Up to this point, we've been seeing almost everything from Kagome's perspective. This chapter, Inuyasha is going to take center stage.

P.S. Sesshoumaru finally makes his appearance!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.


Opacity

Trickster


The loud cracks echoed around the forest clearing, and Inuyasha tucked his ears against his head, struggling to muffle some of the noise. Even after years of monster hunting, gunshots still hurt his sensitive hearing. Once or twice, he even considered going back to the old way of doing things—swords. Just in case he ever needed it, the half-demon had his trusty Tessaiga stashed in the trunk of the SUV at all times.

Unfortunately, just as hunters had advanced with technology, so had the monsters. Sometimes, a sword just didn't cut it anymore. (Pun completely intended.)

"That's pretty good, Sango," Inuyasha praised the brown-haired woman, standing behind her to gently reposition her elbow. "Just don't lock your arm up like this—keep it loose, or you'll feel sore in the morning."

Nearby, Miroku's mouth dropped open, a crude smile on his face. Inuyasha immediately held up his hand and shoved it in the human hunter's face.

"No," Inuyasha cut him off sharply. "For the love of god, don't make a perverted joke out of that."

Disappointed, Miroku snapped his mouth shut, rolled his eyes, and went to check on their supplies without having said a single word.

A cry of frustration brought Inuyasha's attention to the fourth member of their little group—and to his own irritation, his heart started to thud loudly as soon as he looked at the petite woman. Her long hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and she was clad in a pair of worn blue jeans. Standing with her legs shoulder-width apart, her eyes narrowed in concentration, and a loaded shotgun aimed in front of her, Kagome was pretty much the most attractive thing he'd ever seen. Since that single incident of hand-holding during the Yura slaying, the girl had gone back to being her usual sweet but confusing self. Biting back these feelings (which made him more agitated than giddy), Inuyasha approached the girl with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What's wrong?"

"I suck at this," Kagome complained in a stressed voice, letting the shotgun drop to her side. "I'm not even hitting the target at all; I should just stick to the crossbow."

"Shotguns aren't meant for accuracy," Inuyasha grumbled in his low voice, reaching for the shotgun and lifting it so that she was aiming at the target once again. He came around behind her and wrapped his arms along hers, his hands around her wrists as he adjusted her pose. The girl felt warm in his arms, and a small part of him felt very smug at the way her cheeks instantly flared up at his touch. "I just want you to get used to shooting this thing in case you ever need to. Wait for the monster to get close, brace yourself, and then pull the trigger."

With Inuyasha still supporting her, Kagome tried again. This time, at least half the buckshot slammed into the target nailed to a tree only a few yards away. The shotgun and the buckshot glowed with soft, lavender light as soon as she pulled the trigger. Kagome still wasn't used to her priestess powers, which seemed to flare up at random moments before disappearing like they had never existed in the first place.

About to say something to her, Inuyasha cut himself off when her phone started trilling loudly. Quickly—if not a little reluctantly—the half-demon released his hold on the girl so that Kagome could answer her phone. The hunters and Sango watched with wary expressions as the girl carefully checked her caller I.D. before answering the call.

"Hello?" Kagome answered, her voice reserved but polite. A beat passed, and her brow furrowed over her blue-gray eyes. "Hello?" she repeated. "Anyone there?" After a few more awkward seconds, she hung up, looking troubled.

"Another wrong number?" Sango asked her best friend, her tone purposely kept light.

"A bunch of static again," Kagome mumbled, staring at her phone as if she expected it to bite her. Giving herself a shake, she deposited the cell back in her pocket. "That's the fifth time in two days."

Miroku and Inuyasha shared a look, silently communicating to each other that these hang-ups were worrying them more than they wanted to let on. For the most part, Kagome was the only one of them who anyone ever called; the girl often spoke with her surviving family members. Sango occasionally got calls from her younger brother, Kohaku. Between Miroku and Inuyasha, they only ever heard from Sesshoumaru. In other words, a call at all was rare but a static-filled, creepy call was beyond unusual.

And why Kagome?

"Forget about it," Inuyasha suggested finally, breaking off eye-contact with his best friend before the girls noticed. They'd have to discuss it later, when they were alone. It wouldn't do any good to worry the others. "Let's head back to the—"

Once again, Inuyasha was interrupted by an incoming phone call. This time, though, it was his own cell ringing.

"Yeah, what is it?" he greeted gruffly, and Kagome promptly smacked him on the arm for being so rude to whoever it was. The half-demon ignored her, but he couldn't help the small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. (Really, this was getting ridiculous; even getting hit by her made his stomach flutter all girlishly.) "Oh, hey," he grunted once the caller identified himself. While Inuyasha continued to talk, he motioned the other three back toward the SUV, wanting them to start packing up. "Okay, if that's what you want," he said, taking the shotgun from Kagome and flipping on the safety after tucking the phone between his cheek and shoulder. "Fine. Whatever. We'll be there in a few hours."

"Where to?" Miroku called out, helping Sango load the surviving targets into the trunk.

"Sesshoumaru wants to see us," Inuyasha explained, looking at his closed cell phone with the same frown he always had whenever he talked about his half-brother. "And when I say 'us,' I actually mean us. All of us. He wants to meet the girls."

Surprised, Miroku dropped a duffle bag on his foot. Howling in pain, the man hopped around, managing to grimace up at the half-demon in the middle of his dramatics. "Seriously? I've been working with you since I was a teenager, and I've never met him face to face. The girls, though, they work with us for a little over a month, and they get a personal invitation from freaking Sesshoumaru?"

"Don't take it personally," Inuyasha grumbled, avoiding eye contact. "I'm sure it's nothing good."

