A/N: Disclaimer: Don't own any of the original characters.

So, I finally finished Chapter 5. I was so engrossed in the NLOKS(Sarafu's story) that I couldn't work on this.I'm gonna have to watch more Sesshy vids to get reinspired!

Chapter 5: Enter Haruki

Even though our meeting was abrupt, I took my time getting to know my new companions. Inuyasha, the fighter and sometimes leader, was hot-tempered and rash. His temerity brought him many wounds, but his youkai blood healed them quickly. He was extremely entertaining when he was with Kagome, the priestess from another time. Kagome had a mysterious power. Each time she said "Sit," the beads on Inuyasha's neck glowed brightly and thrust him into the ground with a loud explosion. At times like these, I couldn't help, but laugh. Kagome herself was a nice girl. She was very kind to me, but when Inuyasha acted up, she was quick to punish. Sango, the demon-slaying human, was kind and polite. She wasn't as sociable as Kagome, but she wasn't distant either. Her skills and knowledge of the youkai world were amazing, and I wasn't sure if there was any demon she couldn't slay. Her relation to Miroku was similar to Kagome's relationship with Inuyasha. If Miroku acted up, she was quick to knock him upside the head with her enormous boomerang. Miroku himself was someone I could grow to hate easily, but his human kindness kept me from killing him. The lecherous monk never ceased to grab a handful of cheek whenever we were next to each other. If Sango didn't save him by punching him in the face and dragging him off for more torture, he would surely be dead by now. I found that Sango had a little pet cat demon named Kilala. She was so cute in her smaller form, but when we required faster transportation or were in battle, she morphed into her larger form, where fire carressed her clawed paws. She had excellent combo attacks with Sango, and I could tell that they were life-long friends. And who couldn't forget Shippo! He was my absolute favorite! He was so tiny and cute, and his fluffy little tail always made me squeal with delight. He was the cutest little fox demon I had ever seen. His teal eyes were big and round, and always had a glint of childhood in them. I couldn't resist wanting to dress him up.

"Shhhhiiiiippppooooooo!"

The young fox demon went rigid, and turned around shakily, afraid of what he might find.

I held a tuxedo in my hands and my eyes glowed with a strange desire. "Try this one on!"

"Nooooo!!" the poor fox boy cried as he desperately tried to escape my clutches.

"Miroku came up with a bold smile. "I will try it on for you, my l-"

I shoved my fist into his face before he could finish his sentence and went back to gazing, starry eyed, at Shippo, who ran behind Kagome's legs fearfully.

"Karmina," Kagome started, and I frowned at her interference. "You know Shippo doesn't like it when you dress him up. Please stop chasing him around."

It was at times like these that I could slit her throat. How dare she get in between me and my cute little kitsune!

"Yes, Kagome is right," Miroku sighed as he rubbed his aching head from all the poundings he had gotten. "Shippos is afraid of your aggressiveness, I however-"

I punched him again, not even looking his way. My eyes were only for Shippo. "B-but...he's just so cute!!" I squealed again and made another leap for Shippo, but he eluded me once again.

"Hey, you guys!" Inuyasha yelled as us from the lead. "Stop foolin' around! I smell trouble up ahead."

I immeadiatly got over Shippo and looked at Inuyasha with a serious face. "Is it a demon?"

Inuyasha sniffed again. "Yeah. A powerful one too. This isn't your ordinary low-life. I also smell. . .blood. Human blood."

I frowned. I wasn't a lover of humans, but most of my soul friends were once humans, so I almost felt a kinship towards them. And Demons weren't my favorite race either, even if I was one. They were the reason I had a job. Had.

"We should hurry," Kagome stated the obvious. Kilala transformed and we all, excluding Inuyasha seeing as how he could leapt along side, rode Kilala to where Inuyasha tracked the source of the smell.

We soon arrived upon a flaming human village. People ran frantically, screaming for dear life, ignoring the new comers. We went against the flow of the crowd. The flames were extremely opressive, but I ignored the fact and continued on, despite everyone's calls out to me.

Sweat beaded my forehead as I searched through the burning huts and homes. I could still taste a human soul here. Someone hadn't escaped yet. Maybe they were being devoured by the demon right now. I picked up my pace, a feeling of anxiety washing over me, until I burst through a wall of flame to come upon an awful scene. A young man, human with dashing features for such an inferior race, was warding of an enormous dragon, with piles of dead bodies behind him. Actually, it was small for a dragon, but was much bigger than I. (Smaller than the Soul-Eaters though.) It was a crimson dragon, with a long winding body, and a mane of flames trailing down its back. Two whiskers trailed from below its nostrils and floated along gracefully in the heated air. Its golden feline eyes turned to me in anticipation. Was I a worthy opponent? Would I interfere. Hell yes.

