AN: I'm so so so sorry it's been so long. My characters for my original work shoved Kagome and Inuyasha aside and demanded I work on their story (yes, I am aware that makes me sound crazy, but it's the truth). On the bright side, I'm about a chapter and a half away from finishing my own book (minus intense editing of course). Anyway, my deepest apologies for keeping you guys waiting for weeks. Thank you, as always, to you wonderful people who take the time to review. You guys always make me smile :D

Question Corner: Yep, that's right, I will now be answering questions so long as they won't give away plot details. Just a point of discrepancy that Glon brought to my attention. This story is modern-ish. Meaning Inuyasha and company will be wearing jeans, t-shirts, etc. Shikon and the world around it do have running water and electricity. However, the Borderlands are severely limited on resources to keep them from getting "too powerful" and becoming a threat to the Mainlands. So things such as cars, trains, planes, nuclear capabilities, etc. are not present. As such, huge companies and conglomerates are not present either and people mostly make a living off of what they can farm within their own villages/towns. Hope that helps clear up any confusion. If you have any more questions, feel free to drop them in your reviews or PM me, I promise to get back to you as soon as possible.

Disclaimer: Despite any and all attempts, I still do not own Inuyasha and company. They remain the property of the amazing Rumiko Takahashi.

"How much further into this forest do we have to go?" Inuyasha complained.

"How should I know?" Kagome hissed back. That was at least the fourth time he had asked that question.

"Well you're the one that can see these strings," he said. "I'm forced to follow you on this one."

"Yes," Kagome replied. "I can see the damn stings. But, for the last time, that does not mean I know where they lead! I'm just following them." She sighed once. "But we're probably getting closer, the strings are getting thicker and are starting to bunch together."

"Finally!" Inuyasha exclaimed. "I was beginning to think you'd just gone crazy and this was a waste of time."

Kagome turned a frosty glare on the hanyou boy with her. "You're welcome to leave any time. It's not like I need you."

Inuyasha smirked and did his best to ignore her glare. "You say that now, but I'll bet you've never been in a real fight. You're gonna need someone who can actually handle this stuff when we find this demon."

Kagome glared harder before rolling her eyes. "Kaede must have had a temporary lapse in judgment when she partnered us. There is no way we'll be able to work together."

"My thoughts exactly," Inuyasha retorted. "I don't have the time or the patience to play baby-sitter to some weak little girl."

"Shut up!" Kagome hissed, throwing out an arm to stop Inuyasha from moving. "We're here, or close enough. I'm picking up a demon aura."

Inuyasha took a cautious sniff of the air. "I'm smelling something to, though I can't say what kind of demon it is." He sniffed again. "There are too many other scents around, all of them human." He looked over at Kagome. "Are we near another village or something?"

Kagome shook her head. "No, I'm just picking up one aura, just the demon." She cocked her head to the side. "But something about this place feels…strange. Almost, dead in a way."

Inuyasha looked at the girl quizzically for a moment before he sniffed the air again. "Something definitely smells dead, now that I'm aware of it. What's going on?"

Kagome shrugged and began to move forward much quieter than before. "Only one way to find out," she whispered.

Inuyasha followed her forward, careful not to make any noise. To say Kagome confused him would be putting it mildly. She had grown up on the Mainlands, and yet she did not shy away from battle. Demons didn't seem to scare her either and here she was, sneaking closer to an enemy, barely making a sound, as if she already knew how to move swiftly and silently. Plus, when he thought about it, she had been on her own when they first met, and not in a very nice district in the Mainlands. Despite all his teasing and remarks to the contrary, she knew how to fight. Whether it was sword, bow, or hand-to-hand, Kagome knew how to handle herself. He'd seen a few of the scars that seemed to mar her skin here and there, especially one that snuck out just above her shirt sometimes on her left shoulder. Just who are you?, he found himself wondering. You're definitely not a normal Mainlander. What are you hiding? He came to an abrupt stop behind Kagome. "Oi, wench, what's going on?"

