Crossing the forest with astonishing ease, the new group formed by Asahiko, Miroku, and Sango, the latter two riding Kirara, quickly arrives at where Shippo is.
Like the others before him, he was bound by roots, while his small face pours out a sea of tears, softening the hearts of those present.
"Naraku… He even did this to Shippo."
Perhaps awakening her older sister instincts, Sango approaches Shippo and gently strokes his brown hair, trying to calm him.
"That monster has no mercy, Sango. Now we can only imagine the nightmare Shippo is going through."
Placing his right hand on Sango's shoulder while shaking his head, incredibly Miroku restrains his usual wandering hands that always end up in the wrong places, before looking toward Asahiko who is playing with Kirara.
The small cat and the fox seem to get along really well, surprisingly, since they have had little to no interaction before.
"Ahem, it was… something irresistible."
"Kyu?"
"Yes, totally irresistible."
Stroking Kirara's soft golden fur, which almost reaches a cream color with black markings on her paws and tails, Asahiko confirms his sudden love for cats.
Well, perhaps that sudden love is because Kirara is the only… common pet? Yes, she is actually a Nekomata, but let's ignore that for the sake of mental stability.
"Asahiko, please."
"Alright, alright, it's not like I was stalling… I just got a little distracted. Grab my shoulders, one on each side, Miroku."
"Ahem… a small mistake."
Coughing several times into his hand, Miroku shamelessly moves away from Sango and grabs Asahiko's other shoulder, making the latter grimace at the excessive force.
But brushing that aside, since Asahiko is a superior being and won't fall for such childish provocation, if he is truly annoyed, he touches Shippo to enter his nightmare.
The forest does not disappear like the previous times, instead it becomes denser, with shadows crawling at the edges and eerie whistles sounding from time to time.
"G-guys… where are you!"
Raising their heads at the trembling voice spreading through the air, the trio plus the yokai cat quickly run in that direction. However, the world seems against them, with the forest rearranging itself, phantom voices from other directions, and even fleeting illusions.
"What is happening here? This has never happened before!"
Striking a blurry shadow with a talisman taken from his robe, Miroku steps back when he notices how ineffective it is.
"Stay calm and focus on the fight, Your Excellence. This must be another dirty trick from Naraku!"
Cutting down a shadow with her secondary weapon, a short sword, Sango moves aside upon hearing the warning from behind her.
That warning came from Asahiko, who with a single swing of Clouded Fang opens a straight path through the forest, creating a route toward Shippo's distant voice.
"How much did you eat to be so charged, Souga?"
[It's not about quantity, but quality, little fox. The same reason I agreed not to kill humans, remember?]
"Oh, it's—"
[Besides, you should thank me, since thanks to me absorbing a large portion of your negative emotions, you're not acting like the first time you came out of your nightmare]
"Sure, thanks. Tsk, proud dragon."
Cutting the mental link connecting him to Souga, while imagining a dragon with its head held high in excessive pride, Asahiko sighs and returns to reality.
There, in reality, they had already reached Shippo, who lay on the ground with tears in his eyes, though fortunately Sango had already taken care of the situation.
"Welcome back to reality, Asahiko!"
"Why do you have your hand on my shoulder?"
"Hahaha, nothing, nothing. But we'd better hurry, Miss Kagome is still out there alone…"
Dodging the question while shifting the topic, Miroku glances one last time at Clouded Fang before heading to speak with Sango and Shippo, who are still on the ground.
[That monk… I think he has managed to sense my presence]
"It's not exactly difficult with how fat you are, Souga. So shut up already."
[Wait I have something impor—]
Silencing Souga once again, who seemed about to say something, Asahiko approaches the group as he sees them finally ready to leave this nightmare.
"Sniff… I, I… thought I had lost you, guys."
"There, there, Shippo. We're all here now, even Asahiko, though I don't know how much that helps."
"I remind you that I did 95% of all the work, miss. Ew, don't come near me with all that snot."
Smacking Shippo with a handkerchief pulled from somewhere mysterious, Asahiko also teases Sango, knowing she is obviously speaking from an emotional standpoint, before opening a door in front of them.
