Disclaimer: "!' m n ev!l muƒƒ!n. ƒ3r m3h!"

So, so, so sorry it took this long to get this chapter out. This chapter will have a cameo of Miroku, Sango, and Kohaku in it, and implied Rin/Kohaku, since I couldn't help myself from slapping them in here someplace. So, without further ado, I give you the next chappy...

FYI: Kyoko is 'Kagura'. Got it? Good.

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Reviews

wrath of the demon: Thank-you. I'm trying to write a Mir/San one-shot, since there is a major lack of good M/S lately - all I can find in Sess/San, and I don't even know how that one came to be.

ArtificialRed: Thankies! I was surprised it turned out so long, but because it was so long, it took longer than I expected to make.

ninalee-chan: Yep. I'd been dying to make that chapter. Sorry this update to so long, though. Oh, and it's spelled Kazaana, with two 'a's instead of two 'n's.

Saggitarius's-Finest: You mean he came back from the dead...? Oh, man! I thought he turned good at the very end of the movie right before he died... Spider-man, help!

Raniatlw: Thanks! Don't worry; the next chapter will have plenty of Inu/Kag in it. This one, though, is mostly just glimpses into the lives of the other 'minor' characters.

Heart of Friendship: Yep, you're on my alert list. Hope you get that fic out soon, I've been dying to read it... mostly because I've been giving random ideas for it, but that's beyond the point...

Kagome21: Yep. Absolutely.

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The young girl of about nine years giggled happily, plucking a few flowers from the field. She weaved them carefully together into a necklace and skipped the raven haired woman sitting in the sun. "Rin made this for Okaa-san," the young girl announced, placing it around the woman's neck. She smiled, nodded.

"Arigatou, dear," the woman told her, "it's lovely."

"Does Okaa-san think Otou-san would like a flower?" the young girl asked, smelling the lilies at her feet. Her mother nodded, smiling.

"I'm sure he would," she told her. The wind lifted young girl's brown hair as she searched through the flowers for a special one for her father. As smile graced her face as she picked a deep blue blossom from the field.

"This one is for Otou-san," she stated, grinning innocently. He mother nodded, smiling.

"It's a beautiful flower, Rin-chan," she told the girl. Rin sat down next to her mother, looking up to the sky.

"Rin had a dream of a demon," she began, "He was a tall and handsome dog demon - Lord of the Western Lands. Rin dreamed that she was an orphan, and was attacked by wolves, but the demon resurrected her with a strange sword. There was a toad demon that followed him around, too. He was fun to play with. The demon took care of Rin, and protected her. He was seeking to kill a demon called Naraku, and also his half brother which he hated, but Rin does not remember why. Rin knows it was just a dream, but it felt real to Rin." Her mother chuckled pulling her into an embrace.

"Hai, it sounds like an interesting dream," her mother told her, "and I suppose that not demons are evil, either. I'm sure there are some demons that have an amount of good in them, but we just never hear of such demons." Rin smiled as her mother tucked a yellow flower behind her ear.

"Rin thinks his name was Sesshoumaru-sama," she recalled. Her mother chuckled, nodding.

"Alright, it's quite enough," her mother told her, "it's time to head back to the village. The exorcism should be nearly complete by now." Rin nodded, following her mother back to the village.

"Can Rin meet the taijiyas?" the young girl asked her mother. The woman nodded.

"As soon as they are done conversing with the headman," her mother told her. Her mother watched as the group exited the headman's house. "It appears one of them is a monk," her mother told her. Rin nodded, beginning to approach them. "Remember your manners," her mother reminded her."

"Hi," Rin chirped, approaching the three. The older two smiled, looking down at her. The younger boy nodded.

"I'm Kohaku," he told her, "It's nice to meet you." Rin handed the boy the yellow flower her mother had placed behind her ear.

"Rin wants to thank Kohaku for helping get rid of the evil demon," she explained. He smiled awkwardly, looking at the blossom in his palm.

"Um...you're welcome," he told her, blushing slightly. An older man - perhaps in his late twenties or early thirties - approached them.

"Otou-san!" Rin exclaimed happily. The man smiled, nodding.

"You're welcome to stay in our home for the night," he told them, "it's nearly dusk, and I hate to think you might be lost in the dark. Besides, I'm sure you're all hungry."

"Please?" Rin begged, looking at the female taijiya and the monk. The young boy and the monk both turned to the female.

"Please, nee-chan?" Kohaku whined, clasping his hands together, "I don't wanna be out there in the dark. I might fall off of a cliff!"

"Yes, please Sango-chan?" the monk asked her. She sighed in defeat.

"Fine," she sighed, "I didn't want to cook, anyway."

"I didn't want her to cook again, either," Kohaku muttered. The young girl who had addressed herself as 'Rin' grabbed his hand and led him away.

