Unasareru

A/N- I'M BBBBAAAAAAAAACCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 11

Dedicated to Tiger of the Wind, Ayeikie and shadow wraith for their support and help! Thank you so much! Congratulations to Shadow wraith for beoming an authoress! (peanut gallery- *cheers*)

Wow. Here I am again. Back for more! Look at all the reviews! I couldn't be happier! Big thanks to everybody who reviewed! I know this story seems a bit rushed right now, but I hate when stories are drug out. I'll try to find a good pace.

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Ijin's wings and hands were tied for the night at Miroku's suggestion. The youkai didn't like it, but figured it was better than being tempted to rip the jewel off Kagome's neck and run for it. O course, he could do so now. As if ordinary ropes could hold him. He scoffed. Underestimated once again... Besides, they seemed nice enough. Ijin flicked the tip of a wing impatiently, watching the hanyou who stared back with amber eyes.

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Inuyasha had been watching the insomniac youkai for the whole night. Ijin was right, they had been enemies only moments before, and now they were allies. Not friends, he noted gruffly, allies. Inuyasha gave a quick sweep of a few sleeping bodies, and then returned his gaze to its previous target. He couldn't figure out whether it would be wiser to protect the physical bodies or dream bodies, so he'd simply followed Ijin everywhere.

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Ijin let his mind wander. -What about Tsuru? - He asked himself. -I guess my only friend ever thinks I'm evil and crazy. Just great! -

Tsuru stirred, tucking her head deeper within her wing, tapping Kagome slightly. The girl rolled over, dropping Shippou- onto Sango's face. Sango catapulted Kirara at Miroku as she rolled over, who swung his hand around his face, as if swatting a fly. He managed to once again bat Kirara through the air. She landed on Ijin's lap. She was awake, and she stepped off, falling on her face. The cat 'mrow'ed a bit, and then fell back asleep.

Ijin snorted, then chuckled, then laughed without restraint. Inuyasha cocked his head at it. The youkai sounded generally amused. Ijin stopped and looked at Inuyasha, suddenly dropping his smile. Kagome rolled over and watched him for a minute, having been awakened by his laughing fit. -He can't be so bad. - She thought happily to herself.

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Day one with Ijin was going smoothly. Nothing extraordinary. He walked at the front of the group for several reasons, a different for each member of the group.

[A/N- Very light bashing ahead. Actually, it's more like tapping...]

Reason 1- (reasoning of the Monk with hands that wander more than my crazy aunt Gertrude- Miroku and the most annoying sidekick ever to have at least fifty hate clubs within the tristate area- the crazy kitsune, Shippou) To lead them to Tason.

Reason 2- (reasoning of the shard detector with the shortest skirt around- Kagome, badly created original character- Tsuru and the emotionally unstable Sango) So everyone else could keep an eye on him.

Reason 3- (reasoning of the fire-cat-demon-thing who could be cursing us all off and we wouldn't know it- Kirara) Mew meow mew-mew meo-ow mew mow mow meow! [A/N- can anyone translate this? *_*']

Reason 4- (reasoning of the necromancer who we all love and hate to some degree- Inuyasha) So if anything attacked it would hit him first. If any food was poisoned it would kill him first. So if there was quicksand, a rickety bridge or a loose cliff face, he would be able to alert them first by... oh, never mind...

On the third day of travel, the group laughed and joked freely as they walked, they celebrated the fact that they had just crossed the border into Tason.

The little town was quiet, and surrounded on all sides by an almost- mountain. A path cut deep within the rock led around the mountain and down to the village. It consisted of many thatched roof houses, all similar, encircling a few larger huts and a small market. Grass and trees were almost nonexistent.

As the group stepped onto the rock-cut path, Ijin suddenly ripped through the ropes that held his wrists and pushed Kagome, who was right behind him, to the ground. Inuyasha's eyes flashed, Miroku stood at the ready and Sango glared daggers at the youkai for only a moment before realizing what he had done, and what was going on.

A pitchfork was almost embedded in the rock, just below where Kagome's head had been moments before. Many men stood outside their huts, waving pitchforks, various pieces of broken wood and small torches. "Get out, demon!" came one's call.

Ijin spread dark wings, snapping the ropes as if they were dry spaghetti and took flight over the mountain. No one tried to stop him.

Kagome looked slightly confused. "What now?"

Miroku shook his head in a futile gesture. "I'm not sure..."

"Perhaps we should go to the village to find out what's going on." Sango suggested.

Inuyasha said nothing, but turned down the path. "Inuyasha, wait!" Kagome commanded. The hanyou did nothing, but continued his decent into the village. Kagome looking desperately around found nothing to her liking to stop the silver-haired brute. "Inuyasha, osuwari!"

His chin quickly made contact with rock. He groaned, sitting up and rubbing his head. Kagome kneeled in front of him, concern in her eyes. "Inuyasha, they were ready to kill Ijin... what would they try to do to you?" He turned, avoiding her gaze and muttering something about being strong enough to protect himself.

"And what about the rest of us?" Miroku asked in response. "You don't want to put Kagome-sama in danger..." The hanyou looked at the monk with dislike written all over his face. After a comment like that, there was no way he was going to worm out of disguising himself. He sighed, defeated. "What do you want me to do?"

A few moments later, a yell erupted from the cliff face. "YOU WANT ME TO WHAT???"

"Put this on," Kagome calmly restated, holding a kimono fashioned from scrap cloth.

"No!"

"You have to!"

"No, I don't, wench."

"We can't afford a different outfit and the one you have on draws too much attention."

"I'll look stupid..."

About an hour and a near landslide later, Inuyasha was dressed in Kagome's badly stitched kimono and had his hair pulled up into a high ponytail that completely covered his ears.

"Aww. Doesn't he look cute?" Tsuru taunted.

Kagome laughed and Inuyasha remained looking horrified.

They walked into the village, Inuyasha the epitome of a dog with his tail between his legs.

An old woman stepped out of a central hutch. "Greetings travelers. I see you have come from afar." She spoke mysteriously, her tone cold, though not without and undertone of welcome. "I am Rouba. Enter my home, so we may speak."

A half-hour of idle chitchat later, a wind blew the door flap, and a presence could be felt outside. Rouba stood without hesitation and flung open the simple piece of fabric that was the door. "A cold and hardened spirit stands outside my door." She said. Ijin dropped down from the roof, looking serious as was normal.

"Where is she?" the youkai demanded.

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Wow, that was fun! Inuyasha in a dress... I am truly a twisted being. He, he, he...

Shadow Wraith- Congrats on becoming an author! 'Tis a proud day! *reads bio* You look like me! Actually, we're a lot alike. Wow, that's eerie... Read your story, left a review. I should have specified the quote thing. Sorry about that. Barely anyone ever follows my train of thought, should have seen that coming. Still like the quote, had to read it a few times before I actually grasped the concept...hmm. Oh, well.

Ijin is so much fun. He was too much of a one-dimensional villain when he started. As I've said before, I don't like the idea of- 'Oh, a youkai. He wants our jewel shards. He must be evil, let's kill him!'. Too stereotypical, if you want my opinion... His past took me about half an hour to write out and modify, plus I did it around chapter three, so he was already established as being 'evil'. Just had to adjust the plot to the character. Tsuru is fun as well. Ah, the joys of original characters...

Okay, peoples, if you've read this, please read and review. Thankies!