*Looks around with a sheepish smile on her face* OK, I admit it, I got the dates mixed up. I had this week off still, hence the update. But, next week, I really DO start university, so you can see that as this month's update. The next will be in about four weeks, I hope. I also hope you'll enjoy the chapter :3 Happy reading and thank you all for the wonderful reviews :]

ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS:

Blackreader27: Well, I can promise I won't forget to TRY and update once a month, but I can't promise to actually succeed to update once every four months. I'll try, but if there's no update one month, it's not because I forgot, but because I'm busy. Please, don't kill me for it. Rest assured, I will not forget about this story, or you, or any other person reading (and reviewing) this. Thank you for the review.

CatchySayo: I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you will enjoy this one, too. :3

Misty Blue: I'm happy that you like Izayoi. I have to say, she's kinda hard to get right, sometimes, as I'm trying to keep her as IC as I can, considering what little we ever saw of her in canon. Think I'm succeeding? And it's good to hear you have a lot of patience. I think you're gonna need it :)

happyface2107: Well, thank you for your understanding, I'm glad you can understand why I'll be slower on the updates from now on. I'll try really hard to keep up with the monthly schedule, though, alright? Thanks for the reviews and glad you like it so far, hope you'll like this chapter, too :3

Tracks for this chapter:

Do As Infinity: Need Your Love

Blood-C OST: Organization

Metallica:Nothing Else Matters (S&M version) (link: www. youtube watch?v=qMoZyCL7EzM&feature=fvst)

The usual breakers and reminder applies.

Chapter 28 – Objects of Power

Kagome opened her eyes slightly as she attempted to stare through the mat that hung at the entrance of the hut instead of a door, trying to gauge the time until sunrise. She was sitting in Kaede's hut, cross-legged, her hands in her sleeves and her back straight as she fought the urge to lean on the wall like she would on a tree trunk. It wouldn't do her wound any good, after all.

With a huff, the young half-demon set the sword that was leaning on her shoulder on the floor beside her and gently laid down on her stomach, her head resting on her crossed arms, an attempt to keep herself from forgetting she was actually hurt. Kaede's herbs were doing an excellent job at keeping what little pain she could have felt at bay – or little as far as she told anyone. Besides which, it had been a very long time since Kagome had been hurt like she was now, the one time she was poisoned not long ago not counting in her mind. It had been a long time since she last sustained a wound that would not heal in a matter of hours, but instead in a matter of two or three days. It had been a long time since she last stayed the night in Kikyo's, or Kaede's as it were, hut, too.

[T]

'Last time… It was a yōkai that held the Jewel, too,' the hanyō-girl thought, her eyebrows furrowing. Demons who have taken the Jewel were dangerous, even to her. Much more dangerous than she liked to admit, except if they were vermin to begin with – what was vermin stayed vermin, even if it had the Shikon. But if it was anything other than a low-level yōkai-scum, it became very dangerous and more than capable to kill her if she wasn't careful.

"Why have you been so careless? Why could you not just wait for an opening, why not let my arrow strike it first?" A calm voice echoed in her head, an echo of a time long past, a person long gone, sleeping an eternal sleep and resting in peace like she deserved. 'Kikyo…' Kagome couldn't help but think, her mind wandering back to that time as she sat in that same hut, in that same position. The only difference was that back then, she and her had been alone whilst this time she was surrounded by people; Miroku lay against the wall to her left, Shippō next to him as he decided to not sleep with her just this once – to not disturb her in her rest, he had said – and Kaede slept right next to the fire place on her right, in the same spot as always. Three sleeping people, and yet they might as well not be there for all the sounds they emitted, allowing the voice of a ghost to reach her ears easily in the silence, whether she liked it or not.

"What does it matter? We got the Shikon back, right? I thought that'd be most important," she heard her own voice, her words implying what she hadn't said aloud and what she was sure Kikyo had believed, too.

"You could have died. You nearly did."

"You're exaggerating."

"I am not and you know it. You nearly died."

"It's not the first time."

"It is the first time since I met you."

"There's always a first for everything."

"This time, it could have been the first and last at the same time."

"But it wasn't."

"It could have been."

"But it wasn't."

"It still could have been."

'I think that was the first time… I ever really noticed that Kikyo cared,' Kagome thought calmly as the voices faded, thinking of the late miko for the first time since her awakening without any trace of pain or suppressed anger. Instead, her thoughts were wistful, almost melancholy as she thought of the woman who had been like her sister, who had been her first real friend, the miko who had not been allowed to live her life like she wanted to, strapped down by duty she accepted because she had a gentle heart.

But very quickly, her restless mind moved on to another moment, one that happened not so long ago. One that was almost exactly the same as the one that had led to that conversation with Kikyo. She could still feel his hand touching her back slightly before he swiftly removed them, she could still smell the sudden spike in his scent, one that could only be fear. But most importantly, she could still hear his voice as he called her name. She could still hear the almost-desperation she was sure she had heard in Inuyasha's frantic voice as he called her, telling her to respond to him while only saying her name.

"Kagome!"

The half-demon's eyes snapped open as if the boy she thought of had just called her for real. She knew he couldn't have, though, he wasn't anywhere near, he was in his own time and she hoped he'd listen to her despite the fact she hadn't had the time to explain anything to him. A soft sight escaped her lips. 'If I had looked into his eyes then,' she couldn't help but wonder, although a part of her already knew the answer instinctively. 'If I had seen his eyes then, would they have the same look in them as Kikyo had back then?'

Somehow, unbelievable as it was, she knew they would. She just knew that if she had looked into his eyes back then, she would have seen that same look in them as Kikyo had allowed to show back then, if only very briefly. Kagome knew and yet she had a hard time believing it. 'Would his eyes really have looked like the eyes of someone who wanted to make sure he hadn't lost something he cared about? Could he really care that much… or am I just reading too much into it?'

"Just shut up and let me protect you!"

She couldn't help but smile as she remembered those words, the way he looked at her when he said them. He was angry, he was frustrated but more than anything, he was determined. Determined to protect her or determined to prove he could protect her, Kagome didn't know which one, but still, the look had unmistakably been there. 'He does care, doesn't he…' she thought, strangely sure of the fact and suddenly finding it very obvious, though still surprising.

"We are your pack."

She blinked as Inuyasha's words rang in her mind, their possible meaning only now truly registering in her mind. 'Could he mean… could he possibly want…' she thought, but didn't dare to finish the sentence and shook her head. That couldn't possibly be it. It was going too far. Inuyasha might care, but it wasn't possible he could ever think about being her pack. Especially not if he knew what pack was, and he did because she had explained it to him once.

