InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Hidden Beneath a Smile ❯ Female Assassin ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

Hidden Beneath a Smile

Chapter Seven: Female Assassin

The heat of the flames so intense as they licked up the sides of the walls like hungry vultures, setting out to consume their home until nothing was left but ash, but she would not shed her only protection to ease her suffering. The smoke was so thick, so unrelenting that it even hindered her breath as she crawled along the floor like the fire-fighters explain when they pay a visit to your school. She knew that it was likely better than standing straight up, but her aching lungs argued otherwise. Her cinnamon colored eyes were blurred with tears and stung so badly that she was constantly blinking them closed in an attempt to ease the pain, if only a little.

She didn't understand what was going on! One minute her mother had tucked her into bed and the next she awoke to a smoke filled room. She instantly knew the house was on fire, but she could find no one. In fact, though her home was moderate size, she could barely tell where she was located at in her house; nothing was recognizable to her eyes and so who was to say that she had not passed a family member. The thought was hardly comforting and quickly pushed away.

Fear made her heart pump faster and shorten her breaths even more, actually it was getting really difficult to carry out the act of breathing. Her throat was beginning to burn with the force of breaths, and her ears could hear nothing but the sound of her own beating organ and the roars of the flames and cracking of wood. She blinked a couple of times, had she stopped moving? Or was she still going on? It was difficult to comprehend at this point.

She didn't feel too well.

Suddenly she jerked back as her hand caught in the flames, searing her flesh with an agonizing pain she did not know existed. She soon learned that it was nothing compared to that which she felt as her back slammed against a burning wall. The red fire deciding that the pajama shirt that adorned her back was much tastier meal and set work at devouring it whole, along with her olive colored flesh. Her scream permeated through the sounds that already deafened the night as she rolled around upon the ground careful not to touch the all consuming flames.

She stiffened as she felt something touch her, but relaxed and sighed in relief as the cold wet cloth made contact with her burnt skin. She felt a hand brush aside her bangs, before the sensation of being lifted into strong arms jolted through her body. She felt safe, and relaxed, her heart slowing but her breaths still came out in forced puffs. It still hurt to breath. "Shhh…" A voice softly cooed. She recognized this voice, she new who it was, but for the life of her she could not get her eyes to open, nor could she turn her head in the direction of sound. "It's alright imotou, I've got you now."

She could feel them moving, slowly, but moving none-the-less, before she felt a pause. Her brother sat her down a moment and though she could not see what he was doing, she could hear it. She could hear his shoed foot make contact with the window, she could hear it shatter with a startling clarity despite the rest of the sounds that assaulted her ears. If she had been able to form more coherent thoughts, she would have been worried about him. Worried that when that window had been forced asunder, it had extracted some sort of revenge for it damage with a laceration of some sort upon the skin, by one of its flying shards.

She was being carried again, and she no longer felt hot, instead she felt the cool evening air caressing her cheeks like she were it's lost lover. She was being propped up against a tree, she could feel the bark irritating her skin through the cloth of her clothing. "I'll be right back imotou, I just have to go help our parents out, I'll be right back, I promise." She could feel herself nodding to his words, but it was when they penetrated did she snap her eyes open.

He was going to go back in there! She tried to stand, tried to move and tried to yell out for him as she watched his form disappear back into their home. Her heart lodged into her throat, her breath ceased to flow and dread weighed her body down despite how much she tried to move, as her eyes beheld the roof caving in. "Kohaku!" She screamed for her brother. In the distance she was vaguely aware of sirens crying out their coming. "Kohaku!" She balled, not even noticing the hand grabbing a hold of her as she struggled onward, only to be added to more. "Kohaku! Kohaku, Kohaku…!"

Her head shot up and she fell backwards in her chair. Despite the dull throb starting in her back and the place where her skull hit, she made no moves to right herself. "Damn it, Sango!" She chastised herself. "Why are you still having this stupid nightmare!" She was eight then, that night had happened ten years ago and it should no longer effect her. Yet it did. She angrily whipped the tears that formed in her cinnamon eyes before they could spill over.

