Femur smiled as he looked at Kagome, "You really do not want to kill me, do you?" he asked calmly.

Kagome lowered her bow and arrow slightly, trying to hide the fact she was aiming for his leg. She had a plan. She wasn't going to kill him, but a well-placed shot would do enough damage and allow her a chance to grab the shard. 'Concentrate, concentrate..' Kagome thought to herself, "You seem so nice and everything.. but..." she began aloud, trying to prevent Femur from noticing the aim of her arrow.

"Dammit, Kagome!!" InuYasha interrupted, "He's using his magic on you!! Mortal girls can be so WEAK sometimes!".

'Darn you, InuYasha... I'm trying to concentrate!!' Kagome said to herself. She hadn't yet mastered the weapon, and it took every bit of concentration she had to aim it properly.

"Shoot him already!!!" InuYasha shouted.

Kagome's concentration was broken, and Femur was eyeing her arrow suspiciously. In those few seconds of yelling at her, InuYasha had allowed the gentle-toad enough time to casually move out of the arrow's way. So much for trying to be discreet. If she tried to aim her arrow again, the toad would give chase.

Kagome turned angrily to InuYasha, and aimed her bow and arrow at the dog-demon, "Maybe I should shoot you instead, idiot!!"

"You can't even shoot straight!! What are you trying to threaten me with?? You know, if you didn't have the power to sense the jewel shards, I would have left you to rot long ago!" InuYasha snapped.

Kagome gritted her teeth, "InuYasha... you're such a JERK!!" She shouted.

"Why does everyone I meet keep calling me that?!" InuYasha asked.

"Because it's TRUE?!!" Kagome replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going for a walk!!" she snapped. She had to think of a plan to get the jewel shard away from Femur... and she wanted to get away from InuYasha as well.

Femur looked at InuYasha when Kagome was out of sight, "Why are you so cruel to her?"

InuYasha's eyes flashed with anger, "Why do you care??" he hissed and bared his fangs, "What is your interest in her, TOAD???"

"I simply find her a very lovely girl. Perhaps she needs a gentleman like me to make her feel better.." Femur said, his voice still so polite, and calm. Not a trace of ego in him.

InuYasha held sharp claws to Femur's throat, "We'll see how much of a gentleman you are after I gut you!!"

"InuYasha!" Jade snapped as she aimed her gun at the dog-demon, "I may not like Femur, but I cannot allow you to kill him either!"

InuYasha turned to face Jade, letting go of Femur. "I need that jewel shard!! I'll have to kill him if he won't give it to me!"

"Um.. guys..." Zera began.

"Not now, child.. I may have to hurt this dog-boy.." Jade answered.

"DOG-BOY?!!!!" InuYasha sputtered, "How DARE you?!"

"Ummm... Jade... uh.." Pyrus tried to get a word in.

"Shut up, brat!! I have to teach this woman a lesson!" InuYasha replied.

"But Femur is gone!!" Zera said.

"I'll teach you to call me a... WHAT?! Femur is GONE?!" was InuYasha's delayed reaction. He looked around the hallway, but no sign of the gentle-toad remained. "We have to find him!"

"You'd better not kill him!!" Jade replied.

"And why not?!" InuYasha asked.

"We are in the middle of a war here, dog-boy!! We need all the help we can get.. and that includes Femur. Get the jewel shard away from him, but you cannot kill him.. or I will kill YOU!" Jade answered.

"Feh..!!" InuYasha muttered, and headed out to find the toad.

'I don't have to kill him.. just wound him..' Kagome thought as she sat in an empty corridor, 'He's so nice, I'd never forgive myself if I killed him..' Now, if only she could get within range of him again. If that idiot InuYasha hadn't distracted her, she could have made her move.

"Hello, my dear..." a voice interrupted Kagome's thoughts. She looked up to see Femur heading towards her.

"Uh.. hi, sir.." she responded.

"Call me Femur.." he said as he sat down beside her. "You seem upset about something. Is it InuYasha?"

Kagome looked at Femur, "uh.. well.." Not really... she thought, Just the fact that he distracted me from shooting at you!

"That's ok, dear.." Femur said, and put an arm around her shoulders, "You deserve a nicer person then that.. whatever he is..."

"He's a dog-demon... and I'm not really looking for anyone now anyway.." Kagome said. She didn't like where this was going. She especially didn't like the fact that Femur's arm was around her. She tried to inch away... and he casually tightened his grip. "Sir.. Femur -- I really need that jewel shard..." she started, though she knew asking him for it would get her no where.

"I'm sorry, Kagome.. but I can't give that to you. But I'm sure I could cheer you up.." he smiled his perfect smile.

InuYasha came around that corner just that moment, followed by Zera, Pyrus, and Jade. His eyes went wide when he saw Fermur's arm around his Kagome. No.. she wasn't his... but still... his anger rose. Not even HE had been able to get that close to her. What Femur was doing REALLY ticked InuYasha off!!! "Get your hands away from her, TOAD!!" The dog-demon shouted as he ran up to Femur. He pulled the polite toad away from Kagome, and pinned him against the wall. With an evil glint in his eyes, InuYasha unsheathed his claws once more.

Kagome quickly stood up, and aimed her arrow. Femur struggled in InuYasha's grasp. Kagome pulled back on the arrow, and fired.

The arrow grazed InuYasha's face, and embedded itself in Femur's shoulder. Femur let out a scream, and fell unconscious.

