Miroku used one hand to shade his eyes against the glare of the sun as he surveyed the landscape stretching out beneath the hill. "I think there's a village over there," he called back to the rest of the group. "We could stop there while we recover."

"Recover from what? I'm feelin' fine, bouzou!"

Miroku sighed as he turned to face InuYasha. The inu-hanyou was wearing a scowl on his face as he slowly stalked closer to where Miroku and Sango stood. 'His wounds are indeed faring much better than they were before,' Miroku thought, 'But the bruises that he got from Kouga's legs have yet to heal, as well as that sprained ankle. Sango and I have been talking, and we think that Kouga's hatred for InuYasha must have infused his shikon-no-kakera, filling them with some sort of power. That power either prevents InuYasha from healing or slows down the healing process...most likely the latter.' Miroku watched InuYasha limping slightly as he headed over to them and felt a sense of trepidation settle over him. 'I hope everything will be all right.'

"Maybe you are, InuYasha," Miroku sighed, "but Sango and I would like to rest, and I'm sure Kagome would, too." When he said this, the houshi looked pointedly at the cat on InuYasha's shoulder.

"Yes, I do want to rest," Kagome agreed, nodding so that everyone could see that she liked the idea. "And I would much rather stay in a nice hut than sleep on the hard ground."

Outvoted once more, InuYasha scowled darkly, tucking his hands away into the sleeves of his haori as he looked away with a "Feh!" The group ignored InuYasha as they happily nattered about what they would be able to do once they arrived at the village, moving slowly but steadily downhill as they did so. The sun shone brightly overhead, divided by the leaves of the forest canopy into bright patches of diamond-shaped light.

However, the village was not all it appeared to be from on top of the forest hill. For starters, many of the huts in the village were half-destroyed. They hadn't just been smashed, either; some huts looked like they had just been melted away. In addition to the destroyed huts, there were half-moon marks carved into the rice paddies, the fields and the pathways, almost as if something huge and heavy had been dragged across the ground multiple times in many places. Then, when they had arrived in the approximate center of the village, they saw a group of people-some wounded, others unharmed-who were huddled around something on the ground.

Kagome nearly screeched as she gasped, "What is THAT?"

The thing on the ground was an enormous short-snouted snake, though it was almost unseen since its coloring was similar to the ground beneath it. Its eyes were fogged over and dull, its mouth gaping open as flies flitted in and out of its nostrils. Some of the village men were using their spears to hack off the snake's head.

"Excuse me, good people," Miroku called, hurrying over to the men, hand outstretched. "My friends and I are very skilled youkai taijiya-is there anything we can assist you with?"

Upon hearing the words "Youkai taijiya," every single villager looked up, their faces changing from surprised to overjoyed. A few seconds passed before the group found themselves surrounded by excited villagers.

"You've come to help us? Oh, Kami be praised!"

"Please fight off these hebi youkai for us!"

"We'll be able to live without fear of death once more!"

"Calm down, everyone," a voice called over the rabble. The crowd fell silent as one, parting in a fluid wave to let a tall, middle-aged man come to the center of the group. From the look of respect on everyone's faces, this was the headman of the village who was standing before them. "Do you speak the truth, travelers?" the headman asked, his brown eyes both cautious and hopeful. "Can you truly help us?"

This time, it was Sango who said, "Don't worry; there are no liars amongst us," here she glared at Miroku, who tried his best not to say or do anything that would reveal just how afraid that glare made him. "If you need our help, we'll be glad to give it."

InuYasha grumbled slightly, annoyed at the prospect of being diverted from their mission for a 'good samaritain act,' as Kagome called it. The cat in question hissed quietly and batted at his cheek, telling him without words to suck it up and stop complaining.

"Then, I shall tell you what fate has befallen our village, but first; I'm sure you must be tired after your long journey. Follow me to my house; there is food and an extra bed or two for you to use before the night comes." With that, the headman turned back and began to walk in the direction he had come from.

"Well, there's nothing better for us to do," Miroku stated, following after the headman. "Let's go and see what this problem entails, hm?"

