InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Burning Secrets ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter Six

Visions haunted her, something just beyond her reach calling out to her. The darkness enveloped her, strangling her, suffocating her. She fought against it, fought for breath, fought for light. But it never came-it was always pitch black, always overpowering the little bits of light that dared to come near her. It was always cold, as if the darkness had sucked away all the warmth.

Then he showed up- she wasn't sure exactly who- pulling her up, drawing her away from the omnipotent presence that hovered above and under and around her, threatening her very existence. He was always there to protect her, always willing to do anything to keep her from harm. But he never stayed, never remained by her side. Despite how he tried, she pushed him away, shoving him back. She could see how it pained him, could se how he suffered even more than she at her insistence on space, but at the same time she couldn't bring herself to truly ca re. She was making him hut, but she wasn't bothered by it at all, even as the darkness threatened her again and he moved to fight it back.

And then HE was there by her side and she smiled, laughing at his jokes, reveling at his mere existence. HE was always trying to make her happy, unlike her first companion. She felt warm around him. But at the last moment, just before the darkness enveloped her once more, propelling her deeper still into its hellish depths, a thought popped into her head, a realization that she couldn't explain, couldn't even fathom the reason of.

She was happier with the second one, but she'd felt warmer, safer even, with the first.

Kagome woke with a start, bolting upright. Looking around her she let out a sigh of relief. It was early morning and she was in her sleeping bag in the woods with her friends. The darkness of her dreams was already fading to a distant memory and she stretched, trying to further banish the foreboding feelings that had accompanied it. That was the third time this week that she'd had that dream and she still couldn't figure it out.

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to sleep after that she got up, rolling up her sleeping bag. She took out her schoolbooks and got to work, trying to catch up with her classes. When she got back to school she didn't want to be so far behind that she would have to repeat a grade. That would be terrible, plus it would be extremely embarrassing. She couldn't imagine Hojo wanting to go out with someone who got left behind.

The others woke up shortly after, however, and she had to set her homework aside to prepare breakfast. She did manage to get a little more work done while she ate, however, enough that she was satisfied with her morning up to that point. As soon as they finished breakfast they cleaned up and left, eager to be on the road again.

Kagome could tell that everyone was tense. Miroku and Sango didn't walk together as they usually did, Miroku opting to stay up front by Inuyasha instead. Despite that she didn't often get to walk with Sango much anymore- they were usually rushing from one place to another, so the huntress was almost always riding on Kirara's back- Kagome didn't try to talk to her. She could tell from Sango's contemplative look that something was up, and decided that she would sacrifice her own personal entertainment for her friend's peace at mind. She would talk to the other girl later and find out what was up.

“Why is it that every time I want to talk to someone about something that's actually important a demon attacks?” Kagome grumbled. They had finally topped for a break around noon when the demon they had been searching for had decided to attack. She jumped out of the way as Inuyasha was thrown towards her, barely catching herself ungracefully on a sticker bush in the process. Inuyasha didn't even try to catch himself, and there was a sickening crack of either bone or wood as he hit the tree she'd been standing in front of.

“Inuyasha!” Kagome cried out, running to his side. Inuyasha stood up shakily, leaning against the tree as he tried to orientate himself again. Miroku turned from the demon, just barely avoiding its attack, his expression almost angry as he looked at the couple.

“Inuyasha need I remind you that this is neither the time nor the place for such things as that? Now get back up and help us out a bit! Kagome, where are the shards?” he yelled, jumping away from the demon.

Kagome looked up from the demon, suddenly remembering exactly why she'd come along, and searched for the distinctive shine of the shards. When she found it she frowned, yelling, “Um, in his right shoulder and under his left eye- Sango, look out!”

Sango jumped back at the warning, narrowly dodging a tree limb the demon had been using as a club. Kagome hollered again, this time in triumph as Inuyasha leapt forward, slicing through the creature with his claws, cutting it into more pieces than Kagome wanted to count. She raced forward as the shards fell to the ground, quickly scooping them up. There was no way she was going to put up with the demon pulling itself back together through the power of the shards.

“Two more shards safe from Naraku,” Sango sighed, relieved, as she watched Kagome put the shards together with the others in the little jar around her neck.

“Yeah, I know,” Kagome agreed. Turning to Inuyasha she asked, “Inuyasha, can I go back to my time now? I have a test I want to study for, and some homework to do.”

Inuyasha frowned slightly and looked at Miroku out of the corner of his eye. Miroku just shrugged, his expression subdued. No help there, it would seem. With an annoyed sigh he looked away, shaking his head in defeat.

“Feh,” he huffed simply, turning to walk back in the direction they'd come from. Kagome grinned, resisting the urge to jump up and down. She ran up to Inuyasha, hugging him tightly from behind.

“Thank you so much, Inuyasha!” she exclaimed excitedly. Inuyasha stiffened and tilted his head to stare back at her. After a few seconds she realized what exactly she was doing and stepped back quickly, flashing Inuyasha an awkward smile before climbing back on her bike. When she was turned around Inuyasha allowed himself a small smile. He caught Miroku's gaze and found the priest smirking. The human nodded slightly before hopping on the demon cat's back.

I promise I'll be back in four days, okay?” Kagome said, bending to talk to the Shippou. “And don't worry, it's actually not Inuyasha's fault that I'm leaving this time.”

“Okay, I guess it's alright, then. Just make sure you're back soon,” the kitsune relented, his voice small. Kagome smiled and ruffled his hair, pulling out a lollipop for him.

“Of course I'll be back,” she assured him. I have to visit you guys, don't I?”

“Kagome, Inuyasha is looking annoyed. Mayhap ye should leave before he changed his mind?” Kaede pointed out. The dog demon was perched on the edge of the well, Kagome's pack in his hand. A strange expression played across his face as he looked down into the well. Kagome looked at him for a moment before nodding. She was lucky enough that he had agreed to let her go, and even more so that he'd agreed to let her leave for so long. She probably shouldn't push it too much.

“Okay, Inuyasha, I'm ready to go now, “ she told him, walking over to the well. Just before she hopped in she turned back, adding, “Bye, everyone!”

“Bye, Kagome,” Shippou, Sango and Lady Kaede chorused.

“Inuyasha, please return when you're done over there,” Miroku said once Kagome had gone. “I'd like to talk to you about something.”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya,” Inuyasha grumbled. Then he jumped into the well after Kagome, disappearing into the purplish shine at the bottom.

“So how long do you think it'll be before Kagome `sits' Inuyasha back into this time period?” Shippou asked playfully, hopping onto Kaede's shoulder.

Hopefully not anytime soon,” Miroku muttered, thinking of the marks on his friend's arms. Then, adding a smile for the others' benefits, he said, “I mean, we wouldn't want him moping around for our entire vacation, would we?”

“Kami, no!” Shippou exclaimed, shaking his head fiercely. The others laughed at his enthusiasm and started back up the path to Kaede's house.