*IMPORTANT* This story contains spoliers from the Bleach Series! DO NOT READ if you don't like spoilers, ruiners, etc. I have given my warning! *IMPORTANT*

Title: Miko and Shinigami Love

Rating: T

DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. Two respected mangaka! I do not own the characters in any way nor the story plot only the idea of this fanfiction!

MizukixTsukiyomi's Notes: Well, this story hasn't been updated since...January. Wow...sorry about that. I had a terrible case of writer's block for this story. And I will be honest, in my personal opinion...this chapter pretty much sucks. There is no action. It is slow but then again, when don't I take it slow (hahaha). This is about Kagome and Ichigo coming back from the kiss in the forest and Zenaku having a few thoughts to himself and the group leaving for their hunting on the last shards and to defeat Naraku and Aizen.

Next chapter will have action and the Band of Seven and some of the Espadas coming in. That said, this chapter is way~ shorter than the ones before. One of my reviewers said she liked shorter chapters and to be honest, so do I. But anyways, thank you to all who reviewed and read! And please continue to support me! Wow! Almost to 400 reviews!

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

omaomae, ShadowGOUF, Chaos-Guard, xlove-kawaix, bleach102, kid love, ZackDighton, Soul Titan, rosesterling100, Nixie the Bloody Pixie, gust, and Infinities Lover!

Thank you! Enjoy!

Chapter 35: Moving Forward

Blink after blink, Ikkaku watched the silence dance around between Kagome and Ichigo. After they were coming back from the Bone Eater's Well, they had been dead silent. No glance at each other. No goodnights. No nothing. It annoyed his butt that this sudden tension was taking over the whole group. The whole group could see the awkwardness between them. They were already to discuss their next plans but this lovey dovey silence was pissing him off.

One thing that he did thank the gods were that the stupid hanyou wasn't around to try to ramble out and see what was wrong. That would only make the area noisier and he would really rather have the silence than the yells from the mutt. Ikkaku inched closer to Rangiku. They were still around the tree and boulder where they were last on. They were waiting for Ichigo to comeback so they could discuss their advancement now that Ichigo had taken a whole different route on things.

Ikkaku continued his sights on the duo who were silent: "Aren't you a bit irritated that these two came back like statues?"

Rangiku gave out a smirk along with a chuckle: "Oh Ikkaku, you dense idiot."

"Who are you calling an idiot!?" he exclaimed out loud, surprising everyone.

Hitsugaya cleared his throat, making sure everyone placed their attention to him as he sat on the boulder: "Well, now that we knew that Ichigo has someway to fight, we should proceed to look for Aizen and Naraku. We have wasted enough time."

Kagome looked down at the ground, almost feeling like he was placing the blame on her. Slightly bowing down, all the Shinigami and demon looked at her apologetic pose.

"I am deeply sorry for all the trouble I caused. I promise I won't get in the way anymore," her bow was low, making even the captain of squad ten blink at her sudden action.

"Kagome," whispered Ichigo.

Walking over to the miko, Rangiku placed her hand on Kagome's shoulder, making her head slowly come up to stare at blue orbs: "Kagome, dear! No one is blaming you! You couldn't have prevented what happened to you in the first place but we are glad you are back with us in safe hands."

Kagome gave her a small nod: "Thank you…"

"I wouldn't be letting my guard down just yet," spoke Ichigo, eye narrowing down.

"What are you talking about?" spoke Rukia as she looked at the demon.

"Just because Kagome is back with us doesn't mean that Aizen and Naraku will come back for her," he spoke. "Chances are that they are coming back for her. She is a miko with Espada powers of her own. You think they will let that go free?"

Hitsugaya nodded, agreeing with Ichigo's explanation: "He's right. I had the very same thought. We can't just freely think that they have given up on her. We must be alert at all times."

"Ugh," scratching the back of his neck, Renji grunted. "Well this is surely a pain and here I thought that the only problem we would face is Naraku and Aizen."

"No," spoke out Hisagi, sitting on another boulder nearby, "we have the revived Espadas to deal with."

Kagome blinked: "But they are revived by a shard. If the shard is taken off, they will go back to their previous state."

"Graveyard soil?" smirked Ikkaku.

"Who you calling graveyard soil!?" exclaimed Inuyasha, coming out of the hut with Kikyo and the others behind.

Ikkaku's nerve twitched on his forehead, seeing the dog coming out: "Well, there goes the peace."

