InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ No Such Thing As Fate ❯ Damnit Jiji ( Chapter 9 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Hello people. After 3...or 4 weeks ( I kinda lost track) its finally time to put up a new chapter. I have to thank WiccanMethusela from Dokuga for beta-ing this chapter because Life happens and she still took the time to get through this chapter for me. Alot of weird conversations happen in this chapter and its alot of info so you might have to forgive me.

It's time to leave Jiji and go off into the world. The real adventure starts the next chapter so yeah... on to the chapter.

Please Read and Review. Tell me what you think of the chapter.

Chapter 9: Wandering: Damnit Jiji!

Disclaimer: I own Jiji and a few other wierd OC characters. Don't sue me damnit!

A yawn reminded her that she needed find a place to take another short nap soon. She looked out over the rice fields and the water that glittered like a lake. So far not many people walked on the raised path, and that was fine for her. Every person she passed wanted to bow or nod respectfully and the manners drilled into her by her mother, reinforced by Satoshi-sensei, made her respond with a nod in return whether it was her conscious decision or not. Her neck was a bit sore… She pressed her lips together and made them poke out, giving her the expression of a duck, as she eyed the screaming children in the backwater little village situated far across the rice field.

Her geta caught a rock in the road and she stumbled a bit before regaining her graceful stride. She glanced back at the rock a moment before turning her eyes to the path ahead of her. The bells and metal hoops on her staff chimed lightly as she walked lulling her into a trance. It was calming, it was familiar; it was why she hadn't killed Inuyasha for all the griping he did when he wanted something.

She sighed… how she missed Sango and Miroku.

Now that she had her own staff, she realized that the chiming of the hoops had a calming effect. In all honesty, she had expected the noise of the hoops to drive her nuts once she and Inuyasha had decided to let Miroku travel with them. They did the opposite actually, calming both Inuyasha and her, though Inuyasha made a fuss about it, claiming it hurt his ears.

It probably did… make it a little lighter in sound then…. like the bells… `Clever Satoshi-sensei, but I could have sworn he hated youkai. Maybe I got him to understand why I don't just go around killing youkai all randomly if they don't hurt me.' She snickered to herself at her wandering thoughts, `Yeah right, he'd sooner commit seppuku than agree with me.'

Still, it didn't explain why the sound of the monk's staff put Shippou to sleep. There were times during their travels when Miroku would hold Shippou, when the whole group was tired and would stop soon, but Shippou couldn't wait, `and he shouldn't have to wait to go to sleep,' she thought absently. Shippou was always out like a light when they walked and Miroku's staff chimed. The same was true when Kirara would purr in her sleep and Shippou would curl up with the fire demoness... curious.

A young man passed her on the road with the usual nod, and she nodded to him in return. The man kept walking, grunting at the extra weight of a sack strapped across his shoulders. Kagome stopped on the road and waited.

Sure enough, there was a crash behind her as the path was ripped up and a youkai made itself known. The man shrieked much like a woman, the contents of his bag were flung across the crumbling path as he was snatched up.

Kagome turned and stared at the creature that had hidden itself under the path. It was tall, at least 16 feet, with grey skin and two small legs, webbed feet, a big fish-like head and no arms. The traveler was being held by a large, slimy, purple tongue. The `rock' she had kicked turned out to be the very small bump on the fish-like head of the demon; a fin, if you will.

Kagome pulled wards out of her sleeve and flung them at the demon's tongue. The man was dropped to the ground and lay there stiff, in shock as the demon thrashed, screamed, and fell back into one of the rice fields with a splash. Kagome walked swiftly to the man's side and sent him a look that said, “Get your things and move on quickly.” He nodded, quickly scooping up what was in immediate reach, and ran away. Kagome turned and went to the edge of the road. She peered into the murky water a moment.

As if on cue the demon launched itself at her with an open mouth of shark's teeth. Instantly, she jumped back and slapped a ward onto the demon's upturned nose. The demon's body locked up and he collapsed onto the road stiff as a board. Kagome stepped daintily over the broken pieces of rock and mud that made up the road and paused to kneel in the demon's line of sight.

Its pitch-black eyes were wide and it blinked two sets of eyelids in a panicked manner. Kagome eyed the grey and white beast with disinterest. “Sharky, I'm sorry for kicking you earlier but you can't go eating people in your anger,” she scolded as if speaking to a child. The shark only stared at her and Kagome sighed.

“Who am I kidding…? I really wish I had my bow and arrows,” Kagome admitted as she pulled out a wad of blank slips of paper. “All I'd have to do is shoot you in the head, or maybe the heart,” she grumbled absently. “I'd even leave you alone if you weren't here eating people traveling this path.”

She chose one slip of paper from the group and put the others away in her top in a secret little pocket. Holding the slip of paper between her fingers she channeled her energy into it and it instantly straightened as if ironed out. Kagome bit her thumb trying to draw blood. With a grunt, she tried to tear the skin of her thumb but paused when it didn't draw blood on the first try. She whimpered, whipping her hand up and down to get rid of the discomfort. Tearing the skin was for quick access to her blood which was unnecessary at the moment.

“I've gotten better with the pain thing but it still hurts like hell,” she pouted, dropping her chin into her hand in thought. Her fingers brushed the four hoop earrings in her ear. She suddenly remembered how easily the little pieces of jewelry had pierced the cartilage of her ears and she gave a feral grin. Gently, she unhooked one of her earrings and stared at it in thought. The pin of the earring was sharpened to a point. Without a second thought she poked her finger and, just as she wanted, it drew blood. She sat watching in disinterest as the demon's eyes became glassy at the smell of blood.

Shaking her head in disapproval, she touched her bleeding thumb and forefinger together as she stood and began to walk away. With her forefinger, she drew a few symbols on the blank slip of paper. Satisfied with her work she flung it at the shark, not even bothering to look back as he burst into flames in an instant death.

“Damn that was stupid, I shouldn't be wasting energy right now,” she sighed. She briefly wondered how the monks had moved her from where she was, to the temple that was a little less than a week away, in only two days. She had been running most of her trip and would be back at Jiji's by morning but she wouldn't be running anymore.

She was out traveling alone and, because of running, her energy wasn't nearly as high as usual. Miko energy… purified energy gave her the ability to run through tree tops and pack punches that made heads spin, but it was a constant drain to keep using it like she had. Most monks never had her massive reserves in their whole life time, but that didn't mean she didn't have a limit. Less energy meant less chance of survival should she get into a fight.

“Kagome-sama you have amazing stamina, but what good is stamina when you can't defeat a youkai because you have wasted your energy reserves? Many a man has stamina, but not many have the ability to purify youkai. All of the stamina in the world won't protect you from a demon that can catch you and not worry about consequences.”

Kagome's head bobbed side to side a few times, `Hai, hai sensei, I understand,' she thought with a wary sigh as she recalled his words.

She hummed to herself and put the earring back in her ear.

Kagome popped her thumb into her mouth to stop the bleeding, her staff resting on her shoulder lulling her back into a trance as she walked. Her stomach howled in agony and she pet her belly as if to calm it, ignoring the people from nearby who rushed past her to see what had caused the unnatural blue fire.

XXXXX

“Kagome-chan!!” Shippou cried as his surrogate mother came into view. Kagome grinned brightly as Shippou came rushing toward her and she opened her arms to him. She dropped her staff and fell to her knees, when Shippou jumped into her arms. The warmth that spread through her body as she hugged Shippou made her choke back a sob. She kissed the kit's head a few times, murmuring his name as he cried soaking her monk robes.

