Of This World And Yesterday Chapter 17: Sideways, a Sailor Moon + Inuyasha Crossover fanfic

Of This World And Yesterday

"What am I? You tell me...I'm open to suggestions...."
-David Brin, Earth

Chapter 16- Sideways

Inuyasha was sniffing the air a bit uncomfortably. It wasn't that Mamoru's apartment smelled bad- quite the opposite at the moment. The human was in his kitchen, making a lot of noise with one of the weird machines that were rampant through this era. This one was a grinding sound, releasing a rather pleasant fragrance he had smelled that morning at Kagome's. Something called coffee beans. Being in the apartment wasn't really a bad thing, but he still didn't like it, moping around and grumbling about baka women and how they gang up on you when you only mean to protect them. Sourly, Inuyasha griped about this whenever Miroku spared him enough of a glance.

The houshi was sitting on the couch in the living room, watching Inuyasha pace back and forth from across the endtable. He felt a bit more comfortable in the strange place, having been there before previously. Mamoru's apartment was swept clean of dust, with bookshelves lining the walls to be browsed through. Pictures sat on some of the bookcases, most with faces of the senshi in them, mainly Usagi or Chibiusa. Usually both. His shakujyou lay against the wall beside the kitchen entranceway, left there for discretion's sake. Traveling in this era with his staff would only attract more attention to him than needed.

At the moment, Miroku was attempting to flip his way through one of Mamoru's books on philosophy, by someone named Plato. It was curious to see such words printed on the page, translated into Japanese from something called Ancient Greek. Most of the finer points were eluding him, but then there were lingual shifts to consider from the sengoku jidai to this era. He was lucky he could make any of it out. That, and Inuyasha's pensive pacing was growing annoying.

He understood why the hanyou would be worked up. The thought of something happening to one of the others without being able to help was frightening. At least, if they were there, they could attempt to stop any trouble. This was relying on strangers. Keeping his gaze on the book, Miroku tried to concentrate on the clean black type. His mind strayed. That evening, he had intended to try to comfort Sango, worried about Kohaku. Instead, by the end, he knew it was turning the other way around. His brows were drawn down, lips pulled thin. If he thought about it, he could still remember how firm she felt in his arms, and how her hands rested lightly just behind his shoulders. He tightened his fist, gripping the binding of the book. Damn meddling senshi. She had no idea what she was trying to do. He was just glad that those other two had returned, Haruka and Michiru. It gave him a decent enough reason to pull away without drawing much attention. Considering the way the senshi reacted to the suggestion they couldn't protect Kagome-sama, he didn't really want to know how they'd react if he tried the usual way of distancing himself from Sango. He wanted to get back to the past in once piece, after all.

It was evening now, cloudy but with some starlight above.

Inuyasha was whirling again, muttering darkly about stupid women and stubbornness.
"Inuyasha," Miroku sighed, finally giving up. He was thinking about too much at the moment to concentrate on meditation, and the incessant pacing was getting on his already frayed nerves. "Why don't you try doing something constructive?"

"Feh! Read a damn book like you?"

Miroku rubbed his temple idly, soothing away a headache before it began. Shutting the heavy tome, he ran a hand over the fine binding, seeing the words 'The Republic' printed out ever so neatly. Inuyasha sitting down and reading philosophy was a rather comical thought, but he didn't think it would ever actually happen in real life. Setting the book on the coffee table before him, he pushed a small, flat black box at the hanyou, gesturing at it. "Press the red button on the top of that."

Folding his arms, Inuyasha glared, getting the feeling that he was being set up. "Why the hell should I? What is that? It's not another thing like that stupid Luna Pen is it?"
Miroku shifted a couple of textbooks aside, then leaned back into the cushions. "Of course not. It turns that on," he replied, nodding sagely towards a dark black box across from the couch he sat on. "The...tee-vee."

Tentatively, Inuyasha picked up the thing that turned on the 'tee-vee' and shook it. It rattled a little bit inside, but was for the most part silent. It didn't smell dangerous, and he turned it over a few times curiously. He'd seen the 'tee-vee' on at Kagome's before, though he had no idea how to light the pictures up on it. It was like a living painting, but with people and colors. Very, very weird. "So it's like a magic wand or something?"
Miroku himself had only seen Mamoru pressing things on it, and he knew that was how to work it. It was rather interesting to see what the 'mee-tee-or-olo-gi-sts' were predicting for the weather the next day. Useful, that. "I think so. It can foretell the weather for tomorrow. They even show a great map of the country and the seas. It was quite interesting."

