Disclaimer - It's not mine. It never was.

A/N- Hey everyone. I just wanted to say major thanks to all the people that reviewed the last chapter. It was surprisingly more than I expected. A couple of people have already guessed exactly who Yukio and Seto are, but I'm not telling anything. :)

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Misunderstanding

Chapter 2

Meeting the Culprits

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A week had passed by swiftly, and it was soon time for Kagome to go back to her time to restock on bandages and other supplies. Unfortunately, they had failed to gather any more shards the past couple days, barring the four that they had found when Kagome had gotten back.

Inuyasha, who was still angry with the little tidbits of information he was sporadically receiving about the mysterious pair, known only as Yukio and Seto, wass determined to go with her when she went home. But, it seemed as though Kagome had other plans. They had left Kaede's village arguing as to whether or not he was going to go with her, and it was still going on by the time they had reached the well.

"I'm goin' with you, and that's final!" Inuyasha barked. "So get over it and get a move on! We ain't got all day!"

"Why are you so bound and determined to come with me?" Kagome asked. "I'll be back in two days. Let me go already!"

"I'm goin' with you." Inuyasha said, folding his arms and glaring at her.

"You keep this up, and I'll stay in my time a whole week!" Kagome threatened, causing some of the wind to disappear from the dog demon's sails. He did not want her to be with these two unknown demons for a whole week. There was no telling what they would do to her to get the shards.

"Why don't you want me to go with you?" he asked suspiciously. "What are you hiding?"

"Why do you want to come with me all of a sudden?" she countered, hoping he didn't catch the guilty blush that had risen in her cheeks when he mentioned hiding something.

"You're not giong by yourself!" Inuyasha said firmly.

"And you're not going to stand there and tell me what to do!" Kagome yelled. "Sit boy!"

Inuyasha hit the dirt with that command, a string of colorful curses coming from his mouth, and allowing Kagome to walk over to the well and sit on the edge, her feet dangling into the murky depths.

"I'll be back in two days, Inuyasha." she said simply, smirking slightly as she watched him pick himself up off of the ground, grumbling incoherently. She suddenly tensed up, feeling two jewel shards coming towards them quickly from the South. Apparently, Inuyasha had picked up on it as well, because he walked over to her and frowned.

"What is it, Kagome?" he questioned, his anger quickly receding when he saw her posture.

"Two jewel shards." she said quickly, slipping back onto hard ground and reaching for her bow and arrows absently. "And they're coming at us quick!"

"Master Inuyasha!" came a squeaky voice from beside the demi-demon's head. "Master Inuyasha!" The two occupants of the clearing looked carefully, seeing the now present form of Inuyasha's flea demon friend, Myouga.

"What are you doing here, Myouga?" Inuyasha growled, unsheathing the Tetsusaiga and willing it to transform. "Now is not the time for us to be listenin' to your yapping."

"I have just arrived from the den of the wolf demon tribe!" the flea yelled, jumping up and down and wring both sets of his hands together in nervousness. "The wolf's leader, Kouga, is on his way to take Lady Kagome away! You must get her out of here immediately!"

"Kouga's on his way here?" Kagome asked, panic rising in her voice. "Inuyasha, he'll find out about the well. We've got to get him away from the clearing!"

"Myouga, what does that flea bitten puppy want with Kagome now?" Inuyasha asked quickly, seeing the top of the cyclone over the trees that told of Kouga's impending arrival.

"The wolf council has backed Kouga into a corner, saying that if he doesn't take a mate, and soon, he will be removed from the leadership of the tribes in the area!" Myouga cried. "He intends to take Kagome with him, by force if neccessary, and kill you if she refuses to come willingly!" Inuyasha growled and glanced back at Kagome, who had turned a pale color.

"Get out of here, Kagome." he said. "I'll take care of that filthy mongrel myself!"

"But...."

"Get the hell out of here!" he yelled. "You were in a big enough hurry to leave a minute ago! Get out before I have to go rescue your useless ass from the wolves again!" Kagome only shook her head, not wanting to leave the half demon to deal with a cocky Kouga on his own, but she heard Sango's and Miroku's voice calling from the pathway to the village, and knew he wouldn't be facing the wolf leader alone.

She took one last look at Inuyasha as Kouga's cyclone touched down within the clearing, seeing the look of utter rage on the demi-demon's face, before pushing herself into the well..and into the future five hundred years, easily out of reach of the cocky wolf leader.

"Inuyasha!" Sango yelled, crashing into the clearing with Miroku right behind her and Shippou clutching the monk's shoulder. "We sensed a demon coming!"

"It's just that dirt-bag Kouga." Inuyasha said angrily as said wolf dropped down from the cyclone of air and skidded to a halt not too far from the well.

"Hey, albino mutt!" Kouga yelled. "Where's my woman?"

