Tatsuhana clawed at the fat fingers digging into her neck. Somehow she could feel it in her skin how it changed hues. Eyes watered heavy tears as they bulged out of their sockets. Mukotsu's frog-like face leered down at her. His mouth was a gaping maw of crooked teeth and pale blue lips.

"Die. Die. Die!" He chanted.

Black dots danced in Tatsuhana's vision while white-hot pain erupted behind her eyelids. She felt her hands begin to go limp. It would be pointless to continue clawing at him as if she was hurting real flesh and bone. Mukotsu no longer played the rules of mortal bodies anymore. He was a member of the inn's ghostly entourage.

Mukotsu loosened his hands around Tatsuhana's neck and turned to face the source of the voice. Tatsuhana turned her neck to cough and gulp down as much as she could while she still had the chance. Balls of white fire snuffed out the ones Mukotsu brought with him when he barged into Tatsuhana's room. There were several more of them than the ones that accompanied him.

"Who the hell are you!" Mukotsu stood up at once.

He dripped all over the bed and soaked through even Tatsuhana's clothes. She scrambled out of bed while she was able to get up. The only thing slowing her down was the severe ache in her lower abdomen. Tatsuhana stumbled her way into the furthest corner of her room and pushed herself against the wall to get far away from Mukotsu's spirit. The tongues of white flame surrounded him after wiping out his own fires.
The balls of white fire encircled and wrapped around Mukotsu like swarming locusts. He swatted at them to no avail. He was engulfed and swallowed up. His furious cries echoed through the bedroom, through the hallway, through the whole house. The stench of him lingered, the smell of wet clothes, sulfur, and fish.

Tatsuhana lifted her head once the temperature warmed up back to normal. She crawled towards the light switch and stretched her arm out to flip it on. Puddles led to the bed and a pool in her sheets. Broken and in shambles, the sliding door was just splinters on her floor. Tatsuhana looked down to see her yukata was soaked through and stuck her skin.

Clutching her lower body, Tatsuhana dumped her clothes and changed into another. She grabbed her pillow, the only thing that wasn't wet, and stumbled down the hall. From the hall closet, she grabbed new blankets and sheets before making her way downstairs. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, but Tatsuhana ignored it. She slid open the door to the family shrine. She made her new bedding was laid out in front of the altar, and lit some incense before plopping her head on the pillow. She pulled the covers up to her chin. The acrid smell of incense did little to help put her to sleep. Quite, the opposite actually, but the incense wasn't for her. It didn't seem polite to appropriate the family shrine and sleep there. She reasoned as long as Mukotsu didn't have his name up there with the other spirits or her ancestors, he wasn't welcomed. That didn't stop Tatsuhana from envisioned his enraged face hovering over hers and his pudgy fingers wrapped around her neck.

Mr. Hanzo kissed his wife goodbye like he did every morning. He rarely woke up before his alarm did, but he was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when he pressed the alarm button. For some reason, he was wide awake this morning. He pressed his lips to his wife's temples. She stirred a little, smiled, wished him a good day at work, and went back to sleep.

The morning was cold since the sun hadn't risen yet. He could barely make out the crack of dawn slowly appearing above the horizon. He got into his car and pulled out into the street. Thanks to the early commute, the drive took him twenty minutes, but that was on a good day. He found a good spot in the parking garage a couple blocks from the inn that made his life a little easier without having to worry about his only vehicle getting damaged in the open street. Hanzo liked his brief walk to the inn. He passed by a coffee shop that was just opening its doors. He bought two cups of black coffee, one for him and one for Tatsuhana. There were big plans that needed to be discussed before the grand re-opening.
The march up the cursed stairs felt more like climbing the Himalayans, but a chill ran through him when Hanzo walked into the courtyard. It felt like someone was stepping on his grave. He glanced at his arm to see the tiny thin hairs standing on end. Hanzo felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up too. Deep in his bones, he felt something wasn't right.

