fox - update on the apartment, the kitchen is mostly done...mostly. the four days I was told it would take has morphed into more than two weeks, and they're still not done.

Sigh

Okay, we can finally get Inuyasha out of the fish.

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Cut off its tongue she says. Kami-sama it's dark in here…and squishy. Where's the back of the tongue anyway? All of this was running through Inuyasha's thoughts as he slipped and dodged around grinding teeth, moving ever back towards the throat of the monster. He grimaced and caught his sword between two teeth effectively anchoring himself in place as the fish convulsively swallowed.

As soon as the trembling of the "ground" stopped Inuyasha was once again moving. He didn't have much time left. The smell was already making him dizzy, and if he could see he was sure that there would be at least two of everything. Suddenly the entire beast shifted and, miracles of miracles, opened its mouth in preparationfor another attack.

Hoping he was far enough back, Inuyasha used the faint light that filtered to the top of the throat to locate the tongue, and swung Tesuseiga with all his strength. He took a moment to growl victoriously at the flopping mass when the expected vacuum never occurred.

When he came back to himself, he realized that where he had been standing straight with headroom to spare, now he was hunched and his hair was congealing to the roof of the creature's mouth.

ITS SHRINKING? Oh HELL NO! Inuyasha quickly raised his sword over his head and braced it against the flesh above him. Despite his best efforts the thing was still getting smaller, and now he was crouched using his legs and back to try and push his way through the top of the fish's head.

Oh screw this! They'll just have to find some way to explain the mess to the humans! That decided, Inuyasha steadied himself and using both hands swung Tesuseiga overhead.

"KAZE NO KIZU!"

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Kagome hid her eyes when there was a blinding flash from the withering demon. When she dared to look again Inuyasha was standing in a sticky mass and grumbling to himself. The main body of the fish was nowhere to be seen, but the tongue was still large, and was currently jerking around near Inuyasha's feet.

He used a huge sword to pin the tongue to the ground like a bug in a collection. As she watched the writhing chunk something near the back caught her attention. It looked like a subtle glint, sunlight hitting glitter on the thrashing body part.

Kagome seemed somehow removed from the events around her as she slowly made her way to Inuyasha's side. She was distantly aware of Inutaishou moving to his youngest son, then quickly retreating with a hand over his nose; of Sesshoumaru still detaining Rin; of her mother pulling a handkerchief and trying vainly to wipe Inuyasha's face as if he were a dirty two-year-old. However, all of it seemed blurry compared to the shining pink jewel that sat proudly on the disgusting appendage.

Still in a daze, Kagome reached out and plucked it from its grimy resting-place. Instantly the tongue stopped moving and shrank down to an eighth its original size. Her surroundings suddenly shifted back into focus.

Inutaishou was evidently in charge of the crisis. His voice rang out clearly above the others.

"-roku will deal with the carcass and the … human explanations. Kaede, you can drop the barrier now. It's going to take a lot of time and work to return the park to normal, we can't continuously hide the damage for that long, we'll just have to come up with a plausible story..."

Inuyasha had apparently managed to escape Sakura's mothering and now stood at Kagome's shoulder carelessly oozing a smelly substance onto her shirt. Kagome took a careful step sideways and shot him a disgruntled look.

"Hey! It's your fault I'm covered in this gunk!" Inuyasha protested loudly. He continued in a false tenor, "Cut off the tongue Inuyasha." He mocked her.

Kagome's eyes narrowed and she took a quick breath through her mouth so she didn't have to smell him. "I said cut off its tongue, not get swallowed by the thing. You probably could've just cut off its head and done the job quicker!"

If Inuyasha had been a true dog Kagome would have said that his hackles rose at her comments. "You didn't say to cut off the head, you said to cut out the tongue! Next time say what you mean."

"I thought you would have enough brains to figure it out for yourself! I didn't think it actually needed to be said! It's not like you're a toddler." She yelled back hotly.

"That is why you should never assume anything where Inuyasha's intelligence is concerned. It is only his simplicity that is capable ofamazingme." Sesshoumaru's cool voice efficiently cut through their argument.

Kagome jumped when she realized that Rin and Sakura had joined their small group, with Sesshoumaru and Inutaishou standing a small distance away and conveniently up wind of them.

Rin's voice interrupted her mental inventory, "Kagome, doesn't that look just like…" She trailed off uncertainly.

Kagome returned her gaze to the pink shard glimmering brightly at her fingertips. "Yeah," she replied, "It does kind of remind me of that necklace Ji-chan gave me."

Kagome hesitantly pulled out the charm to compare the two jewels.

"They do seem to be made of the same material…" She mused out loud.

Kaede came ambling over during their examination of the matching shards. She took a quick hard look at the jewels. "Kagome…" she ventured. "Could I have a look at those?"

"Of course Kaede-san." Kagome was quick to hand over the shard from the fish and the one on her necklace. "Maybe you know what it is. I was thinking pink citrine or possibly, rose quartz, but I've never seen either of those reflect light like these do. They almost seem to…glow, don't they?"

Kaede studied the jewels for a moment concentrating her energies on the sparkling stones. Suddenly she was hit with a backlash that flung her consciousness back at her in swift chastisement.

Kagome gasped and staggered back a moment, panting as she repressed the urge to forcefully take back the charm and unmounted stone. Those present with demon blood flinched as if in pain.

Kaede's eyes widened comically as she spun around and called out, "Inutaishou-sama!"

His eyes pierced her with their intensity, though he seemed to be aware of everything going on in the park, like he was expecting another attack. "Kaede, what was that?"

It was the first time Kagome had heard his voice so quietly menacing. Instead of his usual good-natured tone that conveyed friendship, this voice showed that he was ready for attack, if only he was pointed in the proper direction. Yet it wasn't the obvious threat of a cobra rearing to strike, but the deadly sound of a rattler laying in wait, hidden by the bushes.

He was obviously shocked out of his hazardous mind-set by Kaede's quietly whispered "It's the Shikon no Tama."

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Shikon no Tama - Jewel of four souls

Kaze no Kizu - Wind scar