Inuyasha was not lost. He had followed Mrs. Higurashi's instructions to the letter, he was sure of it. His only problem now was that he had no idea where he was or where he was supposed to go.

He knew he should've taken Kagome. But Mrs. Higurashi had taken one look at the address on the card and frowned.

"That's not a good neighborhood," she said. "I really wouldn't be comfortable with Kagome going there at night."

Inuyasha wondered if Mrs. Higurashi knew exactly what they did when Kagome went through the well. But he was a guest at their house, and he could manage on his own, so he didn't argue the point. And he could manage on his own; it wasn't his fault the modern era was so stupidly big and loud and cramped that he couldn't see for crap.

The city was full of buildings that seemed to touch the night sky, all blazing lights from their windows. They cast strange shadows on the dark street, where cars zoomed past and people walked with their heads down.

Inuyasha squinted at the instructions Mrs. Higurashi had written for him. He was certain he'd taken the right train (after some mixups), and the right transfer (after fewer mixups.) (He hated trains.) He was glad he'd left so early. "That way, you'll have time to explore the city," Mrs. Higurashi had said, which he was now realizing actually meant "so you'll have time to get lost." But he'd taken the last turn written on the paper, and he was out of directions.

Inuyasha growled, scraping his talons against the side of a building. None of the buildings on this block stood out. How did people find anything in this era? What a waste of four hours of his life. No- this whole damn week. He was trapped in time, wasting time.

With no other leads to follow, Inuyasha took a big sniff out of the air, hoping for a clue. What he got was a whole lot of nothing. Dammit.

As he walked down the street, hoping for something to stand out, a swish of dark fabric under a street light caught his eye. It was a sailor uniform, the same design as the one worn by the girl he'd rescued at the mall. If this place was as dangerous as Mrs. Higurashi had said, what the hell was a kid like that doing here at night?

The girl's face was unfamiliar. Next to her was a woman in short shorts and knee-high boots, her arm resting languidly over the girl's shoulder. As they walked closer, Inuyasha breathed in. The girl smelled normal- sweat and fabric and human female. But the woman…

...smelled like nothing at all.

Inuyasha smirked. Bingo.

"Hey, you," he began as the pair approached.

"I have a boyfriend," she woman said,breezing past. The girl under her arm giggled.

"That's not-" Inuyasha jumped in front of her. "Hey! I was going to ask you if you knew where Night Crimson is!"

The woman looked Inuyasha up and down contemptuously. "You a tourist or something?"

"A what? No."

"Then do you live under a rock? It's back there." The woman gestured up the street where she'd come from. "Front entrance is around the corner."

Inuyasha looked toward where she'd waved. Alright, a lead was a lead, no matter how vague.

"You know-" he began.

"I don't care," the woman drawled back. She pushed past him and walked on, whispering to her human companion. "Stupid tourists."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. At least he knew where he was going, sort of.

He walked up the street. There was a sound pulsing in the air. He'd thought it was just ambient noise of the modern era, but as he approached the end of the street, Inuyasha realized it was coming from a building around the corner. It was a deep, booming beat, with a sharp melody just barely audible above it. Music?

The building it was coming from was dark red brick, except for the blazing red letters at its height. They were a swirling, jumping script in a language Inuyasha couldn't read. In the same bright red light underneath were the smaller Japanese words Night Crimson.

There was a line of people in front of the entrance. Was Inuyasha supposed to wait in line? Forget that, he'd wasted enough of his night already. He walked to the open doors.

A human man moved to block him. "Back of the line, kid."

"I'm here to see Abezawa. Rei sent me."

The guard raised his eyebrows. "Inoshishi did?" He pressed a button on some device and spoke into his shoulder. "Could I get someone down at the front entrance? There's some kid here who says he has a meeting with Abezawa. Says Inoshishi sent him."

"Hey, I've also got a meeting with Abezawa!" one of the men in line said.

"Yeah, Inoichi sent me too!"

