Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha so please don't sue me I'm in the hole already.

Wish Upon A Black Shikon

Chapter Three

The Journey Begins

Inuyasha sat in the corner of the room sulking. 'Even with all that planning I still end up with the prayer beads around my neck,' Inuyasha fumed while tugging at the necklace. Even with all his combat experience, painful memories, and destructive skills he picked on his last journey Inuyasha still couldn't figure out a way to remove the damnable beads from his neck.

Huffing again Inuyasha managed to draw Kagome's attention from the fire and onto him. He never noticed it but she looked lost and without a friend, so swallowing his anger Inuyasha made his way up to he before plopping down beside her.

Kagome just looked at the silver haired boy and by some unspoken message she understood what he was trying to do. 'Well its working,' Kagome thought to herself before telling Inuyasha, "I'm so scared… what if I never get to see my family again?" Hearing the shake in her voice and smelt the salt forming in her eyes, Inuyasha did the best he could do to comfort her before the waterworks started.

"Don't be stupid, you can always retrace your steps and go back from the same way you came. You know wench, for a human you aren't you," Inuyasha told Kagome, and for some reason, even though she was incredibly angry for being insult not once but twice, she didn't explode… yet.

The reason being was that aside for being stuck the feudal era, she had heard from Kaede that story she had a striking resemblance to Kikyo and if the old priestess didn't know an better she made just be the reincarnation of Kikyo. Unfortunately the woman was Inuyasha's past lover who died from his, supposed, betrayal. 'Sounds like a cheesy soap opera,' Kagome mused while staring back at the fire.

All thoughts of Kikyo and Inuyasha had brought up a weird emotion in Kagome, it felt a lot like jealousy but why would she be jealous? If everything she was told was true she was, or at least used to be, Inuyasha's lover and died when he betrayed her. But that didn't make any sense, because if that was true then Inuyasha would hate her, right?

The thoughts made Kagome's head spin and she decided to deal with that later and focus on getting home and seeing her family. Feeling the weight on the pink jewel in her pocket Kagome pulled out the jewel drawing in both her and Inuyasha's attention. Noticing the hanyou staring at the pink jewel as well Kagome quickly hid it remembering the rest of Kaede's story.

Inuyasha desired the jewel to become full demon, and it was Kagome's job to protect the jewel from both man and demon alike. Unknown to Kagome though Inuyasha didn't gaze at the jewel with longing, but with contempt knowing what pain and death it would cause before falling into the hands of Naraku and tainting the very world they lived in. Tearing his eyes away Inuyasha grumbled unintelligently before just going back to his plan to make Kagome feel better.

"You know if you were smart you would have probably figured out to go back home… But then again not all of us are as smart as I me," Inuyasha said with hoping that Kagome would explode at him revealing some of the feisty girl he had come to know and love. As an add bonus of exploding and leaving in a huff, and the sitting he would have to endure, Inuyasha figured if Kagome left early she would be able to get back to her own time a avoid being captured by bandits.

Kagome seemed to have plans of her own when she got up and said to Inuyasha, "Thanks for the advice and …," but Inuyasha caught the subtle twitch in Kagome's lip when was she about to say the "S" word. Dread filled him as he knew what was coming next, but before the impending crash Inuyasha heard Kagome say, "This is what you get for being an asshole. SIT!!!" Half shocked at Kagome's potty mouth and half amused that even though they had just met he had already tainted her, Inuyasha barely felt the jerk on his neck before he went face first into the hut's dirt floor.

Crash

"Sorry Inuyasha I can't take any chances," Kagome told Inuyasha before making her way to the well. Running off in the direction in were he smelled the bandits Inuyasha knew that Kagome would undoubtedly run into them if she keep running in the direction she was going.

'And knowing the wench that'll be a yes… Damn there goes my plan,' Inuyasha raged, Kagome was walking into a trap and because of her he couldn't do anything about it. 'We're going to have long talk about that 'word' and its liberal uses,' Inuyasha noted before pushing against the submission spell.

