Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! Shippo is now my favorite character! He's so cute! *dances around giddly* For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it's episode 68. See it.

Okay, Shippo's not my FAVORITE favorite character, that's still Sesshoumaru. *glomp!*  Dammit, I wanna go back in time! Who's with me?

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha. Just FAR too much sugar.

Chapter 7:

Balance

Shippo jumped up onto the window and poked his head through, sniffing warily. No demons here, that was good. He leaped inside then looked around, trying to find the receptionist desk.  Miroku had said they were the big desks on the first floor but to the tiny angel everything looked big.

Why did they have to make hotels so complicated? Shippo grumbled to himself as he ran down the hallway, guessing that maybe the desk was down here. He wrinkled his nose. And why did they have to smell so funny? He ran into the largest room yet, where a bunch of people were standing either in line or just around, and there were a lot of bags and humans in funny looking uniforms. With a cry of joy, Shippo decided this must be the lobby, where the desk was. He jumped onto one mortal's head (Mr. Takiwana since then became convinced he was going bald and has worn a hat ever since) and scanned the area. There, that big desk must be it! He jumped down and ran over, weaving between legs until he reached the wooden leg of the desk. He jumped up onto the desk and ran over to the receptionist computer, which was being busily typed at. Shippo frowned. He needed a distraction, but where?

Then he saw it. A glass of water, half full, was sitting near the secretary, just begging to be shoved. Shippo giggled childishly and tiptoed over to it, even though he was invisible to mortal eyes. This was too good! He'd definitely be reprimanded by a few authorities for doing such a thing, but in all else he was going to blame both his youth and Miroku. After all, that mortal was the worst kind of influence anywhere. Look at his habits! And this guy was a priest? Shippo shook his head sadly, wondering where the mortal realm was coming to these days.

 He then turned his attention back to the water and, with an ounce of concentration and angelic powers, gave it a tiny push. The glass tipped, spilling all over the floor and distracting the secretary from her work for just a moment.

Which was all Shippo needed. He quickly dove into the computer's hard drive and set to work finding the biggest room to 'reserve' for his friends. Being a young angel he was quite into electronics before he became a guardian and knew every form of computer inside and out. It was only a few seconds work for the kitsune to refigure some stats and voila! Room 528 is now reserved for the night.

Shippo jumped back out and landed on the desk with a spin. In a flash, while the receptionist was still busy, he snatched the key to the room and scampered off. He grinned mischievously all the way back outside. That may have been wrong, but man it was fun!

Miroku and the others were waiting outside to see if Shippo could have found a free room big enough for the group of them in the hotel. Kagome and Sango didn't really know why they had to choose the most expensive hotel in the area, but both figured Miroku was only slightly taking advantage of his invisibility and Shippo's knowledge with electronics. Just slightly.

"There he is!" Kagome pointed to the tiny, tailed angel scampering over to them. Shippo waved and jumped up, landing in Kagome's arms. He held up the key to the room and grinned proudly, signaling that now the room was reserved and would be undisturbed for the night. "Room 528 ready for service!" He proclaimed.

"Room 528?" Miroku asked, scanning the top of the high hotel. "Then it must be near the roof." He turned back to his guardian and grinned. "You got a suite? Great job chibi." He ruffled Shippo's hair messily.

"A what?" Shippo and Inu-Yasha asked, after Shippo got Miroku's hand off. Kagome explained to them that a suite had more services and a bigger room and such. When she was done both angels looked still confused but tried to hide it. "Oh." Kagome rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Well, let's go check this room out." Sango said, climbing onto a transformed Kirrara's back. Miroku and Shippo jumped on after her but Kagome paused, noticing a slight lack of room, plus she still didn't trust Miroku and his wandering hands. Which was why Shippo was sitting in between Miroku and Sango now, but Kagome wouldn't have any protection. And there certainly wasn't any room for Inu-Yasha…

"You coming?" Sango asked her friend but before Kagome could answer Inu-Yasha grabbed her, put her on his back piggy-back style and jumped up. Kagome screamed and dug into Inu-Yasha's shoulders as they flew up skywards. Inu-Yasha winced.

