A/N: INUYASHA IS IN THIS CHAPTER! Yeah, he makes his first appearance, sorry it took me so long to work him into the story. Anywho, thank you so much for your wonderful reviews (yes, I take the time to read them all) and please keep them coming:)

DISCLAIMER- Gah, i think I forgot to put this in again! BAKA:hits self on head: Ok, I don't own Inuyasha or anything to do w/ it, blah blah blah the usual dealies

CHAPTER FOUR: Enter Inuyasha!

Kagome stripped off her clothes then sank into the hot spring with a deep sigh of contentment. True, she was in pain from the long climb, especially since she now had numerous gashes on her legs from climbing and the hot water stung them. Wincing a bit, she began to wash off the dirt on her body, completely unaware of the intruder coming near through the trees.

The white-haired hanyou made his way through the forest, cursing under his breath as the branches clawed at his face and hands. He would've normally lept from tree to tree, but what he was searching for was sure to be on the ground. Besides, he'd only draw attention to himself that way. Feeling rather irritated, he plopped down on a rock and began to sniff the air. Being half dog demon, his sense of smell was much keener than a human's.

"In the Forest of Night...that's what they told me...but I can't sense anything!" he muttered angrily. Smelling spring water, he decided to follow the scent. "I could do with a quick bath after all."

As he neared the spring, he began to feel a strange power. He couldn't put his finger on where he had felt the power before, but for some reason he knew it wasn't a threat. Shrugging it off, he continued on to the spring. As the spring came into view, he stopped dead. A girl was standing in the spring, completely naked. Inuyasha felt his face heat up, and quickly dived behind a rock. He waited for the girl to scream, but she never did. Inuyasha might have been part demon, but he was, after all, part human too, so he did have a semi-perverted side. Deciding to risk another peek, he slowly turned his head around the rock, only to get hit smack in the forehead by a smaller rock.

"Damnit, that stupid rock hurt my back," he heard the girl mutter as he rubbed his forehead angrily. Feeling quite resentful toward her, he slunk off into the forest to resume his search.

Meanwhile, Kagome was still unaware that the hanyou had seen her, so she continued to relax in the spring. After a while she remembered that she had to be back for the celebration soon, so she pulled herself out of the spring, dried off, and got dressed. That's when she smelled an unfamiliar scent. Having grown up with wolves, her sense of smell was far keener than a normal human's.

"What is it?" she wondered aloud, sniffing the air again and trying to figure out what the scent was. Shrugging it off, she strapped on her furs and wrapped some bandages around the wounds. Feeling much better, she then set off at a quick pace back to the cave.

That night the whole wolf pack celebrated with Kagome's accomplishment. Kagome had never had such a party before, and enjoyed it immensely. Even Ayame enjoyed it, and danced with Amaru. Kagome noticed that Koga seemed in a rather good mood too, for he seemed to ignore Ayame and Amaru. In fact, she got the feeling that the only one he was actually paying attention to was herself. Unfortunately, she was soon to find out why. After a while, Koga pulled her aside, away from the other partying wolf demons, to speak with her.

"Now that you've completed your training, you're an official member of our pack," he explained as Kagome sat down nervously on a rock.

"Oh," was all she said.

"I've watched you grow up, Kagome," he continued, staring at her, "and you've grown up to be very beautiful indeed. And so, this brings me to my proposal-" He got down on one knee and took her hands in his. "Kagome, you are going to become my mate."

Not really a proposal, is it? Kagome thought. Her heart was pounding way too fast. She knew this was inevitable, but she hadn't really planned out what she would do. Truthfully, she despised Koga and couldn't stand being around him, much less being his mate for the rest of her life. Why me?

"We'll mate tomorrow, so be ready for the ceremony," he said as he returned to the party, leaving a depressed Kagome.

I'll have to run away again, there's nothing for it, she thought. Getting to her feet, she went back to the party to find Ayame. Pulling her friend aside, she explained what Koga had said.

"I knew it...so you want to run away? Well it won't be easy, but I s'pose we better try, right?"

"Yes. I'm counting on you to help me, Ayame."

Her friend nodded. "Well it'll have to be tonight then. I'll talk to Amaru about it as well. Don't worry, Kagome. I'll see that you never marry Koga if it's the last thing I do!"

Later that night, Ayame stood outside with her back pressed against the cave wall and a sling shot in her hand. She watched as the night guards moved about, talking quietly to each other and laughing. Some of them were drunk, but not all of them, so Ayame knew that this absolutely had to work. Readying her sling shot with a magical marble-like ball, she moved in closer to the men.

Please work, she thought as she swung the sling over her head and sent the ball flying towards the guards. There was a flash of white fire and a large lion-like demon appeared. Knowing that the guards would be distracted sealing the demon, Ayame made her way quickly back to Kagome, who was hiding in the bushes and all ready to go.

"Where will you go?" Ayame asked.

