Return of the Demon Slayers

Kohaku took a deep breath, steadying his nerves. There wasn't really any way that this mission could go wrong. Even if he failed to slay the centipede demon he was after, Uncle Seiko would take care of it before it could do any harm to the villagers.

But it would be really embarrassing if he had to step in.

Everyone had high expectations for Kohaku. After all, he was the son of Hayasaka, the famed leader of the demon slayers. Sango, at only sixteen, was already one of the best slayers in their village. It was a lot to try to live up to.

The bushes rustled and Kohaku focused on the task at hand. Thinking about other things while on a mission was a good way for a slayer to get themselves killed. With a high pitched shriek, the centipede lunged out of the bushes at him. Having expected the attack, Kohaku had time to dive to the side and roll so that he came back to his feet facing the demon. He threw his sickle, just like at practice. What he wanted to happen was for the sickle to slice cleanly through the centipede's neck and decapitate it. That wasn't quite how it worked out. The point of his weapon sank deep into the base of its skull and then got lodged into something, leaving it stuck in the centipede. The demon thrashed, maddened by pain, and as Kohaku had been holding onto the chain of his weapon, he suddenly found himself flying through the air.

He was tossed completely over the demon's head and writhing body, but he managed to roll as he landed, absorbing some of the impact. The one good thing about the situation was that he'd been thrown far enough and fast enough that the sickle was yanked out of the centipede demon. Kohaku yanked on the chain, and his sickle flew back to his hand. Before he could throw it again in another attack, the centipede's long tail swung around and caught Kohaku in the side, knocking him back into a tree. Kohaku hit his head against the trunk, not hard enough to knock him out, but definitely hard enough to see stars.

Get up, get up! It could be coming for another attack!

Ignoring the throbbing pain in his head and side, Kohaku pushed himself to his feet, but by the time his vision cleared completely, Uncle Seiko had already used his hand axes to finish the centipede demon off. He picked something up off the ground and turned to Kohaku.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he walked over to Kohaku. The scar that traced from above his right eye down the side of his face made his expression seem more stern than it actually was.

"I don't think anything is broken," Kohaku said, lowering his weapon. It was hard not to lower his head in shame as well. He had really been hoping he could do this without his uncle having to help.

Uncle Seiko examined the lump on the back of Kohaku's head. "You'll have a headache for a while, but you should be fine," he said. "Let me see your side."

Resigned to the examination, Kohaku pulled up his shirt. His skin was already darkening into what would be a truly nasty bruise. He winced as Uncle Seiko probed the area with his fingers.

"Nothing broken, good," Uncle Seiko said. "That could have been a lot worse."

"Sorry," Kohaku said, filled with shame. His first mission had been a complete failure.

"Not your fault," Uncle Seiko said. "The odds were stacked against you." He held out a hand and in his palm shown a small, pink, jewel fragment.

"Is that…?" Kohaku asked.

Uncle Seiko nodded. "It's a fragment of the Shikon Jewel. If we'd known this demon had one, you'd have never been given this mission in the first place."

Kohaku figured that was supposed to make him feel better, but it didn't. Uncle Seiko patted his shoulder. "All things considered, you did good Kohaku. Besides, most people don't finish their first mission without some help. I certainly didn't."

But Kohaku's father had, and so had Sango. He had hoped to live up to their legends.

"Come one then," Uncle Seiko said. "We'd better harvest what we can from the centipede."

Harvesting the useful parts of a demon was a grisly business, but Kohaku had grown up around such work being done, and so he didn't feel squeamish at all as he helped his uncle. Eventually they had collected as much as the two of them could reasonably carry. Tying up their packages they returned to the village, where Uncle Seiko informed the people that the demon had been slain.

"Thank you so much for your help," the village headman said. "Unfortunately, we have no way of paying you."

"Don't worry about it," Uncle Seiko said. "We were able to gather some useful items from the centipede demon, so we'll just call that payment instead."

The headman bowed deeply. "You have our eternal gratitude."

