AN: So….I haven't updated for almost four months, now? (laughs sheepishly) But I glad that no one flamed me so thanks a bunch you guys. You're all totally awesome! (hugs all of you who haven't left me) Well, I'm going to shut up now, so enjoy!

The Broken Horn

Chapter Three

On the Job

"Welcome aboard the Fortis Libertas, miss."

Kagome stared back at the violet eyes. "Um, hello - ah!"

Inuyasha suddenly grabbed her forearm and pulled her away. A spear landed exactly where she was seconds before, point down, quivering ominously. The corpses on shore were starting to realize that they would have to throw at a higher angle unless they wanted their bullets and spears to continue bouncing off the hull of the ship.

Suddenly, Inuyasha turned his head away and bellowed in a voice Kagome never knew he could possess. "ALL HANDS ON DECK!"

Almost instantly, there was a thunderous sound of feet pounding on wood; it was growing louder by the second. Then on Kagome's far right, a hatch burst open and five young men streamed out with various types of guns and ammunition bundled in their arms. They lined up on the side of the ship, propped their guns on stands, and immediately proceeded to shoot the Undead.

Inuyasha pushed himself to his feet as the boy who greeted her earlier took Kagome's hand in his gloved one and pulled her to her feet.

"Thank you," Kagome said, looking at him. His dark hair was tied back and his handsome face was still enriched with his cheerful smile.

"Not a problem," he said, but before he could say anything further, Inuyasha broke in, "Miroku, where's Daisuke?"

Miroku pointed towards the bow of the ship. Kagome followed his finger and saw that on the far end of the ship was a tall, cloaked figure who was standing on the edge. His arms were stretched out before him with one hand open while the other held a closed fan.

Kagome was about to ask what he was doing when the fan in his hand gave a pulse of blue light. Then, his opened hand glowed a soft silver-blue light and a wispy mist flowed out of his open hand and began to spread out. It glided over the open water and towards the shore. The instant it hovered over the shore, the Undead dropped lifelessly one by one to the sand. The mist continued to extend until it blanketed the entire town. It lingered for a couple more seconds until it faded completely.

"What did he just do?" Kagome asked Miroku as everyone around them began to chatter, cleaning up and bringing their weapons back under the deck. She ignored the curious glances that they sent her.

"He put all the Undead to rest and returned all the spirits back to where they belonged," he answered.

"Put to rest?"

"Yes. He's a shinigami. That's his job."

Shinigami? Kagome remained quiet as she tried to recall what that term meant. She had heard it once in her Mythology and Folklore class. Oh! She remembered now. A shinigami was a god of death, a soul reaper, or whatever you want to call a person who deals with spirits and death. Kagome gulped. She could see vividly the pictures of shinigami from her text in her mind. They weren't pleasant ones. Shinigami looked like humanoid monsters. Some had arms so long that they sometimes could drag on the ground. They had bulging eyes and mouths that seem to split their faces into two. They were tall and lanky and were…well, just not pleasant to look at. Each shinigami had a different appearance but Kagome wasn't too psyched to see this one's face.

But a more important question came to her mind. What was a shinigami doing on this ship? According to her text, shinigami were spirits themselves and could not be seen by ordinary humans except for those with high spiritual powers like priests and priestesses. This one she could see as clearly as Inuyasha and it seemed the same for everyone else on this ship. Did everyone here have high spiritual powers? Did it mean that she had high spiritual powers?

Kagome turned when she realized that Miroku was talking to her. "I'm sorry, what?"

Miroku grinned. "What's your name, miss?"

"Kagome, and you're Miroku, right -"

"DAISUKE!" Inuyasha roared as he stomped across the deck.

The cloaked figure jumped off the edge of the ship and approached Inuyasha with carefree ease, seeming unperturbed by Inuyasha's boiling temper. He raised his hands to pull back his hood. Kagome wanted to look away, not having much of a desire to see what this shinigami looked like, but her curiosity won her over. He bowed his head and pulled the hood back.

