A Hanyou's decision leads to Confrontations and Sits

The sun hung low in the summer morning, its warm rays touching the silent earth below as the day was about to begin. Flowers swayed to and fro in the gentle breeze, butterflies landing every so often upon their soft petals of various colors. A bird chirped its usual tune as it began to ruffle its feathers and stretch its small wings of yellow and brown and take to the sky.

Everything seemed peaceful to the common man, but, to a certain hanyou he seemed somewhat annoyed this particular morning. He walked along the steep dirt road as his golden eyes stared into the distance, looking lost in his thoughts. Inuyasha continued to walk silently, his eyes still focused on the path ahead of him. He thought back to what woke him up this morning, the dream that started out as a beautiful dream to a horrible nightmare of what took place fifty years ago. He swore he was able to smell her wonderful scent; even though she now smelled of bones and graveyard soil, her sweet gentle fragrance emanated from her, his nostrils slowly breathing in the delicate scent, tinted with the smell of flowers that she would pick daily as a hobby of hers. Inuyasha then furrowed his eyebrows together as he began to recall the nightmare. He was running the exact same path he took as he stared at the small, pink jewel that glowed brilliantly within his palm. The next thing he knew, he heard his name being shouted and a sharp piercing object ran through his chest, pinning him to Sacred Tree.

That's when he woke up, his eyes darting around frantically and sweat dripped down the side of his face. He noticed that the sun was just about to peak out from the horizon, shades of light blue, gold and some purple swirled in the sky. Inuyasha decided to take a walk around to clear his mind of those last moments of his nightmare, but, his efforts were fruitless as they still taunted his mind with their dark meanings of the false betrayal between him and Kikyo. He sighed inwardly and continued walking, his steps becoming a little slower. A sudden smell came to his nose and he began to sniff the crisp morning air, curiosity taking over his mind and he broke out into a slow trot, which still got him to his destination in less than five minutes.

He found the location of the scent and perked his acute ears to scan for any sort of noise that reached him. A rustle of bushes came from behind him and Inuyasha immediately got into his fighting stance and gripped the hilt of Tetsusaiga. His eyes slightly widened as he saw a familiar miko emerge from the tall bushes and she stopped to a halt as she saw the one person she didn't expect to see. "Inuyasha…?"

"Kikyo," he started slowly. "I thought I smelled your scent." Inuyasha was somewhat surprised that he was dreaming about her a few hours ago and now she was standing here before him, her raven locks pulled back in her usual ponytail as her mahogany eyes stared into his. Even though he caught her scent as he went out for his walk, he thought that his nose was still thinking about the dream since her scent still lingered in his mind.

"Inuyasha, why are you out here without your companions?" she asked a little hesitantly. "Are they not with you?"

"They are residing in the village that is not far from here." he answered her in a low tone.

Kikyo merely nodded in acknowledgement and walked slowly to where he stood, stopping only a foot from him and placed a cold frail hand upon his forehead, Inuyasha being taken aback by her sudden action widened his eyes slightly, but paid no mind to it as he noticed that her eyes were full of concern.

"Why is it that you look upset, Inuyasha?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he questioned as he slowly cocked an eyebrow.

"You just look a bit upset about something. Something the matter?"

He merely blinked and shook his head slightly from side to side. "No, I'm well."

Kikyo only stared into his eyes and removed her hand from his forehead. Inuyasha wanted to whimper from losing her touch, even though it was cold, her touch relaxed him and put him at ease.

"Enough about me though," he finally said. "How have you been doing?"

"I'm doing alright, but, I've still not managed to find Naraku."

"We haven't had much luck either. Naraku always manages to find someplace to escape." He said bitterly, venom dripping as he said the name of the man he hated with his very being, almost more than his hatred and contempt for his half-sibling, Sesshomaru.

Inuyasha looked at the dead miko out of the corner of his eye and without knowing he asked her a question that surprised even him. "Kikyo, will you travel with me?"

