"Idiot! Don't jump into the village! Stop here!" Kiki exclaimed loudly into one of Inuyasha's sensitive ears. When he was about 6 feet from the ground, he sourly dropped her off his back as a reply. She shrieked for a second and then hit the ground, abruptly exhaling all the oxygen in her body. Inuyasha snickered and landed in front of her.

"I was going to stop!" Inuyasha fumed at her as she rubbed her back and winced. "You didn't need to do that!"

"Inuyasha! SIT!" Kiki snarled at him, her temper easing as his necklace shrieked and yanked him into the ground. The process was so invigorating she just had to do it again. "Sit, sit, sit, sit, SIT!"

The necklace obeyed all the commands, and every single one was followed by a yelp of pain. A cloud of dust was settling around them after the last one had gone through. "Ki… Ki…" Inuyasha growled warningly, prying his face from the ground. "What the HELL was that for?"

Sarcastically, Kiki looked thoughtful for a moment and then smiled at him. "Inuyasha…" she began her tone sweet. "SIT!"

The ending was angry and dripping with irritation. Inuyasha yelped again as the necklace pulled his face back into the ground. After shooting a smirk at his twitching body, Kiki walked towards the edge of the forest and the newly discovered village.

Upon exiting the trees she had to dodge an array of arrows, rocks, and rotting vegetables. A small crowd of people had formed outside the gates of the village, all sporting some form of weapons. One arrow nearly hit her, but was craftily fried using an overdose of spiritual power. The assault left her in a sour mood once more.

"What the hell was that for?" Kiki exclaimed, sounding much like Inuyasha. With her threatening reaction, a few of them held up loaded slingshots. She backed off slightly, but without giving the appearance of intimidation.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" a woman's voice echoed out of the crowd. They people around murmured in agreement to the question, shooting Kiki suspicious glares; a fine moment for Inuyasha to come out.

"I am going to KILL you!" Inuyasha snapped at her, ignoring the crowd and grabbing her arm. "I don't care if you have the jewel! I'm going to KILL you!"

"A demon!" someone exclaimed and rocks and arrows went flying at them again. Inuyasha slashed at the oncoming ammo, breaking through arrows and knocking aside rocks.

"If it's a fight you're looking for-"

"SIT!"

Inuyasha yelped in surprise, falling to the ground. Kiki sighed in relief and ran her fingers through her hair. Genuinely smiling at the crowd, she held up her hands defensively.

"We are unarmed travelers looking for the Demon Slayer Village! Just a harmless puppy demon accompanying young priestess! Don't shoot!" Kiki assured them as they loaded their weapons again.

"What is your business here?" the woman asked again, stepping out from the crowd. She had a large boomerang ready in her hands, the ends tied with brown hide and decorated with yellow tassels and a red bead on the lower straps. She was wearing a pink striped kimono with a green apron tied around the lower half, and wearing black pants edged with blue underneath that, The pants showed because her kimono cut off below her knees. To match her pants were sleeves that continued down her arms to wrap around her pointer fingers, most assuredly to protect her hands from callusing (due to throwing her boomerang). She appeared to be around 17 years old, and her eyelids were painted with a fuchsia color to match her kimono. Her hair was a deep black color and it stopped around her mid back. "We don't get many visitors that look like you."

Kiki smiled at the face of a girl around her age. The girl gave her a suspicious look. With a sudden realization that this girl's age and appearance did not make getting into the village any easier, Kiki wiped the smile off her face and got serious.

"I come from the south. Or east? Where did we come from…? I'm so lost… Um… We came from a long ways away, looking for this village. I'm a young priestess and this is a half demon boy who is following me around. I came to the village to learn about a certain item that I possess… An item that was created here." Kiki explained. The girl raised an eyebrow, expecting more. "Um... My name's Kiki. This is Inuyasha." The girl did not look satisfied with the explanation.

"What item do you possess?" she asked bluntly. Kiki winced and looked at Inuyasha, who had pried his face from the ground and was shooting her a cold look from below.

"I… I can't say unless I can trust you." Kiki tried.

"I cannot trust you if you cannot say."

"Then we have a predicament."

"No. You have a predicament. This is our village and we don't have to let you in." the women icily replied.

"Ugh…" Kiki groaned to herself, putting a palm against her forehead and pushing back her bangs. "This sucks…"

"Just tell them what the item is." Inuyasha suggested snottily, standing up. "They're only humans. They won't want it."

