Disclaimer- Oh, the hot tubby is MINE MINE MINE and nobody else can take that from me!

Chapter 24- A Promise, A Lie, and A Dangerous Game

She had to be dreaming. She must have found a way to nod off on the bus and just didn't realize that she did it. It was too obvious from the way Inuyasha gave in, or the strained looks he sent her. This entire thing was just a figment of her imagination, and soon her mind would slowly call her back to reality and she would wake from this bizarre dream.

But the dream wasn't fading, and Inuyasha's figure was not becoming hazy like most of her other dreams. Nobody was calling her name, and she didn't feel as if she was waking up. Sango now stared at Inuyasha, who seemed to be apprehensively awaiting her reaction to the alterations in his features. The air was thrown from her body and she felt like her throat was filled with sand. Finally after a long period of time, Sango finally found her voice.

"This isn't real; you can't be telling the truth." Sango whispered her eyes still wide in shock.

"Well I hate to break your security bubble, but these things don't come in a plastic bag." Inuyasha said, letting one of his teeth drape across his lip. Sango stared for a moment before taking a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

It could have been worse, Sango decided quickly, he could have tried to kill me once he showed me who he was or something. He could have even been a vampire and sucked all my blood out. He's not even a FULL demon...only half...which means there's half human in there too!

"I always thought half demons weren't possible... Do you have any other features?" Inuyasha blinked at Sango attempted humor. Was she really accepting the fact that he was not all human? That he was something that most humans weren't even aware of? Wouldn't most girls scream and run away?

"I uh..."

"So you have half and half? Does that mean one of your parents is a full demon?" Sango felt her fear slowly melt away into a hole of curiosity. If he really was what he said he was, then did half demons live amongst humans and they didn't even realize the difference? Sango would admit in an instant that she didn't have a single clue about Inuyasha until the fire. Were there other half demons, or was he an original?

"Yes, one was human and one is demon." When Inuyasha noticed Sango did not respond, a slightly sour look spread onto his face, though he said nothing.

"Well?" Sango persisted.

"Well what?" Inuyasha asked, shifting around slightly. He made sure no extra movements were made; he did not want Kagome waking up to him in this form. Kagome was a completely different person than Sango; there was no way he would know how she would respond.

"Who was the human, and who was the demon? Better yet, how did they meet?" Sango's voice held her childish sound to it as she stared at him with seeking ginger eyes.

"Why do you want to know? Shouldn't you be terrified of me? I'm a half demon. This isn't a game, I'm not playing around. I'm real; I could kill you right now!" He whispered harshly, clenching his fist to show emphasis on his words. Her hand stayed above the fist, still stroking it with her thumb.

"But I know you wouldn't. If you wanted to, you would have done it a long time ago." She replied. His anger disappeared and he avoided her gaze, now staring at Kagome beside him.

"My father is actually the demon. Most people would think he'd be the strong one, guess he fit their stereo-type. My mother was just as strong though, she wasn't a weakling."

"You talk about your mom in past tense...what happened to her?" Inuyasha only clenched his fist tighter.

"It's nothing, that's not important right now." He replied bitterly.

"How do you hide your features?" Sango could tell his mother was a sensitive subject.

"I have a concealing artifact that I carry around to keep my features hidden. Some demons do it too; they don't want humans to judge them."

"Concealing artifact?"

"It's usually given to demons as a child by their parents. It can be as simple as a silver necklace." Inuyasha slowly flipped the necklace in his hand over, Sango leaning forwards to catch a glimpse of a small carving on one of the links. "As long as they do the proper signature for their family, the artifact will work on any demon from that family."

"As for how my parents met, it was just like how any other people met. My mother was working on a becoming a nurse in order to help children, since she dreamed of being a mother. My dad is an owner of some huge company that I don't bother to remember, got him tons of money. He met her when he had donated a bunch of money to one of the children's hospitals, and she paid a personal visit to thank him. Anyone who knew them said they clicked instantly."

"For some reason, my mother was never afraid of what my father was or if he could kill her. He's a full dog demon, hence the ears." Inuyasha lightly swiveled one of his ears at the mention of the furry appendence.

"See, I told you they were dog ears." She laughed quietly while he growled at her. "So you were the creation of a human and a demon. Does that mean that you're weaker than other full fledged demons?"

"Hell no! I can still kick their sorry asses any day." He snorted at the accusation.

"I still don't understand why you'd hide yourself. Why can't you be half demon? Demons walk around like it's normal, why not you too?"

