Update (April-May 2020): Chapter edited and lengthened!
Chapter 3: Heated Personalities & Journeying Back Home
"Aw man. You gotta be kidding me!...How could I forget about the indoor plumbin' system in this era?!"
(Splash...)
Come the next day after the death of the Carrion Crow Demon and-(cringe), the shattering of the Shikon-no-Tama, we zoom in on the riverside near a waterfall a couple kilometers away from the Goshinboku Village as Coraline enters the water to take a quick bath.
"Brrrh. Damn, this water's cold..."
As she stood stark naked and waist-deep with one arm subconsciously covering her chest, Kaede - who's sitting on the bedrock shore next to a fire - calls out to the girl,
"Come, child! Ye'll catch sick if you don't get out."
Coraline calls back,
"I wish it was tha' simple, Kaede...but if I don't ge' the blood and grime off now, it'll just be a bigger hassle later on!"
Sucking in a big breath, the redhead then dives underwater, leaving the priestess to sigh a bit at her stubbornness...Higher up within a tree overlooking a small cliff, Inuyasha was lounging against the trunk on a branch, briefly side-glancing down where Coraline was before looking away with a grunt.
Crazy girl's gonna freeze if she's not careful...Not that I would care that much.
Deep within the watery blue, the redhead swims forward with a frown on her face as she thought about the fabled item that had brought about the current fiasco she's caught within.
...The Shikon-no-Tama...
(Flash)
"What did you do to it?!"
Going back several hours, we see the teens sitting inside Kaede's home with said priestess as they all discuss the situation that was now the broken Shikon-no-Tama. Coraline's gaze is focused on the one shard they do have, currently enclosed between the older woman's fingertips...
"Stop barking, Inuyasha."
"Leave it to her to wind up breaking it!"
"Technically, it was not Coraline who broke it, but the crow's foot she attached to her arrow which shattered the Shikon-no-Tama."
Kaede's gaze fixates on the shard before continuing.
"As ye saw, the Shikon-no-Tama has now been scattered into many different pieces. The exact number is unknown, but one thing is certain: all it will take is one to fall into the wrong hands, and bring disaster."
As the fire crackles in a small burst of embers, the redheaded teen raises a hand to hover over her lips, a remorseful look on her face.
"...I'm so sorry. If I had known this would happ'n, I never would've considered..."
God, what a mess, and it's all my fault...
As Coraline's eyes downcast in guilt, Kaede tells her and the boy,
"Coraline, Inuyasha. Only by working together will the two of ye be able to recover the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama."
"Beg pardon?!"
The half-demon responds to the priestess with a smirk,
"Kah, you won't catch me complaining. I'm one of the wrong hands you were talkin' about."
"...Oh aye, that I know too well."
They may have been calm, but the girl from the future was feeling the opposite.
Cripes, how'd I get roped into this?!
(Flash)
How does Kaede even expect this t' happen?
Inuyasha and I, work together? Ha! Yeah sure, and I dream of dancin' on a rainbow with Hello Kitty.
Note: Rights of ownership to Hello Kitty belong to the Sanrio Company.
Coraline resurfaces from the water with a splash and sigh, a skeptical frown on her face with regards to the new mission and 'partner' she's been dealt...Feeling a stare, she then looks up and meets eyes with Inuyasha, he crouched on the cliff side and staring innocently down at her...Mind you, 'innocent' wasn't the word she was thinking of.
"Gah!"
Coraline ducks down back into the water, flushing with embarrassment before yelling angrily,
"Sit, boy!"
(Gleam)
"Aa-hh!"
Inuyasha is pulled down by the subjugation rosary from the clifftop, crashing down on the bedrock below...As the dust settles, Kaede calmly asks,
"Be ye alright, Inuyasha?"
He darts back up, looking at the prayer beads with irritation.
"Aw man. I forgot about this stupid necklace of yours..."
Coraline glares at him from behind a bush as she hurries to dress herself in some dry clothes generously provided by Kaede, retorting heatedly,
"Well next time, be mindful of where you stare, you Peepin' Tom!"
He gapes at the girl with disbelief, before quickly looking away and brushing off her accusation.
"Keh, show's what you know! The reason I really came was-"
Kaede holds up the single piece of the once proud Shikon-no-Tama.
"Ye really came to steal this shard, correct?"
