What Lies Between Us - A Sess/Kag story

“What now, cousin?” Azuka asked, eyes dilated at the scent of Kagome’s blood.

“Now you finish the patrole; two weeks, I expect your return with exceptional improvements to Kagome’s survival skills.” With a glance at Kagome, as if to show her, if she wished her to be stronger, he would ensure it so.

After his was gone Kaori grabbed her hair and snarled quietly, “Dammit! It would have taken us three weeks of nonstop running to complete the Patrole! He wants it done is two!? WHILE TRAINING A HUMAN!” Kaori shrieked softly, as if Sesshomaru still might be able to hear her.

Kagome laughed and stuck a hand behind her head, “W-well, I guess we better get going then? Don’t worry, I’m a quick study and there is nothing I excel at more than studying!” Kagome took a strong pose, one fist in the air and her legs spread in a power-stance.

Shizuka laughed heartily while Kaori palmed her face, muttering about doom. Azuka cleared her throat and gestured to Aderyn, “Why hasn’t she woke up yet, Kagome?”

“Actually, it could be a number of things. I purged the darkness and I don’t sense any in her right now... Although I suspect it has more to do with actual physical exhaustion and less with spiritual duress. I imagine she hasn’t slept in two days.”

Azuka watched the human girl carefully as she spoke, but once Azuka’s fears had been dismissed she looked back down at her friend. When Kagome said Aderyn hadn’t slept her ears snapped back and she cursed, glaring off to the side, “... little idiot...”

“I would venture to imagine, you did not sleep either, Azu-chan?”

Azuka’s tail stopped its incessant swish and her hands balled at her hips. Kagome placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, “Don’t worry so much, you should get some rest too. After all, Sesshomaru-sama did say we had two weeks to complete this mission and what a better way to start out that training then by some good old fashioned endurance training!” She began to jog in place, a big smile on her face.

Azuka leered at her lifting an index finger and poking the girl on the forehead, “Your brain is broken, isn’t it?”

Kagome fell over and began to twitch as the twins fell over each other in a fit of laughter.

“... not you... too?”

Azuka tilted her head to the side, “Eh? Me too?”

Kagome grumbled and pulled her hair, glaring up at the silver kitsune who was so strange it drove her nuts, “... Nevermind!” She pouted, jerking her face to the side with her arms crossed. The human girl missed the smile on the kitsune’s face before Kagome was hauled up by the back of her green haori.

                Set on her feet the girl uttered a sound of surprise, “Oro....”

                “You want training? I’ll give you training.” Azuka glanced at the twins, “Oi! Pay attention you pair of giggling morons!” Kaori snarled at the insult while Shizuka snickered. “She’s going to keep pace with me; rest for two hours and run for four. Every three hours Kaori’s going to be a ‘moving target’ and kagome you’re going to hit your mark while running. Every six hours Shizuka is going to attack you without warning and as the days pass, its going to get progressively harder. Assuming Aderyn wakes up tomorrow, every second day, you will devote that entire day to working on controlling your reiki.”

                Kagome’s color drained from her face and she held up a weak finger in protest, but Azuka left no room for it and bent over to scoop Aderyn into the cradle of her arms, “Everyone of us will be right there with you. You may be the focus of this training, but it will strain us as well despite us being youkai. Where you rest, we will not.”  

Sesshomaru stopped beside Kaori with Azuka and Shizuka behind him, “This one departs, but I expect your arrival within no less than two weeks.”

Azuka nearly choked, “But cousin! it takes nearly three at a strenuous pace! With a human-.”

The Prince of the West shook his head and the female demons all bowed in respect to his decision; turning the Western Prince  made to leave.

“Wait, Sesshomaru no Ouji!” Kagome gasped without actually meaning to, pulling her hand to lips she quickly tried to come up with a reason as to why she called out to him, especially as he stopped and turned to look at her. Everyone else was watching her too. “You never answered my question, my lord.”

He prompted her by raising an eyebrow.

“About allowing me to be in your pack.”

Turning he walked up to her, offering his hand palm up, “If you can withstand the sound of my soul, you will be permitted.”

Kaori and Shizuka exchanged glances; Azuka kept her eyes hooded and focused on Aderyn who remained cushioned in a bed of kitsune-bi on the forest floor. Kagome blinked and nodded, lifting her hand and allowing it to hover over his. She looked up at him and as she did so his youki sparked, a single strand as if caught in the buoyancy of a stream, slithered upwards to touch the middle of her palm. The moment contact was established Kagome felt a terrible pain in her frontal lobe and the sound of a thousand dogs howling caused her nose to bleed. She grunted and her mouth opened in a screamless pain but she held firm.

Sesshomaru observed her stoically the contrast of light made by the clash of reiki and youki turned daylight into moonlight around them as the lights thrown off by the turbulent powers escalated. Kaori covered her eyes as if disgusted and pained while Shizuka simply closed hers. Azuka bore the pain to her retinas but moved her focus from her best friend to the couple who were working their souls into a frenzy.  

