Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha then I wouldn't have to write this disclaimer. sticks out tongue - So there!

Author's Note: holds head in hands in despair - Oh no - I think I have some explaining to do! I think that the whole Sesshomaru/Rin thing last chapter was misinterpreted a bit. There is no pairing there, just sort of a fatherly-daughterly relationship. At my estimate, Rin would be -oh- about twelve in this fic, so having a pairing there would actually border on some nasty, gross pedophilia.

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Inuyasha sniffed the air irately as he watched the motley-looking group approach with a business-like air. "Who're THEY?!" he asked Miroku irritably, covering his face with a wide red sleeve as a horrid waft of Hojo's strong cologne reached his oversensitive nose.

"How should I know?" Miroku countered calmly. "YOU'RE the one who always visits here."

Inuyasha gritted his teeth, cursing the monk's ever-inquisitive nature. "You call ONE visit in THREE years always, you moro-"

"Hello there!" the tall, slender boy in the lead said to the duo pleasantly as he got within conversational range. "Have you seen Kagome around lately?"

Inuyasha predictably scowled in response, eying the entire group suspiciously, at the tightly-knit group of three girls wearing empty smiles on their faces and strange short skirts, and even more at the nancy-looking boy with a bunch of flowers and entirely too-blue eyes. His first spoken reply naturally would have been 'You all look like a bunch of freaks', but Miroku managed to butt in before he had even opened his mouth, responding just as pleasantly, "She is in the house. What do you happen to need her for?"

The entire group was silent for a moment, though for a couple of different reasons.

Hojo happened to be staring at Inuyasha's ears quite perplexedly, while the girls, well, the girls were adoringly eying the pair of feudal boys, Miroku especially, who seemed to enjoy the sudden attention.

"Uh -er-" Ayumi finally stuttered, reddening visibly as she looked into the depthful blue eyes of the regally-clad monk in front of her. "Um, you see -well- we need her because we're on an important mission. We need to get Hojo here-" -she grabbed the shoulder of the handsome-looking boy alongside her- "-reunited with his girlfriend so that they can date some more and get married and have lots of babies and um--um---"

Miroku smiled winningly. "Oh, all right. I don't know how Kagome would be of any service of you, but by all means-"

"Hey, are these real?" Eri suddenly cut in, coming right up to Inuyasha and pulling his white doggy ears sharply. "Or just glued?" Inuyasha growled in protest, but she continued to tweak them, squealing delightedly as they seemed to be real ears and not fake add-ons.

"Hey, let go of those!" he finally snarled, swatting her hand away. "There's only ONE person that I let touch my ears, and that's--that's---" He stuttered, reddening visibly as he refused to finish the sentence.

"And who is that, might I ask?" Miroku asked, smiling cheesily.

"I'm not TELLING you, monk! Get that through your head!"

He just clucked pathetically. "I'll find out about your love life someday, Inuyasha, whether you admit it or not..." He was about to go on, but Hojo then cleared his throat.

"Uh, uh---anyway," he said nervously, his feet crunching into the gravel as he shifted balance. "Um, would you guys have any -um- guy-to-guy advice about winning your girl back?"

Miroku looked up at the sky thoughtfully. "Hmmmm, well...I first have to commend you for asking the biggest love expert ever to walk the earth...That's a good start, for one thing..." He let out a soft "oof!" as Inuyasha nudged his side rather cruelly. "Well," he continued, shooting a glare at the half-demon, who seemed on the brink of laughter, "your best bet would be to woo her over a hand-cooked meal that you made yourself, during which you show off all of your charm, talents, and any valuables you might have. Then, when she is thoroughly convinced that you are more than a god, then take your chance and lean in for the big kiss." He rubbed his chin satisfyingly. "Rough sex on the table afterwards is optional, though I highly recommend it. Works every time!" He winked at Yuka, who immediately swooned at his god-like features. The other girls looked flushed but absolutely enamored.

"Oh, thank you, mister!" Hojo replied happily. "That sounds great! I'm glad to have heard from such an expert!"

Miroku gritted his teeth unhappily as Inuyasha choked to keep from bursting out laughing. "Don't mind him," he added sweetly to the group standing in front of him. "He has absolutely no expertise with girls. Why, the girl he's been in love with for four years still doesn't know about those wet dreams he has about her every night-"

Inuyasha was immediately on the defensive. "WHAT-DO-I-HAVE-TO-TELL-YOU-YOU-STUPID-MORON!" he snapped staccato-like, his face the picture of righteous indignation. "I-DO-NOT-LOVE-HER!"

