InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Haunted ❯ New Arrivals ( Chapter 17 )

AN: Ha HA! I finally figured out how long Japanese summer break is! In Japan, summer vacation is only one month long and takes place in the middle of the school year. And the students get a ton of homework during that break. The school year starts in April and ends in March. (Yikes! I feel very lucky and privileged in comparison, with no homework over summer and about two months free.)

 

Due to this discovery, I have decided that Kagome is being home schooled due to lack of schools close by her house. Souta is, too. But since that isn't too big a part of the story- yet posed as a dilemma for a while- I'm not going to go back into the later chapters and add too much about Kagome's school work. Maybe a reference here and there, but nothing besides that. And then another question: why would Mrs. Higurashi move her children all the way out there if she knew there were no schools around in the area? Hm… I'll have to think of an answer to that one, too.

 

Oh, and please excuse the foul language that Inuyasha uses in this chapter! He gets a little mad in some parts. Just thought that I might warn you…

 

Oh, one more thing. (Sorry 'bout this.) This weekend, I'm planning to learn all the little nuances in my computer. Programs that I don't know anything about: iMovie, iDVD, Adress Book, Microsof Excel. And then there's all the other stuff that I don't even know that I have on here! And there's the .Mac thing. Apparently I can make websites. Ooh. I've had this computer over half a year and I feel that it's time to figure out how to use this thing! (It's too bad I don't know anything about computers… I'm especially excited about the homepages thing. It says, "Easy, elegant websites." Funny how it never mentions a price… hm…)

 

So I'm apologizing now if there's any delays. And for the rampant bout of rambling that just took place.

 

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More responses:

 

Moonlit Showers aka Inukag Fan: I'm impressed! (You really think it's one of the best?!?! Thank you!) Well, I'm not sure about publishing this thing- waaaaaay too many typos (gotta work on those once I'm finished)- but thanks so much! (That is one of the highest compliments I've received for this story.) I love the InuKag pairing, too. My favorite!

 

Animekitty07: You're right, it has been two months! Feels like longer for me… I'm rather alarmed by the fact that this is chapter 17, despite the fact that I haven't been writing this fic for a long period of time.... I was hoping to have it twenty chapters long, but at this point I think that it's going to be a bit longer, too. So maybe- all in all- three months to write?!?! (Wow!)

 

Akeryou-Inuyasha-2112: Thank you! In regards to Sesshoumaru, I'm not sure if he's going to pop up, and when. I've been thinking about it because I think that Sesshoumaru's a great character and very dynamic, but I can't really think of a place where he'd come it. And about Naraku: I'm sorry, but I can't give that away! (It would spoil the surprise and depends on how screwed up Kagura makes his plans. In short, maybe yes, maybe no.) And Kagome's friends might find out, but then again Kagome's spell was rather… unique in the way she casted it, so maybe not. (That'll be decided somewhere between this chapter and the next two or so)

 

Tiamath: Yes, fluff is addicting to write, for me at least. You probably get that feeling of impending disaster because, as you put it so well, "all hell is about to break loose"! Soon. Very soon, and in more ways than one. (I.E. Naraku's preparations and Kagome's friends)

 

PippetJimmy: It's all good! No worries, I totally understand. I'm glad that the fluff is satisfactory; I was just kinda fumbling along in that regard. It's actually kinda addicting to write about… I'm an obsessive Inu/Kag fan. I look through the manga for the fluffy bits and then I read them over and over again. (Isn't that pathetic?)

 

Northern Star: Thank you! And no worries, I am continuing until I finish! I refuse to stop in the middle and piss people off; I hate it when I read a great story and it doesn't have an ending! The sword Kajin-bo forged? Well, if I told you outright it would ruin the story, but you will find out! (Hint: who got the sword from him and gave it to Tsubaki under whose orders? Well, the second who is the person that you're wondering about. Sorry about the confusion that I must've stirred up there…)

 

rin sama1989: No problem! And yes, the Inu-tachi is going to be home alone for a while because sometimes adults get in the way. (Grins) Yeah, Miroku cooks like my friend, who'll put mustard on anything (anything! No joke!) and Chex cereal on pizza (sometimes her cooking's pretty cool, though, like the multi-fruit pancakes with the maple syrup stirred in with the batter instead of put on afterwards. Those were really yummy) I hope you feel better soon!

 

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Disclaimer: There's only so many ways to say that I don't own Inuyasha, and I'm running out of witty ways to do so. So, I'll just say it: Inuyasha ≠ mine. Tadah!

 

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Haunted

 

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Chapter Seventeen: New Arrivals

 

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"Yuri?" Mrs. Higurashi's smile was strained as she looked at her old friend in the hospital bed. "How are you doing?" She sat down in a chair next to the bed.

 

Yuri pushed her short brown hair away from her forehead and smiled, warm chocolaty eyes crinkling in the corners with mirth. "You look as if you're going to a funeral, Umeko." The invalid glanced at Souta and Mr. Higurashi, who stood in the doorway awkwardly. "Hello there!" She waved, determinedly cheerful despite her predicament. "Come in and make yourselves at home. Higurashi-san, it's been too long."

 

She offered her hand and Mr. Higurashi shook it warmly. "It has, Yuri." The senior nodded as he looked about the room. "You've certainly got a good room here," he commented. Flowers and balloons were scattered haphazardly on chairs and whatever flat surfaces were available.

 

"Only the best for the poor old lady," Yuri said with a smile. "The nurses are very kind and the food isn't so bad." She admitted. "And my family come to visit every day." Mrs. Higurashi nodded and glanced at a clumsily created get-well card, the crayon colors bright and scribbly.

