To The Readers… Hey guys! Incase you haven't figured it out yet, I'm back with this new installment of 'A Funny Thing Called Love'. So lemme know what you think by reviewing. Don't be shy! -

-Japanime625

CHAPTER FOUR: Demons and Humans

"Your... a demon..." Shintaro jumped back and got another arrow ready. InuYasha didn't even flinch. "Explain yourself! What are you doing here? This village is supposed to be free of demons!"

"Well, I ain't here to kill humans, if that's what you think."

"Why else would a demon be here?"

"Hmm... I dunno... maybe I live here?" The half demon crossed his arms across his chest. "Did you ever think of that?"

"What?"

"Yeah, not that it's any of your business, but I live with my wife and kids in the forest next to the village so that I'm near in case there's an attack."

"Hmph! Yeah, right! Why would a demon protect a village? Are you forcing the villagers to do something for you in return?"

InuYasha stared in disbelief. Is this guy really that stupid? I'm telling the truth! I hate it when new people move to this village... I always have to deal with the same thing every time... He turned away. "I don't have time for this. I'm only here to make sure my son has somewhere to stay for the night." He left Shintaro to stare as he jumped on top of a nearby hut and went over to get Shirrow's attention so he could talk with him.

Shirrow walked away from Kaori and a familiar scent caught his attention. He looked up and saw his father staring at him from the top of a hut. He nodded his head towards a clearing close to the village and jumped off in that direction. The younger demon ran to catch up to him. Once he had caught up and they arrived in the clearing, InuYasha asked what he was planning to do for the night.

"I figured I'd stay with Mushin or I'd just sleep in a tree or something... Why're you here, anyway?"

"You're mom sent me. She was worried about you and Nori so she went to check on her..."

He sighed. "You didn't have to check on me. I can take care of myself."

"Yeah well, she still thinks of you as someone that's always getting himself in to trouble... If you ask me, she's right." InuYasha smirked.

"Keh. I think I can handle being on my own in a village filled with humans. The only demon that'll be here tonight is Kirara." Shirrow crossed his arms in front of his chest.

His father did the same. "Speaking of humans, watch out for that girl you were talking to earlier. Her father isn't too fond of demons."

"What girl? Kaori? I told her that we protect the village... She'll tell her dad that, and everything'll be fine."

"I doubt that, I told her dad the same thing. He didn't believe me."

"Well, maybe he'll believe Kaori."

InuYasha sighed.

"She's pretty cute, though... I mean, she was terrified when she first saw me, but..." Shirrow looked his father in the eye. "When I left, she wasn't so tense... And I heard Mushin talking to her... He put in some good words for us. So, maybe everything will be okay between us..."

"Yeah... I have to get back, so just... Be careful, alright?"

"Yeah, okay..." Shirrow jumped in to one of the higher branches of a tree and got comfortable. InuYasha sighed again and began to walk back home.

InuYasha felt like his heart was being torn apart. Shirrow hadn't been having much luck with finding a 'girl friend' as Kagome put it. Sure he had friends that were girls in the village... But none of them were interested in being too close with a half demon. He had to watch his son get rejected by every girl in the village... A few of them hadn't even gotten a chance to know him before turning him down. And whenever a new family moved to the village, they were always hesitant to get too close.

Shirrow had gotten his hopes up once before when a new family had moved in. The girl had met him on his 'human night' and they had gotten along very well. The next morning, his son had gotten up early, bathed, tidied up his unruly hair, and made sure his clothes were as wrinkle free as possible. He grabbed a handful of wild flowers on the way to the village, and when he got there she seemed happy with the flowers and didn't even seem to mind that he was half demon. The next day, when Shirrow got to the village, he found the house they had stayed in empty, and the girl and her family had left the night before when he had gone back home for the night. He had been heart broken, but time heals all wounds. He got over the girl proclaiming that 'she hadn't been so great after all, and that he'd find someone who was better in every way.' That had happened two years ago... Hopefully Shirrow had learned not to get too attached so quickly by now.

InuYasha stepped through the front door. Kagome and Kotaro weren't back from her mother's house yet. He sat and leaned against a wall, closing his eyes. He'd have to talk to her about Shirrow's new 'interest' after Kotaro went to sleep.

"Well, he started it! He pushed me away from Inari and then he scared him and he fell in to the water! It's all Shirrow's fault!"

Kagome sighed. She and her daughter had been argueing over whether her son had made the wolf prince fall in to the water on purpose or not. So far, Noriko was winning. "Well, I'm sure that your brother is sorry." Especially since now he has to sleep somewhere less comfortable than his bed, tonight...

"I don't care if he is sorry! I'm not forgiving him until he apologizes to Inari!"

Her grandmother walked in to the room carrying a tray of snacks and tea. "Now, now, Nori. You shouldn't be too hard on Shirrow... Really, you both are too stubborn for your own good." She set the tray on the table and everyone took a cup.

Kotaro grabbed a few snacks when Kagome wasn't looking. She had told him not to eat a lot since they had just eaten dinner, but the snacks here were so tasty, he couldn't help himself! "Gran'ma, where's Uncle Sota? Is he still away at school?" Hopefully they won't keep argueing about Nori and Shirrow!

Kagome took some of his snacks away and put them back on the tray. Her mother nodded at his question. "Yes, dear. He's still away, but he always comes back during the weekend. He says that he misses seeing all of you."

"Well, I miss seeing him too. It's never any fun to play his video games with Shirrow 'cause he never goes easy on me just 'cause I'm littler than him."

His grandmother laughed. "Well I hope that's not the only reason you miss him."

