Earlier

Kagome lay in bed, eyes wide open despite being dead tired. She was able to ignore her fears by keeping busy during the day, but at night, she had nothing but time to think. The peaceful quiet seemed thick and stifling to her. How could I have been so stupid? she asked herself for the millionth time.

After an hour of trying to sleep, she gave up and went downstairs to get a cup of warm milk. Her preoccupation earned her a burn on her finger as she tried to take her mug out of the microwave.

She muffled a yelp and dropped the ceramic cup. It shattered on the floor, spilling milk everywhere. Muttering a curse, she got a towel and began cleaning up the mess. She was surprised when a pair of hands entered her field of view and began picking up the pieces of the broken cup.

Yusuke avoided her gaze as he finished picking up the shards and tossing them in the trashcan. Kagome rinsed the towel out and hung it up to dry. Giving up on the milk, she got out a tub of mocha almond fudge ice cream and two spoons instead, offering one to Yusuke. He took it wordlessly, studying its smooth, stainless steel surface.

They sat down at the table with the tub between them and ate in silence for about five minutes before Yusuke opened his mouth to say something. He shut it again, seeming unsure.

"What?" asked Kagome. This was it; he was going to ask again, and she was going to have to either lie to him or let him in on the secret. She bit her lip nervously.

As if in slow motion, he opened his mouth again and the dreaded words came: "So that's where you keep your spoons."

Had it been a cartoon, Kagome would have fallen out of her chair. Instead, she choked on her ice cream.

Yusuke clapped her on the back until her coughing subsided. When Kagome recovered, she had to muffle her laughter so that the rest of the house wouldn't hear. After a moment's hesitation, Yusuke joined in.

Kagome was laughing mostly at herself for getting so worked up over her cousin's suspicions. After all, this was Yusuke she was thinking about. He wasn't some evil demon out to get the shards or some ditsy gossip that would tell the entire world. He was her cousin, and even though he was a bit crazy sometimes, she could trust him.

"Yusuke," she said seriously when the laughter subsided.

"Yeah?"

She hesitated. Telling her secret still wasn't easy. "You know that guy you were asking me about earlier today?"

"Mm-hm," he replied, studying her carefully. "What about him?"

"Well," she said. "I think it's time that you knew. He's–" She stopped suddenly as she spotted a familiar glass bottle sticking partially out of Yusuke's pocket.

"Hey!" she said, almost forgetting to keep her voice down. "That's mine!"

Yusuke, caught off-guard, looked at her in confusion for a second before realizing what she was talking about. Taking the bottle out of his pocket, he smiled. "Oh, yeah. I forgot all about this. I found it outside last night. You know, you should really close that window of yours."

"Oh, thank God you found them!" exclaimed Kagome in relief. However, when she reached for it, he closed his fist around it and pulled it away.

"Not so fast," he said, grinning slyly. "I'll return it to you, but at a price."

"What!" she half-screeched. "Yusuke, I swear I'm going to kill you if you don't give those back to me right NOW!"

"Been there, done that," he said lightly. "You'd better keep your voice down if you don't want to wake everyone up." Kagome shut her mouth and glared daggers at him. How dare he!

"Give them back," she demanded with barely suppressed fury.

"Don't you want to at least hear what my terms are?" he asked.

"Give. Them. Back."

He pretended to consider it for a moment before saying, "No, I don't think so. Agree to the terms or no pretty little bottle thing."

Kagome heaved an aggravated sigh and said resignedly, "Fine. What do you want?"

"Well, to start," said Yusuke, "I want an apology for making me look like the Night of the Living Drag-Queen yesterday."

Despite her anger, Kagome couldn't help a snicker at the memory. "Oh, but you looked so pretty," she said, smiling.

"'Oh, but you looked so pretty,'" imitated Yusuke in a high falsetto. He glared at her. "Apology. Now."

"Fine," she said. "I'm sorry for giving you a make-over yesterday."

"Swear you'll never to do it again."

"And I swear I'll nev- Never? Come on, Yusuke, you can't make me give that up forever!"

"Want it?" Yusuke shook the bottle in front of her face, snatching it away as she made a grab for it. "Swear."

"I swear I'll never put make up on you again," she said. "Can I have them back now?"

"No," said Yusuke. "Not quite yet. First you have to tell me what's so important about this thing in here." He held the bottle up to the light, examining the shards.

Kagome fell silent.

Yusuke looked at her. "It has something to do with that guy, doesn't it?" he asked.

Kagome hesitated, and then nodded slowly. He took a step closer to her, trying to figure out what she was thinking. "Well?" he asked. "Are you going to tell me?"

His curiosity left him unprepared for her sudden lunge. She went for the hand with the shards and succeeded in knocking the bottle free. However, much to her dismay, it was sent hurtling out through the open kitchen window and onto the front lawn. She winced as she heard the distinct twinkle of shattered glass.