 

"Oh, Yuri," the black-haired woman's smile faltered. "You should've called before! I would've come in an instant!" Souta fidgeted at the door, awkward at seeing his mother so emotional.

 

"Ah, but that's when everybody was visiting and crying. I couldn't have you in the same state then. I was much to busy and it would've been depressing." The brown-haired invalid joked. Mrs. Higurashi smiled in response and shook her head.

 

"Hello, there," Yuri beckoned at Souta with a grin. "You must be Souta. You must also be bored out of your mind." Souta stammered, taken aback by the woman's forwardness. "Oh, no, I understand. All ten-year-old boys are like that. There's a few magazines in the lobby and I think that Takai's left a few games here from his visits. He doesn't like visiting the sick, either. Even his poor mother!" Yuri chuckled.

 

"Th-thank you," Souta managed and fled from the room where the unnerving woman was talking with his mother. He headed down towards the lobby in search of something interesting to do.

 

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"Huh. I don't see anything out of the ordinary, do you?" Inuyasha peered out the window with Kagome at the scene unfolding before them in the garden.

 

"You're just not looking closely enough." Kagome ducked out of sight as Miroku turned towards the room, Inuyasha doing the same thing. She turned back to her companion in reconnaissance. "It's there, I swear! Sango has a thing for Miroku!"

 

Inuyasha looked at her skeptically with raised eyebrows. "You're kidding, right?" He paused to think for a moment. "Okay, so if she really does like him, why did she make that bet with him to keep his thoughts clean? If she likes him, she wouldn't mind if he touched her butt, right?"

 

Kagome rolled her eyes at his ignorance. "It's about more than that, Inuyasha." She glanced back out the window. "Ooh! Look! They're holding hands!" She grinned. "What did I tell you?" Gold eyes glimmered with interest as he poked his head out again.

 

"Okay, you were right." He admitted. "Hey, wait! If they liked each other, why would Miroku be running away?" He turned to Kagome with a grin. "Hah! Admit it, you were wrong!"

Kagome watched in surprise as the black shape that was Miroku tried to escape, Sango clinging to his arm and wailing something. They were too far away to make out exact words.

 

"Hey, guys. What are you doing?" Sango peered out the window with them upon the scene. There was a moment's silence as Inuyasha and Kagome looked at the demon exterminator in surprise. Sango developed a nasty twitch as she watched the two shapes in the distance.

 

"Wait, so that's not you…?" Inuyasha finally asked. Kagome shook her head as Sango stalked out of the room, growling something under her breath as she left, her hands clenched into fists.

 

"I told ya that she like him!" Kagome said cheerfully as Sango loped across the grass with Hiraikotsu in tow to break up the "love fest". Inuyasha shook his head.

 

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"Excuse me."

 

Miroku whirled around and came face-to-face with a cool and collected Sango, Hiraikotsu casually swung over one shoulder. The girl clinging to his arm looked at Miroku suspiciously. "You were lying! There's another one, I knew it!" She said shrilly, eyes bulging with fury. "You betrayed me!" Hastily, the purple-eyed man tried futilely to remove the woman's clutching fingers from his arm.

 

"Kei!" Miroku protested. "I did no such thing! Sango is just renting at the house, too!" He tried to reassure the woman. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes and flow down her round cheeks.

 

She sniffed and wiped her nose on a tissue. "Th-then why didn't y-you ca-ca-call meeeee?" She wailed and clung even more tightly to the exasperated man's arm. "Y-you ne-never answered any of my m-messages!" She hiccupped, and stared at Miroku with watery eyes.

 

"That's because I had left and never got any!" Miroku protested and looked to Sango for help. The exterminator looked back coolly. Obviously, no help was coming from her. "Look, I have to go now, but I'll see you later, okay?" He had no such intention, but she didn't need to know that…

 

"O-okay, Mi-chan!" Miroku winced and waved as she detached herself from his arm and walked away, off the property and towards a small black car. "Promise you'll call me?" She screeched from the car.

 

Miroku nodded and waved again. "I can't believe that she managed to track me down…" He muttered as he continued to wave. He could feel Sango's eyes glaring a small hole in the back of his head as Kei started her car and drove away. He turned around in time to see Sango give him one last glare with fury in her brown eyes before she swung around and strode back to the house without a backwards glance. "Sango, wait!" He hurried to catch up.

 

Sango didn't turn around or even say anything to him as she continued back to the house. "Thank you." Sango turned to look at Miroku in surprise, her anger temporarily put aside.

 

"Thanks for what?!" Her eyes hardened again as Miroku sighed in relief. He smiled at her, seemingly oblivious as he glanced behind him to where Kei had pulled away.

 

"For finally getting rid of her!" He smiled again and shook his head. "I can't believe that she caught up with me." Sango looked at him incredulously. Could he really and truly be that… that…? She shook her head and continued walking wordlessly, anger still making her distant to the purple-eyed man.

 

Kagome, Inuyasha and Shippo watched with wide eyes as Sango walked briskly back into the house, closely followed by a bemused Miroku. "I wonder what happened there?" Inuyasha asked Kagome out of the corner of his mouth.

 

Kagome shrugged. "What do you think? Miroku was just out womanizing again." The demi-demon looked at her in confusion and Kagome shook her head in despair. "You don't get it?"

 

"Get what?"

 

"I give up!" Kagome tossed her hands in the air and walked out of the room, leaving a very, very confused half-demon in her wake. Inuyasha blinked and looked at Shippo from his perch on the couch.