The headman's house wasn't the finest place in the world, but the food was warm and the beds soft, so there really wasn't much to complain about. As the group consumed their dinner of fish, rice and vegetables, the headman told them about their youkai problem.

"Ever since my grandfather took over as headman of the village fifty years ago, we have heard talk about the hebi youkai clan who reside in the abandoned mine just a little ways west of this village. Anyone with even the slightest scrap of logic knows that to head to the mine is to walk into death's embrace, so we stay away from that place. We didn't bother them, so the hebi youkai didn't bother us." The headman sighed, one calloused hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "However, last night they came raiding. There must have been thousands of them, all in different colors, most of them dripping poison and coiled muscle. They stormed the village and consumed much of our livestock, as well as some of the more foolish men. Their venom dissolved some of the houses and permeated our water. As the hebi youkai tore their way through our village, I saw one in particular, which I believe to be their leader."

"What did he look like?" Miroku prompted when the headman fell silent.

The village's leader shuddered. "He was enormous; he made the other snakes look tiny by comparison! His scales were green, like some sort of acid, and he wore a crown of human skulls upon his head. He was the only one who did not attack us. All he did was slither around, calling for a 'dokukan' and for 'revenge for the fallen.' He looked mighty angry, and I hope he has satiated whatever hunger or feeling that drove him out here. I would not want to face that hoard again." A great sigh fell from his lips as the headman pushed himself wearily to his feet. "Forgive me, but I need to take leave of you now. The village is in bad shape, and I must see what needs to be repaired." With a small bow, the headman departed from the room, leaving the others alone.

The group looked at each other, digesting the story as they pushed their food aside for the time being. "How strange for them to start attacking now, unprovoked," Miroku mused. "Now, if one of the villagers had gone in and stolen something or killed one of their number, I would understand...but to attack completely out of the blue..."

"Maybe they're trying to draw attention to themselves," Shippou suggested. "Y'know, in case the 'dokukan' they're looking for is around here somewhere, an' they wanna get its attention or something."

"I suppose that could be it," Miroku conceded. "It is still very odd behavior for youkai, though."

"Agreed," Sango said, her eyes thoughtful.

"I don't care what their motive is," InuYasha growled, lifting the Tetsusaiga from its resting place beside his leg and letting an inch or so of scarred blade slide out from the sheath. "If there's youkai out there who're intent on killin' humans, I ain't gonna let that slide!"

"I thought you didn't want to do a good samaritain act, InuYasha," Kagome giggled, looking up from the dish of milk and fish that the headman had given her and meowing loudly.

InuYasha looked down at the small coal-black cat, one eyebrow raised at the sparkle in her brown eye. 'Dunno what she just said...but I'm glad she's lookin' more cheerful,' he thought, tearing into his own dinner with a renewed vigor. 'It's not right for Kagome to be so fuckin' depressed.'

Then he thought about the giant hebi youkai who were attacking the village, and the promise they had made to the villagers that very afternoon. 'If Kagome's with us when the snakes attack...' InuYasha tried hard to repress the shudder the mental image threatened to send down his spine. Just the thought of something happening to Kagome, cat or otherwise, was enough to almost rob the hanyou of his appetite. 'No! I can't risk her getting hurt when she doesn't have any spiritual powers! Also, I may have decent night-vision, but Kagome's a black cat, and those hebi youkai'll only show up at night...no, I can't risk it. She'll have to stay here.'

Kagome looked over at InuYasha that very moment and emitted a low mew. Absently, the hanyou reached out and rubbed her ears, his mind lost in thought. 'It's hard to leave Kagome behind, though. She's so fucking loyal to me and would just turn around and come right back if I told her to stay here...' The ghost of a smirk flicked across InuYasha's face for a fraction of a second before vanishing again. 'Heh...'nother fuckin' thing I learned when I was a dog; just how faithful Kagome really is.' InuYasha shook his head, snorting slightly as he got his mind back on topic. 'All that shit aside, what am I gonna do to get her to stay here? I could probably ask Sango to let Kirara stay here to protect Kagome...but Kagome's gotta be here first. What the fuck do I do?'