The first thing Kagome saw was an untidy mop of brown hair. The shinigami lifted his head and…he looked human. His face wasn't distorted nor did he have bulging eyes or anything else Kagome expected him to have. Instead, he had a kind and gentle face with friendly hazel (normal sized) eyes. But what about what was under his cloak? Did he have horrible tattoos or scars that covered his entire body? Or maybe he was really everything she imagined him to be but he had the power to disguise his appearance to look human. Or maybe -

Kagome felt something wet touch her hand. She looked down to see a black dog sniffing her. It felt her stare and pulled back to look at her. Its tongue rolled out and it wagged its tail. Kagome knelt down and patted its furry head. Her eyes widened slightly when she noticed that its right foreleg was a mechanical one. Kagome's face softened sympathetically. Poor doggie…

Kagome was about to lean in to give that leg a closer look, curious as to how it worked when she heard Inuyasha's raised voice. She turned her head to look. He was waving his arms and yelling. The shinigami was smiling and scratching his head sheepishly. When he realized that Kagome was staring at him, he flashed her a charming smile and then held his hands up in front of him, trying to soothe Inuyasha's temper.

"Why is Inuyasha mad at him?" Kagome asked Miroku.

"Ah, well, Daisuke has a tendency to take naps at inconvenient times," Miroku answered casually. "Oi, Inuyasha!" He called out. "Don't you have a guest to tend to?"

Inuyasha turned around with an annoyed look and shot Kagome a hard glare.

What? What did she do? Why was he looking angry with her?

Inuyasha jabbed his finger at Daisuke's chest and growled something before whipping around and stomping towards Kagome.

"Come on," he grumbled, a vein in his temple still twitching. "Tell Toji to get us out of here," he shouted over his shoulder.

Kagome frowned at him, wary whether she should listen to him.

She heard someone click his tongue. "Come here, Nina."

Kagome turned to see the black dog skip toward the shinigami, her steel leg clicking against the wooden deck. He greeted the dog with a scratch behind her ears. He met Kagome's gaze with a friendly grin and gestured her to go to Inuyasha.

"Hey, what are you waiting for?" Inuyasha shouted.

"I'm coming," Kagome said in an annoyed tone and picked up her bag.

She followed him under the deck of the ship and into a large hallway with many doors along the sides.

"Right now, there's only two places you need to know," Inuyasha told her. "The bathroom is there." He pointed to the door at the end of the hall. "And your room's here." He led her to the second door from the bathroom. "I'll give you a tour of the ship tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?" she asked curiously.

"Because I'm tired, my back hurts, and I want to sleep." Inuyasha opened the door to her room and walked inside.

Kagome followed him with a frown but the frown immediately disappeared when she saw what was inside. It wasn't exactly spacious, but satisfactory. It had a bed on the side with a small table (with an antique-looking lamp on it) next to it. Across from it was a table with several wooden chairs and further left was a small dresser with a mirror above it. Across the room was a little window with blue curtains and next to it was an armchair. Everything was bolted to the floor, even the lamp was fixed to the table. Everything except for the wooden chairs

"I gave you a window so don't complain," Inuyasha said.

"Who's complaining?" Kagome said as she walked around the room in awe. "Can I take a bath now?" she asked, putting her bag on her table.

Inuyasha shrugged. "If you want." He turned towards the door. "I'm going. If you need anything, just ask whoever you see."

Kagome stopped him. "Wait, what about a towel, pajamas, and some fresh undergarments?"

"Towels are in the bathroom and uh, I'll get someone to find some clothes for you. There's a bathrobe in there somewhere." He gestured to the bathroom. "By the time you get out, everything you need will be here."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. And why he would have women's undergarments in his possession was something she really was curious about. Kagome opened her mouth to ask but Inuyasha stopped her. "Save your other questions for tomorrow, okay? I'm going to bed."

"Wait. I have a question that I think you're obligated to answer."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. He folded his arms across his chest, waiting.

"Before," Kagome started slowly. "You said that you needed me to help you on something. That's half the reason why I'm even here. My question is what is it that you need me to help you on?"

