Disclaimer: Let's pray together so that Takahashi Rumiko gives away her ownership of Inuyasha's characters.

AN: Sorry, for the long delay. I know I suppose to post this fic a long time ago but my friend who beta-read this story was busy. And once again, my computer decided to rebel against me. I believe that thing has a grudge against me..

The first thing she noticed when consciousness was brought back to her was that her body hurts everywhere, especially her wrist and the back of her neck. That's weird. Sometimes her neck would be stiff when she slept on a wrong pillow but she never remembered that her wrists endured the same problem with her neck. And she knew very well that her room never smelled putrid like the room she was in now. The dust that was never present in her room now filled her lungs whenever she tried to take a deep breath. Yep, she was definitely not in her squeaky clean room. But where?

Kikyou let out a small whimper, her teeth chattering. The room was cold. She opened her eyes and tried to focus. All she could see was gray and it has nothing to do with her blurry eyes. She sighed and closed them again, willing her body to wholly accept the world of conscious. She felt tired and pathetic. She really hated herself for feeling vulnerable like this and it happened every morning.

"You're awake." A question that sounded more like a statement made Kikyou's eyes snapped open. Whoever saw her in a vulnerable state she was in wasn't going to see another day. But then again .

"Onigumo." Kikyou calmly muttered. She already gained the lost control of her emotion. And once she fully woke up, all the memories rushed back to her. Now she knew why her neck hurt so much, and the wrist . She tried to move her hands but found them tightly tied behind her back. That's explained her question. She sat up and her eyes, blurry as it was, scanned the room to find the unmistakable villain. She found him sitting leisurely on a wooden box, examining her from head to toe.

"My name is Naraku. I'm not the lowly thief you know as Onigumo." His voice sharp.

"What do you want?" Kikyou didn't show any sign of fear although the place was very creepy. They were in a big old storage room. There were big wooden boxes piled on the side and a few scattered on the floor. There was a window too but it was high, near the ceiling. There were no lights aside the moonlight that shone through it. The place looked a lot like a villain's hideout in old American movies. The hideout where the villain would shoot the victim and leave the bloody carcass to be found by the police the next morning. Or months later if the place was an abandoned building.

Will Onigumo do that to her?

"How nostalgic. I remember the 'event' at six grades." He eyed her with a slight interest. "You didn't show any sign of fear like you're doing now."

"So you really are Onigumo. I thought Kagome's punch made you forget your memories since you nicknamed yourself Naraku."

Naraku narrowed his eyes. He jumped from the box he was sitting on and walked to Kikyou in a calm, arrogance stride. He kneeled in front of her and took her chin between his thumb and index finger. Kikyou looked at him with a challenging stare.

"I told you that I'm not that lowly thief. You have a brain, use it well."

Naraku chuckled. The other him was completely obsessed with the girl but he never shared the same weakness. However fate favored him more since the girl was under his mercy now. Ridding her would make the lowly thief disappear forever. Kagewaki was never being the dominant one so he never gave him any attention. Finally the body would be his.

"I really wonder why Onigumo was so engrossed with you." He caressed Kikyou's cheek with the back of his hand. "But I prefer to rid you from existence. The faster the better."

Kikyou mentally raised an eyebrow. This guy, he speaks like Naraku and Onigumo are two different people. Kikyou didn't put much thought about it but his personality seemed to change. And she thought he wouldn't become nastier after the sudden change because of the fire.

As she was thinking, Naraku kept going and going on with his threat. Kikyou blanked.

"Have you finished talking? I need to be at home right now." She said boredly. Naraku's hand crept to her neck and squished. Kikyou choked a bit.

"Don't underestimate me." There was a predator glint in his eyes. "I would love to leave you to the hand of a serial killer or a bunch of useless obnoxious fool who knew nothing but girls and rape."

Kikyou's eyes widen a bit.

"But I prefer to kill YOU myself." As he said this, his other hand joined the first and together they started to squish the life out of Kikyou.

Kikyou's eyes watered. She tried to wriggle out of his grasp but found it impossible. Her lungs protested for the sudden loss of air and the pain on her neck tripled. Her eyes started to see dots when suddenly the hands tensed and released her. Kikyou fell to the floor and gladly sucked a lungful of air even if the dusts tickle her nose. She coughed but the sudden scream from her captor made her take a glance at Onigumo.

