Oblivion
Chapter Thirty-Three
TRUCES
SONGS
"Blood / Water" by Grandson ("The price of your greed is your son and your daughter, what you gon' do when there's blood in the water?")
"So Cold" by Breaking Benjamin (Miroku is struggling with his newfound fatherhood I guess lol)
"Beware the Beast" by Carpenter Brut ("Beware of the beast inside your heart, when we're dancing in the dark..." THIS ONE'S A STRAIGHT JAM)
"Love on the Brain" by Rihanna (Yep it's InuKag, yes things are gonna just get steamier from this point on AND DON'T WE ALL DESERVE IT AFTER TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF TORTURE)
Though Sango had been free from the grip of the old woman's glowing magical vice for several minutes at this point, she kept her body as rigid and guarded as possible, to the point that her muscles and joints screamed with pain. She sat there on the cold ground and relied on thoughts of pure hatred to keep herself still, as the enormous throng of wolves sat there calmly ignoring her presence.
So focused was she, that when a hand suddenly thrust a steaming bowl of stew under her chin, Sango was caught completely off-guard and shrank back with a painful twinge in her stiffened spine.
"Here. You look half-starved." The squat old woman gave the bowl a gentle shake for emphasis. "I can't claim it's delicious, not with my cooking skills, but it'll warm you up at least, and then you can tell me just what you're doing out here besides attacking these poor dears at their most vulnerable."
"Vulnerable?" Sango scoffed. "These monsters? Don't make me laugh - "
"I'm not trying to make you laugh, dear," the old woman interjected dully. "I'm trying to make you eat."
Sango wrinkled her nose in a grimace and turned her face away from the stew.
With a heavy sigh, the elderly woman leaned her large frame down to set the bowl in front of Sango's lap. "It's there if you want it," she muttered, waddling over to sit atop a flat rock a few feet away. "Came from the shogun's castle, did you?"
How do you know that? Sango almost asked it aloud, and then her eyes fell upon the ornate, unwieldy katana tied to her belt. Oh.
"Figures," the old woman sniffed, "If there's trouble to be had for us, it's from that direction, to be sure."
"The trouble is them," Sango snapped, inclining her head toward the pack of wolves. "You have no idea what they can do to people - "
"Don't I?" The old woman's body shook with a chuckle. "Oh, sweet little slayer girl, you're the victim of your own ignorance here. Once again, it's a sad sign of the times."
The defiant side of Sango (and honestly, that was most of her, wasn't it) boiled in anger at being thus rebuffed. "Who are you to talk to me like - "
"Oh, my apologies. My name is Kaede, and I am a miko of the Western Lands. Chosen by the gods, chosen by love, to be one of the last keepers of common sense in this whole forsaken country."
Kaede must have seen Sango's bewildered face, because she sent her a smile that seemed to be trying to reassure. "Not to worry, young one," she said, and Sango was sure she'd have tried to pat her hand were they sitting any closer together, "It's not your fault you were raised with such blind hatred. That fault lies with your clan, with those fools you call leaders and rulers."
"How dare you talk about my family, about my clan, as if - "
"As if I were once one of them?" Kaede asked softly.
Wh-What?
The old woman sat back in her seat a little, staring down at her age-spotted hands with that faraway smile still on her face. "The bodysuit doesn't fit anymore, of course. Not that it ever fit me that well to begin with; I was a bit on the curvaceous side, even as a young girl."
Sango could only stare at her for the next few seconds.
"Papa! You're home!"
Kagome, nine or ten years old, tried to slow the breakneck speed of her run, but she'd clearly underestimated the distance, or lack thereof, and she ended up nearly tackling her father to the ground in her wild abandon.
Papa gave a grunt in response, but merely laughed and shook it off before taking hold of her underneath both arms and lifting her high in the air. She squealed with delight.
"You were gone so long," she cried, linking her small thin arms around his neck and peppering his face with kisses.
"I know," he said gently, holding her so closely and tightly and nuzzling his face into hers, "A soldier's work is never done, it seems. I missed you like crazy, my little wildcat!"
"Missed you more than crazy," Kagome insisted, "Missed you insane."
That statement made him laugh, and he gently lowered her back to earth.
"Did you see any youkai, Papa?" she asked. She knew she always asked him this question when he came back from a long term of service to the shogun, and he always gave the same answer but he never seemed annoyed that she was curious.
"No, of course not, my love. You remember the terms of the truce we settled before you were born; we stay in our land, and the youkai stay in theirs, and we don't bother each other."
Kagome of course remembered, but it didn't hurt to ask, did it? The stories Papa told, that Grandfather told, about otherworldly creatures and battle, where honor and devotion and bravery defeated the monstrous enemy and drove them out of the land - they always sent a bolt of excited lightning down her spine, no matter how many times she'd heard the same ones over and over again.
"Maybe one day they'll get hungry again," Kagome said with a mischievous grin, taking her father's hand as they sauntered back up the path toward the gate of the family estate, "and then maybe I'll get to see one...a real, live monster!"
Papa smirked down at her, gave a gentle shake of his head. "I wouldn't wish that for you, my love. Not in a million years."
"A million, zillion years?" Kagome gave an exaggerated pout. "But I could hit it with my arrows; I wouldn't be scared!"
He laughed again, and she relished in the sound again after all the time spent in its absence. "No," he said, "I don't know that you would be scared. Not my little wildcat."
Kagome gave a delighted laugh of her own in response and squeezed her father's hand tighter, hurrying him even quicker along.
"But," Papa added after a moment, just before they entered the gate and went in to Mama and Grandfather and baby Sota, "it's my job to keep you, and our family, safe, isn't it? So we'll never see another youkai war, not as long as I'm around to say anything about it."
"Kagome."
At the feeling of being gently shaken, Kagome opened her eyes and sprang upright, ready to defend herself, ready to leave for battle at a moment's call -
The sight of his face, framed by that otherworldly hair, housing those otherworldly eyes, nearly sent her into an instinctive panic, especially as he reached out a clawed hand for her -
She choked down a terrified scream and tried to shrink back, to get away -
The memories of all that had surpassed in the last few days began to steadily flood back into her mind, as she supposed memories did whenever one awakened in an unfamiliar place in the company of someone who had been the source of so many bad dreams for so long.
She remembered Mukotsu and Naraku and Sesshomaru, and then she remembered her father, and then she remembered...
