A/N: Remember, when Kagome writes, it's signified with apostrophes, when she's speaking in sign language, it's signified with brackets.

Musei
Chapter Two: Cracked Up
by Clara


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The air stung her lungs, but she knew if she stopped running she would be killed. Kagome curled one fist around the whistle the old lady had given her, closing her eyes momentarily. She could hear the monster screaming demonically behind her, knocking over small trees that stood in its way. It was getting closer�she could feel its rancid breath on her bare legs.

"Oi! Damnit, wench!"

Oh, great, her mind hissed with icy calmness. Now the white haired demon is after me, too. Happy bloody birthday, to me.

"Stop, for fucks sake!" Neither the centipede woman or Kagome paid attention. "Damnit!"

She felt it's hot and sharp claws rake across her back, ripping her shirt and just barely touching her skin. She stumbled and nearly collapsed, giving the demon enough time to catch up. Kagome's mouth opened in a silent scream.

Something.. circular was painfully eradicated from the spot right above her hip. Blood and the object flew to the ground, one bouncing against the dead leaves and the other being absorbed into the soil. The mute fell across the ground face first, dry twigs scraping against her cheeks.

It's a jewel, her mind provided for her in a daze. What on earth is a jewel doing in my hip?

"The Shikon no Tama!" the centipede lady howled. With dizzying speed, she circled around Kagome and the jewel.

I don't want to die here..

The demon dipped its head down, curling it's tongue around the bloodied jewel that came from inside Kagome. The confused girl tried to do the impossible and scream in protest and suddenly the tongue was disembodied from the gigantic centipede. It reared back, screaming in surprise and agony. Acting on instinct, Kagome reached up and caught the tongue and jewel, flinging the appendage away from her and the treasure without thought or disgust. She had no time for that, though later her dreams would be haunted by the dying screams of the centipede lady.

The centipede lady collapsed from around her. Kagome watched in fascinated horror as the head tilted back, before finally falling off its neck with a wet thump. The body squirmed for a moment, then fell into the stillness of death.

A pair of clawed feet dropped silently in front of her face. His toenails are cracked, Kagome idly thought, body and mind humming with shock. Inuyasha nudged her side, reminding her of her new wound.

"Oi, you stupid wench. Get to your feet."

For some reason, that snapped her from her trance. Still grasping the jewel in one hand and the whistle with the other, Kagome stood, albeit rather shakily.

"Give me the jewel," Inuyasha ordered, jutting his hand out at her as if he really expected her to just hand it over.

Her fingers were decidedly stable as she lifted the whistle to her lips, despite the fact that her insides were rather loopy.

Inuyasha growled around a sudden mouthful of soil.

Kagome grinned, then collapsed back to her knees.

"You bitch."

*

'How did you know I was mute?'

Lady Kaede examined the note for a long moment. Her eyesight was fading, and despite the fact that Kagome obviously wrote in larger print for the older woman, she had to squint in order to read her fine print. It took a moment, but her withered face broke into a smile.

"My dear," she reached forward to jab the dying embers that were warming the room they had been sitting in for an hour now. Kagome was sipping some soup Lady Kaede had made for them after all the introductions were made. "Fifty years ago my older sister pinned a demon to a tree with her arrow. Soon after, she died from the wounds inflicted by said demon."

Kagome's eyes were drawn to the still figure at the corner. Inuyasha was staring silently out the 'window', or rather, the square hole in the wall. She frowned and pressed the cloth soaked with healing ointment against the wound on her side.

"A scant day later, a man came up to me and gave me a scroll. At that age, I did not know what he was, but now I know he was a monk."

Kagome blinked, then reached over to take her notepad. 'How?' she asked.

"He visited me again yesterday to tell me thee would arrive today." Her smile broadened at Kagome's puzzled look. "This is not important, though. What's important is the scroll he gave me.

"Inscribed on that old scroll was a prophecy. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the entire thing, but one line stood out to me. 'The woman who will start the war amongst demons is covered with a cloak of silence'."