The young monk just waved it off airily. "Denial, denial, Inuyasha...such a bad thing..."

"I'll denial you, you dirty-minded little-"

"Well, what about you--- Inuyasha, was it?" Hojo asked earnestly. "What would YOU do to woo her?"

"Well, for one thing, I'd get rid of those dumb flowers," he snapped, pointing at the beautiful rose bouquet still in the crook of Hojo's arm. "She probably dumped you for being such a pansy anyway, and she probably doesn't want MORE. Girls want someone strong, not a wimpy little nancy boy who can't even lift half his weight!" Hojo began to look indignant at this, but Inuyasha steadily continued on mouthily, "Second, I wouldn't listen to anything that Miroku says. And that's all." He closed his eyes, straightening up imperiously.

"Er---right," were the only words that Hojo managed to come up with.

Yuka squealed happily. "Looks like you're all set, Hojo! Not only did you make it into swimming semi-finals, but you're the regional wrestling champion too!"

"Just woo her over a candlelit dinner and you'll be growing old together!" Ayumi bounced excitedly. "Ooooooh, I can't wait! Soon you'll have to pick names for your kids!"

"Say, are you strong?" Eri added, who could fixate on no one or nothing else but Miroku. "I bet you are!"

Miroku puffed out his chest and was no doubt about to rumble on about his false exploits against demons and such (and not coincidentally all the ones that Inuyasha had saved him from), but he was interrupted when Sota heaved into view, still carrying all of the bags in tow. "Hey, a hand here?' he called out, the wheeled suitcase jolting painfully over a rock.

Hojo automatically jumped to it and helped him drag them all towards the group, forcing Inuyasha to hold the rose bouquet. "Careful!" he called out behind him. "Those set me back fifty dollars!" Inuyasha scowled and contemplated ways to ritually destroy the flowers, but Miroku's warning glare put him to a screeching halt.

After the bags were all piled neatly, Hojo neatly took back the roses and asked Sota, "What are those for, might I ask?"

Sota grinned evilly, leaning against the luggage as he addressed to Inuyasha, "She said you have to carry those all the way back. And that's only half of what she's packed."

"WHAT?!" Inuyasha shrieked, staring indignantly at the gigantic pile. "You go back there right NOW and tell her that I'm not her freakin' towel boy!"

Sota shook his head sadly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. She's pretty scary today..."

"What are you TALKING about?! She's always scary!"

"But this time it's really bad!" Sota responded earnestly. "I wouldn't do it if you enjoy having limbs!" He mimed someone hacking his arm off with an axe.

Inuyasha gritted his teeth impatiently as he was faced with the dilemma of either having to be marooned with Hojo and the girls awhile longer or having to face Kagome's wrath. In the end, he ended up choosing the first choice. "Fine, then! I'll wait...ten minutes longer!" he sniffed, sticking his nose up in the air. "But THEN-"

"Yeah yeah, you'll go get injured, I know!"

Inuyasha opened one eye. "Whatever..." He then turned his attention to the bag closest to him, shamelessly rifling through it to check out its contents. "What the hell could she POSSIBLY pack that's this much?" he said irately, continuing to mutter on to himself when he was unable to find the answer to the question of why he had to carry everything.

"Is Kagome going somewhere or something?" Hojo asked Miroku confusedly.

"Er--ye-" Miroku started, but was rudely interrupted when Inuyasha suddenly pulled a wrapped tampon out of the bag, holding it up to the light and sniffing at it curiously.

"What IS this?!" he asked interestedly, unwrapping it. "Some kind of food?" Having never encountered plastic before, he started to nibble, the object crunching loudly as his canines chomped down on it. When Hojo turned a bright red and the girls began to giggle loudly, he lifted his head, looking irritated. "WHAT?! I'm hungry!"

"Errr---Inuyasha," Miroku began warningly, his face now turning a rather interesting shade of violet. "I think that's a..." He trailed off quietly, not sure what it was himself (though he had chanced a very accurate guess, thanks to his gutter-residing mind).

"Um, okay, okay," Ayumi started in a rather high voice. "I think you'd better know what that is...OK, what you're currently eating is called a tampon. When a girl doesn't get pregnant..."

