*bows* Thank you, everyone. It's been wonderful writing for you, and I am pleased to say, that I am continuing Mysterious Hanyou, in a brand new saga. This saga is called "Misplaced Feelings"...I apologize for the length of time this has taken to hit the web/ff.net, because sadly, I had already started this chapter, but I lost the disk...So please excuse me for making you wait so long. I'll just try to improve this version as best as I can.

This entire second saga is dedicated to all readers, and all those who reviewed...Seeing good reviews is what makes me continue writing; it's what gives me the inspiration to go on...Read "Inspirational Sadness" (a poem that i wrote...shocking, ne?) for further details ^_^;

OK! Enough with the semi-serious tone! I don't like it! ^_~ Now, without further adeu...

The Disclaimer!

To Takahashi-sama: Thank you, for this creation titled "Inuyasha", for without it, my days would have been filled with some other anime that I *wouldn't* be writing a fanfic about. *bows* Many thanks to you, for you have given me my obsession. ...Oh! And don't sue me! Please!? I have no money! Inuyasha belongs to none other than Takahashi Rumiko, and all affiliated companies...

The Beginning of a new Saga...

[mysterious hanyou]
"Misplaced Feelings"
Chapter One = Confusion
By: Akiko/Steph = ME!

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Just in case no one knows...

onii-san/chan = older brother
imouto-chan = little sister

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"I missed you...

Onii-chan..."

Kouga blinked a few times, his piercing, indigo-blue eyes wide in confusion and surprise. Did Inuko just call him...her older brother?!

She looked up at his face, and furrowed her brows together in concern. Why did 'nii-chan look so confused and ... scared? She didn't sense many demons close by, so what could possibly causing him to act so strangely? Inuko smiled softly to herself, and decided to comfort her big brother. The hanyou hugged him tighter, and buried her face in his chest.

Unfortunately, this only caused more discomfort for the poor wolf.

He fought and fought, but his face turned more and more red. It was like his face was on fire from what he felt right now. She was hugging him...

"Don't worry, Kouga-nii-chan, everything's alright!" Inuko chirped, snapping Kouga of his stupor.

Blinking again, he shoved her away from him, sending her sprawling to the forest floor. Her golden eyes widened in surprise; what the hell was he doing?! He took rushed steps backwards, nearly stumbling over his own two feet. His blue eyes seemed almost...panicked. With a blush still high on his face, he made a break for it, running as fast as he could to her real brothers.

'Dammit! She's already got TWO brothers!' he lamented mentally, 'I *don't want* to be her BROTHER!'

'Not for any particular reason, of course! I just don't wanna be one of her stupid-ass brothers, that's all...' he rationalized, knowing he was lying to himself.

With the Shikon shards in his legs, he pushed himself as fast as he could, weaving a mini-tornado around himself.

"Onii-chan! WAIT!" Inuko called out, racing after her 'brother'.

Kouga burst out of the forest, rushing past Kagome. Realizing that he had reached his destination, he skidded to a stop next to the little group of consisting of a hanyou, three humans, a kitsune cub and little Kirara.

Seeing Kouga's almost scared look, Kagome asked with concern, "Ano, Kouga-kun, what happened?"

He was bent over, catching his breath. He straightened up, his blue eyes filled with fear, worry, and a spark of anger.

"SHE THINKS I'M HER ****ING BROTHER!!" the wolf-youkai exploded, as everyone blinked, startled by his outburst.

"W-what? Inuko thinks..." Sango began, understanding the situation, yet not understanding at all.

"That Kouga is her brother..." Miroku's voice trailed off, as a white-haired figure appeared, clad in a red, fire-rat kimono appeared.

Gold clashed with gold, as they stood there, watching each other. Silky white hair swayed in the breeze, as the three of them stood motionless. For some reason, they felt connected by some invisible...some powerful, bond. They felt whole, for reasons they couldn't quite comprehend; it might have been the noble blood of their father...Or could it be the same feeling of happiness that they all longed for? The three inu-youkai had been happy the last time they were together as children; Fate hadn't been kind to them since then. Sesshoumaru locked his feelings into the depths of his mind, turning him into a cruel, emotionless demon. Inuyasha found love, only to have it torn away from him, along with his life. Inuko was raised in a different time, a far cry from the land she had once known...They shared tragedies and happy memories, but now...now they had drifted apart; everything was so different from when they were young...

