InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ No Such Thing As Fate ❯ When It hurts... ( Chapter 1 )

Title: No Such Thing as Fate

Genres: Adventure, Action, Drama

Pairings Represented: Sesshomaru/Kagome, Sango/Miroku, Inuyasha/undecided

Rating R/Mature

Summary Kagome has made the critical decision to leave the group after stumbling over Kikyou and Inuyasha one too many times. Now traveling in the feudal era and making it on her own with a fox kit and lessons learned on the way, life just got interesting.

OMG this chapter sucked horribly. I can't believe I got reviews at all. Nobody told me how much my first chapter sucked.

Geeze!

I went through the chapter again and hopefully I got a lot of the issues here fixed up. I'll run it past a beta when I have time (during Christmas break). I'm reposting it so I really apologize to the people I made suffer through this crap. I'll go through the other chapters too when I have time.

I have renamed this chapter but other than that, I added like two paragraphs and fixed alot of the issues all through the chapter.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha…me! Own this! I wish!

Thank you and enjoy

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Kagome stood at the tree line, staring numbly into the clearing before her.

There stood an oblivious Kikyou and Inuyasha, entangled in each other's embrace, locked in a passionate kiss. It was the same thing every other night. Inuyasha would wait until everyone was supposedly asleep and, trying to be oh so sneaky, he would escape to be with his beloved Kikyou.

If he had taken the time to sit and watch, he would know Kagome was a light sleeper.

He would also know that she woke up every night he snuck off to be with kikyo. Everytime she would follow, hoping that he would feel some remorse for what he was putting Kagome through. And every time, she would be sorely disappointed when he would wrap his arms around kikyou and whisper sweet nothings in her ear, begging her forgiveness promising her eternity once the jewel was finished.

Sometimes they would make plans other than simply committing some strange sort of lover's suicide. They would talk about other things they could do with the jewel; wish Kikyou back to life, start a family, have a life, wish Naraku away. They spoke of these things more when Inuyasha didn't want to think about killing himself or about Kikyou's eternal suffering, and Kagome would always sit and observe, never noticed and slowly she grew content to let it be that way.

She'd had plenty of time to think about what she would do should Inuyasha catch her one day, or even more likely, she snapped and ran into the clearing to confront them. It never turned out well in her mind, and so she was sure it wouldn't turn out well in practice. What would she do, run into the clearing and pull them apart, smack Kikyou for touching what was hers, scream at Inuyasha until she collapsed in tears then wake up in his arms with him apologizing and swearing to be her's now.

She snorted at such an absurd thought and stared loathingly at the two of them. If only Inuyasha had just told her, she wouldn't be so-so…she didn't even know, she just knew she felt numb and that was never a good thing, especially when she had felt this way for months.

With a grunt, she wiggled in her seat silently debating if it would be a good idea to waste precious sleep watching them. Then she reminded herself she was making sure Kikyou didn't suddenly convince Inuyasha hell was a heaven for hanyou, and it was a good idea to turn on his teammates before he was dragged to said hell. Somewhere in her mind she was hoping beyond hope Inuyasha couldn't be convinced to do such things, just yet at least, but then again she was feeling rather dejected and depressed and so any foul play on his side seemed very likely in her mind. He had done it once, attacking his friends was just the next step up over trampling Kagome's heart.

Another snort.

At least this time they hadn't jumped right into a rutting session. That always left her filling ill and she often had to run back to the hut to block out the sounds and sight.

So, like always, Kagome stared off into space, every once in a while looking over at the couple, while she sat tucked comfortably into the root of a rather large tree stuffed with moss, just listening.

Her current spot gave her glimpses of Inuyasha and Kikyou when they moved around the clearing a lot but of course this time, for the first time, she was caught spying on the couple.

Kagome sighed again for the thousandth time and Inuyasha's ears twitched. He looked around confused, his white ears twitching rapidly on his head as Kikyou's and Inuyasha pulled apart. Kagome pushed herself up and peeked around the tree confused by the sudden silence.

She blinked in confusion when Inuyasha spotted her immediately.

“Kagome I-I can explain.” He sputtered trying to pull away from Kikyou. Angered by his dismissal of her, Kikyou turned a glare of hatred on Kagome and held on a bit tighter to the frantic hanyou.

