"Quit pulling my tail!"

"I just wanna brush it! Keep still!"

"No! Your hands are all sticky! You're pulling my fur!"

Inuyasha felt his ear twitch and he dug his claws further into the wood underneath him. Sesshoumaru wasn't joking. Hours before the sun rose, Sesshoumaru had woken everyone and they all had left silently. Inuyasha was now stuck with a human girl, his demon pup, and a toad. Sesshoumaru was a cruel man.

The hanyou felt his self-control breaking piece-by-piece. Between Shippou's shrill cries, Rin's loud yells, and Jaken's annoying squawks, the hanyou was at his wit's end. He had nearly a month of not speaking to anyone, but he was quickly losing his patience. Slowly, he cracked an eye open to look at the children.

Rin was grabbing harshly onto Shippou's tail with a purple substance on her hands. The fox kit was crying miserably with a face as red as a tomato. The toad was starting to turn purple with all his yelling.

"Rin! You stop that right now! As Lord Sesshoumaru's daughter, you must conduct yourself as a young lady! Not a hooligan! Rin! Are you listening to me!" Jaken squawks.

"Is this how you baby sit?"

Inuyasha turns around on his seat on the wooden steps outside of Sesshoumaru's lodge. Behind him, Kikyou is smiling with a bright smile. Inuyasha tries to smile back, but stops after a second. "Hey, Kikyou."

"Are you not happy to see me? I'm happy to see you out and about," she says and sit next to him. She looks over at the children, "Why are you letting them continue with this behavior?"

"Because, when you stop them they just go right back. It's pointless," he says. Kikyou shakes her head with an amused smile and heads to the children. Inuyasha watches as she pulls Shippou away from Rin and begins to pat down his purple-spotted tail. Shippou freezes in her arms and looks to Inuyasha for guidance.

Kikyou places Shippou on her lap and smiles at him, "Isn't that better?" Shippou nods and crawls away from the priestess. Kikyou tried to pull him back, but he slips away again and runs to the stunned hanyou on the step. On Kikyou's face, a flash of anger and irritation is shown, but she quickly pushes it away. Kikyou turns to Rin and the girl stares back. After a while, Kikyou stretches out her hand to the girl. Rin watches the hand, but makes no move to touch it. "I don't bite," Kikyou says.

Inuyasha watches the exchange with curiosity. Rin's never one to push away affection. She's not the shy type either. Why now? Rin runs around Kikyou and toward the hanyou. "Uncle Inu, can we go inside now? I don't want to be outside anymore."

Kikyou looks away.

. . . . . .

"Does she have no manners or is she just that willful?" Kikyou asks in a sharp tone.

Inuyasha shrinks back slightly at her cold tone, but continues to walk with the priestess. "Rin isn't rude. I don't know why she did that."

"Someone must discipline her. She shouldn't behave that way to her elders or anyone for that matter."

"She's just a child," Inuyasha says. The second he finishes, he wished he hadn't spoken. Kikyou turned to him with a hard glare and he could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"Just a child. She would not have behaved that way if it were Kagome speaking to her, would she?" Kikyou says in a cold tone.

"What?" Inuyasha asks. In the month since Kagome's passing, no one had spoken of her at all. Inuyasha guessed that it was for his sake. But, here Kikyou was, speaking of her as if she wasn't dead at all or as if nothing had happened.

Kikyou doesn't answer him. She continues on and snaps back, "Do not follow me."

Inuyasha watches her go before heading back to the lodge and the children. They were taking a nap with Jaken watching over them. What was wrong with Kikyou? Why did she speak of Kagome in such a harsh tone? Anyone

would think that she cared for Kagome after what happened…

. . . . . . .

"You say she spoke with a venomous tone. Did she speak that way to Rin?" Sesshoumaru asks to Inuyasha later in the evening.

"No. Rin ran off before she could," Inuyasha says. "It doesn't make sense though. I thought Kikyou would have at least liked Kagome."

"Did she ever tell you that?" Sesshoumaru asks in his monotonous voice.

"No. But, you remember what she said. What would make you think any different?" Inuyasha asks. Sesshoumaru was somewhat glad his brother was talking again. Slowly, things were going back to normal, or somewhat normal.

"Yes. I remember," Sesshoumaru answers.

Sesshoumaru watches on as Kikyou continues to soothe his grieving brother. She had posed a silent challenge to him and continued on with her façade of a comforting friend.

The monk and Taijiya had landed on their demonic cat and were staring at him questioningly. "I know not what has happened. Ask the priestess," Sesshoumaru says. They turn to her with confusion and hope in their eyes. Kikyou turns to them with a sad look and continues to rub his brother's back. At once, the taijya embraces her monk and begins to sob. Tears fall from the monk's eyes and he holds her close. Turning to the cliff, Sesshoumaru walks toward it. He looks over the edge and says, "You never told us exactly how she died priestess."

"Do think now is the time?" Kikyou asks. Inuyasha stops his incessant sobbing along with the Taijya and monk. Sesshoumaru looks at her blankly. "After you and Inuyasha left, it was Kaoru and I alone. I was unsure whether to kill her or let her live. But, she jumped off the cliff after Kagome and retrieved the girl. They were unharmed. I blame myself for what happened next.

"I thought I could trust the demon, but she was not worth the dirt under my shoes. The second Kagome let her guard down, Kaoru had her by the neck. The girl was so frightened and confused, she didn't remember that she could purify the demon. I aimed for Kaoru, but she held Kagome to her. She started to levitate over the cliff. She was threatening to drop her. I didn't know what to do. I let go of the arrow and ran to Kagome as quick as I could. Kaoru dropped her and the arrow didn't purify her, but she got away. I couldn't stop her. I held onto Kagome the best I could. She kept slipping…"

Kikyou left her statement hanging in the air and the air grew ten times thicker.

. . . . . .

Sesshoumaru had gone down with Inuyasha in the chasm to search for her body but they had found nothing. Naraku's remaining miasma was infesting the bottom, destroying any signs of life. They couldn't find Kagome or Kaoru. Unfortunately, Sesshoumaru could not smell Kikyou's scent while she told her tale. She was masking her scent. Everything was suspicious. But, Sesshoumaru kept quiet. He would expose Kikyou for the lying shrew she was in time.

~:~

Moi-Moi: Now you know what Kikyou says happened. But, of course we all know this isn't true. Hurry, Sesshoumaru! Save the day!

I know Sesshoumaru is turning out to be a major character, but give it a while. Once Kagome is re-introduced, Sesshoumaru will go back in the shadows. (I guess you can tell that Kagome will be coming back. But, is she really dead? Or is she just a really good hider? ;)