Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but I do own this idea.

Terminology

People/Names
Yougisha –honorific for a criminal suspect
Jukeisha – honorific for a convict/offender
Reibai – spirit medium, "ghost-whisperer"
Youkaihanta – ghost buster, spirit hunter
Zashiki-warashi – child ghosts; not a threat
Ningen – human being, mortal
Gekkahyoujin – matchmaker, cupid

Things
Youki – typical demonic or youkai energy/aura
Jyaki – wicked demonic or youkai energy/aura
Goshinboku – sacred tree found on shrine grounds
Hakama – traditional Japanese pants bloused at the ankles (Inu's red pants)
Suikan – Japanese hunting jacket with squared shoulders and wide sleeves (Inu's red shirt)

SOULMATE:
YOU'RE A SOUL YET I'M YOUR MATE?

3: The Kitsune Next-Door

"An autobiography is the story of
how a man thinks he lived."

—Herbert Samuel

Okay, this is probably the weirdest thing I've encountered: a bipolar yuurei-inu-hanyou beating the crap out of a young yuurei-kitsune.

By gods, kill me now.

I watch from the entrance of the now-abandoned house as the two ghosts carry on, yelling and swiping at each other. Or, more like it, the kitsune crying out in pain as the hanyou completely wails on him. Obviously, these youkai aren't a threat; if they were, I would've already sent their asses back to one of the eight hells. Besides what occurred last night, I sense no jyaki; these guys are purely youki—and only demons with jyaki get their asses kicked.

Speaking of which, why did I let the hanyou survive again?

"I SWEAR!" the fox demon bawls. "I DIDN'T EVEN SEE HER COME BY, I DIDN'T!"

"Keh, you stupid whelp," the guy mutters, picking him up by his tail. "I told you if a hunter or miko or anything of any sort of suspicious behavior went by your house, you should fuckin' tell me!"

Apparently, these two are acquainted with each other. Yes, I noticed it before, but now, I have obvious proof. For a moment, I wonder why this guy wants warnings for when supernatural beings are nearing the shrine. But I shrug it off when he growls, "DO YOU KNOW HOW FUCKING WEIRD IT IS TO WAKE UP BESIDE A STUPID BITCH MIKO WHO HASN'T EVER HEARD OF FUCKING PERSONAL SPACE?"

Ouch. Well… That wasn't nice at all.

Despite my better judgment, I feel my anger fume as the kitsune struggles in the guy's grasp. Then said hanyou collapses and begins choking.

On air.

Now, I know I'm just a demon slayer, ghost whisperer, and matchmaker, but I'm pretty sure that is extremely out of the norm. It's probably even weirder that he's holding his neck as if he really is choking.

"Can't stand cinnamon, can you?" the fox tsks, shaking his head.

The hanyou's helpless as he continues choking. The doctor in me automatically comes out as I rush over to him, all traces of anger gone. Remembering the first step to CPR, I ask, "CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

Or is that the Heimlich maneuver? Or am I supposed to do that if they aren't staring at me, making it obvious that they're conscious? Jeez, I wanna be a doctor, not a freakin' ER helper—I wouldn't know.

I think from the way his golden orbs stab me, he's fine now. I snap, "You idiot! You were faking it, weren't you?"

"NO!" he yells, and for some reason, I have the strongest urge to roll my eyes. "I'm allergic to cinnamon!"

"Where is the cinnamon?" I demand.

"You're the cinnamon!"

I blink. Then my eyebrows furrow. "What?"

"Everyone has distinct scents depending on what mood they're in," he huffs, swiping off imaginary dust on his hakama. "When you're pissed, yours is cinnamon. I'm allergic to cinnamon."

"Then don't get me pissed," I conclude smartly. "And stop beating the crap out of this poor child!" Seeing me now as his ally, said youkai races over to me, cowering behind my legs as he literally glues onto me.

Oh, great. Now I have an admirer.

"Please don't let him kill me!" the kitsune implores, his grasp tightening on my leg. I think he doesn't realize how much his demon hold on my human leg hurts, but I ignore the pain—something I've grown quite used to.

"Keh, I've never killed ya before, and I ain't startin' now," the hanyou insists, but doesn't step toward us. What? Is he afraid of me now?

I pay attention to the child with a death grip. "My name's Kagome. What's yours?"

"Shippou," he whimpers.

"And how did you die?"

"I haven't."

