Tough Choices

By Brieanna a.k.a TaintedDarkInuShemeeko

Chapter 1: Being followed

An amber-green set of eyes, watched as Inuyasha and company made their way through La-Tu Forest. It could only hope that the hanyou mutt had not sensed its presents there. Inuyasha took a few more steps forward, before smelling the air with his nose. (sniff, sniff.) Kagome looked over at Inuyasha concern showing in her eyes.

"Inuyasha what is it?" Kagome asked.

He smelled the air again, his lip pulling back as he did so, showing a fang. "We're being followed that's what. Keep your eyes open, okay."

All five companions darted their eyes from side to side. They couldn't help but wonder if they were about to be attacked or not. Kagome watched as Inuyasha's ears flicked back and froth. She knew that he was scanning for any sound that might mean something threatening was coming. The group of friends continued their journey through the dense forest.

Inuyasha stiffened for a minute, then relaxed. Whatever, had been following them had left. It made Inuyasha feel a whole lot better. Miroku broke the silence when he spoke. "Inuyasha, it would appear that whatever was following us, has ceased in doing so."

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder at him. "You got that right monk, it has."

Shimiko let out a breath of air. "Shoo. That was a close one, "I should have guessed that his senses were as good as mine." She then perched herself better on the branch.

"Well, Shimiko your half brother's playmate was pulling your strings again." Shimiko stretched out her hand and swiped her claw across the center of the tree. Leaving five claw marks in her wake.

"Damn, I was sure that I had found them, but that strange girl and monk give off so much energy." With all the luck she was having she would never find them in time.

"Kiyoshi, Renjro where are you guys? I knew I shouldn't have left you guys for a minute." There was a rustling of leaves from behind her. Shimiko stood ready to fight. She bared her fangs and readied herself for attack. Just then a young coyote-demon named Yori poked her head through the brushes.

"AHHH! Whoa, Shimiko it's me." The coyote-demon let out a breath.

"Whew, that was close." Yori breathed.

Shimiko growled at her, "You stupid mutt! I could have killed you!"

Yori sat back against the tree and giggled at the Inu-hanyou. "Hey, Shimiko, I'm not the mutt here remember."

"Oh. Shut up Yori!" She turned to watch the sun setting behind the trees.

Shimiko then turned back to the young coyote-demon. "Did you find anything?"

Yori shook her head sadly. "What about you?"

Shimiko glared at her, before replying. "Nothing the trails have went cold." She lied.

She had found something, but right now Kiyoshi and Renjro were more important. Finding the Ruri Tama was important too, but came second to Kiyoshi.

Kagome took a few steps closer to Inuyasha then asked, "Inuyasha was there a demon following us?"

"Fe, don't know," answered InuYasha in a curt tone.

Kagome frowned at him, "What do you mean you don't KNOW!"

"I've smelled demons before and whatever at was it wasn't a demon or a human. I don't know what it was." InuYasha fumed back at her.

"Kagome, even if it had been a demon. You would have been safe." Replied the female demon exterminator.

"I know that Sango. It's just that there was something strange about it, but it was just a feeling."

Shippou hopped over to Kagome. "Kagome, what kind of feeling was it? It was bad wasn't it?"

Kagome glanced down at the little fox-demon. "No, it was angry and worried."

Inuyasha looked over at Kagome. "So you're saying that something pissed off out there is following us?" He questioned in return.

"No. I didn't. Well maybe." Kagome said in an unsure tone.

"Look Kagome either you did or you didn't. So which one was it?" InuYasha demanded.

"Ok, so maybe I did. It was just so strange." Kagome added softly.

Sango raised her right eyebrow, "Strange what do you mean by strange, Kagome?"

Inuyasha cocked an ear back as he waited for Kagome's response. Kagome gave a little sigh, before she gave her answer to them.

"Well, it sort of felt like Inuyasha; only there was something different about it." Kagome explained.

Inuyasha glared over at her. "What do you mean it felt like me? I'm standing right here!"

Kagome frowned how she was ever going to explain this. Inuyasha continued on with his verbal abuse.

