InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Haunted ❯ Preparations ( Chapter 16 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

AN: I was thinking about the plot of this story, and suddenly I realized it was freakishly similar to Garth Nix's Abhorsen Trilogy. I mean, Abhorsen and Lirael. Weird how things can subconsciously influence what you do and write, isn't it? Huh. I think I'll have to change a few things as I go…
 
And so I continue with the responses (thanks 'specially to those who reviewed, as usual!):
 
Auxana: Thank you! I do try to keep the story very multi-layered and all, so I'm glad that you think that it is! Hmmm… Miroku's sutras. That's an interesting idea. And YES, the beads are the source of the spell, so that where it's gotta be attacked from, I think.
 
NewSalemWitch: Yay! Someone noticed the redoing of chapter one! I'm glad that you like it, I was really trying to make it longer, but it's still quite dinky. Well, really, really dinky. And my heads already so swollen (hehe) that I'm quite surprised that I can hold it up now! (Not really, or at least I hope not) Hojo? Hm. I was thinking about it… I'd like to see how mad I can get Inuyasha without giving him a stroke/ aneurism/ hernia… He'll be popping up somewhere. And I totally know where you're coming from. I have so much crap that I should be doing right now (notes, math, piano-got a recital in three weeks!) that it's not even funny. Sadly -pathetically- I'm going out ostrich-style, with my head in the sand. Kudos to you for actually doing the work! (In comparison to me, who is being horrible and will probably end up with a poor grade for the quarter. But man do I feel bad now about that.)
 
FFchick: Here's the update, as requested! Yeah, I would find it really weird to be stuck to someone like that. Fortunately for the both of them, it wasn't for more than a day, or even half a day. I mean, I had this image of Kagome trying to take a shower, with Inuyasha blindfolded on the other side of the curtain. Not good, at all. And how would she get her clothes on after? Her hand's stuck to his; her shirtsleeve wouldn't work out well with the situation… So I'm glad I didn't go onto this whole thing where they were stuck together, specifically for that reason.
 
Tiamath: Well, we'll see what Miroku comes up with, won't we? (Insert evil laughter here) I really think that at this point tangibility is a necessity for just the reason that you specified (people trying to give hugs and bad things resulting.) Hm. I wonder if I'd be charged for the psychiatrist's bill. (Wow I spelled "psychiatrist" right!) Was the chapter really longer? I guess they just started stretching out a little… watch the ones at the end be thirty pages… not really, though. I'd stop and make a new chapter before then.
 
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Haunted
 
Chapter Sixteen: Preparations
 
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"Miroku…." Inuyasha complained. "Aren't you done with your little look-see yet?" His grey-clad arms were folded irritably across his chest. Miroku stepped back and nodded.
 
"The spell seems to be very powerful," he acknowledged. "I don't think that I can break it, but a spell should neutralize it, if done correctly." He glanced at Kagome, who was trying to pick up a newspaper from the ground and failing miserably.
 
"Darn it!" The black-haired girl exclaimed in frustration. "It keeps slipping through my hands!" Literally. Her hands weren't substantial enough to pick up the paper, light as it was. She sighed in defeat and stood up. "You know," she said to Inuyasha. "This sucks. I'm too heavy to float around like you can, but I can't pick anything up either."
 
He snorted in response. "It's not fun in the first place." The poltergeist stated matter-of-factly. "So, Miroku." He turned back to the unofficial holy man. "You said you could temporarily counter the spell." Inuyasha examined him with scrutiny. "So do it. I don't wanna be like this any longer than I have to."
 
"Oh, well I can't do it." Miroku shrugged. Inuyasha stared at him, agape, and Kagome turned her head towards him with alarm. "It won't be me who's going to perform the spell," the black-haired man continued smoothly. "Kagome will be the one doing that." The black-haired girl looked at him, agape.
 
"I am?" She asked and tucked a stray strand of black hair behind one ghostly ear. "But I don't know anything about spells and anything like that." Her smile wavered, unsure.
 
"What sort of shrine maiden are you?" Inuyasha asked brazenly. "Your type are supposed to know all about that sort of stuff." Kagome turned to him angrily.
 
"Well, excuse me! I was busy doing other things, like school!" Kagome huffed. "I didn't need to know about spells and stuff!" In fact, she hadn't even believed in the stuff until she'd met Inuyasha, and then there was still doubt. But what little doubt left had been shattered after Shippo was revealed and Miroku had shown off his spells.
 
"Huh." The hanyou sniffed, a fuzzy white ear flicking in annoyance. Kagome shook her head. Whatever… Miroku ignored the small argument and continued to explain himself.
 
"Kagome, I will show you how to do the spell and perform parts of it myself. All I need you to do is to use your own spiritual powers." He smiled rather grimly. "Much as I hate to admit it, my own powers aren't enough to counter-effect the spell laid on you and Inuyasha."
 
"But am I strong enough?" Kagome questioned. "Inuyasha's spell has lasted for centuries. Are you sure that I can do something strong enough to ward it off?" Miroku thought for a moment before answering.
 
"Well, you'll have to do two, remember?" He corrected. "One for yourself, one for Inuyasha. Of course, those spells won't have to be as strong as if there were two spells laid down, because you've only absorbed half of the spell, leaving Inuyasha with half as well."
 
"But it'd still be easier if I just did one big spell, wouldn't it?" Kagome asked with a sinking feeling. As far as she could remember, she'd never had to use these so-called powers of hers. For her, they merely existed as a small handful of pink sparks. Surely that wasn't enough to counteract a spell laid down by such a powerful priestess?
 
"That's true," the black-haired man admitted. "And actually, if just one of you absorbed the spell, it might work to your advantage…" He glanced between the pair with solemn purple eyes.
 
