InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ When We Awaken ❯ Chapter 5: Moving On ( Chapter 5 )

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

Chapter Five: Moving On

Silen ce permeated the small living room. The miko, Kagome, sat mermaid style on the floor, while the young boy, named Souta, was still wrapped around her leg and was refusing to let go.

The middle-aged woman, who they found out was Mrs. Higurashi, regarded the new guest as if she were a ghost.

Hojo had finally joined the group, resplendent in his kannushi robes of purple and white silks. He seemed both at home and completely oblivious to the tension developing within the room.

Inuyasha only settled back, sitting Indian-style, his arms crossed over his chest. A small tick was developing at his brow.

It was the grandfather with greying hair and a large port belly who finally spoke.

“So young lady…,” he began.

“Kagome,” interrupted the miko. “My name is Kagome.”

“Yes, err…Kagome,” repeated the elderly man. “Hojo had told us that he knew of a trained miko who was looking for work. Though we certainly need a new set of hands, especially since the spring festivals are about to begin, we are not quite ready to hire a new miko. You see…”

Mrs. Higurashi spoke this time. “My daughter, our resident miko, died three days ago. I can’t possibly hire a new miko right now….”

This time the little boy broke into the discussion. “Mom, you have to hire her. Don’t let her go! Please!” The boy grabbed onto Kagome even tighter and seemed to be refusing to let her go.

Kagome offered Souta a sad smile and took his white knuckles into her hands. She looked at him directly, stormy grey eyes meeting each other. “Little one, I am not your sister, no matter how much I may look like her.”

The boy then started to cry. “No, please! Don’t go. Don’t go again!” He held onto the miko’s mid-section and refused to let go.

Hojo only smiled winsomely at the pair. “If I may suggest, Higurashi-san. Perhaps it might not be a bad thing to have Kagome-san stay. She needs a place to work and has no home to speak of…”

Inuyasha tried to cut in, affronted that someone would think he would kick Kagome onto the streets and not take care of her. “She can stay…”

Hojo raised his hand, motioning to Ash to be silent.

Petulantly, Inuyasha smacked his lips together into a thin line, grousing as he stared at the group.

The kannushi continued. “As I was saying. Kagome has no job, no home or family. She needs work and a place to stay. And I think young master Souta needs a sisterly figure right now.”

Mrs. Higurashi looked at Hojo in astonishment and seemed to be shaking her head. But Hojo raised his hand once more in a placating gesture--seeming to ask everyone for a little more time and patience.

“I think Kagome’s presence will help young Souta get over the death of his beloved sister. And wouldn’t that be what Kikyo would have wanted…someone to be there for him? I also happen to know that Kagome is very good with children. Look at how well she is working with him now. She is also a well-trained miko and we currently do not have enough spare hands to handle the crowds that will be coming in spring. May I suggest a trial period for her? Perhaps a month to see if this is working out for everyone involved. And if it does not, would Kagome agree to leave without causing any disruptions to this family’s already fragile peace?”

“I would not dream of causing any trouble,” added Kagome. “But do you think it is wise…?”

The little boy only looked up to Kagome with wide, innocent eyes. “Would you please stay? Please? Don’t go…” he asked.

Kagome only looked from the boy’s eyes to the mothers, her face a question.

Mrs. Higurashi took a calming breath before addressing everyone in the room. “Souta hasn’t said a word since his sister died three days ago. Now here he is talking again…” She turned her sad eyes toward Kagome. “Thank you for bringing my son out of his internal darkness.”

Hojo’s smile widened at the news. Kagome started to absentmindedly stroke the young boy’s hair.

The mother continued. “I will agree to a trial period. But I have one firm guideline…”

Kagome only nodded. “Yes, Higurashi-san. What do you wish?”

The older woman sat back, some of her tenseness seemed to evaporate. She took another deep breath. “You are to always be truthful with Souta. You look like his sister, but he needs to know that you are not her.”

“Yes, Higurashi-san.”

The mother smiled. “You may call me Kun-loon.” Mrs. Higurashi sighed. “Now we need to figure out where you may stay…”

Souta interrupted. “I know where you can stay! Come with me!” The young boy quickly got up and pulled on Kagome’s hand.

With a laugh, Kagome joined him as the young boy led her upstairs. “You can stay in sister’s room…”

Mrs. Higurashi sighed in resignation as she watched the young boy lead the new miko upstairs.

Everyone’s eyes followed the pair walking up the small staircase; it was only Inuyasha who felt the immediate need to follow the girl who seemed so lost.

