So. As my name is not Rumiko Takahashi, nor one of the many names associated with CLAMP, I can assure you that I in no way have any claim to the titles InuYasha: a Feudal Fairytale or XxxHoLiC. Believe me.

— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -

"The rain is clearing up!" Watanuki cheered as he and Kagome hung sheets up to dry in the sunlight. "I guess there really was a relationship between all the rain and the Ame-Warashi, right Kagome-chan?"

Kagome smiled at his enthusiasm. "Never doubt the words of an angry spirit- they tend to be almost neurotically truthful." She told him dryly as she smoothed out some wrinkles in an attempt to keep the sheets from creasing.

"Oh. That makes sense I- YEAAAAAAA! YUUKO!" Watanuki's scream diverted Kagome's attention from her task. The girl blinked down at her boss, who was lying sprawled out along the porch, writing out the kanji for HOT with her lemonade on the planks.

"Ummmm... Yuuko-san?" She asked hesitantly, "Would you like Watanuki-senpai and me to get something for you?"

The older woman sat up and brightened immediately. "Yes, Kagome-chan! That would be lovely!"

Which was how she and Watanuki had been convinced into hauling out a kiddie pool, inflating it, filling the thing with water, and grabbing a slightly ridiculous parasol out of storage. Now Yuuko was seated in cold water, parasol in hand to keep the sun off of her body, while Maru and Moro played with the water hoses nearby. A look of rapture crossed her face. "Ahhhh! This is bringing me back to life!" She glanced over her shoulder to where Kagome sat slumped against the wall and Watanuki lay panting heavily. "What's wrong, you two?"

"They're not cheerful. They're not cheerful." Maru and Moro chanted mournfully.

"YOU ORDER ME TO INFLATE A KIDDIE POOL, BUT YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A HANDPUMP!" Watanuki shrieked, "ANY NORMAL PERSON WOULD LOOK LIKE ME!"

"Inflating the pool without an air pump was a little exhausting," Kagome agreed, "But as I didn't do most of that part, that's not really my problem. I'm just a little overheated."

"Ahhh, yes, yes. The pool is just the thing for summer! This one even has cute characters on it!" A slightly evil smirk crossed her face, "And because Watanuki worked soo hard, I'll give him a peep of something of mine that's really nice!"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Watanuki yelped in response. Kagome snickered at Yuuko's suddenly angelic expression as she reached into a drawer of a nearby table and removed a small vividly blue cylindrical vial with silver filigree in a pattern of flowers. The boy blinked, surprised. "It's a pipe, right? I didn't know you smoked pipes, Yuuko."

Kagome's eyes narrowed and tilted to the side as she inspected the pipe. "It's a pipe, alright," She confirmed, "But it's not filled with tobacco."

"Exactly, Kagome-chan!" Yuuko agreed, her eyes sparkling with glee as she uncapped the pipe.

"Eh?" Watanuki asked, leaning closer to inspect the furry thing revealed inside. "A brush?" He murmured, leaning forward to inspect it. In an instant, he was bowled over as a long, slender form streaked out of the pipe and flew over his shoulder to get to Kagome. "WAAAAH! IT MOVED!"

Meanwhile, the furry creature was winding its way around Kagome's neck and shoulders, pausing to look into her eyes before rubbing its head against her cheek. Kagome giggled, "That tickles," She told it gently, then to Yuuko, "It feels like a fox," she said, puzzled, "But... not exactly. What is it, Yuuko-san?"

"It's a pipe fox spirit." Yuuko explained.

Watanuki stared at the scene in abject confusion. "Fox? Where do you get a fox from that?"

Yuuko shrugged, "It's tail looks like a fox's, doesn't it?"

"So does its face." Kagome agreed.

"Which end is its face?" Watanuki muttered, shaking his head.

"It's so cute..." Kagome murmured, stroking the soft fur of its head. The pipe fox let out a purring rumble in response, nuzzling closer to her cheek. Kagome's eyes closed, remembering stroking Shippou's tail, and his similar response. Her face took on a trace of melancholy at the thought.

"It also has incredible spiritual powers." Yuuko informed them, "After all, it's a creature offered as payment by the Ame-Warashi." She glanced over her shoulder at Watanuki before adding, "By the way, Watanuki, do you have a White Day gift prepared for the Zashiki-Warashi? I'm willing to help you get it to her, if you do. After all, it will be hard to find her, being who she is..." She trailed off, looking hopefully at her part-timer.

"I do," Watanuki answered, eyes narrowing, "But if I asked you for help, you'd deduct it from my wages, wouldn't you?"

"How awful!" Yuuko cried, sounding outraged, "You act as if I'm some sort of miser!"

"I'll try to find her on my own." Watanuki answered, voice flat.

