Okay guys, I am so utterly sorry about how long it took. I was planning to update last Saturday but, wouldn't you know it, my internet gave out.

I mean, it really gave out.

Nothing.

No. Internet. For. Entire. Week.

Now, as if that wasn't bad enough, it got worse.

I am horrible at turning in my assignments on time, right? But the one class I've been able to do work for on time all year is English. Last assignment of the year? I plan to e-mail it to my teacher.

Internet gives out.

That was the last day of school.

That really, really sucks.

But at least school is out for the summer, and next year I'm going to a Performing Arts school, so…well…who knows.

Once again, I'm so sorry. But this chapter is really long. About 26 pages.

A special thank you to…

MeiunTenshi

TouchofPixieDust

ffgirlmoonie

Clouds of the Sky

sweetrosie

chiclet180

Boylessgirl52941

Smiley Gurl 87

ripgurlLillyania

Punk Rock Miko2

Mistress of Demons

Remenescent

Goddess of the Moonlit Sky

bdrake07

Tara-chan

Avelyn Lauren

dragonflamez13

Al

Moccha

Hearii-sama

Kagome1322: I am me. FEAR ME AND MY LACK OF PROPER SLEEP! Besides, some idiot gave me a bat today. I'm in killing mood. Heh heh heh.

Disclaimer:

Jenny: I LOVE THIS CHAPTER!

Lia: I KNOW!

Everyone else: …(they all slowly edge away)

Jenny: WRITE MORE OF THEM EXACTLY LIKE IT! IT ROCKS MY WORLD!

Lia: IT ROCKS MY SOCKS!

Jenny: IT ROCKS MY SOCKS RIGHT OUT OF MY SOCK DRAWER!
Pwale: I knew I could count on you two to like it…though I'm not sure if this is a good thing…

Al: Did you have to put a-(Mr. X and Pwale cover Al's mouth)

Mr. X: Shhh! The readers are reading!

Al: Mmmf mmm!

Calcifer: I tell you people. If I weren't here, nothing would ever get done. We don't own the characters. (Looks at the Lawyers.) How did you manage before I came?

Lawyer #1: Did you ever read the TOT disclaimers?

Calcifer: No.

Lawyer #2: …Good. Don't.

Calcifer: …

Pwale: Oh yeah! On the corny matter…well…most of you voted half-and-half. Al voted non-corny, but then she gave me a homicidal penguin-

Al: I told you! I didn't know that it would do that!

Pwale: What part of homicidal do you not understand! Anyway…since we are now being charged with ownership of a bloody baby-eating penguin-

Al: See! I said it would commit homicide, not cannibalism!

Pwale: …It's a penguin. That isn't cannibalism! Yeah, so since it's really Al's fault I'm not going to really try to make it non-corny and we're just going to go with the half-half thing. After all…when I don't write corny I find it boring. When I write corny it sucks. Let's see if we can pull this off, my darling ducklings and puppies!

Al: Puppies?

Lia: (Staring up at three newcomers, who just magically popped into the room)…Hey guys. She got you here too?

Mario: …What the-…

KK: …Why are there all those big eyes staring at us?

Blake: I think those are the…readers?

Pwale: MWAH-HA-HA-HA!

G

The Stamp Of Gold

Three Strokes And You're Out

By Pwalefriend

This chapter is dedicated to my third grade class and The Year Of The Boar And Jackie Robinson, we ain't never gonna let go man! NO LET GO, I SAY, NO LET GO!

I pledge my allegiance to the frog of America!

Don't ask.

Well, all in all, it had been a fairly swell day. She had nothing to complain about, not really. Mr. Onigumo had, as she thought back on it now, been a little odd. But for someone who so strongly reeked of opium out here in the country, it was only to be expected. The City, Kagome's hometown, had the largest opium market in the country, so she was accustomed to the smell.

She sincerely doubted many others in the country were.

So what did Mr. Onigumo think he was doing? Kagome shrugged. It wasn't any of her business.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" A young woman, not long out of girl-hood, asked her. Kagome looked at her, not unkindly, but wondering why the woman looked so perturbed.

"Yes?" Kagome asked.

"What's in that package? Forgive me if I sound rude but…it's ticking…"

Kagome felt the blood leave her face. Staring down at the package in her hands, the self-same package the Mr. Onigumo had given to her not too long ago, she found to her horror that it was indeed ticking.

