A/N: Here's the next chapter, in which the plot will further unravel. Those of you who know my other fanfictions know that I am notorious for adding several twists and turns into the story (whether they are expected or not). Want to find out more? Chapter nine is longer than the last one! Please review and let me know what you think!

...I also realized I haven't put a disclaimer in here, so...I don't own Inuyasha or the characters. The storyline is the only thing that's mine. Inuyasha and Co. are copyright of Takahashi Rumiko...

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Don't Cry for Me
Chapter Nine

"It's all right, Rin. Just try to hit it again next time. I was pretty bad at this when I first started learning, too. Just ask Inuyasha. He'll tell you," Kagome smiled, helping Rin to load another arrow into her bow.

The small girl smiled at her. "I know I can do it for Lord Sesshoumaru!" She nodded confidently. "I'm going to be ten soon, so I need to learn how to do this so I can protect Jacken when Lord Sesshoumaru is away. Maybe I could even help him?" At the thought of this, the little girl's eyes grew wide with hope, and she aimed her bow with determination.

Kagome laughed slightly. "Did you hear that, Inuyasha?" she asked him.

"He's been gone for three weeks, Kagome..." Inuyasha whispered his reply. "Do you think I should go and...?"

Sango, who had been observing Kagome's teaching Rin and listening in on the conversation, shook her head violently. "Are you crazy? Did you not hear what Sesshoumaru said about not leaving Kagome alone? Sesshoumaru said it would take him a while. Let's just give him some time. We all know he can take care of himself."

Inuyasha nodded. "True..." Inuyasha sighed deeply. "I'm just...I don't know. Something doesn't feel right to me..."

Kagome frowned. "Nothing bad has happened yet, Inuyasha. Let's try and be thankful for that..."

"Let's try and not jinx it..." Kagome's mother smirked from behind her.

"Lady Kagome, look! I did it!" Rin jumped up and down. Kagome looked. A single arrow clung to the very outside edge of the target she had designed for the little girl to practice on.

Kagome laughed. "Good job, Rin! Did you see it, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha nodded. "That's better than Kagome did her first time, Rin." he commented.

"See? I told you!" Kagome nodded.

"Lord Sesshoumaru is going to be so proud of me!" Rin smiled.

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"Hello, cousin..." Sesshoumaru bowed. "You were expecting me, I presume?"

The dog demon standing in front of Sesshoumaru nodded. "Yes, I was. I have heard the rumors...both about your half brother and about your reason for being here." he sighed. "Take a seat, cousin. I believe that you and I have a lot to talk about..."

"It is not that complicated Ryo. The rules are simple. Your pack stays off of my father's land and far away from my brother and his intended, or I am going to make sure that you are in a world of pain. You know our laws..."

Ryo shook his head. "I am sorry, Sesshoumaru. It has been quite a while since you have visited me down here...and you obviously haven't heard the news. I don't exactly carry the torch around here. If the pack wants to rip Inuyasha into little pieces, I can not stop them..."

"Ryo...I do not find you funny at all..."

"And I am not joking, cousin..." Ryo shook his head. "I've already told you...I do not control them. Shin has..."

"Shin has done what?" frowned Sesshoumaru.

"He left this morning with two of his best men, Sesshoumaru. I was going to come warn you about it myself, but then you ended up showing up here anyway."

"There is three of them?" Sesshoumaru growled.

Ryo nooded. "You heard correctly. Three of them...and they left this morning."

Sesshoumaru sighed deeply. "What will they do if they get to Inuyasha and Kagome?" he asked after a short pause.

"I do not think that they plan on killing either of them, Sesshoumaru. Shin just wants to stop the union...and cripple Inuyasha...take away his joy..."

"Kagome..." Sesshoumaru whispered.

Ryo nodded. "Right again. Shin does not plan on killing Inuyasha...he just wants to make sure that he can never mark Kagome..."

"How?" demanded Sesshoumaru. "If he does not plan on killing them..."

"There are other more underhanded ways to accomplish his goal, Sesshoumaru..." Ryo explained.

Sesshoumaru thought about this for a moment. "He...he wouldn't!"

"If Shin marks Kagome, Inuyasha can't...no one else can..." Ryo sighed with a frown.

"But if she isn't willing...!" Sesshoumaru paled in anger and stood quickly.

Ryo nodded in understanding. "I know what could happen, Sesshoumaru. But I bet that Shin has a plan. Think about it. Kagome is just as connected to Inuyasha as he is to her..."