That fire had stripped away from her everyone that she cared about, and left her with nothing more then a scar upon her back as a constant reminder. She grew up alone with not a soul to defend her, no one to feed her, no one to care for her. She had no love in her life. Sango had to grow before her time in order to survive the brutality of the Tokyo orphanage, she learned things at such a young age that none should know until the age of never. She had witnessed children be raped by the workers and beaten as they screamed for help. No one would ever help, no one cared. They made no secret of these blatant acts of violence, and would converse of them over dining like they were some prized accomplishment to be boasted over. It sickened her. The younger children, she would purposely drag their notice to herself in order to save them the pains of losing their innocence so young. She could not save them all, and it would send a dagger to her heart as she sobbed in her bed at night hearing their cries. She was locked in and could not get out to help them. They had caught on to her scheme.

The meals they would be forced to endure were not more then slop with the dead bodies of roaches floating around in them, that, or the feces of rats. She would refuse her meals and then run in the night to sneak something that did not cause her to toss out more then she took in. During her stay there, she had been skinny enough as it was. She would come back before anyone even missed her for the times that she was not, she was beaten and the food that she managed to save, confiscated. It was that food that she would share with the others, helping them to have something other then that poison they were forced to shove down their bellies.

It had been on one of these such journeys outside at the age of sixteen that she had found her savior. Sango had been traveling down the exact alleyway she always took as the shortest route back to the orphanage, she had been jumped by a few men. Growing up how she did, Sango was more then adequate at defending herself, but she had to admit back then she would have been killed had it not been for him. Four to one was not very good odds, even for her.

After the thugs had been taken care of, the man had informed Sango that he was searching for her. She was more then a little startled by the news, she was a nobody, what would he want with her? She had learned his name to be Miroku and would later learn that despite him claiming monk-hood, that did not mean he held to the vow of chastity. Apparently he knew more than she would have liked about her personal life; he knew of the one she lead before the orphanage. His words still brought rage seeping into her soul to this day, made her shake with barely concealed hate as her face twisted into a snarl. "The fire that stole your family was no accident Sango, it was deliberate. They wanted your father dead, they wanted you all dead in case he had opened his mouth."

"Who?" Her voice had trembled.

"No one really knows the answer to that, but that it's someone of high power." That was his answer to her, and after that he had offered her the job Sesshoumaru wished to offer her. The job came with many perks, the best being a penthouse in any location she chose, in fact she could own the whole building as long as she came to work for them. She would be paid a very high sum for every assignment she completed; the rate would vary, but it could be anywhere from five to ten thousand. She was won before, but she made a very vocal agreement after the amount left his lips. She did not care what it was that she had to do, for that kind of money she would do anything.

She had gotten everything that was promised to her, and used the building as a safe-haven for orphaned children. She gave them everything, her pay checks were used to feed them, to cloth them and to buy them whatever their hearts desired. She wanted to give them the things that the orphanage denied her. It was shortly after she received these gifts that she also received her first phone call and it was a request -or more like a demand- that she come down to the eastern piers for her training. The nature of her job was… shocking to say the least.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her phone. With a heartfelt sigh, Sango pushed herself up from the dinning room chair, fixing it back into place. She walked over to the counter and picked the phone off of the cradle, pressing the button before placing it at her ear. "This is Sango." She told whomever was on the other line.

"It's Miroku."

Her eyes widened. This was new, her orders usually came from Jaken, Kagura or Rin, which were actually words of Sesshoumaru. "Who's to die now?" She was a master assassin, having taken to the training like a pro, being ready for her first assignment after only four months of intense training; quicker than most.

"It's nothing like that." He hurriedly assured. "I need a favor of you."

"I will not bare you a child nor will I consider a date, find one of your other hussies to dine with or whatever it is you do on a date a woman." She growled over the line, her hand clenching the phone in a tight fist. "Now this conversation is over!"

