Chronicles of the Shikigami Master: Part One

by Uruz 11

After the Cursed Mask game. Four and a half months after returning home, Michiru finds himself transported to the United States where he starts a second adventure as a new member of the Ghostbusters. Chapters 1-9 have been rewritten with minor changes. Michiru/Sango

10. Confrontations among Friends

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Ghostbusters, or anything associated with either of them. This story is being written just for fun and enjoyment.

Chapter #10: Confrontations among Friends

Michiru and Saya arrived at the bottom of the spiral staircase where they found Ray, Egon, and Venkman waiting for them at a barred gate which was blocking the entrance to an underground tunnel located beneath the Museum. Once Ray kicked down the rusty obstacle, the five companions entered through the narrow passageway and followed it until they came to a small chamber with a giant fixture of what looked like various pipes and ventilator ducts which transferred water, gas or steam throughout the underground systems beneath the city. The pathway they were on wound around the structure and lead to several other passageways located at the opposite end of the claustrophobic like space, luckily for them; Michiru's PKE meter was able to pick up a faint paranormal reading and lead the way down the left hand tunnel after kicking down the gate which was old and worn down. After getting to the other tunnel, the Ghostbusters could see a few bright blue spiritual entities flowing by like fish in the water from one passageway to another; almost as if they were leading the paranormal eliminators through the maze of underground tunnels in order to find their objective.

"This is really strange, ghosts guiding us through this maze and helping us out like us." Ray commented.

"You're telling me, quite ironic since we're the Ghostbusters; you'd think they'd attack us or flee instead." Venkman added as they walked along. "An underground area is certainly an odd place to find lots of ghosts, then again; I suppose it's the only place they can find with nearly no living beings around to disturb them if they want solitude and isolation."

"You're right about that, there's more consistent and accelerated PKE than blowing through here than I've ever seen before in our usual encounters; but it's not the origin point." Egon stated as they walked passed a broken area in the right side of the tunnel wall, revealing pipelines running through it which were leaking water at one or two weak points which were old and worn. "This is just a conduit; the question is where is all the paranormal kinetic energy being channelled too and why?"

"Doesn't it seem odd that this underground tunnel system we're travelling inside of is lit up with electric lights still in working order even though the passageway leading down here was hidden from everyone else until we only just discovered it tonight?" Michiru asked curiously.

"Yeah, perhaps this is one of those projects that Ilyssa was telling us about when Ivo Shandor did a number of construction works; it would make sense since this place is filled with paranormal activity and ghosts." Ray answered as the team arrived at the end of another tunnel and found themselves standing on a long narrow catwalk like path, overlooking a giant wide canal which was completely empty except for the paranormal entities and mist flowing through it like a river.

Running down the middle of the canal was a catwalk suspended at the same high as the one on which they were standing, supported by scaffolding from underneath and above each suspension point was a tower like structure with a bright green glowing beacon at the top; the beacon looked like a giant crystal emerald judging from its shape and yet it glowed with enough intensity to light up the dark underground tunnel which a strange appearance that resembled a lava lamp. The Ghostbusters split up and each took a different turn to the left and right since those were the only paths available to them after exiting the narrow passage that lead them here, while Venkman and Egon took the right; Michiru, Saya, and Ray proceeded left until they found they reached a dead end since the catwalk was destroyed and severed which prevented them from going any further in this direction. As they turned around to return to their two companions who had gone the opposite way, the three of them heard a faint noise which sounded like the siren alarm of Ecto-1; Michiru pulled out his PKE meter and was shocked to find a tiny miniature replica of that very car with all the exact details as if it had been modelled after the original life sized one. The Kururugi boy's PKE meter indicated that this was a cursed artefact, a remote controlled Ecto-1 that twitches and whirs by itself; quite an unexpected find in comparison to the other items Michiru had found in the past.

"Wow! Look at the detail of this Ray, its accuracy is completely perfect to the real Ecto-1." Michiru exclaimed in awe, carefully picking up the small toy car in his hands for both of them to look at. "I'm glad I had my PKE meter out or we wouldn't have found it, Winston will be surprised when he sees this don't you think?"

"No kidding, and I thought I was just hearing things when that car's little siren began to sound." Ray replied, admiring the tiny vehicle. "You found it, you should get to keep it; it'll be great souvenir for you to remember you're trip after you've returned home to Japan."

"Thanks a lot Ray, I'll be sure to take good care of it." Michiru said gratefully, taking a scan of the cursed artefact so that they continue hunting for the Chairman. "Let's get back to the others before we get lost."

Ray and Michiru retraced their footsteps with Saya following them close behind until they all arrived back at the tunnel where they continued onwards in the direction that Venkman and Egon had taken a few minutes ago. After catching up to their fellow co workers, they found that this path ended because the catwalk was once again destroyed and severed which trapped them here with no where to go except back into the area where the tunnels met at that pipeline junction point close to the hidden floor passage back at the Museum. There was nothing else for it, everyone pulled out their PKE meters and began scanning around in search for any paranormal anomalies that could lead them back on track and get them out of this mess; luckily it didn't take long for a solution to present itself. Michiru had discovered a section of the underground wall which had been weakened by black slime, leaving a crack in the wall; according to his PKE meter. The teenager aimed his positron collider and selected the necessary equipment in order to spray the surface in the hopes that it would reveal a path for him and his team to take, sure enough; the positively charged slime did its work and a passageway was exposed.

"Good job Mitch, you've found a way out of this dead end." Egon stated, following the Japanese student as each of the Ghostbusters entered the narrow tunnel one at a time. "That reminds me, we should each do a quick test of the new equipment we installed on our proton packs yesterday morning; use the function control console to switch over to the Meson collider identified by the yellow light. The Meson collider is extremely accurate and inflicts serious damage, the trade off however is that it takes a while to recharge itself after being used in combat; as you'll soon found out when each of you use it. The Overload Pulse disperses a rapid repeating burst of meson particles like a Gatling gun firing multiple bullets, which can be fired conventionally where ever you aim your weapon or in tandem if you want to hit a precise target without missing. What this means is you can select a desired target point by firing the Meson collider first, afterward acquiring it with a successfully aimed hit; every burst from the Overload Pulse will automatically home in on that target whether its stationary or moving. Just remember that the effect will wear off once you need to recharge it during battle so be careful when you use it and also check your fire so that you don't shoot anyone by accident."

"Right Egon thanks." Michiru replied, switching over to the new equipment to familiarize himself with the new offensive capabilities.

"Wow, that's quite an effective attack weapon that you have now Michiru." Saya commented, watching the Kururugi boy test fire the new equipment which Egon had recently installed in the proton pack; being extra careful by aiming it away from his companions as they all moved along through the winding tunnel. "The lights on your proton pack have changed to yellow and there's a neat looking antenna with a strange reoccurring lights rising from it, I must say it looks very pretty."

"Careful Saya, those are tiny pulses of static electricity so don't touch them or you'll be electrocuted; it hurts a lot if it happens." Ray warned.

After they continued through more tunnels which branched off from two underground chambers with several different turns in each, the company of five friends eventually found their way back to the giant canal and were standing at the end of a bridge which was conveniently located ahead of them to allow them a safe crossing over to a structure resting in the middle of the empty space like a man made island. As they cautiously walked across it, they gazed at the currents of mist and paranormal energy flowing down below them through the giant canal; wondering where it possibly ended up at. Nearing the island like structure, they saw it was wide square shaped platform which stretched for perhaps a hundred feet or more in diameter; with various storage tanks and multiple arrays of piping for channelling and containing steam and water which were all located around the platform's edge. At the centre was a large cylinder shaped tank which was built out of both metal and glass so that the liquid substance stored inside could be seen visibly, thick black slime was trapped inside with gas fumes rising from the top of its surface; about a dozen hose like pipes ran all along the floor from every direction until they all connected at the cylinder like strands in a spider web which told the Ghostbusters that they were on the right track because they had found another large site which had been modified during a construction project by the Ivo Shandor's Architecture Firm.

"I don't like the look of all this black slime inside of this underground system guys, it gives me a bad feeling that what ever the Chairman's involved with is much bigger than everything we've encountered so far; it looks as though we'll be looking through every last place in the city that's been modified by Ivo Shandor until we find the answer to all of these paranormal occurrences." Michiru remarked, eyeing the black slime suspiciously as he and the others explored the area.

"Don't worry Mitch, we've been through tough periods before and we've still survived long enough to bring down all the dangerous ghosts." Egon concurred, holding out his PKE meter to scan for various paranormal activities. "Everyone keep a sharp look around and stay alert, we don't know what will happen if we accidentally trigger something."

"Wow, that's a lot of black slime; it'll take weeks to isolate it before we can even attempt to neutralize it with positively charged slime." Ray commented, looking at the cylinder. "I don't think we can even produce a quarter of what we'd need to counter the negative effects, and we don't even know how far its being distributed underneath the city; let alone what's beyond this place."

"I don't think our problem is as big as all that Ray, we would have had an endless supply of phone calls if paranormal activity was occurring everywhere in the city just because of this underground paranormal conveyor so we shouldn't be worrying that much." Egon replied, looking around. "Although, the question on my mind is why Ilyssa seems to be the interest of the Chairman ghost?"

"Well for one thing, she's a hot woman; it's no surprise why he'd take an interest in her." Venkman said sarcastically as he continued walking along the bridge, drawing everyone's attention. "Come on guys, I'm just trying to brighten our moods up with a few jokes; I meant no harm."

"I hardly think Ilyssa was being targeted by the Chairman or by Stay Puft all because of her good looks Peter, or is her attractive figure the only thing on your mind right now?" Michiru replied with a serious voice, turning around on the platform as he glanced at Venkman.

"Why don't you tell me?" Venkman countered with a goofy grin as he stared back at the Kururugi boy who was always too easy to embarrass.

"Peter now is not a good time to try my patience." Michiru warned, clenching his fists as he resisted the urge to call on his Shikigami powers to shut up his fellow employee who was becoming a pain in the neck.

Before anyone else could comment, the end platform of the bridge suddenly collapsed just moments after Venkman joined them on the island structure; They all scattered to the outside edge of the place to try and find another bridge while Saya floated upwards to get a better observation, but the five friends realized that they were now trapped with no means of crossing back to the catwalk and they would now have to endure what ever fate awaited them deep down underground in this labyrinth of secret passageways. Sudden noises began to echo all around the trapped team and as they looked around in vain to identify the source which had yet to reveal itself; the lid at the top of the cylinder started flowing upwards due to internal pressure from the black slime. Some sort of chain reaction was occurring which meant that it had been set off or triggered, possibly when all of them walked into the trap that they now found themselves in, that could only mean trouble was on the way and they would have to fight their way out of it if they ever wanted to escape alive.

"The cylinder lid, it's flowing upwards; something's gone wrong." Egon pointed out, studying the occurrence carefully with his eyes to determine the cause of the incident.

"Look out, it's the Chairman." Ray warned as a crazy laugh echoed throughout the massive underground canal until the Chairman finally floated above off to the side of the stationary structure so he could taunt everyone with his annoying laughter. "About time he showed up, now we can teach him not to mess with us or our friends, blast him guys!"

"I got a scan guys, his weakness is being hit with a Meson collider." Michiru said after putting away his PKE meter and pulling out his positron collider so he could defend himself in battle.

"Good job Mitch, aim for the big yellow eye in the middle of the Chairman's chest; that should eventually bring him down." Ray added, discharging a proton stream at the floating fat enemy entity; followed by swiftly by Egon and Venkman. "We'll keep him preoccupied with our proton streams in order to dissipate his PK energy while you test out the new equipment and see how well it works at bringing him down."

As all of them stood fast and fired their weapons together, the Chairman summoned some energy floating down the canal underneath the platform in order to charge himself up for the fight; Michiru managed to lock on with his Meson collider after firing a well aimed shot that nearly hit the yellow eye and began striking the Chairman in the chest with repeated bursts from his Overload Pulse. The Chairman wasn't prepared for an attack such as this and so he flew over the heads of the Ghostbusters and darted downwards on the other side behind the storage tanks and pipe arrays where he could hide himself, Saya tried watching the Chairman and his movements from his vantage point; but even he found it difficult to accurately keep track on the elusive entity given the fact that his vision was partially blocked by the storage tanks and the floor grating which made up the platform on which his four mortal friends were standing.

"The Chairman is hiding beneath your feet, he's coming up from the far left corner you; look behind you!" Saya called out in a panic.

Turning around, the paranormal investigators saw the Chairman emerge from another part of the platform, floating safely just within the line of fire and sight of his mortal enemies; ready to fly away or dart in order to hide his overweight body behind the safety of the thick metal storage tanks which surrounded the edge of the platform. Suddenly, a bright yellow light shot forth from both of his hands and as he lowered himself to avoid being attacked, a red and pink light emerged from each corner of the platform. What looked like a water treatment tank shaped like a round shallow pool erupted with paranormal activity; steam rose up from it as a change in temperature suddenly took hold of each corner of the stationary flattop on which the Ghostbusters were now trapped. Everyone's eyes widened with shock as they beheld what horrific looking creatures crawled out of what they now realized were portals of black slime deliberately placed at each corner of the platform for the sole purpose of surrounding any victims who were unfortunate enough to find themselves caged inside of this dark underground hellish lair only to be fed on a silver platter to these hideous nightmarish monsters.

Michiru had wisely pulled out his PKE meter to identify each of these new monsters in order to hopefully find a weakness that could be exploited, but in doing so; he temporarily put himself and his comrades in danger for a very few minutes since they were now short a man in the thick of the fighting. The first monster that emerged from the black slime portal was a large four legged arthropod which had an ink black and blood red coloured exoskeleton, its head rested directly on top of the body's centre and looked like that of a cobra judging from its shape as it spat red balls of acid from its savage jaws; nearly striking the unprepared Kururugi boy in the process as he dodged the attack after identifying this new menace as a Venom crawler. Luckily for Michiru, all he had to do was douse the dangerous thing with positively charged slime until it was killed; he was surprised that its body exploded which meant that its molecular structure couldn't cope with the attack. Although that made these new enemies easier to destroy, the catch was how to avoid being shot with an acid ball attack; something which the other Ghostbusters quickly found out as they combated these hellish beasts.

"The Chairman ghost is coming back on your left side Ray, everyone get ready so you can intercept him with your weapons!" Saya shouted, quickly alerting everyone with the warning message as they gathered together and scanned the area for the fat ghost. "That's it, your hitting him; keep up the fire there!"

"What good do our proton streams do if we can only shoot that floating tub of belly fat for a few seconds?" Venkman asked in frustration, discharging boson darts in every direction to try and blow up all the storage tanks that were obscuring their view and walling them up like caged animals. "Drat! At this rate, we're going to be mincemeat for these four legged freaks by the time this battle is over."

"I regret to say that even I have to a agree with Venkman here guys, his boson darts took down less than a twelfth of all the storage tanks blocking our view and as long as more monsters continue to crawl out of those black slime portals while the Chairman takes a breather; I'd say this is a fight we can't win." Ray added reluctantly as everyone surveyed the situation around them. "If anyone has any bright ideas or magic spells to get us out of this, I'm open to hearing them now before this battle becomes one sided."

"Why don't I concentrate on sealing all the black portals when ever they're opened, that'll minimize the number of enemies attacking us here on the platform; the four of us together should be able to beat anything that comes through if I'm not fast enough." Michiru suggested, as the four Ghostbusters moved back to back against each other to aim and fire their weapons in all directions while they formulated a new battle plan. "As soon as Saya signals the Chairman's reappearance, provided that the four of us aren't busy; we can hit him with our combined attacks until he's defeated. The three of you continue dissipating his PK energy while I use the Meson collider and aim for his weak spot, which should be enough to turn the tides in our favour; how does that sound Egon?"

"Sounds like a plan to me, everyone catch all of that?" Egon replied, getting a yes from both Venkman and Ray. "Alright then its time for us to divide and conquer, round one coming up; scatter!"

"Yeah!" Ray roared, charging ahead and firing his slime blower at two Venom Crawlers that were in his path until they were dead.

"That's right little Creepy Crawlies! Now it's our turn to triumph on the battlefield!" Venkman teased sarcastically, vanquishing several monsters while Michiru raced from one platform corner to the next; sealing up each portal one at a time while Egon and the others mopped up after him.

"All four of the portals are sealed!" Michiru shouted, just before catching a glimpse of the Chairman ghost returning in the air.

"Chubby Chairman at Mitch's three o'clock!" Ray shouted excitedly, getting everyone's attention as the four Ghostbusters deployed themselves and opened fire together. "Pour it into him guys! Pour it into him!"

"Okay, scatter again and good hunting!" Egon commanded, as he noticed the Chairman used his powers to reopen the black slime portals again. "Keep a sharp look out up there Saya; we're counting on you to watch the Chairman's movements!"

"Understood Egon!" Saya replied loudly, keeping his gaze fixed on the fat bellied entity hiding beneath the floor grating like a big fat coward.

