Akira pushed herself off the mattress.  I may not have the money, but damned if I make them pay for it.

Angela opened her eyes and looked at her.  "Akira, get some sleep."

"I'm going for a walk."

"You won't get much for doing that during the night."

She scowled.  "How do you know what I'm thinking?"

"Trust me.  Do it during the day.  You'll get more money then."

". . .I'll get there tonight and do it tomorrow."

She shook her head in annoyance.  "You are impossible to argue with, Akira."

She shrugged.

". . .Fine, see if I care.  Go get eaten by a youkai."

Akira stuck her tongue out at her.  "Fine, I will.  See you tomorrow, okay?  Try not to fight with Biiru too much, ne?  Ja!"

She walked off, making sure not to wake anyone else up, although Inuyasha's ears definitely twitched.  She growled silently at him.  Darn hanyou.  I'll burn him into a burrito someday.  She paused for a second.  Burrito?  What am I thinking about?  I don't even like burritos!

She snuck out of Kaede's hut, and began walking.  It was dark.  There were too many trees in the general vicinity of the ex-town.  She scowled, considering burning them into little itty bitty pieces of firewood, but decided it was better to leave them standing, mainly because Biiru would just bring them back to life.

. . .How far away is the next village, anyway?

~*~

Inuyasha opened his eyes as the sun shone through the window.  He growled to himself.  Why is that window have to let the sun directly into my eyes?  He looked around.  Everyone had stalked off into different parts of Kaede's hut after dinner, and had gone to sleep.  He had gone on a minimal demon hunt, before deciding that demons were now smart enough to stay away from him.  More the pity for him.

He had come back, prepared to ask Kagome to come with him so he could actually do something worthwhile.  But when he discovered she was sleeping. . .he had just let her sleep and gone on guard duty.  He had fallen asleep when he sun had rose, and woke up as soon as the damn thing shone through the window.  He pulled on the make-shift blinds Kaede had, but broke them almost instantly.  He sighed to himself, and walked outside, looking at the area.

It was still a dismal sight.  He didn't know when they were going to have to start re-building it, but the villagers were already building houses on the fringe, where the fire hadn't touched.  He thought back to Akira, and how quickly she had switched her moods.  At first, almost playfully knocking fireballs around, and then trying to kill everyone with fire.  He shook his head.  Must have had a rough childhood. . .I'll have to ask her sometime.  Then he scowled again.  Since when did I become such a nice person?

". . .The sunrise is pretty, huh Inuyasha?"

He turned around in confusion.  "Kagome, you're awake?"  She nodded, and walked over next to him, staring at the sunrise.  He glanced at it.  "Yeah, I guess it is."

"You don't see sunrises very often in my time.  It's so polluted there; we've actually added colors to the sunrise. . ."

". . .What do you mean?"

She smiled.  "In my time, there are more colors in the sunrise.  It's pretty, but it's a reminder how things are going downhill there. . ."  She realized that he had really no idea what she was talking about.  She ruefully shook her head.   "I'll show you sometime."

". . .Okay."

She looked at the villagers, and sighed.  "It's going to take so much more money than this town has.  I don't think we'll be able to fix the town with the supplies we have.  We'll have to raise money for extra workers, supplies. . ."

He nodded.  "We could just take the supplies from neighboring areas.  And as for the extra man power, I can do the work of several humans.  So you shouldn't worry about that."

She laughed at his bragging.  "I believe that.  But you'd be tired when you finished.  Even you get tired on occasion."

"Keh!"  Inuyasha looked back at the villagers who must have started work as soon as the sin rose.  Kagome followed his gaze, silently shaking her head.  It's a shame.  He's such a nice guy, but he really does refuse to admit it.

The both heard a loud banging from inside.  They hurried back inside in time to see Miroku, running back to the guy's side of the hut, smiling like crazy, while Megan chased after him madly with a broom.  Kaede had finally given in to her "guests" and had divided the hut.  One side was the guy's, the other the girl's, and she slept wherever there were a few empty feet.

"Hentai!  Hentai!  Hentai!"

Inuyasha sighed to himself.  "Why am I not surprised. . .?"  He grabbed Miroku's robes, which spun him around, allowing Meg to score a hit with the broom right across his face.  "Miroku!  What did you do?"

