Author's Note-Well, here's the next chapter for Tangerine. It's later than we had planned it to be, but fanfiction.net doesn't like us and we're lazy (and loaded down with schoolwork. . .slows down Shikon hunting. . .). Anyways, here's the new chapter. And guess what? We still own nothing! So read this and enjoy while we search for shards to own it ourselves.

"Inuyasha!" Amanda screamed.

Inuyasha clutched his right leg.

"I'll be going now. But keep these words in mind, both of you: The mask conceals reality. There's more under the surface than what there seems to be. There is no one left to save. You tell that to Bridget before you die the next time you see her." Shido said, suddenly fading into nothingness.

Sango and Kirara suddenly landed. "Inuyasha, Amanda, are you two okay?" Sango asked.

"Dammit, that stings. . ." Inuyasha said, moving his hands away. There was a deep cut on the side of his leg. "It's a good thing I was able to avoid most of that flying rock thing. . ."

Amanda sweatdropped. "Inuyasha, that was a bullet. Not a rock. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. . ." Inuyasha said. He stood up.

"Inuyasha, you're still bleeding. You shouldn't be standing up." Amanda scolded.

"Like I said, I'm fine." Inuyasha replied stubbornly. He leaned against a tree and looked around. "Where are the others?"

"With Miroku. We left them a little ways back from where the others were fighting the spiderheads." Sango replied.

"What?!" Inuyasha asked, startled. He straightened. "We have to hurry back." He said.

Amanda nodded. "Here," Sango said, "You can ride on Kirara."

Inuyasha shook his head stubbornly. "No. I'm hurt, but I'm not completely crippled. I'll just use a stick, thanks. . ." he said.

Amanda sighed and handed him a stick.

"Look. . ." Inuyasha started as they began heading back. "We have a real problem on our hands. That guy's name was Shido, and he's a shapeshifter. He pretended to be me and made Bridget leave."

"Why? What does he want with us?" Amanda asked.

Inuyasha shook his head. "I don't know. But he seemed real intent on keeping me from catching up to Kisike. I think he's in league with Naraku. Kisike wants. . . Kisike wants to try to get Bridget to join Naraku as well. I don't know if she succeeded or not, but my guess is that she probably did." He said.

Amanda looked down at the snowy ground. "So. . ." she asked quietly, "what do we do? I don't. . .I don't want to fight two of my friends. And if worst comes to worst, we'll have to kill them. I can't do that. I know that given the choice, they would probably refuse to become evil, even if someone threatened to kill them. They probably can't help what they've become. It's probably some kind of mind control that Naraku and Shido have. And I can't let them be killed without being free of that once more."

Inuyasha snuck an involuntary glance at Sango. She was keeping her face carefully blank. 'Damn Naraku. . . He controlled Sango's brother, Kohaku, so that Sango had the same problem. He did it to Kikyo and I. Now he's controlling our friends, which makes this harder to fight him for. . .well, everyone.' Inuyasha thought.

Finally, Sango said, "I have to agree with Amanda." Amanda looked over her and blinked. "I don't know Bridget and Kisike, but. . .I have to agree that it's wrong that Naraku's controlling them and making friends turn against friends. We should put a stop to Naraku as soon as possible." Sango continued.

Amanda nodded in agreement. "Thank you. . ." she said. She turned to Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, please. Let's go fight Naraku. I want to try to save my friends." She said.

"I agree with you completely and entirely. There's only one problem with that though." Inuyasha said.

Amanda blinked. "What?"

"We don't know where Naraku lives." Sango replied. "After the battle we had against him, he changed location. He probably does this after every battle."

Amanda frowned. "Then. . .we can't fight him?" she asked.

"Not quite." Said a voice behind her. Amanda jumped and whirled around, yelling in the now-present Miroku's face, "Don't do that!"

Miroku took a step back, unnerved, then nodded. "Erm. . .yes. . ." he said, his dramatic entrance spoiled. He looked at the wound on Inuyasha's leg. "Inuyasha, what happened to your leg?" he asked curiously. "Did Kisike do that?"

"Stick to the subject, monk. What were you saying earlier?" Inuyasha asked irritably.

Miroku nodded, doing his one-handed prayer thingy. "Yes." He said. "As I was saying, we can fight him, though I wish I were wrong about what I am about to say. I believe that Naraku wants the four girls, not just Kisike and Bridget. He's going to try to take Lady Amanda and Lady Raylin, also. When he does, we'll be ready."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Inuyasha said. "You're saying we should just let Amanda and Raylin be bait?! No way! I say we keep from them getting them as much as possible! If you want to use someone for bait-"

Miroku held up his hands in defense. "Calm down, Inuyasha. I'm just saying that if Naraku was possibly able to take them, then we would be sure to follow them." He amended.

"Well of course! It's not like we'd just let Naraku kidnap them!" Inuyasha said, not feeling right unless he got the last say in the argument.

"My thoughts exactly. We're going to have to be much more careful." Miroku said, doing his one-handed prayer thingy. "I suggest we get some rest. Nobody slept last night, so we need to get back our strength. But I also recommend we have someone to keep watch."

"I'll do it." Sango volunteered.

Miroku nodded. "Alright. I suggest we set up camp."

"But the problem is that we don't have any food or water or supplies left since the Spiderheads took it all." Shippou said.

"Up the river without a paddle. . ." Amanda muttered.

"I'll get some food. I'll be back in a little bit. The rest of you get whatever you can of a camp set up and get some rest." Inuyasha said, turning around.

"Inuyasha," Amanda said, "I'll go with you. You're hurt."

Inuyasha's grip tightened slightly on the walking stick with worry. Not only that, but. . .he felt like he wanted to get away from everybody for a while to do some thinking. But, knowing that he couldn't talk Amanda out of it if he tried, he sighed. "Fine. Come along, then." He said as he started off.