More new monsters appeared in addition to the Venom crawlers, there were black humanoid zombie like creatures called Slime Fiends with faceless heads that attacked like mindless primitives with only their clawed hands to wield as weapons; but they also had the ability to spit red balls of acid just as their Venom crawler allies possessed which made them an even more dangerous threat. As everyone found out, the two creatures shared the same strengths and the same weaknesses which made fighting them that much easier since no one had to change equipment; except for when the Chairman returned to the battlefield again. Although the Slime Fiends slightly differed in terms of appearance, their bodies exploded once they were killed in battle; which put everyone on edge since no one wanted black slime or internal guts on their clothes. The slime blower was certainly proving to be an invaluable weapon tonight, it freed people from being possessed by possessor ghosts, and down here; it was protecting the Ghostbusters from acid attacks by killing off the deadly creatures. If anyone was unfortunately hit with an acid ball, they could easily spray themselves to counteract the effects and cancel it out before it could burn or harm the human body; provided they reacted in time.

The Chairman had returned once again and was now using his powers not only to reopen the black slime portals, but also to perform attacks of his own to try and regain the advantage in battle. Once such attack was creating five blue spheres of paranormal energy and sending them to their targets all at once; forcing everyone to halt their own attacks and dodge to avoid being hit. On two occasions, Ray and later on Egon were grazed and landed flat on their backs; forcing Michiru and Venkman to help them to their feet in the middle of the fighting which continued. The Chairman wasn't attacking as often which indicated that Michiru's battle plan was succeeding, they only needed to outlast him and his minions and then it would be over; or so everyone hoped. However, a third new enemy was summoned to combat them once the Venom crawlers and Slime fiends were proven ineffective; one with an advantage that allowed it to fly which made it more difficult to defeat. These new entities were identified as Black Slime ghosts, a rather ironic name considering that they have a blue appearance instead; but they could also shoot balls of black slime which was as deadly as the red acid balls that the previous two menaces could use as a weapon.

No one was willing to give up now that they had proven themselves capable of handling any combat situation, they were the Ghostbusters after all and as a result; they had their reputation to uphold. Unfortunately, this type of ghost couldn't be caught conventionally; but they could be beaten with the slime blower such as the other paranormal opponents were. Although the Black slime ghosts could dodge or fly out of range, Michiru was using the Meson collider to his full advantage by locking on to those that he could hit and shooting them multiple times with the Overload Pulse in order to bring them down so that none could get away; those that didn't keep their distance were quickly dealt with by the other Ghostbusters who elevated their slime blowers to strike fatal blows at various targets until there were none left floating around at all. Saya was still floating around high above everyone and staying out of attack range as he watched his friends below him, he especially kept a close eye on the Chairman ghost in order to warn the four combatants that their primary target was coming into an exposed position for them to attack him.

"Chairman's back!" Saya pointed out loudly, making sure to point out the correct position. "Coming up from behind you Michiru!"

"Thanks Saya!" Michiru replied gratefully, aiming carefully before firing his Meson collider. "I think he's going to attack us again guys."

"His energy is weakening, it's only natural that he'd try to finish us off himself; he must have been using too much energy to summon his allies with." Egon stated as he studied the Chairman's actions with curiosity.

The Chairman summoned one giant purple ball of paranormal energy, but instead of throwing it or guiding it in order to strike an intended target; a sudden burst of what looked like static electricity concentrated into a yellow beam of energy shot out without warning. The burst struck each person followed by another and another until each of the Ghostbusters had been hit once with the attack, in addition to that; paranormal surges of purple and blue light shot up through the floor grating directly under the feet of each person after the beam had hit them one just a moment ago. The Chairman entity continued laughing as he made his exit, taunting everyone yet again now that he had surprised them with that unexpected attack. More black slime ghosts appeared to continue with the fight and wear down the mortal humans so that the laughing loaf didn't have to fight as much and risk further injury to himself. Saya kept the attackers at bay by distracting them with his dodging tricks and allowed Michiru to help his three partners to their feet since they were too sore to recover alone after that big attack.

"Ow, oh man that stings." Ray said as Michiru knelt down and slowly lifted the man up to his feet. "Thanks Mitch, wow; did that ever hurt."

"No kidding must have been a shocking experience." Michiru joked, trying to humour his friends as he helped them out one by one.

"Ow, I'm down; he got me." Egon said softly as Michiru helped him to stand up. "Thanks very much, I needed the assist."

"Can I get a little help over here please?" Venkman asked, not even trying to move which made Michiru heap him up in one swift motion. "Ouch, a little warning next time Mitch; don't move so quick."

"Sorry, but we're still in a battle here; so be quick or be dead." Michiru countered with a grin, making Ray and Egon chuckle.

"There aren't that many more monsters or ghosts left, the Chairman's strength must be fading quickly; we'd better be ready when he comes back." Egon deduced after looking around the platform as he tackled with the few black slime ghosts that were left to cause an annoyance. "There he is, everyone get ready; fire!"

The four paranormal investigators discharged their weapons again and struck the Chairman in the weak spot on his chest, but they felt the shock of another powerful attack and this time; Michiru was also hit and now all of them were lying flat on their backs. Luckily for them, the four corner slime portals remained sealed so there were no creepy critters crawling out to attack them as yet. Saya floated down to see that they were all okay enough to be counted as alive as they inched around in order to get into a position that allowed them to stand up without causing too much pain. Egon was the first to make it to his feet; Venkman and Ray were taking their time while Michiru was distracted by the Chairman who he could see underneath him through the metal grating on which they were. As he watched carefully, Michiru's face suddenly turned sour as a thought crossed his mind; one that he knew the others wouldn't be very pleased to hear if he said it out loud.

"That little cheat!" Michiru cried in a pissed off tone, drawing everyone's attention as he remained on his hands and knees; looking through the floor grating.

"Was is it Michiru?" Saya asked with concern, knowing from the boy's voice that his friend was mad at something.

"That Chairman is only exposing himself where ever he wants, when ever he wants." Michiru answered, getting to his feet as he explained. "As soon as he flees, he heads down there right beneath our feet where we can't touch him. He can attack us himself when he chooses or he can open those corner portals and sic his minions on us, but while he's down there; he's recharging himself by harnessing PK energy from the paranormal currents that are flowing through this canal system like a blasted hydroelectric plant."

"You mean to tell us that he's having a coffee break to reenergize himself up to full juice while the four of us are stuck here in this underground cage wasting away from battle, toil; hunger and thirst?" Ray asked in surprise, making the young teenager nod.

"What is going on here? We're in a cage; our asses are on the line and after all the ghosts and creeps we've whooped; that guy is still winning?" Venkman asked sarcastically, not taking the news well. "Well no wonder that fat floating tub of lard is laughing at us, you can hear him right?" Dawn, this is one time I wish I could trade places with Winston; I'll bet he's relaxing and having a great time with Ilyssa right now too."

"Peter, don't lose your head just yet; all of us are still alive and today happens to be Thanksgiving so be thankful for our good fortune." Egon countered.

"We're stuck inside a paranormal arena so Blubber Butt can watch us fight and die like gladiators and all you can say is be thankful because it's Thanksgiving?" Venkman asked sarcastically, wondering if Egon had a screw loose in his head.

"Egon's right Peter, we've got plenty to be thankful for; we got to meet each other when I first came here by accident." Michiru explained, making each of them smile one by one. "We got to make friends with Ilyssa, we got to have a great party together; we got to be heroes by defeating all the ghosts thus far since I've joined so life is good."

"Yes…but we'll have to end our brake right now because it looks as though the Chairman's coming back for another fight." Saya warned, noticing that the overweight opponent was returning again. "You'd all better get ready in case he opens the portals again, we don't want to be attacked from all sides at once."

The Ghostbusters lined up together and began firing their proton streams at the Chairman while Michiru aimed carefully in order to line up his weapon with the weak point of the target which was getting difficult to accomplish given that the ghost was moving around so much in the air, laughing like a maniac. While the three older men continued listening to the Chairman's laughter, the Japanese student was thinking of a backup plan using a Shikigami spell to turn the tide of battle which he felt sure the Ghostbusters wouldn't mind because of their predicament and also because of the fact that they were inside of a secret underground canal where no one would see anything. Michiru grinned with delight as he imagined how it would unfold, for no one would notice the spinning star shaped pentagram appear beneath his feet; everyone would be too focused on the battle and the light from the proton streams would help to conceal the red glow it was emitting. By now the Chairman had taunted them enough, and he was now preparing another paranormal attack by using another purple sphere of energy which emitted the same yellow bursts that could strike each of his mortal enemies one after the other; and one more attack would definitely be enough to drain what little strength the Ghostbusters possessed which would surely win him the battle if nothing was done to stop him.

"I'm all hears Egon, can you name one single thing that we have to be thankful for right now at this very minute?" Venkman asked sarcastically, knowing that the scientist couldn't possibly come up with an answer while being was focused on their present situation.

"Keep firing Peter, we might not get another chance once we get attacked again." Ray warned, as he and the other adults tried to continue their proton stream attack with what little amount of time they had left before the Chairman unleashed his attack on them.

"Oh brightly burning light! Give me your healing power! Protective light!" Michiru shouted, calling on his Shikigami power and creating the red star shaped pentagram beneath his feet which glowed brightly as it spun around; gathering what ever magical energy the Kururugi boy needed to cast his spell. "Chairman, your fun time is over; now it's our turn to laugh at you for a change!"

The Ghostbusters had become aware that their teenage friend was using his magic, but although they wanted to see what was happening; they didn't dare risk halting their attack on the Chairman as long as he was making himself an easy target to shoot at. What happened next would definitely be a sight to remember for the team of paranormal investigators, a bright beam of white shot out of Michiru's positron collider and slithered around the Ghostbusters like a snake on the floor until it surrounded them by returning to the young boy's side; then it transformed into a shimmering white and slightly golden serpentine dragon with its body and facial features plainly visible despite how bright its familiar form was to see at such close proximity. The Chairman unleashed his assault and brought the four mortals to their knees, but he only succeeded at infuriating the spirit familiar which suddenly saw Michiru and his companions under attack; the awesome supernatural being bared its open jaws at the evil entity who suddenly began trembling with fear as he realized all too late how much ire he had awakened from within this new adversary.

Saya, who had been with them during the attack had perched himself on top of the Serpentine dragon's head and was resting comfortably, holding the creatures horns with his hands to steady himself if things suddenly moved around without warning; he had a rough idea of what would occur next and he wanted to ensure he had a front row seat to watch the climatic conclusion to this great battle. The dragon's scale clad form suddenly produced multiple crisscrossing beams of green, yellow and white light all over the place which bathed the Ghostbusters and blinded the Chairman as Egon, Venkman, Ray, and Michiru found that their exhausted bodies had been fully replenished with both energy and defensive stamina; proving that they could also revitalize themselves when their situation was dire. When the light faded, Michiru suddenly fired his weapon and struck the Chairman square in the chest with a Meson particle; then he fired multiple bursts from his Overload Pulse which were enhanced by travelling through the dragon familiar's body and shot out of its mouth with such force that each burst struck the Chairman with deadlier consequences.

The Chairman had managed to duck after being hit nearly a dozen times so he could retreat underneath the platform and recover himself, but as he arrived there; he was chased by the Serpentine dragon who continued breathing magically enhanced Meson projectiles at him so that he wouldn't have the chance to cheat death ever again. By now the Chairman figured out his only chance for survival was to flee, and so he fled as fast as his fat floating body could move through the canal until he could outdistance himself from the Ghostbusters and more importantly, the spirit familiar who had struck a lasting amount of fear inside of his memory; as well as a clear message never to mess with the Ghostbusters ever again. The dragon familiar could only move a certain distance away since it's tail was attached to Michiru's positron collider and so once the Chairman reached the bend in the canal, he vanished from sight and was now far away; meaning that he would have to be pursued again before he could finally be defeated. The battlefield became quiet once everyone stopped firing their weapons and the Serpentine dragon spirit finally returned to Michiru and was groaning apologetically since his prey had gotten away, Saya flew over and was having a hard time containing his laughter since he enjoyed the experience of watching the Chairman flee.

"Please don't worry my friend, our main task was to recover the strength of my friends and me; but I do admit you also did a spectacular performance of chasing the Chairman and causing him to run away so I'm sure he won't be able to recover so quickly." Michiru said with a gracious smile as he tried to cheer up the spirit familiar with his kind words. "You've done the Ghostbusters a great service today and we'll always remember it, I promise you that we'll hunt down the Chairman again and make sure to finish what you started; farewell then and thank you again for your help."

The spirit familiar of the Serpentine dragon replied back in a playful cry, smiling as its massive nose gently touched Michiru's face; sending feelings of warmth until it vanished into the air. The Shikigami user lightly touched his cheek with his fingertips, recollecting every detail of this extraordinary event; making sure that he would always carry the memory with him for the rest of his life. Saya had managed to calm down by now and his laughter was brought to an end as he waited patiently for everyone else to come to their senses so they could resume their journey and eventually find a way out of this massive underground labyrinth. The Ghostbusters were really taking their time to process what they had just witnessed, Egon was fiddling around with his glasses and making sure that they were still in focus while Venkman was repeatedly trying to bring Ray back to reality by snapping his fingers in front of the man's face; Michiru and Saya both started chuckling to themselves since they couldn't resist the opportunity to laugh at the present state of their three friends.

"Riding on the dragon familiar when it was chasing the Chairman was a very exciting experience, especially when I got to see him getting targeted by your magically enhanced Meson projectiles; I'll never forget it." Saya remarked.

"Quite a show you and your familiar did together Michiru, I must say I honestly wasn't expecting you to use your magic in a place like this." Egon stated. "Great achievement, you were able to replenish all of us and stop the Chairman from killing us at the same time."

"It wasn't my intention to scare him away though, I hope we won't have a hard time tracking him down again; he might be fully juiced like we are by the time he find him." Michiru replied. "I was having second thoughts because I didn't want to use a destructive spell and cause the canal roof to collapse on top of us, that's mainly the reason why I choose the other spell instead and accomplish two tasks at once; I was mad at the Chairman for cheating so that's also why I resorted to using my Shikigami magic."

"Don't worry about him getting away; we were just as mad at him as you were so I can understand how you felt." Egon added before turning to see if Venkman and Ray were ready to depart. "Venkman, are you and Ray ready to continue on our search for the Chairman?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute; wake up Ray." Venkman answered, shaking Ray by the shoulders and bringing him back to reality.

"Did you see that? That was incredible!" Ray stated excitedly as Venkman pushed him along so they could get to the edge of the platform and carefully crawl one at a time across the remnants of the busted bridge which was still partially intact for them to use as long as they were extra careful with their body movements. "Can you cast another cool spell Mitch? We all want to see another one don't we guys?"

"Ray, move along." Egon ordered as Michiru and Saya suppressed their laughter as best as they could, wondering how long it would take for Ray to completely recover his sanity. "I'm afraid I may have to scan Ray's mind for mental malfunctions if he doesn't return to normal within the next half hour."

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! S-Sorry Egon." Michiru burst out before calming himself as he tried to find a detection of the Chairman with his PKE meter. "I can't pick up any signs of the Chairman on my PKE meter; he must be out of scanning range which would mean we've got to find a needle in a hay stack now."

"That's unfortunate, I don't suppose you have any ideas or magic spells up your sleeves that could help track him down do you?" Egon asked, causing the boy to turn around and look at the scientist with a questionable look. "I meant no offence, just curious."

"Well no…but the Chairman was interested in capturing Ilyssa for some unknown reason and all of us except for you had to chase him through the Museum in order to stop him from getting away with her as a prisoner; its possible that he'll try to abduct her again since she only has Janine and Winston at the Firehouse to keep her company while the five of us are still stuck underground like rats in a maze." Michiru answered, thinking carefully in the process. "Would it be possible to contact Winston and have him come to the Museum entrance with Ilyssa? At least we wouldn't be separated over such a great distance under those circumstances and the five of us would be close enough to come to their aid if the two of them ever got in trouble; if we can get out of this underground labyrinth that is."

"Good thinking, but we don't know the layout of this underground canal system or the tunnels that we travelled through to get here; we'll have to get Janine to help us with that before we can arrange a rendezvous point for us to meet up with Winston and Ilyssa." Egon replied as he reached for his walkie-talkie. "Winston? Come in please. Over? Did you copy that Winston? Please respond. Over?"

"We must be too far underground for the hand radios to work Egon, but Saya could always get to the surface quickly and fly back to the Firehouse and contact Winston for us while we continue our search down here." Michiru suggested.

"Saya?" Egon asked, getting the wise old spirit's attention before giving instructions. "We need you to return to the Firehouse and ask Janine to find details blueprints of the underground sewer, gas and water line systems so that we can navigate through this hidden labyrinth that the Shandor Firm must have constructed in secret. We also need you to warn Winston that Ilyssa may still be in danger of being attacked by the Chairman since both of them will be separated from us for a while until we can get out of here while we continue searching for that ghost. When Janine digs up what ever construction blue prints she can find, you'll have to make your way back underground and try to find us; you might need Winston to help you find a conventional passage back underground since you obviously can't fly through solid concrete while carrying a map. I know this is a lot to ask, but do you feel you're up to the task?"

"You can count on me Egon." Saya answered, getting ready to depart on his errand. "Hope to see all of you again soon when I return, good luck."

"Thanks Saya, good luck to you too." Michiru said, wishing his spiritual friend well before he flew away and left the Ghostbusters to continue on their hunt through the subterranean system of tunnels and canals.