The claw-tipped hand gently braced against her shoulder with a featherlight touch, easing her back down to a horizontal posture. The face that was so familiar and yet so new gazed down at her with quiet concern.
...Inuyasha.
"They'll be bringing breakfast soon," he said softly, almost looking sheepish to be waking her for such a reason.
"B-Breakfast?"
"It's past dawn. They usually come in and leave a tray for me because I'm never up early."
"Such a lazy bum," she heard herself laughing somewhere in her head, "What will happen when I surpass you in strength because I have the sense to get up early and train?"
"That's fine, I'm proud of you either way." She heard his answer without him even moving his lips.
"O-Oh." Her words were back to being spoken aloud, in real time.
"I wanted to warn you before I - well, you know," Inuyasha sighed, flicking one of those dog ears in a display of discomfort, and then he deftly hoisted himself over her reclined form and plopped onto the mattress next to her. "They'll think it's weird if we're not in bed together."
Already she could feel the heat from his body at her back.
Oh gods oh gods oh gods -
"You don't have to...hold me yet, do you?" she grumbled, curling her body away from his as much as possible as she felt him slide beneath the blanket next to her. "We can just lay here and pretend to sleep, and that should be enough."
His reply was so quiet she nearly missed it. "No," he murmured, "I don't have to hold you."
"Good." She kept herself turned away, waited for the retort.
But it never came, much to her surprise and irritation.
When she could stand the silence no longer and finally whipped her head around to glare at him, she had to stop short.
He lay there on his bare stomach with his arms folded under his head, neck turned to one side, his eyes firmly closed and his face completely relaxed and serene beneath that curtain of long hair. It seemed he'd just gone right back to sleep. Like he was still exhausted.
He even sleeps the same way.
Kagome would allow herself one tiny, quiet sob as she looked at him. Just this once. Just this one time, and then no more. I'm tired of mourning ghosts of the past, she told herself as she angrily flicked the teardrop from her eye.
The tray with breakfast arrived a quarter of an hour later, just as he'd said, and just as he'd predicted, Inuyasha didn't stir.
But Kagome's promise to shed no more tears was broken immediately when she saw the bowl of fresh satsumas in the tray's rightmost corner.
She could see Okada's black hair hanging around him over the thick branch he was reclining on, his arms and legs dangling freely on either side. He held yet another satsuma in his right hand, which he motioned towards her, then let go. She caught it.
Inuyasha must have heard her whimper this time, because he blinked awake and lazily sat up.
"Are you alr - oh, breakfast, huh?"
He reached out over the bounty of meats and fruits and grabbed exactly what she'd thought - what she'd known he would grab. He used the tip of a claw to slice it open, peeled it quickly, and offered her half without once meeting her eyes.
"You're not Okada," I said to him.
And I was right, wasn't I?
As she reached out to accept the offered fruit, Kagome saw that her hand was trembling.
To hide the look on her face, she had to turn away from him for the thousandth time.
If he noticed, he didn't say anything.
"Here," Miroku gasped out, dripping with sweat and barely able to stand on two legs he could hardly feel anymore.
Bracing with his free hand against a tree in the pitch-black darkness of the forest, he tried to remove the tiny youkai paws from where they clung to his shoulder and breastplate. The trembling child resisted with a terrified whimper, muffled beneath a fluffy foxlike tail that was singed and matted with blood.
"I'm not - I'm not going to leave you, I promise," Miroku panted, stumbling a bit where he stood. "I'm just going to get out of this armor so I can keep going faster."
There was a hesitant pause, and then the strength of the little boy's grip loosened. "W-We're not to the hiding place yet?" he asked in that soft, nervous voice.
"N-No," Miroku said, fighting to keep his tone light and soothing as he gently lowered the child to the tree roots and set him down. "We're not there yet. Probably not for a while yet."
As he discarded that stupid, heavy, ornate armor into the snow at his feet, Miroku snuck a glance at the woods behind him.
He didn't hear anything. There was no sign that any troops were in pursuit.
But we don't know that, he told himself resignedly, We don't know that for sure.
And if he gave in to his exhaustion and trusted in fate right now, only to awaken to the points of eager swords and spears, to watch in horror as the youkai boy he'd traded all sense and security to save was run through before his eyes…
The last of his armor was off, and Miroku shivered at the chill of the icy wind on the sweat-soaked back of his yukata. Retying the sword tighter at his now considerably-smaller waist, he closed his eyes and allowed himself a few more deep breaths of sweet, cold air.
"Come on, kid," he whispered gently, bending down with his arms outstretched.
The boy climbed his arm much like a pet cat would, gripping with those pawlike hands and feet to secure himself. "We're going to the hiding place now?"
"Y-Yeah," Miroku said, curling his arm around the tiny body and gripping him closely. Have to keep him warm. Don't I? I think so. Do youkai feel changes in temperature like we do?
For the first time, now that adrenaline and impulse had worn off, it hit Miroku like a sack of bricks that he had no idea just what in the hell he was doing.
To stave off the fear and uncertainty, he just leaned into it. He reached up with his free hand and softly ruffled the kid's mop of unruly hair. "You know I'm your Uncle Miroku," he said with his best smile, "but what's your name, little guy?"
As if it were instinct at this point, the youkai child snuggled the crown of his small head against Miroku's now unarmored chest, gripping the fabric of the damp, near-frozen yukata tightly. "Shippo," he said softly.
"Are you sleepy?"
The boy - Shippo, Shippo, his name is Shippo and I'm going to save him even if it means I'm a dead man because at least then I can live whatever life I have left not wanting to slice myself open on my own swordpoint - blinked slowly and nodded.
"Go to sleep if you can," Miroku said. "It's late, and you've - " He stopped himself.
No. I'm not going to even say it. Let the kid forget, let him think it was just a bad dream, if just for a little while.
Shippo's eyes opened a bit wider and his grip on Miroku tightened with urgent concern. "You'll wake me up, right?" he asked. "When we get to the hiding place?"
"Of course I will," Miroku said, starting forward again and feeling his knees knock painfully. He'd removed the heavy plate from his thighs and calves and still it felt as if he were wearing training weights on them. "How else will you know you've won the game of hide and seek?"
"You're not from Taijiya," Sango accused, speaking loudly to drown out the sound of the blood pounding in her ears, "I know the name of every female Taijiya slayer going back a hundred years. I read their histories so much as a kid that I can recite them from memory."