Oh, it's a kid in denial. Probably a zashiki-warashi. "You haven't?" I echo, acting stunned. He confirms with a nod of his head. "Then why are you a spirit? How did you get here?"

The hanyou huffs, clearly pissed that he's being ignored, but Shippou overlooks him. That's when I notice that not only is the hanyou in Feudal Japan garb, but so is the kitsune. Shippou begins, "I was, um…real back in the period of time that humans call the Warring States era. I didn't know my mother all that well, but my father taught me all he knew about fox magic and fire. I remember, during one of my training sessions, two greedy demons of the area came across us. They were called the Thunder Brothers, Hiten and Manten. Having the powers of lightning and thunder, they killed my father and took him as a pelt. I managed to get away with many scars, but I went back for more, planning to avenge my father's death." At this, his pained gaze begins focusing on the ground. "I don't know how it happened, but I do know that I didn't stand a chance, that they chopped off every part of my body except for vital organs and my head. I was unconscious from there on out, just a spirit watching my body recover."

"Where's your body now?" I ask, crouching down to his level. He loosens his grip on my leg only to tackle my torso with his arms. Great.

"I stayed in the forest for a while, and it takes a long time for kid youkai to recover from injuries like that," he tells me, probably in the process of answering my question, "so I wasn't gonna get better anytime soon. But then Kikyou and Inuyasha—"

"Kikyou and Inuyasha?" I question as the hanyou stiffens.

"Yeah!" Shippou says excitedly. "Inuyasha's right there, and Kikyou—"

"Died," the hanyou, or Inuyasha, states. "She's dead, so drop it, you fucking runt."

"Language," I hiss. Besides, they're all dead—except Shippou, apparently, and possibly Inuyasha. Then, realizing how uncomfortable the hanyou is with the topic of this Kikyou, I murmur, "So, who's Kikyou, Inuyasha?"

"None of your fucking business!" Inuyasha snaps at the same time Shippou cheers, "She was a miko, and she and Inuyasha were—"

Thump. I'm guessing it's hanyou speed that's got Inuyasha right behind me, banging his fist against Shippou's head, cutting him off. "HEY, ASSHOLE!" I yell, pushing him away from the little kid. I scoop the abused child into my arms, narrowing my eyes at the hanyou. Inuyasha just huffs before tucking his arms into his suikan, which he's put back on, and plopping down on the ground. I turn to the panicked kitsune in my arms and manage a smile. "So, continue your story. What did Inuyasha and Kikyou do?"

"They were travelling together when they found my body. They took me back to their village and made sure I was safe," Shippou informs me. That's when it hits me: the old man, Jii-chan, never talked about the miko and hanyou knowing each other personally. But they must've been friends or something if they were traveling together. It would also explain why Inuyasha doesn't like talking about her; she did pin him to a tree, after all. Shippou goes on, "Of course, by then I was just following my body around. Inuyasha and Kikyou didn't know about my spirit until they died themselves, though." I wonder how that happened, and where Kikyou is now if she's, too, a spirit. "They didn't think I'd make it, but my body's still here, so—"

"Where?" I ask again, suddenly curious of this entire situation. Possible out-of-body experiences are really interesting, especially when they involve youkai.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Inuyasha growls, automatically back up on his legs. He still doesn't approach me, though, as if he thinks I really will harm him. I guess he hasn't caught on that I've not made any attempts at killing him—just knocking him out and drawing blood.

Those are big differences, right?

I frown. "I wanna help Shippou out. What's your problem?"

"YOU'RE GONNA PURIFY OUR ASSES AT ANY MOMENT!" he yells, taking what must be an unconscious step towards us. I smirk inwardly as I find a solution to make them trust me—because they should, gods-dammit. I play dumb and give him a confused look. He growls, "You're a fuckin' miko, and they ain't ever gonna do anything good for us demons!"

"Half-demon," I correct nonchalantly. "You are a half-demon."

He steps closer, and I can see my imaginary smile grow wider. "Miko are fuckin' annoying, and they're fuckin' traitors. They can't be trusted, so let the whelp go before you kill him like you've done other demons! At that, you're gonna force us to move on when we're not even dead!"

Oh, so he isn't dead? Great to know. Really. But I need to get this kid's body to a better place, since yuurei—or I guess disembodied souls, in this case—can't touch physical objects so easily unless the "objects" are people who can see them.

