Chapter 20:

Shards of Life

"They had nothing to say to each other. A five-year age gap between siblings is like a garden that needs constant attention. Even three months apart allows the weeds to grow up between you."
― Zadie Smith,On Beauty

They were all moving as fast as they possibly could. Inuyasha had found a new vigor within him, possibly rage, and was moving faster than anyone had ever seen him move before now. He was pushing himself, and for good reason.

Kohaku was in danger. Kikyou's light was in danger, even if that was her plan.

Flying over an almost barren wasteland, the group were frantically looking down along the ground for any sign of the young boy. Sango was the most distraught. After all, it was her only little brother, the last of her family. She urged Kirara to move faster, and the fire nekomata obeyed. He was here, somewhere. Kagome could feel his shard, and Inuyasha could smell him.

All they could do was hope and pray they would find him first.

They found him being sent away by Kagura on a feather. She was now battling against Hakudoshi, for he had turned on Naraku and was wanting the shard for himself. He wanted to replace Naraku, to take the Shikon no Tama for his own, and Kohaku's shard was the key to doing that. Sango dropped Miroku off on the ground – more like forced him off – and was quickly on her way after her little brother, calling out to him as loudly as she could. Inuyasha wanted to go after her, but Kagome quickly stopped him.

"No, Inuyasha. This is something Sango has to do," she said gently, and the hanyou reluctantly agreed.

Inuyasha turned his gaze to Hakudoshi instead. "Time to finally die, ya little freak!"

Tessaiga was out of its sheath and dancing in Inuyasha's hands. Kagura watched from the sidelines in both fear and awe. Was Inuyasha trying to help her, or just saving her for later?

"Probably saving me for last," she muttered ruefully.

"I see you learn nothing, Inuyasha!" Hakudoshi taunted. "You know I will simply regenerate!"

Inuyasha didn't pay him any mind. He willed his blade to turn red and with one powerful swing, sent the Wind Scar rushing at the incarnation of Naraku. As Hakudoshi said, he regenerated fairly quickly. Miroku tried next, not caring if he would suck up the poisonous wasps as Hakudoshi taunted him with.

The saimyosho pulled back, and Hakudoshi let out a startled gasp. "What is the meaning of this!?" he screamed.

As a last act of defense, Hakudoshi released a miasma cloud, only for it to be purified by a Sacred Arrow shot from an angry looking Kagome with Ryura and Tsuyoshi standing on either side of her, weapons drawn.

Miroku let loose his Wind Tunnel then and with one final scream, Hakudoshi was sucked up into the endless void. The monk quickly wrapped his Wind Tunnel up, cutting off the tornadic like winds with a soft whisper of air. He didn't look back to the others as he turned and ran in the direction Sango had flown off in with Kirara. He needed to get to her.

The others left behind were quick to follow. Inuyasha was yelling at Miroku to wait, but the monk didn't act like he heard them. He was running so fast Inuyasha actually had to put in effort to keep up with him. Inuyasha knew the monk could be fast, but this was crazy. Ryura, carrying Kagome, and Tsuyoshi flying beside him had no problems keeping up with the monk, on the other hand. It was something that, despite the situation, Ryura teased Inuyasha about.

"Shut your fat face, Dragon!" Inuyasha bit out. "Screw you!"

Ryura chuckled darkly, almost sounding like a cackle. He had to keep Inuyasha angry. Ryura was worried what would happen if that anger left Inuyasha. It was no where near enough time for the hanyou to recover from the shock of Kikyou's second death. With this in mind he kept poking at Inuyasha, and no one tried to stop him. It was as if they knew what he was doing, and why he was doing it.

Miroku and Inuyasha jumped down into a ravine as Ryura and Tsuyoshi simply flew past them. Sango and her brother were close now, as was Moryomaru. Inuyasha had yelled his name, followed by a snarl that was Naraku's name once he and Miroku hit the bottom of the ravine. The information only made Miroku run faster.

