Many apologies for the massive delay. I could not find inspiration for the longest time, thus my focus remained elsewhere during this time. I make no promises of faster updates; I will, however, do my best to avoid such a long wait again.

On the rocky ground, a blue alarm clock sits. The seconds are fastly ticking down. The anticipation is very high. And, then, the hand strikes twelve; beeping erupts loudly from the fancy mechanism. However, it's quickly silenced by the steady finger of Kagome; a brave young woman, fairly new to the lands of-

"Why are you narrating everything, Kaori?" Kagome interrupts, sounding annoyed.

"Why aren't you narrating everything, Kagome?" Kaori fires back, sounding equally as annoyed. She rolls her eyes and scoffs. "I was merely lightening the mood, you buzzkill."

Kagome very clearly disagrees; it's written all over her expression, plain as day. She clarifies her feelings with unnecessary words. "Well, it doesn't feel very lightened."

Across from them, Inuyasha nonchalantly slurps up a large amount of food from the bowl of instant noodles that Kagome has made for him. With his behavior, it's as if he hasn't eaten in days. "Not bad. Not bad." How he manages to speak clearly while in the middle of eating is a talent of its own. "I can see how this would catch on." This time, his words happen to be a bit jumbled, thanks to the noodles in his mouth.

Kagome stares at Inuyasha with squinty eyes, her chin resting upon her palm, elbow propped on her leg. "Next best thing to sliced bread."

"Don't sound so excited," Kaori sarcastically remarks. She's surprised to find herself not getting another sharp swat to the back of the head, and is also thankful for that, too, as it was beginning to get a bit redundant.

Inuyasha abruptly stops eating, staring at the sisters in what appears to be concern, pointing to the instant noodles and the heated kettle on the ground using his chopsticks. "Come on, you two. Aren't you gonna dig in?"

Kaori blinks, staring; she's not quite sure how to respond to that. "…Uh huh. Well, you see, the thing is-" Her explanation is interrupted by Kagome exploding with rage. "She'll explain," she quickly states before sitting back to watch the "show".

Kagome jumps up from her rocky seat, making a noise similar to a growl but not quite. Her fists are clenched at her sides. In the background, crows flee. "Speaking of digging, have you noticed we're surrounded by corpses here?!"

Directly beside them, downhill, is a field of skulls and other varieties of bones.

"No, I guess you were too busy rummaging through my backpack to realize that we happen to be sitting in an old battlefield!" Kagome continues her rant, but more so to herself, yet still very loudly. "'I'm hungry', he says! Then, he has the nerve to expect me to eat here!" She flops back down onto the rock; Kaori is surprised she didn't hurt her tailbone doing that because, well, it's a rock she just flopped her ass onto. "Jeez!" She glares at Inuyasha. "Even your bloodsucking flea buddy has better manners!"

"In his defense," Kaori begins. "He's likely used to doing this, considering we're in times where war is ongoing. We just happen to be entering areas where we'll be seeing the aftermath of it all."

Kagome remains grumpy. "Uh huh. And how's the nose?"

Kaori grimaces, remembering previous sensory overloads. "Considering I'm not actively using it to breathe anymore, it's doing fine." Breathing through my mouth is a bit of a pain, though, since I'm not used to it.

Myoga, sitting on Inuyasha's shoulder and eating a fishcake, speaks up. "I must say how impressed I am by the conveniences of your era; that bike-cycle and your instant foodstuffs." Kaori snorts; that's one way of calling it. "Tell me, has our land started trading with other lands?"

Kagome's poor mood instantly brightens, giving Kaori whiplash (not really but it feels like it). She smiles at Myoga. "Yeah! Good observation, Myoga; figures you'd notice."

Or he was just curious and Inuyasha…well, isn't, Kaori thinks. …I still can't get over the fact that I'm his defender now, her thought continues.

Kagome keeps speaking, lifting up a cup of noodles. "Actually, instant noodles were invented right here in Japan during the space age. Everyone eats them, but originally, they were meant for astronauts in outer space."

Simultaneously, Inuyasha and Myoga pause their eating. "Astro-nuts?"

Kaori can't help herself; she giggles. "Mhm; astronuts."

Kagome gives her a displeased look. "Astronauts," she corrects them. She smiles again as she explains. "We've explored outer space." She claps, looking as if she's just discovered something. "Hey, right! I guess you don't even know we've been to the moon!"

Kaori sweatdrops; well, yeah; that's literally years upon years away from right now, idiot.

"Man has traveled to the moon?" Myoga ponders.

Inuyasha looks like he doesn't believe her. "On a bi-cycle?" It takes all of Kaori's strength to not giggle again; it's just the way they keep pronouncing it, it's so funny.

"No, in a rocket, of course," Kagome states, in a know-it-all type of way.

"And a rocket would be?" Inuyasha questions.

Kaori silently watches, entertained as Kagome begins overexplaining what a rocket is. Her sister stretches out her arms, making them as far apart as possible. "They're long and they're usually white." She makes funny gestures at the ground, smiling to herself. "And flames shoot out the bottom." She hunches over, curling up. "Countdown to launch!" She wildly throws her arms and hands in the air, cheering. "Zoom! Lift off!"

My sister's a nutcase, Kaori fondly thinks. Hearing slurping, she glances over at Inuyasha; instead of listening to Kagome's explanation, which has pretty much concluded anyways so it doesn't really matter, he's gone back to eating the noodles. I wonder what he used to eat before he got pinned to that tree. Probably the exact same thing the villagers eat: cooked meat from a hunt gone well.

Kagome catches on to the fact that Inuyasha is no longer paying attention to her. She makes a grunting sound as she folds her arms and sulks, blushing deeply and looking in the opposite direction from him. "Trust you to be more impressed by noodles than by space travel."

"Well, duh," Kaori comments. "Noodles, he can eat; it's right in front of his face. Space travel, that's completely irrelevant to his present; he'll never see it." I doubt he'd have even wanted to.

Kagome opens her mouth to make a retort, only for the changing atmosphere to interrupt and distract her; the sky has suddenly become dark, similar to nighttime. "Oh, what's going on?" She glances around in confusion. "Why's it so dark?"

"What makes you think we'd know?" Kaori asks. "We're as clueless about it as you are."

Inuyasha quickly stands up, tossing aside the empty container that once held instant noodles. "But something tells me it's trouble!" Myoga calmly scolds him for littering as Kaori and Kagome stand. "This is no time to talk trash."

"Eh?" Kaori raises an eyebrow, glancing at him. "...I think you and I have different meanings when it comes to that phrase."

In the sky, a cyan vortex of fire appears, twirling, closing in on them. "You down there," a childlike voice calls out in a threatening tone. "You possess a piece of the sacred shikon jewel."

