Ch11

AN: I am soooo sorry for the long wait. Things had been so hectic for me since I last updated. First my summer job was hectic and all where I'm teaching creative writing and Spanish. And last but not least, the biggest problem of all…I GOT WRITER'S BLOCK!!!! Sadly, not just for this chapter, but for all my other stories as well. T-T

But when I started to get some ideas, school had already started yet again. And now I'm being pounded with reports to write and midterms to take for my classes. I am so horrible for making all of you wait. Hopefully you'll all enjoy this chapter for my repentance.

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot and the characters that don't seem familiar.

InuYasha was sitting high up in the trees overlooking his friends. It had been a week since Usagi left the group with the promise of their paths crossing again in the near future. He knew that she was safe since Suicine is with her, not to mention that she is like a miko and a taijiya combined. He had often spied on her protecting the village from some youkai who tried to attack at night. She's strong and there's nothing wrong, everything's perfectly fine. He closed his eyes and tried to think positive, that the next time he sees Usagi, she would be smiling and welcoming him back with open arms.

"Aneue, what's going on?" a child-like form of InuYasha asked, walking towards a worried Usagi. He had been sleeping when the sharp sounds of the village alert bell rung and the burning stench of smoke and blood woke him up. Cautiously he walked towards the door to see Usagi standing there in concern.

Usagi, hearing his voice, turned around. "Yasha-kun, I need you to hurry into the forest right now," she said in a firm tone. She quickly closed the door and rushed over to her younger brother.

Just as he was about to questions her why, everything began to blur. The last thing he had heard was Usagi shouting, "Look out!" He watched as she shielded him with her body. Shocked and horrified, he felt his heart quicken in a pace no once can match as he watched the body of his beloved sister fall to the floor. "Aneue," he whispered softly, then as he thought his heart had stopped, he shook his head once with tears trialing down a he screamed…

"Aneue!" Inuyasha jolted awake. His whole body was covered in sweat. He was breathing irregularly as he felt his heart slowly falling back to its normal pace. "Yume?" he whispered, leaning back on the tree. When he opened his golden eyes, his right hand was stretched out, almost as if he wanted to reach out and grab someone.

He reached into his haori and pulled out a small jewel. The crystal still glistened the same way he first got it, signaling that all was well with Usagi. He could sense a strong power coming from the gem, but strangely enough, instead of pulling youkai towards it for its power, it's actually pushing them away. InuYasha couldn't help but smile. Even though he's not with him, his sister was still protecting him. Then he remembered a lullaby Usagi had often sung to him whenever he couldn't sleep or was upset because he was being bullied. Closing his hand around the crystal, he shut his eyes and hummed the gentle melody he had heard coming from a golden star shaped locket.

"InuYasha?" The silver haired hanyou opened his eyes and saw that it was morning and that they had already continued walking. He began to wonder why he didn't notice that he was walking behind them. "InuYasha, what's that song?" he heard Shippo ask. Oh great, now they heard him humming the song.

"None of your business," InuYasha snapped, turning his head.

"InuYasha, there's no need to be rude," Kagome scolded, "He was just asking a question."

"Perhaps it's a rather sensitive subject for him, Kagome-sama," Miroku said. He glanced over to his friend, who was ignoring them. "It might've been a song sang by his mother."

"That could be true," Sango said, nodding her head.

"It was sang by someone close to me, but not my mother," the hanyou stated. His hand began to finger the tiny shard.

"Hey that looks like a shikon shard," Shippo said, pointing at it, "When did you find it?"

"It's not the shards we're looking for," InuYasha said, rolling his eyes.

Kagome closed her eyes and tried to sense the usual presence she had often felt from the shards. "He's right," she said, opening her eyes, "I don't sense its presence."

Miroku eyed the jewel. "But there's a much more powerful aura coming from it," he said silently, "It's also much more pure than the shards Kagome-sama is carrying." He smiled gently at his friend and asked, "Where did you find it?"

"Usagi," was the soft reply.

Miroku stared at the crystal intently. "Usagi-sama is becoming more and more intriguing," he said mentally. The more he learns about her, the more mysteries he has yet to solve.

/-/

Naraku watched as the object of his attention was now resting beside a river bank. "This Usagi surely is an interesting character," he mused, "She's like a miko, but at the same time, she's not. She can be as powerful as a youkai, but she's as frail as the rest of the ningen. Just what exactly is she?"

"She's very powerful," Kanna whispered. She glanced at her mirror and watched as Usagi spotted the flying insect spying on her, but what surprised her was that without doing anything else, the hornet-like creature turned around and rammed itself into a tree, killing itself. "Her soul is big, much larger than Kagome's. She can be a formidable ally or a difficult opponent."

Naraku laughed. "True and it appears that InuYasha is quite attached to her. Imagine the look on his face when he discovers that another precious friend betrays him." And with that, his mind began to scheme.

