Blood-Stained

A/N: OK, just for good measure, remember how I said I couldn't update often? Well, I was telling the truth… unfortunately. *sigh* This sucks, you know that? Sometimes, in algebra class, I just want to whip out the notebook and the pencil and start writing… but that would be rude, since I'm supposed to be learning about polynomials and complete factoring. _ Blech! Trust me, this ain't a pretty sight. AND (Yes, people, even MORE news.), I have a set of tests, called SOLS, and they're coming up. Now, listen carefully to this little piece of information. These TESTS are important; these are my tickets to 9th grade… if I don't pass… we won't go there. So please don't hurt me if I don't get out Chapter 5 (INUYASHA COMING THROUGH!!!) some time within a two or three week span; I'm so sorry!

P.S. Hey! I reached over 50 reviews! (I saw 400 a minute ago. -_-* I wish.) *smiles happily* My goal for this story by the time I get to the seventh or eighth chapter is 100 reviews. *evil glint* Will you help me? Oh, and thanks to the following people for reviewing my A/N… not that you had to or anything, but I'm grateful they gave me their feedback (=)):

Kitten Kisses: Thanks for supporting me! I'm really glad you see my beliefs, which I've held for like how long now, since third grade? And I'm so sorry, but I didn't mean to rub it in your face about the whole straight 'A' thing. *looks shameful* But hey, good job on the A's in English! *high fives… well, virtual high fives* I mean, I'm good in the grammar part and all, and I'm doing pretty well in the composition part. (My teacher is very picky. -_-*) But when it comes to literature… ugh, don't ask. I've been doing horrible.

Silver Dragon: *looks tired* Yes, all that schoolwork keeps piling up, no matter how hard I finish the swimming pool-sized papers. They just keep coming and coming and coming and coming…. @_@ I'm really sorry if I disappointed you in time. *sigh* I was never good with time… I'm more of the type that will need one year to give you two mind-blowing chapters consecutively. That's like what, six months per chapter? Hmm…. *sees Silver Dragon with a chair* OK! OK! I won't have to make them mind-blowing… I'll settle for great, alright? And as for this being romance…. Um… well, you see…. *fidgets* I can't really write romance. *BONK* Ouch, that hurts. Now, don't expect too much fluff, OK? You'll see bits and pieces of it during the entire course of the fiction, but I promise, you'll be HAPPY in the end.

Christykay: o_0 You haven't gone crazy or anything. Anyways, thanks for your opinion on my Naraku/Kikyo analogy! Hehe… I really don't think Naraku has any redeeming qualities, whereas Kikyo… um… what ARE her redeeming qualities? ^_^ But still, Naraku gives off that creepy vibe that he's 100% evil while she is 100% dead. I think there's some sort of LINE between the two. And thanks for the preaching… yeah, it seems as if this year was trying to get me to loosen up and party… well, read…. ^_^() I'm trying to concentrate again… but I dunno… which looks more tempting to you, polynomials and factoring or a romance story? (LMAO… I can easily choose…. -_-*)

Erin: You are my 50th reviewer!!! THANK YOU FOR BEING MY 50th REVIEWER IN 3 ½ CHAPTERS! I WANT TO THANK YOU; THANKS SOOOOO MUCH! ^_^ It made my HW-filled day much brighter! Thank you for dubbing my story original! Hehe… I was going for that, you know…. Yeah, I like romance done right with some action in it. You want me to tell you some good stories? Well… if I tell you that, then that means I'll have an even less self-esteem than what I already have. *grumble* My favorite stories are way out of my writing and thinking ability. But anyways, enough self-destruction of the ego. Hmm…. Well, I have to say that my favorite story by Snowgirl would have to be The Life of an Assassin. I think it's spelled like that. Another author is Rosefire. Let me tell you this; you have NOT read romance unless you've read hers. I'm telling you, if you're looking for the best romance, she can write. My favorite story out of all the ones she wrote would definitely be Father Figure. And remember: please keep reading my story!!! *gets down on knees and grovels* ^_~ I hope I get picked as Creepiest Writer of the Year! (CWY) Hehe… J/K!

P.P.S. I want to also advertise someone; she's my cousin, and her penname on ff.net is wingweaver2003. She is writing a few stories called: Troubles with Love, Love's Struggle, and Love is in the Air. Go read if you're interested, but I'm warning you: Ignore any major grammatical mistakes. ^_^ She did the same for me, but she forgot my penname and story. -_-* God, where can you expect decent advertising? ^_~

                                              Chapter 4 Pt. 2~ Certain Impressions

          The screen only showed only showed the message briefly, five seconds at most. But five seconds was more than enough for her to read the sentence.

          Her face was frozen in a mask composed of a slightly gaping mouth and wide, disbelieving eyes. She clenched her teeth together and held her breath.

          How?

          The message froze again for a few seconds before the words and smiling face at the end slowly distorted, creating a mess of white and yellow blobs against the black background.

          It flickered once more for good measures, and the mess disappeared in front of her eyes.

          HAVE A NICE DAY.

          Kagome still stared at the screen for a few more minutes, not totally registering the whole display. By then, a few youkai had formed a line behind her, either waiting patiently or impatiently.

          One of them couldn't take it any longer and decided to speak on behalf of the youkai's minds. "Couldja take any longer?" an elder youkai grumped behind her.

          Kagome tore her gaze away from the screen. "Huh? Oh… um, yeah, I'm done," she mumbled, an indecipherable look on her face.

          She turned around and started to walk past the growing line of youkai, but the one behind her spoke up again. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

          It was the 90,000 yens.

          "…Thanks."

          She went back and quickly grabbed the money before starting to depart. But a sudden idea occurred to her. An idea that could either support or deny her suspicion.

          Kagome discreetly dropped a yen by 'accident' near the ATM machine. "Oops, clumsy me!" she feigned surprise and toddled over next to it. "Go ahead. I'm just going to find the yen."

          Amazing what a few theater classes can't do for you….

          The youkai scoffed at Kagome's clumsiness, but went ahead anyways. "What can you do right?"

          She restrained herself from assaulting the rude guy; it wasn't nice to hit elders. Instead, she waited until the soft clink of the yens coming out from the machine sounded before straightening up right away. She glanced casually at the screen to see the message.

       HAVE A NICE DAY.

          Kagome couldn't help but let a little surprise slip over her features. Where was the other message?

