The Best Laid Plans...

Sure enough, just as the sun peeked above the horizon, Inuyasha was shaking Kagome awake.

"Come on Kagome, we got to get moving! Wake up already! I'll go wake your mother up to cook me some breakfast while you get ready!" Kagome slowly opened her eyes and looked at the clock sitting on her nightstand; it was only 5:30 am, way too early to be woken up. She grumbled this under her breath and pulled a pillow over her head as she rolled over to go back to sleep; only to be woken again seconds later by her mother's screams at Inuyasha about being woken up too early for any sane person to be awake on a Saturday morning. Sighing, she pulled the blankets off herself, grabbed one of her new outfits, and headed toward the bathroom for a nice hot shower.

More than half an hour later Kagome grabbed her big yellow backpack, her laptop case, and her extra-large duffle bag and headed out of her room towards the kitchen. Her mother, though visibly upset, was serving breakfast to an anxious Inuyasha and a sleepy Souta. She smiled weakly at her mother; quickly apologizing for Inuyasha's rude awakening then turned to the hanyou and scolded him. "Inuyasha, what made you think you could wake up my family? You know this era is different, not everyone wakes up at the crack of dawn and you have no right to demand anyone do so just so they can make you breakfast! Apologize to my mother now, or I'll say that one little word you hate so many times you won't wake up again until tonight!"

Inuyasha looked down to the floor and flattened his ears onto his head, saying, "Aww, but Kagome! I forgot, and you never have a problem waking up to cook for me! I was just thinking that I'd let you get your morning stuff out of the way without having to do the cooking this morning is all..." his voice trailed off and he looked up at her with puppy eyes, then turned to her mother and gave her the same look.

Kagome giggled then turned and told her mother, "That means he's sorry mama, he's just not that great with words!" Her mother smiled and nodded her head in acceptance, and then told Kagome to take a seat and have some breakfast before leaving since she had actually taken the time to cook. Kagome sat and had a bowl of steamed rice placed to her left, a bowl of miso soup placed to her right and an empty dish sat in front of her. Her mother had prepared a multitude of side dishes including tamagoyaki (rolled omelet), grilled fish, natto (fermented soybeans), a nice salad, pickles, and dried seaweed. Breakfast was eaten silently, the only excitement being when Souta dozed off and his head hit the table with a plop. When everyone had finished eating, Inuyasha grabbed Kagome by the arm and began dragging her toward the well house. She waved goodbye to her mother and told Inuyasha to grab the bags with the ramen and her duffle bag. They jumped into the well and were surrounded by the blue light, transported back in time.

In sengoku jidai

Inuyasha jumped out of the well and yelled down to Kagome "Oi, hurry up Kagome! I don't know why you need all this junk anyway; you brought enough clothes to change every day! And what's the rest of this junk in here?" He began to rummage in the duffle bag, pulling out the battery operated cooler and looking at it anxiously.

"Inuyasha, put that back now! It's known as a cooler, and it's keeping a special medicine the doctor prescribed me for a feminine issue I have! And I brought all this stuff as you call it so I wouldn't have to go back to my time for at least two weeks, maybe longer if we find a place where I can wash my clothing." Kagome was annoyed at his questioning, and happy he hadn't delved further into her bags; she had some of her more unique purchases on the bottom of that bag and didn't relish the idea of explaining to Inuyasha what a vibrator was, or what she was planning to do with it.

He gave her a strange look at her explanation of the cooler, and then briskly stated, "Feh, whatever. Let’s go back to the village; we'll leave tomorrow to search out rumors of shards." He turned on the path, leaving Kagome to repack her duffle bag and follow him.

Her bag repacked, Kagome began to walk toward the village; she had walked about 10 paces when she sighted Sango, Miroku, and Shippo. They ran up to her, all speaking at the same time.

"Kagome! You're back, how was your time? Are you finished with the exams that you had to take? How long will you stay with us this time?" Rushed out of Sango's mouth.

"Lady Kagome! So good to see your fine figure this beautiful day! Might I say your attire is very fetching?" Said Miroku, his gaze taking in the new clothes she had purchased with a lechours grin.

"Kagomeeeeeeeee! You're back! Did you bring any candy? Can I have some pleeeeeeease?" Said little Shippo, jumping up and latching himself around her neck in a huge hug.

"Hey everyone, slow down, I can only answer one person at a time!" She smiled at them, hugging Shippo back and settling him on her shoulder. She turned to Sango and replied to her first. "Sango, my time spent home was great! I got a lot accomplished, my exams are completed, and I have enough clothing for two weeks here this time, longer if we find a place where I can wash them. Miroku, thank you for the compliment. I've been getting tired of all the leers my school uniform was causing, so I figured I'd find some clothing that suited this time period better. I know this still isn't something normally worn now, but it's better than that short skirt was. Who knows, maybe I'll start my own fashion trend!" She giggled at this and then, turning to Shippo, addressed his questions.

