Let it be known that all characters, settings, events, and dialogue pertaining to xxxHoLiC belong to CLAMP. All characters, settings, and events pertaining to InuYasha: a Feudal Fairytale are property of Rumiko Takahashi. Read: I own nothing. I'm a Chinese and French major at university. I don't have the funding that would come along with owning either. Accept that, and move on with your life.

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There were days when Kagome really hated sports other than archery. Specifically, when she, her co-worker, her boss, and her co-worker's arch-rival/friend were invited to go to a picnic by said co-worker's crush, and the crush was late, leading to a game of baseball. Kagome despised baseball in all of its forms. She wasn't sure if it was because she, for some strange reason, lacked the ability to catch the ball, or if it was because she always, always hit foul balls. It was one of the two. Either way, she had politely refused to play, and offered to keep score instead. Even then, she had been taken by surprise when Yuuko managed to break some poor person's window. She winced in sympathy as Watanuki got sent off to be yelled at, secretly thrilled not to be the one sentenced to the gallows herself. Doumeki took a seat next to her on her bench as Watanuki attempted to argue his way out of going. Kagome sighed and shook her head.

"Hasn't he figured out that arguing with Yuuko-san just makes her more determined to send him because she finds it entertaining?" She asked Doumeki dryly. Doumeki snorted.

"Not likely. Sometimes, Watanuki has a really thick head." Kagome giggled as Watanuki stormed off, muttering in a slightly subdued form of psychotic rant mode.

"Kagome-chan! Doumeki-kun! Let's set out the food!" Yuuko called cheerfully. With a glance at each other, and a shrug of their shoulders, the two teenagers set to work. Watanuki came back a short time later, still griping about the window. Kagome did her best to ignore him, choosing instead to engage in conversation with Doumeki about various and sundry things. Why Kagome was a year older than her classmates, for example. She did not go into detail, choosing to explain that she had been caught up in a certain 'supernatural issue' that had forced her to miss school a lot, resulting in her having to redo her last year of junior high. Doumeki had accepted her explanation without question, and had gone on to tell her about growing up with his grandfather, and the stories he had been told. Kagome listened, paying rapt attention, offering her own opinions based on her experiences. However, they were rather suddenly interrupted by Mokona, who had been sitting next to Kagome, rising into the air in a swirl of air and colors, followed by his jewel lighting up, and projecting a disk of light in front of the two. The face of a boy about their age appeared in the disk, with two other young men in the background, one blond, and one dark.

"Uh, hello?" The boy in the foreground asked hesitantly. Meanwhile, behind him, the other two continued talking.

"Wow, Mokona is really useful!" The blonde commented, impressed

"This is rather TOO easy!" The dark one practically yelled. Kagome was caught between laughing and freaking out. Watanuki glanced over at them, then called

"Ahh! Syaoran!" Yuuko got to her feet, and walked over lazily. She glanced at Kagome and Doumeki, who shrugged, and moved almost at once.

"What is that..." Doumeki asked Kagome as they found a new place to sit a little ways away. Kagome shook her head, still mildly in shock.

"I honestly have no idea. Watanuki-senpai? You seemed to know those people."

"Sure! They were some of Yuuko's guests just before you started working at the shop, Kagome. They came from different worlds, and now they're probably in another world. They're world hopping, looking for someone's memory fragments. The boy who is talking to Yuuko is Syaoran. It's his childhood friend, Sakura, who lost her memories. The blonde guy is Fai, and the dark one is Kurogane." Kagome's eyes narrowed.

"It's not just Sakura's memory fragments that are missing, is it?" She asked quietly. Watanuki shrugged helplessly.

"I think Yuuko was talking about 'the feathers being this child's soul' or something." Kagome's eyes widened.

"Her soul was fragmented and sent into other dimensions? She must be in a really bad state!" Kagome said, worried for a girl she didn't know, with a great deal of sympathy. She had been in a similar, albeit not exactly the same, position more than once. Watanuki nodded grimly.