"Itai!  Stop it, stop it!"  Kagome managed to catch the broom, and pulled the infuriated cat demon off into a corner, where she tried to calm her down, having little to no effect.  Miroku pulled his robes out of Inuyasha's claws.  "Arigato, Kagome-sama.  It's a funny story, really.  I got lost on my way to find Kaede for something to cool down my hand.  All the fire, you understand. . .very hot.  Well, as I was walking, I tripped over something, and I landed on Megan-sama."

She growled at him.  "Interesting. . .so, you just happened to fall, Miroku.  What did you trip over?"

"Something in the middle of the floor."

"So why is there a bump on your head?"

"Oh?  This?"  Miroku lightly touched a large bump on top of his head.  "Oh, this.  You see, the wall was closer than I had anticipated when I fell, so I hit the wall."

"But, if you fell, you wouldn't anticipate where the wall was at all."

Miroku paused.  "You make a good point."

"Hentai!"

Inuyasha pushed Miroku at Megan, which caused them both to fall, and Miroku landed on top of Megan, and then refused to move.  Inuyasha shook his head.  "Go nuts, Megan.  You deserve it, Miroku."

He turned away from the sight, shaking his head and muttering, "Hentai," to himself.  Kagome rolled her eyes.  He hasn't changed since I left.  No one here has.  I just hope I can meet Sango and Shippo again. . .I don't know where she went, and Shippo. . .where is Shippo?

"Inuyasha, have you seen Shippo?"

"Huh?"  He thought about it for a total of half a second.  "Nope.  Not since I told him he was a coward and he ran off crying."

Kagome frowned.  "I hope he's okay."

"Keh!  Of course that little kitsune is fine.  He certainly knows how and when to run away quickly enough."  Kagome frowned.

"You should be nicer to Shippo.  What has he ever done to you?  And besides, both of his parents have died."  Inuyasha stared blankly at her with an almost hurt look on his face.  She gulped slightly.  "And he's not as brave as you.  He can't get alone as well without someone stronger to protect him."

The flap on the girl's side of the room opened, and Ang padded out.  She paused momentarily to watch Miroku manage to free himself of Megan's beating and run out of the house, followed by the cat, who was still screaming death threats.  She shook her head in amusement.  "Yet another intriguing way to wake up in the morning.  You people never wake me up when something interesting his happened, do you?"  She yawned again, and sleepily smiled.

Inuyasha and Kagome exchanged a look.  She was abnormally friendly.  "Daijobu desk ka?"

She nodded.  "Daijobu.  I managed get lotsa sleep last night, so I'm not tired.  And when I'm not tired, I'm nice to people.  So, what are we doing today?  Hunting down volunteers for rebuilding the town?"

Kagome shook her head.  Talk about out of character. . . "No, we need to worry about the funds.  We'd need to pay workers, and buy supplies, and the villagers here were already poor.  There's no way they'd be able to pay the money to hire people."

"Let Akira deal with that."

They stared at her in surprise.  Let. . .Akira. . .deal with it?  Megan and Miroku managed to settle their differences and walk back inside.  Kaede woke up and started breakfast.  Finally, the two snapped out of the nightmares that had been inspired by the thought of how Akira would gather the money.  "How is Akira gonna gather enough money to fix a town?"

"She can dance pretty well."

They stared at her in shock again.  Ang shrugged and began to eat some of the food Kaede was making.  She looked at Kaede in surprise at the gooey stuff in her bowl.  "Oatmeal?"

Kagome nodded, still in relative shock.  How is dancing pretty well gonna raise enough money to fix the destruction she caused?  "I brought it back with me.  It's good when it's cold outside or he drags us through the mountains.  But, about Akira. . ."

Ang waved her hand at her, wondering how they intended to eat oatmeal with chopsticks.  "Don't worry about it!  If she doesn't raise enough money on her own, I can always go out and rob a few upperclassmen.  They carry around lotsa money, right?  But Akira will go it easily."

"You'll be killed by their bodyguards."

"Ever successfully robbed an armed car?"

"I figured she'd go sooner or later.  I'm actually surprised she waited so long."  Inuyasha and Kagome turned around to see Biiru, although Ang didn't.  "Good morning, mina-san."  He glanced in surprise at the food.  "How old is oatmeal?"

