Superquick author's note: Thanks so much for your great reviews, guys! They're so encouraging, I want to tell my friends about them... but then I remember their worried eyes as I feverishly mumble about how I love anime...

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Part Six

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Inuyasha woke up in the earliest part of the morning, before the sun had even started to rise. He stretched his arms over his head and surveyed the camp. Kagome was still sleeping quietly, her brow slightly furrowed in dreaming, and he smiled down on her protectively. The ashes of last night's fire smoldered in the center of their circle, and he poked at it, stirring up the embers to provoke a new flame for breakfast. All the humans seemed to deeply slumbering, he observed with a little annoyance, which meant he would have to figure out his meal on his own. With a pout, he flopped down next to Kagome and stared at her, hoping the force of his eyes would wake her up. When it became abundantly clear that staring wasn't going to help, he carefully reached for her backpack and backed away from her to rummage through it.

"What are you doing?" asked a smooth voice.

"Huh?" he jerked his head up and found Kurama, the damn pretty-boy, watching him. "Looking for something to eat," he muttered.

Kurama stretched and sat up, yawning. "Oh. Find anything?"

Inuyasha left the bag alone and stared at the other boy suspiciously. "What do you care?"

"I'm hungry, too, that's all." Kurama got to his feet, careful not to wake Shippo, who was curled up next to him. "There's no need to get upset, we're on the same side here."

"Right," Inuyasha muttered, going back to his scavenging, but keeping one eye on the fox. He didn't trust him, not even a little bit.

Which he was making abundantly clear, thought Kurama as he went to the little stream to wash his face and hands. As he bent over the water, he caught the sound of something moving quickly towards him, and so it was little surprise when Hiei appeared a few feet from him. They greeted each other silently. Kurama splashed himself with the clear, cold water, and looked up at Hiei expectantly. "How did it go?"

Hiei shrugged. "Found it."

"You did?"

"No, but I know where it is," Hiei amended. "If we move quick, it might even still be there."

"You didn't kill it?"

"I didn't get the chance," he said with irritation. "But I will. Where are the others?"

"They're asleep." Kurama indicated the sky, which had only started to lighten. "It's not quite morning yet."

"Well wake them up! They've had enough rest."

They set out early, without a full breakfast, but well rested, and anxious to move. Unsaid in the air was the knowledge that their enemy had probably killed and eaten someone in the time since it left the village, and somehow, it affected their own hunger. Except for Inuyasha, who managed not to think of that unpleasant fact.

The day was long. Kagome started wishing she hadn't left her bike behind, as her shoulders screamed under the weight of her backpack. Everyone was in a foul mood, from hunger and worry. Miroku was pensive and was walking alone and silent, which put Sango into a bad mood (not that she would admit it), worrying about him and getting angry at him for worrying her by turns. Inuyasha and Yuuske were still arguing constantly, and Kagome was getting burnt out on trying to control them. Hiei remained standoffish to the others and spent a great deal of their walk in conference with Kurama. Kuwabara, however, had become the object of Kirara the cat's affection, and was having a rather nice time playing with her, oblivious to the mood of the others. As for Shippo, he was curled up asleep in Kagome's backpack.

Kagome shifted the weight of her bag and tried not to show how tired she was. She could sense the irritation of some of the others (Hiei and Inuyasha, especially), at the pace they were keeping, and resolved not to seem weak. In front of Inuyasha, it wouldn't matter so much, but these new allies all seemed so strong, and she didn't want to be the weak link in the chain. She could hold her own in a battle... couldn't she? She touched the curved wood of her bow and hoped the slight tremor that went through her wasn't visible. Well, if Kikyo could do it, she could do it.

Shyly, the tall, clumsy-seeming Kuwabara jogged over to her, with Kirara close behind, mewing for him. "Is it heavy?" he asked, jarring her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she replied, startled.

"Your bag. If it's too heavy, I could carry it for you."

"Oh..." she smiled. How nice of him. "Thank you, but it's not necessary, really," she insisted, inwardly scolding herself for her stupid pride.

"It's no problem. I just thought you might like a break, you know."

Well, what was the harm in letting him take her backpack, anyway? She thanked him with a quick bow and let him take the bag. "Ahhh!" she sighed, stretching her arms with ecstacy. "Much better. Arigato gozaimasu, Kazuma-kun!" She paused, not sure what to say to him. "Kirara seems to like you," she offered at last.

"Oh, well, yeah, I like cats a lot," he said, looking a little embarassed. "I dunno why."

Kirara mewed and pawed at his leg, and he smiled down at her broadly. "I guess a lot of people think it's kind of dumb, but I just do. I've never seen one like her before, though."

"You haven't even seen her in action yet. I bet you've never seen anything like that," Kagome said. "Anyway, thanks for taking my bag. I've got something to talk to Inuyasha about right now. Ja!"

"A-" he blinked with surprise as she trotted up to talk to Inuyasha, and then nearly fell over with shock when Shippo popped out of the top of the backpack.

"Hey, what happened to Kagome?" Shippo asked, looking around. "You're not her."

"Get down and walk, you little shrimp!" yelled Kuwabara. "No wonder she was so tired, geeze."

Shippo hopped down and with a flick of his tail sped off. "What a jerk," he muttered to himself. "Oi, oi, Kurama-niichan!" he called as he scampered on all fours.