Nevertheless, Hanzo preceded to unlock the front door. He flipped the lights on one by one. Nothing appeared to be amiss. To his eyes, there was no sign of a break-in.

"Tatasuhana, are you awake?" He called out but received no answer.

Hanzo checked the office. She wasn't in there, and nothing appeared out of place or missing. He checked some of the rooms hoping to find her hard at work restoring the old murals. Nope, Tatsuhana wasn't there either. Hanzo climbed to the third story and walked to her bedroom. Tatsuhana might just be sleeping in. It wasn't like her to stay in bed knowing that she had made plans with Hanzo.

"Tatsuhana!"

The empty hallway echoed no reply.

Hanzo reached the top of the stairs. The window at the end of the hall offered a glimpse of light, but not much. Though there was little, his eyes made out the shape of broken panels and torn rice paper. Hanzo turned on the hall light. The drink holders carrying the coffee cups crashed to the floor. Hanzo's blood drained from his face. Tatsuhana's bedroom door was broken into pieces like someone, or something had burst through it. Hanzo ran to look inside. Her bed contained a dark stain, and he felt his blood run cold. There wasn't much relief when he turned on the light to find that the stain wasn't from blood. Tatsuhana wasn't in her room. A kimono lay discarded on the floor, and her pillow was missing.

"Tatsuhana!"

Panicked, Hanzo ran through the inn and searched every room. He flipped on all the lights, ran into every room, and checked every nook and cranny of the storage spaces. There was no trace of the young woman anywhere he searched, except for one.

Hanzo tore down the hall. His hand hesitated for a moment on the door.

"Please, forgive me spirits for my intrusion!" He prayed before slamming the door open.

There was no electricity, so the only lights came from the candles. Hanzo could still smell the smoke and ash from heavy-scented incense. It must have been burned recently. A wave of nausea almost sent the forty-plus-some-year-old man to his knees. Tatsuhana lay perfectly still on the floor like she'd been sleeping there the whole night.

"Tatsuhana, can you hear me?" He tightened his hand against the doorframe.

Non-family members were strictly forbidden from entering this sacred space. It was only one of three rooms in the whole building in which visitors and non-relatives could walk around, especially uninvited. Standing in the doorway made his stomach churn. It was a good thing he hadn't eaten breakfast yet. Beads of cold sweat ran down his brow.

"Tatsuhana!" He shouted.

The candles sputtered, and their flames grew higher. The room became awash with pale golden light. Tatsuhana groaned and twisted in her sleep, making sour bile rose in Hanzo's throat at what he saw.

Tatsuhana writhed under the blanket. Her face was contorted in pain while her long black hair wreathed around her head like a mangled halo. She looked pale as death. The bruises around her neck stood out that much more, with her body seemingly drained of blood. Hanzo lunged forward to get a better look at the suspiciously finger-shaped abrasions circling her throat. What little he had in his stomach from the meal he had last night came back up with revenge. Hanzo was knocked by an invisible kick to the stomach. He sprawled over in the hallway and emptied his guts.

Violent tremors tore through Hanzo's body when he finished. He crept to the door again. Appearing now before his eyes were three figures. Two were familiar. One was not. Their bodies were made of mist and the dust of ages. Slowly, they took shape and added faces that Hanzo most certainly recognized. Dressed in white kimonos, Mr. and Mrs. Hamasaki knelt by the makeshift bed. Even in their death throes, neither of his former employers looked so miserable as they did now. Mrs. Hamasaki tried to smooth Tatsuhana's hair only to have her hand phase through the woman's skull. This only made her mother more upset, and she began to weep tears of blood. Mr. Hamasaki wore a stoic mask. It worked only for a minute before he too began to weep. Crimson tears rolled down their deathly cheeks. Hanzo began to weep with and for them.

"Get…off…me." Tatsuhana choked out.

