Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha... Wait, I don't! carried off by security guards

Author's note: Ayame does not exist in this story.

Kagome sighed as Inuyasha ranted on about something she had done, said, tripped over, or delayed. She periodically caught the words, 'wench', 'shard detector', and 'weak'. She sighed again, now feeling rather deflated. She was weak, how could Midoriko have left it in the care of a useless reincarnation of Kikyo?

Speaking of which….

A cool, eerily calm voice interrupted Inuyasha's shouts.

"Hello Inuyasha." Kikyo. Kagome shuddered. 'Kikyo,' she thought in her mind with a hint of disgust, 'Ah, the cold lifeless clay pot has come to join us… Please Inuyasha, please, whatever you do, do not…'

"Yes, Kikyo?" Inuyasha said with a love-struck dog look on his face. 'Do that.' Kagome finished in her mind, punctuating the thought with yet another sigh. 'Three times in five minutes Kagome. Depressed much?'

Actually, yes she had been, Inuyasha had been more on edge, Miroku and Sango had been more preoccupied with each other, Kagome smiled at that, and she had felt sort of an ominous gloom, like something life-changing was about to happen…

"Hey, guys, I'll be back in a little while, you can… er, rest…" Inuyasha said as he walked off with Kikyo. Kagome knew that Inuyasha didn't give a flip about whether or not the group had beauty sleep or not, he just wanted to spend time with his oh-so-beautiful-clay-pot Kikyo. Kagome set herself to the task of setting up camp. She was almost 18, she could handle Inuyasha being the baka, fool, arrogant, bratty, obnoxious, love-struck hanyou now… right?

Sesshomaru's lands were at war, a deadly war, a war against the nation that could rival even the Western lands. Sesshomaru would never stoop so low as to admit it, but he needed a secret weapon. He felt a tug at his kimono, and looked down into a pair of big, brown eyes.

"Is Sesshomaru-sama alright?"

"Yes Rin." The little girl smiled, and Sesshomaru's heart softened the tiniest bit, before he looked up in the direction of his lands. It would take them at least a week to get there, he needed to get Rin to safety before any enemies managed to find him. The sun was setting fast, and the fastest way to the Western lands was through the mountains. They would have to pass his brother. 'I'm afraid I won't be in the mood for a family reunion.'

A resounding smack sounded through the woods.

"YOU HENTAI!" This phrase was punctuated by another slap. "HOW DARE YOU DO THAT AGAIN AND-AG"

"Miroku, Sango, have you guys seen Inuyasha?" Kagome asked. They looked at her and shook their heads before resuming their previous conversation that sounded somewhat like this: 'You slap perverted slap HENTAI!' Kagome ignored them and wondered why Inuyasha was out so late. She knew he must want to catch up with Kikyo, but would he really- her chest tightened- would he really like Kikyo that much better than her that he would… She stopped that train of thought right before it crashed. Kagome stood up, she looked over at the still yelling Sango, and still cowering Miroku. They wouldn't mind her leaving for a few minutes. She took off into the night to where she had seen Inuyasha go, bringing her bow and arrows with her. Hopefully she wouldn't have to use them. But she had been getting better, much better in fact, her aim had improved to almost perfect accuracy, and her miko power was beginning to get very strong. Even Inuyasha and Kirara were getting a little nervous of being next to her when she was firing. She ran quickly and lightly so as not to 'disturb' Inuyasha unless something was wrong. She was running fast. 'Too fast…' she thought, 'I've never run this fast before, but I'm not tired…' Then she realized something, she loved Inuyasha, and if he still loved Kikyo, she would be tossed aside. She smelled Inuyasha. 'Smelled?' she thought curiously, 'Since when can I smell him? He doesn't smell that bad.' Kagome started to slow down as she came to a clearing and heard voices.

"… And you don't think that wench of a reincarnation of mine is so important do you?" Kikyo drawled in a silky smooth tone, twisting some of Inuyasha's hair in her fingers.

"Simply a shard detector, my love, nothing more."

"Perfect," Kikyo smiled, an awful empty thing to behold. But Inuyasha fell for it and indulged in another long kiss with Kikyo.

Kagome couldn't take it anymore, she turned a tear-stained face to the forest and ran. Not caring how much noise she made, nor how much she hurt her knees running over thorn bushes. Inuyasha had betrayed her, again.

"Inuyasha…" a small voice cried into the darkness.

Sesshomaru stood tall in the middle of the forest. 'A secret weapon…' he thought, 'yes, but what?' Such deep thought was he in that he did not hear nor smell a sobbing miko running towards him in the dark. That is until she crashed into him.

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