Kagome made an impatient gesture and motioned for him to crouch down. "We're here," she hissed and pointed in front of her. "Look."

Inuyasha looked around the girl in front of him and snorted. "Well, that solves the question of why it smelt like death." The ground not more then five feet in front of the pair was littered with skulls and bones, human and animal alike. Inuyasha looked up and smirked. "And that solves the question of what we're dealing with." He pointed at a giant ball of hair seemingly floating a few feet off the ground. "Looks like we've got an Oni on our hands."

Kagome made a face. "So that's not string, it's hair from its victims? That's just gross."

Inuyasha chuckled. "You sure you can handle this, wench? If you're getting all queasy just because of some hair you can just sit back and watch while I take care of this."

Kagome glared at him. "That's not just some hair. Besides, it's gross, and I don't care what you say. However," she growled. "That doesn't mean I'm sitting this out. I may be grossed out, but that doesn't mean I can't fight."

"Sure, sure, whatever you say," Inuyasha replied dismissively as he stood. "Let's just get this over with."

"Wait!" Kagome called as Inuyasha took off towards the giant ball of hair. "Oh perfect, not only is he a jerk, but my partner is also impulsive and can't wait to actually come up with a plan before just charging right in. If we make it out of this I may just kill him myself," Kagome grumbled as she stood up as well.

"Hey! Demon!" Inuyasha called. "We know you're here somewhere so just show yourself and save us the trouble of having to find ya!"

"You never stop to think, do you?" Kagome asked as she came up beside Inuyasha. "Thanks to you, we've just lost any element of surprise we may have had."

"Keh, whatever," Inuyasha shrugged. "I prefer to fight out in the open anyway."

Kagome groaned and drew her sword. "I'm asking Kaede if I can work solo after this."

"Fine by me, wench. I prefer working alone anyway."

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a feminine voice asked. "A hanyou and a human. And what brings you here to me? I didn't call for any new puppets."

"Show yourself demon!" Inuyasha snarled. "We don't have all day."

"My, my, impatient aren't we?" the demon asked as she slid out from the giant ball of hair. The demon looked human enough on the outside. Her hair was cropped short and tied back with a red ribbon headband. She was in tight, dark, skinny jeans and an even tighter black tube top that left much of her stomach exposed. "I believe I asked a question though. Why are you here?"

"To get rid of you, what else?" Inuyasha snarled again. "You've been terrorizing villages and you need to be stopped."

"Ah, you must be from Shikon then," she laughed. "I'm not too worried then." Her gaze slid over to Kagome. "Tell me, when did they start letting normal humans into Shikon? I wasn't aware that normal humans thought they could stand up to us superior beings."

"Oh, just shut up already!" Inuyasha yelled as he charged forward, claws flexed. He swiped for the demon, aiming for her head.

The demon giggled and slid effortlessly out of the way. "Come now, that wasn't very polite. We're having a conversation here. My name is Yura of the Hair. Now, who are you, hanyou? What are you called?"

"My name isn't important," Inuyasha snarled. "Now stand still damn you!" He took another swipe for the demon and missed.

"Good heavens, you're not very polite, are you?" Yura laughed. "And you're not that great of a fighter either." With a gesture of her hands a sword came flying out of the ball and into her hands. "Well, let's just get on with this then, shall we?"

Inuyasha growled and fell back. Damn it! She's got a sword! Her attack radius is greater than mine. He leapt out of the way as the demon's sword came flying at him. And she doesn't even have to be holding the damn thing! She can control it like a puppet. Wait a minute, that's it! Smirking slightly, Inuyasha dodged as the blade came flying at him once more. "This is it demon," he spat as he rushed her again. "I've figured you out and now you're going down." Inuyasha dodged the blade once more and managed to get close to the demon. Flexing his claws he tore his way through one of her arms, slicing it off at the shoulder. "Let's see you control anything now," he taunted as he backed away.

