Disclaimer-A friend once told me, "Those who lie about ownership will be sued for their cookies." And… I really want cookies… I eat them while watching Inuyasha!
note sorry about the month long wait….. I had some serious computer and time issues. FORGIVE MEH!
"Keep your perverted hands to your perverted self, you perverted pervert!" Sango shrieked out of nowhere. Within a second of saying that – before even Kagome, Inuyasha, or Shippo could look back at the pair – the infamous slap struck.
"My dear Sango, please, you must understand my logic!" Miroku said hastily yet calmly. Now Kagome and Inuyasha had turned, having landed safely on the ground next to Kirara. Shippo, who had been granted permission to ride with Kagome and Inuyasha, leapt off.
The demon slayer was flaming at Miroku, arm still raised. Gently rubbing the red handprint across his face, Miroku was sighing.
"Would you two cut it out?" Inuyasha snapped, "We got more important things to worry about. Quit wasting time!"
Everyone looked towards him carefully, especially Kagome. She was still trying to find out the easiest ways to avoid the temper he apparently wouldn't get rid of, even for her. It was quite clear she didn't think any of them would harm her but the temper and anger just got on her nerves.
Looking embarrassed, Sango dipped her head. "Sorry Inuyasha. You're right; getting Kagome's memory back is our top priority. If only Miroku would learn to stop his hands from roaming." She shot the demon cat's other passenger an angry look.
"That ain't ever gonna happen Sango," Inuyasha replied coldly. "We need to move, that scent – if you can call it that – is fainting quicker than a normal one. Pretty soon it'll all be gone and we'll be looking at a dead end and no wake up call for Kagome. I'm not willing to let that happen, so get a move on!" He demanded angrily. Kagome gasped slightly as his grip on her increased a bit, but in turn she did the same to his shoulders, immediately shoving her head into his back when he leapt forward.
Kagome blinked as an orange ball of fur climbed from her leg up next to her head, riding safely between her shoulder and Inuyasha, the latter or which was now eyeing the girl distantly. She blushed slightly and repositioned her head so it again was rested perfectly in the place between shoulder and neck, like she had before. And, like before, her carrier didn't comment. He looked back to his path and Kirara appeared next to them.
'The monk and the demon slayer… it's so obvious that they like each other. I wonder why they don't admit it?' Kagome thought, tilting her head a little to catch a glimpse of Sango and Miroku out of the corner of her eye. One thought led to another, and back came the question of the possibilities there might have been before she lost her memory… possibilities with her and the hanyou she was riding with.
Given his attitude, she, her friends, and anyone in her family would be able to tell Inuyasha wasn't a person Kagome would have normally liked. Yet there were all the hints from their little group, they way he talked, the odd feeling of safety and belonging she felt when by him (even if she obsessing over his ears and not realizing it).
Unconsciously she had titled her head in the opposite direction and was staring at Inuyasha's profile acutely. Noticing that he was being stared at, Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and looked at her, mere centimeters away from her face. Kagome withdrew back a couple inches in surprise and embarrassment.
"What?" He asked suspiciously, eyes still narrowed.
"Yeah!" Shippo asked, deciding he should be a part of the 'conversation'. The kitsune climbed a little further up to be better seen, getting the attention of Kirara and her two riders. "You've been watching Inuyasha for a few minutes now, Kagome," Shippo said innocently.
Several times she opened her mouth to respond, but ended up in silence with a loss for words.
"What were you staring at?" Inuyasha repeated, not liking that she wasn't answering him. His ears went back a little bit from distaste, amazingly not hurting as much anymore.
"I… Well," stammered a blushing Kagome, "You see… I thought there was…" She blinked when his ears shot up interestedly, obviously not even expecting an answer. "A… uh… a bug? I thought I saw a bug on your face."
Blinking his amber eyes slowly, he responded, "No bug Kagome. The only bug we know is Myoga, and he hightailed it the last time we had a serious battle. Haven't seen that cowardly flea for weeks now."
"Fl… flea?" The girl squeaked unsurely. She had always hated tiny bugs, and fleas would be no different. "You mean… a flea demon, right? You couldn't possibly be friends with a regular flea."
Inuyasha laughed once, not very genuine though. "There's no difference when it comes to him. Myoga's a coward, nothing more or less to it. He's barely helped us at all since you came through the well and you met him for the first time."
Now it was Inuyasha's turn to succumb to memories, no matter how awkward. The only thing he could seriously hope to remember right now was Kagome trying to force him out of his shirt to check a wound she had no idea had already healed. He had refused to let her see it, she had sat him, and then climbed on top of him to try and pull the haori off of him forcibly. Kaede, having been a passerby with a handful of young children, had gotten the wrong idea (but who wouldn't have, given their position) and broken them out of their haze. The pair had been, needless to say, appalled, discomfited, and ashamed at how they had been approached.
He snapped back to life when Shippo hit him. "Inuyasha… what are you doing? You didn't answer Kagome." Inuyasha looked between the girl and youth oddly then back at Kagome expectantly.
"Yeah, what did you ask me? I wasn't listening."
