"That's it?"

The dragon nodded.

"Huh." Kagome sat, wondering. The only thing the dragon seemed to know was that his master had sent him here to report any new happenings in the group. Kagome had known the dragon was spying, but such vague instructions did not fit Sesshomaru. "Well, thank you for telling me," she said, smiling. "I know it was against Sesshomaru's orders." She scratched Ah-Un's ears.

The dragon made a pleased noise, happy to help this kind human. Only she and the lordship's ward were kind to him, all other humans too afraid to think of showing kindness.

"Hmm. It seems odd that the timing would be so coincidental, though," Kagome muttered. The dragon looked up. What do you mean? He said it in his own language, but Kagome had no problem understanding him.

"Nothing," she answered. "If I told you, Sesshomaru might find out. I apologize, but I can't risk it." She rubbed his head gently. "It may be something important, and right now he's our enemy."

Ah-Un nodded, understanding well enough. But as he nodded, he realized how long he had been gone. His lordship would have expected him back by now.

I have to go, he said to the miko. She paused, and nodded knowingly. "Okay, get going. It was nice to see you. You're a very nice youkai." She kissed the dragon's forehead. Ah-Un jumped, surprise skittering along his skin. No human had done that before.

Kagome giggled. "I hope we may see each other again, Ah-Un."

The dragon left swiftly, and Kagome was alone again. Ah-Un, having told her his intentions, had earned her trust. But now she was suspicious of Sesshomaru. They had just fought with him last week, and now he was sending spies. She was surprised the dragon had willingly told her what was up, but he seemed the type of youkai not to think too much about what people asked of him. He tried to please everyone by listening to what he was asked.

Kagome sat on her sleeping bag, still wondering. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a wooden box, one that had been used to hold her hair clips in previous days, and opened it. The strange rose lay there, not a single sign of wilting. Kagome felt the petals. They were soft, like velvet. She had no way of keeping the flower in water for extended periods of time, but she hadn't worried about it wilting. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, it was still alive.

Kagome scrunched her eyebrows. Kaede had said that there was a special flower, only to be picked by certain females. But she hadn't seemed entirely honest about what she was saying. Kagome was not one to doubt her friends, especially someone like Kaede, but she had a nagging feeling about the flower. Something told her that Kaede knew more than she revealed.

However, Kaede was stubborn, and there would be no way to make her give up information she was hiding. And it might just be a silly feeling, though Kagome usually trusted her intuition.

She sighed, putting the rose away. There wasn't much use in wondering about Kaede. She should be more focused on the present, and that brought her thoughts back to Sesshomaru. The youkai was very stoic and secretive, there was no doubt about that. And despite clearly not wanting Inuyasha's sword anymore, he still fought with him from time to time. Kagome had no way of knowing why, though she suspected it was part of their deep rooted rivalry. They had showed quite a distaste for one another, even before Inuyasha had gained his father's sword.

And sending Ah-Un right after they had acquired the flower was suspicious.

But it was late, and Kagome was tired. She didn't feel like thinking about it at this hour. Collapsing onto her sleeping bag, her last thoughts remained on Ah-Un, and why Sesshomaru had sent him here. The thought that Sesshomaru might be connected to the rose was still there, but easily dismissed as sleep overcame her.

()

Ah-Un landed hesitantly. If his lordship found out that he had divulged information to the miko, he would have his head. Ah-Un never was very good at resisting people's requests, after all. It was this weakness that made him wonder why his lordship kept him around.

"Ah-Un." Sesshomaru glanced at the dragon. Ah-Un walked quietly, trying not to awaken the girl and the imp. "Did you notice anything amiss with my brother's band?"

The dragon shook his head. He could at least be partially truthful in that, knowing the miko had refused to tell him anything.

Sesshomaru was displeased with the news. Nothing going on with the group meant Myoga might be lying. Either that, or Ah-Un wasn't a good spy. He sniffed carefully. The dragon had the scent of Inuyasha's wench on him. The miko.

Something about her scent had always intrigued Sesshomaru. But he dismissed the dragon. Her scent was of no consequence. Ever since her powers had developed, her scent was much more noticeable than even Inuyasha's. It was easy to see why her scent would cover the dragon more than the others.

Light eventually permeated the camp. Rin woke up with her usual excitement. Jaken was as grouchy as ever. Sesshomaru ignored both, thinking about the flea and his words as they left the area.

Something stirred within the youkai, something that he did not enjoy hearing from. Something bothering you, Sesshomaru? The voice sounded smug. Arrogant. Sesshomaru growled to himself. His inner youkai was one of the more annoying things in life. It felt like he had multiple personality disorder, but it was perfectly normal for male youkai. Still, he wished there was a way to prevent the thing from talking. The flea's words bother you, don't they?

Shut up, was Sesshomaru's quick reply. He had no time for his inner youkai. I know what it means, you know.

