Author's note: Ok, chapter two of the new version. I hope you like it!

Please leave me a note, email, review, something. I need to know if the new version is working better (I think so, but I want to know what you guys think).

If you don't already know, I rewrote chap 3 as well as this one. The plot is different, so if you haven't already checked it out, please do so.

I ran out of time to write the fifth chapter before my trip to England. I won't be back until August, but when I come back I'll bust my butt to get it to you guys. Sorry for the wait.

This chapter is ThingIshNess tested, Jay approved.

Review!!!

Inuyasha growled as he followed the tiger's scent. "What the hell is the matter with him? Why did he take off when he found out that Kagome's a priestess?"

A large pillar rose up before him, blocking his path. Slowing down, Inuyasha spotted Kaijin crouched before the pillar, arms folded over his knees and head tucked down. The cat's black ears twitched as the dog demon approached.

Lifting his head, Kaijin glared speculatively at his adversary. "You came alone?"

"What's your deal, Cat Brain?" Inuyasha cracked his claws. "Why would you run from Kagome, you coward!"

"None of your damn business." Growling, Kaijin leapt to his feet and unsheathed his sword. "Still, she's not here and I still need to eat."

Inuyasha snorted and drew his own sword. "You still think you can beat me?"

"I knocked you down before, Dog Butt."

"That was a lucky shot!" He growled. "Just try that damn move again!"

"My pleasure!" Kaijin watched the aura spilling forth from the demon before him. Sending waves of heat down his blade, he started to swing…

"Inuyasha, you jerk!!"

Kaijin dropped his sword.

Face red, Kagome burst through the trees, ran up to Inuyasha, and slapped him upside the head.

"How could you leave me behind like that, you creep??"

Scowling, Inuyasha turned towards Kaijin, who was slowly backing away. "Kagome, just stay out of this, ok?" He stepped towards the cowering tiger. "You wuss! Stay here and fight me!!"

Eyes flashing, the tiger's gaze snapped back to Inuyasha. "No one calls me a wuss. No one!" He raced forward, claws extended. "Kasai Tessou!"

Inuyasha dodged the attack, but Kaijin bounded off a tree trunk, landed in front of him, and slammed him with his shoulder.

"Oomph!" Inuyasha flew back and crashed into a tree. Grunting, he rose to his feet. Why the hell is he so strong?? He should just be another demon!

As if reading his thoughts, Kaijin smirked. "It'll be a sad day when a tiger can't beat a mangy mutt." Retrieving his sword, he aimed at Inuyasha, but he hesitated. "You know, I really don't prefer my meat roasted." He tilted his head to the side. "If I tried to lop off your head, would you hold still?"

"Like hell I will!!" The wind scar forming about his blade, Inuyasha ran forward. "Kaze no…"

"Hold it!!" Hands up, Kagome walked between the startled demons. Sighing, she looked back and forth at them. "This seems a little pointless. Inuyasha, Kaijin's too fast for you to hit, so using the same move over and over isn't going to work." She ignored him when he growled furiously and glanced at the tiger. Kaijin flinched.

"And you, you're only attacking Inuyasha because you're hungry, right?"

"Technically…" he mumbled. Kagome clapped her hands and smiled.

"Well then, let's fix that." Rummaging through her backpack, she pulled out three cups of pork ramen and her portable stove.

Inuyasha sputtered. "You're not going to give him OUR food, are you??" Striding forward, he snatched the cups away. "No way!! He can fend for himself!"

"Fending for himself sent him after you, Inuyasha." Rolling her eyes, she lit her stove, added water to one of the cups, and set it atop the fire. "I'd rather he ate some of this than ate some of you."

"Feh. Like he'd get the chance." Glowering, Inuyasha handed the food back to Kagome. "What a waste of food."

Kaijin stared down at the miko. She's making food for me? I attacked her companion, and yet she's going to feed me. Slowly, he sank to the ground, his eyes wide. I've never heard of this happening before.

After a few minutes, Kagome removed the cup from the fire and handed it to the tiger with a pair of chopsticks.