"Come, Rin has a game she wants to play with Kohaku!" she exclaimed.

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Kagome began work on her math homework, watching Souta play a .Hack video game. 'It was so nice being a little kid', she thought, 'nothing to worry about, no problems... speaking of kids, I wonder how the girl that followed Sesshoumaru around turned out...'

"Hey, Kagome, can you help me with this level?" Souta asked, waving the controller in the air.

"Souta, I a little busy," she told him. He pouted, crossing his arms.

"Please, nee-chan?" She sighed, giving in.

"Alright," she said, taking the controller in hand, "but just this one level."

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Her red hair danced in the wind as she approached the cave. "I guess this is it," she told herself. She began to feel slightly giddy as she entered. "Kouga?" she called out. Every head there turned in her direction, including that of the young chieftain.

"She is a beauty, isn't she Kouga?" Ginta asked, turned towards the chieftain. He chuckled as the memory of this young youkai began to flood back.

"Ayame," he recalled. "It's been quite a while." She smiled, blushing slightly.

"I wasn't sure if you would remember me," she admitted to him. He approached her, tilting her head up with his hand so he could see her better.

"How could anyone forget such a beautiful face as yours?" he asked.

"What you told me last time we met..." she began, "do you really wish to have me as your mate?" Kouga smiled, looking around at his companions. Ginta and Hakkaku nodded, signaling that he should.

"If he decides not to take her, I stake claim over the lass," another of the clan told the wolf demon sitting beside him.

"Of course, Ayame," he told her, "no matter how long or hard I look, I can never find a maiden more beautiful then yourself." She felt her knees weakening as he spoke these words.

"Really...?" she asked happily. He nodded, taking her hand.

"Ayame, I want you as my mate," he told her, pulling her closer to him. A smile threatened to dance upon her lips as his lips met hers.

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Kagome flipped through the channels on her television set, realizing that -since she no longer visited the Warring States Era - she had more time on her hands than she knew what to do with. She sighed upon seeing a documentary on wolves. 'I wonder what happened to Kouga-kun,' she thought, changing the channel to a Detective Conan special.

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He glanced at the woman lying hidden in the forest, noticing a deep cut on her chest, blood gushing through her kimono. He sniffed the air around him. "She lives," he muttered, turning to the toad-like imp behind him. "She is unconscious, and is very near death."

"Sesshoumaru-sama, you don't plan to revive her," the toad youkai asked, "do you?" The tall silver haired man glared at the demon.

"Why are you concerned with such, Jaken?" he questioned. The demon shook his head and bowed.

"Forgive me, m'lord." He took in her scent once more.

"She's a demon, though I can't be sure at the time what sort." She stirred slightly, glaring up at Sesshoumaru with fierce red eyes. "So, you've awakened at last."

"I'll be fine," she assured him, sitting up. She attempted to stand, but her head began to swim and she dropped back to the ground.

"You are seriously injured," he stated observantly, "you shouldn't be moved."

"And why the hell would you care?" she spat at him. He smirked at her.

"I don't," he told her, "but I'd assume you wouldn't be so stubborn as to put your own pride above your well-being." She snorted, leaning back against a tree.

"Fine, I need rest," she admitted, "but I'll recover in a matter of a few days." He glanced at her wound.

"How did that happen to you?" he questioned. She looked down at the blood oozing through her kimono.

"Some God forsaken human shot me with an arrow," she explained, "the damned inferior savage... I'd done nothing to the bastard..." She trembled in pain, clutching her side. She winced as Sesshoumaru drew a katana from its scabbard. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I'm putting you out of your suffering," he told her, "hold still. You won't feel a thing." She hyperventilated slightly as the blade was brought down upon her, but felt nothing as it scraped across her abdomen. She gasped as the wound began to heal itself.

"What...?!" she gasped as he sheathed his sword.

"Did I not tell you I would end your misery?" She nodded in shock, still not fully grasping the reality of the situation. "What is your name?"

She stared blankly for a moment, and then spoke up, "Kyoko. My name is Kyoko."

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Kagome sat in her classroom, listening as her teacher explained how temperatures affected the winds. She sighed, thinking of Kagura. 'The woman said she was destined to be with Sesshoumaru,' she recalled. 'I really don't think either of them was really evil,' she told herself, 'Sesshoumaru even helped Inuyasha on a few rare occasions, and Kagura was being controlled by Naraku. I wonder how things worked out for them...'

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Sorry that I didn't go into anything about Kanna or Shippou. I just couldn't think of anything for them... sorry. Anyway, the next chapter will be the last (and for all of you diehard Inu/Kag fans, the most awaited) chapter in this fic. And when I'm done, I can start work on a new fic with a clear conscience. Yay!