Disclaimer: TTTT I don't not own nothing (OOO, TRIPLE NEGATIVE! ENGLISH TEACHER COMES AND THROWS CHALK AT ME "WHAT ARE YOU DOING! THAT'S NOT PROPER ENGLISH!" "Neither is the sentence 'I couldn't care less', but guess what…I COULDN'T!")

I really don't have any author's notes. Someone has to review my other two stories for me to continue. So, review dammit!

I'm such a spoiled princess. My dad just spent more than $80 on me for no reason. He bought me the first two Trigun DVDs and the second Fullmetal Alchemist DVD. YAY! And he bought me more Nintendo 64 games! TT-TT…so happy.

Chapter Twenty One

Shall We Spar?

Ed and Inuyasha made it back to camp after Miroku and Al. Al kept eying up Ed suspiciously. Ed had noticed the uncomfortable silence between him and his brother and it was starting to bother him.

"What's with you, little brother?" Al looked at him. "What's the silence, eh?"

Al sighed. "Beat me and I'll tell you!" He got into his fighting stance.

Ed laughed. "I knew that in order to gain, something of equal value had to be lost, but fighting for information? Seriously?"

Al responded by lunging at his brother. Ed grabbed Al's arm and tripped him onto the ground. Al spun his legs, sending Ed flying. Al rose and ran to where Ed was going to land. Ed landed in a crouching position and flew towards Al. Al stopped and put his arms up defensively. Ed spun in the air, kicking Al and knocking him over, landing on his chest.

"Give up?" Ed had a triumphant smile on his face.

Al laughed and hit Ed's legs out from under him. "Hardly!"

Ed landed on all fours and ran towards Al. Each punch that Ed threw, Al blocked; same with Al's punches. Ed ducked under his brother's punch and kicked his legs out from under him. Al kicked Ed's legs as he was falling, as well, knocking Ed to the ground.

Al and Ed sat on the ground, Ed panting and Al snickering. Al cleared his throat and was the first to speak. "Are we done?"

Ed shrugged. "Sure." He raised his fist and Al did the same. They hit each others' fists.

Inuyasha and Miroku had watched the brothers fight, Inuyasha called winner and Miroku claimed loser. They had agreed that only martial arts would be used, though, Miroku would fight with his staff, providing his opponent with a staff, as well. The brothers walked up to them, only to be greeted with harsh stares, "Who won?" Miroku exploded.

Ed smirked. "It was a draw." He turned to Al. "Remember the last time we had a draw?"

Al laughed and almost fell over. "Yeah, that was the time we were fighting at Dublith and Teacher told us to shut up and beat the hell out of us for fighting in the first place!"

Ed and Al laughed, rekindling their old memories, Miroku and Inuyasha shrugged.

Inuyasha sighed. "Well, when you two were fighting, I called winner and Miroku called loser."

Ed looked surprised and turned to Al. "Shall we have a roshambo battle to settle this?"

Al nodded and made a fist, Ed doing the same. The lifted their fists three time while chanting 'ro-sham-bo'. Ed made a fist (rock) and Al made a peace sign (scissors). Ed dance in victory. "I WIN, I WIN! I BEAT AL!" He turned to face Inuyasha with a hand out for a hand shake. "Hello opponent."

Al sighed at his brother's reaction. "Ed, it only counts as beating me when we spar, not do 'rock, paper, scissors.'" He turned to face Miroku. "How will we fight?"

Miroku looked at the ground in thought. "Well, we'll fight with staffs and winner will probably fight winner and vice versa for loser." He looked at Ed and Inuyasha. "Right, winner versus winner, loser versus loser?"

The men nodded and faced eachother. "Are we fighting with staffs or just martial arts?" Ed looked interested, he could do either, and Al could not.

Inuyasha smirked. "Martial arts."

Ed nodded. "Excellent."

Al sighed. "Brother, could you make me a staff?"

Ed nodded and clapped his hands, touching the ground. A pole erupted from the spot he touched, growing as he stood. He threw it at his brother. "Here, good luck."

Al nodded and half-bowed. "Thanks, same to you." He turned to face Miroku, pole ready. "Ready?"

Miroku nodded. "Now!" He lunged at Al and forced him back two steps.

