*Sigh* Look, people. I spend time calculating the cheapest airline flights to central Europe so I can plan a return trip to Slovakia. In other words, I'm certainly not getting the royalties from the XxxHoLiC or InuYasha franchises. That generally means that I don't own their copyrights. Ergo, they do not belong to me. They belong to CLAMP and Rumiko Takahashi respectively. Accept this, and move on with your lives.

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Yamaguchi Yuka got off the school arranged transportation in front of Kawabata Gakuen, and looked around inquisitively at the campus of her archery team's rival school. As she followed her teammates to the archery field, part of her mind recalled vaguely that this was the school that her middle school friend Kagome had chosen to attend. Her outlook on the day brightened considerably. She had not had a chance to see Kagome in months, and maybe she could catch her once her classes ended. It was not as though she would have a great deal to do during the tournament. She was acknowledged as the best female archer in the Tokyo area; most of the other girls shivered at the thought of having to shoot next to her. This tournament would be like all of the ones last year: completely dull, and easily won. If it was not for the fact that she really did love archery after her years of middle school, Yuka would have quit last year. Well, alright, so the fact that she had a crush on one of the male archers at this particular school did provide a very large incentive for archery to remain interesting, but still...

Yuka's first shock of the day came when she met her first group of opponents. One was a first year student of Kawabata Gakuen with long raven hair and blue eyes. Yuka blinked.

"Ka-kagome-chan?" She asked, slightly stunned. Kagome grinned back at her.

"Oh, hey, Yuka-chan! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"I didn't know you'd joined the archery club." Yuka said, feeling more than a little bit sorry for her friend. Clearly, she, like the other two girls they would be shooting against, had been offered up as a sacrificial lamb. Yuka felt rather bad about beating Kagome, and possibly dimming that smile of hers, but this was a competition, and she was not going to go easy on her, just because Kagome was a friend. She did not have time to think about it anymore, as shooting order was decided. Yuka would be going first, and Kagome, as the most junior of the competitors, would be going last.

All four girls entered the dojo, and bowed to the adjudicators, before Yuka approached the shooting line, and the other three girls went to kneel in the back. As always, Yuka took careful aim, and shot her first arrow. She scowled slightly once it hit the target. It was, as her first shot of the day tended to be, slightly out of the bull's eye. She took a deep breath, took her second arrow, and shot again. This one hit the center, and she smiled in approval as she went to kneel in the back, waiting for her second turn. The second and third archers of their group were, as expected, terrible. Then it was Kagome's turn. Yuka watched as her friend calmly approached the target, providing a stark contrast to the nerves of the previous two archers, drew her bow, swiftly aimed, and shot. Yuka had been prepared to see the arrow miss the target completely after such a hasty aim. Instead, her eyes widened as the arrow imbedded itself in the center of the target with a loud thunk. Yuka felt her jaw drop slightly, and before she could correct her facial expression, Kagome had another arrow knocked, and aimed. Yuka felt her jaw drop even further as this arrow also hit the target's center, clustering next to the first. Kagome visage was still calm and impassive as she returned to her place in the line of girls. Yuka got to her feet, resisting the urge to shake her head to clear it. She did blink rapidly several times, trying to convince herself that it was just a fluke, beginner's luck. There was no way that Kagome, dear, sweet, sick Kagome, could be a better archer than she was. It just wasn't feasible. Her next two arrows hit the center, and she returned to her place to wait for Kagome's turn. The other two competitors were out of the running at this point, but if both of Kagome's arrows hit in the bull's eye, then Yuka would be knocked out of the competition for the first time since she started high school. Yuka felt an uncomfortable nervous feeling as Kagome shot her first arrow with the same speed as she had the last two. It hit the center. Yuka felt her eyes widen slightly as Kagome drew her bow back, and released. If Kagome had followed this technique the last three shots, and hit the center, unless there was a fluke, this arrow probably would strike the center as well. Yuka's guess proved to be correct as Kagome's fourth arrow struck the center, nearly hitting her previous arrow. Yuka went into a daze, listening as the adjudicators pronounced Kagome the winner of the group, allowing her to continue on to the next group, and thanking the Yuka and the other two girls for their participation in the tournament. She was still in a daze as the girls left the dojo. She finally managed to regain her composure when she realized that Kagome was twisting her bow awkwardly, and biting her lip. Yuka forced a smile.