Kagome giggled. "I'm impressed by your conviction."

"Good boy! Good boy! Watanuki's a good boy!" Maru and Moro chanted, "He should get a gold star! He should get a gold star!"

"He's right!" Yuuko agreed cheerfully, "Such presents really should be given in person, don't you agree, Kagome?"

"Oh yes, of course!" Kagome agreed with a devious smile, "After all, what girl wouldn't appreciate such appreciation?"

"Do tell me," Yuuko continued, "Did Doumeki-kun offer such appreciation? I haven't seen your White Day present from him."

Kagome's face flushed. "Yes, he did. On time." She added with a glance over to Watanuki, "Unlike some people who are well over a month behind by now."

Yuuko's eyes gleamed. "Well, Kagome-chan, what was it?"

The flush on Kagome's face deepened. "He got me a stuffed fox."

"EHHHHH?!" Watanuki shocked voice broke in, "Was that why he wanted to know if there was something Himawari or I knew you preferred!? I never should have told him!"

Yuuko snickered. "So it seems he put some effort into your gift, Kagome-chan. You should be happy."

Kagome shrugged, "I guess so..." She murmured, turning her attention to coaxing the pipe fox from wrapping around her neck too tightly.

— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -

"So, explain to me again, how exactly is Watanuki planning on finding the Zashiki-Warashi on his own?" Doumeki asked Kagome drily as they cleaned the archery team's equipment shed. It was their turn to perform clean-up duty, and they were attempting to make quick work of the task, although it was obvious that several of their predecessors had deemed it unnecessary.

Kagome shook her head with a smile. "I have absolutely no idea. He doesn't know much about her, or Zashiki-Warashi in general, and I don't think it's occurred to him that he needs to do some serious research to find out. Last I spoke to him, he was muttering about hiking in the mountains."

Doumeki stared at her for a long moment. "Has he realized that he doesn't know exactly which mountains she lives in?"

Kagome shook her head with a fond smile. "I doubt it. He usually doesn't think about such things- he just doesn't want to add to his debt to Yuuko-san."

"Idiot." Doumeki muttered with equal affection, shaking his head.

"Of course he is," Kagome agreed, "But he wouldn't be our Watanuki if he suddenly started to be practical." Suddenly, her back went ramrod straight as she felt something ghost along her arm. "Shizuka-senpai, you didn't just touch my arm, did you?" She asked, doubtful.

"No, how could I? I have an armful of dirty shitagake. Smells like no one's bothered to clean them since the tournament your friend showed up to."

Kagome wrinkled her nose. "Uggh. We'll definitely need to wash them, then. Kami-sama, does anyone else bother to actually clean during their rotation?" She shivered, feeling the same sensation, only this time around her shoulder. "And there it is again!" She said, huffing in irritation.

"There's what again?" Doumeki asked, immediately wary.

"This strange feeling that something is touching me." She explained, irritated. She pulled slightly on the collar of her uniform, and out popped the pipe fox's head. She stared at it for a long moment, then started to laugh. "It's you! Well, I guess that explains things."

Doumeki stared at the little creature, trying not to feel annoyed about the fact that the thing was touching Kagome's skin so casually. He failed. "What is that?" He asked, his voice sounding a little sharper than usual, and he glared slightly at it.

"It's a pipe fox." Kagome explained, "It's what the Ame-Warashi paid with- KYAAH!" The sudden shriek was caused by the pipe fox's sudden dive back into her blouse. She could feel it quivering between her shoulder blades... at the one point she couldn't reach by herself. "Well, this is just great." She mumbled, her cheeks flaming, "Why'd it decide to do that?"

Doumeki's didn't seem to be in much better condition. "Probably because I was glaring at it." He said, "Can you grab it?"

Kagome shook her head, her face getting even redder, "Not where he's positioned himself. Ummmm... Maybe he'll move?"

He shook his head. "Doubtful, at least as long as I'm here. Errrr... would you like some help?" Both of them were completely red at this point.

"Oh... ok? Just try not to hurt him..." She turned her back to him as he set down the pile of shitagake.

"Right." Idly, Doumeki wondered if his face had ever been quite this red before. He rather doubted it. Then again, he'd never put a hand under the shirt of his best female friend, for whom he just so happened to have more than typically friendly feelings, so he supposed that was to be expected. After a moment's hesitation, he pulled the back of Kagome's uniform away from her skin, reached under the hem, and quickly located the pipe fox wrapped into a ball against her upper back. Following her directions, he gently took hold of it and slid it out from under her shirt. "There." He said, inspecting it closely. "So, this is a pipe fox."

"You've heard of them?" Kagome asked, sounding just a little too interested.