When they were out of earshot of the village, Kohaku spoke up. "You didn't mention the jewel shard to them."

Uncle Seiko shook his head. "The less said about it the better. Lots of demons are after the jewel fragments, some of them very powerful, not to mention the evil humans who would seek to use the jewel as well. It's better if people don't know we have it."

Kohaku nodded his understanding, but he frowned as he thought about his sister and the dangers she must be facing. It seemed risky to entrust something as dangerous as the Shikon Jewel to a priest in training like Inuyasha, but everyone seemed convinced that he was the only one who could possibly keep the jewel pure and safe.

"What are we going to do with it?" he asked.

"That's up for your father to decide," said Uncle Seiko. "But if I know my brother, he'll want to get it to that Inuyasha for safekeeping."

Going to see Inuyasha meant going to see Sango. Hope sprang up in Kohaku. Perhaps he'd be allowed to go with whoever was assigned to take the jewel shard to Inuyasha. Nothing made him feel better than spending time with his sister.

After the confrontation with Naraku, they had gone back to the village and informed Kaede and Shippo of all that had happened. They also explained to Inuyasha just who Onigumo was and why his existence was relevant.

"Humans can turn into demons?" Inuyasha asked. "I had no idea something like that was possible."

"There are old legends of humans turning into demons through various methods," Kaede said. "But I have never known of anyone in these times to have done so. I had thought it was nothing more than a legend."

"How do those stories usually end?" Shippo asked from his position in Inuyasha's lap.

"The ones that I have heard usually end with the human turned demon going crazy and killing their families," Miroku said.

"Cheery stories," Sango said.

Inuyasha glanced out the window and saw that the sun had climbed well up into the sky. "I'd better get going. I can't afford to be late two days in a row."

He set Shippo aside and waved at the others. "I'll see all of you later." He hurried back to the well and jumped down. When he made to his house he found his mother cleaning up after breakfast.

"Inuyasha, where were you?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

"Sorry, Mom," he said. "Kagome got me early this morning. There was an emergency in my past and they needed my help. It's all taken care of now though."

"Well I'm glad you're okay," she said. "You'd better rush if you don't want to be too late to school."

"Right," he said and rushed up the stairs. He threw on his uniform and ran a comb through his unruly hair, and then rushed back down. He grabbed his lunch from his mother and waved as he ran off. "Bye, Mom!"

School had already started by the time Inuyasha arrived, but the first class hadn't ended yet. He made it to his class and hesitated just a moment before he opened the door. He hadn't forgotten the reaction of his classmates when he'd arrived the day before and he didn't look forward to repeat.

Stupid, I'm not going to stand here scared of some idiots who have nothing better to do than gossip about things they don't understand.

Squaring his shoulders, Inuyasha slid the door to his class open. Ms. Sato only spared him a momentary glance before saying, "Take your seat, Inuyasha."

There were a few whispers as Inuyasha walked to his desk, but not as many as there had been the day before. Whether this was because people weren't as shocked anymore or because Ms. Sato was in the room, Inuyasha didn't know.

Other than people going out of their way to avoid Inuyasha, the school day went on like normal. When it ended Inuyasha was ready to escape, but unfortunately he had to stay after to work with Ms. Sato.

"Oversleep again today?" she asked him when the others had left.

"Yes, ma'am," Inuyasha said.

That was all she said about him being late. After what felt like ages, they finished going over the work and Inuyasha was able to leave.

Should I go by Sensei's and tell him about what happened this morning?

He had said for Inuyasha to tell him whenever he went to the past. If he hurried, he should get there before Sensei started eating dinner. Decision made, Inuyasha headed to Sensei's home.

To his surprise, when Inuyasha arrived at Sensei's home he found someone else at the door. It took him a second to realize that the man was the doctor who had patched up his shoulder.

"Inuyasha, isn't it?" he said. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Same here," Inuyasha said. He felt a moment of guilt because he couldn't remember the doctor's name.

"How's the shoulder?" he asked.