"Look, if you're gonna keep panicking I'll stop doing this." He suggested. Kagome loosened her grip and did her best not to look down as her guardian hopped from windowsill to windowsill upwards. They reached the top just as Kirrara and the others did, and Kagome stepped down shakily, thankful for solid rooftop. Sango hid a smile as Inu-Yasha rolled his eyes and dived into the rooftop, Miroku and Shippo close behind. The girls decided to take a slower route, and just calmly floated down to where the guys were waiting.

"So which room is ours?" Inu-Yasha asked, looking around and wrinkling his nose. He never liked the smell of hotels. They smelled of a bunch of people smushed together with cleaner fluid to cover up the stench. Not like Kagome's house, which had always smelled of fresh air and bakery goods. Out of all the scents in the world, one of Inu-Yasha's favorites had to be Kagome's house.

"528 should be…" Miroku looked around. "That one." He pointed to a door on the left, which Inu-Yasha walked right through. The others followed behind.

"I'm so tired." Kagome sighed, collapsing onto the bed. There were two in the room, both queen-sized and covered with soft quilts. She stretched out, feeling the fabric with her fingers, then relaxed again. "I think I could sleep for a year and a day."

"Same here." Sango agreed, falling down beside her. "Except then we wouldn't be able to kill Naraku."

"Yeah, good point." Kagome said, closing her eyes. The bed was so soft and comfortable and she hadn't slept well at all in the past few weeks before she had died. She was so tired she thought maybe she could sleep for years. She would just rest for a second, just rest her eyes after all this excitement…

Kagome blinked and opened her eyes to the dim light, stretching out and sitting up, yawning. The room was much darker and looked empty too. She glanced out the window and saw that the sun was just beginning to set; a quick glance at the clock told her it was 7:00. She looked around again at the empty room, wondering where everyone was.

"They went to get food." Kagome looked over to where she heard Inu-Yasha's voice and saw her guardian splashing water on his face in the bathroom. He looked up again into the mirror and grimaced, poking at the burn on his face with a claw.

Kagome stood up and walked into the bathroom where just now she noticed the burns on Inu-Yasha's hands. She remembered that he had grabbed the pyro demon before and she had just never realized that maybe he would have bad burns as a result. As Inu-Yasha stuck his hands underneath the faucet again, Kagome sighed. He was such a barbarian.

Inu-Yasha looked over at his task as she sighed and sneered. "I suppose you can do better?" he asked, flexing his burned fingers and wincing. Kagome rolled her eyes and reached up to open the cabinet, only to have her hand go through. Inu-Yasha flicked a hand up and snapped open the door, shoving his hand back into the water in the sink. "Only angels can affect the physical realm." He stated at Kagome's confused look.

She decided not to question or argue and looked through the items in the medicinal cabinet, finding the healing cream, just as she expected. She took it out, left the door open, and grabbed Inu-Yasha' s arm and led him out of the bathroom. After a slight pause for Inu-Yasha to realize what was going on, the guardian angel protested.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he said as Kagome sat him down on the bed. She plunked down beside him and opened the cream. "Give me your hand." She said, holding her hand out.

"What?"

"Give me your hand."

"Why?"

Kagome sighed. "Because this stuff will work better on burns then water does. Now just trust me and give me your hand."

Warily, and just because Kagome looked ready to threaten with a 'sit', Inu-Yasha put his hand in hers. She squirted some cream onto it and began rubbing it around. "Does that feel better?" she asked. Inu-Yasha nodded, feeling stupid. Cream, why didn't he think of that?

After massaging the cream onto his right hand, Kagome reached over and took his left hand, applying the same treatment. Inu-Yasha could feel his face redden with embarrassment. It should be the angel doing the treatment, not the task! Then again, he was the stupid one who went and grabbed a pyro. Still, her hands felt nice and soft on his. It was almost comforting, and reminded him of his mother.

