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Otulia: Eh, I think we've put enough disclaimers in this fic…

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"Kagome," Kishitaro sighed, standing in the doorway with arms crossed.

"Yeah?" she asked, peering underneath of InuYasha's bed.

"What are you doing?"

She looked up and met his eyes, a mischievous grin plastered on her face. "What's it look like I'm doing?" she asked playfully, walking over to the closet and prying open the door.

He rolled his eyes and decided to play along. "It looks like you're snooping through my uncle's room."

"Bingo!" she exclaimed, grinning at him and pulling a black silken haori. "He does where something other than red!" She held it up to show him, and something fell from it to the floor. Curious, she bent over to see what it was.

Kishitaro straightened suddenly, looking over his shoulder. "Uncle InuYasha is back," he told her, worry lacing his voice. "Something bad must have happened, for his thoughts to jump out at me like this."

She stood up, the fallen object in her hand. "Really? Any idea what it could be?"

Kishitaro grimaced. "Not really. I'm mostly getting a lot of really loud swearing."

Sighing, Kagome turned back to the closet. "I guess my snooping's over then." She tossed the haori back in, then turned her eyes to the thing she'd picked up. Her eyes went wide as she beheld a black felt-covered headband with cat ears sewn onto the sides.

Kishitaro frowned at her disbelieving expression. "What's wrong?"

She didn't reply, only staring intently at the cat ears, remembering something she had been told nearly two months before. "He was taller than me, and he was wearing black," Ayumi's voice repeated in her mind. "He had dark, almost violet eyes, and he had really long black hair. And there were fake cat ears on his head."

Kagome gasped in realization and looked up just in time to see InuYasha appear behind Kishitaro. "I need your help," he told his nephew. "C'mon."

Kishitaro nodded and followed him back down the corridor. Kagome followed after, trying to form her thoughts into coherent words.

He led them out of the manor and into the winter cold. "Can you let her see the city?" he asked Kishitaro, inclining his head toward someone standing there.

Kagome shook her head, ignoring everyone but InuYasha himself. "You're the cat demon Ayumi met at the cultural festival! It was the night of the new moon, wasn't it? Why didn't you tell me?"

He crossed his arms and responded with a typical, "Keh."

An astonished gasp drew her attention from him to the person standing behind him, and she nearly fell over in shock. "Ayumi?" She looked back at InuYasha. "You brought Ayumi here, to Okirei?"

Ayumi stepped forward. "I came to help, Kagome," she said quietly, glancing around in awe.

Kagome made a face and Kishitaro laughed quietly. "This is too much to find out once," she said flatly, storming back into the manor. "And it's cold out here!"

"I can't believe we didn't think of this," Kishitaro grumbled, eyes scanning the demons in the crowd around him. The market at the heart of Okirei was packed, business booming. It was all the group could do to keep to together, and Kishitaro checked in on them telepathically every few minutes to make sure no one had run across trouble.

They had had to stop twice already. The first time was to wait for a group of young gossipy demonesses to stop pestering Amoyael and Antheron. The second time, all chaos nearly broke loose when a paranoid demon, sensing that Kagome was a priestess, tried to run her through with his horn. Since then, she had been clinging tightly to Kishitaro's arm, trying not to let her fear show.

He turned his eyes on her for a moment, reassuring her with a smile and a kind thought before checking in with the others again.

InuYasha was still in sight, internally grumbling about idiotic demons trying to hurt his friends. Despite all that had happened, he was still protective of Kagome, and probably always would be. Ayumi stayed close to him, marveling at everyone and everything, the reality of Okirei setting in on her; excitement radiated from her, instead of the fear that would be expected from most humans in her situation.

Amoyael and Antheron had moved ahead, electing to fly to their destination on Yael's feather after the incident with the demonesses. Theron was impatient, demanding to know how much longer they would be, while Amoyael was mediating in a corner, unfazed by his sister's agitation.

Shippo and Rin had fallen behind, but were making progress. The fox demon was cheerily observing the other demons, exchanging greetings with those he knew every so often. But he was anxious, worried for his mate and daughter, despite the protection Kagura had offered before escorting Ai back to Sheehan.

