Kagome crawled slowly up the side of the well with the heavy bag on her back. It was lighter than it used to be. Inuyasha had learned to hunt with just Kilala to bring down dinner, sometimes, but it was always nice to keep some things for traveling when they stopped too late to hunt and prepare the meal. She brought a lot of light weight foods though, which made a big difference.
"Hurry up!" Inuyasha pressured as he reached down and grabbed her arm. He hoisted her out of the well and set her on the side. "We need to get back to town quick. Sesshomaru's coming."
"What? Why is he coming here?" Kagome asked as she hurried after Inuyasha. Thank god she got new running shoes. Her old ones were nearly warn through.
"I don't know!" Inuyasha folded his arms into the sleeves of his shirt. "He left Rin here last time, remember?"
Kagome tugged at the straps of her bag, "Yeah, but he can't be planning on leaving her again!" She freed some of her long hair from it, "Naraku is hiding. There's no danger and she really doesn't like being left behind. Why would he?" She hurried after Inuyasha as he turned back to town.
"I don't know. All I know is that I can smell him, he's close."
"Is Kaede back yet?" Kagome asked.
Inuyasha's golden eyes caught with hers, "She's nearly back from the village to the east." He picked up the pace. "She's not going to be back in time for Sesshomaru to get here though, he'll be here by tonight if he keeps up this pace." Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's arm again and hauled her closer. "There haven't been any more attacks on this place since you left. If we'd 'a been fighting 'em since you left, we wouldn't be ready to go."
"Not since The Ghost showed up here," Kagome noted. "Inuyasha, do you think The Ghost could be Kurama?"
"Why?" Inuyasha slowed down and watched her. "Did you find him in the future?"
"No, he came back to the past about four or five months ago." Kagome explained as they saw the town in the distance. Miroku and Sango stood on the edge of the rebuilt town holding Shippo and Kilala. Kagome smiled and waved.
Inuyasha clicked his tongue in disgust, "Serves us right I guess, if he is The Ghost. You shouldn't have given him that shard so willy nilly!"
"Hey! I gave him that shard so we at least always have one! It was a good plan and it's going to help us convince him to join our cause again!" Kagome raved.
"We can't make him join our cause if he goes on a rampage and kills everyone in sight!" Inuyasha yelled back. They slowed down as they came up to Miroku and Sango. Kagome grabbed his arm and pulled him around to face her, planting her feet. "What!"
"Look here mister, if you even say so much as one word about me giving him that shard being a bad tactical plan I will put you so far in this ground you won't climb out for a week!" Kagome barked. "That was one of my brighter moments because it kept Kurama on our side! If he's going around killing these rampaging demons, then it's because he can't get them out of here without doing that and I for one am thankful they haven't organized and teamed up with Naraku because they're too damn scared of The Ghost!"
Inuyasha glared at her, "The Ghost is not someone to be thankful to Kagome! He's a rampaging lunatic who just keeps killing demons. He's sent them scattering all over the continent because they keep running from him. Right now he's been spotted repeatedly in the west. A lot of demons and humans have been displaced because of him."
"Demons who shouldn't be here!" Kagome yelled. "The humans just get caught in the cross-hairs and they will repopulate, then go back." Kagome surprised a grumble crossing her arms and turning away from him. "It's what humans do best." She turned back on Inuyasha. "They won't stay out of their homes for long and once the new demons are gone, back home, things will return to normal."
Miroku tapped Kagome on the shoulder, "Can we not fight about this out here? You're going to scare the villagers," Miroku told her as Shippo sat in his arms staring at her with wide, uncertain eyes.
"Fine, but just so you know, I do not want to hear you dis me giving Kurama that shard ever, do I make myself clear?" she snapped away from Inuyasha and stormed towards town. Sango glanced between the two then followed Kagome.
"Hey, calm down alright? I don't really know what he said but you don't need to blow up on him. It's been a stressful-"
"Sango, just don't." Kagome headed for Kaede's hut.
As night fell, Inuyasha stood out in the field awaiting Sesshomaru. He came out of the woods at nothing more than a walk with Jaken, AhUn, and Rin on his heels. "Inuyasha," he greeted nodding towards his half brother.
"Sesshomaru," Inuyasha nodded back, the two of them stiff as they stood apart from one and other. Even though they had been on better terms since Sesshomaru stopped trying to get his brother's sword, and Rin had been with them, it wasn't easy. The tension was thick as they faced off, posturing for a battle.
"Rin needs to stay with Kaede for a while," Sesshomaru eased first. He pushed the little girl forward. Sesshomaru always let go first, or they would fight.