 

"Get what?"

 

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Kouga shuffled his feet impatiently as he waited outside the front door. With a sigh, he raised his fist again and knocked loudly. "Hello!" He shouted. "Anyone home?" He peered around the side of the house and came back to the door, just in time to see an irritable Sango close it.

 

"Hey! Wait!" He knocked again and the door was flung open, the demon exterminator glaring at him haughtily as a small white demon-cat sat near her feet with a small mew.

 

"You wanna see Kagome, right?" Sango asked shortly and didn't wait for a reply as she called up the stairs. "Kagome! A visitor for you, and you might wanna get Inuyasha a restraint of some sort."

 

"Huh?" Kagome came down the stairs. "Why would I want to-" She stopped upon seeing Kouga. "Oh, hello." The black-haired said reluctantly. "What are you doing here, Kouga?"

 

The wolf demon grinned back and stepped inside without bothering to remove his shoes. Sango's eye developed a nasty twitch upon seeing the dirt that he trailed in onto the clean floor.

 

"Kagome!" He greeted warmly and clasped her hands. Kagome looked to the left uneasily. "I was just in the neighborhood and I thought that I'd stop by-" He stopped abruptly and sniffed. "Ugh, what is that stench? It reeks of dog!"

 

Inuyasha sauntered into the room and glared with hostility at Kouga. "Hm. I was about to say the same thing about you, mangy wolf." He stepped between Kagome and Kouga and folded his arms across his red-clad chest.

 

"Look who got resurrected." Kouga snorted. "No wonder it stinks so much." He waved a hand in front of his face and looked behind Inuyasha to talk to Kagome. "You should really get some air freshener in here, or something. How can any of you stand this stink?"

 

With a snarl, Inuyasha made a swipe at Kouga. The wolf demon moved out of the way with inhumanly speedy grace. "Huh. Is that the best ya got? No wonder you were dead the last time I saw you. You couldn't kill a snail with that speed!"

 

"You think you're so great," Inuyasha snarled and aimed another grab at the wolf demon. "So why are you running away?" Kagome tugged on Inuyasha's sleeve to try and keep the confrontation at a minimum. "Let go of me, Kagome! I'm gonna pound that wolf!"

 

Kagome gritted her teeth and held on stubbornly. "Stop fighting, both of you!" She hollered for assistance. "Hey, Miroku! Sango! I need a bit of help, here! Quickly, please!"

 

"Just a moment!" Hiraikotsu clattered against the wall as Sango hurried down the stairs, Miroku following her closely. Perhaps a bit too closely… "Hands off, pervert!" Hiraikotsu met skull with a dull crack and a groan of pain.

 

"Sango…!" Kagome struggled with keeping a hold of Inuyasha's haori, her heels dug into the carpet. Sango looked up from the prostrate form of Miroku to quickly assist the black-haired girl.

 

With business-like precision, Sango raised the formidable weapon above her head, her face expressionless and bland as she brought the heavy boomerang down on first Inuyasha, then Kouga's head. The two demons collapsed and the demon exterminator looked to Kagome with a sincere and calm expression. "Problem solved." Kagome winced at the two still figures on the ground.

 

"Ouch," Shippo commented simply and stared after Sango's retreating form with wide green eyes. Jumping from the couch to Kagome's shoulder, the little fox demon whispered into Kagome's ear. "Sango's really scary."

 

Kagome nodded mutely in agreement. She'd left a trail of destruction behind her; Miroku collapsed on the stairs, Inuyasha and Kouga unconscious in the living room. Kagome winced. And judging from the loud crash and a curse in response from the hallway, she just knocked something over, too.

 

"Should we drag them outside?" Shippo indicated the two unconscious demons on the ground. Kagome paused to think for a moment before replying.

 

"I guess…" She said reluctantly after realizing that if they were going to fight, there was nothing she could do to stop them. The best place for them to do so would be outside. With a sigh- she hoped that neither of them would be offended- she grabbed Kouga by the foot and dragged him with difficulty towards the door. After a few minutes of struggling with Kouga's prone form, Kagome finally managed to dump him outside, yelping out "sorry!" when his head bumped over the threshold and onto the steps.

 

Wearily, she went back inside to grab Inuyasha and looked at him in surprise. The half-demon was looking at her with approval in his eyes. "So, you're finally getting rid of him. Took you long enough." He snorted. "Want me to finish the job?" He stood up and walked purposefully towards the door. "I'll throw him all the way to, to Hakodate."

 

Kagome blinked. "Uh, Hakodate doesn't exist anymore." Inuyasha faltered only momentarily at the door and Kagome suddenly found herself wondering what it must be like for him. He'd woken up, five hundred years later and everything was different. The people, the places, the technology… It must've been overwhelming at first. Everything and everyone that he knew was gone, erased by time.

 

"What?" Inuyasha barked at her, unnerved by the expression in her eyes. "If you've got anything to say, just say it already!" Kagome shook her head and cut off her train of thought.

 

"Never mind." She stopped and frowned. "Hey, don't do that! Inuyasha, put Kouga down!" With a grunt of exertion, the hanyou dropkicked the unconscious wolf demon across the property and beyond, a smug look of satisfaction on his face as he dusted off his hands.

 

"Well, now that we've got that mangy wolf off our hands, we can-" Inuyasha was bowled over by a dusty tornado, a look of surprise on his face. The tornado wound down to reveal a very angry and dirty Kouga, his sweatshirt covered in leaves and grass, some of the stuff caught in his black ponytail.

