Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Note: Hello and thank you for clicking on my first story on this site. This is my first attempt on writing an adventure story, so I hope you enjoy it.

Edit: To new readers, this story is under some minor editing. I'm currently changing some Japanese terms into English ones, so you'll probably notice that I use an English term here, and a Japanese term in the next chapter. This note will disappear once I've finished editing all chapters. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Chapter 1:

Unusual Occurence

Inuyasha groaned for the hundredth time. They had been walking for hours (he was sure of it) and couldn't find any signs of Naraku nor the jewel shards. They couldn't even find a village after walking for quite some time, and now, he had reached a conclusion where they were basically wasting time. Though, the others seemed to be having fun while walking; giggling as they exchange words with each other. His hands clenched from under the sleeves of his suikan. He was becoming restless. He needed to do something—anything—other than walking aimlessly like this. To also prove that they weren't taking this search seriously, Kagome was walking happily beside a walking Shippo. If they were on a normal run, she would've been on his back by now.

He groaned again.

"Is something the matter, Inuyasha?" Miroku questioned, noticing his friend's current behaviour.

"Yeah, something is wrong. We aren't doing anything. Kagome isn't sensing shards, no demons are around here, not even Naraku!"

Kagome shook her head. "You should relax a little, Inuyasha. You fight too much," she tilted her head upwards to look at the sky. "You should enjoy the sceneries before another fight really breaks out."

"Keh! I don't need to relax and enjoy. I like it more when we battle."

Shippo shook his head with his arms crossed. "Of course, only Inuyasha enjoys fighting. Wait 'til you hurt yourself again before you take it back—"

"You got somethin' to say, runt?!"

Shippo squeaked and jumped behind Kagome for defense. Kagome folded her arms as Inuyasha was about to attack the fox. He stopped right in front of her, pausing himself as he weighed his options. Thumping the fox's head would lead him to being 'sat', but satisfied, or he could ignore, not get 'sat', but unable to knock the kid. He scratched his head at those hard choices, making it obvious to Kagome that he was deciding whether or not to still attack Shippo.

Kagome sighed when Inuyasha let out another 'keh' before he turned around. It looked like he had chosen to let the fox go. He sometimes could be as childish as Shippo, that's for sure. But she was glad that he didn't attack the child. That saved another 'sit' for now.

Sango stopped beside Miroku. Both of their bodies tensed when they sensed the same thing.

"Do you feel it, Sango?" Miroku asked and looked around.

"Yeah," she said, reaching for the Hiraikotsu that was attached behind her back. "I sense a demonic aura. Though, it feels a little weird, right, Miroku?"

"I agree. There is definitely something different about this one."

Inuyasha stopped moving and sniffed the air. Just like Miroku and Sango, he could sense something—it was an unfamiliar scent. The scent told him that the thing was still far away, yet, the smell was close. His eyes darted around the area with his hand over the hilt of Tessaiga. His lips curled into a smirk at the thought of being able to fight today. Maybe all this pointless walking wasn't pointless after all.

All of a sudden, a girl appeared a meter away from him, unbelievably out of thin air. She landed on one feet, followed by the other, gracefully on the ground. She was a kid, a few inches taller than Shippo. Her hair was jet black, short and had a fringe. She was wearing a plain violet yukata that reached below her knees. She had a creamy-coloured obi on her waist. Her eyes—there was something he hated about her eyes—were black. It looked lifeless, like an empty void that held no emotions. Her skin was pale like the dead.

"Who are you?" Inuyasha asked, his fingertips brushing Tessaiga's hilt.

"We want you," was her soft reply.

"We? So there's more of you?"

"We want you," she repeated, her voice naturally like a whisper.

In a blink, she had appeared right in front of him, her face only inches away from him. As his eyes looked down at an abrupt movement, he could see her hands reached out and her index finger touching his chest. With one touch, the hanyou was pushed back with such force, that he was thrown away to the ground. Dirt stuck on his face, and his body ached after the rough roll on the ground. He groaned and pushed himself up with one elbow.