"I'll take it," Both Kagome and Inuyasha said, simultaneously. "No, I will!" They chorused. There was a moment while they just glared at each other in an unseen battle of wills, then Kagome broke the silence.
 
"Inuyasha, it'd be better if I took it. What if Kagura attacked again, or something? She's come here twice, so it seems likely that she'll be back again. I would be useless in a fight, but not you. It makes more sense."
 
Reluctantly, Inuyasha nodded in agreement. Her logic was pretty much impeccable. "Fine," the poltergeist said finally grudgingly and held out his hand. Miroku interrupted hastily.
 
"Kagome, you have to lay the spell first. I'm not sure if you'd be able to as a poltergeist." The purple-eyed man informed the two of them. Kagome pulled back and looked at him with expectant dark grey eyes. "So, shall we begin?" He asked.
 
"No time like the present," Kagome quoted with a sigh. Looking up from his game, Shippo leaped for the exit and landed on Miroku's shoulder.
 
"Can I watch?" He asked eagerly. "I've never seen a spell made from scratch." The kitsune explained. "All I've ever had to do is renew the one that I have." In fact, he was wearing it at that moment, in order to get used to it again before Kagome's friends came.
 
Without saying anything, Inuyasha was suddenly standing next to Kagome as the little entourage walked up to Miroku's room to grab some paint and parchment.
 
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"Hello?" Mrs. Higurashi picked up the phone, standing in the living room as she glanced distractedly at the kitchen doorway. She was hoping that the water she was boiling wouldn't overflow any time soon…
 
"Hello, Umeko!" A warm masculine voice greeted from the other end of the line. "How are things?" Mrs. Higurashi's face broke into a wide smile.
 
"Yasuo!" The black-haired woman's laughter was bubbly and cheerful. "Oh, everything's wonderful! Thank you for calling. It's been years, hasn't it?" The masculine voice agreed. "How are you?" She all but forgot about the water on the stove as she listened raptly to her relative.
 
"Oh, I am quite well." Yasuo's voice was grave as he answered solemnly. "I wish I could say that I was calling out of sheer good will, however," he sighed heavily and Mrs. Higurashi's cheerful expression dimmed.
 
"What's wrong?" Dread was curling about her stomach, making her feel ill. "Has something happened?" She twisted the creamy white of the phone cord around her fingers, her expression troubled.
 
"Everything's going to be okay, they tell us," The black-haired woman smiled nervously, oblivious to the pot of water that was in the process of wreaking havoc upon the stove at the moment. "But Yuri's caught a bad bout of flu, or something. At first, we thought that it was food poisoning, but after a few days, we knew that something was very wrong." Mrs. Higurashi nodded quickly, her fingers still caught up in the cord. "And at first they told us that it was Lymphoma-" Mrs. Higurashi gave out a choked gasp. "-but then they said that they're wrong. They say Hepatitis A." Mrs. Higurashi winced.
 
"But she'll be all right, you said?" She confirmed quickly. "It can be cured, of course." The stove bubbled and hissed behind her, but Mrs. Higurashi's ears were deaf to every and anything but Yasuo.
 
"Yes, she'll be fine, but invalided for a while." He sighed heavily, and the black-haired woman suddenly realized how straining the ordeal it must be for her childhood friend Yuri's husband. "Nothing permanent, we're hoping. But, may I ask a favor of you?" The man's voice was hopeful despite the obvious exhaustion that he was holding at bay.
 
"Oh, of course. Anything. " Mrs. Higurashi replied firmly. "I'll take Tori and Takai, if you need me to. Takai is Souta's age, right? I'm sure that once they remember each other, they'll be fine together. And Tori's only a few years younger than Kagome. We have plenty of room in the house." She said quickly, her mind racing.
 
"Thank you, but I was actually wondering if you could come up and spend a little time with Yuri." Mrs. Higurashi stopped abruptly. "I think that she would be very pleased to see you once again."
 
"Of course! I'll bring the whole family to visit!" Mrs. Higurashi cried immediately. "I'll pack right now. Where are you staying?" She quickly took down the address of the hospital, conveniently located just outside of Urawa. She hung up, her mind spinning from the revelation. She'd bring everyone, too! She trusted Sango and Miroku to look after the house; she, her father and her children would visit her childhood friend.
 
"Hm. And we could take the Shinkansen. Much faster than by car, and the line goes right through Urawa. We could be there by tomorrow!" She snapped her fingers, worry still etched in the line of her eyebrows and her eyes. Looking up the flight of stairs distractedly, she suddenly rushed the other way.
 
"Oh! The water!" She rushed into the kitchen. It was a mess, water spilled all over the floor and steam hissing from the empty pot. So much for lunch. She sighed and cleaned it up quickly. Heading back up to the stairs, she called to her family, "Souta! Kagome! Dad!" She got a series of varied responses.
 
Mr. Higurashi poked his head out of his room and called back. "Umeko? Is it lunch now?" Without waiting for his daughter to respond, he left his room and made his way down the flight of stairs. "What's wrong?" He noticed Mrs. Higurashi's pursed lips and worried frown.
 
"You remember my old friend Yuri?" She asked nervously. Mr. Higurashi nodded slowly as his mind brought old memories worn away by time to the surface. "She has hepatitis, and her husband Yasuo asked if we'd visit. I told her that I'd bring the whole family down to support her."
 
Mr. Higurashi nodded. "Very good, Should I go get packed, then?" He asked and started to head creakily up the steps again to assemble his things.
 
"Thank you very much, Dad." Mrs. Higurashi smiled gratefully, some of the worry leaving her face. "Do you know where Souta and Kagome are, by the way?" The senior paused to think for a moment before replying.
 
"Kagome is arranging something with Miroku and the demons and Souta is with Sango, I think. He's watching her practice." The young boy had been in awe of Sango's weapons skills ever since a few days ago when he'd caught her practicing with Kirara.
 
