Disclaimer: There are few things that I may call my own
Far more are those on which I have no claim
And Inuyasha and his friends, I groan
To say, lie not within my reach, like fame.
Rumiko Takahashi has the luck
And as for me, at sonnets do I suck.

A/N: Eep, sorry for the long delay! Events conspire to keep me from my computer. Ah, well, here goes.

Whoo, more readers! I am happy! Grins! I shall reply!

angicakeisinuyashasluvr: Thanks much! . I'll try to keep it from getting too angsty… ah, this story doesn't leave much room for that anyway.

C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only: Glad you reviewed, but alas, I am not a lemon writer. I lack both the talent and the inclination. (Reading it, though… eh, meh.) Gomen nasai!

medlii: Grins! Yeah, I use a bit of Japanese… it's the only vocab I know, so don't worry, it won't get much more complicated than that. I always worry about my fluff… it's hard to get the cute/meaningful balance right. Don't worry, I'm not done with Fluffy or Kagura. —evil chuckle—

Right, on with it!

6

Chase

Hyakunan was thoroughly confused as to what Sesshoumaru had been doing in a wind-witch's nest, or why he'd smelled so upset when he'd come down—but that didn't mean he meant to stay confused. What, exactly, was that little vial?

Well, there was one sure way to find out.

He didn't bother following Sesshoumaru when the taiyoukai gave Jaken the vial and sent him away; there was no way in Heaven or Earth that the inuyoukai would have confided in a strange green-haired kid. Toad youkai, however, were much easier to terrorize. Hyakunan easily avoided Jaken's nervous checks against followers, then found a suitably heavy branch and dropped it point-first on the smelly creature's head.

Thud.

"Urk."

The green-haired boy was faintly disappointed; he'd thought Jaken would make a more satisfying noise than that. Oh, well. He scampered down the tree trunk and retrieved the vial from where it had bounced. It didn't look like anything special… just a clear, slightly pink liquid that filled about half the vial.

He squinted at it, invoked his magic-Sight—and whistled. This was some powerful kimchee. He checked again, and this time came up with a definite link to emotions—particularly affection. Boy, wouldn't Dad like to get his hands on this…

"Give that back!"

Hyakunan leaned out of Jaken's reach with a laugh. "What's in it for me?"

"I spare your miserable hide, that's what!"

The boy regarded his struggling victim in frank disbelief. In his experience, it was not a good idea to make empty physical threats when you couldn't lift a tree branch to free yourself. "What's this stuff for, anyway?"

"Nothing! Give it back!"

"Betcha don't know," he challenged.

Jaken paused, and the look in his bulging eyes indicated to Hyakunan that he was going to attempt something crafty. "Why would it interest you?"

"Dunno. You tell me why it wouldn't."

"Suit yourself." The froggish creature shrugged. "If you want to be crushed to death by a gaggle of squealing women…"

That got his attention. "Say what?"

"It'll draw every female within half a league if you splash it all over yourself," Jaken told him haughtily.

Hyakunan regarded the little vial with something close to awe, then squinted at the toad youkai. "So what was Sesshoumaru doing with it? Trying to get that wind demoness?" Ewww…

"How dare you!" Jaken squawked. "Sesshoumaru-sama has no need of potions!"

"Then what was it for?"

Something that was probably supposed to be a smirk pasted itself over Jaken's pruny face. "He was getting even with Kagura. The first male thing that happens along is the thing that she'll chase after until she dies from exhaustion—unless it's foolish enough to accept her."

"Huh." He looked at the vial again. "So it makes people…" he wrinkled his nose in the kind of distaste that only grade-school boys can muster on that particular subject "…fall in love?"

"To put it in terms your feeble mind could understand, yes."

Hyakunan decided not to enlighten the toad on what he could understand. If Jaken had grown up with Dad, he might have 'understood' a lot more on that subject too. Certainly more than he likely did now. "Huh." He began to wander away. "Could be useful sometimes." Especially if he could find a certain warring couple… ideas began to whirr in his mischief-honed brain. He did owe Shippou one, after all…

"Hey!" Jaken finally managed to struggle free of his pinion. "That is not for you!"