As Inuyasha rounded the corner and saw what seemed to be a teenaged girl’s room festooned with pinks and yellows. Souta was already within the room, pulling Kagome around the room by her hand.

“This is her laptop,” he said while pointing to a small, white rectangular plastic object on a desk. “Here’s her closet…,” he added while pulling open a fairly large closet with shelving. “And here’s a picture of my sister and me…see you look the same…” The boy grabbed a picture frame and almost shoved the object into Kagome’s hands. He looked up at Kagome with a look of smug satisfaction; he wasn’t prepared for the way her face turned ashen white as she looked at the picture.

Inuyasha couldn’t see the actual picture, but he could see her hand tracing the glass frame, a look of sad bewilderment suffusing her features.

The little boy was not able to pick up on her mood, considering how buoyant he was becoming. “Oh and here is the bed,” the little boy ran to leap onto the pink covered bed, before he jumped up and down, a large smile blossoming on his face. Once he was done he hopped off the bed and pulled at Kagome’s hand again. But the girl wasn’t looking at him and only at the picture frame. “Could you…could you read to me? I’ll go get my book!”

The little boy didn’t wait to get an answer; he was too excited by his new guest. He quickly ran out of the room and bounded down the hallway.

Inuyasha took this as an opportunity to step into the room and to see the photo that had Kagome so tense and pensive.

The photo was bizarre; he grabbed it from her hands without asking and stared at the picture within the frame. If he didn’t know any better, he would have imagined it was a photo of Kagome. The girl looked just like her. A girl stood in the photo with miko’s robes, her arms around Souta. Both siblings had the same stormy grey eyes and raven black hair.

He shook his head. “It’s uncanny.”

For the first time since he arrived in her new quarters, she made eye contact with him. Her mercurial blue eyes were on the verge of tears. “She…she died three days ago…”

Kagome grabbed Inuyasha’s t-shirt, her eyes looking up at his confused violet eyes. “The same day you woke me up. Did we…did I…kill this girl when I awoke?”

“What?” A startled look overcame him. “What the fuck, Kagome? There’s no way you killed this girl. So what, she looks like you. It happens.” Suddenly a distant memory of looking at his own doppelganger popped into his mind. He was his human self, looking at his hanyou self dressed in red robes. He shook his head to get rid of the random thought before he continued. “You were sleeping. You woke up. How in the fuck could you have killed her, Kagome?” scoffed Inuyasha.

He then put the photo frame back on the desk. “It’s just a coincidence.”

However, despite his reassurances, the miko seemed unconvinced. She strolled over to the bed and pressed down on the mattress. She jumped back a little when she saw it spring back at her. Then she removed her slippers and attempted to stand on the bed.

“What are you doing?” questioned Inuyasha as the miko tried to balance herself on the bed.

The miko looked down at him and then at her feet, a look of puzzlement on her face. “I was just seeing how one used…what is this thing called again, Inuyasha?”

The violet-eyed teen only looked at Kagome with widened eyes. “You can’t tell me that you’ve never seen a western bed before?” he questioned as the girl took some small, timid bounces.

The miko turned to look at the pink bed under her feet. “Is that what it is called? This is actually rather fun,” she added before attempting to bounce again. Then a wide grin found its way across her face as she continued to jump up and down.

“Shit!” Inuyasha walked stiffly over to the bed and then pulled her down roughly against himself. “You’re not supposed to jump on it. It’ll destroy the mattress. Where the hell are you from anyway?”

He didn’t notice until that moment that Kagome was flush with his body, her soft, curvaceous frame pressed against his harder, angular body. Inuyasha took in a sudden breath and his eyes widened at their closeness. He found that he enjoyed having her right next to him. Instinctively he angled his head to get a better sniff of her scent near the pulse point of her neck when she gently pushed him away.

He noted that she was blushing and her eyes were confused as she looked up at him. Misery overcame her features again.

“I…I think that I’m going to need some time away from you, Inuyasha,” said Kagome as she stared at the floor.

“What? Why the fuck do you need to…?” Inuyasha’s words died suddenly as she looked at him with dejection. He remembered her words, ‘He looked like you, he talked like you, he had your name... But he died.’

Her lips quivered and she turned around, hugging herself as she gazed out the bedroom window. “I need to mourn,” she whispered. “For me, he died three days ago…” She motioned helplessly at the photo frame that was next to her bed. “…just like Kikyo.” She then turned to look at him and he noticed how quickly her eyes had become rimmed in red, tears threatening to spill. “I feel so raw and every time I see you…I see him and for a brief second I think he’s still alive. I can’t get over him when you are around.”