Kagome looked at them strangely. What had suddenly changed, she had been following them around for a while, at least when they weren't having sex. It didn't make sense for him to suddenly notice her when nothing had changed.

She hadn't flared her power, nor had she gotten closer than normal, if anything she was further away than usual.

Wary and confused she eyed them, Kikyou more than Inuyasha. It wouldn't surprise her if Kikyou had been keeping some type of spell over Inuyasha so he couldn't sense what was going on around him. That also meant she was confident enough to see how Inuyasha would react to finding Kagome had been watching them.

Honestly, Kagome didn't want to know what the hell had happened. All she knew was that it had happened and she was caught in a rather awkward situation. Slowly, Kagome turned and began to walk away.

“Kagome wait!”

Kagome could imagine the nastiest glare from Kikyou, being aimed at her back and it made her itch like maggots were crawling over her skin.

Kagome didn't bother to even humor him by turning around to acknowledge his cry. She had seen this scene one too many times to be fooled anymore. He loved Kikyou, not her. She understood her chances of getting with Inuyasha were nil, she didn't need excuses and apologies now.

Just because she understood, didn't mean it made her feel any better. It just was a shock that she wasn't even competition for an undead woman. Even the context was all wrong.

This wasn't some dead woman, buried to never be seen again, that Inuyasha was grieving for. There was actually an UN-DEAD woman she had to compete against for a hanyou.

Stumbling through the forest numbly, she couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't screaming and crying in a rage, running to the well, to the comfort of her mother's arms, or even more confusing, why she hadn't done all that much earlier. All she felt was a strange numbness she openly welcomed.

Well, she did understand the numbness to an extent.

As assumed before, it was shock of the highest order.

She had always imagined what it would be like to go and burst in on their little meetings and demand answers. Never had she thought to figure out what would happen if she were caught spying on them.

Did that even count as being `caught'. Inuyasha certainly thought he was the one being caught so she would let him think that as long as possible before someone pointed out the truth.

Still, maybe the numb feeling was denial, yeah it had to be, or Inuyasha would be halfway to hell dragging Kikyou with him instead of the opposite. God she loved those prayer beads around Inuyasha's neck. She silently vowed to put Inuyasha in a world of pain the next time she saw him.

What if it wasn't denial?

Then what was it?

Was this what it felt like to have your heart broken?

If so, it wasn't too bad actually…the pain and violent reactions would probably come later when she actually sat down and thought about what had just happened.

That didn't make sense either; she'd had her heart broken plenty of times by Inuyasha. If that were the case, her heart had been broken for months.

…That probably had something to do with her sudden fits of depression and random bouts of uncontrollable sobbing when she was alone with no threat of caught while she cried her heart out.

She groaned rolling her eyes heavenward.

Kagome paused now standing on a hill that overlooked Kaede's village. She frowned down at the village where her journey began more than two years ago as she tried to sort through her feelings, or lack thereof.

Inuyasha had been pinned to the tree, and like an idiot she had set him free. A deep sigh interrupted her thoughts.

`Okay it wasn't too dumb it was either be eaten by mistress centipede or let Inuyasha kill me…I would rather die in one attack than get eaten,' her gaze shifted to the left as she thought deeply on the mater rubbing her arm absently.

`Still pretty stupid though,' she thought a bit irritably.

`He probably would have just run off somewhere and not killed me I was just this random human girl who looked like…who am I kidding. It sure didn't help that Kaede was running around calling me reincarnation of Kikyou.' She snorted at the thought.

Her thoughts drifted back the source of her current irritation. She was fed up with Inuyasha. Honestly, she had given him her life, and somewhere along the way she had given him her heart. It was sad to think about but she had subconsciously begun to prepare herself for the day when she would have had enough.

While she had retrieved her heart before the damage was irreparable, he had left a scar. He was her first crush after all, but thankfully that was all it was, a crush, and it would never be anything more if she had a say in it.

She had been rather indifferent to him as of late, probably why she hadn't gone `Kikyou' on him a few minutes ago. Despite her somewhat twisted morals and dark emotions, she was surprised when some part of her mind found the thought of pinning Inuyasha to a tree morbidly amusing.

Suddenly she realized she could care less if Kikyou dragged him to hell, if she hurt him, if he became full demon or human, if he died…

okay so it did hurt, but not enough to send her running home just yet…strange. For the first time in her life, she knew hatred and contempt and she honestly didn't like it.