"The only time I saw her, it was like she was already dead. She just lay limply in Syaoran's arms while he begged Yuuko to help her." Kagome smiled, with just the slightest trace of bitterness.

"He must really love her, to be able to go through so much for her."

"I agree." Doumeki added quietly, his eyes locked on Kagome's face, analyzing her expression.

"Fine." Yuuko's voice cut through their conversation, "I'll send 'that thing' that will break the seal on the city."

"Seal on the city?" Doumeki murmured to Kagome, who shrugged.

"Maybe she means some sort of barrier? Not a kekkai, exactly, but something similar?" She answered hesitantly.

"But you guys have to pay a price!" Yuuko informed her trans-dimensional customers.

"Of course." Kagome said dryly. Doumeki and Watanuki chuckled.

"Take this thing!" A voice from the other side of the light disk answered. Kagome was fairly certain that it was the blonde one who was speaking. "I haven't used it, even though it is magical."

"Ok!" Yuuko said cheerily. "Give it to Mokona." Suddenly, Mokona opened its mouth, and out flew an enormous magical looking staff. The jaws of three teenagers dropped with surprise.

"By the kami..." Kagome whispered, awed.

"Mokona, take 'that thing' out." Yuuko ordered calmly, as though this was completely ordinary.

"I already ate a little..." Mokona mumbled.

"A little is enough." She reassured him. Mokona opened his mouth, and out popped a ball of raw spiritual energy, laced with faint traces of the powers of purification and exorcism. Kagome was familiar with both of the latter energy signatures. Her eyes narrowed slightly, then widened.

"Yuuko-san... are those the remains of the spirits from the night of 100 ghost stories?" She asked, awed. Yuuko smiled mysteriously.

"Very good, my dear. After all, monsters obviously have to fight with monsters, right?" She turned to Mokona, and handed him back the ball. "Send this thing over..." She commanded. Kagome watched as Mokon a opened his mouth, and inhaled the ball. A moment later, on the projection, the boy Watanuki had called Syaoran held out his hand, and caught it. Yuuko smiled. "Then... right. Kurogane... if you bully Mokona..." Her voice trailed off as she began a very, very evil laugh. Kagome shuddered slightly, and Watanuki called out softly

"How scary!"

For once, Kagome thought wryly, I agree with Watanuki-senpai!

"WHAT!" The dark man bellowed. Kagome had to fight the urge to giggle at his reaction as the picture crackled, then went out entirely. Yuuko turned to face them, ecstatic.

"Did you see it?" Yuuko asked excitedly. Kagome smiled indulgently, automatically going into the mode she used when Shippou was getting just a tad bit too rowdy. She couldn't help it; Yuuko's face and tone of voice were exactly the same.

"Yes, Yuuko, we saw them. And we saw Mokona transporting goods across worlds."

"Watanuki-kun! Doumeki-kun! Kagome-chan! Yuuko-san!" Himawari's voice, along with Himawari herself, approached them. Watanuki immediately went into Psychotic Joy Mode.

"Himawari! I'm here!" He called as Himawari joined them.

"I'm sorry, I was the one who invited everyone, and I was late."

"It's ok, don't worry! Come sit, would you like some rice balls?" Watanuki assured her rapidly. Kagome blinked.

"How can he say that much, that fast... all without our agreement?" She asked Doumeki, mildly impressed. The other boy shrugged.

"He's Watanuki, and she's Himawari. That's how." He answered flatly. Kagome bit back a laugh.

"The sad thing is... that actually explains a lot." She told him.

"Yep."

"Then, what was it that you wanted me to do?" Yuuko asked Himawari, effectively attracting Kagome and Doumeki's attention.

"Actually... it's a favor for one of my friends." She said quietly. Yuuko's eyebrows rose.

"Really? Go on."

"She lives near my house, and we're both in high school, but she misses so much school that it's something of a problem."

