Disclaimer: The great media mogul who owns Inuyasha I be NOT.
Author's Note: I can see that you had a lot of questions about Sesshomaru! Ahem - I think I'll give a recap to clear things up:
A lot of people commented that Sesshomaru being allied with Naraku just doesn't match up. They're darn right. Sesshomaru is currently in league with Naraku, although not willingly. It is more out of fear and self-protection, as Naraku might seize his realm if he refuses to cooperate. Being the Lord of the Western Lands, he had to make an important decision at some point: to either fight or ally with Naraku. This, however, has its consequences; it means that he is now his subordinate, and must follow orders. He sort of has the same goals as Naraku, but HE wants to be the one in charge; therefore he is biding his time in order to overthrow him. Although the reason he gave Inuyasha the remaining Jewel Shards is unclear, Inuyasha suspects that Sesshomaru gave them away so that Naraku might be overthrown without dirtying his own hands.
Don't worry, though, for the moment I've purposely meant for some of it to be confusing. It all ties together in the later chapters.
&(&UY(
Red.
The color red was suddenly everywhere. Red was obscuring his vision, red was pumping through his veins... The leaves of the flailing trees, normally a vibrant green, were now tinted red, as was the sky, now looking bloody and apocalyptic.
He could feel it coming on again, slowly but surely eroding his self-control and sense of humanity. His father's blood boiled up within him, clashing angrily with his mother's; he was powerless to do anything as his muscles hardened, his fangs grew longer and sharper, and as his cool amber eyes instantly changed into cruel, sanguine ones. He tried to grip the Teutsusaiga in one last attempt to regain control, but the sword clattered uselessly onto the earth, now unable to give its owner strength.
Although he had not experienced near-death ever since the fateful night at Naraku's castle, he had been transforming more lately...and what was more, those transformations were becoming increasingly longer and more painful. He would often wake up on the ground after yet another restless, bloody night, dazed and saddened. His only hope was to remain in the forest; if he ever lost control in front of Miroku, Sango, and their newborn child, he would never be able to forgive himself.
A guttural howl rose in his throat as his claws gouged deeply into a thick tree trunk; he needed BLOOD, even if it had to be his own... The need to hurt something, even himself, shone strong in his heart. His last sense of self fading into nothingness, he allowed one of his claws to imbed right across his face; immediately a bloody line began to trickle down, right across his eye... He allowed his tongue to run itself across the drops of blood flowing freely down his face, feeling sated for the moment.
Before his mind went completely, he thought one last thing as his last shred of humanity flickered and went out. Eyes half-closed, he stared at his bloody claws, his stomach turning as he thought of one person. A person whom he'd cared about deeply. A person who had been able to take him for what he was; someone who didn't want him to change. A person whom he'd betrayed---although that betrayal hadn't been intentional.
(I - I'm sorry, Kagome...)
&&(&()
"Oh, come on!" Kagome pleaded to the thus far unrelenting dog demon. "It'll just be for a few hours! You can't keep me from going back home!"
Inuyasha scowled and sat on the lip of the well, refusing to look at her as he stalwartly continued to decline her request. "No! You'll take forever with your - your girly-stuff, and we don't have that kind of time! Unless I come along to make sure you don't take a century, you're not going anywhere!"
"Oh, geez!" she huffed, already dropping her backpack down ahead of her. "There's a reason that my friends all call me the school tomboy! Now just let me get back, get some fresh clothes, and talk to my family!" She glared at him accusingly. "You do at least care that my family knows where I am, right?"
"No!"
She growled frustratingly, shooting him a glare from behind that could have melted arctic ice. Whether they had their little secret or not, he still could terribly vex her like no one else, and about the most trivial things. What did it matter if she went home for a few hours or not?! It wasn't like she was going to abandon him or anything!
