Episode 36: When Everything Falls Into Place

"Whew! That thing was scary!" Kouga exclaimed as he set the surprised Kikyo onto the ground. She patted her hakama and sighed. "There goes another bow..."

"So, what's your name, Kagome's look alike--"

"It's the other way around."

"Just answer my question already."

"It's Kikyo." She looked around for the chief and found only footprints leading back to the village. At least there was evidence that he was safe and back at his home.

"If you know Kagome, you know Inuyasha right?"

Kikyo didn't answer that question and asked one of her own instead. "What is your connection to Inuyasha?"

"Well, it'd be a bit to nice to call that useless mutt my rival because he doesn't even match next to me, but it's something like that," he explained irritably, and in a rush.

"I'm just an old friend of his. That is all."

"Man, you really are different from Kagome. You're so unsociable and cold..."

"And you are exactly the same as Inuyasha, who rushes into things without thinking," she retorted, holding her head a bit higher as she left.

"HEY, JUST CAUSE YOU HAVE A PRETTY FACE DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH THAT!!!"

But, she was long gone, soaring away with her Shinidamachu into the sky.

~O~O~O~O~O~

"Sesshoumaru, you jerk, what are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked breathlessly, the weight of each tentacle pounding on his cheek. His elder half brother didn't reply. He ignored him and went ahead toward Moryomaru, Tojikin in hand and slashed against his left shoulder. The youki hit him, but it didn't give a lasting pain on him. In fact, there seemed to be no pain at all.

"Kukuku, don't you know I can absorb youki? You're just strengthening me!"

At once, Moryomaru transformed into a huge youkai, arms and tentacles large and long like rivers. Inuyasha struggled to breathe, as he began to get sucked in deeper into Moryomaru's body. That idiot, he thought bitterly as he watched Sesshoumaru slash at him without mercy. But obviously Moryomaru had no idea that his half-brother had no feelings of family love toward him.

"Don't you care about your brother?" he asked, as if he were begging for his life.

Sesshoumaru merely smirked at that question. "Hmmph. I could slice you both and care less."

Mika grimaced at the thought of being Sesshoumaru's sibling. "Poor little brother; Sesshoumaru wants to kill him along with the enemy..."

"He's colder than ice!" Yukuro agreed.

Sesshoumaru frowned once more and threw another slash into the air, the youki rushing toward Moryomaru again. "Just you try it," he taunted. Shippo clung to Kagome fearfully. "That dope Sesshoumaru, if he keeps firing them, he'll get stronger!!!" He covered his eyes in disappointment as he listened to Jaken's useless sayings.

"H-How dare you call Sesshoumaru-sama a dope! I'm sure he has a great reason to do this--"

"AND WHAT WOULD THAT REASON BE???"

"IF I KNEW THAT I'D BE CALM FROM THE START YOU BAKA KITSUNE!!!"

Miroku got up from his knees and turned to Kagome. "Actually, I think we should be focused on Inuyasha. It doesn't seem like he's in a happy situation."

Sango nodded. "But it's impossible to stop his deranged brother, isn't it?"

"I guess," Miroku sighed, wrapping the beads around his hand. "You're sure he has a plan?"

Jaken could only watch with trembling eyes as the slashes of Tokijin hit Moryomaru. Suddenly, Kagome clutched her fingers around her bow and raised her arrow. Aiming it at Moryomaru, she was about to shoot it, when two other arrows came in. The longer one tipped with the eagle feather devoured the smaller one, but both of them did enough damage to let Inuyasha breathe again. Kagome turned to side to side, finding only one of the archers; Mika. She gulped. The other archer could only be...

Darn, it's that woman, Kagura thought bitterly, and felt the presence of Naraku's creation. A soft pat approached the scene as a long scythe dragged onto the floor. "Oh lookie here. It's that dead clay woman, Kikyo."

Kikyo's hair was loose and the soul snatchers were dancing around her. They left when she took a step forward, her hair tickling them. She nocked another arrow, her eyes full of coldness and merciless thoughts, aiming it at Moryomaru. At the same time, Sesshoumaru struck again, this time, the youki collected in his body reacting strangely. It made his skin bulge until it burst like a balloon.

Injured, he turned to Hakudoshi, who only glanced at him cruelly, with no affection or sorrow at all. Nevertheless, he and Kagura welcomed him in the mist, as they disappeared. Sesshoumaru tried to go after them, with the Tokijin by his side, but Hakudoshi's barrier was second to none in power. It reflected the attack back at everyone, letting them escape perfectly.

Miroku sighed as she struck his staff end on the floor. "That's that huh?" He turned to Inuyasha, who became youkai once more. "Do we go after him?"

Gripping tightly on a piece of pebble and taking a swift look at Kikyo, he reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, of course."

~O~O~O~O~O~

When they caught up to them, they found Hakudoshi and Moryomaru at the edge of the cliff. Beside them was Kanna, the white girl who had no scent and presence. They seemed to be talking about something as they landed on the floor. Up in the air, Kagura watched intently.

"Hakudoshi! What did you do," he growled, cracking the bones inside his hand. The white kid simply laughed. "What I did was kick your butts, that's all."

Suddenly, Kanna's mirror shone with a bright light. She murmured, "The girl is coming."

"What girl," Hakudoshi spat, aiming his scythe at the sky. The mirror showed a girl that vaguely resembled Mika.

Kanna said no more, as she took a step backward. Moryomaru did so too, and before they could shout out anything, they fell into the abyss below. And as they stood there and watched, Kagome felt the a Shikon no Kakera. "Hey, I feel a Shikon no Tama!"

Sango bit her lip. The only one who held a shard was her brother, Kohaku.

And sure enough, the boy dashed out of the forests, and into their group. With his chain weapon in hand he parted them away and jumped into the air, with Kagura catching him successfully. Then the turned and looked at Sango with eyes that tried to tell her something.

A secret, his eyes held, but before she could make out anything or say his name, they too, disappeared.

"Kohaku..."

~O~O~O~O~O~

Her heart was pounding. That feeling was disappearing. It was like another part of herself. Where was it?

Left? Right? Up? Or... She pushed the branches in her way and found herself at the edge of a cliff.