Disclaimer: Who do I own? I own Rhiodoru, Masaka, Akika, Shinobu, Mutsu, Isao, Zaniistar, Karameida, and Miyuki. Who don't I own? Everyone else . . . They belong to Rumiko Takahashi . . . too bad . . . ::sigh::

( " " talking, italics thinking )

::xXxXxXxXxXx::

Interruption (Part II)

Rising to her feet, Kagome started for the door with a sigh. Before she got one step though, Inuyasha grabbed her arm, pulling her back. He drew her right into lap. With a little smile, he ran his clawed fingers through her hair, trying to straighten it into some semblance of order. Kagome gave him a grateful smile, thankful that he had the foresight to realize that the others would get the wrong ideas if her hair was suspiciously mussed. The hanyou gave her little kiss on the nose, pushing her back up.

"Now hurry up. The sooner you let them in, the sooner I can kick them out." He paused, his beautiful eyes sparkling with suppressed mirth. "After all," he raised his hands in a shrug of helpless acceptance, "I do need my rest, you know. I have to regain my strength."

Kagome laughed as she walked to the door. Flipping the lock off, she slid it open and came face to face with Miroku, Sango, Zaniistar, and another woman Kagome didn't know. They all looked annoyed and concerned.

"It's about time!" Miroku snapped irritably. "What took so long?"

"I was taking a bath," Kagome said, pointedly plucking at the front of her robe. She decided that she didn't like the way Miroku eyed her bare legs, as if wondering what it would be like to touch them. She tried not to blush as she remembered Inuyasha's hand exploring her legs just moments before.

Taking a step back from the monk, she continued, "And Inuyasha was sleeping. Why did you come pounding on the door anyways? You woke Inuyasha, and he needs rest, plus I had to cut my bath short. What's the big idea?"

Zaniistar stepped forward.

"We brought you and Inuyasha some clean clothes since Inuyasha complained so much about only having pants to wear." He gestured to the woman behind him. She must have been a serving woman or maid of some kind. Her arms were overflowing with clothes. "And then the shaman wants a private audience with Inuyasha once he's dressed."

Kagome was immediately suspicious. She didn't wholly trust the shaman, and didn't like the idea of Inuyasha being alone with her. But the clothes would be nice. She stepped to the side and let them enter the room.

Inuyasha was slouched on the bed, looking surly. She silently begged him to keep with her story. As the others filed in, she saw him give her a barely perceptible wink. She suddenly remembered something Inuyasha had said before when he had been explaining about Rhiodoru's mind powers.

"The power requires physical contact with the victim to work, except if the demon just wants to read whatever thoughts you happen to be thinking at one particular moment. He doesn't need to be touching you to do that, he just needs to be within about a hundred yards of you."

So that was it. She returned the wink, knowing that Inuyasha knew that she understood. He could simply read her thoughts and follow along with her story. She smiled, imagining the possibilities. She then concentrated, trying to clearly form a thought in her mind.

You can read my mind anytime you want, Inuyasha. There's nothing I have to hide from you.

She saw his small smile out of the corner of her eye as she turned to the others.

"So, Inuyasha," Sango said, "how are you feeling now?"

"I was feeling fine, at least until I got that very rude awakening. Thanks a lot."

He gave them a deep scowl, clearly displaying his displeasure. The others all proceeded to give him varying degrees of embarrassed and apologetic smiles. Kagome suddenly frowned. Why hadn't they been sorry for disturbing her?

Sango approached her.

"We found some clean clothes for you, Kagome," she smiled, "and for me too. Let's go into the bathroom and change." She glanced over at the men. "And give them some room so they can wrestle Inuyasha into the clothes. I don't think that he's going to be too happy about not having his own clothes back yet."

Kagome nodded. Inuyasha would be difficult if he didn't get his own clothes back. She noticed him shoot her a look of pure disgust over his shoulder. She flushed. She had forgotten that he was keeping on eye (or should she say ear?) on her thoughts.

Okay, Inuyasha, she thought, trying to sound stern, get out of my mind now. I may not have anything to hide but I would like some privacy in my own head if you don't mind.

She followed Sango over to the woman holding bundles of clothes. The woman spread out the clothes on the table, silently selecting articles and handing them out to their respective recipients. When Miroku, Inuyasha, Sango, and Kagome all had their arms full of clothes, the serving woman swept out without a word.

Absently wondering at the strange silence of the woman, Kagome followed Sango into the bathroom. The room was large enough for at least six or seven people to stand in at once, so the two girls had plenty of room to change.

Kagome examined her clothes.

They were all made a wondrously smooth silk. Hers were all pinks and peaches in colour. She was happy to notice the presence of some very cute undergarments. She put those on first then inspected the other articles. There was a pair of long, baggy, pinkish-coloured pants that, once on, looked like a flowing skirt. A soft white undershirt was tucked into that, followed by a shirt that looked much like a silk version of Inuyasha's kimono, only peach coloured instead of red. That also tucked into the skirt-pants. The kimono had long, baggy, billowing sleeves that fell to the tips of her fingers and that hung open as much as Inuyasha's fire-rat kimono. Over all of this went a floor length cloak of a soft pink colour that went beautifully with the rest of the outfit, pulling all the colours together. Kagome spun in a circle, loving how the cloak and skirt-pants swirled about her legs. There was only one thing left, two pink ribbons. Kagome didn't have the slightest idea what to do with them.

She turned to Sango to ask, and smiled delightedly. The demon slayer looked like quite the lady. Her outfit was exactly the same as Kagome except her was all different shades of green. The pants were deep green. The kimono was a pale, washed-out green that brought out the colour in Sango's face and made her seem to almost glow. The overcoat was a mix of dark green and forest green. The entire combination looked stunning. Kagome smiled as she imagined Miroku's reaction to Sango's new appearance.

Seeing how Sango had tied her hair back in an intricate bow using her ribbon, Kagome looked at hers in confusion. Why did she have two?

Seeing her friend's confusion, Sango took the ribbons and instructed Kagome to sit on the stool in the corner. With a practiced hand, the slayer quickly pulled Kagome's hair into two graceful loops on either side of the girl's head. She used the ribbon to hold the loops in place, tying complex knots with them. She then ordered Kagome to stand. Her lips pursed in thought, she artfully pulled strands of hair out of the loops to elegantly frame Kagome's face.

"Stunning." Sango said simply, them smiled slyly. "Inuyasha's eyes are going to pop out of his head when he sees you."

Kagome blushed deeply, suddenly wondering if it would be Inuyasha who would be undressing her instead of herself. Mentally berating herself for having such inappropriate thoughts, she thanked her friend for her help.

"Now let's go see how the guys are doing." She gave Sango an equally devious smile. "Miroku's not going to be able to control himself when he sees you. Be ready to fend him off." She paused, turning to the door. "That is, if you want to fend him off."

Laughing at the demon slayer's outraged blush, Kagome pushed the door open and went into the room, wondering if there was some way for her to go with Inuyasha to see the shaman. Then she saw him, and all thoughts of anything else disappeared from her mind.

::xXxXxXxXxXx::

A/N:

Note:I recently found out that the name Jiyuuka (meaning "Beautiful Freedom") is incorrect, because jiyuu ("freedom") is not actually a Japanese word. (Ironically, the correct word is jyuu, which means something along the lines of "ghastly".) Because of this, I have changed Jiyuuka's name to Miyuki, which means "Child of Light".