A Dragon's Fang, a Human's Heart

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

A human with the power of a demon. To many such an idea sounds ludicrous, does it not? Well he's here to prove them wrong. He will journey across time with the love of his life on his journey as he fights for friendship, for honor, for life, and above all, for love. Rewrite of the Rise of a Warrior: Inuyasha.

34. The Lunar Rainbow Promise

(The Lunar Rainbow Promise)

"When the ten Fangs of Ryuhogo reunite after thousands of years, the Dragon Guardian shall at last fulfill his destiny and rid this world of the Jewel that has caused so much suffering, and begin a new era for all."

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The night was calm over the skies above Tokyo,

Tatsu opened his eyes and found himself standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking a rocky desert area, but he just let out a sigh "Alright I know the drill, now let's just get this over with already."

"You seem to be lacking the same fire that you did before." the figure of Ryuhogo appeared in front of him, his expression neutral "Not that I can say that I'm surprised by it."

"So you already know everything that happened? Who am I kidding, of course you do. You know pretty much everything that goes on in my life."

"You're greatly exaggerating that factor. I only know of certain events taking place that revolve around the one who possesses the Fangs I created. That's why I was able to make myself appear before the Higurashi girl that day, but not you."

"So… that works for both sets of Fangs?"

"It does." Ryuhogo breathed a sigh "I know what you're going to ask, whether I knew or not that it was Shin that caused the accident that took your father from you."

"And?"

"Yes. I did know, all along." Ryuhogo breathed a sigh as he gazed out at the landscape in front of them "I believed it to be for the best at the time, for the sake of protecting you from the turmoil that plagues you now. Evidently, that was the wrong decision, and for what little comfort it may bring you… I'm sorry."

"...Forget it, that doesn't matter anymore. Let's just get to training."

"You're being rather dismissive of this. I had thought you would wish to ask about the claims that Shin made on Mount Everest."

"I don't care about that right now. I'm not here to make small talk, I just want to focus on the main reason why I'm here to begin with, and that's training. Weather what Shin said to me is true or not, the fact is that he's still out there, and with five more Fangs out there to find there's a more than likely chance he's gonna be back and more powerful than ever. I would never have made it out alive if Kagome hadn't intervened when she did, so I think it's pretty obvious that if I'm gonna stand a chance against him, then I need to learn every skill I can. I know what you're going to say, that I'm being too hasty and avoiding my feelings."

"Far from it, I completely agree with you. I initially hid the information regarding the other five Fangs to keep anyone unworthy from finding them. Evidently, that didn't work out as well as I had hoped. It's time for us to resume your training, to focus on the power of the fifth Fang you now wear."

"This one is called the Thunder Lily right?"

"Correct, and as the name should imply, this one grants the user power over energy in the form of lightning and electricity. Lightning is a pure expression of energy, but unlike an expression in the form of fire, it has no anger or aggression. It isn't fuelded by rage or emotion in the same way that other elemental manipulation is, so lightning is generally referred to as cold-blooded, for it is precise and deadly, unlike the others that can be so wild and uncontrollable, such as fire."

"Which raises a question I had about this. Couldn't lightning and fire have been included in the same Fang?"

"No, they are separate elements, though there are a few ways that fire and lightning are similar, mainly because both of them are derived from plasma. But getting back to the task at hand, if you wish to perform this technique then you require peace of mind. That's actually why I waited until now to teach you about this new Fang."

"You mean you wanted to give me a few days to cool off after everything right?"

"It was fairly strenuous from both a physical and emotional standpoint, given not only that, but everything that happened."

"Fair enough I guess. So how do we do this?"

"Allow me to elaborate on the specifics." Ryuhogo turned to face the vast landscape visible in the distance, and motioned for Tatsu to do the same "There is energy all around us, and that is in the forms of both Yin and Yang, a positive energy and a negative energy. Only those who understand these energies, as few as they are, have the ability to separate them. This results in the creation of an imbalance, and the energy desires to restore the balance, and in that moment the positive and negative energy come crashing back together, you provide release and guidance, and that results in the creation of lightning. Allow me to demonstrate it for you." Ryuhogo gave a series of bodily movements as electrical energy began surging in his fingertips, and with a single swift movement he shot the energy outwards, creating a burst of lightning that hurtled out into the distance "Do you understand now?"

"I think so, and I'm ready to give it a try for myself."

"I expected that you would be. But you have to remember that once you separate the energy, it is no longer yours to command. You do nothing more than guide it on its path. You have to take a breath first."

"Okay, here goes." Tatsu took a breath, gave a series of movements as energy began to build in his hands, and he stuck his arm out, only for the energy to detonate and sent him crashing back to the ground "Fuck!"

"...I knew this was going to take some time."

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Meanwhile, 500 years in the past…

'This isn't how I imagined tonight going.' Koga felt his mind racing as he bolted along the side of a riverbank, dodging and weaving his way around the pursuits of a pack of white wolves until he took refuge on on of the branches of a high up tree "Take my advice and back down before I decide to get serious, because once I do I'm not holding back."

"Looks like you're about as short-tempered as you've always been." this was when the leader of this group made herself known, a female wolf demon with green eyes and auburn hair that she kept in pigtails with an iris in it, along with white fur draped over her shoulders, a white fur skirt, insteps and arm guards, and a set of red and blue armor covering her torso "Not that it's really a bad thing, it's nice to know you're still you after all this time."

"Okay enough of that crap, tell me who the hell you are and why the hell you sent your wolves to attack me?"

"They're not attacking you, they're just chasing you because you keep running away."

"I retreated from them because they won't leave me the hell alone! Seriously, I've been trying to get them off my tail all day! Seriously, if you've got a bone to pick with me or something then just spit it out so I can move on with my life."

"Did it ever occur to you that I wouldn't have my wolves chasing you like this if I didn't have a really good reason?"

"You literally had your wolves chase me from dawn until dusk, it better be one hell of a good reason."

"Hey Koga, we finally caught up with you!" this was when Hakkaku and Ginta came stumbling out of the woods and onto the scene "And it only took half a day, a dive head first into a really deep gorge and a ride with a stampede of angry cattle to catch up with you."

"That's where you two have been all day? I thought you two were with me trying to get rid of these white wolves."

"We were until you leapt over that gorge, but we ended up falling in and into a stampede of angry cattle, and that was only after we had to escape from that mob of angry women. Speaking of which, isn't that Ayame, the granddaughter of the old chieftain? I thought she went to the North with the elder a long time ago."

"...Ayame huh? Okay then, so what the hell is she doing here?'

"Like I said, my wolves were chasing you all day for a reason." Ayame told him "Gramps sent me to give you a message."

"What message is that?"

"Something that I've been waiting a really long time for. You're gonna come back with me and take me as your wife Koga, just like you promised me." Ayame grinned as she failed to notice the various jaws dropping as she said this.

"...You're gonna be my what now?"

"Yep, you heard me right. You wouldn't believe the crazy rumors about you that have been going around lately, some of them even say you managed to get your hands on the legendary Goraishi, but even if that didn't pan out you'd still have shards of the Shikon Jewel wouldn't you? With the power of those shards in your possession, you'd be worthy of ruling the clan. Well now that you know the situation, come with me so we can get married."

"Uh… Okay, putting aside the fuckton of things wrong with everything you just said, what the hell made you think I said I'd marry you anyway?"

"Wait what?" Ayame's face fell when she heard this "You mean you don't remember?"

"I don't remember what?"

"Don't be like that Koga, you know as well as I do that you promised to marry me when I came down from the northern mountains!"

"...I did what now?"

"You did what one?!" Hakkaku and Ginta were both left gawking at Koga in disbelief when they heard this "Koga you really made a promise like that?! How in the hell did the elder not kill you for that? She was just a child back then!"

"Do I look like a fucking child rapist to you?! I never said anything like that!"

"Yes you did, I heard it with my own ears and I never forgot about it!" Ayame leapt up into that tree and grabbed hold of Koga by the arm.

"Hey what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Gramps told me to do whatever it takes to bring you back, and if that means I have to knock you out and sling you over my shoulder then so be it."

"Get the hell off me you fucking lunatic, the branch is gonna-" Koga was cut off and proven right by the branch they were on breaking under their weight, sending both of them crashing into the river below with a loud splash.

"Koga!" Ginta and Hakkaku were quick to try and rush to his aid "Koga are you alright?"

"You mean aside from the crazy woman grabbing me by the arm and the wolves biting my legs to try and make me submit? I've been worse." Koga jerked himself free of the grip Ayame and her wolves had on him and shot a pissed off glare "Getting married is the last thing I need or want right now. Besides… I have other things to worry about." and so he promptly sped off into the distance as fast as he could, leaving Hakkaku and Ginta to try and chase after him.

'He… He doesn't remember?' Ayame took a moment to snap out of her stupor and try to process everything she was told 'He has… other things to worry about? Don't tell me… does he have another woman? Don't tell me he seriously forgot about it so easily. He did make that promise to me, back on the night of the lunar rainbow…'

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Meanwhile, 500 years in the future…

"Come on, come on, come on!" with his frustration clearly showing, Tatsu made one attempt after another to try and generate lightning, only for each attempt to keep exploding in his face and sending him crashing to the ground "Why can't I do it? Instead of lightning it just keeps blowing up in my face. Now that I think about it, that's been happening a lot this week."

"I was afraid that this might happen." Ryuhogo let out a sigh "You're not going to be able to master lightning until you've been able to come to terms with the turmoil that currently swarms inside of your mind and heart."

"What are you talking about?"

"Listen to me Tatsu, you have to let go of these feelings you carry of shame and guilt if you wish to move forward."

"What are you talking about? I found the first five Fangs, I have five more out there to find, I found out that my dad may still be alive after almost a decade, and I finally told Kagome I love her and we kissed twice. If anything, I should be proud of myself right now."

"Don't try to fool me into believing that, or fool yourself for that matter. This is exactly the sort of problem I was hoping wouldn't come to pass. You have to keep in mind Tatsu, pride is not the opposite of shame, it's the source of it. There's only one cure for shame, and it comes in the form of true humility."

Tatsu said nothing, he just let out a long sigh and sat down on the edge of the cliff "I don't know what to do about this. First of all, Kirara took that blow for me and it almost got her killed. She lost a freaking leg from that blast. Sango probably hates me for it, not that I can really blame her either."

"It's unfortunate truly, but she would not have made such a sacrifice for you if she didn't believe you were worth such a risk."

"Doesn't change my point. That's not the only issue either."

"Then what else is there to consider?"

"...I don't know what to do about it."

"About what?"

"Do I have to say it out loud?"

"Yes."

"Son of a- Fine." Tatsu let out a groan as he laid back on the ground, gazing up at the illusionary sun shining above them "I don't know what to think about what Shin said… about whether or not my dad is really alive. What if it was a lie? What if it wasn't? I have no idea what to think. But there's more to it than that. All this time I thought I lost him because of some kind of freak accident, but now… Almost ten years later I found out it was deliberate. All this time Shin played me for a fool, me and Kazuma."

"I understand what you're feeling, believe me, but there is one other factor that should be taken into consideration. Do you remember what I told you, about the enchantment I had placed on them? They can only be wielded by those that I deem worthy."

"So what you're saying is that he isn't all evil, not like someone like Naraku anyway, and I do get that. But in any case, the fact is that he caused the accident that caused me and Kazuma to lose our father. Maybe he's alive, maybe not, but I… I don't know what to think. That along with everything else that's happened, it's hard to wrap my head around. Am I supposed to believe him or just dismiss it as a lie he told me to make me let him go?"

"That's not something I can answer, or should answer for that matter. Evidently I can see plain as day that you're not in the right state of mind for this training. I suggest that you should take some time to sort things out for yourself. I think it's safe to say you have a lot of that to do. After all, you have a fair amount of decisions to make right now, and you are the only one who can make them, and should make them for that matter."

"And once I do?"

"Once you do, I will teach you an effective ability in the field of lightning manipulation that may be even more effective than generating it. But until then, you have work to do, so go for it." and then both of them disappeared in a flash of white light.

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The sun was shining brightly over the skies of modern day Tokyo, but the tension had yet to die down, though some failed to take notice of this.

'Okay, this is fucking ridiculous.' Inuyasha was one of those people who didn't notice it as he made his way through the streets Tokyo, his mind racing 'This is insane, first Kirara ups and vanishes and Sango freaks the hell out and makes me search for her because of my stronger sense of smell, then Kagome shows up holding Kirara about a day later, she says to wait until things calm down to start asking questions so I did. It's been three days since then, and I finally came over just to get the hell away from Sango's crying. I mean it's a woman crying, even Miroku is avoiding her, so what the hell am I supposed to-' his thoughts were cut short but a small round object suddenly hitting him square in the face "OW FUCK!" he rubbed the new bruise on his face and looked down at the object he now held "An apple?" he sniffed it "A rotten apple? What the hell?" and then he glanced down to see the cause of it.

As it turns out, the cause was a beautiful young woman with long raven hair, clad in a simple magenta blouse and a dark purple skirt, grumbling as she move to pick up the items scattered around her "Go for a reusable plastic bag they said, it's a great idea they said, they won't break in the middle of the street or anything." she was met with an apple being dropped at her feet, and she glanced up to see Inuyasha standing in front of her, a large purple bruise on his face "I'm gonna go ahead and guess that hit you in the face?"

"You tell me." he gestured to the bruise "And those are rotten by the way."

"Of course they are." she breathed a sigh, which only grew louder and more frustrated as she looked down to see her other bag rip in half and the contents to spill out "That would be how this turns out."

