Chapter 5: Growing Accustom

The camp begins to stir early in the morning. Kirara seems to still be asleep. Shippo bounds over to the blanket near the tree.

"Kirara, wake up. Don't you want some breakfast?" he asks. Everyone sits around the dead fire eating various breakfast items from Kagome's world. Kirara struggles against consciousness as daylight seeps under the blanket, which she has pulled over her head. Giving up, she stretches out into the day and shakes herself wildly on all fours. She glances at the shocked faces around the camp with sleepy eyes.

"KIRARA!?" Shippo squeals and jumps back " Ya-you're SHEDDING! Kirara looks down to see chunks of black hair scattered all around her. She makes an incomprehensible noise and collapses onto the ground, rolls over, sits straight up, and yawns.

"Kirara," Kagome says. "Ano.. What happened to you?" Kirara stares with a dazed expression and reaches up to scratch her head. When she touches her hair she jerks awake with sudden realization of what has caused the disturbance of which she has been oblivious to.

"Eh.. ahhahahah," Kirara laughs nervously turning pink. " Gomen, I'm not used to long hair. It annoyed me in my sleep." Almost all of Kirara's hair is gone. Her bangs remain along with two long sections of hair on each side of her face. Her longest portions of hair reaches to her jawbone while all the rest of her hair is no longer than an inch and a half, the shorted 1/3 of an inch. The back of her neck is now bare.

Kirara turns around to hide her face. In truth she had cried most of the night. Her long hair had stuck to her damp face and in a small fit of rage she had shredded it.

"Actually," Kagome says with a little cheerfulness in her voice. "It looks good." Kirara turns with an innocent face.

"You know," Sango adds with a smile. "She's right." Kirara smiles real big and reaches for some food and joyfully eats. Inu Yasha gives her a passing glance.

"Strange," He thinks. "Her mood changes so dramatically."

They pack up and begin walking down the dirt path. Kirara is overly happy this morning and skips along the path. She gets strange looks from her friends but on the inside they all find her behavior somewhat… adorable. Of course, Inu Yasha is the only one that won't admit this even to himself and distances himself ahead of the group. Then he stops. Everyone stops behind him except Kirara who is busily humming and dancing in little steps. She bumps into him before realizing everyone's abrupt pause. Inu Yasha tries to contain his annoyance. He has become extremely stressed over the past day. He spins around.

"Pay attention!" he growls. Kirara cowers a little. Inu Yasha breathes heavily trying to be tolerant. "Listen, if Naraku did this to you than you must know where he is." Kirara smiles and hops back, looking into Inu Yasha's eyes with sheer joy. She is overjoyed by the fact that she is still useful.

"Of course!" She squeals. "I know where his castle is." Everyone looks hopeful with smiles.

"Honto!?" Kagome chimes in. "Where?" Kirara turns to them with an even bigger smile.

"That way!" she points in the direction they came from. Everyone face faults. (I think that "face fault" is when they dramatically fall over. If not, please correct me.)

Inu Yasha grumbles as they all march back the way they came. Kirara innocently follows in a manner that almost seems clueless.

"Inu Yasha, it's your own fault for not thinking of this before we started off this morning. Don't be so mad." Kagome says.

"SHUT UP!! I'M NOT MAD!!" he spins around. "And don't blame me for this! If you weren't so stupid you'd of thought of asking her earlier!"

"Inu Yasha!" Kagome says with a stern tone. Everyone including Inu Yasha knows what's coming. "OSWARI!!"

*WHAM* 'nuff said

(Sometime later. The sun shines 12:00 overhead. They are approaching a town they had passed through the day before.)

"Kirara?" Sanga says. Kirara is occupying herself by observing the scenery. She looks at Sango with her now-trademark-wide-eyed-innocence. "I've been meaning to ask you. Um.. why did you leave with Kagura before even when called after you?" Sango's question portrays a hurtful undertone. Kirara stops walking and look sat her directly.

