Chapter Three

"Don't be afraid to take a big step. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps."
-David Lloyd George

Kagome was scribbling in her notepad when he returned, internally flinching at the glares from his other four companions. He huffed and ignored them, grabbing a bowl and chopsticks from beside the fire and spooning out a helping of the rice they'd cooked for dinner.

"You might wanna know that Kohaku's doing fine," he grumbled, looking at the still glaring taijiya. "He's healing and he misses you. If I hadn't gone to talk to her you wouldn't know that so quit givin' me the evil eye."

He pulled the shard out and held it out towards Kagome who finally looked up from her work. "Oi, wench, that's for you." He dropped it into her palm and then jumped into the nearest branch of the tree she rested against.

Kagome didn't say a word as she put the shard with the rest and went back to her homework. Everyone pretty much kept to themselves for the rest of the night, with the exception of Miroku who attempted on several occasions to place his hands where they weren't wanted only to receive several welts from Sango and a warning growl from Kirara.

Well, there was no way she was going to be able to concentrate on her calculous now. Not that she'd been doing such a great job of it in the first place. After checking her answers, half of them had been wrong. Thankfully there were only a few more months left in the semester and she would be done for good. It was hard to believe that she had actually gotten as far as she had with the marks she'd gotten, but it didn't matter now how she'd done it, only that she had done it.

Instead of worrying about it, she put her books aside and drew her knees to her chest, looking through half lidded eyes at her friends and pondering the one thing that had been plaguing her mind all day long. How to be of the most use to them?

Despite Inuyasha's constant griping about how they needed to go in search of the shards so that they'd have plenty when it came time to kill Naraku, they all were well aware of the fact that there were likely no errant shards left. All that there was were in the possession of Kagome or Naraku with the exception of the three Kouga had and the one keeping Kohaku alive. But searching, even if it was futile, was better than sitting around waiting for something to happen.

It was her fault the jewel had broken in the first place even though no one, except Inuyasha on occasion, saw fit to say so. If it hadn't been for her the jewel would still be in one piece and Naraku wouldn't be that big of a threat, Sango's family would still be alive, Shippou wouldn't be an orphan and Kikyou would still be dead. If she had stayed in the village like she was supposed to, the bandits would have never captured her and the crow would have never gotten the jewel. If she'd had better archery skills, she wouldn't have had to use the crow's leg to get the arrow to hit thereby missing the crow and hitting the jewel.

Stupid three eyes bird...

And because the whole mess was her fault, it was her responsibility to make things right. She had just as much of a responsibility to kill Naraku and rejoin the jewel as anyone else there - probably more. She hugged her knees and sighed, glancing around camp.

Definitely more.

It was times like these, when she could sit back and watch through half closed eyes, that she learned the most about her friends. When they didn't think they were being watched, they would drop their masks, for all of them wore one, and reveal their true feelings. One could tell a lot by just watching them.

Sango sat on the other side of the fire with Kirara in her lap. She used a doll brush that Kagome had brought to comb out Kirara's hair so that it would be soft and silky. The neko seemed to be enjoying it as she had turned over on her back with her feet propped up in the air so that the taijiya could comb her belly. It was a position of trust for the feline to expose her most vulnerable area so willingly.

She saw the way Sango's shoulders drooped and knew that Inuyasha's comment about Kohaku had depressed her. It wasn't really Inuyasha's fault though. She knew the source of the taijiya's disappointment was that Kikyou was the one helping him to heal and not herself as she felt it should be. It bothered her, and rightly so, that her brother was conscious and out of Naraku's grasp but that she couldn't be with him, even after all this time. Her heart went out to the poor woman. Sometimes, late at night, she could hear her crying softly in her sleep. Even after all this time she still grieved for her father and fellow slayers.

Her gaze shifted to Miroku, who sat against a tree not far from her, to her right. His legs were crossed Indian style under his kimono and his staff rested on the trunk beside him. Lying open in his lap was a copy of Journey to the West she had brought for him and Sango figuring it would keep them entertained when they had little else to do without exposing them to too many unusual things seeing as the tale had been written around the same time as Sengoku Jidai.

