The youkai forced himself from slumber, careful to keep from waking Ruri. He could sense his father's jaki on the roof just above the window, which was not a good sign. He slipped into the rest of his firerat kimono and silently leapt up to the roof to join his father.

As usual, Sesshoumaru appeared as if rest was something he never required, despite the fact Inuyasha knew that the elder would have been the last asleep last night if he had slept at all. All of that however, was a fleeting thought in the younger youkai's mind. In the forefront was a memory of the last time that he had been on this roof with his father seated on the same tiles he occupied now. It was the time when his father had forbade him from mating with other youkai.

"Ohayo, Sesshoumaru-sama," he opened calmly.

"You're not faking this old man. I am aware that our location brings you anxiety," Sesshoumaru replied, never taking his eyes off of the greying horizon.

The younger sat a few tiles away and behind his father. "I would assume this conversation to be no less important, and of a similar nature, since you appear to not want Ruri here."

"Despite your connection with each other, each does not know the other perfectly, just as you do not each know yourselves perfectly. You are both young for your species. Hoshino-san is far from naive, but she is still innocent. As my son, you are neither, even if at times you still try."

The younger shrugged. "Parts of her are still intimidated by all of this, and she still has the ability to intimidate me as well," he replied, the cryptic nature intentional.

Sesshoumaru looked at the black blade laying at his feet. "Everything that breathes has something it is intimidated by. It is not necessarily a bad thing when that which intimidates you is something that you also can trust implicitly."

"I suppose I can't argue with that," the younger replied quietly, mirroring his father's intent gaze upon the horizon without realizing it.

"How do you see your current relationship with Kagura?" Sesshoumaru asked plainly, abruptly changing the subject.

Inuyasha stared at the back of his father's head, one eyebrow threatening to pop off of his head and suspend itself in midair. He carefully measured his tones in his reply. "To be honest, I don't know. Even if she had no choice, she has betrayed this house. On the other hand..." he paused to choose his words.

"On the other hand, despite not taking her as a life-mate, you did in fact mate with her, thereby swearing to protect her." Sesshoumaru finished for him. "However, you also realize that to protect she whom you have sworn to life-mate with, you may have to break your previous oath." Sesshoumaru shrugged. "Had the two of you fulfilled your oath already, it would have nullified your oath to Kagura. I am not one to dwell on the past, but it would have allowed you to use another sword when you showed her your Ryu Tsui Sen. Enough prattle." The youkai's gaze at the horizon became a fierce glare. "I sense Naraku's presence approaching. It is too faint for you yet, but he comes." He rose and gathered his blade. Sesshoumaru turned, more advice on his tongue, when he saw his son's face several shades brighter than the kimono the younger wore.

"I take it then that your oath is indeed nullified. May I enquire as to how long such as been the case?"

Inuyasha blinked and for the briefest of moments considered taking a swing at his father. "You most certainly may not," he snapped. He stopped and breathed deeply for a few seconds to center and calm himself. "Regardless, I'd prefer not to kill unless forced.

"A bit hypocritical coming from someone who is versed and experienced in the arts of assassination, and is the son of killing perfection."

The younger shrugged and stood as well. "Because one trains as something does not mean they are as such. At times, perhaps, but people change. Events conspire against us," he said briskly, heading back towards the room where Ruri still was.

"Perhaps Ruri will help him, indeed," Sesshoumaru muttered, quoting Howmei.

Inuyasha hoped down from the roof onto his balcony to find Ruri already awake and dressed. She gave him her small smile. "You're not very good at telling whether I'm awake or not."

"No, I suppose not," he replied, returning the smile.

She followed him into the room. "As much as you enjoy the mechanics of battojutsu and kenjutsu, you're really not looking forward to this, are you?"

He turned and put on a smile he didn't feel. "There's a reason 'doom' is another word for 'destiny.'"

'Baka.'

'Hai.'

// \\

A greater polarity of mood at the breakfast table probably could not have existed. At one end, both physically and metaphorically, was Sesshoumaru, who was uncharacteristically being the gracious host and regaling the tableful of guests with tales form the Meiji and Sengoku Jidai Eras. At the other end of the spectrum and table sat the youkai's son, who had donned the dark aura his father normally wore. The entire table was aware of the dichotomy but most of it chose to ignore it. Only Greg, Saburouta and Ruri chose to remain aware of the mood beside them.

Saburouta fidgeted nervously where he sat, unable to grok why Greg and Ruri didn't ask about the brooding demon. "Oi, Inu-san, something's dark in there," the Jovian commented to his new boss, to which Greg responded with a swift elbow to the new Lackey's ribs.

