Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha
A/N Sorry for the wait! Here's the next chapter! And thanks so much for the reviews! Honestly, you guys make my day! Free cookies for all! –throws arms full of cookies-
Awakened Dead
Chapter 10. November 24
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"So you mean to tell me that it's been with you this entire time?" Bankotsu half yelled the next day. They were currently outside eating lunch, him and Kagome with her stubborn shadow Inuyasha who of course brought along the four other dead kids too. They couldn't just leave them alone to wreak havoc over the place nor could they leave Inuyasha behind. So everybody had to come instead.
Sounds just peachy, right?
She drummed her fingers against the picnic table, eyes constantly bouncing back and forth from Inuyasha to Bankotsu, "That's right, it's been in my family for generations. Gramps used to tell me stories about it all the time."
Bankotsu was deep in thought, "The Tessaiga was said to be the sword that a mighty demon was sealed in. In my family, the legend that's been passed down is that the demon was sealed on the night of All Hallows Eve, when the moon was full. We were always told that we were the ones in charge of keeping the Tessaiga from being taken and wielded by evil youkai. But we never had it, as much as Sesshoumaru-sama searched, he couldn't find it with any of our family members."
"Ain't it obvious? Your ancestors probably made it known that you were the ones guarding my sword so that Kagome's family wouldn't be looked at twice," Inuyasha told them in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I suppose that makes sense," Bankotsu shrugged. "So if you were the demon that was sealed, then what the hell did you do to get that done?"
Inuyasha tensed up, "Keh!"
"On top of that, your brother has been looking for you for centuries. Why is it that he wants the Tessaiga so badly?" Bankotsu also questioned.
"I don't have to answer to some lowly hunter!"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome chastised.
The hanyou snorted, regarding Kagome with a clear I-hate-you look. 'Damn woman, I just don't get how controlling she is over me. I just can't do anything to displease her, at all!' He mentally whined, "The Tessaiga is a sword made from my old man's fang. It's real powerful and can kill a hundred soldiers in one sweep." Inuyasha answered quite coolly, "My older brother was always pissy about me inheriting it and has wanted it for gods know how long."
"Heh that's weird cause as far as I know with the demon sealed, aka you, inside of it, the Tessaiga was rendered useless to actually use," Bankotsu said, actually shocking Inuyasha for a moment.
'Then was my brother trying to find me? B-but why?' Inuyasha thought, hardly paying any attention to the squad of teens at that moment. The half demon prince knew that his brother loathed him from the moment he was born, and was repulsed by him even more when he earned his fathers sword. "It can't be. What you're implying can't be. Sesshoumaru would never give me the time of day. Besides all the times he's nearly killed me, he was there when I was sealed in my father's fang. Him and Kik—" His throat tightened at the thought of that woman.
Her pale face, and long inky hair. Those grey eyes, and that soft smile. She was the woman that had stolen his heart. And she was…
Inuyasha's face darkened, 'She was the one who betrayed me.' He hadn't noticed that he was growling or that his youki was beginning to over power until he felt his arm being squeezed. He had turned sharply, his elongated fangs hanging above his lower lip. He found that Kagome was concerned about him, 'It's like I know what she's thinking just by looking at her. Is this what its like to be near a… a mate?' If that was so, then it potentially meant that he had more feelings towards Kagome than that other woman. 'This is dangerous, it's enough that she looks like her, but for her to actually be destined for me? It couldn't be…'
'What's wrong with him? Why is he being so quiet?' Kagome thought worriedly, 'It's like he's having mixed feelings about something. And he's in pain, a lot of it.'
"Anyways!" Bankotsu cut in to lessen the tension, "What're you planning to do about them?" He gestured to the teenaged ghosts.
"Well, the plans was to find their killer," Kagome replied easily.
Bankotsu frowned, "No." He stated that almost immediately.
"W-what do you mean 'no'?" She began to argue.
He winced, "Look, when it comes to spirits, even fresh and clueless ones like these, there's only one thing to do. Exorcise them. Investigating their death isn't necessary in this case because we know where their bodies are and mostly what happened. If we were dealing with a complicating old spirit, then fine. But not this. They can turn ferocious at any given moment, the best way to deal with this right now is to burn their bodies."
