A/N: The male guppy fish is chasing around the heavily pregnant female in the tank, who also happens to be his sister…yes, fish inbreed happily. Yuck. This chapter just kept going and going. I am SORRY!! Wisdom teeth countdown: 5 days.

Disclaimer: I do not own the original characters.

Last Chapter: Koinu and Kasai had a little of a misunderstanding, leading to Koinu deciding that he didn't want to go with the slayers. Meanwhile Kagome heard for the first time that both of her children had either resisted miko powers or actually used them, which surprised her and made her eager to learn how and why with the help of Miroku and Sango. She convinced IY that it was an acceptable idea for Koinu to go with the slayers. She also let the cat out of the bag as far as his feelings toward Kasai. IY felt a little stunned that his son was as grown as that. But when they asked Koinu if he wanted to go he said no. Meanwhile Masuyo and Saya bonded as Masuyo realized that Saya is a captive of sorts as well. Sess and Rin sent her away because of "the new pup." Ginrei was going into labor. Saya predicted that one day she would be Masuyo's mistress and she would set him free.

Silence

After the sun had set on their camping spot, Inuyasha withdrew from the group with a cranky look on his face. He sat at the edge of their little clearing, frowning at the fire. Shippo joined him, jabbering cheerfully in spite of Inuyasha's pouting. Miroku and Sango stayed together, lying beside one another, half sleeping already though they had not prepared or eaten a meal for the night yet.

Pouting on the night, or nights, of his transformation tended to be one thing that Koinu shared with his father. He sat beside the fire, enjoying its warmth like a cat, closing his blue eyes, listening with his weakened ears to the people around him. Akisame and Kagome were discussing herbs with Akisame shrugging off the information that her mother offered and Kagome insisting that her daughter commit it all to memory. Nobe had stayed with Kasai while Kohimu and Tisoki went hunting. Kasai was helping Nobe sculpt a lump of wood. She was quiet and patient, far removed from the energetic, playful Kasai that Koinu remembered from before her abduction.

She had smiled and even laughed when they sparred, once he had gotten her to overcome the strange fear and depression that had taken over her whenever she thought of her own sword. Had he imagined the warmth in her eyes when she walked at his side? The sadness when he left her?

He jumped, letting out a little yelp when Akisame sat down heavily at his side, groaning with irritation. "Aki?" he demanded, blinking.

"I know you're sulking and all but I had to get away from Mom," Akisame explained.

"You should listen to her," Koinu grumbled. "Show her the respect she deserves."

"I do!" Akisame snapped. "But she keeps going on like I didn't hear the first time. I told her I don't need to know what the plants look like; I can just smell them…" It was true that their mother underestimated their senses, assuming that sight was more important than it was. Koinu tolerated such misunderstandings, Akisame did not.

"You should help her cook," Koinu mumbled, closing his eyes again, returning to his own thoughts and enjoying the fire.

"Ugh!" Akisame groaned, rolling her eyes. She jabbed her brother with her elbow, digging into his ribs with more strength than she had meant to. The jab knocked Koinu over onto his side. Immediately Akisame reached out to help him. "Koinu! I'm so sorry, I forgot you're weak when you're human…"

Koinu slapped her hands away irritably and sat up on his own. He glared at his sister, ignoring the brief flicker of hurt that crossed her face. "You're so…" he cut himself off and huffed. He got to his feet and scanned the rest of the group, searching for someone else he could join, somewhere to go to get away from his sister.

"Koinu?" Akisame asked, sounding almost afraid.

"I'm going to help Mom." He resisted the urge to add a cutting remark and left her, walking the short distance to where Kagome was sitting alone. He knew by the way that Kagome offered a weak, uncertain smile that she had heard every word of their little spat.

"Hello, Koinu," she greeted him.

"Hi, Mom." He reached for one of the herbals stalks, a plant that he recognized as being good for helping the body make new blood. They were still making special meals for Sango, mixing the herb into teas or soups to keep her healthy. Without thinking about it, Koinu pushed his fingernails into the stalk, trying to cut it as he would have normally, but his nails were blunt. The stalk oozed slightly with a little of its precious juices but otherwise it stayed whole. Koinu's face fell. "Oops…"

Kagome shook her head. "I don't have another knife, I'm sorry."

Dejectedly, Koinu handed the stalk back to her. He glimpsed his own black hair as he did so and frowned, sulking even more.

"Don't pout like your father," Kagome cautioned. "It just doesn't suit you." She turned, setting aside the herbs and the knife she'd been using to cut them, and put a finger below Koinu's chin, lifting his face up. Her warm brown eyes narrowed as she examined his human features. A bright, playful smile spread over her lips. "You look a little like Souta."

Koinu blinked but didn't pull away from her scrutiny. "What? Uncle Souta?"

