Kagome sighed as the boy flew off, stretching her arms above her head tiredly. "Alright, now I guess I'll go get the rest of my shopping done," she told the remaining three as she began to walk off. "Don't worry, I'll run by the tailor to pick up Goku's clothes on my way back here."

"Wait!" Krillin shouted, hurrying to follow her. "Where are you going?"

She hesitated a second before turning to look over her shoulder at him. "Well, a few new changes in underwear wouldn't hurt anything," she stated, laughing to herself when he went bright red. "I'll meet you all back here later, okay?"

"O-okay..." the bald boy nodded, still blushing.

"Sure," Yamcha squawked, his own cheeks stained pink.

"Travel safe!" Pu'ar called, waving her goodbye.

She chuckled and waved back. The cat was starting to grow on her just a bit.

It was true that she would probably end up stopping by a women's clothing store as well, but she didn't actually want the others following her this time around. It would be kind of hard to explain why she was picking up parchment, ink, and a brush - not to mention looking around for some bone beads... which she was pretty sure that she wouldn't be finding anywhere, but she could still look. It was about time she expanded on her previous training.

Also, maybe she could find some new shampoo as well. Her bottle was running rather close to empty, and she was still trying to get Goku to use actual soap now and then.

Maybe she should get a capsule for toiletries. One never knew how long they would be on the road, after all... Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. Certain things could be lived without easily enough, but others were just necessary - and those handy little pills were some seriously convenient inventions.

She smiled to herself and went about doing just that, picking up a few storage capsules and things like blankets and matches. Just some items that would make things a bit easier on the two of them.

"Thanks!" she called to the last shopkeeper, smiling pleasantly as she headed for the tailor's and picked up Goku's new outfit, as well as a few extra changes of underwear in his size and a number that got incrementally bigger so that he would have something to change into as he grew. It was probably too early to introduce him to something like a swimsuit, but some new sweatbands and more sturdy shoes a size or two bigger for later on might go over well... Oh, and socks. He would definitely need some extra socks in there.

"It's nice seeing a girl so attentive of her little brother these days," the tailor smiled at her as he rang her up. "Your parents must be very proud."

The priestess smiled awkwardly. "Ah, we're not actually related..."

He blinked twice, surprised. "Oh?"

She shook her head and payed him, having sold off one of the emeralds they'd picked up in the pirate lair to a jeweler earlier to have some liquidated funds on hand. "Neither one of us has any family here. He managed to find me and help me out of a bad situation, and we've been sticking together ever since."

The man nodded slowly, accepting the money and extracting her change from the cash-register. "Well, in that case it's even more admirable," he praised gently, studying the bills in his hand for a moment before hiding them behind his back and giving her a grin. "Actually, miss, I'm not quite sure if I have enough money in here to even out your balance. Would you care to look around at a few things for yourself as well? I'll give you a discount."

Kagome's eyes widened, but the sincerity in his aura had her expression warming with gratitude. "Well, maybe a pair of street clothes wouldn't be so bad to have on hand..."

He nodded, the soft clang of coins rattling and the register closing only coming after she had turned her back to look through some of the clothes in the women's section. She chuckled softly to herself, picking out a simple green tee-shirt and black bicycle shorts as well as a few extra pairs of socks for herself. Her backpack could hold anything before, but now that she was packing capsules? Yeah. She definitely wasn't wanting in storage space.

"Thank you," she beamed gratefully at the man as he wrapped up her purchases and handed them to her over the counter. "Really, I mean it."

He waved her off. "Oh, don't worry about it. Take care of yourself, miss."

"We'll definitely came back sometime!" she called over her shoulder as she walked back out, a pleased smile on her lips.

She wondered what he would do when he found that thumbnail-sized diamond she had slipped into the pocket of his apron; she almost wished that she could actually be there to see his face.

With a slight skip in her step, she headed for the ice cream stand. She had a promise to keep up her end of, after all.

xxxx

"You know, lately it's been a lot easier to tell the difference between a boy and a girl!" he announced with a laugh, amused that he had been able to tell the difference in Upa - even better than Krillin!

