"What... just happened?" Goku murmured uncertainly, his voice swallowed up by all the disbelieving screams of the others around him. He had never seen that look on his friend's face before; it worried him. Why had she run off like that? And why hadn't she gotten back up to the box yet?

"Kagome has forfeited!" Baba announced, looking pleased with herself. "Next fighter, enter the ring!"

"I'll be right back," the tailed boy announced, turning for the door. "I'm going to go see if she's okay first."

"If you leave now, you also forfeit," the fortuneteller informed him bluntly.

He hesitated.

"Krillin can go," Bulma offered, shoving the bald boy forward. He glared up at her for a moment, but a beat of silent communication had him slumping.

"Y-yeah, I can go find her," Krillin murmured, not really seeming like he was too thrilled with the words coming out of his own mouth. "She'd probably get mad if we lost because of this, right? Go kick that guy's butt. I'll have her back here before you know it."

The tailed boy shot his best friend a thankful grin. "Alright," he finally agreed.

His fellow apprentice gave a sigh and disappeared through the door, grumbling quietly to himself about starting at the bottom and working his way up. Reassured that Kagome would be okay with Krillin there, he swung up over the rail and jumped down onto the platform. He wasn't too sure what had happened, but he did know that his opponent had somehow managed to really upset her; even if this fight hadn't been important to get Bora back, that already would have been enough to motivate him. Also... there was something about this guy's smell that he just really didn't like for some reason.

The man across from him snorted. "That wench sure never does anything halfway, does she?" he huffed. "First a half-demon two hundred years older than her, now some little brat with a tail? At least it wasn't that stupid wolf, I guess..."

Goku's eyes widened a bit. Didn't that sound kind of like the priestess's story? "What are you talking about?" he questioned. "What did you do to Kagome?"

The man winced a bit. "What have I done, huh...? More than I'd like to admit."

He stiffened slightly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"May the next match begin!" Baba shouted, starting them off.

The other fighter scoffed. "It's none of your damn business anyway, brat!" he growled, charging in with claws - actual, literal claws - bared.

He darted out of the way, flipping head-over-tail. "She's my partner!" he argued.

For some reason, the man started laughing. "Partner? So what you're tryin' ta say is that you're her new protector, huh? Figures she'd find some brat to replace me. Careful claimin' that kinda position, it's a full-time job!"

Goku frowned. "Protector? I just said we were partners!" he huffed, darting in to swing a punch at the man's jaw. "And what do you mean, replace you? Who are you!"

The opponent didn't even try dodging, and his mask flew off into the toilet below.

The boy's breath caught a bit, even as Bulma started squealing about 'exotic beauty' or something.

... Silver hair, gold eyes - dog ears? Plus with how Kagome acted... That meant...

His eyes narrowed. "You... You're Inuyasha?" he demanded slowly. "But... Kagome said that you'd died!"

The man smirked, a bit of fang poking out over his lower lip. "You're not too quick on the uptake, are ya?" he goaded, scrubbing the back of his wrist over the side of his face where the boy had struck him. "But, well, it does kinda surprise me that the wench told you anything at all. I woulda thought she'd be too glad not havin' anyone know about the jewel to wanna go and ruin it by blabbin' - but I guess she always did like talkin' too much for her own good."

Goku's teeth clenched. "Why do you keep calling her that? I don't know what it means, but it sure doesn't sound very nice!"

The half-demon ran in, swiping at him, and the boy hurried to duck. "Who even cares! Just fight already!"

He wanted to fight? Fine. This guy had hurt Goku's partner, and he wasn't feeling all that charitable. Especially not with the image of Kagome's terrified expression right before she'd turned around and ran stuck in his head. The boy darted down, sweeping the man's legs out from under him and slamming his fist down heavily.

Inuyasha managed to move his head out of the way at the last second, but the blow landed on the bridge with a loud crack that had that half of the platform giving a lurch. Several chunks of rock fell off into the soup. Ignoring the destruction, the boy pursued his opponent almost single-mindedly. He got a blow through, but received a slash across his chest that sent him flying back a few feet - and he gaped down at the damage in horror.

"H-hey!" he yelped. "Kagome just got me these clothes!"

The man scoffed, wiping a small trickle of blood off his chin. "So?"

Goku gave a short growl. "Say you're sorry!"

The half-demon's face fell with disbelief. "What?!"

"Say you're sorry!" the boy repeated insistently. "For being mean, and for tearing my new shirt!"

