Cat's Eye
Note: I'm so bad! I should really finish "The Haunting Place" before starting a new fic, but this was crawling around in my head and I had to get it out. I'm not sure what will come of this, but I had to do something to get me out of this lull. (Don't worry, next chapter of 'HP' is coming out in about a week!)
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
Warning: So far all I got is swearing; however, I know me and I will always earn my M rating, so here's to the future…
One-more-note: I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you want Shakespeare go to the library, if you want a creative and fun fanfic come to me. Yes, there might be some grammar and spelling errors (but not many). This is a hobby for me. I assure you I know the rules of proper grammar, accept any errors as typos and move on. (However, I do promise I shall try my damnedest to keep such mistakes to a minimum!)
Two-Hundred Years Ago…The merry chants and sweet tinkles of the sacred chimes faded as the townspeople marched solemnly, yet jovially, back to their homes, leaving behind the young priestess to tend the decorated offerings of sake and riceballs upon the clearing. She was a tall, commanding beauty, fresh from her apprenticeship. The red banners they had used appeared black in the starlight and the priestess blew out the ceremonial incense, which wafted tangy clouds of aroma upon the wind.
"I shall remove the holy sutras," she suddenly spoke aloud to the night air, though she appeared to be alone, "so you may partake of the offerings, Lady."
There was a long, drawn out silence, before a crystal voice practically purred from the shadows, echoing in an almost supernatural manner, "While I knew that you knew that I was here, I did not know that you knew that I was demon. How marvelous, how perceptive you are, human. Surely you are the rumored priestess I've heard tell of?"
"As I said, Lady, I shall remove the sutras so that you may accept the gifts the people have given you."
Another pregnant pause, "That offering is intended for a goddess. I am no goddess."
Midoriko turned to where she believed the voice was originating, a particularly dark batch of shadow hidden under the low branches of tangled trees. Perhaps it had been her imagination, but the priestess thought she caught the green sheen of light reflected upon two glowing eyes. Yet upon second glance, there was nothing there. "The demon slayers have mistaken you for a celestial being. They believe you guard them from harm. May I ask you your name, Lady? My people wish to know to whom they pray."
A final brief silence, then, "I protect my lands, that is all," the voice was curt, yet warm. "How blasphemous of you priestess, to permit these humans to sacrifice and pray to a god that is really a demon," and with that, the demon was gone. There was no noise or sign of movement to indicate her departure. Only Midoriko's sense told her that the youkai had left.
It had not escaped Midoriko's notice that the demon had deliberately withheld her name.
Ten Years Ago…"Her name is Kirara," the demon slayer told his daughter, "She was your grandfather's and now you two must look after each other from now on."
Sango nodded with big, understanding eyes. Her grandfather had been dead three days now, but only this morning was his body returned to the demon slayer village. She had not seen him in years. He had been beset by consumption many winters ago and had been recuperating at a shrine a long ways away from the slayer village. She remembered little about him, only that he often smelled of garlic and let her sneak nips of his sake while father's back was turned.
Yet on the small horizon of her memory, the girl thought she remembered a cat of some sort, usually curled up in her grandfather's lap.
"Kirara?" young Sango cradled the two-tail like a precious treasure and smiled down at her, marveling at the cute black ears, the soft tickling fur, and the fluffy tails. "I love you," the little girl said with absolute sincerity that only a child can muster.
"Meow!" the little two-tail chimed and thus was passed to the next generation.
Presently…"We are being followed," two impossibly light blue eyes flashed in the darkness as a lithe shape smoothly stopped to stare suspiciously over his shoulder.
His companions paused as well, casting glowing glares behind them. "The dog demon," one hissed quietly, careful to speak softly, "Damn him." She was a tall being with cascading white hair that was pinned to her regal head in massive waves. Her eyes were gray, yet bright. Seeming to debate some issue carefully in her mind, she finally spoke, "Never mind him. There can be no helping it now. He's obviously picked up our scent. Perhaps he shall keep his distance until our deed is done." With that, the Persian leapt forward in an agile sprint.
The two Siamese exchanged uncertain glances. "Somehow I doubt that luck shall favor us so highly," the female sighed to her brother.
