The days continued in much of the same way. Kagome decided to join the nurses program after school, so she had something other than her thoughts to occupy her time. She was just beginning to get comfortable with her new place in life. School was going well. Math was and will always be her worst subject, but the tutor she had really helped. Despite her good luck at school, Kagome couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when the weekend arrived.

Ranma and Akane were growing ever so slightly closer. They still argued, but their words took on a less angry, more playful, tone. Most of the occupants of the house didn't notice, but Kagome was ecstatic.

Yes, things were looking up for all of them.

However, Kagome still couldn't shake the feeling of something…wrong. It was like a darkness hung over their happiness, waiting for the prime time to destroy everything with one fell swoop.

Sesshomaru came to visit her like he promised. They met at the library, just the two of them. Sesshomaru informed her that the PTSD councilor said if she could keep busy, and not relapse, she would be ok without constant visitation. Sesshomaru gave her a set of instructions from the councilor as well to practice every evening.

He also gave her more books from his own private library about the cursed springs. They had a lot of information and she would, hopefully, be able to help Ranma and Genma with it. Sesshomaru also mentioned that she needed to keep up with her training, but to stay inside when she did it.

He too could feel the evil emanating from the area.

She bid him adieu and made the trek back to the dojo. It was warm that Saturday. Children were out riding bikes and playing games in the park. Kagome allowed herself to relax her muscles in the warm sun. Her blue summer dress flapped lightly in the breeze, brushing her knees.

She heard a squeal that stopped her. It was an animal squeal. She turned and peered into a dark alley way. Something moved and squealed louder. It sounded hurt.

She walked the rest of the way into the alley way and low and behold, she found…

A pink cat?

She crouched down to the poor things level and reached a hand out to it. "It's ok," Kagome spoke soothingly to it. "I won't hurt you sweetie."

Oddly enough, the cat seemed to understand her. It stood still while Kagome untangled it from the string wrapped around its tail. Once she had freed it, the cat jumped into Kagome's arms. "You belong to someone." Kagome said. Her coat was too clean, and soft, to be an alley cat. She also had a little bow tied to her ear.

The little cat just meowed and pawed at Kagome's chest. Kagome smiled down at the little cutie. "I'll take you home and we'll get you cleaned up, then try to figure out who you belong to."

Kagome walked home holding the cat, unknowing of the chaos she was about to cause.

It was a madhouse before she even came through the door. Akane and Ranma were snapping at each other like little terriers. Kasumi had her head in her hand and Genma was in his panda form, out cold on the front porch. Nabiki and Soun were nowhere to be found.

"Hey! What's going on in here?" Kagome asked.

"Oh thank the gods you're here." Kasumi spoke, sounding like she was nearly at her wits end. "They've been doing this since this morning." Kasumi rolled her eyes heavenward.

Kagome frowned and put her cousins mind at ease. "I'll take care of them. You go do what you want to." Kasumi left, never noticing the cat curled up in Kagome's arms. It was relatively calm, however at the sight of Ranma, all the calmness fled. The cat leapt from Kagome's arms and landed on Ranma. He in turn, froze, mid-sentence. Then, a whole different kind of yelling began. Ranma began to run around and scream "Get it off me!"

Kagome and Akane stood in shock, looking at the scene. Kagome reached out as Ranma ran past her, and grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck. It didn't look too happy with the treatment, and hissed a warning at Kagome.

Kagome hissed back. This scared the poor little kitty into submissiveness. Ranma was calming himself down, but refused to be in the same room as the cat.

After he left, Akane got a good look at said cat. "Shampoo?" Akane said, confused.

"Who now?" Kagome knew she had heard that name from somewhere before.

"She fell into the cursed springs just like Ranma." Akane clarified.

Ah, now Kagome knew where she had heard that name before. It was that girl who worked at the café. Kagome frowned and prodded her with her aura. There were definitely two creatures in there. How had she missed that. "So, if we splash her with hot water, she'll be a human again?" Kagome queried.

Akane nodded. Then she too frowned. "But if we do it here, she won't leave. She is all about Ranma. She an Amazonian, and when a man defeats her in combat, he is supposed to marry her."

"And I take it Ranma defeated her in combat." Akane nodded her confirmation. Kagome sighed and looked once more to animal she held by the scruff of her neck.

Kagome decided it would be for the best if she just took her to The Cat Café.

Cologne thanked her for dropping her grand-daughter off unharmed and she was sent on her way with free oden.

Kagome set the oden she got in the fridge when she got back home. She sighed happily with the silence.

She stepped out to the fenced in back yard and took the books Sesshomaru had given her. She began to read. The book held plenty of information about how each spring came to be, How old the curse was, and the types of magic already used to attempt to break the curse. None had succeeded so far. She would have to do better.

She spent most of the afternoon pouring over the books, seemingly unaware of her surroundings. In actuality, she was trying to see if the person who was following her would get brave enough to come into the light. Then, she would fry him!

Darkness fell and Kasumi called that dinner was ready. Kagome got up and eased the soreness out of her back.

During dinner, Kagome explained what she had found in her research so far.

"I'll need to do a few tests, but I think I should be able to fix you guys soon. Nearly every type of magic was used in an attempt to break the curse. Even Miko energy. However, It was not used skillfully. I'll test out a few theories later on in the week and see if we should try it out."

"Why can't you just do it tonight?" Genma asked.

"Because, if I use too much power, I run the risk of seriously hurting you two. If I'm not careful, I could remove the wrong side. This would leave you two permanently as a woman and a Panda. In your case Genma, if I did that, then your human mind would be gone, and you would be as a wild animal." Kagome spoke seriously.

Genma and Ranma looked at one another. Both were silently contemplating whether it was a good idea to even let her try. "Well, we don't really have any other options."

"Not so. There is one other sure-fire way of removing this curse. You need pure water from the same spring you fell into. Bathing in that water would wash away the curse and you two would be free." Kagome waited to tell them the bad news. "However," That one word stopped all celebration. "It takes years to purify it. I'm not sure if they have already started on yours or if it will take them years to get to it." Kagome smiled sadly at the two. "We can pursue both options for now. I'll continue trying to use my powers to break your curse, and you two start to search out the water."

With that plan in motion, everyone prepared for bed. Akane was back to being amiable and the two girls bedded down for a night of pleasant sleep.

"Kagome?" Akane said after a moment. The two girls had the lights turned off and were already in bed. "Do you really think you can break the curse?"

"I like to think so, yes." Kagome said "Although nothing is certain yet. I still need to do more research and for that, I need water from one of the springs."

Akane thought about this for a moment. "I hope you can fix him. And Genma too."

Kagome smiled at the sound in her cousin's voice. "All will be well, don't you worry" Kagome reassured her.

Akane drifted off to sleep shortly after that, but Kagome wasn't tired. In fact, she was more wired than she had been in a long time. She couldn't sit still.

Using her stealth, she crept down the stairs, still in her pajamas. She hesitated when she came to the front door. Sesshomaru had told her to stay indoors. She squared her shoulders and opened the door.

The night air was cool against her skin. Goosebumps rose. She wrapped her arms around herself and stepped further out into the night.

The moon was glowing in the distance and she contemplated it. She could actually see a few stars out. Nothing like what she would see in the feudal era. She missed those nights out, sleeping on the ground, knowing that someone was protecting her. Now she had nothing.

A dark chuckle, one that was chillingly familiar, echoed into the night. Kagome drew her powers to the surface and prepared herself for anything.

Or she thought she had.

The figure stepped out of the cover of the trees.

Kagome gasped. "Y-YOU!"