NEW and IMPROVED (But not a whole lot)! Thanks especially to NewSalemWitch for giving me a good page-worth of very useful critique. Upon reading it and looking over the story, I realized that she was absolutely right. I felt kinda bad about it- and the fact that I was about two pages shorter than usual, so I came back and wrote more. Yay! (Sorry, it's not an actual update).

AN: Man… my computer went all weird on me –it's probably my fault- and it deleted what little bit of the story I had. I had to restart, so it took a bit longer that it should've. Sorry!

Well, I was going to stop this response thing, and move it to the little response button thing that FanFiction now offers, but then I realized that I'd have no other way to reply on MediaMiner and to anonymous viewers. So it's staying the same. Wow, that was a pretty pointless little story.

MelonIce: Thank you! And I'm really, really sorry about the whole time dilemma on the last chapter- that was really rude of me. It won't happen again without good reason.

quillscript: Thank you! Glad ya like it.

Animekitty07: Thanks! Sorry about the long wait!

Angel4life: There will be fluff, no worries. Right now though, Inuyasha and Kagome have just started to get really comfortable with each other- despite the fact that they've been wandering around the forest for almost three weeks now- so get ready!

Inuyasha's hun: You're enthusiasm is overwhelming! Thank you very, very much!

White Moon Universe Guard: If the Shikon does shatter- it could happen- the story won't revolve around gathering the shards as they scatter on the four winds. If it shatters, I imagine that it'll just be useless until it's whole again- Kagome or whoever has it at that time could drop a few pieces or whatnot, but they'll pretty much keep the whole thing. (By the way, you're the first person to ask that question. )

Tevrah: Thank you!

Ookami Suriya: Waah! I'm sorry! I was just looking at the date that you wrote your review (December 28) And suddenly realized that it's been like two months. I'm really, really sorry about that. But there's good news; the plot is figured out, so updates should come more often.

Inu Kaiba: I'm really, really sorry about how long it's taking! As of now, the story should start to move a bit quicker, though. Again, very sorry! (And guilty)

Disclaimer- characters aren't mine. Fortunately for you.

x

Unattainable

Chapter Six: Second Nature

x

"Really, Kagura," Naraku reprimanded, black eyes cold and impassive as ever, "You made quite a mess in the lab. If you don't learn to control yourself, I'll have to punish you."

The wind witch opened her mouth to reply, but a sudden deep ache caused her to fall on her knees, the tatami mats growing blurry as her vision greyed. A deep, red-hot rage built up in her chest. She lifted her head to glare at her "master".

Naraku looked back coolly as he lifted his hand from the small black button in his palm.

If looks could kill, Naraku would definitely be dead.

(\ /)

(•. •)

( )

It happened a few months back, when Kagura had lived on the other side of the Border.

"Tokkaido Kagura, the Council has a request." The demon at the door held out a crisp white letter in his hand.

The wind witch turned away from the window and raised her eyebrows sarcastically. "They have a lot of those, don't they?" She sat up and took the note from him, tearing open the seal and pulling the impersonal white paper within.

A small smile curled on crimson lips. "Hm. So that hanyou's giving them trouble again." She looked up at the messenger. "You still here?"

Slit-pupiled eyes of dark greet stared at the ceiling as he yawned. "They want a reply now. Seems like they've got other stuff to worry 'bout. What's-is-face, the dog-demon, he's got some sort of problem with the Council. They want him to settle down, stop movin' around so much. Lotsa responsibility, you know?"

"Hmph." Kagura folded the letter and pursed her lips as she thought. She admired Sesshoumaru. He had guts, and he was as much a drifter as she was. Like the wind, only it was in her nature, not his. "I'll take it."

The messenger looked at her thoughtfully. "You sure? The other ones, they haven't come back, you know."

The wind witch shrugged. "Kanna was a kid. I don't know what she was doing in a job like this. And everyone knows that Royakan was losing it." Crimson eyes turned back to the window. It'd be nice to do something again, get her blood moving… This city choked her sometimes. The air was too still. "He's just a hanyou, right? How much trouble can he be?"

It was the other demon's turn to shrug. "You know, that's what the others said, too."

