InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Gone With the Wind. ❯ What dreams may come. ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

By: carlet

Okay..first off..I am SO sorry this took so long.

My amazingly brilliant...talented..awesome...beautiful... and...huggable beta reader had (horror of horrors!) computer issues..and I didn't find out till last night.

To take the pressure off of her I'm doing a little editing myself so you guys can at least read the chapters

If my editing isn't so great please know that I will be updating these chapters with the better versions when my poor beta has a chance to catch up with the email bomb I sent her.

(I'm working on getting 3 and 4 up RIGHT now...cause I really want to get opinions)

Kisses to All!

Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance / Hentai | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 02.18.2007 | Pages: 9 | Words: 8.8K | Visits: 482 | Status: Work In Progress

Gone with the Wind

Chapter 2

Keiko's heart beat loudly in her chest as she attempted to put as much distance as she possibly could between herself and the strange group of people that evoked these feelings of…

…she couldn't even describe them.

It was as if her entire existence was being threatened by some unknown evil just by visualizing the strange traveling companions.

`Kagura.' Her mind echoed as it attempted to form an unwanted question.

Keiko's stomach clenched as she once again pushed the name out of her mind. She would not ask herself the question that formed at the back of her brain.

She couldn't.

Something about the strangely familiar name worried her and yet ….she wouldn't allow herself to reason why.

“Kagura...” The night seemed to whisper, despite Keiko's reluctance to listen.

“Kagura!” The sound echoed again, this time close enough that the frightened female realized it wasn't the forest or her mind that was taunting her, but the strange group of travelers advancing on her location.

“Fuck.” Keiko grumbled as she sprinted in the opposite direction with a new found energy. At this point she didn't understand WHY she was running, but she ran nonetheless.

Some feelings you simply did not question.

“She's over here!” Inu Yasha barked in a gruff voice that belayed his irritation at having to follow some strange female from Kagome's time through the forest in the middle of the night. Once again the hanyou pondered just how mad the young miko would be if he simply sealed the well on their side.

Even if it did keep Kagome from returning to her time periodically, at least it would stop people from HER time from falling through.

`AND it would keep Kagome from leaving.' Inu Yasha admitted to himself with a smirk as he lazily bounded from tree to tree after the obviously distressed woman.

Ever since Kikyo passed on to the next world he found himself drawn to the young miko from the future more and more.

How had he overlooked her for so long?

“Stay away from me!” Keiko shrieked, with abused and burning lungs, as she felt a presence closing in behind her.

“Calm down wench!” Inu Yasha barked. “We just wanna talk to you.”

“I don't want to talk to you!” Keiko retorted angrily.

“No shit.” The hanyou snorted as he continued their little chase half-heartedly.

Keiko's entire being was on fire as the adrenaline in her system seemed to burn her body from the inside out.

Why wouldn't they just leave her alone?

Why couldn't she see the city lights? (Tokyo was pretty hard to miss, afterall)

And, how smart was it to wander around frantically in a pitch dark forest?

*THUNK*

Keiko suddenly found herself laying flat on her back on the forest floor as her last question was answered, quite violently, in the form of a low hanging branch to the forehead.

“Ow…” She groaned with an almost childlike whimper.

“Stupid.” The fuzzy red and white blob directly above Keiko chastised as her vision began to grow dark. Vaguely she was aware of the presence of others as a familiar purple figure illuminated the night holding some sort of torch. If they were speaking she couldn't make out the words any longer…everything seemed to become muffled by the encroaching darkness.

“Shut….” She replied weakly, only to be cut off as she gave into the murkiness and happily drifted off into a state of unconsciousness.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Keiko sighed softly as a warm and comforting feeling surrounded her.

The imagery, of course, was strange and foreign, but given recent circumstances they seemed as familiar as an old sweater one simply refused to discard.

She was dreaming again, she noted with a giddy grogginess that always accompanied the blissful state, and it was one of her more pleasant dreams.

Keiko was engulfed by a warm encompassing bright white light. It protected her, comforted her, and often made her feel as if, despite what might be happening in her present day waking life, everything would be okay.

`A taste of heaven…' The young raven-haired woman sighed with satisfaction as she allowed every muscle that ached and protested from the previous night's abuse to relax against the flowing lights embrace.

“Kagura.” A deep masculine voice cooed from an unseen location causing Keiko to flinch despite her previous blissful state. `Why now?' She groaned as she rolled her eyes within her dream in a show of annoyance.

“Kagura.” The voice echoed again, this time causing the young woman to arch a delicate thin eyebrow. She had heard the voice several times in the reoccurring blissful dream, but never had it actually formed a word.

