InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shikigami ❯ chapter seven revised ( Chapter 7 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: disclaimed.


Weren't trees supposed to produce oxygen? Instead, they smashed softly around Kagome, shooting dizzyingly up into the early afternoon. Shock sealed the air from her lungs, and through the dappled sunlight she watched the shikigami, watched herself flutter to the forest floor. Her backpack slid off her limp shoulders, and she swayed slightly. Or maybe that was the forest again. She placed one hand on the trembling bark of the elm to steady it.
Inuyasha had ripped her to pieces.
Kagome’s brain took a large step back from the rather awkward situation outside her body. Her stomach gave serious consideration to following as well.
She snapped out of her reverie when a warm hand wrapped tightly around her upper arm. Said hand spun her until she was eye-to-eye with a furious hanyou.
"What were you thinking?!" Inuyasha bit out the words. "Or were you thinking at all?"
He had ripped her to pieces.
In a fit of nervous energy she stretched away from him, shock still coursing through her. She hadn’t felt like this around Inuyasha for… well, ever. It wasn’t exactly fear.
But it was close enough.
He was looking at her oddly, with a mixture of confusion and anger. At her continued silence, his fingers tightened slightly on her arm, and he growled low in his throat.
She hurriedly broke eye contact with him, glancing from side to side. Where were the others? Kagome attempted to peel his fingers off her arm, but her hands shook. Her fingers were weak. His hand seemed very big, or her arm seemed very small.
Inuyasha hadn’t even hesitated.
She spotted the two remaining shikigami; Love was still crouched behind the elm, eyes wide with slowly fading shock. Imp was sprawled next to her double, eyes narrowed with quickly building anger.
Kagome sucked in a shallow mouthful of air. The sight of herself–herselves-- was bizarrely reassuring. Okay, Kagome, she soothed, Inuyasha didn’t really shred you. He thinks we’re all just paper. Just plain old notebook paper. He wouldn’t hurt you. Her heart resumed beating a rough rhythm against her ribs, and she closed her eyes for a moment.
He’d never hurt you.
However, hurting him was suddenly becoming a very attractive option. She took a deep, steadying breath and stopped plucking uselessly at the hanyou’s fingers.
“You weren’t thinking, huh? As usual! When are you gonna start using that lump on your shoulders for more than--“
Abandoning the reins on her temper, Kagome cocked her hip like a shotgun and thrust a finger under Inuyasha's nose. "Don't you even-"
"Count to ten, count to ten!" Love chanted encouragingly at her from the safety of the elm.
"Use the beads, use the beads!" Imp yelled, still sprawled by Love
"Count to twenty!"
"Just forget it," Kagome, muttered to Love, to Imp, but mostly to Inuyasha. She tugged her arm pointedly.
"No way," he snapped, tugging back. "I want one big explanation, and your little 'sorry’ ain't gonna cut it this time.” He began towing her away from the elm, kicking aside the undergrowth.
“I don’t know why she kissed–“
”That’s not–“
Their progress was cut short by high-pitched screaming. Hakkaku and Ginta, clinging to each other, pointed at their recently deceased and currently alive sister-in-arms, claws trembling.
Imp stood up, eyes flashing at Inuyasha. There was another squealing scream.
Love stepped uncertainly from behind the elm, eyes trained on the hanyou and the miko. In one motion, Kouga slapped both pack mates across the back of their skulls.
At that moment Kagome heard the unmistakable crackle of fire and nearly melted with relief. She looked up to see three pair of concerned eyes peering over Kirara’s back, the flames from the firecat’s feet illuminating the trees like an overexposed negative.
"Is everyone okay?" Miroku queried, even before Kirara touched ground. His staff jingled with cheerful authority. He was obviously confused by the lack of blood, Kagome thought, apropos of nothing. As the monk swung off the firecat, a brief squeeze brought her attention unpleasantly back to the matter at hand. Or hanyou at arm.
"This ain't over," Inuyasha growled, releasing her arm and moving away. Imp, in a childish fit of bravado, stuck her tongue out at his retreating back, and Kagome was rather glad he couldn't see it. He was over-reacting, really. Rubbing her arm, she wished he’d picked Imp or Love to yell at, instead of her. Although she should be thankful he hadn’t tried to shred her as well. The result of that would’ve surprised him, all right. Messily.
What if he had tried to shred her?