What he wasn't telling the others was that the request confused the hell out of him. Sesshoumaru hated humans. Sure, the demon lord protected them indirectly by having monsters and rogue demons killed, but that didn't mean he actually liked doing it. Really, it was one of those things that came with being the all-powerful, ruling lord of a region. What was even more troubling was the fact that Sesshoumaru had asked to meet Kagome and Sango by name, which Inuyasha couldn't remember ever telling him. Who was talking to his brother about his friends?

"Should we be worried?" Kagome asked, following after Inuyasha with a frown. To no one's surprise, when Inuyasha took the driver's seat, Kagome automatically hopped up front. With some knowing looks that were becoming more and more common lately, Miroku and Sango piled into the backseat. They had not missed the hand-holding incident of two days prior.

"It'll be fine," the half-demon assured all three of them, but his uncertain voice didn't make them feel very confident. "Just don't look him in the eye and don't talk back."

Offended, Kagome exclaimed, "I never talk back!"

Inuyasha shot her a very dry look, one eyebrow quirked almost to his hairline with a silent rebuttal.

"Okay," she amended carefully, "I know when to not talk back."

"Not really," Sango countered from where she sat behind her best friend. "You smart-mouth demons all the time."

"I do not!"

"You really do," Miroku contributed, his voice light as if to soften the blow. "It's surprising that your mouth hasn't gotten you into more trouble than it has already."

"You guys suck," Kagome finally spluttered, very maturely. "Just you watch—Sesshoumaru is going to love me."


"I hate you."

"Pardon me?" Kagome demanded, her voice dangerously calm. She folded her arms tightly against her chest and peered up at the very tall, very regal demon standing in front of her.

Inuyasha watched this exchange with a slightly amused expression on his face—mostly it was because sweet little Kagome versus big bad Sesshoumaru was visually hysterical. He also found it funny because for a few moments, he'd actually worried over what would happen if his half-brother had taken a liking to Kagome. The two hating each other just seemed better for everyone involved.

"You smell like vanilla," Sesshoumaru replied, his voice completely even and carefully measured. "I detest vanilla."

"I can't help that!" Kagome countered shrilly. "I don't use any scented products; that must just be how I smell. Naturally."

It was, actually; Inuyasha could attest to that. Not that he sniffed her or anything weird like that. It just happened to be something a person notices when stuck in a car with someone else for hours at a time. (Just to prove that he wasn't a weird stalker, Inuyasha had also noticed that Miroku smelled like laundry detergent while Sango had a cinnamon scent due to her very distinctive tooth paste.)

"Your voice is too highly pitched," Sesshoumaru continued, the smallest sneer appearing on his face.

"I'm a girl, you son of a—"

Kagome's voice was muffled as soon as Sango clapped a hand over her best friend's mouth, sensing that they were about to get into a situation that even the great and wonderful Inuyasha wouldn't be able to save Kagome from. Namely, the wrath of Sesshoumaru. No matter how properly dressed the man was in his silk suit and Italian shoes; no matter how perfectly placed every hair was on his head; and no matter how refined his features were, Sango had no doubt that Sesshoumaru was a demon lord for a reason.

"You are also human," Sesshoumaru concluded, his voice several degrees colder than it had been a moment before.

"As enlightening as this has been," Inuyasha interrupted. He took a step forward to bring his half-brother's attention back to him. Their eyes, so very similar in color, clashed heatedly. Even though they'd been working together for years, their relationship was as rocky as ever—Sesshoumaru was still disgusted by Inuyasha's very existence, while Inuyasha found Sesshoumaru about as easy to deal with as a rabid wolf… and, as mentioned several times before, Inuyasha really hated wolves. "Why did you ask us to come here if all you were going to do was insult us?" the half-demon complained.

"I have not insulted you, I have insulted this woman… you half-breed," Sesshoumaru pointed out calmly, taking a seat in his armchair. The group was assembled in his parlor, full of dark tones, velvety curtains, and straight-backed chairs. The décor was as serious as the owner. "Sit."

As commanded, the four hunters dropped into the nearest seats. Sango stuck close to Kagome, ready to cover her mouth again if necessary.

"I required you to bring these women because we are about to enter a situation where women are necessary," the demon lord began to explain.

"I have a feeling this is about to get very sexist," Kagome muttered darkly, still miffed over Sesshoumaru insulting her.

"Or very perverted," Miroku suggested, leaning forward. He was intrigued.

Sesshoumaru ignored them both.

"I have recently come into the possession of a…" Here, he hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "Well, quite frankly, a child."

"Do we want to know how you 'came into the possession of a child'?" Inuyasha asked snidely. "I mean, because if you went and killed off an entire family and stole the kid, I don't want to be a part of that. And if, heaven help us, you actually found a woman who would sleep with you—I really don't want to hear about it."

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru cautioned in a sinister voice, but left the threat hanging in the air. After a few seconds of charged silence, he carried on with his explanation. "I found it on my doorstep."

"What kind of sick, twisted individual would abandon a child on your doorstep?" Inuyasha demanded, managing to sound scandalized through his amusement. Kagome was beginning to see that the mostly gruff, oftentimes serious Inuyasha acted like a little brother (in other words, a total pest) when in the same room as Sesshoumaru. She wasn't sure if she liked this side of him or if it would eventually drive her crazy.

"Can we stop calling the child an 'it'?" Kagome requested, folding her hands primly in her lap. She was definitely still miffed.

"Just what do you suggest?"

"He or she," Kagome pushed, pursing her lips to keep from saying anything more that might get her in trouble like, What are you, an idiot? You cold-hearted bastard! It just didn't seem like a very good idea at the moment.