"Speaking of girls," the smaller boy spoke up, "where's Kagome? You're still traveling together, aren't you?"

"Yep!" Goku assured with a nod. "She must have run off somewhere..."

The bald boy blushed for some reason. "A-ah, yeah, she mentioned... stuff."

"She went to get some more shopping done before we have to leave," Pu'ar explained, not addressing the red staining both of the older boys' faces.

He pouted, only to find a packaged ice cream being dangled in his face.

"What's got you looking so sour?" an amused, familiar voice questioned.

The boy grinned brightly and turned around. "Kagome!" he greeted, accepting the treat from her with a laugh. "Where'd you go?"

"Shopping," she replied simply, turning down to Upa with a grin. "Long time, no see."

The smaller boy grinned up at her with teary eyes, rushing to latch his arms around her neck with an excited "Kagome!"

She chuckled and hugged him back, handing him another of the ice creams that she had been carrying once he was back on his feet. "Here, I thought this might be a nice introduction to the finer points of civilization. There's enough for everyone."

"Oooh!" Pu'ar cheered, rushing forward to take hers. "Thank you!"

"Thank you, Kagome!" Krillin joined in brightly, also accepting one of the packs.

"Ah, I'm actually good," Yamcha declined. "We had a ton to eat while we were waiting."

The priestess just shrugged and handed three more ice creams to Goku while keeping one for herself. "Well, I knew to get you at least one or two extras. Guess you get three!"

He beamed and took them, his first one already finished. "Thank you!"

"Well, we did have a deal," she teased him. "Upa, do you need any help opening that? It's a little bit tricky."

"Ah, thank you," the smaller boy blushed, letting her assist him.

"So did you already run by the tailor?" Krillin asked, already munching away on his ice cream before it melted.

She smiled warmly. "I did. Goku, I'll go ahead and pull out your new clothes when we get to a place where you can change, okay?"

He tilted his head in confusion. "I can' chan'e he'e?" he questioned around his food.

The priestess shook her head wryly. "No, we'll find you a bathroom or something before we leave."

Goku didn't really get it, but nodded in agreement.

They were up in the air not too long after that, the tailed boy enjoying his new clothes as well as some of the extra snacks that Kagome had brought along. He was grateful; turning down getting food with everyone else to get his smallest friend had been a difficult decision, but she always seemed to have his back.

"We're up so high!" Upa gaped. "This flying machine's amazing!"

Suddenly, Yamcha frowned darkly. "Rough ride ahead!" he warned as they flew into a sandstorm. "Pu'ar, please tell me we're getting close!"

"It should be around here somewhere!" the cat assured.

"I can't see a thing!" the eldest boy groaned.

"Hey!" Upa spoke up. "Those look like Korin's Tower! Only they're black, and moving."

Goku sat up to see what his smallest friend was looking at. "Kagome? What are those?" he wondered.

She looked up and squeaked. "Oh, hell. Yamcha! Tornadoes, you idiot!"

"What?!" the teen shrieked, banking quickly to dodge them.

It took a bit of panicking and some tricky maneuvering, but they eventually made it through the storm and to a place that looked like what they had been searching for. They landed quickly, all of them gaping a bit.

"This place is very strange," Upa announced.

"And popular, by the looks of it!" Krillin agreed. "Check out the crowd!"

There was a long line of people waiting to go in, and they walked over to join them.

"Hi," Yamcha spoke up, looking a bit nervous.

One of the men turned around. "Yeah, what?!" he growled.

The eldest boy laughed anxiously. "Nice... weather..."

"Welcome!" a sudden, squeaky voice greeted them. "Please get in line!" a pinkish... what was that weird floating thing? continued, moving out from behind the group of men. "Quickly! Formation before information, as I always say."

Goku blinked up at it. "Hi! Is this fortune-caller Baba's house?" he asked.