Inuyasha places a hand on Tetsusaiga, ready for battle. Kagome looks on in worry. Kaori hums to herself, thinking about the childlike tone. Myoga tries to warn them, very calmly suggesting what they're dealing with.

The vortex shrinks into a small circle, which rapidly enlarges into a gigantic pink blob with two big eyes and four little dangling orange orbs sticking out, acting as little arms and legs. It floats towards the speechless group. "Hand over the jewel," the voice continues, sounding even more like a child's. "The jewel or your life."

The blob attaches itself to Inuyasha's head, by sucking on it. Inuyasha looks like he's completely over life, Kagome looks halfway there, Myoga is being Myoga (which is mostly unhelpful), and Kaori is dying of laughter, hunched over, unable to take the situation seriously.

Inuyasha scratches at his head, sweat dropping. Shortly thereafter, he slaps the blob away violently. Shrieking, the blob deflates and twirls in the air, transforming into a circle of cyan again before ultimately transforming into a child with orange hair, a bushy tail, and paws for feet, who falls into a face plant onto the ground.

He gets up, rubbing his cheek. "Oww…" Inuyasha, Myoga, Kagome, and Kaori approach him, staring curiously; however, only Kaori has the decency to give the kid some personal space. The kid glares up at them; he's very tiny in comparison. "Who dares to burst my bubble?!" Kaori covers her mouth and nose to prevent a snort.

The kid tries to run away but Inuyasha grabs him by the tail and hoists him into the air. "Feisty little thing, aren't you?" He looks at the kid closely. "Nice tail. Looks like a badger or a squirrel."

"I'm a fox, heathen!" the kid yells at him.

Kagome moves behind Inuyasha, looking over his shoulder. "A fox? It talks." She blushes slightly. "Cool. Let me touch it when you're done."

Kaori looks at Inuyasha and Kagome with annoyance. "He's a person, you know, not a toy to be passed around recklessly." She glares at the back of Inuyasha's head. "Now, put him down before I beat you over the head with the biggest stick I can find."

Inuyasha glances towards the two females, glaring pointedly at Kaori. "You mind? I'm trying to teach him a lesson." Suddenly, he's dragged onto the ground, a stone statue weighing on his hand.

"Where'd that come from?" Kagome wonders.

"Who cares? Serves him right for being such an asshole," Kaori comments.

Kagome hears a commotion behind them and turns. "Hey, get out of my stuff!"

The fox child is rummaging through Kagome's backpack, throwing this and that all over the place; how her bag can even hold that much is a mystery. He holds up the small glass container. "Found it! A sacred jewel shard." He faces the trio (plus Myoga) and leaps into the air, floating there. "Our time together has been short but sweet. Farewell." Another vortex of blue fire appears before disappearing alongside the kid.

Inuyasha and Kagome both look angry.

"He disappeared," Kagome states.

"I know! I'm literally witnessing the same things as you are!" Kaori exclaims in irritation.

Behind them, a skull on the ground pops out a bushy tail and runs off. They hear him and turn around. Inuyasha clenches his fist and, upon immediately catching up, hits the kid on the head before taking back the container, which he instantly drops as Kaori, like she promised, hits him in the head with the largest stick she can find. Kagome picks up the container with the shard.

Moments later, Inuyasha and the kid are both sitting on the ground with their legs and arms crossed, eyes closed in indignation, a massive bump on their heads.

"Always pick on the little guy," the kid mutters.

Kaori kneels down in front of him with disinfectant spray in her hand; Kagome, beside her, tends to Inuyasha's bump while still standing. With a brief warning, Kaori sprays at the bump on the kid's head. He opens his eyes briefly to glare at her before closing them again. "You'll have to forgive the idiot beside you; he seems to be lacking in common sense."

"Hey!" Inuyasha yells, feeling insulted.

The kid's mouth twitches, as if he's fighting a smirk (or even a slight smile).

As Kagome tends to Inuyasha's mild head injury, she asks the kid a question. "So, why were you so determined to get the jewel from us?"

The kid hesitates but only for a moment. "For my father. I need to get the shards of the jewel to avenge him."

Kagome glances at him, tilting her head. "What do you mean "avenge"?"

Kaori interrupts her before she continues. "You know exactly what that word means, Kagome. If he wanted to tell us more than that, he would've. Don't bother him with questions you can figure out the answer to." No need to bring up traumatizing memories for the little guy, she thinks.

Inuyasha lacks common sense, and sensitivity. "I get it. He's not strong enough, so he needs the power of the jewel to take out his enemies."

"I swear on your father's grave, I will hit you with another stick if you don't leave him alone," Kaori promises with a glare. Inuyasha involuntarily flinches.

"I'm strong enough to take on any enemy," the kid declares. "I wanted the jewel as a precaution."

Kaori snickers at his words but nods in agreement. "You tell him, kiddo." She gently pats his head, causing the kid to blush slightly. "Feel free to explain your actions more, if you have the need to."

The kid hesitates for a moment before deciding to explain everything more. "It all started not too long ago. Hundreds of warriors were engaged in a battle near the forest where we lived, when a dark cloud passed overhead. A cloud so dark and evil, none could imagine what horrors it would bring. The warriors were, at first, puzzled by the strange turn in the weather…"

Attentively, Kaori pays close attention to his tale of the events as she gently hoists him onto her shoulder. Kagome gathers her belongings and gets on her bicycle. They begin their journey through the forest, Inuyasha taking the trees as Kaori and Kagome take the path on the ground, Kaori running and keeping up with Kagome's speed on her bike.

Kagome interrupts the story after a while. "Wait, they murdered your father to get his shard of the shikon jewel? But why did he have it?"

"I couldn't say," the kid answers, holding onto Kaori's shoulder.

"My guess is that, like every demon we've come across, he just happened to locate it first," Kaori suggests. "Please, do continue, kiddo."

"Shippō," the kid finally introduces himself. In response, the sisters return the introduction while also introducing Inuyasha, who silently travels beside (and above) them. "All I know is that the thunder brothers steal the jewels from demons."

Kagome stops her bike. Kaori skids to a stop, looking at her. "Thunder brothers?" Kagome questions.

"Can't you keep up?" Kaori complains. "He's obviously referring to the two assholes we have to take care of."

He nods. "It's their nickname—because of their thunder and lightning attacks."

Above them, Inuyasha stands in the tree with his arms crossed, briefly discussing the demons with Myoga, who names them as Hiten and Manten. "Big deal!" Inuyasha exclaims loudly. "All I gotta do is defeat the brothers and I'll walk away with all their jewel shards."

"And one day, man will walk on the moon," Shippō retorts, doubting him. Kaori bites her lip; well… "You're no match for the evil thunder brothers. You're only half-demon. I can smell the human in you. This is between demons; it's got nothing to do with half-breeds such as yourself. Stay out of it."