"Thanks. Can you get Kagome for me, since she's on the way to your room?" The black-haired woman started to walk to the back where the exterminator trained. Souta was indeed watching with awe in his brown eyes as Sango hurled Hiraikotsu across the sky towards a scrap or red cloth that Kirara dropped from high above.
 
As the large boomerang swung around in the air and caught the bright fabric, Souta clapped enthusiastically. Sango caught the weapon deftly as it returned. "Wow! That's really neat!" Souta grinned with admiration. "How do you throw something so big like that?"
 
"Lots of practice, and more practice," Sango replied with a grin. "Wanna learn?" She asked jokingly. The young boy shook his head emphatically. "Are you sure?" Despite her laughing manner, Sango was very serious. Souta was about the right age, a few years younger would be ideal, but with some hard work he could make up for that.
 
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." Souta nodded again. "It's really fun to watch, though." The black-haired boy turned as he heard his name called from the house. "Sounds like Mom," he commented. "Must be lunch." Sango nodded and called to Kirara. The small cat leaped to her shoulder and the three of them walked back across the expansive lawn to the house.
 
"Come on, Souta." Mrs. Higurashi said briskly from the doorway. "Go pack your bags, we're leaving in an hour." He looked at her with surprise, then perplexity.
 
"What? Why are we leaving? How long are we going to be gone?" He took of his shoes at the door and entered the house, Sango behind him with the same questions on the tip of her tongue.
 
"Do you remember Yuri, my friend from Urawa?" Souta nodded slowly. "Well, she's got hepatitis A, so we're all going down to visit her. You don't need to go, Sango," the older woman said, but not unkindly. "I trust you to keep the house well while we're gone?" The demon exterminator nodded wordlessly.
 
"But Mom!" Kagome called from the second floor, voice slightly muffled. "Eri and Yuka are coming! And Ayumi, too! Sorry Mom, but this is their only chance!" Mrs. Higurashi wavered for a second before replying.
 
"Alright, Kagome. I'd forgotten about that. So, you'll stay here with your friends, if that's okay with their parents?" Kagome nodded and hurried back up the stairs, sunlight from a window streaming through her spectral form. "I don't think that she could go like that, anyway," Mrs. Higurashi remarked dryly. "It's better this way, anyway."
 
Feeling slightly guilty about betraying her mother -but she couldn't bail on her friends, either- Kagome headed back into Miroku's room, where he, Inuyasha, Shippo, and now Sango were all waiting. "You're staying?" Inuyasha asked.
 
Was it just her, or was there a note of anxiety in his voice? Kagome dismissed the idea quickly. It must've been her imagination. "Yeah," she replied and sat down again on the floor. "So what do I do now?" She asked Miroku. Sango leaned over his shoulder, peering with interest at the spell he was putting together.
 
The brush moved across the paper smoothly, leaving an even trail of black behind it upon the rough parchment. Miroku lifted the brush up and put it to the side quickly as to keep the ink from dripping onto the table that he was writing at. He picked the spell deftly and waved it in the air once to dry it. Presenting it to Kagome, he gave her careful instructions. "Now, just remember: focus on the paper and put the energy into it and nothing else." He put it down on the floor next to where spectral girl was sitting.
 
"What happens if I don't?" Kagome asked nervously. Miroku stared at her intently as he answered, making the black-haired girl all the more nervous.
 
"I wouldn't recommend trying to find out." He said clearly. "Just focus on the paper. Everything should work perfectly." Kagome nodded hesitantly and put her hands on the paper.
 
She took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing…" Kagome closed her eyes and concentrated fiercely on the spell beneath her fingers. The others stayed completely silent as Kagome's fingers began to develop sparks between the knuckles and on the tips of her fingers. The little sparks were sucked into the parchment, absorbed, and the characters began to glow with an inner fire.
 
Eyes wide in awe, the others watched as Kagome concentrated fiercely on the paper beneath her hands, her eyes closed and a frown on her face. Then something changed. It was subtle, but it was noticeable. Shippo was the first to look up and see that the lights were flickering, fading as the room darkened while the kanji on the scroll grew brighter and brighter. "Miroku?" The kitsune asked tremulously in a small voice. "Is this part of the spell?"
 
The black-haired man looked up from Kagome's work to survey the room with a frown that deepened as he realized what was going on. "Everyone get back," he warned, scooting behind the bed. "Far back!" He warned, as Inuyasha didn't move. "There's nothing you can do!" He told the stubborn hanyou. "She'll be fine!"
 
"How do you know?" Inuyasha snarled back, shading his eyes from the piercing light that came from Kagome's hands. She was beginning to show signs of stress; perspiration was collecting on her forehead and her shoulders shook as she poured every last bit of herself into the spell. "Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, but his voice came out small and muffled. "Stop it! It's too much!" The kanji was too bright to look at now. "Kagome! Stop!" He tried again, hesitantly moving closer.
 
"Don't be a fool!" Miroku shouted at him through a deafening silence that seemed to come from Kagome's work. "That's purifying power that you're messing with! One touch and you're gone! Get back, you idiot!" Hesitantly, Inuyasha took the advice and scooted behind the bed with the others.
 
"You're calling me a fool?!" Inuyasha snarled at Miroku. "You're the one who gave her control of the spell! She's never done anything like this before! She could kill herself!" He knew from first hand experience how these things happened; Kikyo herself had poured too much of herself into the last spell she cast, he realized. And she was a professional.
 
There was a muffled bang followed by a stifled gasp as the bring piercing light exploded across the room and beyond with a silence more deafening than any explosion could've been. "Kagome!" Inuyasha was out from behind the bed in an instant, leaping over the furniture of the small room to land next to the pale and trembling girl. She didn't seem to notice him; all her attention was focused on the glowing kanji in front of her. The paper had been blown into oblivion, leaving behind only the words of the spell. They glittered dangerously in the curiously dark room, floating just above the specter-girl's outstretched hand. Without saying a thing, Kagome gently laid and hand on Inuyasha's arm. He felt the curse being sucked out of him, leaving him completely alive. "Kagome!" He repeated and grabbed for her. "What are you doing?"
 
