All's Fair in Love and War

Chapter Thirty Four

Tensions Building

Inu Yasha spent most of Saturday finishing Sango's picture. Shippou hunted a lot. Even though they actually had food now, he still insisted on getting his own food. He knew that Inu Yasha didn't have an infinite supply of food like he did. Shippou lived off the earth and the small animals on it, but Inu Yasha, he had to buy food. He wasn't adapted to eating raw food, or diseased food. Albeit, he did survive on garbage on several occasions, but that did not make it healthy for him.

He had finished the present for her and was a little disappointed in some of the detail on the chest, but in all, he was pleased with his work. He decided it would be a satisfactory present for his friend.

He woke up a little earlier than usual on Monday, which was probably because he had gotten a lot more sleep than he needed on Saturday night. After getting on some pants after getting out of the shower, he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep. He felt dizzy and tired. He woke up the next morning at eleven and decided to clean up some things around the house because his father may not beat him when he came back to the house if maybe, it looked a little nicer.

He walked to school unsure whether or not to run a little faster and sit with Kagome or to stay at a slower pace and miss her. He instead walked and then run, frequently changing his mind. As it turned out, he arrived at the tree a little earlier.

But she wasn't there.

He stood there for a moment before the first bell rang and he turned on his heel and headed toward his classroom. He assumed his seat next to her and his head flicked towards her every so often. When their eyes made contact she gave him half of a smile and inside, he cringed. He returned the grin tentatively and stared down at the floor in front of his desk. His face felt a little warm. He distracted him self by taking up a sudden cusiousity with his fingernails. They were beginning to get sharp. He would have to cut them so people wouldn't feel threatened by him.

Kagome turned towards him and he saw her looking in his peripheral vision. He returned the gaze and Kagome spurted out very quickly, "You came by on Saturday?"

"Yeah." A small, meek smile curved his lip upwards.

"My mom told me about it. She really thinks a lot of you." she said. "I'm sorry I wasn't there. Sango and me were out buying things for the party. She's so excited about it." Kagome made a squinty kind of happy face and squeaked. "It's so cute!" Kagome giggled girlishly.

Inu Yasha smiled back and couldn't think of something to say. Fortunately enough. he didn't have to, because Ms Kikyo approached the class and their eyes were instantly directed to her.

At lunch that day, he arrived first, with Miroku ina close second. The dark haired boy sat down in front of Inu Yasha and smiled. "Guess what, Inu Yasha?"

"What?"

"I GOT IT!"

"Got what?"

"Well, only the perfect gift for Sango!" he said loudly, almost scaring the half demon. Inu Yasha's ears flicked back against his head and he flinched.

"O-oh." he stuttered, after regaining composure. "What is it?"

"Oh, you'll have to wait to find that out." He said smoothly. He seemed very excited about giving it to her, though. InuYasha figured it must have been difficult to hold the secret in, but then, he probably did it because he wanted it to remain a secret. Not that Inu Yasha would tell Sango and ruin the surprise, though.

Inu Yasha smiled and shrugged, and then he caught site of Kagome. He waved and grinned at her and then redirected his attention to Miroku. Kagome took a seat next to Inu Yasha and smiled and clapped her hands. "Only five more days!" Everyone was so excited about the party. Inu Yasha was as well. He couldn't wait to give Sango his gifts.

Eventually, the girl came huffing across the courtyard, and dumped her backpack on the lunch table. Inu Yasha looked up at her and suddenly remembered a very important question he needed to ask.

"Sango?" he said.

"Yeah?" she smiled at him as she siped bangs out of her forehead.

"Can I bring my cat to your party?" he asked.

Sango laughed. "Cat? I don't understand? Why would you bring a cat?"

"Oh, um, I mean, well, he's really more like a person, really. He's a ... um, a demon."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Sure? I don't mind." she said and smiled.

Before he knew it, it was Wednesday. He looked inside the pantry and noticed that there was only three packs of instant ramen left. He realized that the initial shock of receiving food money from his father would have been less if he knew that all this food had to last him until whenever his father felt like coming home.

He sighed after closing the pantry door, deciding to wait until later to eat dinner. Supposedly, you burn calories slower when you sleep, and he planned to take full advantage of that fact. He lay down on his bed and Shippou soon came to join him. As if by instinct, he reached out to scratch Shippou's ears and the disappointing fact that they were gone surprised him again, as it had been doing ever since he found out the boy's new talent.

