Authors Note:  I dedicate this chapter to Dana… because she is on vacation and I miss her.

Thank you all for your wonderful reviews of late.  I appreciate all the feedback I am receiving.  Please continue the reviews so I may continue the writing.

(Author got bored):

*Insert Inuyasha/Kagome duet here*

"I'm sorry Kagome; I never meant to hurt you!  I never meant to make you cry, so tonight, I'm giving up my ramen."

"I'm sorry Inu, I never meant to leave you!  I never meant to make you sad, so tonight, I'm gonna kill Kouga."

"Oh Kagome, I'm sorry for that time I watched you bathing."

"Inuyasha, I'm sorry for all the times I was flirting with Kouga in front of you."

*All Sing*

"Were sorry momma!  We never meant to hurt you!  We never meant to make you cry, but tonight were cleaning out our closets."

(Yes I am an idiot, yes the song sucks… I wrote it out of complete anger and frustration at how badly this chapter was going.  The only reason its still here is because Dana made me keep it.)  For reference I wrote this during the whole Inuyasha/Kagome bedroom apology scene.  That scene just would not work… and then Dana went and fixed it with one simple sentence… *grrr* oh well, I love her anyway. ^_^


And one last thing….. *BANG*  "OWWWWW!!!"

Okai… that is all.

Chapter Eight

Under a Different Sky

An awkward silence filled Kagome's room.  Inuyasha had just awoken with a start to find Kagome sleeping snugly in his lap.  His sudden jerk had woken her as well.

"Err… good morning Inuyasha," said Kagome in an awkward and apologetic tone as she quickly separated herself from him.

You didn't have to do that…  "Sorry to wake you Kagome… Um, hi…?"  Inuyasha muttered in the same voice as Kagome, clearly confused as to how she had ended up there, but inwardly disappointed that she got up.

"I, um… saw you on the floor, and thought you looked cold… so…" said Kagome, trying to keep from blushing.

"Oh, well, thank you… I guess…" continued Inuyasha, in the same awkward style.

"I guess you came back to get me last night?"

"Yeah I did, but you were sleeping, so I decided to wait."   Why can't I ever think straight in situations like this?  How can I tell her, "You didn't have to get up"?  I want her to know why I really came to see her, and how much it hurt me when she ignored me.  I want to tell her… because… I finally understand… how much she really does mean to me.

 Kagome finally began to say what she really wanted to. "I'm glad you came here… because I wanted to talk to you."

"I wanted to talk to you too," Inuyasha replied, relieved that she had raised the issue.

"It's just…"

            "I wanted to say…"

"I'm sorry." they said in unison.

"I'm sorry for ignoring you."

            "I'm sorry for running away."

They sat in silence for a long moment.

"Well, do you think we should go back then?  Hopefully before anyone sees you, you never know when somebody will randomly jump in the window," Kagome said laughingly, but inside she was thinking.  I wonder, does he know I kissed him?

"Yeah we should head back; they are all probably waiting for us."  No, I just want to stay here with you, and talk.  I want to be able to tell you everything.

"Ok, let's go then."

***

"And where have you been?"  inquired Sango as Inuyasha landed in Kaede's village, with Kagome on his back.

"We were sleeping," Inuyasha replied without thought of his response.

Kagome got off Inuyasha just as Miroku came over and slapped him on the back.

"Way to go Inuyasha! I had no idea you had it in you!" Miroku yelled in amusement.

Blushing deep scarlet, Kagome screamed, "You pervert!" and slapped Miroku across the face.

Miroku strode back past Inuyasha and whispered, "You can tell me about it later," this time earning himself a punch from the hanyou.

***

"Well… now that we are all here again, and there are no wolf visitors, I suggest we resume our quest for the Shikon shards," said Miroku, choosing to stand behind Sango and well out of reach of Inuyasha or Kagome. "I fear that Naraku is near completing the jewel, so there cannot be many shards left. We must begin our search again quickly."

"About damn time!" Inuyasha shouted, glad to get on the way again.  "Let's go!" With that he lowered himself and Kagome got on.

"Where are we headed, Inuyasha?" asked Sango as she and Miroku mounted Kirara.

"Anywhere but here, we can't sit around anymore."

"Inuyasha… don't you think we should make a plan or something?" yelled Shippo from Sango's lap.  It was too late, however; Inuyasha was already running down the road and either out of earshot or simply ignoring the fox youkai.

"So where do you think we should go?" Inuyasha whispered to Kagome so the others couldn't hear him.

***

"Inuyasha! You pick the worst directions!  We haven't come across anything for hours!" Shippo complained, perched on top of Sango's head.

"Oh shove it…  I'm sure we are coming up to a village soon; can't you see how the land is cultivated around here?  Try opening your eyes before your mouth for once!" Inuyasha retaliated.

"Inuyasha, I would have to say that is the most hypocritical thing you have ever said!" Kagome stated, almost losing her balance and falling from laughing.

"Feh…"

"It appears Inuyasha was right, I can see smoke on the horizon.  It must be the village."

"See…" sniff "I wonder what they are burning.  It smells like…" sniff sniff "meat!  They must be having a feast!"

Inuyasha, noticing his rumbling stomach, quickened the pace.

"Oh, I wonder what they are cooking. It doesn't smell like pork, its not fish. It could be…"  Inuyasha landed in the village and stopped dead.

"These villagers are not cooking… I recognize this smell… It's a funeral pyre."

Disgusted by the reality of what he though was food, Inuyasha covered his nose from the stench that was overwhelming his senses.

As the others landed beside him and dismounted, Sango voiced what they were all thinking.  "Why… are there so many… dead?"

Oh god… this looks like a massacre, it feels like my seeing my village destroyed all over again.


The group approached the raging inferno and saw that it was more than just a funeral pyre for humans.

"There are youkai in there too!" shouted Shippo.

 "This seems to be the remains of a great battle," replied Miroku, performing an incantation over the dead bodies. "May Buddha have mercy on your souls."

Just then they noticed a group of ragged looking men approaching them.  Some had old tattered swords, some bows, but most had only farming equipment.

"Back again, daemons?  Why won't you just leave our village alone?!" one of the men shouted, drawing back his bow and firing.  The man appeared to be very weak however, because the arrow barely made it half the distance to Inuyasha's group.

Inuyasha began to lunge forward into the fight, but Sango stopped him.

I don't need to see another massacre like what happened at my village ever again.

"Let me handle this, Inuyasha." Sango put Hiraikotsu down, and approached the group of villagers.  She noticed that almost all of them were either injured, old, or both.  None were in the condition to fight.  "It appears that my friends and I arrived at a bad time, but we are not your enemies!"

"Lies!" shouted the same man as before. "You travel with Daemons, you must be one."

He fired another arrow and this time almost made it to Sango.

"Careful Sango, they don't look like they want to talk," Miroku warned with extreme concern coloring his voice.

What is she thinking? Going unarmed up to angry men with swords is very dangerous.

"Don't worry, Miroku, we don't pose these men a threat, and they know that."

Hopefully, I can stop this misunderstanding without any fighting. Maybe we can help them.

The men looked confusedly at each other, none of them willing to attack the group. Then suddenly the man with the bow spoke up again.

"Why should we trust you?  Daemons destroyed this village just day ago; we are the only survivors, along with a few women and three children hidden away.  All else were lost defending our village."

"You can trust me, I'm a youkai exterminator.  You see I am unarmed." She drew her various blades and laid them on the ground as well. "My friends are all good people.  Even Inuyasha, the dog youkai over there, has been my loyal friend and ally for a long time. You can trust us all."

The ragged group of men looked around at each other, and one by one lowered their weapons.