The drive back to the Inutaishou's estate was uncomplicated enough. Yurika attempted to lighten the mood in the vehicle with further wedding discussions, but Ruri was returning to her quiet normalcy and her youkai was feeling contemplative. He had opted to allow Saburouta to remain at the car's helm and opted to sit in between the two women in the back, giving Ruri a little solitude. Thus Akito was given the "pleasure" of leading the Jovian back to the estate, as any mortal driver would have had problems pacing Sesshoumaru. Actually, the youkai's son even had problems pacing his driving at times.

As Saburouta turned the vehicle into Sesshoumaru's driveway, the group saw the elder youkai simply standing beside his vehicle and staring out into the yard. Parking behind the elder's vehicle they saw the object of his astonishment. The two Aestivalis had landed in the yard, which was in and of itself logical, as the younger had given the pilots the GPS coordinates of the estate. Of the two machines, only one was the source of what had apparently moved from astonishment to a festering in the demon. It was not the red unit of Ryoko, which was parked on tennis courts unused since the lands were held by a previous owner. It was the silver one which was the problem. Its right knee kneeled harmlessly enough on the turf, but the left foot of the mechanized warrior terminated in what was now a mass of foliage.

"Not the azaleas," Sesshoumaru could be heard to mutter as his son and soon-daughter approached.

"Eh," his son responded, "it's still not as bad as that time with the fountain."

Sesshoumaru cocked an eyebrow in the direction of his son. "Perhaps," he responded flatly.

The fiance shrugged at the half-formed thought from his fiancee. 'No, I don't know what his obsession with the azaleas is.'

The two trudged rather wearily towards the house, Sesshoumaru in front and the rest of the party in tow, though the rest didn't seem to move as wearily. Ruri took his hand and leaned against him, closing her eyes as they walked. The youkai clung to the sensation, not taking any of it for granted, and closed his eyes as well, retracing from memory the steps to the door of what Sesshoumaru intended to become an ancestral home. Previously, he had been somewhat successful in hiding from her just how badly he had missed being by her side, but now he allowed the emotions to spill out into her mind. Ruri felt the emotions wash over her and caught his intent as he moved his head to better catch her smell.

'Baka, I'm tired and I haven't' seen water other than enough to drink in days and my hair is-'

'-I don't care. Yes, a lady is a lady, I understand that, and you are certainly a lady above all others, but... but I missed you, Ruri-chan.'

Ruri blushed slightly at the compliment as they continued their banter, oblivious to the various cooings Yurika was performing behind them. The rest of the entourage maintained some level of coolness, though none could deny amusement at the antics of Yurika as well as her adopted daughter and the younger's love.

However, the Lackeys, Saburouta, and the Tenkawas continued to pay more attention to their surroundings than the engaged couple. All except the latter stopped when they saw the head of the Inutaishou clan standing rigid in the doorway to his house. The youkai's son and soon-to-be-daughter-in-law, however, remained so wrapped up in each other's presence that they missed this simple fact and therefore collided squarely with the back of Sesshoumaru.

The younger demon shook his head quickly, refocusing on the scene beyond the door. Ruri peered around the elder youkai's shoulder as well, but let her youkai do most of the sensing. Inuyasha's first thought was another demon waiting for them who was trying to mask his youki. This was quickly tossed out as he could only smell the youki of Sesshoumaru tinged with the faintness of youki Ruri's hanyou blood gave off. Inuyasha then looked for other smells that might indicate danger. The skills as a swordsman he had developed hadn't found any malevolence. There was no violent ki anywhere to be found, except perhaps for Ryoko's natural agitated state. 'Perhaps all Ryokos are alike' was a muse that ran through his head when his love-addled dog brain suddenly figured it out. He furrowed his brow oddly and looked over at Ruri. "It would seem that Ryoko-san and Genichiro-san were not the only people that Hari-kun contacted."

// \\

Akatsuki Nagare shifted in his position on the bench for the fifth time in almost as many minutes and sighted yet again. "Oi, Fressange, how long are they going to take?"

Ines looked across the small room at him, her hands folded in her lap. "You would know how meetings go better than I would, former Chairman."

Nergal's former president fidgeted once again, once again grating on the scientist's nerves. He was even beginning to annoy the two other inhabitants of the room. One of them was following the banter between the adults, the other simply sat silently and stared into the mirror she held in her hands. "And why," he asked, "do I have to sit by the creepier one?"

