DSoD: I'm baaaaa-ack…

Inuyasha: Who invited the sick sheep?

DSoD: *glare*

Shippou: Disclaimer.

Inuyasha: AHHH!

Shippou: Darkest Side of Death does not own Inuyasha…

Inuyasha: Thank God for that.

Shippou: …because Kagome does.

Inuyasha: HEY!

Kagome: SIT!

Inuyasha: #@%@#^^

Shippou: She does not own… *thinks for a bit* …much of anything, in fact.

Inuyasha: *stands up* Shippou, I'm gonna kill you…

Shippou: I'm just reading what she told me to read!!!

DSoD: Sure, blame it all on the authoress. Here ya go. *hands Shippou a bag of candy slightly larger than himself*

Shippou: ..^_^..

A/N: Thanks, yet again, to Kitai Matsuru. God, I can't post a chapter without her reading it first!!! …I think that's a pretty good thing, so I won't complain. She even reads the "A/N"!!! Yay!! ^_^

…You. Yeah, you. Go read all her fanfics. Now. That's what I'm gonna do when I'm done with this chapter, too. ^^

So happy to have so many updates!! New people this chapter!!! Yay!!! ^_^

Glass House

"So tomorrow morning when we step outside our castle…"

Koga sat, rather decisively, on the ground outside of a rather large castle. It smelled funny to him, spelled like… hanyou. Like that pathetic mutt he'd faced… he couldn't even remember when. Twisted within it, however, was the smell of ningen blood. He would bet his tail it was that monk that traveled with the mutt. He also smelled a smell he'd not smelled in quite a long time.

It was one of those lingering smells that stayed affixed in his mind… he smiled slightly to himself. It was that kind of smell one can never forget. The thing that could make him run thousands of miles… even without the Shikon no Tama embedded in his leg. That was the kind of smell that would always be company for him, no matter how many lives he lived.

He closed his eyes, catching a whiff of the sweet smell on the breezes.

'Kagome is coming,' He thought, satisfied. His lips curled up in a slightly demonic smile. 'I can't wait.'

~*~

Kagome, meanwhile, knew nothing of the wolf demon waiting for her. She was simply too preoccupied to even consider that her long-time suitor was waiting for her over the next hill. In fact, she didn't even know that the castle they'd long searched for was right over the next hill.

She was walking as quickly as she possibly could, Inuyasha next to her for a change. Nori had sent some of those demon-things ahead of them. Speaking of Nori…

"I don't trust her," Inuyasha said, quietly. "She carries an odd scent. I don't want her to remain with us too much longer."

"Ano…" Kagome had replied, not really surprised. Inuyasha hardly trusted anyone, anyway.

"Kagome?" Shippou asked from Kagome's feet.

"Yea?" Kagome answered.

"…You don't doubt Nori, do you?" he asked.

"I don't know what to think," Kagome answered truthfully.

"She's-"

"-dame," Inuyasha interrupted.

"No," Kagome protested, "she's not. She's different, but she's not-"

"I'm not what?" Nori asked from behind the three companions.

"Oh, ah, Nori-chan? I didn't hear you come up from behind us!" Kagome blundered, blushing quite red.

Nori looked dark and evil. So different than she usually was…

"Ano?" she asked irritably. "Do you want my help or not?"

"I think we're just fine without you, thank you very much," Inuyasha spat.

"Inuyas-" Kagome gasped, looking up at the older hanyou. Shippou looked up at him, quite shocked and saddened. He opened his mouth to speak, but Nori interrupted him.

"If you don't want us, we'll go," Nori said, her voice tight.

"But Nori-sama," whined a demon from behind the younger girl, in the shadows. "I don't wanna go!"

"Yea, Nori-sama! If we go, can't we take one of them with us?" another demon asked.

"Well Miki, Amaya," Nori said like a doting parent over a spoiled child. "Pick one among yourselves and you can take it!"

"What!" Inuyasha gasped, but they were surrounded. "Damn. She meant it."

"Should we take the taji-ya?" a demon asked.

"No Tamika, I want the hanyou!" Hiromi squealed.

"Let's take the kitsune," Kioko decided.

"Yes, let's take the kawaii little one," Agreed Tamika.

"Of course!" agreed Yoshi. "He's the easiest, and they won't be helpless then."

"What!" Shippou squealed, flushing a bright red.

"No." commanded Dai. "everyone turned to look at their self-appointed leader. "We take the miko-wench. She can see jewel shards."

All the demons began to study Kagome.

"Ah!" Kagome gasped, looking at them fearfully.

'Why do my talents always attract the wrong kind of attention?' She wondered irritably, because deep down she wasn't terrified. '…well…' she glanced at Inuyasha. 'Maybe not all the wrong kinds of attention…'

"Don't worry, Kagome," Inuyasha whispered, wrapping a protecting arm around her. "Mamotte ageru."

"Your concern is touching, but how are you going to defend me against all these guys?" Kagome replied.

Inuyasha smiled evilly, but then again, he could smile any other way but evilly, so Kagome was used to it. But she wasn't sure what his new scheme was… And she hoped she wouldn't have to know, either.

The demons were closing in on Kagome.

"Kilala?" Sango whispered.

Kilala went from being a cute, innocent, chibi cat with big teeth to being a large, dangerous, flying fire-cat with huge teeth.

The demons drew back, hesitant.

Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga.

They looked at Nori and Dai questionably.

"… take the chibi kitsune youkai," Nori commanded. "I don't want to mess with them, not when they're so close to death already."

"Whatdaya mean, wench?" Inuyasha exploded. Like Mount Vesuvious exploded.

"…" Nori flipped her shoulder-length hair sassily and turned around. The demons vanished. So did Shippou.

"Shippou!" Kagome and Sango wailed.

"Don't worry," Inuyasha replied to their tears. "I think that's not the last we'll see of Nori."

~*~

Lady Kaede sat in her hut around a small fire. She'd long since finished her dinner, and now she was just watching the last embers die away. Something was troubling her.

"Something wrong, Kaede? You are never up this late," a voice said in the doorway.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking," Kaede replied without turning around. "Thanks for helping me today, Yuko. I'm getting to old to do this all on my own."

The girl in the doorway smiled brightly.

"No problem, Kaede-sama!" she replied. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Yuko!" Kaede called out the door. She sat in silence for a long time, pondering a question that remained in her head no matter how hard she tried to dispel it.

A sound of the door opening and feet on the threshold withdrew her from her thoughts. Yuko must have forgotten something, dear, sweet girl.

"A moment of your time?" a different voice this time, called out from the door. Kaede started, then quickly turned around to face the shadowed figure against the far wall.

"But-"

"Don't even say it. I just want your advice," the voice said. "I promise not to hurt you. I just feel… different then before. There's someone I need to speak too, and I think you can help me find him."

"A-Anything, as long as you promise not to hurt the person I help you find," Kaede responded.

"I swear it. I don't feel like hurting him anymore… that's what I want to know. I think… I think I'm loosing my soul." Kaede looked quite shocked at this.

"But…"

"Let me speak, please," the voice continued. Kaede swallowed hard.

"Anything, Kikyou onee-chan."

To Be Continued…

Shorter than usual.

I know.

Gotta go… so it will stay like this.

:P

~*~DSoD~*~