She lifted her arms but could not hold them up, and they fell beside her limp as ragdoll arms. The ghost of Mrs. Hamasaki flashed a snarl towards the third figure. Hanzo followed her gaze to the vaguely present creature squatting on top of Tatsuhana. He couldn't see it as well as the apparitions of his former employers, but Hanzo made out a misshapen thing pressing down on Tatsuhana's lower midsection. No face or body, Hanzo could only see an outline of a ghost.

Ignoring Hanzo's presence, Mrs. Hamasaki slashed with nails to no effect. Whatever the creature turned out to be had to be stronger than the ghost of an angry mother. Mrs. Hamasaki's hands traveled right through 'it' just like when she tried to soothe her child. Mr. Hamasaki, on the other hand, lifted his head.

Memories came flooding into Hanzo's eyes. He cried harder when he remembered the day before his employer left this world.

"Hanzo, get help. We're not strong enough to stop him. Get help," Mr. Hamasaki pleaded.

Hanzo lay on the floor, mind, and heart racing a mile a minute. There were too many questions without answers. Too many thoughts rushed him all at once. He lay there and stared at Mr. Hamasaki's ghost. The tears streaming down his face turned darker and darker until the bloody tears looked black. Shaking, Hanzo nodded his head. He stood up at once and glanced at Tatsuhana's twisted, sweaty, pale face.

"Please, hold on for a little longer. I swear I'll come back with help. Just…be strong, Tatsuhana."

Days were bleeding into each other. Sesshomaru barely took any conscious notice of what time of day it was. If not for the constant checking-in by his new secretary and Jaken, even Sesshomaru would miss his own tight schedules for his several hundred years of wisdom. It had been a week since he last got in contact with Tatsuhana, and there had been o word. He kept to his promise by keeping no contact. Still, that didn't stop him from wondering what she was doing. It had been radio silence, and it made him worry. Perhaps today would be the day he called his stepmother to check on her for him. Izayoi knew the terms Sesshomaru promised himself, so she wouldn't let Tatsuhana know he put her up to it. If it had been his biological mother, on the other hand, she would have zero qualms about sticking Sesshomaru into the conversation. But she'd also probably think Tatsuhana was too beneath him. She'd more likely rub salt into the wound.

However, Sesshomaru did take Tatsuhana's advice to heart. He cleared chunks of his schedule to spend time with Rin. He dropped her off and picked her up from school for the last week, and he began to see Rin blossom. She was opening up to him more often than before and no longer hesitated to wrap her arms around his legs. It was sweet enough to give him a toothache, but he supposed changes don't come overnight.

Rin kissed him on the cheek after he walked her into school. Sesshomaru allowed himself a smile as he patted her head and walked back to his car. Everything between parking his car and sitting down at his desk was a blur. Sesshomaru barely had time to take the first sip of his coffee when Jaken came barging in, huffing and puffing. The imp had a slightly red tint to his face after running for what seemed like miles for his stumpy legs.

"Jaken?" Sesshomaru ground his teeth.

"There's… pant ugh…a security issue down in the lobby. A human male wishes to speak with you and refuses to…leave the premises!"

"You ran to me over a security issue?" Sesshomaru shot him a bored yet shrew look.

"He insists upon seeing you, milord. He keeps mentioning that Tatsuhana woman!"

Sesshomaru didn't give Jaken time enough to scramble out of the way. He ran across the room with his demonic speed. Sesshomaru didn't bother taking the elevator; it was too slow. He needed to get to the lobby floor. Now.

Sesshomaru wasn't even out of breath when he reached the floor he needed. Hapless office workers cleared the way when he stormed by. He left behind him a trail of confused and frightened onlookers. With his speed, Sesshomaru reached the lobby in no time at all. A crowd of uniforms surrounded the man in question. Sesshomaru knew this man's face.

"Let him through!" This was the first time Sesshomaru raised his voice in the lobby.

The security team backed away and set the human free. Hanzo, Sesshomaru remembered the human's name as well. He worked at the inn. According to Tatsuhana, Hanzo had known her since she was a child. The man stumbled forward and almost kissed Sesshomaru's shoe. The latter was fast enough to keep the human from faceplanting and making a bigger fool of himself.