"Congratulations," She said quietly. She meant it. This was great for Kagome, even if she did not appreciate being knocked out so early. "I didn't even know you could do archery." Kagome smiled apologetically.

"Thank you. I learned while I was in the hospital. Good distraction, and all that. But you did really well, too! I wish we had been in separate groups, though..." She added wistfully. Yuka had to smile at that. That was Kagome, too nice for her own good.

"Naah, then you would have just beaten me in the finals. Either way, you would have won, so it's not as big of a deal." This was true, Yuka had to admit to herself. Kagome's shooting was significantly better than her own, meaning that there was no real way to avoid this outcome. Kagome blushed slightly.

"Thanks." She mumbled quietly. This really did make Yuka grin. Kagome was still the same as ever. Suddenly, an idea occurred to her.

"Still can't take compliments, huh? Come on. You can come sit with my friends and I since you probably haven't made any friends at your new school yet." Kagome bit her lip and looked away.

"Actually..." She began but was interrupted.

"Oi! Kagome!" Both girls turned, Yuka's eyes widening as she caught sight of the speaker, Doumeki Shizuka, the boy on whom she had held a mild crush for the past year. She immediately took note of the way Kagome smiled back at him. They obviously knew each other very well.

"Yes, Doumeki-senpai?" Yuka watched as her friend answered, her head tilting to the side inquisitively. Yuka felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. She had a bad feeling that this would turn into the Hojo fiasco all over again, with Yuka being interested in Hojo, Hojo being interested in Kagome, and Kagome being interested in someone else. At least this time she was only mildly interested in the boy. Besides, if she was lucky, she could report back to Hojo, and he would finally, finally ditch his interest of Kagome in favor of her.

"Come on, we're waiting for you. Watanuki brought bento." The boy told her calmly. Kagome's eyebrows rose.

"Really? He voluntarily brought you a bento? I'm in shock." She said sarcastically. Yuka watched in shock as the usually expressionless Doumeki offered Kagome a quick smirk.

"Yeah, you and me both. Come on. You haven't missed much. He hasn't gone crazy yet." Kagome laughed.

"I'll be there. Just a second." She turned back to Yuka, "I'm sorry, some of Doumeki's and my friends came to watch us, so we're eating with them. If you have a bento, you can come join us, if you'd like." Yuka nodded wordlessly, in shock, trying to process that not only did Kagome have friends, but she was comfortable enough with at least one of them to joke with him. This did not happen often. While Kagome had been openly nice and friendly to everyone in elementary and middle school, she had made close friends very slowly, not showing her sense of humor until she was very well acquainted with them. For Yuka, that had been the start of their second year together in elementary school. For Doumeki, that was at most four months after meeting him. Kagome smiled, waved and joined Doumeki, who was waiting for her. In a daze, Yuka went and collected her bento box, and walked over to where she saw Kagome sitting with Doumeki, another boy, and a girl. She paused for a moment, watching them.

The four clearly acted as a cohesive group, each member knowing their specific place. The boys sat on the outside of the group, Doumeki next to Kagome, and the other boy next to the other girl. The other boy seemed to be a source of entertainment, as the girl giggled at his wild actions, Kagome looked on with fond exasperation, and Yuka was fairly certain Doumeki was adding fuel to the fire. It looked like the group got together often, and replayed variations on this scene frequently. Finally, Kagome looked up, and smiled at Yuka.

"Oh! Yuka-chan! Come sit down!" Yuka approached hesitantly, unsure as to where exactly she should sit, until the other girl shifted so that she was farther away, and smiled.

