A/N: Why hello there! Welcome to Chapter 16! We will be having only TWO of the main InuYasha cast here with us today! –dodges rotten vegetables- And since none of them will be saying it, This is not my anime! Although I TRY and get in a good half-hour's work if it got put onto a tv program, I still kind of doubt it would be a half hour. No matter though!

Sango: Jassy, just what the hell are you trying to do?

InuYasha: Keh, it doesn't matter now, does it! We're already in the story, damnit!

Sango: Well, might as well get it over with. –takes a deep breath- HIRAIKOTSU!

InuYasha: What the… AH! –gets hit with the Hiraikotsu-

Sango: Oh my god, are you okay InuYasha? You were supposed to catch that!

InuYasha: euuhh eah… -swirly eyes and is nearly knocked out-

.o0O0o. Chapter Sixteen

New Friends or Fated Enemy .o0O0o.

"A-Ayame?" Kagome stuttered, not believing her eyes. Kagome remained motionless, paralyzed with after-shock and fear of seeing Ayame.

"Are you okay Kagome?" Ayame questioned as she extended her arm out. Kagome gladly took the hand, pulling herself to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think," Kagome said a little skeptically. "Just a little shook up I guess. Say, you wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you? Or maybe where the next village is?" Kagome asked, full of hope that she might actually be able to get home. Ayame's eyes brightened as she recalled passing a village just twenty kilometres from the two girl's current locations.

"Yes actually! There was one a few minutes back. Hop on!" Ayame said cheerfully as she turned around and squatted down slightly into a position that Kagome would be able to mount for a piggy back. Kagome gladly accepted, slipping on her backpack then mounted onto Ayame. The two sped off, leaving a tornado of leaves and a few flowers in their midst. "So what's up with you and Kouga?" Ayame asked a little while after the two sped off. Kagome blushed a dark crimson as she recalled the past events between herself and her lover. Both Ayame and Kagome laughed as Kagome recalled a couple of incidents between InuYasha and Kouga.

.o0O0o. Flashback .o0O0o.

"C'mon follow me!" Kagome called out as if she was a leader. Behind her were about 150 villagers, scared out of their minds. She ran straight towards the forest, knowing that she could make it out of the massacre. Just then, about 60 panther demons circled Kagome and the villagers. Kagome then put up a brave face and then marched straight up to the ambushing demons.

"What are you doing? Aren't we supposed to be your live sacrifice? You can't just kill us!" Kagome then pushed her way through a couple of the panther demons who were too flabbergasted to react.

"That's our gal!" Hakkaku cried happily, cheering for his Sister. Kouga's arms were crossed, a content smile gracing his facial features, his eyes dancing with pride.

"Well don't just stand there, Clear her a path!" Kouga exclaimed as he punched and kicked his way through some panther demons with Ginta and Hakkaku also kicking and punching a path for their Sister.

.o0O0o. End Flashback .o0O0o.

"Are you serious?" Ayame couldn't help but laugh. Both Kagome and Ayame were getting along like sisters, discussing the things that Kouga did and said. Kagome felt that the ties between herself and Ayame were growing stronger and that eventually the two could be good friends.

"Yeah. And the funny thing is, that the three of them actually did it!" Kagome was trying so hard not to laugh. Ayame and Kagome were then swapping the quirkiest things that Kouga had done and said until they could think of no other things. By the time the two reached the edge of the forest, they were red in the face from laughing so hard.

Once Ayame had dropped Kagome off at the forest's edge, Kagome thanked her acquaintance. "Oh by the way, if you see InuYasha or any of the others, could you tell them that I'm okay?" Kagome pleaded. Ayame nodded and did as Kagome requested. She knew better than to ask Kagome questions, since she herself barely understood Kagome's ways.

"Another village, another Miko that I have to dress as. How fun," Kagome said with a bored and monotone voice. She herself didn't like the heavy and hot robes that a Miko was forced to wear to symbolize their status. The robes were thick and itchy, completely unlike the uniform that she wore on a daily basis. Kagome took the folded robes out of her –as usual – overstuffed yellow backpack. "Thanks Ayame. Here," Kagome tossed Ayame something shiny. Ayame caught it with lightening speed in her hot little palm.