He felt so different now, so not Shippou. But his mind constantly reminded him that Shippou was no different. He was still as nice and affectionate and universally appealing. He soon realized that he should not have felt bad in the first place. After all, the human form was an illusion. He was a demon, just like himself. (Kind off like himself at least.)

While on the subject of illusions, he allowed himself to be bothered by the most irritating mystery of Kagome. He knew she wasn't human, but then what the hell was she? Just because it seemed so obvious to him, he sometimes wondered if maybe she was an angel. He could imagine her suddenly sprouting giant white feathered wings mad then flying away. He remembered her telling him she wanted badly to fly. so maybe she was a flightless angel. Like one of those poor species of birds who are unfortunate enough to be a bird, have wings, and yet, never be able to use them. But Kagome was no penguin, she was something more. Something amazing. Though, somehow, he could never find the right time to ask her what it was she originated from.

Inu Yasha was not one to arbitrarily bring up subject matter that was so foreign and unusual. Asking some one what race of creatures they came from would definitely qualify for 'foreign', so he just avoided it. However, he swore that he would find a time to ask her. But the time would gave to be right, and the conversation would have to lead to it. Lately, he hadn't spoken much with Kagome, and a small guilt was beginning to grow inside of him. She did matter so much to him, after all.

He came home from school at around five and only did so because Shippou was there alone and he didn't want him to be there alone. His father could come home at any time. When he got home he went straight to his room and called to Shippou from the window. After a few seconds he heard him come bounding gracefully through the lawn. He leapt and landed with precision on the window sill and rubbed against the arm that Inu Yasha rested there. He smiled and almost laughed because the cat behavior just looked kind of awkward when he was in human form. He picked up Shippou and sat on the bed with him.

"You know, your dad's been gone a long time. When is he going to come back?" the boy asked, as if Inu Yasha was just finding out from him now that his father had been missing for almost a week. This was not uncommon, honestly, and Inu Yasha could recall several accounts on which his father had been out of the house for more than two weeks and had left him no money. He supposed that the fact that his dad had been acting so strangely lately may have added to his reaction to the man's disappearance. For the first time he felt something other than anger and sadness at his disappearance. It was almost as if he was afraid. He fell confused and preferred not to think about it a lot.

"Yeah, I know." he remarked. "But he's always done stuff like this. I remember when I was little, he disappeared for nine days. I thought he had died and I started crying." He pulled his knees in and looked down at Shippou. "I don't know what the hell I was crying about. I had given up on him way before then. Anyways, he came home that day, slapped me for crying and me to stop being a pussy." He immediately clapped his hand over his mouth. "Oh! Don't say that word again! I don't usually use those words and all, but it is what he said."

Shippou looked confused and Inu Yasha quickly caught on that he didn't know which word was bad. Shippou looked at him for a while and frowned. "Why does your dad be so mean to you?" He asked him. The incorrect grammar made the serious question seem a little humorous.

"I ... I don't know?" he said and shrugged. "He's just mean. He just hates ... everything! I'd feel bad for him if he weren't such a horrible person all the time."

"Feel bad for him! Why?" Shippou screeched.

"Well, I don't know ..." Inu Yasha said as he pinched a piece of blanket between his fingers. "I mean ... something had to have happened to him to make him this way." He paused and took in a deep and shaky breath. "Sometimes I think that my mom was the only person he could really love." He took another pause before continuing. "Then again, I also think that he completely lacks the ability to love anything at all."

Shippou sat quietly and looked at Inu Yasha so seriously, absorbing the information. Inu Yasha turned to him and his lips creased into a smile. "Sometimes, Shippou, I feel like you actually understand everything I'm saying, even though you're so young,"

"I do, I do! Really!" Inu Yasha had the idea that maybe he enjoyed being thought of as an 'adult'. (or something close to it)

"You're growing really fast. When I first met you, you could hardly walk straight." A tiny bundle of laughter bubbled up from his throat. "But I mean, now you can fully transform and you-"

Suddenly, Shippou's cat ears grew from the top of his head and stood alert there, swerving around like they were trying to pick up a sound.

"What is it?" Inu Yasha asked.

"I hear someone walking. Towards here." Inu Yasha listened, and sat perfectly still, but could hear nothing.

"What are you talking about? No one's coming, I can't hear anything."

"No no no, just listen. I swear I hear something." the cat boy said and held out his hand. Inu Yasha, swayed by Shippou's persistence, sat silently again and listened for something, anything. His ears shuffled through the different sounds it could receive and searched for footsteps. After about half a minute of searching he finally picked it up. He closed his eyes and focused in on it. The vibrations were light, and then heavy, and whatever it was he heard was injured.