While he read, he unconsciously fiddled with the beads that held his Kazanna closed and she frowned, remembering the dark look that had passed his features the night before when they were discussing their ages. Three years they'd been traveling together. It wasn't long after they started, now that she thought back on it, that a youkai had torn his wind tunnel and the old monk, Mushin, had predicted a year before the void consumed him if he stopped using it; less if he continued as he had been. That had been three years ago.

Her eyes rose from the bead covered hand to his face. His features were still young and boyish when relaxed but now there was an ever preset crease in his brow, the remnants of too many worry lines. He obviously spent more time contemplating his imminent demise than he would let people think. It must be difficult to keep up a front of optimism and jovial attitude when one doesn't know what the future holds or even if one has a future to plan for.

Shippou sat on the other side of her backpack, leaning against it. The only indication of his whereabouts was the constant beep and tick from a hand held video game Souta had let her bring. She'd taught him how to play Tetris and he'd become addicted just as Souta had before such things as PSP2 and Grand Theft Auto.

Her heart went out to him. She didn't know what had happened to his mother, but he'd obviously had only his father for some time and then had seen the Thunder Brothers kill him for a Shikon shard. This ragtag group of misfits was the only family he had left. She wasn't much of a mother, too immature to know what she was doing, but she was all he had. As a maternal figure, she felt guilty each time they went into battle and he had to witness the bloodshed. The instinctual need to shelter him was almost overwhelming.

She tilted her head back and looked up, catching only a glimpse of the hanyou's hakama through the leaves. She was probably the only one who really knew the hanyou. Years and years of keeping up a tough front, building and rebuilding walls around his heart and locking out his emotions had left it near impossible to get to know the real man. Though he wasn't as impassive as his elder brother, he still managed to keep things bottled up. She just wished he didn't feel the need to hide from them.

I'd do anything to help them, she thought to herself, closing her eyes. I just wish I knew how...

She hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep until she awoke to find the rest of the camp in bed and the fire beginning to die out. Someone, probably a silver haired hanyou, had picked her up and placed her in the sleeping bag next to the kitsune and she yawned, stretching. Overhead two shimmering lights passed by and she could just make out the eel-like shape of Kikyou's soul collectors. They weren't summoning Inuyasha this time, though. They were delivering newly gathered souls to their mistress.

Kikyou travels and she's a trained miko.

The thought came unbidden into her head and her eyes widened before squinting shut and she smacked herself in the forehead with the palm of her hand. No way. No way in all of Emma-O's domain would I ever ask for her help. Nuh-uh. No.

Another part of her conscious crept forward, evilly aging her own. You said you'd do anything to help the others. Anything, remember? She bit her lip to keep from groaning out loud, mentally arguing with herself and, at the same time, questioning her sanity. There's got to be another way. The kamis wouldn't be so cruel. Would they?

Feeling the tug of a demonic aura, she opened her eyes and looked up to see two more soul youkai slowly headed back towards the river. Who am I kidding? Of course they would.

Steeling her resolve, she carefully extracted herself from the sleeping bag, making sure the kitsune was tucked in comfortably and then grabbed her shoes, which had been taken off of her by someone. She'd said she'd do whatever it took and if this is what it took, then so be it.

Everyone, including Inuyasha seemed to be asleep, so she crept out of camp, following the pull of demonic aura that signified the Shini-dama-chuu.

Inuyasha growled under his breath when he saw the miko leaving camp. Where could she be going after having been so tired she'd fallen asleep doing her homework. It was enough he'd had to put her in bed, but now he had to track her through the woods while she fucking sleepwalked? Damn wench.

He followed her, staying far enough behind to keep from being noticed. It hadn't been long after he'd started following that he'd realized she was fully awake and just being stupid, wandering around the woods in the middle of the night. Was it her goal in life to give him heart attacks? Did she enjoy making him worry? If he didn't know better, he'd have to say yes.

