"Will you hurry up and finish packing already?" an impatient Inu Yasha grumbled from Kagome's kitchen countertop.
"Knock it off or no ramen for you later!" came Kagome's reply.
Inu Yasha sulked as he waited impatiently for Kagome to finish packing her things. Why did she always pack such a heavy thing if later she'd ask him eat something so as to lighten the load? He couldn't figure her out and probably never would.
"All set, Inu Yasha!" Kagome announced.
"It's about damn time!" Inu Yasha growled. "Let's go!"
The two headed for the well and hopped in. At once, they were surrounded in the familiar blue magic light that always appeared during the transport. But something was different this time.
As they descended, something suddenly raced upward past them. Inu Yasha reached for Tetsusaiga, but whatever passed them by was gone now, and they gently touched down on the bottom of the well.
"What do you think that was?" Kagome asked.
"I don't know," the dog-demon growled. "But I don't like the fact that it was in the well, that's for sure!"
At Kaede's hut, everyone was having lunch. There were rice balls and tea, courtesy of Sango and Miroku, as well as some of Kaede's miso soup.
"Kagome!" Shippo leapt into Kagome's arms, nearly causing her to lose her balance. "I missed you so much!"
"Me too!" Kagome laughed.
"It's good that you're back." Kaede sipped her tea. "There's something important you should both know about."
Kagome and Inu Yasha sat down with the others. Shippo curled up on Kagome's lap, much to Inu Yasha's annoyance. The dog demon would just love the chance to smack the little fox pest for a chance to lay his head on Kagome's lap again. But, of course, doing that would only get him Osuwari-ied.
"If it doesn't have anything to do with Shikon shards, I'm not interested." Muttered Inu Yasha.
"What is it, Kaede-bachan?" asked Kagome.
"First of all," Kaede set her cup down. "Have either of you noticed anything strange near the well?"
Inu Yasha, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, popped one open and perked up his ears.
"Now that you mention it," said Kagome. "We did see something pass by us in the well."
"This isn't good." Miroku spoke up. "If it can pass through the Bone-Eater's Well, it can make its way to Kagome's world and cause much trouble."
"Don't worry." Inu Yasha grinned. "Unlike the rest of you, I can pass through the well and beat up whatever youkai winds up over there. Besides, Kagome's too stubborn to get killed."
"Inu Yasha!" Kagome gave him the 'you're - gonna - get - Osuwari-ied' look. "If this thing can pass over into my time, think of the chaos it'll cause! Unlike here, the modern world doesn't have or understand demons and monsters. No one would know what to do!"
"Feh!" the dog demon spat. "It's not my fault the people of your time are such pathetic weaklings!"
"OSUWARI!" Kagome fumed, sending Inu Yasha to the floor. He was such a jerk sometimes!
"Why do you say that kind of stuff if you know Kagome's gonna say the 'O' word?" Shippo sighed. "One would think you liked kissing the ground!"
Still pinned to the floor, Inu Yasha grumbled and managed a rough yank on Shippo's tail. The fox demon yelped and responded by dropping a Jizu on the offending hand.
"Shippo!" Kagome scolded.
"But he pulled my tail!" the little demon whined.
"Two wrongs don't make a right, Shippo." Kagome glared. "Now put that away."
Reluctantly, the fox demon pulled the sticker off the statue and put it away. Inu Yasha got up and managed to bop Shippo's head a few times before Kagome said the 'O' word several more times.
***************************************
After lunch, Inu Yasha and company proceeded to examine the area around the Bone-Eater's Well. Showing little interest as usual, Inu Yasha hopped up onto his usual perch in the tree and reclined. Miroku stood by the well, his hands together in meditation. Sango and Kagome poked around the site for any sign of anything out of the ordinary. Shippo sniffed around in hopes of finding something his human friends would not be able to detect. That's when he remembered something he had neglected to tell the others.
"Hey guys?" Shippo stood up.
"Yeah, Shippo?" said Kagome.
"Sorry I forgot to tell you." he stared at the ground. "That thing that's been around here? It smells like a human, but it's definitely got youkai blood."
"Yeah, and that would be me you're probably smelling!" Inu Yasha sighed, annoyed. "Stupid brat!"
"No! No!" Shippo protested. "I mean, it smells a little like you, but it isn't! I'm sure of it!"
"It smells like Inu Yasha?" Kagome blinked.
"Yeah," Shippo replied. "But it's different somehow. It's weird!"
"It may smell like him," Sango spoke up. "But here's the proof it isn't Inu Yasha."
The youkai hunter pointed to something on a nearby tree trunk and everyone gathered around. Lightly slashed into the trunk were three youkai-like claw marks. Even Inu Yasha hopped down from his perch in the tree to take a closer look.
"Feh," he muttered. "They're probably Shippo's for all we know!"
"Those aren't mine, dog-breath!" the fox demon retorted. "Only older demons scratch trees like that! Besides, it's got that same human-youkai smell to it."
"Why would a demon want to leave scratch marks in a tree like that?" Kagome asked.
"I can answer that one." said Sango calmly. "Demons are like normal animals in some ways. Some are territorial and mark their property by scratching or peeing on trees or rocks. Whoever left this behind must be either pretty brave or suicidal to try claiming the same property as Inu Yasha."
"Feh!" Inu Yasha muttered. "Like I care if some demon brat leaves a message around here!"
"If it matters not to you, Inu Yasha," Miroku pointed with his staff. "Then why are you scratching that tree now?"
Inu Yasha looked up at his claws in the bark of the tree. He hadn't even realized he'd been doing so until Miroku pointed it out. Shippo fell over laughing and Inu Yasha proceeded to choke him, but Kagome said the 'O' word and stopped him.
"Really, Inu Yasha!" Kagome scolded. "If it bothers you that much, why not just admit it instead of pretending it's nothing to you?"
"Because he's a demon and demons need to make themselves look tough in front of potential mates." Miroku blurted quietly.
Inu Yasha took a swing at Miroku, but, of course, the houshi was expecting it and dodged easily. Kagome blushed faintly and laughed with Sango and the others. The defeated dog demon gave up and sat down, growling.
"Well," said Sango finally. "Whatever this thing is, it doesn't seem to be around here at the moment. If we could all travel over to Kagome's world, there's a slight chance that we could find whatever it is on the other side of the well."
"Fat chance of that happening!" Inu Yasha spat. "Kagome and I are the only ones capable of passing through the well. Shippo's tried it and I know he can't do it."
"Perhaps if we all held hands we might be able to pass through all at once." suggested Miroku.
"There's an idea." Sango chipped in.
"Oh! Oh! I wanna hold Kagome's hand!" cried Shippo.
"Who wouldn't want to hold the hand of such a lovely maiden?" Miroku took Kagome's hand in one of his and reached for her butt with the other, but got a foot to the head from Inu Yasha before he could do so.
"I know that no one wants to hold Inu Yasha's hand!" Shippo laughed.
The group laughed as the insulted dog-demon growled, defeated.
~~~~~~~~
This is Chapter 1. Where would you like to go next?