“Kag…” The husky voice began again, only to be cut off as Keiko quickly found herself devoid of patience.

“I HEARD YOU.” She huffed with far more indignation then was probably needed when arguing with a dream.

“K..” The voice attempted again as the easily agitated woman stomped her foot violently, freeing herself of the blissful white blanket that had proved so comforting before.

“I get it! Okay?” Keiko fumed. “Shut the fuck up about it all ready!”

A long pause helped to calm the angry young woman's nerves as she assumed the voice had finally learned its lesson. She groaned softly as a throbbing insistence in her head suggested she would be in quite a lot of pain upon waking.

“Bitch.” The voice quipped, completely catching Keiko off guard as her mouth dropped open in utter indignation. A sharp intake of breath signified that she was preparing to let loose the longest string of curse words her throbbing mind could think up.

“What did you call me?” A young woman's voice answered as Keiko's eyes fluttered open to a nauseatingly bright light. Briefly she wondered how she had answered the disturbingly familiar voice without moving her lips before her attention was drawn to a couple arguing a few feet away.

As her mind slowly came to grip with reality she realized it hadn't been the voice in her dream that had made the derogatory comment.

“N-Nothing.” Inu Yasha stuttered, faltering as he braced himself preemptively for a flurry of `sits'.

“That's right nothing!” Kagome retorted, obviously more then a little perturbed by the less then flattering term. “He deserves to at least know she's here.”

“He's not going to fucking care.” Inu Yasha snorted.

“Fine,” Kagome countered, “then give him the opportunity to not care… but don't keep this from him.”

“What if the old-hag is wrong?” Inu Yasha questioned as he folded his arms over his chest.

“When has Kaeda ever been wrong?” The young school girl questioned honestly, in response.

Inu Yasha huffed, stuffing his hands into his sleeves as he turned from the young woman in a show of stubbornness but continued to look at her through the corners of his eyes.

“Fine, I'll tell him, but not until she's better.” The hanyou conceded.

“I ain't letting him get all pissy at me because she head-butted a tree.”

A soft and contended sigh was the only sign Kagome gave that she was pleased with her hanyou friend's words. A silent moment between the two lingered causing Keiko to raise an eyebrow at the overly sappy exchange. When their eyes locked for a brief moment the reclining woman wondered if the two were going to kiss; something she felt was completely odd, given the fact that the loud man had called the school girl a bitch only moments before.

Keiko, unfortunately, would never get the answer to her question as the moment was squashed by an overly excited fox child's exclamation.

“She's awake!” The young demon kit chirped from his place dangerously close to Keiko's knees, causing her to fidget uncomfortably as she attempted to move away with little success.

“Stay…” Keiko warned, tripping on the words as they seemed to dry up in her throat, “…stay away from me.”

“Don't worry.” Shippo beamed as he puffed up his chest in a show of almost comical strength. “We're the good guys; we won't let anything hurt you.”

“Right.” Keiko groaned as she placed a lazy hand against her forehead and allowed the cool skin of her palm to quell her massive headache. She blinked several times as she looked from the fox child to Inu Yasha and then back; rolling her eyes and groaning again.

“I must have hit my head harder then I thought.” She commented despairingly. “You look like demons.”

“I am a demon.” Shippo stated with pride. “I'm a fox demon!”

“Shippo….” Kagome chided warily. While she had pretty much figured out how humans of the feudal era felt about demons, she wasn't sure how one from her own time would react.

After all, most people could go their whole lives without encountering a demon in the modern era, and would probably never speak with one.

Keiko's hand moved from her forehead to rest against the ground once more as she stared into the sky as if in a trance. After a long moment of silence she finally found the strength to form a soft sentence.

“Am I dead?” The young woman questioned as she held back the tears that threatened to fall. “Is this hell?

“What?” Kagome gasped as she quickly moved to kneel beside the obviously distressed woman. “No! Of course not…..You….You're….well it's complicated.”

“Are you a demon too?” Keiko questioned as she looked at the girl distrustfully.

“A demon that dresses like a school girl?” She half-laughed as she once again turned toward the sky.

“No…I'm… Kagome.” The young miko offered as she pulled the reclining woman's hand into hers, successfully regaining her attention. “What's your name?”

“Keiko…” The young woman offered up begrudgingly, certain she had just given her name to the devil.

Kagome smiled as she felt she was finally getting somewhere. “This,” She pointed to each of her friends as she introduced them in what she hoped was a soothing voice, “is Miroku, and Sango, and Shippo, and… Inu Yasha.”

Keiko seemed to process this information for a while before allowing her eyes to rest upon Inu Yasha's head.

“Why does your husband have cat ears?” Keiko questioned.

