Disclaimer: I don't own it. If I did, everyone would have kawaii ears like Inuyasha.

Flamez: I had originally wrote this as one chapter but it was way too long so I split it up cause it was taking too long to write. When Kurama is talking but its '' instead of "" he's talking to Youko. Progress Report cards are coming out and I think I have a B in geom and a B in earth sci. Fuck, my parents are gonna kill me! . So I gotta hurry up and do some extra credit or something. Dad says that if I get a B in earth sci, I have to take out time to study EVERYDAY!! So if that happens my updates might be less frequent. I hate school. Ah, the necessary evils of life. And on top of that Microsoft Word is fucking up again! *Takes deep breath* I'm okay now, read on.

Chapter 11-Choices, choices pt.1-the reunion

Kagome stood there, utterly stunned. A lot of shit happened in about five minutes. She collected her thoughts and turned to look at Inuyasha. His eyes where guarded and his fists were tightly clenched. Her heart tightened because he reminded her of Youko. He didn't really look like him but just for the fact that he had the silver hair, gold eyes, and ears on his head. Was this how Inuyasha felt when he saw Kikyou in her?

Inuyasha slowly looked up to meet her eyes. Her eyes stared to well up with tears. He looked so torn and full of anguish it ripped at her heart. Then Kagome remembered why she left him in the first place. He didn't want her, he still loved Kikyou. There was no room in his heart for her. Her jaw clenched and she looked away from him. 'Why is he pretending that this is difficult for him? Why doesn't he just hand me over and get it over with? I know he's going to.' Whispered a nasty part of her mind.

"Kagome!"

She looked up at Miroku, Sango, Ayame, Rin, and Shippou who were riding Kirara's back. Kagome waved her arms frantically. "Don't land here, land by Inuyasha!"

They looked at her strangely but did what they were told. Miroku and Sango immediately jumped off of Kirara and started running toward Kagome. Inuyasha caught them by their collars. "Don't you think there was a reason why she told you not to land there? Use your brain." He rolled his eyes and released them.

They glared at him indignantly but made no move forward. "Kagome are you okay?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and again and snapped. "Of course she's not."

Miroku struck his head with his staff. "I don't believe I was talking to you."

Kagome's fingers tentatively touched her scorched back. "I'm fair."

Kouga turned her around and said heatedly. "What did he do to you?!"

"Nothing lasting." She assured him.

"If that bastard wasn't already dead, I'd kill him."

"Well he was under Kagura's control." She reasoned, not really sure *why* she was defending him. Yup, it was official she was definitely insane.

"I don't give a fuck." He clenched his fists until his claws drew blood.

She put her hand on his chest. "It's over now, lets just forget about. There's nothing we can do, like you said he's dead."

That calmed him slightly. His strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her to him. Kouga buried his nose in her hair, breathing deeply. "I'm happy you're okay."

Kagome buried her face in his solid chest. Clutching the edges of his armor, she cried. "I don't know what to do, Kouga."

He rubbed his palms in the small of her back, soothingly. "Shh, it's alright. Everything's going to be fine."

She pulled back and looked up at him with watery eyes. Kagome smiled sadly. "No, its not." She let him go and stepped back. She turned to look at her friends with a fake cheery smile. "It's great to see everybody."

Sango looked worried. "What's going on? Has something happened that we don't know about?" There was a long excruciating silence, the others could tell something was seriously wrong. "Something did happen."

Inuyasha spoke but refused to look at them. "Hiten was dead the whole time, Kagura was controlling him like a puppet. Hiten had brought her here so Naraku could make some twisted deal." His voice was choked, he stopped speaking.

Kouga growled, everyone could feel the hate rolling off of him in waves. "Naraku wants to trade Kikyou for Kagome."

Sango shook with anger. "That bastard!"

Miroku laid a calming hand on her shoulder. "How long do we have?"

"A day."

Kouga pulled Kagome back to his chest, growling fiercely. "I won't let him have her."

Inuyasha whispered dejectedly. "What about Kikyou?"

"About her, turd? She's dead for crying out loud. She doesn't even have a soul!"

"That's not her fault! It's mine. I owe her my life, it's my fault she died."

"Kami, Inuyasha! Would you stop blaming yourself?! It was that damn Naraku, not you!"

"I should have seen through his stupid plan! Kikyou died because of me! She died because she wrongfully trusted me!"

