Hey people, I'm back! Sorry this took so long, but I was having a little writer's block, and then I got busy with my cousin's wedding, and getting a phone...sigh, so much happening, but I'm liking where this is going, so humour me, will ya?

Disclaimer: I already told you, get off my back, I'm making no money, just enjoy the story, for Christ's sake! Gawd!

Every Time We Touch

Kagome climbed out of the Well, and dragged her big yellow pack with her, grunting as she tried to heft it up onto her back. She turned on her Discman and cranked up the volume as she made her way to the village, looking for her friends.

She bobbed her head to the beat and snapped her fingers, and even sang a few bars out loud as Inuyasha followed her, right on her heels, all the way to Kaede's. He smiled at her back; she was such a weirdo sometimes, though her music was…interesting, to say the least.

He'd heard some of it when he went to her era, but hadn't really paid any attention to it, that is, until Kagome had decided to share her Discman and her music with Sango, who quickly grew attached, and the two were constantly sharing the "earphones" wherever they went, as long as they weren't battling.

As Kagome sang out loud, she was thinking about the gift she had for Sango in her bag; she was going to be so surprised! The bag bulged extra wide today, as she'd brought almost her entire collection of music from home. She grunted between bars as she shifted the giant bag to her other shoulder.

Kagome changed the song, and then she started dancing down the stairs to Kaede's hut, and Inuyasha watched with much amusement as she went up, then down, then up again in time to the music. He'd noticed her attachment to it lately, and something in the back of his mind wondered if she was becoming tired of him; he didn't share her interests, well, not many anyway.

He was a more practical kind of guy; he liked to be killing something, or rather, someone (namely Naraku, that bastard), whenever he got the chance. Kagome, though…she was different. He thought of the differences between her and Kikyou; how Kikyou was always sad and lonely, but Kagome, even though she may be lonely, was almost always smiling. He felt so much happier with her now than he had then with Kikyou. He wondered if he loved her. He felt something for her, he could tell that much. Exactly what though, he couldn't be sure.

With Kikyou it had been easy; she'd been the first one to give two shits about him, and he'd quickly returned the sentiment, not wanting her attention to end. She was always prim and proper, but she had been so…so…dull.

He blinked. Kagome executed a complicated step at the bottom of the stairs, and happened to look up and see him standing there. She waved and gave him a huge grin, then yelled, "Did you see all that?"

He nodded, chuckling. She smiled wider, and did another move that made him do a double take, it was so…provocative. She licked her finger slowly and pointed at him, then laughed and dashed away, the strains of her music fading with her.

Kagome flipped the reed door-flap aside and smiled at everyone inside. Kaede smiled in return, and nodded her head. She could hear the music, and knew better than to say anything when Kagome so obviously could not hear her.

Miroku nodded, and offered a little wave. She smacked him happily on the shoulder as she passed, and Shippo crawled up her leg to perch at her shoulder, and she ran her hand fondly through the fox-child's hair, smiling at him. Only Sango was missing.

"Where's Sango?" she yelled, turning off the music.

Miroku blinked his eyes, and responded, "She stepped out to bathe. She asked us to send you over when you came back."

"Great! Thanks!" she once again left, carting Shippo with her.

Inuyasha watched her leave, then followed, wondering where she was going now. He raised an eyebrow as Shippo asked her something he didn't quite catch; she responded by laughing and stuffing an earphone in his ear, turning the volume down, then watching with delight as he too began bobbing his head to the beat while they made their way to the hot spring.

They saw Hiraikotsu propped up against a tree before they saw Sango. She was nose-deep in the steamy water, and had her eyes closed, but Kagome and Shippo knew better than to surprise her; she could nail an enemy at one hundred paces in less than five seconds with that boomerang, and it did no good to scare her or catch her unawares.

"Sango!" Kagome called, and was happy to hear, "Kagome, is that you?"