"They're not even buried yet, that's just cruel." Kagome hissed in a whisper as to not draw any attention to them.
"Maybe, but that's the game of survival. And that's how hunters are trained," Bankotsu said coldly.
"But they deserve justice, not to be violently put into the afterlife. They never did anything wrong," Kagome tried to reason.
"Besides getting that junior girl killed two weeks ago," Bankotsu added innocently. He had watched the miko gap at him and smirked, "I'm a hunter, so yes I did some research."
She was beginning to regret agreeing to this little lunch date. What killed most was the fact that Inuyasha had warned her prior to this not to come to the meeting.
"They are cold and heartless beings whose existence is solely to purge the world of monsters like us. Do you really think you want to get involved with something like that? They don't see eye to eye Kagome!"
"Trust me!"
"B-Bankotsu-san y-you—"
"Hey Kagome-chan!" Sango piped, not noticing Miroku giving Kagome an apologetic look. They sat next to each other on the bench, "Are you asking our Kagome-chan to the Winter Formal?" She asked Bankotsu with a sneaky smile.
'Ah, I forgot about that! And Inu…Yasha..' Kagome snuck a glance in his direction and shivered at the intensity of his glares on Bankotsu. 'Wonderful,' She thought dryly.
The hunter on the other hand seemed to think about it seriously, and grinned knowingly too. "You caught me, of course I was asking Kagome-san to the Formal. I just don't know the answer yet."
"W-well—"
"Of course she will!" The friend beamed, "Right Kagome-chan?" Even without knowing Inuyasha's presence was near, she still ended up feeling a shiver down her back for some unknown reason and had snuck a peek around the table. 'Strange, I feel like someone is glaring me down or something…' Sango thought, her eyes landing on Inuyasha's figure, though seeing nothing there. She shrugged in off and turned back to her friend, her bubbly mood back.
Kagome inwardly sighed, 'This is going to be a long day,' She looked up at the hanyou and shook her head, 'Scratch that, more like a long week at the very least.' Laughing lightly, Kagome had nodded her head, "Right yeah, of course I'll go with you Bankotsu-san… Ah but I have to go right now, I just forgot I have something to do!" She made a speedy getaway before any of her friends could follow. She knew Inuyasha wasn't following either since he was on babysitting duty with the four poltergeists.
'Now's a good time to check on this,' She thought, pulling out a sheet of paper with the suspects name on it. She knew that he was in school right now and figured she could pop in to visit and check him out. Though she miko knew that skipping right now shouldn't be considered an option and knew her mother would have a fit but… What other choice did she have? 'I'm really starting to regret waking up my crazy spiritual powers,' She thought as she made her way off school grounds to catch the next bus.
-X-
Who knew their sister school looked so… so much like their own? 'That's why it's called a sister school after all,' Kagome mentally gaped as she stared at East Shikon High. On top of being so similar, everything looked like it was perfectly carved out of gold or something! Not a single piece of grass out of place, everything perfectly coiffed.
Kagome felt like she was treading in Barbie and Ken Land.
With a shudder, she had shaken the thought away and entered the massive high school in search of the office. People were definitely still in school right now, which made things easier for her. One simple favour from the 'super nice' secretary had the boy announced on the PA and sent to the office in a matter of minutes.
It was as simple as that.
Now she just needed to think up the perfect excuse to talk to him.
"I was a friend of your s-sister!" Kagome blurted, kinda feeling bad about mentioning the girl to him. Except that she needed to gain his trust somehow, right? 'Think positive, think positive..!' She thought.
Noegi chuckled shyly, a soft coat of blush rising on his cheeks, "I-I n-never knew Mia-chan had such a pretty friend… And judging by your uniform, you go to our sister school!"
Jeez, has this guy ever interacted with women before? Not to make tech guys sounds like extreme geeks, but this guy had the signature cracked glasses and shyness that came with being the leader of the tech club. 'How can someone like this be a killer? It just doesn't make sense unless he isn't the one I'm looking for,' Kagome thought. "Right, yes. I've never come onto these school grounds before, I'm really surprised by how big everything is!"
"Th-this school was built to mirror yours but without all the mistakes. It's a little more high tech I suppose, more modern. An-and the principle is a bit of a neat freak and perfectionist," Noegi whispered the last part seeing as they were standing just outside the office.