Let’s not think about that right now, her suddenly cold innards urged. So she didn’t. She was still watching as the hanyou stalk a few paces away, and was startled when he suddenly turned to glower at her with dark eyes. She frowned back at him. Why was he picking on her? Why not glare at someone else? It’s not like she’d done anything wrong. Well, not like he knew she’d done anything wrong.
Unless…
Aw, no.
Hakkaku and Ginta, still gripping each other's shoulder, used their free hands to rub their respective heads. "Tell me when it's over..." Ginta whimpered. Kagome felt a sudden kinship with the confused, abused wolves.As Imp stood defiantly next to Kagome, glaring down anyone who dared look her way, Love stepped hesitantly to the miko's side. Kouga stared at the three, then at the doll-shaped scraps at his feet as if they'd just stood up and performed a miniature amputee kabuki. "So..." he began. His vocal chords balked, and he cleared his throat to start again. "So that Kagome was a shikigami the whole time?"
Miroku nodded, not a trace of humor on his face. "Yes, Kouga, she was a shikigami. They all are shikigami. Now you know." The monk closed his eyes, straightened his staff, and brought his beaded hand vertically in front of his chest. It looked like bizarre last rites for the paper scuttling through the leaves. "You are now a member of a very special circle. You must never speak of the secrets you have seen here."
Shippo leapt directly from Kirara to Kagome’s shoulder. Patting her cheek, he whispered, “I’m really glad you’re here.” As this affection soothed Kagome’s nerves, the kit continued, “Because Inuyasha won’t be nearly as mean to me now.”
It was nice to be needed, Kagome thought through her sudden gloom.
As the mood eased, Sango slipped from Kirara as well, and the firecat flared back into her normal form. However, Kagome noted, Sango kept a firm hold on Hiraikotsu, and Kirara's tails were twitching.
Kouga's tension began to melt, and Kagome could see the wheels in his head turning, albeit slowly. "They're all shikigami. Well," Kouga slapped his thighs and his voice returned to the usual brash volume, "That explains things."
The Kagomes bristled. But Inuyasha, who was still looking for a fight, beat them to the punch. "Explains what, wimp?"
"Why else would she refuse to be my woman?"
"HEY!" three Kagomes and one Inuyasha exclaimed.
Kouga sniffed. Disregarding any thought for his personal safety, he looked disdainfully down his nose at the irate triplets. "You don't even look like real women."
Kagome saw Imp's hands tense into semicircular claws that would've almost fit around the wolf's neck, if she’d squeezed really hard. "But you just--" Imp sputtered. Love put a gentle hand on her companion's arm and murmured, "Ix-nay on the issing-kay--"
Hakkaku whimpered. “She’s putting a curse on us–“
Kouga ignored them. "So where's the real Kagome?"
"Back at her home, most likely." Miroku had somehow maneuvered himself back to Sango's side. Given Inuyasha's current mood, he probably wanted someone who wasn't inclined to hurt him. Much. Kagome eyed Inuyasha surreptitiously, who had turned away from the group, hands in sleeves. He'd moved away, but not that far away.
"Too close," she heard Imp mutter.
"Too far," Love whispered.
With a mental groan, Kagome watched the triangular white radar dishes flick back and forth. Talk about sending a mixed message. No wonder they had so much trouble communicating. If she didn't know what she was thinking half the time, what hope did he have?
Miroku, seeing Kouga eye the remaining shikigami, continued his blatantly honest misinformation. "We are given to understand she will be there this evening."
"Back at that village, huh? Well, that's where I was headed anyway. Something's not right there." In a thoughtful undertone, Kouga added, "My legs are getting itchy." He looked over at Hakkaku and Ginta, who had regained their composure if not their pride. "Change of plans, guys." He strode over to discuss current events, strategy, and, Kagome theorized from the wolf's practical attitude, what to eat for lunch.
Imp, arms crossed defensively, leaned into earshot and muttered, “Well, he certainly got over that quickly, didn’t he?”
Love placed a soft, supportive hand on Kagome’s shoulder. “It’s okay. It’ll all be okay.”
Kagome wasn’t so sure.


"So you figured it out, huh?" Love smiled ruefully at Miroku, Sango and Shippo. She and Imp were perched on a fallen log, watching the three scour the ground for vestiges of Lust. Kicking her heels idly against the fallen tree, the shikigami continued, “I guess it is pretty obvious. It was just a matter of time."
