Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and Co.

I know this chapter has been a long time in wait, so without further ado, enjoy!

Of Time Passing and Strands of Hair

And it was in this same manner that the days passed, slowly moving into weeks, and those, in turn, becoming one month. One month that she had been training her powers with Kaede as Inuyasha either napped in a nearby tree or went off on his own, never letting slip what it was he was doing.

But as Kagome learned, her powers grew. Sensing nearby demons was as easy as breathing. She could now manifest her power, raw and controlled, in the palms of her hands - though that took a great deal of concentration for her to do still. Kaede had begun to teach her the skill of archery, combining it with her spiritual powers. In this manner, her powers manifested on the tip of the arrow with little concentration and when the arrow was released, it would sail, albeit not quite straight yet, into her target. Mostly, she shot at trees of different sizes and from different distances, but as of late, Kaede had taken her farther into the forest to kill lesser demons, ones that had found their way into the forest and had seen a meal in the two humans. Quite a few times, Kaede had to save her, as her limbs froze up in the face of the sought out demon attacks. Kagome had to force herself to move, to react, so that she would not be a sitting target for others. And in the span of that month, she started to get the hang of it, though it would take longer for her to really even get close to mastering the skill.

As for conversation, Kagome came to learn much about Kaede and the village she lived in. Kaede was the younger of two siblings, her eldest sister having passed many years ago by the hands of a demon. Her parents died by the same fate, though well before Kaede had even grown into a woman. The village they lived in was not prosperous, per se, but they got by decently, growing and harvesting enough to keep the village alive and sated. As for demon attacks, Kaede was able to keep most at bay on her own, using her spiritual powers to sense nearby demons and her archery skills to take them down. The demons that did get by were met by the village men who used farming tools as weapons, among other things. In truth, it reminded Kagome of the village she had grown up in. It, too, had been a small village, kept going by the skills and hands of the villagers and priests within.

Inuyasha, though, remained ever the mystery to her. He spoke little, keeping to profanities and insults when he did voice any thoughts. But he bothered her less as the days went by. He seemed less angry with her, almost. Like he noticed the progress she was making. He still wasn't the nicest to her, but he mostly left her to Kaede's care. Kagome tried to subtlety watch him when she could. She noticed an increased restlessness in him some days, yet she could not figure out what it was for or from - other than those days had been the ones where he had stayed to watch her training, keeping an eye out from his perch on a nearby tree branch.

But what Kagome had considered to be a relatively quiet month of training came to an end when the inevitable happened. The fact that Kagome was not expecting it went to show how different her life was now from before she had run away. But at least now, Kagome considered herself more prepared, even if she was caught off guard.

The demon was close, too close. And she hadn't noticed until too late. So instead of panicking, Kagome grabbed an arrow from the quiver strapped to her back and notched it in the bow in her hands. Her eyes scanned the foliage around her. Of course she was alone in the forest for the first time since she was brought to this village.

Swiveling around, Kagome saw something glint in the sunlight that filtered through the canopy of trees. As she blinked, stepping closer, she noticed that the sunlight was bouncing off of not one thing, but many thin, taut strands of wire. And they were threaded both low and high through the area. Using her senses, though she knew the answer, she could tell that the nearby demon was through that mess of wires. Biting her lip, Kagome wondered what she should do. The smart choice would be to turn around and find either Kaede or Inuyasha. But if she left, would the demon follow? Would the village be in danger? She couldn't risk that. Not anymore. She was stronger now. She wasn't defenseless. And she wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt because of her.

Walking closer, Kagome lowered her bow and arrow, hooking the bow over her shoulder so that she had better use of her hands. Gripping the arrow, she used the sharp tip to cut through the wire in front of her. It snapped easily; and Kagome was surprised to see the other wires loosen, their lines no longer drawn so tightly. This meant that they were all connected, or just one wire. Kagome cut several more, creating an opening she could move through. Past the initial wires, she found that they only got denser the further in she went. It was only after she had moved through a couple feet of this that the demon decided to find her. Kagome straightened at the sudden surge of youkai near her, swiftly bringing her bow back into position and readying her arrow. The demon dropped down from above, landing gracefully on a wire a mere 10 feet from Kagome.

"My, my, my," the demon crooned, her red lips pouting at Kagome, "what is the meaning of this attack against my precious hair? Hasn't your mother taught you any manners, dear girl?"

Kagome didn't respond, deciding instead to study the demon. She was a female; thin with short, cropped, black hair. She wore an exceedingly short dress; one with a low V-cut that extended to the yellow-patterned belt at the waist, emphasizing her ample cleavage. Tucked in her belt was a thin sword with a red hilt, the color also accented in the thin red ribbon tied into a bow in her hair. And then there was the fact that she referred to what she had thought was wire as hair.

