Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the copyrighted trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and some other huge rich companies that I don't care about, but am grateful to them for spreading this great story to the bookstores of America.

I'm so mad that Bush won that I don't feel like saying anything. So here's scroll six.

Scroll Six
Confessions: Part One

"Have you seen her?"

"Yes."

"So? Do you think you can steal it?"

"I should have no problem, if that's what you mean."

He straightened up in his sitting position, making sure his azure eyes met the other man's. He smirked. "Now..." he said, "about the expenses..."

Kurabawa frowned. "I told you I'd reward you well," he said.

"I don't usually do jobs like this, you know? I need...motivation," the other man continued.

Kurabawa, as if expecting this, took out a bag full of some sort of small, yet heavy, objects and handed it to the man sitting across from him. The man took it gladly into his hands.

"Just think of it as an early payment, if you will," said the man.

"I expect a job well done," replied Kurabawa expressionlessly.

The man, who was now several gold coins richer, got up to exit the room. "Don't worry," he said, "you'll get your money's worth." And with that, he was gone.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

It was fall and the autumn leaves were starting to drift down lazily onto the earth. This made Inuyasha very angry. How was he supposed to hide peacefully in the trees now? Nonetheless, he too lay lazily on the soon to be bald tree, enjoying the calm climate. This last week and a half had been pure relaxation for Inuyasha.

That last encounter with the priestess had almost made forget that that same night it would be a new moon. And he knew what that meant. So he went into hiding. And he hated it. He hated that feeling of fear and hopelessness he felt every time he turned into his weak, human self. Fear of being discovered by one of his enemies, hopeless at the thought of not being able to defend himself. He tried to hide these feelings that irked him so with anger. In his mind, that was the easiest real emotion he could display while being himself.

He was drifting off to sleep when he felt a sting on his cheek, as if someone was poking at him with some sort of small, sharp object. He slapped his face lightly, thinking it was a bug of some sort. When he removed this hand from his cheek, he saw a flat little bug floating down like one of those autumn leaves. Inuyasha caught the little bug and held it up in his palm as he moved his face closer to examine it.

"Well if it ain't Myouga the flea," he said.

"L-lord Inuyasha! That slap was truly worth the drop of your blood," squeaked Myouga happily as he struggled to revert back to his natural form. "Just as tasty as your father!"

"Feh. What do you want?" said Inuyasha, shaking Myouga off of his palm and putting his hands under his head again. "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere else?"

Myouga landed on his lord's shoulder. "Is it so wrong to want to visit my master's son?" he said, looking hurt. 'And miss a chance of tasting your blood.' he thought.

"If that's all you wanted, why didn't you run off to Sesshomaru?" asked Inuyasha, annoyed.

"Are you crazy? He'd kill me without hesitation!" he screamed at Inuyasha, furiously jumping up and down on his shoulder. Inuyasha gave him a nasty glare, as if Myouga just questioned Inuyasha's ability to kill. Quickly, Myouga cleared his throat. "At any rate, you were closer so it only took minimal effort to get here." he said.

"Oh yeah? Then what's this?" asked the hanyou apathetically, holding up the huge, small bag Myouga had been carrying on his back. "Hey! Give that back!" screamed the flea, jumping in vain as Inuyasha lifted the bag up and down every time Myouga made an attempt to catch it. After a while, Myouga stopped, looking exhausted.

"What's wrong? You tired, old man?" teased Inuyasha. Myouga looked up at Inuyasha, horror splattered on his face. "Don't think I haven't noticed those gray hairs and wrinkles!" laughed Inuyasha.

"I only have a few!" screamed out Myouga, digging his fingers into his dark hair.

"You're right," said Inuyasha. "You only have a few hairs left!"

Inuyasha continued to laugh out loudly and Myouga continued to scream loudly. It had been so long since Inuyasha had had so much fun picking on someone. No. That wasn't true. That miko was fun to pick on too, to some extent. If only she wasn't that god damned serious.

At first, Kikyou thought that his loneliness had caused him to crack. Why else would he be talking to himself? Then he started to laugh maniacally. Slowly, she backed away from the hanyou.

'Well, at least he's back,' she thought, relieved.

