AN: Thanks for reviewing and sorry for the delay. Time for a new chapter. It's not very long, 3 pages only, but it explains things a bit, otherwise it doesn't move things forward. You'll 'meet' the one that was sealed, by the way

DISCLAIMER: Aurora and Mr Kageuchi are mine, Inuyasha characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Enjoy!

Chapter 4

A statue that portrayed a beautiful man with claws, pointed ears, spiky armour and a long sword in his sash had been placed in a glass case in one of the hallways at the Tokyo University's main building at the campus. In there the students and teachers as well were able to admire it, as well as study and analyze it.

This statue was found recently from a cave a group from the University checked a while back. With the statue there had been seven disks, all made from different materials and all having different symbols inscribed on them. One symbol each, and none of the symbols had been identified yet. Most of the materials had been recognised, namely gold, silver, marble, clay, wood, and stone; the last one's material eluded the scientists who were studying the findings. Analysis stated that it appeared to contain beta-keratin, so possibly a scale of a reptilian, or made from claws or beaks of birds. Yet, it was of an odd golden shade, almost transparent. None of the animals they knew had beak, scales, or claws like that.

Other than the disks, there had been a bottle of unknown liquid, as well as several smaller statues. All smaller statues appeared to be of different gods and goddesses of the Shinto religion. Both Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi had been identified. Oddly enough, Buddha seemed to be there too.

The bottle was made of clear glass, was definitely old, and it had been closed so tightly, that the scientist couldn't open it without breaking it, so for now they have only studied the liquid through the bottle. The liquid was burgundy colour. So, currently it was believed to be red wine.

Few younger members of the group had suggested it to be something completely different, namely blood. However, so far it wasn't considered seriously. After all, who would put blood in a bottle? No one sane, that's for sure.

The statue of the beautiful man was made of stone, and was so finely made that it could've been a real living person turned into a statue. But that happened only in fairy tales and fantasy novels, so the one who had made it had to have been best in the trade.

Of course, why would best of the trade make such a beautiful statue using stone, when someone with those skills could've used marble? Scientists couldn't tell.

Another thing they couldn't tell who was the man that the statue portrayed. Pointed ears and claws. No humans had them. And why did it seem that he had lines on his cheeks and a sphere on his forehead? It could be statue of yet unrecognised Shinto deity.

Many of the students and teachers walking down the corridor the statue was in stopped to take a look. And not just them. Currently there was a group standing in front of it. Even though there were two members of the staff with the group, the group itself wasn't part of the staff, even though one in the group did study at the university.

This group was from the Sun-Taisho Inc. This company was a significant supporter of the University, and the science and medicine branch had worked together with the University's scientists on many occasions.

The company CEO, Touga Taisho was here with both of his sons, and Aurora Sun, who was in charge of the aforementioned science and medicine branch, was there too. They were also accompanied by a student of the University, Kagome Higurashi. She was studying history and literature, and was dating younger son of Touga Taisho, so it wasn't a surprise she was here too.

Touga had called the headmaster the previous day and asked if he could take a small party with him, and they would come and see the findings from the cave. The headmaster had agreed, hoping that the company could lend a hand in order to solve the mystery that was the statue and the artefacts that were found with it.

At the moment the headmaster was standing in silence as Touga Taisho and his group were studying the statue through the glass. He noticed that the student, Kagome, as well as the younger son, seemed to be very curious about the statue, when the three others seemed a bit vary. Did they know something?

The headmaster decided to ask. "Mr Taisho, I understand that you know a lot about Feudal Era and sometime before that. Can you tell who the man of the statue is?"

Mr Taisho narrowed his eyes at the statue. "My parents always told me stories of youkai that lived centuries ago. According to these stories the stronger youkai could be mistaken as humans, as they could take human form, and some looked a bit like humans anyway, but strongest of all, taiyoukai, had markings, pointed ears, and claws that they couldn't hide in their 'human' form."

The headmaster, Tori Kageuchi, frowned. "So, the artist made a statue of something that lived in fairytales?"

Mr. Taisho shrugged. "There's a statue called 'little mermaid' in Copenhagen. They live only in fairytales, don't they?"

The head master chuckled. The other man was right, for he remembered that statue as well. "As far as I know, they do."

After nodding to his comment, Mr Taisho turned to his older son and Miss Sun. "Have you seen enough to tell something about these findings, Aurora?"

Headmaster could see how Miss Aurora nearly jumped. Was she that nervous? If she was, then what for? The woman looked almost like a frightened deer. That was odd.