 

"You disgusting dog!" The enraged wolf youkai looked down at the trampled demi-demon with fury in his cerulean eyes. "How dare you!" Inuyasha sat up, equally angered.

 

"Hah! Maybe if you weren't sleeping like the weak hound that you are, you could've walked your ass out of here without help." The white-haired demon stood up, arms crossed, and glared at the other demon.

 

"Well, at least I can kick, unlike you! You couldn't even get me over that hill!" He pointed vaguely in the distance and stared challengingly at Inuyasha, who glared right back with equal belligerence smoldering in his amber eyes.

 

"That's 'cause you're so fat!" He snarled back. With an exasperated glance at Shippo, Kagome walked outside and tried to calm the two of them down to no avail. With a nervous glance down the passage that Sango had left by, Shippo winced as he heard Kouga snarl and the two of them began tussling.

 

Maybe he should call Sango…

 

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"Okay, bye! See you later!" Kagome's smile was more frazzled than cheerful and polite as Kouga started his car and pulled down the street. "Phew…" She sagged against the wall and wiped her brow, finally letting her exhaustion show.

 

The petulant sulk in Inuyasha's sullen glare was almost tangible as his golden eyes followed her everywhere. He'd given up from struggling against his bonds; Miroku finally resorted to restraining the hanyou with some powerful sutras and an impressive amount of orange string.

 

With an apologetic smile, Kagome made her way over to the constricted demi-demon and started to unravel the string and pull of the spells. "Sorry about this, Inuyasha, but if you could just get along with Kouga, then-"

 

"Shut up." Inuyasha looked the other way, clearly sulking. As soon as all the orange string was no more than a disorganized heap on the floor and the sutras a pile of harmless paper, the half-demon folded his arms across his chest and turned his back to Kagome.

 

The black-haired girl rolled her eyes and sat down next to him. "Look, I'm sorry that we had to do that, but things were getting out of hand! You almost knocked over the tree! And if you'd been just a few inches to the left that one time, we'd be missing a chunk of the kitchen. She shuddered. That had been a close one. Inuyasha didn't turn to reply and kept staring in the other direction obstinately. "Look, what's gotten into you lately? You've been really… well, touchy."

 

"We should be out hunting Naraku. Who knows what damage he's doing?" The demi-dog demon finally turned around, sincerity in his gold eyes. Kagome sighed. They'd been down this road too many times in the past week or so…

 

"And I said that if he hasn't done any damage yet, he probably wouldn't for a while, right? Plus, we don't know where he is, or what he looks like -you said he's a shape-changer- and where would we look?" She paused for breath. "I'm not saying that there's nothing we should do about it. I'm just saying that we should bide our time until things get settled."

 

"What do you mean by, 'settled'?" Inuyasha asked suspiciously, eyes narrowed. "Knowing that bastard, he's just biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to wipe us all out."

 

From the couch, Shippo said, "Now that's just paranoid, Inuyasha." The ginger-haired kitsune scurried down the hall and away as the irate hanyou glared at him with murder in his eyes.

 

"As I was saying," Kagome continued hastily. "There isn't anything we can do anyway, we all agreed on that, remember?" Inuyasha shook his head and returned his attention to Kagome.

 

"I don't think you understand," he said slowly, solemnly. "Naraku is… ruthless. A murderer. He's one of those people who hides in the shadows and sends others out to do his dirty work. The fact that he hasn't done anything yet doesn't mean anything. He probably has, but subtly. He cares for no one but himself, and won't do anything unless it benefits him." Inuyasha stared at the black-haired girl with dark emotion simmering beneath the surface of his amber eyes.

 

"So you're saying that we just get up and find this demon and kill him." Kagome said frankly. "Just abandon everything and go looking for Naraku, is that it?" Inuyasha paused for thought and then nodded.

 

"Basically, yes." His eyes held a deep solemnity, his mouth a grim line. Kagome stared at him openly with shock and surprise at his answer. Surely he was joking! How could he expect them to just leave without any explanation and… go!

 

The hanyou watched her carefully as Kagome's face displayed a variety of expressions to finally settle on bemusement. "Well, why don't we ask Kagura? She's Naraku's underling and she hates him. She'd probably help if we wanted to defeat him." The black-haired girl looked thoughtful as she surveyed her surroundings; the couch was keeled over on its side from Inuyasha and Kouga's fight.

 

"Are you kidding? That witch would probably just try to kill us. She wouldn't help us." Inuyasha snorted and picked at the orange string on the floor with distaste. Kagome shook her head in disagreement.

 

"I don't think so," the black-haired girl admitted reluctantly, slowly, as she thought it over. "Kagura… she isn't someone who'll do that. She'll only do something if the pro's outweigh the con's, and in this case, helping us is better than fighting us."

 

"That's 'cause she'd lose." Inuyasha started to untangle the brightly colored twine and growled as it got stuck around his thumb. He pulled it lose with a little more force than necessary and the stuff shredded beneath his claws. "Whoops."

 

"You know what I mean," Kagome's brown eyes stared at him pointedly. "She wants to get rid of Naraku, you can see that. And she needs all the help she can get." Kagome paused and frowned. "But why would she work for him in the first place, if she hates him…?"

 

Miroku paused on his way to the kitchen. "She's probably indebted to him in some way, or he's got a hold over her. We just need to find out what it is." Inuyasha growled as he pulled at more of the orange string, the stuff falling to shreds beneath his claws. Miroku shot him a pained look. "Please, I need that. Don't destroy it."