"...Fuck, it's gonna be one of those days isn't it?"

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About 10 minutes later…

"That answers that." Inuyasha let out a sigh as he made his way down the street behind with the woman in question by his side, carrying her groceries in his arms "How the hell do I keep letting myself get roped into this crap?"

"I've heard that question a lot more than a person should." the woman let out a sigh "Sorry about having you help out like this."

"I get stabbed in the gut almost every day, it's not that big of a deal."

"So I've heard. Anyway, if the white hair, dog ears and red kimono are anything to go by, I'm guessing that you're this Inuyasha I've been hearing so much about?"

"You know about me?"

"My little brother mentions you every now and then." she was met with a blank look "I'm talking about Akira."

"...Oh. Him."

"Yeah, he says the two of you just eat and try to beat the crap out of each other. You know, what guys do. Plus Tatsu talks about you a lot."

"He does? Fuck, I get the feeling I'm not gonna wanna hear this.'

"He says you're snarky, full of yourself, a loner, you have horrible control over your temper and you get set off at the drop of a hat."

'And I was right.'

"But at the same time, he also says how you're loyal and have a strong sense of honor, and that he knows that he can count on you to have his back when it really matters. You know we have a word for someone like that."

"And what's that?"

"A friend." this caused him to blink "Tatsu might be my fiancee's little brother, but I do sort of see him like my own son, so… I wanted to say thank you, for looking out for him as much as you have. I'm glad I finally got the chance to meet you in peson."

"Um… sure. She's pretty open and honest about her feelings. So has anything weird happened in this world lately?"

"You're talking about what happened a few days ago right?" she was met with a blank look, and she let out a sigh as she stopped in her tracks "I'm not sure how much you already know, but to put it in simple terms, a LOT happened that day, and not all of it was good. As for Tatsu… he found out something rather heavy and he's struggling to come to terms with it. Kazuma is more or less the same, though not to the same extent. As for all of this…" she gestured to the groceries the two of them were carrying as they began walking again "This is just one way I'm trying to cheer them up a little bit. After all, it's like my mother told me. One of the best ways to get through to a man is through his stomach, no matter how bottomless it might seem."

"They gave you rotten apples."

"Oh that's nothing new. We don't use them for food though, Tatsu came up with the idea of using them as tools for his training." she was met with a blank look "Don't look too much into it, it's not worth the headache."

"You like to talk a lot."

"I just think it's healthy to be honest about how you feel. After all, keeping those emotions all bottled up inside doesn't do anything except hurt you in the end."

Inuyasha said nothing, he just looked away in silence.

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A few more minutes later…

"Alright, here we are." Moya opened the door to the apartment and motioned for Inuyasha to put down the groceries on the kitchen table "Thank you again."

"Stop thanking me, you've said it like five times already." Inuyasha rolled his eye as he placed everything on the table and looked around "I can smell Tatsu all over this place, where the hell is he anyway?"

"He hasn't gotten up yet, I was just hoping to get some things before he did so I could try and cheer him up a little bit. If I see him before he leaves for school. He usually tries to make it a point not to let anyone see him when he's upset about something. Anyway go ahead and make yourself comfortable, I'll go see if he's up for some breakfast." and so she made her way down the hall.

'Huh. She doesn't let up for a second, does one thing and moves right onto the next. Now I get where Tatsu gets it from.'

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Meanwhile, down the hall…

"Tatsu?" Moya gently knocked on the bedroom door "Tatsu are you still in there? It's getting late now, you'd better get moving or you're gonna be late for school."

The door creaked open and Tatsu made his way out, clad in his school uniform (though he didn't have the Fangs around his neck) with a bag draped over his shoulder, his expression downcast and emotionless and his voice soft "You need something?"

"You um, you're about to head out for school?"

"Yeah."

"Well I was about to make breakfast, if you want any."

"I'm… not really hungry right now."

"I figured you wouldn't be, it's just you have to eat something if you wanna keep your strength up." she was met with a quiet nod "Alright, I've learned by now that I can't force you to eat if you're not hungry. Just make sure to eat later okay?" she started walking away, only to stop when she felt Tatsu grip her hand gently.

"Maybe just something small?"

"...Okay sure." Moya gave him a gentle smile and led him back towards the kitchen, only to see his expression dull at the sight of Inuyasha slumped against a wall "Oh yeah I probably should've mentioned before, Inuyasha's here."

"I noticed. Hey."

"Hey." Inuyasha glanced up at him "What's with the sullen look?"

"Not important, so what are you doing here?"

"What the hell do you think? You leave right after Naraku disappears to do whatever the hell you do over here, then a few days later Kagome shows up carrying Kirara when she's covered in a ton of blood and missing a fucking leg, and she doesn't tell us anything! I want answers!"

"You'll get them later. I don't have time for this, at this rate I'm gonna be late. Just don't cause any trouble while I'm gone and I'll tell you all of it later. See ya." and so he grabbed a piece of toast and subsequently made his way out the door.

"What the hell is his problem?"

"Don't be too hard on him about it, like I said he just has a lot on his mind." Moya let out a sigh as she picked up a box from the counter "If only he could remember to take his lunch with him on days like this. That's about an hour of my life I'm not getting back."

"That thing is supposed to be food?"

"It's the carrying case for it, the food is inside. Anyway I hate to ask, but would you be willing to bring this to him?"

"...Fine fuck it, it's not like I have anything better to do."

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Meanwhile, with the love interest…

'Well this is just great…' Kagome let out a sigh as she made her way along the sidewalk, her mind drifting as she continued forward 'I can't believe things had to get so messed up like this.'

"Hey Kagome?" this was when Yuka and Eri suddenly came up to her, with Ayumi trailing behind them in silence snapped her back to reality "There you go again, letting yourself get lost in thinking again."

"About what exactly?"

"Come on you can't fool us, you're thinking about Tatsu again aren't you?"

"...You just had to go there didn't you?"

"Don't act like you didn't see this coming, so how is it going on that front?"

"I don't… what exactly is it you want me to say?"

"Both you and him have been acting super out of it for the past few days, so there has to be something new. You can't just leave us in the dark like this!"

"Okay okay, there is one thing. Two things actually." so she took a breath and decided to just come clean "I told him how I felt, he told me how he felt, and we kissed. Twice."

"...What?!" and then the uproar came from the two of them "You mean he-"

"Uh huh."

"And then you-"

"Uh huh."

"And then the two of you-"

"Yep. Twice."

"...Holy mother of god!" the two of them nearly fell over in shock "It's been like three days since the two of you started moping around, why the heck haven't you said anything about this before now?!"

"It was all really confusing and in the middle of a lot of really heavy stuff okay? It was one of the greatest moments of my life without a doubt, but it just… it happened in the middle of a lot of other really heavy stuff happening around the same time, and he learned something really heavy and he isn't taking it well, and that's why he's so upset."

"So what then, you guys aren't gonna get together?"

"I never said that!" she said this louder than she wanted to and ended up drawing some stares from various surrounding witnesses, causing her to blush and sit back down "We said we loved each other and kissed twice, and a part of me thought we everything was gonna turn out okay with that, but it's not."

"So when will you be?"

"I don't know."

"Why don't you know?"

"Because like I said, he's dealing with some other things that are more important, and I'm not gonna force him to think about it. That's the last thing I want to do. It's just not the right time right now."

"So when will be the right time?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint but right now, it's all just really confusing."

"But-"

"Guys please, just let it be for now." Ayumi cut them off firmly, prompting them to shut up, and she reached over and gently gripped Kagome's hand for reassurance, giving her a gentle smile as she did so "Just have some faith for now, I promise you everything is gonna turn out okay."

"Thanks." Kagome gave a small smile as she went back to eating and brooding 'They do have at least one point though. Where do Tatsu and I go from here? I know I want to wait until he's able to sort things out with what happened at the temple, but I still can't help but wonder.' she then glanced over to see Tatsu's downcast form making his way towards them, so she rushed over to him and gently gripped his hand, giving him a small reassuring smile as she did so.

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Meanwhile, with a certain dog man…

'Yeah, there we go.' with a basebal cap covering his ears, Inuyasha was sniffing his way down the streets of Tokyo, earning a lot of looks from every bystander 'This is easy as fuck, all I have to do is follow Tatsu's scent and I'll catch up to him before I even know it.'

"Stop that thief, someone catch him!"

'What the hell?'

That was when a hooded guy with a bag of money came running down the street "Out of my way if you don't wanna get hurt!" that sent a lot of people running, though he was quick to discover that Inuyasha was not one of those people "You wanna die so soon you little shit?!"

"Just what I was about to ask you." Inuyasha just sent his fist into the thug's face, sending him crashing to the ground and knocking him out cold 'Like I thought, this world is a hell of a lot more dangerous than Tatsu wants to admit.' it was then that he heard a siren and looked to see a firetruck rushing towards a burning building 'Son of a bitch, this place is one disaster after another isn't it? It's a wonder how Tatsu and Kagome have survived this shit for as long as they have.'

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Meanwhile, with the elder brother…

'It's so hard to believe…' his expression solemn, Kazuma stood on the roof of the apartment building, gazing out into the distance, his mind drifting 'All this time, he might be alive? And it wasn't an accident?'

"I wasn't sure if you'd be hungry."

Kazuma glanced over to see Moya make her way out with a tray of food in hand "Actually, having something to eat doesn't sound that bad right now." he sat down next to her, and he felt her gently grip his hand in hers "Thanks."

"Sure thing. So… what do you think? About all of this I mean."

"It's… really hard to wrap my head around. I mean, to think that the accident that took our dad from us wasn't even an accident. And what's more, he might even still be alive. To learn about something that after all this time…"

"But considering who we're talking about, do you think what he said is worth trusting?"

"I can't say anything for certain. I don't know what to think."

"If that is the case, then I have one more question for you honey." she tightened her grip on his hands "Do you want to believe that your father is still alive? I think that's the most important thing that matters in this situation."

"I… Of course I do, more than anything."

"Then that's all there is to it. I guess if I'm going to be your wife, it's only right that I believe the same thing as you." she cupped his cheeks and pulled him into a soft and loving kiss "Of course I know that Shin is probably going to return for the other Fangs, so I guess we'll just have to make sure to work around making sure that your father really is with him."

"...Thank you my love." Kazuma pulled her into his arms and gently cradled her against his chest as he gave a small smile "Thank you. I don't know what I would do without you in my life. But the question still remains, what will Tatsu decide to believe?'

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Meanwhile, at school…

'So C = 8, you'd have to be an idiot to not figure it out.' Tatsu rolled his eyes as he glanced down at the math problem and let out a sigh, then turned towards the window and his expression grew even more dull 'Oh for fuck's sake.' he glanced over to where Arashi was sitting next to him and nudged him on the knee.

Arashi blinked and then glanced over to where Inuyasha sat on the edge of the window sill in his typical position, scratching his ear with his foot "Okay, so what the hell is he doing here?"

"I don't know, just get rid of him. I'm not in the mood for any of his crap today." he let out a sigh and buried his face in his arms.

"Well I've got one thing that might work on him, the one time she actually showed up for it. But first…" Arashi pulled out his phone and took a picture of Inuyasha scratching his ear, then pulled out a whistle and blew on it, which caused Inuyasha to clamp his hands over his ears and start screaming before he fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"...That might have been kind of overkill. Whatever, I'll deal with him during lunch."

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About a half hour later, on the roof…

"What the fuck was that?!" Inuyasha leapt onto the roof and rounded on Tatsu in a rage "Give me a good reason not to shove my claws through your fucking eyes!"

"I thought I told you to stay home." Tatsu pointed out, his tone flat "And it couldn't have been that bad."

"It almost made my ears spew out blood like waterfalls! Seriously, it sounded like someone was torturing a fucking cat, and I would know what that sounds like!"

"...I'm not even gonna ask. Seriously though, why are you here?"

"Coming here wasn't my idea, you can thank your brother's woman for that."

"You mean Moya, what about her?"

"She made me come and bring you this." he handed him the lunch box "Apparently you forgot it because you were so moody."

"...Oh."

"Anyway she asked me to bring it to you, stopped a fire and punched an asshole on the way out, and now I'm done."

"Uh huh." he handed the box back to him "You can have it, I'm not hungry." and that was just enough to make Inuyasha lose the last of his patience.

"Okay seriously, what the fuck is your problem?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're acting so fucking moody and brooding like Sesshomaru instead of what you usually do, now what the fuck is your problem?!"

"...You really wanna know?"

"Before I gotta slam my claws into your face."

"Fine, but you're getting the short version." he breathed a sigh "You remember how I told you and the others that I lost my dad in an accident when I was 6?"

"Yeah and he gave you that Fang, you told us about it already."

"Well it turns out it wasn't an accident." that caused Inuyasha to stiffen "It was deliberate, if I had to guess it was probably to try and get the Fang my dad held, but he gave it to me before it happened. The guy's name is Shin, Raidou's uncle and apparently the rightful wearer of his set of Fangs. A few days after we got back he and his forces ganged up on Raidou and took his set of Fangs, then took us to the temple where we found the fifth Fang. Kagome and Kirara showed up a little while later and saved us. We fought the Guardian and beat it, but Shin got his hands on one of the fifth Fangs, gaining a huge increase in power, way beyond anything I've ever seen before, not even from Naraku or any of the tests or temple guardians before. Kirara took a blow meant for me, and that lead to her… current condition, for the lack of a better way to describe it."

"And you fought this bastard?"