No, he probably only said it to make her feel better after reminding her she had no pack. He couldn't have possibly meant he actually wanted to be her pack. It just wasn't possible. From the moment they lost their parents, hanyō were doomed to a solitary life without a pack, no matter if they were solitary or pack-oriented yōkai. People, both ningen and yōkai alike, were just too blind and too clouded by prejudice to ever see that hanyō weren't any different than them, features aside. Humans only saw their demon blood and feared them, demons only saw their human blood and despised them for their supposed weakness. They were too blind to see what should be the most obvious: that humans and yōkai could coexist peacefully, they could get along – half-demons were living proofs of that. Proofs people were too blind to see, proofs they shunned so they didn't have to face their existence.

But Inuyasha… he wasn't blinded like that. He couldn't be, because until he had asked, he hadn't even known what a hanyō was. He had never seen her as a hanyō, had never seen her demon blood or her human blood. All he saw was Kagome. Not even the Inuyasha, just plain Kagome.

And she even dared to think he accepted what he saw, weird, demonic features, sometimes hard-to-control-temper, unnaturally high senses and all.

Could it really be that unlikely that he'd want to be her pack if he wasn't blind like anyone else?

Kagome shook her head again. Her thoughts sounded ridiculous even to herself. It was one thing to accept her as a friend, it was another to accept her as pack. Inuyasha might care for her to some extent, but thinking he might want to be her pack was pushing it. Not that it mattered, anyway. He wasn't her pack and he most likely never would be even if he wanted to. She wasn't meant to have a pack, it was as simple as that.

And even though she thought it was rather unfair, since she had not chosen to be born a hanyō (which of course didn't mean she was ashamed of it – she was proud of her heritage, if anything), she had accepted the fact long ago.

'He's not my pack and no matter whether he wants to be or not, he never will be, so there's no need pondering it,' Kagome decided as she closed her eyes again, allowing her mind to wander. 'Kikyo was never pack, either… Hell, even oji-san was never my pack, not really, let alone anyone else,' she realized, though surprisingly, there was no bitterness in her thoughts, just sad acceptance.

It was true, too, her mother's brother had never been her pack, nor had the rest of her family. They were family in the human sense of the word, they were her blood relatives, but they weren't pack. Her mother had been pack, but she had died a long time ago…

'Better not go there…' Kagome reminded herself, her ears drooping as she tried to force herself to direct her thoughts elsewhere. Her eyes fell on the sleeping Kaede and despite herself, her mind replaced the image of the elder woman with that of a small kid, a girl of no more than ten summers.

[/T]

'You're still that little kid to me, Kaede, no matter what you look like or how old you are. You're still just a little pup,' Kagome couldn't help but think with a small smile on her face, knowing that it was true in more sense than one. 'You're still that little girl who threw a temper tantrum back then for the first time in her life, I think,' the hanyō-girl thought with mirth, a slight smile gracing her features as her mind once again wandered to that time with Kikyo, when the miko had shown for the first time, if only briefly, that she truly cared, in a way Kagome had never even hoped anyone would care for her, with the exception of her mother. Their conversation had been rudely interrupted by Kikyo's younger sister. 'That had to have been the first time I saw such an expression on Kaede-chan's face,' the young half-demon thought, a frown once again marring her features, not even noticing when she once again slipped back to the way she had called the girl before. 'But what could have upset her so?' Kagome's frown deepened as she tried to remember the reason behind Kaede's sudden entrance, her upset face… had she even said what had upset her?

乗

"It still could have been," Kikyo repeated calmly as she gently ran her hand over Kagome's bandaged lower back. She had insisted the hanyō-girl let her treat the injury, and although Kagome kept insisting it wasn't necessary, she couldn't help but feel slightly touched at Kikyo's gesture.

The silver haired girl slowly turned her head to stare at the miko, wondering what was going through her head. Kikyo's voice had a very faint undertone to it, one she had never heard from the miko before and one she hadn't thought to ever hear from anyone. When hers and Kikyo's eyes met, Kagome froze at what she saw in them, but all too soon, that look vanished as if it had never been there. But Kagome knew better than to think she was imagining things – she was well past the point of imagining things like that, so if she saw them, it had to mean they were there. She blinked, momentarily stunned.

"Kikyo…"

She never got to say what she wanted to (although, to be quite honest, Kagome herself had no idea what she was planning to say), because at that very moment, the mat that replaced the door of the hut was practically thrown to the side as an angry, nearly-ten-year-old girl walked into the hut, huffing.

"I can't believe him. How dare he. How dare he say such a thing," the young girl fumed and grumbled under her breath, her words too soft for Kikyo to hear, but plenty loud enough for Kagome to understand.

"How dare who say what, Kaede-chan?" the young hanyō questioned, her voice making the little girl freeze, as if she hadn't noticed she or Kikyo were even in the hut. With a sideways glance first at Kagome and then at her elder sister, Kaede answered.

"Nothing," she said, but the answer was much too quick for Kagome's liking. That, and she noticed the telltale signs of a lie. Her eyes narrowed, but before she could say anything on the matter, the younger of the two miko sisters swiftly changed the subject. Too swiftly. "How are you feeling, Kagome-nee-san?"

Kagome resisted the urge to blink in surprise at the form of address Kaede used when talking to her. She should be used to it by now, it had been four and a half years since she knew both sisters and only a little less since Kaede started calling her 'elder sister', after all. She wasn't used to it, though, but she had learned to hide her surprise, knowing showing how surprised she was would only make the little kid cry for something that was not her fault and long in the past.

"I'm fine," she replied with a soft smile as she pushed herself into a sitting position, despite Kikyo's reprimand that she should remain lying down. The half-demon merely waved the miko off. "Oh, come now, this is really nothing. I've had worse and survived," she said calmly, a little annoyance seeping into her voice.

"If that's 'nothing'… then what could possibly count as 'something' to you, Kagome-nee-san?" Kaede asked in a shaky voice as she stared the hanyō down with frightened eyes – frightened of the answer no doubt. Kagome looked away uncomfortably. 'Whenever Sesshōmaru is done with me, those count as 'somethings',' she thought grimly, but kept her mouth shut firmly.

"You also always say you've had worse, no matter how serious your injury. Well then, how bad was this 'worse'?" Kikyo's voice was calm and collected as she spoke, it always was. But when Kagome turned her head to look into the miko's eyes and observed them attentively enough, she could see the worry those eyes held deep within. Deep enough for most people not to see, but not deep enough for the hanyō not to notice. The worry she'd seen also surprised her, much like it had a few moments before, but Kagome knew better than to show it. Instead, she scowled darkly and looked away from the miko as she answered.

"Believe me, you don't want to know," the young half-demon grumbled and stood up, intent on leaving the hut. Sadly, Kikyo was having none of it and after a short fight… or rather discussion, seeing as neither girl had lost control of their carefully hidden emotions and remained seemingly calm on the surface, Kagome was forced to give in. With a half-hearted glare in Kikyo's general direction, the hanyō-girl plopped down on the ground, her legs crossed and Yougo resting against her shoulder much like Tessaiga would many years later, caged between her chest and her crossed arms.

