Kagome's Song and Inuyasha's Love
Ok, sorry this chappie took so long, but my disk is/was being a mother fcking piece of sht. My computer first refused to acknowledge that there was a disk in the drive. THEN it refused to open ANY of my chapters. This chapter was about half done when all this nonsense occurred. I apologize.
Now, just as a fair warning, because Kachie and I have frequent but stupid arguments, this chapter will contain one between us. It is a really stupid, spontaneous, and out of place argument that ends as quickly as it begins. You will know it when you see it!!! Enjoy the oddity!
This chappie is dedicated to Kachie, who has been trying to tape Inuyasha for me when my mom's cable went caplooie!!! I salute you!!!
Explanations, adventure, and stubbornness
Koga was the first to awake the next morning. He sat up and stretched his arms; his eyes fell on Kachie, who had fallen asleep on her 'sleeping bag' thing. They must have gone to sleep sometime early that morning, but Koga couldn't remember. He couldn't help but smile at the girl, who had so much to learn about wolves.
She knows more about them than any of these other losers though... he thought happily. He glanced around camp, sniffing for anyone else who may be awake, and his eyes fell on Kagome, who was sleeping soundly in Inuyasha's lap with the kit, Shippo, on hers. Koga growled a deep and angry growl.
How dare HE put her into HIS lap with HIS face nuzzled into the crook of her neck...I will slaughter HIM! Koga thought angrily as he stood to make Inuyasha pay for even touching his future mate. Then he stopped to think for a moment. Would it be better to kill him now, with Kagome still in his lap, or should he wait until she was at least awake?
Koga growled again as he sat down begrudgingly. He would wait; Kagome didn't deserve to have some mutt's blood all over her...
Another scent reached his nose after a moment of sulking and it's odd combination of aromas caused him to look at its source. There he saw the most interesting sight he hadn't even thought possible; the girl Hekele had the child Rin in her lap and was draped in the Demon Lord Sesshoumaru's long white tail. This part did not puzzle Koga, however, for if his charge, Rin, was cold, then it would only be practical for Sesshoumaru to warm the girls; what puzzled Koga was that Hekele's head was resting on Sesshoumaru's shoulder and that his head was on top of hers.
Are these two together? I did sense a bit of affection betwixt them, but not THIS much...is there something these bozos aren't telling me?!? he thought. Then, as if his prayers were answered, the monk, who always had answers to most anything about ANYONE he was traveling with, stirred across the camp and awoke. Koga grinned from ear to ear.
Miroku awoke to find that Sango was on the other side of the long dead fire and he made a pouty face...it wasn't like he was going to do anything perverted and rub her ass...much...
"Oi, bozo! Can I talk to-What the hell happened to your nose?!?" Koga asked, laughing as the monk turned to regard him. Miroku made a face and motioned for Koga to join him where he sat, not wanting to wake anyone else at the moment. Koga stifled another laugh as he complied.
"I broke it..." said the monk as Koga sat across from him.
"Let me guess, you groped the slayer again didn't you? Then she hit you with that giant boomerang of hers. Am I right?" Koga jeered. Miroku chose his words carefully.
"Well, something like that...while the girls were bathing I went to go investigate a noise I heard coming from that direction. When I got there, I was looking around in the bushes, hiding myself so that they wouldn't see me and think something obscene. Apparently they heard me and decided to play a trick on me. I fell for it and I was tripped and dunked into the water...I broke my nose when I hit the dirt..."
Koga glared death at the monk and his tail was thrashing dangerously. He knew better than to believe his 'version' on what happened. Miroku had said, 'the girls', which meant that Kagome, HIS Kagome, had been a victim of his perverted ways. The monk saw the impending doom and shrugged it off.
"Oh don't worry, I didn't see anything good, besides that, I had Sesshoumaru on my tail for the rest of the night..." he said passively. Koga stopped thrashing his tail and simply glared at the monk.
"Do tell..." Miroku, again, chose his words carefully.
"When I returned to camp Hekele volunteered to set and tape my nose in place so that it could heal properly. She had me sit down and then she hit my nose rather hard back into place..." Koga winced, that had to hurt.
Miroku continued, "...then she proceeded to tape it in place. I was told to not move a muscle, lest she injure my nose more. I complied and Lord Sesshoumaru seemed rather annoyed..."
"Did she say to stare straight at her breasts or just not move while she taped? I'm sure averting your eyes alone wouldn't have interfered with her bandaging..." Koga muttered, disgusted with the monk. Miroku shrugged.
"I do believe it was the first one..." Miroku said happily. Koga rolled his eyes.
"Despite how utterly disgusting your habits are, I doubt that was enough to perturb Lord Sesshoumaru."
"Well, once Hekele was finished bandaging my nose, my hands just happened to slip and...well, let us just say that Lord Sesshoumaru promptly placed her behind him and threatened my life for my 'indecency'..." Miroku finished. Koga rolled his eyes and suddenly remembered what he was going to ask the monk.
"Are Hekele and Sesshoumaru implied mates or something?" he asked. Miroku looked at him oddly.
"What? I am aware of a slight bit of affection, but NOTHING that deep is between them...why do you ask such a blunt and personal question?" he replied, very curious. Koga grinned and pointed to where the two were resting against the tree together; they hadn't moved an inch.
Miroku's eyes widened dangerously as his shock mounted a new high every second the two were in his line of vision. He quickly and quietly walked over to where Sango was sleeping and gently tried to shake her awake. No such luck.
"Sango...Sango...wake up..." Miroku grinned pervertedly and Koga turned away, having more dignity than to sink to such a low as to watch the monk go through with his antics.
Miroku gently took his hand and 'caressed' her 'cheek'. Sango woke up instantly.
"HEN-mmph!!!" Miroku swiftly covered her mouth and held down her flailing arms. Sesshoumaru stirred a bit, but remained content in his deep slumber.
"I promise, I have a REALLY good reason for that...and I DID try to wake you up in a different way but you didn't wake up...anyway, no yelling...I have something strange that was brought to my attention..." he hissed quietly. He turned Sango to face Sesshoumaru and Hekele and he could feel her jaw drop. Sensing that he was out of harm's way for the moment, he cautiously removed her from his captivity.
"Houshi-sama...this is truly odd...touching...but odd...you are temporarily forgiven," she whispered, shocked. Sango climbed up and walked over to Kachie. She kneeled down and shook the girl awake. This time it worked.
Kachie opened her eyes and stretched as Koga had and looked at Sango, "Morning already...damn I'm still tired..." she said as she sat up and yawned. Sango smiled and pointed to where Hekele and Sesshoumaru rested. Kachie's eyes softened and she even smiled. Hekele looked so content sleeping there, and, oddly enough, so did Sesshoumaru. Rin, who was in Hekele's lap, looked so cute all curled up in her Sesshoumaru-sama's tail too. Kachie grabbed her backpack and dug out a small, rounded, square, box. It was a Polaroid camera. She quickly explained the concept of how a camera worked to Sango and quietly walked over to where Sesshoumaru and Hekele were and, after turning off the flash, snapped two pictures of them, knowing that at some point Hekele would want one as well. When the camera started to make noise while producing the photos Kachie jumped back in fear of Sesshoumaru waking up and ending her life. She got lucky, however, and neither he nor Hekele even stirred.
Kachie did a mini victory dance and silently crept back to Sango. She set the pictures in a patch of sunlight to develop and grinned.
"That is so cute..." she said, looking at the two under the tree. Sango nodded.
"So...how long do you think she'll live once Sesshoumaru wakes up and finds himself in the predicament?" she asked. Kachie shrugged and looked around camp, when her eyes came upon another touching sight...Kagome and Inuyasha. She smiled evilly from ear to ear and nudged Sango. She looked where Kachie was pointing and grinned as well. These two, they could mess with and live. In the midst of their evil planning, they both paused and looked at each other, confused. They then directed their attention to Koga, who gave them a look.
"I decided not to kill him until AFTER my Kagome wakes up..." he said passively. The girls rolled their eyes and Kachie jumped up to take the other couple's picture as well. She used the same technique she used before, except she jumped back quicker this time, knowing that Inuyasha wouldn't have to untangle a giant tail before skinning her alive.
It worked as it had before and Kachie did yet another victory dance at not being caught. Sango muffled a laugh as she strutted back over to her proudly waving the pictures and all of her attached limbs. Yes, Kachie was a fun one wasn't she? By now the pictures of Hekele and Sesshoumaru were finished developing and Sango's eyes widened at how real they were.
"Wow Kachie...these are amazing..." she said, looking at them again. Kachie smiled and nodded.
"I told ya!" she preached happily. Miroku got curious about the pictures and wanted to see them as well. He stood up and attempted to walk over to where the girls were seated. Unfortunately, the monk didn't have the luck he needed that morning. As he was making his way over to them, he stumbled upon an exposed tree root and fell...flat on his broken nose.
He screamed bloody murder.
Sesshoumaru's eyes shot open and he leapt forward, ready for battle, but, the problem was, Hekele and Rin were still wrapped up in his tail and were yanked upward with him and they landed on top of the poor dog demon, causing him to yelp in surprise and fall forward. The three were tangled up in his tail as Hekele accidentally kneed it into the ground, causing Sesshoumaru to yelp again, this time out of pain.
Inuyasha and Kagome woke up instantly, but, thankfully, Kagome was able to jump up seconds before Inuyasha, so they didn't end up in the same jumble as their comrades. Shippo was woken by the noise, just as startled as the rest of the group. Jakken remained sound asleep, however, having been so deep in whatever dream the toad demon was dreaming at the time that not even the end of the world could awaken him. How predictable...
Inuyasha and Kagome froze for a second as the scene before them processed in their minds. As their eyes swept over the group who were blushing, (mostly Hekele, but even the abused Sesshoumaru had a hint of pink in his cheeks, but it was hard to notice,) and desperately trying to untangle themselves from their momentary prison of fur, they busted out laughing. Miroku was still rolling around on the ground holding his nose and whimpering, Koga was laughing his tail off, and Sango and Kachie were laughing nervously, not liking their current predicament one bit. They carefully slid the pictures into one of Kachie's folders and then into her pack.
Hekele carefully untangled Rin from Sesshoumaru's long tail; Sesshoumaru meanwhile couldn't decide whether to nurse the poor abused thing, kill whoever was laughing, or help Hekele untangle herself. The demon lord resorted to helping Hekele and glaring death at everyone except for Rin. Once Hekele was untangled, the poor girl turned to face Sesshoumaru, blush still creeping on her cheeks.
"Gomen nasai, Sesshoumaru-sama...I'm sorry about your tail..." she said quickly, before turning back around and walking swiftly away on the notion that she was going to bathe in the hot-spring. The demons in the group suddenly stopped laughing when the slight scent of her tears reached their noses. Sesshoumaru growled a bit but kept it quiet for the most part. After a moment or so the rest of the group realized that their friends weren't laughing with them any longer and wondered what was wrong.
"Eh? What's wrong you guys?" Kachie asked them. Shippo was the first to speak.
"I could smell Hekele-chan's tears...we made her cry..." he said sadly, sorry for making his new friend so sad. Kachie's face turned pale and she stood up suddenly, grabbing her pack.