Inuyasha twitched. "You... Did someone drop you on your head as a kid?"

His jaw tightened. "Say it!" he demanded, charging back in to swing another punch at the man's stomach that he immediately followed up with a kick.

"Like hell!" the half-demon snarled, taking the first hit and countering the next.

Goku gave another growl and head-butted the man in the chin, sending him flying into the ceiling with enough force to put a new crater right next to the Devilman's. Inuyasha pulled himself free with a slew of curses, only to lose his balance and nearly fall into the toilet before correcting himself.

The boy frowned at him unhappily.

This guy really wasn't very nice. How had Kagome ever put up with him?

Goku slammed his foot down on the platform, causing the abused stone to break apart and fall right out from under them. From there, he just jumped up onto one of the horns carved into the devil faces on either side of the bridge and hung on as the man shouted and went tumbling through the air.

Though he did still catch him with the Power Pole before the guy could take a bath in the soup. Even with as much as the half-demon had hurt the priestess, she wouldn't have wanted him to die. Again.

Actually, they still really needed to find out what had happened with that mess. For right now, though...

"Sorry about your arena, Baba!" he laughed, ignoring Inuyasha's loud cursing.

xxxx

It was impossible. Impossible! Inuyasha was dead. Not only had she been to the grave, but she also knew for a fact that Sesshoumaru had taken Tesseiga. No, he never used it - but that was only because he didn't need it with Bakuseiga at his hip. So unless Baba had gone and pulled more of that 'Rise again' crap, it was some kind of trick. It just had to be.

"Kagome?" a voice drew her from her thoughts.

The priestess glanced up, seeing Krillin approach her where she sat on the edge of the outside arena. She winced and looked away, dodging his gaze. "I'm sorry," she murmured weakly, staring down at her hands as they twisted in her lap. "I lost us a match, didn't I?"

The boy heaved a sigh and plopped down next to her. "Goku will take care of it. Do you want to talk about what happened back there?"

She shrugged uncomfortably. "Just... something that I wasn't prepared to see."

He gave another sigh. "Everyone's worried, you know."

She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling guilty. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Hey, nobody's mad," he assured, bending over just a bit to meet her eyes. "You don't have to apologize or anything. Just, well - we're here if you need to talk about it, okay?"

The priestess gave him an unsteady smile. "Thanks."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, the sound of crashes from inside making her wince just a bit. Finally, the whole group came out to join them... including a sulking Inuyasha who was very obviously trying to get out of a love-struck Bulma's line of sight. Krillin must have been right about Goku taking care of it; that was his I-just-lost-but-there's-no-way-in-hell-I'm-about-to-admit-it face.

She gritted her teeth and stood up, turning around to better meet the half-demon's eyes while reminding herself not to bite her lip or show any signs of weakness. "Inuyasha," she greeted, her voice kept carefully even.

"So you do remember my name," he huffed. "... You ran. What the fuck, wench? The Kagome I remember never woulda pulled that crap."

Her fists clenched at her sides. "I'm not the Kagome you remember anymore."

He scoffed. "Bullshit. You're still in there somewhere; ya just gotta stop feelin' sorry for yourself and lettin' the past drag ya down."

The priestess's eye twitched. "What?" she growled, something sparking inside her.

The half-demon smirked. "Ya heard me. Grow up."

Oh, that was it. "SIT!" she screamed angrily, the beads still around his neck immediately taking effect. He let out a sharp yelp as his face met the stones with enough force to make them crack. Well, well. Maybe he was really physically there after all. "Sit, sit, sit, sit, SIT you stupid, hypocritical BASTARD! You want to tell me to grow up?! Take a look in the damn mirror! I'm not the one who's over two hundred and still acts like a three-year-old! I'm not the one who went and got himself killed because he couldn't let go of his dead ex-girlfriend! I swear to the gods, you-! I can't believe I ever liked your sorry ass! Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, SIT!"

He gave a weak cough from his crater. "W-well... the cussin' part's new..."

"Yeah, I got that habit from you!" she snarled darkly. "SIT!" Her chest heaved as she tried catching her breath after that rant, but it felt amazing to have finally gotten that out in the open. "How are you even here, anyway?" the priestess finally demanded, arms crossed and very determinedly ignoring the gaping of the others. "Overlooking the part where you're dead... it's still impossible for you to be here."