The sun rose not that high overhead now and the whole group was silent as they began to walk along the road Inuyasha had taken earlier that morning. Everyone kept glancing in different directions as the uneasy silence hovered over the group ominously. Kikyo walked nervously and she could feel the eyes of Inuyasha's friends pierce through her as sharp as daggers. She began to recall the events that happened a little over an hour ago and hung her head to stare at the ground.

"Kikyo, will you travel with me?"

The second those words escaped his lips, she felt a sudden joy grow within her; for it's been far too long since she had the company of someone she knew and could relax with, even though her Soul Collectors were always by her side and she could talk to them, she wouldn't mind having the company of Inuyasha'a either. Then an image of her reincarnation, Kagome, came into view and her expression changed to one of shock. If she traveled with them, no doubt that everyone would begin to argue with Inuyasha for asking her to join the group. "No…" she finally said after a few silent moments.

"No?" Inuyasha repeated and she could tell by the tone in his voice that he was a little hurt by her response.

"Yes, no, Inuyasha." she said to him once again. "I can't join your group Inuyasha. Everything would turn out wrong if I did."

Kikyo saw that he finally remembered that he was traveling with other people and he sighed as he rubbed his temple with two clawed fingers.

"You remembered now?" she asked in a low tone.

"Yeah…" he replied. "Join anyway."

"Inuyasha! You know I can't." she inquired in a frustrated tone at her former betrothed.

"Yeah, you can," he replied stubbornly at her. "Only for a few days. That's all."

"A few days?"

He merely nodded in response and she cast her gaze down to the ground as though the grass suddenly seemed interesting. She gasped softly as she felt her chin being touched lightly and she stared into a pair of golden eyes.

"Please…?" he said giving her a pleading look that looked even more sad since he gave her puppy eyes and drooped his dog ears in feign disappointment.

She sighed and couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the way Inuyasha was acting.

"Alright…" she said, but knew that Inuyasha would only be the one who would enjoy her companionship.

As they left the forest, a small village appeared slowly as they headed towards it. She took note that the village was actually a little bigger than it appeared from in a distance, the livestock were kept behind wooden doors but surprisingly the horses were out grazing in a few fields. Most villages kept their horses protected in case of an emergency like the village she lived in before did. She just assumed that there were hardly any attacks in this small region and brushed it off.

They were now a few steps away from a small hut, she noticed that one of his friends, the monk, was standing not far from the entrance. He looked at them with surprise clearly shone by the look on his face and he began to approach them. Kikyo didn't know why, but if she was to start any sort of friendship or at least become an acquaintance with any of them, it should be the monk. He seemed to like her a little more than the others, even though they only encountered each other a few times in battle. As soon as he was a couple of steps from them he stood his ground and eyed them both curiously, his dark blue eyes glancing back and forth from Inuyasha to her. His eyes rested on Inuyasha and he then spoke, "Inuyasha, why is Lady Kikyo here?"

"Why does it matter if she's here? I asked her to travel with us." Inuyasha said in a gruffer tone than normal.

The monk was so taken aback by the news that he looked at his hanyou friend as though he had grown two heads. "She will be accompanying us now?"

"Yeah, so you better learn to deal with it Miroku?"

"Your name is Miroku?" she asked the monk.

Miroku only looked at her and nodded his head.

"It's a very nice name." she said as she gave him a light smile.

Surprisingly, he gave her a small smile in return and she definitely knew that she really needs to grow a friendship with him, he seemed nice anyway.

Inuyasha seemed pleased that Miroku was at least being polite to Kikyo rather than being an ass to her and telling her to leave or worse.

"Inuyasha, I'm going to have to say I can't argue with you since what you do with your decisions aren't mine to question; but how do you think Kagome will take this new group arrangement?"

Inuyasha only blinked. Of course he thought about Kagome and no doubt he was going to receive a lot of sits and get a massive headache with a broken spine as a bonus but he shrugged it off. "She'll just have to deal with it. Besides Kikyo's only going to be traveling with us for a few days."

"Ah, I see." he said.

