Change of Body

By: Minuiko

To RoseFire-shadow666: your review surprised me, but it was okay, because it got me thinking of what was happening with my story… well, basically, everything's all happy, the readers are by now aware of who's who and who's in whose body, and there's no plot to be seen, right? And that was not only boring, it sucked. And even though there was to be more action in later chapters, you just gave me a new idea that I want to use… So, even though it initially offended me a little… thanks a lot, because I needed a kick in the ass to move on with this story xD. (You can tell that I seldom get criticism. Anyway, thanks.) This chapter may seem just as boring or not (I'm trying something here, tell me if you don't like it), just bear with me for a while.

And to Lexi-Teniro, thank you so much for leaving such nice reviews (they're rather long too) and for liking my story! By the way, Yuusuke might get to be even more than a "bigger character."In fact, he may get to be a main character. I'm thinking of that sort of a plot twist right now… things are going to get very complicated.

As promised, I dedicate this chapter to Katsume18 for getting Anonymous right. As I said, it wasn't that hard.

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Chapter Twenty-three

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Kikyou's POV

… the storm didn't work. WHY DIDN'T IT WORK? I wanted to tear out my hair, only that would leave me bald. Well, I wasn't an officially trained witch… I wasn't even a very good one; I'd just followed a book and voila, here we are… I sighed again as Naraku came up behind me. "Say, Kikyou, I was looking at this interesting book of yours… and…"

"And?" I proceeded to glare daggers at him, but he ignored me. That son-of-a…

"There's an advancement to this 'Change of Body' body-switching spell… and I say you should go for it. I have no idea what you're planning to do once you 'get revenge', but apparently, their current bodies aren't a problem for them. There's a barrier involved in this, though, so if a passerby gets in there, they will also get involved in this little dilemma. We have to find a way to corner them all… and once Shuuichi is out of Inuyasha's body… chances are that we'll see little Kagome have her heart broken, eh? And I will have my shot at the lovely Kagura once more…"

I had lost track of what he said ever since he'd passed the "I say you should go for it…" Sometimes, he got too long-winded for a normal person to keep track. I merely snatched the book from his arms and planned yet another attempt at the body-switching technique that had failed me once before… and about their locations, I had a good feeling where they were right now…

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Jakotsu's POV

"Seaman, Sniper, welcome back," our leader drawled. I merely kept quiet in the corner, my old-fashioned sword handing loosely from my back. Three of us were attired in kimono and old-fashioned armor; that included our leader Bankotsu, that bastard Renkotsu (who was part of our old gang, but who obviously wanted Bankotsu's position), and me. Our leader was just one rank lower than Mr. Sensui, whom I suspected was even stronger than he was. It was one of the reasons that our pack had joined with the Thunder Riders. I grinned. Sniper was such a hottie, too. Seaman was cute, oh yes, but he was too young for me.

Sniper first grinned at Bankotsu, then suddenly stood up straight and saluted Mr. Sensui's coming shadow. "Thunder Rider Sniper reporting."

Seaman was quiet, but I suspected that he was grinning under the hood he had just pulled back over his sandy-blonde hair. Knowing the reason for it, I agreed. Sniper was far too serious and too subordinate of Sensui for his own good. It was funny. Not even I was as respectful of Bankotsu; we were organized by rank and power, but we were brothers at heart. Sensui's and Sniper's relationship was more like master and servant, no offense to either of them.

Bankotsu grimly saluted as well; the rest of us followed. I didn't like having my sense of freedom cut off, but our joining their pack was Bankotsu's decision, and not ours. He may have been young, but he had more sense than the rest of us. By the rest of us I meant the seven of us that were originally here; Mukotsu, Kyoukotsu, and Ginkotsu had died and Suikotsu had disappeared to god knows where. Renkotsu was a too-serious, just-like-Sniper-but-not-as-hot person, and I was a "gay freak" who liked cutting up pretty and/or cute men with my sword. Like I said, Bankotsu was the only sensible and normal one among us. Not that that stopped him from becoming my best friend.

Mr. Sensui told us to make preparations for the coming two days. We were to attack. I smiled and fingered my sword, licking my lips. I had already targeted Inuyasha during his first fight with Kouga. Not that he knew I was following him, but he was sooo cute. I just wanted to cut him up.

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Inuyasha's POV

This "missing Kagome" thing has evolved to so much more. It was a constantly festering wound, and tore me up; not even Karasu's stalking ways were enough to keep me sidetracked enough to get Kagome off my mind. To think that just moments before, I was freaked out and bothered by it so much that I was on the verge of screaming. Maybe because I was secure in the fact that he couldn't get into the house.

Alright, alright, I liked Kagome. Maybe more than as a friend. Strange how I took it for granted. I always thought the pipsqueak was annoying, one way or another, but… god, I missed her! And that missing had turned into longing, and somehow that had turned into… AARGH!— something deeper. Why the FUCK was I being so goddamned poetic?

I looked into the tiny hand mirror on Shuuichi's closet door that I had noticed but hadn't looked in since I got here. His green eyes (because they were his, whether I controlled them or not) were lacking in sleep and had slight bags under them, and his initially silky, healthy red hair had been… somewhat droopier, duller. Not to mention the abnormal paleness of his skin. Okay, so I didn't look in the peak of health. So?