"How are you so important, hag, if you can't even remember a simple prophecy?" a moody voice came from the corner. Kagome looked back at Inuyasha, one eyebrow quirked.

To her surprise, Lady Kaede merely continued to smile. "The scroll had a spell on it. After I read the prophecy out loud to another miko, it burst into flames. I suppose it had a memory scrambling spell on it, also, for no matter how many times the other miko and I tried to rewrite it, we could not.�

�What the hell was the point of giving you the �prophecy�, then?� he asked, mockingly.

�Well, we knew that she was mute, did we not?� Lady Kaede said, in a condescending manner one might use on a small child. Inuyasha bared his teeth.

Kagome sighed, watching them bicker about her. She hated when people did that. Sighing, she started to doodle on her notepad, ignoring their increasingly raised voices. She chewed on the end of her pen, then scribbled something down.

�What is the Shikon no Tama?�

She held up the notepad until they noticed her, then Inuyasha reached out and snatched it from her. He looked over it for a moment, then shrugged.

�It�ll make me a full demon, and that�s all that matters. He tossed the notepad back to Kagome, who caught it nimbly despite the obvious shock she was in. She scribbled something down again, then handed it back to him. He read it, then sneered.

�I wouldn�t have said it if it wasn�t true.�

Kagome�s mind whirled. There was too much for her to accept�too many of her beliefs suddenly flipped heads side down. There were not supposed to be such things as demons and half demons and things like that. He.. the half demon he was.. was not supposed to exist.

Kagome watched him under the pale light of the full moon.

*

That night, Kagome thought about her family for the first time since she had gone time-hopping. She saw her younger brother in her mind's eye holding hands with her mother, who had a supporting hand on her grandfather�s elbow. She saw Buyo roll over on his fat back and stick all four of his legs up into the air. A wave of depressing nostalgia washed over her and she turned over, unable to close her eyes and fall asleep.

Inuyasha was crouched on the fence outside her room, tossing a pebble into the air and catching it. There was a crow demon perched at the window, the moon reflecting off it�s three eyes.

�Already?� Inuyasha grumbled, flicking the pebble towards the demon. It shrieked and shot to the sky, batting its shadow wings rather noisily. �This girl attracts more demons to her than a herd of dead cattle.�

Inuyasha sighed and leaned against the fence pole, tilting his head to the sky. He was going to have to get that damned jewel from her, and soon.

*

Kagome was up and about early the next morning, the center of attention of a rather large group of giggling girls. They were shooting questions rapidly at the confused girl, then answering them themselves, perhaps remembering she was mute.

�Is it true you freed the dog demon?� a surprisingly short, plump, and rather cute girl asked. Her hair was chopped in a messy, short cut, instead of pulled back in the customary bun, and jagged strands framed her heart-shaped face.

�Of course she did, Anita!� a taller, older woman answered in a fiercely admonishing tone. Anita blushed, then blushed deeper when Kagome gave her a comforting smile. �Forget him,� the older woman continued, �why do you wear such odd clothing?�

Kagome smiled and shrugged, unable to answer verbally. The women must have washed her uniform, because at the moment she was wearing a fetching kimono that was normal for that era.

�Feh,� the sudden and rather deep voice startled the group. Kagome turned around, raising an eyebrow. Inuyasha grinned cruelly down at her, his hands in his sleeves. �I should have known you would be off gossiping with a group of silly girls.�

Frightened, the girls spun heel and fled, Anita being the only one to throw a worried and rather scared glance over her shoulder at Kagome. Kagome smiled comfortingly at her and threw a small wave, then turned back to Inuyasha and scowled at him. She yanked her notepad out of her pocket.

�What do you want?�

�You know what I want,� Inuyasha bit out, sneering. He jabbed his hand out to her, as if he really expected her to just hand over the jewel. Kagome clucked her tongue at him in the same, disapproving manner her mother used on her and her brother, then turned around and started walking away from him.

�Hey! Hey, wench, where do you think you�re going?! Hey!�

She heard him start to follow her and she quickened her pace, fishing her whistle out of her shirt.