Lapis Lazuli regarded the younger, mirror-wielding girl seated beside Nagare. "Akatsuki-san, I do not find her any 'creepier' than myself, and neither of us can compare to your behavior during the 'Miss Nadesico' competition."

Fressange smirked and prepared to heap further verbal pain upon Akatsuki but was cut off by the sound of the door at the end of the room opening. All four turned to watch Naraku enter the room, followed by Kagura. "It would seem that I, Naraku, underestimated the abilities of the line of Inutaishou."

Akatsuki folded his arms and began nodding his head in agreement. "I told you, the president of Nergal must be strong AND cunning. As well as to-die-for handsome."

The "youngest" of the group looked up from her mirror to stare into the face of the man sitting beside her. "If any or all of the three must be true, why were you chosen to lead Nergal?"

"Hey! Why does everyone always pick on the rich guy?"

Naraku ignored the comment and addressed the girl directly. "Have the repairs made to your mirror worked well, Kanna?"

"Yes," she responded slowly, returning her gaze to the glass. "They have arrived back at their estate."

Naraku smiled. "Then perhaps we should pay them a visit." He looked at the pair opposite Kanna. "You are Fressange, correct? Have you brought them?"

Ines, her eyes devoid of emotion, pulled a pair of Chulip crystals from her pocket and tossed them to the hanyou, who greedily snatched them from the air. He smiled as he held the blue crystals up to the light. "Those who claim the name of Hakushin always seem to serve me well."

"What do you of all people need with them?" Akatsuki asked.

"Your successor believed that CC's could possibly be used in a similar fashion to Shikon no Kakera," Ines said, naze nani obviously on the tip of her tounge. "Naraku most likely believes the same, and if research serves, in his previous life he used the Shikon no Kakera to aid in binding the youkai which he used to build his body out of."

"So... in other words, demon glue?" Akatsuki said.

Naraku smiled. "I suppose one could call it that. I see you've done your homework well, Fressange. Let us go."

// \\

The normal solitude of Sesshoumaru's estate had been shattered into rather small pieces. It appeared to the couple that in the time since Ruri's and Saburouta's rescue party had left that morning Hari had managed to gather a substantial portion of both past and present crew members together.

watched her youkai's eyebrow twinge with more than mild amusement and started guessing what Hari's tongue-lashing would comprise of. He certainly had a different method of chastising her "little brother" than she did, though she wondered if hers might not have been the more effective of the two.

"Maaakibiii Hariii!" The youkai roared, causing all motion in the house to summarily stop. The demon slowly and deliberately removed his weapons and tossed them onto a bench in the entryway. The assembled crew parted as the three with silver hair moved through the house, the youkai in front continuing to call out the young computer prodigy's name. His frustration mounting, Inuyasha threw open the doors to the seldom-used formal dining room to find it turned into a makeshift war room.

"Kanchou!" Hari called when they entered, racing towards the room's entry to greet her. As he passed Inuyasha, he suddenly felt all the wind leave his lungs in a rush. He looked down to see the demon's hand planted against his chest and halting his progress. "Ka...kanchou?" He sputtered out as looked back and forth between his captain and the one he still saw as his competition. The former simply watched him, betraying no emotion. The other took in the room, deigning to look down at the boy. Hari looked at Ruri again, his eyes searching for some kind of support when he suddenly felt the demon's hand clamp around his neck and lift him from the ground.

"Are you aware," Inuyasha began, his voice dangerously quiet, "of the danger you have placed everyone in by asking them here?" he nonchalantly tossed the teenager onto the table, causing maps and charts to scatter in his wake as the flailing body slid several feet down the furniture's length.

"But I wanted to get the Kanchou out of danger!"

Ruri and Inuyasha greeted Jun and Admirals Munetake and Misumaru as the youkai continued the argument. "Alright, then what was the danger?"

"It was... it was Naraku!"

"Saburouta-san and I never came face to face with Naraku," Ruri pointed out.

"So he couldn't have been the danger if he was never actually around them," the youkai concluded. The three senior officers in the room crossed their arms and bobbed their heads in unison. "The truth is," he continued, "you don't know what the danger was, do you? You don't know what the danger is now, do you?" The youkai sighed and popped the joints in an arm. "Look, Ruri's tired, I'm tired... Hell, I probably reek of sweat and blood. We're going to shower and change. Clean the crap out of this room and assemble everyone by the time we get back."