"He is a fox cub," Sesshoumaru relented after a minute-long stare down with the human girl. To his mortification, she not only didn't blink, but she didn't seem upset at all. (Un)Fortunately, Kagome would have gotten plenty of glaring practice with Inuyasha, and the brothers' eyes really weren't all that different.

"Wait," Sango interrupted, holding up her hand to call attention to herself. Up to this point, she'd been happy with keeping her mouth shut and staying out of trouble—unlike her best friend. "When you say fox cub, are we talking about a literal fox cub?"

"A young fox demon," Sesshoumaru clarified, again with a haughty sneer. It went unsaid that he thought the question was a ludicrous waste of his time.

"Hey, it was a legitimate question!" Kagome argued on Sango's behalf. "I'm not sure whether it's because you're men, you're hunters, or you're supernaturally-inclined, but you all really suck at explaining things." There was a pause as the conversation finally registered fully with Kagome. "So you called us here because you have a kid to watch, and automatically you think that you need women to watch the kid for you? …Because we're women?"

"Yes."

Inuyasha had to lunge forward to hold Kagome back from physically attacking the demon lord—otherwise known as suicide. Over her frantic moves to get her hands around Sesshoumaru's neck, Miroku commented in a sad voice, "Ah, so it was sexist and not perverted."

"We're getting a babysitting assignment," Sango concluded, looking exasperated and a little murderous herself. "You really are a dick."

"Inuyasha, control your friends," Sesshoumaru ordered, his grip on the arms of the chair tightening to the point where the visitors could hear the wood groaning under his strength, threatening to splinter.

"Yeah, you see, it doesn't really work like that," the half-demon muttered, successfully wrangling Kagome back to his chair. After some arguing, he managed to get her to perch on the arm where he could keep a firm grip on her elbow.

"I will not be insulted in my own home."

"It's not my fault you're a dick," Inuyasha protested impudently. Still, he had a grin playing around his mouth; he liked jabbing at his brother, waiting for the demon lord to snap. Inuyasha was poking the bear, and he was enjoying it immensely.

Abruptly, Sesshoumaru shot to his feet, his movements so graceful that it left Kagome a little breathless watching. (Really, it was almost silly how good-looking the lord was. Kagome resented the fact that a man could look that good and be such a sourpuss, stick in the mud, jerk underneath such a pretty face.) Leveling them all with a glare, the lord swept from the room, the door slamming shut behind him.

"Did we just get dismissed?" Sango asked curiously.

Inuyasha blinked slowly, his head tilted in thought. "Maybe. I say we give him two minutes, and if he's not back by then we can go."

The moment he'd finished speaking, the door was being pushed back open, and Sesshoumaru reappeared. Hiding behind Sesshoumaru's long legs, peeking around his knees, was a little boy with a mop of red hair and twinkling, intelligent green eyes.

"Hi," the boy greeted—he had a young, hoarse voice.

"This is Shippou," Sesshoumaru introduced, reaching down to place a hand on the young demon's shoulder to steer him into the room. "You have been assigned to help him."

"Help him with what?" Inuyasha demanded, his hackles rising. Then again, if he hated being ordered around by his half-brother that much, he never should have agreed to work with the demon lord in the first place.

"Get revenge," Sesshoumaru said simply.

"I need you to help me kill the guys who killed my parents," Shippou explained, twisting his hands nervously. As an afterthought, he added, "Not that I couldn't do it by myself! I'm strong and stuff. I just… it'll be easier with more people."

Kagome melted.

Sure, it was a little demonic boy talking about killing people, but he was adorable. And just look at that fluffy tail!

"Hi! I'm Kagome," the girl greeted with a wide, warm smile. It was how the other three hunters knew they were done for—they were officially helping Shippou.

"Hi," Shippou responded, grinning back at her.

A dawning horror coming over him, Inuyasha shot Sango and Miroku a dark look. "This twerp is not going to become the fifth member of our group, right?"

"You lost your parents?" Kagome asked, raising her voice to be heard over the half-demon. When Shippou nodded his head, his bottom lip trembling, the girl opened her arms wide to offer him a hug. The little redheaded cub launched himself at her chest and held on tightly, sniffling but managing not to cry.

"See? I told you women were necessary in this endeavor," Sesshoumaru remarked confidently, ignoring the major eye-roll his comment earned from Sango.

Realizing Sesshoumaru was about to take his leave, Miroku got to his feet and approached his boss. "So, we're just going to ignore the fact that I've worked for you for a decade without ever meeting you, aren't we?" Miroku asked in the calmest possible voice.

Rather than answer, Sesshoumaru just turned around and walked away.

"Now, we're dismissed," Inuyasha muttered, getting to his feet. He looked down at Kagome hugging Shippou and had the most ridiculous feeling of jealousy—one that he shoved away. It was a kid. "Let's pack this up and move out."

"It's late," Sango mumbled around a yawn, stretching up into the air. The movement made a strip of her midriff visible under her shirt, and she didn't miss the way Miroku eyed it. Dropping her arms, she gave him a narrow-eyed look before jabbing her index finger is Shippou's direction. Taking this to mean that he'd be allowed to look at Sango if there wasn't a child present, Miroku grinned wider. The brunette, as if reading his mind, slapped him on his arm. Hard.

"Let's find a hotel and settle down for the night," Inuyasha decided, getting a look at the dark sky outside the parlor window. "We can start this hunt in the morning. Kagome, grab the kid."

"Yessir!" the girl responded mockingly, complete with a military salute, but she settled Shippou against her hip anyway. The two smiled at each other, and Shippou snuggled into her side. For the first time since he'd escaped his parents' murderers and tracked down Sesshoumaru, the boy felt safe. The group trudged out of Sesshoumaru's mansion and to the SUV.

