Chapter Two

Zuri Hagashori

Lady Kaede was collecting wood from the meager pile outside of her door when she noticed the half-demon Inuyasha running towards her even faster than normal. His usual bounds seemed to be increased tenfold. Upon closer inspection she realized that the lump in his arms was a woman dressed in a white flannel nightgown. The womans pale hair was an unusual sight, blowing every which way in the wind created by her saviors speedy gait. Kaede dropped the wood that she had gathered and sped as quickly as her old, wobbly legs could take her towards the pair. It was never good when the hanyou brought an unconcious person to her. It usually meant the worst. She was right in her assumptions. As the two stopped in front of each other she nodded her head in affirmation. He didn't need to tell her. She could sense that the young woman was near death.

The old miko hurried inside to prepare a bed for the poor soul. Gathering up as many healing herbs as she could she told Inuyasha "Put her there on that bed".

Inuyasha complied. But he felt the need to say something, so he cleared his throat and said "I found her in the Inuyasha forest. It was like something was pulling me there, even Kagome didn't sense the prescence but I did".

Old Kaede nodded her head as she got to work determining the problem. Her old hands, surprisingly steady for her age, checked the maidens heartbeat and pulse. "She's alive, but barely. It will take much work to save her".

"Do whatever ya gotta do then hag! What are ya telling me this for?" Inuyasha said, his temper forced. He didn't understand why he cared so he did not wish anyone else to know that he did. The hanyou lifted the flap of cloth that seperated this room from the main one and walked to the middle of the room. Sitting by the cauldren in the center he began to worry about what was going on. Just then Miroku came in and animatedly said "So Inuyasha, I heard you found a beautiful maiden in the forest".

Sango then appeared from seemingly nowhere and slapped the lecher across the face leaving her trademark handprint.

"Monk, if you wish to keep your toung I suggest you not hit on this one" Inuyasha replied curtly. He really didn't know why he cared, he just did.

"Aww come on Inuyasha, it was simply a harmless inquiry" Miroku replied as he rubbed his sore cheek.

"Sure it was Miroku" retorted Sango.

The two sat next to Inuyasha and silence followed.

Sometime later Kaede removed herself from the small bed chamber to fix some stew for the hungry Inu crew.

"So hag, how is she doing?" Inuyasha asked as he siddled close to the old lady, risking the smell of age and decay.

"She will live. Tell me Inuyasha why did ye rescue this maiden?". As Kaede busied herself with the workings of dinner she awaited the obstinate hanyous answer.

"Feh, why should you care why I did it? It's not like it is a crime to save someone" he replied as he sat back down, satisfied that the mysterious woman would live. He felt immensly relieved.

"No Inuyasha the question is why should YOU care? It's not like you to save random people" came a new voice.

Inuyasha turned to find Kagome hanging her jacket by the door. "Feh, leave me alone wench. I did what I did. If you have any problems with it you can suck it up and deal with it".

"Kaede that stew smells wonderful" Kagome said, ignoring Inuyashas response to her question. She was already trying to figure out how to get rid of this woman. She didn't like that Inuyasha seemed to care about her wellbeing.

"Thank you child".

Kaede was puzzled. The maiden that Inuyasha had brought felt strange. The vibes that she got from her weren't evil, but still gave her the chills. It felt like an old prescence packed into a young body. She wondered if the young womans angelic appearance was accurate, but she supposed they would find out soon enough. The power that emanated off of the young girl was strange though. She was sure that the maiden was human, of that she was certain. But she had such spiritual energy and she wasn't a miko. She was a mystery, completely unfathomable.

Three weeks passed and the maiden still had not awoken. Something was strange about this one. Kaede knew that she should have awoken within four days at most. It was not right. No matter what she did she could not awaken the young woman, yet she was not dead.

Inuyasha was impatient. He wanted answers, he wanted to know what was up with this strange girl. Yet she would not wake up. He would spend hours by the bedside waiting for her to open her eyes so that he could fire questions at her. He couldn't deny that she was beautiful. She was angelic, he wondered what had brought her to the Inuyasha forest though because she did not appear Japanese. She was human, yet her hair was the color of gold. He had never seen such beautiful hair. The long, wavy, golden locks seemed to shine even in the dull light of Kaedes hut.

Inuyasha was sitting there pondering what could possibly be happening when he felt the urge to get closer to the sleeping beauty. As he scooted the rickety chair closer in order to look upon her face he inhaled a deep breath. There it was again. That weird voice that kept popping up. It was like whispers in the wind, he had been eating ramen with the group the first time he heard it. He had nearly choked on the delicious meal. He asked the rest of the group if they had heard it but they all said it must have been the wind.

"Zuri...zuri...zuri...zuri..." the voice whispered.

As the half-demon looked into the sleeping face of the woman on the cot in front of him he found himself leaning even further forward. Before he knew it his lips were upon hers. Before he got the chance to even ask himself why he would do such a thing the maidens eyes shot open.

Electric green eyes looked into amber orbs as she, in a voice that reminded Inuyasha of an angelic choir, said "Hello, my name is Zuri, Zuri Hagashori".