Preview from last chapter:

Venita's eyes lit up, "I'm so glad you both agree! All we have to do now is wait for Tora-kun."

"Where is he?" Kagome asked, wondering what the jovial tiger could be doing.

"I can only tell you that he's off in the woods somewhere with Kouga-kun," Venita said, thinking about what she'd just said, "hang on, whoa, that came out wrong. Tora-kun is talking to Kouga-kun about something he didn't want to discuss with me, and they're talking in the woods. There, I think that came out right."

Kagome smiled, "We understood you, Venia-chan. As soon as they come back, we'll start planning what we're gonna do and when."

Venita's eyes twinkled, "Oh K-chan?"

"Hai?"

"I already have." Venita stated darkly, her eyes slightly narrowed, giving her a sinister look.

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Chapter Ten:
Tora's Bargain, Venita's Refusal

Kagome looked over at Venita and nearly cried out. The eyes of the wolf woman looked too familiar to the miko and hanyou to be ignored. They were calm, cool, collected, and just over all calculating. It was the look of a madman.

It was the look of Naraku.

Without realizing it, Inu-Yasha had begun to growl, which caused both he and Kagome to become startled.

"I really don't like that look," Kagome thought nervously, "she gave Naraku and Kagura that look back when she'd been acting as Kyo. Why would she use it on me?"

"All right then," Inu-Yasha said, breaking through Kagome's thoughts, "what's this plan of yours?"

Eyes of cobalt softening, Venita smiled, "You'll just have to see, but I guarantee it'll be fun."

Reading looks of confusion, suspicion, and wariness, Venita inwardly laughed, "This is going to be great. All we really have to do is get those two together in the same room, and on the same couch; however, that would take too long, so Tora and I will just have to take Fate in our own hands."

A knock sounded on the door and all three occupants turned towards the door.

"Come on in." Kagome said cheerily, watching as the grass mat was pulled aside and Tora walked in.

"Hey guys," Tora said, his usual jovial manner firmly in place, "how is everything?"

"Fine." Kagome and Inu-Yasha replied.

"What did you and Kouga-kun talk about and where is he?" Venita asked, her darkening blue eyes locked on the tiger's brilliant green ones.

Tora didn't answer right away, and really he didn't answer, "We just talked about simple stuff. Nothing to worry yourself with."

"Then if I'm not supposed to worry, why don't you tell me where he is?"

Shifting his weight from one foot to the other and back again, Tora sighed, "I suppose telling you he's fine won't satisfy you?"

Venita quirked an eyebrow, "You're damn right it won't satisfy me. Where is he?"

Debating with himself whether or not to tell her the truth, Tora decided on the easier option, "He's safe, and if you want a better explanation of things, you have to promise to buy me a year's subscription of porn for those times when I get 'lonely'."

Eyes widening, Venita's answer came right away, "There's no way in the seven hells I'm putting my name on a document that shows I'm paying for your pornography!"

"But Ookami-sama, you know I'd videotape it myself, except that the neighbors shut their blinds now. It's really a shame too, 'cause they were gonna try and..."

"Enough!" Venita yelled, "I can do without knowing where he is for the moment! Just don't go any further in your descriptions!"

Smirking, Tora resisted the urge to jump up and down in victory, "So anyway, when are we leaving?"

Kagome seemed about to say something, but Venita cut her off, "Right now. We'll say our goodbyes and then we'll be off to have some fun, okay? Sound like a plan to you two?"

Inu-Yasha and Kagome's faces were still red from Tora's comment, and their eyes were now wide when they realized that Tora and Venita had been thinking about this a lot longer than they'd let on.

It made the couple wonder just what else the two were planning.

"Well?" Tora asked, "What do you guys think? Inu-Yasha-san? Kagome-san?"

Both addressed persons blinked, not quite sure what to think of this plan that had just been presented to them.

"I-I-I suppose I don't have a problem with it," Kagome said, "what do you think, Inu-Yasha?"

