"Miroku!" Inuyasha called, pounding desperately on the door of his friend's house. After moments that seemed like hours, the door opened. Miroku appraised Inuyasha's appearance, lingering a little longer than necessary on the woman in his arms.

"Did you bring me a present?" he asked hopefully.

Inuyasha barely took the time to growl before he pushed past Miroku and slammed the door shut behind him, locking it and heading for the windows.

"I need a place to hide for a bit," he informed Miroku as he systematically locked each window and closed each blind.

"Well thank goodness you know how to be quiet and stealthy, then. What with the yelling and the pounding and the slamming and all. They'll never find you!"

"They're not here yet. Or at least they shouldn't be."

"And who is 'they', now?"

Inuyasha made eye contact. "From what I can tell, everyone."

He set Kagome down on a soft-looking purple couch. Somehow, and he'd never understand exactly how, she did manage to fall asleep mid-flight. It was about three in the morning by this time, so he supposed it wasn't too unusual, but it couldn't be normal to be able to sleep in the midst of a desperate escape from a horde of vampires. Then again, nothing else about her so far had proven to be normal, either. She moaned softly as he put her down and then she sleepily snuggled into the cushions before settling. He smiled tightly. No matter what, he had to make sure she was always able to sleep this soundly and free of fear.

He was aware of Miroku standing behind him and moved protectively to block his view of Kagome's sleeping face.

"Who is she?" Miroku asked.

"No one," he answered tersely.

"Well that's abundantly clear from your actions thus far."

"No one you need to concern yourself with."

"Even though she'll be temporarily living in my house?"

"Especially because of that. The less you know the better."

"I can't tell if you're being dramatic or if you're just being really insensitive to the obvious peril you're putting me in, here."

"It's both," Kagome muttered, rubbing her eyes and appraising Miroku through heavy eyelids. "You guys talk too loud."

"My deepest apologies for interrupting your slumber, dear maiden," Miroku replied silkily, bowing low and graciously. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"So here's how it is, Miroku," Kagome continued. Then she loudly whispered in Inuyasha's direction, "Does he know about the…" She pretended to bare fangs she did not have and made a hissing noise like vampires did in old movies.

"Yes, he knows about the vampires. Remind me never to hire you as a spy."

"Right, so, the vampires, they want to suck my blood because it's got magic juju in it or whatever. Inuyasha's not into that, because he wants it all for himself. So we're running away and hiding until we can come up with a better plan. See how not complicated that was, Yashy?"

Miroku raised his eyebrows and mouthed "Yashy?" Inuyasha ignored him.

"And who are you?" Kagome asked, pointing a sleepy finger at Miroku.

"I am but a humble local priest who happened to go to grade school with Inuyasha and discovered his secret at the tender age of five. Little was I to know that such a discovery would lead to the chance meeting with the most gorgeous creature I had ever…"

The light-hearted chatter was shattered along with three of Miroku's windows as vampire after vampire landed in a crouch amidst the shards of glass. Kagome, now fully awake, scrambled to a standing position as Inuyasha took his place in front of her. Miroku stepped between them, but Inuyasha wasn't sure whether it was to help shield Kagome or to more fully benefit from Inuyasha's protection.

Slowly, and almost in unison, the three vampires straightened. Inuyasha recognized two of them. His brother Sesshoumaru and a woman named Sango. The third he didn't know but he was tall and had a cruel face.

Sesshoumaru spoke first. "Brother. Is it true?"

"Of course not. It's ridiculous. I've just been training a lot on my own lately."

"You wouldn't mind…" Sesshoumaru suddenly darted past Inuyasha and delicately stroked Kagome's neck before Inuyasha had time to turn his head. "…if I asked for a bit of proof, would you?"

"You mean like his gym schedule?" Kagome asked drily, not shrinking away from the vampire's touch at all.

Inuyasha looped his arm around her hip and pulled her away from his brother. Miroku laughed awkwardly and took a step away as well.

"Kagome," Sango said. All eyes turned to her. "It is Kagome, isn't it?"

Kagome nodded uncertainly.

"Are they . . ." she hesitated. "Are you here of your own free will?"

Before anyone could address the odd question, the cruel-faced vampire made a move. Inuyasha saw it from the corner of his eye and managed to twist in time so that the man's claws plunged into his chest instead of Kagome's arm. Then he immediately retaliated with a swipe to the eyes, watching as a trail of blood flew from the man's sockets as his head was ripped sideways.

Then chaos broke loose. Inuyasha was stronger and faster than the others, but he also had two humans to protect. When Sango pressed herself into his side to form a more perfect defensive unit and snapped her jaws at Sesshoumaru threateningly, he didn't question it. Between the two of them, they were able to make quick work of the others, severing body parts and flinging them across the room so that it would take them more time to reassemble. As Inuyasha flipped Kagome back on to his back and prepared to flee further, Sango took hold of Miroku and looked ready to follow.

Should he trust her? It could all be a ruse to beat away the competition and have Kagome's blood for herself, but from what Inuyasha knew of Sango (which wasn't much) she wasn't a schemer. She was straightforward and direct. If she wanted to kill you, you'd know it. And in any case, he didn't have much time to deliberate. He sprang forward, through the left-most of the broken windows and felt the air move as Sango sprang into step beside him.

Then he was faced with a more important question. Where would he go now?