Oh, yes. Quite clearly, I own xxxHoLiC and InuYasha. Of course. They most certainly do not belong to CLAMP and Rumiko Takahashi. No. Of course not! Whatever gave you that idea? It's not like they're published by them or anything.

Or, that's what I would say if I didn't know that copyright infringement could get me into big trouble. Know it now, people: I do not own the characters, setting, and large portions of the plot line. Heck, I don't even own chunks of dialogue. Wish I did, but the sad fact is that I don't. I'm sure we'll all get over it eventually.

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On the first day that summer became so hot that anyone with sense wanted to melt into a puddle of goo and die, Kagome Higurashi took some time off from her part-time job. She was, with her employer's blessing, going to join a school club. Her target, so to speak, was the archery club. She was certain that she had the ability, thanks to a little more than a year in the Sengoku Jidai, aided and abetted by her mikonic powers, to do exceptionally well in the club. She just hoped that her skills hadn't gotten too rusty. She presented herself, as she had been told by the administration to do, to the club captain, a rather stressed looking third year student, who immediately started drilling her.

"Have you ever used a bow before?"

"Yes, senpai."

"Are you any good?" Kagome smiled serenely.

"I've been told so." If the screams of multiple youkai in various stages of purification could be considered telling, I've been told that I'm very good.

"Right." The senpai sounded skeptical. Kagome didn't blame him. Stupid first years

without any experience were probably half of the cause of his stressed and harried demeanor. "Look, here's how it's going to work. I'm going to tell the team that you're trying out. That means we'll clear the target area, so that if you mess up, nobody gets hurt. You'll have three arrows. If you hit within the three central rings or the bull's eye, then you're in the club as a full member, able to compete and everything, no questions asked. Hit the target, or manage at the very least to get the arrows in the right general direction, we'll put you in accelerated training. Do something stupid, and nearly hurt any onlookers, and you get to be flunky until we feel that you've learned enough to keep a repeat from happening. Are we clear?"

"Perfectly."

"Good. Let's get you a yukage and ippongake. Then we'll set you up with a bow and some arrows, and you can have at." Kagome resisted the urge to say that she didn't really need the yukage or ippongake, as she'd learned how to use the bow without them, but something told her that it would be pointless to tell him. Meekly, she followed orders. The captain showed her a few spare bows that the school had lying around. "You'll want to get your own if you do manage to make the team." He told her firmly. Kagome could see why. She looked over all three bows, and concluded that two of them might be suitable. She picked up one of them, and almost immediately set it down; its balance was off. She picked up the remaining bow, before nodding.

"This one should work, senpai. I can see why I would want to get my own." The captain raised his eyebrows.

"What was wrong with the other two?" He asked dryly. Kagome looked him right in the eye and answered coolly.

"The balance was off in the one I picked up. The other one is showing signs of rot. You might want to get rid of it before some idiot tries to use it and it snaps on him." The captain blinked, obviously not expecting her to have good answers. Hastily, he moved her to the practice area.

"Alright club! We have another audition! Fall back!" He called. With mutters of annoyance, the club members did so, most glaring at Kagome. One boy, however, watched her with narrowed eyes, almost as if he was confused about something. It gave Kagome the shivers. She shook her head slightly, and proceeded to the appropriate point to take aim. She took her position carefully, knowing that her formal technique wasn't the best, lifted the bow over her head, and drew back the string, letting her eyes take on the slightly dreamy, determined cast that they always did when she shot. Swiftly, she released, immediately reaching for her next arrow, and shooting her two remaining times in quick succession, not bothering to check her aim until her third arrow was released, and she held the bow at her side. She resisted the urge to smirk as she observed all three arrows clustered neatly in the center of the bull's eye. The dojo was silent. She turned to the captain and smiled sweetly.

"So does this mean that I get to join the team?"

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"Yuuko-san wants us to... what?" Kagome asked Watanuki in confusion as they cleaned out one of the back store rooms together. Watanuki sighed.