"Shippō," Kaori says in a stern voice.

"That's no way to speak to Inuyasha," Kagome states, getting off her bike.

As Inuyasha drops down from the tree, fists clenched and ready to hit Shippō, Kaori punches him in the face as soon as he lands, knocking him on his ass. "Final warning," she promises, glaring down at him. "No touchy."

Inuyasha quickly gets up, glaring at her. "I'll take my chances!" He reaches for Shippō. In a matter of seconds, so fast that everyone can barely comprehend anything, Shippō hops off Kaori's shoulder and thumps another statue onto Inuyasha's hand but additionally sticks a charm onto it before somersaulting in the air and landing. Inuyasha growls. "Is this supposed to be humorous?!"

"I think it's pretty funny, actually," Kaori comments.

Shippō laughs and points at him. "You're stuck until you can get the spell scroll peeled off."

Kagome steps forward, moving towards him. "Don't be so childish, Shippō."

Kaori's eye twitches. "...He's literally a child, though. He's supposed to be childish, stupid. And Inuyasha deserves it, anyway."

Kagome looks at Kaori with disappointment. "Honestly, you'd make a terrible mother."

Kaori looks bewildered. "What does motherhood have to do with anything?"

Kagome sighs, exasperated. "Nothing, nothing." She glances at Inuyasha, who is struggling to lift the stone statue. "Come on, Inuyasha; the statue can't be that heavy."

Kaori face-palms; Shippō literally just explained… She peeks through her fingers, watching Inuyasha struggle while Kagome continues to miss the point of the spell scroll.

Shippō eyes Kaori, who is standing closest to him. "I don't like playing tricks on women if I can avoid it. Don't hold this against me." He leaps into the air and whacks Kaori in the back of the neck.

While caught off guard, she instinctively twirls around and catches him before he lands back on the ground. She raises an eyebrow at him. "Seriously? Exactly what was that meant to accomplish?"

Shippō sweat drops before conjuring more fire and sending it at Kaori. He expects her to drop him and move back to avoid it, but she continues holding onto him as it makes contact with her skin. "...Uhhh…"

Kaori looks unamused but doesn't attempt to attack him like Inuyasha had. "Firstly, I'm completely resistant to fire based attacks. Secondly, I barely felt that. And thirdly, why? We're trying to assist you."

Shippō, left with no other options, bites one of her hands. She releases him with a yelp. With quick maneuvers, he manages to steal the container with the jewel shard from Kagome again. Kagome, grabbing her bow and arrows, chases after him angrily. Kaori follows suit, to make sure she doesn't end up hurting him (on accident or on purpose). Neither female seems to care that they left Inuyasha behind.

Briefly, they lose sight of Shippō, thanks to his many illusions, but eventually, they do manage to catch up with him, and at a good time, too; a rather ugly looking demon is standing over the kid, stepping on his tail.

As the demon prepares to attack Shippō, Kagome shoots an arrow at him; it pierces through his nose. "Wow, I can't believe I hit him," she says, surprised.

"It'd be hard not to; you're almost standing directly in front of him," Kaori flatly states. "It's really not that big of an accomplishment."

Kagome sweat drops. "Right…" The ugly demon makes a move to grab at Shippō, regardless of the newcomers. Kagome points another arrow at him. "Stop right there! I've got another arrow right here and I'm not afraid to use it either."

The ugly demon crosses his eyes to look at his nose. "My beautiful nose."

Kaori stares at the demon. "You're only now complaining about the arrow in it?" She glances down and gasps, holding her hands to her mouth in horror; he's wearing a fox pelt. "Kagome…"

Kagome briefly glances down and grimaces. "I see it…" She keeps another arrow notched, aiming at the demon. "Don't move an inch or whatever."

Kaori sweat drops. "How menacing…"

"Shippō, get over here," Kagome calmly states, keeping her eyes on the evil demon. "And bring the jewel shard with you."

Shippō glances at the demon that attacked him before looking back at the females and sprinting towards them with the bottle containing the jewel fragment. "Stop!" the demon yells, running after him. "I must have that shikon jewel!"

Kagome, then, sees something glowing in the demon's forehead. "He has two jewel fragments in his forehead," she utters to Kaori. Immediately, Kaori looks worried; they could barely handle demons that just had one, how are they gonna deal with one that has two? "If I hit him there, I can bring him down." She releases the arrow; it hits his forehead, technically, but simply grazes him. "Close, but I just grazed him." The demon stops moving, now a bit closer to them.

Kaori is quiet for a moment, observing. ...That was a lot of running to just move a few inches closer, she thinks. …Maybe he's outta shape.

The demon whimpers loudly, trembling erratically. He touches his head, where only a few strands of hair lay. Two of the three fall out after a few seconds. Tears immediately stream down his face and he shouts incoherently. From his agape mouth, lighting sparks emit. Quickly, Shippō gives warning and the three start sprinting away.

However, the demon keeps track of them. He sends the blast directly at them. With a leap, Kaori knocks Kagome, Shippō, and herself onto the ground, some distance away from the demon; the blast misses them, for the most part. Shippō is uninjured, Kagome is left unconscious from hitting her head on the ground, and Kaori's leg has been badly wounded, despite only taking a very, very tiny fraction of the attack.

Why's it always my leg? Kaori thinks, hissing in pain. Well, maybe not always, but still, why the leg…? She glances towards where the blast had landed, seeing a massive rift in the ground. "…Yeah. Yeah, I'm… I'm glad I'm not human." She looks at her leg, grimacing at the sight. She winces as she shifts. "That's…definitely gonna take a while to heal…" She looks at Kagome, noticing she's unconscious. "...Right, I'm just talking aloud to myself."

On the other side of her, Shippō makes a grunting noise.

Kaori opens her mouth to address him but suddenly hears footsteps nearby; the demon is approaching. She doesn't hesitate. "Go, Shippō," she aggressively whispers, jerking her arm in a general direction. "Get out of here. Just save yourself." Shippō doesn't hesitate to run away, having heard the footsteps, too.

A few seconds later, the demon is looming over Kaori and the unconscious Kagome. "So, the little fox managed to escape." He leers at them. "Looks good enough to eat." He approaches further.

"Back off!" Kaori yells, incapable of doing anything. She looks disgusted when the demon leans over Kagome with reddening cheeks. He utters something but she's unable to hear it. So, she assumes it was something disturbing. "…Ew." Helplessly, she watches as the demon picks up Kagome, then approaches her. "Leave us alone, you perverted bastard!"

He ignores her as he picks her up, too.

