Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

In a World of Demons

Chapter 5: Reacquainted

His nails rattled against the arm of the chair in an annoyed manner. The girl with power was becoming troublesome and all the demons he sent after her came back dead. Most were of weak variety, therefore he did not care much that they had never come back. He supposed one human girl could take care of them, but Hiten and Manten… they were strong. How was she disposing them?
They sat together on the grass in comfortable silence. They had spent the last two weeks together, acting just like normal friends would and none of them had brought up anything about demons. Miroku had figured it was better for Kagome to decide when she was ready, otherwise she might have gotten angry again, and Sango could only agree. So they were normal friends once again, giggling and laughing, but all good things must come to an end.

The time had come to start discussing it.

Kagome sighed as she saw Miroku and Sango exchange many glances every few minutes. It was obvious they wanted to discuss some things concerning events a few weeks ago and she had to admit, it was time. She knew they would not talk of it unless she brought it up. Yet she still wanted to keep these few weeks of silence to her for a few moments longer. Kagome feared, no, she knew, her life was about to get hectic and all she wanted to do was to stay with the comfort of the past.

Kagome tucked her hair behind her ear, nervously. "So I guess it's time we talked."

Sango looked visibly relieved. "If you think you're ready…"

She knew Sango only said it to be nice because all three knew the discussion was coming sooner of later and wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

Kagome gave a curt nod. "I'm ready."

"I don't know where to begin," Sango said.

"Why don't you just ask and we'll provide what answers we can," Miroku compromised.

"Alright… well what are you exactly? I mean, I know you're human… but I saw you take on those demons, in those weird outfits no less… so what are you?"

Sango answered for them. "Well, I've been trained since I was little, and my brother too, to be a demon slayer. I didn't have a choice when I was little, everyone in my family, on my dad side, is one too. It's one of the reasons my parents divorced. When my mom found out after she married… lets just say she wasn't happy. My parents fought for along time throughout my childhood… until they finally divorced. My mom tried to get custody of both of us so we wouldn't have to live the life of a demon slayer. We, Kohaku and I, we were offered a choice, to live with our mom or our dad. At the same time, I was offered to watch after a young girl with strange powers… you. Kohaku chose my mom and I chose my dad… chose to continue being a demon slayer. My dad and I moved out of our house to live here, so I could look after you."

"Wow," Kagome said. It was the only thing she could say. Just… wow. Kagome swallowed a big lump in her throat.

"It's not your fault!" Sango told her hurriedly. It would have happened anyway, the only thing you effected in my life was where I moved to once my dad and I had to move out of my old house where my mom was."

Kagome nodded, faintly. "So you're a demon slayer… what about Miroku."

"Yes, I am and Miroku is, well, he's a monk."

Kagome just stared blankly at Miroku. Then what Sango had just said sank in and she started to laugh hysterically.

"What?" Miroku asked, quite annoyed.

Kagome was clutching her stomach as she laughed and gasped for breath to try to talk. Even when she did she had trouble talking. "I'm sorry….but… you?… a…monk! It's just a… really funny… thought! I mean… you are such…a lecher!"

From where they were all sitting, Kagome rolled over onto the ground, still giggling. Miroku had a half-smile on his face, while Sango laughed with Kagome, lighten both their moods again.

Inuyasha watched as she talked and laughed with her friends. They were back to normal again. Well, yippee for her. That meant he could go back to normal too, and that meant walking away now and never talking to her again. She was too much trouble anyway. But he couldn't help feeling remorse, like he was leaving a part of himself behind. He shook his head. What was he thinking? He was the one that told her to get her friends back so he wouldn't have to be around her anymore. Too bad he used his big mouth way too much.

Inuyasha had dropped in on the depressed girl here and there when she had been away from the other two. He had seen how lonely she had looked and wanted to lift her spirits. He would tease her, causing her to laugh and smile for him, just for him and no one else. He never let himself get close to her though, except for that one time where she had been crying and had thrown herself at him. He had held her and stayed with her for most of the night, but knew after that that he would have to leave. He could not be with Kagome.

That was in the past now and she did not need him, she had her friends now and everything was as it should be. So he could go on ignoring her like he always had before. Of course, he had ignored her before he had ever talked to her. After saving her, making her smile, and just talking to her, he felt attached to her… but no! He was not going to be her little demon lapdog. He would just walk away now and everything would go back to how it should be. Just walk away and he would be alright. Then how come his feet refused to move?