Kagome's smile transformed into a grin. "Yes. You know my brother is very intelligent and very sweet. He's also a real hit with the ladies."

Koinu scowled and gently pushed away his mother's hand. "That doesn't sound like me."

"No?" Kagome asked, teasing him. She leaned in close and lowered her voice almost to the point where the crackling of the fire some ten feet away nearly blotted it out. "What about Kasai?"

Her son flinched and his frown deepened, yet at the same time his face burned hotly with a fierce blushing. "Mom!"

Unlike his father and potentially his sister too, Koinu had known that Kagome would figure him out. It was only a matter of time. If she wasn't distracted enough by other matters Kagome would unravel his behavior in an instant. He risked glancing back at Akisame but found to his relief that she had moved to the tree line where Inuyasha and Shippo were sitting. She was picking a fight with the fox, shouting about the riddles he'd told earlier in the day.

"No sooner spoken than broken! That's not even real! What's the fucking answer Shippo?"

Before Koinu could stop himself, he also stared at Kasai. He'd meant only to look for a moment, but that moment lengthened as he watched Kasai steady Nobe's hands, as she shifted his grip on the knife he was using to carve the wood lump. "Like this," she murmured, quietly.

Koinu's own hands twitched, the fingers wriggling for a moment as he recalled how her touch had felt when she had done the same thing. First with the rice balls, then with the carving knife when he had allowed her, in spite of his embarrassment with Kohimu and Tisoki watching, to teach him a little bit of how to carve. Now she was with Nobe, doing the same thing. Anger sparked inside him, but it was coupled more with sadness. The lessons meant nothing.

"Koinu?" Kagome asked, touching his shoulder.

"What is it?" he snapped, glancing down at his clawless hands, the blunt, fleshy tips of each finger exposed and vulnerable—like his heart.

"Was I wrong?" Kagome asked. When he didn't answer immediately, she squeezed his arm, giving it a little shake. "Koinu—what's wrong?"

I don't have Uncle Souta's luck. Koinu tried to wrench his tormenting thoughts away from Kasai, but now, almost with preternatural hearing for a human, Koinu could make out her words across the fire. "Very good, Nobe…"

"Koinu? What's wrong?" Kagome asked again, this time louder and with more insistence. She was concerned and with each second that her son didn't look at her and didn't answer, her worry increased.

At last Koinu said, "It's nothing."

"What's nothing?"

"Nothing's wrong."

Kagome gave a small, tight laugh. "I can't believe that. Koinu, I can tell you're upset, why try and hide it?" Then she broke him, adding: "You should never lie to your mother. I'm only here to help you."

Koinu sighed, his shoulders collapsing, losing much of his tension. The childish desire swept over him to hug her as he met her gaze, but he resisted. He was not a pup anymore. There were some problems that his mother's comforting embrace couldn't fix. But when Kagome's hand moved from his shoulder to his cheek, Koinu leaned into her touch and closed his eyes, accepting her care with the same gratitude that he had drawn from the fire.

"What's happened to make you so upset?" Kagome asked, nearly whispering.

He didn't open his eyes when he answered her in the same whisper, "I told Kasai how much I care for her but she—she doesn't feel the same way."

"How do you know?" Kagome asked. She pulled her hand from his face, leaving behind the faint scent of the herbs she had been cutting up. "Did she say that? I think she's a little traumatized right now to—"

"I know she is," Koinu interrupted sharply, growing sheepish. "I didn't expect her to tell me anything back but I offered to go with her—to stay with her in the demon slayer's village. That was why I asked Dad." He stumbled as he caught himself using the more familiar term for Inuyasha and frowned as he went on, not bothering to correct it around Kagome. "But when I told her about it she didn't want me to do it."

"Really?" Kagome's eyebrows lifted into her forehead, revealing her surprise.

Koinu nodded solemnly, trying to keep the discussion from souring his mood even further. His jaw was clenched tightly, but his long black hair hid the action effectively.

"I saw her with you, Koinu," Kagome started, picking up the knife and the green stalk of the herb once more. The blade cut through the stalk with a satisfying wet snap. "I don't think what she told you reflected her feelings. Kasai has gone through a lot. I'm sure she cares about you a lot—but right now it might be too hard for her to cope. I know you've been close with her all of your life. It's not going to come easily."

Koinu watched her steady, experienced fingers manipulate the green stalk, sliding it under the knife to be cut and chopped. "What am I supposed to do, Mom? I can't…" he scowled and closed his eyes to keep himself from turning a watchful eye on where Kasai and Nobe were sitting. I can't live in the same village with her and watch her flirt and grope…

The knife stilled over the chopped herbs. Kagome smiled sadly at her son, admiring his human features, the heaviness in his expression. It was achingly familiar to her. She had once seen it in Sango's face, and in her own reflection too. She had told Koinu that he looked like Souta, but really she saw herself in him. She thought of the discussion earlier in the day, the chance that her children carried her own miko powers. Koinu reminded her so much of herself. How strange it was that he would look so much like his father but act like a copy of Kagome herself.