She hits his shoulder. "Put us back down this instant!" She knows it's futile, and that she's kind of acting like Kagome, but what else is there for her to do? Her actions prove to have been quite idiotic, as the demon doesn't hesitate to knock her unconscious as he takes them to the skies on his cloud.

Down below, Shippō trembles with regret.

In the middle of a massive mountain, which is enshrouded by a gloomy sky, there lies a building, which looks no different to a shrine with its exterior. Within it, the demon that has abducted the siblings is stirring a bubbling, boiling purple potion, which resides in a pot. A giant cleaver sits next to him.

"Ah, Mother would be proud if she knew the family recipe was being put to use," the demon mutters to himself in delight. Behind him, Kagome and Kaori are lying on the bed, still unconscious. "The only ingredient left to add is the most important one—the one I like to call deliciously awful." He laughs maniacally.

Surprisingly, both sisters end up awakening around the same time, Kagome regaining consciousness just a couple of seconds before Kaori. Kagome sits up, confused and frightened; Kaori sits up, completely angry at having been knocked unconscious by this bastard.

"Awoken, have you, my fair maidens?" the demon questions rhetorically, not really wanting an answer, nor expecting one.

"Where have you taken me?" Kagome asks anyway. She glances at Kaori, who has turned her glare towards her. "We," she corrects, grammatically incorrect. "Us."

The demon turns towards them, staring at Kagome specifically. "That's the least of your worries."

"Why are you looking at me that way?" Kagome demands.

"I will tell you; the flesh and blood of young maidens does marvels for hair growth. Some call it the wonder potion of the century," the demon explains.

Kagome squeals, looking horrified. She bawls up her fists and yells at him. "I'd rather be eaten alive than boiled down for some hair concoction!" The demon shushes her, suddenly looking worried.

"Hey, fugly. I can't help but notice how I wasn't in that equation of yours," Kaori comments, her eye twitching; her anger is still there but it's now mixed with some concern.

The demon looks at her menacingly. "You, Nekomusume, are a gift to my mighty brother, Hiten."

"I'm what now?" Kaori blinks.

"A gift," the demon repeats. "The Nekomusume are known for their secrecy. They are not often seen and even rarer of an occurrence is to spot one outside of a human's village, and still so underdeveloped."

Kaori is both insulted and horrified. "I'm not gonna be some demon's harlot!" She clenches her fist, staring down at her injured leg. "If my leg wasn't so busted up right now, I'd throw your ass off a cliff!"

The demon frantically shushes her, much like he did with Kagome. "Keep your voice down. If brother Hiten hears you, he might just fulfill the human's wish." And that's not something he wants, as he needs Kagome for the hair potion. Suddenly, he gasps loudly.

The door is smashed into a thousand pieces of debris, a fist having gone through it. In contrast to the ugly demon brother, Hiten (the sisters presume) is surprisingly handsome. One of his arms is around a vixen he's brought home with him. He stares at all of them menacingly. "I thought I heard voices. Back so soon, Manten?"

As the demonic brothers, and the vixen, converse amongst themselves, Kagome watches in slight confusion while Kaori becomes lost in thought.

Hiten? Manten? What kind of names…? Whatever; I'm glad I was born in a different time period or my name would've been Khyah or something. Kaori blinks out of her thoughts the very second that Hiten suddenly brutally murders the vixen with an electrical blast, leaving her as a crispy corpse on the floor. "What the hell?!" What the fuck just happened?! What the hell did I miss?!

"Please, Hiten! Forgive me!" Manten begs. He tries to direct the attention elsewhere; he gestures at Kaori, who looks at him in terror. "I have brought you a feline, so that your lineage may be all powerful always!"

"Don't bring me into your family drama!" Kaori yells.

The distraction does not work; Manten's brother is more concerned about the jewel shard. "You bring nothing but shame to this family. If you were not my younger brother, I would've done you in long ago," Hiten cruelly states. And because Manten's his younger brother, he chooses to impatiently listen to the explanation. Surprisingly, he doesn't explode in rage again. "So, this little Shippō tyke has our jewel shard?" He turns and begins walking out.

As the demonic brothers briefly converse with one another again, Kagome and Kaori make their move to try and sneak away, only Kaori can't stand yet so she's crawling and, for some reason, so is Kagome. Unfortunately, Manten quickly notices and swings his giant cleaver at them, which they narrowly dodge in time.

Kagome glares at him. "Hey, watch where you're aiming that!"

"Would you fucking shut up?! You'll only make him madder!" Kaori yells at her. "Besides, he's already told you he's gonna kill you!"

"You don't always have to comment on the things I say when I'm terrified!" Kagome yells back.

Manten doesn't seem to notice that the sisters are having an aggressive conversation. He lifts his giant cleaver again. "A thousand pardons. I meant to make it quick so you wouldn't have to suffer. And there's no sense delaying, since I wouldn't want the main ingredient for my hair potion escaping."

"No!" Kaori yells, throwing herself in front of Kagome, wincing because of her leg, which is finally showing signs of healing; another note she mentally makes to herself, there may be a delay when the attack is quite powerful. "You can't kill her!"

"Why not?" Manten questions, leaning in closely.

"Because without her, you'll never find that jewel!" Kaori continues yelling. Thinking fast on her feet (or rather her knees), she keeps talking. "Unless you've been living underneath a rock fairly recently, you both should be aware of who Inuyasha is, yeah?!" She probably doesn't really need to keep yelling, but also it apparently is holding their attention, so. Hiten shows some acknowledgement. "Well, he's got most of the fragments!"

Manten and Hiten immediately show more interest than before. Behind Kaori, Kagome is practically beaming.

Without warning, Hiten sits down beside the sisters, arms and one leg crossed. He stares at Kaori. "You. Are you lying?"

Kaori's eye twitches; of course she's talking out of her ass. "She's a human and I'm an underdeveloped neko demon. Why the hell would I lie when you can wipe the floor with us?" She crosses her arms in the same manner as him, staring him down. "I am only telling you this information because you planned on killing her; she's his lover."

"Yeah!" Kagome agrees without thinking. "…Huh?!"

"And because of them being lovers, keeping her alive will be very rewarding; surely, Inuyasha will give up those shards in exchange for his one true love," Kaori continues with a smirk.

Kagome sweat drops. "I'm not too sure about that one…"

Manten doesn't believe her. "I think she's lying."

Hiten chooses to believe her. "I think she's telling the truth." He stands up. "Wench!" Roughly, he lifts Kaori by the collar of her hoodie; the sudden shift makes her briefly move her injured leg, causing her to wince again. "Take us to this Inuyasha lover of hers at once. But be warned, if you're lying, you'll suffer the same fate as she." He briefly gazes at the corpse of the random vixen. "And I doubt you'd enjoy being fried to a crisp."

Kaori continues staring at him, unafraid. "Your warning has been acknowledged."