Doumeki didn't blame her. He knew a safe topic when he saw one, and he was more than happy to take advantage of this one. "My grandfather talked about them a little," He explained, "Said they were one type of magical creature." He turned to the pipe fox, who was shaking in his palm. "Hey, you. I'm not going to hurt you, and I didn't mean to scare you. So stop shaking." The pipe fox stopped, its little head peering at him, looking for all the world as if it was inspecting him, before seeming to come to a conclusion. It settled back into his hand without another complaint.

Kagome smiled, "Awww... I think it's decided that it likes you." She cooed, "Yuuko-san said that they had incredible spiritual powers..." She grinned, "It's a good thing that it's latched onto me, and not Watanuki."

Doumeki raised an eyebrow. "Really? And why is that?"

His response was a slightly evil light in her eyes, "Because while Yuuko will probably find it adorable that this little guy's attached himself to me, she'd make Watanuki pay a 'usage fee' or something if it had followed him. Can you imagine the shrieks of outrage if she did?" She reached out to stroke the pipe fox's fur again. The little creature perked up, and raced up her arm to wrap around her shoulders and rub its head against her nose.

Doumeki grinned. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was cuddling up." He watched the pipe fox for a moment, before shaking his head, "No, actually, I do know better, and I'm still saying that it's cuddling up. I think it likes you. Good thing you like foxes."

Kagome laughed, although Doumeki thought that it sounded a little more sad than usual. "I guess so. I like foxes, and for the most part, they like me. At least, the spiritually aware ones do. I haven't met any of the other type, so I couldn't say." Suddenly, the pipe fox stopped mid-nuzzle, and its head zoomed over to the open window of the shed. Kagome frowned. "What is it, little one?" Something drifted in on the breeze, landing into her outstretched hand. "A feather?" She murmured, bringing it closer to her face, then she frowned "That's odd..."

"What is?" Doumeki asked, looking over her shoulder. "It's a feather."

Kagome shook her head, "There's more to it than that." She trailed off, before asking "Do you feel anything... off about it?"

Doumeki's eyes narrowed with concentration as he stared at the feather. Finally he nodded slowly. "It's not off, exactly... just a really vague feeling that it's not a normal feather. I don't think I would have picked up on it if I hadn't tried."

"Shizuka-senpai's abilities are getting stronger." She said with a smile, "Probably because you're hanging out with Watanuki-senpai and me so often. You're using them more now, and practice does make perfect, after all."

He nodded. "Makes sense. Where is this from, then? Should we be worried?"

"I... I don't know." She said with a shake of her head, "There's a gold aura around it, which means that it's been exposed to some sort of extended human contact. It doesn't seem dangerous, at least, not to us. To its owner... that's a different question, one I don't know the answer to." She looked out the window, eyes narrowed. "Fukumura-san!" She whispered, before turning to Doumeki. "The girl with short curly hair, walking away from the school- do you notice anything unusual about her?"

Doumeki leaned over her shoulder to peer out the window, before shaking his head. "Nope. I've got nothing. I'm guessing that you do?"

Kagome nodded. "She has small white wings growing out of her shoulder blades. They're still small, but I'm guessing that since you can't see them, it's a big problem."

"Manifestation of her soul?" He asked.

"That's my guess." She agreed, her face looking grim. "I'll tell Yuuko-san about it tonight at work. In the meantime," she wrinkled her nose at the pile of shitagake. "Let's go get these in the wash. They really are disgusting."

— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -

Kagome opened the door to the shop to a Watanuki rant. "...Maybe Himawari-chan will wear them! Cute! That would be so cute!" He crowed, before sobering for a moment, "But wouldn't that be against the rules? Against uniform policy, or something, probably, although I don't think there's a specific rule that says 'students may not wear wings' in the handbook..."

"You'd better hope Himawari-chan doesn't start wearing those wings, Watanuki-senpai." She told him bluntly, before turning to Yuuko, "Doumeki and I saw Fukumura-san, one of the girls in my class, wearing them. Or rather, I saw them. Doumeki could see one of the feathers that had floated away on the breeze, and even noticed that there was something off about it when he focused, but he couldn't see the wings themselves."

Yuuko nodded, eyes narrowed. "Do you still have the feather, Kagome-chan?"

"Of course," Kagome reached into her pocket and handed it over to Yuuko, "We didn't have a clue what it meant, but we figured that you might."

"I do." Yuuko's face was dark. Her expression wasn't angry, exactly, but it certainly wasn't happy, either. "Are you particularly bent on keeping this?" Wordlessly, Kagome shook her head. She sensed Yuuko's power gathering around the feather, although she was still startled when it burst into flames. "Be very careful," Yuuko's voice was serious, more so than Kagome had ever heard it. "Being 'game' is very dangerous."

Kagome couldn't help shivering slightly.

— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -

Art class, Kagome decided as she pushed her sweaty hair off her shoulder for the twentieth time that afternoon, was a horrible class. Never mind that she was usually at least somewhat fond of the subject. She had a good eye for detail, even if her fingers weren't skilled enough to sketch anything too brilliant. They had done a unit on calligraphy a few months ago, and she'd done exceptionally well there. She'd chalked it up as being part of a traditional shrine family, but it went deeper than that. After all, miko and houshi made their own sutras, and someone had to make all those charms for blessing that were so popular at shrines. Doumeki had also done rather well on that unit, the art teacher had mentioned.

Still, sketching pictures of school grounds at the end of May was absolute torture. "So hot." She muttered.

"I know." One of her classmates agreed, blowing sweaty bangs out of her face, "This was nice in October, or March, but at the start of summer, I wish the art teacher would think of our misery."

Kagome nodded fervently. "Do you have a hair tie, or a ribbon I could borrow, Tsukino-san? I'm going to overheat unless I put my hair up."

"You're in luck." Tsukino replied, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a length of blue ribbon, "You don't need to give it back- it was a gift from my ex-boyfriend. I've only got it because I've been looking for a way to make a statement of just how little I care about him now. You wearing it should do the trick."

Kagome laughed as she took it and tied her hair into a ponytail. "Happy to help."

Tsukino grinned. "Thanks, Higurashi-san, I–" The conversation broke off to the sound of paper ripping violently. Both girls' heads whipped around towards Fukumura. "Nana-chan? W-what are you doing?" Tsukino asked hesitantly.

"I'm fed up with this!" Fukumura said angrily.

Kagome exchanged glances with Tsukino. Judging from the other girl's expression, this was not normal behavior for Fukumura Nana. It's those wings, Kagome thought to herself, It has to be. No wonder Yuuko-san was so adamant about us being careful! She shivered slightly. She would definitely be passing along the warning to Shizuka-senpai. He should be on his guard as well.

— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -

"Wings? Like the ones you told me about yesterday?" Doumeki asked as they walked to the archery practice area.

"Yes. It's Fukumura Nana-san, from class 1-A who has them."

"Did your other classmate see them?"

Kagome shook her head. "I didn't bother to ask. Tsukino-san definitely would have commented on them if she had seen them. So it was just me."

"I couldn't see them either." Doumeki said meditatively, "So, they're probably some kind of spirit. Or something spiritual, at any rate."

"Most likely." Kagome agreed with a frown, "The only question is what kind? Are they dangerous to her, or not? Can I get rid of them without her noticing?"

Doumeki shook his head. "I've got nothing. I can look through some of my grandfather's records, but that's–"

"You're in the way." Fukumura snapped from their left. Doumeki stopped mid-sentence, and both turned to look at the source of the angry statement. Neither of them moved and instead just stared at such blatant rudeness. Fukumura's fists clenched. "I said you're in the way!"

Without a word, Kagome moved closer to Doumeki's side, and Fukumura stomped past them. "She was always such an easy going girl," Kagome murmured, "A lot of people really liked her because of it. Tsukino-san was completely shocked at how she behaved in art class."

"I'm guessing that it's not just because it's too hot out. It's probably because of those wings you're seeing."

"That would be my guess. There's..." She paused with a sigh as the pipe fox stuck its head up from inside her collar, "Something strange about those wings." She finished, before turning to Doumeki with a slightly exasperated smile. "I seem to have picked up a passenger again. Perhaps I should look into buying it from Yuuko-san, given how it seems to have attached itself to me."

Doumeki smirked. "It's an idea. But yeah, there's definitely something weird about those wings. What did Yuuko-san tell you about them again?"

"She saw the feather we found yesterday, and said 'Be very careful, being game is very dangerous.' That was after she burned it to a crisp with her power." She explained, stroking the pipe fox.

"Game? What kind of game could she be talking about?" Doumeki asked, then shook his head, "No, it doesn't really matter, does it? She gave you a warning. So, follow it. I'll try to make sure Watanuki does too."

Kagome laughed. "I go out of my way to avoid trouble, especially when Yuuko talks like that. But Watanuki-senpai? We'll both need to keep an eye on him."

Doumeki grinned. "Very true. Speaking of which..." He gestured towards the school gate, where Kagome easily spotted Watanuki. "Let's go talk with him." He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Oi! Watanuki! Wait up!"

Watanuki whirled, but stopped and waited for them. "What do you want?" He demanded.

"Heard you got a warning from Yuuko-san." Doumeki said with a shrug. "Wanted to make sure that you weren't going to go sticking your neck out like she told you not to."

Watanuki glared at him. "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM! WHAT I DO IS MY BUSINESS!"

