Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait! School's already a pain in the butt…so blame me for the late update.

But here we go!

Chapter 27

Hikara's P.O.V.

I ran away crying because of the things Inuyasha had said. I can't believe he even said what he said! My heart was in my throat and my eyes were blurred with tears. I could barely think straight as my feet took off running.

Before I knew it, I was on the roof. Exhausted and unable to go any further, I collapsed in a pile of tears. I couldn't comprehend whether I was in physical pain from running so much while sobbing like hell or whether I was emotionally tortured.

I guess you can say a bit of both.

But I seriously couldn't understand! I was just doing this for their sake! I was thinking of their safety! So why the hell did Inuyasha do that?! It was completely unnecessary!

…I just can't believe everyone felt that way…

Is it too much to say that I'm just really upset right now? And for Inuyasha to just suddenly accuse me and yell at me in front of everyone like that was too much for me to handle.

But I guess it's partly my fault since I failed to explain to them and introduce Ayame and Kirro. Thinking back, I even remember Natsume trying to talk to me but I was too busy with my other friends. I guess it wasn't fair of me to leave them out like that.

I tried to calm down my hiccupping sobs and when I was wiping away my tears, I heard the door to the roof open and footsteps approaching me.

I didn't even need to look behind me as I caught her scent and felt her presence.

I sniffled. "Shouldn't you be with everyone else?"

Natsume sat down beside me. "Well, you are my sister after all. And family should always stick together."

"But you think I'm the one at fault here."

"I can't say I didn't feel hurt," she explained," but I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding."

"I'm sorry," I mumbled miserablely. "I should've known how you guys felt. But I was just showing those two girls around, honest! I would never abandon you guys. I mean, I thought I was a nuisance since Naraku is after me."

Natsume's eyes softened. "Hikara, you know you're never a problem to us. We would never think of you that way. Especially me. You're my sister and sure, this is one of the few bumps we've had along the way but in the end, we're all here to help you. The point is to stay by each other's side and now that we have more friends, we have more reason to stay close. Naraku is also after Kagome and she hasn't left us. Not because she wants to put us in danger or make us protect her, but she knows that we're stronger when we stick together."

"But-"

"No buts," Natsume scolded as she stood up. She held out her hand and smiled warmly. "C'mon, let's head back. Everyone's waiting for you."

I could feel my eyes tearing up again as I looked up at my sister. Sniffling, I took her hand as she pulled me up into a warm embrace.

"Alright," I whispered. "Let's go back."

Kagome's P.O.V.

I looked over as the two sisters came back hand in hand. I couldn't help but smile.

Good for them, I thought.

While they were gone, everyone else that remained had the chance to finally know who those two girls Hikara were showing around were. That is, once Inuyasha had calmed down.

It turns out that the two girls are sisters that just moved here and had coincidentally met Hikara while she was out shopping. Ayame and Kirro were wolf-demons, Kirro being only half, and actually reminded me of when Hikara and Natsume first moved in. Once we got to know them, they were actually really good people.

I glared at Inuyasha who was still looking over at the siblings suspiciously as he sat in a classroom chair. As much as I appreciate his will to protect people and stand up for others, he should be trained to do it…a little more reasonably.

"We're back."

I looked over to Natsume and her sister. "Glad to see you two acting normal again," I said.

Ayame and Kirro walked up to Hikara with concern on their faces. "You ok now? To save you the trouble we already introduced ourselves to everyone and they understand what happened."

Hikara nodded her head. "I'm fine now."

"Why the hell didn't you introduce them earlier?" Inuyasha suddenly interjected, causing everyone to look at him in irritancy.

I almost giggled. Inuyasha was actually pouting.

But keeping my face straight, I walked over to him and pulled on one of his ears to get him to look up at me.

"Ow, ow, ow!" he complained as I raised his golden eyes to meet mine.

"Don't you have something to say to Hikara, Ayame and Kirro?"

He looked away with his eyes. "…No…"

I tugged his ears a little harder.

"Ow! Stop doing that, would ya?!"

"No, not unless you apologise!"

"I never apologise to anyone, damn it!"

"Except to me?" I whispered to him only, knowing he'd be the only one who would hear me. I recalled the times Inuyasha had sincerely apologised to me and felt my heart give a few painful thumps.

A blush settled across his face as he sputtered.

I waited.

After a few minutes of silence, he mumbled, "Sorry."

