"What did Sesshomaru do?" Was that Kagome? "Please, be okay…"

I sat up, startling the young woman, and stared at her with a facial expression that deceive the sincere confusion I felt. It was indeed Kagome, but how the heck did I end up with her? I knew I crashed last night, but I'm pretty that was next to Sesshomaru by a campfire. I'm pretty sure I don't sleep walk. It took me a couple of guesses on how I arrived at my current position and a few minutes to actually wake up before I came to the conclusion that Sesshomaru decided to drop me off. For what reason? I don't know. I placed my right hand on my chin and used my left hand as a rest for my right elbow. He said he had stuff to deal with, and I'll just assume that whatever he was doing required his full attention. Maybe he was trying to get Naraku's eye off of himself or me. Or could it be that he realized that I didn't appreciate being forced to sleep in the arms of an associate. Though I was a lot more willing once I was asleep, since I was unconscious and all, I'm sure my moral conscious remained vigilant as I snuggled with a man I knew everything and nothing about.

"Are you okay? Is everything alright?" Kagome asked as she gazed into my eyes. "You got up so suddenly."

"I'm fine. Just wasn't expecting to wake up here."

"Where's Sesshomaru? He's usually near whenever you show up."

"I doubt he'll turn up anytime soon." I replied before feeling the wind crawl up my back. A shiver ran down my back as something tried to warn me. But of what? "Muso?" It was the first thing to come to my mind.

"Who?"

Muso was coming, I could feel it.

"Kagome, we need to get to InuYasha and the others."

"But you just-"

"We need to go now, trust me."

I stood up and stretched a bit before holding her wrist and edging forward. After she got over her instinct to stay put until things were explained, we hurried out of the village. I was simply hoping to keep events in order. I wanted to use my time figuring out my purpose in being here instead of how to detangle myself from the random situations I snare myself in. We were walking up a hill a couple of yards away from the village when the soft traces of laughter drifted through the air. Just as I had suspected Muso was riding toward the village. Once we cleared the hill, the man with Naraku's face was clearly visible, riding a horse, and swinging his sword without a care in the world. I would stay as far away from the man as possible, assuming that that would be the easiest way to keep myself out of the conflict.

The moment he laid eyes on Kagome, he brought his horse to a halt. The high schooler paid no mind to his sudden stop, preferring to focus on regrouping with her friends. I watched as his barbaric grin and inward furrowing of his brow melted away. The man would have no idea why Kagome invoked emotions within him, no matter how hard he tried to remember. Once he realized that, his stilled face contorted, throwing his thoughts out of mind, and doing as his gut demanded. I would have been okay with that, but the quick, secondary glance he threw at me was unnerving. I stepped back, ready to take shelter in the neighboring forest should anything go awry.

Muso charged, swinging his sword and letting a war cry rip through his throat. He attempted, more than once, to wrap his arm around Kagome and pull her away from the group. Each time, Kagome either ducked under the man's arm, or his advance was repelled by InuYasha, Miroku, or Sango. He came damn well close to stealing Kagome away from the group, actually picking her up almost yanking her out of InuYasha's reach, but the inu took desperate measures and cut off the man's arm. Kagome fell to the floor and whined for a bit before gratefully getting back up and blending back in with the group. Agitation wrinkled his face as he completely ignored the fact that his arm was gone. He circled around the group, plotting for a way to break their defenses. He came to a dead stop after realizing that there would be no way to penetrate their defenses without his effort ultimately being rendered useless.

So what did he do? He turned around, and changed focus, to me. The moment I saw his horse start galloping toward me, I started my dash toward the forest. I would be much harder to follow and catch there. I was tempted to lift my kimono to allow my legs better running space, but that thought was rendered useless when I felt a branch like object wrap around my waist, and tug me back toward him. I could hear my back crack as physics took its course. The whiplash was so intense that I was almost sure that I would be left with some sort of spinal injury. Regardless of my back's cries and much understood cursing, I struggled to break free whatever it was that held me by my waist

"Where the hell did she come from?!" InuYasha asked.