Inuyasha watched his twin carefully, his golden eyes scanning the depths of hers. Her mind had changed...not so drastically, but just enough to worry him. What could have possibly done that...

"Inuko," the hanyou said softly, taking a step towards her. "Inuko..."

"What the hell do you want!?" She growled in reply.

Sesshoumaru watched on, his eyes reflecting an emotion that he sometimes showed for Rin: worry. He felt it, and he didn't even want to hide it. Jaken and Rin watched as he stepped forward, walking towards his little sister.

'Why am I doing this...?' He wondered, not quite sure why he wanted to help the hanyou.

'She's your sister,' a voice whispered in the back of his mind.

That's right. She was his sister. He brought her back, because of the same feeling he felt now. She was family. Family had to take care of each other...

"Imouto-chan," the full-blooded demon mumbled, standing in front of her next to his half-brother.

"What the--IMOUTO-CHAN?!?" Inuko cried, taking a few steps back.

What the hell was going on?! Was this guy off of his rocker, or what?! WHY DID HE CALL HER HIS LITTLE SISTER?! She shook her head; she didn't even know the guy, and he was calling her 'imouto'. That wasn't right!

"DON'T CALL ME IMOUTO-CHAN!" She yelled charging towards Sesshoumaru.

She leapt into the air, hoping to deal him a jump kick (Mint style! She's from Threads of Fate!), but she blinked twice as she landed. Inuko turned around to where Sesshoumaru would have been, and she knitted her brows together as she realized he wasn't there...

Suddenly, she had this feeling that someone was behind her, walking up to her...It felt like...

"GET AWAY FROM ME!!" She screamed, punching at the air behind her.

Sesshoumaru stood off to the side, too quick for Inuko's blows. Determination was burning in her golden eyes, and she rushed at him, only to be stopped by a hand on her wrist.

The hanyou-girl turned around, and only saw herself. No, not herself, someone who looked just like her. Why did...The golden eyes of her true brother darkened; she didn't even recognize him anymore. Did she really forget...everything?

"What do you want from me?!?" the hanyou demanded, trying to tug her wrist out of Inuyasha's grip. "Why can't you damned dogs just leave me alone!?!"

"Damned dogs, huh?" repeated Inuyasha, sorrow coursing through him. 'She really doesn't remember...'

Watching the half-dog demon in front of her sparked a feeling of connection in her. Just for an instant, Inuko felt like she could tell him everything, and all he would do was comfort her, and cheer her up...like a...

"Brother...?" She whispered, a storm of confusion rising in her mind.

Inuyasha's perked up, along with a wolf and a fox's; Was she starting to remember?

"Inu-chan...?" Inuyasha said quietly, as the rest of the group held their breath in apprehension.

"Inu-chan...?" She echoed, a lost tone in her voice.

"This isn't working," he grumbled; she needed to snap out of it! "What, just gonna repeat everything I say, huh, baka?"

Kagome was shocked; this was an extremely delicate situation! This wasn't the time to be throwing insults around!

"Inuyasha..." the schoolgirl mumbled, a dangerous edge in her voice.

He turned to look at her, and as soon as she saw his golden eyes, she knew what he was doing. He was just trying to bring back some more of her memory...

"I understand..." Kagome said softly, taking a step back.

"Understand what, Kagome?" Shippou asked innocently, perched on Miroku's shoulder.

"Apparently, Inuyasha is trying to return some of Inuko's memories by throwing something familiar at her," Miroku answered matter-of-factly, "In this case, they fought a lot, so he's trying to bring out that instinct in her to insult him back."

Sango quietly watched the houshi reason things out. For a delinquent priest, he was awfully wise and full of good judgement...well, most of the time anyway. The rest of the time...

The taiji-ya shook her head, sweatdropping, 'The rest of the time, he's a frickin' pervert.' (i really doubt Sango would use that kind of language, but i like it, so it stays! =P )

"Isn't there some way we can help?" Kouga questioned, hoping that one of them could give him an answer.