 

With a bit of grumbling, Inuyasha dissembled himself from the twine without destroying any more of it. "But how do we do that?" Kagome looked at Miroku with confusion written all over her face. "I don't get this at all."

 

"Neither did I, at first." Miroku assured her as pots and pans started to bang about in the kitchen. "But they do have a kind of logic to them. For a spell to work -usually, but apparently not in your case- they need a base, or something that you perform it on so that the spell something solid to keep its existence steady, a medium- something that the spell resides in, like the ink in a sutra, and a subject. That's the person or thing that you're performing the spell on." Kagome blinked.

 

"Huh?" The black-haired girl looked at him in bewilderment, Inuyasha sitting next to her with the same expression on his face. Miroku sighed and stuck his head out of the kitchen doorway.

 

"Would you like me to repeat it?" Purple eyes glanced distractedly at the stove to monitor whatever it was that he was cooking. Both Kagome and Inuyasha shook their heads fervently.

 

"No, that's okay." Kagome hastily assured him and stood up from her seat on the carpeted floor. "It's just a bit overwhelming at first." With a grimace, she headed for the stairs. "Speaking of overwhelming, I have some math to finish."

 

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(><)

 

"Tsubaki, is she dead?"

 

The black priestess stood just outside Naraku's cave. If she ventured any closer, her Shikigami would be attacked by the sutras scattered about the room and purified. The white-haired woman nodded curtly, the demon-snake wrapped around her wrist and hissing softly.

 

"I cursed her to death. The police will have no idea why she died." Tsubaki's smile was smug as she looked at the black urn in the center of the cave. "Is there anything else, Naraku?" In the middle of the room, sitting with one palm on the black urn, Kanna blinked her black eyes and wordlessly held up her mirror.

 

Naraku's voice echoed from the nothing-demon's pale lips in a soft whisper like black silk. "I want her dead. And all the others that are with her." Tsubaki looked unimpressed.

 

"Two human girls, a man and a demon? No, a half-demon!" She almost laughed. "Of course. They'll be dead in half an hour." The black priestess turned to leave but something stopped her.

 

"Tsubaki, take a closer look in the mirror." Kanna stood up slowly and stepped towards the edge of the cave. Aquamarine eyes narrowing, the white-haired woman peered closely at the image in the mirror.

 

Eyes widening in shock, she stepped back, her Shikigami hissing wildly as it lunged back as if to strike. "But she's dead! You saw her die, didn't you?" She looked beyond the mirror towards the urn.

 

"I killed her myself. Well, actually I didn't." There was dark humor in Naraku's voice as it issued from Kanna's mouth. "She died because she used her entire life force to seal me and one other away. It was her own fault for getting the hanyou mixed up in it. Stupid woman. She would've lived out a full life if she had sealed just me."

 

Tsubaki nodded, her eyes fixed on the mirror as Kikyo whirled around and fired an arrow at some cardboard boxes as the red-clad hanyou stood next to her and watched. She hit the top box and the assemblage toppled over into the grass. "As good of aim as ever, I see." Tsubaki remarked coolly. "Well, I'll soon put an end to it."

 

"Oh, one more thing, Tsubaki."

 

Yet again, the white-haired black priestess turned to look at the nothing-demon that spoke for Naraku. Colorless lips opened to speak for him and black eyes like bottomless pits stared into clear cerulean eyes.

 

"Kagome is dangerous, perhaps more so than her predecessor."

 

Tsubaki nodded in a business-like fashion and headed back up the surface, her mind whirling with possibilities and revelations. "Kagome. Hm." Her Shikigami's slit-pupiled eyes met her own in a brief exchange of knowledge.

 

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Sango sighed heavily as she wrung out her long hair. Kirara blinked and mewed as some water fell on her. The little demon mewed again, softly, as Sango flopped down against her bed with a weary sigh and a yawn. "Wake me when it's dinner, 'kay?"

 

Kirara blinked crimson eyes and watched as Sango fell asleep, a small frown on her face. With one backward glance, the little fire cat exited the room and headed down the stairs. An argument was breaking out between Shippo and Inuyasha.

 

"Brat!" Inuyasha's voice rang out across the house brazenly. "Take it back!" There was a crash as the sofa fell over and Shippo's laughter echoed throughout the large building. Eyes wide with curiosity, Kirara peered down the stairs. Shippo was a large pink bubble trailing little bits of foxfire everywhere as Inuyasha lunged after him, fist raised in a promise of vengeance.

 

The little white cat demon stepped to the side quickly as the pair whirled by, Kagome following anxiously after in an attempt to quell Inuyasha's anger. It didn't seem to be working. In fact, Kagome was looking as if she was getting pretty mad herself.

 

Kirara blinked -this was a pretty common occurrence, sadly- and sauntered down the stairs to the kitchen with shouts of outrage in her wake. In the kitchen, Miroku was humming tunelessly to himself as he put together a variety of strange foods. With a delicate sniff, the fire cat sneezed -the smells were pungent, to say in the least- and treaded delicately towards the other feline in the room.

 

Buyo rolled one green eye in the demon's direction, then looked back at Miroku as he prepared dinner. Kirara and Buyo didn't get along very well; there was too large of a gap between the two's intellect. Looking down at the fire cat, Miroku asked, "Where's Sango? I haven't seen her since this afternoon." He frowned. She'd seemed rather upset after Kei left.

 

From near his feet, Kirara mewed and looked towards the hallway. Miroku nodded absently and turned his attention towards back to his cooking as something began to boil over on the stove.

