InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shikigami ❯ chapter five ( Chapter 5 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Welcome to chapter five. And if I could sell the mood-altering effects of reviews in pill form, I'd be a wanted woman. Not that I'm not anyway. And no, I did not know this little thing was nominated.
Cooooool.

The surrounding pines stretched violet shadows low across the meadow, wrapping securely around small dells and stones. Golden switch grass nodded warmly. Sizzling, the sun hung low in the indigo autumn sky, sinking into goosedown clouds that wreathed the mountains. It looked like a very rotund Myouga easing into a steaming hot spring.
Kagome would have dearly loved a hot spring right about now.
Her toes, she was sure, were as purple as Miroku's robes. She couldn't really tell, though, since most of her appendages had stopped communicating with the rest of her body some time ago. Her teeth were clenched to keep them from chattering, and she had draped her hair around her neck in an attempt to keep the chill off. Her nose was icy, and running.
She hated a runny nose.
Turning her back to the sunset, she held her hands out to the small cooking fire again. Immediately the chill snaked up her spine, and her knees began to play the castanets. She'd forgotten how cold the mountains could be, but the memories were returning with a vengeance. Even the deceptively soft breeze snatched her body heat, draining what little warmth her shivering produced.
The shikigami sat around the fire and didn't shiver at her. Blatant non-shivering.
Apparently the shikigami were immune to her lowly human condition, and sat oblivious to their creator's distress. Instead, they were chatting amicably with her friends. Well, most of her friends. Inuyasha was avoiding them like a blonde avoiding the Bates Motel. He was sitting, arms folded, side to the fire, eyes flat and mouth tight. He looks offended, Kagome thought. Like the appearance of the shikigami was a personal affront. Who had spat in his rice?
Oh, she thought. No rice.
She couldn't expect the hanyou to deal with this on an empty stomach. She was barely holding together with Kaede's turnip stew leftovers keeping her company in more ways than one. Still, he really looked peeved. Did he think that she'd done this on purpose? To him, specifically?
Probably.
She glanced at the rest of the group. They seemed to be handling things well. Miroku, wrapped in one of his heavier robes, was poking a stick absently at the fire, his staff lying close beside him. Kagome had to admire his calm in the face of just about any event, excepting an angry Sango. Nothing like living daily with a demonic hole in your hand to breed tranquility.
Sango, with Kirara in her lap, was leaning against a propped Hiraikotsu, feet curled under. Of course she wasn't cold, Kagome thought bitterly. She had slayer gear as well as her traditional dress and green apron. Nothing, not even the monk's hand, could get past that outfit. The slayer was chatting with Imp. Or, more accurately, was listening with a bemused expression as the shikigami chatted on. And on. Kagome winced. Was she truly that bad?
Again the answer was: Probably.
Shippo, however, did look a bit distressed. He uncertainly studied each of the identical young women from the safety of Inuyasha's bad attitude. Kagome wondered just what had happened with the brainless shikigami to make him so timid. As if reading her thoughts-- or sharing them-- Love stretched her hand out to the kitsune, and he approached warily.
"You aren't gonna hug me, are you?" His voice spoke of a thousand earlier horrors.
"Only if you want me to," Love gently replied.
Shippo considered this.
"You don't seem like the other one," he postulated, confirming Kagome's suspicions. "What part of Kagome are you?"
Sango sounded a bit taken aback. "Shippo! That's not very--"
"He only voiced what we are all thinking," Miroku said calmly. "Please don't take any offense."
Love smiled. Kagome wished she looked as sweet. "None taken. I'm Love," she gestured to the shikigami at either side, "this is Lust, and she's Impulsive."
"Imp for short," the shikigami waved, cheerily.
Sango, Miroku, Shippo and a sideways Inuyasha all looked expectantly at Kagome.
"Oh, she hasn't really figured out exactly who she is, yet," Lust offered. The three shikigami eyed Kagome knowingly.
Kagome, lacking a withering riposte, turned her back on the group. More importantly, she warmed whatever wasn't.
She heard Miroku shift. Without looking, she just knew Inuyasha's ears were twitching.
Here it comes, she thought. Humiliation in ten. Nine. Eight--
Miroku cleared his throat. "Kagome has chosen to incarnate very interesting attributes. Lust, would you be so kind as to illuminate just what Kagome--"
Blastoff.
Sango's voice, draped with veiled threat, cut across the monk's. "Houshi-sama, don't you mean Love?"
"No, Sango dear, I believe--"
"I'm sure you meant Love." Her voice was flat, threat unveiled. Kagome heard someone growling, and wasn't sure if it was Sango or Inuyasha.