"I tried to anyway. It was insane, he has every single elemental power I do and decades worth of experience in using them, so I was at a disadvantage, but we were still fairly even. I pushed myself to the absolute limit to try and bring him down, but my body couldn't keep up. He was about to finish me, and he would've if Kagome hadn't jumped in when she did. From where we teamed up on him, and it ended when Kagome cut off his arm and left him lying in a pool of his own blood, like me after that one time with Sesshomaru."

"So if you won and you got more powerful then why the fuck are you so moody?"

"Because after we beat him and Kagome healed me, I decided to spare him."

"What?! Why the fuck would you do that?!"

"Because I don't make it a habit of killing out of revenge."

"Naraku?"

"In all seriousness, the only reason he really needs to die is because of Miroku's curse. If it wasn't for that, we could just settle for sealing him away or something. Anyway, back to the main point of this. I decided to let him go, but then he said something to me… He said that my dad was still alive, that he had been all along."

Inuyasha stiffened, but he regained his composure after a moment "So what? He lied to get you to let him go."

"Weren't you listening? I was already letting him go, if anything that only stopped me from going to get the Fangs he had."

"So what, he still definitely lied about it."

"But what if he didn't? Am I supposed to believe it or not?"

"...Do you want to?"

"Of course I want to, I want more than anything to believe that my dad is still out there, that I can see him again… but I can't. I can't bring myself to, no matter how much I want to." he turned to face Inuyasha "Do you remember that one time with Kohaku?"

"Which one? We've had like four."

"The second one, when you were still having trouble with Tessaiga. I talked to Sango but still wouldn't let you because you coined the phrase "Zombie shard puppet brother" and I made the point that you were tactless and would be wildly insensitive about it and probably just anger her to the point where you get into a fight?"

"...That was way too long winded."

"But it happened and it's true. Anyway, do you remember what I told Sango back then?"

"No."

"Of course you don't. I told her about how I lost my dad, how Akira started training me to help me cope along with getting strong enough to protect Kagome, and I told Sango about the very first lesson he taught me… To be careful not to believe something to be true, just because you want it to be." Tatsu breathed a long sigh "What if it turns out my dad really is alive, or what if it turns out Shin really did lie to me? I have no idea what to believe about this, and even if I do decide to believe it's true, what if I'm only believing it because I want to believe it? Wouldn't it just make me a hypocrite? Anyway that's what's got me so moody as you put it, so is there anything else you need from me?"

"...I did what I came to do, I'll be waiting at your home." and so he took off across the rooftops without another word.

"Well at least that's out of my hair." Tatsu glanced back to see Kagome and Arashi standing in the doorway "And then there's one other thing."

"We just… wanted to come and make sure you're okay." Kagome told him quietly.

"Not really all things considered, but thanks for checking in. Is there… anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Well there is one thing… if you're up for it."

"I could use a change in conversation topic at the very least, and better to get this done now than put it off."

"That was our thought process too, and anyway I'll leave you guys to talk." Arashi walked over and patted him on the shoulder, his voice low "Whatever happens or whatever you decide, I've got your back man." and then he gave a simple wave and made his way back inside.

"So… how much of that whole conversation with Inuyasha did you hear?"

"Pretty much all of it." Kagome took a few steps forward and pulled him into a tight hug as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and after a moment's hesitation she planted a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Oh good, so that part actually happened."

"What, did you think it was a dream?"

"In all honesty, yeah. I mean given everything that's happened over the past few days, it kind of got shoved to the back of my mind." he felt her flinch and pulled away "Sorry."

"No no, I totally get it. We probably do need to talk about it though."

"Yeah, this isn't the sort of thing we can put off." the two of them leaned against the railing at the edge of the roof and stared out at the open skies in front of them "So… we've done the whole thing about telling each other how we feel and kissing twice. What the hell do we do now?"

"I have absolutely no idea. I meant what I said about loving you, and I know you love me, I have known for a while actually, I'll tell you the details about that later."

"...It was during the whole thing with the Thunder Brothers wasn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Fuck, I thought you might have heard it."

"I kind of heard it over the explosions and flames and stuff, I didn't say anything about it back then because I didn't want to hurt you. I might have told a few of the others about it because I had no idea what to do about it."

"I get it, you didn't wanna hurt me or anything. At least I didn't spend the whole time making an ass out of myself over you."

"Or making all sorts of romantic gestures I never noticed. Right?"

"A few of them before Kazuma and Moya started dating, and that was gonna be my plan on your birthday actually, but shit happened."

"Riiight. I meant what I said, that I really do love you. I kind of realized it after that whole thing with the Yakuza, the day after Kazuma and Moya got engaged."

"Yeah, after that happened I sort of lost out on using that excuse to not pine after you like some kind of lovesick puppy, so I needed a new one. Then came the Fangs."

"It wasn't just an excuse, you needed them to get some closure with your dad's death."

"That is also true. In all seriousness though, I don't have a damn clue what to do about this sort of thing."

"I'm exactly the same way. I mean, does this automatically mean that now we go ahead and start a real relationship, or do we just stay friends?"

"Maybe… I don't know."

"But I don't want to pretend everything is the same, because it isn't. I also don't want to stop with the kissing."

"Oh thank the great god above, neither do I. Yeah, being friends like always isn't really going to work in this situation."

"Nope."

"So… we're a couple then?"

"I want to be, but only if you want to."

"...You have no idea how how much or for how long I've wanted to." he pulled her into an embrace and then pulled her into a gentle kiss that she returned, and after a moment the two of them broke apart "Note to self, if this how an existential crisis gets solved then I should have them a hell of a lot more often."

"How about you don't have them more than necessary, and I kiss you anyway."

"Works for me. Let's just take our time and let things play out slowly, no pressure or planning1 and no pet names more than necessary okay?"

"That's what I was about to say. So what now?"

"Well knowing what Inuyasha is like, he'll probably wanna head back first thing tomorrow, so for the rest of the day I'm gonna work on dealing with some of the emotional baggage we still have to deal with."

"You mean… your dad?"

"I'm putting that one lower on my list of priorities for the time being. For now, I think I need to talk to Raidou. He has been avoiding us for the past few days, so I'd better go ahead and deal with that now."

"You're leaving school in the middle of the day?"

"Wouldn't be the first time, probably not gonna be the last. Just tell them I got food poisoning from my brother again. Later Kags, love ya." he gave her a quick kiss and then disappeared in a white flash.

Now alone on the rooftop, Kagome couldn't help but smile 'It's great to see he's finally back to his old self… back to being the man I fell in love with.'

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Meanwhile, with the former Guardian…

'So that's it then…' Raidou stood on the rooftop of his thinking spot, staring down at the piece of paper in his hand 'What the hell is he planning?'

"So this is the thinking spot I've been hearing so much about."

Raidou glanced back to see Tatsu materialize behind him "How did you know I was here?"

"Ki sensing, and Ayumi told me where I could find you, probably the only place to find you since you haven't been coming to school."

"I've been busy lately."

"I noticed, I saw the big announcement on the news. Respected importer dies in a tragic plane accident, what the hell is that about?"

"Apparently someone gave a statement to the news people that he was coming back to Japan after being away for international business for six months. Private jets have a better safety record than smaller planes, but they're not infallible apparently."

"So he faked his death and left everything behind? Why?"

"Probably so he can focus all of his time and effort on finding the other five Fangs, and whatever else he plans to do. He's really selling it too, considering what he put in this." he handed the piece of paper to Tatsu and let him read it.

"This is will… His assets, his finances, his business… He left all of it to you."

"And apparently before he left he set it up so I have a place to stay even with his shop closed down, an apartment on the other side of the city. I don't have a damn clue why, but at least with his money I can do some genuine good for the world, even if it's only a fraction of what I could do with the Fangs."

"Well if it's any consolation, you're not gonna be alone." this caused him to stiffen "I thought we had established this back in the chopper."

"...You never told me why though."

"Why what?"

"Don't play stupid with me, you know what I'm talking about. My actions almost got you and your friends killed on more than one occasion, and I'm an idiot for not realizing the implications of it until now."

"So what, I put my life on the line on almost a daily basis, pushing myself until it hurts or being put in actual mortal danger. That's not really a huge difference. I thought this first Fang I wore was just a memento my dad left behind for me to hold onto, but you came along and showed me it was so much more, that I could be so much more, and you helped us every step of the way."

"But I might as well have been using you for my own ends, I basically was really."

"I know."

"I put you and your friends in danger because I was obsessed with getting the other Fangs, and I ended up putting your lives at risk, not to mention risking thousands of others, by activating the tests for the Fangs."

"I know."

"I almost got all of us killed by trapping Shin and impersonating him as the leader of the Yakuza, which led to you getting kidnapped and nearly killed, Arashi twice."

"I was to blame for Shin taking us to Mount Everest, getting the power of the first five Fangs and crippling your demon cat friend and lying about your dad."

"I know. Everything you're gonna try and confess to me has already been established."

"So how the hell can you not blame me for it?"

"Well putting aside the whole thing with my dad, the fact that you say he was lying does sort of push my decision about believing that in one direction, I honestly don't think I have the right to blame you for any of it." this caused Raidou's gaze to snap towards Tatsu, and he gave a small smile "To be completely honest, now that I think about it, I might have been using you too on some level."

"What…?"

"Before anything else I do have to thank you, for everything you've done for me. Putting aside the fact that you've saved the lives of me and all my friends on at least one occasion, you helped to put me on the path I'm on now, showed me the potential locked within these Fangs that I could learn to harness for myself, and above all you gave me the chance to find some real closure with my dad, as fucked up as that's become now. Besides, it's like I told you before. You're my friend, and that's not gonna change anytime soon."

"...Leave it to you to keep smiling like an idiot like that." Raidou let out a bitter chuckle "I can't believe I let you see me like such an emotional wreck."

"Moya always says that stuff like that just makes us human. What about you though?"

"What about me?"

"Are you really gonna be okay with not being the Guardian anymore?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't somewhat sore about that, but there's the thing…" he breathed a deep sigh "I was told from when I was little that those Fangs were the key to my destiny, and I spent so long obsessing over them. Now that they're gone, I'm basically an ordinary person. But you know something? I'm not that upset over it. I spent so long thinking they were my destiny, that they were all I needed, and all I wanted. But then I met you and your friends, and a certain someone at school, and before I even realized it I got the chance to have something I never even thought about before… a normal life. And you know what? I liked it. I still do. I know I don't have any right to ask this of you and the others, I'm still not entirely sure the others will trust me again as easily as you do after everything I did, everything I caused. But please, at least for a little while… will you and the others let me stay by your side?"

"...I can guarantee that none of us would have it any other way." the two of them clasped their hands together bro-style, and Tatsu gave a grin as they broke away "Now moving onto a less depressing conversation topic, Kagome and I had a fairly long talk before I came here. About something that I've been putting off for too long."

"Considering what we saw the two of you doing in the temple, it's not surprising. Do the two of you always have such tender heartfelt moments with each other in the middle of life or death situations?"

"Mostly at the tail end or in the aftermath of it, but it's not unheard of, not for us anyway. For the sake of giving you the short version, we talked it out in a calm and rational way, which actually is pretty rare for us, and to make a long story short, now we're a real couple, and I only have one thing to say about that."

"That it's about fucking time?"

"That it's about fucking time- How did you know that?"

"Just because I've been avoiding you guys for the past few days doesn't mean that all of you have been avoiding me. Case and point, these emails that Arashi has been sending me about some of the merchandise he's making. Take a look, I'm pretty sure he sent one to you too."

"Yeah I saw it earlier, he's always making posters, coffee mugs and mousepads."

"And you know all of that how exactly?"

"I… might have needed something to give Akira for his birthday." he was met with a dull and unimpressed look "I was desperate and the only other things he likes are swords and women, like any single dude in his 20's." he breathed a sigh as he leaned against the railing "But speaking of bitter disappointments, how are things going with you and Ayumi?"

"Well she snapped me out of the existential crisis I was having after we got back, then… we might have kissed too. I haven't talked to her since then."

"Wait a second, you mean it took you about three months with a girl to get to kissing her?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"I say it like it's bullshit."

"I think it's progressive."

"It's progressively bullshit, it took me 9 years to get there with Kagome. What's next, you just up and told her you love her."

"No. Not yet anyway. I'm gonna go." and so he started walking away.

"Raidou get back here, this conversation isn't over!"

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Hours passed, and the sun was beginning to set.

"I'm back." Tatsu let out a sigh as he made his way into the apartment, his mind drifting as he did so 'Well that's a little bit of the emotional baggage out of the way, but I've still got a sizable amount to deal with tomorrow.'

"You came back a little bit late." this was when Moya made her way over to see him and took his bag from him "You were gone so long you missed dinner."

"Sorry about that, I… needed a little bit more time to clear my head."

"I figured as much. So… are you okay now?"

"I'm… sort of. I'm getting there at least, I've still got some things to work out, but right now I do have one question. Can I get something to eat? In all honesty, I haven't really eaten a decent meal all day."

"You want the usual I take it?"

"Well if you're up for it… I was thinking of a grilled cheese sandwich with some bacon on it, a donut, maybe a chocolate milkshake and some fries. Thanks."

"You definitely have your appetite back, so at least that's a good sign."

"You of all people know that training as long and as hard as I do requires a lot of metabolism to fuel it. And I like comfort food."

"I'll have it ready for you in a little bit. In the meantime, there's something you might want to take a look at."

"Sounds kind of foreboding, but okay." so Tatsu took off his shoes and made his way into the living room, where he found Kazuma and Inuyasha sitting on the couch and watching the evening news "What the hell are you guys looking at?"

"Take a look and see for yourself." Kazuma jerked a thumb at the TV.

