AR: Oh, look, it's another chapter. Who's got the net? We gotta catch it.
Y: I think she's finally lost it.
IY: She did that ages ago.
DAG: No, she acts like this on a daily basis.
Y: Poor girl.
Se: -nods-
Y: Maybe somebody should help her out.
Se: -nods-
Y: Ugh, well don't all take off at once.
DAG: Hey, she dislocated my shoulder, why would I want to help her?
Se: Indeed.
AR: I CAN'T FIND JENNA!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ka: Who's Jenna?
DAG: Her pancreas...
AR: OLIVER! I CAN'T FIND JENNA!!!!!!!! MOLLY! MOE! HELP ME FIND JENNA!!!!!
Ka: Do I even want to know?
DAG: No, you don't.
Y: I do.
DAG: Oliver is her stomache, and Molly and Moe are her feet. Don't ask me why she named them, or why she's talking to them, 'cause I don't know.
K: I think she might be a schizophrenic.
DAG: No, she's just crazy.
Se: Insanity isn't an illness, it's an excuse.
DAG: Well, then it's a damn good one. Anyway, Angel would want me to introduce the chapter. She normally says something about a disclaimer...but Kaori can take care of that.
Ka: Yeah, Angel doesn't own InuYasha or associated characters and/or plot lines. She only owns her original characters and the plot of this story.
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You are always gonna be my love
Itsuka dareka to mata koi ni ochitemo
I'll remember to love
You taught me how
You are always gonna be the one
Ima wa mada kanashii love song
Atarashi uta utaeru made
(First Love: Utada Hikaru)
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Chapter Twenty-Three Recap:
"Um...didn't you get the memo? I sent it to you three weeks ago." Kagome said. "It must have gotten lost during shipping."
"Sanity has finally fled from this world."
Don't Fall Away
Chapter Twenty-Four: A Hunt of Sorts
"Stop being so negative, Sesshomaru." Kagome scolded. "It's called an 'imagination.' You should get one."
"I have no need to get an 'imagination', as you call it. It seems as if all it will do is lower my intelligence."
"Sesshomaru, like it or not, everyone has an imagination." Yukana said. "And that includes you...you just don't use yours."
"I am aware."
"Really? I thought you were Sesshomaru." Kagome teased.
"I am relieved that you take Naraku more seriously than you take everything else, otherwise we would all be dead." Sesshomaru announced.
"You know, that's not very nice. You could be just a little nicer to me, since I'm the only reason your castle is still in one piece." Kagome argued. "If it weren't for me, these people would destroy it during their daily confrontations."
"If I remember correctly, it was you the blew Sakurako halfway across my study."
"I resent that statement."
"A likely story!" Kaori interrupted. "We all know that Kagome has the worst temper out of all of us, save for Sesshomaru."
"Yes, InuYasha normally finds himself on the recieving end of whatever Kagome's bad moods bring." Miroku added as Kagome rolled her eyes and plopped down next to Sango. "But, don't worry, Kagome. None of us hold that against you."
"Gee, thanks." Kagome replied sarcastically. "I feel so loved, now."
"Ooh, Kagome! Do you know what time it is?" Kaori asked excitedly.
"Could it possibly be time for me to take a nap?" she answered boredly. "Maybe it's time for me to get some earplugs."
"Kagome, I hate to burst your bubble, but I highly doubt that's going to help you very much." Yukana said apologetically. "But, it's always worth a try."
"Hey...have any of you seen Kirara lately?" Sango asked suddenly. "I haven't seen her in days."
"Come to think of it...I haven't, either." Kaori piped in.
"I'll help you find her." Kagome said, jumping up and raising her arm in the air.
"Yeah, me and Kaori will lend a hand, too." Yukana volunteered. Kaori nodded enthusiastically.
"Hey...what was I just going to say...?" Kaori asked herself, but nobody was listening.
"Kagome, keep in mind the time." Sesshomaru reminded.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'll be back in time to train Sakurako and the others, I promise."
"Thank you guys." Sango said, standing up and smiling at the three of them.
"Well, since none of the rest of us aren't doing anything, I think we should all go and help search for Kirara." Miroku suggested. "What do you think, Sesshomaru-sama?"
"I have no objections."
"Great!" Kagome exclaimed. "Let's go, then."
If there was ever a stranger sight, it wasn't documented. The mismatched group of four youkai, a hanyou, a monk, and a taijiya filed out of the library and headed toward the main hall, where they ran into Sakurako.