"I don't think so," Sango replied, "We don't have much history with her, and we don't even know much about her."

"Oh..." Kouga said, thinking for a moment. A thought suddenly struck him, and he grinned proudly to himself.

"Well, all *I* know is that *INUKO* is a LOUD, STUBBORN, ANNOYING, IDIOT!" He spoke loudly, emphasizing the insults.

*twitch twitch*

Inuko's ears flicked towards Kouga's voice, and it broke her out of the trance Inuyasha had formed. She focused her eyes on the wolf-youkai, and frowned.

"It's not NICE to call your little sister such bad things!" She yelled back, running at him, and kicking him in the face.

He flew backwards a good couple of feet, a nice footmark imprinted on his face. Shippou burst out laughing at this, and even Sango and Miroku couldn't help but crack a grin. Kagome and Inuyasha, however, knew that this was only bringing about more trouble. If Kouga kept interfering, Inuko would never regain her memory.

Sesshoumaru watched the little scene before him, and with one last glance, he set off for his territory, Rin and Jaken by his side. There wasn't anything he could do; he had already done enough...or that's what he thought. He wanted to know what was driving him to take such action; he wanted to know why he was feeling these emotions once more...A little peace and quiet away from everything would help him to stabilize himself, and he would be back to the Great Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands once more.

Inuyasha watched his half-brother walk off into the sunset, many different emotions playing in his eyes. Anger, hate, resentment...love, friendship, gratefulness. So many contradicting feelings were in the hanyou right now; he didn't know what to do or say. But right now, right now, Sesshoumaru deserved a...

"Thank you, onii-san, thank you," Inuyasha whispered quietly, so quietly that only demons could hear.

And Sesshoumaru heard, all right, and smiled to himself.

Shippou, on the other hand, was too busy laughing his tail off at the situation Kouga was in. Inuko was on top of him, slapping the wolf silly, while Sango, Miroku and Kagome watched on, shaking their heads.

"GET THE HELL OFFA ME~!" Kouga shouted, before being hit once more.

"NO WAY!"

*THUD THUD THUD*

Inuko stood up, and dusted her hands off, a victorious little smirk on her face.

"Feh!" She snorted, turning to face him with mischief glowing in her golden eyes.

At the little 'feh', Inuyasha couldn't help but let himself smile a bit. She thought she was Kouga's sister, but she still acted like herself...and him. Guess some things just couldn't be changed, even with amnesia.

Kouga stood up slowly, his body wobbling all over the place. Damn, she really gave him a beating this time. Finally regaining his balance, he stood up tall, his face completely closed off of all expression.

The hanyou-girl gulped, taking a few steps. This wasn't good...

But, she backed up right into a certain houshi.

"Huh?" She turned around, and stared into light, lavender eyes (THEY ARE LAVENDER, DANG IT! REALLY! In most of 'em, they appear a dark violet/purple, but in the manga they turn out lavender...well, i prefer manga to anime, anyway...^_^).

Puzzled at Inuko's reaction, Miroku raised a dark eyebrow at her, "Are you...all right?"

Seeing the concern in the houshi's eyes, Inuko felt her face heat up, and it didn't take a genius to tell that the hanyou was being swept off her feet.

"I...I..." Inuko stammered, her face tomato red, "I'm fine...I-I'm sorry for bumping into you."

She bowed politely, and everyone else blinked. For someone related to Inuyasha, she was acting awfully...polite. Kagome and Shippou were completely baffled by this turn of events; was Inuko really falling for Miroku?!

Inuyasha and Kouga, on the other hand, were seething with anger, though for two completely different reasons. Inuyasha knew what kind of person Miroku was, and if he asked her to bear his child...

'I swear I'll KILL HIM!' Inuyasha thought, growling.

Kouga couldn't stand the fact that she was blushing for Miroku. It just irked him to no ends for some reason. Why, why did she blush for the houshi and not HIM!? No no no no NO! Inuko could like whoever the hell she wanted to! It didn't matter to him...

...is what he kept telling himself.

A quiet demon huntress watched all of this with an unreadable emotion smothered beneath her warm, chestnut colored eyes. She clenched her fists and tried to restrain the urge to smack the delinquint priest silly. Miroku shouldn't be asking so many girls that stupid question, he should be...