"I'm going to go talk to her...you guys don't realize how easily her feelings get hurt...she used to get teased and laughed at all the time for things she couldn't help...or rumors that weren't even true. I should have thought about that sooner..." she said, walking off in the direction of the hot-spring. Sango and Kagome looked at each other for a moment and followed in a hurry after gathering their necessities. Rin looked up at Sesshoumaru.
"Can Rin go too? Rin wants to make Hekele-chan feel better..." she said to Sesshoumaru, tugging at his sleeve. Sesshoumaru nodded his consent and Rin bounded after the group as quickly as she could. All that were left were the boys, and Sesshoumaru glared death at every one of them again before speaking.
"And what, pre-tell, was so funny about that...predicament?" he asked coldly. Even Inuyasha gulped...before acting like a smart aleck.
"Well, you DID have her wrapped up in your tail..." he said, reeling Sesshoumaru in with a baited hook.
"I was merely trying to keep the girl and my young charge warm."
"Yah, but then you ALSO seemed rather comfortable with her leaning on you and you on her..." Inuyasha continued. Sesshoumaru was one step ahead of him though, and he grinned. Before he had fallen he had seen Inuyasha and the miko together sleeping, and he KNEW just how to use that information to his advantage.
"Ah, comfort is something one seeks in their sleep, mine was a complete accident that must have taken place once we had fallen asleep, but YOU also seemed rather comfortable with the miko quite deliberately in your lap...THAT, I am certain, was no accident..." he said slyly, side glancing at Koga. Koga, like Sesshoumaru, took the bait.
"Yes, dog-turd, I was wondering about that myself..." Sesshoumaru smiled evilly as Inuyasha gulped. This was going to be good...if that damned monk ever stopped whimpering and rolling around holding his nose!
Hekele was already in the hot spring when the rest of the group caught up to her. Kachie bit her lip before undressing and entering as well. The rest of the group followed suit cautiously. Hekele kept her eyes adverted away from them. Everyone was silent for a moment before Kachie spoke.
"Look, Hekele, we are sorry for laughing. And we weren't exactly laughing at you anyway, we were just laughing at the sight of you three all jumbled up...we thought it was kinda cute..." she said. Hekele still didn't look at them. Kagome felt an immense amount of guilt, she had been on of the first to start laughing.
"Hekele, we mean it...we didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything like that, we were just so surprised and it happened so suddenly that we couldn't help ourselves..." she said. Sango nodded in agreement.
"Rin is sorry if Rin made you cry..." said the little girl. Hekele patted her head affectionately and began to wash it for her.
"I'm not mad at you Rin-chan...you weren't laughing at our momentary misfortune..." she said, a bit of spite in her voice. The group winced and Kachie decided to gamble.
"Ok, I have something that will either make you REALLY happy or REALLY mad...want to see?" she asked Hekele. Hekele shrugged passively. Kachie reached over and opened her pack and took out the folder with the pictures in it. She carefully took out the pictures and handed them to Hekele.
At first, Hekele's face almost held a smile, but then it turned dark and she glared at her friend.
"How dare you? How dare you just take those pictures like that? What were you going to use them for?!" she yelled. Kachie glared back at her.
"One, I thought you three looked cute like that and I wanted to keep the once in a lifetime, (or two,) memory intact. Two, I took the second one for you in case you wanted one! Three, don't you always do stuff like that to me and our other friends?!?"
"Well, maybe I do, but when I do so it is when you go on actual dates! I don't imply things that aren't true! What you see in the picture was an accident and here you act as though it were this huge scandal or something! Besides, at least you KNOW when I am taking pictures!" she retorted.
"Well, what do YOU use those pictures for?!? Huh? Tell me that!!!" Kachie shouted back. Kagome and Sango looked at each other warily; this wasn't going so well.
Hekele got out of the hot spring and got dressed. Once she did that she dug into her bag and pulled out three small photo albums and threw them at the edge near Kachie and stalked off, angry and hurt.
Kachie glared at her friend again and opened one of the albums. In it were pictures of Kachie and some of her other friends. There were also the alleged 'date pictures', pictures from when they had gone to camp together when they were younger, pictures from school, and even from birthdays and holidays. Kachie's jaw dropped as she read some of the inserts and she realized that what she was looking at was a mini scrapbook about her. She quickly dug through the other two and found pictures of Hekele's mom in one and of another of their friends in another. They were memory books, each devoted to a single person. Kachie rolled her eyes.
"Now, if I had KNOWN that this is what she was up to all those times, I wouldn't have snapped. She always stuff like this without telling me, she's so mysterious that it gets in the way of common sense. Perfect, now we are arguing again..."
"You two argue often?" Sango asked, feeling guilty. Kachie nodded.
"All the time, but we always are friends again by the end of the day..." she said.
"Are you sure? She seemed pretty mad..." Kagome pointed out. Kachie nodded.
"Now that I think about it, the only reason she was probably mad about the pictures was because everyone had laughed at her...she probably saw it as something we were going to use against her...I should really think before I act huh?"
"Maybe that would be wise...does she hate us all now?" Sango asked, completely serious.
"Nope, she just needs to cool off, then I'm gonna apologize a hole in her heart and we'll be friends again..." Kachie said confidently. Rin looked at her oddly.
"What happens when Hekele-chan makes Kachie-san mad?" she asked. Kachie smiled.
"Then the same thing happens, only vice versa."
"Kind of like with Inuyasha and Kagome? Except Inuyasha never says sorry, Kagome says it for him..." Sango said, rolling her eyes. Kagome blushed and Kachie grinned.
"Hey Kags...I got something for you..." Kachie took out the photos of Kagome and Inuyasha and handed them to her. Kagome blushed a hundred shades of red and glared at Kachie.
"Ye ARE evil...know ye no shame?" she asked, much like Kaede would. Sango laughed and Kachie just gave them confused looks.
"Sango was my partner in crime...but she didn't take any pictures...she just knew about them..."
Kagome looked at Sango and shook her head, "Can I see the pictures of Hekele and Sesshoumaru? I never got to see the two sleeping..." Kachie gladly complied and showed them off. Kagome didn't hide her shock.
"Oh my god...how cute! Even Sesshoumaru seems happy in this picture...too bad he's sleeping..." Kachie shuddered.
"If Sesshoumaru was awake then I'd be in a permanent slumber...and I wouldn't be breathing either..." The other three girls laughed.
"Well, shall we try once more to console Hekele?" Sango asked. Kachie nodded.
"I bet you anything she's already forgiven me...that's just how our stupid little fights work."
"Ok, Rin is getting out now, Rin wants to see Hekele-chan," said the little girl as she climbed out of the spring and got dressed. The other girls nodded and dressed as well. Then they all walked towards camp, where they had seen Hekele head.
Hekele stomped back into camp without so much as a 'hello'. Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Koga, and Shippo looked at each other for a moment in confusion. First she was sad, then she was angry, and it didn't make sense. They looked back down at their little 'project' and sighed; Miroku was just too much a hassle.
They had been trying to figure out what was wrong with him for about ten minutes now, he was still rolling around holding his nose and whimpering. They couldn't get him to stop long enough to find out what had happened to his nose. Sighing in a defeated tone, Sesshoumaru called to Hekele.
"I am sorry to disturb your thoughts, but the monk hasn't stopped carrying on yet and is causing quite a head ache for everyone, would you mind assisting us?" Hekele looked at Sesshoumaru for a moment and complied. Sesshoumaru could smell her annoyance and slowly dissipating anger and took a step back, not wanting to be yelled at or to be made deaf like the last time she was so annoyed.
Hekele kneeled down and turned Miroku onto his back. She gently slapped his hands away from his nose and unbandaged it. She groaned and rolled her eyes at him.
"You idiot, you've broken it in another place! Now I have to re-set it! Sit up so we can get this over with." she ordered, pulling him into a sitting position. Miroku's tear-stained eyes got wide and he attempted to back away from Hekele. Inuyasha grabbed him by his robes and held him still. Hekele nodded him a small thanks.
"Miroku, this time, you know what it will feel like and that I'm not TRYING to hurt you. Now stay still and don't move a muscle...STOP LOOKING AT MY BREASTS!" she yelled, slapping the side of his face, being mindful of his nose.
Sesshoumaru growled and grabbed the other side of the monk's robes, "Monk, we are all getting VERY tired of your antics; she is trying to assist you! Now is not the time for your 'hobby'. Stop acting like a new- born whelp as well, Rin has more endurance than you!" Hekele nodded him a thanks as well. Miroku averted his eyes...for the moment.
"Now, Miroku, this is going to hurt a bit more than last time, so don't blame me ok?" Hekele said as she put her hands into position. Miroku nodded, subconsciously holding his breath. Hekele swiftly hit his nose into position and, despite his loud scream, held it there for a moment to make sure that it wouldn't be knocked out again by the his thrashing. She then quietly but swiftly rebandaged his nose.
When she was finished she stood up, took her roll of medical tape, and walked back to her backpack, without so much as a word. It wasn't that she was still angry with her friends, but she was still uncomfortable around them and that made her wish to isolate herself for a bit. She watched as Kachie, Kagome, Sango, and Rin walked into camp. She turned on her cd player and began to listen to her favorite mix of songs, hoping that her friends would get the message and leave her alone for an hour or so. Rin wasn't so perceptive.
"What's Hekele-chan listening to?" she asked, crawling into the girl's lap. Hekele couldn't help but smile at Rin; she was just too cute to ignore.
"I'm listening to a bunch of different types of songs right now. Here, this one is ok for you to listen to..." she said, turning down the volume a bit and placing the headphones on Rin's head. The girl listened to the song contently, curling up in Hekele's lap. Hekele stroked her hair gently, humming the song to herself; it was "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride. It was a sad song, but a good one. When it was finished, Rin gave Hekele the headphones.
"Rin wishes that she could visit Hekele-chan in her time and explore there; everything seems like it would be different..." she said in a dreamy tone. Hekele raised an eyebrow and glanced at Sesshoumaru, (who was sitting on the other side of camp by the fire,) knowing that his superior hearing had caught the remark made by his young charge. He met her gaze for a moment and then looked at Rin, as if thinking such an excursion over in his head. Hekele squeezed Rin tenderly.
"Perhaps you can sometime, it depends on a few things though. Like if Kagome, Kachie, and I have school or not, if Ms. Hirageshi is ok with having a FOURTH girl around the house, and if Sesshoumaru thinks you're old enough to go. Having his permission is the main thing though, since you're so young..." she said trailing off a bit, looking to Sesshoumaru for approval of her words and received a slight nod that only she noticed. She smiled and returned her eyes to Rin.
"Rin thinks that is a good idea; Sesshoumaru-sama is very protective..." she said. Hekele looked at Sesshoumaru and smiled in return to his own small smile. Having her bad mood extinguished, Hekele turned off the CD player, picked up Rin, and walked over to the fire, where breakfast was beginning to cook. She sat down and replaced Rin in her lap. Sesshoumaru glanced at his charge before speaking to Hekele.
"You do realize that you're spoiling her don't you?" he asked, amusement in his voice. Hekele grinned at him.
"And you don't? Besides, as long as I don't spoil her rotten what's wrong with it?" she retorted. Sesshoumaru nodded slightly.
"You honestly think that if you keep this up that she will not be?" he asked, eyebrow raised. Hekele smiled.