"But going back to our first topic of conversation… you know I don't appreciate liars, Kaede-chan," she said calmly as she stared at the little girl, no emotion in her eyes. It could be a good thing, because Kagome's glare could be really intimidating if she wanted it to be, but Kaede still seemed to shiver slightly when those closed-off eyes fell on her. "If you don't want to tell me what upset you, that's fine, but just tell me you don't wish to speak of it. I'll understand. There's no need to lie," she added, her voice softening when she spoke. Oh yes, she could understand. It wasn't like she didn't have any secrets she kept from the two sisters… or everyone else, for that matter. Kaede nodded, a guilty look in her eyes.

They had talked a bit for a few hours before Kagome decided to rest. Resting her back against the wall behind her gently, the hanyō closed her eyes and slowly drifted off into a light doze, though she was still very much aware of her surroundings – a thing neither Kaede nor Kikyo seemed to be aware of, as the younger of the two suddenly started to talk. Kagome wasn't stupid. If they were discussing this now, when they thought she was sleeping, it meant it was something they didn't want her to know about. And while it was kind of unsettling, she could understand. She had her secrets, too.

"If you want to talk in private about it, I can leave, you know," she said loudly, interrupting Kaede mid-sentence. Her voice wasn't angry, however, as she glanced at the two sisters, the younger staring at her with wide, scared eyes. Kagome couldn't fathom why she'd be scared, however.

"Kagome-nee-san… no, it's nothing like that, it's just…"

"Liar," the young hanyō interrupted the little girl calmly as her ears twitched on her head, as if showing how she knew Kaede wasn't telling the truth. She smiled in reassurance at the little girl. "Don't worry about it, it's fine to have secrets. I can't blame you for not wanting me to know, not if I have secrets of my own – and you're also well aware of the fact that I do," she stated plainly as she stood up and left without another word, though she had glanced at Kikyo beforehand in silent question. The elder sister's half-glare was answer enough, it would not be acceptable for her to leave too far. Kagome sighed.

"You worry too much, Kikyo," she mumbled under her breath (even though the fact that the miko worried for her made her feel funny inside, in a good way) as she sped away to give the two sisters their privacy. She hadn't been quick enough to not hear the beginning of the conversation, however, and her ears easily picked up the mention of someone in a cave…

乗

'She hadn't wanted to talk about it, it was one of their secrets,' Kagome remembered as her eyes wandered over to the now much older miko once again, no anger or reproach in her inner voice. Because really, how could she hold it against the two miko to have secrets if she had many herself? 'But now that I think about what little I have heard, willingly or not… They must have been talking about Onigumo, the bandit that…' her thoughts cut off abruptly and her eyes widened momentarily. She blinked and glared down and her arms, allowing the thought to finish, although she knew something wasn't right. 'The bandit that turned Kikyo against me to get the Jewel…'

It didn't add up, though. Miroku said the one who had killed Kikyo was a demon named Naraku. A demon who was still alive at that. Onigumo had been a human bandit from what Kaede had said. A human bandit who wouldn't be able to move from the cave he rested in, the cave Kikyo used as his personal sick ward. With all that in mind, there was no way Onigumo was still alive, much less became a yōkai – such a thing was downright impossible. Kagome bit back a growl of frustration, not wanting to wake the others. 'Something's not right… I thought Onigumo was the one who killed Kikyo, but the houshi is certain it was Naraku… So which one is it?' Kagome thought angrily, somehow knowing that this was important in more ways than one. She needed to know.

A demon would certainly have more of a possibility to trick the both of them the way they were, Kagome reasoned, but it wouldn't have bothered to do all that just to defile the Jewel – it could use its youki for that. Onigumo, however… Kaede had said he wanted to defile the Jewel and specifically by defiling Kikyo's heart – he wanted to see her angry, suffering, scared, all the things she always hid or never even allowed into her heart in the first place. And as a human, his chances of defiling the Jewel himself were far smaller. A human's black heart could defile the Jewel, of course, but it took time except if it was a human who had held on to the Jewel for a long time – and Kikyo had. A Demon's youki, powered by its evil desires did the trick much quicker, hence why a demon wouldn't have bothered with such a plan.

Then again, Onigumo shouldn't be able to leave the cave. And the cave had burned down, incinerating him, too, to the point that nothing remained. Even though this was suspicious, what else could have happened? He couldn't have miraculously turned into a demon and escaped the cave before the flames erupted after all.

"Naraku's malicious and devours people. That's all I know."

Kagome shot up from her lying position as Miroku's only information about Naraku suddenly entered her brain, a sense of foreboding settling into her stomach. 'He devours people…?' she thought as she recalled her short excursion to Onigumo's cave with Kaede. They hadn't found any remains… but they had easily found the place where the bandit had rested and she had clearly smelt a yōkai there.

Quite frankly, she had smelled something that she had caught a very faint scent of again at a later date, she was almost sure of it, though she'd have to verify if it was indeed the exact same scent.

If it turned out to be correct, then could Naraku have devoured Onigumo? Could he have fed on the bandit and if so what did he gain?

With a huff, Kagome stooped in her tracks, not even realizing when she had started to pace, and forced herself to sit back down even though she wanted nothing else than to run back to that cave and investigate. A few hours wouldn't change much and it was something Miroku should know about, too. So she would wait for the monk to wake up and drag him there then. But until then, she'd have to wait.

Glancing out the window of the hut, Kagome saw the first lights of a new day and sighed. It would still be a while before the monk woke up. She sighed and laid down like she was a few moments before, once again in order to remind herself that she was indeed wounded – otherwise she'd lean against the wall like she was used to and she knew the cuts in her back would not be happy about it. They might not be lethal, but they were still deep. 'This is what I don't consider 'nothing', this is a 'something', Kaede,' Kagome thought to herself with a frown, although she'd never say it aloud to anyone, much less the elder miko.

XxX

Inuyasha grumbled under his breath as he reached the school grounds. He had once again awoken at dawn this morning, and had once again not been able to get back to sleep, no matter how much he tried. And not only because he was used to waking up at dawn, his mind simply hadn't allowed him to go back to sleep. Instead, he kept wondering what Kagome might have possibly meant when she told him to seal the Shikon. He had yet to come up with an answer to that question. Needless to say he was not in a good mood right then.

"Hinoiri-san!" he heard someone call behind him, a voice that was slightly familiar. Sighing irritably, not at all in the mood to socialize with anyone unless it was a thug that wanted to be thoroughly beaten, Inuyasha decided on ignoring the girl who called him. Unfortunately for him, the girl didn't plan on being ignored.

