Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.

Chapter Thirteen: Transformations and Purification

"Miroku," Kagome purred seductively, moving closely to the monk, "I think I have something in my eye… could you check for me?" She batted her eyes prettily as she sat next to him on a fallen tree.

"Uh…" Miroku looked at her then looked at the dog demon. "No… no…I don't think so... sorry."

She batted her eyes again and leaned in closer. "Please…"

Miroku backed up a few inches, not liking one little bit the way that Inuyasha was rolling on the ground in near hysterical laughter. He was more than a little uncomfortable. Yes, Kagome was a beautiful girl. And generally Miroku was always up for flirting with a beautiful girl. With the blatant signals the girl in front of him was giving, she was more than receptive.

But she was a bit too close for comfort. It wasn't Kagome's unusually flirtatious mood that was bothering him, it was Inuyasha's unusually jovial mood. Usually when Miroku got too close to Kagome Inuyasha would do his impression of a rabid dog. Something was very… unsettling.

"I'd really rather not."

Kagome pouted prettily, her bottom lip sticking out slightly while she turned sad puppy dog eyes on him. "You think I'm… sniffle… ugly… don't you?"

Miroku put his hands up in front of him protectively. "Of course not! But…"

She took his flailing hands and held them close to her before leaning into him. He could actually feel her breath on his face. If he leaned forward even an inch their lips would be touching. "You think I'm pretty?"

"Uh…" Miroku was close to panicking. The wrong answer could get him killed. "Yes, very pretty, but…"

"You think I'm attractive, don't you?" she whispered softly, nuzzling her nose against his.

With a screech not even remotely masculine, Miroku jumped back, tripping over the fallen yellow backpack and landing harshly on the ground. "Don't DO that!"

With a feral smile, Kagome dropped to her knees beside him, prowling like a jungle cat towards the frightened monk. She leaned in closely and whispered into his ear. The monk turned white before turning bright red. With a swear word one doesn't hear often coming from a monk, he jumped to his feet and dashed out of sight.

Kagome laughed and turned to face the howling dog demon.

"That was fun!" She grinned.

Inuyasha wiped the tears from his eyes as he tried to control his laughter. "Oh yeah, that was the best thing I think I've seen since we started this game, Shippo."

"By far the coolest trick I've learned."

"Definitely. Though if Kagome finds out, she may…" he stopped himself from saying his usual phrase 'skin you alive' to the still sensitive fox kit, and instead said, "…rip your head off and spit down your throat."

With a pop and a puff of smoke, Kagome turned back into a mischievous little fox demon child. He grabbed at the leaf floating down from his head, but it disappeared as soon as he touched it. He shrugged. It was definitely worth wasting one of his magical leaves to see Miroku squirm like that. Serves him right for always flirting with Kagome.

Inuyasha turned his head towards the direction Miroku just ran. Kagome was coming. He heard her say hi to Miroku. He chuckled when he heard Miroku's answering shriek. Within moments Kagome entered the clearing still drying her hair from her bath.

"What's wrong with Miroku?"

Inuyasha and Shippo both burst out laughing, completely confusing the miko. She shrugged off their strange behavior and went to her backpack to pick out her newest favorite item she bought. A hairbrush. It had cost almost as much as a new sword. The boys had fought her over the purchase, but they didn't have a chance pitting themselves against a girl and her hygiene.

I'd pay twice that much for some bubble bath, she sighed as she brushed her hair. I miss bubble baths.

Once her hair was sufficiently dry and brushed, Kagome returned her precious item to her backpack. She pulled out a few containers and a small pot (which had also cost them a pretty penny).

"Ramen!" Inuyasha and Shippo cried happily as she set the containers down.

Kagome rolled her eyes. You'd think I was serving them steak or lobster or chocolate cake. MMmmmm… chocolate cake….

The chore of making dinner had fallen on Kagome. They had tried taking turns… but that didn't work out very well. Shippo was a bit too small to hold the pot of water and pour into the small cups. Inuyasha never let them sit long enough and always ended up scalding his tongue and eating crunchy noodles. And Miroku… well, Kagome suspected that Miroku intentionally messed up to get out of cooking. How many times can a person accidentally set the containers on fire?

Frankly, Kagome was getting a little sick of Ramen. She prayed that in addition to bubble bath that one of these shops would start selling granola bars or even beef jerky. Anything besides those noodles! How can the boys eat them every single day and still enjoy them like they haven't eaten them in ages?