"Yuuko wants to 'help' me with my relationship with Himawari-chan, so she wants me to arrange for Yuuko, you, Himawari-chan, and me to spend a night telling 100 ghost stories at Doumeki-baka's shrine. Which means that I have to ask him!" He began slipping into psychotic rant mode, ignoring Kagome's slightly confused expression.

"I wonder why she wants to use Doumeki-san's shrine instead of mine." She murmured, then shrugged. "Maybe she just doesn't want to ride the subway for an hour. Who knows? Although.... Watanuki-senpai, what does Yuuko-san want us to wear for this?" Watanuki shuddered.

"That's almost as bad as having to ask Doumeki-baka if we can use his shrine, and wants to join us! She wants us to wear kimonos! I hate wearing kimonos! I look ridiculous!" Kagome stifled the urge to laugh, and wondered if she would be able to get away with wearing her miko regalia of white haori and red hakama. Knowing Yuuko, she rather doubted it.

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She was of course, right. That was why, three days later, she was standing outside of a decent sized shrine with Yuuko and Watanuki, sweltering in a homongi. She didn't own a yukata, as she normally wore her haori and hakama during festivals, and was therefore stuck in her the closest thing she had. She could have taken up Yuuko's offer of a yutaka, but one look at the proffered robe, and the thought of what her grandfather, not to mention her mother, would do to her if she dared to wear something so low-cut outside of the shop had put a stop to that notion very quickly. She sighed in mild irritation, and felt up her sleeve for the pocketknife she had stashed there, in case she encountered something while wearing this thing. Knowing her luck, it would definitely happen. A cute girl with pigtails, who was dressed in a yutaka like Yuuko ran up the path to the shrine. If Kagome had to hazard a guess, this would be the girl, Himawari, that Watanuki was.... well, it wasn't nice to say that a senpai was obsessed with someone, but under the circumstances, it was the best word Kagome could come up with to describe the relationship. She wondered if Himawari had noticed Watanuki's.... fierce dedication to her, or just figured that he was being funny. For Watanuki's sake, she hoped it was the latter.

"Sorry, I'm running a bit late!" She said cheerfully. "Hi, Watanuki-kun!"

"Hi, Himawari-chan!" Watanuki answered, going all teary eyed, Kagome assumed at the sight of Himawari dressed so cutely. The girl then turned to Yuuko and Kagome.

"I'm Kunogi Himawari. It's nice to meet Watanuki-kun's boss and co-worker!" Yuuko laughed, while Kagome bowed slightly.

"I'm Ichihara Yuuko, but it's fine to just call me Yuuko-san." Yuuko told the younger girl.

"Oh, yes, it's fine to call me Himawari-chan! And what's your name? You look familiar..." Himawari trailed off, looking at Kagome, who giggled slightly.

"I'm Higurashi Kagome. Kagome-chan is fine, though. I should hope I seem familiar; our school isn't that big! I'm in class 1-A."

"Ohhhhh, I see! It's nice to meet you, Kagome-chan!" Kagome smiled, and turned her attention to one of the many sakura trees on the shrine grounds. She inspected it carefully, sensing something slightly off about it, but not really sure what it was. Perhaps, Kagome thought, it wasn't so much a spirit, or something similar haunting or possessing it, as much as a mere dark presence, like the one that framed Himawari, not really noticeable until you stared at it for a while.

"That tree's supposed to be haunted." A voice said from her left. Kagome jumped, and whirled to see the boy who had stared at her so oddly during her archery club audition. In fact, he'd done the same thing the other two practices in which she'd participated. Now that she wasn't trying to focus on shooting her bow, and dodge his gaze, Kagome could feel the quiet thrum of power about him. It was a bit unkempt, rather like the boy's hair, and definitely untapped, making Kagome feel pretty sure that he had no idea it existed, let alone used it. She smiled at him.

"Is it? The ghost must be doing good things for the blossoms then, because it's beautiful." The boy chuckled.

