InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Midwinter Dream ❯ Wrong Canine ( Chapter 4 )

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

A/N: This is progressing rather quickly! Probably because there are no amusement parks, movies, or malls in the past... :D

Read, enjoy, review please!

Chapter 4

Wrong Canine

Kagome needed a lot of time to think, and she found it that night. Staring at the dark corner of the room she watched as the moon beam gradually crossed the wooden floor. She bundled herself into the blanket more securely and held back a resigned sigh. She was in a spare room of Sango's place, but despite it being in the opposite side of the house from Hiroko Kagome still didn't sleep.

I think you need to go talk to him...

Kagome whimpered, feeling her nervous system go sufficiently haywire to churn her stomach and make her muscles shiver with dread, and she hid her head under the blanket.

“SIT!”

Inuyasha went crashing from his tree which Kagome had found easily enough with her senses sharpened. Four years ago, Inuyasha probably would have been able to sneak up behind her. Now, fat chance. It was a good thing the tree was in the woods, else she'd have to cross a four foot deep field.

“What the hell was that for?!” he demanded. Oh goodie, he had been asleep, which made sense since it was about two in the morning.

Kagome drew her sword. The real one. She was still getting the feel of it and its weight, but she failed to notice those inconveniences when she saw Inuyasha's astonishment.

“I need to vent,” she explained, the humored part of her being small and locked away. “Draw, because I'm stabbing you in five seconds.”

“... Kagome?” he asked.

“What?!” she demanded. Kami, she was ANGRY!! She was probably feeling something else, but just vented it as anger because it was easier, and Inuyasha could heal overnight...

“Is everything alright?”

'No, it damn well isn't!' she yelled inside her head, frowning at him. 'I'm hurt, and cold, and confused, and I feel all alone despite everyone being here, and now I'm being asked stupid questions! And what's worse is that I miss that damn consoling hug I got four years ago and need to kick something's ass to forget about it!'

“Just- Get up and fight me like a man!” she practically ordered, pretending Keiji was around. She missed pummeling him.

It felt good to spar, even though Inuyasha's form was sloppy and unpredictable. After a little while though he seemed to stop worrying about her and began to actually fight, which was great for both of them.

After a good hour Kagome was panting like a race horse, the familiar feeling of bruises swelling to life in various parts as the chilly air scraped down her throat. The poor guy didn't want to give them to her.

“Feeling better?” he asked, bearing that old 'smug yet happy' smirk of his. He didn't even have a hair out of place, though Kagome had not left him unscathed.

“Yeah,” she replied in a huff, lowering her sword. Oh, her arms hurt, but it was good. She sheathed her blade, which was still unnamed.

“So, what's eating you?”

“Huh?”

“You heard me.”

“Yeah, but not everyone believes what they hear...” Kagome replied. “I just needed that, that's all.”

“Right,” was his response, his sword already in its scabbard. “You expect me to believe that you, little Ms. I Want To Go To Bed Because The Sun Has Set, come out here in the middle of the morning to have a sword fight because you just felt like it?”

“... You're not allowed to be perceptive.”

“Keh!” he scoffed. “If you're allowed to know how to wield a sword, then I'm entitled to anything I want!”

She giggled. This was the Inuyasha she had missed. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Still got homework?”

“No... Thank kami, no. It's just something I have to solve and deal with on my own.”

He nodded. She knew that last sentence would shut him up, because a guy can understand wanting to be alone to puzzle something out. Guys were independent with handling their emotions, and really hated being bugged and offered help.

“Want a lift back to Sango's?” he asked then, walking up and rubbing the sides of her arms. “You humans don't do too well in the cold after all.”

“Actually, can you do me a favor?”

A few minutes later, Inuyasha stopped in a small clearing with Kagome on his back, and in that clearing was a slab of a boulder with a rain-weathered surface and a bit of snow. Despite the coverage, you could still tell that it wasn't the smoothest rock in the world. It certainly had a big surface though, about four square feet.

“How's this?” he asked.

“Good,” she replied. “A bit bumpy, but fine.”

Inuyasha looked at her over his shoulder, drew Tetsusaiga, and effortlessly sliced the top of the boulder and kicked it off.