'What is this?' Ayame thought to herself as she opened her hand very slowly, unsure of what the object could be or what it could do. In the palm of Ayame was a white gold heart-shaped locket with another heart beautifully engraved on the front of the locket. Surrounding the heart were small whisps of what looked like vines. In the very middle of the beautifully engraved cover of the locket was a 5 k. diamond in the shape of a brilliant star. The star was so elegant that it could have been inspired from just looking at the North Star.

Not knowing how to thank Kagome, Ayame just nodded then ran off. Kagome gazed at where Ayame had just been a few seconds ago and then snapped back to reality. She made a quick but thorough search of the woods around her, making sure that no one would see her getting changed into her Miko robes. Though in the Era she was currently in had so few people that took privacy in their body parts, Kagome still felt uncomfortable if someone she didn't trust saw her without any clothes on.

"Ick," Kagome complained, "No matter how many times I've worn this kind of outfit, I still really, REALLY don't like how hot they are! I don't see how any of the others can stand it!" Kagome rolled her eyes with extreme fatigue. She could feel her eyelids start to collate to one another. "Well, I'm already here. I might as well go and see what I can do!" Kagome said cheerfully.

Once she had hidden her backpack behind one of the huts, Kagome went for a walk around the village. Her walk was soon interrupted as a middle-aged woman with a young boy in her arms came rushing to Kagome.

"Miko-sama!" The woman called out desperately. "Miko-sama!"

"What is it?" Kagome asked hurriedly, knowing that if a woman brought her child with her, then the child was in a serious condition.

"It's my boy. He be tired and he continues to cough and can not speak! He keeps clutching at his throat and chest, moaning and turning all day. Can not sleep and is forever shaking, that he is!" The woman nearly burst out in tears in front of Kagome out of pure fear for her son's life. Kagome asked the woman if she could see the woman's hut. The woman agreed quickly and walked hurriedly towards the hut.

"Oh my gosh!" Kagome gasped as she saw the little boy. His whole body was covered in cold sweat and he was not only shivering violently, but he his eyes were abnormally puffed up.

"It-It's mono!" Kagome gasped with the sound of a whisper. Her right hand was slowly making it's way to the boy's face while her left hand was covering her mouth. Kagome's eyes were wide open with shock.

"Mononucleosis is the disease that's so much like the flu! How could this child have gotten it if it's only transmitted between kissing?" Kagome asked the mother of the young child. The mother just gave Kagome a scared look as she had no idea of what Kagome was talking about. Kagome sighed heavily and then explained that Mono is an infectious viral disease that causes flu-like symptoms of fatigue so severe that work and studies are forced to brake to a halt for periods of weeks, sometimes months.

"Mono starts with headaches, being really tired, puffy eyes, a bad fever and little appetite. But it can eventually get so bad that he'll be having really a sore throat and swollen lymph nodes," Kagome stopped trying to remember the rest of the manuscript that her grandfather had made her read over and over again, just like every other malady that she was going to have and had already had.

"But Miko-sama, be there any way to get him better?" The mother's eyes were wide with fear and were pleading for an answer. Kagome shook her said solemnly.

"There isn't an actual cure for what he's got ma'am. The only thing that we can do now is to give him lots of rest and keep him eating. Okay?" Kagome made the directions as clearly and as simply as she could so that the frenzied woman wouldn't get too confused. She then patted the woman's shoulder with a soft smile.

The middle aged woman brought her child up to her chest and cried both tears of happiness and joy. Her son was going to be alright and wasn't going to die! Kagome sat back onto her knees, mentally exhausted from recalling so much information of which she thought was going to be useless.

But as she closed her eyes, the world in front of her didn't fade away and get engulfed into the darkness. Instead, the world was being displayed on the back of her eyes exactly as it was before. Everything was as clear as if her eyes weren't even closed at all. She scanned the place, not believing it was possible. Then her eyes lingered over to the boy.

