I have written again!  And we met a new character today, who you'll have to read to meet.  Although she only gets a small part, she'll be vital in the future.  Or will she be?  Muhahahahahahaha!

Inu-kun isn't mine.  Kagome-chan isn't mine-a note; I don't hate her.  I exaggerate traits of characters every so often, usually girls, because. . .it's funny.  So don't think I hate her.  I just took advantage of her occasional mood.  Miroku-san and Kaede-baba ain't mine.  The setting isn't mine, and Japan certainly ain't mine, much to my disappointment.  But I'm working on that bit.

Angela is mine, and so is Biiru.  The CONCEPTS are mine, including the ideas-synonyms!  Wow!  Megan belongs to Meg, and Akira belongs to Kristen.  Any else want an insert?  LOL.

~*~

". . .Of course not. . .why would I cast that dangerous of a spell?"

Inuyasha glared at her.  "Save it," he practically spat.  "I am getting sick of this!  All of your self-pity, your stupid wish to die. . .go ahead!  Do it, if you're so in love with the idea!"

She looked surprised.  "Hn.  Kyoumishinshin[1]."

Inuyasha sighed.  "Come on.  I guess it's my job to get you back to Kaede, so she can fix you. . .again. . ."

"Hn."

Inuyasha glanced back at her.  She was looking at her, the familiar blank look in her eyes.  It was getting on his nerves again, but for the simple fact that it was more of a reminder of "what not to do."  The blood was still dripping down her arms, at an alarming rate.  ". . .You know," he said, turning around, "you're going to die."

She shook her head.  "As I said before, so long as I am bound to Shi, I am not free.  I can't die until she wants to let me.  So basically, I'm stuck with this."

"Get used to it."

"Oh, is that supposed to be sympathy?  Cause if it was, you suck."

"No, it was supposed to be a message to tell you that you don't stop acting like you are right now, no one is gonna mourn you on your dying day.  You're not as bad off as you'd like to think."

"Oh, really?"

"Hai[2].  Think about it!  You're 'stuck' with Biiru, and I know quite a few people would like that."  Would Kagome like Biiru?  "He's not nearly as bad as you've been making him out to be.  You're overreacting to a problem that isn't there.  And if you hate him that much, then why don't you abandon your miko powers or something?"

"Nani[3]?!"

He glanced at her.  "You don't use them too often, do you?"

She glared at him.  "Let's just go back."

"I thought you weren't worried?"

"Worried?  Iie[4].  I just don't want to deal with you right now.  I seriously don't need your sarcastic comments."

Inuyasha winced to himself.  That hurt. . .a little.  "Well, excuuuuuuuse me.  I didn't know you were so very sensitive."  He gave her one last glance.  "Walk yourself back.  I have somewhere to go."

She watched him go, and then lowered her gaze.  She held each hand over the other wrist, allowing a gray aura to emerge, closing the cuts in her wrists.  "So. . .you're going to get Kagome.  About time you thought about that. . ."

~*~

Akira sighed angrily.  She touched the delicate spot on top of her head once more, scowling at the memory of the red-clad hanyou knocking the branch off the tree.  Of course, he hadn't noticed, much less apologized.

She had been walking randomly in the woods for about three days.  She had lost track, because she had gotten caught up in trying to perfect the art of walking while sleeping and not hitting trees.  She had been about to practice some more when the idiotic hanyou[6] had hit her.

For about the seven-hundredth time, she swore vengeance against the entire race of hanyou, despite the fact she wasn't positive the boy had been a hanyou.  He had been giving off the power signature of a hanyou, but it had been above normal.  She couldn't tell if he was just powerful for a hanyou, or weak for a youkai.  Or maybe something else entirely.

"That village has to be around here somewhere. . .I turned north ten miles ago. . .or was I supposed to go south?"  She frowned.  "Oh, for Kaji's[5] sake. . .Kaji, now what?"

She slammed her hand into the nearest tree.  The thing instantly burst into flames, practically bright enough to see from the moon.  If anyone was there to see.  She didn't seem to mind, though, and kept her hand on the bark, right along the burning foliage.

The tree quickly withered into nothing, and left the girl standing there, breathing heavily.  Her red eyes seemed to match the fire that had just burnt away, and were burning fiercely enough to be holding their own fire.  The wind blew, breaking her concentration.  She frowned, brushing her sun-streaked cookie-brown hair from her eyes.  "I oughta get a ponytail holder for my hair. . ."