Before long, Kagome and Kaori are reluctantly riding on a cloud, kneeling behind Manten. As they silently travel, Kaori examines her injured leg; it's almost completely healed by this point. So much for feeling invincible, she thinks. Poison, powerful attacks by certain full demons, maybe excluding the fire based ones, what else can potentially kill me?

A lightning bolt striking a pinnacle below brings Kaori back into reality. She glances downwards; the pinnacle has shattered into pieces and upon it, Inuyasha, Myoya, and Shippō had been; they have landed on the ground, and it's there that Kagome's bicycle and bag lay scattered. Another lightning bolt aims a strike; Inuyasha grabs Shippō without hesitation and dodges before kneeling on the ground and shielding the kid from the flying debris. He then places Shippō down on the ground. Both stare up at the gloomy clouds.

Above them, Hiten is floating on flaming wheels. "Very impressive maneuver, dodging my lightning bolt, especially in light of your dull and uninspired conversation just now. You must be the reputed Inuyasha himself."

For a moment, Kaori (and Kagome) can't hear anything; if there was a response, well, it must've been whispered or something. She (they) watches as Shippō leaps onto Inuyasha's shoulder, holding onto one of his ears. "Where's Kaori?! Where's Kagome?! What have you done with them?!"

At least he cares, Kaori thinks.

Hiten smirks. "Don't despair. We have done nothing to them as of yet." Which is technically not a lie; Kaori had gotten injured before the kidnapping.

At his older brother's command, Manten moves his cloud lower, soon floating next to Hiten. He pushes both females towards the edge of the cloud, placing them in the view of their comrades below. Inuyasha quickly stands, making Shippō lose his grip and fall off of his shoulder; Inuyasha calls out to only Kagome, not that Kaori's surprised since the two of them still aren't quite getting along.

"Judging by your expression, it seems the girl spoke the truth," Hiten remarks, pleased. "Now, hand over the fragments of the shikon jewel to me-" He pauses very briefly, suddenly looking extremely angry. "-Or you'll never see your lover alive again!" Lightning flashes across the sky, emitting from him.

Inuyasha is nonplussed. "See my lover?" Kagome hides behind Kaori in embarrassment. Inuyasha staggers forward a bit. "Uh, there must be some misunderstanding." He glances at Kaori. "Let me get this straight, you and I are supposed to be lovers?"

Kaori looks flabbergasted. "What?! No! Ew! No, not me, you idiot!" She pulls Kagome out from behind her, pointing at her. "She's the one you're in love with, stupid!" Damn moron is gonna get me brutally murdered.

Manten seems pleased all of a sudden and grinds his fist against Kaori's head; it's less of an aggressive action and more of a very weird manner of petting her. "You little vixen. I knew you were fibbing."

Kaori looks at him with clear annoyance. "If we didn't need you, I'd push you out of this cloud…" Manten is amused by her threat, thinking her to be feeble because of her lack of demonic development.

Inuyasha glares up at both females, raising his fists. "You actually think I'd hand over the jewel shards as a ransom to get you back?!"

Kagome almost pushes Manten off the cloud. "Of course you would! Cause that's what a lover would do!"

"But we ain't lovers!" Inuyasha yells. "And without love, the whole argument kind of falls apart!"

"Well, maybe it's a love-hate relationship between you two, stupid!" Kaori interjects, wanting to survive the situation but also sounding like her heart isn't entirely into the ruse anymore, probably because it wasn't actually working.

Kagome is getting angrier. "So, now some little gems are more important than me?! How dare you say that after all we've been through together! In the meantime, you'd better admit to yourself how much you really love me!"

Kaori leans back, sighing as she gives up. She glances at Manten, who has regained balance. "…How you doing, Manten?" she casually asks. Manten looks at her, taken aback by her newfound nonchalant nature. "…Right, cool." He just keeps staring at her with his mouth agape.

Hiten finally speaks up, breaking the argument between Kagome and Inuyasha. "I believe I've heard my fill. It's clear that you do have some jewels for us, Inuyasha. Jewels that will be mine!" He flies down towards Inuyasha, prepared to attack.

Inuyasha unsheathes his sword, which transforms. "Not in my lifetime, pal."

Their weapons of choice collide, making a lot of electrical sparks fly as they emit from Hiten's pike. The ground begins to shatter from the immense power. With all his strength, Inuyasha pushes him away with his sword. Hiten is knocked back some ways, a smirk on his face; this isn't going to be a boring fight.

Very briefly, Inuyasha and Hiten snark at one another before returning to fighting. Hiten zooms towards Inuyasha, his pike raised again. The ground crumbles as Inuyasha dodges. Inuyasha leaps in the air and blocks another attack with his sword. Hiten attacks repeatedly, forcing Inuyasha to keep blocking or dodging as he retreats backwards.

Shippō briefly watches the battle from a safe distance before looking up towards the cloud, where Kagome and Kaori are held hostage. "I've got to find a way to save them."

Up in the cloud, Manten, Kagome, and Kaori are watching the battle below. Kagome expresses concern, Kaori has no doubts that Inuyasha will win, and Manten is cheering for his brother, believing he'll win. And then, Manten tries to sneak attack Inuyasha, preparing to spit out lightning.

Kaori briefly looks down, considers the height, and shrugs. "Fuck it." Leaning back, she thrusts her leg forward roughly and quickly, hitting Manten's back; he's thrown off balance, which causes him to fall from the cloud, crashing into the ground and making a crater.

"Yes!" Kagome cheers. "Nice one!"

"Actually-" Kaori tries to warn her of the consequences but it's too late; the cloud shrinks until it completely vanishes from beneath them. "I regret nothing!" Kaori yells as she falls with Kagome, who screams in her ear.

Inuyasha tries to get to them, but cannot, constantly having to deal with Hiten.

Fortunately, Kaori and Kagome somehow have a soft enough landing; it makes sense for Kaori, a demon, to survive a fall like that but not so much for Kagome, a human, but they completely disregard it. Maybe they weren't all that high to begin with. The sisters quickly stand up (Kaori's fully healed by this point) and take off running, as Manten, too, survived the fall and is now giving chase.

Kagome, because of course it's her, trips, slowing them down enough for Manten to catch them. Kaori, knowing it's probably useless, raises her fists; she'd rather go down swinging than get taken out by a coward's shot to her back. From above the trench they're currently trapped in, Shippō appears and uses one of his tricks; a spinning top enlarges and pins Manten down. This simple but brave act assists them in getting out of the trench unharmed.

During their thanks and appreciation of Shippō's help, the illusion ends. Because of the trick, the last strand of hair Manten has just falls to the ground as he sits up. Manten panics, touching his bald head. He begins to cry again. Another ball of electricity gathers in his mouth as he looks to the skies.

