Ruri closed her eyes and enjoyed the night wind against her face. It had been years since he had carried her on his back across Tokyo like this, with the two red kimono bouncing across rooftops. That time, there had been a sense of panic in both of them, since they were being pursued. This time there was still a sense of urgency, but this time they were the hunters and not the prey. She lowered her head to rest it on her beloved's shoulder as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop as they raced through the industrial area towards where they knew Nadesico to be docked.

Both were still staying farther out of each other's heads than normal, despite the fact they were both remorseful for the words they had exchanged earlier. Ruri was almost as embarrassed as she was remorseful. She almost always managed to keep her emotions in check, but the passions from the house of Inutaishou occasionally seeped through her mind. First was her outburst on the ship against the whole situation with Naraku, and this afternoon she had let loose a second outburst. This one had been aimed squarely at her fiance.

'Ruri, do you want to talk about it?'

'No, but we should.'

lighted on a roof near the front gate to the Nergal/USEF facitilty where they could hide in shadow and await the arrival of their bait.

'Gomen nasai, Inuyasha, for yelling at you.'

You have nothing to apologize for, Ruri. The family of Inutaishou tends to be a little off of level-headed in arguments.'

She slid down his back to support herself on her own legs for a few minutes. 'It's your... job, not mine. She returned. I have no business telling you how to run your business.'

'That's not the issue and you know it, Ruri-Ruri.' He sat down at the edge of the shadow and crossed his legs. 'I disregarded your opinions on the matter, that was the problem as I see it.'

She sat beside him and leaned against his shoulder. 'I just felt that you should have at least had some kind of response to being... 'usurped',' she continued, throwing in the English concept.

He smiled ''Usurped' probably isn't the right word, Ruri, at least not yet. Someone's pulling the strings of all of this, but they haven't come forward to take over Nergal yet. They've just removed me from the presidency of the company. You felt I should have done something to defend myself, and you're probably right now that I think about it. I guess I just wanted to avoid a bunch of media about it, as there'd been enough of a dog-and-pony show as it was. I guess I choose to allow this to happen because if we drag all of this out into the light, and make a media show out of it, then our marriage would become a media show.'

'The President of Nergal marries The Electronic Fairy,' Ruri thought, with more than a hint of bitterness towards viewing it that way.

'Hai. I didn't want that to happen. But instead of having this discussion then, I brushed off what you thought about it. Gomen nasai, Ruri.'

She raised her head and gently kissed him on the cheek. 'Baka baka.'

He smiled and kissed her forehead, and as he did so his ears caught the sound of an approaching vehicle whose exhaust note he recognized. "Showtime," he murmured, checking Tenseiga at his hip. Ruri nodded, shrugging Tetsusaiga a little higher on her shoulder. She hadn't wanted to carry it, her youkai had insisted.

For a moment, Greg paid more attention to the youkai seated next to him than he did to his own purposefully erratic driving. The plan had been for himself and Sesshoumaru to act inebriated at the front gate to allow nii-san and nee-san to slip into the base, but it appeared that the elder youkai might be improvising. He had popped open one of the unopened bottles of beer they had in the vehicle and splashed a little on Greg. That part made sense to the Lackey. How were you going to act drunk without the smell of alcohol on you? However, the youkai had proceeded to finish off the bottle of beer himself, and was currently following it with a fifth of vodka.

Greg slid the Suburban around the last corner which brought the gate into view. "You know, beer after liquor never sicker, Sesshoumaru-sama."

Sesshoumaru ever so gracefully opened the sunroof to the vehicle. "Yes. For humans."

Greg sighed as the youkai stood and raised himself through the sunroof, vodka in hand. At least the guards were buying it. A little weaving here and there. Ooo! Trash can near the edge of the road! "Ah, authenticity," Greg murmered.

The guards cautiously raised their weapons at the vehicle, and Greg chose to yank the emergency brake and the steering wheel, sliding the truck to a rest right in front of the gate. Yep, radioing for backup, he noticed. One of the guards was approaching the driver's door, so he lowered his window and half flopped out it.

"Even'in, ofishur. Howsh th' weather?"

"May I see some ID, sir?"