"They struck me from the records, child. That's all they've ever done, for your whole life and my own. When a girl from the legendary demonslaying village, the village that long provided the main warriors for the shogun, falls for a youkai and marries him, it's not something the elders want known. You really should eat that stew, dear; it'll get cold and then you have to actually focus on the taste."
Sango was unsure she'd be able to even swallow, but she wanted this old bag to keep talking, even if she was lying through her teeth. She clumsily grabbed the bowl and gave an exaggerated slurp, keeping her eyes locked with Kaede's the entire time.
"How is it?"
Sango wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her bodysuit. "Terrible," she growled.
Kaede chuckled again. "I told you, I'm no cook. Nazuna's a bit better, but she's busy helping with the ritual."
"What ritual?" Sango demanded, and despite herself she had to take another gulp of stew to ease the ache in her stomach. She felt the warm broth trickle down around her mouth and leaned forward over the frosty ground to avoid covering herself in it.
If Kaede heard her, she ignored the question. "I once felt as you did, young one," she said gravely, balancing her elbows on her knees and leaning forward in her seat. "I thought youkai were just monsters, just beasts to be slain. That's what we're told from birth, isn't it? That any youkai would as soon eat us as look at us. Taijiya taught me to be a vigilant, merciless hunter. Taught me that every youkai killed was another human saved."
Sango sent the old woman another defiant glare as she downed another throatful of stew.
"So you can imagine my surprise when I met my husband." Kaede's wrinkled mouth curled up in a fond smile once again.
"Let me guess," Sango said, "He was in human disguise to trick you." Her thoughts immediately went to poor Kagome, Kagome who had been so fooled, Kagome who's out there facing gods know what all alone and here I am at this crazy old woman's mercy unable to do anything to help her...
"Heavens, no!" Kaede gave another heaving laugh. "He wasn't even upright on two legs when I first saw him! Just another fish monster in the river where I'd stopped to drink on my way home from a mission, or so I thought.
"So I drew my weapon, ready to rid the world of another harmful creature, and I attacked. I tried to goad him into escaping the water, into taking his humanoid form for the attack so I could run him right through. But he wouldn't take the bait; he just kept dodging my slashes to the river's surface, all the while looking up at me with these strange blue eyes. He didn't seem afraid of me, but he didn't try to fight back, either. It was very confusing, to say the least." Kaede chuckled again.
Sango finished off the last of the stew, keeping firmly silent and keeping her brows drawn together tightly.
"I didn't even see the eel coming to attack until it was far too late. I'd disturbed the water, you see, and eel youkai are notoriously fond of human flesh; they're a more ancient form of the species and have yet to evolve past their animalistic roots."
What on earth is she spouting now? "Ancient form of the species," what absolute bullshit. All youkai crave human flesh; the animal they resemble be damned. Sango let out a scoff.
Kaede continued on as if she'd expected this doubtful reaction and was resolved to ignore it. "I managed to see it at the very last second, and stepped out of the way, tried to keep both the eel and the fish in sight, ready to fight on…but then I slipped and fell. My head struck a sharp rock."
With a gnarled finger, Kaede matter-of-factly indicated the black patch over her right eye. And despite herself, Sango waited with bated breath for her to continue the tale.
"Carved my eye clean out of my socket in a split second. I look back on it now and can only think it was fate; the fact that I was standing in the exact right spot at that exact river...well, I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I?
"So there I lay, watching the water turn red with my blood with the one good eye I had left, and I must have been in shock, too stunned to move. I watched the eel youkai turn around and prepare to lunge for me once more. I didn't even have time to be afraid; it happened so quickly.
"But then it was like the river ceased flowing, and there was an enormous wall of water that rained down over us, and there was a man there, in the water. A man with blue-green hair and skin I could nearly see straight through. Imagine my surprise when he leapt forward and tore the eel youkai to shreds with his hands and teeth. Tore it right in two, right there in front of me.
"And then he knelt down beside me and reached for my face, and I saw the claws on his hands and realized just where my fish youkai opponent had disappeared to. I thought for sure I was about to be drifting down the river in pieces just like that eel was, but I still couldn't move - dear, would you like another bowl of stew?"
Sango blinked, felt the sting in her eyes, and realized she'd been forcibly holding them open for several long moments. "N-No," she said gruffly, then for some inconceivable reason she added, "Thanks."
Kaede gave another nonchalant shrug and nodded.
"So what happened?" Sango blurted.
Dammit. I shouldn't be even hearing this, shouldn't be allowing this old bag to spin this obvious falsehood, but apparently I'm a little kid again, listening to all those stories of Taijiya warriors and dreaming of the day I'd be one of them. Clearly fear and trauma had finally taken their toll, and here she was, insane and regressed and no use to anyone anymore.
"Oh. Sorry. Where was I, dear?"
"The fish youkai was in human form and reaching for your face." Sango adopted a sardonic tone to try and downplay that impulsive show of interest. "I think I know how this turns out. You immediately fell in love with him for saving you, and you threw away your pride as a human and as a warrior once he had you under his spell. How am I doing so far?"
Kaede's warm smile returned, but she wasn't aiming it at Sango; it wasn't a display of showboating or gloating at having an intrigued audience (however reluctantly so). It was a smile of pity, and somehow that aroused Sango's anger even more.
"I can see how you would think so. I would have probably assumed the same if I were you. So young, and so sure, so sure that the world is divided firmly into good and bad, and that you are the good and they are the bad. As I said, I once felt just the same.
"But no, I was put under no intoxicating spell; I didn't fall in love with him instantly, or for a long while yet. In fact, the first words I ever spoke to him were to call him a hideous monster. Can you imagine it? I laid there in the river shallows, paralyzed and bleeding, and called him every single horrid thing I could think of. Even as he looked upon me with such kind eyes, even as he gently lifted me from the water and braced me up on the riverbank to keep me from drowning, I cursed him and screamed and tried to will my limbs to move so I could fight him again.
"And he paid me no mind. He didn't even flinch when I spat right in his face. He just held his sleeve to my ruined eye and soaked up the blood to keep it from running into my nose and mouth.
"And then I suppose I fainted, because next thing I remembered was waking up there at the riverside with my wound fully cleaned and dressed with a cloth bandage. He even left me a bottle of poppy milk for the pain, which in my infinite wisdom I poured out on the ground beside me. And so, it was a painful journey through the forest back to Taijiya for me."