Imp was remarkably subdued, picking at the flaking bark. The incarnation started as Shippo triumphantly held up another bit of paper, then she eyed the scrap moodily. Kagome watched the mercurial shikigami with dull curiosity. Somewhere she had the energy to figure out what was wrong with Imp, but she’d decided she didn’t want to know. The miko turned back to her current occupation.
Kagome had started a weak cooking fire, and, after seeing the glint in her eye, the two shikigami were giving both their smoldering creator and her smoldering fire a wide berth. Inuyasha was nowhere to be seen, most likely also smoldering in some tree.
Kagome scowled, and continued to pour water into her trusty battered pot. With Inuyasha’s absence, Kouga had volunteered to stick around for lunch. Hakkaku and Ginta had immediately volunteered to get water. Miroku had likewise immediately volunteered Kagome as a cook, waitress, and dishwasher.
"It's only fair," he had reasoned in the face of her indignation. "After all, you caused quite a bit of trouble with these shikigami. So until you decide to enlighten us-- all of us-- on your reasons, we feel that this is suitable repayment for our troubles." The others had backed him up, mostly by refusing to make eye contact. Even Sango had given Hiraikotsu an intent inspection. Kagome had seen her mouth twitch. Twice.
Miroku had sounded as even and logical as her math professor. This didn’t help his case at all, considering Kagome had often wanted to hit her professor, too.
Now, as she slaved away over a not-quite-hot fire, Miroku and Sango leaned eagerly over each new scrap. Considering this was Lust, Kagome didn’t blame them for their interest in what made the shikigami tick. She herself only had a faint idea what could’ve been on that paper. Desperately digging into the disjointed regions of her memory, she tried to recall what might’ve influenced Lust-- before the others extrapolated something mortifying.
Thankfully, all that was left of the shikigami, the ragged shreds, didn't illuminate much. There were no holes, like the first shikigami had, but there were blue lines and swirls of ink. As they pieced it together, Kagome was treated to a helpful commentary on each dismembered section. There was a sketch or two that could have been triangular. Another, if you tilted your head and squinted, might have been something fuzzy. Or fluffy. Another looked like a hand with talons. Or just really long fingernails. Or maybe oden. Her brow wrinkled. She didn’t remember oden.
"Kagome certainly wasn't a good artist." Shippo looked over the scraps with an experienced eye. Kagome shot the kitsune a dirty look across the smoky fire, but the kit didn't catch it. Next time he asks for markers, Kagome thought darkly, I'm bringing disappearing ink.
Miroku nodded. "I think she was just sketching as the mood came to her."
Shippo patted the scraps. "I'll bet she was just bored and doodling in class."
Miroku snatched up what was once a paper leg. "Does this look like a staff? Or a robe?" He tilted it towards a hazy shaft of light, deliberately away from Sango. "Perhaps beads?"
Sango, who had thus far kept a valiant campaign of withholding judgment, stepped close to the monk's side, placing her fingers lightly next to his on the scrap. "Not at all, Houshi-sama." But she tilted it and stared hard, too. Then shook her head. "Not at all." Her eyes slid, deep and calculating, toward the shaded tree that held the half-demon. "More like… ears. Ears of some sort."
"Mmm. Hanyou ears."
And, with that, Kagome remembered. For the second time that morning her epiphany was combined with, Aw, no.
“They’re not ears!” Kagome’s shrill voice cut across to the trio.
“Ah, of course. What, exactly, are they then, Kagome-sama?” Miroku called with overt politeness.
Now she was forced to participate in this very undesirable conversation. When would she learn to keep her mouth shut? “Um…”
“Yes?”
“It’s a koala.” None of them would know what a koala was. Good answer. She mentally placed a gold star next to her name.
Miroku absently fit two strips of paper together. “In hakama?”
“Actually, Miroku,” Shippo offered, clambering up to the monk’s shoulder, ‘He looks like he’s mostly out of his hakama.”
“Very observant.”
A black x went next to the gold star. “That’s not a hakama. Those are blue jeans.”
“Filled in with red ink?”
“It’s all I had at the time!”
“And yet, the rest of the sketch is in blue…”
Kagome decided discretion was the better part of valor. “You wouldn’t understand,” she muttered.
“But where’s his shirt?” Shippo leapt down again and began hunting through fallen leaves. “I mean, he looks half-naked.”
Sango shook her head. “That’s because he is half-naked. Really, Kagome-chan, this is quite shameful.”
“You have no idea,” the miko grumbled.
Shippo found another scrap, and as they jigsawed the full paper doll together there was a combined, “Ohhhhh.” Sango added another “Oh,” for emphasis, cheeks pink. Mirkou’s eye twitched. Kagome wondered if she should make a run for it.