          Not bothering to hide the fact that she intended to hover around the ATM for some reason, she observed what happened as each of the youkai withdrew their desired amount of money. The ending, placid message was always the same each time.

          OK….

          When the last person in line left, Kagome decided to try withdrawing some money again. She definitely saw things, and this was probably one of those times.

          Standing in front of the machine, she went through the standard procedure, pressing in her account number. When it came time for the amount of yens she wanted, she pushed in a random number: 100.

          Kagome waited for the money to come out instantly like it had done for the past eight youkai. She was also waiting for the good-bye message.

          The screen processed the account number and amount of money for a few minutes. It began to blink several times and froze.

          "This did not happen with the others," she whispered, eyes bulging at the familiar pattern.

          Nervously, she kicked the machine softly, almost a nudge. That was all that was needed; the screen stopped its incessant blinking, and the yens came out. And again, she saw the message on the screen.

          DON'T RUN; HE WILL GET YOU. :)

          The extra command worked fine right then; Kagome's grip on the edges of the machine tightened a whole lot more than a normal human could muster, and her legs nearly buckled. This was a sure blow to her false sense of security.

          And to think she finally escaped….

          Within five seconds, the words blurred together.

                                                                        ~*~*~*~

          Kagome paid the hospital the fee and left without a word. Dr. Hiro's eyes nearly fell out of its sockets when he saw the money. "Whoa! I was just kid…"

          "Keep it," she muttered distantly, already reaching the door.

          "Sure, whatever you say," he answered, mentally whistling at the sight of the innumerable yens.

          She exited the building and walked wherever her legs carried her. It was one of those days where everything was annoyingly cheerful and perfect; she did not feel happy and pretty. On contrary, Kagome felt sick and crappy.

         What was that about?

          She had a distinct feeling that she knew the answer to that mental question, and it scared her that he could be here. He could be the grocery man smiling kindly at her right now… he could be the telephone man fixing the telephone pole right next to her.

          With paranoia threatening to take over, Kagome stopped walking and darted into the nearest building in hopes of shaking off the nasty feeling that she was being watched. As she entered, a little bell plastered to the door gave off a little ding, signaling to the storeowner that a customer was inside.

          "Ring the bell!"

          A familiar phrase sounded throughout the store, and Kagome looked up with a smile; it was the gas station! During her little sleepover at the hospital, the nurses and doctors allowed patients to roam around town, (It was that small.) just as long as they returned to the hospital every night. And yes, she still thought this particular hospital system was cheap.

          She had visited the gas station during the trial period, since it was the first place she had entered in the town, and it was safe to say that she was a pretty familiarized acquaintance with Shippo and his family.

          "You wouldn't want me to throw cherries at you again, would you?" Kagome called back teasingly. Her problems were momentarily forgotten.

          "Kagome!" the object yelled gleefully, covering itself with smoke; it cleared almost instantly. "Hey!"

          "Why are you so happy to see me?"

          "I'm always happy when you visit the gas station. Besides, it's a really, really, really slow day for business. It's super boring around here."

          She laughed as he pretended to fall asleep. Shippo swooned and fell over the counter, confident that his friend would catch him; however, that wasn't the case, since Kagome was still a bit jumpy and moved out of his falling path, thus letting him end up with a mashed head.

          "… Ow… you were supposed to catch me…."

          "Oops…" she mumbled apologetically, "I thought you would catch yourself before you hit."

          "I'm a fox demon, not Superman."

          Kagome picked up the still bruising child and began rubbing his head gently. "You feeling better?" she asked affectionately after a few seconds passed.

          "Yep…" Shippo murmured drowsily. This was comfortable, no doubt. After a moment, he was jerked awake when Kagome asked the dreaded question.

          "So… is my car fixed?"

          He opened his eyes, and his spirit dampened at the mention of the word 'car'. "Well… um," he began fiddling with his shirt, "I… we… I mean, my dad didn't… er… have time… yeah, time, to go and… um… well, pick up your dead car. Yeah, that's it! He didn't have time to go and pick up your car. So it's really back in the corn field where you left it."

          Kagome noted how proud Shippo was for thinking up of such a silly fib. He wasn't exactly a good liar, either.

          But then again, I'm not exactly sly material either.

          "You little weasel, I know for a fact that your parents came and picked up my car. I mean, my license plate is hanging on the wall! And I don't think it's legal anywhere for a person to steal a plate," she said jovially, pointing to a specific license plate.

          Immediately, he went into defense mode. "Aw… why can't you stay here? Why do you need your car fixed so soon?" Shippo looked up at her with big, irresistible eyes. It was time to use his most powerful weapon: his notorious sympathy act.

          "Because I have to leave town and everything; I have to live somewhere. I can't stay in a hospital forever…. They charge you 90,000 yens for two nights! And besides, I don't think the doctors will agree to unharmed patients using the operation room as a little bedroom."

          "But you can stay here instead of moving away! And you can rent our home as a place to live. And we'll charge you less than 90,000 yens, and it won't be illegal!"

          "What about money? I can't just withdraw from my account every month; I worked my butt off trying to save all those yens."

          "You can get a job in the town. I think McDonald's is hiring."

          "What about clothes? I can't just wear this outfit everyday. That would be really disgusting, you know. And I don't really see a mall or some place where I could buy some new pants and stuff."

          "Oh, don't worry about that. The supermarket sells food, used car parts, and clothes!"

          Dang, he knows his way around town…. He's too good at his own game.

          Shippo could see that she was beginning to teeter towards his side, so he brought out the heavy artillery to push her over the edge; his eyes began to water.

          "Don't cry," she said, more out of reflex, "It's OK, really. I appreciate your offer, but I just can't stay."

          Now he was really starting to sniffle. "But why?" he asked, pouting, "Why can't you stay here? Why do you want to move to Australia or France?"

          Australia? France?

          "Well, I'm not really going to move to those places, but I have to go because… because I want to," she finished lamely.

          In truth, Kagome had no idea why she had this sense of urgency that made her want to drive away from this town quickly. Why couldn't she live here? After all, McDonald's could be her next job, and she would have a roof over her head. What was wrong with her staying in this town?

          It was her stupid sixth sense worrying her about a certain feeling that spelled out D-E-M-I-S-E in her head.

          Shippo looked up at her with an accusing finger, "That's really old and not even a good reason. Don't… don't you want to stay near me?"

