InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ No Such Thing As Fate ❯ Home Is Where The Heart Is ( Chapter 23 )

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

Umm Yeah… so this turned out pretty strange. I did edit, believe me this chapter was much worse than before. I wrote this story almost 2 years ago and am only now just editing it and getting it typed up so I'm adding and changing stuff as I go. If I really mess up the story line I'll go back and edit chapters later. Ummmmmm toodles and poodles? I love you all.

Disclaimer: -Picks nose-

Chapter 22: To Fix A Wrong: Home Is Where The Heart Is.

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Kagome gasped sharply and sat upright in her bed. Blinking white spots from her vision, she looked around frantically at the blurs and colors all mixing into one big headache. There were shouts and the colors were coming closer, she moved away from the blurred appendages that were reaching for her.

The 'appendages' seemed to pause and wait for her to recover. She sat a moment staring at nothing, waiting her sight to return. The white sheets over her legs were the first things to appear followed by the details in the sheet sewing.

Her stomach churned and she moaned leaning forward. Sweat dripped from her face but she ignored it as she took a moment to gather her thoughts.

"Milady, your awake!"

Kagome glanced up finally and took in all people sitting around her anxiously.

There was a monk sitting at her bedside. After a moment of fighting with her vision, she realized it was Ranam. Servants were scattered about the room watching her carefully.

"M-Milady?"

Kagome squinted at her servants, licking her dry lips uncertainly.

"What happened?" she rasped.

There was a collective sigh of relief. "Milady, is alive and well, thank the Gods."

The servants began to rush around in excitement and Kagome glared, willing them to burst into flame.

The headache was outrageous and…and she just felt horribly to disgusting.

"Ughh?" Kagome ran a hand through her wet hair and then over the sweat drenched skin of her arm. "I want a bath," She whined pitifully even as the servants tugged the wet sheets off her.

"Milady please try and stand so we can move you to your proper room and get you cleaned up."

Kagome blinked as a servant grabbed each arm and hauled her to her feet. She cringed as her legs stung and she wobbled on her feet. Looking around uncertainly, it took a moment to realize she wasn't in her own room.

"What happened, why am I in this room," she demanded as the servants helped her into a legged wooden chair.

A bucket was brought in and they wiped her down with a cloth. Kagome could only squirm at the awkwardness of the situation.

"What happened!" she demanded again.

"Does Milady not remember what happened at the lake?"

A fierce glare answered the question better than any words could.

The servants not cleaning her up at the moment only squealed like little girls. Kagome rolled her eyes and bit back a snarl.

"There was a monster in the lake and milady was attacked. The advisors called for the houshi-sama to save you. The monster made you deathly ill and we were unable to get you to your room for fear of causing more problems. We put you down here and nobody has tried to move you since."

Kagome frowned as she dug frantically through flashes of memory trying to remember the event.

She gave full body shudder and hugged herself "I remember," She admitted, "it was a drowned woman in rags. She was trying to strangle me but my power lashed out and…she had no eyes…" Kagome stared ahead in horror, uncertain if that had been a nightmare or not.

"It's okay, milady is safe now." Kagome wanted to glare at them and childishly scream that she could take care of herself but the current situation said otherwise.

She tried to stand but cringed as her body protested with fierce aching as if to scold her. Energy she could usually rely on only curled tightly in her stomach as if trying to shy away from her touch.

She glanced at Ranam who was sitting by the door now praying over the room.

"Why is he here?" she rasped.

A servant put a cup of water in her hands and another was pouring tea to give her as a follow up to the water.

The chanting and murmuring seemed to pause for a heavy second, "Lady Kagome you were possessed by an evil entity. You've been fighting it off for almost 2 weeks. I assume you vanquished this evil because you are alive." Ranam glanced up and eyed her in a knowing way she had only seen from Miroku.

A servant wiped her face and she moved away childishly. They weren't to be deterred when they felt they were doing their mistress some good. Kagome blinked when someone grabbed her chin and held her still to be cleaned.

She snorted but let them work, "So something evil was living in me, go figure, and I destroyed it but not before I fought two weeks for my life and… you somehow helped me in this process?"

Kagome pulled away from the servant and glanced over as her badly soiled and destroyed bedding was gathered up to be burned at a later time.

Ranam gave a nod and she turned her attention back to him.

"Okay there won't be any side effects will there?" she asked in defeat. When didn't she have some evil entity attacking her? It was just a part of everyday life. Ranam seemed nervous by her acceptance of the explanation but then again this was a woman who made powerful men cower before her.

