Inuyasha didn't see Kiki at breakfast.

Actually, nobody saw Kiki or Kitsune for the whole morning. Inuyasha sat by the entrance and waited until what he thought was noon before he decided to use the door to get to Kaede's replica room.

The door still puzzled him; you could open up the door to reveal any room you wished to see. If he thought 'I wonder if she's in the dining room…' and opened the door, he would be in the dining room. The den was too large to use regular doors – but it had been hard work enchanting so many.

"Yeah, it was very hard to get all these doors. Inuyasha, you just have to think of the room you want. Since you haven't been here… Well, ever… Somebody else will have to open the doors for you if you want to go somewhere. Ok?" Kitsune explained. The half-demon boy stared at her until she started to shift uncomfortably. "I said… Ok?"

"Huh? Oh, right… Whatever…" he mumbled while moving his gaze to the floor. It was an interesting thing to comprehend and he had not even noticed he was staring at Kitsune…

"I hope I don't end up somewhere weird…" Inuyasha grumbled inched towards it. "I can't believe I spent the night in the hallway because I was afraid of this thing…"

With a deep breath he approached the hunk of wood and thought VERY hard about Kaede's hut. When he pushed the door open, it was the replica room of Kaede's hut. Except, nobody was there. With a sigh, he closed it again and paced back to the entrance to the whole den.

"Inuyasha?" Kiki asked curiously from behind him. He jumped and whipped around. Shippo, Kitsune, Hiei, and Kiki were all crowded around the door entrance, staring at him. Behind them was the dining room. He reddened. "Have you been out here all night?"

Before he could reply Kitsune jumped in. "Oh, you poor thing! I suppose you didn't know where you were supposed to sleep… Silly me! Wait… You didn't complain yesterday morning… Did you sleep out here last night, too?"

Inuyasha blushed even deeper at that. To be honest, he had slept in Kaede's replica room, watching over Kiki. When he had wanted to leave the den, Hiei had distracted him with swords; he had been tricked into staying an extra day.

Kitsune took his silence as a yes, shaking her head and sighing. "Men! They can't ask for anything! But, what's in the past is in the past… you both need to get going, don't you? Let's go outside, then! Hiei, you slacker, pick up Kiki's bag!" Kitsune scowled playfully at her husband and then grabbed Kiki's arm, towing her towards Inuyasha and the entrance.

Once outside, Shippo began the small talk once more. "Do you have to go, Kiki? You could stay here! With us! You don't need to go all the way to that village."

Kiki smiled and squatted down next to her adoptive cousin. "Shippo, I'm not just going to the demon slayer village because it won't bother them that people and demons will be after the jewel… I'm going to learn the history of the jewel! Remember?"

Shippo sniffed back tears and hugged Kiki around the neck. "I'll miss you!" he wailed and Kiki hugged him tightly.

"We'll all miss you." Hiei assured her and she stood up. Shippo scampered up onto his father's shoulder and nodded. With her son out of the way, Kitsune pounced on Kiki, much like when she had first arrived.

"Going all the way to a demon slayer village somewhere in the mountains? And you don't know where it is? Thank goodness you have a strong man to help you with your travels! Even if he is just 'following you around because you have the jewel'." Kitsune sighed. On the last words she rolled her eyes and drew back from Kiki. "We will miss you very much."

With her goodbyes said and done, Kiki grabbed the bag and nodded silently to Inuyasha, who had watched them angrily as time slipped away. He turned his back to the group and started into the woods.

"I love all of you!" Kiki cried with a wave, turning quickly away from them and jogging to catch up to Inuyasha. She trailed along a couple feet behind him as they entered heavier trees.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Um… Inuyasha?" Kiki piped up, warily staring at the back in front of her. He stopped and she walked into him, falling backwards. Before she hit the ground, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her back up on her feet. "Thanks." She sighed, and then looked up at him.

His eyes were dancing with an unreadable emotion and his face was blank. Kiki felt intimidated by the lack response and took a step back from him. "I was... Um… I mean… I'm sorry and all about the room thing…"

He quickly turned away from her, but not before she caught the slightest glimpse of a smile on his face. She rubbed her eyes, telling herself she must have imagined it.

"Feh." He replied and continued walking. Kiki sighed and followed him, her pace slow and uneven. The pack on her back was heavy and she was tired.

Despite that, they kept walking for another hour; Kiki eventually was so far behind Inuyasha the only thing she could see was the blur of his red kimono in the trees. "Inu… Yasha!" she called out weakly. "Wait! Wait up!"