�Slow down, stupid!�

Kagome whistled.

Inuyasha growled against the ground, then spat out some very nasty words when Kagome turned around to give him a friendly wave.

She sighed silently, twirling the jewel around on her finger. Lady Kaede had tied a leather strap on it so she could wear it around her neck with the whistle, but she preferred it as a source of entertainment over an accessory.

Something was following her.

Kagome sighed, expecting it to be Inuyasha. She was about to turn around to make a face at him (she only wished she could yell), when she was grabbed and dragged away.

*

This was Not Good.

Kagome sighed for the umpteenth time that night, half-heartedly listening as the rather ugly man asked her to give him the jewel. Again. She rolled her eyes.

�Come on, cutie,� one of the man�s lackeys said crudely, running a meaty finger down her nose and to her lips. She bit him. �OW! BITCH!� He was tugged away before he could hit her, many of the men laughing. She made a vulgar expression with her hand, this only succeeding in causing the laughter to increase.

�Got some spunk, ain�t ye?� a man cackled. She made a face at him and took another step back. What a way to go.

�Give me the jewel,� the leader repeated, ignoring the crude catcalls from his men. They fell silent in surprise. Why wasn't the boss joining in with the jeering, anyway?

�..Sir?� one asked.

�Give me the jewel!� For some reason, the leader�s voice gurgled.

Kagome blinked. Her other senses were screaming �UH OH!�.

�If you don�t give me the jewel..� the leader stood up from his roost, swaying slightly, �I�ll just have to take it from you!� And out came his trusty sword.

Well, shit.

Kagome backed up rapidly until her back was to the wall. In more ways than one, really. Hell. This situation just jumped from Not Good to Holy Pink Panties, Batman, Are We In Trouble.

�Hey, boss, are you okay?� the meaty man who Kagome bit asked nervously.

�Shut up!� �Boss� roared, then sliced off the man�s head. Kagome grimaced, ducking the fountain of blood that exploded from the now dead man�s neck. The other men automatically backed up, eyes wide with terror. �You will give me the Shikon no Tama, or you will die!�

I�m probably going to die anyway, Kagome thought bitterly, glaring at the man. He gurgled again, and Kagome swallowed in disgust. What the hell is wrong with him, anyway?

Somewhere, in the distance, there was a rumble.

Boss took a swaying step towards her, and Kagome crept along the side of the wall. It was almost as if the man was drunk, but not quite. His eyes were..

Kagome squinted at his eyes, frowning.

They were lifeless.

The rumble got closer.

�Well, little girl?� Boss asked, taking another staggering step towards her. His foot got twisted mid step, however, and ended up turning in towards his other foot. He didn�t seem to notice, though, and did not slow down. Kagome swallowed again. �Are you going to give it to me, or do I have to kill you? I don�t want to have to get blood in my lovely home..�

Too late for that, Kagome thought, looking at the dead body of the man she bit. She grimaced again. Where the hell is Inuyasha when you actually NEED him?

The rumbling was now right on top of them.

And what the HELL is that?!

On cue, then ceiling collapsed on the lot of them, and Inuyasha was suddenly in front of her. He had one arm raised, blocking the sword that she didn�t know was about to decapitate her. It cracked in the middle, then shattered.

Kagome could almost cry with relief.

Inuyasha pulled a face of disgust. �You reek of death, crow!�

That is most definitely not a crow, Kagome protested silently. She even went so far as to put her hands on her hips.

Inuyasha must have noticed her disbelief, because he turned around and gave her a bland look. �What?�

Kagome raised an eyebrow at him, then turned back to look at Boss, still wearing her �are you insane? That is not a crow� look. Either Inuyasha was a mindreader or he was exceptionally good at reading expressions, because he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. Or perhaps he just realized how silly he sounded.

�Oh, don�t look at me like that. The crow is inside of him, stupid.�

Ohhh.. Kagome nodded, then looked back towards Boss/Crow. He.. or it.. or whatever, was lurching around unsteadily. ..that is really gross.