"Here, you can sit next to Kagome-chan. I'm Kunogi Himawari! What's your name?"

"Yamaguchi Yuka." Yuka answered with a slightly tense smile. She did not feel as though she belonged there, sitting in the middle of that happy group of friends.

"Yuka-chan, you already know Doumeki-senpai, but I don't think you know Watanuki-senpai, do you?" Kagome asked. Yuka shook her head.

"No..."

"Then this is Watanuki Kimihiro-senpai, who works with me at my part-time job." Kagome informed her, indicating the other boy, who stood and bowed.

"It's nice to meet you, Yamaguchi-san."

"It's nice to meet you too, Watanuki-san." Yuka replied politely. Watanuki took his seat, and turned to Kagome.

"Speaking of work, Kagome-chan, are you going to the shop after the tournament is over?" Kagome nodded.

"Yes, Yuuko-san wanted me to stop by at least. I don't think she's going to keep me very long. What about you?" Yuka watched stunned as Watanuki's previously cheerful countenance turned into a dark scowl.

"The witch is making me show up too! Why, WHY I ASK YOU!" He yelled suddenly, making Yuka flinch away, more than a little scared. She glanced at Kagome, who seemed to find this completely normal.

"Probably because she can't cook, whereas you in particular can." She answered calmly. "Watanuki-senpai, could you calm down a little? Your foray into psychotic rant mode is scaring Yuka-chan."

"Heh. You think Watanuki is capable of snapping out of it?" Doumeki asked, his tone flat. Kagome suddenly became very interested in a sushi roll as Watanuki started to yell at Doumeki. Himawari giggled cutely at the sight, while Yuka glanced between the two of them in stunned horror. Seeing her friends fear and confusion, Kagome explained.

"It's their... unique way of expressing friendship. Doumeki-senpai riles up Watanuki-senpai, and Watanuki-senpai reacts. It's weird, I know, but you get used to it." Yuka blinked, her face resembling that of a trauma victim.

"They do this on a regular basis?" She asked, incredulity and fear creeping into her voice. Kagome and Himawari looked at each other, and shrugged.

"Pretty much, yeah. I've yet to see a time when they don't. Although..." Kagome paused for a moment, considering, "Watanuki-senpai doesn't always react quite so strongly. Just usually."

Yuka tried not to think about this as she finished her bento as quickly as she possibly could. Watching the quartet of friends was too... depressing. It was like watching a play without having seen the first act, she decided. She could barely catch some of the humor, but so much of it depended on shared history that Yuka could not follow it. Furthermore, she could tell that Watanuki, Himawari, and Doumeki were trying to include her for Kagome's sake, but they did not really know what to do with her. Yuka did not blame them. The situation was beyond weird, and uncomfortable. As soon as she finished, she made her excuses, and got up to leave.

"Oh, I'll walk you back to your friends!" Kagome offered. Yuka nodded, looking forward to some time with Kagome without her friends. Once they were a ways away, Kagome turned to her. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about the fact that you wouldn't know anybody but me. That must have been so awkward for you." Yuka smiled reassuringly. This Kagome she knew and understood.

"Don't worry, it's ok." She decided to go on to the usual campaign. "You know... Hojo-kun said to tell you hello if I saw you!" Kagome's smile turned immediately and noticeably forced.

"Did he? That's..." She sighed, and looked Yuka right in the eye, "Kind of annoying. Please, stop trying to pair me up with Hojo-kun. I'm not interested in him. I was never interested in him. And while I know you girls want me to be happy, forcing Hojo-kun on me isn't the way to do it."

"B-but, Hojo-kun really likes you!" Yuka protested.

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I'm just not interested." Kagome said firmly. "Look, there are your friends. I'll see you later." With that, Kagome turned, and returned to her friends.

Yuka did not see her for the remainder of the tournament, except for when she took the prize for first place in the female division. She felt a little sad theat they had parted on such negative terms, and decided that the next time they had an archery tournament together, she would apologize.