Inuyasha shook himself from his reverie. "Greg, go ahead and tell him, you know there is nothing about any of our pasts that should be hidden from Ruri," he said as he stood up.

'Inu-kun...'

'Please stay. You remember where all of the weapons are kept?'

Ruri paused before responding and felt Inuyasha's reason approaching as Sesshoumaru excused himself from the table as well. 'Hai.' She responded and felt a shadow cross her own face.

Saburouta looked at Greg, missing Ruri's expression. "Naze? Nani? Oi?"

Greg's face darkened as he stood and moved towards the armoury which had years ago housed jewel shards. "Before he met nee-san, he spent some time in Mexico. Every time before a big fight or turf war, he'd put on that face. I can't sense ki, but that's what we called it... 'Killing Ki.' The guy hates killing, but whenever he puts on that face, someone isn't going to make it home alive."

// \\

Inuyasha stood beside his father. They had moved far enough away from the house that everyone inside should be safe enough unless things went very badly, in which case they should have enough advance warning to be able to safely vacate the premises. That way was not an eventuality that either particularly cherished, but both forced themselves to acknowledge.

Inuyasha wasn't comfortable with the weapons he was carrying. Bullets of course would be rather meaningless and thus he only carried swords, one of which he was comfortable enough with. The Tenseiga had served him as well as it had served his father, but it was the other blade he carried which disquieted him. In deference to Ruri had had left Straasha's blade at the house and carried the Toukijin. While the sword did not sing its bloodlust as loudly as Sesshoumaru's new weapon did, it still sang nonetheless.

Sesshoumaru refused to admit concern over his blade. He had become master of the Toukijin by merely picking up the blade. It had shared with him everything it was the moment he came into contact with it. This blade was far older and refused to surrender its knowledge so easily. But that didn't matter. In the end, it would yield to Sesshoumaru, just as the Toukijin had.

The wind picked up, blowing into their faces from the direction Naraku was coming from and bringing a renewed sense of his stench with it. Both demons were sure that this was no puppet approaching them, but Naraku himself. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru both picked up traces of the Kagura they knew, but it was just an undercurrent to Naraku's funk. There seemed to be at least one more approaching, but neither could be sure; the scent of Naraku was overpowering all other scents in the area.

Their wait was short. It wasn't long until a black cloud of miasma approached in a swirling, writing mass. The two unsheathed their accursed weapons, both eschewing battoujutsu techniques worthless with a straight, double-edged blade. The miasma parted and Kagura, Kanna and Naraku descended to the plain.

// \\

The three humans had been handed off by Naraku to a group of armed guards, though perhaps "armed monks" was more accurate. Lapis was the only one to recognize their garments as similar to or the same as the ones worn by Hakushin's group.

Akatsuki and Fressange glanced nervously about them as they stood. The guards were apparently waiting for something, but what it was none of the trio knew. One word cut through the silence around them and their guard, knotting the stomachs of all three at what that word meant.

"Jump."

// \\

Had the imposing father-figure of Sesshoumaru been present at his estate, things most likely wouldn't have been any less chaotic. It wasn't the just-under-control chaos of battle that normally exuded from seasoned space crews in a situation such as this. It was just pure chaos. The dining room once again reverted to a war room, as Ruri, Jun and the two admirals sought to keep everyone under control.

The Heirs of Mars materializing in the front yard was the first step into chaos. When they had first been spotted, things remained the expected, controlled chaos. Old and new members of the crew grabbed whatever weapon they could get if they had not brought their own (though Ruri wasn't sure if Gotoh had brought two assault rifles with him or if he had borrowed them from the house's collection) and prepared to keep the old threat out of their temporary home.

Then someone noticed Akatsuki and Fressange in the midst of the newcomers with a young girl between them. Suddenly all of both crews started arguing about if there was an enemy at all with the exception of the senior staff. Those most familiar with the two adults, the aforementioned senior staff, each held their own and differing opinion, though none, not even Ruri nor Jun, would voice it at this point.

Ruri walked to a window overlooking the point where the "guests" had jumped in and where they still stood, as if waiting for instructions. Her eyes searched through the crowd as Saburouta, Yurika and Akito walked up behind her.

Saburouta propped against the frame and silently counted how many there were. "Oi, Ruri-san, where do we stand?" he asked as he continued his count.

Ruri shook her head. "We don't even know yet what they're here for." Finally, she found the object of her search. With six of the robes surrounding them stood Inez, Nagare, and "'Lapis Lazuli-'"

'Nani?'

