I screamed as I headed quickly towards the ground below. I placed my arms over my face to block out the fast approaching sand and closed my eyes. I felt myself slowing and reopened them to find that my body was glowing green. I had somehow formed a shield around myself that touched my skin, tracing along my body, and enveloped every part of me but it was transparent enough that I could see through clearly. I flipped myself around to land on my feet and let it dissolve as I touched ground. "Now where am I?" I wondered aloud as I looked around me. Sand was all I could see in every direction. I sniffed the air and turned around suddenly. "What do you want?" I growled.
A man stood there on the sandy dune slightly above me. He had long, pointed ears and sharp claws. A demon? I thought. He grinned at me and licked his lips. "Your flesh!" It screamed suddenly.
"My… flesh?" I repeated in horror. I spun around as something came speeding at me and caught it in my claws. It was a dagger. I looked up to find that I was now surrounded by the demons. I strung the hat I still held through a belt loop and glared around at them all. "You'd all gang up on a defenseless girl?"
As an answer one of them charged at me, it's claws out. I leapt to the side and clawed its back as it went past. I held my bloody hand in front of my face and bared my fangs. "Tough luck guys, I'm a demon too."
Suddenly they all charged me together and I drew my sword. I slashed at the first wave and they screamed as the blade pierced their skin. Another knife soared at my head and I blocked it with my sword. When I turned my back someone clawed it and I cried out. There's too many! I thought as I fought back wildly. Something zipped past my face and sliced my cheek. I wiped away the trickling blood and screamed as I charged into them. I swung the sword and took out ten in one swipe. They don't stop coming! Am I going to die here? No, I won't! My eyes turned to glow red as I stared them down. I swung the sword in my right hand and slashed with my left's claws. Someone's claws found their way to my arm and I spun around and bit him. He screamed and I punched him hard. The bodies were littering the floor but it seemed like they were more numerous than before. Suddenly I stopped and stood still, blocking only for a second. Then I started to spin with the sword outstretched and wave after wave of youkai died from charging at my blade. I slowed and panted as I swiped at more with my claws. Another dagger soared by and sliced my thigh. I grunted and fell to one knee. I held up the sword to block the ones charging head on and placed my back against a sand dune so none could get behind me. I closed my eyes and held out one hand it glowed green for a moment before a huge blast shot from it and fried any youkai in the way. I blinked as my vision blurred and began charging another shot as I defended myself with the sword.
"You look like you could use some help." I jumped and looked to my side where a boy sat crouching next to me. He had dark hair and a glass circle over only his right eye, a monocle. He looked around and then turned back to me with a smile. "You took out a lot by yourself." He acknowledged.
"Look out!" I cried as I blasted another energy wave past the boy's head. Several demons cried out as they were hit.
I jumped again as someone leapt down and landed in front of me. He turned to look at me. I stared back at him with wide eyes. He had crimson red hair to just past his shoulders and crimson eyes to match. "A pretty girl like yourself shouldn't be involved in battles." He said before turning away. I watched as he held out a staff with a blade on the end. Suddenly the blade shot forward and wound it's way along the attacking youkai on a chain.
Another, younger boy leapt beside him. He had dark brown spiked hair and a staff as well. "Hey Gojyo, I want some too!" he yelled before charging into the demons.
I watched in shock as the boy beside me spoke up. "My name is Hakkai. If you'll let me I'll seal your wounds."
I shook my head. "No need to tire yourself, I'll do it myself." My eyes and hands glowed green and I placed them on my back, arm, thigh and cheek and one by one each cut healed up.
"How is she not affected by the Minus Wave?" I jumped and looked to my other side to find a man crouching there with blonde hair. He watched me steadily as I stared back.
Oh great, I'm in Saiyuki! I thought. "Th-the Minus Wave?" I stammered, playing dumb.
"The reason these youkai are going crazy. You are a youkai though you're different somehow. What are you?" The blonde man persisted. My eyes wondered to where the others were still killing. "Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" the blonde man yelled, making me flinch.
Hakkai laughed. "Don't be so hard on her Sanzo." He said.
"I'm a wolf demon…" I muttered.
"But how are you not affected?" Sanzo pressed.
"Well, I have some human in me as well…" I almost whispered the reply.