Amanda followed quietly. After about two minutes of walking, she finally spoke up. "Inuyasha, I think we need to talk."

Inuyasha tensed up slightly, knowing from experience that those were some of the worst words a person could hear. "What?" he asked a bit stiffly.

"What happened last night?" Amanda asked. Inuyasha stopped for a second and was getting ready to walk again when Amanda suddenly grabbed his shoulders and looked into his eyes. "Please tell me." She said.

Inuyasha looked away, then sat down on a log and told her the whole story-the rescue-mission that Bridget, Raylin, and Kisike had done, the capture of Kisike, and the argument that soon followed between himself and Bridget. Amanda listened to this all quietly, but continued to be silent when he had finished.

Finally, she said, "This is all my fault."

Inuyasha was startled by this. He was sure that she was going to start blaming him when he was done. After all, it was his fault. . .so why was Amanda saying that it was hers? "How can you say that?" he asked.

"Inuyasha. . . I'm sure that Bridget, Kisike, or Raylin would have seen, heard, or smelled the Spiderhead that tried to bite you. Being demons, they would have been fast enough to save you, to push you out of the way without getting themselves injured instead. But I just had to save you myself. . . I wasn't sure at the time if anybody even noticed-I wasn't thinking clearly back there." Amanda said.

"Amanda, I'm grateful that you saved my life. What happened was unavoidable. Even if you hadn't gotten hurt, the others go out for medicine, and fights breaking out in the group didn't happen, somebody would still be after you." Inuyasha said.

"But they wouldn't have left the group willingly, would they? They think now that we hate them. . ." Amanda said, her eyes beginning to water with tears.

"Amanda. . ." Inuyasha whispered, embracing Amanda into a hug. Amanda began to cry.

"It wasn't supposed to end up this way. We were supposed to go home. . .to go back to our everyday lives. . . This isn't our world. We can't survive here. It's not our dimension; it's not even our time." She said, her voice hitching.

"Don't worry. We'll save them. And you and your friends will return home. . ." Inuyasha said. He felt a burst of sadness in his heart as he said that. Amanda was going home. She would leave him, just like every other girl that he liked. 'At least she'll still be alive. . .' he thought.

His ears suddenly twitched. His head shot up. "What was tha-" he started. There was a twang and an arrow suddenly flew between him and Amanda and broke them apart. They both hit the ground and sat up, looking at the woman dressed in black priestess robes. Kagome. "Ka-Kagome. . ." Inuyasha stammered as he grabbed his walking stick.

"Hello, Inuyasha." Kagome said curtly. She decided to get right down to business. "I hate to break up your little sappy moment, but I've come for her." She said, jerking her head towards Amanda.

Amanda stood up as Inuyasha moved to stand in front of her. "Kagome, please. Don't do this." Inuyasha said.

"I have to. My master made a deal with Naraku; I have to do this!" Kagome said. "Besides, if I can give this girl to Naraku, I'll be free. I'm alive again, but I have to pay off my debt, then I'll be truly alive and free." She looked over at Amanda, then back at Inuyasha sadly. "Or are you just going to discard me again, like when you were with Kikyo?"

"Kagome. . .I didn't discard you-" Inuyasha started.

"Don't even deny it, you big liar!" Kagome yelled. "You couldn't even look me in the eye after you saw her! She tried to drag you into hell with her time and time again and yet you still loved her and would forget me whenever you saw her!"

Inuyasha looked hurt. His face held the expression of a kicked puppy. Amanda had never seen Inuyasha like that before. Inuyasha seemed to struggle with himself for a few moments. Finally, Inuyasha turned to Amanda and put his hands on her shoulders. With a sinking heart, Amanda knew what was coming.

"Amanda, listen-"

"No." Amanda interrupted. "I know what you're about to say. But it's apparent that you care more about Kagome than you care about me. That's understandable; you knew her much longer than me. What I don't understand though is why you want her back. She tried to kill you, our friends, and me. If you get back together with her, she won't love you. She'll only want to kill you."

"Get used to it. It was the same thing with Kikyo." Kagome said.

"But," Amanda said, narrowing her eyes at Kagome but still talking to Inuyasha, "despite the fact that you're willing to give me up to her, I am not going to go with her gracefully."

Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her. "No." he whispered in her ear. "I don't want anything to happen to you. I want you to run away. Don't come back. I'll find you by tracking your scent."

"How will I be sure you'll come back for me?" Amanda whispered back, blinking back tears.

"You can trust me. I'll find you. I promise." Inuyasha promised. "Now go. . .and be careful. . ."

Amanda hesitated, nodded, then took off through the forest. Behind her, she could here Kagome and Inuyasha yelling, then several 'sits'. She stopped for a moment, looking behind her.

"Thought you could escape?" Said a voice behind her. She turned to see Shido. "Too bad your beloved Inuyasha isn't here to save you now." Shido said, grabbing her arms and twisting them behind her back. They both vanished.

Author's Note-*answering machine comes on*

Kisike: You're lazy.

Bridget: . . .I have too much school work. Plus, I'm working on The Past. . .not only that, I have several comics to work on as well.

Kisike: . . .

Bridget: . . .

Kisike: . . .You're lazy.

Bridget: Argh!

Amanda: Now, now, you two. Stop fighting.

Bridget: Hmph.

Kisike: Hmph.

Raylin: Um. . . *sweatdrops at Bridget and Kisike as they fight about laziness and other delaying factors of posting while Amanda tries to break up the argument* I guess that leaves me to tell you guys to review at the beep and that hopefully we'll have a new chapter out soon. *beep sounds*