Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I have no excuse other then being lazy.

This was originally going to be an "Inuyasha gets the beads on Kagome and sits her into next year" story, and while they are enjoyable, I decided not to make this story one. Inuyasha is better then that.

On another note, I think it's very possible that a dream could change how someone sees the world. After all, some of the world's major religions were founded on dreams and visions.

Lastly, I personally don't think Inuyasha would want to keep the beads, even as a memento. That's like wanting to keep your ankle bracelet from your probation (or is it parole where they sometimes make you wear those?).

Warning! This chapter contains the spanking of a minor!

A Brat Gets His Just Desserts

The next morning Kagome woke up feeling better. Deciding it must have been a 24 hour flu, she woke up Inuyasha and together they went to start breakfast.

"I'm really sorry about everything. I don't know how I can make it up to you." She told him again.

Inuyasha shook his head no. "I told you, it's okay. I'm just happy you finally realized what you were doing. You don't have to make anything up to me...though I wouldn't mind some ramen."

Kagome smiled. "I think I can manage that. Beef or chicken flavor?"

Inuyasha thought for a moment. "Can it be both?"

"Sure." Kagome paused and regarded him seriously. "This doesn't mean you can just go wild though. I'm trusting you to be able to control yourself, even with Kouga and Shippou. Okay?"

"What if the mangy wolf attacks me first? And that brat..."

"Then you can fight back. And if Shippou teases you I'll handle it. I promise."

Inuyasha sighed and nodded. He knew it would be hard to ignore Shippou's taunts and Kouga's continued existence, but it would be worth it if he never had to slam face-first into the ground again.

Scene Change

"Well it's about time!" Sango exclaimed as she set the remains of her breakfast down. Kirara meowed her approval as well.

They sat around a fire; Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, and Miroku. Inuyasha was surrounded by a small forest of ramen cups, another heating over the fire.

"I agree." Miroku said, disappointed that Sango's rear was currently out of reach. His lonely cursed hand settled for feeling two rocks he had found that, if placed together, sort of felt like the real thing if you closed your eyes and imagined really hard.

Unaware of Miroku's naughty rock touching, Sango continued.

"I always thought it was a bit mean of you to have those things on him. It made me think you didn't trust him. I was really beginning to doubt you cared about him at all."

"Does Lady Kaede know?" Miroku interrupted, his hand continuing it's rock-fondling.

Kagome shook her head. "I haven't told her yet. I know it's stupid, but I'm afraid it'll hurt her feelings. She did put them on him in the first place, after all." She looked around her. "Have you seen Shippou?"

"He already ate and went off to play." Sango replied, keeping a careful eye on Miroku's hand.

After the ramen was done Kagome carefully handed it to Inuyasha. "Even though it was horrible, I'm glad I had that dream. It really woke me up, made me face what I was doing."

Inuyasha tried to tell Kagome, for the hundredth time, that it was okay. Unfortunately, his mouth full of beef flavored ramen prevented him from doing that. He swallowed it and quickly downed the rest of the cup.

"Can I have some more?"

"More!" Kagome exclaimed. "You've already had six cups!"

"Please?"

Kagome sighed. "Alright, ONE more cup and that's it. You're going to be sick." She told him while digging around in her backpack.

Scene Change

Kagome ended up giving Inuyasha three more cups until he was at last full. Sango went with Miroku to get some herbs from Kaede. As they got ready to resume their journey Kagome called out to the absent fox.

"Hey Shippou, we need to get going. Were are you?"

She heard a rustling in the nearby bushes and turned, expecting to see the young kitsune. What she saw made her sick.

It was an imperfect copy of Inuyasha's mother. The whole body was misshapen, with one arm longer then the other and a horribly distorted face. Behind it trailed a fox tail.

"Inuyasha", The copy cooed musically. "Inuyasha I've come back to you. Come to your mommy."

All eyes turned to the hanyou. Inuyasha shook with fury but held back, waiting to see if Kagome would keep her promise.

With a pop, the copy turned back into the kitsune. He rolled on the ground, laughing at his cruel joke.

"Wasn't that funny Kagome? I asked Myouga to tell me what Inuyasha's mom looked like, and then I used my fox magic to turn into her! HAHA He's HAHA...he's so stupid he probably thought it really was her!" Shippou wiped tears from his eyes. "HAHAHA, I thought he was going to start crying!"

"How dare you!"

Shippou stopped laughing and looked at Kagome. Was she angry? Kagome never got angry with him!

"You know how painful it is to loose a parent, how could you make fun of Inuyasha for that! How could you do something so cruel!"

"Because he knows he can get away with it. You'll sit me if I try to punish him and you yourself never will." Inuyasha answered her, bitterness creeping in to his voice.

"Maybe that's how things used to be, but no more. Shippou, look at Inuyasha. Do you notice anything different?"

The kitsune turned to the hanyou and eeped loudly when he saw that the rosary was gone.

"WHAT? How did you trick Kagome!" He turned to flee, only to have Kagome pick him up by his tail.

"Shippou, Inuyasha didn't trick me. I took them off because I know I can trust him, because he's a good person who didn't deserve to be treated that way. As for you..." She turned to Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, could you get my hairbrush for me?"

"You're going to brush his hair! What kinda punishment is that!"

"A hairbrush can be used for more then that." She told him, placing a stunned Shippou over her lap. The fox squealed as she pulled his pants down and off.

Inuyasha gave a wicked grin, understanding. He happily dug through her backpack until his hand closed around the desired implement. He handed her the hairbrush and sat down to enjoy the show. Finally the brat would get what was coming to him.

"Kagome no! You can't do this to me! It's not fair!" Shippou whined as she pinned his tail to his back.

"What's not fair is how much I've let you get away with. I had a dream last night that showed me things, like how cruel those beads really were, and what a brat you've been." She raised the hairbrush and gave him a good hard whack. Shippou yelped loudly and squirmed, but Kagome easily held him in place.

Inuyasha watched with great satisfaction as Kagome kept striking the fox's buttocks with the hairbrush long after they had turned red. She was going to make sure he never tried to hurt Inuyasha like that again.

"And if you ever do anything that mean again it'll be Inuyasha spanking you. Do you understand?" She asked the fox, still spanking as she talked.

"YES! I'LL BE GOOD!"

After a few more spanks Kagome set Shippou on his feet. "Now say you're sorry to Inuyasha."

"I'm sorry." He said quickly, only to be rewarded with an open-palm slap to his red butt.

"Like you mean it!" Kagome commanded.

"I'm sorry." Shippou told Inuyasha. Kagome nodded and ordered him to stand in time out against a nearby tree with his hands on his head.

"I'm proud of you." She told Inuyasha as she put her hairbrush back in her bag. "I could tell you wanted to beat Shippou senseless, but you didn't. Why don't you come to my time? It's the new moon tonight anyway and Momma said we'll be having steak."

Inuyasha's ears perked up at the word "steak". "Alright, I'll go tell Sango and Miroku we won't be hunting shards tonight." He jumped up into the trees and was gone in a blur.

Meanwhile, Shippou fumed. Kagome would never utter a cross word to him, much less spank him! Then she had made him apologize to Inuyasha, as if he had done something wrong! There was only one logical explanation. Somehow, Inuyasha had placed a spell on everyone and he was immune to it because he was a kitsune. That had to be it, why else would Kagome have taken the beads off?

In his mind the beginnings of a plan started to form.

To Be Continued.