Warnings: Semi-AU. If you don’t like Kikyou, don’t read this! Flames will be received with raised brows and choked laughter.

By K-chan

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Strands of white-blond hair gleamed silver in the moonlight streaming from the window, clinging to a young man’s face and neck, tempting, tempting her to quietly reach out and brush them back. The dark crescents of his eyelashes fluttered slightly in reaction to the unknown dreams haunting his subconscious. Small, pink lips parted in a sigh.

Silently, Kaname Saionji watched, enthralled, as her best friend slumbered. She began to wish Naoya would awaken, looking breathless and windswept as ever. He would tell her about his dream, golden-brown eyes dancing with excitement, as he crouched in front of her, legs neatly tucked beneath him. The blond would relay each detail rapidly as they came back to him, his voice still laden with sleep and delightfully rough.

Naoya’s pleasant face became almost scarlet in color, his breath hitching slightly.

Gray eyes widening, Kaname reconsidered her decision- no, no, no, she did not want to know what was going on in Naoya Kuugyou’s dirty little mind!

His arm swung over his chest, moving his hand into view. Despite knowing him for such a long time, tonight, as the moon made him look like some fallen angel, his hand looked alien to the dark-haired girl. His fingers were curled in, his… nails… slightly biting into his palm. Studying it with detachment, she recalled exactly how Naoya came to be laying on her couch cushions.

Kaname Saionji was a decent looking Japanese girl, except for the almost deathly pale color of her skin. She had gray eyes, and coal black hair swept into a low ponytail. She knew that she wasn’t ugly, per say, but she felt outclassed by some of the stunning beauties at Meio junior high.

Described by peers as ‘an ice queen’, the sorry truth of the matter was that Kaname was painfully shy and awkward. It seemed a mystery that this girl should have a best friend like Naoya Kuugyou. Such relaxed expressions his face now displayed... used to be a rarity... While the pugnacious teen seemed to have curbed his temper after befriending the polite girl… it seemed to an extremely pitiful extent…

The memory of their first encounter had been burned into the gray-eyed young woman’s mind forever… First year. Awkward relationships only beginning to develop in the adolescents. His first introduction to the class. His brow furrowed in anger and slight confusion, a foreboding frown on his lips, his fiery, almost liquid metal gaze sweeping the room, making enemies at first sight… Naoya had struck such a chord of sweet nostalgia; she had been lured in by an invisible force, not entirely unwilling… Choking down her fears, Kaname actually held a conversation with the blond. The topic was a blur, but it was enough to encourage him to speak with her on a daily basis, and by the years end, they had developed… a friendship.

It was now third year of junior high, nearing the dreaded graduation. To Kaname’s sister, who she lived with, Naoya had ceased having a gender… he was simply Naoya. Naoya The Brash-bordering-on-obscene, Naoya The A-bit-too-bold-for-his-own-good. Male or no. Pushy and very vocal about disliking his home life, the blond often spent the night on Kaname’s couch.

Not that she minded.

The white blond-haired boy shifted in his sleep, one muffled word escaping his lips- "Kikyou"

It was unreasonable, irrational- there was no explanation as to why her heart suddenly began to pound in her ears, why she felt as though a lighter had been placed beneath her face, immeasurable, indescribable happiness coursed through her veins...

He stirred restlessly, as if valiantly clawing back the forces of wakefulness. Slowly his eyes fluttered open, the pupils large and unfocused.

Her breath caught in her throat - his small rings of irises were almost completely gold.

Blinking twice, his eyes returned to a crisp brown as they focused on her as she sat up. "Kaname-chan?" he murmured drowsily, the sound quiet and like velvet rubbed the wrong way- not entirely unpleasant, yet not truly soft...

Who was tha- Oh, yes, right, she was Kaname now. "Hai, Naoya-kun?"

"Why're ya awake?" he slurred, blinking again.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Ah." There was a hefty silence between the pair as he shifted his eyes around the room, taking in his surroundings. She could tell it unnerved him how she remained so long without blinking, but sometimes she felt that is she wasn't watching, Naoya would simply vanish without a trace...

"I just had a weird-ass dream," he confessed, brushing short strands of silvery white out of his face.

She smirked, recalling his state of earlier. "I'll bet."

"It was almost... eerily familiar..." He closed his eyes, rubbing his hands over them as he sat up.

"Naturally- dreams are but figments of your subconscious. They're in your mind, whether you know it or not."

"...You were there...but you weren't... there was two of you, but neither of you was... quite you." Confusion and concern battled for control in Kaname's bright gray eyes. She stood shakily, and plopped down next to Naoya. "One was a reflection, opposite in almost every way, and the other was..." Her heart throbbed in her chest.

Please, Kami, Kaname prayed, Don't let it be a relapse...

"You looked so sad, as you stared at that other girl, the reflection, and you told her 'I will not give up this last piece of me- If I must, I will go to the next life on it alone.' and..." A shudder ran through his willowy frame, not quite hidden by the red nightshirt he wore. "There was a battle, and I couldn't protect both of you, Kaname!"

Though she felt a happy shiver when he spoke her name without suffix, she recognized that she was being silly- he never used them before, when...

Naoya looked slightly frantic, so Kaname simply leaned over and wrapped her arms around his thin frame. "It was just a nightmare." the dark-haired girl soothed as he sagged against her. His sharp breaths fanned against her neck, as she felt a flush growing on her pale cheeks.

"It felt so real." he curled a fist in her white nightgown, his other hand snaking around to press against the small of her back.

"It's over now." she reassured.

They held the position for a long while, until the first strokes of sunlight filtered through the window, highlighting Naoya's hair with a reddish tint. Sleepily, the blond disentangled himself from her, yawning and flopping backward with a satisfied grin. His eyes remained crinkled with happiness long after his smile faded. "Nn... going back to sleep..."

The dark-haired girl stood, a gentle, knowing smile curving her lips. Drooping eyelids fell shut, dark lashes resting on his cheeks in a pleased expression.

A voice older and more knowledgeable than the one she was currently using spoke, "Sleep well, my Inuyasha. The nightmare is over."