Disclaimer:I do not own inuyasha or any of it's characters.

Chapter 5

Just a Girl, Just a Boy

Tori turned to look at whoever was speaking; she came to face a woman who looked a little like Kagome except wrong somehow. "Yea, a little fox demon, probably crying a lot. Seen him?" The woman's face remained passive, "I have no business with baby demons, I have not seen you here before. Where do you come from?" Tori frowned; something did not sit well with her at all with this woman. "You ask a lot of questions for someone who hasn't even introduced themselves." The woman narrowed her eyes, "I am the priestess Kikyo." Tori raised an eyebrow, "Dog Boy never mentioned you being alive….ish." Kikyo look went passive again, "What are you, you're not a priestess, you seem human yet there is something I can't place."

Tori raised an eyebrow, "Nothing you need to know about." Kikyo waved her hand and two serpents flew around her. Tori watched with apprehension, "Pets? More of a cat person myself…" Kikyo smiled a bit, "They are very loyal, now then, InuYasha is on his way. You may leave now." Tori was getting more annoyed by the second, "You don't get to dismiss me like I am beneath you lady. As a matter of fact I have a few bones to pick with InuYasha myself." Kikyo merely waved her hand and her 'pets' wrapped themselves around Tori. Though she wasn't entirely sure of what was happening, Tori knew three things.

One, these serpents had a grip unlike any other. Two, She could no longer move and since InuYasha wasn't going to be thrilled at this sight, she figured she wasn't being seen or heard and Three, InuYasha was going to pay for this. Somehow Tori knew this was entirely his fault. Shortly after that thought InuYasha showed up, staring at Kikyo with an unidentifiable expression, so Tori closed her eyes and tried to 'feel' the situation out. Let's see Hate, anger…That has to be Kikyo, guess that's why she was giving me the creeps. Okay, sadness, regret, love…What? Tori's eyes snapped open as she studied InuYasha, he was still staring at her with that same expression, Kikyo broke the silence. "Naraku is in the area, he is looking for something. From the information I have gathered, He was also in these parts about 15 years ago, but didn't find anything. My copy is not strong enough." InuYasha looked down, "I can protect her." Kikyo narrowed her eyes, "She is not strong enough to fight Naraku, I am." InuYasha's head shot up and her stared at Kikyo, "Kikyo, what exactly are you saying." Kikyo smirked, "Isn't it obvious, I need the rest of my soul." InuYasha's eyes widened in surprise, "Kikyo, you would be killing Kagome."

Tori was now struggling against the serpents that held her, when suddenly she thought of something, "Hey Kikyo, some priestess you are, willing to sacrifice the life of an innocent girl." Kikyo's anger grew, just a little, Tori figured that if she got angry enough then she would make a mistake. "What's your problem anyway, you are filled with anger and hate, which means you don't have what it takes to be a pure being." InuYasha was confused, Kikyo had paused and was now looking downright pissed, she normally had a very passive face, and she kept glancing at a spot in the clearing. "Kikyo, what is going on?" Kikyo glared at him then waved her hand again, it was then he heard the faint sound of cursing. Listening closer he heard the phrase 'stupid dog boy' inwardly groaning he turned his attention back to Kikyo, "Let her go." Kikyo continued to glare as Tori came into full sight and could be heard clearly. "I can't believe I am going to die because of something I don't even understand." InuYasha shouted at her, "Shut up already!" Tori stared at him, "It's about damn time, now get me the hell out of this!" Before he could even move he saw the soul stealers drop Tori to the ground and carry Kikyo off.

Tori stood up glaring at InuYasha, "You have some explaining to do."

~ Finding Shippo ~

Kagome and InuYasha were sure they had found Shippo, stepping on to the ground she said, "Why don't you go tell the others we found him, I think I need to talk to him alone." InuYasha nodded and ran off to go tell the others. Kagome then turned her attention to Shippo who was crying with his back to her. Kagome didn't know exactly what was wrong, "Shippo…what's wrong?" Shippo sniffled, "I'm sorry Kagome, I didn't mean…I know you don't want a son." Kagome's eyes widened slightly, now she understood what Tori had meant. She scooped up the crying kit and held him close, "Shippo, you're wrong, I would want a son just like you." Shippo looked up into Kagome's smiling face, "So, you wouldn't mind if I called you Mama." Kagome's smile widened, "I would love that Shippo." Shippo was still crying but now it was tears of joy. Kagome sighed, "Well let's go back, the others were really worried." Shippo nodded.