Inuyasha followed her gaze, then scrunched up his nose. �Just get out of there already, will you? I don�t want to have to touch you if I don�t have to.�

The body stilled, as if listening to Inuyasha's words and thinking over it. Then, like a cheap horror flick, the boss's chest tore open to reveal the three-eyed crow. It cawed, then shot out from the corpse and straight towards Kagome, dodging the deadly swipe Inuyasha aimed at it�s head. It raised up against Kagome, large and foreboding, beating its shadow wings against her to create confusion and fear.

During that moment, it ripped the Shikon no Tama from her neck.

"Son of a bitch," Inuyasha growled as the crow lifted to the air with the jewel in it's beak, leaving through the hole Inuyasha had made. Kagome cursed silently, snatching a bow and arrows from the man standing nearest to her, then leapt onto Inuyasha's back before he could leave without her. He stumbled a little and threw a look over his shoulder at her, but did now slow his pace.

"I'm not responsible if you fall," Inuyasha grumbled, then faltered slightly when he saw her weapon of choice. His look turned strange, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he took off after the crow, leaving Kagome to muse in puzzled silence.

Bounding with Inuyasha was like flying. His landings were brief and quick and dizzying. For the first few moments, she clung to him like a baby to it's mother.

"I can't breathe, you know," Inuyasha choked out after a few moments and, flushing slightly, Kagome loosened her grip. He took a deep, exaggerated breath, then leapt to the air again. It was only a matter of seconds until he was directly under the crow.

"Fire now!" Inuyasha ordered, grasping her legs tightly to give her better balance. "Now we'll see if you're really Kikyo's incarnate!" Kagome nodded, set up the bow and arrow, aimed, and fired.

Of course, she missed. The arrow dwindled in the air before it was even halfway to the crow, then sailed to the ground harmlessly. The crow flapped on, swallowing the jewel in the process.

Inuyasha and Kagome stared with identical blank looks on their faces, then Inuyasha turned his head to give Kagome a dirty look.

"You," he said rather simply, "suck."

Kagome smacked him across the head with the bow. He flattened his ears, but otherwise didn't say anything else. Instead, he sprung back to the air, keeping a sharp eye on the bird. It was getting closer to the town, in search for a quick meal.

"Shit. All those people are going to get in the way," Inuyasha growled. "Damnit! Get out of the way!"

For once, Kagome shared Inuyasha's sentiments. The people had stopped their every day jobs to stare in wonder at the bird-demon that was changing shape before their very eyes, and therefore also making themselves living targets. True to its nature, the crow dipped down and snatched a young boy straight from his mother's arms.

Oh no! The baby!

"Perfect!" Inuyasha took advantage of the crow's distraction to take a swipe at it, catching the leg that was clutching the boy, and it's tail, which shattered then reattached itself. The leg didn't get the chance to connect back to the crow's body, because at the same time Inuyasha took his swipe, Kagome leapt from his back and caught the now airborne child, the crow's leg still holding tightly to his arm.

Unfortunately, leaping from Inuyasha's back to catch said child left her with nothing solid to hold her up, either. The baby wailed in her arms and Kagome grimaced, twisting herself in the air so that she would land before the child.

"Idiot!" Inuyasha yelled after her. She looked at him and smiled, relishing his surprised look when she did so, then landed with a splash. To her shock, she was dragged under the water by a strong current. The baby's cry turned into a startled gurgle. Kagome gasped underwater, beating at the water with her free arm and legs. The added weight of the child and her outfit made the process of resurfacing slow and tiring, and for a terrifying moment she thought they wouldn't make it before her air ran out. Right at the moment she felt as if her lungs were going to pop, she broke the surface with a loud gasp. The child, now with air, sputtered and coughed. He was too surprised to start his crying again.

"M-mama!" the baby wailed as Kagome stumbled out of the river. He squirmed from Kagome's arms and ran into his mother's embrace, sobbing into her shoulder while she sobbed into his hair.

