Disclaimer : If I went into MacDonald's and bought a burger, would I own the whole MacDonald's industry? NO! So why would it be any different with Inuyasha? … even though I buy the DVDs, comics, movies, merchandise … :grumble, grumble:

Sorry for not updating but we were doing speeches and I always get stressed out. Like, when I was presenting mine, I was so terrified that I started vibrating, and then I went still. Vibrating, them still.

Anyways, have decided that I shall try to update once a week on weekends. In between, answering the phone 24/7 cause people won't leave me alone, school, my procrastination, hitting my perverted friends on the head when they express their pervertedness and writing, drawing my anime, making music and all the other creative things that I do, I have a life other than writing fanfics. It's like a 'normal student on week-days, masked fanfic writer by week-end' thing. I also have a tendency to suddenly abandon one story and start another.

Oh, and … I GOT REVIEWS! THREE! PEOPLE READ MY STORY! IM SO HAPPY:sticks tongue out: NAHA KATIE, IN YOUR FACE!

:cough, cough: and to answer LunInuKag's question about the MacDonald's/WacDnald's thing.

In the anime, it's written WacDnald's cause, obviously, Rumiko Takahashi may own Inuyasha and all her other animes but she does not own MacDonald's. So, I'm guessing that the producer peoples wanted no chance of being sued, and they changed it a bit. Enough so that they won't get sued but that the viewers still get the idea that it's supposed to be MacDonald's. So I, being the overly-obsessed-Inu-fan that I am, have decided to stick as close to the anime as possible and use the name WacDnald's.

So, I shall shut my babbler and start typing. Aplace change or time change cuz the stupid '-' things wont work ...

A

Chapter 2

A

Souta and Kanami cautiously stepped out of the mini-shrine where they had been 'looking' for Buyo. The aforementioned cat was walking towards them from the house.

"Do you think it's safe?" asked Souta, looking around carefully.

"I'm sure Kagome's home and Ji-chan's ambushing her right now." replied Kanami, crouching down to pick up the giant fuzz-ball known as Buyo.

"Good!" exclaimed Souta, stretching luxuriating and scratching his side. "Cuz I couldn't stand hiding in that place anymore!"

Kanami stood up with a little difficulty, clutching Buyo, and watched dis-interestedly as he cleaned his face of a red substance, using his fat paw.

"Let's go back to the house!" Souta added, letting loose a yawn that made his jaw crack. "I'm tired, I wanna sleep!"

Kanami blinked and watched Buyo with growing interest as Souta began walking off. 'I've seen this before …' She swiped herself a finger-full of the red stuff and glared at it intently. 'Where?'

"Ni-chan?" called Souta, turning around to look at his thirteen-year-old sister. He blinked. 'Why is Ni-chan starring at her finger? Did she hurt herself?'

"Ni-chan?" he called again, this time quieter.

Kanami's eyes widened as she suddenly dropped Buyo on the ground, crouched down and began to frantically wipe her finger off in the dirt.

"Ni-" Kanami's pale face looking up at him stopped the on-coming question.

"Blood." she murmured quietly.

Kagome swiftly ran up the steps of the shrine, the twins not far behind in the van.

'Let it have been a nightmare, Oh Kami, let it have been a nightmare!'

The twins quietly followed her up the stairs, at a slower pace, exchanging worried glances.

"What's wrong with her?" whispered Chi to Shi fearfully.

"I don't know …" answered Shi helplessly as she stopped and began to quietly comfort the frightened Chi.

Kagome crested the shrine steps in record time. Panting lightly, she looked past the shrine gate.

'Everything's way too quiet …' She looked around at the stillness that enshrouded the shrine-grounds like a heavy mist. 'Deathly quiet …' She immediately shook her head frantically. 'Not deathly! Not deathly!'

A child's wailing reached her ears.

'Any second now,' she reminded herself, smiling hopefully, 'Any second now, mom'll go and feed Pan-pan!'

She waited two, then three minutes and still Pan-pan cried.

Her knees shook and she dropped onto them.

'No.'

The sounds of the twins running up behind her penetrated through her brain.

'No.'

Her youngest sibling continued the incessant noise as a single tear spilled over onto her cheek.

"NO!" Kagome screamed, collapsing onto her front and banging her fists against the ground as sobs shook her body.

Shi and Chi gasped and ran up to their oldest sister, glomping her back and hanging on tightly as she continued to weakly punish the ground.

"No, no, no, no, no, no …" Kagome continued to whimper again and again as if it were a chant that would take away her problems.

Chi gently rubbed Kagome's back and stood up, looking down at the befuddled Shi. "I'll go make Ni-chan some tea." she said quietly, walking off in the direction of the house.

Shi sat up and continued to rub the weeping Kagome's back. "Ssshh." she whispered softly in her sister's ear. "Sssshh, it'll be all right, you'll see."

"I don' wanna see …" came the ground-muffled reply, the line itself sounding childish. "I don' wanna kno' if's true."

"If what's true?" asked Shi, leaning closer.

"If." Kagome's voice quavered as she gulped loudly. "If mom's really-"

"KAGOME! SHI!" yelled Souta, running towards them dragging a limp Kanami behind him.

"What happened? Where've you guys been? Where's Chi? And Mom and Ji-chan? And there's something wrong with Kanami! And—WAIT! What's wrong with Kagome?" rushed Souta, lips moving faster than a race car.