"Hanzo, was it?" Sesshomaru needed to make sure before continuing.

"Yes, that's my name. Mr. Taisho, you have to come quick! I don't know who else to turn to. It's Miss Tatsuhana. I don't…I don't know how to describe it. Please, I beg of you. You must come quick!"

For once in his life, Sesshomaru felt his heart stop. Hanzo was white in the face, and his eyes were wide with terror. Even in the modern age, to come to a demon meant that Hanzo was at his wit's end. He must have been desperate beyond all measure to come to Sesshomaru for help.

"Come with me," ordered Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru ordered Jaken to have someone get him the keys to his car, and he wanted them now. It didn't take long for the imp to obey. A lowly intern went up to his office, came back down, and Sesshomaru snatched his keys from the pink-faced young man. Hanzo had trouble keeping up with Sesshomaru's pace as they quickly walked from the office building to the parking garage next door. They climbed up, got into his car, and peeled out like a bat out of hell. The vehicle finally came to a sudden stop at the base of the inn's hill. Sesshomaru reached the top first, but he didn't wait for Hanzo to guide him. Sesshomaru smelled the air once he came to the top and barged into the courtyard. The air carried a foul stench which grew stronger while he followed it into the inn. He followed the scent to the family shrine.

Its door was still thrown open. A mess moldered a few feet from it, the sour smell almost as bad as the stench coming from the room. Candles lit the room, but Sesshomaru didn't need them to find Tatsuhana's shape writhing on the floor. His blood boiled when he saw the hand-shaped bruises on her neck. Something twisted her face into painful contortions.

"Tatsuhana, what's wrong?"

She made no answer. Tatsuhana groaned and cried out. Sweat beaded down her face and covered her skin in a layer of it. She pushed your arms out as if to shove someone off of her. When Sesshomaru looked, he found that she was trying to shove off only air. Her weak legs barely moved. He put one foot inside and—

A wall of energy forced him back. Sesshomaru's spine met the opposite wall where he left a dent in it. A brief wave of nausea attempted to overtake him, but he bit back the urge to vomit. Sesshomaru's eyes turned red, and he growled. The air in the room across from him fizzled like water on an electric current. Sesshomaru saw the energy swirl and shift in waves. He ground his teeth and tried again.

Sesshomaru met with the same invisible wall that shoved him backward. Still, he pressed further. His eyes were locked unto Tatsuhana's unconscious body. Sesshomaru forced his way through the energy field that enclosed the room, shoving one foot forward at a time. The resistance pushed back. It would not yield to him so easily. Sesshomaru fought off nausea sinking deep into his stomach. He made it to where all he would have to do was pick Tatsuhana up and carry her out the door when the energy field shot back. Once more, he was slammed into the wall and had the wind knocked out of him.

Sesshomaru growled at the swirling energy, but it did not shrink back. He had no more ideas. Charging inside wasn't doing anything, and trying it a third time would yield the same results, if not worse. Sesshomaru dug into his jacket for his cell phone.

"W-Who are you going to call? I don't suppose you have the number for a priest?" Said Hanzo.

"No, I don't. But I don't have many options."

Three cars slammed into parking spots across the street. Toga Taisho came out first. His son Inuyasha and his girlfriend Kagome exited next. The third was a frantic-looking Maiko who pushed her way past all of them and ran uphill in her kitten heels. She somehow reached the top before Toga, a full-blooded demon, and Inuyasha, the half-blood. Maiko kicked off her shoes the moment she entered the inn. She found Sesshomaru and Hanzo standing in the hallway.

"Where is she?" Maiko asked.

"In the shrine, but you might not want—" Hanzo tried to stop her, but Maiko shoved herself into the open door.

"Tatsuhana!" Maiko cried out.

Tatsuhana's condition had not improved since Hanzo first saw her at dawn. In fact, it was disintegrating faster. Maiko reached out her hand to grasp Tatsuhana's hand. She turned green in the face and pulled away before the wave of nausea overtook her.