Sesshoumaru leaned over the top of the vehicle towards the officer. "How about I give you the finger, and you give me my phone call?"

"Uh, sir?"

"Why don' you boysh have a drink with ush, huh? We gotsh good vodka. Or haduh, if my budduh didn' drin' all uh it," Greg said, hoping the youkai wasn't about to do something foolish.

"Ooooh yeeeah," Sesshoumaru said. "I'm shuposhed to shay that after you arsh't me. My bad, boysh."

"Would you to gentlemen slowly step out of your vehicle?"

Sesshoumaru slid himself out the top of the vehicle and down its side. Greg stepped from the driver's side door. The human watched as Sesshoumaru drew himself up to his full height and straightened his robes in a very un-drunken manner. Greg was suddenly glad that the suburban was armored. The youkai's coolness had returned to his eyes.

"I believe a more appropriate quote right now might be, 'I know kung-fu, f00.'"

The gate officer was slowly backing away, and welcomed the sound of reinforcements arriving in jeeps behind him. "Oh you do?"

"You're supposed to say 'show me,'" Sesshoumaru said and lunged forward, catching the man in the chest with a blow which knocked the guard a good two meters backwards. This was apparently a cue to the rest of guards to open fire. Greg managed to curse as he dove under the vehicle to avoid the rain of bullets which flew at them. Sesshoumaru chose to invoke youkai reflexes and easily dodged the shots which threatened to strike him.

On the rooftop, Ruri climbed onto her love's back. 'You're father's being dramatic again.'

'Hai,' He replied, and leapt over the fence beside them and into the compound. They ducked and dodged from shadow to shadow, the business at the front gate causing anyone they saw to be paying more attention to helping that mess than looking for more intruders. They found the ship easily enough and crossed the gangway leading to one of the airlock doors.

'Great,' Ruri thought sarcastically, looking at the clamps holding the door secure. 'How do we get in now?'

"Feh, did you forget already what we did to the old drive cores?" the youkai replied, not bothering to slow down. He crossed his arms in front of his face and when he reached the door slashed glowing steel claws into the metal before him. Ruri smiled slightly in amusement as her youkai imitated his uncle as they passed through the now missing door. The inner airlock door probably could have just been pried open, but the youkai apparently felt the need to show off for Ruri. He punched a bare fist into the door and felt it crumple before him. They then found themselves staring at a tall, blond Jovian officer.

"What took you so long? Take the scenic route? Or stop to take in some scenery?"

The youkai straightened and felt Ruri lower herself to the decking. "Saburouta-san, you're the original ecchi, did anybody ever tell you that?"

"A couple of times, I think. Oi! Dean-san! Haruko-san! Grab the Turncoat and say 'ja ne!'"

The trio appeared from a side corridor when called, one of them looking rather sullen at being in the presence of his captain again, the other two relieved to just be getting out of the ship. Dean waved the once-forgotten file in the air. "Let's get outta here before we're discovered."

The group headed back out the shattered entry to the ship and down the gangplank towards solid ground. Halfway down the plank Inuyasha, who was in front, suddenly stopped. Ruri was momentarily distracted and staring out over the water when he stopped, and softly bumped into him.

"Nani, Inu-chan?"

The youkai smiled, knowing she was not a fan of calling him "cutesy" names. 'Trying to get Makibi's goat? Ruri-chan, you're mean.'

'Am I?'

'Yes, you are.'

'I suppose I am.'

"Anyways, looks like we have some company."

At the foot of the ramp had gathered several guards, one of which was armed with a bullhorn. "Inutaishou-san, please come quietly. You're trespassing on Government and Nergal property. If you do not come quietly-"

"Baka," The youkai replied. He thumbed Tenseiga loose in its sheath and darted down the walkway. The guards' shrieks were quickly cut short as the rose-colored light flashed through their bodies, rendering blows which with an ordinary sword would have left a sea of blood in the youkai's wake. The five humans quickly followed behind him, all running towards the facility's exit and the waiting Sesshoumaru and Greg.