Underneath InuYasha's mindlessly scratching claws, Kagome's tiny head seemed to split in two as the cat gave an enormous yawn. 'I'm exhausted...ever since me and InuYasha talked last night, I haven't gotten very many opportunities to sleep...that and I just couldn't sleep...what with...all that...' Kagome's thoughts started to trail off as her tiny head dipped down toward her white-flecked chest and her small black fore-paws, her eyelids drifting shut over her tired brown eyes. Then, with a jerk, she started back awake, determined to stay conscious and useful to everybody.

"What's wrong, Kagome-chan?" Sango asked. "Are you tired?"

"Nooo," Kagome yawned, blinking once or twice to try and get some vigor back into her drowsy eyes, but to no avail.

"Should sleep if tired," Kirara told her, purring as she wrapped both of her tails around herself. "Not good not sleep."

Kagome would have argued some more, but just then InuYasha's claws started to make circles on the top of her head, much like her own fingers had done on his on the first night the hanyou had been transformed into a dog; a day that seemed like ages ago now. The effect was exactly the same: Kagome began drowsing, her head drooping down onto her paws as her mind slowly drifted away in a sea of contentment. Her white-patched chest rose and fell in a rythm that slowed steadily as each second passed. In what seemed like no time at all, the small black cat was asleep, head resting on her paws, tail tucked around her legs and face contentedly blank.

'Guess the Kami decided to go easy on me...for once,' InuYasha thought sarcastically as he slowly lifted his hand away from the sleeping cat's head. He spent a few seconds looking at her, his eyes grave. 'Sorry, Kagome...I just don't want you to get hurt.'

InuYasha turned to Miroku and Sango, who were both watching him interestedly. "So, what are we gonna do about those hebi youkai?"

"Well, the headman said that they were coming from the West, right? So maybe we should start searching the Western outskirts of the town," Sango suggested.

"Yes; that, and the sun is beginning to set, so it will be more likely for us to encounter them," Miroku added.

"All right; let's go." InuYasha got to his feet, tucking Tetsusaiga into his obi as he walked toward the door.

"InuYasha-wait!"

InuYasha flicked his ear back in the direction of Sango's cry, not bothering to turn around as he said, "What?"

"What about Kagome-chan? You're not going to leave her here, are you?" Sango asked accusingly.

InuYasha turned back, his golden eyes more solemn and serious than either Miroku or Sango had ever seen before. "It's gonna be night-time soon, plus Kagome doesn't have her powers of purification. From what we heard and saw about the hebi youkai today, those bastards are huge, fast and angry. Kagome'll be safer here, out of the fight."

Sango considered, then grudgingly said, "All right, InuYasha. But I'm leaving Kirara here, just in case a hebi youkai manages to get into the building. That way, she'll have someone to protect her while we're gone."

InuYasha nodded in agreement, his eyes set and determined, the way they always were before a fight.

"What about Shippou?" Miroku asked. The forgotten kitsune was lying on one of the beds the headman had prepared for them, his belly stuffed with food, his head filled with dreams of illusions and trickery. (All directed toward InuYasha from his grins and snickers.)

"Leave him, too," InuYasha said. "We don't need a whiny baby kitsune with us when we go after those hebi youkai."

The two humans looked at each other, an entire conversation passing between them in only a few blinks of an eyelash. "If you think they'll be safer here, InuYasha," Miroku finally stated, "Then it'll be for the best."

"That's what I've been saying this whole time, bouzou," InuYasha growled, turning on his heel and heading for the door. "Now, c'mon!"

The Western edge of the village was already cast into deep shadow, thanks to the trees that started just a few yards away from the last hut. The dead leaves whispered menacingly underneath their feet, sliding away like living things as the group moved through the dark trees. "This forest feels ominous," Miroku observed, the hand on his Shakujou tensing. "I wonder if there are other youkai beside the hebi youkai living here..."

"Maybe, but we should try to focus on the hebi youkai right now," Sango told him. "After all, we are only human, and we can't go after each and every single youkai in Nippon."

"Too true, my dear Sango." The familiar glint entered the houshi's amethyst eyes when he said that, his cursed hand wandering slowly over, sneaking steadily around the taijiya until-

"HENTAI! GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" In the blink of an eye, Sango had whipped about, her Hiraikotsu-free hand slapping Miroku's cheek so hard the houshi was nearly jerked off of his feet.

