Insane-san says: I know you're mad because this chapter's late...But...Whatever..heh..heheh... -shifty eyes-

Well as it turns out, I am very unhappy with this chapter. It didn't seem to flow like my other ones...In fact, later on I might re-write it and replace it with a new one. Don't worry, if that happens I'll let you know. So if this chapter sucks, just know that I think it sucks, too. If you think it's great, then I'm very happy.

Meh...And I noticed that ONCE AGAIN, I forgot to add the title to the last chapter. I made sure to add it in this one.

In answer to you, MikoTennyo, Kagome's dress goes down to her feet, so there's not much to look up into. I thought about how the dress skirt might be blown up around Kagome as the wind rushed past, but it made less and less sense each time I thought about it. For SOME reason. Heheheheh.
Plus, Miroku was riding above them on Hachi. Don't think Miroku is not going to have some moments, but as far as the dress goes, you can see how I worked that out? Thanks for your lovely review, once again. I find myself beaming each time I read any of your reviews. -grin-

Peacock Feathers

XIX

"So then the guy says, 'It's not my mother's, it's mine!'"

Laughter exploded and echoed through the cave.

Of course I wasn't laughing. And neither was Inuyasha. Miroku, Sango, and Hachi were laughing and crying over Miroku's funny story. Inuyasha and I had just settled down in some nice spots in the cave to sleep when Miroku suddenly starting telling this story. I can't really remember what it was about. I just remember the ending because I kept thinking about how stupid it was.

"It's pretty late now, isn't it?" Sango asked with a chuckle, wiping the tears from her eyes. Miroku sighed with a smile and nodded. "Yes, you're right. We should go to sleep. It's a wonder that those two can actually sleep with all the noise we were making...And especially since the Chosen went through such an ordeal..." I wasn't sleeping. I knew Inuyasha wouldn't sleep, either. He wouldn't let himself sleep.

"You're right," Sango said in a quiet voice. "It's kind of amazing. It's scary too, though, that they can actually sleep..." Her voice gradually grew quieter untill she was whispering. I rolled over noisely again. That was what, the 100th time I had rolled over?

Rock isn't the best matress in the world.

I almost started to laugh when I thought about how they thought we were sleeping. I wondered what Inuyasha was thinking, sitting against the rock wall, listening to everything. He knew I was awake, too. He could hear it in my breathing and my movements, I bet.

Suddenly I had a nice idea.

I would stay awake untill I knew for sure that Sango and Miroku were asleep. Then I would sit up and talk to Inuyasha all night!

A grin stretched across my face and I tried to hide my face with my hair. What was I getting so bubbly about?

"So, what's the new plan?" Sango asked quietly. I heard Miroku sigh in concentration. "...I think...We should focus on those two's plan. If they even have a plan..." He added. I heard movement and guessed they were lying down.

"That's what I was thinking." Sango said. "We should stay with them. That's what I think. To help guard the Chosen." Miroku made an agreeing kind of noise. He made it at the same time as Inuyasha's quiet growl, so I don't think they noticed.

But I did.

I looked to my left where Inuyasha sat and saw him glaring heavily at their shadowy forms. His eyes glowed golden in the darkness of the cave. He wasn't happy at all about those two and their plans. I really didn't care that much, but when Inuyasha had something in his head, I usually felt myself swaying over to his side.

"Well, goodnight, Sango. Goodnight, Hachi." Miroku said. They all bid each other a good night. Minutes passed in silence.

I lay on my back with my eyes open, staring at the stalagmites way up above me. When they were asleep, I would speak to Inuyasha all night and tell him my story privately. We would discuss what we thought about the two new members of our group as well. So I waited. I didn't move. I didn't speak.

I just watched the stalagmites grow.

"Get up, fool!"

My eyes snapped open at the harsh hissing in my ear. I blinked to clear my vision. My eyes darted to my right ear and I saw Inuyasha right next to my face. My face flushed and I raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, we're going." He whispered. My heart fluttered and I nodded. I'm not exactly sure what was going through my head then, but I got all embarrassed. And I finally admitted to myself that...

I was seriously crushing on Inuyasha.

The sun was just barely giving any light to the world so I knew it was really early. I stood up and stretched my joints.

Inuyasha put a finger to his mouth to make sure that I knew to be quiet. He did it in a rude way like, "Shut up!" So I kept my mouth closed. I followed him and we walked out of the cave. I looked over my shoulder. It didn't feel right to me to just leave them there.

But if Inuyasha wanted it to happen, then I would do what he said. Even though I was supposed to be above him in the way of making descisions, I usually followed whatever order he gave me. Which is weird when I think about it...