"Sh." She told him gently. "I just need to take it and…" The characters settled into her palms with another flash of piercing light, the words swirling down her arms to her shoulders, then throughout her entire body, leaving flesh and blood where once there was only a pale imitation. "Whew." Kagome sighed and slumped against the wall. "I didn't think that I'd be able to do that." She admitted to the others. They remained silent, awestruck, incredulous.
 
"You…" Inuyasha stared at her, anger in his piercing amber gaze. "You're an idiot!" He finally managed. Kagome frowned back, brown eyes glittering with a fury that matched his own.
 
"Oh, really?" She snapped back. "I can't believe you sometimes!" She told him. Kagome turned to Miroku. "You never mentioned that that would happen," she said accusingly.
 
Miroku blinked and ran a hand through his black hair in bewilderment. "That's because that's not supposed to happen." He said matter-of-factly. "You're just supposed to put a little into the spell."
 
Kagome looked at him with eyes wide in shock. "I did it wrong? But it worked out!" She looked down at her hands. Slowly, she looked back up at Miroku. "Is there a side effect?" She asked with a sinking feeling.
 
"I don't think so," Miroku said slowly. "Of course, I've never seen a spell preformed quite like…that." He finished lamely. "Without the scroll. Can you tell me exactly what you did?" Purple eyes stared into brown intently.
 
"I just concentrated. When nothing happened, I concentrated some more, and it got harder to do." She shrugged. "And then I seemed to have nothing to concentrate on. I couldn't …see the paper, in my mind. It was gone. So I stopped because there was nothing left for me to concentrate at." She paused for a moment. "So where did I mess up?"
 
Miroku sighed and ran his hand through his hair again. "Well, you didn't mess up, precisely. You just… Overdid it a bit. More than a bit," he amended. "Way more."
 
"Gee, thanks." Kagome said wryly and rubbed her head ruefully. "I think you're right, though. I've got a headache." And it hadn't even been ten minutes since she'd preformed the spell… where was the aspirin, anyway?
 
"Huh." Inuyasha snorted. "Of course you overdid it! You're not supposed to burn the paper, you're not supposed to blind us all with supernatural fireworks, and you're not supposed to mess with the electricity!"
 
Kagome looked at the irate hanyou with wide eyes. "I did….that?!" She stood up shakily. "Man. I didn't know I could do that." It was a rather stupid thing to say, admittedly. But at that moment, Kagome didn't particularly care.
 
"Neither did we," Sango said dryly. She turned to Inuyasha. "But everyone's fine, so quit whining." Inuyasha bristled at her brusque dismissal of his outburst.
 
"Who says I'm whining?!" He protested hotly. "All I was saying was that Kagome should've been paying attention to what she was doing!" Walking down the hall in front of him as she was, Miroku could see Kagome's shoulders hunch with tension. Instinctively, he let himself fall behind slightly.
 
"Uh, Inuyasha?" Shippo said from on the hanyou's shoulder. "That's the thing. She was paying attention. Too much attention. Stupid." Inuyasha bonked him on the head with his fist without saying anything.
 
Kagome turned around abruptly, brown eyes smoldering with anger. "Ooh! Sometimes, Inuyasha, you could try and be polite for once!" She turned back towards the other end of the hallway and stormed off.
 
"Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi stuck her head out of her bedroom as her daughter stomped by. "Oh. It's nice to see you normal again!" Kagome smiled briefly at her mother as she stormed by. "And we'll be leaving in a few minutes, I just wanted to say goodbye." The anger dwindling in her brown eyes, Kagome walked back down the hallway to give her mother a hug goodbye.
 
"Bye, Mom. I hope your friend gets better soon!" She said sincerely, shoving aside her anger at Inuyasha just for a moment. She didn't know when she'd next see her mother, so best to say a real goodbye. "Say bye to Grandpa and Souta for me, please?" She asked. But behind the polite request there was a tension.
 
Mrs. Higurashi nodded and grabbed her suitcase before heading down the stairs. "I'll see you in a few days, okay?" Kagome turned around and waved again before stalking back down the hallway, the anger boiling back up. "That jerk," she muttered. "Making such a big deal out of it. It's not like anyone died!"
 
For a moment there, though, she was afraid. When the scroll disintegrated, the power had nowhere to go, and in that moment Kagome thought that she would surely lose herself inside the huge influence of her spiritual power. But everything had turned out fine. She turned the corner sharply and headed downstairs, not sure about where she was going.
 
Her feet took her around another corner and Kagome found herself at the door to the library-ballroom. Carefully, almost reverently, she pushed the doors open to let herself in. They creaked in weary protest as they admitted her. Kagome paused at the doorway in surprise. "Oh…"
 
"We've got to stop meeting like this," Inuyasha said as he looked up from where he was sitting. "It's starting to creep me out." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Kagome paused for a moment before sitting down. To be honest, her anger had quickly abated, leaving behind a slightly awkward tension between them.
 
Without saying anything, Kagome sat down on the floor next to him and put her chin on her hands. They sat in silence for a while, neither of them having anything to say. The door creaked open yet a third time and Shippo stuck his head in. "Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean to intrude…" He stressed the last word with an all-knowing smile.
 
"What's that supposed to mean?" Inuyasha demanded and glared at the little kitsune. Shippo grinned back benignly at the irate hanyou and danced out of harms way as Inuyasha made a half-hearted swipe at him.
 
