. “Wake up woman!”

She opened her eyes - not that it made any difference- and pushed herself up. “Inuyasha?”

“Yeah, come on now, it's past eleven already and we'll need to be back before dawn.”

She slid off the bed and turned into the direction of his voice. “So what else have you found out?” she asked as she carefully scooted towards him.

“Nothing all that helpful, I spent most of the time doing my counterpart's chores down in the stables. They wouldn't let me leave and since I figured that you wouldn't want me to screw up this lad's life I stayed and polished saddles.”

“Wow, that's very nice of you.” Really it was.

“Yeah, right, I just did it so we wouldn't have to waste our time here afterwards, 'righting the wrong' I've caused.”

But he didn't sound all that convincing to Kagome. Maybe he really was some kind of a nice guy somewhere inside that shell off ill temper and aggression. A nice guy that would get himself killed to save a girl, Kagome reminded herself. And a nice guy who'd bring you chocolate, her empty stomach added.

“Ah, yeah, I figured you wouldn't have the opportunity to eat anything since you were sleeping all afternoon, so I took some bread from the kitchen.” Half a loaf was dropped into her hands.

“Thank you!” She began munching it hurriedly.

“I also thought about our transport problem, but I think it'll be possible to borrow a horse for the night.”

“Mpf.” The bread was a bit dry but she wouldn't complain. She held some out to him. “Y'wntsme?”

“No.” he continued outlining his thoughts. “What's left is the question of how we're gonna get to the stables without anyone seeing us. I can't guide you, that'd take too long.”

Kagome swallowed. “Yeah, that's true.” But she had no idea either.

Suddenly Kagome heard some shuffling and Inuyasha's scent got weaker. “Where are you going?”

“Just wait here for a second,” he called from the other side of the room. Indistinguishable noises sounded from his direction.

“What are you doing?”

“You'll see.”

A swishing noise was all that alerted her he was coming back again. She hadn't realized it consciously earlier, but he made absolutely no noises when he walked, his feet hardly seemed to touch the ground.

A draft of air told her that he'd walked around and was now standing directly behind her. “What are you doing?”

“I'm trying to figure out how to open that dress.”

“What?!?” Kagome shot around. “Hentai! Has your counterpart rubbed off on you or what?”

“My counterpart? What are you- No! Whatever - No! I'm gonna carry you to the stables but this weak human body is in no condition to carry you in that gigantic dress for so long, So you'll need to change.”

“... OK, but wait outside.”

“Woman, I don't think you'll be able to dress alone without seeing anything.” he paused. “In fact, I don't think these dresses are made to be put on alone anyway.”

Damn it, he had a point. But still, it was a little suspicious how he seemed to find excuse after excuse to get her to take her clothes off... nah, she was just paranoid. “OK.”

She hadn't realized how restricting the dress her counterpart was wearing was until Inuyasha managed to open her bindings and a deep breath rushed into her lungs almost on its own. “Whew, I can't imagine having to wear this every day! Don't these girls need to breathe from time to time?”

“It's not like they're working very hard - There, I think you should be able to take it off now.”

As the layers of cloth dropped around her ankles she felt an inch taller immediately. Gods, it had to weigh a ton!

Inuyasha helped her put on something considerably lighter, a dress of some kind, and tied it, but considerably looser.

He took her onto his back and they rushed through the castle, wordlessly, down a seemingly incessant amount of stairs Kagome decided as her teeth rattled. She knew they were outside when a cool breeze brushed her bare legs, blew Inuyasha's hair into her face and pebbles crunched under his feet. They seemed to change directions quite often so Kagome guessed Inuyasha was running from shadow to shadow, but she didn't dare ask. The stables overwhelmed her with their intense smell and made her sway when Inuyasha set her down again. He caught her.

“Careful.” he hissed. “I'll go fetch a horse, wait here for me.”

Like she could actually walk away. Inuyasha wasn't gone for long anyway, and returned with an occasionally snorting horse. She was just wondering how on earth she was supposed to get onto it when a pair of hands grabbed her and lifted her up. Inuyasha settled her in front of him on the saddle-less back of the horse, reached around her, grabbing the reins most probably, and then suddenly the horse took off. They turned inside the stable and left it from the other side, fell into a slight trot at which Kagome tensed and struggled with her balance a little. She'd never seen a horse outside the TV, let alone ridden one. But she caught herself alright when she just leaned back against Inuyasha, who tensed but didn't complain.

They rode through the silent night, not that it wasn't night for Kagome night and day, for a while until Kagome got a little bored (officially at least, in fact she was just really unsettled by the constant play of muscles against her back).