"Wait Sango! Hear me out!"

She wasn't sure why she was even considering giving the supposed monk the time of day, but then she guessed it had something to do with the desperation in his voice. For some reason it tugged at her, convincing her not to slam the phone upon the receiver. "Make it quick." She hissed out low, her cinnamon irises' looking around for the clock to get some sort of idea as to the time of night. She groaned mentally when it read a little half past midnight. She needed sleep after having pulled off that all-nighter just the other day. She could run on three hours of sleep if she had to, but she would rather not.

"Listen a girl and her brother may have overheard something that might help us with 'him,' she was attacked two nights ago and we have her in a safe house until we can question her." There was a pause over the line, a long pause that had her looking at the phone in curiosity. "I need you to show her around the school, look after her, she can be a real troublemaker at times, but she's basically a good girl all around." He finally requested.

She blinked a couple of times, falling into an awkward silence as she processed his words. "I guess that can be arranged, but it's a bit different then my usual work. So basically I play as her bodyguard, and keep her out of trouble?" She specified before the rest of his words became clear to her sleeping brain. "How well do you know this girl!" She cried. "That you could say something like that about her?" Though she made it appoint to pound his face into the ground for every offensive move and word, he was still her savior. He still saved her from the life she was leading and introduced her to something better, gave her the chance to avenge her family. A chance to hope…

She had fallen for him, it was foolish, but she had done it.

There was such a long moment of silence that for a minute there Sango was sure he had hung up on her. "Yeah…" He whispered slowly. "Her family, or more to say, our fathers' were, they were best-friends. I've known her since she was born, just… watch her for me, alright?"

"Al-alright." The line went dead. She still held the phone to her ear loosely a few moments in dazed contemplation, before she mechanically dropped the plastic thing into it receiver. That was a bit weird, she had not been expecting that. What did it mean? Did this girl hold some type of unknown power over him? It was the first time they had talked of the opposite sex without him making some sort of perverse comment upon it, hell, she even got away unscathed. She didn't want to admit it, but…

It scared her like nothing else ever had. She needed sleep, and bad.

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Glaring at the building, Inuyasha shoved his clawed hands into his pant pockets. After an hours search he had come to the conclusion that Miroku was likely here with these humans that he claims are not more then friends of his father's. They were too close to be just simple friends, he could see that in Miroku when their conversation steered toward them. Their was a fierce protectiveness alit within his violet orbs every time he questioned about them, especially during that time in the van.

Sesshoumaru had said to meet him at the office in three hours and he had two of those left, well actually one and a half now seeing as it took thirty minutes to find his way here. Being broad daylight, he couldn't just run his way there. Whatever it was that his brother wanted, he didn't feel like arriving a second late. Whatever the reason, it was something of dire importance seeing that Sesshoumaru ended his message without a deathly threat. It was just a stern 'or else,' and nothing more.

Silently he continued forward, entering through the doorway with the required key, heading towards the elevator. Only one good thing would come of this, he would get to meet the two that Miroku risked his life so foolishly for. If it wasn't for the fact that he was second in command, and the monk's father spouting some gibberish and being so tightly involved in this whole scandal the idiot would be dead.

With those last thoughts, he entered his penthouse, amber eyes searching for his partner…

It did not take him long to find himself before his apartment's door, nor to push the said door open cautiously. Who knew what he would find transpiring around on the inside. He took in a deep breath to take in the new smells of the place as they hit him in the face, only to stop in mid intake, his amber eyes growing to the size of baseballs, jaw growing slack. What is that smell!? He thought furiously. There was another that slightly matched it, but he paid it no mind, fallowing the trail this scent left for him to fallow. What was it? He had never smelled anything of the like before, and for some reason it grabbed hold of him; unrelenting. It allowed him no coherent thoughts, other then ones trying to decipher exactly what it was, where it came from, or whom it belonged to.

