OMG! Thank you SO much my lovely, beautiful, AMAZING reviewers! SQUEEE! *hands you all a virtual cookie* Well, sorry for the delay. But here's chapter 3! Hope you enjoy!

NOTES BEFORE YOU READ: Umm... none that I can think of right now. XD Oh! For those who THINK Kagome forgot her yellow backpack, she'll be going back to get it in the next chapter. :D

Terms to know...
Youkai - Demon
Daiyoukai - Great Demon
Hanyou - Half Demon
Inu - Dog
Kitsune - Fox
Taijiya - Demon Slayer
Miko - Priestess

Disclaimer: *robot voice* I do not own Inuyasha or its characters. I only own my OC Kaze Hijikata and any OCs created along the way. Thank you. *bows*

Chapter 3-Annoying Introductions

-Inuyasha's Pack-
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out as she ran over and knelt down by the unconscious hanyou. Sango and Miroku quickly followed suit. Kaze, on the other-hand, followed at a more leisurely pace.

It didn't take her extra perceptive senses to feel Sesshomaru's glare burning into her back. However, the feeling didn't last as the Daiyoukai's gaze was drawn to a noisy Kappa who was insisting on the lord's attention. A moment later, the white-haired Inu bonked him on the head and vanished without a trace. Shrugging away the feeling that she'd be seeing him again soon, Kaze turned her attention back to Kagome and her friends; who were still fussing over Inuyasha.

"Don't worry you guys. Inuyasha'll be fine." the spiritualist assured the worried bunch. For with her senses, even if she had mostly blocked them for the time being, it was easy for her to tell that the hanyou sustained only minor injuries, "He's lucky that Youkai was taking it easy on him. I would've hated to see the results if that guy had been serious. Speaking of which, I wonder why he didn't take it seriously… What's that Sesshomaru's connection to Inuyasha anyways?"

The three stared at Kaze incredulously as the realization of the girl's statement slowly seeped in. As for Sango and Miroku, it was the first time that they'd even noticed the newcomer's presence due to all the commotion.

In the end, it was the taijiya, Sango, who finally broke the stunned silence. "That was Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands." The young woman stated, "He's Inuyasha's older half-brother. But, pardon my rudeness, who exactly are you?"

"Wait a minute, Sango." Miroku spoke out suddenly, "Remember? Kagome went back to her time to go and fetch her cousin, a spiritualist." Turning back to the said spiritualist he added, "Would you happen to be Kaze?"

"Yup!" Kaze replied with a friendly grin, "Well, he seems to be a nice guy. I bet him and I'll get along ju-"

The spiritualist's thoughts never even got a chance to finish when, suddenly, Miroku was holding her hands tightly, and quite intimately she might add, in his. Looking her straight in the eyes and with the most sincere face Kaze thought she'd ever seen, he asked, "My lovely Kaze, would you consider bearing my children?"

(A/N: Awww… SNAP!)

Several words flicked across Kaze's mind, and in the end, they finally managed to form out a single jumbled phrase, "Oh hell to the NO!"

Sango was already reaching back for her Hiraikotsu but it was too late. The lecherous monk was already sprawled out on the ground with a foot planted securely on the back of his head as an extremely pissed looking Kaze glared down threateningly at him.

"Ya wanna repeat that, ya damn pervert?" the raven-haired female hissed venomously at him; an aura of impending doom beginning to swirl around her.

"No, no," the lecherous monk quickly assured her, "I'd rather not."

"You sure about that?" the furious female growled.

"Quite, thank you." Miroku chuckled nervously, even though it sounded more like a muffled groan since his head was still smashed into the ground, "Umm… Sango! A little help here?!"

Sango, however, was currently too busy doubled over in laugher to assist the squashed being underneath Kaze's foot.

Kagome herself was having a hard time choking it down, but managed to do just that and talk some sense into her fuming cousin. "Kaze," she squeezed out in between giggles, "Miroku asks that of every new girl he meets. Don't take it to personal."

Kaze looked over and gave her cousin an 'are you freaking kidding me' look, before removing her foot from the monk's head and simply just settling with glowering at the violet-eyed young man.

Finally managing to put a lid on her laugher, Sango waited until Miroku righted himself before approaching the new comer and extending a friendly hand in welcome. "I'm Sango," the young taijiya introduced herself warmly, "and that pervert," she continued; shooting a glare at the monk, "is Miroku."