"No you damn moron, she died because Naraku killed her! You make me sick with your 'o woe is me, its my fault' shit! Get over yourself." He his lips pulled back in an exasperated sneer as he clutched Kagome tighter.

"Shut the fuck up, wolf! You don't know shit!" Inuyasha spat.

"I know that Kagome is important to me, and you're right. I don't know if she's important to you." He hissed through clenched teeth.

Inuyasha's growls were audible. "Like I said, you don't know shit!"

"Shut up!" Kagome yelled. "Shut up, both of you! Can't you two get along for a second?!" She pushed away from Kouga forcefully. She stalked over to the opposite side of the enclosure, turning her back on them.

Kagome blinked in surprise as a rose headed straight for her. It stopped, seemingly in midair. Then the barrier flared up, crackling with lightning before shattering around them like broken glass. A man stepped out of the shadows and picked up rose. He had long red hair and deep green eyes. He looked her in the eye with an unspoken question.

'Is that her?' Kurama asked.

'Yes.' Youko answered.

Kagome backed away, unsettled by his gaze. In a flash Inuyasha and Kouga was between them, growling. "Who are you?"

"Please excuse my rudeness. I am Suichi, but some just call me Kurama."

She stopped backing away, her breath caught in her throat and her heart stopped. "Youko?"

Kurama sidestepped the two men with ease. He stood next her. "Yes and no. When he was close to death he was transported into my body for safety until he regained his powers."

".." Kagome just stared at him in disbelief. "Youko?" She repeated dumbly.

Kouga and Inuyasha had rounded on him, both holding him up by his neck. Kurama regarded them calmly. "Put me down before I make you."

Inuyasha sneered. "Wh-"

Kagome put up a hand to silence him. "Put him down."

He glared at her but let go, Kouga soon after him. Kurama landed on his feet unruffled. His glance at them was unreadable. "Youko has requested that I come here because of his promise to protect you."

Inuyasha snorted. "She don't need his protection, she's got us."

Kouga nodded. "Yeah."

Kagome rolled her eyes. 'At least they're getting along.' "How do you know all of this? Can you speak with him?"

"Yes, quite frequently actually." He said wryly.

"How long will you be with us?"

'Tell her until it is time for me to leave.'

"He says until it is time for him to leave."

"Did you just talk to him right now?"

"Yes."

Her eyes sparkled with fascination. "Can he hear everything we say?"

"Yes."

"Wow." She was quiet for a moment before looking extremely embarrassed. "Um, Youko, if you really can hear me, I want you to know how happy I am that you're alive."

"He says that he had to live to keep his word."

Kagome laughed, remembering their old joke. Her eyes brighten joyously and she almost hugged Kurama but then she remembered that he was not Youko. Containing her elatedness she smiled. "What else would I expect from a thief?"

Kurama could feel Youko's smile. 'That's my Kagome.'

Inuyasha tapped his foot impatiently. "If all the reunions are over with, we have better things to do." He grabbed Kagome from him and steered her away. She shook him off.

"I want to talk to him some more."

He caught her arm again, snapping her back to him firmly. "We have better things to do." He repeated through clenched teeth.

Kagome ripped her arm away from him. "You better be so happy that I can't you-know-what you or there'd be 12 foot deep Inuyasha shaped crater right now."

'What an imbecile.' Youko snorted. 'He doesn't know when to shut up."

'It seems that way.' Kurama watched them verbally rip each others heads off.

Kagome was now flailing wildly, screaming that he was not her father and could not order her around. Inuyasha shouted that he would tell her whatever the hell he felt like telling her and she would do it.

She bristled. "How dar-"

There was a little tug at her leg. Kagome looked down to see Rin and Shippou holding all the packages of roman noodles that they could carry. "We're hungry!" Shippou pouted.

Kagome smiled, not before glaring at Inuyasha one last time. "I'll make us diner, okay?"

They smiled up at her. "Can we help?"

"Of course. Rin, fill a pot halfway with water. Shippou go gather some dry branches." Once they had the branches in a circle, the young kitsune lit them with his fox fire. Kagome smiled. "Now all we need is the pot."

Shippou frowned. "What's taking her so long?"

"Here I am!" Rin skipped along, holding Sesshomaru's hand. Jaken teetered behind them, carrying a pot bigger than he was. "Look who I found."

Inuyasha visibly stiffened and pulled Kagome to him. "What are you doing here?" He spat venomously.