There was something, different, about the boy now. There seemed to be something crawling over him. 'Ew it looks a little like Jaken, only it's blue,' Kagome mentally shivered in disgust. 'Hey wait a minute. That…thing. Where have I seen it before?' Kagome was trying to ignore the little man scratching at the back of her mind and yelling out something, but Kagome just couldn't make out what the little man was saying.

Kagome hesitantly reached out to touch the creature. But as soon as her fingers got near the hideous deep blue creature with oval shaped yellow eyes with no iris's and just a pupil, the creature disappeared. No, not disappeared, disintegrated and then blew away with the wind.

"EEEW! Gross!" Kagome shrieked, completely disgusted by what she had just done. She immediately brought her hands up to her face as a reflex. Kagome's body was not one to welcome new sensations so openly, so her sense of touch immediately made her hands recoil. Since her eyes were already closed, Kagome could not get the sight of the little creatures out from behind her eyes no matter how much she wanted it to.

"Hey, I get it!" Kagome finally clued in. "If I touch these li'l guys, they'll disappear. But, what are they?" Kagome asked hesitantly as she went to go and touch the one remaining.

"Huh," Kagome spoke as she then opened her eyes, looking properly at her hands, not fully comprehending what she had just done. She then looked at the little boy.

"M-Miko-Sama…" The mother said with a feared tone of voice. Kagome looked over to the middle-aged woman and gave her a puzzled look. The woman was holding onto a now wide awake child in her arms of whom had no physical evidence that he was sick other than the dark bags underneath his eyes.

"Miko-sama," the boy started, exhaustion running deep in his voice, "I thinks that ye have cured me, and for that, I give ye my thanks," the boy finished with a weak smile before he fell asleep.

"Uh…"Kagome's jaw was agape, not exactly knowing what she had done or why the boy was thanking her. Her facial expressions eventually softened into a warm smile as she gently caressed the little boys face. 'He even looks a little like Souta,' Kagome mused. The resemblance between the two was uncanny, but Kagome knew that it couldn't be possible.

"Well I guess I should be going now, huh?" Kagome said as she stood up and headed for the door. "He should be fine now," Kagome explained, 'though I don't know how.' The woman bowed deeply with the utmost respect towards Kagome and held open her bamboo screen for Kagome to pass through.

"Me thanks ye from the bottom of this old heart. Be there anything I can do for ye? At all?" The woman pleaded, needing to know if she could repay Kagome with anything at all for saving her son's life.

"Well now that you mentioned it," Kagome thought pensively, "you wouldn't happen to know the way to the Forest of InuYasha would you?" Kagome clasped both her hands together and was practically up in the woman's face for her help. The mother thought about it for a second, then stabbed the air above her head with her index finger, indicating that she had an idea of some sort.

"Yes, thou would be going northwards for some time, and then finding of ye's forest should ye be doing," the lady pointed north towards a small path that headed deep into the forest. Kagome squealed in glee, so happy that she would be finally going home.

"Thank you!" Kagome clasped the woman's hands with an extremely happy smile and then ran off into the forest as fast as she could. 'I'm going home. I'm going home.' Kagome chanted in her head, extremely gleeful.

.o0O0o. With InuYasha .o0O0o.

"Inuyasha, do you think Kagome will be coming back?" Shippo asked as he chewed on a twig, wishing that it was a candy stick that Kagome would always bring back whenever she went home. "And what about Kikyo?"

"It's true InuYasha, without either one of them we have no leads on any shards. All we can do is go by the village rumours. And you know how unreliable those can be," Sango pointed out, doing her best to bring back Kagome. InuYasha just gave his infamous keh and continued to walk, completely ignoring the rest of the group.

Miroku sighed heavily. "If he's going to be like this, then we might as well take a break!" Miroku exclaimed, making the best of an uncomfortable situation. Sango, Shippo and Kilala all agreed with an enthusiastic nod.

"Hey Sango, do you remember when Kagome was still with us and Kagome was madly in love with her?" Shippo asked, still nibbling on his twig.