That evening, Kagome dozed fitfully in one of the two large hotel beds. Shippou was curled up into a tight ball on one side of her while Sango was stretched out about a foot away on the other.

The night air around her was quiet and still. Even with the curtain drawn, pale moonlight slipped underneath the heavy fabric, letting a strip of light fall across the foot of the bed. Although there were five people in the cramped space, Kagome suddenly felt cut off from the others.

Everyone else was asleep, and even if she were to strain her ears, she couldn't hear a sound. Sango was lying so still, breathing so lightly in her sleep that the sheets didn't stir. Shippou, who had been restless at first, was now little more than a lump under the comforter. The darkness was too thick for Kagome to see Miroku sprawled in the second bed or Inuyasha sitting against the wall next to the door.

In her uneasy sleep, Kagome rolled over and buried her face in the pillow. The lightest breeze rustled her hair—odd, since all the windows were shut tight.

Startling fully awake, she listened again and wished she could hear one of the others make a noise.

Suddenly, her phone started to vibrate under her pillow.

Biting back a sheepish chuckle over how paranoid she was, even surrounded by so many people, Kagome fished around until her fingers closed over the cell phone. She pulled it out and shielded the screen with her hand, not wanting the light to wake anyone up. All thought of laughter died in her throat as she saw the two words flashing across the display—'Restricted Number.'

Hesitating, wondering if she should just let it go to voicemail, Kagome accepted the call and put the phone gently to her ear. Unlike the other times, she didn't bother saying hello.

Her ear was filled with the same static that had marked the previous five calls she'd gotten in the past couple of days. In the night, in the dark, feeling so alone in the silence, Kagome felt a shiver race down her spine. The sound was hollow and almost otherworldly, the crackle brushing against her mind.

"Ka…"

She breathed in sharply, struggling not to call out in case it woke the others.

"Kagome…"

The voice was raspy, thin, barely there. Dark. Amused. Angry.

"Kagome, Kagome…"

Panicking, she ended the call. Kagome fought to keep her breath under control, afraid she'd let out the keening wail trying to claw its way out of her throat. Terrified, she touched both Sango and Shippou's shoulders to make sure they were still there, to make sure they were still warm and breathing and alive.

"Kagome?"

The girl slapped her hand over her mouth to contain her squeak of surprise. This was a voice she recognized, even whispered. Allowing herself to feel soothed, Kagome responded, "Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, it's me. It's alright. Everything's okay."

"Did you… Did you hear it?" she asked, meaning the call and the voice that had forced its way through the static. She needed to be sure she hadn't imagined it in some nightmarish fever.

"Yeah," the half-demon admitted, sounding close by. He had to be standing at the edge of the bed, too far away to reach her without jostling Sango. "I did."

"It sounded like…" Kagome started before breaking off, afraid to say it out loud as if that would make it real.

Thankfully, Inuyasha knew what she meant without her saying it outright. "Yeah, it sounded like him."

Naraku.


The next morning, Miroku and Sango could tell something weird had happened, but neither Inuyasha nor Kagome would talk about it.

Oblivious, Shippou enthusiastically dug into his plate of waffles and bacon, everything drenched with syrup. He was nestled between Sango and Kagome since Inuyasha and Miroku easily took up all of their side of the table.

"So," the redhead said around a forkful of waffle mush, "It's these thugs—"

"Thugs?" Miroku repeated, poking at his own breakfast with a kind of dignified gentlemanly manner that wasn't fooling anyone. "Can you be more specific?"

With an eye-roll, the boy gulped down the food he was chewing on. He had a paperboy style hat on his head to hide his pointy ears, and Kagome had carefully positioned him so that his fluffy tail was tucked out of sight. "A couple of mean, rotten demons," he clarified. "They killed my—m-my parents two months ago."

"Two months?" Kagome echoed, aghast. "You've been on your own for two months?"

"We're not keeping him," Inuyasha interjected, but he was promptly ignored.

"I hung around for a couple weeks, but I couldn't find a way to get back at them. I knew I needed help, so I sniffed around some. It took me this long to learn about Sesshoumaru and then track him down."

"And he immediately called us," Inuyasha concluded.

"I guess so," Shippou muttered, hesitating and jabbing at his food with the fork. With a sigh that made it obvious to Kagome that he was forcing himself to stay strong, he started to eat again, but this time much more slowly. "Their names are Hiten and Manten."

Sango absorbed all this, wrapping her hands around her cup of coffee to keep her fingers warm. Her eyes thoughtful, she glanced at the hunters. "So, these are demons, not monsters. Like Yura?"

"More dangerous than Yura," Miroku corrected, setting his silverware down. He'd lost his appetite. "Even I have heard of them—they're sadistic, with powers that can summon thunder and lightning."

"And we're going to…" Kagome trailed off, forcing herself to say the next couple of words. "We're going to kill them."

"They're murderers, Kagome," Inuyasha reminded her gently. "They killed a little kid's parents."

Sensing her discomfort, Shippou gripped Kagome's hand with his tiny fingers. "They've killed a ton of people. Everyone in the area is terrified of them. You'd be saving a lot of lives."

The waitress walked by, giving them all a distrustful glare. Thankfully, the little roadside diner was empty, so the group was confident that they hadn't been overheard as long as they remembered to keep their voices down. Still, Kagome attempted to give the waitress an open and friendly smile, not liking the feeling of being disliked even by a total stranger.

"Okay," the girl agreed reluctantly once they were alone again. "I guess I can be okay with this."

"That's the spirit!" Miroku enthused, grinning at her.