"Miroku!" Kagome yelled a few minutes later. "Dinner!"

A red faced Miroku finally emerged from the trees. He nervously took his cup of noodles from the girl, making sure not to touch her, and sat as far away from her as possible. It was unusual that he didn't touch her since he was always looking for an excuse to, but Kagome didn't question it. She never could understand boys. What she didn't understand was the funny looks he kept sending her way and the snickering of the two demons. Men!

Determined to ignore her companions, Kagome focused on how the noodles. She couldn't believe that they weren't real. I wonder how they do it.

Miroku was having a difficult time keeping himself from staring at Kagome. The two demons were getting annoying though with their random bursts of laughter. He couldn't decide what to do about Kagome. It wasn't like her to be so… so… forward… and in front of Inuyasha! Should he encourage it? But what about Sango? He thought he had been fairly clear in his interest of the demon slayer. Why would Kagome make a move on him when he was interested in her friend?

Just as he was about to pluck up the courage to confront her about her behavior, he noticed Shippo setting down his noodle container and moving behind Kagome and pulling out one of his magical leaves. The fox kit twirled the leave between his fingers before placing it on his head.

Poof!

Standing behind Kagome was… Kagome!

Miroku narrowed his eyes and ground his teeth angrily. He couldn't stop himself. The normally calm and peace loving monk launched himself at Kagome, the standing Kagome. Unfortunately, the sitting Kagome happened to be in his way.

She became a very angry sitting Kagome when he spilled her noodles all over her nice clean clothes.

"MIROKU!"

Kagome stomped off back towards the hot spring for another bath, grumbling about stupid men and the unfairness of having to clean clothes even in a stupid game. That left Inuyasha and Shippo to tend to Miroku's wounds.

The demons weren't forgiven as the group started off again the next morning. Kagome hadn't quite forgiven the monk for causing her to head off for another bath just when she was ready to go to sleep. Not to mention having to walk around in slightly damp clothes. All in all, half the group was in a surly mood. The other half was tickled and prone to outbursts of chuckles however.

Miroku refused to apologize to Kagome. He would have to explain why he did what he did, that THAT wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Shippo and Inuyasha refused to apologize to Miroku. Because, well, it was just too dang entertaining and they weren't sorry one little bit.

"I'm hungry!" complained Shippo.

Kagome sighed heavily. Were they ever NOT hungry? She wondered briefly if they weren't eating enough at meal times? Maybe they weren't eating the right foods? A steady diet of Ramen just can't be good for anyone! Before she could suggest looking for some edible plants to go along with lunch, she felt the funny feeling in her stomach.

"There's a shard nearby!"

Lunch was postponed as they took off in pursuit of the shard carrying demon.

"Whoa," said Miroku. "She's HOT!"

The demon was a tall, beautiful woman with large black eyes. And antennas. She wore yellow and black and had a long stinger at the base of her spine. Alongside her were four flying wasps.

Before Shippo could use a foxfire defensive shield he was stung by one of the wasps. Immediately he fell from battle. Kagome searched her bag for an antidote. Shippo took it from her and drank. Unfortunately, he still felt sick and was unable to continue battling. Kagome was just glad that they had bought some antidotes, she decided that they would buy a lot more at the next town they came to.

Inuyasha swung at the wasp queen. "Die!"

But she was fast. In fact, no one even saw her move. One moment she was in front of Inuyasha's blade, and the next she was behind Kagome.

"Kagome!" he screamed as he lunged in her direction.

But while his attention was on the girl, one of the wasps took the opportunity to sting the dog demon. He continued his swing and managed to hit the wasp queen. But when he hit the ground he felt as if his insides were burning. The poison was spreading. Kagome reached for her bag, but Inuyasha was already across the clearing swinging at the queen. Another wasp stung him. He fell to his knees.

"Don't just stand there, Miroku! Use your wind tunnel!"

Miroku hit the wasp he was fighting once more with his staff before standing back and lifting the beads that contained his most powerful attack.

"Wind Tunnel!"

Three of the wasps were sucked in. As soon as they entered the hole in his hand, Miroku felt sick. He closed the wind tunnel and dropped to the ground. Kagome raced to him and felt his head.

"You're burning up!"

"Poison…" Miroku said right before he passed out.

Quickly Kagome gave him the antidote that she had been holding for Inuyasha. Tears leaked out of her eyes when she had to use another precious bottle of antidote, the first only drops made it into his throat.