Then Kagome reached a hand up and pulled his face so that he was looking at her. Inu-Yasha froze and could feel his cheeks redden as he sat nose-to-nose with his task. Kagome seemed to freeze for a second too, both staring at each other for what seemed eternity. Oh Hells, it was the stupid restaurant all over again Inu-Yasha thought, almost too scared to blink. But the room was a lot more private then any old restaurant and he could smell her a lot closer too. He still couldn't decide if he hated or loved this girl's smell. It was wonderful and one of his favorites, but whenever she was close enough for him to smell it he felt like he was intoxicated or something. The same dizzying feeling was creeping over him now, especially since they were slow near to each other. All he had to do was lean forward a few inches and then…

A door slammed, snapping them both out of the trance that was holding them. Kagome blushed and squeezed some cream onto her fingers, doing Inu-Yasha's cheek burn as quickly as possibly. He was staring at the floor during the process, seemingly interested in his toes, but as she finished he looked back up at her and made her blush even more as she quickly slammed the cap on the cream, not looking at him. What just happened there? They both sat in silence for a moment, excluding the chirping of some bird outside, which Inu-Yasha wanted to kill after hearing it's song for the thirty-thousandth time. Kagome fiddled with the cap, trying to think of a good topic to fill the silence. Then she remembered what they had been discussing previously. 

"So why have you been avoiding me?" she asked, tightening the cap on the cream, not looking at him. Inu-Yasha blinked, startled, and desperately tried to find a reason. "Does it have to do with me being a Reborn, whatever that is? Or my powers?"

Inu-Yasha looked down at his feet, not knowing how to answer. Didn't they have this conversation before? Why couldn't she drop it? Why did girls have to be so persistent? Dammit!

"I'm not." He said stubbornly, sticking to his argument of before.

"Yes you are!" Kagome argued. Why did boys have to be so stubborn?

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are!"

"Prove it!"

"You haven't talked to me all morning!"

"Because I didn't want to!"

"Because you're avoiding me!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not, you stubborn bitch!"

"Don't call me a bitch you jerk!"

The two of them glared daggers at each other, nearly at each other's throats, neither giving in. Then both of them turned around and faced their back to each other on opposite sides of the bed. Inu-Yasha snorted, not believing that he was forced to be stuck with such a stubborn wench like her.

"Bitch."

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "Sit."

Sango, Kirrara, Miroku and Shippo came inside just at the right moment to see Inu-Yasha eating carpet. Kagome walked up, grabbed a bag of food and stormed off with Sango in tow to eat somewhere else without jerks.

"I see Inu-Yasha's already had his meal." Miroku said, placing the food onto the table. Inu-Yasha sat up and turned his back to then, pouting. "Shut up monk."

"What did you do this time, Inu-Yasha?" Shippo asked. The dog-eared angel ignored him and snatched one of the bags of food. He opened it, pulled out a drumstick, sniffed it warily then took a bite. Miroku and Shippo sat down beside him and wordlessly pulled out their food, Miroku's a pizza and Shippo some ramen. The three guys at in silence. For about five minutes.

"What did you do?" Shippo said, prodding Inu-Yasha with some chopsticks. The larger angel ignored him, grabbing a cup of daikon miso soup and eating it wordlessly. Shippo kept up with the prodding, his childish curiosity nearly killing him. "C'mon, Sango's told us about all the other screw-ups? What did you do this time?" More silence, and Shippo tried playing twenty questions this time. "Did you call her names again?" Silence. "Did you get mad for no apparent reason and blame her for something she didn't do?" Silence. "Did you act like you're better then she is and messed something up?" Inu-Yasha's ears were twitching slightly, but the fox-angel didn't notice. "Did you actually see her naked this time?" He seemed resolved and nodded firmly, slamming a little fist into a tiny hand. "I know, you groped her!"

BAM! Shippo was now the angel eating carpet, with Inu-Yasha's fist grinding into his skull. "Kya-aa…" Shippo whimpered.

"If you know what's good for you, then you'll shut up! You're a stupid little fox who doesn't know anything!" Inu-Yasha said, punctuating each point with a hit to Shippo's head. After the older angel was satisfied that Shippo had been properly punished Inu-Yasha went back to his soup.

Shippo sat up and rubbed the many bumps on his head, grumbling to himself. "So you did grope her." This time Inu-Yasha was too slow and Shippo was safe behind Miroku, who really wished Shippo hadn't gotten him into this argument. Shippo stuck his tongue out at Inu-Yasha, making the situation far worse. Before the enraged angel could do anything that would probably get Kagome even further mad at him Miroku held up a hand to stop him.