"Will you guys fuckin' shut up?" InuYasha, who had been on the ground looking for traces of hebi youkai scent, now looked up, his topaz eyes irritated. "You've been fighting since we fuckin' left the village!"

"Well, maybe all this noise will draw the youkai out," Miroku said, a serene smile on his face as his free hand rubbed the red mark on his cheek, like he had just been kissed rather than slapped.

"Yeah, not to mention every youkai within a few hundred miles of this place," InuYasha muttered as he began searching for the scent of youkai snake again.

"You're one to talk," Sango huffed irritably. "When you and Kagome-chan fight, I'm pretty damn sure people on the continent can hear you rowing!"

"I wasn't talking about me'n'Kagome, now was I?" InuYasha growled, turning back with an expression of almost murderous intent on his face. "I was talking about you and that fuckin' hentai there. You fight like cats and dogs almost all the fuckin' time!"

"Well, I belive Kagome calls that a case of 'the pot calling the kettle black,'" Sango quoted, her eyes narrowing.

"Well, you-"

Exactly what Sango was they were destined to not find out. Miroku suddenly leaped in between the two of them, his hands outstretched as he faced the West.

"What the fuck are-" InuYasha began, but Miroku shushed him hurriedly.

"Don't you feel it?" the houshi hissed.

The hanyou and taijiya froze, bodies stiffening as they stretched out their senses. Sure enough, there was a massive amount of youki approaching them from the West, moving steadily toward the village in a gigantic wave, almost like there was a huge surge of water approaching them.

"Youkai!" InuYasha hissed, popping Tetsusaiga out of its sheath as he bared his fangs, ready for whatever came for him.

"So many auras," Miroku murmured, his eyes wide with something like horror. "Unbelievable."

"Well, it's just the three of us here, so we'd better be on our guard!" Sango said, fitting her mask over her face in preparation for the fight.

InuYasha drew his Tetsusaiga, the youkai katana transforming from a rusty blade into a giant fang in the space of a few seconds as he squared his shoulders. Miroku's hands tightened on his staff as his eyes strained to see anything at all beyond the darkness. Sango's free hand went to her katana, just in case her Hiraikotsu proved useless in the dark confines of the forest. They waited like that for several tense minutes, in which the sounds of the forest animals all went silent as if all of their voices had been stolen in exactly the same moment. There was nothing, save for the soft rustle of the trees overhead and the occasional huff of someone's expelled breath. Silence reigned in the forest. Then-

"I hear somethin'," InuYasha hissed, eyes narrowing.

Miroku and Sango both strained their ears, but to no avail. Their hanyou companion's hearing far exceeded their own, and it was pointless to try and hear something before it actually came into their hearing-range.

"What does it sound like?" Sango hissed back.

"Slithering," InuYasha growled. "I think the hebi youkai have finally decided to show their ugly faces."

Before either human could reply, the sound finally reached them. The sound of hundreds, maybe even thousands of bodies sliding over the forest floor, winding slowly through the trees and over the various and sundry rotted logs that littered the forest floor. Then they could see movement amongst the trees; gigantic black bodies weaving through tree trunks, red eyes flashing in the occasional patch of moonlight.

"Is it me, or are they heading for us?" Miroku murmured, moving his Shakujou so it covered his chest.

"I don't think it's you," Sango replied uneasily. Meanwhile, the red lights that marked the eyes of the hebi youkai were heading toward them, steadily forming a ring of coiling bodies around them. Long, needle-sharp fangs could be glimpsed here and there as the snakes began to hiss.

"Dokuga...Dokuga..."The call rose and fell as the hebi youkai fixed the threesome with an unblinking stare. The bodies shifted left and right, left and right, over and over and over and over again.

"What the hell are they doin'?" InuYasha growled, looking at the hissing hebi youkai with an expression of incredulity on his face.

"I don't know; be prepared for anything," Sango replied fiercely.

There was a ripple of movement near the outer edge of the circle that caught the group's eye. It looked like one snake was moving through the rest, the hebi youkai parting in a huge wave as whatever it was butted its way through. "I think this is their leader," Sango observed.

