A/N: You know the drill. We don't own Inuyasha.
Kayla: I reeeeaally don't wanna type this chapter up.
Amanda: You don't even have to type that much of it! You already had most of this one typed up. You just have to refine it.
Kayla: -Puts chin in hand and mopes- Still, typing makes me sleepy.
Jade: -Leans over to read what's been written- I remember this chapter. -Rolls eyes- You make me sound like a lovesick puppy.
Inuyasha: -Comes up the stairs with Kagome right behind him- Did someone say puppy?
Jade: -Makes a rude noise- Yeah, I did. What are you doing here, Mange?
Inuyasha: -Glares- Your creator is writing a story with me in it. I think I have the right to see what she's writing. -Pushes Jade out of the way and reads through the chapter over Kayla's shoulder- HEY! You make me look like an incompetent jerk!
Kayla: -Exchanges a look with Kagome and they smile knowingly- Me? Never! -Winks-
- - -
Kagome glanced up from eating a midnight snack, a small bowl full of rice, whenever Jade rushed back into the camp. The lynx looked genuinely troubled about something. Kagome's eyes widened in surprise.
In the short time that she'd known the half-demon, she had never seen Jade let herself become this upset about anything. When Jade accidentally tripped over Miroku's sleeping form, Kagome knew something was terribly wrong. The demon was graceful even in her sleep. There was no way she could become so clumsy over anything small.
Kagome got to her feet and walked to Jade's side, laying a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?" She questioned worriedly.
The lynx's eyes widened as she squeaked out, "Nothing!" She bit her lip when she realized she had given herself away.
Kagome led Jade out of earshot of the others and again asked what was wrong. The demon let her shoulders slump slightly. She admitted the truth of her encounter with the mysterious demon Uotu minus the kiss that truly caused her worries.
"He says we're trespassing on his lands. He wasn't very hostile though."
Kagome crossed her arms and shivered slightly. "We should warn the others."
They went back into the camp swiftly, Jade following Kagome to Inuyasha's side. He looked up with a small sneer for the cat demon as the two women neared him.
"What d'you want?" He demanded irately. "I'm trying to make sure you guys can get a good night's sleep over here. I can't exactly do that if you distract me."
For once, Jade didn't rise to his baiting. She kept her mouth shut and continually bit her lip. Inuyasha noticed and frowned at her odd behavior.
Kagome explained about Uotu and wondered, "Do you think he's a threat?"
"Ha! A little cat demon? Even in my human form I could take him on."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Inuyasha found a sword at his throat. The demon Uoto smiled down at him, materializing out of the shadows.
"It seems your words were only bragging," he informed the startled dog demon.
Inuyasha's hand twitched toward Tetsusaiga, but Jade hissed at him to stop. How much of a fool was the dog? Uotu had practically appeared out of nowhere and Inuyasha still thought he could beat him?
Kagome seconded the command. "He could have killed you already, Inuyasha," the girl chided.
"Indeed," Uoto agreed, "I could have killed you a hundred times between your arrival and now. Luckily for you, I overheard your discussions of Naraku. I too have a score to settle with the baboon."
Jade pushed his blade away from Inuyasha's neck. When he raised a questioning eyebrow, she shrugged and replied, "He's not that bad half the time."
Kagome and Uotu laughed at her assessment of Inuyasha. The dog growled and pulled Tetsusaiga from its sheath and had it on Uotu's neck before the cat demon could blink. Uotu merely flashed the half-demon a toothy grin.
"Really, it's rude to act like that when I've welcomed you onto my lands."
Kagome sighed and said, "Come on, Inuyasha. Let it go. He obviously doesn't want to hurt us."
Uotu's gaze shifted from the dog to the girl. His gaze landed on the shards of the Shikon jewel that she wore around her neck. He sucked air into his lungs in surprise. With a flick of his fingers, he pushed the sword from his neck and took a step forward. He lightly ran his fingers over the jewel, not noticing that Kagome gasped and leaned away from him. Her hand rose to cover the jewel protectively and Uoto shook his head to clear it.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I've never seen such a large shard of the Shikon jewel," he admitted quietly, a fierce glint in his black eyes.