Inuyasha stared at her with an unreadable expression. Then he reached over with his arm and flicked her forehead hard with his finger.

"Ow!" Kagome's hands flew to her forehead and she started indignantly, "Why did you -"

"Hey," he snapped. "I said to save your questions for tomorrow, didn't I?" He turned around. "Remind me first thing tomorrow to get those ears of yours checked. I've reached the conclusion that they are broken, plus they're pissing me off." And he left.

What a nice host.

But she had to give him some credit. She was expecting this cramped dirty bathroom with unidentifiable organisms growing in the worst spots possible. Instead, she found a small (but not exactly cramped) room with an ivory bathtub, toilet, and sink. Colorful towels were hung neatly on the wall. It was nice to know that a guy like Inuyasha would at least try to keep a clean bathroom.

When she got out of the gorgeous bathroom and went back into her room, there was a pair of pajamas and undergarments folded neatly on the bed just as he promised. Kagome unfolded the cotton pajama shirt and held in front of her. It was a solid lavender color and had a soft texture. Kagome smiled softly. At least he was putting in a little effort to make her comfortable here. But that smile slowly faded when she gazed at the calm ocean outside her window. Her hands dropped to the bed along with the pajama shirt.

What was she getting herself into?

-----------

It was midnight when Mrs. Higurashi placed her purse on the coffee table. She had called from the hospital but no one had answered. She knew Souta would be fast asleep but she thought Kagome would still be up as she was usually. There was the possibility that Kagome was in bed but that didn't make Mrs. Higurashi worry any less. So she came back to check up on her children.

Mrs. Higurashi climbed the stairs and opened Souta's bedroom door slightly. Her son was sleeping soundlessly with his blanket tucked neatly under his chin. She smiled and closed the door quietly. She looked down the hall and saw light coming out of Kagome's bedroom. So Kagome was still up. But why hadn't she answered the phone?

Mrs. Higurashi entered the room, surprised to see it empty. She frowned slightly. What was her father's golf club doing in here? She picked it up and returned it to its proper place.

"Kagome?" She called out quietly. She searched the whole floor but did not find her daughter. She began to feel nervous as she went back down the stairs. "Kagome?" Her voice became more urgent.

"Kagome!" Mrs. Higurashi called out in panic. She ran into the kitchen. Empty. She ran back into the living room. Empty. The stairs creaked behind her. "Kago-"

"What are you doing, Mom?" Souta rubbed his eyes tiredly at the foot of the stairs..

Mrs. Higurashi grabbed her son by his arms. "Souta, where is your sister!"

Souta blinked in surprise and confusion. "In her room?"

"She's not in there! I checked!" she said in frustration, running her hand through her hair.

"But where else would sis be?"

"I don't know. Kagome!" Mrs. Higurashi called out again. She went outside and continued to call out her daughter's name with Souta by her side as she searched the shrine's grounds fruitlessly.

------------

Inuyasha walked in the room with an irritated scowl on his face. I can't believe it…

"She still sick?"

Inuyasha turned to see who spoke. Chiaki was sitting there in a computer chair that was bolted into the floor. He swung the chair right and left with a curious look.

"Barfing faster than I can see," Inuyasha replied as he pulled a clean blue tunic over his head. He really liked his red one. But, now it had…yucky stuff on it. His eye twitched. He should have never come close to her in the first place.

"Why don't you ask Izumi to attend to her?" the auburn-spiky-haired boy said.

"I did."

"And?"

"He said that unless the girl started barfing blood or passed out more than five times, I should leave him alone because it was something that I could handle by myself. If I were to bother him again, he threatened to drug my dinner," Inuyasha recited, vividly recalling the ship's healer chasing him out of the mini-clinic.

"Oh." Chiaki paused. "Did he say it was your fault?"

"Yes," Inuyasha scowled as he slumped in the chair next to Chiaki. He started to spin it around. "Don't know what that old geezer was talking about!"

"Well…it kinda was your fault."