Bursting through the shrubbery, Kagome threw her arms wide and said, "The one and only! And don't forget the lovable and adorable Shippo!" she lightly chucked his little chin and he blushed.
She began to strip, as did Shippo, who was out of his clothes in about two seconds before doing a belly flop that barely splashed Sango's hair.

She smiled indulgently at his behaviour; she missed the times when she herself had been able to be carefree, to worry about nothing…but those times were gone. Still, she reminded herself as she watched the bushes for spies as Kagome jumped in, they could all relax and have fun once in a while. Naraku was a bastard, but he wasn't so stupid as to constantly attack them; he preferred to think up elaborate schemes before jumping in and trying to massacre everyone, something which she was grudgingly thankful for, in a way. It gave them lots of breaks in which to unwind.

Kagome flapped her hands at Sango to regain her attention. "What is it, Kagome?"

"Guess what I brought for you!" Kagome squealed, and Sango laughed at her excitement. Kagome really was a true friend, someone who never hesitated to put others' needs before her own, or in this case, give gifts for no reason at all.

"I don't know, what did you bring me?" she asked, playing along.

Kagome grinned and said, "You're no fun, you know that? I can't stand the suspense anymore!" and she lunged for her bag, and digging inside, came up with a silver Discman and a pair of earbuds, still in the package.

Sango looked at her. She didn't…

"Kagome," she said, looking at her friend sternly, "What did you go and do?"
Kagome smiled. "Nothing that you don't deserve. My mom bought this for me for graduating, and since my old one still works great, I thought you should have it."

She unwrapped it and handed it to Sango.

Sango was speechless. She derived a great deal of pleasure from listening with Kagome to her music; she'd even begun to teach her how to dance like the girls in Kagome's era.

"Thank you," she said, and Kagome reached over and hugged her shoulders. "You are more than welcome, Sango. You know, I have three best friends back in my time, but none of them compare to the best friends I have in this time. You and the others…you've all been there for me, and I wanted to give everyone a little something in return for saving my ass so many times in the past," she confessed, and Sango thought this was a very mature thing for Kagome to do.

She put her gift on the grass behind her and said, "I can't wait to use it. Do you mind if I borrow your CD's?"

"You take whatever you want," Kagome said, and Sango smiled. "Thanks, again, Kagome."

"No problem, Sango. It was my pleasure. That reminds me…" she dove back into the pack, and came up with a white plastic bag.

"Shippo, this is for you." She and Sango watched with motherly indulgence as the kit opened up the bag, his eyes bulging with the amount of candy he found inside.

He flew at Kagome's neck and hugged her, crying, "Thank you, Kagome! I love you!"

She and Sango laughed, and Kagome played with Shippo's ponytail as he sat in her lap and perused the contents of the bag. There were Tootsie Rolls, suckers, sugar-coated gummies, big feet, hot lips, Swedish Berries, chocolate balls wrapped in foil, several large chocolate bars, and a roll of Bottle Caps. Under all that were candy necklaces, bracelets, and rings; lastly, Shippo pulled out a giant box of orange Tic Tacs, his favourite candy of all. He popped the box open and ate half of it right there.

"Slow down, Shippo," Kagome admonished, "you don't want to get sick. And it'll last longer if you spread it out."

He nodded, and closed the bag, stashing it next to his clothes before returning to bask in Kagome's lap.

Inuyasha, having followed Kagome, listened to this conversation from a nearby tree branch. He stayed out of sight; if either girl sensed him, he was done for, doomed to be teased for being a pervert like the monk. He chuckled; as randy as that dumb monk was, he had the right idea.

Inuyasha often found it impossible to stop himself from spying, if only to eavesdrop. He wondered what it was about men being drawn to naked women…

But, he had bigger fish to fry. Kagome had said she'd brought something for everyone. What had she brought for him, he wondered? As soon as he thought this, he began to wonder what he could give her in return. He thought of Kikyou.