Kagome gave a nervous little laugh as she caught the gleam in his eye and moved to Inuyasha's side. She belatedly noticed he was fuming because the cat demon had touched the precious shards. She heaved a mental sigh, wondering again why he couldn't care as much for her.
"You're pretty brave, cat," Inuyasha said with a sneer, "but don't ever touch those again."
Instead of picking a fight, Uotu sheathed his sword and shrugged. "As you wish."
Kagome's eyes narrowed speculatively. Could he really not care about the shards? She had thought all demons hunted the shards fiercely. Even the half-demon Jade had one left out of two. Suddenly, Kagome wondered just what kind of score this Uotu had with Naraku.
Before she could voice the question, Uotu turned toward her and said, "He killed my mother and my father and took the jewel shards we had fought and bled to obtain to save my dying brother."
Kagome grimaced, her hand flying to her heart. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jade's hand flex angrily over a dagger. The lynx's face contorted into pain for a brief second before the demon covered it once again with her nonchalant mask.
It was then that Kagome realized she had never asked Uotu about his motives. He had merely answered as soon as the question crossed her mind. Her eyes widened in outrage.
"You can read minds!" She accused him shrilly.
He smiled but the expression didn't reach his eyes, leaving the black orbs cold and somewhat haunted. "Yes, I can," he answered simply.
Kagome heard Jade inhale sharply and turned to look at her. The lynx's face was bright red and she refused to look her in the eyes. Kagome turned back to the mysterious demon to ask another question, but as she opened her mouth a blur of movement streaked across her vision and Uotu collapsed in front of her.
Kagome was severely shocked to see Khira standing above the unconscious demon. The panther held her stave poised to smack him again should he move. Fortunately, Uotu was out cold and didn't budge except to breathe.
Khira raised her eyes to Kagome's. "He smells of Naraku," she hissed under her breath.
Kagome blinked several times, trying to clear her mind. Khira had risen from a sound sleep and nearly broken the demon's skull in a span of two or three seconds. The panther's speed was incredible! What was more amazing was that Uotu hadn't predicted Khira's attack. He could, after all, read minds.
Kagome heard Inuyasha curse the new moon and turned to look up at him. He was mad that the lack of his demon powers had prevented him from smelling Naraku's scent. Jade merely continued to bite her lip, a guilty look on her face.
Kagome sighed, turning back to the panther demon. "You were asleep. How did you smell him and react so quickly?"
Khira stood straight and smoothed her wrinkled kimono, casting her eyes at the ground to hide her pain. "Truthfully? I was dreaming of something and smelled Naraku. I attacked before I was completely aware of what I was doing."
Kagome nodded and again turned to the unconscious cat demon. She crouched by his side and flipped him over, tending to his head wound. "When he wakes up, we'll question him about smelling like Naraku," she told her watching friends.
As she brushed the thick hair away from Uotu's face, she felt cat ears buried under the silky tresses. As she uncovered them, her brow furrowed. His ears were nothing like she had ever seen before.
"Jade, what kind of demon is he?" Kagome asked the fidgeting lynx.
Jade dropped to her knees beside the girl, studying his ears as well. The half-demon cursed under her breath. "He's a half-breed."
"So are you," Khira and Inuyasha pointed out at the same time.
"No," Jade hissed, looking up at them with fearful eyes. "He's a mix between a leopard and a fox. Look, one ear is a fox ear and the other is a leopard."
Both Inuyasha and Khira leaned over and looked at the uncovered ears. Both were shocked at the sight. They looked at each other in fear.
The demon tribes were afraid of breeding amongst themselves because the resulting children often had earth-shattering powers that quickly got out of control. All of them had heard horror stories of such occurrences but none had ever seen a true half-breed until just then. The sight before them left them wondering just how Uotu had escaped going insane—he was obviously past the age where most lost their minds—and exactly what his powers were.
In all the commotion, Miroku and Sango had woken up and come over. Miroku rubbed his sleepy eyes and asked, "Who's that?"
"The demon who owns these lands," Kagome answered immediately.
Sango caught sight of his ears and sucked in a breath, exclaiming, "Hafu!"
The rest of the group gasped and looked at Sango in surprise. That was one of the dirtiest words she could have used to describe the half-breed. They would have never expected such a nasty exclamation out of her.