Her hair passed Inuyasha's by a few inches.  And was far more impressive, seeing as there were all sorts of things buried in it.  Tree branches, leaves, and what appeared to be a muskrat had made its home in her hair.  She sighed, and chased it out, pulling out the rest of the twigs.  Walking through the underbrush hadn't been exactly smart, but it had seemed to be the fastest way.

"Kaji, are you sure Shi wants me to tell her that?"

There was no answer, but she nodded anyway.  "Mmmm-hmm.  I know she hates Biiru.  But it's still a bit cruel of Shi to have to send someone else to tell.  And it's worse when I have to do it. . ."

A wind blew through the remaining trees.  Akira winced.  "Gomen nasai[7].  I didn't mean to be cruel.  But. . .well, I've met her before.  You know how basically everyone knows each other.  She's. . .well; something like this could kill her.  Literally. . ."

~*~

It's getting dark.  I can't even see that well.  I wonder if they already ate?  Ang brushed another branch out of her way.  It'll do me good to walk home.  I haven't had to walk very far for a while now. . .since I came here, actually.  She bit her lip.  So Kagome's gonna be here.  Well, at least I won't have to worry about Inuyasha being mad at me.  He'll be talking with Kagome.  She gulped.  Why does that upset me?

She continued walking; eventually reaching the small rural community that still lacked a name.  She had taken to mentally referring to it as "Kaede's place," because that seemed to be where they hung out.  She stopped right at the edge of town, and sighed.

"Kuso.  Inuyasha left the shard behind, unless he went to get it."  She shook her head.  "He really misses Kagome."

Not that it had been obvious.  But little things had accumulated, snowballing.  And I guess I didn't help much, she thought, recalling his words to her.  "'No, it was supposed to be a message to tell you that you don't stop acting like you are right now, no one is gonna mourn you on your dying day.'  Well, he's right about that. . ."

She padded over to Kaede's hut, and pushed open the door.  Miroku glanced up at her.  "Oh.  'Bout time you got here."

". . .Did I miss something?"

"No.  But Inuyasha went off to get Kagome."

She blinked.  "How do you know about that?"

"Biiru was looking for you, and saw Inuyasha dropping into the well.  Kagome's the only one there he knows.  Kinda obvious, ain't it?"

He picked up some more rice with his chopsticks, chewing thoughtfully.  "I'm surprised he waited so long to get her anyway.  I guess he was fine with you, but e was starting to complain about your death wish. . .you're not hurt, are you?"

"A miko[8] has her own healing powers."

"Ah.  That's good."

Another door in the hut opened.  Kaede walked out, carrying some sort of soup, with Megan and Biiru trailing behind her, starved expressions on their faces.  Kaede glanced at her.  Megan did too, surprised by her presence.  "Took her four hours. . .four hours. . ."

Biiru sighed.  "So, you're back.  How was the fight?"

"Kisama[9]. . .you have no right to know.  You don't care, anyway.  You just wanna make sure I didn't try to kill myself.  Which I didn't."  He eyed the new scars on her wrists, but didn't comment.  It was more important to him to stay alive.

"I see.  Well, I-"

He stopped suddenly, his jaw going slightly lax.  He stared at Ang like he had never seen her before.  He gulped faintly.  Angela stared at him with an equal expression, horror mingling with shock showing clearly across her whole face.

Hn.  First time it wasn't only her face.

She took a step back, away from Biiru.  He smiled faintly.  "I-I told you it-"

"Stay away from me!"  She thrust her arm at him, palm totally open.  His eyes widened, and he quickly crossed his arms across his chest.  Black light reminiscent of Miroku's hellhole practically flew out of her hand, jetting directly at him.  A small white spherical shaped bubble covered his front, barely holding back the storm.  He was pushed back a few feet from the jet before it subsided, leaving both of them looking like they were going to faint.

"Calm down!"

"No!"

She raised her other hand, but then thought better of it, as half of Kaede's home was in ruin.  She turned, flicking her braid over her shoulder, so it narrowly missed hitting him in the face, and storming out of the hut, leaving silence in her wake.

Biiru continued to breathe heavily, uncrossing his arms and watching where she had left.  Miroku stared at him before continuing to eat.  "What happened?"

Biiru didn't looked at him, but replied in a far-off voice, ". . .The merger was completed. . ."

~*~

[1]-Interesting.

[2]-Yes.

[3]-What?

[4]-No.

[5]-Literally, fire.  She is referring to a person, however.

[6]-Half-demon.

[7]-I'm very sorry.

[8]-Shinto priestess.

[9]-Vulgar way of saying "you," basically means "you bastard."

Just in case I used a phrase you didn't know!

~*~

Today's Usage: 27 ". . ."s

Current Record: 73