Maybe both.
She heard her own voice cut across the campsite. To her surprise, it was her voice. "I don't think Kagome would like her attributes answering any personal questions."
Imp's brash voice queried, "Why not? Why create us, then?" There was a smile in her voice. A smug, cat-ate-the-canary smile.
Kagome shot a venomous look at the shikigami over her shoulder. "Perhaps she just wanted to rid herself of those attributes she doesn't like."
Imp threw her hands up, smile gone. "Fine." Lust shrugged noncommittally, and Love sighed.
"A fat lot we'll get accomplished this way," Lust muttered.
Clutching her elbows, Kagome scowled back out into the meadow. She was feeling helpless, out of control. Resolving things with Inuyasha had been taken out of her hands, just as her mother had said. Well, not quite out of them. It was just that she now had eight hands instead of two. And the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing.
She smoothed the wrinkles out of her forehead with the back of her chilled wrist. She could figure a way out of this mess. She could. She would. But she was so cold. And tired. She gazed back over the meadow. Please, she thought, give me a sign--
The sun, sliding over the horizon, sent a last beam of light ricocheting through the trees. The fading sunbeam skimmed over the top of grass, skipping over a couple rocks and a large, odd lump. A yellow lump. With pockets.
"My bag!" Kagome gratefully left the uncomfortable silence that had settled over the campsite and stalked over to the abused backpack. It was less than thirty feet from where she had been shivering. Torn between delight at finding the bag and irritation at not having it earlier, Kagome hauled it back to the fireside. Her jacket was in there somewhere, and a pot to heat water. She knelt and eagerly unbuckled the top, illuminated more by firelight than daylight. The pack was battered, damp, and dirty.
And filled entirely with ramen. The others, who had perked up at her find, leaned back again.
Lust sighed. "We never should have put her in charge of packing." Love forced an embarrassed giggle.
Shippo darted over, eyes stricken. "You mean you didn't bring me any candy? There are four of you and no one brought candy?" He began to wail.
"Shut up," Inuyasha said absently, trying to keep an eye on both the group of young women and the rapidly growing pile of ramen. "It's not like she didn't bring you that giant sucker last time."
"Yeah, but you got your nasty dog hair all over it."
"You know, runt, I'm beginning to think you like pain."
"I'm surprised you're thinking at all."
Three Kagomes closed their eyes and shook their heads in unison. There was the sound of a scuffle.
The others ignored the two pugilists, and Kagome produced both her wrinkled jacket and the battered pot. Shrugging thankfully into the warmth of thermoweave, Kagome handed the pot to Sango.
As Sango poured water from her bamboo flask into the dented metal, the monk curled his hand under his chin and eyed the young women. His hand never twitched. No lust in his gaze.
Uh oh, Kagome thought. She pulled her jacket tighter. He was thinking again.
"Why isn't Kagome with you?" Miroku queried. Curse his methodical mind. Kagome thought fast.
Imp, ironically, spoke up. "Creating us tired her out. She overslept, and probably had enough sense to stick in the village. I mean, she'd have to be an idiot to follow us without her bow and bag."
Kagome sat down quickly and tried very hard not to blush. The funny thing she discovered was that the harder one tried not to blush, the pinker one became.
Inuyasha skidded to a halt, allowing Shippo to dart up a tree. "You mean you're not sure where Kagome is?"
Lust shot Love a look. "No. We know exactly where Kagome is. We're her creation. It's a built-in feature."
Imp giggled. "She's perfectly safe. I can guarantee that."
Perfectly safe.
Right.
Kagome sighed.
Miroku looked over at her. "Why is she so quiet?" His eyes were calculating.
Lust shrugged, overly casual. "Who knows? Maybe she doesn't want to participate."
Sango frowned. "Kagome-chan? She always wants to participate." Her gaze thumped heavily on Kagome. "So which aspect could she be?"Inuyasha huffed. Shippo, with the element of surprise on his side, launched himself at the hanyou's back from an overhanging branch. Inuyasha caught him absently, gripping a plush tail. Tossing Shippo into the surprised arms of Kagome, he scowled and resumed his prior position, sitting half-turned from the others. "We're better off not knowing," the hanyou said, bluntly. "Who knows what kind of crazy is tied up in that thing?"
Kagome drew in a breath to say something witty and cutting, although she wasn't quite sure what it would be yet. Instead, she sneezed.
Shippo recoiled. "Yuck." He glared up at her. "This one must have a hole in the head, too."
Kagome apologetically wiped his face with her cuff, and cuddled him close to her stomach.