Her chest seemed to swell, filled with pride. She could only offer him the advice that she had taken herself as a schoolgirl.

"I think you have to do what you feel is right, Koinu. Sometimes that means fighting for what you want, even when it hurts and even when you think you're wrong." Her eyes were filled with joy and her smile changed, losing the tinge of sadness. "There were many times when I was angry with your father and convinced he didn't care about me at all, but if I had given up I never would have had you and your sister. I wouldn't be as happy as I am now."

Koinu let out a sigh. A light frown marred his face. "But Dad and Aki, they don't want me to go. Kasai herself told me…"

"I think you have every reason to go to the slayer's village for the rest of the season." Kagome snatched his hands and pulled them without warning close to her, putting them hands up.

Koinu struggled only slightly before giving in, staring at his mother speculatively. "What are you doing?"

"Your father and Sango both say that you and Aki had my miko powers. Do you?"

Koinu felt his skin flush with heat. He stammered nervously, "I—I don't know. Aki said she actually used it to kill the kitsune that—"

"But you showed it too? While you were fighting with Kasai at the temple—she couldn't purify you more than once. I think Sango and Miroku need to research this. Really, I do. You and Aki should learn about it. Any weapon you can use to defend yourself and each other is worth spending a season away from home for. If I could convince your father to let Aki go too, I would. I'll try to work with her myself but she's so difficult, so stubborn." Kagome released his hands and sighed, looking back to the herbs. "Kohimu and Tisoki will be back soon. I need to finish this."

"Let me help," Koinu said, reaching for the knife.

Kagome blocked him. "No, one person is enough." Her smile grew, becoming crafty. "Why don't you keep learning about carving? I know my son can do a better job than that novice Nobe."

"You'd be surprised," Koinu grumbled.

She patted his shoulder encouragingly. "Don't be afraid, Koinu. Go and try it with human hands. You might be surprised all over again." Her voice dropped down to a whisper. "She needs you Koinu."

He sighed, giving in. Slowly, Koinu got to his feet and moved to the other side of the fire. No one watched him, no one took note. Inuyasha, Shippo, and Akisame were still fighting over riddles, Sango and Miroku had fallen silently into sleep. When Koinu reached where Kasai and Nobe were sitting, both working their small knives over formless hunks of wood or youkai bone, both lifted their eyes with surprise. Koinu caught the way Kasai's face, lit and painted orange by the firelight, tightened when she saw him. The edges of her violet eyes crinkled.

"Mom says I should try carving while I'm human," Koinu explained, lamely. He nearly cringed at the dull sound in his voice, barely disguising his discomfort and upset.

"I think that's a good idea," Kasai said, offering a small smile. As he sat down she held out her carving knife and the rounded lump of youkai bone that she had been working on. "This is all I have right now really."

Koinu pushed it away. "No, I'll just mess it up and that's bone." The youkai bone was far rarer than wood and it was the fine shapes and weapons that Kasai and her siblings made from youkai bone that often paid for their lodging. Kasai would turn the lump of ivory into a figurine, a pendant for jewelry, or a small dagger. Koinu would ruin it.

"Take mine," Nobe said.

The block of wood was uneven, whittled down too much on one side. Koinu accepted it and mumbled a quick thank you. Feeling awkward and rude, Koinu pretended to be absorbed by examining the wood and Nobe's previous work. He wrung his brain out like a sponge, searching for something kind to say.

Before he could speak Nobe announced, "It's going to be a set of chopsticks. Kasai says I have to start small." He paused and then asked, "You're new to it too, right?"

"Yeah," Koinu replied. He ran his thumb over the rough, raggedly hewn surface of the wood and thought about how horrible the chopsticks were going to be.

Kasai stayed quiet. Without looking at her directly, just peeking out the corner of his right eye, Koinu saw and heard her begin to scratch at the bone with her knife once more. Little scratches and scraped, shaping and working. Tiny white flakes fell at her knees and into her lap, like tiny cuttings of hair, white hair like Koinu and Inuyasha's were normally.

"Can I ask a question?" Nobe asked almost breathlessly.

"What is it?" Koinu asked, struggling to restrain his irritation toward the other boy.

"You appear so human now! How? Kohimu and Tisoki mentioned something about it earlier to me, but I just don't understand. What kind of magic is it?"

"I am human right now," Koinu muttered, frowning. "I might be human again tomorrow night too. It'll be just my luck, but you won't be there to see it since you'll go with the slayers to their village when we reach the crossroads."

