Chapter 1: Cats, Dogs, and Annoying Brothers

?Ugh! Finally??

A math book slammed shut and a young girl swirled her chair around tiredly. She put her fingers through her long, black hair and sighed. ?I hate finals? So much studying??

Kagome grabbed her book and stuffed it in her bag before finishing the quarter full glass of milk sitting beside her. Next, collapsing onto her bed, she thought aloud?And ending up in a world filled with demons and monsters hasn?t exactly made it any easier to concentrate on my studies? I?ll be lucky if I even pass, little alone do well??

She sat up and stared at her red coat on her chair. It reminded her of Inuyasha?s robes. ?Inuyasha? it?s been a while since I?ve seen you, what with all this studying. Then again, you?re probably just lazing around, bored half to death, like always, picking on poor Shippou-chan??

?KAGOME! DINNER!? screamed Kagome?s mother from the bottom of the stairs.

?HAI!? The girl replied routinely.

After dinner, she helped put away the dishes with her brother Sota. However, as she place the dishes away, she noticed he kept staring at her whenever her back was turned. "All right, what's going on? Why do you keep looking at me like that?" she finally asked.

"Errr... no reason!" he replied with a look of horror.

"Hmph..." the girl said, suspicious of her sibling's sincerity in response. "Anyway, I'm beat. I think I'll just go watch some TV then go to sleep. I swear, these finals are going to be the end of me..."

"I just... I have to tell you... I've... I've always loved you... from the moment I first laid my eyes on you... but... I could never bring myself to tell you..."

"I... I... I have a confession as well... I, too, have always been madly in love with you... but... I tried to deny it... to hide it... and I pushed you away... but the more I pushed, the more obvious it became..."

Kagome sighed. "I can't believe the only thing that's ever on TV anymore is sappy romance comedy anime..." She lifted the remote and shut off the TV. "Oh, and Sota, you can't stop trying to be so sneaky. I know you're there, so just come on out."

The boy reluctantly entered the room, his head facing the floor in embarrassment. "How long did you know I was there?"

"Since you first got there and knocked my coat on the floor. You're no secret agent, that's for sure." She got off the couch and approached the boy. "Now, tell me, what's so interesting about me today? Ever since mom went to bed after dinner you've been looking at me strange. I won't buy that 'nothing' junk. What's so weird?"

Sota looked at the ground, deciding whether or not to talk. "Err... do you promise not to freak out?"

Kagome stared her brother down, striking fear in his heart. "All right, what did you do? I'll only promise THAT after I see this a decide if I should or shouldn't."

Sota gave a sigh in defeat. "Well... I don't know if you'd even believe if I told you... so, maybe you should see for yourself. So... errr... why don't you turn around and look in the mirror?"

Kagome seemed panicked. "Oh, please don't let it be a pimple... that's the LAST thing I need to worry about right now!" She slowly turned, praying that her fears were not true, but only prolonging the pain. "Please... please..." She saw her reflection in the mirror and gave a sigh of relief. "Whew... no pimple, no blemish, same old looking eyes, lips, cat ears..." She turned back to Sota. "What's the big... deal... ab--" She turned quickly back to the mirror and her eyes grew, while her pupils shrank.

"C-C-Cat ears?!"

She let out a blood-curdling scream that caused her younger brother to fall to his knees, covering his ears. "What is going on here?! Look at me!" She stared back into the mirror. Indeed, upon her head, her normal ears were no longer there, and a pair of black-furred ears of a cat were on the top of her head. "I look more like Inuyasha than myself!"

Sota shook his head. "That's not true. Inuyasha doesn't have a tail," he added.

Kagome froze in her tracks. Her face turned a dark blue in fear. "C-could you repeat that last line, p-please?" she asked politely.

"Errr... sis, perhaps you'd better look behind you..." He pointed to the girl's reflection.

This time, Kagome only turned her head and stared. "A... A... A CAT'S TAIL?! ARGH!"

"Kagome? Sota? Is everything all right down there?" Their mothered yelled to them from the top of the stairs.

"Errr.. h-hai, we're fine," Kagome replied in her calmest voice. "The screaming was just from TV, and we turned that down."

"Okay!" her mother said from atop the stairs. "As long as you're both okay..." The sound of her steps drifting back to her room came over there heads.

"However," Kagome began," We're both not 'all right...'" she said in a deep voice to her younger sibling. If looks could kill, Sota would have died at least 5 times by then. She grabbed the long, black, and furry tail that swayed from under her skirt. "Now, Sota, it's not normal for a girl to have this. Any idea HOW I got it, and why you wouldn't tell me sooner? And perhaps you'd like to explain why I have the sneaking suspicion you had something to do with this? Nyao..." She covered her mouth in embarrassment at making the cat sound. However, she quickly regained her composure and anger, and got back to the questioning. Her brother seemed rather scared and embarrassed by it all. "So, what do you know?"