`Get over it Kagome, this is called life you can't be oblivious all the time, your 16 almost 17, an adult…GROW UP,' she smacked her cheeks a few times until she could feel the tears and the throb of her cheeks from the abuse. Another groan spilled from her lips as she rubbed her face, `at least I'm starting to feel something'.

Now, she suddenly realized she didn't know what to do with herself. She was an emotional wreck, she was thinking of badly hurting people and she was sure she would end up badly hurting herself if this continued.

She wasn't going to stay with the group, she didn't trust herself not to attack Inuyasha for…following his heart. If she left then Inuyasha wouldn't have a choice but to bring Kikyou into the group to find the jewel shards and he could be with her, the one he loved.

She was taking the jewel with her though; it was her duty, not Kikyou's, to collect the jewel shards. When she left, it would give her time to sort through her thoughts before they came to find her again, and she had no doubt they would come to her if they wanted the shards.

Then she could talk to Inuyasha and Kikyou like civilized…creatures.

Kagome started toward Kaede's hut flames a determination dancing in her grey blue eyes. She didn't want to go home yet so she was going to go travel a bit, find something useful to do with herself, maybe find a teacher, another Miko…yeah that sounded good.

Actually, any teacher would be good, she couldn't be picky when it was so hard for a woman to come across anyone to teach them anything in this era. If she couldn't find someone to teach her what she needed to know, she'd teach herself. However, she wasn't stupid enough to believe she would be learning to defend herself just by sheer determination and so she was praying with all her might that she would find someone to help.

Kagome had noticed from afar that Kaede's hut was dark signaling everyone was asleep. She stepped in quietly and glanced around observing the dark forms laying about the floor of the hut.

Stepping over the elderly old woman who owned the hut, she made her way to her bag and began to pack up her supplies, but paused. She shook her head silently deciding against taking the gigantic yellow eye sore with her. No longer having protection, meant no longer carrying around the big target she called a book bag. Besides that, she wanted to start fresh and it would slow her down. Her friends needed these things more than a selfish little girl like her. Another sad sigh echoed around her. She reached into the bag and, with practiced ease, found a small bag to carry with her.

“Kagome-chan?”

Turning her head slightly, she spotted Shippou's glowing green eyes in the darkness of the hut. She focused intently on him waiting patiently until she could make out the features of his face. He moved toward her, slowly stepping into the moon light streaming from the doorway.

“Kagome-chan what's going on?” He whispered trying not to disturb the other occupants of the hut. Kagome shrugged, continuing to search for the precious few things she would need on her trip.

“I'm leaving,” she said simply.

Shippou sat down beside her bag and rubbed his eyes sleepily. His wide yawn made her smile. “Home?”

Her smile quickly became a downward turn of her lips.

“No, I'm just leaving, I don't know where to yet.”

Shippou gave a hiss his eyes now wide and fully alert.

“Are you crazy, you'll be killed.”

She didn't respond refusing to meet his gaze.

“Well, I'm feeling a bit crazy right now,” She said after a long moment of silence.

“Is it something Inuyasha did?”

Shippous breathing was frantic and Kagome watched Shippou carefully making sure he didn't hyperventilate and pass out or something of the sort.

Her silence was his answer. He wanted to tell her to stay and that Inuyasha was just being an idiot, but she could only take so much and she'd obviously hit her ceiling.

“I'm going with you right?” Kagome dropped her hairbrush into the bag.

“Shippou it's not a good idea, I can barely protect myself, how am I supposed to protect you too. Your safer here” Shippou looked as if he would cry.

“Please Kagome, I don't want to be alone, you're family.”

A groan from Sango made Kagome and Shippou quiet instantly to see if they woke her. She merely rolled over and after a moment, the lull of her soft breathing returned. Kagome looked back to Shippou, he was pale and trembling staring at her with the most frightened eyes she had ever seen from him. The kit prided himself in being brave and she had to admit a lot of the things he did, while stupidly childish, were indeed brave. She had never imagined he would look at her with the same expression of fear he directed at attacking youkai.

