InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Inu Yasha, The Reincarnation of Midoriko? ❯ Chapter 2
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Desiree Dee 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Mystery | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 02.24.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 698 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Mystery | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 02.24.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 698 | Status: Completed
Chapter 2
"So, Inu Yasha acts weird whenever you get close to him, I don’t see what’s so strange about that." Shippou barely fit into the small basket, he had been so quiet, that the girls had forgotten he was there.
"I’m so sorry Shippou, I forgot you were there. It seems you’ve gotten bigger since the last time that you rode with me."
"It’s no problem, Kagome. It’s still better than walking all of the time. I just can’t sleep in it anymore."
"We’ll just have to do something about that later then won’t we?" Kagome smiled down at the young red head in front of her. "Hey, you guys, promise me that you won’t tell Inu Yasha about any of this, I don’t want him to worry any more than he already does."
"We promise, Kagome." Both said in harmony with each other as they followed the rest of the members in their group towards the next village.
While the women and Shippou confabulated about whatever it was they usually did, Miroku pulled the cart up along side of Inu Yasha. They were silent at first, but Inu Yasha soon broke it.
"Do you mind backing off? Your ass smells."
"I would hope that you are referring to donkey."
"Maybe I am, maybe I’m not, but if you don’t move that thing down wind, you’re going to be pulling that cart yourself."
"Perhaps you could sit up here with me, I’m sure the smell is slightly more tolerable. Besides, I wish to speak with you."
"If it’s about last night, or reconsidering becoming a full demon then I would rather not."
"I’m under the impression that whatever occurred last night could not have been of much interest since they have kept Shippou around for the conversation." Inu Yasha paused and took this information in for consideration.
"Yeah, I guess you are right. So, if those weren’t what you wanted to talk about, then what?"
"Join me, and I will be only glad to tell you."
"Don’t tell me that you’re lonely.” He gave the monk a skeptical look.
"Not at all, and I never said that I didn’t want to talk on either of those subjects. I simply pointed out that nothing of real interest could have happened."
"Feh, my guess is that you won’t leave me alone until I get up there. Besides, that thing’s smell is making me ill." Inu Yasha reluctantly jumped onto the top of the cart. It did smell a little better, so he settled in with his back facing Miroku.
They continued in silence. Anyone watching this scene unfold would think that he was simply ignoring Miroku, but anyone with a little more insight than the obvious would know that he was watching Kagome. He closed his eyes, and thought back to the event of that morning there was something about having her next to him, and smiling no less. He could never have even imagined such a feeling or scene when he was with Kikyo. He gave a dreamy sigh, Miroku had a point, if anything bad had happened, they wouldn’t have allowed Shippou to be around. Even more, he hadn’t smelt anything on her that would lead him to believe that they had a truly intimate moment. He became so lost in his deep thoughts that he didn’t notice the cart had stopped. He was only picturing what it would be like to confess to her that it almost felt right waking to her smile. He then began to imagine what her response would be, but was shocked to hear Miroku’s voice come out of Kagome’s lips.
"Do you think we should wait for them before entering the village?" He snapped around when he realized why his daydream had turned out so wrong. Miroku felt paralyzed by his death glare. Shakily, he continued. "I don’t know what I did to deserve that, but I think having you in this mood, it would not be wise to proceed without Kagome around to keep you in line."
"Whatever monk, you just have really bad timing when it comes to talking to people."
"Speaking of such things as timing, what did you get Shippou for his birthday? Or did you forget?"
"Who said that I had to get the brat anything? Why should I care when he was born?"
"You know you like him as if he were your own." Miroku gave him a serious look.
"Demons kill young that are not of there own blood, Kagome simply prevents me from doing it. What would make you think that I care anything about that kit?"
"The fact that you are also part human, and they can show compassion towards others. Nothing prevented you from killing him when Kagome left for her time before you met up with Sango and me." Miroku felt as though he had won the battle of wits, but he was sadly mistaken.
"You should try having a rosary around your neck for once, and then tell me how you feel the first time Sango uses it after you touch her butt. I’ll bet you it will help suppress any urges or instincts that you may have from now on." If Miroku would have had a more extensive knowledge of modern slang he would have chosen this moment to say ‘Dude, you are so whipped,’ but since he had no idea about that he just fell out of his seat laughing. "Mind letting me in on the joke?" Inu Yasha looked at the figure laughing on the ground. Miroku choked his response out between laughs.