Kagura grinned. "I'm not like the others. This 'Naraku' won't be anything like those Thunder Brothers. And I got them both with just one slash." She fingered her fan.

Looking back, she knew that it was her blatant overconfidence that did her in. She was right, though; Naraku wasn't like any others. Instead of killing her and mailing her head back to the Council, he tied her down and did experiments with her blood and took one of her kidneys. Apparently he'd made quite a lot of money with it.

(\ /)

(0.0)

( )

"Ooh, look at that!" Kagome grinned enthusiastically, finger brandished towards a gap between two bushes. "It's a path! Let's go!"

Inuyasha looked at her quizzically. "If you really want a path so bad, just walk behind that idiot." He nodded towards the big beast. It was still following them. "And anyway, I don't think that's a path. There are none through here."

Shippo frowned. "But I remember a path! When we went through, it was practically a road! And, we were walking on a road. Why couldn't we just stay on that?"

"Use your brain, stupid," the hanyou retorted impatiently, shoving a bush aside. "There are demons on the path, right?"

Shippo shrugged. "So? I'm a demon."

Inuyasha turned. "You really have no idea how bad things are between humans and demons, do you? Outside of the boundary, demons kill humans on sight. And hanyou, too. When they can." He cracked his knuckles grimly.

Kagome raised her eyebrows skeptically. "Do that many humans even go over the Border? And anyway, that sounds a bit… extreme, if you ask me. It's not like were at war or anything… are we?"

He shrugged carelessly. "Haven't they always been?" He hesitated as if he didn't know what to say. "… Someone once told me that they can't help it. Humans and demons are different by nature; nothing can change that. Their natures are battling each other."

"Well, I don't believe it," Kagome exclaimed. "After all, hanyou wouldn't exist if humans and demons couldn't get along, right?"

Inuyasha paused. "I hadn't thought of that," he admitted thoughtfully.

"Well," Shippo said airily, "Inuyasha's parents weren't exactly the norm, were they? I mean, to begin with, his father- ow! Hey, what was that for?" The kitsune rubbed his head gingerly. "You didn't hafta hit me!"

"Feh." The hanyou strode ahead, shoving vegetation out of his way as he went.

"What did I say…?" Shippo wondered. "It's not like I calling them names!"

"Maybe it's what I said," Kagome murmured as she watched the red coat bob away in the distance. He didn't look too happy after I said that hanyou wouldn't exist if humans and demons couldn't live together.

They'd started to travel uphill, and instead of stumbling around bushes and getting scratched by twigs, Kagome found herself battling slippery, leaf-covered slopes and gargantuan roots, which were hard to see as in the steadily-decreasing light. Leviathan trees towered overhead, their branches fading away into dark shadows and their thick trunks wider than cars.

In awe, Kagome paused in front of one, brown eyes reaching for the uppermost branches. "Wow. I don't think I've ever seen a building this tall, let alone a tree. They kinda make me nervous," she admitted to Shippo.

The kitsune nodded fervently in agreement. "We're officially in demon country. I remember these forests. But nobody lives here," he hastily assured her. "Well, except the crazy ones and the ones they kick out of the city for breaking the rules."

"There's actually a city?" she wondered aloud, moving away from the tree and venturing forward again. "Well, of course there's a city, but what's it like?"

Shippo frowned as he thought. "Um… It's not at all like a human city. No one uses cars because no one needs them. And no one buys packaged food. Most demons like to catch their prey, or grow it themselves. But sometimes you'll pay to get food that someone else prepared. And nothings mass-produced. There's no factories or anything.

"But the rules are really strict. There's the Council, which is made up of about one hundred and fifty demons- to get on, you hafta kill an existing member and have proof-"

"What?" Kagome demanded incredulously. "What kind of rule is that? That's not civilized!"

A white ear twitched and Inuyasha turned. "Of course it is," he said simply. "To beat a Council member, you hafta be strong, smart and ruthless. You hafta be bold and confidant, and you need to be able to think on your feet. It's the perfect test."

"…Well," Kagome replied grudgingly, "it's not very nice, though."

Inuyasha snorted and turned again. "They're demons. What did you expect? Seems to work for them, though."