Kaede shook her head and laughed again, and Sango felt her limbs and spine grow rigid and hunched again as she decided she didn't want to hear any more of this story.
It was repulsive; it was blasphemous.
Youkai trickery was common knowledge. Sango herself had been warned about it from the age of understanding. This old woman might lie to herself to rationalize her own indoctrination, but damned if she would keep lying to Sango.
"We're sitting here with all these wolves around us," Sango hissed between gritted teeth, "Wolves that destroyed my entire village, your village if you aren't lying to me about that, and you want to tell me some bullshit love story that rationalizes your betrayal? They burned our houses to the ground, they brutally murdered my father, and you sit here petting and coddling them because one youkai didn't kill you on sight and convinced you to marry him?"
Kaede fixed Sango with her one good eye, jaw set firmly. "I heard tell of Taijiya's destruction," she said finally, in a quiet, pensive voice, "but I thought it might have been propaganda. Shogun or Naraku, it makes little difference."
Who the hell is Naraku? Sango wanted to ask it but she refused to be tricked into changing the subject. "It wasn't propaganda. It happened. I was there. I got this - " she violently shoved up her sleeve, revealing the burn-scarred flesh of her arm, " - from protecting the - "
She stopped short. No way am I going to tell this traitor about the sacred weapons; she probably knew about their theft to begin with, since she's so closely allied with these creatures.
Suddenly Kaede was on her feet, marching forward, and Sango was sure she was about to have a fistfight with an aged old woman while hungry wolves looked on. But Kaede just stopped and knelt at Sango's side, taking hold of the burned arm and examining it carefully with her one eye.
"You poor thing," Kaede tutted, running a callused thumb over the scar tissue. Sango tried to jerk her arm back, but suddenly the dreaded pink glow was back, stilling the air flow around her and fixing her body in place.
"Don't - don't you - " Sango bit the words out through that rosy haze, fighting its call to soothe and comfort.
Kaede didn't look up, just laid her palm over the mottled skin, and the glow erupted from that wrinkled hand and there was such relief, such gentle coolness flooding over the healed burn, that Sango had to fight back a gasp.
"Someone dressed this wound well," Kaede observed softly, "You were under excellent care, weren't you? After it happened?"
Oh, no.
Kagome's face, in boyish disguise, popped into her mind first. Sweet, clear eyes and a kind smile.
"...I'm glad to see you're feeling a bit better. How's your arm?"
And then another face.
"My name is Miroku, Lady Sango. Do you promise to remember me now?"
Rather than answer Kaede's question, Sango turned her face away to hide the rush of tears to her eyes.
"I can see you were," Kaede went on, "but lucky for you, my abilities go beyond healing herbs and bandage changes. There now, you see?"
All at once, the cool rush of sensation ceased. Sango felt Kaede gently release her arm, and it fell heavily into her lap.
Forcing the anguish of the past to the back of her mind with a hard swallow, Sango opened her eyes.
"What…?"
It was all she could whisper before her eyes were flooded with tears again. She blinked slowly - once, twice - and rotated the arm at the shoulder, unable to look away.
My scars. They're gone.
All the lingering ache, all the dullness of movement, all the disfiguring swirls of flesh. Gone.
Sango's thoughts were consumed by the pink light, so familiar, no, not familiar, exactly like Kagome's.
"That must feel better, right?" Kaede stood back upright with a grunt, giving Sango yet another of those warm, confusing smiles.
Did this mean that Kagome could also physically levitate arrows out of bodies and remove scars that had long-since set in? Surely not; we would have known that. Besides, every time Kagome used her powers it just about knocked her out, and here's this elderly woman healing things twice as complicated and just sitting here talking without a care in the world -
"Your powers." Sango choked the words out, and once she began she couldn't stop. She had to know, had to have answers. "Where - how - "
"I told you, young one, I'm a miko. Chosen by the gods - "
"Yes, yes," Sango said impatiently, "You already said that, but - "
Kaede cleared her throat for silence. "Chosen by the gods, and chosen by love."
It was with an arm that moved pain-free for the first time in ages that Sango clapped a hand over her mouth and fought back a choked sob. Her eyes stared wildly at the ground, and the tears dripped steadily from them, making tiny steaming pricks in the frostfall.
She felt a warm hand brace the center of her back. "You've seen powers like mine before," Kaede said softly, "Haven't you?"
Sango answered when she could speak again. "Yes, but Ka - her powers weren't nearly so strong, and they seemed to hurt her - no, drain her every time she - "
Kaede clucked her tongue to indicate that she understood. "Ahhh. Friend of yours?"
Sango immediately realized that she had probably said too much, and looked away.
"Not to worry," Kaede said from her short height above Sango's head, "The gods created our bloodline for a reason, and even if things happen a little out of the norm, destiny can always be trusted to intervene and put things right."
Bloodline? What is she saying, that this youkai attraction is something inherited? Is Kagome actually predetermined to have all this happen to her, to go through such suffering, such agony -
Sango opened her mouth to demand what Kaede meant, but was interrupted by a young raven-haired girl, no more than a teenager, emerging from the mouth of the cave and sprinting toward them.
"Lady Kaede, Lady Kaede!" the girl cried, skidding to a stop. "You have to switch places now; she's about to pass out and she can't hold the link anymore if she does - "
"Nazuna!" Kaede said sharply, and the girl snapped to attention. "Calm yourself. You won't be any use to us if you lose your head."
The girl named Nazuna took a deep breath and nodded reproachfully.
"I'll go now," Kaede said, and took a few hurried, waddling steps toward the cave before stopping once to look over her shoulder and fix Sango with that one age-lined eye.
"Girl of Taijiya," she called, "It will be a few days before we can speak again. I can sense that you're in a hurry, though, so if you must leave, allow yourself a few hours' time. By then, my companion will be recovered enough to answer any remaining questions you might have."
Sango was unsure what to say, and Kaede seemed to spot that ill-assuredness from her distant position.
"You have a friend in a precarious spot, dear. How better to help her than to listen to two women who've lived through it?"
"B-But she's been kidnapped!" Sango called desperately at Kaede's retreating back. "I have to go search for her - "
Kaede stopped walking again. "She has healing powers, doesn't she?" she barked without turning around.
"Y-Yes, but - "
"So she can't die. Not by any idle human nor youkai. Her body will heal her even without her knowledge. There's only one who can kill her in this half-miko state she's in, and that's obvious, isn't it?"