"Ours is not to question," her brother sang sweetly back at her, before gracefully dashing after their leader. His sister only waited a brief moment to watch the shadows behind with disdain, then she too bolted into the trees, nary making a sound as padded footsteps sprang along the brush with feline ease.
Thus they ran long into the night, the Persian leading the Siamese siblings onward. They fell through the thick foliage as effortlessly as the butterfly floats on the breeze and the only noise to be heard was the occasional pant as they exerted themselves. How long had they been traveling at such a spirited pace? Since making landfall a day or so ago and the beginnings of fatigue were scratching at their senses. Even a youkai at run without food, water, or rest will feel the ebb of exhaustion.
But there would be no respite for the trio, not until their mission was complete and certainly not on foreign terrain. Even though the land they crossed belonged to no noble youkai, it was clear by the dog demon that followed so close that they were not welcome anywhere on these isles. Neko demons had been banished long ago. And to add to the already heavy tension, clutched in the Persian's right hand was the cause of all this trouble; a soft glow akin to flame that shown even through her white fingers, the Cat's Eye. The strange, orange stone was pulsing and the cat youkai could feel the rhythm increasing in her palm as they neared their target. 'Soon,' she willed it, 'be patient. Soon, you shall have your mistress and my people and I shall be free of you forever.' She permitted a bout of uncharacteristic optimism to wisp across her thoughts. Soon indeed, she'll have broken the curse at last and soon she'd embrace security and safety for the first time in her tragic life. All she had to do was deliver the stone...
If she had been any lesser of a demon, she probably would've screamed when the dog taiyoukai abruptly landed not ten feet in front of her speedy path. Luckily, Namiro was a lady of good breeding and excellent reflex and therefore, managed to swallow her silent surprise and skid to a halt before coming into striking distance of the dog demon. Her two vassals also came to a stop behind her without colliding into each other. Lavi, the brother Siamese, stepped beside his lady and flexed his arms rather pointedly.
A dreaded realization swooped over her, that perhaps her family curse would triumph, killing her only moments before she would've broken it. The bitter irony almost brought a smile to her lips.
Tall and endlessly imposing, the great taiyoukai subjected each cat demon to a paralyzing stare made golden by his amber orbs, before finally settling on the Persian. "You do not belong here," his voice was a smooth rumbling, like the embrace of an earthquake, "Leave and live."
For a moment, Namiro considered a bluff, debating how likely this inu youkai would respond to intimidation. Gods knew, back in her homeland it would've worked on some lesser demon. After all, she was the daughter of a great cat taiyoukai and not many knew exactly what to make of her, though she was clearly not a 'pure' demon. But, one look at his flawless features and rigid posture and she wisely dismissed such a notion. This was clearly Inutaisho's eldest son, not a fool to be trifled with.
"Lord Sesshoumaru," she spoke evenly, deciding a passive course might save her skin, "Whole greetings and honors upon the master of the Western Lands." She bowed respectively to him, careful to keep one gray eye on his sword and her hand wrapped tightly around the orange stone, blocking out its pulsing glow.
"Remain and die," was his simple response.
"Forgive me, Lord Sesshoumaru," noticing the flex of his clawed fingers, Namiro the Persian spoke hastily and hoped to avoid a battle she could ill afford, "But it was my understanding this land was unclaimed, and being unclaimed my party and I are permitted to travel briefly without the bother of treaty or announcement. Is this not so?"
"You speak of native laws, yet neko are banished and that makes you foreigners. A pack of your kin trespassed not long ago and were defeated. I permitted the Panther Tribe to retreat with their lives, I shall not be so merciful to you," he drew Tokijin, but made no move to attack.
"Panthers are no kin of ours!" Sanura, the Siamese sister, shouted out, her temper as hot as the realm she hailed from, "And cats have prides, not packs-!" She was a mere breath away from calling him a dirty son of a wolf, which surely would've equated to her death, but luckily her lady Namiro held up her hand to silence her. No dog would ignore a wolfish insult like that, just as no cat could tolerate being compared to the brutish and uncouth wildcats.
"We have but a small errand to attend to, Inu Lord, then we shall leave and by moon and sky, I would rather damn my soul to a monastery then ever return to these accursed lands again," the hand that clasped Cat's Eye shook with passion for what she said. These lands, though the birthplace of her father, were her family's bane. These isles were not her ancestor's anymore. They were a neko graveyard and the ghosts from that graveyard had haunted them ever since the banishment, forever on the Eastern horizon. Damn these lands, let the dog keep them! Let her fight for them...