"We've been through this already, Inuyasha! You can't come along! The last time you came along Grandpa tried to exorcise you, remember? Just let me get things done by myself!" There was no way that she was going to allow Inuyasha to come and baby-sit her; every time she had so far she had always ended up in some sort of embarrassing situation, usually due to her brother Sota doing something or other. And besides, she wasn't in the mood for all of the "would you hurry UP's?!" and "what's THAT for's?" and "geez, you're slow's!" that always seemed to be abundant when her annoying little dog-demon was around the house. He might be like no one else could to her, but their relationship hadn't changed THAT much so that he wouldn't argue with her constantly!
Inuyasha opened his mouth to protest yet again, but he was cut off as Miroku, Sango, and Shippo came marching up, now all relieved of their heavy packs after heading a short way back to the Houshi residence. "Honestly, are you guys still at it?!" Sango rolled her eyes as she shot Inuyasha a disgusted look. "I would have thought that Kagome would have been gone by now!"
"She is not going without me!" Inuyasha repeated stubbornly for about the sixtieth time. "She always takes forever!"
Sango rolled her eyes again as she racked her brain for a solution. "Alright," she started cautiously, "how about I go along with her?! Her grandfather probably won't try to exorcise me, would he?"
"But-"
"But nothing!" she snapped, climbing into the well with Kagome as the two waited for Miroku to toss the Jewel down at them. "You and the others go ahead to Kaede's! It's not like we'll be gone forever!"
"And don't you dare try to follow us, Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled upwards at him, giving him one last "SIT!" as they disappeared down what she always jokingly referred to as the "rabbit hole".
Q#&(&(&(&
"Tch!" Inuyasha sniffed haughtily to Miroku, rudely hawking a loogie down the well as he scowled at it for about the fortieth time. "Who does she think she is anyway, ordering me around like that?!"
"She's Kagome," Miroku replied steadily, leaning back onto the lip of the well next to him, "and Kagome was never one to take orders, especially from you."
"Hmph!" the half-demon spat, sniffing and looking away.
"You could do with being a little nicer to her, though, Inuyasha... One more mishap and she might really leave for good."
"I'm not being nicer until she's nicer to me!" he snarled, still refusing to look the monk in the eye.
Miroku wrinkled his brow, noting the uncharacteristic reddening and the obvious distress that was creeping on his fierce-looking face. Could it really be true?...First there was the Tetsusaiga transforming again, and then there was the fact that he was shirtless when they had found him and Kagome, and he usually only did that when injured. Added to the way that he was acting now and the fact that they were at least speaking (though in argumentative form) to each other again -well-?? Could there have been more to that little peeping tom incident the other day?
"Nah," he muttered softly, looking in the opposite direction.
"Nah what?!" He positively jumped as the half-demon angrily brought him to attention, glaring at him with his turbulent amber eyes to the degree of scariness.
Miroku laughed nervously. "Eh---nothing! Absolutely nothing!"
"Tch! That's it!" Inuyasha tiraded irritably, completely ignoring Miroku as he glared down at the well bottom. "I'm going! I don't care if she sits me thirty times!" He stood up, scowling as he realized that he wasn't so much irritated by the fact that Kagome would take awhile as the fact that she had won the argument. He would show her!
"How are you going to get there, might I ask?" Miroku asked idly, crossing his legs.
"By these stupid prayer beads, you moron!" Inuyasha snarled, flicking at the accursed rosary that Kagome had used so many times in order to "sit" him. "Those wards obviously don't work anymore; otherwise I would've been hurled about thirty feet into the air just by SITTING on the well!"
He turned around to leap down, but he was stopped by Miroku's hand clamping down on his shoulder. "May I come along?"
"Why?!"
"I've never been to Kagome's era before. It might be of interest."
The dog demon rolled his eyes but relented. "All right. Grab onto me---not my hand---and let's go!"
&I(
After a short, uneventful reunion with the members of her family, Kagome led Sango upstairs to her room, which had thankfully been left untouched to Sota's lootings. "Is your family always like that?" Sango asked the other girl confusedly, sitting down on Kagome's bed.
"Like how?" Kagome replied absentmindedly, grabbing her backpack and beginning to stuff clothes in it.