'With me,' a tiny voice told her.

Her eyes widened as her face flushed a rosy pink. She didn't think of him in that way, did she? No, that wasn't possible, she didn't have time for love. She needed to get her brother back and kill that damned Naraku...But still, Sango couldn't help but feel a tad bit jealous at the interest Inuko was showing him. And, knowing Miroku, he would jump at the chance for a girl to bear his child.

Miroku watched Inuko's flustered actions, but really, out of the corner of his eye, he was watching the beautiful taijiya. A smile lit up his face, well, more like a suspicious smirk, as he decided to finally try and figure out Sango's true feelings...

"It's fine," He said to her, winking, "My name's Miroku, what's yours?"

'Might as well play along with her.'

Blushing more as she stared into his eyes, Inuko answered, "M-my name's...Inuko."

'Inuko?' she thought in the back of her mind, 'Inu...dog...child? Puppy? But...but...I'm a wolf demon...aren't I?'

Miroku's voice cut through her foggy mind, bringing her out of her reverie, "Well, Inuko-chan, why don't I show you around the village?"

(AN: I have never heard Miroku use -chan for anyone, though, I'm making him use this for Inuko, b/c...well, i'm pretty sure most of you see what I'm trying to do. =) Yep, trying to get everyone who should be together, together. Stage 1 (Kagome and Inuyasha) complete. Stage 2 & 3 will be complete soon enough...hopefully)

"I-Inuko..." Kagome stuttered, eyes wide and full of surprise.

"CHAN!?" Inuyasha and Kouga exclaimed, knowing that that wasn't...right!

"Houshi...." Kouga snarled, taking a step forward, his piercing indigo eyes dangerous.

"Miroku..." Inuyasha growled, readying to kill the monk.

"Urk..." Shippou hopped into Kagome's arms, knowing full-well that the poor monk was going to die.

Sango stared down at the soft earth beneath her feet, her warm chestnut eyes beginning to water. No, he's not worth crying over. She had better things to be thinking about. She whistled for Kirara, and the little cat obediently transformed into her bigger form, allowing her master to climb onto her back.

"I'm going back to the village," the huntress announced rather flatly, "I've got some things to be attending to."

The group watched as Kirara speeded off towards the village, the taijiya on her back.

"Sango..." Miroku mumbled, catching a very dazed Inuko's attention.

'Her name's Sango? Does he...' Inuko saddened at the thought, 'Like her...?'

Stepping away from the houshi, she went over to Kouga, her golden eyes filled with sorrow.

"Onii-chan...can we go home?" She asked softly, ignoring Inuyasha's low growl.

"W-what do you mean, 'go home'?! What the hell are you talking about?!" Kouga blurted out, forgetting, yet again, that Inuko had amnesia.

"Onii-chan, let's go, please?" The hanyou-girl pleaded, giving him the best puppy-dog look she possibly could.

'Aw, dammit,' the wolf cursed, unable to resist the look. 'Damn, she looks cute like that...'

"Oi, Kouga," Inuyasha called, dragging him away from the rest of the group.

"Geez, NOW what?!"

"Take her to wherever you live," the hanyou commanded.

"What?!"

"Go. She won't go with us...She doesn't trust us...but she trusts you, because..."

"She thinks I'm her brother," Kouga finished, a defeated sigh escaping him. "Oh, dammit it all to hell, all right."

"All right, Inuko, let's go!"

He ran by, grabbing her by the wrist, and 'tornado'ed out of there. ('tornado'ed coined by Kathy...lol. Kathyà "ARITE!!" *strikes anime pose*) Inuko was dragged along, and yelled at the top of her lungs for her 'brother' to slow down. Didn't he know that she couldn't run as fast as he could?!

"ONII-CHAN! SLOW DOWN, DAMMIT!" she yelled, trying to get him to slow down.

"DAMMIT! HURRY UP!" Kouga yelled, turning to look at her. He saw her struggling to keep up with his pace, so he skidded to a stop and grabbed her around the waist, hoisting her over his shoulder.