“I'm supposed to be with you always, if you leave I'll just follow you” he threatened his voice trembling. Kagome licked her lips nervously, she didn't want to leave Shippou, but he would be killed if he followed her. Her own death she could accept because she had most likely done something stupid to be killed. Shippou's death, on the other hand, was a strong possibility that made her stomach turn. She would probably go insane if something happened to Shippou because of her stupidity. She put a hand to her belly as a nervous burning lit in her stomach.

As if reading her thoughts he spoke in a calm and suddenly steady voice.

“I'm an orphan, I was supposed to be dead a while ago Kagome-chan, you saved me, your responsible for me.” While cold, he got his point across. Decision made, she leaned toward him and pulled him close with her free hand.

His body shook in surprise, having not expected her to give up so readily, but he grabbed hold of her neck in a hug. She released him and went back to packing, her expression blank. Shippou pulled himself up on her shoulder and clung to her, sitting on her back as he peered over her shoulder. All the while, he held tightly onto her neck refusing to let go as if fearing she would bolt and leave him.

Satisfied with her packed supplies, she wrote a quick note. Smacking it onto the flap of bag for all to see she stood and walked for the door.

Kagome turned a bit to look at the group who lay asleep and oblivious to the world. Glowing red eyes appeared staring at her over near Sango's form. It was Kirara, but she made no move to stop Kagome or wake her mistress.

Instead, Kirara gave a curt nod and Kagome returned the gesture then looked around again making sure she had not missed another occupant of the hut. Satisfied she murmured a good bye, slung her dirt brown bag, bow, and arrows onto her back, and walked out of the hut.

She needed to put some distance between Kaede's hut and herself before Inuyasha decided to chase her down. Kagome moved on autopilot as she weaved through the forestry toward the well.

When her target came into site, she paused a moment to examine the very simple wooden structure that was a portal to her time.

With a deep breath, she continued forward. This time she stopped much closer and peered down into its depths. She had said her goodbyes to her family 3 days ago, it was becoming too difficult to keep returning. It was hard for her family to wait up hoping she would come home, at the same time, she was starting to realize one day she might not return home after the final battle with Naraku or even before that.

The youkai they were fighting for the jewel shards were, slowly but surely, getting stronger and she knew that final battle was getting closer each day. So for everyone's benefit, she had made the decision. She would see them again if she could afford too though. She had promised Souta to come back again, and she did not intend to break that promise as long as there was breath in her body when the chance came around.

She placed a hand on the wells rim feeling the cracks under her hands. Shippou breathed slowly in her ear, watching her.

“Kagome,” Shippou's voice was weak as if he were exhausted and wary. She glanced at the fox kit sitting on her shoulder. He looked terribly stressed and frightened, but he wasn't focused on her, he was looking back at the forest in the direction of the village.

She turned and looked too.

Kirara was standing at the edge of the forest staring at them silently.

Kagome hummed in thought. They did need to get far away in a short time and Kirara had just provided an option to make it happen. She motioned for the fire demoness to come closer. The fire cat obeyed immediately.

Kagome smiled at Kirara who stared up at her attentively.

“Will you take us a few miles away, if we're too close Inuyasha will catch us.” Kirara tilted her head to the side in thought then nodded transforming into her bigger form. Kagome climbed onto Kirara's back with practiced ease and tugged Shippou off her shoulder. He whimpered but she sat him in front of her and he quieted immediately.

Kirara took to the skies and Kagome wrapped her arms around Shippou to protect him from the biting wind despite her own discomfort for the same reasons. They rode in silence about 2 hours before Kirara began to descend. Kagome jumped off once Kirara had touched down and stood stable. She moved to sit Shippou on the ground but he gave a hiss digging his claws into the sleeves of her uniform top. He glared up at her struggling to swing his foot up onto her arm. Kagome sighed warily; it was painfully obvious he didn't like the thought of being put down right then and so she let him have his way.

Without a word, she hoisted him back onto her shoulder and he seemed to calm a bit. Kagome walked to Kirara and ran a hand though her fur making the fire demoness purr in delight. Leaning forward Kagome pressed a kiss to the fire cat's forehead.

“Take care of Sango and Miroku” she whispered.

Kagome buried her face in Kirara's fur taking in the deep smell of firewood.

“It hurts to leave them but I can't change my mind, I can't force myself to go back and deal with Inuyasha, not yet at least.”