Yura looked down at her dismembered arm and glared angrily at Inuyasha. "Boy, hasn't anyone ever told you it's rude to hurt a lady?" She flicked her wrist and Inuyasha was suddenly bound in tight, strong bands of hair. Yura smiled darkly. "You have such pretty hair you know. It will make a fabulous addition to my collection. Good-bye hanyou, enjoy your afterlife." She flexed her fingers once more and the sword came sailing right for the struggling boy's heart.

Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT! Inuyasha growled to himself as he struggled against his bonds. The hair wrapped around his wrists and legs was holding him securely in place no matter how hard he fought against it. He looked up to see the sword come whistling through the air towards him and closed his eyes, waiting for the pain. He was surprised when he heard another higher pitched whistling coming towards him from behind. He felt a slight sting to his demonic aura that made him wince before the hair binding him loosened and he dropped towards the ground.

"Geez Inuyasha, I didn't know you were this useless," Kagome taunted. "What was it you were saying earlier? Oh yeah, I didn't sign up to be a baby-sitter."

Said boy whipped around to see Kagome standing back, her bow relaxed in her right hand as she glared at Yura. Her sword was stuck in the ground in front of her. She must have shot a Sacred Arrow, he realized. She cut through the hair. "Shut up," he growled at her. "I was doing fine on my own."

Kagome snorted. "Sure you were. What was your plan? To come back and haunt her as a ghost or something?" She slid her bow back over her shoulders and plucked her sword from the ground. "Maybe you should just hang back and let me take care of this."

"Not likely, wench," Inuyasha hissed. "If I can't fight up close with my fists then I'll just have to use other weapons."

Kagome came to stand next to him. "Whatever, just make sure not to get in my way."

"Well, what do we have here?" Yura practically giggled. "A miko! You must be quite strong if you can hide your aura like that. I didn't even know there were other mikos besides that old bag Kaede." She let loose another giggle. "This will be fun, little miko. Shall we play?"

Kagome scowled. "I'm not here to play games with lunatics."

"Tsk, tsk. Now that's not very nice," Yura sighed. "Well, I suppose if neither of you can be polite I'll just have to end this now. I'm really not in the mood to play with rude guests." With a swing of her arm, the sword came darting back towards Kagome and Inuyasha faster than it had before. Kagome barely had time to raise a block and felt the bit of the blade in her shoulder. With a wince, she shoved it back and risked a quick look at her shoulder. It wasn't as bad as it could have been; it certainly wasn't nearly as deep as she had thought it was, though it still hurt when she moved her arm. Yura looked disappointed that she missed, but sent the blade back at the pair, this time aiming to take off Inuyasha's head. He jumped back, trying to dodge the glittering metal, but the sword followed his every move, getting close to him each time he tried to evade. With a particularly loud laugh, Yura swung the blade to decapitate him, but was met with the rasping sound of metal on metal.

"If I have to save your sorry ass one more time," Kagome said as she stood in front of Inuyasha, her sword holding Yura's at bay. "I get to use you for miko practice for a month."

Inuyasha blinked a few times in surprise before glaring at the back of the girl's head. "Not gonna happen. Now keep her sword busy while I take care of her."

"Wait, what?" Kagome hissed as Inuyasha slipped around her, heading right for Yura again. "I'm not bait and I'm definitely not a sidekick!" she yelled after the hanyou boy, pissed that he'd left her to deal with the flying sword on her own. Growling slightly herself, she went on with her task of keeping the sword off of Inuyasha as he charged Yura.

"Well, I must say, I was not expecting you two to learn to work together so quickly," Yura said as she ducked under a swipe at her neck, sounding completely at ease. "This may make the game last a little longer than I planned."

"Work together my ass," Kagome hissed. "The jerk left me to deal with this stupid sword while he gets the easy job."

