Disclaimer: I think my super hero image might take a dip if I tried to steal the rights to Inuyasha... What do you think?

A/N Man, I have never received such similar reviews in my life. Lol, now that we've all established that I'm "mean," "cruel," "evil," and there's a bit of loving "hate" coming towards me, I think we can continue on with the chapter and let you guys down from that awful, awful cliffhanger of death...(literally)

So sorry it took so long – I really didn't mean it to! I just got stuck for a bit and then school took over again... I will claim the entire fault for this delay, but hopefully there won't be any more! –fingers crossed– I'm out for the summer – four months off – so I hope I can finish this up soon!

Congratulations to Dr. Ascii (I know who you REALLY are!) for being the 1500th reviewer! Look at this review count climb! 0.o

Well, now that the sliver of drama in this story is nearly over...on with the chapter!

"Found anything?" a fuzzy voice sounded via the walkie-talkie. The rescue searcher holding it put it up to his mouth and pressed the speech button.

"Nothing yet. The dogs are still searching around."

"It's been nearly an hour..." crackled the voice.

"I know. We're looking as fast as we can."

"Alright...keep me posted."

The rescue worker sighed and shook his head desolately. At this rate, the kids could already be dead and he didn't want to be the one to find them in that state...

"Jeff! Over here!"

The rescue worker, Jeff, spun around to see another worker, Hank, near the rock wall a little further up. The dog he was with was sniffing frantically at the ground and pawing at it to move aside snow.

"Let's get some shovels over here!" Hank shouted. In less than a minute, the whole rescue crew had flocked over to Hank's site and furious digging began to take place.

"Come on, guys...!" Jeff encouraged frantically. "We have to find those kids!"

..:V:..

"Sesshoumaru?" Rin piped up questioningly when the silver-haired man pulled himself out of the pool.

"It's time we returned to the first aid hut, Rin. There might be news about the avalanche," Sesshoumaru said briskly as he grabbed his towel and headed for the change room.

Two minutes later, they all met up in the front of the building and made their way back to the hut. When they arrived inside, they noticed that Naraku was off in the far corner of the hut, holding an ice pack to his swollen lip, and the others were huddled together, surrounding Sango and making sure she kept warm.

"Any news?" Rin asked anxiously.

Kikyo shook her head. "Not yet... But we've reached the hour mark..."

"Which really isn't good at all..." Kagura spoke up remorsefully.

Everyone lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. A minute or two passed, with various members of the group shifting awkwardly here and there, before Charlie spoke up hesitantly. "Listen kids... I hate to say this, but–" He was cut off by the crackle of a walkie-talkie.

"Charlie? I think we found the kids!"

The room went silent in shock before Charlie scrambled for his communication device. "What was that? You found them? All of them? Are they okay?"

There was a pause before the response of the rescue worker, in which one could have heard a pin drop. "All three of them are here, Charlie, but they're not in the best of shape. They're all unconscious, but as far as we can tell, still alive. We're preparing to rush them to the hospital now."

There was but a moment of dead silence before everyone scrambled up at once and headed for the door.

..:V:..

"–ow...he?"

His eyebrow twitched. Then a violent shudder racked his body as what felt like a blanket of ice was draped over him. Faded voices distantly reached his ears and he strained to hear what they were saying.

"...Should be...ight...opefully... Best to...hospital...urry!"

Inuyasha tried to focus more, but his grip on consciousness was fast slipping and he was eventually forced to give up and slip back into the black nothingness.

..:V:..

The next sensation he felt was an intense rocking, accompanied with much jolting and overall uncomfortableness. Straining his ears, he heard the anxious voices of people hovering somewhere above him. At first they were muffled, but as he concentrated, they became more and more comprehensible.

"...Seems stable...should be there soon."

Inuyasha felt a lot warmer this time around, and his hold on consciousness was stronger as well. He was conscious of a mask covering his mouth and nose, providing him with much needed oxygen. Struggling immensely, he opened his eyes a fraction of an inch and squinted at the wavering ceiling above him.