...Inuyasha sits up, and turns his back on the women while grumbling,
"Think you're pretty smart, you old hag..."
The priestess maintains a cool demeanor and informs him,
"I see. Ye think to do it alone, do ye?...Ye forget, only yon girl can find those shards, while only ye, Inuyasha have the strength to take them back once found."
Inuyasha growls slightly, before turning his head Kaede's direction and insisting,
"Incase you hadn't noticed, I'm still here, ain't I? I can put up with anything for the jewel!"
"...You seriously need to take'a crash course in People Skills, y'know that?"
He shifts his gaze turns to Coraline, noticing that she's dressed in garments remarkably similar to the other woman in the area, and her hair is tied back a bit courtesy of a ribbon...Overall, her appearance had the young half-demon flashing back to a 'certain someone'.
...Kikyō...
(Flap, flap)
He snaps out of it when the redhead proceeds to fold out her damp and slightly torn clothes from before...The half-demon plops down on all fours, glaring at her while growling at some otherwise unpleasant thoughts...Kaede notices his change of mood:
"And what ails ye now, Inuyasha?"
Feeling the stare, Coraline looks toward him, causing him to fidget a bit at her acknowledgement...It wouldn't take but a few seconds for her to figure out why the boy's mood became a touch darker.
...Ugh, he must be comparin' me to that Kikyō woman again.
"Idgit."
...Unbeknownst to those three, somewhere in an unidentified locale, a figure was slowly rising from sleep against a glowing red backdrop, feeling the presence of the object she sought out many years ago.
"Oh my, oh me~...Fifty years later, and the Shikon-no-Tama finally resurfaces!"
The unnamed woman gazes at a skull in her hand, brushing out the attached black locks of hair while adding,
"I've almost given up hope...!"
She then broke into gleeful giggling, thinking about her plan for obtaining the said jewel...Returning to the riverside, a young mother carrying a toddler on her back comes down to the bedrock shore seeking out the aging priestess.
"Lady Kaede?"
"Hm?"
"It's my daughter..."
The woman explains the situation in more detail...
"I see. Let's head back."
Kaede turns to the teens and says,
"I'll be checking on you two later. Try not to fight."
She and the young mother then go on their way back to the village to help the latter's other offspring...The teens watch as Kaede vanishes, leaving them alone...
"Hey."
"What now?"
"...Get undressed."
(...Klonk)
"Ow!"
Inuyasha is then clocked on the top his head by Coraline's fist from the rather poorly-worded request.
"That, hurt! Why did you...!"
As he grimaces in pain, the redhead grinds,
"Geez, are you that unfamiliar with the word 'indecency'?"
The half-demon with the mane of silver-white hair immediately jumps to his defense, pointing to the girl's other outfit hanging up to dry.
"I didn't say 'get naked', stupid! I just can't stand seein' you in those clothes!"
"Gee, I wonder why. Oh wait, could it have something to do with tha' Kikyō woman?"
...Inuyasha couldn't respond to her sarcastic deduction at first, but then he shifts to a frown and stubbornly denies her claim.
"That's got nothin' to do with it, okay?"
Coraline is unconvinced by the quick brush-off.
"Oh spare me the act. My kid brother Sōta's more mature..."
She sighs a bit before calmly trying a chance at persuading the other teen to form an alliance.
"Look, I'm not exactly 'jumpin' for joy' about the situation either, but unless you wanna lose your sho' for the jewel, we gotta work together!"
"I ain't gotta do nothin'. It's you, the weak human who needs me."
...Coraline feels a bitter smile carve onto her lips at the boy's indication.
"Oh-hoh. 'Weak human', is it? Alrigh', I see where this conversation's going..."
There's no reasoning with him. Not right now, at least.
Inuyasha's ears twitch, before he turns around and watches the girl go grab her semi-dry clothing, a neutral expression on her face.
"Hey, where are you goin'?"
"Why'do you give a damn? I'm heading home."
As she finishes folding her outfit, she stiffly says,
"Goodbye, Inuyasha," before starting her journey for the Bone Eater's Well...
"Y-You can't just leave! You-"
"Last I checked, my name isn't 'You'."
"Wait, stupid!"
"Wrong again. It's Coraline, not 'Stupid'."
"Will you just wait and hear me out?"