"Oh, you know…" His grin widened and a mischievous light glimmered in his green eyes. "I don't want to interrupt anything…" Inuyasha growled incomprehensively and made another swipe at Shippo while Kagome stuttered, blushing, in the background.
 
"Take it back, brat!" Inuyasha's face was also tinged pink. "Or you'll regret it!" He bopped Shippo on the head with his fist and the little fox demon went skittering away, muttering under his breath darkly. "That brat…" Inuyasha huffed for a moment, still staring at the door with irritation in his amber eyes.
 
He paused for a moment, then sat down again next to Kagome with a sigh. They lapsed back into silence. "Kagome!" Sango's voice echoed down the hall. "You have a visitor!" Kagome scrambled upright and turned to Inuyasha.
 
"Good thing I did the spell this morning," she commented and walked out of the room. "Bye!" Inuyasha waved briefly back at her. Wait… visitor… he sniffed delicately. But from where he was located, he couldn't smell whoever it was, only Kagome and the dusty smell of old books. Kagome's scent… He sniffed again, then stood up, feeling curious. Who was the visitor?
 
White ears twitched as he caught a snatch of conversation. "-and it's nice to see you, too." Kagome sounded slightly flustered. "How long are you staying here, anyway?" Golden eyes narrowed as he heard a light-hearted masculine voice reply.
 
"Just a few more days," It was Hojo, Kagome's "friend" from her old home. "I thought that I'd drop by before I left. So how are things?" Inuyasha stomped out of the room purposefully.
 
"Oh, pretty good…" Kagome sounded distracted as the intent hanyou neared her location. "Here, would you like to sit in the living room? I'll be right back-" He heard her footsteps coming closer quickly, and then he was face to face with Kagome.
 
"Don't you dare…." She trailed off and let the threat hand in the air. "Look, he's not going to be here for long-" Inuyasha cut her off abruptly.
 
"He'd better not be!" The half-demon exclaimed hotly. "I can't stand his stench, or his whiny voice!" Or the fact that Kagome kept smiling at that idiot stupidly the whole time…
 
"What's wrong with you? Why do you hate Hojo so much?" There was as much perplexity as anger in her voice. Brown eyes stared into amber as Kagome \asked the question.
 
Inuyasha stopped to think for a moment. "He's an idiot, he's stupid, he's wimpier than Kouga, and he's disgusting!" He blurted out quickly. "And he makes the house stink."
 
Shippo rounded the corner on Miroku's shoulder and put in his own two cents. "And he likes you," The kitsune pointed out to Kagome. A few moments later, Shippo was nursing a large bump on his head. "Well, it's the truth, isn't it?! You're just jealous!"
 
"Higurashi?" Hojo called from the living room. "Are you all right back there?" Kagome hastily scurried back into the living room, blabbering meaningless assurances as she did so.
 
With a look of determination on his face, Inuyasha stomped off after her. Deftly, Miroku brought his staff down on the hanyou's head with a jangling clang. "You mustn't follow her, Inuyasha," he told the stunned demi-demon as he lay on the floor, stunned. Shippo snickered as they continued down the hall.
 
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"So, Higurashi," Hojo folded his hands neatly in his lap and watched Kagome with solemn eyes. "I was wondering if you'd like to see a movie sometime, before I go I mean."
 
Kagome fidgeted in her seat and avoided his eyes as she replied. "Well, I'm pretty busy. When do you mean?" How could she get out of this without hurting Hojo's feelings?
 
"Well, would tomorrow or the next day in the afternoon work?" Hojo asked with a hopeful smile. "I'm leaving the day after, in the morning." Kagome's mind raced as she came up with an answer.
 
"I don't know." She tucked a stray strand of black hair behind her hear. "I'm pretty sure that I'm busy. We've still got a lot of moving in to do, unpacking." She said lamely. Hojo nodded solemnly.
 
"Maybe some other time, then?" He asked carefully. Kagome nodded emphatically. "Well, I've got to be going, "He smiled and handed her a small wrapped package.
 
"Uh… Thank you. Hojo." Kagome stared at it in bewilderment. Inside the bag was a pair of sandals. "But, what are these for?" Hojo grinned and indicated the back door.
 
"I noticed that your were getting old, so I got you some new ones. Are they the right size?" Kagome nodded dumbly. "When are you coming home, anyway?" Hojo walked towards the door.
 
"Huh?" Home? But… where was home? She'd become so attached to the people living with her here and the clean air and big spaces. But at the same time, she did miss her old friends and all the convenience of the city. "I'm not sure, actually. It depends on how the construction goes." She shrugged as Hojo took his leave. "Well, thanks for stopping by!" She waved as he walked away and shut the door behind him with a sigh.
 
A shadow fell across the door and Kagome whirled in surprise. It was Inuyasha, and he didn't look very happy. Kagome tried to walk past him without a confrontation, but he moved into her path and blocked her way. "You're leaving?" His voice was harsh.
 
"Oh, not for a while. Our house burned down, so they've got to rebuild it before we move back in." Kagome mentally sighed in relief. He hadn't exploded in her face about Hojo, like he did the last time. Amber eyes stared into brown searchingly for a moment.
 
"Oh…" He turned away and stalked up the stairs without a backwards glance or any rude remarks. Kagome frowned, troubled. This was strange for Inuyasha. Something was wrong…
 
"Hey, wait!" She followed him up the stairs and reached for his arm. Inuyasha pulled away more violently than he might've done normally and Kagome's worry intensified. "Inuyasha, what's wrong?" The hanyou didn't turn around to reply, and just kept walking. "Please, Inuyasha!" She protested. "Can't you tell me?"
 
Inuyasha snorted. Was she honestly so blind? It was like a slap in the face; "Oh, not for a while. Our house burned down, so they've got to rebuild it before we move back in." And she could be so nonchalant about it! Discard them all like that. Oh, she had better things to do that stay with him. And Shippo, and Sango and Miroku, too.
 