Also, this guy is very opinionated. It's really getting on my nerves. I say, "Yeah, I'm a miko. Yes, I exterminate demons and help ghosts move on. And you're right when you say I can purify you and force you into the next world. But I'm not doing any of that, am I? I can sense whether supernatural beings like yuurei and youkai are evil, and besides when you had your little episode last night, I sensed no jyaki—only good ol' youki. And even when you were whatever last night, I still didn't kill you 'cause I believed I shouldn't, that you were really a good guy who was possessed or something. Right now, I wanna see this kid's body's condition before I move it to a healthier place and see if my medical expertise can help him some. But since you're so bent out on being a complete asshole, I don't have to help at all. Doesn't mean I'll kill you guys, though, really, you big moron."

That was the longest speech I've ever given. Wow.

Inuyasha seems taken aback some, because he sits down on the floor with a serious face, all the while holding his breath to probably block out my angered cinnamon scent.

Then Shippou announces, "You just got pwned."

Well.

I can't help laughing after hearing that. Between my giggles, I ask, "How do you even know that term, Shippou?"

His face suddenly drops. "Some of the people who lived here said it."

I hate his pained expression. I suggest, "Tell me where your body is. We'll talk on the way there." Shippou nods, and informs me that it's in the basement. As I begin walking, I question, "Why did those people seem so panicked yesterday?"

His eyes glue themselves to the creaking floor. "I…I played with them." I tilt my head to the side, showing I don't understand as I scan the slightly ajar doors for one that has stairs leading downwards. He further explains, "I'm a fox demon, so I typically like to use my fox powers for tricks and such. But they didn't like my tricks."

Oh, so even though the people can't see him, they can still see his fox magic. His voice had hit a lower octave, though, so I try to brighten him up. "Well, they just couldn't see you, Ship." He perks at the new nickname, so I know I've at least got him feeling a little better. "They thought you were a bad guy; they were the ones who were clueless that you just wanted some friends." I smile, and he returns it. Then I notice the footsteps behind us, and mutter, "Speaking of which…" I turn to Inuyasha, who stops abruptly when he notices that I've realized he was following us. "You're his friend, aren't you? If so, why don't you play with him?"

"Keh" is the only answer I get. Shippou rolls his eyes, and whispers in my ear that Inuyasha's too busy sleeping his days away to pay attention to even attractive girls passing by the shrine. I smirk at that, and Inuyasha growls, probably overhearing with those dog ears of his. He says, "I may sleep a ton, but that ain't the reason why we don't 'play'." I raise an eyebrow before I continue scanning doors. "I…know…play…him…"

"Hm?" I hum, peaking through the cracks. "I couldn't hear you, Inuyasha."

"I don't know…play…"

"What?"

"I don't know how to play with him, okay?" he snaps, and I actually stop in my tracks because I'm so surprised. That's really why he won't play with this poor kid? Because he didn't even have the decency to ask Shippou, "Hey, kid, what would you like to do today?" Apparently, not only is the hanyou bipolar, but also incredibly stupid.

Not that I didn't catch on to that before.

I just shake my head as I spot the stairwell. Even though it looks unsafe, I shrug, set down Shippou, and tell him to wait there. Then I take the first step, only wincing slightly when I hear an old wood panel crack. Oh, well; no turning back now! I shrug lightly again, then take another step.

And that's when the entire wooden piece breaks and I fall through.

Or, I should've, but clawed hands grip my outstretched arms before that happens.

I look up and see Inuyasha's furious expression. "You stupid wench," he snaps. "You tryin' to commit suicide, or are you onto somethin'?"

"If I was onto something," I jeer, "you'd be dead for real. Now, let me fall. I gotta get Shippou's body."

"You really are stupid," he huffs. "It's been fine for five centuries. Ain't nothin' gonna happen to it."

"You suck at grammar," I comment. "But haven't you realized that if he's been healing for five effin' centuries, that something's wrong? Full-youkai can heal from stab wounds in a few hours. Even if Shippou was damaged as much as he was, he should've healed within a decade or two. Now, let me go so I can go check on his body."

Inuyasha's face twists up. "No."

"Inuyasha," I hiss, making sure his name comes out smooth. "His body could have infections, diseases, other damages. As an inspiring doctor, I need to go check them out. It'll be best for him."

He stares at me for a moment before sighing. "You're insane."

