Inuyasha: Matchmaker Extrordinare by Striking Falcon

Prologue: Sight

Disclaimer: This is the first, and last, time I say this during this story. I don't own Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru or any of the characters in this story.

Inuyasha: Matchmaker Extrodinare!

Prologue: Sight

I. A Child Understands

The mood on this night was a somber one, and the three occupants of the tiny one room hut huddled around the fire pit to watch as the flames dance despite the group's melancholy dispositions.

"So," began the taijia as she stood up to stir the kettle pot suspended above the flames. "What did Inuyasha do this time?"

"I believe it was the same as always," sighed the monk on the opposite side of the pit. "Inuyasha said something rude, Kagome took offense and the resulting fight ended when Kagome went home."

"But shouldn't she be back by now?" inquired the small fox cub beside him. "It's not like her to stay away for so long. Besides, she promised she'd come back...didn't she?"

"Don't worry Shippou," the monk replied with a comforting pat to the fox's auburn. "I'm sure Kagome-sama's doing something other than being angry with Inuyasha."

"Doesn't she have...what did she call it?" The taijia fell silent, one slender finger gently tapping her jawline as she attempted to remember what it was she wanted to say. She vaguely remembered her father performing the same actions when he wanted to think and she quickly discarded her nostalgic musings once her subject matter returned to her. "I think she called it a 'grad-u-ashun."

"A what?" Shippou called out before giving the air a quick sniff. "Sango, you're stew is missing something. You should try throwing some of those green leaves in there."

"What green leaves?" Sango asked before searching inside a nearby herb basket with no small amount of confusion. "What do they look like?"

"They're the dried ones Kagome brought back," Shippou said before jumping up to retrieve the herb. "See, it's this one. Put that in."

"Oh. OK then." Shippou supplied the leaves while Sango dropped what she thought to be the proper amount into the enormous cast iron kettle suspended above the fire pit. "Now as to this graduashun-"

"Graduation, dear Sango," Miroku politely corrected from behind his tea cup. "I believe that's what she called it."

"Oh. Ok then. Well anyway, she said it was important to her. Do you guys think she wanted Inuyasha to go?"

"I think she might have," Shippou said before sitting beside Miroku. Kirara mewed and settled down beside him, her tails curling around her and her paws tucked beneath her as she prepared for sleep. "But I doubt it after the fight they had. Kagome was really upset when she left."

"I just don't understand," Sango huffed angrily. "Why does Inuyasha talk to her like that? Can't he tell that it hurts her feelings."

"Perhaps, or perhaps not," Miroku replied with a 'comforting' pat to Sango's backside. A wooden smack sounded throughout the hut and Miroku was out cold before he knew what hit him...literally.

"That pervert," Sango grumbled as she returned the wooden stirring spoon back to the kettle. "Can't keep his hands to himself to save his life."

"I remember my father saying something about hanyou," Shippou offered once Miroku was conscious. "He used to say that hanyou were a disgrace to both sides 'cause they can't control themselves." He fell silent for a few moments, a far away look casting it's shadow over bottle green eyes before he spoke again. "My mother used to say that hanyou couldn't help how they are because that's how they survive."

"Explain," Miroku insisted. "This theory of yours might help us to help our friends."

Shippou agreed readily enough, though he wasn't exactly sure how to word what he wanted to say. After all, he was only eight human years old, much older than he was three years ago when he first met Inuyasha and Kagome, but still young enough to confuse himself and those around him if he wasn't careful.

"Um...well, Mama used to say that hanyou were treated pretty bad. Humans treated them like monsters and full blooded youkai treated them like a disease so they pretty much had to teach themselves how to behave. Mama said that's why they're so rude and stuff, because they probably had no one to teach them how to be otherwise. They had to learn to 'adapt' to their 'environment' to survive."

"But Inuyasha's mother stayed with him," Sango disagreed. "It was his father that wasn't around, right guys?"

"Inuyasha's mother fell ill not too long after Inuyasha's father died," Miroku recalled in answer. "So perhaps Inuyasha was left with the task of raising himself."

