Chapter 1: Kikyo's Return

"How do you do it, wench?" Inuyasha threw the cards on the ground and turned his back to Kagome with a huff. Kagome blinked a few times and looked over at Shippo, who was rolling on the ground, hugging his stomach and laughing so hard she thought he would burst.

"It's just a game Inuyasha, you shouldn't be getting so mad about it. You'll get the hang of it eventually," Kagome encouraged, but he just kept his back to her and blew some silvery hair out of his face. Shippo jumped onto his adopted mother's lap and looked up at her.

"He's just mad because he's too dumb to win a simple game of cards," Shippo said to Kagome. Before she could even scold him for being rude, Inuyasha had turned around and walloped him on the head. Two lumps formed on Shippo's skull, and Inuyasha turned back around and settled back into his original position with his back to them.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome warned. Inuyasha tensed and slowly turned his head to look at her, an expression of fear flickering across his dog features. His ears flattened against his hair. "Sit!" Inuyasha yelped as the prayer beads around his neck flared pink and his body was slammed into the dirt with a loud thump. Kagome waited until the cloud of dust had settled and the spell had worn off. "I've told you, Inuyasha! No more hitting Shippo! You apologize, right now."

Her eyes flared with anger while hugging Shippo. Inuyasha just glared at her and brushed off the dirt that now covered his Robe of the Fire Rat. "He should be the one apologizing! I'm not the one acting like a baka! He had it coming to him." Inuyasha straightened and glared at Kagome and Shippo. When will he learn? That idiot! As long as he has those beads, he should at least attempt to be nice to Kagome! Shippo thought. As though Inuyasha had read his thoughts, he turned on the little kitsune. Shippo screamed as Inuyasha chased him around Kagome.

Kagome stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "Inuyasha!" She yelled, and both the kit and the hanyou stopped dead in their tracks. "Don't make me -it you again!" Shippo broke out of his paralysis and grabbed the front of Inuyasha's kimono.

"Yeah, I'm just a kid, I don't deserve to be mistreated like this!" He yelled in the hanyou's face. Inuyasha growled at the kit and raised a clawed hand. "Shippo, don't," Kagome tried to say, but the two demons had already started chasing each other around the clearing.

"Get back here you little shrimp!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Idiot!" Shippo screamed back.

"Baka!"

"Annoying hanyou!"

"Stupid little..." Inuyasha abruptly stopped chasing Shippo in circles and sniffed at the air. Shippo was late to realize he had stopped and ran face first into Inuyasha's legs. He fell to the ground and tears started to fall. Kagome walked over and picked up the crying kit in her arms.

"He hurt me!" Shippo cried, rubbing the tears out of his eyes and hugging Kagome. The miko stopped next to Inuyasha and asked, "Inuyasha? What's wrong?" However, her question was answered when she spotted three soul collectors gliding above the trees. Kikyo? I thought she was dead... Kagome frowned and looked over at Inuyasha. It was obvious that he had noticed the same thing.

"Go, Inuyasha. You should go get Kikyo. She needs you more than we do right now," Kagome said, the pain in her voice masked by the cloak of calm that she put on every time Kikyo was mentioned. Inuyasha stared at her, and suddenly Kagome was very interested in Shippo's tail. The small kitsune looked up at her with puzzled eyes. She gave him a small, obviously fake smile and looked back to Inuyasha.

"Are you sure, Kagome? With Sango and Miroku off fighting demons..." Inuyasha trailed off. This wasn't like her at all. Her face was expressionless, and she refused to meet his eyes. She showed no emotion whatsoever, but he could tell that deep down she was hurting. He felt bad about leaving her, but he just couldn't let go of Kikyo.

"We'll be fine here. Shippo can take care of me." She finally met his gaze and gave him another fake smile. He hesitated, but in the end gave her a small nod and headed off in the direction of the soul collectors. A few times he considered going back; Kikyo was strong, she could take care of herself. But then again, so could Kagome. Plus, she had Shippo to take care of her.

As he jumped from branch to branch, he hoped that Kagome and Shippo would be safe by themselves. "I'm sorry, Kagome." He said as he sprinted off into the forest, leaving both of his companions behind.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor do I own any of Inuyasha's characters or plots. That privilege goes to the creator of Inuyasha, Rumiko Takahashi, and I am not her. I wish I was, because then I could own the best anime series of all time, but I just am not. However, thanks to Rumiko for creating Inuyasha, because I can't live without it now. Your awesome, Rumiko!