The boy laughed nervously, trying to lighten the mood. "Well, errr... this may sound crazy, but... uhhh... it's not ENTIRELY my fault, and it wasn't my idea!"

"I have the feeling this will be a long story..." Kagome thought to herself.

"Well... err... first, did you happen to eat or drink anything out of the ordinary in the last hour or so?" questioned her brother.

Kagome put a finger to her chin and thought. "Let's see... all I think I had was a glass of water with dinner... unless... Wait, I did have a glass of milk when I was studying. But what does..."

Sota slapped his own face. "Oh, darn it, now I understand!"

"Understand what?" Kagome asked, her anger seemingly turning more into curiosity and paranoia. "Is it something dangerous?"

Sota shook his head. "No, it's just... that WASN'T a glass of milk... It was something I was storing for Miroku!"

Kagome blinked. "Miroku? What do you mean? How would you...?"

Sota tried to answer as best as he could. "Well, the other day, while you were still getting home from school, Inuyasha showed up in the house. He said Miroku asked him to bring a few things to our world. He had 'borrowed,' as Inuyasha put it grouchily, a few potions from an old merchant, and wanted to keep a few samples fresh. So..."

"He figured we could use a fridge here, nyao..." said Kagome, finishing his sentence.

"Yep... And I think you drank one of those potions instead of milk, like you thought it was..."

Kagome grabbed her brother's hand and started to drag him out the door. The boy dragged his feet, pulling back in shock. "Wait, where are we going?" he asked.

"To meet Miroku in person. Right now!" The cat-girl screamed furiously, not taking her eyes off the path to the well.

"Wait, I'M coming, too?!" Sota asked in fright. "But there are demons and monsters!"

Kagome turned, knelt down, and stared into his eyes with pure fury. WELL, OTOTO-CHAN... if it weren't for YOU putting dangerous chemicals of unknown origins in the fridge, nyao, right next to the food it resembles, I wouldn't look like such a freak right now!"

Sota rolled his eyes and looked away from his sister. "When you look at me like that, it's not the ears or tail that make you look like a freak..." he whispered.

Kagome glared again, grabbing and turning his head back to her. "I... heard... that..." Kagome's tail stood straight on end in anger. "Well, it doesn't mater whose fault it. You're coming with me in any case. I have finals soon! I can't go to school looking like this!"

"Well... errr..." Sota mumbled, trying to find a loophole. "I doubt I can be of much use, so, tell you what, why don't I just go get 'Jii-chan and--" By this point, Kagome grabbed her brother's arm and was dragging him towards the ancient well. "HEY! NO! WAIT!" Kagome dragged him down the stairs to the well, leapt, and dragged her screaming brother down the well with her, off to the past.

A tree fell in the distance, late in the night.

"HEY! Watch it! You're going to kill someone if you keep acting like that, Inuyasha! AUGH!" Shippou tried to reason with the hotheaded hanyou, but he didn't listen, and more trees nearly fell on the poor kitsune as Inuyasha swung his claws wildly.

"I must agree with Shippou," said Miroku. "You're overreacting, Inuyasha. Calm down!"

Inuyasha snarled. "OVERREACTING?" He raised his claws. "I'LL SHOW YOU OVERREACTING!" He leapt forward, poised to attack. "IRON REAVER SO--"

"SIT, BOY!"

The beads around Inuyasha's neck began to glow before he could finish announcing his attack, and they pulled with an Earth-shattering force, sending the irate hanyou a half-meter into the ground.

"I-I-Itai..." The hanyou whimpered in pain.

"All right, Inuyasha, why are you so angry THIS time?" Kagome asked, walking onto the scene. "Whatever the reason, you can't take it out like that. You could have seriously hurt someone!"
"Kagome!" Shippou leaped into Kagome's arms and hugged her. "Thank goodness you're here! Miroku did something to Inuyasha and he started to freak out and destroy anything in his path!"

Miroku laughed nervously. "Well... errr... It's not so much my fault as it is his... Eh? And... Kagome, is there something... different about you? You look different... but it's hard to see in this darkness."

Kagome blushed and looked away. "It's... errr... nothing... Now, let's see what's making Inuyasha so irritable." She knelt down beside the small crater where the hanyou lay. "EHHH?!" She exclaimed. She lifted up a strand of the hanyou's hair, only... it was dark black. "Inuyasha, you're HUMAN again?" She looked up into the sky. There was a crescent moon above, shimmering brilliantly. "Wait... but it's not a new moon..." She lifted the nearly knocked out boy's head and pushed back his hair. "Huh? And where are your human ears? Come to think of it, how could you use your claws if you are human?"