Kaede looked insulted.  "I made it this morning."

"Oh, gomen.  You misunderstand me.  I meant, when was it invented?"

Kagome shrugged.  "I brought it back with me from my time.  I'm not sure if it's been discovered in this time, though.  They tend just to eat rice, I think."

He nodded, accepting a bowl from Kaede.  Kagome served herself a bowl, and then handed one to Inuyasha.  He looked surprised, but silently accepted it.  They silently ate for a while, and then went outside to survey the damage.  Angela complained that the sun was too bright, and Biiru lightly told her to get a pair of sunglasses.

"When will Akira come back?"

Ang shrugged.  "Maybe tomorrow.  She left sometime last night.  I figure she'll walk, take her a few hours to get there, rest for a while, dance all day, rest a bit longer, and walk back at night."

". . .You've got this all figured out, haven't you?"

"Akira was feeling guilty as soon as you calmed her down.  I was waiting for her to calm down enough to talk to her, but she left before she was calm enough to talk to.  I'll talk to her when she gets back.

Inuyasha snorted.  "She better be feeling guilty.  She just destroyed a whole town single-handedly."

"Shut up!"  Inuyasha stopped in surprise, looking at Ang, who was suddenly very angry.  "If you knew what was going on, you wouldn't have said that.  It's not her fault that you pushed her into it!"

"Ma-Matte!  How did I make her do that?"

Biiru put a restraining hand of Ang's arm.  "Calm down, Ang.  Inuyasha, Akira would not be pleased if we explained her part for you.  Fires for her are rather traumatic."

"Then why is she Kaji no miko?"

"Because she loves fire."

"But-but you just said-"

"It's a love/hate relationship, Inuyasha.  Much like the one you have with the girl you were talking about a week ago."

Kagome looked at Inuyasha in surprise.  "Would that girl be-?"

"Kikyo."

She nodded.  "Sorry."  He didn't reply.  Why did I just ask that?  What else would he have been talking about?  She sighed to herself.  I wonder if he talked about me?  "So," she said in the most conversational tone she could muster, "how did you two meet?"

Ang threw her an almost dirty look, and scowled.  "Ain't your day for questions Kagome.  I won't ask if I were you."

Kagome paused.  The icy glare she had given her was more frightening than some of the youkai she had been in battles with.  "Was that a threat?"  She continued to glare at her.  "Ah. . .gomen."

Biiru glanced at Ang with an intrigued look.  "What do you have against explaining things?"

"Nothing."

"Then explain."

She glared at him, her glare gradually softening into an almost broken gaze.  "Kisama. . .you really don't remember, do you?"  She looked confused.  "How could you?  How could you forget!?"

He took a step back, releasing her arm, and holding his hands up defensively.  Inuyasha unconsciously stepped in front of Kagome and put a hand on his sword.  Kagome found herself gripping her bow.  "Calm down. . ."

"No!"  She took a step towards him, clenching her hands.  Inuyasha could smell blood.  Great.  She broke the skin.  "How the hell could you have forgotten a full year of your life!?"

Biiru gulped.  She's crying!

She glared at him one last time, and then stormed back to Kaede's.  Biiru took a deep breath, and started to run after her.  Inuyasha grabbed his arm, snapping him back.  "Let her be.  Don't follow her right now."  Biiru and Kagome looked at him in surprise.

Biiru jerked his arm away, with the first expression of anger any of them had seen.  "How the hell would you know what she wants right now?  I've known her for nearly three times as long as you."

Inuyasha didn't answer the angry tone.  "I know that.  But she also hates you, Priest.  She trusts me more than she trusts you, from what I've seen."

Biiru glared at him.  "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Neither do you."

"What do you mean?"

"According to her, you've forgotten a year of your life.  And in that year, you two must have had one big fight.  She says that she hates you, she's barely been tolerating your presence. . .it's better if you leave her alone, Biiru."

~*~

Kaede looked up as Ang stalking into the room, healing her hands.  She frowned when the scar tissue steadfastly refused to heal.  Kaede looked back at her herbs.  Since she had used so many in the fire, she needed to replenish her stock.  "For someone without energy, you're sure feisty."

"Cram it, baba."

"Where are the others?"

"Probably still standing where I left them.  Have Miroku and Megan stopped killing each other yet?"

