Three Two One

Three

After a short discussion, it was decided that they would go back to the cave where it all started, in hopes that they would find a solution to their current situation. To avoid confusion, Kagome came up with the idea to give each of the Inuyashas different name. This way, the demon Inuyasha was called "Inu", the human Inuyasha "Yasha" and the half-demon version just kept his original name "Inuyasha". It was quickly accepted by everyone, which left the Inuyashas with no room for any kind of opposition.

At first they were progressing very slowly. Even though all three of them had the same injuries, their ability to deal with the pain varied greatly, and it was very difficult for Yasha to move around freely. Even when they used Kirara to carry him, they still couldn't move very fast. Thankfully, just the way they shared their injuries, they shared their regenerative ability as well, so even being a human, he was healing quite fast.

It took only a couple of hours for all Inuyashas to be in their top condition again, but to everyone's dismay, that didn't make them progress any faster. This time it was because of Inu and Inuyasha, who were arguing over which way to go. Neither of them was willing to step back and the group was just left with nothing else to do, as they couldn't go anywhere, since they didn't know where their destination was.

"We need to turn left now, both your memory and your senses are way too dull, with you in the lead we'd just get lost." Inu argued, making fun of Inuyasha in the process.

"There's no problem with my senses or my memory. It's to the right, you're just trying to lead us astray, because you don't want us to become one again." Inuyasha shouted back.

The two kept growling at each other and the group already set up a camp and lit up the fire, seeing the situation as hopeless. They even tried to ask Yasha about his opinion of which way to go, but the answer they've got just made them even more miserable.

"I don't know what are they arguing about, they're both wrong anyway. We just need to keep going straight and we'll arrive at the cave in no time." Yasha said confidently, but didn't join the argument between the other two. He probably knew that they wouldn't take him seriously anyway.

By the time the group finished their meal, Inu and Inuyasha were still arguing and it didn't seem like it would change anytime soon, if they just left them on their own. As everyone was pondering about what to do, Sango was the first one to come up with an idea.

"I think that we shouldn't rely on those three anymore and just search for that place ourselves. It will take some time to check every possible cave and we might even miss it completely, but letting Inuyasha to lead us doesn't really seem like a faster or more reliable option at the moment."

The others weren't very happy about this option, but just as Sango said, with how all the Inuyashas were acting, there probably wouldn't be any difference, even if they went by her plan. After giving it some thought, they agreed and started to get ready to go. Though, there was still someone who didn't really like that idea. Inuyasha or Yasha didn't really say anything, but Inu seemed offended by the fact that in the end they didn't even take him into consideration and just decided things by themselves.

"Do whatever you want, but there's no way for you to find that place without me leading you to it and I just had enough following you around." He said angrily, and then disappeared out of their sights.

Two

"That didn't go that well." Kagome commented, looking at the place where Inu stood just a short while ago.

"Are you going to leave too?" She turned at Inuyasha, who just folded his arms and looked away as he answered.

"As if I could leave. If I did, you would all get killed in no time. Especially that guy." He pointed with his head towards his human version. Yasha wanted to say something at that remark, but Kagome stopped both of them before they could really start to argue, remembering the argument Inu and Inuyasha had just a while ago. She didn't want to waste any more time than necessary.

She was glad that Inuyasha, unlike Inu, stayed with them, even though she could already see some troubles on the way. Yasha was pretty easy to get along with, though he still had some not so favorable traits as well.

They soon set out. Sango took the role of the scout, searching for places, which could possibly be their destination, from atop of Kirara's back, up in the sky. Shippo also lent a hand in this field, while the rest was walking on the ground, following their instructions. Inuyasha and Yasha were mostly ignoring each other, so there weren't any disturbances coming from their side.

Even after several days, they still haven't found what they were searching for. Inuyasha was running around, obviously enjoying himself, Yasha was chatting with whomever was willing to spare him some time, but neither of them gave away any clue at all, about their destination. At one moment though, their attitude changed and they both set out in one certain direction.

The group briefly looked at each other, and then without saying anything, they followed them. They didn't run after them for long, when they stopped. They were in front of a cave, which they immediately guessed was the one they were searching for, and Inu was also already there. Neither of the three went inside, but they were all looking towards the entrance with wariness, so they didn't notice the group's arrival. The group didn't know what to expect at all, but what they saw just seconds after left them completely dumbfounded.

From inside the cave, another Inuyasha was coming out. He was yawning and overall he looked as if he just woke up from a long sleep. He didn't notice the group or his other selves right away, but when he saw his other three versions, he stopped in his tracks and just looked at the scene with tilted head, probably wondering whether he's still asleep or if what he saw was real.

"Did they multiply again?" Miroku commented absentmindedly, as he was watching those four Inuyashas standing right in front of him, one human, one demon and two half-demons, trying not to think about how much more would their lives become difficult with yet another short-tempered friend of theirs.

