InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bottled Genius ❯ The Trip Back Home ( Chapter 15 )

Author's Notes: Urgh… I feel so sick right now… I don't know, but whenever I write about something which happens to the characters, I get a bit of it as well. Like when someone gets hit on the head, I get a headache. So when someone throws up, I get queasy. Perhaps I get too involved subconsciously with the story? Hmm…

Bottled Genius

Chapter 15

The Trip Back Home

Inuyasha had another dream. After a series of strange ones including trying to catch to catch flying earwigs with a butterfly net, the dreams once more changed to a slightly more unnerving, yet realistic quality.

He dreamt that Kagome had been poisoned, that her mind was clouded with fever and she acted without any thought. He dreamt that Naraku took her away and tortured her until he killed her… and Inuyasha saw it all.

He awoke rather suddenly and gazed dumbly at the ceiling for a long time before his shocked mind managed to catch up with him. It was then that he decided dreaming just wasn't for him… perhaps it was time to get his bottle back, and then whenever he needed to sleep, he wouldn't be aware of anything other than the darkness. It was much less distressing… in its own way, of course.

Maybe he should go check on Kagome? He quietly slithered off the sofa and felt his way across the room towards her bedroom door. It wasn't that it was dark or anything, in fact the early morning light lit up the house quite well by now. It was just that usually when he slept the normal way, he didn't tend to actually wake up until a good half hour after getting up.

Inuyasha ended up missing her doorknob and bumped into the door itself with a hissed curse that managed to come out backwards. "Tish…"

He tried groping for the handle again and somehow succeeded in pushing the door open far enough to look inside. Ah… the pantry. He turned and raised a hand to rub his head as he tried locating the correct door from what little he remembered. After a few moments he aimed at a new door - the open one which he was sure belonged to Kagome.

He reached it and only had to take one look inside before he quickly began to snap himself together.

Kagome wasn't inside.

It took a few seconds of clueless silence before Inuyasha lowered his hand from his head and blinked his eyes rapidly, refocusing on the rumpled, yet empty water bed inside the room. Then he began to worry, in a stomach chewing, cold tingly feeling down the spine kind of way. He turned quickly and ran towards the kitchen, before changing his mind and running towards the bathroom, then changing it again as he doubled back towards her room to check inside again in case he'd imagined it.

No, Kagome was definitely gone.

He checked the bathroom in case she was hugging the lavatory again, but that was just as empty as the bedroom. He searched the house in its entirety before beginning to check outside. Outside was a much larger place to search, and it would take far too long and waste valuable time to do it the physical way.

Perhaps he was overreacting… but something told him he was under-reacting. And perhaps he didn't quite have the energy to perform the next task, but he was going to give it a shot anyway.

With a small sigh, he released the ties he held to a corporeal form and left the physical world the same way he did every time he dissipated. He did it often enough, but this time he got a shock.

He instantly located Kagome… she was on the coast nearly half a mile away… semi-conscious from what he could tell. His other master… Naraku… was there with him. And he was summoning Inuyasha.

In a millisecond Inuyasha appeared on the beach they shared. Almost at once he regretted doing the search… now he felt weaker and more exhausted than ever.

"I was wondering when you'd come."

Inuyasha forced himself to stand straight as he turned slowly to face the source of the voice. At first his gaze fell on the girl who lay sprawled in the sand, groaning painfully occasionally… too lost in fever to be aware of what was going on. Then his gaze flicked to Naraku. He was wearing a form Inuyasha didn't recognise.

"Is that your real face?" Inuyasha questioned at once, eyeing his form. A young man, probably in his early twenties with a handsome face and long, dark hair stood a few metres from Kagome.

"This is no more my real face than any other I have used. I have no face." Naraku shrugged a little carelessly, wearing a bored flat expression that seemed to come with the face. "He's the son of a warlord… Wadaka… I killed him and his father five hundred years ago."

"You've only been alive for-"

"I know." Naraku interrupted. "But my roots spread further than you can imagine, little Hanyou."

Inuyasha's lip curled, but he made no move to start conversation again. His main concern was to get Kagome and himself out of there with as little damage as possible. The imminent danger of Naraku using another wish hung over his head like an anvil on a tiny bit of string.

"She's very useful this girl." Naraku slid a look to Kagome who still lay shivering in the sand. "It didn't take much persuading to get her to talk."

Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably… he was just too far away from either of them to do much good. And if he got into a real fight with Naraku he was sure to lose…

Not that that would stop him from fighting if it came to that.

"So…" Naraku folded his arms in a regal way, as though he really was the young lord he appeared to be. "I have an idea for my second wish. Well actually… I suppose it was Kagome's idea first. But it was a very good idea."

"And what would that be?" Inuyasha demanded, with a sinking feeling.

"I wish for you to obey every order and command I give you, whether it begins with 'I wish' or not and to answer every question I ask." Naraku smiled slowly and tilted his head to the side. "Now… isn't that just the most convenient wish ever?"

Inuyasha kept his jaw shut tightly.

"Grant it, Inuyasha." Naraku raised an eyebrow. "You know what will happen if you don't."

Inuyasha stole another glance at Kagome. She seemed ok… she was just feverish. It didn't look as though Naraku had hurt her from what he could see. He snapped a glare back at Naraku. "As… as you wish." He said jerkily.

"That wasn't so hard was it?"

"N-No." Inuyasha muttered uncertainly.

"Come here." Naraku beckoned him over with one finger crooked.

Inuyasha took a steadying breath and moved forward, taking measured steps each time and counting down the inches until he could stop as far away from Naraku as possible. He halted a metre away, watching Kagome out of the corner of his eye whilst glaring directly across at the man before him.

"And take this." Naraku reached into his large black open haori and extracted the empty coke bottle. He held it out for Inuyasha to take who just stared at it dumbly for a moment or two before reaching out to take it. He then stared at it some more in dumb amazement. "Please close your mouth Inuyasha, you'll catch flies."

"Why did you-"

"I do not explain my reasoning to just anyone." Naraku cut him off again sharply. "All you need to know is that I don't need it. Believe it or not, but I have more pressing matters to attend to other than you and her," he flicked a glance at Kagome as he said this, "and I do not need that bottle falling into the wrong hands. So you guard that bottle with your life. Do not let the girl misplace it again or she will be the first to suffer."

Inuyasha stared at him for a moment, digging a little deeper through the connection to this particular master. Naraku must have known what he was doing, seeing as how he narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. Inuyasha turned slightly suspicious. "Your desires have changed…"

Naraku still wanted Kagome… he still wanted Inuyasha's head… but he wanted something else too that Inuyasha didn't understand. Something that Naraku wasn't going to let him understand.

Naraku just scoffed. "All that means is you two are not worth my time right now." He ignored Inuyasha's bristle of displeasure. "You may take her back home with you. You may try and hide and run all you like, it doesn't matter to me. When the time comes I will exact my revenge on both you and Kikyo's reincarnation. You won't be able to stop it."

Inuyasha clenched his fists furiously. "That's what you fucking think you-"

"Stop talking."

Inuyasha fell silent, even though he mentally continued to scream abuse at him.

"Much better." Naraku sighed as though it had suddenly become pleasantly peaceful. "Now I shall be back in two days. Do as you wish until then."

He disappeared in a slightly more sophisticated way than Inuyasha usually did, complete with a purple swirl of mist or smoke and a little twinkling sound to accompany it. Inuyasha slashed his hand furiously in Naraku's wake, dispelling the smoke angrily. "Show off! There's no need to rub it in my face like that!"

He seethed quietly for a few moments before pitching the bottle down into the sand with an irritated sound. The bottle was too lightly made to even make a good impression in the sand and just rolled across the lumpy surface. Inuyasha kicked a little shower of sand in the direction of the bottle and turned abruptly to face Kagome. Just seeing her made him get a little more control of his temper and he sighed as he allowed a little of the anger inside him to melt away.

"Stupid, stupid girl." He murmured, but without much conviction, as he knelt down and scooped her up out of the sand. She gave a nervy twitch at being lifted, and continued to shake and tremble with the fever that made her skin scorching hot. "How could you let him get you like this?"

"Dix-huit…" Kagome mumbled, her brow twitching down in a frown as she continued to shiver. "… au pas du francais…"

"What?" he blinked down at her.

"Du pareil au meme…"

Great… now she was speaking French. Time to get her back to the house. He shot a quick disparaging glance in the direction of the coke bottle. He'd come back for it later… Kagome's welfare came first.

^_^

"I'm really sorry."

"S'ok…" Inuyasha shrugged and carried on hugging the cushion as he watched Tv.

