Change

"Kaede's dead."

Kagome dropped her cup in shock. She had known that the miko was old, but she had never expected her to die. Kaede had always seemed so full of life and vigor.

"How did it happen?" the young girl asked.

Miroku and Shippo exchanged looks.

"Kagome, there have been many changes since you were here last, and most of them are not good," the houshi said.

Miroku bowed his head and considered how to continue. He knew how Kagome felt about Inuyasha and to her nothing between them had changed.

It must be said, he thought to himself. She needs to know.

Sango seemed to sense the monk's plight. She reached out and took his hand. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand in thanks.

"Kagome, what I have to say is hard to hear, but you must be told. Inuyasha–"

A scream from outside forestalled any further conversation. Everyone rushed to the door of the hut and looked out. The village was swarming with wolves. Men and women were running every which way trying to avoid being eaten and those with pitchforks and poles were trying to defend themselves. In the distance Kagome could see a dust cloud coming their way. She pushed past Shippo and Miroku and ran into the village square.

"Yamete!" she yelled.

People and wolves came to a halt and looked at her. The dust cloud was getting closer and Kagome had a good idea what was making it.

"Minna, return to your homes. I'll take care of this," Kagome said.

Everyone moved into their houses and to their surprise the wolves did not follow them. They stared out of their windows and doors as the dust cloud finally reached the village and engulfed Kagome.

"Kagome!" Miroku and Shippo yelled.

"What's going on?" Sango asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

The dust settled revealing Kagome in the arms of a familiar wolf youkai. Shippo and Miroku sighed in relief and filled Sango in.

"Kouga-kun," Kagome said happily. "It's been a while."

The youkai stared at her with unfathomable blue eyes. Then he pulled her close and buried his face in her hair.

"Kouga... kun?"

"I thought you were dead," the wolf youkai said.

"Oi! Kouga! Back off," Shippo said as he walked up to them.

Kouga released Kagome and pushed her behind him. "And who's going to make me? You, little kitsune?"

Shippo bared his fangs in a growl. "Who are you calling little, ookami?"

The two youkai stood nose to nose and Kagome had a sense of déjà vu. She'd seen Kouga and Inuyasha strike that pose with each other a lot. She had an almost uncontrollable urge to yell 'ouswari' but checked the impulse.

"Maa, maa," Kagome said, stepping out from behind Kouga. "We're all friends here. Let's go back to the hut and catch up. Shippo, you and Miroku were trying to tell me something before Kouga-kun showed up."

Shippo nodded and gave Kouga one last glare before leading the way back to the hut. Kouga turned to his wolves and told them to go wait in the woods and leave the village alone. The wolves melted into the forest as Kouga and Kagome followed Shippo into the hut. Kagome seated herself next to the fire and Shippo sat next to her, putting himself between her and Kouga. Sango offered the wolf youkai a cup of tea, which he accepted, before he too seated himself.

"What were you saying?" Kagome asked Miroku.

"Inuyasha has... well, he's changed," Miroku said.

Kouga snorted. "That's an understatement."

"Hush," Shippo hissed. "Let Miroku tell it."

Kagome looked at Miroku. "What do you mean he's changed?"

"When you disappeared, he went crazy. For a while, we couldn't seem to get through to him, so finally we decided to keep looking for the Shikon shards in hopes of finding news of you. The day we were going to leave, Inuyasha showed up and announced that he'd be going with us."

Miroku paused and Sango took up the tale.

"At first, Inuyasha seemed to be regaining his normal attitude. But as we gathered more shards he began to change. He became violent and flew into a rage at the smallest thing. He would never direct that rage against us, but we were still frightened. He also held onto all the shards we found. He wouldn't let any of us touch them. Finally, we had all the shards, except for the ones in Kouga-kun's legs, and the ones in Naraku's possession. Inuyasha decided it was time to go after Naraku."

Miroku took up the story again.

"It was a long and bloody fight, and I honestly don't know how we won. Maybe it was our determination to finally destroy Naraku, or maybe it was Inuyasha's growing rage. In the end, Naraku was destroyed and we got the shards from him."

"You mean Inuyasha got the shards," Shippo interjected. "He took the shards that Naraku had and then ran off. We didn't see him for months."

"What about Kohaku?" Kagome asked.

Sango's smile was sad. "We were able to find a way to remove the shard while preserving Kohaku's life. But it turned out to be a pointless gesture."

"What do you mean?"

"Inuyasha came to the village almost five months after we had defeated Naraku," Miroku said. "He had changed. There were stripes on his face and his eyes were red. We knew that meant big trouble. We tried to greet him and talk with him, but he would have none of it. He was only after the shard we'd removed from Kohaku."

"He killed Kohaku, and then Kaede-baa-chan," Shippo said. "We barely managed to drive him off, and that was only after he'd taken the shard from the shrine."

Kagome had gone deathly pale and her hands shook.

"That can't be right," she whispered. "Inuyasha would never do that."

"We believe he was beginning to draw on the power of the Shikon no Tama to become a full youkai," Miroku said. "It had altered his personality."

"He also attacked my clan," Kouga said. "He ruthlessly slaughtered my packmates in an attempt to get to me."

The wolf youkai was staring into the fire.

"We battled for three days before he defeated me. He nearly took my legs off in his haste to get my shards. If I ever see that bastard again, I'll kill him."

Kagome stood suddenly, drawing everyone's attention. She swayed in her feet and her eyes were unfocused.

"It can't be true. Inuyasha... he'd never... I can't believe it-"

Her eyes slid shut as her knees buckled. Shippo and Miroku moved to catch her, but Kouga got there first.

"Perhaps it was a little too much to tell her so soon," Miroku said.

Sango rose and pulled out a futon. "Put her here. We can discuss more with her when she wakes."