Inuyasha pulled the chair to an abrupt halt and fixed a glare at Chiaki. "How so?"

"Er…well," Chiaki started uncomfortably. "You…probably should've…asked the girl if she had ever been on a boat - I mean, ship…or if she got seasick easily or something…"

Inuyasha continued to glare at him before rolling his eyes and turning away. "Keh…"

Inuyasha leaned his chair back and looked around the room. They were in the control room of the Fortis Libertas - the brain of the ship. In front of them of was a large screen displaying a small blue dot labeled Fortis Libertas slowly moving up the grid map. On the bottom of the screen were boxes with data such as their latitude and longitude positions. Along the side and under the large screen were smaller screens that showed the working order of the ship's engine, the position of the sails, and so on.

"Where's Toji?" Inuyasha asked Chiaki. Their navigator did not leave this room very often.

"He went to the bathroom. He'll be back soon," Chiaki answered. "Ah, speak of the devil."

With a plate of dumplings in his hand, Toji walked in with Miroku behind him.

"Oh, we're all here," Toji remarked as he placed his plate on the control panel. "I guess we should get started then. Get out of my seat, Chiaki."

Miroku took a seat next to Inuyasha, "The little lady's sleeping. I gave her some medicine so she'll be fine."

"'Kay," Inuyasha replied with disinterest.

"When are you planning to use her, Inuyasha?" Chiaki asked as he took on a new chair.

Inuyasha shrugged. "I'm taking my time. I want her to get accustomed to this world first. She might not be willing to do it if we shove everything in her face."

"It's kinda cool, isn't it?" Chiaki said with a smile. "Coming from an entirely different world? There've been all these theories but no one's done anything about it."

"Her world isn't that different from ours," Inuyasha said blandly. "Toji?"

"Oh, right."

Toji turned to the control panel, took a dumpling, and put the plate aside. With the dumpling in his mouth, Toji typed some commands. The grid map on the large screen minimized to a small box and disappeared. It reappeared on one of the small screens on the side. The data that it had replaced opened in the large screen. Toji typed in a few more commands and the data began to split parts of itself into sections with small boxes, and aligned themselves on the side of the large screen. More boxes appeared on the bottom with images flashing through them. The main body of the data began to scroll and Toji's eyes shot left to right as he read.

"Find anything?" Inuyasha said.

"Uh…Okay, we got a Hollow up in Xingli. It's been confirmed that the Hollow is a third-level one. It appeared two days ago and started to attack Xingli's civilians…blah, blah, blah. Ah, here we are: the Midoriko Order dispatched a group of five ten minutes ago."

Inuyasha snorted. "They need five nuns to exorcise it?"

The Midoriko Order. Like almost every Order out there, they were a clerical organization that exorcised murderous demons, Hollows, the Undead, and the like using guns, or whatever machinery that could be used against these evil beings. On the other hand, there were Orders that were old school, using crossbows, swords, and whatnot. But the Midoriko Order, they were the only Order that he cared about and they'd dispatched a group to exorcise a fallen ghost. Inuyasha grinned. Not if he got there first.

"How far away are we from Xingli?" he asked.

Toji pulled back the grid map. "I can get us there in fifteen minutes. The Midoriko Order will get there…in thirty."

Inuyasha stood up. "Okay, do it. Miroku. Chiaki. We're going to my study."

When Inuyasha reached the door, Toji stopped him. "The Military has a Headquarters there. The Chunling Order's base is there too. Their arsenal got broken into so they're out of commission right now, but you should still watch out for them. You might want Shun. I think he's on deck."

"Do you want me call Daisuke?" Miroku asked.

Inuyasha looked at him as if he was crazy. "Hell, no. I got something else for him to do."

------------

Kagome opened her bedroom door and stuck her head out. She looked up and down the empty hall before sliding out and closing the door behind her. Now. Where was the kitchen?

She spent the majority of the morning emptying her stomach and feeling horrible all over so of course she'd be hungry. Hm, who knew she would be seasick? True, she never been on a boat before but she really thought she would be able to handle it. Well, her stomach proved otherwise.