Slowing himself down slightly and coming closer to the earth, Ryura twisted in the air and with one smooth motion dropped Kagome fluidly on the ground. With his hands now free he drew his swords and continued on without missing a beat. It was like he had never stopped at all. Kagome hopped on a foot until she found her balance just as Miroku and Inuyasha passed her. The Miko didn't have to chase after them, however. Inuyasha grabbed her on the way by and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Tsuyoshi flew over him and sternly said his name. Knowing what he wanted, Inuyasha tossed Kagome high into the air, only for her to fall into Tsuyoshi's arms, and then be swung around to his back. On instinct her legs and arms wrapped around him and her face pushed against the back of his neck.

"Do I look like a freakin' football to you guys!?" Kagome yelled in her rage at being tossed back and forth.

"Football?" Tsuyoshi asked over his shoulder.

Kagome groaned, "Oh, never mind! Just go faster!" She pointed ahead of them.

"As my Lady wishes," Tsuyoshi said with deep rumble of a chuckle that had Kagome slightly worried.

Tsuyoshi lightly landed on the ground, only to take off again like a bullet-train, and instead of being safely on the inside of a Japanese bullet-train, Kagome was on the outside. Except Tsuyoshi was the bullet-train, and Kagome's grip had become the tail his hair was in. She screamed at the top of her lungs as the world rushed by her in a blur. Faintly she saw the red and silver of Inuyasha streak by.

And she swore to the Kami-sama that she heard Inuyasha yell, "Good Kami, woman, shut your trap! My ears are gonna start bleeding!"

Tsuyoshi caught up with Ryura and quickly passed him, leaving the Dragon Daiyoukai coughing up dirt. He shook his head as he continued to fly with a faint grin. Tsuyoshi sounded like he was having fun, if his laughter was anything to go by and the sound of Kagome continuing to scream her head off. At least someone was enjoying this.

"Tssssuuuuyooosssshiiiii!" Kagome yelled, "If I could sit you I would!"

Tsuyoshi only laughed harder until he saw the battle before him. Sango was desperately trying to fend Moryomaru off with her Hirakotsu. Kirara was hanging back, keeping Kohaku pushed protectively against a cliff. The fire nekomata's fur was bristled, sticking up from her back and with her tails puffed out, snarling at anything that came too close.

The water Dragon came to a whirling halt, spinning quickly to slow himself down without forcing himself and Kagome too close to the battle. As for the Miko, however, she was let down and immediately began stumbling around, her eyes swimming with how dizzy she was. If it wasn't for Ryura catching her by the arm, she probably would have knocked herself out on one of the large boulders littering the ground.

Inuyasha came to a stop beside Ryura and Kagome, only to shoot forward again when Miroku didn't stop. He kept running and was soon involved in the battle. Everyone followed his actions, and Moryomaru was left stunned by the force that was suddenly attacking him. Ryura was lashing out with everything he had, as was Tsuyoshi, their weapons crackling merrily with the energy of their youki. Inuyasha released a Wind Scar and Kagome joined one of her arrows into the midst. All in all, it provided a safe barrier for Sango to grab Kohaku, despite his wishes, and high tail it out of the area on Kirara.

She landed on the cliffs high above and only then did she let go of Kohaku. They watched the battle happening before them with Sango holding onto Kohaku in such a way he wasn't able to flee like he was wanting to. He didn't want to hurt his sister, not again. Never again. If he stayed, he'd hurt her. He knew it. But he was pinned down with his arms behind his back. Sango was holding his wrists together with her hands and her knee was pushed into his left shoulder, effectively keeping him from moving much beside in a small wiggle.

No one noticed the lumps of flesh inching their way up the cliffs towards Kohaku.

Kagome had slowly walked over to a prone figuring laying on the ground off to the side. The person was covered in blood as Kagome warily made her way over, shooting arrows off whenever Inuyasha would release one of his attacks. Her movements still instantly when she saw who the person was.

"Kouga!" her yell was filled with terror, causing half of the battle's participants to turn and look at her.

She sank to her knees beside him and quickly started to dig out things to help stop the blood almost gushing from his legs. She couldn't feel the shards anymore, and she knew what had happened, but it wasn't something she could worry on at that moment. If Kagome didn't stop the bleeding, youkai or not, Kouga was going to die. Too many arteries, too much blood.

Kagome pushed down on both of his legs with a towel she would normally use for bathing, but it didn't seem like her strength would be enough, not until Ryura suddenly dropped down beside her and placed his hands on top of hers. With his added strength, Kagome was able to slowly make the bleeding slow to a trickle, and when it had, she set about wrapping Kouga's legs in bandages.

