"Inuyasha?" Kagome said quietly. There was no response as the half-demon merely continued to stare at the ground.
"Rininoto…the demon we just encountered and have spent an hour discussing. Weren't you even listening?" Miroku demanded, leaning forward to try and catch Inuyasha's gaze; his left hand snaking out to try and rub Sango's bottom as he did so.
WHACK!
Suddenly, Miroku was looking straight upward into the golden eyes still downcast. The smack from Sango having effectively removing his invading hand and sending him sprawling on the floor.
Shaking his head slightly, Inuyasha suddenly stood and bolted for the door. The others sat in stunned silence for a moment before Kagome jumped up and raced after him.
"Inuyasha!" she called, but as usual, he ignored her calls. "Hey! SIT BOY!"
Inuyasha yelped, falling to the ground face first. "Dammit woman!" he growled as he sat up. "Ow…what was that for?" he stood. "Look, we need to go find out about that damn rumor Sango heard about in the village about those beetle demons! Why are we sitting here talking about crap that has no connection to what we said we'd do? Remember?"
Kagome stared at him, brown eyes questioning. "Inuyasha…we killed those demons six weeks ago. Don't you remember?"
Inuyasha glared at her. "What the hell do you mean, six weeks ago?" he demanded. "We just heard about the damn demons yesterday!"
Kagome frowned. "Inuyasha, don't you remember that big fight we had? I tried to go home after the battle to do my tests, and ended up slapping you to get you distracted enough to let me go." Surely he couldn't forget that. He had bugged her about the red mark on his cheek for two weeks!
Inuyasha crossed his arms stubbornly. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
The girl gasped. He looked genuinely upset at her about it, and why would Inuyasha play stupid? What was going on? She frowned more. How could he forget though? He always remembered when they fought, especially if she hit him. Inuyasha frowned at her silence, but then walked back into the hut. Even if Kagome was acting like an idiot, the others wouldn't. And if it were a joke, Shippo would be quick to admit it, on accident or by force.
One of Inuyasha's dog ears twitched. All of them, with perfectly straight faces and no lie in their eyes, said they killed the bug demons a long time ago. Miroku had hit him on the head with his staff each time he glowered at the girls, which resulted in the monk being hit in return as well. Shippo too, for muttering some random insult under his breath directed at the half demon.
Inuyasha's fist hit the wooden flow, everyone feeling a small shudder in the ground on impact.
"All right," he growled. "I'm sick of this. Why do you all remember this but I don't?"
Sango shrugged slightly. "I'm not sure, although…" she trailed off, eyes widening slightly. She sniffed the air, then plugged her nose. "Inuyasha, you smell like a wet dog." She said after a moment.
Miroku suddenly at that 'click, I got it!' look in his eyes, and reached out, touching Inuyasha's robes. They were still damp from Rininoto's seemingly harmless water attack from earlier.
"Didn't she cut his arm, Kagome?" Miroku asked.
Kagome nodded. "Yeah, she did. What about it?"
"I think Rininoto's spell has more to it then meets the eye…" he ignored Inuyasha's glare as he tugged on the robes. "It would be harmless if there was no way for the water to get into the blood…but since she cut him, the water probably got into the wound. Maybe it's a memory erasing spell?"
"But he'd still protect the jewel shards we have…" Sango said, unplugging her nose to speak normally. Shippo jumped onto Kagome's shoulder.
An idea flashed in Kagome's head. "Inuyasha, lift your sleeve. Even if you have good healing powers…I think there'd still be some kind of mark."
Still having no idea what the hell was going on, Inuyasha lifted his sleeve. There was no mark. Or the scar the beetle demon had left on his forearm. And his demon healing couldn't heal it before…so how could it be gone now? Kagome paled then.
"I don't think it's just a memory-erasing spell…" she muttered. "I think his body is aging backwards…"
We promise humor later. Really. Promise.