The old woman gave a casual gesture with one squat arm, and Sango understood.
She understood completely.
Then I absolutely have to go, she thought with frantic speed, If Okada - if that even was his real name - has her, he might try to kill her, or torture her, or enslave her and keep her at his side like the greedy dog he is.
Sango wasn't sure which option would be the worst.
It was as if Kaede had heard her thoughts, because for the third and final time the old woman stopped her hurried progress into the dark cave mouth.
"I don't know why I'm bothering with this," she grumbled, so low that Sango could barely make out the words. "You're like a younger me, through and through. Shoot first and ask questions later. No manners, no tact. Nazuna!"
"Yes?" The dark-haired teenage girl had been standing there staring at Sango bewilderedly, but once again at the sound of her name she stood fully upright and rounded to face Kaede.
"Hold her there. At least until one of us has the strength to speak to her again."
Before Sango could react, Nazuna held up one hand, winced apologetically, and Sango cried out as her body contorted under the grip of barely-visible pink vines.
"Gently, you stupid girl! Hold her gently!"
Nazuna winced again, and as the rose-colored prison holding Sango in place grew looser but no less binding, she opened her mouth and whispered "Sorry."
"Alright, listen," Inuyasha said once they were finished eating what little they both seemed able to stomach, "My brother's sure to come by sometime this morning, so you can at least relax for now and be yourself. We'll see what he's found out and then we'll try and figure out a way to spring you out of here."
Kagome just nodded mutely. She looked so damned miserable.
"But if we do have something we can act on," Inuyasha went on, feeling his nerves starting to get the best of him the more he spoke, "I...I don't want to say goodbye to you forever without giving you the answers I know you need. So you should ask me. Ask me anything, and you'll get the truth."
I promise, he nearly said, but caught himself in time. To her, his promises meant nothing at this point, and to pretend otherwise was delusional.
"Does it even matter?" Kagome replied after a moment with a broken imitation of a smirk. "Will it change anything that happens to me?"
Please don't talk like that, please Kagome -
"I don't know." Complete honesty. Just as he'd sworn.
She sighed and ran a hand through that wild black mane on her head, and all over again he wanted to go back, to undo what he'd done to her, to himself...
"Alright," Kagome said finally, jarring him out of his melancholy reverie. "Exactly what information did you send your brother about our troops?"
Inuyasha was in such a haste to reply that he had no time to dwell on the possessive she'd used. "It ended up just being the troops' movement patterns. I was told originally to keep an ear out for mentions of alternative weaponry; there were whispers of some tricks up the shogun's sleeve that would reduce any youkai advantages of strength or speed or durability, but at that point the only evidence we had was in the burnt-out shells of youkai villages. No survivors, no corpses, even."
Kagome furrowed her brow in a pained grimace. "But we never saw anything like that."
"Like I said," he nodded solemnly, "I just ended up reporting travel plans."
He wondered if this sounded too much like a half-assed excuse to her, another plea for her to forgive him because surely it wasn't all that bad, what I did, right? The notion made him want to break down in wild laughter at himself; he still held such false hopes, didn't he?
"And," he added, barreling on as quickly as he could to cover his own ass, "I told Sesshomaru a bit about the recruits, and what little progress we were making with them. Just old men and boys, untrained and undisciplined. I wondered just why the hell he bothered letting me stay there, unless he was keeping me away from this place on purpose or - "
"'Old men and boys,'" Kagome repeated with a slow nod, drawing her lips tightly closed. "I see."
Shit. Trying to assuage her with attempts at volunteering information was really working out well for him, wasn't it?
"I didn't mean you," he said quickly, "I meant - "
"You meant the rookie troops under your command," she sniped coldly, "The men who trusted you, who adored you, who tried with all their strength and will to be just like you."
"I - " He stopped and shut his mouth firmly. Once again, she was calling him out for being a horrendous bastard and once again, he had nothing to say in his own defense.
Kagome once again broke into that bitter, cynical smile and just shook her head, fixing him with narrowed eyes. "Just one more thing that never even occurred to you, am I right? Your thoughts never went to what would happen to all those 'old men and boys' if you actually gave your brother something actionable." She looked away from him, stared straight ahead, still smirking without an ounce of humor. "Well, I saw what happened to them when your side decided to strike. I managed to save a few, of course, and I exposed my powers to some who wished harm upon me, but even then, it was too late for most of them."
"That was Naraku's doing, that was his brutality," Inuyasha insisted, "My brother would never - "
"And why was Naraku there?" Her eyes were back on his now, and the nihilistic smile on her lips was curled up even further in clear triumph. "Tell me that. Who sent him?"
Inuyasha's brow furrowed and he shook his head. "That's not - "
Kagome seemed unsurprised at his less-than-direct reaction, because she shook her head with a scoff and looked away again, leaning forward in her seated position to rest her chin on her clasped hands.
He could do nothing but sigh and relent, even though he knew she already knew the answers he would give.
"Sesshomaru did. And it was because of me. Because I was too focused on borrowing more time for...for you and me, and I lost sight of what I was doing. On all fronts."
"I'm happy you can at least admit it," she said shortly, still aiming that bitter smile at the far wall.
I can, and willingly, he thought but didn't dare say, not now when she was still so disappointed in his shortsightedness, so unwilling to hear his meager excuses.
But Naraku's fingerprints are still all over this. If not for that extended-use vial he gave me that tricked me into false security, if not for his use of the wolf girl as a spy that let him learn of Kagome's powers...it might have ended with less bloodshed.
But no less heartbreak.
And that was the point she'd been making all along, wasn't it?
So much for giving her truthful answers that might satisfy.
So much for trying to salvage what little regard she'd ever had for him so they could say their final farewell without so much damned resentment.
This would happen every single time; that was just the stone cold truth. Inuyasha's actions had splintered their relationship, their love, far too greatly. No amount of explaining or honesty after the fact could ever fix what he'd done.
There was nothing further he could say, and he knew it, and now they were probably back to that suffocating silence again.
But then, there was a knock at the door, and both of their heads snapped around to stare at each other frantically.
It's probably Sesshomaru, Inuyasha thought, trying to keep calm.
But if it isn't…?
It was Kagome who seemed to relent first; she closed her eyes and gave a quick, annoyed huff before reaching her arms out and looping them around his neck.