"Well besides being very tired for a while…," He began uncertainly.

Kagome swatted at a servant who was scrubbing her face vigorously. She rubbed her cheek to sooth the burning.

"Why are you scrubbing my face like that? Did somebody draw on me or something," she grumbled sarcastically.

"There's a mess on your face milady, please be still so I can try to get it off," The servant huffed and went at it again. Kagome flailed wildly in anger and the servant scowled at her but quickly remembered her place.

"What is on my face!" she demanded angrily.

There was silence in the room a moment before Ranam stepped forward. He reached out and pulled her to her feet as the servants squealed in outrage.

"How dare you touch Kagome-sama, you are but a lowly monk," Takahito snarled somehow appearing in the doorway.

Kagome choose to ignore them, as did Ranam. He helped her over to a small mirror sitting leaned against the wall.

It wasn't the best but it fulfilled its purpose.

She touched her pale face, tangled hair, and the dark circles under her dull eyes. The kimono clung to her skin nastily but she hadn't lost weight which was good. She pet her stomach in confusion then looked to the servants who were suddenly very timid.

"We tried to feed milady but you were in such agony that you couldn't keep anything down. The fox kit brought food from outside the castle and you were able to handle that a little better. I'm still surprised you could keep down tiny bits of dried meat but couldn't keep down a broth."

Kagome raised an eyebrow and smiled to herself. Shippou had obviously gotten her Eyan, and just a bit had sustained her long enough to survive two weeks with little food.

Amused but satisfied with the explanation she looked back to the mirror again and noticed another strange thing. She leaned in closer and poked at the left side of her face.

"Someone doodled on my face with a yellow marker?" she grumbled annoyed and confused at once.

"What is a Yellow Marter?" Somebody asked warily.

Kagome paused and chose not to respond. No matter how many times she heard someone trying to pronounce the names of items from her home, it always sounded like they were just being ass holes.

She turned trembling on her feet while Ranam held her up.

"Who drew on my face?" she demanded pouting at the crowd in the room.

There was a long silence and dull stares. Kagome squinted at the group as if they had a big secret they refused to tell

"Excuse me?" Takahito murmured after a long moment.

"I said who drew on my face and how do I get it off?" Some part of her knew none of them would even dream of 'defiling' her beautiful face, but it would get the ball rolling. Someone would explain what they thought was happening if she bothered them long enough.

Someone coughed to stifle a laugh and Kagome snatched a glass bottle off a nearby stand and tried to fling it. Many of the servants squealed and raced from the wrath of their mistress leaving only Kagome's personal servant's, the advisor, and a monk to suffer for their disrespect. Ranam caught her hand before she could pick up the speed to make the bottle a dangerous projectile.

"Kagome-sama please you're going to hurt someone," Ranam grunted trying to restrain the girl. "You mustn't let your emotions control you like this."

Kagome snatched away and set the bottle back down. Frustrated, she sat on the floor and took a moment to calm her nerves. "I don't feel well, somebody drew on my face, and I'm smelly and sweaty. Why does all this weird crap happen to me," she demanded before glaring at Takahito as if he would explain the whole situation. More than used to Kagome's erratic mood swings and her temper, he wisely chose to stay silent.

There was another awkward silence as Kagome began to trace the designs.

They were actually very pretty starting from the piercing where the seals on her ear began. The marking danced around her ear lobe teasingly before flowing like a light breeze across her cheek. Kagome was sure if wind had a definite form this was it what it would look like. Finally, the design ended curling loosely under her left eye just tickling her eye lash.

Despite herself she giggled, 'It's really pretty, I wish I could draw like this' she thought absently.

She looked up at Ranam and frowned, "Ranam-san it's really pretty but I don't think this is a drawing."

Ranam nodded slowly, "Kagome-sama who put those seals on you?"

Kagome flicked the earrings in her ear but a bored stare told Ranam she wasn't in the mood to play 20 questions, she simply wanted answers and a woman in her position could demand whatever she so wanted.

"Those markings on your skin are the result of your struggle with the evil entity. I have heard accounts of the attack at the Lake of Souls and I believe I know what happened." He still seemed very uncertain but she was willing to hear his version of what had happened. In fact she was willing to push back her bathing time just to hear him out.

"Your power was forced to defend you during the attack and it all burst forth leaving you defenseless for a time. The entity tried to free itself but these seals fought it back while you couldn't. This battle was so great that the seal cracked."