          Kagome, who was guiltily ignoring him for the past minutes, looked down at him when he asked that question. It was more of his squeaking voice than his question that made her realize that she wasn't the only person in the room. "Actually… I guess… I mean, I could stay here for a few couple of days."

          Or months….

          Shippo tucked away his accusing finger and gaped at her, stunned. That was too easy, and he knew how she liked to follow her beliefs. "What's the catch?" he asked suspiciously, eyeing her carefully.

          Kagome laughed and answered, "Nothing. I guess you have a point, so why not? I'll try living here for a bit."

          Before she could even finish her reply, he had already jumped off her arms and onto the counter, dancing. "Kagome's staying! Kagome's staying!" he sang happily.

          At least someone's excited for me.

          "What's going on?"

          Both turned around to see Shippo's father coming out from the 'working' room, where he mainly fixed the cars. He actually had a name, but Kagome couldn't pronounce it correctly. "Hello, Mr. Shippo's Dad," she greeted him with a wave.

          Shippo cut in with a rushed, indifferent hello, followed by the groundbreaking announcement. "You don't have to fix her car so soon! She's staying with us in town!"

          "Really?"

          "Yeah!"

          "Well, it was too bad, because I'm almost done with her car."

          "Stop influencing her, Daddy!"

          "I can't help it…. I mean, if she's staying in town, where is she going to find money?"

          "McDonald's."

          "What about where she'll buy her clothes?"

          "Oh, the supermarket sells food, used car parts, and clothes."

          "Where will she sleep and reside when she's not working?"

          "In the gas station."

          "She will?"

          He seemed surprised by that comment. It was very rare for a family to shelter a person they knew in two or three days, but it was even rarer when Shippo exclaimed that he would let his friend sleep inside the gas station.

          "I mean, is it OK with you?" Kagome asked nervously, "I wouldn't want to interfere or feel like I'm barging into your lives abruptly or anything."

          "Oh no, it's fine. We just have to consult with the wife," he assured her, "Then it's all set, provided you sign the paperwork and such."

          And he toddled off to talk to Mrs. Shippo's Mom.

          Meanwhile, Kagome was still blinking, astounded at how easily she received a home. "Wow…" she mumbled, "I could get used to this kind of living."

          Shippo, on the other hand, was seemingly gloating over his latest accomplishment.

                                                                      ~*~*~*~

          Kagome had to settle some business before she could apply for the job. The first thing was to talk to Shippo's parents about the rent. After greeting Mrs. Shippo's Mom, who was a small, plump lady with attributes resembling her son and husband, Kagome and she began their paperwork. She ended up signing about 11 different places and agreeing to pay for about one-fourth of the food bill.

          Oh jeez…5000 yens per month…. That's way better than the hospital's amount.

          When that was done and over with, her next thing on the To-Do List was to buy some new clothes. After Shippo gave her directions to reach the grocery store, she wound up lost. She had to retrace her steps for a half hour before finally reaching the grocery store. She immediately went inside and grabbed two shirts and pants off the rack along with some undergarments before marching to the register to purchase them.

          I can't believe I ended up at a cheese store….

          For once in her life, Kagome was not willing to shop for new clothes so soon.

          Finally, she was going to apply for the job at McDonald's. It seemed as if it was the only place that was hiring.

          She thought applying for a job at McDonald's would be under 15 minutes. She was in, she was out, BAM! She had a job. She thought the only résumé needed was the ability to ask, "You want fries with that?"

          Turns out that this certain restaurant was a little bit pickier. The manager, Mr. Himiya, had demanded a college education, top manners overall, and superb cleaning skills. She understood why top manners and superb cleaning skills were included in the criteria….

          But why college education?!?!

          Kagome had no idea why an education was needed (She had seen a 15 year old work as a cook in one of the restaurants before.), but she didn't dare ask. The first rule to winning a job was to never ask; let the boss do the asking, unless it was something important, like going to the bathroom.

          Mr. Himiya had researched her diploma; he used a magnifying glass to look over it for proof that this wasn't some paper she printed out of the computer. He even went to her college site and looked up the graduates' names this year for actual verification. After 20 long, tedious minutes, he was satisfied.

          The next standard was how to behave. He tested her to see how far he could go to snap her tolerance. Mr. Himiya went from throwing minor insults composed of "You suck at your job" or something similar to that effect to physically throwing McNuggets at her. "You have to be prepared for the worsst of cusstomerss," he said wisely when her face turned a violent shade of red.

          The last benchmark was a test on cleaning skills. This, considered by him, was the greatest factor of all. If Kagome was able to clean decently, then she was in the McDonald's business. This, in fact, was the hardest test to overcome. Mr. Himiya placed her in different types of cleaning situations, such as milkshake accidents to gum on the floor. She wiped counters to declogging toilets, which was the most revolting thing. By the end of the two-hour interview, she carried around with her the permanent stench of Lysol.

          However, it was worth it, since Kagome received the job. She also formed a deep respect for McDonald's workers.

          Running out of the restaurant and across the street, she barged through the gas station, breathless. "I got the job!" she screamed as loudly as she could. "I got the job, I got the job!"

          Shippo didn't get to hear her screams of joy, however; he was too busy lying on top of the counter, taking a nap. It wasn't until she picked him up and started dancing around the room, yipping incoherently (Well, to him it sounded incoherent.), did he wake from his peaceful sleep. "Huh…? Uurgh… headache… dizzy…."

          "Shippo! I got the job!" Kagome screamed happily again before crushing him into a hug, twirling around once more.

          "Ugh… that's great and all, but could you stop moving around? I was taking a nap…" he yawned, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to remove all the sleep in his eyes.

          "No, I can't stop moving around! I used every bit of my cleaning knowledge to get in during the last two-hour interview! Did you know how hard I used my skills just to get into the McDonald's business?" she demanded.

          "I thought the only thing you needed to know was 'Do you want to super-size that?'," he mumbled, successfully alert now.

          Kagome snorted and replied, looking annoyed for a moment, "Hardly. I thought so, too. But Mr. Himiya wanted a college diploma, super manners, and wonderful cleaning skills. I had to apply what I haven't done in two years just to get the job. I swear… if he wasn't my boss, I would have bashed his head for throwing those French fries at me."

          Shippo ignored the last comment; he was much interested in something else. "Didja get your uniform yet?" he asked slyly.

          "Nope," she muttered, shaking her head, "And thank God. He's giving me the clothes tomorrow. God, I hope I don't have to wear those corny hats with the 'M' logo on it."