"What kind of powers do you have, kid?" Inuyasha asked Shippou.

The little boy puffed out his chest proudly. "I got a few things up my sleeve! But, well, okay, I won't be very powerful until I'm all grown up. Until then, I can do some illusions and stuff."

"Illusions?" Kagome echoed, smiling softly at how animated the fox cub was at the change in topic. "Like what?"

"I can make myself look like anyone," Shippou told her proudly. "Even you. I can even sound just like the person. Except, sometimes, I can't make my tail go away."

"That's still pretty impressive," Kagome told him seriously. "I'm just a boring human. Although, sometimes I can make stuff glow purple. I haven't exactly figured out what that's good for, though."

Inuyasha snorted, earning him a glare from Kagome, but he ignored it as he fished out his wallet. Within seconds, he had a pile of cash that he dumped on the table to pay for their meal. Shippou's hometown was at least two full days of driving away. Somehow, the half-demon figured this would give Kagome and the boy entirely too much time to bond. He better start thinking of ways to tell her that she couldn't keep him after the hunt was over.

On their way to the car, Miroku slowed down and gestured at Inuyasha to walk beside them. Once the girls and Shippou were far enough away, the human hunter settled an intense look on his best friend.

"So?" Miroku prompted.

"So what?" Inuyasha responded gruffly.

"The phone calls Kagome has been getting. We need to talk about this."

Flicking his eyes over at Miroku before quickly looking away, Inuyasha shoved his hands in his pockets and came to standstill. The hunters looked over at the SUV, watching Kagome carefully settle Shippou into the backseat. They were all laughing at something, probably a joke Sango had just told them based on the way the brunette was grinning.

"It was Naraku, just like we guessed. Another call came last night, and this time he talked to Kagome," Inuyasha admitted finally, turning away from the happy scene. "He's reaching for her from the other side. It's only a matter of time before he breaks loose from hell and comes after her."

"But why Kagome?"

"She's the one who destroyed him," the half-demon pointed out practically, his face serious and more than a little worried. "I mean, I'm sure he'll go after us, too, but she's his main target. Before, he was a spirit tied to his place of death, but now…"

"He won't be tethered anymore," Miroku concluded, frowning thoughtfully. "After clawing his way out of hell, Naraku will be demon, won't he?"

The way Inuyasha didn't answer said everything. After another moment of silence, the half-demon commented softly, "I should tell her."

"Let's wait," Miroku suggested. "At least until after this hunt. Naraku's not free yet—at least he can't be, not if he's just calling her—so we have some time to prepare."

Shaking his head, Inuyasha started walking again, keeping his head lowered against the chilly wind. "It's going to be a lot harder this time around," he muttered darkly. "And we're going to need a hell of a lot more than a lighter and gasoline."


In the distance, the house loomed on the horizon. Almost on cue, a flock of crows burst into flight; they became a dark cloud moving across the sky, their strained cries echoing around the poor neighborhood. The sun was already beginning to dip below the horizon, and Inuyasha wondered if he should have insisted they wait until morning. From the decrepit, mostly abandoned apartments and houses, there was an eerie feeling that the group was being watched, but Inuyasha couldn't hear or see anyone.

His suspicion was confirmed when Kagome shivered and huddled in closer on herself, peering around at the empty buildings. "You guys feel that?" she asked, her blue eyes wide as they searched the boarded up windows leering down at them.

"Yeah," Inuyasha and Shippou responded immediately, both on edge—the kind that meant their fur was bristling and their hackles were raised.

There was some hesitation before Sango admitted, "No, not really," while Miroku shook his head to agree with the brunette.

"You can sense it?" the half-demon asked curiously, peering down at the girl.

Reluctantly, Kagome nodded. "It feels like there are people here, but I can't see anyone."

"Everyone has that sense of perception," Miroku assured her, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. For the first time in a long time, he seemed like the knowledgeable, comforting person Kagome had first met rather than the eccentric pervert she had been getting to know over the past month. "Yours is probably heightened by your spiritual powers."

"Oh, wonderful, more goodies that come with my freakishness," she retorted dryly.

Sango slung an arm around her best friend's shoulders and gave her a squeeze, grinning happily. "Don't worry, Kags, at least you look human."

"I feel like I've been insulted," Inuyasha grumbled, but his tone of voice made it clear he wasn't all that offended. "Let's get moving. Everyone remember the plan?"

"Two teams," Kagome began. "Me, Miroku, and Shippou go in first with you and Sango following behind as backup."

"Exactly," Inuyasha muttered, checking to make sure his shotgun was fully loaded. He knew it was, but it was a nervous habit that Kagome had noticed he did before every hunt. He snapped the gun closed with one hand, testing the weight of the weapon in his hand. No one had commented on the fact that he'd strapped his sword, looking especially massive in its leather sheath, to his back. "When Hiten and Manten see you three, they're going to underestimate us."

"I'm really tired of being considered the weak one in this partnership, just because I'm human," Miroku grumbled, checking his own weapons for ammo. He pulled out and then re-sheathed his combat knife nervously. "I'd like to point out that I have my own enhanced spiritual powers through meditation."

"You do not," Sango said dismissively with a toss of her head.

"I do!" Miroku protested, pulling several sheets of paper out of his pocket. They were covered with ancient looking scribbles that the girls couldn't read. "I can dispel spirits using these. Weak ones only, but it still comes in handy."

Kagome snatched one of the papers from him, turning it over in her hands with a scrutinizing look on her face. "Ofuda," she identified after a second, a fond smile sneaking onto her face. "My Gramps uses these on my family's shrine. Of course, his don't work."

"Mine do," Miroku insisted, taking it back and returning them all to his pocket in case he ever needed them. "You'll see one of these days."