“How's this?” he asked again. The surface was perfectly flat.

“It's perfect,” she replied, still gawking. He had her sit on the stone before releasing her legs, and she folded them under herself.

“You're sure you want me to go?” he asked when he turned back around.

“Please,” she answered, putting her nameless blade behind herself and getting comfortable. “You said the village is five minutes that way?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “I'll go, but I'm going to check up on you every now and then no matter what you say.”

She sighed. “Alright. Thanks, Inuyasha.”

Kagome had the rest of the night to meditate and concentrate her powers, but she didn't do any exercises with them. Instead, she felt warmed by the energy flowing centimeters from her skin, as though it was producing a barrier of heat for her. She was really quite warm by the time Inuyasha made his first visit an hour later. Not ever her butt was numb from the frozen rock she sat on. He was standing there for a while, watching her as she remained sitting upright with eyes closed, then left again. Her mind was in a blissful calm by the time he came back at sunrise, but she could tell he wasn't alone.

“You're certain you want me to handle this?” she heard Miroku ask.

“I wouldn't know how,” Inuyasha replied. “Besides, she may want to vent again...”

Kagome smiled at that. She heard Miroku stepping closer, and opened her eyes to say 'hi'.

They weren't there. The footsteps were gone. That was weird, she could have sworn they were only six feet away and whispering.

After a half minute of second guessing herself Kagome acted on a whim. “Miroku?!” she called out to the woods.

There was a laugh. “How did you know I was coming?”

Kagome's heart nearly stopped. What was she suppose to say to that? 'Oh, nothing special, I just heard you'?

“Just a guess,” she replied, thinking for a valid reasoning. She had sensed his energy though. “I suppose there isn't anyone else here with spiritual powers.”

“Nope,” he replied, finally coming into sight through the trees. He had been walking all that time! What's it been, forty seconds?? ... Whoah... It wasn't until he stepped into the small clearing though that she began to hear his footsteps again. That was odd. Maybe she was really asleep? Yes, she supposed it was humanly possible to fall asleep sitting upright on a perfectly comfortable stone slab...

“Is Inuyasha with you?” she tested.

“He was, about a minute ago,” Miroku replied. Oh, that confirmed it. Maybe it was one of those natural phenomenons kooky scientists loved? “He told me you were meditating. Mind if I join you?”

Kagome was immediately suspicious because of what she thought she heard earlier. “Sure thing.” What needed handling? Did she even hear that??

He came up next to her on the stone, kicked snow off his shoes and tucking them under himself.

“I had no idea you learned how to meditate,” he commented once he assumed his long practiced position. “When did you learn?”

“Four years ago,” Kagome replied, trying to calm back into a meditative state. So far she was failing miserably. “I've gotten really good at controlling my powers, too.”

Miroku chuckled, and when she asked why he explained. “Most priests and priestesses call it 'energy', not 'power'. That is all.”

“Well, it is rather powerful,” Kagome protested. “Why wouldn't they?”

“Because power is a force exerted onto someone,” Miroku stated nonchalantly. “It takes discipline to keep energy from being mishandled.”

“What's the point of having it then if you can't have fun with it?” she asked, recalling all her practices involving pretty much anything considered to be a noun.

He looked at her, giving up on the meditating. “Well, we are born with it. The training in honing your energy is for self enlightenment, self awareness, and self defense.”

“I suppose entertainment isn't on the list because it doesn't sound good coming after 'self'?”

He smirked. “Perhaps. There are not many ways for one to derive entertainment from their energy though.”

“Are you kidding?” Kagome asked. “Watch, I'll hit that tree with a snow ball and I won't even move.”

He frowned, and so she concentrated on a selection of snow. It was different, somehow, but still like grabbing a pencil a few times for how she had to pack the snow into a ball. She was actually doing this out of her normal range of control, so lifting her hands she made gestures which helped concentrate her energy on what she was doing. Pretending her energy was an extended set of hands, she finally lifted the ball into the air coiled her energy to let it launch at a tree.

Something happened though. She had too much energy, which was odd because she did this little exercise whenever moving something horizontally and should have a better handle on it. So, her snowball made a hole in the tree, but didn't go all the way through.