The thing seemed a bit less than amused. "Teller," it corrected. "Fortuneteller. And it's a palace, not a house! Okay, are you six together?"

"Uh, yes," Yamcha admitted. "Yes, we are."

It laughed. "Good, good! Flawless. Just wait here until I call you," it instructed, returning to the front of the line. "Enjoy the view!"

"What was that?" Krillin murmured.

"If it was supposed to be a ghost," Kagome blurted out, "this world is even weirder than I already thought. And I wasn't sure if that was possible."

"Wait, world?" Yamcha, Krillin, and Pu'ar all yelped.

She shot them all a look. Hadn't they already been over this back at Master Pervert's place?

"Why are all these guys so big?" Upa mumbled, hiding behind one of Kagome's legs.

"Who knows?" she shrugged. "Maybe we'll have to fight someone."

"Oooh!" Goku perked up. "Do you think they'll be really strong?"

She shrugged again. "Like I said, it's only a 'maybe' at this point."

They were all quiet for a moment.

"If anything happens," the bald boy spoke up, "just remember that I'll be behind you. Like way behind you. Like I'll be in the airplane waiting to take off."

A couple walked out, well-dressed and talking about some kind of necklace.

"... They were normal-looking, anyway," Krillin sighed, sounding relieved. "I'm sure we'll be fine!"

Yamcha frowned suspiciously.

"Alright, next group follow me!" the floating pink thing announced, drawing their attention back forward. "Remember, everyone stay together!"

The men all walked in, saying something about 'victory'.

"Those guys looked like they were headed into battle," Krillin pointed out hesitantly.

"Yeah," Yamcha agreed nervously.

"Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this?" Pu'ar squeaked.

There was a brief minute of silence, and then a bunch of screams erupted from inside.

"Hm," Kagome chuckled over all of their gasping and worrying. "Maybe there'll be a fight after all."

The others shuddered, but Goku blinked up at her. "You really think so?"

"Unless those guys went out of their way to put on a ton of makeup and props," she said, gesturing to the group stumbling out of the tunnel. They were covered in bruises and bandages, looking like they'd gotten into a serious scrap with something a good bit stronger than them.

"Heal quickly!" the pink thing chirped pleasantly, waving at them. "Come back soon!"

The men turned around with a gasp, looking horrified, and turned back around to run away into the desert as one.

The six gaped at their retreat.

The pink thing laughed brightly. "Ah, thank you for your patience," it told them. "Follow me, please!"

"Wait!" Yamcha yelped. "What happened to them? Why were they all banged up?"

It just laughed again and moved further into the tunnel. "Let's go!" it requested, laughing even more as it floated into the shadows and back out on the other side.

"Might as well," Kagome sighed, leading them off as they followed behind it.

"Hurry now, don't dawdle!" the pink thing chided them.

"This is too dangerous," Upa murmured nervously, still clutching the priestess's pants-leg tightly as they walked.

"I-I-I'm not s-scared," Krillin stated, shivering.

"K-Kagome!" the smallest boy whimpered.

"Behold," the pink thing announced, leading them into the center building. "Fortuneteller Baba!"

A crystal ball suddenly appeared in the center of the room, floating down to the center - and someone was suddenly sitting on top of it. Goku couldn't help but think that it seemed familiar somehow.

"Oh, my," the aged voice graveled. "You've brought me young ones this time!"

"So you're Fortune-seller Baba," the tailed boy spoke.

The person nearly fell off of their crystal ball. "Fortuneteller Baba!" they - she? He? He'd have to ask Kagome - corrected sharply.

"That's a funny name!" Goku accused.

"It's foreboding and mysterious!" the person barked.

The priestess gave a stifled snicker.

Goku just laughed a bit himself. "Okay!" he chuckled. "Can you help us find something that we're looking for?"

"Certainly!" the person agreed. "What is lost, I can find."

The boy grinned excitedly.

"Yes! This is perfect!" Krillin cheered, relieved. "You know for being such a scary lady, she sure is kind of nice!"

Lady? So that meant that she was a she! That was good to know.