Finally she stopped and he was about to go question her when he realized where she'd gone. She'd followed the soul catchers to Kikyou's camp and was currently working on getting the miko's attention.

What the hell? He couldn't help the knot that formed in the pit of his stomach. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

Kohaku lay at the base of a tree, curled over on his side and sleeping soundly. Kikyou, who required no sleep, was using this time to restock on souls. When she felt the presence of another miko, the other half of her soul, she turned staring at her reincarnation while the last of the souls were deposited into her body.

"You are out late," she commented as if it were no surprise she had come.

Kagome shifted nervously, beginning to second guess her hasty decision. "Yeah, well...I couldn't sleep." She reached up and tugged at the bottle of shards around her neck. "You gave us a shikon shard." It was more of a question than a statement and she tilted her head to the side curiously when Kikyou shrugged.

"I had no use for the jewel when it was whole, save for my duty to protect it. I certainly have no use for the shards now." She moved from the bank of the stream and sat in the middle of the clearing, silently inviting Kagome to join her. "You didn't come looking for me just to ask why I handed over a shard of the jewel, did you?"

Kagome scowled and sat on her knees across from her. "Of course not. I wasn't that curious."

"Good. Then why did you want to find me?" She folded her hands in her lap, looking every bit the prim and proper lady and leaving Kagome feeling less than adequate in her dirtied blue jeans and torn shirt with her hair uncombed and probably with leaves sticking out of it. "Or were you just taking a midnight stroll?"

Kagome crossed her arms over her chest, not enjoying being poked fun at by her rival. "Forget it. It's not important and you'd just laugh anyway." She started to stand, but was held back by Kikyou's protests.

"No, stay. I wish to know."

She sighed and settled back down. "I want to kill Naraku. I mean, not alone of course, but I wanna be able to help somehow without just being in the way. I know I can, but I don't know what to do." She shook her head. "People keep telling me that I'm supposed to be this great miko and that they can sense this huge power in me and all this stuff, but I've never seen it. Or I didn't until yesterday when that Naraku puppet attacked us."

Kikyou leaned forward slightly. "And what happened then?"

Kagome held her hands out, palm up, looking at them. "I thought he'd killed Inuyasha and that he was gonna kill me and Shippou. I was so angry and upset and then...nothing...it was like I couldn't feel anything and I was disconnected from my body. I protected Shippou and myself with a barrier that I haven't a clue how I erected and I could feel this weird sensation going through me. When I shot him with that arrow, there was nearly ten times or more the normal power behind it. Just raw power. I wanna know how to bring that out whenever I want to."

"That still doesn't tell me why you were looking for me."

She sighed and hung her head, mumbling something that the other woman couldn't make out. When asked to repeat it she took a deep breath, blurting out as quickly as possible, "I need you to teach me."

"Beg your pardon?" Kikyou's shocked countenance was nothing in comparison to the livid surprise written on the hanyou's features when he face faulted out of a tree and landed behind Kagome.

"What the fuck!" He was unable to keep quiet any longer and landed nimbly near the two girls.

Kikyou didn't flinch although Kagome winced at his tone. "I wondered when you would make your presence known."

"So much for ignoring him," Kagome mumbled and then gave him a pointed glare. "What are you doing following me, anyway?"

"Stupid wench, what did you think I was gonna do when you went off by yourself in the middle of the night? Would you rather I let you get eaten or something?" He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled down at her. "Now, what are you doing here?"

She crossed her own arms, closing her eyes and sticking her nose in the air. "I don't see how it's any of your business."

The vein in his forehead, above his eye, ticked slightly and he barely managed to suppress a growl. "It sure as hell is my business, wench, so out with it."

"No!" She exclaimed heatedly, standing. "No, it's not." She poked him in the chest with each word to emphasize her point and then put her hands on her hips. "What I do on my time is my business and no one else's. And if I wanna learn how to be a miko then I'll learn how to be a miko and no one, not even you, is gonna tell me any different. And if I wanna ask Kikyou to teach me, then that's my decision too, got it?"