"Together?!" Hari cried in shock.

calmly walked over and thwacked Hari in the back of the head. "He never said 'together', just that they were both going. What, do you think he'd make her go shower at the neighbor's? Besides, what does it matter, anyways? They're the ones that are engaged."

// \\

Ruri supposed she couldn't blame him for remaining tense until he had satisfied himself that his own room was safe. With all of the other surprises in the house, she frankly would not have been surprised to have walked into the room to see Naraku boson-jumped in ahead of them and lounging on the futon. 'I still think you worry too much though, Inu-kun,' she teased.

'Yeah, well, youkai don't live-'

'Baka.'

Inuyasha laughed and shook his head. "The answer isn't forty-two, it's baka, that it is."

Ruri sighed and commandeered the suite's bathroom. She began filling the bath and then stepped into the shower to scrub off the layer of grime she felt from being stuck in the ruins for so long. She let the water pound her back as she let thoughts tumble through her head. 'Inu?'

'Hmm?'

'What really happened on that road?'

'What do you mean? You have all the details I know plus some I don't - you were still awake when I blacked out, weren't you?'

'Yes, I was, but I don't know why you blacked out, and I don't know why I lost you.'

Disregarding what little modesty they still shared between each other, the youkai found himself bolting into the bathroom and staring at the shower's frosted door. "Nani?! What do you mean, 'lost me'?"

Ruri opened the door and leaned around it, her soapy hair spilling around the frame. "I mean, from the moment you lifted that sword until the moment you blacked out, I lost you. Your mind completely disappeared from me. It wasn't like when I was in deep space, where you're faint. You were gone. As if... as if you were dead..."

Inuyasha stepped into the shower, clothes and all, and wrapped his arms around her. "Now you're the one worrying needlessly." He gently kissed her forehead. "I summoned Straasha by going to his plane. It's more... reliable... to perform summonings that way."

Ruri let his thoughts filter through her head, watching everything that transpired before he blacked out. "I understand that you have an opportunity to become more powerful, and I know that you only want to become more powerful to protect me and those you consider family. However, it's not worth it. One thing always struck me in reading that book-"

"-that the laws of physics would imply that it would be rather easy to become trapped in that realm," Inuyasha finished softly.

'Exactly. I lost Akito for almost five years; I don't want to lose you, too,' she responded silently, holding him tightly.

// \\

The two returned downstairs to find a much less chaotic household waiting for them. The two entered the formal dining hall to find everyone patiently seated around the table. The youkai was slightly surprised that his father had abdicated the chair at the head of the table, apparently intending it for the younger of the two youkai. Instead, he placed Ruri there, preferring to sit at the chair to her right. He was also grateful to note that Hari was sandwiched in between Yukina and Izumi instead of by whom the boy would have preferred, which now would have placed him at the youkai's right. Neither of the two were sure what needed to be said the assemblage. Giving in to the impatience of his uncle, Inuyasha spoke first, slouching back in his chair and crossing his arms. "Alright, are there any questions?"

Yukina was the first to lean forward. "Ano... why are we here?"

"I certainly don't have an answer. Ask Hari."

"Um, the Kanchou, well... um..." Hari stammered, then pounded his fists against the table and stood up. "Why do I have to explain why the kanchou was kidnapped? It sounds silly!"

"Hari-kun, again, that is not the question. The question was why everyone is here."

"But... but Inutaishou-san, isn't she worth everyone's lives to you?"

The youkai stared at the human for a moment before responding, "I have chosen her as my bride by human standards and as my life-mate by youkai standards, a vow not even my father swore to my mother. I would die to save her, I would kill those who sought to harm her. However, I would never ask another to do so for me, and if I were to allow another into a situation where it was kill or be killed on her behalf, it would only be with their full knowledge of the danger before them."

"But none of them are in danger!"

Ruri's betrothed marveled at his love's patience with Hari when she answered. "Hari-kun, we discussed this. They are in danger now. This house isn't safe because Naraku knows where we are. He could come after Sesshoumaru-sama and Inu-kun at an time."

Admiral Misumaru, seated at the foot of the table, coughed slightly to gain everyone's attention. He laced his fingers and leaned against the table. "'Come after' the two of you. Why? Bad business deal? Family feud?"