"No." Flat, emotionless, and to the point.
Sanura and Lavi made to advance, but again their lady stayed them. "One hour more is all we require," clenching her fist tighter around the stone, Namiro felt her pulse quicken in frustration.
"No," a ray of moonlight glinted off Tokijin, "Not one more minute." He took one foreboding step forward.
"Just one task, I beg you," she hissed out through gritted teeth, panic edging her words. Her control was waning. It had been an impossibly long journey and to have failed so very close to her goal...she was about to lash out in desperation. The blood in her veins was running hot, the flush in her face chilled her, and the beating of her heart was vibrating through her body-
-no, that wasn't her heartbeat.
Both Sesshoumaru and Namiro lowered their gazes to stare perturbed at her right hand. The light was brightening, shining vividly even through the Persian's closed fist. It cast a fantastic, yellow glow that streaked orange shadows over their faces and pulsed. A strange humming grew louder as Cat's Eye beat out its steady rhythm, the vibration tingling along Namiro's fair limb. Gradually, Namiro raised her arm and opened her hand.
Upon seeing the object in the Persian's possession, Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed in vague recognition and wondered aloud, "Could that be-?" This time, he raised Tokijin, ready to fight at the slightest provocation.
Namiro's eyes widened as Cat's Eye hovered a few inches above her palm, cool flames lapping at the smooth surface of the stone. "She's coming," she whispered.
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"Then the lipstick," Kagome applied the red cylinder paste to Sango's lips. Sango did her very best to hold still, but her eyelashes felt heavy with mascara and she had to resist wiping them. She also wasn't comfortable being the direct center of attention, especially such intense and apt attention. She could feel the eyes of Inuyasha, Miroku, Shippou and even Myoga upon the back of her head. Thus they sat round the flickering campfire, the smell of Ramen still clinging to the night breeze. No one talked, lest they break Kagome's concentration.
"Almost finished," picking up the blush, Kagome moved to apply 'sunrise kiss' to Sango's powdered cheeks.
"Are you sure," Sango leaned away from the menacing makeup brush with its teasingly soft bristles, "that all the women from your era do this?" While Sango wore her colored kohl as a mark of her status as a chieftain's daughter, she would have never worn cosmetics all over her face. Only certain women wore that kind of paint!
"Yup," the girl form the future nodded cheerily and started to decorate Sango's cheeks.
Shippo quickly interrupted, "You don't wear may-cup, Kagome."
"No," putting down the brush and using her fingertips to smooth the blush in, Kagome conceded, "But that's because my mom says I'm too young. She says I can start wearing makeup when I'm in high school, which is only a year away. All right," she dusted off her hands, "all done! Have a look Sango!"
Kagome offered her a compact mirror and with great trepidation, the demon slayer accepted, glancing at her reflection. Involuntarily, she inhaled a quick shocked breath. The others craned their necks to try to see around to her face, but Sango kept her back to them. "See how pretty you are?" putting her hands on Sango's shoulders, Kagome leaned against her and watched their reflections in the compact. Sometimes, the two really could've been mistaken for sisters.
"I look so," Sango struggled for words, touching her face with a disbelieving hand, "different." While Sango was familiar with the contemporary cosmetics of her time, the makeup from Kagome's time was overwhelming! Cosmetics of the Feudal Era were made to transform faces, but Kagome's cosmetics enhanced faces. Sango appeared as if she wore no face paint at all, as if her face was natural, flawless perfection. And her eyelashes were long, and her lids were glowing, and her blush was perfect, and her lips were red…
"Aargh!" Shippo couldn't take it anymore, "Sango, let us see!"
Unreasonably nervous with herself, Sango faced her friends, her eyes downcast in modesty. They all leaned forward to watch Sango's decorated face in the firelight, each holding their respective breaths. Everyone stayed silent for a moment, except for Kirara who sat perched upon Inuyasha's lap, tilting her head to the side and meowing in approval.
Finally, the little fox demon exploded in excitement, "Whoa! Sango, you are so beautiful! Neat! Can I feel?" and immediately bounded into her lap, touching her face, "It's not oily like paint at all. It's actually kinda soft!"
