The rich, tantalizing aroma of fresh coffee was what pulled Sango out of a deep, dreamless slumber. A sweet, delicious scent found its way to her nose, wrapping its distinct smell around her sleep fogged brain.
It had a similar effect on Miroku, who was slowly waking on the other side of the room. Neither even thought to ask Kagome why she and Inuyasha were standing there, appearances wind blown and tousled, clothes disheveled, and in Kagome's case obviously shivering, until they had made a dent on the warm, dark liquid that filled the mugs Kagome handed to them.
Inuyasha had tipped to Kagome, after much arguing about what they should do for the remainder of the night, that Miroku and Sango were both faithful coffee fanatics, so she should opt for that instead of hot chocolate.
As she watched her friends, and she did consider them friends now, sip contentedly on their beverages, Kagome went to sit beside Sango, whom was curled up in the center of a mass of blankets. Inuyasha chose to do the same, and with an annoyed scowl across his face, he sat beside Miroku.
Not wanting to beat around the bush, since she was quite confused, not to mention terrified, Kagome opened her mouth and blurted out...
"We got attacked by a dead guy."
That certainly woke them up. Sango nearly spit some of her drink back into her cup, and started to cough lightly. Miroku looked up at Kagome slowly, thinking he must have heard her wrong, that his half asleep mind had mistaken her words for something else.
"Excuse me?" He asked.
"We got attacked by a dead guy." Kagome repeated, looking to Inuyasha for help. He answered by becoming suddenly interested in the window.
Sango managed to stop herself from choking. "What do you mean you got attacked by a dead guy?"
Kagome took a deep breath. "I couldn't fall asleep, so I got up and went to the dining car to get something to drink, I poured some hot chocolate and noticed that Inuyasha wasn't anywhere around. Then I noticed that there was a door in the very back of the train that was open, and went outside. Inuyasha was there, thinking or something..." Kagome purposely skipped past the part where she and Inuyasha ended up on top of each other and went on to the point of her story, "Anyways, Inuyasha threw my shoes on top of the train, and I had to go get them. While on top of a freezing cold train in the middle of February, we were attacked by a person, who just happened to have no blood in his vain's and no beating heart in his chest. Then all of a sudden, he shatters and we were stuck outside, freezing are highly paranoid butts off until Inuyasha could brake the door, and we are so gonna get in trouble for that!" She ended, looking desperately from Miroku to Sango.
Neither found it in them to comfort the girl, whom was almost near tears. They just didn't have what it took to pat her on the back and say, "It's alright, Kagome. Being attacked by a corpse isn't anything to worry about. It's actually quite common."
"Kagome-chan... there is just no way that a dead man climbed on top of a moving train, and attacked you." Sango started.
Miroku finished by saying, "Are you sure that the man was actually dead?"
Kagome nodded hurriedly. "If he wasn't dead, he needs perfume and a face lift...badly. And Inuyasha said that he smelled dead, and to prove it, the guy crumbled in front of us. Just like someone had flipped a switch." She had a quick vision of a mean little kid standing in front of a light switch, a finger ready to flick the switch to off as soon as his little corpse toy had successfully scared the pee out of someone.
"He was dead." Inuyasha contributed. Sango and Miroku both knew that the tone he used left no room for discussion. As hard as it was to believe, if Inuyasha was this confident about it... then it was true.
Absorbing it quietly, Sango and Miroku stared into the depths of their coffee.
Miroku, seemingly prepared for everything and never fazed for long, took the situation into calm control.
"I think we'll all be better prepared to discuss this in the morning. Let's get some sleep and deal with this tomorrow." He suggested after draining his coffee.
Sango gave a comforting smile to Kagome. "Miroku's right. Your in no condition to talk about this now."
Kagome nodded and allowed herself to be put to bed and covered with a blanket. That didn't mean she was going to fall asleep. A corpse had just attacked her... actually, now that she thought about it, her life had been threatened twice already. A cold shiver ran down her spine.
That wasn't exactly reassuring. If Inuyasha hadn't been there she probably would have...she decided not to finish that particular thought, too gruesome.
