Chapter Eight: Komm, Süsser Tod

Zhu-Shu sat in a tree at the edge of a small lake as the sun rose, morosely staring as the ripples caught the light and imparted an aura of peace and tranquility to the scene that was utterly at odds with her dark and chaotic thoughts.

The light on her charcoal skin made her wish the sun's touch could immolate her, burn her to ash and blow her away on the wind, like the vampires from the manga she had read. It felt too pure to touch her, and she shied away from it, silently moving to hide in the deepest shadows of the heavily foliated tree. It was better that way. Monsters were supposed to hide in the shadows.

Would even Naraku's promise give her the solace she longed for? She dreaded seeing the disgusted look she knew she would receive from Ying-Ying. Hopefully Naraku would ensure she had no body to be forced back into, and Ying-Ying would have to let her pass. It would be best if her beloved flower had simply traversed to her sure rewards in the heavens, and abandoned her to the demons who even now she could feel waiting to claim her and drag her to a hell she so richly deserved. Ying-Ying's silence since her awakening spoke eloquently as to the disapproval she must feel at Zhu-Shu's actions.

She had raped Ukyo. She had allowed her lusts to overwhelm her, and done the unpardonable. Knowing how much Ukyo had been upset by the betrothal, the fact the chef was coming to kill her had been almost welcome news. She had betrayed the woman she loved utterly. Death was all she deserved, and to receive it from the hand of the loved one she had wronged so badly the only boon she could ask.

She had promised Ukyo she wouldn't push! She had promised to let her give only so much as she was willing to, and instead, she had forcefully taken from her the one thing Ukyo had made absolutely clear she was unwilling to give.

She looked down at her claws. The blood of the girl Naraku had murdered in front of her had dried on her scales, and she had not bothered to wash it off. She was a monster, a beast. She had counted fully a hundred people dead by her hands as she had wandered through the burned out village, men, women, even children. She had bathed in their blood, what difference did it make to be covered by yet more? It was the same reason she had refused to find clothing. Animals didn't wear clothes.

What hell had the goddess sent her to with that thrice damned wish? She had seen no signs of Tokyo in her travels, only mile after mile of primitive villages and wild lands covered with the scars of battle. It was like she had been sent back to the territories of her birth, but her school lessons on Japanese geography had given her no indications that any place like that still existed in the heavily populated country. That she was in Japan she had no doubt, as Mount Fuji had been utterly unmistakable, but it was like she had been thrown back in time to the era so many of her favorite animes were set in… the… the… Sengoku Jidai?

Wherever she was, she had found plenty of other monsters like herself. She had killed a whole swarm of hideous wasps that had started to follow her, crisping the insects and the hive they had emerged from with one blast of fire, and the giant ogre she had hoped would eat her had eventually bored her. When she had gotten tired of it trying to pull her arms and legs off, she had instead ripped off its head.

She sighed softly, her breath barely louder than the rustle of the leaves in the breeze. Why couldn't that wild surge of power released by the goddess have simply killed her? She could still feel the channels of power within her resonating to that strange crystalline song she dimly recalled, and she was afraid to call on her chi, it burned so brightly inside her as it pulsed in time to the alien music.

And that damn shard in her forehead chilled her, so cold it almost burned. She could feel it trying to burrow into her soul, feel as the shadows within it sought to feed upon her, feel as it delighted in her pain and misery. It was so tempting to want to blame her sins on its evil maliciousness, but her conscience wouldn't let her get away with so easy an excuse. She knew all too well how badly she desired Ukyo's body, how much she had longed to find herself exactly where she had regained consciousness. The animal side of her nature had simply responded to the overwhelming lust she had tried so hard to keep in control. It had made a mockery of her promise to Ukyo. She had seen the fear written large in her beloved chef's mind and eyes in that horrified moment as she realized what she had done in her unconscious state.

She deserved Ukyo's hatred. She had betrayed Ukyo's trust in every way possible…death was all that was left, and it was denied her until she had fulfilled Naraku's wishes.

A noise from below her tree made her raise her eyes to the embers of the campfire, and the figure who was stirring next to it. The boy had been sleeping the sleep of the dead since she had arrived in the middle of the night, and she had debated about simply grabbing his shard and leaving, but even though she was a monster, she hadn't been able to bring herself to simply kill him in his sleep.

The boy stretched and poked around in the ashes of his fire till he found a live coal, feeding it to bring his fire back to life. She watched him dully as he filled a pot with water and set it over the fire to boil.

"So are you going to join me for breakfast, or just keep watching me like you've done all night?"

Zhu-Shu snorted and shook her head, her earrings chiming. "Kohaku no need to be nice Zhu-Shu. She just here for shard."

The boy turned to look towards her tree. "I don't think you would have just watched me all night if that was all you wanted. Are you wounded? I can smell blood, but not fresh. Did Naraku hurt you to make you hunt me down?"

"Naraku not touch Zhu-Shu," she said morosely.

"But he did send you."

"Yes."

"You don't sound like a normal youkai though. You sound Chinese."

"Yes."

Kohaku nodded. "I have some green tea powder. Why not join me for some breakfast? If we have to fight, I'd rather do it after I have some food in me."

"Zhu-Shu is beast. Not need be polite to her."

"You're welcome to share what I have, really. I have some very good rice cakes and a couple of baked fish I had left over from last night."

She looked away. "Sight of Zhu-Shu probably make lose appetite."

The boy laughed. "I am a youkai exterminator. Doesn't matter what kind of youkai you are, I've probably seen others just as hideous. You speak in far too civilized a tone to be a true abomination. Please, come down and join me."

"Zhu-Shu not deserve kindness."

"Neither do I. I have slain far too many people at Naraku's hands, and for all I know, at any moment, he could force me to kill more. Surely you can't be more of a monster than I am."

Zhu-Shu was silent, but the smell of the fish warming by the fire made her stomach growl. She sighed.

"Zhu-Shu catch more fish."

Kohaku blinked at the girl who appeared at the base of the tree, illuminated by the soft light of dawn. She was tiny, not even five foot tall, and her charcoal grey skin glittered as if she had been dusted by diamonds. Jade green cat pupiled eyes met his for a moment before lowering. From her drooping ears, listlessly hanging wings, and dragging tail, it was easy to see she was extremely depressed, but even with her odd appearance, Kohaku couldn't stop himself from staring. Despite the blood she'd allowed to dry across her face and upper body, or the horns and claws, she was still easily the prettiest girl he'd seen next to his sister.

She sighed at his stare. "Zhu-Shu told was monster."

Kohaku started and shook his head. "No, honestly, I was just thinking how beautiful you are. I don't know what kind of youkai you are, but you are not even slightly ugly."

The girl sighed again as she started trudging towards the lake. "Zhu-Shu pretty once. Now she just beast."

Kohaku shook his head in disbelief as she vanished into the lake. When she emerged again a few minutes later, the dried blood washed away, she had two large fish in either hand, skewered through the gills by her five inch claws. Kohaku watched as she cleaned and filleted them in mere seconds.

"I'm afraid all I have to cook with is a couple of sticks– " he started as the dragon-girl approached the fire, only to trail off as she pulled a frying pan from behind her back, along with a bottle of soy and several other seasonings. She didn't even bother with his small fire, a portable grill appearing as mysteriously as the pan had. In mere moments, his small meal had been expanded to include fried rice, fish cakes and stir fried potatoes. The Chinese girl had said not a word as she had cooked, but the speed with which she had prepared the meal and the immediate disappearance of her utensils had impressed him far more than any words could have.

