A Complex Twist

It had been several hours since Michiru had returned to his childhood home. He and his wife Sango looked at each other with eager looks on their faces as the watched Mrs. Kururugi work her magic to detect the problem. They had put Kanna back to bed, because they didn't want her to witness what all had to be done in this inspection.

"What's taking so long?" InuYasha grumbled. "Why can't she just solve the problem the same way she did with Kohaku?"

"Silence InuYasha!" Mr. Kururugi ordered. "That was different. Kohaku's curse was handed to him, Michigo and Sanru however were born with this curse in them. It's that fact that requires my wife to focus in on the curse in order to sense the trouble."

"Yeah, and until then she needs complete concentration." Kaname spoke up. "So be quiet so that my mom can work her magic you two!"

"Who are you to tell me to be quiet?" InuYasha grumbled.

"Someone who has the power to put you in your place!" Kaname snapped eying the necklace InuYasha wore and hated. "Do you want me to say the word..."

"No!" InuYasha interjected. "No, Kaname don't! Okay! Okay! I'll shut up!"

Kaname nodded and turned back to her mother working her magic on her little nieces. She looked in sorrow hoping that her mother did know a cure. Even though she and her brother's powers came from their father's side of the family, and neither had no knowledge on using their mother's magic, she still knew that her mother was incredibly powerful.

Finally, after nearly an hour of performing magic, Mrs. Kururugi rose and turned to her family.

"Anything dear?" Mr. Kururugi asked. "Have you located the curse Naraku placed on our granddaughters?"

Mrs. Kururugi nodded. "Yes. I've found the curse, in fact it was very hard to miss."

Sango then looked up at hearing that and eagerly got out, "Then can you remove it? Please tell me you can remove this curse on my daughters."

Mrs. Kururugi then looked at her beloved daughter-in-law, shook her head, and gave her a sad look. "Unfortunately I cannot do that at this time Sango."

"What?" Sango asked as a tear fell down her cheek. "You mean...there's no cure."

"No, I didn't say that." Mrs. Kururugi replied. "There is a cure, but I can't perform it at this time. There are several things I need first."

"What do you need mother?" Michiru asked. "Just say the word and I'll get it for you."

"I wish it were that simple." Mrs. Kururugi answered. "But it won't be. Here maybe I should explain what all I discovered just now."

"That's a good idea." Mr. Kururugi agreed. "Everyone sit down and listen to what my wife has to say."

"Thank you dear." Mrs. Kururugi answered as everyone sat down. "You see, it's like this. Like my husband was saying, when I freed Kohaku from the curse put on him, it was easy because the curse had a central core in the Shikon Jewel shard Naraku put in him. But such isn't the case in this situation."

"What do you mean?" InuYasha asked her.

"I mean that there is no central core here InuYasha." She replied. "There is no Jewel Shard, there is no infection, these girls were born with this curse. That means that it grew and spread throughout their entire bodies at they grew inside Sango's womb. This curse isn't just in their bodies, it's PART of their bodies!"

As these words settled on the group, everyone turned and looked back at Mrs. Kururugi.

"But that's absurd!" Mr. Kururugi exclaimed. "In order for that to be true, this curse would have to be..."

"Inside every part of their bodies." Mrs. Kururugi finished. "Inside every drop of blood, inside every organ, every tissue, every cell, every molecule, and every element that composes these two girls' bodies!"

A wash of horror ran over everyone present at this declaration. It was very shocking to hear that Naraku had created something so unbelievably devastating.

"Well, how can we get the curse out?" Sango wanted to know. "If it's in every cell, then just take it out!"

"It's not that simple Sango." Mrs. Kururugi replied. "This curse is part of their bodies. If we just take it out, the results could be catastrophic. Possibly even deadly!"

Another wash of horror fell on the group along with a chilling silence. A silence that was eventually broken when InuYasha spoke up, "So, what do you propose to do?"

"That's right!" Kaname agreed. "You said that there is a cure! What do you need for it?"

"Rest and assistance." Mrs. Kururugi replied. "First of all, removing the curse will require all the magical energy I can muster. And while I'm not an old hag, I will admit I'm not as young as I used to be. And even if I were, I can't remove this curse alone."

"What?" Sango gasped. "But you have to! There's no one else!"

"No, Sango." Mrs. Kururugi replied. "There are others who can help me."

"Who?" Michiru asked.

"The people who taught me to use my powers." Mrs. Kururugi answered looking at her son. "Michiru, call up the retirement home where your grandmother lives. Tell the nurses there to bring her to our place for a visit. She taught me most everything I know, and despite her age her magic is many times greater than my own."

"Grandma?" Michiru asked. "Sure, I'll call her up right now."

"Kaname," Mrs. Kururugi spoke turning to her daughter. "Place a collect call to San Francisco where your aunt lives with her husband. Tell her the situation, and then tell her to take the next flight to Japan."

"Got it." Kaname nodded.

"As for me, like I said I need all the rest I can handle. And it'll probably be a day or two until my sister arrives. So I'm going to take it easy for awhile so that I'll be ready to perform this miracle." Mrs. Kururugi yawned. "And I think I'll start with a good night's sleep." Then Mrs. Kururugi turned to see her daughter-in-law looking at her with a solemn expression. She returned the look with one of despair.

"Sango," She sighed. "I'm sorry. I know you were hoping that I could just wave my hand and heal them like I did with your brother, but again this is different. If I have disappointed you, again I am sorry."

Sango looked at her mother-in-law and could see the ashamed look in her eyes and sighed.

