Kiyomi watches Old Lady Kaede while she works in the garden. She's growing more and more frustrated with waiting. But isn't that always the way when you are sitting around waiting for something? And she really doesn't have any other choice but to wait. It's borderline excruciating at this point because the longer she waits the more nervous she becomes. She isn't really sure if she can do this… No, she can. She has to do it.
Inuyasha is at the well, waiting for Kagome to come back from her world, and then he will shut himself in for the night. Tonight is the new moon and her plan is ready to be set in motion. She has only one obstacle in her way; she's got to steal the old woman's giant bag before she busts outta here. She feels incredibly guilty about a lot of aspects of this plan, the thievery, the sneaking about, and, possibly the worst part of all, the blatant deception.
But this is the only way she can think of to steal the Shikon no Tama.
Naraku is a really bad man and he shouldn't have the Shikon Jewel. She's already figured that out and she thinks she's a really good thief. If she finds this bad man and takes the jewel back from him then she can bring it to Inuyasha and the others. Then, once it's whole, she can use it to wish for that demon inside of her to go away forever. And then she will never have to be scared of being around her friends ever again. Trouble is that she's pretty sure Inuyasha would want to go with her to steal it but that's a really bad idea. If Naraku doesn't like Inuyasha then traveling with him will make it much harder for her to find him. How's she supposed to find someone who is hiding from Inuyasha if she's with Inuyasha at the same time? It'll be a lot easier to find Naraku on her own.
And she's gotta be really sneaky to find him. She's sure of it. There's also a pretty big chance that Inuyasha won't like the idea of her stealing the jewel. He'll probably think she's too little or not a good enough thief but she is. She's a really good thief and she's not too little. All of these things considered, she only has one option available.
She has to leave her pack and she absolutely has to leave tonight. There is nothing anyone can do at this point to change her mind.
Tonight Inuyasha is human and it is the only night where he will be unable to track her; which gives her a solid six to seven-hour head start before his senses return. That should be more than enough time to cover her scent and put some distance between her and the others. Mama taught her how to be very sneaky. They had to be in order to hide from the demon hunters Papa's family would pay to follow them. She knows how to lay down traps to confuse someone that might be trying to track her and she knows how to hide her scent. That leaves her with three days to maintain that distance and ensure she's good and lost before she herself turns human and is at a disadvantage.
For the past three days, she has been carefully packing for her travels. She stole a small pouch of smoking powder from Sango; she's seen her use it before and it is perfect to sneak with. From Kagome, she took some bandages from her scary medicine box and a few of those yummy bars to hold over her hunger for at least a day and a wooden flask to carry some water. She's distinctly aware of fact that she is eventually going to have to hunt for her food again and she will likely be eating mostly raw meat for a while. The 'granny bars' from Kagome are a luxury that she will have to enjoy while it lasts. Finally, she had managed to nick Miroku's coin purse off of him this morning before he and Sango left with Kirara to follow up on a nearby sacred jewel rumor. She's buried her spoils at the base of the massive tree in the forest: the Goshinboko.
Now, all she needs is one of Lady Kaede's travel bags but the woman is busy using them to harvest freaking vegetables. Just her luck really.
The old woman has noticed the girl's glowering from the entrance to the hut. "Did ye need something, child?"
The girl shakes her head, her lower lip jutting out in frustration. The elderly woman notices that the girl's posture—squatting on her haunches and her arms supporting her torso very much like a puppy—is identical to Inuyasha's. They might not share the same blood but the older half-demon clearly has made an impact on the girl. Both Inuyasha and Kagome have come to her for advice regarding the child's lack of sleep. Shy of offering them an herbal remedy, she's afraid she hasn't had much to offer them.
"Inuyasha should be back with Kagome soon, I believe our friend Shippo is at the well waiting for them to return," she says offhandedly. "Do ye care to tell me what ye are troubled over?"
The girl narrows her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest remarkably resembling her adoptive father. "I ain't troubled over nothin'."
The old woman can't help but smile. "I see Inuyasha has left a mark on ye."
"N-no one's left anything on me," the girl says haughtily.
"Ye are right, child," Kaede answers. "Ye are certainly your own person. That being said, you've certainly adapted to living with Inuyasha and Kagome very well."