Miroku stared, and she sensed Inuyasha approach to the point that they were in his hearing range. Nosy bastard.

“Whoops,” Kagome stated. “Good thing I didn't use it on you, right? That's actually never happened before. ... Well, it has, but that was years ago and mostly in a theater with popcorn...”

He fixated a rather firm look on her then, and she suddenly felt like she had done a 'no-no'.

“Who taught you that?” he asked, sounding almost threatening.

“What's wrong?” she asked, feeling her energy rile around herself protectively. What was going on? What was he all flustered over?

“Answer me,” he ordered a tad less than strictly.

“A- demon?” she supplied. She didn't want to say who, especially since Inuyasha could most likely hear them.

She was shocked at how Miroku's expression darkened momentarily, then he seemed to remember himself and sighed patiently.

“Kagome-chan, you need to forget how to use your energy like that.”

She was shocked. “Why?”

“Because it is not how it should be used,” Miroku told her. “In fact, the manner in which you use your energy is almost a sin in some practices.”

She didn't know why, but she was really hurt by those words. “I don't see why it should be. I mean, you do the same thing when you need to throw a sutra.” Come on, how else does paper fly like a dart?

“When in dire need, yes,” he replied. “Such a practice destroys energy, like a demon does, so I only use a minimal amount in that fashion.”

“Demons don't destroy, they convert,” Kagome stated before she could stop herself.

Miroku frowned.

“Well, why ELSE can they eat a holy spirit and get stronger rather than purified??” Kagome threw Sesshomaru's example at him.

“Why do you suppose they need so many to get a tad more powerful?” Miroku asked in turn.

Kagome was stumped. “What do you mean?”

“Demons break down a spirit and take from it what they need,” Miroku informed. “The soul dies.”

“Oh...” ... Um, well... “But I gather energy to myself the same way you do. I mean, spiritual and demon powers are the same, just used differently.”

... Kagome felt like she just spat in his religion's face, and by his expression that sounded about right.

Inuyasha decided to make himself known by walking in then, and he and Kagome soon left.

“What was that about?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Just something stupid,” Kagome supplied. “Can you do me another big favor?”

“You're leaving?” Sango asked when Kagome gave her a hug. “Why so soon?”

Kagome offered a weak smile. “I'll be back. It may be a while, but I'll try to be back.”

“Are you going to go talk to someone?” Sango asked, a hint of expectation in her tone.

“Yeah... I need some time to talk to myself first though.”

Sango smiled. “Well, the twin's celebrate their third year in six months. They would love to have the legendary miko Kagome with them then. Will you be back for that?”

Kagome smiled. Sango was always so understanding. She really was such a good friend, no matter how much had changed. “Yeah. I will be. Give my best wishes to everyone, alright?”

And so they were off, and Kagome didn't feel as sad as she thought she would.

“So, where's Shippo?” she asked.

Inuyasha glanced at her, then stared onwards again. “He's at that kitsune youjutsu place. He advanced as high as he can all by himself, so he pestered some parents to the point that they took him in as their own.”

“So it works on demons, too?” Kagome asked, smiling. She'd have to visit him, if she could find the place again.

“Yeah,” Inuyasha confirmed. “He was really heartbroken for a while when the well stopped working.”

Oh, sad... She smacked his shoulder. “Don't tell me things like that, now I feel bad.”

“It's a good thing though,” Inuyasha replied. “It's not like he'd grow up right with a priestess as a mom and a dog demon, pervert, and slayer as guardians. That's just wrong in more ways than four.”

That had Kagome laughing. So, it was like Rin being returned to a human environment.

“Besides,” he continued, jumping from another treetop as they made their way to Kaede's, “now that he's with his own kind, he's growing again.”

Kagome blinked. “Growing?”

“Yep,” he confirmed. “He's advanced from ankle biter to knee puncher in a year.”

What that apparently meant was he was a head taller, and his head was big compared to his body so that was really saying something.

“He wasn't going to change without being with his own kind?” she asked.

“Well, he would,” Inuyasha explained, running a few dozen feet before leaping again. This was worse than riding a horse... “It would just be really slow. He could grow up gradually if he wanted, he's just hell-bent to be big enough to stand a chance against me.”