Al forged forward and turned his staff. Miroku and him continued to fight in an evenly matched duel.

Ed kicked forward and met Inuyasha's arm. Inuyasha grabbed his leg and forced him the ground. Ed kicked upward meeting Inuyasha's jaw. Inuyasha released him, stumbling backward.

"Sorry." Ed ran towards him and threw a punch.

"Don't worry about it." He blocked it and pushed Ed over. Ed braced for the attack and was forced backward. Ed spun in the air, kicking Inuyasha's arm away from him, he flipped backward, landing with arms ready for more battle. They seemed evenly matched in hand to hand. Inuyasha sighed as he blocked one of Ed's attacks and he blocked one of his. "Do you want to call it a draw?"

Ed was surprised and started to snicker, "Why, afraid a human will beat you?"

Inuyasha laughed. "Hardly, But Miroku and Al seemed to have called a stalemate and we seem evenly matched in hand-to-hand without me using my demonic power." He looked over to see Miroku and Al shaking hands and smiling.

Ed sweat dropped at his brother's kindness. "Then shall you battle Al and I battle Miroku?"

Inuyasha nodded.

Ed laughed. "Just to warn you, I have never beaten Al in hand to hand, save for when I was really pissed off."

Inuyasha nodded and held out his hand.

Ed was surprised and looked at it.

Inuyasha sighed and his ears sunk. "Am I doing it wrong? I mean, isn't this what people from the future do when they agree on something?"

Ed laughed, making Inuyasha ears sink lower. He waved his arms out in front of him. "No, no, I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing because last time I did that you high-fived me, I was expecting you to do that again." He smiled and shook Inuyasha's hand. "Now that that is decided." He pointed at Miroku. "Yo, monk! I'm fighting you!"

Miroku sighed. "Aw man, I didn't want to fight anymore."

"Too bad, get over here, pervert!" He held his hand out and faced Al. "Can I use your spear-thing?"

Al threw it at him. "Good luck, Brother." He stopped Miroku. "Brother is a better fight with staffs than I am."

Miroku sighed.

Ed smiled at Miroku. "Ready? ...NOW!" He lunged at Miroku and knocked the staff out of his hands and tripped him. He held the staff near his neck. "I win." He held out a hand and helped Miroku up. "Want to fight again, you start this time?"

Miroku nodded. "...Yeah." He retrieved his staff got into battling stance. "Ready…Now!" Ed ran towards him and clashed staffs with him, sending his flying, he flipped backwards and retrieved it quickly, he clashed with Miroku's again, running through and turning quickly, hitting the backs of Miroku's knees as he ran forward.

Ed hit the staff out of Miroku's hands and held his staff near Miroku's neck. "I win." He helped Miroku up and walked over to watch Inuyasha and Al spar.

Inuyasha kicked Al in the chest, sending them flying opposite ways; Inuyasha landed on all fours and ran back to Al, Al landing in a crouching position. He ducked as Inuyasha sent a kick towards him, grabbing his leg and throwing him.

Miroku watched. "He's much better in hand-to-hand!" He turned to Ed. "Using my staff is not my principle weapon. That's why I'm so underdeveloped while using it. I use sacred sutras and my wind tunnel."

Ed nodded. "But I haven't seen you use either, so I don't know."

Inuyasha sent a kick upward towards Al's helmet. Al grabbed his leg and threw him. Inuyasha sent wild punched towards Al, but he dodged them all. Inuyasha left his chest open and Al took the opportunity and sent a hard punch to his ribs. Inuyasha fell on impact. Al set a foot on his chest and made like he was going to send a punch to Inuyasha's face and stopped. "I win."

Inuyasha smiled. "I must have let myself go. I've never been beaten by a mortal before." He laughed and shook his head. He grabbed the hilt of Tetsusiaga. "Before I got this, I relied on martial arts, my claws, and fangs. Now, I'm useless without Tetsusiaga and my claws." He sighed again.

Al helped him up and turned to his brother. "How did you do, Brother?"

Ed smiled triumphantly. "I won!"

Al gave him a 'thumbs up'. "Nice job, Brother!"

Ed smiled. "Nice fighting yourself, Little Brother." He turned to Inuyasha and frowned, as if in thought.