She turned to her other side quietly, so that she was no longer facing the wall. With the pathetic amount of moon light filtering in through the part in the curtains clothing the window, she could just make out Inuyasha's sleeping form.
Kagome knew that she owed a lot to Inuyasha. He had saved her life more then once. A corner of her mouth quirked into a smile as she thought about it. Maybe he wasn't as bad as he liked to let others think.
A warm feeling spread through her as she remembered how close she had been to him earlier. That soft look had crept back into his eyes... she felt a light blush cover her cheeks and she swiftly shoved the scene out of her mind. But the warm feeling stayed. It was just something about being around people you knew you could trust that made you feel good. Of course ever since she had met these people, her life had been jeopardized. Before she had met them the most life threatening thing she had ever done was collect eggs from a chicken coop... with the chickens still in it.
Her smile returned to her face. She had been so scared such a short time ago, but with her friends surrounding her, and Shippo curled up by her stomach, a calm, peaceful feeling swept through her. Giving into the warm, dark slumber that beckoned her, she drifted off immediately, the memory of her attacker being over run by the previous moment with Inuyasha.
He unlocked such vivid emotions. She yawned silently before adding, jerk as an after thought.
When Inuyasha was sure Kagome was asleep, he could hear her soft breathes deepen and become more spaced out, he sat up on the cushioned bench. "She's asleep." He said in a low voice.
Sango and Miroku, who had been waiting for the cue, pushed themselves into a sitting position as well.
"Inuyasha, I can remember only one other time when the dead could move as the living, and that was when Naraku was alive." Said Miroku, his deep blue eyes narrowed angrily.
All thee of them would have loved to plunge something sharp (or blunt...)into Naraku's heart. He had taken something from all of them.
"Exactly what I was thinking. Also, I've been thinking, what if he isn't dead? There is no proof he's actually dead, we just haven't seen hide or tail of the bastard and automatically assumed he had died." Sango confessed, her hands clenched firmly in her lap.
Her revelation seemed to make the already nearly pitch black room darker. "Nothing is impossible." Miroku muttered quietly.
Inuyasha's low tone was seeped in hatred, "Well, if he is alive, why would he be after Kagome? It's not like she's really a Higarashi, and if she was, why would he be so determined to kill her... and that jack ass of a wolf must fit in here somewhere." Inuyasha hissed, referring to Kouga.
"Calm down, Inuyasha. We'll figure this out yet. First thing in the morning, I'll have some of this cleared up." Miroku promised.
"Oh, and how will you do that?" Sango asked, throwing Miroku a suspicious look that went unnoticed in the dark.
"Oh, just going to call a friend of a friend..." The unfinished part of that sentence was. "...Ex girlfriends sisters cousins uncles friends wife."
"Right... you know, maybe we should follow our own advise and go to sleep." Sango suggested.
Inuyasha and Miroku silently agreed, and they all returned to sleeping positions. Old memories, and harsh feelings were going to make sleep hard to reach this night.
Early the next morning, early meaning noonish, Kagome, Sango, Shippo and Inuyasha found themselves in the dinning car, seated at a quaint little table by one of the large windows. The lot were munching on a variety of pancakes, sausages, bacon, and eggs.
"Have you guys seen Miroku around?" Sango asked conversationally, while cutting her pancakes into smaller pieces.
"Nope." Inuyasha muttered, flashing the girls, who sat across from him a mouthful of partially chewed sausage and eggs.
Kagome's bacon went sour in her mouth as she shot Inuyasha a disgusted look. He yawned.
Tearing her eyes quickly away from the rude dog demon she wasn't currently speaking to, Kagome focused on Sango. "No, I haven't seen him since last night..."
"That's funny." Sango said thoughtfully. "He was gone when I woke up this morning."
"No telling." Inuyasha managed to say with his mouth full of food.
"That is so gross." Kagome scolded, forgetting that she wasn't talking to him, due to the fact she had to search high and low for her shoes that morning.
The morning had gone like most. The events of the night before were faded and not nearly as eerie in the bright, cheerily furnished room, filled with the good smells of breakfast. They hadn't forgotten, but the idea of just sitting around paralyzed by it was one they didn't fancy. Of course, Kagome was ignorant to how crucial it had been.
"Good morning all!" Greeted a smooth, cheery voice.
