Disclaimer: This is stupid.

Iamsouledge; I want to talk to you. I need some masculine advice. Plus, it was only for the story, I don't actually think that way about men. My ex wasn't a perv, but he was a jealous dork, so I have questions for you. Oh, and for the sake of my poor little mind, please never use the word 'seed' like that again, the word is dead to me now, I'll just be planting flower babies during the spring and summer and fall when I wish to grow a plant.

If anyone has any stories of their that they want me to read and endorse and they aren't yaoi or about a anime/manga I've never heard of, I'll suggest it onto people.

My hit list depresses me. (I start crying and roll into a ball) My mom "SHUT UP OR WE'LL MAKE YOU WATCH LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE!" "AHHHHH! NO MORE LITTLE HOUSE ON THE FAIRIE, NO MORE!!!" (Head randomly bursts into flame, I wrap myself in bubble wrap and roll around the floor laughing each time I hear a 'pop'.

Powder puff was moved to after Homecoming…then to June… now wait, who the hell came up with this schedule?

I arrived an hour late to a masterminds meet, after we left an hour early. Two and a half hours on a bus with nerds. That's all I have to say. You get the idea. My place is here, with the snow people.

Isn't anyone picking up on a certain character's name?

Chapter Twenty Three

Abusive

Fumi proved to be interesting. She was two years younger than Payne. She was smart and funny. She always had something snappy to say when something went wrong that had the group laughing. Payne just smiled the whole time enjoying the fact that her sister was awake and fully functional.

Fumi put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out at Inuyasha after he scolded her for spilling a bucket of water on him that she was supposed to use for cleaning Payne's wounds.

"You WERE supposed to use that to help your sister heal!" Inuyasha had his angry face on and was wringing out his Haori.

"Not that that isn't my top priority, but I don't think that she minds that I'm having a little fun, do you, Sis?"

Payne smiled happily. "Not at all." She was laying on the ground still due to the strict watch everyone was keeping on her.

"See! Plus, I think that another trip to the creek is definitely it just to get you wet!" She smirked mischievously and started to skip back to the river, humming.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes muttering something about liking the girl more when she was comatose.

Payne turned to Inuyasha and giggled. "I gotta take her back to Mom soon."

Inuyasha nodded. "That much I understand, by why didn't you just say 'we gotta go back.'?"

Payne looked at the ground, pained. "I…can't….go back. I'm gonna find somewhere else to go."

Inuyasha glared at her. "Why can't you return?"

"I'm not wanted and I am the reason Fumi got sent away as well. I can't have her exiled and have it be my fault."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes judging by her character and her loyalty to you, I don't thing she would allow you to just leave her by herself."

Payne sighed, "I'll just go to camp and leave during the night when she can't stop me."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, that is what you tried to do the night that I found you and your sister."

She blushed and looked away. She simple nodded.

Inuyasha laughed and sat down. "Why not go to the village and tell your mother. That why, she'll know what's going on and she might worry less." He smirked. "Plus if the villagers really hate and torment you, them you can tell them off and then leave."

She looked at him and smiled. "Alright, but I hate to just leave Fumi."

Inuyasha cocked his head. "Isn't that what your plan was, bumming her off on us and leaving?"

She blushed. "Yeah."

"Well, we'll still see you off at your village." He leaned back with his arms behind his head and closed his eyes.

Ed came up behind him slow and nodded to Payne to keep taking to him.

She nodded. "I thought we were going to wait for Sango and Miroku first."

Inuyasha shrugged a shoulder. "I dunno, I gotta talk to everyone else and find a plan."

Ed clapped when Inuyasha finished what he was saying and dug a hole, forcing Inuyasha into the hole with bars above the top. He ran away laughing.

Inuyasha kicked at the bars, finding carbon, unable to break them, he slashed them with his claws, sending sharp metal flying everywhere. "You midget, dwarf, shrimp, bean sprout, shorty, small, tiny, minuscule, miniature, insignificant, infinitesimal, diminutive, undersized baby!"