Gojyo and the boy returned just in time to hear and all four of them stared at me. Gojyo, being a half youkai himself, crouched in front of me. He slowly extended a hand and let my hair fall through his fingers. "But your hair and eyes are not red…" he muttered.
"Well, her eyes were red earlier but they were glowing entirely that way, not naturally." Hakkai said. "What made them do that?"
"The thought that I might die…" I murmured as I looked away.
"Well, what were you doing out here alone?" Hakkai asked. "You must've known it would be dangerous."
I shrugged. "I was transported. There was no way to tell where I'd end up." I stood and put away my sword and the others rose with me. I turned around and peeked over the sand dune. Looking around I still saw nothing for many miles except for the jeep they had left sitting.
"Transported? From where?" Gojyo asked.
I turned to face them. "From my home. I come from an entirely… different…" My eyes drifted close and I collapsed suddenly forward as my voice trailed off. Gojyo, who happened to be in front of me, caught me as I fell and stared around blankly.
"What just happened?" He yelled.
Hakkai laughed. "It seems she's tired. She had killed a good deal by herself and taken quite a bit of damage too."
"She looks fine to me." Gojyo said with a smirk.
"She healed herself." Hakkai explained. "She's quite skilled with her chi."
"You mean those blasts weren't from you?" the youngest one, Goku asked.
"Nope." Hakkai replied.
Sanzo shrugged and began to walk away. "Well, let's go."
"We're not leaving her are we?" Goku shouted.
Sanzo turned to glare at him. "What do I care?" he muttered before getting into the front passenger side of the car.
"In other words, bring her." Hakkai laughed as he got into the drivers seat.
Gojyo and Goku sat in the back with me in the back between them sound asleep. Every now and then Hakkai would call casually, "Gojyo, restrain yourself." Gojyo would just freeze and mutter under his breath as he turned away from me again.
I awoke to the sound of voices around me and kept my eyes closed as I listened. "Do you think she's with Kougaiji?" I heard Sanzo asking.
"No." Hakkai answered. "If she was she wouldn't have been bothered by those youkai and she would've fought us instead of fainting."
My face turned red as I opened my eyes and looked up at the stars. Gojyo jumped as I moved beside him. "She's awake." He pointed out.
I nodded. "Yeah…" I sighed as I caught sight of the moon. I could barely hold back the urge to howl.
"What were you saying before you passed out?" Sanzo asked.
I shrugged. "I don't know…"
"I had asked where you had been transported from." Gojyo said.
"Oh yeah!" I cried. "And I said, from my home. I came from an entirely different world!"
There was a long silence as everyone tried to register what I had just said. "How is that possible?" Hakkai finally asked.
I shrugged again and leaned back in the seat. "Some guy kidnapped me because he was told to send me away forever to another world and had the powers too. He did but my family and friends have him now and are making him bring me back. So now I've been to…" I stopped to count on my fingers. "…Five different worlds, not counting this one or where I started." They all stared at me, even the ones in the front twisted around and I blushed and stared at my feet. "I-it's true…" I stammered.
"And what were these other worlds like?" Hakkai once again broke the silence.
"Well, they're all different but pretty much the same thing happened in each. I fall from the sky and am found by a group of people. I hang out with them and usually get attacked and beat up. Then I get transported somewhere else and heal up and then go get beat up again. It really sucks." I responded hatefully.
"Sounds rough. Don't you need an escape from it all?" Gojyo asked as he placed an arm around me.
I laughed nervously as Sanzo turned around in his seat. "Oy kappa, sexual harassment!" He glared at me. "How old are you?"
"Fifteen." I muttered.
Gojyo laughed. "She's three years younger than Goku and I think she's taller than him!" He waited for the reaction but it didn't come. "What's wrong midget monkey?" He teased. I glanced at Goku and held in a laugh. He was asleep with his mouth wide open and drool was dribbling quickly down his chin. Gojyo rolled his eyes. "Why do we even have this kid along?"
"Then why do you have me along?" I added.
"We needed to know more about you." Sanzo said.
"You needed to?" I asked.
Sanzo didn't answer so Gojyo did instead. "Like how are you a half with black hair and green eyes?"
"Well…" I began. "Where I'm from even if you have a human mother and a demon father you can still end up full demon. My brother did but my other did not. My half demon brother has silver hair and golden eyes If you're a half demon there is one night when you turn human. For my brother and me it is during every night of the new moon. I only turn human for half the night but he does for the whole thing."