"Inu-Yasha, I think we should try to resolve this peacefully, not by killing my guardian." He said calmly, Shippo nodding while hiding behind Miroku all the while. Inu-Yasha glared at the little fox but listened to Miroku's argument. "I must admit, I also want to know what you did to make Kagome-sama so angry at you. You certainly have no charisma when it comes to women."

"Chari-what?" Inu-Yasha said, prodding a rather large radish bit in his soup. Miroku sighed. "Charisma is charm, allure, suavity. None of which you have." Inu-Yasha frowned, not really getting what Miroku was saying.

"Well who wants chari-whatta around women anyway?" He grumbled, picking up the radish with his chopsticks and shoving it into his mouth, chewing it slowly. He couldn't stand the bland taste of most of these vegetables, but his anatomy called for it. Gah, sometimes he hated what he was.

"Inu-Yasha," Miroku got the angel's attention and Inu-Yasha looked up at him curiously. "Is it possible?"

"Is what possible?" Inu-Yasha asked, swallowing the radish. Miroku was still looking at him curiously, and so was Shippo now. Inu-Yasha was beginning to get nervous.

"Is it possible…" Miroku said a little more quietly and wide-eyed this time, "that you like men?"

SMACK! Inu-Yasha's foot made contact with Miroku's head as the angel definitely looked like he was constraining himself from killing the mortal full out. "What the hell kinda person are you?" Inu-Yasha asked with a growl, shoving Miroku's head further down. Shippo watched from under the bed, amazed at the temper and dexterity of the dog-eared boy. Finally, after a few more kicks, the demonic angel seem satisfied and went back to sitting down, although he didn't seem to have much of an appetite anymore.

"Do you mean to tell me then," Miroku said, straightening his clothing and picking up his meal again. "That you've been with Kagome-sama her entire life and never thought about her in that way?"

Inu-Yasha choked and stared at the mortal, who was calmly eating his rice. Inu-Yasha felt his face reddening and quickly tried to cover it up before the other two noticed something. "Of course not!" he said, folding his arms and leaning against the wall, snorting. "Feh. She's a mortal and I'm an angel. It'd never work."

"Some angel." Miroku muttered and got Inu-Yasha's foot on his head again. Shippo decided it would be safer to stay under the bed.

"What was that?" Inu-Yasha asked forcefully.

"I mean to say you're not much of an angel." Miroku said, calmly pushing Inu-Yasha's foot off and looking the angel straight in the eye.

"That hell you mean by that?" Inu-Yasha snorted.

Miroku flicked the angel right on the nose. "Your language for one. And you seem to act a lot different from the other angels."

"And you kinda smell like a demon too." Shippo added from under his safety of the bed. Inu-Yasha sighed and started at the ceiling in disbelief. "That's because I just KILLED ONE!" he said, giving the bed a good kick too. He picked up is food and stormed to the balcony. "I'm going to go eat in peace." He muttered, slamming the glass door shut and jumping up to the roof. Miroku and Shippo stared at the empty balcony for a moment then went back to eating, Shippo crawling out from under the bed.

"What was all that racket?" Sango asked, poking her head through the door. She looked around the room and noticed it was missing an occupant. "And where's Inu-Yasha?"

"On the roof." Miroku said calmly, getting up and throwing the garbage out. He waved a hand at Sango, beckoning her inside. "And I believe it's safe for you to come in now."

Sango looked at Miroku suspiciously but nodded. "Alright, Kagome-chan, Kirrara, we can go in now. Dog-boy's gone." She walked through the door, her guardian and Kagome behind her. Kagome sat down on the bed beside Shippo, who was still eating, and sighed. "He's so stubborn."

"What did he do this time?" Shippo asked, swallowing his noodles. Kagome frowned and her eyes narrowed. "He's been avoiding me all day and when I ask why he just starts acting like a complete and utter stubborn jerk." She sighed, "I can't stand him."

"Oh." Shippo said, biting into another chopstick full of noodles. "So he didn't grope you."

"What?" Sango and Kagome looked at the tiny angel in shock, who looked back at them in confusion. "Wha-what did you say Shippo?"