"Then he's the one we should focus on killing," InuYasha growled back.

The huge snake finally made it to the small clearing where the hebi had surrounded the two humans and the hanyou. He reared up before them, his wide, triangular head easily reaching the topmost branches of the nearest tree, moonlight glinting off his bright green scales. Though his eyes were dulled with age, his body betrayed none of it, looking more youthful and spry than most of the snakes in the group. A crown of whole human skulls decorated his flat head, collaborating with the sudden unfurling of the snake's acidic green hood to create a rather intimidating picture. "Who are you and why are you ssstanding in my way?" the hebi youkai hissed, his skinny black tongue flicking out from between his jaws as he stared down at them imperiously.

"Are you Dokuga, then?" Miroku asked.

"Dokuga I am," the snake replied, eyes glimmering dully in the light of the half-moon overhead. The great hebi youkai's head came down a little as he considered the three figures beneath him. "You are...houssshi," he hissed suddenly, rearing up again as his eyes took on a look of murderous anger. "What have you done to Dokukan?"

"I do not know a Dokukan," Miroku said.

"Liesss! You are the one, you are the ssslayer of my ssson Dokukan! Houssshi, you ssshall pay for daring to ssslay my ssson!" All at once, the hebi youkai lunged forth, mouths gaping open as they charged toward InuYasha, Miroku and Sango.

"I am not the one you seek!" Miroku shouted over the chorus of hisses and slithering.

"Forget it, baka," InuYasha growled. "Even a hentai houshi like you should know that most youkai don't listen to 'reasoned arguments.'" The hanyou brandished his katana as he shouted, "The only way to deal with these fuckers is force!"

With that, the three comrades broke their small circle and charged toward the oncoming youkai.

'Bring it on!'

Kagome slowly stirred, her eyes fluttering open as she slowly returned to the real world. 'Mmm...how long was I out?' she wondered sleepily, stretching languidly as she flexed her claws and tail.

Kagome looked about for her friends...and saw no-one. "Um...hello? Is anyone there?" she called, forgetting that no-one could understand her (save for any animals in the area) and mewed desperately.

"Is okay. I here." Kirara got up from the bed on which she'd been resting and stretched, her two tails waving in the air as she yawned.

"Where is everyone? Did they go out?" Kagome asked, cocking her head at Kirara as she chanced another look around the small room.

"They go to slay youkai. Leave us here," Kirara replied, scratching herself behind the ear.

"Wh-WHAT?" Kagome's shriek woke Shippou up, the little kitsune leaping up from where he had been sleeping and poofing up in alarm. "They left without us? How could they do that?"

"InuYasha not want you hurt. Want you safe. Safe here," Kirara told her.

Kagome's eyes filled with angry tears as she considered what the nekomata had told her. Her fur stood on end as her reiki snapped through her body like an electric wave. "That baka hanyou thinks I'm SAFE here? Doesn't he know by now that I feel safest when I'm with him? Oooh, just wait until I see you again, InuYasha! You'll be sorry, I swear!" Kagome gritted her teeth, completely unaware of the fact that she was standing on her own two feet, looking down at Kirara and Shippou rather than being eye-to-eye with them. Still ignoring the two youkai and the fact of her return to humanity, Kagome grabbed up her bow and arrows, grinding out, "I'm going after them!"

"Y-you can't, Kagome!" Shippou cried, jumping up and latching onto Kagome's arm like a limpet. "If they left us behind, then whatever they're facing has to be really dangerous! Plus, you don't know when you'll turn back into a cat again!"

Kagome clenched her teeth fiercely as she said, "I don't care. I'm not about to sit here and do nothing when my friends are out fighting for their lives. Could you do that, Shippou-chan? Could you sit here, knowing that you might not see your friends again?"

Shippou looked at her, his emerald eyes wide and his bottom lip trembling slightly. "Th-that's not fair," he complained. "How come you always win all the arguments?"

"Kirara, let's go," Kagome said, ignoring Shippou's last question.

Kirara shrugged her furry shoulders and leaped up onto the arm opposite of the one Shippou was perched on. Kagome was just about to head out of the door when she heard voices in the front room.