"Mama also said that hanyou were rude to everyone else because they weren't used to being any other way with anyone else," Shippou continued. "Remember when he used to beat on me all the time? Well I kinda think that he was trying to toughen me up. Plus it's really hard for them to trust people cause it's always someone trying to beat up on them."

"And do you think that's why he's so mean to Kagome?" Sango asked and frowned when Shippou shook his head. "Ok then, what do you think it is?"

"See, Inuyasha meant to be mean to me," Shippou explained. "But with Kagome, I don't think he knows that he hurts her feelings when he yells at her. I think he might think that that's the way you talk to girls."

"So he hasn't realized that he hurts Kagome's feelings?" Miroku assumed. "Even after three years? Are you sure about this Shippou?"

"Yup," Shippou nodded. "I don't think he knows about her being in love with him either. Even I don't think Inuyasha's mean enough to keep throwing Kikyou in her face after finding out that Kagome likes him."

"I don't know," Sango sighed despondently. "Maybe we should tell hi-"

"Shhhhhh," Shippou whispered as his sniffed the damp night air. "Inuyasha's coming." He shoved aside the heavy curtain, poked his head outside and grimaced at the damp air, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end as the scent of a coming storm threatened to drown out Inuyasha's. He watched as a bit of white and red moved along the horizon closer to the village and the hut.

"Hey you two," Shippou whispered when he came back inside. "Don't say anything to Inuyasha about her feelings. If I know her, she'll want to tell him herself."

"We won't say a word," Sango promised immediately. They both turned to Miroku, who sat deep in thought and unaware of Shippou's request. He agreed readily enough when Sango's sharp elbow connected with his ribs seconds before Inuyasha walked into the hut.

II. Blinded by Innocence

"Kikyou..."

'Why won't you listen to me...'

"I...I love you Kikyou..."

'Why...why do you still blame me? I would have given anything for you...'

"Kikyou please..."

'I would give anything for you...but why won't you listen...'

She stood in the center of the clearing, her cold brown eyes staring into the heavens as the wispy, pearl blue bodies of her devoted soul collectors coiled about her. Slanted red eyes watched him warily, some ready to defend their mistress should the moment arise while others delivered their precious cargo of souls. She refused to acknowledge Inuyasha's presence but remained fixated on the west, her eyes calculating as Inuyasha moved further away from the trees and into the clearing.

Only when Kagome left would he find Kikyou like this and it was only when his time jockey companion was safely tucked away did he search for his former lover. She never failed to show yet she never spoke a word, choosing instead to stare away from him while Inuyasha professed a love that had already suffered once due to Naraku's hands.

"Kikyou, why are you here?" Inuyasha finally asked. "If you won't talk to me, then why do you keep coming back?"

"I come because you call me," she finally whispered, her voice hollow and melancholy as she finally turned to look at him. Straight black hair barely shifted against her back as she turned, her robes scarcely moved by the wind as one of the soul searchers deposited it's cargo into her body. She frowned when Inuyasha turned away, a look of hurt flashing in her eyes before being drowned in the sea of hatred and fury churning within. "Do I disgust you now?" she hissed in quiet accusation.

"No," Inuyasha responded as he returned his amber eyes to her form. "I just...I don't like seeing you like this."

"Like what?"

Inuyasha's eyes shifted again, this time to another collector as it returned with some other poor, unfortunate soul. "So filled with hate. It's not the Kikyou I know." He blinked in confusion when she chuckled, the sound hollow at first before filling with mirthless laughter.

"I cannot help what you made me," she sighed once her laughter ended. "In truth, I'm not the Kikyou I used to be."

"But you could be," Inuyasha proposed as he closed the distance between them. He stood behind her and draped his arms about her, forever her protective red winged angel, his white hair shifting over his shoulder to pool about hers as he rested his chin on her shoulder. He searched for the sunshine that used to radiate from Kikyou's scent but found nothing more than graveyard dirt and ash. "We could make you into what you used to be. The jewel-"

"Don't you know by now," she began as he gently grasped her upper arms and turned her to face him. "The Shikon will never grant that wish."

"Why not?" Inuyasha demanded. "It does everything else. Why can't it give you back your life?"