Kagome and Sango jumped slightly, for the voice had come from behind them. Inuyasha and Shippo had seen Miroku coming and only nodded in greeting.
"Oh, hey Miroku. Care to break your fast with us? It's really good." Kagome asked, pointing to a plate stacked with breakfast goods.
"No thank you, I have already eaten." Miroku plopped down into the only available chair, at the head of the table.
"Where have you been?" Sango asked promptly.
"Oh, no where of importance." He waved her question off aloofly. "You guys hurry up and finish, we have to leave in ten minutes."
"Leave?" Sango and Kagome asked in surprised unison.
"But were no where near -" Inuyasha started to say, only to have Miroku cut him off.
"We have one place we need to stop by before going to meet the empress. Believe me, it'll be a most rewarding trip." Miroku grinned slyly, like he had a secret no one else knew.
Shippo pipped up for the first time, "I don't like the sound of that..."
Meanwhile, a maintenance worker for the train, noticed something new. One side of the heavy metal door on the caboose of the train was disfigured. Long, almost claw like punctures had been made in the metal, forcing the door to lie crooked, allowing passage for anyone who cared to go in or out. His wrinkled face fell. No amount of elbow grease was going to fix that. Well, their went his coffee break...
Miroku had always come off to Kagome like a big brother type, a really good guy at heart with a few quirks. And when Miroku had brought them here and announced that this would be where they were staying, Kagome wanted to throw her arms around his neck and hug him, as she stared openly the beautiful log cabin in front of her.
It was a one story, but it's size made up for it's height. It reminded her of a Christmas card as it sat elevated on a hill, the roof capped with snow that was starting to melt and drip down the sides of the house. All it was missing was the tree and the poorly painted lawn gnomes.
"Alright, who's house is this?" Inuyasha asked from underneath the majority of their luggage.
"Ours for the time." Miroku responded brightly.
Kagome and Sango gave each other delighted looks and took off for the house, ready to claim their room.
Following them at a slower pace, Inuyasha shot Miroku a distrustful look.
"What?" Miroku asked innocently.
Inuyasha just shook his head and pushed the door open wider with his foot, since his hands were occupied with the baggage he had been left to carry.
"Wow! I don't believe were staying here!" Kagome exclaimed, mooning over the stone fireplace, spotless hardwood floors, the black leather furniture, and the various decoration adorning the lovely living quarters.
Shippo, perched on Kagome's shoulder, stared speechless with a grin lighting his small face.
"Yeah, me either." Inuyasha muttered sourly.
"Stick in the mud." Sango scolded, although she was slightly suspicious of how Miroku got them permission to stay here, and his reasons for bringing them.
Kagome ignored Inuyasha all together and went to explore the house further.
"Rather excitable isn't she?" Miroku noted.
"She's gonna have to get over that." Inuyasha agreed, chasing Kagome with a disapproving glare.
"Oh, leave her alone." Sango defended as she picked up her bags and followed Kagome.
Sango found Kagome in a spacious room. The floors were covered with plush blue rugs that matched the comforters on the queen sized beds that were identical to each other except for the different shaped pillows on them. A waist high end table was placed between the two beds, resting on it was a phone, a blue shaded lamp, and a small pile of books.
Kagome took a running start and belly flopped on the bed closest to the window. "How cool is this?" Shippo asked. "Very cool!" Said Kagome eagerly.
Sango grinned and sat her bags down on the bed Kagome and Shippo weren't jumping on. "Glad to hear it."
Inuyasha was glancing around the living room like he expected the 'real' owner of the house to barge in armed with heavy artillery. Miroku noticed this and frowned slightly. "I promise were not breaking the law."
The hanyou gave a loud "Feh!" and left to go raid the kitchen, which was fully stocked with all sorts of unhealthy goodies.
Shippo was the first to retreat from their room, the smell of food luring him down that hall and into the Tv room where Inuyasha had set every item of junk food in the house out on the low table placed in front of the large television set.
With a large grin, Shippo scampered closer and grabbed something made of chocolate off the pile. Inuyasha gave the kit a disapproving glare.
Shippo snorted. "What? Its not like you could eat all this yourself." Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow, as if to ask, "You wanna bet?"
