"Did you guys find anything?" Kagome called up steps of the artifact shed. Miroku and Sango had gone up to have a look around while Kagome inspected the ground floor. A moment later, Sango screamed, a slap was heard, and Miroku came crashing down the ladder with a big red slap mark across his left cheek.
"Are you ever going to give it up?" Kagome sweatdropped.
Miroku stood up and brushed the dust off of his robe.
"Until I can find a lovely young lady willing to bear my child," the houshi rubbed his sore cheek. "I fear I cannot."
"Well, can you at least save it until we find that human-youkai thing?" Kagome sighed. "It really slows down and annoys Sango and I when we're trying to find something important."
"Very well," Miroku bowed his head, defeated. "But does this mean that if I ask you later you'll-"
Needless to say, Miroku got a matching slap mark on his right cheek.
Meanwhile, Inu Yasha and Shippo were putting their noses to good use around the house. Shippo was checking out the kitchen and living room while Inu Yasha decided to sniff around upstairs.
The little fox demon's nose caught everything, from the burned gristles in the toaster to the Cup of Noodles in the cabinet near the stove. He couldn't understand the stovetop at first, but after playing with a couple of the knobs, he immediately got back to business after dousing his singed tail in the sink. There was no sign of the human-youkai anywhere nearby, and the kitsune-youkai hoped that Inu Yasha had been at least a little more successful.
Upstairs, Inu Yasha was poking around the bedrooms. He found Souta's room rather odd with all its sports and school supplies. There was also a strange looking box on the desk that resembled that thing in the living room… what had Kagome called it? Oh yeah, a TV. But this TV had a flat board in front of it with what appeared to be Japanese letters on each little piece embedded in it.
Curious, the dog demon pushed the button on the TV, and it came on. But much to Inu Yasha's surprise, instead of the 'moving pictures' he had seen before, the screen remained black with white letters in strange patterns appeared and moved about the screen. The hanyou watched and waited, just in case it attacked him. Eventually, an image came up on the screen with other tiny pictures on the side of it and stopped moving. The image was one Inu Yasha recognized as one Kagome had made using something she called a camera, whatever that was. The picture was of everyone standing together side by side. Miroku was reaching for Sango's waist while Sango herself was reaching for her giant boomerang, Hiraikotsu. Shippo was trying to make himself look big and tough while Inu Yasha, who was standing behind Shippo, wore his usual tough-guy grin with his hands tucked in his sleeves. Looking at the image made the dog demon realize how much they looked like a family; a weird one, maybe, but a family nonetheless.
Shippo's yelp from the kitchen reminded Inu Yasha why he was here in the first place. He got back to investigating the upper floor of the house, peeking into Mrs. Higurashi's room before entering Kagome's.
As he had so many times before, Inu Yasha sat himself calmly on the floor of her room. All around him was Kagome's scent, a pleasing smell that he found rather comforting despite the fact that he often referred to it as a stench. But then his nose detected something different, another smell. It wasn't the scent of Kagome's family, but that of the mysterious human-youkai they'd been searching for. As his nose led him toward the window, his ears picked up something.
At first he had thought nothing of it, being that Kagome's world was always full of noises, but his combined senses told him that he wasn't alone. Something was in the room with him, and his keen nose told him it was the stranger they'd been looking for. He heard it shift ever so slightly behind him; it was under Kagome's bed. Inu Yasha cracked his knuckles and readied his claws.
"Whatever you are," the dog demon challenged. "I know you're under there." Then, remembering something he had seen on Kagome's TV, he added. "Come out with your hands up!"
The creature didn't budge. It shifted itself a bit, but otherwise didn't move. Inu Yasha was getting impatient and debated whether to risk dragging it out or just slashing it through the bed. Considering that Kagome would probably "Osuwari" him until his back broke if he destroyed her room, he decided to wait and see if it came out on its own.
Then, something poked its nose out from under the bed skirt. With his nerves on edge, he readied himself for an attack. What came out from under the bed was…Buyo, Kagome's overweight feline. Inu Yasha let out the breath he had been holding and picked up the cat, staring at it in disgust.
