Chapter 2

Just then, a young female hanyou ran up beside the girl. "Angel," the hanyou was a bit out of breath. (Yes, this is another self-insert, I'm a bit self-centered, but I can't help it, I'm great.) "Mom sent me to make sure you didn't get killed, it doesn't usually take this long."

"She's your mother, not mine. And the only reason she's worried about me, is: who would protect her and you when Dad's not around?" Angel replied dryly, looking down at her younger half-sister.

The little girl stuck her tongue out at Angel. "Who're they?" she asked. "Wait, don't I know you?" she asked pointing to Kagome.

Angel focused for a moment. "I suppose you should, she's your cousin. Anyway, I'm going back to the house, you can come if you like," she said. "Oh, Inuyasha, Kagome, I do have something that might interest you." With that, she turned and walked away. Sesshoumaru wasn't going to wait for any of the others, so he followed her.

"You're a hanyou, right?" the girl asked Inuyasha. He only looked at her, confused. The only word he understood was hanyou. So, Kagome explained the question to him, in Japanese.

"If you'd rather speak Japanese, that's alright with me," she offered. They nodded gratefully. "So anyway, are you a hanyou?"

"Yeah, I'm Inuyasha. What's your name kid?" he replied.

"I'm Jessica. Sorry about my sister, she's kind of, um, insane. Kagome, are you hurt?"

"A little. So, I'm related to a hanyou, that's new," Kagome was still recovering that piece of news.

"Well, at least you're not related to a psychotic bitch who thinks she's better than you, just because she's a full-blood youkai." she lapsed into random complaints about her older sister, most of which Inuyasha could fully understand. He had gone through the same thing with Sesshoumaru. After she regained her previous train of thought, "Let's get Kagome back to the house, and didn't Angel say she had something for you two?"

"Right, yeah." He got Kagome on his back, and he and Jessica ran all the way back to the house.

* * *

"I'm back," Angel called when she and Sesshoumaru arrived at her home.

"Where's Jessica?" a human woman asked as she came out of the kitchen. When she noticed Sesshoumaru, she became very nervous.

"She's probably on her way back by now. She was talking to a hanyou and a human, actually your niece Kagome."

"Kagome's here? I haven't seen her in years," she visibly brightened at the mention of her niece. "How is she?"

"She's injured," Angel answered offhandedly. "I'm going upstairs with Sesshoumaru-san." They heard the door open and Jessica's mother rushed to help her.

Sesshoumaru hadn't understood most of their conversation but had some idea of what it was about. He followed Angel up to her room, once inside, she sat on a chair near a desk with an odd looking contraption on it. She offered him the couch opposite her.

"Sorry about the mess, I don't like to clean," she said, her floor was littered with manga, magazines and clothes. He sat down, feeling a bit awkward. "So anyway, who are you, besides being a full-blood inu youkai named Sesshoumaru?"

"I am Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands," he stood up to bow.

"Really? How interesting. I'm Angel," she returned the gesture. "I'm going to invite my close friend Aifa to come over. She's a kitsune. Is that alright with you?" she asked.

"I have no problem with it," he stated. Angel turned to face the strange contraption and began moving something that closely resembled a rodent that made a 'click' sound and hitting various buttons. Music began playing from two small, black boxes on an upper shelf. "What manner of magic is this?"

"This is a computer, and it's not magic, it's technology," she explained. "Basically it can do almost anything you tell it to, by using the mouse and keyboard." She could see that he wasn't following. "I told it to play music by clicking on the player icon, now, I'm going to tell it to connect to the Internet. The Internet is like a lot of books or scrolls and things linked together. You can do research or talk to friends using Instant Messenger. It's very useful and makes things a lot easier." As she 'connected', Sesshoumaru watched, amazed. This was like nothing he had ever seen. His placid face gave away nothing, save for his eyes.

Angel kind of enjoyed explaining this to him. Once she signed on, she saw that her friend was on, so she IM'ed her. This is the conversation that ensued:

InUyOuKaIGrL: oi!

KiTsUnEgRl: oi!

InUyOuKaIGrL: big news

KiTsUnEgRl: nani?

InUyOuKaIGrL: hot inu youkai!

KiTsUnEgRl: no fair!

InUyOuKaIGrL: come over!