“Kagome, don't scare me like that anymore. Even if you did talk to me with your stinky orb, I wanted to see you!” Kagome chuckled at Shippou's rude comment.

“You silly girl, you have the most outrageous ability to get into trouble,” a familiar voice mused.

Kagome looked up to see Jiji making his way toward them with a gentle smile on his face. Kagome stood with Shippou in one arm and stepped forward to embrace her father in everything but blood. “Jiji I missed you almost as much as I missed Shippou-kun…almost.” He laughed aloud and kissed her forehead. Kagome smiled brightly, fighting back the tears as she buried her face in his chest. He smelled a bit of ash but the overpowering scent of sweetened black tea made it all the better and familiar.

“I'm finally back,” she whispered.

“Kagome-chan, why didn't you try to talk to us with your stinky orb?” Shippou demanded, his eyes blazing with anger. Kagome frowned as she stepped away from Jiji.

“I was traveling here, Shippou. It takes a lot of my power to make those orbs and send them. I needed my power to protect myself, unless you wanted a very dead Kagome coming back to you in a casket,” she huffed.

“No!” Shippou barked and threw his little arms around her neck. Kagome rubbed his back with a smile.

“Then you'll have to let that slide, Shippou.” He nodded quickly and she rubbed his head. Kagome bent down and picked up her forgotten staff.

The sound of bells caught Jiji and Shippou's attention. Shippou raised an eyebrow and Jiji choose to sit back and let someone comment on what the noise was.

“You have a monk's staff kinda like Miroku's…” he trailed off, finally noticing the changes. “You have clothes like him too, and your hair's shorter than when you left.” He reached up and poked her forehead before howling in laughter. “And you got one of those pimple things you and Sango-chan talked about, and it turned black,” he giggled.

Kagome blushed, embarrassed. “It's not a pimple, it's even worse; a mole,” she cried in mock horror. Shippou's giggles became high-pitched shrieks of laughter.

Kagome smiled at him. “No, honestly, for all intents and purposes, I am a female monk… miko… person.” Shippou's laughter stopped so suddenly that Kagome briefly thought she had imagined it.

“What?”

“I'm a monk, but I'm going to keep claiming I'm a miko. It'll be easier to just claim I'm a miko while in girl's clothes, then claim myself a male when I'm in robes. It's all I can do. Kuro didn't think about the trouble this would cause when he demanded I have warrior monk training,” Kagome sighed, wearily rubbing her temple.

“Kagome, don't be so sure of that, I think he may want you to attract attention… or maybe just enough attention,” Jiji said thoughtfully.

“What, you mean he did this because he has ulterior motives?” she asked a bit helplessly.

“He may be a child but he is also a god, they do tend to think things through and even manipulate people. He said the training was to help you with you with your Shikon shard hunting and eventual battle with the evil hanyou, Naraku, yes?” Kagome nodded slowly and, as if he saw her acknowledgment, he continued, “He decided to have you trained long before he met you, I can guess that much. He may have had ulterior motives when he made his decision.”

Jiji sighed, slightly annoyed. While he grudgingly had to respect the little bastard for seeing to Kagome's training, he still didn't like gods, and especially not little brat gods supposedly named `Kuro.'

Kagome frowned a bit, “He did tell me to head southwest.”

Jiji sighed deeply as he racked his brain trying to think of what could be so important in that direction. “Southwest… there are a few human villages, and one or two castles of human lords in that direction. I can't imagine what he wants you to do there, but you should probably go.”

“Why! He's using me!” Kagome huffed angrily. “He put on an act just to get me to feel bad for him.” She loved Kuro like a little brother but he was the biggest ass at times.

Jiji frowned at her. “Kagome, if he told you something about himself it most likely wasn't a lie. He's a god, what reason does he have to lie? One of his monks would gladly do the deed for him.”

Kagome thought long and hard about this fact before sighing deeply. “He pisses me off, but I've seen what kind of personality he has, after all he did have me locked in a temple, so I shouldn't be surprised” she snorted. “You're right,” she admitted angry face softening a bit, “he won't lie to me, he dances around questions or just won't answer.”

“Anyway, I do have to agree with your choice to claim different genders, but only because I can't think of a better way to deal with your situation,” Jiji said solemnly. If you walk around as a female monk, you will attract so much attention. You'll have monks from other predominant temples bothering you, then eventually word will get around to human rulers… you may have to kill anyone who finds out, Kagome, or you'll have daimyos breathing down your back soon.”

Shippou looked between Kagome and Jiji silently as he tried to sort through their words. Jiji turned and began to walk toward the caves and Kagome quickly fell in step with him. “I'm not worried about the monks. I have this mark on my forehead so they won't fight with me too much… at least I hope not. I'll be careful about who I let find out,” she finally agreed.

“Mark?” Jiji asked, pausing his stride. “Oh, yes the kit did just mention a mark, what kind of mark?” he grumbled, lost in thought.

Kagome grabbed his hand and touched his fingers to the mark on her forehead. Jiji took a sharp intake of breath, “The mark of an elder!”

“How did you get that mark you weren't gone nearly long enough,” he whispered.

Kagome blinked owlishly. “Kuro-chan gave it to me. Supposedly I was already pure enough to have the mark, but he wanted me to be able to defend myself and the `title' the mark bestows.”

Jiji looked thoughtful a moment, “Why am I still trying to figure out the strange things that happen to you?” he huffed waving a hand. “But your new status does explain your aura…” he murmured aloud, but was completely ignored.

“That's something I don't understand, I'm not pure, not in the same way those monks are, they work their whole lives trying to be pure. It's not fair to them,” she said a bit sadly.

The old demon sent her a glance, “There's nothing stopping you from continuing your training.”

Her eyes shone at the prospect and she shrugged. “I'd have to find a teacher who would teach a girl first.”

“What are you going to do now, little one? You've had 2 and a half years of two types of training… though I doubt the training I gave you is any use anymore.” Jiji gave a smirk.

“Of course your training is useful,” she cried, with a scolding pat on Jijis arm. He chuckled a bit as she continued, “first I want to spend the rest of the day with Jiji and Shippou-kun.” Shippou grinned up at her. “Then… I don't know,” She shrugged not really caring what happened afterward.

“You should go towards the Southwest and see what caught your Kuro-chan's attention over there,” the older male advised.

She shot Jiji a glance. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

Jiji gave a shit-eating grin that Shippou quickly mirrored making Kagome laugh.

Ah, how she missed his grin.

“Maybe,” she shook her head as Jiij vanished into the back area where his hearth was.

She smirked at Shippou, “So, what do you want to do today, my kit?” Shippou's eyes bulged at her outright claiming of him.

“Y-you think I'm yours, Kagome?” he squeaked.

Her brow creased as she smiled at Shippou. “You've been mine since I begged Inu -baka to let you travel with us!” He smiled so brightly. She quickly realized her mistake. This was too much for the kit, who was seeing her after such a long period of absence. He was bound to be a little emotional and she had added to the emotions he felt by her comment.

Kagome pressed her cheek to his to comfort the kit. “Shippou-kun, did I make you cry?” she asked, a bit worried for the boy's mental state. Shippou nodded, burying his face in her shoulder as he sniffled a bit

“Oh Shippou…” she said, gently rubbing his back.

He gave a watery laugh and nuzzled the crook of her neck.