"Are you really that dense? I'm a half demon. It means I'm not completely human, nor completely demon. What do you think humans will think of me? Do you think they would except me like this? They'd be scare, just as most humans are of demons now."

"It may take a while to adjust, but once people realized what you were really like, they wouldn't be scared." Sango replied, watching Inuyasha shake his head.

"It would take too long. Humans wouldn't adapt like you. I'm kind of surprised you didn't freak out..." Sango smiled sheepishly.

"Demons never really scared me, I always found them interesting. And the fact I'm friends with a hanyou is even better!" Inuyasha blinked at Sango, secretly astound at her reply. "And I'm sure Kagome wo-" Inuyasha quickly sent her a glare, golden eyes shining dangerously.

"She can't know about this, no matter what."

"Wh-what? But why not, she won't care!" He only shook his head and grabbed the necklace, pulling his hand away from Sango to place the necklace on his neck once again. His eyes faded back to brown and the demonic features slowly disappeared, transforming back into his human features.

"You promised to keep this between me and you. The only other people who know are Miroku, Kaede, and Myoga, and that's it. Those are the only people you may speak to about it, got that?"

"I understand Oka? I won't tell her about it." She replied, watching as the bus slowly stopped in front of the lodge she assumed they would be staying in. "I just think that you should talk to her about it, I promise she won't scream or say anything." Inuyasha only glanced at Sango before turning his attention to the girl in his seat.

"Kagome we're here." Inuyasha said, lightly pushing the girl beside him. Her groan in complaint only caused a roll of the eyes from the teen before he pushed her again. "If you don't get up now, I'm leaving you here alone with Kouga."

"Alright I'm up; you didn't have to threaten me." Kagome muttered, slowly opening her eyes. She was slightly surprised to see her friend, who was usually a late sleeper, with her eyes wide open and awake. "What are you doing up so early?"

"You mean this late? It's around ten o'clock Kags, get your mental clock in order. You slept through the entire trip." Inuyasha replied, shifting his stiff shoulder. Though Kagome wasn't heavy, having constant weight against his side for hours was causing his muscles to stiffen. She yawned as she glanced out the window, slightly surprised to see the stars winking back at her.

"I can't believe I slept so well." She mumbled.

"Must have been the company you had." Sango giggled when both teens blushed before she turned back around, leaving the two with the awkward statement. Kagome let a quick glance up at Inuyasha pass by, though shielded her eyes when she noticed the bitter facial expression he possessed.

"Sorry about leaning on you, I didn't know I would fall asleep." Kagome whispered. Inuyasha's gaze fell back onto her as she tried to keep her saddened face hidden. At the sudden look of depression, a thin frown crossed his lips before he let a reply slide across his lips.

"What's with the look? I didn't even yell at you this time."

"It's not you; I just remembered something is all." His curious look proved that he didn't buy the excuse.

"I highly doubt that you remembering something would automatically make you this sad."

"Well why do you even care?" She snapped out. He stared in shock for a minute before glaring back at her.

"Who says I even did care? I just didn't feel like getting screamed at by the others for pissing you off when I didn't even do anything." He replied, barely taking note of the women who was explaining the rules to the lodge. He had been to enough of them to realize that he couldn't slide down the railing of the stairs with his snowboard or anything else destructive.

"You say I'm the nosy one and yet you're always interrogating me! Is it not Oka that maybe I don't tell you everything that happens in my life? Or do I now have to write a story that goes along in case you forget what happened?"

"Enough with the bullshit and just tell me what is bugging you. You only go on ranting fits when you're pissed of or really hurt. And I can tell you're not bleeding, so what's pissing you off now?" His words were not the softest or kindest, but Kagome took into account what the meaning of the entire lecture. Not only had Inuyasha adapted to Kagome's way of life, but he was now able to tell when she was happy or upset. In most cases she would have been delighted, but she was too upset to care.

"Just listen to the owner of the cabins. I'll tell you later if I remember." She turned her focus onto the plump women that stood in front of the campers, finishing her speech about the cabins.

"-and so the hot tubs as well as the pool room will be open for you campers. Now that the rules have been read, I would just like to tell you one thing before you go. These mountains have been secluded for your camp alone for two of the tree days you will be here. Tomorrow and Wednesday will be free for you all to snowboard or ski, whatever you prefer.