"Great," she said, turning to glare at Yusuke. "Now look what you've done!" She stalked off toward the front door to go retrieve the shards.

"Me?" he said to her retreating back. "You're the one who knocked them out of my hand!"

Kagome ignored him as she grabbed a flashlight and walked out the door. Getting down on the ground, she began to gather the tiny jewel shards, which had actually scattered quite far from the bottle. Reluctantly, Yusuke went out and helped as well.

"One, two, three, four, five," she counted. "There's one more."

"Are you sure?" asked Yusuke. "I don't see any around here."

"Keep looking," said Kagome. "We have to find it."

"Kagome, it's the middle of the night. Maybe we'll have more luck in the morning."

"No," she said. "We have to find it tonight. If someone (or something, she thought to herself) else finds it, we'll be in big trouble."

"Really?" asked Yusuke quizzically. "It's just a shiny piece of glass. We can look for it in the morning. I'm sure no one will take it."

"It is not just a shiny piece of glass and we have to find it now. I can't take the chance of someone else finding it. Bad things will happen. Trust me, Yusuke."

"What kind of bad things?" he asked, still skeptical.

As if to answer his question, there was a sudden flash of pink light and a gigantic, slug-like monster rose up from the grass between them and the house, roaring victoriously.

"That kind," said Kagome. "Run!"

Yusuke didn't need to be told twice. He followed Kagome as she took off down the path, the slug giving chase with surprising speed. It had taken the one they had been missing. Kagome could tell even without sensing the tainted shard inside the slimy demon.

She darted behind a storehouse, pulling Yusuke with her. They made another sharp turn into a sort of alley between two structures. They stayed silent as the slug zoomed past them.

"You okay?" she asked Yusuke, panting.

"Yeah," he answered. He had a ton of questions buzzing around in his head, each clamoring to be asked first. What was that thing? What were those shards? Why wasn't Kagome freaking out? And most importantly: What in the seven hells was going on!

Before he could ask anything, though, Kagome spoke. "I have a plan," she said, "but I'll need your help."

Yusuke paused, wanting to make her explain herself, but realizing that it wasn't the time, he simply nodded. "What do you need?"

"I need to get to that well-house over there," she said, pointing to a small shack across a stretch of open grass. "I need you to create a diversion for me; anything at all. Just make sure it's busy enough that I can get through. Can you do it?"

Yusuke nodded. "No problem, but you're explaining yourself when this is all over."

"Deal," she said. "Be careful."

"I can take care of myself," said Yusuke.

Kagome thought about replying, but decided against it. "On three," she said.

"Three!" shouted Yusuke.

She burst out of their hiding spot, sprinting for the well-house for all she was worth. Suddenly, the slug reared up in front of her, blocking her path. It opened what seemed to be a mouth and came at her.

Just when it was about to descend on her and Kagome was wondering where the hell Yusuke was, she heard, "Hey, Shit-face! Over here!"

Yusuke had seen the demon coming at her, but found way to stop it fast enough without using his spirit gun. Here it goes, he thought as he came charging up from behind her. He leapt into the air and knocked the demon back with a burst of shots from his spirit shotgun. He landed near Kagome in a fighter's crouch, facing the demon.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who has some explaining to do," she said to him, more than a little surprised.

"Just go!" he shouted as the demon began to rise.

Kagome raced toward the shack again, making it inside and pulling the door shut behind her. Yusuke watched her disappear before turning to face his opponent.

In truth, Yusuke thought he could have taken on the demon alone, but he had a feeling that Kagome was going to get some help from her mysterious friend. His curiosity got the better of him and he decided to play with the demon until Kagome returned. However, his playing soon turned to actual fighting as he realized that the demon seemed invulnerable. Every hit he landed simply healed again immediately, and the demon just kept coming.

What's taking her so long, he wondered, growing nervous. If the fight kept up for too long, he would run out of energy. He began to conserve his spirit energy, dodging and running when he could instead of attacking, but every time the demon turned back towards the well-house, Yusuke had to blast it again to keep it distracted.

&&&

Kagome slid into the well and tried to call Inuyasha with the jewel shards, but it didn't seem to work. He was probably too far from the well to hear her. Kagome bit her lip, thinking. What was it that Sota had said last time about Inuyasha when the Noh Mask had come after them? Something about being able to smell her blood…

Climbing out of the well, she looked around the room desperately, trying to find something sharp. Her gaze landed on her quiver of arrows. She quickly grabbed one and crawled back down into the well. Gritting her teeth, she drew a slash across her palm and let the blood drip onto the dirt beneath her feet. Gripping the shards with her other hand, she tried calling Inuyasha again. For a few minutes, she thought it had failed, but all of a sudden, the ground lit up and she seemed to see the universe open up beneath her feet for a moment. Then, a pair of white, furry ears appeared, followed by the rest of our favorite half-demon.