"Apparently so," She said in a mock-angry tone, rolling her eyes to add in some fun. Shippo blinked at her behavior, and Miroku cried out, "Lady Kagome, what is going on over there?"
All three looked over at the monk in unison. Inuyasha growled a bit too defensively for the situation, "None of your business monk. You got a problem if we talk?" He threatened. Kagome drew herself a little bit closer to Inuyasha, keeping an eye on the monk, who had his special lecherous look in his eye.
It was apparent he wanted to respond to that, but Sango elbowed him just hard enough in the chest to keep him quite. Inuyasha squinted his eyes at Miroku as if he was trying to stare down the sun for a few moments, eventually giving it up though, ready to ask Kagome his own question again.
Kagome had gotten about as close to the half demon as possible, considering Shippo was still nestled in the safety space between the two older people. When she felt Inuyasha nudge his head just about into her neck she blushed horribly, her heart almost stopping.
"We going to keep talking or what?" His voice came, entirely reasonable. Her breathing resumed when he removed his head, having gotten her attention.
'Idiot. You're just overreacting now. Getting excited over nothing. Wait… who said I was getting excited? Not about that half demon. Gah, stupid thoughts, stupid thoughts!'
"Yeah. Yes. I asked you about the couple of occasions that flea demon Myoga gave to you."
"Oh. Guy's really old; use to travel around with my father before he died, so he knows enough to help on rare occasion. Basically things I'm sure we could figure out on our own, but it probably just makes him feel important. He's got nothing else to feel good about for. Guy could win a medal for the number of times he's deserted us in the face of battle," He finished dryly. "And he normally shows up when something really bad is gonna happen or just did. I wouldn't be surprised if the bloodsucker shows up in the near future. My guess," He projected his voice a bit louder, apparently wanting the other people to hear, "Is that Myoga appears telling us about a number of demons he guesses could have caused this. Then he'll try and tell us how to find them and beat them, and mostly likely run off in the next day or so and it'll turn out the information he gave us wasn't worth shit."
"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped. If her hands had been free she would have covered Shippo's ears. "Don't be so mean."
"It's the truth. If you had any memory about him, you wouldn't be responding like this."
Miroku looked a little bit curious but said momentarily, "No Inuyasha, I am fairly certain Kagome would still act like such. Have you forgotten how Kagome used to be, maybe?"
The monk received a threatening look from the hanyou and silenced with a stupid, pointless grin. He enjoyed causing trouble, as they all… or almost all knew.
Kagome was confused, again, at the pointless conversation this had become. Shippo shifted and caused her to look down, at least taking the voices of a now arguing Miroku and Inuyasha out of her ears.
"Do they always argue?" The girl asked the young kitsune.
For a moment it seemed Shippo didn't know Kagome was talking to him, then he smiled and nodded energetically. "Yeah. Or at least Inuyasha always is, but it's normally with you. You two are always fighting about things I don't understand, but normally you win. All you have to do is sit him, and he loses."
"Really?"
"No," Inuyasha interjected, looking away from Miroku with a ticked expression. Feeling left out, or so Kagome assumed, Sango decided to have a say in things.
"That's arguable though, isn't it?" She asked. "If it's an argument that involves Kikyo there's normally at least one 'sit' in it, isn't there?"
The mention of the dead priestess caused the still talking people to silence, and Sango realized she had probably just brought up something she shouldn't have. Kagome, who didn't understand the sudden silence and tense feeling in the air, shifted uncomfortably.
"Who's… who's Kikyo?"
All eyes focused on Kagome, including Inuyasha's. Especially his. Miroku, not sensing anything entirely wrong (but probably just trying to see what kind of reaction he could get from the half demon) started to smile happily.
"Kikyo is the person that Inuyasha used to love before–"
A sharp growl like nothing any of them had ever heard before, unless Inuyasha had gone full demon, filled the air and cut Miroku off quite nicely. Kagome flinched a little at the terrifying noise, but relaxed slightly when she realized who made it, only to tense yet again.
"I'm not kidding Miroku. One more word out of your stupid mouth and I'll rip it off your face."
'Did Miroku just say what I think he did? He used to love someone? This Kikyo person? And before… what? He definitely said he loved her before something. Does that mean he loves someone else now? Who?' Kagome thought nervously. It was weird though, she noticed, the emotional effect this was having on her. Being in high school, her and her friends would always talk about who loved who. But hearing the words Inuyasha and Kikyo together made her feel weird. She didn't like it one bit.
"Have I ever met her?" Kagome said aloud, not meaning to be heard. Surprisingly, Inuyasha answered.
"Yeah. Can we drop it at that? I don't want to talk about her right now Kagome…" His voice trailed off and he looked towards Kirara and her riders for a moment, almost daring them to say something else.
The girl shrugged slightly, but definitely didn't want to stop picking at the topic. This whole weird, freaky, unreal experience was getting more and more interesting and complicated every minute.
Conversation died down entirely even after the tension in the air disappeared. Not one wanting calm and boring, Shippo smiled as if someone had thrown an exceptionally good idea into his head.
"Hey Kagome, have you ever seen…" He left space for a dramatic pause, "…magic?" Shippo looked up at her with happy eyes.