Suddenly Shippou clung to Inu Yasha. "Who is it? I think it's that guy!" He buried his face into Inu Yasha's side. "The one your dad was talking to! He's coming for us!" Inu Yasha's heart started to beat faster. When his father was home with him, that was bad, but when his friends were with him, it only got worse.

"Stay here." Inu Yasha said sternly and he started to walk towards the door. He cracked it open and his breath got caught in his chest when he saw who was limping down the street. He tentatively walked towards his father and raised a hand. His expression was confused understandably, especially since his father was clutching at his side and he smelt something in the air; salty and musky. It was almost too much like blood.

The scent interested him so deeply that he stumbled out halfway down his drive way slowly were he met his father. The man looked at him and made a discontented moaning sound. He clutched his side with one arm and the other dangled uselessly at his side.

Inu Yasha looked dumbly upon him, dizzied by the state his father was in. Limping along, grasping at his side; he looked so pathetic then. Inu Yasha knew that the man was trying very hard to look strong in front of him, of course he was, he would not look weak in front of the boy. But Inu Yasha's eyes were well trained to detect discomfort, and he could quickly locate the pain that danced in the man's eyes and related to the feeling. Inu yasha could have laughed at the man's failed attempts to keep his composure and was distracted by it almost to the extent that he didn't wonder why the man was grasping his side in the first place until a bit later.

The man eventually limped to where Inu Yasha was standing and grunted to note his existence. Inu yasha walked towards the house as his father passed him, and he stood a little to the side and behind him as he asked, "What's the matter?"

He was sure the man heard what he said, however, he did not answer. He just continued to wobble to the door, fruitlessly attempting to hide the discomfort his side was causing him. He followed the man into the kitchen where he pulled out a wad of cash, and placed it with a smack on the counter. He then fished around in his pocket and pulled out a plastic ziploc bag which contained a substance that the man examined for only a small amount of time until he placed it back into his pocket.

Inu Yasha stood, fish-faced, as he watched his father reach around inside his pockets. He sometimes thought it easier to ignore the means by which the man brought money to feed the dying animal of a family he lived in, that continued to limp along pathetically, even though it clearly should be shot and put out of its misery. The man proceeded to remove his jacket, slowly because of the pain in his side, and then started to unbutton his undershirt. Inu Yasha was beyond surprised that he was doing this in front of him. Why was he being so open?

The man removed his shirt and only his bare bloated gut was showing. Wrapped around his abdomen was a white bandage, saturated with blood in one concentrated area to the side of his belly button. After his attention on the blood had faded he noticed a curious scar on his fathers chest that had not healed so well. And then he began to focus his eyes in on the man's torso in the short amount of time he had to view it. He hadn't noticed before, but the man's body was very badly scarred. He even noticed a few circular burns on his side.

Was what his father did on the weekends so terribly dangerous?

Why was he hurting himself like this so badly?

Unless ... was it ... intentional?

Inu Yasha quickly shoved the thought aside. If his father cut up his own body, then wouldn't he just be content doing that and leaving Inu Yasha alone? The world didn't make sense anymore. He felt a wave of confusion mix his senses. He needed to ask the man what happened. "You got hurt?"

The man heaved two sarcastic chuckles and commented dryly, "Really?" His rough voice cloaked the potential humor and only made Inu Yasha a little afraid. Technically, a little more afraid, seeing as being around the man put him in a constant state of terror.

"What happened? Did you fight with someone?" he asked softly. He tried to make his voice as quiet as he could possibly make it, so as to assure the man he was not trying to sound rude or offensive.

"Nah, it's nothin'. Just fucking hurts like hell." he spat.

Inu Yasha tugged uncomfortably on the side of his mouth and slumped, his eyes crawling all over the flooring of his kitchen. "You okay?" he whispered, and in a strange way, part of him really wanted to know.

The man looked at him, but Inu Yasha did not see him, only heard him snort something out like "It's fine."

He bobbed his head, not really because he acknowledged what the man had said but more because he just felt the need to move: to do something. He felt nervous and the bare soles of his feet, which clung to the kitchen floor, made a sticky sound when he rose up on his tiptoes, and then rocked back to his heel.

He was anxious, but endurably so.