"Is that another guest?" Shippou asked in a low (for him) whisper.

"I don't know; I can't really recognize the voice from here," Kagome murmured back. Slowly, she edged forth into the hallway, ears straining to hear the conversation going on in front of her.

"I told you, I appreciate the offer, but we already have the services of a houshi, taijiya and hanyou, all of whom have assured me that they will get rid of the hebi youkai."

'That's the headman, but who is he-' Kagome's thought was cut off as another voice rose, more angry than the first.

"You would rely on youkai lovers and filthy hanyou, rather than the services of an excellent houshi like myself? You are a fool to think those frauds and scoundrels would do anything for you." Kagome's eyes widened as she slowly backed away from the door, her hand over her mouth to stifle the cry of amazement that was threatening to burst out of her throat. 'That's-that's Tôjirô! But what's he doing here?'

"What is it, Kagome?" Shippou asked, leaning in over Kagome's shoulder.

"We have to go; it isn't safe here," Kagome murmured back urgently. When Shippou gave her a questioning look, Kagome simply said, "Tôjirô."

"You mean the houshi who cursed you and InuYasha to be animals?" Shippou asked, his brows knitting together. "What about him?"

"He's right outside this room," Kagome hissed, eyes flicking from the entrance to their room and back again.

Shippou's eyes lit up with understanding. "You think he's here for the hebi youkai?"

"Probably, but that doesn't mean he won't be interested in us," Kagome pointed out. "We should find somewhere else to stay for the night, otherwise he might come in and notice us. But we can't get out any other way."The miko's eyes flicked about despairingly, searching for an out, any out. Anything besides facing Tôjirô again.

"Leave it to me!" Without further ado, Shippou leaped off Kagome's shoulder and darted into the main room.

"Shippou-chan, NO!" Kagome cried, chasing after the kitsune.

Tôjirô was still arguing with the headman when he caught a glimpse of something orange and furry darting out of the hallway. He only just heard the shout of "Kitsune-youjitsu!" and the voice of a woman shouting before the whole room was filled with bright fireworks and thick smoke.

"Damned kitsune!" Tôjirô hissed, rubbing his stinging eyes with one hand as he extended his staff with the other. "You won't get away!" The houshi's trained eyes dissected the smoke, searching for the kitsune's youki. Several seconds passed before he found what he was looking for; a bluish-green scrap of youki surrounding a tiny body. "I have you now! Purify and transform, evil youkai who dares stand before me!" Blue lightning coiled around the six-pointed star before it launched out in the direction of the youki. Tôjirô was satisfied to hear a sharp squeal as the kitsune was hit with the spell. A woman cried out in horror as the houshi made his way toward the door.

'That voice sounds familiar...'

Kagome had collapsed by the side of the headman's hut, her arms wrapped tightly around the stricken kitsune. "Shippou-chan! Shippou-chan!" she cried, shaking the little bundle of orange fur as her fingers felt for a pulse.

It was then that she noticed that the kitsune in her arms had a lot more fur than he usually did. "Oh, no...Shippou-chan," she murmured, bringing the orange ball of fur closer to her chest. Kirara mewed mournfully and nuzzled one black-tipped ear. Kagome was now holding an adolescent fox, his fur a bright orange save for the black tipping his tail and ears. His clever face was blank, his poofy tail motionless. "Shippou-chan," Kagome whispered again. "I'm so sorry, Shippou-chan."

"Don't waste your breath, woman...youkai like him don't need sympathy from you." The doom-laden voice came from behind her. Slowly, like she was in a horror movie, Kagome turned around. Tôjirô was standing right behind her, his scarlet and black robes waving in a light breeze, staff rooted firmly in the ground. The moonlight behind him made his eyes darker and more insane than normal.

"Stay away from me," Kagome warned, hating the fearful quaver in her voice. Kirara hissed on her shoulder, her fur fluffing up as she glared angrily at the houshi. Tôjirô spared the nekomata a glance, then took something from within his robes and flicked it idly at the spitting cat. Whatever it was hit her squarely between the eyes, causing Kirara to spiral off into the night, yowling in pain.