He'd be all alone again…. Another five hundred years, and then what? "It's not like that!" Kagome protested and grabbed his shoulder again. Inuyasha stiffened. Had be said it aloud? "I'm not just abandoning you!" Her brown eyes were troubled. "You can come with us. There's not as much room as there is here, and the city's so crowded, but you can come!"
 
Now that she really thought about it, did she really want to leave? And again, where was home? She'd lived in Tokyo all her life; the busy, crowded city was so familiar and comforting. She was part of a whole, one among many. But then, at the same time, this big, old rickety house outside Maebashi was had become part of her, too. She like the sloping hills and the long green grass, the quiet. While the city was so full of life, here everything was thriving as well. Where was home?
 
_|__|_
(•.•)
--( • )--
(____)
 
"Again!" Sango shouted up into the sky. Obediently, Kirara dropped the fluttering piece of scarlet fabric down to Earth. Brown eyes narrowing with concentration, Sango hurled Hiraikotsu to the sky. The large weapon swung around and caught the scrap of cloth before whirling back around and returning to the exterminator.
 
"You have good aim." Sango started and turned. Miroku was watching, impressed. "It must be especially difficult with the wind blowing the cloth around." He picked up the scrap of red as it fluttered by his feet.
 
"Lots of practice," Sango said modestly. "And Kirara hadn't dropped it from too far up," she added. Miroku shrugged and sat down on the grass with a sigh. "Something wrong?" Sango asked.
 
"I've never seen anything like it," Miroku admitted. "What Kagome did. It comes as a shock, you know?" He shaded his purple eyes from the sun to watch Sango. The exterminator nodded in agreement. "Don't you think?" The black-haired man asked.
 
"It does, but I guess I'm just dealing with it differently." She shrugged and set Hiraikotsu down on the grass. "Just accepting it, you know?" She sat down next to him. "Dwelling on it isn't going to change anything." She turned to look at him skeptically. "And you're the one who's grown up with all this stuff surrounding you." Miroku nodded in agreement, a rueful smile on his face.
 
"Ironic, isn't it?" He stared up at the clear blue sky above. "I've believed so firmly for my entire life, and here I am, shocked." Sango nodded and stared back at the house. "But I've never seen anything like that," he repeated. "All the spells I've heard of, that I've learned, you can't burn the parchment away. The spell is a part of the parchment, a base to the spell. Every spell has a base, a medium, and a subject." He recited. "Kagome had no base. She had no medium; the scroll with the kanji burned away, leaving behind just the essence, the spell itself." He shook his head. "That just shouldn't be possible."
 
"That's what Kagome said about cutting demon's heads off," Sango commented. "It can't be alive; it's got to die! After all, it has no head. That's what scientists would say about Inuyasha and Shippo. Not possible."
 
Miroku inclined his head in agreement. "You're right there. And the spell worked. That's all there is to it. You do something and it works, it works." He shrugged and stood up. "Thanks, Sango." He grinned at the exterminator.
 
"No problem," Sango smiled back. He walked back to the house. The demon exterminator sighed and put a hand to her suddenly hot face. "What is wrong with me?" She murmured and stood up herself, Hiraikotsu in one hand. She didn't try to search for the answer as she tossed the large boomerang up into the sky.
 
Though, if she searched, she could've found it very easily.
 
(\ /)
(•. •)
(><)
 
"Okay…" Kagome hummed to herself as she inspected her room. Nothing out of the ordinary was there to weird out her friends or to put her under suspicion. "Ah!" On the top of her bureau was a photo that she'd taken a few weeks ago. Her mother had had a few pictures to spare on the last roll of film, so Kagome just snapped a few. She smiled to herself as she took the picture in its frame into her hands. Two of them came out really well. This one was of Inuyasha -as a poltergeist, of course, which was why she'd have to hide it- and the half-demon was floating a few feet of the ground and looking rather irritable as Shippo bounced around in the background.
 
While the picture wasn't spectacular- Sango was a brown-headed blur in the background as she walked into the kitchen and it was slightly lopsided- Kagome found it rather endearing for some reason. Carefully, she put the photo away in her drawer and gave her room another once-over. "Oh!" Every time she did this, she seemed to find something new.
 
Carefully, she picked up the old bow that she'd used in archery camp. "Now, where are the arrows?" She didn't question how it had gotten into her room; someone was probably unpacking things and had found it. Her fingers itched to see if she was as good a shot she'd been a few summers before.
 
Feeling rather excited, she grabbed a few empty cardboard boxes that were sitting in the corner of the room and headed outside with the boy in hand and quiver on her back. She turned the corner and rushed down the stairs, pausing only momentarily to put on her shoes and smile to Sango as the exterminator entered the house.
 
Eagerly, Kagome set a box down on the grass and stacked the other two on top of it as a target. Moving away until she was a good distance from her makeshift target, Kagome strung the bow and grabbed an arrow. Carefully, tremulously, Kagome aimed at the target and shot. "Whoops!"
 
The arrow went astray, a good few feet left of the target that she'd made. "Practice makes perfect, right?" Kagome said aloud sheepishly. It had been a few years, though. But then again, she hadn't been that good to begin with. But the camp had only been a week long, and the bow was too big for her. Now, she might be able to do it right. She could be useful if they got attacked again.
 
Walking slowly to the grass behind the target, Kagome found the arrow and picked it up. She walked back to where she'd been standing and took aim again. And missed, but this time by less. Then again, that just might be luck.
 
Kagome sighed. This was going to take a while to get right….
 
(\ /)
(0.0)
(><)
 
"Inuyasha!" The demi-demon looked up with an irritated expression in his golden eyes. Shippo stared at him with accusing green eyes as he wandered up to him. "What did you say to Kagome?" He demanded.
 