"Well girls usually get really mad at Miroku when he gropes them." Shippo explained out of simply angel-child innocence. "So I thought that's what Inu-Yasha did to make you mad at him."

Kagome shook her head and both she and Sango shot evil glares at Miroku, who felt now would be a good time to go to the roof and talk to Inu-Yasha. He did so, a little more quickly then usual.

"Shippo," Kagome turned back to Miroku's angel after watching the mortal disappear faster then any magician could. "Would you know why Inu-Yasha's been avoiding me?"

"We think it has something to do with Naraku and her being a Reborn." Sango said. "What is a Reborn anyway?"

Shippo paled. He hated dilemmas and now he was being faced with one. On one hand he could tell the girls what a Reborn is and get in trouble with Inu-Yasha and Miroku. On the other hand he doesn't tell them what a Reborn is and gets in trouble with the girls. Either way, he got in trouble. Gah! He began hitting himself on the head. "Why me, why me, why me?!"

"Shippo, are you alright?" Kagome asked, startled by the angel's strange behavior. Shippo paused and looked up at Kagome, hoping maybe she would drop the subject. "Do you know what a Reborn is?"

Shippo sighed. "I can't lie." He said, playing with his tail. "So I suppose I'd better explain it."

Kagome sat down beside him and Sango sat on the other side. Great, Shippo thought, now I'm cornered. He sat cross-legged and folded his arms, trying to look knowledgeable. He closed his eyes and thought for a second. "Where should I begin… where should I begin… I know!" he smacked his hands together and looked on either side at both girls, who were watching him curiously. Kirrara was sitting on Sango's lap and giving Shippo a warning look. Shippo gulped. There was only one way out of this.

"Well, I suppose I should start at the very beginning, and explain everything." He said. "There are three planes of existence: Heaven, Earth and Hell. Each existence has a certain number of key planes, or balances, that keep all three existences in check. It's like…" he tried to remember the example he had used for Miroku when his task had died. "Like dominoes on three different levels." He summoned a fox trick, displaying three thin boards stacked on top of each other, with dominoes holding each board up. "Each domino is a key balance, and should even one balance weaken or fail..." He flicked one domino over and it didn't take long for the entire structure to collapse. "That."

"Everything turns to chaos." Sango deciphered and Shippo nodded importantly, removing the illusion.

"To make sure that doesn't happen each existence has Key Keepers to guard the balances." He explained. "Heaven as the fourteen Guardians, Earth has the thirteen Ghosts and Hell has the twelve Lords.  It's their duty to protect the keys so that all existences fall into disaster." Shippo beamed proudly. "My pa was one of the Guardians."

"Oh really?" Kagome asked and Shippo glowed. Miroku hadn't given a damn that Shippo was the offspring of one of the most powerful angels ever, but these girls actually seemed to care. Kagome ruffled Shippo's hair and if the kitsune smile got any bigger it would have split his face.

"I'm gonna be a Guardian too, someday." Shippo said, summoning some foxfire. He played with it, bouncing it from hand to hand. Kagome and Sango watched him, until Sango asked the question both girls were thinking. "How does an angel become a Guardian?"

"By being a guardian angel first." Shippo said simply. "And after completing the seven tasks, they can become a Guardian."

Kagome gasped, remembering information she had learned before. "Does that mean that after me Inu-Yasha's gonna become a Guardian?" she asked. The image of 'angelic' Inu-Yasha popped into her head again, cheesy music and all, and she giggled.

Shippo looked shocked too. "You mean dog-boy's on his seventh task?" He gaped. For someone who was pretty far ahead angel wise, especially for his age, Inu-Yasha was certainly rough. Then again, he had heard something about Inu-Yasha's past that might have a factor in that.

"I don't know about you, but I certainly don't feel safe if Inu-Yasha's the one who keeps chaos away from us. He'll kill us all in less then a week." Sango smirked.

Shippo shook his head. "You have to be tested very thoroughly to become a Guardian. It's no laughing matter, especially with people like Naraku around."

"What's up with this Naraku guy anyway?" Kagome asked. Naraku this, Naraku that, ever since she had died she's been hearing stuff about Naraku. It was beginning to bother her.