"What brings you to this area?" Kagome asked, not sure how to approach the demon, as it was not instinctively attacking her.

The demon tilted her head, studying the priestess in front of her. "The same thing that brings everything to you, girlie. Power."

"What do you mean?" Kagome questioned, confused, "My spiritual power?" Why would the demon search her out for that?

The demon sighed, rolling her eyes, "And what would a demon do with your spiritual power? Really. Do not play dumb with me. I want the jewel, of course. And then every demon and human will fear the great Yura of the Hair!"

"I don't know what jewel you are talking about," Kagome intoned calmly though her heart beat furiously in her chest. This demon was much stronger than any demon she had killed before.

Yura chuckled darkly, like she had told some great joke, and Kagome shivered despite herself. She could tell the demon did not believe her.

Yura rolled her shoulders, loosening the muscles before leaning forward threateningly, preparing to strike. Kagome stepped back, but kept her arrow aimed at the demon's heart. When the demon was about to lunge, Kagome loosed her arrow, heart sinking when it was easily dodged and Yura was in front of her. The demon moved her hand deftly and hair came up from behind Kagome, snatching the bow from her grip and wrapping around her wrists, pulling them above her head. More strands of hair came and wrapped around her waist, raising her into the air and in front of Yura.

"Such a waste," Yura hummed, her finger wrapping around a lock of Kagome's hair, "Your hair is nice and long, but poorly cared for. At least I'll get the jewel."

Kagome tilted her chin up, jaw locked in defiance. She was not going to go down so easily. After all this training, she was not simply going to give up without a fight. As Yura's hand released her hair to trace lightly against her hip, Kagome concentrated on her power, letting a small sliver loose around her hands that quickly destroyed the hair. Still held up by the hair at her waist, she acted fast. Placing her hands against Yura's chest, she blasted her spiritual power, sending the demon flying into a tree, ripping through her web of hair. Kagome fell to the ground, landing roughly on her hands and knees as the hair holding her loosened.

"You wretched girl!" Yura screamed, furious, as she got to her feet, a deep wound right under her collarbone, and the skin underneath burned and bubbling.

Yura flicked her wrist and hair flew up, wrapping around her chest. Kagome pushed herself to her feet, watching the demon's movements while inching towards her discarded bow. Yura smiled at her, moving the hair once more to reveal perfectly healed skin. Kagome's eyes widened.

"Silly girl. Do you really think you have a chance against me?" Yura laughed, her good humor having returned.

"You're the fool to believe I'll go down so easily," Kagome taunted, eyes sharp as she loosed another arrow at Yura.

It missed by a foot and the demon laughed, throwing her head back at the weak threat, but suddenly, all the hair weaving through the area slackened, hanging dangerously low to the ground and causing Yura to react quickly to gain her footing on the branch of a nearby tree. As Yura sputtered in indignation, Kagome refocused. Her arrow had not been meant to hit the demon, only to distract her. Unfortunately, whatever it had hit had furthered the distance between the two – distance that Kagome had planned to use with an up-close attack of raw spiritual power.

But perhaps luck was on her side. What could her arrow have hit to affect all the nearby hair? Was there something else that controlled the hair, besides Yura? Decision made, Kagome clutched at her bow tightly as she dashed off after the path of her previous attack. Yura, eyes widening, moved her hand, the attached strands of hair no longer taut, but now slack as she struggled to lift them to do her bidding.

After battling through a thick area of the forest, Kagome stopped suddenly at the edge of the forest, unaware of Yura's location as she stared wide-eyed at the colossal ball of black hair that hung suspended by more hair that branched off into the forest. Her eyes quickly zeroed in on a hole in nest, where the hair tumbled down to graze against the ground, hundreds of skulls threaded in the mass. Something caught her eye, a flash of color, before Yura leaped in front of her, once more poised on a cord of hair and in control of it all.

And quick enough, almost missing the demon's movements, Kagome was suspended in the air by thick ropes of hair. Her bow tumbled to the ground below.

"You've got spunk, I'll give you that," Yura watched her, seeming to study her for the first time, before sighing, "But I tire of this silly game. I have much better things to do than play cat and mouse with a little, human girl like you. I will have that jewel now, before your little friend gets in the way."

Her friend? Who was she talking about? But Kagome didn't have time to ponder as Yura unsheathed her sword and leapt.

Kagome's heart jumped to her throat and her eyes instinctively closed.

There was a rush of air and the sound of flesh tearing, but no pain came. Opening her eyes, Kagome caught sight of the red of a familiar haori as Inuyasha finished his attack. He landed deftly on the ground below, giving Kagome a chance to see the deep claw marks gouged across Yura's torso. Hair rushed up immediately to cover the wound as Inuyasha glared at Kagome's suspended form.