Before she could call out again, something crashed behind her and she instinctively turned sharply. The pack made her tilt farther back than she wanted, and she began to fall backwards again. A hand caught her by the hair before she hit the ground and lifted her into the air. The pain caused tears to stream down her face and they blurred her vision.

"What's this? A human girl walking through the woods? Apparently by herself and very tired…. Not very smart, are you?" The person in front of her mockingly taunted. She could hear some sort of canine whining behind him, and although tired and over worked, Kiki could sense that there were at least seven of them.

"Put me down!" She choked, slipping the pack from her back and struggling against the person's grip. She clasped her hands over his and pulled herself up. Her hair slackened, along with the pain, and he began to hold her higher.

It was a man. His voice suggested deepness and he was apparently very strong. Kiki tried to blink away the tears that were streaming down her face. With a rough jerk, he shouldered her and started to run the way she had come. The canines followed, and she could sense Inuyasha's presence dimly on the outline of her senses. He had finally noticed something was wrong.
Her thoughts rushed through her head, blurring just like her eyes. She could not think clearly enough to make a plan, and her body went limp with the inability to figure out what action to make. The man carrying her was running amazingly fast, and dodging through the trees.

"You have the Shikon Jewel, that grants limitless power with you. I heard about you from other demons. It seems you and some half-breed slaughtered a whole horde of bandits. Don't try to deny it, I know your description. And I can sense the power." Suddenly he stopped and threw her onto the ground. By now she had finally stopped crying, but the fall left her breathless and gasping for air.

A wolf demon was towering over her. He was wearing a fur skirt and black armor, his shoulders padded with more of the same material, much of which chained onto the armor. His black hair was drawn back into a ponytail, and his bangs were kept back by a crude headband. His right arm sported a fur wristband and his left arm was covered from the wrist to the elbow in another pelted accessory. He had a sword strapped to his left side, and a bushy brown tail flowing out behind him. All the fur was the same color. His blue eyes bore into her as she took in his pointed ears and the wolves behind him.

"My name is Kouga." He sneered at her, glancing behind him. "And it seems you weren't along after all."

Kiki shook her head harshly and began to regain her thoughts once more. What the hell am I doing? I'm acting like a weakling; a helpless little girl! She lifted her arm as she began to create a spiritual bow and arrow to shoot the obvious demon, but she stopped herself and thought better of it. Acting helpless until he was distracted was probably the best course of action.

Kouga jumped into the air and did a spinning kick just as Inuyasha burst out of the trees. Foot met face and both men landed on their feet when they hit the ground.

"What did you do to her?" Inuyasha snarled, eyes frantically searching around him. They landed on Kiki who turned bright red and then put her hand over her shirt where the jewel was. In a sort of mental understanding Inuyasha's eyes shot back to Kouga.

"I didn't do anything, mutt. Just nabbed her and then tossed her over there." Kouga said with a smirk, jabbing a thumb in Kiki's direction. She shot him a cold glare and started to stumble to her feet. "I wouldn't get up, girl, unless you'd like me to slit your neck in one, fast movement."
Kiki paused, midway through straightening her back. She stared silently and stubbornly at the ground and faked fear by shaking uncontrollably.

"What do you want?" Inuyasha asked, slowly extending his claws without moving his hands from their positions by his sides. He knew that demon was probably after the jewel, but found no harm in playing stupid.

"You've been traveling with this girl for who knows how long and you don't even know she has the jewel? Fat chance. I know from rumors that you are the half-demon who's been following this girl around like a lost puppy. I also know she's not a weakling on a normal basis. But she's out of practice. The only reason she wasn't mauled by demons earlier is because you were always outside, cutting them down before they got close!" Kouga taunted. Kiki's eyes widened at the comment. She hadn't known Inuyasha had been protecting her like that. "Why would you do all of that if you're not after the jewel?"

"The jewel is mine, wolf! If anyone so much as even goes near it other than that girl, I'll slice them into pieces!" Inuyasha growled at him. Kiki could see his face tensing and a snarl teasing his lips, even from her odd view. Kouga laughed in reply.

Both men lashed out each other, Inuyasha punching out and Kouga trying to get a kick on him. Inuyasha punched his foot out of the way and jabbed out his leg to kick Kouga in the back. They landed on the ground and turned to face each other, lashing out once more.