Within moments, everyone's eyes were on Shippo. Most intent was Kagome, who smiled. "No, not really. Only this one really fake show on t.v. a long time ago. I didn't like it, but that was because the guy was so horrible. Why, do you know magic?"
"That's about all he does know. It isn't good for anything either," Inuyasha said dryly, bringing a frown from Kagome.
"And that's not very nice. Shippo, I'd love to see some magic."
Both Sango and Kagome smiled at the enthusiastic expression of the child, and Miroku grinned, ready to take their distracted state and mess with Sango's rear end. His plans were cut short when Sango seemed to realize her mistake and warned, "If you think about touching me, I'll throw you off." And, it actually seemed to discourage the monk.
Shippo leaped off of Kagome's shoulder just as Inuyasha reached the full height of a jump. She yelped for a second in worry, and almost fainted when a large pink bubble with humongous eyes floated up next to them.
"… Wow! You had me scared. You're good at that," She commented kindly.
By now all of the others were back on focus, having been use to Shippo and his fox magic. Kagome, however, was genuinely impressed, especially when he demonstrated his foxfire technique.
"Stop fooling around you two, we don't have the time. That damn demon is just getting further and further away from us every second. I'm not gonna risk Kagome's memories to it!"
And Shippo stopped moving and looked towards Inuyasha, along with everyone else. He had a determined look about him, and increased his speed slightly.
'So he does care more than the others,' Kagome concluded silently, observing the hanyou very carefully.
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"You say then that Inuyasha and the other's have already stopped by and left?" Myoga asked interestedly.
The old flea was perched perfectly on the rim of a discarded cup in Kaede's hut, talking to the old woman and trying to figure out where Inuyasha and his friends had gotten. Kaede nodded slowly.
"Young Kagome has found herself faced with a most terrible problem."
Myoga blinked. "Really? What kind of problem is it?"
Taking a moment to sip some of her drink, Kaede sighed. "One of the worst my eyes have ever witnessed. Our Kagome has fallen victim to a loss of her memories. Ye must know that this implies she doth not recognize any of her friends of this time. There is reason to believe Inuyasha has suffered a similar fate, but to a much less severe extent."
There was a slight moment of silence before the small demon started jumping frantically. "That is impossible! Only a few types of demons can successfully alter memory! I've not seen a butterfly, fly, or that type of moth demon in some time! If what you say is even true, chances are that only a moth of butterfly demon could have done it so well."
"It is indeed true," Kaede said calmly, drinking a little more, "And that is where Inuyasha and the others are headed. They are in search of the demon who has tampered Kagome's mind."
Myoga leaped around ecstatically crying, "But even if they find a demon that could be the culprit, they will not know how to get their memory back! Kaede, do you recognize any of the following names: Omoi, Ryouken, Kinenrosu, or Henkashinen?" he was attempting to list the names of all moth and butterfly demons he knew of that had ever lived anywhere near the village.
She took a few minutes and nodded. "Yes, Omoi was killed some time ago, and I believe Henkashinen and Kinenrosu are still living somewhere in this land. I have not heard of this other name though."
Provided with the new information, Myoga started thinking and said aloud, "Then I'm certain Ryouken could not have been the culprit. You should have known if it was she. So it is either Kinenrosu or Henkashinen. I must find Inuyasha and tell him!"
"A moment of your time, perhaps. What do you know of those two demons?" the elderly priestess inquired patiently, and Myoga scowled.
"They are both unruly demons. Both are butterfly demons of the same bloodlines, but Kinenrosu only uses her powers for amusement. She would not be so bad as Henkashinen. I believe the two are cousins, and he is truly destructive. He's been inactive for the past century though, nothing severe, but he is ten times worse than the other. I'm sorry, I must leave at once!"
So, without any more word of the subject of the 'horrible evil afoot', Myoga gathered his miniscule belongings and dashed from the hut to fetch his crow and catch up with Inuyasha.
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Despite various protests from Inuyasha, Kagome had managed to convince the group to stop traveling so hurriedly and allow her to walk for a while. She'd argued she wasn't used to being carried, which got some controversy out of the group.
"What would you know? You used to be carried all the time!" Kagome had been set down and she couldn't see who had spoken, but she knew.
"Even if I did, it's not like I have memory of it. Can't I just stretch my legs? I don't want them to get all cramped."
"Heh. They won't Kagome. Besides, humans walk too slow."
She spun around to face Inuyasha and eyed him up and down. "Well, I don't care! I think YOU care TOO MUCH. It's my brain, and you're more worried about it than I am. There's something not right about that. What are you, a stalker?"
Miroku blinked and sighed. Kagome did have a point; Inuyasha was overreacting. Then again, it could only be expected.
"He cannot be a stalker even if you wanted him to be dear Kagome. The term 'stalking' would involve not being very well known and attempting to follow someone sneakily, I believe. Our Inuyasha has not done that, so I don't think that's the right word."
Very swiftly, the half demon appeared behind Miroku and hit him over the head.
"The right word for what? Try me."
"Oh nothing," Miroku said frantically, waving his hands dismissively as Sango gave a defeated sigh. The slayer hated to admit their monk companion would never change.