"Something of a problem?" Kagome asked, curious in spite of herself.

"From what she's told me, there's this new fad at her school to play this game called 'Angels'. I'm not sure if it's because of that, but a lot of weird things have been happening at her school since they started playing. I thought Yuuko-san might have an idea, so I thought I would ask her."

"Angels?" Watanuki asked, clearly confused. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"It's very much a girls' game." She said. "I haven't played it since my old friends left middle school. The way it works is that you write 50 sounds on a piece of paper, then you put either ten coins or a pencil in a certain arrangement. Then you chant your question while you rotate the pencil. When it makes a round trip, you should have the answer to your question."

"Sounds like Money's Immortality." Yuuko murmured. Kagome nodded.

"I only saw that one played once, but it looked like the same general idea."

"Why did they change the name?" Watanuki asked, still baffled. Yuuko laughed.

"Because 'Angel' sounds gentler, of course! Still you have to be careful, even if you change the name, you don't change the dangers." Kagome shuddered.

"Isn't that the truth." Kagome murmured. "Now that I know why that game always gave me the creeps." Doumeki looked at her, curiosity sparkling in his eyes. "It calls on spirits to answer questions about the future. I couldn't see them back then, but I could sense them, and they freaked me out." Doumeki nodded in understanding.

"So, there are dangers..." Himawari murmured. Kagome and Doumeki stared at her, clearly resisting the urge to say 'it involves spirits, of course there are dangers!'.

"What do you want to do for your neighbor?" Yuuko asked Himawari, curious.

"If it's possible, I'd like to stop the problems."

"Alright, I'll trust you, Himawari... but this time, you have to go with these three."

"Does that include me?" Watanuki screamed. Kagome hid her eyes in her hand.

"Here we go again." She murmured to Doumeki, who easily stifled a laugh.

"Yes, Watanuki, of course that includes you!" Yuuko snapped. "Now, the three of you will need to go to the school as soon as possible..."

"I can't go today." Kagome spoke up hastily. "I told my mother I'd be home by eight. Speaking of which... it's seven now. I need to get going if I don't want her to get worried." Watanuki, Himawari, and Doumeki looked at her as though she was slightly obsessive.

"It's only seven, Kagome-chan..." Himawari said slowly. Kagome sighed.

"Yes, but I have almost an hour long subway ride to get home. I'm probably going to be late as it is."

"Ehh? You live an hour away, Kagome-chan?" Watanuki asked, slightly stunned. "Why do you go to school here, then?" Kagome shrugged.

"Partially because it is a really good school. Partially so that I could avoid some rumors that started about me back when I was in middle school. Partially for reasons relating to my abilities. It's not a problem. It just means that I have to make sure I keep track of the time." Yuuko nodded.

"That's a very good skill, Kagome. Now, I'll need the three of you to meet at this school at about seven tomorrow night..."

— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - —

The next evening was a Saturday, and as Yuuko had given Kagome the day off in exchange for helping with the Himawari issue, Kagome emerged from the subway station promptly at 6:30 pm, planning on getting lost at least once on her way to the school. A year in the Sengoku Jidai had done nothing to salvage the sense of direction, which she sadly lacked. As she hurried up the last steps, she was startled to see Doumeki lounging next to the stairwell leading down into the depths of Tokyo. She blinked.

"Doumeki-senpai? What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you, obviously." He answered calmly. Her eyes narrowed.

"Why?" She asked, suspicious.

"Because it's polite. It's not like your station's out of my way. Besides, you seem like the type that would get lost easily." Kagome glared helplessly at him for the last statement for a moment, before starting to laugh.

"My sense of direction is terrible. I figured I was going to get lost at least once, if not twice, on my way there."

"Problem solved. Come on, let's get going, or Watanuki will get there before we do."

"Mm!" The walk was pleasant, neither feeling the need to fill the comfortable silence with unnecessary chatter. They reached the school as the last of the sunlight began to fade away. Kagome shivered.