Inuyasha responded by encircling her minute waist with his hands and pulling her onto his lap so she was straddling him. A brief second of thought later, he further dressed the scene by yanking one of the sleeves of her oversized yukata down to expose her bare shoulder.
Immediately, as soon as that shoulder appeared, as soon as that milky white skin was revealed, Inuyasha's agitated thoughts returned to the previous night, where in the midst of their charade Kagome had made the first move in a dangerous game.
And he remembered how coldly she'd dismissed her own actions afterward, how uncomfortable and miserable and wakeful his slumber had been as a result.
Since there was no winning with any words for him, surely there was no harm in winning the battle of actions, right?
Before he thought too much and talked himself out of it, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Kagome's exposed collarbone. He felt her squeak in surprise and tense up in his arms, but he pretended to take no notice and let the tip of his tongue trace a small, teasing circle just below the hollow of her throat.
And she moaned.
She actually moaned, and he was instantly rock hard again.
He knew she was going to be furious with him later, when she had the freedom to be.
But as he took a deep inhale of her familiar scent, he felt himself growl lowly in his throat, and at that point he reckoned whatever wrath she'd unleash upon him would be worth it.
So, so worth it.
It seemed at that moment that Kagome realized the challenging nature of his actions, and that competitive, defiant streak he so adored about her was not going to let her sit there and take it without giving a little of her own. He felt her hands grab rough fistfuls of his hair at the base of his neck, and she practically lunged even closer.
The stakes were raising, and the danger was growing, and Inuyasha once again told himself to shut up, to relish the moment and deal with the consequences later. Just this once, he rationalized. He'd told himself that once before, hadn't he?
The knock on the door sounded again.
Inuyasha felt the brush of her pubic bone against his lap; when he gave another involuntary growl of pleasure, she rotated her hips in one swift circle and did it again.
And this time, his growl was harmonized by another moan. Hers.
Kagome hated him, that was a certainty, and why shouldn't she? But even though it was clear that she despised the mere sight of him like this, in his true hanyou form, it seemed her body still remembered him, and in a very different way.
She released her hold on his hair and placed both hands on his shoulders, urging him to sit lower, to lean back, and he complied, but not before gently nipping at the skin of her throat with his teeth.
At that, Kagome's eyes narrowed to thin slits and locked angrily with his own, and her lips tightened into a thin line as she dug her nails into his bare shoulders painfully.
Inuyasha couldn't help himself; he sent her his best sly smirk, which she promptly punished him for by rolling her hips once more, grinding even harder into him. The smirk all but fell off his face as he tried not to choke on his panting breaths of air.
How to pay her back for that, he dimly wondered, staring up into that beautiful face of hers, flushed in anger and clear arousal, those blue eyes blazing with ferocity.
He found the answer when he slid his hands from her waist down to her bare, muscled thighs, exposed from beneath the hiked-up yukata. He gripped her there tightly with the flesh of his fingers, careful not to scratch her with his claws, and let his hands firmly slide down toward her knees, then back up...up...until they could travel up no more, and his fingers were splayed out against the fold of her lap, digging in once again.
She shivered; he felt it.
Feeling utterly triumphant at this point, Inuyasha slowly raised one thumb, hovered it over her most sensitive spot, prepared to gently press down and hear the shudder of delight from her beautiful mouth -
The knock on the door was loud enough this time to jolt them both back to reality, and Inuyasha lowered his thumb.
"Yeah, yeah, come in already!" he snarled.
The door behind them slid open, and Kagome sent him a single disdainful look before she rolled herself off of him and curled herself into the crook of his left arm. It seemed she was still willing to play for an audience, but she'd realized, just as he had, where their actions were leading if they kept up with that position. Careful to keep her eyes downcast, she simply laid her head on his shoulder and stroked gentle, affectionate circles over his chest with a single finger.
He paused, gave her one last lingering gaze, and then looked up, expecting to see his brother standing there looking utterly disgusted.
This time, the sound that rang forth from Inuyasha's throat was not a growl, but a vicious snarl, and he felt Kagome jump in his arms and recoil backward at the suddenness of it.
The visitor wasn't Sesshomaru.
"So sorry to interrupt. I see you two are getting along famously."
Kagome couldn't see who it was at first, because Inuyasha's reaction to the intruder was so swift and violent and (there wasn't a better word for it) feral. It was such a change from the look he'd been sending her just seconds before.
She felt herself get thrown off balance as the shoulder she'd been resting her head on was suddenly not there anymore. Any thoughts of the past few moments evaporated in her mind, as well as any response she'd been experiencing to them -
And I was responding wasn't I; there's no lie I can tell myself to pretend -
Inuyasha sat there in a crouch, his claws making small rips in the mattress as he braced himself on both arms and shielded Kagome with his body, looking ready to pounce at the slightest provocation.
Like a wild dog.
Like an animal.
Kagome's initial instinct had been to fear his hanyou appearance, but now, just as she'd begun to adjust to it, to see the man behind the strange features, she felt the terror rush back into her veins like ice water. And all she could do was sit there rooted to the spot.
"Awww, you're going to be like that?" The voice was high and feminine, flirtatious even, and Kagome stayed as still as possible and allowed herself a glance toward the door.
It looked to be a girl in her twenties, with hair cropped even shorter than Kagome's and a tall, curvaceous build. If not for the skin, so pale it was nearly translucent, or the eyes that burned a dark crimson, she could have passed for human.
But she wasn't. She isn't.
And despite the girl's misleading appearance, there was something in her aura, in her casual red smile. Something menacing...evil.
Inuyasha's extreme reaction to the girl's presence suddenly didn't seem so extreme after all, and Kagome could only sit there like a fool and gawk.
"GET OUT OF HERE!" Inuyasha screamed raspily, remaining on guard, growling uncontrollably, edging himself even further in front of Kagome. "GET OUT!"
The newcomer didn't seem the least intimidated, but she did look at Kagome's frightened reaction with marked amusement. "Relax, my love," she giggled, folding her arms over her large breasts. "I just came to bring your human some clothes. I heard a little whisper that she was needing a dress or two. Of course, we're not going to be the exact same size; everything will be a bit looser around the chest, but it'll do for now, won't it?"
"What makes you think we'll accept anything from you?" Inuyasha snapped. "GET OUT!"
The girl gave an exaggerated wince, clapping her hands delicately over her ears. "Oh, Your Highness, is the volume really necessary? And here I thought you'd be grateful!"
