Lovely Stories =] August. 9th, 2012 to August. 10th, 2012 3:12AM.

[ Hey guys! :) Here's another Chapter for you all, thanks for being so patient. :)

I'm gonna say this ahead of time, so don't say you didn't know.

Once Fall begins, I will most likely be busy because I will be going back to school.

I will try my best to put up Chapters but in all honesty I will probably not be posting like I have this summer (like waiting two or three weeks). I will probably be posting like I did when I had disappeared for like two or three months.

However, that doesn't mean that I will quit this story- certainly not! :O I really want to try to finish it. I like it :-B

If you think I'm taking too long in posting a new Chapter, bug me about it! PM haha.

^ But don't be mean about it, lol :-B Just a nice little, "Hey, I see you haven't been posting in a while. Any new Chapters coming out soon? Thanks." - Like that :-B

So yeah.

On the other hand… thank-you SO so much for reading this story, favouriting it, being on the Alert for it, and commenting! :') It means a whole lot to me, so THANK-YOU! :') I'll never stop thank-you guys for it (after-all, maybe a person can never be thanked too many times) so you should get used to it! ;) haha

Alrighty now on with ze story! :) Thanks for reading these long things. Haha

** DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA. ALL OF THE CHARACTERS EXCEPT FOR SHINJI AND KENJI AND ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE VILLAGE BELONG TO RUMIKO TAKAHASI :) **

** "The Way Things Once Were" Cover is done by ME. PLEASE DO NOT USE. THANK-YOU. :] ]

Chapter Twelve: Decision Made

"What are you trying to get at, punk?" said Inuyasha, crossing his arms at the little boy. "Your father said 'no', and we ain't gonna argue with him. Let's go." He started to turn but the little boy quickly ran in-front of him and stopped him, spreading his arms wide and looking up at Inuyasha, shaking just the tiniest bit so that if you didn't look close enough, it appeared that he looked quite sturdy and brave to be in-front of a guy that his father wanted to strike.

"Please!" he cried, his dark eyebrows slanted. "Please exorcise that demon!"

"I told you, kid, we ain't gonna-"

Kagome interrupted him and stepped in; kneeling down to the boy's height, causing him to lower his arms and turning his attention at her. "It's Akihiko, right?"

Curiously, he nodded. "Yes," he replied, now talking to her as if he wasn't just trying to change Inuyasha's mind about exorcising the demon. "I am the Headman's son, his only son. My mother died when I was only four years old due to a terrible fire that killed many others when she went to collect herbs up in our fields. It spread down to the village. My father and I and some other villagers were off getting food, leaving only a few men to guard the women and our village. Not soon after, the fire had appeared out of the nowhere and devoured them all…" He pointed to the far left of him, where a sunny patch of weeds and sowed land stood. Tall crops resided somewhere to the right of where he pointed; those ones must have been planted earlier. "… it was terrible." He shivered, causing Kagome to place a comforting hand on his skinny shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She didn't want to ask how the fire started, to re-open bad memories. She thought the little boy was hiding what he knew about the fire, so he covered it up with a lie.
But then again, it could've been a wildfire, since it spread everywhere.

Akihito nodded, shaking off the memories. "Since that happened, Father has been very protective of me, since he cannot produce another child and his wife had just died.

He and a few of his good friends started to rebuild the town, re-building the houses, getting more livestock by money, finding seeds to grow crops… it was a long time before we all recovered, but when we did, my father's friends wanted him to become the Headman of the Village, since the Headman had died along in the fire." He took a breath, (and) then continued. He didn't realize that the rest of the Gang was listening in, too. "At first, my Father was hesitant to take up the position. He had a son to take of.
But pretty soon, after much begging and pestering, he took the spot and became Headman of Village.
I was very happy for my father, of course, we got all the attention and anything we could have wanted, but then something happened one night.
I was in my bed, sleeping next door to my Father when I heard the floorboards creak and the door of his room opening.

I opened my eyes and sat up, looking through the walls as they were easy to see through, but only shadows, one, my father's, up in bed, and another one oddly shaped, kinda crooked, so I couldn't tell who my Father had let in. It was very late at night, usually my Father would be sleeping like I was, but not this night.
I thought it was simply just a Villager, a hunch-backed one at that, asking for his assistance, so I lied back down in bed… but when I awoke the next day, my father started to act very strange.
He seemed really nervous for the first couple of days, avoiding eye-contact with even me, and didn't talk to anyone, saying he felt "ill".
But after-that, he acted quite normal, but I knew he was hiding something."