In spite of himself, Inuyasha let out an appreciative whistle, "You clean up good, Sango. That stuff's really something. It's like your, er…glowing almost." Everybody turned surprised expressions towards Inuyasha and he self-consciously blushed in anger and embarrassment, "Feh! It's not like I think you're pretty or anything!"
Realizing this was the closest Inuyasha might ever get to complimenting her looks, Sango smiled, "Thank you."
"I concur," Myoga leapt form Kirara's head and landed with flea agility upon Sango's supple neck, "such a fine specimen of feminine attraction, perhaps just a little taste to tease the pallet." But alas, Sango reflexively swatted at the flea minion before he could sup on her blood, and he fell harmlessly deflated to the ground.
Kirara meowed again, licking at her paw to scrub at her face. "Aww," Kagome clutched her hands under her chin, eyes sparkling in merriment, "Even Kirara is fixing herself up! She wants to be beautiful like Sango!" Scooping her up, Kagome nuzzled her face against Kirara's soft fur. Sometimes cuteness could be overwhelming.
Suddenly, as if on conscious cue, the fellowship realized that the one member of their group most likely to comment had remained strangely silent. Miroku sat, eyes closed and head lowered, almost like he was in meditation.
"Sir Monk," Sango just knew she was going to regret this, but Miroku's silence was uncharacteristically unnerving, "have you no opinion?"
"Forgive me, Lady Sango," Miroku smirked, his violet eyes at last opening. The intense stare that fell upon Sango made her stomach twist and a lump swell in her throat. The monk's usual leering was playful and, at worst, bothersome like the teasing of a little boy, but essentially harmless. Yet there was nothing so youthful about this stare. It was the look that he sometimes gave her when they were confiding in each other, alone and intimate. A fleeting glance that was repressed deep down in his body, but would swiftly free itself and stare at Sango. It was a dark look, a dangerously attractive look that virtually read, 'temptation'. This expression fascinated and frightened Sango at the same time. Still, Miroku always seemed to regain control of himself and the stare was always brief and daring, like summer lightening.
However, now Miroku was staring at her openly and indulgently and Sango blushed crimson, hoping the others didn't notice the implications of this look. "But I was suddenly reminded of an old proverb where the beauty of a lotus was used to obtain enlightenment," he continued, his voice clipped and lyrical, "I had hoped to use your celestial beauty to arise to a higher plane." Then Miroku shocked everyone when he leaned forward, bowing to the demon slayer, "You are lovely, Sango."
Inuyasha felt like vomiting.
Badum…
The two-tails red eyes shot open. Kirara leapt from Kagome's grasp, a tense hiss coming from her throat. Her little face turned frantically left to right and back again.
"My sentiments exactly," the hanyou absently scratched the demon cat's head, upsetting Myoga's placement on her ear, "Gross, huh?" Kirara shook his hand off and the hanyou felt vaguely insulted. When had Kirara ever rejected a good pet? Besides, Inuyasha wasn't the cuddliest of people, the cat should take what he was willing to give and count herself damn lucky he was willing to give that away.
"Kirara," Sango cooed, reaching out to calm the feline, "Are you alright?"
But Kirara wasn't paying attention to her mistress or even the hanyou. Instead her red eyes were large and glaring, pupils slitted. She faced downwind, hair sticking up in angry spikes along her body. Her hisses quickly became growls, which probably would've been more terrifying had she not been in her kitten form and so cursedly adorable.
"Something's wrong," rising, Miroku stared suspiciously in the direction Kirara glared. Sometimes it took the wisest to state the obvious. Kirara was a trusted friend and probably one of the bravest warriors the monk had ever met. She did not startle lightly. Pulling a sutra from his sleeve, he brought it to his forehead and tried to sense.
Badum…"Whoa," the schoolgirl clutched at the jewel shards around her neck. The pretty, little, pink shards were thrumming with energy. Something was pulsating, like a heartbeat, and the shards were echoing it like a homing device, "Does anyone else feel that?"
The black ink scrawled upon Miroku's sacred sutras started to fizzle and disappear.
Along his hip, Inuyasha felt the warning pulse of the Tetsusaiga.