"Hmph," she huffs, "Inuyasha's bossy."
She can't think of anything bad to say about Kagome. And even when she says mean things about Inuyasha she doesn't really mean them… She's actually a little sad when she thinks about going away, even if it is only for a little while. It's okay though because he'll be really proud of her when she comes back with the shards that this Naraku fellow has.
Kaede laughs at that remark. "He is not very good at showing how he feels, is he? He and Kagome are very different in that regard. He is bossy because he cares; he feels responsible for ye, much like how he cares for Shippo. The two of you had very similar upbringings and he is merely trying to make your path easier than his has been."
The older half-demon has been asking Kaede a lot of questions regarding formal adoption ceremonies. It's no secret that since they found Kiyomi his demonic instincts have heightened considerably. The part of Inuyasha that he cannot control sees Kiyomi as his child. He's taken her under his wing and given her a place in his pack. Now Kiyomi is irrefutably under his protection and care. He, however, thinks it might benefit the girl to partake in a ceremony to truly solidify her sense of belonging. He obviously hasn't shared his thoughts with the girl. Not that Kaede had expected him to divulge such a serious decision so quickly. Knowing him, he likely wants to wait until the girl is closer to her normal self.
"Whatever," the girl mumbles, ignoring the guilty feeling in her belly. "Do you have an extra bag?"
"And why would ye need a bag?"
"I wanna help you pick veggies, whaddya think I want it for?"
"For someone so eager to help, ye certainly don't seem very approachable."
Kiyomi's ears droop in response. Old Lady Kaede is right and she definitely doesn't want to be remembered as a 'cranky little humbug' as Kagome likes to say. "I'm sorry, I'm just in a bad mood…"
Kaede just smiles and hands the girl a full bag of vegetables. "Here, do ye mind distributing these throughout the village? The house by the rice fields needs these. Ye can come back to collect the next batch when ye are finished with this one."
Kiyomi grins even if it is only a halfhearted one and accepts the heavy sack, slinging it over her shoulder so that the long handle crosses from her left shoulder to her right knee. The bag is big, too big for her really, but if she ties a knot in the handle she could make the handle shorter. It will do nicely for what she needs.
She spends the rest of the afternoon and a solid chunk of the evening delivering crops across town. Sometime before supper, Inuyasha returns with Kagome but she's too busy bopping around town to really pay them any mind. No, that's not it, she's too nervous to be around Inuyasha right now. Miss Kagome won't be able to tell she's anxious because she can't smell it… He can. And if he smells that then her plan is never going to work!
Inuyasha, hyper-aware of the girl's behaviors, has noticed something's up. The kid rolled out of the wrong side of the fucking bed this morning or something because she was in a downright foul mood when he last saw her. To top things off, she never helps Kaede like this unless there is something in it for her. He's thought about asking the old woman what she had used to bribe the pup but ended up deciding against it because Kagome would probably yell at him. He can't ask the kid directly, she's been avoiding him like the damn plague. He sits by the entrance to the hut, watching her run around town delivering vegetables. She stops over at the neighboring house, leaving a parcel of herbs and a few other things for them, and when she's finished she stalks past Inuyasha without saying a peep. He would think that she hadn't noticed him but her little ears, orange with the reflection of the setting sun, droop just a little bit.
"Oi!" he calls out, striding over to her and dropping a hand on her head. "What're you up to?"
She rolls her eyes, "Nothin'."
"Nah," he argues, "you don't help Kaede for no reason. She offering you money?"
The little girl shrugs her shoulders, refusing to maintain eye contact. "Maybe."
"Well, Kagome's got dinner ready so move it along!"
He uses his hand on her head to steer her indoors where Kagome and Shippo are waiting patiently for them. He's human tonight and he'll feel more comfortable if he's got his pack in his sights for the evening. The last thing he wants to deal with is anything happening and being unable to help. He's on edge enough just being human, forget if something actually happens. Ah hell, it's gonna be a long night.
~.~.~
"Well, I think it's great that you're helping Kaede," Kagome praises, cleaning up the bowls of rice and stew from Shippo and Inuyasha.