What was then explained needn't be important, but, needless to say, by the end of the lecture everyone (including Miroku) was laughing at Inuyasha, who had long since spat out the tampon and was the most glorious shade of red ever seen. "Er---forget I asked," he managed to croak.

"You have such an innocent friend there!" Eri giggled at Miroku, who was still snorting with laughter at the embarrassed half-demon. "He really doesn't know much about girls, does he?"

The monk sighed and closed his eyes in mock sadness. "I'm afraid not... Supposing that he even gets his girl, I am not even sure if he will know how to satisfy her, if you get my drift."

"HEY!" Inuyasha burst out, getting more enraged by the minute. "I HEARD THAT!"

"Hey mister!" Hojo called out in newfound admiration to the monk, ignoring Inuyasha and allowing Yuka to proffer the therapeutic sandals in his direction. "What do you think of giving these to Kagome?"

Miroku raised a brow. "Sandals stuffed with herbal remedies? I don't know...why would Kagome need such a thing?"

"Because of her rheumatoid arthritis, of course!" Ayumi piped up, taking advantage of Miroku's momentary distraction by getting so close to him that they nearly touched. Yuka saw this and gave her a death glare, pushing her away slightly as she too edged up towards the unnoticing monk. Eri shook her head in disapproval but scooted up as well, resulting in the three of them completely surrounding the poor guy.

"You're whacked!" Inuyasha sniffed, ignoring everyone but Hojo. "Kagome's perfectly healthy!"

"And he ought to know!" Miroku exclaimed nervously, beads of sweat gathering on his forehead as he finally realized what the girls were up to. "She threw her water bottle at him this morning!" He laughed in a rather high tone, shifting backwards only to find himself against the wall of the shrine. "Er---ladies, if you wouldn't mind, I can't really breathe here-"

"I wonder what's under that big robe of his?" Eri purred innocently, begin to untie the cord around his waist as the others forced his arms down.

"I don't know," Yuka giggled, pinning his legs to the ground with her knees to keep the protesting monk from kicking out. "Let's find out!"

"Ladies, if you don't mind," Miroku requested urgently as the robe hit the ground behind them, "I'm currently attached-"

"Oh hush!" Ayumi exclaimed, gently putting her finger against his lips.

"Oh, he's even hotter WITHOUT that robe!" Eri exclaimed as she stared at the monk's heaving bare torso, as he now was only in his leggings and sandals.

"Er---maybe I should have told you," Miroku began hesitantly, "but I'm a monk, and monks cannot have pleasures of the flesh-" He stopped abruptly when one of the girls pecked his reddening cheek, knowing that it was absolutely no use. Boy, would it suck to be him if Sango suddenly came out and caught him, although it technically wasn't his fault...

"Heheehee!" Yuka giggled, making him jump when she pinched the nape of his neck. "He's all ours, girls!"

It didn't matter anymore. Miroku was now officially terrified. A high scream threatening to erupt from his throat as the girls continually pawed him, he repented thirty times over for EVER trying to hit on anything. "SAAAAAAAAAAANGO, HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLP!"

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was locked in a confrontation of his own with Hojo. "Will you PLEASE stop disrespecting Kagome?!" Hojo was almost shouting at the half-demon. "She's a sickly girl! Not only will she be confined to a wheelchair for life in three years because of five separate bone tissue diseases, but she will soon be rendered completely sterile from the newest virus in Africa! HOW can you be so heartless?!"

"But I'm TELLING you!" Inuyasha responded angrily. "Kagome's not sick! She's NOT!" He furiously swatted at Hojo's bouquet, which was starting to wilt from the prolonged exposure to the hot summer sun. He suddenly stopped short, his gaze slowly switching from the flowers to the sandals to finally Hojo himself. "Hey, wait a minute..." he suspiciously spat, managing to put two and two together in his own slow way. "Are those for Kagome, too?" he asked, pointing towards the roses.

"Of course!" Hojo replied haughtily. "Unlike you, I am a gentleman! And, also unlike you, I will go to any means necessary to win my girl!"

Inuyasha, however, was quibbling with rage far too much to care about Hojo's last words. "So you're here to win her back, eh?" he said in a voice just oozing with deadly calm, standing almost nose-to-nose with the other boy. "NOT WHILE I CAN HELP IT!!" And before Hojo could yell "help!" he was onto him like a whirlwind, lashing out with his claws and trying to pin him to the ground. Hojo, however, fought the good fight; being the regional wrestling champion, he knew a few tricks himself (including a few dirty ones). Between his groin kicks and Inuyasha's sheer brutal strength, it seemed that there was going to be no clear winner for awhile...