The last time she met him had been a strange encounter. Sure it was weird to have an official proposal of challenge everyday by a comically angry hanyou, but that last time hadn't felt like he was being his usual "demon-self" at all. In fact, she could almost say that his demonic powers were diminishing, if only for that day.

She also couldn't help noticing that that particular night had been a new moon. Did that have to do anything with his sudden disappearance? Whether or not each event was related to the other, she decided not to think further on the subject. All that mattered was that he was here once again.

'It's loneliness that drives people mad,' she thought, hearing small echoes of Inuyasha's laughter. How she had become so attached to that demon was beyond her. It wasn't like her. It wasn't like her at all. Had she become so lonely as to seek company from one of her enemies? No. He was different. He wasn't like all the others. He didn't have anyone either. 'But it is also how one learns to live independently.'

The evening breeze suddenly made itself present as she walked slowly back to the village. In some months the snow will fall, and that meant she had to prepare the foods for the winter. She also had to find and store as much herbal remedies as she could, in case someone got seriously hurt during the snowy season. Then there was the jewel she would have to fight to protect. She knew demons knew that during the winter humans were vulnerable. Her warm-blooded species couldn't handle intense cold for long. She would also have to continue Kaede's priestess lessons in her spare time, which seemed to be running out like the last grain of sand in an hourglass. Like many other things, time is what she needed, but it was also what she didn't have. Another thing she needed she couldn't really describe. Actually, she didn't really know what it was that she needed, or why for that matter. All she knew was that she was missing something, and she wanted it.

Well, whatever it was, it would have to wait. Her life was complicated enough.

.........................SOME MINUTES LATER.............................

"Is that her, Lord Inuyasha?"

"Yeah..."

"She's very beautiful."

"You don't say. I hadn't noticed."

"Really, Lord Inuyasha. You would have to be blind not to notice her beauty."

"Feh! She ain't that pretty."

"But you agree that she is at least pretty, then?"

"Stop putting words in my mouth!"

"My, my, my, such young, healthy beauty. Such a nice figure, too. Her blood must taste great!"

"Is that all you can think about?"

"Shh! She might hear us."

"I don't care! Get offa me! I'm starting to remember why they put you in charge of the old man's grave, you perverted, old man!"

Myouga jumped off of Inuyasha to get a better view of the beautiful miko who was picking different kinds of plants. Inuyasha had smelt her earlier but didn't bother to follow her. Of course, Myouga had also picked up her scent and was persistent in following it. And so now here they were. It was amazing the old man's hormones hadn't died off yet.

Inuyasha yawned loudly and placed his hands under his head. He lay on a soft curve of a tree that had grown awkwardly. He gazed up to the sky, watching the white clouds float tediously and idly on their light orange canvas as he heard the miko humming a beautiful tune he had never heard before. Everything was so peaceful. Something about this state of relaxation made him feel so...right. He couldn't really explain it. At that moment, everything felt right; the beautiful darkening sky, the white, feathery clouds, the almost chilling soft breeze and the priestess's voice. All were intertwined perfectly with his state of temper. And before he even knew it, his golden eyes closed to welcome a sleep.

"How I would love to get a taste of that flesh!" exclaimed Myouga, jumping back towards Inuyasha, only to find the hanyou fast asleep. Oh, phooey. And here Myouga thought Inuyasha would show some respect towards a guest! But it seemed he could care less. Oh well. At least he got a taste of his blood. Wait. There was the hanyou, asleep and defenseless, and his face was left completely unprotected. Myouga's stomach started to growl. One more drop of blood wouldn't hurt, right? He was about to suck Inuyasha's delicious cheek dry when he heard the miko's voice getting closer. That's right! The miko! Surely she would taste just as well or better than his lord would!

Myouga leaped onto one of the few leafs of the tree. Unfortunately, that particular leaf was already ripe for the falling, and it fell all the way down to the earth, Myouga and all. After recovering from the "terribly drastic" fall, Myouga looked up at the miko. She was already kneeling next to him, picking different herbs that had grown around the tree. Myouga smirked. One more leap and he would be tasting that wonderful looking flesh. He jumped up to her and landed on her shoulder. This made her stop momentarily, which made Myouga very nervous. Would he die trying to taste holy flesh?