“CAT EARS?!” Inu Yasha barked indignantly. “They're dog ears. I'm half dog demon” He growled.

“Inu Yasha…” Kagome scolded; her face a dark shade of crimson as she wondered how long it would take her puppy companion to figure out just what else was wrong with that question.

“I thought dogs had floppy ears.” Keiko moaned as she closed her eyes briefly and allowed the young woman beside her to place a cool cloth against her forehead.

Another growl rumbled free of Inu Yasha's chest and with a silent nod Kagome motioned for Miroku to escort the agitated dog demon elsewhere while she tended to their newly acquired injured companion.

“You know…” Kagome teased as she continued to tend to the woman's swollen head. “I've wondered that myself …to be honest….and he's not my husband.” She finished softly.

“Kagome…” Keiko questioned quietly as she decided the marital status of a school girl demon and touchy cat demon were probably the least of her concerns at the moment. “Where's Tokyo?”

“Well…” Kagome began, sounding more like a girl explaining how she lost her homework then someone justifying the absence of a large metropolitan city.

“It hasn't been built yet.” The young miko finally spat out as she decided the time for keeping this particular secret had passed.

“What?” Keiko deadpanned.

“The well…” Kagome explained, “..brought you 500 years into the past.” She finished as she punctuated her sentence with the application of the cool cloth against the reclining woman's forehead again.

“I… see…” Keiko responded in a tone that suggested she really didn't.

“Typically it only lets Inu Yasha and I pass through.” Kagome explained. “I'm still not entirely sure why it let you through….. Maybe because you're…”

“I'm what?” Keiko questioned as the young school girl suddenly had her undivided attention.

“I'm what?” She insisted again, this time pulling herself up to her elbows as the need to have her question answered overshadowed the pain.

“Careful!” Kagome chided as she applied gentle pressure against the familiar woman's shoulders in an attempt to get her to lie back down.

Kagome nibbled her bottom lip fiercely as she stared down at the face of the person she had for so long identified as the enemy. How could she tell this woman that she was once a demon after everything she had been through?

She couldn't, at least, not yet.

She remembered all too painfully just how it felt to be told that you were ...someone else. To have everyone expect you to act and think like this completely different person. To have to compete against a person you supposedly WERE once upon a time.

She wouldn't do that to Kagura.

Kagome flinched as she acknowledged her silent mental blunder.

She wouldn't do that to… Keiko.

“You're the first to try and jump through from my time.” Kagome finished in what she hoped would be an adequate enough answer for now.

“Oh.” The young woman stated blandly, for some reason expecting a different answer, but accepting the young miko's explanation anyways.

“Why are you helping me?” Keiko finally questioned as a wave of exhaustion began to overtake her once again. “I haven't exactly been cooperative.”

Kagome smiled warmly as she watched the young woman's eyes flutter; communicating just how tired she really was.

Giving Shippo and Sango the briefest of smiles Kagome turned back to the barely lucid woman and gave her an answer.

“I guess you remind me of someone.” She whispered as the woman beneath her seemed to drift away.

Through the haziness of the waking and dreaming world Kagome's words barely registered to Keiko's fuzzy mind.

`Funny…' Her befuddled mind quipped as she drifted off into a deep state of slumber. `I remind me of someone too.'

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

`No!' Keiko cried as she struggled against the chains that tethered her to the floor of the dark cell she found herself imprisoned in.

Did you think you would escape me? A dark voice questioned.

`I did escape you!' The sobbing female cried as she tugged on the chains again, the savage motion cutting into her ankle as a single of trickle of blood ran down her foot, creating a small pool on the floor.

Keiko shrieked horrifically as she attempted to bury herself under her arms in the corner of the dank cell; a giant spider creeping slowly closer to the small black puddle of blood that lay only inches from her extended leg. Slowly, it began to tentatively lick at the fluid; each languid motion causing a stabbing pain to throb within the frightened woman's chest.

`Leave me alone!' Keiko pleaded as she clutched at the odd kimono she couldn't recall wearing before.

Have you missed me Kagura? The dark voice taunted. Have you returned to serve me once again?

`I don't know you!' The young woman exclaimed as her body trembled.

`My name is not KAGURA!' She screamed. `Leave me alone!'

You possess her soul. The dark voice cooed.

How did you ever hide from me Kagura? The voice questioned in amusement.

`My name is Keiko!' The young woman screamed, this time in anger.

Keiko…The dark voice whispered sensuously causing an uneasy feeling to churn within the young woman's gut.

“No.” Keiko muttered, this time out loud, as she sat up and opened her eyes, realizing from the dim campfire light surrounding her and the sweat that covered her skin that she had just awoken from a nightmare.