He stared at it for a few minutes, letting his eyes adjust to the light around him, before he decided to check out the rest of his surroundings. Letting his head tilt slightly to one side, he saw a paramedic checking his vital signs and scribbling quickly on a clipboard. Another jolt came and Inuyasha realized he must be in a moving vehicle. Looking at the paramedic again, he cleverly deduced in his hazy mind that it was an ambulance.

Expending even more effort throughout his fatigued body, Inuyasha turned his head back and then let it fall to the other side. With great care, he schooled his features into a confused expression as he saw his brother sitting beside him and looking down upon him with almost a relieved countenance.

As Inuyasha struggled to lift himself up on the stretcher he was laying on, Sesshoumaru shook his head and gently pushed him back down. "Sleep, brother."

Inuyasha was too tired to argue and the invitation was too tempting. As he started to drift off into the blackness once again, he heard one more exchange.

"Um, Sesshoumaru, sir... Not that it matters too much now since he's stable, but...we wanted to keep him conscious as much as possible..."

"...Maybe you did..."

..:V:..

"Ayame!"

"Kouga!"

Ayame and Kouga spun around in disbelief as a woman and an older man rushed towards them in the hospital waiting room.

"M-mom?" Kouga exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"Grandpa?" Ayame also shouted out in shock. "W-what're you doing here?"

The two adults rushed to the pair and enveloped them in hugs. Then Kouga's mother leaned back and looked her son critically in the eye. "I heard there was an avalanche at the ski hill and that Inuyasha and Miroku were caught up in it! How could I not come? Oh, and it could have just as easily been you swept up in it! Ohhh..." Tears threatened to spill from her eyes and she fervently embraced her shocked son once more.

"Ayame, are you hurt?" the older man questioned in a tone that demanded the absolute truth.

"N-no, Grandfather," Ayame responded. "Just worried sick... Kouga and I were already down at the bottom of the hill when the avalanche struck."

"Ooohhh, you were so close to it when it happened!" Kouga's mom wailed. "My poor baby!"

"Uhhh...moo-ooom...!" Kouga protested feebly.

"How are your friends doing?" Ayame's grandfather asked.

Ayame fidgeted a moment before replying. "We...we think they're okay... Sango's fine – she's just getting checked out again as a precaution. She was caught up directly in the avalanche, but was rescued early. The other three seemed to be trapped inside some sort of enclosure together. They had just passed out from oxygen depravation when the rescue crew found them. A few minutes more and...and..." Ayame's eyes misted over at this point and she dived into her grandfather's embrace, seeking comfort.

Kouga's eyes were downcast. "Yeah...those three are the ones that you should be worrying about, mom. Ayame and I were never in any danger."

Kouga's mom looked at him sharply. "The burden of knowing your friends are in danger and not being able to do anything about it is a heavy one. I'm here to support you and your state of mind through all this. Your mind is just as much in a crisis as their bodies are. So don't shrug me off, son."

Kouga looked at her, surprised, for a moment before nodding mutely and giving into her fussing. "Where's dad?" he mumbled into her shoulder.

She stroked the back of his head. "He still had to work, honey. But I'm here and I'll stay as long as you like."

"'Kay..." Kouga acknowledged.

After a few more minutes of reconciling between grandfather and granddaughter, and mother and son, Kouga finally broke away from his mother and pulled her over to the other pair.

"By the way, mom, this is Ayame...my, uh...girlfriend." Kouga reached out and grasped Ayame's small hand in his own.

Kouga's mother, Atrina, nodded understandingly. "Your fake girlfriend, right? The pleasant girl I talked to on the phone on the weekend?"

Kouga fidgeted nervously. "Uh...well...this is the girl you talked to, but...uh...since then, we kinda...started going out for real," he blurted the last part out.

Atrina stared blankly at her son for a solid minute as he desperately tried to avoid her gaze. "So...what you're telling me...is...?"

"That I'm his real girlfriend now," Ayame broke in with a nervous giggle. "We're not just pretending anymore..."

Kouga's mother turned her fixed stare onto Ayame. After a pause, she enunciated, "I see... Ayame, would you come with me for a minute? Just to get a cup of coffee, you know..."

Gulping, Ayame nodded and gave Kouga one last nervous glance before following after his retreating mother.

Meanwhile, Kouga was left under the stare of Ayame's grandfather. "Ehehehe...Ayame didn't tell you either, did she?" Kouga laughed in a voice that betrayed his sense of impending doom.