"Sorry, you just missed her." Inuyasha said sarcastically, his eyes quickly scanning the remnants of blue light that showed Kagome had passed through the time barrier. "Now get the hell away from here! You're stinkin' up the place!"

"What do you mean she's gone?" Kouga growled. "Where'd she go, mutt face?"

"Home."

"Well, I'm going to get her." Kouga said, thinking Kagome was in the nearby village.

"Like hell you are!" Inuyasha growled. "You ain't going anywheres near her! It's bad enough she's got two other demons after her, she doesn't need to put up with your shit! She ain't going with NO ONE!" The enraged dog demon attacked Kouga, who was temporarily shocked to find that Kagome had other pursuers besides himself.

"When the hell did she become so popular?" Kouga asked, dodging the swings Inuyasha was dealing him. "Who else is trying to take my woman?"

"Since she quit hanging around with stupid wolves!" Inuyasha growled, totally ignoring Kouga's second question and readying himself for a fight that would only get nastier the longer Kouga stayed around. He had to get him away from the rickety old structure before he destroyed it and trapped Kagome in her world permanently.

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"Uh-oh." Shippou grumbled. "He knows about Yukio and Seto." The kitsune looked over to Sango, who did not seem at all pleased about the fact that Inuyasha, and now Miroku, knew about Kagome's new friends.

"How long has he known, Miroku?" she asked, casting a suspicious glare in the monk's direction, knowing the only time Kagome talked about the two inu's was when she was bathing. "Better yet, how long have YOU known?"

"Uh..well....you see, Sango." Miroku said, backing away from the slayer slowly. "We heard Lady Kagome and yourself speaking of her new friends when she came back last week.

"You were both spying on us while we were bathing, weren't you, you pervert?" she ground out, the grip on her boomerang tightening to the point where her knuckles were white. "Kagome only talked to me about Yukio and Seto when we were bathing because she didn't want Inuyasha knowing about them!"

"Now...Lady Sango...." Miroku said, knowing he was not going to be able to make her understand that it had been Inuyasha that followed them and not himself. "If you will kindly hold on, I will explain."

"Run." she said, the glint in her eyes promising pain the him.

"Pardon?"

"Run." Sango said, deadly serious. "Because when I catch you, you peeking, perverted monk, I'm going to beat some manners into you." Miroku took one look at the angered woman and decided to take her advice. He turned around and quickly disappered into the foliage, not wishing to test Sango's patience.

"You're just going to let him go?" Shippou questioned from the safety of Sango's shoulder.

"No." she said, readying her weapon and giving the monk a decent headstart before letting it fly in the same direction he had just ran. A resounding 'thunk' was heard moments later, and Sango caught the boomerang as it flew back towards her, the force of the massive weapon causing her to slide back a few feet. "Just giving the impertinent jerk a decent headstart."

"It didn't work." Shipou commented lightly.

"I didn't intend for it to." Sango answered, turning back towards the fight at hand between the angry hanyou and the cocky wolf demon. "Now let's see if we can get Kouga away from Inuyasha before they damage the well and cause more problems than either of them is worth!"

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.......Two hours, thirteen minutes, one unconscious monk, and one raging hanyou later........

Sango had finally managed to get in between the two battling demons and force them to listen to reason, saying that if they kept on fighting, then Kagome wasn't going to speak to either of them for a very long peroid of time, and she would make sure that the miko found out that they had been fighting.

Well, that had worked to significantly cool both Kouga's and Inuyasha's raging tempers, and the wolf had disappeared, leaving Inuyasha with a promise to come back and collect Kagome at another time. With the hanyou finally thinking a tad more clearly, Sango had suggested that they go back to Kaede's and rest for the evening, but Inuyasha had shot that suggestion down and jumped into the well, hell bent on finding out exactly what was going on in Kagome's time.

"Do you think Kagome is going to be there?" Shippou asked, sitting on the side of the well and peering down into it.

"I believe she said that her mother and brother are gone on a trip of some sort." Sango commented. "Hopefully Inuyasha won't run into Seto, or Yukio for that matter. Kagome has done everything in her power to keep him from finding out about those two. I really hate to see her have to choose between Inuyasha and them. She really does care about all of them."

"Yeah, but Inuyasha's not exactly the type to share." the kitsune said, scratching his head. "He's the runt of the litter, and apparently never learned that particular skill as a child." Sango just shrugged and shouldered her boomerang.

"You do know what's going to happen, don't you?" she asked, looking at the little kitsune. "When Kagome finds out that he followed her?"

"She's going to 'sit' him so many times, the hole will be deep enough to make a fish pond in." Shippou said, absolutely serious. "That's only if she doesn't break his back first." They both stood there for a moment, wondering if Inuyasha had a death wish, and wondering exactly how willing Kagome would be to fill it for him when she found out he knew about her friends.