"Nah, she's just the sick Kagome," Inuyasha stated. "Kagome is always getting sick."
"She is not!" Kagome snapped, then sniffed. Shippo flinched.
"Heh." Inuyasha shifted slightly, nose in the air. "So they're pretty useless. Why don't we just cut them down?"
“Inuyasha! Don’t even think of such a thing!” Sango said, shocked. Kirara mewed agreement.
"I don't think it would please Kagome to destroy her hard work so callously," Miroku added.
The hanyou sighed. "So how would you suggest destroying them?"
"Inuyasha!"
"C'mon! These things are nothing but trouble!" He pointed an accusatory talon at the four young women. "As if one Kagome isn't bad--"
"Just stop it!" Kagome pointed an accusatory finger back at the sullen Inuyasha. "So help me, if you have one more rotten comment--"
Shippo looked to Inuyasha and mumbled, "Maybe she's the bossy Kagome." Inuyasha nodded, arrogance in his eyes. A smirk was smart enough to decline making an appearance.
"I am not bossy!"
"Or maybe the scary one." Shippo added. Kagome frowned down at him, and then wrapped the kitsune in a bear hug.
"Hey! Cut it out!" His voice flung straight from smug to panicked. "I'm just a little kid! I want to live--"
"One more comment, and I'm making sure my nose is clean, too." Shippo stilled, and Kagome relented. To her surprise, he stayed in her lap, snuggling up to her jacket.
Everyone watched the fire for a few moments. The pot, despite the hackneyed idiom, did boil, and a moment later Sango handed out steaming bowls.
Inuyasha caressed the Styrofoam bowl as if it were a childhood treasure. For a fleeting moment, Kagome had a vision. Inuyasha, in silhouette against a scarlet sunset, stood under the windswept limbs of a bare tree. His fist was raised, clutching a cup of ramen, and she swore she heard the words, "I'll never go hungry again..."
She laughed softly to herself, and looked with shining eyes at the content hanyou. She was glad Love had packed so much ramen, really. It was the one thing Inuyasha thought she did right, even if it was technically the Nisson Corp.'s cooking. Abruptly she felt eyes on her.
Miroku was watching. "Now that's the most Kagome-like sound I've heard all evening," he noted, casually cradling his soup. He ran the beads on his palm back and forth over the rim of the bowl, thinking. Always thinking. Kagome frowned at him.
Shippo paused in crunching the still-crispy noodles. He looked up at the monk. "I hope she's okay."
"I'm sure Kaede is taking good care of her. She's safer there."
Lust rolled her eyes. "Oh really? Where the first line of defense is a flap?"
"Well, tomorrow is the night of the new moon, so we should return to Kaede. Inuyasha, I'm sure, will feel safer at the village."
"Hey!" protested Inuyasha.
"And then we can reunite with Kagome, and discuss with Kaede what is to be done with the shikigami."
"Hey!" protested Imp.
"And find Naraku," Sango stated, in a voice laden with finality. "Kaede did mention she felt darkness, and with the incarnation this afternoon, I can't help but feel he's somewhere close."
"I hope so," snapped Inuyasha. "I'm gettin' really tired of tracking him down and slicing him up."
Naraku, Kagome thought with a chill that had nothing to do with the autumn evening. He'd kill a person just because they looked his way. No, just because it was fun. Just like he'd snap Shippo's neck just to watch her twitch, or crush Kohaku to torture Sango. He didn't care if you were a young or old, rich or poor. He didn't care whether a victim was human or youkai. Even dead or alive. Just so long as you felt pain.
He truly was an equal opportunity psycho.
Maybe that's why Kikyo ticked him off so easily-- she didn't seem to have an emotional weakness. In contrast, I'm nothing but an emotional weakness.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Lust started. "Wait. You said tomorrow's the new moon?" She turned agitated eyes to Love. "Tomorrow's the new moon!"
Love stared at her. "Tomorrow? The new moon?"
Imp nodded, anxious. "The new moon is tomorrow!"
All three turned their suddenly focused gaze on the hanyou. Inuyasha's body tensed, although his mouth was still blissfully ignorant enough to settle for a flat, "No."
"No what?" said Love.
"No whatever you're up to." His body slowly took over from his mouth, and he rose to his feet.
"Quit behaving as if stupidity were a virtue. We just want to talk," Lust said, exasperation in her voice.
"No especially to that."
"Inuyasha--" cajoled Imp.
"No!"
Kagome looked at them curiously. What was with the whole new moon thing?
Lust noticed her interrogatory gaze, and pulled her ear close, whispering, "Look. Inuyasha will be human that night. What does he do when he's human?"