"When.” gag, snicker “do you want” haaha “me” sputter noise “to” attempts to catch breath “perform the ceremony?"
"What ceremony?" Inu Yasha asked the monastic young man as he stood and wiped the dust from his robes.
"Why, the wedding ceremony." Unnoticed by the two males their counterparts had chosen that moment to arrive. "Of course, I will only do this if you promise to give me the details of the evening following."
"What was that?" An enraged exterminator stormed into his face. He tried his best to back away, but it was too late.
"You merely came in on the wrong portion of the conversation."
"Like hell she did." Inu Yasha was not willing to help out the situation. Sango gave him an angry growl and instead of pulling out her weapon, she simply flicked the bruise on his forehead, which caused him to collapse into a twitching mound of flesh.
"Dirty pervert.” Was all that she said before stomping back over to Kagome.
"Now that is funny." Inu Yasha snickered from atop the cart.
"Sit boy!" Came from below. The rosary pulled him, and a few items, off of the cart and onto the ground.
"What was that for?" He screamed into the dirt. Kagome, had no clue exactly what he had said, but knew from past times that he would want an explanation.
"It isn’t right to laugh at the pains of others." With that she popped the giggling Shippou on the head.
"Ooowwww!"he rubbed the spot. It hadn’t hurt, just surprised him.
"I don’t want to look like a hypocrite do I?" Sango was the only one with the ability to stare, and that is exactly what she did.
The group had entered the village with a few stares, but it did not prevent people from purchasing all that they had, with the exception of the donkey.
"Seems we just can’t get rid of your ass, huh Miroku?"
"Very funny Inu Yasha, I think we’ve all had enough of the donkey jokes."
"Nope," Shippou piped in, "I like them a lot. I especially like ‘Looks like you’re stuck with a hairy ass.’ He he." Shippou did his best imitation of Inu Yasha’s voice.
"Very nice, kid, very nice." Shippou smiled at this, the half dog demon rarely gave him any praise.
"Well, it seems it’s time for me to keep up with my gift by making you keep up with yours." Sango grabbed Miroku by his ear dragging both him and the donkey up to the nearest inn.
"Pardon me, but my companions and I are looking for rooms, would you have any available?” She spoke to the old man that sat out on the porch.
"Sorry miss, but I only have one room available, though it is the largest one in town."
"Would it be possible to have a dividing screen put up in the room?"
"Yes, but that will be slightly extra, and meals are included, just don’t make any special requests."
"That sounds fine to me," She shook hands with the man, and shoved Miroku in his direction, "Pay the man." Then, she walked away. Miroku paid the man, then considered something.
"Sir, would you like to purchase my ass?" The man eyed him for a moment.
"Young man, it seems to me that the young lady already has a claim on that, but as for your donkey, put it in the stable, and give me the night to consider your offer." With that he walked into the building to prepare their room.
The group had settled themselves in and had even received a surprise when their meal turned out to be sukiyaki, many a variety of nigiri sushi, and beef stew. There were also fruits and sweet rolls available for dessert, and the tea was to die for. Shippo was especially fond of the tuna sashimi.
"No wonder the room cost so much, they really take care of you." Miroku stated.
"I don’t understand why anyone would even attempt to make a special order when this is around." Sango spoke between bites.
"It’s because they’ve never had ramen." Even with all of the delicacies about them, he still chose to eat a cup of his favorite noodles.
"I’ll never understand you." Kagome sighed as she ate some of the beef stew.
"What’s there to understand?" He asked slurping a few strands into his mouth.
"Never mind." she grumbled and rubbed her forehead. She looked out of the window at the setting sun. "Oh my, Shippou, it looks like it’s time for your gift."
"Yay!" The small fox-child jumped up and down. Kagome grabbed her pack and pulled out the blanket that had been sitting on top.
"This, Shippou, is from Inu Yasha and me." She smiled at the excited face of the little boy.
"Hold on, I had nothing to do with that, this was all your work Kagome, and we all know it." She looked at him almost hurt, but at the same time she was confused.
"What are you saying?"
"Did your mother remember to give you a package before you left your time?"