The green-haired boy laughed, dodging out of the toad's range. "Come an' get it, stinkbomb!"

"You little—!"

The toad youkai chased Hyakunan for a good two hours before the boy got bored with the game and doubled back, losing Jaken for good. It was getting dark by that time, but Hyakunan didn't mind; the best pranks were played when the victim couldn't see a thing until it was too late. He decided to go see if Shippou was still mad at him—and if he was, propose a diversion. Grownups could be so easy to manipulate, sometimes…

Thrashing in the underbrush punctuated by short, earsplitting shouts halted the boy in his tracks, self-preservation instincts shooting immediately to the surface. Not only were the shouts violent, they were coming from one male and one female—nitro and glycerine coming down the pike, if ever he'd heard it.

Wait—he'd heard these two before.

"I told you not to come!" Inuyasha raged, stomping through masses of defenseless, innocent foliage as if that would change the fact that he was not alone in the woods.

"And I told you where to shove that idea!" Kagome shot back.

"If you don't turn around right now—"

"Just try to tell me what to do, Inuyasha! Just try it!"

"You—stupid, stubborn—"

"—egotistical, chauvinistic—"

"—obnoxious, yammering—"

"—reckless, moronic—"

"—wench!"

"—jerk!"

Hyakunan listened in awe as the insults grew exponentially louder, cruder, and more descriptive. Some of the better ones he filed carefully away in his memory for future reference. He didn't dare move, not even to get a look at them; at the rate they were going, if anything interrupted them it'd get pulverized. At least the wind wasn't blowing in his face; he didn't think he'd be able to stand that much anger-scent square in the snoot. It was still a disappointment when the couple stormed onward, though. He hadn't even gotten a glimpse. Three times he'd gotten within spitting distance of the legendary Inuyasha, and he hadn't caught more than a flash of red-and-white haori? Drat it.

He'd have to start picking hiding places that didn't work quite so well. Sighing in exasperation, the green-haired boy headed back toward the village.

To his surprise, he hadn't been traveling fifteen minutes before that goal became unnecessary.

"Shippou?"

"Hyakunan?" The kitsune skidded to a stop. "What're you doing here?"

"Looking for you. What're you doing here?"

"Erm—following those two," Shippou confessed lamely. "I gotta warn Sango and Miroku about them… I wasn't supposed to tell where they'd gone."

"The ones you said Inuyasha chased off?" An idea began to ferment gently in Hyakunan's mind. See a problem, fill a need…

"Yeah." Shippou heaved a forlorn sigh. "It's no fun without them, but I promised I wouldn't tell…"

"If Inuyasha and—Kagome?—stopped fighting, would everything be all right?"

The kitsune regarded his friend warily. "Yeah…"

Hyakunan beamed, and produced the little vial with a flourish. "Then this is the answer to all your problems."

Shippou stared. "Pink water?"

"No, not pink water. It's a—" wrinkled nose "—love potion."

"Eeew." Respect entered the kitsune's green eyes. "You're gonna give that stuff to Inuyasha and Kagome?"

"Sure. You said they need to work stuff out, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So this stuff should help." Hyakunan lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Some inuyoukai called Sesshoumaru was using it to get even with a wind witch."

"Sesshoumaru? Kagura?" The diameter of Shippou's eyes soared past the "Wow" level and well into the "Holy green griffin gravy" category. "Weeeeeird…"

Hyakunan nodded emphatically. "Yup."

"Huh."

"Uh-huh."

"Cool."

"…yeah."

"Know where they went?"

"That way."

………………………………………

Kouga paused, his sensitive ears picking up something in the trees above him. Instantly he ducked into the shadows, blue eyes scanning the branches. He considered ambushes from above a cheating maneuver, but that didn't mean that he wasn't watching out for them. It was the kind of thing Dog-Face would do. Stupid turd, thinking he could keep Kouga's Kagome safer than even the dimmest wolf could—

"Kagura-sama, look, there's a fuzzy dog-tail sticking out there!"