Shippo's expression changed to serious. "Naraku is a demon from Hell who failed the test to become a Key Keeper, a Lord. Most demons die from such an ordeal, for I hear it's very difficult, but Naraku managed to survive. I'm not clear on the details, but it's well known that he's been trying to knock down at least one of the keys. That was hundreds of years ago and he was killed, but now it seems he has been reincarnated. He'll be trying to destroy the keys again, that's for sure. And since Earth's defenses are the weakest, he'll be going after the Ghosts."

"So we have to stop him." Sango said, her expression serious as well. "Naraku will die."

Kagome nodded, then yawned. Even after the afternoon nap, she was still tired, plus now she had a full adventure set out for her. She concentrated on pajamas and her favorites, pink with tiny cats on them, replaced her clothes. "I wonder when Inu-Yasha and Miroku are coming back inside. They've certainly been gone long enough." She said sleepily. Sango nodded, changing into her own PJs and Shippo decided to go up to fetch his task and the psychotic guardian of Kagome.

"You sure you didn't tell them anything?" Inu-Yasha growled for the twentieth time. Shippo nodded frantically. "I just kept explaining the Keys, and just the Keys, nothing else, until they both went to sleep!" he squeaked as Inu-Yasha dropped him. The larger angel sighed, then decided it might be safe to go in now. They were probably asleep anyway, he thought. With that thought he jumped down to the balcony and went through the glass door as quietly as possible.

Sure enough the girls were asleep in one of the beds as Inu-Yasha went over to check on his task Kirrara was curled up between them, guarding the two for her old friend. Inu-Yasha patted the feline on the head, and when Kirrara looked up at him with her large red eyes the dog-eared angel gave her a clawed thumbs up. Mental note to self, he thought. Don't get Kirrara mad in the dark.

"Don't they look so sweet when they're sleeping?" Miroku asked as he crawled into bed. Inu-Yasha grabbed the monk by the collar and dragged him out, throwing him towards the empty bed. "That doesn't mean you can sleep with them." He growled protectively. Miroku took the hint and slept alone, except for Shippo.

Inu-Yasha leaned against the wall near Kagome's bed, performing his slight meditation before taking a few short catnaps. As his ears flickered around to make sure there was nothing threatening, he thought about what had happened that day. Just this morning all he really had to do was protect Kagome and her friends. Now it looked like his seventh task would be a little more difficult, but that didn't matter. He would kill Naraku, if it was the last thing he did.

"Inu-Yasha…" The angel's ears perked and he looked over to where Kagome was sleeping. Talking in her sleep again, eh? She certainly did that a lot. She was also shivering slightly, causing Inu-Yasha to frown. She was having another nightmare and although it seemed to be a mild one, it could get worse. Kagome had been plagued with nightmares for nearly a month now, and she hadn't been getting any sleep because of it.

Before she would wake up, Inu-Yasha reached over and pulled up the covers tighter around her in an attempt to warm her up. She stopped shivering, but Inu-Yasha could still sense something wrong with her. Cautiously, in case he might wake her, he gently stroked her hair. She seemed to relax after that, drifting off into dreamless sleep. Inu-Yasha smiled, just slightly, and sat against the wall, holding his sword Tetsusaiga just in case. He closed his eyes and soon drifted off into one of his catnaps, head drooping slightly, ears still flickering.

Miroku smirked at what he just witnessed and prepared to go to sleep himself. There was still hope for Inu-Yasha's charisma after all.

End Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is now over! Only Kami-knows how many left to go!

If any of you haven't seen in Inu-Yasha movie, I feel great, great pity towards you. It's SO good! And sad! And Inu's blood is actually red! Nyaa… I wanna work as an animator for Inu-Yasha. Just you wait; I'll be working on anime yet! All I need is college and the right people!

And I can't believe how much you guys all love my story! *sobs happily* I'm so happy! Here, have my sister's Halloween candy as a token of my gratitude! *throws it over* But no fighting. There's a pillow-case and a half there. It should be enough. Should. *notices sister in background and pales*

Well, I'm off, heh… Oh yeah, and I'm thinking of turning Guardian Angel into a doujinshi (fan manga) That'll be a task and half, and might slow down my writing. But candy always helps!

Well, ja ne! Until Wednesday!

~Ama~