"Yes, of course. After all it wasn't that long ago. Why?" Miroku asked as he brought his legs up onto the rock he was sitting on. Miroku was looking up into the cloudless sky through a part in between two trees.

"Well you remember how Kouga would pop up always pleading that Kagome went with him? Then InuYasha would get super over-protective and insist that Kagome stay with us?" Shippo went on.

"What are you getting at Shippo?" Sango asked, slamming her wrists onto the rock that Shippo was currently sitting on. Sango was quickly growing impatient. Normally, Sango could wait for hours for Shippo to finally say something, but since he was talking about Kagome, she couldn't even tolerate patience.

"Well do either of you think that this will mean that InuYasha will be trying to get Kagome to come back with us, like Kouga did?" Shippo finally got out. Sango's tense face and muscles made Shippo a little nervous because he knew what Sango was capable of –especially when it involved ripping off the limbs of demons.

"Wait a sec. That might actually work!" Sango cried out, lifting her hands from the stone. She took a step back and grabbed her Hiraikotsu, as she never went anywhere without it.

"Uh, Sango?" Miroku took a strong step forwards, placing his hand on Sango's shoulder. "I think that I should talk to InuYasha about this," Miroku proposed. Sango gave Miroku a defensive glare, telling him that she was fully capable of convincing her friend to get her best friend back.

"Fine!" Sango snapped back with an extremely loud and bossy tone of voice. Miroku was indifferent about the tone of voice Sango chose to reply in, but Shippo was quite taken back. He scurried to behind Kilala, who was remaining in her smaller form for the time being.

"C'mon Kilala," Sango beckoned, "I need to calm down," Sango said in a very angry voice, but hints of sadness were audible. Kilala gladly followed her mistress and mewed contently once she had seated down on Sango's shoulder.

.o0O0o. With InuYasha .o0O0o.

"Kagome," InuYasha half-whispered, a sound that was drowning in sorrow and despair. InuYasha's eyes were closed with his bangs covering his eyes. Watching the sun set behind four small mountains up in the tree he and Kagome used to sit in all the time was all InuYasha could do anymore. Though he acted tough in front of everyone else, InuYasha deep down really did care for all of them, and being weak was not the way to protect them.

Crossing his arms and legs, InuYasha was in a much more comfortable position, even though he would most likely fall out of the tree in any given second. 'Why did you leave us?' InuYasha thought in his head with the same sorrow that he had audited. 'I…we are never broken. These hands have cut you and hurt you so many times. I don't even know if I deserve your trust.' And with that, InuYasha fell into a fitful, dreamless sleep.

.o0O0o. With Kagome .o0O0o.

"Hey there old tree!" Kagome greeted the Goshinboku as she sat down on one of it's uprooted roots. Kicking up her heels onto another one of the roots, Kagome leaned back into the roots that were –at the moment- doubling as a recliner for Kagome. She slipped off her backpack and stretched, dramatically slowly extending out her arms and taking in a deep breath, rolling her shoulders back as she did so.

"So what stories do you have to tell this time?" Kagome asked the tree with the smile of one so innocent, you'd never think that it was possible for that person to grow up and meet the big, scary world around them. As her hand gently caressed the bark of the century-old tree, Kagome's mind was flooded with memories.

"When the well rooted over with the bark and branches from the Tree of Ages, I was stuck in my time and had no way of ever coming back! But my connection with InuYasha couldn't be broken no matter what, and our love for one another came through," Kagome spoke gently to herself, her face etched in such a way that Kagome was crying, only there was no visible trace of tears or any sadness at all on her face.

"All of the things that InuYasha and I had done. All of which I had wished that there had been more of a relationship between the two of us. But now," Kagome stopped her train of thought and gave a warm but weak smile, "I'm not sure if there is anything between us anymore. I have told myself I love Kouga, but I will always love InuYasha. When someone falls in love for the first time, it seems like whomever they love will always be loved and will always keep the majority of that person's heart. InuYasha, I'll always love you, no matter the case. Kouga, it ails my heart to think that…I might not be able to love you as much as I love InuYasha."