'Is it just me or am I a lot weaker than before,' Inuyasha wondered while he struggled against the hold of the beads. Normally a sit would have him on the ground for a second or two before his youki would over power it, but it had been three whole minutes and Inuyasha still stuck in the embarrassing position.

Then he realized it, even though he retained all knowledge of the future and the enemies in store for him. His body was still as frail and weak as it was when he started the journey. The conclusion disturbed Inuyasha greatly and he wondered how much he could still do. Another few minutes passed and the submission charm let go and Inuyasha wasted no more time and trying to reach Kagome.

Speaking of Kagome, the said girl had just been abducted by bandits. All the stories of bandit rape cases and the torture flood her mind and Kagome did the only she could…

"INUYASHA!!!"

The cry echo across the trees, but despite Kagome's hopes Inuyasha didn't come busting through the trees tearing them apart like he had done to mistress centipede. 'Will he come? The sit couldn't have made him that mad, could it?' Kagome wondered scared out of her wits when three of the bandits circled around her with the perverted grins the hentai boys at school wore when they leered at her. Kagome's face was stuck in the terrified expression when a gravel voice stopped the thugs from getting any closer.

"Give me what I want and I'll make sure that you can leave unharmed," the voice said, and judging by the collective groan from all the thugs he was their leader. Kagome's mind raced and she tried to figure out what he was talking about. She had nothing of value besides the…

"The jewel wench, give me the jewel," the giant man said, raising from his seat and throwing his own men out of his path in an attempt to get to her and the jewel. Kagome scrabbled to the door, but when several of the thugs blocked her path she almost gave into the drown feeling that was filling her, until…

Crash

Inuyasha came down threw the roof punching the bandit leader squarely in the forehead sending flying into his 'throne', before turning on his men. Inuyasha had no mercy for those who where harassing Kagome and the fact that the room along with all its inhabitants, aside from Kagome, were covered in the carnal scent of sex. Inuyasha was going to they would have met the most painful end he could possible think of, but he had to settle for knocking them across the room.

'Kagome doesn't need to see death… not yet,' Inuyasha that solemnly. He knew that he was sheltering her, but he could bear to having Kagome see someone die; not yet, not when it could be avoided, even though the bandits were so deserving. After defeating the last thug Inuyasha with a resounding crack to the skull, Inuyasha was sure the man had at least a fractured skull, before he turned to the boss and said, "I know you are in there so come out already!"

Kagome looked at the still before looking back at Inuyasha and saying, "He's dead, nothing's coming out of him," before having to eat her words. From his chest spurted a raven, but to Inuyasha the smell of death lingered heavily around the demonic bird.

"See the nose never lies," Inuyasha remarked before jumping at the bird. 'He's not getting the jewel! At least not if I can help it!' Inuyasha swore before readying his favorite unarmed attack.

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" The demonic crow had taken flight, dodging Inuyasha's wisps of poison youki. The attack, although self-taught, still tapped into his Inu-youki poison trait, giving it the extra kick needed to cut through just about anything, just like the main support beam for the hut. Seeing his mistake instantly Inuyasha snatched Kagome off the ground and jumped through the roof.

However Inuyasha's fast reaction left Kagome disoriented as well as pissed, even more so than before, at Inuyasha; but before she could vocalize her displeasure she felt the g-forces let up which were gluing her, and by extension the Shikon Jewel, safely to Inuyasha's back.

Feeling the jewel slip from off her neck and into the air Kagome reached for it only to have snatched away by the demon crow's talon. Inuyasha saw the jewel changes hands, but didn't have enough power left in his jump to reach the crow. Closing his fist tightly Inuyasha dapped some blood on his fingers before letting loose another of his unarmed attacks.

"Blades of Blood!" The shockwave of blood mixed with youki left Inuyasha's claws only to die down short of killing its target. Falling towards the earth with a bit of bird flesh surrounding him and his passenger, Inuyasha thought to himself, 'Damnit, if my youki is too weak to even form a full Hijin Tesso, the Kizu no Kaze is out of the question for now.' The thought of not having his favorite attack weighted heavy on Inuyasha's mind almost as much as not being strong enough to defeat some of the enemies he faced again.