"Of course," she continued, "there is a small fee for my trouble..."

"Oh, how much do you charge to tell fortunes?" Yamcha asked, wincing.

"Before taxes and with our coupon," she smiled, "it will run you roughly around ten billion zeni."

"WHAT?!" Yamcha, Krillin, and Pu'ar all shrieked. "Ten billion zeni?!"

Goku glanced up at them, surprised. Even Kagome's eyes had gone wide! "What's the matter? Is that a lot?"

"I beg your pardon, ma'am," Yamcha yelped, "but we don't have that much money!"

"Well," the priestess murmured so low that even Goku almost didn't catch it, "not in cash, at least."

"Don't you fret, young man!" the fortune-seller - uh, teller? assured with a grin. "We have an alternate method of payment." She turned her crystal ball around, looking back at them over her shoulder as she began floating away. "Come along, follow Baba."

"Hey, wait!" Yamcha called. "Where are we going?"

Still, they trailed after her.

"I don't like this," Krillin whispered nervously.

"Just be prepared to run at my signal," the eldest boy instructed at the same volume.

Finally, they came to a stop beside what looked like an arena.

"Here's how it works," Baba described. "Your group will do battle with my fighters, one-on-one. If your team-member wins, they will move on to the next match; if they lose, another in your team will resume the battle. This will continue until one side wins. If you defeat all six of my fighters, I will tell your fortune for free!"

They all brightened.

Goku shot Kagome a bright grin. "I guess you were right after all!"

"Is that it?" Yamcha laughed. "Piece of cake!"

"Fighting is what we do!" Krillin chimed in excitedly. "We're practically experts! You don't know who you're dealing with. Three of us have actually participated in the World Martial Arts Tournament - very successfully, I might add! So your crew should be no problem."

"Well," the old woman smirked. "Guess I'm in the presence of greatness! I should strive to make this challenge worthy of your skills..." She laughed.

Goku was just looking forward to having a fight.

xxxx

Kagome sighed, eyes sharp and cautious as the old mystic explained the rules to them. This just seemed... too simple. There had to be some kind of catch.

"Wait, let me get this straight," Yamcha grinned, obviously not following the same line of thought. "You want us to fight your six guys in a series of one-on-one matches, and if we win you'll tell us our fortune for free?"

"That's right," the old woman agreed. "You're correct. But I warn you; think this through carefully. You are children and these are no ordinary fighters."

"I'm no child," the eldest boy argued. "And my friends may be small, but they can handle themselves - we're prepared for your challenge. Right?"

"You do remember that I'm older than you, right?" the priestess huffed.

All but Goku and Upa gaped at her.

"What?" she cocked a brow at them. "Bulma already outed me as being twenty."

"A-anyway," Krillin cleared his throat awkwardly, "of course we're ready! I say bring it on. We can take 'em!"

"I'd like to help you," the smallest boy admitted. "But I left my spear back home..."

"I prefer to be a spectator on this one," Pu'ar murmured.

"Don't worry, you two," Kagome assured them, giving both an easy smile. "I'll cover your fights for you."

The kid immediately relaxed. "Oh, thank you!"

The cat seemed a little more... hesitant. "Are you sure?"

"Hey!" Yamcha interrupted. "No offense, but I don't think we're actually going to need anyone else to fight with me, Krillin, and Goku here to handle everything."

She stared him down blankly. "Is it because I'm a girl that you think I'm weak?"

Goku tilted his head to one side, not understanding. "But Kagome's really strong...?"

Upa nodded in agreement.

The eldest boy shifted awkwardly. "Just... Can we get started already?"

The tailed boy nodded again, this time a bit slower. "Okay," he said, turning back to Baba with a more relaxed grin. "Looks like it'll be the four of us!"

The old woman smirked, her expression almost sadistically amused. "So the four of you brave souls think you can take on my six warriors?" She laughed aloud. "Now this I've got to see!"

"I know the odds are uneven, but don't worry - we'll go easy on 'em!" Krillin boasted.

