Kaede shuffled around her hut rearranging medicinal herbs and jars of other plants. She hobbled over to her boiling water and bent over to make herself some tea, groaning as her bones creaked in protest. As she sat down to enjoy it, Inuyasha burst through the hut with a bloody woman in his arms.

"Hey hag! This girl is a friend of Kagome's and she's hurt! Can you help her?"

Kaede stared at the girl. A hanyou girl? How strange...Then she slowly stood up and walked to one of her herb shelves.

"Inuyasha, lay her down and get a cloth and some of that boiled water to clean her wounds with. I will apply this to her wounds afterwards."

Inuyasha nodded gently laying her down on the futon. He picked up a rag that was next to Kaede's pot and dunked it in the hot water. Squeezing the dripping cloth of its excess water, Inuyasha turned back to Riquo. He started cleaning the dried blood off her face when Kagome and Shippo walked in followed by Miroku and Sango with Kilala perched on Sango's shoulder.

"Is she going to be all right?!" Kagome asked frantically.

"Ay child, calm ye self down. This mysterious girl is a half demon. Her wounds have already healed."

They all looked at Riquo and sure enough her wounds had completely closed. Kaede grabbed another rag and began to help Inuyasha clean off the blood. Kagome sat down against a wall of the hut and watched Inuyasha clean Riquo's face. I've never seen him act so gentle with someone...especially a stranger. Inuyasha was gently wiping the girl's face and neck with the utmost care. His amber eyes stayed focused on her face. Kagome also noticed that Inuyasha took care not to go below her neck. After a minute of cleaning Kaede sat back, "Inuyasha there is too much blood on this girls body. Take her to the nearby spring and clean her off."

 Inuyasha blushed profusely, "Why should I do it?! Let Kagome and Sango do it!"

"I asked ye to do it Inuyasha now do it before I ask Kagome to subdue ye!" Kaede said harshly. Grumbling obscenities Inuyasha hesitantly picked Riquo's unconscious up off the floor and stepped out into the sunlight.

"Kaede, why did you want Inuyasha to do it?" Kagome asked. Kaede grinned to herself, "This old woman has her reasons."

~*~At the Spring~*~

Inuyasha reached the closest spring to the village. It was completely surrounded by trees and thick bushes, perfect for anyone who wanted privacy. Inuyasha snorted, Kami knows I don't want someone watching me do this.

He crouched down next to the spring, staring at the spring and then staring at the bloody woman in his arms, contemplating on how he was going to pull this off.

"Keh, screw it."

Inuyasha stepped into the spring with his clothes on, inhaling sharply when the hot water seeped through his pants to his skin. Holding Riquo by her waist, Inuyasha propped her up against a wall so she could stand without him holding her. Taking care of that, Inuyasha looked at his hands and then cursed. He'd forgotten the rag. Looking around quickly, Inuyasha stripped himself of both his shirts. Laying the red one on the bank next to Riquo's head, and opted to use the white one to clean her up.

Soaking the shirt, Inuyasha cautiously began with her arms, the dried blood from her arms staining his shirt and changing the water around them to a light red. Inuyasha dunked the shirt back into the water and rinsed  her arms off clean.

Inuyasha sighed, "Done with that."

Unfortunately for poor Inuyasha, the water came up above Riquo's breasts and he had no way of cleaning everything else. Sighing to himself, Inuyasha picked her up by the waist again. He rested his foot against the wall of the hot spring and sat Riquo down on his thigh. He placed his hand on her back to keep her from falling backwards. This put the water level right below Riquo's hips. Inuyasha took this time to examine her strange clothing, seeing is how no one else seemed to have noticed it.

Her top...if you wanted to call it that, was a simple black band covering her breasts but barely considering the amount of cleavage displayed. Inuyasha blushed, since her breasts were right in his face. Despite the situation, Inuyasha did appreciate the view considering how ample she was and smirked. Her skin was tan, a nice almond color, and a big contrast to her brown hair. She had black decorative band around her upper arm with silver engraved into it. Inuyasha followed the water that dripped down her body to her navel. His eyes widened marginally.

Around Riquo's navel was a black crescent moon, circling around her navel. Inuyasha frowned, making a mental note to ask her about that later. He followed the fine brown hair of her nature's trail down to the waist band  of whatever garment was covering her lower half. Inuyasha blushed again, considering she was straddling his thigh he could tell it wasn't much. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down his already stiff erection.

Shaking his head Inuyasha continued to wash her torso of the blood. Damn...what the hell happened to her? Inuyasha had just finished her front torso and was about to dunk her into the water to rinse her off when he noticed her breathing became irregular. Shit! She's gona wake up!