Meanwhile far away in Feudal Japan, Inuyasha and his companions sat comfortably in a circle around where supper had been served inside of Kaede's house so the shaded interior protected them from the hot sun beating down on the surrounding landscape outside, they were just about to start eating the enormous meal which Kaede herself had cooked for them a short while ago and the half demon was now just finishing telling Totosai the story of how Michiru Kururugi had come across the sword Sounga and managed to travel to a far away country with Saya accompanying him. Totosai listened closely as he mentally processed every important detail that passed through Inuyasha's lips while Myoga perched himself on top of Tetsaiga's handle which was leaning against Inuyasha's shoulder; giving the old flee demon a better view to look around and interact with everyone since his body was so tiny. Miroku and Sango were both seated on either side of Inuyasha while Shippo sat to Miroku's left followed by Totosai, Kaede and finally Kohaku who sat just to the right of his older sister so that they could be together.

Although Sango and the others had already heard some of Inuyasha's story, all of them still listened in since they were all anxious to learn any new adventures that their Kururugi friend was having and more importantly; how much danger Sounga was capable of now that Totosai was finally present to answer some questions about the evil demonic sword. Inuyasha had waited a few hours after he and his friends ate a late breakfast together because he didn't fancy having to tell them tales of Michiru's adventures while his voiced sounded funny due to his nose being broken again, and so he waited until it had completely healed before he began the laborious task of bringing Totosai up to speed. Shippo interrupted Inuyasha when he explained that Michiru had somehow successfully found a way to travel back in time in order to visit them again, the little fox demon was cheering with delight and it took Sango and Miroku together to calm him down so Inuyasha could continue where he left off. Finally after a long period of time, the half demon reached the end of his tale which came as an enormous relief now that he could take a breather and relaxes with the others and interact in an ordinary conversation so that he could rest his voice as well while he ate supper with everyone.

"Anyway, the sword Sounga is being imprisoned inside of a specially built container which was made specifically to subdue its evil power so we don't have to worry about it causing harm as long as it's trapped inside." Inuyasha said, ending his tale so as to bring Totosai up to speed. "Now Saya and Michiru are both still unable to return here until they can find a way to leave the far away country without getting in trouble or caught, and while they're helping out the Ghostbusters combat restless souls and other monsters; they are being allowed to stay at the home of those guys so they can eventually return here safely."

"Wow! That was a great story Inuyasha!" Shippo said, recalling all the events he enjoyed the most and pictured them in his mind again.

"Thanks, glad you enjoyed hearing it." Inuyasha answered, sighing in relief that everyone was entertained and satisfied; Sango gave the half demon a grateful smile for not mentioning all the bits of talk over the phone which were just for herself and Michiru only so that no one else would know but them.

"Well it's a good thing that Michiru can revisit us as soon as he finds a safe way to return home, being an outsider with the Sounga while trapped inside of a foreign domain far away would definitely be a very unfortunate situation to experience." Miroku commented.

"I'm very sorry for venting on you with my hammer Inuyasha; I shouldn't have blamed you for the fact that Sounga and Michiru were transported far away since you didn't know about the sword's existence until well after the unfortunate incident had occurred." Totosai said, hoping to make up for his earlier actions. "Even in my ripe old age, I regret that my mind isn't as good as it used to be which is why I jumped to the wrong conclusion and lost my temper when I arrived here and saw you. The Sounga is a deadly and dangerous weapon of unimaginable evil and when I heard that your human friend had come across it, I was panicking because of how much danger all of humanity is faced with; especially since there are no demons in Michiru's world judging from what you've told me so I naturally feared the worst and just couldn't believe that a mere mortal could resist becoming possessed by Sounga's power."

"Yeah, I quickly suspected that as soon as you started lashing out at me with your hammer earlier today when you arrived old man." Inuyasha replied in understanding, secretly enjoying the fact that Totosai had messed up and was forced to apologize; a good feeling that made tonight's supper seem like an even better event. "Anyway, I take it that you know enough about the Sounga so you can tell us more about it and why it's so dangerous; perhaps you can tell us about Sounga first and how it managed to end up at Kagome's house in her world."

"Well I suppose we'd better start at the beginning, Sounga is a sword which is possessed by the spirit of an ancient evil demon who's forces any human that welds it to slay ever human being on the face of the earth until no one and nothing is left living." Totosai began. "In countless generations, power hungry men sought for the Sounga so that they could gain unequalled power in order to rule the known world; but instead they were enslaved and used to kill one another over many centuries. We can all be thankful that Inuyasha's father put an end to that cycle of genocide which threatened to wipe out mankind, for he alone possessed the strength and will power to subdue Sounga's evil so that he could be free to weld that deadly sword as he wished without being forced to carry out Sounga's intentions."

"You must understand Inuyasha, we're left in a real predicament so we only did what we thought was best at the time; we couldn't have known that Sounga would find its way into the hands of your friend!" Myoga cried out, begging for forgiveness as Inuyasha gave him and Totosai a hard stare even though he meant no offence.

"I didn't say anything, I was just glaring and thinking while listening to what each of you have to say so continue on and let's hear the whole story; never mind what I'm doing." Inuyasha countered, not in the mood for falling behind schedule; for he wanted to know everything he could so that he tell Michiru later on in case there was anything dangerous he needed to know about.

"Our story dates back almost two hundred years or so when Inuyasha's father finally passed away and left this world, leaving Myoga, Saya and myself to carry out our master's last wishes in accordance with his will; how to dispatch the Tetsusaiga, Tenseiga and Sounga." Totosai continued as everyone paid close attention. "Myoga placed the Tetsusaiga within the remains of Inuyasha's father and hid the path to find your father's grave inside of the black pearl which dwells inside of Inuyasha's eye. I made sure that the Tenseiga was passed on to Inuyasha's brother Sesshomaru, which only left the Sounga to deal with; but unfortunately we weren't left any instructions regarding what to do with it in our Master's will. We couldn't give Sounga to Inuyasha because he was born less than a day before his father died which is when we we're faced with this predicament and since he was only a half demon, he wouldn't be strong enough to weld it or prevent it from causing harm to others. We didn't want to attempt to give it to Sesshomaru because of how unhappy he already was at us for only giving him the Tenseiga which he is displeased with, we were afraid him venting his anger out on us if we approached him so that course of action was also out of the question."

"The Sounga, along with the Tetsusaiga and the Tenseiga which Inuyasha's father possessed, were known as the three swords of Supreme Conquest; together they held the power to dominate the three worlds." Myoga added, giving Totosai the chance of catching his breath.

"The three worlds?" Shippo asked in confusion. "I thought there were only two worlds, our world and the world Kagome and Michiru come from."

"No Shippo, Myoga is taking about heaven, hell and earth; the three of them are often referred to as the three worlds." Miroku cut in. "Let me explain it like this, when a person dies; their soul goes to heaven if they were a good person in life or their soul goes to hell if they were a bad person in life; bad like Naraku always was. Heaven is where Buddha and the gods reside while hell is the netherworld, the world of the dead; and earth is where all of us live because we are mortal. Do you understand it better now?"

"Hmm…a little bit." Shippo answered, still trying to properly process everything he had been told by Miroku.

"Each of the swords corresponds specifically to one of the three worlds, the Tenseiga of heaven can save a hundred lives with one sweep when its welded while the Sounga of hell can open the gateway to the netherworld and summon a hundred dead souls and finally; the Tetsusaiga also known as the guardian of men can fell a hundred foes with one sweep." Totosai explained.

"It sounds like the Sounga is a much greater danger than any of us ever thought; I only hope that nothing bad happens to Michiru or the people he's staying with." Sango said with a concerned expression on her face. "I know that it's imprisoned and immobile right now, but still; I can't help but worry."

"I understand how you feel Sango, that's why I asked Myoga to bring Totosai here so we could have this discussion; it's important that we find out as much information as we can about Sounga so we can tell Michiru and the Ghostbusters." Inuyasha spoke up, trying to put the demon slayer at ease since he knew she was already burdened with enough worrying and suffering. "Once we've done that, they'll know as much as we do and we can all rest easy while being prepared for the worst; carry on Myoga."

"Well we didn't know what else to do and that was when Saya came up with the suggestion that he attempt to subdue Sounga's evil power for a long period of time." Myoga continued. "He instructed us to cast him together with the Sounga into the Bone Eater's well where at the bottom, it would remain out of sight; it seemed like the only course of action available to us at the time. According what Saya said, if a demon's remains were cast into the well; they would simply disappear which is what we all hoped would become of the Sounga."

"But it didn't disappear, instead it ended up at Kagome's home until it broke free of Saya's control; which is what caused Michiru to be transported half way around the world and dropped in another country." Inuyasha declared with anger, grinning as he tried to control his rage. "I wish I would have known all of this sooner so I could have prevented that from happening, but Michiru wouldn't want me to lose my temper over what can't be changed so I'll let it go…eventually."

"Totosai, is there any way that Sounga can be defeated if it begun causing trouble or danger for Michiru and his friends?" Sango asked.

"I'm afraid there is only one way, but unfortunately for your friend and his companions; they are unable to exploit it because they do not possess the means with which to combat it on the battlefield." Totosai answered. "You recall how Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga and Shesshomaru's Tenseiga each have an ultimate attack which can cause an incalculable amount of damage when one of them is swung in combat? Sounga also possessed an attack of that level and calibre which is known as the Dragon Twister, now if Sounga is hit or struck with a single attack from either one of those two individual swords; it will grow stronger. The only way to defeat Sounga is for both ultimate attacks of those two swords to be used simultaneously together as one, which would mean that Inuyasha and his brother Sesshomaru would have to put aside their differences and fight together as a team; only together can Sounga be overcome and defeated."

"That's impossible!" Shippo burst out in disbelief, drawing everyone else's attention. "Both of them hate each other's guts, they'd rather fight against each other than join forces; I knew that their big egos and grudges would somehow be their undoing and now we all know why. OW! What was that for Inuyasha?"

"Shut up and keep your opinions to yourself." Inuyasha answered after delivering one smack to the young fox demon's head which promptly shut him up for thinking out loud. "Now be quiet, none of us can think with all the noise you and your big mouth keep making."

"Now Inuyasha, Myoga told me that you asked him if Sounga was just as dangerous to humans as it is to restless spirits did you not?" Totosai stated, getting a nod from the half demon. "Well it can be. I already told you and the others that Sounga can summon dead souls from the netherworld which would be a dangerous threat on its own for Michiru's friends who specialize in catching ghosts for a living. Sounga can possess a restless spirit and force them to do its bidding as long as they had a body with which to weld the sword with. And if a very powerful spiritual entity were to possess the Sounga than they would be able to use it as a weapon as long as they also had a body to use and hold the sword with."

"Could you tell me something that I don't already know old man?" Inuyasha sighed, nearly at the end of his patience after hearing everything thus far. "There must be something else you haven't mentioned yet so tell it to me, I don't care how serious, dangerous or unimportant it may sound; tell it to me."

"When Sounga is grasped by the hand of a being, human or demon; it can have the power to read the thoughts of that very person. More specifically, it has the ability to read the deepest thoughts or personal desires that the person wishes to keep secret from those around him or her; which causes them to lose control of their sanity and judgement if they cannot ignore what Sounga has discovered." Totosai explained. "Its no secret that any person with a precious secret loses their temper if it is revealed to others without their consent or before they are ready or willing to reveal it themselves, thus allowing Sounga to blackmail them into carrying out its evil will by welding the sword. Another physiological tactic is by influencing or intimidating a host to weld Sounga while under the ruse that it can help them achieve their personal goals in exchange for carrying out the murderous cycle which Inuyasha's father thankfully brought to an end. Now in the event that a person is unwilling to bend to Sounga's will, then Sounga will torment the person by reading their thoughts and using what ever information it discovers to break the person's mental will until they are no longer able to resist its evil power."

"Inuyasha, you mentioned that your friend Michiru was able to resist Sounga's evil power when he grasped the sword's handle for the first time during his unfortunate teleportation to this far away country you spoke of during our last discussion together." Myoga asked. "Did Michiru ever mention if Sounga tried reading his mind or anything of that nature?"

"No he didn't and I can only conclude that it didn't happen because Michiru was able to use his magic in time to save himself from Sounga's evil power; he would have told me otherwise if that had happened." Inuyasha answered.

"Inuyasha, your father is the only person we have ever known to be strong enough to subdue Sounga's evil power and weld it as easily as you weld your Tetsusaiga; any other demon or human regardless of their strength, will power and ability would end up being possessed by Sounga if they ever came into contact with it." Totosai added. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that your friend Michiru is a person who miraculously survived thanks to his Shikigami magic that he welds, however; Sounga won't be caught unexpected again if Michiru were to grab hold of the sword a second time. Though from what you've told me of his achievements and abilities thus far, I cannot judge Michiru or say what his chances are so all I can do is warn you that he must prepared for the unexpected; none of us will know what could happen if Sounga attempts to control him again and I tell you here and now that none of you want to know for it would be to horrible and unbearable if you did."

There was a sudden silence as Totosai's words echoed inside the minds of each person who heard them, Sango felt a chill crawl up her spine as her mind began to dwell on the fear of the unknown; a realm that had all the answers to the questions which to some people were better left alone and undiscovered. Although Michiru was living in the Modern world which according to Kagome had countless advantages thanks to the advancements and achievements of mankind, Sounga would remain unrivalled as long as it was far away from the Tetsusaiga and the Tenseiga which both had to be used as one in order to defeat this evil entity; and that meant Michiru and the Ghostbusters were always in danger regardless of the fact that Sounga was imprisoned. Inuyasha knew of this as well, and although he had seen a tiny fraction of the modern world where Michiru and Kagome both lived; he couldn't argue with what Totosai was saying. The circumstances of Sounga's current predicament was well as that of Michiru's made it impossible to predict was fate had in store if they were forced to face each other and see who's will power would prevail in another clash of psychological warfare, to make matters worse; both of them were far away in another domain which meant that Inuyasha and his comrades could not play any part in deciding the outcome if anything of that nature were to happen again.

"Thanks for coming all this way to answer my questions Totosai, now I can tell Michiru what he needs to know the next time I talk with him." Inuyasha responded, standing up and preparing to leave. "I'm going to Kagome's home to try and contact Michiru so he knows as much as all of us, at least then he'll be fully prepared for the worst and stand a better chance of survival in case anything bad happens with the Sounga; I'll let all of you know how he's doing once I come back so see you later."

Once Inuyasha had gotten up and left, Miroku tried using the opportunity to move closer so that he'd be sitting right beside Sango which would close the distance between the two of them, but Sango suddenly stood up and took her leave as well; for she just remembered that her brother Kohaku had not yet eaten any supper and she had lost track of time due to the important matters which Inuyasha and Totosai were discussing with all of them. The monk silently cursed the fates for denying him the chance to stroke Sango's exquisitely well formed posterior while she was sitting down with everyone, for it was a memorable experience which brought on even deeper fantasies of lechery which he dreamt of routinely and now that Naraku was dead and gone; Miroku was wondering how long it would be until he could take his relationship with the demon slayer to the next level. It was no secret that Miroku desired to bed attractive young women, but Sango was a goddess in his mind; at least in beauty which is why one of his hands always managed to find its way to her buttocks even though he knew he would immediately be punished with a hard slap to the face for such a rude action.

Although Sango always scolded him for each and every occasion when he groped her so inappropriately, Miroku knew in the back of his mind that the demon slayer still had feelings for him which indicated that he was still an important person in her life and more than just a friend; this was proven when she rejected the proposal of marriage offered by Lord Kuranosuke Takeda even though many attractive women in the Feudal era would have gladly accepted the offer given that the young Lord had status and immense wealth which Miroku himself did not possess. He even remembered Kagome saying that he was also better mannered than Miroku which also pointed out which young man most girls would rather marry if given a choice, and yet; Sango turned down the offer which evidently meant that she had feelings for Miroku despite his mannerisms and life of poverty and trickery. And so Miroku was positive that he would be with Sango eventually, Naraku was dead so it was only a matter of time until Sango was at last ready to move forward; but the monk predicted that it wouldn't happen until after she had helped her brother Kohaku fully recover his memories and physical strength after being under Naraku's control for such a long period of time. Once that was accomplished and her worries for her brother were brought to an end, then he felt that they would both be able to pursue a romantic relationship; and eventually start a family with children of their own.

"Ow! What was that?" Miroku asked, being brought back to reality as the mental image of Sango and himself in bed together vanished from his mind when he felt a sudden impact in the back of his head.

"Oops, sorry Miroku; I was practicing badminton by myself and the racket flew out of my hand when I swung too hard." Shippo answered apologetically as Miroku picked up the item and looked at it curiously for a moment before handing it back to the young fox demon who was playing a short distance away.

"That's alright, just be more careful from now on when ever you're playing with it." Miroku replied.

"Well, I think I'm going to go to bed early; travelling all the way here has taken its toll on me so I'll see you all in the morning." Totosai said as he stood up and stretched before going to retire for the night. "Thanks for the meals Lady Kaede, your cooking was very tasty; and your hospitality is appreciated."

"You're very welcome, have a good sleep Totosai." Kaede replied.

While Totosai took his leave and left Shippo, Miroku and Kaede to finish up what ever food and drink was left; Sango was inside of the hut just a short walk away. She was feeing Kohaku once again as she had been doing during every meal of each day that passed since he had been liberated from Naraku, her brother was not as tired today and was able to hold the bowl of food in front of him and eat it himself without any assistance other than being balanced while sitting up from his bed; which showed that Kohaku's strength was returning little by little even though his memories remained unchanged. The demon slayer smiled quietly to herself, seeing her younger brother slowly recover at least physically was a good sign; meaning that Kohaku would eventually return to his former self as he had been when her family members and fellow demon slayers lived together and flourished before Naraku had massacred all of them. Kirara was presently watching over both of them and still being in her fighting form, waiting patiently for the two of them to get ready for bed; it was still early in the evening even though the sun was just beginning to set. After a few more minutes, Kohaku had finished eating and was adjusting himself in order to get comfortable enough to go to sleep; leaving Sango to watch over him until she was ready to go to bed once she felt tired.