Inuyasha looked at him, taken aback. "What did I say?!" He retorted hotly. "Why is it always my fault? She's the one who-" He cut himself off and growled. Shippo kept staring, nonplussed.
 
"If you're so innocent, then why is Kagome mad enough to shoot things?" Shippo demanded, peering at the hanyou. "She's outside now, screaming her head off and shooting things." Inuyasha looked at him with raised eyebrows.
 
"Well, I didn't do anything," he said hesitantly. Did calling her a selfish moron count as nothing? Shippo pounced on the small hint of doubt in Inuyasha's voice and began to recite a long list of accusations.
 
"You know, whatever you did really hurt her feelings and made her really mad. She's been out there for forever, and she keeps muttering under her breath and stomping around. I'm afraid that she might kill someone by accident, and it's all your fault!" Shippo was really piling on the guilt and Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably in his seat on the floor of the ballroom. "Go, see for yourself." Shippo indicated the two bay windows that looked out upon the garden.
 
Reluctantly, Inuyasha stood up and moved to the window, only to leap back with a shout. "Shit!" An arrow hit the floor with a twang a quivered to a halt. "Hey, Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted out the window. "Watch where you're aiming these things! Are you trying to kill me?"
 
"And if I am?" Kagome asked sourly from a few yards away. Inuyasha snorted and pulled the arrow out of the floor. Kagome hopped through the open window and stumbled on the floor a bit.
 
Inuyasha handed her the arrow and looked at her with scrutiny. "Then you'll have to do better than that." He told her, arms folded up his red sleeves. "Your aim sucks." He said flatly.
 
"Gee, thanks." Kagome retorted and scrambled back out the window. "But that's why I'm practicing." She walked back to the boxes and beyond. Lining up the arrow to the target, she aimed and let go. "Yes!" She cheered, a triumphant smile on her face. "I finally hit the target!"
 
Inuyasha stared at her incredulously. "That's pathetic." He said flatly and leaped effortlessly out the window and landed next to Kagome. "And how long have you been practicing again?" Kagome looked at him pointedly and drew back the bow, aiming a nonexistent arrow at him.
 
"Pow!" She said, then lowered the bow with a sigh. Rolling her arms wearily, she yawned and stretched. "My arms are so sore. I've been out here for forever." She pulled an arrow out from the quiver and whirled around, took aim, and fired. "Got it!" The top box toppled to the ground.
 
Inuyasha looked at her in astonishment. "And just a moment ago you were missing the box every time," he commented. That last shot was fired with miraculous instant precision that rivaled Kikyo's…. Something ominous stirred in his gut. They were so similar that it couldn't be a coincidence. Yet at the same time, Kagome and Kikyo were such opposites; they weren't alike at all in personality. Inuyasha stared at Kagome with scrutiny. And their eyes were completely different. Kagome's hair was shorter and wavier than Kikyo's.
 
"Did I grow a second head or something?" Kagome asked as he continued to stare. Inuyasha turned away abruptly, embarrassed to be caught staring. Kagome walked over to the boxes and picked the up, pulling the arrow out of the last one and inspecting it before putting it back in the quiver. The afternoon sun sank lower on the horizon, lighting everything with an orange glow. Kagome's shadow stretched as she stood up with the boxes in hand.
 
With Inuyasha next to her, Kagome walked to the window and hopped through, stumbling from the drop. Inuyasha's hand steadied her and she regained her balance. "Thanks," she told him. Inuyasha nodded in response. Kagome winced slightly and shrugged her shoulders. She was so sore. She hadn't done anything like that for ages.
 
"I think that you overdid it," Inuyasha commented. Kagome nodded in agreement. "Hot water will help." The hanyou suggested, staring at the wall distractedly. Shippo bounced out from behind a corner and landed on Inuyasha's shoulder.
 
"Thanks," the black-haired girl said again. "I was going to take a shower anyway." Without another word- she was exhausted, really- she trudged up the stairs to the bathroom, intent on her shower.
 
_|__|_
(•.•)
--( • )--
(____)
 
"Four weeks," the voice breathed into her head and through her pale lips. Dark eyes glittered with an anticipation that was not hers as she relished in the words that she spoke. "Four weeks." Through an unspoken command, the white-haired head leaned over the silver mirror as an image rose to the surface, then blurred and dissipated into nothing.
 
"What?" Naraku's consciousness echoed with incredulity inside her head. "Kanna…" The demon girl stared into the mirror with eyes as dark and boundless as bottomless pits. The surface swirled milkily, but nothing appeared.
 
"I can't see," Kanna whispered. "Something is blocking the mirror." Naraku's consciousness stirred uneasily. This wasn't expected. This wasn't anticipated, or welcome.
 
"What is this?..." The imprisoned demon searched his memory and knowledge. What, indeed, was it? A spell, a shield. Something stirred from the deep recesses of his memory, yet illusively escaped his reach.
 
"Kanna, try once more…" Obediently, the white-haired demon leaned over the mirror and stared into its depths. Slowly, and image swirled to the surface, a stone dragon on an old wall in the middle of the country.
 
"Kagura…" Kanna whispered. The wind witch stirred from where she was sitting just outside of the exit of the cave; to come closer would've been a very painful suicidal act.
 
"What is it?" Scarlet eyes glanced at the older of the two siblings. Kanna stood up from her seat on the ground and turned the mirror towards her. Kagura received mental instructions along with the image. "Asahikawa? That's pretty far out…" Without a backward glance, Kagura pulled the feather out of her hair and left.
 
"Four weeks…" Naraku whispered through Kanna's lips after Kagura. Kanna settled down next to the urn again. "Show me, Kanna." The mirror clouded over again.
 
(\ /)
(•. •)
(><)
 
"Blehhh…" Kagome flopped onto the couch with a heavy sigh. She was exhausted. Archery required not only physical energy, but mental energy as well; focus on the target, aim, fire.
 