"I mean I'm really, really sorry." Kagome wrung her hands nervously. Her throat was still raw and she was still a little shaky from the fever, not to mention the pounding headache she was suffering from… but she really was very apologetic. "I had no idea it was Naraku - I barely remember what happened!"

"I repeat: S'ok." Inuyasha gave another shrug.

"But it's not ok! Now Naraku can control you the way I can!" Kagome flopped down onto the sofa behind him. "God… if only I hadn't been so out of it - if only I hadn't told him what I wished for - god, I've ruined everything haven't I? I'm so sorry, I'm really, really sorry-"

"Shut up, Kagome." Inuyasha grumbled, sitting up and giving her a withering look. "If anyone's to blame, it's me. I should have been keeping an eye on you… but I let you get taken away and interrogated. You could have been killed."

A lump formed in her throat and she had difficulty swallowing. "Oh…"

Perhaps he shouldn't have said that… Inuyasha rolled his eyes back to the Tv, trying to put an end to the discussion. "You shouldn't kick yourself. Naraku won't be bothering us… at least… not until after tomorrow. So we have plenty of time to prepare for him and kick his ass."

Kagome still continued to shift uneasily. He just ignored her. There wasn't much they really could do for now… except hope and pray. He was just glad that tomorrow they would be heading home… so if Naraku ever decided to confront them, at least Inuyasha would feel more comfortable in a place that wasn't so much of a deserted island.

Or perhaps he felt he needed to give Kagome room to run in case Naraku used Inuyasha as ammunition against her… a thought Inuyasha didn't care to dwell on to much. "Where are you going?" he asked quickly as she stood up and started to move away.

"Eat more fruit. You were right about it settling my stomach…" she called over her shoulder as she disappeared into the kitchen.

^_^

For the life of her, Mrs Higurashi just couldn't understand the mood of depression that had settled over the family. Perhaps it was because their sunny summer holiday was coming to an end… but somehow she doubted that was the real reason.

The unhappy vibes seemed to be coming mostly from Kagome and Inuyasha… something had happened, but Mrs Higurashi knew that if it was her place to ask, then she'd probably already know what the matter was.

Perhaps it was because on their last day of the holiday, Kagome was still a little too sick to really enjoy herself, and Inuyasha seemed to have a tendency to follow Kagome's mood patterns… so if she was feeling sad, he was bound to look twice as sad as she felt. But then again everyone was a little too busy packing and being sad to really enjoy themselves that last day… but the young pair seemed a little detached from the packing.

Mrs Higurashi thought it was all rather sweet actually.

But the tension between them seemed to have mounted over night, and what had worried Mrs Higurashi the most was that as they headed back towards the airport to go back home in the helicopter, the pair had jumped a little too dramatically when the pilot had cried out in alarm. It turned out that the pilot had only spotted a few dolphins, but neither Inuyasha or Kagome had really relaxed after that.

"Bye-bye Paradise!" Souta called, almost tearfully as Kagome ushered him onto the plane, looking around warily over her shoulder. Inuyasha followed them, also casting a few reproachful looks over his shoulder as he entered the plane.

Mrs Higurashi witnessed it all and turned to her father who was winking at the air hostess. "Kagome and Inuyasha are acting a little odd, don't you think?" she pointed out as they passed out of the sun into the cool interior of the plane. They turned to head up to first class again.

"Well Kagome's ill… what's Inuyasha's excuse?" Grandpa shrugged as he handed his bags to his daughter so she could push them into the overhead compartments. "You shouldn't worry. They're just sad that they're going home now… they're not the only ones."

Mrs Higurashi patted his arm sympathetically upon hearing his longing tone and looked around to locate her children. Souta was once more plastered against the window, watching the people and vehicles down on the tarmac… but he was alone. For a moment Mrs Higurashi looked around quickly, trying to find them. "Where are they?"

"Probably joining the mile high club again." Souta chirped from the window. Both Mrs Higurashi and Grandpa gave a start.

"Don't be silly." She admonished lightly as she took her seat next to Souta. "You can't do that unless we're in the air!" she looked around again. "Oh there they are! Goodness… you'd think they were ashamed of us sitting all the way over there…"

Meanwhile Kagome rapped her fingers anxiously against her arm rest. She was sat right up in front of the large plasma screen in the centre of the carriage with Inuyasha on her left. Apparently her anxiety was annoying him…

"Would you stop that? You're putting me off." He griped from her side.