"Here you go!" She smiled. "Hopefully you'll find ramen preferable to dog food."

"Hey!"

Kaijin glanced warily into the bowl of steaming noodles. There's meat in here, but it's cooked. I hate it when my meat's cooked! Frowning, he snagged a few noodles with his chopsticks and placed them in his mouth.

Kagome watched as his eyes went wide, the noodles slowly slurping into his mouth. When he stilled, she smiled weakly.

"Do you…like them?"

Kaijin slowly looked down at the bowl. In the silence that followed, Kagome shifted uncomfortably.

"If you don't, I can make you something else."

He blinked.

"MARF! GLARGH," slurp, "GACK MMF BLARM!"

Chopsticks blurring, Kaijin shoveled the meat and noodles into his gaping mouth. Steam escaped from his lips as he smacked and slurped. Within seconds, the bowl was empty.

Kagome chuckled weakly. "I guess you like ramen."

Kaijin glanced up at her, his eyes wide. "These noodles are delicious!! Even the meat was good!" He stared forlornly into his empty cup. "I've never had anything so exquisite!"

After a moment, Kaijin gasped, set the cup aside, and bowed. "Thank you, my lady! I owe you a debt of gratitude."

Inuyasha growled, sliding his arms into his sleeves. "Yeah, great. Since you've eaten, why don't you beat it?"

Kaijin sat up and glared at him. "Why don't you shut your yap, Dog Butt? You should be grateful to the lady. One more hit with my 'Aura's Blood' attack, and you'd have been a goner."

"Hah! Your attack wasn't that strong!" I felt like my blood was on fire! "I could easily take it and your sword down!"

Smirking with a cockiness he didn't feel, Inuyasha aimed his sword at the pillar behind them. "One hit with my Wind Scar, and you'd cease to exist!" He lifted his sword. "Check this out!"

Kaijin glanced at him, then at the pillar he was aiming for. His jaw dropped.

"NO! DON'T HIT—"

"KAZE NO KIZU!!"

With one swing, the stone pillar shattered, the trees around it vaporizing.

"…That."

Grinning, Inuyasha sheathed his sword and turned to Kaijin. "See? I could split a mountain with that attack, much less a weakling like you!"

As if in shock, Kaijin slowly rose to his feet. "Inuyasha, you really shouldn't have done that." He staggered over to the pillar. It had been sliced into three, the center slice standing straight up while the two sides slowly tipped over and crashed to the ground. Kaijin glanced back at Inuyasha.

"Do you have any idea what you've done??" Rubbing his hand over his face, Kaijin shook his head. "You just destroyed a sacred monument. This pillar," he gestured at the broken rock, "was built to recognize the Fox Goddess. Now that you've destroyed it…"

He glanced at the dog demon. "She'll be after you for the rest of your life."

Deep in the mountains, a woman stirred from a deep sleep. Yawning, she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"What on earth? I was supposed to sleep for a hundred years, not fifty!" She stood groggily, her puffy tail twitching as her ornate dress floated about her feet. Stretching, she walked towards a dark mirror upon the wall.

"All right. Who did it?" Peering into the glass, she watched as her sacred pillar swam into focus, cracked and broken. The view swung to reveal a boy with white hair, who was being berated by a young tiger demon.

"So that little upstart thinks he can just destroy my monument, does he?" Smirking, she conjured a black quill pen and began doodling on her palm. The ink burning a bright red on her skin, she pressed her hand to the mirror.

"Consider yourself marked, little man." She began to laugh.

"This should be fun."

Scowling, Inuyasha strode towards the pillar. "Look, I didn't know it was sacred, but if you want, I'll do something to appease the Fox Goddess. It's not that big a deal, right?" He laid his right hand on the cool stone.

"I'm sure she has better things to do than wreck vengeance on me-OW! OW OW OW, DAMMIT! THAT HURTS!!!"

Howling in pain, Inuyasha pried his hand free of the rock and cradled it with his other arm. Curses streamed out of his mouth.