          He looked downtrodden for a moment, but brightened again. "Oh well. When you come home tomorrow, make sure you don't take it off before I see it, OK?"

          She laughed, but agreed nonetheless. "Fine."

                                                                        ~*~*~*~

          Kagome went to bed early that night; she was supposed to wake up at 7 A.M. the next day, and she didn't want to go to work on her first day late. That would be a bad impression, and she didn't want to make any more of those.

          As she basked under the comfort of the bed, she felt a slight weight coming down on top of her chest. She thought it was just the blanket, but comforters don't move. In this case, the blanket was moving up and down, up and down.

          "Wake up…"

          Kagome heard a little voice whisper into her left ear, but brushed it away. It was probably her imagination.

          "Wake up," it tried again, "It's 7:30 A.M."

          "Mm… go away… it's too early to wake up…" she mumbled, burrowing her head into the soft, plushy pillow. To show that she wasn't going anywhere, she slumped further beneath her covers, too.

          "But… what about McDonald's?"

          "McDonald's can wa…."

          Finally, the time and words got through to her, and her eyes snapped open. She craned her neck a bit to look at the clock; it read 7:31 A.M. "Oh God, I'm late!" she shrieked, scrambling out of bed. Shippo fell of her chest unceremoniously along the way.

          Crap… this isn't good.

          "I was supposed to be at McDonald's by 7:20 A.M." Kagome muttered, slamming the bathroom door shut. She allowed herself to cuss mildly just that one time for her ineptitude.

          She came running out of the bathroom and nearly tripped over her half-worn shoes. She zoomed through the kitchen and down the stairs, leading her into the gas station. Closing the door none too gently, she ran by Shippo, who was disguised as a bell once more. "Hope today's gonna be busy for you!" she called over her shoulders.

          "Oof!" Kagome grunted when she collided into an entering customer. "Sorry!"

          She babbled out the apology, sidestepping him in the process. She had no time to look the stranger in the eye and repeat her 'sorry'; she was late enough as it is!

          And so, with that thought in mind, she exited the station hurriedly.

          The stranger just stared at her back, smiling in amusement before turning his attention to the gas station once again.

          "Hello?"

          "Ring the bell!"

          He complied and found himself face-to-face with a boy named Shippo. "Welcome to the Gas Station! I'm Shippo, your secretary. How can I help you?"

                                                                        ~*~*~*~

          Mr. Himiya was not happy when Kagome barreled her way in. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I overslept and…"

          He cut her off with a little stare, and his eyes narrowed into green slits. "Thiss iss not a good impression to make!"

          Did she mention he was a snake youkai?

          Nodding furiously to make the point that she understood all too well, Kagome watched nervously as he moved behind the counter. She hoped that he wasn't writing out her first and only check.

          Please don't let me be fired….

          Mr. Himiya rifled through one of the drawers for a few moments before coming up with a plausible-looking yellow skirt and red shirt with 'M' logos on both.

          Yay! No French fries costume! Or that ugly hat, either.

          "Here'ss the attire you wear. Don't losse it," he explained. He decided to give the poor human girl a break, since her race wasn't a very smart one. "You wassh it yoursself, and you make ssure you wear the exact thing. Got it?"

          Nodding wordlessly again, Kagome took the clothes and walked towards the toiletry room.

                                                                   ~*~*~*~

          For all the times she grumbled at her mom for making her clean the dinner tables and such, she now thanked her quietly for making her do all those house chores; they came so much in handy for this job.

          The morning hours were relatively busy; Kagome served breakfast while making them.

          Where are the cook and everybody who work in this place?

          During lunchtime, even more hungry eaters swarmed in; she was about to kiss her employees' feet when some of them entered the building.

          "How come you weren't here in the morning?" she asked one of the cooks while patiently waiting for the food order to come.

          "We work during lunch and dinner hours," he grunted in reply, poking at a pink meat patty.

          Oh, I guess I didn't specify what type of hours I was going to work in. Stupid….

          After that, Kagome distanced herself from the workers. Other than that, lunch went fine.

          By the time dinner shift rolled around, there were youkai lounging around the tables, talking or eating casually. It resembled more of a leisure café than a fast-food restaurant.

          She was relieved that the amount of youkai were winding down; if Kagome gave one more ear-splitting smile or ask in her coarse voice 'You want fries with that?' one more time, she would personally smash her head through the cashier.

          A citified person is never cut out for the countrified people…. Now I understand why I never took jobs as waitresses or chefs….

          Kagome desperately wished the clock to strike 9 P.M. so she could pack up and go home quickly. "For the love of hot chocolate," she mumbled, clearly irascible. Her nails drummed constantly, hoping the long minute hand would strike 12.

          Hurry up… come on… just a little more….

          It was 9 o'clock, and she mentally cried at the beautiful sight.

          The store is closed, and I can go to sleep… thankfully.

          Grabbing her coat on the hanging rack, she waved cheerfully and bid farewell to her coworkers.

          As she exited the restaurant and walked across the street, she began to idly examine her hands. They were, at the moment, lathered with dry grease.

          Disgusting.

          She would've been washing her hands right now with the strongest-scented soap she could find, but Kagome had to go and not mention which shift(s) she wanted to work in.

          She suddenly noticed how everything seemed to be illuminated tonight, especially her. Looking up, Kagome saw that it was the full moon.

          She forced herself not to stare into its lonely, hypnotizing beauty. She didn't need to explain why she didn't like them anymore.

                                                                        ~*~*~*~

          It was amazing how rotten her luck was that day. She had entered late on her first day of work, barreled right into a stranger, and had worked three grueling shifts.

          She thought it couldn't go downhill anymore, since she was within 15 feet from the gas station. Kagome wasn't capable of getting into any more trouble when her home base was practically right in front of her.

          A cute dog was sitting upright stiffly about a feet from the gas station entrance. His white, delicate fur, with the exception of near his gray paws, swayed gently to the soft blow of the wind, and his eyes were squeezed tight.

          "Cute doggy," she immediately cooed, stopping in front of the Huskie. Kagome stopped down to gently pat its head before shooing it out of the way.

          Before she could even extend her hand, the dog's eyes snapped open, revealing them to be an emerald green color. At once, she had the little nagging voice/sixth sense telling her that this situation was a bit more warped than it looked like.

          Déjà vu….