"Putting you off what?" she glanced at him.

He just shrugged with another irritated sound and leant in the opposite direction of her. Kagome sighed and forced her fingers to lay flat against her arm rests. She'd be a whole lot more comfortable if she still didn't feel too hot and exhausted… the sickness was still affecting her. Well, now she'd be a little more wary of bad steaks in the future.

Oh. And another thing that would make her a little more comfortable would be if Naraku hadn't promised to come for them that very day.

"I have no idea…" she muttered quietly to Inuyasha. "Are we safer in the air? Or are we in more danger?"

"Who knows?" he shrugged again and kept his gaze firmly fixed on the seat wall and screen in front of them.

"Well… I guess what comes will come…" Kagome gave a small, defeated sigh. "We can't stop it I suppose…"

Inuyasha looked at her. Then he looked away.

For a moment Kagome stared after him, puzzling over why he'd done that when the truth struck her. "Sorry…" she gave a wry smile. "Did I sound too much like Kikyo just then?"

She saw him flinch. "No." But it was obviously a lie.

Yet another heavy weight was settling over her heart. "You get this look in your eye every time someone mentions her name or you start thinking about her. The way you react to her mention is like you hate her or something…"

"I didn't hate her." He said through clenched teeth.

"I know… but you sure don't act that way." Kagome absently pulled the lever that allowed the foot rest to come up so she could put her feet up. "Ah… that's better."

A long pause stretched out. It felt comfortable to Kagome… but apparently Inuyasha still had something to say. "I don't hate her. I just want to put her behind me. I can't do that if everyone keeps talking about her. Why don't you just drop the subject."

"The one pursuing the subject is you." She shot back. "And haven't I already told you that forgetting her is pointless and disrespectful?"

"What would you know?" he hissed quietly. "You don't understand me. You don't know what it's like to-"

"What? To lose someone you care deeply about?" Kagome shot him a piercing glare. "I know more than you think. I've lost two people. That's more than you, if I have my calculations correct."

Inuyasha blinked in surprise at her. "Two…?"

For a long time Kagome didn't say anything. She folded her hands over her stomach and closed her eyes as the let the air conditioning cool her down. Around her she could hear the gentle hum of the engines and air hostesses and stewards asking if the fliers were comfortable. She opened her eyes. "When I was thirteen I watched my friend being run over by a car. She was knocked into the air and died the instant she hit the road." She glanced around to check that the rest of her family was still there. "The grief was horrible… I wouldn't stop crying for days and I didn't eat anything for ages. At the time I probably would have given anything to stop feeling so bad… but…"

"But?" Inuyasha prompted when she trailed off into silence for too long.

"I don't know. Even at the time I would rather have felt that pain than have felt nothing at all." She glanced over at him. "I think that if you can get past the grief then you'll be stronger than ever… but you'll never forget the person you lost. When you think back you'll remember why you cared about them so much… you forget the grief and how they died… you just remember the love."

"I didn't love her." Inuyasha said resolutely… but quietly.

"I know. But you still cared… you still grieve don't you?" Kagome asked and saw him nod. "Well time heals all wounds, right? You'll put her behind you eventually."

"Time is something I lack." He said quietly.

Kagome chewed her lip for a moment before taking a deep breath and gaining her courage… she reached out and folded her hand over his on the arm rest they shared. She expected him to either ignore her touch, or pull away. Which was why she was pleasantly surprised when his fingers splayed and locked with hers. Her heart jolted against her rib cage and the soft smile he gave her made her insides turn to jelly.

"Thanks though." He said quietly. "I didn't realise you'd lost… you know."

"It's ok. She's just a fond memory now. Like Kikyo will be." Kagome tried to return his warm smile, but she was a feeling a little too much like a doe caught in car headlights. "So you see? I understand you better than you think."

"Who was the second?"

"Huh? Oh…" Kagome waved a hand and sunk down in her seat. She pulled her hand away from his in fear that she would turn cherry red in a minute if she didn't stop. "My father I guess… but in a different way. I liked him - until he walked out on us… so I guess he's as good as dead to me."

"Ouch."

"Well he deserves it. I hate him. He just left us with no money just so he could pursue a flippant little affair with a blonde broad." Kagome scowled. "He's gone… but I guess I just don't grieve for him so much."