Kikyo sighed inwardly and looked at Inuyasha. "I told you…" she said barely above a whisper, knowing that he could hear her. She glanced out to the distance and felt eyes land on her. A small shriek reached her ears and she turned her head slightly to see a little kit standing, frozen stiff, his emerald green eyes fixed on her. A young woman came out suddenly, holding a giant boomerang over her head and got into a fighting stance, her brown eyes widening slightly as she noticed that she was standing next to Inuyasha. The kit ran inside once he got his brain thinking, no doubt to inform her reincarnation of her presence. The slayer was very displeased and she walked quickly towards them. "Inuyasha, why is Kikyo here?" she asked her elegant brows furrowing together, her tone filled anger.

Just as Inuyasha was about to reply, Kagome stepped out warily with the kit on her shoulders. Her eyes widened in shock and fear, but her composure changed quickly when her eyes went to meet Inuyasha's, her eyes holding pure rage and she noticed his friends stiffen under her piercing glare. She walked slowly and menacingly towards the group and she stopped a few feet from them, her eyes never losing their obvious rage. "Inuyasha," she said slowly. "Why is she here?"

"She's going to travel with us for a while." he replied to her, not in the least bit scared by the glare she was giving.

"Is she now?" she asked sweetly, her words coated with bitter venom as she glanced at Kikyo.

Inuyasha only nodded in response and saw Kagome's face darken as her bangs covered her brown eyes. She then lifted her head slowly and stared straight into his, a fake smile plastered upon her lips. "Inuyasha…" she started. Miroku and the slayer backed away and the little kit jumped off her shoulder when he felt her body tense; Kikyo continued to stand beside Inuyasha and glanced at him confused when she saw him close his eyes and cover his ears the second his name was said. The next thing she knew, she heard Kagome shout 'sit' and Inuyasha's face was a half foot in the ground.

"Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sitsitsitsitsitsitsitsitsitsitsitsitsitsitsitsitsitsitsit! SIT!" she finally finished her face red from lack of breath and pure anger on her features. Kikyo was taken aback by the sudden attack she merely stared as Inuyasha's form plunged deeper into the ground. She quickly rushed to his aid and slowly helped him up, checking to see if he was hurt. He gripped his forehead in pain as he seethed through his teeth. Kikyo helped him sit up and looked up at her reincarnation. She looked back at Inuyasha and saw the Beads of Subjugation dangle slightly from his neck; she looked at them curiously, wondering how in the world Kagome was able to have possession of such a powerful necklace and she remembered that before she died she gave Kaede these beads fifty years ago. She had intended to use them on Inuyasha but decided against it when she received a small but thoughtful gift from him.

Inuyasha grumbled in fury and only gave Kagome a glance from the corner of his eye. Kagome growled and fumed her way back into the small hut to collect her things so they could start to head out. Everyone looked at them with angry and disappointment on their faces as they headed back inside to probably console their tempered friend.

Kikyo sighed and stared at Inuyasha, his hand still holding his head as it throbbed in pain. "I told you she would hate the idea…" was all she said.

Kikyo gave a quick glance behind her and saw the slayer, Sango, whisper into Kagome's ear as she patted her back. Kikyo couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt hit her in the chest. Because of her, things will now change within the group and Inuyasha will also suffer because of it. She glanced at Inuyasha, his eyes remaining focused to the distance. His expression was solemn. Perhaps he was regretting ever inviting her to join and was deciding if he should tell her to leave. She couldn't blame him, but felt a bit hurt at the thought of Inuyasha telling her to go away. Averting her gaze once more, she looked back at the dirt path and stared at it in concentration.

"Inuyasha," she said in a whisper that was inaudible to humans but one that he could hear. "I can leave if you want. My being here will only cause problems and grief."

She waited for the agreement and the rejection, but it never came.

Wondering what happened she looked up and was met with his eyes looking at her from the sides.

"Kikyo, I'm not going to cast you out just because of everyone else. They'll deal with it. Okay?" he finished and turned his attention forward again. She felt relieved that he was alright with this and nodding slightly. She didn't ask anymore and only cast her eyes to the sky, knowing full well that everything will only become worse.