Ruri almost bumped into Inuyasha again when he suddenly stopped a second time. They were within sight of the gate, and there was no one unexpected in sight. A waiting Sesshoumaru and Greg were all she could see stirring, other than a pile of beaten guards mounded near the gate. She saw Sesshoumaru suddenly move from leaning casually against a vehicle to ramrod straight with Toukijin in his hand. She heard Inuyasha beside her sheathe the Tenseiga, and then sensed what he sensed. It was youki. A lot of it, seemingly from many different sources. She pulled the sleeping Tetsusaiga from her back, feeling it awaken for the second time since they had last fought side by side. She felt nostalgic for a moment, remembering that the fight which had, for lack of a better word, doomed them to the relationship they shared now.

It was only a few moments before the humans were able to catch up with what the instincts demon blood was telling, at least at some level. The sky around them was suddenly illuminated by hundreds of glowing orbs, all of which seemed to be heading for their position. Without thinking, the kanchou swing her sword and struck the oncoming wind scar and killing scores of the enemy in a blaze of demonic power. Dean and Greg recognized them for what they were, but Saburouta, Haruko, and Hari didn't fully understand what they were until the giblets from Ruri's strike began to rain down a few moments later.

Suddenly they were surrounded. Baser youkai swarmed around them. Ruri was swinging madly, her mind numb and telling her what she was doing wasn't... couldn't be happening. Demons like this only existed in Sengoku Jidai, not here, not now. The only youkai that still existed were ones like the one she was about to marry and his father. She knew in her periphery that Inuyasha killing far more of the demons surrounding them than she was, and he was fighting bare-clawed. She was aware of Williams, the Lackey, and Saburouta-san firing weapons and not doing much good. She sensed through her love that Sesshoumaru was fighting his way towards them. She didn't know where Greg was, but could only assume that the Suburban would be making an appearance shortly.

Just as suddenly as they were surrounded, the masses backed away and parted in front of them. Ruri started to run for the gap, but was grabbed by her soon-mate.

"'They're not parting for us,'" he said carefully as she felt him tense, the opposite of what she had felt from him when Kagura had changed. This was part of the darkness she could not explain to Yurika, and it frightened her. Not enough to distrust him; distrusting him was almost impossible when he couldn't lie to her.

The ground rumbled around them, bringing Ruri's mind back to the scene before her. Out of the darkness loomed a giant of a demon, probably 6 or 7 meters tall. Its face bore the shape of a wolf's, and it's nearly-human body was armoured in ancient armour. Its hand-like paws grasped a Chinese-style sword which looked for all the world like a gargantuan version of Toukijin.

Inuyasha found himself wishing he had brought more than Tenseiga with him as he unsheathed the sword and held it before him. He heard his father yell and turned his head to see Toukijin hurtling towards him. He quickly sheathed his own blade and snatched the possessed weapon from the air. The smaller of the two combatants didn't wait for an pleasantries to be exchanged, he simply swung the weapon in a vicious ark towards the larger youkai, letting the weapon's anger unleash itself without restraint for the first time in centuries. His mind had strengthened greatly since the last time he held his father's sword, as this time he had no problems controlling it instead of it controlling him.

To his dismay, however, Toukijin did not carve a path of destruction through his enemy, but only caused cracks and splintering to appear in its armour. The wolf demon bellowed mocking laughter at Inuyasha

"Is that all you have, puppy? Maybe I shouldn't use my sword against you, maybe I should just stomp on you a few times and send you home to your daddy, ne?" Intent on carrying this out, he raised his massive foot to stomp, but came down only on pavement. He found the smaller opponent racing up his leg, slicing deep wounds with the possessed sword and striking at the sides of the massive youkai's chest before leaping elegantly back to the ground.

"Well, I see you've got some spunk. This may be interesting after all, I think," the demon roared with another barrage of laughter. The demon cut off his laughter at the sound of an approaching engine, and turned to face the oncoming noise. Inuyasha did not recognize the note, but saw soon enough that it was a one of the few Maybachs that Nergal owned. It plowed through the ranks of demons still encircling the group and slid to a stop near where Hoshino and Saburouta were standing. The rear door flung open and the front window rolled down to reveal an all-too-familiar face, that of Akatsuki Nagare.

"Youkoso!" the former president yelled, his meaning clear.