“Fuck! Kagome,” Inuyasha ran his hand through his hair, though his first inclination was to hold the sad miko in his arms. There was a tremor running through him that vibrated in his chest. It made him feel empty and adrift.

“I got it!” screamed Souta as he bounded back into the room. He held a large picture book in his hands and a winsome smile on his face.

Kagome drew in a sharp breath and wiped her face with her sleeves before the boy might question her tears. Fortunately, the young boy was too concerned with his book to truly notice what was around him.

Without a second thought he plopped himself onto the pink bed and opened up the hardcover. His excited eyes finally caught Kagome’s. “Please read to me. It’s my favorite story,” the young boy asked with pleading eyes. He paused before adding, “Sister used to read to me…”

The miko smiled, the very act erasing the sadness that had just been on her face. “Of course, little one.”

A twitch developed at Inuyasha’s eyebrow as he watched the miko sit next to the small boy, with a tender smile on her face. She looked at the picture book with puzzlement. Kagome seemed to be on the verge of ignoring Inuyasha before she glanced up at him with a worried look on her face.

“Ash…?” she murmured tentatively. “Could you help me…?”

He didn’t want to seem eager, so he huffed and then sank next to her on the bed with a childish pout. She pointed to some words on the page that were written in the Hiragana alphabet.

Kagome paused and then continued. “This looks like 'women's hand script.' But it isn’t quite the same. Could you read as I point?”

Souta looked between the two teenagers with a disgruntled look on his face. Inuyasha gritted his teeth together, but decided that he would rather have her asking him for help than pushing him away. Then with her hand guiding, he started to read the story of ‘Urashima Taro’ to Souta. Kagome quickly caught on and started to recognize some of the Hiragana characters. By the time he was almost done with the story, she had already started to finish his sentences for him.

A look of wonderment and gratitude beamed across Kagome’s face when the story was done. Inuyasha paused to look at the girl in confusion. The pit of his stomach seemed to have settled down, but then a bizarre fluttering was percolating inside of him. Suddenly, he couldn’t even speak.

“Thank you for helping me to read, Ash,” said the girl sincerely as she looked up at him. Inuyasha was suddenly lost in eyes of mercury. He could only stare at the girl in bewilderment and confusion.

It was Souta who managed to break his staring contest with the miko. “Can I show you around the shrine?” he asked plaintively.

Inuyasha only swallowed as Kagome’s smile faltered. It was almost as if she had just awakened from a trance. She shook her head and attempted to stand up. Then she bowed formally to Inuyasha.

The hanyou tried to not get angry. He wanted her to acknowledge him as something more than an acquaintance. He wasn’t too sure about what he wanted, but he didn’t want her bowing to him and being formal. It was actually starting to piss him off.

“That is a great idea, Souta!” said another voice from Kagome’s door. It was Hojo smiling serenely.

Inuyasha was startled to realize that he never even noticed the other hanyou arriving at her room. No one ever snuck up on him. Was he so beguiled by a mere miko that he couldn’t track who was around him?

The other hanyou sauntered in, his silken robes swishing as he walked. “I can take over from here, Ash,” said the man as he looked only at Kagome. He smiled and gestured to the girl to follow him outside of the room. The miko only blinked. “I can show her the grounds. She is in good hands here.”

Anger bubbled inside of Inuyasha again. He had to remind himself that his old friend from childhood was standing before him, because he had a sudden urge to throttle the boy.

The other teenaged boy only paused and seemed to be contemplating his words. “I need to train Kagome on her shrine duties. Souta, would you please help us?” asked Hojo as he held out a hand to the boy.

The young boy seemed eager to please. He nodded and held Hojo’s hand, before turning around and offering his other arm to Kagome.

The young miko paused, looking up at Inuyasha. She seemed about to say something. Her mouth open and closed before she hastily added, “I will see you some other time, Ash.”

Inuyasha crossed his arms in front of him and for the first time he missed the red robes he had been wearing. He liked tucking his arms into his sleeves, something he could not do with a t-shirt. He tried not to growl.

Gentle, stormy grey eyes looked up at his beseechingly. “I need to find my own place in this crazy world of yours, Ash.”

He didn’t want to respond to her. He felt like a rift was suddenly forming between them, as if she was being ripped from him. Deep inside he found an intense desire to please her; it was the only thing that kept him from hauling her ass away from the shrine and back to his apartment. He swallowed and then spoke. “I’ll bring your clothes on by tonight and see how you are doing.”