He brushed against her brazenly, and her reiki reacted in kind and untrained, he worked her soul into a bonfire. Blood dripped passed her lips but Kagome held eye contact and the howling in her head crested with an overwhelming pitch. Sesshomaru abruptly removed his hand and the human girl crumbled to her knees.

The sounds of battle from in the sky was pushed onto a back burner as she fought to find her center, “Please work!” She whispered, her eyes still closed as she drew the string, aiming upward on pure instinct. Opening her eyes she yelled, “GO!” and released an arrow made purely out of reiki. It blasted with a backlash that almost took Kagome off her feet. Kaori roared a battle cry of pure elation as she added a kitsune-bi punch to the reiki which caused another sonic boom as the arrow leached blue and sailed through the air, headed right for Hakudoshi.

                The kitsune-bi infused reiki pierced his body, and for a second, all that were involved froze, then without a sound Hakudoshi’s body completely disintegrated save for one eye. Kagura swooped down and grabbed it, then sped off, vanishing within seconds.

                Down on the ground Kagome looked at the kitsune, who had transformed back, and hugged her. “I can’t sense either of them anymore. Good job team!” The Priestess cheered while the white kitsune sneered off to the side.

                “.... Team... tch.” She used one hand on the miko’s face to forcibly remove her. Stunned and unable to fully process the action, as no one had ever done that to her, Kagome and went and toppled over backwards. Kaori snickered as she turned and began to walk away, stretching her arms over her head and complaining about being used as a bow by such an inexperienced archer.

“What!? I’ve taken classes! I’m at the top of my rank!” Kagome was on her feet, pointing accusingly at the retreating kitsune.

Of course.. thats only half true....

“Try again, Kagome, I can feel your lies!” Kaori tossed over her shoulder, waving a hand about absently. The human girls spine straightened and her cheeks puffed and brightened with her embarrassment.

“Ooooooh! Well I’m going to train even harder now you damn fox, I hope YOU’RE HAPPY!!!”

The white kitsune snorted at her outburst. “Noisy human. We will start your first training exercise right now.”

“Eeeeh?” The human looked at the white haired woman.

“Yes. A lesson in stealth. You have twenty minutes to hide, then I will come find you. Be as silent as you can and try to shield your scent if you can.

“Alright.”Kagome closed her eyes. “I need a weapon first.” The white kitsune handed her a  bow.

Kagome blinked, taking the weapon, “... why didn’t I just use this then? Where did you get it, all of a sudden?”

Kagome watched the sisters wrestle and she ran her hands through her short locks. With a smile, she lay the dirk down and went to her backpack to change. After rustling through the enormous yellow bag, she pulled out a dark green kimono set with pale pink feathers decorating the silk. After donning the hakama and under kimono, she turned to look at the dark haired kitsune who was watching her. “Eh?” Her left eyebrow lifted and began to twitch, making both kitsunes jerk with awareness as the human girls reiki sparked in mock violence.

“EECHI!”

Outside, Sesshomaru and Azuka turned to see the Tree shiver as an explosion of reiki caused a torrent of debris and smoke to plume. Azuka sighed and lifted her hand as a bed of kitsune-bi gently lowered an unconscious Aderyn onto the ground. Sesshomaru closed his eyes and lifted his one arm and moved his hair out of his face.

“Baka...” Azuka whispered softly in reference to her best friend, squatting and moving a stray lock of golden hair from her face, “We... It is a good thing that Kagome is not like other humans, ne cousin?”

Sesshomaru opened his eyes and stared at his cousin with a pinning glare, which of course made the silver kitsune fidget uncomfortably.

“It would be in your best interest to leave the issue of the Priestess, outside of this mission, to silence.”

Azuka sighed but nodded, “Sure, Sesshomaru-sama.” She glanced up at him, but his attention had been monopolized.

A shout came from the tree hollow and Kagome was out of the hole, climbing higher into the tree. “Kagura and Hakudoshi!” Turning she lost her balance and began to fall through the branches. “Ieeeiiiee!!”

Shizuka heard the shriek and was bounding up through branches so quick she almost missed Kagome falling past her. Hearing her twin close behind her, Shizuka sent Kagome a wink when for a brief moment they were eye to eye. But then Shizuka was careening up the tree and Kagome was dropping safety into Kaori’s arms. Sesshomaru and Azuka whipped passed the two as Kaori set her down on the ground, “I have minimum transformation abilities, I think turning into a bow is going to be a first. But you have to supply your own arrows, got me?”

“Got it.”

“Yosh!” Kaori pressed a small leaf to her forehead and popped into a beautiful ivory long bow, “Well don’t just sit there and look at me, you silly human!” The bow wibbled angrily, hovering in place.

The aforementioned human was pacing around the hollow ranting, “What would he have wanted me to do? Its not like I had anyone who I could’ve gone through by proxy. Oooooh ,damn dogs and their damn over protective instincts. What is it about me that makes them go freaking crazy? I’m just a simple girl who trying to fix what she broke and not get herself killed in the process.  Damn those dogs and damn sexyness.” She plopped down beside Kaori.