Inuyasha looked surprised. "What's wrong?"

"What about that 'Kagura' woman? Did you get anything out of her before she started to fight you?"

Inuyasha slapped himself in the head. "Dammit, I forgot! Miroku, go tell the women to pack up camp, we gotta go!"

Miroku was aghast. "You idiot! You really forgot something of importance didn't you!"

Inuyasha punched him in the head. "Do as I say, fool!"

Miroku ran up to the women with a heavy pant, alerting the women of something going awry.

Kagome looked at him critically. "What's wrong?"

He chuckled. "Your beau is a fool." Sango punched him. "What, he's both of those things!" He sighed. "We have to pack up camp and leave now. Inu-fool forgot something of importance that Kagura told him."

Kagome sighed and started putting things into her backpack. Miroku turned to walk back to where the men were, but she stopped him, receiving a quizzical looked from him. She smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Miroku."

He smiled and ran back to the men. As he saw Inuyasha, he smirked evilly. Inuyasha's suspicions grew as he watched the monk. "What mutiny did you commit against me?"

Miroku felt rewarded as Inuyasha barked at him harshly. "I don't know what you mean, dear friend. If anything, I did you a favor."

Inuyasha's face grew serious and he barked angrily. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

Miroku laughed gleefully. "I called you Kagome's beau."

Inuyasha attacked him. "What the hell did you do that for!"

Miroku attempted to run away. "I did you a favor, you twit. Anyone with eyes can see Kagome is in love with you and you told us that you want to get into Kagome's yukata!"

"I NEVER SAID THAT!"

Miroku smirked. "Aah, yes, but you were thinking it; we are men!"

"NOT ALL MEN ARE AS PERVERTED AS YOU, YOU TAINTED MONK!"

"My friend, you have spent a very long time as a teenage male. I mean, we all have…urges." He smiled as if in reverie.

Inuyasha blushed. "Not everyone has the same 'urges' as you do." He shuddered as he said 'urges' and turned to Ed. "Please don't tell me this is how all human, male, teenagers think all of the time."

Ed was appalled. "Don't compare him to normal human, male, teens."

Miroku glared. "I don't think anyone here is in the category of normal."

All the men looked at eachother and agreed in unison. "True enough."

Ed looked at Inuyasha. "Where are we headed my fear-less leader?"

Inuyasha smiled. "Ojici." He looked over to see the women come over. "Ready?"

Kagome nodded and smiled. "Let's head out."

Inuyasha, Miroku, Al, and Ed all ran next to Kilala, who was carrying Winry and Sango. Kagome and Shippo rode on Inuyasha.

They arrived to the town quickly. Only to find it completely deserted. Inuyasha shook with rage. "Damn that wench, I told her not to kill anyone!"

Ed seemed shocked at his reaction to the situation. He turned and noticed a small girl walk up in peasant's clothes. "Inuyasha…look."

Inuyasha turned and proceeded to stare her down. "Did Kagura kill you?"

The girl started sucking on her thumb and shook her head. "No…I died from a battle in Sukashi's domain."

Inuyasha smirked. "Well, at least she listens to me. What did she tell you to tell us?"

The girl looked defiant. "She told me to tell you that Naraku is not hiding. That he is stalking you waiting for the pristine moment to attack. He currently is confirming information on your recent battle with Kanna and Kagura." The girl turned to Sango. "I was also told to tell you that Kohaku should be in Musashi's domain looking for more leads on the Shikon jewel."

Sango's eyes started to tear. "Why did she tell you to tell me that?"

The girl smiled. "She says he is getting in her way. He's too loyal to Naraku and is making her look worse by comparison. She says that you should see what you can do about his memory soon, she says that she believes that Naraku might be losing his use for him."

Sango paled. "Did she give you any clues as to how I can do that?"