"What?"

"According to reports, a strange looking youth in a red kimono single handedly subdued and captured a bank robber."

"What the hell are they going on about?"

"On top of that, this strange young man also appeared and rescued a child trapped in a local apartment fire."

"Are you for real right now?" Tatsu shot a dull look at Inuyasha, only to blink a few times when he saw him holding an icepack to his face "What the hell is he doing?"

"Oh yeah, you weren't at dinner so you wouldn't know." Kazuma noted "Well to make a long story short, Moya tried a new curry recipe tonight, and it turns out Inuyasha can't handle spicy foods very well."

"...Are you freaking kidding me? I've seen him blow off massive gaping holes in his gut, and a little bit of spice is what deals him in?" he was met with a few shrugs "Well it's not like I really have a place to bitch about it, I pass out whenever I hear Justin Bieber.

"Here is a drawing of his likeness done by the child." and cue the kid holding a surprisingly well done drawing of Inuyasha while wearing the same baseball cap he had been wearing before.

"Isn't that the hat I gave you for your birthday last year?" Tatsu glanced over at Kazuma, only to find that he had vanished from his spot on the couch "And that answers my question." then he glanced over at Inuyasha "What the hell did you do on the way to my school?"

Inuyasha just shrugged as he held the icepack to his face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

About an hour passed, and nightfall was kicking in.

'Okay let's see, if A/C = X then you have to divide X by the radius of that circle, then add the circumference of that circle, subtract the length of the rectangle and carry the 7, so the answer is 8, and that means I'm done, thank god.' Tatsu breathed a sigh as he put away his math homework and took a sip of his milkshake, then glanced over to where Inuyasha was sitting on his bed and staring at him "Okay this isn't gonna work."

"What, I'm not saying anything." Inuyasha pointed out.

"Yeah but I can't concentrate with you staring at me like one of those freaky gargoyle statues on buildings."

"Yeah well it's not like I've got anything better to do if Akira isn't around. Where the hell is he anyway? I haven't picked up on his scent since I got here."

"He's at a kendo tournament in China, he does this like once a year and he's not gonna be back for at least a few weeks. Anyway I'm done with homework, so that's another headache over and done with. Speaking of which, I probably should address the biggest issue I still have to deal with right now."

"Which is?"

"How's Sango doing with the whole Kirara thing?"

"I went near her once after Kagome left and she gave me this look like she was trying to set me on fire with her mind. I'm pretty sure I saw her body surrounded by flames for a minute."

"Well that's promising." note the sarcasm in his tone, and then he let out a sigh "Not that I can really blame her, Kirara lost her leg taking that blow for me. Anything new on Naraku or the jewel shards?"

"Not a damn thing on either of those, but I did pick up the scent of a bunch of wolves around the area, I mean other than that flea ridden bastard Koga. Besides, even if it was him I'd totally rip him apart like I did last time."

"Not gonna let that one go are you?"

"I totally won that fight!"

"It was a draw, I was there and I saw everything."

"Shut up!"

"Whatever, anyway we'll head back tomorrow morning, and then Kagome and I will tell you and the others everything that happened over here, okay?"

"...Fine." so he promptly leapt off the bed and leaned against the wall, earning a raised eyebrow in response "There isn't a chance in hell I'm sharing a big futon with you."

"Fair enough. It's one thing when women and little kids do it, but apparently when guys do it it's like we're violating some kind of sacred law." Tatsu was met with no response, and so he glanced over to see Inuyasha fast asleep against the wall 'And he's sound asleep, I guess there is a first time for everything. I can't really blame him though, given all the battles we've been in lately I'm honestly pretty exhausted too.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few hours went by, and a calm had settled over the city of Tokyo, while training was once again underway for one of them.

With a deep breath, Tatsu extended two fingers outwards and unleashed a powerful blast of electricity, sending it hurtling out into the distance "I think that's another lesson learned, and for the most part, mastered."

"It seems that taking some time to clear your head was what you needed." Ryuhogo gave a nod of approval "I can see that you've managed to overcome much of the feeling of turmoil that you had dwelling inside of your heart."

"I wouldn't say all of it. Kagome and I are officially a couple, which is definitely a relief to me. I talked things out with Raidou, so everything on that front is secure for the time being."

"What about your decision regarding your father?"

"That's… I'm gonna put that on hold, at least for the time being. Right now there's one other bit of emotional baggage I have to deal with."

"You're referring to your Demon Slayer companion?"

"Kirara took that blow to protect me from Shin's initial attack, and because of that she ended up losing a leg. I can barely even imagine how Sango must be feeling about it. Before we set back out to search for Naraku and the jewel shards, it's only right that I tell her about everything that happened up at Mount Everest. It's only right."

"If that is your choice, then I'll respect your wishes. For the time being, now that you've learned how to properly generate lightning, I'm going to teach you a technique in that same area that is just as important, one I learned with a fair amount of help." he sat down on the ground and then motioned for Tatsu to do the same "As I'm sure you've guessed by now, most of the abilities you possess or will come to possess through the power of the Fangs, all of which are attributed to the four elements: Air, water, earth and fire, three of which you've already mastered before. Fire is the element of power, those who understand the power of the flames have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they desire. The primary source of this power is the sun. Earth is the element of substance, those who understand the power of the earth are filled with strength and diversity, and they are filled with persistence and endurance. The primary source of this power is the earth itself. Air is the element of freedom, those who understand it have been able to detach themselves from concerns that bind them to the earth and find a strong sense of peace and freedom. The primary source of this power is the sky. Water is the element of change. Those who understand it have the ability to adapt to many different things. They have a deep sense of love and community that is able to hold them together through anything."

"Why are you telling me all of this now?"

"As you have said yourself on numerous occasions, it's important to be able to draw wisdom and inspiration from many different places. After all, if you take it from only one place then it will become rigid and stale, not to mention predictable. Understanding others and the other elements, as well as those that understand them will grant you a better understanding of yourself."

"Okay hold on a second. I thought you wanted me to dial down on the references, but you're making this sound a lot like stuff straight out of Avatar. A combination of all four elements in one person can give that person the potential to reach a realm beyond the limitations, to the point where limitations are nearly nonexistent. Under normal circumstances, imbuing a human with the power of a demon would kill them, but through these Fangs you will soon be able to reach and enter a realm beyond the limitations. This is but a stepping stone to that."

"I look forward to when that happens. But in the meantime, this other lightning-based technique you wanted to teach me?"

"In a moment. This technique that I intend to teach you is one I learned from one of the demon tribes that understood and tapped into the power of the sky, one that you've encountered a fair number of times in the past."

"...You're talking about Koga's people in the Wolf Demon Tribe are you?"

"You yourself have seen the new alpha utilize the element of lightning through that claw on his right arm."

"Figures. Alright I'm ready, show me what you've got."

"Very well then." he stood and motioned for Tatsu to do the same "Those who utilize the power of the sky deal with the flower of energy. Those who understand that flow of energy allows their defense to become their offense, turning the energy of their opponent against them. I learned how to do this using the element of lightning."

"So you're going to teach me how to redirect lightning?"

"I am. If you let the energy within your own body flow, then the lightning is going to follow it as a result. You have to create a pathway from your fingertips up your arm to the shoulder on your dominant arm, then down into your stomach. Whether human or demon, the stomach is the main source of energy within the body. It's what is known as the sea of Chi. From the stomach, you have to direct it up again and out the other arm. The detour to the stomach is critical in order for this technique to work, and remember that you must not let the lightning pass through your heart, or else the damage may end up killing you."

"Has that happened to you?"

"On three separate occasions, I'll tell you about them at some point later on. Now the thing to remember is that this technique is mostly about form, so you may wish to try a physical motion so that you can get a feel for the flow of the pathway, such as this." he extended both of his arms out with his fingertips extended from both hands, motioning for Tatsu to follow his movements as he motioned to direct the hypothetical energy up his arm to his shoulder, and then down to his stomach, then back up and out the other arm "Now then, are you focusing the energy? Can you feel the Chi in question flowing in, down, up and out?"

"I think I can feel it."

"Remember that you have to feel the flow, or else that means you're doing it wrong."

"I can feel it… flowing into my body, down into my stomach, back up and out through my other arm right?"

"Excellent, just keep practicing and then we may be able to try it with actual lightning."

"You mean you're going to shoot lightning at me."

"Don't forget about the purpose of this training, me teaching you how to defend yourself from as many threats as I can."

"No I get the purpose behind it, I'm just stating a fact."

"Anyway to answer your question, I'm not going to shoot lightning at you. Keep in mind that any and all techniques utilizing lightning will require peace of mind, and while you're a great deal better than you were before in that regard, you still have some emotional baggage that you need to come to terms with."

"Are you talking about my dad again?"

"Not as of yet, first you should clear the air with that Demon Slayer companion of yours. Once you do that, then we'll see."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Another day came, and the sun was shining brightly over the skies above Feudal Japan.

Kaede sat with Miroku in her hut, the two of them sharing a cup of tea and discussing recent the events that had taken place "So there is still no sign of Naraku's current whereabouts?"

"Not at the moment I'm afraid." Miroku shook his head grimly "Shippo and I have asked around the village and throughout the surrounding area, but we haven't even been able to learn of any rumors regarding Naraku or any of his incarnations."

"And Inuyasha has been unable to locate any traces of Naraku himself?"

"Evidently not or he would have acted on them by now, and he's likely even more frustrated than the rest of us. Perhaps that's why he left to retrieve Tatsu and Kagome yesterday."

"It does raise concerns though, the fact that a demonic aura as power as Naraku's would be able to disappear so easily."

"As much as I dislike the idea of waiting around and doing nothing, there's little we actually can do until Inuyasha and the others return. Not to mention the issue of Sango and Kirara."

"I did all that I could to help her, but I cannot restore her lost limb."

"It's unfortunate to be sure, but there is Sango's mental state to consider as well. She hasn't slept well, she's barely eating, she won't even bat an eye when either myself or Shippo have tried to talk to her."

"It is saddening to be certain, but given the world we live in and at my age, I am all too familiar with life and death."

"As am I undoubtedly." Miroku let out a sigh, then frowned in thought "There's also the number of remaining shards to consider. I believe that Kagome has three in her possession at the moment, then there is the one in Kohaku's back and the two in Koga's legs, which would make a total of six that aren't in Naraku's possession, at least directly. Given that the jewel Naraku had in his possession was nearly complete last we saw, there can't be that many left."

"You guys, you guys!" this was when Shippo suddenly scrambled into the hut, panting heavily as he screeched to a halt.

"Shippo what's the matter?"

"Kagome and the others are back, I can smell them!" and so he scrambled back out of the hut at full speed, leaving Miroku to follow him.

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Meanwhile, with a certain female wolf demon…

'I don't believe him…' Ayame let out a sad sigh as she sat on the edge of a river, with one of her wolves cuddling up to her in an attempt to comfort her "Thanks. I know it was a long time ago, but it was still a promise. I never forgot the day he carried me home on his back and promised to take me as his wife. I was just a little girl back then, so if Koga doesn't remember it then I guess there really isn't much I can do about it. Maybe I should return to the mountains." she was met with a series of whining from her wolves "You're right, I can't give up and go home now. We need Koga and the power of the jewel shards he has or else our tribe is doomed. I'll try again, I have to find him and give it one more try."

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Meanwhile, at the well…

"See, I like to think of myself as a minimalist when it comes to travelling." Tatsu pulled himself out of the wall and let Inuyasha and Kagome (now back in her priestess attire) do the same while he pulled the massive yellow form that was Kagome's backpack out of the well "Her on the other hand, well I think this pretty much speaks for itself."

"How the fuck does she fit that much stuff in there anyway?" asked Inuyasha.

"I stopped asking that question years ago, there are plenty of things about her I don't get and don't want to get."

"You realize that I'm standing right here." Kagome pointed out dryly.

"I never said it was a bad thing, the mystery is part of what makes you so incredible."

"You're lucky you're such a charmer." she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"You're back!" this was when Shippo came running into the clearing and pounced at them, latching onto Kagome and thrusting his tiny arms around her neck "You came and just left, I was so worried about you!"

"I know, I'm sorry I worried you so much." Kagome gently wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the forehead "There was just… we just had a lot going on at the time."

"I can imagine so." this was when Miroku made himself known "We had already been worried when Kirara suddenly ran off, but then when you came back with her in her… current condition, we knew it was something important, perhaps even grim."

"You're not that far off from the truth." Tatsu told him flatly, then breathed a heavy sigh as he glanced over to see Sango make her way into the clearing, Kirara sleeping in her arms "But now that we're here we've got a lot of explaining to do."

"About… what happened over in your world?" Sango's voice was soft and void of any traces of emotion.

"In a word, yes. You guys might wanna sit down, this is gonna take awhile."

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Meanwhile, with the wolf demons…

'Something doesn't feel right…' by this point, Koga and the others had ended up coming across the abandoned form of Naraku's castle, his gaze hardening as he did so 'I don't like the looks of this at all. This entire castle reeks of Naraku's scent, and yet there isn't a single trace of him still being here. Judging by these crevices in the ground and the signs of the explosions, there was a battle here without a doubt.'

"Koga!" this was when Ginta and Hakkaku came up to him "We checked it all out and the entire castle is completely empty."

"Then there's no reason for us to stick around here, now let's go."

"Where to?"

"Where else? We're gonna find the mutt and the meat sack and question them. I'm picking up the stench of the two of them all over the place, along with Naraku and one other that I don't really recognize. Whatever it is that happened here, the two of them definitely fought him."

"So you think Tatsu and Inuyasha might know something?"

