Disclaimer: No Inuyasha is not mine, he's Kagome's, and Takahashi, Rumiko's, and alas mine name does not make the list.

AN: Here's the big chapter so just read I'll rant afterwards.

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When Good Miko Go Bad

Chapter 21 Reunion

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Inuyasha's voice was oddly dead and unemotional, yet his companions could see the rage and terror hidden in his eyes. "Yah its blood… Kagome's blood."

They all stared at the red-brown stains marring the clearing, following the trail with their eyes. "Her scent goes that way." Inuyasha deadpanned, pointing toward the drag marks and various sets of foot prints leading off through the trees.

"Toward the hot springs." Sango whispered.

"Of course, if Lady Kagome was injured she would want to bathe and remove the blood from her clothing." Miroku commented wisely.

"She can't be hurt that badly if she can walk to the hot springs." Shippou stated hopefully though his face was oddly pale compared to his brilliant orange hair.

The others nodded in agreement, except for Inuyasha who was shaking in anger, fist clutched at his sides. A sudden shift in the wind brought a fresh scent to his nose. Kagome; she's close, and moving. Without farther thought he ran against the breeze pushing on to reach the source of the horridly familiar fragrance. I let her get hurt again; I never should never have left her. His feet pounded the ground with every step, kicking up dirt in his wake and leaving shallow impressions on the ground.

As he went on, making slow agonizing progress, Kagome's scent mixed with that of hot water and natural vapors. Drawing nearer to the water Inuyasha pushed through the last of the brush, not noticing the bloody robes hanging on the branch, he breathed, "Kagome…"

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"Are you sure we should have let her go alone, I mean there was a great deal of blood?" Shiri was uncharacteristically worried, her foot digging into the ground as she twisted it uneasily.

Tari too was feeling tense, her muscles were still stiffened for battle, "We have to watch Marianne, and we can't leave Gamamochi alone." The weasel demon had proved harmless enough, he even had taken a sort of idol worship view upon Kagome, refusing to talk to anyone but her, and clamming up in her absence. "Besides she has not been gone long, and Kagome is strong she can take care of herself." The reasoning didn't seem sound to the two worried friends. Leaving their wounded leader and friend alone at night this close where they had been attacked did not sit well with them, but Kagome had insisted that they stop at the springs.

At the shrill sound of Kagome's scream pierced the night the three miko and one youkai grabbed their weapons and tore off.

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"Sit!" She yelled on reflex she didn't really know why, but the situation brought about an odd sense of déjà vu she couldn't explain.

The red figure slammed into the ground and groaned, "Okay maybe I didn't miss that." Straightening up he noted the deep indentation he had made. Huh never used to be that deep. Kagome was staring at him wide-eyed and chin deep in water, daggers pining him with exact precision. "Oi wench what was that for?" Smooth hanyou piss 'er off first thing. His inner voice said. Before he could open his mouth to take back his words or offer more four unfamiliar yells of various versions of Kagome interrupted him and he was surrounded by three pissed priestesses, and a demon, Kagome watching from the cover of the water.

To say the least Inuyasha was stunned, all thoughts beyond 'what the hell' fleeing his brain. "Has this demon harmed you, sister?" the blond asked, not taking her eyes, or bow away from Inuyasha. His mind was spinning, Like I would ever hurt Kagome, looks to me you're the threat here, Inuyasha looked between the band surrounding him and back at Kagome several times before recalling the companions the serving girl had mentioned. So she wasn't looking for us. This realization had him slightly put out, okay so more than slightly that, he was mentally pouting, but he didn't have to admit it.

Kagome didn't reply to the blond girl instead directing her voice to the young girl with red hair, "Shiri-chan could you hand me my clothes?" The little girl nodded rushing over to a bush to pull out clean miko garb from the pack hiding there, and bringing the bundle over to Kagome. The miko formed a sort of wall to block Inuyasha's view, though he had averted his gaze as well, trying to fight off the blush rising to his cheeks. "We should just destroy you now demon, sneaking up on a priestess while she bathes. In any case you are most likely the one whom was controlling the weasel before. Do not deny it youkai. Speak and I may spare you." The blond spat.

Inuyasha looked at her as if she was crazy, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Very well you have chosen your fate." She drew back her arrow, at such a range it would be impossible to miss, and likely very messy. "Good bye."

"Stop!" The command, and hand slapping to the firing arm, had the desired effect.

"Kagome nee-san what is the meaning of this?" The blond glared at the offending hand, which did not move.