"Let's go for a walk? Shall we?" Kagome said with a small smile, leading Noegi presumably out of the front doors of the school. Once they were outside, Kagome made sure to lead the way to the parking lot discreetly while chatting him up about his deceased sister. "I really am sorry about missing her funeral. I was out of town on a little vacation with my mother and brother."
For a head of the tech club, he was pretty nice on the eyes. Besides the thick framed glasses and his slight nasally tone of voice, he was weirdly handsome. He had medium length blue black hair that wasn't greasy looking in anyway, more like unruly. His eyes were a light grey and he had a nice pale tone to his face. Not pasty white, but leaning to a fair skin. 'Not really a computer screen tan, but on the way to one I guess,' Kagome mentally added.
"I-I n-never got your name?"
She mentally squeaked, 'Aw crap! I forgot to introduce myself! U-uh, uh…' "Didn't I? Gomen! My name is Higurashi Kagome, pleasure to meet you Noegi-san." Kagome stopped walking briefly to shake hands with him.
"It's nice to meet you too. I'm sure my sister has forgiven you for not coming to the funeral. You were after all out of town."
"That's right!" She gave another fake smile. 'Great, now that I have him outside, I need to find a way to get him to his car.' She thought as she continued her conversation with him. 'Think think think think think think…' She kept repeating in her mind, "Ah!" She suddenly piped, nervously licking her lips, "I-I almost forgot! I have to be at work soon!" She gasped almost in horror, but it seemed to convince the guy that she was genuinely worried about her 'job'.
"Do you need a lift to the bus stop? Or do you want me to drive you there?"
Hook, Line and Sinker! Man was she good!
…It started to actually worry her…
"A lift to the corner would be great! Or—" She turned and noted the bus driving down the street, one eye twitching slightly, "G-great.. I just missed it…" She looked dejectedly to the ground.
"It's okay, I can give you a lift!" Noegi chimed friendly-like.
"Don't even think about hopping into a metal box with this baka, he's suspicious.."
'Of course he just had to come sometime during this exchange,' Kagome narrowed her eyes in anger on the hanyou ghost. She then looked over to Noegi and nodded, "That would be so great!"
The ghost growled in frustration, "Kagome, get away from him! I'm telling you he's—"
As they neared the car, Kagome had noted the small dent in the front on the right. 'Consistent with the push it could have caused on the other vehicle, and some purple paint. I wonder what type of car the group drove?' But there was no way this guy could actually be the killer, I mean clearly this guy had issues.. But homicidal ones? "Nice dent, whadja do to get that?" Kagome joked.
"Kagome.." She heard Inuyasha grunt warningly next to her.
"Funny thing, I fell asleep at the wheel while on the highway and clipped a traffic construction sign," The geek laughed nervously. "My parents were not impressed," He unlocked the doors and they got in, Inuyasha materializing in the back seat with ease. "So, where to?"
"The mall," Kagome easily answered, though she was actually quite nervous on the inside.
-X-
"It's him, it's gotta be."
"Obviously, so why the hell did you jump into a damn metal box with him if you knew that? One wrong move and he could have killed you Kagome," Inuyasha said later that day when Kagome had gone home. Miroku was on ghost watch right now while the hanyou took a nice break in Kagome's room, which by the way, the girl was grounded for skipping school. Looked like her well of lies dried up when it came to her mom.
She was in too much shock to respond to that. She was just lying on her back and staring up at her ceiling with Inuyasha sitting cross-legged on the floor against her bed. To think that she possibly could have been in a vehicle with a killer—no there was no doubt it had to be him. "What would the ghosts do if they knew it was him who killed them?" She quietly asked after a long silence.
"Keh! Kill him of course, stupid."
She had gone silent again until Inuyasha had brought up an interesting question. He had quietly asked her about the previous night, when he turned full demon. Even now he could feel his demon blood stirring uneasily as the sun lowered in the sky to set. 'The full moon, why is it affecting me like this? I just don't…'
"You frightened me you know?" Kagome's whisper reached his delicate dog ears, causing them to twitch back in her direction. "I was worried that.. You'd hurt someone.. That you wouldn't recognize me at all. I was so worried for you, Inuyasha."