"I wanted to help. I just felt that my usefulness was limited, so I wanted to see if I could do more to assist you, to prove that this was a partnership. It is a partnership right?" Kirara smiles with reassurance as she completes her explanation. " I succeeded didn't I? Now I can lead you to Naraku's whereabouts." Sango smiles.

"Not only that," Miroku adds. " But now you can humble us with your beautifully graceful presence." As he says this, He reaches around Kirara's waist and lets his hand slide curiously down to her hip. In lightening fast motion, Sango removes her boomerang from her back and, holding fast to one end, hits him in the stomach with the bend in its center. Miroku slams into the tree beside them and falls limp with a groan/sigh.

"HENTAI!!" Sango growls. Kagome giggles with one of her demented faces, Shippo looks at Miroku with a bored expression from the basket on Kagome's bike, while Inu Yasha glances with little concern towards the situation.

"Sango!" Kirara whines with watery eyes. "That's not fair!" Kirara's small outburst attracts everyone's attention except for Miroku who, at the moment, is looking kinda dead.

"Eh…?"

"It's not fair that you hit him! I should be allowed to uh,, how do you say it?" Kirara pauses briefly. "To respond! That's it! I should be allowed to respond to him how I want!"

"HUH!?" is the response from everyone. Kirara rushes to Miroku's side.

"Miroku, gomen. It wasn't right of Sango-chan to hit you like that." Miroku looks up into Kirara's compassionate eyes.

"Kirara.." he whispers. "You are too kind." Kirara's loving face turns bright red with shock and embarrassment. She, along with Sango, Inu Yasha, and Kagome, sweatdrop as the angle of the scene focuses on Miroku's hand which seems to have been misplaced upon Kirara * ahem* behind.

*SMACK! *

Kirara's face is twisted in disgust as she sits breathing heavily with her hand still raised. Miroku lies on the ground with a brightly colored handprint across his face. Kirara's breathing stops suddenly and her expression instantly changes from indignity to amusement. She smiles brilliantly and laughs.

"I feel so much better all of a sudden." She turns to Sango and Kagome. "No wonder you hit him so much. It's so much fun!!" She squeals. The two girls giggle uneasily. Kirara laughs, hops up and skips over to Inu Yasha. He steps back as on act of caution towards Kirara's freakish happiness. He gulps a little as she smiles sweetly at him. They stay like this for about 10 seconds before the silence is broken..

*SMACK! *

Kagome and Sango stare in shock. Shippo cringes on Kagome's shoulder. Miroku, brought back to life by the sharp smack that filled the air, looks confused. Inu Yasha remains frozen in disbelief as a handprint begins to appear on his right cheek. Kirara looks at him with a look of stupidity and then looks questionably at her hand. She sniffs back some light tears, then spins around accusingly at Kagome and Sango.

"How come it didn't work this time!?" She shouted. " That wasn't fun at all!"

"Ano.." Kagome says. " You only hit him when he does something rude."

"HOW ABOUT DON'T HIT ME AT ALL!!' Inu Yasha screams, enraged. He yells directly at Kirara. "YOU GOT SOME NERVE YOU LITTLE BI…"

*SMACK! *

Kirara's hit landed Inu Yasha on the ground. Kirara smiles. "It's back" she says. She kneels down beside Inu Yasha with a look of true sentiment. " Gomen Inu Yasha. I promise I won't hit you any more unless you really really REALLY deserve it." Then she wraps her arms around him in an apologetic hug. She nuzzles her face against his and purrs. Inu Yasha instantly tenses up and blushes. Kirara's ears straiten up and sniffs the air. She releases Inu Yasha from her grasp and he falls back onto the dusty road. She stands up and sniffs the air more intently. Sango's senses begin to pick up on a demonic presence as well as Miroku's.

"What is it?" Kagome asks Sango. She is aware of the seriousness of the situation almost immediately. Inu Yasha sniffs the ground and upon recognizing the scent leaps to his feet.

"Inu Yasha?" Sango calls.

"Naraku!" Inu Yasha answers back. Kirara's fur stands on end, and she growls coldly in the direction of the village they approach.