"Hinoiri-san, wait up!" He didn't slow down or stop, but he didn't pick up his pace, either, so in the end, Ririko finally caught up to him, huffing slightly after the short jog to catch up to him – or maybe she'd jogged longer than that, he didn't know, nor care. "Good morning, Hinoiri-san. I hope you're all better now," Ririko said with a smile as she glanced up at him. Inuyasha barked out a rather harsh 'good morning', but the girl didn't seem all that bothered by his grumpy attitude. He did, however, listen to her enough to wonder about part of her greeting. 'She hopes I'm better? What is she talking about, I wasn't sick or anything,' he thought with both annoyance and surprise, though only one of those emotions showed on his face.

"That must have been quite some ear inflammation to make you stay home for a whole month, though. I'm really happy to see you're feeling alright," Ririko continued talking as if nothing was amiss. If the thought that talking to Inuyasha was like talking to a wall ever crossed her mind, she didn't let it show. 'Ear inflammation? Oh, yeah, haha-ue said I 'had' something like that not long ago,' he thought with a sigh, suddenly feeling slightly guilty for causing his mother so many problems – while he was off fighting demons, she was off fighting people who couldn't know where he actually was by coming up with excuses for his prolonged absences. 'I'll have to start coming back a little more often than once a month,' the black haired teen decided, although something inside of him told him that nothing like that would be happening in the near future.

"Uhm… I took extra notes for you again… I can bring them over tomorrow, if you'd like, Hinoiri-san," Ririko said again, quieter this time, with her gaze directed at the ground and her head hiding between her shoulders, as if she was trying to make herself disappear. She was most likely discouraged by his prolonged lack of response. This time, however, she got some reaction at least. Inuyasha froze at his desk, not having even realized when they reached the front door of the school, much less the class room or his seat, before he glanced at the black haired girl beside him with startled, violet eyes.

"Notes?" he repeated, bewilderment clear in his eyes, had she only had the gall to make eye contact with him. Why would she even bother taking extra notes for him? She barely knew him, even if she had said they'd met before. If possible, Ririko tried to make herself even smaller, and he blinked when he tried to get a look at her face and saw what looked like a blush coloring her cheeks. Nah, he was probably imagining it. Why would she be blushing?

"Well… yes… I thought it'd be easier for you to catch up if you had some notes instead of only using the books… they're hard to understand sometimes… so I thought it'd be better if you had something more than just books, so… yeah…" she finished lamely, more than obviously embarrassed for one reason or another. Momentarily forgetting that she wouldn't see him, for her eyes were still directed at the ground, he nodded in response. But then he remembered the last bag of notes she'd given him and he looked the girl over with a frown. She was small. Not in terms of height but in general. Definitely not an ugly thing to look at, but she definitely wasn't hiding any muscles beneath her skin – not like Kagome, who while kind of small as well (he remembered how well she had fit against his chest when she hugged him), had visible muscles in the best possible places that only added to her appeal without ruining her perfect female curves…

Inuyasha shook his head violently to clear his thought and get rid of the visual of the naked Kagome he had seen back at the hot springs when she finished her little diving session, and turned his attention back to the stuttering girl before him. She didn't seem like she had much strength in those thin, slender arms of hers. He sighed.

"You could give them to me today, too. I'd come by to your house to pick them up after school," he offered, no other option really entering his brain. It was either that or let her carry the load to school tomorrow, and she really didn't look like she could handle it. He'd much rather pick it up today, than let her carry it tomorrow.

She looked up at him with big, startled, almost doe-like brown eyes before a smile lit up her face. He didn't know it, but he had actually been talking out loud the whole time, so she knew exactly why he wanted to pick it up himself.

"Uhm… OK… We could do it like that, I guess," she said as she sat down, Inuyasha following suit. Glancing at her sideways, he felt like he had something more to say to her, the words tumbled out of his mouth, almost against his will.

"Thanks, Shirugawa. I appreciate it," he said with a voice so soft he almost doubted it was his own. But there was just something about this girl… something that made him act differently than with anyone else – something that made him act gentler and with more respect than he ever had, and while he did frown at the thought, he was also well aware of the fact that he wouldn't be able to be as gruff with her as he was with Kagome, or anyone else. He didn't know why, but it just was like that. It as just another weird, yet kind of intriguing thing about her, as no one else, n ot even his mother, had that kind of effect on him.

"There's no need to thank me, Hinoiri-san," Ririko answered with a smile.

They didn't so much as glance at each other for the better part of the day after that, except during lunch when she insisted on talking to him. For some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to tell her to leave him alone, though. It was like whenever some gruff comment or some none-too-gentle words formed in his mind, they died in his throat before they even had the chance to come out. And the worst of it was, Inuyasha wasn't even too frustrated about it. In reality, he really didn't know how to feel about his weird (in his own eyes) behavior around the girl.

The next shocker awaited Inuyasha during one of the last lesson of the day, and the one he hated the most at that – legends.

Normally, he dozed with his eyes open during that particular subject, or at the very least, his mind shut off. So he was preparing himself to do just that this time around, too, happy to have one subject where he didn't freak at realizing just how little he understood of what they were doing. He didn't expect the teacher to tell them to 'get back to working on their project', however, and if anyone had glanced his way right after those words, they would have seen the tough Hinoiri Inuyasha with a (very unfitting for his bad boy image) dear-in-the-headlights look on his face. A look that had only gotten worse when Shirugawa Ririko suddenly inched closer to him, though luckily for Inuyasha, her gaze was directed at the ground.

"We're supposed to work on a certain… well, not very well explained part of the legend we discussed since May… and I kinda said I preferred to work with you, Hinoiri-san, or alone if you didn't get better soon enough compared to the other possibility I had… So…" she stuttered, clearly embarrassed once again. Inuyasha cleared his throat and schooled his features, perfectly masking his earlier surprise (and the surprise that piled onto it when she said she decided to work with him willingly).

"Fine, fine," he said, surprising himself at the lack of annoyance in his voice. If it had been anyone else, he would have said 'whatever' and left the other person to do all the work. Heck, he probably wouldn't have done much even if he was working alone. Legends just weren't his thing. But why couldn't he do it with one Shirugawa Ririko? The answer was beyond him, but he was determined to find out eventually.

"So… what legend are we on and what are we supposed to work on?" he finally asked after a few short moments of silence. The question seemed to wake Ririko up.

"Oh, we're still on the legend of the Shikon no Tama," Ririko said excitedly, obviously very interested in said legend. Inuyasha stiffened at her words and raised his hand to the Jewel hidden beneath his school uniform absent mindedly. 'The legend… of the Shikon no Tama?' he thought, his hand grasping the gem through his clothing without him even realizing it. 'This very gem I'm wearing?' it sounded so… unbelievable to him, because as far as he was concerned, the jewel in question wasn't a mere legend, but a real, existing thing.