Sesshomaru glared down his nose at him. "That's none of your concern." But he didn't look so menacing holding the hand of a nine year old girl.

Rin jumped up and down excitedly. "Did you come to take Kaggy back home?"

Inuyasha growled. "Listen you little runt-"

"Don't call her a runt you cur."

Kagome rolled her eyes and snatched the pot from Jaken. "Will you two behave?" She put the pot over the fire and whipped around to glare at them. "We are going to have dinner AND everyone WILL get along, okay?" She smiled but a vein in her forehead pulsed. "Okay?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes but didn't object. When the water boiled, Kagome dumped all the noodles in. Her head was swimming. She wanted Inuyasha to tell her up front that he wanted to trade her for Kikyou. She doubted he would with Kouga and Sesshomaru here. She needed to speak with him alone, maybe later tonight. Yes, night would be good. It would be easier to slip away to talk.

She put the noodles into the bowls and passed them around. Sesshomaru sniffed it warily. "What is this?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Its noodles, just eat it."

He glared at her but Rin had stuffed a large amount of noodles at in his mouth. The noodles were sticking of his mouth and his cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk's. His glare was less effective. Kagome stiffed a laugh, bowing her head over her bowl. "Is it good?" A smile tugged at her lips.

His glare never wavering, he swallowed. "It's not poison."

She rolled her eyes. He was impossible! Kagome finished before the others and looked around. Kouga and Inuyasha where shoveling the food in their mouths like there was no tomorrow. Kurama and Sesshomaru ate fast but mannerly. Shippou and Rin were in their own mini food fight. Miroku and Sango were eating but looked like they were deep in thought. Where's Ayame? She looked up to see her up in a tree, seething. Like she didn't want to be here. But then why did she come?

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Well feed, everyone sat back and stared at the sunset. So much had happened to all of them and they doubted that the series of events didn't change them. Even Miroku seemed a little subdued.

*SMACK* "HENTAI!!"

Well maybe not. Kagome smiled and shook her head. She twirled a tendril of ebony hair around her finger. She wondered how her family was doing and if they worried about her. It had to be a good three months since she's been home. She groaned, she would be up to her eyeballs in make up work when she got back to school! 'I wonder what excuse Grandpa gave. It had better not be crabs again! That was so embarrassing...'

Rin sat in Sesshomaru lap tucking her head under his chin. She stared into the fire. "It's pretty. The light it gives off is nice."

"You like fire?" She nodded. Sesshomaru lit the end of a branch and gave it to her before gently pushing her out of his lap. "Go burn Jaken." Rin eyes lit up as she took the branch and went in search of the servant.

Kagome smiled. 1. Sesshomaru had this civil side to himself that he only showed to Rin. 2. She disliked Jaken and would enjoy seeing him burn. An evil smirk lit across her face.

"What are you thinking about?"

She snapped out her wicked daydream. "Huh?"

Sesshomaru tilted his head to the side. "That look on your face was iniquitous."

"Oh, it was nothing." She let her mind wander farther. 'I bet he'd burn like toilet paper.'**

Sesshomaru watched as another evil smirk formed on her face. He had to admit, he liked that look on her. That innocent smile she usually had plastered to her face was appalling. He wondered again, what had made her smirk like that.

Kagome watched the last of the sunset disappear over the horizon in anticipation. She wanted to feel the strength course through her veins. Being stuck with Hiten had made her feel so hopeless, she needed a reassuring boost of power. Kurama watched as the silver traveled down her recently ebony locks. Ears sprouted out of her silky tendrils and twitched rhythmically, adjusting to the new intensity of sound.

'Let me guess, there's something about Kagome that you didn't tell me.' Kurama thought dryly.

'Kagome is a half demon.' Yuko stated simply.

'One that can go between being a human and hanyou?'

'Yes, isn't she an extraordinary creature?'

Kagome flexed and flicked her ears forward, listening to the sounds of the forest. She was starting to get restless. She looked around at everyone sitting around, growing angry. They STILL haven't talked about the trade. Everyone was acting like it never happened. Of course *they* were, it didn't involve *them* being traded for someone else. She leaped up into the tree and then from branch to branch, wanting to get far from everyone.

She finally stopped to sit on the edge of a cliff. Kagome looked at the stars and sighed. Her anger was starting to scare her. One of these days she's gonna ended up hurting someone when they do something only a little annoying. She laid down on her back.