Inuyasha sat up, shaking his head back to its senses. "That's because I'm still half-demon, you stupid girl! I just... Err..." His cheeks turned red. "It's nothing!"

"Inuyasha, you can't hide anything from me! What is it?" Kagome demanded to know.

"NOTHING, NYAO!" The boy covered his mouth in embarrassment.

"W-what was that?" Asked Sota, finally overcoming his fear.

Inuyasha began to sweat. "N-nothing! This is so STUPID! I'm out of here!" He turned to leave.

"Oh, no you don't!" Kagome demanded, throwing her arm around to grab him. "You're not going..." She grabbed along, black thing coming from his back. "Any...where... YAH! WHAT'S THAT?!"
Inuyasha continued to try and walk, but Kagome had a death grip on whatever she held, and he fell over. A light came from the woods and illuminated the area. It was Kaede carrying a torch. "What seems to be causing all the ruckus?"
Inuyasha sat up and stared at Kagome. He saw her tail and ears... and Kagome noticed the tail sticking out the back of Inuyasha?s robes.
"YOU, TOO, NYAO?!" They simultaneously asked.

Back in the hut of Kaede...

"...So, I was just down by the lake, trying to catch some fish with my bare hands," explained Inuyasha, "When I looked in the river, and noticed my hair was black. But it was only sunset, and it wasn't supposed to be a new moon that night, nyao... Argh! God Dammit, I can't stop saying that! NYAO! I noticed my tail then... And that's when I knew it could have only been one person..."

Kagome focused her eyes on a certain monk, looking away, innocently, in an attempt to deny any guilt in the situation. "Miroku, nyao! I also suspect him... but my little brother here is not exactly innocent, either."

Sota yelled, though meekly, in retort, "But it was a total accident! And Inuyasha was the one who gave THEM to me..."

Kaede stepped in, acting as a mediator. "What is the 'them' of which you speak?"

Inuyasha held up a small, empty flask. "Whatever was in these bottles. All I know is Miroku comes up to me and says he found them somewhere, meaning he probably stole them..."

"I resent that!" Miroku said in defense. "I am not a thief. As a monk, I refuse to stoop to such low levels."

Inuyasha sighed. "Whatever. 'Earned' them, then, from some old man who, by coincidence, needed a monk to perform an exorcism. In any case, he just told me to find a place to put them to keep them fresh. Said something about it could be a potion to make people or demons stronger or faster. So, that's when I remembered Kagome telling about that... box thing that keeps things cold..."

"A fridge." Said Sota.

"Right. Well, anyway, I went to give them to Kagome to keep for me, but she wasn't there, so this little bugger..." Inuyasha rubbed Sota's head, "took them for me."

Kagome continued the story. "Well, I was up late reading, and decided to get a glass of milk... so, I got one, but, according to my ever so considerate OTOTO-CHAN WHO NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT THIS, what I drank was actually the potion. That's how I got THESE, NYAO!" Kagome grabbed her ears and tail.

Inuyasha finished his half. "Well, I couldn't wait to find out what the potions did, so I stole one off of Miroku the other day... and..."

"You soon found yourself to be half-cat demon rather than half-dog demon," analyzed Kaede.

"Yeah, that's right, hag." He raised his claws and aimed them at Miroku. "And now, I think it's time we punished the real culprit here!"

Kagome threw herself between Inuyasha and Miroku, her hands raised in protest. "WAIT, NYAO! Miroku hasn't had a chance to defend himself yet! We can't punish-- EEK!"

Kagome's face reddened as Miroku stood behind her. "Mmmm... the tail's so soft, though, nearly as soft as the rest of you..." Miroku had his hand firmly planted on Kagome's butt.

Kagome leapt forward into Inuyasha's arms. "Never mind, nyao! Kill him, kill him, kill him!"

Inuyasha snarled. "You lecherous idiot! I'll... on second thought..." Inuyasha backed down. he tilted his head towards Kagome. "Give me your hand."

"Eh? What for?"

"Just do it."

Kagome placed her hand in Inuyasha's. "Now, Kagome, just pull back like this..." Inuyasha pushed down on the center of Kagome's palm with his thumb and her fingernails suddenly extended, like a cat extending its claws. Her nails also seemed more durable and sharp. "There. See, today, when I was going berserk at Shippou and Miroku, I noticed for a minute that my claws could retract." He demonstrated for Kagome, as his claws changed back and forth from his demon claws to normal, human-like fingernails. ?I just figured that meant you must have claws, too.?