Both she and Ryura were covered in blood now, Kouga's blood to be exact.

Ryura took up a defensive position behind Kagome. He kept Fujinga at the ready, wind whistling around the metal of the blade. If anything dared to come near her and the injured wolf Prince, Ryura was prepared to tear them apart.

"Dragon Strike!"

Blue lightning in the form of a dragon danced around the group's location suddenly, and heads whipped around to see Sesshoumaru descend from the air in fury, his face etched into one of an almost hypocritical calm rage. He clashed with Moryomaru and yet again the tides were turned. The Inu Daiyoukai sped around Moryomaru, deftly dodging round after round of attacks the incarnation of Naraku would send at him. He spun on his heel and leaped high into the air, taking a moment to look around the battlefield. Spotting Kagome he watched her for a moment with Kouga and Ryura.

"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome called out right as she finished tying off the last of Kouga's bandages.

Ryura helped her move Kouga out of the way, safely hidden between a cliff of the ravine and a large boulder. After helping the Miko to her feet, Ryura jumped back into the fray with a fast growing grin. Kagome stayed behind to protect Kouga, and continued where she left off of firing arrows to mingle with the attacks Daiyoukai who were fighting.

Neither side relented, everyone gave every thing they had in them.

"I see. Kagura has finally done it. She's finally gotten herself killed. Isn't that wonderful, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Moryomaru suddenly snarled as he caught a whiff of Kagura's scent on the air, and her blood.

Sesshoumaru was furious now, but he said nothing. He pushed against Moryomaru with such a strength it broke through Moryomaru's "unbreakable" armor and broke Tokijin in the process, snapping in half with a loud shatter of now dead power. It was then, with a huff of annoyance, Moryomaru wisely decided to pull himself from the battle. If his armor was cracked, then surely that annoying Miko shooting arrows at him would be able to strike it with her reiki, and he would be in far more trouble then than he was now.

When he and his scent disappeared into thin air, Sesshoumaru frowned.

"Tsk," he tutted. He turned then to address his rampaging brother who was cursing at the sky. "Inuyasha."

"What!?" Inuyasha snapped.

"Watch over the boy," Sesshoumaru responded.

Inuyasha began ranting again about Sesshoumaru apparently thought he was stupid, but Sesshoumaru seemed to ignore it. He made his way for Kagome and when he reached her, he stopped within half a foot from her.

"Uh... Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked nervously as she looked up to the Inu Daiyoukai.

Sesshoumaru stared at her with some unfamiliar emotion, which was gone with a blink of his eyes.

"It suits you, Miko," he said cryptically.

Without another word, Sesshoumaru took to the air. He needed a new sword. One that preferably wouldn't break as easily as Tokijin had, the useless piece of junk. Never trust Naraku to make something that lasted longer than a few months. The blade had been made from one of his incarnations that broke Tessaiga, after all.

"What was... that about?" Kagome asked to no one in particular.

"I believe he meant your new appearance, Lady Kagome," Tsuyoshi answered her.

Inuyasha stepped between everyone and waved his arms. "In case you forgot, we kinda need to check Kohaku!"

Everyone snapped to attention and made their way to where Sango was still restraining Kohaku. Miroku took over for her, his strength greater than Sango's, which made it nearly impossible for Kohaku to escape.

"You can let me go. I won't run," Kohaku said honestly. His arms were starting to hurt.

With Sango's nod of permission, Miroku allowed Kohaku free. The boy took a few steps away and rotated his arms with a small frown. He was lucky they weren't dislocated with how hard Miroku had been holding him. As he did this, Kagome and Sango went into a question frenzy.

A small thin piece of flesh broke through Naraku's neck right before he could even think of their questions. The shard of the Shikon no Tama flew from his neck, and as quickly as the event happened, the light faded from Kohaku's eyes. He dropped to the ground as a lifeless heap.

Sango screamed in horror and dropped down beside him, "Kohaku!"

Kagome followed after Sango and began to work on focusing her reiki into a healing energy as she tried desperately to spark Kohaku's heart back to life, taking a page from the medical books of her future. She had to save him, she had to. She needed to save him for not only Sango, but for herself, as well. This was her fault, she felt, because if she had taken better care she would have noticed Naraku's flesh inching towards him, she would have felt it. She would have stopped it. Kohaku would still be alive.