/-/

Usagi glanced up and watched as her adopted daughter played in the water and at the same time, trying to catch some fish. Thinking back, InuYasha had acted the exact same way Kohana was. Since Suicine would watch the pink-haired child, Usagi decided to focus on her task of making supper for the waning day.

Kohana looked up to see her surrogate mother making dinner and smiled. During the few days that she had stayed with Usagi, it was almost like her parents had never left. While she did miss them terribly from time to time, Usagi had taught her that she can't stay focus on the past forever and that everything ahs its time and purpose. She watched as Usagi continued to cook the stew with some ingredients they found in the forest and some they had brought from villages when something moved at the corner of her eyes. She squint her red eyes slightly to see a brown wolf drinking the water; she widened her eyes as she watched the canine turned around and scurried away. Getting curious, Kohana decided to follow the wolf.

Usagi watched as the pink hair child walked away without telling her and sighed. Her younger brother was the exact same way as a child, whenever something interesting catches his eyes, he'll stop at nothing until his curiosity is satisfied. Glancing at the resting wolf, she petted him on the head, causing him to wake up. Silently, she glanced at the wandering child and he knew that she wanted him to talk after her. While Usagi turned around to the stew, the blue wolf got up and followed after Kohana.

/-/

Kohana followed the wolf cautiously and quickly hid behind a large rock when she saw the animal halt. Thinking that he probably spotted her stalking it, she dropped to her knees and covered her head in a frightened manner, but when nothing happened, she glanced around the boulder to see that the wolf had vanished. Wondering where it went, Kohana followed after its trail behind the waterfall to discover a cave with other brown wolves in it as well. She gasped when she saw the dog-like animals and a great big smile crept on her face.

"What are you doing here, brat?" she heard a rough voice asked. Kohana turned around to see a human shaped youkai standing at the entrance of the cave, blocking the only exit. His bleu yes were paler than her mother's eyes. He had black hair tied into a high ponytail with brown fur wrapped around his clothes with a wolf's tail hanging behind him.

Kouga had been looking for some food when he had allowed his companions to finally rest after five days of running nonstop. He had caught a deer and was dragging it back into the cave when he caught sight of a small child. His nose had informed him that the child was a youkai so he questioned her purpose there.

Kohana's excitement and enjoyment came to a halt when she saw Kouga. Glancing at the corpse of the deer gave the message that it was food and that the wolves were probably hungry. When she stalked after the wolf, she wasn't thinking of becoming food for them. As Kouga took a step toward her, she stumbled back and fell to the floor. She curled into a tight ball and whimpered when he knelt down beside her and reached his hand out to touch her.

A loud growl was heard from the entrance, Kouga looked up to see a blue wolf run towards them with the intention to grab his neck and he would've if Kouga haven't raced out of the way. Kouga was about to attack when he heard Kohana shout, "Suicine," and stopped. He stared in shock and watched as the small girl run over to the wolf, who stood protectively over her.

Kohana then quickly kneeled down in front of Kouga and said,. "Please don't fight. It was my fault. I saw the wolf and just wanted a closer look that's all. Please don't eat me."

"Whoa, whoa, wait, I wasn't going to eat you," Kouga said, "I was just going to get you out of here and bring you back to your folks."

Kohana glanced up cautiously, whispering, "Really?"

Kouga threw the deer to the hungry wolves. "Yeah, 'sides I don't eat kids anyway, too scrawny," he joked.

Of course, being a youkai, she is still a child, so Kohana couldn't really tell if he was joking or not. Her red eyes narrowed at Kouga and she shouted, "You better not try to eat hahaue. Me and Suicine won't let you. If you do, then…then…" Her eyes began to tear up as she started to hiccup. "Then I'll be left alone again," she wailed. Tears began to trail down her cheek, causing Suicine to growl angrily at him for making her cry.

Kouga just laughed and said, "Don't worry. I was just kidding when I said that. I only eat animals anyway." He watched as Kohana stopped crying and stared at him. "What did you mean that you'll be left along again," he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Okaa and otou were killed by some ningen because they thought that it was our fault their crops were dieing. If it wasn't for hahaue, I would've been killed. She helped clear our name to the village and made the water clean again. Even though she was a ningen, she adopted me," Kohana said.

"A ningen woman adopting a youkai? That's weird," Kouga muttered, "What about the wolf?"

"Hahaue helped his mother give birth to him and named him," Kohana said, "I heard that hahaue comes from a family that wants to connect the bridge between youkai and ningen."

Kouga was about to ask another question when his ears heard a loud whistle. He then watched as Kohana climbed on top of Suicine and the wolf began to walk out of the cave. "Hey, where are you going?" he asked.

"Back to hahaue," Kohana answered, "Supper's ready. Do you want to come with us?" She ignored the annoyed growl coming from the large wolf.

Kouga knew that Suicine doesn't approve of him being with them, but wanted to meet another ningen woman who is willing to look after a youkai child like his beloved Kagome. "Sure, why not?" he said. He motioned for his pack to stay as he followed after the pair.