The trio looked scandalized, confused, and thoughtful, respectively. Kagome felt the veins in her neck throb with the rush of blood to her cheeks.
“I don’t even remember drawing it,” she defended lamely. Slightly under her breath, she added, “And the proper term is ‘nude.’” She didn’t know whether her face felt toasted from the fire or her mortification. Wasn’t it time for someone else to be humiliated?
She stood up decisively, stalked over to the group, and snatched the pieces with both hands. With an offended tilt to her nose, she and her maligned dignity turned back to the fire. She thrust the paper into the weak flames. They smoked in a vaguely offended way.
“There,” she stated flatly. Turning again to the trio, she stated firmly, “This never happened.”
“Well, be careful, Kagome-chan. You wouldn’t want to make certain people jealous.” Sango’s tone was carefully not amused.
“This never happened.”
“Or flattered by the likeness,” Love smiled, voice saturated with moral support.
“I’m not sure Inuyasha’d be flattered, exactly…” Shippo hedged.
“Who said it was Inuyasha?” Kagome sputtered. The others ignored her.
“Well, he’d appreciate the effort, anyway,” Love defended to the kitsune.
“I doubt it.”
Kagome stared at the confetti as it slowly turned black before it slumped into ash. It bore a close resemblance to her personal life. How could they shrug off recent events so blithely? Inuyasha had ripped her likeness to shreds. He had moved so fast she hadn’t even registered what had happened until Lust had fallen from Kouga’s arms.
“But he loves her,” Love continued, with confidence. “So he’d say he liked it just to make her happy."
“Make her happy?! Imp asked, snapping to her feet. She flung a hand toward the scraps. "We just died!"
So that‘s what was bothering her. Me. Us.
Shippo, ever observant, said, "No, you didn't. You're right here. It's just like my doubles. Inuyasha's stomped on them lots of times." He leapt into the shikigami’s arms, which automatically went from accusatory stiffness to cuddling softness.
Imp looked at him curiously. "And that's never bothered you?"
"Not really. He's stomped on me lots of times, too."
"Well, she did kinda deserve it..."
Love shot Imp a stern look, then her eyes slid to Kagome’s. "Nobody deserves that."
Sango nodded firmly. "Kagome-chan, we don't know why that shikigami did what she did, but you've always had good reasons for what you do." She was still standing quite close to Miroku. Embroiled in her own web as she was, Kagome had a sudden realization: Miroku was chasing Sango until she caught him.
But why had Lust kissed Kouga? Knowing Lust–them–herselves, it went far beyond just getting even.
She felt another headache coming on, waved in by her predicament, and probably cheered on by an overdose of MSG. Sighing, she served lunch.

Kagome hadn’t expected her question about Lust to be answered. Especially not so quickly, and especially not by Kouga.
“Huh,” Kouga had said, idly fingering the empty Styrofoam cup, “at least these things are handy.” Kagome scowled at him, snatching the cup before his claws could pick the thing into tiny ecologically unsound chips.
Ginta nudged Hakkaku, who was still slurping. “Since when has Kouga been interested in cups?”
Kouga rolled a shoulder with impatience. “Not the cup. The shikigami. They cook, they clean, and they can see shards. They’re just about perfect. Maybe we should get one of our own.”
Kagome ground to a halt, midway through picking Shippo’s empty cup from the ground. He did not just say that. Like she was some sort of home appliance–the Kagome 2005.
“Yeah, except for that whole ‘made of paper’ thing,” Inuyasha said snidely. He had appeared just in time to snatch Shippo’s extra cup, about which the kit was currently sulking. Now he stood apart from the group, arms crossed, a bright spot of angry red in the filtered shade. The simmering hanyou had avoided looking at Kagome since he returned. Kagome wasn’t sure if she was thankful or resentful. Maybe both.
Imp looked over at the wolf prince, eyes flat. “What did you just say?”
Kouga acted as if the shikigami hadn’t spoken. “Yeah, that could be a problem. And they’re not that bright.”
“What did you say?!”
Kouga finally looked at Imp. “See what I mean?”
Love restrained her incensed compatriot. As incomprehensible mutterings rolled from Imp, Kagome asked the wolf curiously, “Why do you say that?”
Inuyasha’s ears twitched as Kouga answered, “Didn’t you hear it? Last thing it said, before he ruined it, was–odd.”