But now that she was feeling much better, she wanted to eat. Kagome frowned. Where would Inuyasha be? Last night, he said he would give her a tour of the ship today. He was nowhere in sight and she had no idea where to look to find him. And she really wanted to know where the kitchen was, assuming heavily that this ship had one.

Kagome walked down the hall, looking at each door, searching for signs that would indicate that behind that door was the kitchen. She was halfway down the hall when she was surprised to see shoji doors, which were unlike all the other doors with knobs. These doors were not as thin as the ones back home, but she could hear faint voices behind them.

Well, this was a good enough sign to go inside and check.

Kagome slid open the doors. It was definitely the kitchen. On her right was a large counter and behind it were a stove, a sink full of dishes, an oven, cupboards, and cabinets. On her left was a long table with four boys sitting on its benches. Two of them, a spiky-auburn haired one and a silky-brown haired one, were chattering animatedly with each other. The Chinese-looking guy was reading what looked like the newspaper and the quiet one who looked the youngest of the four was reading a book.

When Kagome entered, they all stopped and looked at her. The spiky-haired boy broke into a friendly grin.

"You must be Kagome. Welcome to the galley," he said. He took her arm and led her to the table. "Come, let me introduce myself. I'm Chiaki. This is Laurence." The brown-haired boy waved. "This is Ling." The Chinese-looking boy grinned. "And this is Shun." The quiet boy smiled at her softly.

"Nice to meet you -"

Kagome was halfway though her bow when Chiaki pulled her back up.

"Please, no formalities. It makes us feel kind of awkward."

Kagome blinked. "Oh. Okay, then," she said awkwardly.

"Here, sit."

"Oh - er, thank you."

"So how are you feeling?" Laurence asked. "We heard that you were seasick."

"Oh, yeah," Kagome said, feeling a little embarrassed. "I'm okay now. I never been on a boat before so…"

"Understandable."

Shun handed her an apple which Kagome took gratefully. It was…weird though, how she had all of their attention. It wasn't something she was really used to.

"Oh!" Kagome said, suddenly remembering. "Do you know where Inuyasha is?"

"He's on a job," said a voice behind her. "Why?"

Kagome turned around to see Daisuke enter the kitchen along with a strong smell of soap. "On a job?"

"Where are we?" Ling asked, glancing at the small window behind him.

"Xingli," Shun answered.

"Demon?"

Laurence shook his head. "Hollow. Third level."

Kagome blinked. What?

"Hm, sounds easy enough," Ling said.

"Yeah, and the Midoriko Order dispatched five of their people," Chiaki said.

Laurence and Ling exchanged shocked looks.

"Seriously?!" Laurence exclaimed before taking a sniff. He grinned at Daisuke. "Inuyasha made you clean the deck floor again, huh? You know, if you didn't take naps at such inconvenient times, you wouldn't be having this problem."

Daisuke shrugged indifferently.

Kagome cut in, "Um, sorry but what are you guys talking about? What job is Inuyasha on?"

Chiaki gave Kagome a blank stare. "You don't know? Inuyasha didn't tell you?"

"Well, apparently not."

"Inuyasha is an exorcist, Kagome," Daisuke said. "Well, a non-profitable exorcist."

"An exorcist?"

"Yes. We're all exorcists, actually. We exorcise Undead, Hollows, and the like; and demons if they're stirring up a lot of trouble."

Kagome stared. "He never said anything about that…" She looked to each of them. "But then why is only Inuyasha gone?"

"Miroku's with him but usually it's just me, Miroku, and Inuyasha who go out and get the job done. The only time everyone comes out is when there's a big fry to handle. I stayed this time because I had to clean the deck."

Oh, that was right. It would make sense that Daisuke went with them, considering he was…

Kagome stroked her apple with her thumb. "You're a shinigami, right?"

Daisuke grinned. "Yes, madam."