Nobe actually looked saddened as he took in Koinu's words. "Oh, what a shame. It's so remarkable!" The boy leaned in closer, ducking lower to squint at Koinu's face. "You look just like Lady Kagome!"

"Of course I do," Koinu said. "She's my mother so I look like she does." The frown started to deepen into an outright glare directed at Nobe. He felt his shoulders bunching up, tightening with tension. To distract himself, Koinu began working the knife over the block of wood. He put a great deal of energy and pressure into it, making broad, deep cuts. A full chunk of wood fell onto the grassy earth at his knees.

"But normally you look like Inuyasha," Nobe said, stating the obvious. "The difference is so—"

"Yeah, I know!" Koinu snapped. He found himself starting to growl but the sound was too high, altered by his completely human throat. He covered it by grunting, clearing his throat. Even so Nobe had pulled away from him with alarm.

"Try not to stare at him," Kasai put in. "It's really rude, Nobe."

Koinu turned his glare on her as he flicked another large flake of wood away from his black. "What is that supposed to mean, huh? Is it really that hard for all of you not to stare? Am I that bad looking?"

Kasai flinched and she bit her lip as she shook her head in the negative.

When Koinu glanced back at Nobe he found that the boy had also averted his eyes. Nobe picked at the wood flakes in front of him, nervously feeling over them with both hands. Somehow their reaction irritated Koinu even further and he sighed, blustering, "First it's staring; now you're both scared to look at me."

Kasai's hands faltered on the bone just as he finished scolding them. The knife bit into her skin. Kasai gave a small cry and dropped the knife and the bone with a tiny thump into the grass. Her hands shook as she turned them over, searching for the wound.

"Oh no!" Nobe called, forgetting the tension of seconds ago. "Kasai? Are you okay?"

Koinu had frozen, his blue eyes focused on Kasai's hands. His spine felt stiff, as hard as a steel rod, but his throat had begun to burn. He swallowed thickly, startled by his shame and concern. Shame for having lost his temper, concern for what he might have done to Kasai in only a few short minutes of sitting with her while his emotions ran wild inside him, unchecked.

A sparkle of moisture appeared on one of Kasai's fingers. It grew, oozing and then beading. Although the firelight colored it orange-brown Koinu knew it was actually bright red.

"This is my fault. I'm sorry," Koinu blurted, unable to rein in the words. "I'm so sorry…"

Kasai said, "It's nothing." A small bead of the blood dropped and hit the white bone where Kasai had dropped it. Kasai wiped at the blood with her other fingers and then clasped the bleeding one tightly. "I'm fine."

"My mother always taught me to wash wounds and bandage them as soon as they happen!" Nobe chanted. He rose to his feet. "I'm going to go and get Lady Kagome's water and a bandage if we have one…"

Koinu scarcely heard Nobe's announcement. He heard his mother's words from only minutes ago echo inside his brain: She needs you. When Nobe came back with one of Kagome's plastic water bottles and one of the fabric brown colored "band-aids" that had filled Koinu's childhood, covering up every bleeding scratch he'd collected, Koinu took the water and the little bandage from him. "I'll do it. It's my fault."

"The knife slipped," Nobe said, surprised by Koinu's response. "It was an accident…"

"Nobe's right," Kasai murmured, quietly.

Koinu ignored her, taking hold of the hand with the bleeding finger. He tipped the uncapped water bottle over her hand, letting the stream of water rinse the offending blood away. After the water had dripped away into the dirt, Koinu tugged on his haori, which was a simple dark brown, and patted her finger carefully. He explained sheepishly, "It has to be dry for the Band-Aid to stick."

As Koinu delicately tore away the plastic strips and aligned the little brown Band-Aid over Kasai's finger, she thanked him quietly. Koinu stared at her, unwilling to let go of her hand. He steeled himself for what he wanted to say next but Nobe interrupted him by reaching in and picking up the little strips of plastic that Koinu had discarded unthinkingly on the ground.

"Lady Kagome said I needed to bring back the scraps to her." He disappeared hurriedly and Koinu hadn't missed the note of awkwardness in his voice and his movement. Nobe had sensed the strange tension between the couple and he wanted out of it with the small crisis averted. Although Koinu knew he owed the youth an apology his main focus was on Kasai.

"Kasai—I'm sorry I got upset—"

She cut him off as she took her hand back from him, holding it close to her chest. "I cut myself. You don't have to be sorry. It was my fault, okay? I think we've all had enough carving for tonight."

