Birds chirp, flying above the ever flowing riverbank. A boat is heading down the stream; within it sits Inuyasha, Shippō, Kaori, and Kagome. Inuyasha looks disinterested, Shippō looks nauseous as he leans over the side, Kaori is ignoring the scenery in favor of patting Shippō on the back in comfort as she watches him worriedly, and Kagome is admiring the view.

"Wow!" Kagome exclaims. "This is awesome!" She glances to the side, gets excited, and starts pointing at the water. "Look, a fish!"

"Uh huh, that's very nice," Kaori mutters absentmindedly, not actually listening as she's too occupied with watching over Shippō, who is the youngest of their group (at least physically, he is).

"Would you mind focusing a little?" Inuyasha asks Kagome, staring at her. "We're not here to look at the scenery."

"Aye aye, Mon Capitan," Kagome agrees with ease, smiling, shielding her eyes from the sun. Inuyasha, too, is smiling, almost as if he's amused by her behavior instead of irritated, like his previous words had supposedly indicated. "On the lookout for shards of the Shikon Jewel."

"You probably shouldn't say that too loudly," Kaori warms, catching the end of their brief conversation. "You never know; there could be river demons nearby."

Kagome grimaces. "Right, fair point. I'll keep it down."

Shippō remains slouched over the side of the boat, eyes swirling. He groans, continuing to look unwell. Kaori keeps gently patting his back.

Inuyasha looks down at him in disappointment. "Shippō, you call yourself a demon? You're not supposed to get seasick."

"I'm not trying…" Shippō mutters, groaning still.

"This is pathetic," Inuyasha comments. "We're not going to find any shards unless you two snap to it."

Kaori looks up at Inuyasha, eye twitching in agitation. "O-kay. Firstly, he's literally a child who probably has never been on a boat before, so cut him some slack. Secondly, she can admire the view as much as she wants to because I highly doubt a shard is gonna be floating in the air or water. Thirdly, it's not like you're doing anything productive; you're just sitting there, arms crossed, bitching about them."

"My mistake," Inuyasha says. "The three of you need to snap to it."

Kaori glares at him. "I could throw you overboard, you know."

"Go ahead. I'll drag you in with me," Inuyasha barks back. Kaori hmphs and stays put, looking back at Shippō. "That's what I thought." He glances away from everyone and looks ahead. "Hmm?"

Kagome sounds panicked as she looks in the same direction. "What is it?"

Kaori glances at the cause of the commotion, then sweatdrops as she fully faces it; a thick bundle of spider webs span across the river, directly in front of them. "'What is it', she asks. You don't see that?"

"Inuyasha's head is in the way," Kagome defends.

Kaori looks at Kagome, humming. She leans over to be leveled with Kagome's perspective of the scenery ahead. "...Yeah, that checks out. My bad."

Kagome looks annoyed. "You really need to think before you speak…"

"I said my bad, damn," Kaori states, rolling her eyes as she gets back to her original position. "I'm not allowed to make mistakes like everyone else?"

"Well, when the mistake happens over and over…" Kagome trails off, looking horrified when she finally sees what's up ahead.

Inuyasha swipes the web with his claws when they're close enough. A bundle of web sticks onto his hand, and on his arm. He claws at it with his other hand, angrily. Most of it falls away but some strands remain. He glares at them and clenches his fist, growling lowly. Myoga jumps onto his shoulder and briefly chatters with him.

Kaori surveys the land. "…Is it weird that this reminds me of that hair demoness?"

"Yes," Kagome immediately responds. "Comparing hair and spider webs to each other is very, very weird, Kaori."

Kaori just shrugs. "Well, here's something even weirder than that; I can't smell anything."

Kagome's eyes grow wide with surprise. "What do you mean you can't smell anything?"