And scooted away from him.

Naraku was holding his head like it's in intensive pain and yelling out, "Don't wake up." He even slapped himself only to know that it didn't help. He fell to the floor groaning and gasping out for breath.

"Ki . Kikyou." He said between gasp, looking up at her with plead in his eyes. "Kikyou."

Kikyou wondered briefly if she should run away from here fast or watch a little longer to answer her unvoiced question. What in the world happened to him? The former option was more tempting but she found that her legs weren't obeying her. So she sat still and watched her captor trashing and screaming on the floor like a lunatic.

After a long five minutes, the screaming died down. Naraku had gone still and Kikyou hoped he won't wake up anytime soon. Against her logic and common sense, she stood and walked to the fallen figure and kicked it softly, turning him so she could see his face.

"Hey, are you dead?"

A soft groan answered her. Kikyou quickly jumped back, wishing she hadn't done that. Onigumo had started to wake up. Eyes searching for an escape route, she didn't realize Onigumo had already opened his eyes. Bewilderment was the right word for something in his eyes before it changed into recognition when he caught the only other occupant of the room and asked.

"Kikyou?" He muttered disorient. "What is this place? Why are we here?"

That's what she wanted to ask him.

First Kiss

Chapter 12: Calm Before Storm By: Lafine

"And after that, he untied me and took me home." Kikyou finished her explanation. Around him, Kagome, Inuyasha and Miroku stared with wide eyes at her. They were in the back of the school again, in the same place where they discussed about Naraku yesterday.

After a moment of shock, Inuyasha shook his head. "Just like that? He let go of you like that?"

Kikyou sent him an annoyed scowl, "Are you disappointed that he didn't do anything to me?"

"Of course not." Inuyasha defended. "But it's so unlike Naraku to do something like that."

Kagome nodded in agreement. "When we met him, he acted like a totally different person. Imagine, he GREETED us and SMILED at us, INNOCENTLY. That is so NOT Onigumo. What's wrong with the guy? He's making me creep more."

Kikyou sighed. "Well, I have an idea about that. I'm not sure for 100 percent though."

The other looked at her expectantly, only Inuyasha and Kagome, Miroku looked bored with the conversation. Right now, he's watching the school's dog got petted by the passing female student. The dog, obviously male, stuck his head under the girl's skirt. Miroku pouted in envy.

"Do you remember when he's in kindergarten, Kagome?" Kikyou asked.

Kagome "Hmm"ed for a minute before shook her head. "No, was he in the same class with us?"

"He was." Kagome looked thoughtful again, trying very hard to remember before gave up in defeat. "No I can't remember."

"Then do you remember about our classmate whose house was burned down?"

Kagome shook her head again. What's Kikyou getting at?

"Stop asking irrelevant questions and tell us already." Inuyasha said in irritation.

"Fine, I think he suffers multiple personality disorder." Kikyou said it blatantly, like it's just an everyday occurrence.

Three pairs of eyes stared at her in disbelief. Kikyou shrugged. "I believe he has three different personalities."

"You mean, like Dr. Jeckyl and Hyde?" At last, Miroku contributed something to the conversation. Kikyou nodded.

"Like hell, are you sure?" Inuyasha was definitely unconvinced with the answer Kikyou gave. "How do you know? He probably was acting."

Kagome was the only one of the three who thought about it more carefully before it dawned on her. "So that's why he acted so different. Onigumo is a different personality from Naraku."

"But he's all goody good now. From you guys' description of 'Onigumo' I know he wouldn't do something like that either." Inuyasha snorted.

"Yes, you're right. He's not Onigumo." Kikyou confirmed. "The goody good one is Kagewaki."

Inuyasha had a really hard time to accept that, but he remembered this morning when Naraku greeted him in the hallway in a manner that practically screamed 'friendly'. Naraku even gave him a SINCERE smile. Inuyasha shuddered at the memory.

"I know it's hard to believe." Kikyou said. In the background Inuyasha screamed 'Hell yeah.' "But right now, he's neither Onigumo nor Naraku, so I think we shouldn't act hostile to him."

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE." Inuyasha and Kagome showed the same refusal at Kikyou's little speech.

"Why?"

"You ask why? Kikyou, he almost raped you and yesterday he just kidnapped you. Are you crazy?!" Kagome said in absolute vehement.