"Why are you different?" Hakkai asked.
"We both have the same demon father but my mother was a half wolf demon. I ended up being about three fourths demon and the rest human so I change for just half the night." I explained.
"What does your human form look like?" Gojyo asked with a smirk.
I blushed as I answered. "My hair turns silver, my eyes ice blue, I loose the markings on my face and my claws and fangs disappear as well as my ears and tail."
"Do you have a lover?" He added, pointing to the locket around my neck.
I blushed much darker as I held it. "I don't know… but this holds pictures of my family." I took it off and opened itto let Gojyo see and he passed it around for the others before I returned it safely to my neck.
"So, we know quite a bit about you, what do you know about us?" Hakkai asked.
"Uh… let's see." I started. "You saved me from those youkai and you're all older than me."
Hakkai laughed. "Anything else?"
I thought for a second. "How about… You're a half demon." I said to Gojyo. I sniffed the air lightly. "Hakkai and Goku are youkai and Sanzo is a human."
Sanzo whirled around to glare at me. "She must be with him, if she was just a random youkai she wouldn't have known!" He muttered.
I flinched under his harsh glare. "But I told you, I'm a wolf demon! I can tell by your scent what you are!" I cried.
"It makes sense Sanzo." Hakkai agreed. "And she hasn't tried to harm us in any way."
"She's just waiting until we trust her." Sanzo spat.
My eyes swirled blue. "That's not true…" I whimpered. "I wouldn't hurt you guys!"
"But you have killed before, something other than those youkai. A human maybe?" Sanzo asked.
I looked up and felt a tear fall. "But that didn't count! It was like an illusion. I didn't really kill him!"
"But if he was real he would've been dead!" Sanzo yelled back.
"You're right…" I whispered. "I would've killed someone. It would've been all my fault!" I buried my face in my hands and started crying. I knew Sanzo hadn't really been there but he was talking like he had stood by and watched the whole thing! I was already hurting enough over it and this wasn't helping.
Gojyo wrapped an arm around me. "Shut up! You're making her feel bad enough! It's obvious that she's young and hasn't learned to deal with killing yet!" He yelled at Sanzo. "It's not like you haven't killed any humans before!" He raised my face and smiled at me. "Don't cry. I can't stand to see pretty girls cry."
I wiped some tears away and tried to hold more back. "I'm sorry…" I whispered and then grew quiet. He pulled me towards him and I didn't resist and just leaned on him as he comforted me.
After a few hours of driving Goku sat upright and stared around. "I'm hungry." He declared. He glanced at Gojyo who still held me and at Sanzo who was scowling at the passing scenery. Hakkai looked straight ahead as he drove. "What… did I miss?" Goku asked.
"Just the usual fights." Hakkai answered.
"Then why is she upset?" Goku asked, pointing to me.
"Sanzo's an idiot!" Gojyo yelled.
"I'll kill you!" Sanzo screamed back.
"What happened?" Goku asked again.
"We had a question and answer session that ended badly." Hakkai replied calmly.
"So what do we know about her?" Goku questioned.
"Well, basically she's a half wolf demon from another world who is transporting between worlds until she makes it back to her own. She's fifteen and easily decided which of us were human and which were youkai. That's what started the fight. Sanzo believes she's trying to kill us all." Hakkai said casually.
"She is." Sanzo muttered.
"Drop it!" Gojyo yelled. "She can't even handle the memory of killing an illusion!"
Goku laughed. "Well that's pathetic. How'd she manage to kill all those youkai then?"
"Those youkai were mindless. What's haunting her is a human's death." Hakkai replied.
"But you said it was just an illusion. What's the big deal?" Goku asked.
I looked up at him slowly. "I had been beaten up very badly by him and I lost control and transformed into a wolf. I leapt on him and started biting… Everything felt so real!"
"But it wasn't right?" Goku asked and I nodded. "So then don't worry about it."
I smiled at him. "You're right." I said softly as I pulled away from Gojyo and sat up straight, ignoring his silentprotests.
"So then what's her name?" Goku asked.
There was a pause and then Hakkai laughed. "Well I think that's the one thing we left out."
"I'm Kira." I answered.
"Well Kira, you can stay with us until it's time for you to find another world." Goku cried.
"Uh, ok." I said slowly with a soft grin. "Thank you."
"No she can't!" Sanzo cried angrily. "It's dangerous to stay with us!"