"I guess it does. So, you must be Watanuki's co-worker. I've seen you at archery club. You're good." Kagome beamed.

"Thank you! Yes, I work with Watanuki-senpai. My name is Higurashi Kagome. And yours?"

"Doumeki Shizuka." Kagome's eyes widened before she burst into giggles.

"So you're the one Watanuki-senpai has been griping about all week. He really didn't want to ask you about using your shrine, you know. Yuuko-san didn't leave him a lot of choice." Doumeki chuckled.

"Knowing Watanuki, I believe it. Have you figured out how to get him to stop going on one of his rants? If you have, Higurashi, I'd like to know. I'd appreciate the quiet." Kagome laughed outright.

"I bet you would!" She agreed. "And if I had a clue how to stop him once he goes into psychotic rant mode, I'd tell you. Unfortunately, the best you can do is change the subject abruptly, and that doesn't always work." She rolled her eyes, "Especially if he's ranting about how cute and wonderful Himawari-chan is. And please, call me Kagome." Doumeki sighed.

"It was worth asking."

"It was indeed."

"So, this must be Doumeki-kun." Yuuko said quietly from behind them, making Kagome jump. Doumeki turned to face her, his face passive.

"Yeah, that's me." She looked the boy over, then turned to Watanuki.

"Watanuki, it's best if you get along with Doumeki." She called. Watanuki immediately went onto the defensive, screaming

"I don't want to!" At his employer. Kagome sighed, covered her eyes with her hand, and shook her head.

"Watanuki-senpai..." She groaned.

"Ahh, slowly you'll understand." Yuuko assured him.

"Slowly... what does that mean?" Watanuki asked, bewildered out of his borderline rant.

"Oh, I forgot, sometimes being highly mysterious and confusing works to keep from ranting too." Kagome murmured to Doumeki, who had to stifle another laugh.

"I can tell. Come on, let's go inside." The group trekked into the room Doumeki had set up for their night of story-telling. There was a faint shadow on the rice paper wall from the room next door. Kagome's eyes narrowed, making out the form of a human form lying on a... table? Some sort of flat surface, at any rate. She glanced inquiringly at Doumeki, who had stayed next to her. He followed her gaze to the shadow on the wall before his mouth twisted up into a wry smile.

"Trust me, unless something very odd happens, the person next door won't particularly care what we're doing in here." He assured her. His words clicked into place for the daughter of a shrine family. Comprehension lit up her face as she smiled a wry smile of her own.

"I've discovered that the dead usually don't, over the years." She agreed. "My family also runs a shrine." she explained to his inquiring look. He nodded in understanding.

"Ah! It looks like it's about to rain outside, with sweltering wind. It's the perfect atmosphere to tell one hundred ghost stories." Yuuko said, touching the rice paper covering of one of the windows. Kagome shivered. She couldn't agree more. This weather practically begged ghosts to come out and play. Mayu had loved such weather, she remembered. Her lips curved into a smile. At least she had a good story for the first round.

"We can tell ghost stories in the shrine today?" Watanuki demanded, his expression was a mixture of anger and annoyance, and Kagome could see psychotic rant mode coming on fast. "You said before that it was being used today." Kagome shook her head.

"Watanuki-senpai, if Doumeki-senpai didn't think we should be using the shrine to tell ghost stories today, he wouldn't have let us use it. Trust me, I know what it's being used for, and believe me, it's fine. Actually," she said, her lips twisting upwards, "It makes the atmosphere even more... complete." Doumeki and Yuuko laughed at her words, leaving confusion on the faces of Himawari and Watanuki. Doumeki turned to Yuuko.

"That thing you wanted has been prepared." He told her, gesturing to the basin of water in the center of the room.