She said 'Your Highness' with such an air of sarcasm, of thinly veiled contempt, and Inuyasha snarled again. "You're lucky I don't kill you right now," he hissed through gritted teeth. His expression was growing more and more wild, more out of his mind with rage.
The girl gave a high, bell-like laugh. "That would be silly of you to try, wouldn't it?"
The closest projectile Inuyasha seemed to find was a piece of splintered wood on the floor by the bedroll, and he gave another feral scream and launched it at the girl's face. She raised a hand, undisturbed, and the sharp object just halted in midair, as if she were a traveling illusionist performing a trick for wide-eyed village children.
Kagome took a harsh breath and stared as the wood cracked and exploded into hundreds of tinier shards, right there several feet above the floor. The shards just floated there, and Inuyasha sent Kagome further behind him with a shove that was hurried and rough.
The menacing visitor shot Inuyasha a bemused look at this, seemed to purposely hesitate a few harrowing seconds, and then tugged her hand backward. The razor-sharp splinters just clattered to the floor.
As she watched it happen from beneath Inuyasha's protective arm, Kagome realized she could see them - tiny threads laced through the girl's long-nailed fingers, so thin that not even the light could catch them.
But the amount of light in the room was immaterial, Kagome realized. She could see the power, the energy coursing through the threads. Power that was ready to do as its mistress bid - to grab, to throw, and what else, gods, what else?
Could Inuyasha see them as well? From the look on his face, he wasn't shocked that his attack was repelled. The action had been more of a statement than anything else, it seemed. But he had been worried at the prospect of the girl launching the splinters right at them both. He'd seen her do this before. Perhaps worse.
"Really, Your Highness," the girl curled her lips into a sneer and clicked her tongue against her teeth as if she wasn't mad, just disappointed, "And after all you and I have been through, you treat me with so little friendliness?"
Inuyasha seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilating, of working himself up to the point of exhaustion. Before she could think better of it, Kagome reached forward and curled her hand firmly around his upper arm, and she might have been imagining it but she thought his breathing slowed just a fraction.
That action drew the mysterious visitor's attention, and Kagome found herself caught in the girl's smirking red gaze.
"Hello, we haven't been properly introduced. So rude of you, darling." The last part was sent with a sidelong glance at Inuyasha, who reacted by reaching with his opposite hand to protectively cover Kagome's with his own. "My name is Yura. I hope your journey here wasn't too difficult, and I hope you won't judge our dear Prince Inuyasha's rudeness too harshly. He's always been a bit...different."
Something about Yura's condescending tone hit Kagome like a slap in the face, and the only reaction she could find was outrage. On his behalf.
"Oh, no," she replied smoothly, fighting to keep her fear under wraps, "Considering the circumstances, he's been perfectly fine. Until you walked in here."
Kagome felt Inuyasha's hand squeeze hers even tighter. An attempt at reassurance, perhaps, or maybe even gratitude that she was standing up for him when it was the last logical thing for her to do? She wasn't sure, and this wasn't the time to ponder.
Yura's red-lipped smile widened, and it could easily have been mistaken for good-natured friendliness, if not for the fact that there was nothing behind her eyes. Nothing but a black hole of contempt. "Yes," she said with a demonstrative shrug of her shoulders, "I'm afraid you're witnessing a lot of history between us. But, of course, he's told you all about me, hasn't he?"
"No," Inuyasha snarled, "There's nothing to tell her. You're nothing. Just a pawn of that man you call 'Father.'"
"You say such mean things sometimes," Yura whined, sticking out her bottom lip, "I know you don't mean them, not really, but still." She blinked, and the hungry smile returned, just as quickly as it had gone. "For you to pretend it's not my face you see every night when you close your eyes? That hurts, my love."
Inuyasha growled again, giving a minute flinch backward. It looked like he was going to lunge for Yura in response, but then he pressed his fingers even tighter over Kagome's and seemed to think better of it.
"Perhaps it's for the best you didn't tell her...everything," Yura went on, tapping a finger to her chin thoughtfully, "It might hurt your little human's feelings to know that she's not the only girl in your life - oops! I've said too much, haven't I? Silly ol' me."
Kagome knew enough of this girl already to be certain that any reaction she gave to this statement would only make Yura more delighted, so she just remained still and kept the guarded look on her face.
"When Sesshomaru finds out you've been in here," Inuyasha bit out through bared fangs, "Not even Naraku will spare you from his wrath."
"I'm not too concerned," Yura said casually, "His Royal Highness is a bit busy at the moment. Matters of state, war strategy, personal problems, you know, all of that. Booooring, am I right?"
"What the hell are you - " Inuyasha's muscles tensed under Kagome's grip.
"Anyway," Yura sang, raising her hand again and giving a single slow curl of her pointer finger, "I almost forgot what I came here to do! It was just too much fun to catch up; I'm sure you agree!"
From a neatly folded pile on the floor by the doorway rose two silken kimonos, both thin and delicate and - from what Kagome could see - quite revealing. The hairlike threads looped over Yura's fingers held the two garments aloft, showing them to Kagome like a merchant girl trying to make a sale. "Not bad, right?" Yura sent Kagome a wink. "Of course, he met you when you were disguised as a man, so perhaps that's his preference, but I'll leave that up to the two of you. In private."
Inuyasha's glare deepened, and so did Kagome's, right along with him.
Yura laughed again. "This is just too cute," she exclaimed, flicking the kimonos onto the mattress in front of Inuyasha. "You were so angry with him when you came here, weren't you? Because he lied to you about...well...everything, didn't he? And now it's just a few days later and, well...I have to hand it to you, Your Highness, you haven't lost that charming streak of yours!"
"You should leave," Kagome said quickly, telling herself not to listen, not to take any of it in, I can think about it later and hate myself again but right now -
Yura's vicious grin widened, and the cold red abyss of her eyes grew sharper. "Giving orders already, huh? You'll be a wonderful addition to the royal family!
"Won't she, Inuyasha?"
That seemed to be his breaking point, because suddenly the arm Kagome was holding onto wasn't there anymore, and he was running toward Yura with furious strides, rearing back with those sharp claws to strike -
And he halted in place, hand aloft, almost as if he'd changed his mind. But Kagome heard his choked gasp and she realized -
Don't you dare -
Kagome was on her feet and she didn't care that he was in every way stronger than her, especially when it came to fighting hand-to-hand, she didn't care, she wasn't going to just sit there and watch this happen -
She leapt forward, ready to punch where Inuyasha had tried to slash -
Don't you DARE -
Yura grinned and flicked her hand once more, and the hair shot toward Kagome, ready to catch her and hold her at mercy as well -
Don't you DARE TOUCH HIM.