"I really don't like doing this sort of thing at night..." She murmured. Doumeki looked at her, seeming a bit surprised.

"Are you scared?" Kagome shook her head.

"No, I'm not scared, just... uncomfortable. Dark powers are stronger in darkness, and light ones are weaker. Something tells me this thing's going to be hard enough to beat without it being nighttime once we get started."

"I see..." It was at that moment that Watanuki arrived, and Kagome suddenly found herself trying very hard not to laugh. Someone (Kagome was putting her money on Yuuko) had clearly forced a rather embarrassed Watanuki to wear a set of headphones, whose earpieces looked like the ears of some sort of adorable white and pink plush toy. It was all she could do to keep from laughing. Doumeki turned around rapidly, and Kagome caught sight of his lips twitching into a grin.

"Let's go."

"WHY DON'T YOU SAY SOMETHING!" Watanuki shrieked after him. Kagome barely resisted the urge to snicker. Watanuki was setting himself up brilliantly for Doumeki's particular brand of mockery.

"If it's because you like to wear them, then I have nothing to say." Doumeki answered calmly, approaching a portion of the gate that would be easy to climb.

"WHO WOULD LIKE TO WEAR THESE?" Kagome smiled evilly.

"But they look so cute on you, Watanuki-senpai! Why wouldn't you want to wear them?"

"Kagome-chaaaan..." Watanuki growled threateningly. Kagome found that she couldn't fight the urge anymore and burst into gales of laughter. Doumeki laughed quietly as well "Yuuko didn't leave me a choice!" Watanuki moaned.

"If you say so Watanuki-senpai. Come on, let's get in." Kagome went to inspect the fence, trying to figure out how best to get over the thing, preferably without flashing the boys with a view of her underwear. She glowered at the fence, which was only a head shorter than she was when she stood on the concrete base, knowing that this was not going to be a fun climb. She got on the base, and was studying, looking for good gripping points, when she felt someone pick her up at the waist, and, waiting for her to twist slightly, set her on the top bar of the fence.

"What do you think you're doing with Kagome-chan, Doumeki-baka!" Watanuki yelled.

"Helping her get over the fence. Or didn't you notice, she's a lot shorter than we are." Doumeki informed the incensed Watanuki without a blink. Kagome blushed faintly, very thankful that the night covered up the fact.

"Thank you, Doumeki-senpai." She said quietly, and swung her legs over the bar, preparing to drop the base below, when she froze, eyes wide. "Kami-sama..." her words came out as a prayerful whisper, and her hand immediately went to the pocketknife she had tucked into her pocket.

"What is it?" Doumeki asked from beside her.

"Inside the school... there are some black things." Watanuki said from her other side.

"I... I think it's only one thing." Kagome shivered. "I don't like it."

"So it's a monster?" Doumeki inquired, sounding just a tiny bit irritated by the fact that he couldn't determine anything . Kagome shook her head.

"'Monster' isn't the right word... it's a spirit of some kind, I can tell you that much, and spirits aren't monsters. Not exactly..." Kagome explained.

"There's a really scary feeling." Watanuki murmured quietly "I don't know whether to say it's 'strong' or 'big'..."

"I think you'll find that the two usually work together quite well." Kagome told him dryly. "Well, let's get moving." She pushed herself off the bar, and landed gracefully. Doumeki landed without a hitch, and Watanuki wound up sprawled on the ground next to the concrete. Doumeki glanced at Kagome with a raised eyebrow.

"Has anyone ever suggested that you were related to a cat?" Kagome smirked.

"The thought has occurred to a few people, yes." The trio entered the school cautiously, on the lookout for any sort of adult presence. Breaking into a school other than their own at night was not something that any of them wanted to explain. Once they slipped inside via an unlocked window, they breathed a little easier. It was much less likely that they'd be caught at this point. Suddenly, Watanuki stiffened.