As the guard shouted at the people in line, a slim woman wearing the same black uniform emerged out of the smoky building. She had no youki, but her fire red hair floated over pointed ears, and the pupils in her green eyes were vertical slits. She laughed when she saw Inuyasha.

"Nice cosplay, buddy. You're doing a great job at the whole 'not standing out' thing." She jerked her head towards the inside. "Follow me."

Inside, the building was dark, only dimly lit by a rainbow of colors. The lights on the ceiling and floor pulsed in time with the music. They made colorful beams through the smoke, though Inuyasha could smell no fire, so he didn't know where it was coming from. The whole building seemed to be a giant room filled with people. They danced and gyrated, filling the air with the scents of sweat and lust. The floor itself was broken up by raised and lowered areas, stages and pits. Some people drank and rested at tables near the walls.

Inuyasha followed the woman through the ocean of bodies. She slipped with fluid grace between them, heading to a bar that spanned almost the entire wall of the room. Inuyasha followed more like a bulldozer as he shoved people aside.

"What is this place?" he shouted over the music. She waved her hand as if to say 'later, later.' Approaching the bar, she waved a hand at a bartender, who waved back. Inuyasha followed her as she went behind the bar, and then through a camouflaged door behind it.

When she shut the door, the music suddenly went quiet.

"Soundproof," the woman said with a grin, knocking on the door. "And thank god for that."

The hallway they'd entered was as different from the room they'd just left as day was from night. It was a brightly lit hallway with whitewashed walls, and simple wooden doors running along it.

"What was that?" Inuyasha asked.

"What was what?"

"That room we just left."

The guard woman looked at Inuyasha with a confused expression. "What do you mean? The club?" She shrugged. "It's a normal club, to most people. Most of our customers are human. Most of the staff, too."

She looked slyly back at Inuyasha as she led him up some stairs, like they were sharing a secret. "Of course, it's the only club in Tokyo that caters to our kind, so it isn't actually normal. But we try to provide the same services humans can get anywhere, and then some. But I guess you must have known that, since you came here. Or were you only coming because it's the HB's headquarters?"

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. She didn't seem to need any help from Inuyasha to continue on the conversation. "No, that can't be right, since you're meeting with Abezawa, who's head of club security. Not to mention, you should have come during normal office hours for any other business."

She stopped in front of a door, indistinguishable from the others except for the small plate that read, 'Director of Security' on it. She knocked and opened it. "Ms. Abezawa? There's a man here who says he has a meeting with you."

The woman behind the door was a thin, severe-looking person, her gray hair pulled into a short ponytail. She was sitting behind a desk, looking at some papers. She didn't look up to say "I don't have a meeting scheduled."

"He mentioned you by name, and said that Rei sent him."

That got her attention. Abezawa looked up from her papers, narrowing her eyes at Inuyasha. "And what did she tell you, exactly?"

"She said I could get a job that pays three thousand an hour. "

Abezawa barked out a laugh. "And that's it? You could be selling yourself into prostitution for all you know."

Inuyasha folded his arms. "Since she offered it to me because she seemed to think I could fight, I don't think so."

Abezawa raised her eyebrows. She seemed genuinely surprised. "Is that so? Inoshishi Rei thought you were strong?" Inuyasha nodded.

Abezawa let out a harrumph. "Inoshishi was offering you a position as a member of Night Crimson's security team- a bouncer. Among other things. Not that she has the authority to do that. Since Night Crimson serves...individuals... who are physically much stronger than humans, of course qualifications for the position requires significant strength. As it so happens, we do indeed have an opening, a fact Inoshishi must have known.

"Of course, you can only get the job if you're strong enough."

Inuyasha smirked. "I am strong enough."

"Hmph." Abezawa leaned back in her chair. "Prove it then." She gestured with a hand.

The guard woman suddenly lunged at Inuyasha, inch long claws aimed at his eyes. Inuyasha grabbed her arm before she could touch him and flung her to the floor in front of the desk. He reached for his sword- nothing. Dammit, I am taking Tetsusaiga with me next time, to hell with Kagome's complaints!

