SangoXKirara: Yes, the bunnies are evil! Unfortunately... Once the Dust Settles still doesn't want to be worked with...
climatey1709: Sorry, but I had to leave it off there n.n Glad you're enjoying the story though!
Kikyo-the-Walnut: Kaede? o.O That's a new one... Anyways, hope you like this chapter too.
purplepeopleeater: Aw... thank you so much :) I try to be unique with my ideas, so I'm glad you think they're creative n.n I hadn't planned on anything happening to Sango, but who knows?
MeLaiya: Hope this update came soon enough for you n.n Glad you like the story so far!
To everyone else: Thanks for all the comments. As always, its great to know that you're enjoying the story.
AN: Sadly, Once the Dust Settles, is still giving me trouble (I've got about one sentence written of the new chapter). But, there's a snow storm blowing in, so maybe it'll give me some inspiration! I hope... Anyways, onto the story!
Sango returned from her own trip to the river not long after Inuyasha had returned. She looked around at the faces of Kagome, Miroku, and Shippou, before sighing and looking towards the shack, "So he's still in there?"
Kagome nodded, before leaning forward and resting her chin on her hands, "Hai... It doesn't look like he plans on coming out either..."
"Well, despite what he may think, Inuyasha is not going to be able to stay in there all day." Miroku said, glancing towards the shack for a moment, "If Inuyasha really is stuck as a human, we should try to figure out why, and how to get him back to normal."
Shippou nodded, then made his way over to the shack and peeked inside, "You hear that Inuyasha? You need to come out here so we can figure out what's wrong with you."
"There's nothing wrong with me! And I'm not coming out!!" Was the human-hanyou's reply.
The kitsune sighed, and walked back over to Kagome, "It's hopeless... No one can get him to come out."
"Inuyasha, just how long to you plan on staying in there?" Sango asked, crossing her arms, and looking towards the shack.
It was quiet for a moment, before Inuyasha finally replied, "Until you guys can figure out what the hell happened to me!"
With a heavy sigh, the taijiya looked over to Kagome, "Kagome-chan, could you try talking some sense into him?"
Kagome nodded slowly and stood up, turning to face the shack as the others had all done, "Inuyasha, could you please come out here?" She asked in a sweet voice, as she clasped her hands in front of her, "We've all seen you in human form before, so I don't know why you're so scared to come out here."
"I'm not scared, you idiot!" Inuyasha shouted, obviously offended by the 'scared' comment, "Just shut up and leave me alone already!"
Kagome frowned and reached up to rub a hand over her eyes. Maybe that last comment had taken it a little far... especially considering Inuyasha's pride... "Inuyasha, I didn't mean anything by that. But, can't you come out here? We can't figure out what happened to you if you stay in there."
"I'm not coming out! So just leave me alone!" The human-hanyou replied angrily. It seemed, the more they talked about it, the angrier he got... Of course, he hated being human for one night, now he was human during the day too? What happened..?
"Inuyasha!" Kagome began yet again.
But, before she could get much further, Inuyasha interrupted, "I said no!!"
"Osuwari!" The miko shouted, finally having enough with arguing with Inuyasha.
Inuyasha made a startled sound, which was followed shortly by a crashing sound as he hit the floor. A long string of curses followed suit, and a moment later, he stuck his head outside, "What'd I do?!"
Kagome crossed her arms and sat back down, "You wouldn't listen to reason, Inuyasha." She paused for a moment, then added, "And... I wasn't sure if it'd work when you're human."
"So you were just testing it?!" Inuyasha asked, growling pretty impressively considering he was still human.
"It got you outside though." She replied, smiling.
He huffed and stood up, before crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at his companions, "Well congratulations! Now what do you plan on doing?"
Kagome blinked, "Ah... well..." She trailed off and looked over to Miroku, then Sango, hoping they could give an answer to that one.
"We should consult someone who knows a lot about demons first." Miroku suggested, noticing Kagome's look, "Since this only happened after you came in contact with that demon, it's possible that the solution lies in there."
Inuyasha snorted, seemingly unimpressed by what the monk had said, then looked to Sango, "What about you, Sango? You're supposed to know a lot about demons. Any ideas?" He paused, and blinked, then narrowed his eyes slightly; looking the taijiya over a couple times, "Wait... you got that weird stuff on you, didn't you? Why didn't anything happen to you?"
Sango blinked, and looked at her hands for a moment, "Ano... It only got on my hands, but nothing's happened to me." She looked up to Inuyasha again, shrugging slightly in the process, "Maybe it only affected you, since you're part demon. Since it was still on you after the run rose, it might've somehow sealed your demon blood. At least, that's the only thing I could think of. As for any ideas as to what to do... I'm afraid I can't help much there. I've never heard of anything like this before."
"Figures..." He mumbled, closing his eyes, "So if it just sealed my demon blood, why didn't it just wear off once it got washed off? I mean-- jeez! That damned demon wasn't even that strong, why isn't this crap wearing off, Sango?!"
"Why do you keep asking me?" The taijiya replied, "I told you I never heard of a situation like this before. So, why would I know why it's not just wearing off? For all we know, it might not wear off."
Inuyasha's eyes shot open, and he looked at Sango, as he shook his head, "Don't even say that! This will wear off! It has to wear off!"
She sighed, and crossed her arms, "I want it to wear off too, Inuyasha. But, we have to think about every possibility. We know next to nothing about this demon, and why that stuff affected you like it did."
He moved closer to her, his violet eyes narrowing, "This shit will wear off, Sango. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it!"