He prodded through the entryway and down the hall leading toward the bedrooms. This scent, it was everywhere, but it was strongest in this area and thus he traveled down this path. Why did this scent matter so much? Why did it call out to him, demand to his instincts, demand that he find its origin? The closer he got, the more he lost interest in the reasons why, only that he was able to find it and fast. It seemed to divulge straight to his center and exclude a strange sense of calm throughout it body. He didn't like it, in fact, he was beginning to despise this scent more then he ever despised anything in his life. He was pissed as he marched his way towards the penthouse, he wanted to rip into Miroku and demand a response as to why he could not contact him when it was important. Now all he wanted to do was get the monk and leave, actually leaving had never really even crossed his mind.

Grunting as his backside made contact with the hard ground, he berated himself heatedly for allowing his mind to be so consumed by a smell that he did not pay attention to the scenery around him. His amber eyes traveled downward to find the kit wrapping his arms around his middle in a strong embrace. If it had been anyone else, he would not have minded caressing their flesh with his claws in retribution for touching him without his explicit permission. Placing one arm around him, he looked upwards, sight landing upon a gawking boy around the age of twelve. He knew for a fact that he had his demonic attributes well hidden, so the strange looks must be toward his sliver hair or perhaps the amber eyes.

"Shippo." Inuyasha growled lowly above the kit's ear. "Off."

Hastily complying with the hanyou's wishes, Shippo beamed up at him, shocking the half-demon a bit. He'd never seen the kid to look so… happy before, well other then the time he and Miroku picked him up from the dumpster offering him a place to call home. "Inuyasha!" He crowed. "You'll never believe it, but I got a new friend now and his names Souta!" He pulled the gawking boy to stand next to him, smiling slightly at the slack jawed kid before returning his green orbs to eldest of the three. "We played games almost all night, and when we woke up he was showing me how to play a game called Metal Gear! It's so great Inuyasha, I really, really like it here." He finished, taking in deep breaths to replenish himself after speaking such a long sentence in one.

Smirking faintly his amber eyes warmed slightly as they watched the small kit yammer on before coming to a halt to draw in breath. "Keh, I'm glad for you runt." He responded, then looking between the two, he said. "You wouldn't happen to know where Miroku is, would you?"

"He's probably still with my sister." The dark haired kid answered, his face now set into a large smile. "Her rooms over there." The boy pointed, then grabbed Shippo's hand in his own tugging on their joined hands to lead him back to his own room. "Come on Shippo, I still got to teach you how to play that game, and then I'm going to show you the wonders of Soul Caliber Two."

Watching them go, he couldn't help but think that Miroku made the right call when he thought to bring the runt here; it seemed to be doing some good for the kid and he'd only been there not even a day. Taking a discreet sniff of the air, he was surprise to note that the scent he had come across and hunted seemed to travel to the door. Stalking it slowly, he placed his clawed hand upon the handle, shoving it open lightly; peering inside.

His golden sight beheld his partner, Miroku, beneath the bed sheets and blankets holding tightly to his chest a woman. Not just any woman either, but the sister to the brother down the hall, the exact girl he had seen trying to comfort her otou during a night terror. The girl did not strike him as the type to be a loose woman, but then looks are deceiving. Sort of like the monk, claiming he had no interest in bedding the girl, only wanting to keep her safe. What load of bull! Clenching his fist, Inuyasha slammed the door shut, striding over to the foot of the bed.

With a loud growl, he roared. "What the hell is this Miroku!?"

Though he was beyond enraged at his partner, he could not help the few snickers that fell under his breath as Miroku shot up and falling out of bed; fully clothed as well. That drew a pause from him, why would he dress after rolling around the bed with the girl? The monk pushed himself up slowly, the edges of sleep still holding a good portion of his mind. "I just want some more sleep Inu…yasha?" The name ended in a question as Miroku stood up suddenly all signs of sleep gone as he stared the hanyou down with bulging violet eyes. "What in the world are you doing here Inuyasha!?" He shouted.

