First off, to all of the people hat have commented... THANK YOOOUUU!!!^_^ *giggles and hugs all* Hmmm…you know, maybe I should take requests…anyway, thanks everyone!^_^ Now, on today's menu we have Sesshoumaru goodness, a little bit of annoying friends, and a reanimated frog. *Nods* that sounds about right.^_^ Sorry if this one sounds a little off. I'm tired for some unknown reason and had to rush this a bit.^_^; Okay, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters in it. If I did I'd be rich, but I'm not... and if I had lots of money I'd probably spend it on anime anyway so pleeaasseee, don't sue me.^_^ lol

Oh, and as always,

_= thoughts *_* = sound/ italicized "_" = speech //_// = narration

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Memories of the Present

Chapter 8: Fluffy and the Rebirth

"Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"*sighs* Yes Rin?"

"Why are you rubbing your head like that?"

It had been three days of nothing but questions. The demon lord, his servant, and the little human girl had been traveling towards another village for reasons only he knew. Rin hadn't stopped asking questions since they had left the last town. "Where do babies come from?" That had to have been the most... interesting question to answer yet. Thank goodness a villager had overheard her ask and had told her some ridiculous story about some odd, giant bird or something. Sesshoumaru didn't really care. He wanted to focus on the task at hand, the peacefulness and tranquillity of the forest, and the sounds of the stream rushing past them as it made its own particular journey through life. Unfortunately, these sounds seemed to be drowned out quite easily by the curious little girl and, quite frankly, Sesshoumaru was getting a headache.

How could I, Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands, even for a MINUTE think having a human girl would be a good idea?!

"Here Sesshoumaru-sama" The slight sound of fabric tearing can be heard and the little girl smiles brightly at her youkai savior.

Reluctantly, Sesshoumaru looks back to inspect what ever she had the mind to offer to him. In her hand there lay a small scrap of cloth, probably pulled from her kimono. The cloth was soaked with cold water from the stream that they had been passing for the last three days. No doubt it was supposed to help him with his headache.

"Will this help?"

Sesshoumaru drops his fingers from his temples. Well, looks like I'll have to get her a new kimono as well. Humans take to much maintenance. A slight tug warns the youkai that if this keeps up, his emotionless mask may soon be broken. It really would not do to smile. Numbly, he turns to take the scrap of cloth and is about to "thank" Rin when Jaken steps in.

"Stupid girl. Sesshoumaru-sama is a demon, he doesn't need little things like that!"

And with that, the staff of heads whips around, knocking Rin's hand and sending the scrap, slowly it seems, to meet a very muddy death on the cold, hard ground. Rin looks up to Jaken, then to the demon lord himself, eyes brimmed with tears. Jaken had ruined her gift to Sesshoumaru-sama! Now he'd have a headache! Stupid Jaken! She begins to cry.

Enraged, Sesshoumaru picks up the staff and thwacks Jaken over the head with it before frantically racking his brain for a way out of this mess. Surely he, the strongest demon since the previous lord of the Western Lands, could figure out a solution to a simple predicament like this.

Okay Sesshoumaru, think. You have three choices.

A.Carry Rin to the nearest village and have Jaken walk there alone. It would take him at least a

week to reach it and she wouldn't be crying, but then you'd be stuck watching her. Not only

that, you would risk being seen as caring.

B.Feed Jaken to An and Un.

C.Run for your life.

Hmmm... C sounds pretty good, NO! A demon Lord does not run from battle! Oh Buddha, she's still crying! Think, think! An and Un would probably get indigestion from eating the toad... thing. That would probably upset her more. What *IS* he anyway?! Come on, come on! He sighs and bows his head slightly, I am *SO* going to regret this.

In one smooth motion, Sesshoumaru gracefully sweeps Rin into his arms, the girl knocking Jaken into the stream in the process. "Meet us at the next village Jaken!" He snarls at the surprised servant and bounds off through the forest, throwing the staff into the crystal clear water next to its wielder. What has this child done to me?!

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin sniffles slightly, wiping tears from her eyes.