The girl whirls around with a frustrated glare and asks heatedly,
"And why should I, so you can stop me?"
Inuyasha dashes in front of her and replies,
"No, so you can give me your jewel shard."
Coraline holds out the pouch around her neck - containing said object no bigger than a piece of flint - and asks in feign ignorance,
"Oh what, this? This shard here?"
She snaps it back to her hand and harshly exclaims,
"Up yours! Sit, boy!"
(Gleam, wham)
And as Coraline continues on her way, Inuyasha lifts himself from the ground grumbling,
"Why, you..."
"It's Coraline. Remember it well."
...
...
While that quarrel reaches a temporary stalemate, we head for the village and zoom in on a hut owned by the young mother from earlier where her daughter now lays unconscious...
"This way, Lady Kaede."
The two women approach the entrance as the priestess asks,
"Collapsed without warning, did she?"
"Aye, though she seemed just fine this morning..."
"Well..."
As Kaede enters the home to examine the young girl...she suddenly senses something amiss.
"Hm?"
A demonic aura...
Just then, a strange sound begins to resonate, almost like wind scratching on string...Kaede places a protective arm in front of the mother as the latter tries to step forward.
"No! Stay back."
...Next thing they knew, the daughter - though still unconscious - rises to hang limply mid-air like a marionette!
"Look, she moved!"
As one of the girl's hands lifts, that's when Kaede saw it.
(Zrrr...)
"It looks like, hair..."
A cleaver then vibrates on the surface of the floor, before mysteriously floating up into the girl's right hand, poised to strike. Kaede and the mother gasp, and we leave the hut just as the girl brings down the cleaver.
(SLICE)
Coraline's POV
After a while, I reach the clearing where the well sits, grumbling to myself over Inuyasha's earlier behaviour. Part of me feels like they shouldn't be this miffed, but it's rare for me to run into prejudice minds like that.
"God, the nerve of him. Men, I swear...!"
On the oth'a hand, considerin' the era, I suppose this shouldn' be a surprise.
Even including Kaede, the women of this time have a rather subdued position in society...
I reach the clearing and wander over to peer inside the seemingly innocent structure.
"Well, here I am; back where I started...The Bone Eater's Well..."
I think back to Kaede's description of the well and its purpose.
"We call it the Bone Eater's Well. It's a resting place for the bodies of monsters...though the flesh of those bodies disappears quickly enough..."
So then, it's safe t' say this well acts as both a grave, and a prison for Mistress Centipede...
Does that mean some of those bones back home could be th' remains of demons?
"...What'm I saying? Of course not. There's no way demon bone could last tha' long, anyway..."
I place my clothes on the ground, and sit on my knees with my arms propped on the rim of the well as I assess my current situation with a clearer head.
"Should I really jus' leave this place?...I don't wanna cause any more worry for Kaede. Still, Inuyasha made it clear that he wants t' gather the Shikon-no-Tama shards on his own...Besides, the shard I have righ' now will probably be better off in my time, where there's less a chance demons and greedy humans can come for it."
Speaking of, I'm surprised there's such a heavy activity of supernat'ral beings.
In the few years I've lived in Tokyo, I haven' sensed anything indicating demons or such-like...
Did something force Japan's supernatural community undergroun', or have they gott'n that good at camouflage?
Tucking that question away for another time, I get up and prepare to head into the well, which'll hopefully lead me back to my time...But that's when I notice the forest seemed to have gotten a bit, too quiet.
Hmm...
Narrowing my eyes suspiciously, they catch sight of a single leaf twirling down from a nearby tree...only to suddenly split in half without any rhyme or reason.
"What, the..."
It's only spring. None of the leaves should be this weak...
(Zrrrp)
"Gh!"
That's when I feel something slice across my cheek, leaving a small cut! I dart back and forth, trying to spot the source, only to see...strands of hair?
"What in the world...?"
Where'd these come from?...Those hairs...they radiate with a dark energy...
"Oh my, oh me. You can see it then?...My knit of hairs, I mean."
"Huh?"
I look up, and standing on some of the strands was a young woman dressed in a rather, 'skimpy' version of what I'm assuming is a shinobi tunic, foot and wrist guards, and a wakizashi katana strapped to her hip. Her hair is a very dark green and shortened into a bob with a red ribbon tied in like a headband, and she also wore red lipstick darker than her irises and eye-shadow. Some of the hairs were knitted in her fingers as she looks at me with some mild surprise, but then brushes the emotion off with the following comment.