"This is Inuyasha?" A female voice sounded. She couldn't help but shrink back as two sets of eyes whipped towards her, on violet and the other amber. One glaring and the other… appreciative? Fallowing the gaze down at herself, Kagome pulled the blankets up with a startled gasp, before shooting him a fierce heated look as she tried to cool her burning cheeks.

Inuyasha couldn't help it, he couldn't stop his eyes from racking down her top half in appreciation. It absolutely revolted him, that he was acting like Miroku, but he could not help it as it was not every day he got to see something like this. It wasn't that she was naked as he had expected to see, no, it was that some time during the night her sleepwear had pulled down exposing one of her breast to his gaze. He could barely contain his smirk as she squeaked, pulling the blanket up to cover her as she produced for him a heated glare to melt ice. He took a delicate sniff and found himself starting in shock. She was the smell. It was her scent the stole his mind from him, that calmed his anger upon walking into the house. He found his mood souring once more and was going to bark out demands until he saw Miroku fierce glower in his direction. It was so heated that it was a wonder he didn't burst in to flames then and there.

What was the monk's problem? He had walked in on him and a girl before, and Miroku had only made perverse comments… asking if he wanted to…share. He shivered that the thought in disgust. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen more of a girls… attributes that the monk bedded then what he had gotten a glimpse of, what made this girl so different? This behavior for his partner was odd, and most disconcerting; making him feel uneasy. "I ask you again Inuyasha, What are you doing here?" Miroku questioned lowly, his glare not letting up.

"Me!" Inuyasha snarled. "What about you!? Why are you here? Why is it that I make a call that's important and you don't answer your damned phone!?" He demanded, before allowing his fierce amber eyes to slide from him to the girl and back again. "You said you didn't want this arrangement to get down this girl's pants, and where do I find you! In bed with the little slut!"

Inuyasha didn't know what hit him until he was under Miroku's weight, both of the monk's hands pinning down his shoulders to the floor. "You listen here Inuyasha! Don't you dare call her that again." His voice was harsh with his rage, breath puffing as he tried to regain control over his emotions. His body was literally shaking. His violet eyes nearly shown red. "Use your senses Inuyasha, we did nothing and if I ever see you looking at her in that- that manner again I will personally remove your only means to screw a woman properly!" He raged as Inuyasha winced, lifting his balled fist. "You-"

Kagome cut his next words short as she caught his hand in her own, forcing the fit into a flat palm as she held them trapped between her hands. "Miroku stop this." She pleaded softly. "He doesn't understand." She lead him away from hovering above Inuyasha, to sit next to the floor beside him.

"He could have looked away." He pointed out sulkily.

Her cheeks flamed at this remark, and well it was true, and she should give her fists a nice work out on his face; she wasn't going to. It was a bit pointless to do so now after Miroku's show of bravado. "Y-yeah." She took in a breath and ignored her brother in favor of seeing if their guest was alright. Her brown eyed graze swept over him lightly. "A-are you alright? You didn't hurt yourself on the way down did you?" This just wasn't her day, she was so embarrassed that she could barely make her voice sound above a whisper.

He sat up, crossing his arms in front of his chest looking away from her. "Keh." He snorted. He was beginning to feel guilty, here she was being decent to him and he had just insulted her in a crude way.

"You could apologize to her." Miroku snapped. Inuyasha looked over at him in shock, he has never before spoken to him in such a manner. Who was this girl to him, that he would act in such a manner towards his best-friend? Was he in love with her?

Both paused in their glowering to glance at the girl as she moved toward her door, yanking the handle and allowing the two spying to fall to the floor before her feet. Getting ready to yell at her brother for spying when he shouldn't be, she paused as her eyes took in the form beside her brother's. A young redheaded, green eyed boy that looked to be the age of four, looked up at her with a bemused expression before it turned slight nervous and perhaps even a tad fearful. "Kawaii!" Grabbing the child up in her arms, she titled her head in question as she locked gazes with her brother. "Who is your friend, Souta?"