"Yes," he said to thin air, "There's a spirit. I can't see it right now, but it seems very strong." Doumeki and Kagome turned to look at him, wondering if their companion had finally lost it completely, before they realized that he must be speaking with Yuuko via the adorable looking headphones.

"Tell Yuuko that it was dark and had the school wrapped in what looked to me like snake coils." Kagome ordered Watanuki.

"I don't have to, she can hear you." He muttered. He paused for a moment, then went frantic, with tears dripping from his eyes. "As expected!" He moaned. Kagome and Doumeki glanced at each other.

"Should we just ignore his insane and random responses to Yuuko?" She asked dryly.

"Probably. It'll save us some trouble."

"True." At this, Kagome went to the door of the classroom, and opened it. She could see twisting remains of spirit trails spiraling down the hall. Her nostrils flared, and her nose wrinkled as she took in a slightly acrid scent.

"Uggh! So disgusting!" Kagome turned to look at Watanuki, who was doubled over, with a hand over his mouth and nose. Doumeki looked completely unaffected.

"Doumeki, do you smell anything?" She asked, urgently.

"Nothing in particular. Does it have anything to do with what he's doing?" He answered, curious. Kagome nodded.

"I can smell something bad too. Not to the extent he can, true, but usually I'm not affected by smells. My mikoki purifies the air around me. Either we're dealing with something too powerful for us to handle, or, more likely, it's mixing with several things to produce get the smell as close to me as it can. Come on, we need to find where it's coming from. Watanuki-senpai? Are you ok?" Watanuki nodded.

"It's just the smell." They continued onward, leaving the door to the classroom open so they could find it when they got back. It wasn't long before they came to a set of stairs, and with a communal shrug, started climbing. They were almost to the third floor, when Watanuki spoke to Yuuko again. "It's stronger the farther you go up!" He sounded like he was on the verge of retching, so Kagome took over.

"Yuuko-san, I can smell it too. Not so much as Watanuki-senpai, but a little bit. It's like... burning garbage, although I don't think Watanuki-senpai is getting the burning smell. My guess is that part's from it interacting with my mikoki, as it usually purifies the air around me. It was faint on the first floor, but now it's very distinct."

"Yuuko says to tell you that you're probably right, and that we should keep going until we find the source." Watanuki said through clenched teeth. Kagome nodded.

"That's what I thought." As they continued to climb, Kagome began to slow. It felt as if someone was slowly but surely tying weights to her arms and legs, making it harder to move. She glanced back at Watanuki, noticing that her fellow spiritualist was moving even more slowly than she was. She wondered idly whether that was because she was used to having a slave-driver of a hanyou on her tail, forcing her to move long past her endurance, or that her particular brand of ability was less affected by this spirit. Given his reaction to the smell, she would guess the latter, or perhaps a combination of the two. "Yuuko-san, it's getting harder for Watanuki and me to move, almost as if something is pulling us back. It seems to be harder for Watanuki than me, and... Doumeki-senpai, is it affecting you at all?"

"No. Having spiritual powers must be very hard work." He told her dryly, observing their struggles. Kagome laughed.

"You have them, too. My guess is that you're just automatically exorcizing any spirit that comes near you. Lucky."

"Shouldn't you be purifying anything that comes near you?" He retorted.

"Yuuko says that she would guess that Kagome is purifying about twice as much of the spirit's energy as I'm being dragged down by." Watanuki told them, a trace of awe in his voice. "She says that they aren't even actually latching on to her, just something that she's carrying." Kagome sighed.

"I thought so. Remind me again, why did I get stuck with that thing?"

"She says because hitsuzen decided to give it to you." Kagome rolled her eyes.

"And people wonder why I say hitsuzen hates me." She muttered. Doumeki chuckled.

"WHAT?" Watanuki yelled. Kagome and Doumeki turned to stare at him.

"Umm... Watanuki-senpai, what I said wasn't that..."