"Yes, but how did you know?"
"Just give it to the kid." Kagome pulled a plain brown box out of her bag. She placed it in front of Shippou. It was as tall as he was, and at least as wide.
"That thing took up a lot of space in my bag; I had no clue why she wanted me to take it. What’s in there?" Kagome demanded.
"Just let him open it and you’ll find out. Shippou open it." Inu Yasha barked at him. Shippou did not know whether to be scared or happy, but his curiosity won out and he opened the box. Inside was a new basket for Kagome’s bike. Shippou jumped inside.
"Wow, this one is more than big enough for me, thank you Inu Yasha." He jumped out and hugged Inu Yasha’s right leg. All of the humans in the room gaped at the scene before them.
"What? The last one was too small. How else are we supposed to keep him from whining about being tired?" Inu Yasha shrugged the kitsune off of his leg. Tears began to form over Kagome’s eyes. "Hey, don’t cry, what did I do to make you cry now?"
"Nothing, you can just be really sweet some times, that’s all." She ran over to Inu Yasha and gave him a hug.
"Feh." He halfheartedly spoke as her hugged her back.
"Now I see why you requested the screen Sango." Miroku stated. This caused the embracing couple to blush and let go of each other. Sango gave an angry noise and pushed the bruise on Miroku’s forehead.
"We really need to work on your mouth as well as your hands." She spat at the twitching load of nerves on the ground.
"Seems to me that you’ve found Miroku’s on/off switch." Kagome giggled. Inu Yasha and Sango just blinked, having no real clue as to what she just said. A small snoring was heard from behind Kagome and Inu Yasha. Everyone turned to see Shippou sleeping in the basket, wrapped up in his new blanket, and slumbering peacefully away.
"I think we should all follow his example. We have a long way to go tomorrow" Inu Yasha stated. He walked over and grabbed one of Miroku’s feet, then dragged him behind the screen for the night.
The next two days were fairly uneventful. Inu Yasha wanted to hunt for shards, but Kagome wanted to visit with Kaede since they hadn’t seen her when she first returned. Officially, Kagome won with her point that Kaede’s home was close to the well, which she needed to use to get tools so that they could install the new basket onto her bike. Miroku’s bruise wasn’t healing so well since Sango had found pushing on it so much more useful than slapping him. Kagome told her that she didn’t think that it was a good idea to do that since Miroku was starting to slur his words when he spoke, but quickly changed her mind by doing the same when he groped her behind. Afterwards though, she felt bad and gave him two aspirins from inside her bag. Inu Yasha, on the other hand, was uncharacteristically quiet once the destination had been agreed upon. Kagome thought that he might be sulking over his lost argument, but the look on his face was that of deep thought. At least that is what she saw whenever she caught him staring back at her from the front of the group. Shippou just rode on Kirara along with Sango and Miroku. The one night that they had to camp out Shippou insisted on sleeping in his basket again, only he wanted it next to Kagome’s bag. Inu Yasha thought that it was an improvement, albeit a small one, over the past sleeping situation.
When they had neared Kaede’s village, Shippou jumped off of Kilala, and took off for the familiar home of the aged priestess. The rest of the group just stared on at the new energy of the child. Once they reached the hut they heard the sound of unbridled chatter flowing through the front opening. The five remaining members walked into find Shippou talking Kaede’s ear off.
"Oh, hi everybody took you long enough to catch up." Shippou then fell back with a sigh and stared at the roof.
"So, Miroku, you found someone that wanted your sorry ass." Miroku drooled for about two seconds before replying.
"Hey...howdyou...hearbouthat?" Kaede looked at the young monk completely dumbfounded.
"What is the matter with him? How did he get that bruise?" She seemed quite concerned.
"I hit him with a rock for jumping to demoralized conclusions." Inu Yasha stated. Kaede shook her head. Everyone stared at Inu Yasha for using such a large word. “What? I know some stuff too.”
"Though he had probably deserved it, this wound has been aggravated severely." Kaede stated.
"Yeah, watch this." Shippou jumped up and touched the bruise just enough to send Miroku into one of his seizures. Kaede picked up the staff Miroku had dropped during his spasm and hit Shippou with it. "What was that for?"
"If you continue to do that it may cause irreversible damage. Oh my." She jumped as Miroku groped her.