Amidst Inuyasha and Hojo's shouting and Miroku's tearful pleas for help, Sota giggled happily as the fighting on both sides continued to intensify. It had turned out better than he could have hoped... Forget the trash talk shows that his mother had banned him from watching; this was better than Jerry Springer any day!

&(&()()()

"All done!" Kagome exclaimed cheerfully as she threw her last pair of socks into the suitcase. "And somehow we've managed without Inuyasha bothering us too! Now that's somewhat of a world record," she muttered dryly, zipping up the suitcase and heaving it up onto the bed.

"Shall we leave, then?" Sango asked, rising from her spot on the floor. "Don't get me wrong or anything," she added hastily, giving her a friend a sidelong look, "it's just that it probably isn't a good idea to be leaving those two alone for very long."

Kagome nodded as she handed her friend the other back. "Yeah, you're probably right. And we should probably be getting to Kaede's by sunset."

After saying goodbye to her mother and grandfather, the two set out across the lawn, getting into a rather metaphysical conversation that hitherto had been something that Kagome had thought about but not shared, even with Inuyasha himself.

"Well, I suppose I can assume that you've already changed the past," Sango commented to her friend somberly, reswinging Kagome' s duffel bag around her shoulder. "This seems like a peaceful place...and there's the Sacred Tree, taller than ever." She gestured towards it with one hand. "So is this due to something that we did, or have we not changed my time period yet?"

"I honestly don't know how that works," Kagome replied honestly. "But don't you find it funny that there are no demons in my time period when yours is crawling with them?"

Sango contemplated it for a moment. "Something must have happened, I guess...but at least Naraku likely isn't hanging around. That means that we or someone else must have defeated him at some point."

"Either that, or all the demons got wiped out in some war or other..." She swallowed, calculating her friend's mood before she went on to say the next thing. "I wonder if this means that - that Inuyasha died at some point." She suddenly reddened, looking down at the ground.

Sango stared at her shrewdly, but did not voice her suspicions. "I don't know," she finally said stonily. "I really don't know. He must have---though whether from natural causes or from something else is something we'll probably never find out."

"And then there's our shrine." Kagome pointed to the familiar building looming from the side. "What's creepy is that someone had to have known about the use of the well, although the Shikkon Jewel and Inuyasha's rosary are the only two things that I know of that can get you through it. The only thing I know for sure is that my ancestors built the shrine around the well sometime in the 1700's---"

"Why?" Sango asked abruptly. "Is the well haunted?"

"No..."

The other woman wrinkled her brow. "It's just that there's all that yelling and wailing coming from over th-" They both stopped short in her tracks, each giving the other looks that plainly said "shit".

Kagome was the first to speak. "They screwed it up, didn't they?"

"They sure did," Sango responded as they both broke into a run.

&&(&()

By now Inuyasha had Hojo pinned to the ground with one foot and was hitting him with him own bouquet. At first the other boy had bravely retaliated with the odd left hook or thrown rock, but eventually his strength waned and he couldn't do much more than yelp as Inuyasha snarled angrily, "You were going to have children, eh?! You'll be lucky if you can even get it up when I'm done!"

"Oh my lord," Kagome murmured as her eyes were exposed to the scene of absolute insanity.

"Is that boy someone you know?" Sango asked, her eyes widening as Inuyasha doubled over painfully, having been treated to a direct kick in the pills by Hojo's booted foot.

"Oh yes," Kagome breathed, now suddenly angry, "I know him all right...But I'll bet you anything that Inuyasha was the one who started it!"

Another yelp from behind them suddenly caught their attention. The girls both whirled around, only to find Kagome's friends still pawing Miroku, who was struggling vainly and whining pleadingly, "Sango, help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!"

"MIROKU HOUSHI!" Sango screeched, abandoning Kagome to march up to her husband. "What on God's green EARTH are you up to?!"

"But Sango, I-"

"SIT!" Kagome's voice was added to the din. "SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT!" Thrown magnificently upwards, Inuyasha found his bouquet only to be connecting with dead air as he bounced around and ploughed into the ground several times, skipping a few more times before he finally rolled towards the shrine, sprawled facedown into the ground. Hojo, a purpled eye visibly showing on his normally handsome face, breathed heavily as he staggered upwards, saying hoarsely to Kagome, "Let me at him! He disrespected you by laughing at all your illnesses!"