Inuyasha arched an eyebrow. Everything in this world was 'quite interesting' but that didn't keep it from being boring. Anyway, there really wasn't anything better to do, so he frowned and pressed the red button carefully, keeping an eye on the 'tee-vee' and making sure to brace himself in case it exploded or something. There was a popping, high pitched noise for a moment, and then the screen came to life, a man in a business suit sitting and talking with another man and a woman at a table. All of them were smiling cheerfully and talking about the strange incident that happened in Juuban.

The sound of the evening news on brought Mamoru out of the kitchen, a steaming pot of coffee in one hand and a mug in the other. It gave off a rich aroma, slightly chocolatey and rich, filling the room as Mamoru glanced at the screen. "They talking about us?"
"It seems that way," Miroku replied, sitting up a bit straighter as Inuyasha stared at the remote control and tried to figure out how he got the command to go from the button to the 'tee-vee.' "That looks like the Arcade place, doesn't it?"

Mamoru set the hot coffee pot on top of one of the table's magazines, filling the mug and then half sitting against the arm of the couch as the reporter turned to face the screen, a serious look on her face as she declared to the world the attack in Juuban that afternoon.
"...reporters were on the scene within minutes, watching as police sectioned off the area. Parts of Juuban will be closed off most of tomorrow as an investigation is pursued. This is the second of this kind of attack detected in Tokyo over the last few days, the first being outside a local jinja. Citizens are warned to use caution as they go about their daily shopping...."

Inuyasha snorted, plopping down on the carpet and folding his legs, setting the remote down in front of him and paying a bit more attention to the news anchor as she continued on, the screen now showing images of the ruined street, her voice laid over the panning camera shots.

"Most of the street was destroyed by some kind of unidentifiable youma. Attacks such as these have no precedent in recent history, however, eyewitness accounts place the arrival of the mysterious people known as the Sailor Senshi on the scene."

Mamoru arched an eyebrow, a faint smile on his lips. 'No precedent'? He could attest to plenty of precedents, though of course that wouldn't be a good idea. The senshi did their job well, though in this instance, there were carcasses in their wake, which was unusual. Usually it was a person, or in the case of the daimon, completely destroyed. Karasu worked differently, sending out a different kind of enemy to face them. Perhaps that was the youkai aspect of their DNA, something more tangible and less ethereal.

The anchor was still talking, introducing some footage taken that afternoon, interviews with the 'eyewitnesses' that saw the fight from various buildings in the area. A young man in a baseball cap was wide eyed, gesturing broadly at the destruction behind him and talking rapidly.

"...one of them got slammed into a building! Then one of the big snake things went nuts, and then there was this big golden light! I saw it. It was weird, and then there was this big cat, and one of the senshi was riding around on it! I'd never seen anything like it. There was a woman in the middle of it all, and she had some kind of flamethrower or something, because there were these big gouts of fire sometimes. All the senshi had to blast her at once to kill her! I'd never seen anything like it...!"

"He sounds a little confused," Miroku commented dryly. First, though Sango was on Kirara, she was not a senshi, though it was probably a good thing the man didn't get a clear enough view to tell she wasn't. The Eudial woman had no 'flamethrower'...whatever that was...and Sango had been the one to kill the kugutsu with her hiraikotsu, not the senshi with their various magics. "Though I suppose that's good for us."

Mamoru chuckled, picking up his pot of coffee. "It's usual. They never get a clear shot of us. Either of you want some?" he asked, hefting the hot liquid meaningfully. Inuyasha snorted, shaking his head and picking up the remote again curiously. There were a lot of buttons on the thing. Miroku also shook head, remembering the taste from earlier in the day. Coffee smelled far better than it tasted. Both denying the offer, Mamoru headed back into the kitchen to clean up, leaving his mug steaming on the table.

"Oy, Miroku...what do the other buttons do?" Inuyasha finally asked, pressing down on one as he spoke. The station instantly flipped, sending them onto some kind of game show, people running around and shouting. "What the hell...? What stupid thing is this?"
Miroku was looking up now, having been reaching for his book again. All he'd seen was the weather and the newscast. This was entirely different, and his eyes were round. Belatedly, he tried to feign disinterest, shrugging and looking away again. "I do not know. Just turn it-"

The hanyou was pressing buttons again, watching the screen flip again and again as he punched in different sequences of numbers, pausing now and then as something caught his eye. News seemed to be on a lot at the moment, though other images popped up. People talking. Some jewelry with numbers under it. A couple women showing off clothing.