"As long as I give her what she will appreciate but does not ask for she won't..." she said. Sesshoumaru smiled slightly at this and glanced around camp. Inuyasha was arguing with Koga, Kagome was trying to break them up, Sango was speaking to Miroku, Shippo and Kachie were digging through Kachie's backpack for chocolate, and Jakken was still sleeping. Sesshoumaru furrowed his eyebrows at this and wondered what could have made the toad demon THAT tired. Hekele saw where Sesshoumaru was looking and she grinned.
"Can I wake him up? Please???" she begged. Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes and nodded. Rin smiled evilly, (which startled Sesshoumaru a bit,) and got out of Hekele's lap. Hekele stood up and crept over to Jakken quietly. By this time the whole group of travelers was watching Hekele intently, waiting to see what she would do. Hekele first poked Jakken to see what would happen. Nothing did. Then Hekele sighed and whispered to the group.
"Should I show him mercy?" The group shook their heads and Inuyasha swore he saw Hekele grow horns. Hekele gently rolled Jakken onto the towel she had used to dry off with at the hot spring and picked the bundle up. She motioned for the group to follow her as she walked back towards the spring. The group complied and when they got there, watched as Hekele rolled her blanket out next to the edge and shoved the sleeping Jakken into the water. He was awake almost before he hit the hot water.
"YEEEAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hekele smiled triumphantly as the group busted out laughing. Jakken crawled out of the hot spring quickly.
"What was that for?!? Why do you allow them to torment me so M'lord?" he asked Sesshoumaru in a whiny tone. Sesshoumaru just looked at him.
"You were the one who thought it safe to sleep in so late, do you honestly think that I could have stopped her had I wished to?" he asked. Jakken whined and Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes. The large group shook their heads and started heading back to camp. Miroku and Sango motioned to Sesshoumaru to stay behind. He, having an idea as to why, complied. This had to be about the dead miko. Once the rest of the group was gone, Sango spoke.
"We should inform Kagome, Hekele, and Kachie about Naraku and Kikyo's alliance..." she said. Miroku nodded.
Sesshoumaru thought for a moment, "Would we not also have to inform my half brother of the dead miko's treachery?"
Miroku sighed, "...Yes...but the problem is whether or not he would believe us, he is still in love with her after all."
"And he still refuses to believe that Kikyo is no longer who she used to be, but a mere shadow of undying hate in a body of ashes and earth..." Sango said sadly. Sesshoumaru pondered over the information.
"Would he believe it if perhaps Kagome told him?" he asked, still thinking. Sango and Miroku shook their heads.
"If anything, that would enrage him more; Kagome and Kikyo are perhaps equal in his heart, and if one were to put down another he would...well..." Miroku searched for a way to explain Inuyasha's reaction.
"He would reject the notion and believe the other was the traitor?" Sesshoumaru suggested. Sango and Miroku nodded.
"Nothing we would say could make him believe that Kikyo had betrayed him," Sango stated. It was Sesshoumaru's turn to nod.
"And what about the wolf prince? Will we inform him as well?" he asked. Sango nodded.
"When Naraku strikes, we'll need all the help we can get. But we must inform them in separate, Inuyasha would get suspicious if they were all called away at once...how would we do this?" she asked. Suddenly, Sesshoumaru got an idea.
"Rin has voiced and interest to travel to the future with Kagome, Kachie, and Hekele at some point, would you care to join them? Koga and I could search for possible shard whereabouts..." he said slyly. Sango smiled and nodded.
"That is a good idea Sesshoumaru-sama, I will voice the possibility to the other girls..."
"Sango, this is no time to take a vacation! We have a situation to deal with!" Miroku interjected, bewildered at Sango and Sesshoumaru's lack of concentration. Sango rolled her eyes.
"Houshi-sama, you have no mind that deals with less than your perverted thoughts..." she said.
"Go and inform the others of our idea, and if Inuyasha complains about everyone leaving, find a way to get the wolf prince on his back, I am certain he will forget about your plans for departure for a time..." Sesshoumaru said. Sango nodded and trod back to camp. Sesshoumaru looked at the monk.
"You are utterly hopeless," he said before walking off after Sango. Miroku looked at the demon for a moment before following.
"Was it something I said?"
"Are you still mad at me?" Kachie asked Hekele as they began to eat breakfast. Hekele shook her head.
"Nope, and I'm sorry for being such a bitch...I just..."
"Felt threatened? We've been friends for forever, I should have known better than to laugh and show you those pictures right then..."
"Speaking of those pictures...do you think I could have one?" Hekele asked, while blushing. Kachie grinned from ear to ear.
"Of course...I KNEW you would want one..." she said slyly, opening her pack and retrieving one of the pictures for Hekele.
Hekele examined it carefully, taking in everything about it, and smiled. Hekele knew just what she was going to do with the photo when she returned home...she was going to put it on the computer and make a smaller version to put into her locket, (which was back in hers and Kagome's room.). She already had a picture of her mother in one side, and Hekele thought that this would go nicely in the other.
"Thanks...I guess..." Hekele said, eyeing her friend evilly. Kachie gulped and went back to her food. Rin smiled.
"Rin is happy that Hekele-chan is happy again," she said happily. Hekele gave her a little hug and Kagome rolled her eyes. Hekele was acting like Rin was her little sister, or daughter even.
But, then again, I am the same way with Shippo... she said looking as the kitsune pounced into her lap and tried to go back to sleep.
Kachie had returned her attention to Koga and the two were talking about wolves...AGAIN. Koga was getting more and more animated as they spoke, and Kagome wondered if perhaps he was beginning to LIKE Kachie a little bit.
I hope so...If he does then I can rest in peace knowing that he won't try to kidnap me in my sleep and make me his mate... she thought happily, loving the possibility. She watched as the two started laughing, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that there was SOME sort of non-friendship connection.
"Nice sight isn't it...he's not bothering YOU..." Came Inuyasha's voice from behind her. Kagome smiled as he sat next to her and nodded.
"Don't jinx it...I'm not home free yet..." she said. Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow.
"What's a...jinx?" he asked, confused by the new word. Kagome smiled.
"It means to cause someone bad luck, so when I say, don't jinx it..."
"...You mean not to make the opposite happen?" Inuyasha said, thinking ahead. Kagome nodded.
"But why would I jinx it? I don't want him to keep bothering you either..." Inuyasha said, looking hurt. Kagome leaned on him and smiled again.
"It's a common superstition in my time that if someone hopes for something big to happen, that if they say it WILL happen, it won't. So I am saying to you, NOT to say that he WILL leave me alone...I don't mean that you want to jinx me..." she said. Inuyasha nodded and laid his head on hers, subconsciously wrapping his arms around her. Kagome closed her eyes and smiled. This is what she wanted...for her and Inuyasha to be like this always, and maybe...
Don't jinx it Kagome...
Sango walked out of the forest and smiled at what she saw, Inuyasha and Kagome holding each other, with Shippo in Kagome's lap, Kachie talking to a happy Koga, and Hekele and Rin talking with Rin climbing into Hekele's lap. It was a sweet sight...too bad she had to break it up.
"Hekele, Kachie, Kagome? May I speak with you for a moment?" she asked sweetly, making everyone jump, they hadn't noticed her walk up. Inuyasha and Kagome blushed like mad and quickly separated before Koga could see them. Sango gave Kagome an apologetic look and beckoned the three girls to follow her. They did so warily as Sesshoumaru, Miroku, and Jakken showed up into the camp and sat down by the fire to breakfast; Jakken was still complaining. Sango gave them a slight, almost undetectable nod, and led the girls into the forest. Inuyasha, when no one was looking, leapt into the trees to follow them. Sesshoumaru, having been glancing at the hanyou out of the corner of his eye while eating, grinned.
And to think the slayer planned this little plot so quickly...
"So Sango...what's this about?" Kagome asked. Sango grimaced a bit.
"Well...there's something important that I want to tell you three, but because of prying ears I do not know how safe it is to talk here, INUYASHA!!!" she yelled that last part, surprising the hanyou in the tree behind Kagome into falling to the ground. Sango had noticed him right away; of course, she had counted on this also. She and Kagome leered at him while Hekele and Kachie snickered.
"Inuyasha! What's the big idea?!?!" Kagome yelled at him. Inuyasha growled.
"Well! Why can't I hear?! Are you all talking about me or something?!?!" he yelled back, Sango had to fight a grin.
Sorry Inuyasha and Kagome...but what works, works... she thought.
"Inuyasha!!! You don't know anything do you?! What if this was personal! I don't know what it's about yet, YOU INTERRUPTED!!!" Kagome yelled. Inuyasha seethed.
"Why does it have to be private?!?!"
"Why are you asking me?!?!"
"ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS TALK TO MY FRIENDS WITHOUT BEING BOTHERED!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sango yelled, inside she was grinning evilly but none of that reflected on the outside, only mock anger, but the other people standing near her didn't know that...
"So what now? I'm not your friend?!?!?!?!" Inuyasha yelled back. Kagome twitched an eyebrow and everyone except Inuyasha, who was facing away from her, jumped back quickly.
"Sit. I'm going home, Hekele, Kachie; Sango, you're coming too. Sango, don't argue; you're coming like it or not. Maybe in my time we can TALK without being interrupted, and then we'll STAY for a few days for a break. We deserve it!!!" she said mockingly at Inuyasha as he went plummeting to the ground.
"Can I bring Rin?" Hekele asked. Kagome rolled her eyes.
"If Sesshoumaru says she can come..."
Inuyasha growled something fierce and let out a long string of curses that Hekele and Kagome were glad that the children couldn't hear.
Kagome happily rode on Inuyasha's back as they approached Kaede's village. At first, the hanyou had protested but Kagome had, in a sense, forced him into giving her a ride.
"The sooner we go the sooner we'll come back..." she had said quite slyly to her companion, and he had fallen for it. Koga, so that he could talk to Kachie and still walk at a normal pace, (for him anyway,) had pulled Kachie onto his back so they could speed around as the others walked. Kachie was quite pleased about this, as were Inuyasha and Kagome. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo rode on Kirara's back while Hekele walked next to Sesshoumaru with Rin, (who was very enthusiastic about her trip thru time,) on her back. Jakken was jogging behind the group to keep up.
Kachie and Koga sped ahead as they saw the village come into view. The trip had gone by much faster than it had when they were looking for the children, partially because they all had rides, (Hekele and Rin had also ridden on Kirara for the majority of the trip,) and partially because they weren't so stressed. Only once or twice did anyone question why it had been so simple to reclaim the children. Did Kagura not care? Did she not think them capable of escape? No one was sure, but no one dwelled on it for long either.
"Hekele-chan, how long will Rin be in the future with everyone?" Rin asked cutely. Hekele smiled.
"Perhaps a few days...not too long..."
"What are we going to do while we're there?" she asked.
"Well, maybe we can take you shopping, get your hair done, among other things, and maybe spoil you a bit..." Hekele said, glancing at Sesshoumaru, who tried unsuccessfully to hide his smirk. No one in the group failed to notice these little exchanges of wits and puns between the two. They all found it quite amusing that Sesshoumaru not only endured them, but provoked them once in a while, as if he were enjoying it a bit.
"If you insist on spoiling her then make sure not to return to me a girl that which I cannot recognize..." he said. Hekele grinned.