Doumeki scowled. "If anything happened to you..."

"Your source of free lunch would dry up?" Watanuki snapped. Kagome winced. She knew the real reason Doumeki was so concerned. He didn't want anything to happen to his friend, but Watanuki didn't realize that his friend really could feel worried about his safety, probably because he himself couldn't see the danger.

"NO!" Doumeki yelled, sounding angry, then seemed to calm himself. His usual smirk came into place, although Kagome could tell it was just a little forced. "I wouldn't be able to have as many chances to laugh at an idiot in action." He dead panned.

"THAT'S EVEN WORSE!" Watanuki shrieked.

Kagome shook her head, smiling fondly. "Boys, are you finished playing now?" She teased, "Shizuka-senpai and I need to get to practice."

"Yeah, Kagome's right. You'll be at the festival tonight, right?" Doumeki asked, pausing a moment before adding, "Himawari'll be there."

"Himawari-chan!" Watanuki cried, going into a day dreamy state, "She'll be so cute dressed in a yukata! Of course I'll be there!"

"Then we'll see you there." Kagome said with a smile, "Let's go, Shizuka-senpai, before the captain gives us cleaning duty again as a punishment."

"You said it. Later, Watanuki!" Doumeki added, nodding at the other boy before they turned and walked away.

Kagome sighed once they were out of earshot. "He really is clueless sometimes, isn't he?"

Doumeki laughed. "Yeah, he is." He paused for a moment, then added, "So, what are you doing about the festival? If I remember correctly, you don't have a yukata, or you would've worn it to the ghost story thing."

"I'm going to be doing what I usually do for festivals," she explained with a grin, "I've been loaned out to the shrine that's hosting it to help out, because they don't have any daughters. Thus, I'm wearing my hakama and haori."

"So, you're being a shrine brat for the evening," Doumeki said with an easy grin, "Gotcha."

Kagome wrinkled her nose. "I'm doing a friend of my grandfather a favor. Besides, I seem to recall a certain someone else being a shrine brat."

"True." He conceded, "But you've seen me being a shrine brat. It'll be nice to see you at it for a change."

"Well, you'll definitely get the chance tonight. I'll have to do a ceremonial dance a little before midnight. Easy enough when you've been doing so every year since fourth grade, but it's pretty." Kagome said, with a slight blush.

"Looking forward to it." He assured her as they entered the dojo. "Definitely looking forward to it."

— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -

As she was actually participating in the festivities for the evening, Kagome was the first of the friends to arrive at the shrine gate. She settled against one of the posts with a sigh. Based on past experiences with Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi, she was in for a long wait.

"Hey. So, this is what you look like dressed like a miko. Looks good." Kagome jumped nearly a foot off the ground with a shriek. Doumeki laughed.

"Don't do that!" Kagome scolded, catching her breath, "I don't like it when people sneak up on me. Bad memories." Her eyes narrowed, taking in the expression on his face, "You're going to start sneaking up on me more often now, aren't you?"

"Probably." He agreed with a smirk.

"Hi, everyone!" Himawari hurried to join them with a sunny smile on her face, "Wow, Kagome-chan, I didn't realize you would be acting as a miko at the festival!"

Kagome shrugged. "The family here doesn't have a daughter, and the head priest is an old friend of my grandfather. I've been conscripted to help out every year since I was in fourth grade."

"Really? It must be hard to be the daughter of a shrine family!" Himawari said, sounding awed.

"Not really. You get used to it."

"Yeah." Doumeki seconded, "Being a shrine kid, you see festivals in a different way than everyone else."

"Oh, I see! It must be interesting!" Himawari chirped. Kagome and Doumeki just looked at each other, neither wanting to be the one to burst the cheerful girl's bubble by saying that for shrine brats, the word 'festival' usually meant 'at least a month, if not more, dedicated to making preparations, including at least a week spent in a massive cleaning of the shrine from top to bottom, followed by being put on display like a performing monkey'.

Fortunately, they were spared from this by the impromptu arrival of Watanuki. "I'm sorry!" The boy panted as he ran up to them, "Did I make you wait long?"

Himawari beamed at him. "Not at all! I just got here. We all wanted to get here a little early, that's all. It's Kagome-chan who's been waiting for a while."

Kagome shrugged. "I didn't get to the gate all that long ago- I was doing last minute run throughs."

"Let's go." Doumeki broke in abruptly, moving to stand with Kagome in the front of the group.

"Who elected you leader, creep?"

Kagome had to stifle her giggles at Watanuki's muttering, and noticed a smirk on Doumeki's lips. "Someday," She murmured quietly, "You really are going to have to stop riling him up on purpose."

"Nah," Doumeki told her with a grin, "Then I'd be out of an entertainment source!"