Sure enough Inuyasha saw her body tense and her head snapped forward, looking down at him. Inuyasha just stared back at her, and noticing for the first time that her eyes were a beautiful shade of green.

Riquo took in the situation for the few seconds they were staring at each other. Ok...I'm wet, I'm straddling his thigh, that man that rescued me is shirtless, heh, this is either a good thing or a bad thing.

With that Riquo quirked an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

It was then that they both realized that Inuyasha's hands were still on her back and on her torso. Riquo mentally laughed at how flustered this man was. I guess I should be upset, but he did just save me. But why am I straddling his thigh?!

Inuyasha frowned and removed his thigh from underneath her. Riquo was caught off guard and unceremoniously splashed into the water. She surfaced the hot spring sputtering, "Hey! What was that for?!"

Inuyasha threw his bloody shirt at her, "Finish cleaning yourself up and be quick about it! I have to get you back to Kaede's so you can explain what the hell you're doing here."

"Kaede? Who the hell is Kaede? And who the hell are you to boss me around, huh?"

Inuyasha turned around and glared at her, lifting himself out of the water and sitting on the edge of the bank, water dripping off him. She stared at his chest for a moment, appreciating how well built he was and then caught herself before he noticed.

"Come on! Hurry up damnit!"

She stared at the bloody shirt in her hands and then stared at him again. His white hair was soaked, and the tips of it were red with blood. Her blood.

"You...you were cleaning my blood off...weren't you?" She asked timidly.

"Keh, duh, you see anyone else here?"

Riquo smiled softly, her green eyes showing her gratitude, and she slowly moved towards where he was against the bank. She felt him tense so she decided not to say anything else to him yet. She dunked the shirt in the water and began rinsing her hair and her ears. The little amount of sunlight that shined through the tops of the trees gave her an iridescent glow as she washed herself. Inuyasha just sat still watching her. It's weird how she doesn't make me feel uncomfortable. Then again, she is a hanyou, and a girl hanyou at that. The only other girl hanyou I've ever seen before was Shaori but she was only six years old. But this girl...keh, maybe she'll be able to understand me. None of the humans that I travel with could possibly know what it's like to grow up as a hanyou, maybe this girl does.

Both of them stayed silent, secretly enjoying their hanyou company. Riquo finished with her brown hair and rinsed it out by dunking her head underneath the water. Inuyasha watched her silhouette move in the water with interest. He secretly marveled at her beauty and part of him wondered if her scent was just as pretty. He could see her cleaning her legs underneath the water because blood was coming off her in clouds in the water. She shook herself in the water and then resurfaced facing Inuyasha.

They stared at each other for a moment before Riquo smiled and said, "You have pretty eyes."

Inuyasha snorted but gave her a small smile. Riquo grinned at him, exposing her white fangs and moved next to him in the water. She stepped out of the water, her wet body reflecting the sunlight off of her so that she glowed.

"Here," Inuyasha handed her his red shirt that had been next to him, "you can use this to dry off."

Riquo eyed the shirt and then looked at his bare chest again, "But what are you going to where? Are you going to just walk back into that village half naked?"

He snorted, "They've seen worse."

Riquo laughed, a sound Inuyasha knew he wanted to hear again and again. She handed him his soaked, but clean, white shirt and sat down next to him and squeezed the water out of her hair. She dried her ears off and Inuyasha heard her suppress a purr as she did so. She then quickly went over her body and lastly her tail. It was then that Inuyasha noticed that she was wearing a short black skirt that looked like the hem had been shredded. It was rather short, going to the middle of her thigh. He also noticed that she had a bangle (large bracelet) around her left ankle. It was similar to the one on her arm except it had pink flowers engraved on it instead of silver markings.

His thoughts were interrupted when she began to speak to him. He looked at her and noticed she was completely dry and staring at him intently.

"Huh?" he said.

Riquo giggled, "I asked what your name was."

"Inuyasha. My name's Inuyasha."

Riquo smiled and Inuyasha thought he could never get enough of her smile, "That's a nice name," he noticed her eyes scanning over his body and he felt himself blush a little. She smiled again, "Well Inuyasha, thank you for saving me, and for taking the time to tend to my wounds."

Inuyasha swallowed hard, "You're welcome."

She looked down and raised and eyebrow. Inuyasha looked down at his hands where some of his hair was and noticed the blood in it.  "Do you want me to clean your hair or can you do that yourself?"