"Thank you.. oh, thank you Lady Kagome!"

Kagome smiled at the distraught mother, still holding the leg of the crow, then started slightly when Inuyasha landed lightly beside her. He looked at her with narrowed eyes, but Kagome stopped whatever angry tirade that was about to begin by setting up another bow and arrow.

"What, you think you can hit him now?" Inuyasha asked in disbelief. "He's farther away than he ever was!"

Kagome ignored him and pulled off the ribbon that was tying her hair back. With slightly trembling fingers, she wrapped the squirming leg around the arrow. When she completed this task, she gave Inuyasha a significant look.

"Ohhh.." Inuyasha hummed. He was gaining a bit more respect for this silent girl. Watching almost thoughtfully, he didn't make a move after the demon and let her shoot the arrow after the demon. Its aim was true�perhaps because of the leg�and it caught the crow demon on the side. The entire village watched with disbelieving eyes as a bright explosion enveloped the entire sky.

"..Fuck."

When they reached the remains of the crow, the sun was already making its descent in the sky. Kagome, along with Inuyasha and Lady Kaede, crouched beside it's mutilated body.

Unable to say anything, Kagome reached over and simply plucked exactly one-fourth of the Shikon no Tama from the gore.

"You have GOT to be kidding me," Inuyasha growled. He made a grab for the piece, but Kagome closed her hand around it and drew back. "Hey! Give it here! At least one-fourth will make me stronger than I am now!"

Kagome scowled at him and slipped it down the front of her shirt. He sat back immediately, not about to reach down her shirt to get his prize. He may have been a demon, but he was NOT a lech.

Kagome, though, ignored him after the Shikon piece was safely tucked into her shirt. She had her notepad on her knee and was scribbling on it in a determined fashion.

'Lady Kaede,' it read, 'the Shikon no Tama literally means 'the jewel of four souls, right?'

Lady Kaede read the note out loud for Inuyasha to hear, then looked at Kagome inquisitively. "Yes. Why ever for, lass?"

Kagome fished the jewel from her shirt, ignoring the bland look Inuyasha gave her, then held it up for them all to see. Comprehension dawned on the other two's faces, then Inuyasha sunk completely back to the ground.

"You're telling me.. the jewel was split into four pieces?"

Kagome took the notepad from Lady Kaede's slack hand before the older woman could drop it, then began writing again. She held her notepad out for Inuyasha to see. 'I think so,' she had written. 'That would make sense, wouldn't it?'

"If that's true," Inuyasha said slowly. "Then we are definitely in some deep trouble. Whoever have those other three pieces aren't going to want to give them back. And those three people are going to be damned strong." He turned to look at Lady Kaede, wearing surprisingly thoughtful expression. "Is this what the prophet meant by the 'war amongst demons'?"

Lady Kaede, disturbingly pale, nodded slightly. "I believe so, lad."

"And the fate of the war.." Inuyasha continued, turning to look at Kagome, "..is determined by her, isn't it?"

Lady Kaede nodded again.

"Okay. That's what I thought." Inuyasha pulled himself to his feet and took a deep breath. "Can I kill her now?"

"Of COURSE you may not!" Lady Kaede cried, shocked out of her worry. Kagome tumbled from her crouching position and scooted away from the formidable form of Inuyasha. However, all Inuyasha did was sigh.

"I didn't think so. Well, you're the experienced one. What are we supposed to do, hag?"

"In all me days, lad, I have never experienced anything quite like this."

*

That evening, Kagome climbed to the roof of Lady Kaede's home, desperate for some peace. Inuyasha and Lady Kaede would not stop their bickering (or rather, Inuyasha kept whining loudly at the older lady while Lady Kaede just hummed), and it got even worse when a talking flea decided to join the parade. A talking FLEA, for crying out loud. She left before the situation could get any weirder.

"Stupid," someone growled behind her. "What do you think you're doing, sitting all alone out here where anyone can grab you?"

Kagome jumped and whirled around, nearly slipping. She was caught, though, by a sturdy clawed hand.

