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Kagome's eyes fluttered open as she sat up from where she was lying. She felt awake, but surely she was still dreaming and asleep. She let her eyes wander until they landed on a figure hunched over on a nearby rock.
"Hi!" Kagome exclaimed excitedly as she jumped up and walked over to where the figure was sitting. Shino nodded and slid off the bolder.
"Hello," he said with a quick bow. "You've already received many answers from your mother, I presume?" Kagome replied with a quick nod of her head.
"Is there anything else you would like to know?" Kagome racked her brain for all the questions that had been eating away at her insides.
"Well," she started slowly, "I would like to know if there is a way for me to conceal how I look. You know, so when I go into villages the people don't get scared and when I return home, I can still go to school." Elder contemplated her question for a moment before answering.
"That is all I would hide this from. Do not mask your transformation from your friends. You might end up loosing them that way," Shino answered her question with slight suspicion in his voice.
Kagome nodded grimly. She had been hoping he would tell her what to do on that subject since she hadn't been sure whether or not to tell them.
"To answer your question though, the monk in your group should be able to do so if you ask him." Kagome muttered something as a question struck her. Why hadn't Inuyasha asked to be concealed with a spell then? Then again, the silver haired hanyou was extremely prideful and would never ask for help on such a thing as his bloodline's appearance.
"Oh! Before I forget to ask this," Kagome stated, "I want to know if my miko powers will cause any problems since priestesses and demons are at war, I was wondering if my blood would always be at war with itself." She took the time to ask this as she hopped up onto the rock and sat down.
"If you keep good control over both blood types, they shouldn't cause any major problems. Actually they should help keep your demon side in line so you won't accidentally turn into a full demon like Lord Inuyasha." Kagome smiled at the thought. Now she wouldn't have to worry about keeping a sword to control her demon side with her at all times.
"Okay," she said happily, clucking her tongue.
"Lady Kagome, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, I think it would be wise to send a demon from our pack to help you on your journey. It would be a female so as to not cause a riff between you and the Lord." Kagome blushed then gradually bobbed her head up and down liking the idea of another person to help them and a new friend.
"Of course she would have to be very trustworthy and reliable. She may even be able to help you in your trainings to become a stronger hanyou. My granddaughter's name is Junko. She's not the best in our pack that I could to send, but she's incredibly strong for her young age. Junko will be turning sixteen in a couple months according to human years. That's just a couple years younger than you."
"She's your granddaughter?" Kagome asked, slightly confused.
"Not by blood, child. I took her in when she was only two human years old. Her parents were apart of our pack and were killed in a war between another inu pack.
A frown lit the young soon-to-be hanyou's face at Junko's misfortune.
"When will you send her?" Kagome queried. Elder smiled at the young lady's acceptance. Not many youkai, which he knew of, could take all the information of being a hanyou and her heritage as calmly as she did.
"Junko will arrive early in the morning so you might want to prepare for her. She can have a bit of a temper when provoked and Lord Inuyasha doesn't always know when to keep his mouth shut." The elderly youkai had said this with an amused smile painted on his face and an extra crinkle at the corners of his eyes. Kagome returned the amused smile easily.
"Well, dear child, I'm afraid it is around five o'clock in the morning already and you will need to give forewarning that there will be another demon coming." She nodded yet again as the world of cherry blossoms and the image of Elder faded.
The last thing she heard was, "You can always contact me in dream."
Awake
Kagome felt her eyes flicker open as she groaned. Pushing herself up onto her elbows, she sleepily looked around the room. Shippou was asleep beside her, Sango and Miroku were on the other side of the fire pit, and Inuyasha was nowhere in the room. Pushing her body the rest of the way up, she let the covers fall away.
Kagome carefully stepped over the sleeping kit and headed outside. Once there, she let her miko powers take over and located the tree where Inuyasha was currently snoozing. Finding him in a nearby tree she silently trotted over to it. Kagome looked up into the branches and spotted a red form.