After the archery tournament, Kagome and Watanuki were pelting down the streets to Yuuko's shop. The tournament had run over, and they were late. Very late.

"The two of you just had to stay in until the championship round!" Watanuki muttered at Kagome, who glared in response.

"No one said you had to stay the whole time." She snapped. Watanuki ignored her in favor of his internal dialogue.

"I gotta figure out what to make... it's cold, so something hot would be best, but that would take too long!" Kagome started to roll her eyes, then stopped suddenly, sniffing the air. She put out an arm to stop Watanuki as well.

"Do you smell that?" She asked. Watanuki paused to sniff the air, then went into joy mode.

"Waaah, it smells delicious! Where is it coming from?" Kagome smelled for a long moment before pointing to her left.

"That way, I think." The two teenagers followed the scent to a small, slightly old fashioned food vendor's stand, which was clearly the source of the smell.

"Maybe they give free samples!" Watanuki cheered. Kagome laughed.

"Hey, if it's as good as it smells, you could take some of it to Yuuko for dinner." She advised, and Watanuki perked up at the thought.

"That's a good idea, Kagome-chan! Let's go see!" She laughed, and turned back to the food stand... and froze. Watanuki glanced over at her to see her staring straight at the stand, the fingers wrapped around the strap of her bag clenched so tightly her knuckles were white. The expression on her face was one he had never seen before, and he sincerely hoped that he would never have to see again, on anyone's face. It was like she had seen something that she once had, and wanted it again so badly, but she knew she would never be able to. Watanuki turned to see what she was staring at, and saw a fox kit, carrying a few bowls, and dressed in traditional clothing with an apron. At that instant, the fox kit looked over at them... and shrieked in perfect unison with Watanuki, sending his bowls flying. Kagome proceeded to shoot a dirty look at Watanuki before walking towards the fox, and bending down to retrieve the bowls. Slowly, she offered them to the kit with a gentle smile.

"I think these belong to you, ne? It's alright, we won't hurt you. Don't worry." Watanuki watched as the kit seemed to calm at her soothing words and tone, and hesitantly reached out to take the bowls, before stammering out a very quiet noise that Watanuki could not quite make out. Kagome's smile widened.

"Think nothing of it. You remind me of someone I once knew, a long time ago." A distant and strangely wistful look crossed her face, and she closed her eyes. "A very long time ago..." She murmured again, before shaking her head and resuming a smile. "Besides, it's been a long time since I've seen a kitsune youkai, and they're always fun to meet." The kit giggled slightly, and a curtain above their head rustled, before opening to reveal a full-grown kitsune with a set of small glasses perched on his nose.

"Welcome to the shop! Oh, humans! Two of them!" He said, sounding startled, "We don't get those very often." At this Watanuki freaked out again.

"Ka-Kagome-chan, i-it TALKED!" Kagome rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Of course it talked, Watnuki-senpai, it's a kitsune youkai, not a normal fox." She scolded him. "You can sense the supernatural, you ought to be able to tell." She rested a soothing hand on the top of the kit's head, who had decided to cower behind her as a means of getting away from Watanuki. The older kitsune smiled at the scene, before beckoning to the two of them.

"It's cold outside. Come on inside." Kagome nodded before entering the shop with the kit in tow. Just as she was about to close the curtain, she turned and looked back at Watanuki expectantly, as if to say 'Well? Are you coming?'. With a shake of his head, Watanuki followed her inside.

When Kagome had seen the kistune youkai kit, all she could think about was her own kitsune kit, and the sorrow hit her like a ton of bricks.

Oh Shippou, my baby... how did you manage after I was gone? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I didn't want to leave you, but... what choice did I have? I wanted to go back and take care of you... When the kit had shrieked, she had responded instinctively, immediately going into mothering mode. She had followed the youkai without a qualm, entering the domain of a neat, brightly lit little shop, and took a seat, setting her bag next to her. Watanuki sat down next to her, looking awkward. The boy then turned to the older kitsune as he prepared some food, and asked hesitantly,

"Umm...Are those costumes?"