"But he's not Onigumo or Naraku now. He won't do that." Kikyou said calmly, feeling a bit insulted by the accusation. She only wanted to give him a second chance. What's so wrong with that?

"You can't be sure when it's about him. He's nastier and slimier than an eel, frog and snake put together." Inuyasha shook his head. "No, we can't trust him. I can't trust him. We better watch him carefully. I know he'll drop the act when we're not careful."

"For once, I agree with Inuyasha." Kagome added. It's hard to believe that Onigumo has another two alter egos but it was harder to believe that her friend, the one who always got targeted by him could forgive him that easily.

Kikyou sighed. "Hatred and suspicion brought nothing but trouble." She rose from her seat and walked away, feeling that the conversation would lead to an argument she didn't wished. It would be best for everyone to stop it now. "Come now, the recess time is almost over."

"Better safe than sorry." Inuyasha mumbled as he, Kagome and Miroku followed Kikyou.

Kagome couldn't agree more.

~*~*~*~*~*

"And so, that's what you miss today." Miroku said, as he finished narrating the story to Sango. She was bedridden because her flu had escalated into a high fever when she came home yesterday's night. No thanks to the little adventure in Onigumo's house. Kikyou had to go to her part- time job with Inuyasha and Kagome guarding her like a watch dog so Miroku was the one they sent to tell the story to Sango.

Sango didn't like it though. So much for a grope-free day for her.

Miroku ignored the stare full of suspicion thrown to him by Sango. He sat on the chair beside Sango's bed. Kirara, Sango's cat, took her place beside Sango's pillow, looking serene but ready to attack the human that loved to molest her master at moments unnoticed. Why her master allowed the molester to come again was always in her mind.

"Sango, are you serious about the bet?" Miroku asked nonchalantly. He was browsing through her collection of manga, clearly telling Sango that she would have to endure another hour of chit-chat with him.

Sango's head was still spinning and she wanted to sleep, dearly, but she didn't dare to sleep in the same room where Miroku was in. She didn't catch much at the story, but from what she managed to comprehend she knew that Onigumo isn't dangerous . for now. 'What was he asking again?' Sango thought in her fuzzy mind as she watched Miroku from the corner of her eyes.

Miroku asked the question again, realizing that Sango hadn't heard him for the first time. He really needed to know the answer. He hated to sound desperate but his feeling for her is serious. The problem is how can he show it to the stubborn, strong girl?

"Yeah, I was serious." Sango answered weakly, not catching the genuine happy look on Miroku's face. The roof started to circle around her head. 'Damn it, Miroku. Just go and let me sleep.'

She was surprised when a cold, wet cloth was placed on her forehead. She looked up dazedly at Miroku.

"Wha?"

"Just sleep, Sango. I won't do anything to you." He started to stroke her head soothingly.

Sango was tempted to retort at the statement but she felt too tired and somehow she felt that he meant it this time. And she felt comforted with the way his firm but gentle fingers ran through her silky hair . eww she sounded like a lovesick girl. Maybe she caught SARS, not just an ordinary flu.

Miroku smiled as Sango fell into slumber. He continued stroking her head for some time before he decided that Sango didn't need any disturbance.

"Get well." He whispered to her ears.

Kirara scratched him on his nose. Miroku looked at the furious cat with hurtful eyes, protecting his poor defenseless nose with his hand.

"I wasn't trying to grope her." He whined to the cat but Kirara didn't understand. Miroku yelped as Kirara jumped to attack him. He ran from Sango's room with Kirara hot on his trail. "I swear, I didn't try to grope her, Kirara."

Kohaku sweat dropped as he watched his sister's friend being chased by Kirara. Kirara was only a small, harmless cat but with the way Miroku was acting it seemed like Kirara was a rabid wild cat.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So x log x . m equals to x log x plus x log m. Just enter the number to these formula and you'll get the answer." Kagome explained.

She was in her room with Inuyasha, giving him the promised lecture. They were sitting across each other with the low table separating them. Her mother told Inuyasha to move a small table to Kagome's room when Kagome said she will teach Inuyasha for mid semester exams. In fact she looked ecstatic.

Inuyasha's amber golden eyes were staring blankly at her. Kagome was tempted to gouge his eyes out when Inuyasha didn't even acknowledge her waving her hand in front of his face. She patted his cheek, effectively cutting him from whatever thought he had.