"Thank you. Please take this," she handed Watanuki an unlit candle on a stand, "And place it near the water basin." Watanuki followed orders. "Now, the candle..." Yuuko struck a match, and lit it. After blowing out the match, she turned to the four teenagers, and passed each of them a candle. "Everyone, take one. After lighting the candle, put each of them in the four candle holders at the corners of this room." The ritual sent Kagome flashing back to a memory from the Sengoku Jidai of a night spent with Shippou, Miroku, and Sango in the latter pair's new home while InuYasha was off with Kikyou.

"Now, Shippou, Kagome, and my lovely Sango, put your candle in one of the corners of the room. It will set up a kekkai to ensure our safety from anything that might come after the shikon."

With a hard swallow, Kagome followed orders. Clearly, Yuuko was worried about something. Or maybe she wasn't, and was merely being cautious. She didn't know, and, in all honesty, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. With Yuuko, sometimes it was best to be left in the dark. Yuuko smiled as the five regrouped in the center.

"Now, we're ready!" She said cheerfully.

"Do we need to prepare for the one hundred ghost stories?" Himawari asked brightly.

"Actually, there are a lot of rules, like a razor... but today we'll just have a simple ceremony!" Yuuko answered, then smiled in that mysterious way of hers, her gaze flowing from Himawari, to Watanuki, to Kagome, and lastly to Doumeki. "The actors are all here."

"Eh?" Watanuki asked, conveying the confusion they all felt at Yuuko's last words.

"Then... let's begin!" Yuuko said, blowing out the central candle. "Himawari-chan, why don't you start?"

"Alright!" The other girl answered brightly, before thinking for a moment, and finally beginning. "A friend of mine stayed at this motel, once. Before becoming a motel, that place was said to have once been a family residence. It gives off the feeling of old-day mansions, and it was a favorite among frequent travelers because of this. However, no matter how one counted, there was always one room less on the third floor. From the space occupied, there should have been six rooms. The structure of rooms on the third floor is no different from the second floor, and there are clearly six rooms on the second floor, while there's only five on the third. So, my friend and a couple of her friends who were staying together started to ponder... next to their room, could there be another room?" Kagome resisted the urge to shiver. She had a bad feeling that she knew where this was headed. Doumeki glanced at her, his expression blank, and Kagome wondered if he had seen where this was going as well. "Their room obviously was the innermost one, but from the outside, the wall extended on. Then, one night, from the wall of their own room, or to their guesses, the wall which may have contained another room on the other side, came a sound. 'Creak, crack...' A sound like things being scratched." Kagome glanced at Watanuki, who had gone white, and looked rather like he was going to be sick, then glanced at Yuuko, who seemed pensive. "At first, my friend thought that she was being paranoid, but when she told her roommates about the sound the next day, she learned that they all heard it! That sound of scratching... And so throughout the time they stayed, the sound lasted every night,, 'til they couldn't stand it anymore, and they complained to the hotel manager, and the staff behind the counter turned pale, and muttered 'Always... if one stays in that room, they will always hear in the night a sound that goes "creak crack".'"

"Ah!" Watanuki said suddenly. Kagome was fairly certain she heard a touch of hysteria in his voice. It seemed that Watanuki-senpai really didn't like ghost stories. "Just like all others..." Kagome had to hide a smile as Himawari continued.

"Next to the room they stayed in, there really seemed to be another room! However, when it was bought from it's previous owner, the end corridor was already sealed with space enough for a room on it's hidden side. Apparently, my friend's complaint was the last in a long line. The business was being affected significantly. The motel manager decided to knock down the wall at the end of the corridor, to see what was behind the wall. They soon found workers, and as my friend and the rest of her group wanted to see what would appear behind the wall, they stayed one more night."

"I should have gone home by now!" Watanuki said suddenly, hysteria definitely evident in his voice.

"The story wouldn't be scary that way." Doumeki agreed dryly. Kagome hid a smile at Doumeki's baiting.

"SHUT UP!" Watanuki snarled. Doumeki turned and shrugged at Kagome, his expression carefully blank, and she resisted the urge to laugh at their antics.