"Watanuki-kun, do you like Night Festivals like this one?" Himawari asked brightly.

"I sure do!" Watanuki agreed, "But in places like this with large crowds, 'they' tend to come out, so I can't go to them very often." Kagome winced in sympathy.

"I'm guessing that 'they' are spirits?" Doumeki asked quietly.

Kagome nodded. "They're out full force in places like this. For Watanuki-senpai, who has innate power but not innate protections against them, festivals like this, especially ones at night, are probably nightmarish. He should have a much easier time of it tonight, though."

"Why do you say that?" Doumeki asked, curiosity in his voice.

Kagome beamed at him. "Because unlike Watanuki-senpai, you and I do have innate protections, and we'll be warding off anything that comes towards our group."

"Stop it!" A voice shrieked.

"Tsukino-san?" Kagome murmured, and turned her head towards the source of the yell. Sure enough, it was Tsukino-san, accompanied by a girl Kagome didn't recognize and...

"Isn't that the girl? Fukumura-san, right?" Doumeki asked her quietly.

"Yes, that's her." Kagome affirmed.

"Kagome-chan? Doumeki-kun? What's going on?" Himawari asked, coming to stand next to them.

"Hey, isn't that the girl you and Yuuko were talking about yesterday?" Watanuki asked, "The one with..." He trailed off, glancing at Himawari.

"Yes," Kagome affirmed, staring at the scene playing out in front of her, "That's the girl."

"He's the one who bumped into me!" Fukumura snapped, clearly angry.

"And I apologized!" A young man snapped back.

"Was that an apology?" She demanded.

"Cut it out!" Tsukino told her, "Let's just go. Come on, Nana-chan..."

"No!" Fukumura yelled, "Not until I get a proper apology!"

"You're not right in the head, you little..." The young man moved towards her, looking like he was about to slap her across the face. Kagome wouldn't have blamed him. Fukumura was being incredibly rude.

Fukumura beat him to the punch, quite literally, bringing the fan she was carrying down on his head with a resounding crack. The young man fell to his knees, his hands moving to cover what Kagome was certain would be a rather impressive lump. "You're not right in the head." She corrected him coldly.

Kagome's eyes narrowed as she caught a good look at Fukumura's back, but it was Watanuki who commented. "The wings..." He whispered, "They've gotten bigger."

"That can't be a good thing." Kagome murmured.

Bystanders were surrounding the fallen man. "Hey, are you ok? Can you stand?"

"What did you just do?!" Tsukino hissed, taking a hold of Fukumura's arm.

"It makes me mad!" Fukumura stated bluntly. "He should apologize!"

"What is wrong with you, girl?" A bystander asked angrily. The crowd around the group was getting larger, with more people joining the throng.

"What's happening?"

"Is there a fight?"

"What are you people doing?"

Tsukino started to look uneasy. "Let's get out of here." She said. Kagome could see her eyes darting around the crowd, looking for an escape.

"Why do I have to be the one to run away?" Fukumura demanded. Evidently, Tsukino decided not to leave her a chance to argue. She grabbed Fukumura by the wrist and darted away, dragging the other girl behind her. Their companion quickly followed suit.

Kagome stared after them, eyes wide. "They got bigger." She murmured.

Doumeki turned to watch her. "The wings?"

"Mm." Kagome nodded, eyes still fixed on Fukumura's retreating form. Suddenly, the other girl looked over her shoulder, and locked eyes with Kagome. She couldn't help the shiver than ran down her spine. This was definitely not a good thing.

— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -

"So, those wings on her back have definitely been getting larger, then?" Doumeki asked Kagome the next day as the two of them sat together at lunch the next day. Watanuki and Himawari were running late; they'd mentioned that they had some sort of class duty that would run over into the beginning of lunch at the festival the night before.

"Yes. They grew right before my eyes during the fan debacle." She affirmed. "I think... I think she glared..."

"At who?" Doumeki demanded.

"At... at me." Kagome admitted.

Doumeki frowned. "I don't like this." He admitted, "Did your passenger hitch a ride today?"

Kagome nodded. "He's currently residing under my shirt. Again."

"Good."

"You were there last night." Kagome and Doumeki both turned their heads to see Fukumura standing less than two yards from them. Her eyes were locked onto Kagome.

"Yes?" Kagome offered tentatively, not liking the way the winged girl was focused on her.

"You glared at me!" Fukumura announced.

Kagome shook her head slowly. "Our eyes met, but I wouldn't call it a glare. At least, not on my part."

"Well, I would!" Fukumura snapped, "And it irritated me! Apologize!"

Kagome's jaw dropped. "I'm not going to apologize for something I didn't do." She said quietly.

"Apologize!" Fukumura demanded, taking a step forward.