"Uh, not much?"
"Let me give you a hint." The shikigami covered a protesting Shippo's ears. "'You smell... nice.'"
"Oh."
"Yep. Ol' tough and grumpy gets soft and squishy. If his human side--"
"his emotional side--" Imp interjected, sotto voce.
"his feminine side--" Love leaned in, the words no more than a breath.
"gets one good feel for us and he'll know right away which one is which. I mean, he may not know it, but he'll know it. We won't have any pull on him after that."
"But the others don't know--"
"They don't love you. And anyway, if Naraku is in the area, then..."
"On the night of the new moon he'll try to make hanyou hash."
"Human hash."
"Whatever. The point is, we've got to get you two straightened out by then."
As one, the four Kagomes turned back to Inuyasha.
Who was nowhere to be seen. A bowl of ramen steamed innocently on the crushed grass, wobbling slightly.
Miroku and Sango pointed not-so-subtle fingers upward, shoulders drooping.
"And just when it was getting interesting," Shippo muttered, turning over in Kagome's lap.
Lust strode over to one of the large pines and slapped the bark. "Come down, Inuyasha, or we'll say it!"
Kagome narrowed her eyes at Imp. "You wouldn't."
"We can and will unless Inuyasha gets down here this minute!" snapped Lust.
"Whaddya want, anyway?" came a suspicious arboreal voice.
"We just want to give you some advice," Love called.
"I don't need advice!"
"About Kagome."
"Feh."
Shippo muttered, "He needs all the help he can get."
"Agreed," nodded Miroku. Although the noodles were still softening, the monk sipped at the hot broth. He continued conversationally, "Who would have thought that shikigami would stand Inuyasha's hair on end?" His foot gently nudged Sango.
"It is surprising," the slayer agreed, tone serious if her eyes weren't. She noticed Kagome watching her, and quickly lowered her gaze to her cup of ramen. "I've never known him to bypass dinner because he was afraid."
"Who's afraid?!"
"And to think," she continued, "all this time we thought he was brave, and it turns out he's always been secretly terrified of paper. You know," Sango said to the monk at her side, "you should be more careful where you throw your lid. He may not come down at all." She waved the circular top at the monk, who slurped a particularly long noodle. His eyes, Kagome noticed, shifted to the kitsune curled on the miko's bent legs.
"I just don't feel like eating, okay? So shut up already."
Shippo, who had already crunched his way through two cups of ramen, turned bloated-belly up in Kagome's lap. Eyes still closed, he roused himself enough to sleepily accuse, "You're such a coward."
"What did you say, runt?"
Shippo continued, almost on autopilot, "Quit being so indecisive about Kagome."
Kagome watched the interchange with growing awe. Her eyes flicked from Miroku, to Sango, to Shippo, and back again. Her friends had planned for this kind of thing. She hunched her shoulders up to her ears. Sango was concentrating very hard on her dinner, but Miroku was sanguine as always. What were they thinking, siding with the shikigami? She knew they had good intentions, but she also knew what road good intentions paved. And, considering the usual end of these schemes, it was also frightening. Like the hot-spring incident. Or the curry incident. Or, heaven help her, the pickle-and-comb incident.
Very, very frightening.
"You're a man, aren't you? So get it over with!" the kitsune finished sharply, one small hand jabbing the sky. The hand wavered for a moment, then collapsed to the bulbous belly. A soft snore emanated from the lifeless figure. Kagome prodded him, morbidly curious. He'd probably slipped into a sodium-induced coma.
"Quit bugging me! I'll listen to 'em when I feel like it, and that will be never!"
Miroku shook his head, eyes lowered. "Such a coward. I've been sadly deceived."
Sango reassured him, one hand waving slightly in the air. Kagome had seen this gesture before, but now realized Sango was patting the air instead of the monk. Smart woman. "Don't worry, Houshi-sama. I'm sure Kirara and Shippo will still be--"
"It ain't gonna work, so shut up and go to sleep!" There was a rustling in the trees, and Kagome thought she heard a drifting, "-- midget's gonna get fat anyway."
Lust, who had been growing progessively more irritable since Inuyasha had disappeared into the swaying branches, slapped both hands to the trunk. "Enough!" Turning to the two shikigami, she nodded. "Osu-"
Love jumped up, "-wa-"
"-ri!" Imp chimed, clapping.
Cursing rained down on them, along with various bits of tree and one furious hanyou.
Kagome covered her eyes. Oh yeah, this would set the appropriate mood. She sensed her impending doom, approaching with all the finesse of a derailed roller-coaster. The young woman decided, with a sigh, that she couldn't do much about it.