Kagome’s eyes wavered as she looked up at him. For a brief second she seemed undecided before a shy smile graced her face. “Until tonight,” she replied.

A jittery buzz, like a caffeine high, overtook him with her smile. Then it fell down just as quickly into a somber low as the miko joined hands again with Souta. The boy was walking between a Kannushi and a miko, his hands linking the party together, like a family.

A strange feeling overtook Inuyasha, some vague memory of a miko walking hand and hand with a young kannushi. The feeling made him feel nauseated, but he couldn’t understand where the memory had come from.

He was still staring at her door when the trio had finally left the house.

After a long day at Tokyo University, Inuyasha finally made it back to his apartment. Once he was past his front door, he almost wondered how he had gotten there. It was as if he had sleepwalked his way through the day. He really couldn’t recall the lectures he had attended or even if he had said anything to anyone on campus.

He ran his hand down his face. Since the moment he had left Kagome, all he had been thinking about was her. There was something unsettling about not having the miko with him, as if she was somehow in danger without him around. He couldn’t explain the feeling, but it was there and had him constantly worrying. Vague scenarios of her being hurt or attacked by unknown demons meandered through his mind, making him on edge.

He threw his backpack down and then made his way to his bedroom. His bed was neatly made and Kagome’s scent lingered in the room. He found himself smiling almost against his will. Then shaking his head he noticed that she had laid out his ‘robe of the fire rat’ on his futon.

He bent down, touching the rough spun fabric. He remembered missing the feel of the billowing sleeves to tuck in his arms earlier in the day. For some bizarre reason he was starting to dislike wearing jeans and t-shirts. He quickly changed into the clothing that Kagome had given him.

Even though the clothing had not been his, it fit like it was custom made. Then he reached for his sword, pushing it into the belt loop at his side.

He patted his sword that was sheathed at his side reassuringly. For only gaining the peculiar item three days ago, he somehow already felt like it was a part of his soul—something he should not let go of.

‘Like Kagome…’ The thought flittered through his mind, unbidden.

He shook his head and then started to put all of Kagome’s belongings into a duffle bag. The last thing he wanted to do was to go on another shopping spree, though in the back of his mind he realized that it wouldn’t bother him as long as he could keep an eye on her.

Soon all of her belongings, including some undergarments that he blushed over handling, were shoved into a bag. The item was then put outside of his front door, waiting for him to take it to the shrine that Kagome worked at after he got a small bite to eat.

He threw open his small fridge, grabbing a few sushi rolls which he slammed into his mouth. He was wandering around his kitchen, attempting to make his favorite dish, instant ramen, when he heard the front doorbell ring.

His invisible ears twitched on his head. He put his styrofoam soup bowl down, intending to get to it later.

There wasn’t anyone that he was expecting, but then Miroku had a habit of stopping on by without calling.

Upon opening the door he was immediately surprised to see Kagome standing there. At first he beamed a welcome surprise at her unexpected visit. But then a startled memory overtook him. The nightmare he had from last night, the one where Kagome had wrapped her hands around his neck, her hands morphing into sharpened blades that cut into his throat.

His smile quickly faded as he compared the two. Something had been off about the Kagome who had killed him in his dream. He stared at the miko in front of him who was smiling with a sardonic grin.

His eyes narrowed and he sniffed. Her scent was correct, but something deep inside of him was unsettled.

She stood passively in front of him, her inky black hair wavering in front of him like tentacles. Her eyes were somehow too black, her demeanor too rigid.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” asked the miko as she moved forward.

Actually, Inuyasha did not want to let her in, but he also wanted to move away from her. As she stepped forward, he stepped back. She smiled, moving into his apartment languidly. The door closed behind her, seemingly by its own volition.

Every muscle in Inuyasha’s body was pulled taut, his movements jerky, as he stepped backward, matching the girl’s pace. He didn’t want her in his apartment and now he was feeling like he was being backed into a corner. Soon they were in his small kitchen and he really didn’t have anywhere else to move.

The miko looked at him with a haughty smile. She slowly stepped toward him again. Her hands reached up to his neck, the move was too eerily familiar. He immediately grasped her hands in his own, holding them tight and away from his body.

Kagome lifted an eyebrow; she seemed a little confused by his behavior. “You’ve kissed me before, Inuyasha,” she said with measured words. A quick, unsure smile followed. “Why are you acting coy now?”