She left the girl's bowl still in front of her, most of it is uneaten. Kiyomi has been leaving an awful lot of food behind during meals which the miko has assured a concerned Inuyasha is normal for her emotional state. Kiyomi's still a little hungry but she's trying to remind herself that she needs to get used to eating little bits at a time again. She won't be able to eat nearly as much as she has grown accustomed to and she will have to adjust very quickly to having much less. She has recently noticed that she's filled out quite a bit in Inuyasha's care. If her wellbeing could be measured in weight gain he and Kagome would be taking the prize.
"I think it's suspicious," Inuyasha says plainly. "She's been bribed. What did the old lady promise ya?"
Kiyomi doesn't answer, she's focusing on keeping herself calm until Inuyasha's transformation. A second of anxiety beforehand and he will definitely know she's up to something and keep her on some kind of lockdown. But wouldn't that be nice? It would be a good excuse for her to delay and she will have to wait until next month to act and then the next and then the next. No, she can't. Every second she spends with Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo is another second that she could maybe hurt them as she does in her nightmare. Inuyasha won't talk to her about it, but she's sure she scratched him up pretty badly and she may have gone after Lady Sango.
She's too dangerous to keep around… She's really scared she's going to end up hurting someone.
There's no way they will listen to her plan to steal the jewel. But that's the only way to stop the bad dreams and the only way to keep her friends safe. At least, that's the only way she can think of. She doesn't like the dreams at all but if she wishes her demon away then she doesn't have to worry about that, right? She won't have to worry about the dream coming true if her demon's gone and then the dream at least won't be so scary. That's why she has to stay as calm as she can until the sun goes down. It's very important to her.
"Inuyasha," Kagome scolds, "don't criticize her for doing a good thing. I'm glad you are coming out of your shell a little, Kiyomi."
"Keh," he grumbles, watching the pup out of the corner of his eye.
She's definitely up to something fishy, he just can't figure out what it is. Her ears keep dipping low and she's avoiding looking at him intentionally. All of his experiences with the kid indicate that, at a minimum, something's on her mind. He watches her gather Kaede's bag in her arms and pad her way to sit beside Shippo while he plays with his fox top. She's squats beside him pretending to be interested while the kitsune happily yammers on about his adventures through the town today. Finally and unfortunately, Inuyasha's eyesight dims and his hair turns black. He can't hear for shit and can't smell nothin' except for the stew that they just ate. If Kiyomi has noticed, she doesn't say anything to him.
Instead, she waits a few minutes before politely asking Kagome, "Miss Kagome, may I please go and bring Old Lady Kaede back her bag?"
She knows better than to ask Inuyasha, he will shut the idea down without a thought. Her best bet is to ask Kagome. And Miss Kagome loves when she says please and thank you for things so she'll likely say yes.
"Hell no," Inuyasha rumbles, crossing his arms over his chest from his seat. "I dunno what that old biddy's got on you but it can wait until morning."
He'll be damned if he lets his pup roam around at night when he's incapacitated like this. Absolutely not. Not in a million years, kid. Nice try.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasps. "Don't call her an old biddy!"
"I'm not sayin' nothin' that isn't true!"
Kagome ignores him and directs her attention to Kiyomi. "I don't see any reason why you can't go to Kaede's. Shippo can go along with you." It will be so nice to get rid of the children for a little while so she can focus on her studies for once.
"Oh..." Her ears droop and she murmurs, "Well, it's just that… I was hoping I could talk to her about somethin'…"
Inuyasha feels rather hurt. Has his pup been confiding in the old priestess over him? Has he done something wrong? What could she be sharing with the old baba that he can't help her with? He told her that she can talk to him! What the hell else has he gotta do here?!
Ah shit! What if Kaede told Kiyomi about what he's been thinking about? That nasty old witch! How could she?!
"Oh," Kagome looks surprised but assumes good intent as usual. "Well, it's close by, as long as you are quick and make it back before bedtime then it should be fine."
The little girl nods and locks eyes with Kagome. She doesn't want to go… She really, really doesn't but she doesn't have a choice anymore. She is too scared that she'll do something bad again and no one else can get hurt if it's not there. Once she finds the jewel she'll be able to lock that demon away for good.
