Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha.

Update Dates: Sundays and Thursdays

Undeniable Love
Chapter 18 - Hojo's Hat Trick!

By: Scaevola
Published 8/25/05
Updated 10/24/05

Kikyo sat wearily in the room with her two new allies. The fire in the corner of the room gave little warmth, and she rubbed her arms to try and stay warm. The dull patter of rain on the roof echoed through the room, making it hard to hear much from outside, much less the occasional sigh from one of them room's occupants. The sound of the rain was only overcome by the occasional roar of thunder that followed every flash of lightning.

The wolf demon, Koga, stood up suddenly. Kikyo knew little of him, except what she had been able to observe while working with him. He seemed every bit as confident as InuYasha, and just as rash. He had also fallen in love with her reincarnation. It was odd, how both InuYasha and Koga seemed to hate each other, yet they were so alike in some respects.

"Where is he?" he growled. "He should be here already Naraku, especially if he cares about this girl as much as you claim." He glared down at the small girl in the center of the room.

Kikyo turned to study the girl. Kneeling on the floor, she wore a checkered Kimono of orange and off white. The girl was young, with dark hair and brown eyes, that still glimmered with an innocence that only a child can possess. Amazingly, she met Koga's eyes without flinching, or showing any sign of fear. The first thing she had said before they had gagged her and bound her wrists was "Sesshomaru-sama will come and save me."

Naraku stepped closer to Koga, a bit of a challenge in his movements. The fire cast shadows across his features, hiding his expression from view. He stayed silent for a moment as he too studied the girl.

"Sesshomaru will come, Koga. Yet you must be patient. When Sesshomaru does come, I want to be ready for him." Naraku never raised his voice, instead always speaking in a calm tone, but Koga fell silent at his words.

Kikyo never spoke, she didn't waste time explaining her thoughts to demons. Perhaps the only demon she had ever explained herself fully to was InuYasha, but mainly that was out of necessity. At the moment, she was content to let Naraku and Koga argue if they wanted to. She looked at the two demons calmly before standing and walking to the small girl.

The girl glanced at her for a moment, and Kikyo smiled reassuringly as she reached for the ties at her wrist. She ignored Koga's protests and she undid the ties, and then dished the girl some food.

"What are you doing?" demanded Koga. Kikyo kept her eyes on the girl and remained silent. The wolf didn't even possess the manners to ask her politely. Yes, he was just like InuYasha.

Naraku, unlike Koga, raised no objections to her actions. Perhaps he knew what was going on in her mind, that children shouldn't be treated cruelly, or perhaps he saw some other advantage in allowing her to feed the girl.

It didn't matter to her. She smiled gently at the girl and held the food up for her to take. It was only rice, but the girl ate it as though it were the best meal she'd had in weeks. Perhaps it was. After all, who knew what the demon lord fed her.

The wolf quickly strode forward, intending to take the rice, Kikyo had no doubts about that - but he was quickly thrown back when Kikyo quickly put up a barrier. Naraku chuckled and walked back to where he had been before while Koga quickly sat up from where he had fallen and glared at the miko.

"Why are you feeding her? We're not supposed to take care of her for Sesshomaru! We're not babysitting her!" he growled. Perhaps all youkai were like this? Kikyo began to wonder if maybe it was just canine youkai - if Sesshomaru was rude like this, then maybe that was true. Maybe canine youkai were just naturally rude.

When she remained silent, Koga turned towards Naraku. "Doesn't she ever speak? She could at least answer me!" he complained.

Naraku eyed the wolf before answering. "Perhaps she doesn't want to answer you." he said. "Besides, is there any harm in unbinding the girl? Certainly you're not afraid of a human child!" he sneered.

Koga glared the Naraku at the insult, his fists clenching at his sides, but he fell silent at Naraku's words. At least he knew to shut up part of the time.

As the girl finished her rice, Kikyo calmly helped her stand and walked over to the fire for her to keep warm. The girl rubbed her wrists where the rope had held her and tried to hide her shivers. Kikyo simply sat next to her and watched as all of them waited for Sesshomaru to arrive.