"I think we've got a better chance of finding out something from them than we would sticking around here." and so he took off at full speed, Ginta and Hakkaku following after him as fast as they could 'Naraku definitely isn't here, but if he's nearby then he's bound to come after me at some point for the Shikon Jewel shards I keep in my legs.

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A little while later…

Not long after Koga and his lackeys had left, Ayame and her pack of wolves ended up coming across Naraku's castle while searching for Koga, unaware of what it was or its relevance. It was then that she and her group of wolves were attacked by an enormous hair monster that forced her and her wolves to retreat.

As she fled from the hair monster, Ayame ended up coming across Ginta and Hakkaku, and as the chaos unfolded the two of them explained to her about how Naraku had ended up killing a large number of their comrades, and how Koga had been pursuing him in order to avenge them.

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Meanwhile, with the rest of the group…

"And that's about it." by this point, Tatsu and Kagome were conversing with the others, and had just finished their explanation of the events that transpired at the fifth temple "We managed to beat Shin but he got away, and he took Raidou's set of Fangs with him, and since then we've more or less just been trying to let things calm down back home."

"So that's all of it then?" Sango glanced up at the two of them "Now there's a monster running around back in your world bent on conquering it."

"Saving it from itself as he said, or something along those lines."

"Right. Kirara suddenly ran off the other day and we couldn't find her, not until Kagome brought her back. She must have somehow sensed that you and your friends were in trouble, and rushed through the well to try and help you. She put herself out there to protect you from an attack, and that was what led to her being… like this." she glanced down at where Kirara was resting in her lap, the spot where her leg was missing clearly visible.

"Yeah, that's right." Kagome looked down in shame "I was so caught up and focused on trying to save Tatsu and the others, I didn't stop to think about how I would be putting Kirara in that much danger by having her come with me. I'm so sorry."

"...It doesn't really surprise me." Sango spoke again without looking at them "That would be so much like her, getting herself hurt so bad while trying to help someone in need. Even when I was a little girl, even in the time when she was partnered with my grandfather Shako, she always did end up getting involved in situations like that, and it ended up getting her into a lot of trouble all the time because of it. But to be completely honest, I don't think Kirara had any regrets, not even over losing one of her legs."

"But she took that blow for me because I couldn't react in time. Maybe if I had somehow been able to…" Tatsu gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.

"Don't tell me that you're going to give up or start feeling sorry for yourself." Sango looked up at the two of them, her expression firm "You can't let yourself be defeated by all of this, whether it be Kirara's current condition or the things this Shin said and did. If you would let yourself be defeated by this, then it means that what Kirara did, the sacrifice she made for you and your friends, not to mention everything the two of you have been through up until now, it would be in vain."

"Sango…"

"And don't forget that no matter what happens, whether your father really is alive or if Shin just lied to you, that shouldn't stop you from doing the things you're meant to do: fighting and protecting people."

"You think so?"

"I know so." she looked between Tatsu and Kagome, and her expression slowly shifted into a small sad smile "Whatever happens, the two of you have to keep moving forward in any way you can."

"...You know Sango, I think you have the right idea." Tatsu returned the small smile as he took notice of Kagome gently gripping his hand to reassure him "You know despite everything that happened, it wasn't really all bad. There were a couple of positive things to remember."

"I can imagine so." Miroku noted "After all, you discovered that there are five additional Fangs for you to collect, in addition to the five you already possess, which means you have the chance to grow even more powerful, and that can only help us."

"Well there's definitely that, but there's one other thing that happened. You see…" Tatsu had to cut himself short when his expression grew dull "Oh god dammit. Kags."

"I know." Kagome let out a groan "Get ready guys, I can sense two Shikon Jewel shards coming at us really fast."

"And it's gonna be one of those days, because of course it is." Tatsu jerked a thumb in the direction they could see a whirlwind hurtling towards them at high speed.

"Great, I thought I picked up some rotten stench." Inuyasha gave his typical scowl as he barred both of his claws "But now I'm starting to recognize the fucking odor."

"And for once I have no problems with you getting pissed at the drop of a hat, becuase I'm sure as hell not in the mood for any of this myself today."

"Hey come on, I know Koga's got his moments but he's not that bad." Kagome pointed out.

"You do realize that most of the time he just shows up because he's pining after you like some kind of lovestruck puppy."

"Yeah I know, but I'm just being nice with him." Kagome gave a shrug, but then she cringed and looked away 'Looking back though, I haven't exactly done a lot to discourage his feelings for me, mainly because we had so much other stuff going on, like dealing with Naraku's incarnations and the cat demons. But at the same time, Tatsu and I are together now, and to just lead Koga on like that wouldn't be fair, not to him and especially not to Tatsu. I should probably try and nip this in the bud before it blossoms into something worse.'

"Well you'd better brace yourself, he's gonna be here any second."

"Way ahead of you, I'm more than ready to teach that skinny wolf a lesson for daring to show his face around here!" Inuyasha barred his claws and prepared to charge.

"Nope." Koga promptly countered Inuyasha's charge with a foot stomping down on his head and sending him crashing face first into the dirt, while Koga himself gracefully landed on the ground and took and gently took Kagome's hands in his "Hey there Kagome, I can only guess how much you must have missed me."

"Yeah, sure, that… sounds about right." Kagome let out a nervous chuckle 'Right, he's about as forward as he always is. Getting that claw and his arm back definitely didn't change that.'

"Yeah, I know you missed me."

"And the rest of us missed you about as much as we miss a skin rash." Tatsu noted dryly.

"Oh yeah, you're here too meat sack. Anyway, where the hell did Naraku run off too? I know that you already know, so start talking already. I don't wanna waste more time here than I have to when I can be hunting Naraku down and driving my claws through his skull."

"And yet the fact that you have time to screw around with us and flirt with Kagome gives a lot of evidence to the contrary."

"How about you shut your fucking hole and give me some answers already."

"Fine, if it'll get rid of you faster. To answer your question, we aren't any closer to tracking him down right now than you are. We don't have a damn clue where he is."

"And that's another thing I don't get."

"One of many I'm sure." this comment was ignored.

"What I'm saying is, what the hell would force Naraku to abandon his castle and run away in the first place?"

"So what, you wanna know the truth about that wolf?" this was when Inuyasha finally pulled himself off the ground and gripped the Tessaiga, his expression growing increasingly smug "The reason why Naraku had to run away with his tail between his legs is because I was the one that busted through his barrier with the Tessaiga!"

"You did what?!"

"What, you shocked by how much stronger I am? Not that I'm surprised."

"You mean to tell me that you got that close to Naraku… and then you let him just up and get away from you?! How much of an idiot can you be?!" that wiped away Inuyasha's smug look, while Koga himself just let out a groan "Isn't that just fucking perfect, if I had been there then I can tell you for a fact if I had been there then Naraku would be dead and gone."

"You little- Okay that's it, I'm not putting up with you jumping to bullshit conclusions and looking down on me!" on that note, Inuyasha gripped Tessaiga and prepared to charge at Koga, only to be held back by a set of metal chains wrapping around his waist "What the fuck?!"

As it turns out, it was Tatsu holding onto the end of the iron chains and binding Inuyasha where he was "Don't bother."

"What, now you're gonna give me some long-winded speech about how I'm letting my anger get the better of me and how Naraku is gonna use that to get me killed or something?"

"Well if you already realzied that for yourself, then good for you. But what I was really going to say was, I call dibs." and then he proceeded to summon and iron club in one hand and promptly smashed it over Koga's head, sending him crashing to the ground "Not gonna lie, that felt a lot better than it probably should've."

"Speak for yourself asshole!" Koga picked himself up and promptly rounded on Tatsu "What the fuck did you do that for?!"

"Aside from some much needed catharsis? To emphasise the fact that I don't have the time, energy or patience to deal with any of your crap right now. If you don't have any reason to be here other than trying to track down Naraku, do us a favor and get lost."

"...Well shit." Koga shot a glare at Tatsu, then turned his attention over to Kagome "What the hell is his problem?"

"Don't take it personally." Kagome waved him off "It's been a rough couple of days for us, and he's been through a lot. He just… needs time to process a few things."

"Like what?"

"Like dealing with someone that's arguably worse than Naraku." Tatsu turned to face him as he de-materialized his iron club "I'm not going into more detail than I need to, but after the battle with Naraku at his castle, I ended up finally tracking down this." he held up the Fang of the Thunder Lily he worse around his neck.

"Those things are what give you your power aren't they? So you have five of them now?"

"There are two sets of them, I wear one set and I fought the one who wore the other set, and he's the one who did that to Kilala over there." he gestured to where Kilala was still resting in Sango's lap, the stump that used to be her leg still visible "I fought with everything I had, I pushed myself to the limit, but I couldn't keep up long enough to get the job done. He moved in to kill me, and he would've if Kagome hadn't jumped in when she did."

"She saved you?"

"Not only that, she helped me beat him and even blew his arm clean off. We won, but he managed to get away. Now I'm left wondering if… certain things he said to me are true. He took one of my friends hostage to get me to help him get his hands on the fifth Fang, he fought and almost killed me, and at the end he managed to get away, probably lied to make it happen too."

"But you said that-" Inuyasha was promptly shut up by a series of looks.

"The bottom line is, things could've gone better."

"True as that might be, not everything that happened with us over the past few days was entirely bad." Kagome gently placed a hand over Tatsu's and gripped it reassuringly, and the two of them exchanged a small smile.

"I'm not denying that it had its great moments, because it sure as hell did, but the other stuff can't be ignored. And that's not even all there was to it… He was the one who caused the accident that took my father from me." that caused the others, Koga in particular, to tense up "I can't and won't forget that, and it's just another reason why I have to stop him."

"So then… where the hell is this guy right now?" asked Koga.

"The hell if I know. Aside from barely managing to scrape out a win against him, he did lose an arm in that fight courtesy of Kags over here." he jerked a thumb at Kagome "So chances are he's gonna need some time to recover from that. As for where he is, if I had to guess then he's probably in some big cushy castle on the other side of the world, stuffing his face like a king.

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Meanwhile, 500 years in the future…

"It shouldn't be much further now…" Shin gritted his teeth as he climbed up the side of a large mountain, creating a series of earth platforms to elevate himself high, and once he reached stable ground he held out his only remaining hand to help another figure up onto the ledge "As I said before, the translation was either inaccurate or was intended to conceal the truth from any that were deemed unworthy."

"And yet that hasn't happened as of yet has it?" the second figure (with shaggy brown hair and a pair of glasses framing his face), clad in a simple black shirt with tan pants promptly dusted himself off, his tone laced with sarcasm "We wouldn't want anyone unworthy to get their hands on those Fangs, now would we?"

"Spare me the sarcasm and facetious demeanor Kuroga, but right now we have more important matters to deal with. As I had been saying, Lord Ryuhogo didn't just create five sets of Fangs, but ten, and whoever manages to find and awaken all ten of them will gain mastery over creation itself."

"So the books have said, but even then you don't know that for certain. If you end up bringing all ten sets Fangs together, then they could have dire consequences."

"So you keep saying Kamikaze, but whose to say that there won't be dire consequences if we don't bring them together? I know not of your thoughts on this, but since I was a child I've seen the same vision flash before my eyes numerous times: The world is engrossed in chaos, blood and corpses litering the ground, the skies will darken and the lands will decay. A degenerate age of chaos and suffering will surely be brought about. This vision must not be allowed to become a new reality by any means necessary, and I will do whatever needs to be done in order to make sure of this fact."

"Which includes holding me as a prisoner all this time." Kuroga clenched his fist tightly "I take it you see that as justified?"

"I will bear whatever sins are necessary to save this world from itself, and when that mission has been accomplished, I will return you to your sons. You have my word. For the time being, we must focus on the task at hand." he held out a hand as a golden light began shining in front of them as a large kanji symbol suddenly materialized on the mountainside in front of them "I am one of the last remnants of the Asakura bloodline, the rightful heir to the Fangs of the Ryuhogo. I am the heir to the mantle of Guardian, and I am getting closer by the second. Another piece of my destiny lies within my grasp."

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Meanwhile, 500 years in the past…

"In any case, whether it be with Shin and the other Fangs or Naraku and the other jewel shards, I think it's safe to say that we've got a lot of work ahead of us." Tatsu then glanced over, and his expression dulled with a hint of annoyance at what he saw "And a bunch of gigantic pains in the ass to deal with along the way."

As it turns out, Koga was once again trying to win over Kagome, taking her hands in his and looking into her eyes, but failing to charm her "Well it looks like there isn't anything more for me here right now, so I'm sorry to tell you this Kagome, but I'm gonna have to be on my way. But I can promise you that the next time we meet, I'm gonna bring you Naraku's head on a pike."

'And suddenly sticking a sword up his ass sounds ridiculosuly therapeutic right about now. I'll be back in a minute." and so Tatsu promptly disappeared from the scene via Dragon Warp, followed by a loud roar and an explosion in the distance.

"Just say the word, and I'll make it a reality."

"Uh, you know I think I'm gonna pass on that." Kagome let out a nervous chuckle.

"Hey come on Kagome, you don't have to look at me like that. I said that I was going to make you into my woman and I'm a wolf demon of my word."

"Uh…" Kagome glanced nervously to the side as she saw Tatsu reappear in a white flash, and she let out a sigh and freed her hands from Koga's grasp "Okay Koga, stop. I gotta be honest with you, and I probably should've been awhile ago. I'm not your woman, I'm pretty sure I told you this the first time, but I'm already kind of seeing a guy. I am actually. You know what, maybe it's better if I just show some proof." so on that note, she promptly walked over to Tatsu, gripped the front of his gi and pulled him into a short and sweet kiss, before pulling away "I did mention before that I was kind of seeing someone else, and now I can confirm for a fact that I am."

