Smells Like Magic

I do Not own Inuyasha! This is purely fan made!

A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews.

Chapter 3: The Smell of Magic?

Kagome stood there nervously. What the hell did Shippo find?! Glancing over at Kagura, Kagome realized that the wind witch was in no way going to be helpful as she watched her double over laughing... Which caused Kagome to scowl. 'How does Shippo always get me into these situations?!'

Looking down at Shippo, she watched him tilt his head curiously as he flicked his tails back and forth, innocently. She frowned.

"MIKO... MY BALL! ...NOW!!" Hisoka's gurtaling growl brought Kagome's attention back him.

Kagome hesitated slightly before her eyes narrowed at him. Why was he frazzled over a little ball? ...Was it sentimental to him? ... No, it had to be something more, something more important. "What is it?"

Hisoka tensed and Kagura laughed harder. Kagome scowled, she hated to be left out of the loop!

"IT IS NOTHING... IT IS JUST VERY VERY VERY VALUABLE TO ME..." Hisoka hesitated now that he realized Kagome didn't actually know what it was that she had in her hands. "MY BALL, PLEASE."

Kagome lifted an eyebrow as she watched the Kurogitsune hold his palm up, waiting for her to hand his ball over.A youkai had just said please to her... And not just any youkai... A Daiyoukai, and a stranger to boot. ' Okay, something is up. No stranger of the youkai kind has ever been polite to me right off the back... Especially a Daiyoukai!'

Kagome gave him a skeptical look before hesitantly stepping back. "Kagura... Why is the ball important?" Kagome watched Hisoka carefully.

Kagura tried her best to stifle her laughter before shooting Hisoka a devious look. 'Pay back is truly a bitch!' Kagura gave another amused snort before looking at Kagome. "Kagome, you are holding his Star ball!"

Hisoka growled at Kagura and Kagome looked confused. "What the hell is a star ball?!"

Kagura smirked. "A star ball is a kitsune's most prized possession. Their spirit and power is linked to it..." Kagura's smirk turned into a full blown grin as she continued. "And whoever possesses it has control over the kitsune it belongs to... They are forced into service of the one who holds it."

Kagome gasped, no wonder Hisoka is pissed. A key word Kagura said sunk into Kagome's brain a second later. 'Whoever holds it, huh...' The cogs in her mind started to turn. Now don't get the wrong idea, she by no means wanted to force Hisoka into anything but... Kagome looked down at Shippo. She was desperate, she had to find a way to help Shippo.

If the ball was a kitsune's most prized possession then that meant every kitsune had one... Meaning Shippo knew exactly what this was when he found it. 'And he rolled it to me.'

Looking down at the black ball clutched between her palms, Kagome began to lightly tap her finger against it as she finally made up her mind. Her eyes zeroed in on Hisoka. "Let's make a deal, Hisoka."

Hisoka tensed, it was just as he feared. Clinching his fist and gritting his teeth, Hisoka closed his red eyes and took a calming breath. "What do you want miko?"

Kagome relaxed slightly as he calmed himself down but she could still tell his beast was very much present by how deep his voice still was...And his eyes were still red. Kagome nodded towards Shippo. "I need your help with my kit."

Hisoka's brows furrowed as he looked at the miko's kit. 'Her kit?!' He was just as confused as his beast. He looked back over at the miko. The kit in question had to be over 50 years of age and the miko looked no older than 20... And by her scent he could tell she was still pure, which left only one option. She adopted him... Which was odd. In all of his 2,500 years of life he has never come across a human of holy nature that had adopted a youkai child... Let alone, claimed one. "Your kit? I was not aware that holy people had started claiming youkai children now...How interesting."

Kagome shrugged. "Shippo is not just mine... Shippo is pack, and I am alpha in my pack... Therefore, it is my responsibility to make sure he is cared for and to help him when he needs it... And right now, he needs it."

Both of Hisoka's eyebrows raised, disappearing under his bangs, in disbelief before he let out a hearty chuckle. 'pack?' Didn't the silly female know that kitsune don't form packs.... But that little statement told Hisoka alot about the miko that stood before him.