"The next day," Kagome heard something that sounded rather like a clack from the door into the next room. She stiffened slightly. She shouldn't be able to hear anything from outside the room. The kekkai should see to that. She glanced at Yuuko, and noted that she was also looking at the door. Kagome didn't like this. "The workers knocked down the walls by the end of the corridor, and there was an extension beyond. That is, next to the room in which my friend stayed... there was another room! The room structure was similar to the others, however, there was no doorknob on the door to that room. The door was sealed shut, all the spaces filled so that it could not be opened. To see what was inside, they broke through the door, and in the room... all over the walls, there were words written in blood that said 'Father, let me out'. On every wall... That's all!" She concluded chirpily.

"Himawari-senpai, you're great at telling stories!" Kagome complimented. Himawari beamed at her.

"Really? You didn't think it was boring?"

"To a certain someone, it's effect was alarmingly more than sufficient." Doumeki said dryly, glancing at the white-faced Watanuki, who immediately regained his coloring at Doumeki's words.

"OI! What do you mean by that!" He yelled.

"You know what I mean." Doumeki answered calmly.

"I wasn't scared!" Watanuki yelled again, heading for rant mode.

"Alright, let's continue!" Yuuko said, breaking up the potential argument.

"I'll go." Doumeki offered. Kagome turned so that she could watch him as he told his story, wondering what it would be about. "I heard this from my grandfather." He said slowly, "Coming back from a funeral service, he met a woman, who was stopped at a crossroad. That woman didn't look very lively, and her shadow was faint. There was an air of eeriness about her. My grandfather saw her, and thought 'she looks like a spirit'... and she turned to him and asked 'How did you know?'" Kagome nodded meditatively, thinking that some of the more humanoid spirits that she'd seen had certainly fit the bill. She glanced at Watanuki to see what he thought, and resisted the urge to burst into gales of laughter. Watanuki, who potentially saw as many spirits as Kagome did on a regular basis, was shaking, with his hands clamped over his mouth, obviously terrified.

"Doumeki's grandfather, was the priest of the shrine?" Yuuko asked.

"Yes." Doumeki answered calmly.

"And he often saw spirits of the dead?"

"Most likely. He told me he did."

"If so, Doumeki should take after his ability." Yuuko concluded. Kagome nodded. That would explain the power she sensed around Doumeki.

"Ah?" Watanuki asked, confused. Suddenly, more clacking sounds came from the other side of the door. This time, no one missed them. Kagome's eyes locked onto the door, not liking what this meant at all. "Who? Your family?" Watanuki asked Doumeki, who shook his head.

"No. It's someone within the realm of the deceased. The only person there is dead."

"Huh?" Watanuki asked, confused.

"The remains are placed there, before the funeral. We do this at my shrine too, Watanuki-senpai." Kagome explained.

"There's someone in there with the corpses?" Doumeki and Kagome traded looks, both knowing that the deceased were to be left alone for the day or so before the funeral.

"No." They chorused.

"There's only the dead." Doumeki affirmed.

"Maybe the windows are open..." Watanuki trailed off as Doumeki shook his head.

"There are no windows next door." The clicking and clacking noises raised in intensity and frequency. For the first time that evening, Kagome was genuinely scared. What kind of spirits were these, that they had the power to overcome a kekkai?

"I've just said, all the actors are here." Yuuko said eerily.

"We are the actors... and that includes the corpses?" Watanuki asked, sounding outraged. "Let's go Himawari! Telling ghost stories in this kind of place, there's no sense to it!"

"You can't go." Yuuko said calmly. "When the telling of stories are in process. One can't leave the kekkai when one wants!"

"Kekkai? It can't be..." Watanuki said, stunned and surprised.

"It's constructed from the four candles." Kagome explained. "I've seen something similar done before. This room is within a sphere of protection, but if you leave... there's no guarantee of safety."

"You're saying that...."

"Before one hundred stories are told, no one is to leave this room!" Yuuko stated firmly.