"What are you doing?" He sputtered in shock. Kagome sent an annoyed glare at him.

"You were daydreaming when I explained. Someone's got to get you out of your dream world." She explained dryly. "What were you thinking about anyway?"

"Naraku."

The short answer explained everything to Kagome. She was thinking about him too. The theory Kikyou had given them this morning was far from everything she suspected. She wasn't completely convinced by the theory and she knew Inuyasha refused it with all of his might. Onigumo, Naraku or Kagewaki. She didn't know what to call him anymore, although Kikyou said he was Kagewaki now.

He came back only for two days and already he made her life turn upside down.

Correction, her life had been turned upside down when she had that initial accident with Inuyasha.

"It's confusing, huh?" Kagome mumbled. "Whenever it's real or not."

"Yeah. I really don't trust it but when I think about it, it makes sense." Inuyasha caught on with Kagome's mind fast. He was also thinking about the same thing. Whether Naraku really has a personality disorder or not. "He acted differently, spoke differently and he treated people differently too."

"Yes, he even made friends today."

Inuyasha looked at Kagome inquisitively. "I saw him when I was on my way to canteen. He was talking with some guys I know and they're not villain material."

"So do you think he really has three personalities?"

"I don't know. We should observe him more." Gloom was accumulating inside the room. It could suffocate the people inside. "Well, since thinking of this only makes us get a headache, let's move to the Math."

Inuyasha was startled as the dark aura inside the room was move away by Kagome's smile. He welcomed it anyway but he couldn't help but to pout.

"It's almost 11.00 pm, Kagome. Let's finish it tomorrow."

"No. We have to finish this subject so we can learn the other tomorrow." Kagome said sternly.

"Cruel girl." Inuyasha muttered. Kagome raised an eyebrow.

"What did you say, Inuyasha?" She asked sweetly.

"I said, CUTE girl. Let's continue then, teacher." Inuyasha pretended to busy himself with his notes, completely missing the slight blush appearing on Kagome's face.

Kagome cooled down easily and said, "That's my student. Now work on question number 25 to 30 before we start on another formula. We might finish at 12.00 pm if you're fast."

Inuyasha groaned loudly while Kagome laughed. "It's not that bad."

"Yes, it is."

They went through the textbook and note, occasionally Kagome taught Inuyasha when he didn't understand. And sometimes he taught her when she didn't understand. Kagome was amazed on how quickly Inuyasha understand the concept even when she's struggling with it. Inuyasha was smarter than he acted.

"Tomorrow we will study History so read your books, okay, Inuyasha." Kagome stated when the clock showed 12.30 am. It was tiring but they had tackled the scariest subject so she was happy with the accomplishment. "Hey, Inuyasha."

Kagome stood and leaned over the table when Inuyasha didn't answer. He had lain on the floor since ten minutes ago and didn't speak anything since then. Kagome now knew why.

Inuyasha was sleeping.

'Poor guy, he must be tired.' Kagome took a spare blanket from her closet. She had tried to wake him but he sleeps like a rock. His sleeping face was too cute to Kagome so she didn't resort to kicking him awake. She spread the blanket over Inuyasha's body and tucked it under his chin. She giggled when Inuyasha snuggled to it. So he did have a cute side.

She turned off the lamp and snuggled under her bed. In her softest voice she muttered,

"Nice dream, Inuyasha."

End

AN: I've decided to put more fluffy scenes to the story, if you don't agree, say that in your review. If you agree, also say that in your review ^^ Also I need someone as a beta-reader. My friend is busy with her study and I don't want to burden her anymore. If any of you have time for it, please tell me in your review.

Omake

Kagome tossed again on her bed. Trying really, REALLY hard to ignore the voice and fall into sleep. But she just can't!!

She buried her head under her blanket and held her pillow against her head to tune out the voice. It didn't work. She tried to hum but her hum was override by THE voice. She really needed to sleep.

The voice died down. Kagome's ears perked when the silence came. Ah finally peace. No longer than two minutes, THE voice started again.

In stress, Kagome threw her pillow to the sleeping Inuyasha. Surprisingly he didn't wake up.

"Stop your snoring, dog boy."

Inuyasha stopped to Kagome's delight, however a minute later .

SNOREEEEE

Aagghhhh!!!

End ^^