"I think he was talking to Yuuko, Kagome." Doumeki pointed out. "What does she want you to say?" Watanuki's fist clenched, before he stuck out his tongue, made the sign for 'baka' at Doumeki, and turned to continue crawling up the stairs. "She wanted him to do that?" Kagome giggled.

"My bet is that she wanted him to say something like 'thank you for exorcizing enough of the spirits to enable me to walk." She said dryly. "Seems he just couldn't bring himself to do it." They found a small door marked "ROOF" on the next landing. Watanuki threw it open, and a blast of spiritual energy poured the door, knocking Watanuki off his feet, and Kagome grab onto Doumeki's arm to stay upright..

"What was that for?" Doumeki asked. "Did she tell him to fall over?"

"DEFINITELY NOT!"

"Watanuki-senpai was reacting to a blast of spiritual energy, Doumeki-senpai. So was I. I just decided to make sure I didn't fall." Kagome told him with a grin. "Come on, let's go on out..." As the trio stepped onto the roof, Watanuki and Kagome whirled to look at the right.

"What's that crying sound?" Watanuki asked, following the sound.

"Crying?" Doumeki asked, confused. Kagome turned to stare at him, wide-eyed.

"You can't hear it, can you?"

"Hear what?"

"Watanuki and I can hear someone crying... if you can't, then that means..." Kagome's eyes widened. "Watanuki-senpai! Watanuki-senpai!" She darted off after Watanuki, with Doumeki in her wake, hoping she wasn't too late to keep the older boy from doing something stupid. She found him standing in front of three girls at a table, two of them with a hand clenched around a moving pen.

"Quickly, release your hands!" He called.

"No! Angel will punish us if we do!" The girl who wasn't holding the pen answered, sounding borderline hysterical. Kagome's eyes narrowed.

"Doumeki... who is Watanuki talking to?"

"No one. At least, no one that I can see."

"That's what I thought you'd say. Let's hope he figures out that the girls aren't human before he does something really stupid, like try to make them let go."

"So, he's talking to spirits?"

"Yes. Or rather, three embodiments of the same spirit. I think it's the one controlling the Angel game."

"There are three girls playing Angel here." Watanuki said suddenly, Kagome guessed to Yuuko, "Then..."

"Who are you talking to? Is it Angel?" One of the embodiments asked, frantic. It was soon followed by the other two.

"Did he say "You guys go die! Don't think to go home!"

"Is that real!" The first embodiment, the one who wasn't actively playing, approached Watanuki, hands outstretched.

"Can you hear him with those? Quick, lend them to me, lend them to me!"

"Ah, I can't..." He clenched his hands over the headphones as the embodiment reached for them desperately. Suddenly the other two girls shrieked as their hands were once again pulled around wildly.

"My hands hurt!"

"We're all going to be cut into small pieces!"

"Just let go!" Watanuki yelled.

"We can't!"

"If we let go..."

"...There will be a punishment!" Watanuki grabbed the wrists of the two embodiments holding the pencil. Kagome blanched.

"Watanuki-senpai, don't–" She was too late.

"STOP!" Watanuki yelled, as he finally pried the embodiments' hands off the pencil.

"No!"

"No!"

"We'll be punished!" The embodiments shrieked.

"No, you won't, calm down." Watanuki told them soothingly, before turning and glaring at an ashen Kagome and glowering Doumeki. "Come help!"

"With what? You've been talking to yourself for the past five minutes. Kagome says there's a spirit there. Congratulations on scaring her with what you've done." Doumeki said coldly. Wide-eyed, Watanuki turned back to the embodiments, whose faces were twisted into insane smiles.

"We told you... by releasing our hands, there will be a punishment!" They backed Watanuki into the guardrail, and stretched out their hands to push him.

"Doumeki! They're going to push him off!" Kagome said, frantic.