Kagome, however, was watching all this with mixed emotions of anger and depression, and even confusion still. Too many things were happening too quickly. She was furious about the way this was happening, depressed that she could not remember the people that were obviously her friends, and beyond baffled at why Inuyasha was so protective of her.
The others continued arguing fiercely and Kagome studied the sky. In about and hour or two the sun would set and it would start to get dark. Part of her was worried about sleeping outside of a building in the middle of nowhere, and the other was excited. Either way, nothing would get done just standing around here fighting.
With a determined look on her face and a hunch that if she sucked up to him he'd listen, her eyes fell on Inuyasha, who was now growling angrily at Sango and dangling Shippo from his left hand. Despite her curiosity as to when Shippo had entered the fray, she marched over to them.
"Miroku, please, we all have to stop. I must agree with Inuyasha, we should not be walking!" Sango said calmly, changing her views when she heard Inuyasha's growl.
"But my dearest Sango, we must listen to Lady Kagome! She's in a fragile state."
Within a few feet of the group, Kagome did her best to put on a begging 'puppy' face, picturing the way she'd seen kids ask their parents for things.
"Inuyasha?" She asked cautiously. For a moment he didn't respond, but eventually turned to look at her.
"What… uh, Kagome?" The surprised and confused tone of his vice was evident and Miroku and Sango looked over at her too. If it weren't so serious, they probably would have burst out laughing.
Keeping up the face, the girl took another step closer to Inuyasha and said in a regular voice that didn't quite match her expression, "Can we please walk? I promise I won't get tired!"
Now Miroku couldn't hold it in. "Yes Inuyasha," he mocked with a slight laugh, "PLEASE let us walk! Mighty Leader of our Group, allow us to travel on foot!" Sango glared at him and it didn't take long for her and Inuyasha to both smack him over the head.
After the monk shut up, Inuyasha looked back at Kagome, who had grabbed his arm to get his attention again.
"Please?" She begged a second time, looking hopeful.
He was torn between two firm opinions, and at first growled a little in frustration, but Kagome didn't falter. Once Inuyasha caught her pleading eyes dead on for more than a few seconds, his ears went back and he looked away.
Under his breath, he muttered, "Fine…"
"Yay!" Kagome hugged his arm for a second then blushed and let go, grabbing Shippo from his other hand. "We get to walk!" She said childishly, hugging Shippo instead.
Miroku and Sango calmed down a little once Kagome started moving on with Shippo protectively in her arms. Sango and Kirara speeded up to reach them, and Miroku grinned.
"Wise decision, friend. It appears you do have a weakness after all."
"Shut up!" Inuyasha snapped, jumping the distance between them and the already walking portion of the group, leaving Miroku to run after them. And once again, conversation didn't take long to get underway.
"So… I still have a couple questions, if no one minds. I think I heard someone talking about other people we knew back at…. Uh… Kaede's. I'm pretty sure someone mentioned something about wolves, and another about Inuyasha having some sort of brother of sister?"
Inuyasha flinched, knowing whom she was talking about immediately. Miroku, Sango, and Shippo shared a common, unsure glance before looking at Kagome, who was oblivious to their reactions.
"Why do you want to know?" Inuyasha asked barely above a whisper and barely holding back one of his growls. In response, she shrugged innocently, apparent that she was just curious.
"I do have a stupid half brother named Sesshomaru, and we do know a wolf demon named Kouga. Unfortunately."
They all knew this wouldn't satisfy her, and within a couple minutes she asked more about the both of them. Miroku and Sango decided to answer for Inuyasha and save him the trouble.
"Inuyasha's half brother is a full demon, and is constantly trying to take the tetsusaiga away from him. He has a small travel group with a two headed dragon, a human girl, and a frog or toad demon, I don't know which. They are, in general, evil," Miroku explained calmly.
Sango nodded and added, "He has helped on very slight occasions though… rather discreetly. He does hate doing anything outright benevolent.
"As for Kouga, he's the alpha of a now destroyed pack of wolf demons. Naraku sent one of his incarnations to destroy them. Now he has only two of the pack members left, or it was the last time I checked. I think they were called something like Ginta and Hokaku."
Both had purposefully left out the part about Kouga's affections towards Kagome, but there was nothing like the mind of a young and innocent child who spoke his mind.
"Hey! You forgot to tell her that Kouga is practically madly in love with her!" Shippo declared from her arms. Kagome blinked in shock and looked down at the kitsune, who nodded proudly. "Yeah, the guy's mad about you. I think Inuyasha's jealous, cause he really hates Kouga because of it. You should see the two of them going at it sometime, it's really funny."
Like magic, Inuyasha leapt from one side of the travel group to the other, right in Shippo's face.
"You find it 'funny', huh? See if you ever see daylight again." Shippo eeped at Inuyasha's threat and ducked into Kagome for protection. She glared at him.
"You have some serious issues, you know that? What did Shippo ever do? He's just a little kid, and he doesn't know any better. Besides, it's not like there's anything wrong with it. Unless you really are jealous…" She hinted teasingly.