Ever since I woke up, I had this feeling that I was missing something. You know that feeling you get when you're going to do something, and then you go into the room to get what you wanted, but you can't remember what it was?

And you try so hard to remember, but it doesn't come to you? That's how I felt. I tried to bite it down because it's an annoying feeling.

"Why are we leaving them?" I asked Inuyasha. "Tsk," He looked back at the cave and quickened his pace a little. "Because I don't like those two. Err..Three." He said distastefully. I took it that he didn't like little monster things like Hachi. "You mean four." I said with a small smile. Then my jaw dropped. "Hey, why didn't Kilala wake up and do something about us leaving?" I asked in astonishment.

I heard Inuyasha chuckle darkly.

"I took care of that last night. She won't be getting up for a while." He smirked at me over his shoulder. My eyes widened and I swallowed. "What did you do, exactly...?" I dared to ask. I picked up my pace and walked next to him.

"Well, it's a little something called poison." He said in a quiet proudness.

My heart stopped. "Y-You killed her?" I said with bulging eyes. Inuyasha made a disappointed face. "Unfortunately, no." I sighed with relief. "I didn't have the right ingredients to kill her. I just made her sleep for a long time." He said. It was in the voice that you sometimes hear when someone's boasting casually about something they did.

I was a little bit naive then I'll admit, so I didn't notice it. I was actually really excited that he could make potions like that.

"Wow!" I said with a little jump. "You can make things like that?" I grinned hugely. He smirked and turned his eyes away from me. "Yeah, I guess I can make 'em pretty good. Th-" He was cut off by a loud, echoing yell coming from behind us.

I jumped at the sound. I felt the hairs on my body stand up in the rush. Instinctively, I looked at Inuyasha's face for guidance. His pupils were paper-thin and glowed with an angry consentration. A fang showed through his lips. He went down on a knee. I climbed on his back. I felt the strength in his legs charge up and prepared myself for the bolt.

But he was too late.

A big, fat boomerang flew out of no where. It split through trees and flew in a circle around us. Then it disappeared through the brush behind us. I felt Inuyasha sigh in aggitation and he let me down. A split second after, Miroku and Sango jumped out of the trees and stood just a few feet in front of us.

Sango was seething with rage. Miroku was calm and steady, but was only to hide his obvious anger.

"You thought it would be fine to just ditch us while we slept, huh!" Sango shouted. I shook my head and waved my hands in front of myself to sort of calm the angry tension in the air. "Nah," Inuyasha defended himself with a raised eyebrow. "I just came out to get some water." He nodded his head towards me. "She was awake and bored so I decided to let her come."

There was silence.

I didn't dare speak; afraid my voice would give away the lie. I just smiled and nodded with closed eyes.

"Well," Sango searched inside of herself in obvious desperation to prove us wrong. "What about Kilala?" She shouted. She took a step towards us and shook her boomerang threateningly. Inuyasha stepped back from her gesture with a sneer. "Oh," Inuyasha looked casually into her eyes. "She wouldn't let us leave the cave, so I threw some sleeping powder at her."

His words, and especially his casual tone, seemed to enrage her even more. Her firey temper was amazing to me. Untill she was completely satisfied with something, she would continue to be angry with it. And she would just get angrier and angrier.

"Why didn't you wake me so I could calm her?" She pointed an accusing finger at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha looked away from her angrily with a frown. He was a really good actor. I tried to think about where he got his skills, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to think about it...

"Kagome didn't want to be rude and wake you up since you rescued her and all..." He said quietly.

I bit my tongue in my mouth. Miroku and Sango looked at me. "Is that true?" Miroku asked seriously. I nodded. "Sorry, guys." I placed a guilty hand behind my head and tried to laugh a little.

I thought we were cornered and done for, but they actually completely dropped their guard. Sango smiled a little. "As long as it won't hurt Kilala." She said. "And as long as you two were really going for water." Miroku said in a dark voice. My heart sped up. I thought for the whole time that Sango had the power in their group, but I was wrong. At that moment I knew.

Miroku was the stronger one. If he wanted to, he could be dangerous. I knew it. He knew how to hurt someone with a look. How to pry and threaten them. Maybe he knew we were lying. Maybe he didn't. But that was the scariest part.

"You guys can come to if you want." I said in my happiest voice. "All this tense air is pretty bad..." I spun around and gave Inuyasha an urgeful look. He had to lead us to water. "No, that's okay." Sango said with a smile. My eyebrow winced. I turned around slowly.

"It's...Okay?" I asked with a blink. Sango nodded and turned around. "We'll be waiting at the cave. I have a couple of plans I'd like to share with you two." Then she went into the trees. Miroku smiled and said, "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to come along."