Before Kagome could question Kouga further, Inuyasha snapped, “Whad’ya mean, ‘odd’?”
The wolf demon snorted, but answered, “Something about a green-eyed demon.”
Inuyasha suddenly looked like he had a tightly wound spring inside his chest--the kind that had a boxing glove fastened to the end. Kagome’s luck held true as the hanyou turned on her.
‘’What green-eyed demon?! Who else was that thing going for?!”
Shippo wisely closed his eyes, covering them with his hands for good measure.
“Or maybe she said ‘green-eyed monster,” Kouga added as an afterthought, scratching a his chin. He was roundly ignored.
Kagome ground her teeth, wishing she had a certain hanyou's ear between her molars. "It’s a figure of speech! She meant to make you jealous! And that wasn't me!"
"Not anymore, it ain't!"
Three wolf youkai, two humans, two shikigami, a fire cat and a wary kitsune looked on with interest.
"Yeah, ‘cause you shredded me like last month's bank statement!"
Nine heads turned to Inuyasha.
"It's just a stupid paper doll! I didn't do anything wrong!"
Nine heads turned to Kagome.
"You shredded me! How is that supposed to make me feel?!"
Back to the hanyou.
"Who knows?! And who cares?! It was just a paper doll!"
Back to the miko.
"You are so insensitive!"
Kirara yawned.
"At least I'm not insane!"
Shippo, sensing the danger had passed, idly pulled his top from his vest.
"Yes you are!"
“No I’m not!”
Kouga watched the spinning top with distant interest.
“Are!”
“Not!”
Shippo let the wolf try. Miroku took bets.
“You–you mental pygmy!”
“You stupid–stupid!”
Kouga nearly put Ginta's eye out. Miroku collected.
"Just shut up!"
Hakkaku laughed, and Ginta nearly put his eye out.
"Just tell me WHY–“
A blinding light cut through the forest, a thin vertical wall that hung in the cool air for a moment before sinking into the ground. Someone gave a short scream. Kagome looked, and froze.
And froze, and froze, and froze.
Hakkaku was lying on the loam, surprised eyes staring into the treetops, top wobbling to a halt near his outstretched hand. Half of him, where the light had drawn a fine line across his abdomen, fell away. Kagome stared at wet bones and things that slid against each other. A faint drift of shorn hair settled across the ooze, hairy strawberry jam.
How odd, Kagome's distant, dry mind noted curiously, I haven't had jam in years.
"Inuyasha," a cool voice cut across the ice in Kagome's brain, "you should pay more attention." Sesshomaru's tone held an utter lack of rebuke that, conversely, was like a backhand across the face. The taiyoukai sheathed his sword.
Inuyasha turned on his half-brother, Tetsusaiga drawn and humming with fury. "What the he-”
Miroku shifted his staff to block the hanyou. Inuyasha's brows furrowed, but he held off for a moment. Muttering something, he abruptly shoved Tetsusaiga back into the sheath with disgust.
Kouga just stared.
Sesshomaru walked silently toward the body. Kagome tensed. It just wasn't like Sesshomaru to kill things.
Okay, it was like Sesshomaru to kill things.
The demon kicked lightly at Hakkaku. Kagome flinched, and took a step toward the demon that was adding insult to injury. Or injury to injury.
A hand on her arm, gentle this time, held her back. She glanced at Inuyasha, startled. He had somehow come to her side, hovering protectively. His eyes were narrowed, not looking at Sesshomaru but rather at his sword.
Hakkaku took a rattling breath.
"Get up," Sesshomaru commanded in a tone that emphasized just how patient he was not. He watched the wolf with flat eyes. Kagome shuddered, and felt the cool skin of her face tingle as blood returned.
Hakkaku sat up, hand to temple, while Kouga and the others watched in morbid fascination. Sure, she and her friends had seen this before, at Shippo's request no less. But to see Hakkaku, well, dead--
Although it was, admittedly, the quickest way to get everyone to shut up.
She wondered how long Sesshomaru had been standing there, waiting for them to notice him. Too long, apparently.
Evaluating the taiyoukai from under lowered brows, Kouga flexed his bicep. It looked like two bulldogs in a wet burlap sack. "What’re you trying to prove, huh?"
Sesshomaru slid him a metallic eye that plainly said, Could've been you. Or maybe the look said, Should've been you.
Ginta crouched next to his friend. "I didn't even smell him. I didn't even smell him..." Hakkaku punched him. Hard.