"I thought shinigami are spiritual beings and humans aren't supposed to be able to see them. I'm pretty sure I don't have any spiritual powers, so how am I able to see you?"

He chuckled. "That's because I'm a human shinigami."

Kagome gave a puzzled look. "Human shinigami?"

Daisuke nodded. "I'm human. I just have shinigami powers.'

"How is that possible?"

Daisuke just grinned.

Laurence frowned. "Wait, so, what did Inuyasha tell you?"

"Well…" Kagome thought for a moment. She then realized that Inuyasha had told her next to nothing about himself. "All he told me was that he could bring me to a place where I'd be happier and in return, I had to help him look for something."

"Did he tell what that something was?" Ling asked.

"No."

"Ah."

Daisuke took a seat across from Kagome. "If he told you so little, then why did you agree to go with him?"

"I was…distraught, I guess. And desperate. I just wanted to get out so I didn't really think carefully about what he was saying."

"And he took advantage of that," Chiaki concluded.

"He didn't -" Kagome started before realizing that Inuyasha did take advantage of her. It was true that she probably should have demanded more answers before agreeing to his offer, but he should have at least told her who he was.

Kagome could feel her temper boiling.

"You know, come to think of it," Daisuke said thoughtfully. "shouldn't Inuyasha and Miroku be back by now?"

"Hey, you're right. It's been - " Ling glanced at the clock. "Two hours already. Do you think something happened?"

"If something did, I think they would have contacted us by now," Chiaki said.

"Wait," said Laurence. "They never came by my work room."

Daisuke frowned. "What?"

"They never came by my work room to pick up their communicators."

Chiaki swore.

Shun's quiet voice joined the conversation. "They probably figured that this would be an easy mission so the comms wouldn't be necessary."

"I think from now on, no matter where you go, you have to have a comm with you," Laurence declared.

"I second that," Chiaki said.

"Hold on," Kagome suddenly interjected. "If you guys are non-profitable, how could you afford a ship, let alone support a crew?"

The boys exchanged uneasy looks.

"Er…well," Chiaki started. "We get our stuff…from other people…"

Kagome frowned. "What do you mean by that? Oh, do townspeople give you things as some sort of gratitude?"

"Oh, well, they do sometimes do that," Ling said. "But uh, a majority of our budget comes from…uh," he paused, searching for a way to phrase it. "…other people's stuff."

Kagome stared, unable to make sense out of any of this.

Laurence looked at his shipmates. "Better she knows now than later," He muttered.

"It's better that I know what?" Kagome asked.

Laurence pulled up the sleeve of his right arm, and below his wrist a part of his skin was a lighter tone. It was some kind of pattern on his skin, and when Kagome looked closer, she realized that it formed a shape of a "P". The others did the same and she saw that they all had the letter "P" on their arms. It looked as if it was…branded onto their arm.

"A-All of you have the brands," Kagome said in a small voice.

"Miroku and Daisuke are the only ones who don't," Shun said quietly, pulling his sleeve back down.

"That's because - " Laurence started with an annoyed look.

Kagome's eyes widened and she burst out, "You guys are pirates? You guys…steal from people?"

Chiaki pulled down his sleeve. "It's justified!" he said quickly.

Kagome's jaw dropped. "How is any kind of stealing justified?!"

"Well, technically, we're not pirates. To civilians anyways."

"What is that supposed to mean? I've read in old books that pirates caught by the East India Company were branded with a "P" - irremovable proof that they were in fact, pirates."

"The East India what now?" Laurence said with a frown. "No, no. The Zeplon Trading Division are the ones who brand pirates. And this whole branding thing was a totally big mistake!"

"Oh?" Kagome said, raising an eyebrow. "Then, please, enlighten me."

Laurence just opened his mouth when an indistinct voice from on deck began cursing loudly. All eyes looked up to the ceiling.

"Well, I think we can all guess who's here now," Daisuke said.

But before anyone could do anything, the kitchen door slid open violently. They all turned to see Kagome storm out, sliding door still rattling. Just as she left, someone else entered with a surprised look on her face and an armful of grocery bags.