One

"What's going on? Who the hell are you?" The Inuyasha, who just walked out of the cave, asked the three standing in front of him. The three looked at each other and then without any further delay, they all attacked the newcomer Inuyasha at once.

Inuyasha was caught of guard and he still couldn't make heads or tails of the situation, but he still dodged in time, not giving the trio a chance to harm him. He kept dodging their attacks, trying to figure out what's going on, but he soon gave up on that tactic and started to return the blows when he had the chance. Since it was three against one, he was at a disadvantage, but he was still able to hold his ground.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Sango asked without moving her eyes from the fight in front of her.

"Even if you say that, how are we supposed to do that?" Kagome answered in a similar manner. They didn't have many ways of just restraining them, without hurting them and moreover there was four of them. They could be able to manage one Inuyasha, but they had four Inuyashas to deal with.

Both sides of the fight already suffered some mild injuries. They were all familiar with their opponent's movements, so it was difficult to take the other side by surprise and despite the difference in numbers, neither side could really gain any significant advantage.

"Well, even if there's more of them, they are still Inuyashas, so your little spell should have at least some effect on them." Miroku suggested and Kagome nodded. She was already thinking about using that before, but her mind still wasn't that focused to actually reach the decision.

"Sit!" Kagome shouted and the fourth Inuyasha was immediately pulled to the ground. The trio wasn't affected by the spell, but it made them realize that they weren't the only ones present. They looked at the group and then with another short glance among each other, they tried to run away.

"What the hell was that for?!" Inuyasha grumbled as he was picking himself from the ground, but nobody paid him any mind. Everyone was focused on the fleeing trio and with combined effort they were able to block their path and make them stop.

As the trio was looking around, trying to find a way to escape, Inuyasha, who's already given up in trying to turn anyone's attention towards his misfortune, made his way towards everyone else and also helped to seal any possible escape route his copies could try to use.

Seeing that they were completely trapped, the trio came closer together and when they all touched each other, they disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kagome and the others thought that it was their attempt to escape, but when the smoke dissipated, at the spot where the Inuyashas have just been, they saw a little three-headed monkey instead.

As if by magic, the moment the monkey appeared in front of them, some guy slipped through them, right to that monkey and cuddled it as if it was his child.

"Here you are! I've been searching for you for days! Where have you been?" He was saying with concern and when he made sure that the monkey is alright, he turned towards the others and not even bothering to ask, he immediately started to apologize.

"I'm sorry for any inconvenience this little guy might have caused you. I assure you that he meant no harm. He is in fact very nice and kind kid." The guy explained, but Inuyasha didn't care about his explanation and just shouted at him angrily.

"Didn't mean any harm? It attacked me the moment I woke up! You probably don't know it as well as you claim to."

"He was pretending to be one of us for several days, you don't expect us to just brush it off, do you? We went through a lot of trouble to get to this point." Kagome gave him a piece of her mind as well.

"Also, we would like an explanation of what is he and how was he even able to pretend to be one of us so well, that none of us had any suspicion." Miroku tried to get some answers while they had the chance.

"I am truly sorry about that. The reason for attacking you might be the fact that he truly enjoyed being the person he was pretending to be and in his efforts to stay like that as long as possible, he thought that by forcibly knocking out his target would allow him to stay like that longer." The guy started to explain, but he could see that his explanation so far didn't make anyone any wiser, so he continued.

"This guy can completely assume the appearance, personality and even skills of any person he is mimicking, but it's only working as long as his target is asleep. Once his target wakes up, he slowly starts to reverse back to his original form, starting with the skills and with the appearance being the last thing to change. It's a very strange power indeed, but he's never endangered anyone. He's just playing around, though I understand that it might have caused you some discomfort, but aren't all kids like that?" The guy continued defending his little monkey with a smile and before anyone could say anything else, he stood up with the monkey in his arms and within a second, they were all engulfed by a thick smoke.

This time the smoke was much thicker and the group was affected by it to the extent that they started to cough and it also brought tears into their eyes. It took much longer for this smoke to settle down and when the air was finally clear again, there was no trace of the three-headed monkey or the strange guy. There were still some questions left unanswered, but they just had to accept that they wouldn't get any more answer now, or anytime later.

"What was that about?" Inuyasha asked no one in particular, frustration obvious in his voice. Then he turned towards his friends accusingly.

"And how could you mistake that monkey for me? Are you stupid or something?" He asked, but none of his friends was paying him any attention. Instead they just turned around and started to walk back to their village, looking forward to have a nice rest. Even as Inuyasha kept talking to them, they just ignored him. They couldn't find the strength to respond to any of his questions and to some extent, they believed that it was mainly his own fault that they had to go through all that, but even as they were treating him like this for now, they were in fact relieved that everything went back to normal.