Humans are not pack creatures, they for the most part just stick to their families and that was it but even that was questionable considering how many betrayed their kin. So the simple fact that this miko had not only claimed a kit but also knew and exhibited pack behavior told Hisoka that she was influenced somehow by a canine youkai. He studied her closely. "Hmmmm ... Is he a wolf? Inu? Or perhaps he is a coyote or jackal?" Hisoka gave a small frown as he thought about it. "Maybe a raccoon dog... Hmmm?"

Kagome was confused... And she hated to be confused. It just makes her want to pout... And she was too old to be doing that. "What are you talking about?!"

"Your alpha... Pack mentality does not come to humans easily, so what type of youkai is he?" Hisoka smirked, completely finding her adorable when frustrated.

Kagome pouted but shrugged. "I am alpha, but my beta is a male Inu hanyou."

This shocked Hisoka, not the fact that she was alpha per say but that a male Inu hanyou was her beta?! Usually canine hanyou do not form packs, instead they just exist alone in solitude. This male had to be strong if his instincts were this high... And if she was alpha, that meant she was stronger. "Interesting..."

Kagome shook her head and sighed, her status in her pack was not important right now... Shippo was. With that thought in mind, Kagome pointed down at the kit. "You help me with getting him out of his transformation and I will gladly hand you back your star ball thingy."

Hisoka scowled, "It is not a thingy!" but none the less he waved the kit closer before examining him. Slowly he circled around the small kit, looking him over before he frowned. "This is an unnatural transformation."

Kagome's breath hitched as she started to worry. "What do you mean? Can it be reversed?"

Hisoka shrugged before he knelt down in front of the kit and started to yip at him. Kagome listened with worry in her heart as the two kitsune spoke to each other in yips and small growls. They spoke for a good five minutes before she saw Hisoka nod and slowly stand up.

"It is as I feared, the kit was forced into an early transformation. The Leash he was learning from was attacked by another rivalling Leash... Where does your pack reside?"

Kagome started to slowly pace. "We live in Edo."

Hisoka nodded in understanding. "Edo is in the East territory. I have no authority there since my alliance is with the West...Daichi and I are not on good terms either. From what the kit has said, this sounds like the Leash he was learning from was attacked due to a territorial dispute. He was not the only kit there that was forced into an early transformation."

Kagome lightly bit into her lip as she absorbed the given information. "Who is Daichi? If I go to him will he help?"

"He is the kitsune Daiyoukai of the East... And as far as helping you, not likely. He is not fond of humans... Or mikos." Hisoka told her with a shrug.

"I thought the wolves ruled over the East?" Kagome asked with slight confusion. She remembered Kouga telling her this a couple of years back.

"They do, kitsune are not interested in ruling large areas, or over other species. Every territory has a kitsune Daiyoukai that keeps the others of our kind in check since we tend to get out of hand otherwise."

Kagura gave a soft snort of amusement. "That is an understatement."

Kagome paced quicker. "Well, is there anything you can do to help him?"

Hisoka grimaced before slowly shaking his head. "The kit was attacked by a kitsune that has mastered the element of time... I, unfortunately, have not studied that element. I have only mastered the elements of fire, void, spirit, and sound magic."

Kagome stared at him blankly. "okay... What does that mean?"

Hisoka sighed before plopping down on the floor. "What do you know of the thirteen elements?"

Kagome shrugged. "Nothing..."

"Kitsune can learn up to thirteen different elements. As a kit, we all start off with the fire element, which is the control over fire. It is the easiest of the elements for us to learn. The other twelve are; Wind, earth, river, thunder, forest, mountain, ocean, void or also known as dark, sound, spirit, time, and celestial. The more tails a kitsune has, the more elements they probably know." Hisoka paused to see if the Miko understood what he was saying before he continued.

"I myself have mastered 4 of these elements. Fire, naturally, since that is always the first to be taught within a Leash. Since I am also a Kurogitsune, I have also mastered dark magic, which ables me to manipulate shadows and summon creatures of the dark. The magic of sound ables me to use sound and music to manipulate others into doing my bidding... And spirit magic allows me to summon and manipulate the spirits of the underworld." Hisoka paused again as he turned to rifle through a pile of empty sake jugs for minute before magically pulling out a full one.

"The kitsune your kit came across was a master of time magic, which ables one to speed or slow down time... Or in this case, cause their target to mature before they were ready. Kitsune grow the more they learn and since your kit has not mentally reached the stage to be able to handle a transformation, he is now stuck. The only way to reverse this is with the help of a kitsune who has mastered time magic." Hisoka finished and took a deep swig from the sake bottle.

