Larva grabbed the fish Shinma by its neck. "I'll ask you again," he growled, "what did you do to them?"

"I sssent them to the farrr passst, Wesssterrrn Shinma. A placsse wherrre even you cannot find them. A pity; the porrrtal wasss meant forrr the Guarrrdian alone, but one sssmall ssserrrvant cannot help herrr overrrmuch."

Disgusted, Larva beheaded the Shinma. There must be a way that I can get to the time period that they are in, some gate that the Shinma was able to tap into, he thought to himself. There must be.

And with that last thought, he faded out of sight.


Miyu sipped the tea that Kaede had set out for her. "I have heard tell of your Shinma, though only in stories," the old woman said, settling herself next to Kagome. "The demon-gods, some call them. And I have heard of the one who defeats them, and protects humankind: the Guardian."

Miyu set her cup down. "I could care less what happens to the humans. It is my duty and destiny to send stray Shinma back to the darkness. And I will continue to do so until the very end."

"That sounds very...foreboding and morbid," Kagome said, eyes wide.

Miyu smiled slightly. "Did you think that fighting Shinma would be all romance and adventure?"

"Just like a human," Shiina sniffed.

Miyu scratched between his ears. "Hush, Shiina." She looked back at Kagome. Kagome, as usual, was wearing a school uniform. "You're not from here," Miyu remarked. It wasn't a question.

"No, I'm from...well, I guess you could call it the future. I come here through the bone-eater's well. It connects this time with the well in my family shrine."

A well that connects the two time-periods? This might very well (A/N pun NOT intended) be her ticket home. Miyu stood up. "I would very much like it if you could show me this well."


Larva had not needed to blend in with humans for a very long time- not since he had met Miyu, that was for sure. But now, as he moved through the crowded streets, his need was more than justified. He needed to find someone who knew of a passageway to the far past, and he couldn't do that lurking in the shadows, wearing a white mask and an enveloping black robe.

Granted, Larva could never actually blend in anywhere, but in a loose white shirt, black pants, a black jacket, and black gloves to cover the true nature of his hands, he looked little more than human. A drop-dead gorgeous human, though, with his silver-blue locks, crimson eyes, white, white skin, and the body and face of a young god, but that couldn't be helped.

Ignoring stares from females both young and old, Larva turned into one of those new-age, mystic shops. This one, he had been assured by serious practitioners, was not one of those that carried only what was "hip" about the art. This was a serious shop with an owner who knew many of the so-called myths and legends that were actually true. Larva hoped that one of those myths would be the one that he was looking for.

The bell jingled softly as Larva entered the shop. A woman looked up from the counter calmly. "So you have come."


Miyu looked uncertainly at the Bone-Eater's well. It looked and felt like a completely normal well. "All I have to do is jump in?"

Kagome nodded. "That's all that I do. But, no one who has tried has gotten through, except for myself and Inuyasha."

"It can't hurt to try." Miyu gathered Shiina in her arms and jumped into the well. When her feet touched the bottom...nothing happened.

"Well, that was disappointing," Shiina sighed. He lifted his right ear to expose his large, yellow eye. "I can see the portal, but I don't know why we couldn't get through."

"Perhaps it recognizes me as a Shinma. Nobody wants a stray Shinma escaping to a different time."

"But you're not a stray Shinma, Miyu," Shiina whined. He drooped in her arms; he had really wanted to get back to their own time.

Miyu floated out of the well. Kagome, who had been waiting to see what happened, seemed very astonished at this. "You- you're not human!" she blurted out.

"Not fully, nor mostly," Miyu chided gently, landing delicately near the human. "A full human could not be a Guardian; stray Shinma are too strong. And there are too many to be all sealed away in a human's lifetime. I am half human. My father was a Shinma: a vampire, and a Guardian."

"Oh," was all that Kagome could say. Miyu began to walk back towards the village. Kagome ran up to her. "Say, you have a lot in common with Inuyasha, you know?" She grinned suddenly. "I know! You can travel with us to find the Shikon shards. Surely we'll be able to find someone who knows how to send you back. Whatta ya say, hmm? Both sides win: you can find out how to get home, and we'll have someone else to help us fight against the youkai."

"What will your friends say?"