Inuyasha got a cut in on Kouga's right leg and was in return hit backwards into a tree by a strong punch. When they attacked again, Inuyasha sliced the other leg and got a slash down his back in the process.

Kiki straightened and watched them fight, a spiritual bow at ready and eyes searching for an opening. They were moving too fast for her to get any good shots on Kouga, so she slyly began to slink backwards and towards the woods so she could make a quick getaway until a hand slipped over her mouth.

"MMMPH!" she shrieked in a muffled voice, grabbing at the hand and struggling against the arm that was slipping around her waist. Inuyasha and Kouga stopped their fighting and sharply turned towards her and her captor.

"Hey, that's my capture! Hands off!" Kouga snapped, rushing forward. Kiki closed her eyes tightly and felt a demonic energy powering up behind her. She heard Inuyasha yelp, and the swish of his kimono as he jumped out of the way of something, and then the thump of somebody's body hitting the forest floor. Fear overtook her as she opened one eye to examine the scene. Within seconds both eyes were wide open and she was struggling more than ever against the thing behind her.
The forest that had been before them was now a large crater of burnt trees and scorched dirt, the light of fires flickering through a large cloud of dust that was floating around them. The wind around them was stirring up and making it worse, the fires getting larger as Kiki stared on. She opened her mouth wide as if to scream, but the hand came tighter around her mouth. With that motion she bit down, hard, on the person trying to silence her, and tasted blood in her mouth.

"Oh-ho! A feisty priestess!" a shrieking voice cackled behind as she was released. She jumped away and turned to face the owner. It was a tall, blue man with pointed ears, red eyes, and fangs protruding from his closed mouth. His lips and hair were a faded shade of purple, and his clothes suggested that he was some sort of samurai. "A priestess that won't give me the jewel for master very quickly, no? He told me not to kill you, but to take the jewel from you." His beady eyes darted to her chest, the jewel being tucked safely between her breasts. He could see the string of beads around Kiki's neck, knowing that he would have trouble even touching the air near the jewel.

"Who are you?" Kiki classically spat at him, covering her chest with both arms after noticing that he was staring at it.

"My master says I am the beast of desires, born from desires of demon and man. I can control anyone to the point of making them accomplish their greatest desires. I can see their deepest desires." The beast replied with a snicker. Kiki stared at him uneasily.

"What... kind of desires?" she asked carefully, and then choking out, "Sexual desires?"

"All desires! The desire to kill, the desire to kiss, the desire to love, to hate, to eat. All and every desire. I know most people's deepest desires just by looking at them… you confuse me very much. I cannot read your desires. There is more than one soul in your body." He explained.

"You can't read my desires? Then you can't control me! Fat lot of good your powers will do with me!" Kiki exclaimed, smirking at the demon. "You'll never get the jewel!"

"Who said I was the one taking it from you?" The demon asked, looking surprised. "I was going to have your little friend do it."

Kiki coughed in disbelief as Inuyasha's form faded in behind him, the dust around them settling and the wind whipping with less force. Kiki could feel the heat of fire behind her dimly, but her mind was only focusing on the glazed look in Inuyasha's eyes.

"Inuyasha!" Kiki screamed, stepping forward. Her eyes blazed with fury as the demon laughed.
"He cannot hear you! I am unleashing his greatest desires! His deepest desires! I need not look at him to know what they are! He wants the jewel! More than anything!" The demon pointed at the seething girl, red eyes glimmering with amusement. "He will take the jewel for me! And then I will paralyze him by unleashing all his desires at once! When he is being overpowered by them, I will take the jewel and go back to my master! He will be very pleased!"

Inuyasha jumped at Kiki, who dodged and scrambled to get away. She skidded into the crater behind her, slipping through fire and ashes and tumbling down to the bottom. It was an amazingly deep pit, and she was well covered in soot when she reached the bottom. With a twist she was on her back, and then suddenly Inuyasha was on top of her.

"Inuyasha, no! Don't do it! Don't take the jewel!" He lowered his face towards hers, hands crawling up to her shoulders and pinning her down completely.

I can't tell him to sit! He's on top of me! Kiki thought frantically. She squirmed against his weight. And he knows I can't tell him to sit! Why didn't I tell him before? Stupid, stupid!

His face was dangerously close to hers, his right hand moving closer and closer to the ring of beads that surrounded her neck.

"Don't… don't put your face so close to mine…" Kiki whispered the heat making her eyes droop.