Sesshoumaru flashed his Famous Mysterious Smile(tm). "I suppose you might say family feud. You would probably seek revenge against me as well if my brother and I killed you, too." Satisfied he had his audience's attention, he proceeded to eloquently, elaborately and verbosely describe the family's history with the man Onigumo and the hanyou Naraku.

Jun stood when Sesshoumaru had finished. "So how do we help you? Makibi may not have told us what we were getting into, but now we know. All of us have loyalties to one or both of the women we call 'Kanchou.' now that I'm here, I'm here and will do what I can to protect my captain. I say if anyone isn't willing to risk their life for either Yurika or Ruri-chan, then they leave now."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Such is agreeable. Any afraid or fearing disloyalty may leave with no repercussions."

Johnson and Williams looked at each other, then stood and began walking towards the door, the only two to do so. Williams Haruko tried not to meet Dean's gaze as it followed her.

"One moment," Inuyasha said, halting the weapons and communications officers. They stood, halfway to the head of the table and the door, staring at Inuyasha. "Dean, don't you intend to stand by this woman?"

Dean stood, slightly awkwardly. "Ha.. hai," he stammered.

"You have nothing to fear or be ashamed of," Sesshoumaru commented with a warmth that shocked the room. Dean walked to Inuyasha's chair, taking Haruko's hand and bringing her with him. Lisette Johnson timidly followed suit until the three all stood at the head of the table. Dean produced a small jeweled tanto from inside his shirt and stared at it for a moment before handing it to the youkai, who stood to receive it.

"Go with Inutaishou's blessings," the youkai said with a smile.

Though puzzled by the display, the room held its collective tongue. Sesshoumaru rose and nodded to Akito. "We will begin preparing the evening meal. We shall require assistance."

The table took the cue and considered itself dismissed. Inuyasha grabbed Ruri and Saburouta and quickly stepped out into the hallway.

"Oi, Inu-san, Ruri-san, what was that in there?" Saburouta asked, indicating the display with Dean.

"It's a custom father started back in Sengoku-Jidai. He had adopted a human girl when she was a child, and when he saw her married, he and the lord she wed agreed that there would always be a pair of guards available for Rin's protection. There were several different pairs during Rin's life, and when she died they swore their loyalty directly to Sesshoumaru-sama. He found it a useful way to hide the fact he was youkai from society, and up until shortly before my mother's death, always maintained a pair of aides. I revived it when I undertook conquering Nergal. The rules are simple. The Lackey swears loyalty to this house and its members. If a lackey betrays that loyalty he or she is killed and if they bring someone into the family who betrays that loyalty, they either cut themselves off from that person or leave. Haruko betrayed that loyalty by condoning Hari's actions. Dean would have ended the relationship if he had not chosen to leave."

"What about Hari?"

"Hari's family," Inuyasha said, shrugging. "He will be your call," he finished, indicating Ruri.

"And the tanto?"

Inuyasha held up the small blade. "There are two. Greg carries the other. They belonged to the first Lackeys, even if they weren't called that, and have been passed down since."

He extended the knife towards Saburouta. "You've served Ruri well over the past few years. Care to stick around for a few more?"

Saburouta shrugged with characteristic abandon, "Sure."

Ruri looked up at him, "You realize this means you expect Inu-kun to protect everyone you bring into our house with the same ferocity that he expects you to protect me with?"

"Hai," Saburouta replied, accepting the blade and placing it in the back of his belt beneath his uniform. "And now, my first act as a member of the family will be to raid your fridge. Ja ne!"

// \\

Sesshoumaru gave up and admitted defeat, shooing Akito out of his kitchen. As he had suspected, almost everyone followed the former pilot as he left the room. The only one left in the kitchen was certainly welcome, as she appeared to have greater culinary skill than he possessed.

"Howmei-san, ne?"

"Hai," she responded, emptying vegetables into a nearby pot before placing the pot on the stove.

"Do any of these people have jobs?" Sesshoumaru pondered aloud.

Howmei laughed. "Of course. They're all just fiercely loyal to those two women."

"And you?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Howmei shrugged. "Run a restaurant. It was slow today, so I closed up Peaceful Days early and answered Hari's summons."

"Ah. I believe I remember the place." The youkai smiled, "That boy certainly has a way of infuriating my son. Of course, worsening the matter is how much he takes after his uncle, stubborn with a tendency to be overconfident. Not unlike the one infuriating him."