Kagome glanced around and, spotting a stool, she walked over to it, awkwardly moving the heavy leather onto the counter with one hand as she cradled Shippou in the other arm. After a struggle she had a free stool to sit on. She leaned her staff against the counter and held Shippou close as she squirmed in her seat to get comfortable.

“I'm such a crybaby, why does it seem I'm always crying around you?” He shot kagome a mock glare and she giggled as she kissed a tear away. He blinked owlishly and blushed, bowing his head, “Kaa-san… dedajs…”

Kagome blinked at Shippou as he grumbled to himself, playing with his paws shyly. “Shippou, sweetie, I can't understand gibberish,” she said gently, tugging her sleeves over her hands and wrapping her arms around Shippou. He ran his hand over her arm feeling the cloth under it. Shippou glanced up at her with a frown then looked away again.

“My Kaa-san… I never met her.” Kagome immeditaly paused at his comment. “She died when I was born.” Kagome's eyes widened a bit and Shippou cracked a smile. “Papa swore it wasn't my fault, he said she was sick for a while.” Shippou was silent a moment, then heaved a sigh, “I just thought…” he trailed off into a grumble again and Kagome stuggled to hear what he was saying.

“Shippou you have to speak up,” she coaxed uncertainly. She didn't want him to run off because he thought she wasn't listening.

His head shot up and he looked at her.

“Thank you!” he blurted out, before trying to leap out her arms. Kagome squeaked and her hands shot out to catch him out of instinct. The stool tipped and Kagome was able to shift her weight before she and the stool fell over together. She sucked in a breath of air and brought Shippou back to the safety of her arms again.

Once her nerves had calmed she looked into Shippou's bright, green eyes swirling with worry.

Kagome smiled, “Now, Shippou, are you going to explain what's wrong?”

“There's nothing wrong” he huffed looking away.

“Sure there's not. My Shippou-kun just goes around apologizing for no reason. Unless I don't know what I'm talking about and Jiji convinced you to start doing such things while I was away,” she explained gently.

Shippou sat and he thought about it, then he sat some more, and they simply stared at each other. When it suddenly hit Shippou, he blushed, embarrassed, and looked away. Kagome glanced up to see Jiji's shadow working behind the wall that hid the hearth from prying eyes. She suddenly zoned out as her thoughts wandered. There was something she had just missed; something that Shippou was trying to show her but she didn't know what the little kit wanted.

“I was just saying `thank you,'” he grumbled.

“For what? You've always been my Shippou-kun, I thought you knew that. You don't need to thank me,” she murmured, emerging from her dazed state.

Shippou sent her a half smile and a hopeful glance, and everything suddenly became clear to Kagome. She smiled lovingly at Shippou and he frowned a bit, confused, before looking away. She knew what he wanted to say but it was such an awkward topic. Kagome didn't quite know how to tell him it was okay…

Jiji appeared and leaned against the wall watching them quietly. She silently hoped Shippou didn't notice him. The kit would never say anything if he froze up because of the extra set of ears. Jiji sent her a knowing smile and inspiration came to her.

“We'll I guess I've been your mother figure for a while now, I don't think your kaa-san would mind if I claim you as my kit. We've been together so long, I can't imagine Shippou-kun as anything other than my kit,” she murmured aloud, rubbing her chin in thought as if she weren't talking to the child.

She looked at Shippou fighting with every bit of emotion she had to keep a blank face and not laugh at Shippou's gaping expression. “I already thought Shippou-kun was my kit, I thought so for…” Kagome counted on her fingers for effect and Shippou watched her fingers with watery eyes as he continued to gape. “Almost 5 years. I think that's a very long time you've been my kit.”

She winked at Shippou. He screamed and launched himself at her. He hugged her neck kissing her cheek frantically as Kagome laughed and hugged him close. Shippou went quiet, sitting back to stare at her with wide eyes full of awe and his face streaked with tears. His smile was almost blinding.

They stared at each other a long moment before Shippou reached out and ran a hand down her cheek. “Kaa-san,” he murmured quietly. “I have a Kaa-san,” he murmured in amazement. Shippou craned his neck, searching for Jiji. When he saw the old wolf he gave a cry of delight and jumped from her arms. He ran to Jiji and latched onto the older male's leg. “Jiji, I have a Kaa-san! Kagome-chan is my Kaa-san!”

Jiji smiled at the fox kit while Shippou shot Kagome another blinding smile. “My Kaa-san…” he murmured, his eyes glazing over happily. Jiji nodded approvingly to the kit who laughed aloud. Kagome smiled and shared a glance with Jiji.

“You'll be a great Kaa-san, Kagome,” he praised.

Kagome blushed and Shippou grinned.

XXXX

“Kaa-san, don't we leave today?” Shippou asked a bit warily as he dragged his little sack of clothes across the ground toward her. He dropped the sack by her thigh and climbed up onto her shoulder.

Kagome scratched her nose… strange little itch that was.

“Yeah, but Jiji said wait here a moment,” she grumbled scratching at her cheek. That was the last time she played in the shubbery with Shippou; she loved him but was it worth it to itch for a few days like she had? She glanced at the kit who was eyeing her haircut.

Yeah, it was so worth it.

He brushed away the wild locks that hung in her face. “You should cut it so people can see your face,” he commented, letting the hair fall back into place. She took a lock and eyed it. After her second haircut, she hadn't bothered to style it and had just let it grow how it liked. That resulted in her looking like a scarecrow at the moment. It was a bit shorter than shoulder length now. She could tie the hair in her face back in a ponytail, but she didn't bother. The hair served to hide the mark on her forehead that people tended to stare at openly without mind to her feelings.

Having had very little self-confidence, excluding modesty and the natural urge to fight with people who were rude, she did not take well to the new attention. If she really didn't want hair in her face all she had to do was tuck it behind her ears, but that only lasted so long because her hair was thick. She shook her head as Shippou ran his fingers through her hair. “It doesn't smell like strawberries anymore, but that's okay,” he said hugging her head and burying his nose in her freshly-washed hair.

“Now that you don't have all that extra scented stuff on you I can smell your natural scent really well,” he murmured, nuzzling her head.

Kagome smiled a bit and put her hand on the ground. Her fingers felt for the staff that had become a part of her but it wasn't beside her. `Right, Jiji asked to see it,' she thought absently. “What do I smell like, Shippou-kun?”

He took a deep breath, then slid off her shoulder into her lap as he analyzed the smell. A nod, “Lemon.” Another nod, “Sugary lemon, like those `cake' things you brought from your house.” Kagome felt the corner of her mouth twitch upward in amusement. “It's light, but strong enough that, sometimes, I think you're that cake and it makes me hungry, especially after you have a bath or you get splashed with water,” he admitted. “When you're angry the lemon smell doesn't smell sugary anymore, it smells spicy, and it clings to anything you touch.” He frowned thoughtfully. “You know how some stuff is so strong-tasting it leaves that taste in your mouth for a while?” he asked. Kagome nodded and they were both silent a long moment.

She scratched her chin thoughtfully looking to the light grey sky. There was the heavy smell of water in the air, but she knew it wouldn't be raining until way later that night.

“What do humans smell like?” Kagome queried. Shippou dug in his ear as he thought of a way to describe what his mother asked of him.

“Like meat, or something, before it's cooked; it's a kinda musky smell,” he finally admitted, “…and food. Sometimes, they smell like sweat and pain. They stink a lot, `cause they don't bathe like you do.” He rubbed his nose distastefully.