"Fine, thanks," Inuyasha said.

The front door opened revealing Sensei. If he was surprised to see the both of them he didn't show it. "Inuyasha, I wasn't expecting you," Sensei said. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," Inuyasha said quickly. "I just wanted to talk a few minutes, but if you're busy I can come back later."

"Nonsense," Sensei said, stepping out of his house. "Haruki, I'll just be a minute."

The doctor nodded. "Certainly. I'll just step inside."

He went in the house and Inuyasha followed Sensei a few feet away from the door. "What's he doing here?" Inuyasha couldn't help but ask.

"It's Tuesday," Sensei said. "Haruki eats dinner here every Tuesday."

Inuyasha was surprised to learn that. He had realized that Sensei and Dr. Haruki must know each other given the way Sensei had been able to barge into his office after hours, but he hadn't guessed they were that good of friends.

"What did you want to tell me?" Sensei asked.

Quickly Inuyasha recounted what had happened that morning in feudal era. Sensei was frowning deeply by the end. "I don't like what I'm learning about this Naraku character," Sensei said. "There are few truly evil people in the world, but he sounds like one of them, and with every jewel shard he gets he becomes even stronger. Be careful of him, Inuyasha. Don't do anything stupid."

"I'll do my best," Inuyasha said. "But I'd better get going now. If I'm too much later Mom will start wondering where I am."

Sensei nodded. "I'll see you later."

Sensei was rather surprised that Haruki managed to not bring up Inuyasha's visit until after dinner when the two of them had retreated to talk in private.

"What did your student wish to talk about?" Haruki asked, trying to sound casual.

Sensei sighed. "Subtle prying was never one of your skills, Haruki."

Haruki snorted. "Like you have any room to talk."

Sensei nodded, acknowledging the truth of that statement. "There's no need to pry anymore though. I'm going to tell you what's going on."

Now Haruki looked genuinely surprised. "Really? That easily?"

"Not easily," Sensei said. "But I need your help."

Haruki frowned. "I'm listening."

"What I'm going to tell you is going to sound unbelievable, but I'm going to ask that you let me finish before you decide I'm crazy," Sensei said. He proceeded to tell Haruki an abbreviated version of what Inuyasha was dealing with in the feudal era and the effect it was having on him.

When he finished Haruki shook his head. "You realize that this story is impossible, right?"

"Not too long ago I'd have agreed with you," Sensei said. "But I've seen things that can't be denied."

"Like what?" Haruki asked. "What could you have possibly seen to prove a story as ludicrous as this?"

"You know those dozens of missing people?" Sensei asked.

"I'd have to be blind and deaf not to know about them," Haruki said.

"Inuyasha and I fought the thing that killed them," Sensei said.

Haruki was silent for a moment. "You can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious," Sensei said. "It was a cursed Noh mask that wanted a body of its own and ate people in its attempt to get one. It almost killed Inuyasha and myself; it probably would have if Kagome hadn't arrived in time."

"Kagome," Haruki said. "That's the half demon girl Inuyasha met five hundred years ago."

Sensei shrugged. "I told you it sounded unbelievable, but it is true. If you want to meet her, try stopping by the dojo early in the morning. She comes to me for sword training."

Haruki closed his eyes and took a breath. "Okay. Let's pretend I believe you. What exactly do you want my help for?"

"I'm worried about how these life and death events in the past are affecting Inuyasha," Sensei said. "He's been having nightmares, bad ones. Bad enough that last week he hit a teacher who made the mistake of waking him up while he was in the middle of one of his dreams."

"I'm not a psychiatrist," Haruki said, exasperation touching his voice. "My training doesn't cover mental and emotional trauma, just physical difficulties."

"I know that!" Sensei said. "But who else can I ask for advice? What psychiatrist can I turn to, exactly? I trust you, but no one else would ever believe this story, except perhaps if they met Kagome, and I'm not going to subject her to the kind of scrutiny that would result in. Besides, even if you aren't a psychiatrist, you have been in some life and death situations before, and I haven't. You could probably relate to Inuyasha better in regards to that than I can."