In his bewilderment, Inuyasha barely caught the rest of what Ririko was saying.

"And we're supposed to try and learn more about its powers, other than the wish-granting."

"Its… powers…?" Inuyasha asked, his voice barely his own as he stared wide-eyed at the desk in front of him before he quickly shook his head. This had to be a coincidence, or these were two different Jewels. Yeah, that had to be it, it were two different Jewels… just sharing a name… and the power to grant wishes…

"Yes. Well, in the legend, to be more precise, we are to try and figure out how demons always found it, if it had any powers to draw them in," Ririko said, her voice still as excited as before. It was obvious that, contrary to him, she loved legends. If she had gotten the chance, she probably could have given Inuyasha's grandfather a run for his money where a legend-obsession was concerned. "I mean, the legend says all evil beings, so demons and even some humans, desired the Jewel and were drawn in by it, but it is never explained how they knew where it was. Or how the Shikon no Miko fought against this attraction – because she had to, somehow, otherwise no matter how strong she was, she would have fallen to the avalanche of demons that was bound to come after the Jewel."

"She didn't have necessarily to do anything against whatever it was that drew demons in, she had help," Inuyasha blurted out without thinking, his eyes widening when he realized just what he said. But Ririko didn't so much as blink.

"Well, yes, she was. I mean, the legend kind of mentions a demon different from the others that helped her," she said slowly, a thoughtful look crossing her face. 'Not a demon, a hanyō,' Inuyasha corrected in his thoughts, but bit his tongue before the words could tumble out. His eyes moved back to the girl he was supposed to work with when he heard her sigh. "But that's just it. Why did that demon help and not try to take the Jewel like any other demon? What set it apart?"

"Maybe she just wasn't evil," Inuyasha offered calmly, ignoring Ririko's questioning look when it became clear that he was certain the demon in the legend was in fact a 'she'.

"But… demons are all evil by nature… it's what sets them apart from humans, they're incapable of doing anything good… the very definition of 'yōkai' is 'evil entity' or 'evil spirit', so how would a demon not be evil…" the black haired girl wondered and Inuyasha bit back a snort, letting it come out as a sigh, instead.

"If that were true then there would be no such thing as humans capable of doing evil," the black haired teen said, wondering why he was even participating in this conversation. He should just let the girl do all the work and be done with it, he hated legends anyway. So why didn't he?

Ririko was quiet for a moment, her brown eyes pensive as she stared into space, from time to time glancing through her notes and the legend itself. A frown slowly formed on her features.

"Right…" she mumbled under her breath, her eyes scanning the text attentively. "Now that I think about it, the legend never really says evil beings wanted the Jewel. At least, not in those words. It just says demons and certain humans, with 'evil' implied… but you're right, Hinoiri-san, all demons can't be evil. The demon that aided the Miko of the Shikon wasn't evil, and the Inuyasha wasn't evil, either," Ririko stated, once again completely oblivious to Inuyasha's reaction when the name of the Inuyasha left her lips. "But that makes figuring out how demons knew where the Jewel was all the time even harder," she complained, although if one looked into her eyes, he'd see she was more intrigued than annoyed. She was obviously right in her element. Suddenly, her eyes widened.

"Unless demons only knew where the Jewel was when its power was too strong to be contained or something…? They just felt the power and were drawn in by it…?" the girl muttered under her breath as she reached for her notes and book again. In no time at all, she was lost within the legend and despite himself, Inuyasha couldn't help but do the same – though it was not because he actually hoped to learn something from it. There was just something about Ririko that made him think he shouldn't let her do all the work on her own, though he couldn't for the life of him understand what that would be. It was starting to get really frustrating, but at the same time, he couldn't do anything to stop it.

XxX

Kagome suppressed a shudder as she once again neared the cave where Onigumo had once lain. Behind her, Miroku was walking calmly, a serious expression on his face. He didn't know where they were going or why yet, Kagome had decided to tell him once they arrived. Shippō wasn't with them, as the hanyō-girl had thought it'd be better for him to stay with Kaede.

[T]

"There it is," she said calmly as the cave came into view. Miroku came to a stop beside her, eyeing first the cave and then sending her a questioning glance. Kagome didn't need to ask to know what he wanted her to tell him. "That's the cave where a bandit once lived. A bandit who Kikyo, the Shikon no Miko, had once cared for. As far as I know, he was in a state that promised a painful death and she merely wished to make it easier on him. It was certain he'd never leave this cave, and he most likely never did."

"Why would you bring me here, then, Kagome-sama? It doesn't sound like it would have anything to do with Naraku like you've suggested," the monk said calmly, but questioningly at the same time.

"Because I think it does have something to do with him," she replied gravely. "You said Naraku was the one who killed Kikyo. And considering how he did it, I certainly agree that a yōkai is much more probably than a human to have done it, and even more so if the human in question was unable to walk. However, there are other aspects of the occurrence that could point only at a human being capable of doing it," she explained, not sparing the monk a glance as she slowly, warily approached the cave. She had to fight another shudder as she once again felt the evil coming off that cave, though she knew the source of the evil was long gone – or at least she hoped it hadn't come back. Then again, if it had, she would have smelt it by now.

"It certainly feels very ominous. I find it hard to believe that a human, no matter how evil, would leave such an imprint on the place. Especially since I feel demon energy surrounding it," Miroku agreed with a frown and Kagome nodded.

"I came into the cave once. And it definitely wasn't a human that I smelt in there. The place reeked of a demon," the young half-demon said gravely as she scrunched up her nose. "Still does," she added under her breath, though from this far away, she only smelt it because she paid attention to it, knowing it was there. Onigumo had been human, however, and that's why the demon-stench was suspicious. Before she could point it out to the monk, however, he spoke first.

"You said the way Kikyo-sama was killed was befitting of a demon on one hand, but more befitting of a human at the same time. Tell me, Kagome-sama, how did Kikyo-sama die, exactly? How did Naraku make her believe you tried to kill her?" the monk asked, stopping Kagome dead in her tracks. She hadn't been expecting that question… but then again, it was legitimate, wasn't it. She sighed, but told him the entire story, both Kikyo's side and her own. Miroku had a pensive look on his face when she finished.

"You say you fell into Naraku's trap fifty years ago, here in this very village, not only Kikyo-sama, but you as well?" Miroku asked, though Kagome was sure it was more of a verification than anything else. "So you've met him?"

"Even if I did, as I said, he looked like Kikyo, so I don't know what he looks like," Kagome replied, frowning at the monk. He didn't seem like the kind to not grasp such information, so he either was less perceptive than she thought (she doubted it, though), or he had caught a thread she had missed. Miroku frowned.

