"Come on, Inu-Yasha"
"Um…no"
"Why not? It's only a few days and you'll be of no use here."
"No"
"Inu-Yasha?"
"What are you two fighting about now?"
"Sango! Miroku! Um…Oh…It's just…Inu-Yasha refuses to go back with me."
"Hmph"
"INU-YASHA! You could use a little manners! …Sit boy!"
"iehhh" thud "…feh"
"Really?" Kagome asked as she bent down grabbing his hand. Sango and Miroku wore confused expressions. Good thing Shippo is not here. Sango thought. Inu-Yasha tried to not look at Kagome, but she knelt in front of him. As soon as the "sit" wore off and she gave a quick wave goodbye to her friends, Kagome flew towards the well in hopes of reaching it before Inu-Yasha could change his mind. Then Kagome leapt into the well dragging Inu-Yasha behind like a rag doll.
Utterly confused at the bottom of the well, Inu-Yasha pulled his arm free of Kagome's death grip and stared at her with utter amazement. After all, she had dragged him from outside of Kiada's to her side of the well. He had never seen her that excited about anything before. In the second he was thinking about Kagome, She had bound out the well and started for the house in a full sprint. Inu-Yasha had no choice but to follow, cluelessly.
"MMMOOOMMM!" Kagome yelled as she slid through the dinning area into the kitchen.
"Kagome?" Her mom replied from the kitchen.
"Happy Birthday, Mom" Kagome said falling into her mom's open arms.
"I couldn't ask for a better gift. How long are you staying?"
"Just a few days. Inu-Yasha is here."
Kagome's mom smiled then looked around, "Where?"
"Um" Kagome replied, "I'm not sure. INU…"
Inu-Yasha appeared in the doorway, leaving Kagome to finish his name.
"…Yasha, tomorrow is my mom's birthday." Kagome held her mom tighter as Inu-Yasha wore the same confused expression he had when they came through the well and Kagome had taken off towards the house without him, only now he was starting to look a little flustered.
Kagome went to her room to get a bath completely forgetting about him. Inu-Yasha busied himself in her room with Buyo, her cat, while she cleaned herself up since it was always the first thing she did when she got home. After Kagome bathed, she put on a formal oriental gown then went to check on Inu-Yasha. Inu-Yasha looked disturbed. Buyo just lay in Inu-Yasha's lap while Inu-Yasha stared out the window with his ears drooping to the sides.
"Inu-Yasha?" Kagome asked with concern. "What is it?"
Inu-Yasha's ears twitched with surprise. He looked at Kagome in the purple, blue and pink floral garment she wore. She was beautiful. Her hair was pulled up in bun with chopsticks. A few strands of hair fell to the side of her face. While she looked at him for an answer to her question she fiddled with trying to pull the last few strands up into her hair.
"Nothing…" he replied in shame. Satisfied with that response, Kagome ran down the stairs to help her mother with dinner. "Dinner's in a little while Inu-Yasha." She yelled back to him from the stairs.
The doorbell rang shortly after Kagome left her room as she was on her way down the stair. "I got it." She announced making her way to the door. The relatives had arrived. Kagome greeted them with open arms then escorted them to the dinning room where Grandpa was telling Souta a story. After a bit, Kagome's mom carried plates to the table where the women jumped up and joined in by carrying the food out to the table.
"Where's your friend, Kagome?" Kagome's mother asked.
"Um…" Kagome replied.
"I'll get him!" Souta cried dashing out of the room.
A moment later Souta came running down the stairs. "KagoMeeeeeeee, Inu-Yasha's gone!"
Kagome smiled, then reassured him. "He'll be back. Besides, it's not like Inu-Yasha to miss mealtime."
Meanwhile, Inu-Yasha was kicking himself out on their roof for not knowing that tomorrow was Kagome's mom's birthday. She had been so kind to him and the group; fixing meals whenever they would be gone awhile, packing Kagome's backpack full of their favorite snacks, and allowing Kagome to travel back and forth through the well, to fight evil demons no less. He had sworn to protect Kagome against the evil on the other side of the well, but he knew what resided there and here, now, he didn't know about this. Kagome would surely kill him for this. He needed a present for Kagome's mom or Kagome's evil might be unleashed.