"KOUGA-'nii-chan! WHAT'RE YOU DOING!?" Inuko screamed, practically right in his ears.

He winced visibly, and ran faster, trying desperately to ignore the hanyou's screams and shouts. Tried to…but, he couldn't do it very well. o.O

"DAMMIT, GIRL! SHUT UP, FOR JUST A MINUTE!"

"Feh!"

She turned her head sideways and closed her eyes, Inuyasha style. Her ears were flattened against her head, and she just blocked everything out; She ignored the pace Kouga was running at, the beautiful, lush forest that was flying by, Kouga's scent...For some reason, she couldn't stop thinking about him. When Inuko was this close to him, her senses went haywire, and she felt the intense urge to blush, but she couldn't figure out why. She had no reason to, he was her brother!

As he approached his home, the wolf-prince slowed down, and walked in the rest of the way. He was greeted happily by his comrades, though they were a tad bit confused as to why he had Inuyasha over his shoulder. (note to self: Hakkaku is the one w/spiked hair...Ginta is the one w/a black patch down the middle.)

"Ano, Kouga? Why do you have...Inuyasha?" Ginta asked, scratching the black stripe on his head. (He's the one who has the black stripe of hair down the middle...the rest of silver.)

"INUYASHA?!" Inuko screamed, leaping off of Kouga and kicking the poor wolf in the face.

"ITE!!!" He yelled, falling over, Inuko on top of him.

The hanyou grabbed him by the neck, her golden eyes glittering with anger. He called her...Inuyasha?! That was the name of that frickin' hanyou who was with that so-called guy (don't kill me Sesshoumaru fans!) who called her 'imouto'.

"What the hell do you mean 'Inuyasha'?" She growled furiously, "I. Am. Inuko."

"H-h-h-h-hai," he stuttered out, gulping. If she was anything like Inuyasha, he just might get killed.

"Baka Inu. Leave him alone."

"Demo, Onii-chan!"

"URGH! Just leave him alone, already!"

Inuko pouted cutely, then turned her nose up into the air. Fine, she'll leave him alone, but Kouga was going to get it sooner or later. She walked away and headed up towards a little hot spring nearby; rest and relaxation (and later some good ass-kickin') were all she needed right now...

Kouga watched Inuko stride towards their hot spring, and rolled his eyes. Such an immature brat she was, just like her real brother. Sighing to himself, he plucked Ginta off the ground, and ordered the pack to prepare dinner. He was hungry! After the day he went through, he needed some rest.

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A lone figure in the darkening forest quickly undid her kimono, leaving her crimson red clothes to rest in a neat pile. She quickly glanced about herself, her golden eyes squinting to make sure no one was there. She sighed and waded into the hot water, her body tingling with the sensation of being submerged.

"Ah...that feels good..."

Inuko found a nice rock, and sat upon it, her eyes turned towards the evening sky which was now twinkling like a jewel box. She pointed out familiar constellations and smiled at each one; it felt so good to be able to relax and not have to worry about anything. Her golden eyes softened in the starlight; it felt so good to be home, but…she felt like she was an outsider. She felt…_different_ from everyone else.

"Inuyasha, huh?" The hanyou mused out loud, sinking deeper into the steaming water, "Why…? That guy…"

She saw Inuyasha in her mind, and she shivered at the thought of him. He looked a lot like her, but why? Why, dammit, why! And that damned wolf…what was his name…that guy had also called her Inuyasha…

The hanyou-girl turned her eyes to the moonless sky, and felt her body tingle. For some reason, she couldn't see so well in the dark, and why didn't she smell the wolf den…?

She blinked a few times and stared at her hands, "Claw…less? What's…happening?"

She abruptly stood up, and tried to feel for her soft, furry ears. They weren't there! She felt the sides of her face; ears. Normal, human ears. Normal, human hands. Normal, human, non-heightened senses! What the hell was going on!

She immediately leapt out of the water, and stumbled over to her pile of clothes. She never really realized before, but walking bare foot on forest ground was quite painful.

"Where are my clothes?!" She exclaimed loudly, clumsily picking her away to where clothes were. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness around her, and she saw the dim silhouette of her fire-rat kimono.