For the second time in almost a day and a half, Kagome felt weak and helpless. First Kikyou, now Kohaku.

Both women tried everything in their power to bring the boy back to life, but it proved futile. Miroku and Inuyasha had to drag the women away and hold them back. He was gone, and they all knew it. Not even Sesshoumaru and Tenseiga could save Kohaku now without the shard to keep his soul tied to his body.

As Sango and Kagome continued to scream at the boy's loss, Ryura slowly inched forward and knelt down. With his right hand, he ran his fingers gently over Kohaku's eyes, closing them for the final time. He kept his hand on the boy's forehead as he murmured a small prayer to Touga, asking the Kami to watch over Kohaku and see to it that he wouldn't feel any more pain. It was the least Kohaku deserved due to the amount of torture he was subjected to since he was made to slaughter his own family.

Ryura's eyes snapped open. Under his hand he thought he felt Kohaku shift slightly, and he jerked his hand back as if it he had been burned. He watched with wide eyes as Kohaku took one rattling breath, and then another. Ryura could hear the beating sound of the boy's heart begin once more.

"Sango!" Ryura yelled to gain both her and Kagome's attentions.

Kohaku started coughing and Ryura rolled him over on his side as Sango wrenched herself free of Miroku's hold. She landed on her knees beside Kohaku and bent over, running a hand through his hair as she talked to him with urgency.

"Kohaku, can you hear me? Kohaku!" she exclaimed.

Brown eyes that mimicked Sango's slowly opened and Kohaku gave his sister a weak smile.

"Sister..." he said before he started to cough again.

Kagome shakily fished out a bottle of water from her pack and twisted the cap off, handing it to Ryura and telling him to make Kohaku drink it slowly. The Dragon Daiyoukai nodded and maneuvered Kohaku around until the young slayer was half sitting up. He instructed Kohaku to take small sips of water, and when he was finished, Kohaku smiled gratefully at him.

"Thank you," Kohaku murmured.

"How...?" Sango asked, bewildered as she looked to Ryura.

Ryura frowned with his brows creasing together. "I don't know. I didn't do anything..." he admitted.

"Kikyou's light," Kagome answered softly. "She gave it to Kohaku."

While everyone was ecstatic and grateful to Kikyou, they slowly began to realize that Kikyou's final plan to rid the world of Naraku would now fail. Her light was gone from the last shard now, and without it, it was going to be twice as hard to combat against Naraku now. He held all the pieces of the Shikon no Tama. It was full and corrupted.

Kagome could feel it within her very soul. It left her feeling chilled, as if she would never be warm again. Against her will she scooted a bit closer to Tsuyoshi and Ryura, trying to soak up the warmth they naturally emitted as Dragons. Her arms wrapped around herself and she shuddered. Now what was going to happen?

The exhausted group of Naraku hunters slowly made their way into Kaede's village. Kohaku was recovering and everyone needed the rest. If they weren't physically exhausted, they were emotionally exhausted. Even though the sky had opened up and drenched them with rain, no one seemed to pay attention.

Kagome rested on Tsuyoshi's back with her arms draped over his shoulders. The water Dragon was doing his best to keep the Miko dry, hence him carrying her instead of Ryura. Even then some of the rain managed to break through and Kagome's hair was plastered to her face with trail ends of her ponytail sticking to Tsuyoshi's neck as the Miko rested her head on his unarmored shoulder.

"Hey, do you think anyone would care if I went home? I have a lot of exams..." Kagome muttered, too tired to speak any louder.

Tsuyoshi craned his neck a bit to look down at Kagome, then he smiled softly. "I do not think the others would be against it," he said with a small nod.

The water Dragon sped up a bit until he came to walk in time with his Lord, and he told both him and Inuyasha of Kagome's request. The hanyou muttered and told her to do what she wanted. Ryura on the other hand smiled faintly and with a quick switch, he took over carrying Kagome's half-asleep form. He didn't say anything to the others as he turned and began to walk the other way in the direction of the well.