"What's wrong with her? Hanzo, what's going on?" Maiko choked.

"I found her like this in the morning. We were supposed to go over the final plans for the grand re-opening. I thought someone broke in when I saw her bedroom door kicked in. I searched everywhere for her and found her like this. Nobody but family can get in, though we've tried."

"What the hell is around her neck?" Asked Maiko. She couldn't pull her eyes away from the dark purple bruise that Tatsuhana wore like a gruesome necklace.

"I don't know. We can't get her to wake up either. I don't know what to do." Hanzo admitted on the brink of tears.

Toga and the other three arrived. The hallway was now a total capacity. Toga stood next to Maiko's kneeling body and looked into the room. Tatsuhana trembled under her blankets, and her eyes remained shut. If something wasn't done soon, the woman could be dead by the following day.

"Excuse me, excuse me. Please, let me help." Kagome jogged up to the door.

"What can you do? If everyone else has tried something and it didn't work, what can you do?" Maiko asked.

"Trust me, please. I want to help your friend. If there's something I can do, I should be able to try!"

Maiko and Toga moved out of her way. Kagome knelt in the doorway and pressed her hand forward.

"Tatsuhana, Tatsuhana! Can you hear me?"

By some miracle, Tatsuhana stirred from her nightmare. She turned her head to face the doorway. Slowly, her watery, red eyes opened.

"W-Who are you?" She asked. Tatsuhana's voice cracked like brittle as glass.

"It's Kagome. Do you remember me?"

Tatsuhana nodded.

"Can you tell me what's going on? Why are you in this room where nobody can get to you? How did you get those marks on your neck?"

Tatsuhana's breath grew ragged. She coughed until it sounded like she was hacking up a lung. Her pale hand went to her throat.

"M-M-Mukotsu…"

"Mukotsu?" Kagome repeated

"Isn't he supposed to be dead? Tatsuhana found him in the hot spring, didn't she?" Said Inuyasha.

Hanzo's face blanched. "Those that pass away suddenly or suffer violent deaths…end up staying here. As ghosts."

"So, in other words, Tatsuhana is being haunted by the ghost of Mukotsu from the Band of Seven?" Said Toga.

Sesshomaru's hands curled into fists at his sides.

"Is there any way to get her out? If we can just get her out of the house, the ghost of Mukotsu won't be able to follow her. Isn't that right?" Toga continued.

Nodding, Hanzo answered, "Yes, that's correct. But the room only allows family members. We've tried, but it repels anyone who doesn't belong to the Hamasaki family. Even Mr. Sesshomaru has tried, and he's a demon."

"There's got to be an exception!" Said Kagome.

"There's one," Maiko piped up. "There's only ever been one exception to the rule. When we were kids, Tatsuhana's dad had a priest do a special ceremony in the shrine. We weren't allowed in, but the priest came and went without anything happening to him."

"Yes, that's true," Hanzo confirmed. "Religious folk are the only exception. Priests and monks are the only ones who can enter without being family."

Toga's eyes widened for a second. "Excuse me for one moment. I do believe I have a plan." He pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket and walked down the hallway.

Two hours later, another car pulled up to the inn, but it was parked across the street. Miroku Kazaana climbed out. With him were a large duffle bag and a Buddhist monk's staff. Its metal rings jangled loudly as he hiked up the steps. He found everyone except Maiko and Kagome in the so-called Indigo Room of the inn.

"Kazaana, I'm so happy you're here!" Said Toga.

"Father, what's going on? How is 'he' going to help?"

Miroku set aside the staff and dumped his bag on the floor.

"Well, before becoming an author, I was a monk for some time. Though I'm not sure why Mr. Taisho asked me to bring my regalia here."

"It is an emergency. It will all make sense if you follow me," said Toga.

The elder dog demon led Miroku down the hall where Maiko and Kagome were trying desperately to push a bowl of water towards Tatsuhana without stepping into the room. They got out of the way so Miroku could get a better look at the situation. He knelt on the floor by the doorway.