Kagome saw something out of the corner of her eye and saw Inuyasha glance at the three of them, sitting together. His gaze locked with hers, his eyes holding… regret? Then he began walking away. She quickly got up and walked toward him.

She heard Sango call her name, but she ignored it. What was Inuyasha doing? Just by the way he had looked at her, she knew his glance was a finally farewell. But why? She would not let him walk away and leave her. Kagome was not letting anyone she cared about leave her again. Kagome, however, was too busy worrying about him leaving that she had not noticed that she had just admitted she actually cared for him for the first time.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kagome asked Inuyasha when she caught up to him.

"What're you talking about?" he responded brusquely.

His answer did not phase her. She did not respond, but suddenly took his hand with both of hers and pulled him toward where Sango and Miroku were sitting on the grass. Kagome did not take her eyes off him, walking backwards as she pulled him along, like he was a little child who had been lost.

"Come on," she said, tugging him along.

He tried to find an argument, but came up with none so he let himself be pulled by the girl. She abruptly let go and sat down next to Miroku and Sango. Cautiously, Inuyasha sat down across from her. So they sat, Miroku across from Sango, and Kagome across from Inuyasha, unbeknownst to them that it was the start of a close friendship.

Kagome's other two friends tensed at Inuyasha's presence, but slowly relaxed, though still on guard. Kagome pretended not to notice and gave Inuyasha a shy smile that warmed his insides then turned to Miroku.

"How did you of all people become a monk?"

"It kind of runs in my family. We were all demon-fighting monks at one point in our lives."

"Okay, now it makes more sense than."

Kagome could not imagine Miroku becoming a monk on his own accord. He loved women too much for that, one in particular, though neither of them were smart enough to notice the attraction just yet. Sometimes, Kagome just wanted to scream at them and tell them to kiss and tell each other how they felt already, but both would never cooperate that way. She was not sure if they would ever get together but they did share a common bond in fighting demons together, so that was a plus for their relationship. Wow, now there's a sentence she'd never though she'd say.

"So why were you two sent, of all people?"

"Well, first off, we knew about demons, could deal with them and were the right age so that we could watch out for you and be in the same school and classes as you." She paused. "Actually that more like three in one, but… oh, well. Anyway, I was sent because I can fight demons and Miroku can sense the evil's presence, so that we'd be aware when there was an attack so we'd know when the demons were after you. Though over the years Miroku has learned how to fight so now he comes out with me, although I tell him not to." She made a face at Miroku but he smiled coyly back.

"So you do that every Saturday night?"

"No, not every Saturday. We can't fight during the week because we still do have to go to school and that sort. We were never actually told to go out fighting anyway, but I figured the more demons we killed, the less likely they are to get to you."

"Wait, so do you only go to school because I do, to look after me? Wouldn't you grades not matter?"

"We won't have to do this forever. When we get older we can go on with normal lives. Well, semi-normal, since we do know about the existence of demons. But we still need the good grades so we can get into college and then get a good job so we can have some money to live with. No one is paying us to do this."

They did not know how relieved Kagome was at that. They weren't getting paid to be around here, so they had stayed because they actually enjoyed her company. If she had been a bitchy girl, they might have left a long time ago.

"So who exactly sent you? And they don't know you go out at all?" Kagome inquired.

"No, they don't know we go out looking for demons on our own. They think we're just here doing what they told us to do, protect you. Although they were annoyed when we blew our 'cover' and you would not let us near you. They said, and I quote, 'you two cannot do your jobs if the girl does not trust you. You must gather your things and go and leave the girl alone,' unquote."

They had ignored her first question. "But who sent you?"

Sango and Miroku exchanged a look. "Um… well…" Sango said.

"We're not sure if we should tell you," Miroku contributed.

Kagome put her hands on her hips, which was awkward while sitting on the ground. "And why not?"

Sango glanced quickly at Inuyasha and then away.

"Look, he's a part of this now." Kagome explained, a bit frustrated.

"What makes you think it's about Inuyasha?" Sango said nervously while Kagome rolled her eyes.