Just as Kagome was about to get back to her feet, she felt a slight tremor underneath her feet. Being aware that her current surroundings weren't the best if she had to go up against a large demon, she darted to her feet with her arrow and bow in her hands. But Kagome had neither her bow nor her arrows nor her quiver once she had arrived. It was almost as if her choice of weapons just magically appeared in her grasp.

Shaking the matter out of her head, Kagome peered around the forest, getting ready for anyone and anything if they happened to attack her. Kagome started to draw out her Miko powers and sent them slowly to her weapon. The tremors under her feet were rocking her back and forth, but the rocking was not at all comforting. Nearly losing her balance many a times, Kagome backed into the Goshinboku, leaning on the tree for it's stability.

Out of nowhere, an abnormally large fire cat appeared out of the shrubbery, towering above Kagome. The flaming feline was easily as tall as a three story building with a black marking in the shape of a diamond in the middle of his forehead. His mane was as equally black as his ears. From the tips of his paws to his elbows lay black fur. His tail looked like someone had dipped the ends a quarter of the way in an ink well and then shook the tail, creating an effect of flames running partway up the tail.

"He's too big for me to take out on my own," Kagome whispered to herself, trying to make as little noise as possible as she had darted towards the nearest tree and leaned on the solid bark, hoping that if she made herself as small as possible, the beast wouldn't notice her. Kagome shut her eyes and scrunched them as hard as she could out of fear. She had come face to face with demons much worse than this one, but at the time, she had been with InuYasha and the rest of her clique, so she was protected. This time, she was on her own, nearly completely defenceless.

Kagome held her breath, making sure that the demon wouldn't be able to smell her breath of hear her breathing, for in her current state, her breath was choppy with fear and the flame feline would definitely notice her –that is –if he hadn't noticed her already.

"Koruna!" The oversized cat demon gave a roar, shaking its head from side to side, as if proving that it was the new king of the forest. Kagome's lungs were burning and that frightening roar wasn't helping her keep her breath inside of her. Kagome was taken back by not only the size, but the beauty of the demon cat. Even though he bore some of the resemblances of Kilala, it was still extremely facile to tell the two of the felines apart.

"My gosh," Kagome gasped, "he looks so much like Kilala!" Kagome then went wide eyed with realization as her brain just told her that not only had she just let out her breath, but she had also spoken, giving off her location and presence almost as loudly as if she had a foghorn and tooted it, for she knew that the cat in front of her ear's had already picked up Kagome's words before she had even finished saying the first word.

As the cat whipped his head around looking straight at the tree that Kagome was partially behind, his ears pressed flat against his head. Kagome clasped her hands over her mouth, making even more sound than necessary and mentally kicking herself for being so stupid. The feline gradually advanced towards Kagome, slowly and gracefully, almost as if he would jump at any moment. He then lowered his body to the ground and moved even more slowly, definitely stalking Kagome.

With one swift movement, the two tail laid himself completely flat onto the ground, then pounced directly towards Kagome. Being completely defenceless, Kagome screamed as high pitch as she possibly could. The cat, of which was still airborne disappeared out of plain sight.

Kagome –out of fear for her own life –didn't even open her eyes when she felt nothing and heard nothing. She stayed completely still, not breathing or moving. When she finally got enough courage to breath again, Kagome opened her right eye and gave a quick glance of the area.

"No giant cat," Kagome breathed out thankfully. She then opened her eyes fully and looked around, just to be on the safe side of things. She looked up into the trees, on the ground in front of her. No sign of the big cat. Kagome slowly got to her feet, her wits about her and her eyes still scanning the area for the big cat. Relieved to find that nothing in her path was dangerous, Kagome reached for her bag and walked to the well.

"KORUNA!" A loud roar shook the forest, knocking Kagome flat off her feet and straight onto her stomach, knocking the wind right out of her. Her chest on fire, Kagome turned her head and looked at the face of the cat demon, her face scrunched up slightly due to pain.