The white kitsune blinked, quite surprised by the tantrum from the usually otherwise bubbly female. She glanced at her twin, and when said kitsune shrugged Kaori pulled on Kagome’s cheek with a lewd expression, “You said sexy, didn’t you? And what do you mean go crazy? I think you’re crazy... but that’s just me.”

Shizuka palmed her face, shaking her head while Kaori grinned cheekily while the human girl whined and rubbed her abused cheek, “Well that wasn’t very nice.”

“Things I do rarely are!” Kaori slapped Kagome’s shoulder a tad too rough and sent the girl lurching forward, “Isn’t that right, Shizuka?” When the black kitsune ignored her in favor of muttering to herself, the white kitsune snarled and held up her fist, “I SAID ISN’T THAT RIGHT SHIZUKA!?”

“Hai, Hai, stop screaming.” Shizuka pouted, sticking her index finger in her ear. Kaori smiled pleasantly, “Thank you!”

Kaori sat back down beside Kagome, her blue silk haori had beautiful sun depictions along the collars and sleeves, matching the hakamas that had them embroidered  along the waist and hem. Kagome had dropped her head onto her arms and her shoulders were shaking. She looked up, tears running down her, face. “I just want to be able to be helpful and not a burden, you know?” She shook her head and looked and Shizuka, “Can I borrow one of your swords?”

When Kaori smirked and opened her mouth, Shizuka slapped a hand onto her twins mouth, used it as leverage and sent the kitsune out of the tree all together with a heaving push, “Now Listen to me right now! If you want to be strong that’s fine! I will teach you! Trust me when I say I KNOW how you feel. Take my sisters words with a grain of salt, she means well but she’s a vicious little bitch and she doesn’t know when to stop gnawing!” Shizuka smiled and set her hand on the top of Kagome’s head, “Trust in us. We’re ‘Pack’ now, so that means we are incapable of allowing you to be hurt or weak. We’ll make you strong, as strong as you want to be, you understand?”

“I’m not going to do anything stupid. I just want to borrow your sword, okay? And yes I understand, but understand this, if I’m going to be me, a stronger me, I need to cut my weakness away, ne?”

Kaori was suddenly back in the tree, pulling herself in using the brute strength of her arms, seething and stomping her foot, “Teme!!! I’ll kill you!”

Shizuka was unphased, waving a hand over her shoulder while looking at Kagome seriously, “I see. Well then as you ‘sensei’ I will join you. We will do this together.” Pulling a dirk from her boot, Shizuka offered it to Kagome first.

Kagome took the little knife and, gathering all her hair together, ran the sharp blade through it, slicing the blue black locks off. She watched them float to the ground around her and offered up a teary smile to Shizuka. The Black kitsune winked and sat back on her heels to give the human girl room.

Suddenly Kaori had her twin in a headlock, making the other female sputter and choke, “How dare you ignore me like that, you little shit!”

What she became aware of first was something solid to her left, bracing her shoulder with a hand on her opposing shoulder. She felt her own hair slide across her face, and her own lungs as they expanded and contracted in her chest; hyper aware, she knew whomever braced her, was masculine and smelled like rain and sandalwood. She inhaled deeper and smiled when his hand touched her cheek and  lifted her head. She opened her eyes to see pristine white hair and gilded eyes.

“Sesshomaru-sama?”

He loomed around her like a barrier, yet he seemed only mildly concerned save for a strange tension in his eyebrows, “You should not be so foolish in the future, Priestess.”

“Well, I’m sorry that i had to risk my life to save a pack members.” She said sourly.

“Pack?” He seemed greatly amused as he moved to stand, offering the young woman his hand, “You five have made a ‘Pack’?” He glanced over at the twins, who had the grace to blush and look down. Doing something like this was what pups did, the only one who didn’t know was Kagome of course.

“Um, I accidently bound my soul to Aderyn and the Inu-kitsunes.” She blushed and twirled her index fingers around in small circles, after accepting Sesshomaru’s hand and rising to her feet. She stumbled as she rose, falling into his warm, solid chest. Closing her eyes for a moment, she let her soul brush across Sesshomaru’s, asking for permission to add him to the bond.

Sesshomaru recoiled sharply, so out of character, as if he had been burned. Without offering an explanation he used her shoulders to right and stepped back, “Your life is under my protection, Priestess. I will not stand for you to fall to injury or illness. Such recklessness is not becoming. This Sesshomaru suggests that you choose a member of your ‘Pack’ and learn from them. Unless of course, you wish to be so weak forever?” He said lightly, turning from her with a lingering glance.

“Then, I choose you.” She snapped back and crosses her arms, glaring up at him.

Sesshomaru paused at the entrance of the tree, one claw lifted to touch the bark as he inclined his head enough for his hair to curtain his face, “You have not yet earned that right, should you aspire to be stronger, this Sesshomaru would not deny you then.” He turned then and exited the tree to greet his cousin who had just now arrived. After all, Sesshomaru was known for his speed, and few could top him when danger threatened.