I could almost hear Inuyasha screaming in his mind, "Noooooo!" Hahahah. I held back laughter just thinking about it.

"Sure," Inuyasha said with a regal air. He turned around in such a way that it looked like he was showing off his strong shoulders and back. He had more muscle than Miroku, that was for sure. I saw it at that moment. Then again, Miroku was covered in robes...Maybe he had more muscle, but it just didn't show...

'Here I go again,' I scolded myself. 'Comparing guys in my head. I'm horrible!'

So we began walking. Miroku was humming some happy song quietly as we walked through the trees. He seemed very peaceful and care-free. Almost too care-free...That was the strange thing about him. He almost seemed dull-witted. But it was almost too easy to doubt that. I started thinking that it was all just a mask. He wasn't fluffy and stupid.

He was horrifyingly smart.

"Something the matter, Lady Kagome?" He asked me suddenly. I jumped out of my thoughts. My eyes met his. "Oh, uh..No! Nothing's wrong." I scratched my neck and sighed. "Nothing at all..." Then my mind started floating off to that feeling of forgetfulness that I had. Every time I tried to think about it my mind would wander to the memory of the dark man's lair.

Those were memories that, to this day, I don't care to recall.

"Ah, but I think there is something troubling you." He smiled knowingly at me. I blinked slowly. "You...do?" I asked.

"Yes, I do. You don't have to tell me...How about I do something to cheer you up?" He put on a playful grin. I stumbled over a root and almost fell, but I regained my ballance. I flushed in embarrassment at my almost-accident. "Go right ahead." I answered him.

'Is this really the same guy as before? He seemed so dark and moody...' I thought.

He reached his arm into his robes and pulled out something that looked like an old, wooden Yo-yo.

A black string came out of it. He placed the string around his finger and then threw the thing out in front of him. I was about to laugh and say, "That's not how you do it!" but I kept my mouth shut. Because instead of the Yo-yo flopping back down to the ground, it stayed in the air in front of him. It was as stiff as wood.

I watched with an open mouth as he walked steadily with the thing stretched out in front of him. It made a quiet kind of humming sound.

Then, suddenly, the Yo-yo sprung forwards and flew through the trees. Only the black string was visible. I waited for something to happen. After a moment, in the distance there was an angry cry of pain. I jumped. I didn't expect it.

Apparently Inuyasha didn't either, because he leapt backwards and grabbed me. I jumped again at the sudden shock of his actions. He growled and looked around for danger. His ears stood straight up as he listened closely. Miroku was taken aback by all the commotion.

Then he laughed. "It's a simple device used to locate troublesome demons. That's all." Out of no where, the wooden Yo-yo object came whizzing out of the woods, and landed directly in the palm of Miroku's hand. He smiled at me.

'Man, this is weird...One second he's evil, and the next he's...Fun.'

I smiled back at him and laughed. "That was so cool." I said. He arched an eyebrow. "'Cool?'" He echoed in question. "KEH," I heard. I blinked. "That wasn't cool, that was stupid! Thanks to you, that 'troublesome demon' is coming for a visit! Thanks a lot, stupid human." Inuyasha snapped. Miroku's jaw dropped and his face went blank.

Before I got a chance to reply, something exploded through the trees in front of us.

'It's amazing how I seem to find the funnest things to play with.' I thought. It was another Rupture Wolf.

It stared right into my eyes and growled deep in it's chest.

My insides shuddered and I backed up a little. "Woah, there!" I said loudly. "It was him!" I pointed to Miroku.

Inuyasha laughed and glared at Miroku. He pulled me out of the way, chuckling all the while. Miroku put his hands up in defense and stared at the wolf. His staff was in one of his hands, so to the wolf, it looked like he was raising it in attack.

The wolf opened it's huge, slobbery jaws and let out a huge howl of rage.

Miroku ripped the beaded rosary from his hand and yelled, "Kazaana!"

Air hole.

Inuyasha and I were absolutely freaked out at that point...

When he removed the beads, it was like a black hole was in his hand, sucking everything in its path.

The wolf didn't even have time to think before it got sucked into Miroku's hand. It's tail was the last to disappear, like a spaghetti noodle being slurped up in someone's mouth...

My eyes were like saucers. I stared. Miroku wrapped his hand in the beads quickly, and the suction stopped.

He turned around and stared at us with a smile. "Well, that takes care of that." He said.

Inuyasha fumbled for words.

"It certainly does." I replied.

Anyways, reviews would be MUCH appreciated...Thanks for reading, guys. I'll see you again? -.O