By the time he and Kagome reached the clearing, Kagome was fast asleep. Ryura sighed, coming to a halt with the toes of his boots lightly grazing against the wood of the well. He gazed down into the darkness, wondering just how he was going to get Kagome over to her time without just dropping her down the well and leaving her to fend for herself on the other side. Inuyasha was supposedly the only one who was able to pass over, but the hanyou was back at the village, and Ryura didn't want to keep Kagome out in the rain any longer than he had to. Ryura tilted his head and pondered. If he jumped into the well, would it take him too, or just leave him standing at the bottom without Kagome?

He faintly remembered Touga saying he was the one who ripped a portal in time, due to Kagome's presence needed in the past. If the Daiyoukai turned Kami had been speaking the truth, which he most likely was, then by all rights Ryura would be allowed to cross over as well. It couldn't hurt to try, right? Closing his eyes for a moment before hopping up on the lip of the well, Ryura gave the darkness once last glance before stepping off into it.

Landing on the bottom with a dull thump, Ryura looked around, confused. Nothing was happening, yet a part of him wasn't surprised. He lifted a foot off the ground and hummed with thought. Kagome was still in his arms, so that was at least one thing to be thankful for. She didn't disappear and end up on her side of the time-stream without a way to get herself to safety.

Ryura tilted his head back to look at the still darkened sky that was releasing its torrent of rain on the earth. He crouched then, intending on jumping out and just moving quickly to the village, but he didn't get the chance. At his feet an arcane rune flared outwards, covering the bottom of the Bone-Eater's Well. Blue and black magic swirled outwards from the rune and clung tightly to Ryura and Kagome, pulling them away into the space between the times. The Dragon Daiyoukai was forced to close his eyes at the intensity of the light, and when he opened them again, he found himself floating in almost void like space – again.

Uneasiness settled on his heart.

It was fine, he told himself. Kagome was still with him. There were small, firefly like lights dancing about them. They gave off a small ethereal light, just enough to see by. He wasn't engulfed in darkness again. He wasn't alone. He could still feel his body, could still smell Kagome and his own scent. He could still feel her in his arms, could feel the weight of his armor on his body and the weights of his swords on his back. He was okay.

Ryura's breath left him in a rush as the experience ended and he was standing on solid ground once more. He took a moment to calm down his racing heart while surveying his surroundings. He was still in the same well, except it seemed it was surrounded by a type of hut now, blocking off any view of the outside world from his eyes. Below him the earth vibrated softly with some unknown force. He could only silently wonder what it was.

His ears twitched as he faintly picked up sounds completely new to him. High pitched wails that, if he were Inu, would have made his ears bleed. His nose stung slightly with the scents that assaulted his nose. In the end, Ryura was forced to dial back his senses. The more he listened, the more he smelled, the more he felt, the more overwhelming everything became. Ryura shook his head and leaped out of the well, landing on top of a small stair case. The doors of the strange hut were right in front of him, and he was forced to slide them open with a foot.

Sunlight temporarily blinded him and he blinked quickly to rid himself of the dark spots in his vision. When his eyes were clear he sucked in a quick breath. As far as he could see there was no grass. Stone layered the ground, reaching outwards towards a Tori Gate off towards his left. Without the natural vegetation in the way, Ryura could easily see the Tree of Ages looming on one of the corners of the Shrine. Ahead of him stood a home Ryura knew to be too large for any normal family. He stole a glance down to the girl in his arms, wondering if she was more than she explained herself to be. It was a question that would have to wait until later.

Ryura walked for the house and stopped just at the door, wondering what in the hell kind of contraption it was. It had some sort of knob on it, and a window covered in glass was towards the top. He gave it a glare of death, frustrated with not knowing how to open it. He heard a giggle and his eyes shot down to the slightly awake Kagome. She had a goofy smile on her face, and just by looking at her drooping eyes, Ryura could tell she was still tired.

"Here," she said softly, "Let me help."

The Miko reached out and twisted the strange knob, then gave the now slightly cracked open door a weak push. It swung open enough for Ryura to shoulder it the rest of the way, and soon enough he was standing in the living room of Kagome's home. He toed his boots off.

With a yawn Kagome pointed at a stair case. "My room is up there. No one's home right now, 'cause it's a weekday."

"Weekday...?" Ryura asked as he walked towards where Kagome pointed.