"Hey...what's going on? Is something wrong?" she asked Kagome.
"Sango can't find Kirara, so we're going to search the castle and the grounds to see what we can find." Kagome explained.
"Oh, would you like me to help?"
"Hm..." Kagome looked at the group and counted them and herself. "Yeah, if you join in we can have an even number and we can split into pairs."
"Ooh! Do I get to pick the pairs, Kagome?" Yukana asked excitedly.
"This can't come out good..."
"You know what, Yukana?" Kaori interrupted, "I think that it would be better if Sango picked the pairs." She winked and Yukana shrugged.
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"Miroku, I swear, if you don't remove your hand, I'm going to do it for you." Sango threatened. "And if I do it, you're going to need Kagome to put it back on your arm."
"My dear Sango, this cursed hand just has a mind of its own and I can't seem to control what it does. My apoligies."
"Yeah...right..." Sango rolled her eyes and picked her way through the weeds and low bushes. She had her hands full with keeping Miroku in line and, also, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for anything that may seem out of place.
"Do you think that, perhaps, Yukana and Sakurako are doing any better?"
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"Yukana, stop that! I thought we were supposed to be looking for something?" Sakurako said impatiently. "You've been staring out that window for at least twenty minutes. This isn't going to get us anywhere."
"Chill out, Sakurako, Kirara will be fine." Yukana said dismissively. "I've seen Kirara in action, she can take care of herself. Sango isn't really that worried, but she just wants to know where she is."
Sakurako scoffed and placed her hands on her hips. "Seriously, Yukana, if you wanted to spy on Sesshomaru-sama and Kagome, you could have just gone with them instead of volunteering to stay here with me."
"I've already checked the castle out, Kirara isn't here. Chill out, everything's fine. Besides, I'm doing Sesshomaru and Kagome a favor."
"How do you figure?" Sakurako asked skeptically.
"It's simple." Yukana said. "Since you started staying at the castle, how many times have you seen Sesshomaru get close to someone?"
"You mean like that little girl? Um...Rin?"
"No, I mean close to someone?"
"Uh...never."
"Exactly."
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"InuYasha, get down here!" Kaori ordered. "You're not going to find anything sitting up in that tree."
"Why would I want to go down there? That's where you are!"
"Hey! Lay off, will you? What on earth have I ever done to you? You didn't seem to mind being around me three days ago!"
"Feh. I never said it had anything to do with you."
"Then, who? What about somebody else could possibly make you hate me so suddenly?" Kaori snapped.
"That's none of your business."
"None of my business?! InuYasha, if it involves you hating me for some unknown reason, it's just as much my business as it is yours!" she yelled. "Now get your butt down here and help me search for Kirara! And while your at it, you can tell me what I did to make you hate me!"
"Leave me alone." InuYasha said, looking away from her. Kaori sighed and walked away, searching half-heartedly for the little neko.
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Kagome stepped over an exposed tree root and crossed her arms.
"I think I sense something over there, Sesshomaru." she announced. "Five somethings...I think."
"Five? I was under the impression that we were only searching for one."
"Yeah, I know, but I really want to know what it is. One of them has a very familiar aura, almost like Kirara, but somehow different." Kagome said. "Can we go look?"
"If you must."
Kagome smiled and walked to their left. She pushed a bush out of the way and gasped.
"Hey, Sesshomaru...I think we should find Sango and tell her that we found Kirara." Kagome announced quietly. "And that she has a bigger family now."
"That can wait, we've got company."
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AR: Okay...so I'm psychotic, I'm crazy, and I've lost it...aren't those all pretty much the same things?
Y: Maybe, now that I actually think about it.
AR: Yukana, I'm not talking to you, since two of those supposed insults came from you. That's not the way I raised you.
Y: You didn't raise me at all...I was created this age.
K: I'm younger than you!!!!!!!!!!!!
Y: Kaori! Don't rub it in!
AR: Um...well, both of you are old. Yukana has her moments when she is old in both mind and body. Kaori...you're just old in body.
Y & K: Thanks...
Se: Your methods of flattery are staggaring, Angel.
AR: Yeah, I know. -grins-
IY: I'm not as old as all of you.
AR: Yeah, but you're still pretty old. You're at least 200, according to the third movie.
IY: And you know this how?
DAG: Angel has never been one to not pay attention when she's watching a movie. I think once or twice she figured out how old Sesshomaru is...but I forgot what she said.
AR: I forgot what I said, too. Anyways, that's all the time we have for today, folks. Toodles!