"Alright, alright," Inuyasha interrupted with an exaggerated roll of his eyes. "Miroku, you can be useful sometimes. I just meant that Hiten and Manten are cocky demons who are going to see a girl, a kid, and a human and laugh. If you three can't take them down, Sango and I will be there waiting in the wings as a surprise."

"Man, you guys talk a lot," Shippou mumbled, reaching up and grabbing Kagome's hand. He tugged at it, trying to pull her away from the group. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to get my revenge now."

As the hunters started down the street keeping to the sides of the road in the shadows, Inuyasha took Kagome by the elbow and held her back. Miroku looked over his shoulder and met Inuyasha's eyes, but the half-demon shook his head and motioned for them to keep walking. The other hunter nodded, realizing Inuyasha was going to talk to Kagome about something other than Naraku, and ushered Sango and Shippou forward.

"What is it?" Kagome asked, peering up at his face. It was freezing, but they hadn't bundled up too much, afraid it would hinder their movements in a confrontation. The girls had settled on turtlenecks and thick jackets, jeans, and boots. Inuyasha was his normal scruffy, layered self, and Kagome felt a tingly feeling looking up at his rough features. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Inuyasha answered, his fingers still gripping her elbow. He glanced at the others, his eyes following Shippou. "Look, we're going to get rid of these guys, but I don't… Don't let Shippou do it himself. He's angry, and he has a right to angry, but if he actually killed someone, it would haunt him for the rest of his life."

Although she hesitated, Kagome couldn't keep herself from asking. "How old were you? "

"About his age. A little younger," Inuyasha commented in an offhand sort of way, but Kagome could see something lurking just below the surface, something that made her want to reach out and hold onto him. "After my mom—Before Sesshoumaru took me in, I had to take care of myself. Sometimes that meant I had to—"

"It's okay," Kagome cut him off, settling on touching his cheek with the tips of her fingers. "I get it. I won't let Shippou do anything he'd regret later on."

The half-demon allowed himself to lean into her touch for a few seconds before pulling himself away, straightening up to his full height in an effort to remind himself to stay focused. "Let's go." He left her and gestured at Sango, who peeled away from the others to meet him halfway. They'd follow several meters behind.

Giving herself a shake, Kagome jogged to catch up with Miroku and Shippou. She unlatched her crossbow from her back and felt the heft of it in her hands. More than that, she felt the heft of the responsibility she was carrying. This is what she agreed to when she asked Inuyasha and Miroku if she could follow them, quitting nursing in order to save people in a different way. Not to mention the chance to take photographs around the country, to see places she'd never have a chance to visit otherwise.

"Ready?" Miroku asked when Kagome finally reached them, her breath puffing out in a small cloud in the cold air. He could guess what Inuyasha had hung back to tell her; he couldn't guess, however, what had caused the touching interaction between the two. The hunter felt a little embarrassed from witnessing it, like he'd intruded on an intimate moment.

"Yeah," Kagome agreed. She glanced down at Shippou and ruffled his hair. When her father had died when she was little, Kagome had helped her mother and Gramps by taking care of her little brother. She'd walked Souta to school, helped him with his homework, and took care of his bully problems. They'd been close even though they still bickered constantly like siblings tended to do. Spunky little Shippou reminded her of Souta—except for the tail and desire to kill someone, of course. Bright, sarcastic, funny. "Yeah, I'm ready."

It was time to take care of a new kind of bully.


Miroku took point, leading the others down the hall, creeping forward as silently as he could. The front door had been unlocked, but they had broken in through the side of the old house instead. Now, they turned a couple of corners, and found themselves in the heart of the building. The hunter drew up short, peering around the doorway. Kagome hesitated behind him, placing her hand on Shippou's small chest to hold him back. In order to hold her crossbow up, however, she needed both hands.

Looking around Miroku's shoulder, she studied the room. There was some loud obnoxious laughing and music pumping from a stereo system in the corner. A hulking, ugly man was sitting in a pile of things—what looked like human bones, some jewelry, and a lot of junk—while another, much more attractive, more human-looking man was nuzzling a half-naked woman on a couch. Horrified, Kagome retreated back into the hall. They'd found the Thunder Brothers.

"Okay," she said very softly, meeting Miroku's eyes. Kagome watched him look over her shoulder, his eyes suddenly wide and confused. Scared that there was another monster behind them, Kagome whirled around, only to find someone else standing where Shippou had been. "Oh my—" Miroku cut her off by covering her mouth, shaking his head sharply, not wanting to alert the demons that they were there.

A skinny man with long, red hair pulled back in a ponytail and a mischievously handsome face. It was like Shippou had suddenly aged twenty years.

He had taken the form of his father.

The only thing that gave away who he really was was his tiny fox tail, so unlike the long, sleek one Kagome guessed an adult fox demon probably had. He was angry, his hands clenched into trembling fists and blood beading on his lip where he bit down.

"I want to remind them of what they took from me," Shippou explained, his voice deeper but still hoarse, so much like his own.

Forcing herself to smile supportively, Kagome reached out and grasped his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "He was a handsome guy," she told him honestly.

"Who's out there?"

Miroku flinched and readied one of his guns. He carried three, two in holsters under his jacket, and a small one tucked into his boot. No one could say he wasn't prepared.

"I asked, who's there?" one of the demons repeated, lurching through the doorway and snarling. It was the ugly one.

"Hi," Kagome greeted with a small wave before lifting her crossbow, shooting the demon pointblank in the chest. It lodged in deep, but there was no purple light. Black blood pumped sluggishly from the wound, and the man stared down at it with a surprised look on his face.

