"I cannot believe how heavy my head feels now." Kagome tugged at the mass of hair at the back of her hair as she attempted to keep stride with Inuyasha. "Do you think your claws might be able to cut it?"
"Keh." Inuyasha threw an annoyed look at the ningyo responsible.
"There's no need to be so testy, Inuyasha." Kagome sighed. "It's a beautiful day and we're not complaining about your pace for once. Isn't that reason to be happy?"
"Happy? I should be happy that you've been affected by some ningyo bullshit that no one understands and that we're probably walking into a trap?" His ears flattened, twitching slightly. Kagome suddenly felt the weight of her own feelings about the physical changes to her body, and Miroku's. But Inuyasha carried all their worries on his shoulders too. And but the sun made her feel a bit better about their lot in life, so she decided to soothe Inuyasha's frayed nerve instead of wallowing in stress. She wanted him to be happy, if even for a few minutes.
"No, but no one's been seriously injured." Kagome looked ahead to make sure that the others were a considerable distance from them before stepping closer to link her arm through his. "Everything's going to work out just fine, Inuyasha. You don't have to obsess every second of the day. We trust you, so relax."
Inuyasha's eyes slanted towards hers at the feel of her arm's warmth. Kagome felt gratitude wash over her when he didn't insist on pushing her away.
"Do you think we can trust Kagura?" Inuyasha's side lightly grazed hers, sending delicious tingles of nerves running through her body.
"I…don't know," Kagome blushed pink. She gently squeezed his arm as she stepped over a pit in the road.
"I can't tell sometimes if she's helping us or trying to trap us in one of Naraku's stupid plots." Inuyasha's elbow rubbed briefly against her ribs and she caught her breath. This was exciting. Yet, she was terribly afraid of looking up at his face. She might simply die of embarrassment that he had almost touched the outside of her breasts, or that she had almost wanted him to. She couldn't tell. Did she?
"Yeah."
Neither of them looked at each other.
"Either way, we have to see what is happening at the coast." Kagome tucked her hair behind her shoulders. It was so long that the mass hung over her yellow pack. And she found it incredibly annoying. "If Naraku is gaining strength…"
"Yeah," Inuyasha cleared his throat. Miroku had glanced back towards them from ahead. Kagome felt her skin turn from pink to red as the houshi began to grin. Kagome gripped his arm nervously as the MIroku nudged Sango and whispered something that she couldn't make out.
"Keh." Apparently Inuyasha could. He dropped her arm.
"Kagome-chan?" Sango stopped in the road to turn back towards them. "What would you say if we were to hasten our traveling a bit? Miroku says that if we hurry we might be able to reach the coast in two days."
Inuyasha's forehead wrinkled. "That isn't what he—"
"…yes," Miroku shot Sango a curious look. "I suppose that is what I meant."
"Well, Kilala, we will be needing your assistance again." The taijiya bent to pet her nekoyoukai companion. Kilala mewed and transformed, pushing against Sango's palm.
"Are you ok Kagome?" Shippo came scurrying to hug her leg.
"Yes, I suppose so." She bent to lift the squirming little kitsune. "Are you the one who's all right? Why are you sniffing me like that?"
"I dunno. You smell excited. And nervous." Shippo shrugged.
Kagome blushed before turning to look at Inuyasha's wide eyes. Before she could respond—she was sure he could smell her nerves too—the hanyou bolted forward to roughly sling one surprised ningyo over his shoulder.
"Well, are we going or not? Hurry up, idiots!"
With a sigh, Kagome marched over to climb onto Kilala's back behind Sango. Inuyasha would never return to that shared moment with anyone watching. Especially Miroku. It would be impossible for them to do…whatever it was that they were doing earlier.
"Inuyasha, wait up!" Sango urged Kilala into the air after the sprinting hanyou.
"Inuyasha sure can run when he wants to!" Shippo squeaked.
"Yeah, he can." Kagome sighed. "Will you be all right running after him Miroku?"
"I will be able to keep him in sight, if he doesn't decide to disappear on us." Miroku moved forward. The conversation halted as they attempted to catch up to the red-and-white blur that was Inuyasha.
Thoroughly exhausted, they set down for camp several hours later in a green meadow inside the forest filled with perennials. Inuyasha was the only one amongst the group who wasn't showing signs of wear from the hours of movement. Even Miroku, infused with ningyo strength, dropped onto a particularly soft patch of grass to stretch out while Sango worked valiantly at making lunch.
"This breeze feels wonderful," Kagome stretched her muscles, arms over her head. It might have only been wishful thinking, but she could swear that there was a distinctive salty tinge to the air that brought back her memories of family vacations to the beach. Maybe they were closer to the ocean than she thought.