Kohaku couldn't take his eyes off her. It wasn't the fact that she was nude – though he was just old enough to appreciate that she was incredibly beautiful and had a body that set fire to his fantasies – but the sheer grace with which she moved that held him mesmerized. She moved like flowing water, and with such effortless precision that he suddenly found himself glad she had not attacked out of hand. He was in the presence of one who surpassed his skill as much as his grandfather once had. As she handed him his bowl, he swallowed hard.

"You are definitely no uncivilized youkai, Zhu-Shu-sama. At my best, I doubt I could match the skill you just showed me. My dad could make okonomiyaki nearly as fast as you just did, but that was amazing. You must be a martial artist of great skill."

Zhu-Shu sighed, staring down at the plate she had made for herself as she picked at it with her chopsticks. "Zhu-Shu train serve emperors." She grimaced and sat the plate aside. "Was waste. Zhu-Shu whole life was waste. She failure no matter what do. All can do now is die."

Kohaku shook his head. "I don't know what Naraku has forced you to do, but I doubt your life has been a waste, Zhu-Shu."

Zhu-Shu broke down in sobs. "Kohaku not say that! Is Zhu-Shu fault! Naraku not make her do!"

Kohaku grimaced. "So long as we have these shards in us, nothing we do can be considered solely our own actions. I can't even know for sure right now if I am truly acting out of my own free will, or following some devious plan of Naraku's! It doesn't matter what you did, Zhu-Shu, if you had that shard in you, Naraku is to blame!"

The dragon-girl shook her head. "No! Zhu-Shu is one who rape Ukyo! Zhu-Shu is one should be dead! Zhu-Shu warned! Told by Grandfather that must control dragon within her, or animal take over! And Grandfather right! Zhu-Shu let down guard because grow wings and get to fly, but beast want more! Now Zhu-Shu more beast than person! Even skin cover by scales! Beast eat up Zhu-Shu inside! Zhu-Shu need die before only beast left!"

"That's the shard talking, Zhu-Shu. I know the insidious whispers it places in your mind! I would rip the damn thing out and be done with it forever if I could, but I AM DEAD! Only this shard keeps my corpse moving, and until I can kill Naraku and destroy the Shikon no Tama, I can't let myself die again."

The dragon-girl raised a tear streaked face to Kohaku. "Kohaku not dead! Shard feed on Kohaku, but it not keep alive. Kohaku not like Zhu-Shu! He still HUMAN!"

"AND SO ARE YOU! So what if the shard's made you some sort of dragon human hybrid! No matter what it does to our bodies, we're still the same people inside! It can force us to kill, it can force us to forget, but it can't force us to be anything other than who we are!" He sat his bowl down and stood. "I can't even remember my family! I know that Sango says she's my sister, and Kami-sama knows I have wracked my brain trying to remember, but this damn shard stole all my memories of her! I know I had a family, but all I have is disjointed pieces of memories! I know my father taught me all I know, but I can't recall his face, or even my mother's! AND IT'S ALL THIS DAMN SHARDS FAULT!" He punched a tree, the bark splintering. "So I know, it doesn't matter what you feel you have done, Zhu-Shu. It was the shard's fault, not yours. Only the crimes we committed before they were put in us are our own."

Zhu-Shu shook her head. "The eyes of dragon see only truth, and Zhu-Shu's truth is she to blame. She one who give in to lust, she one who hurt her love."

Kohaku shook his head. "My sister would probably tell you there's all sorts of truth, Zhu-Shu-sama. I know this. Even if you did hurt your loved ones, if they love you back, they'll forgive you. Even if we don't deserve it."

Zhu-Shu turned to look away. "Ukyo not forgive for what Zhu-Shu do. She come to kill, and Zhu-Shu not get shard for Naraku, Naraku make her fight Ukyo. So Zhu-Shu not have choice but get shards and take back. Once she have heart back, she kill Naraku, and is free to let Ukyo take life." Her eyes closed as sobs wracked her again. "Zhu-Shu sorry, Kohaku-san."

Kohaku sighed. "You've done nothing to be sorry for, Zhu-Shu-sama. I wish I could just give you the shard."

The dragon-girl stood and nodded, her voice full of grief. "This Zhu-Shu knows. She hope eventually, Kohaku-sama can forgive." She wiped tears from her eyes and flicked them violently to the ground.

Kohaku raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. "Forgive wha– "

The pain in his shoulder was unbearable, the fire of the shard being pulled free dropping him to his knees as he felt a strange surge of power travel through his body, its crystalline singing turning his nerve pathways to ice. He fell to his hands and turned to stare at the dragon-girl in shock. He'd never even seen her move.

"Zhu-Shu sorry Kohaku. She wish she had choice. She hope in another life, maybe she could have called Kohaku her friend."

Then she was gone, leaving him gasping for breath as the pain in his shoulder faded, and the crystal singing inside him slowly stilled. Slowly he reached and felt his shoulder, but despite its soreness, he couldn't find a wound, and even the lingering pain was fading…

And with that pain went his feeling of coldness, the shadowy reminder of his undeath that had haunted him since Naraku had revived him. He could feel the warmth of the fire beside him, the thumping of his heart in his chest, and the feeling of the ground clutched in his fingers. The odor of death and decay that had seemed to fill his nostrils was gone, and all he could smell around him was ten thousand scents of life…

He slowly sat up and looked in the direction the dragon-girl had vanished.

How was he alive?


The girl who sat by the stream was not very old, looking to be in her late teens to early twenties, but there was something about her eyes that spoke of knowledge and wisdom far beyond her years, as well as a pain beyond measure. She looked up as an eel-like creature swam through the air towards her, a glowing ball of light clutched in its insect-like arms. She reached up to accept the offering, closing her eyes as she held it to her chest and felt as the soul sank into her and was absorbed. She felt along the scar that ran from her right breast up to nearly her shoulder.

There could be no doubt that it was growing larger. Naraku's miasma was too virulent, and even following purification, it had refused to release its hold on her. She had been forced to stop and seek sustenance, though her destination was still many hours ahead of her, its siren call beckoning.

Strengthened by the soul she had fed on, she stood and faced north, and leaning on her bow for balance, she began walking again.

Things might have been easier if she could have simply followed through on her original plan, and acquired Midoriko's soul, but that massive disturbance in the mystical flows the other day had disrupted everything. Not only had it sent all her shinidama-chuu fleeing, but afterwards was when she had first heard this siren call she followed. It had moved, first to the abandoned youkai exterminator village she had been so close to, and then off to the west for a few days before coming back. She had been too weak to follow at first, but it had refused to let her be. It was traveling north now, with Inuyasha and his companions, along with a group of new comers, but her shinidama-chuu hadn't been able to get close enough to them to identify who it was who was calling her so strongly.

She coughed, black phlegm flying in specks from her lips. Naraku's miasma was eating her slowly from inside, and the souls of the poor maidens she had stolen were not strong enough to do more than slow its spread. Midoriko's might have been strong enough to force it back for a time, but she no longer had the time to restart the elaborate measures she had begun before the disturbance disrupted them. She had at best another week of her cursed life left before the poisons inside her returned her body to bones and grave dust.

((Come Kikyou.)) the siren call came again, the voice so close to her own she wondered if she really heard it or if the poisons had driven her to delirium. ((Come. It is time to meet our destiny.))

