Mother and Daughter
Kagome didn’t really eat. Her eyes flickered to the door every five seconds, she knew Inuyasha was still asleep, but she wanted to see his amber eyes looking into hers, she wanted to hear him curse and abuse Shippo. She needed him to wake up.

Her other friends, mostly just Miroku, were asking Hanako various questions.

"Hanako-sama, why is such a powerful miko like you stay in this small village? Your powers can well protect a large city." Miroku has not taken his eyes off the miko who’s about 15 years older than him ever since they sat down for lunch.

The miko smiles, "I grew up in this village, so it’s my responsibility to protect it. Besides..."

"Besides what, Hanako-sama?" Miroku’s eyes lights up every time the miko starts talking. Sango is very tempted to slap him until he faints.

"It's nothing." The miko quickly avoids the question. She looks at Kagome. "Kagome-san, why are you not eating?"

Kagome looks up absentmindedly, just realizing that everyone is looking at her. "Huh? Oh, I'm... not hungry."

Hanako looks at the girl with understanding eyes, and says no more. But secretly, she's passing on some of her miko powers to Kagome to keep the girl at top strength.

A few minutes later, they hear some footsteps coming their way in a rush. Thinking that it might be Inuyasha, Kagome jumps up in an instant and runs to the entrance. But it is not Inuyasha. The girl in the yellow and white miko kimono bumps into Kagome, and both ends up on the ground. Haruko looks up and sees the girl in front of her, and her body turns stiff.

"Haruko, get up before your robes are dirtied." The miko commands with a gentle voice. "Kagome-san, are you alright? Excuse my daughter for her clumsiness."

Kagome stands up slowly, rather disappointed that it isn't Inuyasha, but also happy that Haruko finally came back.

"Haruko-chan, do you remember me?" when Kagome sees the girl's surprised look, she feels amused. "You arrow didn't hurt me, I'm fine, you don't have to be so shocked."

Haruko could only nod, her eyes and her mouth still wide open. She slowly gets up, just noticing the other two strangers sitting with her mother. "Mother...what are they doing here?" Her eyes fall upon the bow near Sango. "My bow! So you took it!"

"Oh this?" Sango says with sarcasm in her tone, she obviously doesn’t like the family. "You left it on that cliff, I took it back, it belongs to Kagome-chan now."

Haruko flashes Kagome an evil look.

Kagome is a little disturbed, so she decides to make a peace offering before things gets out of hand. "Sango-chan, the bow was Haruko-chan's from the start. We should return it."

Sango gives her best "hmph", obviously not happy with it, but also doesn’t want to disagree with Kagome.

Haruko ignores the two girls. "Where's your dirty youkai friend? I'm not finished with him!"

"Haruko!" Her mother yells out disapprovingly. "You will apologize to Inuyasha when he wakes up, and you will call Kagome-san by her rightful title, sama, and as long as they are here as our guests, you will treat them with respect."

Haruko is not happy that her mother took the youkai’s side, so she turns around and runs. Mumbling a "damn that girl" under her breath.

Hanako sighs apologetically. "I'm sorry, I have been spoiling her; the entire village has been spoiling her."

"Why does she hate youkai so much if her father was a hanyou?" Miroku asks as politely as possible.

"Yes, it's true that her father was a hanyou, and he was loved by the village people, and treasured by Haruko." Hanako's eyes are turning red. "But he was killed by some youkai from his clan, as punishment for living with a miko, and conceiving a child. Haruko wants to be a miko so she can kill youkai to avenge her father's death. All youkai are the same to Haruko's eyes, evil. And I was too weak at that time to abolish that thought from her mind. It's partially my fault."

"Hanako-sama..." Not knowing what else to say, Miroku turns silent.

"Will she try to kill Inuyasha while we’re staying here?" Sango asks, but quickly realizes she shouldn't have said that in front of Kagome.

Hanako notices too. "No, once you tell her that Inuyasha is a hanyou, she'll not only apologize, but help you on your quest." Kagome's heart relaxes at the statement.

Hanako slowly stands up. "I have to make my daily inspection around the village. I'd be grateful if the three of you can help me, there are always some youkai trying to sneak inside the village and create some havoc."