"I was talking to you baldy!"

The nerve broke out as he stood up straight and walked over to the white haired dog: "Want to repeat that!?"

"Answer my question!"

Kagome glared at the hanyou as she watched that he was acting immaturely with the current situation they were in: "Inuyasha…sit!"

Gold eyes widened as the words processed through his ears and necklace. Ikkaku was suddenly stunned as he saw Inuyasha drop to the floor. He smirked, seeing that his face was buried in. Placing his weapon on his shoulders, he rested his arms on it: "Well, well. The girl has control over you alright, mutt."

"Shut up!" grunted Inuyasha into the dirt. Coming up, Inuyasha looked at Kagome with a glare. He was annoyed for what she did out of the blue. His gold eyes blinked as a scent skipped to his nose. Growling under his breath, he surprised everyone around.

"Inuyasha?" called of Miroku. "What's wrong?"

He took a step closer to the young miko, making her wary on what he was doing. He was obviously sniffing her. His intense glare came up to meet the miko's eyes: "You smell of him."

"Huh?" she blinked.

He growled once more as he straightened: "I told you not to get involved with him anymore, Kagome."

"I don't have to follow everything you say, Inuyasha," she barked back, crossing her arms. "Besides, this isn't the time to be arguing! We have bigger problems here!"

"I don't care!" he shouted back. Everyone remained silent, hearing and seeing the bickering between the two. It was obvious to the ears and eyes what they were talking about. The certain black haired demon standing behind the miko. The hanyou was becoming jealous and wanted to have Kagome to himself but at the same time…having the other miko, Kikyou, beside him.

Hisagi sighed: "The hanyou sure doesn't know how to let go."

"Or move on for that matter," Rangiku crossed her arms. "The answer is obvious on who she is picking."

"Huh?" Renji, Ikkaku, and Hisagi looked at the strawberry head lieutenant like she had gone mad.

"Oh come on, boys. Don't tell me you don't see it?" she whispered to them.

Hearing the conversation, Miroku and Sango walked over, leaving Kikyou and the argument continue. Sango felt her nekko demon lightly pounce on her shoulder, watching the Shinigami converse between themselves.

"See what?" she questioned her.

The lieutenant looked at the demon slayer and smirked: "Obviously something happened in those trees and those trees are the only witnesses."

"You mean," whispered Miroku, "in the Bone Eater's Well?"

"Oh, that's what it is called?" blinked Rangiku.

Hitsugaya shook his head as he heard two different types of conversation. One arguing and the other gossiping although it was mainly done by his lieutenant. Seriously, this girl had to stop. His eyebrow twitched, already annoyed with the two different groups. He opened his mouth, ready to silence them all but was surprised to see Ichigo coming in front of Kagome and standing in front of Inuyasha.

"That is enough," he stated, catching everyone's attention.

"Move out of the way," glared Inuyasha.

"I know you don't want her to get involved with me and I know it is my fault she got into this mess but that is no reason to be yelling at her," he glared back.

Kagome blinked: "Ichigo…it's alright. I can take care of myself."

"I know that," he replied, "but your strength isn't enough to deal with the Espadas or the Band of Seven. Aizen and Naraku will send them for you."

"That isn't certain," she answered back. "I think it is best we all move forward and look for them before it gets too late."

"It might not even be one of the Espadas or Band of Seven," cut in Kikyo. All eyes landed on her as she walked forward. "There is a high chance that Aizen and Naraku will send those two groups for decoys."

"Decoys?" repeated Rukia. "Meaning-?"

"Aizen and Naraku have the highest creation in their hands, remember?" she questioned out. "That Espada and demon will be the one after my reincarnation."

"Zenaku!?" exclaimed Sango. "But…," she looked at her dear friend, "not even the Shinigami could deal with him!"

"He is the real threat after Aizen and Naraku of course," Kikyo closed her eyes, letting everyone sink in the information.

Kagome looked away, starring at the ground to the side. Her hand slowly came up to grab her arm on the opposite side. She remembered Zenaku's blood thirsty eyes. Lusting for blood. Wanting to see fear in people's faces and hearing the screams of despair.

From the corner of his eyes, he could see her fear shivering outwards. So Zenaku could be after her. Ichigo sighed mentally. Now that he had his demon side activated, he would have to see what he could do. He couldn't be weak anymore. He had to protect her and everyone else.