She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, conserving her strength as best she could. Then something made her turn and stare into the west.

The massive surge of power was fading, but even this far away, she could feel the aftershocks. It had equaled the surge that had been so destructive several days ago, but the effect had been far different. Unlike the explosion of raw energy, this had been channeled and directed, the signature and flows having merged directly into the flows of the very earth and spread for miles in every direction. She gasped as the edges of the massive spell touched her and sent a crystalline shiver along her nerves, driving the pain and numbness of the miasma from her for the moment. In shock, she looked down, spreading her kimono aside to stare at her chest, where the scar had shrunk to less than a third its original size. She spun to look at her shinidama-chuu, but the eel-like spirit was disintegrating, the purifying energy that had passed having overwhelmed it.

She stared into the west in amazement. Who could have cast a purification spell so powerful it had cleansed and healed dozens of miles of country side? If the surge had been powerful enough to kill her spirit catchers this far away, what kind of monster had the priest been facing that it had taken so much power to overcome?

She stood, torn between investigating and the siren call that still drew her north. Such power could truly be useful in fighting Naraku…

With a sigh, her footsteps turned north again.


The girl Beruche proved to be a disappointing source of intelligence on their new enemies. They learned the name of their adversaries; Cooan, Calaveras, Petz and Rubeus, and that they were from the tenth planet, Nemesis, but little else. They had come from far further in the future than anyone had suspected, but knew little beyond their current mission to kill Chibi-Usa, and destroy the Ginzishou. Lo-Shen reported that her memories had been edited before she had been sent back in time, apparently to ensure that exactly the kind of interrogation they had tried met with failure. That no attempt had been made to rescue her surprised Beruche not at all. Her sisters probably counted her as a coward and a traitor both for having failed, and for having not returned. That she had been captured would mean not a thing to them.

Lo-Shen had been forced to keep her warded in a room and under observation to keep her from committing suicide for her failure. Though the removal of the chaos crystal had disrupted her ability to use her "dark water" powers, it had not blocked her abilities to teleport, nor had it completely undone the mental conditioning she had been subjected to. She was still utterly devoted to her 'master' and wished to kill herself before she could be used against him. Lo-Shen had made arrangements to have a small contingent of Amazons take her to the village to be attended to by some of the elders more gifted in mind healing than herself, and said that it would likely take a few months of kindness and therapy to begin undoing the damage done to her mind.

Ying-Ying had noted that Konatsu's eyes had been green during the entire report from Lo-Shen, and she had indicated she wished to speak to the ghost as Akane had clapped her hands to get the shocked girl's attention for practice. As the Senshi had stood to begin their warm-up exercises, the unsettling news having driven any thoughts of complaining about the skimpy outfits Akane had demanded they wear from their minds for the moment, Ying-Ying headed to her room with Clove.

"It's definitely Xi'an Chi's hand, Ying-Ying. The damn wizard has no love of women. They are just objects to him, beneath contempt. Likely this Rubeus is the only one who really knows what's going on. The four sisters are just his disposable pawns."

Ying-Ying nodded sadly. "Yet if Lo-Shen is correct, they have traveled nearly a thousand years into their past. That Xi'an Chi still lives so long from now does not bode well for any of us."

Clove shrugged. "He let slip once that he spends entire centuries in stasis. His face has a hideous scar across his eye, and he it hides behind a mask. He bragged that it took three centuries to recover from the wounds he had received in an ancient war, but he had doomed the enemy who had caused it an eternity of suffering. He showed me a statue of an oni, and claimed it had once been a living being."

Ying-Ying gasped. "Oh, my poor Orihime!" Tears sprang to her eyes as she wrung her hands.

"Ying-Ying?" Clove asked uncertainly.

"My Lady Orihime, the second wife of Lin-Tzu. She– she and Lady Ye-Ying were both cursed during a battle with Xi'an Chi's rebels, but it was a closely guarded secret that Orihime turned into an Oni. She– she wouldn't even let the rest of us see her in her cursed form, and when the final war came, she gave her life that Lin-Tzu and I might escape. She was lost during the fall of the Imperial Palace, and most of the rest of our wives died fighting our way out through the rebel troops. Poor Ye-Ying died keeping our escape route sealed behind us after Lin-Tzu was gravely wounded, and I was slain stopping an assassin's arrow from reaching her as we boarded the flyer we fled the battlefield in. That statue must be Orihime." Her hands shook. "I– I heard Ukyo tell Rei that he had promised to make her a trophy in– in– " She started sobbing uncontrollably.

Clove reached out and took her hand. "Time is never certain, Ying-Ying. That is one thing I learned from my master long ago. Scrying is an imprecise art because the future is always in flux, and there is never a certainty of which path it might take. In some world, Xi'an Chi might have lived to become the leader of these fiends, but it does not have to be this one."

Ying-Ying nodded. "I– I will be alright. Just– just– " She took a deep breath. "I am the only one of us to have the memories of our past as well as our present. Fool that I am, I begged Legend to restore them, and when he finally answered my pleas, I was too stubborn to allow him to make me forget again. The old pain can be overwhelming if I do not guard against it."

"Xi'an Chi has many sins for which he must answer, Ying-Ying." Clove said softly, her eyes intense. "He will pay for what he has done, to all of us."

"Indeed, his payment is long overdue, Clove." Lo-Shen said as she slid open the door. "And the more information we have, the sooner we can deliver the bill. Anything you can tell us will be useful."

Clove sighed and brushed Konatsu's hair out of her eyes. "I have been to his stronghold only once, and it sickened me. My father went to meet with him secretly, and it was during that trip that I realized that Mu was a trap. His fortress is deep inside a mountain, though I could not tell you where it is. We traveled to it aboard an ancient flying ship which sailed the clouds to the solitary peak which rose like an island from the mists with his castle perched at the summit. Inside we were treated as if we were the very Emperor and Empress themselves, feasted and entertained. Yet Xi'an Chi seemed contemptuous of my skills as a mage, and the women he provided to my bedchamber had minds as damaged and destroyed as that of your prisoner. Xi'an Chi delights in turning women into animals driven only by the basest of desires and worship of their master. He did not realize that among the women he sent me, one had been an attendant to Mu or that I had drawn that knowledge from her mind as I dallied with her."

Lo-Shen nodded. "So it is likely all the Blackmoon sisters have been treated as little more than cattle."

"Yes. Rubeus has probably even pitted them against one another, or used them as instruments to punish one another. Xi'an Chi delighted in turning one friend upon another, as he did to all of us, and if Rubeus is his lieutenant, he will have learned all he knows from Xi'an Chi. Only the fact that these sisters possess powers and abilities beyond normal humans makes them useful to him. He likely will not hesitate to send them to die willingly to accomplish their mission."

Lo-Shen sighed. "It would make things so much simpler to be facing willing troops, or true villains. These sisters are just poor victims. We must save them if we can."

"They will not wish to be saved, Lo-Shen, and will do all within their power to carry out their 'master's' whims. Pity them if you must, but do not let your pity overcome your good sense."

Lo-Shen shook her head. "We must at least try, Clove. After the humiliations and despair we have suffered at Xi'an Chi's hands, we have no choice. I know we may have no option but to kill them, but they are not responsible for what has been done to make them what they have become. I will free them if I can…"


Other than sending Beruche to the village, the rest of the next few days were utterly without incident. Mousse and Kodachi had started coming to school, but they both kept to themselves, and were surprisingly quiet. Luna and Artemis could detect no signs of Blackmoon's activities, and neither could Ke-Lun and Lo-Shen, though truth be told, Ke-Lun had been rather distracted with some project she seemed to be having far too much enjoyment from. Lo-Shen had simply shrugged when asked and said Ke-Lun was extracting three hundred years payback and would most likely be done in a few days.