Unexpectedly, however, the old man broke into a huge grin. "Nope, but I don't know why not! I've been telling that girl for years that she needs to get herself a boyfriend, but she keeps telling me she's not interested! Ever since her parents died in that car accident, I've been raising her on my own, but I think it's time she had another man in her life! Oho! Now I see why she's been holding out though! A professional ski racer! My goodness, what a girl I've got! Can I treat you to something at the cafeteria, young man?"

Kouga looked almost as nervous as before the old man started his tirade. "Heh, heh...oookay..."

An arm around the taller boy's shoulders, Ayame's grandfather started dragging him off to another part of the hospital.

..:V:..

Muffled voices were the first things she became aware of. Struggling, she tried to listen more closely to what they were saying and who they belonged to. The more she concentrated, the more conscious she became and finally she managed to open her eyes to the inside of a hospital room.

"Kagome!"

That voice sounds a little too familiar... Kagome thought to herself. Turning her head to the side, she spied the wavering face of her younger brother – to whom the voice belonged to – and her mother and grandfather behind him. Using incoherent logic, Kagome mumbled, "That's not where I left you..."

"Oh, Kagome dear, you're alright!" her mother bustled over and enveloped her in a bone-crushing hug.

Kagome's eyes bugged out. "Erk...hi, mom..." Once her mother had embraced her for a good five minutes, fussing over her and asking if she was really alright, she finally shuffled back and let her daughter have some space. Looking around with a confused expression, Kagome ventured, "What happened...?"

"You were caught up in an avalanche, Kagome!" Souta exclaimed, almost in awe. "But the rescue team found you buried beneath it. It had been an hour, so they thought it was impossible that you were still alive, but you were! You had just passed out from not having enough air, but they got you out in time, so you're gonna be fine." He grinned proudly.

"Oh..." Kagome sighed in relief and leaned back against the propped up pillows in her hospital bed. "And what about Miroku and Inuyasha?"

"The other two boys that were found with you? They're going to be fine too," Kagome's mother affirmed.

"Oh, good..." Kagome felt her strength wane for a moment and she closed her eyes. But just then, a startling thought struck her and she bolted back up. "W-what about Sango? What happened to her? She couldn't have escaped the avalanche in time!"

Kagome's mother smiled and gently pushed her back down. "Relax, dear. You're right; Sango didn't escape the avalanche. But she managed to stay near the surface and was rescued early on. She's fine now. Everybody's fine."

All the panic left Kagome like a rubber raft deflating. Once all the anxiety left her, her mind settled on a more confusing matter. Looking over at her family, she said, "Wait a minute...what're all you doing here?"

Kagome's grandfather spoke up. "You think we're going to sit idly at home when our precious Kagome was caught up in some horrendous avalanche?"

Kagome smiled in embarrassment. "Well...I guess not. But then...how did you get here so fast?"

"Oh, well that's easy!" her mother exclaimed. "A helicopter came to pick us up, along with Sango's father and brother, and Ayame's grandfather."

"A helicopter?" Kagome asked, astounded.

"Yes," her mother confirmed. "Sent by some young man named...Sesshoumaru, I do believe."

Kagome stared at her mother in disbelief. "Sesshoumaru? Man, now I've heard everything..." She accepted a glass of water her mother offered her and took a few sips.

"Sesshoumaru is Inuyasha Dareshi's brother, isn't he? Hey, are you going out with Inuyasha Dareshi now, Kagome? Huh, huh?" Souta piped up again.

Kagome sputtered her mouthful of water into Souta's face.

"Ah, gross!" Souta protested, trying to wipe his face off with his sleeve.

Meanwhile, Kagome's mother and grandfather were still looking at her inquisitively. Seeing no way out of the situation, Kagome laughed nervously. "Ehehehe...well...kinda?"

"Kind of?" Kagome's mother questioned politely.

Souta took another approach, however. "Have you smooooched yet?"

Kagome turned bright red. "N-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-NO!"

Her mother and brother exchanged knowing looks. Her grandfather, however, looked outraged. "MY Kagome? With that hooligan! This is preposterous!"