"Kirara? Michiru asked Inuyasha to give you a hug for him and to feed you some fish as well since he misses both of us a lot; but I'll be the one to do him that favour since Inuyasha had to leave and visit Kagome's world. Does that make you happy?" Sango asked, holding Kirara in a tender hug as the two-tail growled back affectionately; resting her snout on the demon slayer's shoulder to return the embrace and show her response. "Okay, I saved some of the fish that Kaede had caught and cooked for tonight's supper; I hope you're still hungry."

The playful cat demon started wagging her two tails happily, making a light thumping noise as they struck the floor of the hut; her mouth hung open and panted in anticipation at the sight of the ten smoked fish which Sango had saved on a plate for Kirara to feast upon. But instead of sliding the plate of food in front of Kirara so she could eat them, the demon slayer picked up and tossed each of the individual fish at the two-tail; forcing her loyal companion to snap her jaws in an attempt to catch each of the tasty morsels in her mouth so she could devour them one at a time. This proved to be a very enjoyable experience for the two of them, Kirara got immense satisfaction from playing a game like this with the food and Sango found it to be equally entertaining; especially when she laughed during the odd time when a fish bounced off of Kirara's nose in a failed attempt to catch it inside of her mouth which sent the piece of food flying in the air and landing somewhere inside the hut where they were staying. One of the fish had wakened Kohaku from his sleep after landing right on his face, after coming too and looking around to see what was going on he found what he saw to be a funny looking event; making both Kirara and Sango even more happy when Kohaku joined in and tossed the scattered fish at the cat demon until she had eaten them all. The three of them went to bed after sharing a few minutes of laughter together, and for the first time since each of them could remember; both Sango and Kirara fell asleep with nothing but happy thoughts in their minds.

Meanwhile in modern day Japan, Sota was watching TV in the hopes that he could see some news footage of the Ghostbusters; it was nearly supper and Mrs. Higurashi had just finished cooking all of the food which only left the kitchen table to be set so that her family could sit down and eat. Kagome was sitting at her desk in her room as the hours ticked by, trying hard to complete as much of her schoolwork as she possibly could; she was now more eager than ever to get it over and done with so she could end her grounding and visit the feudal era where her friends lived. However, this was easier said than done because of how many assignments had added up while she was away from home travelling throughout the lands from village to village in search of Naraku with her friends; including Michiru Kururugi whom she and the others had just recently befriended. The reborn priestess thought of how Michiru was doing, right now she'd be delighted to exchange her problems with his; being in a foreign country didn't sound so bad after hearing all the fun stories that passed between Michiru and Inuyasha over the phone. Of course, Michiru was very lucky to have met people who were kind enough to take him in when he needed help; and all of the boy's battles against ghosts and monsters didn't exactly sound any different from the perils Kagome faced when she was in the feudal era.

Suddenly Kagome's mind dwelled on the possibility of Michiru being in love with Sango, causing the high school girl's mind to go deep in thought as the memories of her little eavesdropping incident came back to her; blocking out any thoughts of the homework resting on her desk. Kagome pondered how Inuyasha had become aware of Michiru's feelings for Sango, Inuyasha was usually quite slow if not blind to figure out a romantic relationship between a boy and a girl; but that wasn't true in this case. Instead Kagome found herself as the one who was blind and unable to see it, which was understandable given the fact that she was now grounded in the modern world and unable to visit and interact with any of her friends; otherwise she might have been able to discover it just as Inuyasha had somehow done. Although Kagome wanted to talk to all of her friends to find out more about this matter, she was unable to do it since she was grounded; and also because only a few of them knew about it in the first place. Shippo and Miroku probably didn't know anything, which left Inuyasha and Sango and possibly Michiru if the Kururugi boy even knew the extent of everything that was happening so far. Perhaps Kagome could call Michiru over the phone and ask him about Sango; it couldn't hurt since she missed the chance of talking with him on the phone during breakfast.

"Kagome, supper's ready." Mrs. Higurashi called from downstairs, interrupting her daughter's thoughts in the process.

Kagome walked downstairs to the kitchen and sat down with her family at the table, after waking up early and spending all day doing nothing but homework assignments to get caught up; a home cooked meal was a welcome sight for the high school girl who needed the healthy energy boost to keep going. It sounded impossible, but Kagome was actually doing quite well with her homework as long as she repeated this routine over and over again; staying home all day gave her more time to get caught up and was way more relaxing then having to go to school and moving along even slower; staying home was good and as long as her grandpa could always come up with believable excuses to keep her teachers off her back then everything was fine. Kagome had managed to complete nearly a tenth of the amount of homework she had in addition to the few assignments which her brother Sota brought home every school day, and when he handed them back to the teachers the next day when he went to school; things were looking up which meant that she'd be able to get caught up before Christmas.

"So how much homework have you done sis? One hundredth?" Sota asked sarcastically.

"I'm doing just fine, in fact; I'm doing a lot better than you ever would if you were in the same situation." Kagome countered back with a playful glare as she made sure not to fall for her brother's little trick of rubbing the predicament she was faced with.

"Well that's good to hear, I'm nearly running out of excuses to tell your teachers; you're lucky they haven't been calling here as often as they usually do or you'd be in real trouble." Kagome's Grandpa commented, making his granddaughter wonder what excuses he had been using so far and just how many of them were utterly ridiculous. "I suppose as a last resort, I could always tell them you're pregnant; that would shut them up and keep them off your back for good if they get too persistent."

"WHAT?" Kagome shrieked her eyes and mouth hanging wide open as her face turned pink."

"That would be believable, after all; Mom and I did catch her doing naughty things with Inuyasha not that long ago." Sota remarked with an evil grin on his face. "Oh I'm sorry, you were only trying to find a stolen map inside his kimono; but it looked different from our view."

"SHUT UP!" Kagome fumed, her blushing face turning a darker shade as it transformed from pink to red. "DON'T YOU DARE MENTION THAT TO MY TEACHERS OR TO ANYONE AT SCHOOL OR ELSE YOU'LL LIVE TO REGRET IT! YOU HEAR ME?"

"Now now everyone, enough with the jokes and let's just enjoy our supper together." Mrs. Higurashi suggested, trying to be the voice of reason since no one else in the kitchen was going to set an example.

One glare of sheer death from Kagome promptly shut Sota and her Grandpa up, turning their faces as white as sheets; the same thing which had happened to Miroku when Kagome had lost her temper and put the lecherous monk in his place with her words of wisdom along with the beating she gave him as well in an effort to burn them into his mind which seemed to dwell on nothing but lechery. Too bad that it couldn't work on Inuyasha which forced Kagome to resort to saying her sit commands in order to set him straight and see things her way when ever the two of them argued together, she hated arguing with him; his stubborn attitude really made it hard for her to talk to him normally the way she always managed to do with any of her other friends from the Feudal era. After a short while, the Higurashi family finished eating supper and cleaned up the kitchen together. Sota went to the living room to watch TV in the hopes that he would see some news footage of the Ghostbusters while his Grandpa decided to go to his bedroom and lay down for a nap, having eaten too much at supper which made him sleepy. Kagome decided to take a chance and try to contact Michiru, although the time of day would be different where he was; she had missed the last opportunity to speak with him and she especially wanted to talk with him about the matter she had discovered when he had eavesdropped on his last conversation with Inuyasha.

Unable to give in to her patience and wait for him to contact her instead, Kagome picked up the phone and dialled the number to call the Ghostbusters in the hopes that she could talk with Michiru; a few minutes later Janine answered the phone and regrettably informed her that the Shikigami user was out working and unavailable to talk which meant she would have to wait for him to get back first. But she didn't want to wait, for she would probably be asleep by the time Michiru and the Ghostbusters had returned from another campaign of catching ghosts and she need all the rest she could get so she could continue completing her schoolwork in the hopes that she could have it all done by Christmas; which meant she was willing to risk being a pain since she already knew she would be treading in hot water anyway during their conversation about Sango and the little matter which also involved Michiru and Miroku. Before Kagome could dial the Kururugi boy's cell number however, she was suddenly distracted by her mother's voice as she called out to her daughter from the front door.

"Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi called out, getting her daughter's attention from the kitchen. "I'm going out to do some late night shopping, I won't be back until late in the evening so be sure to go to bed at a descent hour and have a good sleep; see you tomorrow morning at breakfast."

"Okay Mom, bye." Kagome replied as the two of them waved at each other before her mother left the house, then she called Michiru's cell number and listened to the ring tones; hoping that the boy had his cellular phone on him and that he'd also answer it.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, Michiru and his three companions continued walking along underground in order to track down the Chairman ghost who had fled for his life after the Shikigami user had frightened him with the Serpentine Dragon familiar which had come to their aid when he had cast a magic spell to save them from being beaten in the battle which had occurred almost an hour ago. Ever since Saya left to go on his errand, Michiru had been marking a trail by shooting some slime tethers behind them as company of combatants ventured through the numerous underground tunnels and passage ways of this giant labyrinth; at least it would make it easier for Saya to find them or for them to retrace their footsteps if they found they were going in the wrong direction. The journey was dark and they were fortunate that their flashlights and head goggles made it easier for them to see where they were going so that none of them would get lost or separated, but they were getting immensely tired; tired from hours of fighting and from staying awake for about eight hours so far after only having several hours of sleep before hand. Venkman checked his watch and saw that it was 3:00 in the morning, they had been underground for roughly two hours and the air wasn't exactly clean and fresh which made their travel a slow one. Suddenly everyone stopped in their tracks as they heard the ringing noise of a cell phone going from one of them, it was a big surprise since not of their hand radios were working an hour ago; Michiru unzipped his left breast pocket and pulled it out so he could see who was calling at such an early hour in the morning.

"Its Kagome's number, she or Inuyasha must be calling from Tokyo; I guess something's come up." Michiru answered after looking at the ID of who was calling.

"Does neither of them know what time it is right now?" Venkman asked in a tired voice. "Its 3:00 in the blasted morning for crying out loud."

"Can it Venkman, this is a blessing in disguise; we must be higher up than we were an hour ago so our hand radios should be working which means we can call Janine back at the Firehouse." Ray stated with relief. "Call her up Egon; see if she can hear us."

"Got it." Egon replied, pulling out his hand radio in an attempt to establish communications with Janine and the others.

"Ray?" Michiru called out. "I'm just going to go back a little ways so I can answer my cell phone, better that I answer it now instead of later when we run into the Chairman again."

"Alright, don't take too long and don't wander off either." Ray replied, getting a nod from the Japanese student before he walked a short distance away in order to have some privacy while he talked with who ever was calling him. "We might as well sit down and take a break Venkman, we're going to be here for a bit and I'll reckon it'll be a few hours more until we eventually find ourselves top side again."

"Let's hope we do soon, I'm think I'm suffering from claustrophobia down here." Venkman complained as the two of them sat down on the cold stone floor while Egon attempted to contact Janine.

"Hello? Hello? Michiru asked, holding the cell to the side of his head in order to talk and hear clearly after relocating himself just thirty feet away from his comrades who were still within sight thanks to the flashlights and head goggles they were equipped with.

"How are you doing Michiru?" Kagome asked, glad that her friend had answered her phone call since she missed the last opportunity to speak with him. "Is everything going well with you over in America?"

"Didn't Inuyasha tell you how I'm doing after he finished talking with me the last time I called your house?" Michiru asked in confusion, wondering why Kagome hadn't found out at least that bit from Inuyasha since it was the only piece of info that could have been shared with her.

"No he didn't because he left right after talking with you and I was busy so I couldn't chat with you that day." Kagome answered. "This is why I'm calling you know so we can talk and catch up."

"Do you have any idea what time it is right now Kagome?" Michiru asked, thinking that she was calling him because of some emergency instead of the sole purpose of just having a chit chat. "Its 3:00 in the morning, I only had a four hour nap about nine hours ago and on top of that; I'm still hunting with the Ghostbusters right now. Please pardon me if I sound a little frustrated right now, but I thought you were calling because of some emergency or something; you had me worried when I saw your caller ID."

"Sorry Michiru, I missed talking with you the last time you called so I thought I'd try calling you instead." Kagome apologized, mentally scolding herself for not realizing just how big the difference was in the time of day between Tokyo and New York; and also for what she was about to bring up over the phone with her friend. "I can't visit Inuyasha and the others until I get caught up on all the homework I've missed so you're really the only person I can talk to right now."

"I understand Kagome, what do you want to talk about?" Michiru replied, coming up with another question to create some humour. "You didn't call me just to ask to help you out with your homework did you? Because if you did, I'm going to give you all the wrong answers to each and every one of your questions; that should make us even wouldn't you say?"

"Oh very funny, if you did that; Inuyasha would be furious with you for keeping me stuck at home for even longer seeing as how he's always nagging at me to help locate sacred jewel shards." Kagome countered, laughing softly to herself. "I'm amazed he isn't interested in collecting them all now since Naraku's finally dead and gone."

"Perhaps it's because of me and the fact that I'm stuck here in America all because of the sword Sounga." Michiru replied. "Or it's because he's more interested in hearing all of the stories I have to tell about battling ghosts and paranormal monsters, he did tell me he wished he could be over here so that we could fight and beat them together; I guess he enjoys getting into fights regardless of the dangers involved."

"That's Inuyasha for you; he's always up for a fight even when it's not appropriate for starting one." Kagome added. "The matter I wanted to talk with you about is a seriously important one, but I need to know something from you before we can discuss it."

"Which is?" Michiru asked, wondering what brought this on.

"Do you trust me Michiru?" Kagome asked, knowing where this conversation was going.

"I'm afraid I'm not following you Kagome." Michiru answered, completely lost and unable to see what she was getting at. "What kind of question is that?"

"Are there things you can talk about with Inuyasha that you can't talk about with me?" Kagome asked, wording her question differently so that her teenage friend would understand.

"That depends on what those things are Kagome, everyone feels differently about discussing certain matters with their friends and in some cases, a person may choose only to discuss an important matter with a particular friend or person that they feel they can get along with the easiest." Michiru explained, wondering why Kagome suddenly had doubts about him trusting in her given that he had known her just as long as he had known Inuyasha. "I'm sorry if I've given you the impression that I don't trust you Kagome, but I still don't understand what you're driving at; I've known you as my friend just as long as I've known Inuyasha so what makes you think that I trust him more than I trust you?"

"You haven't answered my question Michiru." Kagome countered, the guilt of eavesdropping on Michiru and Inuyasha over the phone began to resurface within herself which made her feel more uncomfortable about this whole affair; but this was the price for digging into a matter which she had no involvement with.

"No Kagome, I haven't discussed anything with Inuyasha that was meant to be kept secret from you." Michiru answered after recalling the last conversation he had with Inuyasha and everything they had talked about together, he was beginning to think Kagome was under too much stress because of her homework and that was leading her to think that he didn't trust her as a friend or something. "Why are you suddenly asking me questions like this?"

Kagome was at a loss for words, she was positive that Michiru had told Inuyasha about his love for Sango and that would explain why the half demon was passing on verbal messages back and forth between worlds for both of them since they obviously couldn't see or talk with one another; it was the only way Inuyasha could ever find out given how dense and clueless he was when it came to reading the signs of a romantic relationship or even understanding one. Was it possible that she was wrong? Wrong about everything? It couldn't be because why else would Inuyasha be helping the two of them communicate? Had Inuyasha undergone a mental enhancement or something which improved his mind, making him just as smart as herself if not more? There was no more time to stay silent and think, for she had to answer Michiru in order not to draw suspicions from him; so she decided to try another approach to find out the answers she needed.

"When ever we all took time off from our travels in Feudal Japan, you always spent the day with her. Why is that?" Kagome asked. "Do you like her?"

"Well…I wanted a chance to get to know her better since I only met her and Miroku when the rest of us returned to Kaede's village after travelling to Akebi village, the old temple and Kasasagi Town." Michiru answered as honestly as he could, hoping it would end afterwards even though he was afraid of where this conversation was heading. "After our first day off together, I just felt drawn to her and when I eventually found out that Naraku had killed her whole family as well as abducting her brother Kohaku; I imagined how much suffering she's had to endure and that's why I decided to make friends with her so that she wouldn't feel so alone anymore. Over the course of our travels together, Sango's become more than just a friend to me; she's become a special person."

"You told her you love her just before you left all of us and returned home didn't you?" Kagome asked, sending a shot of pain through Michiru as he could only stay silent after hearing those words. "You did, even though you know she likes Miroku; didn't you? Didn't you?"

"You make it sound like I've done something wrong, I couldn't ignore how I felt for Sango; no matter how much I may have tried during my travels with her." Michiru responded, trying not to brake down over the phone as Kagome's voice tore at him with each new question. "I've given you enough answers Kagome, its time for you to give me some; so I'll ask again. Why are you asking me questions like this?"