Boring....

Inuyasha discovered that though there were apparently many things to watch, most of them were boring as hell. Though he felt a little smug, knowing he had mastered the magic wand thing Miroku only knew how to turn on. Feh.

Then, he discovered something that looked rather promising. Two figures flashed across the screen, running and trying to beat the hell out of each other. He paused, watching as there was some talking. Behind him, Miroku was blinking, curiosity warring with the feeling he should just let Inuyasha watch whatever. Though the people looked pretty serious. It didn't look like a game. "Inuyasha...are they really trying to kill each other?"
The time displaced hanyou was half on his feet, uncertain. "I don't know...they look damn serious...kuso, look at them go...."

On the screen, the two opponents were facing off, a young man with bushy red hair and serious green eyes against a tall man with long, thin black hair and a leather jacket, most of his face covered by a gas mask, not unlike Sango's. The redhead looked like he was in a bit of trouble, breathing slightly hard and concentrating, while the leather jacket man seemed rather at ease.

"Should we tell Mamoru? Maybe we should try to stop this...."

Miroku was shaking his head. "Maybe it's just a play or something."

Peering forward, Inuyasha tried to relax. It looked awfully real to be a play. Besides, this wasn't a theater. The news had been a bit inaccurate, but they had been telling about things that actually happened. The gas mask man was lifting a hand into the air, talking and explaining the reason why the redhead couldn't tell what his power was. Apparently he was too weak or something. "Kuso...he's going to kill you...get the hell out of there...."
From behind him, Inuyasha heard Miroku stand up and come around the table, then kneel down beside him, half leaning forward towards the screen as well. The redhead was about to get killed, that much was clear. "He won't run...it's some kind of contest or something...they're in a ring...."

Gas mask man had a ball of light in his hand, solidifying. It turned into some kind of weapon, like three sticks tied together. "Oy, what is that?"

"I have no idea...I've never seen a weapon of that kind before...."

Then, the man announced that his weapon was called a 'bomb.'

That resulted in both Inuyasha and Miroku leaping up and shouting.

"Mamoru-san! Someone's about to get killed!"

"Oy! Kick that bastard's fucking ass! Damn bomb things! Kick his fucking ass!"

Mamoru was back in the room in an instant, seeing a nearly panicked Miroku, who looked as though he should be doing something, running a step towards the door, then turning and heading back for his shakujyou, then staring at Mamoru, then at the screen again with a horrified expression. Inuyasha was riveted to the screen, fists clenched and shouting at the redhead to beat the bomb user into a bloody pulp.

"Miroku-san! Inuyasha! It's all right! It's just a tv show! It's fake!" Mamoru took a couple quick strides across the room to pry Inuyasha away from the television, catching his arm before he put a fist through it and broke it. "It's not real. It's a program, like a play. But it's sent in through the air, like magic, but not. It's not real. It's special effects. It's fake, Inuyasha, relax, please don't break my television."

The reply was Inuyasha backing away a half step, but then proceeding to shout, "Kick his ass! Come on! Kuso! Don't get...kuso! Stupid bastard!"

Mamoru released Inuyasha's arm, seeing the hanyou was no longer trying to punch his screen. Now he was complaining over the idiocy level of the now-apparently-dead redheaded man, who was vanishing into swirls of smoke and lightning. Miroku had frozen halfway to the door, knowing he had no idea where to go to stop the fight. "Miroku, it's not real. It's the truth. It's pretend, a television program. Entertainment." That earned him a couple blinks, and he watched as the houshi relaxed somewhat, slowly, eyeing the screen around Inuyasha, who was still transfixed, swearing a blue streak at the bomb user and cursing the stupid redhead who hadn't reappeared.

"It looks very real, Mamoru-san," Miroku allowed reluctantly, still warily watching the screen. "You're certain?"

Mamoru nodded, leaning around Inuyasha and watching as a woman's voice began to shout, announcing something that was happening. Inuyasha suddenly stopped swearing at the men on the screen, as a form came out of the smoke, first a silhouette, then a solid figure.