"Y-you were real!"
"Of course we are, do you think an illusion could be as handsome as me, Shippo?"
"Uh… that's not very hard, Miroku."
"Perhaps we should leave him here, a bit of respect toward adults wouldn't hurt."
Nodding slowly several times, Miroku seems ready to carry out his plan, but is stopped by Sango.
"Stop joking, Your Excellence. Unless, of course… you want to be kicked."
"Kicked? Who se— Wait, Asahiko, I'm going!"
"Tsk, what a shame."
Grabbing Shippo's small head, who had no idea what was happening, Asahiko tosses him through the door with a flick of his wrist, leaving only Sango and Kirara behind.
"I can do it myself, right Kirara?"
"Kyu?"
"Of course, but I don't see you moving those little paws."
"I'm going!"
Watching Sango jump through the door without looking back, with Kirara in her arms, Asahiko simply shakes his head as his mood improves a bit more, before following them outside.
…Elsewhere…
Walking through the eerie forest, named as such by herself in her mind, Kagome Higurashi, just Kagome to her friends, advances with an arrow in hand as her weapon.
That was more than enough to protect herself from the small roots trying to grab her, which in reality seem to want to guide her somewhere rather than harm her.
"Ahhh, stay away, stay away!"
Poking a poor root several times until it retreats dragging itself away, Kagome puffs her chest proudly and punches the air with a victorious smile, before looking around with her brown eyes.
There was nothing, only half-withered trees, thick fog crawling along the ground, and the occasional root acting threatening.
"If you look at them like this, they're even cute. Ahh, what are you saying, Kagome! Because of them you got lost, they're not cute… Haa, I'm fine now!"
Stopping herself from pulling her own black hair, Kagome regains her optimism in a strange way and puts on a determined expression, all while holding an arrow as a weapon.
Luckily for her, since that arrow is not very useful for self-defense, a white flying creature with red eyes glides across the edge of her vision, catching her attention and prompting her to chase it without hesitation.
This is because the creature is a shikigami, more specifically one of Kikyo's, whom they had come to find… with mixed results, to be honest.
"Wait, wait for me! Ugh, malformed eel… I'm going to smash you when I catch you."
Panting from the sudden run, Kagome takes several breaths despite the burning in her lungs and keeps going, finally escaping the forest into a clearing in the middle of it.
There was Kikyo, receiving the souls brought by her shikigami, since while she was with Naraku he had taken them from her to make her more controllable, but something was strange.
Her expression was dark, as if a storm cloud spread across her features, while a cold atmosphere emanated from her despite the souls making her more "human."
"I finally found you, Kikyo! Everyone— Ah!"
Avoiding the arrow shot by the priestess by pure instinct or perhaps luck, Kagome watches as it embeds itself into the ground and looks at Kikyo trembling.
"Everything… it's always your fault! Inuyasha, Asahiko… everything!"
"What are you talking about? Inuyasha still loves you, it's obvious to everyone who knows him!"
"Lies!"
Releasing two arrows in quick succession from her longbow, Kikyo tries to corner Kagome, but the latter hides behind a tree right at the edge between the clearing and the forest.
Hidden for now, Kagome, still shocked by the situation, finally notices something strange and peeks out from behind the tree for a few seconds, just to confirm her instincts.
"A shard… You have a shard of the jewel embedded in you, Kikyo!"
"So what about it? Heh, do you think my actions are being controlled by that shard? Then watch closely, Kagome!"
"You…"
Watching in shock as Kikyo removes the shard from her body, before purifying it from a dark purple into a lighter pink, though still stained with shadows, Kagome is left speechless.
Of course, this is mainly due to Kikyo's extreme action, but also because the shard was not completely purified, making it clear that it is indeed affecting her.
"N-no, look closely… that shard—"
"Enough! Just die already!"
Releasing several arrows that seem guided by divine hand, literally curving around the tree and heading straight toward the one hiding behind it, Kikyo does not change her expression.
That terrifies Kagome, both the sudden calm and the arrows, but her sixth sense activates again and she runs into the forest, trying to lose herself in its depths.