"D-Damn it..."

"Inuyasha!" Shippo and Kagome cried.

"I'm fine! Just stay there!" he yelled, making them stop.

"Hiraikotsu!"

Sango threw the Hiraikotsu right at the girl, but the girl swiftly dodged it by moving a step back. Sango caught her Hiraikotsu again and stared at the girl in disbelief. The girl just dodged the thing only by moving a step back. She didn't even bother to leap or anything. The girl stared at Sango for a few seconds before looking back at Inuyasha.

"We want you."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time," Inuyasha said as he unsheathed Tessaiga. "But you're not gonna have me for whatever reason!"

The girl didn't even blink as she stared at him. Her lifeless eyes remained only on him.

Inuyasha didn't give her time to do anything else. He swung Tessaiga. "Kaze no Kizu!"

The blow caused the ground to form several holes. Miroku's body froze as he realized that he had almost been hit. He leaped back and stood beside Kirara at a safe distance, not wanting to be the next target of Inuyasha's sword. He fought the urge to use his Wind Tunnel. He decided against it and have more faith in his friends. He shouldn't use the Wind Tunnel carelessly. He should only use it when things are out of control. So far, Inuyasha and Sango are fairly handling it well.

When the girl was gone, Inuyasha gripped harder on Tessaiga's hilt.

"Is she gone?" Kagome asked and glanced around.

"No, she's still–"

Before he could even move the moment he detected that the scent was behind him, he could feel her touch on his back and a force threw him a few meters to the front, narrowly missing Kagome and Shippo. He landed on the ground roughly, rolled on it for a few seconds before he came to a stop. Tessaiga was out of his hold, but still within his reach. The girl's attack this time was stronger than before, and she only used a finger for her attack.

"Inuyasha, are you okay?!" Kagome shouted and ran towards him. She bent down and scanned his body. "Inuyasha, you're hurt."

"I'm fine," he breathed out and grabbed Tessaiga, ready to attack again.

"Inuyasha..." the child spoke, her eyes trained on the ground. "...his... name..."

"Hiraikotsu!"

Sango had attacked the girl faster before Inuyasha could do so. It was obvious that the child hadn't anticipated the move since she didn't move an inch. The Hiraikotsu sliced the girl in half. Her upper half flew in the air for a few seconds before the gravity started pulling her down to the earth. Before her upper body almost reached the ground, her body glowed and dispersed in the air, never giving the girl the chance to touch the grass.

Before the body disappeared, they heard the last words that came out of her lips, "We will get you, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha unconsciously shivered at her words. Once the kid was totally gone, he allowed himself to drop on the ground and exhaled deeply. His friends ran over to him, concern expressions written on their faces. Kagome was the one with the most worried look.

"Inuyasha, are you alright?" she asked as she knelt on the grass beside him.

"I'm fine," he replied and Tessaiga returned to its rusty form inside his hand. "That kid just caught me off guard."

"I think that child is not really alive," Miroku stated and held his chin thoughtfully. "It seems more like a puppet, but with very little life. Whatever it is, it is stronger than I had anticipated. I heard that a person or a demon can cast their puppet with power, but I would've never thought that it would reach to the point of only having to use one finger to attack."

"Moreover, what does she want with Inuyasha?" Sango asked. "She kept saying 'we', so does that mean others will come for him too?"

"Most likely," Miroku replied.

Inuyasha hissed as Kagome reached out for his arm. She flinched back, didn't expect the injuries to sting so much. He had never looked so pained before, so this was quite shocking.

"It hurts that bad?"

"No," Inuyasha lied through gritted teeth and stood up. "Look, don't worry about me. I had worse."

"Inuyasha, I want you to show me your arm."

"No."

"Inuyasha..."

He cringed at her tone and reluctantly pulled the sleeve of his suikan. Everyone gasped at the bruises; dark purple spots surrounding his whole arm. He had only been thrown twice, so why does it look like a boulder had hit him more than ten times? Everyone looked at the half-demon worriedly, causing him to take a step back.