"Are they always that laid back about you constantly in danger? Though he allowed me and my brother to aid the demonslayers during raids, my father would have been worried sick if I had went off alone."
"Mom doesn't like it, but she doesn't have much of a choice," Kagome said frankly as she dumped the entire contents of a first aid kit into a compartment. "Grandpa is the only reason that I'm able to go; he says that I've got to because of my family's ceremonial duty to the shrine." She laughed humorlessly. "That's why I didn't let Inuyasha come along to harass us. Mom can't stand him; she's thinks that he's leading me around by the nose!"
Sango sighed disgustedly. "Be glad that he didn't come. He's been such an ass towards you lately; honestly, how did you stand him all that time when you were alone with him?"
"He didn't say much," Kagome answered her honestly, pretending to be absorbed in folding her clothes. No, he HADN'T said much, not while he had been kissing practically every part of her body, anyway, she recalled wistfully. They hadn't so much as brushed against each other the entire journey back, not wanting to arouse suspicion from the others. As much as Sango and the others wanted to keep her from being hurt again by the ever unpredictable dog demon, the fact that he was within arm's reach yet so unapproachable was getting to be sheer torture...
Sango looked critically towards Kagome's ever-growing backpack. "Well, at least he's behaving..." She trailed off, debating whether or not to voice aloud what Miroku had told her in the mountain inn a few days' previous. ...Was there a chance that Inuyasha was smitten with Kagome, despite his overtures towards Kikyo? And even so, should she know? As far as she was concerned, doing what Inuyasha had done was enough to constitute never speaking to him again...
&(&(&)(
"Well, Inuyasha..."
"Well WHAT?!" Inuyasha barked as he single-handedly jumped out of the Bone-Eaters' well.
Miroku grinned as he leaned against the wall of the shrine. "Well, we're here. What now?"
"Whaddaya mean?" the still irate dog demon snapped, heading for the entrance. "We find Kagome and tell her to hurry the hell up!"
"But why?!"
"Why NOT?!"
Miroku sighed, trying to figure out the best way to either teach Inuyasha a quick lesson in tact or to blackmail him into telling him what was going on. "She's only been gone for five minutes," he explained reasonably, tagging along after him out of the shrine. "At least give her the chance to pack her bags...or would you prefer to spill the beans about what has been going on lately?" (He obviously had chosen the latter of the two.)
Inuyasha started discernibly and ended up sitting against the outer shrine wall in a huff. "Fine...you win. ...But nothing has been going on!" he added quickly, scowling and looking away.
"Whatever you say," Miroku replied lightly, sitting down as well and taking the opportunity to get a good look at Kagome's yard. It was quite fascinating, really, to take a look at the same area where his house was hundreds of years later...
However, his look-see and Inuyasha's good sulk was immediately and rudely interrupted when suddenly a shiny red convertible roared up into the yard, causing the duo to start in alarm and to stare curiously at the sight awaiting them...
&&&&
"I tell you, Hojo," Ayumi was telling the driver of the vehicle imperiously, "with your looks, your sensitivity, and this new set of wheels-" -here she proudly patted the car's leather interior- "-there's no way that Kagome WON'T take you back!"
"You really think so?" Hojo asked her nervously, smoothing back his already perfect hair in the rearview mirror.
"I know so," the girl replied in a know-it-all tone, nudging her friends on either side of her so that they all murmured in agreement. "I don't know what was up with her the other day, but we're on a mission to make her realize that YOU are the man for her!"
Hojo, however, wasn't convinced. "But what about her bipolar disorder? And her rheumatoid arthritis? Maybe it's nothing against me, but-"
"Pftttt!" Eri waved it all away with a flick of her wrist. "That only means that she needs you all the more! To make her depression melt away like arctic ice in the tundra!" she went on dramatically, spreading her arms wide. "To kiss her tears from her glaucoma all away! To rub her feet when she is doomed to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair! When she needs you, Hojo, you'll be there, and that's what counts!"
