AN: Sorry for the long delay. Any comments, criticism, or ideas are welcome.

It was quiet when she finally stepped into the building. With Sango and Raven at her side, she felt as though things were at peace… And couldn't help but be relieved. Sango was her best friend – the one she'd always confided in and she couldn't bear to think about Sango hating her. It was difficult enough to deal when her friend was disappointed with her.

As for Raven, though… Raven had been a very important part of her time at the Tower. She wasn't infallible, but unlike Starfire, she wasn't entirely cheerful, either. It put her at peace to feel that she wasn't pressured to follow her planet's norms when she was with Raven, but at the same time, it was nice to know that the other girl would quietly offer her opinion after analyzing the situation. Raven was intelligent and they'd had many interesting and philosophical questions. Most importantly, though, the psychic never put her opinion forward at a time when it wasn't welcome.

It was almost a relief of sorts to be aware that the two girls she was with were the two with whom she felt the most comfortable. It didn't take too long to get to Robin's room and they caught Starfire just outside it.

"He is inside," she nodded towards the door. She looked at Kagome a bit nervously. "Will… Will you stay?"

Kagome shook her head, but smiled at the Tamoranean princess that had tried so hard to make her feel welcome. "They will explain later," she told the purple-clad girl.

After only the slightest moment of hesitation, she entered the room.

It didn't take long for Robin to wake. He'd never been one to stay down for long. He jolted upright when he realized what had happened, and immediately clasped his head with a groan.

He could only swear at himself and wonder at his loss. How could he have lost her again? As he was beginning to wonder how he'd find Kagome again, he heard a cool voice.

"Drink this," she instructed, offering him a cup of what looked to be water.

Robin was stunned. After losing his awareness outside and waking in his room, he hadn't expected to see her again – much less in his room. Frozen in his shock, Kagome moved to him instead. Instead of hovering beside the bed, she sat on it, pressing the cup to his lips and tilting it backwards.

Reflexively, Robin drank, allowing the coolness to soothe the headache and the surprise.

He took the cup from her and drained the liquid quickly.

"Kagome—"

She held a finger to his lips.

"There is a way to stop Naraku," she said quickly, wanting to keep him from asking anything of her that she couldn't grant. "But it takes a lot of time. I am looking up the necessary information when I am not working."

"How?" Robin asked, his hands clutching her shoulders, the cup falling into the sheets, the last drops carelessly wetting the cotton fabric.

Her objective of distracting him reached, she responded to his question.

"There is an… artifact that my planet has… One that can destroy or fix anything," she explained, her voice almost hesitant. "I… have a form of access to it, but I am utilizing the research facilities of this planet in order to find an equivalent to it."

Robin frowned. "If our planet had anything like that, it would be put under high security… or under the control of a madman."

Kagome sighed, and then reminded gently, "I am seeking an equivalent. Not a copy."

"The same still applies!" he shot back.

She shrugged. "It does."

"Then…?" the fight left him with her easy admission.

"What do you know about the criminal 'Shadow'?" she asked him quietly.

Surprised, Robin blurted out the vitals he memorized about every criminal: "Female, young, petty crimes, continuously involved with large organizations and crime lords, but slips away each time they're caught."

Kagome smiled despite herself. "My alias is Kage Gorashii."

She'd heard of their visit to Japan – it was one of the many stories they'd given her to give her an idea of what life had been like before she'd arrived. He wasn't stupid – he'd connect the dots.

Admittedly, it was interesting to see his face changing so as it hit him.

His mouth parted as his eyes widened. Red colored his cheeks and his hands fell from her shoulders and for a moment, he was speechless.

Then – "Y-y-you….! You?" – it began. "You're Shadow?" His voice rose in a fevered pitch. While she knew their rooms were all soundproofed, she couldn't help but wincing.

"Quietly!" she gestured hurriedly for him to lower his face. Once his face returned to its usual color, she continued. "I've been setting those organizations up to fall… And as for the theft and stuff… I had to get noticed somehow."

"But…" Robin seemed appalled. "Kagome, that's… what you're doing is wrong!" His utter rejection pricked her and she stood up, putting some space between them. It also kept him from seeing the hurt.

"Maybe it is," she said quietly, doing her best not to let his disappointment hurt her, "But it's necessary. I never thought you'd tell me it was wrong, though, Robin. Weren't you the one that told me Red X was a mistake?"

She took a couple of steps away from him, stopped only by his weak response.

"Kagome, that's not…" she heard him stand and continued moving to the door. She couldn't let him stop her – if he did, he'd see her face. The senseless tears – why was she even crying? It was so stupid! – would be visible.

"Don't worry about it, Robin," she said, pausing at the door only to open it. "Anyways, I only stayed to let you know that there is a way to stop Naraku." Stepping into the hall, she nodded towards Sango, relieved that Raven wasn't there. "Sango will tell you the rest."

She shut the door behind her – the clicking sound the automated door made sounded final, but she couldn't allow herself to worry about it her.

"You know what can stop him," she spoke in her native language to Sango, knowing that her friend would know her well enough to understand the reference to the three men in her life.

"Kagome, this isn't necessary…" her friend protested, following her in the language swap.

She shook her head. "I'm pretty sure the group I'm with now has something I can use, Sango…"

Her friend smiled sadly at her. "I hope, for your sake, that they do."

The younger of the two smiled back just as sadly. "So do I. I… I like these people, Sango."

They headed for the roof, knowing that while Robin would try to follow, he'd first attempt to analyze the information he'd been presented with. He probably didn't think she'd leave so quickly – at least, not now that she'd given him the illusion that she might stay longer.

