Disclaimer: Yeah; I own nothing. No Inuyasha, no Dark-Hunters, nothing. Or anything, it should be. Except for my food. And the storyline for this story. WHICH BY THE WAY you can thank my good friend Yuffie for the update; I had no idea where to go and one late night phone call and Wolf's Rain anime watching finally forced it outta me. It's a tiny TINY bit longer, so that's good, right? Anyhoo...dun dun dun! Enjoy.

5: Changing Sides

"Sesshoumaru-sama, what kind of people are you looking for in this country?" Kagome asked in a quiet voice as she picked at the salad in front of her, the feeling of excitement having settled in her belly after Aimee had returned to her mate. She'd wished to spend more time surrounded by that awesome feeling of awareness but knew that she wouldn't be able to, and instead turned her attention to the youkai.

He flicked her a glance as he cleanly sliced his steak, waiting to answer as he tested the first bite. It was delicious; he'd enjoy the rest of it as well. "You heard me inform the man at the door that this city is infested with non-humans. My searches have brought up terms such as Daimons, Hunters, and demons, but something tells me that the demons mentioned around here are not the same as what I am." He watched a human cross behind her, continued speaking only after he was well out of earshot. "The most I have heard about are the Daimons, which we will investigate first. According to my sources, we are on the look out for fangs, long blond hair, nightwalkers, and soul eaters. The characteristics imply that our search shall not last long."

"...vampires?" She whispered, unable to quell the instant fear the flitted through her body as her mind conjured up the images she'd come across in her travels.

The look the daiyoukai gave her suggested that he knew her fear and thought it unfounded. "No, not vampires. I said that they eat souls, did I not? Blood does not factor into the equation, that I'm aware of." Sesshoumaru kept his attention fixed on the group he'd found outside; whoever they were, whatever they were, they were on the move but they didn't appear to be going far. Finish your dinner; the stench of bear clogs my senses and I wish to leave this place."

Kagome dipped her head into a small bow and leaned over her plate, lifting the first bite to her mouth.

xx

"Are we looking for someone in particular, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kagome risked a glance at his sharp profile, unsure if the faint glow she detected to his form a trick of the moonlight or his own power showing itself. But when she blinked it was gone, and forgot about it moments later.

"...No. You are just to keep your eyes on the alleys, and tell me when you spot something strange." His pause was minute, the span of one-tenth of a second. Not long enough for her to notice, and she didn't. Sesshoumaru kept one eye closed as he walked the path away from Sanctuary, ignoring sign names and streets that led towards shops and houses.

He was trying to think with a clear head but there were so many scents in this town. Pungent, overbearing, annoying. Too many things mixed together, but one scent overpowered the rest.

Power.

Ancient blood mixed with something else, something pure, something familiar yet it eluded him at the moment. This city was literally choking on power. The gods frequented it like they needed its air to survive. And it wasn't their powers that scented so pure.

He sensed that Kagome felt a small bit of what he did, but didn't react the same way as he. As usual, he was alone on his little pedastal above the rest of the races.

Powers of the light, powers of the dark, powers of the Primordial gods that he recognized from his own parents. But again, different. As they walked Sesshoumaru allowed his mind to drift, to contemplate the uses he could have for whatever creatures inhabited New Orleans. Kagome would subconsciously try to allign herself with the good, while his darker nature would identify with the bad...or what passed for bad. He still needed information, and he still had a vague mission to fulfill. Who could help him in his quest, and who could hinder it.

He paused a step and shook his head; why were these thoughts surfacing now? They were useless and didn't help his decision making at all.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! There; something's happening!"

The daiyoukai turned his head in an unhurried movement, following the pointed finger to a dark alleyway where it seemed a gathering was being held. Many non-humans gathered in a loose circle. It practically begged suspicious.

"Come." He commanded and turned left, headed into the alley. A short squeal sounded their entrance, cut short when the scent of fresh blood circulated. Sesshoumaru didn't quicken his pace in the slightest but did feel anticipation move through his body like sludge.