Which explained the absence of Kagome's father figure. "Well… you could always make a wish to make him break out in horrible warts and boils."

Kagome chuckled darkly. "That sounds good…"

"You know what they say." Inuyasha folded his hands behind his head as he grinned. "There's no better way to get over an old father than with a new father."

"That and vast quantities of alcohol - air hostess!"

^_^

"Are we nearly there yet?"

"No, honey."

"Are we nearly there yet?"

"No."

"Are we nearly-"

"You heard the lady - shut up!" Inuyasha reached across Kagome to flick Souta's ear.

"Hey!" the boy quickly launched a return assault against Inuyasha, all but falling across Kagome's lap to try and reach an ear to flick.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Kagome pushed both boys back to their side of the car and gave them both a severe look. "Start a war when there's more room, ok?" This put a stop to the pairs antics for at least five minutes, until Souta decided enough time had passed by. "How much further until we get to the house?"

"About an hour, love." Mrs Higurashi called from the steering wheel.

"I know!" Souta jumped up. "Why don't we play Yellow Car and Bugs?"

Kagome groaned. "Oh no…"

"What's that then?" Inuyasha asked.

"Every time you see a yellow car or a beetle you punch the person next to you." Souta explained.

"Oh no - you're not playing that game again!" Mrs Higurashi called from the front, giving them all a stern look in her rear view mirror. They all went into a sulky silence after that. Souta didn't ask how long the drive would be until…

"Yellow car!" He yelled and heartily jabbed a fist into Kagome's arm.

"Ow!" she hissed, instantly she began scouring the other road vehicles for something yellow. "Ah! Yellow beetle! Double punch!"

"You made that one up!" Souta yelled and punched Kagome's arm.

"Kids!" Grandpa called from the front. Mrs Higurashi was frowning whilst Inuyasha edged as far as was physically possible from Kagome.

"Bug!" Kagome cried, battering Souta's arm.

"I don't see any bugs!"

"I'm looking at one right now!" Kagome glared at him. The game was fast dissolving into a tussle. Grandpa turned in his seat and slapped their arms down. "Will you two give it a rest? You both act like little children."

"How come you didn't hit Inuyasha?" Souta pointed out as he rubbed his sore arm. "Don't you want to hurt your boyfriend?"

Kagome went bright red and made sure she kept her gaze fixed on Souta in case Inuyasha saw her flushed face. "Because Inuyasha hits a whole lot harder than you do, squirt!"

"You just fancy him, that's all." Souta muttered.

"You little-!"

Kagome broke off suddenly as the car gave a jolt and a screech of metal grinding on metal. Kagome's hand latched on to Inuyasha's arm to steady herself as she, along with everyone else, looked across to where another car had scraped across the wing.

The other car veered quickly away, the driver making angry signs at them. "What the hell…" Kagome whispered. For a moment she thought the other driver was trying to force them off the road… until their car suddenly swung to the left and scraped sides with a second vehicle. Souta fell against Kagome, who likewise fell against Inuyasha.

Kagome looked to her mother. "Mom! What are you doing?!"

Mrs Higurashi was in a panic. "I can't control the wheel - the brakes won't work!" she was forcefully trying to turn the wheel back the other way, but it seemed locked in place and wouldn't respond.

Kagome was suddenly shoved against Souta as Inuyasha shot forward into the gap between the driver's seat and the passenger seat - he grabbed the wheel along with her mother but even his inexorable strength wasn't enough to get control back.

Their car veered forward suddenly, too fast and slammed into the bumper of the car in front. Kagome and her mother gave sharp cries and Mrs Higurashi released the wheel, as if afraid to touch anything. Souta clutched Kagome around the waist, pale and wide-eyed. Grandpa looked just as shocked. Inuyasha was slightly more in control it seemed as he battled with the steering wheel but to no avail.

The car in front of them quickly shot sideways to avoid getting hit again… in fact a lot of the other road users and slowed down or sped up to get out of their way. The road was literally emptying right before their eyes and their car swerved left so suddenly the tires screeched and skidded and Inuyasha was thrown back into the back seat beside Kagome.

"Do something!" Kagome yelled to him over the noise of screaming tires and engine roaring.

"I can't!" he shouted back, looking the most tense she'd ever seen him.