"Shut up wench," Inuyasha growled as he leapt out of the way of the flying blade. "I'd like to see a pathetic excuse for a miko like you take her on. Besides, you seem to be struggling enough just keeping her sword busy."

"And what about you?" Kagome growled. "You said you'd take care of her. I'm seeing a serious lack of dead demon over there."

"Feh, whatever," Inuyasha responded. "I don't have time to fight with you right now. Just try and do your job."

"Only if you can manage to do yours!" Kagome yelled as the hanyou took off again. "This is beyond irritating," Kagome grumbled to herself as she knocked Yura's blade back once more. "Charging right in is a stupid way to fight." Kagome yelped as the sword maneuvered around her block and sliced painfully into her leg. She nearly dropped her own sword but managed to bring up a black in time to stop a slice at her neck.

Inuyasha was too wrapped up in his own fight with the demon woman to hear Kagome yelp, but he did not miss the scent of her blood. Eyes wide when the smell hit his nose, he tore his gaze away from Yura in time to see her blade open another cut on Kagome's arm. What in the hell is that girl doing?, he growled, refusing to admit he was worried as he saw the blood flow from her leg and arm. He watched as the sword beat Kagome back, the girl struggling to stay standing on her leg. Her face was getting pale and he could tell she was breathing heavily. She won't last much longer, he realized. Suddenly, it was as if the whole world was moving in slow motion around him. Kagome's leg collapsed beneath her and she was sent tumbling back into a pile of bones, blocking her from view. The sword darted forward and plunged down. A shrill scream rent the air and Inuyasha could smell more of Kagome's blood in the air. He turned to run to her, praying she was still alive, when he was jerked to a sudden stop. The hair, damnit!

"Come now boy," Yura's voice sounded right next to his ear. "You're fighting me, you should be paying more attention. Don't worry, you'll be joining your little girlfriend soon. I'm not so cruel as to not send you to the afterlife right after her," she laughed gleefully. "Now that pretty hair of yours will be mine."

Inuyasha watched as the blade came sailing back to Yura's hand and he felt a slight tugging on his scalp. Glancing up briefly he saw his hair begin pulled up and away from his neck.

"We wouldn't want to get any nasty blood on that pretty hair now would we?" Yura giggled. "No, best to make this as clean as possible."

"Oh shut up and just get this over with," Inuyasha growled. He tried to yank himself free, but his body just wouldn't budge. "If you're going to kill me then do it already. I don't feel like hanging around listening to whatever crap you feel the need to spout out."

Yura frowned. "You really are quite the rude boy you know." She stepped forward and placed the edge of her blade against Inuyasha's neck. He held back a wince as he felt the cold steel bite into his skin. "You should learn respect for your elders and your betters."

Inuyasha snorted. "Yeah, like that's gonna happen." He smirked at the demon. "I don't give a damn about respect, especially not to old hags like yourself."

"You annoying little hanyou!" Yura spat. With a growl of her own, she plunged her blade deep into Inuyasha's shoulder. "I was going to kill you quickly, but now I see that would be much too merciful. I shall make you beg for death before I finally send you after that little girl."

"I'm seventeen you know," an annoyed voice said as the clattering of bones filled the air briefly. "I'm hardly a little girl. I know I'm not nearly as old as you are, but that's fine with me. I'd rather keep the wrinkles off my face for another few years."

Both Yura and Inuyasha whipped their heads around to see Kagome pulling herself up from the mound of bones she had been buried in. She seemed a little unsteady on her feet and the cut on her leg looked much worse than it had before. Inuyasha frowned as he saw the dark red stain spreading quickly on the leg of her jeans. At least she's alive, he told himself and frowned at the lurch in his heart at that realization.

"You!" Yura screeched. "I killed you! How are you alive?"

Kagome shrugged and planted her sword in the dirt in front of her. "You just have bad aim." She grinned, though Inuyasha was slightly unnerved to see it had a slight maniacal undertone. "It's going to take much more than that to kill me. Others better than you have tried and all of them have failed."