He paused again almost fighting with himself. He obviously didn't want to continue when he wasn't completely sure on what had happened. The problem was Kagome obviously didn't care and she wanted to hear his opinion.

Ranam cleared his throat. "Those markings are proof of that crack in the seal and now the marking are filled with power that had been sealed within those earrings. Because you were not conscious when your body began to store your power like this, the markings have no real design and aren't controlled."

"So I was possessed and it made me stronger?" she summed up bluntly.

Kagome blinked at him before looking at the mirror. She became lost in thought 'Now why do I feel like that isn't all there is to it?'

She looked at Ranam a moment. "Why do these markings looked like something I would find on a youkai?"

Ranam tensed and refused to answer, or probably was afraid to answer. In his opinion those marking probably meant she was a youkai of some type but Kagome knew she was still human so…it was that youki, it had to be.

It wasn't natural for a miko to begin developing markings like this and she knew exactly why and his name just happen to begin with a J. Not that it was all his fault, she had continued the habit of eating Eyan. Shaking her head she looked up at her two servants and gave a pleading half grin.

"Can I please have a bath."

XXXXXXX

"Kagome-sama!"

Kagome lunged at Shiki with her sword. Their blades met with the angry screech of metal meeting metal. Shiki pushed her away and she landed grinning broadly.

Training always made her feel good especially when her teacher wasn't hell bent on 'protecting' her. Shiki wasn't nearly as brutal as her monk sensei's but then again they had been her first real training teachers so Shiki seemed lazy in comparison.

"Kagome-sama I think we should stop for today!"

Kagome blinked and her smile fell as she glanced at her teacher. He was sheathing his sword, discreetly trying to catch his breath.

"What, but I'm not done!" she whined pleadingly.

"You are done because your sensei says you are," he said with bit of sharpness in his voice.

"Don't get angry with me. You almost got me killed, I'm trying to catch up on training I missed after two weeks of being bed ridden" She saw Shiki tense and mentally cheered.

She grinned knowingly, "Another round then Shiki-sensei?"

He shot her a withering glare obviously tired and irritated with his young ward.

"Kaa-san come play with me." Kagome turned to see Shippou bouncing toward her. He paused at a distance not wanting to get too close should they start their sword practice again.

She smiled at the kit as he continued, "Kuro's so boring, why does he sleep so much?" Shippou whined pitifully. Kagome giggled and Shippou pouted not happy with being laughed at.

Shiki looked between them. He had a strong dislike for youkai but the fox child was a life saver. Anything to help his mistress burn off the excessive energy she seemed to have. The princess was simply too energetic for her own good despite Ranam's warning she would be tired.

"Kagome-sama go play with your fox kit." He coaxed gently. If he pissed her off or she decided that he was ordering her and she didn't want to obey, he wouldn't be getting a break for another three hours.

Kagome looked between Shiki and Shippou a bare second before sheathing her sword and rushing the kit. "Let's go train before Kuro wakes up. He'll be grumpy and hungry then I'll have to sit and feed him," The princess gushed as she took off across the grounds like a bat out of hell with her kit in toe.

"Kagome-sama you forgot your shoes!" Ranam barked running toward Shiki waving the silken slippers. He was thoroughly ignored and gave a suffering sigh as he watched Kagome vanish into the distance.

Ranam sighed and bowed his head in defeat. The clank of armor made him turn to look at Shiki. He nearly flinched when he found the older man glaring at him.

He glared in return and there was a long pause before Shiki spoke up "Why are you here again, Lady Kagome is royalty and despite her spiritual powers you are beneath her."

"I will keep my thoughts about you to myself Shiki-san, please extend the same courtesy" Ranam responded crisply.

Shiki was silent a long moment as he stroked his beard staring with narrow eyes at the monk. "I am a Samurai, you will hold your tongue lest you lose it."

Ranam didn't respond and Shiki scowled a bit, "Monk why don't you make another of those seal things for the Lady. We've been training for hours and she still has energy to run around with a fox child to play."

Ranam's eyes narrowed and he looked at Shiki, "You don't know what you're asking of me Samurai, those seals on Kagome-sama are dangerous and one has even cracked, I'm astounded she's alive and I won't make another unless she asks it of me. Another woman would be dead but her body adapts well, nonetheless those are dangerous magic's to work with." Ranam snorted and turned away. "Of course you would wish suffering on her to make your life easier," he sighed wistfully.