So she might as well enjoy it.
She cradled the boneless Shippo to her and looked down at the prone, if twitching, Inuyasha. The three shikigami stood, like deranged cheerleaders, on the edge of the hanyou-divot. They were watching her, expectantly. She smiled grimly, and their eyes lit up. Inuyasha was going to face up to whatever his feelings were for her. There would be no more denial. No more deflection. She was cold, she was tired, and Inuyasha had insulted her cooking for the last time.
She'd had enough.
"You will," Kagome began, funneling all the ice in her nose and toes into her voice, "come with us. And you will listen to every little thing we say, whether you like it or not."
Inuyasha jumped up, fists clenched. "I will n--"
Kagome grabbed his ear, Shippo tucked like a furry football. "Right now."
Miroku saluted the hanyou. “Good luck, Inuyasha. Your bravery is second only to your intelligence.”
"Miroku, that was very complementary.” The words were kind, but Sango's tone was both surprised and suspicious.
“Did I say he was intelligent?”
Inuyasha gulped.
Oh yeah. I am the scary one. Kagome grinned to herself, set Shippo next to the fire, and marched into the forest. She was followed by three eager shikigami and one reluctant, if dearly loved, hanyou.


Kagome's stride faltered as she entered the treeline. Was she really going to do this?
She heard Inuyasha muttering behind her.
Yes. Yes, she was.
The three shikigami darted ahead, looking for the perfect locale. Probably somewhere with sheer walls and no escape route. Kagome shook her head. Why, oh why, had she ever thought shikigami would be easy? I mean, to thy own self be true and everything, but really--
Inuyasha came up beside her. His arms were folded in his sleeves, and, despite the growing darkness, she could see the scowl on his face.
No, she could feel it.
He was silent for a moment, walking beside her.
Just don't say anything. They can sense fear.
He took a breath. "So, whaddya think they want?"
Kagome looked through the trees at the flashes of white ahead. "Honestly? I have no idea."
"Well, you're them, aren't you? You've got to have some idea."
"I really don't want to think about it, okay?"
More silence.
"I mean, that Lust thing better keep her hands off me. Kagome wouldn't ever touch me like that. She wouldn't dare."
"Um, actually, that's not quite true."
Inuyasha missed a step. "Huh?"
"Well, when she first came through the well and found you, she kind of--"
"What?"
"Oh, nothing really."
"What did she do?"
"It's no big deal. She just kind of-- fondled your ears."
Inuyasha halted. "Huh?"
Kagome kept walking. Unfortunately, Inuyasha leapt up beside her again.
"Well. That doesn't count. She did it before she knew me." He pointed an arm in the general direction of the three shikigami. "If they're really part of Kagome, then that Lust thing should be a lot shorter."
"Um, actually, that's not quite true either."
This time Inuyasha almost fell, arms flailing a moment. "Huh?"
Kagome's face felt hot. She continued walking, waiting for the startled hanyou to catch up. In for a penny, in for a pound. It's not like I am me, anyway, right?
Right.
Inuyasha reappeared at her side, head tilted towards her. She rubbed her arms, and didn't look at him. "Well, remember when Souta nearly scalded you in the bath?"
A sniff. Inuyasha thrust his arms back in his sleeves.
"She didn't wash that towel for a week."
"Now you're just making stuff up."
Her death-row trudge morphed into a warpath stomp. "I am not!"
"Whatever."
"Remember Jaken and Tetsusaiga at the hot spring?"
"Feh."
"She peeked."
He nearly beaned himself on a tree.
"And remember the pickle-and-comb thi--"
"She peeked?!"
"She was really trying to-- yes, she peeked." Kagome was silent a moment. "Repeatedly."
"Now I know you're making stuff up."
She turned on the hanyou. "Are you calling me a liar?"
He leaned in, nose to nose. "If the stupid shoe fits!"
She jabbed a finger into his haori. "Tell me you don't think of her that way!"
"Fine! I don't think of her that way!"
"Whatever!" She whirled away from him, stalking onward. "Why don't you just sit for a moment and think about it some more!"
From behind her came the satisfying sound of a tall body becoming a short one. She felt a twinge of guilt under her anger, and quickened her pace to catch up with her extortionists.
They had chosen a roughly circular clearing, and eyed her curiously as she stomped past them, never making eye contact.
"Why do I get so irritable around him?" Kagome asked a nearby tree. She then grabbed the trunk and gently pounded her head against it.
"Do you really want to know?" Lust asked her.