"Pity...because seeing isn't enough."
"Who the hell are you?"
She just offers me a taunting smile, telling me my journey home was gonna be delayed for a bit longer.
Inuyasha's POV
I run fast through the treetops, my thoughts still clouded by that girl's attitude after she left with her clothing to who-cares-where.
"I'm heading home."..."Goodbye, Inuyasha."
Tuh, let her go. I'm better off without her.
I reach the village of that former-brat-now-old-hag Kaede, and as I jump across a few rooftops, I notice something odd.
"...Hm?"
Several young women were hanging around outside...and when I say hanging, I mean they were literally suspended from the ground by, some other source...I skid to a stop, and watch as they gather in a semi-circle in front of me.
"Well, guess I shouldn't ask what you're up to..."
The women then raise their weapons into the air, and I smirk, getting ready to fight as well.
"Heh, alright, now this is what I'm talkin' about!"
No POV
At the same time Inuyasha prepares himself ready for a brawl, back in the clearing where the Bone Eater's Well sits, the mysterious lady introduces herself to Coraline.
"How do you do? I'm Yura of the Hair...though you needn't bother to remember..."
The redhead cringes with a glare, and takes a half-step back while positioning in a defensive stance. Yura then raises a hand into the air, shouting,
"Because you'll be dead soon!"
She sends out several strands of hair to whip against Coraline, causing her to cry out a bit in pain.
Dammit, another demon...
"I'll be having the jewel, if you don't mind!"
Yura shoots out another strand of hair to snag the loop of the pouch where the shard laid, and snaps it off Coraline's neck!
"Auh! Hey!"
The scandalously-dressed demon pulls the pouch up to her, and opens it, only to be taken by surprise by its contents.
"Oh! You naughty, naughty girl, you shattered the jewel. Where's the rest, or I shall be cross."
"You give tha' back!"
"...Answer the question: where is the rest of it?"
"How the hell should I know? The shards all shot in diff'rent directions! For all anyone knows, a piece could'a landed on top of Mount Fuji!"
Yura forms a look of disappointment when she senses no lies, and brings her wakizashi up as she responds,
"Ah...In that case..."
She grabs the handle, and leaps off the hairs in a dive!
"I may as well finish you right now!"
Coraline's eyes widen, and she barely ducks backward in time from the katana blade, while subsequently losing her footing and tumbling over the lip of well!
"Aaaaaaahhhhh!"
"No fair escaping!"
Yura throws her sword down the well, intent on killing the human...But, she hears no sound of metal meeting flesh.
"Hm?"
She summons back her sword, and looks down the well confused.
"That's strange...Come to think of it, so was that girl..."
Leaving her to rethink her strategy, back in the village, so far, no battle had started as the women make no move to attack...Inuyasha lowers his arms a bit, realizing something was seriously off.
"Huh, I knew something was strange: I recognize these girls from the village. Look, is someone gonna tell me what's going on, or do you wanna another fight, cause that's fine if you do!"
He cracks his knuckles while adding under his breath,
"Just don't expect I'll go easy on ya..."
"Inuyasha, wait!"
The half-demon turns his head in the direction of the sudden call, and spots none other than Kaede crawling on the ground with a shoulder wound after the cleaver attack!
"Rrgh, d-do not hurt them! 'Tis not their doing!"
"...Old Kaede...!"
He leaps over to her, kneeling to her level with an expression of concern.
"What happened? You look awful!"
"...Must ye always treat an old woman thus?"
Ignoring the aging priestess's comment, Inuyasha focuses back on the present issue as the village women float to surround them.
"About the girls: it's them or us, and I choose us!"
"But someone else is controlling them...Uh!"
Kaede then realizes a certain teenage girl is missing.
"Where's Coraline? Tell me ye know where she is!"
Inuyasha replies dryly if a bit bitterly,
"All I know is that she said she was goin' home. What's the big deal, anyway? I can handle this without her."
"Nay, nay! Ye must not hurt them, Inuyasha."
The young man peers over the more-than-likely-zombified female humans, before replying seriously,
"Your heart bleeds in more ways than one, old woman. But if you're plannin' on seein' tomorrow, we gotta do somethin'."