"I need to know why Inuyasha knows more than I do about what you're telling me right now, I need to know why you're so interested in Sango even though you know that you're playing with fire by coming between her and Miroku." Kagome asked as she lost control of herself, her words and her voice burning into Michiru's mind as he listened over his cell phone. "Why are you even trying to be more than just a friend to her when neither of you can travel between worlds to see each other? Why is Inuyasha sending verbal messages back and forth between you and Sango? "

"I have no idea why or how Inuyasha knows more than you, I never told him anything about how I feel towards Sango; which I might add is my business and not his or yours. Besides that, how could you know about Inuyasha sending verbal messages back and forth between us if you haven't heard this from Inuyasha or from anyone else because you're stuck at home?" Michiru countered, realizing Kagome's mistake as he pieced everything together after recalling his conversation with Inuyasha. "Unless you heard us talking over the phone yesterday, you were eavesdropping on us and you jumped to different conclusions; one was right and the other was wrong. That's why you thought Inuyasha knew so much of what I've said now even though I never spoke of it and he didn't ask. That's how you found out that Inuyasha's been helping us stay in touch with each other and that's why you're also angry about it, isn't it; isn't Kagome?"

"I'm sorry…" Kagome replied quietly, overcome by guilt for what she had done in addition for eavesdropping earlier. "I'm sorry Michiru."

"So am I…for everything. I'm sorry for saying those three words to Sango; and I'm also sorry for putting her in any pain because of what I had said." Michiru answered, taking a breath and exhaling slowly to stay calm even though he felt a heavy burden of emotional pain build up inside of himself. "I'll leave you to your thoughts now Kagome; take care until we both find the free time to talk again; goodbye."

Before Kagome could reply, she heard Michiru hang up on her which meant that he wasn't in the mood for anymore talking; at least for tonight. The reborn priestess sighed as the weight of guilt began to get heavier with each passing moment, she had been found out for eavesdropping by Michiru over the phone and worst of all; she had shattered any trust that she now had with the Kururugi boy because of it as well as for how she had questioned him over such a personal matter which she clearly had no business in. This was all caused by the simple fact that she had jumped to the wrong conclusions when she had heard Michiru talking with Inuyasha over the phone in the morning earlier that day, while she was right about Michiru having secret feelings towards Sango; she was completely wrong when she believed Michiru had told Inuyasha about how he felt towards her as well as the fact that her half demon friend was more trustworthy to the Kururugi boy than Kagome was. Although she had more answers now, she had come by them after paying the price of shattering what ever trust the Shikigami user had in her all because of her curiosity which meant she had to try and amend that trust in order to repair the damage she had done to the bond of friendship between him and herself.

But before undertaking that challenging task, Kagome first had to know absolutely everything else so that this disaster would not occur a second time; especially if it involved another of her friends. She didn't like it, but the only person she could talk to now was Inuyasha; for he had somehow managed to figure out everything without being caught or forced into an argument. Sango and Miroku would each have to be talked with at a later time once she had all the answers she needed from the half demon, if she could get him to talk and spill everything that is; but all three of them were in the Feudal era right now and so she couldn't speak with Inuyasha unless he came back to visit her in the modern world. The alternative would be for her to visit the Feudal era herself and speak with all three of them one at a time, but she was grounded and she had already abused her mother's trust once; she would be grounded for life if she ever did it again. However, her mother was out doing some late night shopping which gave Kagome a window of several hours or so to visit and if she was lucky; she could return before her mother got home and avoid getting caught. This was no easy decision for the high school girl, dare she disobey her mother's word; she had done so once already and she had just caused enough trouble for one night during her little talk with Michiru which she didn't want to experience that level of emotional pain and guilt again.

There was nothing else for it, unless she got her answers from Inuyasha; she wouldn't be able to talk with Miroku and Sango or be in a position to repair the ties of friendship between herself and Michiru. There was no telling when or if Inuyasha would return tonight and this could be the only chance she would have in a very long while, she could not pass it up; and so Kagome quickly checked to see what her brother and Grandpa were doing so she wouldn't get caught before she left. One look confirmed that her Grandpa was fast asleep having a nap in his bedroom, she had already seen Sota watching TV and playing video games in the living room and so she knew that he was wide awake; she would have to be extra careful at sneaking out of the house to avoid getting caught. She couldn't waste any time packing anything so Kagome quietly walked to the front door and slowly opened it as carefully as possibly without making any noise, then she slipped outside and quietly shut the door behind her; now she was free to race across the yard to where the shack was located. Upon her arrival she opened the doors just as a bright supernatural light shot out of the Bone Eater's well, giving Kagome a shock as she paused cautiously; Inuyasha had returned which meant she couldn't have asked for a better opportunity than this moment to talk with him.

"Hey Kagome, why are you here?" Inuyasha asked casually, before turning serious after observing the look of hesitation and uncertainty on the young girl's face. "You aren't thinking of sneaking out and going to my world are you? You're grounded and you'll be even more grounded if your mother finds out what you're doing, so go back inside and do some more of your homework stuff."

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, taking a deep breath to compose herself for want was about to unfold. "I just had a talk with Michiru on the phone, I have some questions for you and I need some honest answers; are we clear?"

"I hear you Kagome." Inuyasha replied, knowing that what ever was on Kagome's mind sounded very serious; it involved Michiru which meant that he had to pay close attention in order to answer honestly as he was being asked to do. "Ask your questions."

"Why are you sending verbal messages back and forth between Michiru and Sango? How is it that you know about his feelings for Sango without him telling you about it? And why didn't you tell me when you first found out by yourself? Kagome asked in a harsh tone, with a hint of guilt; pain and sadness that the half demon could also see within her as he looked at her face and in her eyes.

"The answer to your first question should be fairly obvious Kagome, I was helping them to stay in touch with each other seeing as how neither of them can do so themselves; let alone travel between worlds to see one another like you and I can do when ever we want." Inuyasha answered, trying desperately to control his temper as he now found himself confronted with the fact that Kagome and managed to stumble upon the delicate matter which he had hoped to keep a secret just between himself and Sango until it could be revealed at a more appropriate time. "As for your second question, I know because I heard him as he told Sango he loves her just moments before he returned home after laying Utsugi's body to rest at the Kururugi Cemetery; I'm not surprised the rest of you didn't hear it since none of you have superior hearing like I do since I'm a half demon. Finally, I didn't tell you because I knew how you would react and importantly; because Sango asked me not to tell anyone."

"Sango said that?" Kagome responded before regaining her composure. "Then how come Sango knows as much as you, but Michiru doesn't?"

"Because I told her that I had heard Michiru's words to her as he left! I told her so that she could have time to prepare herself in case anyone else eventually made the same discovery, just as you have now. You have no idea how much pressure she's under or how much pain she's going through right now because of hearing those three words from Michiru, she's still torn between having to choose between him and Miroku which isn't going to be an easy decision for her to make; especially under such circumstances which you yourself are only going to make worse if you're planning on questioning her." Inuyasha declared, giving Kagome a glare as he tried to make her understand the seriousness of the situation. "I choose not to tell Michiru that I knew about him saying those words to Sango because he's already under enough stress as it, being taking against his will and dumped in a far away country thousands of miles from home with that sword Sounga; not to mention it would only cause him pain and put even more stress and pressure on him which I don't want to happen since he needs all the help he can get to try and find his way safely back home. But I supposed its too late for that seeing as how you've managed to force the truth out of him yourself, is there anything else you want to ask me Kagome; because I should be allowed to ask you some questions now if you're done."

"No! I'm not done!" Kagome yelled as her eyes began to water with fresh tears. "I just found out enough to know that Michiru loves Sango and that neither of us knew that you already overheard him say so to her before he returned home, I just ruined our friendship by questioning him for answers and he probably feels just as low and sad as I do right now; all of that could have been avoided if you had just told me everything from the start and not kept it a secret from both of us!"

"How did you even find out enough which made you question him in the first place?" Inuyasha asked softy, trying to stay calm while Kagome cried in front of him.

"I overheard both of you the last time you were talking with each other over the phone." Kagome answered weakly, wiping away the tears from her eyes before they could fall down her face. "I know it was wrong, but I couldn't help it. I talked with Michiru over the phone, our nice chat eventually fell apart when I began to question him about Sango, and that's how I found out how you knew more than both of us."

Inuyasha stood at the bottom of the stairs watching, completely silent while Kagome sat at the top crying softly; the pain of her guilt becoming too much for her to bear which is why she needed to talk about this now in order to get it out of her mind before anything worse occurred. Although he was furious with her for eavesdropping on his talk with Michiru and even more so for also finding out that she had forced the whole truth of the delicate matter out of Michiru, Inuyasha just couldn't find it in him to yell at Kagome after seeing her current state of depression; all because of her guilt as well as the fact that he felt partly responsible for not telling her everything from the beginning even though he had the best intentions along with plenty of reasons not to tell her or anyone else but Sango. The half demon waited patiently for her to recover so that they could continue with their conversation, it seemed that they had gotten through the worst of it; but only time could tell as the minutes went by one by one. How would Inuyasha break this news to Sango now that Kagome had become aware of everything? How was Michiru coping with all of this after discovering that Inuyasha had known all along about his feelings for Sango and now Kagome as well since she somehow made him talk and reveal everything to her all at once? As much as he wanted to talk with Michiru and try to set things right, he knew he was more needed here; at least for time being.

"What do you intend to do in order to fix all of this Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, hoping that his question would motivate her to try and resolve the situation by making amends with the Kururugi boy whom they both regarded as a friend.

"I told him I was sorry and he said the same to me before he turned off his cell and ended our chat, I promise I'll do what I can to set things right between us; but only after I've talked with Sango and Miroku first." Kagome answered as she stood up, making Inuyasha take a defensive stance in an attempt to block her path to get to the well which was just a few feet behind him. "If you're worried about my mom finding out, she's gone shopping and won't be back for a few hours so I won't get caught as long as I return quickly after a short while. What are you doing Inuyasha? Get out of my way."

"I'm glad that you'll promise to set things right between yourself and Michiru, I really am Kagome; but believe me when I tell you that going to my world will not help to make things any better." Inuyasha replied with a pleading look on his face, hoping to convince Kagome that visiting the Feudal era was not the proper course of action to take. "In fact, you'll only make things worse by questioning Sango and telling her what's already happened between us and during your talk with Michiru; she's already under enough pressure as it is. Besides that, what does Miroku have to do with all of this anyway?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kagome responded, halting in front of Inuyasha with only four feet of space between them both. "I'm going to tell Miroku to wise up and think seriously about his relationship with Sango, now that Naraku's dead and he's got some competition; that should set him straight so he won't mess things up when he tries to make a move on her."

"Oh please Kagome, Miroku can't even keep his hands off Sango; let alone attempt to amend things with her without acting like a lecherous pervert while his mind is in the gutter." Inuyasha countered, disguised that Kagome still felt highly of Miroku even when Michiru was obviously a better candidate who was more worthy and deserving of Sango's affection. "More importantly, telling Miroku will only escalate the situation; Sango nearly broke down and cried when I told her what I had found out and she's really worried about choosing between Michiru and Miroku because she would be hurting who ever is left alone once she's reached her decision. Even you should be able to understand that Kagome, and that's why I can't let you tell any of this to Miroku; think of how much worse that would make Sango feel. Think of how Miroku would react if you told him all of this; think of how even more badly Michiru would feel seeing as how he's still trapped in the far away country."

"I understand what you're saying Inuyasha, but we can't keep this a secret from either of them; they're our friends as well." Kagome protested, taking another step forward. "Its only fair to Miroku that he be given the opportunity to amend his relationship with Sango, especially since they've known each other for a much longer period of time even before Michiru came into all of our lives. Are we supposed to just sit and do nothing, forcing Sango to wait for someone who heaven only knows when he'll return or even if he'll ever return at all? Naraku is dead, Sango finally has Kohaku back; this is the last chance she'll have to move forward with Miroku and see where their relationship leads to. Besides, how do we know that Michiru didn't say he loved her just out of desperation because he couldn't stay with her and was forced to return home?"

"Are you questioning my friend's feelings?" Inuyasha asked, not liking where this conversation was going. "I understand that you feel sorry for Miroku Kagome, and you are right about Sango spending more time with Miroku over our travels together compared with the few experiences she's shared with Michiru; but Miroku's had more chances about taking his relationship with Sango seriously and he's messed all of them up. I don't know about you Kagome, but that tells me he doesn't love Sango the same way that Michiru loves her. Doesn't Michiru deserve even one chance given how many chances Miroku has had already, not to mention the fact that Miroku at least lives in the same world as Sango does which allows him to see her nearly all day for every day; something that Michiru doesn't have?"

"That precisely why a relationship between them can never bloom, Michiru may have found a way to travel through time; but Sango can't travel between worlds like you and I can." Kagome countered sourly, causing Inuyasha's mind to click after hearing her sentence.

"I can't believe I just heard you say that…" Inuyasha said, suddenly leaping forward and grabbing hold of Kagome as he leapt upstairs and outside of the shack in one swift jump; landing twenty feet away on the ground from the doorway. "You leave me with no choice Kagome, if I have to keep you here by force; than so be it."

"Let go of me! Inuyasha let go!" Kagome demanded, striking blows at his chest with her arms and fists in an effort to brake free of his embrace.

"I won't let you go! I won't let you make things worse than you already have!" Inuyasha replied back, turning in circles in order to keep Kagome in place as he looked around at their surroundings and suddenly beheld an unexpected sight which sent a chill up his spine; making him still so he could look Kagome in the eyes with a pleading look as if his life and the lives of their friends rested in her hands at this moment. "Kagome please, I'm begging you not to go and speak with Sango or Miroku; for all our sakes; please just stay and let fate run its course. Wait until Michiru returns home, Sango said she won't make a decision until Michiru returns home and then revisits my world; please."

"Inuyasha…" Kagome replied. "Sit!"

"AHH!" Inuyasha cried as his face and body impacted the ground in an instant, sending pain throughout his body as he tried to get up and stop her from leaving. "NO! DON'T DO THIS KAGOME! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'LL HAPPEN!"

"SIT!" Kagome shouted again, causing the half demon to fall to the ground once more; lifting his head up to look at her in an attempt to change her mind one last time.

"PLEASE KAGOME! YOU'LL END UP REGRETING THIS IF YOU GO! PLEASE STOP WHILE YOU STILL CAN!" Inuyasha begged, grabbing hold of Kagome's left ankle and holding it firmly; but gently enough to avoid causing her any pain or injury. "THINK OF SANGO! THINK OF MICHIRU! THINK OF…"

"SIT!" Kagome yelled with a cross look on her face, cutting Inuyasha off from saying anymore words as his face struck the ground. "I'M NOT GOING TO STOP UNTIL YOU LET GO OF MY ANKLE INUYASHA! INUYASHA! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT!"

Inuyasha could only lay there and endure the bombardment of sit commands that the reborn priestess was unleashing on him, although he had managed to grasp her ankle and prevent her from venturing back to the Feudal era; his body couldn't take much more of this repeated cycle of pain he was experiencing. No matter how much he resisted, his body would eventually become weak and exhausted; which meant the muscles in his hand and arm would slacken enough for Kagome to break free and then there would be nothing to stop her from travelling to his world and talking with Miroku and Sango. After another additional minute of the merciless sit commands, Inuyasha finally released his grip on Kagome's ankle; leaving her to race back to the shack as she wished with no more obstacles between her and the well. As Inuyasha slowly got to his feet, his mind became divided over what course of action he should make; for he was now faced with two possibilities with almost no time to decide or even carry out what choice he would make. Dared he race after Kagome and face a second series of her sit commands or should he stay and go to her house where he could attempt to contact Michiru and tell him of everything which had now just unfolded along with the information he had recently discovered about the evil sword Sounga?

Despite the predicament which Michiru was stuck in as well as how low his morale must be after being interrogated by Kagome, Inuyasha knew in his mind and his heart that the Shikigami user was a strong person; and the half demon had enough faith that Michiru could pull through and survive any situation regardless of how dangerous or painful it might be for him to deal with. Sango on the other hand was faced with another predicament which was in no way as dangerous as Michiru's fate, but it was just as painful; if not more because it affected the ties of friendship between herself and those around her whom she regarded as her new family ever since she had become a member of their team. The last thing Sango needed was for Kagome to interrogate her given the amount of pressure she was already burdened with, not to mention how much worse her fate would be if Miroku was told about Michiru's feelings for the demon slayer; she had nearly fallen apart in front of Inuyasha when he told her that he knew of Michiru's last words to her before his departure and he could only imagine what would happen if Miroku were to take advantage of Michiru's absence by trying to amend a relationship with her since he always managed to ruin every attempt in the past.

The half demon slowly walked forward, taking one step at a time until he reached the entrance of the shack; finding himself at the top of the staircase which lead down to where the Bone Eater's well stood below him. Part of his mind was telling him that this was a fool's errand and that his attempt to try and over take Kagome before she could talk with the others was all in vain, but he had to try; or he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't when the time came to talk with Michiru after everyone had found out the truth. Balancing himself as best as he could, Inuyasha paced down the stairs and in a minute; he was at the bottom with the well just in sight. Suddenly without warning, some unknown force shook from inside the half demon; causing the pain in his body to increase and feel twice as bad. His eyes widening with fear as he looked at the well which was within reach, he bent his legs and leapt through the air in a desperate attempt to jump down the well and end up in his own world before the pain could feel even worse; but he used too much force to overcome the pain his body felt which resulted in him to overshoot the well and land just on the other side. Inuyasha's legs buckled upon landing, his body fell backwards into a sitting position as the back of his head struck the edge of the rock hard stone well; his eyes darkening until he fell unconscious into a deep sleep from which he would not wake until he recovered from the blow to his head.