"I mean that these growing demon senses of mine are so damn inconsistent. And inconvenient, too. Sometimes, I can smell corpses. Other times, nothing. Other other times, demons smell very, very bad. Or don't smell that bad but they still have the smell. I mean, I'm glad I'm not smelling anything intensely bad right now, but I definitely should be smelling it, though, since, clearly, a demon caused this mess," Kaori rants. "And another thing, why only those two distinct smells so far? Why haven't any others developed? Is that just gonna be some kind of "upgrade" I get when I finally transform or something? What bullshit."

"Yeah, that does sound very bothersome…" Kagome comments, frowning. Poor Kaori… I didn't know she was dealing with some complications… Maybe it's a sign that she's not yet close to the transformation?

Suddenly, the group (except Shippō, who's still dying inside with nausea) hear a commotion coming from the clifftop above them; a girl was backing towards the edge, yelling at something. A black limb of sorts strikes towards her. Although the girl dodges the attack, she falls backwards off the cliff, shrieking. Before she hits the rocks below, Inuyasha jumps and catches her, landing on one of said rocks that would've killed her.

Kagome snaps. "Good catch, Inuyasha!"

"Did you really have to snap…?" Kaori mumbles. Thankfully, Kagome doesn't hear her.

Shippō stops leaning over the side of the boat, looking towards Inuyasha and the girl he rescued. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing, really," Kaori answers.

That's when Kagome, Kaori, Myoga, and Shippō bear witness to the recused girl slapping Inuyasha upside the head, knocking him off balance and sending them both into the river stream.

"…Maybe we did miss something," Kaori corrects herself, raising an eyebrow. "You'd think she'd be grateful for being saved."

"Well, think about it. If you were human and the person that rescued you had dog ears, and you've known your entire life that demons can be very dangerous and lack human qualities, how would you react?" Kagome questions.

Kaori looks at her, humming. "I'd probably react the same way we did when we first showed up here." She looks back towards where Inuyasha and the girl float in the river. "…Shouldn't we help them?"

The boat rocks within the water, no longer occupied. Scattered across the rocky land are the group and the rescued girl. Kaori is sitting on a rock, one leg crossed over a knee; Shippō is sitting on said propped leg. Kagome and the girl are sitting across from each other, on their knees; Kagome is spraying antiseptic on the girl's arm, which is grazed. Inuyasha sits close to the river, brushing his clothes angrily. Myoga is wherever Myoga likes to vanish off to.

Nearby, a little fire is going.

"Do you mind my asking what was after you just now?" Kagome asks the girl, since no one else seems to be willing.

The girl begins an explanation of the situation. "A demon known as a spider head. These mountains have been plagued by their evil presence since springtime. Several villages have already been attacked. Spider heads trap humans in their webs, paralyze them, and devour them alive. They are terrifying demons."

"You can say that again," Kagome comments. She looks towards Inuyasha. "Hey, Inuyasha, we have to do something to help."

"He's gonna say no," Kaori comments lowly.

"Mhm," Shippō hums in agreement.

Inuyasha has his back towards everyone, arms crossed. "Any sign of the sacred jewel fragments?"

Kagome looks down. "Not yet and I didn't pick up anything from the spider head just now."

"Shouldn't have told him that," Kaori comments lowly.

"Big mistake," Shippō agrees.

Kagome looks at them with narrowed eyes. "What are you two talking about over there?"

"The creepy spider thing," Kaori answers immediately.

"It's very scary," Shippō says immediately afterwards.

"Hmm…" Kagome doesn't believe them but accepts the answer.

Inuyasha finally gives his answer to Kagome, now that the peanut gallery has stopped talking. "Let's move out. I want to cross these mountains before nightfall." He stands up.

Kaori and Shippō share a smug look with each other as Kagome complains to Inuyasha. "We can't just walk away! There's a demon on the loose!"

Inuyasha glances towards her. "Listen, I don't go slaying demons every time a human comes running scared to me."

"No one's suggesting you do," Kagome retorts, looking concerned. What's gotten into him? Usually, he'd at least check things out.