Inuyasha dropped to the ground, staring at what the redhead just turned into.

Mamoru snapped his fingers. "Ah, I recognize this. Been awhile, I think it's in reruns. Yu Yu Hakusho, I think. That was another guy a second ago, right?"

Miroku was nodding mutely, not sure whether he should laugh or say something to Inuyasha. The man had turned into someone who looked like he dropped off Inuyasha's family tree somewhere. Long silvery white hair, golden eyes, and a pair of large, pointed canine ears on his head.

"Is that an inu-youkai?"

Trying to remember the storyline, Mamoru shook his head. "No...I think...that's Hiei...no, wait, Kurama. A kitsune."

"How the hell is that a kitsune?" Inuyasha demanded, pointing at the screen as the inu-youkai looking man began to weave his way easily between the various flying bombs the other man was throwing at him. "He looks like an inu-youkai!"

Miroku was rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Has Shippou been hiding things from us, Inuyasha?"

"Feh! I still want the inu-youkai to kick the other guy's ass! Damn bomb things! Beat him to a...." Inuyasha trailed off as the kitsune man stopped, then reached back and drew out two roses, and threw them carelessly through two of the bombs, sending them into explosions.

Both Inuyasha and Miroku turned and looked at Mamoru.

"Isn't that your attack?"

Mamoru shrugged. "It's effective when needed."

Heads swiveled back to the fight, as the bomb man proceeded to send explosives at the inu-youkai looking kitsune, who evaded them easily, beginning to ask questions about some kind of demonic plants. As the fight continued, the kitsune summoned some very nasty looking flora, which proceeded to swarm over the bomb man. Inuyasha kept up a steady mantra of 'kick his ass, beat him down, kick his ass....'

Then another round of information was provided from a cat-looking announcer girl, informing the audience in the stands of what was happening to the two fighters.

Apparently the bomb user's name was Karasu.

"What the fuck....?"

"Is she serious?"

Mamoru tried not to laugh, coughing instead. "That is...a coincidence."

"Feh! The inu-youkai had better kick his ass then."

Several more minutes of fighting passed as the boys watched the battle, Karasu breaking out of the plant's grip, and blowing up the kitsune, returning him to the redhead form. More fighting, though redhead was about dead on his feet. Then he was down on his knees, as another announcer began to count to ten. Slowly, redhead got back up, screaming as he did so, and a horde of plants erupted from around him, slamming into his enemy and sending him to the ground as he collapsed again.

"Ha!" Inuyasha cheered as the bomb user lay on the ground, very apparently dead.

"Kicked his ass! Feh!"

Mamoru decided that Inuyasha was a little too into the show.

"That is very strange," Miroku said as the show ended, and previews for the next episode began. "A kitsune that looks like an inu-youkai, who throws sharp roses, and fights a person named Karasu. With those...bomb...things." Miroku glanced at Mamoru, who was picking up the remote from where Inuyasha had discarded it, and turned off the television before another show came on, transfixing them for another half hour. "That is what the bomb looked like?"

Mamoru shook his head, frowning as he put away the remote. "Something like that, though real explosives would be different. The concept is the same though. Bombs are not alive or can be killed."

"So the explosion in the well was just caused by one of those things going off?" Inuyasha asked, settling down and folding his legs, a frown forming on his face. If those things were just mindless chunks of material, without a real scent, he wasn't sure how to fight with them. Though their Karasu had used the phone thing to give them a warning. That was interesting, and odd. Perhaps the raven youkai had some scrap of honor to her name somewhere after all, recognizing the cowardly method she used. Effective, but cowardly. "We'll have to rebuild the well."

Miroku closed his eyes for a moment and looked away, a frown crossing his face. Rebuild the well. Yes, they'd have to rebuild the well...if Setsuna awakened to reestablish the warp. If she did not...then it would be utterly pointless. But he was glad Inuyasha seemed confident enough about the situation. Though of course, Inuyasha was usually confident about anything he thought he could handle. Which was just about everything.
"Between all of us, that's a fairly plausible thing," Mamoru was saying as Miroku began to pay attention again. "Ami and I could work out some blueprints for a small building, I'm sure. There's enough of us to lend a hand in the building-"

His speech was cut off by the ringing of a phone, sending Miroku jumping at the unfamiliar sound. Inuyasha snorted, recognizing it and scowling as Mamoru turned and reached into the kitchen, taking the phone off the hook and turning it on as he lifted it to his ear.