Inuyasha snorted. He gathered all of his white hair onto one side, the opposite side where Riquo was so he could still look at her, and dipped the ends of his hair into the water. Riquo watched his every move, her green eyes scanning over his beautiful body. This guy can't be for real. He's gorgeous! And lucky me get's to stare at his chest. Riquo giggled.

"So what's with that mark on your stomach?" Inuyasha asked, wanting to get her mind off him since he saw her staring at him.

"Huh?" Riquo stammered then looked down, "O, that? Well, supposedly that's the symbol of my "future mate" but I think my grandmother just tattooed that onto me while I was sleeping when I was a baby."

Inuyasha stared at the crescent moon around her navel. Future mate, huh? He snorted and stood, "Let's go. Kagome's probably having a conniption by now." Riquo nodded and stood with him, following him out of the spring but glancing back with a smile. She'd always remember this as the first time she met Inuyasha.

~*~Kaede's Hut~*~

Back at the hut, Kaede and the others had been preparing lunch. The sun had shifted in the sky and it had turned out to be a beautiful day despite previous events. While everyone was preparing a different dish Shippo came up with the great idea that they should eat outside since it was such a nice day outside.

"Fabulous idea Shippo," Miroku said patting the little fox kitsune on the head, "but let's wait for Inuyasha and our new guest to return so we can all go together."

"Go together where?"

"Inuyasha! Riquo! You're back!" In the doorway stood Inuyasha followed by a slightly disoriented Riquo. She wasn't so sure she was ready to be interrogated yet. Inuyasha led her into the tiny hut where everyone was preparing what looked like a feast. Several different scents reached her nose, some good and some bad, but nonetheless these scents reminded Riquo how long it had been since she'd last eaten.

"Come in, come in and sit down. We have much to talk about and ye can eat while we discuss this matter," Kaede said.

"Aaaw but I thought we were gona eat outside!" Shippo whined sadly. He huffed and crossed his arms in an attempt to look mean and tough. Kagome giggled and patted the little kitsune's head, "Let's let Riquo rest for now Shippo, ok? We'll go outside later."

Inuyasha sat Indian-style against a wall on the far side of the hut, and Riquo absently sat closely next to him. Inuyasha took notice but didn't say anything since he felt how uncomfortable she was. But Kagome noticed and narrowed her eyes slightly, hurt swimming in their brown depths.

Everyone started picking at the food that was in the center of the room now. Starving as she was, Riquo nervously snatched a few items here and there and popped them into her mouth when Kagome took Riquo's hand, "Riquo? Are you all right?"

Riquo smiled gently at her and patted her hand, "I'm fine Kagome, thank you, thank you all for coming to my rescue."

Inuyasha glared at her from the side, "Ok, you've healed, now tell us who you are and how you know Kagome," he said between bites of ramen Kagome had brought back.

Riquo glared at him, dumbfounded. What's gotten into him? He was all sweet to me at the spring.

Sango glared at Inuyasha angrily, "Inuyasha! Give her a break! She just recovered from serious injuries! She-"

"No, no, it's ok. I'm fine now, really." She scooted further into the wall to try and get some space from everyone surrounding her. Sango decided to take the initiative and asked, "Um, Riquo, how is it that you're from Kagome's time, yet you're a half demon and living in the our era?"

"What kind of half demon are you?"

"How are you a half demon?! You never looked like one before when we were friends."

"Do you know anything about the jewel shard?" Several glares were shot in Inuyasha's direction, "What?!"

Miroku took the distraction as his chance, "Riquo, you are so beautiful it hurts, will you do me the honor of bearing my children?"

"Eh…?!"

SMACK!!

Miroku sat there with a red handprint on his cheek, "Just thought I'd ask," while Sango was seething. Kilala meowed at her side and the brown haired woman took the time to give the two-tail a piece of food and patted her head absently as if this was an everyday thing for her.

Riquo laughed out loud. Well at least some of them have a sense of humor. They can't be all that bad.

"Ok, ok, be patient and I'll answer all your questions. First of all, I am a black panther half demon and no I have no connection to that infamous panther tribe that everyone hates. My father was a human but my mother was a black panther demon and a powerful one at that. My parents were both from this era as am I.  When I was two my mother's tribe found out about my father and were outraged," she closed her tear-filled eyes and sighed.

Sango leaned forward, "Please, go on. What happened to your parents?"

Riquo looked away, tears glistening in her eyes, "My father was killed. My grandfather killed him. I was next to be killed but my grandmother predicted my future, saying that I was destined to be powerful and lead the tribe. Whether that bullshit is true or not I don't know but it spared me my life. But my mother, she was furious, so she took me to that well and placed a spell over it, and that's when the well started allowing people to pass through."