Kaori raised an eyebrow, silently watching Inuyasha. Hmm. Odd. I expected the no but he firmly kept to that no instead of reluctantly saying yes. That's not like him. I wonder what's going on in that stupid brain of his? What is he up to?

"I'm leaving," the girl says, standing. "Being obliged to a demon does not sit well with me."

Kaori rolls her eyes. Go get eaten, then.

"Feigning some measure of gratitude might sit better with us, though," Shippō comments.

"Insolent beast!" the girl yells, frightening him. He squirms backwards, falling off Kaori's leg and into her waiting arms. Angered, Kaori hisses at the girl, frightening her back. "Another one?! This is why I detest demons! They're always playing such dirty tricks!"

The girl walks away from the group, approaching the cliffside. She grabs a vine and begins attempting to climb up. A little ways up and the vine snaps, making her drop back down to the starting point with a thud.

"Serves you right," Kaori grumbles.

Kagome claps her hands together, looking like she's suffering through secondhand embarrassment. "How about displaying some of that old-fashioned chivalry?"

Evening has arrived. The group walks up a staircase, which leads to a temple. Kagome is leading the way, followed by Kaori and Shippō, and then followed by Inuyasha and the girl. The girl piggybacks on Inuyasha, and both of them are currently sulking, refusing to acknowledge each other.

"That must be the temple," Kagome proclaims, just as they reach the top. "See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Inuyasha and the girl are inclined to disagree," Kaori states, glancing back towards them with mild amusement. "But sure, not so bad at all."

An old priest shuffles out of the temple. "You have returned. Are you injured, Nazuna?"

Ah, so that's her name, Kaori thinks.

Nazuna immediately punches Inuyasha in the face as she gets off his back and shoves him afterwards as she runs forward. "Oh, Master!" She trips along the way, landing on her knees in front of him.

He moves forward, as if to assist her but he doesn't help her up; Kaori's eyebrow raises at this. "Oh, I feared that a spider head may have attacked you."

"It spied me while I attended to the grave sites," Nazuna explains. "I had no choice but to rely on these demons to bring me home. I'm sorry, Master."

Shippō looks irritated, hands on his hips. "All demons are not created equal, you know."

"I don't suppose they are," the old priest says.

"And Kagome's not a demon," Kaori corrects Nazuna. "She's a human like you." Nazuna hmphs. "Well, fuck you, too, then."

Inuyasha scoffs, looking away from Nazuna and the old priest. "Oh, man. Don't worry. We're leaving anyway."

"Wait, friends," the priest says before anyone makes a move. "You must stay the night here with us at the temple." Nazuna, still on the ground, protests. "Go," he says, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Prepare a meal for your kind guests." Reluctantly, she agrees and stands, walking away. The priest keeps talking. "I beg you do forgive Nazuna for her rudeness. Her parents were killed by a spider head, and she has harbored an understandable fear of demons since the incident."

"Doesn't make it right, though," Kaori states. "She keeps being rude like that, she'll provoke someone."

"She already did," Shippō mutters.

"I meant in terms of attacking her with violence," Kaori explains. "Defensive hissing and talking back are different."

"Oh, okay," Shippō says, nodding.

Kagome looks nervous. She addresses the priest. "So, we probably won't run into one of those spider heads on our way through the mountains, will we?"

"As the number of men dying in wars increases, so do the number of spider heads by leaps and bounds," the priest answers.

"Leaps and…" Kagome, frightened, tugs on Inuyasha's sleeve. "Say, how about we take him up on his offer?"

But the spider heads are just as likely to attack this place, too, Kaori thinks. Just because it's a temple doesn't mean it's completely safe. Whatever eases her mind, I guess.

Inuyasha folds his arms and looks away again. "Uh, we're on a quest, and I refuse to allow some measly spiders to stop us."