"Inuyasha," the priestess in training called out to him gently. She almost giggled out load when she saw his head roll to the side and his ears twitch hearing the sound. It was times like these when she found him undeniably cute.
But again she called out, "Inuyasha." This time he seemed to wake up from his light slumber.
Jerking his head forwards he answered her call, "What do you want?" Kagome was mildly surprised. To be honest she had been expecting him to call her names because she woke him up when there was clearly no sign of danger.
"Come down here, I want to talk to you about something." He complied wordlessly as he jumped down next to her. Taking in a deep breath, Kagome sat down with her back to the tree and Inuyasha followed her actions.
"Okay, I need to tell you that a lot is going to happen in the next couple of days and I need you to trust me." Maybe he wasn't fully awake yet, but Inuyasha hadn't done anything rash so far and Kagome found herself slightly irked. She didn't get to remark about Inuyasha's behavior because he started talking.
"Why would you tell me to trust you?" Kagome's brows furrowed as she turned her head towards him.
Shivering slightly, Kagome replied, "There will be a demon coming here today and she will be traveling with us. I don't want you to give her any trouble." This time it was Inuyasha's turn to look confused, but the expression only briefly flitted across his face.
"How do you know a demon will be coming here and how do you know it will be a she?" Inuyasha's thoughts were mottled at the strange behavior Kagome was expressing.
"She's a friend and I just want you to know that." Kagome shivered again, but before she could do anything she felt cloth and warmth engulf her. Inuyasha had just taken off the top part of his fire rat kimono and draped it over her shoulders. Kagome blushed and looked to see what emotions were playing on Inuyasha's face, but he quickly turned his head away. Sighing, she snuggled into the remaining heat that Inuyasha had left behind and looked out towards the forest. There, a figure walked out. Inuyasha tensed, but before he could react Kagome placed a hand on his arm. He shot her a look which she readily returned.
The figure came closer and Kagome could see that it was a girl. The young woman looked around sixteen and Kagome concluded that she had to be the orphan Shino had talked about sending. The female inu youkai stopped when she was about seven feet away and glared at them intensely.
Twitching her nose a few times a smile suddenly lit up her face. "Hello, my name is Junko and you must be Kagome and Inuyasha." She game a curt bow and straitened herself so she was at full height which wasn't very tall, being only five feet and a few inches.
Upon further inspection, Kagome began taking in Junko's strange appearance. She had waist length, light brown hair pulled into two braids that hung down her back. Wisps of cheekbone length bangs, parted to the side, framed her slightly tanned face. The girl had pointed ears similar to Sesshoumaru's and clawed hands and feet.
Her clothing consisted of a top that vaguely looked like a kimono's, but it was short sleeved, had no visible white layer, and the neck went slightly deeper. She also had on a pair of shorts. The whole outfit was a forest green with silver lining. She had on no on sandals and carried only a small bag. All in all Kagome thought the outfit looked like something a human ninja might wear, but didn't voice her opinion.
The girl came closer and sat down. Kagome then heard. 'I won't tell anyone about your secrets if you don't want me to.' Kagome's eyes went wide with alarm and her back stiffened. Inuyasha being totally left in the dark quickly wrenched his head in her direction.
'Who are you and what are you doing in my head?' Kagome questioned almost afraid of the answer.
'Oh, Shino must not have told you that some of our pack also has telepathic powers. By the way, this is Junko.'
Kagome put her hand on her head and muttered something that sounded like, "I should have known." Lifting her head back up, Kagome then replied telepathically, 'I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone.'
The younger girl grinned again and nodded her head in understanding. This only perplexed Inuyasha even more. What the hell going on?
"Oh!" Kagome said unexpectedly. "I have to introduce you to my friends." Then as an after thought she added, "Watch out for the monk, Miroku."
Junko raised one eyebrow and gave a polite, "okay," before bowing again.
Kagome stood up and motioned for Inuyasha and the female youkai to follow her back into the hut.
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