Inuyasha slowly dragged himself out of the rubble, groaning in pain the whole way. "I take it all back. You haven't changed at all. Damn. Look, Midoriko pulled a couple'a strings so I could tell ya some shit. Okay?"

She sighed, one hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Great. Let me guess, I have to find some way back or something terrible's going to happen?"

"Kagome?" Goku spoke up, drawing her attention. "You're leaving? But we're partners!"

The priestess fought a wince. "It's just... well, if they need me then I don't have much choice - you know?"

The tailed boy's face fell in a frown. "But..."

The half-demon snorted. "Don't be stupid, wench, everything's goin' fine without you. I'm s'posed to tell you to keep your ass here and live your life, considerin' you belong in this batshit place now or somethin'. If the old hag ever decides that they need you for anything, she'll come and get you herself. Got it?"

Her eyes went wide and she gaped at him. "W-wait, what?"

He huffed and patted himself off, a small cloud of dust rising up off of his haori. "They're. Fine. Without. You. Is that not what you were wantin' to hear? Keh, no gratitude at all. It's not like it was easy gettin' here or nothin'!"

She blinked uncomprehendingly at him.

"Are you done now?" Baba scowled. "We have another round to commence!"

Kagome jolted a bit and moved off of the platform quickly with everyone else but Goku and his next opponent, who she hadn't even taken note of earlier. Something about his aura was... it kind of reminded her of her grandfather's a bit, but stronger. He didn't seem to wish any kind of harm on the tailed boy at all, and a part of her relaxed at that realization.

She would take in the rest of that new information later. For now, her partner had a fight to win. She smiled to herself. Yeah, she liked that: partner. He wasn't her protector, he was her partner. They were equals here.

Her heart swelled, a knot that she hadn't even noticed inside of her loosening with relief. She had a place here. She wasn't just halfway useful baggage anymore.

"Kick his ass, Goku," she smiled warmly.

For the first time, she found herself sending the gods a silent prayer of thanks for letting her come to this crazy place.

xxxx

"Excuse me, Baba," the man in the mask spoke up politely. "Uh, actually... The thing is..." he murmured a few things quietly enough so that only the fortuneteller, who had leaned in when he had gotten her attention, could hear. She nodded along, showing that she was paying attention to him.

"So Kagome," Bulma spoke up eagerly on their side of the ring. "What was all that about earlier? How do you know such a cute guy?"

Goku heard the priestess groan. "You remember that ex I mentioned in West City?"

"The jerk who cheated on you with his ex?" the other girl checked.

"Exactly," Kagome confirmed. "Bulma, meet Inuyasha."

"Fuck off, wench," the silver-haired man huffed irritably.

"Don't make me put another crater in Baba's ring!" the black-haired girl hissed back at him, tone threatening. "Just stay over on your side and don't tempt me. Moron."

The tailed boy wouldn't actually mind seeing that happen. At all. Considering how fast the half-demon had healed, he almost wished that their fight had lasted a bit longer so that he could have at least gotten a few more hits in.

Either way, what he should really be focussing on was the coming fight. Clearing his thoughts the best he could, he turned every scrap of his attention over to his opponent.

"Hah?" Baba finally exclaimed, pulling away from the masked man with a gape. "You mean to tell me that's what this is all about?! This is good!" she laughed, sounding pleased with whatever news she'd just gotten. "I love surprises!"

The little pink ghost-thing from earlier rolled out a cart covered in food, interrupting with a cheery grin. "Hiya! It's time for your afternoon snack!"

"Snack-time already?" the fortuneteller blinked. "I hadn't noticed. I guess the time really does fly by when the fights are fun!"

"Today I have a special treat for you," the ghost chirped brightly. "A delectable array of some of your favorite dishes! Like jellyfish gelatin, and chocolate moose pie with a tangy mosquito sauce."

"Ah, looks scrumptious!" the old woman complimented, hovering down closer to the food with an eager look on her face.

"How about a nice cup of egg presto? It's my own special blend!" it offered temptingly, pouring some of the white liquid into a teacup for the mystic.

Goku was never one to judge food, but some of that stuff smelled kinda... strange.

"Egg presto? My favorite! And such a wonderful aroma. What is your secret?"

"Egg-whites, and a dash of nutmeg!"

"Nutmeg, of course! With a hint of fish scales, this really hits the spot!"

Upa lost his patience, running up in front of the cart. "Goku has been ready to fight for a long time, while you're just sitting there eating and having fun!" he scolded loudly, calling the old woman out on her behavior. "No fair!"