Kagome stared at her new claws, then at Miroku, smiling. She turned to Inuyasha. "Why, thank you, Inuyasha! This will be very useful for now."

A minute later...

Miroku sat, sighing, with three long cuts on his cheek. He thought to himself, "Ahhh, it was still worth it..." He stood up and finally decided to defend himself. ?Well, now, those are very nice stories, but it makes it sound very much my fault??

Kagome glared. ?That?s because it IS your fault!?

Miroku coughed. ?Perhaps I should explain my actions, then. You see, the other day, I was on a walk through the woods for no apparent reason? when I stumbled upon this small cottage. A modest old man lived there with his young daughter. I saw a billowing black cloud forming overhead, when a ferocious demon with black wings flew down, trying to destroy the house. I released my kazaana on it, sucking the demon in. The man offered me anything, money, workers, his daughter, but I refused. He at least recommended I take some of the potions he was working on that could increase a person or demon?s abilities??

Shippou stood up and hopped on Kagome?s head. ?That?s funny, Miroku, I was with you the whole time and I don?t remember it being quite like that.?

?SHHHH!? Miroku tried to silence the kitsune before he leaked what really happened.

Kagome picked up Shippou, smiled, and said?Oh, Shippou, you remember it differently? Go ahead.?

Shippou hopped down onto the center of the floor and sat down. ?Well, if I?m right, the house wasn?t so much a small cottage as it was a huge mansion? And Miroku didn?t really see a black cloud, so much as he first saw the daughter of the old man. He said something to the old man about sensing evil around there and that he would protect his daughter??

Inuyasha grinned. ?Now that sounds like the Miroku we know??

Shippou continued. ?Well, the old man said he could stay, but when Miroku tried to get too close to the daughter for some reason, the old man threw him out and tossed some old bottles filled with some goop at him. The bottles had some sort of label about having great powers on them? And that?s all I remember.?

There was a prolonged period of silence.

?Well? those two tales seem to be in great conflict?? said Kaede. ?Perhaps we should??

?LET ME GET HIM! IT?S ALL HIS PERVERTED FAULT! NYAO!? Kagome reached after Miroku, as Shippou and Inuyasha tried to pin her down.

?Kagome, stop, you can?t kill him!? Shippou said, trying to hold the girl back.

Miroku pressed himself against a wall, sweating. ?Th-thank you, Inuyasha? I just never expected you to come to my defense.?

Inuyasha glared at him. ?Who said I was defending you? I just don?t want Kagome to be the only one to pound you, nyao!?

Miroku sighed. ?I should have known better??

Sango walked into the hut, carrying a group of grasses. ?Lady Kaede, I found those? herbs? you?? She noticed the cat version of Kagome being held down by a rather odd looking Inuyasha and Shippou, while Miroku was pressed against a wall, scratches all over his face. Kaede was trying to restore order among all of this, while Sota just stood in a corner, trying not to get crushed in the fray. ?Perhaps I should come back later??

Kagome stopped and turned to Sango. ?Eh? Oh, Sango, I?m glad you?re here!? She pointed to Miroku. ?Thanks to him, I look some sort of? freak! He gave me these eras and tail!?

Sango stood silent. She leaned forward and examined Kagome?s head. She rubbed her ears. Kagome blushed. ?H-hey! What are you doing? This is no time for that!? She sighed. ?Then again, now I know what Inuyasha goes through when I do that?? she though to herself.

Sango thought for a moment, then attempted to comfort her. ?That?s not so bad, Kagome. It is obviously a spell, but it doesn?t look so powerful. I know of a sorceress in training that could probably remove that for you.?

Kagome?s eyes lit up. ?Did you hear that, Sota? We can fix this!?

Sota sighed in relief. ?So, I?m off the hook??

Kagome shook her head. ?Not by a long shot.? The boy sighed and hung his head.

Kaede stood up and examined Inuyasha as he sat on the floor. ?Hmmm? well, it would seem Sango is right. It didn?t even seem to have much of an effect here. Besides changing the color of his hair and the addition of a tail, he remains much the same. Perhaps the creator of such a spell was merely in practice??

Inuyasha sighed. ?That?s a relief. I?m sick of talking like this, nyao??

Kagome turned to him and stated?Hey, at least you barely changed. I didn?t even have ears like this to begin with. Plus, I have finals this Monday! If I went to school looking like this, I?d be the laughing stock of the whole city!?

Miroku leaned over to Sango and whispered?Thank you??

Sango glared back at him angrily. ?Don?t thank me just yet. After I find out hw much of this is your fault, you may not want to thank me.?

Miroku sat back down. ?Today is just not my day??

To be continued?