"I think your right Kaede, we may have just pushed him one too many times." Sango starred at the glazed eyed man with worry in her eyes. From now on she would most definitely stick to the boomerang. At least with it, his skull was thick enough to take the damage.
"He will need to rest for at least a week. Without anything and I mean anything touching that spot." The elderly woman looked at the group of younger persons with an intense glare of seriousness.
"Well, looks like we won’t be hunting jewel shards for now, come on Kagome, we need to get Shippou’s basket put on to that bike thing of yours." Inu Yasha stepped out of the hut and hoisted the light metal frame over his shoulder. "Well, are you coming or not?" Kagome was severely confused.
"Um, yeah, just give me a minute." He simply rolled hi eyes at her and began a slow pace towards the well. "See, Sango? I told you he was acting weird. He just said ‘we need to get’ as in the both of us." She turned to the demon exterminator.
"Well, Kagome, maybe he has an outside motive, or maybe he genuinely wants to do something nice for Shippou. I couldn’t tell you. Maybe he just realizes that we need everybody for when we get the shards, and sees that as something to do until Miroku is finished healing." Sango looked over at the source of her worries; he was beginning to come to. "Go on ahead; Shippou and I can take care of him while you’re gone. You might want to take advantage of the time while you can. Hurry, go before he changes his mind." Kagome stood up and left the hut at Sango’s urging, but returned because she had forgotten her bag. She left all of her dried food stuffs and treats behind for the rest of the group, then took off down the well path.
When she reached the well, Inu Yasha was sitting in a tree with the bike leaning against the trunk.
"It’s about time you got here, I almost left without you." Inu Yasha said in a teasing voice.
"No you didn’t." She rolled her eyes at him.
"Really, what makes you think that?" He jumped down from the tree and took a predatory stance that scared her just slightly.
"Because that’s just not something you would do." She took a step back. Not quite as confident as she had been with her last comment.
"Who says what I would and wouldn’t do?" He took a running leap that terrified Kagome. She shrieked, and he landed, pinning her to the ground. It was at this point she noticed the playful glint in his eye. He tapped his finger on her nose and stated "Tag, you’re it." He removed himself from being on top of her ran back to the bike picked it up, and before she could recover jumped into the well.
"So, Inu Yasha acts weird whenever you get close to him, I don’t see what’s so strange about that." Shippou barely fit into the small basket, he had been so quiet, that the girls had forgotten he was there.
"I’m so sorry Shippou, I forgot you were there. It seems you’ve gotten bigger since the last time that you rode with me."
"It’s no problem, Kagome. It’s still better than walking all of the time. I just can’t sleep in it anymore."
"We’ll just have to do something about that later then won’t we?" Kagome smiled down at the young red head in front of her. "Hey, you guys, promise me that you won’t tell Inu Yasha about any of this, I don’t want him to worry any more than he already does."
"We promise, Kagome." Both said in harmony with each other as they followed the rest of the members in their group towards the next village.
While the women and Shippou confabulated about whatever it was they usually did, Miroku pulled the cart up along side of Inu Yasha. They were silent at first, but Inu Yasha soon broke it.
"Do you mind backing off? Your ass smells."
"I would hope that you are referring to donkey."
"Maybe I am, maybe I’m not, but if you don’t move that thing down wind, you’re going to be pulling that cart yourself."
"Perhaps you could sit up here with me, I’m sure the smell is slightly more tolerable. Besides, I wish to speak with you."
"If it’s about last night, or reconsidering becoming a full demon then I would rather not."
"I’m under the impression that whatever occurred last night could not have been of much interest since they have kept Shippou around for the conversation." Inu Yasha paused and took this information in for consideration.
"Yeah, I guess you are right. So, if those weren’t what you wanted to talk about, then what?"
"Join me, and I will be only glad to tell you."
"Don’t tell me that you’re lonely.” He gave the monk a skeptical look.
"Not at all, and I never said that I didn’t want to talk on either of those subjects. I simply pointed out that nothing of real interest could have happened."
"Feh, my guess is that you won’t leave me alone until I get up there. Besides, that thing’s smell is making me ill." Inu Yasha reluctantly jumped onto the top of the cart. It did smell a little better, so he settled in with his back facing Miroku.