"...Huh, how about that." Koga stared blankly for a moment, then glanced over at Tatsu "You do know we're gonna have to settle this right?"

"Wait, settle what?"

"Me and Tatsu have to finish something we started awhile ago." Koga promptly summoned the Goraishi on his right arm "I haven't had the chance to test this on Naraku just yet, but I put myself through hell to get it."

"But it wouldn't mean much in the grand scheme of things if you didn't at least have the decency to test what it's capable of against someone who can take it." Tatsu promptly gripped the hilt of his remaining sword "Works for me, I think it's about time you and I face off. Plus you're not the only one who's got some new powers they want to put to the test. Besides, smashing your face into the ground in a real fight sounds fucking therapeutic right about now."

"That goes both ways, I've wanted to do this for awhile myself."

"Then I guess there's no time like the present."

"Hey come on you guys, don't I get a say in this?" Kagome stepped in between the two of them to try and stop them "I'm pretty sure it's almost every girl's dream to see two guys fighting to the death over her."

"I'm pretty sure it is in most Disney movies."

"But I'm not so fond of the idea of the two of you fighting to the death over me."

"It's not just about you Kags, we were gonna beat the crap out of each other anyway."

"He's right, and besides we never got to finish our first fight." Koga gave a smirk as he prepared to charge with the Goraishi surging with electricity "Shit, of course he shows up after I stop looking for him for a minute?"

"I take it you sense that too?"

"The hell with sensing it, that's Naraku's rotten stench coming from the woods over there."

"Isn't that just fucking typical, he has to show his face right when I'm about to get into an actual fight."

"You don't consider it to be an actual fight when you go up against him?"

"Not the good kind at least. When it comes to you, Inuaysha and various demons, hell even most of Naraku's incarnations, at least they're actual warriors for the most part. Naraku himself just comes off to me as some kind of hideous amalgamation of body parts and tentacles, and frankly that's nowhere near as fun."

"Sure as hell sounds like it too." Koga paused, then took another sniff "Oh wait hold on, my group is coming towards us too."

"Koga it's gaining on us!" it was at this moment that Ginta and Hakkaku came rushing out of the forest in a panic "It's some kind of giant hairy monster, it came out of Naraku's castle and it's coming right toward us!"

"Wait what?" Koga glanced up as the massive form of the hair demon burst out from within the forest, looming over the group with its massive size "Is that… Is that supposed to be some kind of giant ball of hair with a mouth?"

"I think it's another one of Naraku's incarnations." Kagome told him as she drew her sword from its sheath "But yeah, I think it basically is a giant ball of hair with a mouth."

"Dammit, so that's what I sensed in the castle earlier."

"Yeah that was it, there's no doubt about it. Ayame saw it too." Ginta told him.

"Ayame? Oh fuck, is she with you? Where is she now, what happened to her?"

"She caught up with us while we were running from the demon, but then we got separated when we were trying to meet up with you."

"Shit. Something doesn't feel right about this, I should've been able to sense this demon sooner than I did.'

"Shikon Jewel Shards… Give me the Shikon Jewel Shads!" the hair demon suddenly sent a series of hair tendrils hurtling forward.

"You'd better stay back guys, it's pretty clear it's after me and the Shikon Jewel shards that I have with me." Kagome tightened her grip on her sword as it surged with her spiritual energy "One clean stroke is all I should need to purify-"

"Sea Dragon's Cradle." Tatsu stuck out a hand and suddenly encased the hair demon in a large sphere of solidified water, trapping it in place in the process "Well this thing is ugly enough to make me throw up in my mouth a little bit, but at least it can talk so it's worth not killing right off the bat."

"How do you figure?"

"Because this way we can interrogate it and see if it can tell us anything about where Naraku is, and then we can kill it afterwards."

"Give it to me! Give me the shards of the Shikon Jewel!" the hair demon thrashed about inside the water sphere and tried to free itself, to no avail "Such a measly prison will not be enough to stop me, not when I've finally been freed from Naraku! I'll use the power of the Shikon Jewel Shards that all of you possess, and that will be enough to return me to the way that I was before!"

"Uh huh. If we could go back a little bit, to the part where you said you were freed from Naraku or whatever you were blathering on about."

"That filthy wretch Naraku… He was enough of a coward to abandon the castle, and in the process he abandoned me along with it!"

'So this thing wasn't another one of his incarnations, just another piece of him that he got rid of because he didn't need it anymore. Sounds about right for Naraku. You know you could've fooled me, you're the right amount of ugly for being one of his offspring. But getting back to the main point of why we haven't killed you yet, are you saying you don't know where Naraku is? Keep in mind that I've got lightning powers now, and combine those with water and you're gonna be in for one hell of a show."

"There's no point in trying to search for him, you'll only be wasting your efforts. Naraku was able to escape to a place where no one will be able to touch him."

"What the hell does that mean?" Koga let out a snarl "Where the fuck is Naraku now?"

"Unfortunately for you, that's all I know, and all I would be willing to tell you regardless of that. Naraku cut me off before he was able to accomplish his plans. I don't know what it is that Naraku intends to do next." then it let out a chuckle "It serves you right."

"Dammit, it doesn't have anything we can use."

"Forget it, don't bother losing your shit over this thing." Tatsu glanced over at him "One thing I will say about this thing is that the best thing about these kinds of demons, they love to hear themselves talk so getting whatever information we need out of them is all too easy."

"So what? We didn't get anything out of it that we can use."

"True, but that's still an important fact to keep in mind." Tatsu then glanced over at Kagome "I'm done with him now Kags, you're up."

"Way ahead of you." and so once the Sea Dragon's Cradle was released, Kagome brought down the blade of her sword and unleashed a wave of spiritual energy, purifying the demon and causing it evaporate in an instant "So much for that being of any help to us. No offense."

"Someone had to say it, and if not you then it more than likely would've been me."

"I wouldn't say we didn't get anything out of it." Koga picked up a nearby strand of hair and hunk of flesh from the hair demon and promptly tossed it over to Ginta and Hakkaku "Alright listen up you guys, I want the two of you to make sure you remember that scent, and make sure that the same goes for the rest of the wolves."

"Let me guess, you're planning to have your group use that scent to search around the area and see if you can pick up a trace of Naraku?"

"Yeah right you mangy wolf, like something that stupid is gonna work." Inuyasha let out a loud scoff "Hate to break it to you, but if a bunch of pathetic wolves could sniff out Naraku as easily as that, then I would've done it for myself a long time ago." his gloating was quickly cut short when he looked over and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head "What the fuck?!"

As it turns out, Tatsu and Koga were just walking away from the scene without bothering to spare so much as glance in Inuyasha's direction "So yeah let's not do this so close to the village, but I do know of a pretty good clearing not too far away. I actually find it a pretty good training spot, or when I just need to be alone and hear myself think."

"Dammit get the hell back here, I'm sick and tired of being ignored!"

"I couldn't ignore you if I wanted to, and believe me I've tried." Tatsu spared him a dry look "Like I said before, Koga and I have a score to settle so we'll be back a little bit later. And just throwing this one out there, nobody try and interrupt us in the middle of our fight again okay? I'm looking at you when I say that Inuyasha." and so he took off, with Koga following close behind him.

"So…" Kagome broke the awkward silence and glanced over at the others "You guys think that we should go and watch?"

"Depends on whether or not you got snacks!" Shippo promptly pounced towards her bag and dove into it head first, to which he promptly pulled out a large bag of chips "Ninja snacks always go great with fights!"

"Yeah, I'm sure they do Shippo." Kagome then glanced over to see Inuyasha looking away from the group and scowling as he usually did "What's the matter?"

"What do you think?" Inuyasha let out a snort "If Tatsu had power like that thanks to that new Fang of his, then he could've killed the hair demon sooner, or just killed Koga the second he showed up and gotten it the hell over with!"

"Why would he bther to kill Koga just for showing up?"

"Because I deserve something after all the crap we've been through lately!"

"...Yeah. Anyway, we should probably get going..

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About 10 minutes later…

"Okay, this is about the spot." Tatsu screeched to a halt in a large clearing, with Koga following his lead, and he dropped into a stance as he drew his sword "This is the spot I usually use for training when we're not on the road. It's also a good place to beat the ever loving crap out of someone that gets on your nerves!"

"For once we agree." Koga dropped into a stance as he summoned his Goraishi on his right arm, the claws crackling with electricity as he did so "Like I said before, I had to go through hell to get this thing."

"You're not the only one." Tatsu spared a quick glance down at the Fangs around his neck "I've spent about half a year getting to the point I'm at now, and this oughta give me the opportunity I need to really test myself and see just how far I've come, at least in a fight that doesn't involve the potential end of the world. I wouldn't have even won that fight if Kagome hadn't jumped in to save me when she did, so I guess that means I just have to train that much harder and keep getting that much stronger."

"You're not gonna hear me object to that, but before anything else you're gonna have to prove that you really are as strong as you claim."

"I don't make claims that I can't back up, and I don't back down from a challenge. Plus it's like I told you before, what we're about to do sounds fucking therapeutic right about now."

"Good enough of a reason for me, so are we going to get started or what?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth." then the battle began as the two of them started charging across the clearing and clashing with each other, katana against claws, the two of them managing to keep pace with each other with relative ease, though this came to a head when Tatsu ducked under a kick and aimed one of his own at Koga's head.

Koga managed to duck underneath the attack and spun around as he aimed a kick at Tatsu's face, only to be met with an uppercut to the jaw instead, the force of the collision sending both of them hurtling towards opposite sides of the clearing, while Koga himself retreated onto a high branch on a tree behind him "I hope you didn't think I was gonna make it that easy for you!"

"I'd find it insulting if you did, and I'm sure as hell that goes both ways. Speaking of which, get a load of this one! Iron Spear Storm!" Tatsu covered his body in a set of metal dragon scales and fired a barrage of iron spears from the tips of his fingers that he sent hurtling forward.

Koga dodged and weaved around most of the iron spears by leaping across the tops of numerous trees, though he received a few cuts and scratches from the spears as he did so, and once he took notice of Tatsu blitzining in front of him and channeling energy into his sword, he braced himself with the Gorashi and leapt into the air towards him, using his claws to clash against the blade, though the collision began drawing blood from his arm 'Shit, the pressure of his attack is too much for my arm itself to take. I guess that means he's grown more powerful than I thought.'

"I told you before not to let yourself get distracted in a fight, because if you do then it can lead to stuff like this! Fire Dragon TALON!" Tatsu coated his leg in flames and dealt Koga a sharp kick to the side, the force of the blow sending him hurtling deeper into the forest and crashing to the ground in a small crater.

Koga was able to rebound a few seconds after he hit the ground, just in time to dodge the next barrage of slashes that came from Tatsu and his sword, and then when he found an opening he grabbed onto Tatsu by the blade of his sword and used it to hurl him a short distance away.

Tatsu managed to stop himself just in time to avoid a follow up attack from Koga "Now I think it's my turn! Iron Gauntlet!" he blitzed behind Koga and dealt him an iron scale-enhanced fist to the face that sent him hurtling backwards a fair distance.

Koga managed to stop himself and wiped some of the blood from his face 'I guess he wasn't bluffing before. I can feel it. He's stronger, faster and overall just more powerful than he was the last time I saw him. I guess that means it's time to get serious. Alright that's enough screwing around, I think it's time you and I started to get serious." he held up the Goraishi as it started to surge with electricity "You ready?"

"Give me one second." Tatsu tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword as the blade suddenly became coated in flames 'Demon Slayer, eat your heart out. Come at me."

"As if you had to ask. Lightning CLAW!" Koga burst forward and unleashed a powerful blast of lightning from his Goraishi.

"Flame Breathing: Second Form: Rising Scorching SUN!" Tatsu brought down his flaming sword, and the flames cancelled out the blast of lightning in a powerful explosion that sent both of them skidding backwards, with Tatsu's iron scales being blown off for the most part "Not too shabby, that Goraishi does back up a pretty fair amount of the shit you talk."

"And it's pretty clear that you're stronger than you used to be, but don't think that's gonna be enough for you to take me on when I get serious." Koga was about to do just that, only to stop and let out a groan "Oh fuck."

"We got incoming?"

"Yep. Give me a minute, I'll deal with this."

"I've got a better idea. Hey how about it Kags, you up for some target practice?"

"I'm on it." Kagome rushed towards them and prepared to draw her weapon, only to pause and look over at them "Sword or arrow?"

"Your call."

"Arrows it is then." so Kagome promptly locked and loaded a Sacred Arrow, and she fired it the instant a barrage of leaf projectiles, purifying them in an instant with a burst of energy "Wait hold on a second… Were those leaves?"

"Leaves morphed into some kind of makeshift shuriken from what I could tell." Tatsu then shot a quick glance over at Koga "Let me guess, some kind of former rival of yours looking to land a sneak attack and settle and old score between the two of you?"

"I wish, that would be a lot less of a pain in the ass." Koga breathed a sigh "No, I'm pretty sure this is just Ayame."

Sure enough, it was at this moment that Ayame burst out of the woods and landed in front of the group, and her eyes narrowed when her gaze landed on Kagome "I never thought you would be that stupid Koga, that girl is nothing but a mortal! Are you out of your freaking mind?!"

"I know exactly what I'm doing, and for the record Kagome has nothing to do with what I'm doing right now."