"Not if I can help it." He muttered, and ran towards them. Kagome followed. They arrived just as Watanuki's body arched over the railing, and his feet left the ground. Doumeki seized the other boy's wrist, as Kagome watched the embodiments dissolve into one huge, gooey mass. Doumeki grunted. "He's deadweight. I think he fainted." He told Kagome, who could see that he was straining a bit to continue to hold onto his friend. She bit her lip.

"This isn't good..." she murmured.

"No. It's not." He agreed. "Watanuki! Watanuki!" He yelled down at his unconscious friend.

"Watanuki-senpai! Wake up!" Kagome called, her hands gripping the rail.

"Huh?" Watanuki mumbled, before suddenly yelling "WAAAAH!" as he fully came to.

"Quickly, come up!" Doumeki ordered.

"No need to say– AHH!" Kagome whirled at his second yell, and gasped to see the form of the spirit towering over them, holding the Angel sheet, and getting ready to swallow all three of them.

"What's behind me?" Doumeki demanded.

"It's the spirit from before." Kagome thought fast. She could set up a barrier, but it wouldn't be very strong, as no one had ever taught her anything beyond the very basics, and it would take most of her concentration. Still, it was the best option they had.

"Can you two manage without me?" She asked, her eyes locked on the spirit as it moved closer.

"Why?" Doumeki asked, suspicious.

"I can set up a barrier between the spirit and us, but it will take all my concentration to maintain it. Can you manage?" Doumeki nodded.

"Do it." Kagome turned back to the spirit, and let her eyes slide out of focus as she worked to raise a barrier, blocking out all sound and distractions to better concentrate on keeping her and her friends safe.

— - — - — - — - — - — - —

Doumeki kept his eyes on Kagome, half taking in Watanuki's one-sided conversation with Yuuko as he waited for him to climb up. Even with a vacant expression on her face, and her eyes completely out of focus, she looked as beautiful as always. He could just barely see a dim, flickering pink light, as if someone had lit a candle and separated it from him with several layers of thin cloth, forming a small sphere around the three of them. He wondered if this was her barrier. Even though he couldn't completely see it, he thought it was quite... pretty, in spite of its usefulness.

Trust Kagome to produce something both useful and pretty, that most of the world can't see. He thought dryly. If it wasn't for these powers that I apparently have, would I be just as blind to it?

Suddenly, Watanuki went very still, and Doumeki had the presence of mind to haul him over, a much simpler task now that the other boy had stopped squirming.

"That... that thing..." Watanuki murmured, stunned.

"What happened?" Doumeki demanded.

"The... thing that was wrapped around the school... it ate the other thing!" Watanuki stammered, then shook his head wildly, as if trying to clear a bad image from it. It sent the headphones flying to bounce off of Kagome's head, effectively snapping her out of her trance, before clattering to the ground a yard or so away.

"Huh? Is it... gone?" She asked, sounding as if she'd just woken up from a nap.

"Yes and no." Doumeki answered her, concerned in spite of himself. "How's your head?"

"Fine. I'm guessing Watanuki snapped me out of it? And what do you mean 'yes and no'?"

"Yep."

"And the big spirit from outside the school ate the trash heap!" Watanuki stammered.. Kagome turned very, very slowly around, stared at the place Watanuki had indicated the spirit to be in, then turned back to the boys with equal slowness.

"Watanuki. You kept me from keeping up my barrier now?" She demanded softly, as though trying to keep an angry beast from noticing them.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Watanuki wailed. Kagome glanced over her shoulder, and blanched. Doumeki was rapidly coming to the conclusion that he really wished he could see what had these two so freaked out. It had to be better than not having a clue. She turned back to Doumeki.

"There's a snake spirit. A very, very big snake spirit. It was what Watanuki-senpai and I saw wrapped around the school earlier." Kagome explained quietly, obviously not wanting to attract its attention.

"What do we do?" Kagome bit her lip.

"I don't know..."

"Don't ask me!" Watanuki yelled. "Even if I wanted to ask Yuuko, I can't because the ears are over there!"