She was a horrible liar. Now looking back on it, it was sort of sad that Kagome never picked up on what they were doing before. They had been horrible at keeping it a secret, she overheard them all the time. She guessed she never knew because, like a lot of other people, she had been unwilling to believe what she had seen or in this case, heard.

"Who says I want to be a part of this!" Inuyasha exclaimed. He had pretty much been ignored during the whole entire conversation so now he wanted to tell her what was on his mind.

Kagome glared at him and he faced away from her, hands crossed over his chest. Stubborn idiot, Kagome thought.

Sango and Miroku were glad about his defiance because now Kagome had forgotten what she had asked about the person giving them orders.

"You should have thought of that before you saved me! Twice! You're in this too now anyway because whoever's after me probably knows you've been helping me so they'll be after you no matter what, so it's better you work with us."

"I don't need any human's help," Inuyasha spat.

"Fine," Kagome said.

"Wh-what?" Inuyasha asked. Why did it seem this girl was always filled with surprises? He had expected her to protest or yell at him.

"I said fine. You don't want to except any human help, so fine, whatever. But…" Ha! He knew it! There was more to it. "…but would you except the help of a huntress, a monk, and a… what am I again?" she asked Miroku.

He shrugged. "We're not sure exactly."

Kagome frowned at his ignorance but continued, "and a whatever the hell I am?"

Inuyasha frowned at her, while everyone waited for his answer. What could he say? These demons were after him too and they might send more powerful demons after all of them. If he did not help them and did not help fight the demons, they might die. If he did not work with them, they all might die, including him because whoever was given the demons orders would send more powerful ones after Inuyasha that he might not be able to take on alone. He was still reluctant to agree to human help, but he had seen the two fight before and they could hold their own. And Kagome… well she needed someone strong to protect her until she could use whatever powers she had, then she might even be able to help him.

He sighed, defeated. "Alright."

Kagome smiled brightly at him and clapped her hands together, just the one time. "Good! Then we're all settled." Then she seemed to remember she had been asking the other two about something, but she could not quite remember what. "Wait, there was another question…" Kagome started, searching her memory.

Sango said hurriedly, "nope! That was it! We'll just be going now. Come on, Miroku!"

Sango pulled Miroku up by his arm. Miroku left happily, enjoying the idea of going somewhere alone with Sango.

Kagome watched them leave, puzzled. "What was that about?"

Inuyasha snorted at her ignorance and looked up. Kagome was looking at him, her head slightly tilted to the side, her lips twisted down in a slight frown. She was pouting, confused by her other friends' behavior. In her kneeling position, he watched as she put one elbow down on her thigh and rested her head in her hand, staring at him, her eyes still full of confusion and a sense of uncertainty. Why did he have to make a sound and make her attention focus on him? She took in a deep breath and let it out, as he watched her breasts raise and fall, straining against the shirt's material. Did she even notice the effect she was having on him?

She was still a young, innocent girl, even if they were the same age. Even after finding out everything that really went on in the world, it had not broken her like so many others. She had retained the innocent, bright aura around her. He admired that greatly. He had grown up different from everyone else, and had lost everything innocent about him very quickly.

His gaze fell on her lips again, wondering if anyone had ever tasted them before. So red and full… he wondered how soft they would be. He felt himself lean in, not really knowing what he was getting himself into. Golden eyes locked with brown ones. She must of saw something unusual in his eyes because she shivered all the sudden. More than anything, he wanted to kiss her, taste her, and make her moan in pleasure. His eyes closed when their lips were only inches apart, still moving closer by the second, when suddenly…

"Inuyasha?" Kagome breathed, her voice unsure.

And her voice broke it. Whatever spell she had woven him in was gone in an instant. He growled and pushed her away roughly, making her fall to the ground. What the hell had he been thinking? He did not want to get close to anyone. This was a mistake. Ever letting himself get close to her before had been a mistake. He abruptly got up and stalked away, just to be anywhere but where she was.

Kagome watched, dazed, as he stormed off. What had just happened?

Kagome sat on her window seat, glancing out to the night's sky. The window was open, sending the cold night's air into her face, the blanket she had had wrapped around her now pooled in her lap. Her legs were tucked under her, one elbow against the windowsill and her head resting in her hands as her thoughts consumed her.

Her minds kept reviewing the conversation of that day. It was nothing important really, just finding out about Sango and Miroku's past and who they were. Even though she was finding out new things about them, they were still her best friends, nothing would change that. She understood that now and was still so glad that they had not left and had come back. She knew how lucky she was that they had turned around and that now they were still with her.