"Kagome will go willingly if Shin hurts Inuyasha..." Sesshoumaru gasped, his eyes widening and showing his complete shock for the first time since he could remember. "Damn it, Ryo you chicken! I don't care who holds the power around here anymore! I know you are not that weak! How could you just let them go, knowing what would transpire? How am I supposed to get back that quickly? They will undoubtedly be ahead of me..."

Ryo nodded again. "Sesshoumaru, if Kagome goes with Shin, he could kill her. If she allows him to bite her, you don't even..."

"I very well realize the consequences..." Sesshoumaru nodded. "And you are lucky that I don't rip you into tiny pieces. I must go now. Will you come with me?"

"Sesshoumaru, I..." Ryo began.

"Cousin, half-blood or not, Inuyasha is still my brother...and you know what will happen if Shin gets to Kagome..."

Ryo sighed. "All right...but we must hurry..."

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"Kagome...what's wrong?" Inuyasha wondered out loud.

"I think you were right, Inuyasha. Something just plain doesn't feel right..." Kagome frowned. "Why do you suppose it is taking Sesshoumaru so long to get back?" she shivered. "You think he's all right?"

"We already talked about this, Kagome." Inuyasha frowned, wrapping her in a hug. "Everything is fine right now..." He took a deep breath, inhaling her scent, and smiled. "We're still here..."

"Inuyasha..." Kagome smiled, turning and leaning into him. "I would feel horrible if you got hurt. I don't know what I would do. I really hope that when Sesshoumaru returns, he at least brings with him some good news..."

"He will..." Inuyasha leaned down and placed a small kiss on Kagome's lips and smiled.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome whispered. "What if we...what do you have to do to..." she stammered. "To...make it official?"

Inuyasha blinked. "I thought you wanted to wait for us to defeat..." he began.

"Maybe...but when I think about all that could happen between then and now..." she sighed.

Inuyasha nodded in understanding. "I...I see what you mean...but are you sure that you mother would..."

"Approve?" Kagome's mother asked from behind them. She laughed when Inuyasha nearly jumped. "Of course I do..."

Kagome blushed a deep pink color and glared at her mom a moment. "I thought that you were with Gramps and Souta? How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough." She replied, "but I will leave you alone now." She added, smiling as she walked away.

Kagome sighed deeply, and turned back towards Inuyasha. "Well, there you have it, Inuyasha. I think that we definitely have my mother's approval..." she nodded. "What...what do we have to do?"

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"If we go this way, maybe we can beat them by a little bit. After all, there's more of them than there is of us. Maybe we'll get lucky and that will slow them down a little bit..." Ryo prayed out loud.

Sesshoumaru huffed. "I don't need luck, Ryo. I just need to get to Kagome and Inuyasha before Shin and his croonies reach them. I do not want to have to deal with the repercussions of this."

"You won't have to..." Ryo promised.

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "I would not be rushing back at all right now if you had managed to find your backbone when you found out all of what was going to happen this morning. I still do not understand what is wrong with you." he snapped.

"That is the past, cousin..." Ryo began.

"I don't care what it is, Ryo. If there is anything that you should know about me, it is the fact that I hold quite a grudge..." Sesshoumaru stated in a matter-of-fact sort of tone. "If they hurt Lady Kagome, I will first kill them, and then I will come after you..." he threatened.

Ryo gulped. "Let's hurry, then..." he suggested.

"I've already said that, Ryo." Sesshoumaru snapped again as he raced even farther ahead.

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Inuyasha sighed. "I'm going to have to bite you, Kagome. I already explained this part to you, didn't I?" he asked her. He waited a moment, and she nodded. He continued. "I hope that it doesn't hurt, Kagome. I wish I could tell you a little more about what happens, but I don't really know..."

Kagome smiled. "Well, this is a first-time experience for both of us, Inuyasha. I won't mind if it hurts...I promise."

Inuyasha nodded slowly. "Are you sure that you are ready for this, Kagome? Because if you are not, it is all right. We can wait. We don't have to do anything right now if you do not want to..." he assured her.

Kagome shook her head back and forth quickly. "No, Inuyasha. I would not have said it if I didn't mean it," she told him.

Inuyasha gulped. "All right, then." He seemed to be thinking a moment. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Whatever it is, Inuyasha, it's all right..." Kagome whispered.

Inuyasha leaned forward, taking Kagome's hand in one of his own and kissing it lightly. Leaning in even more, he kissed her lightly on the lips, and then carefully moved her long raven hair off of her collar bone. Taking a short breath, Inuyasha leaned down slightly and bit Kagome as gently as possible.