He hadn't seen her in a while. The last time they'd met up, she hadn't tried to kill him, but she wasn't helping him and the others, either. He wondered just what it was that she had up her sleeve that made her so confident she could kill Naraku, while the rest of them were just chumps wasting their time. No, Kikyou was not who she used to be. The soft-spoken woman was no longer there; she resided in Kagome now, or at least her soul did. He smiled softly as he pictured Kagome in his mind, licking her finger and pointing to him.

He heard a rustle and froze as the girls and the kitsune passed beneath him, Shippo flashing him a grin and waving, but unable to speak around the giant lollipop in his mouth. Inuyasha went unnoticed as the girls walked away, back to the village.

He realised he'd been so lost in thought that he hadn't even heard them get dressed and prepare to leave the spring. He shook his head. Keep thinking like that and you'll be wrinkly before your time, old man, he berated himself as he waited a few moments, then followed the girls back to town.

Sango held the flap back for everyone entering the hut, coming in last herself. Kagome dumped her bag in the corner and took a seat, relieved to be out from under the big yellow burden. She rubbed her sore back.

"You know, if that bag gets any heavier, I'm going to have to hire a wagon to haul it around for me."

Miroku grinned as he glanced at her before stirring the soup in the pot hanging over the fire. Kaede had given him this one task, and he was trying valiantly not to botch it up, to impress Sango with his skills.

Sango flopped down and lay on a bedroll, tired but happy as she took out her new Discman and pressed Play. She mouthed the words to a song she loved as Kagome smiled happily, glad her friend liked her gift.

Which made the next recipient of her gratitude Miroku, the lecherous monk. Leaning over and once again delving into the bottomlessness of her bag, she withdrew a brightly wrapped present, covered with curly ribbon and everything.

Sango watched with interest as Kagome passed the somewhat large gift over the fire to Miroku, moving the pot aside so that the soup wouldn't burn while he wasn't paying attention.
Miroku accepted the gift, then looked back at her, and she urged, "Open it."

He removed the ribbon and carefully tore away the paper. What he saw inside made him smile. A lot.

It was flat, and not very thick, but he couldn't have been more pleased than if she had given him Sango to marry. The calendar, covered in women - in various states of dress - were enough to make the monk drool. Kagome and Sango laughed at his reaction.

"Oh, Miroku, I know I'm going to regret it, but I couldn't think of anything better than that to get for you. Since you've always been there for me, and always managed to make me feel better with the right words when I'm down, not to mention saving me on countless occasions, I bought you that calendar as a way to thank you for your thoughtfulness."

Miroku got up and pulled Kagome to her feet, then, he kneeled before her and wrapped his arms around her waist, in a deep hug. Kagome blushed, embarrassed as he said, "No, Lady Kagome, it is I who should be thanking you. I will cherish this gift for as long as I live!"

"I'm sure you will," Sango muttered as she leaned over to look at what was on the front of the calendar, only to be repulsed by the sight she saw there. What had Kagome been thinking?

Kagome, meanwhile, was pushing him away gently, saying, "Now, Miroku, just do me one favour."

He nodded. "Anything."

"Don't hang that thing where Sango and I can see it! It was embarrassing enough buying it, I don't want to see it ever again!"

He laughed, and agreed to her terms. He had already thought of a good place to keep it. Picking it up, he went and sat in the corner, tearing off the plastic and removing the cardboard to peruse the pictures more…thoroughly.

Shippo, leaning on a snoozing Kirara, said. "What a pervert. This is so not going to curb that idiot's impulses."

Kagome and Sango gasped. "Shippo!"

Sango hissed, "Don't encourage him, he's lecherous enough as it is!"

Shippo grinned. "Hey, everyone was thinkin' it, I'm just sayin' it." He shrugged, and both girls had to admit, as young and impressionable as Shippo was, he was right this time.

"Oh well," Kagome sighed, "hopefully he'll stop bugging people to bear his children now."
Sango snorted. "Don't count on it," was all she said before she turned her music back on, and she and Kagome watched the soup until it was done.