He followed his nose from this point on and listened to Kagome explain.

"Yeah, means it's when we normally work or go to school. We have the weekends off, some of us at least," she muttered, still too tired to speak any louder.

Ryura nodded slowly, not truly understanding the point of it. He came to a stop in front of the door that smelled the most like Kagome and with a foot, nudged it the rest of the way open. It had been partially open before, and now Ryura was staring at the most pink room he had ever seen in his life.

A futon was raised off the floor, and Ryura guessed that to be her bed. He carefully set her down on it, and Kagome rolled to sit up. She needed to change, else she was going to get sick or ruin her bed. She stumbled to her feet and almost blindly opened a drawer, fishing out pajamas. Wobbling her way over to her door, she left the room and entered another with the door closing and locking behind her.

Left to his own devices, Ryura took the chance to look around. Her personal room was almost the size of the main room of Kaede's hut, which had Ryura believing Kagome was yet again noble born. His eyes took in a high desk with a chair in front of it, and on top of the desk laid different types of books. Ryura's curiosity got the best of him and he flipped the cover off one book and went through a few pages.

Numbers, charts, tables, and mathematical formula, not that Ryura would know what those were, popped back at him, and he quickly shut the book, thinking it was some kind of demon. Just what in the world was that? As if it was a dirty rag, Ryura picked up the book and tossed it to the other end of the desk, then set his sight on the book below it.

It took him a bit to get used to the style of kanji used, but he eventually made out the words, Forest Eyes: Selected Poems of a Mountain Home scrawled out artfully on the cover. Below the words rested a name, Tada Chimako. He guessed her to be the author.

When Kagome returned from changing and wringing out her hair, she caught Ryura sitting awkwardly at the chair of her desk, hunched over her poem book. He held a clawed finger to one of the pages and was slowly reading the words. Kagome guessed the differences of kanji was making it a bit difficult, but he looked to be managing well. She let out a quiet chuckle and came to stand beside him. He looked so out of place and so big in her room. His presence was a commanding one, Kagome wouldn't deny that.

Wrapping her arms around Ryura's shoulders, Kagome murmured, "Thanks for bringing me here."

Ryura sat straight and blinked, opening his mouth to say something, but he stopped himself when Kagome let go. He twisted slightly to watch her climb into her bed and give him a bright smile as she settled herself into a comfortable position.

"Make yourself at home. I'm just going to take a nap," she said as she wrapped her arms around a stuffed animal and held it tightly to her chest.

"Rest well, Kagome. I will try to be here when you wake," he promised with a half-grin in her direction.

Kagome gave him a final, sleepy smile and with no time at all, was deeply asleep, snoring softly. Ryura smiled faintly and rose from the odd chair, setting down the book as he stood. He slid Fujinga and Raijinga from their sheaths and settled them against a nearby wall. His armor came next, joining his swords in a pile against the wall. When he was only wearing his clothing, he picked the book back up and sat with his back against Kagome's bed.

He felt more comfortable on the floor than in the chair, apparently.

Time passed by slowly as Ryura busied himself reading through the book of poems. He had never seen them before, and they were very well written, by a woman to boot. Normally, in his era, women didn't produce any works such as this, simply because nearly all human women didn't know how to read or write. Unless, of course, they were nobility. He sneaked a suspicious glance back at Kagome. Tutoring, reading, writing – she had to be of noble birth.

Minutes fell into hours and the only sounds heard in her room were Ryura flipping pages of the book and Kagome's soft snoring. Ryura was starting to read faster, picking up on the modern styled kanji and no longer needed to keep his place with a finger. By the time he heard the door downstairs open, he had just finished the last page. Hearing someone come into the home surprised Ryura and he quickly stood, the book laying forgotten on the floor, and made his way for the door of Kagome's room. He grabbed Raijinga as he walked past and kept the sword resting to his side. The Dragon Daiyoukai's footfalls were soft as he trotted down the stairs.

Only to come face to face with a woman who promptly screamed when she saw him.

"Who are you!?" she yelled as she held up her purse defensively.

Ryura looked at her carefully, then let out a laugh. The woman was definitely Kagome's mother. Their features were almost identical, even if they had different coloring. Kagome's mother only looked at Ryura with shock as he laughed, and then jumped back with a terrified squeak when he bowed deeply to her.