Kagome glared daggers at his back, “He didn’t need to be so rude.

Kaori whispered low, her arms folded behind her head, “Well, that was close, eh, Shizuka?”

The black haired twin snorted, her arms folded elegantly in the sleeves of her purple haroi, patterns of a gibbous moon shared space with with soft violet and accented her bright golden eyes, “Don’t be such a bastard, Kaori.”

Off in the distance the sound of Azuka’s howl penetrated the rain again, much closer this time. Even more startling was the returning howl, and it seemed as if it was right outside their tree.

Kagome shivered but looked at the twins. “I need your help. This... thing, its feeding off her energy. I need you to anchor me so I don’t get lost.”

                “What the hell are you talking about?” Shizuka snapped.

                “I need to go inside her mind and cut the connection. If I don’t have a way out, both of us could be lost.”

                Kaori hissed, nearly ready to take the human girl up and shake her, “Don’t be a fool! Why take the risk, Sesshomaru-sama and Azuka are almost here!”

                Kagome snapped right back, “Aderyn doesn’t have that much time! Listen to her! You may not be able to see it, but surely you can hear? Listen to her heart! Her lungs! What do THEY tell you? She’s dying!” She calmed down a little. “Besides, I’m the only one who can purge this thing.”

                Shizuka nodded, kneeling down on the other side of Aderyn, “Yosh! What do we do?”

                “Shizuka!”

                “Kaori! Just do it!”

                Kagome gathered her reiki in irritation. “I need you to go to our bond and hold me into this world, so if my mind gets too far away you can pull me back.” She took a deep breath and laid her hands over Aderyn’s heart. Closing her eyes, she mentally grabbed the twins and looped the threads around her. ~Can you guys hear me?~

Without waiting for an answer, she pushed herself into Aderyn’s soul. She could hear the soft hooting of an owl around her and looked for a place with no sound. Finding it, she slipped inside. Images of terrible deaths and blood flashed before her eyes, bodies missing pieces of flesh and appendages. Bright colors swirls intersperses with poison and glowings eyes surrounded her and panicking she flared her reiki, the pure bright pink cutting through the evil. Focusing it into a blade sharper than steel, she swung it, severing the blackness from the soft gold that was Aderyn’s soul. Smiling she felt the gentle tug of the twins and she let herself be pulled back into her body.

“I... I managed to get a hold of Azuka-chan... it seems she called Sesshomaru-sama.” Everyone turned to look at the downed raven. Her skin was pale and her breathing was shallow, but otherwise looked physically fine. None of them were fooled by such an appearance, especially Kagome who could see the residual darkness lingering where her purity had not yet reached. It would take time, purging this filth as it was something she had not encountered before. Its poison was much different than Naraku and Kagome found herself odd obsessed with the differences. What made this poison different than Naraku? Why was it so much stronger, but seemed to stem from a similar base?

                Kagome leaned over the golden haired raven, placing a hand to the sweaty forehead and closing her eyes. Using the newly discovered bond, Kagome tapped into the strand of youki that connected her reiki to Aderyn. She felt the pull, like a suction and hesitated before she pulled back completely. Something about that abyss frightened her, and without knowing what to expect, Kagome dared not venture.

                Swallowing, Kagome fidgeted in place, gnawing on her lower lip.

                “What are you brewing in that crazy human mind of your, Kagome?” Kaori could smell that disorder radiating off the human, and sneered in curiosity. Kagome licked her lips and shook her head, “I... I am not sure, so I won’t say.”

                Shizuka chirped, a sound of gleeful surprise, “Well look at that! Who does that remind you of?” She elbowed her twin, lifting an eyebrow suggestively.

Kaori rolled her eyes, “Don’t get all romantic on me, I don’t feel like reliving my breakfast.”

                “Eeeeeh? You ate?! Awww, Ri-chan! You didn’t share?”

                “Shuddup, dobe.”

                Kagome ignored the antics of the twins in favor of delving back into a deep introspection, trying to understand why it was so hard to dispel this darkness.

A flurry of gold feathers was there only warning when Aderyn tumbled out of the sky, unconscious. Kaori was the first out of the tree, followed closely by Shizuka and Kagome, “What the hell?”

                Shizuka snarled and lifted her palm, a small orb of purple kitsune-bi ignited, “Find Azuka!” The little ball dashed out into the torrents of the early mornings, continuous rain.

                “Oh no! Let me see, I’m a healer, let me see if she’s hurt!”

                Kagome knelt down beside Aderyn, quickly taking note of her physical appearances. She was pale and her face had a grey sheen that spoke oh exhaustion. “That presence, she has a faint residue of that presence from the other day.” As she spoke she lay her hands on the raven’s torso and let her reiki fill her chest, purging the taint from her.

                “She’s clean now.” The miko spoke quietly, drained from using her reiki.

                “We really need to exercise that reiki of yours, Kagome.” Shizuka said, placing a hand on the miko’s shoulder when she would have tipped over, “but good work. We’ll take it from here.” Kaori was already moving to haul the unconscious bird onto her back.