The sensation of it made Kagome gasp in surprise. The bite was not really a painful one, but Kagome had never been bitten before, and the experience was new to her. Thinking he had somehow hurt her, Inuyasha jumped and pulled back quickly. Kagome let out the breath that she did not realize she had been holding, and nodded to Inuyasha.

"I'm sorry that hurt you..." he whispered in her ear as he swept his fingers over the bite mark he had recently created. The sensation sent quick shivers down Kagome's spine, and she let out a sigh.

"It didn't hurt, Inuyasha. It's all right. I'm fine..." she smiled at him. "I feel..."

"Good? Better?" Inuyasha tried to complete her sentence for her.

She smiled, nodding. "Yes. Rejuvenated." she agreed with him, wrapping him lightly in a hug.

He rested his head on the top of hers. "I love you, Kagome..."

"I love you too, Inuyasha..." Kagome sighed into his haori. After a moment of silence, she took a deep breath. "Was that...all?" she asked him.

His eyebrow rose slightly, and Kagome noticed a slight blush creep into his cheeks. Kagome could not help but laugh at this.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" she blinked. "It can't possibly be that bad..."

"Well, the mark is only temporary...it will only stay like that for a month unless we..." he blushed, clearing his throat in a manner much louder than necessary. He looked around to see if anyone was listening to them. "Unless we...erm...you know...actually complete the whole mating process..."

Kagome coughed. "Oh...I...I see," she nodded. Looking at the ground, and then back up at Inuyasha, she smiled. "This time next month you'll be human..." she whispered to him. "Is the 'process' supposed to be complete before then?"

Inuyasha's eyebrow rose. "Ka...Kagome..." he blinked.

"I was just asking!" She yelped innocently. Sighing, she changed the subject. "Well, is anything going to happen to me between now and then?"

It was Inuyasha's turn to look away. "I don't know..." he admitted. "I would ask my brother, but he isn't here right now..."

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Kagome's grandfather paced the floor of her small hut. "Akira, I can't believe you just gave her permission like that! I mean, I knew that we all knew this was going to happen, but you just...out of the blue...it's...I don't think..." he stammered.

Kagome's mother frowned. "What makes you so nervous about this, Gramps?" she demanded of him. "I married your son at a young age, and you said nothing about it then..."

"Those we different times," he defended himself. "Kagome should be concerned with school and her future and..."

"Gramps, she is 18 years old now. She has spent the last three years traveling between the times. She hasn't been at school like a normal girl, because she is anything but normal. Have you ever thought that maybe this could be her future? Maybe he could be her future? That maybe she wants to stay here...start a family? Because I certainly have...and I really don't think that there is anything wrong with it. I don't. Because I trust Kagome and I trust her judgment, and I know that her and Inuyasha are going to be fine."

Kagome's grandfather's frown deepened. "I have considered it in my mind, yes..." he agreed with her. "But as I said, I didn't think that things would happen so soon."

"Well, it has." Akira nodded. "And I'm certainly happy for them. I'm glad that Kagome was patient with him and waited for him...although I think it took the two of them long enough to come to their senses..."

"I don't want to hear your musings, Akira. How do you really know that they haven't already..." he let the sentence stop there.

Kagome's mother gasped. "Gramps! They wouldn't!" she yelped. "Trust your granddaughter every once in a while. She loves Inuyasha and he loves her. You know that...I know that...and everyone else knows it. What they do now isn't really up to us, is it?"

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"Ryo, we are almost there. I can't detect Shin or any other demons in the area for that matter. I thought that you said that they were ahead of us?" Sesshoumaru asked his cousin. "If what you said is true...then where do you suppose they have gone?"

Ryo shook his head as he followed behind Sesshoumaru. "I do not know, cousin. I know only that they left this morning in search of your brother and his intended, Lady Kagome." he answered.

"Yes, and I know that my nose does not just stop working..." Sesshoumaru smirked. "Could they have gone after the wrong scent?" he asked out loud, although the question wasn't really directed at anyone.

"I don't know," Ryo admitted.

"Hmm..." Sesshoumaru nodded slowly. "Well, in any case, we should beat them there. It's just ahead."

"I see..." Ryo nodded.

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A/N: Cliffie! But where are Shin and his goonies? Will Inuyasha and Kagome be all right? What's going to happen next? Please review and let me know what you think, and I will put up the next installment as soon as I can. Besides...you know you want to know what happens... :D