'Worried for me? Kik—She'd never worry about me…' Inuyasha shifted in his spot and stood, sitting on Kagome's bed instead and peered down at her. "Sorry I did that… wench," The corner of his lip moved to make a small smile.
Kagome had sat up and shaken her head, "It's okay, but… Does something like this happen often with half demons?" She asked seriously, desperately trying to keep her eyes on his and not on the fact that he was so close to her, and so… 'Again with the bad thoughts, come on Higurashi! This can't happen, you know it and so does he..'
"Inuyasha?"
He had leaned into her touch, his clawed hands twitching and aching to grab her. "Mate," He growled protectively.
'Okay so maybe not, but… Oh my god am I actually thinking about starting a relationship with someone who isn't alive?' Kagome mentally yelled and screeched and tried her best to shake all thoughts of him out of her head. Something easier said than done when the troublemaker himself was just sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at her so intensely.
"I only ever turned into a full demon once, while protecting a priestess from a youkai five centuries ago."
She froze instantly. 'A-a priestess? As in… d-did he, w-was h-he involved with someone before he…'
"I was turned back only when the Tessaiga was placed back into my hands by her. But that wasn't until after I'd killed the demon and his men. It was later that Myoga-jiji told me about my blood and how unstable it gets whenever I placed myself in mortal danger without my Tessaiga," He lowered his eyes to his clawed hands that were clenched into tight fists. "Now that I'm like this, I can't take hold of Tessaiga, and for some reason I think my blood is reacting with the lunar cycle."
Kagome blinked, 'The lunar—' She looked outside her window, taking note of the setting sun and the almost full moon hanging in the sky. "The Full Moon?" If that was it then maybe it was because of—"Inuyasha, please tell me how you were sealed in the sword. What do you remember?"
Despite the fact that he was getting closer to the girl, he still didn't like the mention of that fateful night. He hardly even liked thinking about it to begin with! That wretched woman and her stupid incantations… "Feh! Why would—" He felt his two silver locks of hair framing his face get tugged on by a growling Kagome, who then forced him to turn around and face her.
"Listen you dolt!" Her angry blue eyes turned icy, "As far as I know you were sealed on the night of all Hallows Eve on a Full Moon. Now is that right or wrong?"
He stared at her perfect creamy face, his eyes wandering over all her features until they landed back on her furious blue eyes. True, she looked a lot like that woman, all except the eyes. She had unmoving grey orbs where as Kagome had these lively blue ones that would change with her emotions. Not to mention the girls temper and her quick wit, she was far more fun to be with than the other woman. 'I should tell her about Kik… Kikyo.'
'What is he thinking? And why is he looking at me like that? What's with those eyes! He's not even focused anymore—'
"It was," She heard him say. "That night, the villages had prepared themselves for a night of living hell," She had gingerly let go of his fore locks and placed her hands in her lap.
"A barrier had been constructed, seals on all the homes, and every family placed in their homes before the sun had even set. The only people that were out on the streets by then were me and Kikyo, the priestess I told you.. about." He kept his gaze firm with hers but shifted his body so that he was closer. "As far as I remember, I was fighting off hordes of demons and their spirits along with the normal ghosts that would appear during that night. They had eventually broken through the barrier and begun an assault on our village.
"I fought off a lot of 'em without even damaging a single hut, and then everything went black." He lowered his head and grasped it with his clawed hands, "I don't remember anything after that except brief flashes. One of them being hit with an arrow—"
'The tree, the Goshinboku. He must have been pinned that night!' Kagome thought.
"—I barely recall it, but I was strong enough to pull out the arrow that had me sealed to the tree. Then everything was black again." He looked up at her, his face contorted in pain, "The scent of blood was all over my claws, my face, all of it human. The next time I woke up, I was somewhere different, another village. There was so much blood, and.. That bastard Sesshoumaru and Kikyo… I could just barely see the sun beginning to come up and that's when they sealed me together inside the Tessaiga."
Kagome brushed some stray locks away from his face, her warm fingers caressing his cool skin. Before she even realized it, she had him in a strong embrace and they were then both lying flat on her bed. He had his face buried in her neck while she ran her hands through his surprisingly very soft and knotless hair. She mentally told herself it must be a demon thing, and was mildly jealous about it. The thought was brushed off when she realized how relaxed she was feeling with him like this. 'Wow, to think that this cocky little prick actually has a soft side.' She thought. "You know, I bet the seal on you is still in motion," She suddenly blurted.
