Chapter 1 – Snap

It was a tiger youkai. For God's sakes, do these people know how many of these I've hunted in my life? Oh, come on. I was a cat at a youkai Taijiya village; I'd probably seen every bloody type of youkai that exists throughout my life. I saw even more when I joined up with Inuyasha & Co. So seeing a tiger youkai on that clear morning did not phase me at all. I hardly even cared.

It did have a jewel shard, Kagome confirmed, or else Miroku would just have opened the Kazaana and been done with it. He was about to, too, until Kagome jumped out of the sleeping bag with her hair looking like a youkai itself and screamed, "MIROKU, DON'T, IT HAS A JEWEL SHARD!"

Miroku wrapped the rosary beads back around the purple gauntlet that held the Kazaana, and Sango finished buttoning her Taijiya outfit. She grabbed Hiraikotsu and yelled, "Let's go, Kirara!"

You know, same old, same old. The group had probably done this about, say, a hundred times since we'd all joined up? It was pretty routine. Kagome had the arrows out, Inuyasha had unsheathed Tetsusaiga and was muttering faint cuss words, Shippou was clutching to Kagome's shirt, you know, the usual.

But for some reason, it irked me. I transformed for Sango and we flew up in the air. As I skimmed above the youkai, it occurred to me that Sango had never once asked me if I wanted to transform. Maybe sometimes I just wanted to sleep in a little longer, ya know?

She's a freaking youkai Taijiya; she should be able to handle it by herself, right? What does she need me for?

And the more these thoughts festered in my mind, the more I was spurned to action. I did the only reasonable thing for me; I did the one thing I swore I'd never do, and the one thing I never even thought I'd have to resort to.

I bucked Sango off.

Don't jump to conclusions. I made sure Miroku was underneath me before I did it. I'm not so cruel as to let my life-long mistress fall to her death. But I did let her fall. I twisted and turned and kicked in mid-air, and with a horrific scream, Sango slid off me and fell, Hiraikotsu and all, to land right on top of Miroku, thus knocking them both immediately unconscious.

The rest of the group's reactions were pretty satisfying, though. Inuyasha dropped the Tetsusaiga. Kagome dropped Shippou. Just to make sure they wouldn't be interfering, I bared my fangs and gave a deep, throaty roar right to them. If they wanted to think I had been possessed or I had just finally cracked, let 'em think it. I decided I didn't really care.

And now for the tiger youkai. It raised a paw, with just one claw as big as my whole body, and it took a vicious swipe. I dodged beneath it, using all my reflexes, and then swooped up to its neck. I opened my mouth, flexed my claws, and on a pure impulse, bit and stabbed straight into its neck.

It roared. Quite frankly, it roared. In reality, I was so close to its mouth that my own eardrums could have blasted open. The tiger youkai stumbled backwards blindly, tottering on unsteady legs and crashing through the forest, still roaring in pain. It occurred to me, hanging on with only my teeth and claws, that I was going far away from the rest of the group, but my anger was still on the surface, so I still held on. Who cares about them? I don't think any of them really liked me, anyway. And even Sango sometimes is too teary. I'd like to slap her and tell her, Get over Kohaku, girl, and move on with your life! There's nothing you can do now!

But as soon as I thought it, the youkai stopped moving around and roaring. It stood completely still and quiet. Then I saw one red eye turned towards me, and a deep, guttural voice said, "Would you like to do those things?"

I very well couldn't answer it, but I, too, was silent. What is this guy talking about?

"I know some magic, deep magic." He said. "If you let me go, I can make you a human. You could talk to them, and tell them how you feel. If you just let me go, I can perform it right here. You don't have to hold it in anymore."

I didn't trust him right away. How did I know he wasn't just going to run off the second I let him go? I was about to bite down harder, cut the jugular, and kill him, but something had frozen my jaws. I couldn't move – couldn't kill him

He said he could make me a human. I could talk, to Sango, Inuyasha, the others, I could tell them what I feel. I really could tell Sango to get over Kohaku, and Inuyasha to get over Kikyo, and an untold number of things I'd been dying to do in the year I'd been traveling with them.

Some part of me still said it was a trap, that he was just pulling my leg. But a larger part of me was in control, and that part slowly, as if in a trance, released my grip on the youkai's neck and pulled away, hovering in midair.

The tiger youkai nodded slowly, closed his eyes, and began to mutter incantations under his breath. The pain started instantly, at my very heart – it was like I was being ripped in two. I roared out loud, my whole body searing with the pain, my eyes closed tightly, but halfway through the roar it became a human cry. I felt my legs contort and my fur shrink, leaving me horrifically cold, and then, before I knew it, I was plummeting to the ground. My ability to fly was gone. I hit the ground hard on my bare skin, rocks digging into my flesh, but I peeled open my eyes.

I could vaguely see a fleshy mass beneath me – that was my body. A human body. It took me a moment to realize I was naked because I could see my breasts. Kagome and Sango only showed those when they were bathing. The rest of the time they had clothes on. Triangular black markings wrapped around my body – demon markings, I supposed, like the ones on Sesshoumaru.

But before I could think too much, the tiger youkai leaned over me. He had a crooked smile.

"Just one thing, kitty-cat." He sneered. "Your powers are gone – you won't be able to fight. More helpless than that girl in the strange kimono. And you can't transform back into a cat again. If you do, it will be permanent. You've got till the next new moon to decide if you want to be a human or a neko, because by the new moon, if you haven't clearly decided in your mind, you'll automatically become a neko again. I don't make bargains without catches, missy, but I thank you for freeing me!"

And in one bound, the tiger youkai sprang into the forest, leaving me alone with only a dawning sense of apprehension at what I'd just done.