"I don't think that should be your main concern right now!" I shouted back, unable to not be sarcastic.

He looked like he was about to keep bickering with me, and I wouldn't have been very reluctant to exchanging vulgar language with him. But Kagome, being the good person she is, elbowed InuYasha into action before Muso could ride away with me. He cut off whatever it was that was holding me captive. I got a taste of Kagome's earlier pain as I fell to the ground. Muso's horse finally reared back, not willing to have a sword swung so closely to it for a third time, forcing the fake man to flee into the forest defeated. InuYasha would have pursued the man, but his attention snapped to me once the threat was gone.

"Why aren't you with Sesshomaru?" he asked bluntly.

Kagome gave him a death glare, but I laughed.

"I need some time away from the Royal Pain." I said. "Even I need a break."

"Now you see what I've been saying." InuYasha barked.

"Shouldn't we go after that man? He could attempt to attack the village later." Kagome said.

"No point in doing that." I told them.

"Why do you say that?" Miroku asked.

"Naraku must have absorbed him by now. If not, he's doing it as we speak." I explained.

"Why would he do that?" Sango asked.

"Muso held his heart."

"WHAT?!" The entire group exclaimed.

I nodded my head. "Yup, he was essentially the human half Naraku tried to oust from himself. But he kind of realized that he can't live without his heart, 'cause the body doesn't work like that." I explained.

"And you didn't tell us this earlier, why?" InuYasha asked, quite heatedly.

"Well, if you thought about that question yourself, you would ask, what time did I have to tell you about it?" I replied. "And I've told you, I'm not going to tell you anything about the future, because then it's more than likely not going to happen and/or will result in the butterfly effect."

"Butterfly effect? This is the first I have heard of such a thing." Miroku commented.

"I'll explain once we get back to the village." I informed. "I'll explain a lot once we're under a roof."

Sango gave me a hand in getting up. My back was still on fire, but it wasn't bad enough to enable me incapable of walking. We didn't talk much on our way back to Kaede's but there was the occasional grunt from InuYasha, and Kagome's, ironically, impatient call for InuYasha to be patient. Once we finally returned to the group's base of operations, I was more than happy to lay on my back and relieve it of the stress of standing. The others followed my lead, finding a spot and getting comfortable. I took a minute to relax and form my thoughts, ignoring the fervent tapping of InuYasha's foot. I finally started my dialogue and the Inu's fed up emphasizing of the fact that we were back in the village.

"Calm down and let me think." I started before transitioning to what the butterfly effect was, and how time travel affects what will be and that which is to come. I even gave an example. After that, I shifted the focus to myself, explaining why I was away from Sesshomaru, including my guess as to why he suddenly dropped me off, but excluding the events of the prior night for my own sake. I ended my discourse with an explanation, to the guys, as to why I was stuck with the icy prince to begin with. Kagome also mentioned the fact that she found me near the well.

"That idiot! What if Naraku made off with you before you woke up or Kagome found you?"

"In all that I just said, not once did I mention it being a good idea. I made sure to describe it as 'understandable' from the angle I tackled it from." I assured. "It was a dangerous gambit to play, especially since I'm turning fifteen this week."

The information flew right over their heads, leaving Kagome as the only one who understood the point I was making.

"That's when I fell down the well, when I turned fifteen." She said. "And you said you'd turn into your demon form, so if what that book said is true, you'd attract anything male."

"And, unfortunately, that includes Naraku." I'd never thought about that until now. I doubt the antagonist wouldn't try something like that, whether for his own pleasure, or to simply mess with his opponent's head. Probably both.

"Don't worry about it; nothing's gonna want to touch you." InuYasha said.

"InuYasha, she said anything male. Of course you feel that way." I repied.

"Hey, stop it." Kagome snapped, more toward me than InuYasha.

"If you would like, we could seal you in a shrine until your transformation concludes." Miroku said.

I turned my gaze toward him. There wasn't a trace of perversion in his eyes.

"I couldn't ask you all to do that." I said.