"I got a question first," Inuyasha held out his hand to the little girl, who traipsed over like she was going from one legal parent to the other. "Why?"
Sesshomaru's eyes thinned as his long fluff twitched. His chin rose a bit, "I have made an acquaintance to help rid my lands of the new pests, but he works in a way Rin shouldn't be exposed to."
"Are you talking about The Ghost," Inuyasha pressed, "Because he might be someone I know, and we need him back."
Sesshomaru studied Inuyasha. The two stood still. Jaken glanced between them nervously. "He won't provide me with his title."
Inuyasha looked down at Rin, putting a hand on the growing girl's shoulder. "Whatever. We'll stick around until Kaede gets back with Rin then we're out of here."
"Jaken, stay with Rin." Sesshomaru turned to leave.
AhUn billowed as Jaken moved and went to follow after him, until Sesshomaru put a hand on his halter and made him turn around.
"Good bye Lord Sesshomaru! Good bye AhUn!" Rin waved to them as Jaken stood by her side. The two left quickly.
"Rin," Kagome called with a bright smile on her face as she came out of town.
Rin turned and squealed in delight running over to Kagome as she called her name. The little girl launched into Kagome's arms like Shippo typically did, and they spun, greeted, and laughed. By the time the group was settled down together in Kaede's hut, Rin could barely stop talking.
"So then Lord Sesshomaru brought us along because Jaken kept saying that he saw things in the woods and that the demons kept attacking us; they really did keep attacking us-they knew where we had been and tracked us-even though Jaken was strong enough with his fire staff to scare them off for a while, he couldn't kill them. AuUn was strong enough to kill them with Jaken weakening them but even that didn't work sometimes and then we had to flee-Lord Sesshomaru was not happy about that-which really was a shame; they always found us when we were at the best fishing spots." Her stream of asides and conjoined sentences just made Kagome's head reel.
"Who's this new ally of his?" Inuyasha asked.
Rin shut up and blushed dropping her head.
"Rin?" Kagome asked softly.
"Lord Sesshomaru doesn't want me to talk about him. He says that I shouldn't have seen what he did and that I shouldn't keep him in my thoughts."
"You don't have to tell us what he did," Kagome offered rubbing the little girl's cheek.
Shippo held out a lollipop to her.
Rin smiled happily and took it. "He is the one who took Kohaku away from Naraku when I got away," she unwrapped the sucker and popped it in her mouth.
"What happened to Kohaku?" Sango asked sitting forward to see Rin better around Kagome.
"Back when I saw you guys last, when I went to get Sesshomaru because the village was attacked, Naraku came and took over Kohaku. He fought as best he could and when I was leaving, I remember hearing Lord Youko's voice. Oh, that's what he told me his name was, Youko."
"Lord Youko?" Inuyasha pressed.
"M'lord's new ally. He says that Lord Sesshomaru needs a little mystery in his life or he won't ever have anything to look forward to in the future, whatever that means. He talks like that sometimes, all funny about the future and stuff. He told me his name even though he won't tell Lord Sesshomaru. I don't really like keeping it a secret, but he doesn't talk to me in front of Lord Sesshomaru and there is so much to talk about I always forget to tell Lord Sesshomaru I know Lord Youko's name. Lord Sesshomaru really doesn't like talking about Lord Youko. He gets frustrated every time I bring him up."
Jaken scoffed and beat his staff's head on the ground by the girl, "You just shut up little wench. These people do not need to know about him. It's best they didn't!"
"Jaken," Rin whined a little, "these people are my friends. Don't you remember when Kagome kept me safe all that time? You can tell them about Lord Youko if you don't want me to but they should know! He talks like Kagome sometimes."
Kagome and Inuyasha exchanged a glance.
Miroku sat back against the wall, "You can tell us what he looks like, can't you?" Miroku suggested as he fiddled with the cover on his hand.
"Sure!" Rin chirped. "He's got long silver hair like Lord Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, but he's got bigger pointy ears than Inuyasha and he has a tail. He doesn't wear armor like Lord Sesshomaru, but he doesn't wear robes like Inuyasha. He wears a sleeveless thing that's really white and glittery. Most of the time he's got stains on his clothes though. Lord Sesshomaru got uncomfortable with him being close to me when he started de-robing his victims and making them scream really loud." She drew in the dirt in front of herself.
"Oh," Kagome blushed brightly. "Yeah, you shouldn't think about that Rin. Um, Sango, why don't we go for a walk? Inuyasha, you want to come for protection?"
"I'll stay here to keep an eye on the kids," Miroku offered as he took Shippo from Kagome's lap. Kagome smiled and nodded her thanks as she herded the others out.