"I can look after myself!" I muttered.
"You couldn't even handle those youkai." Gojyo pointed out.
I blushed and looked down. "Well there were a lot of them. If I hadn't been taken I would be training right now."
"Right now? Like this early in the morning?" Goku asked. The sun was just beginning to rise.
I nodded. "Oneperson whotrains medoesn't like the others to watch so he takes me at night. As soon as I get back the others take me during the day. I don't get to sleep much…Eventually I pass out but as soon as I wake they start things up again."
"What's the longest you've gone straight training without stopping to eat or sleep?" Gojyo asked with a smirk.
I paused for a second. "A bit over a week so around eight or nine days I guess."
Goku's mouth fell open. "A week without food? What were you doing for that long?"
I laughed. "Learning how to fight in my wolf form in case I lost my sword."
"Do you want me to train you?" Gojyo smirked.
"That depends, train me about what?" I asked.
Hakkai laughed. "Watch out, she's a smart one Gojyo."
"Shut up!" Gojyo yelled back. He turned back to me. "What are you training for?"
"Some friends of mine had some of their friends kidnapped so they would be forced to enter a tournament. The tournament is for the strongest demons from all over and they fight to the death until one team remains. My friends won it last time and cost a lot of people tons of money so now they want revenge. Their old fifth member refused to join up again so I'm supposed to be their back up fighter if they need me." I explained.
"Why would they pick a little girl?" Goku asked.
"She's taller than you midget monkey!" Gojyo laughed.
"Shut up!" Goku yelled back.
I held out my hands to stop them. "If it bothers you I'll shrink myself some!" I offered with a grin.
"Shrink yourself?" Goku repeated blankly.
I nodded and closed my eyes. When I reopened them I was about five foot three, an inch shorter than Goku. "That better?" I asked with a laugh. Goku stared at me for a second before laughing too and nodding. "Anyway," I continued. "They picked me because they realized that I had a massive amount of energy inside that needed to be awakened. If they taught me to use it properly then I could be very tough to beat. They unleashed it and now have been trying to help me learn to control it."
Hakkai laughed nervously. "So you shot a blast right past my head that you weren't sure you could control?"
"No, I knew I could do that. I had done another just before you came. I'm getting fairly good at shaping my energy."
"Shaping it?" Hakkai asked. He also used energy to fight and was constantly looking for new things to try.
I nodded and held out my hand. All I did was glance at it and immediately a ball of neon green light appeared in it. I held it up. "What good will that do you?" Gojyo asked.
"Well, I can make it explode or just throw it at something. I've never tried but maybe I could have it change shape again right before it hit the target to throw them off." I explained.
"What else can you make?" Hakkai asked eagerly.
I hesitated. "Well, I'm not supposed to be here really. What if I mess something up or change the outcome of something?"
"Exactly why you should leave." Sanzo added.
I looked down at the floor and let the ball sizzle into nothing as I thought to myself. Everywhere that I've gone I was quickly accepted. Even Legato accepted me. Why won't he? I stopped Gojyo before he could yell back. "He's right. Maybe I'll just wait at the next town and try to blend in a little."
"Hate to break it to you but you stand out easily, even if you do manage to hide the ears and tail." Gojyo said. "You'll still have the markings on your face and the claws and fangs. Plus, your clothes are weird and shredded."
I looked down at my self and noticed that the leg of my jeans was ripped as well as my sleeve and claws had removed large streaks of the back of my shirt. "Oh yeah…" I sighed.
"We'll get you new clothes at that town up ahead." Hakkai assured me.
"You don't need to spend stuff on me…" I muttered as I leaned forward and stuck my head between the front seats so I could see the town better. I let out a little shriek as something stroked my bare back. I spun around and stared at Gojyo.
He grinned at me. "Your skin is very soft." I blushed and remained silent as I pressed back against the seat behind me once again.
As we drove into town I slammed the hat upon my head and lowered my face as everyone stared. It was rare to see a car. Hakkai stopped and turned to a woman who stood watching. "Where might we find a hotel, preferably one with parking?" He asked. Without a word she raised a hand and pointed ahead. "Thank you." Hakkai said as he continued. We pulled shortly after up to a building and they all piled out of the car. They had me come with them inside so I obeyed and followed. Hakkai went to the counter and came back shortly with an awkward grin. "There's only one room left." He said, glancing towards me.