"And what are the rules of the fight?" Yamcha checked.

"It's very simple," the fortuneteller explained. "You'll continue until one person either gets thrown into the lake or gives up."

"You're right," the eldest boy agreed. "It is quite simple! I like it that way. Losers swim."

"I sure hope your fighters are ready to take a bath!" the bald boy chuckled.

Kagome gave a sigh. "Okay, I need to remember to have the 'don't underestimate your enemies' talk with these two..."

Baba just laughed. "Well, what fine spirits! Now which one of you is going to fight first?"

Krillin stepped up immediately. "Come on! Isn't it obvious?"

"Splendid," the old mystic snickered.

"Hey, Krillin!" Goku shouted. "Good luck!"

"Yeah, well, get comfortable!" the bald boy laughed. "You might be there a while! There's going to be six wet fighters when I leave the ring," he bragged, doing some quick stretches.

"Just put them down quick," Yamcha ordered.

"Don't worry," the boy snorted. "It's me! I remember everything from the last tournament, including the roar of the crowd!"

"Fangs, the vampire," Baba called over her shoulder. "Come forth!"

Kagome blinked, eyes widening a bit. Slowly, she brought a hand up over her mouth... and started chuckling. Looked like this might be a good chance to find out whether or not her abilities still had that holy tilt to them...

"Fangs the vampire?" Krillin repeated. "You gotta be kidding me!"

The old mystic just laughed, and a small bat flew out of the building behind them.

"A bat?" the bald boy gawked. "This is a joke, right?! I'm a fighter, not a zookeeper!"

The priestess scoffed. "Stop looking with your eyes!" she grumbled.

"What do you mean?" Goku asked, turning up to look at her.

She just pointed back towards the ring. "Watch."

The bat disappeared in a cloud of smoke, replaced by a cackling man wearing some kind of boxing equipment.

"Whoa," the tailed boy gaped. "How did he do that?"

"Transformation," Kagome explained, feeling almost a bit disappointed that the vampire's aura was so... weak. Then again, maybe that had something to do with being a creature of darkness out under the sunlight... "Remember what I told you about demons? This guy's like the retarded cousin of a bat demon. He's got two forms."

"Oooh," the boy gasped, understanding.

"D-de... mons?" Yamcha repeated, staring at her disbelievingly.

She shot him a smirk. "Oh, I'm sorry. You still don't know my old profession, do you?"

"Whoa," Krillin squeaked. "That guy needs a tan!"

"He's a vampire!" the priestess called loud enough for the bald boy to hear. "What did you expect?"

"... Wait," the boy yelped, turning to look at her. "You mean... an a-actual vampire?!"

"It's right in the name!" she huffed.

Krillin gave a visible swallow. "Uh, is it too late to just pay her?"

Goku laughed. "Don't be silly, Krillin! Where would be the fun in that?"

"Just ignore her!" Yamcha suggested, shooting her a glare. "She's messing with us!"

She raised an unimpressed brow at the teen. "Uh-huh... I guess we'll see about that."

"Now let the match begin!" Baba announced.

The bald boy shifted hurriedly into a fighting position.

"Ready!" the old woman grinned darkly. "Set! And... Go!"

Kagome sighed. This wasn't going to last too long. Regular humans, no matter how much they trained to defend themselves against other humans, just wouldn't be prepared for this kind of thing. Oh, well - at least she would be there to heal him when he got dragged off the platform. The boy quickly fell on his face, and then started taking hits. He was letting himself get frustrated too easily; 'Fangs' over there was using it to his advantage, and shifted into his other form to take to the air.

"I don't get it, Kagome," Goku spoke up, tugging on her hand without taking his eyes away from the fight. "Why did he turn into a bat again?"

"He's trying to throw Krillin off his game," she explained, wincing slightly and giving his fingers a squeeze. "Make him uncomfortable, get him to stop thinking everything through... and then he'll strike the moment his guard is down."

It was working, too. The boy couldn't hit the smaller opponent no matter how many times he swung, and it was obviously agitating him.

