Sensing the magic of Kagome’s approaching barrier, Kirara rose from her curled position with an inquisitive mew. Beside her before the fire, Kohaku glanced up at the miko as she stepped into view, dropping her own small radiant shield and recasting a larger version around their entire campsite.

“There’s a predator nearby,” she said as she sat down at the taijiya’s other side. “It’s probably just a wolf or a bear, but better to be safe than sorry.”

Kohaku nodded absently as Kagome sifted through her long, damp tresses. The spot over her collar where her hair had been resting had been soaked clean through, the curve of her breast showing through the clingy, transparent fabric of her haori. Catching Kohaku’s gaze lingering there, Kagome arched a critical brow, the taijiya reddening as he tore his eyes away.

“…I’ll go look for some more firewood,” he announced brusquely as he stood, trudging off into the trees.

Exchanging a significant glance with Kirara, Kagome tended to the roasting fish in his stead. As tough and composed as Kohaku endeavored to be, he was still just a teenager, at the mercy of his raging male hormones. While she’d felt compelled to check him on it, Kagome couldn’t help but feel a little flattered at the attention. How long had it been, since a man had openly admired her body?

Checking herself, the miko shook her head and focused on cooking dinner.

By the time Kohaku returned with an armful of branches, his cool slayer persona was back in place, and the fish was ready to eat. With Kagome’s barrier still faintly glowing around them, the three weary travelers said their goodnights not long after and settled down for sleep.

As Kagome drifted off at last, her restless mind continued to wander, down the twisted byways of dream and memory.

Two figures appeared on a faraway hill, their shadowy forms gathering substance as she slowly approached.

“No, Inuyasha.”

The hanyou flattened his ears. “Look, I’ll admit your nose is sharper than mine, okay? I just need to know if you smell anything suspicious that I might’ve missed.”

As Sesshoumaru continued to stare out over the formless distance, Inuyasha bared his fangs with a glare. “The dead keep piling up, and you got nothing to say? I’m only asking you, as my brother, to–“

“I said, no.”

“You bastard…” Inuyasha growled, wrenching the daiyoukai around by the shoulder. “The least you could do is say it to my face!”

Golden eyes cut sharply to him, narrowing. Kagome’s stomach sank in dread, her legs straining to make the seemingly endless climb.

“Inuyasha!” she exclaimed as she reached them at last, Sesshoumaru’s gaze sliding to her instead.

Following it, her husband roughly released his hold, shouldering her behind him. “Forget it,” he muttered fiercely as he steered her around. “Let’s go, Kagome…”

Down the hill, the night grass gave way to an evergreen forest. Drawing her closer, Inuyasha rested his right hand on the hilt of his sword.

“…What the hell is this place?” he asked through gritted fangs, as the gnarled pines groaned and swayed around them.

A pattering sound fell ahead of them, like rain. As they walked on, scarlet droplets pitted their hair and clothes, Kagome’s eyes lifting skyward in horror. Arrayed in the branches above them, a multitude of pale, butchered corpses hung, their watery blood dripping down, down, toward a thicket of total, inky darkness.

“The killing ground,” she breathed.

Cursing, Inuyasha released her as he drew Tessaiga, staring on in anguished fury. “Proof,” he seethed as he leapt forward, slashing his sword punishingly through the tangled, blackened branches. “I need proof, goddammit!”

“Wait!” Kagome cried as she sprinted after him. “Inuyasha, don’t leave me–don’t leave me!”

The wet crumbling ground gave way beneath her feet, and Kagome was sliding, careening helplessly into the heart of the abyssal grove. Blood splashed around her as she landed alone in the gory pool at the center. Screaming, she tried to rise, only to slip back down into the mire again and again–as a pair of virulent crimson eyes fixed upon her through the shadows…

“…Inuyasha!” she gasped desperately, tears spilling from her eyes. “Inuyasha!”

“Kagome-san! Kagome-san, wake up!”

She was shaking–someone was shaking her. Blearily, she looked up–even the moonlight seeming far too bright to her eyes. Slowly, painfully, Kohaku’s pale face materialized above her, his features etched with concern.

“Are you alright?” he asked as he helped draw her into a sitting position, Kirara’s soft purring muzzle nudging into her side.

Swiping a sleeve across her face, Kagome nodded stiffly, her raw eyes falling to the last glowing embers of the fire.

“It was only a nightmare,” she said.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi