Um…ahaha? Long time no write? Yes. Yes it has been.

I seriously don't know how any one can write more than two fics at a time without going insane! I've only got two and trying to balance them out is friggin hard work!

Well, enough complaining let's get down to business.

CHAPTER 15

After Kagome and Ori's little heart to heart, Ori was more than a tad reluctant to have to go to the king and tell him about his findings. Now that he'd actually talked to her, and gotten to know her a little she seemed to be a genuinely good person - as far as humans went - and she didn't look too bad for a human either, which in Ori's opinion was always a plus. He could see why Akage would warm up to her, and in the small way she did remind him of Suki, it was probably another reasons as to why Akage found her so appealing. Although Ori shared the same view there could never be another Suki, no matter how close the similarities.

When he reported back to Mitsubishi he at least expected him to exhibit some form of dissatisfaction but his over all reaction was calm as he digested the information, which scared Ori more than any of the scenarios he had come up with.

With Kagome in the clear of being attacked she was allowed some more freedom, as long as there was some form of supervision ('Surprise, surprise…' was something that crossed her mind when she was informed of this new leniency). Which came in the form of Ori, because - the way Mitsubishi saw it - there was no reason to suspect any kind of hidden motive from the boy.

The next day when Kagome had finished her morning ritual of breakfast and bathing, Ori took her for a walk ('more like a hike,' Kagome thought a little bitterly) through a part of the forest she had never been to. Not that that was saying much because even with Akage she wasn't really allowed to stray too far from the tribes grounds, and from her guess: this was a lot further than she had ever been.

The excursion had been a lot of fun with Ori keeping her entertained with countless stories, none of which pertained to the mentioning of Suki. Neither of them wanted to bring that up.

It wasn't until they reached a small stream and decided that taking a break would be nice that the mention of Akage and the status of his feelings were brought up.

"Ori…" she asked reluctantly. "The other day, why didn't you, you know, get all, ah…" she trailed off looking for the right word.

"Why didn't I act like Akage did?" he supplied.

"Yeah. I was under the impression that that was what all the males were going to act like, if not worse. As some led me to believe," she scowled to herself, recalling Hitomi and her less than comforting explanation of her 'precarious situation.'

Ori had to hide his smile at the girl's dark look and amusing pout. Akage had told him about the little incident between Midori and the servant, Hitomi, and he was certain that there must have been a few other mishaps between the two if he was reading Midori's expression right.

Kagome mentally shook herself out of that particular memory, only to have her face heat up a little as the memory of Akage's reaction took it's place, which in turn brought her back to the here and now, and the slightly embarrassing conversation she was having with Akage's best friend.

"Well," Ori was beginning to feel a little embarrassed himself as it wasn't really his place to spill the beans about Akage's feelings for her. "It's hard to say exactly…it could have been a number of things," he cleared his throat nervously. He had a feeling that this line of questioning was going to come up but it still didn't make it easier to talk about.

"He was the first male to be around you when you went into…heat, right?" she shook her head slowly to confirm.

"It could be something that happens right at that exact moment," he offered, but it didn't look like she was buying into that explanation. He didn't blame her.

"It could be that Akage is coming into his time and you were the only female around, who just happened to go into heat, and it was too much for him to handle, so he had to leave before something unfavourable happened." 'That sounds more plausible,' he thought, quite proud of himself. But when he looked over to gauge her reaction he was surprised to find her fixing him with a look so cold that he should have froze on the spot.

"The only female around? Something unfavourable? And just what is that supposed to mean!" she blurted incredulously.

"Wow! Calm down…" she cut him off.

"Are all youkai so dead set against any kind of involvement with humans?" she demanded. Ori couldn't help but retort.

"No! It's just that Akage is the prince and it's only right that he should fall in love with one of his own and take them as a mate, not a human girl."

There was a slightly awkward silence as both of them mulled over what was just said. Ori realized his mistake right away.

'Oh Gods! Why the hell did I have to say that? Taking everyone's advice and keeping your big mouth shut would have been very helpful in such a fucking delicate situation. Way to go!' He mentally berated himself. Kagome, on the other hand had a very different take on what was just said.

'Did he…did he just say what I think he said?' eyes wide, hand half way up to her lips in complete shock, she turned her gaze back to him as realization dawned on her.

"That's why? You think that's why he acted so strange because…" her face was already beginning to heat up.

"I-I don't know," he stuttered, his own face picking up some of the heat.

Kagome, with a hundred stunted questions, was about to try and voice some when she froze as a strangely familiar tingle washed over her.