"Saburouta, go with Ruri," the fiance ordered of the bodyguard. "I'll finish this then we'll catch up with you."

The Jovian nodded, and Ruri acquiesced and moved to get into the vehicle. She paused, seeing someone else in the backseat, but with Saburouta close behind was forced to continue entering the car. Neither of the betrothed trusted Akatsuki, but both trusted him more than Naraku at this point. The youkai turned to resume his fight when he felt shock come to him from Ruri's mind.

'Kagura!'

"'N-nani?'" The demon replied, spinning back to face the car. He looked again at Akatsuki's face, and saw something he'd never expected to see. The face was remorseful and apologetic. He saw through Ruri's eyes Kagura move forward in the vehicle to place an ether-soaked cloth over Ruri's face and saw as she passed out Saburouta moving to try to defend her. He could see his reason for stopping, as Akatsuki was leveling a gun at the man's head as the car moved to escape.

"Ruri!" He screamed, moving to try to intercept the car. Before he could do anything he felt his whole right side explode in pain and his knees buckled under him. He looked down to see his opponent's massive weapon protruding from his abdomen and heard the obnoxious roar of laughter behind him.

"Maybe you aren't so much of a challenge, if you care more about trying to protect that human woman than you are preserving your own life!" It moved to twist the sword in the wound but found it could not move the sword. Inuyasha had wrapped his hands around it, and with a burst of strength forced the weapon to leave his body the way it came.

"Feh. I'm far from dead," he grunted. "I don't think you know what my family is... or you wouldn't say crap like that." He shakily rose to his feet and turned to face his opponent. The wolf had glee on his face, thinking he was about to watch the youkai no inu fall over dead. "I... am of the house... of Inutaishou, and... I will protect that human... even if it means... losing my own life."

Anger flared in the demon's eyes toward the massive opponent and he let the youkai blood boil in his veins. The blood of his mizu no youkai mother asserted itself and the wound began to repair itself, his marrow increasing its production of blood to protect his life. Winds began to swirl around him and his features began to morph. Sesshoumaru motioned to the two adults with him and grabbed Hari by the shirt collar as the quartet headed for the waiting Suburban.

Haruko paused only to find herself being dragged by Dean as soon as she stopped moving. "But... shouldn't we help him?"

"Yes, but right now that means staying the hell out of his way."

"Why? He's just one man against an army of demons?"

They had reached the suburban, and Sesshoumaru looked at her oddly for a moment before answering the question in lieu of Dean answering. "He is not one man against an army of youkai, he is a youkai of the house of Inutaishou against an army of lesser, baser youkai."

Haruko blinked in confusion and looked back at the battle in time to see a second monster appear, seemingly out of the ground. The second demon was more canine than wolf with white fur covering its massive body. This one was even larger than the first and bore no weapons that she could see. She also could not see the dark red kimono anywhere. "He doesn't stand a chance against two of them! We have to do something!"

Sesshoumaru for his part was openly in shock and took a few steps forward, disbelieving what he was seeing. He regained his composure and turned with characteristic coolness to address the human a few feet from him. "There is no second demon. That," he said, pausing dramatically, "is my son Inuyasha in his full form."

Even Dean was confused now. "But, Sesshoumaru-sama, you told me that his full form was like your own, that it was a really big dog."

"You are correct. It was a 'really big dog,' as you put it. However, in the time since he visited Sengoku Jidai he has not assumed his full form. I believe that casting Mizu no Shi awakened abilities in him which he was previously unable to tap, and since that time has had no reason to use them further. It is also true that this clan is not limited to merely two forms, as I know of at least three that my great and terrible father was capable of assuming." He turned back to face the battle, and watched with demonic joy in his eyes as the now-smaller youkai took a few steps backwards. "I-nu-yasha. Those bearing that name never cease to amaze me."

The younger youkai, though unaware of the conversation his father was involved in, was more surprised than any of them at the form he assumed. He quickly came to the same conclusion that his father did, that Mizu no Shi had awakened in him abilities which he had heretofore been unaware of. He glanced around him, and noticed the baser youkai around them fleeing for their existence. He stretched new muscles and felt with some relief all of the wound disappear from his side. Though he hated his mother and grandmother, the sorcery of mizu youkai was often of use in times like these.