Ed leapt backwards, spinning in the air and sprinted toward Inuyasha. "WHAT THE HELL D'YOU SAY!!!!!!! I WILL KILL YOU!"

Winry and Kagome walked over to Payne and sat down next to her. "What's happening?"

"They're fighting."

"Why?"

"Dunno."

"Oh."

Al came from the woods with a handful of wood. He saw his brother and dropped all the wood. "Brother!" He ran over and grabbed the hood of Ed's coat and lifted him by it, leaving Ed hanging in the air, arms and legs swinging frantically with Inuyasha still advancing.

Kagome took her role with pride now. "Inuyasha…SIT! Why would you attack someone who can't fight back?!"

"Oh yes I can!" Ed wriggled out of the coat and clapped his hands, transmuting a pair of fists that lifted Inuyasha into the air about twenty feet, having Inuyasha's arms and legs being separated as far as possible without being injured.

This only succeeded in pissing Inuyasha off. "You wanna play hard ball, boy? Fine, let's see how good you are." Inuyasha pulled his body into a ball, breaking the rocks that were binding him and having him flying down in a remarkable speed. He landed on all fours and glared at Ed with a smirk present. "Game on!" Inuyasha ran at him, landing a blunt punch on Ed's right arm.

"Watch it or you'll bend and I'll have to suffer!" Winry waved her pop can in the air.

Al had given up and was sitting with them shaking his head at the disgraceful display of immaturity. Fumi sat on Al's leg next to Payne and Kagome.

Ed kneed Inuyasha in the stomach with his left knee and caught Inuyasha's shoulder with his right hand and sent Inuyasha in a somersault over to his right.

Inuyasha landed on his right hand and flipped backward. Inuyasha stood still as Ed advanced, dropping when Ed was within reach and kicking out, tripping him. Inuyasha stood up and Ed sat still on the ground. Inuyasha held out his hand. Ed grabbed it and flipped Inuyasha over his head.

They sat there on the ground, panting slightly. Al came over and helped Inuyasha up, then Ed. He smiled when Inuyasha presented his hand and shook Ed's sincerely. Inuyasha held onto his hand still and pulled up his sleeve, inspecting his arm to make sure he hadn't damaged the metal. Ed pulled it away and stuck his tongue out at him. Inuyasha laughed and messed up Ed's hair.

Inuyasha walked forward to Payne. "Now that I've had time to think about it, I think we should leave now."

Payne nodded. "Yes sir." She stood and faced Fumi. "We're going home."

Fumi stood and danced. "YAY, I bet Mom's been missing us!" She turned to Inuyasha and bowed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She rose she showing her face and bowed one more time. "Thank you, Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha carried Payne on his back, Fumi on his right, Kagome on his left. They stood on the top of a hill with a mild slope, emerging out of the woods. Fumi pointed to an isolated hut on the far right. "Home." She turned to Inuyasha and bowed again. "Thank you, Inuyasha."

He walked forward, everyone following. "Shut up." He said in calmly, no offence detected on his tone.

There didn't seem to be anyone around, Fumi shrugged it off and ran toward her hut. The minute she was near the door, she felt something was awry, but advanced anyways. When she entered, she felt a chill run down her spine, but she looked around instead of running like she wanted. Her first sight… blood, everywhere. Next…a hand, a feminine one. 'Mom, her scar on her finger…one just like it…' She screamed and ran out to the group.

Her face was pale, Inuyasha's second observation, this closely followed the scream. "What's wrong, Fumi?" Payne seemed to be guessing what was happening.

"M-Mom…" Her words were choked.

Ed looked at her. "What's your mom's name?"

"Taka…"

Ed took off like a firework and ran into the nearest hut. "WHERE'S TAKA?"

The only man in the house looked at him and laughed. "She's dead."

"What?"

"D-E-A-D, DEAD! I sent her to hell myself."

Ed grabbed him and threw him out of the hut's door. The man landed sharply on the ground.

Winry watched in horror as she saw something to which she was not accustomed, Ed acting like a fighter. She watched a man fly out of his own home and Ed following after with an evil look on his face.

Ed glared at the man and pointed to the group. "TELL THEM WHAT YOU TOLD ME!"