They stared each other down for several long minutes during which Kohaku had been awakened by their yelling and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He blinked in confusion and looked from Kikyou to Kagome to Inuyasha and back again. He'd definitely missed something...

Finally, Kagome groaned in exasperation and threw her hands up in the air. "If you weren't injured I'd 's-i-t' you."

"Go ahead, bitch. It ain't gonna win the argument."

She glared at him for another second before straitening, her features slacking into a more resolute expression. "You're right, because there is not argument." She turned to Kikyou. "If you agree to teach me, then I'll learn. End of discussion."

His golden eyes widened and he took a step towards her, pointing a finger in her direction. "Now wait just a damn minute. This ain't over."

"Yes, it is." She turned solemn azure eyes on him. "You're not my father or my boyfriend or my husband. I don't need your permission." Returning her gaze to Kikyou, she asked, "Well?"

Kikyou took a steadying breath. The longer their argument pursued, the harder it became to hold back her emotions. The two were so open with one another and expressive with their thoughts, even if they did get a little loud at times. There was an honesty to their relationship that she and the hanyou had never achieved. Perhaps if they had been more expressive instead of trying so hard to be polite and proper all the time...

Well, the past could not be changed and there was no use in dwelling on it.

"This has gone on for far too long," she said, finally. "Everything else seems to have been tested and failed. Perhaps it is time to bring a new factor into the equation. Learning to control your abilities and not rely on raw emotion just might be what is needed to end Naraku. It cannot hurt to try." She looked over her shoulder at the boy who had been watching them silently. "Kohaku, we will be following Inuyasha for a short while. You will have to stay with your sister while I work with Kagome."

He nodded and stood. "Yes, Kikyou-sama."

"We will start tomorrow morning. Good night, then." She knew her presence in their camp would only make everyone uncomfortable and it would seem awkward and that was why she had made it so that she would not be required to stay in their camp and could just send for the girl.

"You're welcome to join us." Kagome asked quietly, looking at the ground. She felt guilty for Kikyou's reluctance to join them, knowing it was because of the tension between the three of them regarding the future - Inuyasha's future

Huh? Inuyasha stared at her with unconcealed surprise. Had she actually just invited Kikyou to come with them? He sniffed the air to assure himself that these were indeed the real Kikyou and Kagome and not some puppets made up by Naraku. Clarifying that it really was their scents that he was taking in, he shook his head slightly. "I think Hell just froze over," he muttered under his breath.

? Inuyasha stared at her with unconcealed surprise. Had she actually just Kikyou to come with them? He sniffed the air to assure himself that these were indeed the real Kikyou and Kagome and not some puppets made up by Naraku. Clarifying that it really was their scents that he was taking in, he shook his head slightly. "I think Hell just froze over," he muttered under his breath.

But not so low that Kagome didn't hear. Still peeved at his previous display of desired control over her life, she narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Inuyasha, sit."

He crashed face first into the ground, his muffled curses drifted up. Kohaku shook his head, grinning while Kikyou attempted to maintain an calm and serious expression.

When he could move, Inuyasha jumped to his feet, catching up to them in seconds. "Damn it, bitch, I thought you said -"

She waved him off. "What? You're always saying you're stronger than us weak humans and you heal faster. I decided you'd had plenty of time to recover. Besides," she added with a wicked grin, "you told me to earlier."

His ears lay back in frustration and he grumbled something under his breath about stupid bitches and their temper tantrums which only resulted in another intimate meeting with the ground.

"I think that it is best for everyone if I don't take you up on your offer," Kikyou said, breaking into their argumement. "I will send Kohaku and my collectors for you in the morning."

Understanding, Kagome nodded and walked back the way she had come, leaving Inuyasha to peel himself from the ground and bid the priestess goodnight.

A/N: Have you seen Monster-in-Law? If you haven't, you should. If you have, you know that part at the restaurant when J Lo and Jane Fonda are vying for the guy's attention and they both start crying and he's desperately trying to decide which one he should comfort first without making the other think they're second best?

By the end of this chapter, I was picturing Kagome, Kikyou and Inuyasha in their places...

Yeah...

Poor Inu.