Kagome squeezed herself between the two before anymore arguing could be done, "Inuyasha, I don't think Sango-chan really believes this won't wear off, but we can't just forget about that possibility." She said, holding her arms out to put some space between the two warriors, "If we want to learn more about this, maybe we could talk to Kaede-obachan. She might know something we can do so your demonic powers will return."
Inuyasha looked at Sango a moment more, before snorting and turning around, "We can't go all the way back there! It'll take at least two days to get there from where we are now. There's no telling if we'll be attacked, and Tessaiga's useless when I'm human, so I can't even protect you guys!"
"I assure you, Inuyasha, that we will be fine, should a demon choose to attack." Miroku said, standing up and moving closer to the group, "But perhaps you should consider staying close to us until we can figure out what, exactly, happened to you."
Inuyasha glanced back to the others, before looking away again, "Keh! Well, it's not like I have any other way to defend myself. I can't use Tessaiga while I'm like this."
"Oh... you can't, can you.." Kagome said, suddenly realizing that it was true. She bit her lower lip, and looked down for a moment. He had to have some kind of weapon... they couldn't just leave him defenseless, even if they were going to be there... it would be best for him to have a way to defend himself too.
Sango looked around at everyone, before sighing and stepping up beside Inuyasha, "Here, take this." She said, removing her katana and its sheath from where it hung at her waist, and holding it out for him.
The human-hanyou blinked, looking at Sango, "Huh?" He then glanced to the offered weapon, and looked away again, "There's no way I'm using that."
"And why not?" The taijiya questioned, still holding the sword out to him, "What's wrong with it?"
"There's nothing wrong with it." He replied, "I just won't use anything other than Tessaiga."
"You won't, or you can't?" She asked, lowering her arm, though she still held the sword.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." He mumbled, sending a glare at the taijiya beside him.
She sighed once again, then stepped in front of him, "Look, Inuyasha, this is going to be a tough time on all of us. And we're not going to be able to be there for you every second of the day. You're going to need a way to defend yourself, and since you can't use Tessaiga, this is the next best thing." She then thrust the weapon forward, into Inuyasha's hands, "So just take it."
He began to protest again, then thought better of it, and quietly placed Sango's sword so it rested next to Tessaiga at his waist, "If it'll get you off my back, I'll take the damn sword. But that doesn't mean I'm going to use it!"
Sango shook her head slightly, "If you say so." He really was quite difficult at times... But, she supposed, if he were any other way, he wouldn't be Inuyasha.
"Are you going to be okay without it, Sango-chan?" Kagome asked, giving the taijiya a somewhat worried glance.
Sango nodded and smiled slightly, "Hai, Kagome-chan. I've still got hiraikotsu, after all."
The miko smiled, reassured, "I guess that's right. So, now that that's all sorted out, should we go ahead and start back towards Kaede-obachan's?"
"If we hope to get there without running into trouble, now probably would be the best time to leave." Miroku stated, nodding slightly at Kagome's question, "That is, if you're ready, Inuyasha."
"Keh!" Inuyasha spat, crossing his arms, "Might as well get going. I want to find out what's wrong so I can get back to normal."
"You don't have to worry." Shippou piped in, jumping up on Inuyasha's shoulder, "Since I'm the strongest person here now, I'll make sure nothing gets to you."
Inuyasha rolled his eyes, brushing the kitsune off his shoulder, "If I have to rely on you, I might as well let the demons have me now!"
"Hey, you shouldn't be mean to me! I'm the only demon here now, so you're going to have to depend on my powers to protect you!" Shippou said, pointing at Inuyasha. As far as the young kit was concerned, since Inuyasha no longer had his demonic powers, it was his duty to protect the others as well as Inuyasha.
"Like I said, I might as well let the demons have me!" Inuyasha replied, wrinkling his nose and looking away. If there was one thing he hated more than anything else, it was having to depend on other people. Unfortunately, it didn't look like he had much of a choice in this matter...
Shippou huffed, his little paws balling into fists as he turned to look at Kagome, "Kagome, make him listen to me!"
Kagome sighed, but couldn't help but smile at the kit's actions, "Inuyasha, Shippou-chan is just trying to help you. Can you please try not to pick on him so much?"
The human-hanyou merely 'keh-ed', and began walking away, "Come on already, before I leave you guys behind!"
Kagome sighed, before looking back to Sango and Miroku, "Well, we should hurry up before he gets too far ahead." With that, she followed after Inuyasha.
Sango shook her head and frowned slightly, "He's going to end up getting himself killed if he's not careful..."
"I suppose there's nothing we can do about it, though. Inuyasha will be Inuyasha." Miroku added, glancing to Sango, before walking after the other two ahead of him.
The taijiya only frowned more, 'That's what I'm worried about...' She thought, glancing over to Kirara, "Let's go, Kirara." Then, she crossed her arms and headed after her companions.
It was well known that Inuyasha could be quite... stubborn when he wanted to be. And, if he didn't start depending on them a little more, especially now, he was going to get himself killed. That very thought made Sango's eyes narrow in a show of determination. She had seen enough people close to her die; she wasn't about to let Inuyasha fall to the same fate. Kagome, Miroku, Inuyasha, Shippou, and Kirara were her closest friends; there was no way she would let anything happen to any of them.
"Sango-chan, hurry up!"
Sango looked up suddenly, blinking as she was brought out of her thoughts to see that she had fallen even further behind the others.
"I don't want to be stuck like this forever, so move it!" Inuyasha added, smirking as he looked back to the slayer as well.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." She replied, jogging to catch up to the others. Yes, Inuyasha was a friend, though there were times she wondered just how she managed to travel with him, given his attitude...
AN: Well, there it is, chapter two. Hope you enjoyed it!