"What makes you say that?" She felt his lips move against the skin of her neck, causing her to shiver.
"I don't really know," Kagome mumbled softly.
"Kagome!"
She didn't even budge when her little brother had bursted into her room. Her hands still locked in Inuyasha's hair while he had his arms around her waist and nose in her neck. Though his golden eyes were looking rather annoyingly at the little boy for entering.
"What?" Kagome asked, raising a brow as he stared at her.
"It's time for dinner."
Even though he said this, he was still standing there and looking at her curiously. She then observed how his gaze fell on Inuyasha and half wondered if he could see him, 'Probably my imagination.'
"What're you lookin' at, runt?"
Souta swallowed loudly and jumped slightly, "Ah uh, K-Kago-m-me?"
'It is just my imagination, isn't it?' Kagome mentally screeched in panic. She sat up quickly and looked at him with a raised brow, trying her best to mask her panic, "What?" She didn't feel her bed shift, but she did feel Inuyasha as he wrapped his arms around her waist and placed his head on her shoulder.
"Wench, I think the jig is up. That brat is looking right at me."
Souta jumped again, "Wo-wow! What are you?"
Kagome flinched, 'Great, now he can see the very thing I was hoping I could keep hidden from the general public.'
"Don't look so surprised Kagome. He is your brother, I bet his spiritual powers are being disrupted by yours since they're so strong. From what I can tell his are still pretty weak, but there's just enough to see me." Inuyasha informed her.
"H-hey! Quit talking like I'm not here!" Souta pouted.
"Kagome! Souta!" They both heard their mother call.
"Listen, I'll explain later, okay?" Kagome said to Souta.
"After dinner?"
"Yeah, not around mom."
"Cool!"
"Souta, shh! We can't let anyone know about Inuyasha, okay?"
"R-right, Inuyasha? What a cool name!"
"Oh gods.." Kagome sighed as she watched her brother run out of her room. "Inuyasha, could you stay here? I don't know if my mom or gramps can see you yet—"
"Yeah yeah, just hurry up and come back," Inuyasha had grudgingly separated himself from Kagome and ushered her out. He had trained his eyes on her figure until she was completely out of sight before huffing and looking out the window. He suppressed a whimper when he felt a small jolt of pain and the burning of the purple stripes trying to place themselves on his face. 'It's starting to get painful now… and without her around, I can't keep my demon side from rising.' He found the glowing moon and starred at it, cursing the damn thing for what it was worth.
'I guess this means we really are meant for each other. Only a mate can calm a demon, and that's exactly what she does to me. So now the problem is that hunter… there's no way in hell he's getting near my woman.'
"Inuyasha!" Kikyo's scream rung in his ear.
He clutched his heart, still feeling the sting of the arrow that was suppose to seal him. She was trying to kill him after all he did to protect her, and keep her god forsaken village from being destroyed over and over again. At the time, he would have given his soul to the devil to make her happy, but now that he's met Kagome…
'My mate, and I'll be damned if I let some puny human hunter take her away from me!'
-X-
"Cool! A half demon! For real?" Souta stared at Inuyasha in pure amazement, "How long is Inuyasha onii-chan going to be around for?"
"Onii-chan?" Inuyasha repeated under his breath, 'Heh, this kid is actually fond of me? What a weird family..'
"Uh—"
"Let's put it this way kid, wherever she goes I go. She's just a ticking time bomb when it comes to drawing danger to herself. Somebody's gotta protect her," He said casually. Ever since the girl had come back from dinner, it was like a weight had been taken off his shoulders when her fresh scent wafted under his nose. He had calmed instantly and forced his blood to settle, especially in the presence of this runt.
"I am SO not that pathetic! I can protect myself just fine thank you!"
"Suure you can."
"Excuse me? Who was it that sent two crazy ghosts to hell?"
"And who was it that saved your ass in the first place from getting killed by said crazy ghosts?"
Souta sighed, almost regretting now having noticed the hanyou ghost that was now haunting his sister. 'Are they always like this?' He wanted to question aloud, but figured from their temper that yeah, this was definitely like them to argue hotly.
"Why you—SIT!" Kagome yelled.