Kagome giggled. “You two are still fighting?”

“Yep. Brat's getting better too.”

“How so?”

“Had a bite mark in my arm for a week straight and my hand stuck to another blasted stone for a day.”

Kagome laughed again as Inuyasha landed for the last time, and she slid off his back. It was actually rather difficult to do, because the sword wanted to tangle her ankles if not with Tetsusaiga and the bow tried to catch her right foot. Tenseiga was the only thing not inhibiting her, and it sat dormant at Inuyasha's right hip.

Kaede was too faint for Kagome to sense, so it took a few minutes for Inuyasha to sniff her out. In the daylight, Kagome noticed something.

“Are all of these buildings new?”

“Don't you remember the battle?” Inuyasha asked. “Only Kaede's place was left unharmed. It was a lot of work to get this place repaired, then when we're done Sango has to go and get pregnant and drag me off to re-build the slayer's village too before winter.”

“What did you do, cut timber?”

“And dragged it,” he added. “There was more than that to do, but the details are foggy. OYE!! Hey, grandma!!”

Well, there was another part of him that hadn't changed.

“Hello, Inuyasha...” Kaede replied. Her eyes landed on Kagome. “Ah, back so soon?”

“Yeah,” Kagome answered.

Kaede escorted them to her place, and Kagome rummaged through her bag for the first time in days.

“The first thing you do is brush your hair?” Inuyasha asked incredulously.

“Oh, cram it,” Kagome snipped, finally satisfied and putting the utensil away in a front pocket with the rest of her hygienic things. After finding the small water supply bucket and brushing her teeth, Kagome felt clean enough to get ready. “Inuyasha, I need to change, would you mind?”

“Do not plan on returning what I gave,” Kaede began, her making of medicine requiring all of the attentions of her one eye.

Oh, Kagome was touched! “Kaede-baa-chan, I-”

“Your clothes from the future suck, Kagome.”

Her head swung with wide, affronted eyes to look at Inuyasha with pursed lips.

“Am I wrong?” he asked. “I'll even bet the sleeves of whatever you brought don't cover your hands, do they?”

... No, they didn't...

“Hey, grandma, got any other clothes for Kagome? She's making a trip.”

Now Kagome's eyes were just wide with surprise. She told him tha-? No she didn't! What the heck??

“What she has is sufficient, even if she wishes to travel the coastline,” Kaede replied. “The only other thing to offer is food and medicine.”

“She'll take those then,” Inuyasha replied.

Kagome opened her mouth.

“Sit me, and I'm not taking you halfway there.”

Kagome shut her mouth with a click of teeth. ... Was it even possible he knew which direction she wanted to go in? That would be really helpful, since she didn't. Her thinking ended when he took her bag, grabbed the bottom, and let it tip upside down to spill everything.

“Hey!” Kagome yelled.

Inuyasha ignored her and offered the huge bag to Kaede to fill it with food.

“I cannot spare that much, Inuyasha,” Kaede explained with a somewhat bored expression, Kagome grabbing the bag back and re-stuffing it. She only packed her haori for clothing though. It would be good to shred into bandages or to wrap around herself on a really cold night when her sleeping bag simply wouldn't suffice. They were both right, you couldn't beat hand-made winter-ready clothing from the era that actually needed it when the competition was machine-made fashion statements...

Kagome was very grateful to her mother for having packed raisins and other dried fruits, because apparently all these people ate in the winter while traveling was meat and whatever seasonings they decided to put on it before drying. Yes, her mother was an absolute angel to giving her daughter a horse dosage of hard-to-come-by food.

Kaede insisted on some stew and that Kagome spend the night there to get another early start. Kagome was surprised to see noodles in the stew, which was rare but she could definitely use the starch, along with onions and some vegetables which she never wished to be identified because of how repulsive they looked in this meal. The top two ingredients though were water and meat, the latter being a whole lot better stewed than dried...

“Hey, Inuyasha?” Kagome asked from her bed. She knew he was sitting in that dark room, even though her back was to him.

“Yeah?”

“Where do you think I'm going tomorrow?”