Shiki tensed in anger, "You're out of line monk. You don't have to chase her across the grounds," he almost spat.

"I don't believe I am, your pride almost cost Kagome-sama her life. You wouldn't have asked a boy to go and purify himself, ironic that the lake of souls really was cursed and tainted. Was it to get rid of her or to keep her from tainting you? After all who wants to train a young girl, would it dirty your sword or something?" Ranam closed his eyes, "You're barely a samurai, if Kagome-sama hadn't wanted a teacher badly you would be out of luck Rounin."

Shiki's hand shot out so fast Ranam was caught off guard. He had expected the samurai to attack him with a sword, which he was prepared to dodge, but he didn't expect to find himself being strangled.

Ranam gritted his teeth struggling to keep his toes on the ground as the surprisingly strong samurai lifted him with little problem.

"Don't talk to me as if you aren't at fault here too. Maybe you should tell Kagome-sama that you're partly responsible for those youkai in the cells that Killed Taishi-sama. Or better yet, I'm sure the advisors would love to take their rage out on you and that old bat of a seer for the suffering this has caused."

Ranam gripped Shiki's wrist as the old samurai smiled tightly, "Of course you don't expect me to believe that seer made those cells. She was a crazed old bat with an unholy fear of youkai, she planted the idea in Taishi's head and you made it happen. I think it would anger Kagome-sama to find out you are a danger to her fox child."

Shiki finally released the monk and Ranam dropped to the ground gasping for breath. He brought a hand to his bruised neck as Shiki turned away, "I don't like you and you don't like me but we're both here to help in Kagome-sama's training. I think we had best stay away from each other. On the other hand, watch yourself monk or you'll be in a world of pain."

That said, Shiki walked off leaving Ranam to pick himself up off the ground.

XXXXXXX

"I'm going home and that's final!" Kagome snapped at her four advisors.

Kagome rolled her eyes, she'd gotten away from one ass that didn't like her going home and in exchange she got four asses that could match one Inuyasha for ability to piss her off when it came to this matter.

They shifted, rightfully wary of their mistress. Kagome glared at the group, she had gone to great lengths to get as much work done as possible and make plans so she could go home without much trouble. She would be damned if she let them stop her from reaching her goal. She bounced Kuro in her arms and he babbled nonsense in between chewing on her shirt and drooling everywhere.

"We weren't going to stop you Kagome-sama," she looked at them dryly. "We just thought we would wish you luck on your journey," Kagome blinked and stared. A heated staring match ensued and Koji was the first to look away.

Kagome cracked a smile, amused by the childish behavior she could drag the older men into. "Yeah right, I didn't know all four of you had to come see me when two of you are coming with me on my journey."

The advisors blushed collectively and Kagome giggled behind a sleeve of her kimono. The advisors couldn't help but smile at how delicate and lady like she seemed holding a child and wearing robes befitting of her station. Of course, they would never tell her that. It had long since been seen that Kagome like to be acknowledged as someone who could take care of herself and those in her care. She seemed to think that to get her point across she had to be rough and act like a boy. That certainly wasn't the case and she was only now starting to realize her position of power.

Kagome was effectively one of the most sought after women in the western lands but she was powerful and an enigma that normal men couldn't touch. She was scary and she had loyal samurai who happily served under her because of her fair ways and fierce strength that allowed her to rule over them with an iron fist. The image that had been built during Taishi's rule had effectively cowed any of the men who would outright disrespect her or betray her. The advisors had quickly disposed of anyone they thought would ruin their chances of winning Kagome's favor after the stunt in the forest a while ago.

Like her late husband, she had a nasty habit of scaring people into submission. There was no need to put her hands on people; a demons glare and a stern command had anyone under her scrambling from her presence if they thought they had sent their mistress on the war path.

Kazuki was fiercely protective of her and dealt out the punishment of the castles samurai with gusto should anybody offend her. This had quickly taken care of anyone that thought her disgusting and beneath them and a nice talk with Kagome after their punishment had the samurai watching her protectively. They were lucky and they knew it. Had they been so disrespectful to any other of her status, their heads would have been on a pike for display. Comparing her to Taishi was proof of their mistress' kindness. Better to work for a crazy and powerful woman that would take care of you than to have a master that would behead you on a whim should he be so inclined.

The servants had early been subdued before she had truly been named Taishi's legal wife. They were scared of her, no matter the fact she had never hurt a servant. A lot of that fear carried over from their last master and Kagome had been working diligently to calm their fears and was slowly getting through to them.