Kagome shook her head. "As I said, I didn't glare at you. I see no reason to apologize for looking at you."

"I DON'T CARE! JUST APOLOGIZE!" Fukumura yelled, moving even closer to Kagome. "AND BE QUICK ABOUT IT!"

Doumeki's eyes narrowed, and he put an arm out in front of Kagome. She blinked, startled. Was Doumeki being... protective? "She doesn't have to." He told Fukumura coolly. "If she didn't do anything, she doesn't have to apologize. The real problem here is..."

"JUST SPIT OUT AN 'I'M SORRY'!" Fukumura shrieked, the wings on her back bristling with anger, and growing even larger.

"Your wings..." Kagome whispered, her eyes going wide.

"Shut up!" Fukumura raged, reaching into her pocket before slashing at her. Kagome felt a sharp sting along her cheekbone, and reached up a hand to touch her face. Her fingers came away bloody. She gasped, and looked at Fukumura's hand. Fukumura was carrying a box cutter. "You all just piss me off!" Fukumura yelled. "You get me so irritated!" Her wings were shaking now, showing just how very angry the girl was. "APOLOGIZE, APOLOGIZE!" She yelled, slashing towards Kagome with the box cutter. This time, Kagome was ready, and dodged out of reach.

Doumeki pushed forward, placing himself between Fukumura and Kagome, before reaching out to seize the box cutter. The blade cut into his palm, and Kagome could see blood seeping through his fingers. "Shizuka-senpai..." She whispered.

"You're the one who should apologize." He told Fukumura sternly. "Kagome hasn't done anything to you, and you attacked her."

Fukumura started to shake, then fell abruptly to her knees. Her wings rose, and long, root like tendrils came with them, detaching themselves from her back. It was very possibly the most disturbing thing Kagome had ever seen, not in the least because it reminded her of another evil being that enjoyed tendrils... She could practically hear "Fufufufu" ringing in her ears. She shuddered.

Once the thing had completely detached itself from Fukumura's back, it rose into the air, and dive bombed towards Kagome. Her eyes widened, realizing that for once, she didn't have a pencil or other sharp object on her. This was going to be tricky. Maybe if she could reach Fukumura's box cutter...

She didn't need to worry. The pipe fox zipped out of her sleeve and streaked towards it, enveloping itself in blinding light as it went. The light faded to reveal a large fox youkai. It didn't look like Shippou, Kagome thought irrationally, nor did it look like his father. This fox was leaner and more animalistic, with a design on its face that resembled the fox masks her grandfather kept around the shrine. She stared as the pipe fox leapt onto the winged creature's back, claws extended, and mouth open to bite. She was so intent that she very nearly missed the fact that two root like tendrils were coming towards her. She yelped, and leapt out of the way, old instincts honed in the Sengoku Jidai coming to the fore. The pipe fox snarled, and landed lightly in front of her, fanning out its tails. All nine of them. Kagome's eyes widened.

Nine tails. She thought brokenly I'm being protected by a nine tailed pipe fox. Just when I thought my life couldn't get any stranger... The pipe fox bristled, and Kagome felt spiritual power surge around the pipe fox before it blasted towards the thing. It caught on fire, blazing brightly enough for Kagome to shield her eyes.

"I warned you," Yuuko's voice said calmly. Kagome squinted against the flames to see her employer standing in the midst of the dying flames. "I warned you to be careful not to become game for that creature to prey on."

Kagome shivered. Out of no where, Doumeki's hand came to rest on her shoulder. She looked over at him and smiled weakly. "Yes, you did, Yuuko-san. I'm sorry I didn't listen better."

Yuuko shook her head. "I suppose it couldn't be helped. And better you, to whom the pipe fox was so attached, than Watanuki. I will take the child home. You had best go see to your injuries."

"Yes, Yuuko-san." With that, the elder woman beckoned to the pipe fox, and was gone.

Kagome shivered. Yuuko's disappearing acts were always more than a little eerie. Still, there was no helping that, and it was past time to see to Doumeki's hand. "Here, let me take a look at that." She held out a hand.

Slightly amused, Doumeki put his hand into hers. "It's not that bad, really." He told her as she inspected the slice carefully, "I mean, yeah, it's not good, and it'll make archery practice tricky for a few days, but..." He trailed off as Kagome's eyes closed, and she gently ran two of her fingers over the still bleeding cut. Skin flowed together in their wake, leaving a completely healed palm behind them. "How did you do that?" He demanded.

She laughed. "It's actually a trade mark sign of a true miko. I can't do much, just cleanse infection from an open wound and mend low level cuts. If I ever get the training, I might be able to add cleansing illness from the bloodstream and mending higher lever injuries. Nothing like broken bones, or cancer, of course, but the less severe things. Other than that, I know a bunch of herbal remedies, and I'm really, really good at first aid." Her eyes took on a distant, dreamy cast. "The Kami know I've had enough practice, after all."