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Sesshomaru hurried along the trail of scent that the wolf had left behind. Rage consumed his thoughts as he imagined killing the wolf over and over again, as well as whoever he was working with. He could pick up three scents, one was the wolf's, the other, Rin's, he was very familiar with, but the third he had no idea who it was. He knew it was familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had come by it before.

As he come over another hill, he picked up a new scent, this one he recognized immediately. It was exactly like Naraku's, yet, different. He never had figured out exactly what was different about it, but he knew that it was Kagura.

He stopped quickly at scanned his surroundings, looking for some sign of the demoness. She saved him the trouble of looking however, by stepping out of the shadows to greet him. She was hiding her mouth behind her fan, probably to hide her expression from him. He straightened as she approached, and quickly caught his breath. He didn't want anyone to see him worked up over finding Rin.

"You seem to be in a hurry Sesshomaru." comment Kagura. "Is it to save that girl?"

'So much for not letting anyone see me worried about Rin.' he thought, hiding a grimace. He just watched as Kagura came closer, still hiding behind that fan of hers. "What do you want Kagura?"

She stopped her approach at his question, this time she didn't manage to hide her expression as her brows came together in a frown. "I wanted to warn you." she said slowly. "If you are going to get that girl, it is a trap. Naraku, Koga and Kikyo are all waiting for you to go after the girl."

Sesshomaru nodded. He should have known that it was them. "If they think that they can use me somehow, then they will find that they are very wrong."

Kagura frowned again. "They do not plan on using you anymore Sesshomaru. They only want to fight you apart from InuYasha, because they know that you two together will be harder than taking you both alone."

Her words shocked Sesshomaru. He didn't let it show however, he didn't even blink. He simply continued to follow Koga's scent, only this time he walked. He didn't want Kagura to see him in a hurry like that again.

Kagura watched him go, somewhat fearful for Sesshomaru's safety. He probably wouldn't notice her ever, and she sighed at the thought. She would make sure he didn't die from being foolish though. She pulled out a feather and rose up into the sky - she had to find InuYasha and his friends quickly. She didn't want Sesshomaru to die without him knowing how she felt.

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Miroku watched from the corner of his eye as Sango held Kirara in her lap. In front of him, Shippo was coloring in one of those pads that Kagome had brought from her time.

The things that Kagome brought from her time astounded him. The foods, the packaging they came in, the writing tools that she brought for Shippo - everything. He sometimes found himself wishing that he could see her time, if only once. It must be an amazing place - with even more amazing women.

But when he would think of those things, his eyes always found Sango. The demon slayer had caught his eyes, and held his heart ever since he had first laid eyes on her. She did not know it of course, he doubted she ever would.

The truth of it was that he wasn't sure if he wanted Sango knowing. She already seemed to despise him enough for his more perverted habits. If he ever so much as hinted that he truly liked her, what would she think? She already hit him for every advance he had made on her. He shuddered when he thought of her reaction if she ever found out he truly liked her.

She looked up to see him staring at her, or to be more accurate, her chest, and her eyes narrowed. Even angry as she was, Miroku couldn't help but give her a small smile and think of her beauty. How could he ever consider being with other women when Sango was near?

"Get your mind out of the gutter and your eyes somewhere appropriate before I get angry, Miroku." warned Sango.

Miroku shuddered at Sango's warning, and he quickly averted his eyes. Sure he'd be willing to risk a slap or two for groping Sango, but not when she was already expecting it. Normally if she was expecting it he ended up having a nice 'chat' with Hiraikotsu instead of a harmless slap.

Shippo paused in his coloring to study his artwork. Looking over his shoulder, Miroku could see a red and silver mass among an even larger mass of green. To the side of the red and silver mass was another shape of black and some green with a hint of red. Not very detailed or skillful, but Miroku could tell that Shippo was drawing yet another scene with InuYasha being sat.

"When do you think Kagome will come back?" asked Shippo, his words coming slowly as he yawned.

"Well Shippo, InuYasha and Kagome clearly want some alone time. When two people in love, they normally spend the night -" he cut off as Sango hit him on the head with Hiraikotsu. Not too lightly either.