The people who gave them orders whoever 'they' were, had allowed them to stay after the heartbreaking scene two weeks ago and after she promised not to push them away again. That lead Kagome to a question that had been bothering her, who was 'they' that Miroku and Sango always talked about? She never remembered them actually saying any names and it annoyed her now. She should be able to meet these people if they were trying to protect her. Would they help her with her powers?

Kagome might have gotten some answers out of Sango that day, her being a terrible liar, but she had gotten distracted and they had left quickly before she had mentioned her question again. Now that they knew she would ask, they had constantly changed the topic of discussion every time she asked. If Inuyasha, had not distracted her she might have had her answers.

Inuyasha. She blushed at just the memory of him and their almost kiss. Their eyes had locked and she had seen desire in his eyes, and she recognized it as the same thing she saw in his eyes the first time he had almost kissed her in her bedroom. She had trembled, but not because she was afraid, no, it was because she had never seen it in anyone's eyes before, not directed at her anyway. She had seen Miroku look at Sango that way many times before, with a total, complete desire in his eyes. Kagome had never expected to see such a thing in Inuyasha's eyes. But suddenly he had stormed away leaving her, a very confused version of her, behind.

He had almost kissed her and that scared her as much as it excited her. Having little friends, she had never been kissed before. Sure, she had seen Sango go on some dates and Miroku go on ten times, no more like a hundred times, more dates than that, but Kagome had never been interested.

It was not that she lacked anyone to go out with. No, that was not it. As a child she had been an outcast, shunned by all the other children. Now, she was all grown up, far from the phase where guys thought girls were icky and vice versa, and she had turned into a young, pretty girl.

It seemed when high school started, all those boys that had always insulted her all throughout her childhood were now either hitting on her or shied away from her even more. She was a lot prettier now than she had been then and boys appreciated girls more in high school, but it wasn't like Kagome had ever paid attention to any of the boys. She did not need a boyfriend when she had friends like Miroku and Sango.

The bold had asked her out, while the shier boys stayed further from her. Kagome found it easier just to ignore them all together. Soon most learned to not even bother anymore, of course there were still a few, but Sango was very good at getting the most persistent to go away.

Never had she cared before what a guy thought of her before, but with Inuyasha…. For some reason she cared for him even in their short period of knowing each other and liked being around him. She felt like a normal girl when around him.

Am I falling for him that fast? Kagome thought.

Kagome sighed heavily and reached up to close the window in an attempt to warm the room again. She left the blanket on the window seat and curled up in her warm bed to sleep, not noticing the golden eyes that had been watching her in the darkness.

"Nice shot, Kagome! You're a natural," the gym teacher told her as he past by.

Kagome smiled and went to retrieve the arrow she had just fired. Sango and her and been taking archery in gym for the past few weeks. Although Kagome had missed the first few classes, she had caught up easily to everyone's amazement. Most of the other students were having trouble hitting the target and a few were not able to fire the arrow more than a few feet in front of them.

Kagome made her way back over to Sango, arrow in hand. There were four people assigned to each target and they took turns firing. Sango was before Kagome in their line and they talked as they waited for their next turn.

"I'm envious," Sango told Kagome.

"Why? Because the cute gym teacher complemented me?" Kagome asked innocently.

Sango laughed. "Yeah, that and the fact that my arrow will hardly even leave the bow."

Kagome laughed with her as they continued to practice, Kagome hitting the center of the target almost every time. The conversation of the two girls in front of her caught her attention.

"Yeah, did you hear about it? The DOA gang is all riled up again," the first girl told the other.

The second girl nodded. "I heard they killed someone last week."

Kagome frowned and looked over to Sango. "DOA gang?" she said in a questioning way.

Sango gave her a critical look. "Don't tell me you never heard of them before?" When Kagome shook her head, Sango continued, "the DOA gang, or 'dead on arrival' gang. They named themselves believe it or not, they think it's appealing but it is catchy." She rolled her eyes but said in a lower voice, "those are one of the gangs that are actually a pack of demons. You'd best watch out for them."

Kagome nodded slightly and returned to practicing her archery. She looked over to the soccer field across the lawn, and Sango followed her gaze. In the far off distant, both girls could just make out Miroku and a flash of silver hair as the person sped by with the ball.