She pressed her body forward, breasts against his hands and Inuyasha found that he had no desire to kiss or even touch her. He didn’t know why, but instinct was screaming at him that this was not his Kagome. He grabbed her hands that were tightly in his grip and shoved her away. She fell backward, hitting a small kitchen table, items rattling and clattering to the ground.

She turned to look up at him and was no longer attempting to smile. “We could have done this the easy way...” When she turned to look up at him, her face started to change. Her long black hair became longer, slicker. Her face became androgynous before becoming the face of a snarling man with blackened eyes and a vengeful sneer.

Then the body exploded, dark grey tentacles pushing out from his torso, ripping the miko’s robes off his body. In his place was a quivering mass with a head of a man and the arms of an arachnid. A long blackened pincher shot out to slice Inuyasha’s head.

The hanyou quickly dropped to he floor, barely avoiding the sharp claws and then kicked his refrigerator so hard that it flew against the darkened mass. He noticed with satisfaction as the demon folded within itself like a marshmallow that had been pushed in as the metal object hit it.

However, it took only a few seconds for the darkened mass to reform itself and laugh at the startled hanyou.

“You think that would stop me?” a dark, malevolent voice screamed as a mass of tentacles flew at Inuyasha.

The half demon remembered what had happened the last time he had met an opponent just like this one. Even though he had managed to slice off a tentacle, the mass still managed to work independently of the main body and speared him in the gut. It nearly killed him because it was the night of a new moon. At least that weakness wasn’t rearing its ugly head tonight.

The hanyou twisted to avoid the oncoming salvo and without a thought he grabbed his sword, unsheathed it in one fluid motion and pointed it at the monster attacking him. The dull, metal sword shone dimly in the light of his apartment.

For a moment there was only stillness as the dark creature seemed to hold its breath. Then a slow, mocking grin found itself on his features. “You don’t know how to use the Tessaiga, do you Inuyasha?” The demon only chuckled lowly.

“How in the fuck do you know the name of my…?” Inuyasha yelled before realizing that this ‘thing’ knew more about what was going on than he did. “Fuck!!”

‘Now what am I supposed to say to make this thing work?’

Inuyasha leveled the Tessaiga at the demon and waved at it with a forward slashing down motion. “Wind Scar!”

For a brief second the misshapen demon in front of him flinched, before pulling back and laughing. His laugh was bitter and mocking. “You’ll never master that blade and you’re a poor substitute for the original owner of that sword. Which makes this easier for me…!”

With those words, a slew of tentacles erupted toward Inuyasha again, but he was in a tiny space. He dodged away from the kitchen sink, as pain erupted from his side, and wood and metal exploded at the onslaught next to him.

He pressed his hand against the dark red stain blossoming from his rib and tried to discard the pain. His sensitive nose and ears caught the steady hiss of gas leaking from the pipe near his sink. The attack had broken a gas line.

For the briefest of nanoseconds he only heard the slow whistle of the gas escaping and the eager laugh of a demon who was almost upon him. However, something within him was calling to him. It asked him to give in to instincts, to give in to the part of himself that had been deeply hidden and tucked away under recessive memories.

Calmness overrode his panic, his heartbeat slowed and he found his center.

Without a second thought, he turned on the lighter on his stove and leapt into his living room. Instinctively he tucked himself into a ball, drawing his sword in next to his body.

There was a brief delay before a large ball of fire exploded behind him in a huge explosion of sound. He had expected to be singed, but for some reason the erupting fire harmlessly bounced off his clothing. Something deep inside of him seemed to laugh at the idea of his fire rat robes burning, but he really didn’t know where the thought came from.

The creature that was at the epicenter of the gas explosion did not fare as well. Tentacles that had attempted to spear him were now charred husks. The main body of the creature was blackened with soot, its many arms turned into cinders.

The man’s face turned to Inuyasha. For a brief second the dog demon thought about gloating, but the icy sneer that met him stopped those thoughts from forming.

The blackened appendages simply fell on the floor, quivering. Then the misshapen demon seemed to take a deep breath; once the thing breathed out it expanded into a larger mass that filled his kitchen and part of his living room with wavering tentacles hovering in the air like a sea anemone.

‘Shit, the thing is like a hydra. Cut off an arm and many grow back in its place!’

Reflex drove him to use his Tessaiga to ward off the attacks, but the dull blade was almost ineffectual. The pot-marked katana only seemed to bounce off the rubber-like appendages. He would occasionally draw oily, black blood, but he was only causing surface wounds.