"No," the adult kitsune answered serenely, "This is our usual clothing. We've been running this nights-only stand for a long time now, but we can count the number of human customers on one hand." The kitsune studied the two of them for a long moment before adding "The two of you have pretty strong powers, don't you?" Watanuki looked shocked.

"You can tell?" He asked, sounding awed. Kagome shook her head.

"If we didn't, we probably wouldn't be able to see the shop, or them for that matter, Watanuki-senpai." She pointed out, "Otherwise, they'd have more human customers." The elder fox smiled at her.

"Exactly right, miss! If you don't mind, I'd like to thank you for not purifying us on sight. As you can see, we're not doing any harm, unless making oden constitutes harm nowadays. One never can tell, with humans." Kagome laughed.

"No, it still doesn't! Don't worry, I don't purify youkai unless I have to." She reassured him.

"An admirable way of looking at things. Miko have made a great deal of progress since the Shikon no Miko." Kagome jumped a little at the sound of her title.

"You know of her?" She asked softly. The adult kitsune looked at her as though she was crazy, before setting a bowl of each oden in front of her and Watanuki.

"Of course I know of her. We count her as the mother of our clan of kitsune. She raised our founder... oh. Of course. You wouldn't know that... Are you quite alright?" He asked, his concern evident. Kagome noticed that she was shaking like a leaf, and that tears were forming in her eyes.

"What? Oh, yes, I'm fine. It's just... I knew a kitsune youkai. A very long time ago. Your little one reminds me of him a bit." She explained, and the older one nodded sagely.

"Ahh, yes. I see. Do you know the story of the Shikon no Miko?" Kagome smiled.

"I live on the shrine that was built in honor of the Goshinboku. I know her story well... although we do tend to gloss over the details about how she adopted a kitsune youkai kit when we tell it to visitors." The fox chuckled.

"That would make sense, I suppose. Shippou was a great clan leader. He never gave up hope of seeing her again. He did manage it once, just before he died." Kagome's eyes locked on the older youkai.

"He did?" The kitsune nodded sagely.

"It must have been, goodness, twelve years ago? He came back to the shop with the brightest smile on his face, said that he had seen his mother again for the first time in nearly five centuries, and that she had given him flowers, sat on his lap, and listened to the stories that she had told him back in the day." Her eyes widened, and she frantically began digging through her memories, trying to remember...

"Ohayo, ojii-sama. Would you like some flowers? Kagome picked them just for you, because you seem so lonely, Ojii-sama!"

"Thank you, little one. Aren't you a pretty little thing? You look just like my mother did, you know."

"Really, ojii-sama?"

"Oof, a little heavy, aren't you? But yes, child. Exactly like her. Would you like to hear a story she told me, little one, and maybe keep an old man company for a while?"

"Mmm!"

"The old man... the one who came on my birthday..." She whispered softly. The fox, who had turned to speak with Watanuki, whipped his head back around to look at her with lightening speed, noting the look of shock and loss on her face, before reaching the appropriate conclusion. Kagome could see it in his eyes. Slowly, he turned back to Watanuki, as Kagome began to eat the oden in front of her.

"It's delicious!" She complimented the fox with a smile. "Oden has always been my favorite!" The fox looked at her, no surprise in his eyes.

"Father always said that it was his mother's favorite, and that he wanted to be able to give her some the next time he saw her..." He sighed, "I guess he never did manage that part. He died a few weeks after that last time... Well, he was old. It was his time." Kagome nodded slowly.

"Yes... I suppose it must have been." She resumed her eating more slowly, before noticing the kit looking at the two bags, which she and Watanuki had placed together on the bench. She smiled at him. "Is there something you wanted, little one?" The kit's tail puffed out in shock, before he ran behind the doorway. The older fox chuckled at his son's antics.

"I would guess that one or both of you have something interesting your bag. He likes interesting things, and always manages to sniff them out." Kagome laughed.