The spiritualist chuckled softly; her good mood quickly returning as she shook the taijiya's outstretched hand. "It's nice to meet'cha," Kaze replied cheerily; flashing a grin, "I'm Kagome's cousin Kaze. Kaze Hijikata."

-Sesshomaru's Pack-
"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin cried happily as she spotted the Daiyoukai enter their small, makeshift camp. Quickly climbing out of the river, the young child dashed over to stand in front of her lord. "Rin is so happy you've returned!" she continued with a brilliant smile.

"Indeed." The white-haired Inu replied calmly, though on the inside he was relieved to see that she was alright. Inclining his head down slightly, so as to look at his young ward, he asked, "I trust you've behaved?"

"Mmhmm! Ah, Un, and Rin have made sure to be on our very best behavior." She answered instantly.

"Hmn…" was the simple reply. For, seeing that Rin was safe, Sesshomaru's mind had one again begun pondering over the strange new female that had clearly joined Inuyasha's pack.

She was certainly different from all the others, that much was certain. For starters, all the others (excluding Inuyasha) held at least a decent amount of fear or the very least nervousness when in his presence. All creatures, except that fool Naraku, did for that fact. And yet, Sesshomaru hadn't been able to detect even the slightest sliver of fear, nervousness, or hesitance when she spoke to him; a feat that most Youkai wouldn't even be able to accomplish.

Secondly, her careful observations were surprising. The Daiyoukai had been extremely careful not to let on that he'd injured his left leg; courtesy of one of that fool Naraku's incarnations. All the same, the clever wench had not only spotted it but had dared to comment upon it as well!

And lastly, was her aura. This matter was probably the most confusing. Concealed as it might be, Sesshomaru had been able to sense a huge amount of spiritual power in the girl. And yet, it was very different from that of a miko. For unlike a miko, her spiritual aura neither flared nor showed any sign of aggression when close to a Youkai. Also, unlike Inuyasha's miko's aura which was pink, this strange female's aura was pure black! Sesshomaru had never seen a spiritual aura like hers before!

A low, annoyed growl escaped from the Daiyoukai's throat. As much as he hated it, he had questions that he wanted the answers to. This just wasn't something he could over look. For, as much as he hated to admit it and as much as she tried to hide it, the human wench was powerful. Not only that, but the power she possessed was unknown to him; a problem that would have to be solved. The growl ceased as a cruel smirk worked its way onto Sesshomaru's lips, "And solve it I shall…"

Jaken shrank back in fear when he saw his lord smirking. This definitely couldn't be good. "When my lord smiles like that it can only mean that someone's gonna die…" The Kappa wailed forlornly as sweat drops began pouring down his brow, "I'd really hate to be the person occupying my lord's thoughts at this moment."

-Inuyasha's Pack/Kaede's Hut-
"Hey Kagome," Shippo asked, looking worriedly over at the miko, "will Inuyasha be alright."

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll be just fine." Kagome replied encouragingly before walking over and seating herself beside her cousin, who was currently treating the injured hanyou.

A slightly awkward silence filled the room for a bit until the kitsune child finally walked over and, like Kagome, seated himself beside Kaze.

"So…" Shippo began, not quite sure on how to approach the newcomer, "you're Kaze, right?"

Kaze tried not to chuckle as she heard the nervousness in the kitsune's tone of voice. "Yup, you got it!" the raven-haired spiritualist replied, throwing a grin at the brown-haired child, "And you must be the mighty warrior of justice Shippo that I've heard so much about."

The compliment worked like a charm as all shyness flew out the window. "Indeed." The kit replied, proudly puffing out his chest, "But no need for flatteries. My acts of bravery and justice are just another part of my life as a noble warrior." (A/N: Haha! You can't help but love the little guy. XD)

Kaze bit the inside of her cheek to keep from outright laughing at the adorable kid. Because, somehow she knew he probably wouldn't appreciate that. "Well, it's nice to meet you." She replied instead; smiling softly at him, "I believe Kagome told me that you were a kitusne. Am I correct?"

"Yup!" Shippo replied cheerily, "I sure am!"

It was about this time that Sango and Miroku made their entrance and stepped into the small hut, followed by a bent-over old woman.