"I suppose," Haruki said.

"So you'll help me?"

Haruki sighed. "I'm still not fully convinced all this is true. But yes, I'll do some research and see what I can find that might be helpful."

"Thanks," Sensei said. "I really appreciate your help."

"You'd better," Haruki grumbled.

It was late when Kohaku and Uncle Seiko made it back to their village, and Kohaku wanted nothing more than to crawl into his futon and sleep. But there was still a report to be made, so his found himself sitting in front of his father while Uncle Seiko recounted the events of the day.

"So it had a jewel shard," Hayasaka said. "I suppose that explains why it suddenly became so aggressive."

"It would," Uncle Seiko said. "What do you want to do with the jewel shard? It wouldn't be safe to keep it here for long."

"I agree," Hayasaka said. "It must be taken to Inuyasha so it can be kept pure." He looked at Kohaku then and smiled. "How would you like to get to see your sister?"

Kohaku brightened. "Really? I can take it?"

"We'll both take it," Hayasaka said. "I'd like to see how she's doing myself. I trust you can look after the village for a few days, Seiko?"

"Certainly," Uncle Seiko said. "Tell that niece of mine I said hello."

"Of course," Hayasaka said. "We'll leave first thing in the morning, Kohaku, so you'd better get some rest."

"Yes, sir," Kohaku said, grateful to be dismissed. But even as he went to bed, it seemed that the aches and pains he'd collected that day didn't seem so bad.

I get to see Sango!

The morning dawned bright and clear, a beautiful day for traveling. Kohaku was thrilled to be setting out on this trip with his father, and not only because they were going to see Sango. As village headman, his father was a busy man and it wasn't often that Kohaku had his father to himself. So even though his bruised chest still ached, Kohaku had a spring in his step when they set out from the village.

"A great day for traveling, isn't it son?" Hayasaka said while smiling up at the sky.

"Yes, sir," Kohaku agreed. "How long will it take us to travel to the village that Inuyasha and Sango have been staying at?"

"About a day and a half, I believe," Hayasaka said. "Let's hope the good weather holds for the whole trip, eh?"

Kohaku nodded.

After a moment of silence, Hayasaka said, "So, you had a spot of trouble with your first mission."

Kohaku's face fell a little. He should have realized that topic would come up soon. "I'll do better next time," he said.

Hayasaka nodded. "I'm sure you will, and I'm sure you'd have done fine this time if the centipede hadn't had a jewel shard. But you must remember, Kohaku, in our line of business it only takes one mistake and there won't be a next time for you."

"I know," Kohaku said quietly.

"Don't be so glum," Hayasaka said. "I doubt if many of the kids would have handled those circumstances as well as you did on their first missions."

"I guess," Kohaku said. "But you and Sango would have done better."

"You can't compare yourself to your sister or me," Hayasaka said. "We both have years more experience than you do."

"Neither of you needed help on your first missions," Kohaku said.

Hayasaka chuckled. "My first mission involved a rat demon that was so old it had two paws in the grave already. It was nowhere near as dangerous as that centipede that you faced. As for Sango, well. I must admit that she is the most skilled slayer I've seen since my own father. But just because she excels at demon slaying doesn't mean that you aren't good as well."

"Yes, sir, I'll try to remember that," Kohaku said.

"Good," Hayasaka said. "The worst thing you could do would be to lose confidence in yourself. Then you won't be able to fight with your whole heart, and one day you'll really end up failing when it counts the most."

"What's the second worst thing you could do?" Kohaku asked.

"Have too much confidence in yourself," Hayasaka answered promptly. "That's when you end up making stupid mistakes."

From there the day passed pleasantly, and the weather did stay nice so when they camped that night it was still enjoyable. They rose with the sun and ate a quick breakfast.

"I can't wait to get to the village," Hayasaka said. "Perhaps we can convince your sister to cook some lunch for us, eh?"

"I do miss Sango's cooking," Kohaku agreed.