The boy was pretty amazed by the ferocity shown in Kagome's eyes from sitting the hanyou to the ground, "Sis, whydja do that?"
"Shut up! He deserved it!"
Souta laughed weakly, 'I hate when she gets this mad!' "Well, I have uh, some homework to do! Cya!" Before he could suffer the wrath of his temperamental sister, he had scrambled out of the room, sending pity glances in the hanyou direction.
"Jesus woman! Mind laying off the sit commands for a bit? You're going to break my damn neck soon," He struggled to lift himself off the floor and shot a glare at the high school girl.
Kagome simply crossed her arms and snorted, "It'd just pop back into place anyways!"
"Keh! I'm going to go check on the monk and make sure he's okay," He now stood and dusted off his red haorie lightly.
Before she could respond to that she had watched him disappear in a shimmer, leaving her by herself in her room. She felt a little bad for sitting him now, but had quickly shrugged it off. Inuyasha couldn't possibly be that angry over it, right? Besides, this gave her time to read more of her book while he wasn't around. Which she did, until her eyes landed specifically on an enchantment page for that exorcism she had been talking about.
"Wait a sec, this says that it's only one possibility," She flipped the page and saw the second one and read it over. It was the section for necromancers, those who were powerful enough to control the dead and send them wherever the hell they wanted them to. Except that it mentioned how miko's as well could do the same if they were again, strong enough.
'To do this, simply focus your thoughts on the barrier that is separating the dead from the living, if you pull them forward too much they will enter their vessels and forever be in your service. However if you do the opposite, and push them away through the barrier you are successfully banishing them. Never use this technique unless forced, the results could be disastrous or even seen as cruel to the spirit whom you are forcing into the next world.' She mentally read. She scanned the page further down and saw a list of herbs that would be useful to banish spirits, 'Vervain, once dried and lit the scent can banish all spirits that are haunting a living being.'
She then looked over to the next page and narrowed her eyes, 'A devil's trap? What's that?' She thought while studying the strange pentagram symbol in the book.
"You know, this book keeps getting creepier and creepier. I wonder just how old it is?" Kagome mumbled aloud. She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a tapping noise against her window. She had practically jumped on her bed and stuffed the book under her pillow quickly before Inuyasha could see it. Walking over to her window, she had slid it open and stared at Inuyasha, "Back so quickly?"
"Feh! Don't act like you missed me much, jeez.."
She placed her hands on her hips and raised a brow at him, causing him to roll his eyes.
"Miroku has them trapped in a circle of salt. They're pretty content in front of one of those Tea—vee things watching 'shows'. Right now they're harmless."
Kagome nodded, "Sorry you can't come in, I wish you weren't locked out of the house right now." She apologized.
"I wouldn't worry about that right now, specially since your damn hunter friend is standin' outside. He wants to talk to us, and bring us to this antique place."
"Really?" She looked over his shoulder, and true to his words, Bankotsu-san was standing a little further away in his trademark brown leather jacket and dark jeans, waiting. "Let's go then."
"Wait, he's got one of those metal box—"
"Cars. They are called cars Inuyasha."
"Right well, his is ghost proof so I can't be in there—"
"What? No way—"
"—Would you let me finish woman? Gods, I can keep up with his car without a problem, it's you I'm worried about."
Her eye twitched, "We are not having this conversation again Inuyasha. I am not so helpless! I'll meet you downstairs—"
"Aren't you grounded?"
She stopped and thought for a moment, "I'll go tell Souta to cover for me and I'll sneak out through the window. You take me down, problem solved!" Before she could let him protest, she had turned and gone to her brother's room. Well, so much for a peaceful night. Just when she thought she could get some reading done. But anyways, maybe Bankotsu could give her some answers about Inuyasha's seal and the Tessaiga.
Better yet, maybe they could find a way to contact Sesshoumaru.
'He can't be all bad.' Kagome mused.
But she had yet to discover just how pompous the brother of this hanyou actually was.
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A/N Whoa, I was really overwhelmed by all your reviews for the last chapter! Honestly, you guys make me excited when it comes to posting up the next chapter! SO THANK YOU, and I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. And for all those who're going to Anime North, I hope you have fun! I'm going too and I honestly cannot wait. I'm so giggly about it right now it isn't even funny. Haha, Anywho, R&R!