"Shippou always knew when I had pocky. Always." She murmured softly, before opening her bag, and looking through its contents. Tucked in a corner, she found a nearly completed set of prayer beads, which she removed, and placed on the table in front of her, before going through Watanuki's bag. Eventually, she found the shaft of one of Doumeki-senpai's arrows. She smiled slightly. That would do it. The shaft of an arrow used by an exorcist would definitely be counted as special by a youkai child. "I think this might be it." She told Watanuki softly. "It's either the arrow shaft, or my prayer beads. Or possibly both." She turned back to the kit, who had poked his head around the doorway, and smiled.

"It's fine, you know," She told him, "If you want the beads, let me finish them, and I'll give them to you, alright?" Judging from the stars that appeared in the kit's eyes, that was definitely fine with him. Watanuki picked up the arrow shaft, and held it out to the kit, smiling softly.

"It's just the end of a broken arrow, the one with the fletching." He told the kit, explaining, "Doumeki won his meet with this arrow, but since it broke, he threw it in my bag, the little creep."

Ahhh, so that's why nothing weird attacked us. Kagome thought as she slid the second to last prayer bead on the strand, Doumeki-senpai made sure Watanuki-senpai and I had some of his power as protection. That was sweet of him... The kit looked at the arrow in awe, clearly enthralled. Watanuki watched him, evidently confused.

"Is this what you wanted?" The kit rather adorably looked down, and rubbed his paws together, showing his embarrassment at being caught. Watanuki held out the arrow shaft. "It's yours. Take it."

"Ehhh?" the kit squeaked, shocked. Kagome smiled slightly as she tied off the beads, and bowed her head to pray over them, asking the kami to protect the wearer of these beads... especially if the wearer was the rightful owner, the little kitsune youkai who Kagome supposed was, in a rather roundabout fashion, her great-grandson. "Can I?" He breathed.

"Sure." Watanuki said, a grin on his face. Reverently, the kit took the arrow shaft out of Watanuki's hands, and rubbed the soft fletching against his cheek. "Thank you!"

"Thank you very much," the elder fox said, patting his kit on the head, "Here's what we'll do. Let's call that payment for two servings of oden."

"Ehhhh? That's not payment! And it's not even mine to begin with..." Watanuki protested.

"Oh, it's payment aplenty." The fox assured him, before handing him a set of wrapped oden bowls, clearly meant to be their equivalent of a to go box. "Oh, and take this. It's my gift to the people at your destination." He told Watanuki, who suddenly jumped.

"AH! You're right, I have to run! Come on, Kagome-chan!" Kagome, who had just finished her prayers rose from her seat slowly.

"Just a moment, Watanuki." She said softly, before kneeling down in front of the kit with a smile. Gently, she placed the prayer beads around his neck. "There. That's my gift to my great-grandson." She whispered softly, so only the kit, and perhaps his father, could hear her. "They should keep you safe, ne?" She ruffled the fur at the top of his head, before getting to her feet, and joining Watanuki. "I guess we really should be going..." She said slowly. The older fox nodded, before bowing.

"My best regards to Yuuko-san." He told them, before the oden shop vanished around them, taking the two kitsune youkai with it.

"Ehhh?" Watanuki yelped, startled. "An illusion? But... the oden's still here..."

"I'm not sure. Yuuko will probably know. Let's ask her when we get there." Kagome said softly, and began to walk the rest of the way to the store. She had a lot to think about.

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

Thus, the fox oden shop arc has been completed! Merry Christmas, Happy Hannuka, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Winter Solstice, or Happy We-Don't-Really-Celebrate-Anything-Right-Now-But-It's-Winter-And-Everyone-Else-Is-Getting-Stuff-So-We-Want-Stuff-Too!

I only have one final exam left, and then the semester will be OVER! If you're lucky, I'll get something up during break. We shall see.

I just couldn't resist the idea of Kagome a)having met Shippou again when she was a little girl, and b)being related to the fox oden foxes. Don't ask me why, I haven't got a clue. Blame the plot bunnies!