"What the fuck is holding you up there?" he questioned, looking very irritated, "And better yet, is it the same invisible shit that I've been running into on the way to save your ass?"

Kagome would've bristled at his foul language if it weren't for what he said. He couldn't see the hair. Now that she looked closer, she could see thin, tiny cuts over his face and hands. She didn't have time to explain, however, as a fully healed Yura chose to interject.

"My, my, my!" the demon cooed, "What gorgeous silver hair you have. I simply must have it!"

Inuyasha turned his gaze to the demon and jumped at her, claws extended, "Why don't you keep your hands to yourself!"

Yura dodged and Kagome watched as Inuyasha took that chance to redirect himself midair to blindly swipe at the hair holding her up. The thick cords gave way easily to his sharp claws and she was momentarily relieved, until she realized it was a long drop to the ground. A small shriek came out as she fell before a strong arm wrapped around her waist. The landing was softer than she imagined it would be, with Inuyasha absorbing the shock of hitting the ground as he placed her on her feet.

"Stay here," Inuyasha ordered at the same time that she said, "Distract her."

He gave her an odd look, but at the sound of Yura's voice, turned to place himself back in the battle.

"I say you should keep your hands to yourself. You shouldn't treat a lady so callously to attack her out of nowhere. Not to mention, I wasn't done with that girl," Yura pouted at him, "If she means so much to you, though, you can have her back when I've finished with her."

"You know what would mean a lot to me?" Inuyasha taunted, "You shutting the hell up while I use you to sharpen my claws."

He leapt at her as she sent a dense mass of hair at him. Kagome had scrambled to get her bow as soon as she hadn't been looking her way, but yelled out a quick, "To your left," in warning. She saw Inuyasha's ears twitch and he dodged, landing and then jumping away. The hair weaved to follow his new trajectory. Kagome readied an arrow, ready to give another warning when, with a twitch of his ear, he dodged once more. This time on his own and Kagome realized he must be able to hear the sound of the hair moving.

That would work to her advantage. As long as he kept Yura busy, she could figure out how to kill her. Attacking her did not seem to work as the hair easily healed her. There must be some other weak spot, perhaps in the big ball that the demon had seemed so angry for her to have hit earlier. Searching out what had initially caught her attention before Yura strung her up for a second time, she spotted what appeared to be a red skull. The only red skull in the bunch. That must have some meaning. With a swift glance at Inuyasha, she saw him being wrapped by the hair until he too was suspended like she had been. Knowing she only had a moment, she aimed her arrow, adjusting for the light breeze and distance. She had never shot a target so far before, but she couldn't afford to miss. Her spiritual power manifested at the tip and as she loosed it, it spread to wrap around the arrow entirely, glowing brightly as it sailed towards its target. Not waiting to see if it hit, she quickly sent another arrow at Yura as a distraction. Inuyasha seemed to be fighting the strength of the hair as he struggled to pull his hands together to swipe at it and free himself. He managed just as Yura yelled out, the arrow having torn through her stomach, leaving a gaping wound behind. Right as the hair began to move to cover her wound, Kagome saw a burst of light and turned her head. Inuyasha landed next to her, his gaze, too, watching as her arrow obliterated the red skull. Yura shrieked, her body slowly disintegrating into the air as the surrounding hair seemed to fade away into nothing. Even the skulls dissipated like they were nothing more than dust.

All that remained was a broken red comb, the object that must have been controlling Yura. The fragments stood out, a stark contrast to the light soil, and Kagome sank to the ground, the adrenaline no longer giving her strength.

She folded her arms and rested her head on top, having laid the bow down next to her side. Inuyasha remained standing by her side, arms crossed.

"Still think I'm useless?" Kagome mumbled, not sure how to handle his quiet demeanor.

"Keh. I'm surprised you didn't cower in fear the moment you saw her let alone actually have the brains to figure out how to kill her," he answered, though his voice was not as gruff as she expected and she wondered back to what Kaede had told her that first night in her hut.

She had spoken of Inuyasha as if he wasn't always such a callous demon. She still didn't believe her, but she had noticed that the stronger and more controlled she got with her powers, the more his insults sounded half-hearted, like he didn't know how else to talk to her now that his insults no longer held the truth they once did.

But she would think on that at another time. There was something more pressing she had to know, something that the demon had mentioned.

Determined to get an answer, she pushed her self to her feet, turning to look at Inuyasha. He cocked his head her way, studying her movements.

She raised her chin and looked him straight in the eyes. "I need to know about this jewel that demon claimed I have and you're going to tell me."

Soooo? What do you think? :D