"What di-did you say?" Watanuki screamed. Doumeki covered his ears, and muttered

"So noisy!" Kagome giggled.

"Do we really have to tell one hundred stories, Yuuko-san?" Himawari asked, concerned.

"If we were doing it formally. But since this is a simplified version, four rounds will do!"

"Four rounds? Meaning that we each tell four stories?" Doumeki asked for clarification.

"Not quite. Every round, one person will sit out, and start the next one, so that we have four stories every round." Yuuko answered. "The number 'four' is considered to be related with the realm of the dead."

"That's the first time I've heard that!" Himawari commented, interested. Yuuko nodded.

"That's why four is normally used for ward numbers in hospitals."

"In the old days, crossroads were often referred to as the 'four-place'. In other words, people used to think that one could see into the world of the dead there." Kagome shivered slightly. They hadn't thought back in the old days– they had known.

"You really know a lot, Doumeki!" Yuuko complimented. Doumeki shrugged.

"I'm just quoting my grandfather." Kagome smiled.

"He was right, Doumeki-senpai."

"Oi, why are you four chatting among yourselves? I'm not transparent!" Watanuki yelled. "Telling stories with the corpse... I'm not staying anymore!"

"Ah, but you haven't seen any sprits yet, have you?" Yuuko stopped him effectively.

"Huh? The spirits.... why?"

"So," Yuuko said after a pause. "Who wants to go next? Watanuki?"

"Eh?"

"Himawari, you're alright?" Yuuko asked her sweetly.

"Um... since we've started, we might as well complete it!" Himawari said a bit awkwardly. Kagome fought the urge to heave a sigh of relief. Ceremonies that were cut off in the middle always meant nasty things for the one who started them. Wise decision, Himawari-senpai....

"Himawari-chan" Yuuko said, taking Himawari's chin between two of her fingers, and tilting it upwards, "Really is a good child!"

"Himawari-chan! You'll be eaten up!" Watanuki cried, causing Himawari and Yuuko to look over at him like he was demented, and Kagome cover her eyes with her hand and shake her head.

"Anyways, 'one hundred stories'. Let's get going." Yuuko prompted. "Watanuki, you're up." Watanuki hesitated for a moment, choosing his story, then began.

"This happened when I was in elementary school, when I slept in the sick bay. I was having a horrible headach, so I had laid down. Then someone spoke to me from the window. 'Hi, are you alright?' He seemed worried about me. I told him that it was just a headache, and he said 'that's good'. Then we chatted for a while. I was rather unfamiliar with him, but since it was an elementary school, I thought that even if I didn't know him, he was probably a student. I didn't give it much thought. 'Farewell!' He waved to me after bidding me good bye, and left. When I thought back on it, I realized that the infirmary was actually on the third floor. There was no balcony, or any other place to stand on. It was impossible for a human to stand where he stood!" He paused for a moment before blushing slightly. "Ahh... that's all?"

"Is that Watanuki's school's 'Seven Impossibilities?'" Himawari asked brightly. Catching the look of anguish on Watanuki's face, Kagome fought back her laughter that Watanuki had talked about a real and genuine conversation with a spirit.... and his precious Himawari didn't believe him. The irony was too brilliant. "That's unbelievable! I wonder what child that was?" Himawari continued.

"It's a spirit." Doumeki answered flatly. Watanuki turned to him, stunned, and Kagome inspected him curiously. She hadn't thought he could see spirits from his power signature, but maybe she was wrong.

"Can you see spirits and things?" Watanuki demanded.

"No! Not a bit!" Doumeki answered firmly.

"Even though there are things one cannot see, one can still achieve it!" Yuuko interrupted mysteriously, although Kagome assumed she was referring to the power that Doumeki did have, even if he didn't know it. "Finally, let me finish off the first round." Yuuko turned to watch the rest of the group, her back to the wall, "Let me ask you... That thing behind my back on the wall... what is it?" Everyone stared in wide eyed horror at the shadows behind Yuuko cast by spirits. Kagome slipped her hand into her sleeve for her pocketknife, wanting to be ready for anything. The noises from the other room intensified, now coming from all around.

