Smells Like Magic

I do Not own Inuyasha! This is purely fan made!!!!

A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews.

Chapter 4: A New Fox on the Block

Kagome carefully shifted through all the little glass jars that were placed into her wooden box. Kagura was so kind to bring to her since she was currently stuck in Hisoka's 'not so run down' hut. The place was actually pretty spacious and organized once he took down his illusion spell.

It was late morning at this point and Kagura had just dropped off the last of her stuff that she needed to make her new lotion. According to Hisoka, and after making him sniff about 30 different essential oils, they finally figured out the perfect mixture of Shippo's scent. Skimming through her little bottles, Kagome grabbed pumpkin seed oil, apple that was infused with honey oil, cinnamon oil, and sandlewood oil.

The last scent she had to make, since it wasn't something she had in stock... Nor would she use it in anything she would make in the future. Decaying leaves... That's right! Apparently autumn smells like dirty rotten leaves... Which actually made sense when you think about it, but it just didn't sound or smell appealing.

Hisoka insisted that it was the final missing piece to Shippo's scent. Thankfully he told her it wasn't overpowering but just a slight hint of it. She then asked why it was so important if it was just a very small part of his overall scent, which prompted Hisoka to tell her that youkai would notice the difference... No matter how small it would be.

Putting the wooden box aside, Kagome stood up and walked over to the fire to check on her glass steam distillery. She made a quick check to make sure the metal stand was properly holding everything together and wasn't wobbly before checking the condensing chamber.

Noticing that the water in it was getting warm, she quickly uncorked the little hole on the side towards the bottom of the container, so it could drain out into the bucket right below it. As it was doing so, she quickly grabbed a full cup of cold water and started to pour it into the condenser. Once she was positive that all the warm water drained, she quickly corked the hole again to keep the cold water in. This would be so much easier if she did this at her mother's but it was too big of a hassle to carry everything back and forth... Plus she didn't want to draw too much attention towards the well. So that meant she had to do this the old fashion way... By hand and with no pumps.

Once the condensing chamber was taken care of, Kagome checked the bottom glass bulb, or known as the boiler, and noticed the water was almost gone... Which meant she was almost done. Looking over at the separator, she took note of how much oil she got and was satisfied. She didn't get alot but that was ok, she didn't need alot to begin with ... And she was sure that rotten leaves was not going to be a big seller anyways.

"What is that smell?!"

Kagome looked over her shoulder and saw Hisoka, his black fox ears layed back, his right sleeve covering his stuffed up nose, coupled with a watery eyed murderous glare to finish his over all look. Kagome let out a snort of amusement. "Rotten leaves."

"He doesn't smell that rotten, miko!" Hisoka slowly got closer before sitting next to her to observe what she was doing. "I said he smelt faintly of decaying leaves."

Kagome rolled her eyes as she put on a pair of cooking mittens. "I know that, Mr. grumpy pants... I have to capture the scent of decaying leaves first before I can add a very small amount to the lotion."

"Well you captured it alright! It's stinking up my entire hut!" Hisoka hissed as he continued to pout. Kagome couldn't help but think he looked a lot like Inuyasha at the moment.

Briefly ignoring Hisoka for a moment, Kagome gently picked up the metal stand that held her steam distillery and moved it out of the fire before taking her mittens off. Once that was done, she walked back to kneel before the separator and turned the valve at the bottom to release the hydrosol into the bucket below. When all the water was drained she quickly turned the valve again so the oil wouldn't leak out. Picking up her little empty glass bottle, she held it under the valve and drained the the oil.

"I'll make sure to light a couple scented candles once I'm done... Besides, aren't you suppose to be groveling to his highness right now?" Kagome smirked as she looked back over to the fox.

Hisoka shifted nervously. "Uhhh... It's still early, so I'm sure he is still busy attending some meetings."

"Uh huh." Kagome giggled as she stood up and began to disassemble her distillery. Making sure to dump the hydrosol outside before cleaning out the soggy rotten leaves. Walking back over to the cold bucket of water, Kagome began to scrub all her equipment clean. "Well, that works out anyways since I need your nose. When I mix the scented oils with the lotion, I need you to tell me if it smells right."

