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The Breakup

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As he blinked stupidly up at the canopy, Inuyasha couldn't stop the muffled giggle that broke free. That little shit had actually picked up a new skill since he last saw her, a powerful new skill at that. Lifting his head, he grinned at the small girl a fair distance away hands outstretched in a defensive looking stance as she seemingly prepared for him to retaliate. Cocking his head curiously to the side, the sounds of Kagome clumsily trying to fight through the underbrush had both demons glancing over at her.

"Inuyasha! I heard a…." Kagome exclaimed worried before glancing at the assailant and waving happily, "Hey! Look it's Shiori!"

Slowly, awkwardly so, her hand dropped when the girl merely kept her eyes focused on Inuyasha and as Kagome's eyes followed the trail gouged in the earth beginning with the girl leading straight to the demon laying flat on his back, she couldn't hold back a very amused looking grin. Snorting once, Kagome soon devolved into full blown giggles, "Wait. SHE TOOK YOU DOWN?! This is gold. Where's a camera when you need one?!"

"Hey! It's not that funny," Inuyasha mumbled, barely containing his equally amused half-grin, as he staggered to his feet and glanced over at the very perturbed and confused looking little girl whose pale violet eyes were darting anxiously between the two of them. Sighing he slowly approached her, his hands up in clear surrender as he whispered reassuringly to her, "I know I look different and my aura is different but I'm okay, I promise. Why are you so far from home?"

Looking entirely unconvinced, Shiori timidly relaxed her stance and quietly walked to hide slightly behind Kagome, "There was a woman who came to the village smelling something awful and she…she kept asking questions about the bat demon tribe. She said…uh….she…uh, forgive me but why do you look like that again?"

"Long story," Inuyasha groaned before sighing when he saw that he wasn't getting off the hook so easily, "So..uh…so this lady I, um, used to be with split me in half and…um, the human part of me is safe somewhere that lady can't get to and I'm…here I guess."

Kagome knelt down before the small girl and looked into her face to reassure her that everything was just as how he had said. For a moment, Inuyasha allowed his imagination to run a little rampant as he watched them go. As Kagome took the white haired child's hand and the two began walking back towards the campsite, Inuyasha mentally kicked himself as the all too familiar pang of desperate longing crashed through him. It was almost too easy to imagine the little white haired girl was actually his and that Kagome was...was...

Sighing heavily, Inuyasha scowled as he gave the fallen tree a light kick before following after them.

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Kikyo sat on the small cliff chewing the inside of her cheek. It had been such a good plan. It would've worked too if she hadn't forgotten a crucial fact to the equation. The little girl was a half-demon. One who could apparently smell what she was. One who was not as innocent as a regular child and caught onto her scheme almost from the start. One who was apparently fast and stealthy enough to leave during the night without anyone noticing. One who was probably going to ruin everything.

Resting her chin on her hand, Kikyo blew a loose hair from out of her face when a faint demonic aura to the east caught her attention. Raising her head slightly, for a second, a split second she saw several bat demons before they shimmered and disappeared from sight. To an untrained eye, most would probably assume it was a trick of the light but auras didn't lie. Smirking, Kikyo gracefully got to her feet and began making her way towards the anomaly.

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"So, this woman said she was your friend but couldn't tell me the name of Shippo and, uh, couldn't tell me the last time she'd even seen you," Shiori answered as she finished off yet another cup of ramen. Apparently if there was one thing half-demons loved it was instant noodles. Tiny thing had already managed to down three packets all on her own. As Shiori finished her tale, her tiny brow furrowed and her tongue protruded slightly in her concentration as she tried to fish the remaining noodles from the clear liquid. Barely containing a giggle, Kagome grinned at the small girl before asking if she wanted another. Blushing, Shiori meekly nodded before sipping the remaining liquid like a proper lady, as though that statement reminded her that manners were indeed a thing.

