Disclaimer: I do not own any part of InuYasha, only my own character Kakiya.

Chapter 3

The ground around them was a mess: large pieces of earth littered the ground making it hard to tread upon. Kakiya let out a large sigh as she walked towards the broken katana and picked up the pieces.

"I'm sorry that I broke your blade." She said, giving Sango the blade.

Sango took out a sheet of cloth and wrapped the broken blade in it before tucking it away, "No worries. I'll fix it when you go to Kagome's world." She smiled.

Kakiya returned her smile and looked at her wound, examining it closer, "It's still bleeding..." she observed.

"Well of course it is. You were running around everywhere and you didn't even let someone patch it up for you." InuYasha sighed, "And being in the state you're in, you know that you won't heal as fast as you normally do."

Kagome hurried over to Kakiya and took a look at her shoulder before grabbing a roll of bandages from her bag. "The least I can do is stop the bleeding." She told her as she firmly wrapped the strips of cloth around Kakiya's shoulder. "There." She said, snipping off extra cloth.

"Thank you." Kakiya told her as she looked at the mysterious strips of cloth on her shoulder.

"I'll treat it properly when we go back to my time." Kagome looked at her wound, which was already starting to bleed through, 'It's deeper than I though...' she packed away her things, "Does it hurt a lot right now?"

"Hmm, I've experienced pains far worse than this."

InuYasha stared at shoulder, "But not when you're in that form."

Kakiya smiled, "True."

The scent of Kakiya's blood was nauseating him, "Let's leave this place, the scent of your blood is going to attract some unwanted demons. If you want to go to Kagome's time, we should go now."

"We should get going then," Sango said as Kirara transformed into her giant cat form, "Miroku, do you plan on doing anything? You can come with me if you like." Sango jumped on Kirara's back.

Shippo hopped on her shoulder, "Bring me too! I'll have nothing to do if all of you are gone!"

Sango pat his head, "Of course you can come."

Miroku quickly climbed onto Kirara's back, "Yes, I'll come with you. There's a place I want to visit anyway."

"We'll talk on the way there." Sango turned towards Kagome, "We'll be leaving now and we'll be back in... hmm... Let's make it three days then."

Kagome nodded, "Alright."

"Kirara." Kirara lifted Sango and company at the command of her name. She flew them off towards the sky.

"I guess we should be on our way." Kagome lifted up her bag and draped it over her shoulders.

The three walked back towards the village and made their way through the forest. They walked in silence until they reached the well.

'I'm finally going back to the other side... huh?' Kakiya thought as she walked up to the well, 'I can't seem to remember my old mother's face...' she peered into the dark well.

Kagome handed InuYasha her bag, "Ok InuYasha, you go first. I'll follow you right after. If we don't come right away, wait five minutes. If we still haven't arrived, come back to this era."

"Got it." InuYasha jumped onto the ledge of the well and disappeared as a blue light erupted from the well.

In the trees behind them Kagura just arrived in time to see InuYasha disappear into the well, 'It's them!' she thought, 'But it seems they are going into the well again... what strange people...' Kagura watched Kagome and Kakiya through the bush she was hiding behind.

"Well, we mustn't keep InuYasha waiting." Kagome climbed up onto the well, "Are you ready?"

Kakiya stepped onto the ledge and Kagome linked her arms up with her own, "Yup."

The two jumped into the well and a blue light surrounded them both. Kakiya was amazed as she watched the strands of time flash by her. The light soon faded away and they found themselves standing at the bottom of the well.

Kagura stepped out of her hiding place and walked towards the well. "I wonder..." she tapped her fan on her chin as she thought.

She jumped up on the ledge and looked down the well. Kagura leapt down into the well and was expecting a blue light to welcome her, but was sorely disappointed when all she found as the dirty, bone-filled bottom of the well.

"Guess I had my hopes up for nothing." She grunted and flew out of the well on her giant feather, 'I'll just wait until they return.' She thought as she flew into the forest to find a good hiding place.

On the other side of the well, the scent of Kakiya's blood reached InuYasha's sensitive nose, 'They made it.' He thought fondly.