"Hah, hah, control the strings and ye control the puppets. If not-"
Inuyasha interrupts Kaede in an irritable manner as he dodges two girls on the offensive.
"I don't see you helpin' none, old woman!"
"...Find the hair, Inuyasha. Find ye the hair, and mayhap they will wake!"
"Hair?! I don't see any hair!"
...In the distance, Yura of the Hair sits within the branches of an oak tree with her hands stretched outward as she continues to manipulate the village women with her demon hairs.
"Oh me, oh my...I'll definitely be wanting this one for my collection."
She of course is referring to Inuyasha, whom by this time tries a hand at counterattacking, only for the marionette villager to sweep out his line of vision. Confused, he looks around noticing the others were motioning similarly...Kaede immediately catches onto the feint:
"A trap! Inuyasha, flee the hair!"
(Shrrnk)
Her warning comes a few seconds too late, and the next thing the half-demon knew, his arms are tied in front of him by strands of the demon hair! He tries to struggle, but the fibers only tighten around his body...As one puppet woman came to attack once again, Inuyasha manages to leap away while dragging some of the other victims of Yura with him.
"Whoever's doing this ain't too smart! 'Cause you have me all tangled up, I don't need to see who's on the other end!"
He then proceeds to pull at the hairs and try to force the puppeteer out of hiding...However, Yura sees through this tactic too easily, and slacks her grip.
"Oh, so sorry~."
Inuyasha trips to the ground on his back from the loss of opposing weight...
The demon woman then kicks her assault up a level.
"Perhaps it's time to tie things up."
She then uses her power to manifest a set of red strings in a shape similar to a cat's cradle, before pulling it all in. With that done, Inuyasha is forced up against another tree as the strands around his body began to tighten even further!
"Arrrgh!"
He squirms against the pressures of the hairs as Kaede calls out to him.
"I-Inuyasha...!"
The bindings put even further strain on his body, and in a desperate effort to avoid death, Inuyasha fights to pull himself away from the trunk of bark as hard as he could.
"A-Aaaaaarrrrr...Nrrrrraaaaaaahhh!"
And just like that, he pulls free, leaving the hairs to cut through the tree behind him! The half-demon lands on the ground uninjured as the tall plant falls to pieces with a crash...On Yura's end, she feels the hairs loosen, frowning when she narrows down the flaw.
"Hm? The hair is slack. (...Glare) The cut was not clean."
Back in the middle of the village, Inuyasha's knees bend slightly in course with his heavy panting and the hand gingerly touching his throat, relieved he wasn't cut to pieces.
"Hah, hah, hah, oh man, I thought I was a goner...!"
Kaede isn't too surprised that the young man manages to pull a miracle, considering his origins.
"And so ye would have been, were ye normal, Inuyasha."
That's when they both sense other souls approaching, and look up to see that the village men were now being manipulated to attack!
"Men from the village..."
"...Ya know somethin'? I'm gettin' real sick of this."
As she struggles to stand, the aging shrine maiden says to the half-demon,
"Inuyasha. Save, yourself. Forget this old woman."
"Oh, spare me the noble act, will ya?"
He then sees Kaede cringe before falling back to the ground.
"Hey! You okay?"
...As he watches her writhe in pain, he then mutters a bit bitterly,
"Tch, thanks alot."
In the distance, Yura pulls back some hair...and notices some of Inuyasha's own strands have snagged in.
"Oh? Oh~, what pretty silver hair..."
Deciding that it would be wise to fall back in a tactical retreat to rethink their battle strategy, especially in midst of Kaede's injury, the half-demon lifts the priestess onto his back and starts heading for the furthest clearing of his namesake forest...
"Hang on tight, ya hear?"
They continue to soar and leap through the thick canopy, though Kaede warns the boy of the danger still invisible to him.
"Beware, Inuyasha, lest you touch. The hair will-"
She cuts herself off and ducks behind him as he leaps through the hairs, snapping them away without gaining any injuries.
"Hey, did you say something, old woman?"
"...Not at all."
Unbeknownst to them both, Yura is in hot pursuit, swinging from the trees using her demon hairs.
"He's stubborn, but he's also fun. And I positively must have this pretty silver hair of his."
...
Eventually, Inuyasha and Kaede manage to lose the hair demon, stopping in an area thick with clover and dead leaves...