Miroku and Sango each grabbed their weapons and went with Hanako, but Kagome decided to stay and watch over her sick friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kagome sits besides Inuyasha, watching him sleep peacefully. Shippo and Kirara had already woken up, and ate their food. But Inuyasha is still sleeping, six hour has already passed.

Suddenly Haruko walks in, with a tight grip on her bow, watching the two youkai and the two human. Wait, human? That's a human, but he looks exactly like that Inuyoukai from before. Then she comes to a sudden realization, and exclaims out loud: "He's hanyou!"

Kagome look up and smiles, "Yes, he's a hanyou. Your mother's miko powers forced him to return to his human state."

Haruko gasps, terrified with the idea that she almost killed a hanyou. "Go... gomen! I didn't know!" I can't believe I took a shot at a hanyou, and almost killed another miko like my mother! Otoosan, forgive me!

"It's alright, your mother gave Inuyasha some herbs, so he should wake up any second now." Kagome smiles again to reassure the miko in training.

At that second, Inuyasha finally makes a sound and starts to turn, trying to get up. When he opens his eyes and sees the girl standing in front of him, he instantly becomes angry and cries: "Sankontesou!", and dashes at the girl.

But then he notices that he not longer had his claws, and his leap only got him halfway to the girl.

"What the hell?" Inuyasha just realizes that he has returned to his human form. "Shit! How did this happen?" He turns around and sees Kagome's shocked but happy face.

"Inuyasha, you're okay!" Kagome runs to him and gives him a big hug. Inuyasha blushes at her reaction, but noticing the other girl is still there, so he pushes Kagome away with some regret and repeats his question. Kagome explains the whole thing to him, while Haruko sits near them with embarrassment, apologizing every 10 seconds.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha curses, "How long am I going to stay like this?"

"You'll return to normal when you leave here, as long as my mother's powers can't reach you."

"Oh." Inuyasha finally looks at the girl directly in the eyes, causing her to blush.

He looks nice as a human. Haruko thinks to herself. She quickly looks at her hands, trying to avoid any eyes contact. While Inuyasha takes it as an insult, Kagome notices the girl's reaction, and her heart tightens a little.

"So when are we leaving?" Inuyasha asks with annoyance.

"We can't leave yet, Inuyasha." Kagome protests, "We have to ask Hanako-sama about the Shikon shards."

"Shikon shards?" Haruko startles a little. "What do you want with the Shikon shards?"

Kagome looks at Haruko's nervous expression. "Uh...I was the one broke the Shikon no Tama in the first place. It's my responsibility to collect it and restore it to its original shape. And we also need them to defeat an evil youkai...uhh... hanyou."

Haruko turns stiff yet again, completely taken with Kagome's brief yet extraordinary story. But she is even more surprised with how calm Kagome was about the whole thing.

Suddenly Hanako walks in, following by Sango and Miroku, whose faces are brimming with sweat, but eyes shining with happiness.

Sango quickly drops her Hiraikotsu and ran to Kagome, "Kagome-chan, I had the best day! We killed so many youkai, and helped deliver a baby. I learned to heal serious wounds from Hanako-sama, and..." Sango wouldn't stop talking.

Hanako laughs with amusement, "I guess it's my fault she's like this. I gave her some cocoa beans to chew on when we were tired out from work."

Miroku is actually turned on by Sango's change of personality. He takes her hands in his and looks into her eyes with true but absolutely weird passion, "Sango, since today is the happiest day of your life, won't you make it the happiest day of my life too by bearing my child?"

Sango lets out an almost horrifying laugh, picks up her Hiraikotsu, and rams it into the hentai Houshi's head... and again... and again…and again... and again... and again... while the mother and daughter looks at the two with curiosity and some amusement.

Inuyasha, still upset about his human form coming sooner than it should, turns his head away and refuses to join in the fun although he's laughing inside. A second later he notices Kagome's eyes upon him. He looks back from the corner of his eyes, and sees love flowing out through those beautiful brown eyes. Then he suddenly remembers the conversation he had with his father. Insert the Shikon shards into himself? How can he possibly do that, even if it is to kill Naraku. How can he take away the Shikon shards that were once part of Kagome, that Kagome is working so hard to collect? He couldn't, he wouldn't, he just simply can't.