"See?" Inuyasha said, raising an eyebrow. "You don't even know how to balance on this thing."

She gave him a deadly look and turned her back to him, looking up at the sky. Inuyasha sat beside her, folding his arms into his sleeves.

"Came out here to escape, didn't you?" Inuyasha asked, tilting his head to look at the sky, also. "That was Myoga back there, a close friend of my father's. He's a cowardly idiot, but good with information." For some reason, Inuyasha's voice got rather wistful.

Kagome turned to look at Inuyasha, then fished out her notebook and scribbled something on it. She had to squint, since the only light in the sky was from the moon and the stars. 'Why are you here?'

Inuyasha, with his sharpened senses, didn't even need to squint. Instead, he looked over the words, then back at Kagome. "To escape too, I guess. Myoga started talking about my mom, and I didn't want to hear it."

Kagome gave him a quizzical look and Inuyasha's face became shuttered. "It's none of your business, really. Besides, I came out here to ask you something."

Not bothering to respond to him by writing, she raised her eyebrow.

"What were you doing with your hands back then?" he asked, keeping his eyes carefully trained to the sky. Kagome looked surprised.

'I was talking in sign language. It's how the deaf and mute communicate each other, by forming words and letters with their fingers.'

He looked at the notepad for a long moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. For a long moment he sat in silence, Kagome having no choice but to do the same.

"Will you.." he cleared his throat almost nervously, "..will you teach me how to do this 'sign language'?"

Kagome, startled, could only stare at Inuyasha for a couple of seconds. Then she smiled, bright and friendly, nodded, and Inuyasha quickly turned his gaze back to the sky, embarrassment clear on his features.

"..Thanks," he said quietly.

For the rest of the night, Inuyasha and Kagome sat under the stars in companionable silence.

*

'NO.'

Despite that Inuyasha was a quick learner, he was terribly impatient.

'That is NOT how you do it!'

Unfortunately, so was Kagome.

"Well, how do you do it, then?!" Inuyasha growled, irritation plain in his voice. Kagome looked as if she wanted to growl at him, but instead she dropped her notepad and pen, taking Inuyasha's hands in hers and carefully forming his hands to make the words. His hands were rough and large under her small delicate ones.

"Oh," Inuyasha mumbled, looking justifiably flustered. He hadn't been in such a close proximity to someone of the opposite gender in over fifty years. "So, um, what does it mean?" His voice was soft, as if he didn't want to break the moment.

Kagome gently released his hands, looking slightly flustered herself. She wasn't used to being around boys, since they generally steered clear of her and her disability. With slightly trembling fingers, she wrote, 'it means, "may I have some food?"'

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows, all forms of embarrassment gone. "Really?"

Kagome nodded, then grinned as Inuyasha formed the words again, jerky and slow but otherwise perfect. "Like that?"

Smiling, she nodded again. He grinned at her, widely. "Okay, show me another."

Shaking her head, she slowly formed another set of words with her fingers. He watched carefully, then tried to mimic her.

She blinked. Blinked again, then burst out laughing.

"Hey.. hey! What's so funny?" Inuyasha asked, quickly stopping. He scowled at her, all good humor disappearing. "Why are you laughing, wench?"

Still laughing, she reached over and picked her notepad up. Trembling slightly with mirth, she wrote, 'you just said, "I am an angry fecund donkey".'

Inuyasha stared at the paper with disbelieving eyes, then gently plucked the notepad from her hands. Delicately, he ripped the paper out, then tore it into shreds. He pinned Kagome with a dry look.

"We are never going to speak of this again."

Kagome collapsed into gales of soundless laughter.

*

It was later that evening the talking flea finally located Inuyasha and forced him to listen.

"Lord Inuyasha! It is IMPERATIVE you listen to me!" the flea said rapidly, hopping after the quick-walking Inuyasha. "Lord Inuyasha! Lord INUYASHA! Stop this instant!"

Or rather, tried to.