"Yeah!" Hojo said confidently, grabbing onto an expensive bouquet of long-stemmed roses that Yuka had been holding for him. "Yeah..." He climbed out of the car, staring down at the ground ruminatively. "But what about that other guy you were talking about? Think she's now with him?"
The three girls stared at each other nervously behind Hojo's back for a second, but Eri managed to regain her composure and stated poisedly, "Oh, that was awhile ago, Hojo... There was time when you first started dating her that we thought she had a crush on someone else, but she doesn't seem to have it anymore."
"And besides!" Yuka piped up. "Kagome said that he was - he was-"
"-a rude, arrogant, condescending bastard!" Ayumi supplied happily. "He wouldn't stand a chance against you anyway!"
Feeling more reassured, Hojo smiled as he shut the car door and waited for the girls to climb out. "Do you guys have my therapeutic sandals?"
"Yup!"
"And my herbs and vitamins?"
"Double-yup!"
Hojo smiled thinly and ran a delicate hand through his medium brown hair as visions of an ecstatic Kagome kissing him wildly in response to his smooth moves bounced through his head. "Let's go take the fort, then," he said grimly as they set off for the house.
&(&O(U(
"SOTA!!" Kagome screeched wildly as the person in question barged into her room as usual. "Does the word 'knock' ever make sense to you?!"
"Well, it's not like you ever do anything top-secret in here anyway," her annoying little brother quipped snidely as he filched a peppermint from her candy dish.
"It's not that!" she snapped, looking up from her second bag. "What if I had been studying?! What if I had been naked?! What if I ha-"
"Naked, eh? Planning on doing something with Inuyasha, are you?"
"I'd never get naked in front of that arrogant twat!" Kagome lied through gritted teeth (though her face was now redder than a tomato). "And besides, Inuyasha's not here! He's back in the Fedua---hey, wait a second..."
"Yup, you guessed it!" Sota affirmed almost joyfully. "He's right outside!"
"I don't believe you!" Kagome scoffed, throwing a handful of flimsy undergarments into the top of a suitcase. "I TOLD him - no, ORDERED him - to stay!"
"But he is! He's with some other guy-"
"I STILL don't believe you!"
Sango, who had hitherto been sitting quietly on the bed almost teary-eyed (as during the exchange between brother and sister she had been quite eerily reminded of the some of the spats she had gotten into with her now late younger brother), suddenly piped up as she stood up to look out the window. "No, Kagome, he's not lying," she said, squinting at the two small figures sitting near the shrine. "He and Miroku must have hopped the well."
Kagome gritted her teeth as she zipped the overflowing suitcase. "URRRGHH, he's impossible! I told him to wait, I TOLD him to stay..." She broke off into a spiel of incoherent but quite vehement mumbling.
"Sota!" she finally barked, standing up shortly and causing a pile of clothes to flop onto the carpet. "You go down there and tell him that he may not leave the area of the shrine! Not ever! And then-" -here she gestured grandly at the two plump bags and the overstuffed suitcase sitting on her bed- "-you take these down to him and tell him that he's carrying them all the way to the village! Or else!" She flopped back down onto her bed, her eyes closed and her nose snootily up in the air.
Sota opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it and obeyed, grabbing all of her luggage and grunting obligingly as he managed to cram it all through the narrow doorway and shuffle out of sight.
Sango smiled, rolling her eyes as she turned away from the window. "Let's hope that that scares them off."
"It probably won't," Kagome grunted, going for her next and final piece of luggage. "We're probably doomed to be sitting here and listening to him bitch about how much I pack in about five minutes. And it wouldn't be the first time, either..." She sighed aggravatingly, remembering only in too full of detail what had occurred the last time Inuyasha had set foot in her room...
"Oh, it's not Inuyasha that I'm talking about," Sango replied dryly, pointing towards Kagome's askew underwear drawer. "It's Miroku. He'd have a field day if he could get into that."