"Nani?" Akito asked, as if to echo the query from Inuyasha's mind.

'Ruri, what is it? You've been subconsciously blocking me, but I can tell your anxiety's increasing and it seems to have just doubled.'

'Baka. We can handle this. We've been through worse, and my anxiety is nothing compared to yours.'

'Correct on four counts. I suppose I should leave you to your fight.'

'And me to yours,' Ruri thought more to herself than to him.

'Be careful.'

'What, Sesshoumaru's son and Inuyasha's nephew telling someone to be careful?' she retorted.

'Baka.'

'Perhaps.'

Oblivious to a discussion they could not hear, Saburouta, Akito and Yurika located the trio Ruri had found a few moments before. Akito's eyes focused and refocused on the scene before him, trying to reconcile themselves to memories others had sought to lock away forever.

Yurika's eyes searched her husband's face with a query that made Ruri's earlier gaze look like a passing glance. "Akito, what is it?"

"I... I remember.." he stammered quietly.

"Akito-san, what do you remember?" Ruri questioned.

"Everything..." he replied softly.

// \\

Youkai regarded youkai, as the wielders of the Toukijin and the runeblade gauged their resurrected opponent's strength before attacking.

"You must be desperate for youkai blood, Naraku, to challenge this Sesshoumaru so brazenly."

"You're one to speak of brazenness, after I gave you so much to help you kill that pathetic half-brother of yours," Naraku returned.

"Which you followed by kidnapping one under my protection."

"A human wench shouldn't have mattered to the igreat/i Sesshoumaru."

"My matters are none of your concern, and your matters are none of mine. Yet when you hold captive someone a member of this house has chosen to protect, it is a matter which I cannot overlook."

"And when it involves the one I intend to marry," Inuyasha interrupted, "not overlooking means your blood on my sword." Inuyasha punctuated the threat by leaping forward with the Toukijin held high. He brought it down against their enemy but found it blocked by Kanna's barrier.

"I think, puppy," Kagura snorted, "that the two of you will have to defeat us before you can defeat Naraku."

"So be it," her former lover replied with equal snort.

// \\

"Ne! Akito! Ne, Akito!" Yurika called, chasing Akito as closely as she could. She was afraid that in a panic over regaining his forcibly-suppressed memories that he might disappear again, and his actions were worsening those fears. They had left the house and he was getting dangerously close to Ryoko's Aestivalis, with the house thankfully blocking the red machine from the view of the "guests" who had decided to drop in.

As he stopped to climb up into the cockpit, Yurika caught up the final steps and grabbed his sleeve. "You can't leave!" she exclaimed, the anger in her face betrayed by the sadness in her eyes.

His descent back to the prince of darkness stopped momentarily as he turned to look at her, halfway on the ladder to the cockpit and his eyes full of sorrow. "I... I have to, Yurika."

Her grip on his sleeve tightened. "Are you coming back?"

He tried to push the emotions away but couldn't and his eyes reflected it. "I hope so," he replied.

// \\

Admiral Misumaru opened the glass doors and stepped out onto a balcony overlooking the self-named Heirs of Mars. "What is it you're here for?"

One of them, apparently the leader of the group before them, stepped forward. "The great priest Hakushin whishes attendance from some said to be currently in this domicile. Since this domicile isn't yours, I'd suggest you let us in. I'm sure you don't want to have the repair bills on iyour/i tab, eh?"

"'Hakushin' died in battle with Tenkawa-kun two years ago. The body was recovered," Misumaru pointed out simply.

"One leader falls, another takes his place," the man replied with equal objectivity. "Now, may we come in and discuss this like gentlemen?"

Admiral Munetake stepped up beside Kochirou, and with drew his sidearm, firing a warning shot, which bounced off of the Successor's distortion field. "I don't quite think you're welcome here, and I'm quite certain that relieving us of our A- and B-class jumpers is imost/i unwelcome. I'd say this is especially true if one of them is marrying the son of the owner of this house which you're so worried about damaging."

"We will not abide by this peace!"

Saburouta looked over at Hari, "Oi, is this guy related to you?"

Misumaru Kochirou spoke, his tone even. "Whether or not there is peace or not is not the issue at the moment. At the moment, we request that you leave this place immediately and return our acquaintances you hold. We are prepared to use force if necessary."

On cue every window's sash and shutter opened to reveal rather displeased-looking UE Spacy officers and personnel. In a typical display of machismo, Gotoh Hori appeared on the roof wielding his weaponry.

The leader of the assemblage on the lawn smiled slightly. He was forced to admit that the band of misfits led by the two "past-prime" admirals and the Electronic Fairy did indeed have them outgunned at the moment. However, he still held his last card, which would be played... now.

