Some bits of boring dialogue and explanations, but the pace'll pick up soon. And Inuyasha will become impatient with Kikyo and get over not seeing her for awhile, just not this chap.

~*~ 

Inuyasha Matsushita, the son of Ryota Matsushita, pulled Kikyo and Kohaku behind him. "What is that thing?" He surveyed it. It was obviously a biped with a spinal problem, large wings and curving claws accented with blood-red eyes.

"I don't know," Kikyo whispered. The room had begun to spin and she felt her legs giving out. Kohaku grabbed his sister as she began to fall.

"I am looking for Kohaku Sato." The voice was low, and Kikyo felt her skin crawl at the sound.

"He is currently not seeing visitors," Inuyasha sneered. The creature made to shove him aside and Inuyasha drove a foot into its stomach. It wasn't even fazed, and Inuyasha was sent flying into the bed, head striking the wall sharply. Kikyo caught her breath as the creature ignored the recovering man and stalked towards Kohaku and herself, and she maneuvered herself in between Kohaku and the bakemono.

She closed her eyes tightly, and clutched Kohaku tightly to her; though her mind had long ago fled she knew it was over. Instead of a sharp pain tearing through her body, Kikyo felt a warm liquid showering herself and Kohaku. She opened her eyes and saw a faintly glowing hand covered in black blood that had been thrust from the bakemono's back through the chest. Inuyasha himself had his own blood dribbling down the back of his neck as he hauled the body away from Kikyo and Kohaku. He stared at the blood on his arm in disgust.

"It's definitely not human." He opened the window and unceremoniously heaved the body out. He crossed the room again and offered Kikyo and Kohaku a hand to pull them up and thought better of it as Kikyo shrank away from the dark, thick blood. He helped her up with his other hand. "Are you two alright?"

"H-hai," Kikyo mumbled, helping Kohaku up. Kohaku nodded. Inuyasha had already gone into the bathroom and was scrubbing at the blood on his arm. It was thicker than human blood and was stubbornly clinging to his skin.

Inuyasha surveyed Kikyo and Kohaku and said, above the sound of running water, "You can use one of the showers if you want to get that stuff off, as long as it isn't my father's, just in case he comes home soon. Do you know where he is, anyway? He's usually not this late."

"Your father?" Kohaku's voice was somewhat incredulous, "You mean you haven't heard?"

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha walked back into the room shKohakung water droplets from his arm, which was pink from his vicious scouring. His own blood had dried on his neck, though he wasn't aware of it.

"Your father died a year ago, Inuyasha," Kikyo said apologetically. She watched as Inuyasha's lips tightened, drawing his mouth into a grim, straight line.

"I see."

Kikyo wanted to run to him and comfort him, but she just stood there, the barrier time had built up being too new, watching as he stood at the window, forehead against the cold glass. He stared bleakly at the snow falling onto the streets, his breath fogging up the window.

As he started to say something, Kohaku choked and began to cough instead. "Oh, Kohaku; I forgot you had a fever," Kikyo said quietly.

Inuyasha turned from the window. "He has a fever? I'm afraid I don't have much medicine around here…"

"No need, there's some medicine that's supposed to repress his fever on our kitchen counter." Kikyo tried to stand, but her legs gave way in seconds.  Inuyasha noticed that she was shaking uncontrollably.

"You should probably stay here tonight; I don't think you could make it to your house. Will you need anything else besides the medicine?"

Kohaku nodded, and said, "Probably just some clothes. That oni most likely tore up our house, and we'll stay with you until the house is repaired, if you don't mind."

Inuyasha smiled slightly, "Well then, choose a bedroom. There's no one else living here." He said the last comment with an obvious edge of bitterness as he grabbed his coat and went down the stairs.

Kohaku helped his sister out of Inuyasha's bedroom into one directly across the hall. "I wonder why that thing was after me," he mused as Kikyo sank down onto the bed. Kohaku switched on the light. "I mean, what have I done to it?"

"It's like a nightmare I'll never wake up from."

Surprised, Kohaku turned. "What do you mean?"

"I saw one of those… things before, shortly after you were born. Remember Mother and Father were found dead about a month after you were born? One of those things showed up, and he and Father had an argument, and Mother was screaming next to him."

"And you kept this from the police?"

Kikyo nodded. "I was five, Kohaku, and I was hoping it wasn't real." Kohaku hugged his sister as her voice trembled and trailed off.

Kohaku then looked at her. "It's such a coincidence that Inuyasha got home tonight after five years, you know. A lucky coincidence, but still…"

Kikyo shrugged, blushing. This was the guy her friends had envied her for often visiting, as Ryota allowed Kikyo and Kohaku to live in their own home, checking up on them often. Kikyo remembered when Inuyasha had given Kohaku and herself rides to school in winter, and her friends would always claim how lucky she was. Kikyo wondered what they would say if they saw Inuyasha inviting her to stay, then remembered that most of them were away at college. "At least he was here," Kikyo mumbled.

"Here." Inuyasha was back, and he lowered two backpacks. "Um, if you two would like to stay in the same room, I can get another mattress or something."

Kohaku smiled, "Yeah, that would be great."

Inuyasha smiled rather grimly, saying, "You were right about the house. It's a mess. The front door's smashed in, the stair banister is wrecked, and other doors are gone." He then allowed a full smile to spread over his face. "Luckily that bakemono only tore the door off its hinges here, and I can fix it tomorrow. It'll just be cold tonight."

"Inuyasha, why did it take you so long to get back here?" Kikyo asked.