Shippo nodded. "Demon territory isn't in half as much as trouble as the humans are in right now. My mom told me the human government is practically gone because no one can handle all the mobs and stuff. The people in power blame it all on demons and that just makes the mobs and paranoia worse. The only people who're trying to do anything are part of the Embassy, and that's where the demons are."

"A vicious circle," Kagome concluded.

"You have no idea," Inuyasha muttered cryptically.

Immediately, Kagome took advantage of the opportunity. "What do you mean by that, Inuyasha?" she asked innocently, fingers crossed behind her back as she hoped he'd slip up and tell her something interesting.

"Well, the Embassy's not exactly a safe place to work-" he broke of abruptly. "Nice try." He smirked.

Kagome sighed. "It was close. Only now I'm even more curious."

The other demon in their group wheezed and knocked a bush aside as he lumbered along behind them.

"I think he needs a name," Kagome announced. "Let's call him… Kisho. I think it suits him. He's definitely sure that he wants to follow us."

Inuyasha snorted. "We don't even know if it's a 'he' or a 'she'. And anyway, that'd just encourage it to keep following us." Amber eyes glanced suspiciously at the great beast. "Kisho. 'One who knows his own mind'?"

"You know what I don't understand," the schoolgirl continued, blatantly ignoring Inuyasha's foul mood, "is how demons like him and demons like Shippo are related."

The hanyou paused, ears pricked.

"Whaddaya mean?" Shippo asked, glancing back at the other demon.

"Why are you both demons?" Kagome reiterated. "You're practically human, Shippo. Kisho's more like an animal. Are there two different types of demons, or something?"

The kitsune shrugged. "I dunno. I never really thought about it, because everyone back in the city's like me. Some of them look more like animals, but they're just as intelligent. I've never met any demon that just runs around attacking people until my parents joined the Embassy."

Kagome shrugged. "Maybe it's some sort of regional thing."

She completely missed the odd look that Inuyasha gave her.

(\ /)

(0.0)

( )

"What?" Cerulean eyes widened in incredulity. "You mean… all of them? "

The one survivor only nodded wordlessly, his eyes glazed with the horrors that they'd glimpsed.

Kouga stood up and paced the cave, his movements jerky with shock. "Someone go get him some help." The wolf demon waved his hand vaguely at the survivor.

The wolf demons had lived in the Borderlands for generations upon generations. Too wild and savage to obey any rules but their own, the Council had thrown them out ages ago. The only way that they could return and gain back the honor that they had lost was to get a wolf demon on the Council.

Kouga had thought that the moment for that to happen had come. Unfortunately, things weren't going as planned. The planned raid of Naraku's labs had resulted in the loss of half of their fighting force, not to mention the bruised pride that went with it.

"Who was it?" the leader finally snapped.

Ginta and Hakkaku collectively flinched and glanced nervously at him. "Who was what?"

"Who killed them?" Kouga repeated tersely, slamming his fist into the wall. Rock fragments crumbled away, leaving behind a small crater.

"I'll go ask!" Hakkaku ran out of the cave.

"Me too!" Ginta hurried after him. Niether of them were eager to be left alone with a furious Kouga.

As the sound of their feet faded into the distance, Kouga paced around the cave for a while, his mind a furious, jumbled whirl of wounded rage and vengeance. It didn't take him long to make up his mind.

As the strongest and fastest of his tribe- and as the leader- it was his duty to avenge his comrades against the monster that brought about their death. "Kagura, hm?" He cracked his knuckles. "I wonder if she'll beg for mercy before I kill her."

Without looking back, he rushed out of the cave and towards the Border.

"Kouga?" Ginta's voice echoed out behind him. "Where are you going?" He stood up and hurried to the cave's entrance.

"Where do you think he's going?" Hakkaku reprimanded. "He's going to the Border."

"But there's people with guns! He'll be dead Kouga in less that a minute!" Ginta exclaimed, smacking his forehead with his hand. "Kouga! Come back!" He scrambled down the mountains slope after his leader.

"It's suicide!" Hakkaku added, following his brother. "Let's think of a plan first! Kouga! At least wait for us!"

A baying pack of wolves ran after them, tongues lolling.

(\ /)

(•. •)

( )

"The other side?" Rin asked doubtfully. "Why?"

For the first time since Jaken had met her, the child lost her happy, bouncy appearance. In fact, she looked positively nervous as she clung to Sesshoumaru's leg.