Rubbing his head, and silently thanking Kami that he wasn't knocked unconscious, Miroku decided that perhaps he should keep quiet for awhile.

Sango glared at the monk, giving him a silent warning, she had a lot of ways to warn him, Miroku realized, before she turned to smile at Shippo.

"Kagome will be back soon Shippo. We just have to wait and be patient." she said sweetly.

Abruptly Kirara stood and ran outside. All of them could hear it transform into it's larger form and guard the entrance. Miroku shared a look with Sango before standing and hurrying outside.

They all stopped short when they saw Kagura waiting for them. Next to him, Miroku saw Sango raise her Hiraikotsu to throw at Kagura. She stopped when Kagura spoke however.

"Stop." she said, holding her hand up. "I'm not here to fight you." She looked around then and then tried to look over their shoulders into the hut. "Where is InuYasha and that miko?"

"Why do you want to see them?" asked Sango, clearly suspicious.

"I want to speak to all of you, tajiya. Not just InuYasha." answered Kagura.

"You can speak to us." said Miroku. He didn't want to tell Kagura that InuYasha and Kagome weren't nearby - he didn't really trust Kagura at all.

"Sesshomaru is going to need your help - but especially InuYasha's. Naraku, Koga, and Kikyo are all working together to try and get at Sesshomaru and InuYasha." explained Kagura.

Miroku looked at Sango. This was different. Koga, Kikyo and Naraku all working together? He wasn't entirely ready to believe it.

"Why did they suddenly decide to work together?" asked Miroku.

Kagura sighed but answered quickly. "Naraku just wants Sesshomaru and InuYasha out of the way - Koga wants InuYasha out of the way so he can take Kagome, and Kikyo wants to take InuYasha to hell with her."

"Wait - InuYasha told us he killed Kikyo." said Sango.

Kagura laughed then. "No, that was just a demon puppet that Naraku sent. InuYasha didn't know that though. It would have worked too if Kagome didn't scream for InuYasha."

Miroku could feel himself fill with fear for his friends. He could just see the consequences if Sesshomaru tried to get Rin back without help. He'd be overpowered - however strong he is he wouldn't take the three of them easily - and then after he was out of the way then InuYasha would be in trouble.

"Alright. Lead us to where Naraku is. We'll help Sesshomaru if we can." He turned to Shippo. "Shippo," he whispered. "Stay here and watch Tetsusaiga. If InuYasha and Kagome come back tell them what has happened. We'll leave a scent behind for him to follow."

Shippo nodded and headed back into the tent. Kagura looked at him and Sango when they got onto Kirara alone. "Where is InuYasha and Kagome?" she asked.

"They won't be coming. Not now at least." said Sango.

Kagura studied them for a moment before nodding. "Follow me then." She got onto a feather and took off. Miroku and Sango rode on Kirara just behind, and occasionally they would land and run for a bit, leaving their scents for InuYasha to follow if he came back soon.

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Kagome rested her head on her hand as she listened to the sensei drone on. She largely ignored Hojo's attempts to get her attention from where he sat several seats behind her. She already knew all of the things he'd say and ask, and she really didn't feel like dealing with him at the moment.

She was still amazed at how things had turned out. To think that she had been going out with Hojo not to long ago. He had seemed so nice at the time, but now he didn't have any appeal at all.

She glanced up at the clock. Only a few more minutes until the end of class, and then she and InuYasha would see a movie together. She smiled at the thought. Even if her friends were going with them, and even if InuYasha didn't really know what a date was, she'd still consider it a date.

She listened to the teacher quickly remind them about a test coming up, as well as the homework he had assigned, just before the bell rang. Kagome quickly gathered her belongings and slung her backpack over her shoulder before Hojo could get his things together. She practically ran out of the room to avoid him.

When she got outside, she easily spotted the one person wearing a hate and with silver hair among the crowd of boys and girls in uniforms. Someone that wasn't dressed in a uniform always stood out on school grounds, and InuYasha's odd hair color and gold eyes made him even easier to spot.