&&Y(&(
Sota chuckled slyly as he dragged the three pieces of luggage out the screen door. He normally would have been predisposed to refuse lugging Kagome's stuff even an inch, but this matter was different indeed. A good opportunity like this only came once in a lifetime, and he was going to be there to witness it... Hell, they hadn't even noticed that Hojo had arrived yet; his sister's friend had either been unable to or just plainly did not see the shiny red convertible sitting near the shrine.
"Heh, I can't WAIT to see this!" he muttered to himself as he headed towards the shrine. Inuyasha and Hojo, in the same place at the same time, AND both liking his sister... At least he knew that Hojo did, at any rate, and that Inuyasha probably did... Why else would he ever ask questions about her that only a little brother would know like he had?! (Has she had a boyfriend before?) (Nooo, I don't think so.) (Think she likes me?) (Well, she sure gets upset when you're fighting with her!) And then the big one... (Does she sleep naked?) (Sometimes she does, but she'll probably bite you.) Wheesh, even feudal boys were perverted, he had concluded!
Personally, he was rooting for Inuyasha, since he was so strong and brave and seemed to be the only one who could handle Kagome's violent temper (in fact, he seemed to like it). However, how Kagome was going to take it all yet remained to be seen, hehehe...
$&&(&(&
The room was clouded with the hazy perfume of incense, but nothing, not even the temporary loss of sight, could perturb Sesshomaru. Walking steadily across the room, his feet barely touching the ornate carpets gracing the floor, he clenched his jaw as he made sure to look nowhere but straight ahead. He sensed the shadowy figures flanking and looming up beside him, their swords and spears at the ready; his lord had already gotten word of his dissidence, and his reunion with him would not be a happy one. Jakken, his amphibian-like vassal demon, strode nervously at his heels, trembling like a frightened rabbit.
"Ah, Sesshomaru," a sinister-sounding voice rang out as the tall dog-demon halted at the foot of an elegant black dais. The halt itself had been a sudden one, and Jakken, who had been swallowing hard and looking at the threatening figures lined up at their posts, trod onto Sesshomaru's robe, causing him to trip and do a header right into his master, who turned to glare at him murderously for a second.
"Greetings, my lord," Sesshomaru murmured lowly while giving his vassal a hard backwards kick that sent him flying a few feet away. He then dropped down on one knee, inclining his head slightly towards the voice. "It is an honor to be summoned by you again."
Suddenly the writhing smoke cleared, and he could now see the owner of the other voice, a slim, well-built man with tangled black locks and haunting, burning crimson eyes. He sat cross-legged upon the dais, dressed in nothing but a simple black robe, the stick-like incense holders still emitting occasional puffs of lurid pink smoke and momentarily screening his pointed face.
The dark young man sniffed disdainfully. "One would hope so," he said darkly, his eyes fixed upon the impassive dog-demon, "but your respect for me seems to have waned of late, as my source tells me that she had not sensed the remaining shards of the Shikkon Jewel as you entered my stronghold, despite the fact that you were told their exact location."
Sesshomaru's quick eyes noticed a tall figure standing off to the side shift slightly as he said this, but he found out no more, as that figure was cloaked in darkness. His eyes turned back to his lord, whose thin lips were now curling in anger. "That is because I have none, my Lord Naraku," he replied simply, inclining his head again. "Though I combed the areas in which you ordered me, I could not secure any shards."
Naraku slowly leaned forward, his heavy lids almost closed as he stared at the Lord of the Western Lands, who despite his unrest refused to be daunted. "Tell the truth, Sesshomaru," he hissed angrily, abruptly changing the subject as the quickly-turning cogs of his mind seemed to sense something odd. "I know you ran into them; my demons never lose a trail or pick up a wrong scent. Tell me, what did you tell Inuyasha and his confederates? And why didn't you capture the girl?!"
Sesshomaru wanted to sigh in relief at his lord's sudden change in direction, as the man seemed to have an uncanny way of figuring things out, but obviously managed to hold in his breath. But how on earth did he know that the girl was in the area, let alone in this time period?! "The reason that I did nothing, my lord," he began steadily, "was because of timing. Even as we speak, they are coming closer and closer, the girl sensing and collecting the remaining Shards for us. They are at the moment planning to confront you here." He paused for a moment in order to allow it to sink in. "I know that you cannot have one without the other. Why not kill two birds with one stone?"