Blow after blow, Manten releases the bolts of electricity in various directions, destroying trees and crumbling the ground. Kagome, Kaori, and Shippō run away to avoid it. In the areas where his random attacks have landed, fires have started blazing. Together, the trio hides behind a mound.

"Looks like we've added fuel to the proverbial fire," Kagome comments.

"No shit!" Kaori yells, peeking to see if Manten has followed.

"You said it," Shippō agrees, looking terrified.

Manten trudges through the burning landscape, seeking out the ones who have wronged him. "I can smell your fear," he says in a surprisingly calm manner, so calm that it's equally as frightening as when he was randomly attacking. "I'll hunt you down and use one for my hair potion." He walks past where they're hiding. "The other for a new pelt. And the last, oh, her punishment will be the worst of all."

"Got any bright ideas?" Kagome quietly asks. "Something tells me we're in trouble." She immediately gets an idea. "Wait a minute." Peeking, she looks at the arrow still lodged in Manten's nose. "That arrow. Maybe I can use it again. Shippō, I need your help."

"What about me?" Kaori asks.

"You, too, yeah," Kagome agrees dismissively, making Kaori let out an exaggerated sigh.

Eventually, Manten slows down his walking pace and glances towards the mound. He shoots a bolt blast at it, destroying it completely. Approaching, he hums. When the dust clears, he sees Kagome lying unconscious on the ground; Kaori and Shippō are nowhere to be seen. He keeps walking forward. "There's the little wench. Did you honestly think you could elude a thunder brother?" He lifts her by her hair.

Her eyes suddenly opened. She begins to speak uncharacteristically. "Yeah, actually, you slimy mudskipper." Her hair takes on a life of its own, wrapping around Manten's wrists. "Funny, I just can't do a thing with my hair today."

"What trickery is this?!" Manten exclaims as a second Kagome, the real Kagome, runs out from a different hiding place, with Kaori following closely behind.

Kagome stops when she's right next to him. "I'll be taking that arrow back, if you don't mind." She plucks it out from his nose as the hair holding onto his wrists turns orange, revealing to Manten that it's Shippō.

"You're that miserable fox!" Manten exclaims, looking at the fake Kagome.

"In the flesh and blood, here for my father's revenge!" Shippō loudly states.

"Hold him down, Shippō," Kagome instructs. "Kaori, help him out; this may be our last chance."

Kaori moves, doing what she can; in a somewhat comedic fashion, she jumps and belly flops onto the ground. With a groan because it fucking hurt, she wraps her arms around Manten's legs; it's a bit degrading but whatever works.

"Uh…" Kagome shakes her head at her weird sister, refocusing. She grips the arrow tightly, glaring at Manten. All I have to do is hit the sacred jewel shard in his forehead, she thinks. "Here goes nothing!" She thrusts forward.

Unexpectedly, Manten breaks free, blocking the arrow and sending Kagome crashing onto the ground, landing on her ass. Then, he throws Shippō down, who reverts to his normal form. Lastly, he kicks Kaori away, sending her flying into a nearby boulder. Manten kicks Shippō out of spite, sending him flying some ways away. Then, he proceeds to choke Kagome, who weakly pleads for Inuyasha to help her.

Inuyasha is unable to do so, as he still cannot get away from Hiten. Seeing her in trouble leaves him open to an attack; Hiten manages to hit his shoulder with his pike, forcefully dragging it downwards, sending Inuyasha to the ground. Inuyasha drops his sword, which reverts to its rusty state and gets stuck in the ground.

Bleeding from his shoulder, Inuyasha winces in pain and tries to get up, but stops short when Hiten points his pike in his face. As Hiten monologues, or whatever, Inuyasha holds his wound and worries, in his head, more about Kagome than continuing this fight with Hiten.

As Manten continues to strangle Kagome, Kaori finally stands up from where she was tossed, having briefly been out of commission. When her eyes land on Manten and what he's doing to Kagome, it sparks a rage within her, a fury so intense, her hands start smoking. She doesn't notice, unaware that her special demonic power has finally surfaced.

Kaori rushes forward, sprinting at Manten. She readies her arm, glaring furiously at him. He remains preoccupied with trying to kill Kagome. "You fucker!" she shouts as she reaches him, swinging her fist directly at his face.

Manten is caught off guard, not just by the punch that sends him flying away from Kagome (who coughs and struggles to catch her breath quickly after being released), but also by the white flames that have instantly scorched half of his face.

"What the…hell…?" Kaori, too, is caught off guard by the sudden appearance of fire. She stares at her hands in awe, watching the flames fade into nothing, leaving behind a puff of smoke that quickly vanishes, too.

While she's distracted by the newfound discovery of her unique power, Manten has yelled in pain, cried some more about his body getting uglier, and has now stormed back over to the sisters. Kaori looks up at him just as he reaches forward with both of his hands; like with Kagome, he begins strangling Kaori, slamming her to the ground in his fury. She hits at his hands, trying to summon the fire again whilst trying to break his grip on her; neither works out how she wants it to.

Kagome and Shippō attempt to rescue her, jumping on Manten and hitting at him, but it only results in him targeting them all simultaneously, tossing Shippō aside again and choking Kagome alongside Kaori.

Manten laughs at Shippō, who now has a scratch on his cheek, and doesn't seem to mind anymore that half of his own face is badly burned. "When I'm done, I have a surprise for you," he taunts. He tosses Kaori aside, who gasps for air as she lays on the ground. He pats the pelt wrapped around his waist. "My girth has been expanding of late, and I could use another small fox pelt to keep warm at night. It'll be like a family reunion." Shippō stares at him with angry tears, growling. "Should I slay you first or skin you alive like your father? Perhaps I should sever your toes and use them for a new set of earrings."

"Very clever, Manten," Hiten unnecessarily comments. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were becoming quite the villain."

Manten laughs like a maniac, happy to have been praised. He tightens his grip on Kagome's neck, who he's still choking. Shippō leaps into the air and lands on him, biting into his neck. Manten is unbothered by it, to an extent; it's not painful but it's annoying. He tries to pry him off; Shippō continues biting him, refusing to let go, willing to die to save Kagome and Kaori.

Manten proceeds to start hitting Shippō's head repeatedly. Although Shippō is clearly in pain, he continues holding on. Witnessing all of this, and hearing the continued taunts from Hiten and Manten, Inuyasha stands up and digs his claws into his shoulder, using a different attack against Hiten, who is taken aback but still blocks it in time.

Inuyasha runs and grabs his sword, Tetsusaiga, which transforms again. Leaping into the air, he throws it. Hiten moves aside, dodging the attack. He briefly taunts Inuyasha before his opponent reveals that Hiten wasn't really his target that time. Hiten turns around; the sword has pierced through Manten's chest from behind. Manten yells in pain and collapses, releasing Kagome (and Shippō) from his hold at last.