"And your purpose of the story is?" prompted Inuyasha, an eyebrow raised. "This story of yours isn't goin' anywhere."

Akihito glared up at him, then turned back to Kagome. "What I was building up to was… I think my father is sheltering a demon inside his room."

That earned several gasps and an incredulous look to appear on Inuyasha's face. "How do you know?" he asked, now curious.

Akihito gave him a triumphant grin, finally earning his attention at last. "My father hasn't let me enter his room since that night, and he always used to let me in whenever I wanted to, day or night. It's odd, I'm telling you."

"That is definitely odd…" muttered Miroku, thinking to himself.

"Has the same shadow appeared since that night?" asked Sango, stooping down a little to Akihito's height.

Akihito nodded and turned to her. "Yes, ma'am. I haven't tried to open the door without asking my father, though. He always told me to ask before I enter." He shrugged.

Everyone was silent for a moment, then Miroku said, "Alright... we'll help you." Which earned him a giant beaming smile from the little boy, whose eyes instantly lit up to prove a little lighter than the dark there previously were.

The Gang all looked towards him, eyes wide. "What?!" said Inuyasha. "When did we agree on that? I don't wanna help that old fart." He "hmph'd" and crossed his arms, his hands disappearing in his robe of the Fire-Rat. "After all, he denied our request of helping him. He says he doesn't need it, fine. The jewel shards aren't even in this area, anyway." he said, sneaking a side-glance at Kagome for conformation.

She nodded, unaware of his eyes. "What do you mean, Miroku?" Sango looked curious as well.

Miroku shook them off, still looking at the boy. "Why don't you return back to your house? We'll look after things. Progress will happen during night-fall." He said that so confidently that the little boy, Kagome, and Sango believed him.

The little boy nodded, looking like he wanted to hug the Monk, but then decided against him, giving him one last grin that read as a "Thank-you!" before he ran off forward towards his house.

"Alright Miroku, what the heck was that for? Raising a little kid's hope when we're not even gonna take out the demon-" started Inuyasha.

"We are going to be hiding out in the forests until night comes, and that is when we will exorcise the demon, without any villagers seeing in the broad daylight." Miroku stated, telling each and every one of his friends. "That is the plan."

Why was Miroku so intent on exorcising this demon? The little boy probably softened his heart, thought Kagome. Or maybe it was just his broad fondness for women.

She sighed, and shook her head, closing her eyes. Oh, Miroku...

[ Hope you guys enjoyed that! :) Thanks again for your patience! :)

A little bit longer Chapter, HOORAYS! :')

1152(3?) words! :) Cools! :) Not in the hundreds, at least... :S

Till' next time, I hope you guys liked this Chapter and see yah on the next one! :)

Thanks again! :)

Lovely Stories =]

P.S. The ending of this Chapter ended off weirdly… sorry 'bout that… I don't really like how I ended it… should it have been longer? Shorter? Lemme know by Commenting or PM'ing.

and this Chapter Title! Ugh. I dunno if I like it.

Again, thoughts? :O I might change it, if I can think of a new one. I had a couple in mind…

Thanks, guys! :)

P.P.S. And to repeat, just in-case you "just missed it" up before in my little chatting sessions above the Chapter title, here it is again:

"Hey guys! :) Here's another Chapter for you all, thanks for being so patient. :)

I'm gonna say this ahead of time, so don't say you didn't know.

Once Fall begins, I will most likely be busy because I will be going back to school.

I will try my best to put up Chapters but in all honesty I will probably not be posting like I have this summer (like waiting two or three weeks). I will probably be posting like I did when I had disappeared for like two or three months.

However, that doesn't mean that I will quit this story- certainly not! :O I really want to try to finish it. I like it :-B

If you think I'm taking too long in posting a new Chapter, bug me about it! PM haha.

^ But don't be mean about it, lol :-B Just a nice little, "Hey, I see you haven't been posting in a while. Any new Chapters coming out soon? Thanks." - Like that :-B

So yeah."

THANKS, GUYS! :) ]