Naraku stared at him coolly. "Regrettably, how true...you strike a nerve there, Sesshomaru. In order for me to fully utilize the Jewel, of course, first I must...taint it, if you catch my drift." He looked away from his vassal momentarily, his eyes resting on the shadowy figure just out of candlelight's reach. "Go back to your court," he said finally in a commanding tone. "Go back to the Western Lands and collect your vassals. Those kids are much stronger than I once gave them credit for. The garrison here needs to be at least doubled."
Sesshomaru's eyes hardened. "Your wish is my command, lord." He gave one final bow and turned to head out, but Naraku's heavily-veined hand clamped down on his shoulder, causing Jakken to whimper in fright and to cower under a nearby tapestry.
Sesshomaru slowly turned around, staring coolly into the crimson eyes of the undisputed overlord of the North. "Yes, my lord?"
"I'm aware that you are keeping something from me, Sesshomaru," Naraku said calmly, but with a hard edge to his voice. "I will not force it out of you right now, but I must ask for your unwavering loyalty during this next episode. Not only that, but you also cannot afford to disobey me this time, as I will order the remainder of my guard to slaughter you all. And furthermore..." Here he paused, his face closing in on Sesshomaru's. "Even if you survive, you will no longer hold autonomy over your realm. And it will suffer." He drew back, folding his hands neatly onto his knees. "Now, what is a mere girl and a jewel practically worthless to you that you shall allow your kingdom to writhe in my iron grip? What is that worth, Sesshomaru? Think very hard..."
Sesshomaru at first said nothing, but just brushed off his shoulder and again turned to leave. "Very well, Naraku," he finally said, looking over his shoulder towards the hateful man one last time. "I shall do as you order; I shall bring the majority of my soldiers here to this castle. There they will set up an ambush for Inuyasha and the others."
"Yes, but remember...I want the girl alive! Make sure that no harm comes to her. She is no use to me dead."
Sesshomaru bowed for what he hoped was the last time. "Very well, my lord. I shall handle that entire operation...satisfactorily." He motioned to his still-trembling vassal. "Come, Jakken. We must hurry back home."
Naraku's voice echoed off the walls as the dog demon gracefully walked out of the room. "Have them mobilized and here within two days. Remember, any more secrets, any more mistakes...and you and your entire kingdom will suffer."
Sesshomaru did not say anything for a long time. With Jakken hurriedly skipping at his heels in an attempt to keep up, he descended stairs, crossed corridors, and walked the immense courtyard all in large strides.
It wasn't until the castle was just a stalwart hulk in the distance that he made to react at all, unlike his anxiety-riddled vassal, who seemed to be worriedly mumbling some form of gibberish. As they flew towards the Western Lands on Sesshomaru's enchanted Cirrus, he sat and stared at the distant ground, stone-faced, his wants clearly clashing on two sides.
Only one reason there was, that conflict was growing within him unchecked; normally he would have just turned against Naraku and gained dominance by seizing the Shikkon Jewel from both sides and not allowing either to use it, but there was something important holding him back. Well, more like someone... Someone who might suffer the consequences either way, whether Naraku held the Western Lands and he died of disobedience, or the grim world that everyone in the Demon Realm would have to put up with if he just mindlessly followed Naraku's orders. One thing was written in blood: he would never forgive himself if he allowed that person to suffer. Even if his pride had to.
What course to take, though? Personally, he would prefer to take neither; however...
"But I have no choice," he muttered to himself, taking a leaf out of Jakken's book. "That momentary lapse of judgment has just about cost me my life." He chuckled grimly. "But as if that would make much of a difference at this point..."
"Rin..." The name left his cold, parched lips like dried grass whipping in the wind on a scorched plain.