By Friday, a sort of routine had begun around the Tendo home. Kasumi, helped by Konatsu or Shan-Pu, would make breakfast, then school, followed by Akane and Ranma teaching the Senshi's class, then doing homework with Shan-Pu, while Konatsu and Ying-Ying would have their tutorial sessions until dinner. After dinner they would go to the Club for their four hour shift. Lo-Shen had been managing the place for the week, and had put Konatsu to work there as well. She had made an excellent hostess and bus person.

As Saturday evening approached, they were looking forward to going to the Club again, but this time as customers. Saturday and Sundays were their combined night off, and Akane was determined to have a real date with Ranma and Shan-Pu. She'd even invited Ying-Ying and Konatsu to come and do karaoke.

Then the girls had heard about it, and decided they wanted to join in. Akane had laughed, and figured why not. She was about due for a party just for fun…


High above the city a tall man with red hair looked down upon the sprawling metropolis and frowned.

"There has been no sign of the Dragon, my master."

The shadowy figure behind him nodded, the hood and cloak concealing all of him but the impassive lower half of a porcelain mask, the two red slashes on its cheeks like trails of bloody tears.

"She must come, sooner or later. My mistress has sensed a temporal rift surrounding them all. It is creating interference across the timestream, and shielding this era from clear examination. Patience will be called for. Pursue your secondary objectives."

Rubeus snorted. "Our fool of a prince is still pining for that wench's heart?"

"Diamande has his uses, for now. And his obsession blinds him to all else. Keep him happy until we are done with him. The rabbit and the Ginzishou lack any true value, but the brat will make a useful tool. With her, Serenity can be forced to freely give herself to the prince, and such humiliation will break her mind. I have waited eons to avenge the setbacks the princess and her companions dealt me in their first lives."

Rubeus grinned. "Revenge has always been a dish best served cold, my master."

"Indeed. Prepare one of your pets for sacrifice. Their capture of Beruche has given me a thought for an amusing diversion."

Rubeus nodded and snapped his fingers. The mirror closest to him shimmered, then seemed to fade into mist as the room beyond appeared.

Cooan had been suspended from a set of chains around her wrists. As Rubeus and the masked man entered the room, her screams of pain and orgasm filled the air as Calaveras continued to rape her with the strap-on. Petz was smiling as she ran her hands over her sister's body, black electric sparks dancing from her fingers. At Rubeus' wave, they pouted, but stepped aside.

Rubeus lifted Cooan's face and made her look at him. "My poor pet. I am so sorry you must endure these trials."

"No– no master… it– it is my fault for failing you. You must not take pity on one such as me."

"You shame me, my sweet Cooan. So brave and noble a pet should be rewarded. I have decided to give you one last chance, my love. Wiseman believes you would be the perfect choice for our next activities, and I shall give you to him."

Cooan sobbed. "I– I do not deserve such mercy, Master Rubeus."

"I cannot help it, my dear pet. I love all of you too much for my own good. Perhaps if you succeed, I shall even reward you by allowing you to attend to my needs for a day or two."

Cooan's face brightened as she nodded as best she could. "I will not fail you again, Master Rubeus."

"Of course you won't, my sweet. I believe in you wholeheartedly…"


The village was quiet… too quiet. As they approached the small hamlet in the late afternoon sunlight, there was no sign of life among the scattered huts, only drifting smoke from various spots around the village center.

It was the third village they had come across in the last day and a half. The border with the Hasai domain was less than an hour's walk away, and everywhere they were finding signs of a series of skirmishes. The small coastal domain through which they traveled had been Hasai's ally, and the primary trade partner the mainly mountainous Hasai had needed to supplement their food supply. Fish and food had flowed up the road to the mountains, while Hasai gold had flowed down.

The Dutch mercenaries had apparently had little success breaching the fortifications of the Hasai so far, so they had turned their attention to eliminating the only hope the Hasai had for a rescue. The villagers had only had farm implements to use against musketmen, and faired poorly, as had the few small troops the local lord had managed to field in a so far vain attempt to protect his lands and people.

As they neared the village boundary, Inuyasha held up his hand to stop them, and sniffed.

"They were here this morning," he said as his nose wrinkled. "The air reeks of gunpowder and unwashed men. It almost burns my nostrils." He rubbed his nose. "There is also a heavy scent of rust and mildew."

Tao-Ching growled softly and scratched a few kanji. Nabiki leaned over his shoulder and nodded. "Yeah, probably some Dutchmen. If I recall, didn't they wear metal armor?"

Ukyo shrugged. "I think so, if they're anything like the conquistadors. I had to study those in world history last year."

"There was something besides men that did this," Kagura said, pointing to a large depression in the rice paddy next to them. "Unless my eyes deceive me, I fear that is a footprint."

Inuyasha nodded. "I can't smell a youkai, but that rusty scent is too strong to be a few men in metal armor."

Rei shivered. "Do we search the place, or should I just burn it all down?"

Miroku sighed heavily. "Inuyasha and I will search for survivors. Perhaps it would be best if the rest of you stay here."

Ukyo shrugged. "After the other villages, I doubt there's anything that will give me fresh nightmares. You can only be shocked by rape, murder and torture so much." She shouldered Wrathseeker and trudged into the village to forestall any further debate.

A week in the Sengoku era had made Ukyo appreciate her own time immensely. They had traveled down the coast road without any further visits from Naraku, and no visits from Zhu-Shu in her dreams, but they had not traveled without incident. Twice they had fought off bandits, defeated four minor youkai, and had to exorcise a shrine from the cat demon inhabiting it. Nor had the Dutch been the only group responsible for ravishing a village. Too often had she seen the aftermath of war, poverty, and just plain greed.

This village was no different. The men had been slaughtered, and most of the women as well, the naked state of too many of them showing the horrors they had endured before death. Who knew how many of them had been dragged off to continue the nightmare. She had cried at the first village, but there had been too much of it… now she was simply numb.

Once they had made sure no one was left alive, Kagura animated the corpses and made them shuffle into a single building as Miroku performed funeral rites. Then Rei fired the building to give them a proper cremation. In the meantime, Nabiki, Kagome and Sango checked for anything useful to restock their supplies while Ukyo, Tao-Ching, Kuno and Inuyasha kept watch.

It was fortunate they did, for the heavy black smoke from the fire had barely started drifting into the sky when a column of Dutch soldiers rode out of the woods down the road. Ukyo and Tao-Ching waited as they rode towards the village, Kuno and Inuyasha in the buildings to either side of the path. The soldiers drew up and leveled their muskets as the leader rode forward a few steps, dragging a Japanese man with bandages around his eyes along by means of a rope tied around his wrists. The leader spoke something in an unintelligible tongue, and kicked the Japanese man, knocking him to his knees.

"Forgive me, my lady. I have been ordered to tell you to drop your weapons and surrender to this barbarian piece of excrement, Anton Dupree. He has stated that if you resist, they will slay you immediately."

Ukyo smiled. "You understand their speech?"

"Yes, my lady."

"Then do you know if they understand English?"

"I do not know, my lady."

Ukyo shrugged. "Do speak English?" she asked in English.