Kouga, however, was still eyeing the taiyoukai. It was rather nerve-wracking to see the two demons face off. However, Kouga finally nodded to Sesshomaru with a certain respectful familiarity, although Sesshomaru pointedly did not return the gesture. In fact, he simplified things by dismissing everyone except Inuyasha from his field of vision. He didn’t even glance at the shikigami. Kagome began to breathe again, leaning slightly toward Inuyasha. She corrected herself abruptly, and the hanyou huffed.
“You coulda just said something, you know,” Inuyasha muttered.
“I did. Apparently your half-blood ears are dull, too.”
Inuyasha went for his sword again. This time Hiraikotsu convinced him otherwise.
Kouga shrugged the incident off, casually saving face. "Well, no harm done, eh? Just be sure to bring your real sword when Naraku shows up."
"Feh, that is his real sword,” Inuyasha muttered, rubbing his head. “Mouryoumaru snapped the other one."
"Am I the only one here who hasn’t broken their weapon?"
"You don’t have a weapon, fleabag."
"Shows what you know, furface."
"What, that tiny little sword? That couldn't pick my teeth."
"My Goraishi," Kouga growled, flexing his fingers, "could rip you apart. And I don't need a big sword to compensate." He left the implication hanging, cracking his knuckles. Kagome, for a heartbeat, thought she caught the glint of metal along Kouga’s claws.
“Inuyasha.” Sesshomaru cut the argument short. “Mouryoumaru is near.” He speared his half-brother with an intent gaze. “As is Naraku. You will leave them to me.”
“Fat chance.”
“If you choose to interfere I will not hesitate. Tenseiga has become the greater sword.”
“Feh,” the hanyou spat, using the same tone he usually reserved for profanity.
“The dead miko and the boy are also nearby. Even if you, a hanyou, couldn’t smell them, the wolves should have. Again, it would be wise if you were more aware of your surroundings." He didn’t even glance at Hakkaku. Everyone else, though, did.
Kagome, along with the others, could only watch him walk away, hair the color of sea foam swaying slightly in the early afternoon.
“Kohaku,” Sango whispered. Kagome glanced at her friend. The taijya, stiff, wiped her face blank as Miroku came up beside her. The monk carefully didn’t offer his support, here in front of the others, and Sango gratefully didn’t accept it.
“Where do you think he’s going?” Shippo asked, voice hushed.
Miroku, who was usually on the other end of inflicting pomp and circumstance, noted quietly, “Kaede’s village lies in that direction.”
Sango nodded, eyes calm. “And, Kouga, you did mention you sensed something there. That’s where your shards were leading you before you were–sidetracked.”
Inuyasha snorted.
“Yeah,” Kouga muttered, as his two followers hesitantly approached.
"Kouga, I really think we should be going,” Ginta urged. Hakkaku still looked startled.
"Yeah,” the wolf said again, with burgeoning confidence. “Someone has to protect the real Kagome. See you at the village, muttbutt."
Hakkaku rubbed his stomach. "I'm hungry all of a sudden."
"That's because your lunch is all over the-- Kouga! Wait!"

As they walked along the narrow road to Kaede’s, Kagome was unusually quiet. Imp, however, had shaken off her upset over The Incident. Now her counterparts on either side were speculating on Sesshomaru’s sudden appearance, sending Kagome into chattering high-school flashbacks. Miroku jingled ahead of them with Shippo perched on his shoulder like a deranged parrot. Sango followed a half-step behind. Everyone was listening, bemused, to the two shikigami gossip. Like some warped talk radio show, Kagome thought. ‘Stay tuned for our next story! Demon Lord with a Heart: The Debate Rages On!’
Inuyasha had leapt ahead without a word. Kagome firmly put him out of her mind. He immediately came back in through a pet door in her cerebellum.
"Maybe Sesshomaru's telling us to hurry up." Love said, voice thoughtful.
Imp looked dubious. "You think?"
Love nodded. "It makes sense. He'd rather fight Naraku as a group, but he won’t ask."
Imp shrugged. "I dunno. That gives an entirely new meaning to "Speak softly, but carry a big stick."
"Sword."
"Whatever."
Kagome remained silent. She sealed up the urge to think about Inuyasha in a small box in her mind, then locked that box in a larger box, slapped some mental ofuda on it, and then pinned it to a tree. This new subject was a welcome distraction. There was something going on here. If she could only piece it together–something connecting the demon lord with Kohaku. Sango’s brother did need protection, carrying a shard as he did, but why would the taiyoukai concern himself? Apparently Sesshomaru didn’t consider Kikyo suitable. Not that Kagura had been a role model, exactly, although she had shielded Kohaku with her life–
Oh.