Not really. It was a rhetorical question. But she stayed silent. This way, if they answered, she wasn't really talking to herself, was she?
"We think you just need a little affection." That must've been Love. Someone patted Kagome on her shoulder. It was really irritating. Who did these people think they were?
Oh, right.
"You think so?"
Lust couldn't keep quiet. Or maybe it was Imp. "I think you need a little more than affection." She had the grace to sound flustered. Must be Imp. "You need to get lai--"
"Oi! Wenches!"
Kagome rapidly brushed the bark off her pink forehead and turned to face the oncoming, angry hanyou.
He snarled into the clearing, "What the he--"
Love danced in and grabbed his fists. "I'm first!" she called. Kagome stiffened.
Inuyasha, wind sucked from his sails, looked at her with confusion, and a little fear. "What?"
"You already said that," Lust pointed out, amused.
Love's voice was reassuring. "I'm first to talk to you. Then Lust, then Imp." Kagome attempted to slouch into a very small, unnoticeable shadow. Immediately she felt eyes piercing her scalp, even if she couldn't see them clearly. "And then her."
Kagome mumbled, "'Cause I haven't done enough damage tonight."
Love giggled, and towed Inuyasha off into the trees.

Kagome, Lust, and Imp crouched low in the shrubbery. After some discussion, they had decided that eavesdropping would be a bad idea. Then they did it anyway.
Inuyasha and Love had faced off. Inuyasha, back stiff and ears flat, had his hands thrust so far up his sleeves that Kagome was sure he was gripping his elbows. Love, on the other hand, was leaning slightly toward the hanyou, hands clasped to her chest, eyes shining in the emerging starlight. It's like some warped greeting card, Kagome thought. 'Sorry to hear you love me, better luck next time!' And on the inside it'd say, 'Thanks for no memories!'
Love's voice drifted softly towards them. "...and she'll only ask for one thing. Unconditional love. That's all." She sighed. "Oh, and understanding." She thought for a moment. "And quit calling her names. And don't forget her birthday. That's a no-no. But otherwise, that's all."
Inuyasha glared at her.
Love never budged. Instead, she drew in a breath, as if gathering courage that had fought off demons. Kagome wondered what humiliation could possibly come next.
"May I recite a poem I wrote for you?"
Kagome wondered how deep she could sink into the loam.
Lust, as if sensing the embarrassment to come, leapt to the rescue. Pushing through the undergrowth, she strode between the two. "Time's up!"
Love's shoulders squared. "But I was just about--"
"Yep, Inuyasha's got it: love, birthdays, and a huge diamond the size of his head."
Love's hands dropped to her hips. "Kagome wouldn't ask for a diamond!"
Inuyasha's head swiveled from one to the other. "What's a diamond?"
Lust continued, "Well she should, but she probably won't. She's not the type." She looked the hanyou over. "And neither are you." She stepped behind her counterpart and, hands on the girl's back, urged her out of the clearing. "My turn!"
"Fine!" Love stomped into the trees.
Kagome looked at Imp. Imp looked at Kagome. Even in the darkness, the threat was unmistakable. Imp sighed. Scooting out of their hiding spot, she skulked back to wait with Love.
Turning back to the clearing, Kagome looked with horror at the girl lecturing a very desperate Inuyasha. The hanyou looked as if her were ready to gnaw his arm off to get away.
"Now she'll only ask for one thing in bed. Just one thing."
"Erk," said Inuyasha, helpfully.
Lust grabbed him by a fistful of hair, brought his face down to hers, and said, very clearly, "Take off your socks."
"--no--socks--"
"And since you don't wear any, you'll have no problem, right? So don't you feel more confident now?" She released his abused hair, smiled kindly, and patted him reassuringly on the arm.
"Erk," he repeated.
"And as for technique--"
Kagome scrambled away, uncaring if they heard her or not.

Lust returned to the group a few moments later. Kagome, filled with dread, looked questioningly at the shikigami as she passed. That certainly hadn't taken long. She didn't know whether to be worried or relieved.
"You're done?" Love asked, disbelief mingling with suspicion.
Lust waved her hand dismissively. "Oh yeah. Believe it or not, he's not gonna need much advice from me." She smiled impishly at Kagome. "You lucky girl."
Kagome stared at her in unmitigated terror. No. No no no no. She wouldn't.
Lust nodded at her.
She would.
Imp jumped up. "Now he's all mine!"
Kagome groaned, and wearily rose to follow the eager incarnation, Love and Lust trailing.

Kagome looked with horror at the girl leaning unabashed toward a very flustered Inuyasha. She was right under his nose. Talk about invasion of personal space.