They continued in silence. Anyone watching this scene unfold would think that he was simply ignoring Miroku, but anyone with a little more insight than the obvious would know that he was watching Kagome. He closed his eyes, and thought back to the event of that morning there was something about having her next to him, and smiling no less. He could never have even imagined such a feeling or scene when he was with Kikyo. He gave a dreamy sigh, Miroku had a point, if anything bad had happened, they wouldn’t have allowed Shippou to be around. Even more, he hadn’t smelt anything on her that would lead him to believe that they had a truly intimate moment. He became so lost in his deep thoughts that he didn’t notice the cart had stopped. He was only picturing what it would be like to confess to her that it almost felt right waking to her smile. He then began to imagine what her response would be, but was shocked to hear Miroku’s voice come out of Kagome’s lips.
"Do you think we should wait for them before entering the village?" He snapped around when he realized why his daydream had turned out so wrong. Miroku felt paralyzed by his death glare. Shakily, he continued. "I don’t know what I did to deserve that, but I think having you in this mood, it would not be wise to proceed without Kagome around to keep you in line."
"Whatever monk, you just have really bad timing when it comes to talking to people."
"Speaking of such things as timing, what did you get Shippou for his birthday? Or did you forget?"
"Who said that I had to get the brat anything? Why should I care when he was born?"
"You know you like him as if he were your own." Miroku gave him a serious look.
"Demons kill young that are not of there own blood, Kagome simply prevents me from doing it. What would make you think that I care anything about that kit?"
"The fact that you are also part human, and they can show compassion towards others. Nothing prevented you from killing him when Kagome left for her time before you met up with Sango and me." Miroku felt as though he had won the battle of wits, but he was sadly mistaken.
"You should try having a rosary around your neck for once, and then tell me how you feel the first time Sango uses it after you touch her butt. I’ll bet you it will help suppress any urges or instincts that you may have from now on." If Miroku would have had a more extensive knowledge of modern slang he would have chosen this moment to say ‘Dude, you are so whipped,’ but since he had no idea about that he just fell out of his seat laughing. "Mind letting me in on the joke?" Inu Yasha looked at the figure laughing on the ground. Miroku choked his response out between laughs.
"When.” gag, snicker “do you want” haaha “me” sputter noise “to” attempts to catch breath “perform the ceremony?"
"What ceremony?" Inu Yasha asked the monastic young man as he stood and wiped the dust from his robes.
"Why, the wedding ceremony." Unnoticed by the two males their counterparts had chosen that moment to arrive. "Of course, I will only do this if you promise to give me the details of the evening following."
"What was that?" An enraged exterminator stormed into his face. He tried his best to back away, but it was too late.
"You merely came in on the wrong portion of the conversation."
"Like hell she did." Inu Yasha was not willing to help out the situation. Sango gave him an angry growl and instead of pulling out her weapon, she simply flicked the bruise on his forehead, which caused him to collapse into a twitching mound of flesh.
"Dirty pervert.” Was all that she said before stomping back over to Kagome.
"Now that is funny." Inu Yasha snickered from atop the cart.
"Sit boy!" Came from below. The rosary pulled him, and a few items, off of the cart and onto the ground.
"What was that for?" He screamed into the dirt. Kagome, had no clue exactly what he had said, but knew from past times that he would want an explanation.
"It isn’t right to laugh at the pains of others." With that she popped the giggling Shippou on the head.
"Ooowwww!"he rubbed the spot. It hadn’t hurt, just surprised him.
"I don’t want to look like a hypocrite do I?" Sango was the only one with the ability to stare, and that is exactly what she did.
The group had entered the village with a few stares, but it did not prevent people from purchasing all that they had, with the exception of the donkey.
"Seems we just can’t get rid of your ass, huh Miroku?"
"Very funny Inu Yasha, I think we’ve all had enough of the donkey jokes."
"Nope," Shippou piped in, "I like them a lot. I especially like ‘Looks like you’re stuck with a hairy ass.’ He he." Shippou did his best imitation of Inu Yasha’s voice.
"Very nice, kid, very nice." Shippou smiled at this, the half dog demon rarely gave him any praise.
"Well, it seems it’s time for me to keep up with my gift by making you keep up with yours." Sango grabbed Miroku by his ear dragging both him and the donkey up to the nearest inn.