Kagome's mother turned to him. "Father...Inuyasha's not a hooligan. He's a professional ski racer. She could do worse."

"And how often will he be around for her? What will he be doing in twenty years? What will he have to show for himself?" Kagome's grandfather continued.

Kagome expression turned dead panned. "So glad you're planning so far ahead... Say, how many kids will we have?" she asked sarcastically.

Her grandfather's face turned redder than her own. "KIDS?" he nearly exploded.

"Uh...dad, why don't we go get you something from the cafeteria?" Kagome's mother broke in hastily, trying to calm her father down. Grumbling and muttering under his breath, Kagome's grandfather consented, heading out the door. Just before her mother exited as well, she scolded, "Oh, Kagome, you know better than to get your grandfather all riled up. Behave yourself when we get back."

Kagome rolled her eyes after they'd gone and sunk back into her pillows. I didn't start the whole thing... she thought bitterly to herself.

As if on cue, the one who did start the whole thing piped up again in a singsong voice. "So...sis has got a boyfriend...!"

..:V:..

For the third time since he fell unconscious under the snow, Inuyasha started to come around. When he opened his eyes this time, he saw the white ceiling of a hospital room and felt the crisp bed sheets encasing his body. Groggily and with much effort, he managed to push himself up to a sitting position and look around the room.

To his right was a long curtain, and he heard a few hushed voices coming from the other side of it. He deduced it was a double room, with another patient on the other side.

To his left and in the far corner, staring at him with an unerring gaze, was his brother sitting in a chair, one leg crossed over the other and hands folded in his lap. "Ah, I see you're awake, brother."

Inuyasha squinted at him in confusion. "What's going on...?"

Sesshoumaru's stare didn't break for a moment as he answered, "The rescue crew dug you out. Miroku is in the next bed over." He nodded at the curtain on Inuyasha's right.

"Oh, right...the avalanche..." Inuyasha recalled, memories flooding back. Then a thought struck him. "Well...but...what about Kagome? Is she alright?"

Sesshoumaru was silent for a long minute, but never looking away. Finally he let out a resigned sigh. "I'm sorry about Kagome, brother. We lost her..."

Inuyasha could feel his heart literally skip a beat. "W-what?" he near screeched.

"...to your rugged good looks and boyish charms. Or so the tabloids tell me." Sesshoumaru innocently held up a tabloid article bearing the faces of Inuyasha and Kagome.

It took Inuyasha at least thirty seconds to comprehend the entirety of what had just happened. Then his face contorted into something ugly and he found he had regained an amazing amount of strength. Launching himself out of bed, he dove at his placid brother in hopes of severe strangulation.

Easily fending off his enraged brother, Sesshoumaru spoke up once more, "Oh, she's fine, brother. And I'll even take you to the room she's staying in if you get a hold of yourself."

These words slowly registered in Inuyasha's homicidal mind and he eventually calmed down enough to cease his attack and just settle for a murderous glare. "Take me to her," he uttered slowly and angrily.

Sesshoumaru stood and turned towards the exit with a toss of his hair. "This way."

As they were passing by the next patient in the room, Inuyasha held back. "Hold up for a minute, Sesshoumaru." He turned towards the bed where Miroku was still unconscious, a cast enveloping his broken arm. A man that Inuyasha knew was not Miroku's father, along with a younger boy and a familiar girl, was beside his bedside.

"Sango!" Inuyasha exclaimed, going over and giving the girl a hug. "You escaped the avalanche in time!"

Sango looked relieved to see him and returned the hug in kind. "Well...er, no. Not exactly. I got caught up in it, actually. But I managed to stay near the surface and the rescue team found me in nearly no time at all. I was lucky."

Inuyasha looked at her, concerned. "Holy... Are you okay?"

Sango gave him a shaky smile. "Y-yeah. I've been warming up for a while so I'm fine now. I've moved on to worrying about Miroku."

Inuyasha glanced at the sleeping boy once again. "How's he holding up?"

Sango shrugged. "The doctors say he's going to be alright and that the broken bone isn't too serious. Still, I can't help but worry about the idiot, right?"

"True enough," Inuyasha conceded.