"Well, too bad," Kaori says, glaring at him. "You're the only 'no' vote. You lose this round. We're staying." And maybe we can help these people while we're still here.

"Stay the night with us and rest with ease," the priest insists. "I have posted sutras throughout the temple to ward off any demons from attacking us."

Well, they clearly don't work; Shippō and I are completely unbothered by them, Kaori thinks. Then again, with the weirdness going on with me today… Nah, even then, they should be bothering Shippō… It'll be fine; if something happens, Inuyasha and I can solve the problem.

"Uh, what do you say?" Kagome taps at Inuyasha's shoulder, still looking a bit panicked.

Inuyasha glances at her briefly before looking in the opposite direction, sounding exasperated. "Suppose there's no sense arguing." Kagome giggles in triumph, clapping her palms together. Kaori just hums.

Night quickly arrives. Within a room of the temple, the group has just finished eating dinner. Kaori and Shippō are sitting together. Kagome is sitting across from them, and slightly to the side. Inuyasha is sitting near the sliding door, which is open.

Shippō slumps against Kagome's bag with his hands on his tummy and rice on his face. "Ahh! What a delicious meal. Perhaps we should stay a few days and get to know Nazuna better."

"Funny how a couple bowls of rice can change your tune about someone," Kagome says in wonder.

Kaori snorts, wiping the crumbs of Shippō's face. "A way to a man's heart is through his stomach, or so they say."

"I liked her from the start," Shippō claims. "I merely thought she was lacking in manners."

"Just because she fed us doesn't mean she has manners," Kaori points out. "Plus, she only made the food because she was told to."

"True," Shippō says. "But I think she'll come around."

Kaori snorts again. "Maybe, but I think that's mostly your full stomach talking."

Shippō grins really big. "Maybe."

Inuyasha is lost in his thoughts, completely detached from the conversation that's going on near him.

Kagome glances at him and speaks up. "Hey, Inuyasha? Why the long face?"

Inuyasha looks at her for a moment before looking away again. He doesn't get loud. He just sounds like he's sad. "Hmph, it's nothing." Suddenly, her face is hovering near his, as she has crawled into his personal space. He looks at her again, looking slightly weirded out but mainly concerned. He raised an eyebrow. "What? You have a problem?" he questions with a very slight attitude, clearly still not himself.

Kagome looks as if she has solved the biggest mystery in the universe. "Wait a second. I know what's going on here." Inuyasha tenses up, humming, sounding like he's worried she's figured him out. She points at him as Shippō wanders over. "You're afraid of spiders!"

Kaori, watching them, covers her mouth to keep from bursting out into laughter. No, that's not it, but that's funny.

Shippō jumps into the air and transforms into a cute, cartoonish looking spider. "Whoa! Who's afraid of the big, bad spider?"

Kaori would've died of laughter at his antics, if Inuyasha didn't immediately grab and slam him to the floor, making him transform back; that pulls the humor right out of her. In a blink of an eye, Kaori is kneeling with the group, looking angry and hissing as she keeps Inuyasha's head shoved against the floor, holding onto Shippō with her other arm. The floor now has a dent in it.

"I'll take that as a yes," Kagome quickly comments, feeling like the situation is gonna keep escalating out of control. "Hey, at least all of your demon powers aren't mysteriously gone, Kaori. That's good."

"They aren't gone," Kaori corrects, releasing Inuyasha, who glares at her. "The sensory issue is just because of inconsistency. I'm sure, once I transform, they won't be fading in and out anymore." At least, I fucking hope so…

Inuyasha cuts into the conversation, returning it back to how it began. "I'm not afraid of spiders." He stands and makes his way out of the room, to stand on the porch. "I'm getting some fresh air. I'm sleeping outside tonight." Just as he turns his attention away from the group, he realizes something terrible; many pairs of red eyes are peering from the trees and bushes, and he hadn't been able to smell them.