"Even though the mountain is open for only you does not mean that any of the lift stops will be changed. The chair lift will start every morning at six, and will stop every night at six, right before dark. The chairs go from the bunny hills to the black diamonds and back, but once the chairs are shut down, you have to travel on foot. So I suggest that you always keep the time on you when it starts to get dark.

"Whatever you do, do not go onto the mountain when it is dark out. Though you are old enough to go out on your own, it is too hard to find anything out there at night time, and the mountains get very cold at night. Sometimes the weather will go down before freezing, even in the summer time. The mountains are much different than the towns you live in, which you will find out eventually. I warn you to stock up on blankets for your stay here.

"Now I want everyone to get off the bus so you can get your rooms at the front desk. If you have any more questions, ask your counselors and they will ask me, which I will try to respond to as quickly as possible. Other than that, have a great time!" The noise that had been long forgotten in the need for sleep now came back, the teens all excited for the small vacation up ahead.

"It's going to be so much fun! I can't wait to try out skiing!" Kikyo said, standing up and stretching. The other followed her lead before replying to her statement.

"It's too bad that snowboarders and skiers have their own mountains or else we could all hang out together." Miroku replied, slowly watching most of the teens on the bus pass him. Inuyasha only snorted.

"Well it gets Kouga out of our hair for a little while." At the rude remark, the still half asleep boy only growled.

"Watch it; I wouldn't want to have to drown you in the hot tub." At the mention of the warm water, Kagome's eyes instantly filled with joy.

"Do you think they're open now? I'd love to take a nice dip into one of those!"

"She explained it in the beginning, weren't you listening?" Kikyo asked, watching the younger girl blush before shaking her head. "Well she said they'll be open tonight, we can go in now since half of the teens looked like they were going to pass out from fatigue."

"Anyone wants to join us?" Kagome glanced around, watching the boys shake their heads. "Oh come on, it'll only be for a little while."

"I'm going to go check out the lodge." Inuyasha replied, stepping out of the bus. The chilling air from the mountain slapped his face, leaving his cheeks with a sting.

"I'm way too tired to go in the hot tub; I swear I'd fall asleep." Kouga smiled apologetically at the two girls who were now pouting.

"Well I'd love to join you!" Miroku's smile was anything but pure. Inuyasha quickly cuffed Miroku in the head, causing him to yelp in pain. "What was that for! You seem to be doing that much more than normal. Is it because I'd be seeing Kagome in her bathing suit while you weren't present?" Inuyasha only glared at the perverted boy, his blush apparent.

"Miroku, just remember you have to share a room with me...and I will make your life a living hell." Miroku quickly straightened up, glancing at the two girls.

"I think I'll just go with Inuyasha and check out the area, maybe some other time."

"Well what about you Sango, you want to come?" When Kagome hear no response, she glanced over to her friend. Sango's focus was not on the conversation, but rather the ground in front of her. At the concentrated look, Kagome could only shake her friend. "Hey, you Oka?"

"What?" Shaking her head, Sango chased away her thoughts. "I'm sorry guys, I must have zoned off. What did you ask?"

"We were just wondering if you wanted to go to the hot tubs with us." Kikyo seemed concerned as well, only showing it when placing her hand on Sango's shoulder.

"Oh sure, I just want to put our stuff in our cabin before we go Oka?"

"Sure, I'll go get the keys." Kikyo quickly turned towards her stuff, only to see it had already been picked up. Glancing up, she now realized Kouga was walking towards the front door with both their bags. "Kouga, what are you doing with my stuff!"

"Um, bringing it inside?" He glanced back to come in contact with a slightly angered face, though it seemed more panicked than upset. Staying confused for only a moment, Kouga quickly rolled his eyes. "It's only because you're too weak to do it yourself."

"Whatever just don't break anything." Kikyo quickly caught up with her partner before both teens walking into the lodge.

"Those two are very strange." Miroku said, laughing at the eccentric exit of the two.

"Come on, let's go get our rooms." Inuyasha said, leading the rest towards the lodge.

Scene Change

"This feels so good." Kagome smiled dreamily as she sunk into the water, adjusting her bathing suit before relaxing completely.

"I haven't been in one of these since I was home in my own." Kikyo quickly dipped into the water, glancing back at Sango, who was slightly shivering.

"Jeeze you two take too long to get in." Sango said, ducking her body into the hot water.

"Well sorry princess Sango, we'll be sure to buy you your own hot tub next time." Kagome said, rolling her eyes. Each girl laughed at the sarcastic comment, Sango splashing her friend with the warm water.