Kirara ran her tongue over the young Miko's face and Kagome blinked finding the behavior strange but much needed at that moment. “I just need some time Kirara, maybe things will get better.”

Kirara's knowing nod was strangely reminiscent of Kaede.

“Bye Kirara-chan” Shippou waved timidly as she stepped away and took to the skies again. Shippou and Kagome watched her go until her form vanished into the distance.

Kagome finally took a moment examine her surroundings.

“She brought us all the way to the border,” Shippou pointed out. Kagome nodded absently and sat down with a yawn. “I'm kind of tired, we'll move on tomorrow, we already got a few hours of travel done with Kirara-chan's help.”

Shippou nodded uncertainly and this time let Kagome set him on the ground. She tugged her backpack off as Shippou crawled into her lap. Tugging out a blanket, she pulled it over her and Shippou and leaned against a tree. Yawning, she hugged Shippou's form close to her and drifted into a light sleep.

She woke a few hours later to a loud crash nearby. With a groan, she swore to herself she would never sleep leaned against a tree again. Shippou glanced at her with hazy eyes before turning his gaze to the light blue sky signaling the rise of the sun. There was another crash and the sound of horses and frightened yelling.

“Sounds like somebody is in trouble” Kagome said worriedly as she stood setting Shippou on his feet.

“Yeah we should go the other way,” Shippou advised a bit too eagerly.

“But somebody could die we might be able to help them.” Kagome huffed slinging her things into her supply bag and taking off toward the racket.

With a suffering sigh, Shippou raced after her. She raced out onto the road that she had spotted overhead the previous night and was met with the site of an overturned carriage and a man trying to get away from a giant mantis youkai.

The mantis stabbed at the human man who barely dodged. Kagome snatched her bow and arrows of her back and dropped her backpack as she notched an arrow to fire. The arrow flew swirling blue and pink and it tore off the mantis' arm with a loud crack. It screamed in pain flailing wildly.

When it regained its wit, it turned on her, eyes flashing violently.

She prepared another arrow as the man ran toward her, hoping to find protection from the giant bug. The mantis charged her and she saw the man go flying as he was knocked aside.

“Come on ugly!” She let her arrow fly and it veered off from her intended target, its head, and hit the angry bug in the chest.

“Kagome-Chan...,” Shippou started, wincing a bit at her aim. The youkai was still rushing toward them. Shippou made the quick decision to get out of its path before he dived into the forest.

Kagome cursed and readied another arrow as the demon closed in on her. She ground her teeth and dodged as the mantis swung its blade like arms down to impale her in its last ditch effort to kill her before it died. She landed ungracefully on her side but quickly scrambled up to face her enemy.

The mantis had paused, the damage from the first arrow shining through. Panting even as the armor like shell of its body melted away painfully, It turned beady red eyes on her and gave an inhuman screech. It rushed her, she fired again, and this time her arrow hit its target. She watched as the giant praying mantis went up in blue flames.

With a sigh, she let herself slump to the ground in relief as the youkai turned to dust.

“You did it Kagome-chan,” Shippou chirped running back to her side.

“Thank you for hiding Shippou, I don't want you hurt”

Shippou smiled kindly, “I know.”

The man who had been attacked by the mantis emerged from the forest where he had been knocked. He stumbled toward Kagome looking ragged and dazed.

“Are you okay?” Kagome asked uncertainly as she quickly stood. The man looked at her a moment before suddenly realizing he was staring and nodding enthusiastically.

“Hai Miko-sama you saved my life, I am eternally grateful.”

Kagome found herself frowning at the title; it reminded her that she wasn't a true Miko like Kikyou.

She saw the blood run from his sleeve and quickly rushed to him.

“Oh it's just a scratch from my arm brushing roughly against the tree”.

As he'd promised, it was only a bad scratch and the bleeding had already stopped. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

She found herself completely ignored by the man who was staring at Shippou frozen in fear. Quickly noticing the man's pale face, she stepped in to calm him.

“Shippou-kun is nice he won't attack you,” She promised with a weak smile. Maybe it was her reassurance, the fact Shippou appeared to be a child, or maybe it was the fact she was a Miko but the man instantly calmed.

He smiled shakily and suddenly as if noticing her state of dress he frowned, “Miko-sama who forced you to wear such revealing clothes, are you not cold?”