Sanzo clenched his fist. "Did you take it?" Hakkai nodded. "Why does this always happen to us?" He muttered.
"The man has kindly offered us mats to sleep on." Hakkai added cheerfully. "All we have to do is ask."
We all trailed up the stairs and into the cramped room that we were to stay in. I looked around and laughed nervously. "Maybe I should sleep in the car…" I muttered.
"That's dangerous, you never know what could come by!" Gojyo replied.
"Same as inside." Hakkai added.
"I get the bed!" Goku shouted as he leapt on it.
"No way!" Gojyo screamed back as he attacked him. "I do!"
While they were wrestling around on the bed Hakkai held out some cards. "How about we play for it?" He suggested.
All four of them sat on the ground and gave out cards. Hakkai turned towards me. "Will you join in?"
I shook my head. "Don't waste anything on me. I'm fine on the floor." I sat down near them and contented myself with watching.
About an hour later Hakkai held out his hand. "Looks like I win again!" He said happily.
"Hakkai always wins with cards!" Goku complained. "But I'm still getting the bed!" he added as he leapt on it again.
"No!" Gojyo yelled. "I don't know about you homos but I'm not sleeping on the floor in between a bunch of guys!" He jumped on Goku and the bed and they started fighting each other. I watched helplessly until Hakkai tapped my shoulder.
"Do you want to find some new clothes now?" He asked and I nodded. Gojyo jumped from the bed.
"Ok, let's go." He said.
"You all don't have to come!" I cried.
"It's boring to wait around here." Goku replied.
"And I don't trust you alone with any of us." Sanzo added. I stopped and stared up at him and he glared right back. We kept it up for almost five minutes with neither of us blinking before Hakkai grabbed my shoulders.
"That's enough of that!" He said as he steered me down the stairs. "Let's go."
I clamped the hat down on my head as he went down the street and stared at the ground as I followed the others through the crowds. I was always aware of Sanzo's eyes piercing into my back and it was bothering me badly. We finally entered a store and Hakkai brought me to a person who worked there. His eyes widened for a second as he looked at me and pointed us towards the girl's clothes. I glared at them all. "They're little. And tight." I muttered as I held up a shirt.
"Yeah, you need more of those." Gojyo said.
"But I like big and baggy!" I cried as I pulled at my borrowed shirt.
"Then we won't get you anything." Sanzo threatened.
"Fine!" I glared back.
Hakkai reached over and pulled something off the shelf. "We're getting these. If you want to you can wear them."
I looked at what he held. "Ok…" I muttered. Hakkai paid for them and pushed me into a changing room where I slipped them on and then came quickly back out. The black shirt was sleeveless, low cut, barely managed to cover my stomach and was tight everywhere. The jean shorts were just as bad, very short and tight.
"More pretty girls should start wearing that!" Gojyo exclaimed.
I blushed and glared at everyone but then thought about it and sighed. They didn't have to get me anything. "Thank you." I smiled at them and we left the store. As we went down the road I noticed that I was pretty much the only girl in these little slinky clothes and turned to Hakkai angrily. "I'm the only one dressed like this!" I pointed across the street. "There's the store with normal clothes! I can't hide my tail like this." I added quietly.
Hakkai laughed uneasily and rubbed his neck. "Well I must have missed it…" Gojyo clapped him on the back with a wide grin at me but I just glared angrily back.
"Let's go eat, let's go eat!" Goku chanted, suddenly breaking the tension, so we headed down the street to look for a place. Of course they headed to a bar and all entered as I paused at the door. "What's wrong?" Goku asked.
I shook my head and stepped slowly in. "Last time I was at a place like this I got shot in the shoulder." I muttered, looking around carefully.
"Well, we'll watch out for you this time." Hakkai assured me and I smiled softly as I sat at a table with them.
I got just a little meal and laughed as Goku pigged out and Gojyo poured tons of alcohol down his throat. He kept offering me some but I refused every time. "I'm underage." I would use as my excuse.
"But this is like a vacation." Gojyo insisted.
I shook my head and laughed. "Yeah, the vacation from hell that I can't escape from..." I shrieked as someone stroked a finger along my back and whirled around in my seat. A group of human men were standing behind me with one slightly in front and grinning at me. His face was red from being drunk and his eyes were droopy. "What do you want?" I yelled at him.