Suddenly, Kirara exploded into her transformation. The heat and light from the flames warmed the faces of those around her, blinding them for a moment. Usually, the two-tail would never have transformed so close to her friends because of the obvious fire hazard, but Kirara seemed too distressed to have noticed. She gave one mighty, deafening roar, rearing up on her hind legs with her pearly fangs glittering in the moonlight, before swiftly galloping away and very nearly running poor Shippo over.
"Kirara!" Sango cried, grabbing her Haiktsu and chasing after the feline demon. Her heart beat in a terrible panic. Kirara very rarely acted so rashly, only when Kohaku was close by. Was that why the two-tail fled into the night now? Was her brother out there somewhere? Silently and swiftly, the others snatched up their own respective weapons and followed the demon slayer. The firelight faded behind them, but the cold moon was bright that night and their path was lighted silver. "Kirara wait for us!" shouting, Sango ran after.
"I'm going ahead," Inuyasha sprang past the group, never minding the whip of tree branches as he sprinted fast, "Something's not right and I'll be damned if Kirara's gonna face it alone!" The half demon made quick leaps through the trees and was soon gaining upon Kirara.
"Hurry Inuyasha!" shouting after him, Kagome clutched at her bow and watched the hanyou disappear into the brush ahead. In the small bottle resting against her chest, the jewel shards positively buzzed with energy. She had a terrible feeling about this.
Taking the lead, Miroku's staff clinked and clanked like a holy fire alarm.
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"She's coming," Namiro the Persian stared in wonderment at the shining stone.
"Fools," there was no misinterpreting Sesshoumaru's actions now and no further stalling. The dog demon held Tokijin aloft and ready to slice through the air and into cat flesh with all the relish the cursed sword could muster, "You dare return that thing to these lands. This insult will not go unpunished. Now die," it was not so much a statement as it was a simple fact. He leapt forward, a dizzying blur of speed.
Yet, even common cat demons are known for their uncommon agility and Lavi flung his lady away in a less then regal manner to land on her feet (of course) a few feet away, successfully saving her from Tokijin's unforgiving bite. However, the cat demon had not the reflexes to match with Inutashio's eldest son and he was promptly struck in the face with Sesshoumaru's Light Whip, almost decapitating him if Sanura had not kicked his feet out from under him. Blood poured from the wound upon his jaw as he watched in horror as Seshoumaru grabbed his sister by the throat, his poisoned claws already tearing at her flesh. He gracefully sprang upward again and made to attack in an unthinking rage.
A slight twitch brushed Sesshoumaru's nose.
Immediately, he flung the female Siamese away and leapt back in what he assured himself was most definitely not a retreat, but rather a 'strategic replacement'.
Just in time for a brightly dressed hanyou to burst between them, carrying an extravagant sword and swearing all the while, "Sesshoumaru, son of a bitch! I knew I smelled bastard." Inuyasha swung Tetsusaiga, but made no indication of using Wind Scar. Still, Sesshoumaru couldn't take that chance. As much as it irked him to have to withdrawal any attack and especially for a vile creature such as his brother, Sesshoumaru knew all too well the powers his half-brother was beginning to master and as much as it pissed him off to admit it, his brother was quickly becoming 'competition'; though he would've rather kissed Jaken before admitting that particular embarrassment out loud.
Sanura staggered to her feet, clutching at the bleeding wound across her throat. It was nasty, but the poison was not deep and it would heel. She gazed curiously at her would-be savior and felt her blood boil cold at the shock. "A hanyou," she spat, the bloody mucus hissing as it hit the ground, "An inu hanyou!" What a dishonor, what an embarrassment to have a hanyou intervene in battle!
"Stay out of this, half-breed," growled Lavi, standing at his sister's side.
"Excuse me!" careful not to turn his back on Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha faced the Siamese siblings and shouted, vehement as always, "But this lousy half-breed just saved her sorry ass!" He pointed to Sanura who flashed her fangs at him in warning. Why did it never fail? Every time he tried to do something even semi-decent it was thrown right back in his face because of his ancestry. Demons were so predictable. Vaguely, Inuyasha wondered why he wanted to be one.
"Do not interfere," Sesshoumaru was in seriously bad temper now. The arrival of his ill-timed brother was the last thing he needed, "This does not concern you, fool."
"Hey," Inuyasha roared back at his brother, "I'll decide what concerns me! You can go shove it!"
"Insolent brat, I shall tear out your tongue and make you eat the vile thing."