"I'm sorry," she says quietly to Shippo. "I don't want you to think that I don't want to play with you."
"Hmm?" The boy is barely paying attention to her, he was too busy with his toys. "Oh! That's okay! I didn't really feel like going anyway. You wanna play when you get back?"
She forces a smile and nods her head. "Mhmm!"
The kit nods and then busies himself again. Kiyomi turns to look at Inuyasha, she knows he's gotta be suspicious. She knows he's gonna be sad, or mad, or both. She's a little more worried about the mad. He always gets mad when she wanders off and this time she's really wandering off. That reminds her exactly why she has to do this tonight, it is her best and possibly only chance she's got. All of the other scenarios she's thought of end in Inuyasha calling her stupid and beating her over the head like he does when he's mad at Shippo. Still, she is really going to miss him… He had been the one who found her, understood her, and befriended her first. Maybe it's because they were both inu-hanyous? Maybe it's because he knows what it's like to be an orphan? She doesn't really know why she was so lucky to be accepted into his pack as she has been. She wishes she could ask or tell him how grateful she is. She'll tell him after she gets the jewel.
"He really is my best friend…"
Instead, she looks up at him and smiles. "I'll be right back."
"Feh," he grumbles, annoyed that after all of his hard work she still apparently trusts Kaede more than she trusts him. Then maybe Kaede should be the one adopting the brat. "Move it along."
She nods her head and with one final glance around the room she steps out into the night. She starts in the direction of Kaede's house due to strong suspicion that someone is going to be watching her. She's right, Inuyasha's head is poking out of the hut when she turns around to confirm her suspicions.
As she rounds the corner to Kaede's hut and is sure she is out of eyeshot, she breaks out into a run through Kaede's garden. She reaches the forest without issue. Of course, it's easy, the one person who could conceivably catch her is a human, and the only other potential problem, Kirara, is leagues away with Sango and Miroku. She smashes her way through the trees none too quietly simply because she doesn't have to be quiet anymore. She does need to be quick, though.
She doesn't have a second to spare; every moment wasted is another second closer to Inuyasha returning to normal and, without a doubt by that time, aware that she's gone. Briefly, she worries if he already has figured it out and using Shippo's fox magic to track her down. When she reaches the Goshinboku she's relieved to see that her small cache of stolen items is still securely hidden under a large root. She reminds herself that this is the easy part; the next part of her plan, stealing the jewel, is going to be much more challenging. She really doesn't even know where to start with that one. But she knows she can't start that until she finishes this. Oh, but she already feels really guilty. She knows that what she's doing is definitely naughty. It's the naughtiest thing she's done in a while besides, you know, attacking Inuyasha and Sango like that.
She loads up, takes a deep breath, and finally darts for the nearest water source.
~.~.~
Inuyasha won't stop looking at the door nor will his foot stop that relentless tapping. Now, Kagome is normally a very calm and understanding individual but the sound is really grating on her last nerve. She understands his concern though. Kiyomi hasn't been back in well over an hour now. Inuyasha, not wanting to look overbearing and possibly still salty about her discussing something with Kaede instead of him, has refused to go and fetch her. She sighs over her textbook at Shippo who is sitting patiently on Inuyasha's knee for his 'sister' to return and play.
She wonders briefly when Inuyasha is ever going to share his plans to have an adoption ceremony for the kids. She's not entirely sure why he's putting it off, it's a wonderful idea. At least she thinks so.
"How about you just go and get her?" she suggests halfheartedly, she really just wants the tapping to stop so that she can finish this last chapter and go to sleep. "If you're that worried."
"I ain't worried," he huffs, looking at the door again. "She's probably sulkin' on the roof."
Shippo is knocked off of his perch as Inuyasha stands to check outside. The night is cool, a nice temperature really. You can get away with just a jacket outside and not feel the chill. He's not really able to relish in that luxury though. He knew in the hut that the runt wouldn't be near the hut, his hearing's bad right now but not bad enough for him not to notice a thump on the roof. The kid hasn't exactly been stealthy lately.