He laughed. "Don't be so mean girl, I just want to get to know you better."
"Well I don't so go away." I said, glaring at him.
Instead the man grabbed my wrist and started pulling me to my feet. I cried out and punched him full out in the stomach causing him to let go and fall to his knees out of breath. A couple of his friends went to his side and the other two advanced slowly towards me. I squealed and ducked behind Gojyo who got to his feet. He grinned wickedly and cracked his knuckles. "Do you want to start something?" He growled.
The man who I had hit got slowly to his feet and shoved away the ones who had helped him up. He came over to us. "Hand her over and you won't get hurt." He muttered.
Sanzo got to his feet and shoved through the ones who had circled behind us. "I don't have time to waste on you."
"What'd you say?" A man yelled as he ran at him with a fist raised. Without even turning around Sanzo slammed him full in the face causing him to flip over the table.
The manager came running from the counter. "Hey! I don't want any trouble!"
Gojyo was still staring them all down and the humans were backing away, growing nervous under his stares. I tapped his shoulder. "Hey, Sanzo's leaving. Let's go too." I muttered. He ignored me so I latched onto his arm with both hands and he looked down at me in surprise. I looked up at him worriedly. "I said let's go. It's not worth it for humans." I whispered. He nodded and allowed me to lead him out the door. Goku shoved the last of his food in his mouth and hurried after us. Hakkai had gone ahead and the men just stared after us as we left.
As we met up with Sanzo and Hakkai, Gojyo began complaining to me. "Why'd you make me leave? They were asking for it…"
"I already hit the only one who did anything and I thought you guys didn't want tons of attention." I explained softly. "It's getting dark, let's go back to the room."
Everyone agreed and as we made our way back to the hotel I didn't sense Sanzo's eyes boring into me as harshly as before. When we entered through the doors Sanzo motioned for the others to head upstairs but he held me back with him. "You had no right to start a fight like that." He scolded me.
"I didn't start it… You guys were the ones who promised you wouldn't let any freaks try anything." I muttered quietly. "And I couldn't let him get away with that." Sanzo didn't reply but instead turned to go up the stairs after the others but stopped at my whisper. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" He asked. "For what?"
I looked up at him with blue eyes and forming tears. "You didn't want to bring me anyway and I've been nothing but trouble. I'm really sorry that you've had to deal with me. If you want I'll just leave right now." I whispered.
I jumped slightly as his hand found my face. He stared down at me with an emotionless face. "You haven't caused any more trouble than we usually get into. Don't worry about it. Ask the owner for mats and then join us upstairs."
I wiped away tears and smiled at him. "Ok." I replied softly and headed towards the owner of the hotel. I told him what I needed and he handed it all to me.
As I gathered it into my arms and turned to leave he called me back. "Are you sure you want to share a room with all those men?" He asked, trying to hide a smirk. "I could offer you one."
I looked at him, a man of around thirty, several years older than the eldest of the ones I was staying with and twice my own age. I smiled warmly at him. "Thank you but I'll take my chances with them."
"Ok, suit yourself." He replied as he watched me disappear around the corner upstairs.
I went down the hall and knocked slightly on the door as it swung open for me and I entered. Slowly I laid all the mats on the floor and backed away when I finished. Goku looked from me to the mats and then back to me again. "You're missing one."
I shook my head. "It's ok. I'm not even sure if the man had any more than this anyway."
Goku shrugged before launching himself onto the bed and sprawling out. Hakkai laughed before he lifted him forcefully up and set him on one of the mats. Then he sat on the bed instead. "We should all get some sleep."
I started to sit down somewhere but suddenly looked up, picking up the camera bag that I had left in the room. "Can I make a request?" I asked.
"What kind of request?" Sanzo asked, eyeing the bag warily.
"One picture of all you guys." I responded as I pulled out the camera. "You guys just clump together and I take a picture."
"What for?" Goku asked.
"I'm trying to get a picture of all the people I meet during this crap I'm going through right now." I answered. "So… how about it?"
Gojyo shrugged. "Why not, are you going to be in it with us?"
I laughed. "If you want me too…" He nodded so I had them all group together, even Sanzo, and then set the camera on a shelf of energy. I aimed it at them and then jumped in the middle. "When the red light disappears." I explained. Gojyo put an arm around me and Hakkai smiled straight ahead. Goku was totally lost and Sanzo was standing slightly to the side. With a bright flash the picture took and I put the camera back into the bag. "Thank you!" I cried happily before retiring to a corner of the room.