Kagura. Perhaps there had been something going on between the two demons, and this was Sesshomaru’s odd way of remembering her.
A spawn of Naraku dating Sesshomaru? Ew. Not likely.
Still, somehow it didn’t seem right to share this theory with the others. Who knows what would be blurted out in front of Sesshomaru, and then honor would be impugned, egos would be hurt, and heads would roll. And arms, and perhaps legs.
Shippo leaned backward over Miroku's shoulder, considering. "Maybe he just wants us around as a diversion." The others stopped, looking at him, eyebrows raised. The kit shrugged. "Well, it's what I would do. You know, 'better you than me.'"
"Hey!"
"Not you, Kagome! I meant... uh.."
Miroku and Sango eyed the kit with vested interest.
"Yes, Shippo?" Sango encouraged.
The flustered kit jumped to the ground ahead and whirled to face them. Backpedaling furiously, he declared, "I'd defend you with my life! I will protect you no matter what!" He thumped his chest.
"Yes," Miroku nodded, sagely. "No matter what."
"Awww...Miroku..."
"That's what I thought." The monk continued his even pace past the kitsune, rings on his staff clinking softly against one another.
"Shippo, I will keep this in mind next time you get gum stuck in your tail." Sango hefted Hiraikotsu higher on her shoulder, walking past him sedately. Kirara blinked her wide eyes at the kit, mewled, and with a tilt to her nose, trotted after the others.
“Awww…” Shippo groaned, cuddling his tail protectively. Sighing, he started after his friends. Kagome and the two shikigami, with a synchronized shake of the head, followed.


Inuyasha swung up to a higher branch, one that gave him a better view of the village. Whipping his hair out of his face, he tested the air. The wind wasn’t carrying much scent his way, but the place seemed quiet. A few people were out and about–some kid carrying water, a geezer hustling back to gum his dinner. But not many, not enough. Kaede had probably felt that same oily reek of Naraku in her old bones and sent everyone else to bed early.
‘Course, with his luck lately, chances were just as good that everyone else was dead.
But what really made the skin on his neck twitch was the lack of any demonic aura. Usually there were at least one or two minor youkai flitting about, but right now he couldn’t feel anything. That meant that, one, Naraku was near, and any self-respecting demon had high-tailed it, or, two, Naraku was near, and he had absorbed ‘em. Or, three, those shikigami had disrupted all the other youkai, too.
And where were Kouga and his two cronies? And Sesshomaru?
He growled softly to himself and watched the sun’s angled reflection in the shallow ditches below. The light made the fields orange, and brown, and grey. The trees still held onto a yellow haze. It was peaceful.
But the more the hanyou thought about it, the more tense he became. There might not be any scent on the air, but something about this stank.
He really should send Kagome home.
But he really wanted her here, tonight.
But she’d be safer at home.
But he really, really wanted her here. And not that she would go, anyway, without good reason. Not tonight, new moon and all, and not with Naraku around.
She’d stay. Well, that was one thing settled.
But that meant those rotten paper dolls would be staying, too. Why had she made those stupid shikigami in the first place? His gut told him she was hiding something about that. And why had she pretended to be one, like she didn’t want anyone to know she was there? Even after he’d been told she had… feelings for him. She had still tucked herself away, like she was trying to avoid him. Maybe it had all been some underhanded joke. But it wasn’t like Kagome to be sneaky–at least, not unless she was playing matchmaker.
Huh.
He decided that it would be much easier not to think about it until Kagome and the others caught up. He’d ask her then.
“Inuyasha!”
Or he could ask her now.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Shippo waving at him, hopping ahead of Miroku along a dim curve of the dusty road. Kagome and the others wouldn’t be far behind. With one last look at the village, Inuyasha turned and leapt out of the tree.
“What did you see, Inuyasha?” Miroku asked as the hanyou dropped beside him.
Inuyasha shrugged irritably. “I don’t like it, but I couldn’t tell you why. And I don’t sense Sesshomaru or the others.”
“Hmm.”
“That’s weird,” Shippo added, unhelpfully.
“I say we just go in,” Inuyasha continued. “If Naraku’s gonna attack, he’s gonna do it after sundown. I’d rather have the place figured out before then.”
“Agreed.”