"Kagome, so that's the name of this stupid human wench! That's the name of this woman that put you under her spell?!"

"...What are you talking about?" Kagome finally snapped out of her stupor.

"What do you think, I'm talking about the way that you seduced my Koga just so you could use him like some kind of guard dog and then throw him away when you're done with him!"

"...What?!"

"I second that. What?" Tatsu shot a raised eyebrow and a scowl over at Koga "What the fuck have you been telling this chick?"

"It sure as hell isn't any of that, I can tell you that much." Koga told him "I told her that I had other things to deal with and I didn't need or want to get married."

"Yeah, because that's sure to drive a girl away, and yes I'm being sarcastic."

"You do a lot of that."

"It's how I cope with the batshit insanity that my life has become."

"I'm the only woman that gets to marry Koga, so as far as I'm concerned, this little whore of yours can drop dead!" Ayame promptly unleashed another barrage of leaf shuriken and sent then hurtling forward.

Kagome promptly drew her Seishin Rozu from its sheath and unleashed a burst of spiritual energy that purified the projectiles in an instant, as well as forcing Ayame to evade the blast "I don't want to fight you if I don't have to, but if you keep attacking me and my friends like that then I'm going to get serious."

'Spiritual powers and sacred energy emitting from her weapons, that must mean this girl is a priestess. Yes, her clothes pretty much prove that.' Ayame studied Kagome for a moment, then turned her furious gaze back on Koga "How could you let yourself fall for a mortal like that, and a priestess of all things?! Where's your pride as the leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe?!"

"Will you shut the hell up already?!" Koga let out a snarl "Kagome has nothing to do with my choices!"

"That's a big fat lie." Tatsu pointed out dryly.

"Whatever, the point is that she has no right to lecture me about my life choices!"

"Kagome, so that's your name…" Ayame levelled her gaze back on Kagome, her expression being filled with unbridled fury.

"Is there something I can do for you?" Kagome felt uneasy and tightened the grip she held on her sword.

"Everythig about you just pisses me off, even your name sounds exactly like one!"

"The only thing our names have in common is one syllable."

"Whatever!" Ayame let out a growl and turned back to Koga "It doesn't even matter, because even if you wanted to marry that girl, there's no way you can go against the code of the tribe and marry a mortal!"

"I never gave a damn about any of the rules or codes the elders made up." Koga let out a snort "I live my life the way I want to. Besides, even if they didn't, what the hell makes you think I told you that I would marry you anyway?"

"Because…" Ayame finally lost her angry expression, and her face fell "Because you made that promise to me."

"...I did?"

"Yes you did, on the night of the Lunar Rainbow. You mean you really don't remember anything about it?"

"The Lunar whatnow?"

"You heard me, the Lunar Rainbow."

"Oh god, this sounds like something out of Twilight." Tatsu muttered, only to receive an elbow to his ribcage from Kagome "Sorry. Anyway, speaking as one of the people present who don't have a single damn clue about what's going on, you mind starting from the beginning?"

"Fine." Ayame breathed a sigh "I was still a little girl when it happened. I had been out hunting with my parents and a few other wolves, when were attacked by the Birds of Paradise. All of the others were killed, including my parents, while I managed to escape… sort of. I wasn't killed right away least and tried to hide, but one of them managed to find me. Somehow I had ended up near the actual nest of the Birds of Paradise too. They found me and they were about to kill me, but that was when Koga showed up and killed both of them, and he saved my life. After that he took me back to my branch of the tribe, and he promised to marry me when I came of age. One other thing that I remember about that day is the lunar rainbow shining in the night sky." she let out a wistful sigh as she recalled the events of her story, though tears began brimming in her eyes.

"...Wow." Koga just stared blankly at her "Are you positive about that? Are you sure that's what I said and not something else."

"Of course I'm sure, I never forgot what you said to me that day."

"This… This is absurd!" Kagome promptly turned her angry glare on Koga "She just told you such a super romantic story, and then you don't even remember it?"

"I kept those words close to my heart all this time, they were the only thing that pushed me to get through the harsh training in the mountains." Ayame wiped away a few tears.

"Oh you poor thing, get over here." Kagome put away her sword and bow, then promptly walked towards Ayame and pulled her into a tight hug, taking her by surprise "What?"

"I just tried to kill you because I thought you stole the guy that promised to marry me, and now you're hugging me?"

"Hey come on, that doesn't matter right now. Whether we be humans or demons, us girls have to stick together. Tatsu you go ahead and enjoy your fight, I'm gonna try and help Ayame calm down a little bit." and so she led Ayame towards the edge of the clearing.

"And then there were two." Tatsu promptly glanced back over at Koga as he dusted himself off a little bit "Wow… Not gonna lie Koga, that's a dick move even by your standards."

"Yeah well, whatever." Koga breathed a sigh "So can we get back to our fight now? I thought that was what you wanted most right now."

"Yeah it's cathartic as all hell, but a golden rule that my brother taught me a long time ago through his own burning dumpster fire of a lovelife is that crying woman trumps all. I mean granted if she wasn't crying right now, I'd ask her to butt out so we could get back to beating the ever loving crap out of each other."

"But since she apparently is crying?"

"As I said before, the golden rule. So in the meantime, back to the fight. What do you say that for the time being, we pull back on the heavier attacks and focus on hand to hand?"

"Works for me. Mind if I make the first move?"

"Go ahead, it doesn't really make a difference to me."

"Good enough for me, now come on, let's do this." Koga gave a smirk as the jewel shards in his legs began glowing, and he suddenly blitzed out of view.

'Yep, he's about as fast as he ever was.' Tatsu re-materialized his iron dragon scales across his body and managed to block Koga's first attack in the form of a spin kick, using nothing but his left arm, which led to the two of them trading even blows, sending a series of shockwaves across the clearing they were in, before the two of them broke away "Yeah no doubt about it, you definitely have improved a fair amount."

"Pushing yourself to the limit to lead your tribe back to greatness can motivate a demon to get a lot stronger, the same with trying to avenge the comrades you've lost."

"You're still holding out on me though, that's something I can tell just by looking at you."

"That's because you said to focus on hand to hand."

"Yeah but your Goraishi can do more than just fire giant blasts of lightning, it's still a claw and it can do what a claw does as far as I'm concerned. Show me what you can do, and I mean all of the power you've got

"If that's what you want then fine, but remember that you asked for it." Koga promptly summoned the Goraishi back onto his right arm, and then he charged forward, ready to begin the next round of their battle.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, on the sidelines…

"Well, it looks like the two of them are having fun, so I guess this means we have a little bit of time to talk." Kagome glanced over at where Tatsu and Koga were still fighting it out, then turned her attention towards Ayame "So you told me before that the elder of the Wolf Demon Tribe is your grandfather?"

"You're talking about gramps?" Ayame gave a shrug "Yeah that's right, he was the one that raised and trained me after the Birds of Paradise killed my parents."

"You must have a good reason for coming down the mountain like this."

"Yes, actually I do. I don't know what caused it, but there's a strange miasma that descended from the northern mountains not too long ago. I talked to gramps about it, and he said that it smells like a demon, a powerful demon at that. Around the time the miasma descended, infighting had increased among the Wolf Demon Tribes in the East and in the North, as well as those in the South and in the West. Because of this, gramps had made the decision to marry me off to one of the young & strong warriors, in order to build an alliance."

"Oh, so you mean it was like a political marriage."

"Well that's just fucking typical, politics ruin everything." Tatsu grumbled from where he was in the middle of doding a barrage of slashes from Koga's claws, only to be met with a spin kick to the face that sent him hurtling backwards, leaving Ayame heavily confused.

"It's okay, this is just how he does things when he's in the middle of a fight." Kagome breathed a sigh, then turned back to Ayame "So you were saying?"

"Like I was saying, a marriage to unite the tribes and stop the infighting." Ayame told her "It was lucky for us then that me and Koga had already been promised to each other."

"Yeah, on the night of the Lunar Rainbow."

"I think I'd remember if I actually did say something like that!" Koga barked at her, only to be shut up by an iron club hitting him in the face and sending him hurtling back.

"So he claims, but I think it's safe to say that he didn't."

"Yeah, I think I noticed." Ayame noted dryly "Gramps believed that Koga would be able to gather followers and inspire loyalty from the rest of the wolf demons in our tribe, especially if he was able to wield the Goraishi mainly given how it's the most powerful weapon ever known to the Wolf Demon Tribe, and how he has shards of the Shikon Jewel too." then she started blushing "And besides… it's not like I minded the idea of marrying Koga either."

'So it's not just a political marriage. I guess I should've figured.'

"Anyway, that's pretty much my main reason for being here."

"Dammit give it a rest already, everyone is getting so worked up over a stupid miasma!" Koga let out a loud groan as he picked himself up and wiped the blood from his face "You might be here to get me to help you make peace, but most of the guys back in the tribe are idiots who don't care about anything but strength and power. All you really have to do to get through to them is crack a few of their skulls together and they'll start listening to whatever you have to say."

"You're such an idiot, if it were as easy as that then don't you think we would've done that in the first place? If we want to bring the tribes together then we have to gain their trust, so the two of us getting married and settling down is the only way to make that happen "

"Hate to break it to you red, but that sort of thing sure as hell isn't my style! There's only one thing I care about doing right now, and that's getting my hands on Naraku and avenging the members of our tribe that he slaughtered! I don't need or want to deal with anything else before that happens, you got it?"

"So you're not going to change your mind?"

"Not a chance, now go back to the mountain already." Koga turned away from her, but then let out a sigh "Do yourself a favor Ayame, stop listening to everything the elders tell you and start to think about what you want to do with your own life."

"You… You really think so?"

"That's all I have to say right now, this conversation is over. Besides, I've still got a fight I have to finish anyway." with that in mind, Koga turned his attention towards Tatsu "I think you know I'm right about this. I gotta admit I'm kind of surprised, I know it's been awhile since the last time we fought but you're a lot stronger now than I expected you to be."

"I have been told on a few occasions that I'm the self-improvement type." Tatsu gave a shug "Plus I find that training is a pretty effective way of relieving stress. Besides, a wise man once told me that power doesn't mean anything if you don't know how to use it properly. But you're right, I'm thinking that the moment is kind of ruined and I already got enough rage out of my system for the time being. I say we go ahead and finish this, we both go all in with all the power we have, and then the last one standing wins. Sound fair?"

"Sounds good to me. I'm gonna hit you with everything I've got, and we'll see if you can actually back up the shit you talk."

"...Do I even need to point out that pretty much describes you to a T?"

"I'd rather you shut up and let me do this." Koga braced himself as he readied the Goraishi, his arm surging with an incredible amount of electricity "You'd better be ready for this, because I'm about to hit you with every ounce of power I have!"

"I told you to go with everything you've got, and I wouldn't be telling you to go through with it if I didn't think I could take it." Tatsu breathed a deep sigh as he placed his sword back in its sheath and dropped into a stance "So go ahea and give me your best shot."

"Fine, just remember that you asked for it! LIGHTNING CLAW!" Koga let out a primal roar and unleashed an enormous blast of lightning from the Goraishi, sending it hurtling forward at blinding levels of speed.

'I have to concentrate, I have to remember what Ryuhogo told me during training.' Tatsu steadied himself as the blast of lightning made contact with him, sending him skidding backwards as his body surged with electricity, though he was quick to calm himself and start going through the motions even as his mind was racing 'Ryuhogo said that I need to keep peace of mind in order for this to work. So much had happened over the last few days. I found the fifth Fang. and discovered that there are five more out there in my world. I discovered that Shin was the one that caused the accident that took my father from me, but I managed to defeat him with Kagome's help. After nine years I told Kagome that I love her, and she loves me back. Raidou and I finally have all of our secrets out in the open, I don't hold any ill will towards him over anything that happened, and neither do any of the others. Sango doesn't hold any ill will towards me and Kagome over what happened to Kilala either. The only real problem remaining is… what Shin said about my dad before he got away. To be completely honest… I don't know what to think. I spent the past week driving myself up the fucking wall over this time and again. But Sango is right about what she said before. I can't let something like this get the better of me, because if I did, then that would mean that everything I've been through up until now would've been pointless. Whether it does turn out that my dad is still alive or not, one thing is clear… Whatever the outcome, I'm not going to let it stop me from doing what I'm meant to do. Fighting and protecting the people that I care about most! Now I have to remember what Ryuhogo said… Down to my chest, and then let it build until it has nowhere to go but OUT!' and so with a primal roar of his own, he stuck out his arm and projected the lightning back towards Koga, leaving both of them to be engulfed in the enormous explosion that followed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, 500 years in the future…

'This sensation…' Kuroga's eyes snapped open as he felt a chill go down his spine, and he spared a look back in the direction he came from "Tatsu…"

"Your concentration is wavering." Shin glanced back at Kuroga as his eyes narrowed "What is it that's distracting you?"

"I… I can't explain it, but I just felt this terrible sensation. Something is happening to my youngest son, like his… his life is in danger."

"Paternal instincts at such a distance from the child, commendable if nothing else. But take it from a voice of experience, your son is far more resilient than you give him credit for. I know that from first hand experience." Shin glanced down at the stump where his arm used to be "Believe me, and believe this. I must be the one true heir to the legacy of Ryuhogo, for I have just located the next piece of my destiny." with a wave of his only remaining hand, the side of the mountain shattered apart and revealed the temple now sitting in front of them "As of now, the two of us have located the sixth temple of Ryuhogo. Now let us proceed inside, the two of us have much work lying ahead of us."