I scowled for good measure, but all of a sudden, I felt much more tired; there was a piercing dizziness that I had felt once before, but I wasn't able to think about it as I fell backwards. I had landed on the bed. Unconscious.

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Yuusuke's POV

What the hell just happened? I was walking home from Genkai's torture palace (ha, ha) when I felt like my head was going to explode. And I was just walking past the hospital too. What a coincidence.

Except… where the hell am I! I was in a hospital room, but I wasn't on a bed, or in the morgue (which would mean I was dead), or anything. I was sitting in a chair… and there were three other people in there with me. And I felt perfectly fine. Except for the fact that I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED.

I recognized Hiei's hair (gelled black and white) and Miroku's ponytail and earrings. They were both slumped forward, near the bed, which contained a sleeping teenaged girl… with her hair tied in a ponytail. Sango, I realized. I recognized them all… and geez, my hair felt really heavy…

That was when I realized that I had long hair. As I was feeling it in horror, Hiei had risen and was clutching his hand to his head. "Ow, fuck, that hurt… and why the hell is the ground so close? Don't tell me…"

He suddenly realized that I was there and glared at me. "Oi, Shuuichi, what happened?"

Shuuichi? SHUUICHI! What the hell! And even if that was possible, Shuuichi NEVER had such long hair! It was up to the small of his back, if I remembered clearly, and it wasn't… black…

"What the fuck are you doing, Hiei!"

"What the fuck are you doing, Shuuichi!" He seemed to suddenly realize what was happening, as he snapped up and his eyes widened in horror. "W-we changed bodies again…!"

Changed bodies? What the hell? "Oi, you have a mirror or something, Hiei!"

He snapped at me, "I'm not Hiei, damn you! I'm Inuyasha!"

"I'm calling you that for simplicity's sake, now get me a mirror!"

"I don't have one!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

The nurse came in, demanding what was the matter. We both gulped and shook our heads. Then a soft voice started snickering. It was Miroku. "It seems that we've changed bodies again… only this time, it's much more complicated… we don't know who's who, or where everyone is…"

"I'm Yuusuke, dammit, Yuusuke! No one has business calling me Shuuichi when he's… he's at home! And Shuuichi has RED hair!"

He, just like me, had skipped the field trip, though I didn't know why. He was the class president, and the most inclined to go. Someone must be playing a joke on me, I thought… But, impossible as it was, it was dawning on me that I was in someone else's body. Be it Shuuichi's, or Inuyasha's, or…

Miroku smiled again, eerily, and murmured, "Well, it would seem that Kikyou has struck again… first off, I think we should introduce ourselves… to make our identities clearer. I'm Shuuichi. Minamino. I'm not entirely sure about it, but I would say that I'm in Miroku's body."

Hiei shrugged and stated, "I'm Inuyasha. You got a problem, then get out. And I don't have a mirror, jackass."

Scoffing, I repeated, "I'm Yuusuke, okay? And this ugly body is obviously Inuyasha's," Hiei— no, Inuyasha— glared at me, "so I don't know why the fuck everyone's calling me Shuuichi."

Shuuichi in Miroku's body smiled at me grimly. "That's a long story."

I stared at him, then frowned and put my (Inuyasha's) large hands into my (his) pockets. "Tell me."

He sighed and started, "Okay, it started in the beginning of the year when Kikyou… well, we know it's her, but we have no idea what she did. Anyways, I was walking home when…"

By the time he had finished, I was half prepared to believe him, and half-willing to slap the sense into him. It was impossible, but… it was probably true. "So that's why that bastard 'Miroku' beat me in Genkai Stadium…" I said, suddenly realizing that the move "Miroku" had used was, in fact, Hiei's.

I started laughing like there was no tomorrow. "Hiei, you little bastard! Hahahahaha! You— you were the one who beat me!" more laughter, "And I thought I was incompetent! B-beaten by—" gasp, "the school pervert! Hahahaha!"

They were both staring at me. I blinked. "What? Whaaaaaaaaat?"

They shook their heads. "Never mind."

Oh yeah… they weren't there when Hiei (alias Miroku) beat me… it had been humiliating, but now that it was Hiei, I didn't mind as much. We were almost evenly matched. Shuuichi in Miroku's body now looked out the window. "Now we have to find out where Miroku an Hiei are… and who knows how many other people were affected by Kikyou's curse?"

Although it was a rhetorical question, an answer would've been nice. There was none.

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.:Owari:.

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A/N: So how was it? I'm going to list them by bodies for the moment, alright? Yuusuke is in Inuyasha's body, Inuyasha is in Hiei's, Hiei is in Shuuichi's, Shuuichi is in Miroku's, and Miroku is in Yuusuke's. xD Hope it's not too confusing (it is. I got confused as well. I had to write out a chart to keep myself focused on who was who xD). Anyway, this is the plot twist I was talking about… and Yuusuke can't help but be a main character now that he's dragged into this!

PS: I was sorely tempted to write Shuuichi (his name) as Kurama… it's agonizing. Oh well. I started with Shuuichi, and I'm gonna end with Shuuichi. Oh yes, and Inuyasha is falling for Kagome, so that's another thing to watch for. A love triangle. Only it's going to be Miroku's and Hiei's bodies competing for Kagome. Wonder how Sango's gonna react. Haha. I'm evil.

PPS: Tell me if I made any mistakes...

Review!