"And why should I?" The man wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth and spat in disgust at Ed.

Ed lifted his left pant leg. "Cause if you don't I will kick you with my metal leg!"

The guy looked at him in horror, then turned to the group and looked at them. He smirked when he saw Payne. "Ah, half breed wench, I am glad to be the one to inform you of this: your mother is dead and it is your fault."

Ed grabbed the color of his shirt. "The hell d'you say?"

The man laughed. "If she hadn't birthed a half breed, she wouldn't of had to die."

Ed threw him again. "And who gave you the right to decide who lives and dies?"

"No one, I appointed myself for the role."

Payne jumped off Inuyasha's back at this point and walked up to the man.

"So you finally come over from your hiding spot, half breed?" The man stood.

Payne pointed to Fumi with her bangs hiding her eyes. "Not only did you kill an innocent woman, but you just stole an innocent girl's mother from her, did you realize that?"

The man laughed and shrugged a shoulder as he stood. "The girl should be happy and proud to be a part of the war against demons. The life of a woman is a small price to pay to make a demon suffer."

Payne looked up with tears in her eyes. "YOU BASTARD! I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE TO SUFFER HERE, YOU SHOULD BE HAPPY THAT I DON'T USE THE TWISTED LOGIC THAT YOU USE, BECAUSE I KNOW WELL ENOUGH THAT YOU ARE A MARRIED MAN WITH TWO CHILDREN! I WONDER WHAT I COULD DO THERE!"

The man smiled "Ah yes, but you know as well as I do that you wouldn't, mostly to keep your sister ignorant to the evil that burns in your soul and because you are too spineless to do a thing."

Winry stepped forward crying. "She isn't being spineless by not making or wanting you to suffer!"

He looked at her in disgust. "What are you crying about? I'm going this all for humans like you!"

Al spoke now, his words dripping with disgust. "We don't need anyone to fight for us, we could have done it for ourselves if we felt the need, or a threat. But we were lacking in both, Payne and her sister are good people and judging by there characters, I'm guessing their mother was just as kind and sensible, unlike yourself, sir."

The man shook his head and started walking toward Payne. Just as his pace quickened, Payne shoved Ed, sending him flying, and she stood with her face facing downward. The man grabbed her neck and pushed her against his hut, lifting her off of the ground.

Inuyasha stepped forward, but Payne yelled at him to stop. "This is my fight and if anyone gets involved I'll personally kick their ass." Her words were strained.

She put her hands on the man's hand. He laughed. "I don't think you'll have the strength to breath when I'm done with you, just look at you struggle."

She looked at him with a callous face. "One should only use spiteful words when the battle is over." Her hands started to glow, fire sparking from her fingertips, burning his skin. He let her go and she pushed him away. "I was told that I should start fighting for myself, not to let anyone walk over me anymore, and to make my voice heard, and that's my plan."

He smiled and grabbed behind his back. "I'm not one to follow trends, but I picked up a new toy from a merchant the other day. I had you in mind when I bought it, do you mind helping me test it?"

Payne smirked. "What is it, soap?"

The man smiled and pulled out a small gun and pulled the trigger.

Fumi lurched forward and Inuyasha held her still. "PAYNE, PAYNE!"

Everyone just looked at Payne as she stood there with an empty look on her face. Her body twitched and a stream of blood started coming from her lips. She looked at him and smirked. She licked the blood trail and ran at him, kicking him in the face, and knocking him to the ground, landing in a crouching position and falling over as she relaxed.

Fumi broke free from Inuyasha, "Sister…Payne, don't leave me, too, come on…" She put her hand on Payne's stomach and pulled it away as she was met by a steady flowing stream of blood. She looked at it in horror. "No! Don't die, don't you dare die, I swear I'll kick you ass…"

Payne smiled weakly and looked at her. "I'd like to see you try…" She started to close her eyes.

"Don't do it, Payne, don't go where I can't follow you, I need to follow you…who am I going to learn from if you're not around…I need to watch and learn, you've always said that…" She was sobbing now.