The advisors were scared for their livelihoods at first and had been non-discriminate when it came to making sure Kagome had what she wanted and was safe. if that meant scaring the lower nobles into submission and making sure she had absolutely loyal guards then so be it, anything for their princess so long as they kept their jobs.

Kagome smiled, "Is the carraige?"

"Yes milady?"

Kagome nodded approvingly and walked from the room intent on making it to her transport outside before the advisors could think up another hare-brained excuse to keep her in the castle. She practically ran down the halls to the eastern gate where her travel party waited. Kagome was actually surprised to find everybody ready to go.

Kagome had been hoping they would have taken their time but seeing the soldiers on their horses with a beautifully decorated carriage waiting for her, she knew she would feel bad if she made them wait any longer. With a sigh, she turned back to the castle. A servant was standing waiting patiently for Kuro.

"Where is Shippou?"

The servant glanced at the Kagome's transport and the kit poked his head out from the inside. Amused Kagome nodded and handed Kuro over to the servant. Kuro blinked in confusion when he was passed to the other woman and kissed on the temple.

"You be a good boy Kuro-chan or I'm going to be very upset when I come back," He gargled incoherently and Kagome smiled, stepping away.

"Have a safe journey Kagome-sama." Takahito and Otsuki bowed to her as Koji and Minawo accompanied her to the traveling party. She eyed the intricate designs and the light colors of her transport before she was helped into her carriage. Minawo and Koji mounted horses in their uniforms marking them as higher ups in Kagome's court. The horses around Kagome's carriage began at a slow trot as they exited the protective fortress walls.

XXXXX

Rin squealed happily hanging onto her master's leg as they sailed through the air on Sesshomaru's youki cloud. The youkai lord chose to ignore the child, as did the Toad sitting behind the youkai lord. Sesshomaru was not a very affectionate person that felt the need to touch others and surprisingly Rin she had picked up on this fact about her master early on and did her best to respect his space. Nevertheless, on the cloud she could hug her master as much as she pleased and innocently claim she was holding on for her life. What would her lord do, kick her off?

Jaken had long since given up trying to get the child to stop clinging to his masters' pants leg. Sesshomaru didn't seem to care and a crying Rin seemed to irritate him quicker than a Rin simply squealing and clinging to his form, so he just let things be. It wasn't as if Rin didn't know her place, in fact the girl knew her place in her lord house very well.

As long as she was respectful, did her studies, and didn't cling to her master at every waking second Sesshomaru would let her do as she so pleased if it wouldn't get her hurt or it wouldn't irritate him. Jaken saw that this was just one of those days and if he wanted to keep his head, he needed to leave the child alone and simply follow their master.

He had been exceptionally irate recently with the threat of Katsutoshi on the horizon. People of Katustoshi's land kept sneaking over to cause problems. Even more problems were revealing themselves in the form of a human lord that was leaving a trail of destruction in his path that you could literally follow across the western lands. Naraku had been frighteningly silent as of late but Sesshomaru had long suspected the human lord of conspiring with Naraku's army.

"My lord, I see the sparklies" Sesshomaru's jaw muscles twitched at the child's crude language but he chose to let it go.

Rin put a flattened hand to her forehead in an attempt to keep the sun from her eyes. She squinted and looked in the distance where the gently swirling tunnel of magic hovered over the area in the shape of the waterspout that had appeared at the lake a while ago. They hovered over the barely noticeable spout of magic watching as it swirled up from the calm blue waters of the lake before falling back to the ground over the area.

They watched the magic a moment and Rin smiled finding the sight beautiful and enchanting. Jaken came to his master side and peered over the side of the cloud curiously. He nodded to himself mumbling under his breath.

"Jaken?"

The old toad glanced up momentarily "My lord if we could land…" he murmured uncertainly.

The cloud of youki was already floating toward the ground. It landed without a sound and vanished from beneath the small group. Rin immediately release her masters leg and ran to the lakes edge. She peered into the crystal clear water and grinned at her reflection. Jaken hobbled toward the water at a much more reserved pace.

He looked into the water a moment then looked up at the spiral of magic that should have been visible but wasn't. "Visible from only above…" Jaken grumbled to himself leaning on the staff of heads.

Rin looked at the water again "Sesshomaru-sama can I get a drink?"

The youkai lord knelt by the lake side. He swirled a finger in the water distorting the reflections cast by the clear water. He made a cup with his hand and scooped the water up to taste. He took a small drink then let the rest of the water slip from his fingers. Satisfied he sent the girl a sharp nod.