"You like Robin." Sango said pointedly. "Kagome, you can't do this to yourself. Miroku and I are more than capable of protecting him and the others that are here. You should stay."

The other shook her head. They both knew it was hopeless. "This is the only way, Sango… I've got to get to this thing, and I've got to get to it soon. If not… If this doesn't work, then I think I'll have to do my best without it. I like this place – I don't want to see it ruined."

Her friend shook her head in denial, though they both knew the truth.

"We can leave. We'll take him with us and we'll get away!"

"And then what? We'd always be running… We'd get tired of it sooner or later."

Sango led the way out onto the roof. Turning to her friend, she finally sighed. "At least tell us what happened with Inuyasha. What changed to make him… The way he is now?"

Kagome's eyes became wet as she hovered for a moment before deciding that she would, in fact, allow her best friend this much. Certainly, Sango knew everything else.

Cross-legged in the air, Kagome explained it as best as she could. "He was… He was sleeping with Kikyo when he thought I wasn't around. Naraku was cutting deals with the both of us – deals that we both knew were only trustworthy to a certain point. Still, I don't think either of us expected this.

"It was only a week before I escaped," Kagome said. "He'd been hitting me for the longest time… But he still said he loved me. What's worse, though," – she swallowed – "Was that I could tell that he meant it. He really thought he loved me, but that didn't make it okay for him to hit me the way he did." She shook her head. "Naraku didn't like his precious specimen getting bruised, so he used Kikyo as a scapegoat for me… I feel bad for her, but that's the reality of the situation. She was probably killed when they tore up the lab since she was still reliant on the equipment. Still, he never once struck her. He never hit anyone, as far as I knew. Only me."

She bit her lip for a moment, and then forged onwards. "I loved him, Sango. I loved him so much – but to him, I'm no longer an object of love. I could see it in his eyes when he came to try and take me back. He won the tournament, but he wanted the glory as much as he wanted me – and I really am only a prize to him now. A trophy or toy for him to do what he wants with."

"And that's exactly how it will stay," Inuyasha snarled. He himself was just above them, hovering in midair. He'd come for his first attempt to bleed the girl he wanted to take back. Having heard everything, he couldn't help but feel the slightest tinges of guilt… But it was too late to go back.

"I'm disappointed in you, Sango," he all but sneered. "I thought you and Miroku were my friends."

Sango immediately fell into a defensive posture.

"You Agreed not to get others involved!" Kagome shouted, her own battle form easily concealing Sango from the male's view.

He swore before touching down on the rooftop.

"Yeah, yeah – I'll take you all back with me," he said with a scowl in place. His once handsome face was twisted by the threats in his voice. "You all belong to me, after all!"

Both feet on the ground now, Kagome gestured for Sango to get away.

"It's the first of two meetings, Inuyasha. Think you can make me bleed?" she challenged him, her expression fierce despite the cues that Sango had long since learned meant her friend was sad.

"Bring it on, wench!"

And they fought. It was a tangle of limbs and havoc to their arms and legs as they kicked, punched, and struggled to gain the advantage.

Finally, Kagome missed a grip, and Inuyasha pinned her to the ground, a dagger in hand.

She glared at him. "Weapons, Inuyasha?" she all but spat, "I see your honor no longer holds and worth to you."

"Shut up," he instructed her. "I do whatever it takes to get what I want."

He placed the blade against her cheek, but she turned towards it, intending to scar herself. Immediately, he removed the blade as she'd known he would. He wanted a trophy – if it was scarred, it wasn't worth displaying.

In his moment of weakness, she freed a hand and snatched the dagger from his overconfident grip. She cut the tender flesh between his thumb and forefinger as she took it, and once she had it in her hand, she gripped the hilt in her fist and smacked him across the face, placing another cut on his face.

"You -!" his face twisted into one of hatred and fury as he moved his hands to her throat to strangle her.

Immediately, a band of bright pink appeared around his throat and dragged him away from her, effectively blasting him to the other side of the roof. Kagome took the opportunity to get to her feet.

"First meeting," she called out, coughing slightly. "Two bloods. I win, Inuyasha."

"Like hell!" he glared at her. "You belong to me!"

Suddenly, there was a great whistling sound and suddenly a figure dressed in white and silver appeared almost exactly in the middle between the two.

"Inuyasha," the figure spoke. His voice alone spoke volumes about his distaste for the loser of the Agreement.

"What do you want, Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha demanded angrily. His elder brother had appeared out of nowhere – and at a most inopportune time.

"She won fairly. Desist and depart."

"Screw you!" Inuyasha glowered. "I didn't lose!"

The graceful figure of his brother merely stared at him.

Desperate, Inuyasha began to call out. "She cheated! She had to have frickin' cheated! There's no way that she – that that abomination could defeat me!" At his words, Kagome cringed, flinching almost reflexively at the realization that he may have never loved her. Sango held her friend protectively as she glared at the one she'd once considered a protector and friend.

"You made an Agreement," his older brother said as the two women watched on. "Will you fail to honor it?" As if in acknowledgment of his words, the shimmering band around Inuyasha's throat glowed brightly and threateningly.

Knowing he'd lost, the red-clothed boy deflated. "No…"

"Then get out of my sight."

Without a word, Inuyasha got to his feet, glaring hatred at Kagome and Sango, and promptly disappeared.

Kagome stood tall with Sango at her back as Sesshoumaru turned towards her.

"Where is Rin?"