Gojyo looked over at me. "Want to share a bed?" He asked with a smirk.
My face turned bright red. "N-no thanks." I stammered as I sank down against the wall. I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I set my chin on them as well and I laughed as I watched Sanzo, Gojyo and Goku try to get comfortable on the floor as Hakkai watched from above on the bed. When everyone was finally settled down Goku was sprawled out with the covers half on and Gojyo was sitting slumped against the bed. Sanzo was off to the side away from everyone. After a while longer the room was full of only silence and I fought to keep my eyes open. I slipped an arm around my sword and leaned on it to keep from falling over. Soon I couldn't help it and was asleep against the powerful weapon.
In the middle of the night I felt something touch my face and instinctively reached out and grabbed it. My eyes snapped open and I looked up to find Gojyo peering at me and his hand locked in mine. "Sorry!" I whispered with a bright face as I let him go.
He grinned. "It's alright." He scooted over and leaned against the wall beside me. I shifted uncomfortably and he glanced over at me. "Am I really that bad?" he asked.
"No, I just get nervous easily…" I muttered.
He stared at my red face. "And embarrassed it seems."
"I can't help it." I sighed. It grew quiet again and he still remained by my side. After about another hour of silence and no movement I began to fall into darkness again and wasn't even aware of my head slipping. My legs released and began sliding forward as I fell asleep again. Before I knew it my head was resting on Gojyo's shoulder and I was out cold.
Suddenly a bright flash went off in my face and I jolted awake. Gojyo, who had fallen asleep on me as well sat upright too and leapt forward onto Goku. I snatched away the shiny silver thing he held to find my camera. "Who said you could have this?" I whispered angrily. Sanzo and Hakkai appeared to still be asleep.
Goku grinned. "I thought you wanted pictures of yourself with us."
"I do but…" I stopped as I held up the humming camera. "You've used up all the film. Now I have to put more in!" I leaned back against the wall with the camera and its bag in my lap and carefully removed the film and placed a new one inside. I dropped the full roll into a container and back into the bag. The camera was slid in after it and then I set the whole thing onto my lap. "Ok, no one else gets to play with it." I said quietly.
Suddenly I fell back against the wall with my hands clamped over my ears. Gojyo and Goku leapt to my side. "What's wrong?" They asked.
I shook my head. "Quiet! It's Akumei." By this time Sanzo and Hakkai had been awakened and came over as well. Kira?
I'm here.
Are you ok? Any new injuries?
They were minor and they're all fixed now.
What happened?
A group of demons attacked but some people saved me. I'm with them now.
Ok, are you ready to go?
Yes.
Ok, prepare yourself. Akumei's voice faded and I looked up at everyone. "I have to go now. Thank you so much for everything." I smiled as I buckled the sword around my waist and the camera bag around my shoulder.
"Where exactly are you going?" Sanzo asked.
I shrugged. "Hopefully back home but it's all chance really."
"Good luck." Goku said and I smiled at him.
"Thank you." I said as I hugged him lightly with a red face. Next I hugged Gojyo, who happily embraced me back, and then Hakkai. Sanzo didn't seem like he would pull away so I surprised everyone, including him,by hugging him as well. I quickly let go as I started to glow. I backed away a few steps and smiled at everyone. "Thanks for putting up with me." I said one last time.
Gojyo laughed. "You're blushing again."
I sighed and laughed as well. "I told you I can't help it. I'll never forget you guys." I added as I began to flicker.
"Bye…" Hakkai called as I disappeared from the room. He turned to the others. "You know, I think she really was from another world." He said with a laugh.
Sanzo turned away. "Let's get as much sleep as we can from the rest of the night. She'll be fine."
The others stared at him for a second before shrugging and dropping down to sleep once again.
Akumei leaned back, a smile plastered across his face and Inuyasha leapt forward to land at his side. "You're smiling. Does that mean she's back?" He asked, frantically sniffing the air for signs of me.
Akumei shook his head. "No, it's just that she was ok. For once nothing criticalhappened to her."
"Feh, well find her quick then!" Inuyasha growled in frustration as he backed away to return to the others.
Akumei sighed as he leaned back against the tree. "I'm trying..." He said quietly.