Author's Note: I apologize if the length of this chapter made it hard to read. I would have broken it up into two separate ones, but believe it or not, I already did that once; the next chapter that I will post was actually once part of this one. There was also no real place to chop this one up. Sorry!
Of course, thank you to Luca Black, Angel6582, MarilleAaye, twidget, Miztical-Dragon, Mini Nicka, anna-7, Delonwethiel, Carly, DarkSlayerAngel, crazyFORvampires, The-Freak32, arisu-the-pink, inu-hanyou2, brigirl, and Draechaeli, for reviewing. I wish I could shout out individually to you all, but I'm afraid I don't have the time. You guys rock!!
Laura: Yeah, Sesshomaru is actually allied with him...but more for safety's sake than for just wanting to. When you're a demon lord in Feudal Japan, Naraku is definitely not one to cross. :) And no, you're actually not off-base with your guessing. Shippo actually smelled Kagome on Inuyasha earlier; that will come into play later on. Sesshomaru did as well, for that matter; in fact, that influenced his giving the Jewel Shards to Inuyasha and Kagome. Not only did Sesshomaru realize that Inuyasha could wield the deadly Teutsusaiga again, but he also knew that ---er, I can't give that part away. Sorry!
sibby4ever: You are really prophetic! Not only did Kagome go back to her own time in this chapter, but Naraku made a short appearance as well. Naraku will be a bit more elusive for a few chapters yet, though.
earthshine411: ::shudder:: Three way between Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and Kagome... ::shudders again:: Not after the horror of that one I saw on AFFN. That totally put me off from reading any Inuyasha fanfic for like the next week... And actually, I'm not that talented. I'm about 90 percent done with this fic; luckily I am, because I have hardly enough time to write the disclaimers and everything, what with my heavy coursework going on this semester. Besides the heavy editing that I always do before I even consider posting, the only scene that I've actually written this week was the one with Inuyasha's demon transformation in the beginning.
AngelOfLight: I know for sure that Kikyo didn't want to be a priestess; she wanted to get away from all the responsibility. I actually think that Inuyasha and Kikyo might have been in love at that time, though; though Inuyasha definitely moves on when meeting Kagome (aw come on, he fell head over heels from her within the first 20 episodes!). They might still actually end up together in the canon; even though it ended in Japan (and rather ambiguously, I might add), the creators are planning future projects.
ChibiKenshin6490: Well -er- the Kikyo plotline is actually one of the LAST things to be resolved in this story. I can't remember exactly where it's written, but I believe everything is explained in full in Chapter 21.
inuyashaluv0528: There will definitely be a lemon; though I'm keeping it a surprise as to what chapter. :)
Inu Sweet Pup Ears: Hope you liked the fluff; this chapter and the next are definitely qualified. And this isn't the end of Shippo being able to smell Kagome on Inuyasha...in fact, he and the others will use that to their advantage...
Caliosihe: If you're really curious you can e-mail me and see if your guesses are right... I don't know if I'd give away the whole plot, but if you guess correctly that definitely merits a nod. :) The only think that I'll say out in the open is that Inuyasha and Kikyo didn't have sex. According to Miroku in chapter three, there was only a five minute discrepancy between Kagome and Inuyasha running towards the well, and unless Inuyasha is -er- very quick, that couldn't have happened.
angelica incarnate: I'm definitely editing with reviews in mind. I've already actually had to re-examine a few things because others picked up what I didn't. And to answer your questions: yeah, once Miroku finds out about Kagome and Inuyasha's little tryst, he's gonna run away with it. He's even sort of doing it now, since he already suspects more than the others. Sesshomaru is acting on a hunch when he warns Inuyasha about Kagome's well-being; although he is allied with Naraku, he does not know all of Naraku's plans. He does know, however, that Kagome's powers are somehow essential to Naraku's schemes and he does not want her to fall into the wrong hands, for his sake as well as Inuyasha's. :)
And, of course, please review. I really want to keep gaining momentum, especially since I'm getting into the confusing parts where I don't quite know what I'm doing. Please review!!