“How come you know how to ride?”

“Huh?”

“Where did you learn to ride like that?”

“I didn't. I never sat on a horse before.”

“What?”

“Keh! What would I need a horse for? I can run about five times as fast and for two days without pause, if necessary.”

“You can?” Whew, she hadn't known hanyous had such stamina. Well she didn't know a thing about hanyous period. “But, then, why are we still riding this horse and not lying in the mud already?”

She felt him shrug. “I watched some people today, the commands are kinda self explanatory and the rest is balance.”

Somehow Kagome envied his ability to adapt to his new bodies so fast. She always felt even clumsier than usual all of the time. 'Probably comes with that lifestyle of his.' she mused.

“Quiet now, I think we're just about to cross the boundary.” Inuyasha whispered suddenly, the same time as the horse seemed to fall into a gallop.

“How can you tell? Kagome whispered back.

“Well -” He grabbed her by her waist and seconds later the horse tensed beneath them, then jumped. Kagome suppressed a squeal and pressed further into Inuyasha's chest. “They said the two counts were among other things quarreling about the fishing rights to this river that marks the boundary between their counties. I guess that was said river.” Inuyasha finished with an audible smirk. Damn him for scaring her so!

He let go of her waist again as the horse slowed down. They rode in silence for a while until Kagome thought she sensed a presence before her eyes and reached up to investigate. Her hands met Inuyasha's arm.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

“We're riding through a forest.” he whispered back, in a way of answering her question.

“What does that have to do with your arm in front of my face?”

“Twigs?”

“Wha- ah. Thank you.”

“Keh!”

Why was he being so nice to her since they'd entered the new dimension? ...maybe he sought to escape them talking things out that way... if he was, his plan was not all that bad, she felt rather reluctant to insist on it already. Well, if he was going to behave she would, too, and they might just really get along. Kagome allowed herself a little optimism.

Then the familiar tingling shook her mind. “I can feel the shard!”

“Figures. We're only another half hour away from the castle.”

“Oh.”

When the castle was in sight, Inuyasha insisted that they hide the horse somewhere and continue on foot, well, on Inuyasha's feet. The castle was, Inuyasha said, surrounded by a wall of insignificant height, at least to him, and he explained shortly later that they were going to climb over it here, in the shadow of a large building close to it on the inside.

He told her to hold on tight and really began climbing up the wall with her on his back, his almost artistic balance would never cease to amaze her, and they reached a small side door to what Inuyasha assumed was the main building, unseen and unheard. But the door was closed, as were all the other doors they were able to find. At least Kagome was able to distinctly determine where the shard was situated, it felt closest when they were at the back of the large house and seemed to be somewhere up high. As Inuyasha surprisingly agreed with her that trying to break into the house wasn't that much of a good idea, without proper equipment at least, he qualified, and so they left with not much except the knowledge that the castle at least wasn't thoroughly guarded.

Kagome fell asleep on the ride back to her surprise, but she blamed that on the lulling swaying of the horse's back. She didn't wake until Inuyasha shook her slightly, they were inside the stables again. He lead the horse back to where he'd taken it from and carried her up to her chamber wordlessly. He seemed a little subdued to her, not that she could have been too sure without seeing his face, but maybe he was, just like her, a little disappointed that Sango had been right about the approximate length of their stay. It seemed like it really was going to take them more time figuring out a way to get hold of that shard.

Inuyasha opened her door and set her down. He breathed in audibly.

“I'll be gone, see you tomorrow then”

“Yeah.” Kagome half yawned.

Suddenly a different voice sounded from somewhere to her right. “Now this is interesting.”

A.N.: Hah! A whole chapter without Inuyasha getting hurt, that's a new one! I guess I have a sadistic streak I was unaware of before I started writing this...

So, me hopes you likes, and I'm lying in my bed every night whining for reviews, by the way... reviews make me happy and make me write happy chapters...

I had him use French again, somewhere around the middle he says 'selon that son-of..etc.', sorry couldn't help it, selon means 'according to'.

Oh and I have a request. As you might have realized reading this, I'm horrible at making up or finding good names for anything. Kagome's counterpart's name is a word I found in my Latin dictionary and it means chaff or straw, and for the weird last name if the other count I more or les just typed with my eyes closed and changed it around a little till it became pronounceable. So as to my request: Whenever any of you has a good idea concerning a name of any kind, male or female, and last names, too, just put it in your review or mail it to me if you can spare the time, that'd really help me a lot, pretty please!

And all my loving to my wonderful Mrs. Beta, Alvida, who puts up with my sloppiness and overall confusion, thanks a lot.