“That doesn't sound pleasant, do I smell like that?” she asked warily, discreetly sniffing at her underarm.

Shippou laughed when he caught her and she blushed. “Mikos and monks are different.” Both Shippou and Kagome looked up at hearing Jiji's voice to find him walking toward them. “Sometimes monks and mikos don't have the human scent. It's maybe one out of every thirty, but it does happen. You can still tell if they are human because they have a sharpness to their scent due to their pure power. You don't have that sharpness which is even rarer although it's not unheard of. Still, it's not something so strange because you are a girl and girls tend to have lighter scents. When you flare your powers, that sharp smell does kick in with a vengeance, though. It's sharp, like ginger or mint, and it leaves you dazed for a moment if you aren't prepared.”

He stopped before her and bent down with a mischievous grin. “Don't worry too much, when you arrived you had a bit of human scent, just trace amounts, barely noticeable unless you live in close quarters with the scent. You are mine, however, so I fed you some youkai foods, and it took care of that problem.”

Kagome blinked dumbly, “Jiji why are you feeding me strange things?” she demanded. Now she looked appalled and Jiji looked indifferent. “And, if that's true, why didn't my scent change again at the temple?”

“The monks have very strict, simple diets, so they have a completely different scent than even mikos and other humans. They eat a lot of the things that youkai eat with their own foods; rice, vegetables, things like that.”

Kagome scowled at Jiji as Shippou giggled, “So what did you feed me?”

Jiji choose then to look a bit sheepish, “I'd rather not tell you.”

“Jiji, you gave me something that could have hurt me, tell me what it was!”

He quickly mumbled something and turned his attention to the items he had dragged from the cave. “So this is-”

Shippou's eyebrows had risen all the way into his hair line in amusement and Kagome's face went as white as a sheet.

“Y-you fed me youkai flesh?” she rasped, horrified.

Jiji paused and turned to her. “It's not so bad, just a bit of flesh, the rest was things like demonic newts; they're a lot bigger than the ones humans eat, and they hide high in the trees. Once I found a demon fish that was attacking people and killed it; you liked that a lot, too,” he said, trying to find a way to calm the girl and failing horribly.

Kagome buried her face in her hands as Shippou trembled in laughter. “I gave you a lot more than usual because I was also feeding myself and your kit.” She glanced up with a withering glare. “Shippou is a demon little one, if you don't want him to go biting humans when he starts getting a little older then you must feed him accordingly. He will have cravings, you decide what he will be eating, humans or demons,” he huffed.

“I don't understand, humans and animals do it, humans eat newts, and there are even human cannibals,” he explained shaking his head in fustration. “Kagome, youkai are beasts, we aren't human, and we don't see things the same as humans. If you plan to raise this kit properly you need to learn to see things a bit differently; you need to see things from both points of view because, honestly, you're stuck in both worlds,” he admitted

“Jiji, I'm a human… miko,” she said with an exasperated sigh.

“But you're also mine so, by association, you're as much a little beast as I am,” he stated, as if this were the law of the world.

Kagome shook her head in disbelief, “You fed me youkai fl… food!”

He shrugged a bit. “Get used to it, believe me, you're going to be eating strange food for the rest of your life.”

Kagome's eyes narrowed. “That better not mean what I think it means,” she bit out.

He looked confused but she could tell by his expression that he was mocking her. “Now what could it mean? I don't know.”

Kagome huffed and turned away angrily.

“It was to instill a habit in your eating preferences, if you eat youkai food then you will feed your kit the same and you won't worry about him eating humans because he will eat like you.” Shippo watched in mild interest as Kagome and Jiji argued back and forth.

“Get that thought out of your head right now, I'm not going to go searching for youkai food!” she exclaimed

He smiled pleasantly. “You will, I promise you. You've already gotten the food into your system a few times and that's all you needed to instill an instinct to go after this food that has changed your body,” he explained. “You're already past the stage where demon food was dangerous for you; now it makes you very healthy and it's very good that you keep eating it.”

Kagome blinked at him, digesting his words for a moment, her eyes narrowing in her rage, “During my first winter here, I was violently ill for almost two weeks… that was you?”

Her rage was tangible and Jiji paused a moment to consider his next words to her. “Hai, how did you feel after that first two weeks?”

Kagome closed her eyes as she gritted her teeth a moment before responding, “I had extra energy and I never really felt tired. My ability to heal was already shorter than the average humans because of my miko powers but the time became even shorter than before, and my stamina shot through the roof…” she glared at him and his shit-eating grin. “Okay, I get that it makes me healthier and I probably would be dead from training if not for your weird-assed food, but I won't go searching for it.”

He chuckled, “You'd be surprised where you'll find it, like I said it's instinct in you now. If you can't keep your body in good condition by other means like eating herbs, and even all the food you can get your hands on, which may be very hard while traveling, the instinct to seek the `demon' food out will make you.”

Kagome shook her head horrified. “Jiji what have you done to me?” she whimpered.

“Given you a better means to read your body's condition,” he replied calmly.

“That still doesn't explain why I didn't have problems at the temple,” she pointed out. She grinned broadly, “Maybe your plan didn't work; I was fine while I was there.”

“Your body played storage device, that's all. I'll bet that, on the way home, you had a hard time staying awake and you stopped every chance you got, trying to get your power and energy reserves back up.”

Kagome's mouth snapped shut. Indeed, she had stumbled most of the way home, yawning and eating food vendors out of house and home. Even when she couldn't find a food vendor, she could put away three, sometimes five, rabbits on her own; three was the minimum to put a dent in her appetite.

“Right now, I'll bet you're at full power and bursting with pent up energy,” he pointed out.

Kagome's expression twisted bitterly, “Dinner yesterday wasn't chicken after all, was it?”

Jiji laughed in response as Kagome knocked her head against her knees. “If you really have no choice you can go a few months without your meals, but it'll catch up with you quick enough. Now that you know how you can restore your reserves quickly and keep your body healthy, normal `human' food won't cut it for long anymore.”

“Jiji this is not cool. You just made my life a whole lot more complicated,” she wailed.

He pet her head to calm her. “You're making a big deal out of nothing. You're trained, now you'll start noticing a lot of strange things as you travel. Believe me it's not hard to find your meals, you just have to pay, but it's not very expensive at all. Just don't eat anything I haven't given to you, or shown you myself.”

“Jiji-”

He frowned, his demeanor going from playful to serious in a heartbeat. Kagome tensed under the scolding gaze of her Jiji, “I did it to keep you in good health. You can handle a lot more now; in fact your body has changed so you have to worry less about your meals. You don't have to starve like other humans, you can eat anything - be it a demon's food or a human's. You can live off the stored energy from your meals when you just can't find food. I know you wouldn't stay still so I could make sure you're well, no child ever does. I do admit you adapted to the change in your body a lot more quickly than I thought, but that was well worth the risk. You wouldn't die, I won't let you, I was very careful with what I introduced to you at first. Now, I just need to avoid poisonous youkai although, eventually, you'll be able to handle that too.”

Kagome blinked realizing he had been ranting, and was very serious about making her see the benefits of her eating the way he wished.

Kagome stared at him as he frowned at the ground, she was mad… no, livid... but she couldn't bring herself to stay mad. Not at Jiji and not at his decision to change her diet so he could take care of her better. He was being a dad to her and she couldn't say she disliked it. She and Souta had never known the love of a father and it was nice.