"Shippo, yes I brought a lot of candy, including some new things you haven't tasted before! I will give you some, but later...after dinner for a treat ok? I don't want you to get too used to having sweets all the time, it's not good for you and you're teeth!" He looked at her, his eyes droopy and sad. She whispered to him softly, "Maybe if you're good I'll give you something after lunch." At this his eyes lit up and he smiled brightly.

She turned back to Sango, "Hey Sango, I got a new DVD yoga routine for us to try out, a bit more advanced than the last one, want to try it out? Oh, I also brought another DVD with a different type of exercise routine, it's called Pilates; my friends were telling me about it and I was thinking it would be good to use as a cool down routine, I was thinking we'd try it after we train if you think it's a good idea?"

The rest of the day was spent with Kagome and Sango going over the different DVDs, making the decision to do the smaller workouts with some combat training between. Their total workout would only last around an hour and a half. They decided to wake up at daybreak and do the workout, and then they would bathe and head out on the road. Inuyasha grumbled and complained to them about wasting time they could be using to travel, however he complied with their wishes for the routine, understanding that it would only strengthen the party in the long run. Miroku and Shippo went through the food supplies Kagome had brought with her, reading the directions on the various packaging and learning how to prepare them; they agreed to prepare the meals while the girls did their workout sessions in the mornings, with the promise of sweets to reward their efforts. Lunch and dinner would be meat, hunted by Kagome to refine her aim with bow & arrows; again with Miroku and Shippo cooking the meals. The group went to sleep that night with this plan in mind; as they say, the best laid plans...

The next week and a half went by smoothly for the group; Kagome's watch alarm would go off right before sunrise, she would wake Sango and they would change into workout clothes. They would then wake Shippo and Miroku to begin preparations for breakfast; Kagome would grab her laptop and Sango would lead the way into a clearing to begin their workout. By the time they finished the entire training, bathed, and dressed, breakfast would be ready. Once everyone was finished eating, Kagome and Sango would wash the dishes and the group would set off for the day. Kagome would shoot some birds or rabbit for lunch and then dinner, the group would talk for awhile and then sleep. A few nights Kagome stayed awake longer than the others, reading the CD's on her laptop.

One morning as Kagome and Sango were practicing hand-to-hand combat, they heard a scream. They grabbed their weapons and ran into the forest, heading in the direction from which the scream came when Kagome sensed jewel shards ahead. "Sango, there's jewel shards ahead of us; whoever that is screaming is in some serious trouble!"

They ran a couple more minutes, finally finding the origin of the screaming. A young boy, about 13 years old, was trying to get away from a strange looking demon. He had a large gash running down his left leg, making walking difficult, and another gash running from his forehead down the left side of his face ending at the corner of his lip. He was trembling, using his arms and right leg to scramble backwards on the ground.

The demon stood about 8 feet tall, with hoofed feet and fur running up his legs to end at his waist. He had a spiked tail which the fur covered about a third of the way down, ending in what looked to be lizard scales with spikes protruding in a random pattern. His torso was a deep brown, with scales covering his shoulders and arms, extending down his chest to meet with the fur of his legs; spikes were protruding from his arms in a pattern of larger by the shoulders to very small on his hands. His face the same brown as his chest, two large scales on his cheeks with fur on his forehead and neck. His hair was a brilliant green, reaching almost his waist, with a few thick strands that seemed more like tentacles than strands of hair. The demon had managed to capture five jewel shards, strategically placed throughout his body; one in each leg, one in each bicep, and one in his forehead.

Sango quickly jumped at the demon, leaving Kagome to help the injured boy move away from the fight. Once the boy was in a safe location, Kagome took note of the fighting, trying to find weak points on the demon. Sango was doing a good job holding her own when Kagome noticed the demon’s scales would rise from his skin every time it went to attack; she quickly notched an arrow and let it loose after silently giving Sango a signal to force an attack from the demon. Sango saw her hand signal, and quickly grabbed a dagger from her ankle sheathe, jumped into the air and made to thrust it in the demon’s neck. The arrow hit its mark as the demon lifted his arms to deflect Sango’s attack, hitting with a fierce strength directly under the demon’s arm and purifying it from the heart outwards. Kagome ran over and grabbed the shards, purifying them on touch. Sango walked over to her and hugged her tight. “That was really a great shot Kagome! You’re definitely improving with your aim, and I think your holy powers are growing again. I can’t wait to tell Miroku how well you did today.” She gave Kagome a bright smile and the two of them went to find the boy and see how he was doing.

He was sitting on the ground, his back propped against a tree with his eyes closed, his breathing was rough and he seemed to be passed out from the pain. Kagome knelt next to him and began to study his wounds. The boy’s facial wound was puffed up, but it looked like the boy’s eye was spared; however he would carry a scar the rest of his life. The cut running down his left leg was very bad, the demon had sliced his muscle clear to the bone and it seemed the bone itself might have chipped. Kagome could see both wounds were either poisoned or infected already, there was blackness visibly seeping through his veins at an alarming rate.