"We do not kill without cause, besides, he hasn't done anything." Inuyasha sighed in relief; attacking her new friends didn't sound like a good way to greet her after all this time.

"It very well may have, you think its arrival is just chance? After this afternoon's events, your injury would be the perfect opportunity to eliminate you."

Kagome eyes steeled, not missing the intentional 'it' nor the fact that Marianne had taken note of her weakened state. "No killing." Inuyasha shivered at the intensity of her voice, has Kagome always been this scary? The blond was still glaring, but relaxed her weapon, looking nervously between Kagome and Inuyasha. Removing her hand Kagome turned her attention to Inuyasha, and smiled. "Sorry about that." She said sweetly.

In return Inuyasha blinked, "Feh, that's it, honestly Kagome, that's all you have to say." Stubbornly he crossed his arms.

Kagome's forehead wrinkled in confusion, "You know me?"

He froze, as if ice had found its way into his haori. His amber eyes sought the familiar brown of hers, but found no recognition in their depths, just thought, as if she was trying to connect puzzle pieces. "Well duh," he couldn't think of what else to say Is it possible does she really not remember. The two stared at each other, neither willing to break the connection. She working to catch and click this person to any of her memories, and he willing her to recognize him. The tension in the air was not helping.

"Kagome-sama?" a soft voice asked, "Are you ill, you look as if you are troubled?" Kagome broke eye contact with a laugh, crouching down to the child's level and ruffling her hair affectionately. "You really should rest; your wounds were rather deep."

At the mention of wounds Inuyasha felt a stab of guilt, but Kagome brushed off the girl's comment, "I'll be fine, don't you worry. We should be getting back to camp anyway." With a small tilt of her head Kagome indicated for the girl to go to the other dark haired miko. "You guys go ahead okay." She shared a silent communication with the two, Inuyasha only caught the uneasy glances they through at their blond companion. For some reason he got the feeling that Kagome didn't like her, and Kagome disliked very few people, he didn't like the miko much either, but he tended not to make friends with people who threatened him or called him 'it', okay so he tended to make friends, except Kagome, but he credited her with that one.

Without really thinking about it Inuyasha followed the group as they drifted away from the springs. Kagome lingered back next to him and let the others take the lead, keeping a careful distance way from the blond of the group. Having been separated for such a time Inuyasha was hyper aware of the girl next to him, noting every change, every movement, or shift of her eyes. Once they were clearly out of earshot of the rest of the group she spoke, almost hesitantly, "Your name's Inuyasha isn't it." She almost seemed fearful of the answer.

"Feh, so you do remember?" He huffed rather irritated she was playing such a stupid and hurtful game.

"Not really my memory has been a little…off. I apparently fell off a cliff, I couldn't remember anything for awhile, but when I finally did the memories don't match up, and I think they might be fake, and… I really should shut up now." She hadn't realized she'd been rambling to someone who, for all intensive proposes, was a stranger.

Inuyasha couldn't help the little half-smile; it was a rare sight to see Kagome so nervous. "So you remember my name but not me?" he teased.

"Not really… just…your voice, calling my name." Her cheeks reddened slightly though she didn't know why, and she felt the strange urge to hug him. Stop it Kagome, he might know you but you don't know him. She scolded herself.

Control yourself man, she doesn't remember you, you can't go getting' all confessional on her. His thoughts mirrored her own. "When you fell, right?" She nodded trying to hide her pink face. Even when they had first met Inuyasha had never been this uneasy around her, Kagome's aura was even slightly different, stronger, for the first time his youkai senses were registering Kagome as a miko, and a powerful one. She's always been strong, he reasoned, now its just more obvious, never the less the change in her aura unnerved him, something about it didn't seem quite right, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Wait she said her memories didn't fit…could that…is Naraku somehow messing with her?

He didn't realize he'd been growling until Kagome turned to face him full-on "What's wrong?" She'd become tense her eyes darting around in search of danger.

"Ah nothing," he forced his throat clear, "where are we going anyway?"

Kagome relaxed instantly at his reassurances, "Back to camp." he nodded absently.

"Ah Kagome…" She blinked up at him, "the others are probably looking for us."

"Others?"

She doesn't remember you moron, "Yeah, Shippou, Kirara, Sango, and Miroku, they were all worried."

Kagome's eyebrows knit together in concentration, "Why does that last name make me think of red handprints?" Inuyasha really did laugh this time, "What?" the girl turned to him hands on hips, her lower lip jutting out in a slight pout. He recognized that expression and hastily tried to keep the usual fight from starting, "It's just that, of all the things, you remember that. God I've missed you." He stopped abruptly before he could say anything else embarrassing, Kagome's blush had returned and it had brought along a friend.