'It's not me he wants to kill…at least, I don't think that it is.' She thought, faster then she had ever thought before. 'He told me to give it to Inuyasha. And he wouldn't do such a thing without a little research. So he must know how long the train takes. We have about an hour more, and then he would probably give it thirty more minutes, just to make sure. So, it shouldn't go off quite yet, but still…I have to do something…'

"Make no sudden movements." Kagome commanded the girl briskly, adopting her 'teacher voice' for the situation. "I need you to slowly, slowly, get up and open the window. Most of all you must remain calm. Do you think you can do that?" The girl nodded.

"Yes ma'am." She said. "My Pa's a doctor and my Ma's got a talent for finding injured animals that are half the size of her and then bringing them home. I learned at an early age to stay calm during situations and to do what people told me." And the girl slowly got up and even slower opened the bottom half of the window.

Kagome smiled.

"That's a good girl." She said. "Now sit back down, but get under your seat. Don't move until I tell you to, okay? I'm serious. Do. Not. Move."

The girl nodded and sat back down, curling up under her seat and squishing her eyes as shut as they could go. Kagome didn't blame her.

Holding the packet delicately and moving as carefully as she possibly could on a train, Kagome slowly got up and moved over to the window. She carefully drew back her arm and then threw the package as far as she possibly could before immediately diving under her own seat faster then she had ever gone in her life.

A huge explosion shook the air and fire burst from the prairie grass the stood by the train. Screams were screamed and glass shattered. The lights flickered out but the train kept moving. Then Kagome heard a panicked voice that she recognized as the engineers. Kagome curled up closer in on herself and whimpered; this had to be one of the scariest things that had happened to her.

Neither Kagome nor the girl knew how long it was before the train quieted down again and they dared to breath. Kagome scooted back from under her seat and banged the window closed. She leaned on the cool glass for comfort.

"You can come back out now." She said. The girl came, staring at her shakily.

"Ma'am?" She said. "That…that was…"

"A bomb." Kagome finished grimly, her mouth set and her eyes flashing. "A man handed me a bomb and then walked away."

'And I want to know why.' She thought.

G

Inuyasha was quite innocently reading up on carrots, of all things. He had been in a spontaneous mood, but the last time he had been spontaneous around his brother he had ended up bedridden for several months, courtesy of pneumonia, scurvy (to this day he had no idea how he had contracted it) and numerous broken limbs. So Inuyasha had contented himself with picking up a random book and opening it to a random page and reading. It was just his luck that the book happened to be all about bunny-food.

When the door slammed open and Kagome stomped in, looking angrier then he had ever seen her, that was including the fight that they had had before he had burned down the mansion, he would have felt relieved and even grateful that she had saved him from his boredom…except…well, suffice to say that at that moment he was wishing that he had chosen to brave Sesshomaru instead. Kagome just stood there, glaring at him like there was no tomorrow, for several moments of total silence.

"…Yes?" Inuyasha said, though he knew this would probably spell his doom. A doom, which would be executed with Chinese Water Torture, if Kagome's expression was any indication. He could almost feel the drip-drip on his forehead now.

"Who is Onigumo?" Kagome hissed.

…

…

…

…Well, ain't this just familiar...

…

…

…Utter silence…

…

….

…Even the crickets have run away and hidden…

…

…The silence is snapping…

…

…This is your last chance to run away…

…

…Uh-oh…

…

Silence snapped.

"What!"

G

It was a long time before either Kagome or Inuyasha had calmed down enough to be anything like civil to one another. Luckily when Sesshomaru came in to see what all the hub-hub was about Inuyasha had stalked into one of the other rooms only moments before and Kagome hadn't gone after him.

"You'll wake everyone up if you continue this ruckus." Sesshomaru drawled. He regretted it instantly when Kagome turned on him. Involuntary, he took a step back.

"Who. Is. Onigumo?" She hissed at him, loathing, absolute and utter loathing, practically dripping from her tongue. Sesshomaru blinked.

"Did he attack you?" He asked. She snorted.

"Not exactly. Instead he gave me a bomb to kill Inuyasha with."

Sesshomaru shrugged.

"That's what he does. You could call him Inuyasha's arch nemesis. They like to kill one another."

Kagome growled. He was almost as bad as Inuyasha.

"Bad man." Said a tiny little voice at her elbow. Kagome looked down and saw none other then Clingy, bobbing anxiously by her side. "Give horror-horses to Master."

Kagome frowned.

Sesshomaru groaned.

"I will never understand this place." He said.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE, YOU BASTARDS!" Inuyasha screamed from behind the wall.

Kagome's frown deepened. It could just be the wall between them, but did Inuyasha's voice sound suspiciously muffled.

"Inuyasha!" Sesshomaru shouted back. "Come out here. Right now!"

"What's going on?" Asked Miroku, appearing in the open doorway.