"You don't have to." Kagome said. "We passed one some days ago. We should get there with some time to spare if we leave today."

"We usually don't have any free time, so it's more of a waste of time, being unproductive." Shippo added.

"So are we going or not?" InuYasha asked as he stood up.

"I'm not going to say no." I replied.

"Then it's settled." Sango concluded while everyone made the effort to get up. "We'll resupply while we're here, and then head out before it gets too late."

We were divided to conquer the list of materials we needed to last for the days we planned to be away, gathering food and water, getting some medicine from Kaede, the usual for them. We left before the sun was two-thirds of the way through its cycle. And time seemed to fly by after that. Before I knew it, we were sitting outside of the shrine, passing time with small talk.

"You are lying, monk." Sango said, refusing to believe Miroku's story.

"But it is true, my dear Sango. I did, in fact, purge that village of a water demon that poisoned their river."

"Or perhaps you swindled those poor villagers of their money."

"Were did they bathe?" I asked.

"Such an odd question." The monk laughed. "They bathed further up the river."

"And what advice did you give them?"

"To retrieve their water from further up the river, where the poison was least potent."

"So it never occurred to them that they were drinking the same water they used to clean themselves?"

He said nothing as I exposed his "purifying powers" to be nothing more than what should have been understood health conduct.

"So they were just drinking dirty water." InuYasha said, making sure he was thinking along the right lines.

"Nice trick, Miroku." Shippo complemented. "I never would have thought of that to be honest."

"A lot of people wouldn't. He is a monk. He is supposed to have the best in mind for people, not wondering what is in their pockets." Sango emphasized.

Miroku admitted to his half-hearted lie, shifting the conversation away from his pious actions, and toward his ironically conniving nature. I trailed away from the conversation as Sango relentlessly countered everything the man said. There was a surprising amount of time left empty in the story. I'd always assumed that the crew was always jammed packed with activities except for the sporadic appearance of the episodes where Kagome goes home. I guess it was somewhat of a stupid idea, considering the fact that the author wouldn't give much screen time to the group's down time.

"Hey, do you feel any different yet?" InuYasha asked.

"Not a t all."

"It's getting late in the day, don't you think?"

"You want to go ahead and get started now? I'm fine with that." I replied.

"Better early than late."

I bet it would be painful, like how it was for Link during Twilight Princess, when he first transformed into a wolf.

How right I was! It hurt like hell! I thought Tsubaki's curse was horrible. Compared to this, the curse as nothing more than a cold, while this burned with the scorching heat of a fever. Unlike with Tsubaki's curse, I could feel my spirit and body being torn apart from each other. It was awful. My skin felt as though the every single hair on my body was being pulled out, one at a time. As if things couldn't get worse, my change wasn't restricted to physical pain, but expounded to the realm of my mind. I felt like I'd been shot with a paintball in the temple of my skull. On top of that sudden, massive, migraine, the contents of my mind flooded over the thought breakers of my mind that held back the constant onslaught of emotions created by the various hormones my angst ridden teenage body couldn't help itself from producing . Unfortunately, my sheer confusion on how to feel was not enough to conquer the head splitting headache that was my brain or the feel of goosebumps on my newly plucked limbs. Though I felt like my internal temperature was something the sun would be jealous of, I managed to keep myself quiet. My cries were silent as I toughed through the tremendous pain. My nails felt as though they were being pulled out of their place on my fingers, and as my hair was lit on fire. My bones itched from the packing of layers of the white material transformed my skeleton. I wanted to throw up.

I found myself curled up on the floor as my body slowly stopped fidgeting. My legs seemed to be pulled down by invisible hands and my arms reached above my head. I stretched my entire body, listening to the cracks of my joints, the rush of blood in my ears, and the scrapping of wood against my clothes. I stumbled to my feet, and wiped the tears away from my eyes. I winced as I felt something cut my skin. I looked at my hands and saw that my nails were now elongated and sharp. I wiped the blood from my cheek as I bit my lip to keep my shock from manifesting in a scream. Unfortunately, I bit my lips with my newly sharpened teeth. After trying to jump away from myself, I sucked on my lip to stop the blood flow. I always liked the taste of my blood, but this was different from the regular 65 percent salt, 30 percent spice, and 5 percent kindness of my blood plasma. I'd guess 70 percent salt, and maybe 20 percent spice: 10 percent kindness. Why the spike in kindness? I don't know, and I'll probably never find out. I didn't feel any kinder.