As skinny people with long limbs and spider heads jump from where they'd been hiding and land in front of the building, Kagome yells, quickly standing up, alongside Kaori who is still holding Shippō. "Aah! Spider heads!"

More and more appear in front of them. Then, two break into the room from the ceiling, getting behind them. Shippō clings onto Kaori in fear. Kagome does, too. Briefly, Myoga makes his reappearance on Inuyasha's shoulder, eating soup, completely unconcerned because Inuyasha will deal with them easily, surely.

Inuyasha unsheathes his sword, loudly complaining about the priest's sutras. He rushes forward, slashing at some spider heads, his sword remaining rusty. They spew webs at him, who waves them away.

Kaori, Kagome, and Shippō watch with worry. Briefly, Kaori glances at her palms, which aren't smoking; she's not mad enough yet to activate the ability. And even then, she'd likely only be able to land a few hits before it stopped working; she didn't know how to use it properly yet.

Despite this, Kaori rushes forward, even as Inuyasha yells for them to run away. Her body collides with several spider heads, sending them flying back from the force of her impact. Instincts kick in and she's moving all over the place, dodging webs at the last second. She rams into a few more, even tosses one through the temple walls, although that occurrence is a happy accident.

Inuyasha gets coated in webs, perhaps too easily. Shippō chooses then to join the battle, using foxfire. Kagome tries to drag Inuyasha away but has a difficult time since the webs covering him are also stuck to the ground. Kaori and Shippō work together to keep the spider heads back.

Simultaneously, as they knock the creatures back again and again, Kaori and Shippō make their way towards where Kagome and Inuyasha are. And when the creatures are knocked back again, the two help Kagome, getting Inuyasha unstuck and dragging him out of there.

The group makes a run for it, heading into the dark forest. Inuyasha still has some web over his head and is taking the lead. Kagome follows close behind. Shippō is on Kaori's shoulder, who is right behind the other two. They stop running when they enter a clearing.

"I think we'll be safe here," Kagome says, out of breath.

"I strongly disagree," Kaori comments, eyes cautiously gazing at the bushes and trees surrounding them. "While we're in this area, I don't think we'll be safe from those things."

Inuyasha swears underneath his breath, but everyone hears him anyway.

Kagome kneels near him. "What's with you?" she asks, concerned. "You're acting weirder than normal." She reaches for the webs on his head.

"Leave me alone!" Inuyasha yells defensively.

"What has gotten into you?" Kagome tugs on the webs and hums in surprise.

Inuyasha tugs the rest of the webs away, revealing that his hair has turned black and his dog ears have vanished from atop his head, human ears sticking out from his hair, exactly where they should be. "Forget about me for now. You should be more worried about yourselves."

Kagome opens her mouth to question him about his new appearance but Kaori speaks up first, moving closer to them, eyeing him. "No," she firmly states. "In any shape or form, you're still our Inuyasha. We can be concerned for ourselves and you at the same time."

The only reaction he gives is the widening of his eyes. For a split second, Kaori swears she sees vulnerability in them. He looks away as he sits underneath the nearby tree, removing the rest of the webs. "…If you think you can rely on my strength to save you this time, you'd better think again."

"We'll rely on mine, then," Kaori states. "I've been needing the experience, anyway. How else will I learn?"

Inuyasha's jaw drops. "Wha-You-Why…?"

"I'm not a complete bitch, you know," Kaori states, half-smiling. Inuyasha scoffs but it looks like he's trying not to crack a smile.

Kagome and Shippō (who is still on Kaori's shoulder) are still staring at him in shock; he looks human now.

"Would you quit staring at me?" Inuyasha asks them, irritated.

Shippō jumps onto his head, tugging at his hair. "Your dog ears are gone."

Kagome just keeps staring. "You're not half demon anymore. You're human."

"And his fangs, and claws, are gone, too, or otherwise, he'd have attacked you by now," Kaori flatly states, getting Shippō off his head before he throws him off. "This is a really bad time for you both to be stating the obvious."