He drew back a couple steps as if slapped. "Yeah right! Why should I be jealous of that stupid wolf?"
'Good question,' Kagome thought silently, walking past him, purposefully pushing him to the side a little and causing Sango to smile with pleasure.
Taking only a couple minutes to recover, Inuyasha took place directly next to Kagome and folded his arms into his sleeves again, crossing them at the same time. A renewed weird tension filled the air, but this was different than an angry tension, and it kept them silent.
Several times someone made to say something but they stopped short by themselves. Oddly enough, even Shippo sensed that now wasn't the time for talking, and all he did was nestle deeper into Kagome's arms and enjoy the smooth walk.
For another hour or so they continued on, changing direction only when Inuyasha stopped and took a moment to obsessively smell the air and ground and found the faint trail headed in another direction, bringing them closer and closer to the forest they had been traveling about a mile or two away from.
They had just passed by a small cluster of trees not quite yet in the actual woods when a black speck appeared in the sky, sinking towards them daintily.
"One guess who that is…" Inuyasha murmured, watching the crow as it got closer and the rest of the group halted to look.
Once the bird was about fifteen feet over their heads, something very small leaped from it and floated down, allowing the bird to fly off on its own. After a few moments, Myoga landed faintly on the ground before them, leaping rather quickly and energetically.
"I'm so glad I found you! Kaede told me that you've been visited by an evil demon!" He cried, almost instantly finding himself on Inuyasha's nose, staring him down ineffectively. Inuyasha brushed him away and snorted.
"You could say that. Why don't you ask Kagome? Kagome, this is Myoga. I told you he'd show up sooner or later."
Kagome squinted her eyes and got up real close to stare at the small demon intently, almost practically staring at Inuyasha's shoulder now.
"Of course its me!" Myoga exclaimed, jumping up and down again. "Why wouldn't she recognize me? Is Kaede telling the truth then?"
Inuyasha shrugged. "Well, that depends. What did the old hag tell you?" Even though Kagome gave him a look again at how he talked about the elder priestess, she didn't say anything.
"Lady Kagome has lost her memory! That's what she told me when I went to see her! She also said there was a good chance you had yours altered too!" He was still leaping about.
Kagome nodded slowly, entirely interested in the little flea demon. "She wasn't lying. It's true, apparently. It only seems like I met all these people no more than a day or so ago."
After Myoga leapt suddenly onto her face, she took a step back but stared down at him.
"That's not good! You have to get it back right now!"
"I think you figured that out Myoga," Inuyasha said dryly, picked up the frantic demon between two claws. "And like I also expected, can you tell us who did this or where they are?"
"Kaede and I were talking about the very thing, but now that I've seen it myself, I'm positive." Kagome cocked her head and Miroku and Sango took several steps closer.
"Please Myoga, can you tell us what you know about what happened? We're having a hard time trying to figure out where the demon responsible went to," explained Sango earnestly.
Myoga nodded. "Yes, originally I determined it would be either a moth or butterfly demon of sorts. Specifically, two butterfly demon came to mind: Henkashinen and Kinenrosu, both from the same family."
It was like a slap of realization. Inuyasha dropped Myoga instantly and looked rather pissed about something. The others of the group blinked, and Kagome took a single step forward towards him.
"What's wrong?"
After they eyed him expectantly for a couple minutes, he clenched a fist and said slowly, "That name. I'm positive I've heard it somewhere before."
"What name?" Kagome said, beginning to sound curious and almost smiling, "Kinenrosu, right? Is that the one?" Inuyasha nodded awkwardly and Kagome grinned. She recognized the name in the same manner her did. She knew she'd never heard it before, yet it seemed like she had.
Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kirara, and Myoga looked confused, not understanding at all what was going on between Inuyasha and Kagome. Not willing to be left out (and resuming his jumping) Myoga demanded, "You two! What's going on that's so special! I must know right now!"
"It's the name Kinenrosu," Inuyasha explained, "I know I've never been told it, yet I've heard it somewhere before. Apparently so has Kagome. I think that's the one, because the sound of it pisses me off…." Again, he tensed his already clenched fist some before relaxing it a little.
"Phew!"
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and glared down at Myoga, hearing his sigh of relief. Given his current state, anyone seeing anything good about ANYTHING right now got him mad.
"And what're you so happy about?" The half demon questioned as calm as he could manage, but not making a great difference. Noting his angry tone, Myoga stopped and leapt back onto his shoulder.
"Of the two, Kinenrosu is the weaker one. Besides, I know a few different places she might be."
Inuyasha looked shocked, and Kagome overwhelmed. "Really? Can you tell us?"
He nodded enthusiastically and began to describe the methods Kinenrosu used to have fun, which was already old news to them. Myoga gave a physical description and the relation to Henkashinen, why it was better they had her as they prey, and practically everything he had told Kaede.
"As to where she could abide, I should have figured she'd be the more likely of the two to be the culprit. Naturally, butterfly demons prefer forests, very much like the one around here. Kinenrosu, however, is notorious for finding mountains and rocky areas in forests to live; not just any regular wooded area will do. There are several places around here like that. Considering you are already following some sort of trail, I can narrow it down to three.