Yura let out a frustrated yell and Inuyasha felt the blade leave his neck. "I can assure you I won't be making the same mistake!" she yelled. "This time you will die."

Kagome just shrugged. "We'll see," she said, completely unconcerned as she slid the bow from her back and notched an arrow. Glancing up at Inuyasha she sighed. "Really?" she asked him. "You got caught again?"

"Shut up wench! I can't see these damn hairs," Inuyasha growled again.

Kagome sighed once more and fired her arrow, a slight pink glow surrounding it. The arrow cut through the hair once more and Inuyasha dropped safely to the ground.

Taking quick stock of the situation, Inuyasha realized that Yura was still distracted by Kagome's sudden reappearance. Taking advantage of her lack of attention, he growled once and plunged his claws through her stomach. "I'd like to see you survive that," he hissed as he drew back to stand near Kagome.

Yura blinked a few times before looking down at the gaping wound in her torso. "Well, that was just plain uncalled for. Now I'm going to have to feed on some human flesh to recover." The demon sighed. "And I just had a large meal a few days ago."

From beside him, Inuyasha heard Kagome make a strangled noise. "What in the seven hells are you?" he asked. "That should have killed you!"

Yura looked up at the pair and smiled unnervingly. "Well, that just goes to show how ignorant you are, doesn't it? You really thought something like that could kill me?"

Inuyasha growled and dropped into a ready stance, his claws flexing. Beside him, Kagome relaxed her bow. What is that?, she wondered. A single, glowing thread was connected to Yura's back. It doesn't seem to be a thread she manipulates. Is she being controlled? Keeping an eye on the thread, Kagome traced it back into a single skull at least ninety yards from her position. She bit her lip, that was a bit further than she had ever shot before and the target was so small. She'd have to shoot through the eye socket of the skull and hope she hit whatever was inside. If that's what's controlling her, will she die if I take it out? She glanced briefly at the growling hanyou beside her. It's worth a shot, she quickly decided. Neither of us will be able to keep this fight up for much longer. My head's already starting to pound and my leg will only keep me up for a little longer. Obviously hacking away at her won't work so this had better. "Inuyasha," she whispered. "Keep her busy and keep her off of me, I've got an idea."

"What are you talking about wench?" Inuyasha whispered back, his eyes never leaving Yura.

"Just trust me and keep her busy long enough for me to sight a shot and shoot!" Kagome hissed back, slightly exasperated.

Inuyasha snorted. "Fine, but make it quick." He leapt forward again, managing to claw into Yura's shoulder.

Kagome quickly pulled another arrow from her quiver and notched it. Sighting down the shaft, she made sure to correct her aim for the distance and the wind. Spreading a little more of her power into the arrow than she normally would, Kagome released it. With a satisfied smile, she watched as the arrow hit home. She glanced up sharply when Yura let out a sudden shriek.

"Girl! What did you do?" she yelled as her body began to glow. "How did you find that?"

Confused, Kagome glanced back at the skull and watched as it disintegrated, revealing a bright red comb. The glowing thread Kagome had seen attached to Yura was wrapped tightly around it and her arrow was lodged firmly in the middle of the comb. Cracks started spreading from the arrow tip. When Yura screamed again, Kagome glanced up to see cracked spreading across the demon as well. With one final shriek, both the demon and the comb burst into clouds of dust. Kagome smiled satisfactorily to herself before she felt herself wobble on her feet.

"Careful," Inuyasha said next to her, catching her before she collapsed. He sighed once and scooped her up into his arms. Kagome started to protest but quieted when Inuyasha laid her on the ground. He shoved the sleeve of her t-shirt back. "Your arm doesn't look like more than a scratch." He glanced down at the leg of her jeans and decided to just tear the material away around the wound on her leg.

"Hey!" Kagome protested.

"They were ripped up already. I'll buy you a new pair when we get back to Shikon, so just shut up," Inuyasha replied.