Inuyasha shut his smile off. "My sensei and I didn't quite agree on some things, and I left early without any money for a plane ticket." He shrugged. "I worked for a couple years before finally being able to hitchhike back here. I'll get a mattress in here, now." Inuyasha left the room in a hurry.

***

Kikyo woke with a start as the doorbell rang. For a second, she couldn't place where she was, and heard footsteps running down the stairs. Then she remembered and sat up. She had taken the mattress on the floor, and she looked up at Kohaku, who was still asleep. Kikyo crept up to him and felt his forehead. The fever had receded, though he still looked a bit flushed. She looked at the little alarm clock on the bedside table. It was five in the morning.

Carefully and quietly pushing the door open, Kikyo stepped into the hall and shivered in the cold. She stood at the top of the stairs and listened to the conversation below. "Ssh, please. I tell you that they are fine, but currently sleeping." Inuyasha's voice was whispered and strained as he tried to quell the veritable mob at the door.

"And when did you get back?" a shrill voice screeched, and Kikyo knew it woke Kohaku. "How do we know ~you~ didn't attack them?"

Another voice, which Kikyo recognized as Takumi Ten'ou's, hissed, "There is no proof, Saito-san, so please calm your seething mind. Matsushita-kun, we noticed that the door to the Sato residence was smashed in, and the house is a wreck. And we see that there is a body of an oni-like creature in front of your house with a hole through its chest. Then, you happened to arrive home last night. These circumstances are very shady to us."

Kikyo quickly went down the stairs. "Please, minna, Kohaku is asleep and he still has traces of the fever." Inuyasha turned, looking up at her. "We were attacked last night by the oni and Inuyasha assisted us, then allowed us to stay at his house since ours is currently uninhabitable."

Takumi gave a curt nod of his head. "That clears things up considerably. Gomen nasai for disturbing you, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha shrugged and closed the door. "Ohayo (good morning)," he said wryly to Kikyo. A door shut above them and Kohaku came around the corner and down the stairs.

"What happened?" he asked, yawning.

Smiling slightly, Inuyasha said, "Well, since we're all up, how about some breakfast?" Kohaku brightened considerably. "What's today, Friday?"

Kikyo nodded. "Are you feeling up to going to school today, Kohaku?" she asked, "I noticed your fever is nearly gone."

"Yeah," Kohaku said, "I can't miss too much of school."

"Not that it would make a difference, whizkid. I guess I'll walk you to school on my way to work," Kikyo said fondly.

"He's still at the top of his class, eh?" Inuyasha smiled as he walked towards the kitchen. The side door that Kikyo and Kohaku had fled through was only held in place by the deadbolt Kikyo had slammed home, and Inuyasha hadn't bothered propping it up to keep the snow out of the kitchen so a good foot in to the house was covered in snow. Kikyo shivered. Inuyasha sighed carelessly, "Looks like I'll have to get that fixed soon, before I go looking for a job here."

"You might as well get it fixed now, and I'll get breakfast together," Kikyo said.

"Good idea, since whatever I cook will probably give you indigestion."

***

Inuyasha leaned pensively against the wall, slowly rotating his cup of coffee which was now completely chilled. He stared deep into the dark liquid, as if it would give him the answers of the world. He shook himself and turned to stare out a window and took a drink. Pfft! He spat it out and stared at the mug in disgust before turning towards the microwave, then changed his mind and set it on the window sill.

He leaned his forehead against the cold glass in the same manner as the previous night. He had held a grudge against his father for withholding money from him when he had left his "training." Heck, he held a grudge against his father FOR sending him to that place to work out his chi. Still, Ryota Matsushita had died and he was his father. Inuyasha slammed his hand on the sill and his coffee splashed from the cup onto the white paint.

Slumped against the wall, Inuyasha slid down and buried his face in his hands. His mother had also died, and now he was on his own. Well, not entirely considering Kikyo and Kohaku. He banged the back of his head against the wall and heard his cup chink above him. Inuyasha sat that way for a time, just trying to quell his feelings with his eyes tightly shut to guard against tears. Suddenly, the cup began to chink again, rapidly shuddering on the sill and Inuyasha felt the ground beneath him shake slightly. Again, the cup was shaken from its foundation as something landed in the front lawn, then the cup suddenly toppled from the sill. It narrowly missed Inuyasha and smashed upon the floor, splattering him with cold coffee. Inuyasha stared bleakly at the mess on the floor, and the puddle of coffee trembled as if alive as something was coming towards the house.

Inuyasha stood up quickly as a quiet clicking noise sounded from the front door. Someone was picking the lock. Pulling his gun from his holster, Inuyasha cautiously approached the front hall. The door slammed open and Inuyasha swung around. Another bakemono stood, slouching, rolling gait apparent as it moved towards him. Inuyasha fired, but the bullets bounced off the creature, and he threw the gun aside in a temper. The bakemono, however, stopped and looked carefully around. "The boy is not here, Jehpthuh. Let's away."

"What do you want with Kohaku?" Stomping outside, the creature ignored him as Inuyasha darted towards it and another little bakemono that reminded one of a lizard in essence if not in likeness. Inuyasha skidded in the snow they had tracked in and almost fell, catching himself at the door frame. The bakemonos took off, wheeling for a minute before heading towards the school.

Without a thought to the wide open, yawning door, Inuyasha darted after them, ignoring the cold biting at him and kicking up snow as he ran. He slid down a hill, catching his balance and continuing the chase.