"Oh Shippou won't mind, as long as you aren't mean to him, Miroku definitely won't mind, Sango, well, once she meets you, I'm sure she'll agree-she's taking care of something outside of the village right now- and Inuyasha, well, what does it matter what Inuyasha thinks? He'll make a big huff and say that he doesn't need help. Then we'll go off and he'll be in a funk until he kills something." Kagome shrugged. "He can be fairly predictable at times, although he'll probably be pretty mad at you for that 'only youkai' thing. C'mon, let's give the boys the news!" Kagome grabbed Miyu's hand and began to run towards the village.


"I have been waiting for you, Larva. Tell me, what danger is the Guardian in that you have deigned to show your face in the sunlight?"

Larva stared at this woman, for that's all she was: a human woman. She shouldn't have known who and what he was. Even more surprising was her knowledge of Miyu. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, miss. You know my name, but I have yet to hear yours." He saw no reason to hide the true nature of his quest from this woman; if need arose, he could kill her with very little effort on his part.

The woman smiled slightly. "My name is not important, for your business here must be for the Guardian. As you can see, my knowledge of lore is great. That, I assume, is your reason for being here."

Larva nodded. "I need to know a way into the far past." The woman favored him with a puzzled look.

"A way into the far past? I admit, that is one that I do not know much about. But come, I have many books on the subject. It is possible that I have merely forgotten. It does not do to dismiss that possibility out of hand." She entered into a private back room. Larva had no choice but to follow.


Inuyasha sat on a broad limb of a tree, his back leaning against the rough bark. Anyone who knew him could tell that he was brooding; though it would take a very powerful psychic to fathom exactly what he was thinking about.

He didn't like Miyu. The Guardian made him uneasy. And he did not like the fact that Kagome was alone with her right now. And what was all that crap about 'only youkai' and 'inferior demons.' He scowled suddenly, fiercely, frightening a villager nearby into hysterics. Worse was the fact that everyone seemed to take to her immediately: Kagome seemed to treat her like an old friend, Shippou adored her, Kaede respected her, and Miroku- well, Miroku was Miroku. The houshi treated Miyu just like he would Kagome or Sango, though with a touch more deference. It was like she was already part of the group! Inuyasha couldn't wait until Sango came back; he hoped that the youkai exterminator would be able to sympathize with his uneasiness.

Inuyasha jumped off of the tree limb and ran to the bone-eater's well. He needed to make sure that Kagome wasn't in any trouble. He had always trusted his instincts; they had never led him astray. Except, a part of him nagged, when Naraku attacked you and you thought it was Kikyo. And the time when-

Enough! he silenced himself. The point was, his instincts were right more often than not, and this Miyu character wasn't on his instinctive "ally" list- not that many were, but that's besides the point. Whenever he saw her, every nerve screamed "Fight her!" Inuyasha ignored the part of him that said it might only be because of the insults earlier.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called, spotting the dog hanyou. She waved to him. He sighed inwardly with relief. Kagome was fine. He eyed Miyu suspiciously, but Kagome seemed to ignore this. "Guess what?" she continued cheerfully. "Miyu's agreed to help us find the Shikon shards until she can find a way home. The well didn't work for her."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. "How did she get here then, if not by the well? Her story doesn't fit."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome looked at him, horrified.

"It's all right," Miyu interjected quietly. Both Kagome and Inuyasha turned to look at her. A small smile played on the vampire's lips. "If I were in your place, I'd be just as skeptical. And I didn't exactly make a good first impression with you, Inuyasha." She proceeded to tell them about the fish-like Shinma, and the inky black cloud.

"I should have realized what was going to happen sooner," Shiina grumbled. "Then we wouldn't be in this mess."

"So you see," Miyu continued, "we aren't here by any of our own devices. There's no need to get defensive."

"Feh, I only get defensive if I think there's a threat," Inuyasha scoffed, folding his arms and looking away from the vampire princess. "But if you plan to travel with us, that's your choice; I'll keep my eye on you." With that, he ran off into the trees.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome began indignantly, but Miyu interrupted her.

"It's all right," she repeated. "I think that's his way of saying that he doesn't mistrust me anymore."

"Oh," Kagome looked surprised, then smiled so wide that Miyu was afraid her head was going to split in two. "Welcome to the group! You just passed the largest obstacle." Miyu smiled back, unable to help herself.