"Ah, Kagome." The old woman said with a gentle voice, "I see ye have returned."

"Uh, huh." The young miko replied with a smile, "We arrived just in time to watch Inuyasha and Lord Sesshomaru wrap up a fight. Inuyasha got pretty beat up. Would you mind taking a look at him, Kaede?"

"Of course, Child." Kaede agreed as she headed over to check on the hanyou, but paused in her step as she spotted Kaze already treating him. "We, Kagome?" she questioned; turning back to the midnight-haired miko.

Quickly realizing what the old woman meant, Kaze decided to answer for her cousin. "Yeah," the spiritualist spoke up, "I'm Kaze, Kagome's cousin. I accompanied her coming back through the well."

"Ah, so I see. It is a pleasure to meat ye, Kaze." The old miko spoke in a soft motherly tone. Seating herself beside the others, Kaede then began her examination of the inured Inu. "I must compliment ye on thy work." She said, inclining her head towards Kaze, "Ye have done an exceptional job in treating the pup."

"Thanks." The spiritualist replied in slight embarrassment as she scratched the back of her head sheepishly, for she wasn't really used to being complimented. Her master had been the kind of person who, no matter how good of a job Kaze did, seemed to pride himself in being able to point out all the flaws in her handiwork.

"Nnnn… What the hell?"

All eyes snapped back to the origin of the soft groan. "Inuyasha?" Kagome said softly; gently touching his shoulder.

Inuyasha blinked in a daze several times before allowing his eyes to settle on Kaze. "Who the hell is that?" he growled.

A slight tick appeared on Kaze's forehead. She was really starting to get tired of explaining who she was to everybody and it didn't help the fact that it seemed the hanyou was about as rude as rude could get.

Luckily, Kagome, sensing her cousin's growing annoyance, decided to answer in her stead, "That's Kaze. Remember? My cousin, the spiritualist, who I went back to ge-"

"THAT'S RIGHT! YOU RAN OFF AND LEFT!" Inuyasha suddenly yelled in fury; leaping up to his feet, "Damnit, Kagome! I told you we didn't need any more help in defeating Naraku! Besides, what the hell is some useless 'spiritualist' gonna do anyway?!"

This time, it was Kagome on whom the forehead tick appeared on. "Inuyasha, SI-"

"BIND!"

Suddenly, Inuyasha had fallen flat on the floor with what looked like a series of black tattooed chains wrapped around his body. All looked at the now furious Kaze in surprise.

"Okay, look here you arrogant little ass! Number one, NO ONE speaks to Kagome that way! GOT IT?! Number two, you dare call me useless again and I swear on stack of Bibles I'll make your life a LIVING HELL!" Kaze roared furiously before sitting back down and snapping out a not so subtle, "SIT!"

The small team gaped in shock as Inuyasha promptly slammed farther into the floor. "H-how the hell did you do that?!" the hanyou yelped in surprise; managing to lift his head out of the ground, "Kagome should be the only person who's able to use that command!"

"I'm a spiritualist you idiot!" the raven-haired girl scoffed at the perturbed Inu, "It was but a simple matter for me to tap into the rosary's power and gain its acceptance." The girl sighed softly before muttering a quiet, "Release."

Instantly, the black tattooed chains binding Inuyasha vanished. The hanyou grumbled quietly as he picked himself up off the floor, but decided against provoking the already thoroughly irritated female any more. Besides, he guessed it couldn't hurt to have another strong female, even if she was human, in his pack. "Keh, fine." he huffed reluctantly, "Since you seem to be pretty strong, I guess I don't mind if you stick around."

"Glad to hear it!" Kaze said; now grinning warmly at the gruff Youkai, "I look forward to working with ya!"

"Yeah." Inuyasha said slowly, a little taken aback by her sudden mood swing. Writing it off as a no bigee, he began to leave. Suddenly, he remembered just who had injured him in the first place. Whirling around, he glared at his pack with a look of pure rage, "WHERE THE HELL IS SESSHOMARU?!"

Well, Kaze's definitely managed to catch his High Fluffyness's attention. But the question is, in a good or a bad way? LOL! Guess you'll just have to wait and see! ;) Hope you enjoyed. Please fav, follow, review! Until next time!

Rock Out!
Kira