The firelight flickered inside its circle of gray stones. Miroku had started to snuffle in his sleep, halfway snoring. Behind him, Koinu could hear his mother jabbering with Nobe, giving him the same lesson about herbs that she'd tried to deliver to Akisame earlier. Shippo and Akisame had restarted their riddle match, this time with Inuyasha as the judge. As Kasai gathered the carving knives and the lumps of youkai bone and wood that could still be used, Koinu searched himself, wondering. He tracked her bandaged finger as she slipped the knives into small sheathes and tucked them away inside the hidden pockets in her kimono sleeves.

"Kasai—let me go with you and your family to the slayer village. I have to understand the miko power I might have. My mom agrees and even my father would let me go."

She worked slowly, lifting the larger blocks of wood and bone from the wet ground and sliding them into two smaller leather bags. One clinked with bone; the other made the thick, dull sounds of wood gently striking more wood. She didn't look at him or acknowledge his words.

"It would only be for the season," he added, quietly.

Her hands stilled at last, holding onto the leather bag of bone chips. Her shoulders rose up and then back down while she stared at her hands, at the ground. "I don't want you to leave your family for me, Koinu," she whispered shakily. "I want you to be happy."

Koinu pressed on, stubbornly. "It will give me a chance to learn what I can do with my mother's powers." He raised his voice as he added abruptly, "It isn't for you—not just for you…"

Kasai lifted her violet gaze and Koinu had time to catch the faint shimmer of unshed tears before Inuyasha shouted to his far right. They turned as one, startled by his voice, and saw Kohimu and Tisoki emerging through the darkness of the trees. Tisoki led the way, carrying two hares and wearing a massive grin.

"About time!" Inuyasha grumbled.

"Dad!" Akisame yelled, pulling on his red haori sleeve. "Who wins? Me or Shippo?"

"You do," Inuyasha answered her dismissively. He was already walking to meet Tisoki to take the rabbits and start gutting and skinning them.

"That's not fair!" Shippo yelled, his tawny tail bristling. "I had the best riddles! Inuyasha—you're just a bad judge. You'll say Aki always wins just because she's your daughter!"

"Shut the hell up, Shippo," Akisame snapped. "I won. Quit being a bad sport."

A cool touch fell on Koinu's hand. He blinked as he realized it was Kasai. She was smiling tentatively with a certain tenderness that sucked all the moisture out of Koinu's mouth. "I have to go help clean their catch," she said, "but tell your sister I know the answer to Shippo's hardest riddle."

"What? No sooner spoken than broken?"

Kasai nodded and for a moment, caught in the flickering orange light, Koinu saw the old mischief and glee that he'd grown up with. "The answer is silence." She pulled her hand away from his and rose from her sitting position.

Koinu watched her walk away and though she had given him silence, failed to tell him that she wanted him to go with her, to help her, but that silence held the power of words. Had words ever mattered much between them before?

Determined, Koinu moved after her, ready to help prepare the rabbits even if the work was menial and supposedly a woman's task. He would work at Kasai's side, watching for her tender smile, the one that left something within her exposed for him to see, beautiful and as fragile as his own.

Excitement and fear worked as one to rob Kasai of all hunger and concentration. She ate sparsely at their evening meal before sleep and then fell into her nightly bout of bad dreams and half-formed memories.

She saw her hands moving of their own accord and couldn't stop them. Nimble and strong, trained to kill monsters many times more powerful than she was, those hands grasped her father's staff, tearing it from his hold and then wielding it on him, whacking him in the head. She had seen the horrible bruise from it in the light of day, still healing though weeks had passed. Then she used the staff on Kagome, but Kagome became Masuyo, curled into a ball and sobbing over their father's inert body.

Kasai heard the musical, cheery jangling as the staff connected with her brother's skull. The bone popped wetly.

She woke up crying out in a moan, the most that her lethargic, sleep drugged throat could manage. She had been screaming in the dream, fighting herself, trying to protect Masuyo from her own killer's hands. In the darkness of the camp, with Miroku and Sango sleeping at either side protectively, Kasai hugged herself and closed her eyes, wondering suddenly if such nightmares were the reason that her uncle, who she had never met, had never returned after the fall of Naraku. It was hard to live with the burden of knowing that she had simply attacked her friends and family. Kohaku had slaughtered his own kin and been forced to live with it, a fate that Kasai couldn't begin to imagine. A tortuous existence.

She laid back down and returned to a fitful half-sleep where her dreams were muddled with mundane things like cutting meat or vegetables, stirring soup and carving.

The new day arrived bright and early. Inuyasha woke them at dawn when his transformation came. In spite of himself the hanyou had fallen asleep during the night and the sudden but brief pain of his transformation made him snap awake with a cry that was loud enough to wake Kasai and many of the other light sleepers. They packed while Inuyasha urged them on, eager to reach the crossroads and their final destinations. Kasai spotted Koinu lingering uneasily around his father, eyeing him. She guessed easily what was on his mind and felt nervousness stir inside her like a physical thing, shrinking her stomach. When Shippo offered her a few wild mushrooms for breakfast she turned them away, claiming that she'd had some meat from Tisoki already.