Kagome, who was walking slowly by the little bouncing flea, sighed and pulled out her whistle. She was getting tired of listening to the flea shout after the hard headed dog demon.

"Ow!" Inuyasha grumbled into the dirt. Myoga, unseen by Kagome's eyes, blinked, then hopped onto Inuyasha's prone form.

"Thank you, Lady.. ah.. Lady.. what did you say your name was again?"

"Her name is Kagome." Inuyasha's voice was still muffled by the dirt. "And she never said what her name is. She's mute."

Myoga bounced up and down in embarrassment, then settled onto Inuyasha's shoulder as the much larger demon sat up.

"I apologize, Lady Kagome," Myoga said hurriedly, then turned around to look at Inuyasha. "Lord Inuyasha, what is your hurry anyway?"

"You know the war between demons is about to start. We're going to go find out where the other pieces of the jewel are, and then start forming an army." He sounded so sure of himself, but Kagome couldn't figure out what there was to be sure of. They weren't positive anyone else besides the inhabitants of Lady Kaede's village would be willing to join this 'army' Inuyasha was talking about.

Myoga bounced up and down on Inuyasha's shoulder, bug eyes wide. "Then it would be a good thing for you to know that Lord Sesshomaru is looking for you, wouldn't it?"

There was a beat of silence, then Inuyasha reached up and pressed his thumb against Myoga, successfully squishing him. Kagome put her hands up to her mouth, afraid he had killed the talking flea. A few seconds later, however, Myoga popped back into his original form.

"That hurt, Lord Inuyasha!"

"Well, that's what you get for not telling me sooner!" Inuyasha shouted back. Kagome looked back and forth between them, pulled out her notepad and wrote,

'Who's "Lord Sesshomaru"?'

"Lord Sesshomaru," Myoga answered before Inuyasha could, "is Lord Inuyasha's older half brother."

'Oh,' she wrote, not catching onto Myoga's flair of drama. He looked annoyed at that, but she couldn't see his features. 'Well, then, couldn't we ask him to be a part of our "army"?'

"You don't understand," Inuyasha grumbled. His face was dark and stormy�unlike Kagome, he wasn't very good at hiding his emotions. "Sesshomaru hates my guts."

Kagome blinked, not understanding. [Why?] she asked in sign language�that had been one of the first words she had taught him. Inuyasha puzzled over the movements of her hands for a moment, then sighed.

"What did she say, Lord Inuyasha?" Myoga asked, still bouncing. He knew she was talking through her hands, but he couldn't figure out for the life of him what the rapid movements meant.

"She asked why." His voice was clipped and moody, and Kagome had a feeling he wouldn't be the one to answer her.

She was right. "Because," Myoga said solemnly, for once ceasing his hyperactive hopping, "Inuyasha's a half-breed. Sesshomaru sees him as a stain in their family name."

Kagome grimaced, knowing at once how Inuyasha felt. She knew Sota didn't share the same sentiments as Sesshomaru, but sometimes Kagome got the feeling that her little brother was embarrassed of her when he had friends over.

"So, Myoga, why is Sesshomaru looking for me, then? Since you seem to know so much.."

"He is searching for the tomb of your father."

Inuyasha raked his fingers through his hair. "Oh, that's good. So?"

"Inuyasha," Myoga said clearly, dropping the formalities. This caught Inuyasha's attention rather well. "He knows where the grave is."

Immediately, Inuyasha's hand flew up to his left eye. A pregnant silence fell over the group, and Kagome reached over to hesitantly write on her notepad again.

'That's not good, is it?'

"Yes, Kagome, that is REALLY not good."

'He's strong, isn't he?'

"Extremely."

Kagome chewed on the back of her pen for a moment, then very eloquently wrote, 'well, shit.'

"My sentiments exactly."

.:end chapter two:.

A/N: As you can see, this is going to be fairly different than the series. Actually, it's going to be EXTREMELY different. From this point on, I'm not following the format of the manga, aside from a few parts. And characters. I'm keeping some characters, and creating some new ones.
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