"We made good time," Inuyasha dropped Nori by a boulder before digging through Kagome's pack. "Do we have any of that stuff you brought back last time?"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome hurried to stop him from dumping the bag's entire contents onto the ground. "What are you looking for?"
"I'm starving. Did you bring any of them back?"
"What?" Kagome huffed. She dusted her math book off tenderly as Inuyasha's sleeve disappeared inside her poor abused bag. "What are you looking for?"
"It was salty and you opened it?" Inuyasha sniffed over the bag. "They were little fish in a can with a key?"
"Sardines?" Her nose automatically wrinkled. "When have I ever given you sardines in a can?" The mention of them made her stomach hurt.
"Your mom did," Inuyasha shrugged. He looked up at her with cute, hopeful eyes. "So, did you bring any back?"
"No." She gently pushed him away from her bag in order to repack, again. Inuyasha had such strange taste in food.
"Do you have any tuna?" Inuyasha leaned over her again to pick through her things. She blushed as he nearly touched her undergarments, and hastily shoved them towards the bottom.
"I don't know, ok? Let me look." Kagome nudged him out of the way with her shoulder before shifting her things around. "Yes. I have a few cans left, ok?" She handed over the precious foodstuffs so that Inuyasha could carve them open with his claws and hand them over to Sango to heat with the rest of the meat and vegetables the innkeeper had gifted them with. "Why do you want fish so badly?"
"Nori's scent makes me hungry too." Shippo bounded over to help her. "Don't worry about it, Inuyasha."
"Hmm." Inuyasha hovered over Sango, who seemed seconds away from beating him about the ears.
"It will cook at its own pace Inuyasha. You cannot hurry it by standing guard," Sango sighed.
"Nori makes you hungry?" Kagome lifted Shippo into her lap. The ningyo was still lying flat on the ground where Inuyasha had tossed her, but at least she was conscious.
"A little bit. The smell does it," Shippo shrugged. "Can I have some of your tuna, Kagome?"
"Sure you—"
"No way." Inuyasha glared at the kitsune. "I'm the one who asked her for it. That makes it mine."
"Kagome!"
"Inuyasha, there is more than enough to share." Why did he always have to be so selfish? As if she would let either of them go hungry. Sometimes he really needed to grow up.
"He won't share with me," Shippo pouted. "Inuyasha's so mean, Kagome. I don't know why you stay with him."
"Shippo…"
"Eee!" The kitsune squeaked as Inuyasha lifted him by the tail.
"I'm bigger than you and I'm the one who asked for it!" Inuyasha shook him. "If you want to be the one who carries that damn smell around you're welcome to, but until then I get Kagome's ninja food!"
"No you don't!" Shippo swung forward and bit Inuyasha on the nose, surprising him.
"Hey! OW!"
"Boys!" Sango covered her head as Inuyasha stepped backwards, bowling into her. The hanyou tumbled over Sango's back and into the stewpot hanging over the fire, sending their dinner into the grass underneath.
"Our dinner!" Sango gasped. "You idiots!"
Inuyasha rolled to his feet as Shippo ran over Miroku's chest. The kitsune bounced off of Miroku's head as Inuyasha started after him.
"Inuyasha, sit!" Kagome mourned the meat soaking into the dirt. Inuyasha flattened against the ground inches from Miroku as Shippo came to a skid. "And you! I can't believe you would antagonize Inuyasha like that."
"But Kag—" Shippo made round, innocent eyes.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled against the dirt. "You stupid wench. Why would you do that? The little freak bit me!"
"You ruined our dinner." Miroku opened his eyes. The monk resumed his former peace, albeit with a sigh. "Now I expect we will be forced to eat birds and lizards. Or perhaps this is the day I turn cannibal."
"Really?" Sango turned towards him.
"I haven't decided yet." Miroku's stomach growled.
"An-gur?" a strange voice interrupted. They looked to where Nori had wrapped her arms around her knees, watching them all.
After a few moments, Sango answered. "Yes, that's right Nori. Anger."
The ningyo perked up proudly.
"What are we going to do for dinner now?" Inuyasha struggled to push his torso off the ground. "Shippo ruined the soup and now there's nothing to eat."
"…we could salvage…" Sango winced at the grass-covered bits of minced salt-beef and the cans of tuna had been overturned. "The tuna is still good."
Inuyasha's face hit the grass as Shippo vaulted off of his head and into Kagome's stomach. "Please please don't be mad at me Kagome!" Shippo hugged her around the middle. "I didn't mean to. It was Inuyasha's—"
"Why can't the two of you get along?" Kagome was so upset with them. "I realize that Inuyasha isn't patient, but at every opportunity Inuyasha's ears are being chewed on or he's beating you up—"
"—or ruining our dinner," Miroku grumbled.