"Well, let's get to Kaede's." Sango said, walking down the path towards the village. "I'm ready for some food. How about you, Shippou? Inuyasha should be back in a few hours. After Kagome screams and threatens and 'sits' him enough times."

"Sounds good." the kit said brightly. They soon came upon the unconscious form of Miroku, sprawled out in the path where Sango's boomerang had hit him.

"Should we bring him with us?" Shippou asked.

"Let him stay." Sango said, making it a point to not so gently stomp all over the monk as they went by. "He'll be back to his normal self in a few hours. Might as well give the village girls a break from his roaming hands for a couple of hours."

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The second Inuyasha stepped out of the well house, his nose was assaulted with the overpowering smells that he related to Kagome's time. But more importantly, he smelled the scent of dogs mixed in with Kagome's. He quickly hid behind a nearby building when he heard Kagome's laughing voice coming up the shrine steps, mixed in with the jumble of some other voices. He waited, wanting to know who was with her, and hoping that it was the infamous Yukio and Seto so that he could rip their eyes out and send his claws through their stomachs.

When Kagome got to the top of the steps, Inuyasha was angered to see three other people with her. One he immediatly recognized as that boy that kept trying to get her attention when she went to school. 'What was his name again? Hobo? Hoko? Homo? Hogo? Oh, yeah, Hojo!' Inuyasha thought angrily, taking in the black jacket and slacks that the guys at Kagome's school wore. Kagome had told him that Hojo was only a good friend that came by often to drop of her schoolwork when she missed a lot of school. But what angered him the most was the two males on either side of Kagome.

'And who the hell are these damned pretty boys?' he thought, noticing the way the blackheaded one had a hand firmly wrapped around Kagome's waist while the other one, some guy with long white hair, had his arm around her shoulders. 'And what are they doing with my Kagome?' They were both dressed in casual clothes, and Inuyasha figured that they were to old to go to her school by the looks of them.

His brain suddenly kicked into overdrive and he remembered the descriptions Kagome had given Sango and Shippou about Yukio and Seto, causing him to growl. 'Blue eyes, black hair.' he thought, pinning the laughing man with Kagome as Seto. 'And the other one is Yukio. White hair and amber eyes.'

"It is good to see you are back with us, Kagome." the one he pinned as Seto said with a grin. "After our little run in with Hojo, we had wondered where you went. You really shouldn't run off like that without telling us where you're going. What if someone was to try and kidnap you or something, we wouldn't be around to help." Kagome laughed at the guy and shook her head.

"What my unintelligent sibling is trying to say, Kagome," the white headed man said. "is that while you were gone, he couldn't get anyone to pay attention to his pointless whining."

"Aww, poor guy." Kagome murmured, giving the black headed guy a kiss on the cheek. "I'll just have to make it a point to come by more often, won't I?"

"Just being around more would be good enough, Higurashi." Hojo said, shaking his head. "All though I am glad to see that your last round of chicken pox is all cleared up. How many times have you had them, again? Five? Or was this last one six?" Kagome blushed and bit her bottom lip.

"Uh, I think it was seven, actually, Hojo." she said, dejectedly. "But I could have forgotten a few cases here or there." The clueless boy just shrugged and gave Kagome a quick grin.

"Sorry to cut the visit short, Higurashi, but I've got to get home." Hojo said. "That big history test is tomorrow and I need to study. It is good to see you feeling better, though. Bye. See you at school tomorrow."

"Bye, Hojo." Kagome called out, waving as the boy disappeared down the steps. "And thanks again for bringing me my work." He only waved in answer to her thanks, and Inuyasha had to tamp down the urge to gut the two men standing in front of Kagome when they each put an arm around her.

"Nice guy, isn't he?" the black headed one commented easily.

"This coming from the guy who almost beat him up on numerous times." Kagome said, cutting her eyes up at the tall man. "Where's mom at, by the way?

"She went to take your brother to soccer practice." the white headed one said. "And to run a few more errands. Your grandfather is with her."

"You'd figure the day I come home everyone is gone." she grumbled.

"Hey, it's okay." the taller of the two men said. "We'll keep you company until they get back. I'm sure we'll find something to entertain ourselves with, don't you think brother dear?" He turned to the black headed man and grinned. "After all, it's been a week since we've heard anything from you. I'm beginning to think you're avoiding us, Kagome."

The miko yelped as the man Inuyasha had deemed as 'Seto' picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder, causing the girl to laugh and flay around, playfully pounding on his back.

"Yuyu!" she pouted, addressing the white headed man for some assistance. "Help your favorite girl out here, will you?"

"I'll help you alright." he smirked. "You're in trouble for not calling us all week. Your punishment shall be severe, you do know that, right Kagome?"