"Hey Charlotte," Chiaki greeted weakly.

---------

"Damn it!"

Inuyasha jumped onto Fortis Libertas' deck with an angry thump while a long string of curses flew out of his mouth.

"What took so long?" Toji asked, frowning slightly at his captain. "You guys took over a - " He stopped short. "…Jeez, what happened?"

Toji looked at Inuyasha from head to toe. The Xingliese clothes that Shun had provided him to wear were practically rags. There was a huge rip across the chest and one sleeve was reduced to shreds.

"We were attacked by this psychotic bitch!" Inuyasha said in rage.

"What?"

Miroku came onboard from behind with a sigh, looking just as ripped up as Inuyasha.

"Miroku?" Toji said, his eyebrows were raised as he waited for an explanation.

"Well, we took care of the Hollow easily enough. It took longer to look for it than to kill it. Then on our way out, this very beautiful lady -"

"That crazy bitch attacked us!" Inuyasha practically shouted. "And her face was covered; how would you know if she was pretty or not?"

"She had a pretty body. Pretty body equals pretty face. Therefore, I think I'm right to assume that she is all in all, a beautiful lady."

"Yeah, well she sure had the manners of a lady, now didn't she?" Inuyasha said sarcastically as he gestured to what was left of his shirt.

Miroku frowned. "We killed the Hollow and got out alive. You're only angry because by the time the Midoriko Order arrived, you weren't there to rub it in their faces that you got there first."

"Yeah, so?"

Suddenly the hatch banged open and Kagome stomped out onto the deck.

"Hey!" Inuyasha called out, his anger building. "This is my ship! You can't kick -"

"Where were you?" Kagome asked vehemently when she reached him.

"Why should I tell you?" He snapped.

"Where were you?"

"Out."

"Where?"

"In Xingli."

"What were you doing?"

"Stuff."

"Inuyasha," She hissed. "From the start, you haven't been telling me the whole truth. I demand that you tell everything right here, right now."

"Or what?" Inuyasha challenged.

Kagome drew her trump card. "Or I won't help you on whatever you need help on."

Inuyasha blinked before bursting out in laughter, his temper disappearing.

…Or what she thought was her trump card.

"Fine, okay. So then I'll let you leave. Where are you going to go?" Inuyasha asked, still chuckling. "Or should I assume that you know how to get back to your world?"

Kagome glared at him.

He just smiled and shrugged. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Are you an exorcist?"

Inuyasha blinked in surprise. His brows creased with suspicion. "Who did you talk to?"

Kagome said nothing.

He sighed. "Fine, I am."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't see any reason to."

"Considering that it's your job, it seems to be something of importance. Important enough that you should have told me in the beginning."

"What difference does it make? You know now."

Kagome glowered. Then she said, "Let me see your right arm."

Inuyasha's stare hardened. "What?"

Kagome held her hand expectantly. "Give your right arm."

Inuyasha's eyes bored into hers but Kagome did not waver. He hesitantly stuck out his right arm, which Kagome grabbed. She pulled back his wristband.

She threw back his arm back to him in disgust. "You have the brand; you're a pirate," she spat. "That was definitely something that you should've told me from the start!"

"Okay, look - "

"What else are you keeping from me, huh? Is half of your crew really cats in disguise? Is your ship really a spaceship that can shoot nuclear bombs?" Kagome rambled, waving her arms around. "Are you keeping dragons under here?" She stomped her foot several times on the wooden deck.

"You probably don't want to do that," Inuyasha warned. "Our cook just came back - in a bit of a sour mood. But come to think of it, she's practically a dragon."

Kagome looked appalled. "You have dra - "

"Wait, no! Not literally!"

"What I don't understand is why you felt you had to keep me in the dark," Kagome said angrily. "Before you took me here, you told me that you could bring me to a place where I wouldn't be miserable anymore. But how can I be happy in any place when I don't know who the people around me really are."

Inuyasha stayed silent with a look of discomfort on his face.