The dog demon shot her a cold look and she reluctantly let go. "I have business there."

"With Naraku?" Jaken asked incredulously. Because Rin was kidnapped? Does he really care that much about a token human child…?

Sesshoumaru cast a glittering glance in his direction and didn't speak; the look was enough, and Jaken had been in Sesshoumaru's service long enough to know it's meaning- None of your business.

Which probably meant "yes" in this case, Jaken thought, glancing jealously at Rin. Although he'd worked for Sesshoumaru for decades, an annoyingly perky child had surpassed him in importance. A human child.

"… I don't wanna go back there," Rin said doubtfully.

"Fine," Jaken sniffed, secretly delighted. "Stay here. We'll come back in about a month."

He turned and followed Sesshoumaru, a smug smile firmly in place on his face. At last! It was just him and Sesshoumaru again, like before. It was just too good to be true! No more annoying little girl! No more babysitting duty!

There was a pause, then; "Wait! I'm coming too! Sesshoumaru-sama!"

Jaken sighed, his shoulders drooping with his good mood. Definitely too good to be true.

(\ /)

(0.0)

( )

"…Wow." Kagome wiped sweat from her brow and stared down the slope. "We climbed that." Down below, the small trail that they'd found dwindled to a small brown tread in a sea of green treetops, sometimes vanishing from sight beneath them.

"And it sure did take a long time," Inuyasha snorted. "If it was just me, we'd be there by now."

"Well, it's not my fault that I'm human," Kagome replied. "Why are you always so… negative about everything, anyway?' she asked, genuinely curious.

"I am not negative about everything," the hanyou retorted sharply. "You just take everything wrong." He glanced up at the sky. "There's a place good place to stop up ahead for the night."

"How far ahead?" Kagome asked. "My legs are killing me!" She glanced unhappily at the steep slope ahead. "I don't wanna walk up that."

"Well, I'm not carrying you," Inuyasha replied, walking ahead. "Just get a move on, will ya? It's less than a mile, I think."

Kagome groaned and trudged after him. "I need a shower," she muttered halfheartedly under her breath. "And food. And an actual bed. And somewhere to wash my clothes."

"Too bad," Inuyasha remarked. "Stop complaining."

"I wasn't complaining!" she retorted, temper rising. "I was talking to myself! You know, it's rude to listen in on other people's conversations."

The hanyou laughed. "And who else is there to talk to, hm?" he asked mockingly.

"Well," Kagome snapped, "there's Kisho and Shippo. And they're better to talk to than you."

"Kisho can't talk," Inuyasha pointed out. Amber eyes flickered in Shippo's direction. "And Shippo's sleeping."

Kagome sighed. "I'm only human, you know." She pitched her voice lower so he wouldn't hear. "And I'm tired, hungry and my only company thinks I'm lower than dirt."

A shell-like white ear twitched in her direction and Inuyasha hesitated for half a second, mouth half open to say something. He shook his head slightly and continued on, his mouth shut.

But Kagome didn't notice; her eyes stayed steadily on the damp earth beneath her feet, stubbornly blinking.

(\ /)

(0.0)

( )

Sango felt like banging her head against her desk. She would've, too, if there hadn't been so much paper everywhere. "I hate paperwork," she told Kirara matter-of-factly.

It wasn't the small demon that answered. "Then why take this job?"

Sango jumped and spun around. "Oh. Hello, Bankotsu," she said guardedly. "Do you need anything?"

Bankotsu shrugged offhandedly. "I was just passing by, that's all." He stepped out again, whistling.

Sango cast a dirty glance at his back and got up to close her door. She happened to know that Bankotsu was a part time mercenary who had no qualms with killing anything that moved. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if he worked for demons half the time. Not to mention that he didn't actually do anything that the Embassy paid him to do. And that created even more paperwork for her.

She sat down again and surveyed the mess with a sigh. She shuffled one pile of reports in a futile attempt to make her desk a bit more presentable. Where did all this paperwork go, anyway? Statistics, reports, opinions… they didn't change the fact that the Embassy was fighting a losing battle. Humans and demons hadn't been on speaking terms for decades, and nothing they did seemed to make the slightest difference.