Half way they ran into Sango and Miroku who were still looking for Shippo. Spotting Kagome, they ran over with relieved expressions. Miroku patted Shippo on the head, "We are very glad to see you are alright." Shippo smiled and Kagome tilted her head slightly, "Didn't InuYasha tell you guys that we found Shippo?" Sango and Miroku shook their heads, Miroku started grinning like a fool as he rubbed just a little too low on Sango. She brought her boomerang down on his head, "Lecher!" Turning to Kagome she calmly said, "InuYasha probably ran into Tori first." Kagome smiled, "Well I am sure they'll catch up…guess what, I have decided to adopt Shippo." Sango and Miroku both smiled widely, Sango hugged Kagome and Shippo and Miroku went to pat Kagome on the back. Fortunately Sango stopped him; leaving Miroku on the ground they went back to Keade's to celebrate.

Keade was sitting quietly in the hut when Sango, Kagome, and Shippo walked in, followed closely by Miroku. Kagome was still grinning, "Hi Keade, Have InuYasha and Tori been by yet." Keade shook her head, "Nay child, InuYasha has not been here…who is Tori, a friend of ye Kagome?" Shippo jumped down in front of Keade, "Tori is a friend of Kagome's from the other side of the well. Guess what!" Keade nodded and looked at Shippo's beaming face; he was very excited about something. "Kagome's my Mama now! Isn't it great?" Keade Smiled at him and glanced at Kagome, who looked very happy, "Aye child, that is wonderful news."

Everyone settled down as Shippo went into a game of twenty thousand questions. To Kagome's credit she answered every question asked of her and breathed a sigh of relief when Shippo finally fell asleep. Glancing around she realized that everyone else had fallen asleep and Tori and InuYasha were still missing. Setting Shipp into her sleeping bag Kagome grabbed her weapons and went to search for her still missing friends.

X~X~X

Tori stood there tapping her foot impatiently. InuYasha simply crossed his arms, "I don't owe you a damn thing, now let's go." Tori walked up to him poking him harshly in the chest, "The hell you don't and you will answer every single question or so help me, I will have Kagome sit you so hard it will take years to climb out and something tells me after hearing about this she will." InuYasha's hands dropped and he gulped realizing how badly that conversation with Kikyo had sounded, "What the hell do you want to know?"

Tori smirked, motioning for him to sit across from her, "InuYasha, drop the tough routine, I sense your emotions remember. It just waste time and energy." InuYasha sat across from her, "Whatever, let's get this over with." Tori rolled her eyes, "So, Tell me how Kikyo is still alive….and why she apparently has some of Kagome's soul." InuYasha grumpily started to tell Tori how Kikyo was resurrected, Every now and then Tori would tell him that he needed to stop trying to leave things out because she could tell when he did. He took a deep breath when he was done, Tori tilted her head to the side, "InuYasha am I imagining things or are you relieved?" InuYasha huffed a little, "Yea well, usually people interrupt or get mad at me about Kikyo." Tori shrugged, "The way I see it, you are stuck between a rock and a hard place." InuYasha ears twitched, "What?"

Tori shook her head smirking, "Sorry….future expression meaning that you are in a very complicated situation…after all she was just a girl and you are just a boy, to expect you to act like anything else is unrealistic, I have to ask, Is this the Kikyo you remember?" InuYasha stared at the ground, "No…but it's still Kikyo…" Tori couldn't help but feel bad for him, "InuYasha…I wasn't scolding you, I just wanted to know. She is after Kagome's soul, so you have to decide who you will protect, because you can't protect both of them from each other." InuYasha growled and punched the ground leaving a small fist sized crater in the earth, "Don't you think I know that woman? Damn it, you and your creepy powers, you already knew that." Tori stood up and dusted herself off some, "InuYasha, the only person here demanding answers is you and it's a good thing because it means that you have already made a choice. You just won't face it." InuYasha stood up, "You calling me a coward?"

Tori smirked, "So what if I am, it's just a word. Why are words so important to you?" InuYasha's bang hid his eyes, making it impossible to see them. Then it hit her, anger, resentment, sadness, fear, pain, all rolled into a single memory. A small InuYasha being beaten for existing as his mother was held back, words being thrown like daggers, everything fading out as he lost consciousness. Tori blinked back the tears that had formed as she looked at InuYasha who had not changed, silently she hugged him in an attempt to comfort the boy she had seen in a memory.

InuYasha's eyes widened in surprise as he felt Tori hug him, he had been stunned a bit by her question. The mere question of why words were important brought up a bad memory, reminding him that words can invoke the very worse of anything. Suddenly the pain of the memory dulled and he couldn't help but wonder if this comforted feeling that came over him was on purpose. He couldn't help but hug back, the comfort he felt was something that he hadn't felt since his mother had been alive, shielding him as much as she could from the words. A single word stopped everything, "SIT!"