He stopped dead. Ah-Un stopped as well, confused.

What do you mean? You cannot know something that I do not, Sesshomaru growled.

His inner youkai laughed. Yes, I can, and it's called instinct. I know because every male inu youkai knows it from birth. They just don't realize they know it.

Sesshomaru began walking again, annoyed. His inner youkai was the exact opposite of him in ways, and enjoyed teasing him to no end. Once again he wished he could shut him up.

Wouldn't you like to know what he meant?

Sesshomaru ignored the voice. His inner youkai would never tell him, and he knew it. It was a part of his mind that he could not access by force or coercion. It would do no good to ask it to divulge information that it would simply withhold at the last second.

But it's words did make him think. Myoga had been cryptic before jumping off his cloud and producing what looked like a tiny cloth from a hidden compartment and using it to catch the wind, floating gently to the ground. Sesshomaru's threat to toss him had not truly scared the flea. He thought back to what he had said.

"You and your father, you are more alike than you think. I was with Inuyasha the other day, and I must say, there have been some interesting developments. I suggest you check it out."

But that was all the flea would say before taking off. Sesshomaru had no idea what his brother had to do with anything, but the flea was not in the habit of lying, even if he did not give the straight truth.

His inner youkai did not bother him any longer, and Sesshomaru was grateful for it.

"You stupid girl!" Jaken bellowed, swinging his staff. "Leave that plant alone!"

"But Jaken, it's pretty!" She picked the berry covered stem, admiring it. Sesshomaru caught a glimpse, and quickly snatched the plant away.

"Rin, those berries are poisonous." He quickly turned to begin walking again.

"Don't touch my staff!" Jaken screamed again. Sesshomaru growled.

"I am going," he announced, glaring at the imp. "I need time to think. Watch over Rin, Jaken." With that, Sesshomaru left swiftly. He couldn't think with the two of them disturbing him. He cared about Rin a great deal, but the way she bickered with Jaken was infuriating. Especially since she was beginning to figure out that he wouldn't let Jaken hurt her, and she could get away with teasing him.

Sesshomaru summoned his could, flying quite a distance. But only a few minutes had passed before he heard the scream.

()

Kagome crashed through the forest, barely aware of the hanyou at her side.

"You idiot! Where do you get off running like that!"

"I can sense shards!" Kagome explained, barely paying attention to him. Kirara flew beside her, carrying Miroku, Sango, and Shippo. Kagome hopped on expertly, shifting Shippo to her lap. "They're up ahead! It's not a huge aura. I think there's only one shard."

"Keh, finally. It's about time you sensed something." Inuyasha sped up, dancing between trees. Kagome ignored him, focusing on the aura. "Left, toward the west. Good girl," she instructed Kirara. The cat youkai had learned to listen to her as well as her youkai slaying master, and obeyed dutifully.

The aura grew stronger. Kagome honed in on it. But she sensed something else as well.

"I can smell a human!" Inuyasha announced. "It's Sesshomaru's ward!" he added after a moment.

"Rin?" Kagome paled at the thought of the young girl in danger. She had only seen her on a couple of occasions, but her motherly instincts urged her to protect any child. She clutched Shippo to her. "We'd better hurry!"

A scream sounded in the distance. Kagome's heart clenched. Squeezing Kirara's sides, she hoped that it wasn't too late for the little girl.

()

Hey, people! Mattaki-chan here. I know, it's been a while since I actually wrote an afterword for a chapter. How are you liking the new story? I'm used to writing in first person, not third person, so this may not be as good as my usual work, but I'm trying hard to improve.

So, a lot of stuff is gonna change in this new story, but the plot will still be basically the same. Unnecessary stuff is getting axed, new characters may show up, and who knows what may shift around. As you may have noticed (you probably didn't) Kagome is aware of Ah-Un and Rin's existence in this story, while in the last one she didn't know them until after meeting them in various chapters. Other such things will be changed as well, but it's all to make the story more believable and a better read. Updates should come about once a week, on the weekends when I actually have time to write.

I'm going to say this takes place after the last episode of the first series. Some of you may know, a final Inuyasha series has begun airing in Japan, still going along the same storyline as the manga, which is now finished. I'm also aware of how the manga ends, but I won't spoil it. Anyway, I just want to let everyone know where I was placing my series, since some events in the new anime may conflict with the story. I haven't seen any of the new anime, so I wouldn't know what happens.

Anyhow, enough rambling. Thanks to everyone who is reading the new version of the story! And also thanks to all the people who have just picked it up. I appreciate it a lot. I also would like people to know that I changed my username because the last one didn't sound good to me anymore, and Mattaki-chan is the name I like to use on the internet now.

And, as always, please review! I love reading about what you think of each chapter, and the reviews always inspire me to write more. Ja ne! :-)