Sesshomaru remained knelt there a long moment, even as Rin took a drink then played inthe water. "The water is untainted like fresh mountain water." He commented letting his eyes roam the area.

"My lord the forest here seems strange compared to other places." Jaken pointed out running a webbed foot through the thick green grass.

Sesshomaru nodded and stood "I have my answers then, deities have been at work here," he shot a glance at Jaken. "We will return to the western palace now. I want this place forbidden to humans and youkai unless they have permission to be here." Jaken nodded not at all surprised.

"I assume the gods have decided this is an ideal area to make their own sanctuary now that Inuyasha's miko has purified the area."

Sesshomaru nodded, if you wanted to keep your lands from going to hell, it always helped to keep the gods happy.

"It will be done Milord" he announced. Sesshomaru turned on his heel, "Come there is work to be done in the House of the Moon."

XXXXXXXXX

The wooden carriage groaned moving slowly through over the forest paths. The forest was calm and the songs of birds and other strange sounds of the forest were soothing to the strangely silent traveling group. The trip had quickly turned into a tour of all the towns and what not that now belonged to Kagome. It was strange to watch people bow constantly to her carriage when she passed through a town. She was never able to stay anywhere very long before her samurai became wary and were ready to move on. A lot of towns she simply didn't have the time to stop in though she wished she could just to see how the villagers were doing. Of course the two towns Kagome had badly wanted to see, had been way out of their travel range.

Two weeks into their trip and they were exhausted and rather subdued compared to the loud and eager young samurai who had started the trip with her. Now everyone was grumpy, tired, and dirty. It didn't help that she had been sick and nervous since the very beginning of the trip, left in silence to mull over her life to this point. The good and the bad.

Shippou wiggled and dug his chin sharply into his mothers thigh. She shifted at the pain but otherwise did nothing else to suggest she was uncomfortable. He stared at the annoyingly redundant trees that passed outside. They were even starting to turn into one big blur the longer he watched them pass. Kagome shifted again and he looked up.

Shippou frowned in displeasure.

He let out a loud sigh of annoyance. Kagome's hand went to his head of its own accord. She sent him a glance and a small smile. He glared at her in return. The kit wanted his mother well and happy and if that meant complaining to a group of humans who didn't know a happy Kagome from otherwise, he was going to make it well known.

She grinned in mild amusement at his glare.

"Milady?"

Kagome glanced back to the window to find herself staring at one of the horses and a black clad leg draped over its side.

"We would like to stop and set up camp for the evening in about an hour. Is that fine with milady?"

Kagome grunted, "Yes that's fine," she assured lazily.

The samurai fell back and Kagome sat up a bit more in her seat and stretched. Poping sounds filled the air and kagome groaned as bones and muscle readjusted themselves.

"I'm kind of afraid to go home Shippou" She admitted.

Shippou perked up and turned bright green eyes on his mother, "It's been years and I don't know how it'll go. It doesn't help that I have this nervous burning in my stomach like something's wrong-"

The carriage stopped suddenly and Kagome gasped when she almost fell over. Shippou wasn't so lucky. He let out a sharp yelp as he rolled from front to back of the flat floored transport.

The samurai were suddenly frantic and she heard one word in quick repetition, "Demon!"

Everything seemed to get hotter around them and Kagome blinked in confusion.

"Kaa-san?" Shippou whimpered.

Kagome picked him up and set him on pillows in their little square carriage, "stay Shippou" she said quietly.

She opened the door of her transport and stepped out, a samurai behind her quickly begged her to get back in and was dully ignored. Kagome frowned in confusion; her protection was blocking her sight.

A pillar of fire burst up from the front of the group and they all yelled fearfully.

"Youkai, kill it! A fire demon!"

Kagome blinked and rushed foward.

Her eyes widened when she pushed through the wall of samurai and saw what was causing the pillar of fire to erupt from seemingly nothing.

Jiji stood before the group looking thoroughly pissed. He stood battle ready in his clan armor and furs minus the fur cloak that he had passed on to her.

In his hand was what appeared to be a crispy black ball and blood seeped from a gash in his arm. He glared at them from unseeing pink eyes. Kagome froze in shock. She didn't have time to ponder his state before one of her own samurai fired an arrow at him. The projectile was turned to ash before even reaching the youkai but it didn't help their situation.

"Fire!"