Shifting nervously and fighting back a blush she rubbed her arms subconsciously. “Yeah, I am actually.” She admitted with a sheepish smile. Shippou hopped up onto her shoulder and rubbed her cheek as if to help warm her. Kagome smiled at Shippou and he grinned in return. The man watched this exchange silently before clapping his hands together decisively.

“I have just the thing to repay ye lady Miko.”

He rushed over to his overturned carriage.

Circling the wagon, he was satisfied when he found the carriage was still in working condition. Opening the back door to the wagon, he climbed inside. Kagome came closer and peeked inside curiously, not at all surprised to see the mess inside. The horse, which was miraculously still alive, stood nearby watching them, still a bit spooked. She admired the pinto colored beauty from a far.

“Ah!” the man climbed from his overturned wagon as Shippou and Kagome turned their attention back to him. He grinned and came to stand near her but not too close. He eyed Shippou warily then looked to Kagome.

“They are not miko's garbs, but it's better than such revealing clothes.” Kagome took the purple yukata and smiled as she eyed the gift. She bowed in thanks to the man clutching the cloth to her chest.

He smiled and quickly ran over to turn his wagon upright. Kagome set the yukata aside and quickly ran to help. Shippou hopped off her shoulder and went to sit by her new clothes knowing he would only get in the way. After a bit of struggling and making the horse help they had the wagon upright.

She watched as the man circled the carriage again to make sure everything was working before he nodded approvingly.

“Sir?” he glanced at her absently as he tied the horse up to pull the wagon.

“Can you point us in the direction of the nearest village?” he smiled brightly with an eager nod.

“I'm passing through the village, how about I take you there?” Kagome and Shippou grinned at each other.

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Miroku stared at Inuyasha in disbelief. Every few minutes he would have to grab Sango by her obi and drag her back into a seated position to keep her from attacking Inuyasha. Said hanyou and his undead lover stood in the doorway to Kaede's hut staring at them indifferently. Even Kaede had stopped preparing breakfast to stare at Inuyasha in disbelief, mouth agape.

“What did you just say?” Sango hissed, trembling with barely suppressed rage.

Either he didn't catch the rage filled undercurrent of the room, or he just didn't care. “I said Kikyou is going to be joining us. We'll find shards much faster if we don't have to wait for the wench every time she wants to go home.”

There was a tense silence in the room.

Everyone stared at him, obviously working to take in the announcement. Sango gave a scream of anger.

“You bastard, that `thing' is why Kagome left, how could you hurt her like that!”

Kikyou visibly bristled at Sango's name-calling.

“What the hell is your problem, Kikyou can sense the jewel shards and fight. The wench is useless in a battle and then all she does is whine.”

Sango jumped to her feet and this time Miroku couldn't yank her back down.

“Do I look like I give a damn how bad you want the jewel shards. I'm not with this group for the shards, I want Naraku dead, my brother back, and I want Kagome-chan with us. Kagome's put up with your bullshit too long and now this!” She waved wildly at Kikyou.

“She probably saw you too screwing in the forest or something. That would explain why she ran away!” Inuyasha's eyes narrowed when Sango's guess almost hit home. Miroku looked between Kikyou and Inuyasha suspiciously but Sango voiced aloud what was running through everyone's mind.

“She saw you kissing didn't she…”

Inuyasha tensed “That's none of your-“

Sango stomped her foot so hard everyone flinched.

“It is my business. Kagome was in love with you, do you how many times she saw you and your fuck buddy there in the forest, sometimes immediately after she admitted to your face she was in love with you!” Inuyasha's ears turned toward the door in an attempt stop the ringing the tajiya's screams induced.

“You choose a clay pot over Kagome that's on you, but you didn't just tell her you didn't like her, you kept her hoping. How dare you hurt Kagome like that, how dare you do this to my little sister!”

Silence fell over the group with only Sango's ragged breathing interrupting the silence.

“She's not even your real sister what's your damn problem; this is so we can get all those shards. I'll go and get her from her house later. She's always bitching about how she can't take her tests. Isn't this what everyone usually wants.” Inuyasha growled angrily.

Sango turned red in her anger “She is my sister in everything but blood and she doesn't deserve the shit you put her through. How dare you complain about her wanting to spend time with her family! Every day here is a life and death situation for our group, why shouldn't she try and spend time with them when she could be killed at any moment.”