Miroku, who had been watching in silence from the bar at the kitchen, laughed and left his stool to join them.
Not long after, Kagome and Sango walked in.
"You guy's shouldn't eat all that junk. It's not healthy." Kagome said scanning all the food products laid out. If not worried about Inuyasha and Miroku, Shippo's health and eating habits.
Sango leaned down and grabbed a plastic wrapped Twinkie. "And these are passed their expired date."
Inuyasha started to cough up the one he had been in the process of eating.
"Well, if you girls feel like cooking, by all means..."
Sango and Kagome exchanged glances, debating. Kagome shrugged, grabbed a can of pringles and flopped on the impossibly comfortable couch.
"I guess it won't hurt for just today." Sango said as she made a selection.
After they had eaten so much it felt as if they would vomit their sweets back up, the lot relented and put the excess food away.
"I'm stuffed." Shippo said happily, sprawled out on the floor as he watched Tv upside down.
"I can't move." Kagome contributed to Shippo's statement.
"Perfect." Miroku smiled, "Since you can't move it would be the perfect time to study yourself a little more."
"Not this again." Kagome moaned. Shippo smiled sympathetically, he for one was quite glad about getting a break from school work.
"Come on now, Kagome-chan. There is still a lot you have to learn." Sango said helpfully.
"Oh, alright." Kagome said, resigning herself.
"Good." Miroku immediately switched over to teacher mode and began ranting about all sorts of 'important' things Kagome should learn.
She tried to retain everything he told her, but only one thing he said really caught her attention.
"Woah, back up." Said Kagome sitting up straight in her chair.
"I said the Higarashi lineage carries a very special gene. They were one of the last to ever have Miko blood running through their veins." Miroku repeated.
"What does that mean?"
"It means that nearly all females in your family had the priestess tittle, and exceptional spiritual power. That it why the Shikon jewel is kept by them. An heirloom, if you will."
Kagome's deep brown eyes widened as she remembered the day she had taken Shippo and herself away from the orphanage. When the small gang had approached her a strange light had erupted from her hand, making the demons in the group shrink back. There! That was the proof she needed!
Not that she hadn't believed what Miroku and the others had told her, but she had this nagging voice in the back of her mind telling her "You? One of royalty? Hah!" But the light proved that she was!
"That is so awesome! That really means that I'm the Kagome Higarashi!" Kagome exclaimed, hopping to her feet, her luxurious raven locks twisting wildly around her face from her previous position.
The others were all taken aback. Inuyasha turned his head sharply, making Kagome freeze with his glare. "What do you mean?" He snapped bluntly.
Before Kagome could even open her mouth to answer, a loud noise from the next room over assaulted their hearing. It sounded as though someone had thrown something fragile, like a lamp against the wall in a hissy fit.
Kagome immediately remembered the episodes with Kouga and the corpse. Her eyes dilated and searched for Inuyasha.
Inuyasha and Miroku were on their feet almost before the final echoing of the crash met their ears. Inuyasha pulled his sword out of seemingly thin air as the pair made their way to the source of the noise, looks of total concentration locked on to their faces.
Sango got to her feet as well, taking a stance in front of Kagome who had a frightened Shippo in her arms. The girls exchanged worried glances. Shippo's jade green eyes bright with fear locked on to Kagome's eyes. He hadn't seen the corpse, but had heard about it. He had been there for Kouga's arrival, though. He quickly turned back to Inuyasha and Miroku, who had just disappeared into the depths of the room.
The dead silence was interrupted by a hoarse shout of either fear, pain, or surprise, that had come from either Inuyaha, Miroku, or possibly both.
A/N:
Your never gonna guess who/what it is . Seriously, go ahead and guess.