"Miss Hamasaki, Miss Hamasaki, can you hear me?" Asked Miroku.

Tatsuhana turned her head. Her cheeks turned red. "M-Miroku? What are you doing here?"

"I heard that there was a lady in distress. Can you tell me what's going on? How come you're in that room by yourself?"

At the end of his questions, Tatsuhana arched her back off the floor. Her face was screwed up in pain. She clawed at the air and fell back down, exhausted. A sheen of sweat polished her face.

"Can't move. He's sitting on top of me and won't get up," Tatsuhana coughed.

"Who?"

"Mukotsu."

Miroku turned to Toga for answers.

"We believe that the ghost of Mukotsu is haunting the poor lady. He's physically attacked her, as you can see by the bruises on her neck. She must have sought refuge in the family shrine to get away from him, but he managed to follow her despite her best efforts. We can't enter because the spirits who reside in the inn won't allow non-family members into the shrine. The only exceptions are monks and priests. That is where you can come, Mr. Kazaana."

"I see." Miroku nodded his head solemnly. He turned back to Tatsuhana. "Please wait a little while longer, Miss Hamasaki. Help is on the way."

Miroku and Toga returned to the Indigo Room, where the former unpacked the contents of the duffle bag. Inside, it contained the dark blue robes of a monk. Miroku quickly changed into his regalia, even replacing his Oxford shoes with tabi socks. The rings on his staff jingled as he walked back down the hall.

"I think it would be best if everyone waited outside. Someone should get a car running. I believe that Miss Hamasaki will need a visit to the hospital," said Miroku.

"We'll take mine," said Maiko.

"No. I'll do it. My car is faster than yours." Sesshomaru.

He disappeared before Maiko got even halfway down the hall. Everyone left, even Hanzo. He glanced into the shrine room.

"You're going to be alright, Tatsuhana," said he. Reluctantly, Hanzo pulled away and followed the others.

The inn's wooden innards creaked on all floors. Miroku sucked in his breath and exhaled slow. He didn't want to say anything lest it scared the others, but the shrine smelled rank. Permeating the air, the stench wafted into the hallway. It smelled like a dead fish. It was almost enough to make him gag. Miroku took one cautious step inside. Unlike the others, there was no wall of energy to push him back or wave of nausea to churn his stomach. Miroku sensed multiple non-living entities in the room, but he focused on the one sitting on Tatsuhana's stomach. There was a mysterious shimmering presence that looked roughly like a human. It was fat, squat, and toad-like.

"Get…him…off." Tatsuhana croaked.

Miroku struck the floor with his staff. The ghostly figure sitting on her stomach wavered, but only for a moment. Miroku dug into the sleeve of his robes, fortunate that he remembered a few sutras and tucked them away there. Just because he didn't know if he would ever be called to serve such a service again. He placed a piece of parchment that contained a sutra on Tatsuhana's stomach.

The toad-like figure wavered, turned red, then turned into crimson mist. With the ghost out of the way, Miroku knelt behind Tatsuhana's head for the time being. He dug his hands under her armpits and lifted. His staff he left by the door so he could carry her limp body out of the room. With one arm under her knees and the other at her waist, Miroku carried her ran down the hall.

Tatsuhana was pale, flushed white like funeral garments. A layer of sweat made her face shiny. She felt cold to his touch. Forced to look down, Miroku kept himself from tripping as he sprinted out of the inn, down the hillside steps, and reached the street below. Sesshomaru had his car running, and the backdoor opened. Tatsuhana was slid gently as possible into the backseat and buckled in.

"I'll catch up when—"

Sesshomaru had already slammed the driver's side door closed, almost breaking the glass window. Miroku watched as he didn't bother to buckle his seatbelt before pulling out like King Yama was chasing his tail. Miroku was left standing bewildered for a moment just to watch Sesshomaru's taillights disappear into the city traffic.