"You're starting to lose it, or something. I think your powers are going nuts." Kagome just stood and stared at him.

Miroku, Sango and Shippou just watched. Miroku went to go reach a hand out to warn Inuyasha. Then changing his mind and pulled his hand back. He and the others watched as mount Kagome erupted.

"Why you!" Kagome yelled at the inu-hanyou.

Inuyasha turned just as Kagome's face turned bright red. He then started to back away holding his hands up in defense. "Take it easy Kagome."

"You self-centered son of a…" She fumed before continuing.

"You are the most concealed person I have ever met." Kagome said as she continued to lash out at him.

Then it happened the moment that Inuyasha had been hoping wouldn't come. "Sit. Sit, sit!"

Oomph. (Thud) ".damn it!" Inuyasha braced himself as his body was pushed into the ground.

"Damn it, Kagome!" Inuyasha then painfully started to pull himself from the ground. "Now I really know that your head is messed up."

"Sit!" Kagome said harshly.

"Why you!" InuYasha fumed in return.

"Sit." Kagome then started to walk away from the immobile Inuyasha.

Shimiko watched the group from the treetops. She had watched as the hanyou was subdued by the young miko. She then smiled to herself, before then looking at the rosary around her neck. 'So I'm not the only one who can be subdued,' she thought as she stared at the red beads, and long claws that laid around her neck.

Shimiko let out a small giggle as Yori hopped up in the tree beside her. The little coyote-demon cocked her head to the side. "What's so funny, Shimiko?"

Shimiko giggle once more then pointed down where Inuyasha was pulling himself off of the ground. "Him," was her only reply.

Yori looked down at Inuyasha. A small giggle escaped her lips as she watched the hanyou pull himself off the ground cursing as he did so.

"Damn girl." Inuyasha muttered as he stood his back cracked with the movement. (crack) "Ahhhh!"

Shippou tried to hold back his laughter. Inuyasha glared at him. "Shut up, you little brat."

Miroku sighed and shook his head at Inuyasha. "Perhaps if you took more time to get to know Kagome? She wouldn't sit you so often?"

"I don't think I'll ever understand her." Moaned InuYasha as his back cracked one last time.

Shimiko stiffened in the tree she had been sitting in. "Yori, do you smell that?

Yori stuck her little nose in the air. "Smell what?"

Shimiko looked down at her. "A demon's aura it's not far from here."

The little demon blushed, "Oh yeah."

Yori watched as Shimiko looked around. "Yori, where is the girl, the one who just sat the hanyou?" Shimiko then took off jumping from branch to branch heading farther into the forest.

Yori gasped, "Hey, Shimiko wait for me will you." The coyote-demon hoped after her.

Inuyasha's ears pricked to the side. As he heard the rustling of leaves, his sense of smell was then open to an all too familiar smell. "A demon is close."

He then looked from Miroku, Sango and Shippou. "Where's Kagome?"

Kagome was mentally kicking herself in the butt right now.

"How could I have been so stupid? I should have never left Inuyasha and the others." She shuddered.

The forest looked as if it were getting darker. Them Kagome felt an all too familiar tingle. "Oh, a shard of the Shikon Tama, it's close."

Just then a huge snake lunged at her from the shadows. Kagome screamed as she was knocked to the ground. The snake then started to circle her. Kagome reached toward her back. She flinched when she realized that her bow and arrows were not with her.

Kagome wasn't sure what to do. The snake was tightening himself around her so tight that she could breathe. 'Inuyasha where are you?'

That's when she saw it, a hanyou but it wasn't Inuyasha.

"Why don't you pick on someone else?" Said the hanyou in a female voice. That's when she pulled out a staff made out of bone out. Swinging it through the air and slamming it against the snake's head.

Shimiko looked over at Kagome and saw that she was losing consciousness. However she also saw that the snake was losing his grip on her. That's when Inuyasha ripped into the clearing.

"Kagome!" Shimiko looked over at Inuyasha and yelled, "Get your female out of here!"

Inuyasha started to say that she wasn't his female. Then he saw her limp body on the ground. "Kagome!"