Sango drummed her fingers against her desk as she thought. After a pause, she sat up and smiled, shaking her head ruefully. It wasn't her place to question what was going on.

Kirara yawned and stretched, papers rustling beneath her as she rose to her feet. Scarlet eyes wide and black ears perked forward, the small demon cat appeared wary.

Sango glanced at her partner. "What's wrong?" She turned to the door as voices rose from the corridor.

"Oh! It's- hello, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Hachi sounded nervous. "Is there anything that I can do for you, sir?"

"Get out of my lord's way, imbecile!" A pompous voice ordered.

"O-of course, Jaken-san. Excuse me." The door to Miroku's office shut hastily.

Kirara spat, her fur puffy with anxiety as the footsteps stopped in front of the office door. Sango hastily tried to neaten her desk.

Without knocking, the door swung open, revealing a small toad-like demon with a staff and a pompous and commanding air. "Hakaru Sango, my lord Sesshoumaru-" Jaken paused dubiously at Kirara, who'd left the table and adopted her larger form fire flickering around her feet and leaving scorch marks on the rug.

Sango started at the sight of her co-worker. That's what a true demon looks like, beneath the small harmless disguise. Still, I'm surprised that she's acting like this towards one of her own kind.

The dog demon stepped into the room and looked impassively at Sango. "You have reports on the activities of Harakuto Biomedical Corporation. Give it to me."

"Of course. Is that all you'll be needing?" Sango replied calmly. She would've felt more intimidated by her famous and imposing visitor if a little human girl hadn't been hiding behind him, almost clinging to his leg.

Cold amber eyes flickered in Kirara's direction, scornfully.

Jaken, who prided himself in his ability to understand each of Sesshoumaru's actions and expressions, puffed out his chest and pointed his staff at the spitting fire cat. "Silence!"

Grudgingly, Kirara shrank into a small kitten, her fur still puffed out with hostility.

Sango hurried over to the file cabinet and pulled out the reports. There wasn't much; the Embassy didn't deal much with medical companies. She handed them to Sesshoumaru. "There you go."

The dog demon paused and glanced at the report. He let it drop the floor and briefly examined the next. "These are useless to me."

"I'm sorry, sir," Sango replied. "Those are all we have."

Without replying, he turned and walked out, Jaken apologizing profusely to his employer and the odd little girl silent as she followed along behind.

Sango watched them leave, perplexed. "That's something to note," she murmured.

Kirara's fur settled down and she returned to her favorite spot on top of the computer monitor.

Sango glanced at the four scorch marks on the floor, then at the fire cat. Things aren't as they appear. They never are, are they, Father?

She sighed and tried to focus on her work. She picked up a stack of papers and shuffled through them distractedly. "…hey…" she said slowly. "Hey, Miroku!" She knocked on the wall.

In the other office, Miroku heard the thump and looked up from the magazine he was reading. He rolled his chair back until he could poke his head out of his office. "Yes, Sango? Do you need me?"

"No," came the sharp reply. "I need your report. The one that was due last week."

"Uh oh," Hachi said cheerfully. "Good luck, Miroku-kun!"

"Coming!" he rolled back into the desk space and shuffled hurriedly through the mess. Lowering his voice, he asked his partner, "Hachi! Do you know where I put that thing?"

"Which one?" the tanuki was busy with a Rubix cube.

"The one on stress over the past 5 years!" He dropped a pencil sharpener. The shavings fluttered down across the carpet like snow."Whoops!"

"Oh! I turned that in already!" With a sigh of frustration, he set the cube on the table. "I've been working on this for weeks, and I just can't get the green side together! Miroku, do you know anything about these things?"

"Nope." Miroku sloppily shoveled the shavings into the sharpener again. "Are you sure, Hachi?"

"Yeah…" Hachi picked up the cube again.

"Miroku!" Sango demanded again. "I need that report!"

Miroku sighed defeatedly and stood up. "Goodbye Hachi. Just in case I never see you again, I'd like to say that it's been a pleasure working with you."

"Thanks."

He trudged into the next room. "Sango, I don't have the report. Hachi said that he already gave it to you."

Sango waved him over to her desk, saying as she did so, "Well, I don't have it, and I don't know where it could've gone."