"Yes.  I gave Miroku some salve to better heal some of the bruises he received.  Meg agreed to help with some, but I've heard some slapping from inside the room, so I can't guess what's going on.  I don't understand her train of thought."

She sighed.  "Chica es loca, no?"  She looked out the window.  "Tal vez es loca.  O tal vez está loca.  Todos hacemos cosas estupidas."*

"We all do stupid stuff, I guess."  Ang looked back at Kaede, but realized it was really the newcomer to the room who had spoken.  Meg sat down next to Ang.

"So, Miroku still in critical condition?"

"No.  I gave him a few impressive bruises, but I agreed to treat the one on his face because he couldn't see it well enough to put the stuff on it.  Kaede gave him something."

"I heard."

"Mina doko desu ka?  Kaede told me Akira is away, but I haven't seen anyone else."

"Standing outside, giving me breathing space.  They'll be back in about five or ten minutes.  It was kinda weird. . .I was in such a good mood this morning.  Now I'm ready to kill someone."

"What did Inuyasha do this time?"

"Nothing.  Biiru is the one who pissed me off.  Why did you say it was Inuyasha?"

"Because, usually it's him who pisses you off."

"Ah."

"Well, are you going to go get them?  I mean, you look pretty calm to me."

"Of course.  If I get myself excited now, then I'd use up the energy I got from the fire, and that's all I have right now."

"You got energy from that?"

"Of course.  Life energy."

Megan didn't reply, but looked intrigued by the idea of getting energy from the destroying fire.  "Do you mean you got energy from the souls?"

"No.  Harvesting souls actually takes energy, and I have no desire to trap souls on this earth.  I collect the life energy they lost when they die, and add it to my own."

"Honto ni. . ."

"Where did you come from, anyway?"

Megan frowned.  "I don't want to talk about it.  Maybe later."

She nodded.  "We're a lot alike, aren't we?  Neither of us are accepted among our peers.  A hanyou alone cannot find a place; a fourth demon is merely laughed at by youkai, and still feared by humans.  And an empty miko, I'm just a shadow of my past powers.  Empty miko are frowned on, and death isn't exactly smiled at either.  I'm only a little more powerful than Kagome, if I am right now.  A high-level spell would kill me right now."

"What kind of high-level spell would you need?"

"Mass Destruction, Avenging Angel. . .just a powerful spell.  Even a high healing would hurt.  I'm running off a minimum power supply as it is. . .in fact, a solid middle-level might kill me."

"Maybe you should rest," Megan said, standing up with a bit of concern.  "You look tired."

"I am. . .kind of.  I thought I had more energy than I do.  But. . .oh well.  Maybe I just need to eat more."

"At least you eat more than you used to."

"Be nice."

"Nyah!"

They both laughed.  Ang stood up, dusting imaginary dust off her clothes.  She held up her hands in front of her, one on top of the other, with a grapefruit sized ball forming in between them.  Megan took a step back in surprise.  "Na-nani?  What are you doing?  Nani kore?"

"Don't worry," she said, sounding kind of faint.  "It's a low middle-level spell.  It won't kill me. . .and it's not an attack."

"Stop casting!   What are you doing?"

Kaede's door/mat swung open, admitting the three missing people.  Ang's hands quickly dropped, although a barely detectible mist hung around her right hand.  "What were you doing in here?"

Ang stepped towards Biiru, stopping only a foot away.  "Biiru. . .do you want to remember?"  He nodded, anger dissipating from his face, being replaced by an almost desperate look.  "Then I'll help you."

Before anyone could react, she reached up and put a finger near his temple.  Something tried to push it aside, but the mist attacked it, and there was a blinding flash of light.  Her finger gently touched his temple.  The mist flowed from her temple into his temple.  His eyes grew wider and wider, and his pupils shrunk.

Finally, she stepped back, swaying on her feet.  Biiru didn't move, but stared ahead in shock.  Angela's leg gave out on her, and she collapsed, caught at the lost second by Inuyasha.  Everyone turned and looked at Biiru for an explanation.

His dead eyes remained staring straight ahead.  "I. . .I remember now. . ."

~*~

 "She's crazy, huh?"  "Maybe she's crazy.  Or maybe she's temporarily crazy.  We all do stupid stuff."

~*~

Yay!  It's up!