"Inuyasha!" she cried happily. "Theslugdemonmusthavefollowedmehomeanditstoleoneofthejewelshardsandnowitsoutsidebattlingyusukesoyouhavetogosavehimandgettheshardback. Okay?"

"Huh?"

"Slug demon. Jewel Shard. Outside. Now!"

"Right," said Inuyasha, picking her up and leaping out of the well. He put her down and burst out the door, drawing the Tetsuseiga as he went.

Even Yusuke, with his weak spirit awareness, felt the sudden burst of energy from the shed. Distracted as he was, the slug was able to catch him off guard and throw him about six feet into the air before he landed in a heap somewhere farther off.

This event, while bad for Yusuke, was incredibly good timing for Inuyasha because that meant that he, in turn, was able to catch our good friend Mr. Slug by surprise. The Tetsuseiga cut the demon neatly in two as Kagome ran to see to Yusuke. The creature roared in pain, thrashing angrily as it attempted to reconnect itself.

"Nice try," said Inuyasha, stepping between the slug's head and it's other half.

Inuyasha smirked, never taking his eyes off the gooey monstrosity. "I guess I didn't kill you as thoroughly as I'd thought last time," he said. "I won't make the same mistake again!"

He jumped into the air, prepared to bring the Tetsuseiga down on the demon's head.

"Inuyasha! Look out!" Kagome's warning came too late, as the tail whipped out and caught Inuyasha in mid-leap. He was thrown viciously to the ground in an explosion of dirt and grass.

The slug put itself back together and then turned its large, open maw to consume the dazed Inuyasha. A blue ball of spirit energy interrupted it, hitting it in the side and sending it flying. Yusuke came running up a moment later, ruffed up a bit, but otherwise unharmed.

"You okay?" he asked, offering Inuyasha a hand.

"Fine," snapped Inuyasha, slapping the hand away and getting up on his own. "Stay back, kid."

"Hey!" protested Yusuke. "I just saved your life. A little courtesy would be nice."

"Don't hold your breath, Twerp," said Inuyasha.

Kagome, meanwhile, was trying to pinpoint the exact location of the jewel shard. It seemed to keep moving around. Just then, she found it. "Inuyasha!" she cried. "It's in the left antenna!"

"Got it!" he shouted, already closing the distance between himself and the demon with unbelievable speed, readying his sword for the cut. The slug, realizing what was happening, was already retracting the antenna. "Oh, no, you don't!" shouted Inuyasha, bounding into the air. Before he cut, a blast of spirit energy flew by him, cleanly severing the appendage from the body. Furious at the interference, Inuyasha changed his angle slightly and chopped the slug in half instead, spraying a slimy, brownish substance everywhere.

This time, as the creature fell, its body disintegrated into a black dust that blew away in the wind. Kagome and Yusuke approached wiping specks of goop off of themselves. Yusuke watched curiously as Kagome bent to pick up the shard. It seemed to pulse with evil energy, a sharp contrast to the sparkling shards they'd been picking up a couple of minutes ago.

"Kagome, are you sure you should be–" He shut up as he saw the crystal shed the blackish taint at her touch and glow with a renewed, healthy pink.

"What were you saying, Yusuke?" asked Kagome, slipping the shard into her pocket with the others.

"Nevermind," he said, shaking his head and smiling. "We have some serious catching up to do."

Kagome returned the smile. "Yes," she said, "we definitely do."

A/N: I'm not even going to try to protest my innocence this time. I actually had this chapter written a while ago, but I hadn't posted it because I felt it needed editing. Then I got lazy. hehe. I'm SOOOO sorry. Thanks to anyone who's still with me. I love you guys!

Animefan601: Hm, good idea. Maybe he will ;)

Chibes: Haha, it's okay. I'm surprised I was even on anyone's favorite's list to begin with! Thanks for reviewing :)

Angel452: Sorry about the long wait. You're right, Kagome SHOULD have been able to sense the shards, huh? Darn, another inconsistency… I really gotta work on that.

Bus Buddie: Thanks! I think the best shoulder angels of all time are the ones in the Emperor's New Groove. That movie was awesome. Yes, I am a loser. hehe.

inuyashas hun: Thanks for your review! Hope you liked this chapter.

kimonoprincess: haha. So enthusiastic! Thanks so much for reviewing. I hope I didn't disappoint you with this chapter. And I'm sorry, but I've decided not to give out pairings for this. It would spoil all the fun!

shadow miko: Lol. Sorry! It just came. I love British people, I promise. fowgive me?

pirate of the wierd people: thankee!

Zuko's 1 and only: Brutal honesty. I like it. I agree with you, though. I just didn't want to make it happen too fast, you know? Anyway, hope you liked this chapter.

Sk8er7: Thanks! I'm glad you're still reading. So sorry about the extreeeeemely long wait.

Kagomente: thanks for reading :)