The girl glared. "Well, you would probably have to separate for a while; with Naraku following you it wouldn't be wise to alert him to your plans. Also, he might give Kohaku the order to kill you." She smirked. "The Lord Naraku does not like it when acts such as this are committed against him; it would be wiser not to tell him you had this interaction with Kagura if you wish to be filled in on information such as this. But, for your own safety; I would watch your backs." She turned to Inuyasha. "You might have to hold on tightly to that sword of yours; Naraku saw you little display of misplaced emotions and is plotting on using your weakness to his advantage. And you," She pointed to Ed, "The dark Lord has become an ally of those creatures from your era and they aren't friends to your cause. They are planning something sinister." She turned around and waved over her shoulder. "And the usual warnings to all of you…saimyosho and other evil demons. Later." She walked over to the forest's edge and her body melted into a cloud of miasma.

Ed smirked. "Oh good, the evil people on a murderous rampage just made friends to further taint their hands in the means of killing nine people." He looked at Inuyasha and flashed a smile and a 'thumbs up'. "Yay, we're pissing them off little by little!"

Inuyasha laughed. "You call me fearless." He shook his head. "Sango, who do you want to travel with to get your brother back?"

Sango twitched slightly and heaved out a heavy sigh. "It doesn't matter; I don't even need someone to travel with."

Inuyasha glared. "In no way is that intelligent. If you remember last time, that didn't work out to anyone's advantage."

She sighed and nodded. "It doesn't matter."

Miroku went to her and hugged her, not putting his hands in any places they didn't belong.

Sango responded by pulling him closer and holding on to him like her life depended on it. She wept into his shoulder and shook violently as her sobs shook her body. Miroku cooed to her softly and wrapped his arms around her body, "Its okay, Sango, I'll go with you and we'll get Kohaku back. Shhh, it'll be alright."

All the others watched with surprise and pity. Kagome looked at Sango and smiled sweetly when she looked up at her. "You and Miroku go; we can find Naraku and keep him distracted from your cause. You two be careful." Sango fled to Kagome's arms and hugged her.

"Thank you." Her voice was no more than a whisper. She wiped her eyes with her hands and turned to Kirara and Miroku. "Do you want to go now?"

Kirara transformed in response and Miroku nodded. "Of course." He smiled and climbed onto Kirara.

Sango followed suit and climbed on in front of him and waved as Kirara took off.

Ed looked at Inuyasha. "What now? If this guy is looking for us…what do we do?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Go onward like before. If we act too suspiciously, he'll know that Kagura ratted him out."

Ed sighed. "So where do we go now?"

Inuyasha looked at the sky. "Let's go west."

"Why?"

"Why not…plus we're fairly close to the place we got herbs last time…" He turned to Kagome and smiled, "We can go see Jinenji!"

Kagome threw her hands in the air. "YAY…He'll be happy to see us!" She hugged Inuyasha. "Thank you, Inuyasha!" She kissed his cheek and released him.

Inuyasha blushed and muttered. "…Yeah."

Ed looked at Inuyasha. "Who's Jinenji?"

Inuyasha smiled. "A half demon we met awhile ago. He had to show his teeth to get the villagers off of his case."

Ed sighed. "Are you corrupting more people?"

Kagome shook her head. "No, Inuyasha helped him. Jinenji sat and took all that the villagers threw at him and Inuyasha proved his innocence in some murder cases that were happening around town. Jinenji and Inuyasha defeated the real culprits of the murders and made it so the villagers left Jinenji alone."

Inuyasha shook his head. "I didn't do anything that important."

Kagome crossed her arms. "You killed seven demons and saved all of the villagers in Jinenji's field."

"Yeah, but I came late; two people had already been killed in said field and you ended up getting knocked out!"

Kagome sighed. "Fool, you saved Jinenji and his mother from years of torment!"

Inuyasha glared at the ground. "Yeah, but how many years had they already suffered through?"

Kagome went up to him and slapped him across the face. "DON'T TAKE RESPONSIBILITIES THAT AREN'T YOURS TO HANDLE!"

Inuyasha watched her storm off to the west and sighed. "Feh. Whatever." He crossed his arms and followed a way's behind her.

Ed and Al followed close to Inuyasha when Winry went up to comfort Kagome. Ed turned to Inuyasha. "So this 'Jinenji' is a friend of yours?"

Inuyasha nodded. "As previously stated."

Ed nodded. "Know any other half demons?"

Inuyasha held up two fingers. "One more."

Ed seemed surprised. "That's it?"

Inuyasha nodded. "Demon and human relationships aren't all too common.