                “Well, I’ll go find us some more firewood, once you get Aderyn-san comfortable, one of you come get me, I’ll have gathered enough for two loads by then, hopefully.” Kagome said, slowly getting to her feet. Pushing wet hair from her face she smiled at Shizuka who helped her twin with the sleeping woman, into the hollow of the tree they had spent the night in.

                Kagome wandered around, gathering wood. “I wonder what Azuka-chan is doing. I wonder if I can find her from here.” She concentrated. ~Azuka-chan? Can you hear me?~ She shook her head.

~Geez, this is harder than I thought. I wonder where that crazy fox is.~

                ~You’re noisy.~ The sound of fire crackling filled her mind. ~What do you want?~

                ~Aderyn-chan has been hurt. The presence got to her and she fell out of the sky. Luckily the twins caught her.~

                Suddenly a bone chilling howl broke through the rain, traveling through each raindrop like a demonic phone call. Kagome clapped her hands over her ears before she realized she was hearing the same sound two different ways. The sound in reality was far off and distant, but in her head it could have come from right next to her. Her heart began to pound when the sound resounded in her chest and brought forth instincts that had no real purpose, for the moment, for the human. it made her want to protect, and it made her angry and restless when she couldn't find anything ‘to’ protect.

                Her eyes widened as she realized something... it was youkai instinct she was feeling, and it was enough to choke her on its intensity. She almost laughed, if the sensation wasn’t so painful.

                “People... think that demons don’t feel? Huh, they should.. feel this..” The girl almost doubled over from the desire to see Aderyn, Shizuka, Kaori and Azuka again. As a whole. Kagome dropped her bundle of sticks and ran back to the tree they had been sleeping in.

                Suddenly a returned howl, more powerful and it seemed to shake everything without anything moving. Making everyone pause, and poor Kagome almost fell out of the tree on her way up to the entrance when her focus slipped. Kaori looked down at just that moment and managed to catch her by the wrist.

                “Arigatou, Kao-chan.” Kagome whispered, her heart still in her throat from the near-fall. Even though it was only a few feet, it was  still a painful landing.

“Don’t feed me that shit!” Azuka screamed, her eyes squeezing closed, “We’ve been keeping secrets since we were pups!! What’s one more?? You could have died and I wouldn’t have known!!”

Azuka shook her head, pacing away from the group, “Go on ahead without me for a while. We’re still on duty and I need to think...”

                Aderyn sat down against a large cherry tree and put her chin on her knees. “I’m sorry. I was afraid. “

                Kagome knelt down in front of the golden raven, “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’ve been around Inuyasha enough to say that she was afraid too, and she doesn’t fault you for what she did. She just has a hard time dealing with her fear... like Inuyasha she seems to battle it with anger.”

                Kaori crossed her arms, “At any rate, Azuka is right. We have to keep moving, we’re on border patrol and Sesshomaru will kill us if he finds out we have procrastinated. Again.”

                “I do need to find that charm though. I knew she’d be mad, but I was afraid to tell her. I just....”

                “I feel that way with Inuyasha all the time, usually its because I want to go home, and I know he’ll be mad. I think he’s afraid I won’t come back, sometimes.” She smiled reassuringly.

                “Azuka is different. Her fury... She won’t be back for a few days at least. Even then she won’t talk to me or even acknowledge me.” She shook her head and ran her hand through the grass, catching her hand on a delicate gold chain. “What do you know; I found the damn necklace. Let’s go.” She got up slowly. “I’m going to have you ride one of the twins. I need some space.” She turned to Kagome and slipped the long chain over her neck. “Keep this safe.” She transformed and took the sky, wings silent.

                Kagome blinked, looking down at the beautiful piece of jewelry, “I wonder...”

                “Hn?” Shizuka came up beside Kagome, looking down at the necklace, “Ah, it really is pretty!”

                Kaori came up on the other side of Kagome, equally interested in the trinket, “I’m not playing ‘horse’ for the human.”

~~

                It rained for the next two days, and they passed solemnly as the torrents that fell from the heaven, as the little pack that had formed through friendship and trust, slowly began to drift. Kagome felt the tension like she herself had been strung tight on by her tendons and bones. On the dawn of the third day and still no Azuka or Aderyn, Kagome became quite fed up, “Thats it! I can’t take it anymore!” In the hollow of a large tree that they made into camp for the night, sat the twins and a stewing Kagome.

                “Why do you think she wears such outlandish clothing?” Shizuka asked, gnawing on a  strip of dried meat. Kaori sniffed and crossed her arms behind her head, looking for all intents and purposes to be completely uninterested, “I for one, want to know where she gets them. I could work with a design like that.”

                “It’s not as bad as Azuka-san tho, eh? If she’s not in demon form, she’s naked. That woman don’t know how to wear clothes!” Shizuka snorted, earning a grin from her twin. “Although, you’re no better.”

Kagome giggled and flung her arms around the white haired woman’s middle, “Group hug!”