"Forgive me, Lady Higurashi. I did not mean to scare you," he straightened himself with a smile and looked to her once more. "I am Ryura the Dragon. I brought your daughter home."

"Oh!" she sighed with relief. "Kagome's friend."

"You believe me so easily?" Ryura asked, shocked.

Hitomi smiled. "You look just like she described, Ryura."

"Kagome... She told you of me?"

Hitomi nodded and laughed at the look on his face. The man looked shocked beyond belief that Kagome would even mention him in passing, never mind going into full detail about how he looked and who he was. Hitomi wanted to tease him because of it.

"It was the last time she was home," Hitomi began with a secret smile. "Kagome simply gushed over you, Ryura. I can't begin to explain how excited she looked while telling me about you. 'His hair, mama, his hair - it's so soft and shiny! And his eyes look like rubies!' were a few of the things she said, I believe."

It wasn't far from the truth either. Kagome had gushed over the youkai standing in front of Hitomi. Her little girl was growing up and was taking a more advanced interest in men. Never had Hitomi heard Kagome speak so highly of a man before, and it left a small pang of parental worry in her heart. Her little girl, her eldest child, was becoming a woman.

Well, Hitomi thought, at least she had chosen such a good looking man to gush over.

Ryura held a blush that covered his cheeks and he refused to look at the woman. Hitomi couldn't help herself.

"You know," she said as she walked past him further into the living room to set down her bags, "Not even Inuyasha got that sort of attention. Sure, she spoke lightly on how he looked and acted, but you... Now that's a different story."

Ryura cleared his throat and awkwardly looked to the floor at his feet. Kagome had really talked about him to that extent? What was going on!?

"Anyway, dear!" Hitomi clapped her hands with a laugh. "Where is my daughter?"

"Ah... um..." Ryura couldn't speak. He simply pointed above himself to where Kagome was sleeping.

"Oh, poor thing... She must be exhausted. I'll start cooking a nice dinner for when she wakes up, then!" Hitomi cheerfully chirped. "You're welcome to help me if you want, Ryura!"

Kagome's nose twitched, then twitched again. Slowly her eyes fluttered open and she inhaled. What was that smell? It almost smelt like oden. She was up and out of bed without any further thought. Grabbing clothes out of her closet and zooming off to the bathroom, Kagome couldn't help herself. She started to drool. It had been such a long, long time since she had her mother's oden.

She quickly took a bath and dried herself off, dressing in a pair of faded light blue denim jeans and a white tank top. Rushing back to her room once her hair was dry, she pulled out a beige knit sweater and tossed it over her head, pulled on a pair of socks, and then almost ran down the stairs and towards the kitchen.

Kagome could hear voices from outside. Her little brother, Souta, was excitedly chattering away, asking questions that seemed a bit weird to Kagome.

"I am a Dragon, yes."

Ryura's deep voice answering her brother had Kagome in almost a panic. She had forgotten in her starved rush to get dressed that Ryura was the one who brought her home! How many ofudas did her grandfather try to plaster him with? How many questions had Souta been asking him, and dear Kami above what did her mother think!?

It was every little boy's dream to meet a Dragon. She had to stop Souta before he asked some silly question like for Ryura to take his true form!

She pushed her way into the room and squeaked at what she saw. Ryura was standing at the stove next to her mother, looking over his shoulder every now and then to answer Souta's questions. The Dragon wasn't wearing any armor, and was simply dressed in his white attire and barefooted. Kagome's grandfather sat at the kitchen table, staring at Ryura's back.

Souta noticed his sister's entrance first and quickly was standing in front of her.

"You have such a cool friend, Kagome! He's a Dragon, a real live Dragon!" Souta excitedly yelled.

Kagome gave in then and laughed while ruffling Souta's hair. "Yep, he's a Dragon all right. Maybe if you're good I can convince him to show you what he really looks like?"

Souta's face lit up then and he nodded rapidly. "I'll be good, I promise!"

"Kagome..."

Oh boy. Now it was time to face her grandfather, and he didn't sound too pleased.

A.N.: I adore you guys!

Forest Eyes: Selected Poems of a Mountain Home by Tada Chimako is actually a real book. Should check it out!