The fact he was a youkai, and thinking of her as a youkai child, just made it a little awkward. It wasn't like his decision had changed her into a youkai or something. She still had her powers, thank the kami. In fact, he had indirectly improved her powers, as well as her chances of survival.

“Jiji is a baka,” he blinked and glanced up from his crouched position, turning in the direction of her voice. “I'll let it slide this time, just don't feed me and my Shippou-kun weird things again without our consent,” she said. He raised an eyebrow.

Kagome raised an eyebrow in response, seeing a triumphant smirk appear on Jiji's face. “Before I can forgive you, explain one thing to me. I've been meaning to ask, why do youkai eat humans if we stink?”

Shippou stifled a laugh but the two adults ignored him. “Here's an idea, since you can see in the dark, you should maybe learn to enhance your hearing and smell like a youkai's and -”

Kagome sighed aloud, “Interesting idea, but you're dancing around my question.”

Jiji smiled again. “Well, while humans stink, youkai don't always smell great either. You learn to ignore it or block it out. Sometimes humans just smell like food,” he said with a shrug. Kagome nodded and bowed her head, taking in all the new information. The tension in the air slowly dissipated and Jiji breathed a silent sigh of relief.

Now that she wasn't ready to take his head off, he could worry about more important things. `Arguing about her meals,' he snorted inwardly. `Foolish cub can't appreciate the benefits of not having to starve on her journey.' Jiji gave a slight shake of his head.

He smiled and laid a wooden staff across her lap. It looked like a very long cane or even a club. In the head of the cane a metal bird was snuggled into the wood peering out at her. She looked to the staff then looked to Jiji curiously. “It's a demonic weapon, not cursed or anything, but don't push any of your power into it or you might get a nasty little shock.”

Next, he held up a necklace. The chain was made of a mix of cloth and metal. Hanging on the chain was a very tiny version of her monk's staff. She touched the staff, shock running thought her body. “If you plan to hide your status sometimes, you can't carry this staff with you. It took me a few hours to make a spell to shrink it so that wouldn't interfere with the staff's abilities. When you need to use it simply pull it from the necklace and push a bit of energy into it. When you want to put it back on the chain, suck the energy out and it should snap right back onto the chain,” he explained.

“Can I shrink the wooden staff you gave me?” she asked. He nodded and snatched the monk's staff off the necklace.

Kagome tensed, thinking he had broken her monk's staff, but his mischievous grin quelled her fears. “The chain is special; just yank it off or `snap' it back on.” He made the bird staff smaller with the wave of a hand and literally pushed it onto her necklace. It snapped into place and hung there. He took the staff and rubbed the very end of it. With a swirl of magic it appeared before her and dropped into Jiji's hands.

“How are you able to handle a purified staff like that?” she asked immediately, as she took the staff and turned it upside down to see the symbols etched on the bottom.

She gave a gleeful giggle when she found she could read them.

“I've learned a few things; I wouldn't suggest another youkai even touching that staff though,” he sighed. She ran a finger over the demonic staff hanging around her neck. “How am I supposed to make this work, it's demonic?” she sighed. “That was another hassle,” Jiji responded, “I stole a bit of your blood to make that work.” Kagome's eyes widened.

“When?” she demanded.

Months of getting the shit kicked out of her and she couldn't sense one old, mischievous youkai. “The first night you came back, you slept like the dead.” That was all that needed to be said to get his point across. “All you have to do to activate your demon staff is pull it from the chain and will it to do what you want,” he said with a shrug.

Kagome nodded, distracted as she ran a thumb over the two fangs hanging on either side of the shrunken weapon.

“What are these for?” she asked absently trying not to poke her finger on the still-sharp fangs.

“Demonic fangs, just in case you get snatched again…” Kagome blushed as Jiji sent her a pointed glare, “I can come and get you.” She nodded. The beads on the necklace were there just to give the appearance of a trinket and she didn't mind. She smiled weakly and tied it around her neck.

He tapped a clawed talon on the metal bird on the staff, “This becomes a bow. You'll have to buy arrows as you travel around or learn to make them. If you're good enough with manipulating your energy, I hear some mikos can make a tangible arrow just from that. It would be a good trick to learn.” Kagome nodded in complete agreement.

He looked thoughtful a moment then snapped his fingers and pulled five feathers as white as snow out of his sleeve. Holding them like kunai, he grinned a bit. “These are also demonic weapons, a new invention of mine.”

“I've been teaching Shippou how to hold daggers, kunai, and even training swords so he should be able to use these in a few years when he improves his aim and stops almost murdering me.” Shippou blushed and Kagome gave a lopsided grin.

“These work like needles… no… senbon. These may be of more use to you right now than to Shippou but I hope one day he can use them.” Shippou glanced eagerly at the feathers as they were passed on to Kagome. Jiji continued, “They're made of a special metal… I have no idea why they turned out looking like bird's feathers, but they channel any energy forced into them and make nasty little projectiles.” Kagome eyed the simple little feathers before stowing them away in the sleeve of her monk's robes.

“So, you just want me to test them?” she asked. He nodded quickly. Kagome stood and Jiji followed her example. Shippou slid onto the ground and watched as Kagome gave Jiji a hug.

Stepping away she smiled at the old demon, “Thank you for everything Jiji, I promise Shippou and I will come to visit soon, but I swear if you caused any other weird problems my foot is going up your ass.” Jiji belly-laughed and Kagome smiled warily.

No… she wasn't mad, besides he had already done his deeds, no turning back now. Gathering her and Shippou's things into a pouch, she tied the sack around her neck much like how she had seen other travelers do. It was light, only being filled with a few clothes for either of them. Shippou gave Jiji a quick hug before bouncing toward her. Kagome dropped her staff to rest on her shoulder as she and Shippou walked away from what was their home for the past two years.

XXXXX

“So where exactly are we going? Shippou asked warily. “We've just been wandering for days.”

Kagome poked her lip out playfully. “You don't like wandering with your Kaa-san?” she asked.

Shippou blushed. “I didn't mean that,” he sputtered. Kagome petted Shippou's head as they passed another traveler on the road, a woman with a baby strapped onto her back and a second boy in tow. The woman looked at Kagome wide-eyed when she spotted Shippou and she quickly hurried her walking child along. It still boggled Kagome's mind how many people she met traveling on the road, when before she would be lucky if she saw one person.

“I honestly think Inuyasha had us avoid all human contact when we were traveling,” she mumbled, glancing back at the woman.

“Yeah, I noticed that too. The thing is, I don't think people traveled in Inuyasha's territory because the number of youkai-related deaths is a lot higher there than elsewhere,” Shippou mused.

Kagome's eyebrow twitched. “Well if they expect Inuyasha to go running around protecting people they've got another thing coming. It's ridiculous to think about and unrealistic,” she murmured.

“It's not really Inuyasha's fault though, that whole forest is his territory. While he was pinned to the tree, demons moved in and tried to take over. Humans refuse to rely on youkai for protection and youkai refuse to protect them, its just how things are,” Shippou explained with a shrug.

Kagome nodded thoughtfully. Shippou toyed with the earrings on the rim of her ear a moment; he seemed fascinated by them for some reason. “Look there's another one.” Shippou pointed rather rudely to a man sitting on the side of the road selling smoked foods from his little grill. Both of them knew this wasn't a regular man, but a youkai. He had a straw hat tilted down to cover his face and simple brown clothes that she would expect to see on a farmer.