The he looked to his opponent, the flames of hell burning in his eyes. "And now, you die, ookami-koro."

The wolf swung his sword at the Inutaishou, but, sensing no sorcery from the blade, Inuyasha merely raised a massive white arm in defense. The blade shattered against his forearm, leaving not even as much as a scratch on the transformed youkai. The inu no youkai sprung forward, catching the wrist of the arm still clutching the broken sword and dragging the ookami no youkai towards him. The frightened demon swung his free fist towards his captor, who easily caught it in his hand-like paw. "I care not for trickery, and do not appreciate being baited," he said simply to the struggling youkai before him.

Desperate, the ookami tried to lunge forward to bite the inu's neck.

"Too slow," Inuyasha snorted.

From her vantage point, the most sadistic gunner in Nergal felt her stomach churn at the sight before her, knowing what was about to happen. The wolf demon had lunged towards Inuyasha's neck, the only attack he had left with his arms locked by the inu no youkai's. Inuyasha, however, had easily dodged the blow and used the attack to his advantage, locking his vicious maw around his would-be attacker's head. She heard the sound of bones cracking as the youngest Inutaishou closed his jaws around his opponent's skull.

Dean found Haruko suddenly leaning against him as he watched the final moments of the battle. He couldn't blame her for not watching when he himself wanted to turn away from it. He kept his eyes open to see his boss suddenly throw his opponent backwards, while still holding onto the dying head. He heard the only sound worse than bone crushing, that of flesh ripping as the head dislodged from its owner.

Inuyasha stood staring at the headless corpse before him, the only thing running through his mind was the fact that he was grateful that Ruri was unconscious at the moment. As he felt her mind with his, it reminded him of his humanity. He spat out the head he had still been holding in his mouth, and let himself sink to his knees on the concrete slab that was now covered in blood. He felt familiar winds whirl around him as he regained his human shape. He placed his hands against the ground. He braced himself against it, panting for air and spitting out hair from his dead opponent. He looked up a few moments later to see his father standing before him, Toukijin and Tenseiga both at his side.

Sesshoumaru looked down, betraying no emotion to his son. His son caught enough breath to speak, and sought to convey what he had gathered from Ruri before she was rendered unconscious. "Kagura was in that car, Sesshoumaru-sama. Apparently Nergal is somehow aiding him."

"And your predecessor at Nergal is now our enemy?"

The younger Inutaishou slowly stood. "'Predecessor' implies I'm still chairman," he said, regaining some of his late uncle's cockiness. His expression softened. "No, I don't think he's an enemy in this. I believe Naraku is using him against his will."

"That may be so, or it may not be. Come, we should return home. We will hear from Naraku soon enough, since he now holds Hoshino-san hostage." Sesshoumaru turned and addressed Dean and Greg, jerking his head towards the ground where the Maybach had stopped momentarily. "One of you collect the Tetusaiga and Hanyou's Protector. Hoshino-san apparently lost them as she was entering the vehicle."

// \\

Inutaishou Inuyasha opened his eyes and surveyed his once-clean study. it was now littered with maps and geological surveys of the area around Tokyo. Three days and he and Ruri had yet to figure out where in the world they had taken her.

'At least I know you're safe.'

'Saburouta-san would be hurt if he thought you didn't care about his welfare,' she teased.

'I'm not engaged to him, though.'

'Point,' Ruri replied. 'If you were engaged to him to we'd need to talk.'

'Indeed,' Inuyasha said, then shifted his mind to go back through facts they'd already been over. 'I just wish that I could place where you are. It sounds very familiar to me. A large underground chamber made of solid marble. I know it from somewhere but I just can't place it.'

'Naraku should move soon, though. At least he did in all the stories you relayed to me.'

'True. And this is a plot he's already used once, with Rin and Sesshoumaru. I don't know if even knows he's reusing it.'

'And that has you nervous.'

'Exactly. He's a schemer by nature, so the question is, am I analyzing his moves or over-analyzing them? If I'm right, he expects us to come to him to find your whereabouts, and he'll have you at a different location, where we can't just grab you and leave. At the same time, since he's done that before, he may expect us to go for you first and be waiting for us at your location.'