The tailed boy just blinked. "Can we start fighting?" he requested.

"Certainly, certainly," the fortuneteller agreed easily. "Anxious to lose?" she laughed, the ghost moving the cart back off to the side of the arena and Kagome calling Upa back over to their own side.

Goku just laughed.

"Now!" the old woman announced once they had all cleared the ring once more. "Get ready, the next match is about to begin! It goes on until one of you surrenders. In the unlikely event that Goku manages to win this match for his team, I will disclose to him the location of the final dragon ball."

"It's all up to you, Goku!" Krillin shouted supportively.

"Yeah, no pressure!" Yamcha joined in.

The tailed boy shifted into a fighting stance. "I promise I'll do my best!" he assured them determinedly.

"That's all anyone can ask," his opponent agreed, bringing his hands up in front of his face to give the boy a respectful bow, "or you can offer."

"What...?" Goku wondered uncertainly, quickly coming back out of his stance so that he could return the bow. His grandpa had always taught him to show good manners, after all. "Thanks..."

"What's that guy up to?" Krillin questioned from the sidelines. "He's Goku's opponent, but he acts like his friend!"

"I get the feeling we're going to find out," Kagome murmured. "But he doesn't feel... bad."

"What do you mean?" the bald boy pressed.

"I don't know, he just doesn't feel like he means any of us any harm," she tried to explain a bit awkwardly. "Especially Goku."

"Ready?" Baba called out, cutting through the conversation. "Begin!"

The tailed boy hurried to resume his position, settling on a solid offensive style when he saw that the masked man looked to be shifting more with a defensive guard to start.

"If my instincts serve me, this is going to be an interesting fight," Roshi stated.

All Goku knew was that this man wasn't anything like the others - but he still wasn't sure if that was good or bad at this point. And he still didn't know why the scent was so... comfortable to him. Like getting a great big hug.

"When you're ready," his opponent offered.

Without another word, Goku rushed in to get this fight started.

xxxx

Kagome flinched as the fight raged on without either fighter landing a single hit.

"He does feel... familiar," Roshi spoke up quietly. "Like a great man."

She nodded in agreement. Still, she was worried about her friend - whether she got the sense that the masked man wouldn't hurt him or not. Still...

"Come on man, fight!" Yamcha groaned as the two grappled.

"Destroy!" Baba shouted.

The combatants burst into action, and finally Goku managed to deliver a single kick... after receiving a few blows of his own. The both of them were out of breath by the time they landed, the match slowing down slightly as they took in their current states and the best way to defeat their opponent.

"Goku, are you okay?" Krillin called worriedly.

"He's stronger than I thought," Bulma murmured.

"That move is one of the most difficult to sustain!" Roshi announced. "And to sustain it for that amount of time, it's just incredible!"

"Who is that guy, Master?" Yamcha wondered.

Kagome put a hand on the bald boy's shoulder, her face drawn up in concern. She knew that their tailed friend would be alright, but still... She wished she could be out there helping him. If only she hadn't lost a match...

"Keh!" Inuyasha huffed, sending her a taunting smirk from across the ring.

She glared at him. "Sit," she growled under her breath, chuckling darkly when he yelped and got dragged down to smack his face on the edge of the ring.

"What are you waiting for?!" Baba shouted at her masked fighter, completely ignoring all else but the match. "Destroy that kid! Do you hear me, masked man?! Stop dancing around the issue and pummel him! I want to see some good, old-fashioned fighting! This match has been going on for two minutes and no one has even lost a tooth!"

Bulma looked like she was about to start shouting, but the priestess cut her off. "I wasn't aware that there was a time limit," she stated coolly. "Did you have that for all of the matches, or just the ones that you don't think are getting bloody fast enough?"

The mystic cringed a bit and shut up.

"What are you waiting for?" Baba grumbled after a moment where neither of the fighters moved a muscle. "There are no cameras. Stop posing and get back to work."

Kagome rolled her eyes. The old woman was incorrigible.

Between one heartbeat and the next, Goku and the masked man both burst into action and began trading hits once more, the tailed boy quickly ending up mostly on the defensive. Finally, just when it looked like he had landed another kick, his opponent grabbed him by the ankle and threw him up into the air.

She cringed. This... wasn't going to be pretty. She could already tell that much.

"Ah, look out!" Roshi gasped as the masked man leapt up after the boy.

The priestess winced sympathetically when her companion was pounded right back down to the ring, landing with enough force to make the tiles explode up into the air around him in debris.