"So, how did you find me?"

Inuyasha shifted his eyes guiltily, not sure if he should be glad for the change in subject or not. "There was a trail…it had your scent. You're okay, right?"

She smiled, "the blood right?" He didn't answer, "I'm fine it's just a scratch, but I meant like before that, after the whole…"she trailed off, miming with her hands an exaggerated fall.

Had the situation been different he would have given her a smirk and poked fun at her description of falling, but as things were he didn't. "It took awhile, pretty much just asking around, though I guess our description wouldn't have helped," he eyed her new apparel, kind of missing the old green uniform, "So when that didn't work we figured you'd be looking for the jewel shards, you do know about the jewel shards?," she nodded and he continued, "thought we'd try to met up with you that way. There'd been rumors about demons in the area, and someone in the village saw you talking to a man at the sake house, and-"

"Sake house? I wasn't in the sake house, actually," she put a finger to her chin, "I wasn't even in the village for more than ten minutes this morning." Her wrinkled brow smoothed out as understanding hit, "Marianne; that must have been her when she was checking in with her contact. Marianne's the one that tried to shoot you." She clarified at Inuyasha's obvious confusion.

"You don't like her much huh?"

A light laugh escaped Kagome's lips, "Yeah, you could say that." Her smile faltered a bit as if she was realizing something important, "I have a feeling we have a lot to catch up on."

"Feh, damn right." She smiled as he crossed his arms, and they lapsed into a slightly awkward, but not uncomfortable silence.

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Meanwhile, Marianne was groping out with her mind, desperately trying to reach Lady Daichi. This is urgent, she mentally sent with every ounce of her spiritual power she could expand out. It took quite some time to get a response, and when one came there were no pleasantries or knocking, What has happened child?

The half-breed has found her, and she knows they were companions.

That does not matter now it is all a part of his plan. Let them alone her memories are no longer our concern.

But senpai, do we not need her powers.

They are of little conscience compared to what my sisters shall gain.

Very well what are your orders?

Remain watchful, he shall soon make his move, however if the opportunity presents itself, obtain the shards. When the time comes you know who to kill.

Hai.

Faster than it had been established the connection broke, leaving Marianne to her own mind and battle ready thoughts. No witnesses are to be permitted; the secrets of our temple shall remain so. I shall see it done Daichi-sama.

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Upon arriving at the campsite all the miko tensed, someone, or more accurately; someones had joined there camp. "KAGOME!" An orange ball of fuzz launched itself at the miko, she instinctively held out her arms to catch it, only to me met with little fists clinging to her clothing and a sobbing kitsune burying his face in her chest. "We were so worried we thought you had-had died." He wailed. She didn't know why she wasn't creped out, but she held the little boy close anyway and shushed him gently.

Sango, Miroku and Kiara had converged on the group of three. "Kagome are you hurt we saw the blood and Inuyasha said…"Sango rambled giving the girl an awkward one armed hug.

"Ah Kagome-sama how good it is to see your lovely face, and I must say you have grown lovelier in your time away." In his attempted hug Miroku did not get far, a red Sango hand colored one cheek before he could make contact with the most coveted of body parts.

"That explains the hand print." Kagome whispered to Inuyasha, he smirked to cover a laugh as Kirara joined Shippou in her arms, rubbing up against the miko and purring deeply, she starched the cat's ears without thinking. "This all is very familiar, and it feels…" she fished around for a word that could accurately describe the situation, coming up with nothing better she finished, "right." Inuyasha gave her a small smile. "Good 'cause I don't plan on lettin' you go again, and from the looks of things you've got a permanent new addition to your clothes."

She smiled, "I don't really mind." Their eyes met and for a moment Inuaysha could see that same look she used to have the one that reflected him in a completely excepting light.

The distinctive sound of a throat clearing broke the contact, "Um…Kagome-sama," Shiri looked around innocently, not the least bit afraid of the new comers, in her mind if they liked Kagome they were okay in her book, well except for the fox. "Who are these people?"

Sighing heavily Kagome motioned for them all to gather around, "We have a lot of explaining to do." Everyone nodded in agreement.

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Okay I have no rant. Don't kill me if you don't like it I wasn't 100% happy myself so I might rewrite it later but for now no flames please constructive criticism is welcome. The chapters kind of short but not by much so that's fine, next chapter will be in about two weeks, but I have to update BTP first. That's pretty much it.