"Bringing me back would be a selfish wish and it may cost you your little friend."

"You mean Kagome?"

"Yes," she nodded dismally. "I mean your shard detector. You may lose her or lose us both. I am already lost so I have nothing to be afraid of."

"You're not lost Kikyou," Inuyasha disagreed and shook her slightly to emphasis his point. "And I'll think of something-"

"It's a selfish wish Inuyasha," she told him as she pushed his hands away and stepped away from his warmth. "The Shikon would do nothing but turn it against you. You will hurt in the end. Just forget me Inuyasha." She pushed away from him entirely and began to walk away, leaving Inuyasha to stand alone while her soul collectors trailed along behind her like glowing blue specters. He watched as she finally disappeared at the edge of the forest, his shoulders slumped and his ears drooped in defeat, before he finally turned to head back to the village.

'I don't want to forget her,' Inuyasha thought as the first peal of thunder sounded from miles away. 'Kikyou is the first person, other than my mother, who accepted me.'

'Not exactly,' a small voice whispered inside his mind. 'Kikyou's not the only one who accepts you. What about Miroku...Shippou...Sango...and Kagome?'

'They accept me because I protect them,' Inuyasha concluded. 'But Kikyou-'

'Kikyou is dead,' the voice reminded him. 'The only reason she's walking around now is because of the little bit of Kagome's soul that's still inside her. She's right. You should forget her.'

'But I can't.' He sniffed the air, something about the damp night breeze that seemed familiar and alarming against his inner senses. He sniffed about again but found nothing, not even a faint trace of Kikyou's soul collectors to tantalize his senses. He shrugged and continued on until Kaede's village and hut came into view. He hurried along when the first raindrop splashed against his forehead, the sudden cold shocking and abrasive to the warm air around him. He reached out for the yellow door curtain and grasped it's edge when the whispers of it's occupants reached his ears.

"Hey you two," Shippou whispered while Inuyasha listened in. "Don't say anything to Inuyasha about her feelings. If I know her, she'll want to tell him herself."

"We won't say a word," Sango promised, as did Miroku after a slight thump and wheeze on his part. Inuyasha inwardly wondered what was going on until a splattering of raindrops fell around him. He quickly ducked into the room just as Sango, Miroku and Shippou were returning to their places around the fire.

"Yo," he grunted as he shoved his hands into his sleeves and sank down on the opposite side of the trio. "What's goin' on?"

"Nothin'," Shippou answered back with a slight shrug. "We're waiting for Sango to finish cooking."

"Well we don't have to wait long now," she sighed as she stood up and picked up a set of earthenware bowls from a nearby shelf. "Because I think it's done." She quickly filled and passed the bowls to the others before serving herself. Inuyasha sat by and ate while she returned to her seat beside Shippou, unaware until she sat down that everyone's eyes seemed to be fixated on him for some reason.

"Wha?" Inuyasha grumbled around a mouthful of meat and a noodle hanging precariously from one side of his mouth.

"Gah, you're so gross," Shippou groaned and Miroku stifled a laugh while covertly snaking a hand toward Sango's backside. Sango sighed and shook her head before boxing the poor houshi's ear. He howled in pain and shot up, his bowl spilling across the floor as he pleaded with Sango to release him. Shippou's groan turned into a laugh that instantly caused him to choke on a large carrot slice that got stuck in his throat.

Inuyasha watched all this and rolled his eyes, then dove back into his meal as the storm finally rolled overhead.

III. Clouded by Doubt

Kagome huffed as she shoved her pack over the lip of the well, a light beading of sweat along her hairline as she climbed the vines out of the vast darkness below her. She flopped down with a huff and leaned against the well with one arm draped down the gigantic yellow monstrosity that was her backpack. Today there was something special inside, something that she wasn't sure the others would appreciate but was sure that they would like to see all the same.

Her cap and gown.

How hard she had worked over the past three years, studying when she could and constantly hounding down classmates and friends for notes she missed while she was 'sick', and now she was finished. Now she could hold up her diploma and, though she didn't have the best grades, she could honestly say that she finished while traveling between eras, battling demons, searching for shards and constant arguments with her foul tempered hanyou companion.