In the feudal, Sango had woken up a short while ago from her sleep which could better be described as a nap given how so little time had passed during her unconscious state; she had slept well for the first time in ages which would account for how awake and refreshed she felt even though it was still early evening. Though the sun had gone down and it was now dark, the night sky was lit up with an infinite number of bright stars which gave off enough light to see even in parts of the village where no fires or torches were burning; it was the perfect night to go out for a walk. Upon leaving the hut, Sango strolled around Kaede's village and took delight at watching the peaceful scenery of the people whether they were turning in for the night or staying up a little late to enjoy themselves without a worry in the world to disrupt them from their activities. After wandering around most of the village, the lovely demon slayer eventually made her way back to where she had dined at suppertime with her friends and companions; Kaede, Totosai and Myoga had all gone to bed which left Shippo and Miroku around the camp fire near the table which was now empty with no food left except for a few crumbs.

"Hello Shippo, what's that strange toy you're playing with?" Sango asked curiously, glancing at the badminton racket that he had gotten from Kagome.

"Oh, you mean this?" Shippo replied, getting into position to show off and demonstrate how to use the tool in order to hit the plastic bird which he held in his other hand. "This is a badminton racket, and this little thing is a bird; I got them from Kagome. This is how you use them in a game that she says people play in her world where she lives, watch here; see how the bird flies up when I hit it?"

"Yes, it looks like a lot of fun." Sango said with a smile.

"Are you doing well Sango?" Miroku asked curiously after turning his head and adjusting himself to face her.

"Yes I'm doing fine; I just came out to go for a walk after having a short nap." Sango answered as she continued walking in the direction of the mysterious fields. "All of you have a pleasant evening and get a good sleep tonight."

"Don't mind if we do, thank you." Myoga answered back.

"Sango?" Miroku asked, getting Sango's attention as she halted. "May I accompany you on your walk?"

"Alright Miroku, if you'd like; just for a little while." Sango replied, waiting for the monk to get to his feet so he could join her.

The two of them walked side by side together, leaving the village behind and moving by the mysterious fields where the mysterious crops are planted and harvested using various combinations of seeds and soil; the starlit sky appeared more beautiful out here and away from the huts and campfires of the village which made the evening walk a memorable experience. Sango began to wonder how long it would be until Michiru could finally return home so that he would be able to visit everyone again, perhaps the two of them could enjoy a peaceful walk like this together just as she was doing right now with Miroku by her side; but she decided to block it out in order to avoid thinking about the dilemma she would soon have to face when he really did return to her world. After following the path which turned and eventually lead to the forest where the Bone Eater's well was located, and shortly beyond that was the river where Sango and Inuyasha had talked about Michiru together when she had finished her bath earlier before the half demon's arrival. A short while later, the two young adults arrived at the river where they both stopped to admire the sound of its following current; the starlit sky reflecting faintly off of the surface of the water which was yet another beautiful sight to see as well as the lush green forest around them.

"This is a very beautiful night, and the forest seems so peaceful and safe right here where we're at." Sango said with a smile, gazing at the lovely scenery of the environment which surrounded them on all sides; completely still with no demons or bandits lurking nearby to pose a threat to herself and Miroku. "If only the whole forest could be just like this all the time, then everyone could enjoy a glimpse of beauty like we have here tonight; and remember that the world isn't all as dangerous and dark as one might think."

"Yes the night in indeed beautiful, as is the forest in such a peaceful state; but even the combined beauty of them together like this cannot compare with the beauty that you are Sango." Miroku said after sticking his staff in the ground, his words suddenly catching Sango off guard as he stepped behind her and placed his right arm gently over around her right shoulder and resting his hand on her left shoulder to hold her; closing the distance between them in the process. "You truly are a goddess of unequalled beauty, I admit that I am at a loss and cannot find anymore words to express how I feel for you; but I'm sure you understand what I mean and know what I'm trying to say to you on this beautiful night which if I may say is still young."

Sango had let her guard down ever since she had gone out for a walk after waking up from her nap a short while ago, when Miroku had asked if he could accompany her on the remainder of her walk; she politely said yes. In doing so however, her mind had completely overlooked the fact that he might overstep his boundaries and try to grope her as he usually did so many times in the past; she just couldn't remember any of those moments given the beautiful night and how greatly she had slept for the first time now that Naraku was gone and she finally had Kohaku back. Sango's mind was now recovering from the unprepared shock of Miroku's words; her senses gradually returning to her and becoming alert once again; especially when she felt the unwanted presence of Miroku's other hand which had managed to find itself upon the left side of her buttocks and was moving back and forth from it down her left leg and up again in a rhythmic movement. A frightening chill shot up the warrior woman's spine as she trembled for a moment, feeling Miroku's hand stroking her lecherously while she could also feel his face inching towards the side of her head and neck; her uncomfortable state of vulnerability growing worse with each passing second as she couldn't stand this unbearable situation any longer. Reacting instinctively in self defence, Sango grabbed Miroku's right arm with both hands and pushed backwards until she pinned the monk against a nearby tree; so fast that Miroku didn't know what was happening. After pulling the monk's right arm away as she turned around, Sango held Miroku just below his right shoulder with her left hand; and delivered a painfully hard slap against the side of his face with the other.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN MIROKU!" Sango declared, glaring at Miroku's face with enough ire to rival that of Kagome which the monk would soon not forget after hearing her verbal warning which he dared not ignore or forget.

"S-Sango uh, I-I…" Miroku responded poorly, his mind and voice still not recovered after receiving the death glare Sango had given him.

But Sango walked off back to Kaede's village on her own, for she especially wanted to get away from Miroku after being the victim of yet another groping incident from his lecherous hands; the memory of whole thing made her sick which also destroyed what she had hoped to be a nice evening walk in the forest. The demon slayer pondered what to do and how to take her mind off of the unbearable situation she had just experienced, the answer came to her in a flash; she decided to take a break and travel back to Demon Slayer village which had been her home. It was far away from Kaede's village which meant that she wouldn't have to worry about any inappropriate acts from Miroku, and it would also provide the opportunity for her and Kirara to re-establish their family bonds with Kohaku; Naraku was dead and gone so it seemed like a great idea. After returning to the village, Sango briefly told Shippo that she was going to take a trip with her brother back to Demon Slayer village and that he tell Inuyasha and Kagome if either of them ask where she had gone. Upon hearing this, Shippo could easily deduce that Miroku had groped her again; Sango's tone of voice as well as the fact that she had returned without Miroku with her also confirmed what he had found out. But Miroku had never made Sango angry enough to make her want to leave just to get away from Miroku and put some distance between him and herself, which meant that the perverted monk must have done something really bad to cause this level of reaction; the young fox demon grinned evilly as he saw Miroku returning from the forest alone.

"Why do you always have to be such a perverted idiot Miroku?" Shippo shouted in disgust once the monk was close enough to hear his words, throwing a piece of burning wood from the fire in the process.

"AHH! Shippo what are you doing?" Stop it! AHH! Stop!" Miroku yelled, dodging the burning chunks of wood as the fox demon threw them at the unprepared monk one after another.

Kagome, who had just only climbed out of the Bone Eater's well a few minutes ago was walking down the path through the mysterious fields and was approaching Kaede's village; not noticing the minor event of violence taking place ahead of her until she recognized the voices of Shippo and Miroku shouting at each other amidst the scattered pieces of burning firewood which she saw the young fox demon throwing at the helpless monk who could only dodge and wait for Shippo to run out of throwing weapons. The high school girl broke into a run and promptly shoved Miroku out of the way, making Shippo freeze as he was about to throw another burning wood chunk which would have it her instead; finally bringing the fight to an end as Kagome tried calming both of her friends down in order to find out why they were fighting in the first place. Shippo had stopped and was sitting still waiting to talk to Kagome, but Miroku was still jumping around because one of the flaming wood chunks had gone down each of the sleeves from his blue kimono and both were hot enough to cause his clothes to catch on fire; not to mention burning parts of his body which was very painful to endure.

"AHH! HOT! TOO HOT!" Miroku yelped, managing to pull the flaming chunks of wood from inside his kimono and toss them away before he suffered from anymore burns.

"OH SHUT UP MIROKU!" Kagome yelled, giving him a glare as the monk suddenly clamped his mouth closed and sat down quietly by the fire. "Now which of you would like to tell me why both of you were fighting?"

"Miroku made Sango mad, AGAIN!" Shippo answered, getting Kagome's attention as Miroku stayed quiet and prepared for the worst. "She's planning on taking a trip back to Demon Slayer village with her brother and Kirara, that's what she told me after she returned alone from her walk in the forest which Miroku had accompanied her on; at least while they both went together INTO THE FOREST!"

"Is that so?" Kagome asked with a hint of sarcasm and sweetness in her voice, glaring at Miroku for a few moments before redirecting her attention back to Shippo. "Can you tell me of anything else that went on between Sango and Miroku while I was away?"

"Well there was that one time when Sango caught Miroku spying on her while she was taking a bath in the river, he escaped from her and managed to run into Inuyasha and I as we were about to make sure he didn't try anything like that; so we decided to punish him since it was already too late for us to stop him from peeking. Why don't I act it out for you to show exactly what happened? First, Inuyasha pushes Miroku over on the ground, THEN HE DRAWS OUT HIS SWORD…" Shippo explained after pushing Miroku on his belly and holding up his badminton racket, making Kagome's eyes widen as she holds her hands to her mouth; fearing the worst. "And SPANKS MIROKU A HUNDRED TIMES ON THE BUTT, JUST LIKE THIS!"

"AHH! AHH!" Miroku cries out as the fox demon spanked him on his behind nearly five or six times before Kagome put a stop to it.

"Okay! Okay! I understand! I don't need to see anything more!" Kagome stated, tightly hugging Shippo against her chest while standing up in order to keep her fox demon friend away and out of reach to prevent him from spanking Miroku again; she was relieved that was the worst Inuyasha had done to Miroku given how worried she was when being told he had drawn out his Tetsusaiga. "Thank you very much Shippo, you should go off to bed and get some sleep now; I want to be alone and talk with Miroku here."

"UH OH!" Shippo replied mischievously in an effort to rub it in to Miroku before taking his leave once Kagome had set him on the ground. "Goodnight Kagome."

"Goodnight Shippo, I'll see you the next time I visit." Kagome said, making the fox demon halt and leap back into her arms for a hug.

"Aren't you going to stay with us for a while?" Shippo asked with a sad face, his cute eyes making Kagome feel bad. "But we miss you a lot."

"I know Shippo, I know and I really wish I could stay; but I'm afraid I have to go after I've talked with Miroku and Sango." Kagome said, hugging Shippo tenderly to make it up to him for having to leave again. "I'm really sorry, I promise to come back again when I get the chance; and I'll bring a whole big pile of candies and sweets just for you. How does that sound?"

"Okay, I'll forgive you." Shippo replied, smiling weakly as he jumped out of her arms; turning into his giant pink form in order to float away. "I'll tell Sango you want to talk to her so she won't leave yet, bye Kagome."

"Bye Shippo! And thank you!" Kagome said, waving until her young friend had vanished from view; causing her to turn and face Miroku.

"Now wait Kagome, I can explain…" Miroku said while trying to stand up.

"MIROKU!" Kagome shouted, promptly shutting Miroku up so she could speak her mind. "SIT DOWN! SHUT UP AND LISTEN WELL! My time here is limited so you should feel grateful that I can't beat you up like last time for having your mind in the gutter, but don't worry; I've got something else in mind that will properly motivate you and hopefully re-educate you so that you don't miss-treat Sango ever again. Do you remember when all of us were travelling together and we all stayed at the residence of a young lord by the name of Kuranosuke Takeda?"

"Y-Yes…" Miroku answered, managing to calm down now that he knew Kagome wasn't going to beat him up or yell at him. "He was the young lord who proposed to Sango and asked for her hand in marriage; and offer which she turned down because of her feelings for me. That's the only time I've ever seen someone interested in Sango like that, but it really made me jealous because I was afraid she would accept; you have no idea how relieved I felt when she rejected his proposal."

"Good, now you're thinking seriously for once." Kagome replied. "Do you remember when Michiru returned home shortly after he helped all of us to defeat Naraku?

"Yes, but I don't see what he has to do with our talk about Sango and I." Miroku stated.

"I recently found out that Michiru told Sango he loves her just before he was magically sent home, even though he knew he didn't have the power to visit this world at the time; and even though he also knows that she still has feelings for you." Kagome said, making Miroku as white as a ghost. "I was surprised at first, but it eventually made sense once I thought about it for a while; he spent time with Sango during every day that all of us took off to have a break from our travels together. I have no doubt that the two of them became close friends over the course of the duration that he spent here with us, its not a surprise given how easy it was for them to get along and cooperate with each other; which is more than I can say for you with your history of foul ups and rude behaviour."

"Michiru said that?" Miroku asked, wondering if Kagome was just making this up as a means to scare him. "You're lying; Michiru wouldn't do that; not when he knows how Sango and I feel about each other. You're making this entire thing up just to scare me…you are aren't you?"

"I'm very serious Miroku, dead serious in fact." Kagome answered, the look in her eyes was more than enough to show she was telling the truth. "Now I can't speak for Sango, but I know Michiru is very much in love with her even though he's in a lot of pain right now because of how his actions have affected everyone as a group; including Sango and you as well."

"Well he should be since it isn't an enjoyable experience being in love with a woman who already belongs to another man." Miroku said.

"GET THIS THROUGH YOUR HEAD MIROKU! SANGO IS NOT YOUR WOMAN! SHE IS A WOMAN! SOMEONE WHO IS TORN UP INSIDE BECAUSE SHE NOW HAS TO CHOOSE BETWEEN YOU AND MICHIRU!" Kagome countered sharply, burning her words into Miroku's mind as she glared at him. "Its only a matter of days before Michiru finds a way to return home and eventually to here as well, Sango is going on a trip for who knows how long so she can have some time to herself; I can safely say that she'll reach a decision over which of you she wants to pursue a romantic relationship with by the time Michiru finally returns to visit your world. I highly suggest you make good use of that time while both of them are away so you can properly amend your relationship with Sango, then she might be willing to reconsider her decision when the time comes for her to make up her mind; this is your last chance Miroku and I hope you don't mess it up. Now I'm going to have a talk with Sango before she leaves, you can stay here and think about everything I've told you if you still intend to repair the damage you've done; or you can give up and go flirting with all of the pretty village girls like you always do when ever we travel around together."

With that lengthy statement, Kagome left to go find Sango; leaving Miroku alone at the fire to ponder on everything he had just been told. In all the days he knew Kagome, she had never once lied to him which meant that what she had warned him about was true; his chances of becoming Sango's companion for life were numbered now that Michiru had told Sango he loves her. But did she love him back? That was the biggest question on Miroku's mind, and he silently cursed himself for groping her and making her angry with him during the walk they shared together; now he really wished he anything but a lecherous creep in her eyes. Kagome was right, he would have to think hard and long about how to make amends to Sango now that Naraku was dead and her troubles were behind her; especially after finding out he also had Michiru as his adversary who was also competing for Sango's affections. Although Michiru was currently trapped in a far away land and unable to return home or to the Feudal era, that disadvantage wouldn't be an obstacle for long; Miroku already knew this since he learned the Kururugi boy had discovered a way to travel through time between worlds like Kagome could. Though he didn't like to admit it, this was going to be one battle that he could not dare to lose; and Sango would have the final part to play which would decide who would win her heart and who was doomed to remain alone and nothing more than a mere friend forever.

Kagome raced along, eager to get this done and over with since she had to get home before her mother did; or else she'd be grounded for life. She went to the hut where she knew Sango would stay and sleep with Kohaku, but upon arriving and entering it; she found neither of them inside. Kagome took a quick look around and found that the demon slayer had finished backing up her small amount of belongings, weapons included and that she was carefully resting Kohaku down on Kirara's back so the two-tail in her giant fighting form could fly them both back to their home where they could take a break away from everyone and everything for as long as Sango wanted. The reborn priestess called out to Sango in an attempt to catch her attention before she left, for she had to talk with Sango to find out why she was going away and more importantly; how she felt about Michiru and Miroku each as individual persons. The demon slayer turned towards the sound of Kagome's voice and sighed heavily, knowing that she was going to try and persuade her to stay and ignore what Miroku had done; but Sango's mind was already made up and not even Kagome could make her change it.

"Sango wait, why are you going away?" Kagome asked. "If it's about what Miroku did, then I can understand; but I have to speak with you before you leave."

"It's not just about what Miroku did Kagome, it's about a lot of things which I'd rather not talk about; I'm sorry but I can't talk about it with you." Sango answered, feeling guilty for having to leave Kagome like this given how so little time they've had since they all defeated Naraku together.

"Sango, I need to know. How do you feel about Michiru?" Kagome asked, causing Sango's heart to skip a beat and her breathing to stop for a momentary pause. "Do you feel anything for him that's in any way similar to what you feel for Miroku?"

"H-How long have you known Kagome?" Sango asked quietly as she turned to face Kagome with a guilty expression. "And more importantly how did you ever find out?"

"I-I overheard Michiru talking over a phone with Inuyasha back at my home, a-and I thought that Michiru had told Inuyasha about what he said to you before he was summoned back home to my world; but I was partially wrong because Inuyasha knew without Michiru telling him about it." Kagome answered. "When I questioned each of them, they both told me all that they knew individually; and that's why I came here to ask you about all of this so I could know how you felt."

