AH! Hecticness! Craziness! I got it up an hour late! *much bowing* I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!

Thanks to notanigen, Fate, Tsukinoko and ditto for helping me with onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia! Onomatopoeia! Onomatopoeia!

Disclaimer: I don't own it, never will.

Chapter 16:

Ghost

Kagome's eyes shone as she looked around the ancient woods, that had been standing around longer then her angel. The oldest trees were covered with moss, vines and flowers while the younger saplings grew around them in a flourish of different green shades. The forest actually seemed to have an aura of it's own, a light, steady thrum that was vibrant and filled with life. It was like walking into a fairy tale land, and with everything she had seen Kagome half expected to see the fairies as well. "This place is so beautiful!" She exclaimed as a few brightly coloured insects flew by.

"Keh." Came Inu-Yasha's average reply/snort and Kagome decided to ignore him. Shippo leaned out on her shoulder to snatch a flower from a vine as they passed and he held it in front of the young girl. "Here Kagome, a present."

"Oh, thank you Shippo-chan!" Kagome exclaimed, taking the flower and tucking it behind her ear. Inu-Yasha glanced back out of the corner of his eye to see the young fox's antics and he snorted again.

"This place is where the key is." Shippo said, watching a jewel-like bird flitter from tree to tree. "That's why the ecosystem is so lush because of the key's pure energy. It's no wonder mortals haven't touched this land; this key is one of the strongest I felt. I wonder who the Ghost is."

"The what?" Kagome asked curiously, remembering the word from something Shippo had told her, but it wasn't registering.

"The keeper of the keys." The tiny fox child elaborated. "Remember? Heaven has Guardians, Hell has Lords and Earth has Ghosts. I told you that night in the hotel."

"That's true, Kagome-chan." Sango agreed. She looked at Shippo and Kirrara. "I'm guessing that the stronger the keeper the stronger the key."

"That's right. That's why the would-be keepers have to train for long years. My pop managed to become a Guardian in less than one-hundred years." Shippo grinned proudly. "He was a really strong one too."

"He was a stupid little whiny fox-brat who babbled to much and just happened to get really, really lucky." Everyone looked up at Inu-Yasha who was growling. "Besides, I helped him out during the tests. If it weren't for me he would have never gotten in. And he wasn't strong, I could beat him up just using my right hand."

"Inu-Yasha, it wouldn't hurt for you to be polite, would it?" Kagome frowned at her guardian, who 'keh'd again. He glanced up at the sky, which wasn't visible through the thick foliage, and shrugged. "Let's just get to the village as fast as possible, alright? It's not safe in these woods at night."

"But if it's around a key, wouldn't it be sa- " Inu-Yasha's glare cut Shippo short and the small child gulped.

"Who lived here brat: me or you? I think I'd know my homeland better then any of ya. Now move it." He turned around and abruptly walked through the thick curtain of leaves and vines ahead of him. Kagome frowned and followed after.

"Inu-Yasha, what's gotten into you?" she asked, as her guardian stopped. Sango and Miroku followed, both of them looking around. Inu-Yasha snorted as they looked at the building in front of them.

Hundreds of years spent in the forest had left it no worse for wear, and the wood the small cabin was built out of didn't seem any more decayed then the shrine at Kagome's home. The woods had grown around it, surrounding the small house with thick trees and covering the building with vines and leaves, giving it a mystical look. Kagome blinked as she studied the building in front of her; something seemed familiar about it, and it seemed that it was giving off a faint aura that was stronger then the aura of the woods. She looked over at her guardian for answers and Inu-Yasha just snorted.

"Hmph, I thought it'd take longer then this. There used to be a hill here, from what I remember, and not as many trees." He glanced around. "The forest must have grown." He said distantly.

"Inu-Yasha, this wouldn't be your home, would it?" Sango asked and the half-angel nodded. He walked over and ripped off a curtain of vines to reveal an ancient door with some old Japanese kanji written on it. Curious, everyone went to look and Miroku read the kanji out loud.