The girl perked up, her hands tightening around her boomerang. "You have an item sought out by demons?" she asked cautiously. "Is it… A jewel?"

Kiki coughed in surprised, staring at the girl with wide eyes. She laughed in reply.

"My name is Sango." She said, shouldering her boomerang. "Please, come in."

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

"How did you come across the jewel?" Sango inquired, pushing aside the sliding door to reveal a room with two beds, separated by a thin screen. "How did you know to come here?"

"It's a long story…" Kiki sighed. She was so happy that she had finally made it here. The villagers had actually fought off two weaker demons already; they had sprung forward minutes after she and Inuyasha had entered the gates. "But I will tell you…"

"Of course you will. May I see it?" Sango asked, stepping aside and letting her and Inuyasha inside to examine the room thoroughly. Kiki nodded started to take her necklace off as Inuyasha sniffed at what was to be his bed. Sango's eyes glittered in awe as the jewel was given to her and she smiled at Kiki.

"Thank you. Ever since the priestess our village had entrusted the jewel to died, we have been searching for it. It is amazing that you have finally found it when others could not. You must be very lucky."

Kiki winced inwardly and glanced at Inuyasha, who was now dead still, crouched on the floor with a hand outstretched to touch the lone sheet for his bed. "Uh… Not as much luck as destiny… I like to think…"

Sango shrugged and turned to speak to Inuyasha. "Does this room suite your needs?" she asked cautiously, seeing how odd his position was.

"Yes! These are wonderful! We are grateful for anything!" Kiki exclaimed, replying before Inuyasha could even open his mouth.

"Feh. I don't need sheets." Inuyasha growled ungratefully. "The woman can take them."

Sango glared coldly at the half-demon boy, taking the comment as a personal offense as well as an offense to all women. Kiki tried to distract her with more questions about their stay at the village.

"When can we have a time with the leader of the village to discuss a more… permanent stay here?" Kiki asked. Sango looked at her, confused, and Kiki realized that the villagers still thought they were only temporary guests. "Oh! My! Well, I guess I have a lot more to tell you, the leader, and all the villagers…"

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

Kiki bowed her head respectfully as the headman walked in and kneeled in front of her. Sango was kneeling behind him, along with another boy they had yet to introduce.

"Raise your head, priestess." He chuckled to her after getting comfortable. She brought her head up quickly and Inuyasha snorted behind her. He was disrespectfully leaning against the back wall in a napping-stance.

"Sir… If I may tell his story before mine," Kiki asked with a motion towards the half-demon, a dim cruelty in her voice that was aimed towards Inuyasha. She could feel him flinch behind her and had to keep a smirk from crawling onto her face.

"Very well," The headman sighed. "If it pleases you to do so."

"I come from the village in which you entrusted the sacred Shikon jewel around 50 years ago. The boy behind me is a half-demon that originally was seeking the jewel to become a full demon. His name is Inuyasha, and upon seeing the person protecting the jewel… well, he became infatuated with the priestess. Her name was Kikyo, and eventually she fell for him as well."

The headman nodded. "Yes. She was a young yet powerful priestess who was in the process of purifying the jewel. I hadn't known she had fallen for a half-demon boy…"

"Yes. Having fallen for Inuyasha, Kikyo's powers were slowly diminishing. I'm sure you are fully aware that when a priestess falls in love her miko powers fade?" The headman nodded again. "Well, Kikyo promised the jewel to Inuyasha in a plan to purify it completely; if the jewel were used to turn him into a full human, it would quite likely be purified from existence. In the process, Kikyo would lose her powers and become a normal woman. The perfect plan. However, on the day they were to go through with this plan, a shape-shifting demon took on the personal duty of making sure the jewel was not purified. He took on the form of Inuyasha and cut down Kikyo from behind, taking the jewel from her. For reasons unknown to me currently, the demon returned the jewel to the village shrine in Kikyo's form and then went to find Inuyasha. This demon led Inuyasha to believe that Kikyo had betrayed him, provoking him into stealing the jewel from the village. In the mayhem, the real Kikyo had made her way to the village, using the last of her strength to seal Inuyasha to a great tree, to rot away his life unconsciously. The jewel was burned with her body. Unbeknownst to anyone, the jewel had transferred itself into the arrow that pinned Inuyasha to the tree. It was concealed for 50 years, until just around a month ago. This is where my story interlinks with his, but first I have to tell you mine from the beginning."