"In the direction you were traveling in when I came, about fifty miles or so ahead is a small mountain; Mount Kikawa. More towards the right is the larger Mount Amekumo, almost directly next to the very small Mount Enpitsu. I'm certain you'll find her in one of those."
"So, you're telling us that there are mainly three places she could be, even if we were to lose the trail? What if she were to have moved by the time we arrived at any of the mountains?" Miroku asked truthfully.
"Doubtful. Butterfly demons are fairly territorial. Besides, we are not even positive it is she you're truly after," Myoga countered simply.
It had started getting dark by now, and when Kagome left to tend to a little fire they had constructed, Inuyasha asked, "So we kill her to get the memories back?"
"No! That's precisely why I had to find you quickly. The memories will probably have been stored in some sort of crystalline or glass-like orb, likely to be white or yellow. You must shatter that directly after you were to defeat her. If it were before, the memories would be released only to be taken again, and put directly into her mind. Then you could never get them back. If you defeated the demon much longer before you shattered the orb then the stolen memories would fade with their captor. Then also, it would be too late to retrieve them."
"What!" Inuyasha exclaimed angrily
"Yes. That is why many butterfly and moth demons only take memories seldom in their lives. Once they do it will drain their power for a slight bit because some of the energy it took to alter the memories will go with the stolen true memories into the orb to help contain them. They regain their strength though, after the memories have had a few days to settle down. When did the memory loss happen?"
Before anyone could answer, Kagome came back from grabbing some more wood to throw on the fire. "I woke up here a couple days ago only," She said sorrowfully before sitting down rather close to Inuyasha, though he made no comment.
"Then she will have gotten all of her power back by now. It is essential you follow my instructions or neither of you can ever have you memories right again!"
'We must not let that happen,' Miroku thought as he nodded in unison with Sango. Inuyasha and Kagome kept utterly quiet until Shippo spoke up.
"Myoga, what'll happen after they get their memories back? Will they forget any of this ever happened at all?"
He pondered for a moment then shook his head. "No. They will have entire recollections from the moment their memory was altered until the moment they get it back from the demon. Anything that they did or thought about while their minds were tampered will be remembered."
"That sounds like an interesting effect," Sango thought aloud.
"Indeed," Miroku agreed honestly. "You would think what happened during that time period would be forgotten." Sango and Shippo nodded.
"Yes, well… I probably won't be able to stay with you very long, I have some business to attend to in the near future."
Inuyasha grinned at Kagome and said to her (but hinting that it was directed to Myoga), "I told ya. He runs away as soon as possible. I wasn't lying to you before. Danger hasn't even showed up and he's hightailing it."
"No I'm not!" Myoga fumed, resuming his famed bouncing. "I have some very important issues to deal with involving the sacred jewel and Naraku!"
'Sure he does,' Kagome mused, realizing the hanyou hadn't lied to her at all. 'But then again, I don't know him to be able to judge him…' "Are you at least staying the night then, Myoga?" She asked charitably. Myoga calmed down and stilled, looking away.
"I suppose so, until the time calls for me to leave."
"Don't you mean until danger comes?" Inuyasha offered nonchalantly, sniffing a cookie Kagome had given to him. Deciding it was fine, and that Miroku and Sango were already eating theirs, he ate it quickly.
"No, no, no! Stop accusing me of cowardice!"
"Well, its not like you deserve much better," he added, looking around carefully, almost as if expecting something. "Besides, what does it matter? Even if you did have some jewel business, you aren't gonna be here when the fighting starts. It works either way."
Sighing, Myoga settled down in his place, watching the others eat and wondering why he even bothered.
It was silent for a bit, during which time Kagome happily made some more noodles and sandwiches for everyone and passed them out. She finished second, because again Inuyasha had beaten everyone, and sighed, shivering slightly. It was getting darker every moment and even their little fire was dying down a bit.
"Are you okay?" She looked around to see Inuyasha several inches from her face. "You're acting kind of weird again."
Blushing a little, she drew her face back to put more distance between them. "I'm fine. Just a little cold, that's all. I just kind of realized… I don't have anywhere to sleep. I don't have a sleeping bag with me, and its kind of chilly."
He backed up a bit and crossed his arms. "If I hadn't seen how you reacted waking up right next to me, I'd offer to help keep you warm again. I think we all know that didn't work very well," He said in a voice no one could quite place.
"You offered to keep her warm?" Miroku said, just beginning to start hinting at the two again. "In which manner was this accompli-" He stopped short when Sango brought Hirakotsu down on his head with a lone sigh, thinking, 'He will never be able to stop himself…'
"Stop being yourself, Miroku. The night before she woke up and lost her memory, she was cold and neither of us was in any shape to travel. We sat down right next to each other and fell asleep, nothing more, nothing less."
Though Miroku was still grinning, Kagome gave him even more to think about.
"That's not true. When I woke up you had your arm around me. Like you were trying to protect me from something and keep me next to you," She added for a bit more description. Miroku perked up and waited to see if there was more.
"Because as far as I could know at the time, we had been in some huge battle and I didn't want anything to come and hurt you."