"Thank you, Kimiko," Abezawa said as the guard woman rose. Kimiko rubbed her shoulder, but she was smiling.

"Not bad!" she chirped.

"You're hired, then, if you want the job," Abezawa sighed. She looked back to her papers. "Kimiko, please take him to payroll and get him set up."

By the time Kagome got home, Inuyasha was gone. She shouldn't have been surprised. Inuyasha had been going stir crazy this past week, and the fight with the boar demon yesterday had only whetted his appetite.

"Welcome home," Sota said as she came in. And as she walked past him, "why do you smell like chalk?"

"Skip it," Kagome growled. "Where's Inuyasha?"

Sota shrugged. "He went out somewhere. Mom gave him train directions downtown. He left about fifteen minutes ago, I think."

"The train? Really? I can't believe he'd take it willingly."

Sota shrugged again. "I don't know how she convinced him, but you know mom."

Inuyasha wasn't home for dinner, and still hadn't arrived by the time she went to bed. Well, she thought. If anything's happened, I suppose we'll find out about it on the news tomorrow. Though she told herself there was no reason to worry, Kagome still had trouble falling asleep that night.

Kagome woke up the next morning to the sound of birdsong, instead of the clanging of her alarm clock. Her window was wide open. On the floor next to her bed, his head bowed to his chest, slept Inuyasha. She let out a sigh of relief. Home safe. As she knew he would be.

Kagome sat up slowly, not wanting to make any noise and wake him up. But as she rose and saw more of him than silver hair and the sheathed fang peeking out over his shoulders, she let out a small gasp.

Inuyasha's eyes shot open and he grabbed Tetsusaiga's hilt. "Mm," he grunted.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Kagome whispered, stepping out of bed to get a better look at him. "I just- what are you wearing?"

Gone were the red haori and hakama. Inuyasha was dressed in a slim outfit of unremarkable black pants and a black button-down, with a small red "NC" stitched over the breast. It reminded Kagome of giving a fluffy dog a bath. Without the poofy clothing, Inuyasha seemed to have shrunk three sizes. A black baseball cap lay discarded on the floor next to him.

"I went to that place last night," Inuyasha began.

"Night Crimson?"

"And they put me right to work. But I had to wear their clothing." He shrugged. "It's not so bad."

"What time did you come home?"

Inuyasha glanced out the window. "The sun was rising by the time I got back."

Kagome noticed the dark circles under Inuyasha's eyes. She remembered that this was someone who lived in a world without electric lights, who slept and rose with the sun.

"I'll ask you all about it when I get home," Kagome whispered, patting his shoulder. "Go back to sleep. Oh! But did you get information on where the Bureau's records are?"

Inuyasha grinned and pulled out a piece of paper from his sleeve. He handed it to her. "Damn straight."

Sango sat on a rotting tower, looking out over a wall of spikes. She pet Kilala absently as she stared at the small dirt path almost hidden by leafy trees.

The week she'd spent in the demon slayers' compound, alone but for a demon cat and the ghosts of her family, had been…significant. It was the longest she'd been there since-

Sang blinked rapidly. Death had always been a part of her life, in her clan's line of work. Accept it and move on. That's what she'd always been taught was the best response to grief, but the trite advice wasn't doing much for her now. She cleared her eyes so she wouldn't miss the hint of any purple robes coming down the trail.

It hadn't taken her long to find what she was looking for. The slayers' records were organized with thorough, scientific precision, all thanks to one person. Maybe if Imiya had been a better slayer than librarian, she'd still be alive today.

The angry bray of a horse cut through the silence of the forest.

"He didn't," Sango muttered to herself, straining to see through the leaves. Did he…?

Sure enough, before long she could see Miroku, leading a horse that was laden with saddle bags. Sango raced down the watchtower steps. She finished opening the gate as he drew near.

"Sango!" Miroku cried, throwing out his arms. "What a sight for sore eyes! I've missed you terri-"

"Who's horse is this?!"