Inuyasha slept on the roof that night. He'd entered the hut for supper, expecting to be presented with his gift, but was disappointed as Kagome had chosen that time to give Kaede her gift, which turned out to be a thick book on plants and things to make from them. Kaede had loved it and hugged Kagome warmly, and everyone in the hut had been moved by the heartfelt way the two women regarded each other, like a grandmother would regard her granddaughter. Kagome had never known her grandmother, so Kaede was a perfect stand-in.

Kaede had never married, so she had neither children nor grandchildren, only the company of the village children until Kagome had wandered into her life. Kaede was suddenly more grateful for the girl than she had ever been before. Kagome really was special, she thought, watching silently as Sango and the boys congregated around her. She'd noticed that wherever Kagome went, happiness and laughter seemed to follow. And her spiritual powers…Kaede knew that Kikyou had been powerful, but that had only come after many years of gruelling training and self-discipline on Kikyou's part.

Kagome, however, emanated a raw power that hinted at invincibility. She needed training, that much was obvious, but she had so much going on in her life, Kaede couldn't bear to force her to take all the time out it would require to train her properly, so she took every opportunity she could when she could catch Kagome at a moment when she wasn't busy, or away hunting shards. It wasn't much, but she was improving; Kaede was amazed at how quickly she picked up her lessons in such short time.

Of course, Kagome would confer with any priestesses she met on the road, and would learn all she could from them as her group of friends passed through the villages, looking for signs of Naraku. So, she wasn't falling down on the job when it came to accumulating her priestess powers. She just tended to neglect exercising them as often as she should.

Inuyasha snorted as he listened to Kagome tell ghost stories. When it had been just him and her, in the beginning, she'd told him ghost stories that had secretly made his skin crawl, though he never let her know that. He'd already heard the one she was telling now, about the babysitter and the killer, what she referred to as 'Urban Legends', whatever those were.

Nonetheless, he enjoyed listening to her as she skilfully built up the suspense until he could imagine everyone keyed up, nervous, and scared. Before long she would get to the part about the killer being in the next room, and he predicted with eerie precision the second Shippo would scream and hide behind Sango.

Everyone laughed after that, but he'd heard Miroku's sharp gasp and Sango's skirt scrape the floor when she'd jumped.

"Wusses," he mumbled as he closed his eyes. Only he and the cat were left now, he remembered, and he felt reasonably sure that the cat would get her gift before he got his. A thought struck him: maybe she was saving the best for last? Yeah, that was it, he sighed as he relaxed on the roof, letting the slight breeze lull him into a light sleep.

The next morning, Inuyasha discovered that he'd overslept. Peering into the hut, he also discovered that it was empty. He frowned. Where'd everybody go? He sat back and looked over the town.

He spotted Kaede a ways across the river, speaking with the Headman of this village, who seemed pissed about something. Kaede just nodded at everything he said and looked past him to where some children were playing hide-and-seek.

A few huts down, Shippo was being chased by a group of little girls, who were screaming, "Come back, cutie! We wanna braid that pretty red hair!" Inuyasha laughed out loud and pointed at Shippo as he raced by, too preoccupied to tell Inuyasha off properly.

After the screaming ball of little girls had drifted past, he put his nose to the wind, searching…there he was.

Miroku was at the tree-line, looking around and checking to make sure no one saw him as he followed a contingent of women in white robes to the river, where they would bathe in the cool waters flowing there. Inuyasha smirked. Typical monk. What a damn pervert. Maybe he should put a bug in Sango's ear and sit back to enjoy the show…hehehe.

Sango…where was she? He spotted movement from a clearing by the God Tree, and found both of his female companions there, Kirara sitting nearby in her large form, keeping an eye out for enemies as the girls danced, Discmans on and stuffed in their pockets, while Kagome taught Sango another new step. He raised a brow as Kagome demonstrated first, then moved with Sango to help her copy her moves, but Sango failed the first few times and kept tripping over her own feet.