"I'm Shippo." A small voice piped up from her arms causing her gaze to turn to him.

She smiled softly, she always had a soft spot for little kids. Patting his fiery hair she squeezed him a bit closer to her. "Shippo is such a nice name, I like it a lot." She gushed. "I'm Kagome." She whispered to him like it were a well kept secret. "Who did you come with, Miroku or Inuyasha? Souta's not allowed to leave the house, so you had to come with one of them." She pointed out to what she thought was a questioning look.

Truly he had been puzzling over the reasons for the girl to be so nice to him, most of the woman would gush on and on about him that way they wouldn't have to face Inuyasha's or Miroku's wrath. This girl, she was being sincerely good to him and he could smell to fear emanating from her scent. It felt really good to have someone treat him well without the heavy tinge of terror clinging to them, to know that someone could genuinely act that way around him. It felt so good that he was nearly weak with the emotion, he turned himself in her embrace and buried his face into her neck as he wrapped his arms around her. "You smell really nice, better then all those other girls they had take care of me." He said instead of answering her question. He was relaxed and those words slipped out in place of his answer.

Kagome turned towards her brother, raising a brow in question. She was seeking an answer behind the meaning of Shippo's words, he realized. He gave his most sincere smile, adding in the pleading eyes; she was never able to resist that mix when he tossed them at her. This also cause a suspicious light to enter her brown orbs. "Inuyasha and I took the kit in after we found him homeless on the streets, but our jobs demand so much time from us that we are unable to be there all the time so we've had others watch him for us… but they don't really work out as we wish them too."

"They all hate me." Shippo piped up sadly.

Kagome patted his back gently, swaying back and forth like she would for a babe, cooing to him softly. "I don't think that it's possible for anyone to hate you." She claimed, tying assuage his sadness. "In fact I like you so much that I'm going to let you stay here with me and Souta for Miroku, okay?"

He leaned back looking into her face with glistening green eyes, no had ever offered him a place to stay of their own free will before; usually Inuyasha had to threaten them a couple of times. This felt really good, so much so that he felt as if he might start crying soon, and he didn't want to do that in front of the guys. "Thank you so much Kagome!" He finally wailed, wrapping his arms around her neck in hug, before kissing her lightly on the cheek.

Kagome was stunned for a moment, before placing him back upon the ground. "Why don't you play with Souta while I talk with these two alright." He nodded, and fallowed her brother back to his room. Shutting the door, she leaned against it, glairing at her brother heatedly. As if her glower physically pushed him, he stumbled backwards a couple of steps before falling to the bed. "I'm going to guess that you had him for a while?" She queried coolly.

He gulped. "Yeah." He answered slowly as he watched every move she made with a strict caution that surprised the hanyou. He had been watching the exchange between her and Shippo with surprise, and now watched this the same way. He wanted to see why Miroku protected this girl so fiercely, why he would risk death for her and her brother. Though most of his shock came from how well the kit seemed to be able to relax around her, how much he allowed her to touch him. He tampered this shock, and feelings her actions dredged up within him with the simple fact that even though she was this way with him now, she would most definitely toss him aside sneering at him like a disgusting disease one she became privy to his actual species. He turned his attention fully onto the pair.

"Care to tell me exactly what kind of people you left him with, Miroku." She spoke his name like a well honed dagger, ready and waiting for the kill. Inuyasha had never heard his name spoken in a more frightening tone, and obviously neither had the monk, if his slight trembles had a story to tell. One thing Inuyasha didn't get was, why did she even care? Shippo was not her responsibility, nor had she met the kit until now. "Care to tell me why some one so young seemed to have been put through so much crap by those you left him with!?" The sentence was spoken in a harsh growl.

"Calm down Kagome!" He pleaded frantically. "Remember what happened last time, and besides I didn't know what kind of people they were until it was too late! Shippo wouldn't say anything to me!"