"That's the strange part, don't you think, Kagome-sama?" he questioned, but went on without waiting for an answer. "You don't know Naraku, assuming it was truly him, though I don't have any doubts it was, yet he disguised himself as Kikyo and had you find the Shikon once he dropped it, so that Kikyo-sama would kill you, believing you had wounded her. Have you done anything to embitter him?" his question make Kagome blink, but she was quick to shake her head.

"I'm telling you, I've never met him. Or at least I don't think I did. I have no idea what he looks like, so I wouldn't know, though," she replied, her own mind working overdrive. What Miroku was saying made sense in a way, but she couldn't quite see where the monk was taking it.

"And therein lays the mystery. You don't know him, but he seems to know you. Or at the very least, know of you. There's the chance he had something to do with Kikyo-sama rather than you, Kagome-sama. Kikyo-sama was a priestess, after all."

"Yeah, but Naraku is a demon. Kikyo wasn't one to mingle with demons much, so how would he be involved with her? I don't see any way," Kagome replied, her eyes once again falling on the cave in front of her. "That bandit I spoke of is another story, though. He was involved with Kikyo, and his thoughts of her weren't pure in any way, at least not as far as Kaede knew," she added, her earlier thoughts resurfacing in her mind.

"But Onigumo was unable to move, as you said yourself, Kagome-sama," Miroku pointed out. Kagome nodded as she once again started walking towards the cave.

"Yes, that he was. But didn't you say Naraku devours people?" she asked, not glancing at the houshi as she walked. "At first I thought you meant he devoured them to take on their forms. But, if it had really been him, he had managed to take on my form and Kikyo's without devouring either of us. That makes him a true shape shifter, but that's not the most important part," she said as they reached the mouth of the cave. There, she stopped again and glanced at the monk, who seemed to grasp her way of thinking.

"The important part is to find out what exactly he devours people for, if not for shape shifting," the monk realized and Kagome nodded sharply. With a deep breath, she walked into the cave again, quickly finding the place where Onigumo had once lain. "The atmosphere here is much too oppressive for it to be left by a human. It had to be a demon, and a strong one at that," the houshi spoke up again as he walked up next to her, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the place in the dirt where even moss refused to grow. Kagome ignored him as she slowly knelt down and took a deep breath, fighting the will to recoil from the stench and instead forcing herself to endure and analyze it. It didn't take her long.

"No doubt about it, I smelt it somewhere before," she said as she slowly stood up. "Somewhere outside of this cave," she said as Miroku walked past her and knelt down like she did before, most likely in order to also investigate the curious spot. The monk quickly reeled back and covered his face, though it was not the stench he was shielding himself from. He didn't need to tell her what he felt, Kagome had scented it herself. Turning slowly, Miroku stared right into her eyes with a questioning, yet purposeful look.

"Where, Kagome-sama? Do you know where you smelt it?" he asked tightly. Kagome nodded again.

"On the sword that possessed Inuyasha, and later the samurai," she replied. "It was a lingering, very faint stench, but definitely the same. Whoever the demon was that gave Inuyasha the enchanted blade, it was the same one that came here," she said, glaring at the spot on the ground where the bandit had lain. "And if it was Naraku, then it's pretty safe to assume he came here to eat his fill. What I don't know is what eating the bandit had helped him to gain," she huffed and turned to Miroku, frowning when she noticed he was rather pale. 'The demonic aura in here is too dense for him. It's suffocating him without him even noticing,' she noticed and quickly grabbing the monks arm and pushing him towards the exit of the cave before he could protest, not that he did.

[/T]

Once they were outside, however, all thoughts about Onigumo, Naraku and a possible connection between the two left Kagome's mind in a rush as another scent she'd recognize anywhere entered her nose. 'Shit,' she thought angrily, a frown forming on her face.

The timing couldn't have been worse.

XxX

Inuyasha sighed as he looked up at the crown of the Sacred Tree. He had come home a few hours ago, but had been unable to concentrate enough to do any of his homework, or look through the notes he had been so graciously given. Instead, he had felt compelled to go and sit under the Goshinboku, as he was now, his mind running around in circles as he tried to figure out if his suspicions were correct or not.

By the end of their legend class, Ririko had come up with a bunch of new theories as on how demons always knew when the Jewel was, but had progressively dismissed most of them. One of those that were left up for consideration, and one that struck Inuyasha as oddly likely for some reason, was that the demons simply felt the Shikon's power in one way or another and were drawn to it, whether they actually wanted the Jewel or not. It was the last part of her theory that made Inuyasha scowl deeply, not that the rest of the story didn't. It made a lot of sense if he thought about it, but… 'It's just a fucking legend! OK, so some of the names and facts fit, but still, it's just a legend! There's no way any of that is true, I can't rely on legends to figure out anything about the Jewel!' the black haired teen yelled mentally at himself, but his mental voice lacked the conviction behind it.

If he really stopped to think about it, why wouldn't it be true? After all, history facts were real, too – the difference lay that history was by definition actual facts, while legends were fiction. But if that was true, then would the Jewel even exist if it was never mentioned in history books? Or yōkai for that matter?

His grandfather had always liked to say that legends were merely a forgotten part of history. A part humanity chose to put aside, because they told stories humans would rather forget for one reason or another – either because they were scared of things they did not comprehend, like a magical Jewel (even if it could grant wishes, supposedly), or because they didn't want to think of the creatures that once roamed the earth, demons in human skin, because then they'd have to wonder if maybe some of them survived and pretended to be humans as well. Either way, Inuyasha's grandfather always believed the legends to be a complete truth, just like any history book.

For the first time in his life, Inuyasha felt compelled to agree with him.

The black haired teen shook his head again, an annoyed scowl marring his features. 'Like Hell! Legends are just that. Legends. Stories to teach little children morals from some fictional person's life,' he tried to tell himself. And yet…

"That's why, until you find a way to seal the Shikon, you must not come back!"

Kagome had sounded frantic when she yelled those words at him, now that he thought about it. And the way she had flexed her claws when she said it… it hadn't been the normal flexing she usually did as a threat or in warning. When she did that, she always raised her claws close to her own eye-level, as if wanting to make sure her opponent saw her intentions. But when she had pushed him away, she had flexed her claws at her side, almost as if it was an involuntary twitch of her hand. As if she wasn't controlling her own body.

If that was indeed what was going on, then Inuyasha could be quite certain that by 'sealing the Shikon', Kagome meant sealing the power that tempted her. But that was still an 'if' – and one Inuyasha wasn't very inclined to believe at that. And even if that 'if' was true, there would still be the question of how he could possibly seal the thing.

The black haired priest sighed in exasperation, his eyes leaving the green canopy above him and his head falling down to its natural position when he heard someone approach.