'So what do we do?'

'What I'm doing is simple. As soon as I know where you are I'm rescuing you. Whether I'm right or not about Naraku is irrelevant, because if I go where he is, he'll have Kagura kill you. So I have to get to you before I get to him.'

Ruri distanced herself from her own situation and looked at it as objectively as she could. 'He may have me killed before he comes to get you.'

'That's too dangerous to him. You're a hostage, hime-chan, and while you're alive he has bargaining power. If he harms you-' Inuyasha cut himself off and marshalled his thoughts. 'We know what will happen to him.'

// \\

The four sat around the table as mirror images of each other, their hands at their temples and their elbows on the table before them. The entire time Inutaishou Inuyasha had sat and meditated in his room, Yurika and Akito found themselves with little else to do but pore over the file Dean had returned with. Dean and Greg had both joined the two in going over the file as well, since their boss wasn't giving them any work.

He had certainly given plenty of instructions on the first day, and the quasi-matching BMWs were waiting in the garage, each with its own parcels of goods inside. After that, however, the house had lapsed into something of a gloomy silence. Sesshoumaru spent the better part of the past two day preparing extravagant meals in order to stay out of the way of the Tenkawas in the dining room and his son in the younger's study. Makibi and Williams had opted to stay in Sesshoumaru's way for fear of getting in someone else's.

At this point the extraneous pair were watching Sesshoumaru flip something pancake-like in a skillet when they heard Yurika slam her hands against the table in frustration.

"None of this makes any sense!"

Dean pulled a well-chewed pencil from his mouth before speaking. "I guess that's partially the point. Even in Nergal's own files, the truth is buried under a mountain of lies and half-truths."

Greg nodded in agreement. "The only thing we have now that we know for sure is what Tenkawa-san can remember."

Akito sighed and stared at the ceiling. "And that's nothing, really. I can't even remember this 'Black Serena' I keep seeing mentioned."

Hari, having overheard all of it, characteristically burst at Akito. "How could you not remember! How could you forget the Kanchou being mad at you for never contacting her after you didn't die in the shuttle? How could you forget being the Prince of Darkness?"

"Makibi-baka! You are errant in your history!" The table turned to see Inuyasha enter the room, uncharacteristically garbed in black silk haori and similar trousers. They were unsure whether to be more shocked at the bizarre manner of dress or his emergence from his quarters as he continued. "Yes, Kanchou was angry with him, but not over that."

"How would you know? You don't know the Kanchou! You just showed up and... and..."

"Feh," The demon snorted and waved his hand dismissively, giving up on imitating the manners of his father. "If you're going to get all petty on me, you're not worth being polite to. Besides, I don't have time to argue with children."

Hari started to snarl but jumped as Sesshoumaru brushed past him. "We are about to have guests, are we not?"

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama."

"Very well. Greet him. I will join you. Makibi-san, you should know that my son knew Hoshino-san before you met her, and they have an... understanding, one that you could not hope to grasp. That it would appear to you that he simply 'showed up' and 'swept' Hoshino-san 'off her feet' says to this Sesshoumaru that you do not know the lady as well as you belive that you do." Sesshoumaru walked from the room wearing a small smile which only Greg and Yurika were in a position to see.

// \\

Inuyasha stood on the lawn in front of his father's house awaiting Naraku's puppet. They'd been expecting it these three days and it was finally approaching. Had he not been able to smell Kagura after she changed, he might have missed the scent until it came much closer. In a sense, he wasn't pleased that he had sensed it so early. Upstairs in his study it was more like when she was out in space. They were both in quiet rooms (when Saburouta shut up) and were able to talk freely with each other as they each tried to gather what they could about where she was.

Out here, however, standing in the same spot where she first performed Kaze no Kizu, he became aware of just how keenly he missed being beside her.

'I know, Inu,' she felt into his mind. She paused before continuing, 'Do you ever wish we'd stayed like we were then?'