"It's coming from the ceiling." Doumeki said quietly.

"Yeah." Yuuko said calmly.

"I-it sounds like someone's walking on it." Himawari said, sounding scared.

"The sounds are in four pendulum patterns." Kagome said to Yuuko, concerned.

"Yes." Yuuko agreed.

"Feels like four limbs are crawling in all directions..." Doumeki murmured. Kagome nodded, watching as Watanuki acted like he was in a psychotic rant without the yelling. Then, suddenly, the ground started shaking. Or rather, it seemed to start shaking. Kagome recognized the signs of a kekkai breaking when it wasn't supposed to be breaking.

"Earthquake?" Watanuki asked, unnerved. Yuuko shook her head.

"Look at the water basin." She told him. Watanuki did, then stared.

"It's swinging fiercely, but the water is not moving?" Without warning, one of the candles went out. Kagome's eyes widened with fear, and she rose to her feet. She really, really hated not having her bow and quiver in situations where she was going to get attacked by a large number of dark youkai or spirits.

"As if," Yuuko said softly, "There's something wrong with the Kekkai...." Another shake sent Kagome toppling down into Doumeki's lap, and he caught her.

"Ahh..." She said, scrambling out of his lap, and blushing as he kept his hands on her shoulders.

"Are you alright, Kagome?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've had a lot worse falls than that!" She assured him, noting that Watanuki seemed to be going into rant mode while looking at the two of them. Interesting... Kagome's eyes widened.

"Watanuki-senpai... behind you..." Himawari looked where she had indicated, and yelped in fear.

"Well? What's wrong?" He asked, before turning to look himself, and screaming "WHA?" A candle holder fell onto its side, making Kagome stare at it in horror. One of the candles had been moved. That meant....

"The kekkai is broken." Yuuko intoned. Immediately, a dozen hands reached out from behind the wall, and latched onto Watanuki. Kagome edged away from Doumeki and Himawari, knowing that it was only a matter of time before they came after her... or more accurately, the shikon no tama.

"WAH!"

"Watanuki!" Himawari cried, horrified.

"Are you from the archery club, Doumeki?" Yuuko asked calmly.

"Yes." Doumeki answered swiftly, assessing the situation.

"Go get the bow from the wall cage." Doumeki grabbed the bow. "Aim at the wall, and shoot!"

"But there are no arrows! And which wall? The one behind Watanuki... or the one behind Kagome?" Kagome glanced behind her, and sighed. There were shifting shadows that were quickly approaching the wall. She knew that they would break out at any second.

"Don't worry about the arrows. If you are the one, it shouldn't matter. And Kagome can take care of her own shadows."

"I'll be fine, Doumeki-senpai. I just have to wait for them to actually cross the wall." Kagome assured him. Doumeki nodded, lifted the bow above his head, took careful aim, drew the string, and shot. Kagome could see almost see an arrow of spiritual power fly through the air, and embed itself into the spirits holding Watanuki. At the same instant, she felt the cold touch of a spirit on her shoulder, reaching for the shikon no tama. She smiled coldly, adjusted her grip on her pocketknife, and stabbed it over her shoulder. There were unearthly screams from two parts of the room, as the spirits behind Watanuki melted into a rather disgusting gloopy substance, and the ones behind Kagome were purified into dust. Mokona's eyes opened wide, and he inhaled, drawing both the gloop and the dust into his mouth. Yuuko smiled as Mokona shut his mouth, a pleased expression on his face.

"Thank you for the entertainment." Watanuki and Himawari seemed stunned, and even Doumeki seemed a bit unnerved. Kagome sighed, assuming that the time for telling stories was over as Mokona drew a large number of rice balls from his mouth for everyone to share. A few minutes later, the group sat outside, eating the rice balls.

"So, Yuuko made these?" Himawari asked, eagerly. Kagome laughed.