"GO THE HELL AWAY! YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE!"

"Oh…shit…" Miroku swore. Kagome blinked.

'Is that the first time I've heard him swear?' She wondered, but she couldn't remember.

"Who mentioned Kikyo?" He asked.

Kagome froze.

Sesshomaru froze.

In the other room, Inuyasha froze.

Clingy didn't. Clingy decided that humans were stupid and if things were going to be this dangerous then Lady had to go back to her Metal Hive. Clingy, like all Elementals, was acutely aware of all of Gaia around them, and what happened to her happened to them. When the bomb had exploded the Elementals had immediately known the What, the Where, the When, the Who and the How of the situation. They had not known the Why. And they still didn't.

But Clingy did know that Lady had to leave if she was going to be in this much danger. The other Elementals agreed. If Naraku Onigumo had resurfaced, and if Mistress Kikyo was back on the prowl, then there was no telling what would befall a perfect target like Lady if they had the chance.

"Lady…" Clingy said. "Onigumo is a man…a bad man, as you human's say. He likes to hurt Master. Master likes to hurt him, but Naraku hurts him most. Kikyo-"

"I've met both of them, Clingy." She interrupted, drawing the absolute attention of everyone in the room and the single listener in the other room. "I'm aware that Mr. Onigumo is an evil man who wants to hurt, if not kill, Inuyasha. But what's this about Kikyo? I met her once, and she seemed to me to be quite a decent person. I really don't-"

The sound of shattering glass from the other room stopped Kagome in the middle of her sentence. In the other room, Inuyasha had just thrown a rather expensive vase at the opposite wall.

"Oh, sure!" Inuyasha yelled. "She seems nice in the beginning, but then she turns around and tries to kill you! That bitch! That little bitch! I'll kill her!"

"Oh dear…" Miroku muttered, hurrying past Kagome, Clingy and Sesshomaru and trotting into the room where Inuyasha was.

"No!" Inuyasha yelled. "I'll do what she tried to do! I'll fucking cull her! Like a damned beast!" The sound of

Sesshomaru and Clingy quickly followed Miroku, but Kagome stayed where she was. Inuyasha's ranting was too disturbing…too haunting…

"Ashamed, she said, ashamed. I'll show her ashamed! I'll make her sink to the lowest of the low! Then she'll be ashamed!"

…Ashamed?

Flashback

"A murderer! I for one am ashamed to know you, Inuyasha! ASHAMED TO KNOW YOU, YOU HEAR ME!"

End Flashback

She had said the same thing once. Right before he had burnt down the mansion.

It was just too much for Kagome. She turned and fled without another word.

Everyone had his or her limit. But before you can reach it there's that moment when you realize that you might.

And that's when you're scared.

G

"Shippo…" Rin whispered, curling closer to him and Satsuki amongst the pillows of their nursery. "I'm scared. Uncle Inuyasha's really angry this time."

"Do you think he'll come after us?" Satsuki asked.

"I don't know." Shippo whispered back. Suddenly a pair of warm arms embraced their pile of pillows.

"Come on, children." Kagura whispered softly. "You're going to sleep in my room tonight."

"But Kagome promised us a bed time story!" Shippo protested. Kagura looked a little nervous. What was she supposed to say now? After a moment of thought, she settled for a watered-down version of the truth.

"Kagome had a fight with Inuyasha and is very upset right now." Kagura said. "She can't read to you, she's busy…fixing stuff."

The children, as it was nearly midnight, were too sleepy to protest. But Shippo wanted that story.

G

If there was one miserable thing about the cold of winter it was how unbearable it was in the early hours. When you had to wake up and go outside and wait for your train to come, it made you want to kill some cute furry animal.

But Kagome was feeling to guilty and depressed to feel murderous.

She just sat there at the lonely train station, silently awaiting the arrival of the morning train and the ride that would take her away from this place forever.

No matter how guilty she felt in the process. She had made her decision.

And they wouldn't find her resignation papers until she was long gone.

In the distance, Kagome saw the morning freight train coming. It was too early for a passenger train, but Kagome didn't feel like waiting.

G

Shippo walked as quietly as he could to Kagome's room, a book in one hand and a picture in the other. The picture was one that he had drawn in hopes that she would read him the book if he gave it to her. After all, she had promised that she would.

Of course, if anyone asked, he'd just look at them in a cute way and say that he was bringing Kagome the picture to cheer her up. No one needed to know that he knew the wonders of bribery, not yet anyway.

Shippo grinned mischievously at this thought.

But when he came to Kagome's door and found Buyo scratching furiously at it and mewing sadly his little grin vanished to be replaced by a worried frown.