                Kaori paled as Aderyn and Shizuka joined in on the fun.  “IYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! GET! OF! MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

                Aderyn pulled out of the hug and looked around then. “I found it!” she cheered.

                All four of the remaining girls froze and blinked in startled confusion. “Found what?” The silver kitsune questioned her friend, and her sanity.

                “This is the palace that Inuyasha was born. There is a trinket that I need to retrieve from here.” Aderyn’s demeanor grew somber.

                Azuka blinked and then looked around, her lips falling open as she realized the pond they had fell into earlier had actually been a koi pond. Whipping around she saw the decaying remains of the House, it was in the process of merging with the surrounding foliage, and could be missed if the eye were untrained, “Oh... sweet Kami...” Azuka whispered, moving away from the other girls and towards the skeleton of the decaying House. In her mind eyes the House was rebuilt, polished and full of servants that greeted her with friendly human faces.

                “I gave Izayoi-chan a necklace one of the times I visited, right before she died. It had a golden feather, about the length of my pointer finger on it.” She held out her hand, pointer finger extended.

                “Eeeeeh! You came here after Touga-sama died?” Kaori wailed, pointing at her.

                Aderyn glared at her. “Why are you trying to get me killed, Kao-chan?”

                Azuka loomed over the petite raven. “What is she talking about?”

                Kaori backed away slowly, her eyes closed and her lips a grim, straight line, “...Crap.”

                The silver kitsune loomed over the two, actual youki sparking behind her pupils, “Don’t tell me she’s actually right, Aderyn. You did not come here, after Touga-sama died!”

                “I might’ve. A time or two.” The raven looked bashful.

                Azuka exploded, tipped her head back and roared, clawing at her hair, “You directly disobeyed his orders?! WHY!? We were told not to come back here! What if you had been seen!? What if Takimaru’s family-!?”

                “Do you really think Touga-kun would’ve wanted to me to abandon the mother of his youngest child?” Aderyn snapped. “Besides, Izayoi-chan was my friend.”

                Azuka snarled, rubbing her hands down her face, “You.... Sess-.... fuck!” The silver kitsune began to pace, the one tail that remained in her humanoid form twitched incessantly, “I know.... Izayoi was my friend too... of course she was! However, at the time we were given explicit orders, Aderyn... If Sesshomaru-sama were to find out... His wrath would be greater than my own. I can not bring myself to be so anger, because i know why you did it... but... YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME!” Azuka rounded on the golden raven, her ears laid back, “I WOULD HAVE GONE WITH YOU! Be damned the consequences! If the Setsuna Army had found you!” Azuka cut herself off sharply, jerking her face to the side, her hands clenching tightly at her hips., “You will not make such a decision again. Into hell, I would follow you, but you must tell me you’re going!”

                “Gomenasai, but you know that Sesshoumaru would not be able to stop me. I was his father’s beta, and I’m fifty years older than he is.”

                “He would have tried, back then... It would have torn in asunder, having to choose between you two...”

Her gasped caught the attention of the other female’s and when Kagome noticed their curious panic she quickly dispelled it with a wave of her hand a laugh, “Don’t mind me! I was justing thinking! Nothing bad, promise!”

                ~Because of you bonding us together, we can almost follow your thoughts. I can catch just the barest touch.~ The whisper of Aderyn’s voice came across her mind. ~Yes, this is bond. We are your sisters now.~

                Kagome was so startled she sat up straight and gasped again, “W-wait!” She stood up and held up her hands, “Y-you mean you knew this would happen? B-but, I ended up tying us all together on accident! But why would you want a bond like that with me in the first place?” Kagome was tingling all over with emotion she wasn’t sure was her own, as her words left her mouth the feelings began to crest.

                “I didn’t know that would happen. Each bonding is unique.”

                Kagome promptly sat down and felt her nose begin to sting as tears threatened to gather in her eyes, “Yeah but.... I know Azuka-san did not want to be bound to me, I mean who wants to be bound to a stranger?! I-I’m sorry..” She pulled her knees to her face and began to cry.

Azuka glanced at Aderyn, fidgeted in place and then sighed, “I’m no good with crying...”

Aderyn pulled Kagome into her lap. “Listen to me, Kotori. What happened happened, all that means, is that we get to know you. The real you.”

Azuka cleared her throat, looking highly uncomfortable and offered, “And speak for yourself... I never said I ‘hated’ you, and... I don’t ‘hate’ that I am in a bond with you either... I’m not that kind of youkai. I’m adventurous, and I don’t ‘hate’ humans either so don’t go thinking you can fit me into that mold.”

                “What she’s saying, is that she’s willing to give it a go.” Aderyn laughed. “I’ve become quite fond of you over the past four years.”

                “Yeah. Even with all your inane chattering, you’re still a pretty good ally to have,” Shizuka chimed in, walking over.

                “Speak for yourself.” Kaori rolled her eyes. “However, that being said, you scare me quite a bit and this ensures you’re always on my side.”

                Azuka blinked and then snorted, dissolving  into a belly laugh after a moment, “Dammit, Kaori! I fucking love you!” She slung an arm around the white kitsune’s shoulders and pulled the sputtering female close.