"'The humble home of an angel and warrior and a little devil.'" He read and Inu-Yasha snorted again. "Always did wonder what that meant." The half-angel mused before turning away. "Come on, let's keep going. It's almost dark."

"Oh, was this your home Inu-Yasha?" The dog-eared angel froze as Shippo ran up to the door. And tried to push it open, failing. "It's certainly been around for a long time, hasn't it?" He pushed all it's weight on it, managing to creak it open with a cloud of dust and fallen leaves. The tiny angel tripped and coughed, only to be picked up by an irate Inu-Yasha.

"Did I ask for your opinion?" He snarled, giving Shippo a good shake. He dropped the kitsune on the ground and turned away, snarling in a voice that gave no option. "We're leaving now."

Miroku picked up his guardian angel and passed the sniffling Shippo over to Kagome. "Inu-Yasha, he was just being curious, there's no nee-"

"Listen monk, do I pry into your life?" Inu-Yasha spun around, his eye glaring.  "No? Then stay out of mine!" He grabbed Kagome's arm and virtually dragged her out of the woods, away from the wood cabin he used to call home. Kagome allowed herself to be pulled along for a moment before completely realizing what was going on and she began to resist her guardian angel's rather forceful tugs. "Inu-Yasha, what has gotten into you?" she asked, trying to get a good grip on the ground but her shock just having her feet pass right through the roots of the trees. There were some disadvantages to being dead.

Inu-Yasha didn't answer and just pulled her right through the woods (in some cases literally) until they reached the end of a steep side of a depression, forest on one side and mountainous ridges on the other. Inside the bowl in the earth was a quaint, fifteenth century Japanese village of about fifty houses, with rice fields and everything. Kagome blinked at the sight that was no less then wonderful.

The sun had just begun it's descent into the horizon, spilling a red glow all over the land and illuminating the scene before her in a dazzling effect of green, blue and violet. The rice paddies glowed magnificently in the light, while the trees that dotted the hidden valley were as ancient as the forest, with the rich, bold colour of late spring. The village itself was giving off a beautiful aura of whites and golds and there was a large goshikuba tree that that practically glowed. It made Kagome almost happy for her abilities, even if they had been lessened a bit from the removal of the Shikon no Tama from her body.

"Inu-Yasha, now hold on a moment!" Sango and Miroku raced out of the forest before they stopped and took in the sight before them. "Woah."

Inu-Yasha studied the village in front of him, looked at the sun and snorted. "Come on, let's keep moving. We're not out of the woods yet… no pun intended." Taking advantage of his otherworldly powers he leaped into the air, taking Kagome with him, and flew through to the depression, obviously tired of running. Sango and Miroku followed on Kirrara as the half-angel made his way to the village.

Safely in her guardian's arms, Kagome looked down at the village as they flew over, to whatever destination Inu-Yasha had in mind. Children, ghost children, played among the streets with each other and their angels, who differentiated from large to small but all mostly animal like. There were adults in the village too, but most of them had humanoid angels. Kagome studied this with interest as the inhabitants of the ghostly village looked up at their unexpected guests, curious. Shippo noticed Kagome's curiosity and, almost as if he could read her thoughts, answered them for her.

"Usually angels paired up with their mortals have a basic idea of when they're going to die, so that less experienced or the smaller angels get the children while the more experienced angels get adults. Usually the higher ranking a guardian angel gets, the wider range of death-time they're given. Seventh-task angels don't know when their tasks are going to die while first-task angels usually get mortals who will die before they're matured." Shippo elaborated and Kagome began to wonder if the tiny angel was just a really good guesser or able to read her thoughts.

"Shippo, that doesn't make sense. Why would you have me then?" Miroku questioned. Sango looked at the monk out of the corner of her eye.

"I wouldn't call you mature." She said and Shippo nodded while Kagome giggled. Miroku sighed and smiled, waving it off. "I should have expected that." He said.

