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DISCLAIMER: DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha, anime or manga - Rumiko Takahashi does, that lucky lady. I offered Satan my soul for some Sesshoumaru lovin' but he said he couldn't do anything. Go figure.

"Hello, Kagome! How are you today?"

"I'm good, Miroku. How did the exorcism go?"

It had been three weeks since Inuyasha's death. Kagome seemed to be doing better but… they could just tell. Something wasn't right. There was a sadness in her eyes that had never been there before. Always the epitome of innocence, it was strange to see Kagome as anything less than full of joy for such a long period of time.

"It went well." At this the monk winked. "I'm sure we can get enough provisions to last for a week with the payout."

"Watch yourself, monk. You could at least pretend you didn't just lie to get that money," the taijiya teased. They knew she wasn't truly angry – she had that sparkle in her eye that said she was just giving a good-natured ribbing.

"Any way, we should get going. It's early yet and I think we could get a bit of travel out of the way before it gets dark."

And with that, they packed up and left the inn. They had arrived the day before, seeking to restore their provisions. When they realized just how meager their funds were, Miroku had kindly offered to perform an exorcism... on the most luxurious inn in the village. Luckily for them, the innkeeper was deathly terrified of any type of spirit and had offered a generous sum in return. They were also treated to a night of rest free of charge and a large meal under the condition that the exorcism would be performed early the next morning.

Miroku had even made an effort to be convincing. His "exorcism" lasted almost an hour. Instead of watching, Kagome had used that time to reserve their items at the merchants' stalls.

The trio departed in comfortable silence. They traveled northwest, though no one knew why. They had no leads to follow. At this point, they just went wherever the metaphorical wind took them.

Now that Kagome had no nimble hanyou to hitch a ride with, they had to make do with Kirara. This of course meant they could cover less ground; Kirara just wasn't able to travel as swiftly with three humans on her back.

After a couple of hours, Kagome felt her stomach begin to rumble – or possibly scream – to be fed. Thinking back to their meal the night before, the young miko felt even emptier. She wasn't just hungry. She couldn't help but think how much Inuyasha would have loved that meal. He would have eaten the rice like he had been starved for weeks. He would have then moved on to the dumplings, dispatching them with the ease of one with a bottomless pit for a stomach. The possibly insane half-demon would have finished off with a fish or two, just because he could.

The mental image brought a brief smile to her face, before she could realize he would never eat his favorite meals again. I haven't made ramen in weeks, she thought bitterly.

That bastard Naraku.

And that was when it came to her. There was no escaping it. Naraku was hers and hers alone to deal with.

I don't care what happens. Fate has made it my responsibility to remove that scum from this earth. That's why the jewel brought me here. That's what I must do.

There was only one problem. She had just about zero training. Sure, Kaede had tried, but what time had they had? And pretty little healing miko sparkles wouldn't help now. She needed to know how to fight. How to kill. The arrows could only do so much.

Kagome knew that for any kind of success, she needed control... something she obviously lacked. How many times had her own energy just burst out of her, leaving her drained to almost nothing? She needed to be able to control her powers even in frightening situations.

Another skill she knew she needed was the ability to channel her energy. Arrows were fine for long distance, but shooting someone from five feet away was a bit impractical. The thought just led to another, more daunting one: she needed to learn to use a weapon. Not just a miko's bow and arrow. No, those were for defensive fighting, to protect. What the priestess wanted now was to seek and destroy. She needed the tools of war. But who would teach a teenage miko to use a sword? She knew that even if she could find someone to agree, she would still need to learn to channel her reiki through the weapon. What swordsman toyed with things like that in his free time? There were so many questions, but one stood out in the front of her mind:

I need help... But from who?