Kakiya jumped up, taking Kagome with her. She gently placed Kagome on the ground when her own feet touched the earth below her.

Kakiya looked around at the small shed, 'It hasn't changed much from what I remember... Although it does look a lot smaller.' She smiled to herself.

Kagome ran up the stairs and opened the two sliding doors. "I can't believe we actually made it!" she smiled and ran out the doors, but quickly returned to pop her head back inside, "Come on, Kakiya!" she ran out again and InuYasha walked out after her.

The excited girl led the other two into her house. When they entered the house, Kakiya stood awkwardly at the entrance, unsure of what to do. InuYasha immediately made himself at home and flopped himself down in the living room. Feeling that she should follow suit, Kakiya took off her footwear and walked into the living room, sitting down beside InuYasha. Kakiya noticed that Kagome had run off somewhere.

Studying the room around her, Kakiya tried to remember what this room looked like many years ago, 'Time must past by faster beyond the well then compared to this world.' She thought.

Hearing the sound of footsteps racing towards them, the two turned their attention towards the rushing Kagome.

Kagome was carrying a bundle of clothing and had a look of excitement on her face, "Come on, Kakiya! We have to get you changed and out of those clothes."

"But Kagome, the evening's already here, surely we're not going out anywhere..." Kakiya thought for a second, trying to remember the time that she lived here, "Don't you have to ... err, make dinner? Yes, make dinner." Kakiya said smiling. She herself did not want to see the rest of Kagome's world just yet, only wanting to stay in this nostalgic house of hers.

"That's true, but I can still give you a bath! And get you changed!" Kagome grinned, 'I've always wanted to dress up Sango here, but she couldn't cross the time barrier, but now that Kakiya's here...' she laughed to herself.

"Umm, alright then." Kakiya let herself be dragged away by Kagome.

InuYasha sulked as he turned on the TV, "Why is that she never offer's me a bath! I only get to bathe with Souta." He started flipping through the channels, 'It's not fair.'

Upstairs, Kagome had already gotten Kakiya undressed and was now lathering a rose-smelling shampoo into Kakiya's long, dark hair. Remembering what her mom always did to her in the past, Kakiya grabbed a bath puff and poured soup over it. She gently rubbed herself free from the dirt and blood that dried over her skin, being careful around her wounded shoulder. Kagome turned on the shower and washed Kakiya down, getting rid of all soupy residues.

Kagome looked at her soak tub then at Kakiya's now soaked bandages; "Maybe we should skip the soak tub..." she got up and grabbed a towel from the pile sitting on a shelf. Kagome tossed one to Kakiya before grabbing another one, "Dry yourself up with this." Kagome then proceeded with towel drying Kakiya's hair, but gave up half way as it was too long.

Kakiya wrapped the towel around herself and took the other towel from Kagome, "Here, let me do it."

"Okay, I'll go pick out your clothes!" Kagome said, pointing to the pile of clothes she brought.

While drying her hair, Kakiya watched Kagome as she went through the clothes. Kagome had picked up a pair of cotton shorts comfortable enough to fall asleep in, and a loose fitting tank top, so that Kakiya's wounded shoulder wouldn't get irritated. Kagome brushed back Kakiya's hair into a high pony tail which fell gently to the bottom of her back.

"You're hair is very long." Kagome observed.

Kakiya combed her fingers through her hair, "Yeah... It is, isn't it?"

Kagome smiled and dragged her downstairs again, grabbing her good arm, "Now let's get that wound redressed, shall we? Then after, we'll go out grocery shopping to make dinner. Oh! Unless mom's already done that."

She reluctantly followed her back down stairs and sat her in the living room again. InuYasha still had his attention focused on the TV. Kagome ran off to get her medical supplies to properly treat her wound.

"It's about time you're..." InuYasha started at Kakiya and almost had his mouth gaping wide, "... finished." He ended.

"I know right?" Kagome said excitedly, "She looks like a normal girl! Except for her long hair... but never mind the details."

Kakiya looked down at her long, bare legs, "Umm, maybe I should wear something longer?"

Kagome studied her for a bit, "I don't think I have pants long enough to fit you since you are taller than me... I guess we can go shopping tomorrow then!" She sat Kakiya down in front of her, "But for now, let's take care of that." She said, pointing to the messy bandages on Kakiya's shoulder.