"Moshi moshi?" A pause. "Konbanwa, Haruka. Of course he is. You're letting her...all right. Just a moment." Mamoru looked out into the room, focusing on Miroku. "Sango is apparently learning how to operate a telephone. She wants to speak to you."

Inuyasha snickered quietly, looking away when Miroku glared at him, accepting the phone from Mamoru and imitating the way the other man held it against his head.
"Sango?" Silence for a moment. Miroku held the phone away from himself a moment, looking at it and wondering if he was doing something wrong. Maybe she didn't hear him. He tried again, louder this time. "SANGO? KONBANWA! ARE YOU THERE?"

Inuyasha flattened his ears against his head and growled as the houshi shouted into the phone. Mamoru was trying not to laugh again, biting his lip and rubbing his forehead. The response from the other end was quieter, tinny from the distance.

"Houshi-sama? I'm here, you don't need to yell...."

Miroku blinked, realizing how loud he had been when he saw Inuyasha glaring and Mamoru trying not to laugh at his mistake. He gathered his dignity around himself, straightening up and turning halfway away from the other two to ignore them.

"Konbanwa, Sango. I didn't hear you a moment ago."

"Haruka-san just handed me the talking end-" there was a pause, and some whispering in the background, sounding a bit like Kagome. "The...re-cie-ver...." she repeated what she was told. "Haruka-san and Michiru-san say that since they are back, and Inuyasha will probably be staying with Kagome-chan tomorrow, we can go with them in their moving..." she trailed off, and there were more whispers. "In their car," Sango finished, a bit more firmly. "We will pick you up at...when?" Again, he heard murmurings in the background, this time debating. Finally, Sango returned, with a puzzled tone. "Nine o'clock? Kagome-chan says that Mamoru-san will know when that is."

"Yes...I'll ask him."

There was a hesitation, this time a genuine one as Sango thought of something. "How are you, houshi-sama?"

Miroku paused on his end of the line, turning fully away from the other two, hoping that Inuyasha's youkai hearing wouldn't extend to intruding on his conversation. As they came to Mamoru's apartment, he'd caught the hanyou looking at him oddly, with the expression he sometimes got when he smelled something odd, though not necessarily bad. Miroku hoped he hadn't picked up some of Sango's scent from their proximity earlier that evening. He wasn't sure, because Inuyasha had been unusually quiet about it. "Well enough," he replied carefully. "We watched the evening news on the tee-vee. They thought you were a senshi."

That earned a small chuckle from the other end. "We saw that too. Kagome-chan wants to talk to Inuyasha for a moment, houshi-sama."

Miroku nodded, then realized Sango couldn't see him. He recovered quickly, saying aloud, "Yes, of course. I'll see you tomorrow at...nine oh-clock."

"Yes. We'll find her tomorrow, houshi-sama. Oyasumi nasai."

"Oyasumi, Sango..." he replied quietly, turning back and holding out the phone. Inuyasha was on his feet and with a hand extended. Miroku frowned, knowing that he had overheard the conversation. Mamoru, though, had not, and was seating himself on the couch. Inuyasha took the phone from Miroku, and then fiddled with it, trying to figure out how to get one end against his ear and the other by his mouth. After a moment, he just gave up and held the receiver to his mouth, letting his hearing pick up on the rest of it.

"Kagome? I still think you should have let me- oy! I did not say-"

Miroku groaned to himself as he listened to the one-sided argument, Inuyasha recapping most of his complaints about how he should be over at the Outer Senshi's house with everyone else. The conversation finally ended with Inuyasha growling that he knew damn well how to get to Kagome's school, and that he'd figure out when something called 'a quarter til eight' was. Then there was a pause, and his ears drooped a little. "Oyasumi nasai, Kagome."

It was silent for a moment, and then Miroku could hear an audible click from the other end, the sound of the other line cutting off. Inuyasha stared at it for a second, a vaguely gloomy look on his features, and then he snapped himself out of it. "Oy, Mamoru. What do I do with this?"

Mamoru stood and took the phone away from him, pressing a button that beeped and turning the phone to off. He looked at them in turn. "So Haruka and Michiru are picking you up at nine tomorrow, and you have to be at Kagome's school tomorrow at a quarter til eight?"