Hisoka scowled. "No more sniffing, miko! After smelling all those damn bottles, I'm not going to be able to smell anything right for a week!"

Kagome laughed as she got up and put her cooking rack over the fire before setting a small cooking pot that was half filled with water on top of it. "I'm sure you will be able to smell just fine by tomorrow." Hisoka's murderous scowl told Kagome that he thought otherwise.

Walking over to the nearest table, Kagome grabbed everything she needed to make her lotion. Setting down one of her empty mason jars, Kagome measured out 1/3 cup of coconut oil, 1/3 cup of shea butter, and 1/3 cup of organic cocoa butter before dumping them all into her jar. Next step was the tricky part. "Hisoka, what are Shippo's strongest scents?"

Walking over, Hisoka looked over everything on the table. "These three."

Kagome picked up the pumpkin seed, sandalwood, and apple infused with honey oils before using the eye dropper to measure the liquid. Usually she would just fill the whole dropper with the oil she was using and that was it but with this she had to be careful... especially since youkai had such sensitive noses. Two tiny drops of each should be enough to not overpower the lotion. That was one good thing about having mostly youkai customers, a little goes a long way. Next she did the cinnamon oil and just added one drop of that. Now for the last scent... Decaying leaves. Instead of using a dropper, Kagome picked up a q-tip and lightly dipped it into the oil. Carefully, she dabbed a part of the shea butter with it and set it down.

"Ok, let's hope this works." Kagome walked over to the now boiling water and set the mason jar inside. She let it set for a couple of minutes so it could melt everything down before picking the jar back up and set it back on the table. Grabbing her whisk, she began to whip the liquid around until it started to thicken.

"Hisoka, does this smell right?" Pausing her stirring for a moment, Kagome lifted the jar so the fox could smell it.

"Hmm... Almost. Add 1 more drop of the apple with honey and 1 more of the cinnamon." Hisoka grabbed the 2 bottles and opened them, having seen Kagome do it, he proceeded to put the 2 drops into the jar. "He is still young so his scent of magic still smells really sweet."

Kagome gave a small nod as she continued to stir the mixture until it was the right thickness. Once the lotion was done, Kagome set the jar down and walk over to Hisoka as another thought popped into head. "Hisoka, wouldn't others find it suspicious if Shippo and I smelled exactly the same though?"

"Your natural scent should mix with the scent of this cream which will change it enough that it shouldn't draw any unnecessary questions." Hisoka mumbled as he fiddled with the charm he was creating for Kagome.

Kagome gave a nod of understanding as she grabbed her cooking pot and dumped the water outside. Slowly she shuffled around the hut, putting all her supplies away before Hisoka waved her over.

"Alright, lets see if this works." Hisoka mumbled as he tied his little charmed bracelet around Kagome's left wrist and whispered a little spell before her transformation took effect.

A swirl of black and purple shimmer circled Kagome's form and to their shock, the Shikon began to brightly glow as well in reaction to the spell. Two black fox ears perked up on top of her head and wiggled a bit as she adjusted to her new hearing. Six long black tails sprung out from her tail bone before gently falling to the floor. Her long black hair now ended mid thigh. Silver shimmering stripes swept across her face, one under each eye and across both her eyelids. Other silver stripes formed on her wrists, hips, and ankles as well.

Kagome took a deep breath as she felt claws grow from her fingertips and couldn't help but run her tongue over her new fangs once they grew to their full length. "They feel so real." Kagome looked over her new form. The glow of the Shikon soon caught her attention and she began to panic. It was no longer a bright vibrant pink, but now a soft glowing lilac color. "Hisoka, what have you done?"

Hisoka looked just as shocked as she was as he watched her run over to his long full length mirror. "Nothing miko, just a simple transformation spell."

Kagome quickly looked over her new form and took notice of her eyes, they were still her icy blue color but now sported slits instead of pupils. A small wave of dizziness took over for a minute as she realized her eyesight had hightened. Soon the heavy smell of rotten leaves filled her nose, almost making her gag. Her sense of smell got stronger as well, making Kagome cover her nose with her sleeve. She was on the verge of hyperventilating when Kagura walked in.

