InuYasha got a panoramic view of the other soldiers the government had picked up that day as well. Some were large in mass and had a glimmer of lust for blood in their eyes. Others were isolated, watching as their old lives became more and more distant. The demons seemed to gather on one side and the humans huddled up together on the other side. InuYasha wondered if they knew that they would be fighting on the same side?

From what he could tell, he was the only half demon in this batch. Normally half demons carry human characteristics, but not always. One of the men caught his attention as he inspected his katana. Without looking up, the man smiled.

"Voluntary or taken?" He asked, sheathing his sword once again. The two were sitting across from each other.

InuYasha was taken back but answered regardless. "Voluntary. You?"

"In a way, I'm usually asked first." The man looked to be about the same age as InuYasha and had the long hair fashion going on like he did. "What drove you to fight?"

InuYasha turned his gaze down to his claws. "The bombing at Hiroshima Hospital almost caused my sister in law to miscarry. There are a list of other reasons right beneath that as well. We were allowed to bring a weapon of choice?" He pointed at the katana.

"I have special circumstances. I probably wont use it in battle but I always carry it with me. This will be a different kind of battle though. I've never seen demons fight along side humans. I'm sure rifles and grenades wont cut it with a shape-shifter."

"Do you know about the shape-shifter?" InuYasha leaned in as if it were some sort of secret.

"Probably nothing more than you know, my friend." InuYasha smiled at that. At least not everyone was an asshole on this cart. "I do know he goes by the name Naraku but we have a feeling that isn't his birth name."

"Naraku..." InuYasha growled. The name dripped from his mouth in disgust.

"How old are you? Don't demons live to be centuries old?"

"It'll look like I stop aging in a few more human years but I'm only eighteen. You don't look much older than me." He guessed.

The man threw his head back in laughter, nearly hitting the back of his head.

"I'm actually thirty-one, but thank you nonetheless. I must age like a demon." He joked. InuYasha would have never guessed he was THAT old. This was quite an interesting character he had met today. He also noticed that he had his hair tied back and not twisted up into a bun. Perhaps he really did have special privileges. "I didn't catch your name," He held out his hand in a welcoming manner.

"InuYasha."

"Nice to meet you InuYasha. I'm Kenshin."

"Say Kenshin, you're old and wise..." Kenshin bit back the urge to glare. "Do you think it was a good idea to propose to a girl you've loved for a long time right before you depart for total destruction?"

Kenshin blinked a few times and adjusted his seating position. "I may be 'old and wise,' as you like to call it, but I don't know the slightest thing about girls. I'm surprised I'm married to be honest. You seemed to have answered your own question with the depart for total destruction part."

InuYasha wanted to punch out his own eyes. What had he done...

"You're married?"

Kenshin smiled at that; he loved talking about his family. "Yes. We have two sons and a daughter."

"Was she alright with you leaving?"

"I think she is used to it by now. "

"Wow I wish the women in my life were that accepting of my decision."

" You'll understand when you're older." He gazed out the window, a speck of a smile could be seen at the corner of his mouth.

Grabbing for new soldiers like a claw machine was finally over for the day. If a dainty girl had taken a seat within the cart she would have probably passed out from the masculine stench. InuYasha was glad to have finally arrived at their destination and stretch out his legs a bit. He felt like his shoulders were practically knocked together from how packed they were in there.

"Demons to the left, humans to the right." A woman barked out from the front seat, not a speck of makeup upon her face but still graced with natural beauty.

"Looks like this is where we part ways." Kenshin shrugged. "See you on the other side?"

InuYasha shook his hand and nodded making his way to the left side. All soldiers had to go through one final inspection before proceeding. Some unfortunate fellows had to part ways with their long locks and were shaved right on the spot. InuYasha scoffed. Didn't they get the memo? Before he knew it he was forced into a chair at the front of the line.

"Cat demon?" The lady at the desk guessed

"Dog," InuYasha corrected; what would it take for people to stop assuming cat? A wagging tail?

"Woof."

InuYasha rolled his eyes.

"Nice claws, do you have any experience with weapons?"

InuYasha's train of thought flickered back to his younger days when he used to play with his toys in his father's office. Perched beside the desk was a Katana on display.

"I've been in a couple fist fights in my youth but weapons, no."

The woman made a note and pointed to the right. "You're in group 2B. Go find them over there. Welcome to the team."

()()()()

It had been several months since Kagome had heard from InuYasha. One of her old friends, Eri, moved in temporarily and took over InuYasha's room to help pay for rent. There was no way with Kagome's job that she would able to keep the place on her own. Eri wasn't nearly as great of a roomate as InuYasha was. She would work all day, not want to clean up after herself when she got off work and bring over her sloppy boyfriends that she would break up with after a week. Sango and Miroku always tried to hang out with her whenever they could and to reassure her that InuYasha would be fine.