Meanwhile, her pen raced across a spare scrap of paper.

Kemotsu Sesshoumaru was here.

"Hachi said he turned it in," Miroku insisted. He took the pen and wrote, So I heard. What did he want?

Information on Harakuto Biomedical Corp. Apparently our reports were "useless".

"Miroku, if you didn't do, just tell me."

Well, I wasn't expecting that, I can tell you.

"Sango, you insult me. I would never lie to you."

It is odd, though… What does HBC have to do with anything demonic?

"Somehow I'm not convinced." Sango's voice was wry as she handed the pen to Miroku.

That's my job to figure out. You do your job and I'll do mine. Thanks for telling me, though.

"Do you doubt my heart?" Miroku asked solemnly, grasping Sango's knee with one hand while he continued writing with the other.

"Okay… out!" Sango shoved him away and her lecherous coworker stumbled out of her office.

The scrap of paper fluttered to the floor.

I'm just trying to make it more convincing!

Sango shook her head. Any excuse to lay hands on his female coworkers.

(•.•)

--( • )--

Mrs. Higurashi sighed and wiped her hands on a dishtowel. Placing the last dish on the dish rack, she wandered into the living room and settled down in the old armchair where her father would usually sit as he read the newspaper, a steaming mug of tea sitting on the table or in his hand.

Her eyes wandered across the familiar areas of the room; the couch where Souta would play with Buyo, the desk where Kagome kept her homework, the empty litter box sitting discreetly in the corner. The scratch on the floorboards where her husband had dropped a set of drawers, years ago. But now it was just her and the weekly letters from Souta and her father. In fact, nearly everything personal had been moved from the house and into the old temple where Souta and her father were staying.

Mrs, Higurashi knew that it was only a matter of time before the mobs stormed her house. It couldn't remain a secret that hers was the house that had harbored so many fugitives. When that day came, she would run through the back and go live in the temple with Souta and Mr. Higurashi. That way, nothing precious would be broken.

The only thing that she couldn't bear to move was a family photo taken seven years ago. It was a picture of the five of them, standing beneath the awning of a store on a winter night, paper lanterns lighting the scene with a soft orange glow.

Mrs. Higurashi often found herself staring at the photo, each time picking out little details that she hadn't noticed before. It was a good way to keep her focus and soothe her constantly-tense nerves.

Unfortunately, it was getting harder and harder to pick out little things of interest in the picture that she hadn't seen before.

(\ /)

(•. •)

( )

Inuyasha halted so abruptly that it was obvious even from behind him that he was very shocked. After a moment of silent contemplation, his ears pressed flat against his head with agitation, he spoke. "…This wasn't where I had in mind."

"Too bad." Kagome dropped her backpack on the ground and sighed, rubbing her shoulder. She shot an irritated glance at the hanyou as he hopped brusquely into a tree and ignored her, a disturbed expression on his face. Grumbling, she rummaged around in the pack and yanked out a towel.

In substitution of the nice, hot, refreshing bath that she wanted, she doused the towel in water from her canteen and wiped her face and neck.

Well, Inuyasha was right about something, at least. The campsite couldn't have been just a simple clearing. For one thing, there was a concrete foundation on the ground with old twisted metal supports rising from them as if contorted by pain. However, whatever building had once been there was now long gone. Noticing the old scorch marks on the ground, Kagome guessed it was by fire.

Despite her exhaustion, she wondered what had caused such a strong reaction in Inuyasha. Well, I don't care, she thought mulishly as she placed out the tarp and then her sleeping bag. Actually, I'm really, really curious. Inuyasha may be grumpy most of the time, but even for him that was pretty bad. I wonder why this place bothers him?

She sighed and settled out in the sleepingbag, eyes staring up at the sky above, unable to sleep.

Farther away, up in a tree, a white ear swiveled to catch the sound of a rustling sleeping bag as Kagome settled down for the night. Inuyasha didn't notice, though. He was preoccupied by a swirling torrent of memories that threw his mind in turmoil. Why here? I thought this place was miles away. I can't believe it. I thought we were near the camping grounds…

Grudgingly, amber eyes glanced at the remains of the building. It's all rotted away. Everything except the concrete and metal. But even then, the place was beyond recognizable; it felt familiar and sad. He turned away, brooding. I wish that would just melt away, too. Then maybe I could just forget about it all.