Silver hair?

"Oh, no," Kagome murmured, shaking her head slightly.

Inuyasha dribbled around all the defense players on the other team and shot at the goal. The goalie dove for the ball and caught it but Inuyasha had kicked the ball so hard that the goalie went tumbling backward into the net along with the ball, scoring another point for Inuyasha's team.

The goalie got up, groaning from the pain after the ball impacted into his stomach. He weakly threw it to one of his teammates who brought the ball back to the teacher.

Miroku glared at the hanyou. "Can you at least try to give the other team a chance? It's a little unfair you being part demon and all."

"Feh, it's not my fault they're bad players," Inuyasha replied.

"Yeah and it's not their fault that you happen to have the speed and strength of a demon," he responded, rolling his eyes.

Inuyasha only shrugged and said, "it sucks for them then."

Miroku shook his head and headed back to his position as the ball was kicked off again by the other team. Inuyasha almost instantly stole the ball and shot it at the goalie who only watched as it went in and broke through the net, not wanting to get hurt again. He was pretty sure the soccer ball had bruised a few ribs as it were.

"Ball hog!" called one of the boys on Inuyasha's team.

Of course, he was correct and Inuyasha was pretty much the only person who had touched the ball for the entire gym class, but Inuyasha did not like the comment anyway. He growled and stalked over to the boy who had called out the name.

Miroku held Inuyasha's arms behind his back, in an attempt to keep Inuyasha from punching the boy out. The boy looked terrified now and looked like he might pee in his pants at any moment. The teacher was beginning to make his way over, trying to see what all the commotion was about.

"Guess what, Inuyasha? It's time for a breather. Why don't we leave all these nice people to play soccer," Miroku told him and began dragging the hanyou off the field.

Inuyasha growled some more but allowed himself to be taken away from the game. They walked back toward the school, knowing that going back now would be a bad idea for Inuyasha.

Inuyasha looked over at the monk beside him. "Why'd you do that?"

"Do what? Help you? If you're going to help us, then it'd be better if you didn't get in trouble constantly at school and draw attention to yourself. If the demons after Kagome don't know about you yet, let's keep it that way, alright?" he told him.

"Feh," was Inuyasha's only response, but he continued to walk beside the monk, thinking about what he just said.

Did he still want to help Kagome ?He knew the answer well. Yes, he did. But was it the wisest choice? Probably not. Anyone who associated with her was putting themselves in trouble although she did not seem to notice that yet. Her friends knew, but still stayed with her, wanting to protect her from the evils of the world.

The two girls suddenly appeared in front of the two and began walking with them, even though gym class what not over yet. Sango and Kagome had left their practice bow and arrows with the rest and had gone to join the two boys they had seen walking away from their class and toward school.

"Okay, what'd you do?" Kagome asked Inuyasha.

"Me? How'd you know I did something? How come it couldn't be Miroku?" Inuyasha asked, irritated.

Sango answered instead. "Simple. There are no girls in that class, so no one for Miroku to grope and get in trouble for. That leaves you. So what'd you do?"

"He almost beat the crap out of a guy, that's all," Miroku said causally, though he had a grin on his face from Sango's comment.

Kagome shook her head, disapprovingly. "Inuyasha…"

"Feh."

"Don't you have anything more to say then that?" Kagome asked, hands on her hips.

A few moments of silence ensued. "Nope," he responded.

Kagome sighed. They had reached the school and both Sango and Kagome head for the girl's locker room. Sango wound up having to slam the door in Miroku's face when he tried to peer inside. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and dragged Miroku off toward their next class, since neither of them had changed for gym.

He had thought talking to Kagome after what happened the previous day would be awkward, but it had not been at all. There was just something about her… something that put people at ease when they were around her. He was just so comfortable around her, but he should not allow him to get so comfortable around her. If he cared for her too much, it might get them both killed. At the moment, though, he did not even care. All he cared about was her and he needed to tell her that.

He decided that he would go and tell her tonight, when they were alone. He'd go and see her at her home and tell her what he felt toward her.

Kagome wandered the streets of the city alone. Not exactly the brightest thing she could have done, but it was not dark yet and she figured she'd be alright during the day. She did not feel scared during the day, though at night… the darkness always seemed to make things appear more threatening.