"I said I'm fine, alright?! So will ya stop lookin' at me like–"

"Inuyasha, this is not fine! Not fine at all!" Kagome shouted and forcefully took his arm in order to examine it again. "How did she do this? What did she do?"

Miroku stepped forward knowingly. "Inuyasha, what did you feel when she touched you?"

"Uh..." his ears flattened on his head. "It felt like lightning running through my body?"

"Miroku?" Kagome asked, looking at the thinking monk.

"I've read some scrolls that a skillful puppet master can insert a type of power inside their puppets. From that fight just now, it seems that one touch was all she needed to send waves of energy inside Inuyasha's body. Internal damage is a rare power and hard to insert in the puppet itself. You have to be very good in mastering puppets to give your puppets that power," Miroku pointed to Inuyasha. "So even if Inuyasha had not hit the ground, he would still be hurt. It's like sending thunder inside a person's whole body. It does damage from the inside, so no violence was actually needed."

"The whole body?" Sango asked in shock. "Not just his arm?"

"Keh! It doesn't hurt that much," Inuyasha said and turned away.

They heard a very faint whimper coming from the half-demon as he took a step away from them. Kagome hurried to his side, careful not to touch him in case she landed on his injuries. "Inuyasha, let me see it."

"No. Leave me alone."

"Inuyasha, please! If it's bad, then we should really find a place to rest!"

"I said I'm fine, wench!"

"Inuyasha..." she warned.

His eyes shut tightly, expecting a 'sit'. But it never came. His ears twitched slightly and he slowly opened both eyes. Kagome's expression had softened.

"I'm not going to use the word on you, okay? Now, let me see."

A few more pleading from the girl finally let the half-demon to take off his suikan. He was on the ground now, his legs crossed. With his hair over one side of his shoulder, he lowered his kosode and revealed his back to everyone. All of them let out a gasp and he could imagine that it must've looked really bad. To be honest, it hurts—of course he wouldn't admit it—but he has healing powers so there's nothing to worry about. Those nasty bruises and spots would soon disappear in a few hours. It's just the healing that takes time.

Kagome poked at his back, causing him to jerk from her touch. A pain shot him from where she had poked with her finger. He had never faced bruises that hurt this much. Most of the time, he could bear them and ignore it, but this time, he just couldn't get the pain to go away from his mind.

"Gods, Inuyasha," Kagome muttered and retreated her hand. She turned around to face the others. "We should search for a village. It won't do good if demons start attacking us here, especially if it targets Inuyasha."

"Keh! I can handle them."

"You literally jerked back when I just touched you Inuyasha."

"W-Well..." he stammered. He then poked his nose up high. "That doesn't mean I still can't handle them."

Everyone sighed in defeat, knowing too well that the half-demon wouldn't admit that he was in pain.

Inuyasha put on his kosode and suikan back, and watched as Sango got on Kirara's back. Kagome just stood there, waiting for him behind the nekomata. He raised a brow as she gestured for him to sit on Kirara.

"I can walk," he frowned.

"Don't be silly. I know it hurts."

"My feet don't hurt that much—"

"Will you quit being so stubborn and just get on Kirara already?!" she yelled, and took a deep breath. "Geez, it's okay to admit that you're hurt, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha lowered his head and slowly raised one leg to get on Kirara's back. He ignored the stinging and sat quietly behind Sango. He looked back at Kagome, puzzled.

"What about you, Kagome?"

Shippo poofed and turned into a giant, pink, floating head. "I'll carry Kagome!"

"Yeah, I'll ride on Shippo," she clarified and hopped on the fox's round form. "That's alright with you, right, Shippo?"

"Yup! If it's only you, I can handle it."

Sango shifted the Hiraikotsu on her back. She glanced back to everyone else. "Are we good to go?"

Everyone nodded and they started making their way to find a nearby village.

During their journey in search for a village, all of them were quiet as they were all deep in thought.

If the girl was a puppet, who does she belong to?

What does she want with Inuyasha?

Or is Inuyasha really their only target?