His eyes traced the outlines of the sturdy, weathered blocks of concrete and the contorted metal, his memory filling in what he remembered. The walls had been made of wood. Old, weathered redwood, like the trees surrounding it. He knew that it hadn't been all that tall- just two stories high, but for some reason he remembered the building as towering.

A small, grim, smile twitched at the corners of his lips. Oh, that's right. I was still a kid back then.

The windows were made of thick glass, like the kind used in aquariums, and was probably about three inches thick, if the tapping sound that his claws made against it was anything to go by. The building was a large rectangle shape, with a big courtyard in the middle. No, not big, he corrected. Big for a little kid. And there was a pond in the middle, with a little bridge and an elegant wooden bench where-

He stopped abruptly. It's been decades. Why does it hurt so much to remember?

Another memory rose to the surface of his troubled mind.

"Are you so desperate to know, Inuyasha? Do you really want to know what separates a human from a hanyou from a demon? Is that why you're here, on the other side of the Border?"

"What's it to you, Sesshoumaru? Fuck off!"

I'll tell you. Humans are weak and spineless. They live and die in an instant. They are but a temporary annoyance. Hanyou are disgusting beasts. They should not exist, they do not deserve to exist; a perversion of nature. The weak soul of a human and some small demonic traits. Unfortunately, they last longer than humans, unless you remove them…"

"Shit!"

"And true youkai are the strongest, the oldest, the purest and the best of the three. The perfect mechanism; when the time comes, there is no doubt, no fear, no hesitation. That is something a hanyou like you will never understand."

Maybe Sesshoumaru was right, after all. That bastard.

"Inuyasha?" The voice came from below his leafy sanctuary.

The hanyou flinched and looked down. "Kagome? What are you doing?"

"Well," the schoolgirl admitted grudgingly, "I was wondering if you're okay. You looked really startled when we got here."

"I'm fine," he replied roughly.

Kagome sighed. "You know, you can tell me. If you want to."

He thought about it for a moment. "Yeah."

There was a long pause as Kagome waited for him to say something more. "Okay." She sounded disappointed. "Well, goodnight."

"'Night," he replied. As her footsteps faded away and the sleeping bag rustled again, he said, "But not for me." I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep at all tonight.

(•.•)

--( • )--

When Kagome woke up then next morning, the first thing she was aware of was a large rusted bucket of steaming water sitting next to her. She scrambled to sit up, barely able to believe it.

"What, aren't you going to say 'thank you'?" Shippo demanded, huffing. "It took me a long time to get that water hot!" A small blue flame flickered on his fingers.

Kagome grinned. "Thank you, Shippo! I really owe you! I can wash!"

"Well," the kitsune admitted sheepishly, "It was Inuyasha who found the shed and the bucket… And the well…"

"Then thanks for heating it up!" She stumbled out of the sleeping bag, wincing at the soreness of her legs and grabbed her towel. She swung it over one shoulder and bent to grab the rusted water container. "Ow! It's hot!" She jumped back, blowing on her fingers.

"…Oh. I didn't think of that," Shippo stated.

"Well, I guess I could hang the sleeping bag up with the tent poles…" She slumped slightly at the delay.

A few minutes later, the makeshift shelter was in place and Kagome ventured in cautiously. "This better not fall down while I'm in there…" she muttered to herself.

Half an hour had gone by before Inuyasha ran out of patience. "Hey, Kagome! Get a move on!"

Even Inuyasha couldn't ruin her feeling of peace. "Almost done!" She shouted back. "Gimme a while!"

Grumbling, the hanyou wandered back into the forest and away from the wrecked skeleton of the building.

Shippo followed him curiously. "Hey, Inuyasha…" he began. "Why are you acting so weird? You keep avoiding the campsite."

Inuyasha swung around, dealt a stinging blow to the overly-inquisitive kitsune and turned again, stomping deeper into the forest. "It's none of your business. Go and bother Kagome, or something."

"Fine, Dog Boy! You can go be stupid by yourself!" But Inuyasha was already out of sight. "I don't care about your stupid problems!"