          The once submissive doggy saw her extended hand and growled threateningly, as if to say, "Don't touch me!"

           He was probably saying that in dog-language. His eyes glinted suddenly, and he began to snarl and snap his jaw at her.

          Backing off, Kagome tried in vain to calm him down for whatever reason he had for feeling intimidated by her. "I-I didn't mean to insult you or anything…."

          The stuttered apology didn't work, as the dog half-heartedly sprang forward without a warning in an attempt to knock her down. She jumped out of the way easily but skittishly and forgot all about sleep and the gas station; she bolted in a random direction, which happened to be to the left. The dog didn't give up, unfortunately, and continued on her trail.

          My God, what a rabid dog!

          Kagome kept running, trying her best to ignore a growing cramp developing on her right side and tripping over occasionally on rocks and clumps of dirt. She had no idea where she was going to end up, as long as she escaped the raging Huskie.

          The mutt, on the other hand, had a different plan in mind to where she was going to end up. This time, the dog focused on its moving objective and jumped.

          "Ah!" Kagome gasped, startled. The sudden weight appeared on top of her back, and her tired legs immediately gave out, causing her to crumple to the ground, the dog on top. She couldn't escape, since he was sitting on top of her exposed back, only protected by the thin layer of shirt she was wearing.

          Don't hurt me… a-ah….

          She suddenly felt something sharp, almost knife-like, thrust itself into her soft, tender flesh on her back just beneath her shoulder blade; she didn't move, thinking that if she did, then it would encourage the Huskie to do even more damage to her back.

          Suddenly, the pointed object jerked itself away from inside her, and she winced as some of her skin ripped from inside and around the hole, sticking onto the knife-like thing. Kagome thought for a fleeting second that it wouldn't do that that again.

          How foolish that thought was.

          The pain came back again, this time, streaking from her upper back to her hip. It was unbearable, and she began to cry. It didn't take her too long-only two minutes-to figure out that the dog was trying to claw her to shreds of human pieces. His claws dug deeper when he saw that she wasn't yelling, and his snout curled a bit as she began to whimper. With a savage snarl, he roughly dragged them across her back, making long, ragged, red trails of red appear along the way. Bits of human tissues splattered across the front of the dog's side, and his snout only curled even more as she screamed in pain.

          Kagome felt the blood spurt from the bloody mess on her back; it gurgled angrily, almost like acid, before spilling over to her sides and soaking the flimsy, cotton blouse. It was too much for the shirt, and soon the blood was dripping through the chemise. Her jagged flesh was being hanging barely onto her body, and a cool wind blew, stinging her injury.

          I don't think playing dead is right.

          She didn't know how she was going to get out of this deadly scenario, since a big dog was on top of her, tearing her back into torn pieces of skin. The Huskie was tired of hearing her whimper; he wanted her to scream in pain, to sob out loud, crying to a lesser mammal to stop his assault. With an even bigger thought in mind, he took his claws leisurely out of the ending puncture holes created near her hips and started for her head.

          This caused a shift in weight, and Kagome had somehow managed to free one leg; one leg was more than enough. With a yelp, she lifted it slightly and rammed it into the dog's abdomen. Heeled shoes were at an advantage at some point, and this was one of those times. The surprised attack stunned the dog momentarily, and he fell a bit off her. But the little extra change in weight was just enough for her to scramble away from under the dog, even if the jerky actions made her back bleed more.

          As Kagome began the game of Cat and Mouse again, she touched her back like before in her apartment. However, this time, it was her own blood, and she flinched as her hand tentatively touched the raw flesh leaving a blood drip every few seconds behind her, creating a noticeable track leading towards wherever she would be heading. Another cool wind blew to the right, picking up some sand along its way. As it hit her in the face, the wound opened a bit more painfully.

          The Huskie, now recovered, scrambled back to his feet again. This time, he was angry. With a low, guttural growl, he bounded once again towards his bleeding aim.

          Cold water drops began to fall distantly, just lightly sprinkling the ground with its wetness.

          Oh no… it's raining.

          Kagome bit back an awful swear as she tore down the streets as fast as her legs were allowed to go. Her back was profusely bleeding from the strenuous exercise, and if she didn't stop sometimes soon, she would collapse from loss of blood.

         Turning her head, Kagome hoped that the carnivorous Huskie wasn't behind her.

          He was.

          And he was gaining on her steadily, too. Kagome whipped her head around, wishing she hadn't done that. His claws had already raked more than half of her outer skin on the back, and she didn't need the second layer to follow suit. She imagined having her veins ripped out of her body like an electrical wire part of a VCR, and she didn't like it… not the conjured feeling, not how her made up blood spilled around her everywhere…. Actually, that was reality, but she was imagining even more blood.

          The blood had already soaked right through her shirt, and it was spreading outwards, now. Pretty soon, Kagome would be dry of it….

          She suddenly swiveled sharply to the right and continued down the random street. She came upon an intersection and took a left. Left, right, left, right… Kagome alternated her turns in a worthless attempt to escape the dog, however close he was to her heels right then. At one point, she couldn't run anymore, as the pain in her hips grew to a certain extent where she couldn't even stand still without feeling dizzy or nauseous, and she stopped point-blank.

          Not too much loss….

          She leaned against the rough, cool bricks heavily, taking in ragged breaths and trying to calm her heart down; it was earth shattering in her ears, and it was all she heard while trying to regulate her breathing once more. The whole time, she kept her eyes shut; she didn't want to hyperventilate by the presence of the mangy mutt with his bloody paws and sharp snout. The wall supporting her began to run with her blood.

          Kagome couldn't help it; she didn't want to open her eyes and face the dog again… not while she was in this deathly condition. But something made her peek out from under her lids, and she was forced to see… that the dog was nowhere within 15 feet in range. She nearly cried out in joy at this sudden revelation, but quieted herself before anything came out of her mouth.

          There was no way she was going to attract that dog again.

          Breathe….

          Kagome closed her eyes again, this time, a bit more peacefully than before. Her sweat-drenched face relaxed slightly, and her lips eventually loosened from its grim curl. Her hair still clung to her neck and back, but only because the rain was coming down a bit harder, but not too much, than before. The only thing that showed no signs of stopping was her openly bleeding wound.

          As her eyes stayed closed longer, her other senses began to sharpen. The bricks behind her felt ten times rougher and harder than before, and she felt the cool rain splash upon her skin. They came as sharp pricks, and after a while, it began to hurt her skin. It felt like many bees were stinging her all at once, and she frowned in discomfort. Kagome's hearing also honed in on the miniscule sounds she hadn't caught before. With the exception of the rain falling, she heard all sorts of noises, some creaks and groans that sprung out of nowhere, and….

          Her eyes snapped open and she froze, including her breathing. The Huskie was standing in front of her, eyes trained only on hers. They gleamed in the moonlight, malicious and looking ready for hunting down.

          "… Um… nice doggy…?"

          This only agitated the dog's annoyance further. He seemed to be glowing an aura that screamed in Kagome's face, "I'm gonna rip your head off after I skin you to bits…."

          He didn't seem to move, but only kept his eyes on her. Kagome didn't want to break his gaze; she didn't want to run again. As she stared back at the dog fearfully, she began to feel slightly drained, exhausted. Her body felt overworked, and her limbs burned and bunched up into a taut ball of muscles. It tightened more and more until the pain was overbearing and tears welled up in her eyes.

          She couldn't explain what was happening, but she still didn't dare to look away from the dog. Kagome couldn't feel the bricks on her palms, and her cheeks no longer felt the few wisps of strands of hair lightly playing across her face. She wasn't able to move her tongue or budge.

          He's paralyzing me!

          By the time she realized this, it was too late. Kagome couldn't control her body movements anymore. The only thing moving was the blood dispersing from the nasty gash on her back, and it was still going strong. This time, she tried to avert her gaze to try and slow down the paralysis process, and found that she couldn't tear her stare from his. After a few more minutes, he slowly looked down towards the ground, satisfied that she couldn't move. Kagome discovered after he released his eyes from hers, she could roll them around. God help her if the dog was going to shred them to organ bits.

          But, surprisingly, the dog didn't. In fact, he did something Kagome would never have guessed. The Huskie stood there for a moment, his green eyes clouding, almost lost in another world. Slowly, before her eyes, his fur ceased to have been on his body in the first place; he resembled an overgrown Chihuahua, and she would've laughed, if it hadn't been for the current situation she was in and the tiny, little detail that her throat was also paralyzed. Its eyes that rested on both sides of the faces swam forth until it stopped in front of the face. The sharp eyes grew big and dilated to match those of a human's. The bared snout shrank in size, and the teeth became unsharpened. The lips formed around the nude flesh surrounding the teeth and turned a dark shade of pink, on the verge of red. The body had formatted to fit that of a lean man, and the hind legs snapped, cracked, and broke to form into a human leg. The repulsive sounds echoed throughout the desolate street. His paws sickeningly formed webs, then fingers, and the claws dulled, thankfully. But she saw her blood and bits of torn flesh underneath the nails. The pressure of the rain increased even more.

          The dog-turned-fully-human now lay on the floor, head hunched. He was taking in deep, unsteady breaths, as if the whole body shifting was too much for his strength to handle. Suddenly, he looked up to see Kagome, and his face crinkled into a delighted grin; the man began to chuckle proudly. "I got you."

          Kagome, meanwhile, was struggling to move, and only succeeded in whimpering. It sounded barely as she tried to work with a paralyzed throat. She stopped squirming as soon as she heard the words.

          … It can't be….

          She was dumbstruck; how was this possible? She ran away! He wasn't supposed to find her here! How did he do it? He wasn't able to locate her in one small town.

          How? How?!?! You son of a-

          Her thoughts were cut off when she saw him advancing towards her, crawling on his hands and knees slowly, stealthily.  Alarm bells went off in her head, warning her of something dangerous about to happen, as he stopped in front of her and straightened up, making him looming over her. "Well," he said when he noticed her looking somewhere else besides in front of him. "I finally got you. You little cow… running away when I told you not to…."

          The man became angry from the mere thought that someone, a woman, no less, would disobey him. "You wretched little…."

          He began to shake from it, and a wave of dreaded anticipation crept up on her. He wasn't going to-

          The man's hand flew out fast and struck a blow across her face, the action so fast that she had gone blank for a few moments. She really didn't feel anything as the shock wore off. Her cheeks were numb, and she was partially grateful for at least an advantage.

          Too bad she just had to go and jinx herself. Suddenly, the pain entered her nerves, growing from a dull, low point to an intense, spreading one "Ow…" she moaned, her cheek throbbing. That was when she realized she could talk.

          "I guess the effects are wearing off a bit quicker than I thought," he muttered, smiling. But there was something disturbingly wrong with the smile.

          It's familiar….

          Where had she seen that smile?

          "Now that you are beginning to feel your body, let's try this again," he said, grinning from ear to ear.

          His hand reached down and grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking her upwards. Once her face was leveled with his, he whispered, "I want to hear you cry… so entertain me with your pathetic tears."

          And with that, he threw her to the side and onto the street like a rag doll. By this time, the effects of paralysis had worn off to around near her shoulders. As she fell, Kagome felt an especially sharp rock puncture her shoulder blade, scratching at it away.  Kagome bit back the cry threatening to escape her lips; she wasn't going to give the sick man the happiness he wanted so badly.

          The two kept at this for 15 minutes, each time, one being the physically offense and the other playing a lack of defense. The pain increased more, and Kagome found herself wanting to give up at certain times and cry out for him to stop. But she didn't; the thought of giving up to a bastard of a criminal like him was enough to will herself to bite down her cry of pain and let him carry on his business.

          On the last blow, the man punched her in the left ribcage, severing one of the bones. At this point, she could feel all of her body parts, even the bruises and cuts. But Kagome couldn't fight back; her hands were twisted above her head, and her feet were positioned in such a way so that she couldn't kick. All of her breath was knocked out of her, and she felt lightheaded for a moment; then the image of a broken bone inside her body brought in the hurt that came along with it, and it slammed into her smashed stomach. He let go of her, and she crumpled to the ground in a pile of broken heap, something that greatly disappointed the man.

          "Get up; you're stronger than this, you pathetic girl."

          The man backed up his words with several kicks directed in the broken ribs, causing pain to shoot as far up as into her arms. It hurt… she had to admit, it hurt like hell. But it wasn't just the fading kind of hurt; it was more of the permanent kind, where it lasted for quite some time before showing any signs of disappearing. She felt like her arms were on fire. "Ah…" she winced and squeezed her eyes shut again, hoping it would go away.

          Funny how this is so familiar….