Koinu had returned to his normal appearance, identical to his father except for the softer quality of his features and his sky blue eyes. Akisame and Shippo shadowed him as they set out, prepared to scout ahead as they usually did. Kasai pretended not to watch whether Koinu went scouting or not, but at some point in the early morning she glanced up and saw that he had disappeared along with Akisame and Shippo, leaving only Inuyasha and Kagome to lead the way.

She trudged along just behind her parents, listening to them talk, feeling the sun's heat increase as it climbed higher in the sky and the gritty crunch of dirt under her sandals and rubbing her feet raw. Many times she found herself turning, searching for something—Masuyo. She had usually taken up a rear or middle position walking with Masuyo. She was the barrier between the generations in her family. Kohimu and Tisoki made up the oldest tier; Kasai separated them from Masuyo, Riki, and Koudo, the youngsters. She had protected Masuyo from Kohimu and Tisoki's teasing as often as she could. Now the emptiness at her side and behind her ate at her, making her remember her nightmare, the wet crack of bone.

Then the road curved. Traffic increased. The slayers and Inuyasha's family adhered to the other side of the road, allowing carts pulled by oxen to pass and men on horseback. Farmers stared with wide eyes at Inuyasha as the group passed. Inuyasha ignored them as he always did, though at times he wasn't above returning their fascination with a glare.

The village marked the crossroads, the intersection between the main road that led east toward Kaede's village and the smaller path that led north and back west slightly, toward a mountain pass. Before that pass was the slayer's village, hidden away, a gem of civilization in the midst of the wilderness.

Koinu, Shippo, and Akisame were waiting for the rest of the group in a brief wooded section before the next rice field and the main section of the village. A man on horseback had ridden by while they waited and his beast had spooked when it smelled all three of them combined. The man was cursing as he led his whinnying horse away from the three youths. But as the fickle animal picked up Inuyasha's scent it fought and reared all over again, shrieking in a surprisingly humanlike panic.

As the horse bolted, nearly smashing the man into the dirt, Miroku gave a quick motion to Tisoki and Kohimu. All three men raced after the horse and the man to help restrain the frightened beast and calm the owner. It was entirely likely that, after apologizing for the cause of the spooked animal, they might ask him to give them a tip for helping retrieve the animal.

Sango's lips pinched into a line as her husband and sons dashed off. "Sometimes he's such a crook." Kasai gave a small laugh, tight with her nervousness. Sango saw it immediately and asked, "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, Mom."

Before Sango could press the issue, Inuyasha's voice broke in on them, greeting Koinu, Akisame, and Shippo. Kasai turned her attention that way. Akisame was talking loudly, unhappy with something. Kasai thought she already knew what it was.

Just as she'd feared, Akisame's gaze found her and pinned her with a glare as she told Inuyasha, "Koinu wants to go to the slayer's village. I told him he'd fucking stupid but—"

Koinu stepped forward, interrupting his sister with a surprisingly loud voice. "It's the right thing to do, Dad. You won't let Aki go but one of us has to go to find out about the miko powers." When he became aware of Akisame's bitter glare, Koinu added, "It would only be for a season! I would be back home before you could miss me, Aki."

Their fighting continued but Kasai missed it as Sango recaptured her attention with a heavy, relieved sigh. She smiled at her daughter. "I was afraid we'd miss out on the chance to understand what happened with those two," she said. "It could be only temporary for all we know."

Kasai nodded, dredging up as much interest as she could while steering clear of the fact that she had been partially responsible for discovering some of it. She had been purifying Koinu, trying to kill him. "Yeah. I always thought it wasn't possible."

Sango was silent for a time and then, just as Kasai had started listening to Akisame and Koinu again, she murmured quietly to her daughter, "And of course I hoped he would come for you."

Kasai blinked. "What?"

Sango shifted Hiraikotsu on her back, making her next words come out in a deeper sound, like a grunt. "I can see how you both feel about each other. Any mother could. But Kasai…"

"What is it?" Kasai asked, focusing entirely on Sango. She had managed, with an extraordinary effort, to partially control her blushing.

Sango threw her daughter a hard, sharp glare. "Don't hurt him. Don't be like your father."

"No," Kasai murmured, averting her eyes. She thought of the night before when Koinu had been human. She had felt the desire to touch his hair, to feel it as if she would feel the change in color. Koinu had been insulted by them staring at him, but Kasai longed to tell him that the staring was not an insult, it was flattery. His human face, framed by the dark hair, had been beautiful, handsome. It was the first time since her ordeal that she had felt the lecherous desire to touch.

She felt the cut on her finger beneath the bandage tingle briefly with pain and thought: Koinu deserves better than that.