They continued to walk when his nose caught the scent of something that smelled delicious. As they began to near the source where the odor was coming from, Kouga's eyes narrowed in slight awe and suspicion. In front of him was a young woman, who certainly has the features of a youkai, minus the pointed ears, but also carry the scent of a ningen heritage mixed with something else. He knew that form the absence of a youkai that she wasn't a hanyou, but he can't make out what the other part is.

Kohana jumped off the wolf and ran over to Usagi. "Hahaue, I brought a friend over," she said.

Usagi glanced up and saw Kouga standing there with a calculating look on his face. Judging by his appearance and comparing it to InuYasha's description of the mangy wolf, she came to the conclusion that they were one and the same. She smiled gently and stood up, ignoring him stiffening his body. "Konbanwa, Kouga-san," she said, bowing.

Kouga's suspicion shot up. "How do you know my name?" he asked.

"I heard about you from Kagome-chan and Yasha-kun," Usagi said, "They told me a lot about you since you're both on the same mission on trying to destroy Naraku."

His shoulders dropped slightly. "You know my woman?" he said, deciding that since Kagome trusts this stranger than she's not so bad.

Usagi arched an eyebrow when she heard his emphasis on the word 'my' and couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, I know Kagome-chan. We traveled together for a bit before I left to go by myself," she said, "My name is Usagi." She sat back down and poured some soup into a bowl and handed it to the eager and hungry child. She poured another and handed it out to him. "Would you like some?" she asked.

Deciding that there isn't any harm, Kouga sat down next to her and too the bowl, muttering his thanks. He watched as Kohana and Suicine ate the food quickly, asking for seconds almost immediately. Seeing that nothing's wrong, he poured a spoonful into his mouth and his eyes widened. He was so use to eating raw meat, or rather nothing at all, that the foreign taste of something cooked was like drinking water after crossing a desert. "It's good," he exclaimed, quickly scoffing down the rest.

"Arigato," Usagi said, eating her share of the stew. "So Kouga-san, since you're on the same journey as the others, are you going to add more shards to your collection?"

Kouga dropped his bowl on to the floor, ignoring Kohana's exclamation of him wasting good food. "How do you know I have some shards?" he asked, "Did Kagome tell you? Are you after them as well?"

"No to the last two questions, but for the first one, you could say that I have the same ability as Kagome-chan and could sense the shards." She picked up the fallen bowl and poured more stew into it before handing it back to him.

Kouga stared at her and watched as she smiled at him. "What's wrong with me?" he asked himself silently, taking the bowl. As he ate, he watched as Usagi took the now stuffed child to the stream to wash her hands and face. When he saw Kagome, he had often saw her as someone who was really cute, kind and gentle, not to mention, she can find the Shikon shards, which was an added bonus. He was so sure that was in love with Kagome…wait, 'was', he is in love with her…isn't he? He glanced curiously at Usagi and couldn't help but admit that she is gorgeous, truly beautiful with an exotic look emphasized by her blond hair and blue eyes, something even rare among youkai. As he watched her mothering the laughing child in front of her, he couldn't help but imagine her smiling and taking care of his pups.

Then he felt like somebody had thrown cold water on his face. Wait, somebody did pour water all over him. He glanced around furiously only to find the main suspect was a large blue wolf feigning sleep, the only evidence was his wet fur and the smirk on his face. Kouga glared at the wolf, but knew he couldn't do anything about it, fearing Usagi's hatred, even if it was Suicine's fault. He shook the water off and sat away from the smirking wolf.

As he sat down, Kouga began to think back on why he had just imagined the picture from before when he had never imagined Kagome in that way. Sure he had boasted about her going to be his mate, but he never truly thought of her as future mother of his pups. He had no right to think of Usagi in that way when he promised himself to Kagome.

"You know, I pictured you to be a lot more rowdy from Yasha-kun's description of you, Kouga-san," he heard Usagi say. Hearing the honorific to his name made him feel uneasy. He couldn't help but feel jealous of the fact that that filthy dog had a closer relationship with this angel than him, the leader of the East wolf pack, do.

"You can call me by name, you don't need to put an honorific, Usagi," Kouga said. He got up. "Why don't you spend the night at the cave with me and my pack? I have a feeling that it's going to rain tonight."

"Arigato, Kouga-kun, that's very sweet of you," she said, not knowing that fast beating of the brown ookami youkai's heart. She picked up the sleepy girl into her arms as Kouga picked up her pack. Kouga glanced at the annoyed Suicine with a smirk as Usagi walked on ahead, not knowing of the glaring contest going on between the two wolves.

AN: People in the last chapter had asked about the term 'hahaue' when Kohana called Usagi that. Hahaue is actually another term for mother, or beloved mother, just as Kohaku calls Sango or InuYasha calls Usagi 'aneue' with means beloved sister.