The wolf prince yipped and spun, one hand automatically reaching back to his luxuriant brown tail—possibly to assure himself of its continued attachment to his rear. The little human girl who'd snuck up on him squeaked and jerked her hand away from the coveted appendage.

Kouga's black brows lowered in arrogant slashes over an imperious gaze. "What the hell did you think you were doing, human runt?"

To his astonishment, the little wench scowled right back. "You shouldn't use bad words in front of Rin-chan."

He gaped at her, several responses hovering just out of reach. What the hell could you say to that? "Listen, you little—"

"You heard her," a crisp, enragingly familiar female voice cut him off. "Mind your language in front of children."

"Kagura," he hissed, shifting automatically into battle stance. The hair on the back of his neck prickled in anticipation. "Why don't you come out, murdering bitch, so we can settle our score?"

Rin gasped indignantly, but a slender white hand on her head placated her. The skirt of a red-and-white kimono edged itself into view. "You always were amusing—"

For some reason she trailed off, and Kouga snarled impatiently. "I'll show you amusing. Get your ass out here!"

"Kouga," she breathed, and this time the hair on the back of his neck stood up for an entirely different reason. The wolf prince reeled as her scent caught him full in the face. What… the… HELL?

Kagura stepped fully into view, and Kouga gulped. He'd seen less ravenous looks in the eyes of crazed shark youkai. "Uh…"

"Kouga," she murmured again, eyes half-lidded and so full of raw heat that the wolf youkai honestly expected the air between their faces to burn him. "So nice of you to visit."

"Eh…" He normally considered himself a fairly eloquent man, but this was way outside his experience. The woman who'd slaughtered his entire pack was almost literally drooling. Over him. There really weren't any words.

"What were you looking for?" she pressed, slinking closer. "Maybe I could… help you find it?"

He tried very hard to ignore the fact that she was quite literally stalking him and cudgeled his benumbed brain for a response. "Uh… was just… gonna… gonna go find… Kago… me…"

Kagura frowned, and the wolf prince heaved an inward sigh of relief. Pique he could deal with. Maybe if he got her mad enough, she'd give him a real fight… "Kagome? Why? They haven't found any shards yet."

He snorted, glancing past her. "As if I need the dog-turd to find shards. I was gonna go see if Kagome's come to her senses, is all. If she's gonna be my woman, she'll… have to…"

A very strange sound made him trail off; an even stranger smell jerked his gaze back to Kagura.

She was… crying?

"Kagome… your woman?" she sniffled, scarlet eyes huge and moist and appealing. "W-why?"

Being at a loss was starting to become a familiar state. "Uh… Kagura?"

She sniffled harder. "Why her? Is… is she… prettier?"

…This is fucking insane. "Er…"

"Is it because she's younger? What?" Somehow she'd advanced on him without his notice, and now her tear-streaked face was about three miles and half a foot too close to his own. "Why do you want her and not me?"

Aaaaaaaaaack. Kouga backpedaled immediately, barely escaping an undignified butt-bruising stumble over his own feet. "What the hell is wrong with you? You're acting like some lovesick bitch! Snap out of it, dammit! You're scaring the shit out of me!"

"Bad words…" Rin huffed somewhere in the background. Kouga really didn't give a snail's shit.

Kagura blinked. Once. Twice. Kouga began to hope that he'd insulted her enough to make her revert into normalcy.

"Gomen nasai… I forgot myself."

Oh, good. The wolf prince nodded shortly, looking anywhere but at her. "Damn straight. Don't do it again." He glanced sideways at her, then involuntarily stepped backward. "Erk."

"But you are not leaving me here, Kouga-kun," the wind demoness informed him serenely, locking a gaze containing more steel than a suit of plate armor with his. "I really could care less about Kagome—but you are staying here."

Kouga's nerve snapped like dry tinder. He bolted—or tried to. In one fluid movement Kagura whipped her fan open and swept his feet out from under him with a solid gust of wind, then hoisted him over her shoulder in blithe ignorance of his kicking and outraged shrieks. "Come along, Rin."

"WHAT THE HEEEEELLLLLLLLLL—!"