She had had to quit her job, though Sango told her it was for the best. She often worked at night and it was no longer safe for her during the night's walk home. If she had not quit, she would have had to have either Sango or Miroku, or even possibly Inuyasha, walk her home after work and she did not want to do that to them. So with some regret she quit and now she had a lot of free time to herself.

As she walked along she thought of the conversation her and Sango had in the locker room. A small smile played across her lips as she replayed the conversation in her mind.

Sango was lying down on one of the benches in the girl's locker room while Kagome sat on the floor leaning against a locker, her knees drawn up to her chest. The period was only half way done so they had some time to kill before next class. They could have gone down to the cafeteria, but the girls were too lazy for that and it was much quieter in the deserted locker room.

"Sango?" Kagome asked, tentatively.

Sango eyes were on the ceiling, one leg draped over the bench, her arms behind her head. She looked over to Kagome after she spoke her name.

Their eyes met and Kagome bit her lip. It was now or never, she thought. Though she doubted Sango would tell her anything outright but she might let something slip and her being a horrible liar, Kagome might figure some things out for herself.

"Who's they?" Kagome asked her friend.

Sango fell off the bench and onto the floor, with a small cry as she did so. She looked up at Kagome and tried to put a bewildered look on her fast, though failing miserably.

"They? They who?" Sango squeaked out.

Kagome fought the urge to roll her eyes, but instead scowled at her. "You know who I mean?"

Oh, God, why did she have to corner me when I was alone? Miroku is such a better liar than me, Sango thought, I wish he were here. She thought about that and added silently, though he might wish he were here too, here being the girls' locker room.

"I… I can't tell you," Sango told her, trying to be as honest as possibly. She could tell the whole 'pretending to be puzzled' thing wasn't going to work so almost entirely honest was the next best thing.

"Why not?" Kagome told her, arms folded over her chest.

"Because I was told not to," Sango said truthfully.

Kagome bit her lip, thinking. Okay, obviously she wasn't about to get any information about them from Sango, she just keep answering with no information or change the subject so…

Kagome nodded her head, deciding. "I want to met them then."

"What?" Sango squeaked out.

"These people, they know so much about me, know about my powers work possibly. Why can't I meet them, or why can't they teach me? It would make more sense then what happening now. Me just getting attacked and running away with my tail between my legs isn't exactly going to work forever."

"I don't know…"

"Are they really all that scary?"

"Scary? No, no, not that. But…."

What could she tell Kagome? The people who gave her orders still wanted to observe Kagome a while longer before they decided anything. They still were not sure if they could trust her yet, which Sango found absurd, but she still had to follow their orders, for now at least.

"I'll ask them and tell them you want to meet them," Sango told her. Kagome squealed happily and hugged her friend. Sango added, "but I can't make any promises!"

Kagome's smile was still on her face. Soon, she might be able to meet the mysterious 'them' and start to understand more about herself and these weird powers of hers.

She continued walking along the road but stopped when she heard some meowing. Kagome looked around for the source of the cry, but she heard nothing. Then it came again and she was positive it was coming from the alleyway coming up just ahead.

Turning into the alley, she followed the sound of the meowing until she reached an old tattered blanket. She pulled it up to find a small kitten tangled in an old, brown yarn ball. The kitten was almost entirely golden with black feet, a black diamond on its forehead, and black stripes on its tails. She did a double take. Tails, plural? Yes, the kitten had two tails, and it's eyes were red, which was not exactly normal. Either way, the kitten was terribly cute and continued to cry, wanting to be let out.

She smiled at the kitten. "Hello there. No, don't worry, I'll help you out," Kagome told it.

She continued to coo soothing words to the kitten as she helped it out of its dilemma. When she finally finished untangling her—she assumed it was a her, although she did not know—the kitten jumped up onto her shoulder and rubbed against her cheek, purring.

Kagome laughed and petted the small animal. "Well, I like you too."

A crunching sound of footsteps walking over some trash from behind her caught Kagome's attention. Before she even had time to whirl around a voice reached her ears.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little bitch," the male voice rumbled behind her.

Kagome spun around, holding the kitten close to her. The boy in front of her was her age and he looked vaguely familiar but she could not place him in her memory. He continued on walking slowly forward, as she was tempted to take a step back. He was quite large in a muscular way and exceptionally handsome all the same. Still, his good looks were a cold kind that made her want to turn and run right then, but her feet remained frozen.