The car gave another jolt to the side and Souta bounced against the door - thankfully it was locked so he didn't go flying out - but one look out the window had him shrilly. "K-Kagome!"

It was hard to hear what he was saying over the sound of screeching metal again. The car seemed to have hit the barricades at the side of the road and was scraping alongside them at full throttle. However, Kagome followed his gaze out of the window and suddenly went cold and pale.

They were driving along the side a rather steep, dizzyingly high hill… and the barricade was the only thing preventing them from going over the edge.

"I-Inuyasha!!" Kagome yanked on his sleeve to get his attention, but he was way ahead of her.

"It's Naraku!" he yelled back. "He's doing this!"

"Stop him then!" They veered back towards the middle of the road. Kagome was certain for a moment that the car tipped and flew on two wheels alone… but it righted itself in a fraction of a second.

"I can't!" He braced a hand against the door to keep from being thrown around. "You have to wish-"

The car swerved to the left, towards the barricade at a severe angle.

"I wish-"

There was a crash and a jolt and the car shot off the road and into the air. The engine died and everything seemed very quiet… the family was too far gone with shock and fear to make a sound as the car's nose started to tip downwards and they saw the trees below rushing up to meet them.

They all started screaming then and Kagome tightened her fingers around Inuyasha and uttered the first thing her petrified mind could comprehend. "I wish you'd save them!"

That was all he needed. He barely gave himself time to utter "As you wish…" before he dissipated out of the car and landed back on the road above. Beside him there were three puffs of red mist as Souta, Mrs Higurashi and Grandpa slumped onto the tarmac… all crumpling unconscious to the ground. Humans never really did dissipate very easily. At least they were alive.

A loud crash and following crunching noised echoed up from the valley below.

Inuyasha's head snapped up and he stared at the point where the barricades seemed to have been torn in half… where the car had ploughed through them. He slowly stood up and made his way towards the edge to look down… the echoing crashes had ceased.

In the distance he could already hear the wail of sirens… cars had slowed and stopped a few hundred metres away and people were getting out of their vehicles, running to the scene of the accident.

Accept it hadn't been an accident.

Inuyasha reached the edge and braced his foot against a tree stump as he turned his eyes down.

The car had broken into three major pieces… with bits and pieces lying here and there. Shattered glass and metal lay all around the wreck… the path of destruction through the trees was obvious from where the car had hit the ground and rolled.

Kagome was down there.

Without caring who saw him, he dissipated in a whirl and shot down beside her in an instant. He ran forward towards the wreck and staggered to a halt beside what remained of the vehicle… then he had to stop… he didn't really dare move or breath.

At some point during the fall the doors of the back had been torn off… and not even the seat belt had been able to hold her inside. Kagome now lay half in, half out of the squashed doorway, her legs trapped between the seat and roof… the rest of her lay outside the car.

Her head had been cracked back against that rock beneath her skull… she had metal shrapnel sticking out of her side… and a small trickle of blood ran from the corner of her lips.

Inuyasha felt strangely numb as he slumped to his knees beside her… he didn't dare pick her up, in case he broke her fragile body in half. "Kagome?"

She wasn't dead. If she was dead he would already be asleep in his bottle.

Ever so slowly she dragged in a rattling breath and opened her eyes. That numb feeling inside of him melted and he felt a surge of hope that was so strong it rocked him. "Kagome!" her unfocused gaze slid towards him. "Kagome - say it! You have to wish for me to help you!"

If she didn't… she would die…

Her mouth opened slightly and her lips moved as if trying to form words, her breathing hitched more shallow… but all he heard was quiet, rasping and gurgling sounds. His heart was beginning to squeeze painfully.

"Say it…" he breathed. He lowered his head and held an ear over her mouth, determined to catch even the faintest whisper.

All he caught was the sound of her troubled breathing, and a last hiccup of a gasp before her body went quiet.

For a long time he remained where he was, willing her to breathe again, waiting for her to make a wish that would save her. He slowly lifted his head and looked down at her face. It was strangely peaceful and blank… her eyes still slit open ever so slightly. But she was dead.

In the back of his senses he could already sense Naraku's delight… but most prominently he could feel a dragging on his conscious. He was beginning to get drowsy… but he fought it.

The container was calling him back. The main rule of a Wishbringer… that when a master's life expires, so did the short term freedom from the container, was coming into play.

Yeah, well it was time to break the rules.

AN: Ta-tah for now.