Rin was not afraid of the demons, though she remained tense and on edge, unused to being in the presence of so many. Shippo's good mood did nothing to lighten her own.

Sighing, Kishitaro turned his attention back to pushing through the mass of demons, making his way ever closer to the very center of the city. Once again, he grumbled, "I can't believe we didn't think of this."

Rin made sure to look at the face of every demon that passed by her. She didn't understand why she felt compelled to do so, but didn't waste time puzzling over it, attributing it to her uneasiness.

Kagura had picked their destination. She had said that it was a small but quiet tavern and that they should have no problem getting the owner to let them use it as their temporary headquarters while searching out Sesshomaru. As it was in the very center of Okirei, and her offspring had inherited their father's dislike of crowds, not one of the three had been there.

Lost in her thoughts, Rin had let her attention slide from her surroundings, and found herself nearly knocked off her feet as a young woman in purple rushed past, laden with bags of food from various vendors.

She glanced over her shoulder as she scurried on and called out a hasty apology before disappearing in the crowd. Rin's blood ran cold; she recognized her from somewhere, but she would have to have a better look at her face before being able to place her in her memory. Nonetheless a feeling of cold dread filled her, enhanced by the strange aura surrounding the woman; it felt like none she had ever encountered.

"Rin, you'll get left behind!" Shippo called, breaking the trance the woman's aura had left her in. Shaking her head, she turned and trotted after him, determined not to get lost among the demons.

Everyone met up just outside the tavern. It had been agreed beforehand that Kishitaro would be the one to speak to the owner, as he was the most likely to get a positive response. Amoyael tended to be a little too demanding, and Antheron's temper was likely to get out of hand. Shippo wasn't particularly familiar with the ways of Okirei, due to living in Sheehan with Ai, InuYasha wasn't very popular, and no one was likely to be very civil to the three humans among them.

Kagome let her gaze travel over the building, taking note of its simple appearance. It looked to be no more than a two story house with wood siding converted into a tavern, a swinging sign over the door reading, Gymynii's.

The group filed through the door, Amoyael taking the lead. There were only two customers inside, a moth demon sitting at a table in the corner, and a scraggly looking demon with unkempt black hair slouched at the counter.

"Welcome to Gymynii's." Kagome and Shippo jumped as the quiet voice floated to them from a dark doorway behind the counter. "What can I do for you?" A slender demoness in white glided through it, a small smile alight on her face.

InuYasha, Kagome and Shippo nearly fell over in shock. Kagome let go of Kishitaro's arm and took a hesitant step forward. "Kanna?" she asked.

She nodded and came to greet them. "Sister Kagura told me you were coming," she said softly. "You are more than welcome to work here. Kiyo and Itachi will be leaving in a minute or so, and you will have the place to yourselves."

Half an hour later, Kishitaro sat still in a comfortable chair in the quietest part of the tavern, his eyes closed in concentration as he reached out with his mind, searching for any trace of his father. Kagome knelt on the floor beside him, holding his hand in hers, silently lending him strength.

The only sounds came from across the room, where InuYasha was attempting to answer Ayumi's multitude of questions, assisted by Shippo when he didn't know the answer.

Kanna had vanished to the second floor, leaving them in peace.

Kagome started as Kishitaro's hand tightened around hers, and she realized that he had connected with someone's mind; quite possibly Sesshomaru's. After a minute or two, his eyes slid open, and he sighed heavily, attracting the attention of everyone present.

"Did you find him?" Antheron asked quietly. Amoyael put a hand on her shoulder, sharing her anxiousness.

Kishitaro looked at each of his companions in turn. "I don't know where he is, but I was able to talk with him," he replied slowly.

Rin stood up from the chair she had been sitting in. "That's good, isn't it?"

Kagome squeezed his hand. "What's bothering you?"

Reluctantly, he told them. "I connected with Father," he said slowly. "But he didn't know who I was."

Yay! Another chappie finished! Please review! I miss reviews very much!