The foods on his grill were a dead giveaway if you couldn't sense his youki; then again not many people knew what youkai food looked like. It looked and smelled strange - if not putrid - to humans, which kept them away so they didn't end up vomiting for two weeks like she had. Then again, Jiji always made the food smell like something she really liked to eat.

Damn you, Jiji.

She briefly wondered if the food would still smell good to her. She saw another man walk over to the youkai with his little grill and, from the cooling tray off to the side; he bought the biggest lizard she had ever seen.

The man turned with his new treat and hobbled awkwardly down the road his lazy eye focused on her. As they passed him she saw the man's lazy eye bulge out and turn at an odd angle. With quick spasms of his eye and a twitch that made her want to flinch, he eyed her from head to toe with a startling quickness. His head didn't even turn to acknowledge he was interested, even as his eye stared. Kagome shot him glare that said, `I'm ignoring you, don't make me regret it.' His eye went back to `normal'; she saw the man bite off the head of his lizard meal and keep going.

The youkai weren't doing anything bad so she wasn't about to start a fight. After they had passed up the first food vendor, which had been similar to this one, Shippou pointed out that youkai either ate other youkai or they ate humans. Very rarely did they eat both. If you saw a youkai eating other youkai it was very likely they didn't eat humans. That was perfectly fine with Kagome; she wouldn't bother them if they didn't bother her.

Kagome smiled at Shippou. “Are you hungry?” Shippou seemed to think about it a minute but his stomach made the decision for him as it howled. Kagome chuckled and rubbed the kits stomach to calm it. She paused before the vendor and bent down sitting Shippou on her knees. It smelled heavenly to her and obviously Shippou thought the same if his momentary drooling was any clue.

The demon vendor bowed his head a bit more to hide his face from sight. “I want that one,” Shippou cried eagerly.

The kit's cry made the demon look up and Kagome met his red eyes with a smile. His face was wrinkled and an odd shade of yellow, like the wood of a tree. It looked as if someone had pulled too hard on his chin while trying to yank the skin off his face.

He stared at her and then at Shippou in open disbelief. “Miko-sama, I'm causing no trouble here.” Kagome's smile brightened a bit more.

“You're the first one to recognize I'm a girl despite the robes I'm wearing,” she praised. The demon licked his lips nervously trying to think of how to proceed. “You are obviously a woman, very beautiful too.” He was trying to get on her good side with compliments.

It worked.

Kagome raised an eyebrow and then turned her gaze on the meat being cooked while the demon was staring at her staff. Her hair made it difficult to see so she brushed it behind her ears and she heard the youkai gag in disbelief as he saw the mark on her forehead. “Y-your holiness, I have done no wrong, why are you here?” he asked in a hushed voice.

“Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you. I want to feed my kit.” Her stomach howled much like Shippou's had. She frowned and put a hand to her stomach, continuing, “perhaps myself too.”

The demons eyes narrowed at her, “This is not human food.”

Kagome nodded absently and, before she could answer, Shippou explained, “Jiji gave her demon food, she can eat it now just nothing poisonous,” he said bouncing eagerly. Kagome grabbed Shippou to make him be still, all she needed was to fall over and knock the vendor's things over.

The vendor sat stupefied for a long moment, and then quickly grabbed two lizards like the one he had sold to the other demon and handed them over. Shippou took them and quickly stuffed the lizard's head in her mouth. Kagome gagged in surprise and pulled the meal from her mouth. “Don't do that, Shippou-kun,” she huffed, reaching into her sleeve to grab the little sack of money she had.

“Hai, Kaa-san,” he grumbled.

The vendor looked as if he'd been smacked in the face. He began to sweat nervously upon seeing her hands on the money pouch.

“N-no, your holiness, it's on the house,” he laughed nervously. Kagome blinked then smiled brightly.

“Thank you!”

Shippou snickered, “You scared him into giving you free food.”

Kagome blinked and, realizing that she had indeed done so, smacked her forehead and quickly reached into her sleeve. She heard the demon move but ignored him. She pulled out the sack and he visibly relaxed. Kagome removed a few coins and paid the demon anyway. He looked at her, dazed, holding the coins in his hand. Kagome stood and quickly ate half her lizard, putting the rest away for later. Turning, she continued down the path. Shippou walked after her munching on his meal.

“Have you sensed any shards, Kaa-san?” Shippou shivered, it felt so strange to ask about Jewel shards again. Kagome crossed her arms over her chest tucking the staff in between them.

“Actually, I have, we're heading there now.”

Shippou nodded quickly.

“What if we run into inu-baka?” he questioned. Kagome ran her hand through her hair giving him a full glimpse of her face.

“What if we run into him? I'll still get the shard, we'll just have to be a little faster” she assured.

“You aren't scared to see him again? It's been two years... and what about Sango and Miroku? Kirara helped us get away, so I don't think she counts.” Shippou wrinkled his nose.

“I miss Sango and Miroku, but I needed to get away, and Inuyasha…” She paused a moment to gather her thoughts. “Let just say there are a lot of things out there that are scarier than a hanyou with a bad attitude,” Kagome continued.

She smirked as Shippou grinned. “You know, Kaa-san, I thought you wouldn't want to see him again after what happened. Do you still like him?”

Kagome smiled. “So curious today, kit,” she teased lightly, making Shippou blush. “I'm over him. I realize I had a crush on him and it was really hard to get over it when I had to see his face every waking minute. I had other things to think about after I left the group, like remembering which medicines mix well or how to escape from a temple with seals on my body.”

She absently flicked the four earrings in her ear and Shippou shook his head, amused. “Before I knew it, I was over him, and even before that I had a pervert called Sin to help in that process. It's really hard to think of another guy when you're being molested by a totally hot demon.” Shippou groaned, rolling his eyes as Kagome giggled.

“What about Kikyou, then, do you like her now too?” as he spoke he frowned skeptically at his mother. “Kikyou is not so easy to ignore. She has a part of my soul, which I want back. The problem is that she wants my soul as badly as I want my piece back,” Kagome said with a frown.

“I have more of a chance against Kikyou, now that I've had training, and I plan to get my soul back even if Inuyasha has an issue with it,” she said grimly. “It'll hurt, but I have to separate Inuyasha and Kikyou. Kikyou is a threat to my life; Inuyasha will just have to find another lover.” Shippou frowned thoughtfully.

XXXXXX

Sango slid into a seated position and sighed in relief at the opportunity to rest her body. Miroku sat beside her and gave a similar sigh of relief, even as Inuyasha screamed angrily about slow, lazy humans. “You'd think he'd be tired of yelling so much,” Sango grumbled. Kirara walked over to Sango, plopped down in her bigger form, and laid her head on Sango's lap. Sango blinked at the odd behavior but ran her hand through the fire cat's fur.

Kirara purred, one her massive fangs rubbing against Sango's thigh. Miroku glanced at Kirara, “That's new” Sango grunted in agreement.

“Inuyasha sit down a minute and stop yelling. Kikyou ran off already anyway. If you would sit still your wounds might heal a little faster,” Miroku snapped, finally at his wit's end. Inuyasha growled, and Miroku scowled, something he had been doing a lot lately. The previous day they had gotten into a rather nasty battle, with a turtle youkai of all things. Despite its slow speed it packed a few, very powerful, mouth beams.