Kagome huffed, but kept her mouth shut, opting to glare at the boy instead.

"I didn't think it was this bad," Inuyasha finally said. "Before you fell your leg didn't seem to be in too bad a shape." He hoped he was able to keep the worry out of his voice. Truthfully, the wound on her leg had him worried. It wasn't particularly long, but it was fairly deep and jagged. "How did it even get like this?" he wondered aloud. "A sword shouldn't make a jagged cut like that."

"It didn't," Kagome finally said. "I did that."

Inuyasha glanced sharply up at the girl's face. "What?" he asked, not caring that he sounded angry. "Why the hell would you do that to yourself? How did you even do that to yourself?"

Kagome shrugged and sat up. "When I fell into the pile of bones," she paused and shuddered. "I found a sharp bone. I saw her blade coming at me and figured if she thought she'd killed me I might be able to find an opening to take her down. So I moved out of the way of her blade, grabbed the bone, and cut a little deeper into my leg." She shrugged again. "I didn't expect it to hurt that much, which is why I screamed, but I suppose that just made it all the more convincing."

Inuyasha sat still for a minute, completely stunned. He had never heard of someone, human or demon, purposefully hurting themselves more just to trick an enemy like that. And she didn't expect it to hurt? Just who the hell is she?, Inuyasha wondered once again. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and quickly ripped the sleeve from his shirt. "You're either insane, or a complete masochist," he mumbled as he bound the cut on her leg as tightly as he could.

"I'm neither!" Kagome defended. "But doing things your way wasn't getting us anywhere and I needed time to analyze her weaknesses and come up with a strategy. Ouch!" she cried when Inuyasha tied the makeshift bandage over her leg. "That hurt!"

"Deal with it," Inuyasha retorted. "I needed to bind that as tightly as I could to hopefully staunch the blood flow." He stood up and offered his hand to her. "Now come on."

"What about your shoulder?" Kagome asked, remaining on the ground. "I saw her stab you."

"It's fine, now let's go," Inuyasha repeated. He rolled his eyes when Kagome stubbornly refused to get up. "Fine," he grumbled and yanked his shirt to the side to show the quickly healing wound; it was barely even a scratch now. "I'm half demon, remember?" he said at the confused look on Kagome's face. "That means I heal pretty quickly. Now can we get going?"

Kagome rolled her eyes at his impatience, but allowed him to pull her to her feet. She expected him to let her walk on her own, so she was surprised when he swung her into his arms and started back towards the village. "I can walk you know," she protested.

Inuyasha snorted. "Right, sure you can. No way you can keep up with what you did to your leg."

"Wait!" Kagome cried as they reached the tree line.

"What?" Inuyasha exclaimed. "I told you I'm not letting you walk on your own, wench."

Kagome scowled up at him. "My sword is still back there. I must have dropped it when I almost fell again." She narrowed a fierce glare at him. "And stop calling me 'wench'! My name is Kagome, idiot!"

Inuyasha mumbled something Kagome couldn't quite catch, but placed her against a tree and went back for her sword. He returned not even a minute later and waited long enough for her to slide it back into the scabbard before he swept her back up into his arms. "Anything else, or can we finally go back?" he asked sarcastically.

Kagome glared and crossed her arms across her chest, looking away from the hanyou. "Shut up."

It didn't take long to get back to the village and Inuyasha was surprised to learn that a healer lived in the village. The villagers took one look at Kagome and the blood coating her leg and sent a young boy running to get the healer.