"Yeah, just try it, pal-."
"You-," the two inu brothers glared at the neko lady that was interrupting their argument as if she was nothing more then an incredible inconvenience.
But Namiro was not even paying attention to the squabbling brothers. Her attention was on the two-tails that stalked ever closer to her. Cat's Eye's cool fire leapt in excitement and the shadowed patterns on the stone were flexing and waning in anticipation. Namiro's face was a struggle of emotions. Anger and relief warred upon her fair features and reflected strangely from the light cast by Cats' Eye. She was glaring at Kirara, who was very slowly creeping as a huntress towards the neko youkai. "You-," she tried again, "How I've dreamt of killing you."
Kirara answered with a promising growl.
No one needed to tell Inuyasha that he was too compulsive and for the umpteenth time in his long life he found himself wishing that he had not been so quick to judge. Clearly, Kirara was not bothered by the presence of Sesshoumaru, but the three neko youkai were her intended target. She was pacing back and forth, in an aggressive stance, head down, tails twitching, and she was quit literally the lioness ready to pounce. Her shoulder blades rose and fell as she stalked, like the arch of a sword.
"Stay away from her," Inuyasha pointed Tetsusaiga toward the white-haired cat demon. Swirls of Cat's Eye's demonic aura were dancing along the Tetsusaiga. "What?" Inuyasha glared at the foreboding light, "What the hell is that thing?"
Namiro ignored the hanyou vermin. "You…," she struggled with words and it was clear that Namiro was not one who had ever had trouble expressing herself before. She took one definitive step towards Kirara. The stone in her hand was shining excitedly and the pulsing had become a steady buzzing. "It was all your fault. You know that, do you not? Everything. Was. Your. Fault," there was sadness to her regal, slow tone as she extended her palm with Cat's Eyes hovering over it.
"Kirara!" Sango burst through the brush with Kagome and Miroku in tow.
Namiro released Cat's Eye.
The stone darted at Kirara like an arrow from Kagome's bow, swift and sure. Sango reflexively darted forward, but it was Inuyasha that was closest to the two-tails and he only had time to raise his hand. In a literal flash, Cat's Eye struck Kirara upon the forehead so hard it raised the neko upon her hind legs, knocking her back, and she fell limply to the ground in a mighty collapse.
What happened after that was an explosion of fantastic light and heat.
They had to close their eyes, so bright was Cat's Eye's ecstatic flame that it blinded them. A fierce wind, as powerful as Miroku's Wind Tunnel blew away from the stone and the cat demons along with Inuyasha were forced back several feet. The humans were far enough away that they were able to keep their footing, but they could not venture any closer, no matter how desperately Sango tried. Only Sesshoumaru stood his ground, though he did have to bury Tokijin into the rich earth and used the sword as an anchor. He could not bring himself to raise his hand to his brow to sway the bright, flashing light, after all the gesture could've been mistaken for weakness. But he did squint his handsome brow, and defied this strange power by staring straight at the heart of it. Sesshoumaru was the only one who saw exactly what happened.
It happened in the shadows of Cat's Eye, made impossibly dark by the overwhelming light. There was the two-tail, withering in pain or ecstasy. She was stretched out, pulled in so many directions at once. Then suddenly parts of her were growing, while other parts were receding. For a moment, even the mighty Sesshoumaru doubted his senses. Yet it was definite shape now. A lean figure arching into the stone upon her forehead and stretching out her arms as flames lapped at the newly formed limbs.
"Kirara! Kirara!" the screams of the demon slayer could be heard even over the thrumming of Cat's Eye.
Then all at once, it disappeared, leaving the night that much quieter and darker for its absence.
Clink…
Cat's Eye fell to the ground, a quiet, unassuming stone again.
"Kirara?" Sango ran ahead, her eyes slowly readjusting to moonlight, and searched the ground where only moments before the two-tails had fallen, but now there was only a woman, unconscious and naked, "Wh-Where is Ki-Kirara?"
Yet somewhere deep in Sango, she already knew the answer; the woman's forehead was marked with a black diamond. The last of the neko taiyoukai had been restored.
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Well there it is, just cutting this one loose and seeing where she'll fly. I do know it will be a Sesshoumaru/Kirara romance. Let me know what you think.
Citadel