Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize doesn't belong to me. Anyone you don't, does. Especially Kusaraku Fujii. He's my pride and joy.

Title: Body, Mind, and Soul

Chapter: Twelve – It Has To Be Me

They had been following the scent trail for a while now, and had had to stop once to rest. One time, Inuyasha had sped up his pace. "It's faint, but I smell fear…"

Kagome was worried, especially when they reached an area near a stream where they found a foul-smelling puddle of acid and gore. When Kagome saw it, she almost fell, and she looked afraid.

"That's not… is it? Please say it's not him, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha shook his head, wrinkling his nose in distaste at the smell. "No, it's not him. It's a… a demon. But I can still smell his scent left here, and something's weird about it…"

"What?" This was spoken in unison by all four of the others.

"The fear I smelled was his, and I think it was the demon that caused it. Thing is, though, his smell changes here."

Kagome's eyes widened. "It changes? What do you mean?"

"It's… well, it's a lot like a demon's now. And there's something else."

"Yeah?"

"The only smells here are this… what used to be a demon, and also Kusaraku. You realize what this means, don't ya?"

Kagome bit her lip. "It means that somehow Kusaraku's the one who killed this demon. Inuyasha… I'm worried."

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. "You damn well should be, Kagome. You may have to deal with the fact… that your friend might not be himself anymore. If he's a threat, you know what I'll have to do…"

The answer was silence…

The sun had been up about three hours when Kagome, Inuyasha, and the others came up close to a village. Inuyasha sniffed the air and his brow furrowed as he concentrated, then he changed direction, not heading towards the village, but towards a nearby meadow, instead.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" Miroku asked, frowning. "It would make more sense for us to head for the village… then we could ask the villagers whether or not they have seen any strangers. You never know, we might find some clues as to the whereabouts of Kusaraku."

Inuyasha shook his head, not stopping. "No, I'm on his scent, and it doesn't go into the village…" As they neared the meadow, he stopped again, sniffed sharply, and an angry-like expression came upon his face.

"What's wrong, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

"Kusaraku was here… and he was scared again, but not the same fear as last time. And I think I know why he was scared."

Shippo jumped up and down. "Why, Inuyasha? Quit makin' us wait for the answer!"

Inuyasha rewarded the kitsune with a lump on the head before replying. "My brother was here, too, along with Jaken."

"He didn't do anything to him, did he?" Kagome's voice was worried.

"No… no, he didn't."

They continued on the path of the scent.

Later, Kagome broke the silence. "Inuyasha…"

"What?"

"When we find Kusaraku, I don't think it should be you who goes to him."

"You want to do it, don't you? You've got to be kidding me, Kagome, there's no way I'm gonna let you do that!"

Kagome shook her head, frowning. "I have to be the one. Face it, Inuyasha, you didn't exactly make a good impression on him. He sees you, he's gonna run like a bat out of hell, and if he really is changed, then we have no idea if you could catch him. The others, he doesn't know them. It has to be me. I'm really sorry, but right now this mess is your fault, so if you don't agree, too bad."

"Damn."

QS: I know, I know… short chapter, huh? I'm trying to figure out how to catch them up with him. Remember, Inuyasha has three mortals slowing him down, so I'd have to think of something that Kusaraku would stop for, or something that would slow him down.