"Then perhaps Ruri will help him," Howmei commented, returning her attentions to cooking.

// \\

If Akito were completely honest, he would admit that he wanted to hide from everyone, including Yurika, right now. Granted, his memory was returning, but he wasn't as comfortable around her as he remembered being. However, Yurika would neither be dismissed nor be dislodged from his arm. As such, the two found themselves wandering through Sesshoumaru's library.

"Ne, Akito?" Yurika started, "what're you thinking?"

He focused on the luminous eyes next to him. He shook his head slightly. "Nothing, really." The eyes gave him a look which clearly communicated that they didn't believe the two words. Yurika was often ditzy, sometimes silly and foolish, sometimes selfish, but never stupid nor loving him with anything less than her whole heart. Time certainly hadn't changed those facts.

Akito let his free hand brush against books both ancient and new. "Just having trouble adjusting, I guess. I can only remember the past year and a half clearly. The first memory I can place exactly after my childhood was waking up one morning next to Kagura, as if I'd always been there. All our time together, our time on the Nadesico, it's... ghost-like, I guess. I know so many things happened, but I don't necessarily have a clear memory of them happening."

"Are you sure you want a straight answer, Akito-kun?" a familiar voice behind them asked.

"Erina! What are you doing here?" Yurika gasped in shock as they turned to face the voice behind them.

"Hari contacted me, why else? Besides, I came to see Akito, not a itachi-musume like you or a tanuki-chan like Ruri."

Akito scratched the back of his head. "Maybe a weasel for Yurika, but Ruri a raccoon? That doesn't seem accurate."

Both women ignored Akito's comment, preferring to stare icily at each other a few minutes longer, leaving Akito wishing he could melt into the bookcase next to him. A soft and deep cough interrupted the staring contest, rescuing Akito from becoming one with the page. It was Admiral Misumaru employing his favorite interrupter who stood at the other end of the row of books.

"It would seem to me," he began, "that Akito-kun's symptoms mirror those found in reports rumored to be submitted to the U.E. Spacey by Nergal concerning the wiping of memories."

"And how would you have come into possession of those reports?" Erina archly asked.

"I never said I did, nor did I say that they actually existed. However, I believe you have just confirmed that both are true for you," he finished the sentence wearing the Cheshire cat's grin. "So please, enlighten us on these reports which don't really exist."

Akito and Yurika turned to look at Erina again and suddenly wished winter clothing was immediately available. "A study was conducted to see if memories could be accurately erased, in the hopes that severe cases of trauma at witnessing human catastrophes and disasters could simply be wiped away."

"Such would also be an effective tool to use on assassins who had served their purpose so that they could not implicate whomever ordered the 'hit'," Ruri's soft voice observed, appeared behind the admiral.

Saburouta poked his head around the corner as well. "Same could be said of terrorists, ne?"

Erina's eyes narrowed. "If you're just going to stand around and accuse me, I'm just going to leave." She turned and collided with dark garnet firerat fur.

Inhuman eyes looked down at her. "No one's accusing anyone of anything. We're just here to ensure Akito is able to find the truth, not someone's version of it which has been edited to cast themselves in the best light possible."

Erina took a step back and smirked. "Of course, you wouldn't have any experience with that, would you?"

He shrugged. "I did write my own resume," he retorted, smiling at his own bad joke. "Now. Was this procedure performed on Akito?"

"I wouldn't know. I wasn't the only person he dealt with at Nergal."

"That's not true!" Yurika cried, her voice nearing a fever pitch. "The file Ruri-chan and Inu-kun gave us said you were Akito's sole contact within Nergal apart from when he trained under Genichiro !"

"Fine," Erina snapped, the anger blatant in her voice. "The procedure was performed upon Tenkawa Akito. Mental anguish from multiple scenarios which included high stress and anxiety situations resulted in a prognosis of ever-increasing instability with a final outcome of either complete breakdown, insanity, or.. suicide." She stumbled over the last word and lowered her head so that her hair shielded her eyes. "Simulations predicted that the third outcome was most likely... and that drastic measures should be taken... to protect Nergal interests and investments." She raised her head and genuine tears looked Akito and Yurika. "I'm sorry... both of you... I'm sorry."

// \\

And now, the finale...