I get a little irritated, though it must not be enough to make me smell like cinnamon and knock Inuyasha out. "And you're disobedient!" I snap. "Aren't dogs supposed to obey their owners?"

"DOG?" he nearly screeches. "Bitch, I'm a fuckin' inu-youkai!"

"Hanyou," I cough in correction. He growls in his chest, and lets me go. Luckily, my arms stop me from falling completely.

His irritation's evident in his voice, though his sincere concern clouds it. "Just don't do anything to hurt him, okay?" he whispers.

Says the man with a violent fist. I roll my eyes, but comply anyways as I pull myself out of the broken step and stand back up again. I cautiously avoid any weak panels before I reach the fifth—

And fall again. Luckily, I don't fall through, but hit my head on another step.

Then I black out, because that's just my luck.

/~\*/~\*/~\*/~\*/~\

I should probably explain the whole thing about yuurei, reibai, and items ghosts normally can't touch unless they train themselves to—which the training is so shockingly painful, many choose not to go through with it. Anyways, when a ghost whisperer such as myself—or some powerful spiritual beings, taijiya, and psychics—place an un-ghostly object on a ghost, one that they can touch at all times, such as a bracelet, they are then able to touch some real objects, like floors, walls, tables, beds, chairs, and other surfaces. They can also touch small things like paper, buttons, and anything less remotely light; they can even grab a bracelet and place it on another ghost so that they can have the same abilities they now do. However, they cannot even think about carrying objects higher than twenty pounds, like heavy books or normal people.

Which is why I'm not surprised when I wake up in my room and see Inuyasha sitting on my windowsill, reading a little green book, whispering something, while Shippou lies down next to me, staring at me straight in the face. "Good morning!" he cheers, causing Inuyasha to look up from the book. Then after we make eye-contact, the bipolar hanyou turns back to the book, which kind of looks familiar, but through my groggy mind, I can't recognize. "Do you feel better?"

"I felt bad?" I ask, sitting up and stretching before I feel a twinge in my temple. Oh, right— I hit my head. Gods, that hurts like a bitch. "Ow," I murmur. "So, I apparently went unconscious?" Shippou nods. "Great." Then, less sarcastically and more remorseful, I sigh, "I'm sorry, Ship." He still beams at the nickname. "I'll try to get your body later, okay?"

"But I don't wanna get you hurt!" he insists, popping onto my lap. It makes my face break out into a grin. "Really, 'Gome"—hooray, I have a nickname, too—"just let Doctor Shippou do his work."

I laugh. "I'm the one wanting to go into medical school, you whacked-up fox." He sticks out his tongue at me, and I smirk before my eyes land on the book in Inuyasha's hands. Then I feel kind of panicky. "Why are you reading that?" I question.

He shrugs coolly. "I got bored."

"But why must you read my journal?" I query once more. It's that book I've used to write the recordings of my supernatural (and natural) activities ever since I finally realized just what I could do. It even has an entry where I go on about Kotatsu Jukeisha, and where I had to move because I'm now a yougisha—not to mention my talk with Yue-Laou, which I was lucky enough to write about before we reached the shrine. I reach out for it, but he narrowly avoids letting go. "Hey, asshole! Not cool!"

He ignores my yells as his whispering, which I've now realized was him reading to Shippou, stops. He says, "Hope you know that we've deemed you as a good guy."

"No, I did, but you said you needed evidence, thus you read her—" Inuyasha bonks Shippou on the head before he can continue, and just mutters "evidence".

Weirdoes. "Well, it's so great you know about my entire life story," I sing, even though I really want to strangle him for reading something so private. Hecks, I wasn't even able to write about what's happened since I arrived at the shrine. "Now—"

"You really do wanna help people, don't you?" Inuyasha asks, and I sigh before nodding my head. Then I reach out for it again, only to whimper when he pulls it away. "Why?"

"I made a promise," I murmur, happy that I didn't write about the car accident in there.

"How are you able to see ghosts and red strings?" Shippou asks, confirming my statement that they know a lot about me. I tell him I had a near-death experience, and that I was, for some reason, chosen to be this century's matchmaker by the old, supposed-folktale character Yue-Laou himself. Shippou just listens intently on my lap, and when I'm done, he exhales. "Wow, you're really busy a lot, aren't you?"