"Hisoka! Take it off!" Kagome was so close it losing it as she rushed forward, both shocked as her speed blurred, followed with her crashing into him. "Take it off, take it off, takeitoff!" Kagome whimpered as she desperately tugged at the bracelet, trying to rip it from her wrist.

"Miko! Take a deep breath..." Hisoka gently grabbed her wrist as he began to untie it from her person. "It took me all night to make this!" He further scowled, but did take a little pity on her once he realized she was slightly shaking. Once it was loose enough, he gently removed it and they all watched in awe as Kagome went back to her normal human self.

Kagome took a shakey breath as everything righted itself again. Quickly looking down, she sighed in relief as the Shikon turn back to its vibrant pink again. "What was THAT?! Why did your spell taint the Shikon?"

Hisoka frowned but shrugged. Kagura watched the entire thing, completely fascinated. "I don't think it tainted the jewel Kagome."

Kagome whipped her head over to look at Kagura in confusion. "What do you mean? It turned the jewel purple, it wasn't it's normal pink like it is when it's been purified."

"True, but I don't think it was because it was tainted..." Kagura paused as she collected her thoughts. "Now I can't feel the jewels power since you have it hidden but usually the jewel turns black when corrupted. This time it was a light purple. If I remember right, When Midoriko created the Shikon she capture a 1,000 youkai along with herself... Meaning the jewel holds Reiki and Jyaki." Kagura paused again to let that information sink in for a minute. "Perhaps, when the spell took place, it called on the jyaki that is stored in it..."

Kagome thought about it for a minute and it did make a sense... At least a little. Kagura was around it a lot when it was tainted because of Naraku so she maybe on to something. "Well, I wasn't getting an evil vibe from the jewel like I have before when it was tainted so perhaps your right."

Kagome looked over at the charm that was still in Hisoka's claws before making her decision and walked back to him. "Let me try it again and see."

Hisoka gave a nod before retying the bracelet. All of them watched, mesmerized as Kagome reformed. Kagome took a deep breath and worked on centering herself to get use to the changes in her senses.

Once centered, she looked down at the jewel and inspected it. It didn't feel evil... So she let out a breath of relief. "Hmmm... It's strange. Was your transformation spell suppose to highten all my senses like a full blooded youkai?"

Hisoka frowned. "No, as far as I know, there isn't a spell known that can do that. It must be the jewel reacting to it. Oddly I can feel Jyaki coming from you as well... Just like a regular youkai."

Kagome gave a small confused nod before walking back over to the mirror to closely inspect herself. She stared in awe... Lightly she touched her face, fascinated by the delicate silver stripes which made her ice blue eyes stand out even more. Her dainty claws captured her attention next as she quickly looked down to inspect them closer. That was when another thought struck her, did she have youkai abilities now as well?

Taking a deep breath, Kagome very slowly summoned her power... But to her surprise, her reiki manifested. Quickly reigning her powers back in so it wouldn't be detected, she softly hummed. "Well I can't summon jyaki, so that's good I guess... I'll have to be careful though not to accidentally summon my reiki."

Hisoka gave a small nod as he closely inspected the miko, looking for anything that might give away that her appearance was an illusion. When he saw none, he nodded to himself in approval.

Kagome looked herself over one last time before turning towards the other two in the room. She immediately took notice that Kagura brought the rest of her belongings and set them inside the hut careful. "Thank you Kagura for all your help, I really appreciate it."

Kagura gave a nod before scrunching up her nose in distaste. "What is that smell?"

Hisoka hissed, once again reminded of his current irritation. "Rotten leaves..." He grimaced as he glared at the miko.

Kagome gave a guilty chuckle as she rubbed the back of her head. "I'll light some candles... Don't worry Hisoka, It won't take me long to find a place of my own." Kagome gave a excited grin, she was looking forward to finally being able to run around and explore the heart of the west tomorrow!

END OF CHAPTER 4

TERMS

Kitsune- A fox youkai.

Kurogitsune- A black kitsune, usually they are foxes that dabble in dark magic.

Nogitsune- A malicious kitsune, also know as a Yako, but yako can also be used in reference to a young/inexperienced fox or a fox that is considered the lowest rank.

Thank you for reading! I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. Feel free to review, I would love to know what you all think!

Until Next Time...

-Peach