"Well," Imp said, expectantly, "go ahead."
"Go ahead what?"
"Ask me."
"Ask you what?"
"Anything! Everything!" Imp flung her arms wide, smiling even wider. "Whatever you want to know about me but never had the courage to ask!"
"Heh. Are you saying I'm a coward?"
"Osu--"
Inuyasha threw his arms up defensively, flinching. "Don't!"
"You see? So I'm not going to say it and I'm too impulsive to not answer you." She nodded reassuringly. "So shoot!"
Inuyasha sat on his haunches and glared at her. "I can't think of anything."
A coquettish look came into the shikigami's eyes, and she flopped next to him. "Do you want to know if Kagome likes you?"
Kagome had pre-traumatic elementary school flashbacks. A note, passed from desk to desk. 'Do you like me? Check the box: Yes. No.' She shook her head. This was so immature.
Nevertheless, it was also Inuyasha. Perhaps it would work.
"Heh. I know she likes me." Relaxing, he shifted to a lotus position and leaned back, stretching his arms above his head. "She's always liked me best."
There was a snapping from the shrubbery opposite the shikigami that could have been two exasperated humans holding a young kitsune down, but was probably just a squirrel.
This had no deterrent on the shikigami. "Do you want to know if Kagome loves you?" Her eyes were bright, and her head was tilted, birdlike. Inuyasha's attention, distracted by the suspicious noises, whirled back to his erstwhile inquisitor. His jaw hung, slack.
There was a rustling from the shrubbery opposite Inuyasha that could have been two shikigami holding a young human woman down, but was probably just a deer.
Inuyasha, frozen, stared at the girl. He brought his jaw back up with a snap. "Does she--" Shoving his arms into his sleeves, he turned his head, eyes closed, nose in the air. "Of course she doesn't."
One eye, however, opened to look sideways at Imp. "Does she?" He was nearly inaudible.
Imp leaned close to the hanyou, one hand on his folded arms. Softly, she whispered, "Yep."
Inuyasha's eyes shot wide open, staring blindly at the sky. Then he turned, grabbed the startled shikigami by the shoulders, and kissed her soundly.
Right on the lips.
Then he leapt up, and shot off toward camp.
Kagome quit struggling, shocked. Lust popped her head up from where she had wrapped herself around the miko's legs. "What'd I miss?"
"Nothing," Kagome said shortly. Love, who had pinned her by the arms, looked at Kagome and nodded. Imp sprang from her frozen pose and did a little jig that looked more like a full-body convulsion.
Lust and Love stood and brushed off their respective debris. Then they each took one of Kagome's hands and hauled her unceremoniously upright. Imp, came over to the group, and, seeing the threat in Kagome's eyes, brought her glee down a notch.
"And now," Lust proclaimed, one hand on hip, the other with an index finger pressed against her cheek, "it's your turn." The index finger slid off her cheek and, like some evil wheel of fortune, came to a rest pointing directly at Kagome.
"Huh?" Kagome looked behind her. No one. Oh no. No no no no.

This time Love took control, dragging Kagome back into their clearing. "Sit," she commanded. Kagome, outnumbered, obeyed, collapsing to a rock still warm from the sun.
Love nodded to her companion, and Lust strode forward like a field marshal, coming to a stop directly in front of the miko. "Now," she demanded, "name one of your favorite things about Inuyasha's body."
Kagome immediately regained her feet. "What!"
"You heard me. Shoulders or butt? Pick one."
Kagome narrowed her eyes at Lust, and thrust a finger at her. "You," she said with disgust, "have a sick mind. Sick sick sick!"
Lust grinned at her. Imp started laughing, and even Love giggled. Kagome bowed her head, arm drooping. "Oh. I'm worse than I thought." She clutched her head. "I'm a horrible, horrible person!"
Lust sauntered over and swung a companionable arm around Kagome's shoulders. "Nah. We're just human. Well, you are, anyway. It's perfectly natural to think he's got nice shoulders."
Imp laughed harder. "It isn't the shoulders she thought of. It--it was the--" She gestured vaguely downwards, breath spent. She was laughing so hard that her knees gave out, and she dropped to the forest floor.
Lust looked at the flushed Kagome with admiration. "Really? I knew you had me in you!" She hugged Kagome, then leaned back and shook her gently. "About time you recognized me! You've had me buried so deeply I didn't think you'd ever let me out."
"But I'm not supposed to let you out!" Kagome wailed.
"Of course you are. What, you still think people procreate by kissing? You're in college, girl. You know better. It's perfectly natural to want somebody."
