Kagome fingered the jewel, glancing at Kaede. "Are you sure this is the Shikon no Tama? It looks just like a marble."

There was a bark of laughter, and Kagome turned indignant eyes upon the source. "Why don't you just hand over that useless marble to me then?" Inu- Yasha asked, smirking at the girl.

"Do I look that stupid?" Kagome asked, annoyed. She gave a pointed look at the prayer beads around his neck as he opened his mouth to answer. The half-demon subsided with a light grumble, sulking from his position on the floor.

"Inu-Yasha, why are you still here?" Kaede asked. "Looking for an opportunity to steal the jewel?"

"Glad to see you haven't lost your wits," the hanyou responded gamely, giving the old woman an annoyed look. "You haven't grown old just for show."

Kaede sat down peacably by Kagome. "Now that the jewel's back in the posession of this village-"

"It won't stay there," Inu-Yasha interjected, a look of grim pleasure on his face as he faced the two. "You'll have more demons than you can handle, all converging on this place within a matter of days. The jewel will be back in my hands in short order."

Kaede gave him a pointed look. "What do you plan to do if a stronger demon gets ahold of the jewel?"

Inu-Yasha rolled onto his back to look at the old woman. "I can handle any demon."

"Confident, are we?" Kagome asked dryly.

With a smirk, the hanyou flexed his claws in the air, not bothering to look in her direction. "Now, how confident are you?"

Kagome groaned, and turned a pleading look on Kaede. "Do we really have to put up with him?"

The old priestess scooped some soup into a bowl and handed it to her. "Our options are to hand over the jewel to him, or to put up with him. I'd certainly choose the latter." She set another bowl on the floor near Inu- Yasha, who glanced at it disdainfully.

Kagome sighed. "Well, it'd help if he wasn't so cocky. I'm half-tempted to let him destroy the world, just so I don't have to listen to him brag anymore." She subsided upon noticing the look Kaede was giving her, and started eating her soup.

"It would help matters if you two could get along," Kaede suggested peacably.

Inu-Yasha snorted. "Get along with her? With a human? Who do you think I am?"

"You did once," Kaede countered, starting on her own meal. "As I recall, you were quite frie-"

"Shut up!" the hanyou snarled, turning towards her suddenly. "What do you know of it? Who are you, anyway?"

"I am Kaede."

He slammed a fist into the wall, buckling a portion of the wood inward. "I already know that, hag!"

"I hope you're going to fix that," the priestess said calmly. She motioned towards the stew near Inu-Yasha again, who continued to ignore it and glare at her. "I was the younger sister of Kikyo. How much of your memory have you blocked?"

Kagome watched as Inu-Yasha subsided, but still sulked in the corner. What was the entire story with this Kikyo? Kaede had told her of Inu-Yasha's theft of the jewel, and Kikyo's attempt to stop him, but there was more to this history than that. She wondered if she'd ever puzzle it out. As the two humans worked on finishing their meal, Kagome noticed Inu-Yasha's hand sneaking towards the bowl. When he thought no one was looking, he picked it up and began eating. Kagome hid a smile, and finished her meal.