The small cut on my lip healed not long after. I didn't even notice the staunched blood flow until I attempted to wipe my lip of excess blood again. I itched my head, trying to figure out what I should think, having to get used to the thought of being a demon and all. As my fingers combed through my hair, my eyes widened as my hands trailed through obsidian hair that trailed to my waist. It was like silk, slipping through my hands with ease and softer than the finest conditioner could achieve. I yelped and jumped away from the ends of my hair before watching the strands follow behind me.

"Goodness, me." I whispered to myself.

Was I done? Was there a mirror anywhere? I was lucky enough to find what looked to be what was left of what was once a vase. It was hard to make out, but the little reflection I saw was enough to leave my jaw ajar. My eyes were completely foreign. Their normal, dark brown hue was gone, replaced with a brighter blue-gray. I dropped the vase fragment, successfully shattering it into smaller pieces. After getting over the shock of having the vase piece shatter further, I took a deep breath and went over to the shrine door.

"Umm… guys, I think I'm done." I said.

"Stay inside!" Kagome yelled at me.

I took a step back. I was expecting a "That's great to hear!", but I guess nothing ever goes this smoothly.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked. Walking back up to the door, and placing my hands on the door. I regretted that choice instantly. My fingers burned the instant they laid on the wood. That intense heat roared down my hand and to my wrist before I move my hand from the door. I shook my hand fervently, instinctively trying to extinguish the invisible fire that lit my hand.

"We're fine!" Miroku yelled. "Don't go near the walls!"

Okay. I guess they weren't having a nifty-keen time outside. I backed away from the door. I wanted to help, but what good would I do? I sighed and sat down. I could feel the vibrations of the battle and hear the grunts of the fighters. I was rather anxious to get out of the windowless shrine and see what was going on outside of my cage.

Finding now to be no worse of a time than any other time, I decided to try out my new "demon" acquisitions. I was able to cut through trees before, so I assumed I could do the same now. I held my right arm out, and gave a quick chopping movement. I watched a faint purple line follow my fingers before disappearing with nothing left in its wake. Maybe there's a special technique I had to channel from within myself and master. I was convinced otherwise when the doors fell apart in neat triangles of varying sizes. I stared at the lush trees that swayed dauntingly in the distance before looking down and examining my fingers. Could I shoot acid? It would be awesome, and super impressive if I could, but that's a bit too dangerous for me to try. It would have to wait.

I walked out of my confines, glad to breathe the air that hadn't been trapped in the shrine for who knows how long. The air was nice. It was still strong from the relative newness of my nose, but the smell of evergreens and rivers doesn't sting as much as the scent of roses and lavender. My peace while taking in my breaths of fresh air ended as InuYasha ran by, fighting a demon of some sort. I have no idea what it was honestly. There are so many snake and lizard and creepy crawly demons to tell the difference between most of them without making it your profession. Knowing that more insignificant demons to the plot were to come, I'll save myself the trouble for the more interesting demons.

InuYasha spared our time by ending the demon rather quickly

"I told you to stay inside!" Kagome yelled, not looking at me.

"Yeah, yeah, you tell me to do a lot of stuff." I said as I sat down on a rock. I could feel every curve of the rock, and smell the bear sleeping in a cave around a hundred and fifty meters away. I looked in the direction of the bear and assumed it was enjoying its freshly caught meal. I don't know what it caught, but I hope it'll eat all of it. When I looked over at the group to see if they were settled from their previously agitated state. Miroku was basically drooling, while Kagome and Sango just stared. InuYasha actually took a step back. As far as I knew all that really changed was my eye color. My hair got darker, yeah, but it's not like it's bright pink.