The rest of the week passed by, bland moment after moment. Why was it, he wondered, that these things in life that used to make him so full of emotion, now only served to provide momentary salvation from boredom? Was it that he had grown so used to life that it became a pattern? And that all the colors and shades of excitement blended together into some off-putting brown-grey?

He felt like there was an invisible wall built that separated him from life. But where did it come from? It wasn't there before. He remembered, some time ago, when his friends- Miroku, Sango, Kagome- made him feel so happy, but now he just wanted to run away from everything, from his school and his home. It was almost as if he felt afraid. But what was so scary about a nice girl like Kagome?

On Friday, he waited on a particularly thick branch of his favorite tree, the same one he usually sat on, and sat peacefully there. Occasionally, his ears would flicker towards sounds that piqued his interest and he would listen to a bird sing, or a car grumble by. It was very quiet in his school after the children had left and he took advantage of the silence to sort all his muddled thoughts. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore. Everything he used to think either didn't make sense anymore, or was forgotten.

Over the past two weeks, he had been feeling so stressed. He had relieved some tension on Sunday, true, but all of it came rushing back again as soon as he came to school on Monday. He rubbed his temples, as if that would make the frustration go away, and shifted his position on the seat.

He felt like he wanted to sleep through Sango's party. Maybe it was because the thought of sleeping in the same bed with Miroku or Kagome equally terrified him, or maybe it was the fact that he had been feeling tired constantly, lately. But either way, something about 'living' (kinda) with so many people without having a place to go to be alone made him very uneasy. The more he thought about it, the more confused he got.

His ears picked up the sound of footsteps, suddenly, and he was pretty sure, even though it could be anyone, that it was Kagome. He continued to ignore the sound, figuring he would just greet Kagome when she was in sight.

He heard the footsteps grow closer and closer and he grew tired of waiting, so he decided he would just greet Kagome now. He turned around slowly as he started to speak. "Hello Kago-"

But it wasn't Kagome. It was some ... other girl. He didn't know her, but somehow, since she was on the school grounds, he figured that they attended school together. She stopped in her tracks and looked away from where he was sitting. This was curious, since she was looking in that direction before he spoke.

He continued. "Oh ... sorry ... you're not Kagome." He felt hideously embarrassed and turned pastel pink as he realized his mistake. He laughed sheepishly and shyly apologized to her. "S-sorry..." he mumbled.

The girl was apparently as embarrassed as he was because he could see her giggle girlishly and look away, bashfully hiding her blush. "Oh, uh, it's okay." She held books to her torso and she squirmed as she hugged them tighter and then released them. "I- uh- I was just ... Sorry for disturbing you." She looked away shamefully and squirmed some more. She was very shy, he realized, and in an almost painful way, she reminded him of himself just a few months ago.

"You come here a lot." she said softly, but Inu Yasha heard.

"Hm." he agreed. "It's my favorite place."

"And ... Kagome, she is here with you too?" she said and slumped. He watched with fascination as her head seemed to shrink further into her shoulders as the conversation grew.

"Well, not now, but ... yeah, we meet here a lot." he said. He was beginning to sound oddly confident, and he wasn't sure if it was because the girl he was talking to apparently lacked it completely, or if he had actually gained some over the past couple months. Either way, it made him feel strangely happy.

"Oh ... Do you-?" she started to speak and then stopped and stroked her throat uncomfortably. "Are you ... can ..." She began to laugh quietly, but not cheerfully. "Are you free this weekend?" she spit out and Inu Yasha couldn't help but stare at her like a small alien had just come out of the girl's side and walked away.

He looked at her, very confused, and then, when he realized he hadn't said anything for quite a while, tried to continue the conversation. "Wh ... why?" And in an instant, any of the probably feigned confidence he had upheld through their brief dialogue was blown away like insignificant sand granules in the wind.

"Well ..." She had honestly expected he would have caught on by now. "I was ... just wondering ... I ... I dunno ... we ... um." The way she paused after every word made Inu yasha positively mad. He was so confused, and he just wished she would come out and say why she needed to know where he would be this weekend so badly. "Maybe we could ... you know? Do ... something?" she looked at him with a painfully awkward stare.

His jaw would have unhinged if he were to actually show how astonished he was by use of it. She stood there squirming, the awkwardness of the situation looking as if it was causing her physical pain by the way she wiggled so nervously.

Did she just ask if he wanted to go out with her? Him?

So, for the past fifteen years of his life, everyone around him hated him for what he was, but now they like him for no reason.

What the hell was wrong with the world?

He would seriously need sleep after this.