"Calm down, Krillin, and breathe!" Yamcha shouted. "Just concentrate on his movements and focus!"

The priestess growled a bit. "Yeah, because distracting him further is really helpful!"

The eldest boy snarled at her. "Hey, I'm just being useful! You should try it sometime!"

Her back went stiff, her eyes narrowing. That was just way too close to something that Inuyasha would've said.

"Look out!" Goku yelled, drawing her from her thoughts.

The vampire had dived him from behind, grabbed Krillin... and sunk his fangs right into the boy's shiny head. The others tried giving further pep talks, but Kagome winced and squeezed the tailed boy's fingers tighter.

Krillin finally got loose, but... It was a bit late now. He had probably lost too much blood to continue anymore.

Her theory was proven correct when the kid tried standing, only to start swaying.

He brought his hands up to his head, squawking when they came away with blood on them. "W-what is this!" he screamed.

"What's the matter?!" Yamcha shouted. "Are you alright?!"

The vampire laughed loudly. "Thanks, I skipped breakfast! Are you free for lunch? You can be the main course! Mmm, yummy!"

Krillin stumbled woozily.

"You've lost a lot of nutrients," Baba spoke up, the weird little pseudo-ghost next to her holding up a blood bag. "You need to be replenished. Give up, and you will be restored!"

"You're supposed to fight!" the boy barked. "Not eat me, Fang Face!"

Blood started squirting from the bite marks.

"Easy, Krillin!" the eldest boy yelled up to him. "She's right, your head looks like a big tomato! Now settle down!"

"T-think happy thoughts!" the bald boy yelped, bringing his hands in front of his face in an almost meditative clasp. "Happy thoughts, happy thoughts!" Slowly, the blood-flow slowed down to a stop. "There..."

Goku started laughing. "That's a neat trick, Krillin! From here, it almost looks like you have some hair!"

Yamcha choked on a laugh.

"Shut up!" the bald boy roared, his concentration breaking and the blood flowing once more.

"Oh, no!" the eldest boy gasped. "He's leaking!"

Krillin swayed. "I-I don't feel so good..."

"Forfeit!" Kagome called up to him. "Krillin, you just weren't prepared for this! There's no shame in admitting that!"

It was too late. The vampire shoved him into the water.

"Fill him up, ghost," Baba instructed over 'Fangs's laughter.

The boy was quickly fished out, and the needle of the blood bag attached to his arm. He was still too pale, but his color was slowly starting to return.

"He'll be good as new," the ghost assured them pleasantly.

"Krillin!" Goku worried. "Are you okay?"

"Hang in there!" Yamcha instructed, voice colored with concern.

Kagome frowned darkly, moving up onto the platform beside the boy. "Excuse me."

She filled her hands with a small dose of ki, giving him a little jolt of it so that he would recover faster. His breathing eased.

"Wow!" the ghost yelped, scurrying away from her. "That felt weird!"

"What happened?" Goku questioned as soon as his friend's wounds were bandaged up. "Didn't you wanna fight all six?"

Krillin growled at him. "That's what I was doing before you broke my concentration!"

The priestess picked him up by his collar and dropped him on his butt beside the tailed boy. "Enough. He's mine now; go rest."

"Hey!" Yamcha shouted. "You seriously think you can take this guy?! He beat Krillin!"

"Krillin has been defeated," Baba spoke. "You will be the next to challenge my fighter?"

"Yes," Kagome stated simply, straightening out and ignoring the eldest boy's shouts for her to let him handle it.

The old woman laughed. "Very well, then! I like that decisiveness!"

The priestess cracked her neck, stretching out her back a bit. "Thank you. Can we begin now?"

"Go, Kagome!" Goku cheered.

"Don't do anything stupid and get yourself killed!" Yamcha yelled at her.

She fought the urge to flip him off.

Baba smirked. "Hmph. Let the match begin!"

