I IS BACK!

And, after reading a comment in my reviews, I finally realized my mistake in the last chapter!

I was rushing through and not going back to correct some thing that should of been corrected. And I am here now, asking for all of ya'll's apologies!

Also, somethings were pointed out that were true and I thank you for pointing them out! ^_^ I'm going to slow down and try and explain everything as best as I can! ;)

^,..,^

Enjoy Chapter 3!

The following morning, the gang had woken up to the bright morning sun shining through the cracks in their door. Kagome sat up, stretching. She looked down and realized the Inuyasha's cloth of the fire rat was drapped around her like a blanket, making her very toasty. She blushed faintly, looking over to the left at the white haired half demon, who was asleep sitting upright against the wall. Tetsaiga was positioned over his right shoulder and his hand was held firmly on the sheath.

Kagome thought he looked truely peaceful. She quickly averted her brown eyes when his gloden pupils showed themselves and slowly gazed at her. She did look back when he yawned and stretched his arms over his head. Kagome blushed a bit more; Inuyasha was unknowingly showing off.

Inuyasha blinked a couple of times. "Good morning, Kagome." he greeted, wanting to try and start off on the right foot today.

"Morning to you too, Inuyasha," the raven-haired girl returned the favor, also wanting the same thing.

He bit his lower lip. "Listen, Kagome..." She turned to him, having started to get up. "Uh...I'm sorry for hitting Hojo the other day...I dont know what came over me..."

Kagome blinked, not believing what she was hearing. "I-it's alright Inuyasha. I'm not mad anymore."

The hanyou bit his lower lip. "I'm also sorry that you hit your little brother, that was kind of my fault. He wanted to feed a couple of chicks up in a tree, because the mother abandoned them. And when I realized that you were to come home, I forgot him up there."

Never did Kagome Higurashi think she would hear Inuyasha apologize to her, now here she was. "Uh..." she blushed red a bit. "It's alright now, Inuyasha."

Both of them were now standing in the middle of the room. Kagome looked up at him, her brown eyes shining and his robe in her hands. Inuyasha looked down at her, his eyes going soft as a small smile made its way on his lips. With out them realizing it, they began to lean closer to each other, just barely with in a few centimeters away from each other's lips.

"Kagome," Inuyasha whispered, cupping her warm cheeks in his clawed hands, his eyes slowly closing.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome breathed as she slowly began to stand on her tip toes till their foreheads touched. Only 1/2 half a centimeter away were their lips.

Before they could kiss, however, Inuyasha heard a small cough from over by the others. Inuyasha quickly turned to the other three, glaring at them for spying. Kagome looked away, her whole face turning red from embarrasment.

Miroku looked amused. "Please, dont mind us..."

The demon slayer giggled, winking at Kagome. "Do continue."

Shippo was cracking up with laughter, not believing that those two were about to kiss. Kirara meewed, sitting next to Sango, who was now holding back laughter. Miroku was chuckling. "Ah...young love..." he teased.

The priestess and the half demon turned from each other, taking a few steps back from the other. Just as that hppened, the door slowly opened, revealing the monk Resuruki. "Are you all ready to go?"

All of them nodded, getting up and following the old monk.

~An hour later~

Kagome sat down on a rock a few yards from the cave, legs sore from climbing up the the steep and tretcherous cliff side. "I swear...I really need to get into shape." She looked down the cliff, feeling a bit humiliated at the fact they only climbed about 4 stories worth of climbing and 1/4 of a mile hike to the mountain. She felt fat.

"It's not just you," Sango muttered as she leapt onto the cliff and sat next to Kagome. "It seems the demonic pressure on this cliff was making it hard for all of us to get up here. Look, even Inuyasha is affected by this." Kagome looked over at Inuyasha as his hand was finally visible and grabbed the ledge of the cliff, hoisting himself and the old monk up. He was panting and his hair seemed to have a lot of fly away's. Kagome giggled.

Resuruki hopped off Inyasha's back. "Thank you so very much, young man, for carrying me up here after my shoe had snapped." he waved his broken shoe in Inuyasha's face.

"Y-yeah....sure...," Inuyasha muttered, laying down on the ground, panting. He wanted to say a witty remark about the old man, but he refrained himself. He didn't want to upset Kagome.

Miroku then climbed up, carring a passed out Shippo and Kirara. "It's amazing on the demonic pressure here." He turned to the old monk. "Are you sure your lady is a friendly demon?"

He nodded. "Oh yes, indeed!" he motioned for them to follow. "Come. She is in here."

The gang slowly got their feet, following Resuruki. Kagome was excited that she was able to finally meet Izuna!

They didn't go far before Resuruki stopped dead in his tracks, making Inuyasha bump into him. Then Kagome bumped into Inuyasha, then Sango into Kagome, and then finally, Miroku into Sango. The gang blinked rapidly at the sudden stop, pushing off of each other. "What's the deal, old man?" Inuyasha demanded, growing a bit angry.

Resuruki did not answer. A aura of dispair and sadness surrounded him, confusing the dog demon. Before Kagome could ask what was wrong, the old monk pointed to the back of the cave, which was only 3 yards a head of them.

As 4 pairs of curious eyes looked ahead of the old monk, all of them had confused expressions as they stared at a shrine, covered in array of beautiful flowers, some already wilting, while others looked very fresh. In the cave wall, where the shrine was located, was a long 5 foot arrow deeply embeded into the rock. Faint stains of what looked like dried blood was still visible along the wall. A small gold charm, with a written spell on it, hung from the butt of the arrow, where the purple feathers were still attached. And finally, a small gold bell hung off from the charm, faintly audible.

"Uh," The poor confused Inuyasha finally broke the silence. "Pretty shrine and all, but where's Izuna?"

The monk slowly wiped a tear away from his dull grey eyes. "She is here." he pointed to the shrine with an old boney finger.

"Oh my god, " Kagome gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. This whole time, Kagome had thought that she was alive, especially by the way the people of the village had described her as if they had seen her just yesterday. Now she understood everything.

Sango had a hand over her heart, completely shocked. "Do you mean to tell us that your lady is dead, Monk Resuruki?"

He nodded. "She has been dead for 200 years. Our people miss her terribly. Even though none of us were alive during the time of her reign, we are all entitled to her generosity for placing us in this wonderful, peaceful land and saving us in the time of war." he sighed. "And for that, we still honor her."

Miroku closed his eyes, sighing deeply. "I am terribly sorry for your lose, Resuruki." He paused, unsure if he wanted to ask the next thing. But he got the courage finally and asked. "Would you please be so kind as in to tell us the cause of her untimely death?"

"Yes," Resuruki muttered grimly, turning on his heels, walking towards the cave. "But not here." he bekoned them to follow with his finger. "Come. I will tell you all the story of the black cat's star-crossed love..."

I think I did a lot better than the last chapter!

:D

Let me know what you all think now!

X3

-Motoko