"I admit, I should have thought more thoroughly before making my decision," Kagome continued. "I went out on a whim. It was incredibly stupid of me, I know. But don't you think that you were obliged to tell me everything I needed to know?"

Inuyasha stared at her. Her gaze seemed now weary…and disappointed. Inuyasha resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He did not want to deal with this now.

"Fine. I made a mistake," he said blandly and in a low tone. "Better now?"

Kagome sighed as if she no longer wanted to continue this talk. "It's okay. I'm…I'm a little tired now. I think I'm going to go back inside." She turned away.

Inuyasha frowned. Didn't he just say he was wrong? "I made a mistake" wasn't a phrase that he liked throwing around a lot. What more did this girl want?

"Hey."

She stopped.

"What do you want me to do?" He found himself asking. "Look, I'll be honest with you from now on, okay? That makes everything better, right? I'll answer your questions and everything."

Kagome held his gaze for a while before shrugging. "Okay," she said, but her tone told him that she wasn't very convinced. Then, she disappeared down the hatch.

Inuyasha sighed wearily and ran his hand through his hair. If only he knew that he'd have to deal with this kind of girl…

"I think you should make it up to her."

Inuyasha jumped slightly. He had forgotten that his crew was there to witness the entire thing. Except for Daisuke, who was probably busy taking a nap. He glanced at Miroku, who had spoken. "What?"

"I think you should make it up to her," Miroku repeated.

"I second that," Toji piped up. "What you did - "

"I know what I did."

"Well, then you know what you gotta do now."

"Hey, she's responsible for her decisions, not me," Inuyasha snapped.

"Puh-lease," Miroku said. "We know how you can be a manipulative bastard. Knowing you, it's hard to really blame her."

Inuyasha glowered at him.

"I think you should take her somewhere nice tomorrow," Chiaki suggested.

"Yeah," Laurence agreed. "She obviously doesn't have a good impression of this place. Tomorrow, show her how great this world can really be."

Inuyasha turned his moody stare to Laurence. "You corny -"

"Oh! Take her to Hanshin!" Ling exclaimed.

"No, no. Ambistand is better. Take her there."

Inuyasha frowned. "Why are you guys suddenly all deciding - "

"Oh! Zephlin!"

"Oh man! Yeah! You have to take her to Zephlin!"

"It's decided then," Ling announced. "Tomorrow, Inuyasha, you will take Kagome to Zephlin and make sure she has the time of her life."

Inuyasha gave him a deadpan stare though he didn't seem to notice.

"Okay! Toji," Chiaki called. "Take us to Zephlin!"

Toji did a mock salute and went down the hatch. The rest of the crew dispatched to their own business laughing and talking excitedly to one another, leaving Inuyasha by himself.

"Thanks, guys," He grumbled.

It was nice to know who was considered the boss around here…

Inuyasha turned his eyes to the hatch where the girl had disappeared through. Her sad expression appeared in his mind. He rolled his eyes. It wasn't worth worrying about. Though, if she was happier, it would mean better cooperation. Inuyasha sighed. Why couldn't she be a dog? Everything would've been so much easier…

He was just about to turn away when he heard someone call his name.

Inuyasha turned around to see Chiaki, Laurence, and Ling with their heads sticking out of the hatch, all grinning like idiots. "What?"

They all motioned him to come over.

"What?" He repeated when he reached him.

"We're discussing the places you should take Kagome to while you guys are in Zephlin," Chiaki said with a toothy smile.

"No," Inuyasha said immediately.

"Aw come on!" Laurence said. "Toji's waiting for us in the control room."

"No."

"Don't be such an ass. I mean, when was the last time we had a girl on the Libertas."

"Never."

"Exactly," Ling said. "So as men, we are responsible for her having a fantastical time while she's here."

"Go away."

Inuyasha turned to leave but then they latched onto his arms and pulled down into the hatch.

AN: I don't know if this chapter was a little confusing to some of you, but don't worry! A lot of things will be explained in the next chapter…which will come out before the end of the year. Hopefully?