?

The man stared at the woman in the hot spring, his eyes not really believing what he had seen. He had no powers of purification to speak of, but he knew a thing or two about the different types of people that could pull off a feat such as this. He had studied under a few himself, trying to pull some of his fathers talents out of thin air. Unfortunately the exorcist couldn't do what this girl could.

He grinned, watching the way the girl played with the young fox demon, unaware that he had very big plans for her. After all, who better to bear his children than a priestess with such remarkable gifts!

Kagome

Something was definitely wrong. I couldn't place it though. A shiver ran down my spine as I waded my way out of the water, grumbling because I forgot a towel. Shippo had long since ran ahead of me yelling something about a big secret he had to share with Inuyasha. I rolled my eyes thinking about those two. They were starting to get along, at least a little bit. I smiled, pulling silk onto my wet body. The fabric clung to me, making my movements feel awkward and wrong. I sighed, following a trail of sparkling swirling bits of air and broken twigs to the camp. I've gotten better with this sight adjustment thing. It use to throw me off, adding extra information without explanation. Now I understood that it reacted to what I wanted. I would be able to use this ability to find Kikyo.

To bring Inuyasha happiness.

My stomach did a weird flip and I groaned, following the path.

I should have been paying attention.

I have the worst luck.

Something heavy and hard hit my head, causing my vision to crack with new lights, bright white and black. My vision ebbed and flowed with my accelerating heart as I fell to the ground. Clutching my now bruised head I struggled to sit up as a cloth was pressed against my nose and mouth, causing me to breathe in what could only be the post-apocalyptic equivalent of chloroform.

Waking up was the worst decision I had made. Ever. My brain was on fire and I had the urge to cough up an entire lung. My vision was blurry, but there were no extra colors to disorient me further, making this just a bit easier than it could have been. I groaned, attempting to push myself up. That was when I realized my hands and feet were bound and there was a chain linking the bindings together and to the floor.

"If another perverted idiot tries getting in my pants so help me…" I ground out, my nerves on edge.

"Well lucky for me you're not wearing any pants." A voice called out from a darkened corner in an already dark room. I managed to push myself up as he stepped forward, not looking anything like one of the fearsome demons I was assuming was still on my trail. It had been so long since I've had any sort of threat handed to me by one of Centipede's minions or even heard the name Naraku murmured. It was nice, but I was pretty sure my grace period was about to be up.

"It's a figure of speech. I can assure you any move made on me with cost you your life." I reach inside myself to push something out to destroy the bindings when… nothing happened. Because I couldn't find anything inside of me. It was like the power I had been working so hard on had just been taken away.

"Your priestess powers can't assist you now. I'm an exorcist!" He grinned, leering down at me. I guess that sounds kind of frightening, but I had no idea what that meant exactly. My blank stare must have given me away because he scoffed, looking a tad bit irritated.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" I asked, tilting my head just a tad bit.

"You don't know what exorcists are?" He looked shocked and confused. Maybe even partially concerned.

"To be completely fair I don't even know your name," I stated. I was trying to get him to talk so I could find some way to get out of this mess.

"I'm Miroku!" He said proudly hands on his hips for a moment. He wore an unusual purple garb resembling a dress in my honest opinion. Fashion, customs, everything in Japan had rebooted itself to the feudal era. Only the ruins of large cities seemed to tell anyone that there had ever been a different time. If I stared at his dress long enough it tickled something in my memory that I couldn't quite reach.

"That tells me part of the story. What's an exorcist?" I had a vague idea about removing demons but maybe he could give me more information and keep himself distracted at the same time. Win/win or so they say.

"How do you not know what exorcists are? They're almost essential to most cities or towns!"

"It's a really long story, I won't bore you with the details," I waved one of my hands up and down, trying to test how loose the binding was.

"Well exorcists rid town of demons, much like demon exterminators."

"That's not very nice you know!" I sat up on my knees, looking at 'Miroku' sternly. "Just because demons look a bit different and have super messed up powers doesn't mean you guys can just go around killing other humans!" Not that I was really one to talk. I had my fair share of demon blood, human blood, on my hands. My only excuse was it was for self preservation and defense. I don't go out and seek demons to kill them. They normally find me.

"Have you been brainwashed?" Miroku looked bewildered and concerned. "All demons care about is power, and they will do anything to become more powerful."

"Sounds a lot like any man in any position of power," I retorted, shooting daggers at him.

"Exorcists have an additional advantage over most people though," Miroku looked at me for a moment before a cool expression took over his features. "We have the ability to suppress other's gifts, like your rather powerful purification abilities. I'm not sure what other tricks you have up your sleeve but I'm not taking any chances."

"How do you know what I can do?" I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I saw what you did at the hot spring."