He tried to speak, but couldn't do anything except stutter like an idiot for a while. "Y-you wh .. want- want to do something ... with m-me?" he asked, dumbstruck.

She looked up at the boy in three and smiled meekly, slowly nodding her head and then looking away.

Girls liked him? Girls liked him!

"Um ... I'm busy." he said. And then he realized he was busy that weekend. She looked a little sad because of this, but didn't seem to take it so hard. She wasn't crying or anything, so Inu Yasha just assumed she was okay.

"Oh." she said somberly and then looked up at him and smiled nervously. She walked away, in the opposite direction, without even saying goodbye to him. He understood though. The whole thing was nerve racking, not only to her, but to him, in a strange way. He did however, have no idea why she asked him that. Was she just trying to make fun of him, or play a prank? No. That was not acting he saw. It was actual discomfort when she was talking, and real sadness when he turned her down.

Girls ... liked him.

On his way back to his house, he decided to stop by Kagome's house. The advances of the girl by the tree had somewhat shaken him up, and he decided that he needed to see her and her mom. Of course, the fact that he really enjoyed both of their company helped as well.

He climbed up the stairs in a brisque trot and poked the doorbell. Less than a minute later, Kagome's mom was at the door. She greeted him with a cheerful hug and a bright smile. "Is Kagome here?" he asked.

"Oh, my." she said and laughed. "You always come at the wrong time, don't you, Sweetie?"

"Oh ... so she's ... not, um ..."

"Yes, she went with Sango shopping. The girls want to buy new bathing suits." she said.

"Bathing ... suits?" he said, more to himself than to her, really. "Why would they need those?"

The woman laughed at the question, almost amused at its pointlessnes. "Yes, well, the hotel that everyone is staying in is very nice. It has a pool, so they are excited to be able to use it, since well, Kagome hasnt really swam a lot. Her only other bathing suit is quite old, doesn't really fit her. So they went out to prepare."

Inu Yasha didnt really hear anything other than 'bathing suit' throughout Ms. Higurashi's entire speech. Unlike girls bathing suits (well some of them) boys suits only cover your lower body. He touched his chest gently and shuddered.

"Well," the woman said softly and smiled, "tea?"

Inu Yasha smiled and shrugged "Sure." he chirped. Having tea with Kagome's mother was so fun.

They walked through the labrynth leading to the living area and Inu Yasha sat on the futons near the table as Kagome's mother made tea. "Can I help?" he asked politely, almost feeling awkward because someone else was making food while he sat and did nothing.

"Oh no, no, no, Sweetie." she said. Inu Yasha wiggled a tad uncomfortably as she addressed him by such a sugary nickname. He briefly wondered if Ms Higurashi was this nice to every one of Kagome's friends.

She brought a hot pot to the table and placed it on its coaster after pouring them each a glass. He added a generous amount of sugar to his cup and stirred it well as he waited for it to cool. "So how have you been, Inu Yasha? Life treating you well?" she said warmly.

"Mmhmm." he hummed and nodded.

"Excited about the party?" she asked.

"Yeah. It'll be fun. Especially since I havn't been to another birthday party in a long time." he said. "Well, except for Miroku's."

"No birthday parties?" she asked.

"Well, there were parties, but I was never invited. The mothers didn't really feel comfortable having me around their children." he said somberly. "Which is so stupid by the way, since, well, I only went to school with them every day."

"That's terrible." she said softly. "I'm sorry."

"It's not really like I care anymore now. I mean, they're just kids who don't know any better ... just stereotypes ..." he said. "But back then I remember hearing kids talk about how much fun they had and I'd feel sad that they didn't let me come. They'd talk about it sometimes, and then get all quiet when I'd come near them."

She placed a hand on his shoulder and patted it. "But it's all for the best, right? Look at what a great boy you've turned out to be."

He sighed and looked at his tea. "Wasn't much fun, really."

"I'm glad Kagome has a friend like you." she said. "Such a nice loyal boy. Not so much like some of her other friends." the woman said bitterly. Before Inu Yasha could ask anything, the woman continued. "But oh well. Coming back to Japan has been good." she said.

Inu Yasha smiled. "Good." he said softly.

"Kagome's such a great girl ..." she commented. "She's the best thing that's ever happened to me." Inu Yasha smiled some more, but was still unsure as to what to say next.

"Did... um ... did Kagome have troubles making friends too?" he asked meekly.