Doumeki's eyebrow raised. "Really? Doing what?"

Kagome bit her lip, wondering how exactly she should phrase this. "Remember how I said I missed a lot of school my last year in junior high due to something supernatural? Part of it involved needing to give first aid frequently. At any rate, your hand should be completely normal."

He clenched and unclenched is fist a few times, just to give it a trial, then nodded. "Yeah, it's just fine. Can you do anything for her?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the girl.

"No," She responded, shaking her head, "I can't do anything about people's minds, or..." She swallowed hard "Missing souls. Let's take her up to the nurse. Maybe there's something that can be done, but... I kind of doubt it."

Doumeki nodded grimly as he turned to Fukumura. "Well, she's coherent enough that she should be able to walk if we guide her. You take her hand, and let's get going." Kagome nodded and hurried to follow his suggestion. She wanted to get Fukumura into the appropriate care as soon as she could.

— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -

"You're back." Yuuko said calmly as Kagome entered the shop grounds, "How is Doumeki?"

"Fine. I took care of his hand for him, so he doesn't have to worry about providing an explanation for anything. Where's Watanuki-senpai?"

"I sent him home for the night." Yuuko answered with a wave of her hand, "I'm glad to hear the good news about Doumeki. And the girl?"

"You already know," Kagome pointed out, "She lost her soul. She could still walk around, but she lost the most important part of her soul. The school called in a psychiatrist, and he couldn't get her to snap out of it, either. I don't think... I don't think she ever will. Not without her soul."

"Those wings," Yuuko said quietly, "Paralyze a part of the human soul. The part that offers restraint. This is almost, if not more, important than the rest of the soul put together. This would be the part that shows restraint."

"Restraint?" Kagome asked, confused.

Yuuko nodded. "Yes, restraint. The part of the heart that endures discomfort. It's a critical part of dealing with others, more critical even than love. After all," Yuuko explained, "Even if you love someone, if you don't show restraint in your actions, and you don't understand them, things will turn to violence. The wings paralyze that part. Thus, when she was exposed to things that she could handle with no problems under normal circumstances, she got angry."

Kagome nodded, considering. "And the paralysis made it easy to harvest her soul?"

Yuuko smiled and nodded. "Exactly, Kagome-chan."

Kagome sighed, "There's no way to get it back is there?"

"Absolutely none. That creature is called a ko, and collecting souls for its master is it's task. She will not be the only one you see with the wings. They're all over television: They're the people on television you see admitting to a heinous crime, with their family, friends, and neighbors who are in complete shock."

Kagome nodded slowly. "That makes far more sense than it doesn't."

Yuuko nodded. "Indeed. There are basic requirements, of course. They can only bond to people who want strongly to lose their inhibitions."

"I take it," Kagome said after a long pause, "That the master wants the soul for something?"

"But of course." Yuuko agreed. "Take a look out the window."

Kagome did so, leaning out a window to take in the sight of the moon in the distance... the moon which was being crossed by more Ko. Her eyes widened. "That... that's not good." She whispered.

"No. It's not. There is something that I can do about it, but for that to be effective..."

"I need to leave." Kagome finished, "Of course. Ummm... just one question."

"Yes, Kagome-chan?" Yuuko asked, tilting her head to the side.

"How long until the pipe fox returns to normal?" The girl asked from the interior of a former pipe fox cocoon.

Yuuko laughed, "If he isn't fine by tomorrow afternoon, I'll ask you to use your purity to clear some of his energy channels." The older woman assured her.

Kagome nodded. "In that case, I'll leave so you can take care of things." With that, Kagome extracted herself from the pipe fox's grasp, and left the shop. As she shut the gate, she took one last glance back at the shop. She had a feeling that she should be very glad that she didn't have to stay while Yuuko was playing with magic. She doubted that she would much like to see her employer at her most powerful, or be involved in the consequences for using all of that power.

— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - —

Hello! Welcome to what I think might be becoming your bi-annual update on The Price of Hitsuzen. As usual, I come bearing copious apologies for the lateness of this posting, but I again beg for your patience in the name of college and general being really busy-ness. Still, I'm glad that you're all still reading, and I hope that you've all enjoyed this new chapter!

The only real notes that I have for this chapter is on the shitagake. This is a type of under-glove worn to keep the yugake from getting sweaty. Yugake is a type of glove worn on the archer's right hand to protect fingers from the bowstring when drawing the bow. As it's usually made of deerskin and the like, getting sweat on it would not be good for it, thus the need for the shitagake. And those things would probably get really rank, really fast. Hence the need to wash them.