He was silent for a moment, and in that silence Kagome thought her heart would explode from nervousness. She didn't want to be an obvious person after all, because then the only one she could fool would be herself...

“Just go to sleep,” he finally said. “You've been up for two days straight, remember?”

Her mind slowly registered those words, and when it finally did her body felt like it had added on a few years in seconds.

“Okay,” she replied with a huff, huddling in her sleeping bag. Yes. Sleep was good. It helped one think and provided provocative dreams which did the complete opposite for one's brain functions... It had been a really good dream though, involving a lot of blue moon colored silk strands which were suppose to be hair, and it ended when the sun greeted Kagome square in the eye. She was suspecting to be awoken far earlier than that, especially since she rolled over to see Inuyasha sitting in the same spot.

“About time.”

Kagome learned then that her right to sleeping until she woke up by herself was earned by staying up all night... They left as soon as she rolled up her sleeping bag.

“What the hell does this damn thing want?!” Inuyasha yelled when he finally stopped sometime around noon. Kagome's leg was going numb against Tenseiga's quivering, and she was absolutely petrified that it would jump out and stab her again; just for kicks of course.

“No wonder he dropped it,” Inuyasha commented, drawing Tenseiga from its place at his side and looking it over. It was in pristine condition, but it was shaking uncontrollably.

“Here,” Kagome offered, stretching her hand out. “I'll take care of it, just keep going.” Yes. Keep moving. His bounding across the land had actually allowed her to get some shuteye.

“Keh!” he scoffed, offering the butt end of the scabbard. “Like you could do anything about i-”

Tenseiga stilled immediately when Kagome's hands clasped around the lacquered wood, and they both looked at it then at one another.

“You were saying?” she prompted curiously. She giggled when he made no reply to that, and tucked the sword away at her own side.

After a good twenty minutes of conversation Inuyasha stopped mid-sentence and in his tracks.

“What's wrong?” Kagome asked when he let her down. Oye, she couldn't believe how long he carried her when she had both those swords and the Big-Back-Breaker on. The bow and arrows were lighter though, so she didn't include them.

“Nothing,” he replied. About two seconds after he said that there was a whirlwind, and Kagome was surprised to see Inuyasha actually sock the wolf square in the face before being trampled for the ump'teenth time in his life.

“What kind of a 'hello' is that, mutt face?!” Koga demanded, holding his cheek.

“One you deserved, you stinkin wolf!” Inuyasha growled back.

Kagome was ready to give her own, nicer hello, but decided to let this scene play out for a little while.

“So when are you going to rein your pack in?” Inuyasha demanded. “They're messing up the whole countryside and attacking villages for meat scraps.”

“That's rather obvious without your pointing out, thank you,” Koga replied. “Hey Kagome! Good to see you!”

Kagome smiled, and Inuyasha stepped in the middle of their eye contact.

“Listen wolf,” he continued. “I know things are hard, but you have to be a leader before Sesshomaru's men come down and kick you out.”

Koga sighed. “I know that too, you stinkin dog.”

After four years, you'd think the two would be more creative with their name calling. Kagome kept quiet though in hopes of information of the demon lord leaking out. He had men at arms?

“Ayame and I are working on it, but the pack is so large of late that it's becoming unruly.”

“Are the two of you mated?” Kagome asked eagerly, disrupting the manly conversation atmosphere.

“Yep!” Koga replied, his tail actually wagging. “We've had two pups already!”

“Oh, how adorable!” she giggled. “What are their names??”

“Kagome...” Inuyasha growled.

“Sit.”

She and a hesitant hanyou were invited to the den for a visit, and Kagome was absolutely shocked when she got there.

“Um, Koga...?” she began.

“Yeah?”

“How do you manage this?” She watched as five scrappy boys went running between the three of them, and the rest of the den was full of wolves. You couldn't walk seven feet without running into a small group of friends, and most of the adults lifted their heads and regarded the newcomers immediately, making Kagome feel a little odd being a miko and all...

“Oh, that's simple,” he replied with a smirk. “I let Ayame do it.”

“Really...?” Kagome asked, somehow not too shocked. “She's that good?”

A white blur dashed past them.