"I'd know that scent anywhere and that smell of power. It's been, what? Six, seven years since we last met?"

Kagome face was totally perplexed. She could not remember this boy at all. Six years? That would be when she was in middle school, but she had pissed off a lot of people in middle school and she did not quite remember him.

"Who are you?" she asked, bewildered.

He frowned at the puzzled look she had on her face. "What, you don't remember me? Was I not important enough for you to remember? I did threaten your life, but I suppose you have a lot of those now days, don't you?"

Suddenly Kagome felt the weird vibes coming off him, kind of like what she felt when she was near Inuyasha, but slightly different. Then it hit her.

"You're… you're a demon," she said, "but I didn't know any demons when I was younger."

"Correction, you didn't know demons existed when you were younger. They were all around you, hun," he told her.

He was right in front of her now, looming over her small body. The kitten that lay on her shoulder hissed and growled at the demon in front of Kagome. She swatted a small paw at the demon when he got too close, but he just moved easily out of the way.

"I owe you something from a long time ago," he told her softly, though definitely not in an innocent manner.

Well this was a new one for her. This demon did not want to kidnap her like the others, the demon wanted to get revenge on something she could not even remember.

The demon raised a hand and backhanded Kagome across the face. She called out in pain, her vision having gray spots all over and getting darker by the second. He had hit her harder then anyone else had hit her before, even with all the demons that seemed to be abusing her lately.

Great, I just got rid of the last bruise on my face and he give me a new one, Kagome thought dryly, an odd thought to have before she fell unconscious.

He smiled at her limp form on the floor. "Just like old times," he whispered as he kicked the body in the stomach.

The kitten hissed again and scratched at the demon's leg but he kicked the cat away, slamming her into the side of the building, knocked out just like the girl.

He continued to beat up the defenseless girl, needing his revenge after so many years. She really had done nothing wrong all those years ago, but in the end he had ended up the bruised one. Now he returned the favor.

A gust of wind came into the alleyway, a certain gust he would know anywhere, and the demon cursed mentally.

Just like him always ruining my fun, thought the demon.

He turned around with a forced smile on his face and said, "hello, Kouga."

The wolf demon, Kouga, eyed the body of the girl and then one of the wolves in his pack, Yukio. The humans knew them as the DOA gang, not knowing truly that they were a pack of wolf demons, but it worked as a good cover for them so the demons excepted it.

Kouga was the leader of the pack and had been since he was fourteen. Four years later, he still ruled over the others, no one being able to kill him yet for title as pack leader. That was the rule in their pack. To be pack leader, another wolf had to kill the last one. If the leader died for unknown reasons, then a competition was held.

"What have you got there?" Kouga growled, not liking the scent of power in the air.

"Nothing, just a human wench," Yukio lied.

Kouga could smell the lie in the air and growled deep in his throat. He looked over to the girl again, this time seeing her face and recognizing her also from many years ago, but he also remembered her from somewhere else. It was the girl the other demons were looking for.

"What are you doing with that girl?" Kouga snapped.

Knowing Kouga had figured it out, Yukio decided to argue at another point. "Naraku is our enemy and this is the girl he desires. We should kill her just to spite him," he said.

In the blink of an eye Kouga was in front of him and kicked him in his side, making him fall to the floor.

"I'm pack leader not you and I'll make those decisions. Stay away from the girl if you value your life," he told the member of his pack, then kicked him in the stomach, flipping him into the air until he crashed down against the ground, hard.

He looked down at the powerful girl, who he now stood over. What should he do now? He could not just leave her here unconscious on the floor. With a sigh he picked her up, throwing her over one shoulder and sped away toward his 'gang's' lair.

A/N: Damn it, I keep writing 'most' instead of 'must' and vice versa and 'tired' instead of 'tried'. It's getting on my nerves now. Grrrr. I always do it too and it's so annoying. (And I'm sure you all care so much).

My thanks to all my reviewers. To any other readers: I hope you're enjoying it so far.

Oh, and FYI: in this fanfic, Kouga can still run really fast, but he doesn't have the tornado with him now since that would be a little too odd, people seeing a tornado run by them everyday so instead he's just a gust of wind when he runs