"Stop hurting my friends, you monster!" Kagome cried, clutching Shippou close to her heart as her reiki spiked, nearly forcing the houshi off of his feet.

"Why don't you understand?" Tôjirô sighed, his voice taking on the tone of a disappointed parent. "You are under a spell."

"Damn right I'm under a spell-a spell that you put on me!" Kagome cried, her aura spiking again.

Tôjirô looked confused for a split second before his face lit up with understanding. "Of course, you're referring to the transformation spell that I put on you back in the city. Don't worry, I shall lift that one from you as well."

"'As well?'" Kagome frowned, confusion mixing with her anger and fear. "How many spells do you think I'm under?"

"You wouldn't know, but I can see that the hanyou who keeps you captive has placed a spell upon you to make you love him. I shall break the bonds that keep you captive tonight!" Tôjirô declared, lifting his staff so that the moonlight glinted off the six-pointed star.

Understanding suddenly dawned on Kagome. 'He still thinks that InuYasha is evil and that I'm...well, I'm his bitch...except this time he seems to think I'm innocent. I wonder why?'

Tôjirô saw the look of confusion on Kagome's face. A slow, almost sad smile spread across his face. "I am truly sorry for what happened back in that city. I was ignorant to the truth staring me in the face. While traveling in the forest, I met the real dark miko who had plagued those streets. She told me that you were her reincarnation and only guilty of sharing her face."

Kagome gaped at the houshi, unable to believe her ears. "Y-you met Kikyou?"

"Is that her name?" Tôjirô asked unconcernedly.

"Well, yeah, I-I mean-did...you didn't kill her, did you?"

Tôjirô sighed. "Unfortunately no. Her magics were more powerful than mine, and I couldn't risk losing my strength...not when I still had to track down the bastard hanyou who broke Chikanaka-sensei's dokko."

"Why do you want to kill InuYasha for something so trivial?" Kagome shouted, clutching the unconscious kitsune to her chest as she took a step or two back. "I know it was valuable, but it's still just an object!"

Tôjirô scowled at her. "That dokko was passed down through centuries of houshi in Chikanaka's family. When he was unable to produce a son, he gave it to me, his most beloved disciple. I was deeply honored to receive something so valuable to him. Then that Kami-forsaken hanyou came along and destroyed it without a second thought! That he must pay for, as well as his pitiful excuse of a life that causes others so much pain. Being an animal wasn't enough, so to redeem that lost one's soul, I will have to send him to Hell!"

"You understand nothing!" Kagome screamed, her voice tearing through the night like a steely knife. "Sure, there are youkai and hanyou who want nothing more than to kill and devour humans, but it's wrong to assume that they're all like that! There are some out there who can love and suffer just like us humans! InuYasha is no different from us. He's suffered all of his life just because he was different from everybody else, and it was because of people like you that he closed off his heart and tried to make himself uncaring to the world around him!"

"Enough of this," Tôjirô snarled. He swept forward, his robes flowing like wings behind him. In a sudden arc of scarlet, he swept his arms over Kagome. For a few heart-pounding seconds, her eyes were swarmed with red fabric, twisting and undulating like a sea of blood. Then the miko crumbled to the ground, the fox tumbling out of her limp arms as she collapsed in a dead faint. "I wish it didn't have to be this way, miko," Tôjirô murmured as he scooped Kagome up into his arms. "But you give me no choice."

Turning around, the houshi saw a lone horse grazing next to a humble hut. He strode forward quickly, mumbling a few prayers to the Kami as he did so. "Forgive me for stealing this horse, but I have no choice," he mumbled as he undid the ties binding the horse's neck to its post. Scrambling quickly onto his back, the houshi seized the crude leather reins, holding them awkwardly around the miko's unconscious body. With a sharp kick, he got the animal moving swiftly away from the village. 'Run, horse. Leave this village behind you.' Tôjirô looked up at the moon and stars over his head, his mouth clenched in a fierce scowl. 'We must make it to the Tsukikage Shrine before that damn hanyou can discover where we have gone.'

The scowl changed into a small, cruel smile. 'If I cannot change you into an animal, then I shall give you the most painful death imaginable, hanyou.'

'But first, I shall take away your devoted servant.'