"Inuyasha! What happened?" Concerned, Kagome rushed to his side and took his injured hand. She stared. "What…the…heck?"

Inuyasha followed her gaze and stared down at his palm.

Two closed, upturned eyes sat directly upon a wide, toothy grin in the center of his hand. The doodle appeared to be burned into his skin.

Kaijin sighed. "Congratulations, Dog Butt. You've been marked by the Fox Goddess."

"Marked?" Wincing, Inuyasha shook his hand in the air. "What the hell does that mean?"

"That means that she's going to prank you until she's appeased." He rolled his eyes. "She is a fox goddess, after all."

"She's going to prank Inuyasha for revenge?" Kagome ran a hand through her hair and frowned. "That doesn't sound very threatening."

"Trust me, it's worse than it sounds." Kaijin sighed heavily and sat down. "I've seen it before. She starts out with harmless little pranks, but…"

Inuyasha growled. "Let's just see her try it!"

"I never said she has to do it in person, Dog Butt. So long as you wear that mark, she can do whatever she wants to you." He glanced at Kagome. "It probably wouldn't be wise to travel with him anymore, my lady."

"Feh. I'll keep Kagome safe. And stop calling me Dog Butt, you sad excuse for…a…" Inuyasha's eyes went wide as he lifted his burning hand to his throat.

"What the hell's wrong with my voice??"

Kagome smothered a smile. "You…you sound like a little girl!" When Inuyasha's face turned bright red, laughter started bubbling out of her mouth.

Kaijin remained serious. "Look, her pranks may be childish now, but—"

"Damn right they are! What kind of person…" Blushing furiously, he balled his fists as Kagome erupted with laughter. "Stop laughing at me! This isn't funny!"

"I beg to differ." Kagome swiped tears out of her eyes. "It's very funny!"

Releasing a high-pitched growl, Inuyasha cracked his claws. "If you don't stop laughing, I swear I'm gonna…"

"What? Curtsy??" Kagome cracked up as Inuyasha cursed in his girlish voice.

"Actually, Lady Kagome, things aren't a laughing matter." Kaijin's serious expression broke through Kagome's mirth, and she stopped laughing.

Mortified, Inuyasha turned his back on her and folded his arms. The doodle glowed a fiery red on his palm. "Damn that witch! I'm gonna get her for this!" His hand cooled at the same instant his voice returned to normal. Growling, he turned back to his companions.

"Are you happy?? My voice is back to normal now!"

Kagome nodded, her eyes watering. "I-I'm sorry, Inuyasha, but that…that was so funny!!"

"I'm sure it was." He scowled furiously to cover his embarrassment.

Kaijin shook his head. "Although this may seem funny right now, Inuyasha is in grave danger. She'll pull little stunts like that, but when little stuff ceases to amuse her, she'll pull out the big guns." He frowned. "If we wait too long to appease her, she might kill Inuyasha just to get a laugh."

"Kill him??" Kagome's jaw dropped. "Are you serious??"

"Yes. It's not pretty." Grimacing, Kaijin looked off to the side. "I once saw a guy get turned inside—"

"Ok, we get the idea." Biting her lip, Kagome placed another cup of ramen on the stove. Now I feel horrible for laughing. "Is there any way to get her curse off Inuyasha?"

"Well…" Kaijin leaned thoughtfully against a tree trunk and rubbed his chin. "I suppose if we go to her shrine, we might be able to convince her to take it off."

"We? What we?" Fisting his marked hand, Inuyasha strode in front of Kaijin and glared him down. "No way in hell are you coming along."

Kaijin stared at him. "If I don't show you the way to the shrine, how are you going to find the Fox Goddess?"

Inuyasha opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. "Well, why the hell would you even want to take us there?"

Tilting his head, the tiger held a moment of silence. "Well, I have a couple reasons. One, it's almost my fault that you're cursed in the first place; two, I owe Lady Kagome a favor; and three, I want to see if our swords hold any other secrets, since they're made by the same man for the same reasons." He glanced down at the hilt nestled against his side. "An expedition with you could prove invaluable."