"But...I thought only Inuyasha and me could get through the well...how is it possible that you got through?" Kagome said.

Riquo shook her head, "You see, my tribe is from a small island off the east coast of Japan. We are a black panther tribe but black magic has been passed down from generation to generation. My mother's spell opened the well for any demon to get through. I can't explain why it's changed now, I guess her spell was lifted."

Kagome nodded, "Continue please," she still held Riquo's hand.

Riquo sniffed and closed her eyes. Do I really have to do this? I've been repressing these memories for years now, why should I bring them up all of a sudden? Her thoughts were jarred as she felt something stroking her elbow. Using her senses, she felt that it was a couple of fingers and that they had claws on the them. Opening her eyes she took a quick glance to see that Inuyasha had his arms folded but the hand that was hidden behind his sleeve was stroking her. She smiled, he must have felt how nervous I was.

She sighed again, "The rest is pretty simple. For sixteen years of my life I was raised in Kagome's era. Her and I met when she was in grade school and I was in middle school. Then I discovered that she was traveling back and forth through the well not long after she first fell in. So, long story short, me and my mother took care of our affairs and came back."

That's when her tears started to fall, and everyone took notice to the fact that they were black. Her body shook with her tears as Kagome stroked her hand and Inuyasha secretly stroked her elbow. Riquo leaned her head back against the wall with a thunk.

"My mother...because of her immense powers...was hunted down about four months ago. The demon...no...no it was a half demon! That bastard Naraku!"

"Naraku?!" The concerned voices of everyone filled the hut talking about Riquo's connection to Naraku.

"Wait, wait...you know this demon?" Riquo asked, anger dripping from her voice.

Kagome focused on her intently, "Yes, we do. All of us have been hurt or cursed by him."

Riquo chuckled sarcastically and continued with her story, "I was away hunting for my mother when I sensed the attack. Even with my speed I was too late."

They sat silently for awhile reminiscing on their own troubles caused by Naraku. The monk stared at his right hand, agony flashing across his face. Then Riquo noticed the brown haired woman idly petting the fire cat with a distant look in her eyes. Naraku must have really hurt these people if they got like this.

"So, Riquo, what were you doing in those chains in the forest? Did Naraku do that to you?" Riquo left her thoughts to see the brown haired girl with the fire cat staring at her.

"Oh, no. A group of hunters have been tracking me for months now. And," Riquo shrugged, "they finally caught up with me. They beat me and I'm only lucky they didn't take advantage of me." With that Kagome gasped and Inuyasha's stroking fingers paused momentarily before continuing.

Riquo glanced down to see the fox demon's questioning eyes look at her. She smiled at him, "What is it little guy?"

Shippo pouted, "My name is Shippo and I have a question for you!"

Riquo giggled at him and ruffled his hair, "Ok Shippo, what's your question."

Shippo puffed out his chest at the respect he got from her,  "You said your speed  wasn't enough. Does that mean you're really, really fast?"

Riquo giggled again and nodded, "I've been training for a long time, especially on my speed little one, I can outrun almost any demon," she winked at him.

Shippo smiled, "I bet you can't outrun Kouga! He has jewel shards jammed into his legs and he's super fast!" For some reason Shippo was obsessed with the wolf prince. Any time he came around Shippo was always so damn happy.

Riquo smiled, "Well him and I haven't exactly raced against one another but I think I can still beat him." She giggled as he pouted and ruffled his hair. Kagome looked at her confused, "Wait, you know Kouga? How so?"

Riquo smiled to herself glad that the subject of her mother and Naraku was forgotten and then laughed out loud as Inuyasha started to growl. Miroku and Sango gave knowing smiles to each other.

"Well after my mother was murdered, I kind of roamed around taking care of myself. I went back to my island occasionally but one time on my way back to the mainland, I came across Kouga's tribe. Kouga was rather fond of me so he spared my life from his dumb wolves," Riquo said with laughter in her voice, "him and I have been friends ever since," she smiled mischievously, "why Kagome? You interested in him?"

Riquo couldn't help but laugh out loud as Inuyasha's golden eyes flashed and his growling got louder. Kagome blushed and looked away. Riquo quirked an eyebrow, Huh, I think I hit a sore spot there.

Kagome coughed nervously and decided to try and change the subject, "Riquo you said your mother learned a concealment spell from other demons in the future? How is that possible? I thought all the demons would have died out by then and I know I should have been able to sense them."

"Well, demons and half demons are immortal until they are killed. And since they grew and developed along with humans, they learned some very powerful concealment spells so they could hide any demon traits."