He gave her a big smile. "No, I miss him for lotsa reasons!"

"You should all come to visit next weekend to see Sota. I'm sure that he'd enjoy that."

Kagome smield at the idea. "That sounds great, Mom. Now I just need to get InuYasha to come and we'll be set."

Her mother's smile faltered. "Oh, does he not want to come?"

"It's not that... He just doesn't like all of the noises and smells of the future. He loves to come visit here, though. You know he'd never pass up a chance to eat your food, Mom!"

She smiled. "Well, that's good to hear. I'm glad he likes my cooking."

"I like it too, Gran'ma!" Kotaro sneakily reached for another snack, but Kagome moved the tray further away from him.

"Kotaro, you just ate! Don't be a glutton."

"Okay..." he sighed.

His grandmother smiled and shook her head. "Well, getting back on topic, I wouldn't mind having Nori here. Just tell Shirrow that he'll have to come over here, if he wants to make peace."

"What makes you so sure that Shirrow will apologize, Grandma?" Noriko asked curiously.

"Well, neither of you are allowed back home until you make up, correct?" Nori nodded. "I'm pretty sure that he'll want to get back home long before you do, since he'll be staying somewhere less comfortable than his own bed." She smiled.

Noriko laughed. "I guess you're right, Grandma. I'll stay here until he comes to apologize!"

The night in the modern era continued to pass happily for them. Just as the sun was almost done setting, Kagome said it was time that she and Kotaro headed back.

"InuYasha's probably wondering what's taking us so long." she joked.

So down the well the two went. It was dark out by the time they had gotten back from the well. Kagome turned on the battery powered lamps she had around the house and after she had turned on the lamp in the master bedroom she was caught by surprise. InuYasha had come up behind her and began to kiss her neck. She relaxed against him. ((A/N: awww! -)) Kotaro giggled quietly from the doorway before deciding to let them have their fun. He wasn't really sure why grown-ups thought that was fun, but he figured he'd find out some day. He walked back to his and Shirrow's room and took out the Game Boy Advanced SP that Sota had given him.

Back in the master bedroom, InuYasha had sat on the bed and had pulled Kagome on to his lap. He sniffed in her scent and closed his eyes. "You're back late." He nuzzeled the back of her neck. "I was starting to get worried."

"You could've come to find us if you were worried." She had her eyes closed too.

"We should decide on a time where if it's getting too late, you should just stay at your mother's... I don't want to have to worry about you coming back really late and getting attacked by something." He began to rub her sore shoulders and back.

"Mmm... What time would you suggest?" She moved so that he could give her a better back rub.

"Sunset. You have to be back by sunset unless I'm there to protect you... How's that?"

"Uh huh... Sounds good..." She was falling asleep.

He smirked. This'll wake her up... "I think Shirrow's found a new girl that he's going to try and 'woo'..."

Her eyes snapped open and she turned to face him. She was smiling. "Really? Who? Is she new to the village? Does she like him? What does she look like? C'mon, InuYasha! I want details!"

He sighed and leaned against the headboard of their bed. "Calm down and I'll tell you what I know." He pulled her back on to his lap. "Okay so she's a new girl in the village, I dunno what her name is... I dunno if she likes him back, but they just met today. Shirrow said that she was scared when they first met, but when he left she didn't seem so afraid anymore..."

"What does she look like?"

"Uhh... I dunno... I wasn't really paying attention to her really..."

"What? Why not?" She sat up.

"I was busy..."

"Doing what?" She leaned against him and sighed.

"Let's just say that her father doesn't really approve of a family of demons being so close to the village..."

Kagome sighed again. "Well, he'll just have to deal with it... I don't want Shirrow to get hurt again..."

"Maybe you could talk to the guy... Or have Miroku and Sango try to talk some sense in to him when they get back tomorrow..."

"Yeah... We could try that... Myabe he'd listen if enough people tell him there's nothing to worry about..."

They were both silent for a moment and listened as the crickets chirped outside.

Kagome closed her eyes and let out a small yawn. "Hopefully Shirrow finds someone soon. It must be hard for him to be the only one in the family without someone else..."

"What do you mean?" He wrapped his arms around her. "I mean, I understand I have you and you have me, but..."

"Well, whether you'll admit it or not, Nori has Inari... and I'd bet anything that Kotaro and Sakura will end up together one day..."

"Hmm... I guess."

She laughed. "Do you approve of those matches, oh great one?"

"I don't HATE Inari... I'd just prefer that it wasn't Koga's pup."

"I didn't ask you if you did."

"You were thinking it... And anyway, I'm glad that she's found someone that'll take care of her... even if it is the son of that mangy wolf..."

She laughed again (how he loved that laugh) and snuggled closer to him. "And what about Kotaro and Sakura?"

"For his sake, I hope they stay together... I don't want him to go through what Shirrow's going through with women..."

"You worry too much... I doubt that any of them will end up alone..."

He scoffed. "Yeah, well, if you were me, you'd know that being a half demon doesn't exactly help when you want to find a mate."

She yawned. It was getting late. "Well, you found me didn't you?"

"Yeah, and I was lucky! If you hadn't been pulled in to the well, I would still be pinned to that tree! Even if Naraku hadn't shown up and screwed things up with me and Kikyo, it still wouldn't have worked out... She only wanted me to become a human, she didn't accept me as a half demon. The only reason I agreed was because I was desperate... And then you came along and I didn't need her any more... All I needed was you..."

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way. Because you're all I need, too."

He pulled her closer and they sat in silence. After a while, she fell asleep in his arms and he fell asleep not long after, still leaning against the headboard...