"Oh!" Sango exclaimed, remembering something. She gestured to the two others in the room. "This is my father and my brother, Kohaku. They came up when they heard of the avalanche. Apparently...Sesshoumaru sent a...helicopter for them?" Her question was clear as she gazed over at the stoic silver-haired man.

Inuyasha looked over in astonishment at his brother. "You did what? How'd you manage that?"

Sesshoumaru gave him a pointed look before glancing away uninterestedly. "I have my ways."

Inuyasha gave his brother a weirded-out look a moment longer before turning back to Sango. "Well...I'm really glad you're alright and that Miroku should be as well. I'll come back in a bit, but I'm just gonna go check on Kagome now, okay?"

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Sango encouraged. "I checked on her a little while ago and she seemed to be doing fine so I'm going to stick around until Miroku wakes up."

Inuyasha nodded. "Okay, see ya in a bit." Glaring once more at Sesshoumaru, he motioned for him to once more lead the way out the door.

As they were walking down the hallway, Sesshoumaru gave out another offhand comment, "Oh, by the way, brother, I simply love your hospital gown."

Inuyasha stopped in his tracks, his mind screeching to a halt as well, before speeding up into overdrive. Hospital gown...equals lack of back...and lack of any other clothes...which equals bare butt!

With a yelp, the silver-haired skier whipped his hands around him to cover his derrière...only to discover he was safely and comfortably clad in boxers. Eyes turning red, he raced after his nonchalant brother once again. "SESSHOUMARUUUU!"

..:V:..

Kagome looked up from the game of cards she was playing with her brother as the door to her room burst open.

"Kagome!"

Inuyasha was framed in the doorway, looking at her with an anxious expression. He was fully clothed and looked as if he'd just run a marathon.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried in relief, dropping her cards and holding her arms out to him. Souta barely had enough time to get out of the way as Inuyasha rushed to her side, practically crushing her to him as he buried his face in her hair.

"Oh, thank god you're alright!" he exclaimed.

"You too!" Kagome sobbed, clutching him as tightly as she could. "I thought we were both done for!"

The two clung desperately to each other as if they may never have another opportunity to be together. As they continued to refamiliarize themselves with each other, Souta shifted uncomfortably off to the side. "Er...maybe I'll just leave you two alone..."

Kagome pushed away slightly from Inuyasha and laughingly indicated the boy through her tears. "Oh, Inuyasha, this is my brother, Souta. It's okay, Souta, don't leave. We're fine now."

Inuyasha looked over at him. "Hey, squirt. Nice to meet ya."

Souta hesitantly came forward. "H-hi... You're...Inuyasha Dareshi, aren't you?"

Inuyasha gave him an easy grin. "Yeah, that's me. Heard of me, have you?"

Souta looked up at him with adoring eyes. "Y-yeah! You're the fastest seventeen year old alive! I've been following your progress for a while now!"

Kagome looked over at her brother in surprise. "You have?"

Souta crossed his arms and stuck up his nose at her. "Yeah, of course! He's awesome!"

Kagome's expression slipped from her face. "Why does it feel wrong that my younger brother knew about my boyfriend before I did?"

"You need to pay more attention to handsome sports stars, I think," Inuyasha suggested, winking at her.

Kagome adopted a thoughtful expression. "You know, I think you're right! I've got to check out all the hockey and soccer stars as soon as possible!"

Inuyasha's expression faltered. "Well, not now! You've got me now! You can't go looking for anyone else!"

Kagome tweaked his nose. "I was just joking, my befuddled little ski star."

"Are you sure I can't leave?" Souta asked in desperation.

..:V:..

Mmm...kiwi... was Miroku's first thought as he started to groggily come back to reality and an appealing aroma struck his nostrils. Shampoo...?

As a reflex, his hand shot out and gripped something firm, if not a bit soft. A solid slap was enough to bring him back to full consciousness. Shaking his head slightly, he rubbed his now sore cheek with his unoccupied hand, which appeared to be partially encased in a cast that went up his forearm and ended at his elbow. He blinked and looked around. It wasn't long before he grasped the whole of the situation.

His right hand was still quite attached to his dear girlfriend's bottom, and an unknown man and young boy were staring at him. Quick as a flash, Miroku retracted his hand and used it to scratch the back of his hand as he laughed nervously. "Oh, er, hello...this is awkward..."