"Oh, so you wouldn't know Rin if she were a bit different? You could not recognize her if she weren't so plainly in front of you?" she tested; Sesshoumaru returned the wit.
"I could know Rin anywhere; her scent is unique and I could never forget it. But you, my friend, do not have such a gifted nose...could you recognize her if she were to disappear for a few days and come back a different girl?" he asked slyly. Hekele merely nodded.
"Rin's looks could change a thousand times and still she would be the little girl on my back now...I would know her anywhere..."
Rin was smiling brightly with all the attention that her two favorite adult figures were unwittingly giving her. She loved how they proclaimed they would always know her, even though she could tell that they were teasing each other. She also liked the teasing, it meant that they were getting close, and Rin enjoyed how happy the two seemed while undisturbed together.
Rin doesn't need to try to make them like each other...they already do... the young yet somewhat wise girl thought.
The group walked through the village nonchalantly. As if nothing was out of the ordinary with the odd bunch of travelers, the villagers they passed would wave and bid them greetings. When they reached Kaede's hut they found Koga and Kachie patiently waiting for them.
"What took you so long slow pokes?" Koga asked. Well, at least Kachie was patient.
They all filed into the old woman's hut and Kachie was formerly introduced to her.
"I see the unexpected reinforcements from Kagome's time are multiplying...be there any more surprises?" she said jokingly. Kachie blushed a bit and the group shook their heads. Kachie and Koga got into yet another discussion while Kaede was informed that all of the girl's, including Rin, were going to be going to the future for a few days. She quirked an eyebrow at Sesshoumaru when she heard this but said nothing. Obviously the demon lord was becoming more trusting of his new acquaintances, and that was good.
"How long will ye be gone for?" she asked. Suddenly something clicked in Koga's head. No one had told him that they were leaving...all that had been mentioned to him was that they were returning to the village.
"You're leaving?!?!?! You can't leave now!!! I wanna take you to see the rest of my clan!" he said pleadingly to Kachie. Kachie blushed a bit at this.
"Well...you should have told me that before I made plans with them."
"But you never said that you were leaving!"
"Sorry, I thought at least someone would have mentioned it."
"But no one did, so will you stay?"
"No...there will be plenty of time for me to see your clan...they aren't going anywhere..." Koga growled a bit and left the hut, leaving a stunned group and a blushing Kachie.
"Ye wolf prince may have hurt feelings? I sense he has a bit of a crush on Kachie..." Kaede said suspiciously, but with a smile. Kachie blushed a bit more and Inuyasha spoke, changing the subject.
"I think that they should skip the whole trip idea and come shard hunting...THAT'S more important anyway..." Kagome just looked at him.
"Sit."
"I said you're not going!"
"And I said we ARE going, now let me through Inuyasha!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Hekele!!!" Kagome yelled. Hekele calmly walked over to her friend. They were now at the well and Inuyasha was being a jerk about it. Sesshoumaru, Rin, Miroku, Shippo, Sango, Kirara, and Kachie were standing there waiting for the argument to be done with so the girls could just leave. Koga was nowhere in sight.
"Yes, Kagome?" Hekele answered sweetly. Kagome grinned.
"Get the sticky stuff." Hekele opened her backpack and took out the duck-tape, whose code-name was 'sticky stuff'. She handed the duck tape to Kagome who threatened Inuyasha with it.
"If you don't let me through...I swear...I WILL use this!" she said. Inuyasha 'feh'ed' and leaned on a tree, which was just what Kagome was waiting for.
"SIT!!!" CRASH!!! Inuyasha 'fell' through the trunk, causing the tree to fall over, Inuyasha on top of it. While the subdueing spell held him she quickly wrapped him up in the duck tape, tying him to the tree. As a last ditch effort she duck taped his mouth shut as well. When she turned to regard her friends, Miroku had disappeared out of fear. Suddenly, as the group was about to jump into the well, (each with their own shard of the jewel,) Koga jumped out of the bushes with a small bouquet of flowers and held them out to Kachie while blushing.
"Do you really gotta go? I still wanna show you my clan...they're a cool bunch..." he said hopefully. Kachie smiled and accepted the flowers.
"It'll only be for a few days...I haven't even had the chance to explore modern Japan yet...I just got to the country two days ago, and then yesterday morning I ended up coming here...I think I'm entitled to a little exploring..." she said. She watched as Koga's elf-like ears drooped a little and bit her lip.
Kagome and the tied up Inuyasha were in a state of shock that was matched by no other. Koga was over Kagome!!! It was a dream come true for the two. Although, Kagome WAS getting a bit jealous; she couldn't help but feel a bit offended that Koga had gotten over her so easily.
And he never brought ME flowers either...apparently he didn't LOVE me as much as he thought he did... Kagome thought, but she thought it with a slight smile.
Kachie thought for a moment and, standing on her tip-toes, gave Koga a small peck on the cheek, earning a huge blush from the wolf demon.
"Thanks for the flowers...and I PROMISE that I'll be back in a few days, ok?" she asked as blush at what she had just done graced her cheeks. Koga just nodded a bit and stepped out of her path to the well. She nodded him a thanks and swiftly jumped through the well, avoiding the teasing she knew she would receive for at least a few more minutes.
Sango jumped in next, a bit sad that Miroku hadn't stuck around and bid her farewell. Hekele and Rin gave Shippo a good-bye hug and Rin gave Sesshoumaru one as well. Hekele was more than a little surprised when Sesshoumaru out stretched his arm and gave her an embrace as well. It was a very small embrace, one that a person would even wonder if it should be called a hug, but for Sesshoumaru, such a movement spoke volumes. Hekele blushed like mad but smiled in return.
"Umm, bye Sesshoumaru..." she said before jumping into the well with Rin. Sesshoumaru glared at Kagome and Inuyasha, whose jaws were as wide as they could get, (given Inuyasha's duck tape problem.)
"And what do you find so amusing?" he asked coldly. Kagome just shook her head and bid the tied up Inuyasha, who was struggling against his bindings, farewell and jumped into the well. Moments later Inuyasha was able to free himself, but when he jumped into the well to argue with Kagome some more, he landed square on his nose. Kagome had sealed the well so that he couldn't bother them while they were there. Sesshoumaru, Koga, and Shippo peaked over the edge and looked at the hanyou lying flat at the bottom of the well holding his nose in pain and Sesshoumaru grinned evilly.
"Woman troubles?" Inuyasha growled as the three above him snickered.
He was gonna get even for this...
Naraku sat with Kikyo in his palace as they watched the events that occurred through Kanna's mirror. They saw as the girls jumped one by one through the well, and Naraku couldn't help but watch Kikyo's eyes widen when she saw Sesshoumaru not only there, but hugging one of the Kagome's friends.
"Is this what you wished to show me?" she asked Naraku coldly. Naraku nodded slightly.
"This and I wanted to discuss our plan. Sesshoumaru has told the monk and the slayer about our alliance, and the reason the females are returning through time is so that the slayer can tell them in private. Sesshoumaru intends to tell the wolf demon as well..."
"What about Inuyasha? Will no one warn him?" Kikyo asked, suspicious.
"Yes, your reincarnation will most likely be the one to do the deed, but the rest shall be present when she does. The reason I called you here is to tell you that if our plan is to work that we must make haste, or our window of opportunity will close."
"What is your will?"
"We must take the women and child before they breathe a word. But we will let them have their fun first...I need time to manifest the dimensions."
"Dimensions?"
"Yes, if we are to test their will and love, then they must be separate. My dimensions created with the power of the Shikon no Tama shards will make it so that they cannot leave unless they pass our 'tests'..."
Kikyo rolled her eyes, "Why must we test their love for each other, some of the relationships haven't even budded yet any how..."
Naraku grinned, "Ahh, but they have budded enough. And as for why: have you ever seen the faces of sadness created by betrayal? They are so delicious. And the looks on the faces of the person who did the betraying are just as good when they have to make a choice between loved ones...the hurt and pain will make their death easier for us to grant."
Kikyo smiled, "Shall we put another piece on the board? Perhaps the slayer's brother will make an appearance should any of them pass your tests..." Naraku nodded.
"Go and collect your wits, give Inuyasha your 'love' and comfort him for your reincarnation's departure. Such a recent bond between you shall make everything easier, should some one tell him about our plot sooner than we expect," he said placing a tender, yet possessive kiss on Kikyo's forehead. Kikyo glared at him for the unwanted gesture, bowed, and vanished. Naraku paused for a moment.
"Kagura, you will also play a role in this, you will assist me in one of these tests..."
The wind witch in the shadows behind her lord shook her head, "I will not. If you insist on toying with their emotions like dolls then I will not help you. Kanna has told me that it will not work, and so I tell you. Neither of us will help you, we would rather perish."
Naraku turned to regard her, "You will or you shall suffer, and Kanna will as well. I see how you let the children escape so easily, and you WILL be punished..." Naraku formed the shape of Kagura's heart in his hand and squeezed it, causing the girl to fall to the floor in pain. Naraku dismissed her and when she could stand again she left.
Oh, I'll help you Naraku...into HELL!
Me- So what does everyone think of this one?
Koga- I got a kiss, I got a kiss, I got a kiss! Woo-hoo!
Kachie- sweat drops It was just a kiss on the cheek...
Koga- but no one's ever done that before! grabs Kachie and gives her a kiss on the cheek
Kachie- blushes Umm, thanks Koga...
Me- rolls eyes Well, they liked it, anyone else?
Sesshy- I loved it, but you really must stop spoiling Rin...
Me- but that's the fun of playing mommy, I gotta spoil her!!!
Sesshy- Well, ok, but be careful with sugar...
Me- No pro- Rin bounces into the room and jumps on Hekele's back and starts giggling. She then proceeds to jump off and leap into Sesshoumaru's awaiting arms as he tries to calm her -blem...
Rin- Thanks for that coffee stuff!
Me- but I didn't give you coffee...INUYASHA!!!!!!!
Inuyasha- walks out of kitchen with a bag of sugar, followed by Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara What?
Me- Did you give Rin coffee?
Inuyasha- Nope, but the new guy working in the kitchen is really nice, he gave us all this sugar...
Me- gets suspicious and walks into the kitchen where the new cook is making everything with lots of sugar Excuse me, but who said you could give all these guys sugar?
Cook- Lifts his hat and cloak off to reveal my guinea pig, Tai sitting on Buyo's head No one, we just wanted to...
Me- faints because my guinea pig and Buyo just talked
Sesshy- puts Rin down and runs over to me and tries to wake me up Hekele, are you ok? Answer me!
Kagome- Umm, I think she's out cold...
Sesshy- growls at Kagome and gives me a small kiss on the forehead as I lay unconscious in his arms
Me- wakes up and smiles Awwe, aren't you sweet?
Sesshy- growls when he notices everyone looking at him and grinning evilly You just wanted a kiss...
Me- Yup, and I got one... Gives Sesshy a kiss on the cheek There, now we're even!
Sesshy- blushes and growls softly
Shippo- Ok, I'm getting sick of all the lovey-dovey shit, R&R and Hekele will update soon...if we ever get her away from Sesshoumaru...damn teenage girl...
Kagome- Shippo! Where did you learn that language?!
Shippo- points at Inuyasha eating sugar
Kagome- Oh Inuyasha...
Inuyasha- looks up hmm?