"You mean to say you were watching me while I was bathing. What a pervert!" I yelled. His mind was distracted for just a second by the outburst and I could feel the little well of energy hiding underneath some sort of veil. I reached deep inside of myself, ignoring the strain as I focused on the fibers in my restraints, willing them to loosen. I got them off as Miroku just looked up at me from his position sprawled across the floor.

Inuyasha

Kagome was gone. Her scent was mingled with an unfamiliar one and a growl rumbled through my chest as Shippo studied the scene of the crime. Kagome's scent was masked by something, causing it to disappear after a few feet away from the spring. I thought it was weird that Shippo returned to camp without her, but after what felt like hours of her being gone I finally went to investigate.

I waited too long.

"Kagome has a bad habit of getting kidnapped," Shippo stated, looking up at me with too-big eyes. He was scared, I could smell it on him.

"I wish I could say that was a lie. You've seen some of what she can do, she's like a piece of jewelry to most collectors because of how valuable that gift is. I knew we shouldn't have been helping too many people." I growled again, scanning the area for signs of a struggle or something. Some clue I could use to find her.

Something shimmered off in the distance and I sprinted towards it, my hands grasping at the ground to grab it. A familiar collar had fell in the bushes, connected with all of Kagome's other mementos. She always had this thing on her person if she could help it, stuffing it in the pockets of her kimonos and dresses. It gave her a little more courage, or maybe it reminded her to keep going. Unfortunately all it gave me was a vague direction in which I was suppose to follow. Not even the stranger's scent was strong enough for me to track it.

"Do you think an exorcist could have done this?" Shippo looked at the trinket in my hand and I shoved it into my shirt.

"Whoever the hell it was doesn't know who they're messing with." I responded, looking down at the kit. He was so small, unusually so even for a fox demon, and would probably get in the way of me trying to beat the shit out of whoever had Kagome this time. I only hoped it wasn't one of Centipede's lackeys, or even one of Naraku's. "Shippo, go pack up the camp and head back to Kaede's village. It's just on the outskirts of Tokyo. Keep to the woods and tell the old hag or any humans that bother you that you're with Kagome. They'll keep you safe."

"I want to come with."

"If you get hurt while I'm trying to save that stupid girl she'll never forgive me. So just do as I ask please." He nodded once and scurried back to the camp. Luckily for me I knew the little mutt had enough of a sense of direction that he wasn't going to get lost.

Unlike Kagome.

I stalked forward, silently praying that she could handle herself until I got there. Purifying that hot spring had to have taken a lot out of her, and if she was dealing with an exorcist she wouldn't have that gift of hers to help her out anyway. She would have to be quick witted to get out of that vipers nest.

I thought back to the way she used heat to save the frog prince, or the way she helped those girls escape even at the cost of her life. She was so full of concern I was almost positive it was going to get her killed one of these days. Kikyo would never have gotten kidnapped by a lowly exorcist.

A groan escaped my throat. Comparing the two women always gave me conflicted emotions. I wanted Kikyo back, more to return her to Kaede and know she was safe. Somewhere along the lines of traveling with Kagome my emotions had gotten all tangled up. I wasn't sure what I was feeling for who anymore.

The strong scent of sunshine and lavender picked up and I grinned, following the path until I reached an old abandoned shrine. It reeked of sleeping potion and I had to cover my nose and mouth to keep myself from inhaling too much of the stuff. I could hear loud noises coming from inside and a spike in the scent of sunshine told me Kagome was using her ability. It had become the tell I needed to know when she was summoning just an extra bit of something to make things go her way. I wasn't sure she was really aware of it herself but she had charmed quite a few merchants into practically giving her their cart for almost nothing.

Another loud voice, muffled by the thick walls of the shrine, broke me from my thoughts as I yanked the door open. Kagome was standing over a monk in purple, fire blazing in her eyes as she berated him for being a 'peeping Tom'. She turned to face me, almost as if she had expected me to be there. A smile was on her face, something she quickly smothered into a more subdued grin.

"Well I guess I don't need to come rescuing you anymore. You seem to have it all figured out," I huffed as she jumped down from the slightly elevated platform and nodded, not looking back at the cowering monk.

"Come on. It's almost supper time." Kagome began walking, expecting me to follow. I turned to look at the monk, his face as white as a sheet.

"Don't think of pulling that shit again," I finally said following after Kagome begrudgingly. He didn't move until long after I was out of earshot to hear his movements. Kagome was quiet in front of me, humming a distracting tune. How was I suppose to brood when her voice kept invading my thoughts?

When our path intersected a road I stopped her. "I sent Shippo back to Kaede's. I thought that monk was going to be more trouble than he was."