The leader sneered. "Yes, I speak the filthy tongue of those protestant heretics. Surrender or I will kill you and your companions."

Ukyo raised an eyebrow, but didn't move otherwise. "Are ones who kill village?"

"What of it? You heathen scum are an abomination in the eyes of our lord Christ. For the last time, drop your weapons and surrender."

The smile she gave was cold. "Come here and try take."

Her hand twitched as he started to turn and give his troops the command to fire, but when he opened his mouth, only blood came out. His eyes bulged as his lips tried to form words, but no sound came forth. Then with the seeming slowness of a tall tree falling, his head rolled forward and separated from his neck. Ukyo drew the ribbon of her staff between her fingers, blood dripping from the crimson band.

She was already moving as the soldiers stared at their dead commander in shock, in the air with Wrathseeker spinning as she gathered her ki and struck. The ground under the horse's hooves erupted, throwing men and horses like toys.

The fight took less than 10 seconds, Inuyasha and Tao-Ching showing no more mercy than Ukyo had. She felt no remorse as the Dutch were slaughtered. Men who would do what they had done to people who were no possible threat to them deserved no pity. She didn't even hate them; she had simply come to think of them as rabid, diseased animals who had to be put down before they spread their taint any further.

As the men died around him, the Japanese prisoner simply stood and smiled. "I applaud your efforts, warriors, but I fear you have done no more than anger these dogs. This was just a scouting party sent to check on a column of smoke. Fully a hundred more, and their armored behemoth, are encamped less than a mile from here. They have undoubtedly heard this noise. Flee now while you can."

A whistling noise caused Ukyo to look up, where a large shadow suddenly blotted out the sun. "I think it might already be too late for that…"


"Have you ever done karaoke, Ying-Ying?"

The ghost girl shook her head at Konatsu's question. "I have heard the students singing at the Club, Ko-chan, but never participated."

"It's so much fun!" the ninja girl gushed. "I love to sing, but my sisters always made fun of me. I know I'm going to sound horrible, but I don't care!"

"That's the spirit, Ko-chan!" Akane laughed. "And I don't think you will sound bad. Anything is better than Daisuke's caterwauling."

Ying-Ying gave Konatsu a sidelong look and a knowing smile. "I think you will surprise us all, my nightingale."

Ranma waved at the bouncers as they entered the Club, completely unselfconscious at their appreciative looks at her black tube top and mini skirt after the long hours she had worked in the ridiculously cute sailor suit. Akane had chosen her outfit, and so long as her fiancées enjoyed the look, she could care less what anyone else thought. Shan-Pu's cheongsam was just as short, in a light lavender that complimented her purple hair, and though Akane had come in shorts and an oversized shirt, both her fiancée's knew that was all she was wearing.

Konatsu had come in kimono, her white yakuta and red obi complimenting the white and gold cheongsam Ying-Ying was wearing. She had done her hair into a knot at the back of her head, and it was held in place by what looked to be chopsticks, but which Ying-Ying knew to be thin bladed stilettos. The fan she carried artfully was just as deadly, the thin panels actually razor sharp metal. Ying-Ying had lost count at the sheer number of edged weapons Konatsu had secreted about her person, but had shrugged as the ninja girl had kept adding blades. She had balked at the fuuma shuriken though. The giant throwing star was just going too far in her opinion, at least for a night of singing. Konatsu had reluctantly left it behind. However, the kimono was concealing more than just the weapons. Ying-Ying was looking forward to when Konatsu got on stage.

The Senshi were already at the club, and Usagi was doing a bad rendition of Moonlight Densetsu with Minako as they entered. The two dark haired girls were wincing as the blondes massacred the melody. Ami noticed them and waved.

"Hi girls," Akane smiled as she scanned the room quickly for flying kunai. But Ke-Lun was no-where to be seen. Lo-Shen was apparently still pulling hostess duty instead. She waved at the lavender haired bunny-girl and joined the others at their table.

"Hi Sensei," Ami said as they sat down, "I went ahead and put you all down to sing, so you'll get a chance pretty soon."

Akane smiled. "Thank you Ami-chan." She nodded at the two on the stage. "Please tell me they're not drunk."

Makoto giggled. "No, they just can't sing to save their lives."

That got the entire table to laughing.


Ai looked over the crowd and smiled. It looked like a good third of the school had turned out tonight, and she spotted several of her fan club members scattered through the club. If things went well, the web ratings would skyrocket tomorrow.

She looked over her squad. "Alright, we ready for this?"

Ayeka looked a little tense but nodded. Ai smiled and stepped behind her to rub her shoulders as she kissed her neck. "Calm down, we've been practicing this for a week now, and we did it perfectly three times today already."

"I know, I know, I just wasn't expecting her to be here."

"Ignore her. We aren't here to fight tonight. We're here to show everybody why we're the hottest girls in school, and provide some fanservice."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I need to tighten this skirt up, it's still a little too loose."

"No problem." Ai turned to her purse and dug out a safety pin and knelt to gather Ayeka's skirt. As she was trying to close the pin, she let out a little yelp.

"Ai?" Ayeka looked over her shoulder in concern.

"I'm fine, I just poked myself." She smiled as she held up her finger, "See? No harm done, just a few drops of blood."

Ayeka's eyes were fixated on the red spots at the end of Ai finger, and she couldn't help involuntarily licking her lips. The other girls tensed as they tried to unobtrusively watch the tall raven haired girl, praying she could control herself.

Ai didn't see them, focused on Ayeka's reaction. She smiled. "Oh my… could my dear little Ayeka have a vampirism fetish to go with her submissive streak?" She leaned close, holding her finger just before Ayeka's face. "Would little Ayeka like to kiss mistress's finger and taste her blood?"

Ayeka swallowed hard.

Ai slid her other hand behind Ayeka's head and buried her fingers in the raven dark mass, holding Ayeka's head back as she squeezed the end of her finger until it was nearly dripping as she whispered in the other girl's ear. "Tell me, Ayeka. Tell me properly."

Ayeka swallowed hard again, licking her suddenly dry lips. "Please! Please mistress! Ayeka wishes to taste your blood!"

Ai chuckled throatily as she slowly traced her finger over Ayeka's lips, painting them a deeper crimson. Ayeka's eyes glazed in utter bliss as her tongue licked the sanguine drops from her lips and sighed as her body shuddered.

The other girls looked at each other and softly sighed in relief as Ai smiled at Ayeka's response.

"Did Ayeka enjoy her little treat?" she purred. When Ayeka nodded, she chuckled. "Of course, you realize I'm going to give you a spanking later for failing to tell Mistress about your desires?"

Ayeka blushed and unconsciously pulled the back of her skirt down. "Ayeka is sorry, Mistress."

"Ayeka must tell Mistress what she enjoys, or how is mistress to properly reward her for being a good little slave?" Ai laughed and gave the dark haired girl a kiss on the cheek. "Now, any other adjustments we need to make? Everyone got their pom-poms?"

At the nods, Ai grinned. "Alright girls, let's knock em dead."


Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Daisuke finally finished his horrible mutilation of the Astroboy theme and left the stage, but it was a surprise when the DJ called on Ai as the next singer. Even more of a surprise was when she and her squad came downstairs in cheerleading outfits that were not those of Furinkan high, but nonetheless seemed very familiar. The girls puzzled over it as the cheerleaders prepared for their song, the DJ getting the extra head mikes set up and activated. They were still trying to figure it out when Ai and her girls took their places… and then suddenly they all recognized the outfits.