          Somehow… she had this feeling as she was lying on the ground, being kicked to death, that this scene had replayed itself somewhere before.

          The dream.

          Kagome's eyes shot open, regardless of the beating, and she realized what was going on… the pain, the fire, hands that made her feel weighted down, paralysis….

          Before she could finish her suspicion inside her head, a hand gripped around her throat and pulled her up. "Darn, you're still not yelling yet."

          He smiled a little too earnestly before slamming her against the soaked bricks, the momentum causing chunks of them to fly off. Now, she was dangling several inches off the ground. Kagome tried to glare at a trash can in the distance, but the man jerked her head painfully to meet his. "You aren't a very good distraction. So I guess it's settled; I'll have my fun another way."

          She made no remark; she was confident he would release her soon and continue with her bashing. Why she thought of that, she didn't know. Kagome was obviously wrong, since his hand crept into his side pocket and  brought out a pocketknife.

          Her eyes widened frighteningly, and she began to feverishly scratch at his hands. "Now you decide to listen," he stated, looking a bit pleased, "But oh well. Toys come and go."

          Within a blink, his knife shot up, ready to easily pass through the soft skin beneath her chin… and stopped. Instead, it grazed her skin, and a little line of blood began to appear.

          "Wait… I think I might want to keep at this a little longer," he said tauntingly, "Should I kill you here, or here?"

          As the vile words came spurting out of his mouth, he leaned in a bit to see her reaction; it was pouring very hard by now, and Kagome had to constantly blink to get the water out of her eyes.

          Something furry was moving.

          It was attached to the man, and Kagome knew it was a tail from past experiences with encounters with deer, foxes, and dogs. She knew the killer wasn't a demon, too.

          So why…. Unless…. No… n-no….

          He had emerald eyes and a tail. Kagome knew few youkai who had these traits, but only one person knew how to do that feat, from dog to man, or whatever he desired. She didn't want to believe it… but she was stunned nevertheless.

          "Right here," the man finished, pointing his knife near her temple, "Right here, I'll kill you."

          His hand drew back for the final, bloody blow, hand tightened still around her small neck. Kagome suddenly sprang into action, trying to pry his hands away, but it was futile. The knife came at a blundering speed, aimed at its target.

          "S-shippo…."

          The knife stopped miraculously within a mere hair from her head.

          For a moment, no one moved. She raised her eyes to meet his, still struggling. It was no surprise that the man was a bit baffled by the single-worded accusation for a moment, but he covered it up with a mask of snarling. "Who the hell is 'Shippo'?!?!"

          "D-don't lie…" she choked, beginning to suffocate terribly from the lack of oxygen.

          "What are you talking about?" the man was taken aback at the pressed allegations, and he didn't like it.

          The only answer was a gagging sound… and a pointing finger.

          Enraged, he knocked her to the ground, thus releasing her; he began to back away.

          "I'm not Shippo or whoever you're talking about!"

          "If you're not him, then why are you panicking?" she screamed over the loud roar of the rain. "If you weren't Shippo, you would have killed me now, even with my stupid mutterings! Even…."

          "Shut up!" the man roared, backing away slightly.

          "I thought you cared for me!" she yelled, trembling to stand up, "How could you? Why?"

          "I always did care for you!" he screamed back, "I always did as a friend! B-but…."

          By now, the man had stopped backing up and a familiar puff of smoke surrounded his body; when it cleared, there was Shippo in his true form, hunched over his tiny body, crying.

          "Things happen, and they change you," he began to mutter, sobbing violently.

          Kagome, who had successfully mastered standing up, stumbled towards him, using the wall for support often. She had heard him whisper something, but didn't care now. "W-why? Why would you hurt me?" she asked feebly, her vision beginning to darken. This was probably from the huge amount of blood loss on her back.

          The rain had decided to loosen up, and now, it wasn't pouring and drenching the two lone figures. The soft patter of it sounded throughout the hurting silence.

          "It was either you or them," he quivered, backing up against the wall and curling himself into a small, fuzzy ball, "It was you or them."

          What?

          Shippo seemed to have caught onto her confused feeling, because he said in a tiny voice that was filled with grief, "He gave me a choice: you or them. I couldn't let them die…. What kind of person would choose over his own…?"

          "What?" Kagome interrupted trying to clear her muddled head. She was in front of him and bent down to try to touch and comfort the child. But her legs gave out, and she ended up in front of Shippo.

          Oh no… I can't even stand.

          "Him!" Shippo burst out, crying, "T-they wouldn't do it, so he used me in return for them…."

          Kagome reached out to gather him into her arms, and he flinched at the touch. She didn't notice, since her sight was becoming even worse. "I'm sorry… please, I'm sorry…" he cried, eyes spilling tears.

          Weakly, she brought him close to her chest and stroked his head. "It's OK… it's OK…" she whispered softly. But she was lying, lying straight through her teeth. Her only friend had stabbed her… emotionally and physically.

          Her vision was completely dark, her sense of touch was no more. The rapid but decreasing rain dulled in her ears, and she half-heard Shippo shaking in her arms.

          Kagome fell to the side, head knocking against the road, and she lay there, unconscious. The injury had become a very tender, sensitive scar while the water washed away the blood that had fallen against the wall, the trail, and Shippo's paw.

                                                                      ~*~*~*~

          Oh my God.

          She had jerked awake immediately after that, panting. "Not again," she groaned, wiping the sweat off her face.

          This was the second time in a row Kagome had these dreams, and she didn't like them; she was pretty sure the feeling was mutual, too, if dreams could feel.

          She made an effort to get out of the sticky bed and eventually made her way into the small but clean bathroom. Flicking on the light bulb, she squinted as the blinding glow found its way through her closed lids. "Ah!" she mumbled, blinking rapidly to familiarize herself with a change in her dark habitat.

          Dumb…idiotic…who invented light….

          Kagome leaned against the bathroom counter, closing her eyes for a minute. When she opened them, she saw her reflection, and it wasn't exactly what she would call a perfect hair day. Her eyes sported dark bags, and her hair was in a disarray, sticking wildly out everywhere. She inhaled a bit and grimaced a bit at the sudden stab in her stomach.

          Rats… she had forgotten all about her abused ribcage.

          Turning on the faucet, Kagome began to splash her face with water in hopes of clearing her head. "What's going on?" a sleepy voice called by the doorway. She turned around… and saw Shippo.

          "Oh, hey," she said softly, all annoyance gone, "Nothing. Just another dream."