"Come on guys, we're here." Inu-Yasha said, landing. A small crowd had gathered, following them from their trek in the sky. The village mostly held children, with a child:adult ratio of about 5:1. They all watched, wide-eyed, as Kirrara landed and unloaded her passengers and as Inu-Yasha put Kagome down in front of the shrine they had stopped at, right in front of the goshikuban tree.

"Kikyou-sama!" One small boy, no older then six and with bright blue eyes, ran up and hugged a shocked Kagome around the waist. "Kikyou-sama, you came back! I'm so happy! Now you, me and Momiji-kun can all play together again!"

"Uh…" Kagome froze, unable to react, looking at Inu-Yasha for an answer. Other children were whispering, some hoping, some doubting. A slightly panicked wail came from the crowd and a yellow rabbit ran out, jumping onto the child's shoulders.

"Okoru, it's not Kikyou-sama." The rabbit said, pawing the child's shoulder desperately. "Come on now, Inu-Yasha-sama probably has to see Miko-sama."

"Not…?" The boy looked at Kagome closely, backing up. An almost terrified look came over his face and he bowed swiftly. "I'm sorry onee-chan!." Quickly he ran back into the crowd, who were all staring at Kagome, whispers filtering through. Kagome looked around, half-scared, and she backed up into Inu-Yasha hoping to get away.

"Now, now, what's all this?" Everyone's attention was brought up as the entire company looked to the top of the shrine steps where the Ghost stood. She was an ancient woman, bent with age and with a long, white braid and the garb of ancient mikos, rosary beads strewn around her neck. The most stunning and recognizable feature of her was an eyepatch, hiding a terrible wound from her past that had never recovered. Her good eye surveyed the crowd in front of her, coming to rest of the silent group of newcomers and one particularly shocked threeblood.

"Baba?" He jumped up to the steps in pure canine fashion, staring at the old woman like she was something out of a horror movie. "You're the Ghost now? When the hell did this happen?"

"Fifty years ago, thank you very much." The old woman snapped. Inu-Yasha blinked then burst out laughing.

"Oh, this is great! You! Out of all people! The fucking Ghost! Hah!" He clapped his hands together, obviously finding something amusing about this. He held his breath to stop laughing and looked at the old woman, trying to be serious. Then a smirk came to his face and he chuckled again. "You just can't stay the hell out of my life, can't you?" He snickered, crossing his arms. "Next you're going to tell me you're going to be an angel." The corner of his mouth twitched as he thought of that idea. "Hah! That's fuckin' hilarious!" He laughed again, either completely ignoring or not noticing his stunned audience.

The old woman muttered something, freezing the half-angel who glanced nervously at the sky. He swore and glared at the old woman, who simply smirked back at him. "That's the problem when you bothering old women who know too much about you. Secrets might get revealed."

"Baba." Inu-Yasha muttered. Then he seemed to remember the rest of his companions and he glanced over at them. "I need a favour."

The Ghost sighed. "Inu-Yasha, you always need a favour. Come back when you're ready to do something for me." She turned around and began walking up the steps. Inu-Yasha panicked.

"Hey, come on baba, just a few nights! We just need to learn a few things and everything, don't back off now! Kami, you're the stupid Ghost now! You're supposed to be-"

The old woman held up a hand. "I never said you couldn't come." She said simply, glancing behind her. "You may all stay at least the one night you have to. Come all up, there's enough room for everyone." She continued walking up the steps, beckoning that the others follow. With a confused look at Inu-Yasha, Miroku and Sango started up the steps, then Kagome, with a wary glance at the curious villager spirits. She quickly ran up to join her guardian angel, then walked the rest of the way into the shrine, where the Ghost was waiting.