"I'm terrified." Kagome said sarcastically, propping her head up on her hands. "You two are as bad as Inuyasha, always threatening and talking about me."

"That guy you're friend with thats always picking on you because you can't fight?" the white headed man asked. "You still hanging around with him? Didn't we tell you that you needed to get rid of that tempremental jerk?"

"I don't remember you telling me that." Kagome said.

"That's because I had you pinned down on the ground and was pouring ice water on you." the guy holding her said with a smirk. "It was at Souta's last soccer game, remember?"

"The conversation? Or the water?" Kagome asked, a playful frown on her face. "Cause I remember the water quite vividly. It was cold, it was wet, and I didn't have enough left to drown you in!"

"Did you ever tell him about us, Kagome?" the white headed man asked. "I know you were thinking about it, considering the amount of time we're going to be spending here from now on."

"I haven't told him yet." Kagome grumbled.

"Why not?"

"Well, you see...it's kind of complicated." Kagome faltered. "He's liable to jump off the handle and take it the wrong way or something. And I really don't want to fight with him. I love all of you, and he'll just make trouble."

"Sounds like the jealous type." the white headed demon said.

"No, not jealous." Kagome corrected. "Just protective."

"Yeah, it's not like we're going to hurt you or anything." the black headed guy said, giving her a soft pat on her legs before setting her down onto her own two feet. "We'd never dream of it."

"I know that." she sighed, running her hands through her hair. "But he's liable to come looking for blood if I tell him. In fact, I know he would."

"Sounds like you're something special to him, Kagome." the white headed man said.

"Not really." she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I just look so much like his first girlfriend that he goes a little overboard at times. He's really a good guy at heart, just a little headstrong."

"Sounds like you, Yuyu." the black headed man said. The other man just shook his head and opened the door to Kagome's house, ushering them in.

"Like you've got room to talk, you overbearing brat." the man said coldly. "I really don't see how Kagome puts up with you."

"You're no better, brother dear." the man retorted, and Inuyasha could see that the little banter was starting to turn confrontational.

"I put up with both of you because I have enough practice doing the same between Inuyasha and Kouga!" Kagome called back. "Now get in here and I'll fix something to eat to hold us over until mom gets back!" The two brothers just glared at each other and entered into the house, shutting the door behind them.

Inuyasha wasn't exactly sure as to what to feel when he saw Kagome interacting with the two males. He hadn't gotten close enough to get a good smell of the two, but the rest of his senses were telling him that these were the two demons that were getting to Kagome. But what surprised him the most was how much they looked human. The two men looked absolutely harmless. 'Masking spells.' he thought, dismissing that quickly. 'They're probably just masking their auras and physical features.'

He heard Kagome's laughter coming from the house and felt his heart drop. She was happy with these two, whoever the heck they were. Inuyasha hadn't heard her laugh like that in so long, he'd almost forgotten what it sounded like. They had fought so much the last week, that all he was used to seeing was a frown or a scowl on her face. 'They're after the jewel shards.' his conscious reminded him. 'They're just playing nice because they have to in order to get by Kagome.'

He shook his head and bounded up to the tree next to Kagome's window to her room, deciding to wait until she came upstairs before finding out what was going on. He slid the window open and slipped in undetected. He took a look around the room, noticing the pile of books and paper on her desk, and the neat sheets on her bed. But what caught his attention the most was the overwhelming smell of dog in the room. He sniffed around carefully, noticing that the smell was more concentrated on her bed and the rug on her floor. There were two distinct smells present, two different dogs, and it was so overpowering that he could barely register Kagome's own light scent over them. His stomach dropped to his feet again, and he felt the bile rise up in his throat.

'Playing nice is one thing.' he thought, shaking his head sadly. 'But they wouldn't sleep in here with her, in her bed if they were being deceitful. The smell is too strong. These guys have been in here everyday since she's been gone.'

He backed out of the room, shaking his head in disbelief at what his senses were telling him. Jumping up onto the window ledge, he jumped out of the window and quickly made his way back over to the well house, once again hearing Kagome's happy laughter float across the grounds, this time coupled with one of the other's deep chuckle.

She wasn't in danger. He realized suddenly. She was happy. Whoever these demons were, they weren't looking for jewel shards, or they would have already torn the place apart looking for them. Dog demons were not known for their patience, and after what he'd just seen, Inuyasha was convinced that they were not looking for the shards.....if they even knew Kagome had it to begin with. They were there, with Kagome, because they wanted to be around her and see her happy.

And it was killing him slowly, knowing that those two dogs in the house with her were the ones responsible for getting that happy sound to come from her soul once again.

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A/N - Okay, not much very funny, but it is something, no?

Remember to leave a review. I want to know what you think.

Later,

A.A.