"Pardon me, but my companions and I are looking for rooms, would you have any available?” She spoke to the old man that sat out on the porch.
"Sorry miss, but I only have one room available, though it is the largest one in town."
"Would it be possible to have a dividing screen put up in the room?"
"Yes, but that will be slightly extra, and meals are included, just don’t make any special requests."
"That sounds fine to me," She shook hands with the man, and shoved Miroku in his direction, "Pay the man." Then, she walked away. Miroku paid the man, then considered something.
"Sir, would you like to purchase my ass?" The man eyed him for a moment.
"Young man, it seems to me that the young lady already has a claim on that, but as for your donkey, put it in the stable, and give me the night to consider your offer." With that he walked into the building to prepare their room.
The group had settled themselves in and had even received a surprise when their meal turned out to be sukiyaki, many a variety of nigiri sushi, and beef stew. There were also fruits and sweet rolls available for dessert, and the tea was to die for. Shippo was especially fond of the tuna sashimi.
"No wonder the room cost so much, they really take care of you." Miroku stated.
"I don’t understand why anyone would even attempt to make a special order when this is around." Sango spoke between bites.
"It’s because they’ve never had ramen." Even with all of the delicacies about them, he still chose to eat a cup of his favorite noodles.
"I’ll never understand you." Kagome sighed as she ate some of the beef stew.
"What’s there to understand?" He asked slurping a few strands into his mouth.
"Never mind." she grumbled and rubbed her forehead. She looked out of the window at the setting sun. "Oh my, Shippou, it looks like it’s time for your gift."
"Yay!" The small fox-child jumped up and down. Kagome grabbed her pack and pulled out the blanket that had been sitting on top.
"This, Shippou, is from Inu Yasha and me." She smiled at the excited face of the little boy.
"Hold on, I had nothing to do with that, this was all your work Kagome, and we all know it." She looked at him almost hurt, but at the same time she was confused.
"What are you saying?"
"Did your mother remember to give you a package before you left your time?"
"Yes, but how did you know?"
"Just give it to the kid." Kagome pulled a plain brown box out of her bag. She placed it in front of Shippou. It was as tall as he was, and at least as wide.
"That thing took up a lot of space in my bag; I had no clue why she wanted me to take it. What’s in there?" Kagome demanded.
"Just let him open it and you’ll find out. Shippou open it." Inu Yasha barked at him. Shippou did not know whether to be scared or happy, but his curiosity won out and he opened the box. Inside was a new basket for Kagome’s bike. Shippou jumped inside.
"Wow, this one is more than big enough for me, thank you Inu Yasha." He jumped out and hugged Inu Yasha’s right leg. All of the humans in the room gaped at the scene before them.
"What? The last one was too small. How else are we supposed to keep him from whining about being tired?" Inu Yasha shrugged the kitsune off of his leg. Tears began to form over Kagome’s eyes. "Hey, don’t cry, what did I do to make you cry now?"
"Nothing, you can just be really sweet some times, that’s all." She ran over to Inu Yasha and gave him a hug.
"Feh." He halfheartedly spoke as her hugged her back.
"Now I see why you requested the screen Sango." Miroku stated. This caused the embracing couple to blush and let go of each other. Sango gave an angry noise and pushed the bruise on Miroku’s forehead.
"We really need to work on your mouth as well as your hands." She spat at the twitching load of nerves on the ground.
"Seems to me that you’ve found Miroku’s on/off switch." Kagome giggled. Inu Yasha and Sango just blinked, having no real clue as to what she just said. A small snoring was heard from behind Kagome and Inu Yasha. Everyone turned to see Shippou sleeping in the basket, wrapped up in his new blanket, and slumbering peacefully away.
"I think we should all follow his example. We have a long way to go tomorrow" Inu Yasha stated. He walked over and grabbed one of Miroku’s feet, then dragged him behind the screen for the night.