The massive beast pounced straight towards Kagome, barely missing her legs with his massive paws. Kagome barely had the strength to look at the beast after the tremor that it had just sent through the ground. But when she did, she was even too tired to notice the familiar pink glow that was emanating from the back of the cat's head.

"Ko?" The demon cat questioned as he sniffed Kagome, who was too scared to swat the demon away. Kagome flinched as the wet nose of the cat demon sniffed her incredulously, running his nose over Kagome's shirt and legs, taking one good sniff of her hair while he was at it.

"H-hey! Cut it out!" Kagome managed to say between giggles. Completely forgetting the fact that this demon could easily bite her head off without it even having to open his mouth half-way, Kagome pushed the cat's nose away from herself with her hands in an attempt to stop the tickling. But the cat just swerved his head and pushed against Kagome's hands with his cold, wet nose, pressing his sniffer onto Kagome's shirt once more.

Trying to get to her feet but failing miserably due to the heavy weight of the head of the flaming feline partially on top of her, Kagome squirmed trying to get away from the cat.

Then, as if the feline could read her mind (hehe, I rhymed!) he backed off and took a few steps back. Kagome was unsure of what the cat was about to do, so she brought her left arm up to her face, bracing for impact.

Flames then engulfed the fat, covering his entire body. Kagome was shocked at the sight, but then calmed down as the flames grew smaller. And in a matter of seconds, where there was a three-story tall cat demon standing not five seconds ago, was now a positively ADORABLE demon kitten.

"Oh my gosh!" Kagome squealed extremely high pitched. She ran over directly to where the demon kitten was and got onto her knees to get a better look at the adorable creature. She cupped her hands and put them out in front of the kitten, waiting for him to jump into her hands. When he finally did, she squealed even more and brought the two tailed up for an enormous hug! "You're just so cute!" Kagome exclaimed as she gently stroked the cat's head.

"You need a name!" Kagome decided as she took the cat an arm length away. Kagome stared into the crimson red eyes with pupils only slits.

"Mew!" The kitten replied, nodding his head ever so slightly. Kagome found this irresistibly cute and had to resist the urge to huggle the poor creature to death.

"How does…," Kagome trailed off, trying to think of a name.

.o0O0o. Flashback .o0O0o.

"Koruna!" The oversized cat demon gave a roar, shaking its head from side to side, as if proving that it was the new king of the forest

.o0O0o. End flashback .o0O0o.

"Koruna!" Exclaimed, finding the name to be perfect. "How does Koruna sound to you?" Kagome asked the little kitten. The two tailed mewed softly, glad with it's new name. "Well then, Koruna it is!"

As soon as Kagome had decided on a name for the two tailed, Koruna jumped out of Kagome's grasp and started scratching at the big yellow backpack that Kagome owned.

"Hey! What are you doing!" Kagome demanded as she ran towards her back pack. Koruna had somehow managed to open one of the pockets in Kagome's back pack and was sniffing and searching everything. He then got really excited and started jumping around once he got to a certain pocket.

'Oh no!' Kagome mentally groaned. 'Don't tell me he found the catnip already!'

.o0O0o. .o0O0o.

A/N: Okay! Another chapter! Two in two weeks, pretty fail bargain! Considering I only got TWO reviews for the last chapter. But hey! Beggars can't be choosers, right? Oh well! Such is life! But, in order for chapter XVII, I would like….100 reviews! C'mon people, we're so close! We can do it!

.o0O0o. Reviews .o0O0o.

Michelle Michie( ): Why, I try to keep Kouga in his own characteristic border lines. But it's not very easy, because Kagome doesn't even go with him in the real manga and anime, but that's okay. O and do you really think the ending was suspenseful? I actually tried hard there, but I couldn't manage to get a very suspenseful ending this time. But I promise that I WILL have the –coughs- OTHER Kagome in.

Sakurablossomskxk: Loving yet strong, sweet yet tough. Isn't that the kind of guy that every girl would want? Tell me it is. Okay readers, who here DOESN'T want a guy like that, huh? I like ur new display name! U noe that Sakura means cherry in Jap, right?