Miroku passed by with raised eyebrows at her rather pathetic state. "Are you all right, Kagome?" He asked uncertainly. Kagome nodded into the sofa cushions and yawned. "Well, I'm about to start dinner, if you'd like anything to eat," the black-haired man offered kindly.
 
Kagome was suddenly aware of a gnawing feeling in her stomach in response. "Food would be great," she said gratefully. She reconsidered for a moment. "Wait, what are you cooking?"
 
Miroku looked at her with an injured expression. "Why does no one trust my cooking?" He asked and wandered into the kitchen. "It's not like I've made anything particularly atrocious." Shippo glanced at him in amusement from his seat at the kitchen table.
 
"What about that noodle-thing with the salad dressing?" The kitsune wrinkled his nose in distaste. "That was the grossest thing I've ever eaten." He said flatly. Miroku nodded reluctantly.
 
"That was a bit… off, wasn't it?" The black-haired man set a pot of water to boil on the stove and started to rummage through the refrigerator for various ingredients. Shippo watched with skepticism written all over his face as Miroku set a carton of milk, onions, a potato and some ginger on the counter.
 
"I think I'll go now," the ginger-haired kitsune remarked hastily as he hurried out of the kitchen. "Kagome, do you know how to cook?" Suddenly Miroku's dinner didn't seem so appetizing anymore…
 
Kagome brought her head up from the couch and looked at the young demon in alarm. "Is it really that bad?" She asked. Shippo nodded fervently. The exhausted girl paused to think. "Well, there's always take-out." She suggested with a helpless shrug. "I'm to tired…" With an exhausted yawn, she stumbled upright and wandered towards the hallway. "I'm going to bed."
 
With a resigned sigh, Shippo flopped down on the carpeted floor with a groan, wide green eyes staring up at the ceiling with hopelessness. "I'm doomed…"
 
(\ /)
(•. •)
(><)
 
"…and in further news, a woman was found this evening dead in her apartment room. Police are still investigating the incident but have so far no leads or evidence to the incident being murder-" Souta turned away from the large screen in the station as his mother grabbed his hand to board the train.
 
Large brown eyes took everything in with fascination. He'd never been on the Shinkansen before. In some ways it was similar to any other subway; the cars, the stations. But the tickets were more expensive, apparently, and the cars were marginally less squished. "Souta, hurry up!"
 
Mrs. Higurashi beckoned anxiously as she went towards the front of the train, a few hastily-packed bags gripped close to her to keep from losing anything. Souta scurried along, ducking behind people and stepping over luggage. "I don't want to get separated and have you end up in Hokkaido, understand?"
 
"Mom, the Shinkansen doesn't extend to Hokkaido." Mrs. Higurashi nodded absently and glanced at her watch for the umpteenth time in five minutes. The older woman glanced at her father and then at the schedule.
 
"Oh, of course you're right, Souta. I wasn't thinking, sorry." The black-haired boy shrugged carelessly. "Oh, I can't believe it!" Mrs. Higurashi suddenly burst out. "I haven't talked to her in years! And suddenly she has Hepatits!" She shook her head regretfully. "We should've stayed in touch," She glanced out the window as the scenery went by in a blur.
 
"Well, it's curable isn't it?" Mr. Higurashi assured his daughter. "I'm sure that Yuri will be fine. That's what her husband said, right?" The black-haired woman nodded and sighed.
 
"And to think I left Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Inuyasha with Shippo all alone!" She laughed softly. "But they're all responsible people and they'll do fine on their own for a week." Mrs. Higurashi thought aloud.
 
"A week?" Souta looked at her in surprise. "I was thinking a few days." His mother shook her head. "Oh. But that gives me time to see my friends in Tokyo, right?" It was certainly a shorter drive.
 
"Of course, Souta." She suddenly turned to her son. "I'm sorry that I dragged you along," she apologized. "But Yuri has a son your age and he'd like some company. Do you remember him? You met before when you were about three. His name is Takai."
 
Souta rolled his eyes. "Of course I don't remember! Three was ages ago!" Said the ten-year-old. "But I'd like to meet him." He added to his mother, who nodded distractedly, her gaze once again directed out the window.
 
(\ /)
(•. •)
(><)
 
Kagome rolled over in her bed in search of a more comfortable position. She couldn't sleep, despite her exhaustion. Brown eyes blinked sleepily open to stare at the white ceiling above. Her mind was working into overdrive, whirling around in a torpid storm, and she didn't know why.
 
There was something about home, about knowing where your home was. And really, she didn't know. If someone asked her where she called home, she wouldn't have an answer. Where was home?
 
Black hair fanned across a fluffy white pillow as Kagome turned away, eyes still staring at the ceiling. The covers suddenly seemed to hot, to confining. With a weary sigh and a wince as weak muscles protested being used, she pushed the oppressive comforter to the side. Flopping down to the bed again, her eyes met the photograph that she'd placed in her drawer. It had fallen out when she pulled out her clothes from the drawer and lay on the floor face up, Inuyasha's face glancing with slight irritation at Miroku, who wasn't framed in the picture.
 
With a sleepy smile, Kagome readjusted herself one more time and closed her eyes tightly. Home, she decided, wasn't a specific place. No, home was a feeling, one of belonging and happiness. She snuggled under the thin sheets, a small smile gracing her face as she drifted into sleep.
 
Home was where the heart was, and there was no question of where her heart lay.
 
(\ /)
(•. •)
(><)
 
AN: So, how was it? Any mistakes? I don't know much about the Shinkansen -the bullet train- in Japan, only its route and the fact that it's really, really fast. So please tell me if I messed up!
 
Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope that your day/night is just wonderful! (Feeling very benevolent to humankind in general today…)