Didn't Kagome always sleep with the fur ball?

"Kagome?" Shippo asked quietly, knocking on the door. "Are you there, Kagome?"

There was no answer, so Shippo quietly pushed the door open. At his feet, Buyo streaked in with a grateful meow.

There was no one there. The bed was made and the pictures were gone and the only sign that Kagome had been there was a small stack of papers on the desk. Dropping his things Shippo ran over to the desk and stared at the top paper desperately. It was written in Kagome's neat and precise handwriting, but Shippo couldn't read the words.

'Sound it out, Shippo.' Said Kagome's voice in his head. 'You can do it.'

"I…re…gret…to…ann…ow…announce..my…my…res..ig…resig…na…resignat…i-o-u-n…what does that sound make again? Oh…yeah…resignation. I regret to announce my resignation. Wait…resignation!"

That was all Shippo had to read. He was out of that mansion like a shot. It may have been early, but it wasn't too early and there were plenty of servants downstairs getting ready for the day and eating their breakfast while their overlords and ladies slept.

Shippo went by so fast that most of them swore he'd never gone by at all.

G

"Sure, I think that we can take you, missus." The man said. "Where you headed?"

"Wherever you're going." Kagome said gratefully. "Thank you."

"Not a problem." The man said. "So long as you don't get in the way. It's never bad luck, having an educated missus on board." He tipped his hat and hauled her bag into one of the carts. Kagome sighed and prepared to follow him, but something stopped her.

Or should I say, someone.

"Kagome!" Shippo cried, wrapping his tiny arms around her leg. "You can't go! We love you!"

"Shippo…" Kagome said softly. 'How did he find out?' She wondered. "Shippo, I can't-"

"No!" Shippo bawled. "You can't leave, you promised to read me a story! And you can protect us from Inuyasha! No one else will! And it's my birthday soon! Mine and Satsuki's! You have to be there! You just have to!"

"Missus!" The man called. "You coming?"

"I'll be-" Kagome started, but Shippo interrupted her again.

"No let go!" He shouted. Kagome sighed. Who knew that Shippo could be so stubborn? Of course, with Inuyasha as a role model she shouldn't be surprised.

"Shippo-" She tried again, kneeling down (though it was mighty awkward to do so, since he was still clinging to her leg).

"No let go!"

"I-"

"No let go!"

"But-"

"No let go!"

"Okay Shippo, I'll-"

"No let go!"

"No. No let go, Shippo. You don't have to."

"No let-…huh?" Shippo met Kagome's eyes, which were twinkling merrily, before she turned away and looked up at the freight train man.

"I'm terribly sorry about this." She said. "But would you mind retrieving my bag? I'm afraid that I'm incredibly susceptible to cuteness."

The man laughed as he grabbed her luggage and threw it down to her.

"Not at all, missus." He said. "I've got young ones of my own!"

And so, as it would turn out, Kagome and Shippo got back just in time for the beginning of birthday planning. And when they came, they came together, holding hands.

G

"Well…" Inuyasha thought to himself, smiling slightly. "I always knew that the runt was good for something."

He turned away from the window, where Shippo and Kagome could be seen coming back from the station and dragging her luggage behind them through the snow.

'I didn't mean to make her leave.' He thought. 'It'd be too dangerous for her right now, if she were to go.'

G

Well, how was that!

A long chapter, quick update, a tender moment, angst, humor and (what we Americans do best) EXPLOSIONS!

I'm half way to a Harry Potter movie.

Speaking of which…

(Pwale glares at nearby Harry Potter book)

…Dumbledore-

(The other's jump out and gag Pwale)

Shut up Pwale! Some of them may not have read the 6th book yet and may be planning to!

(Al faces reader)

Sorry about that. She has a tendency to give away book endings.

Pwale: Hey! It is common knowledge that the dogs die in Where The Red Fern Grows, and every other acclaimed dog-book! And it is not my fault that half our friends are so…so…so anti-intellectual that they didn't know that Romeo and Juliet die in the end, okay!

Calcifer: When did this turn into a disclaimer?

(Pwale glares at Calcifer and points to clock.)

Calcifer: …Oh…

Well, since I'm too tired to do anything but babble nonsense, I'll stop now. I hope that you guys liked the chapter! It's about 26 pages long!

Sincerely

Pwalefriend

To whom it may concern, you know who you are. I got it, my friend. I. Got. His. Coat. Let it be documented here, as well as written and videotaped. IT WAS LEFT UN-ATTENDED AND I GOT IT!

In your face!

In the words of Applegeeks, someday, somewhere, someone will read this and know what we are talking about.