"Yes, exactly!" Kagome rolled her eyes. "Is it impossible for you two to get along?"
"But I don't start it!" Shippo whined.
"The idiot blames me for everything!" Inuyasha finally sat up, rotating his arms. "I am going to teach the little brat a lesson, biting me on the nose like some—"
Kagome covered her face with her hands.
What were they going to do for dinner now? Inuyasha and Shippo ruined so many peaceful moments with their pointless bickering that it was almost indecipherable if they were bitter enemies or almost-brothers. True, they had the same maturity, but did they really need to act like it every hour of every day of every year—
Something…tingled.
Kagome straightened up, twisting around.
"Miroku?" Sango's voice lilted. "Is everything…?"
"Something is wrong," Kagome spoke softly. She didn't know what, but there was an awful feeling building in her stomach. And since Miroku was standing worriedly, she imagined that he could sense it too.
"The wind shifted our way. I think someone's dead," Inuyasha lifted his head. "Several people."
"We should check it out," Sango stood.
After tying Nori's hands to a particularly strong tree root and leaving Shippo to watch over their campsite, Inuyasha sprinted towards the source of the evil smelling wind. He darted around several bushes and an acre of trees before finding the bodies.
It had been a merchant party.
One of the carts lay tilted forward in the dirt—there were no signs of any horses; half of the cart lay in splinters around the bodies. Another cart was farther back on the trail. He stepped forward and rolled the closest one over. A merchant, by the looks of it; the man was young, and his eyes were open. Whatever had killed him had done it quickly.
"What killed them?" Sango couldn't find any obvious signs of who or what killed these men either. Kagome and Miroku were sorting through the wreckage of the cart. There was a near-continuous squawking from it that told him there were chickens in there. And they wouldn't shut up.
"There is several weeks' worth of goods here Inuyasha." Miroku straightened, holding a sack of rice. "At least we'll be able to have a decent meal tonight."
"What? We're not going to eat this!" Kagome's jaw dropped.
"What else do you propose we do with all of this?" The monk gestured towards the pile of foodstuffs, cloth and newly-crafted farm tools. "It would be a waste to leave them here."
"What do you think happened here?" Sango joined Inuyasha at the side of the oldest body, a man with gray hair and a topknot. He was the one with the worst injuries—a brutal slash across his chest that might have been from a sword, and a multitude of bruises. "The others aren't as badly injured, but they all have the same look in their eyes."
"Yeah." Fear. He straightened, inhaling again. Unfortunately, the area had been rained on in the past few days and most of the scents had washed away into the dirt, except for the prevailing smell of rotting flesh and dried blood.
"Bandits couldn't do this, I don't think." Sango crossed her arms over her chest. "The goods are still here and their victims are usually brutally beaten, stabbed—"
"I know," he sighed. "Hey monk, are there spades in that pile? We need to bury these men."
"I'm surprised that they haven't begun to attract scavengers." Miroku handed Inuyasha one of the shovels from the pile of tools. "I wonder where the youkai in this region are. Most of the weaker ones usually race towards sites such as these."
"Kagome, you and Sango take the goods back to camp and start dinner while the monk and I take care of these people." If he had to bury another group of dead humans he at least wanted a decent meal afterwards. It seemed like all he ever did was bury people. But at least there were only four this time.
"Hey Kagome!" Shippo ran to greet them as Kilala's paws touched the ground. "Look, I found some berries! What is all that stuff?"
"That's great Shippo," Kagome jumped off. "Would you help us get these things off of Kilala? We found a group of dead merchants in the woods."
"That's awful," Shippo winced. "But at least I'm forgiven about our dinner, right?"
"I guess so." She ruffled his hair fondly.
"There's rice and pickled vegetables here," Sango dug through the goods. "These chickens would be good."
"Would you like some chicken Nori?" Kagome sent a nervous smile to the staring half-human. "Have you ever had chicken before?"
"This one was so nervous it laid an egg!" Shippo giggled as he looked inside the bag. "Can we really eat them tonight?"
"Chicken would be a nice treat," Sango sighed. "Even though I feel strange at eating those poor merchant's goods."
"Inuyasha's right though…I suppose." Kagome sighed as she watched her friend take the head off of two squawking chickens at once and hang them to drain over Kilala's newly dug hole. She started a new fire while hopelessly trying to ignore the squawking coming from the bag.
"Kao-me?" a soft voice chirped.
"What?" Kagome answered automatically, looking up. It took her several moments to realize that, while feminine, the voice hadn't been Shippo's. "Nori, did you just…"
Large silver eyes stared at her. The chickens were still squawking.