"Miroku, this is my father and my brother, Kohaku," Sango said in a neutral voice as she indicated the strangers.

"Oh! Well, it's very nice to meet yo–!" Miroku was cut off as Sango lost her hold on her anger and gave into her great desire to smother him with a hug. "Oh!" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Miroku, you big jerk! How dare you get stuck underneath that avalanche and make me worry sick about you...and then make me think you were dead! I'll never forgive you for this, you ass!" Sango shouted as she buried her face into the crook of his neck.

"Sango! Language!" her father reprimanded gently, but could see it did no good.

Sango continued shouting obscenities at Miroku until he gently pried her away so he could look directly into her face. She tried to avoid that at all costs and he understand why as soon as he saw that it was completely drenched in tears. "Sango! Shhh! It's alright, I'm fine! I'm sorry about worrying you, but you know what? You worried me just as much! I was stuck in that snow enclosure andall I could think of was you...and my broken arm...and how much I would have enjoyed the sap going on between Inuyasha and Kagome if my arm wasn't broken and I didn't have to worry about you. But that's another story entirely," he finished with a sly grin.

Against her will, Sango laughed and then hugged him once more. "You owe me big time, pal," she added, just to let him know she hadn't completely forgiven him.

Miroku smiled slightly and then got a better look at the cast on his left arm. "Um... Now, Sango, about this cast..."

Sango pulled away and looked down at it, her face red. "Oh... That..."

Her earlier sentiments towards him seemed to be immortalized in his cast in the form of even more obscenities and several exclamations of "jerk," "lech," and "pervert!"

"I was...a little...um, angry?" Sango giggled as if there were a halo over her head.

Miroku raised an eyebrow. "A little, my dear Sango?"

"Well...uh...you know..." She fidgeted nervously and avoided his gaze.

After a few moments of just making her squirm, Miroku smiled and glanced around the room again. "Well, your family's here by must-be-magical means... Did anyone else show up?"

At this, Sango's father, who had been chatting quietly with Kohaku by the door, stepped forward. "Oh, well, your father showed up earlier, but...uh, had to be escorted off the premises..."

Miroku gave him a surprised look. "What happened?"

Sango decided to field the answer. "Well, you know that...thing you tend to do?" she asked as she gestured at her posterior.

Miroku gave her family members an apologetic look. "Yeah..."

"Well, apparently it's a lot less cute when grown men do it...it actually borders on illegal," Sango informed him.

Miroku's expression changed once more, this time to comprehension. "...The nurses?"

"Yeah," Sango confirmed with an unimpressed look. "I didn't realize this condition of yours was hereditary..."

"Ehehehe...yeah...it's hereditary... No fault of mine!" Miroku tried desperately to salvage his reputation with her family. Unfortunately for him, no one in the room bought it. They all just kept looking at him blankly. "Ah, well...it was worth a shot..." Miroku sighed, hanging his head.

..:V:..

"Hey, Souta!" Kohaku shouted as he came out of Miroku's hospital room and spied his friend down the hall. "Wait up!"

Souta stalled until his friend caught up with him and then the two of them made their way back towards the waiting room together. "So did your sister's boyfriend wake up yet?" Souta asked.

"Yeah," Kohaku responded. "He seemed pretty cool...but he's a bit of a pervert."

Souta laughed. "Well, my sister's boyfriend's awesome! Inuyasha Dareshi, in the flesh! My sister's dating Inuyasha Dareshi! Though I can't decided whether to tease her about having a boyfriend like any younger sibling would, or to congratulate her on dating the coolest guy around..." He trailed off, lost in serious thought.

"Inuyasha? 'Coolest guy around'?" came a delicate voice off to their side. Glancing over, the boys found themselves staring at another silver-haired man.

"Er...Sesshoumaru sir?" Souta questioned.

"So sorry, boys; I just never thought I'd hear Inuyasha described in such terms," the man said by way of an explanation. "You adore Inuyasha that much?"

"Well...yeah!" Souta affirmed enthusiastically.

"I see," Sesshoumaru said. "And...do you happen to know of our father's career as well?"