"Sadly," I sigh depressingly. "Between hunting down evil youkai, yuurei-gone-bad, and bringing soul mates together, I don't know how I have enough time for work and school." Shippou then gives me a blank look at the words work and school, so I have to explain to him how this century's society is compared to his own.

I don't know how long we're in my room, but we talk about the differences between now and the feudal era, me being the first to truly educate them on the modern-day world since I am apparently the only miko, taijiya, reibai, youkaihanta, gekkahyoujin, schoolgirl, and aspiring doctor they've ever met.

Have I mentioned how many titles I have? Just wondering.

I learn a little bit about them, but not a lot. It was around lunchtime when I woke up, and now it's hitting three o'clock. My stomach growls, and I groan at my foodlessness. Luckily, around that time, Souta and Tsuyu come to pay me a visit.

Oh, joy.

"Kagome!" Tsuyu calls at the same time Souta shouts, "Nee-chan!" They both step into the room, unaware of my visitors, and Tsuyu hugs me tight. "Where were you?" she asks. "I walked into your room to tell you about breakfast, but you weren't there, and when I came back to bring you down to lunch, you were asleep."

I glance at Inuyasha and Shippou and decide it won't matter if she knows about them. I ignore Inuyasha's growls as I explain, "If you didn't notice, I was attacked last night, but he turned out to be under some sort of spell, so I took him up to my room to heal. Then he escaped, so I followed him next door, and blah, blah, blah, I'm doing my job and was just talking with my newfound friends about my job and suckish life."

Tsuyu just nods. She doesn't question my strangeness anymore. "Well, dinner will be ready soon, and once that's done, I'll be heading back to Kyoto. Oji-chan has your and Souta's school things—uniforms, supplies—downstairs, so you'll be attending your new schools tomorrow."

I repeat: Oh, joy. Gosh, I hate Sundays—which is today. Just so you know.

"I'm helping Jii-chan with some boxes," Souta tells me, "but he needs some things dusted. We need someone to dust, and if your, uh, ghost-demon friends don't mind…"

"All right," I say, getting up. I turn back to the said youkai (and hanyou), and point a watchful finger at them. "Stay on the shrine grounds," I tell them. "Ship, when I'm done, we'll be looking for your body again."

"Ship?" Souta questions as Tsuyu gasps, "Body?"

Great. She thinks I'm discussing murder. "No, no," I stumble. "These two are having out-of-body experiences. That means their bodies are inaccessible right now, so their souls are just wandering around as their bodies until they can actually return to their original—"

After seeing everyone's blank looks, I just stop. There's not much left to say when everybody doesn't understand what you're saying.

I leave and do whatever it is that Jii-chan wants, eating sometimes while working my butt off. We still haven't heard from Tenseiga Hospital about my possible job as a nurse, but that isn't always a bad thing. I look through my school info, reading about my homeroom and things before glancing at the slutty green and white outfit. I decide it would be best to avoid it until I'm forced to wear the thing, so I keep my distance as I clean the house, which Jii-chan probably hasn't done in all of his four lifetimes. (Because that's how old he is; I'm sure of it. You have to be really old to be senile, so…)

After taking a shower, I return to my room only to find the idiot and kid are long gone, which was expected if the hanyou was around; it's evident the guy's rebellious and a total butthole. Their auras have faded, which means they left awhile back and not recently—which means who knows what they're up to. I pop my head out the window and stare at Goshinboku, where a familiar red and white figure sleeps on one of the higher-up branches. If Inuyasha's relaxing—probably asleep—then Shippou must've gone back to that one house to keep an eye on his body. I sigh, realizing they really don't want me to go back to find his body again. But why? Why can't I just do my job without any interruptions?

I sigh again—it's a habit—and begin removing all of my weapons, placing them inside drawers of my desk. For extra protection, I label the drawers Female Products. I don't think any man would have the nerve to check in them after reading that. I tuck my journal—my mistreated, violated journal—into my mattress after writing about all that's happened in my life since the last entry. Then, after some more preparations for getting ready for bed, I go to bed, which is kind of essential after you're done getting ready for bed (again).

I close my eyes and let the now-lessening full moon shine through my window freely. Hopefully, tomorrow won't be as busy as the last few days have been. But no, it's obvious things can never go my way. Because I have a gut feeling that only more crap will occur on my first day of school. With any luck, my brain won't explode by nightfall.

A/N: Shippou enters from right stage…and I edited this and the last two chapters in March of 2011… *drum roll*