"Ah... I don't know, Shippo. Being lazy sounds like a slice of heaven to me."

Stretched out on the plush grass, Kagome had her bare feet dipped into the slow moving brook, her tiny kitsune propped against her side. They had been moving nearly nonstop for three days, and her feet hurt something awful. She was at the water to gather some for lunch, but it felt so cool against her hands as she filled the bottles, and it was so hot, she couldn't resist basking in the much needed quiet. She knew Inuyasha would be along soon, yelling at her to hurry the hell up, that he was starving, but she didn't care. She needed a break from his voice and she was damn sure going to take it.

Shippo, going along with her, sighed as he played with his fingers looking at the brook a short moment before looking up at Kagome. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Kagome? I mean, Inuyasha has been in a pretty foul mood the past few days."

Dropping down to lay flat, Kagome groaned as she looked up at the sky. Wasn't that the truth? No one knew what was going on in his head, or why he was so pushy about the pace they moved. It was, for whatever reason, much worse than normal and even the Kami knew he wouldn't bestow on them the reason for it. All any of them knew was there was something going on with the self-proclaimed leader of their group, and not a one of them didn't suffer in some way for it.

Face taking on a slight glare, Kagome's mind, of its own volition, decided to dredge up the possibility that Kikyo was running around somewhere near, or at least in the direction they were heading. She always was, and Kagome doubted very much this time would be any different. It was only for the dead miko the hanyou became evasive and elusive with his answers to questions asked. It wasn't like they were following any Naraku leads at the moment. They were barely above aimlessly wandering the island at this point, which begged the question of...

Where was Inuyasha taking them?

This was mostly unfamiliar territory, and there had been no signs of anything that gave any clues as to what they were doing in the area. Hell, they hadn't passed a village or even an encampment in two days. There was absolutely no reason to keep moving in the same direction, and if they went much further, they were going to end up crossing into Sesshoumaru's lands. Truth be told on that account, no one wanted to deal with that on top of an already pissy Inuyasha.

Not only were they toeing dangerously close to the Western Lands and had no new leads on where to find Naraku, they had also zero prospect of any of the jewel shards, something that Inuyasha was very quick to blame on Kagome. It was 'her job' to find them, and 'her job' to basically know exactly where they were. More than once she had to swallow a 'what the fuck' when Inuyasha started on that particular tirade. How in the many levels of Hell was she supposed to just know where they were? They had to be within a certain distance, and Inuyasha knew it, but that didn't stop him from throwing in her face that his precious Kikyo would know where they were.

Like even.

If the dead bitch knew where they were, why didn't she have them in her possession already? Oh, that's right, she thought. She stole mine before she gave them to Naraku after she tried to kill me the first time.

Inuyasha was the only one that would give the dead Miko the benefit of the doubt anymore, while Sango was nearly ready to kill her on sight because the dead Miko had stepped up her own plans to either kill Inuyasha or get her hands on the rest of the soul she shared with Kagome, something the slayer was starting to take extreme exception to.

In truth, Kagome was getting pretty damn sick of the walking funeral urn. She felt she was entitled to life, entitled to whatever she wanted when in fact, all she was 'entitled' to was a peaceful afterlife. She absolutely was NOT entitled to Kagome's soul, at least in Kagome's opinion, and she was also not entitled to everything else the miko from the past thought she was. She was also not entitled to a second chance at life, and nothing anyone said would get Kagome to think otherwise. You got one chance. That was the way things were supposed to be. It might not have been Kikyo's fault she was brought back from the dead, but everything she has done since that day sure as hell was, and one day, she would again be judged, and Kagome knew, even if Kikyo wanted to overlook it, she was not looking at the same kind of afterlife she once had.

With a sigh, Kagome closed her eyes and forced herself to settle back down and refocus on the current peace and quiet. She knew it would do her no good to think about, or dwell, on Kikyo. The dead miko would continue to do what she wanted, to whom she wanted to do it, in her attempts to gain revenge. She was also sure that, eventually, she would be attacked by who she once was and give up what she was doing and search for much needed redemption.

Kagome pushed herself up on her elbows, a frown on her face in response to the last thought. Would she really? Kikyo may have been one of the most beloved, holy, and benevolent mikos of all times, but she was anything but what she used to be. If anything, she was the exact opposite of the person she once was. She was now hateful, evil, and maleficent, and that was being kind. Again, it might not necessarily be the dead miko's fault. There was a chance most of it had to do with the way she was returned from the dead, but there comes a time when your choices are nothing but your own, and Kikyo had been back now for over a year. Plenty of time had passed and she only seemed to have shifted her focus from Inuyasha to now mostly focusing on only Kagome and somehow getting her soul and power.

Frown deepening, Kagome shook her head and shifted her position, kneeling next to the brook to fill the water bottles. No matter what, her thoughts were always drawn to Kikyo, and it was truly starting to piss her off. It was like she couldn't get away from her, no matter what. Everything eventually led her to the her incarnation, and she was getting pretty fucking sick of it. She couldn't even enjoy a beautiful day anymore without the past rearing up and staring her in the face.

Closing the top of her sports bottle, Kagome set it down, dropping to sit on her ankles, and crossed her arms with a glare on her face. Why was it her thoughts always drifted back to Kikyo? For the longest time Kagome refused to acknowledge the face she was the elder's reincarnation, and refusing to allow anyone else to point it out. She wasn't Kikyo, and other than what would only be a passing resemblance, because to her they looked absolutely nothing alike, there was nothing they had in common. Was it because the witch used her to bring back Kikyo? Was it because they shared the same soul? Ever since she was brought back, even being nowhere near her, Kagome couldn't get away from Kikyo.

She had only just closed the screw on cap when Shippo's tail brushed her leg, startling her out of her thoughts, and made her drop her water bottle into the brook. It was with a giggle and shake of her head, she reached out to grab it, only for her fingers to hit it, pushing it further into the stream. From the bank, the water didn't appear to move that fast, but more toward the middle, there was apparently quite the current.

"Damn it." Running a hand down her face, Kagome shook her head and looked after her favorite water bottle, debating on whether or not it was worth going after. It did keep water colder longer than a regular bottle, and it was hot as Hell outside currently. It wasn't until it went over a short waterfall Kagome decided to go after it. After telling Shippo to fill the rest of the bottles, she walked toward the decline twenty feet away. She wasn't really in a hurry, and it wasn't like the bottle would vanish if she didn't run.

At the base of the hill, Kikyo waited. She had spent the last day trying to figure out how she was going to move on to the next phase of her plan, but was having one hell of a time when it came to how she was going to have her reincarnation ingest the blood of the wolf demon. Until she figured that out, there was no way she knew she could proceed with her plans.

When Kagome's water bottle appeared in front of her, it was like a gift from the Kami. She paused to look to the top of the hill before quickly wading into the water to retrieve the bottle. It did take her a moment to figure out how to open the strange water container, but when she did, she pulled the vial of blood from her sleeve and grinned as she looked at it. Though there was quite a large about of crimson liquid, it wouldn't take much of it. While not one to give credit to demons, Kikyo knew the blood donor actually had quite the powerful aura, which should have no problems whatsoever taking the place of the Riki Kikyo was determined to relieve Kagome of as soon as possible.

Popping the cork from the vial, Kikyo poured every last drop of blood into the water bottle before dropping the glass and screwing back on the lid. Shaking the container, she grinned as she made her way from the stream, tossing Kagome's bottle over her shoulder and back into the current. The more she had to move in this heat, the more she would drink when she finally got it back, and the sooner Kikyo could finish what the blood would start.