"Oh, this?" Miroku looked at the horse as if he'd forgotten it was there. "Why, it's mine of course." He held his hand over his heart. "Sango! Are you implying that you suspect me of horse thievery?"

Sango rolled her eyes. "Thievery, no. Extortion maybe."

Miroku explained as Sango led him into the compound. "This horse was an honest gift for a job well done. A minor lord gave it to me in payment for protecting his lovely daughter from the dark cloud that had appeared above her-"

Sango clonked his head with Hiraikotsu. "You were supposed to be searching for Naraku! Not hitting on princesses!"

"I did hear something interesting, though I found nothing about Naraku," Miroku protested. "I'll save it for when we get back to the village. Lady Kaede might have something helpful to contribute. And how was your quest? Did you learn anything that will help with the well, or that feral child?"

Sango nodded. "I learned a lot of things, but I can't say for certain until I gather some more information. We'll need to return to Lady Kaede's village for that too."

"Perhaps we'll get lucky and Inuyasha and Kagome will already be there waiting for us," Miroku sighed.

After resting for a bit in the compound, they set out for Kaede's village. With the skittish horse trying to pull Miroku's arm off at every cracking branch, their journey was almost as exhausting as their usual pace, despite Inuyasha's absence. They set out from the compound in late morning and arrived in the village as dusk was falling.

Kilala leaped ahead as they approached the houses. Shippo was playing with his tops at edge of the village where they came up.

"Kilala!" he cheered as the nekomata leaped into his arms. He ran and jumped into Sango's arms. "You're back!"

She hugged him, grinning. "We're back! Did you take care of the village while we were gone?"

"Yeah! I helped Lady Kaede exorcise some rat demons that almost ate O-Kisa!"

Miroku glanced at Sango. "Should we be worried that he sounds so excited?"

When they arrived at Kaede's hut, she greeted them warmly.

"It's always good to know another day has passed without ye fool kids getting killed," she grumbled, ladling out bowls of soup. "I don't suppose ye've discovered the problem with the bone-eater's well, have ye?"

"I did discover something interesting," Miroku said. "While on my travels, I stayed at a monastery where I explained- discreetly, of course- our little problem with the well. The monks there said the only record of time travel they'd ever seen was the story of Urashima Taro, who arrived three centuries in the future after sojourning in the under-sea palace of the dragon god Ryujin. Perhaps-"

Kaede shook her head. "Nay, it can't be that. The dragon god is the lord of the sea. He'd not work his influence so far inland."

Miroku stared at her. He looked back down at his soup. "...Damn."

"Not to mention," Sango put in as she sipped her soup, "Urashima Taro didn't travel in time. His mind and body were frozen by one of Ryujin's underlings for three hundred years.* Apparently an ancestor of mine worked alongside it." She looked up at Kaede and Miroku's surprised faces. "What? I've been reading a lot the past week."

Kaede sighed. "In all my life, the bone eater's well has never failed to deliver the bones of slain demons from us. Whatever blocks Kagome and Inuyasha from returning to us, it blocks them, and only them, consciously.

Sango stared at the ceiling. "It's true, Kagome's backpack came through. But what's changed recently?" Well, maybe two mysteries could make an answer. "Lady Kaede, do you know of a village child named Sachi?"

"Aye, I know the one."

"How long has she lived here? I don't think I'd seen her before last week."

Kaede considered. "She's lived here for almost a month now. The child wandered into the village, just stepped out of the forest one day. Many were certain that she was a demon, though the girl's as human as ye and I. It's a miracle she wasn't killed, out there by herself."

"She wasn't by herself," Shippo put in around a spoonful of soup. "She's friends with demons, somehow. I didn't believe it either, before I saw them myself."

"What?" Sango blinked at Shippo in surprise. "You saw them?"

"I thought she was just delusional," Miroku murmured.

Shippo nodded, basking in the attention. "That's what I thought too, at first," he said. "Here's what happened."