"-nd you wouldn't have died. Dumbass."

The voice had an undeniably beautiful quality to it, yet the deadly threats injected in the undertones suggested that the creature who voiced it wasn't the nicest of people.

All blond, all buff, all...empty. They were off, and their scent rubbed Sesshoumaru the wrong way. And the pile of dust that didn't smell like dust wasn't at all suspicious either.

The supposed leader of the group, the tallest amongst them with his hair pulled back, turned when they stepped into the large outlet, a look of smug disdain on his unchanging face. "Oh look, boys; a few humans have wandered to our hiding place. What shall we do with them?"

Grins crossed the faces of the others. For her own preservation Kagome stepped closer to Sesshoumaru; they didn't feel right. They felt like...death to her, and brought up unwanted memories of her former life.

"You presume that the two of us are humans? Have your senses completely failed you?" Sesshoumaru drew himself up to his full height, inches shorter than the leader and yet the difference in height did nothing to diminish the fact that he was a threat.

"Oh really now? If you're not human than what are you?" The man came forword, stepping so close to the daiyoukai that he could feel the heat eminating from him. "Not a Dark-Hunter, that's for sure. You don't have the same...ugly energy as them. Yet you claim you aren't human? Hm...I wonder what your blood tastes like."

Kagome's eyes widened in fear at the thought. "B-blood? But Sesshoumaru-sama-"

"Silence!" The growl was louder than he intended, just short of a bark. The group reared back, then each one let loose an individual hiss to show their displeasure.

"You challenge the Spathi Daimons, (2) creature who pretends to be inhuman. I never thought I'd meet such a stupid man but, well, we all know how life throws you for a loop, isn't that right boys?" He withdrew a small dagger with an intricate Old World design on the hilt and held it, hilt pointed towards the daiyoukai. "My name is Bion, and I answer only to Stryker. Tell me, what names do my prey go by?"

Sesshoumaru gave a light grunt at the unexpected question. "You don't strike me as the type to care what names are given to your 'prey,' Daimon." He felt Kagome's small hands catch onto his sleeve and subtly shook her off.

A different Spathi came up next to Kagome in less than a second, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from him and close to his body. "We don't; we just want to know what names to put on the papers we turn into morgue."

Sesshoumaru shifted slightly-whether to protect Kagome or kill the man that dared defy him-but the prick of the knife against his neck stopped the movement. It didn't even draw blood but the fact that someone had dared such a thing drew about his anger like nothing else. A gaze with a hint of red returned to those aesthetic eyes, relishing the question that took over the pleasure there. "You dare? You, who has not yet reached the peak of your power, who has not lived long in this world?"

Kagome's world narrowed to two dots in her vision, her breath escaping in quick puffs of air that hurt her chest. It felt like bands of burning light gripped her arm, yet this wasn't light. What was it? A screaming in her head, a roaring in her ears. She could her everyone talking around her but their words didn't register. Blind, deaf, in pain Kagome reached out, her arm gripping bare flesh-it felt like a hand. The man who'd grabbed her first? The skin felt too rough to be Sesshoumaru.

From where their flesh connected a burning spread, at first a tingling in her fingertips that gradually grew to an intense fire; as if her fingers and hand were falling off. She thought she screamed, she definitely yelled, but no sound reached her ears. What was going on?

Sesshoumaru gripped the knife to keep it from digging into his neck, instead feeling it split open at his palm from the edge. He was about to say something when he heard Kagome cry out and felt her miko energies spin out of control. He barely had enough time to jerk his body out of its range before they practically exploded out of her body, yet still a few reached him and burned his flesh.

From afar Sesshoumaru watched as the Daimon holding onto that glowing arm gasped, clutching with his free arm at his throat as if he were choking. A soft ringing sounded as a tiny glowing ball emerged from that twitching throat, rising from the open mouth into the open air.