However, he didn't have time to think about this more, as the woman responded to the question she had been asked. Her voice was steady, not showing anything unusual, especially not the nervousness she had shown just a moment earlier. "My mother would say, that the statue is of a taiyoukai, the liquid in the bottle is blood, and the seventh disk is made of, or just is, a scale of a dragon. Oh, and the disks are seals to bind someone."

The headmaster frowned. "Why would she say such things?"

Miss Sun turned her face at him. "Mr Kageuchi, my mother was convinced that dragons were real, she also believed that the fairytales about youkai are actually true."

He let out a 'hn'. "Why did she believe in those things?"

She seemed to hesitate for a moment before shrugging. "I suppose she had her reasons. Still, I don't think she was naïve or fool. She always had an odd insight to people and things that happened. I believe she could've understood anything that went on at any given moment. "

A thought hit the headmaster, and he decided to let part of this be. But just part. "Why would she say that the liquid is blood?"

A faint smile. "Mother read a lot about different kinds of rituals of old times, be they Shinto or Buddhist. She also told me about them. I recall that there was one ritual she mentioned that would match your findings. The ritual was to seal someone in stone. The seven disks with symbols, bottle of blood, statues of deities, and a real size, and real looking, statue made of stone. They all match."

He didn't bother to hide his suspicions from his voice. "Are you, a scientist, seriously implying that there's a real person, a youkai, in that statue?"

She shrugged, seemingly ignoring his tone. "Or maybe it's just the equipment that someone used to demonstrate the ritual."

Ah, so that was what she meant. "Like we use actual samples here in the University to teach students how things are done?"

She nodded. "That, or just to show how it was done, like you would show how people got mummified in the Ancient Egypt. You don't teach how to do it, since it's not generally done anymore."

He got her point now, so to other questions. "What do you think the liquid is? And the material of the seventh disk? Do you recognise the symbols on the disks?"

She turned her gaze back at the case and leaned forward. "Liquid could be anything. Juice, wine, coloured water or another liquid, blood, or possibly solution of something. The seventh disk… You said it was beta-keratin, so it's from an animal. Maybe the animal in question is extinct, if the animal is so far unidentified. Finally the symbols. I've seen similar in my mother's books. Some of the books are quite old and have descriptions of the symbols."

He felt his eyes widening. "Do you remember more? Could you check the books?"

She shook her head. "They were part of a ritual, but I can't quite remember which one. As for the books, I'm not sure where they are now. I'm sorry I can't help you more about that."

He sighed. "It's okay, at least you were able to give us something." He turned his attention at Mr Taisho. "Now, if there's nothing more about these, we might go and drink tea, or coffee if you prefer it, to the cafeteria. Your group is entirely welcomed, and that includes Miss Higurashi, unless she has a class to attend to."

Later that day Touga had two guests in his office. Sesshoumaru and Aurora were both sitting across his table. They were discussing of the findings. "It really is him, isn't it?"

Aurora nodded. "Yes. Luckily all the seals were untouched."

Touga chuckled. "Now, tell me what you didn't tell the headmaster. Whatis the liquid in the bottle? And that scale, is it yours?"

She blushed. "I had to tell him something, and I didn't want to lie too much… Anyway, the liquid is his blood, and the scale… Yes, it's mine. I had to ask Sesshoumaru to remove it." She winced, possibly at the thought of removing a scale. He had heard it could actually hurt, a lot.

Touga had made a notion of her mood. It had gotten better. "Are you still worried he will get free, now that you've seen that everything's fine? I can tell that you seem to be calmer now than you were before we went to the University."

She shook her head. "Nope, I don't think there's any danger from him right now."

He then turned to Sesshoumaru. "How about the wedding? Is everything going fine?"

His older son inclined his head. "Everything is working well, and the wedding is going to be on schedule. Arrangements have also been done so, that there could be a double wedding, and still the date can be the originally planned."

He was about to say 'good' but Aurora's voice got out first. "You are still trying to get Inuyasha and Kagome married this soon?" Then she turned to Sesshoumaru. "Are you in this scheme?"

Touga watched his son paling a bit, and decided to rescue him. "I'm not giving him much choice, since I do want to see a double wedding. Besides, those two do love each other, have loved for a while, they're ready."

Aurora closed her eyes. "Gaah, you really want some grand children to spoil… A double wedding increases the possibility to get more sooner, huh?"

What could he say to that? Nothing really…