Kagome had settled the family dispute ahead, speaking to Inuyasha and then reassuring both her children. As Miroku, Kohimu, and Tisoki returned to the rest of the group, with the monk smiling smugly and patting the little coin purse he kept hidden away in his robes, Inuyasha stomped toward them to make the final announcements. His golden eyes fell on Kasai as he approached, but the hanyou chose to interact with Miroku first.

"Koinu's going with you guys." Inuyasha jerked one clawed thumb back toward his own family where Akisame pouted silently, Shippo stood to one side awkwardly, and Koinu and Kagome stayed together in a little united wall. "Kagome wants to figure out what's going on with them."

Miroku nodded with surprising enthusiasm. "I understand. Sango and I were rather hoping one of them would come with us—"

A frown bloomed over Inuyasha's face and his ears fell back. "It ain't permanent monk," he snapped. "Only until fall—before the first snows he better be on his way back." The hanyou's anger was not directed so much at Miroku and his family, it was irritation aimed at Koinu.

Sango moved forward, leaving Kasai, Kohimu, Tisoki, and even Nobe standing behind, dumbly. "Of course, Inuyasha. We're honored that we could take care of Koinu for a season. It's a shame that Aki couldn't come. As I understand it Aki actually used miko powers to kill…"

Inuyasha's expression blanked, paling slightly. "Nope, Aki can't go."

"No, of course not." Sango nodded, smiling. The gleam in her eyes, which Inuyasha missed but Miroku didn't, revealed that her enthusiasm and mentioning Akisame had been intentional. She'd forced Inuyasha to drop his irritation by reminding him that Koinu was leaving, but Akisame was safe away from the slayer's sons. It was Akisame they really wanted to examine, but Koinu would do well too in his sister's absence. It was a compromise.

The goodbyes began. Inuyasha trailed Kagome as she embraced Sango and Miroku and then, as was consistent with her friendly nature, hugged each of their children as well. While Inuyasha was distracted there, Nobe approached Akisame and Shippo with Tisoki following.

"I just wanted to say goodbye," Nobe said, grinning nervously.

Akisame hadn't noticed his approach until Koinu, who was standing beside her, nudged her with his elbow. She glared at him and then at Nobe and Tisoki. "What did you say?"

"I said I wanted to wish you goodbye. Is this the last that I will be graced in seeing you?"

Tisoki started to laugh, tittering in an almost feminine voice. He was watching Inuyasha over one shoulder, waiting for the moment when the hanyou would end Nobe's life for fraternizing with Akisame.

"What the fuck are you laughing at?" Akisame snapped, still effectively ignoring Nobe's rather courageous attempt at a farewell.

Tisoki clapped a hand over his mouth, hiding his lips. He shook his head, claiming innocence silently, but his eyes were compressed with laughter.

Akisame frowned, unimpressed.

"Will I ever see you again, my lady?" Nobe asked, fumbling with the more formal words.

Almost for the first time since he'd arrived, Akisame took in Nobe, looking him up and down from his straw sandals to his torn robes. Her golden eyes, bright and filled with annoyance, narrowed. "What the hell kind of language is that?" she snorted and repeated his words, "My lady…bleck."

Koinu answered for his unfriendly sister. "You'll see her again, Nobe." He stepped forward and leaned in close to whisper to the other youth. "Just stop talking to my sister, okay? She isn't interested."

Nobe swallowed tensely and nodded mutely. Behind him Tisoki started giggling uncontrollably, having overheard Koinu's advice. Red in the face, Nobe turned around and collided with the older youth and the couple fell over as one, intertwined like lovers. Their collapse at last broke Akisame's foul mood and she pointed a clawed finger and laughed.

Behind her Shippo sighed and said, "Aki—sometimes you're ridiculous."

"What's your problem, fox?" she snapped, but laughter made her voice high and gentler than usual.

Koinu and Shippo helped Nobe and Tisoki up and then Koinu enveloped the fox in a short hug. When he turned toward Akisame she tried to fight him off but Koinu pushed her arms aside and grabbed her anyway.

"Let go!" she growled, but the protest was entirely bravado. Koinu felt his sister wrap her hands around his chest under his arms. She pushed her face into his shoulder and snuffled, the same thing she had done with him when they were pups and he had carried her on his back, taking in his scent. Although she would never admit it, they both knew she worshipped him. He was the peacemaker like their mother, challenging and loving Akisame no matter how obnoxious she decided to be.

Koinu stroked her wild black hair gently, careful not to catch his fingers in a snare of hair. It was rare now that Akisame would accept such an obvious display of affection, so Koinu made sure not to accidentally draw her out of it. "Promise me something, Aki?" he asked.

"What?" she asked, her voice surprisingly thick.