Ah, so that's where the pure power came from. A soul, a tiny piece of the purest energies (in most cases,) that had become trapped within the Daimon's body. Set free at last by the powers of a priestess, finally allowed to cross over...or so it seemed.

The blue-tinted glow from Kagome's miko energies dissipitated shortly after the soul disappeared and Sesshoumaru jerked forword, catching her frail body as she began to fall. She remained conscious by just a margin.

"You...just what the hell are you?" Bion demanded, not approaching again as he called a bolthole into the alley. This was a dangerous adversary, to be able to so utterly take care of one of the Spathi with little more than a touch.

Sesshoumaru sniffed at the rift. "A daiyoukai. If you can remember from so long ago as to what that is then perhaps you can be of use to me in the future. If you cannot, then when we meet again I shall kill you myself, rather than leaving you to the miko."

Another baleful hiss from the leader before they all stepped into the bolthole, escaping with cowardice but with their lives. Sesshoumaru turned and looked down at the cold body, kneeling to get a better look and to try to figure out just what had happened.

The Daimons had souls trapped inside their bodies, and something about Kagome's miko abilities released the souls, resulting in an instant death. But was that all, or was there something he was missing? He looked down at the girl in his arms. As soon as she came back to herself and they were back at their temporary home he'd begin with the questioning.

xx

"I understand your concern Sin, but this is something you can take care of by yourself. You don't need me."

Sin, the Sumerian god of the moon and fertility, wouldn't admit that he closed the phone with slightly more anger than necessary. Damn Acheron and his ability to piss everyone off with his half-assed "do it yourself" methods. Maybe he should withhold visiting rights from Katra. But that wouldn't work; Acheron would find some way to show up at their place like he always did.

"Anyway, you seem like you're having fun so I'm going to go now. Zarek's supposed to call me later; his wife wants some "brotherly interaction" to occur since lately he's been annoying her." There was irritation in that voice but also a hint of affection; Acheron didn't just look out for the Dark-Hunters, he actually cared about them.

"Fine; I'll check in with you later. Try not to kill the guy if Zarek starts pissing you off." Sin hung up and pocked the phone, letting out an annoyed groan. Now what was he supposed to do? Hang around the Square for a few hours until the sun came up? Well, either way he could find some way to pass the time. He started walking towards the Square but paused moments later, his senses going on high alert. "Blood? No, not blood-Daimons!"

He quickened his pace and turned onto one of the intersecting streets, stopping short at the sight of two figures who walked at a pace as slow as a snail. The scent of Daimon didn't come from them, but a faint trace did cling-as if they'd been in contact with one. That they were still alive and walking roused his suspicions.

"Hey! You two have some trouble earlier?"

The taller of the two, a man with hair dyed platinum white, half turned to glance back, wondering just what could possible be bothering him now. The other person flinched and stepped around the man, seeming to hide behind his frame. Sin frowned.

"Aren't you going to say something? Like why you-" Sin stopped himself as he got a good look at the duo. While the man was extraordinarily good looking the girl was unremarkable, yet their presence left a tingle spreading along his god powers. They almost felt like gods themselves, with that same cloaking of power as they held. No, it wasn't even that; they felt like...Acheron. "What are you? You're not human, and you don't feel like a demon." (1)

Sesshoumaru turned fully, not moving closer but tilting his head like he was contemplating who this man was. "What do you mean? I am a demon."

Well, that's a good place to leave off, wouldn't you say? A cliffhanger. And again, you can blame Yuffie for that; she's the one that said it'd be a good idea to leave off on a cliffy. Actually, I think I missed putting a few parts in...oh well! So anyhoo, people, REVIEW.

1: To clear some things up, if you've read Dark-Hunters, you'll remember the Spathis are the more powerful of the Daimons, controlled by Stryker.

2: And the demons of their world are the Gallu demons are trapped by the Sumerian gods, and from the one that escaped, they're all females. So it begs the question, has another one escaped, and why is it male? Perhaps they'll be revealed in the next update...perhaps not.