InuYasha turned to Kagome, his cheek bleeding slightly from the arrow. "Exactly WHO were you aiming for?!!" he snapped as he wiped the blood away. It was just a small cut, after all. And InuYasha healed quickly.

Kagome blushed, "Him.. but..." her voice dropped lower, "I was trying to hit his leg.."

InuYasha would have fallen over from sheer embarrassment if the others hadn't been looking on, "Yeah.. you have great aim!" he muttered sarcastically.

Kagome's blush deepened, "Sorry..." Then she looked at Femur. "OH!! There it is!" She gasped. A small silver object lay beside him. InuYasha went to pick it up, but Kagome grabbed his arm and pushed him away, "Not for YOU!" She said as she quickly took the jewel shard.

"One day you'll see. When you least expect it, I'll take all your jewel shards from you and use them for myself!" InuYasha threatened.

Kagome put Femur's shard in the vial that held the others, "Try it!" Kagome challenged.

Femur slowly came to in the infirmary, and felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, "AAAGH! What happened to me?!" he asked.

A pretty girl with long, black hair looked at him sweetly as she sat on the foot of his bed. He vaguely remembered her. It was all a blur to him, "I'm sorry..." she replied. "It's just a flesh wound though. I had to do it.."

Femur sat up carefully so as not to aggravate his shoulder, and smiled at the girl, "That's ok, babe! I know how you can make it up to me!" he raised his eyebrows. The girl looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"How about you and me.. tonight..." he winked.

At first, the girl didn't seem to understand. Then, a look of disgust came over her face, "Ewwww... you're a PERVERT!!" and she quickly stood up and stepped away from him.

"Told you so..." Jade said as she came into the infirmary.

Femur looked at Jade, and smiled wider, "Have you been talking about me, toots?" He asked.

"Not more then I have to.." Jade replied, then rolled her eyes at the young girl. "This is Kagome.. if you remember her. She's the one who gave you that wound on your shoulder," Jade smiled cruelly. "I'm sure she could give you a matching one if she wanted to..."

"But.. I wouldn't.." Kagome said.

"Well.. I would..." Jade replied, "And if you knew the REAL Femur, you would be more then happy to shoot him again!"

"I'd be more then happy to kill him.." another voice said. Femur looked in the doorway, and saw a white-haired, dog-eared male standing there. He was followed by Pyrus and Zera. Femur decided at once that he didn't like the strange dog-boy. The creature walked in and went up to the girl Jade had introduced as Kagome. "How do we get back home?" he asked her.

"Well how should I know, InuYasha? It was YOU who brought us here in the first place!!" Kagome replied.

He narrowed his eyes and glared at her, "..and if I could find that female demon again.."

"We'd be able to follow her back home!" Kagome interrupted as she thought of the possibility.

"I would have said 'I'd kill her'.. but following her back home is another idea.." InuYasha replied.

"You'd kill anything, wouldn't you?" Kagome sighed.

"Only demons.." InuYasha answered, "Or anyone who ticks me off.." and he looked at Femur. Kagome wondered what Femur had done to tick InuYasha off. She decided she didn't want to know.

"Well.. who knows---" Suddenly, Kagome was interrupted by a bright light. The demon appeared from it's portal, and looked around. Her eyes seemed sad. Kagome understood. After all, the demon had lost her main source of power. She went up to her carefully, "Do you know how to get home?" she asked her.

The demon looked at her, "hoooooooooooooomeeeeeee" the demon howled quietly. She suddenly brightened up, "Yeeeeeeesssssssssss... Goooooo Hooooooooooooommmmmmeeeeeee,"

The demon opened another portal. Kagome looked at Pyrus, Zera, Jade, and Femur, "Well.. sorry to have to go so quickly.. but.. this might be our only chance.."

The inhabitants of the ice ship nodded. All but Femur waved and said goodbye. Femur still wasn't sure who these strangers were.

"Maybe we'll meet again.. bye bye!" Kagome said, and grabbed the dog-demon, pulling him through the portal before it closed.

When the bright light of the portal was gone, Femur looked at Zera, Pyrus, and Jade, "Who were those weirdos.. and what did I miss?!!"

Pyrus turned to Jade, "Do you want to tell him, or should I?"

Femur's ears perked up, "What, what?? Tell me WHAT??"

"Perhaps it would be better if he didn't know.." Zera replied.

"Didn't know WHAT? What happened??" Femur asked, looking at his visitors frantically.

"Femur, do you remember anything from the past few hours??" Jade asked.

"Well.. not really. There was a weird female monster that came into my quarters.. then this silver thing fell from it, and I picked it up. Now I'm here in the infirmary nursing a bad shoulder. Anything that happened in between is just a blur. Did I do anything.. stupid???" he asked.

Jade smiled, relishing in telling Femur how he had behaved the last few hours, "You were a perfect gentleman..."

"Oh..." Femur started, then the realization came to him, "GENTLEMAN?!! WHAT?!!"

"Yeah.. you even bowed to Jade and asked her forgiveness for the way you had been behaving.." Pyrus answered.

"I did that?? ME?!! As in.. the GREAT Emperor Femur actually APOLOGIZED for his behaviour?!?!?!" Femur couldn't take it anymore.. and fainted.

"Perhaps if we showed him the security camera tape.." Zera offered.

Femur was blissfully unaware of Jade, Pyrus, and Zera's laughter as he remained unconscious.