"What did she look like? Did she give you a name?" Inuyasha asked wearily. He knew who it was, that smell didn't come from just anyone. His suspicion was confirmed when Shiori anxiously looked up at Kagome before whispering meekly, "Kinda like Lady Kagome, just with straighter hair I guess. She told me her name was Kikyo."

"She's no friend of ours," Inuyasha sighed as he rubbed a clawed hand down his face, "Well, at one point I had hoped she was and I guess she still could've been but anymore it seems like that's not an option..."

Inuyasha trailed off awkwardly and busied himself with his remaining noodles at the strange look both women were giving him. Clearing his throat and swallowing the last noodles, he gave them a strained smile and continued, "Anyway, its good you told us and I'm impressed you're able to make your own barrier now and use it offensively. Since when could you do that?"

"Um thanks," Shiori muttered as her face flushed to a light pink as she added quietly, "I've been practicing since you all saved me those months ago."

"Well you're doing a good job," Inuyasha acknowledged giving her a soft smile, "Anything else you can do?"

Chewing the inside of her cheek, Shiori offered him a shy grin, "I, uh, can hide my aura and presence. I can levitate... some - still working on that. I think I have a claw based attack - which I discovered on my way here actually- but I know I can do that thing Grandfather can do - that sound blast. You remember? And then barriers like you saw."

"A claw based attack huh?" Inuyasha asked as he met Kagome's alarmed ones with a slightly amused look, "What does it do?"

"Well, so this demon rushed me and I panicked and swiped at him," Shiori sighed anxiously as she inspected her nails, "Well, instead of just cutting him, there were these three deep glowing gouges in his chest. I don't know any more than that."

Groaning inwardly, Kagome closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath. Great, just great. They'd motivated that quiet little thing to train herself how to fight. Granted, she'd probably need to learn eventually given the world she lived in but...still, she was still so young.

"Well how about I practice with you some next time we stop to camp?" Inuyasha offered kindly, grinning when her eyes lit up happily, "You come from strong demon stock, I bet you can do a lot more than that."

"Inuyasha? Can I speak with you a minute?" Kagome asked, chuckling awkwardly as she tugged his arm to lead him into the treeline. Stuffing his hands into the fire rat he followed after her, completely confused but fully expecting to be sat at some point given the look she was giving him. Glancing over his shoulder back at the small girl, Kagome met his eyes and hissed, "She's only like four or five Inuyasha! She doesn't need to start learning now! Don't encourage her!"

"Well I never learned until I had no choice!" he hissed back angrily, "If I had been training instead of trying to fit in and being coddled then maybe they wouldn't have been able to...to..."

Trailing off at the inquiring and concerned look in her eyes, he huffed and ran his fingers through his hair, "You want to know why I got control for so many years? The humans that served my mother captured and tortured me. This went on for years, Kagome. Years. At the time, I didn't know how to fight or anything so I was an easy target. If she learns how to fight, and gets good at it, then something like that might not happen to her."

Upon seeing her open her mouth to argue, Inuyasha's control snapped as he towered over her and hissed agrily, "This isn't your world. Here it's all half-demons can do to survive day to day. If she's trying to train herself, then she's smarter than most and if you say even one thing to discourage her, I will punish you. Got that?!"

Eyes widening in surprise, hurt and understanding, Kagome nodded meekly as she wrung her hands, "You're right. I'm sorry. Let's, uh, let's just go back."

Screaming internally at himself for snapping at her, Inuyasha reached out to gently touch her shoulder and as she turned, he pulled her tightly against him, "I know what you were trying to say. I shouldn't have threatened you. You...you just hit a nerve is all. She is really young and it's sad that this is part of her life but...but please trust my judgment here, okay?"

When she nodded and squeezed him lightly, the demon sighed and pressed a light kiss on her forehead before intertwining his fingers with hers, "Now let's go back. I've never met anyone who loves ramen as much as me and I really want to get her opinion of the shrimp versus chicken."