Inu-Yasha's stomach growled, snapping him away from his thoughts. He placed his paw over his stomach, wondering if he should have eaten before venturing out. "No" he told himself "that would be rude." The sun was starting to set. The sky changed from blue to pink. The change in the sky made Inu-Yasha wonder if he should ask Kiada about a present, after all she had her nose in everything. Of course, she'd never been to this side of the well and she didn't know Kagome's mom. On the other hand, she was a female.
Inu-Yasha debated with himself for hours while watching the orange sunset. He didn't know what to get for her, if anything at all. The person to ask would be Kagome, but that was out of the question, he decided shaking his head free of the thought. Inu-Yasha finally decided that asking Kiada would be his fastest, less stressful option. With that, Inu-Yasha snuck back through the well. He couldn't help wondering if Kiada already knew, if Kagome had told her, or even if the others knew and were waiting for him to return in shame.
Worried he began creeping over to Kiada's hut when he came close to the town. He didn't want anyone to know he had returned because of guilt. No one stirred inside the hut and finding Kiada was no problem at all for him. Kiada wore a garment similar to what she always wore; she was tucked in under a light gray blanket sleeping soundly. Inu-Yasha thought for a moment that if he woke her she might give him some lame gift to get rid of him so instead of waking her he sat against the wall wondering what to do.
Fortunately for him, Kiada awoke in the middle of the night, looked at Inu-Yasha, and asked "Inu-Yasha, what's troubling you?" Inu-Yasha looked up with a startled surprise. He reached for Tetsusaiga, but it wasn't there. Standing in front of him happened to be the old woman. "Inu-Yasha, what is it?" Kiada whispered, handing him his lost sword. "Nothing" he replied as he stood up taking his sword preparing to leave. "Now Inu-Yasha…" Kiada warned. At that, Inu-Yasha froze in his tracks. He HAD come to ask her. So he let out the breath he had been holding and explained, "tomorrow, tomorrow is…is Kagome's Mom's birthday..." "I see" the old woman said preciously. "It is her birthday and you don't have anything for her." Kiada waited for Inu-Yasha to look guilty, which is exactly what he did. "Come with me." She stated as she was leaving the room. Inu-Yasha followed.
Kiada led Inu-Yasha out into the forest near the well. Inu-Yasha wondered: What would the old bat bring me out here for? She had no reason to, unless she was thinking about pushing me into the well because I had disturbed her in the middle of the night. Instead, Kiada led Inu-Yasha out to the old tree that he had pinned to for fifty years. "Inu-Yasha" the wise old woman spoke, "this tree is more than what you've been led to believe." Kiada ran her fingers over the bark on the trunk to the place where the arrow had pierced the tree sealing Inu-Yasha away. Inu-Yasha became nervous at this weird behavior. Instead of pushing me back through the well maybe she would just seal me away for another fifty years or so. It would be easier than trying to kill me of course throwing me back through the well for Kagome to kill would be easier still and probably funner to watch. Kiada then ripped some bark off the side of the tree and a small flower from the branches. She instructed Inu-Yasha to build a fire and fetch some water; he did so without a word.
Then Kiada explained to Inu-Yasha "Fire, water, earth, wind, and love are the key components of life. Without even one of these elements, all life will die." Inu-Yasha wondered, why had I come to her in the first place? Why didn't I ask…Kagome…right.
Kiada closed the blooming flower. She secured it with twine she made from the tree, and placed water in the bark then put the flower in the water in bark. She sealed the bark then through it in the fire. The fire roared upward, obviously aggravated. The woman sat next to fire placing a magical ring around it. Inu-Yasha leaned back against his tree wondering when did she officially loose her mind.
By first light, the fire died out. Kiada instructed Inu-Yasha to search in the ashes. "…Reborn to you from the ashes…"was all Inu-Yasha heard or cared to hear, but he looked anyway. In the ashes was a small beaded loop with a wooden charm.
"What is it?" Inu-Yasha asked as he reached for it. Brushing it off, Inu-Yasha noticed that the beads were a golden color.
"A rosary." Kiada answered
"Whoa!" Inu-Yasha yelped immediately jumping backward away from the rosary. It fell from his hand and floated to the ground.
"It won't hurt you Inu-Yasha. It's not been designed for you." Kiada remarked.
"What?" Inu-Yasha questioned in a pant. If she wanted to give him a scare, she most certainly found an effective means.