Kagome gave a shout of protest but it was too late as a volley of arrows took off toward the angry youkai.

"Stop it!" Kagome screamed at her men. They seemed pause a moment. Kagome turned back to Jiji. He didn't need his eyes to know he had just been shot at and he looked ready to destroy them all.

Much to Kagome's horror she watched as he opened his mouth. His jaw began popping as it unhinged and his features took on a more animalistic form. His muzzle grew just enough to hold the ball that was now swirling angrily in his mouth. His eyes were no longer pink but red.

"Jiji!" she squeaked. The ball in his mouth suddenly dimmed in color.

"Jiji!" she called again seeing the old wolf had heard her. His jaw snapped shut, the ball vanished, the pillar of fire vanished, and his face took on the more humanoid form she knew. He tilted his head, baring his teeth as if he would attack should the voice he'd heard turn out to not be who he hoped.

"Jiji, it's me Kagome. Please don't attack us." She called uncertainly.

He took a step and appeared before her so suddenly she stumbled back in surprise. The samurai gasped and turned weapons on them.

He closed his eyes and sniffed at her delicately, like a cat testing it's food. Kagome simply blinked up at him stunned and curious at the same time. Finally, he closed his eyes and smiled cheekily at her.

"Little one" he purred in delight.

Kagome smiled in return.

"Youkai g-get away from Lady Kagome!"

Both Kagome and Jiji blinked and turned attention to the frightened samurai. She hissed and threw her arms around her Jiji's waist. "If you hurt my Jiji I'll kill you!" she yelled angrily. The group seemed taken aback by her defense of the youkai.

"Milady that youkai is controlling you please get away." Kagome raised an eyebrow and Jiji's gave a shit-eating grin; his teeth taking on a shark like appearance that made the samurai flinch. They fired at him and Kagome gasped as arrows flew over her head and hit nothing. She looked around confused when she saw that Jiji was gone.

A whimper from one of the samurai made Kagome spin around. She looked on in disbelief at Jiji who was standing on the rear of one of the samurai's horses a hand resting on the young man's head as if he would ruffle his hair. Jiji looked rather bored one of his fingers tapping against the boys forehead in thought.

Kagome knew that if he so chose he could pop the samurai's head clean off like a grape, she shot a glance at the crispy ball that was in his other hand and she nodded to herself, which was exactly what he was going to do.

"Jiji don't do that, I'll take responsibility for their stupidity."

Jiji made a face, "they are covered in your scent, they are with you?"

Kagome licked her lips nervously, "Yeah they are, don't kill them, I kinda need them" she admitted.

Jiji blinked, he dropped the disembodied charred head that held in his hand and wiped his hand on his skin tight shorts. He released the samurai he held and, before another set of arrows could be fired at him, vanished in a burst of flames. He reappeared down the road and Kagome turned and blinked at his distant form.

She shot a fierce glare at her samurai who were near trembling at their close brush with death. "Jiji won't hurt you if you leave him alone, stay here before you get yourselves killed," she snapped. Shippou poked his head out of the carriage his eyes shining gleefully.

"Kaa-san can I see Jiji?"

Kagome bit her lip and glanced back to the wolf that seemed to be wandering around the path ahead, "Let me talk to him a bit first. He was bleeding so he's not exactly in a friendly mood."

Shippou sighed and vanished back into the carriage. With one final look at her traveling party, she walked down the road.

As she got closer to Jiji she became aware of a few things. One, there was scorch marks on the trees and random arrows embedded in a few. Two, there was a cart up ahead in the middle of the road splattered in red mess. Three-

Kagome stopped a few paces from Jiji her eyes wide in horror. There were tons of charred corpses not 10 feet from where they stood just beyond the cart. Kagome's mouth moved to form words but nothing came out. She took a deep breath and the smell of burned hair and flesh assaulted her senses. Her gag made Jiji turn around. He had a cloth over his mouth and nose to keep out the majority of the foul smells.

Seeing she might pass out and knowing he could handle himself better than she in this situation, he put the cloth over her face and told her to take a few deep breaths. Kagome obeyed taking in the sweet sent the cloth had been soaked in. She pressed the cloth over her face and took a few moments to calm her churning stomach.

"Jiji you killed all these people?"

Jiji nodded absently stepping easily over the downed men.

"B-but why would you-"

"What did I tell you the last time you were with me little one?"

Kagome's eyes fell on him but she couldn't bring herself to speak.

"I told you youkai are beasts that do not think the same as humans Kagome."