Inuyasha scowled. "Thanks, but no thanks. Why don't you just tell us where the damn thing is, and we'll go on our own?"

"You'll probably end up pissing her off even more." Shaking his head, Kaijin straightened and smirked. "Looks like you've got a tour guide, Dog Butt, whether you want one or not."

Inuyasha sighed and glared at his marked hand. The idiotic grin on his palm mocked him. Slowly clenching his fist, he glanced up at the pair as Kagome handed him a freshly made cup of ramen.

"All right, let's get going then. What's the worst the Fox Goddess can do?"

An hour later, a very disgruntled Inuyasha trudged along a muddy trail, his hair matted to his head and his hand tingling. Heavy rain pelted his face, which only served to sour his expression even further. Kagome trotted alongside him, and Kaijin leapt from branch to branch high above. He always pulled slightly ahead and waited to see if they were following before continuing on.

"Aw come on, Inuyasha. It's not that bad, is it?" Umbrella held high over her head, Kagome smiled at him. "What's a little rain every now and then?"

He glared at her out of the corner of his eye. "When that 'little rain' makes it impossible to make any real progress, it becomes a problem."

"Don't be such a baby. Besides, according to Kaijin, we have about a week to get to the shrine, and it's only a few days' walk away. We should get there before we hit any real problems."

"Easy for you to say," he muttered. Shaking his head roughly, he tried to remove at least some of the water from his hair. The weight of it was really starting to annoy him.

Kagome watched him for a long moment before she sighed and grabbed his arm.

"Just get over here, you moron." Ignoring his protests, she pulled him under her umbrella with her. Smiling, she kept her arm threaded through his. "Now at least you won't get any wetter."

Glancing down at their linked arms, Inuyasha blushed. He tried to pull away.

"I don't care if I get wet."

"Just humor me, ok?" She smiled when he gave up and started walking beside her, mumbling under his breath. "Good boy."

He glared silently at her for that. They fell into silence as they walked, their feet sloshing through the mud.

Inuyasha's blush slowly grew as they walked, his eyes darting to Kagome. She's so close… He was surprised that she had actually kept her hold on his arm, even if it was loose. Shaking his head, he tried to stay alert, but every time he focused on the few scents that reached his nose in the rain, his arm would brush against her side and his thoughts scrambled.

He took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind. Focus, man. Focus.

Kagome smiled softly to herself. Once he shuts up, Inuyasha's pretty pleasant. Her heart pounded gently in her chest as she shifted closer to him, trying to position the umbrella so that neither of them got wet. She dropped her gaze to the ground. It's hard to remember the last time we were so close for so long. It's…nice.

Glancing up, Kagome noticed the blush on Inuyasha's cheeks and the slightly contorted expression on his face. The blush she could deal with, but that weird expression confused her. Maybe he doesn't want to be so close to me?

"Inuyasha?" Her slight frown grew when he didn't respond. "Inuyasha!"

"Huh?" Snapping out of his daze, he glanced down at Kagome's face. "What?"

"Are you ok? You looked…troubled."

He tossed his head. "It's nothing." Truth be told, he'd been daydreaming about her proximity and struggling not to, but no way in hell was he going to tell HER that. He shifted uncomfortably, distressed when his arm brushed her side again. With those tight clothes of hers… He swallowed hard and stared solemnly straight ahead.

Kagome frowned. Something's bothering him, I'm sure of it. "Inuyasha, are you sure nothing's wrong?"

Clenching his teeth, he swung his head towards her. "I already told you, it's noth—!!"

At that moment, Kagome's shoes slipped in the mud. With a smothered yelp, she started to fall, the umbrella clattering to the ground.

Inuyasha's arms immediately wrapped tight about her waist and pulled her against him. Despite the rain, her scent wafted up to him. Heart pounding, he tightened his arms and looked down at her.

"You ok?" His voice lowered as he spoke, and he swallowed hard. Kagome slowly looked up at him, her hair slicked to her head by the rain. She blinked abruptly, as if mentally snapping out of it.