Hitting the ground running, seemed to knock some sense, as well as self confidence, back into Inuyasha. Telling himself, 'I just have to make sure I'm up for the battles when the time comes,' Inuyasha smirked while snagging a bow that was around the bandit hide out before taking after the demon.

While hopping from tree to tree, Inuyasha handed the bow to Kagome while telling her, "Your Kikyo's reincarnation so you should be as good as her in archery. Just shot the bird and I'll handle the rest." Thankfully the situation didn't allow Kagome to sit him, or Inuyasha was sure he would have gotten a face full of dirt again. Hearing the girl huff Inuyasha suppressed a smirk as the girl's scent changed from anger to determination, and the sounds of a bow being strung filter into his ears.

'Atta girl Kagome,' Inuyasha added while jumping as high as he could, feeling Kagome release the arrow Inuyasha watched as it just missed its target falling just short of hitting the crow. Not even thinking of insulting the girl this time around Inuyasha instead suggested, "Use this, it seems to be trying to get back with the body, how about you give it a hand." Surprised by the normally gruff boy's thoughtfulness, Kagome shook the shock off and blushed the warm feeling his kind voice was giving her to the back of her head. Attaching the fallen claw to an arrow with a conveniently loose string on her outfit, Kagome shot the arrow off.

The pink missile closed in on its target hitting the mark dead center, and the short lived master of the Shikon Jewel let out a final howl of pain. Watching the jewel crack and break, Inuyasha schooled his features and true to his past self turned to explode on Kagome. About half way through the faux rant Inuyasha met the ground for another close contact conversation, and Kaede gave some of her sage like advice. The true hunt for the jewel shards had begun.

Kaede sat perplexed as why Inuyasha, who was normally defiant to any structure of order in his life, would systematically go into the forest every days at dawn and return at night sweating profusely before going to the town spring to bath. For the most part the villager avoided him and he did the same, but this… new course of activities was more than suspicious to the elder miko.

'It must be Kagome's absence, thee lass always had a calming effect on that lad, and now with it gone I fear Inuyasha may do something rash.' Returning to her duties, Kaede could only pray that Kagome would return quickly before Inuyasha left on the quest for the jewel himself.

However it was impossible for Kaede to know that Inuyasha wasn't going out into the wilderness to search for jewel shards without his lovable 'shard detector', but he was in fact pushing his body to the limit each day. Although it wasn't the same his trials by fire in his past life, the extra time allowed him to train his youki to the point that it wouldn't diminish after only a few feet of traveling. Though the main reason he was sweating some much was that he had to retrain his body and all its muscles memories from square one.

Remembering Sango's lectures on one's center and the inner balance the first day he had been alone he spent the whole time mediating and finding the center. Although he never really mastered the concept in his previous life, the meditation allowed him to get a better grip on his emotions, and thus his youki, while at the same time allowing him to focus on the brutal kata he put himself through the next day.

Practicing the moves the demon slayer had taught him, Inuyasha was thankfully for the fact that Sango had managed to beat some sense into him and force him to practice some unarmed fighting. In fact the training had made much more nimble and graceful on his feet, and Inuyasha was sure that learning it early this time around would only help.

The last day alone Inuyasha added a bit more swordplay to his training regime along with mediation and kata practice. Not having a proper sword did hinder him, but he was able to mimic the movements with the help some of the larger branches he had cut from the surrounding trees. His movements were rough and the hanyou realized that without Tessaiga that he wouldn't be able to get any better.

'Lucky getting the blade it right around the corner. All I need now is for Kagome to come back and my bastard brother to open the door.' Inuyasha thought before going to personally get Kagome.

'And besides what's the worse that could happen…,' the hanyou thought forgetting all about the web of hair he was soon to be tangled in.

That's chapter 3 and sorry it took so long, but after killing Seeing Past I felt a bit detached from written and unfortunately this fic took the blow the hardest. However I'm back and I have a more ideas than ever (now for the hard part), I just have to put them on paper. Anyway I kinda liked how this chapter turned out, and although I wanted more I guess it'll have to wait for the next update (which I promise will be soon). Remember to feed the starving author (with reviews!) and till next time…

Black Saint