Alrighty folks, here's the new chapter! But first, thank you guys SOOO much for all the awesome reviews! Cookies for my seven AWESEOME reviewers: Enlightened Tenshi, RosesMoon, breannapierson, Spyrkle10, lilsakuraxxXX, MsWildLuck, and helmbonichos! YOU'RE THE BEST! I am now fully satisfied and one-hundred percent inspired to continue with this story! Also, a big thanks to all the people who have either favorited and/or followed this story! Hope you all enjoy chapter 5!

Terms to know…
Youkai – Demon
Hanyou – Half Demon
Miko – Priestess
Inu – Dog

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Inuyasha, the Inuyasha plot, NOR the Inuyasha characters. I only own my main OC Autumn/Akiko, any other OCs created along the way, and any part of the plot NOT a part of the Inuyasha anime or manga. This fanfic, however, is MINE and I'd like to keep it that way.

Chapter 5-A New Start

Autumn's P.O.V.
It was getting to be dusk as I sat quietly by the rolling river. Several hours had passed since I'd woken up and discovered my new species, well, sort of. I wasn't exactly sure what kind of Youkai I was but, after my little dream talk with a certain someone who told me I was going to inherit her essence, let's just say I had my suspicions.

Anyways, during the several hours of quiet sitting, I'd wisely decided to try and get used to my new body. I'd discovered that my sense of smell and hearing had become incredibly advanced with my new lineage. So, my last couple hours had been spent getting used to and adjusting my new senses to work properly.

All the same, even with that to keep me occupied, I was getting pretty tired of just sitting and waiting. After all, who the hell knew when those morons would show up! Then again, if I wondered off I'd probably just end up getting even more lost then I already was. I sighed, "What to do, what to do…"

Suddenly, my newly trained ears picked up the sound of voices approaching. My heart gave a tremendous leap as I recognized them.

"It's this way, Inuyasha. I'm sure I sensed a Sacred Jewel shard over here!"

"Keh! Point!"

"Over there!"

A moment later, Inuyasha came leaping through the foliage to land in front of me. "All right, wench," he growled, "give me the Sacred Jewel shard and no one gets hurt!"

I could feel myself sweat-drop slightly, "Okay, genius! They're here. Now what?!"

"Feh! No answer, huh? Fine, guess we'll have to do it the hard way." The hanyou smirked, drawing Tetsuaiga.

"Crap!" I mentally hissed. "No, wait a moment!" I cried out desperately, putting my hands up in surrender, "Dude, don't attack me! I'm a human!"

"Huh?" the white-haired youth gave me a confused look, "Yeah, right! You reek of Youkai!"

"Yeah, I know, but I really am!" I argued, beginning to panic, "I-I'm not sure how this happened, but I really was a human not all that long ago! I swear it!"

"Keh! What a load of-"

"INUYASHA, SIT!"

WHAM!

What a relief! Kagome stomped out into the open, an angry look on her face, "Geez, Inuyasha! Ever think about asking nicely for once?!" Pausing in her tirade, the miko turned around to face me. Her eyes widened in shock. "Y-You're clothes!" she gasped, "Are you from-"

"Yeeeaaah." I replied with a wry grin, lightly scratching the back of my head with my now clawed hands, "Do you guys… think you could help me?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

I watched the small shard-hunting party's reaction while we all sat around the camp fire as I finished telling them my story. I'd left nothing out, from how in my world they were all characters from an anime, to the weird 'dog' happenings, to the dream, and finally to waking up here being turned into a Youkai. As expected, they were shocked.

"Wow." Kagome breathed, "That's incredible."

"If you don't mind my asking," Sango inquired, "What's anime?"

"Hehe… Don't worry about it, Sango." The miko told her.

"Hmm… This is truly fascinating." Miroku stated.

"What do you mean by that?" Shippo asked, "Do you know what happened to her?"

"I think I have an idea…" the monk said after another moments thought before turning back to face me, "You said the Golden Inu you met claimed to be a spirit. Nothing lasts forever, and spirits are no exception. You see, even spirits fade eventually. And usually, when they do, they tend to pass on their lineage to another being. Looking at you now, it seems that by inheriting her essence, it has turned you into a full blooded Youkai. Probably a Golden Inu Youkai since she, herself was one."

"I don't know about the color or not, but she's definitely an Inu Youkai." Inuyasha stated matter-of-factly as he stepped into the firelight, "I can smell it."

I sat there in silence I as continued to absorb the information I had just been fed. It seemed that my suspicions had been right.

"Miss." Miroku began suddenly, startling me out of my train of thought, "if you don't mind my asking, what is your name?"

I blinked in surprise as I realized that, with all the chaos, I'd completely forgotten to introduce myself. "Aw, crap!" I mentally wracked my brain for answers, "What should my name be? I'm in Anime Japan Land now and Autumn doesn't sound Japanese at all. But it has to have something to do with Autumn. Akiko! It means autumn child! Yeah, Akiko will do…"

"Miss?" The violet-eyed man inquired curiously.

"My name's Autumn. But you can call me Akiko." I replied, "It more or less means my name in Japanese. So, while I'm in this world, my name is Akiko."

"Akiko it is then." He smiled warmly at me, "Therefore, Miss Akiko, may I ask you a favor?"

I froze, "Don't tell me he's actually gonna-"

Before I could react, he was kneeling down in front of me and had taken my hands into his own. Irritably, I waited for the question that was bound to follow. Imagine my surprise when it never came. Instead, the monk acted as if he'd suddenly been frozen to the spot.

"Unbelievable!" He gasped, eyes wide with shock, "I can feel it! Your soul… It's still human!"

"What?!" I, along with the rest of the group, chorused at once.

"It's true!" Miroku told us, "For even though she's been transformed into a Youkai, her soul has remained human. Hmm…That would explain why her personality is still like that of a human's."

Removing my hands out of the lecherous monk's grasp I pressed them to my throbbing head. So much had happened in the last twelve hours that I wondered if my head just might explode any moment. "All right," I began weakly, "Now that we've more or less got that all sorted out, what now?" Surprisingly, it was Inuyasha who answered my question.

"The answer to that is obvious! You come with us!" the hanyou snapped, "Do you have any idea how rare and powerful full-blooded Inu females are? You wouldn't last three days out there on your own before some Youkai came and took you for himself, whether you liked it or not!"

"But, won't I be a burden?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow, "I'm not like you. I just became a Youkai! It's not like I can fight or anything."

"Feh! I'm half Inu. So, it won't be all that difficult for me to teach you." The white-haired male retorted gruffly.

All eyes, including my own, turned to look at him in a stunned silence. I was astonished, "Did he just offer to teach me?"

"O-Okay." I replied, still trying to get over the initial shock of things, "As long as you don't mind."

Inuyasha snorted softly before plopping down by the campfire, "Pfft! Whatever!"

Well, hope you enjoyed that. :) I'm aware that quite a few of you thought that Sesshy would be the one to find her. Sorry, for any disappointment there, lol! But I promise that him and Autumn/Akiko will be meeting REALLY soon! Anyhoo... Please, PWEASE let me know what you thought in the reviews. :) I'll be posting the next chapter as soon as it's finished. So, please follow and favorite as well. See ya'all in the next chapter!

Rock Out!
Kira