Sango murmured, voice was cold and angry. “Bringing Kikyou into this group is a death sentence for Kagome; you might as well be holding a sword to her throat” She glared at Kikyou.

“What do you mean, she has MY soul and it is my right to reclaim it” Kikyou finally snapped.

“You are dead, there is nothing here for you and her soul does not belong to you,” Miroku corrected, his anger finally getting the better of him.

“Miroku we have to go find Kagome before she gets herself killed, and Shippou is with her,” Sango murmured her eyes wide in horror and her anger suddenly becoming fear.

“What?” Inuyasha whispered to himself in confusion.

“She ran away with Shippou and it's your fault. She didn't go home or she would have taken her bag and Shippou would be here with us.” Sango popped Inuyasha in the head with the crumbled sticky note she had found on Kagome's travel bag.

Growling, he caught the paper ball and unrolled it to scan over the neat calligraphy that was Kagome's handwriting. He gave a snarl nearly ripping the little note in two. “This stupid bitch is going to get herself killed,” he snapped in frustration.

“Come on lets go get that idiot back, she has my jewel shards," Sango clenched her fist but Miroku put a hand on her shoulder to calm her.

He shook his head and sango growled to herself before following Inuyasha and Kikyou from the hut.

XXXXXXXXX

Kagome watched the carriage move slowly into the village. Despite her want to go into the village she wasn't dressed appropriately. She could get away with her school uniform, when she was with the group and they would protect her from harassment, but that wasn't the case anymore. Besides that she felt sweaty and dirty so it was time for a bath. She could care less what other people in this era thought, she wasn't going to change her hygienic habits just to fit in more.

“Kagome?” she glanced at the kit standing at her side looking up at her curiously.

“Why did you want to leave the wagon before we got into the village” Shippou asked warily watching the little wagon make its way toward the other end of the village.

She only sighed, “Well, I don't have any money to rent a room” she replied in a tired voice.

Shippou tilted his head to the side in thought, “Why don't you just lie like Miroku?”

She couldn't help but chuckle at such an innocent question.

“It's not a good thing to lie to people Shippou, so we won't be doing any of that.” He looked a bit confused but he shrugged it off. If Kagome didn't want to lie to get a place to sleep, who was he to judge.

“I'll find a job later, but I need to find a place for us to bathe first. We're starting to smell ” Shippou sniffed his shirt and wrinkled his nose in distaste. Kagome laughed at his reaction as she started to walk off in a random direction.

“Shippou do you smell a lake or river nearby?”

He tilted his head slightly and sniffed the air. A few moments of waiting and Shippou pointed uncertainly to the left. Kagome turned in that direction without a second thought. Shippou followed her looking around the forest cautiously. “What's wrong Shippou did you smell something else?”

He wiggled uncomfortably and fiddled his little paws.

“I don't know.” Kagome glanced at him, “It doesn't smell bad but I think there's a youkai this way”.

Kagome bit at her lip thoughtfully, now that she paid attention she could feel a youkai aura but it wasn't the usual violent aura associated with demons. She tried to get a better feel of the aura, her curiosity getting the better of her. The aura immediately withdrew at her prodding and she was startled when it completely vanished. Hesitantly, she continued forward when the site of flames caught her attention.

Stepping out of the forest Kagome and Shippou found themselves in a small camp area. A fire was burning strongly in center of the camp with buckets and other supplies lying around. There was even a clothesline hung up near the tree line where clothes hung drying in the breeze. All of this was just outside a 10 foot entrance to a cave, in the side of a cliff.

Shippou glanced at the skewered fish cooking by the fireside and licked his lips suddenly remembering he hadn't eaten that morning. Kagome froze completely; Shippou looked up confused at her reaction. Following her gaze, he too found himself frozen. Standing in the entrance leading into the cave was a man.

`No,' Kagome squinted a bit taking in his form, `this was a youkai.'

He looked completely human from her viewpoint. Mid-back length black hair pulled into a low horsetail at the nape of his neck, tanned skin...she couldn't see the color of his eyes because his eyes remained closed. The only youkai features she could make out were his abnormally long claws and his slightly pointed ears.

“What do you want here little Miko?”

Okay first chapter is done!

RxR

Reposted: 12/20/09