"Something's been troubling me, Inu-Yasha. Kagome is a strong miko; is she not? She has had little training; yet, she is very powerful. With a power that strong, her mother must also possess a strong miko power in order to suppress Kagome's power all those years before you met her. Therefore, they must share the same power." Kiada picked up the rosary and stretched her empty hand out to Inu-Yasha beckoning him closer. Inu-Yasha cowered for a moment before stepping forward, meeting Kiada's hand with his own. Kiada gently placed the rosary in Inu-Yasha's hand. "Now Inu-Yasha, it is important that you place this on Kagome's mother's wrist." "Why?" Inu-Yasha questioned. "It is important because if Kagome and her mother share the same power then this will ensure that she may use the full force of her power to protect herself, but will be unable to travel through the well after Kagome…Inu-Yasha this is activated once placed on her wrist. It has no restraining words and can only be removed by the one who put it her. YOU. Don't speak a word to anyone not even Kagome." These were the last of Kiada's words before she disappeared into the woods wandering back to her hut.
"That woman is creepy." Inu-Yasha said as he stared at her tracks off into the misty woods then shook himself as if shaking the feeling away.
"Don't fail me Inu-Yasha." The old woman's voice resounded.
Inu-Yasha bound back through the well a little after dawn. The purple and red streaks through the sky warned Inu-Yasha that this day would be different. Usually when the sky is purple it warns of magic and red warns of blood. Whether Kagome's good magic and his victories were foretold for the day or not, Inu-Yasha did not take the warning lightly. Inu-Yasha searched for Kagome's mom so that he could rid himself of this new rosary, by peering in the windows he found Kagome sitting at the dinning table with her little brother.
"Inu-Yasha never came back for dinner, Kagome. Where did he go?"
"I don't know Souta, but I'm starting to worry about him." Kagome replied.
Kagome's mother entered the room with plates of food.
"He'll be back. You two stop worrying. Here. Eat."
Souta ravenously dug into his food while Kagome just stared down at the silverware. Inu-Yasha quickly shoved the rosary into his pocket and made an entrance for breakfast. "Good morning!" Inu-Yasha cried as he casually strolled down the stairs with his hands behind his head. "Good Morning" Kagome's mother cheerfully greeted him. "Where have you been?" Kagome yelled. "Morning Inu-Yasha. Wanna play?" Souta cried. "Shhhhhh" their mother warned. "Other people are trying to sleep." A silence fell across the room. Inu-Yasha took this kind silence to jump in. "Not now squirt… I've been out…and…Happy Birthday." While Kagome's mom blushed, Kagome became beet red and if her mother hadn't just yelled at them, she would have taught Inu-Yasha a little manners. He was out. What kind of a response was that?
Instead Kagome stood up and walked over to Inu-Yasha. She stood at his side facing the opposite direction then he was. She simply whispered in his ear, "I think you should eat. After all you must be fatigued from BEING OUT all night. 'Sit' and enjoy yourself." Crash. Inu-Yasha fell to floor catching the edge of the table by just a few inches sending the rest of Souta's and Kagome's breakfast flying through the air. It soared through the air over Inu-Yasha's head. The flying food landed on none other than Kagome herself. While the food landed on the top of her head, the food dripped down the front her face onto her dress. Inu-Yasha began to giggle. Balling up her fists, Kagome cut in stating "Inu-Yasha. If you think that's funny you can spend the next few days right there." Inu-Yasha stopped giggling long enough for Kagome to turn infuriated and leave the room. Once Kagome was gone, both Souta and Inu-Yasha began to laugh.
"Souta" Kagome's mother asked displeased by Inu-Yasha's manners. "Will you leave us?" Inu-Yasha noticed that Souta left as politely as possible. Souta left Inu-Yasha wondering just what he had done. "Inu-Yasha" she began softly yet coldly. "Kagome didn't sleep at all last night she hasn't eaten either. She was waiting for you to return. You disappeared without saying a word…she was really worried about you." She paused as if it pained her to continue. She took a weak breath then continued. "This morning, you entered as if you'd never left. You told Kagome that you were simply 'out'. I think you owe her an apologue. Don't you?" "Keh" Inu-Yasha replied.
Kagome's mother shook her head with shame then stood up to return to her work. "Wait." Inu-Yasha commanded. He fished his hand into his pocket pulling out the rosary. "Happy Birthday" he stated as he slid the rosary on her wrist. She stared at it for a moment, it was still covered in ash, but most of the ash was gone. The golden beads shone through what was left of the ashes. The wood that hung from the beads was a small wooden charm in the shape of the blossomed flower that Kiada had pulled from the tree. "It's beautiful," she said with a smile. When she glanced back up, he was gone.