"Yeah, well, we wouldn't be asking questions if we knew what was going on," Kagome says.

"Firstly, you didn't ask questions; you just pointed out his new appearance," Kaori remarks. "Secondly, I'm sure he'll explain in a minute."

Myoga appears on Kagome's shoulder. "All half-demons, such as Master Inuyasha, are subject to certain times when they lose their supernatural powers as demons."

"Or Myoga will," Kaori mumbles.

Myoga continues. "From time to time, half-demons are rendered no stronger than yourself, Kagome, or any other mere mortal. It's that simple. For him, the time must fall on the first night of the new cycle, when the moon is dark."

"Okay, now, I get it," Kagome comments. "You mean, at the start of each month when the moon isn't visible, a night such as tonight."

Kaori sweatdrops. "Isn't that what he just said, just phrased differently?"

Myoga hops onto Inuyasha's shoulder, suddenly being very dramatic. "Why, Master? Why did you not inform us that your period of vulnerability was impending?"

"Because if I had, you would have taken off a long time ago," Inuyasha points out.

"He's not wrong," Kaori comments, agreeing.

Myoga freezes. "Uh…" He folds his arms defensively. "Oh?" He looks away as if he's ashamed of Inuyasha and Kaori's words. "Hmm. Have you not a whit of trust in me?"

"Not even the slightest bit," Kaori states.

"I trust that you'll run away!" Inuyasha yells, pointing at Myoga aggressively.

"Then, what? You can't rely on me either?" Kagome butts in. "If you told me that you'd be losing your powers, I never would have insisted that we stay in the temple with Nazuna. So much for being able to lean on your close friends."

"I would've stuck with my decision to stay there," Kaori admits, making everyone look at her. "Regardless of this issue, Nazuna was, and is, in need of our help, alongside that priest. Both of which are probably dead now since we ran away from the fight."

Inuyasha gestures at Kaori. "This is exactly why I don't trust anybody. She just admitted she'd choose that human over me." He folds his arms and looks away from them. "Trusting no one has been the way I've lived until now. It's the only way I know how to protect myself."

Kaori hums, expression softening.

"Inuyasha, I hear what you're saying," Kagome gently says, tears welling. "I just wish you'd open up to me, to us, more, as your friend…s." She starts sobbing loudly.

Kaori is unbothered. Shippō looks sad. Inuyasha looks shocked.

"No, wait, I'm the one who's supposed to be down," Inuyasha says, sounding very, very concerned, and bothered that he made her cry.

"If it weren't for your pride, we wouldn't be in this boat." Kagome stops crying and points an accusing finger at him. "You're gonna pay for this big time, pal. Grab a brain, would you?! You dough head!"

Inuyasha gets in her face. "You're the dough head! You could have said no to staying at the temple!"

Kaori shakes her head fondly, looking towards Shippō, who is facing the opposite direction. "Hmm?"

Shippō, looking determined, clenches his fists. He mumbles to himself. "Now that Inuyasha's been rendered a mere mortal, I shall have to take over protecting the others." Kaori silently watches him, looking amused and proud. "I'll have to summon all my courage."

Something rustles in the bushes and Shippō shrieks, jumping into Kaori's waiting arms. She backs away and hands him over to Kagome before getting into a defensive stance.

Thankfully, it turns out to be Nazuna, who begs them to save the priest. Inuyasha is more than willing to refuse while Kaori is more inclined to agree. Regardless, Kagome suddenly states that their shards have been left behind in her backpack. Ultimately, Inuyasha hands his sword over to Kagome and leaves with only Shippō; Kaori is to guard Kagome and Nazuna, in case spider heads come after them.

"I hate every part of this plan," Kaori states aloud.

"Me too…" Kagome whispers.