When they set out Hayasaka set a brisk pace, eager to reach their destination. But after they had traveled for about three hours, Hayasaka suddenly slowed and glanced around. Kohaku automatically slowed as well, and when he saw his father's grip on his tsuki nari spear, he found himself reaching for his own weapon.

Looking around, Kohaku tried to pick out what had made his father suddenly wary, but he could see nothing. There was no sound either; in fact, it seemed unnaturally quiet, with no bird or insect noises at all.

Then suddenly they rose up from behind, almost fifty demons in total. Individually the demons were fairly weak, but in those numbers it wouldn't take them long to finish off Kohaku and his father.

Hayasaka tossed the small drawstring bag containing the jewel shard at Kohaku. "Run! I'll hold them off!" Kohaku opened his mouth to argue, but Hayasaka snapped, "Now!"

Kohaku turned and ran, and he didn't look back even when he heard the sounds of battle starting. He didn't want to watch his father die.

Naraku didn't set foot on the battlefield until the slayer had fallen. The outcome had been inevitable, but the slayer had still done much better in the fight than he had expected. He'd managed to kill more than half the demons that Naraku had sent after him, and the rest were too stupid and frightened by the fight to continue after the boy.

Naraku studied the slayer's prone body. It was almost a shame for him to die. Someone with skills such as his could be an incredibly useful slave, if they could be made to obey.

"Perhaps…" Naraku said, and withdrew a shard of the Shikon Jewel. He never liked parting with his shards, but sometimes they were more useful in hands other than his own. Leaning down, he placed it in one of the many injuries that slayer had suffered before he had fallen. The jewel glowed briefly before his flesh closed as his wounds healed themselves. Finally the slayer's chest rose as he took a breath and his brown eyes flickered open.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Naraku smiled down at him. "Welcome back to the world of the living. I am Naraku, your new master, and I have a job for you."

Sango was patrolling the edge of the village. It didn't particularly need patrolling right now, but she needed to do something to keep busy. Since Inuyasha was in his own time today, Kagome had gone to the future to train some with his Sensei. That left her, Kirara, Shippo and Miroku stuck in this village, and she could only put up with Miroku's conversation for so long.

Inuyasha wasn't kidding when he said this mission would take a while. With him having to travel to the future for days on end, this could easily end up taking months, or longer.

That was no good. The longer jewel shards were left out there, the longer evil demons and humans had to get their hands on them and wreck terrible destruction on the people.

I wish he would just stay here until the Shikon Jewel was completely collected.

It probably wasn't a fair thought. Undoubtedly he had obligations in his own time that he needed to tend to. Still, would missing out on those obligations potentially cause people to die?

Sango snapped out of her thoughts when she heard something rushing toward her. She shifted her position so she'd be ready to attack with her hiraikotsu if necessary. But it wasn't a demon that burst out from the underbrush of the forest, but Kohaku.

"Kohaku!" Sango said, lowering her weapon. "What in the world are you doing here?"

He looked up at her panting for breath, and Sango saw tears build up in his eyes. "What's happened?" she demanded.

His hand trembling, Kohaku held out a small drawstring bag. "We found a jewel shard. Father and I were bringing it to Inuyasha, but we were ambushed by fifty demons. He told me to run."

Numbness swept through her as Sango tried to comprehend what Kohaku was telling her. Her father had faced fifty demons alone. He was an amazing slayer, but that was too many for any one slayer to face alone.

No! He isn't dead, he can't be!

Seeing that Kohaku was about ready to collapse, Sango said, "Come on."

Taking his hand in hers, Sango led him to Kaede's hut. "Kaede, can you watch my brother for me? I have to go."

"Certainly," Kaede said.

"What's going on?" Miroku asked.

"Kohaku and my father were bringing us a jewel shard when they were attacked by demons," Sango said. "He sent Kohaku on ahead while he fought them; I've got to make sure he's okay."

Miroku stood. "I'll go with you. You may need backup."