Inuyasha's colorful expression echoed across the clearing. Kagome looked up as gasped. The three wasps that had disappeared into the wind tunnel had been replaced by three more. The sword sliced one of them nicely in two, but in only moments another one was on the field.

"They regenerate…"

"No kidding, Kagome."

The miko turned to the dog demon who had appeared at her side and opened her mouth to make a scathing reply. Her jaw snapped shut. Inuyasha was pale. Beads of sweat were rolling down his face, his brown damp. His hands were trembling as he held on to his sword like a crutch.

Before she could reach for her bag, Inuyasha shoved her to the ground. A wasp narrowly missed her. It had, however, torn a rather large hole in the arm of her shirt. Grabbing her bag she dodged a wasp and ducked behind a boulder. She reached in and grabbed an antidote. Inuyasha won't make it through the fight if he doesn't drink this soon, demon or no demon. She really didn't want to try out the effectiveness of the phoenix feather. Tucking the bottle into the wasteband of her skirt, Kagome dashed back out onto the battlefield. She took an arrow out of her quiver and shot one of the wasps.

"We need to kill the queen!" She yelled, "It's the only way to stop the wasps!"

She wasn't positive, but it made sense. After all, she had played several boss battles in the past who kept regenerating annoying little flunkies.

She waited for Inuyasha's smart aleck remark or a grunt in reply. But it didn't come. Frantically Kagome looked around. Inuyasha was kneeling on the ground, barely keeping himself from falling by holding onto his sword deeply embedded in the ground. Without even a pause or a glance around, Kagome ran to him. Tears flooded her face as she raced. Inuyasha was dying.

A wasp seemed to be racing her to the dog demon. Luckily Kagome was a few steps ahead. She tackled Inuyasha to the ground and immediately put the bottle to his lips. As soon as she saw him swallow she smiled.

"AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

A scream was ripped through her throat as a stinger tore through her side like a steel blade. She continued to scream as the poison burned her from the inside out. It felt like acid! Quickly she reached for her bag. It wasn't there. Her vision blurred as she saw her bag… all the way across the clearing. She looked down at Inuyasha, but he was not yet strong enough to move.

The queen wasp cackled and turned her gaze on Kagome as three more wasps appeared, now totaling seven. Their intent was clear. They were coming after her and Inuyasha. She coughed, feeling her lungs begin to fill with liquid. She could feel that she was dying from the poison.

"We won't die!" Kagome yelled as she shakily stood to her feet, wiping some blood from her lip from when she coughed. "I won't let you kill us!"

Her trembling fingers drew an arrow from her quiver. Narrowing her gaze Kagome aimed. I will protect my friends! A warm feeling started in her belly. It was different than the burning she felt earlier from the poison. This feeling felt safe. It felt good. Safe. In fact, it felt pretty amazing.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha looked up at his friend. She was glowing pink! Her entire body glowed, as did the bow and arrow that she held. Even the ground where she stood was tinged in pink.

"Purify!" Kagome yelled as she let the arrow fly.

Three wasps disintegrated just by being close to the path of the arrow. The wasp queen had a look of surprise on her face right before the arrow hit, turning her immediately into a shower of sparkly dust.

There was a moment of pride and triumph before Kagome's eyes rolled into the back of her head and everything went black. She heard her name being called somewhere in the distance.

Naraku watches the monitor carefully. The dog demon was panicking. The antidote could not be given to the girl, only Kagome could reach into her bag. It was a situation that Naraku hadn't planned on. The girl was to be the healer and to stay in the background. Her job was to give potions and antidotes, to use barriers when she learned how to use them. He hadn't planned on her fighting. The males were supposed to be protecting HER.

"She shouldn't be able to do that," whispers Kagura.

Her employer raises an eyebrow to the woman, turning from the screen. He had momentarily forgotten that he was not alone in the room. Several employees were still around checking the machines and vital signs of the players.

"She shouldn't be able to do that! Purification is a level thirty spell! She's not even a level five yet. That's impossible!"

Naraku smiles. "I knew she was the one."

Turning back to the screen he watched the three young men kneeling helplessly by the girl. After some heated discussion, the dog demon picks the girl up and they leave the area quickly. With luck they would reach a village quickly.

She will live. For the first time since the game began, Naraku was worried. She has to live. He continued to watch the monitors.