The headman curiously waved her on, allowing Kiki to take a deep breath and start her story from what she thought was the beginning. "The demon that cut down Kikyo stole some of her soul in the process. After everything that happened, he combined the soul with part of himself, allowing the creation grow and fester for 34 years… before letting it out of his body in the form of a human child. This child was found by Kikyo's younger sister, Kaede, who by then was an old woman. This child… was me."

Everyone in the room except Inuyasha gasped in horror. The headman's eyes were wide and he opened his mouth to say something, only to be cut off. "I am not hostile, nor am I controlled by the demon living within me. I work mostly using Kikyo's spiritual powers and a small soul I have created over the years. My soul keeps the other two in check; it has only gone out of control twice. And despite my demonic half, I am as good a priestess as anyone." Kiki reassured them. They uneasily tried to ignore the tension in the room as she continued.

"I grew up despising Inuyasha because I did not know about the deceit and lies involved within his story. I didn't even know about my own story, until recently. I thought he had betrayed Kikyo, and that Kikyo was a hero for saving the village and putting him into a never-ending sleep. When my powers got out of check the first time I… I was young, and I ended up… killing a villager." This time everybody in the room gasped, Inuyasha choking on his own saliva. Kiki stared at the ground, fighting back a nest of tears that had grown behind her eyes. "The villager was bad mouthing Kikyo… saying that she was stupid to have ever trusted the half-breed… That she was a disgrace, a failure of a priestess. I don't think my demon side overran me; it was Kikyo. Kikyo was infuriated and tapped into my demonic powers, overrunning my body and battling for control. She was trying to push my soul into the place hers was – a contained soul that did not run the body, and was only tapped into when needed. Kaede managed to bring me back… but I had somehow killed a villager in the process of being overrun. I don't remember how. The situation was very.. unique.. and eventually it faded away into village history."

Inuyasha stared blankly at Kiki as she turned her head to look at him. His neon yellow eyes pierced into her wide, frightened ones; she feared that his perspective of her had changed upon knowing she had killed an innocent person. She couldn't take his emotionless reply and turned to face a more comfortable sight: the headman squirming uncomfortably with his mixed emotions, the boy covering his face with one hand and staring in horror into space, and Sango's pitying eyes and calm composure. Kiki continued weakly.

"I would not speak to anyone. I dare not speak to anyone. I didn't deserve to… So, the only time I spoke was when I was by myself. I would talk to myself to make sure I did not forget how to speak… For around 5 years I didn't speak to anyone, learning about my powers in silence. I didn't even grunt- I was completely silent… which is why I didn't complain when Kaede asked me to get her some herbs for a woman's remedy about a month ago. I went into the forest with a basket, and with my head dreamily stuck in the clouds. Because I wasn't paying attention, I tripped over a root and fell down a hill and into the overgrown roots of the tree Inuyasha was pinned to. He awoke with my presence… probably because of Kikyo's soul within me. In a huff, I removed the arrow from his chest and the jewel came flying at me. Inuyasha attacked me and I subconsciously led him to the village where Kaede saw us coming and calmly put a taming item on Inuyasha's soul. I can control him with one word – it brings him face first into the ground with a loud warning shriek."

The headman had regained some of his composure and nodded at her. "We have no need to worry about the half-breed, then? And you want to stay here on a permanent basis….?"

"Oh! No, Inuyasha is harmless. Even without the necklace on, he wouldn't hurt anybody. And because demons are after the jewel all the time, I need to live somewhere where the villagers will not be bothered by them. Now that you know our stories… I'm certain that you trust us more… Right?" Kiki hopefully asked.

The headman nodded and then stood. Kiki bowed her head and then stood as well. "Sango. Find these two… Two rooms, so they do not end up… well, let's just say 'arguing', shall we? Have the rooms connected in case they need to discuss things."

"I'm not going to kill her. She's grown on me." Inuyasha sighed sourly as Sango and the boy stood up. Kiki held back a giggle and instead smiled at the comment. Sango beckoned to them and Inuyasha stood, following the girls out of the headman's visiting quarters and down a long hallway.

"You'll come to the practices tomorrow, yes?" she asked, trying to make small talk. "To freshen up your fighting skills?"

"Feh. Don't need to." Inuyasha growled. Kiki glared at him and then smiled at Sango.

"I'll go. I'd like to see how my sparring is without using my powers."