'No! It's not worth it!' he thought miserably and was about to jump off, when the miko called out his lord's name.

"Inuyasha..." she whispered.

Myouga froze. He looked up at the priestess and saw that she was looking at his lord, who was still sleeping peacefully on his tree. Then he smiled. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. He jumped up and hung on to one of her hairs near her ear. It was at that time that Myouga decided he would play what many called "a conscious".

"You hate him, don't you?"

Her eyes widened in bewilderment. She dropped her herbs and reached for the bow on her back, but Myouga continued to talk to her to calm her down.

"Relax, child. Why are you afraid of your conscious?"

Kikyou stopped. Was this really happening? No. It had to be some sort of demon trick.

"If you are who you claim to be," she said suspiciously yet calmly, "why can I only hear you in one ear?"

Wow. She really was smart. No wonder Inuyasha had no fun teasing her.

"Listen child, there's no time for that. Do you hate the lo- I mean, the demon slumbering above you?"

Kikyou lifted an eyebrow. Even though her face was expressionless, her heart was pounding away at her ribcage. "Why are you asking me this?"

"I can see- I mean I have sensed this strange feeling within you. Surely you must know what I'm speaking of." Now it was Myouga's heart that was out of control. What if he had it all wrong? He wouldn't be able to get anything out of her then.

"I do not know of what you speak of," she said uncertainly. Maybe it really was her conscious. "I feel nothing towards Inuyasha."

"Yet you speak of him so familiarly. Maybe this feeling of yours is not hate, but love."

Love? "I never said I hated him," she replied quickly.

"So you love him, then?"

"I never said that either."

"Still there's this strange feeling within you, a need that even you cannot explain. How do you know it isn't love?"

This was too much. All those things the little voice was saying were true. How could she disagree? It was true she didn't know what true hate was, but it was also true she knew nothing of true love. She didn't know what love meant. If she knew more, maybe Inuyasha would mean more. Finally, she responded, "...I don't."

Yes! Now he was getting somewhere. "So you agree you feel something for him?"

"...Yes."

"But you don't know what it is?"

"No."

"Well, that can be easily resolved. Tell me, can you ever bring yourself to kill this hanyou? Or simply watch him die? After all, he is aiming to take the jewel from you. Would you help him out if he were in danger, or could you care less?"

"I could never bring myself to kill him! If ever he were to need assistance in anything, I would be the first by his side! He will not die by my hand!"

Kikyou covered her mouth with her right hand. Her icy fingers were trembling as she touched her dry lips, not completely believing she had just said any of what she had just said. For her, such words were not easy to confess.

Myouga smiled in relief. Well, at least he got one thing clear: this miko would never harm his master. He felt good knowing this powerful priestess could knock out Lord Inuyasha already had she wanted to, but she didn't.

"Well, you certainly are a sweet child, priestess," he said.

"D...do I love him?" she whispered almost fearing the answer.

Myouga hesitated a while before going on. He wanted to make things clear for her without misleading her.

"That I cannot say. You must look deep within yourself to discover your own true feelings. I cannot tell you myself, for I am merely a voice in your head. Do not listen to your head, miko. Listen to your heart."

With that said, Myouga jumped off the priestess and onto the tree where Inuyashaslept lazily under the dark sky, the bright stars and pale moonlight.

End of Scroll Six

Ugh.... Sorry about the late update. I lost my floppy disk and it took me forever to find. Plus I hadn't finished the chapter. Do you like funny? Or do you like drama? Or do you like fluffy-mushy...stuff? Or a mix of two? Or do you like my style just as it is? Or do you just plain don't care? Tell me! I'll do my best to give you what you want, even though the genre of this story is romance/drama. I just wanna know what style my readers prefer. Just pray to God, Buddha, Allah, Jesus, Zeus, the Sun Spirit/God, your favorite rock band, Sesshomaru and whoever else you worship, that I don't lose my damned floppy disk again. Thank you/Gracias/Arigatou/Merci/Diosmellamoquaje. Oh, and I have a question that I was hoping you guys could take the time and answer. In the anime, does Myouga know about Kikyou? I can't remember if he does or not and I was just wondering if you did. But if you don't, it's okay.

Adios! (Down with Bush!)