Kagome sighed nervously, casting a weary eye towards the half-demon, who still lay near Miroku, Sango, and the feuding girls. "Not true," she replied, picking up the bouquet and giving it back to Hojo. "I'm not ill. With anything."

"But your grandfather always said-"

"My grandfather is an old coot!" Kagome interrupted angrily, feeling a suddenly rush of anger towards her father's father. "I NEVER had any of those illnesses! He just said that because - because - oh, never mind."

"I honestly don't think I want to know," Hojo replied honestly, glancing over towards the war still going on near the shrine. ALL of the girls, including Sango, were now pummeling Miroku, who angstfully pleaded innocence amid all the cries of, "You creep!", "You two-timer!", and, on one particularly vehement occasion "You ought to have it cut off, you liar!".

"You don't," Kagome panted nervously, turning back to Hojo. "Trust me."

He looked at her contemplatively for a moment, and then said slowly, proffering the flowers, "Well, Kagome, my offer still stands. I don't care whether you're sick or not. I still want you...that is, if you'll have me."

As she looked into those soulful, glittering eyes, Kagome was almost tempted to take up his offer. As her friends had told her umpteen times, he was kind, gentle, caring, and would never cause her any trouble. However, as her eyes shifted over to stare at the silver-haired, rough-looking form lying sprawled in a two foot deep, form-fitting dent, she truly knew that Hojo wasn't what she wanted. "Sorry," she responded, shaking her head. "My offer still stands as well."

He turned to walk away, but thought better of it, giving her one last glance. "It was him all along, wasn't it?" His head jerked over towards the prostrate form of Inuyasha.

"Yes, it was," she replied seriously, turning away herself to perhaps find a way to wrest her friends off the hapless Miroku.

"I'll give him one thing," Hojo replied, heading back to his convertible, "he sure can bite. That guy could clean anyone's clock." He disappeared around the corner and out of sight.

Kagome watched as Ayumi took a swing at Miroku's unprotected area. "You swine, you didn't tell us you were married! You lying, two-timing, lecherous-"

"STOP!!" Kagome screeched, managing to disperse the warmongering girls with one loud shout. "PLEASE STOP!!"

"Why, Kagome?" Eri whined. "The guy's a cheater and he deserves it!"

"Yeah!" Yuka agreed. "I don't know how you EVER put up with him!" she added to Sango, who was currently giving Miroku a look that could have frozen hellfire.

"Wait a second, wait a second!" Kagome cut in exasperatedly. "WHY on earth are you holding his robe, Ayumi?"

The girl turned a bright red and squeaked, "We -uh, er- took it off?" she replied in a tiny voice.

"With or without his permission?" Kagome continued in a stern voice.

"Um---without?" Yuka aimed a kick at her admission, but the girl just gulped and turned a brighter shade of red.

Kagome turned to Sango. "See? Knowing my friends and their track record with guys, they probably just jumped on him."

Sango looked at her dubiously. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Well, if that's the case, then I suppose we should go before anything else happens," Sango replied, still giving Miroku a dark look. She tugged at his hand, which was still sweating profusely from the schoolgirl attack. "Come on, you great lump! I want to arrive at home before nightfall." Without another word the monk stood up and they both headed into the shrine.

Kagome sighed in frustration as she surveyed the torn-up lawn and the toppled over pile of suitcases and bags dominating the proceedings. How could she EVER have thought that Inuyasha and Miroku would have gone without causing trouble in a whole hour?! (Great, just great,) she thought irately, kicking at a clump of dirt. (Good thing I'm leaving for awhile or Grandpa'd be on my case for at least a year.) She turned around to stare at Inuyasha's still prone form, as did the other girls, who even now had no idea what the hell was going on. "Inuyasha!" she barked, purposely stepping on one leg. "Did you bite poor Hojo?!"

The reply was muffled but nonetheless distinct. "Only after he bit me!"

Kagome rolled her eyes and stepped down harder. "Like I'm gonna believe THAT! Come on, what did you do?!"

"I didn't do ANYTHING!"

She turned away, growling in frustration at his obstinacy. "Fine then, be that way!"

"FINE!!"

Kagome turned around to stamp off and let him sulk only to find that she had bumped into her three excited-looking friends. "Omigod, Kagome!" Yuka squealed. "Omigod!"

Kagome paled as she for the first time fully realized what her friends being here really meant. "Er---omigod...what?"