He'd already been walking for at least five minutes when he realized he was out of hearing range of… there. Inuyasha turned around and headed back, both ears twitching avidly to catch any sound that could mean trouble, but there was nothing, so he took his time.

Gradually, the sound of Kagome's voice reached his ears. Shoulders that he didn't know were tense relaxed. She was out of the bath and they could leave, finally. "Okay!" He hollered through the trees, impatient. "Let's go!"

"I'm almost ready! I just need to put this tent stuff away… Whoops!"

Inuyasha snorted impatiently and stepped into the clearing, keeping his eyes away from the ruined, skeletal remains behind Kagome. "Give it."

Sheepishly, she handed the sticks over, then the small bag. "Here."

Deftly, he pulled the poles apart and shoved them in the bag. "There. What are you staring at?"

Kagome pulled her eyes away from the ruins and handed the next pole. "Nothing." She paused again to glance at the ruins before grabbing her backpack.

"C'mon." Inuyasha shouldered his own backpack and strode out of the clearing. He turned impatiently. "Kagome!"

"Yeah, I know!" She turned away from the building and followed after him, Shippo sitting comfortably on her shoulder.

"What were you looking at, anyway?" the small kitsune inquired.

Kagome paused for a moment. "You know that square area in the middle of the building, like a courtyard or something?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, I could've sworn that it was empty last night… but then when I got out of my sleeping bag, I saw something in it. It was a bench made out of wood."

Shippo shrugged. "That's not so weird. It was dark last night and you probably just didn't see it."

"Yeah," she replied doubtfully. "But the funny thing is, the wood's new and the rest of the building's old. Besides, if there was a fire, the bench would've burned down, too…"

"Huh. That's weird," he replied idly. "Oh well."

Kagome didn't reply. Maybe it was just my imagination… But if it was, then did I imagine Inuyasha sitting on it last night, too?

(\ /)

(•. •)

( )

Kouga realized that he had a problem on his hands. And not just a small problem, either. "How do we get over the Border?"

"I don't know!" Hakkaku threw up his hands in exasperation as he stumbled forward.

"Maybe you should've thought that out before you rushed away," Ginta added, huffing. The wolves came after in groups, tongues lolling as they collapsed in small groups on the ground. Their sides heaved from fatigue.

"Kouga, lets stop for a while and think about this," Hakkaku urged. "We need a plan to figure out how to get over the wall."

"Well," Ginta said, "How did the others get over the wall?"

Kouga shrugged. "I dunno. They didn't talk about it with me." He sat down on a rock to think about it.

"Do you know what they use to guard the border?" Ginta asked Hakkaku.

The other wolf demon thought for a moment. "Well, guns… and people. They have towers, too, and there's the cliff. They have defenses on that, too, I think. But there are places where there's nothing at all, too, which doesn't make any sense. But that's humans for you."

"No, there's gotta be a reason," argued Hakkaku. "Otherwise, we could just go through whenever we wanted."

"Cant's we?" Kouga replied absently. "How else would the others have gotten in? They're not particularly powerful."

"But then why would all sorts of demons go through?"

"Do you really need to ask?" Kouga said bitterly. "Naraku would snatch them in an instance. The only ones he doesn't take are the ones in the Embassy and ones like Kemotsu Sesshoumaru, who're too strong for him."

"So why don't we join the Embassy?" Ginta asked jokingly. "It's can't be any worse that charging in there and getting killed, if you ask me."

It might've been meant as a joke, but Kouga took Ginta's comment seriously. "Good idea, Ginta." He stood up and turned around. "Okay. We're going to the city." With a strong surge of wind, he was gone.

"Great idea, Ginta!" Hakkaku remarked gloomily. "'I've got an idea! Let's go join the Embassy and get ourselves killed by other demons instead of Naraku!' Are you an idiot?"

"It was a joke! I didn't think that he'd take it seriously!" the other wolf demon protested. "This is insane!"

(\ /)

(•. •)

( )

AN: Woooow… that took a while. I sat in front of my computer for 4 hours to finish this. My back hurts now.

Anyway, I hope you liked it! I think I added a bit to much angsty-fluffy stuff for the relationship between Inuyasha and Kagome as it is now… oh well. Questions, comments, ect, you know what to do.

Thank you for reading!