He smiled when he saw her - a genuine smile, and held his arms open for her. She hurried over to him and hugged him, ignoring some of the jealous looks she got from other girls in the schoolyard. In fact, those jealous looks only made her happier that she had InuYasha. She looked right at one girl who was glaring at her and pulled InuYasha into a kiss. The girl glared more before she stormed off, and Kagome laughed when she pulled away from the kiss.

Behind her, she heard Eri clear her throat. "If you're done with that," she said, "then I think it's time we headed off to the movie theater."

Kagome nodded, and took InuYasha's hand as she and her friends all walked out of the school grounds. Eri and Yuka were in the lead, with Ayumi just behind them, while Kagome and InuYasha were each content to stay in the back.

Kagome's friends were all curious about InuYasha - after all, they all knew he didn't go to their school, and he wasn't in any school uniform, so they quickly began to ask him questions. Kagome was going to step in for him, but InuYasha surprised her by answering by himself.

"I'm not in school anymore." he said. "I didn't get into a university on my first try, so I'm still studying for entrance exams."

Kagome gave him a look, wondering how he could have known what to say at all. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "I was talking with your mom about some stuff when I went back to the shrine for a bit today. I think I'll be able to handle myself in the conversations for a bit."

Kagome nodded as Eri said, "Oh, so you're a ronin then?"

InuYasha, remembering that ronin weren't leaderless samurai anymore, and were instead students who were still studying for university, simply nodded.

They had reached the movie theater then and quickly got in line and bought tickets. After buying tickets to a movie - a comedy Kagome thought, she wasn't sure because she was talking with InuYasha when Eri bought them, they went to buy snacks.

"What do you want InuYasha?" asked Kagome.

InuYasha looked at all of the things they could buy. He really wasn't sure what half of them were, so he simply said "I don't know. How about you choose?"

Kagome, understanding InuYasha's dilemma, nodded and got some popcorn for the hanyou. "You'll like it." she said, handing him the container.

InuYasha leaned down to give her a kiss when they heard a shout behind them.

"Get away from Kagome!" InuYasha jerked away from Kagome and turned to see Hojo charging him.

The kid leapt up and landed on top of InuYasha. With a somewhat pitiful scream of rage, he balled his hand up into a fist over his shoulder and hit InuYasha as hard as he could. InuYasha nearly laughed at the kids actions. Hojo straddled InuYasha while he was still too shocked to move and began raining punches down on the silver haired boy.

InuYasha barely realized that Hojo was hitting him. He still couldn't believe when a human attacked him, after all, any human that wasn't a tajiya or a monk would be risking their life if they attacked a demon. But then again, this Hojo didn't know InuYasha was a demon, did he? He recovered from his momentary shock quickly however. In his time, when moments wasted while in shock could mean life or death, you learned to stay focused in fights.

He pushed Hojo off of him roughly, and quickly sat up. He grabbed the kid's neck with one hand and quickly slammed his fist into the boy's head. Hojo let out a grunt at the first hit, but didn't recover in time as InuYasha hit him again, this time with enough force behind the hit to send his head to the tiled floor.

Hojo's eyes glazed over as he lost consciousness, and InuYasha stood slowly, calmly looking around the theater. The entire snack area had fallen silent and was watching him, and he turned when he felt Kagome's hand on his shoulder. He flinched, expecting her to be angry, but instead was shocked to see she was anything but angry. Was it - fear? He wasn't sure.

Behind her, Kagome's three friends were staring at him. Why was everyone looking at him funny? Hojo had attacked him first, and he knew he hadn't killed the kid or anything. He looked at Kagome for a few moments, before he saw it. At her feet, was the hat. The hat that he had been wearing to hide his ears.

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Weeee! Now everyone can see InuYasha's ears! Including Kagome's friends! Did Hojo notice InuYasha's ears? Who knows! You're just going to have to wait for the next update until you find out :D

I'm VERY sorry about not getting it to you yesterday. Anyway, I hope it lives up to any expectations you guys might have from the previews.

Tell me what you think:D