"My barrier's not strong enough to keep it out... and I don't think I have enough energy left to purify it." Kagome murmured.

"TRY!" Watanuki yelled. Kagome glared at him.

"No. I'm not going to be able purify him, and if I try it will only make things worse."

"How?" Kagome started ticking things off on her fingers.

"Let's see, first off if we're lucky, I'll fall unconscious, so I'll be total deadweight. Second, it'll probably make him furious. Third, it means I won't be able to continue purifying something I'm in charge of, which will attract even more dark spirits when it rapidly corrupts. That's the best case scenario, by the way."

"Oh." Watanuki said very quietly, before screaming "Ah! It's looking this way! DON'T COME HERE!" Doumeki glanced in the general direction Watanuki was shrieking in, and saw absolutely nothing.

— - — - — - — - — - — -

Kagome, on the other hand, saw a gargantuan black snake rearing over them, with glinting golden eyes. Her mind flashed back to another set of eyes that were a similar shade, before she firmly dragged her mind back to the present. She tried to shake her head to clear it, and felt a heavy weight. Her eyes widened.

"That's... not good..." Doumeki turned to face her.

"What's not good?"

"I can't move?" Watanuki interjected, clearly attempting to move, and failing.

"That." Kagome said.

"Ah." Doumeki was inadvertently looking directly where the snake's eyes were. Kagome caught sight of a very slight shudder running through him. "So, this is what 'the snake having his eye on the frogs' feels like. I guess I know now." He murmured.

"Heh. Good assessment of the situation." Kagome agreed.

"HOW CAN YOU TWO BE SO CALM!" Watanuki shrieked.

"Oh, do be quiet Watanuki-senpai." Kagome scolded. "You're not helping the situation." The snake reared back, his mouth open wide.

"I'M GOING TO BE EATEN!" Kagome wanted to laugh at the irony. She had survived a year in the Sengoku Jidai... to be eaten by a giant snake spirit in the modern era. Such a pathetic end for the Miko of the Shikon no Tama. She never even had a chance to get rid of the thing.

"Oh being that has been here since ancient times!" A slightly tinny voice called. Four sets of eyes, three human and one snake spirit, locked on the discarded headphones. "Let me give myself as tribute to your great self!" The snake spirit shot forward and snatched up the headphones before slithering away.

"Looks like... we're saved. The binding's gone." Doumeki murmured.

"Phew! Too close..." Watanuki murmured.

"That was rather unpleasant." Kagome agreed. The boys stared at her. Watanuki's even dropped a few inches.

"How are you... just bouncing back?" He asked in awe. Kagome shrugged.

"After the first three near death experiences or so they stop phasing you." She informed them.

"After the first three?" Doumeki asked, his eyes narrowing. Kagome smiled sweetly.

"I kind of lost track after... twenty or so. Oh, don't look at me like that," She told the boys rolling her eyes. "It's a long story, and I'm not really in the mood to tell it right now. Let's get going, preferably before the snake comes back?"

"Good idea, Kagome-chan!" Watanuki agreed hastily, heading for the door.

"Still... it's a shame that those headphones are gone." Doumeki said musingly as he and Kagome followed. Kagome looked at him, tilting her head to the side.

"Why, Doumeki-senpai?" He grinned at her.

"Because it was interesting to see Watanuki look so dumb wearing them, of course!"

"DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO HIT YOU!" Watanuki screamed as Kagome burst into gales of laughter. Accompanied by a straight faced Doumeki, she left the rooftop, leaving behind the world of spirits for the night.

— - — — - — — - — — - — — - — — - — — - — — - — — - — — -

First of all, I am so, so sorry this took so long to get out! I was occupied with cramming five million things into my last week in Slovakia, flying back to the US, spending all of...15 hours in my hometown, then starting a Chinese program that has pretty much taken over my life. Sorry, sorry! I hope it was worth the wait!

So, the game of Angel has been played out. Next up, the Monkey's Paw. Scary, scary...