A young woman, perhaps a few years older than Kagome, returned with the boy. She frowned, concerned, when she saw the state of Kagome's leg and directed Inuyasha into the small inn nearby. She told him to place her on the bed in the room the innkeeper quickly led them to before she asked him to step out of the room. Inuyasha had glared at the girl, crossed his arms across his chest, and leaned against the wall. The healer sighed but turned her attention back to Kagome. Carefully, she unbound the makeshift bandage and frowned once again when she saw the state of the wound. She sent the innkeeper for water and a clean cloth. She gently cleaned the wound as best she could, trying not to cause Kagome anymore pain, though Inuyasha saw her flinch a couple times and he could have sworn Kagome had whimpered once before she clamped her teeth down on her bottom lip. He tried to ignore the worry he felt at seeing Kagome in pain and the strange urge to go to the girl and comfort her. He stayed quiet and watched as the healer set the bloody rag aside and a soft green glow enveloped her hands.

"I need you to relax," the healer said to Kagome. "This won't hurt a bit and you'll be good as new when I'm done." She carefully placed her hands over the wound and Kagome's leg was wrapped in the same green glow. "There," the healer said, sounding satisfied as she withdrew her hands. "You should be just fine now." Indeed, once her hands were out of the way, it was easy to see clean, unblemished skin on Kagome's leg where the jagged wound had once been.

"Wow," Kagome breathed, eyeing her leg. "That's pretty cool. Thanks."

"My pleasure," the healer replied. "It's the least I could do since you got rid of that demon for us."

The innkeeper nodded enthusiastically. "Of course," he began. "You and your companion are most welcome to spend the night here, free of charge. Your packs have already been brought here from the headman's house where you left them."

Inuyasha grunted softly as he pushed himself away from the wall. "I don't think so," he replied. "Now that she's fixed, we're heading back tonight."

Kagome scowled. "We're staying here," she growled at him. "It's getting late and I'm covered in dirt and blood. I want to be able to eat a nice hot meal, take a bath, and sleep comfortably for one night before we head back to Shikon."

"Listen," Inuyasha began, taking a step forward, a scowl on his face. He faltered though, at the dark look on Kagome's face and actually fell back a step.

"We're staying," Kagome hissed. "End of discussion." Her scowl deepened when Inuyasha looked like he was about to argue. "Sit," she seethed, watching as the hanyou was sent crashing to the ground.

The pair had ended up staying the night in the inn, mush to Inuyasha's displeasure. He had relented though when Kagome had threatened to sit him until he fell through the earth's core. At least, he thought. She was up and ready to go at sunrise.

They continued on in silence for most of the day, both lost in their own thoughts, and Inuyasha had the sneaking suspicion Kagome was still irritated with him. At about midday they stopped in a small clearing to eat a quick lunch of rations the villagers had been kind enough to supply them with. All was quiet until a loud SMACK rang out into the still afternoon air.

Kagome glanced up sharply and looked at Inuyasha, confused. He face was set into an irritated scowl and his hand was pressed to his neck. "Uh," she finally spoke. "You okay?"

"Fine," Inuyasha growled as he pulled his hand away. Kagome frowned as she saw what looked like a squished bug float away from Inuyasha's neck a second later.

With a small pop the bug was once again three-dimensional. "Master Inuyasha," the small thing squeaked. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

Kagome jumped slightly when the thing had spoken and Inuyasha had shot her a smirk, before scowling back at the bug. "What do you want, Myoga? I thought I ditched you a while ago."

"Um," Kagome spoke up. "What the hell is that?" she asked, pointing to the thing bouncing up and down on Inuyasha's hand.

"Oh! Excuse me," the small voice squeaked. "I did not mean to be rude." The creature hopped over to Kagome and onto her shoulder so she could see it was a very small, almost flea-like man. A bright green bit of cloth was tied around his neck, holding an oddly round bundle onto his back. "My name is Myoga the Flea and I serve Master Inuyasha, as I served his father before him. You must be Master Inuyasha's new partner." Myoga bowed slightly. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Uh, yeah," Kagome said. "My name is Kagome. Um, nice to meet you too."

Inuyasha sighed and reached over to pluck Myoga from her shoulder. "All right, everyone has met. Now care to explain why you're here?"