Sango and Kirara had come up on the end of the exchange. Kagome, finally arriving with the two shikigami at her side, looked questioningly at Inuyasha. “So what’s the plan?”
“First, you’re gonna get rid of your little friends.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Those two are gonna get us in trouble. I can feel it.”
“That’s no reason to just–just get rid of them!”
“So why’d ya make them in the first place, then? Planning on keeping them around forever?”
“No, but…”
The shikigami, far from being offended, nudged Kagome in the ribs. “Go on, tell him why,” one of them urged with a smile. She glowered at it.
“Why did you make the shikigami, Kagome?” Miroku encouraged. Sango remained silent, but her questioning eyes were locked on Kagome. Inuyasha vied between irritation at their presence and gratitude for their persistence.
She waved the question off. "Oh, no reason, really..." Abruptly her gaze tangled with Inuyasha’s. He gave her a determined, angry glare. He could smell her anxiety seeping from her skin, but he wasn’t going to let it go. She began sputtering, never a good sign.
"Uh, well, I just thought that... well..."
"She probably wanted to leave them here so she could go take her tests," Shippo offered, once again from the safety of Miroku's shoulder.
"Yeah," Kagome agreed weakly, hand in her black hair. "Exactly."
Two pair of exasperated grey-blue eyes glared at the nervous girl.
However, Inuyasha went still. Was she saying…? "You saying you were gonna leave? You were gonna leave me here with them, thinking I'd never know the difference?" His voice roughened.
She looked as if she’d stepped into a very deep well. And not the good kind. "No! I-"
"What the hell kind of game are you playing, Kagome!? You gonna leave me behind, too, once we beat Naraku? Go back to your tests?" There was an unfamiliar, empty, gnawing somewhere underneath his anger. He stalked toward her, nose to nose, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't want your little chew toys."
Sango raised an uncertain hand. "Inuyasha--"
His eyes never left Kagome's. "Back off, Sango."
Miroku placed his hand on the slayer’s back, his eyes hard on Inuyasha. “We shouldn’t keep Kaede waiting. Come, Shippo.”
For once the kitsune didn’t argue, and Inuyasha was left alone with Kagome and the two apprehensive shikigami.
Inuyasha saw the spark in his miko’s eyes. Clenching her fists, she leaned into her anger, refusing to back down. "Listen, Inuyasha, I wasn't going to leave--"
"You just said you were! So you've been thinking about it!"
"No I didn't! And I’m not! And even if I did, it's not like you noticed I was even here until now! Why should you notice if I were gone!?"
“I’ve known you were here since this morning!”
That seemed to strike a nerve. “Right!“ She said, as if she’d just scored some hidden point. Inuyasha tried to recall exactly what he had been arguing, and Kagome took advantage of his confusion. “You knew–and you shredded one of us!” Her voice held that thin string of anxiety, and a thicker cord of hurt. Did she think he’d ever mistake her for a paper doll? Did she think he was stupid?
Apparently she did. Inuyasha felt the argument- arguments- slipping from his control. Growling, he beat down his confusion. “I knew it wasn’t you, so don’t try to change the subject! Now spill it! If you weren‘t gonna leave, then why--”
“How could you be sure?! What if it had been me with Kouga?”
“You, in a lip-lock with that damn wolf?” He was rife with impatience, and decided to cut through both arguments at once. “I trust you, Kagome.”
“But if there was a chance–“
“I trust you, Kagome. Don’t be stupid. Don’t you trust me?”
“But…” she trailed off, waving her hands. He wanted to grab them, hold them quiet for a moment. But she still wasn’t explaining herself.
His angry confusion melted into a wary curiosity as a thought occurred. Silently, the hanyou raised his hand, two fingers in a tense curve. He cracked his knuckles.
Love remained steady at Kagome’s side.
Imp flinched, and retreated a half-step.
Inuyasha flung his hand toward the nervous shikigami. “What the hell was that?!”
Kagome, who hadn’t moved so much as given a slight twitch and scowl, glanced to the side. “What?”
Inuyasha fought to keep his temper. When he had ripped up that stupid paper doll earlier, he hadn’t stopped to think of the consequences. It obviously had affected Kagome to see him attack her, even if it wasn’t her. He’d shaken her. Any show of the churning in his gut now would surely send her into a tiny little high-pitched, osuwari-ing shell, and then where would he be, besides face-deep in dirt? How the hell was he supposed to fix this?
Inuyasha, at a loss, did what he did best.
He swore.