“You'd be surprised,” Koga replied, all three of them watching as she caught up with the five boys and literally beat them into submission. Wolf discipline was rough, which was probably why they didn't like using weapons as much as fists.

When the boys were on hands and knees, or just knocked out, she grabbed one by the scruff of his neck and lifted him off his feet.

“Hey Koga,” she greeted merrily, nodding her head to an astonished miko and hanyou as she walked by with the child kicking and screaming in her grip. Kagome didn't learn the whole story about that, but apparently there was theft involved on the children's behalf.

“You must have the most well behaved children here,” Kagome commented in reference to Ayame's handiwork.

“Actually, that was our son,” Koga replied with a smirk. “Our daughter's pretty good though. Aren't you, sweetie?”

Kagome blinked when one of the 'boys' lifted herself off the ground and rubbed her head. The girl's hair was so short she fit right in.

“Geez dad, you didn't even try to stop her!”

Koga laughed. “I know better than to get involved with mother-daughter bonding.”

“Bonding my ass,” the child scoffed, sticking her tongue out and running off. The three other boys soon followed her.

“Cute, no?” Koga asked.

“You have no idea...” Kagome replied. “She has quite the vocabulary for her age.”

Koga smirked over that. “Yep. Daddy's little pup.”

Kagome couldn't help but to giggle at that, whereas Inuyasha was less than amused. Everyone was having kids now...

Koga's ears perked. “Hm, he's early.”

“Who is?” Inuyasha asked.

“Come see for yourself. He hates the den.”

They went up and through an opening in the top of the wolf cave, where Koga had first declared that Kagome was to be 'his woman', and soon a man landed not ten feet away from them.

“Yo,” Koga greeted him.

Kagome blinked. Several times. That was a really old demon! Well, he was still very well built and had subtle wrinkles, but he was so old...

“Hey, Koga!” the man laughed, walking forward and quickly embracing the wolf. Kagome giggled when his tail actually fluffed out slightly from the bear-hug. “Ah! A miko and a hanyou? What's the occasion?”

“Just a random encounter,” Koga informed. “Their names are Kagome and mutt-face.”

“Hey!” Inuyasha barked.

“Nice to meet you!” the mystery demon said to Kagome, who blinked again. “And it's good to see you again, Inuyasha!”

Inuyasha froze, looking rather ridiculous with a baffled expression and a threatening fist in the air. His memory was obviously failing him in regards to this demon.

“This is Sheng,” Koga finished.

“You're an inugami?” Kagome asked, feeling like the dumbest person in the world since she still had her awed expression plastered to her face. All three of them stared at her. “W- Hey! I don't have a nose on my face to pick up scents, I'm going on a visual here!”

“And that was a pretty good guess!” Sheng announced. “Do you know much about my kind?”

“... Depends,” Kagome replied. “So far, you're all assholes.”

Koga laughed his ass off, and Inuyasha just looked offended. Sheng was smiling at her though.

“Seems like you don't know too many of us,” he commented.

“Well, I wouldn't,” she continued. “Apparently you're all in China anyway.”

“Really?” Koga asked, receiving news.

“Spot on!” Sheng laughed. “Who told you that one?”

... Like hell she was answering that... “Someone you probably don't know.”

“And why wouldn't I know them?” Sheng asked. Dammit! Why wouldn't Inuyasha or Koga interrupt!?

“Because he's a regal ass who couldn't keep a friend if his life depended on it!”

Inuyasha snorted. She couldn't help but blush. That description being complimented with the person being an inu left few candidates.

Sheng just made a 'hm' noise though, and requested some time with Koga to discuss what he came there for. This left Inuyasha and Kagome to sit with their legs dangling over the cliff edge.

“So,” he initiated after a subject splitting silence, “Sesshomaru got stuck with you in the future?”

Kagome about died from how violently she flinched. She neither fell nor had a heart attack though, which left her fully capable to answer the question. Damn... ... Wait a second...

“Stuck?!” she demanded. “If either of us was stuck it was me!”

Inuyasha smirked. “Guess that answers that.”

... The fall looked inviting.

“Don't be so embarrassed, I was guessing as much had happened for a while.”

She shared one of her finest glares with him. “Why didn't you say so in the first place then?”