About ten minutes later, the three women make their way to the temple, tired of waiting and sitting around on their asses. What they end up walking into is the priest, actually a demon, about to attack Shippō while Inuyasha is restrained in webs, looking weak. Kaori stands in front of Kagome and Nazuna. Kagome holds the sword in front of her, still sheathed.

Nazuna is horrified to discover the truth; all of them had been tricked. Shippō tells them that Inuyasha has been poisoned. Immediately, Kagome runs past Kaori, entering danger as she rushes towards Inuyasha. The demon spews a bundle of webs at her, but she blocks it with the sheathed sword and the web dissipates.

Myoga chooses then to make another reappearance, which serves as some reassurance to Kagome, because usually, Myoga isn't around when the danger is still afoot.

Kaori doesn't make a move to follow Kagome; she can't just leave Nazuna open to an attack. Shippō runs over to them, getting into a similar stance as Kaori, ready for any attack.

Kagome climbs her way up the extended limbs of the demon. Inuyasha weakly insists that she run away but she constantly refuses before jumping towards him, using the sheath of the sword to free him from the webs. They both land on the floor near the rest of the group.

Together, they are forced to hide inside another room within the temple, as spider heads are gathering outside. The false priest gives chase but is unable to enter the room through the door, because the blade of Tetsusaiga, stuck in the door (thanks to Myoga instructing Kagome), prevents him.

They are trapped.

Inuyasha lies unconscious on the floor. Kagome is kneeling beside him, self loathing. Nazuna is leaning against the wall beside the door. Shippō is lying on the floor, looking only slightly relieved because they can rest a little bit. Kaori is pacing back and forth, right in front of the door. Myoga is the only one that does something productive; he sucks out the poison that's within Inuyasha's system, looking about the size of Shippō by the time he's finished.

Kagome takes out a handkerchief from her pocket and wipes the sweat from Inuyasha's forehead. He finally opens his eyes again. "Sorry." She immediately pulls the handkerchief away. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"

Kaori stops pacing to silently watch their interaction.

"No," Inuyasha says, turning his head away from Kagome. "…Kagome."

"What is it?" she asks gently.

"Tell me something," he says. "Why were you crying?"

"Uh…" Her eyes widen as she remembers. "Back in the other room? Because… I thought I was going to lose you. I thought you were going to…die."

"You shed tears for me…" he continues. "Cried for me. Kagome, if it's not too much trouble, may I lie on your lap?" She looks surprised but nods.

Kaori chooses then to stop watching, and to stop listening, her body trembling and her palms beginning to finally smoke. That bastard… He almost killed my friend… Tried to kill all of my friends… Tried to kill my sister… I'll fucking kill him…! Her shaking gets more intense, unnoticed by everyone who is napping now (apart from Kagome and Inuyasha, who also don't notice because of the little moment they're still having). White flames manifest in her palms, spreading to her arms rapidly. She starts growling, first softly, then a lot louder. Still completely unnoticed.

As light rays enter the room through the windows, rattling comes from the ceiling, awakening everyone who'd been slumbering (just as Inuyasha falls asleep). Pieces of the ceiling fall; the false priest is crushing the roof structure. Eventually, the impacts cause Tetsusaiga to drop from the door. That's when the roof caves in.

The false priest reaches into the room and attempts to grab Shippō. However, a hand consumed by flames grabs hold of the demon's extending arm, severely burning it. As the false priest cries out in pain, Kaori looks up at him, her body almost completely covered by white fire.

"You messed with the wrong family," Kaori remarks.

The fire consumes her. Everyone (Kagome, Myoga, Shippō, and Nazuna; Inuyasha is still unconscious) braces for impact, awaiting scorching flames. They never come. Instead, the flames shoot out of the broken ceiling, growing into a large mass that's heading directly for the false priest.

The demon reluctantly bites off the limb that's been damaged and tries to make a run for it, never having expected this turn of events. Suddenly, the flames dissipate, revealing a gigantic black-furred cat with glowing white eyes. The ground tremors when it lands outside the temple, eyes only on the demon.