'Freezing ourselves in time? Only on days like today where I'm feeling really selfish,' the youkai admitted, scanning across the horizon. 'Still, you were the one that broke the backs of the Successors, and you were the one who rescued Yurika. Granted, if we'd stayed in Sengoku Jidai our relationship probably would have evolved into what it is now. But I think our own time needs you and me more than that time would have needed us. Besides, do you think you'd really have been happy with that?'

'Ever baka-senpai.'

"'As always,'" he murmured in reply, and finally caught a glimpse of something approaching on the horizon. As it approached he recognized the form he'd always heard tales of from his uncle and father, that of the writhing mass of youkai that was the demon puppetry Naraku always used. He thumbed loose his katana as his father stepped up beside him.

'Be careful, Inuyasha,'

'I will, I promise.'

"I do not expect much fight. The puppet should be easy to defeat." Sesshoumaru stated flatly.

"The puppet at the heart?"

"Hai." They waited as the mass approached and descended through the mid-morning sky.

"Well, I see that my favorite youkai no inu survived all the way up to this era. One of you has even managed to get rid of the tasteless red kimono he used to wear. Good, you'll make quite excellent additions to my reconstructed self."

"So where should we go to add ourselves?" The younger sneered as he began walking towards the being, "because before you think about absorbing me, I'd like to whack a few pieces out of you first."

"Hasty, aren't we? It is fortunate then that the temple of five arches is only a few days' walk from here."

The younger youkai smirked slightly at the hanyou's failure to grasp modern transportation. "I suppose it is," he returned.

Sesshoumaru thought he saw another expression flash across his son's face, but it was gone too quickly for him to catch it. "Puppet, have you anything else to tell us?"

"I'll give you a fight if that's what you're after, 'old friend,' but I certainly have no intention of destroying you here. As I said, you'll make fine additions to this Naraku." With that, the monster flung his mould-like tentacles at the pair.

Both youkai no inu easily dodged the attack. Sesshoumaru withdrew Toukijin from his side and swung it into the writhing mass before him. The younger loosed his katana and followed in his father's wake.

"I have one question left before destroying you, puppet," Sesshoumaru yelled as he ran. "Where is Hoshino-san?"

"She is near me and safe... if you hurry," the puppet said with all of the evil of its master. Sesshoumaru swung again, opening a path almost all of the way to the puppet's wooden heart. Inuyasha leapt up and over his father to use a simple but efficient battojutsu maneuver, slicing through the remainder of the puppet and breaking its master's control of it.

The houseguests watched in mute shock as the two demons calmly returned their weapons to their sides as former parts and entrails fell softly to the ground around them.

"I am surprised that you did not inquire more diligently of Hoshino-san's whereabouts," Sesshoumaru commented, brushing a few pieces off which had fallen onto his shoulder.

Inuyasha turned and headed towards the house. "I didn't need to. A few kilometers from the Temple of Five Arches is a rather unique shrine, one which is composed of several small silos carved from solid marble and buried in something of an underground labyrinth."

The group at the doorway heard all of this as the pair approached the house. Haruko, with a slightly puzzled expression on her face, spoke first. "Wouldn't Naraku have the kanchou near him so that he could... better use her as a hostage?"

smiled slightly at the woman's attempt to dodge around what could be a rather painful thought. Ruri valued directness and honestly over tact, and his next words reflected the fact that he tended to share her belief. "You mean kill her if we don't show up? You forget, Naraku is not human. If a human leaves hostages in the care of another human, the second human could betray the first. However, as much as she may desire otherwise, Kagura cannot betray Naraku, no matter how much pain it might bring her."

Fire flashed in Akito's eyes. Even if his memories of the past were awakening within him, he still cared for Kagura. "Then we should kill Naraku first and free Kagura!"

Akito stepped forward as if to challenge Inuyasha but found the elder Inutaishou and Yurika blocking his path. Yurika's eyes pleaded but it was the demon who spoke. "Naraku has tried to use this plot before. He kidnapped Rin and at the moment my brother and I were about to destroy him, he ordered one of his minions to kill her. He forced me to leave to defend her so that could escape. He would seek to do the same again, this I am certain of."

lit a cigarette and leaned against the door frame. "So, nii-san, what do we do?"

// \\

Next up, rescue missions...