 

"Stop!" Kagome's voice resounded from the hallway and Miroku winced slightly. She didn't sound very happy at the moment… Shippo rushed into the kitchen and scrambled onto Miroku's shoulder, breathless and laughing.

 

"GYAAAH!" There was a thud. "Dammit, Kagome! Let go of me!" There was another series of thumps -from which Miroku drew the wrong conclusion, a gleam in his eyes- and then another outburst from the irate hanyou. "Kagome, let go!"

 

"No! Just leave Shippo alo- HEY! PUT ME DOWN!" Kagome's voice was shrill with outrage and panic. "WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO JUST PICK PEOPLE UP WITHOUT THEIR PREMISSION!?! PUT ME DOWN!"

 

With curiosity, Miroku looked out through the kitchen doorway. Inuyasha was gripping Kagome by one arm as he tried to pull her grip from his sleeve. Kagome wasn't letting go any time soon, however. "Let go, Kagome!" Inuyasha growled as he struggled with her hand on his sleeve.

 

"What? So you can pound Shippo into pulp? No way! Can't you just sit down and talk about it or something?" Behind her back, the little ginger-haired kitsune stuck his tongue at the hanyou. Naturally, this only served to further infuriate Inuyasha.

 

"No way! You're dead, brat!" With Kagome still in one hand, Inuyasha lunged for Shippo, murder in his eyes. The fox demon laughed, still out of reach, and began to make faces at Inuyasha.

 

Kagome glared at the hanyou with rage equivalent to his own in her brown eyes. "No! You need to control your temper, and you are going to sit down and talk about it!" Desperately, she grabbed at him and her hands connected with the prayer beads around his neck. "Did you hear me!?! SIT!" There was a flash of light from the beads.

 

And then a most miraculous thing happened.

 

_|__|_

(•.•)

--( • )--

(____)

 

"Long time, no see, wolf." Kagura leaned over on her feather to smirk at Kouga as he stood below her. He growled and cracked his knuckles in a menacing manner.

 

"Witch." He greeted shortly, cerulean eyes flooded with cold fury. "What do you want here?" From the house behind him, there was a soft yapping sound from his wolves.

 

"I just came to ask you something." Kagura waved her fan idly in the air, her feather held in place by the swirling winds that she controlled. "And I think that you might know the answer."

 

A twig snapped behind her and the wind witch whirled around, fan held at the ready as scarlet eyes narrowed. Behind her, Kouga laughed harshly. "Getting twitchy, Kagura?"

 

She turned coolly and closed her fan with a snap. "Just staying alert. I can never be sure what sort of underhanded trick you'll play on me." She was still very upset about the gun that he'd used on her last time.

 

Rage burned in Kouga's eyes as he glared at her. "Oh, I'm the one with the low, underhanded tricks? You're the one who slew dozens of innocent women and children out of pleasure!"

 

Kagura sighed and looked pointedly at the watch on her wrist in boredom. "Just following orders," she told him breezily. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have something to ask you."

 

"What makes you think that I'll give you an answer?" Kouga snarled and rushed at her. Kagura barely managed to swoop up in time. "The only thing I owe you is a painful death!"

 

The wind witch smiled viciously. "Yours or mine?" Kouga growled in response. "Now for my question. How old are you, Kouga?" The wolf demon blinked in surprise, his anger temporarily set aside.

 

"Why do you care?" Kouga stopped a few feet away, hands clenched into fists as he wondered what was going through Kagura's mind. She watched him through scarlet eyes that revealed nothing.

 

"Let's just say that I want to get to know you better, hm?" She smirked, yet watched him carefully at the same time. Kouga regarded her with just as much attention.

 

"I've been around a long time, if that's what you mean." He ground out, never taking his eyes off her in case she decided to try and kill him. He was surprised when she did no such thing.

 

"More than five hundred years, then?" Kagura could barely contain her excitement. Kouga nodded briefly, grudgingly. "Then you might recall an incident, five hundred years ago, involving a certain demon. His name is Naraku."

 

"What do you mean, is?" How bizarre was this? Kouga was shocked that they were actually talking -albeit hostilely- without trying to kill each other. Naturally, at the moment he was trying to find the perfect opening to strike her at. He couldn't see any. "Naraku's dead."

 

"Hm." She didn't deny or refute the statement. He was both wrong, and right anyway. Not dead, not alive. "Then you might also remember where he's hidden a certain… scroll?" She was treading on delicate ground, here. Yes, Naraku ordered her to retrieve the thing, but he never told her to give away its location… As Naraku put his plan into action, Kagura was making her own.

 

"Why would I tell you?" He snarled. "And why do you give a damn, anyway? Naraku's dead and gone, killed off by a priestess." Kagura nodded noncommittally. Kouga paused and digested Kagura's response. "Are you saying that that bastard's still out there?" For a moment, he almost forgot that the two of them were sworn enemies.

 

Again, Kagura shrugged. "I didn't say a thing. And don't expect me to, because that would be against my orders." She was dropping hints like crazy, almost recklessly, in hopes that the idiot wolf would get a hint. She looked at him in distain. Looks like he was getting it… "Thank you for your help," she said sarcastically, eyes narrowing. Kouga barely managed to move out of the way in time as her winds swept by with deadly speed.

 

"Don't think that you've repaid your debt, witch!" Kouga hollered after her, eyes blazing. "I'm still going to avenge all the innocents that you've slaughtered!" He watched as Kagura turned on her feather as it whisked her away.