"Um, yeah, I'm fine." She glanced down at her umbrella, which was lolling about in the mud. "Sorry about that."

He snorted. "I should be used to it by now. You've always been a klutz."

"Excuse me?" She narrowed her eyes. "I'm not a klutz."

"Are so! Every time I turn around, you're in trouble. That means you're either klutzy enough to stumble into trouble, or too dumb to figure out where you're supposed to go." He smirked down at her, amused when she scowled up at him.

"So I'm klutzy and stupid now?" She pushed away from him and planted her hands on her hips. "That's what you're saying?"

He folded his arms and grinned. "Yup."

"Hmph." She bent over, unknowingly causing Inuyasha's smile to drop right off his face. "I'll show you."

Inuyasha stopped paying attention, his gaze fixated on that tight top of hers. A blush returned to his cheeks. Dammit…she's going to be the death of me. Maybe I should just find a tarp to throw over her…

"Hey, Inuyasha!"

Guiltily, he looked up…

Splat.

His features froze as a tremendous glob of mud worked its way down from his forehead. Slowly, he lifted a hand and wiped the mud from his face.

"You…did NOT just do that."

She smiled smugly at him. "Oh, I did. And you know what? I'll do it again!" With flair, Kagome wound up and launched another blob at his face, this time nailing him square in the nose.

Inuyasha calmly wiped the mud from his face and glared at her. "That does it." Leaning down, he swiped a handful of mud from the road.

"Inuyasha, you wouldn't really hit me, would you?" Kagome laughed nervously, backing away.

An evil smirk crossed Inuyasha's face.

"I-Inuyasha?"

SPLAT!

Shrieking, Kagome blocked her face as a huge glob of mud splattered her T-shirt. She gasped, looking down at herself.

"This was one of my favorite shirts!!" She scowled as he simply laughed at her. "Ooo, you—!" Squatting down, she grabbed two fistfuls of mud.

"Take this! And this!"

Still laughing, Inuyasha dodged the first shot, but the second caught him in the neck. Immediately, he scooped up a pile of mud, settled it in the crook of one arm, and threw fistfuls of it at Kagome.

Their shouts and laughs rang out as hundreds of mud pellets flew back and forth through the air. Before long, both were nearly caked in mud, and they slipped about as they scrambled for more ammo. After realizing that they were no longer following him, Kaijin crouched atop a branch and watched, a small smile on his face.

So that's how things are, hmm? He chuckled. Well, the stronger the fights…

Scooping up a tremendous load of mud, Kagome raced forward and positioned it over Inuyasha's head. Thinking quickly, Inuyasha snagged her waist and hauled her close to him.

"You drop that, you get both…of…us…" He grin faded as he stared into her mud-splattered face. Her eyes were alight with laughter as she gazed back at him, arms high over her head. Slowly, as if by instinct, Inuyasha lifted his free hand and wiped away a glob of mud on her cheek.

Kagome caught her breath, suddenly aware of how close their faces were. She swallowed as he continued to gently wipe her face clean, her eyes trapped in his gaze.

"I…Inuyasha…" Her voice came out in a whisper. His eyelids lowered to half-mast, his gaze dropping slightly to her lips.

"Yeah…?" Not quite sure what he was doing, Inuyasha started to lean forward. Kagome's eyes drifted closed.

"What…are you…?" She trailed off as she tilted her chin upwards…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIEEEEEEE!!"

Gasping, their eyes snapped open. Kagome jumped and dropped her arms to her sides.

P-P-PLAPP!!

She grinned sheepishly at Inuyasha as her mighty load of mud came crashing down on their heads.

"Oops."

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha snagged her arm and started running through the woods. A frown marred his face as he ran. Dammit…what the hell was I thinking?? Was I really about to…k-kiss Kagome? He blushed furiously.

Kaijin leapt gracefully from branch to branch above them, easily keeping pace with Inuyasha. He glanced down at the half demon.

"Inuyasha, do you have the scent?"

