"So, I say we stay without bathing until we get this worked out," Kagome said from Inuyasha's body. Sango (in Miroku's body) agreed.
"Oh, but I have nothing to hide from my wife! Sango, if you feel the need to see me in all my glory, I granted you the privilege," Miroku said from Kagome's body.
Inuyasha rolled Sango's eyes. "Of course you don't pervert. But, I have a problem with it."
"Don't worry Inuyasha. I have no need nor want to see you naked," Kagome said. Sango's cheeks flush as Inuyasha spluttered.
"G-good. I wouldn't want to see you naked. Even though I have already," Inuyasha mumbled. But, being in Inuyasha's body, Kagome heard it perfectly.
"What!" Kagome demanded. Inuyasha looks stunned and immediately stands.
"I think I'm gonna go take a walk," Inuyasha said.
"No! I wanna know what you said! Cause I'm sure you didn't say what I think you did!"
Sango sighed and moved closer to Miroku.
"This is going to make everything difficult," Sango sighed.
"Yes. But we have bigger worries. This Takeshi and Kasumi," Miroku responded.
"The woman, Kasumi, said we murdered her father."
"I fear our past may be coming back to haunt us," Miroku said gravely.
Sango sat up and looked at Miroku, "You don't think it's Naraku? Do you?"
"We have no way to be sure, but if it is…" Miroku said and left his sentence hanging.
With the closing of one door, comes the opening of another…
With the death of their greatest adversary, comes the obstacle of an even bigger one…
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Takeshi stared at his sister's motionless body. Kanna was sucking something out of her body with her mirror. Takeshi was seething. That girl, Kagome, was the one who did this. Kagome had injured his sister and almost killed her. If he were any slower, Kasumi would be a pile of black ashes by now.
That night, Takeshi made a promise. Even if he's on his dying breath, on his last minute of life, he would make Kagome pay.
"This was a test drive. To see if you two could handle them. Now, I see that this task is too much for you," the blue flame said from it's alter.
Takeshi went on his knees in front of the flame. "Please, Father. Give us one more chance. Now that we know their strengths, we will not, shall not, fail you."
"I expect no less from you Takeshi. Don't fail me again," the flame said and vanished with the wind.
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Kagome stretched to get accustomed to being backing her body. Keade had known exactly what she needed to reverse the swap between the Inutachi. Everyone was getting familiar with their bodies once again. Keade brewed some tea for the adolescents.
"Tell me about them again," Keade said.
"There's nothing left to tell. It was a man and a woman. They attacked and messed with us, but we'll get them back," Inuyasha said rudely. Kagome rolled her eyes at him.
"And how exactly do you plan for us to do that, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked and accepted her tea from Keade. Takeo curled up next to Kagome.
Inuyasha stared back at Kagome. He didn't reply. He had no reply for her. What were they supposed to do? They didn't know where to look, who to ask, where to go… so in short, they were screwed.
"Keade, what do you suggest?" Sango asked.
The elderly priestess narrowed her eye in thought. It was a while before she spoke.
"Kagome, how much of the jewel do ye have?" Keade asked the girl. Kagome put down her tea.
"Most of it. When Naraku died, he had most of the jewel," Kagome said, producing the almost completed jewel.
"It seems to be that three shards are missing," Keade said. Kagome looked closely at the jewel. It did look like three were missing.
"Where could they be?" Miroku asked.
"Kohaku has one," Inuyasha supplied. At the mention of her brother, Sango closed her eyes to keep back her tears. She hadn't seen him since Naraku's death. She could hope and imagine what he doing or where he was. She preferred not to imagine. She would imagine what was going on with him. She would produce dark images…
"Then where are the last two?" Kagome asked.
"Did Takeshi and Kasumi have any Kagome?" Sango asked with her head down. Miroku could sense her pain and embrace her lightly.
"No. I couldn't sense anything. I can't but think that Naraku may have done something," Kagome said. She bit on her finger nail idly.
"You don't think he set this up? He couldn't have. We killed him," Sango said, putting emphasis on killed. Naraku couldn't have done this.