 

"Like I said, just following orders!" She shouted back, her black bangs blowing in her eyes as her winds pulled her to her next destination. The wind witch turned again and looked ahead at the endless horizon as it rose to meet her.

 

She didn't like playing Naraku's subtle games. Kagura was not one for subtlety, for saying what others wanted to hear in order to get them on her side. She didn't like becoming allies with those she despised. But Kagura was no fool, and she knew that she couldn't take Naraku out on her own. She needed help, as much as she could gather. Even if it meant turning her bitter enemies onto her side of the confrontation, if there ever was one. She may be hated, but Naraku was loathed by all those who remembered him. And as he wove him own web of allies, she was making her own.

 

But the question was, whose allies would turn first? Hers, or his? It was a tricky game and Kagura was very new at it. But what Naraku lacked in allies was loyalty. Everyone on his side was in it for themselves, for their own gain. They had no reason to care if Naraku lived or died. If she could recruit the right people, she might come out ahead. Those on her side would also be involved out of self-interest- Naraku was not someone that you wanted wandering around. But their gain would be Naraku's demise. That would be their main goal. She didn't give half a thought as to how those relationships ended up afterwards.

 

Kagura cursed quietly under her breath as her winds wrapped themselves around her in a cool embrace. Damn, but she hated to operate like this… it was a very delicate balance, indeed. Kagura was afraid that she'd tip it.

 

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

 

"SIT!"

 

Sango blinked. Shippo stared, bug-eyed. Miroku ran a hand through his black hair. One of them coughed as the silence dragged on.

 

"What the FUCK was that!?!" Inuyasha sat up, eyes wild with shock and indignation. "Kagome, what in all the hells did you do to me?" Kagome picked herself up from the ground- she'd fallen over- and looked at the hanyou in bewilderment.

 

"I did that?" She blinked, brown eyes wide with shock. She tucked a stray piece of black hair behind one ear. Inuyasha looked at her pointedly. "I don't know. Are you sure that was me?"

 

"Of course I'm sure!" Inuyasha snapped. "You yelled 'sit' and then I was smashed into the ground! You've got powers and who else could've done it?" Miroku coughed and everyone turned to look at him. Miroku had all the answers.

 

"You've certainly got an interesting set of prayer beads on you, Inuyasha." He stepped closer to examine them. "I have a feeling that it was Kagome who did it, not the beads themselves," he said finally.

 

Inuyasha swung round to glare accusingly at the black-haired girl in question. Kagome smiled nervously and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear again with apprehension. "Well?" Inuyasha growled.

 

The black-haired girl looked at him with perplexity written all over her features. "Well, what?" Kagome smiled apologetically as the irate hanyou took a step closer to her.

 

"Well, why'd you do it!?!" Inuyasha demanded hotly. "What the hell did I do to merit you smashing me into the ground!?!" Kagome was getting angry now, too.

 

"I didn't mean to! Can't you see that?" In the background, Shippo rolled his eyes from his perch on Miroku's shoulder as Sango and Miroku exchanged exasperated glances.

 

"Is there ever a time when they're not arguing?" Shippo whispered into Miroku's ear. The black-haired man shook his head wordlessly as they trio watched the ensuing fight escalate.

 

"Well you know what? I think that you deserved it!" Kagome shouted at Inuyasha. With anger flashing in his amber eyes and red-clad arms crossed over his chest, Inuyasha growled a retort.

 

"Huh! I always knew that you were a sick sadist!"

 

It was Miroku's turn to roll his eyes. Kagome was anything but a sadist. And any half-witted idiot -such as Inuyasha- could see that. Or should be able to see it. But in the heat of the moment, regrettable things were said often enough… And this was one of them.

 

Kagome finally snapped. With just one backward glance and a half-muted scream of frustration, the black-haired girl stormed out of the room. "And good riddance!" Inuyasha shouted to her retreating figure. The other three stared in fascination at her back. Was it just a trick of the light, or were there little kanji characters -as if from a spell- were glowing as they drifted through the fabric of her shirt?

 

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

 

For all his patience, Naraku was getting restless. Five hundred years he'd been waiting, yet he couldn't handle three weeks and five days? Time played tricks on his perceptions, stretching an infinite distance, making the next three weeks and five days seem endless in comparison to the centuries that he'd waited thus far.

 

"Three weeks, five days." Kanna's pale lips moved slowly as the demon she played host to savored the words. Kanna herself had infinite patience. The time would come. Anticipation changed nothing.

 

Not that anyone asked her opinion.

 

(\ /)

(0.0)

(><)

 

"Hello?" The fist came up to knock on the sturdy wood of the front door. "Kagome! Open up!" Eri exchanged a glance with Yuka as Ayumi knocked again. "Kagome!"

 

Yuka sighed. "You don't think that she forgot, do you?" She shifted her bag underneath her arm. Eri shook her head fervently and put down her bag. It was heavy.

 

"Kagome wouldn't forget." She knocked with Ayumi. "Hey!" She yelled impatiently. "Open up!" The door opened and she blinked in surprise. "Hello?" There was no one standing in the doorway. "That's kinda creepy."

 

"Down here." The three girl looked down at the ginger-haired little boy who stood in the doorway, looking slightly hassled. "You must be Kagome's friends, right?"

 

"Oh! Yeah." Eri smiled and leaned over as she picked up her baggage again. "What's your name? I'm Eri." She smiled invitingly and offered a hand.