Strangely enough, it was Kikyou who had demanded they fight it. Thinking it had a Jewel shard they had agreed, only to be sorely disappointed and really pissed when they found the turtle didn't have said shard but some necklace she had tucked away upon the conclusion of the battle. Inuyasha had waved it off as Kikyou having made a little mistake, despite the fact that a close brush with one of the demon's beams had left Inuyasha with a burnt and bleeding back. His clothes had repaired themselves but Inuyasha's back had yet to fully heal. Kikyou hadn't even offered to wrap the wound or put something on it, but, hey, Inuyasha was madly in love with her... he could suffer if he liked.

Inuyasha glanced around to find that Kikyou had, indeed, run off.

“Fine” he grumbled, and sat down across from his two teammates. “When Kikyou gets back be ready to go; you two slow us down so much we haven't been able to get any shards.” Miroku and Sango stared at Inuyasha a long moment.

“You've been traipsing around the country side running us ragged. Get your head out of your ass Inuyasha,” Sango hissed. “If you didn't notice, Kikyou is leading us around to where she can get souls easily; we haven't found even one shard in the last year!”

There was a gleam in Inuyasha's eyes when he glared at them “That's `cause there aren't any Jewel shards around. That bitch probably handed them over to Naraku and he's waiting for the right time to come kill us.” Both Sango and Miroku rolled their eyes.

“Why are we traveling with you again?” Sango sneered.

“`Cause you're too weak to fight youkai by yourself, you need me.”

Sango turned red in her anger, “Since when have I-,”

Inuyasha growled angrily at her, “You really think you can beat Naraku all on your own? If you do, go ahead, I don't need you. Just don't get absorbed and make him stronger or something stupid like that,”

Miroku wrapped an arm around Sango's waist to keep her from launching herself at the hanyou. “Ignore him. Remember that, while we're with him, we have a better chance of finding Kagome-sama before Kikyou does,” he whispered soothingly to her. Sango trembled in rage a few moments more before slumping against Miroku with a weary sigh. Miroku looked skyward warily, he had never been one to let people get him down, but he was too tired to even grope Sango. That and the fire cat on her lap only had to lift her head to bite his hand off. Sango had noticed his lack of will to grope her and used it to her advantage. She snuggled into his side and he closed his eyes.

He glanced at her, then to Inuyasha who was still grumbling. “Stupid slut went and probably got herself in trouble, now I gotta find the shards again. It's my damn jewel and Kikyou needs her soul.” Sango snapped and moved so fast Miroku was left dazed. She had knocked Kirara off her lap and the fire cat looked up stunned as her mistress moved like the youkai she hunted. Miroku jumped up and, using his unnatural speed and strength, landed in front of Sango, scooping her up. Sango screamed obscenities, kicking savagely as Miroku struggled with the very strong tajiya. Inuyasha completely ignored Sango as he continued to grumble.

Miroku grit his teeth. “Inuyasha stop goading her. She's not Shippou; she can fight back a lot better than a little kit.” Inuyasha snorted and Miroku cried out when Sango's fist caught him in the gut. He still held on and began walking again dragging Sango with him onto the path as Kirara followed.

“Where the hell are you going?!” Inuyasha demanded.

“Away from you!” Miroku shot back. “You and your dead bitch can catch up later,” he spat scathingly. He ignored Inuyasha's outraged cries as he pulled Sango away from their resting area.

It took about 20 minutes of walking for Sango to finally calm down enough to walk on her own, and another 20 before she burst into tears of frustration. They were on one of the main roads now and many a woman they passed sent him a dirty look thinking him the reason for Sango's distress.

Kirara had transformed back into her kitten form and was nuzzling Sango's tear streaked face. After all, what better way to make a girl feel better than to give her a cute, cuddly demon kitty to nuzzle and pet. Sango held Kirara to her chest and kissed the cat's head as Miroku kept his distance... just in case she wanted to punch him again.

“He just makes me so mad, he knows how much I miss Kagome-chan,” Sango whimpered miserably. Miroku nodded gravely. After that one comment, they continued to walk another 10 minutes. Neither of them wanted to speak so they became lost in their own thoughts. A glimpse of bright colors caught his attention and he stared, seeing a familiar monk's staff.

This monk was in white and yellow… he had never seen the bright colors elders like to wear outside of the temple he would visit once and a while. Strange this monk wasn't old enough to be considered an `elder' and was very young as in younger than himself. Short black hair hid his face from view but when a small feminine hand came up to brush the hair from his face Miroku stopped dead in his tracks.

That wasn't a boy it was a young girl.

There had been very few cases where girls had been taken in by monks and trained but they were so rare he was sure he would never see such a thing in his short life time. Never had there been mention of a woman becoming an elder monk

Sango stopped and looked back at Miroku then to the monk standing leaned leisurely against a tree as if waiting for someone. Kirara mewed and Sango sat Kirara down, walking back to Miroku to find out what was wrong. Kirara glanced after her mistress before trotting toward the young monk in yellow.

“Whats wrong Miroku?” Sango asked warily glancing between him and the monk. “Do you know him?”

Miroku quickly shook his head. “That's a girl,” he rasped. Sango's eyes widened and she followed his gaze to where said monk stood. Kirara stopped at the girl's feet and mewed a few times asking for attention. The girl looked down at Kirara through her black hair before bending down and picking the fire cat up. The girl said something to Kirara and scratched her ears as Kirara purred in bliss.

When the young monk giggled and pressed a kiss to Kirara's nose, Sango's eyes widened in surprise. “Kirara must know her,” she mumbled, highly confused. Miroku almost skipped forward toward the young monk. He stopped before the girl and Sango quickly followed ready to deck Miroku should he show his perverted ways.

He grabbed the free hand that wasn't holding Kirara and smiled charmingly. “Will you bear me a child?” he asked giving his best `come hither' look. The girl smiled wickedly and Miroku tensed, ready shield his goods should he need to.

“Sure,” she said calmly.

Miroku turned red and the girl laughed, “Just kidding, you hentai!” she laughed. Turning toward the demon slayer, she said, “Ah, Sango-chan.”

Sango shook her head, stunned. “Do I know you?” she asked, trying to peer through the black locks that hung in the girl's face.

With a snort, she brought a hand up to brush back the locks of hair. Sango was met with a familiar pair of cloudy blue eyes. “Kagome-chan!” Sango gasped, a hand flying to her mouth. Kagome let her hair fall back into her face as she laughed and went to hug Sango.

Sango squeezed the younger girl tightly as she cried into Kagome's robes. Miroku stood stunned as the two women pulled away from one another. Sango quickly wiped her eyes as Kagome chuckled. He stepped forward and looked Kagome in the face. He lifted her bangs to confirm it was Kagome.

She grinned happily. He looked from her wide, happy eyes to the mark on her forehead and fainted dead away. Kagome squeaked as Miroku collapsed.

She and Sango lowered the unconscious monk to the ground

“I-I don't believe it, he actually fainted,” Sango sputtered. Kagome eyed Miroku from her crouched position then surrounded her hand in frosty blue light. She pressed her hand to Miroku's head and not thirty seconds later cut the energy to her hand, “He's fine just a bit stressed.” Kagome smiled at Sango, then pulled a half eaten lizard from her sleeve.

Sango turned green as she stared at the odd creature missing its head and half its torso. Kagome smirked and waved it in front of Mirokus face. Miroku immediately gagged and rolled onto his side to get away from the smell. He blinked a few times then sat up holding his nose. His face was beginning to take on an ill green color when Kagome took a bite of the lizard looking quite pleased with the taste.

“K-Kagome-sama what are you eating?!” he gasped.

Kagome giggled “It's really good, you should… eh, never mind, don't ever try it” she said, her face going from happy to serious.