"I know Michiru probably would have answered honestly because that's the kind of person he is." Sango responded the emotional pain she had managed to bury within herself was now starting to resurface again; her feelings and memories coupled with her fears and doubts all crashing together in one torturous experience. "But Inuyasha gave me his word that he wouldn't tell anyone other than me about what he had discovered, so how did you persuade him to talk? Did you threaten him with your sit commands?"

"NO! I never did, only after we finished talking did I resort to using them because he wouldn't allow me to come and see you." Kagome said, making Sango eyes blink. "He gave me all his reasons for keeping it a secret during our discussion, and I understood why he did it; but friends don't keep secrets from each other and that's why I had to come here and talk to you myself."

"Kagome, I haven't known Michiru for very long so I honestly can't tell you how I feel about; I still feel torn up inside because of my feelings for Miroku which I also begun to question ever since we defeated Naraku just a short time ago." Sango reluctantly answered, overcoming her hesitation as she tried to find the right words to accurately express her emotions and thoughts on the matter. "I understand that you're upset at me for keeping it a secret, but I felt that this is something I could deal with better on my own; which is why Inuyasha gave me is word that he wouldn't tell Shippo or Miroku about it. Speaking of which, have you talked with either of them at all before coming to see me?"

"Yes." Kagome answered weakly.

"Who? Was it Miroku?" Sango asked softly, getting a nod from Kagome. "What what did you talk about with him?"

"I-I…" Kagome stammered.

"You told him everything didn't you?" Sango asked with an angry voice and a sad look on her face which was about to get worse as her eyes began to water uncontrollably with tears.

"Ahh!" Kagome cried as she covered the side of her face, feeling a sudden sting of pain on her left cheek; Sango had just slapped her.

"You had no right to do that Kagome!" Sango cried out angrily as the two girls who had known each other as friends for such a long time now found themselves on opposite sides in a feud, one which couldn't be resolved until they each found it in themselves to forget and forgive what they had done to one another. "Forcing Michiru and Inuyasha to tell you everything is bad enough, but now you had to tell Miroku as well? What were you thinking? Do you have any idea how this is going to affect all of us from now on?"

"I told him because I wanted to properly motivate him to think about his relationship with you seriously so that he'd stop miss treating you as he has for so long!" Kagome answered, tears following freely from her eyes and down her face just as they were with Sango; both of them crying together as they continued through the difficult discussion. "I was also afraid that you would throw away everything you shared with Miroku since you joined our team; I didn't want you to forget the good times you've had with him even though his manners need amending! Michiru may have found a way to return here to see you, but he still has to find a way to return to his own home first; who knows how long you would have to wait until he finally sees you gain."

"I chose not to make a decision until after he returns so I can face him and Miroku together at the same time, I know that means waiting for a long while; but that time allows me to figure out how I feel for each of them!" Sango replied. "You wouldn't understand Kagome, you and Inuyasha can see each other when ever you want; but I can't travel to your world and see Michiru because I don't have any magical powers or supernatural abilities!"

"All the more reason why a relationship with him will never last! He can come and see you, but you can't go and visit him!" Kagome remarked, causing Sango to cry even more; her anger and strength had been spent. "I'm sorry for bringing this on you and I'm sorry I told Miroku without coming to ask you for permission first! I only wanted to help you so that you aren't forced to deal with this alone. I felt horrible for forcing the truth out of Michiru and Inuyasha, I wouldn't be able to get over it unless I could talk to you and Miroku; all of us beat Naraku together which means we should be able to solve this matter together as well. I'm sorry I didn't mind my own business and stay out of all this, and I'm especially sorry for ruining my friendship with all of us just to dig up some measly answers!"

"I'm still your friend Kagome, and your still mine; but you have to let me leave if you really want to help me right now." Sango replied, her body trembling as she continued to cry. "I'm going with Kohaku and Kirara back to what's left of our home where we all lived as a family, and I'm not coming back until after I've had enough time to think carefully about everything that has happened between all of us. I know you're suffering, but we're all suffering and I hope we can mend everything together when I return; goodbye Kagome."

Kagome could only stand and watch as Sango climbed on to Kirara's back and carefully secured herself and Kohaku who lay sat asleep in front of her before the two-tail took off into the night sky, Sango could only hope that she was taking the right course of action available to her; for her mind would forever be burdened with troubling memories of tonight's events until she arrived home where she could sleep and drift away from her worries. In the morning after a much needed sleep, then she could search inside of herself for her feelings and answers she needed in order to make a final decision and choose which young man she truly loved; the man whom she would spend the rest of her life with until the end of their natural lives. With nothing else to do, Kagome raced back in the direction of the Bone Eater's well so that she could get home before being caught by her mother; but getting home to go to bed and sleep was an even greater motive given the amount of pain she and each of her friends had now been forced to endure in such a short time.

It had been nearly six hours since Michiru and the Ghostbusters had descended into the secret passageway which had been hidden in the floor underneath the Obelisk at the Museum, they had been travelling for what seemed like ages underground through a maze of tunnels; one could only wonder if any of them would ever see the sky again. Michiru was completely silent amidst the small talk echoing back and forth between Venkman, Ray and Egon who were all just walking ahead of him; for his morale had seriously been shaken ever since his talk with Kagome on his cell phone. He naturally kept it a secret which he hoped to bury within himself so his judgement and concentration wouldn't be impaired when he and all of his companions had finally tracked down the Chairman ghost who still managed to allude them since the readings from their PKE meters were very weak and faint due to the fact that they weren't travelling towards their target in a straight line. The Kururugi boy sighed as he trotted along, continuing to leave slime tethers behind him to mark out the path they were taking; he only hoped Saya was having better luck than he was right now. During Michiru's torturous talk with Kagome, Egon had contacted Janine and managed to formulate a plan so that all of them could meet up together at a specified rendezvous point in order to catch the Chairman ghost in the event that he tried to kidnap Ilyssa again while they were all separated; Winston agreed to drive both Ilyssa and Janine in Ecto-01 where they would wait outside the Museum until Saya could join up with Egon's team and give them the map which Janine had found to help them out in their hunt.

"Banzai!" Saya shouted from behind Michiru, scaring the heck out of everyone as he floated around laughing his head off at all of them. "I scared you, I scared you. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"Oh Saya, give it a rest." Michiru said, not in the mood for any jokes or pranks."

"How did you manage to find us down here without any coordinates?" Egon asked.

"Oh, I used a man hole to get into the underground systems which were positioned closely to the secret passage way we all found in the floor of the Museum; I read this map that Janine had printed out for me and I eventually made my way into where we battled the Chairman." Saya answered. "As I continued to search underground, I suddenly noticed the trail of slime tethers which I thought would eventually lead me to the four of you since slime tethers can only be made from your proton packs; and it worked."

"I don't remember leaving a trail of slime tethers behind us?" Ray stated in confusion.

"I left them behind us in case we had to retrace our steps or if we took a wrong tunnel, I didn't want to get lost down here since we didn't have a map; until Saya found us." Michiru responded.

"That was good thinking, nice going Mitch." Venkman complimented.

"Alright then Saya, let's take a look at his map you have." Egon ordered as the wise old entity floated in front of the man and held out the map for him to study."

"This is where I descended underground, this is where the five of us fought the Chairman on that platform structure where Michiru used his magic to save the day; and this is the pathway I followed the slime tethers which puts our position right…here." Saya explained while pointing on the paper map with his tiny finger as everyone studied the map carefully.

"Hmm, judging from our current position and from the faint PKE readings we've been detecting; the Chairman ghost must be located somewhere inside of this drainage section of the underground sewers." Egon deduced as he did some calculations in his head. "Now the good news is that our destination will eventually lead us up and out of this underground hellhole as long as the Chairman doesn't give us the slip, but the bad news is that this drainage section is unfinished and still in the construction stage; meaning its going to be a very hazardous combat zone for us to be firing our proton streams inside of."

"What makes you say that Egon?" Venkman asked curiously.

"Because the engineers who were recently working there postponed their operations until further notice, though they never mentioned why which drew suspicion; according to the newspaper article I read a little over two months ago. " Egon answered. "They left all their tools and equipment behind; including lots of high explosives."

"Well that doesn't sound very safe, coming from certified engineers." Ray remarked.

"How long do you suppose it'll take us to reach that location Egon?" Michiru asked.

"Only about an hour of walking, provided we don't get lost or separated." Egon answered. "So I suggest we press on if we all want to get top side on the surface as soon as possible."

"I couldn't agree with you more." Venkman commented.

The five friends continued on their way as best as they could with what little amount of strength each of them had left, although they were tired; their spirits were lifted now that they would eventually make it back to the surface eventually where they could breath fresh clean air and look at the sky once more. It was the will to endure that kept them going; despite the foul fumes and rotting senses they could smell as they drew nearer to their destination where they hoped they could corner their allusive adversary who had escaped them yet again. Saya and the Ghostbusters began to ascend as the tunnel they were travelling inside of slowly went upwards, they could even hear the sounds of numerous voices which meant that they had to be close to the surface by now. Finally after a long march, they entered into a vast underground chamber with crisscrossing pools of rotting dirty sewer water; which they were thankful to discover was not raw sewage or anything of that nature.

"What does this sign say here Ray?" Michiru asked while trying to rub off some dirt and compensation on an aluminium plate with some words painted on its surface.

"Drainage section #267." Ray replied before activating his hand radio. "Winston? Do you read me? Over?"

"Coming in loud and clear Ray, great to finally hear from you." Winston replied over the radio. "Did Saya manage to find your position? Over?"

"That's affirmative Z; we've all just arrived at Drainage section #267 of the underground sewer systems. Can you redeploy Ecto-01 and park above our position? Over?"

"Not for very long Ray, the road above your position has been closed for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which is scheduled to start in less than an hour from now; the crowds of spectators have already gathered around to see the event." Winston answered. "I'll park there as long as I can, but that's all I can promise; over."

"Thanks Winston, do what you can and make sure Ilyssa and Janine stay inside the car; it's the safest place for them to be if the Chairman ghosts surfaces top side before we do." Egon ordered, using his radio. "Over and out."

"Look guys!" There's Chubby Chairman floating right over there!" Ray pointed out. "To bad it's so dark down here; we can't even see what's around us without any lights.

"There's a power generator just over here across you Ray, let me see if I can activate it." Michiru said, pulling the lever and switching on the power which turned on a series of work lights placed all around the chamber; lighting up the underground drainage section in just few seconds."

"Well done Mitch." Venkman said, suddenly noticing that the Japanese student was staring at something with a troubled look on his face. "Hey Mitch, what's wrong with you? Have you had a heart attack or something?"

"Uh oh!" Ray said as everyone looked around the chamber. "This does not look good."

The current position of the Ghostbusters was about six feet above the floor of the chamber which was a large rectangular shaped interior with various concrete fixtures located here and there with multiple pipes and tanks built around and above them. Egon had been correct, engineers had left their tools and equipment; as well as multiple boxes of explosives charges which were carelessly scattered all over the inside of the subterranean environment in which the squad of combatants had to conduct their work. But that wasn't the worst of it, not only did they have to fire their weapons in here to fight the Chairman's spiritual entity; they first had to descend six feet down in order to travel from one point to another on the main walkway which made up the floor. Running parallel along either side the main concrete walkway were two long canal like streams filled with following dirty sewer water, each four feet wide by four feet deep below; leaving a five foot gap of concrete in between the two which made up the walkway. Swimming inside the two streams and occasionally crawling out of them to dry off in the steam from the nearby pipes and ventilator ducts, were perhaps about ten or twelve fully grown alligators who had more or less moved in to claim this underground chamber as their residence; they looked hungry too.

"Well I think we've figured out why the engineers decided to postpone their operations down here until further notice, don't we guys?" Venkman asked sarcastically.

"That's a logical guess Venkman, the engineers are city workers after all and don't get paid to risk their lives; like we do." Egon replied.

"Money grubbing chickens." Ray said in fit of envy. "They make more money than we do and yet they work for less hours and get more benefits."

"Ray, forget the cowardly engineers and try and think of a way for us to fight the Chairman without having to go down there and getting eaten alive by those alligators; I don't need to remind you that they look really hungry and that they have powerful bites." Egon suggested. "Unless we can catch or beat the Chairman, I'd say we have no choice but to climb up to the surface and try another way."

"Egon, how many entrances lead to this chamber besides the one we're standing in right now?" Michiru asked curiously.

"I don't know, let me check the map." Egon answered, as he studied the map for clues. "According to the blueprints, there's just one more which is located at the opposite end of the chamber over there where you can see the Chairman floating around."

"How much weight do you suppose the slime tethers can support if one end was attached to the roof of the chamber?" Michiru asked, thinking of a plan.

"That's a tough one Michiru, it can support a large amount of weight due to its elasticity but as you already know from experience; they become brittle and break in a matter of about ten or fifteen seconds." Ray explained as he tried to answer Michiru's question.

"Alright then, follow me Saya; here goes nothing." Michiru replied, firing a slime tether at the ceiling of the chamber and leaping forward as he swung down and across by about ten feet; firing again before coming to a halt so he could keep up his momentum in order to minimize the time he held on to each of the green coloured tethers.

The Ghostbusters shouted out as they watched in horror and amazement at what was occurring in front of them, Michiru was swinging across the ceiling over and over again like a circus performer; staying above and out of reach from the alligators as he slowly made his way to the other side of the underground chamber. Saya was going along to act as an extra pair of eyes just to be safe and also to watch the elasticity of the slime tethers so he could warn Michiru to move faster if he was going to slow, but the Kururugi boy was managing just fine and within two minutes; he made his way to the opposite side and landing safely at the top of the other six foot high staircase where he was out of danger. He could hear his fellow Ghostbusters cheering for him back where he had left them at the other end, grabbing hold of his hand radio; Michiru carefully surveyed his surroundings before contacting Egon and the others to formulate a plan of attack to finally eliminate the Chairman ghost from the field of battle.

"Egon, come in please." Michiru asked over his hand radio "Can you read me over?"

"Loud and clear Michiru, what is your condition over?" Egon replied.

"I'm still fit for duty if that's what you're asking." Michiru answered. "Now that I've redeployed at the other end of the chamber, we have the Chairman boxed in right between us; but I fear he can still escape either through the stream canals or possibly through one of the crawlspaces which lead from each of our positions and up top side to the surface. Please acknowledge over?"

"Acknowledged, we understand and see them." Egon confirmed. "What's your plan to get at the Chairman, over?"

"So long as we stay up here and out of range, then the alligators can't harm us; and we can fire our weapons at the Chairman if we so desire." Michiru explained. "However, if we fire our proton streams at strategically placed crates of explosives instead; we can cause him to panic and head to the surface because he won't dare escape through the stream canals with the alligators all running wild amidst the chaos as the battle unfolds."

"Sounds good Michiru, you take the first few shots; we'll fire in support once our target comes within range after you scare him." Egon replied. "Good luck over there, to the both of you."

"Thanks, standby for firing; over and out." Michiru warned, discharging his proton stream at a box which was out in the open and was resting underneath from where the Chairman was hovering in the air.

The small wooden box of high explosive charges burst apart violently in a ball of orange flame, sending splinters of burned wood and shrapnel flying around; giving Michiru and Saya a good laugh as they scared the heck out of the Chairman ghost who was on the move now. The Shikigami user continued firing his proton stream at several more boxes of explosives which sent the fat foe into a panic, fleeing for his safety to the opposite side of the chamber where the other Ghostbusters were waiting for them with their weapons aimed at the ready; more explosions began to erupt from beneath the Chairman and only after looking around carefully did he finally identify his attackers. Because he didn't have enough PK energy, he couldn't make any attacks of his own; which meant he was on the defensive and unable to safe himself unless he could escape from the Chamber. Egon and Ray were busy trying to weaken what little strength the Chairman had by firing directly at him with their proton stream, causing the giant ghost to ascend down to the walkway where more explosives were laid as well as the alligators which were now taking notice of the smelly fat and overweight tub of paranormal flesh which looked very appetizing given how huge he was.

"Okay Chairman! You got to sic your critters on us while you had a rest, now it's our turn; DANCE!" Michiru shouted while talking into his hand radio to humour his friends on the other side, discharging a proton stream; causing a box of explosives to burst apart and simultaneously infuriate the nearby alligators who began to snap their jaws at the Chairman Ghost.

"Oh, that was beautiful; let's do that again!" Saya said excitedly as he watched the entertaining scene unfold before him.

"Come on Ghost!" Venkman yelled, joining in as he fired a proton stream as well; causing the same resulting effect as Michiru had done. "You can dance better than that! Yeah, that what I'm talking about! That's better! Much better! "

Ray and Egon eventually followed Venkman's example, unable to resist the hilarious situation that this battle had turned itself into; it was as if they were on a shoot out hunting for game or something. Setting off the explosives caused parts of the Chairman's body to become burnt, attracting the alligators who could smell the sent of cooked flesh; making them hungry as their colossal mouths began to water. By now all of the alligators had become wild with hunger and turned their attention on the Chairman ghost, snapping their jaws at him when he got too close to them and the streams; leaving him trapped in mid air close to the ceiling where the Ghostbusters could freely fire their weapons at him and weaken his strength even more. This meant that no more explosives had to be used which was a good thing since no one wanted to be blown to bits or buried alive down here underground, but since the five of them were positioned at stationary locations; they couldn't use their natural advantages of speed and mobility which were vital for combating ghosts and other paranormal opponents. Michiru decided that this had gone on long enough, and so he moved backwards until he was far enough away so that the Chairman Ghost would try and escape to the surface using the crawlspace on his end of the chamber. After a few more minutes of fun and firing, the frightened entity fled the battlefield again; heading up to the surface which allowed the Ghostbusters to follow so they could finally get above ground again. Ten minutes later, the four paranormal eliminators crawled out of the manhole and found themselves in the middle of a paved road with crowds of people on either side; but there was no sign of the Chairman Ghost or Ecto-1 either.