                “Get off me, you crazed bitch!”

Aderyn coasted alongside a silver, winged kitsune who had a fine layer of kitsune-bi over her entire form and was currently muttering death-threats to anything within range. :: Hey, Zuka? Do you think things would be going different if Touga-sama was still alive?::

Pulled from her inner musings, the kitsune titled her head to the side and looked off into the distance, :: Of course, everything would be different... ::

::I miss him.::                                                                                                                                      

Azuka landed on the ground, her wings folding in tightly and disappearing as she lifted and shook off a stray string of weeds, :: Aye.... we all do. But I understand why you would miss him more than most, save for his son. ::

::I know he only saw me as a daughter, but still. He wasn’t that much older than me, when I came to him.I mean, He’s only 50 years older than me. It’s not my fault that  you damn dogs mature faster than us birds.::

::Eeeeh? You trying to say you fantasize about being my aunt? Thats messed up Eryn-chan! :: The silver kitsune playfully swatted at the still airborne raven with one of her tails.

::Iteiteite! Don’t do that. I can’t help that I fell for the old dog. That’s the main reason, why I’ve helped his sons.:: She sighed.

Azuka sobered and nodded, :: Aye, I get it, really. But don’t expect me to start calling you Auntie or anything. Damn crow...:: Azuka said slyly.

::What?!?! I’m not a crow you, damn dog,:: Aderyn squawked.

                Azuka lifted a paw nonchalantly, :: What are you saying? Of course, I meant ‘Raven’, don’t be silly!:: The silver kitsune stood up and began to walk away, towards where the twins and Kagome had settled down and were talking quietly, sending a bright cheshire grin over her shoulder to her best friend.

                Aderyn transformed, brushing off her scarlet kimono and hakama as she descended from the sky. “So have you adjusted to having four youkai bound to you, Kagome-chan?”

                Kagome sighed and sat up a bit straighter as Aderyn and Azuka moved to stand beside the twins, “Honestly? I don’t feel much different, but I’ll tell you something... I’ve never been gone from Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango and Shippo for very long, this is my first time. It might be the bond, of ‘that’, but right now everything seems kinda surreal.”

                Aderyn laughed, “I understand that. You should’ve seen me when I first got to Japan. At least you can communicate.”

                Kagome laughed in turn, “Oh yeah, that would be a little disorienting.”

                “You have no idea, Kotori.” She shook out her hair, running her hand through the pale gold locks. “Ugh, fish food.” She pulled out a handful of seaweed out of the soft locks.

                “Why do you keep calling me ‘little bird’?”Kagome asked softly, finding herself tending to her own locks out of a sympathetic response to see the raven demoness do it.

                “Well, I’ve taken you under my wing, literally, and I’m a bird, which makes you my little bird.”

Azuka sighed, allowing the pleasure of another person combing through her hair ease her, “Why would he let her come with us then? Perhaps he wonders at his own sanity? I mean, she is human, she will die within the blink of an eye for him. All for what, a moments fancy of love-oh nay, not love! His ‘obsession’.”

“I noticed something when our souls connected. She has two souls sounds.”

“I heard... the first is obvious. She is human, and a priestess her soul is fragile. Wings however... but I do not sense youki from her... did you?” Azuka turned to look over her shoulder, the seriousness of her question evident in her eyes.

“No, however that doesn’t mean anything. The reiki sound may be covering it.” Aderyn shrugged.  She flailed when Kagome connected with her back, squealing. Azuka’s only warning was the widening of Aderyn’s bicolored eyes before she became the victim of what people from the future called a “dog pile”.

“GET OFF ME!!” She cried, slamming one fist into the ground beside her head repeatedly, as every inch of her was otherwise pinned to the ground under the weight of four females, all of which were now arguing and wrestling, with the poor hapless human girl stuck in the middle.

“THATS IT!” Azuka used brute force to rise up onto her knees and  catapult the group backwards and into the pond. “IYAAAA!” Aderyn screamed, latching onto Azuka’s hair as she was pulled along.

“Not my hair! Iteiteiteiteite-!” The surface of the water began to still before two angry foxes, one white and one black erupted from the pond; a raven and a winged silver kitsune took the skies, all four squawking and chortling in anger and distress as the human female floated in the center of the pond, forgotten.

Shizuka glanced at Kaori, both shrugged and then looked up at the raven. Aderyn’s arms were down by her side and a pained smile painted on twitching lips with her eyes closed, painted the image of the golden raven from Wales, “It’s.... it’s so... asinine...”

“I’ve heard many things about you, little human! I have longed to see you myself, Sesshomaru no Ouji-.”

“Ah! Zuka-chan, now is probably not the time for that.” Azuka’s ear twitched, dislodging a string of slimy algae

“Huh? Ah, well I was only going to say that Sesshomaru-sama and Aderyn-sama have such wonderful training exercises they have been keeping all to themselves!! But now I have you! A little human Priestess I can shape and mold!” Azuka preened and began looking the stunned human girl over like a silk bolt being offered at a fine price.