Kaori, still laying on the ground, catches Shippō as he falls on top of her, unconscious. "I've got ya, buddy," she croaks, not fully recovered from being choked. She sits up with a grunt, holding him in her arms. Kagome, briefly holding her throat in pain, rushes over and helps Kaori stand. Kaori points at the sword that has impaled Manten; Tetsusaiga has become rusty again.

"Right! We have to bring it to Inuyasha!" Kagome moves to grab the sword, holding onto its handle.

Carrying Shippō (who remains unconscious), Kaori approaches the fallen demon (Manten) and, with one hand, begins removing the pelt from his waist. "...Not leaving him," she manages to say, showing discomfort as her healing ability continues to inconvenience her. The stronger the opponent, the slower I'll heal? That's not fair… She continues to complain about it in her head as she finally gets the pelt from Manten.

Hiten zooms towards their location. Inuyasha anxiously calls out to them. However, his warning reaches them too late; Hiten attacks with a bolt that lands near them, sending them flying back a short distance. Kagome and Kaori have a rough landing; Kaori takes most of the blunt of impact, shielding Shippō who remains in her arms, now snuggled close to the pelt of his father. Neither sister has Tetsusaiga in their grasp.

Very dramatically (with a lot of talking and brotherly love), Manten dies in Hiten's arms. But no one except Hiten seems to care about that occurrence. For good reason.

Inuyasha runs to the sisters and Shippō, only Kagome seems to be his primary concern. "Kagome, are you alright?!"

Unharmed, Kagome sits up, speaking in a whisper, not fully recovered yet from all of the choking. "I'm okay, but I dropped the Tetsusaiga when we were hit by the lightning attack."

Inuyasha is unconcerned about that. "No problem. Lots more where that came from."

Kagome continues looking guilty. "I just wanted you to know I'm sorry I messed up."

"Damn right, you messed up!" Inuyasha yells. "You messed up big time! But sword or no sword, you're wrong if you think I'm gonna let Hiten get the better of me!"

Kaori, eavesdropping, laughs a little at their interaction, sitting up; she doesn't sound as bad as before. She holds Shippō close, being careful with him and the pelt. "No love for me?" she tiredly teases.

"Not on your life, mangy cat," Inuyasha retorts. Kaori just rolls her eyes fondly.

Nearby, after hysterically sobbing, Hiten bites Manten's head, devouring the jewel shards he had. His eyes glow an eerie red. Kagome watches in horror, assuming he's a cannibal. Myoga, finally making his appearance once more, corrects her; he was simply obtaining the two shards and now has the power of five. Briefly, Inuyasha squabbles with him about his sudden reappearance.

We need to move!" Kaori warns. She leaps out of the way, still carrying Shippō and his father; Inuyasha, with Myoga on his shoulder, picks up Kagome and leaps away, too. Hiten had sent a mega-bolt of electricity at them; it leaves behind a massive crater. Kaori looks at it in worry, however. "We're so boned."

Reluctantly, upon Inuyasha's instruction, Kaori and Kagome retreat to safety, taking Shippō and his father along with them. In Kagome's grasp remains the arrow from Manten's nose.

Once again, the battle between Inuyasha and Hiten recommences. Without his sword, Inuyasha is stuck with using the sheath of it as a way of blocking the attacks; initially, he didn't know it would work, nor did Myoga who suggested using it, but they got really lucky.

With the sheath, Inuyasha leaps through the orb of electricity to try and get closer to Hiten. Unfortunately, Hiten attacks him from behind, landing a hit against his spine, making him yell in pain before he crashes onto the ground, injured further.

From behind a boulder, which is probably too close to the battle, Kagome calls out his name in worry as she watches. Kaori is sitting beside her, ignoring the battle and watching over Shippō, who is laying against the pelt beside her and hasn't woken up quite yet.

"By this point, I'm just waiting for the next catalyst moment that'll trigger Inuyasha into either kicking his ass or making the fight more even," Kaori comments quietly. "Feels like something of the sort occurs each time we have a fight. Two of those times, it was because he thought we'd gotten killed." She pauses briefly. "Come to think of it, we nearly get brutally murdered quite often, don't we?"

Kagome smiles sheepishly at her. "Yeah, we should probably start being more careful. I don't think we'll always get that lucky." She looks back to where Inuyasha is, watching him get up and battle Hiten, though all he can do is block without his sword. "Although I just said that, I don't think now is the time to be doing that. Inuyasha needs us."

Kaori sighs, glancing at her. "I know, but what can we do? We could barely handle Manten, even after I triggered my pyrokinetic power." She looks at her hands. "I don't even know how to use it properly; it's like it never happened."

"We'll figure out something, I know it. We always do," Kagome states with confidence.

Beside Kaori, Shippō groans as he finally reawakens. Quickly, he realizes what exactly he's laying against. He curls up, hugging his father's head. Seeing that he's awake again, Kaori shifts and gently pats his head, running her fingers through his hair in a form of comfort. He rolls over to look at her. Seeing that she, and Kagome, are alright, he sits up quickly, still holding onto the pelt; the events have caught back up to him. "What happened to Manten?!" he asks in a brief state of panic.

"Inuyasha brought him down," Kagome informs him.

"Only now, he's got Hiten to deal with. The bastard's packing five jewel fragments." Kaori grimaces when Shippō looks more panicked. "Not to worry! Inuyasha has dealt with difficult opponents before and won!"

"Yeah, with our help," Kagome points out.

"Shut up! Can't you see he's terrified?!" Kaori hisses.

Shippō peeks over the boulder to get a glimpse of the action; Inuyasha is still struggling to hold his own and remains the only one injured thus far in the battle. "Hiten's hard to match with those flying wheels," he points out to the sisters.

"Hmm?" Kaori peeks over the boulder beside him, taking a glimpse of it herself. She sees what he sees and ducks back down, looking a little sheepish. "I didn't notice those before." She thinks about everything that's happened thus far. "Well, maybe I did notice at some point but I didn't think about them too much. There were more pressing matters." She pats his head in praise. "Good eyes on ya, though."

"If I just had a bow with me, maybe I could hit one of the wheels with this arrow…" Kagome strategizes.

Shippō stands. "Coming right up!" Kagome looks at him in confusion; Kaori seems to understand what he's going for, considering they've been seeing his illusions and such firsthand. "Don't ask questions. Just let me take care of this." He somersaults into a puff of smoke.

Kagome looks excited until she sees his appearance after the transformation; he is now an orange curly…thing, not looking much like what she needs. "I wanted a bow, not a snail," she complains.

Shippō sweat drops. "I am a bow."