Kuroga said nothing, he just followed after Shin into the temple, glancing back the way he came as he did so 'Tatsu… whatever happens, please just be safe…'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, 500 years in the past…

'Shit, he knows how to do that too?' Koga was quick to rebound after the explosion ensued, only to find the entire area covered in a thick cloud of smoke 'Dammit, the smoke is masking his scent from me, so now I can't- Oh wait, I can just use that Ki sensing stuff.' he paused and closed his eyes, but then his head snapped in a certain direction 'There he is! I don't have a lot left in me after that last attack, but one clean shot should do the trick! Lightning Claw-"

"Flame Breathing: Third Form: Blazing UNIVERSE!" Tatsu suddenly blitzed through the smoke, the blade of his sword coated in flames, and he promptly brought swung it downward in an arc and dealt a brutal slash down Koga's chest, the explosion resulting sending him crashing to the ground in a scorched heap, while Tatsu himself was left to fall to one knee as he placed his sword back in its sheath for the final time "Okay… it's over for good this time… Okay, that hurts more than I thought it would… Ow…"

"Hang on a second." Kagome was quick to rush over to his side and knelt down next to him as she formed a series of hand seals "Rin. Pyo. Toh. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen." she placed her hands down on his back as they began glowing with healing energy.

A moment passed before Tatsu wiped away the dried blood from his face and pulled himself to his feet "Not gonna lie, I'm never gonna get used to the tingling sensation I get whenever you do that to me."

"You complaining?"

"No I'm just makin an observation, and thanks for that." Tatsu then looked over to where Koga was lying sprawled out on the ground "Now there's the matter of him."

"Yeah yeah… I know I lost…" Koga glanced up at him and let out a bitter chuckle "Just go ahead and do whatever you want to me."

"You're letting me decide just like that?"

"It's how these kinds of challenges go in the Wolf Demon Tribe. You're the one who won this fight, so that means you have the right to decide the fate of the loser. As much as I hate to say it right now, it actually hurts to say it… that's me. Go ahead."

"...Fine then." Tatsu took a few steps forward and yanked Koga up onto his knees "Here's what I choose."

"Don't even think about it!" Ayame hurled a barrage of leaf shuriken at Tatsu, only for them to be evaporated by a burst of demonic energy.

"You haven't even heard what I was gonna say." Tatsu then turned back to Koga "Killing in cold blood isn't really my style, so here's what I'm gonna say. We did agree that you're done chasing after Kagome like a lovestruck puppy, but what I want now is for you to look me in the eye and swear to me that you're gonna do everything in your power to protect her, especially when I'm not there too. Got it?"

"...Got it." Koga let out a groan as he felt Kagome gently place her hands on his back, only to sigh when he felt her healing his injuries "Truth be told, I knew I didn't really love her like that, I knew it for awhile now."

"And yet that didn't stop you from pining after her like a lovestruck puppy. Where the hell did all of that come from anyway?"

"I'm a wolf demon and that's the way we are, that's how we live our lives. If we feel something then we go with it, I felt like I thought I was in love with her so I acted like it."

"And look where that got you." Tatsu shot him a dry look, then glanced over at Ayame "Well at least you don't have to worry about finding somebody else, because apparently they went and found you. The promise under a night rainbow is something I didn't expect though."

"So I've heard, but I already said that I don't remember any of that."

"That's the part I'm not so sure about." Kagome drew their attention from where she was working on Koga's injuries "Just think back a little bit, you have to remember something about the night you saw a lunar rainbow."

"Alright alright, give me a second." Koga frowned in thought as he tried to recall this, and then his eyes widened at the memory "Oh shit. That's right, she was the little kid from the Northern tribe that I saved from the Birds of Paradise that one time… back before Akari was killed. I told her that I would make her my wife, but she was just a little kid. It's not like I was serious. But then I saw that lunar rainbow… Oh fuck, what the hell am I supposed to say? Maybe if I just play it off like I don't remember-'

"He totally remembers everything about it." Tatsu suddenly blurted out "I could see it from that look in his eyes, I'd recognize that "oh shit" look on anyone, though I gotta admit that this is one of the more satisfying ones."

'...Shit, well so much for that plan. Right, so about all of that-"

"Hold on a second, I've got something to say about that." Ayame suddenly held up a hand to Koga to silence him "It's alright."

"...What now?"

"I probably should've mentioned this earlier, but I met up with Ginta and Hakkaku while I was out searching for you… and while I was running from this giant hair monster. I lost track of its scent though."

"We already killed it." was Tatsu's input.

"Oh. Okay then. Anyway Ginta and Hakkaku told me about this Naraku, and what he did to so many of our comrades." Ayame glanced up at Koga and gave him a reassuring smile "I understand why you need to go after him and how important it is for you, if I were in your position then I'd probably be doing the same thing. Go ahead and do whatever you have to in order to get your revenge on Naraku, and while you're doing that Gramps and I will find some way to work things out with the others."

"Right." Koga gave her a simple nod "You go ahead and do what you have to do, and I'm gonna do the same."

"Okay. But keep in mind though, that doesn't mean I'm gonna give up on making sure that you do live up to your promise when everything is said and done. After all, I'm the only one that can be your wife."

'...Oh shit.'

"But as for this Naraku, I do wanna do whatever I can to help you take him down."

'Oh thank god.' Koga breathed another sigh of relief "Look you got tribe stuff that you have to deal with, and besides Naraku is hunting down the shards of the Shikon Jewel, so if you can't sense those things then you can't do a lot for that. Like Kagome over there, she can sense them clear as day."

"She can? Then I guess all I have to do is make it so I can see them too." now that got quite the reaction out of the others.

"...Okay that's funny and all, but there's no way in hell you can do that."

"Yes I can!"

"No you can't!"

"Yes I can't!"

"I already told you that you can't!" Koga lost his angry glare when Ayame suddenly started laughing in his face "Okay I don't get it, what the hell is so funny?"

"Don't worry about that Koga, you'll find out for yourself soon enough. Anyway I'd better get going, but first…" Ayame suddenly pulled him into a heated kiss, only breaking away a moment later, then shot him a bright smile and waved at him before taking off in a whirlwind.

"...Wow." Koga was left to snap out of his stupor on his own "Just… wow."

"Yep, took the words right out of all our mouths." Tatsu let out a low whistle as he patted Koga on the back "Speaking as a guy, I've gotta admit… not bad. As far as those claims she makes about training herself to see jewel shards… Not gonna lie, I kind of want to see that now."

"That girl is a damn fool."

"And who do you think she gets it from?"

"...Okay, I think I'm done here."

"Not yet you're not. Now that the she-wolf is gone, I say it's about time for you to hand over those jewel shards in your legs to someone who could actually make good use of them!" it was at this moment that Inuyasha finally opened his mouth again and tried to pounce at Koga, only for him to dodge it at the last second "Fuck!"

"Yep, still suchs to be you mutt face. Alright I'm out of here, see ya." Koga gave a simple wave to the group, and then he subsequently disappeared in his signature whirlwind, with Hakkaku, Ginta and their wolves all chasing after him.

"And there they go." Tatsu breathed a sigh as he watched them leave "You know it's only after he leaves that I realize how much I miss the ability to hear myself think whenever he shows up around us."

"Well putting that aside, we do have other things to think about right now." Miroku took a few steps forward "I think that the idea Koga had regarding the use of his wolves actually does make a lot of sense."

"In theory maybe, but in practice it's way too easy. If we could just find Naraku by tracking down his scent then we would've had Inuyasha do it a long time ago."

"Why do you get to say that but I don't?" Inuyasha shot him a dirty look.

"Becuase when I'm saying it I'm stating a fact, but when you're saying it you're just doing it to gloat and make yourself look better than Koga."

"...Whatever." Inuyasha just looked away indignantly "But getting back to the point, if we could just find Naraku by tracking his scent, then why would he bother to leave behind all sorts of trash like that hair demon? It's the source of his scent, that would be way too sloppy."

"I figured it was a mix of arrogance, not needing it anymore like the thing said, and wanting to use it as a way of taunting us."

"That's… probably true actually. But still, it's like Naraku is completely confident that no one is ever gonna be able to find him, and he doesn't even care if anyone tries."

"Not until he wants us to find him anyway."

"Yeah."

"...So what about it?" Miroku finally spoke.

"What about what?"

"Don't try and play ignorant with us. You have to have some kind of theory, so where exactly do you think Naraku escaped to? You can't keep something like this from us?"

"...Yeah well, too fucking bad." Inuyasha shot a glare at them "That's something you're just gonna have to figure out for yourself."

"I see."

'Or to put it in simple terms, he hasn't figured this out yet either and he's just trying to save face around the rest.' Tatsu shot a dull look at Inuyasha, but then he frowned in thought 'He isn't wrong about what he was saying though. In any case, whatever happens, I'm gonna have to make sure that I'm ready. That thing said Naraku managed to escape to somewhere that nobody would be able to touch him. God only knows what the hell that means in the grand scheme of things. What about you, do you have any ideas?'

"I have my own theories and speculations, though I'm unable to confirm or deny anything at the moment. Perhaps some sort of sacred ground, or powerful beings serving him and guarding him from any danger. In any case, finding him will take time. I believe you said it best though, as regardless of what happens, you'll have to be prepared."

"Believe me, I intend to be."

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Nightfall came, and the moon was shining brightly over the skies above.

'This seems so familiar to me now…' Koga glanced down at the river in front of him as a large group of fireflies danced around him 'The two of us had been pretty close to the river on that night too. Whatever happens now, I'm not gonna let Naraku get the better of me, and I'm gonna do whatever it takes to kill him and avenge my comrades… But at the same time, there's no guarantee that I'm still going to be alive after everything is said and done… Ayame's better off forgetting about that night with the lunar rainbow. But she won't, that girl is as stubborn as they come, and that's not always a good thing.' he paused, then let out a bitter chuckle 'Then again, who the hell am I to talk?'

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Meanwhile, with a certain female wolf demon…

'Koga, you're watching the stars right now too aren't you?' Ayame stood in the middle of a grassy landscape staring up at the night sky, her mind racing 'I'm not going to forget. I won't ever forget the way that you protected me, or the promise that you made to me, even if the rainbow were to fade from existence… I'll keep training hard and getting stronger, and then when the time comes, I'll be there right by your side to help you avenge our comrades. That's my promise to you.'

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Meanwhile, with the main group…

'A lunar rainbow huh?' Tatsu glanced up at the night sky above him as he laid back on a grassy slope, his mind drifting 'Well given everything that me and the others have been through, at this point I'm willing to believe just about anything.'

"Hey."

Tatsu glanced over to see Kagome sit down next to him "Hey. I figured you would be getting some sleep like the others."

"Yeah well, I could say the same thing about you."

"Fair point. I just needed some time myself to think a little bit. Besides, after everything that went down today, the last thing I needed or wanted was to have to listen to Inuyasha brooding over the fact that Naraku disappears right after we learn how to break through his barrier."

"Yeah, I can't say I blame you for that." Kagome let out a chuckle, but then her face fell and her expression became one of concern "That's not the only thing you're thinking about is it?"

"...You really know how to read me like a book don't you?" Tatsu let out a long sight as he sat up and turned to face her "I've had a lot of stuff to think about lately. About Naraku and the jewel shards, about Shin and the other Fangs… and about my dad."

"So… have you decided what you're gonna do?"

"Honestly? Not really no, but I don't think that's a bad thing. Sango was right about what she said before. I've gone through too much to give up now, we all have. I can't let something like this get the better of me, because if I did, then everything that I've been through up until now would've been completely pointless. If it turns out my dad actually is still alive, then that's amazing. If it turns out that Shin was lying and my dad is still dead, then nothing changes. Regardless of what happens from here on out, it's not going to stop me from doing what needs to be done, from doing what I'm meant to do: Fighting and protecting the people that I care about most. Like you."

"That's the Tatsu I remember." Kagome shot him her typical bright warm smile, then pulled him in as their lips met briefly "And whatever happens, I promise I'm gonna be there with you every step of the way."

"And thank god for it." Tatsu breathed a sigh as he laid back down on the grass, cradling Kagome close to his chest 'I don't know what's going to come next, and frankly I don't care. Whatever it might be, I know that I can handle it, as long as I have her and the others by my side. Dad, I don't know for certain where you are right now, but wherever that might be, I just hope that I'm making you proud. So please, just keep watching over me and the others, because this journey that we're on, in this world or in ours, it's not over yet. Not by a long shot.

A/N:

With this chapter comes the return of this story, and a fair amount of emotional baggage resulting from the events of the last chapter. To be more specific, I'm referring to Tatsu struggling with Shin's supposed revelation about his father being alive and whether or not to believe it, the overarching guilt he and Kagome feel about Kirara being wounded in the battle with Shin, Raidou's feelings of guilt and shame over the consequences of his own actions, and Tatsu and Kagome confirming the start of their new and long awaited relationship. But it's not all somewhat depressing, as there is a fair amount of lighthearted moments and action in this chapter too, as we see the debut of Ayame and learn of the promise Koga made to marry her. Not only that, but we finally get to see a proper fight between Tatsu and Koga, and more or less see the conclusion of their rivalry, or at least this chapter of it, so they're no longer fighting over Kagome.

Like I said, one big moment in this chapter is Tatsu and Kagome telling Sango and the others about what happened during the battle with Shin, and how Kirara had made a great sacrifice to protect them. Sango's reassurance and encouragement are just what both Tatsu and Kagome need, the former in particular, since reflection on what she told him was what Tatsu needed to hear to spur him on, giving him the push he needed to master his new ability to redirect lightning and electricity, which comes in handy in his fight with Koga.