"Why did you do that?" he asked blankly, reaching up and yanking the arrow out with only the smallest yelp. "You bitch."

"Don't call her that!" Shippou shouted, throwing out his hand. A stream of blue fire shot out of his open palm, slamming into the demon's chest and shoving him back into the room. He landed in a heap in the middle of the room, and the hunters followed him in, their weapons ready.

"Didn't we kill you already?" the other demon, the better looking one, asked casually as he stood up from the couch, leaving the half-naked woman lying there. Kagome noticed (really, she was unable to look away) that she clearly wasn't human either. Thankfully, she didn't look like much of a threat.

"Yeah, you did," Shippou snapped, stepping up beside Kagome and holding his hand out, a small blue flame dancing on his palm.

"We're going to return the favor," Miroku added, cocking the hammer back on his gun before shooting the second demon. It thudded into his shoulder, but the man didn't even flinch, choosing instead to grin angrily and toss his long, brown braid over his shoulder. "I'm going to assume you're Hiten, and this creepy piece of crap over here is Manten."

"Don't insult my brother," Hiten growled angrily, picking up a twisted staff from where it was leaning against the wall.

"It's not our fault he's that ugly," Kagome retorted, sounding a lot like Inuyasha. Miroku almost smiled.

Manten struggled to his feet, lumbering over to stand beside Hiten. The brothers cracked their knuckles almost simultaneously, and Kagome tried not to shudder at the macho display of anger. She was disgusted rather than threatened.

"I'll kill you," Shippou snarled, firing off another shot of foxfire. It curled around Hiten's chest but diffused quickly. His anger had fueled the first attack, but he was still just a child with little control over his powers. Instead, the more he let his fury take over, the less power he had over his illusion. The edges of his adult body started to shimmer and shake before it melted away, exposing the scared kid hidden underneath.

"I remember you," Hiten said, leaning forward to examine the fox cub. "You're that brat. Your mom was delicious."

Pulling a face, Kagome leveled her crossbow at the demon brother. "You ate his mother? Yeah, I'm pretty sure you deserve to die," she said, notching an arrow before letting it fly. Very briefly, it flared a bright purple but fizzled out as it soared past Hiten's cheek, leaving a thin cut in its wake.

"Kagome," Miroku yelled, readying another bullet in the chamber of his gun. "Again, do it again—make it stay lit up this time!"

"I still don't understand what making something purple does!" Kagome protested, pulling another arrow from the quiver strapped to her back. She drew back the string until it was taut.

"Trust me!" Miroku insisted, shooting Hiten in the shoulder and watching the way it sparked upon impact. He was wearing armor, which was why nothing had done much damage yet. "Aim for his head!"

Summoning up all the anger and fear that had been tightly wound up in her stomach, feelings that had been building since her first encounter with Naraku and intensifying with every demon and monster fought, Kagome aimed for Hiten's forehead. The demon, unthreatened, just grinned back at her, his charming smile widening until it was inhuman, showing off shark-like teeth. The moment before she released the arrow, Kagome turned the crossbow to Manten instead. Hiten's grin faltered, but it was too late.

The arrow, blazing so brightly that everyone present had to shut their eyes, slammed into Manten's forehead. The light flared brighter until it burst, glistening in the air like dust around the stunned demons. With a shimmer, the arrow dissolved, and Manten managed to blink once before disintegrating into a cloud of blood.

"Manten!" Hiten screamed, reaching for the other demon. His hands closed over his brother's empty clothes.

Several seconds of silence filled the room as Kagome struggled to figure out what had just happened, and Hiten fought to accept the fact that his brother, in the briefest moment, had disappeared.

"I will kill you," the sole Thunder Brother swore, turning on the hunters. His face closed off, he tightened his grip on his staff, and the very air around him crackled with lightening. "That was my brother, you rotten whore."

"And you killed my mother and father, you… you…" Shippou struggled to come up with an appropriate insult, shaking with the effort of containing his pint-sized fury.

With a roar, Hiten let his own resentment loose—lightening burst from the staff, licking the ceiling before latching onto the closest life form: the half-naked demoness he'd been caressing just minutes earlier. She screamed before being ripped apart by the energy, her blood splattering the walls.

Kagome stumbled back a step, pulling Shippou against her. She probably should have taken out Hiten, the stronger-looking brother, first, but he'd been expecting her attack; Manten was the easier target. Now, she was regretting her split second decision.

Quickly, Miroku plugged shot after shot into Hiten, hitting him in the chest in a vain attempt to slow the demon down. He backed toward Kagome. "I suggest we move this fight somewhere where we have the advantage."

"Like where?" Kagome demanded, notching another arrow and trying to summon the same perfect balance of fear and anger—unfortunately, fear was clearly winning out as another streak of lightening splintered off from Hiten toward them. The power wasn't building in her this time around.

"Wherever Inuyasha and Sango are," Miroku muttered, grabbing Kagome's hand and yanking her into the hallway, Shippou clutched to her chest. "Run!"

The three darted down the hall, barely missing the cloud of crackling light that reached out after them. It ripped into the wall as Miroku dragged Kagome around a corner. They slid across the dusty carpet, barely missing slamming into a table.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed, trying to reattach the crossbow to her back one-handed as she ran. "Sango! Now would be a great freaking time to make your appearance!"

They took two more corners, and there, finally, was Inuyasha, crouched at the end of a dark hallway. Instead of his shotgun, he had his sword, holding it up in front of him with the most serious expression Kagome had ever seen on his face. He concentrated hard, his heavy eyebrows furrowed over intense eyes. Sango was nowhere to be seen, but Kagome wasn't too worried at the moment.