"Winston, come in; what's your location?" Egon asked as everyone stretched their tired arms and legs, glad to be back on the surface again where they could see the sky; and breath in the clean sent of fresh air.

"We're located just down the street a little ways from where you and the guys are standing and stretching around, Ecto-1 is parked in the middle of the road; I've covered it up with a huge black tarp to conceal its identity and to keep Ilyssa and Janine hidden from any ghosts that come around to rain on our parade." Winston explained. "And speaking of the parade, it's almost ready to start; so get moving."

"Alright, hold your position and stay alert; be sure to tell us of any activity that you see in your area." Egon replied. "We're about to commence our search for a getaway ghost, we'll keep you informed of our progress; over and out."

"How are we going to find one ghost inside of an enormous open area like this with crowds of people everywhere on each side of the road?" Michiru asked, shaking his head as he looked around. "We're going to be hunting for a needle in a haystack out here guys."

"Don't worry Mitch, that floating bath tub of lard sticks out in a crowd; and we've also got our PKE meters to help us hunt him down." Venkman said, trying to cheer Michiru up. "And when we find him, we're going to barbecue him for Thanksgiving Dinner right guys?"

"If you're serious Venkman, you can feed the Chairman's corpse to Slimer; I can't think of anyone else who'd want to eat him." Ray said.

"Ray, Venkman; I'm picking up some strange readings on my PKE meter." Egon pointed out, holding his instrument carefully as he tried to ascertain the direction of the signal. "It seems to be coming from the parade, but I can't see anything unusual; even with my goggles."

"Perhaps we'd better mingle with the parade people and get a closer look." Ray suggested. "Then we could pick up a better signal."

"Won't that get us into trouble? Peck is mad at us already for what happened at the Museum late last night." Michiru asked.

"Don't you worry Mitch, the three of us will come up with a distraction while you lay low and find out where the Chairman is hiding like the scared Chicken he his." Venkman answered with a mischievous grin. "Once you do, radio us and well roast him up like a Turkey."

The Shikigami user didn't believe that Venkman was serious, nevertheless; he listened carefully to the three adults as they came up with a plan to sniff out the Chairman. The four of them would stay hidden inside the manhole and wait for the parade to arrive at their location, and then the three adults would come out and cause a distraction in the middle of the parade which would hopefully draw out the Chairman ghost and simultaneously keep all of the people distracted as well. Michiru would stay inside and wait a few minutes before merging with the parade people and keeping hidden so that he could try and trace the Chairman's location whether he was laying low or taking the bait, then he would alert his friends and the four of them would meet up and take down the target together; with support from Winston if necessary which everyone hoped wouldn't happen since he was needed to drive and deploy Ecto-01. The plan seemed fairly straight forward and gave them nearly all the advantages they possessed during their campaign in Times Square, but with so many crowds of people around; Michiru didn't know if he could get through this mission.

By now the cheering grew louder and the parade was approaching their position, getting ever so closer with every minute that went by; finally the moment had arrived. Egon, Ray and Venkman climbed out of the man hole and began to playfully march at the head of the parade; playfully dancing and attracting all the fame and cheers the crowds had to offer them. Michiru quickly poked his head out to watch the oncoming people and mobile stages accompanies by dancers, musicians and giant animal shaped balloons floating about their heads that were being pulled along by the mobile stages. After counting down the minutes and estimating the positions of the oncoming traffic, he carefully climbed out and mingled with the people who were riding on top of the large mobile stage that was following some sixty feet behind the three Ghostbusters who miraculously managed to remain unnoticed by the security personal even though the crowds of cheering people could easily spot them. There was no time to waste, Michiru had to find his target fast before the plan fell apart; he held up his scanning instrument carefully looking and listening for any signals or detections.

"BOO!" Saya said, appearing out of nowhere and startling the unprepared Kururugi boy to death. "I scared you didn't I? Ha! Ha!"

"What are you doing here Saya?" Michiru asked.

"Hey just because I'm a ghost doesn't mean I can't help you out." Saya answered. "Any luck with finding the cowardly entity?"

"I'm not entirely sure, I can tell there's a signal coming from over there near the back of the parade; but I can't see anything." Michiru answered, shaking his head since he couldn't understand what his PKE meter was detecting.

"Wait, look at that balloon there; isn't slowly moving towards us without being dragged or directed." Saya pointed out, causing Michiru to pull down his goggles and hold his instrument perfectly in line with the giant dog balloon that Saya was pointing at.

"Yeah, I think you're right; look at its face." Michiru said softly as the balloon slowly increased its momentum and got closer, causing the young man's PKE meter to buzz and beep; he quickly took a scan and was able to confirm that the Chairman was indeed inside the dog balloon and that he was also controlling it. "Egon, guys; come in. The Chairman ghost is hiding inside one of the giant parade balloons, the dog one that's currently flying towards you from behind with hostile intentions; take necessary offensive actions and evasive manoeuvres. Saya, you'd better return to Ecto-1 so you can stay hidden; people will start asking questions why we have a ghost like you following us instead of attacking us."

"No problem Michiru, good luck and see you when it's all over." Saya replied before disappearing.

The dog balloon which Saya and Michiru had identified was patterned after the appearance of a grey coloured cartoon dog, with white paws and grey shoes on his hind feet; and it was wearing what looked like an aviator's head warmer with goggles over its eyes that were coloured black just like its small tail. The dog balloon looked as though it had become alive, for it was moving around by itself and smashing its paws against the sides of buildings; causing enough minor damage to alarm parade performers as well as the crowds of people who had gathered to witness the parade. Michiru scurried over to where the Ghostbusters were, who for some reason failed to respond to his message that he had sent them; making the Kururugi boy wonder why as he eventually caught up to them.

"Why aren't you guys shooting at him yet?" Michiru asked in disbelief.

"He's not after us; he wouldn't have attacked us if we were his targets." Ray answered, as all of them looked up and the floating balloon which had become alive once it was being possessed and controlled from within.

"That's the Chairman inside there, he must be after Ilyssa again; he's heading straight for Ecto-1." Egon replied. "Come in Winston, our enemy entity is heading right for you; we'll try and slow him down while you attempt to get away."

"Not a chance Egon, we get to help you catch ghosts too, Ilyssa and I can't let you guys have all the fun now can we?" Janine's voiced aired over the radio. "We're staying right here, and there's nothing you say to chance our minds; unless you say you love us."

"There's no time to argue, let's just take down this ghost." Ray suggested.

"Full streams!" Venkman shouted, as everyone fired their weapons at the giant dog balloon; drawing its attention towards themselves in order to keep it from attacking Ecto-1."

"Is it just me or does anyone else think this giant dog balloon looks very angry at us right now?" Ray asked.

"I have to agree, given how he's baring his fangs at us with that strange roar coming from his mouth." Egon stated.

"Never mind his appearance guys." Venkman responded fearfully. "Would someone care to explain why none of our proton streams are doing any damage to this giant ghost?"

"He's created some sort of paranormal barrier around the balloon; we can't use our proton streams to dissipate his PK energy; which means we're beat." Ray said reluctantly. "How do you like that? We going down against a ghost inside of a giant dog balloon filled up with gas."

"Gas!" Michiru shouted, getting everyone's attention. "That's just a balloon filled up with helium, if we caught off its supply or reverse the flow pumping into the balloon; he'll deflate and become smaller. Wouldn't that make it easier for us to fight against him?""

"Great idea Mitch!" Egon said. "We'll distract him; you find his helium source and cause him to deflate so we can take him down."

As the three adults resumed their offensive attacks on the possessed parade balloon, Michiru carefully looked around and saw a thin air hose leading from the rear of the animal balloon down to the back of the parade where he could just about see the helium tanks which were used for inflating and deflating all of the balloons which had been set up for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. The Shikigami user raced over through the scattered mess of abandoned music instruments and other items that lay cluttered all over the road until he arrived at where the helium tanks were all assembled together on one mobile stage, but before activating the control valves; the young boy suddenly became inspired by another idea which he also thought would help his companions win the battle and save the day.

"Winston, Michiru here; come in over." Michiru asked over his hand radio.

"Michiru, Winston here; go ahead over." Winston responded as Michiru could faintly hear Ilyssa and Janine laugh in the background.

"Hi Winston, I need you to redeploy Ecto-1 into a position beneath the giant dog balloon that the other Ghostbusters are presently fighting against; the Chairman ghost is possessing that balloon and I don't want him to get away again." Michiru explained. "Once you've repositioned Ecto-1, I also need you to uncover the black tarp and activate the Super Slammer trap; I'm going to reverse the flow of the helium and deflate the balloon which will weaken the target until he can be trapped inside. Please send Saya over to my location, I require his assistance. Please acknowledge over."

"Understood magic man." Winston replied which made Michiru smile at the nickname he had been given. "See you after the battle, over and out."

Now that another plan was set in motion, Michiru turned the control valves and reversed the flow of the helium; he watched the giant balloon float down and deflate ever so slowly as Ecto-1 drove into position from underneath it just has the Kururugi boy had instructed. As the helium gradually left the inside of the huge dog balloon, the paranormal protective barrier which the Chairman ghost had created to protect himself from attack also began to dissipate; making him more vulnerable to the deadly proton streams which were being discharged at him from below in such rapid succession. Since the tide of battle had now turned, Ray turned off his weapon so he could help Winston remove the huge black tarp which covered the roof of Ecto-1; allowing them to activate the Super Slammer. Saya floated over in under a minute and was ready to help out in any way he could, for he was proving to be just as helpful as Michiru was to the Ghostbusters.

"What do you need Michiru?" Saya asked curiously.

"I'm going over to help trap the Chairman ghost so he won't get away again, I need you to stay and keep an eye on this gauge right here; shut this control valve to trap the gas inside the tanks and then everything will be done." Michiru answered. "Can you handle it?"

"You bet I can handle it." Saya said triumphantly.

Michiru took off and raced back to where the Ghostbusters were still engaging the possessed dog balloon just behind Ecto-1, after changing equipment; Michiru stood by waiting for the Chairman to try and make his escape once he knew he couldn't win the battle. The last of the helium was being removed from the balloon and Saya shut off the valve to trap the gas inside of the storage tanks before returning and going inside of Ecto-1 where he was once again out of sight and safe from harm, the balloon was still managing to stay afloat in the air even though it had been completely deflated; this was mainly caused by the fact that the Chairman Ghost was still inside and he was trying to get out of it. The Ghostbusters were now firing their weapons at almost point blank range, hitting their target and causing so much damage to the balloon that the Chairman entity tore his way through the burned fabric in order to make his escape.

But Michiru and the others had been prepared for this, while Michiru fired his Meson collider square in the Chairman's chest before he bombarded his weak spot with multiple bursts from his Overload Pulse; the other Ghostbusters were blasting the fat foolish ghost with their proton streams which were doing great amounts of damage to the already weakened entity. In under a minute, the Chairman's body of flesh disintegrated into a blue vapour of paranormal gases; leaving only a tiny bright ball of yellow light which was undoubtedly his soul. The tiny remnants of the Chairman's spiritual entity was presently hovering over top of the giant Super Slammer trap which rested on Ecto-1's roof, because the force of the trap was so powerful and also because the Chairman ghost now had no more energy to put up a fight; he found his spiritual entity was pulled inside of the trap instantaneously. There, he would remain imprisoned until he was transferred to the giant containment unit which was where all the other ghosts were stored together. This was a very happy moment for the Ghostbusters, after what seemed like forever; they had finally defeated the Chairman ghost. Venkman was only too happy to announce the news of their triumphant victory over the ghost who had ruined the parade, but the crowds of people were big fans of the Ghostbusters and judging by their cheering; they were still happy as if nothing bad had happened.

"Michiru, Saya; you guys did an unforgettable job on this campaign." Ray declared over his hand radio so that Saya could also hear Ray's words of praise from inside the car coming from Ecto-1's radio set. "We couldn't have survived underground or made it back up above ground without your invaluable help, thanks very much for saving our necks down there; and for up here too."

"Not a problem Ray, not a problem." Michiru replied, glad that the battle was finally over and that everyone was safe and sound.

"Uh oh, here comes the party pooper." Venkman warned, getting everyone's attention as Walter Peck strode up and began venting his wrath on the Ghostbusters even though they had just saved the day.

"You guys have ruined everything! The amounts of damages that you've done to the city are catastrophic and astronomical!" Peck yelled, giving each and every member of the Ghostbusters a crazed glare which suggested he had lost his sanity. "As head of P-COC, I'm taking all of you down to the Mayor's office for questioning; the party's over so get a move on and get out of here!"

"Hold up guys, I got this; don't worry." Venkman countered as he grabbed a powerful stage microphone which he had recovered from one of the mobile stages left on the parade when all the participants had been temporarily scared away until the ghost had been caught and the danger was over. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WHICH OF YOU OUT THERE IS A FAN OF THE GHOSTBUSTERS?"

Everyone cheered loudly in response to Venkman's question, making Peck glare at Venkman as he enjoyed listening to the crowds of people who obviously held the Ghostbusters in such high regard. But that wasn't the end of Venkman's little show, he wanted more; and he also wanted to put Walter Peck in his place for disrespecting the Ghostbusters and what they stood for after all their glorious achievements and accomplishments thus far. Janine and Ilyssa both got out of Ecto-1 and came over to congratulate the Ghostbusters on the successful completion of capturing the ghost who had escaped so many times until now, Janine embraced Egon while Ilyssa who had now changed back into her regular leather attire gave Michiru a hug to show her relief at seeing him safe again. Venkman was too busy taunting Peck while taking in the fame and glory from the cheering crowds to notice, but Ray and Winston still caught a glimpse of their Japanese friend being momentarily in physical contact with Ilyssa; they would have to keep it to themselves for now and wait until all of them were back at the Firehouse together before they could bring it up in a conversation.

"Ray, I think its time we put on some tunes." Winston suggested, cranking up the volume and playing the famous Ghostbusters' song; making Venkman hold the microphone close to the open window where Winston was sitting at the driver's seat so all the people could hear it and feel happy and rejoiced.

The Ghostbusters packed up their equipment inside of Ecto-1 until they were ready to leave; a taxi came by to help transport some of the company back home since Ecto-1 could only carry four people inside of it. Ilyssa had called the taxi to drive her, Michiru and Janine back to the Firehouse which left Saya to drive home with the other four paranormal eliminators. Poor Venkman failed to notice Michiru being invited into the Taxi cab with the two female friends until it was too late, which meant he had missed the opportunity to drive home with Ilyssa seated beside him; both Winston and Ray were laughing their heads off at their partner's bad luck as they watched the taxi drive pull ahead to drive in front of them. After both vehicles got through the barricades which had blocked off the road to close it for the Thanksgiving Parade, they each drove off; followed by numerous cheering fans who chased them on foot to show their appreciation and moral support until the two of them were out of sight. On the way home, Michiru was frequently interrupted by the voices of his fellow coworkers driving inside of Ecto-1 since he had accidentally taken his hand radio with him in the car instead of packing it away with his other tools and equipment; he was laughing with his two female companions while listening to the comedic chatter for a minute or two. Janine was sitting in the front passenger seat in order to give the taxi driver directions to get back home while Ilyssa sat in the back with Michiru seated next to her on the left, after hearing one more hilarious minute of chatter from Ecto-1, Ilyssa leaned closer to the Kururugi boy and turned off his radio; leaving them in peace and quiet to enjoy a proper conversation until they arrived home.

Author's Note: I apologize for the huge delay as well as how long this chapter turned out, but this chapter was especially difficult to write; I needed the large amount of time to make sure everything was arranged tied together and arranged in the proper order. I would like to give a special thanks to Jetty1 who suggested that the lost level featuring the Thanksgiving Parade which was cut out of the Ghostbusters game to be included, had he not made the suggestion when he did; I would not have been able to find the temporarily available information which was necessary to make this section of the chapter a reality so please feel free to thank him for his suggestion.

I would also like to give thanks to Orionpax09 for advising me on the confrontations between all of the characters from the Inuyasha cast, they were especially challenging and difficult to write given my limited experience and writing skills; please thank him for the invaluable help I received and needed in order to bring them to life in this chapter. Thirdly, I would like to thank Greymon leader who constantly kept me writing by giving me advise and moral support over the last two months which has helped me to finally complete this chapter which regretfully, I should have finished over a month ago; please thank him for his support which helped me finally complete this chapter which all of you have been able to read.

Last but not least; I would finally like to thank all of the other fans who have read my work and have sent in reviews telling of your responses to each and every chapter I have written for this story thus far. Without your feedback, I wouldn't have the inspiration to continue; nor learn any lessons or suggestions which would help improve the story and make it a more enjoyable adventure to read. I hope all of you are doing well and that the new year holds many good times and joyful experiences to remember for each and every one of us, thank you all once again and good luck to you on your stories or writing projects whether they're in your heads or already on paper.