Slowly cutting away the soaked bandages, Kagome made sure not to touch the wound as much, so that it wouldn't start bleeding again. She disinfected the area and rubbed a healing ointment on it before tightly winding it up again with a fresh strip of bandage cloth.

"There, all done!"

"Thank you, Kagome."

"Let's go grocery shopping then!" Kagome quickly ran to grab a ball cap for InuYasha before she ushered them out the door.

Kakiya looked at the evening sky, "You're really excited about this, aren't you, Kagome."

InuYasha put on his cap with distaste, "Yeah, you're never like this when I'm here."

Kagome smiled, "It's because I actually got someone to travel with me across time, for the first time. And InuYasha, you attract too much attention, so you wouldn't be able to go do things with me on a regular basis."

"Just how do I attract attention?" He demanded.

Kakiya looked over at him, "Well for one... your bright red robe certainly is eye catching..."

"Tessaiga is always at your belt..."

"Your silver hair and you walk around with bare feet."

"Your ears, but I have to cover that." Kagome sighed, "But even with that, you just look like you are cosplaying something."

"Alright already, I get the point. Let's just go?"

The three silently walked down the large staircase and made their way towards the grocery store, with Kagome leading the way. Kakiya spent that time watching the world around her, fascinated and reminiscing about everything at the same time. They arrived at the grocery store and Kagome quickly picked out the things they needed for dinner. After she paid for everything, Kagome carried a bag, while InuYasha carried another, leaving Kakiya free from such chores. Kagome gave her a Pocky(1) pack to snack on while she walked home. She walked behind Kagome and InuYasha, giving them enough space for them to have their own conversation without being overhead by herself. While walking down the street, happily munching on her Pocky sticks, she passed a stand and the glittering jewels and stones caught her eye. Kakiya stopped walking and peered at the various treasures with awe in her eyes.

"I've never seen so many of these gathered here at one time." She whispered. Kakiya fingered her own necklace that rested on her chest, "I couldn't get another one even if I wanted too," she sighed, "I don't have anything to trade for it."

Stepping away of the stand, she bumped into a group of people. Kakiya was falling forward, but she felt pair of strong arms wrap themselves around her, catching her before she fell.

"Ah, I'm sorry." Kakiya immediately told the person and looked back into the face of a young man, "And thank you."

"No worries." He told her.

"Umm... You can let go of me now..." she said awkwardly after waiting for him to let go, but didn't.

Another man stood in front of her, "You seem alone, would you like to accompany us?" he asked as he touched her hair and noticed her bandaged shoulder, 'That looks like it was recently treated... I bet it'll hurt if I grab her shoulder.' He smirked to himself.

Kakiya looked around and saw InuYasha and Kagome not too far away, "But there are people waiting for me. I can't go with you, I'm sorry." She moved to get out of his grasp but found that he only held her tighter.

"Come on, just for a little while?" another man asked her.

"But I..." she was still holding a new Pocky stick that she just recently pulled out and was now staring down at it. 'The taste of Pocky still remains... I need to eat another to satisfy this strange craving!'

The same man who touched her hair earlier grabbed her hand and looked at the Pocky stick, "This looks yummy." He bit it.

"Hey! That was mine!" she pouted.

The man took the stick from her hand and ate it all, "That was delicious."

The man who was still holding her chuckled, "But not as yummy as you will be..." he whispered in her ear, and then bit the tip.

That action placed Kakiya past the point of tolerance. She drove her elbow into the man's gut which made him release her. She stood in front of him to admire her work before she turned to leave. But before she had the chance, she felt the other man, who she had forgotten about, roughly grab her wounded shoulder and dig his fingers into her wound.

He laughed as he heard her let out a groan of pain, "You shouldn't have done that." He smirked as he saw her blood soaking through the bandages. He grabbed her from behind and was now trying to pin her arms back, 'How can she still struggle? That wound should be hurting like crazy right now.'

A ways ahead of Kakiya, the scent of her blood drifted into InuYasha's nose. "Kakiya's wound just opened up again." He told Kagome.