"Why? Why is this happening?" She whispered brokenly, a sob rising in her throat.  "Why…"

Quickly throwing on her clothing, she ran to where the wolf den *hopefully* was. She couldn't see very well, and her breaths were coming heavy and hard. Normally, normally she wouldn't even break a sweat, but now…

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"Kouga! There's someone approaching!" Hakkaku called out, "KOUGA!"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!?" Kouga shouted from within his cave, irritated by the interruption, "I'M EATING HERE!"

He was about to yell more at the quivering Hakkaku, when the scent finally reached his nostrils amongst the delicious scents of meat. It smelled like Inuko…but not. He raised an eyebrow, and arose from his seat, and walked towards the cave's opening. He could see a figure trip in the night; She had long, jet black hair, and even at that distance, Kouga could see her deep violet eyes, and the crimson red of her kimono. A kimono that look awfully like Inuko's.

"But it couldn't possibly be…" he mumbled to himself, catching the attention of the entire pack.

Something clicked in Kouga's mind; Inuko was a hanyou, and supposedly every hanyou had a time when their youkai blood receded and they became human. It was just a rumor, because it was never proven, but what if…

"Inuko?!" Kouga shouted into the darkness, making the figure stop.

'Tears. She's crying?' He slapped his forehead, 'Of COURSE! She doesn't know she's half-*dog* demon…'

"KOUGA! Kouga-nii-chan!!!" She cried, running into his arms. Inuko buried her head into his chest, sobbing uncontrollably, "Why did this happen? Why, why, WHY!?"

The tribe was quite startled at her now human appearance. That couldn't possibly be the same girl as before?

Not knowing what to do, Kouga just held her close as she cried openly to him, the entire tribe watching…

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In a fairly large, room-like cave, two figures sat on the floor, staring into nothingness. One was too shocked to do, or say, anything at all, while the other just had no idea how to react to this turn of events. Kouga was worried that his tribe would eat Inuko, afterall, they had at one time decimated an entire human village…She was human now, but when would she turn back to her normal, white-haired self? There was nothing he could do about it…

"Why did I turn human?"

Kouga winced; He had anticipated that question, and though he knew she deserved to know who she *REALLY* was, he was afraid that she might just go through an emotional, and mental, breakdown. The wolf knew that he sure as hell would be pissed if he suddenly found out he wasn't what he thought he was. He'd also be _extremely_ infuriated with whoever withheld information from him.

'She deserves to know,' his conscience told him.

'I KNOW THAT, DAMMIT! But, how the HELL am I supposed to tell her? It's not like I can just go "oh, by the way, you're really not my sister"!'

His normally bright blue eyes darkened, reflecting his inner turmoil. Intense violet eyes watched his own, and turned away, knowing the answer to her question.

"I'm not really…fully demon, am I?"

Now that had caught him a little off guard. He hadn't expected her to catch on *that* quickly, but then again, she wasn't as dense as Inuyasha was. Seeing Kouga's startled silence, Inuko sorrowfully smiled, her violet eyes clouding over with tears once more. She wasn't demon; on the other hand she wasn't human. What was she? A…

"Hanyou. I'm a hanyou…I'm a ****ING HANYOU!" Inuko laughed hollowly, tears beginning to cascade down her cheeks. "Hahahaha………Next thing you know, I'm not even a wolf!"

"…Inuko."

"Inuko. That's RIGHT!" She beamed, her 'cheerful' smile making Kouga worry, "Dog child. Puppy. My name means 'puppy'!"

She scooted closer to Kouga and pinned him down with her violet stare, "Why is my name 'Inuko'?"

The hanyou's tone was steely and cold now, as was her stare. Inuko had to know the truth; she just had to…

Kouga lost himself in the depths of her eyes, not knowing what to do. They were so close together right now...If he just leaned in a little (sound familiar? Heehee…chapter 8!)...

Shaking the thought from his head, he turned away, instead focusing his stare on a nearby wall.

"I'm not…am I?"

He quickly glanced at Inuko, seeing her crestfallen, tear-streaked face, then back to the wall, and back again. He held her gaze this time, and did what he never thought he would do…especially to Inuyasha's sister.

