Kyoko braced herself as the tornado stopped and the yokai that made it became visible. She was surprised to see that he was a rather tall, handsome okami yokai.
The yokai ignored Kyoko as he glared onward at Inu Yasha. "Oi, Dog Shit, where's Kagome?"
Inu Yasha growled at the okami, whom seemed to be more and more familiar to Kyoko as she looked at him. She sheathed her sword as she slowly thought back to when she had first begun living with Miroku and Satoru. She remembered that the area was within the domain of the fearsome okami tribe of the area and that she had made an agreement with their leader so that they could stay undisturbed. [Is it—? It… It can't be… can it? I thought he hated humans…] "K—Kouga-kun?"
Kouga, shocked to hear the strange yokai speak his name, stopped bickering with Inu Yasha to examine the woman. After staring for some time, he realized that he too recognized his long-lost friend. "Kyoko? Is that really you? What are you doing here with this half-witted reject?"
Kyoko grinned, but the smile was short-lived. "I'm waiting for a friend of mine to return."
Kouga felt a cloud of guilt hover over himself. "You—you're not still waiting for that Satoru bozo, are you?"
Kyoko shook her head, her face without emotion, her tone was cold as she answered Kouga, "Satoru is dead."
Kouga froze when he heard Kyoko's tone. [Does she know that I sent my wolves to kill him? I mean… I had to, it was for her own good… if I didn't, he would have killed her or something… Besides, he cheated on her, the bastard….] Kouga chuckled nervously. "So… Eh… what did happen to him?"
"I—I had to kill him."
"Really? That's… too bad…"
"Kyoko, why don't you go on and head back to the village? Ginta and Hakkaku will probably be there by now." Inu Yasha motioned for Kouga to speak with him privately as Kyoko walked away.
~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ 10 minutes later ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~
"HE DID WHAT?"
"Shh… Kyoko's probably still sensitive about it all—she can probably still hear you."
Anger stayed in Kouga's expression as he crossed his arms and looked towards the village. "It's a good thing that she killed him… that son-of-a-bitch needed to be killed, the way he treated Kyoko and Kagome… I even tried to do so myself several years ago, but I guess he got away… I wish I would have gotten the job done—she would never have been hurt like that…"
"Don't worry about it… He got what he deserved. It's actually sort of ironic that Kyoko was the one to do it…"
"Feh, whatever." Kouga leaned against a tree as he watched Kyoko as she began speaking to Ginta and Hakkaku.
~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~
Hakkaku smiled widely as he saw Kyoko heading into the village. "Kyoko-san!"
Kyoko giggled as she winked at her two friends. "The one and only!"
Ginta's jaw dropped. "Kyoko-san? Where have you been?"
"I left home about four years ago. It was just after Satoru disappeared…"
~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~
Inu Yasha smiled as he watched the three speaking just outside the village. He turned his gaze to Kouga, now deadly serious. "She's been through a lot recently. I think that we should set aside our differences for now, at least for Kyoko's sake."
Kouga nodded. "I'll stay around here for a day or so, if that's alright."
"There isn't anywhere in the village to stay."
"We'll find somewhere just outside of the village to set up. It would be too weird for four yokai to be staying together in the same village, anyway. The villagers would become uneasy and my wolves would get hungry, if you get my drift."
"Yeah, I know."
~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~
"So, Kyoko, what are you doing, staying here with Inu Yasha and Kagome-onésama?"
"I'm waiting for a friend."
Ginta pushed Hakkaku to one side as he spoke to Kyoko, "But why here? How is it that you come to know Kagome-onésama?"
"Remember that human boy that I took care of in the mountains? He's Miroku… And… the person I'm waiting for… he's Inu Yasha's brother."
"Is he a hanyou too?"
"No, he's a yokai. He doesn't much get along with Inu Yasha. But, from what I can tell… Kouga-kun doesn't like Inu Yasha too much, either, does he?"
"Nah, Kouga doesn't like Inu Yasha because Kagome-onésama likes Inu Yasha, but Kouga likes Kagome-onésama."
"Oh, I see…"
Kouga smiled brightly as he stood behind Kyoko and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You need to cheer up some, Kyoko-san. Do want to take a walk with me so that we can find a place to sleep tonight?"
Kyoko nodded. She followed Kouga for a short while, but she tripped several times and was very quickly several feet behind. Kouga smiled at her as he helped her to stand. "Kyoko, are you okay?"
"I'll be fine…"
"No you won't, Inu Yasha said that you had been injured just recently… You're still hurt, aren't you?"
"Well, my arm is broken and…"
Kouga knelt in front of Kyoko. "Don't worry about it, I'll carry you."
Kyoko nodded as she moved forward so that Kouga could lift her and carry her on his back. She rested her head on his left shoulder and hooked her right arm over his other shoulder. "Thanks, Kouga-kun."
"Don't worry about it." Kouga smiled brightly as he turned just enough that Kyoko could see him smiling, perfectly content. "So… is this Sesshoumaru really that great of a guy? Has he told you how he feels about you?"
Kyoko sighed, as she watched the ground as it seemed to magically move beneath Kouga's feet, looking for the answer to his question. "Not verbally."
"You do know that you told me the same thing about Satoru? I… I just don't think you should let yourself get hurt like that again. I don't want to see that happen to you Kyoko…"
"Kouga-kun? Since when were you so concerned?"
Kouga smiled back at Kyoko again, but did not answer. His thoughts spoke the words that he was unable to say to Kyoko himself. [I always have been concerned… I regret that I never told you… Now, you see me as only a valuable friend… If I would have told you… perhaps—I would be the one you have been thinking about… The reason I sent my wolves after that bastard Satoru was because I did not want you to get hurt… he would have just disappeared… But now, I know Kagome—when I first met her, she was so much like you, but she was also different in many ways… but that's just how life is… you cannot always get what you want… and when you do, it may take many sacrifices.]
Kouga sighed as he pointed to a clearing that overlooked the village. "How's that for a spot, Kyoko?" He smiled as he waited for a reply, but none came. "Kyoko?"
Kouga turned to look at Kyoko, only to see that she had fallen asleep. He sighed as he sat her down on the ground so that she could continue in her slumber. He knelt next to her and pushed her hair out of her face. His hand lingered over her cheek, longing to hold her. "I should have told you; I should have stayed by your side…"
~ ~~
Ginta, Hakkaku, and Inu Yasha slowly walked into the clearing. They exchanged glances to confirm that they had heard correctly, and in the same time, wordlessly vowed not to mention what they had seen to anyone else. Inu Yasha cleared his throat to gain Kouga's attention. "Is this where you guys have decided to stay for the night?"
Kouga nodded slowly, still in a trance-like state.
Inu Yasha turned away and headed back to the village. He soon located Miroku and Sango. He invited them to come up to where Kouga had decided to set up camp and then told Kaede where they would be in case Kagome came back early. After that, he headed back towards the clearing where everyone else was then. [I wonder… what Kouga said… did he love Kyoko? Perhaps that would explain why he seems so out-of-character… maybe he is trying to make up for past mistakes…]