"As long as your hearts are together," Love broke in. "Always remember that. Otherwise she will just get you into trouble."
Lust gave her patented trouble-making grin. "But trouble can be so much fun."
"At first, maybe," Love snorted. "But she," Love continued, "can be awkward. Sticky, too."
Kagome slapped her hands over her ears and moaned. "I am not hearing this. I am really not hearing this!" However, her eyes were still open, and Lust, illuminated by starlight, made a trademark gesture with her tongue that Kagome had only glimpsed in the wrong types of movies. Not even the movies that came on Cinemax at one in the morning. This was from the type of movie that came on at three in the morning. Oh, my eyes. My precious, precious eyes! Her hands flicked from her ears, grinding into her sockets in an attempt to abrade the image, her image, from memory.
Unfortunately, that left her ears defenseless again. Lust continued, in a thoughtful voice, "Of course. That's why he's so grumpy around us. He probably wants to grab you and have his way with you, but he can't because he's not too sure how you'll react. It's a classic case of male frustration."
Love sounded impatient. "But he already knows how we feel. Mostly." Kagome pulled her palms from her eyes, blinking at the momentary spots.
"Yeah, but that's like having a poster of some guy on the wall. It's safe love, knowing we'll never really have to make a move. Like dating Hojo." Lust looked at Kagome, determination burning in her eyes. "From this day on, I will dedicate my existence to making sure your love is not safe."
Kagome groaned and recovered her ears.

Love was next. "Since I didn't get to share my poem with Inuyasha earlier, I think it's only fair that you get to hear it."
“I can't believe you wrote him poetry.” Kagome shuddered. Poetry. How do you get a poet off your doorstep? Pay them for the pizza.
"Technically, you wrote him poetry." Love cleared her throat with conviction. Kagome lowered her head. It's too dark to read. Perhaps I won't have to--
The shikigami held the paper in front of her, took a breath, and closed her eyes.
Love had it memorized. Kagome groaned silently.
She was such a sap.
Imp groaned, audibly. Kagome slapped a pre-emptive hand over the shikgami's mouth. Love ignored their antics and began. "'My heart cries for you, my dog-eared hanyou--'"

Kagome sat in the aftermath of the performance, slightly disoriented. Love had rhymed with every ounce of her soul, and had somehow managed to shoehorn 'forever' into a very surprised and disgruntled rhyme with 'roar.' Kagome's brain had rebelled after the first stanza, but with nowhere to go, it had curled into a corner of her skull and sobbed.
Lust, eyes twinkling, asked, "Why'd you stop?" Kagome nearly throttled her, but clenched her hands in her skirt.
Love looked at the paper she had crushed to her chest. "I can't find a rhyme for orange."
Kagome rolled her eyes, in a small release. "There isn't one." Thank goodness for small favors.
"What?"
Imp looked at Love with curiosity. "How can you be us and we not know that yourselves?"
Love, getting the gist of the sentence, looked dismayed. "I was made from Algebra 110 notes. I didn't get any grammar." She looked over at Kagome. "Is there really no rhyme for orange?"
Pressing her fingertips to her temples in an attempt to keep her brain from lunging at the shikigami, she mumbled, "Go ahead and try it."
There was silence. Blessed, blessed silence.
Until Imp suggested, "Try it with the alphabet until you find a word that rhymes. A, aorange. B, borange. C, corange. D,--"
This time, Kagome didn't bother stifling her impulse. Eventually Love had to break up the fight.

Back at the campsite, a breathless trio waited for Inuyasha's return. Miroku had launched into a discussion on the properties of shikigami, Shippo and Sango feigning intense interest.
As the hanyou dropped back to the fireside, he gave them a dirty look. Miroku ignored him, continuing in his lecture.
"An onmyouji or miko creates a shikigami as an extension of themselves. Shikigami can be decoys, familiars, or assistants. But they can also be turned against their creator-"
Inuyasha snorted. He sat down in his usual position, but his eyes were distant.
They were also gleaming.
"-- and so must be carefully dealt with. Additionally, the creator’s strength powers the shikigami. This link can drain the onmyouji, so the number of shikigami is limited. Even the strongest miko would have trouble maintaining more than a few.”
"So, without any training, Kagome made five shikigami and released them. Five shikigami..." Sango murmured.
"And now four." Shippo observed.
"Are you sure there were only five?" Inuyasha questioned, darkly. "What if she made a whole army?"
The group was silent for a moment, contemplating the ramifications of a battalion of Kagomes. A chattering phalanx, armed with bow and arrow and osuwari.
No one slept well that night.