"You know," Inu Yasha said to the cat. "I could've killed you."
Buyo only responded by uttering his deep-throated purring. Frustrated, Inu Yasha set Buyo down and kicked him gently out of the room.
That distraction was all that was needed. Out of the corner of his eye, Inu Yasha saw a black streak shoot out from under the bed and out the open window. Cursing himself silently, he leapt out the window to take chase.
"Minna!" he yelled as he slowly began to catch up. "I found it! It's here! Hurry!"
Everyone raced toward the house, where Inu Yasha was hot on the creature's trail. Despite their awe, they quickly moved in to attack.
"Kitsune-bi!" Shippo shot his blue flames toward the quarry, but it dodged easily.
"Hiraikotsu!" Sango tossed her enormous boomerang, distracting the enemy just enough to make it stumble in its mad escape. The creature turned and dashed away from them.
"It's going for the well!" cried Kagome.
"No!" Miroku tugged at the on his cursed hand, then paused. If he sucked it up into the Air Rip, they would never know what it was. Besides, what if this thing was poisonous like Naraku's saimyoushou? He couldn't take that chance.
Inu Yasha could catch it, but not if it got to the well first. He had to stop it, or at least slow it down to catch it.
"Hiraikotsu!" Sango heaved her mighty boomerang at the human-youkai again. The creature was swept off its feet for a moment, but kept going. Shippo got an idea and put it into action.
"Kitsune-bi!" the fox demon surrounded the well house in azure flames, hoping to slow the speeding black streak enough for Inu Yasha to capture it; it worked. For the moment it stopped in its tracks, everyone could see a person with long midnight-black hair facing away from them and at the wall of fire. It was garbed in a purple shirt and hakama and seemed to be a child little more than 8 or 9 years old. A purple floppy cap with two white projections on top was pulled over its eyes just enough to cover its facial features.
Miroku and Shippo were closing in on it when it took its chances and leapt over the fire…right into Inu Yasha's waiting grasp. It yelped and struggled, yet keeping its face hidden as best it could.
"Alright, you little troublemaker!" growled Inu Yasha. "Who are you? What are you doing here? Are you one of Naraku's lackies?"
"Let go of me!" a young girl's voice squeaked from Inu Yasha's captive embrace. "Let go! Put me down!"
The others caught up and surrounded them. Each was poised and ready to attack the second they got a better look at it.
"Who are you?" Inu Yasha demanded.
"You're not supposed to know that," the captive girl growled. "Now let me go!"
"You're not going anywhere, brat!" the dog demon growled.
The strange girl fought and wriggled violently to get out of Inu Yasha's grasp, but Inu Yasha held tight. He winced at the feel of something pricking into his shoulders. When the dog demon looked, he saw that the girl was digging an oddly familiar set of claws into his fire rat robe. The distraction gave the girl the quick moment she needed to pry herself free.
Everyone moved as if to take chase after her, but much to their surprise, the stranger remained standing outside of the circle that they had composed. For one, nerve-wracking moment of silence, no one moved. The girl stood facing them, her cap hiding her eyes and her arms crossed. An all-knowing smile leaked across her face.
"Who are you?" Kagome demanded.
"That is not for you to know right now." the girl replied. "If I could, I would tell you in a heartbeat."
"What are you?" Shippo yipped. "Are you a human or a youkai?"
"In a manner of speaking," the girl's mouth twitched enthusiastically. "I'm both"
"A hanyou?" Kagome blinked.
The girl shook her head slowly.
"We know that you're capable of passing through the Bone-Eater's Well." Sango glared, her hand on Hiraikotsu and ready to throw it at the drop of a hat. "How is that possible?"
"I can't answer any of your questions right now." the girl grinned as she reached for the rim of her cap. "But I guess giving you a few more to think about can't hurt."
Slowly, the mysterious human-youkai girl pulled her violet floppy cap off of her head and opened her eyes for all to see.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is Chapter 3. Where would you like to go next?