There were mute nods, and Mamoru shrugged. "That's fairly early, though not too bad. I'll make sure you know when to be ready. I've got some classes, so I'll be heading out at about the same time."

From where he stood, Miroku leaned against the entranceway to the kitchen, eyes sliding to the shakujyou that leaned against the white wall beside him. Tentatively, he picked it up, testing the grip and the balance of it. It was the symbol of a monk, a peaceful staff, though at times he used it for fighting. "I won't be able to take this, will I? Setsuna-san got Sango some kind of magical bracelet, but...."

"Wasn't it Kami who did that?" Inuyasha asked, remembering the discussion from the arrival of the others at the Higurashi jinja. "Her power or something?"

"Setsuna was the one to show her how..." Miroku glanced at Mamoru. "Would she know how to make another one? The kazaana is a weapon, but not the first resort to use."

Mamoru was shaking his head doubtfully. "You can ask her tomorrow, after looking around. If Haruka and Michiru are going to search for Karasu's whereabouts, then Kami will likely be staying home to keep an eye on Setsuna."

The rings on the end of the shakujyou clanged gently against each other, lightly chiming in the apartment's quiet as Miroku moved it forward, testing it. "Tomorrow we will have to find Karasu."

The other two men nodded in silent agreement.

This was going to have to end. Soon.

Omake! Omake! Omake! Omake! Omake! Omake! Omake! Omake! Omake! Omake! Omake! Omake!

Miroku was nodding mutely, not sure whether he should laugh or say something to Inuyasha. The man had turned into someone who looked like he dropped off Inuyasha's family tree somewhere. Long silvery hair, golden eyes, and a pair of large, pointed canine ears on his head.

"Is that an inu-youkai?"

Trying to remember the storyline, Mamoru shook his head. "No...I think...that's Hiei...no, wait, Kurama. A kitsune."

Miroku was rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Has Shippou been hiding things from
us, Inuyasha?"

Both Inuyasha and Miroku turned and looked at Mamoru.

"He stole your attack!"

Mamoru shrugged, "At least it was something useful and not something like my top hat."
Inu-yasha and Miroku shared a glance, shrugged and responded, "Top...hat?"

"Uh...it's this tall black cylindrical hat that some people wear with tuxedoes," he responded trying to think of the best way to explain something as pointless as a top hat.

"You weren't wearing it earlier," Miroku commented and then looking confused asked, "were you?"

"No. It kept falling off at key moments, or falling into my eyes, or...well it was just useless and so I threw it away years ago. And save having nightmares of its return I haven't thought about it since."

Inuyasha looked at Miroku, he wasn't quite sure he understood everything that Mamoru had said, after all he'd never heard of a hat that could return on its own, but he got the gist and replied the best way he knew how. "Feh," he said and turn his attention back to the t.v.

Yes, another omake. Though this time, it was provided by my beta Mina Maxwell. Since this fic's Sailormoon aspects are predominantly from the manga, (the main exception being Tux Boy's keeping his anime rose throwing...I'm not having him use the weird manga 'Tuxedo the Smoking Bomber'....) he doesn't wear that oversized top hat all the time. This is Mina's omake explaination as to why there is no top hat- Mamoru wised up and tossed the thing.
This entire chapter was purely for fun. It's back to plot after this, but while writing this chapter, I was lent Yu Yu Hakusho, and was in the middle of watching that. During the process of sitting through the Makai Martial Arts Tournament, I watched the scene Inuyasha found on the television. A kitsune named Kurama, who transforms into a very Inuyasha-looking powered up Kurama, who at one point throws roses and fights a (male) youkai named Karasu using bombs as an attack. I about fell over laughing. Of course I had to stick that in here somewhere. Too much of a coincidence.
I also wanted to do a scene with just the guys. The fic is pretty heavily reliant on female characters, due to the presence of the many senshi. So this chapter was just some fun with the boys before things turn serious again, the way they will at the end of next chapter. Speaking of which:

Coming up next, in Chapter 17: Rings-

Haltingly, Miroku and Sango looked around. Cars swept by past them on the street, honking noisily as the people within them headed about their daily business. Some of their confidence from a moment before ebbed away as the world spiraled much larger. Tall buildings pressed in from above, making each suddenly realize how very small and alone they were in comparison, now that Haruka and Michiru were gone. "Strangers in a strange land," Miroku murmured, as Sango nodded in mute agreement beside him.