"Okaasan," Haruko suddenly speaks up, "Kagome-sama is the one who broke the Shikon no Tama, they’re currently on a quest to recollect the shards." Haruko's eyes are brimming with excitement.

Hanako looks at Kagome with a smile, but she doesn't seem surprised at all. "I see" is all she had to say. Instead of fussing over Kagome like everyone expects her to do, she walks up to Shippo and gives him some berries that she found near the edge of the village. "Eat this, sweetie; they're good for a growing kitsune youkai like yourself."

"Okaasan, did you not hear me?" Haruko insists, "I said... they are collecting Shikon shards."

"I heard you, child." Hanako's eyes remains on Shippo's face, now covered with berry juice. "I sensed the shards Kagome-san was carrying when she came into the village."

"You... you did?" Kagome asks in surprise, she didn't know that other mikos besides her can sense the Shikon shards.

Hanako nods, "I might now know they're necessarily Shikon shards, but I can tell when great powers are near." Haruko is standing behind he mother, still agitating about something.

The powerful miko stands up, taking a look her daughter and turns to the group. "I guess what my daughter want me to say is that I am in possession of seven shards myself."

"Na…nani?" Kagome and Inuyasha exclaims at the same time. Sango finally turns her back to the currently unconscious Houshi.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asks in shock, "But why did I stop sensing the shards when I came close to this village, even the ones I’m carrying?"

"It's a spell, isn't it, Hanako-sama?" Miroku wakes up in the nick of time, with about a trillion red spots all over his head and face, still unable to move.

"Yes, it is." Hanako answers calmly. "The story is a long one, but I think you have the right to know. It was about half a year ago, when two Shikon shards fell from the sky and landed on the top of my roof. I noticed them a little too late; a crow youkai had already devoured them and started reeking havoc upon our village. I shot the youkai with my arrow, and stored the shards in the temple. I knew what they were; my mother told me about the Shikon no Tama and its power. I did not put a spell on it at first, but then the power of the shards became a magnet for youkai. For 5 months youkai after youkai came into the village in search of the shards, some already carrying one. I managed to get 5 more shards from those youkai that I purified, but then more and more just kept coming. Finally I was able to come up with a spell strong enough so that anyone and anything that comes into within a mile radius of the temple would not be able to sense the power of the seven Shikon shards." She turns to Kagome. "I made it so that no matter how much magic one has, as long as theirs don't exceed mine, they wouldn't be able to sense shards in this range. Now you understand."

Kagome nodded, mesmerized at the story, and also gazed at the miko with even more respect than before for coming up such a powerful spell. And at the same time, she was also happy that she hasn't lost her powers.

"Oi," Inuyasha cuts in, "If you knew we were searching for the shards, why didn’t you give them to us in the beginning."

Hanako replies with the same calmness as before. "Simply because I cannot trust you yet. It's true that your companions are powerful youkai exterminators." She looks at Miroku and Sango meaningfully, "I've seen them in action. And Kagome-san's miko powers are powerful without a doubt. But the question of whether the five of you care evil or not is still lingering in the air."

"How can you still doubt us?" Kagome asks, somewhat hurt by that accusation.

Haruko jumps in, "Because there are many dark miko and corrupted Houshi as well. And your female exterminator is certainly not a good one if she's willing to hurt a man who loves her so much."

Miroku blushes at Haruko's comment. "The young miko got a point." He says shamelessly.

It appears that Sango's caffeine break is finally over. She's very tired now, but still manages to hit the Houshi on the head once again.

Inuyasha crosses his arms sternly, still holding his Tessaiga. He curls his lips a little, keeping his head up, and looks down at the powerful miko. "So, how can we convince you that we’re not evil, and for you to give us the shards?

The miko chuckles a little, "So impatient, Inuyasha." She turns to her daughter and then replies. "I will have Haruko travel with you, after two months, you will come back here. If she says you're good, then you will get the shards, no question asked. If she does not come back, or her evaluation of you is negative, I will purify all of you at once, even if it means I have to leave my village in search of you."

"Okaasan!" Haruko screams out in surprise. "I don’t want to travel with them! I won’t leave you!"

Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and even Kirara were shocked at the suggestion. But they all knew that with Hanako’s personality, it wasn't a suggestion. It was her way or no way.

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