"Alright," sighed Hitsugaya. "We will leave first thing tomorrow morning. We will head to Mount Hakurei and we need to get there before Naraku and Aizen leave for Hueco Mundo."

All nodded unsure what could be ahead of them.

Walking to the empty room, blood orbs scanned the area around. It was left untouched. It seemed like no one had come in since the miko had escaped. He smirked as he stared at the mirror that she had been looking at when she regained her memories.

Staring at himself, he could see his silver white hair held high into his ponytail. His tan skin contrasting his white clothing that revealed his muscles and a bit of skin on the left side of his chest. He looked around once again and noticed the ribbon Kagome had been wearing before around her waist. She left her as a sign. She was gone from this group.

Rough hands picked up the silky fabric. Gripping it tightly, he remembered watching Ichigo and Kagome talking near the shrine where she was train before Ichigo had left and followed the Taiyoukai.

'Enjoy your time with them, miko,' he spoke in his head. 'I will comeback for you. You don't belong to anyone else but me.'

"Zenaku."

Hearing a familiar voice, he slowly turned around, already having sensed the persons presence before. He watched as the wind demon walked in with a strong stare.

"What are you doing here, Kagura?" he questioned.

"I should be asking you that," she glared back as she closed her fan.

Turning back around, Zenaku secretly pocketed the ribbon in his pants. Kagura sighed, catching his attention: "You are too obvious to my eyes, Zenaku."

"What the hell are you babbling now?" he glared intensely.

"Others might be oblivious but I am not," she continued on. "I can tell you have a thing for the wench."

He remained silent, watching as Kagura walked over to the mirror and watched her reflection. He let her continued, waiting to see what else she had to say.

"Just face it already. She is back with her companions and there is nothing you can do about it."

"Aizen and Naraku have ordered me to bring her back," he spoke in response.

Turning her head to face him, she crossed her arms: "What makes you think it will be easy? You really think those companions of hers will let her go out freely? I am sure they are smart enough to think that we might be after her again."

Letting out a chuckle, Zenaku walked past her and stopped at the entrance of the door of Kagome's room. He looked over his shoulder, not bothering to make eye contact with the demoness: "Kagome might have courage but there is one thing only I know about her that all of you here don't."

"And that is?" she questioned with an eyebrow arched up.

"She was two weaknesses."

Kagura was left alone with the vague answer he had give her. She narrowed her eyes and looked back at the mirror: 'Two…weaknesses?'

"Thank you for everything, Kaede-sama," bowed Miroku. Kagome bowed afterwards, giving her thanks to the old miko. Giving Kaede one last smile, she turned around but was stopped by her voice after everyone else had taken a few steps ahead. Morning had awaken and they were more than ready to move forward. Sesshomaru had left without saying a word and all wondered why but they couldn't ponder on the thought so long.

"Child," whispered Kaede.

Kagome slightly turned around and noticed Kaede's worried expression.

"Be careful, child," she continued. "And…"

Noticing that she had stopped, Ichigo watched as Kagome had turned her body to stare at the old miko. The wind dance by, the moment the miko had worded something, unable to fully listen what she had told Kagome. He was annoyed that he still needed to learn to control his hearing and other demonic uses. He was new at it and he had to learn in fast pace.

His eyes caught Kagome slowly walking towards the group that was walking away. She was stopped by Ichigo's words.

"What did she say?"

"Huh?" she blinked, looking into his eyes. "Uh nothing really," she scratched the back of her head, breaking the eye contact: "Just to be cautious for what is ahead."

Nodding, they continued to walk forward, everyone set on their location. Kagome's eyes dropped down to stare at the ground as she walked, Kaede's words replaying in her head.

"And…beware of the Shikon no Tama, Kagome. It can be used against you and everyone you care about. If darkness is poured into it…and used on a pure soul…you will lose yourself."

Kagome tightened her hold on the bow she had in her hands: 'That answers my question…they are after me again…'

MizukixTsukiyomi's Notes: That is a wrap! Hope you all enjoyed it. It's okay if you didn't hahaha. But please bare with me. I tried so hard to write this even with my writer's block! Please tell me what you think! And Zenaku's "feelings" will be revealed more in detail in later chapters. And to put it out there...I don't hate Inuyasha and but he does get annoying, right? hahaha

Love you all and thank you for reading!

Ja~ne!