I finally let go of his ear and turned to Hikara and everyone else. "Well, that's as close to an apology he'll ever get. Sorry it's not more."

Hikara shook her head. "It's fine. It was partly my fault too."

Suddenly, Ayame piped up. "Say, Kagome. After school do you want to go shopping with us?"

"Sure, as long as everyone else can come too."

She nodded and grinned. "Yup, they can come."

After school...

I called my mom after my last class ended and told her I was going shopping with my friends. Heading over to Sango's house, we waited for everyone to arrive. The guys had called Sango to tell her that they would get there on their own. As Hikara, Natsume, Ayame and Kirro arrived, we prepared to take Sango's car and drive to the mall.

Sango gave her brother one last shout of her leave and as she announced to Kohaku that she wouldn't be home till late, all we heard was a "Yippie!" from upstairs. Laughing, we all crowded into Sango's car and headed to the mall.

At the mall...

When we got there and met up with Inuyasha and Miroku, the first thing we did was go to get some food. Despite eating lunch at school we were seriously starving!

We all had pizza with the exception of Inuyasha, who was eating his ramen with added enthusiasm. After we ate, we started walking around to see what stores we would go to. The girls bought some clothing and the guys…just munched on more snacks along the way. We laughed, shared jokes and had a really good time. Our once small group had grown and we were surrounded by more people than ever.

Before we knew it, the sky was darkening and all our feet started to hurt. We were just about to head home when a shop in the corner caught my eye. There was no sign hanging over its mantle nor could I find the name. I could feel a mysterious aura coming from inside.

I shivered. It wasn't a bad feeling but for some reason, my body was tingling with excitement.

"Hey, why don't we go in there? We don't have to buy anything but let's just check it out," I suggested. I could see several swords and weapons hanging on the grey wall and other types of magical objects sitting on the shelves. Nobody was as eager as I was but they agreed nonetheless.

As I came closer to the entrance, something made me stop and I instantly told everyone to do the same. You could imagine the confused looks I got.

"What is it, Kagome?" Sango asked.

"There's a barrier here," I responded. I was just examining it when a voice emerged from the inside.

"That barrier will do you no harm if you do not intend to do evil."

An old woman in feudal-era priestess garbs approached them from inside the store. Her hair was fully grey and tied in a low ponytail. Her back was slightly hunched and she had her hands held behind her. Her wrinkled face looked kind as she smiled slightly at the visitors. If it wasn't for that black eye patch on her

"Kaede, is that you?" Hikara suddenly spoke.

"Oh, Hikara! Natsume! What are you two doing here?"

Without replying, Hikara and Natsume both ran towards the old woman laughing and giggling. They hugged the surprised Kaede warmly.

Seeing no harm, everyone else followed and to no surprise were we unharmed while going through the barrier.

The moment I entered, I was overwhelmed by the smell of jasmine. I looked over to the reunion that was going on. I wonder how they know each other.

"Are these your friends?" Kaede asked the sisters after she was released from her hugs.

"Yep," smiled Natsume. "This is Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Ayame and Kirro."

We all greeted her back politely. Inuyasha, of course, was the usual exception. He just scoffed and stood his place.

"It's nice to meet you," I said, glaring over at him.

"The pleasure's mine," Kaede responded, also eyeing Inuyasha. Then she turned to Hikara and Natsume. "I'm happy that you've managed to find trustworthy friends, you two…that demon over there is the exception."

"Oi, I can here you, old hag!"

"What did you call me?!"

"You heard me, hag."

"I have ways to deal with a demon like you," Kaede warned.

Although this argument was happening, we all got this feeling that it wasn't serious.

Miroku put an arm around Inuyasha's shoulders and said to Kaede, "Don't worry about Inuyasha over here. He's just a half-demon and really quite harmless."

"Harmless my ass! I can put you all in your graves!"

"Now, now, Inuyasha, calm down."

Kaede nodded her head. "Respect your elders."

I suddenly shivered, and it drove her away from the center of attention. I could feel goose-bumps rise on my skin. That feeling again. Looking around I eyed a bow and quiver filled with arrows. The long bow was painted red and the quiver was a nice mahogany colour.

"You're a priestess aren't you?" Kaede spoke, snapping me out of my daze. The argument had receded.

I looked over at her surprised. She smiled warmly in return.

"I'm a priestess myself and I can tell that you have strong spiritual powers."

"T-Thank you," I stammered.

But then she frowned. "So if you're a priestess, how is it that you have the same bounding necklace as Hikara?"