Definitely fearing for its life, the demon moves faster in his haste to escape, to no avail. From the giant beast's mouth, a blast of white flames shoot out, scorching the ground, the spider heads that have gathered, and the false priest himself, dying an agonizing death. The stolen shards (having returned to the shape of an orb, despite many pieces remaining lost) drop to the ground, unbothered.

And as the sun continues to rise, as the threat comes to an end, the giant beast slumps over onto the ground and begins to shrink. And as the group gathers around their newly transformed pal, and as Inuyasha awakens back in his usual form, only one thought crosses Kagome's mind.

Kaori kind of looked similar to Inuyasha's half-brother.

By the time Kaori reawakens, Nazuna is long gone and the group is back on another boat, trailing down the riverbank. Inuyasha and Kagome are staring intensely at her as she sits up, yawning. Shippō is far more occupied with trying not to vomit from seasickness.

Remembering the spider heads and the false priest, Kaori tenses up and looks around, quickly becoming confused by the new scenery. "What the hell happened? Did I sleep through everything? Did Nazuna live?" She looks at Inuyasha and Kagome, immediately weirded out by their constant staring. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You don't remember?" Kagome questions.

"Remember what?" Kaori questions back.

"Apparently, you turned into a cat version of Sesshōmaru while I was out for the count," Inuyasha states. "And Nazuna's fine, thanks to you."

"Huh?!" Kaori blinks rapidly. "I did?! Me?! What?!" She glances towards the far left as the demon in question enters her mind, now that he's been mentioned.

"What are you looking at?" Kagome asks. "Can you sense something? Have your new eyes spotted a shard?!" She sounds more excited as she speaks.

"I'm not looking at anything; I just felt like looking over there," Kaori answers, looking back towards them. "Wait, new eyes?!" She leans over the side of the boat, looking at her reflection in the water.

She has fangs like Inuyasha, except more feline than canine. Her hair is much darker now (midnight blue) and far shorter (like a boy's). She has cat ears (black) atop her head and no longer has human ones but that hasn't seemed to hinder her hearing. A black tail is moving behind her like it's got a mind of its own. Her eyes are white and look more cat-like. Lastly, she has claws, slightly longer ones in comparison to Inuyasha.

She screams. "I LOOK AWESOME!"

It's good to be back after the move! Sorry for the long wait; it took some time getting this chapter done.

Kaori has finally underwent her complete transformation (and at the same point as she did in the original fanfiction that started it all, changing how the episode ended)! Woo! And, keep in mind, her current attire is a black jumpsuit that is basically the same one Medusa from Soul Eater wears (briefly mentioned in the previous chapter, the attire I mean).

So, out of curiosity, what are your predictions of how the Sesshomaru and Kaori ship will commence? And that one instance, like after their first encounter with him, where Kaori thought his name and suddenly she was looking in a random direction; what are your predictions of what that is? A demon thing? Or something more? I want to hear it all.

By the way, to be clear, Kaori's sense of smell was bit inconsistent but that was because she was not fully transformed. Now, she is. But the scents she catches whiff of aren't gonna be mentioned all the time, probably just in passing and if it isn't mentioned, assume she is smelling what she smells. Here's a list of the distinct scents she's sniffed out thus far (which isn't many): sulfur (or rotten eggs) when a demon is around and rotten meat when a corpse is nearby.

By this point into the fanfiction, Kaori's personality has settled in and I don't think she'll be changing anytime soon or ever, so here's the official personality list for her that I've been following since the first few chapters!

On a side note, Kaori and Kagome bicker in the same manner as my younger siblings and I do; over the littlest shit.

Easily Agitated/Irritated/Angered - Short Tempered

Empathetic/Kind (when she's not short tempered)

A Little Dramatic

Protective

Brave/Courageous

Fiery

Mature/Immature

Motherly

Rude