Ori, feeling as though he had come up with an explanation was just about to break the silence when Kagome's hand shot out and grabbed his arm.

"There's something coming this way," she stated hurriedly before she got up, pulling Ori with her. Watching her nervous movements and the strange look she had on her face he figured that there was something definitely wrong.

"Why didn't I bring my bow and arrows!" she hissed, frustrated at the fact that she had left them behind.

"Can you use them? I thought that you just started practicing the other day?" Ori's couldn't keep his curiosity at bay, even in their current situation.

She just seemed to get all the more upset.

"I don't know! I think that if I at least had them I could try. I know I could do it," she finished more to herself, though Ori caught it. About that time his senses picked up on the youkai that was racing towards them.

"Get behind that rock over there. Akage would never forgive me if I let something happen to you."

She just made it behind when a very large, very dangerous looking youkai burst through the trees. The tingling she was feeling before intensified into a sort of pulse as the beast moved closer, now coming in steady beats.

Swivelling its massive horn tipped head from side to side trying to spot the beings that it had picked up on. It was hungry; a hunger that the poor dumb beast couldn't quell, no matter how much it ate, no matter how much it destroyed.

The small jewel fragment it had shoved into its chest, right over it's heart, was taking control turning a youkai that once had a voice, had a mind of its own into a blood thirsty, power hungry animal with one thing on it's clouded mind. Must get more jewel shards. And that was what pushed it on, destroying anything that obstructed its path.

Roaring as it spotted Ori, it charged, giving Kagome a full view of its chest. That's when she noticed it. 'What is that glowing light coming from its chest? Does Ori see it?'

Something was definitely nagging at the back of her mind, 'I should know what that is! It's…it's…' the completed shard flashed through her mind followed by it being shot and the pieces streaking through the sky.

'Shikon no tama…' a woman's voice whispered, causing her skin to prickle. Then a wholly different voice, a males' voice, rang in her ears.

'You're just a jewel detector…'

She pushed away from the tree with a gasp as a sharp pain that accompanied the voice shot over her own chest. She wasn't sure how such an enraging comment could make her feel so hollow.

Coming back to herself she watched as the two youkai went at it, still feeling somewhat detached from the small bit of memory regained.

Ori took a blow to the chest and went flying back towards her. She dashed out to help him.

"Are you ok? Oh gods, that's a deep cut!" Ori waved her off before telling her to get back behind a tree.

"Ori, listen to me! Its chest!" she yelled as he headed back into battle. "There's something in its chest! By its heart, there's a-a jewel shard!" Both youkai stopped in their tracks. "He has a piece of the Shikon no tama."

Ori didn't turn around, he knew better than that, but now the beasts' attention wasn't focused on him anymore.

'Shit, Midori!'

It had already changed its course.

Ori kept it at bay for a while longer but at the mention of the jewel its sights were now set on Kagome.

'It's coming after me now! How do we get out of this? If only I had brought the stupid bow and arrows I could help in some way. Ori's holding his own but I don't know how much longer he can last fighting against that thing.' She looked around wildly, trying to find something, anything that would be of some use in slaying the demon. That was when she heard it howl in enraged pain.

Ori had left a nasty gash in its chest but not close enough to dislodge the jewel fragment, which left them with a very large, very angry youkai with a piece of the shattered jewel increasing it's power; who didn't appear to want to back down from the fight.

Eyes flaring red, it charged again, narrowly missing Kagome's hiding place behind a tree. Luckily for her the lessons Akage had taught her did pay off, in the sense that her reaction time for dodging out of the way wasn't as delayed, as it would have been, which left her alive for the time being.

Landing on her stomach wouldn't have been so bad if the wind hadn't been knocked out of her leaving her gasping and vulnerable for attack.

She heard Ori yell her name and then the sound of the beasts' cry as Ori stabbed him through the back, piercing its heart before it dropped to the ground.

She rolled over still coughing and clutching her stomach just in time to see Ori race over to her side.

"Are you hurt? Are you bleeding?" he did a quick once over to make sure she was none of those things before he helped her up.

"Ariagto," she wheezed, as she took his hand and let him lead her over to a rock.

"Your wounds!" she exclaimed, still a little breathless. "We need to stop the bleeding, and get those cleaned up before the get infected."

"In – what'd?" shaking his head at her strange choice in words, he tried to wave off her concern. "There not that serious, they should be healed in a few hours." He stated as casually as he could.

"You all say that just because you don't want to look weak, when you know you're in pain," she grumbled. "Still, just please let me have a look at them? It'll make me feel like I'm not completely useless." He didn't protest this time understanding her reason, and removed his shirt, sucking in his breath as he pulled out of it because it really had hurt.