"Naraku's came after her," Hikara explained solemnly. The mood in the room suddenly dropped to a very mournful aura. "With the vampire power he stole from me, he changed Kagome when she was kidnapped."

"You're to say Naraku is still after you? And now he's taken on a new victim?" Kaede frowned. "In that case, take those arrows you see on the wall. I noticed you looking at them before."

"Wha-what? No, I can't just take them. I have to pay."

"No, with your current situation, money doesn't matter. And beside, you're friends with Hikara and Natsume," the old lady insisted.

Although unsure at first, I smiled gratefully and took the bow and arrows from the wall.

Kaede looked from me to everyone else. "Same goes for all of you. You all need weapons and I'll gladly supply them for free."

"Keh, like I'll need…" Inuyasha's usual retort faded to our surprise. We saw him looking at a sword propped by the wall. Its hilt was wrapped with old cloth and the sheath was black.

"That is Tessaiga. It has enough power to strike down 100 demons with a single stroke. Sadly, it hasn't let any demon touch it for it has a strange barrier around it. Only humans can touch it but can't access its power."

Inuyasha walked over and picked it up. Nothing reacted and no barrier was evident. We all watched as Inuyasha pulled the sword from its sheath. To our surprise and utter shock, he pulled out an enormous blade in the shape of a fang. No way would that originally fit with that sheath.

Even Kaede was mystified. "It seems you are able to hold its power. It's yours for the taking."

With a satisfied smirk, the blade turned back to what we all assumed was its original form; a rusty katana. Sliding it back in, Inuyasha strapped it to his belt. "I'll take it. There must be a reason I'm the only one able to hold this sword."

There was a sudden awed shout from the other corner of the room. Sango was gaping at a giant cream-coloured boomerang. The tips were wrapped with a brown cloth and loosed enough for a hand to slip through.

"Could I take this?!" Sango asked Kaede in excitement. I laughed. She certainly didn't waste any time.

"That is Hiraikotsu. A weapon that once belonged to a clan of demon-slayers. It's heavy enough for even a grown man to struggle with it," Kaede warned.

Sango lifted it up with one hand. Today's just full of surprises. "It's not so heavy," she grinned.

"So that's why her slaps are so much more painful than others," Miroku mumbled.

Kaede moved to the wall and picked up a staff tall enough to level Miroku's height. She handed it over to him. The top was a circular golden metal with several metal rings that jingled while it moved. The long part of the staff wasn't gold but a brown, wooden colour. Kaede didn't hesitate to tell us that this staff isn't made from wood.

Kaede said, "Since you are a monk despite your lecherous thoughts, you should hold on to this."

Miroku took some time to weigh, turn and twirl the staff in his hand with ease. "This will be handy in the future. I'll take it!"

Kirro decided on a sword whereas Ayame just shrugged and kindly denied a weapon.

"I don't need one," she replied.

Then came Hikara and Natsume. Hikara eyed a huge sword on the wall and asked, "Kaede, you kept Ryuu?"

Ryuu…does she mean dragon, I thought?

Kaede nodded. "Yes, that's there because I've still kept it from when I was first entrusted it. Don't worry, it wasn't for sale. And despite it being very powerful, I did say that I would give it to you when you got older. It's yours now."

Hikara didn't hesitate to grab the huge sword. "I can't believe it! Thank you so much! Now I can use its powers again!"

"Oh my gosh, you kept Mizu?!" Natsume suddenly gasped. She was looking at a metal circle with a star in the middle. It looked like some type of relic. Taking it in her hand, she said, "Thanks for taking care of it for me."

"Not at all," Kaede replied.

I couldn't believe it. We all had weapons. Actual weapons! We thanked Kaede for her kindness.

Well…almost everyone, if you know what I mean.

I was just about to leave and follow everyone when I heard Kaede call my name.

"Kagome, child. Take these and put them around Inuyasha's neck. I can tell that he can be a handful and something about his half-demon blood worries. If anything happens, just use a word that bounds his soul to your bidding." She handed me a bead necklace.

Heavy in my hands, the large bead were made up of round, black ones and several white ones that resembled fangs.

"Thank you for everything, Kaede," I said.

With a final goodbye, we all left with content hearts and eager weapons.

Sorry it took so long! I had quite a bit of editing to do since it was so long. Hope you liked it!

See you next time,

InuKag4evertgether (author) + WanderingDreamer4Ever (editor)