KiTsUnEgRl: yay!

InUyOuKaIGrL: lol ^_^

Angel signed off and turned back to Sesshoumaru. "She'll be right over."

Meanwhile, Kagome's aunt was wrapping her ankle and wrist in ace bandages.

"Thanks, Aunt Tara," she said.

"It's no trouble. I'm glad to see you again. How's your mother?" she asked.

"My mother!" Kagome realized that her mother might want to know where she was. "Ano, she's fine." Then, she sensed something: Shikon Jewel shards.

"Where are you staying?" Jessica asked.

"Um."

"We came through that well. Is that one enchanted too?" Inuyasha doesn't know the meaning of the word 'tact'.

"Yeah, actually, it is. So you came here by accident?" Jessica said.

"Yes, we were supposed to come through the Bone Eater's Well at my house in Japan, but, for some reason, came through here," Kagome explained.

"Where were you coming from?" Jessica was really getting curious.

"Ano, Inuyasha?" Kagome thought she should be able to trust family, but she wanted to make sure Inuyasha trusted them too.

"Feh, I don't care if you tell them," was his response.

"You see, Inuyasha is actually from the past, the Senjoku Jidai. I go there to help collect the shards of a sacred jewel that was shattered. It is very powerful, and very dangerous. Demons, evil demons, would use it to increase their power. We have to find all the shards and bring them together so that the jewel can be purified. We have friends back in the Sengoku Jidai that are probably pretty worried about us since we left without telling them," Kagome explained. "Ano, by the way, did you know that there are Shikon shards in this house?"

"What?!" Inuyasha interrupted.

"Yes," was the simple reply. "Do you want to tell your mother where you are, Kagome?"

"Sure, yeah. Where are those Shikon shards?" she said, trying not to be rude.

"They're in Angel's room. You can use her computer to e-mail your mother too," Tara offered.

"Thanks," Kagome was a little apprehensive about asking Angel for anything, especially if Sesshoumaru was with her. Inuyasha helped her up the stairs, both hoping that Kagome's aunt had enough authority over Angel to keep her from hurting anyone.

* * *

As Angel was about to ask Sesshoumaru something, they heard a knock at the door. She got up, went to the door, and opened it.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"The Shikon shards," demanded Inuyasha.

"Relax, you can have them. I don't want or need them," she turned to get them from a shelf in her closet.

"Wow, you've got a lot of manga," Kagome said as she looked around the room. "Um, Aunt Tara also said I could use your computer, not that I would ever use anything thing that belonged to you without your permission," she added when she saw the look Angel was giving her.

"Fine, just don't screw anything up. And I'm not leaving you alone in my room. So, if you were hoping for privacy, too bad," she laid down the law. "But hurry up, my friend will be here any minute."

While they had been talking, Sesshoumaru had stood up and he and Inuyasha were glaring at each other.

"You have friends?" Inuyasha acted shocked.

"Shut up. And here," Angel said, tossing him the small pouch with two Shikon shards in it.

"Not to be rude or anything," Kagome said as she signed onto the net. "But why do you have Shikon shards?"

"My mother gave them to me to protect," she answered. Just then, the phone rang from somewhere under the piles of stuff and also downstairs.

"Angel, it's your mom," Jessica called from downstairs.

"I'll take it up here," she called out the door of her room. When she picked up the phone she was speaking English, so, even thought Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru could hear both sides of the conversation, they understood none of it, and Kagome only heard Angel's half.

"Hello. Why couldn't I come see you this weekend? Jessica and Tara are driving me completely nuts. I know that, but-. Fine, yeah. see you soon, I hope." ::click::

"What happened?" Kagome asked seeing that Angel was a bit dejected.

"It's none of your business if my okaa-san can't see me because of work," Angel snapped. "Are you done with my computer yet?"

"Huh? Oh, right, yeah."

"Good, because Aifa's here," Angel said just before the doorbell rang.

"How'd she do that?" Kagome whispered to Inuyasha.

"Oh, Sesshoumaru-san, if you and Inuyasha start fighting, which I'd prefer you didn't, remember that I will most likely be the one to have to clean up after it, which as I told you already, I hate to do. So remember, whomever wins would have to deal with me afterward," Angel warned as she walked out of her room to answer the door.