They moved over to the stream to clean his wounds with pieces of her already tattered blouse. They fell into a reflective silence, both re-living the attack.

"Midori. You said something back there about the youkai having a jewel shard. How did you know? I mean you even told me where it was on his body."

"So you didn't see it?" Ori shook his head. "I don't really know…I just…it kind of just came to me. That feeling I had just before the demon came was so strange, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. It was like the beating of a heart or something," she tried to explain. "And then when the youkai turned around I saw this glowing right above its heart, and its name just came to me: Shikon no tama.

"I'm not sure how I know but I think that maybe… I'm connected to it somehow. Does that make any sense to you?" she asked, a little bewildered at her own thoughts, when suddenly her eyes got big and bright with excitement.

"Do you know anything about a Shikon no tama? Have you ever heard of it before? Maybe it will help me find out who I am…"

"Hold on a second. Slow down…I have heard of it before. I don't think that there are many, youkai or human, that haven't heard of it and its power. I don't know the whole story but from what I understand, after the priestess who watched over the jewel died, the jewel lay dormant for fifty years but then, within this last year, it reappeared. The kicker though was that it got broken and the jewel shards were scattered all over the land. Now there are all kinds of beings searching for the pieces so they can make it whole again because it is said to grant the holder one wish." Ori leaned back as far as his injuries allowed him, with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Oh the things I could do with that if I ever got my hands on it."

"Don't even joke about that Ori," she demanded, deadly serious. "I don't think it will bring anyone, anything but misery." Frowning at her own vehemence on such an unknown topic to her, she couldn't help the shiver that raced up her spine at the thought of being in any way connected to the ominous jewel.

Just the way she said it and the look in her eyes made it clear to him that this was indeed the priestess Akage had thought her to be. Even if she didn't realise now, all the signs pointed to yes. Her being able to see the shard was pretty much a dead, give away, and the way she reprimanded him for even entertaining the idea, served to only further his conviction. 'Speaking of the jewel. We ought to go get the shard before something else does.'

After putting his thoughts to words they made their way slowly back. Kagome nervously stepped up to the corpse as the strange sensation washed over her for the second time that day. Not wanting to look into its eyes, she focused on its bloody chest, which didn't bring her any more comfort. The shimmering blackish, purple aura guided her to the resting-place of the tainted jewel fragment.

She reached out tentatively when the slight tingle rocketed to a full-blown beat, momentarily stunning her with the force.

"Shikon no tama…" the youkai rasped in a deep, throaty voice before it grabbed her out stretched arm pulling her off the ground as it pushed its way up.

"Shikon…Shikon…" it repeated as its voice gained power, and its body gained strength. He grabbed her with his other hand around the middle making her cry out in pain.

Ori lunged at him but was batted away by the beasts newly freed hand. He was about to attack again when he caught a familiar scent then hurriedly jumped out of the way just as Akage burst through the foliage, sword raised high.

Letting loose his war cry, the beast didn't even have a chance to turn before he was cut in half; the jewels shard fell to the ground as it was dislodged, and its host exploded into dust.

Akage smoothly intercepted Kagome before she plummeted to the ground. Their landing though, lacked the initial grace.

As they rolled to a stop, Kagome took her time opening her eyes. Everything had happened so fast, not to mention the fact that her ribs felt like they were going to be permanently crushed, and she would never breath normally again. It was strange how the not breathing part was still in effect. That's when she opened her eyes to see Akage staring down at her with worry etched all over his face.

"Midori, are you ok! Are you hurt?" when all he got was a wheeze his eyes grew wider with sudden fear. "Midori!" A pathetic slap on his arm confused him as he glanced down moving his body slightly.

"Gehof...meh…" she forced through her laboured breathing as some of the weight that was squishing her let up.

"OH!" Akage immediately jumped off giving the poor girl some space. Coughing, yet again, she managed to push herself up when Akage assisted her the rest of the way.

"What a crazy day," she managed with a slight turn of the lips. "I was almost killed twice, saved twice, and somehow I managed to get squashed…twice." Then she broke into another coughing fit.

Ok, so how was that? I think that I did a pretty good job, considering I didn't have any beta type help this time around. I suppose it could be worse, and I could be writing like I used to where there was not a paragraph to be found. Ah, the good old days…

Anyhow, I've finally got this one up and the next one will be posted shortly, as I am in the process of completing it now just need to get some things straight and I should be all set. I'd give it a week at the most…maybe…hopefully…

Ah heh heh…?