"A hanyou that didn't bother showing up for my graduation ceremony," Kagome mumbled to herself as she slowly returned from the high she felt earlier. She sighed hopelessly and reached down to lift her pack...only to tumble over the other side of it because of it's weight.

"Oh come on," Kagome grunted as she tried again to pick up the heavy bag. "Don't do this now...come on..." She grunted, growled and jerked until the strap, after three faithful years of service, finally decided to give up the ghost and snap. Kagome flopped backward as the strap's buckle barely missed smashing her full in the face. She watched as the piece of metal flew over her shoulder and disappeared deep into the forest surrounding her.

"Great," Kagome grumbled as she furiously smacked the ground beside her. "Just great. Can this get any worse?" She blinked in surprise when a small wet droplet exploded on the tip of her nose, then groaned outright as the floodgates opened and it's brethren decided to follow the droplet to Earth in one fell swoop. Kagome was soaked within minutes, her denim shorts and thin white t-shirt clinging to her skin and her waterlogged hair stuck to her neck, back, forehead and cheeks.

She blinked up at the gray clouds cloaked across the sky and felt something inside her sink. The happy go lucky girl was gone almost instantly, replaced by a woman who already knew enough of the world to suffer from its disappointments. One tear after another fell down her cheeks as she recalled the past three years, of her struggle to keep up with the other students and of her struggles with a certain hanyou that practically bore the sun over her world.

Three years of arguing and three years of comparisons had taken a toll on the young miko. She was beginning to feel as if no matter what she did, no matter how much she accomplished or how much Kaede taught her, she would never be able to live up to the standards Inuyasha helped blossom in her mind. Time spent at home was spent less on schoolwork and more on self defense classes, and time with her friends was replaced with Kaede's miko training and learning better ways to track the Shikon shards. Three years of constant improvement and Kagome still felt useless.

"Maybe I am useless," Kagome said to herself as she stood up and attempted to knock the mud from her clothes. "I can't even pick up that stupid bag."

'No wonder Inuyasha doesn't love me.'

Kagome froze when a twig snapped in the forest nearby, her instincts on alert as her ki scanned the area around her. She felt no presence but chose to fish her crossbow and quiver out of her bag anyway. She loaded and raised the weapon before peering through the sight into the black forest, her ki flooding the clearing in tangible waves as she searched for whatever made the noise. She gave up after a few minutes of searching, figuring whatever it was to be either gone or uninterested in her, then reached down for her pack and attempted to drag it away from the well.

Kagome growled aloud when she once again found herself landing on her already abused backside, her mouth turned downward into what she felt would be a perpetual frown as brown water flew up around her. She sneezed once, twice, three times before finally deciding to call it quits and abandon the pack. 'There's nothing valuable in it anyway,' she said to herself as she somehow managed to shove the heavy pack back into the well. "There," she said as she attempted to wipe the rainwater out of her eyes. "That should do until morning."

Kagome hefted the crossbow over her shoulder and began a casual stroll down the hillside to the village, her footsteps light despite her earlier breakdown and occurring downpour. 'The Feudal Era's so beautiful,' she sighed to herself as she traveled the pathway between the rice fields. 'Even in the rain.'

She smiled as she walked past the many huts, the slight mummer of conversations filtering out above the rain as she walked by as silently as a ghost. She stopped at Kaede's front step and quickly shoved the curtain out of the way before stepping inside.

"Kagome!"

"Hey little dude," Kagome laughed as Shippou launched himself into her arms. He yelped in surprise when a clawed hand reached out and jerked him away from his intended flight pattern and thumped him back to the ground.

"Hey!" Shippou crowed as Inuyasha continued to eat. "What was that for!"

"She's wet dumbass," Inuyasha grumbled from behind his bowl. "Now shut up. I'm trying to eat."

"What happened to you Kagome?" Sango asked as she quickly grasped a nearby blanket and draped it around Kagome's shoulders. "You're soaked."

"Um, I had a little trouble with my pack," she answered meekly, a slight blush staining her cheeks as she glanced fondly toward Inuyasha. "Would you mind picking it up tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll do it," Inuyasha replied between slurps of broth. "No problem."