Kagome- SIT!!!!!!!
Ok, sorry this chappie took so long, but my disk is/was being a mother fcking piece of sht. My computer first refused to acknowledge that there was a disk in the drive. THEN it refused to open ANY of my chapters. This chapter was about half done when all this nonsense occurred. I apologize.
Now, just as a fair warning, because Kachie and I have frequent but stupid arguments, this chapter will contain one between us. It is a really stupid, spontaneous, and out of place argument that ends as quickly as it begins. You will know it when you see it!!! Enjoy the oddity!
This chappie is dedicated to Kachie, who has been trying to tape Inuyasha for me when my mom's cable went caplooie!!! I salute you!!!
Explanations, adventure, and stubbornness
Koga was the first to awake the next morning. He sat up and stretched his arms; his eyes fell on Kachie, who had fallen asleep on her 'sleeping bag' thing. They must have gone to sleep sometime early that morning, but Koga couldn't remember. He couldn't help but smile at the girl, who had so much to learn about wolves.
She knows more about them than any of these other losers though... he thought happily. He glanced around camp, sniffing for anyone else who may be awake, and his eyes fell on Kagome, who was sleeping soundly in Inuyasha's lap with the kit, Shippo, on hers. Koga growled a deep and angry growl.
How dare HE put her into HIS lap with HIS face nuzzled into the crook of her neck...I will slaughter HIM! Koga thought angrily as he stood to make Inuyasha pay for even touching his future mate. Then he stopped to think for a moment. Would it be better to kill him now, with Kagome still in his lap, or should he wait until she was at least awake?
Koga growled again as he sat down begrudgingly. He would wait; Kagome didn't deserve to have some mutt's blood all over her...
Another scent reached his nose after a moment of sulking and it's odd combination of aromas caused him to look at its source. There he saw the most interesting sight he hadn't even thought possible; the girl Hekele had the child Rin in her lap and was draped in the Demon Lord Sesshoumaru's long white tail. This part did not puzzle Koga, however, for if his charge, Rin, was cold, then it would only be practical for Sesshoumaru to warm the girls; what puzzled Koga was that Hekele's head was resting on Sesshoumaru's shoulder and that his head was on top of hers.
Are these two together? I did sense a bit of affection betwixt them, but not THIS much...is there something these bozos aren't telling me?!? he thought. Then, as if his prayers were answered, the monk, who always had answers to most anything about ANYONE he was traveling with, stirred across the camp and awoke. Koga grinned from ear to ear.
Miroku awoke to find that Sango was on the other side of the long dead fire and he made a pouty face...it wasn't like he was going to do anything perverted and rub her ass...much...
"Oi, bozo! Can I talk to-What the hell happened to your nose?!?" Koga asked, laughing as the monk turned to regard him. Miroku made a face and motioned for Koga to join him where he sat, not wanting to wake anyone else at the moment. Koga stifled another laugh as he complied.
"I broke it..." said the monk as Koga sat across from him.
"Let me guess, you groped the slayer again didn't you? Then she hit you with that giant boomerang of hers. Am I right?" Koga jeered. Miroku chose his words carefully.
"Well, something like that...while the girls were bathing I went to go investigate a noise I heard coming from that direction. When I got there, I was looking around in the bushes, hiding myself so that they wouldn't see me and think something obscene. Apparently they heard me and decided to play a trick on me. I fell for it and I was tripped and dunked into the water...I broke my nose when I hit the dirt..."
Koga glared death at the monk and his tail was thrashing dangerously. He knew better than to believe his 'version' on what happened. Miroku had said, 'the girls', which meant that Kagome, HIS Kagome, had been a victim of his perverted ways. The monk saw the impending doom and shrugged it off.
"Oh don't worry, I didn't see anything good, besides that, I had Sesshoumaru on my tail for the rest of the night..." he said passively. Koga stopped thrashing his tail and simply glared at the monk.
"Do tell..." Miroku, again, chose his words carefully.
"When I returned to camp Hekele volunteered to set and tape my nose in place so that it could heal properly. She had me sit down and then she hit my nose rather hard back into place..." Koga winced, that had to hurt.
Miroku continued, "...then she proceeded to tape it in place. I was told to not move a muscle, lest she injure my nose more. I complied and Lord Sesshoumaru seemed rather annoyed..."
"Did she say to stare straight at her breasts or just not move while she taped? I'm sure averting your eyes alone wouldn't have interfered with her bandaging..." Koga muttered, disgusted with the monk. Miroku shrugged.
"I do believe it was the first one..." Miroku said happily. Koga rolled his eyes.
"Despite how utterly disgusting your habits are, I doubt that was enough to perturb Lord Sesshoumaru."
"Well, once Hekele was finished bandaging my nose, my hands just happened to slip and...well, let us just say that Lord Sesshoumaru promptly placed her behind him and threatened my life for my 'indecency'..." Miroku finished. Koga rolled his eyes and suddenly remembered what he was going to ask the monk.
"Are Hekele and Sesshoumaru implied mates or something?" he asked. Miroku looked at him oddly.
"What? I am aware of a slight bit of affection, but NOTHING that deep is between them...why do you ask such a blunt and personal question?" he replied, very curious. Koga grinned and pointed to where the two were resting against the tree together; they hadn't moved an inch.
Miroku's eyes widened dangerously as his shock mounted a new high every second the two were in his line of vision. He quickly and quietly walked over to where Sango was sleeping and gently tried to shake her awake. No such luck.
"Sango...Sango...wake up..." Miroku grinned pervertedly and Koga turned away, having more dignity than to sink to such a low as to watch the monk go through with his antics.
Miroku gently took his hand and 'caressed' her 'cheek'. Sango woke up instantly.
"HEN-mmph!!!" Miroku swiftly covered her mouth and held down her flailing arms. Sesshoumaru stirred a bit, but remained content in his deep slumber.
"I promise, I have a REALLY good reason for that...and I DID try to wake you up in a different way but you didn't wake up...anyway, no yelling...I have something strange that was brought to my attention..." he hissed quietly. He turned Sango to face Sesshoumaru and Hekele and he could feel her jaw drop. Sensing that he was out of harm's way for the moment, he cautiously removed her from his captivity.
"Houshi-sama...this is truly odd...touching...but odd...you are temporarily forgiven," she whispered, shocked. Sango climbed up and walked over to Kachie. She kneeled down and shook the girl awake. This time it worked.
Kachie opened her eyes and stretched as Koga had and looked at Sango, "Morning already...damn I'm still tired..." she said as she sat up and yawned. Sango smiled and pointed to where Hekele and Sesshoumaru rested. Kachie's eyes softened and she even smiled. Hekele looked so content sleeping there, and, oddly enough, so did Sesshoumaru. Rin, who was in Hekele's lap, looked so cute all curled up in her Sesshoumaru-sama's tail too. Kachie grabbed her backpack and dug out a small, rounded, square, box. It was a Polaroid camera. She quickly explained the concept of how a camera worked to Sango and quietly walked over to where Sesshoumaru and Hekele were and, after turning off the flash, snapped two pictures of them, knowing that at some point Hekele would want one as well. When the camera started to make noise while producing the photos Kachie jumped back in fear of Sesshoumaru waking up and ending her life. She got lucky, however, and neither he nor Hekele even stirred.
Kachie did a mini victory dance and silently crept back to Sango. She set the pictures in a patch of sunlight to develop and grinned.
"That is so cute..." she said, looking at the two under the tree. Sango nodded.
"So...how long do you think she'll live once Sesshoumaru wakes up and finds himself in the predicament?" she asked. Kachie shrugged and looked around camp, when her eyes came upon another touching sight...Kagome and Inuyasha. She smiled evilly from ear to ear and nudged Sango. She looked where Kachie was pointing and grinned as well. These two, they could mess with and live. In the midst of their evil planning, they both paused and looked at each other, confused. They then directed their attention to Koga, who gave them a look.
"I decided not to kill him until AFTER my Kagome wakes up..." he said passively. The girls rolled their eyes and Kachie jumped up to take the other couple's picture as well. She used the same technique she used before, except she jumped back quicker this time, knowing that Inuyasha wouldn't have to untangle a giant tail before skinning her alive.
It worked as it had before and Kachie did yet another victory dance at not being caught. Sango muffled a laugh as she strutted back over to her proudly waving the pictures and all of her attached limbs. Yes, Kachie was a fun one wasn't she? By now the pictures of Hekele and Sesshoumaru were finished developing and Sango's eyes widened at how real they were.
"Wow Kachie...these are amazing..." she said, looking at them again. Kachie smiled and nodded.
"I told ya!" she preached happily. Miroku got curious about the pictures and wanted to see them as well. He stood up and attempted to walk over to where the girls were seated. Unfortunately, the monk didn't have the luck he needed that morning. As he was making his way over to them, he stumbled upon an exposed tree root and fell...flat on his broken nose.
He screamed bloody murder.
Sesshoumaru's eyes shot open and he leapt forward, ready for battle, but, the problem was, Hekele and Rin were still wrapped up in his tail and were yanked upward with him and they landed on top of the poor dog demon, causing him to yelp in surprise and fall forward. The three were tangled up in his tail as Hekele accidentally kneed it into the ground, causing Sesshoumaru to yelp again, this time out of pain.
Inuyasha and Kagome woke up instantly, but, thankfully, Kagome was able to jump up seconds before Inuyasha, so they didn't end up in the same jumble as their comrades. Shippo was woken by the noise, just as startled as the rest of the group. Jakken remained sound asleep, however, having been so deep in whatever dream the toad demon was dreaming at the time that not even the end of the world could awaken him. How predictable...
Inuyasha and Kagome froze for a second as the scene before them processed in their minds. As their eyes swept over the group who were blushing, (mostly Hekele, but even the abused Sesshoumaru had a hint of pink in his cheeks, but it was hard to notice,) and desperately trying to untangle themselves from their momentary prison of fur, they busted out laughing. Miroku was still rolling around on the ground holding his nose and whimpering, Koga was laughing his tail off, and Sango and Kachie were laughing nervously, not liking their current predicament one bit. They carefully slid the pictures into one of Kachie's folders and then into her pack.
Hekele carefully untangled Rin from Sesshoumaru's long tail; Sesshoumaru meanwhile couldn't decide whether to nurse the poor abused thing, kill whoever was laughing, or help Hekele untangle herself. The demon lord resorted to helping Hekele and glaring death at everyone except for Rin. Once Hekele was untangled, the poor girl turned to face Sesshoumaru, blush still creeping on her cheeks.
"Gomen nasai, Sesshoumaru-sama...I'm sorry about your tail..." she said quickly, before turning back around and walking swiftly away on the notion that she was going to bathe in the hot-spring. The demons in the group suddenly stopped laughing when the slight scent of her tears reached their noses. Sesshoumaru growled a bit but kept it quiet for the most part. After a moment or so the rest of the group realized that their friends weren't laughing with them any longer and wondered what was wrong.
"Eh? What's wrong you guys?" Kachie asked them. Shippo was the first to speak.
"I could smell Hekele-chan's tears...we made her cry..." he said sadly, sorry for making his new friend so sad. Kachie's face turned pale and she stood up suddenly, grabbing her pack.