Miroku looked a little disappointed, but caught sight of Sango with her weapon at the ready and made no direct comment. He did, though, put his thoughts into an offer. "Because none of us carry blankets with us, perhaps you could repeat the gesture tonight as well? I'm sure Kagome will not react the same when she awakens. She has… met you for a second time, after all."
Kagome shrugged, not sure she wanted to. It was awkward enough being around these people, even more awkward to be allowed to be carried by someone and sit extremely close without either of them making a comment, but it would just be freaky to sleep that close to a guy she didn't know that well… or, at least didn't know that well anymore.
Having full knowledge of Kagome's reaction, not just the guesses the others had, Inuyasha blinked and responded fairly calmly, "Unlike you, I'm not so sure. You don't realize that I woke up to her smacking me about five times for no apparent reason, do you? And don't you dare say that you're smacked for no apparent reason too, because there is a reason and you know it."
She actually felt hurt. Kagome eyed Inuyasha carefully, remembering her reaction too. Now she felt horrible about the whole thing, and even worse that he didn't trust her not to react like that again. Feeling emboldened to have to make it absolutely known that she trusted them all now, she cleared her throat.
"I don't mind. If I promise I'll be calm when I wake up, would you agree?"
All eyes turned to her in turn, and Miroku smiled inwardly. Even now, it seemed, Kagome couldn't hide her past emotions for the hanyou either, or so he figured.
"Can you really promise that? I, personally, don't want to be smacked out of a tree first thing in the morning."
A pause and moment of consideration, then Kagome answered unsteadily, "Out of a… a tree? As in, we'd be sleeping in a tree? Not on the ground?"
He blinked and turned back to Miroku. "See? She doesn't want to sleep in a tree anyways."
Hearing this, she shook her head and quickly spoke up, "No, no, I don't mind. I've never slept in a tree before. I was just kind of… puzzled by the concept is all. I thought for sure it was impossible to sleep in a tree without falling during the night. You… won't fall right? You'll actually stay in the tree?"
"Duh. I sleep in trees all the time, and I haven't fallen out of one since I was around six."
She nodded, considering his words, and sighed. "Then I guess I'll sleep with you in a tree tonight."
"Now Lady Kagome, when you say 'sleep'…" Miroku again was silenced when Sango whacked him over the head. Even so, she blushed a little and looked away.
"Then let's get to sleep. We've learned quite a bit about who we're looking for and how to get all of your memories back, you two," Sango suggested. "Not to mention, this is the first day Kagome has really traveled since her memories were lost. She's probably exhausted, right?"
As if on cue, Kagome yawned once and nodded. "Pretty tired, yeah."
"Then you two get to your tree and Miroku and I'll sleep at its trunk, Shippo and Kirara can lay down next to us, and Myoga too. Sleep sounds good about now. How about it you guys?" The demon slayer added hopefully.
Shippo and Miroku shrugged, Myoga, Kirara, and Kagome nodded, and Inuyasha said nothing. As if moving quickly would kill them, they stood extremely slowly. Only after everyone else had been up and started moving towards the small cluster of trees they had passed not long before did Inuyasha get up.
"You won't let me fall, will you?" Kagome asked guardedly when the two of them started walking.
"Baka, I already told you. I'd never let anything happen to you, especially falling out of some stupid tree."
Satisfied, Kagome smiled and moved a little closer, causing him to blush slightly. "I trust you," She told him kindly. "And if you do let me fall, I'll kill you," she teased lightly. "Especially if you let me fall on the perverted monk."
Inuyasha growled lowly, "Ain't gonna happen."
By the time the two of them had come to stand next to Miroku, Sango, and the others, they had begun to get settled down, Sango on the entire opposite side of the trunk, keeping herself furthest from the wandering hands of a certain someone. Kirara was ready nestled a couple inches from her, and Shippo was deciding where to sleep.
"You're sure about this?" Kagome glanced at the half demon when he asked this yet again and nodded firmly. "Whatever…" the others watched as Inuyasha grabbed their friend securely and crouched down. Kagome hugged herself to his chest moments before he leapt up.
When she opened her eyes, she noticed he had perched steadily on a branch and was motioning for her to let go for a minute. Looking down at Sango some fifteen or twenty feet below them, Kagome very, very cautiously loosened her grip and clutched the branch tightly.
"I said I wouldn't let you fall," Inuyasha reminded her, moving very quickly from where he was until he sat against the trunk of the tree perfectly still. Kagome, still a bit too terrified to move, looked around cautiously.
She realized that if she got to him she'd be safe; the girl inched towards him determinedly, trying her best not to look down at Sango, who was smiling at her friend's boldness.
As soon as she got within a foot and a half of Inuyasha, he grabbed her arm and yanked her forward, causing her to yelp in fear of falling, and she slammed her eyes shut. When she didn't feel like she had fallen, and instead felt Inuyasha's fire rat cloth, she opened her eyes warily.
He was looking at her like she was insane; Kagome had been pulled up against him and his arms were wrapped carefully around her to prevent her from making any movement that would result in her toppling off the tree.