She started to have panic attacks in the middle the night, worried for her dear friend. Why hadn't he sent a letter? Why hadn't he called?

Kagome had her elbows perched up on a gate, separating her from the small pond she would always pass by on her daily walks. The green and red necklace InuYasha had given to her many christmas's ago was dangling from her loose clutch. She constantly thought about his last words to her, playing them over and over in her head when she wasn't occupied. If the rest of his family felt as shitty as she did, they hid it very well. According to the news, Naraku had gone into hiding for quite sometime after the government declared war against him and his group for their terrorism.

Miroku and Sango interupted her thoughts as they forcefully shoved an icecream cone in her line of sight.

"Shango couldn't remember if you liked rocky road or not so she panicked and got you strawberry." Miroku blamed as a shocked Sango stood there wide-mouthed.

"You liar!" She exclaimed. "Miroku forgot and wanted to just get you plain vanilla!"

Kagome shook her head and laughed lighyly, taking the icecream. "Strawberry is perfect, thank you." The two took notice of their friend holding the necklace InuYasha gave to her.

"Kagome, you know he would call you if he could..." Sango shifted her gaze to the ground. She knew full well she had told Kagome that countless times, but it didn't matter in the slightest. Miroku took a massive deep breath and rested his arms around the girls' shoulders.

"Alright sexy ladies, what are we going to do on this glorious day? Not be depressed, thats for damn sure." Miroku was looking around the area for anything to suggest. Kagome had been a real downer without InuYasha around. This wasn't the first time in their life that they had been separated either. He guessed, using the very few brain cells that he had left, that this time was different since they practically promised each other to themselves. "Ah ducks, yeah, lets go feed some ducks." Miroku snapped his fingers and started making his way towards the pond. The girls followed suit and unbeknowst to them a figure was watching their every move in the distance.

The skies were still eminating the purple hue it had been for months since the terror youkai group started creating havick. There was something ethreal about it that almost made it calming for everyone. Kagome watched as her loverbird friends took turns feeding the ducks, completely oblivious to the 'Do not feed the ducks' sign literally right beside them.

"I'm going to run to the bathroom really quick." Kagome pointed over to the public restrooms. Sango started to get up to join Kagome. "I'm okay, Sango. You don't have to go with me." Kagome held up her hands.

"Are you sure?" Sango sounded hesitant.

"Yeah, Miroku looks like he needs your company." Kagome laughed, watching a duck pecking at Miroku's ice cream aggressivly.

"What the hell, I didn't know these things had fangs! Saaaaango..." Miroku whined, trying to inch away from the duck. Kagome left her friends and strolled to the public restroom. Today was their friendaversary, including InuYasha. It wasn't necessary the exact day that they had met in preschool but they designated a day to celebrate every year. Once Kagome finished her business she unlatched the handle and before her was a tall figure peering down at her expressionless. Before she could utter a word, the figure cupped his hand over her mouth and pushed Kagome back into the stall. Kagome instinctively reached up and tried to claw at the man's arms.

The entire room was spinning.

Everything was happening so fast.

It was like she was breathing through a straw.

There was nobody there to help her.

"Did you think you could hide forever...Kikyo." The figure said sinisterly, his piercing eyes showing his true youkai form. Kagome's heart was pounding as tears started to leak from her eyes.

()()()()()

InuYasha had been ansy for the whole day. He was finally granted a few days to go visit his family and friends. What better day than to visit Kagome on their friendaversary. He would never actually say that word out loud cause it wasn't exactly masculine but then he recalled all the unmasculine things Kagome used to make them do when they were kids. He had gifts for all his friends. He was mostly excited to see Kagome. It felt like years for him. He still couldn't believe he kissed her right before he departed. Hell, he practially proposed to her! His mother was the first to know that he was coming to visit but he wanted it to be a surprise for Kagome. As soon as he pulled up to their apartment complex his heart nearly stopped. flashing red and blue lights lit the quiet complex. He could see Sango sobbing on Miroku's shoulder, Kagome's mother was there speaking with a police officer. He got out of his car and slammed the door, rushing over to his friends.

"What the fuck happened?" He glanced around frantically. "Where's Kagome?"

Once Sango looked up and saw InuYasha, she burst into more tears. "I-InuYasha. Oh god, I'm so sorry. I should have gone with her!" She choked between tears. "It's all my fault."

Miroku held onto Sango tighter, never making eye contact with InuYasha. His mind was coming up with a million scenarios. Was Kagome alive?