Now her browns gained a sad cast to them. "Why didn't you bring him to me? Didn't you trust me to look out for him?" She catechized so softly that Miroku could barely catch the gentle wisps of words as the ran past his ears. You trust me with Souta fine enough! She wanted to yell, but that would have been a bit confusing to their guest considering they were suppose to hold no relations to one another.

"That's different." He said as if reading her mind. "Sides I brought him to you now can't we just leave it at that." Miroku begged.

Kagome nodded, before grinning evilly. "I will leave it at that if you can beat me in a dual of the swords." She declared loudly. It was a custom between them -after she learned, and then with Souta after he was able to handle one without fear of him accidentally sticking himself- to dual with katana to see who would be in charge of what chore. They would pick one, fight over it and the loser would be stuck with it… unless of course both wanted it, then it would be 'to the winner goes the spoils.'

Eying the two suspiciously, linger a bit upon the girl's upper body taking note muscular shape of her body. Now that he looked… "What do you mean, 'a dual of swords?'" He quoted.

"Playstation game." Miroku answered quickly. "So why are you here anyways Inuyasha, you never did answer me?"

Deciding to let the problem drop, as he would find out this little hunch later, he said. "Se- the boss," he corrected shooting a quick glance in the girl's direction, "has need to see us or else." He mimicked in Jaken's voice earning himself a slight giggle from the one his friend called, Kagome. For some reason or another, it made him want to… smirk. "We need to be their in three hours, one and half when I got here…" he trailed as he froze in realization. "Damn it!" He swore. "Were going to be late, this whole stupid conversation has taken a whole damn hour!"

Miroku too froze at this realization. Jumping from the bed he made way towards the door. "Take care Kagome, and remember what we talked about!" He shouted as he ran down the hall and towards the door.

"You had better make sure not hair on that kid's head is harmed." He threatened, purposely bumping to her, causing her to careen backwards, therein forcing him to stop her fall by bringing the girl into his arms; safely. He had forgotten to compare the girl's scent to Miroku's, he knew that it wasn't likely, but he wanted to check to see if they held any similarities to the other. Holding her a second longer then what would be deemed necessary, Inuyasha let her go hopping he'd kept her long enough to get a decent sample. "See ya around girl." He called over his shoulder.

Kagome on the other hand her none of it, she'd never been held like that before and thus was trying to cool her red face down. Though most of it was due to the embarrassment that she was unable to right herself after he had knocked her down, she was skilled fighter for goodness sake.

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Cool amber eyes glanced at the clock a faint grin appeared upon the stoic youkai's face. "Obviously Inuyasha misses the caress of my claws, if he is this late in getting here." Sesshoumaru whispered to the empty room as he counted down the minutes in to which he would oblige his brother's silent wish.

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The slight wind created from her two and fro movements upon the swing cooled the tears upon her cheeks to ice. It wasn't as if it were exactly summer any longer, in fact it was nearing December and the days were quick chill. The short sleeved shirt and thin pants adorning her body did nothing to keep the chill out. She thought as more tears fell silently. She knew that her grandfather had been old, but she had not expected him to die so soon, nor for it to be in the middle of the night, before she could even wish him well.

It hurt extravagantly when she realized that she had not seen her grandfather in months…

"Why is such a pretty girl as yourself crying out her all alone?" A male voice inquired. Looking up, she found herself to be staring into cinnamon brown eyes attached to head of long dark hair pulled together at the nape of the mans neck. He looked to be very gentle, if she were to go by his eyes.

"Who are you?" She blurted out, and immediately felt stupid.

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A/N: I know that this is a stupid place to stop, but I've got so much homework to complete that it's simply amazing, with two reports to complete… one of them being on Charlemagne, guy did some amazing things! Anyways, I'll do all the Review answers on the next chapter…

This chapter is dedicated to KeeraSango ~_^

To all you lovely reviewers out there, I would just like to take a minute to thank all of you for making my day by review, also that I keep you all in my prayers! Hope you all have the most wonderful day of all!!!!!!!!!!!