"Miroku told me he's going to teach me how to snowboard tomorrow, I haven't decided if that's a good idea or not. He and his wandering hands will be more frustrating than the snowboarding." Sango said, lightly pulling her hair out of her bun and letting it fall into the hot tub. Kikyo only rolled her eyes.

"You two make me sick, you know that?" Kikyo said. Sango stared at her before she continued. "You two may not be an official couple yet, but you two act like you've been together all your lives."

"We do not! We don't even like each other, where do you get that idea?" Sango's blush was not from the steam, but from her rush of embarrassment. Deciding to change up the subject before the two girls delved deeper into the embarrassing topic, Sango glanced over at Kagome. "What are you planning to do tomorrow?"

"I was going to go out and check out the trails with Inuyasha." Sango shifted slightly at the mention of Inuyasha.

"Do you want anyone to go with you? I mean it wouldn't bother me and Miroku if we went with you, I'm sure he can teach me some other time."

"No, don't worry about it. I'm sure I can handle Inuyasha, he isn't that bad. Besides, I think I have him all figured out."

"Wh-what! Why would you have to figure him out, there's nothing to figure out!" At the exclamation, Kikyo and Kagome arched eyebrows at their friend.

"Are you Oka? You're acting really weird..."

"I'm perfectly fine! I think I'm going to go get ready for bed, I'll see you two later." Sango grabbed her towel quickly as she stepped out of the water, letting the cold breeze skim past her bare legs. She wrapped the towel around her body before rushing into the lodge, ignoring uneasy glances from the two remaining in the hot tub.

"Oka, did that see a little...awkward?" Kagome asked.

"Even for Sango it was a little different. She seemed so edgy, like she was scared or something." Thinking for a moment, Kikyo's eyes widened before glancing back at Kagome. "Do you think it had something to do with Inuyasha? She only got that way when we were talking about him."

"What would Sango be scared of that involved Inuyasha? Those two are rarely ever alone, it's not like we wouldn't have noticed if something did happen between them." Besides, Inuyasha would never do anything to hurt Sango. She'd have no reason to be scared of him; we're probably just worrying over nothing...

"Whatever, I'm just saying it the way I see it. Why else would she be so willing to give up time to be alone with Miroku? I think she knows something we don't."

"Sango wouldn't hide something from me if she was scared, I'd be the first person she'd tell. Plus, she never gets scared." Kikyo sighed before staring across the hot tub to meet deep brown eyes.

"Maybe she wasn't telling you to keep you safe. I mean, it wouldn't surprise me with all the bad luck you've been having at the camp." At the sentence, Kagome rolled her eyes before responding.

"Says the girl who got stabbed, right?"

"Guess I have no ground to stand on, huh?" Kagome nodded before staring at the water.

"Kikyo, do you ever wonder who it was?" Kikyo shrugged.

"I figured that if I was in real danger, I would have been attacked again by now."

"But doesn't it scare you, knowing that it could have been anyone who had tried to kill you? If they had aimed a little lower..." Kikyo stood up suddenly, breaking Kagome's thoughts.

"Then I guess I'm just a pawn in a game. I have no control over what will happen, where I will be moved. I can only wait, but I will not run or hide. If they come back, I will not let them get the better of me again." Grabbing the fluffy pink towel beside the tub, Kikyo made her way through the door Sango had vanished through moments earlier.

"She may be just a pawn, but the game is anything but fun." Kagome sighed to herself as she stared above her, noticing the stars were brighter than she remembered. "A dangerous game and it keeps getting harder to play every day. Just how long will it be till we're all attacked again?" Kagome shuttered at the realization that the ruler of this sadistic competition was the only one who knew when new obstacles were placed onto the board. The shiver ran deeper when she remembered that they also controlled who was taken off as well.

"Stupid thoughts, I'm here to forget about all of that." Shaking the haunting visions away from her mind, Kagome followed her friends' examples and hurried into the lodge, trying to close out the negative thoughts that always seemed to slip their way back into her mind.

See, I was nice this time. I didn't end it on the cliffhanger, so you guys can't be mad at me this time! Aww, doesn't that suck? I'm sure that there is a lot of confusion between the characters, hoping that it all made sense for you all. So...What will happened on the trails? Will the attacker strike again? Are Miroku's hands doomed to be chopped off by Sango! Find out next time!

Chapter 25- The Truth About Miroku's Locket