She looked confused and stressed.

"I'm a human Jiji what am I supposed to think about this," She whimpered.

He paused in what he was doing and walked over to her. "You are mine little one you needn't worry about such things," He said quietly. "I am youkai, I never said I would stop killing humans who get on my nerves. It's the same as you killing a youkai that attacks you."

Kagome nodded, stress etched in her features.

Jiji grinned and kissed her on the top of her head. Kagome pouted to herself trying to shake off the shock. "I've gotten used to seeing things as black and white again, that's never how things are." She admitted quietly sending him a crooked grin "You taught me better, I apologize"

Jiji hummed absently in acceptance of her apology.

"I killed a human, two humans actually," she said quietly.

Jiji paused and stood as still as a statue for the longest time. "You did?"

Kagome smiled weakly, "My husband and a guard in his castle." She said quietly.

"You'll have to tell me what's been happening in your life little one." Kagome nodded and tried not to look at the corpses scattered about.

"Kagome, I need you powers," he cooed as if talking to a frightened child. Kagome made a face at him but of course he couldn't see her expression. "Do you sense any youki separate from my own?"

Kagome was silent a long moment letting her gaze drift over the area.

"Over in the forest there," she tapped his left arm and he immediately turned left and walked toward the forest. Kagome followed absently feeling lost.

He passed through the tree line and she paused at his side seeing more corpses and a wrapped pile of something.

"You certainly are thorough," she grumbled. She badly wanted to get closer to Jiji and hide but at the same time she didn't want to get to close as the knowledge he had slaughtered these men ran through her mind.

Jiji shrugged again.

Kagome suddenly seemed to realize his arm was bleeding. The sword wound that had torn into his shoulder was slowly healing but it made her uncomfortable that her Jiji was hurt even if he had just killed a lot of people. She raised a hand and it glowed white and pink before she placed it over the wound. He twitched but otherwise didn't react. He simply stood as she sealed the wound with her power.

When she was satisfied, she pulled away and looked at her blood stained fingers. Her hand trembled as she licked her lips.

"Jiji it feels like I'm not even human anymore"

There was this strange air about him and she could swear he was staring at her but he wasn't even facing her, and that was beside the fact he couldn't see.

She looked up at him nervously "Like I'm not just stuck between humans and demons"

"I think," He began.

She looked up expectantly hoping for some answer to her dilemmas.

"…You'll be fine" he promised soothingly.

Kagome stood her hand trembling and Jiji didn't move an inch. Finally she stuck a finger in her mouth.

It was tangy.

She pulled her finger from her mouth and licked the blood from her lips. Another long moment of contemplation passed before she began to clean her hand of blood. Had she glanced up she would have seen Jiji's smirk. He finally started toward the covered bundle and Kagome jumped as she was brought back to logical thought. She blinked as Jiji knelt beside the bundle and pulled the sheet aside.

Kagome blinked seeing the array of weapons from swords to throwing needles.

He gave a grunt and covered the weapons back up, "What stupid humans, they took so many they couldn't run with them."

He tightened the sheets to his liking and hefted them up onto a shoulder as if it were a bundle of wood. Kagome briefly wondered how he didn't cut himself with his new package. Her stomach rumbled and Jiji glanced at her in question. "What a realistic growl," he mused

Kagome blushed, "that was my stomach," she huffed.

Jiji chuckled, "Come eat then little one."

Kagome shifted uncertainly, "We were supposed to keep going…"

She'd planned to come see him on her way back through the area, after she had seen her family. That way she could stay with him longer…

Jiji tilted his head in question and she knew what he was going to say before it even left his lips "You planned to pass by and not stop to say hello?"

Kagome stared at him in longing. She wanted to stay with Jiji, she really did.

"We'll stay the night," she finally conceded.

Jiji walked toward her with a smile. Kagome watched as he passed before following after him obediently.

"Jiji," she frowned at the corpses they passed and said a silent prayer for their souls.

"Yes little one?"

The sound of his voice was strange as if he were feeling stressed yet he found her discomfort amusing at the same time. Kagome bit her lip, "What did these men do to make you…go off on them?"

Jiji didn't answer and Kagome looked at him strangely before sighing. The travel party stood far up the path waiting with baited breath for her to return.

"It should be interesting to see how they all react, especially the advisors" she grumbled.

Jiji merely grinned.

"That's because humans are weird" he announced with a knowing nod.

"Jiji!"

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I LOVE YOU JIJI!