"We need to talk to you," Eri said breathlessly, "now."

Immediately she found herself dragged over to Hojo's convertible about a hundred feet away, where its owner was decrepitly sitting in the driver's seat. "Oh my GOD, Kagome!" Yuka squealed as she climbed into the backseat, motioning for Kagome to follow. "You have a BOYFRIEND! A little nerd like you---already with a BOYFRIEND!"

Kagome, who had always been on the studious side in school, reddened and glared at her. "He's NOT my boyfriend! He's--" She stewed for a moment, trying to get the right words to come out of her mouth. However, a little squeaking noise came out of her throat as she realized that the accusation was, for once, true. "All right, all right, I DO have a boyfriend! But he's not exactly a people person!"

"Well, who cares about THAT?!" Ayumi squealed. "He's damn hot! Why didn't you TELL us, Kagome?!"

"I -um-"

"We KNEW it, Kagome!" Yuka piped up glaringly. "We KNEW that there was someone else, the way you were always sighing and muttering 'that arrogant bastard' like that!" She grinned triumphantly at her friend, who was getting steadily redder and redder.

"The problem is," Eri went on for her thoughtfully, "why didn't you TELL us about this piping hot hunk of man until now?"

Kagome's stomach gave a rather unpleasant lurch at the words 'piping hot hunk of man'. "Well, the hitch is-"

"Never mind, never mind!" Ayumi interrupted. "The only thing that matters is that you're happy!"

Eri giggled. "The way you two argue is so CUTE!! Talk about chemistry!"

Ayumi put her arm around Kagome in a friendly manner. "You two could put that energy to better use, y'know," she purred suggestively, patting her shoulder. "He might be a little bad-tempered, but I'm sure he's got some other good qualities..."

Yuka giggled again. "I mean, he beat up the regional wrestling champ, for one thing..."

"HEY!" Hojo turned around sharply, his bloody nose in plain view as it dripped onto the leather upholstery.

Ayumi patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Yeah, yeah, I know what it must feel like, after being in the top spot for seven years...so very sad." She turned back to Kagome, brightening up again. "But I think you'd better make your boyfriend get over the whole innocence thing. I don't think he knows anything about ANYTHING, if you know what I mean!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "No, I don't think I do."

Yuka shook her head sadly. "You'd best get him up to snuff straightaway, Kagome. For crying out loud, I'll bet you anything that he doesn't even know what a blowjob is!"

"HEY!!" Kagome and Hojo both roared at the same time, both giving her death glares. Kagome, however, was the most peeved of the two. "I AM NOT GIVING INUYASHA A BLOWJOB!" she roared, spit flying in all directions.

"OK, OK," Eri said in a placating tone. "No one said you had to..." She stopped momentarily but went on to blurt out, "But I would!"

Kagome, who had briefly looked down at her watch, started as she noted the time. "Um, you guys," she said nervously, climbing out of the car. "It's almost suppertime. Um, I'd better go..."

Hojo and the girls looked at her for a moment but luckily didn't bother to ask where she was going. "Oh, okay!" Ayumi said brightly. "We'll see you around then, Kagome!"

"Next time we meet remember to bring that hot boyfriend of yours!" Eri squealed, blowing her a kiss as Hojo sulkily revved up the convertible and drove away.

After they had left, Kagome just stood there and stared at the dust cloud that the car had left behind, her brain scarcely able to register what had just happened. (This is absolutely insane! ABSOLUTELY INSANE!! ) She gritted her teeth for a moment but after a few seconds couldn't help but let out a giggle at the memory of Inuyasha thrashing Hojo with his own flowers. (Heh, at least he'll leave me alone now...)

She turned and headed back to the shrine, figuring that Miroku, Sango, and Shippo (who had perhaps luckily missed all the fun) were probably waiting for her on the other side of the well. Inuyasha was now out of his dent, sitting huffily against the shrine wall as he waited her to return. One large amber eye squinted at her suspiciously as she approached, her arms swinging energetically. "Come on, Inuyasha!" she called out to him steadily. "Let's get going!"

He glared at her unblinkingly for a moment, but then soundlessly stood up, turning around to head for the well. Kagome abruptly stopped him and pointed at all her bags; he scowled at her audacity. "Oh, come on!" she called out to him as he grumpily pick up the entire stack in one lift. "I'm not mad at you!" He looked up and scowled but refused to say anything. "No, really!" she added sincerely, grabbing two of the bags he was carrying. "That guy's been after me for four years now, and I don't think he'll be coming back anytime soon."