"I guess we should head back then," Kagome smiled, making my stomach feel light and my heart constrict a little. I simply nodded, walking ahead without looking back. Kagome made a frustrated noise and then followed me, her hummed tune lost to the wind.

Our first night without Shippo started quietly. Kagome fiddled with the fire, complaining about how hungry she was and I ran off to the woods to find an overgrown something to eat. It was peaceful for a little while until a familiar scent of sleeping potion hit the wind. A growl escaped my throat as I threw what was left of the bone I was gnawing on into the woods behind me.

"That monk is following us," I answered Kagome's concerned look. She shrugged and continued eating her food in that odd dainty way she always had. I stood up, sniffing the air, waiting for him to use his exorcist abilities to subdue my demonic abilities. There were things exorcists could and could not take away from you for limited amounts of time. He might be able to skew my senses but Tetsusaiga couldn't be suppressed. It was made from my fathers fang and was far too powerful for most exorcists. But not all.

I pulled my sword from its sheath as Kagome ignored the situation. Choosing instead to enjoy her food and stare into the fire, lost in thought. A rustling from the bushes nearby alerted me to the monks location and I waited, sword poised and ready when he finally walked into the lighted clearing.

"What do you want?" Kagome asked politely after swallowing her mouthful of food. My body was too tense to appreciate her nonchalance.

"I may have been too hasty in my original intentions." The monk sighed and eyed me warily. I growled again, asserting dominance over the other male. "Maybe if we just sit down and talk we can work something out," there was a sparkle in his eyes as he talked, his attention now fully on Kagome.

"What's there to talk about," Kagome tilted her head to the side and I finally let my body relax, returning Tetsusaiga to its sheath.

"There's a demon plaguing a nearby village and-"

"No," I spoke before he could finish. "I don't know what you're playing at but the answers no."

"Hear him out," Kagome's soft voice spoke out stunning me for just a moment.

"This creep drugged and kidnapped you and you want to hear him out?"

"With such a strong and fearsome demon accompanying me I don't blame him," the sarcasm in her voice was lethal but her eyes were piercing me with a warning. "Besides if we do this for him he'll owe us."

"That may work where you're from but around here people don't pay back debts, they kill to be free of them."

"Then keep me safe," her response was immediate and as she turned back to the monk I couldn't find the words to explain to her how stupid and dangerous this could turn out to be. What if I couldn't protect her?

'Then you'll just have to try harder,' a voice in my head answered. 'Don't let this be a repeat of Kikyo.'

"What exactly is going on?"

"Well, there's been rumors of a demon using ink drawings to kill humans in this area."

"Normies," Kagome interjected, her eyes set in her gaze at the monk's face.

"Right. Normies. Anyway they've been dying at an alarming rate. People think he's looking for someone because he only goes after women that match your description. I was going to use you as bait to lure him out but…"

"No," I responded and Kagome said, "alright." I turned to look at her incredulously. She shrugged again.

"Are you stupid you could end up dead!?"

"I'm stronger than the girls he's killed before. Besides, I have you." She stood up dramatically and looked at the monk. "You've got yourself a deal Miroku." I sighed and sat back down, trying to make the monk explode with my mind. I didn't have the time to deal with this but as the two spoke I found it harder and harder to sit still.

The monk was obviously putting the moves on Kagome, scooting closer to her as he drew battle plans in the sand around the campfire. Placing an arm on her shoulder when she asked questions.

Kagome finally noticed his advances when his hand reached for her rear, only for him to receive a well deserved slap across the face. All thoughts of plans were shoved aside as she stormed out of our makeshift camp muttering about lecherous monks. I stared at Miroku for a long time, trying to think of something to say.

"So is Kagome yours?"

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?" I stammered, a little at a loss for words.

"Well most women take more kindly to my affections. I figure she must be taken to react so negatively." He shrugged, knocking his shoulder into his staff that was propped on the tree. It made a jangling noise as silence set in once again. When I didn't respond he grinned at me. "So what's she like?"

"I wouldn't know." I answered with a low cough.

"Well how do you feel about her?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because if she's not yours I'm certainly going to try to make her mine." He wagged his eyebrows and I coughed, feeling uncomfortable. Why did Kagome agree to work with this freak? I mean she doesn't even know him.

She's too trusting.

'I have you,' her words bounced around on the inside of my head as we sat in relative silence, only Kagome's soft cursing and the crackling of fire softened the tension.

"You're on," I spoke louder than expected. I took his declaration as a challenge. His grin widened and a laugh shook his chest.

"Let's keep it a fair fight."

"No chance. Cause I've already won." I grinned back. At least, I hope I did. Maybe I was just kidding myself. But maybe I really had a shot.