"I'm going to go talk to her...you guys don't realize how easily her feelings get hurt...she used to get teased and laughed at all the time for things she couldn't help...or rumors that weren't even true. I should have thought about that sooner..." she said, walking off in the direction of the hot-spring. Sango and Kagome looked at each other for a moment and followed in a hurry after gathering their necessities. Rin looked up at Sesshoumaru.
"Can Rin go too? Rin wants to make Hekele-chan feel better..." she said to Sesshoumaru, tugging at his sleeve. Sesshoumaru nodded his consent and Rin bounded after the group as quickly as she could. All that were left were the boys, and Sesshoumaru glared death at every one of them again before speaking.
"And what, pre-tell, was so funny about that...predicament?" he asked coldly. Even Inuyasha gulped...before acting like a smart aleck.
"Well, you DID have her wrapped up in your tail..." he said, reeling Sesshoumaru in with a baited hook.
"I was merely trying to keep the girl and my young charge warm."
"Yah, but then you ALSO seemed rather comfortable with her leaning on you and you on her..." Inuyasha continued. Sesshoumaru was one step ahead of him though, and he grinned. Before he had fallen he had seen Inuyasha and the miko together sleeping, and he KNEW just how to use that information to his advantage.
"Ah, comfort is something one seeks in their sleep, mine was a complete accident that must have taken place once we had fallen asleep, but YOU also seemed rather comfortable with the miko quite deliberately in your lap...THAT, I am certain, was no accident..." he said slyly, side glancing at Koga. Koga, like Sesshoumaru, took the bait.
"Yes, dog-turd, I was wondering about that myself..." Sesshoumaru smiled evilly as Inuyasha gulped. This was going to be good...if that damned monk ever stopped whimpering and rolling around holding his nose!
Hekele was already in the hot spring when the rest of the group caught up to her. Kachie bit her lip before undressing and entering as well. The rest of the group followed suit cautiously. Hekele kept her eyes adverted away from them. Everyone was silent for a moment before Kachie spoke.
"Look, Hekele, we are sorry for laughing. And we weren't exactly laughing at you anyway, we were just laughing at the sight of you three all jumbled up...we thought it was kinda cute..." she said. Hekele still didn't look at them. Kagome felt an immense amount of guilt, she had been on of the first to start laughing.
"Hekele, we mean it...we didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything like that, we were just so surprised and it happened so suddenly that we couldn't help ourselves..." she said. Sango nodded in agreement.
"Rin is sorry if Rin made you cry..." said the little girl. Hekele patted her head affectionately and began to wash it for her.
"I'm not mad at you Rin-chan...you weren't laughing at our momentary misfortune..." she said, a bit of spite in her voice. The group winced and Kachie decided to gamble.
"Ok, I have something that will either make you REALLY happy or REALLY mad...want to see?" she asked Hekele. Hekele shrugged passively. Kachie reached over and opened her pack and took out the folder with the pictures in it. She carefully took out the pictures and handed them to Hekele.
At first, Hekele's face almost held a smile, but then it turned dark and she glared at her friend.
"How dare you? How dare you just take those pictures like that? What were you going to use them for?!" she yelled. Kachie glared back at her.
"One, I thought you three looked cute like that and I wanted to keep the once in a lifetime, (or two,) memory intact. Two, I took the second one for you in case you wanted one! Three, don't you always do stuff like that to me and our other friends?!?"
"Well, maybe I do, but when I do so it is when you go on actual dates! I don't imply things that aren't true! What you see in the picture was an accident and here you act as though it were this huge scandal or something! Besides, at least you KNOW when I am taking pictures!" she retorted.
"Well, what do YOU use those pictures for?!? Huh? Tell me that!!!" Kachie shouted back. Kagome and Sango looked at each other warily; this wasn't going so well.
Hekele got out of the hot spring and got dressed. Once she did that she dug into her bag and pulled out three small photo albums and threw them at the edge near Kachie and stalked off, angry and hurt.
Kachie glared at her friend again and opened one of the albums. In it were pictures of Kachie and some of her other friends. There were also the alleged 'date pictures', pictures from when they had gone to camp together when they were younger, pictures from school, and even from birthdays and holidays. Kachie's jaw dropped as she read some of the inserts and she realized that what she was looking at was a mini scrapbook about her. She quickly dug through the other two and found pictures of Hekele's mom in one and of another of their friends in another. They were memory books, each devoted to a single person. Kachie rolled her eyes.
"Now, if I had KNOWN that this is what she was up to all those times, I wouldn't have snapped. She always stuff like this without telling me, she's so mysterious that it gets in the way of common sense. Perfect, now we are arguing again..."
"You two argue often?" Sango asked, feeling guilty. Kachie nodded.
"All the time, but we always are friends again by the end of the day..." she said.
"Are you sure? She seemed pretty mad..." Kagome pointed out. Kachie nodded.
"Now that I think about it, the only reason she was probably mad about the pictures was because everyone had laughed at her...she probably saw it as something we were going to use against her...I should really think before I act huh?"
"Maybe that would be wise...does she hate us all now?" Sango asked, completely serious.
"Nope, she just needs to cool off, then I'm gonna apologize a hole in her heart and we'll be friends again..." Kachie said confidently. Rin looked at her oddly.
"What happens when Hekele-chan makes Kachie-san mad?" she asked. Kachie smiled.
"Then the same thing happens, only vice versa."
"Kind of like with Inuyasha and Kagome? Except Inuyasha never says sorry, Kagome says it for him..." Sango said, rolling her eyes. Kagome blushed and Kachie grinned.
"Hey Kags...I got something for you..." Kachie took out the photos of Kagome and Inuyasha and handed them to her. Kagome blushed a hundred shades of red and glared at Kachie.
"Ye ARE evil...know ye no shame?" she asked, much like Kaede would. Sango laughed and Kachie just gave them confused looks.
"Sango was my partner in crime...but she didn't take any pictures...she just knew about them..."
Kagome looked at Sango and shook her head, "Can I see the pictures of Hekele and Sesshoumaru? I never got to see the two sleeping..." Kachie gladly complied and showed them off. Kagome didn't hide her shock.
"Oh my god...how cute! Even Sesshoumaru seems happy in this picture...too bad he's sleeping..." Kachie shuddered.
"If Sesshoumaru was awake then I'd be in a permanent slumber...and I wouldn't be breathing either..." The other three girls laughed.
"Well, shall we try once more to console Hekele?" Sango asked. Kachie nodded.
"I bet you anything she's already forgiven me...that's just how our stupid little fights work."
"Ok, Rin is getting out now, Rin wants to see Hekele-chan," said the little girl as she climbed out of the spring and got dressed. The other girls nodded and dressed as well. Then they all walked towards camp, where they had seen Hekele head.
Hekele stomped back into camp without so much as a 'hello'. Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Koga, and Shippo looked at each other for a moment in confusion. First she was sad, then she was angry, and it didn't make sense. They looked back down at their little 'project' and sighed; Miroku was just too much a hassle.
They had been trying to figure out what was wrong with him for about ten minutes now, he was still rolling around holding his nose and whimpering. They couldn't get him to stop long enough to find out what had happened to his nose. Sighing in a defeated tone, Sesshoumaru called to Hekele.
"I am sorry to disturb your thoughts, but the monk hasn't stopped carrying on yet and is causing quite a head ache for everyone, would you mind assisting us?" Hekele looked at Sesshoumaru for a moment and complied. Sesshoumaru could smell her annoyance and slowly dissipating anger and took a step back, not wanting to be yelled at or to be made deaf like the last time she was so annoyed.
Hekele kneeled down and turned Miroku onto his back. She gently slapped his hands away from his nose and unbandaged it. She groaned and rolled her eyes at him.
"You idiot, you've broken it in another place! Now I have to re-set it! Sit up so we can get this over with." she ordered, pulling him into a sitting position. Miroku's tear-stained eyes got wide and he attempted to back away from Hekele. Inuyasha grabbed him by his robes and held him still. Hekele nodded him a small thanks.
"Miroku, this time, you know what it will feel like and that I'm not TRYING to hurt you. Now stay still and don't move a muscle...STOP LOOKING AT MY BREASTS!" she yelled, slapping the side of his face, being mindful of his nose.
Sesshoumaru growled and grabbed the other side of the monk's robes, "Monk, we are all getting VERY tired of your antics; she is trying to assist you! Now is not the time for your 'hobby'. Stop acting like a new- born whelp as well, Rin has more endurance than you!" Hekele nodded him a thanks as well. Miroku averted his eyes...for the moment.
"Now, Miroku, this is going to hurt a bit more than last time, so don't blame me ok?" Hekele said as she put her hands into position. Miroku nodded, subconsciously holding his breath. Hekele swiftly hit his nose into position and, despite his loud scream, held it there for a moment to make sure that it wouldn't be knocked out again by the his thrashing. She then quietly but swiftly rebandaged his nose.
When she was finished she stood up, took her roll of medical tape, and walked back to her backpack, without so much as a word. It wasn't that she was still angry with her friends, but she was still uncomfortable around them and that made her wish to isolate herself for a bit. She watched as Kachie, Kagome, Sango, and Rin walked into camp. She turned on her cd player and began to listen to her favorite mix of songs, hoping that her friends would get the message and leave her alone for an hour or so. Rin wasn't so perceptive.
"What's Hekele-chan listening to?" she asked, crawling into the girl's lap. Hekele couldn't help but smile at Rin; she was just too cute to ignore.
"I'm listening to a bunch of different types of songs right now. Here, this one is ok for you to listen to..." she said, turning down the volume a bit and placing the headphones on Rin's head. The girl listened to the song contently, curling up in Hekele's lap. Hekele stroked her hair gently, humming the song to herself; it was "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride. It was a sad song, but a good one. When it was finished, Rin gave Hekele the headphones.
"Rin wishes that she could visit Hekele-chan in her time and explore there; everything seems like it would be different..." she said in a dreamy tone. Hekele raised an eyebrow and glanced at Sesshoumaru, (who was sitting on the other side of camp by the fire,) knowing that his superior hearing had caught the remark made by his young charge. He met her gaze for a moment and then looked at Rin, as if thinking such an excursion over in his head. Hekele squeezed Rin tenderly.
"Perhaps you can sometime, it depends on a few things though. Like if Kagome, Kachie, and I have school or not, if Ms. Hirageshi is ok with having a FOURTH girl around the house, and if Sesshoumaru thinks you're old enough to go. Having his permission is the main thing though, since you're so young..." she said trailing off a bit, looking to Sesshoumaru for approval of her words and received a slight nod that only she noticed. She smiled and returned her eyes to Rin.
"Rin thinks that is a good idea; Sesshoumaru-sama is very protective..." she said. Hekele looked at Sesshoumaru and smiled in return to his own small smile. Having her bad mood extinguished, Hekele turned off the CD player, picked up Rin, and walked over to the fire, where breakfast was beginning to cook. She sat down and replaced Rin in her lap. Sesshoumaru glanced at his charge before speaking to Hekele.
"You do realize that you're spoiling her don't you?" he asked, amusement in his voice. Hekele grinned at him.
"And you don't? Besides, as long as I don't spoil her rotten what's wrong with it?" she retorted. Sesshoumaru nodded slightly.
"You honestly think that if you keep this up that she will not be?" he asked, eyebrow raised. Hekele smiled.