          "About what?"

          "The past, as usual," she muttered, resisting the urge to throw a bar of soap at the wall in an attempt to vent her frustration.

          Yes, she had been through three different towns, and they all ended the same: he would find her. That dream where she first met Shippo… that was the first town. She had only stayed there for three days before resorting to living on the road again. Her last hideout was the longest by far, three weeks before he discovered her. Kagome found that if she skipped around places, it would make it much harder for him to find her.

          "Well," Shippo interrupted her reminiscence, "I'll be sleeping now. Night."

          "Night," she answered, looking at him sadly as he left.

          Family's gone… like me….

          Kagome was back to thinking again. She was a bit more terrified now that she knew one thing about the man's distorted personality: he liked to hurt people around her before actually coming after her. There was no way he was going to get Shippo; She'd be damned if he laid a single finger on the boy… the only way she could save him from the guy was to take him along for the ride.

          Some ride this was.

                                                                            ~*~*~*~

          Morning came agonizingly slow for Kagome, who stayed up all night again. She crawled into the bedroom and noticed that Shippo was curled up on her bed, sleeping soundly. "Let's go," she shook him a bit to wake him up.

          He mumbled something and turned away from her. She sighed and picked him up to put him in the car. Then, she picked Buyo up by the collar and dragged both of them (Well, just Buyo.) to her car outside.

           Kagome entered the main lobby of the motel and walked up to the receptionist, who was busily filing her nails while watching a black and white T.V. "Excuse me," she began politely, trying to get the receptionist's attention.

          "Yes?"

          "I'd like to pay for last night, please."

          "Sure…" the receptionist trailed off as the female on the screen started across the room for the male.

          "I would like to pay now."

          "Hold your bottom…" she replied aggravatingly.

          Kagome successfully followed the wish for about 15 seconds, feeling antsy. She knew the odds of the man popping out from behind the bush next to her was very slim, but still….

          She couldn't take it any longer and said in an even tone, "I need the bill now."

          "Didn't you…."

          "Listen! I am in a rush, and if I don't get the bill in my grubby little hands right now, I will report about this subordinate behavior to your boss! Do you understand?" she threatened, feeling her face become red.

          That grabbed the girl's attention, as she suddenly switched off the T.V. and said coolly, "The movie was old, anyways."

          Satisfied, Kagome watched as the girl calculated for the night's total, making sure that she didn't add anything other than the room charge. "3,000 yens, please."

          Kagome nodded tightly and searched in her pockets for the money. She came up with 3,000 even. "I'll need the receipt."

          "Oh, I'm sorry," the girl said, sickeningly sweet, "But here, we keep the receipt."

          Without even bothering to shoot back a comment, she grabbed the paper that was being printed out of the cashier and turned away, leaving the receptionist. "Hey!" she called, "That's our property! I'll report this as vandalism!"

          But Kagome didn't hear her last words; she was outside, walking towards her car. She needed to cover up her trail, and she couldn't afford to leave behind any clues. 

          Once she was settled inside, she placed the receipt carefully into the glove compartment. Kagome padded around the front of her jacket for something… and came out with the cell phone.

          The last thing of my only valuable… used to trace me.

          Kagome threw her possession on the road, noticing how it cracked under pressure. She started up the engine and exited the motel's driveway.

          How clever… using my banking account and my cell phone to trace my calls and withdrawals. How damn clever.

          She was up to someone very smart if he was able to hack into two of the most highly guarded things.

          As she drove onwards, crushing the cell phone beneath the tires, she glanced at Shippo one last time before keeping her eyes on the road. It looked like they were going to have to start over again….

*

*

A/N: Hehe… betcha you didn't think it would be Shippo disguised as the man, now didja? Did I throw the curveball right? *Audience: No!* Oh rats…. :( Hey, I did say it was going to be long! This is about twice as longer than any of my chapters! *applaud* Thank you…. *bows* Anyways, I have to tell you something. Right now, it's 6:41 A.M., and my computer has been cut off. My dad and mom had it with me last night, so they went ahead with their threat and took off my Internet resource. So now I'm using my dad's computer. It will be a while before I can update again, and if I can review, because their main purpose is to make sure my priority was set straight. I'm sorry for having to make you suffer in the process.

Anyways, the next chapter is when INUYASHA comes in! Now, they'll have regular jobs, so… can you guess what Sango's, Miroku's, and Inuyasha's jobs will be? Hehe… I know the perfect one for Inuyasha….

Next Chapter (It'll be a while.): Meeting with Strange (No gore in this one, I promise!)

5/10/03~ OK, so I'm done with the rewrite of Chapter 4. Not much to say, except I'm tying up the loose ends of Chapter 5, and expect it out by at least next Saturday, my brother's birthday. Now, I have a few things that I need you guys to respond/do/read:

1) Do - SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BROTHER! Just include it in your review!

2) Respond - Answer this question: What are Sango's, Miroku's, Kouga's, and Inuyasha's jobs?

3) Read - Claimer: It has come to my attention that some people on fanfiction.net are very uncreative and resort to plagiarism. I'm not pointing fingers to anybody, but I wanted to say that the plot is mine. I don't want anyone copying my story word for word or the story goes along very similar. And it doesn't help if you switched the characters around, like Sango would be in place of Kagome. No… I would still consider that plagiarism.

4) When I was writing that claimer, I meant it. I mean, how would you feel if someone decided to steal your hard-working idea and turned it into his/her own half-baked idea? I don't think it would fit well with you. I'm not trying to come off sounding really mean and nasty, but that is how I feel. No, I'm not a lunatic. Yes, I am paranoid, and yes, I had sugar before I wrote it. But even though I'm still not myself *twitch*, I still meant it.

Hehe… yeah, that's pretty long. ^_^() But don't you just love reading A/N's? *audience: No!* Well, I do! Along with reading everyone's profiles, nutrition facts, and other people's reviews. -_-* I have way too much time on my hands…. Well, not lately. Here's the problem: I have five projects, one for music, one for French, two for civics, and one for English. Not to mention some English book reports. I also have SOLS coming up, like the week after this week, so keep this in mind that I might not have Chapter 6 coming out between May 10, 2003- May 24, 2004. J/K! It's really May 10, 2003 to May 24, 2003. Hehe… I already promised you Chapter 5 by next week? OK…. Get ready for INUYASHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (It's his debut! *throws confetti in the air*)