"Did you just try to say my name?" Kagome whispered. Nori's head tilted to the side, making her hair swing. Her arms shifted a bit from where they were still bound to the enormously thick tree root. "You will have to wait until Inuyasha returns for him to free your wrists, ok? I know that must be uncomfortable, but we've all agreed that it's not a good idea to let—"
"Kao-me." Nori deliberately made the sounds this time. Her dark eyebrows came together.
"Hey Kagome!" Shippo came running from the woods to show her a large handful of purple berries. His face was stained with their juice. "You should try some of them! They're delicious."
"That's…great," Kagome breathed.
Nori sighed. Somewhat in horror, Kagome watched Nori easily slip her hands out of Inuyasha's best knots with a twist of her wrists. The ningyo used the tree behind her to stand.
"Sango?" Kagome called, getting to her feet. "Sango!"
"What?" the taijiya called back.
"You've been able to slip out of those knots the entire time?" Kagome asked.
"Should I go get Inuyasha?" Shippo clung to her leg. They gave her a wide berth as she moved past them to drop beside the bag of chickens.
"Kagome!" Sango sighed, Kilala at her side. "You shouldn't have done that. You know how furious Inuyasha will be when he sees—"
"I didn't do it!"
"Shippo?" Sango put down her headless chickens. "Nori might—"
"She just slipped out of it, Sango. We didn't do it." They all watched Nori open the bag cautiously, peering inside. One of the hens flew out, surprising a squeak from her. She scooted away from the hen flapping on the grass as if it would attack her.
"She knows how to slip out of knots?"
"Nori," Kagome sweetened her voice. "Are you hungry?"
"It's like having a baby with us," Shippo shook his head. "She's afraid of a chicken!"
Sango decided to be the adult. She stepped forward to grasp the chicken by its neck and turned towards Nori. "You're hungry, aren't you? It's only a chicken." Sango twisted the chicken's neck smoothly, ending its complaining, placing it into the ningyo's hands. "Now pluck the feathers off and—"
"Kao-me," Nori said brightly.
"What?"
"I…I think that's supposed to be me." Kagome blushed when they turned towards her.
"No dear," Sango sighed. She removed the dead chicken again before Nori could attempt to bite it through the feathers again. "Let me show you. We pluck the feathers…"
"Nori can almost say your name," Shippo said brightly. "Isn't that a good thing?"
"I don't really know." She began to place slices of chicken into the pot along with a few of the pickled vegetables, some pepper, and very few other spices. Too many and Inuyasha would panic. "We should find some more water before dinner."
"…and there you go," Sango sighed, covering up the feather with a rock. "And some water—no, untwist the top…there." The taijiya sighed as Nori drank half of the bottle in seconds. "I think you're right. You and Kilala should circle around to find it. Inuyasha would kill me if I allowed you to stay here with her alone."
"You want me to go?" Kagome raised an eyebrow.
"Nori will probably drink through our supply of water before you return," Sango touched her hand. "I will be fine. The Hiraikotsu will keep me company."
"All right." Kagome retrieved the empty water-bottles from her bag. "We won't be long Sango."
"Yeah," Shippo squeaked. He wanted to go with Kagome.
"Now if you will simply stay quiet and eat your dinner, life should be peaceful." Sango glimpsed towards the nekoyoukai in the sky before adding a bit more pepper to their stew. Kagome never added enough for her taste. Nori continued to eat her chicken raw, which helped to abate Sango's growing appetite. "Disgusting."
Nori twisted around to look at her with blood smeared on her face.
"Yes, that is disgusting," Sango said pointedly. "Please wipe the blood away, would you?" She tossed one of Kagome's handkerchiefs at the hanyou.
Nori continued to stare at her.
"Do you blink?" Fish youkai had never been a taijiya's strongest knowledge base. Most of them remained in the water unless they were attacking humans and then they were usually dead before anything had been discovered. "It's completely fine for you to continue eating. Please stop staring at me."
Nori set her meal down.
"What is wrong?" The ningyo was standing; Inuyasha would kill her if Nori did anything. "Nori?" Perhaps she should reach for the Hiraikotsu.
"Kou-a," Nori chirped.
"Kagome?" Sango was hesitant. "Kagome will be back soon. Please sit down."
"No." Nori shook her head, sending reddish-gold hair flying.
"No?" Since when did the ningyo know how to say 'no'? "What are you talking about, Nori?"
"Kou…" Nori's lips were trying to form something. "Kou-a." She was looking at her with an expectant expression, as if Sango were the one who didn't understand.
"What is Koua?" Nori began to walk away. "Nori! You shouldn't—hey!" The ningyo moved faster than she expected, grabbing her shoulders. "Nori, you will—"
There was a rotating cloud of dirt moving towards them.
Kouga.