"As long as I give her what she will appreciate but does not ask for she won't..." she said. Sesshoumaru smiled slightly at this and glanced around camp. Inuyasha was arguing with Koga, Kagome was trying to break them up, Sango was speaking to Miroku, Shippo and Kachie were digging through Kachie's backpack for chocolate, and Jakken was still sleeping. Sesshoumaru furrowed his eyebrows at this and wondered what could have made the toad demon THAT tired. Hekele saw where Sesshoumaru was looking and she grinned.
"Can I wake him up? Please???" she begged. Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes and nodded. Rin smiled evilly, (which startled Sesshoumaru a bit,) and got out of Hekele's lap. Hekele stood up and crept over to Jakken quietly. By this time the whole group of travelers was watching Hekele intently, waiting to see what she would do. Hekele first poked Jakken to see what would happen. Nothing did. Then Hekele sighed and whispered to the group.
"Should I show him mercy?" The group shook their heads and Inuyasha swore he saw Hekele grow horns. Hekele gently rolled Jakken onto the towel she had used to dry off with at the hot spring and picked the bundle up. She motioned for the group to follow her as she walked back towards the spring. The group complied and when they got there, watched as Hekele rolled her blanket out next to the edge and shoved the sleeping Jakken into the water. He was awake almost before he hit the hot water.
"YEEEAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hekele smiled triumphantly as the group busted out laughing. Jakken crawled out of the hot spring quickly.
"What was that for?!? Why do you allow them to torment me so M'lord?" he asked Sesshoumaru in a whiny tone. Sesshoumaru just looked at him.
"You were the one who thought it safe to sleep in so late, do you honestly think that I could have stopped her had I wished to?" he asked. Jakken whined and Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes. The large group shook their heads and started heading back to camp. Miroku and Sango motioned to Sesshoumaru to stay behind. He, having an idea as to why, complied. This had to be about the dead miko. Once the rest of the group was gone, Sango spoke.
"We should inform Kagome, Hekele, and Kachie about Naraku and Kikyo's alliance..." she said. Miroku nodded.
Sesshoumaru thought for a moment, "Would we not also have to inform my half brother of the dead miko's treachery?"
Miroku sighed, "...Yes...but the problem is whether or not he would believe us, he is still in love with her after all."
"And he still refuses to believe that Kikyo is no longer who she used to be, but a mere shadow of undying hate in a body of ashes and earth..." Sango said sadly. Sesshoumaru pondered over the information.
"Would he believe it if perhaps Kagome told him?" he asked, still thinking. Sango and Miroku shook their heads.
"If anything, that would enrage him more; Kagome and Kikyo are perhaps equal in his heart, and if one were to put down another he would...well..." Miroku searched for a way to explain Inuyasha's reaction.
"He would reject the notion and believe the other was the traitor?" Sesshoumaru suggested. Sango and Miroku nodded.
"Nothing we would say could make him believe that Kikyo had betrayed him," Sango stated. It was Sesshoumaru's turn to nod.
"And what about the wolf prince? Will we inform him as well?" he asked. Sango nodded.
"When Naraku strikes, we'll need all the help we can get. But we must inform them in separate, Inuyasha would get suspicious if they were all called away at once...how would we do this?" she asked. Suddenly, Sesshoumaru got an idea.
"Rin has voiced and interest to travel to the future with Kagome, Kachie, and Hekele at some point, would you care to join them? Koga and I could search for possible shard whereabouts..." he said slyly. Sango smiled and nodded.
"That is a good idea Sesshoumaru-sama, I will voice the possibility to the other girls..."
"Sango, this is no time to take a vacation! We have a situation to deal with!" Miroku interjected, bewildered at Sango and Sesshoumaru's lack of concentration. Sango rolled her eyes.
"Houshi-sama, you have no mind that deals with less than your perverted thoughts..." she said.
"Go and inform the others of our idea, and if Inuyasha complains about everyone leaving, find a way to get the wolf prince on his back, I am certain he will forget about your plans for departure for a time..." Sesshoumaru said. Sango nodded and trod back to camp. Sesshoumaru looked at the monk.
"You are utterly hopeless," he said before walking off after Sango. Miroku looked at the demon for a moment before following.
"Was it something I said?"
"Are you still mad at me?" Kachie asked Hekele as they began to eat breakfast. Hekele shook her head.
"Nope, and I'm sorry for being such a bitch...I just..."
"Felt threatened? We've been friends for forever, I should have known better than to laugh and show you those pictures right then..."
"Speaking of those pictures...do you think I could have one?" Hekele asked, while blushing. Kachie grinned from ear to ear.
"Of course...I KNEW you would want one..." she said slyly, opening her pack and retrieving one of the pictures for Hekele.
Hekele examined it carefully, taking in everything about it, and smiled. Hekele knew just what she was going to do with the photo when she returned home...she was going to put it on the computer and make a smaller version to put into her locket, (which was back in hers and Kagome's room.). She already had a picture of her mother in one side, and Hekele thought that this would go nicely in the other.
"Thanks...I guess..." Hekele said, eyeing her friend evilly. Kachie gulped and went back to her food. Rin smiled.
"Rin is happy that Hekele-chan is happy again," she said happily. Hekele gave her a little hug and Kagome rolled her eyes. Hekele was acting like Rin was her little sister, or daughter even.
But, then again, I am the same way with Shippo... she said looking as the kitsune pounced into her lap and tried to go back to sleep.
Kachie had returned her attention to Koga and the two were talking about wolves...AGAIN. Koga was getting more and more animated as they spoke, and Kagome wondered if perhaps he was beginning to LIKE Kachie a little bit.
I hope so...If he does then I can rest in peace knowing that he won't try to kidnap me in my sleep and make me his mate... she thought happily, loving the possibility. She watched as the two started laughing, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that there was SOME sort of non-friendship connection.
"Nice sight isn't it...he's not bothering YOU..." Came Inuyasha's voice from behind her. Kagome smiled as he sat next to her and nodded.
"Don't jinx it...I'm not home free yet..." she said. Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow.
"What's a...jinx?" he asked, confused by the new word. Kagome smiled.
"It means to cause someone bad luck, so when I say, don't jinx it..."
"...You mean not to make the opposite happen?" Inuyasha said, thinking ahead. Kagome nodded.
"But why would I jinx it? I don't want him to keep bothering you either..." Inuyasha said, looking hurt. Kagome leaned on him and smiled again.
"It's a common superstition in my time that if someone hopes for something big to happen, that if they say it WILL happen, it won't. So I am saying to you, NOT to say that he WILL leave me alone...I don't mean that you want to jinx me..." she said. Inuyasha nodded and laid his head on hers, subconsciously wrapping his arms around her. Kagome closed her eyes and smiled. This is what she wanted...for her and Inuyasha to be like this always, and maybe...
Don't jinx it Kagome...
Sango walked out of the forest and smiled at what she saw, Inuyasha and Kagome holding each other, with Shippo in Kagome's lap, Kachie talking to a happy Koga, and Hekele and Rin talking with Rin climbing into Hekele's lap. It was a sweet sight...too bad she had to break it up.
"Hekele, Kachie, Kagome? May I speak with you for a moment?" she asked sweetly, making everyone jump, they hadn't noticed her walk up. Inuyasha and Kagome blushed like mad and quickly separated before Koga could see them. Sango gave Kagome an apologetic look and beckoned the three girls to follow her. They did so warily as Sesshoumaru, Miroku, and Jakken showed up into the camp and sat down by the fire to breakfast; Jakken was still complaining. Sango gave them a slight, almost undetectable nod, and led the girls into the forest. Inuyasha, when no one was looking, leapt into the trees to follow them. Sesshoumaru, having been glancing at the hanyou out of the corner of his eye while eating, grinned.
And to think the slayer planned this little plot so quickly...
"So Sango...what's this about?" Kagome asked. Sango grimaced a bit.
"Well...there's something important that I want to tell you three, but because of prying ears I do not know how safe it is to talk here, INUYASHA!!!" she yelled that last part, surprising the hanyou in the tree behind Kagome into falling to the ground. Sango had noticed him right away; of course, she had counted on this also. She and Kagome leered at him while Hekele and Kachie snickered.
"Inuyasha! What's the big idea?!?!" Kagome yelled at him. Inuyasha growled.
"Well! Why can't I hear?! Are you all talking about me or something?!?!" he yelled back, Sango had to fight a grin.
Sorry Inuyasha and Kagome...but what works, works... she thought.
"Inuyasha!!! You don't know anything do you?! What if this was personal! I don't know what it's about yet, YOU INTERRUPTED!!!" Kagome yelled. Inuyasha seethed.
"Why does it have to be private?!?!"
"Why are you asking me?!?!"
"ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS TALK TO MY FRIENDS WITHOUT BEING BOTHERED!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sango yelled, inside she was grinning evilly but none of that reflected on the outside, only mock anger, but the other people standing near her didn't know that...
"So what now? I'm not your friend?!?!?!?!" Inuyasha yelled back. Kagome twitched an eyebrow and everyone except Inuyasha, who was facing away from her, jumped back quickly.
"Sit. I'm going home, Hekele, Kachie; Sango, you're coming too. Sango, don't argue; you're coming like it or not. Maybe in my time we can TALK without being interrupted, and then we'll STAY for a few days for a break. We deserve it!!!" she said mockingly at Inuyasha as he went plummeting to the ground.
"Can I bring Rin?" Hekele asked. Kagome rolled her eyes.
"If Sesshoumaru says she can come..."
Inuyasha growled something fierce and let out a long string of curses that Hekele and Kagome were glad that the children couldn't hear.
Kagome happily rode on Inuyasha's back as they approached Kaede's village. At first, the hanyou had protested but Kagome had, in a sense, forced him into giving her a ride.
"The sooner we go the sooner we'll come back..." she had said quite slyly to her companion, and he had fallen for it. Koga, so that he could talk to Kachie and still walk at a normal pace, (for him anyway,) had pulled Kachie onto his back so they could speed around as the others walked. Kachie was quite pleased about this, as were Inuyasha and Kagome. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo rode on Kirara's back while Hekele walked next to Sesshoumaru with Rin, (who was very enthusiastic about her trip thru time,) on her back. Jakken was jogging behind the group to keep up.
Kachie and Koga sped ahead as they saw the village come into view. The trip had gone by much faster than it had when they were looking for the children, partially because they all had rides, (Hekele and Rin had also ridden on Kirara for the majority of the trip,) and partially because they weren't so stressed. Only once or twice did anyone question why it had been so simple to reclaim the children. Did Kagura not care? Did she not think them capable of escape? No one was sure, but no one dwelled on it for long either.
"Hekele-chan, how long will Rin be in the future with everyone?" Rin asked cutely. Hekele smiled.
"Perhaps a few days...not too long..."
"What are we going to do while we're there?" she asked.
"Well, maybe we can take you shopping, get your hair done, among other things, and maybe spoil you a bit..." Hekele said, glancing at Sesshoumaru, who tried unsuccessfully to hide his smirk. No one in the group failed to notice these little exchanges of wits and puns between the two. They all found it quite amusing that Sesshoumaru not only endured them, but provoked them once in a while, as if he were enjoying it a bit.
"If you insist on spoiling her then make sure not to return to me a girl that which I cannot recognize..." he said. Hekele grinned.