"Thank you."

"Come on," Sango said as she pushed Kagome toward the back of the hut toward a dark corner of the room. "Let's get you out of those wet clothes and into something dry." Miroku opened his mouth to suggest something but quickly sealed it shut at the warning look on Sango's face.

"What?" he called out as Sango hurried Kagome along. "I was only going to ask if you need assistance."

"And we don't," Sango said with a quick kick to his shin. "So don't bother asking." She smirked happily while Miroku hopped about on one foot, his other grasped tightly in his cursed hand as he spied after her with a twinkling in his violet blue eyes. Shippou watched the contented smile spread on the houshi's lips and shook his head in disapproval.

"Adults," he mumbled as he helped himself to another helping of Sango's stew. "Man, I hope I never grow up. You guys are weird."

"Hey, hurry up and get her changed Sango," Inuyasha called out as he set his bowl out on the front step. "The last thing we need is her getting sick and slowing us down."

Sango moved to say something when Kagome spoke up, her shoulders drooped in defeat and misery as she whispered, "Don't worry Inuyasha. I won't get sick."

"Yeah well, hurry up all the same," he grunted in reply before taking his place by the door. He sat down on the floor, crossed his legs and propped his sword against his chest before falling asleep, the sleeves of his haori falling over the sheath into his lap and his head lulled to the side. Shippou glanced from him to Kagome, who breathed a silent sigh before allowing Sango to help her change. She deflated almost instantly, whatever good cheer she felt when she walked through the doorway now gone due to Inuyasha's thoughtlessness.

'I know you don't mean it,' Shippou thought as he gazed into the hanyou's sleeping face from beside his knee. 'I know you can't help how you are. I just wish Kagome knew it too.'

VI. Perplexed by the Vision

The hanyou's scent drifted to him on the high breeze, the scent of rain and fresh grass instantly shoved aside as he stepped from the cliff and allowed himself to drop through the layers of scent and down the cliff's rocky side. His nimbus formed underneath his feet the moment he found a suitable scent trail and he shot through the sky toward his intended prey. He inwardly frowned as another scent intertwined itself within the hanyou's, this one not the normal scents of his human companions.

This scent was much worse and he confirmed his suspicions as he hovered far above the hanyou and his dead lover.

"Kikyou," the hanyou whispered to the golem. "I...I love you Kikyou."

'Such foolishness,' he condemned as the wind fluttered through the empty sleeve at his left side. 'To consider such emotion is shameful enough, but to waste such effort on something that smells so horrid is repulsive and a disgrace to our great Father.' He watched as the hanyou averted his eyes from his beloved, apparently finding the sight of her feasting off innocent and helpless souls too much for him. Their conversation meant little to him, but the opportunity it presented could ill afford to be ignored by the taiyoukai.

His nose wrinkled slightly when the hanyou hugged the claymation, a quick exhale leaving him as the hanyou's nose disappeared behind the zombie's black hair. 'The stench has to be be revolting,' he commented to himself as the golem stepped away from her former lover. 'Inuyasha must be insane.'

"Why not?" Inuyasha angrily demanded, successfully interrupting the prince's concentration. "It gives everything else. Why can't it give you back your life?"

"Bringing me back would be a selfish wish, and it may cost you your little friend."

"My little friend-you mean Kagome?"

'Of course not half wit,' he secretly commented to himself. 'She speaks of another who carries half her soul. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if he truly is Father's son.'

"Yes," the claymation nodded. "I mean your shard detector. You may lose her or lose us both. I am already lost so I have nothing to be afraid of."

"You're not lost Kikyou," Inuyasha disagreed and to the prince's surprise shook her. "And I'll think of something-"

"It's a selfish wish Inuyasha," she replied and the taiyoukai watched as she pushed the hanyou's hands away and stepped back from him. "The Shikon would do nothing but turn it against you. You will hurt in the end. Just forget me Inuyasha." She walked away without another word, leaving Inuyasha to stand alone in the clearing like a kicked and abandoned puppy.

