Isn't this great? I'm FINALLY updating! My days at work have dropped in half (literally) so I only work three days a week now and I got ahead in homework and I forced myself to sit down and write this chapter. I should be able to start writing this story again soon now that I have got the ball rolling. Don't expect too much from me next week though. I have rehearsals all week for a performance that weekend then I fly out of state to visit a college and possibly get a full-ride. YAY!!!! But after that, I should be good. I was mainly having difficulty getting this part written (I already have the rest of the story planned out in my head) so it just comes to actually putting it down on paper.

Anyway, I'm sure you just want me to shut up now, so I will. Enjoy the chapter!

One last note: PLEASE REVIEW!!! I live off of your comments, I want to know what you think! I know my writing was complete crap when I started writing this story, but how's the plot? character development? has my style improved? what about my writing skills in general? Please, please, please let me know what you think - good or bad.


Chapter 28: Seeing with a New Light

Sakura and Hiei exchanged a glance as they stood over the two sleeping members of their team. That glance alone seemed to allow a plan to pass between the two and they both reached down and placed a hand over the mouth of their nearest teammate.

Sakura smirked evilly as she carefully ran a fingernail along Kuwabara's throat. She would not harm the human, only scare him to his wit's end; after all, he might prove of some use in the coming battle although Sakura highly doubted it.

She could tell the moment he awoke because every muscle in his body suddenly tensed and his eyes were clenched shut as if hoping and praying that this was a nightmare and he was not about to be killed.

"Open your eyes, baka, nap time's over," she ordered as she pushed herself into a standing position. She smiled sadistically as the oaf sat straight up, eyes wide in terror. She even thought she saw a tear or two run down his hideous face.

"We have company," she told the now completely awake group and Yusuke broke out into a grin as he began to crack his knuckles; he was ready for anything.

----

Shiori sat on the couch, watching the minute hand reach and pass the twelve on the wall clock in the living room. Sakura had not returned. She panicked now, unsure of where her daughter could be or how she could contact her.

"Where are you, Sakura?"

The girl did not know the city that well, despite having lived in it for seven months. She had no interest in the "trivial human pursuits of adolescents" as Sakura had so kindly worded the sentence herself, so two hours would be more than enough time for Sakura to return home.

Sighing once, Shiori stood up and walked up to her room, pulling down a box that said 'PICTURES' in big, black sharpie. At the bottom of the box, beneath boxes and albums of her life with her son, Shiori pulled out one picture from another time, one picture from another place. Her son was in this picture as well, a mere infant nearing two years of age. In the picture, Shiori held her newborn daughter, two small cat ears barely beginning to unfold from against the hanyou's scalp.

"Where are you?" Shiori asked again as she softly caressed the half-kitten shown.

Several moments of stillness and silence passed before the picture began to glow, growing exceedingly warm to the touch. The image faded out and another took its place.

Shiori dropped the picture to the ground in shock.

"No," she whispered, "How?"

She ran out of her room, not even staying to watch the image of Damien's estate in the Makai fade to black as the family photo once again took its proper place.

----

The hall was eerily dark and quiet. The detectives and their honorary member snuck stealthily around each corner until they stopped in front of a familiar door. The study was occupied, a light glow from lit candles seeping through the rice paper and around the cracks in the bamboo runners. Hushed whispers greeted the quintet as Sakura motioned to the others to halt.

"I thought I told you to get rid of the mutt, too!" a woman growled angrily, "But, much to my surprise the cat's brat is in the house this very moment! With the spirit detective and his team."

"I-"

"Don't even try to speak! I do not want to hear anything from you but the news that all five of them have been killed," the woman ordered, "So leave!"

Soft footsteps sounded in the room followed by the sliding opening and closing of the shoji that led to the outside porch.

"Myushi-sama," a timid voice rang out.

"What is it?" the woman's harsh voice replied and Sakura flinched.

"Are you sure we can trust him?"

"Oh, we can trust him, don't worry," the woman replied cryptically, "He has proven himself before and he will prove himself again."

Suddenly Kuwabara fell to the ground, having accidentally leaned over too far to listen to the conversation.

Silence reigned from within the room and Sakura and the tantei froze, hoping they would go unnoticed. They did not need to be found out just yet.

"I smell a kitty," the woman's voice called from beyond the door, "And I know it is definitely not mine; especially with that awful human stench."

Footsteps grew louder as the woman stepped toward the eavesdroppers.

"Let's see what's behind door number one."

----

Shiori ran as fast and hard as she possibly could. Her son would lecture her on keeping herself well-rested to keep herself healthy if he saw her straining herself like this but what else could she do?

Ryu had told her everything, about the attacks and about how devastated Sakura had become after her father's death. He had also told her to keep a close eye on the girl because no one could tell whether she was a target.

She was supposed to keep her from the Makai. She was supposed to keep her safe, but now the girl had run off and, from all appearances, had broken the seal on her youki.

So Shiori ran with all of her dwindling might to the one place she knew to go.

----

Sakura held her breath as her hands dropped to the sais at her waist.

"Back up," she whispered to the group and they listened, knowing it would be best to not be found in such a tight clump.

The door opened quickly and Sakura immediately swung out, the sai in her right hand hitting the skull of the person who opened the door.

"How did I know?" the woman's voice teased and Sakura walked through the door, stepping over the corpse of the inu youkai in front of her, to come face to face with the being who ordered her father's death.

The four detectives slipped quietly in behind Sakura, securing the room for the time being, killing any other dog-eared miscreants that got in their way.

Silence reigned as Myushi and Sakura measured each other up, sending hostile glares in between calculating glances.

"What a puny pest," Myushi finally sneered, "Why the man could not just get rid of you when I first told him to is beyond me – would have saved me the time of having to do it myself. Luckily it should not take too long."

Sakura glared, her grip on her weapons tightening ever so slightly, "You highly underestimate me. That has always been my opponents' problem. You will soon see that a filthy hanyou can easily surpass such a cultured and well-bred demon as yourself."

Myushi sneered and the teasing, snotty tone in her voice dropped to a low and heated one, "You will regret your insolence, wench!"

The leader of the clan of inu youkai suddenly reached out to backhand the girl, but before Sakura could respond, Hiei stood in front of her, holding the woman's arm still, growling threateningly.

He threw her arm to the side, "I tell you now: she can defeat you, and even if by some fluke, you survive, your victory will not last long." The fire apparition's blade glinted in the candle light and Myushi backed off, snarling like an irate, cornered dog.

Two beats later, however, the woman smirked, "You should have fallen to your fate earlier, girl. Now, however, you will meet the man who truly killed your father."

The detectives and Sakura followed the woman's gaze to the shoji leading to the porch and paid close attention as soft footsteps halted on the other side of the rice paper.

"I could not find them," a very familiar masculine voice called out as the screen slid open, "They were not anywhere on the-" the man stalled as he noticed who was in the room, "-grounds?"

Sakura gaped, an immeasurable pain surfacing in her eyes. "No," she whispered to herself, "No, it can't…Ryu?"