"Yes!" Baba cheered.

Kagome shot her a warning glare, seriously thinking about zapping her for her excessive enthusiasm at seeing the boy hurt. Or at least throwing a rock at her hat.

"Goku!" Krillin and Upa both shouted.

The priestess reminded herself not to freak out. He was okay, she told herself. She could still sense him. This was his fight, and she couldn't interfere... Still, she wrung her hands while the others around her called out in concern; she just didn't like seeing him get hurt, even when it was unavoidable. Win or lose, she could always heal him when the match was over - and they may not have a coupon, but she figured that they should still be able to pay the fee if they traded in a bit more of the treasure. Gods knew they had plenty left.

Everything was going to be okay. This wasn't a battle to the death, and the masked man didn't seem too keen on hurting him either. He would be alright.

She just had to keep that in mind.

"You have until the count of five!" Baba announced, floating over to the hole in the arena. "One! Two! Three! Four!"

Just as the old woman started cackling in victory, the boy exploded out from beneath a different tile, flying straight for his opponent to land a vicious kick to his stomach that sent him flying over towards the other building. He managed to catch himself, bouncing back off the roof with a kick of his own. Goku quickly shifted his stance, leaving himself grounded but open, and took the blow directly to his chest with a determined grunt. The masked man gasped and quickly darted a few feet away from him.

Kagome gave a low sigh of relief as the boy started laughing.

"Was that your best move?" her tailed friend taunted, despite that she could see his shoulders shake ever so slightly with exertion. "Maybe you should take some lessons!"

The others shouted out encouragements and cheers, but she frowned a bit.

Was he really okay?

Roshi studied the masked fighter carefully, a thoughtful purse to his lips.

Goku rearranged his stance once more. "Go," he huffed at his opponent challengingly.

"Well," the masked man hummed, his own position changing into something vaguely... familiar. "I've got something special for you. You'll appreciate this."

The boy's eyes blew wide as the other fighter brought his hands together.

"Ka... me..."

Kagome's jaw dropped and she realized all at once why she'd thought it was familiar. "Oh, shit. Are you kidding me?"

"Ha... me...!"

"Impossible!" Yamcha gaped.

"Wait... stop it...!" the tailed preteen gasped as the man's hands glowed with power.

"If that's what I think it is, things just went from bad to worse!" Roshi yelped.

"Haaaaaaaa!" the masked fighter yelled, the energy exploding.

"Don't just stand there!" the priestess shouted worriedly, trying to speak over the others' screams. "Goku, dodge it!"

She heaved a sigh of relief to see that he used a mirror image to do just that.

"Where is he?!" Baba shrieked.

"He's learned the afterimage technique," the fighter murmured, his aura thrumming with pride.

Kagome just grinned. Now all that was really left for her friend to do was get behind his opponent undetected, and it would be easy to just-

"Yoo-hoo!" the boy shouted, giving away his position in the sky. "Hello! This is fun!"

She slapped her forehead frustratedly.

What had she even been thinking? This was Goku. He was about as inconspicuous as her old school uniform had been in the Feudal Era.

"That boy definitely gets around," the masked man stated, staring up at him in shock.

"Get ready!" Goku announced excitedly. "It's my turn!"

The priestess sighed, seeing the boy come straight at the man - but blinked in surprise when she realized what he was doing with his hands... and his ki.

"Ka... me... ha... me... HAA!" he shouted, returning the attack with one of his own.

She grinned brightly as the man rushed to get out of the way, landing flat on his back in the process and earning himself a heavy knee to the gut.

"Do you surrender?" Goku smirked. "Or do I have to give you another punch?"

The others cheered excitedly, but she bit her tongue to keep from pointing out that he hadn't actually punched the poor guy. Let them celebrate; it had been a good blow. She didn't think that it was over quite yet, but that had been a decent combination.

"With that mask on, I can't tell if you're asleep or awake," the boy announced, scooting just a bit closer to his downed opponent with a fist raised cautiously. "Say something!"

The man laughed, catching him off guard.

She bit her lip nervously, wringing her hands, and silently started to pray that her friend would make it out of this one without too many injuries.

xxxx

A/N: Kagome gets some closure with the Inuyasha front! Yay! Dead or not, he can still push her buttons while somehow subtly leading her towards some halfway decent realizations. Also, now she knows that she's not there by fluke. Hmmm...

Edit: 8/27/16