“HOLD IT!” Kagome’s temper snapped and her left foot slammed into the ground with an angry ‘squelch’ as water pooled up around her ankles, “Training!? I don’t-!”

“Not to worry!” Azuka held up a finger, a cheshire grin on her face as she placed a fingertip to the girl’s forehead, “Now don’t move.” Kagome’s eyes widened as kitsune-bi suddenly engulfed her person. Before she could freak out, being covered in fire, she realized it was only hot, not painful, and before she could speculate it was gone.

“There! Now you’re dry, you should probably go and apologize to the twins, and explain what you did to their souls and ours, hm?” Turning the stunned and muttering girl away she gave her a gently push then turned to eye Aderyn menacingly.

“What? It’s not like it’d hurt any, if she knew!” Azuka began to pull the disgusting goo from her person, glaring at the vile lake slime in contempt. “Besides, it’s what he wants isn’t it? To have her in the West and get to know her; if she knows what going on, we’d cut a lot of corners.”

“It’s not our place to tell her though.” The raven snapped and then turned to watch Kagome run from the twins who had changed and were chasing her around the pond. Azuka observed with a detached curiosity, pulling a string of weeds from her hair with disdain.

“Sit down,” Aderyn sighed. “I’ll help you get that goo out of your hair.”

Azuka snorted, “Oh no you don’t you tricky bitch-”

Kagome took a deep breath and closed her eyes. In her minds eye she could see Aderyn, a great golden bird surrounded by a cloud of rainbow dust. Reaching out, she grabbed a pinch and pulled into her aura, twisting them together much like one would do when spinning a thread. With a quick thought, she pulled threads from the twins and Azuka and spun them into the line that connected them to her soul. Suddenly, she could feel slivers of other awarenesses on the edge of her mind.

“Kagome. KAGOME!” Aderyn shouted, holding her head above water, using her youki to keep herself out of the water. When the sable haired woman’s eyes cleared, the raven began yelling at here. “What the bloody hell were you thinking?”

“W-well I was thinking that because you three were so close, that I could bind us together? Was it bad?”  

“No, but you need to be more careful. If you had pulled any more than you did from any of us, you would’ve been lost. Also, its typically polite to ask before you bind your soul to someone.”

The girl from the future blushed and pressed her index fingers together bashfully, “Gomen ne.”

The twins had tumbled and and crashed into random landmarks when Kagome had been reading into their souls and as they lay in pitiful heaps, whining like puppies, Azuka shook herself free of water as she had been unfortunate enough to land in a small pond .

Kagome pulled herself to shore, gagging on the algae that was thick in her mouth and on her person, above them Aderyn floated with a touch of smug innocence, “How ungraceful.”

“You have wings! It’s not my fault I’m human and can’t fly!” Kagome curse as she flopped onto her butt and began pulling strands of weeds and algae from her hair and person when the silver fox suddenly spun on her, lengthy fangs bared and sleek slender body now sagged with the weight of water and her fur just as coated with filth. Bright Azure eyes snapped with youki and four tails wound incessantly with barely banked anger. In a flash of kitsune-bi Azuka exploded, drenched and naked, with long silver hair and ears drooped under the weight of algae.

“You!” She pointed accusingly at Kagome, “I have NEVER met a more ill-fated human in my life! You don’t shut up! You speak nonsense and yet in riddles on the same breathe! You!” She marched up to the startled human girl who tried to crab-walk backwards away.

“Aderyn-sama? What’s going on? I feel strange!” Kagome withdrew her hand and the vortex abruptly died, the aura tendrils that Aderyn had begun to pull free were sucked back in.

“Can you feel my aura, Kotori?”

Kagome pressed a hand to her forehead again, “I... I think so.” Kagome focused on the ‘flapping’ sound she heard within her head, allowing its tempo to reach a deafening ring, “It’s so loud... it sounds like a giant bird!”

Aderyn laughed, “That’s my beast you’re hearing. Daft bird. I tend to call her Hinadori, much to her dismay.”

Kagome giggled and nodded as the ‘flapping’ droned into a soft background noise, “Is it always going to be this loud?”

“No, she’s being showy, for your benefit. Ignore her and she’ll quiet down.”

“If... if I can hear your beast... what do I sound like to you?” Kagome wondered, looking into the bicolored eyes of the raven.

“You have two sounds in your soul. The sound of tinkling, like glass hitting the floor after it breaks and the soft flap of an eagles wings. Which is odd, considering everything.”

“An Eagle wing? You can tell that by a sound? Why is that odd?”

“As a bird, I can identify one by their wingbeats unless its one like me, a crossbreed. It’s odd, because as a human you should only have one soul beat.” Aderyn frowned, then shook her head. “Anyway, I want to you to connect part of your aura, a very small part ,mind you, to part of mine.”

Kagome looked at her nervously. “Connect, why?”

“Because that way we can communicate while I am in beast form.” Aderyn covered her green eye, studying her with the gold eye.

“What are you doing?” Kagome asked curiously.