"He was a really awesome ski racer as well, wasn't he?" Kohaku ventured.

"Right you are," Sesshoumaru responded. "Now...do you boys skate?"

The two boys glanced at each other. "Well...yeah, a bit..." Souta responded. "But, what–?"

"I have a very special offer for you boys," Sesshoumaru cut in. "How would you like a one-of-a-kind pair of skates designed by Inutaisho Dareshi himself?"

Souta and Kohaku blinked at him. "Wha...? Skates...?" Souta asked, confused.

"Oh, yes," Sesshoumaru said, launching his sales pitch into full gear. "State of the art. Amazing in every way. And practically brand-new! They would be a bit too big for you right now, but surely some day in the future, they would fit one of you perfectly! And–"

"Fluffy!"

The bewildered boys turned in time to see a brown-haired girl trotting up to them with an annoyed expression.

"You can't give away your father's skates! They were meant for you and you alone! Stop trying to pawn them off to impressionable young boys!" the girl vented as she put herself directly between Sesshoumaru and the boys. Then she adopted a woeful expression. "Besides, do you really want to give away the skates that saved my life? Do I mean so little to you that you would give away the means to my rescue to the first people you come across?"

Sesshoumaru struggled internally for a moment before finally deciding she'd gotten him once and for all. "Damn you, Rin... Now I'll never be rid of the pink laces..."

Souta and Kohaku glanced at each other as the other pair continued to squabble. "Glad neither of our sisters went out with him," Souta whispered to his friend, who nodded fervently.

..:V:..

"Say...Inuyasha?" Kagome piped up. The two were alone in her room, Inuyasha sitting on the bed beside her and stroking her hair as she leaned into him.

"Yeah...?" he questioned softly.

"What do you suppose Miroku will say to the others about us...?"

Inuyasha blanched. "Um...er...nothing good?"

"That's what I thought..." Kagome said, sitting up.

Inuyasha shuffled off the bed and made his way towards the door. "You know, I think it's about time to check up on my good friend. He's probably conscious and I'd like to see if he's alright..." Kagome nodded and he exited the room. "...and see if I can't bribe him to keep his mouth shut..." he added.

On his way down the hall, a smaller figure stopped him. Inuyasha glanced down to lock eyes with Kanna's eerie gaze. "Oh, hey, Kanna! Jeez, how many people are here?"

Kanna gave a small shrug. "You, Kouga, Miroku, all of your female attachments, me, Kagura, Kikyo, Rin and Sesshoumaru. And your various family members."

"Gee, and Naraku didn't think to come see us? I'm hurt," Inuyasha uttered sarcastically.

Kanna didn't laugh. Instead, she just stared at him more intensely until Inuyasha was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. Finally, she spoke. "I would like to show you something later...but before the race."

At these words, Inuyasha's mind blanked. "Oh, god, the race! I totally forgot about it! Wait, what do you mean before the race? Didn't we totally miss it? Or isn't it supposed to be going on right now? Why are you here anyway?"

Kanna didn't blink an eye at Inuyasha's rapid fire questions. "The race was postponed," she said calmly. "Until tomorrow. Will you be well enough to compete?"

Inuyasha thought about it for a split second before responding. "Damn straight I'll be well enough! Nothing would keep me away from competing!"

Kanna's expression still remained passive. "Good. Then I would like to show you something when we get back to the hill later. It is something I am sure is of great interest to you."

"What is it?" Inuyasha asked blankly.

"You shall see," she answered cryptically. "I will come by your condo at eleven-thirty tonight. Make sure your roommates are asleep for I wish for you to be the only one to see this."

Inuyasha blinked. "How come?"

Kanna turned away, but gave him one last glance. "Because it is your decision and no one else's." With that, she walked off down the hall.

Inuyasha stared after her for a moment before continuing on his way. "Creepy girl..." he muttered, though his attention was soon diverted back to his original dilemma. "Now...how to shut Miroku up..."

A/N Whoohoo! A new chapter! Again, SO sorry it took so long! Hopefully we can get the rest of this lovely fic wrapped up nice and quick, hm? I shall work hard at it! Only about three chapters left, methinks! Well, ta for now! Oh, and some profoundness for you – if you try to fail and succeed, which have you done?