Kaori agrees. "Yeah, he is a bow. They don't always look so…" She trails off, not wanting to insult Shippō. "Anyway, who cares? A bow's a bow." She looks back towards the battle, seeing Inuyasha getting slashed across the chest. "Fucking hurry up, Kagome!"

Kagome holds up Shippō (in bow form), readies the arrow, and aims at Hiten. She hesitates, worried she'll miss. Shippō gives her the reassurance she needs. With their teamwork, the arrow aims true, hitting and destroying the left wheel. Hiten pauses midair, surprised; Inuyasha quickly stands and grabs the pike, which was stupid because, immediately, bolts surge through him.

And that's when Shippō, Kagome, and Kaori learn that, once again, Myoga ditched the danger and is on the sidelines with them. He yells instructions and advice at Inuyasha, who likely can't hear him at the moment. Much like the half-demon would, Kaori smacks her palm down atop of Myoga, flattening him and pretending it was a complete accident.

Inuyasha tosses aside the sheath that was assisting him and manages to punch Hiten in the face, sending him flying backwards. Shippō, Kagome, Kaori, and Myoga cheer; or rather, Myoga alone cheers, changing his tone, while the rest of them are more like "whatever works, I guess".

Hiten looks amused that someone has managed to strike him in the face. A blue glow emits from him and he lunges at Inuyasha, raising his pike. Leaping to the ground and sliding, Inuyasha grabs a hold of the sheath again and blocks the incoming attack just in time. However, Hiten doesn't pull away; he keeps pushing forward, cracking the sheath.

Myoga, Shippō, Kagome, and Kaori express concern as a group. And that's when they remember Tetsusaiga. When Kagome mentions it, Shippō takes off running towards the rusty sword. Without thinking, Kaori runs after him, not to assist but to stop him because it's too dangerous. Kagome, ultimately, follows right behind her, with the pelt of Shippō's father in her hand.

Hiten hears them and notices where they're running to. Frowning, he uses the same ability Manten had been using before his demise, blasting the three with an extremely large blast of electricity that they never would've been able to dodge. When the smoke clears, the three are laying unconscious amidst flames, the pelt laying across them; if the initial attack hasn't killed them, the flames likely will (with the exception of Kaori, who happens to be impervious to fire).

Seeing them lying there, and hearing Hiten boast about their supposed demise, Inuyasha gets pissed off and starts fighting more aggressively. He headbutts Hiten, pushing him back. Hiten taunts him, saying it's pointless to fight to the death over them while getting revenge for a fallen brother makes more sense; these words just piss Inuyasha off further.

Hiten runs at him again and attacks once more, his pike colliding with the sheath, damaging it further. But then, the sheath pulses and, suddenly, Tetsusaiga flies towards them; the sheath has summoned the sword. Immediately, Inuyasha grabs it and swings violently as the sword transforms again. Hiten holds up his pike to block but Tetsusaiga cuts through it and him.

In shock, Hiten drops to his knees before disintegrating. The five jewel fragments fall onto the ground. Inuyasha kneels but doesn't make a move to grab them; he's upset that he's lost his friends. But then, a blue glow emits behind him, catching his attention. He turns, seeing Kagome and Kaori standing there, with Shippō in Kaori's arms, and all three of them are engulfed by what appears to be blue flames. They stare at him with serene (Kagome), contented (Shippō), and relieved (Kaori) expressions.

"Inuyasha, you fought the battle hard and well," Kagome says.

"And, in the end, I was finally able to avenge my father," Shippō states.

"I never had a doubt in my mind about you," Kaori comments with a wide smile.

Myoga misunderstands and claims it's their souls saying farewell; Inuyasha easily believes this, considering their voices sound all echoey.

Inuyasha sprints forward as the flames begin to disperse. "Wait! Don't leave me!" He grabs hold of Kagome's wrist just as the fire zooms upwards and twirls into the shape of a fox. "Kagome!" he cries out, looking at the disappearing source of light. However, he quickly realizes he's still grabbing onto something; her wrist. He looks back at her, noticing that the three of them are still there. "Huh? But—hey, you're still here."

Kagome is perplexed. "Uh, yeah. What's with the "don't leave me" stuff?"

Kaori waves it off. "Who cares? He's just being weird. Typical Inuyasha behavior."

Shippō is staring at the sky, watching as the flames completely fade away. He smiles to himself; his father protected them, even in death. He snuggles up closer to Kaori, who gently rubs his head.

Inuyasha's face twitches as he stares down Myoga, who is acting like Inuyasha simply misheard him. Kaori clears her throat, making him look at her. She pointedly nods downwards; he looks and realizes he's still holding onto Kagome's wrist.

Embarrassed, he aggressively releases his hold on her. "This is all your fault for that sappy "you fought the good fight" line!" He turns around and folds his arms. Kaori tries not to laugh at his imitation of Kagome. "Die if you're gonna die! It's not like it matters to me any!"

Kagome and Shippō stare at the back of Inuyasha's head with wide eyes. Kaori just snorts and shakes her head at the idiot.

Daylight shines above. Inuyasha leads the way, his arms still folded. Kagome, pushing her bicycle, follows behind him. Kaori trails along the side of her, Shippō chilling on her shoulder. Myoga is standing on the basket of Kagome's bike.

"Come on, Inuyasha," Kagome says. "Your lips are flapping but I'm not getting any audio. How about telling me why you're so upset?"

Myoga rats him out while also avoiding telling the truth about how the misunderstanding happened. "I believe Master Inuyasha is ashamed that he believed you were dead, and, in a moment of grief, may have revealed more than he bargained for." Inuyasha glances at him, threateningly raising a fist. Myoga is frightened and immediately hides.

Ignoring the matter of topic, Inuyasha talks to Shippō. "What are you still tagging along with us for, Shippō?"

"What do you think? You need me and you know it!" Shippō loudly states.

"Damn straight," Kaori agrees. "Without you, we'd have actually died."

"Besides, he doesn't have a home and he's not hurting anyone," Kagome points out.

"Yeah!" Shippō exclaims. "I'm a defenseless orphan! How am I supposed to get by in the world?!"

"Alright," Inuyasha says, sounding annoyed. "You can stay with us, but only until you can look after yourself." Immediately afterwards, he makes a rude joke, speaking calmly. "So, Shippō, your village called. They're missing their idiot."

Shippō starts whining. "Kagome, Kaori, he's being mean to me."

"He's mean to everyone; you'll get used to it," Kaori comments.

"Look what you've done; you've hurt his feelings," Kagome tells Inuyasha. "Say you're sorry." When Inuyasha doesn't answer fast enough, Kagome briefly stops walking to throw her oversized bag at him; it hits the back of his head with a loud smack, knocking him to the ground face first.

"Oww!"