"Yes, right," Myoga said as he cleared his throat. "This is about your eighteenth birthday."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "My birthday was well over a week ago and I just turned eighteen, what's the big deal?"

Myoga scowled. "If you hadn't have taken off for the Mainlands, as you know you were not supposed to do, this whole thing could have been settled on your birthday." He cleared his throat. "As it stands, you weren't here and I could not find you until just now. Regardless, your eighteenth birthday is special, Master Inuyasha, because that is when your inheritance from your father is passed on to you."

Inuyasha sat a little straighter. "So the old man left me something, huh? And that bastard Sesshomaru hasn't managed to get his hands on it, huh?"

Myoga sighed. "I see you still haven't managed to patch things up with your elder brother."

"Feh," Inuyasha scowled. "Why would I want to? He's the stuck up prick here, not me. Now what's this about my inheritance?"

"Right, right," Myoga sighed again. "Your father left specific instructions with me that, should anything ever happen to him, I would make sure you received your inheritance." The little flea untied the cloth from around his neck, letting his circular bundle fall into Inuyasha's hand. He quickly unwrapped it, revealing a dark black pearl. "I was told that this pearl will lead you to your inheritance. Though I feel obligated to tell you that your father may not have made this easy for you. For all we know, this jewel could take you someplace very dangerous."

"But whatever the old man left me will be there, right?" Inuyasha asked as he picked up the black pearl.

"Yes, whatever was left to you will be wherever that pearl takes you," Myoga answered.

"Well then," Inuyasha smirked and looked up at Kagome. "Feel like a side trip before we head back?"

Kagome frowned for a moment. Sounds like his father is dead, she thought. Who am I to deny him his inheritance? I suppose, if the situation was reversed, I'd want him to let me go. She paused for a moment. Of course, the situation will never be reversed, she thought darkly. She shook her head and sighed once before looking up at Inuyasha, a small smile on her face. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"

Inuyasha grinned at her briefly and she was struck for a second with how good he actually looked. At least when he wasn't scowling or sneering or spouting out rude remarks. "Cool," he said, looking back at Myoga. "Now how do I work it?"

"Uh, My Lord," Myoga said with a nervous glance to Kagome. "Are you sure it's wise to bring a human with you? It could be dangerous."

"Trust me, I can handle myself," Kagome said at the same time Inuyasha said, "She's a miko, she'll be fine."

"A miko?" Myoga asked. "My word, there are certainly few of them left in this world. Quite a rare gift to be given indeed." He looked at Kagome with new awe. "Yes, yes I can faintly see your aura. You must be quite powerful to hide it as well as you do."

"Hey, Myoga, focus!" Inuyasha snapped. "How do I work the pearl?"

"Oh, yes, right," Myoga coughed. "My apologies, Master Inuyasha. All you need to do is simply smash the pearl. A gateway should open to take you where you need to go." The little flea quickly tied the cloth back around his neck. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I will take my leave before you smash it."

"He always was a coward," Inuyasha said as he and Kagome watched the flea hop away. "Always ran if he thought there could be any kind of danger." He looked back at the pearl in his hand and stood up. He yanked his pack off of the ground and slung it over his shoulders. Kagome hastily followed his example as he threw the pearl at the ground. It smashed with a single, oddly crystal clear note, and a swirling vortex of darkness appeared in front of the pair. "Huh, not what I was expecting," Inuyasha said with a shrug. "Oh well, no turning back now. Might as well see what the old man left me." With that, he jumped into the vortex, immediately vanishing from sight. Kagome hesitated for a brief moment before following him in.

AN2: Once again, I'm very sorry I kept you waiting as long as you have. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Classes are starting to slow down as the semester is almost over. I should hopefully have more time to write now. Please, as always, review! I crave to know what you guys think! Yes, that means all you people who added me to your story/author watch lists. Don't get me wrong, I'm very flattered you did, but I want to know your opinions please. Well, I think I've wasted enough of your time with these author's notes. Until next time :)