"Wow…" Sango said.

"Yup" was all I could come up with.

After Sango threatened to smack Miroku with Hiraikotsu for drooling, we started away from the shrine.

"So, are we going back to the village, or what?" I asked from Sango's side.

"We're going to go find the jewel shards." InuYasha said.

"I guess I'll go with you, not that I was really given a choice, but I don't really have anything else to do."

"You should go back to the village." Kagome told me. "There's no telling what Naraku has planned. He can kidnap you at any moment!"

"Naraku could kidnap me just as easily in the village." I noted.

She was quiet.

"I need a break anyway." I sighed. "Go and visit Totosai. You should see Myoga, and he will be able to tell you how to break Naraku's barrier."

Everyone stopped and stared at me. Didn't I already tell them that I was essentially their soothsayer?

"Where do you plan to go?" InuYasha asked.

"I'm going home." I told them all.

"We should take you back to the well then." InuYasha offered.

He walked past me. I jumped onto his back, surprising him and much of the group.

"Thank you InuYasha!" I said with a bright smile before abandoning my bright tone for a softer one. "You're a pretty great guy. Maybe that's why Kagome loves you." I whispered.

He blushed instantly as my eyes drooped shut. I shut down as my body suddenly decided to go sore.

"Kazumi?" Kagome asked, wondering if I was okay.

I was out cold.

"She must be exhausted." Miroku deduced.

It was strange. Even though I was asleep, and I knew that I was asleep, I could hear them.

"All that energy she showed before must have been what was left." Sango said. "It looked like she didn't expect to fall asleep."

"InuYasha, could you carry her to the well?" Kagome asked.

"Maybe if you all shut your traps and hurried up!"

I chuckled at that one, though not audibly.

Every one's scent became familiar to me. Sango smelled like pines, Kagome like vanilla, Miroku like a windswept field of wild flowers, and InuYasha surprisingly smelled like dirt. The nice, earthy smell, not the nasty, decomposed organisms smell. They had the smell of nature attached to them, well, all of them except Kagome. Her scent was the artificially sweet scent of vanilla, but it was starting to wear out with time and revealing a more rustic, oak, scent.

As I was carried back to the village, without turbulence, the scents of my surroundings were swept into my nose. It was chaotic, as though all of the scents targeted me, wanting me to acknowledge their presence. All the while, a single scent beckoned in my mind, the smell of a savory sauce of lemon grass, mint, some type of spice, and an unidentified item. To have its clearing effects now would be god sent.

Someone has a crush! [I]

'So now that I'm a demon, I wonder if anything else changed.'[Me]

Don't change the subject! [I]

Yes, many things have changed. [Beast]

'Who the hell are you?!'[Me]

Oh, that's your beast. [Myself]

Beastin'! [I]

'Ha, I get it, but my beast?' [Me]

Yup, when you turned into a demon, she came in. We had a party! Man, it was great. [I]

Too bad Conscience was there. Ruined the whole thing, talking about how we should have done this, and shouldn't have done that. [Myself]

'Hey!' [Conscience]

Shut up! [Everyone]

'Gosh, there are too many people in my head.' [Me]

The others will not appear unless called upon. That is the only way to keep you sane, but I, Myself, and myself, Beast, will always be your default. Unless it's Sorrow or Sadness, they come and go as they please. [Beast]

But back to more important things! [I]

His scent was like devil's food cake, tempting us like that. [Myself]

'Any cake would have done the example just fine." [Me]

Fruit cake? [Myself]

'Any CAKE would have done the example just fine.' [Me]

The word 'cake' is in the name." [Myself]

'Fuji Apples aren't always from Mount Fuji.' [Me]

But… fruit cake is- [Myself]

'Not here, it's not.' [Me]

Stop trying to change the subject! [I]

Oh, you sly little fox you! [Myself]

Just think of how much more of that scent will be wafting into that nose of yours. I'm sure you'll have an aneurism in no time! [I]

'Don't bring it up.'