"Nii-chan?" Hiei gave Kurama a skeptical eye. "You're certainly making a lot of friends."

"Shippo," snapped Inuyasha. "Shut up." He caught the young fox by the tail and brought him to eye level, the better to glare at him.

"Oh leave him alone, little dog. He's just a kid," sighed Yuuske. "He can't help it."

"Yeah! I can't help it!" agreed Shippo.

Inuyasha knocked him on the head.

"Knock that shit off," growled Yuuske. "Don't pick on little kids."

'Urameshi-kun must like children,' Kagome thought.

Inuyasha dropped Shippo, who let out a squeal and ran to Kagome immediately. The hanyou approached Yuuske menacingly. "I don't like you." It was a rumble in his throat.

"Well it's mutual, baka inu." Yuuske reached out a hand and barely shoved Inuyasha's chest. "But I bet you hear that all the time."

"Ano- boys?" Neither of them paid any attention to Kagome. The standoff might have escalated into something much worse, were it not for a shout from Sango, some ways up ahead.

"Minna-san!" She and Miroku were standing in front of something that none of them had really expected: the eviscerated corpse of the bird youkai's victim. For a long, horrible moment, no one could do anything but stare with fixated horror at the sight. The bird had removed her eyes, her tongue, had pecked out the liver and kidneys, and eaten them all. What was left sent chills into the hearts of even the most battle-scarred of them. They had all seen terrible things, brutal things, and many of them had committed acts of great violence at one time or another, but all of it paled before this single girl, her body mutilated and twisted, her face contorted in such a way as to make it impossible to even pretend she had died without intense pain. They all stood, frozen, in an instant that lasted many years, before Miroku fell to his knees at the girl's head and began to pray. Silently, Kagome joined him, her head bent, listening to the monk's soft voice, looking in it for some comfort. One by one, the others followed suit, paying respect to this innocent that they had failed to save. Tears flowing freely, Kuwabara grasped the blood-stained hand of the girl and wept a desperate apology to her.

Hiei stood behind them and watched them with what seemed to be a cold eye. He didn't intend to get all choked up over some dead human girl. And yet - she touched him, somehow. For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that there were people who cared about this girl, that to someone, she may have been as precious as Yukina was to him, and when he thought about that, he felt such a rage he couldn't even think. It was that rage that drove his fist into the ground, carving out an impressive crater and disturbing the mourners. He didn't turn to face them, his shoulders hunched, his head down. "Bury her," he said. "We can't waste time, or it could happen again."

No one disagreed with that. The girl's body was rolled into the ground, and they covered her with earth and piled stones over the grave. Miroku prayed again that her soul would find release, and they set off with foreboding in their hearts.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome took his fingers in hers, which earned her a scowl that she subsequently ignored. "Where is this thing?"

"How should I know?" he complained. "That guy's the one who was supposed to find it last night, go ask him." He jerked his head at Hiei.

"I'm just worried... it's supposed to be hunting for Shikon no Tama. Kurama-kun said last night that it could sense the shards, so -"

"-so it should come right to us," finished Inuyasha confidently.

"Maybe. But maybe not."

"Yeah, maybe it'll lead us to Naraku instead. Either way, sounds good to me."

"I was thinking about Kouga-kun. He has two shards-"

"Kouga-kun?" Inuyasha mimicked. "Let him worry about himself. Hmph. 'Kouga-kun.' What do you care what happens to that stupid-"

Kagome sighed. She should have known better than to bring up that particular concern. Better to change the subject than argue with him right now. "Well, what about Sango-chan's brother? Kohaku-kun still has one embedded in his back. What if-"

"Nothing's going to happen to him," Inuyasha said firmly. "Your piece is bigger than his piece, and the stupid wolf's, so it's going to come after you. Ne?"

"... Somehow that's not as comforting as I'd hoped."

"Huh?"

They were getting closer. All day the uneasiness had lingered in their minds, and as the time wore on, it became clear that it was the result of the jaki that the bird emananated. It was a feeling of evil that grew steadily stronger with each step they took, a warning that made their hearts implore them to turn back, to run for their lives. But they pressed on.

Yuusuke held up a hand, signaling a stop, and with serious faces, they gathered into a circle.

"I think we're about to be in for a fight," said Yuusuke. "I'm starting to think it's headed towards us, too."

"Definately," agreed Kuwabara. "I can feel it getting closer."

Everyone nodded.

"So it won't be too long before it gets here," Yuusuke went on. "If anyone isn't ready for some battle, you better get ready quick." He glanced at Kagome and Sango when he said that, and then threw in a meaningful look at Shippo.

-And immediately looked back at Sango, because she appeared to be untying her kimono. "Uh..."

Kuwabara's jaw dropped. "What are you doing?!?!"

Sango looked up quizzically, and then went red. "I'm wearing armor underneath, you perverts!" she shrieked, conking them both on the head.

"Gomen nasai," the boys slurred from the ground. The tension of the moment was pretty well shattered, and everyone laughed.

Miroku shook his head soulfully. "Silly young boys. You'd think they'd never seen a pretty lady undressing before- OW!" He rubbed his face. "Please save some of your energy for our enemy, Sango."

"Speaking of which," Inuyasha said, his hand on Tetsusaiga. "Not to interupt the fun and games, but I think it's here."