The next two days were fairly uneventful. Inu Yasha wanted to hunt for shards, but Kagome wanted to visit with Kaede since they hadn’t seen her when she first returned. Officially, Kagome won with her point that Kaede’s home was close to the well, which she needed to use to get tools so that they could install the new basket onto her bike. Miroku’s bruise wasn’t healing so well since Sango had found pushing on it so much more useful than slapping him. Kagome told her that she didn’t think that it was a good idea to do that since Miroku was starting to slur his words when he spoke, but quickly changed her mind by doing the same when he groped her behind. Afterwards though, she felt bad and gave him two aspirins from inside her bag. Inu Yasha, on the other hand, was uncharacteristically quiet once the destination had been agreed upon. Kagome thought that he might be sulking over his lost argument, but the look on his face was that of deep thought. At least that is what she saw whenever she caught him staring back at her from the front of the group. Shippou just rode on Kirara along with Sango and Miroku. The one night that they had to camp out Shippou insisted on sleeping in his basket again, only he wanted it next to Kagome’s bag. Inu Yasha thought that it was an improvement, albeit a small one, over the past sleeping situation.
When they had neared Kaede’s village, Shippou jumped off of Kilala, and took off for the familiar home of the aged priestess. The rest of the group just stared on at the new energy of the child. Once they reached the hut they heard the sound of unbridled chatter flowing through the front opening. The five remaining members walked into find Shippou talking Kaede’s ear off.
"Oh, hi everybody took you long enough to catch up." Shippou then fell back with a sigh and stared at the roof.
"So, Miroku, you found someone that wanted your sorry ass." Miroku drooled for about two seconds before replying.
"Hey...howdyou...hearbouthat?" Kaede looked at the young monk completely dumbfounded.
"What is the matter with him? How did he get that bruise?" She seemed quite concerned.
"I hit him with a rock for jumping to demoralized conclusions." Inu Yasha stated. Kaede shook her head. Everyone stared at Inu Yasha for using such a large word. “What? I know some stuff too.”
"Though he had probably deserved it, this wound has been aggravated severely." Kaede stated.
"Yeah, watch this." Shippou jumped up and touched the bruise just enough to send Miroku into one of his seizures. Kaede picked up the staff Miroku had dropped during his spasm and hit Shippou with it. "What was that for?"
"If you continue to do that it may cause irreversible damage. Oh my." She jumped as Miroku groped her.
"I think your right Kaede, we may have just pushed him one too many times." Sango starred at the glazed eyed man with worry in her eyes. From now on she would most definitely stick to the boomerang. At least with it, his skull was thick enough to take the damage.
"He will need to rest for at least a week. Without anything and I mean anything touching that spot." The elderly woman looked at the group of younger persons with an intense glare of seriousness.
"Well, looks like we won’t be hunting jewel shards for now, come on Kagome, we need to get Shippou’s basket put on to that bike thing of yours." Inu Yasha stepped out of the hut and hoisted the light metal frame over his shoulder. "Well, are you coming or not?" Kagome was severely confused.
"Um, yeah, just give me a minute." He simply rolled hi eyes at her and began a slow pace towards the well. "See, Sango? I told you he was acting weird. He just said ‘we need to get’ as in the both of us." She turned to the demon exterminator.
"Well, Kagome, maybe he has an outside motive, or maybe he genuinely wants to do something nice for Shippou. I couldn’t tell you. Maybe he just realizes that we need everybody for when we get the shards, and sees that as something to do until Miroku is finished healing." Sango looked over at the source of her worries; he was beginning to come to. "Go on ahead; Shippou and I can take care of him while you’re gone. You might want to take advantage of the time while you can. Hurry, go before he changes his mind." Kagome stood up and left the hut at Sango’s urging, but returned because she had forgotten her bag. She left all of her dried food stuffs and treats behind for the rest of the group, then took off down the well path.
When she reached the well, Inu Yasha was sitting in a tree with the bike leaning against the trunk.
"It’s about time you got here, I almost left without you." Inu Yasha said in a teasing voice.
"No you didn’t." She rolled her eyes at him.
"Really, what makes you think that?" He jumped down from the tree and took a predatory stance that scared her just slightly.
"Because that’s just not something you would do." She took a step back. Not quite as confident as she had been with her last comment.
"Who says what I would and wouldn’t do?" He took a running leap that terrified Kagome. She shrieked, and he landed, pinning her to the ground. It was at this point she noticed the playful glint in his eye. He tapped his finger on her nose and stated "Tag, you’re it." He removed himself from being on top of her ran back to the bike picked it up, and before she could recover jumped into the well.