"My name is Kaede." The keeper of the key said, passing around the cups of rice and tea to her guests. Kagome accepted the tea and drank of bit of it, looking around the decorated room. Flowers dotted the walls, along with other artefacts, some recognized, some not. Kagome found one particularly interesting, which looked like an Asian dragon curled around a rose sphere that reminded her of the Shikon no Tama, all carved out of the same quartz-like stone. The Ghost Kaede noticed Kagome's point of interest and answered some of the questions floating in the girl's mind.

"Each of those artefacts represents the keys." She said, gesturing at the walls. "Those twelve over there are the keys of Hell, those fourteen there are the keys of Heaven and these thirteen are the keys of Earth. That particular one, the dragon, is the representation of this key, the ninth." She smiled, then glanced over at Inu-Yasha. "That one there is your uncle's key." She pointed at a wolf-like skull with curling fangs with a strange design on the snout.

Inu-Yasha looked at Kaede in surprise. "How the hell'd you know that freak was a Lord? I thought nobody from here talked to him and he definitely wouldn't talk to a mortal!" He glanced at the wolf-skull, then back at Kaede.

The Ghost shrugged. "Usually when one becomes a key-keeper one learns the names of al the other keepers." She said, packing another spoonful of rice into her bowl.

"How did you become a Ghost, Kaede-sama?" Miroku asked carefully, trying to change the subject to lead it away from Inu-Yasha's estranged half-uncle. Kaede also seemed relieved for the subject change.

"The same as demons or angels, a mortal spirit must train for years in the village of a key in order to become a Ghost. That's where most of the adults are here for in this village, although some of their relatives have come to join them just for familiarity. Also, usually, if one has ruled a key long enough, the Ghost can then become an angel, although it hasn't happened to many." She smiled, looking over at Inu-Yasha who was ignoring her.

"So you're going to become a Ghost, Kaede-sama?" Sango asked in interest. Kaede shrugged.

"We'll see when the time comes." She said, then looked at Kagome. "You should get some rest dear, after what Inu-Yasha has told me. You've had a pretty busy time since you died. The after-life is supposed to be relaxing, and I suggest that you'd spend the rest of it in this ghost village if it weren't for the circumstances." She glanced over at Inu-Yasha again, then back at the young girl. "Demons have been growing increasingly more abundant in the past few years and are terrorizing many communities. Only places around the key, such as this village, are safe. That's why the population of this village, especially among children, has grown so much."

"Keh." Inu-Yasha grinned, showing off his fangs. "I suppose that's the favour you want from us, eh baba?" He fingered Tetsusaiga, and Sango and Miroku remembered his exterminator roots.

Kaede didn't seem impressed. "You're just as impulsive as your father Inu-Yasha, and you best be careful you don't share his fate." She said, ignoring the frown on the half-angel's face. "I'd prefer if you didn't go around and kill all the demons just for the hell of it, instead I suggest you go at the source of the problem."

She glanced outside, then turned to the group. "However, I'm sure the discussion can wait. You all need some rest and we can talk about this tomorrow morning." She stood up and cleared the room. "You're beds are in the other room. Girls in one, boys in the other houshi-sama." She said pointedly at Miroku, who gulped. Sango and Kagome smiled.

"She seems to have you down to a 't' Miroku!" Kagome said, patting the downcast monk on the back. Miroku sighed. "Am I really that readable?" He wondered aloud. Shippo sighed and shook his head.

"You are when you keep grabbing Sango's butt during dinner."

Kagome woke up halfway through the night to the sound of banging on the roof. She glanced over at Sango and Kirrara, who were blissfully fast asleep, before glancing up at the roof again, where the noises had gone silent. She could sense an aura, but it wasn't demonic or angelic, but it wasn't really mortal either. It felt mostly mortal, but had some other feelings to it as well, like they were all mixed together. Confused, Kagome slowly and quietly got up and went to the window to look outside.

Outside was a beautiful, calm, starlight-night that bathed the village in a dim, slivery light. The moon had disappeared from the sky in it's new phase, leaving a gap in the midnight heavens. Kagome leaned out of the window, looking left and right in the silent town for signs of the mysterious guest, but she couldn't see anything. Then a familiar flicker of aura caught her attention and she looked over to see that ever so recognizable red kimono disappear into the forest. Curious, Kagome jumped and ran off after her guardian.