Eyebrows furrowing, Inuyasha glanced up. "What are you talking about? In this rain, how can I catch the scent of…" He trailed off, his mood souring. Don't tell me Cat Brain has a better nose than I do!! He scowled. Dammit!

Kagome glanced up at the tiger demon. "Kaijin, why don't you come down here? It'll get you there faster, I'm sure!"

The demon glanced down at the miko, but he quickly averted his eyes. "I'm fine up here, thanks."

Kagome frowned and started to reply, but Inuyasha squeezed her hand. "Forget him! We've got bigger problems to deal with."

As he spoke, a tremendous centipede rose up over the trees and let out a deafening screech. Several trees snapped and fell as its body wriggled about the forest floor.

"Help me! Someone, please help!"

Whinnying crazily, a horse bucked and darted beneath its unlucky rider. The man atop the horse struggled to notch an arrow to his bow while his horse went insane with fear. Hissing, the Centipede curled about him and bowed its head.

"Back off, slimeball!" Releasing Kagome's hand, Inuyasha unsheathed Tetsusaiga and started to aim for the demon. As he started to swing, the doodle on his hand caught fire.

"Kaze no—OOMPH!"

Gasping, Inuyasha let his blade sink to the ground. He struggled to lift it, but the blade remained on the ground.

"Oh, dammit to hell!!"

Rolling his eyes, Kaijin leapt down from the trees and unsheathed his own sword. Narrowing his eyes, he focused on the Centipede's aura.

"Hey, Inuyasha! Watch what a real sword can do!!" Ignoring the boy's growl, Kaijin swung at the centipede and sent waves of heat down his sword. As the steel met the aura, the waves of heat sparked against the flow of power.

"Reiki no chi!!"

Within seconds, the demon's aura caught fire.

"GREEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAR!!"

Twisting horribly, the Centipede collapsed under its aura. It convulsed several times on the ground as the flames consumed its body. After a few moments, the flames died down, leaving red sparks of power leaping over a long trail of ashes.

Smirking, Kaijin sheathed his sword. "See, Dog Butt? It's simple."

"Shut the hell up!" As the heat faded from his hand, the rain ceased to fall and Tetsusaiga's sudden weight vanished. Inuyasha grumpily sheathed his sword. "If that damn goddess hadn't screwed with my sword, I would've take care of it!"

"She didn't screw with your sword, she screwed with your strength." Kaijin strode over to the dumbstruck villager and flashed a toothy smile at him. "Going somewhere?"

The man stared down at the demon for a long moment.

"Yaahhh! Tiger!!!" Terrified, the man tugged on his horse's reins and sped off into the woods, dropping his bow and arrows in the process. Kaijin blinked and slowly turned to face his companions.

"Was it something I said?"

"I think being grinned at by a tiger demon was enough," Kagome stated dryly. She walked over to the fallen bow and arrow, lifting an eyebrow when Kaijin skittered away as she approached.

"What exactly is your problem with me?"

Kaijin froze. "Problem?" Smiling sheepishly, he lifted a hand and scratched the back of his neck. "Well, to tell you the truth, it doesn't have much to do with you. It's just that…it's because you're…" He dropped his gaze and stared at the ground.

"A priestess?" Bending over, she gathered the weapons and slid them over her shoulder. "What does that have to do with anything? You're a demon, and a fairly powerful one at that. Why should my being a priestess concern you?"

"Well, I…I don't know, I just…get jittery around mikos." Because the fur on his face was thin, his blush was clearly visible. "I can't explain it."

Does he…have a phobia? Kagome stared incredulously at him. This big, tough demon is irrationally afraid of mikos? She rolled her eyes. You sure do meet some strange people in the feudal era.

Smiling cheerily, she turned to Inuyasha. "Well, the rain's let up. Shall we move on?"

Inuyasha glowered and folded his arms in his sleeves. "Yeah, yeah. Don't be surprised if when I meet that damn goddess, I rip her throat out… Dammit! Not again!!"

Inuyasha threw his hands to the sky.

"I'll get you, you damn bitch!! Just you wait!"