Sango's face flamed red as she tried to explain. "The slayers of my village had to put down several of his type. They were dangerous and killed dozens before we could put them out of their misery." She turned her face to Inuyasha and informed him, "If you have any decency you'll stab him with the Tetsusaiga and put an end to his miserable life."
Before the words could sink in to any effect, Uoto moaned and opened his eyes, blinking up at Kagome and Jade where they hovered above him. "What happened?" He demanded, clutching the back of his head.
Khira made to smack him in the face with her stave. Jade was fast enough to spin and grab the weapon as it lowered toward him.
"Enough," the lynx told the panther, straining against Khira's demon powers. "Let us talk to him before you beat the hell out of him again."
Khira desisted, muttering, "Fine, but when he kills you, I'll be the one to say 'I told you so.'"
Kagome ignored the exchange, tenderly brushing the hair back from Uotu's face. "Why do you smell like Naraku?" She asked him quietly.
The question was enough to still all mumbling and shuffling within the group. They wanted to hear his story. Uotu grimaced and reached in his kimono to pull out a tuft of baboon fur.
"I managed to grab this before he got away. I keep it as a reminder that I failed my family and live only to revenge their deaths," he explained, his voice growing gravelly with emotion.
Kagome frowned in empathy. She found herself wanting to comfort him even though she knew next to nothing about him. She leaned into to give him a hug, barely catching herself when Jade cleared her throat and Inuyasha exclaimed angrily.
Jade had regained some of her original demeanor and jabbed Inuyasha in the side to silence him before demanding, "You parents were leopard and kitsune, right?"
Uotu's face fell and he reached up to feel his exposed ears. He sat up and hung his head forward, shaking the long tresses of his hair over his ears again. "Yeah," he replied gruffly, refusing to elaborate.
Inuyasha made a disgusted noise. "So what kind of powers do you have? I know there has to be more than mind reading. I mean, don't you have some great powers that cause you to go insane?"
Uotu sighed and clenched his fists. "I am able to read minds, move through shadows, control dreams, and if I concentrate I can control people with weak minds."
Kagome's eyes widened. Surely those had to be a burden on the poor demon. She stood and backed away from him, saying, "You should come with us, Uotu. With your powers, we'll be much stronger against Naraku."
Inuyasha yelled, "Keh...we don't need him! We can defeat Naraku already."
Jade, Kagome, Sango, and Miroku looked at each other and rolled their eyes. They communicated their exasperation at Inuyasha silently. He was too stubborn for his own good.
Over by the fire, Khira sat with the still sleeping Shippo and said loud enough for the group to hear, "You're nothing but a braggart, Mange. The half-breed surprised you not ten minutes ago by using his shadow walking powers. That alone makes him useful to us."
Uotu stood, swaying slightly. "Thanks, but no thanks," he retorted. "I prefer to hunt Naraku alone."
"I said that at first," Jade told him. She continued, "It's a lot easier to travel with a group when you're fighting Naraku's minions, though. They tend to appear out of nowhere and are hundreds strong at times."
He shook his head, swaying again. "This is my quest. I'll complete it alone or not at all." With that, he walked away and disappeared into the shadows.
Kagome watched his back, wishing he had stayed. His vulnerability was so refreshing next to Inuyasha's gruff rudeness. Sadly, she realized she wouldn't trade Inuyasha for a thousand Uotus. She just wished Inuyasha felt the same way about her. The only woman he wanted was Kikyou, though.
She looked over at the dog demon where he and Jade were fighting quietly. The fight ended with a yelp as Jade smacked his tender nose yet again with her chopsticks before walking away from him to lie down next to the fire.
Kagome smiled sadly as she whispered, "Goodnight, Inuyasha." She then walked to the fire and climbed into her sleeping bag, trying to catch a few hours of sleep before they had to get up the next morning.
- - -
Amanda: Aren't you done refining that yet?
Kayla: Yup, just finished. What's shakin?
Amanda: Oh, nothing. Just watching Jade and Inuyasha fight over the last bowl of Ramen.
Kayla: -Looks over to where the two characters are fighting and rolls eyes- Those two. I swear…
Amanda: -Smirks and walks over to them, snatching the Ramen- Thanks. -Gives them a huge smile and walks away eating the noodles-