She came to the woods, slowing down a little when she remembered what Inu-Yasha said about it being dangerous. She could hear her guardian swear something to himself and she quickly floated a few feet in the air so that she could move a lot more quietly. Inu-Yasha's aura felt… different somehow but she wasn't sure why.

She floated over to where her guardian's voice and feel was coming from, recognizing the area where his house stood. So that's where he was! She smiled softly to herself; it must be has hard for him to go home as it was for her. At least her family was still alive, she didn't have to return to a silent, dusty building that held distant memories.

She peeked around a tree to the house, expecting to see her guardian muttering or swearing or something like that. Instead she saw nothing but the wooden house, sitting in the dark forest. She wondered if maybe Inu-Yasha had vanished back to the village and now she was alone in the woods, where god knows what lurked. She backed up nervously, then bumped into something warm and definitely alive behind her. She shrieked and turned around, slapping the intruder with all her might.

Inu-Yasha blinked, rubbing the red mark on his cheek as Kagome stared at him in shock. The half-angel rolled his eyes and looked at his task sternly. "Kagome, what are you doing here so late at night? It's dangerous."

She just blinked.

Inu-Yasha sighed and looked his task straight in the eye. "Go back to bed." He ordered.

Kagome didn't listen to him but instead reached a hand up to pat the top of her guardian angel's head. She ran a hand through his hair, then realized what she was doing and pulled it back. She looked at her guardian questioningly.

Suddenly Inu-Yasha understood and ran a hand through his hair of his own nervousness. "Uh… well I… well… keh." He turned around, his once silvery hair now invisible in the darkness, blending in with it's own black colour. "I guess I should have seen this coming. You have a knack for getting into trouble and finding out things I don't want found out."

"I-Inu-Yasha?" Kagome asked. Her guardian sat down and leaned against a tree, closing his eyes.

"You see Kagome, I have this little blood problem." He said, trying to explain it clearly. Kagome sat down beside him and patted the top of his head again, not used to the lack of doggy-ears. Inu-Yasha sighed. "Because I'm a threeblood that means I have human blood in me. And human blood is pretty weak magically. One thing is, the phases of the moon also effect the magical blood; so angelic and demonic blood are strongest on a full moon. At the same time though, they're weakest at the new moon. So on the nights of the new moon my magical blood dwindles away, leaving my human blood to take over." He ran a hand through his black hair and fingered one of his human ears. "So this happens."

"But you'll go back to normal in the morning?" Kagome asked and her guardian nodded. "So that's why you were so anxious to get to the village before nightfall."

Inu-Yasha winced. "Yeah, pretty much. It's not a good thing if many people know about it. I want as little to know as possible. In fact, you and baba are the only ones that do know."

Kagome leaned slightly against him, sleep overtaking her again now the excitement was over. "Why did you have to keep it a secret from me?"

Inu-Yasha shifted uncomfortably as his task drifted off into dreamland. "I was going to tell you… eventually…" He said quietly.

"Hmm…" Kagome said, as the comfortable blackness slowly overtook her. "Inu-Yasha?"

"Eh?"

"Will you protect me forever?" She wondered aloud, her voice heavy with fatigue. Inu-Yasha stiffened at the question. "I mean… Kaede doesn't have her guardian with her anymore… it went away. Will you go away too?"

Inu-Yasha watched his task as she fell asleep, leaning against him and breathing softly. He pulled her closer, his eyes on the old house where he and his parents used to live. Kagome reminded him so much of his mother, caring, soft, loving. He smiled, ever so slightly; one of the first real smiles he had had for a long time.

"Always and forever." He promised softly into the night.

End chapter 16

Sorry it's so late! Ah! Enjoy the next chappie on Monday! I gotta go! *runs away from it all, screaming*

~Ama