"Did I hear you say you can see the hair?"
"...Mm-hm."
As she lays down on the soft ground, the half-demon then asks the priestess,
"Can you tell me where it's being pulled from?"
"Don't be absurd. With me in this condition and, assuming I did know from whence the strands of hair came...Ye must, find Coraline."
"You mean she can see it too?"
"Aye, and to defeat this foe, ye'll be needing that power. Without it, ye have no hope, none...mmm-hh..."
Kaede grimaces a bit and shuts her eyes as her injury saps more of her strength, while Inuyasha stares at her while contemplating his next action.
...
...
"Mmm...mmh..."
Meanwhile, inside the Bone Eater's Well, Coraline rises from unconsciousness, unharmed from her tumble into the structure to dodge Yura...As she sits up, the girl has a gander at her current surroundings, momentarily confused before remembering the locale.
"...I'm at the bott'm of the well...Oh, that's righ': that girl demon Yura tried t' slice me with her katana, and I fell backwards dodgin' it."
"...But we already looked here a dozen times!"
"Huh?"
Coraline suddenly hears a familiar voice coming from the top of the well.
...Is that...
"But Grandpa, I keep tellin' you, this is where she fell!"
Suddenly, a beam from a flashlight comes shining her way, the source being none other than Sōta and Grandfather!
"But are you sure you weren't dreaming?"
"I wasn't!"
The two males then look down, and are shocked to see their adopted family member is indeed at the bottom of the well!
Coraline - in her own surprise - would be the first to speak.
"G-Grandfather?!...Sōta?!"
If...If they're here...does this mean...
The redhead wastes no time in climbing up and out of the well house, stopping in her tracks when her eyes drink in the sight of the very familiar Higurashi shrine and residence!
...My God...I'm back...back in my own time...!
"You were missing for three full days! The least you could've done was call!"
"And why are you wearing those weird old clothes?"
Coraline pays no heed to her grandparent nor her young brother, too busy wrapping her mind around the fact that home wasn't inaccessible after all.
I really have come home...which means...I really did go back five hundred years into the past!
Once more...the supernat'ral of Japan is not dead!
The redhead shivers deeply as a torrent of emotions wash over her, the dominant feeling being...excitement! She whirls around and kneels down to her grandfather with her hands on his shoulders, an expression of shaky enthusiasm on her face.
"Grandfather! I don't know...I don' know how t-What I've seen, what I experienced!...You were righ'; the legend was right!"
The elder is taken aback by the rushed words and intensity in her eyes.
"Coraline. What on earth...?"
...Oh Mathias my friend, give me strength; the strength to help your daughter.
Speaking on the subject of strength, returning briefly to Sengoku Edo, as Kaede continues laying on the pile of leaves and save whatever fortitude remaining in her injured body, Inuyasha begins digging up a hole with his claws...
"There, that outta do it. Well, all things considered, old woman, it's the least I can do for you."
He then proceeds to...bury the priestess in the hole with a mix of dirt and leaves...
"Wait. I'm resting, not dead."
"Then think of it as a hiding place. I'll even come back and dig you up, if I remember."
"Ye promise? Ye won't forget where ye left me?"
Inuyasha turns to go and leave once he finishes 'camouflaging' Kaede, and she brandishes an arm out as she orders,
"Do not forget, Inuyasha."
"Okay, I heard ya, geez!"
With that, the half-demon with silver-white hair sets off to once again track down Coraline...
"Curse that stupid woman, takin' off on me right when I need her!"
And what was the redhead up to during this time?
(Shhhhhh...)
Once the last of her shock wears off, she decides to calm her nerves with a nice, hot shower...As she stands under the shower head, the girl lets out a euphoric sigh as she feels the hot water lap down in a rush against her bare skin.
"Aa~h, hot water a' last. This'll definitely melt away me stress..."
...
In Edo, Inuyasha dashes through the forest growth, unaware of the large tendril of dark green demon hair none too far behind him, courtesy of Yura.
"Heeheheh...little girl~, come out, come out, wherever you are~..."
...
In Tokyo, the poor redhead remains blissfully oblivious to the danger heading her way, combing her fingers through her own dark auburn locks.
"Ah~, conditioner. It's amazin' how much one can miss it..."
If only she knew, her role in the Sengoku Era,
was the farthest thing from over.