I whipped out my flute and called out, "Tsuki! Transform!" Akaaka Tsuki glowed brightly in my skilled hands as I stood in between the fire dragon and its prey.It growled fiercely at me and opened its mouth to blast me with a great ball of fire. I quickly brought the flute to my lips and played a calming tone despite my pumping heart. The flames came toward me, but were split by an invisible wall that gaurded me and the human boy behind me. The dragon noted this and stopped his continuous barrage of flames. Then it swiped at me with its tail. I easily jumped into the air to avoid, but with a sweatdrop, I realized something. I had forgotten about the boy!

I looked over my shoulder and gave a sigh of relief. Inuyasha had leapt throough and saved him just in time. "Hey, Karmina!" He yelled at me angrily. "Are you an idiot! Don't just come running in a fire and then not save anyone!"

I smiled, pushing his biting comments to the side to be thankful. But the dragon left me little time. It smacked me with its tail, sending me crashing through a burning building. "Karmina!" I heard Inuyasha calling out to me, but I rebounded, leaping out of the house just as it collapsed. Luckily, I was quick enough to get by with only minor burns. Inuyasha, now that he knew I was safe, put his hand on his hilt.

Now that I came to think of it, I had never seen Inuyasha use his sword before. He called out its name, Tetsuaiga, before he whipped it out of its sheath. Along the rim of it, a yellow light glowed, and the sword came out much bigger than the sheath. How was that possible? How could he pull that big-ass sword out of that little sheath?

"WIND SCAR!!!" Inuyasha yelled out triumphantly and sliced the air with his enourmous weapon. There was a great wave of light and the dragon was decapitated. Well, we were out of the frying pain and into the fire, literally. The ragining inferno had long since enveloped the entire village and now was oppressing us who were in the middle of it. Inuyasha put his sword back in, it returning to a small weakling sword, and walked over to the human boy. "Come on, Karmina. Let's get out of here before we become ash." I nodded and followed him, as he lifted the human and leapt out of the village.

"Oh, my gosh! Are you guys okay?" Kagome ran toward us with the rest of the gang.

"No sweat!" Inuyasha boasted. "Though it was troublesome to have to save Karmina like that."

I blushed, embarassed that what he said was slightly true. "SHUT UP!"

Everyone laughed, but they were soon interrupted as the dazed human came to. "Umm. . ." he came up to me, looking very abashed. "Thank you, miss, for saving me."

"HEY!" Inuyasha yelled. "I was the one who saved you!"

The human ignored him and looked up at me with grateful eyes, which I soon realized were a sweet maple syrup color.

It confused me, and immeadiatly made me think of Sesshoumaru for some reason. "Umm, yeah, you're welcome."

He smiled broadly, resembling a little boy, it almost made me coo over him like I do Shippo. "My name's Haruki. May I inquire as to the name of my savior?"

"Your isavior/i is Inuyasha!" the dog-boy grumbled at the lack of appreciation.

It made me laugh. "My name's Karmina."

Haruki raised his eyebrows. "'Karmina?' That sounds foreign."

"It is. I'm not Japanese, or at least part of me isn't. I don't exactly know my wherabouts, but the name father said I came with was Karmina."

"But you look Japanese," Sango stepped in. "We never would've guessed. . ."

"Although my blood isn't native to Japan, I still grew up here," I retorted, feeling the need to protect myself. "My earliest memories are of Japan, so I still consider myself Japanese."

"That's true," Kagome agreed. "You don't seem foreign at all. Well, I guess it doesn't really matter anyway."

I was glad they understood.

"Well, let's head out on our way then," Inuyasha stated in a carefree manner.

"Wait!" I interluded. "What about Haruki? We can't just leave him here! He has no home anymore! He's the last of his village! We can't just leave him like this, with no place to go!"

Inuyasha frowned. I was bagage enough to him. "Well, I guess we could drop him off at the next village we see."

I gulped down a lump in my throat. I knew Inuyasha wasn't trying to be mean, but his words reopened a wound in my heart. "You and your brother are just alike," I growled and grabbed Haruki, pulling him along with me. "Come on Haruki! I'll make sure you've got a suitable home!"

"Ah!" He gasped in surprise and stumbled after me as I stormed off. Inuyasha's group didn't follow me, but only watch me walk off with distant eyes.