"I dunno, probably far away from here though. Don't worry, I'll come back for you some day." The two friends then hugged each other tight, quite reluctant to part, though they knew that their time was limited. Ayame reached to her side and untied a pouch that always hung there. She then put it in Kagome's hands and smiled.

"These are all the jewel shards the wolf clan has ever collected. Koga made me keep them because he knew that it'd be the last place anyone would look. I give them to you now, knowing you'll put them to better use." Kagome opened the pouch and was amazed at the hundreds of glowing shards that it contained.

"Koga will kill you if he finds out you gave them away!"

Ayame just smiled again and shook her head. "I feared Koga once, but not anymore. He can do whatever he wants to me, but I'll be happy knowing that you possess the shards. Now go, Kagome, and be free!" Placing the pouch into her bag, Kagome gave Ayame one last watery smile, then dashed off into the forest.

"I'll miss you, Ayame," Kagome said to herself as she dashed quickly and quietly through the trees. Suddenly, a figure darted into her path, causing her to come to a sudden stop.

"Going some where, Kagome?" the figure asked. Stepping into the moonlight, Kagome was relieved to see that it was Amaru.

"Yes, I am actually," she answered. Amaru smiled and stepped aside.

"Then go, by all means."

Kagome nodded, then walked past him. When she was a few feet away, she turned back and said "Take care of Ayame." Amaru nodded, grinned, and turned to go back. Smiling, Kagome resumed her journey. I hope Koga doesn't harm Ayame, she thought to herself as she lept over a log. He won't, I'm sure of it...but still, I wouldn't put it past him. Kagome, lost in her thoughts, had not really been paying attention to where she was going, so she didn't see the figure standing ahead of her until she ran smack into him. She gave a soft "oh" and fell backwards to the ground.

"Who the hell are you?" a voice she didn't recognize asked. It was an arrogant, tough kind of voice, probably of an arrogant and tough person. Looking up, she gasped at who it was.

FLASHBACK

Eight-year-old Kagome stood on the river bank, filling a jug of water to bring back to Koga. As she put the cap back on the jug, she looked across the bank and gasped. A young boy with long white hair, dog ears, yellow eyes, and a red kimono stood there, staring at her. Kagome sat stock-still, staring at the boy for quite some time until she found her voice.

"H-Hello?" she called to him. The boy's eyes widened and he backed up a bit. "What's your name?" When the boy still didn't answer, Kagome stood up and prepared to cross the river. However, at that moment a voice called her.

"Hey! Hurry up will you? We need that water!" Koga called.

"Okay," Kagome called over her shoulder. When she turned back, however, the boy was gone. Later, when she went to go examine the spot where the boy had stood, there was no trace that he had been there, not even a scent.

END FLASHBACK

"Well, are ya gonna answer me or not?" he barked at her. From the ears on his head, Kagome could tell that he was a demon, and she knew what she had to do to demons. Her hand lept to her side and drew out a knife.

"Why should I tell you?" she spat, pointing the knife at him. He merely laughed and drew his own sword, which was about two times as big as she was. Kagome didn't show any sign of fear, for she wouldn't let him know that he was getting to her.

"You're in no position to be fresh, wolf demon," he growled, pointing the sword directly at her chest.

"I'm not a wolf demon!" Kagome retorted angrily. The demon blinked and lowered the sword a bit. Then, to her surprise, he began to sniff her. "Hey, quit it!" she yelled, swiping at him.

"Well, you smell like a human at any rate." Suddenly, he stopped and began to think. I sense a very strong spiritual power coming from her. Could she be the one? "Tell me, are you a miko?"

"You tell me what you are and I'll tell you what I am," Kagome said coolly.

"Fine. I'm a hanyou by the name of Inuyasha," he mumbled.

Well, he's being honest, I can tell, but can I still trust him? He seems harmless, yet I can't be sure. Sighing, Kagome came to her decision. "I'm a miko by the name of Kagome."

"Are you really a miko?" Inuyasha asked, not quite convinced. "I've seen many mikos before, but you're dressed nothing like one." Irritated, Kagome got to her feet.

"Look, I'm running away from wolf demons right now, so if you don't mind I'd like to be on my way!" As she walked past him, Inuyasha began to think rapidly.

"Well...if you can prove that you're a miko, I could...I could take you back to the village with me!" Kagome stopped and turned back to him.

"Could you keep me from the wolf demons?"

"Probably. So what d'you say?"

Kagome thought it over for a while, then said "Alright." Drawing an arrow from the quiver on her back, she readied her bow and shot the arrow. It went through about four trees, finally stopping at a fifth. Inuyasha nodded.

"You pass. C'mon." Kagome, desperate to get away, yet not quite trusting of the hanyou, climbed onto his back anyway. Inuyasha then leapt off with her on his back into the night.

A/N: Hope you liked that chapter, and I hope I went slowly enough. Inuyasha will recognize her in the next chapter. Ok, please review!