"I think I've never seen you this deep in thought before. Never in your life," Izayoi said with a teasing smile on her face as she reached his side and gracefully slid to the ground beside him, looking all the part of the hime Inuyasha suspected she was in a previous life. Scowling half-heartedly, Inuyasha huffed slightly and turned his head away.

"Very funny," he muttered under his breath. His sour reaction did nothing dampen his mother's good mood, though. If anything, it seemed to amuse her even more, though there was still a small, serious glint in her eyes. She didn't join him merely for joking's sake, it would seem.

"What's on your mind, Inuyasha?" the black haired woman asked calmly, her dark brown eyes never leaving her son's figure. Inuyasha merely shrugged.

"Nothing too important," he tried to brush off his thoughts, but it only took a few moments of his mother continuing to look at him for Inuyasha to cave in. "I just started to notice for the first time in my life than there might be more to all those legends grandfather always talked about that I originally thought," he admitted. He glanced at his mother from the corner of his eye and saw her small, somewhat sad smile. The only indication that a tiny part of her still did and always would grieve for her father.

"Well, you know what he always said, legends are just a forgotten part of history," Izayoi said, a small laugh escaping her at Inuyasha's scowl. The black haired teen didn't answer for a while, staring of instead as he absentmindedly fingered the jewel that hung around his neck – the Shikon of the legend.

"Yeah, I know, but I never thought I'd actually agree with it," he grunted out as he raised the gem to his eye-level to stare at it. Izayoi observed him for a while, noting that the annoyed frown slowly turned pensive as the metaphorical wheels turned in his head.

"And what brought up this unusual train of thought?" She finally asked, though she had a pretty good idea. "Last time I checked, you weren't very fond of legends," she added, her tone teasing again.

"I'm not," Inuyasha defended himself as he dropped the Shikon and let it fall onto his chest in favor of turning his head and staring at his mother. Their eyes met for a second before he let his fall to the ground, breaking the eye-contact. "It's just that they seem to be the only way to get some kind of clue. Kagome said I needed to seal the Jewel, but she didn't even think to tell me how I'm supposed to do that, or even what she meant," he grumbled, momentarily forgetting his mother was sitting right beside him as the memory of what happened before Kagome forced him down the well surfaced in his mind. He wished she'd hug him like that again… and maybe that he could hug her back next time.

Shaking his head vehemently to get rid of these kinds of thoughts (and to force down the slight flush of his cheeks, also), Inuyasha forced himself to return to the problem at hand. 'I just wish she'd given me something more to go on. I have half a mind to go right back and demand some explanations and answers on what the goddamned wench wants me to do,' he thought sourly as he brought his knees to his chest and rested his forearms on them in order to have something to support his chin on.

"Language, Inuyasha. And I don't think the Inuyasha would approve of being called a 'wench'," Izayoi reprimanded gently, reminding him not only that she was still there, but also telling him he was still speaking aloud.

"She doesn't mind, actually," Inuyasha said before she could think better of it. His mother shot him an incredulous look that told volumes of how ridiculous she found that statement, but didn't comment. Instead, she focused on the things he said before.

"You could do that," she said suddenly. "Go back and ask her what she meant, I mean. But did you ever think that maybe," Izayoi trailed off, smiling inwardly when Inuyasha turned to face her again, obviously all ears to what she had to say. "Maybe she didn't tell you anything more because she trusted you to figure it out?" she asked suggestively, smiling even wider when Inuyasha stared at her for a while before a determined look crossed his face. He hadn't thought about it like that, but now that he had…

"Keh, it's not like I need her to tell me anything more, anyway. I'll figure it out," Inuyasha said confidently as he stood up. Izayoi laughed as he walked off, determined not to let Kagome down. It was a small step, but a step nonetheless. He wouldn't let Kagome's trust down, even if it was regarding something that seemed so trivial.

[T]

His determined strides slowed when he passed the well house, only for him to stop right before its door. Right behind it was the well and one small jump away was the Feudal Era. Without thinking or even realizing what he was doing, Inuyasha slid the doors open and walked towards the wooden structure, only to stop at its rim.

He didn't know why, but there was just something that pulled him towards it, told him to jump. Something felt wrong. He just couldn't tell what it was. But there was something within him that told him that something was very wrong and that he needed to go over there.

Slowly, Inuyasha put his hands on the rim, but didn't jump as his rational side spoke up for once. If his assumptions and guesses were correct, then Kagome sent him away because the Jewel's power was calling out to her or something and she couldn't ignore it. She was basically protecting him from herself. It would be useless if he went without sealing the Jewel first. So he shouldn't go. It wasn't like anything could be wrong, anyway. Kagome might be wounded, but she said herself she'd survived worse wounds – not that it was truly comforting – and besides, she was at Kaede's village. The elder miko knew better than anyone how to take care of her then.

But no matter what he told himself, the feeling of wrongness just refused to leave. If anything, it only got stronger with every passing minute.

XxX

"Kazaana!" Miroku called as he unleashed his Wind Tunnel at the few demons that dared to attack them, though it was not their own idea. They were commanded by the strongest of them, one that stood back so far while Miroku took care of the 'small fry' as Kagome had called them. Still, even though he was further away than the others, the yōkai had to dig his heels into the ground to not be drawn in by the ferocious wind.

In no time at all, most of the demonic servants of the stoic demon were gone, but all the reaction Miroku was rewarded with was a contemplative arching of an eyebrow by the humanoid yōkai before he raised his arm – an arm that Kagome noted was not his own, but borrowed from another creature – and threw some brown ball-like thing in the houshi's direction.

It turned out to be a nest. A nest of demonic bees that buzzed loudly as they regarded the monk. Kagome didn't pay any attention to them, though, concentrating on the yōkai commanding them.

"So, you got yourself a new arm," she said calmly as she inched away from Miroku, though was careful not to step in the way of the kazaana's wind. "Smells like a human arm, too. Makes sense considering you couldn't touch Tessaiga before. Looks like you're rather desperate, though," she continued when the demon didn't answer. "Sesshōmaru."

The stoic demon didn't answer, regarding Kagome instead with an air of superiority that only he could ever produce. The young hanyō's eyes narrowed as one of her hands close over Tessaiga's sheath and held on to the sword as if asking it for support. The fang pulsed in response.

"I know what you came here for," she said, a low growl forming in her throat.

"I'm merely here to recover what should rightfully be mine," Sesshōmaru answered coldly, as if Kagome's previous statement had been in fact a question and he was gracious enough to grace her with an answer. The hanyō's growl became louder.

"If you want Tessaiga, you'll have to fight me for it," she replied evenly, although deep down she knew she was in some deep shit. There was no way she could defeat Sesshōmaru, not in her current condition, but she didn't want to give up her sword, either.

It was a lose-lose situation, really.