'Truly something is missing,' he determined as Inuyasha finally walked toward a nearby human village. 'Where are the humans that normally follow him? Where is the one that most resembles the dead miko?' He began to follow after his departed half sibling when another scent touched his senses, the perfume almost intoxicating as it literally captured his attentions and turned his nose towards it's origins. He abandoned the hanyou, thoughts if his younger brother's demise dying a quick death itself as he followed the unique bouquet of warm jasmine and vanilla toward another clearing and what the humans of the nearby village called the Bone Eater's Well.

'Humans and their inane superstitions,' he commented absently as he searched for the creature who held such an intriguing calling card as the one that beaconed him. He stopped short of the clearing when a brilliant blue light flashed from deep within the well, his curiosity once again piqued as tiny grunts and scrapping came from the dark depths of the well. He stepped further into the shadows and watched as a pack fell from the well's innards, the mammoth and offensively colored blob landing by the well side with a thump and slight shake of the well's side.

Next came little clawless fingers that struggled to grasp the lip of the well, and to his surprise the dead miko's reincarnate hoisted herself out of the well's depths. She flopped onto the grass rather gracelessly, no doubt staining her indecent apparel with dust and grass stains as she casually brushed aside her bangs and pretended to collapse against the pack's well endowed side.

'Such an odd creature,' he thought as she smiled to herself. She seemed enormously pleased with something and though he never would assume to know the human mind, especially one of a female such as this one, seeing such a wistful and pleased image of a creature he had yet to understand stirred his curiosity.

Triumph and accomplishment swirled happily in her aura, with beautiful traces of pride and freedom fluttering throughout like silvery butterflies. He watched her aura sparkle with something akin to awe. His previous experiences with the human left him unprepared for this insight into her life and it made him feel as if he were peering in on a queer little lightening bug from outside a glass jar.

Her demeanor changed suddenly, all traces of her earlier bliss gone as dark clouds of doubt, hurt and another feeling that he couldn't understand marred her face and her aura. She sighed hopelessly, her dark eyes distant and sad as reached down to lift her pack. He couldn't help the tiny smirk that twitched against his lips when she toppled backward, her little squeak of surprise the only sound as she fell down with a sharp thud.

"Oh come on," he heard her say as she tried again to pick up the heavy bag. "Don't do this now...come on..."

She continued to struggle, his respect for her rising a sliver at her refusal to quit and actually smiled when her efforts gained her a broken strap and yet another hard trip to the ground. His head jerked to the side in the nick of time, barely avoiding the heavy buckle as it flew over her shoulder, past him and deeper into the forest.

"Great," she grumbled as a small growl sounded from the forest behind him. "Just great. Can this get any worse?"

He turned just as a weasel oni crept toward him. He quickly jumped into the nearest tree and waited, watching as his prey stalked the young miko unawares. His nose turned at the sudden arousal coming from the weasel, figuring it to have something to do with the miko behind him as he soundlessly fell behind the overambitious oni.

"I will have her shards," the weasel whispered to itself as it licked its dry and chapped lips. 'Then I will have my fill of the miko's many...assets. Yes, the gods have smiled on this weasel this day."

The very thought of something as foul as this oni defiling a creature he grudgingly respected disgusted the taiyoukai and he wordlessly snapped the weasel's neck in two before another thought could cross it's tainted mind. The taiyoukai turned back just as the first of many droplets fell from the sky. He erected a slight weather shield around him and watched as the miko stared ahead of her in surprise when one of the drops landed on her nose. She groaned when it finally became the storm it was meant to be and before either of them knew it she was soaked. Her strange clothing clung to her form, the thin white top revealing a skimpier cloth that held her breasts. The now sheer top revealed much to the taiyoukai's eye, including the tiny lavender rosebuds embroidered on the white lace of her breast binder and the gentle swell of breasts that moved with each breath.

She blinked upward wordlessly, the gray of the sky reflecting in her aura as tears began to well in her eyes. One tear after another streamed down her cheeks without fail and for once he could see more of this creature, his brother's woman, than the brief angry glances and the warrior fire that always burned in his presence. Silvery brown eyes regarded the sky and the world around her with a grief that literally moved him out of his aloft indifference toward the pain that seemed to echo something within his own soul.