"Fine with me."

"Of course it's fine with you," Venita said as she stood and brushed herself off, "you don't care either way. You'll just agree with whatever K-chan decides to do because you love her."

Had Inu-Yasha been eating or drinking, he would surely have choked, "W-w-what are you doin' sayin' stuff like that?! What if Kagome took you seriously?!"

Venita shrugged, "I hope she does."

Nothing short of fuming, Tora put a hand on the hanyou's shoulder.

"It's all right, Inu-Yasha-san. Some women have this weird way of tricking a guy into admitting his love for another woman. Either that or the woman they happen to be talking to. Now, when I tell you 'some women', I really mean that one." Tora smirked, pointing to Venita as her mouth twitched into a smile that looked a little out of place on her face at that moment.

Not having noticed the out-of-place smile, Kagome asked, "So, we're leaving now?"

Turning her near-murderous glare from Tora and plastering a smile in its' place, Venita looked to Kagome and nodded, "That's right! So we should probably find Kaede-sama, Shippo-chan, Houshi-sama, Sango-san, Kagura-san, Lunia-chan, and Kouga-kun."

Tora sighed, "I'm still gonna tell you that he's safe and sound."

"And I'm still not gonna be satisfied until you tell me where he is."

A smirk on his face, Tora shrugged, "Write a check, then. I'll be expecting my first issue on the first of next month."

Within the blink of an eye, Tora now sported a red hand-shaped mark delivered by Venita herself, "C'mon K-chan and Inu-san. Let's go have fun."

Shaking his head to try and rid himself of the stinging his cheek still felt, Tora ran after them, "Hey! Wait for me!"

While making their way to the Bone Eater's Well, Venita couldn't help but think of where her beloved might be. It wasn't that she didn't trust Tora when he said Kouga was safe; however, the way Tora had been acting was very peculiar for the tiger.

"What could Tora-san possibly need to hide from me? And what's it gotta do with Kouga-kun? What did those two talk about in the woods? Are they plotting against me?" As soon as the thought made its' way to the front of Venita's mind, she immediately pushed it back, "That's nonsense! Why would Kouga-kun and Tora-san plot against me? What's their motive, eh? Simple, they don't have one! Phew, now that that's settled, I can go back to my brain's normal function: scheming."

Upon reaching the time-traveling well, Venita and the others met up with Shippo and Kirara, whom were picking flowers.

"Hi everybody!" Shippo grinned as he waved at them, "Where're you going?"

Kagome knelt before the young fox kit, "We're just going to go to my time for a little bit. Which reminds me, do you know where everyone is? We didn't see anyone on the way here."

"Oh! They told me to tell you that they're all in the woods somewhere, and that you shouldn't bother looking for them. I meant to tell you, but I got sidetracked."

"I see," Kagome said as her heart sank, "could you tell them we'll be back soon? I don't know how long Venia-chan and Tora-kun intend to stay, but however long it is, we'll be back."

"Okay! Don't forget that chocolate stuff!"

"I won't!" Kagome called as she joined the others at the well.

Shippo waved at the four figures at the well and watched as they disappeared. Turning around and whistling, Shippo watched as Miroku, Sango, Lunia, Kaede, and Kagura stepped out from the nearby bushes, brushed themselves off, and smirked at one another.

It would be very interesting when the four came back, and none of the six that were left behind intended to miss it.

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(November 24, 2004) A/N: I am so sorry that I haven't updated sooner! I've been sick, (still am), I've had school, I've got family/friend issues… the list goes on…… but as long as I still find time for all of you, that makes me happy. :-)

Please don't be afraid to give me ideas for schemes. To tell you the truth, I'm running out of different plots I could use, so your help would be most appreciated. Also, if anyone has any other ideas, (not just plots), pertaining to this story, please let me know! Any and all ideas will be considered and I'm sure some will be used. If you don't see your idea in this story, perchance you'll see it in a different story by me! Keep your eyes open!

--Ookami-chan--