The priestess smiled at the vamp, almost amused by his charge. "Normally, I would give you a chance to back out," she informed him conversationally. "But you see, then you went and snacked on Krillin. I don't like it when my friends get hurt."

'Fangs' just laughed. "So you give me another free meal? Well, thanks for the treat!"

'What an imbecile,' her other side hissed darkly. 'We should teach the blind fool a lesson on self-preservation...'

Her smile became more dangerous at the very suggestion and she quickly sidestepped him. So many people had been underestimating her lately; she was getting sick of it. "Hey, you were at least a little human at some point right?"

The vampire scoffed and chased after her. "What does that have to do with anything! Hold still!"

"Well, it just might save your life!" she grinned brightly.

"Wait, what does that-"

She slammed a reiki-charged fist to his jaw, sending him flying through the air with a shrill scream. He quickly tried changing back into a bat to fly away, but she brought her hands up in front of her and threw a flat barrier up right smack-dab in the middle of his singed face.

He squeaked all the way into the water, making a nice-sized splash.

Goku laughed excitedly, cheering for her. "That was great!"

Upa and Pu'ar joined in, though Yamcha and Krillin were too busy gaping at her.

"... Hmm," Baba hummed, her eyes wide. "What are you, girl?"

She stuck her tongue out at the old woman. "Like I'm gonna tell you! Why don't you just bring out your next fighter already?"

The old woman's lips curled up. "Hm, vigor. I like that. But I wonder if you would be so anxious if you knew who you were about to fight... Krillin was overly confident as well, and look what happened to him!"

Kagome couldn't quite fight a smirk. "So long as your team's made up of guys like that, I don't think I'll be running into any problems."

"Kagome?" Goku requested, drawing her attention. "Let me fight with you?"

She blinked back at him, face softening into a smile. "I'm sure you could kick all of their butts," she admitted. "But there's no guarantee that they won't step up their game here pretty soon, you know? We need at least one person in the reserve that's ready for anything."

"HEY!" Yamcha growled, offended.

She didn't really care. She'd gotten to know Bulma pretty well and - while she liked to tease the girl a bit - did think of her as a friend. Bulma's boyfriend, on the other hand? Well, now she wasn't so sure about him yet. He still had a ways to go if he wanted any hope of proving himself to be something other than a jerk and a half.

Goku gave her that kicked-puppy face that was nearly impossible to resist, and she tried not to wince. "How about this," she sighed, "I'll take on the next fighter, then we take on the two after that together - if Baba allows it - and then you get the last two all to yourself?"

"No way!" the eldest boy howled. "You think I'm just gonna sit back and do nothing?!"

Kagome stared down at him and groaned, turning a long-suffering glance back toward the old mystic. "You said earlier that if a fighter won a match, they would automatically go on to the next one until they lost. Would it be alright to switch out for this one and let the idiot here get a bit of exercise just in case we all have to go back in the same plane?"

Yamcha snarled at her.

The fortuneteller sighed and shook her head wryly. "Just this once, I will consider it... If you answer my earlier question. What are you?"

The girl hesitated a second, watching the old woman carefully. Finally, she gave a sigh of her own. "I tell you what I am and Yamcha gets to go in without our team taking a penalty?" she double-checked.

The old woman nodded. "Just this once," she repeated. "Perhaps as a bonus, I may even allow the boy's idea later and let the two of you to team up against one of my fighters."

Kagome walked over to the end of the arena, dropping down next to Goku and giving the eldest boy a look that said quite plainly 'You had better be grateful for this, you bratty little twerp!' before turning back up to Baba. "I'm a priestess," she admitted simply. "Now, let's get this next match going already."

She ignored the gaping of Krillin and the old mystic (as well as the ghost), together with Yamcha and Pu'ar's questions of what a priestess was supposed to be, and sank down to sit beside Goku.

He grinned down at her, their heights reversed for the moment. "That was nice."

The priestess shrugged, tugging her backpack over behind her so that she could recline against it. "He was getting annoying," she huffed.

The tailed boy just laughed.

xxxx

Edit: 8/27/16