He kissed her. No, he didn't just kiss her, he kissed the living daylights out of her! Kouga never realized how much he had actually wanted this, how much he wanted her. He ravaged her lips like a starved, feral dog on the streets; all he wanted was her.

Inuko's eyes widened to the size of saucers; Kouga was kissing her! HER BROTHER WAS KISSING HER, yet she couldn't help but enjoy the sensations. Her eyes fluttered closed and a blush exploded onto her face. She liked the fact that it seemed like he wanted her so badly…

"Oi! Kou…ga…" Ginta's voice trailed off as he watched the kissing couple. But, didn't Kouga say that she thought they were siblings…?

'What the…'

The voice of another broke into their hazy minds, making Kouga and Inuko snap back to reality. They broke apart and stared at each other, blushes still raging. An awkward silence hung thickly in the room, everyone unsure of what to say.

"K-kouga, why…Why, onii-chan?" Shaking her head, Inuko jumped to her feet and ran out, leaving the wolf den.

'Why did onii-chan kiss me?' She asked herself, touching her lips as she ran. 'They still tingle…'

Tripping over an unseen rock, she tumbled to the ground, and fell dangerously close to a cliff edge. Rolling away from the edge, the human Inuko slowly stood up, pain stabbing through her right leg.

"Shittttt……I SPRAINED MY ANKLE?!" She shouted, not used to the sensation, or rather, the lack of a healing feeling.

She tried walking, but instead ended up limping, unable to support herself. That's right…she was human.

-------------

Ginta watched Kouga stand up, and brush a finger across his lips. He gulped as the other wolf approached him, and expected punishment. Tightly closing his eyes, when he heard a yell.

"That's Inuko…" He ran out into the main cave of their home, a living room of sorts. "EVERYONE! GET OFFA YOUR ASSES AND LOOK FOR INUKO!"

"YEAH!" One cheered, jumping for joy.

"It's been awhile since I've tasted human flesh," another commented.

"WE'RE NOT EATING HER, YOU JACKASSES! IT'S GETTING DARK, AND SHE'S *HUMAN*! IF ANY ONE OF YOU TOUCH HER, YOUR ASS IS AS GOOD AS GONE!"

A collective gulp was heard, and then the pitter patter of a rush of feet. Sighing at the idiots he's forced to work with, Kouga set off on his own to find his 'sister'.

--------------

"INUKO!"

"INUKO! ARE YOU THERE?!" Hakkaku shouted, Ginta at his side. "Damn, why does he want us to save her?"

"Don't question him!" Ginta snapped, knowing the real answer, "Just because they like each…Er…"

"What?!" The spiky-haired wolf shrieked, making Ginta jump, "HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW THAT?!"

"Ahh…I saw them kissing," the other wolf quietly, and reluctantly, answered, blushing.

"But, what about Kagome-nee-san?"

"I don't know…"

They took a whiff of the evening air; their senses were telling them that she was nearby. The duo ran to where Inuko lie, her violet eyes stared up at the sparkling sky, no longer interested in the constellations.

"Inuko...?"

She jumped up, forgetting that she was still human, and collapsed into a pile on the ground. The girl was rubbing her sore ankle, muttering to herself, "Of all the nights to trip and fall…"

"Uh, come on, we're taking you 'home'," Ginta announced, and without another word, gathered Inuko into his arms.

"…that's not my home."

"Well, it is until you remember who you are," Hakkaku stated, more like a command than anything else.

"…"

'Until I remember…?'

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WOOHOO! I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished, I finished! YAY! This took forever to write, but it's all worth it! Urghh….super-confused yet? Don't worry, so am I.  As for all the "Wait. She likes Miroku?" "Wait, Kouga kissed her?" "Wait, she turned human?" questions, the only people who know something of the coming plot is Kathy and Katie….and no, this saga isn't going to be 9 chapters long like the first one _ URgh, I'd probably kill myself if I tried. Ah well, maybe this'll be (hopefully) only 4-6 chapters long. I'm glad that there're people who have actually stuck to this series. *bows* thank you very much, you don't know how good that makes me feel. Stay tune for Chapter two! ^_~

--always,
your friendly neighborhood fanfic writer, Stephanie.