“Sango, I need you to please go get my laptop and backpack. I’m going to try to purify the poison from his system, but I need to look up some first aid information to treat these wounds. Also, grab some clothing for us to change into; we’re going to get very bloody. And, please, keep Inuyasha away from me; I don’t need his mouth right now!” She heard Sango run toward the camp as she was saying the last, hopefully it was heard. ‘The absolute last thing I need to hear right now is how I’m slowing down the hunt for jewel shards by tending a wounded child.’

Kagome sat in a lotus position and began to gather her powers into her hands, praying for the healing purification to remove the poison from the boy’s system. She placed her left hand over the wound on his face, and hovered her right hand over the bottom of the leg wound, calling the poison up out of the boy’s body with her powers. Once the poison was removed from the facial wound, she moved her left hand to the top of the leg wound to supplement her right hand’s actions. Sango returned as she was slowly bringing her hands together over the center of the wound, and Kagome instructed her to find a vial in her backpack; she would store the poison for now and bring it to Kaede in hopes of finding out what it is. She directed the sphere of poison gathered and held by her powers into the vial, capped it and began to search the medical database on her laptop for severe cut treatment.

“Ok Sango, I need you to get the flashlight from my backpack, then open my first aid kit for me please. I can’t find information on how to treat a wound this deep, I can only pray that the information I see on deep lacerations will help somewhat.” Sango rushed to find the flashlight and then pulled the large first aid kit out and opened it. Kagome showed her how to hold the flashlight to give the most light on the wound, then began to get the necessary gear from the kit.

First, she secured her belt above the leg wound as a tourniquet, then she cleansed the wound by filling a syringe with saline and spraying it throughout the wound until it ran clear, then finally she took the curved needle and began to stitch the wound closed. Once she was satisfied the wound was closed and the stitches would hold, she removed the tourniquet and repeated the cleansing and stitching procedures with the facial wound. Sango helped her dress the wounds with strips of linen, binding a long straight stick to keep the leg from bending too much and tearing the stitches.

Sango quickly changed her clothes than went to get the rest of the group while Kagome changed hers. Miroku and Sango carefully lifted the boy onto Kirara’s back as Inuyasha began to scream at Kagome for wasting time. “The boy’s as good as dead anyway Kagome, he reeks of death and decay! We should just leave him here and be on our way, how are we ever going to complete the jewel if you’re stopping to help everyone!”

Kagome’s temper was rising with every word out of his mouth. ‘He won’t even stop yelling long enough for me to tell him we got five shards from the demon!’ She allowed him to yell for another minute, then abruptly screamed “sit boy!” Once he was planted in the ground sufficiently, she spoke again in a calmer tone. “Inuyasha, the demon attacking this boy had five shards, which are now in my possession. If Sango and I hadn’t stopped to help the boy, we would have missed these shards; Kami knows what could have happened if that demon had lived, he could have gathered more shards and then we would have eventually had another Naraku on our hands--if not worse! Now, we are going to bring this boy to a village and stop to rest there for a day or maybe even two! I need to wash my clothing, and we could all have a nice bath and bed tonight hopefully!”

Inuyasha glared at her, huffed out a “feh” and jumped into the closest tree. It wasn’t a definite affirmative to Kagome’s plan, however it was good enough for the group to accept; the small group began to move west, toward the nearest village.

They were greeted by the village miko, Saya, and ushered toward her hut to place the boy for care. Saya was an older woman who reminded Kagome of Kaede in stature; however she seemed shy and wary of the travelers. She examined the boy’s injuries and marveled on the stitching quietly, asking softly, “How did you think to stitch the wounds, child? I have never in all my years seen such actions; most would have left this child for dead. Tell me about the demon you claim to have slayed, and how and where you found this young boy.”

The headman, a small, balding man with elegant facial features, came shortly after Kagome and Sango began their explanation of occurrences. After hearing the story he offered them the gratitude of the entire village for ridding them of a demon that had been terrorizing them for months. They were given 2 small huts on the village outskirts and told to make themselves at home for as long as they wanted. The girls looked at each other, and with a slight nod of heads they gathered their clothing and, after asking directions to the nearest stream, headed out of the village to wash their clothing and bathe.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

This seems a good place to end the chapter…I’m not very happy with the ending, but I figure it would be best to introduce the characters slowly...

Sess doesn't even make his initial appearance until chapter 4...which is still giving me issues :( You'd think after the past 3 weeks of writing and re-writing it I'd have more than the 1800 words I find acceptable atm...lol

Hope everyone's week was great! :) And...I see this story has over 700 views...but only 1 review...*sad face* I'd really appreciate some feedback! :P

Tenshi - Thank you so much for you're wonderful feedback! I hope you continue to enjoy reading the story, as much as I'm enjoying writing it! lol (now if I could only get my characters to follow my outline...lol...even with the frusturation, it's really fun for me to be writting this!)

Anywho, cya'll next Tuesday! :) (btw, this story is one chapter further along on a single spark, for those of you who have seen it there as well, I'm sorry for the confusion!)

~Jenn