Youko was still alive, for the most part. That Kurama, he seemed so secluded and yet so absorbed. He and Youko were sort of alike she supposed. When Kurama had come, she noticed that the plants acted differently. The trees held their branches a little higher and the flowers opened up a little wider. The grass even seemed to part, making a path for him. And yet they were so different. Youko's looks seemed to say whole paragraphs. His eyes told you what he thought. His gazes were always cool and calm. Kurama's eyes were always questioning. It was like he was always evaluating something. His looks were always guarded, keeping his thoughts locked away.

Kagome wasn't sure what she made of Kurama. He seemed fine she supposed. Even with him around, she still missed Youko terribly. She missed his approving looks, his graceful step, his quips. She even missed when he laughed at her and his tricks. She sighed and wished she could have gotten to know him truly.

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Inuyasha watched Kagome leave and wondered if he should follow her. He had wanted to discuss the trade alone with her. This seemed like a good time so he slipped way. He leaped from branch to branch, following her scent. He loved the way she smelled, he was so mesmerized he almost didn't see an orange glow in front of him.

Jaken clung to the branch. The hem of his cloak was aflame. Rin smiled sweetly up at him "Come down Jaken, I just want to play!"

He shook his head. "I don't like this game!"

"But you're so *good* at it!"

"I am NOT coming down just so you could burn me!"

Rin pointed to his charring cloak. "But you already are!" Jaken looked down at his cloak. He fell from the tree and ran toward a nearby river.

Inuyasha dropped from the branch to the ground to get a better view. He had never liked the toad. Rin folded her arms and huffed. He raised his eyebrows. "What's your problem?"

"I know why Sessy-sama doesn't like you."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, it's because you're mean."

"Well, you just figured me out." He quipped.

"And that's why Kaggy doesn't like you either." Rin stuck out her tongue. "She doesn't want to be around you. She wants to live with Sessy-sama."

"She's staying with me." He said through clenched teeth.

"What about that bad man, Naraku? He wants to trade her for that other girl. Does that mean you're going to keep Kaggy?"

Inuyasha rubbed his temples. "I don't know I-" He stopped talking and turned his head. "This ain't none of your business."

"Do you know that other girl? Is that why you don't know?" She pressed.

"I said this ain't none of your business." He growled.

"So you do know her. Who is she, what is she like?"

"Butt out kid."

"Well, she must be really special if your not sure if you want to trade Kaggy or not."

He sighed and looked up at the stars peeking through the branches. "I used to know her a long long time ago."

"What was she like?" Rin asked again.

"Kikyou, she was distant. She always felt a lot of responsibility for the people of her village. She always put duty before fun. She was very loyal and kind. She loved the village children. When she wasn't nursing, she told them stories or took them to help her gather herbs. I think reason she liked them so much was because she had to grow up so fast, being the protector of the Shikon no Tama."

"What else?" She asked when he fell silent.

"Something happened and she died." He said flatly.

Rin frowned in confusion. "How could she be dead if she's alive?"

"Some old hag brought her back, long story. Now she's so different. She's even more distant than before and she hates me. I couldn't blame her, it's my fault she died. So when Kikyou goes to Hell, I'm going with her."

"Why? Why go? Do you love her?"

Inuyasha looked her in the eye. "I used to."

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Sesshomaru finally took the time to examine the people he was sitting with. Rin had distracted him from doing so earlier. He shook his head, she was making him soft. His cold eyes slid onto Kouga. Him! That was the bastard that cut off his tail! He crouched and sprang. The wolf looked up in surprise, barely rolling out of the way.

Kouga growled, wiping the dirt off him. He should have had his guard up, he let Kagome's enticing scent distract him. He hadn't wanted Sesshomaru to be here and had his defenses up during the whole meal. But when he caught of a whiff of her scent, he was in his own little world.

Sesshomaru skidded before turning immediately and raising his claws to cut him. The wolf dodged him easily but he was growing tired. He needed to attack soon. Kouga stopped in mid stride and caught him off guard. He punched him in the stomach, then in the face. The lord grabbed his wrist and broke it.

Sesshomaru's hand glowed a bright poisonous green before plunging toward Kouga's beating heart.

**I almost set my house on fire when I lit a roll of toilet paper. I had dropped the roll on the ground and ran into the bathroom to get water to put it out. By the time it was all said and done I have a burnt hole in my carpet that I put my rug over to hide from my parents.

Flamez: Looks like the trade off was put off for a nice little fight, but the decision WILL be made next chapter!