What could she possibly be talking to that old bag about for so long? And why is she turning to the old coot in the first place? Is she mad at him? Almost everything and anyone seems to just piss the girl off. Kagome says that it's all a part of the "gravy process" but he's still not really sure what the hell gravy has got to do with anything here. He's starting to worry that maybe Kaede spilled the rice and told the pup about their conversation in the garden a couple of days ago. Not that he's worried about Kiyomi knowing… He's more concerned about what she'd think hearing such a thing. Would she even want something like that? It's hard to tell these days...
Ugh, did she have to pick tonight of all nights to stay out late? He can't just reassure himself by sniffing her out. His brooding takes him, almost unwillingly but really it is what he has to do, to Kaede's hut. A hut that looks surprisingly dark but he blames that on his piss poor human eyesight.
"Yo, pup!" he shouts, banging the wall by the door. "What's takin' ya so long. It's time for bed."
There is the familiar shuffling of feet and a light glow throughout the hut. Finally. The reed flap is moved to the side and there stands the old crone in her night attire. Her hut is dark aside from the light of the fire in her hand and she looks like she could clobber him over the head for waking her up.
"Inuyasha!" she admonishes. "Ye mind telling me why ye are trying to break down my door at this time of night?"
He's taken aback and a little embarrassed. "Uh, yeah, I just came by to grab Kiyomi. Kagome's wonderin' when she was planning on coming back…"
"I beg your pardon?"
"She's been here for over an hour now. Awful long time to drop off a stupid bag." He rolls his eyes. "Kiyomi, let's go! Shippo's been bugging me all night wanting to play with ya."
"Kiyomi isn't here," the elderly woman insists, looking completely flummoxed as she shows him the inside of her dark hut.
His face falls. "When'd she leave? I saw her walk over here…"
She shakes her head, looking up at him. "I haven't seen the girl since this afternoon when she assisted me in the gardens today."
"Then where—"
He cuts himself off, the pieces coming together, and all of a sudden he feels like an idiot for not seeing it before this. God, he should have fucking known! Kiyomi's such a fucking sneak! He knew she hadn't been interested in helping Kaede this afternoon at all! She had wanted that bag for herself. She has been planning something sneaky! And now he is starting to realize that she hadn't wanted to bring it back, she just needed an excuse out of the hut! He had caught her smuggling Kagome's grain bars just yesterday but he hadn't thought much of it when she told him that it was a snack for her and Shippo. Now it all makes sense! She's been stockpiling for something! He looks down at Kaede and then looks around at the other houses.
Oh, that pup is dead meat when he gets his claws on her!
"I gotta go!" he says gruffly as he takes off for the hut.
He's gonna need Shippo to help. God, that kid is so freaking stupid sometimes. What could she possibly be running off for? As he makes his way across the village he notices Miroku and Sango walking into the hut the group normally share when they visit the village. They weren't supposed to be back yet at all. Well, at least this allows him to borrow Kirara. She'll be faster than Shippo.
"I know it has to be somewhere," Miroku complains, rummaging through his few possessions as Inuyasha enters the hut.
Inuyasha's already put the pieces together; whatever Miroku's misplaced has most likely been pilfered by the runt. "Missing something, monk?"
"Well, it's just that... I can't seem to find my coin purse. You wouldn't happen to have seen it around?"
"Ya ain't gonna find it."
Kagome looks behind Inuyasha's broad frame looking for the little girl. "Inuyasha, didn't you go and get Kiyomi?"
He glares at her, this is partially her fault for letting her out of the hut in the first place. She gave the kid the perfect opportunity to get herself into trouble. Well, that's not true... Kagome couldn't have known what the pup was planning. She doesn't know how stupid the kid is sometimes.
He ignores her and her question. "Kagome, check your bag. Tell me what's missing."
"Missing?" She blinks confusedly. "Why do you think something's missing from my bag? I think I was a little low on bandages and snack bars… But I've already replaced them at home… Why?"
"Mhmm. Sango, what are you missing?"
The slayer blinks. "Well, I did lose a small bag of powder but I think I just dropped it. Why do you ask?"
"Heh," he chuckles darkly, "you three didn't lose anything. Pup's stolen it from ya. Took the old lady's travel bag too."