Around 3 cm! Looks peachy don't it? CHO!

Old fashioned uniforms! Turn off ain't it! BUU!

Just work it! And do it!

Don't forget to catch and release! GO!

I say WHOO! I say WHOO! And Throw in a "Darling Darling Please!"

Time for talking! Something's coming!

I love you so! Oops I screwed one upsie-up!

A nail biter! A steel beater! Gourmet Eater!

Cut that out already!

Is the new gal popular or what?

Since I'd call her a normal girl!

Wowzers! Only for me?

Pork Chops, Firm noodles, Fill 'er up again!

Da-da-da-da-da!

Bon! Bon! Cheerleaders!

Lets get Cherry Pie!

Ran! Ran! Welcome party!

You've got a Sen-sa-tion! High!

Leaving an impression, scattering asteroids

Crash! And Burned! Shockers!

Break into song! Sing and Dance!

Take it! I'll still be laughing in the end

Cuz it's a sailor uniform, Q.E.D?

It's only Monday and I'm already blue!

What to Do?

I'd rather wear my summer uniform, it's so cute!

3 peice uniform! Thats a toughie to pick! YAN!

Just work it! YEAH! To the limit! YEAH!

My Darling Darling Please!

The entire club was ogling the sexy cheerleaders as they executed a flawless copy of the Lucky Star cheerleader dance, Ai, Megumi and a rather dreamy and dazed Ayeka handling the lead lyrics and Kaede and Kyoko emphasizing the cheers. As they surged into the background chatter between refrains they executed a few of their more acrobatic cheers, Ai nearly brushing the second story ceiling as she was tossed to land on the other two second year's shoulders by Kaede and Kyoko. Then as they went into the final lines, the two smaller girls did a very cute cheer to the alternate chorus as Ai and the others sang while doing a very risqué can-can, showing off briefly the fact that none of them had anything under the short skirts. Even the Senshi had to clap following their performance, as while the cheerleaders hadn't been able to copy the cute voices of the original singers, Ai's sultry contralto had captured the tongue in cheek tone perfectly. Even Lo-Shen was giving the blonde an amused look as she handed the waitresses large boxes of tissue to hand out to the numerous nosebleeds.

Konatsu was blushing. "Are– are you certain you want me to sing, Ying-Ying? I– I couldn't hope to compare to that. I– I…"

Ranma laughed and reached over to pat Konatsu on the back. "It's not a competition, Ko-chan. It's to have fun! Yeah, even I have to admit they did a great job, but that's what Karaoke is all about. Sometimes they sing great, sometimes they suck, but it's always fun."

Ying-Ying nodded as she held Konatsu's hand. "Don't worry my love. I know you will do wonderfully no matter what. And I will be with you, remember? I'm your back up vocals."

Konatsu smiled as she gripped Ying-Ying's hand, careful to not let her fingers pass through the ghost's semi-tangible flesh. She nodded as Ranma's name was called. The red-head gave Konatsu a smile.

"Just watch. I ain't the greatest either, but there's nuthin to be nervous about…"


The shadow proved to be a giant. Ukyo blinked as the armored behemoth crashed feet first into the rice paddies with a huge spray of mud and water. For a long second it was motionless, and then with the clacking of chains and a horrible clatter of ratchets, it stood and turned to them, the large, round maces in its hands coming up to attack position as the single red eye swept across them.

"What the fuck?" Tao-Ching said. "Why the hell is there a Mecha in the Sengoku era?"

"Who cares?" Inuyasha yelled as he moved to attack. "WIND SCAR!"

The monster wobbled slightly as the howling winds ripped around it, shredding a cloth covering and making it take a half step back to keep its balance, but had very little effect otherwise. It did reveal that the machine had been built on the skeleton of a very large youkai, the gears and chains moving the frame in lieu of muscle. Thick armor covered the chest and vital joints, and the heavy chains nearly covered the few exposed bones in its arms and legs. Its return attack was far faster than anyone expected, its mace sweeping down and narrowly missing Inuyasha as the hanyo dodged aside.

Ukyo wasted no more time puzzling over what made the thing work. Time enough to figure that out once it was down. She looked over to see Tao-Ching had reached the same conclusion, his sword glowing a deep green. "Batter up!" he said.

Ukyo blinked and grinned as she suddenly figured out his plan and started to jump, the flat of Tao-Ching's blade meeting her already moving feet and launching her skyward as he started forward towards the thing's feet. She reached the top of her arc about forty feet above the machine and gathered her ki, the point of the Wrathseeker fluorescing neon blue as she concentrated it into a cutting edge. As Tao-Ching ducked under the swinging mace and swung his zanbatou towards the things ankle, she drove her weapon into the shoulder joint.

The armor cracked, but proved resistant. She grimaced as she realized the armor was almost a foot thick and solid iron. She flipped off its back to avoid the other hand swinging its mace over its shoulder to crush her, and saw Tao-Ching had had no better luck than she had.

"Its armor is too damn thick!"

Tao-Ching shook his head. "It's not just thick. It's definitely bespelled. I should have sliced its damn foot off!"

There was a booming roar, and the thing staggered. They looked forward to see Kuno in a stance Ukyo recognized. He dodged under the wildly swinging mace and blurred into another hundred strikes attack, the column of wind visible as it jumped to stagger the behemoth again.

Then he was just a trifle slow and had to parry the massive mace, the enlarged blade in his hand looking small compared to the massive iron weight.

But as the mace collided with the Tetsusaiga in Kuno's hand, the blade shifted to a peculiarly shimmering silver, and the mace stopped as dead as if it had hit a mountain, the impact throwing the mecha off balance.

Inuyasha took advantage of its stagger to release a spray of diamond spears, the lances bouncing off the chest armor, but wedging into the exposed shoulder joint with a horrendous grinding noise. Then as he and Tao-Ching attacked its ankles, Ukyo used her ki explosion against its chest, and they succeeded in knocking it down.

The respite was momentary though, as it rolled, its speed uncanny for its huge size. It dropped the mace in its undamaged hand to grab the diamond lances and rip them free, using the spear as it struck at the white haired youkai as he attempted to unleash another series of them at its knee.

As he dodged, a massive firebird slammed into the creature, setting its shoulders and head ablaze as Mars entered the fray. The fire didn't seem to slow it down much, and before Ukyo could decide on a new plan of attack, she heard yells behind her as the just arriving Dutch reinforcements charged.

"Mars! Kagura! Take care of the troops! We'll deal with this thing!" She yelled up at the passing feather. The sorceress nodded as she banked, Nabiki's shield enveloping the three of them as Ukyo heard gunshots, and spotted ricochet sparks off the glowing pink sphere.

Then she was too busy leaping over the diamond spear as she ran to the behemoth's wounded side and used the Wrathseeker to pole-vault herself onto the sluggish, but still functional arm. She ran up the upper arm and executed her handstand attack again, focusing another ki explosion into the swing as she drove her weapon into the holes Inuyasha had made in the shoulder armor.

She flipped off its back again as immediately following her strike, Kuno and Inuyasha launched a coordinated assault, Inuyasha's diamond spears receiving a massive kinetic boost from Kuno's focused wind blast. They slammed into the shoulder joint as if driven from a mass driver, finding the same point Ukyo had further weakened. The spears ripped the arm completely off, throwing the monster off its feet again.

