Chapter 3
Kagome, still in her bathing suit, rushed up to Kaede's hut, looking for Inuyasha. There were the blankets, the water and soup they had left for him, but no Inuyasha! She had heard him shouting for one person after another, as if he had been afraid, but where was he now?
"Kagome!" Sango said, rushing up. "Where's Inuyasha?"
"I don't know!" Kagome answered, worried. "He was gone when I got here!"
Shippo had arrived by then, and started sniffing the ground.
"What is it, Shippo?" Sango asked as Kagome went to check inside the hut.
"There was a demon here," he said grimly, as Kagome came back outside. She had changed into her uniform, and was looking distinctly worried.
"A demon?" she asked as Kaede and Miroku came running up.
"What demon?" Miroku demanded, looking around, ready to do battle. "Where's Inuyasha? He was screaming for us, and. . ."
"He was gone when we got here," Shippo explained. "And I smell a demon."
"Everyone, calm down," Kaede said firmly, quelling the rising hysteria. "We agree that Inuyasha is not here, and that a demon was. Shippo, can you tell what kind it was?"
Shippo nodded and sniffed again, trying to figure out the scent. "It smells kind of like Inuyasha," he said, perplexed. "A dog demon."
"A dog demon?" Kagome said, surprised. "But there aren't that many, and…" she trailed off, looking very worried.
"What's the matter?" Sango asked, laying a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"The only other dog demon we know of, and the only other one that knows Inuyasha, would be Sesshomaru," she said quietly. "What if it was him?"
Grim scenarios played in everyone's mind.
"Let's go find Sesshomaru," Sango said. Without being asked, Kirara grew to her larger size and looked ready to bite someone.
"Tell me what you find out," Kaede said, as everyone climbed onto the demon cat's back.
"We will," Kagome promised. "As soon as we know something."
Space
It was night, and Sesshomaru walked along the path, lost in his own thoughts. After being freed from Kimi, he had resumed his journeying, accompanied by Jaken, Rin, and Ah and Un. He refused to discuss it with Jaken, and all he told Rin was that he had been very lonely without her. Jaken had accepted his lord's reticence, but Rin had taken his words to heart. She had begun holding onto his hand and walking by his side during the day when she wasn't tired or searching for something to eat. She had grown some during his absence, and as a result, was almost always hungry. At the moment, however, she was asleep in Ah and Un's saddle.
"Sesshomaru!"
Looking up, he spotted the demon slayer's cat. As it came down and landed, he saw all of his half-brother's friends on its back and they all looked ready to kill someone. He wasn't used to being looked at like that.
"Well, this is a surprise," he said as Jaken came to his side. "Why have you all come? Surely this isn't a casual visit."
"Where's Inuyasha?" Kagome demanded, getting off of the cat. "Where have you taken him? What have you done to him? If you've hurt him"
"What are you talking about?" he asked, surprised. She looked as if she were ready to strike him.
"Inuyasha's disappeared, and Shippo said that he smelled a dog demon that wasn't Inuyasha!" she shouted. "We all know you want to kill him!"
"If he smelled a dog demon, couldn't he check my scent?" he suggested, somewhat amused by the girl's vehemence. Inuyasha certainly knew how to choose them.
Shippo nodded and scurried over to him, sniffing. It was at this point that Rin woke up.
"Oh!" she cried, hopping off of Ah and Un's back and hurrying over to Shippo. "Hello, Shippo!"
"Hello," he said, still sniffing. In the next instant, he was swept up into her arms and received a huge hug. "Rin!" he croaked, dismayed that he was always going to get a bone-crushing hug from every girl he met. Miroku was envious of him, but he really didn't enjoy all the bruises he was getting.
"Well?" Sesshomaru asked, not doing anything to stop Rin's over-zealous attentions.
"It's not him," Shippo said, once he could breathe. "It smells kind of like him, but it's not him."
Sesshomaru's sardonic smile faded, and he looked at the little kit. "What do you mean?"
"Well, it smells kind of like you, but it isn't you," Shippo said, "just like Inuyasha smells kind of like you, but isn't you."
"Any idea who it could be, then?" Kagome asked him, still worried.
"The only other person who shared scents with us died a long time ago," he said, shaking his head.
That was when it happened. A little whimper, a little sniffle, and the next thing anyone knew, Kagome was crying. Sesshomaru fought the impulse to back away: Intense human emotions always made him uncomfortable. When Rin was upset, it took all of his cunning and determination to calm her. A teenaged human female was infinitely worse.
"We'll keep searching," Miroku said, trying to comfort her. "It will be all right. For all we know, it could have been Kouga, and Inuyasha took off after him to fight."
Sango wanted to slap him. If anything, that made Kagome cry even harder. She'd be worried sick about how badly they would hurt one another, and if Inuyasha was hurt, he wouldn't admit it or slow down because of Kouga.
"Don't worry," Shippo said, still clutched in Rin's arms. "I'm sure that Inuyasha's all right."
"You're all right," Kagome said, stopping her own tears. "We'll keep looking, and he can't be in such awful trouble that . . ." she stopped, hoping that what she was thinking wasn't the truth.
"If you like, I'll look for him as well," Sesshomaru heard himself offer before he could think twice. "And don't worry, when I find him, I won't kill him."
A moment later, he found himself being hugged. His last statement had sent Kagome back into tears and she had thrown her arms around his neck, sobbing on his shoulder. It was only when Sango had come over had he been able to pry her arms off and neatly transfer the crying girl to her shoulder.
"Thanks," Miroku said, as Shippo bid Rin goodbye. "If you find anything out, let us know."
With that, they climbed onto the cat's back and were gone.
"Lord Sesshomaru," Rin said, watching them go. "Where do you think Inuyasha could be?"
"Well, I have an idea, but it's impossible," he said, holding out his hand so the girl could take it. "Still, it's worth looking into. Let's go."
Jaken, still confused, followed, leading Ah and Un. Since when had his lord allowed human girls cry all over him?