There was only one person he refers to as pup so it doesn't take anyone very long to figure out that he is talking about Kiyomi. They all look at each other slightly confused. Why would Kiyomi steal anything from them? Shippo immediately runs over to check and see if any of this stuff was nicked. He is relieved when he finds that all of his items are accounted for.
"Did she take anything from you, Inuyasha?" the boy asks.
"No," he answers moodily, "Pup's not that stupid. She's gonna get it for this though. Sango, I need to borrow Kirara for a bit."
"Um, sure," The slayer is a little baffled. "But may I ask why?"
"Yeah," Kagome adds, "what's this all about?"
He glares at the four of them, annoyed that no one has pieced together what is blatantly obvious. "Kiyomi thought tonight was a good time to wander off and I need Kirara to help me find her. Let's go, Kirara."
~.~.~
"Ugh! This water is freezing," she complains to herself as she paddles her way down the river. "This sucks!"
There is precious little she hates more than swimming in cold water; put her in a hot spring and she could swim for a week but cold water is just not her thing. She would definitely rather be running through the forest. She can't though because she doesn't want to leave a trail that anyone, demon or otherwise, might be able to sniff out later. So she's reduced to paddling her way down-river and hoping that she's given herself enough of a head start to really pull this off. She can hear Miss Kagome and Sango calling out for her from the village. It's faint, almost undetectable, so she knows she's got a good amount of distance covered. If she were human she never would have heard them at all.
But Sango's return is a pretty big problem. If she knows Inuyasha, and she does, he's probably with Kirara now. If they know she's missing she knows that someone is going to be looking for her; which is exactly why she left dummy markers on a couple of trees south of where she was planning on going. The goal was to make sure that if she's going to be tracked by her scent that whoever is looking for her will gravitate to where it's strongest. That was a trick Mama taught her when they'd lived alone in the forest. Okay, it had been really embarrassing to pee on a tree but she's sure glad she did it now. She can't hear or smell Kirara anywhere nearby so she's pretty sure it worked.
She still feels really bad. Even from a distance, the faint calls that she can hear tell her that Miss Kagome and Sango are awfully worried. She can only imagine what poor Shippo is feeling. And what about Inuyasha? She had told him that she would be right back…
"Oh no," she worries, "he's gonna be so mad at me for this!"
It's not just a fear of Inuyasha's inevitable wrath that keeps her splashing through the shallow end of the river. She's made up her mind and she's sticking to it, good or bad. She's not going back until those horrible dreams have stopped. All she has to do to stop them is steal one stinking jewel, she can handle that! So what if she's alone again? She can't let herself hurt the others and if she's by herself she won't. Besides, she knows she can take care of herself, she will be able to survive on her own. She's almost seven, damnit, not some baby five-year-old. If she could make it on her own then, she can make it now.
~.~.~
Inuyasha stares at the tree in front of him. He doesn't get it, Kirara is pawing at this tree like the kid is hiding inside. He's got half a mind to check and see if it's hollow, that's how sure the two-tailed cat is. She's in her huge form, clawing at the bark and sniffing around the trunk as if she also expects to find Kiyomi hiding behind one of the branches.
Why the hell did she decide to run loose on his human night? Of all the ridiculous, harebrained things she could have done she picks the one night that he can't keep her idiocy and impulsiveness in check. She couldn't have planned a worse night for this shit to go down. Even more unsettling, what if she'd literally planned this? Are kids even smart enough to think up something like this? What if it isn't just a really irritating coincidence that she's taken off on the night he can't pick up her trail?
If he isn't having any luck with Kirara, and it doesn't look like his luck is about to change, he's got no choice but to turn and head back to the village. Wherever she's gone is a mystery that's going to have to be solved when the sun comes back up and heaven only knows where the hell she'll be by then. He doesn't have any other option though. Again, what the hell was she thinking?! What could that infuriating child possibly be up to now?
"Be back soon my ass! You're gonna get it for this one, punk. You're gonna get it BIG time."
He climbs on top of Kirara and asks her to take him home. He's mad, but not just any old mad. He's the kind of mad that's the result of a pit of dread filling up inside of him. He's talked to her, Kiyomi knows how important she is to him. Sure, he cares about Shippo but Shippo is more like a kid brother who he looks out for. Kiyomi is more, a lot more. He knows why; Chikako and Hisashi had explained to him that this was none other than his inu-youkai instinct kicking in. She's an abandoned inu-pup and when he stumbled upon her in the forest his demonic instincts decided for him.