Sango snatched it from Kagome. “Do you know what this is?!” she hissed, her eyes wide in horror.

Kagome blinked and snatched it back, “Yeah, that's why I told you not to start eating it. It would be a really long, annoying story to tell you how I started eating demon food anyway.” Kagome gave the rest of the lizard to Kirara who munched on it happily. Kagome tucked her hair behind her ears and grinned cheekily at them.

“Kagome-chan you look so different and you're dressed like a monk… where's Shippou?” Not a second after the words left Sango's mouth, said kit came flying out of the forest.

He glomped Sango's leg. “Sango-chan!” he cried. She scooped the kit up and cuddled him. “Shippou-kun it's so good to see you.”

Miroku smiled and pet the kits head in greeting then looked to Kagome. His eyes immediately flew to her forehead. Her hand flew up to cover her exposed forehead and she glared at him. “It's not that interesting Miroku,” she grumbled.

He stared at her strangely. “How did you get that in such a short time?” he whispered hoarsely.

“Training with monks,” she replied. “I was with them for about seven months, but I plan to find another teacher. I'm not so stupid as to think I'm any kind of real miko or monk, I need years of training to be where my sensei's are. They really just got me to a point where I could fight off a weak youkai.”

Miroku scratched his chin thoughtfully. “What temple do you hail from Kagome-sama?”

Kagome smirked at Miroku's inquisitive stare and responded, “The Temple of Light.” He raised an eyebrow, musing, “I've been to that temple before, they are a rather strange sect of monks. They follow only some rules of the eight-fold path and they are often dragged into wars; with the right person threatening them of course.”

Kagome nodded. “Yeah, it's because they have to follow the rules of the Kami residing in the temple. They sometimes have to kill but…” Kagome frowned a bit, “they don't ever want to. I've seen one of monks torture himself over killing someone. They're really good people they don't mean any harm… most of the time,” she promised weakly.

Miroku nodded, “I understand Kagome-sama, I have been there, and they aren't the only temple that worships a Kami. They have a different set of rules passed down from the gods themselves but, to me, they are indeed monks,” he assured with a smile. She sent Miroku a relieved glance

“You have to explain this Kagome, you're a girl, how did you get into a monks temple” Sango huffed feeling highly disoriented.

“I met a Kami and he's in human form. He made me train there; he locked me in the temple with seals.” Kagome flicked the gold earrings in her ear and Sango stepped forward her eyes wide.

“That's horrible! They kept you against your will and poked holes in your ear?” she asked quietly.

“It wasn't that bad after I learned a few `tricks' to get around the after-effects of training,” she explained glancing at the kit who was greeting Kirara enthusiastically. Miroku peered at her ear, his eyes shining eagerly as he examined the earrings. Kagome eyed Miroku warily; she had only seen him this excited when he thought he was going to be with a woman.

“Those are heavy duty seals Kagome-sama… are you feeling well?” he inquired, frowning when he realized the level of seal the four earrings made along with the anklet.

“I'm fine! I got used to the power drain a while ago,” she said cheerily.

“Where's Inuyasha?” The group turned to Shippou, who was staring at the adults with narrow eyes. “I don't want him near my Kaa-san,” he said with a scowl.

The adults around him blinked a few times. “Kaa-san?” Sango repeated. Kagome shrugged with a bright smile.

Miroku chose then to respond “We left him back to wait for… Kikyou,” He said, a bitter tone in his voice.

“Kagome please come back with us,” Sango pleaded. “We won't let him do anything to you. We'll protect you. He's an ass but things will get better, you could always talk sense into him better than we could.”

Kagome stepped away from Sango a sad smile on her face. “I don't want to; this is my life and I don't think I'm going too far when I say he makes me want to kill myself sometimes. I'm over it and I won't subject myself to that anymore,” she said sadly. Sango breathed frantically with tears in her eyes

“Kagome-chan I miss you, please don't leave us again. We can make it better,” she whimpered.

Kagome frowned, her eyes shining thoughtfully. She stepped forward and cupped Sango's face. “Sango-chan, Inuyasha is driving you up the wall. You don't need to stay because I'm not going back to the group” Sango gritted her teeth to control the urge to force Kagome to stay.

“There's something wrong with Inuyasha.” This time everyone turned to Miroku in question. “I think he may be ill or something. He's behaving normally, but then he's not…”

“That's interesting, but Kikyou can take care of him,” Kagome assured them. “I can't stay here long; I have the strongest urge to sleep in a bed tonight.” Kagome smiled brightly glancing down at Shippou. “We've been sleeping in the forest since we left Jiji's, huh, kit?” Shippou nodded quickly. Kagome bent down and took Shippou into her arms.

“Kagome, I have to stay with him.” Sango stated grimly.

Her smile faded as she looked at Sango's depressed expression. “Inuyasha is my link to Naraku… my link to Kohaku. Like Miroku said…,” Sango glanced at the black and purple clad monk then back to Kagome, a determined expression on her face, “There is something off about Inuyasha. I think if we truly left him right now he would die, and we need him for the fight against Naraku”

Kagome's gaze lost focus as she went silent in thought a long moment. Finally, she smiled again, even brighter than before. “Then don't take his shit. If you can't deal with him, I suggest you and Miroku leave the group. Depressed and tired isn't the way to face Naraku on any given day.”

Sango nodded and took a deep breath, her eyes blazing with the fire that had been dimmed when Kagome first saw her face. “You can do it Sango-chan! I believe in you,” Kagome chirped.

Sango nodded with a smirk, “I expect you to look like a girl again the next time I see you. You're beautiful Kagome-chan, you should grow your hair out again. Maybe Inuyasha will stop being so stupid if he notices you,” Sango coaxed gently. Kagome's smile tightened a bit but she didn't comment. Seeing the dark shift in Kagome's mood, Miroku spoke up again.

“The monks at the temple shaved your head?” Miroku asked dryly.

Kagome pouted at the memory making Miroku smile a bit. He stepped forward and bowed to her respectfully. “I have no idea how you received that mark, but you don't necessarily have to have years of training to be one of the pure. I always wondered, as miko of the Shikon, why neither you nor Kikyou had received the mark. I suppose it's because you had no means of receiving the god's blessings.” Kagome shifted warily as she listened to Miroku. He smiled kindly. “I wish you luck on your journey your holiness.”

Sango's eyes widened a bit and Kagome blushed. “You're my best friend, Miroku. Don't do that, it's still freaking me out,” she said with a weak wave.

Miroku grinned brightly. “I never thought you would be the first female of the pure.” Kagome rolled her eyes already walking down the path.

“Bye Sango-chan and Miroku-kun, it was great to see you two again,” she called, as Shippou waved enthusiastically.

“Inuyasha doesn't have a chance anymore. Lady Kagome has grown beautifully,” Miroku commented in a wistful manner. Sango sighed, knowing that there was no chance that she would give Inuyasha the time of day again, nor would she rejoin the group.

“Hey!” Miroku and Sango jumped and spun around to see Inuyasha racing toward them with Kikyou on his back. He slid to a stop and eyed them warily, “Why are you two standing here looking stupid?”

Both Sango and Miroku quickly looked back to find that any sign Kagome had ever been there had vanished. She wasn't even visible in the distance. The strange thing was that Inuyasha obviously hadn't caught her scent despite how close he stood. They looked back to Inuyasha silently.

XXXXX

Great sweet chicken feet that was a long chapter.

Thank you Wiccan, I see how you suffered now.