Eventually she mastered the new step, and could do it perfectly. Kagome applauded her efforts and the two took a break to share some soft drinks from Kagome's bag. He decided to get closer to watch the show. The girls had been practicing this "dancing" for quite some time now, and he hung around, out of sight of course, to see just how far they'd come.

He watched as they finished their drinks, then got up, and Kagome said, "Ok Sango, let's take it from the top."

Sango nodded and took a deep breath as they both pressed Play on the Discmans and, listening to the same song, put together all the steps Kagome had taught Sango over the last few weeks.
Inuyasha watched, impressed, if not a little turned on, by their performance. Some of the moves were…well, he wouldn't mind it if Kagome decided to dance for him, and him alone, that was for sure!

He backed away silently when they were finished, catching Kirara's eye and winking, signalling her to ignore him. She turned her massive head away, obeying his wishes. Her tails swished lazily as she warded off the flies that settled around her carnivorous jaws. Once she even tried to eat them, but they wouldn't go away. She snorted in irritation as the girls approached, Sango rubbing her head while Kagome scratched her ear.

Kirara leaned into both hands, that felt good. She whimpered when Kagome took her hand away, and walked to the nearby Well, jumped in, and disappeared. Sango said nothing; Kagome had told her that Kirara's gift would go bad and she had to give it to her when it was fresh. Kirara began to purr as Sango sated her itches and soothed her fly bites with vigorous rubbing. Sango came upon a bump in her fur and pried the hairs apart, revealing a distended and full-of-blood Myouga, and she plucked him out, asking, "You have news, Myouga, or are you just being your pesky self today?"

Myouga glared at her as she set him on her lap, and she looked back at him, unwavering, expecting an answer.

"I was just coming to warn Master Inuyasha of Lord Sesshoumaru's impending arrival. What he wants, though, I can't imagine."

Sango, lost in thought, absently began to roll Myouga around between her thumb and index finger, wondering what to make of this news. She should tell Inuyasha right away, she knew, but decided to wait for Kagome to return first.

"Okay, thanks Myouga," she said, and placed him back in Kirara's fur, where she knew he would prefer to be.

Myouga, unappreciative of her abuse, said nothing as he burrowed away into the firecat's warm fur.

A moment later Kagome reappeared, her hands full of a reddish paper-covered wad. Kirara growled with anticipation as she picked up the smell wafting from the paper.

"Here, Kirara," Kagome smiled as she set the paper before the cat. "Enjoy your steaks."

Kirara licked her fangs and nosed the paper apart, discovering five warm steaks within. She ate them in record time, and dragged the paper away to lick it and herself clean in the shade.

"You just missed Myouga," Sango said absently as she watched Kirara lick the bones from the meat clean.

"What did he want?" Kagome squirted some hand sanitizer on her palm to kill the germs from the raw meat and rubbed her hands together. "He said Sesshoumaru's coming to see Inuyasha, but he didn't know why," she replied.

"Hmm, you don't say," Kagome said as Kirara returned to the girls, rubbing her head up Kagome's back affectionately. Kagome scratched her ears and the big cat closed her eyes in pure delight.

"Well, I guess we should go tell him," she said, heaving a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. Sesshoumaru's arrivals were rarely good news, and she had a bad feeling about him today. She didn't know what he wanted, couldn't even imagine, but she knew it wouldn't be good. Not for any of them, anyway. The Western Lord was a stoic monolith of a man, the tallest she'd ever seen, not to mention handsome, but his brutality and cool veneer made everyone - except his retainer Jaken and his vassal Rin - avoid him like the plague, and for good reason.

Sesshoumaru had a reputation for murder, and, as his name implied, he was very good at it. Though he'd had ample opportunity to kill his brother, Kagome felt that he didn't because when it came right down to it, he just wasn't ruthless enough to kill his only brother, the only family he had left, regardless of his feelings.

Kagome gathered her things and Kirara carried the pack while she and Sango walked alongside her, heading back to Kaede's where'd they'd last seen Inuyasha.

Well, what do you think? It'll get good, I promise! Review my lovlies, and I'll do deds! Yay!