She is his pup. His. How many damn times does he have to tell her that for her to listen?
She had to have misinterpreted something he or the others have said to her. But what? He knows this has got to have something to do with her mom and dad coming back almost a month ago. So, yeah, she's been quiet and much less mischievous than usual but he expected that. She's been so damn miserable that he's even considered leaving her behind. There's a look behind her eyes now, something that makes him think that a lot is happening inside her head that she's fighting alone. It makes no sense and it's annoying as hell.
If she thinks for even a second that he's going to put up with it anymore, then she's got another thing coming.
Sango and Miroku are still outside of the hut calling her name intermittently when he and Kirara return. They look disappointed when they see that he's empty-handed. They thought for sure that with Kirara's sense of smell that they would have been able to find her before she'd gotten too far. Inuyasha's brow is furrowed frustratedly as he beckons for them to join him in the hut. He's greeted by Kagome holding a sleeping Shippo in her arms. She looks up at them as they enter.
"He wouldn't stop crying," she says softly, running her fingers through his hair. He can see the remnants of tears in the corners of her eyes as well her tone is laced with worry. "He's really worried… You didn't find her?"
Inuyasha shakes his head and sits down by the fire, arms crossed over his chest to let everyone around him know how mad he is right now. He doesn't understand why Kagome and Shippo are getting themselves so worked up over this. He hates when Kagome cries. He'll hunt the kid down in the morning for sure so it's not like she can get into too much trouble in one night.
"I don't understand," Sango says. "Why would she leave us? Have we done something recently to upset her?"
"Besides watchin' her mom and dad slaughter each other, no," Inuyasha replies darkly. "Pup barely speaks to us anymore."
Kagome shakes her head. "She's grieving, of course, she doesn't want to talk to us."
"There you go with the gravy thing again."
"Not gravy! Grieving! It's what happens to people who lose loved ones... I expected her to be depressed after all that."
Miroku nods his head sagely, "Indeed, the only things she has discussed with me is the nature of my cursed hand and who is behind it."
"Same here," Sango agrees. "She's asked me a lot of questions about Kohaku and Naraku…"
"Naraku? What would she want to talk about him for?" Inuyasha snarls irritably.
This night is never gonna end! It always feels like this when anything happens on his human night. Now he's just a walking pile of weak, useless human flesh and anxiety.
Kagome answers, "Well, isn't it obvious? He's the one responsible for both reuniting and separating her family again. Of course, she's going to have questions."
"Well, what are ya answerin' those kinds of questions for? She's just a kid, Kagome!"
"I know that," Kagome responds gently, ignoring his harsh tone, "but she's also been through something very upsetting for her. It helps to talk about it. I still don't see what all of this has to do with her going missing though. You haven't fought with her recently, have you?"
Maybe he's told her that he wants to formally adopt her and it's scared her off…
Inuyasha looks offended. "Kiyomi and I don't fight."
"No, you're right, but sometimes the two of you don't see eye to eye." Inuyasha is about to cut her off but she continues with a glare. "I know it's because you are trying to protect her and she doesn't understand that yet but we can't leave anything off of the table at this point."
"The only facts that we do have at the moment are that she's obviously been preparing for a journey and that she's spoken to all of us at length about the man responsible for bringing her mother and father back," Miroku begins.
"Get to the point, monk."
"Inuyasha! Don't be rude! We're all worried and we are just trying to—"
"I have a theory," the monk continues, pressing his fingers together as if in some sort of prayer. "I think she may be interested in trying to find Naraku herself."
The entire room goes quiet and Inuyasha visibly pales. "She's not that stupid."
"I don't think she intends to kill him, even she will know that it's beyond her limits. I cannot speak to what her actual intentions are but there is definitely a pattern pointing to Naraku."
Inuyasha literally growls, standing up and marching out of the hut. He really didn't like hearing that. She's not that stupid, right? There's no way… No, she is that stupid and there is definitely a chance that Miroku is right.
Damn it all to hell, the sun needs to come up and now.