Still looking forward, his tone softens slightly, a feat never before seen by... well, anyone really, "Yes Rin?"

She smiles softly and wraps her arms around his neck in a light embrace. "Thank you."

A look of utter and complete shock quickly takes revenge upon the emotionless form before fleeing hastily in retreat. It would regroup and attack again later. No, it really would not do to smile.

"Can I call you Fluffy?"

"WHAT?!" *SMACK! CRACK!*

Ooohhh... he took out that tree pretty quickly, even for a demon. Letting your mind wander while running through a dense forest is *NEVER* a good idea folks.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, do you need another cloth?"

Yes, this was going to prove to be a VERY long day indeed.

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"Miss Higurashi! Is there something more important you would rather be doing?"

Of course, like I want to sit in a class when I have no clue about what's going on. She shakes her head violently, silently praying for a release from her daydreams. The previous owners of her attention gone, she turns to her math teacher, smiles apologetically, and says, "No sir." The class resumes.

AAArrgg, why can't I pay attention? Well, I know *WHY* I can't pay attention, but still! Why can't I go two seconds without thinking of the big lug... though... I can think of worse ways to wake up than in the arms of the person you love. It seems the thoughts had not gone; no, they never really did, nor could they. Hopelessly lost in thought, her attention once more trails to world outside of her boring math class. It's not like she was missing anything mind you, she was totally lost to begin with. The day had strangely resembled this lecture. It had droned on and on, holding absolutely nothing close to interesting, mind the events this morning. She had almost been late to school, but Inu Yasha had gotten her there on time... again. What would she do without him? The scary thing is, I don't know. The bell rings and Kagome begins to trudge to her next class.

"Kagome! Kagome!" Ahhh, here they come.

"Come on Kagome, I'll walk to class with you!" An energetic girl rushes to the side of her friend. Ayumi seemed to be in an especially good mood today. She was a sweet girl, the only one of Kagome's friends that seemed to be a romantic. She wore the same uniform they all did, white shirt with green sleeves and top, both with a white line through it, and a green skirt. Ayumi also had the same black hair, but hers was wavy and the sides brought back behind her ears. Beaming, she looks to Kagome and, giggling, asks, "So how's that sweet boyfriend of yours?" (I love her, can't you tell?^_~)

"You mean the jealous, violent one?" Eri was of about the same age. She had the same uniform and the same black hair, but hers was straight and cut off just above her shoulders. It swayed gently as she walked, a yellow headband keeping it from exerting too much movement. If you didn't know any better, you might think that it was sheepish about being mussed.

"Kagome, I don't see why you're still with him. Has he properly confessed his love to you yet?" Yuuka sighs. The third of the three doesn't understand why she won't just go out with Hojo. Apparently, Kagome's boyfriend is bad news, so why is she with him? She's going to have a lot of troubles in her life...

"Come on guys, he's not really my... oh, the bell!" Kagome grabs her friends and starts running down the halls, "Come on, we're going to be late!"

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"Kagome," Yuuka whispered across the lab table, "why were you in such a big hurry to get to class? I mean, I didn't think this would be your favorite thing to do."

"What are you talking abo..."

"Okay class, today is the day some of you have been waiting for... and everyone else has been dreading."

Uh oh. Please no test, please no test, please no test, please no test, PPLLEEAAASSSEE no...

"No, there will be no test today..."

PHEW!

"because, as you all know, today is the day that we'll be dissecting frogs."

"AAIIIEEE!!!!" The shriek echoed throughout the hall as all of the doors in the corridor opened, students trying desperately to peek and see what was going on... and to get a good excuse to waste class time.

"AHEM! If you are done Miss Higurashi." The entire room snickered. "As I was saying, we will be dissecting frogs. One of the first things you will need to find is whether your frog is male or female. If the frog is female, you will need to determine if she was pregnant. If she was, you are one of the few students lucky enough to get extra credit," Woohoo!," but you will only get it if the fetus is in perfect order. Otherwise your grade will be dropped." Crud. "It is important for you to note…"

Kagome sighs, This is just WAY too boring. I can stand watching a youkai being sliced to bits, but a dead frog?! EEWWW!!!! Well, at least there's no threat of shards here. If there was Inu Yasha would be in here distr... no, NO, last time you thought like that he showed up. My teachers probably wouldn't appreciate an entire wing of the school being vaporized…

// Then came the faithful moment//

"It is now time to pick your partners!" Uh oh.