I really want to thank you all for the wonderful and encouraging reviews I have been getting. They mean a lot to me, and I read all of them and take them to heart. I do want to apologize for missing some of your reviews in my last Author Note. Some didn't show up for me to read for a while, so I may have missed a few. Special I'm sorry to DemonChik39 Thank you for sticking with me for so long. I kind of feel bad about this chapter. I made you all wait for this update, and I rather rushed it together. But it is mostly because I have a REALLY bad headache. I'm very sorry 'bout that. Next chapter I'll have the foundation all set and I'll just be able to have fun with it. So, again, sorry for the wait and the rushed, poorly put together chapter. Blame the head torture
Demonchik39: Again, I am so Sorry for not posting a reply to your review. I blame the computer! Thanks for waiting, and having such patience with me. I really do appreciate your reviews. I'm going to try to make up for this chapter with the next one if you guys are still willing to read. Thanks so much!
Miara Rigawa: Thank you so much! That is the highest praise you could give me. I do my best to keep the characters, well, in character. I'm going to keep the fluff and lovey stuff at a fairly slow pace, 'cuz if Inuyasha and Kagome were to fall to quickly it would just be..unnatural. I'm sorry about the name mix up; A-hah-hah... I stayed up a little to late with to little caffeine. .
Silver Slytherin Serpent: Ah, thank you so much! I'm glad you liked the spork thing. I though you would I appreciate your reviews, please do keep them coming.
Inuhehi27: Yes, the zombie fell apart because Kagura's fan was closed. Good observation. I'm also happy you enjoyed the bit of action. Anywho, thanks for your reviews. I look forward to them.
Mina Nicka: I'm glad you liked it! I was worried how people would react to that scene. Thanks for reviewing
Coolis 17: Thank a lot! I hope to keep this interesting, so your saying so helps. Thanks for the review!
Forest Sentry Koneji: Oh, well, I'm certainly glad you think so. I hope to keep this as interesting as I can. Can't have you getting bored now, can I? Thanks for the review.
pua lahi lahi: Oh, your reviews always make me feel like a better writer then I am! I'm glad you caught all the significant detail and have enjoyed the story so far. I'll do my best to keep it up. Thanks so, so much for reviewing.
inu&kag4eva: I am very glad the chapter didn't disappoint you. I'll try to keep the fluff in check Thanks for the review, every bit helps.
Barking Inuyasha: I'm glad (Very glad) You like my fic, but I'm sorry you don't understand about Kouga. What don't you understand? Have I made an error somewhere? If so please point it out to me. Thanks for your review. I appreciate.
Jazzy Monkey: I swear your reviews are the highlight of my writing career. Lol. They are just filled with so much energy, it is really very inspiring. Yes, Inuyasha and Kagome are in denial and seem to like being there. I really hope you feel the same about the current chapter! I just have a killer head ache... okay, no excuses. Sorry. I really appreciate your lovely reviews...Top 5! Really? And since I didn't die at the beach, I'll be able to write many chapters/stories so long as I don't lose my ability to write. Again, thank you SO much!
plwhosaystoryneedsmorefluff: Oh, well, that is inventive. Thank you, I suppose.
inu-osuwari: Oh, thank you! I am so pleased to hear that. I'm lucky to have you as a fan. Please excuse this chapter, it really wasn't up to par. I hope to hear from you again, your reviews are very inspiring. And I agree with the love/hate relationship. Those are always spiffy Thanks for reviewing!
I-am-cayce: Really? I', happy to hear that! I wasn't so sure about the fluffness in the last chapter (And their wasn't any in this one:) so I'm glad to hear you say that. I'll put much more fluff in, but only when the time is right for them. Thank you for reviewing!
Super Ceech: I can't believe you enjoy this fic so much. I'm absolutely flattered with your compliments, and I truly hope this chapter didn't make you want to take your words back. Thanks a lot for reviewing, your review meant a lot to me.
yr good!: Thank you for saying so and thank you for your review!
Anime Dragon 1991: I'm glad you like this fic But I'm afraid I don't understand what you don't understand about Kouga...Please explain it to me and I'll do my best to correct the problem. Thanks for the review.
Aloha Turtle: Yes, you have to do what you have to do, right? It was worth to stay up so late to get these wonderful reviews. Yes, I did get the idea from the animated movie Anastasia. (Which I said in chapter 1-2) I do hope to hear more from you, I certainly hope your next review won't have something bad in it Thanks for reviewing.
Thanks to all of my readers! And I'm very sorry if I missed someone review! As always reviews are loved, appreciated, and doted upon.
SilverSqueakyInuEars.