"Strike for the base of the skull!" Tao-Ching shouted above the roar of the grinding gears and the tumultuous racket of the guns. He vaulted on the thing's back as it was striving to regain its feet one handed, its weight causing its hand to sink in the rice paddy mud and slip. As he reached the head he cried "Bakusai Tenketsu!" and punched towards the skull. There was a loud explosion as Tao-Ching rolled off to the side missing the arm, and as the smoke cleared they could see he had created a deep depression in the armor.

The creature slammed forward into the muck again as the hanyo and Kuno leaped, another coordinated attack burying the creatures head in the mud as diamond spears hammered into it and were pounded deeper by Kuno's air blast. Electricity arced around the spears for a few seconds before a muffled explosion under the behemoth jolted the ground, and shoved the no longer functional artifact back up to its knees, where it balanced for a few seconds, revealing the hole blown out of its chest, before tumbling backwards to crash into the rice paddy.

Tao-Ching picked himself up from the muck and stuck his sword in the ground as he tried to wipe some of the mud off. "I hate fighting magical constructs."


Ai felt good.

She eyed the other girls as they resumed their seats in the balcony, laughing as they pointed out several members of their various fanclubs trying to stem nosebleeds, and smiled.

Times like these were so wonderful, when they were united, cohesive. A single unit. This is how she wanted it to always be…

Kyoko noted the smile and blushed. "Did we do good?"

Ai nodded as she reached out and scratched her head, visualizing how the kawaii brunette would look with fox ears. Then she grinned lasciviously as she remembered Ayeka's newly revealed fetish. It certainly explained her nibbling obsession.

"Next time we need to find a good song to cosplay to. I can't wait to see you in fox ears, and Ayeka will make such a lovely vampire. Whatever shall we dress Megumi and Kaede up as though?"

The reaction from all four of them surprised her. Stunned shock was not what she had expected, not from all of them.

"You– you– you want me to wear fox ears?" Kyoko stuttered, her voice hitting high squeak range at the end as her eyes grew huge.

Ai bit her tongue. "Um, yeah, well, I think you would make a really cute kitsune. I– I heard that someone in your class had said the same the other day."

There was a palpable sense of relief around the table as they accepted the explanation. It was a puzzle. "Um, I didn't mean to upset anyone. I just thought you as a fox would be cute, and now I know Ayeka has her little delightfully dark kink, well, I'd love to see her in a nice goth loli outfit." She grinned, trying to recapture the happiness of the previous moment. "I mean we did great doing the cheerleader dance, but it is a little stereotypical. I just think we should keep up the variety. So if we make Kyoko a kitsune, and Ayeka a hot vamp, we need to figure out what other outfits we need."

Kaede laughed, looking over to Ayeka. "I do have to admit watching that little show before the dance really turned me on." She gave the taller raven haired girl a sultry look. "So how did our beloved leader's blood taste, my soon to be lolilicious vampiress?"

Ayeka blushed. "Um…" she giggled nervously. "Sweet and tangy, with a faint coppery flavoring." She gave Ai a shy look. "You– you really don't mind?"

Ai laughed. "I just wish you were a real vampire. Supposedly their bite is instant orgasm."

Ayeka blushed, grinning sheepishly. "Well the taste of your blood was definitely one for me. I was so afraid to tell you."

"I told you she probably wouldn't mind." Megumi said to her as she stuck out her tongue. "You could have had your dearest wish filled ages ago."

Ai gave the other a blonde a raised eyebrow. "You knew about it?"

Megumi blushed. "Um… well… she's been fretting over asking you since forever."

Ai grinned. "Ooooh, that's two girls getting a paddling then."

Megumi giggled. "Will it get me a lighter sentence if I give you suggestions for our outfits?"

"Depends on what you suggest."

"Well, I'm not cut out to be really scary, but I am pale enough I could probably make a good yuki-onna."

Ai chuckled. "I see. A pretty little ice maiden to warm up and melt." She smiled indulgently. "And for Kaede?"

"I'm a succubus." The red-head said firmly. "I already have a cute succubus outfit I can wear. It has wings, and horns, and a really nice tail."

"Which leaves me" Ai grinned. "And I have not a clue as to how to match any of you. I don't want to be redundant with all the other girls wearing animal ears, especially since Kyoko is going to totally beat me in the cuteness factor as a fox."

"But mistress, I already know exactly what outfit would suit you best." Ayeka said as she gave Ai a smoldering glance, her eyes picking up the stage lights below and flashing crimson. "Mistress wore it the very first night she chose Ayeka to be her worshipful slave."

Ai laughed. "The bitch dom leathers." She nodded. "I have a matching leather coat to wear over it, and of course, your favorite whip." She smiled. "Now we just need a good song for us to sing, and a nice dance routine."

"And collars."

Ai looked at the redhead. "Collars?"

Kaede smiled. "Of course. Our darling Ai certainly can't be a proper dominatrix if she doesn't have us all at the end of her leash, no?"

Kyoko giggled. "Collars make me nervous, but if it's Ai…" she trailed off in a dreamy little sigh.

Ai chuckled. She'd never really paid attention to the little cheerleader's tendency to get dreamy eyed, but since her conversation with the kitsune nurse the other day, she'd started noticing that Kyoko did it almost constantly when she was thinking about her.

Still, stage one of her plan was in motion. She'd gotten the kitsune to agree to a little cosplay. And not alienated any of her other friends doing it, though their momentary shock was puzzling. She'd get to the bottom of it eventually. In the meantime, she'd get them all used to seeing Kyoko with fox ears and a tail, so that maybe eventually she'd be able to coax the fox girl into revealing her true shape.

And Ayeka's little blood fetish had certainly helped things along nicely. It was a pity that…

Her thoughts trailed off as something Mara had said hit her like a ton of bricks.

"And for those few predator species that have to feed on humans occasionally, like the vampires, or the various races that feed off of emotional energies, they are magically bound to never do so from an unwilling human, and they can never feed enough to cause harm."

Mara had confirmed that not only kitsune existed, but that vampires did as well, and until she had given permission, despite the overwhelming hunger she had seen in Ayeka's eyes, the girl hadn't even tried to lick the blood from Ai's finger – until she had known Ai was willing…

She gave the other two a glance, watching as they laughed at Ranma doing a passable rendition of Sakura Saku from Love Hina, and licked her lips. If Kyoko was a Kitsune, and Ayeka was a vampire, could it be possible…

Megumi did always have a much lower than normal body temperature, and even the hot tub couldn't warm it. Even on the hottest of summer days, she was nice to snuggle up to because of that.

And Kaede… the utterly insatiable nymphomaniac, who could be begging for more even when all four of the rest of them were too exhausted to even move…

A kitsune, a vampire, a succubus, and a yuki-onna… She was dying to know if she was going to be the only one truly cosplaying when they did their next karaoke night.

She leaned back and sighed happily. Tonight was being wonderful. She was having a great time with all her treasured friends, and she was pretty sure they were bound to end up in a lovely five way orgy as nice as the night was going so far. She wished she had the courage to tell them all exactly how she felt right now, how contented she was to be with all of them, or even how thrilled the intriguing notion that they might all be youkai was making her. She was glad the cushions on the chairs here were darkly colored. As aroused as she was, and sans panties, she was certain she'd soaked it.

Then the DJ called Konatsu.

Ai gave the ninja girl an amused look, noting her nervousness as she approached the small stage, accompanied by the semi transparent Ying-Ying. As high as she was sure their little song and dance was going to kick their ratings, she was confident that even the girl's uber moé-ness as she stumbled over the edge of her kimono when she climbed the few steps wouldn't detract from their showing.