"Hmph!" was the conceited reply. "I'm glad I bit him, then!"

She smiled. "So admit it...you were jealous!"

He put his nose high into the air as he dumped all of the bags down the well. "Don't think that I did it for you! I didn't like him anyway!"

She smiled again, not believing him for even a moment. "Yeah, whatever..."

They both climbed onto the lip of the well, Kagome wrapping his arms around his neck so that she could hold his rosary, which was the only thing other than the Sacred Jewel that could allow them to pass through time. Just as Inuyasha was about to leap down, however:

"Um, Kagome? What IS a blowjob, anyway?"

"SIT!" Her voice rang shrilly through the echoey well as they both unexpectedly plummeted down and out of sight, Kagome angrily cursing to herself as she realized that she should have let go of him before shouting the incantation. Damn all demons and their damn good hearing, anyway...

All was not still even after the duo had left, however... A demented giggle came from one dusty corner of the shrine, and Sota came crawling out of a large urn, where he had been hiding ever since the fight broke out. "Heh, that was the most fun I've had in years!" he snorted, stifling another laugh as he left to get a snack.

Author's Note: Chapter sixteen down! Not much to say other than that, except:

ChibiKenshin6490: Well, yeah, they will, but not for awhile yet. Obviously the rest of the group heavily suspects, but they're still sort of afraid to bring it out in the open.

AngelOfLight: snicker I like your nickname for Hojo. I've thought that a few times myself. :)

earthshine411: You're onto me plot-wise, I'll say that much. :) I can't remember the name of that horrible fic, but I'll tell you what squicked me about it. It wasn't a threesome, per se, but I do believe that Kagome did do both of them within the span of 24 hours. It started off when Kagome started giving Inu a BJ in his sleep; he woke up, turned into a demon, and proceeded to screw her all night. She began calling out for help after awhile, and somehow telepathically connected to Sesshomaru, who "rescued" her and then did her himself. I couldn't bring myself to read anymore after that...

angelica incarnate: Kagome knows that the final battle is close, so she thinks that bringing as much stuff as she can (like warm clothes, food, first aid, etc) to help will contribute to them winning. This isn't the last of Sota, actually, he'll be around once more... As for the Sesshomaru/Rin thing, that whole thing is sort of my fault. I think he cares quite a bit about Rin (in a fatherly way, of course), but he isn't totally doing this for Rin either, and I don't think I've made that clear. He obviously wants to overthrow Naraku, but he's is hesitant to make a move considering Naraku's current strength.

Inu Sweet Pup Ears: Not getting the e-mails on time is a regular occurrence on this site, unfortunately... My review alerts get backed up often enough. And you do bring up a good point about why Sesshomaru doesn't act. That's sort of a weakness in my plot. My only justification is that he's not sure if he's able to win in the current circumstances; instead he relies on Inuyasha, who can wield the Teutsusaiga, to do it.

Midnight Vixen: Ugh, the kind of story that you mentioned in your review makes me very very ill as well. Unfortunately, that's actually about 75 percent of the stories that I've seen lately. I'll try not to make it too peachy keen; there's just too much emotional baggage and too much uncertainty about Naraku and Inuyasha's thoughts on becoming a full-demon for it to be totally all right.

Crystal Twilight: As far as I know, the Shikkon Jewel and the rosary are the only ways that people can get through the well. Inuyasha can get through because of the rosary, that much I know... I lately realized the same thing that you did, about Miroku and Sango...but I decided to leave it. It's not quite right, but I supposed that I could "justify" it if I made sure that Miroku and Sango touched the person holding the item, thus getting them through as well. Sorry!

Green Glitter Haruko: I'm currently not planning too much about Rin, actually...just that Sesshomaru is concerned for her safety. Um...what insult by Kouga are you referring to? I'm not sure if I remember it...

Also thank you to inuyashaluv0528, Mini Nicka, Angel 6582, Artificial Red, Stiffy420, Wildly Shy, SamuraiPrincess01, Delonwethiel, Demon-girl-kit, bettychan, crazyFORvampires, brigurl, sailor-saturn550, and someone. You guys rock!!!

Review, please! I want to know your thoughts, especially about whether or not you thought the Hojo scene was a good little clincher for that whole sideplot. And remember: reviews me happy! :)