`If it was only a dream,' Keiko questioned internally with horror, `why do I feel like I really DID just give my name to the devil?'

“Shhhh.” Inu Yasha's gruff voice warned as he plopped unceremoniously beside the obviously distressed woman and stared into the dying embers of the nearby fire. “You'll wake the others.”

“How…” Keiko questioned as she attempted to wipe some of the sweat from her brow before allowing his words to sink in and lowering her voice. “How long have I been asleep?”

“All day.” Inu Yasha answered in quiet annoyance. “Practically all night too.” He added indifferently as his eyes momentarily fell on the slumbering miko and kit a few feet away from his location.

“Why aren't you sleeping?” Keiko questioned again as she stared at the ears atop his head once more. “Or do you take cat naps?”

“Dog!” Inu Yasha barked out roughly before remembering the others were attempting to sleep and lowering his voice again.

“I'm a dog demon…” He reprimanded as he eyed the others to make sure he hadn't woken them, “you idiot.”

“D - O - G” The hanyou added for emphasis.

“Well,” Keiko snorted angrily as she glowered at the prospect of having such a thing spelled out for her. “F - U - C -bmmm!” The final letter of clever retort was sadly cut short as a clawed palm moved quickly and covered her mouth.

“Kami, are you always such a bitch?” The hanyou questioned in aggravation.

Keiko sighed inwardly as the little voice within her mind, which often added its two cents to the conversation, chimed in with a `yes.'

Inu Yasha grimaced as he slowly pulled his hand away and found it coated in sweat. “What's wrong with you?” He questioned gruffly. “You better not be getting sick on us.”

“Your concern is touching.” Keiko bit out sarcastically. “I'm fine,” She answered honestly as she attempted to stand, “just a bad dream.”

“Hey!” The hanyou barked out quietly. “Where do you think you're going?”

“Bathroom?” Keiko questioned, hoping she would be pointed in the correct direction and huffing when she realized she would need to elaborate.

“Some place I can wash up?” She questioned again, this time thankful that a light seemed to shine within the dim hanyou's eyes.

“There's a hot springs not far from here…but….” Inu Yasha surveyed camp momentarily as he seemed to come to some sort of conclusion. “You better let me take you.”

“Afraid I'll escape?” Keiko questioned as her nightmare moments before seemed to bleed into her current reality; coloring her words.

Inu Yasha snorted at the implication.

“More afraid that you'll walk off a cliff somewhere and kill yourself…” He mumbled quietly as he nudged the slumbering dark haired man and offered him what Keiko supposed was a look that suggested he should watch over things until they returned.

“…Who knows what that bastard would do if I didn't at least tell him you were here before you killed yourself.” The dog demon stated offhandedly as he grabbed the young woman by the forearm and began leading her through the forest.

“What bastard?” Keiko questioned honestly.

In truth there were many bastards in her life, but who would know her HERE?

Weren't they supposedly 500 years in the past? No one should know her here!

Inu Yasha grumbled quietly under his breath, the dim light of sunrise illuminating the surrounding forest enough that Keiko could now make out the discomfort written plainly on the hanyou's face.

Had he said something he wasn't supposed to?

“What bastard?” Keiko insisted.

“Nevermind.” The half demon barked angrily. “There!” Inu Yasha bit out roughly as he thrust his finger forward to point at a small clearing in the trees with a warm looking pool of water in the center before turning to walk back down the path.

“Wait!” Keiko squeaked out as she eyed the puppy-eared boy warily. “Where are you going?”

“I'm going back to camp.” Inu Yasha retorted in annoyance. “The others should be awake soon.

“But…” Keiko began, not really sure why she didn't want to be left alone.

Perhaps it was the nightmare that was still scaring her?

Yes that had to be it.

There was no way a woman her age could be scared of the dark, besides; the sun would be rising soon ….

not that it mattered….

of course…

since she wasn't afraid of the dark.

“Camp ain't that far…if you need help just scream.” Inu Yasha offered far too casually.

`Comforting.' Keiko's mind quipped.

“K-kay.” Keiko responded uncertainly as she eyed the hot spring longingly. She was sure once she got in the water and washed some of the stickiness out of her hair she would feel a million times better.

After all, this was feudal era Japan and they were in the middle of nowhere.

What were the odds that someone or something would stumble upon THIS particular hot spring?

Pleased with her unfaltering logic Keiko moved to the edge of the pool to disrobe. She quickly removed her clothes before sinking into the warm water with a long, satisfied, sigh that pushed away all her fears and doubts.

So relaxed was she that she failed to notice a pair of sinister eyes peering at her through the opposite end of the clearing…… until it was too late.