"No, don't be sorry." Sango replied. "I understand the situation. I hope your sister arrives soon though."

"So do I Sango." Mrs. Kururugi replied with a sad sigh. "So do I."

Meanwhile in Kaname's room, Kaname had put down the phone she had installed in her room. She had just finished talking to her aunt in America, and was relieved to hear that she would be on the next flight to Tokyo. Even though it was around midnight in Japan, in San Francisco it was nearly four. And fortunately with a scan of the internet, there was a plane heading for Tokyo leaving the San Francisco airport at around 5:45. With that problem taken care of, Kaname sighed as she fell into her bed.

It was late, but Kaname just couldn't get to sleep. In fact just the thought of seeing her nieces again in their infant forms was enough to cause her imagination to run wild. She thought of the happy family her brother had with Sango, and although she loved Sango as her sister, she was slightly jealous of the happiness Michiru had everyday. It was tis jealousy that caused Kaname to wonder if she would ever be loved by anyone the way her brother was by Sango. But this was a heartbreaking thought within itself because she was torn between two men herself.

One was InuYasha, she cared very deeply for the half-demon boy, but he hadn't had chosen between her, Kagome, or Kikyo. And based on how much history InuYasha had between both of them compared to her, Kaname felt that she would probably never be with him.

Which led to the other man Kaname cared about. The one she had planned on seeing along with the precious young teenage girl and feisty little imp who traveled with him. She would have spent time with him had it not been for Naraku's interference with her nieces. Even though Kaname knew that Sesshomaru was often gruff and hated the company of most humans, Kaname also knew that deep down he meant well. Kaname also loved Rin and Jaken very much as well. Also the fact that Sesshomaru didn't care much for humans was an advantage for Kaname relationship-wise with Sesshomaru. This meant that not many women would put up with him and that she didn't have to worry about Kagome of Kikyo interfering.

Just then, a knock came at the door.

"Who is it?" Kaname asked.

"It's me InuYasha." InuYasha's voice replied. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"No, no come in InuYasha." Kaname replied. "I'm glad that you're here in fact. There was something I've been meaning to discuss with you."

"Yeah? I need to get something off my chest as well." InuYasha replied.

With that InuYasha sat on the edge of Kaname's bed and they looked at each other for a moment. After a while Kaname broke the silence.

"So, what is it you wanted to talk about?" Kaname began.

InuYasha stood silent for a minute or so, then he let out a sad sigh, "Kaname, I-I-I wanted to tell you...that I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Kaname replied. "About what?"

"Kaname, this isn't easy for me to say, but I'm afraid that...that...that I can't be with you anymore."

"Huh?" Kaname asked.

"Kaname, you mean a lot to me and I care a great deal for you," InuYasha began, "But...but...but I'm not...I'm not...I'm not in love with you."

Kaname looked at her friend for a few minutes upon hearing this. She then smiled sadly and replied, "Then who do you love InuYasha? If not me, then who? Kagome? Kikyo?"

"Kagome." InuYasha answered. "Again, I'm sorry Kaname, but I'm in love with Kagome."

Giving a nod to this, Kaname then looked back at InuYasha and smiled again.

"Then what are you doing here?" She asked.

"Huh?" InuYasha replied with a puzzled expression.

"You're in love with Kagome, right?" Kaname asked. "Then go for it. She's waiting for you."

InuYasha then gave Kaname a look of disbelief at Kaname taking this so well.

"Hurry!" Kaname ordered.

"Huh? Oh right!" InuYasha replied as he jumped out the window and headed in the direction of the Higurashi Shrine where Kagome was waiting to have the love she had for InuYasha returned to her. After InuYasha had run out of sight, Kaname lied her head down on her pillow and smiled.

"Thank you InuYasha." She whispered to herself. "Thank you for being honest to me and yourself. Now to take care of family business. After which, I'll return to the Feudal Era and confess...my feelings...to...S-S-Sessho..."

Then sleep overcame Kaname's mind and body right before she could finish that thought.

Meanwhile, in the streets, InuYasha caught view of the Higurashi Shrine. He thought back to a few minutes ago when he broke up with Kaname. He knew that Kaname was strong and would get over whatever heartbreak he had caused her in due time. Plus, she was the only person besides Rin who had touched the heart of his brother, and InuYasha knew Kaname had deep feelings for him.

"But he'd better treat her right!" InuYasha swore to himself. "Because if any harm comes to Kaname courtesy of Sesshomaru, he'll be answering to ME!"

With this thought in mind, InuYasha then jumped up to Kagome's window and called out to her.

"Hey Kagome! I've finally decided who I want to spend the rest of my life with! And I wanna be with...HUH?"

As InuYasha pulled back the curtains to see inside, he was rewarded with a full-front view of a completely naked Kagome removing her bra so that she could get comfortable as she slept. As she turned to see the half-demon standing there in the window gawking at her, she then blushed profusely and cringed her eyes in sudden anger.

"Uh, Kagome I-I-I-I'm...sorry?" InuYasha studdered.

"SORRY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH INUYASHA YOU PERVERT!" Kagome roared. "GET OUT AND SIT!"

InuYasha then let out a noise of fear as the Beads around his neck yanked him out the window and caused him to fall two stories to the ground.

"SIT BOY! SIT BOY! SIT BOY!" Kagome continued to shout with fire and venom spewing with every word. "SIT BOY! SIT BOY! SIT BOY! SIT BOY! SIT BOY! SIT BOY!" She then took a deep breath as InuYasha looked up in horror.

"No! No Kagome please! Please have some merc..."

"SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT!"