Still, Kagome wouldn't back down. Slowly, she reached for the hilt, knowing that fighting claw-to-claw would be suicide. But before her claws could even reach the sword, her ears twitched as she heard the soft sound of someone falling to the ground. Glancing in Miroku's direction, she saw the monk in his knees, his Wind Tunnel sealed once again and the demonic bees lunging in for the kill. 'What the fuck is he doing?!' Kagome yelled in her mind, but that didn't stop her from acting. As swiftly as her half-demon speed allowed, she lunged in the monk's direction.

XxX

Inuyasha gripped the lip of the well so hard that his knuckles turned white. The young kannushi bit his lip as he glared down the well's depths. He couldn't help the sinking feeling in his stomach, though he had no idea what could have caused it. A voice inside his head kept telling him he had to go to the other side, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why he would feel such a need to go. Nothing should be wrong, after all. Kagome was healing at Kaede's, with the elder miko to watch over her and Shippō to annoy her. The only thing he could be somewhat worried about would be Miroku and his lecherous ways, but then again, Kagome could handle him even in her current state. Plus, they were at the village, so the village-women should be more worried than Kagome.

So why was he so uneasy? Why did he have the growing feeling that something was horribly wrong and that he had to go back this instant?

Inuyasha shook his head. Nothing was wrong. Nothing had the right to be wrong. It was just his imagination. It had to be. What other explanation was there?

But no matter what he told himself, the feeling didn't fade.

XxX

Kagome cursed under her breath as she crouched low on the ground to avoid Sesshōmaru's whip once again. He wasn't aiming for her specifically, though. All he did was keep her far away from himself and try to hit her sword out of her grasp. Sadly, she had almost succeeded a couple of times.

Miroku was already out of harm's way, or as much out of harm's way as she could get him. She had killed the remaining bees he hadn't sucked up, and just smelling the stench on her claws was enough to explain why the monk had collapsed.

It would seem poison wasn't sucked up into some void like anything else, but into the monk's bloodstream, instead.

Kagome growled under her breath as she jumped into the air and tried to close in on her brother again, but he avoided her swing effortlessly and launched an attack of his own, once again trying to disarm her.

This didn't look good.

No, this didn't look good at all.

XxX

His hands started to shake from the force he was gripping the rim of the well with, but Inuyasha didn't notice his body's strange reaction. He was too focused on that cold feeling of foreboding in his stomach that only got worse the longer he stood there.

He couldn't take it. He had to go. He had to make sure everything was alright over there.

Resolutely, he started to climb over the lip of the well. But before he could jump, Kagome's face flashed in his mind.

"I was scared."

Before she forced him to leave, she had admitted to having felt fear. She hadn't told him what exactly she had been afraid of, just that she had been afraid, but remembering that alone was enough to make Inuyasha freeze in his tracks, if only briefly.

After admitting that, after admitting she had been scared, she had sent him away. And she had looked frantic while doing it. The kind of frantic like he saw sometimes people look like when they tried to avoid doing something they desperately didn't want to do.

Had she been fighting off the Jewel's influence right then?

What if by going back he only made things worse?

What if that feeling was something the Jewel wanted to make him feel, to coax him into going back? After all, Kagome often talked about Tessaiga like it had a will of its own. If a demonic sword could have its own mind, why not a magical Jewel? It would make sense… kind of.

Biting his lip, Inuyasha hesitated. Should he go and find out if everything was truly alright, or should he stay and focus on what Kagome told him needed to be done? The rational side of him told him to stay. The other side of him, the impatient side, told him to just damn it all to Hell and go.

In the end, he didn't go, but not because he had somehow convinced himself nothing was wrong. It was his mother who managed to convince him to stay, even without saying anything. All she had to do was look at him with that knowing look in her eyes and he felt guilty for even thinking about leaving. He had just gotten back, after all.

The weird feeling forgotten and pushed to the very back of his mind, Inuyasha resolutely turned his back on the well and exited the wellhouse.

XxX

Kagome fell to her knees after avoiding Sesshōmaru's whip once again, though dodging him was progressively becoming harder and harder. Her wound had reopened and the young hanyō could almost feel the blood flowing down her back. She could definitely smell it and she was certain her half-brother could, too.

He closed in on her again, this time using his mokomoko as a weapon. Kagome jumped to the side to evade it, but she had misjudged Sesshōmaru's intentions. He hadn't been aiming for her, but for Tessaiga, and with her movement, she protected her sword, but not herself. The white fur slammed hard into her chest and sent her flying until a tree stopped her when her back slammed into it. Kagome had to bite back a yelp as she slowly slid down to the ground, the last of her strength slowly seeping out of her. Still, her eyes were on her brother and her grip on Tessaiga hadn't lessened. But she knew she had lost this fight. She had lost before it even began. She was never in any condition to fight anyone, much less Sesshōmaru. With her wound reopened, her chances of survival fell from low to nonexistent. 'Damn… My vision's blurring…' Kagome thought as she tried to focus on her approaching brother. Sesshōmaru was taking his sweet time getting close. It was obvious he knew he had won.

When he reached her, Sesshōmaru simply reached out a hand, his borrowed, human one, and took Tessaiga, which had fallen beside her at some point as Kagome brought herself to a kneeling position, preparing herself to leap away, though she knew she wouldn't go very far, or very fast for that matter.

But Sesshōmaru didn't attack. Instead, he merely stared down at her with disdain and turned his back on her.

"This Sesshōmaru will not taint his honor by killing one who was wounded by another's claws," he said coldly without turning around. "Next time we meet, I will show you how to properly use chichi-ue's heirloom, little sister," he added, his tone colder if that was even possible, and Kagome, even in her half-conscious state, understood the unspoken message. 'I'll finish this fight next time we meet'. It would seem the great daiyōkai was too proud to kill someone who was half-dead because of a wound he had not inflicted, but Kagome wasn't surprised. It would be a disgrace to lower oneself to killing an opponent who wasn't at his best. It would imply one was afraid to face that person at their strongest and Sesshōmaru would never admit such a thing. So he let her live, left her to heal so he could kill her when she was at her best – for only then would he accept the victory.

[/T]

Kagome understood this, and yet, she couldn't help but feel both relief and disbelief at the same time. 'He… He left…' she managed to think before finally, the wounds that were much graver now than before forced her to succumb to the darkness that swirled at the edges of her vision.

Only once consciousness took hold of her again would Kagome realize that Sesshōmaru had been too proud to kill her in her weakened state, but had not been too proud to not grasp the opportunity at 'taking what was rightfully his'.

Is this considered a cliffhanger? It probably is, huh? Sorry about that. It created itself, I swear! I wasn't planning on it… really… don't look at me like that, I really didn't!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed and please leave a review if you have some thoughts to share :D

Next Issue: Another fight with Sesshōmaru looms around the corner as Kagome heals and Inuyasha works on the seal…