Shippo hopped off Kagome's lap into Riquo's and tugged on her arm, "What do you mean demons are immortal til they are killed? I thought immortal meant they couldn't be killed."

Miroku decided to speak up, "What she meant was that the only thing demons can't die from is old age, but if they are killed in battle or perhaps murdered, then they can die if the wound is too serious for them to heal on their own. Take Inuyasha for example," Inuyasha growled, not wanting the attention, "he is about 66 years of age and he looks like he's still a teenager."

Riquo decided to lighten the mood and winked at Kagome and Sango. She turned to Inuyasha, "Wow, 66? You're kinda old to be lookin' like that aren't ya?"

She couldn't help but laugh as Inuyasha blushed furiously and 'hmphed.' He got up and walked out of the hut. Riquo stared after him guiltily, "I hope I didn't upset him."

"Oh, don't worry about him, he just gets cranky when he can't get his daily dose of shard hunting. He'll be ok. But speaking of age, Riquo aren't you like...20ish?"

Riquo nodded, "Twenty-one to be exact."

Sango stood and stretched, "Well since Inuyasha needs time to cool off we can go into the hot springs nearby," Kagome jumped up happily and tugged on Sango and Riquo. Riquo quirked an eyebrow, didn't I just come from there?

 Sango looked at Shippo who was on Miroku's shoulder, "You'll watch the guys and make sure they don't try and peek at us right?"

"Uh huh!" Shippo nodded happily patting Miroku as he sighed in defeat, muttering something about trust. Sango nodded her head at Shippo, glared a final warning at Miroku then walked out after Riquo and Kagome, leaving Kaede with the two boys and Kilala bounding out the door of the hut after them, disappearing in the sunlight.

Walking out in the cool air of the day, the sky perfectly clear and beautiful, the girls began chattering to themselves, "You don't have to worry about them spying on us. Riquo should be able to sense everything they're doing from the hot springs!" Kagome said excitedly, lacing her fingers with Riquo's and giggling, "Yes! I'm so glad you're back Riquo I've missed you so much! This is gona be so much fun! Just wait and see!"

Riquo laughed nervously wondering what Kagome was plotting.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!!!!"

The three girls turned around to see an extremely pissed off Inuyasha walking towards them.

"We're going to the hot springs and we don't need your permission either Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled at him.

Inuyasha just glared at Kagome, "I don't care where you're going! We already lost enough time saving this bitch when we could have been out looking for shards!"

*sigh* Poor Inuyasha didn't even see it coming...

No sooner had Inuyasha said the last word he was on his back in the dirt. Riquo had swiped Inuyasha's legs out from underneath him so fast that neither Kagome nor Sango saw it happen. Riquo turned around to face the two girls, "I'll catch up with you two later, ok? I need to have a word with Inuyasha."

Kagome and Sango just nodded, "You remember where the spring is?"

Riquo nodded and turned back to Inuyasha as Kagome and Sango walked into the forest. When they were out of sight and hear shot Riquo walked over to him and straddled his waist. Inuyasha's eyes squinted from the sunlight being in his face and then widened as he tensed under her, what the hell is she doing? I just met her!!! He began to sweat and he gulped back a retort. After a move like that he wasn't about to mouth off to her when she had him where she wanted him. Riquo leaned over and whispered in Inuyasha's ear, "I don't know why you're attitude towards me changed from the hot spring to the hut, but I wouldn't continue to play mind games with me if I were you," she pushed her hips down and heard him groan.

"What's the matter? Don't like being teased?"

Inuyasha's amber eyes looked up into her green eyes and smirked. Oh, she wants to play like that does she? Inuyasha reached up and wrapped his hands around her waist. With one swift movement he had turned over and pinned her under him. Riquo's eyes widened. Oh no...

Inuyasha reached his hand down and gently grabbed her tail. Riquo gasped and shivered.

Inuyasha leaned down and listened to her start to purr, "Don't think you'll ever have control over me, wench. I'm not going to play your games."

Riquo looked up at him through her lashes, "Funny, I never saw you as the type to flirt and play games."

"Keh, you started it."

"Maybe, but you still stayed."

Inuyasha smirked down at her, then leaned to whisper in her black ear, earning another shiver, "Too bad wench, I'm not interested in your games."

Inuyasha got off of her and jumped off into the trees. Riquo stared after him, then, mad as a hornet got up and stomped off towards the hot spring. That arrogant, self-centered bastard! How dare he insult me! Then she smiled to herself. Oh, if he wants to be like that, then he'll get more than he can handle. She smiled as she continued towards the spring.