"What? But why?" she asked, confused, "I thought it stopped bleeding."

InuYasha turned around and spotted the group of men surrounding Kakiya and let out a low growl, "Unless someone decided to open it back up again." He quickly placed the bag of groceries beside Kagome "I'll be back." and ran towards Kakiya.

Kakiya took the man's hand on her shoulder and ripped it from her wound and took a breath. She quickly twisted the man's hand around and brought him to the ground. 'This stupid thing stings more than I thought it would.' She looked at the group of angry guys around her, 'Too bad I can't kill anything in this world.' She though bitterly.

A person swung a fist at her, which she easily dodged and returned with a stronger punch, knocking him to the ground. She tightly gripped her bleeding shoulder, hoping the pressure would stop the bleeding. Kakiya saw another pick up what looked like a broken pipe from one of the allies and he started walking towards her.

"Now this can get ugly..." she said, amusing herself.

He swung at her head, but she quickly kneeled down and swiped her legs across his, tripping him and bringing him down. Another one, nearby picked up the pipe and swung it at Kakiya, but only bent and gave way when it met with InuYasha's rock-like hand.

"Real men shouldn't hit woman." InuYasha growled.

One of the guys scoffed, "What's a guy who looks like he's cosplaying going to do to us?" he said as his group of friends started to walk towards him.

InuYasha sighed and went around, giving each one a nice beating, leaving each one with a good share of bruises. He walked towards Kakiya and held out a hand.

"I could have done that myself you know." She smiled as she took his hand, and got up. "I just hope my Pocky sticks aren't crushed. Ah! My hand is too dirty to get one now!" Kakiya looked at her bloodied hand and the Pocky pack in the other.

InuYasha looked around at the gang at his feet and ignored what Kakiya had said about her snack, "And you probably could have, if you were not injured and if you were not in your weakest form." He let out a long sigh, "You always seem to get yourself caught up in these types of troubles." InuYasha gazed at Kakiya, studying her unparalleled beauty, even when dirtied with her own blood, 'Why is it that everywhere she goes, she still attracts unwanted attention from men?' he clenched his fists, 'Back then, and even now...' he thought angrily.

"Hey InuYasha..." she looked at him.

"What now?" He noticed that she was looking at her own hands and saw that the one she was using to eat was now dirty with her blood, "You have got to be kidding me. No way."

"But I didn't ask you anything." She grinned sheepishly.

"You want me to feed you." He stated.

"Yup!"

"No."

Kakiya pouted, "At least just one! That one guy ate the one I was going to eat!"

He let out a long sigh then reached into the bag and pulled out a Pocky stick, "Fine. Just one."

He held out the Pocky stick, which Kakiya happily took from his hand with her mouth. She happily nibbled on it while trying to make sure it didn't fall out of her mouth. They started walking towards Kagome, who was waiting patiently for them with a grocery bag in hand.

"You are always there to help me during these troubling times." Kakiya laughed, after finishing her stick.

"What about the times that I'm not there?"

Kakiya looked at the blood on her hand, "That..." she clenched her hands, "That would be when get to I kill the annoying pests."

InuYasha didn't say anything, but he took her pack of Pocky sticks and grabbed all of what was left of them and shoved them in her mouth, earning a glare from her. "You should really change your attitude towards killing things." He muttered.

By the time Kakiya finished choking down the sticks, they've already reached Kagome. InuYasha went up to the grocery bag and picked it up. He glanced over at Kakiya with a hint of sadness in his eyes, 'I see her attitude towards killing has gotten worse.' he thought.

Kagome looked at Kakiya's bloody shoulder and sighed, "Again? Guess I'll have to clean you up again."

Kakiya laughed, and then nodded, "I'm sorry you have to do this."

"Don't worry it. Let's go home." Kagome said as she walked towards her home at the shrine.

Smiling, Kakiya looked up towards the shrine's large staircase a ways ahead of them, "Yes, let's go home."

XXX

(1) Pocky sticks are an Asian snack, more precisely; a Japanese snack. It's a biscuit shaped into thin sticks that are dipped in chocolate or strawberry coating or whatever flavour you chose to buy.

See you.