 

"Shippo." He turned disinterestedly towards the inside of the house. "Kagome! Come on!" He hollered up the stairs, and a series of thumps came from above. Shippo looked exasperated. "KAGOOOOOOOMEEEEEE!" He scampered up the stairs, leaving the three schoolgirls in an awkward situation.

 

"Uh…" They exchanged glances. This was not the welcome that they'd expected… Kagome came rushing down the stairs, face flushed.

 

"Sorry, guys!" She apologized and tucked some stray hair behind her ear. "I was having a bit of a problem with my room." She grinned at her friends. There was a pause where they all stood, smiling at each other. "Well, come on! Don't you want to see the house?" She grabbed Yuka's arm eagerly, then turned. "Here, put your baggage in whatever rooms you want. Come on!"

 

She hurried back up the stairs, her three friends toting luggage followed behind and chatting. "So Kagome, where are the others who live here?" Eri hauled her large bag -she was one of those people who over packed for everything- up the last stair and put it down with a plunk on the landing.

 

"Well, Miroku's outside and so is Sango, I think. She's a demo- I mean, she's a weapons expert," Kagome laughed nervously. "She's practicing right now, I think. And you've already met Shippo-"

 

"Can I keep him?" Yuka asked solemnly. "He's soooo adorable!" She grinned. "How old is he, anyway?" Kagome thought before answering as the four of them continued down the hall to look at rooms.

 

"He's about eight." Of course, Shippo had the intellect of his demon years and the maturity of a six-year-old. It was all rather confusing. She opened the door to one of the empty rooms and Yuka set down her luggage.

 

"Really? Eight? He's the size of a five-ear-old!" She looked at the others. "Anyone mind if I take this room?" The other two shrugged carelessly and they moved down the hall.

 

"Well let's see," Kagome paused for thought. "My room's here, that one's empty, the next one on the right is Sango's and the one farther right and across is Miroku's. Inuyasha's is far to the left."

 

Eri looked at her curiously. "Who's Inuyasha?" The other's crowded around Kagome with conspiratorial glances. The black-haired girl nervously tucked a nonexistent strand of hair behind her ear.

 

"You never mentioned an 'Inuyasha'." Yuka was getting that gleam in her eye, and Ayumi was already drawing conclusions, if the smile on her face was anything to go on. "What's he like?"

 

"Well, he's a bit strange." Kagome began and fervently hoped that he wasn't eavesdropping at the moment. And he'd better be wearing the spell that Miroku had put on him that morning, too. "He's got long white hair -longer than mine-" The others looked at her with surprise, "-and he wears weird clothes all the time, but he's really quite nice."

 

"And what's wrong with my clothes?" Kagome winced. It was just her luck that he happened to be passing by at that moment… Kagome's friends looked at him in interest. Inuyasha stared back. "Uh…" The looks they were giving him were unnerving. "I've gotta go now." He rushed down the hallway.

 

"He is a weirdo, isn't he?" Yuka asked with a sigh. "An albino? His eyes are the right color."

 

"And so is his hair," Eri agreed. "I wish my hair was like that…" She sighed. Ever since she was young, she'd kept her hair short. When it got too long, it tangled really easily and became more of a hassle than in was worth.

 

"I don't think he ever brushes it, either." Kagome admitted. Not once had she seen him take a brush to his head. He refused to wear anything besides his own clothes, too. The time that she'd been in his room, it looked as if no one lived there. Surprisingly, Inuyasha kept it immaculately clean.

 

"Really?" Yuka stared after the white-haired person even though he'd disappeared quite some time ago. "And it didn't look tangled at all." She turned back to Kagome. "So where is your mom, anyway? All you said was that she'd be gone."

 

Kagome nodded. "Her friend has hepatitis, I think. She's visiting her. I don't know when she'll be back, actually," she admitted with a grin.

 

Yuka looked at her in awe. "You mean she's letting you stay here all by yourself? My mom would never let me do that!" She paused. "Well, my mom is a control freak, too. But still."

 

"Yeah, how did you get her to agree to let you come? I mean, it's miles away from the nearest hospital and there's no adults!" Ayumi looked at her friend curiously. Yuka grinned back coyly.

 

"I told her that there were responsible adults renting here." Kagome snorted. Miroku was definitely not someone she'd call "responsible". At least not in terms of women. Sango was responsible, but not in terms of Miroku. And in no way was Inuyasha responsible.

 

"Well, come on!" Kagome signaled for the others to follow her. "I'm gonna show you the house!" She rushed off, the other three hurrying after her amid protests of the speed she was walking at.

 

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

 

Man… I really, really, REALLY need to go back and edit the earlier chapters. I was rereading a bit in search of some info (who has the overprotective mother? Ayumi, Eri or Yuka? I never did find out for sure…) and I realized that I had a bunch of typos everywhere and grammatical errors. And then some. "Rewrite this, kill that, redo this, ect. And that just needs to go. And that's begging to be rewritten."

 

And Kagome's buddies were really mean to me… so any suggestions as to fixing 'em up?

 

But anyway, onto more urgent business.

 

PLEASE READ!!!:

 

Should I, or should I not keep Kagome's "Sit" spell on Inuyasha? I personally think he has too much on his plate already, what with Kagome's friends and being a poltergeist and such. There's only so much that I should heap on him, and I think that he's nearing the limit.

 

I would really, really value some insight on this problem. Every opinion counts! Tell me, please! It would be very appreciated. Very, very appreciated. So, do not think that your opinion doesn't count! It matters! It's like voting; every single person makes a difference, and if no one voted then the whole system would collapse! Poof!

 

(Anyway, thanks for reading! Much appreciated.)