Kagome ducked backward, watched the threads shoot over her head with lightning speed -
She wasn't going to give Yura time to realize what had happened, there was no way she was going to let that happen. So she twisted her legs to restore a stable footing and sent a ferocious punch with her right fist.
It was right on target, colliding with Yura's sharp cheekbone and sending the wicked woman stumbling backward with a surprised cry.
Immediately, Inuyasha's nearly-undetectable bindings went slack, and he was there, standing in front of Kagome. He grabbed both of Yura's hands, twisted her around to pin her arms behind her back, and then, seemingly unable to resist, he headbutted the back of her head, sending her face-first into the doorframe.
"Kagome!" he cried over Yura's pained shriek, "Door!"
Kagome didn't stop to wonder what he meant.
She didn't have to. Her body was moving on its own, and she flung the sliding door open and jumped out of the way to let Inuyasha shove Yura's body through the opening.
"Guards!" he bellowed, and Kagome could hear the rushing response. "Get this bitch out of here, and double the sentries on duty. No one in or out without clearance from my brother. Understood?"
"She - she told us she was here by your invitation, Your High - "
Inuyasha released Yura with a wild shove, and Kagome heard her collide with the far wall and then cry in protest at what must have been the guards dragging her off.
"No one in or out," Inuyasha hissed, "No one. Tell my brother I need to see him immediately."
The guards all stammered vague affirmations, and Inuyasha slapped the door closed again without another word. He stood there, resting his forehead against the frame (which, much to Kagome's dark satisfaction, now had a forehead-shaped dent in it from Yura getting her just retribution) and breathing heavily. His face was flushed and red, and his hands were shaking.
Slowly, though, he seemed to be expelling the feral rage from his system and returning to normal.
Normal normal normal he's normally so -
Kagome was having trouble catching her breath herself, but it was less from physical exertion and more from - from - I can't even find the word for it.
"You shouldn't have done that," Inuyasha mumbled finally, still facing away from her, his face obscured by that huge mane of white hair. His ears were flat against his skull.
"Wh-What?" Kagome had been dreading the heartfelt gaze, the expression of gratitude, but this was unexpected. Unexpected, but not unwelcome.
Yes, good, let's just move on and not overthink this, alright? I'm tired of you looking at me so lovingly and trying to prove me wrong at every given moment -
"That power of hers," he said softly, his face still unseen, "Those invisible threads - they're sharp as knives. She could have cut your head clean off, and she's stupid enough to do it without thinking about the consequences - "
"They aren't invisible," Kagome protested. Defiance was a great retreat; anything to keep herself from getting introspective. "They radiate with energy. They're hard to notice if you aren't looking for them, but they're not - "
He turned his head then, but kept his body facing the door, as if he was using it to hold himself upright until he trusted himself to do it on his own. "You can see them," he said, and the surprise and wonder in his voice was obvious even with his hushed tone.
Kagome paused, and nodded.
So he can't. That answers that question, I guess.
A humorless smile came upon his face, and his eyes got that faraway look again as he turned his head back to face the door panel again. "When I watched you dodge, and come back up unscathed," he said, "I thought it was just the gods finally answering me. For the first time in my life."
What the hell do you mean by that -
No, Kagome decided, she didn't want to think about it.
Here they both were, getting reflective again, and she couldn't ever escape it.
"This is bad, though," Inuyasha said, finally turning away from the doorframe and taking a few steps into the center of the room. His brow was deeply furrowed, and he ran a hand through his hair, and once again Kagome felt that treacherous thump in her chest in reaction to the gesture. "They're acting bolder than we expected. And where the hell is my brother when this is happening right under his nose?"
"That girl - Yura - she said that - "
He gave a violent shake of his head. "Yura lies," he muttered. "Do you understand me, Kagome? Yura lies. For her it's as easy as breathing. She'll sprinkle in some small truth to try and hit where it hurts, but she always, always lies."
The intense stare he was giving her prompted Kagome into a weak nod of acknowledgment. "A-Alright," she said softly. "So what was true and what was - "
Inuyasha shook his head again, but much more gently, and the dark smile was back on his face. "None of it," he said.
He was lying too, wasn't he? And that conclusion would have brought Kagome a cold sort of triumph just moments ago, moments before that girl with the vicious, seductive smile had walked through the bedroom door…
A liar he's a liar he's always been a liar -
But now it just left her feeling hollow. Hollow and pitiful and terrified.
Because he seemed to be lying now to protect her from the truth.
To protect me from the truth just like he's been trying to do in his own clumsy stupid way from the very beginning but can't you see it doesn't work like that it CAN'T work like that -
And so, once again, Kagome's thoughts were at war with each other, and she could only stand there like a fool.
As she stared at him, Inuyasha's eyes fell on the two kimonos Yura had brought, and he stepped forward and swiped them both up off the mattress with a single harsh motion. In a flash he was back at the door; he opened it up a crack and threw them both out into the dark hallway.
"Burn those," he snapped at whatever unseen guards were standing there. "And find out what the hell is keeping my brother, will you?"
"Please, my lord, please. Tell me. When can I serve you? When can I make you proud of me?"
"Soon, my dearest. Very soon. But for now...sleep. And dream of me."
Ooooh, lookie there I did a mean stinger didn't I
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Sango's first class at Kaede University of Why-Everything-You-Knew-Is-Probably-Wrong was...a modest success I spose
Miroku Ragrets, Ch33 Edition (tm): 1, why did I skip leg day; 2, why am I suddenly a dad oh well I will adore and protecc my boi
Inuyasha: Here Kagome ask me anything fr anything it's all out on the table
Kagome: *asks sensible question
Inuyasha: WAIT WAIT I WAS JOKING HAHAHAHAHA SHIT
Also I gotta say, writing the part where Inu CRONCHES Yura's face into that doorframe...mmmmmm...better than sex I tell ya. I almost wanted to just go all meta, stop the fic, rewind it, and play it again...and again...and AGAIN...
SEE Y'ALL NEXT TIME! AS ALWAYS THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING, MEANS A BUNCH! - meggz0rz