"I'm…not gonna…die…just my…eyes are really…tired…I need to…to close 'em." She closed her eyes slowly.

"No, hey come on, that's, that's not funny, come on Payne get up…" Fumi looked at her with free flowing tears.

Kagome sat down next to Fumi and looked at the wound. "The bullet isn't a through and through, I need to get it out and stop the bleeding, I'm gonna need your help, Winry."

Winry nodded and sat down next to Kagome. She took off her coat and grabbed the tweezers from Kagome. "It would be wise to get Fumi out of here, it's not gonna be pretty."

Ed and Al nodded, Al led her away and Ed clapped and made a tent around the two. Inuyasha tied up the unconscious man and grabbed a oil lamp from his house and put it in the tent with the girls. "Anything I can do?"

Kagome looked at him. "Have Ed boil water, make sure Fumi is taken care off, and take care of the man that shot Payne."

Inuyasha nodded and left the area.

The girls were in the tent for two hours with the occasional beckon for Edward or Al for Alchemy. Inuyasha sat talking with Fumi, to make sure she was alright, though he did much of the talking, she nodded occasional nod or agree, but she was silent for the most part.

Kagome called for Inuyasha as she steeped out and motioned for him to follow, he did as he was told and crossed his arms. Kagome sighed. "We've done all that we can, time will tell if what we did really help."

Inuyasha looked her, panicked. "It should work, right?"

Kagome looked at him blankly. "We used all the right tools and made sure to disinfect all the tools we used and we made sure to stop the bleeding, but whether or not she wakes up is up to how strong she is."

Miroku and Sango made their way back later that day, Kohaku-less and confused by the depressed girl and the tent in the middle of everything. Kagome met them quietly to tell them of the happenings while Winry was redressing Payne's wound and Ed and Al were talking with Fumi. They were confused, but nodded to make Kagome shut up. They told her that Kohaku seemed to recognize Sango towards at the end, but was carried off by Kagura (Yes I'm bumming this off of the show, but it won't end the same way…Ps. Kagura is helping them…don't worry). Fumi came up to Kagome, face pale and hair messed. "Um…Kagome…?"

Kagome smiled comfortingly. "What's wrong, Fumi?"

She looked down at her feet. "Can I go sit with Payne…please?"

Kagome's smiled vanished, she had to feel sorry for the girl, she couldn't imagine what she would do if someone she loved got hurt like this. "Sure, Fumi, come with me…" She walked Fumi into the tent after asking Winry if she was done checking her progress.

Miroku looked at Sango, finding her looking saddened. "You okay, Sango?"

"Poor, Fumi. I've been there and it sucks. I wouldn't wish that on anyone." She looked at Miroku and hugged him tightly.

Ed came from behind them. "When did you guys get back?"

"About twenty minutes ago. We seemed to have missed a lot." Miroku looked off to the direction Kagome led Fumi.

Ed nodded. "Quite an interesting couple of days, that's for sure. Though, I do hope Payne recovers."

Al came out from nowhere looked at Sango. "Hi guys, when did you get back?"

Sango looked at him. "Hey, Al, we got back about twenty minutes ago."

Al nodded. "You missed a lot, you know."

Sango nodded. "Kagome told us some and Ed was filling us in on the rest."

Al bowed a little. "Sorry."

Sango waved her hand. "Don't worry about it; it's good to talk to you."

Ed looked at them and shrugged. "I'm gonna go see how Payne's doing from Winry. Later." He waved over his shoulder and walked away.

Al sighed. "There goes that idea of Brother helping. Whatever." He shrugged. "What do you know?"

Miroku shrugged. "Not much…"

Sango sighed. "Obviously…"

I know, it sucks, but that's all I got to say. Happy Holidays, everybody! Happy B-day to me on Friday! I'll be 16!!!! AHHH! PERMIT TEST!!! (Starts studying like mad….plus, ices ears, I'm getting my ears pierced as a B-day present. Plus, a Shojo Beat subscription and Beckett subscription. Sweet!) I ….MUST…PASS! My sister passed, I don't see why I can't. Sigh Yo no se. Whatever. SALAAM!!!