He just smirked.

“I'll S-I-T you off this icy cliff.”

“Oh would you?”

“... Yes, I would. Sit.”

... Well, that one looked like it hurt...

“Miko.”

“It's KAGOME, you stupid-!”

Oh, it was Sheng, who blinked at her.

“My apologies, Kagome-sama,” he stated smoothly, bowing his head. “I was simply wondering if you would entertain me conversationally for the evening over some sake.”

She balked. “I-... If that's a fancy way of hitting on someone, then I'm going to say 'no'!”

He chuckled. He looked like someone who found humor everyday in things, especially in mikos. Damn dogs...

“Indeed not,” he answered, lifting an eyebrow, “unless you plan on such, then by all means.”

She stared at him. “... Well, aren't you an easy one...”

He smirked. “No. The reasoning is that it is simply not every day I encounter a demon-friendly miko of such potential.”

Uuuugh! She hated dogs! They all used the same lines, it was confusing!

“I hate sake,” she attempted. For some reason that made him smile even more strongly. “What's so funny about that?”

“Simply that you are not the only one who does,” he replied. “My apologies, but I must insist on a friendly, non-engaging conversation with you. Your personality is simply too rare to pass up spending time with.”

For some ridiculous reason, that had Kagome blushing furiously and she hoped it made her face look red with anger. “Quit talking so fancy, you're making my head spin, and that can be very unhealthy for you.”

“A fiery one, isn't she?” Koga asked, catching up with the inu demon.

“Yes. It is quite refreshing!”

... She was surrounded by dumb asses... And the ultimate one was currently scaling his way back up the cliff. She reversed that process with a word though, and he went cursing for the bottom again.

“Fascinating trick,” Sheng commented, glancing down the sheer drop. “Have you no care for his well being?”

“He can handle it,” she replied. “And to be perfectly frank, I have absolutely no interest in spending time with you. I'm on my way to verbally abuse a set of pointy ears for their unwillingness to work a few days ago.”

Sheng laughed really strongly then, which shocked her because it was loud!

“You are a beauty in more ways than one!” he laughed. He unceremoniously lifted her to her feet and over his shoulder, her backpack going on his opposite side. “Come! I must hear your life story and learn of how your personality became so priceless!”

“Hey!” she yelled. “I'll purify you if you don't let me down!!”

He only laughed, and putting a hand on his neck she- Did absolutely nothing. She couldn't sense her energy at all!

“Old demons know some useful tricks,” he commented almost conversationally. He didn't... He sealed off her power?!

“INUYASHA!!” she shrieked, completely unable to grab her weapons in that position. She proceeded to kick, punch, pinch, grind, and bite this blasted and audacious demon, but that did her no good as he made reality spin with how fast he suddenly moved. In a couple of sickening seconds they stopped, and she was let down to do whatever she wished with the contents of her stomach.

“Oye! An! Be a good man and bring some sake to my lodging, would you?”

Kagome came to the decision to empty her stomach.

“And a spittoon,” Sheng added. “Feel better?”

“Fuck off...” she growled at the ground. Oh, her head spun, and she felt like she was simply surrounded by demons of fairly high power.

Glancing up, she realized she was, and they were all in light armor with crescent moon engravings on them and staring at her.

... ... ... Which divinity hated her? To make matters worse, they were all DOGS!!

“Where are we?” she asked.

“This is the humble southern regiment of the Central Domain, land of the great Lord Sesshomaru, little miko,” Sheng informed her helpfully. She was suddenly hauled to her feet and steered onward. “Now, on with your life's story! Is someone getting that sake?!”

If she was a cat, her hair would be on end and her tail bushy as she walked with stiff legs onward. Everyone there, EVERYONE, knew she was a miko, and they didn't really seem to like that at all despite her being completely powerless...

This SUCKED...

A/N: I hope everyone liked it! I was asked by two people whether Shippo would make an appearance in this chapter, and to both of them I said yes, but no matter how much I tried he just didn't fit... So, I started with the scene which would happen before that (her going to sleep) and it turned into what you just read, so sorry that Shippo didn't make an appearance yet! He will though, when the time is right!

Thanks for reading! Reviews please!