"Move!" the half-demon demanded, his grip tightening on Tessaiga.

Kagome and Miroku flattened against the wall just as Hiten stormed into view. The demon howled, his very voice shaking the walls with his rage and grief, and he pointed at the group with his staff. Lightening darted toward Kagome, but it was attracted to the metal of the sword. It raced down the blade, sparking along the way, before being absorbed by the handle. Smirking, Inuyasha flicked Tessaiga, and a shower of embers fell to the ground.

"Yeah," the hunter said, looking very at ease with the situation. It made Kagome slightly concerned about his mental state. "You're going to have to do a helluva lot better than that to get rid of us."

With a cry, Hiten launched himself at the newcomer, jabbing the spear at the half-demon. Inuyasha dodged, deflecting the attack with his sword with one hand and socking Hiten in the jaw with his other. The Thunder Brother fell back, clutching at his bruised face.

"What did I ever do to you?" the demon demanded, his voice low and grating with emotion.

"Nothing," Inuyasha replied honestly. "But you screwed around in the wrong part of the country; you killed this kid's parents, and Sesshoumaru just isn't going to let crap like that happen under his nose."

"So the demon lord can't clean up his own messes," Hiten growled.

"He doesn't have to; he has us," Sango said, stepping out of a doorway with Hiraikotsu raised over her head. With her own battle cry, the brunette brought the bone boomerang down on the demon's head with enough force to knock him to the floor. "And you're dirty scum, asshole."

Grinning roguishly, Inuyasha brandished his sword again before slicing down, cutting neatly through the lightening staff. A beat passed before a line of blood from Hiten's forehead down across his chest burst open, his face stunned. He breathed in slowly before collapsing, blood pooling under his body.

Not to be outdone, Shippou squirmed in Kagome's arms until she dropped him. Scrambling over Hiten's legs, the fox cub delivered a kick to the dead demon's face. "I hope you rot in hell," he growled. It was only then that Kagome realized he was crying, and she quickly walked over to pick him up.

"Are you okay?" she whispered.

Sniffling, Shippou buried his face in her neck, muffling his sobs. "I will be now," he whispered back.


"It's a purifying light," Inuyasha explained. He and Kagome were sitting on a park bench watching as Sango and Miroku roughhoused with Shippou on a nearby playground. They'd loaded everything back into the SUV and took off, unsure of where to head to now. "That purple glow that you have? It purifies evil. That's how you took out Manten with one arrow."

Kagome leaned back, loving the feel of the sun on her face. It was cold, officially winter, but the weak sun had broken through the thin clouds overhead. "And it runs in the family?" she asked, smiling faintly when Sango began pushing Shippou on a swing.

"Sometimes it skips generations," the half-demon said thoughtfully. "You said you have a family shrine, right?"

"Passed down on my dad's side for hundreds of years," Kagome confirmed. She glanced down at the small space between them, inching her hand toward his, letting her pinky brush against his. "Maybe I was made for this demon hunting stuff."

"Whether you were or not, I'm glad you're here."

"Why Inuyasha," Kagome said with a laugh, twining her fingers with his. "That was such a nice thing to say."

He kept his eyes straight ahead, but Kagome could see the faintest blush on his cheeks. "Yeah, I do that sometimes."

They let the minutes pass in silence, content to sit next to each other on such a nice winter day, holding hands as if they were a completely normal couple. It was easy to forget that he was half demon, she had priestess blood, and there were so many hard topics they needed to talk about—easy to forget, that is, for a very small moment. They couldn't hold it off forever.

"So…" Kagome said. Inuyasha, sensing trouble, tried to retract his hand, but Kagome held on. She stroked his rough palm with her thumb. "Shippou?"

"He can't stay with us," he muttered. "It's not safe."

"I know," Kagome consented, sounding more than a little sad. "Sesshoumaru won't take him in, will he?"

Inuyasha shook his head to indicate the negative. "Trust me, we don't want him to take the pup in anyway."

"I think I might have an idea."

"I'm listening."

"When Sango and I lived in the city, our landlady… I have no proof, but I think she might—I don't know, but I think Kaede might be able to accept Shippou as a fox demon, take him in and raise him and protect him, you know?"

"We can give it a shot," Inuyasha agreed.

"So…" Kagome repeated, swallowing hard, knowing that there was an even tougher thing they needed to discuss. "Naraku?"

The half-demon took a deep breath, actually a little relieved that Kagome had brought it up. It would feel good to get it out of the way. "He'll come back. He's going to come after you."

"Did you know that would happen?" Kagome asked, her voice hesitant. It had just dawned on her that maybe that was why Inuyasha and Miroku had let her come along, the only reason they had accepted her joining them so easily. Was it just a need to protect her? Was that all he felt toward—

"It's a possibility with every demon and monster we send to hell," Inuyasha admitted, interrupting her spiraling thought process. This time he was the one to hold onto her hand when she tried to pull away. "Miroku and I didn't figure out what was happening with Naraku until you started getting those calls, and we didn't know for sure until he actually talked to you that night."

"What are we going to do about it?"

"We'll figure it out when it happens," he promised. Before he could second-guess his actions, Inuyasha leaned over and pressed his lips to her temple, lingering for several heartbeats. Her heart was hammering—hard—and he could hear every pound of it. Soon, their hearts were matched beat for beat. When he finally drew away, he found Kagome's big, luminous eyes on him. "What are we going to do about this?"

"Dunno," Kagome said with a grin. "I guess we'll figure it out when it happens."

"Smartass."

"You know you like it."

"…Yeah," Inuyasha admitted, slinging his arm around her slim shoulders and pulling her into his side. They continued to watch the other three play, understanding that things were just beginning.