“Shit!” he sheathed his sword back at his side and listened to the call deep within him. His own claws sunk deep within his side wound, pulling blood in their wake, his claws dripping with his own life fluid.

“Blades of Blood!” he cried out as knives of blood sprang out from his hand, spearing the enemy in the gut and slicing off tentacles.

Inuyasha smirked for a moment, but then pain erupted from his stomach and sides. The appendages that had been cut off had attacked him from behind. He was surrounded.

Now the attacks came from all sides. As he attempted to stop one onslaught, another would attack from another direction and there was only one of him. He felt like he was drowning in a blackened mass of protrusions that kept on cutting and goring into him. He felt himself grow weary, life blood pouring out of him quicker than his demon blood could cure him, poison coursing through his veins with each attack, weakening him from within.

He almost wanted to give up, the pain was overwhelming and there was nothing left to attack with. The robe had given him some measure of protection against the fire, but the sword was a useless toy.

Glee filled the air and the monster seemed to be gloating in triumph. “You cannot last much longer, Inuyasha. And once I have you out of my way, Kagome will be next!”

All of the sudden, at the mention of her name, something deep inside of him woke up and panicked. No one should ever harm her, it seemed to say, no one could touch her, she was his to protect.

In his pain, he felt rather than heard the gentle thrum of a heartbeat. He should have been surprised that it was coming from the inanimate sword at his side, but in his diminished state such anomalies seemed entirely appropriate.

Inuyasha unsheathed the sword as he labored for breath, and miraculously the sword transformed into a glowing, large crescent moon. It pulsed and it seemed to have a life of its own. It wanted blood; it wanted the creature dead for trying to hurt what was under his protection.

He had a hard time remembering the next few seconds, but he did recall that this time when he swung the transformed sword downward and slashed across the demon attacking, that his words rung true and echoed like a gong. “Wind Scar!” he screamed one more time. This time a reverberation blasted from his sword, exploding across what was left of his apartment and charring the body in front of him into cinders.

When he looked up he saw the clear night sky, for there was no longer a roof over his head. He was dimly thankful that he was on the top story of the building, otherwise whoever was above him would have been killed. His senses came rushing back to him. He heard a dog howl, water pipes bursting and flowing, screams from below and the sounds of sirens in the distance.

He supposed that he should have stayed where he was, but an overriding panic stabbed at his heart. The thing was after Kagome next. She wasn’t safe!

With no thought to his own body or even to the rules his parents had instilled in him to keep his demonic heritage hidden, he took to the Tokyo skyline. Though his necklace hid his demonic features, it did not sequester his abilities. He leapt from one building to the next in the deep dark of the night, his heart a staccato beat in his veins, threatening to explode.

It seemed forever and a day before he made it to the shrine that Kagome was staying at. He saw the light on in her room on the second floor. He should have knocked at the front door, but he was too panicked to wait for formalities.

He slammed her bedroom window open and burst inside to see the girl pacing within her room.

His sudden entrance and appearance caused her to almost stumble in her maddened march. She drew a sharp breath.

All he could do was smile. She was safe. The thing hadn’t attacked her; she was well. It was that last thought that permeated his brain before he finally let the darkness swallow him whole and he collapsed on her bedroom floor.

The Next Chapter: Relations. It should be posted within a month.
Author's Notes:
#1: Absolute Anime lists Mrs. Higurashi’s name as ‘Kun-loon.’
#2: In Japan they do not usually have central heating. A home or an apartment usually has one or two portable gas or propane heaters. My brother’s apartment had a portable gas heater with a tube that was plugged in under his kitchen sink and then you had to move the heater to whatever room needed heating, a long tube following behind it wherever it went. It seemed like a recipe for disaster to me.
#3: Answers to your questions: Is Kikyo dead? Yes, Kikyo will stay dead. RIP… I won’t have her rise from the dead or anything. Is Kikyo a reincarnation of Kagome? Oh now that would be telling. ;-) You’ll only find out that answer at the end of this tale. As far as this ‘past/modern’ Inuyasha preference…please remember that the ‘past’ Inuyasha is ‘modern’ Inuyasha’s subconscious. Where is the Shikon jewel? Well, Kagome is still wearing it, but it’s not quite the same. Re-read chapter one where Kagome wakes up and looks at the jewel. How did Kagome sleep for so long? You’ll find out later, but I bet that you can figure it out with the clues you have been given. It’s not a big secret.
#4: I hope that you are starting to like modern Inuyasha a little better now. Keep in mind that he was also a jerk in the manga when he first met Kagome, but as we know, he did change.