Koinu realized with a jolt that she was crying. His nose remained weak from his transformation, probably meaning that as soon as the sun set he would become human yet again. He couldn't smell her tears. "Hey," he murmured, "it's okay. I won't be gone long. But I need you to promise me something."

"What?" she repeated, a little harder this time.

"Make Dad train you. As soon as I come back I'll do it, but while I'm away—remind Dad that he promised me he'd train you. And Mom, I need you to listen to her. She loves you so much, Aki. Just like I do."

She sniffled but didn't answer. Koinu waited a moment longer and both felt and saw her head move against him, rippling her long, wild black hair.

"You promise?"

"I promise," she muttered, her lips crushed to his brown haori.

When he released her, Akisame pawed at her eyes and her sniffling increased. She blinked rapidly. Koinu watched her with concern until she pushed irritably at him and said, "Go on, stupid. Go with them. Dad's waiting."

Koinu nodded at her. "I won't be gone long—write me?"

Akisame smiled slowly at him, showing her fanged canines. "Every fucking day because I'm going to be bored as hell!"

Koinu laughed. "I'll look forward to it then—but don't be too bored."

When the goodbyes had ended, Koinu took a position within the slayers. Among them all, dressed with their traveling clothes and the fighting, protective bodysuits beneath that, Koinu was an outsider. Brown hair and black hair surrounded him. Koinu had never realized how often he looked to his father in the lead, spying the hanyou's white hair so like his own. Now Kohimu, Tisoki, and Nobe led the way with the clink of Tisoki's sickle and the clack of Kohimu's wooden arrows.

At first Koinu walked with Miroku and Sango, mostly listening as they discussed miko powers and theorized how Koinu could resist it or even use it as Akisame had. How would they test it? Miroku pulled out sutras and flicked through them, wrangling with his memory to pick out a good spell to try on Koinu.

Suddenly Koinu felt that their testing might not be very pleasant at all. Being purified was not lethal for him, but it was painful. Rather than listen to them he drifted back in the group to walk beside Kasai, who had taken a rear position.

They walked in silence for a long time. The sun had reached its zenith above. The rays made Kasai sweat but didn't bother Koinu because of his white hair. Kasai wiped at her brow and let out long breaths of hot air.

Sheepishly, Koinu broke their silence. "You should have a parasol."

Kasai turned her head and asked, "What? What do you mean?"

Koinu watched his feet, bare like Inuyasha's, moving over the dusty road, accumulating more calluses and thick, caked on dirt. "You're too pretty to be out here sweating under the sun."

Kasai shook her head and although Koinu had meant for the words to please her, they appeared to have the opposite effect. Her jaw tightened, clamping down, her lips thinned. "Koinu…you should stop being nice to me, I don't deserve it."

"What?" Koinu's ears swiveled with surprise. "Of course you do. I wasn't just being nice! I'm serious."

She seemed to shrink into herself, as if wishing to disappear. "It's so selfish of me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Me. I took you away from your family. I saw how upset Aki was. I should've told you not to come. I tried to but—"

"I wanted to come. Your parents want to learn what I can do, and I want to learn too. And…" He moved closer to her, trying to see her shadowed face. "I wanted to make sure you would be okay."

Her lips curved widely in a watery smile. Koinu saw her long lashes blink. Moisture slipped out but with his weakened nose Koinu couldn't tell whether it was sweat from her brow or tears. "You've been watching over me my whole life." She made a small choking sound. "I don't know how to thank you…"

"Don't worry about it," Koinu told her. He tugged on the ties of his brown haori and stripped it off, handing it to her. "Here, take this and use it like a parasol. It might help."

She took it and lifted her head, smiling at him with the same tenderness he'd seen the night before. "Thank you."

Koinu shrugged his shoulders and looked ahead to the rest of her family. "Think nothing of it. I was hot with it on anyway."

Kasai draped the haori over her head and then, slowly, moved closer to Koinu, slipping her hand into his. Koinu gripped it, squeezing once.

The silence resumed, filled with the sound of dirt crunching beneath the group's feet, the harsh cry of hunting hawks, and occasionally laughter as Tisoki told a joke up ahead. Koinu felt Kasai's sweaty hand in his own, the prickling sensation of his own gathering perspiration on his back, and smiled with growing joy. Kagome's words returned to him: She needs you.

He had seen that in her tender smile, in her concern that she was being selfish. It was true that she needed him, but she loved him too. For now there was silence, but she had a whole season to voice it.

Koinu looked into the blue sky and relished the summer heat.

I do apologize for the length! I didn't want to break it into multiple chapters because with this done I would say I have basically finished Innocence. Perhaps one extra chapter and then an epilogue, but I could also just do an epilogue and my muse would be satisfied. So, what do you all think?