1
As Jaken scrubbed the inside of Sesshoumaru's car, drying all the water and such, Kohaku and the kids introduced Shampoo to Kagura. At Kagura's quaint little home in the village next to Inuyasha's, they sat in her living room. The front door was to the right of the living room, and to the right of the front door was a hallway that led to their rooms. Opposite the front door was their kitchen, and to the left of that, joining the living room, was their dining room. The living room was really cozy; a couch propped up against the front wall (which had a nice big window with beautiful drapes) and adjacent to that couch was a love seat. Opposite the love seat, there towered a home entertainment system that was beginning to even rival that of Inuyasha's.
Kagura sat on the love seat, Shampoo sat on the couch, with Hakudoushi and Rin beside her. Kohaku and Kanna sat on the floor, facing them.
"So," Kagura said, "Let me get this straight. You are from China?" Shampoo nodded. "And you went to," she paused, not being able to recall the name of the area.
"Jusenkyou," Shampoo filled in for her.
"Right," she continued, "And you fell into the Curse of the Cat, or whatever." Her guest nodded again. "And so when you're splashed with cold water, you turn into a cat, and when you're splashed with warm water, you turn back into a human?" Another nod. "But how did you get to that airport?"
Shampoo leaned back into the couch. "Shampoo asked to fight witch. I came here, but I got lost, and ended up in airport." She looked over at Kohaku and smiled. "That when my knight in shining armor rescued me." Kohaku blushed.
"What was that about a witch?" Hakudoushi asked.
"Shampoo was asked to fight witch," she explained, "But I not know where witch is."
"Who asked you?"
Shampoo paused. She put her finger to her chin and tapped it a few times, staring off into space. Then she said with a smile, "Don't know."
Hakudoushi grinned. "Well, I suppose that makes it more fun. We'll help ya find this witch. And we'll help ya beat her too." He turned to the group. "Ain't that right, guys?"
Kagura sighed. "Okay, fine. We'll help." She got up from her seat. "I'm gonna go fix us up some snacks." She walked into the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator. It was when the coldness of the icebox hit her that she began to feel very uneasy. Something, somewhere, didn't feel right. She closed the fridge door and looked out the kitchen window. Storm clouds had begun to form in the sky. She shivered.
2
Kagome opened her eyes and saw nothing but black. Then her eyes began to adjust to the dimly lit room. She sat up and looked around. "Inuyasha?" she whispered, but of course there was no answer. He was a long ways away. "Hello?" she called out louder, but again no answer. Then, a bright light flashed down from the ceiling. She was sitting on an uncomfortable bed with little sheeting on it. The room was cold and dismal looking. No windows, and the door looked like it was locked shut. She watched the door's handle with fascination. When it began to turn, she shrieked.
The door swung open slowly. She was expecting the worst, but when she saw the person at the door, she felt a lot more at ease. It was a fox demon, not all that dissimilar from Shippou. Except, he was a lot older. He was closer to Kagome's age. His orange hair was done up in a ponytail, like Shippou's, with a pink bow. He was wearing a beautiful purple and pink kimono with flowery designs on the sleeves. He studied her with his green eyes, and said, "Welcome to Yubaba's bathhouse."
"What?" Kagome gasped. "What are you talking about?"
He smiled at her. "My name is Kitsune. I've been sent here 'to show you the ropes,' as it were." He motioned for her to come to him, but she stayed put. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said, his smile not fading. It was not a sinister smile, but more like the way Shippou smiled when he saw Kagome again after a long period of being away from her.
She still would not move. "Why am I here?" she asked.
"Yubaba brought you here," he answered. "Please, come out of this dreary room. I'll get you fixed up and take you on a tour around the bathhouse." But still, she did not move, and his smile faded. "Listen, I know you don't want to hear this, but it's the truth. You're going to be stuck here for a long time. So you had better start behaving a little better."
"What do you mean?" Tears were beginning to form.
"Yubaba has selected you to be her new bath attendant," the fox boy explained. "And nobody gets away from Yubaba." He looked into her tear filled eyes. "Not even me."
Kagome realized right away that he was in the exact same situation as she was, that he was also Yubaba's slave. She hopped off her bed and joined him at the door.
3
The storm clouds had already reached Inuyasha's village. The once warm beautiful day had become cold and wet with rain. Inuyasha's house was empty, save for the sleeping Shippou. Souten and Kouryuu had gone to visit her big brother Manten and his girlfriend Yura. So there Shippou lay, on Inuyasha and Kagome's big comfy bed, snoozing peacefully. His ears began to twitch. He opened his eyes. Something was going on outside.
He jumped to the window, which looked over the back yard, and scanned the area. Because of the rain, he could not make out who the figure standing in the rain was, but did not get a good feeling from it at all. He ducked back, thinking that it had looked at him, but it hadn't. He watched it more carefully. It was looking for something. Then it started walking towards the two stones that stood erect at the edge of the yard.
Shippou gasped and fell backwards. Those were Kouga and Suikotsu's graves! They had both died in battle when they were fighting the ice army a long time ago. This thing that was in their backyard was a grave robber, and it had to be stopped. He dashed to the back door and leapt out of the little doggy door. He transformed into a small pail so he could watch it without being noticed.
It walked over to the graves and looked at each one carefully. Then it made its choice: Kouga's. It snapped its fingers and a shovel appeared out of nowhere in its hands. It began to exhume Kouga's grave. Shippou began to shiver with fear and cold. It dug up the grave and was already collecting the bones. Shippou knew he had to do something to stop this from happening, but he couldn't move. And when he finally got the courage to, the grave robber left as mysteriously as it had came.
He transformed back into his true form and followed the figure, but he lost it in an instant. 'What was all that about?' he thought to himself. He glanced over at Kouga's grave. A dark purple mist was emanating from it. He sneezed, and then dashed as fast as his little legs could carry him back into the house.
4
Deep within a remote cave, a shrine had been set up. A mat was laid on the floor, and Kouga's bones had been placed on the mat in precise position. Candles had been lit, casting an eerie glow on the cave walls. The grave robber was kneeling at the base of Kouga's skeleton, praying. "At last," a female voice, its own, said, "I have found you, Kouga. Soon, we can all be together." She began to recite a chant. Kouga's bones then began to glow with the same purple mist that Shippou had seen. Flesh and muscle tissue began to reform around the bones. Skin stretched around the muscles. Kouga's body had been restored. "But your soul is still somewhere else," the female's voice said. She began a different chant, and the candles glowed with a bright white light. At the ceiling of the cave, several white flashes of light shot out. They fused together into a glowing sphere that hovered over Kouga's body, and then began to sink slowly into it.
The lights flickered, and the grave robber stopped chanting. Her task was complete.
Kouga's fingers twitched, and so did his face. He opened his eyes and looked around. He struggled to sit up, but found that he did not have the strength to.
"Take it easy, Kouga," the female voice said. "You have, after all, been dead for quite some time now."
The woman came into his view. She was an ice wolf demon, and a very attractive one at that. She had long turquoise hair, and a little purple flower in it. Her eyes were a deep black, but had a sort of loving feeling in them. She was dressed in ice wolf demon style clothing: light blue fur boots, a darker blue miniskirt, and black chest armor. She smiled at him very sweetly.
"My name is Kogarashi," she said, placing her hand on his cheek and gently caressing it. "I brought you back to life."
He struggled to speak but could only manage a weak "Why?"
"I very much want us to be a family again," she said, helping him sit up. "You see, I am Fuyuka's twin sister, and therefore, your half sister."
Kouga didn't even have the strength to gasp.