"Actually, Watanuki-senpai and I made them." She corrected.

"Watanuki-kun, the shop you're working at is so cool!" Himawari gushed.

"What... Himawari, weren't you scared?" Watanuki asked, stunned.

"The situation was very scary a moment ago, but Mokona is really cute!" Kagome resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Himawari's words, and tuned out her next few sentences with her thoughts. Had she really been like that before she had fallen down the well? So.... carefree? Didn't Himawari have a clue what would have happened if she and Doumeki hadn't been able to get rid of the spirits that crossed the broken barrier?

"A moment ago, Doumeki didn't have any arrows on his bow!" Himawari had successfully recaught Kagome's attention with that one phrase.

"I know!" Doumeki agreed, looking seriously confused.

"Then what was that flying thing I saw?" Watanuki asked.

"It was air." Yuuko answered. "Doumeki has the power to stop evil spirits from approaching... moreover, he can also exorcise them."

"But I didn't do anything special!" Kagome shrugged and answered.

"Whether you thought you were doing anything or not doesn't really matter, as long as you have the power. The first time I purified something, I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I just shot an arrow."

"Is that what you did, Kagome-chan?" Himawari asked, curious.

"Yes." Yuuko answered. "Kagome-chan is a miko, gifted by the kami with the ability to purify youkai and spirits, among other things. That was what she did tonight when the spirits attempted to grab... her."

"It's easy for me to channel my power through a sharp object, like the pocketknife I stabbed into the spirits. Then... well, you saw what happens." Kagome explained.

"Really? Doumeki-kun and Kagome-chan are so cool!" Himawari explained, and Kagome choked back a bitter laugh. 'Cool' wasn't quite the word she would use to describe her mikonic gift.

"How about some drinks or tea?" Doumeki asked. A chorus of 'Sure!' and 'That's fine!' answered him. Kagome got up to follow him.

"I'm coming to help!" She told him, and he nodded. As they were leaving, Mokona called after them.

"Everything is better with beer!" Kagome laughed, and Doumeki's mouth twitched upwards at the black manjuu bun's words.

"So." He said quietly as he lead her to the kitchen, "It sounds like you already knew about what you could do, this purification stuff." Kagome nodded, her eyes going into a slightly dazed mode as she thought about the past.

"For two and a half years now." She agreed.

"And you weren't even startled by the spirits, or what you did." He stated flatly as he passed her a tray, and placed several cups on it. Kagome smiled wryly.

"I may not be a spirit magnet in and of myself, like Watanuki is, but I'm the protector of an object that is. That means I get to deal with spirits and dark youkai on an almost daily basis. Trust me, once you've seen some of the things I've seen, what happened tonight will seem like a cake walk to you too. To me, the scariest thing about tonight was the kekkai breaking. I've relied on kekkai just like that one dozens of times, and it scares me to think of them breaking."

"I see..." Doumeki said, obviously contemplating her words as he got a large bottle of beer, and gestured for her to head out to join the others.

"Ah! I smell beer!" Yuuko's voice called as they approached.

"It's Unicorn Beer brand." Doumeki informed her.

"YEAH!" Yuuko cheered.

"Mokona wants to drink too!" Mokona called, jumping towards the tray of cups Kagome carried. Watanuki looked grim. Kagome passed Himawari the tray.

"Go join them. I'll get Watanuki-senpai to come with us." Himawari nodded with a smile, and joined the small group that was forming a little ways away. "Watanuki-senpai, come drink with us!" Kagome said brightly, offering him her hand. He smiled at her, and took her hand, allowing her to pull him up.

"Sure!" And together, they went to join the others.

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Sorry this took longer than usual to get up. I got side-tracked by the RPG I'm participating in... last night I finally got to start working in an active log! It's really fun!

Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or alerted this story! It's great to know that people like it. What's really epically great is when you read the name of the person who's done one of the above, and you realize that it's the writer of one of your own favorited stories. This has happened already. It's quite cool!