"Maybe I am useless," he heard her whisper to herself as she stood up to brush the mud from her person. "I can't even pick up that stupid bag." She sniffed and it was then that the weasel's body spasmed one final time. It's foot brushed against a few dry twigs, successfully snapping one in two before finally lying as still as death intended.

Sharp eyes turned in his direction and her ki flooded the clearing toward him. He rose out of her range before she could sense him and continued his watch from above while she reached inside her pack for the strangest bow he'd ever seen.

'How inventive,' he said to himself as she loaded the odd weapon and searched the clearing. 'Never have I seen one such as this miko. But what is it about her pain, her tears, that affects me as such? Perhaps it is her power, the strength that flows in her veins, that makes her sorrow so enticing. Such power cannot be left to it's own.' He watched as she ceased her search and came to some sort of decision, then quirked a brow when she somehow hefted the pack into the well and continued onward toward the nearby village.

He followed her silently, his form now a tiny light of a firefly while she continued onward as if on a Sunday afternoon stroll. The sadness was still with her, but she was somehow managing to push it aside for other things. Her surroundings seemed to be helping her and he realized just how much of a child of nature this miko was while she passed the rice fields. She was almost smiling now and mud splattered as she was he could not help but think of her as...enchanting in some way.

'The hanyou seems to have something else of extreme interest,' he thought as he settled above the doorway she disappeared into. He caught the scents of her companions, including Inuyasha, from inside as she greeted them with her customary grin.

"Kagome!"

"Hey little dude," he heard her laugh and he wondered to himself what this 'dude' was. The kitsune's yelp was the next to be heard, then a thump before Inuyasha's constant slurping continued.

"Hey! What was that for!"

"She's wet dumbass. Now shut up. I'm trying to eat."

'Such concern you show for your miko half breed,' he quipped as the slayer's voice asked about the miko's state of affairs. 'But you would allow one of your pack to fall ill under your watch.' He lit upon the window sill just as the miko informed Inuyasha of her pack's whereabouts.

"Yeah, I'll do it," he heard Inuyasha reply to her request for help. "No problem."

"Thank you." He caught the meaningful glance directed at the hanyou, who remained clueless with his face immersed inside the earthenware bowl. 'Foolish,' he thought with disapproval. 'To waste such emotions on fickle creatures such as these.' He came out of his musings just as the slayer landed a kick to the houshi's shin, for what he couldn't tell but from his point of view it looked as if the houshi enjoyed the abuse.

"Adults," the kit mumbled to himself. "Man, I hope I never grow up. You guys are weird."

"Hey, hurry up and get her changed Sango," he heard Inuyasha call out as he moved to a drier part of the windowsill. "The last thing we need is her getting sick and slowing us down."

"Don't worry Inuyasha. I won't get sick."

"Yeah well, hurry up all the same."

And though he could not understand it, he found himself sympathizing with the miko as her aura darkened, the sadness that was almost a memory now returned with all it's intensity. Bright gray eyes dimmed to a dull shine and tears threatened to caress her cheeks again.

'Imagine,' he thought as he finally left the group and streaked toward the woods. 'Where other nobles pay to see dramas ... though...' He sighed to himself and hovered above the clearing of the Bone Eater's well, the tiny light flickering around him slightly before descending toward the clearing and the well.

(End Chapter)

Yeah, it's a new one. My beta thought it was a good idea though, so I thought I'd go ahead. I'm going to take down A Role Reversal because I don't really want to finish it. I haven't a clue as to where my cousin wanted it to go, so I'm going to save it on disc until he let's me know. Oh, um...it's only the prelude, and I know it's kinda confusing.

Wait, who am I kidding? No it's not.

You guys know who the characters are, and who's talking, so it shouldn't be confusing. This is one of those fics that's standing in the way of another fic, so be prepared to see this one updated often. It's like it's standing in the middle of the A Cross of Blades highway and I have to move it to get further down the road toward my destination. Oh well. Another chapter should be out soon. Just look for the A Cross of Blade's update.