The DJ set up a standing mike for the ghost girl, and Konatsu unwrapped her obi at Ying-Ying's encouragement, her kimono dropping to reveal a skin-tight red cocktail dress. The nearly backless outfit dropped low enough that her coccyx was visible, before she turned to reveal the knee length skirt was slit up the front almost as high as the cheerleader's skirts, and cut nearly as low up top as the back had been. It clung to her curves, its silky caress an invitation to lecherous thoughts from everyone who was watching. Then she took up the mike as the song started.

"If you are filled with sadness, you can lean on me…"

Konatsu had closed her eyes as the music had started, and her warm alto flowed like melted butter as she crooned the opening lyrics. Her soft voice was like a caress as she sang the slowly and cleanly pronounced syllables in Japanese.

Then Ying-Ying filled in the backup vocals, her slightly higher pitched voice a harmonious counterpoint as she sang the English lyrical refrain.

"I get, I get, I get, get the feeling. I get, I get, I get, get the dreaming…"

"Just like the way it is." Konatsu followed.

"Come my way…" Ying-Ying crooned.

"Alone in this darkness…"

"Come close to me…"

"Now I'll shine some light, I'll be with you, I'll be with you, I'll stay beside you…"

Then their voices merged as they harmonized "So come my way…"

Ai's ear suddenly hurt, and she flinched and turned to stare at Kaede. "OW!"

Kaede's face was a mask of scared concern. "Thank Kami-sama. I was afraid she'd hypnotized you with that damn charm spell!"

"Huh?"

Kaede blushed. "Oh… um… you were starting to drool mindlessly." She turned to Ayeka and pinched her ear too, making the girl jump.

"Wha– What the hell?"

"Charm spell. Like my sister's. Remember last term when she tried to talk you into doing more than modeling?"

Ai shook her head and looked out at the club, noting almost everyone in the place had fixed expressions as they stared in open mouthed gapes at the seductive girl on stage. Her teeth gritted. "Charm spell, huh. Nasty ninja trick."

Kyoko was waking up and pouting as she looked at Ayeka. "Owwie!"

Ayeka kissed her forehead. "Sorry hun. You were under the influence of a charm spell. It nearly got all of us. Lucky Kaede saw through it."

The redhead was waking Megumi and glaring at the stage. "Damn witch! We went up there on talent alone. Resorting to magic is cheating! Even Yuri wouldn't sink that low!"

Ai stood. "Let's go girls. I still want a nice orgy tonight, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let her ruin it. Then we need a good night's sleep, because we are going to be practicing all day tomorrow. Monday, that girl is going DOWN!"


Tao-Ching was eyeing the fleeing Dutch, noting the significant reduction in their numbers. Kagura unleashed a wind blade volley as she passed over them again, and Rei ignited another dozen with a firebird. He raised his eyebrow as the dying screams reached them. "Humm. I never expected her to be willing to do that."

Ukyo shrugged. "She's just as upset by their actions as I am. We both agree they don't deserve mercy. In her words, they're even worse than youma, because they chose to become monsters, and if they live, they'll just keep doing this shit over and over. Yeah, we'll probably both cry over it later, but we're warriors, Tao-Ching. We do what we must to protect the things that matter… or avenge them."

Tao-Ching laughed. "We'll make Amazons of you both yet." He turned to Inuyasha and Kuno. "Good job boys. Nice work there, combining your attacks. We wouldn't have beaten this thing without it."

Kuno nodded. "I couldst not use a stronger assault for fear of catching you all in it, and I knowest not how to unleash good Inuyasha's diamond spears."

Inuyasha shrugged. "I want to know how the hell you stopped that mace?"

"I knowest not. My blade chose to act of her own accord."

"Huh. It almost felt like one of Kikyou's barrier spells." He looked over to where Miroku was tending to the Japanese man the Dutch had been forcing to translate. "Bet he's gonna be happy to be free."

"Probably." Ukyo shrugged. She turned to where Kagura's feather was returning, Sango and Kirara following.

"I checked out their camp when I saw it looked like everything was in control here," she said by way of greeting. "Looks like that was all of them."

Tao-Ching nodded. "Good thinking. How many got away?"

Kagura snapped her fan closed. "None," she said with a certain satisfaction.

Rei stepped close to Ukyo and accepted her one armed embrace as she sighed heavily. "I hate having to do that, but those beasts don't deserve to live. We met Sango over their camp, before I burned most of it. They had been amusing themselves raping little girls." She shuddered. "The poor kids never had a chance."

"There, there, love. They are all being picked apart by demons in hell. You did what you had to, nothing else." Ukyo said soothingly as she hugged the miko tighter.

Kagome sighed. "That's the worst part about being in the Sengoku era. Some of the humans are as bad if not worse than some of the youkai. I would give anything if I could find a way to stop all this ceaseless warfare between humans and youkai. There are so many people who only want to be free to live out their lives in peace. And that's on both sides." She waved to the giant in the field. "But you also have people who want war with the power to make things like that."

Inuyasha shrugged. "Once we kill Naraku, and destroy the little plots he keeps stirring up, things will get better."

Kagome nodded. "I wish we could get all the youkai to stop viewing men as food, and give the peaceful ones a chance to live without fear."

"Take heart, my lady. That has ever been the duty of the Kuno line. We are hunters for those who would break the Accord that all men and youkai do live by. It will come."

Kagome nodded as she gave a sad smile. "I always thought that man had eliminated the youkai. I am glad to know that I simply hadn't realized they were always there, hiding in plain sight."

Ukyo nodded as she looked to the slopes of the mountains ahead of them. "Yeah, well, the first step to making all our hopes and dreams happen is that pass up there. We rescue Zhu-Shu, kill Naraku, and find a way to return that damn sword. Then we can all go home."

Rei hugged her tighter. "She's okay, Ukyo. I know she is. I don't know how, but I know she's alive."

Ukyo nodded. "I know. But I would feel better if she would let me back in to tell her I love her. Kami-sama alone knows what she's going through right now thinking I hate her."


Zhu-Shu sighed as she looked down at the claws buried to the wrist in her chest.

"I've got you now, you stinking spawn of Naraku!"

The battle had been fast and furious. Kouga hadn't even hesitated to attack once she had told him she had come for his shards. She'd tried to take it easy on him, but he had refused to surrender no matter how many times she had beaten him into the ground. She gave him a sad look as she felt his claws twisting in her chest, trying to find the heart that wasn't there. The agony was nothing compared to the pain she felt at knowing there was only one way to retrieve his shards.

"Zhu-Shu sorry, but she try ending fight nice. Kouga give no choice."

Her ribbons unfurled to full length before they darted down and through the wolfboy, piercing him over and over as they wove through his body like living snakes. His hand was ripped from her chest as his body was lifted by the tightening coils and then in an explosion of blood, they ripped him apart.

And as his blood showered down upon her, she looked at the two shards in her hand and cried…

Authors Note: Komm, Süsser Tod is the name of a song from End of Evangelion that captures Zhu-Shu's emotional state all too well. It translates Come, Sweet Death.

The translation used to Motteke! Sailor Fuku is from the opening credits of the version of the fansubs I saw, which is available on animeseed dot com. As the translations I found on various web sites varied WILDLY, I decided to stick to the one that might be most familiar to my readers.

And the song Konatsu sings is from the seventh season of Inuyasha, Come, by Namie Amuro.