"Ah, well, no, not really. She was always such a bright and outgoing girl, so she never had trouble going up to people and talking to them. She made many friends this way. But sometimes, I suppose, yes, people did treat her strangely. Something was just ... different. They could tell." she said.

The woman eyed the dog ears on the boys head. "But she was not different in the way you are." she said and smiled. Inu Yasha blushed at the mention of his outwardly demon appearance, the shame pushing the blood into his cheeks. The woman didn't mean to insult him, he knew, but he had grown so used to being attacked because of the ears and odd coloring that it was just a reflex that he would grow self conscious at the mention of them.

"You ... you um, you kind of ... You don't mind them ... the ears, do you?" he asked tentatively.

"No." she said sternly. "Not at all. It's kind of refreshing, really. Back when I was young there were a lot more demons around. Before they all started dying away and hiding themselves behind human appearances. It kind of makes me nostalgic, really."

"So ... you had demon friends?" he asked.

"Oh, sure, plenty. My best friend when I was younger was a demon! A full blooded one at that. A beautiful girl, and a lot of fun." she said, sounding excited. "Oh, we had so much fun. You don't know what it's like to be young until you grow old." she said and laughed.

Inu Yasha smiled as well. "College was such fun." she said. "You just wait till you get up and out of your house and enter the 'adult world'. That's when life really begins." she said, matter-of-factly. She always spoke like she knew everything.

He laughed a little and Ms. Higurashi looked at him curiously. "Did I say something funny?" she asked.

"No ... it's just ... you talk exactly like Kagome." he said and suppressed the rest of the laughter.

"Really?" she said.

"Yes. You ... um ... you both talk really ... really well. You're a lot like her." he said.

The woman laughed for some reason and then said, "Like mother like daughter, yes?"

Inu Yasha smiled. "I always knew I wanted a daughter." she said. "But ... after the cancer ..." The woman looked down sadly after she mentioned this and then, as if she suddenly realized that she had said it, she clamped her hands over her mouth. "That's right! I haven't told you, have I?" she asked.

"Cancer?" he asked, nervously.

"Yes ... cancer ... in my ovaries. The doctors fixed it and I haven't went into remission but ... they told me that I would never be able to have children." She looked away from him and an expression of such bitter pain crossed her face that it made all of Inu Yasha feel like all his suffering was nothing.

Inu Yasha suddenly understood how important Kagome was to her mother in that moment. His own mother was brought to mind and he wondered if maybe she loved him as much as Kagome's mother loved her. Of course she did, he reminded himself. He felt his heart crush under the weight of sorrow at the realization of how lucky he was to have Kagome. "I'm ... sorry ..." he mumbled.

The woman smiled at him and waved her hand, as if by doing it, she was also waving away her problems. "But then my little Kagome came, and it was just like all my husband's and mine doubt and sadness went away. It was like magic." she said. "She was just such a joy."

The woman's previous expression of pain was wiped away and replaced with a very happy smile. The intense emotions were making him feel uncomfortable a little, but this was just something that Kagome's mother did. She talked about strange personal things with people she didn't know that well ... which really kind of freaked him out, but he did enjoy talking to her. She was smart, he thought, and her thoughts were interesting.

After he talked with her for another ten minutes or so, he felt bad about leaving Shippou alone for so long and told her he should be going now. She walked him to the door and hugged him goodbye after they briefly discussed transportation to the party tomorrow. The woman gladly agreed to take him to Sango's house with Kagome where the four teens would be driven to the hotel.

He waved goodbye to her as he left the shrine and then returned home to Shippou.

Shameless Advertising (I hope you dont mind me doing this, picken)

Hey everyone, just Inu Kun here, telling you that you must go read the story 'Daughters' by sleepwalking chicken and HAP! It is very good and mushy and yummy! Seriously, check it out! Very emotional. If you like stories where Inu Yasha is kind of angry and mean at first, but then gets his heart softened, you'll like this one. Actually, she's an incredible author. You'll like all her stories. Yesh, now read little darlings. Reeaad!

Author's Notes

ZOMG! So long! This is to make up for the shortie in the last chapter.

Well, um ... I writ this thing ... 'Setting the Dead Woman Free' And I'm really proud of it ... but no one's read it ... can you guys help me out? T-T I promise you wont regret it!

And holy crap! He gets asked out? Well, it makes sense. He is such a good looking boy.

Well, I hope you liked reading! Next chapter is the party! YES! I am soo excited! Squee! You guys are gonna likethe next chapter, mmhmm.

Inu Yasha is so adorable, I wub him.