"And you're positive you're okay? You seem kind of… jumpy, Kagome," He said truthfully, not enjoying that she had 'apparently' lied about trusting him with keeping her safe.
Taking another look around, Kagome shook her head. "I told you it was my first time being in a tree. You startled me is all," She tried to explain, still looking down from the branch on either side of her, to see that Sango had already lost interest.
He looked unsure as if to listen but shrugged, taking his arms away. Kagome noticed and quickly grabbed one tightly.
"No. Please, don't let go of me!" She begged, looking about frantically. Inuyasha would have protested or made some snide remark, but he caught the genuinely worried look about her and brought his other arm back, drawing her even closer to him and keeping a firm grip on her.
"I won't then," informed a sincere hanyou. Kagome sighed, feeling warm and content. She snuggled into his clothes and rested her head against him, taking only about ten minutes before she fell asleep.
The following morning Kagome woke up with a slight yawn that took the form of a very deep breath. She blinked but kept still, remembering she was in a tree. One of the first things Kagome noticed was that Inuyasha had not let go of her, as promised, and was still clinging protectively to her. He had, actually, dropped his head forward so it rested on her shoulder.
Secondly, she felt something very light and feathery against her upper cheek. The moment she attempted to move her head a bit then put it back in the same position, the object withdrew but brushed back into place quickly. She giggled a bit because it tickled, and began to turn her head to see what it was.
By turning her head, she realized what it was as it flickered yet again against her skin, signaled by the slight movement against it. On purpose now, Kagome moved her head very slightly and giggled extremely quietly when Inuyasha's ear twitched once more, this time right in her eye.
She repeated the motions again about three times until her giggling got out of control. The fact that his ears were able to twitch even when he himself was entirely asleep was overly amusing to Kagome. On the fourth time the practically silk ear brushed against her skin, her already ecstatic giggles increased slightly in volume. That combined with the fact that he felt as if somebody was pestering him while he was trying to sleep, Inuyasha stirred.
The moment Kagome's childish giggling reached his now functioning ears, they shot back against his head and his eyes opened automatically. She became silent quicker then it took to flip on a light switch.
"I'm sorry," Kagome apologized in a whisper, feeling bad that she'd woken him up.
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes slightly and looked around, having a slightly sinking feeling when he established that while he was sleeping he had begun to cuddle with Kagome. What brought him out of his thoughts was shocking.
His eyes opened rather wide the instant the girl he was holding buried her head contently into his haori and murmured, "You're really warm…" and sighed. "I'm sorry I was messing with your ears again. They tickle."
Not quite understanding her, he raised his ears again and lifted his head off of her shoulder. "Well, I didn't let you fall and you didn't toss me out of the tree."
"Yup. I guess we both kept our promises. And I didn't get cold either," She reported happily, looking up at him. "I think I like sleeping in trees. I can understand why you'd want to sleep in them." Again, she snuggled into him for more warmth when a breeze blew by, bringing a blush out of both of them.
"I can't… seem to figure you out. I don't get you Kagome… not since you lost your memory at least," Inuyasha added for more clarity. His odd comment brought Kagome to look up at him, but he didn't meet her gaze for a moment.
"Hm? How do you mean?"
Another gust picked up, blowing both of their hair together to the left side and Kagome shivered a little. Inuyasha felt this and held her tighter against him, trying to cover as much of her as possible and keep her warm.
"First you freak out when you see me, then you obsess over my ears – which, by the way, aren't that exciting, really, after that you freak out about me having claws. Even after that you start warming up to all of us some more, and last night you were mostly acting like you used to, and now you're being more content with me then you used to be. I think Kinenrosu did more than just steal your memory from you."
Now that she thought about it, Inuyasha had a point.
"Well, I'm sorry. It's not my fault if my opinion on you guys keeps changing. Besides, I keep thinking about things and they make me feel different."
Whoops. Kagome felt like an idiot. Though she hadn't directly mentioned the nature of her thoughts, she had still brought it up. It was that stupid, relaxed, safe feeling aura she got when around him. She cursed it silently.
"Huh? What thoughts?"
"You know, what do I have to lose from telling you? Well, basically everything that Miroku keeps saying and the way you and Sango act about it. I keep wondering about our relationship before my memory was altered. He makes it out as if we were in love or even deeper than that, and then you keep acting so protective all the time. It makes me kind of consider that we might have been more than just any old pair of friends. Maybe a little more than just friends," She said truthfully and quietly, not meeting his gaze and looking away.
Not quite what Inuyasha had been expecting. "I already told you. I don't think we were more than just friends Kagome," he said, again with that weird tone in his voice, and the more Kagome thought about it, the more it kept sounding like disappointment.
"That's my point exactly! You keep saying its nothing, or that you think that it was nothing, and so does Sango. But I'm not as sure as you two are! I plan to find out, too, even if no one tells me." Her tone was bold and unwavering, and her eyes shown with her inner determination.
"Then good luck with that. I highly doubt anyone knew anything on that subject before the incident anyways. Not even you or me. You should just drop it. The whole memory thing screwed everything up."
Kagome shrugged and leaned back into his grasp, the two of them remaining silent. Her eyes reflected watery light as the sun began to rise in the sky.