Shi sweatdropped as she listened to her brother ramble. "I dunno. We were in WacDnald's when she passed out."

"You went to WacDnald's?" demanded Souta, putting his hands on his hips and starring at Shi accusingly.

A vein popped on Shi's forehead. "That's not what's important! Kagome passed out while we were in the restaurant and then woke up and dragged us back here. Then she screamed 'No!' and started crying. Chi's gone to go make her some tea."

Souta nodded thoughtfully. "We-" he looked at Kanami who was lying on her side on the ground, starring blankly at nothing. "-I came running when I heard Ni-chan scream."

Shi glared at Souta. "She was just about to tell me what was wrong when you came charging over here screaming!"

They were interrupted as Chi's own scream pierced the night air.

Kagome was the first one to jump up and sprint towards the house, where the scream had come from. When she was halfway there, Shi and Souta jumped to and ran after her, Souta going a bit slower since he had to drag Kanami. Bursting into the house, they noticed Kagome standing in the white painted hall, starring wide-eyed into the kitchen.

Chi was sitting on the ground, splay-armed and legged, silent streams of tears running down her face. Across from her, also on the floor, 5-year-old Kioru and 3-year-old Pan-pan were clinging to the necks of the mangled bodies of their mom and Ji-chan, politely asking them to 'wake up'.

Shi walked over to her twin noiselessly and sank down beside her, wrapping her arms Chi as she began to sob loudly.

Kanami lay on the floor in the hall starring up at the ceiling, having already guessed what had happened from her find on Buyo.

Kagome dropped onto her knees again and engulfed Souta in an embrace, her hands slowly stroking his hair as he cried his heart out on her tee-shirt.

Pan-pan and Kioru let go of their Mama's and Ji-chan's necks and crawled over to Kagome and Souta.

"Why cry?" asked Pan-pan, cocking his head innocently, managing to look curious and serious at the same time.

"Why won't Mama wake up?" said Kioru slowly, starring Kagome in the eye.

"Oh!" Kagome exclaimed, eyes full of tears, as she stretched her arms out to include Kioru and Pan-pan in her embrace.

(A/N- Ok, corny sappiness coming up!)

"They're free." Kagome mumbled into Kioru's hair, voice made thick by tears. "They're free now and they won't come back. That's why we're crying."

Pan-pan looked up at Kagome curiously. "Will Pan-pan be free too?"

Kagome's laugh was cut off by a sob and she replied with a small smile. "Not yet Pan, not yet …"

"Are mama and Ji-chan with papa now?" asked Kioru, snuggling deeper into Kagome's warmth and relaxing.

"Ya. They're with dad now …" she murmured, pulling Pan-pan, Kioru and Souta closer protectively.

A

What was left of the Higurashi family sat on the couch watching men in bulking white suits teem into their kitchen. Souta leaned over the couch's armrest, looking at them intently. They were some sort of police people and to him, that was beyond cool. He winced and quickly looked away as they carried his mother's body out of the house. 'Ok, maybe not so cool …'

A tall man in a black business suit and greased black hair that fell into a braid along his back stepped into the house. He slowly removed his sunglasses and looked around the house with the piercing red eyes of a demon. Souta ogled at him. 'If that guy ain't a FBI agent, I dunno who is!'

The man spotted them and walked over to them with even steps. He sat down on the couch across from them and cleared his throat. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted as a fat, reptilian demon came waddling into the house screaming 'Nan-chan! Nan-chan!' earnestly.

The man on the couch sighed exasperatedly and said, "I'm busy Manten, can't you take it somewhere else?"

The demon named Manten quickly waddled/ran over to the two couches. "We found the wills, brother Hiten, we found them and I was told to bring them to you Nan-chan!"

Instantly, Hiten's face transformed into an exceedingly pleasant demeanour. "Really? Thank you Manten!"

Manten placed his briefcase on the coffee table in-between the two couches and opened it, pulling out two stacks of paper. He vainly tried straightening them but noticed the impatient look surfacing on Hiten's face and quickly handed the papers over to his older brother.

Hiten's eyes roamed the papers of the first pile for a minute before he announced, "The shrine and the old man's inheritance are left to Souta Higurashi."

Kagome smiled to herself and mentally sighed, 'At least we'll be staying at home …'

"He will be able to inherite both when he has turned sixteen."

Kanami gulped loudly and rasped, "Then where will we live?"

Hiten picked up the next stack of papers and again searched through them. "A house in Tokyo has been left to Kagome Higurashi. It is fully paid for. Kagome Higurashi also inherites 35 000, which will immediately be transferred to her account."

Hiten once again cleared his throat and continued, "25 000 has been left to each Souta, Kanami, Shi, Chi, Kioru and Pantori Higurashi. That 150 000 will be held by the government until they are old enough to inherite it." Hiten nodded to himself and stuffed the papers back into the briefcase. "The wills will be kept in the same vault unto that time." He stood up, looking down at the Higurashi family on the couch. "You will also be able to keep the van. You will find some large cardboard boxes by the front door. They will proove to be usefull. The trucks will be here to pick up you and your things to take you to Tokyo tommorrow afternoon."

With that, he turned and left, a chattering Manten at his side praising him on how well he had handled the brats.

A

That is all I have written but I shall write more … besides, what is the time after tests when everyone else is still writing for? I've also been writing a new fic but I havent posted it … I might wait intil this story has gotten a bit farther. Neeways,

Toodlz + Instant Ramen Noodlz!

Plant