Sango wasn't about to turn down assistance when her father's life was on the line. She only wished that Kagome was here as well.

She tried to smile reassuringly at Kohaku. "Don't worry, Kohaku. We'll bring him back. Kirara, come on!"

Kirara dashed over and shifted into her larger form. Sango hopped onto her back and Miroku pulled himself up behind her. Kirara took off into the air and Sango focused on the ground below, searching for signs of her father.

He isn't dead, he isn't dead!

"I see someone over there," Miroku said pointing with his staff.

Sango looked, and even from the air she could recognize the unique shape of her father's tsuki nari spear, with its blade like a crescent moon lying on its back. Relief flooded through her. He really was okay!

"Take us down, Kirara," she said.

As Kirara started to descend to the ground, Hayasaka spotted them and stopped walking. Kirara landed in front of him and Sango slid off her back. "Father, you're alright!"

And then she froze because he was pointing his weapon at her, something he'd never done before. "Stay back, Sango," he said.

"What's going on?" she asked, finally noticing Hayasaka's expression. She'd never seen him look so haggard before.

"I died, Sango," he said. "The demons killed me. Then a demon called Naraku placed a jewel fragment inside of me that brought me back to life, but it also enslaves me to his will. He has ordered me to retrieve the jewel shard from Kohaku."

Sango's free hand automatically flew to the pouch containing the jewel shard that she'd attached to her belt. Hayasaka noticed the movement and he nodded. "I see. I don't expect you to just hand it over to me, Sango. We can't afford to let Naraku get any more. So here is my final order to you, as your father. Kill me, if you can."

Then she had no time to think as he lunged at her with his spear, and it was pure reflex that saved her as she automatically brought her hiraikotsu around to act as a shield. But she hadn't really been prepared for the attack and had had no chance to brace herself, so the force of his blow knocked her back. Hayasaka flipped his weapon around so the half tipped by a more traditional spearhead was pointing at her and he threw the weapon. Then Miroku was there, using his own staff to knock the spear off course.

"Father, stop it!" Sango yelled, finally finding her voice. "You have to break Naraku's control over you!"

"If I could do that, do you really think I'd be attacking you right now?" Hayasaka said. "I can't stop, Sango!"

The world seemed to be slipping away from Sango, and nothing made sense anymore. Her father was enslaved to Naraku, and because of Naraku's orders, her own father was trying to kill her.

"Then let's put an end to this," Miroku said, holding up the pouch the jewel shard was in.

When did he get that?

Miroku tossed the pouch to Hayasaka who easily caught it out of the air.

"What are you doing?" Sango demanded. "We can't let Naraku have another shard!"

"Do you want to fight your father right now?" Miroku asked.

Sango shut up because she had no response to that. Miroku grabbed her arm and pulled her over to Kirara and pushed her up on Kirara's back. Later Sango would be upset about his rough handling. Right now she had other things to be upset about. She looked back as Kirara took off through the air and saw her father retrieving his weapon before he turned and went back the way he had come. Tears blurred her vision as she made herself look away.

"I'm sorry, Sango," Miroku said.

"How could you just hand over the jewel shard like that?" Sango demanded, needing to lash out at something.

"Because if that fight had continued you would have lost," Miroku said firmly. "Your father was unable to hold back, and you were unable to fight at your full potential. I couldn't let him kill you. Besides, I didn't give him the jewel shard. I just gave him the pouch." He reached one hand inside his robes and pulled the jewel shard out. "See?"

Sango stared at him. "When did you have time to do that?"

Miroku smiled at her. "A master never reveals his secrets. Hopefully your father won't think to check inside the pouch until he has made it back to Naraku."

Pain lanced her again at the mention of her father and the reminder that he was now Naraku's slave. "How am I supposed to explain this to Kohaku?"

Miroku placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here if you need me, Sango."

Sango didn't accept his offer of help, but she couldn't quite bring herself to outright reject it either.

AN: Fun fact, Uncle Seiko is based off of one of the demons slayers shown in episode 24.