"Kagome, I'll be your partner." Phew.

Kagome laughs softly. Relieved, she hugs her friend and they both migrate to another lab table. "Thanks Eri, I was almost worried there for a second."

"No problem, what are friends for?"

"Oooohhh, Kagome, what are these? They're so pretty!" Unbeknownst to the girls, Ayumi had partnered with Yuuka and they were both sitting at the lab table next to theirs. Ayumi had accidentally knocked over Kagome's backpack and had tried to put everything back, but one item had caught her attention, a small glass jar with little rose colored jewels in it.

Oh no! I had forgotten those were in there! Why were they in there again?

// Here we go:

"Inuuu Yaaashaaa…what're you doing?"

"mm... nothing."

"Um hmmm... why are you in my desk?"

"Ummm...well... it's not my fault you can't hang onto the shards!"

"WHAT?! Where'd they go?!"

"See Inu-noneechan, I told you I knew where they were!"

"Souta?! Get back here with those; they're dangerous!"

"Ooohhh, they're so pretty!"

"Hey, Mom, give those back!"

"Give those back to *ME* you mean!"

"But honey, don't these belong to Inu Yasha? Here you go."

"Uh oh, duck for cover!"

"What?"

"Inu Yashaaa!!!"

*gulp*

"SIT!!!"

That's why.//

"Um... Ayumi, I really need those."

"Huh? Okay, sorry. They're just so beautiful!"

"Yeah, I know, but I really need those back now."

"Okay, here you go." A feeling of relief encompasses Kagome as the shards are brought back into her possession. Those things really can be a lot of trouble.

"Hey Kagome, look at our frog!" Kagome turns just in time to get a really nasty whiff of frog. " I think it's a girl. What do you think?"

"AIIIEEE!!!!!"

//Uh oh, there goes the frog...//

"Kagome, the frog!"

"Kagome, you dropped your..."

"The shards!!!" Shard detector she may be, but frog catcher she is not! There's no need to think about this one; Kagome dives for the shards. Thrusting out the small glass container, she catches three right off. The next couple she picks up off of the ground and she claims one from Ayumi's hand. After thoroughly counting them, her face becomes deathly pale. One is missing.

Oh my god! Where did it go?! Inu Yasha is going to be so pissed! Yeah, I can just hear it no..."

"Kagome, it... IT MOVED!!!" All of the girls in the class begin screaming at once. The frog that previously lay on Eri and Kagome's tray was now hopping about the classroom in a desperate fight for survival in an unknown place. It moved so quickly that one would think it a specter, probably the shard's doing. Wait... the shard? Oh no.

"AAIIEEE!!!!!" The room was in chaos! The boys were laughing, the girls screaming, the frog rushing around in a state of utter and complete panic. The teacher was engaged in a fruitless struggle to bring order back to the classroom and Kagome was in the middle of it all, trying to figure out what was going on. She was brought back to reality when a notebook whizzed by and a textbook landed on her foot. She jumped, yelping in pain as a desk was over turned behind her and people began running out of the room. The mob at the door had barely pushed it open a crack before realizing that outside, there were just as many students trying to get in to figure out what was going on as there were trying to escape. The frog raced along, a green blur in a sea of green, white, and black. It landed on one boy in the group and everyone bolted for the other side of the room. The boy screamed. In an act of adrenaline, he grabbed the frog, practically squeezing it to death, when a faint popping sound could be heard. It was silent, but only for a moment. Apparently, Kagome might've gotten a bit of extra credit if the circumstances had been different.

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"Are you thirsty Rin?"

"Yes Fluffy." Snickers are heard all around the village.

"A *VERY* long day..."