"Oh, so you wouldn't know Rin if she were a bit different? You could not recognize her if she weren't so plainly in front of you?" she tested; Sesshoumaru returned the wit.
"I could know Rin anywhere; her scent is unique and I could never forget it. But you, my friend, do not have such a gifted nose...could you recognize her if she were to disappear for a few days and come back a different girl?" he asked slyly. Hekele merely nodded.
"Rin's looks could change a thousand times and still she would be the little girl on my back now...I would know her anywhere..."
Rin was smiling brightly with all the attention that her two favorite adult figures were unwittingly giving her. She loved how they proclaimed they would always know her, even though she could tell that they were teasing each other. She also liked the teasing, it meant that they were getting close, and Rin enjoyed how happy the two seemed while undisturbed together.
Rin doesn't need to try to make them like each other...they already do... the young yet somewhat wise girl thought.
The group walked through the village nonchalantly. As if nothing was out of the ordinary with the odd bunch of travelers, the villagers they passed would wave and bid them greetings. When they reached Kaede's hut they found Koga and Kachie patiently waiting for them.
"What took you so long slow pokes?" Koga asked. Well, at least Kachie was patient.
They all filed into the old woman's hut and Kachie was formerly introduced to her.
"I see the unexpected reinforcements from Kagome's time are multiplying...be there any more surprises?" she said jokingly. Kachie blushed a bit and the group shook their heads. Kachie and Koga got into yet another discussion while Kaede was informed that all of the girl's, including Rin, were going to be going to the future for a few days. She quirked an eyebrow at Sesshoumaru when she heard this but said nothing. Obviously the demon lord was becoming more trusting of his new acquaintances, and that was good.
"How long will ye be gone for?" she asked. Suddenly something clicked in Koga's head. No one had told him that they were leaving...all that had been mentioned to him was that they were returning to the village.
"You're leaving?!?!?! You can't leave now!!! I wanna take you to see the rest of my clan!" he said pleadingly to Kachie. Kachie blushed a bit at this.
"Well...you should have told me that before I made plans with them."
"But you never said that you were leaving!"
"Sorry, I thought at least someone would have mentioned it."
"But no one did, so will you stay?"
"No...there will be plenty of time for me to see your clan...they aren't going anywhere..." Koga growled a bit and left the hut, leaving a stunned group and a blushing Kachie.
"Ye wolf prince may have hurt feelings? I sense he has a bit of a crush on Kachie..." Kaede said suspiciously, but with a smile. Kachie blushed a bit more and Inuyasha spoke, changing the subject.
"I think that they should skip the whole trip idea and come shard hunting...THAT'S more important anyway..." Kagome just looked at him.
"Sit."
"I said you're not going!"
"And I said we ARE going, now let me through Inuyasha!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Hekele!!!" Kagome yelled. Hekele calmly walked over to her friend. They were now at the well and Inuyasha was being a jerk about it. Sesshoumaru, Rin, Miroku, Shippo, Sango, Kirara, and Kachie were standing there waiting for the argument to be done with so the girls could just leave. Koga was nowhere in sight.
"Yes, Kagome?" Hekele answered sweetly. Kagome grinned.
"Get the sticky stuff." Hekele opened her backpack and took out the duck-tape, whose code-name was 'sticky stuff'. She handed the duck tape to Kagome who threatened Inuyasha with it.
"If you don't let me through...I swear...I WILL use this!" she said. Inuyasha 'feh'ed' and leaned on a tree, which was just what Kagome was waiting for.
"SIT!!!" CRASH!!! Inuyasha 'fell' through the trunk, causing the tree to fall over, Inuyasha on top of it. While the subdueing spell held him she quickly wrapped him up in the duck tape, tying him to the tree. As a last ditch effort she duck taped his mouth shut as well. When she turned to regard her friends, Miroku had disappeared out of fear. Suddenly, as the group was about to jump into the well, (each with their own shard of the jewel,) Koga jumped out of the bushes with a small bouquet of flowers and held them out to Kachie while blushing.
"Do you really gotta go? I still wanna show you my clan...they're a cool bunch..." he said hopefully. Kachie smiled and accepted the flowers.
"It'll only be for a few days...I haven't even had the chance to explore modern Japan yet...I just got to the country two days ago, and then yesterday morning I ended up coming here...I think I'm entitled to a little exploring..." she said. She watched as Koga's elf-like ears drooped a little and bit her lip.
Kagome and the tied up Inuyasha were in a state of shock that was matched by no other. Koga was over Kagome!!! It was a dream come true for the two. Although, Kagome WAS getting a bit jealous; she couldn't help but feel a bit offended that Koga had gotten over her so easily.
And he never brought ME flowers either...apparently he didn't LOVE me as much as he thought he did... Kagome thought, but she thought it with a slight smile.
Kachie thought for a moment and, standing on her tip-toes, gave Koga a small peck on the cheek, earning a huge blush from the wolf demon.
"Thanks for the flowers...and I PROMISE that I'll be back in a few days, ok?" she asked as blush at what she had just done graced her cheeks. Koga just nodded a bit and stepped out of her path to the well. She nodded him a thanks and swiftly jumped through the well, avoiding the teasing she knew she would receive for at least a few more minutes.
Sango jumped in next, a bit sad that Miroku hadn't stuck around and bid her farewell. Hekele and Rin gave Shippo a good-bye hug and Rin gave Sesshoumaru one as well. Hekele was more than a little surprised when Sesshoumaru out stretched his arm and gave her an embrace as well. It was a very small embrace, one that a person would even wonder if it should be called a hug, but for Sesshoumaru, such a movement spoke volumes. Hekele blushed like mad but smiled in return.
"Umm, bye Sesshoumaru..." she said before jumping into the well with Rin. Sesshoumaru glared at Kagome and Inuyasha, whose jaws were as wide as they could get, (given Inuyasha's duck tape problem.)
"And what do you find so amusing?" he asked coldly. Kagome just shook her head and bid the tied up Inuyasha, who was struggling against his bindings, farewell and jumped into the well. Moments later Inuyasha was able to free himself, but when he jumped into the well to argue with Kagome some more, he landed square on his nose. Kagome had sealed the well so that he couldn't bother them while they were there. Sesshoumaru, Koga, and Shippo peaked over the edge and looked at the hanyou lying flat at the bottom of the well holding his nose in pain and Sesshoumaru grinned evilly.
"Woman troubles?" Inuyasha growled as the three above him snickered.
He was gonna get even for this...
Naraku sat with Kikyo in his palace as they watched the events that occurred through Kanna's mirror. They saw as the girls jumped one by one through the well, and Naraku couldn't help but watch Kikyo's eyes widen when she saw Sesshoumaru not only there, but hugging one of the Kagome's friends.
"Is this what you wished to show me?" she asked Naraku coldly. Naraku nodded slightly.
"This and I wanted to discuss our plan. Sesshoumaru has told the monk and the slayer about our alliance, and the reason the females are returning through time is so that the slayer can tell them in private. Sesshoumaru intends to tell the wolf demon as well..."
"What about Inuyasha? Will no one warn him?" Kikyo asked, suspicious.
"Yes, your reincarnation will most likely be the one to do the deed, but the rest shall be present when she does. The reason I called you here is to tell you that if our plan is to work that we must make haste, or our window of opportunity will close."
"What is your will?"
"We must take the women and child before they breathe a word. But we will let them have their fun first...I need time to manifest the dimensions."
"Dimensions?"
"Yes, if we are to test their will and love, then they must be separate. My dimensions created with the power of the Shikon no Tama shards will make it so that they cannot leave unless they pass our 'tests'..."
Kikyo rolled her eyes, "Why must we test their love for each other, some of the relationships haven't even budded yet any how..."
Naraku grinned, "Ahh, but they have budded enough. And as for why: have you ever seen the faces of sadness created by betrayal? They are so delicious. And the looks on the faces of the person who did the betraying are just as good when they have to make a choice between loved ones...the hurt and pain will make their death easier for us to grant."
Kikyo smiled, "Shall we put another piece on the board? Perhaps the slayer's brother will make an appearance should any of them pass your tests..." Naraku nodded.
"Go and collect your wits, give Inuyasha your 'love' and comfort him for your reincarnation's departure. Such a recent bond between you shall make everything easier, should some one tell him about our plot sooner than we expect," he said placing a tender, yet possessive kiss on Kikyo's forehead. Kikyo glared at him for the unwanted gesture, bowed, and vanished. Naraku paused for a moment.
"Kagura, you will also play a role in this, you will assist me in one of these tests..."
The wind witch in the shadows behind her lord shook her head, "I will not. If you insist on toying with their emotions like dolls then I will not help you. Kanna has told me that it will not work, and so I tell you. Neither of us will help you, we would rather perish."
Naraku turned to regard her, "You will or you shall suffer, and Kanna will as well. I see how you let the children escape so easily, and you WILL be punished..." Naraku formed the shape of Kagura's heart in his hand and squeezed it, causing the girl to fall to the floor in pain. Naraku dismissed her and when she could stand again she left.
Oh, I'll help you Naraku...into HELL!
Me- So what does everyone think of this one?
Koga- I got a kiss, I got a kiss, I got a kiss! Woo-hoo!
Kachie- sweat drops It was just a kiss on the cheek...
Koga- but no one's ever done that before! grabs Kachie and gives her a kiss on the cheek
Kachie- blushes Umm, thanks Koga...
Me- rolls eyes Well, they liked it, anyone else?
Sesshy- I loved it, but you really must stop spoiling Rin...
Me- but that's the fun of playing mommy, I gotta spoil her!!!
Sesshy- Well, ok, but be careful with sugar...
Me- No pro- Rin bounces into the room and jumps on Hekele's back and starts giggling. She then proceeds to jump off and leap into Sesshoumaru's awaiting arms as he tries to calm her -blem...
Rin- Thanks for that coffee stuff!
Me- but I didn't give you coffee...INUYASHA!!!!!!!
Inuyasha- walks out of kitchen with a bag of sugar, followed by Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara What?
Me- Did you give Rin coffee?
Inuyasha- Nope, but the new guy working in the kitchen is really nice, he gave us all this sugar...
Me- gets suspicious and walks into the kitchen where the new cook is making everything with lots of sugar Excuse me, but who said you could give all these guys sugar?
Cook- Lifts his hat and cloak off to reveal my guinea pig, Tai sitting on Buyo's head No one, we just wanted to...
Me- faints because my guinea pig and Buyo just talked
Sesshy- puts Rin down and runs over to me and tries to wake me up Hekele, are you ok? Answer me!
Kagome- Umm, I think she's out cold...
Sesshy- growls at Kagome and gives me a small kiss on the forehead as I lay unconscious in his arms
Me- wakes up and smiles Awwe, aren't you sweet?
Sesshy- growls when he notices everyone looking at him and grinning evilly You just wanted a kiss...
Me- Yup, and I got one... Gives Sesshy a kiss on the cheek There, now we're even!
Sesshy- blushes and growls softly
Shippo- Ok, I'm getting sick of all the lovey-dovey shit, R&R and Hekele will update soon...if we ever get her away from Sesshoumaru...damn teenage girl...
Kagome- Shippo! Where did you learn that language?!
Shippo- points at Inuyasha eating sugar
Kagome- Oh Inuyasha...
Inuyasha- looks up hmm?
Kagome- SIT!!!!!!!