The day after Miroku brought him home, Shippo was bored. He'd wanted to travel with Miroku, but apparently "there's been a change of plans, and I can't take care of you on the road." Shippo had protested that he was a demon, he could take care of himself. Miroku wouldn't budge. Shippo figured it was more because he'd get in the way of the monk seducing and swindling innkeepers' daughters than anything to do with taking care of him.

So now he was lying on the roof of Kaede's cottage, staring at clouds and feeling his brain melt.

"Hey, you!" called a familiar voice. Shippo peeked over the edge of the roof. The grubby girl stood behind the hut, glaring up at him.

"How'd you know I was here, human?" Shippo asked.

"My name is Sachi. And that's not important. Come down." Sachi folded her arms and commanded him imperiously.

Shippo lay back down. "Nah," he smirked. "I've got better stuff to do."

"No you don't! You're just watching the sky!"

"It's better than playing with you."

"No it's not! Come down!"

Shippo looked over the edge again. "If you tell me how you knew I was here, I'll come down."

"I'm a demon."

Shippo leaned back again. "Liar."

"I really am a demon!" Sachi protested. When Shippo didn't answer, she said. "...My friend told me you were here. He's a demon too."

Shippo rolled his eyes. "If you won't tell the truth, I won't come down."

"He also says you've got a grass stain on your face and you're picking your nose right now."

Shippo made a gurgling noise and yanked his finger out of his nose. "How-!" He jumped down from the roof. "How did you know that!"

Sachi smirked. "I have lots of demon friends, and they tell me everything."

Shippo gave her a confused look. "But how did you know what I was doing just now?"

"I just told you, stupid!"

"But there aren't any demon here now!"

Sachi rolled her eyes in frustration. "Well obviously you can't sense them, Kurukufumu hides them. That's what he does."

A rush of wind swept past him, and Shippo shuddered, even though it wasn't very cold. Like a switch turning on, he could suddenly sense them. Three, four- no, five different demonic auras surrounded the two of them. They felt...muffled, as if they were far away, but Shippo could clearly sense that they were close. His heart pounded violently in his chest. Five demons. I can't fight five demons!

And then they were gone. Shippo let out a lungful of air he didn't realize he'd been holding. Sachi watched him calmly, smirking.

"They won't hurt you," she said. "They're my friends, and I won't let them." She turned around and began walking in the direction of the forest, turning around every few steps to make sure Shippo was following. He was.

"Wait, Sachi!" Shippo ran in front of her. "You should be dead, you're just a puny human! Those demons should have eaten you!"

Sachi scowled and shoved his shoulders. Shippo fell to the ground with an 'oof.' "I am a demon," she snapped. "Could a human do this?"

She held out a hand in Shippo's face. A colorless glow built up in her palm. Shippo gasped. He could feel her energy in his youki, something enriching. Food-energy? But instead of absorbing it, the energy slid over his youki like oil.

The air around him shivered again, though no demons revealed themselves this time.

Sachi closed her hand with a flourish. "That's enough for you," she said with a smug smile. "Do you love me now?"

"Um, no? Why would I? Cuz you can make your hand glow? Because I can do that too."

Sachi gaped wordlessly and moved to kick him. Shippo jumped out of the way.

"Foxfire!" Shippo shot out a glowing whip of the flame from his hands to arc over the girl's head. "See? You're not that special."

Sachi lunged at him, but Shippo dodged out of the way, cackling. They continued to chase each other. The hours flew by, until the sky became orange and they air started to cool.

Shippo and Sachi lay on a hill near the rice paddies, gasping for breath. Sachi threw a half-hearted punch at Shippo, giggling. He made a weak dodge. Then they lay still, watching the darkening sky.

"I knew you'd be my friend if that priestess was gone," she murmured.

A/N: This chapter is shorter than I would prefer, but I know that I'm not going to get anything else out for a while, so I'll post this now. Tell me what you think about Inuyasha's job! Think he'll do well? Get fired in a week? What'll happen to him if someone in line tries to flash her boobies to get into the club? Let me know what you think, and what you're hoping to see! Until next time,

-TKF