"Where else could they be?" Miroku asked.
"Who knows? Mangy Wolf probably took 'em," Inuyasha offered. He wasn't really into this conversation.
"Kouga? He was no where near the shards," Kagome said defending the wolf. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at Kagome. She blushed and didn't meet his eyes.
"Think back. Ye need to remember what happened when ye brought down Naraku," Keade said.
Everyone went deep in thought…
They say Naraku smile at them before they fired.
Their attacks broke through his barrier and enclosed him. The barrier tried to close, but the force was too much. It was going to blow. Inuyasha looked to where Kagome was. Kouga was pulling her away. Everyone was moving away from the blast zone. Slowly, Inuyasha followed.
They'd made it to cover just in time. When they looked from where they were hiding, they saw the Shikon no Tama fall to the ground with a silent thump. It fell in the center of a spider shaped mark on the ground. Kagome walked out slowly to it. She picked up the almost completed jewel. Everyone else stared to come out.
Sesshoumaru had already left to return to his charges. Kikyou looked at the scene of the Inutachi and Kouga finally realizing Naraku's death. She saw Inuyasha look at her. She looked back at him, never releasing her gaze on his eyes. A loud slap caught his attention for a split second, Kikyou had used that time to disappear.
"You don't think Kikyou took them do you?" Sango asked. Kagome looked at Inuyasha and waited for his response. He kept his head down. He was probably thinking about Kikyou's departure. Kagome looked away from him. Even after all they'd been together, she'd still be just Kagome. Silly, fun-loving, immature, childish Kagome…
"We can't know for sure. We'd have to track her down to find out," Miroku said.
"It will be a difficult task, finding my sister. How do you plan to go about it?" Keade asked the teenagers. They each looked at each other, excluding Inuyasha. He kept his eyes from everyone. Kagome bit the inside of her cheek.
"So, what are we doing exactly? Are we going after Takeshi and Kasumi or going after Kikyou?" Kagome asked. She hated that after all this time they would have to be looking for the one woman on earth that Kagome could do without.
"Takeshi and Kasumi are a wild goose chase. Kikyou is the first thing on our list," Sango said.
"Well, then. It's decided. We leave first thing in the morning," Miroku said. Inuyasha stood in an instant. Before anyone could question his behavior, he was out the door. Kagome held back her tears.
Why was he upset? He would get what he wants. We were going to look for Kikyou. Heck, everyone would be helping him!
"Kagome-chan?" Sango asked.
Kagome wiped her eyes, although there were no tears. "I'm going home for a while. I'll be back by tomorrow to leave, okay?"
Before Sango could say 'ok', Kagome was out the door with her bag, sword, and bow. Sango sighed. Now that Kikyou was on their major priority list, Inuyasha and Kagome would be at odd's ends. It wasn't fair. Kagome had cried, suffered, and almost killed because of her love for Inuyasha. It wasn't even her fault! You can't help who you fall in love with. Sango of all people should know…
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Inuyasha leaned back on his branch. The Goshinboku was his haven. Away from pain, insults, broken hearts…
Inuyasha sighed. He knew about Kagome's feelings. And he hated it. How was he supposed to deal with loving two people? Kikyou wanted him with her in hell. Kagome wanted him with her on earth-alive.
What's a half-demon to do when his two halves are arguing with each other?
Kikyou…
Kagome…
Kikyou…
Kagome…
He was an emotional ping-pong ball. Why couldn't it be simpler? Couldn't' he just go to sleep, and wake up knowing who he wanted to spend his life with? It wasn't a matter of who he loved more. He just didn't want to hurt anyone. It was even harder since Kikyou and Kagome were complete opposites.
Now, he has to deal with looking for Kikyou with Kagome. And after they found Kikyou, …
Inuyasha scratched his head and sighed. Although it was a bad idea, he put those thoughts to the back of his head. He'd cross that bridge when he came to it…
Well, there you go. I have to say that the runaway series is my favorite of my stories. It's well-written and loaded with action, romance, and suspense. It should be a movie… Adios chickies!
MoiMoi.