"Well, do you know any fellow kitsune who have mastered this time magic?" Kagome was starting to get frustrated and tried to resist the urge to cry as she watched Hisoka shake his head no.

"The mastery of time magic is a difficult one... And very time consuming." Hisoka chuckled at his own joke and Kagome scowled, very much not amused.

"But you could learn it easily enough." Kagura finally butted in.

Hisoka sent the witch a glare. "Oh?"

"The Western Shiro has the biggest library in Nippon. I know that Sesshoumaru-sama has scrolls about the thirteen elements. Don't play dumb Hisoka." Kagura crossed her arms as she leaned against the doorway.

"No! Absolutely not!!" Hisoka hissed as he took another swig.

"Yes, you absolutely will. You forget fox that the Miko holds your star ball. You will help her kit. So it's time to quite pouting and get your butt over to Sesshoumaru-sama's study and apologize for your behavior... Even Grovel if you have too." Kagura stood her ground firmly and Hisoka hated it!

"He will kill me!" Hisoka stressed, trying to convince Kagura that this would be a bad course of action. "Then what good would I be?"

"Stop exaggerating, you two fight all the time. Go over there, grovel, and tell him that a Leash dispute has come to your attention and you need to learn a new skill... Which I am sure he will not refuse since the stronger you are the more likely you will be able to handle the problem and the less likely he will have to step in." Kagura continued and Kagome couldn't have been more grateful, all while Hisoka sulked. "... And you know how much he hates dealing with the Leashes."

Hisoka sighed as he slouch back, knowing Kagura was right but not wanting to admit it. He has been away from the Shiro for about 4 moon cycles now... So it should be okay for him to return... Hopefully. Letting out a soft growl, Hisoka finally caved in. "Fine... But what about the Miko and her kit?"

Kagome looked back and forth between the two in confusion. "What?"

"We can't just leave her here... And I can't take her to the Shiro. The kit will be fine, as a matter of fact I can bring the kit to Sesshoumaru-sama so he can get all the details of what happened-"

"NO!!!" Kagome bolted forward and grabbed her kit, clutching him close. Hisoka raised an eyebrow.

Kagome chuckled nervously. "Let's just say that Sesshoumaru-sama isn't fond of me... And he will know who Shippo is."

Hisoka's other eyebrow raised. "Sesshoumaru-sama isn't fond of anyone... But now I'm curious."

Kagome tensed but soon relaxed as Kagura saved the day. "A tale for another time Hisoka, let's stay on point. Kagome will be fine, she has her own little business to keep her busy but the two of them, or at least she, can not go walking about like they are, so I was thinking..."

It was Hisoka's turn to tense up, the witch thinking was never a good thing when it involved him. "I'm not sure I want to know."

Kagura rolled her eyes. "Your a kitsune Hisoka... So use some of that kitsune magic of yours and disguise her."

Hisoka looked over at the Miko as Kagura's words sunk in. It would be easy enough for him to do, all he would need is a charm. There was only one problem though... How to make a Miko smell like a Youkai. "I can disguise her as a kitsune so that way people will not question the kit following her around but the problem is her scent. Others will smell that she is not Youkai."

Kagura 'hmmed' as she thought about the problem but soon found the answer. "Kagome makes this cream that can mask your scent. She can use that."

Kagome tilted her head in confusion. "You mean my lotion?"

Kagura nodded.

"She will need to smell like her kit." Hisoka further added.

"What does he smell like?" Kagome asked as she looked down at Shippo and ran her fingers through his fur.

Hisoka sniffed lightly. "Like Autumn... And magic."

Kagome stopped her petting and gave Hisoka a disbelieving look. "And what the hell does magic smell like?!"

END OF CHAPTER 3

TERMS

Kitsune- A fox youkai.

Kurogitsune- A black kitsune, usually they are foxes that dabble in dark magic.

Nogitsune- A malicious kitsune, also know as a Yako, but yako can also be used in reference to a young/inexperienced fox or a fox that is considered the lowest rank.

Thank you for reading! I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. Feel free to review, I would love to know what you all think!

Until Next Time...

-Peach