Ruri and Admiral Misumaru formed the same glare as the flash before them subsided, while Munetake bore an amused smile and Jun let his jaw fall open slightly until his face reflected the anger welling up in him. Four of the same class Aestivalis used by the successors had boson-jumped into position behind their allies. Ryoko and Genpauchirou broke themselves from their stupor and raced towards where they had left their machinery.

// \\

Yurika had released Akito's sleeve and stepped back from him, tears welling up and threatening to erupt from her eyes. "I don't want you to leave again, Akito. Everyone needs you. Ruri, Ryoko, Lapis, and most of all... I need you, Akito."

The conversation was cut short by the appearance of the Aestivalis' owners bolting towards them. "N... nani?" was all Akito could think to greet them with.

"Akito-kun! They brought Aesti's!" Ryoko exclaimed breathlessly.

The Prince of darkness asserted itself in Akito's mind. "I have to borrow this," he said simply, his voice losing warmth by the syllable. He nodded to the Jovian, who made no reply but turned and headed for his own machine.

"Akito!" Yurika said loudly, causing Akito to stop where he was as he climbed into the mecha. "You will come back, or Ruri and I will hunt you to your grave!"

He looked back down to the ground where she defiantly stood, and the slightest trace of her Akito entered his eyes. "I know." He looked over to Genichiro and called "Youkoso!"

// \\

The four youkai had paired off against each other, the older of each pair fighting the younger of the other. Though to be fully accurate, Sesshoumaru and Kagura were fighting. To everyone present, the current Inuyasha was doing a very good impression of his late uncle by bouncing around Kanna and striking harmlessly at her barrier.

"Do you not tire of that?" she asked, the boredom evident in her voice. "Surely you do not use your sword to simply split firewood?"

The younger youkai smirked. "And if I do, that's my choice." He paused and coiled his arms, leveling his sword.

"So you finally come straight at me?" Kanna asked, squaring herself at him and aiming his mirror straight at him.

Kagura and Sesshoumaru mutually stopped their own fight in fear of the outcome beside them. Kagura did not want to admit that she still felt any kind of allegiance to the puppy, but still forced herself to hold her tongue to keep from uttering a cry of warning. Sesshoumaru however did admit he gave a damn about his offspring. He started to step forward but felt Kagura's fan rest with force against his arm. "And where are you going?" She asked snidely. "That's not your fight over there. It is your son's."

Sesshoumaru glowered at Naraku's offspring but said nothing. Naraku, however, was enjoying the display all four were putting on. "My, my, how children do behave," he observed with an evident smirk in his voice.

Inuyasha raced forward, but instead of trying to pierce the barrier he let loose a tremendous volley of Toukijin's projectiles, which Kanna sucked into her mirror. A split second later it regurgitated them in a violent display of light.

Sesshoumaru was convinced that his son had not survived and turned his attention back to Kagura, preparing to attack again. He paused, as her attentions had not returned to her own battle. He lifted his sword, intending to bring her back into focus so that he could dispatch with her and move on to the real goal of Naraku.

Kagura's attention, however, refused to waver from her older sister's battle, unconvinced that it was over. Sesshoumaru risked a glance over his shoulder, fearing trickery on Kagura's part. He found that he had fallen for the ploy that his son had hoped Kanna would fall for. Kanna had apparently taken the bait as she was still focused where he had attacked her from, unaware that he was gracefully sailing over her head and alighting behind her. He spun and held the blade in his left hand near the end of the tsuka, the tip of the Toukijin resting in the air above his outstretched right hand. His weight was shifted back, posed to throw itself forward as he considered his opponent in the split second she was unaware he was behind her.

Sesshoumaru noted that his son had not completely escaped injury, as a different shade of crimson stained a part of his robe. However, he felt his eyes widen at what he saw before him. The Toukijin began to glow with a blood-red light which he had only seen emanate from the Tetsusaiga. He knew that youkai no mizu were capable of casting barriers, particularly water barriers, but he was unaware that they could use any weapon to cut them or even that such techniques had been handed down by his former mate.

Kanna became aware that the returned attack did not have its intended effect and began to turn as Inuyasha lunged towards the point in the barrier he saw as weakest. The need for surprise gone, the youkai let loose a fearsome cry of "Gatotsu!" as the blade rammed into the barrier.

There was slight shock but no fear on Kanna face as she watched her barrier melt under the attack against it. She faced him and held out her mirror before him, unsure if she did so as a defense or as an offering. She watched dispassionately as he lifted the sword, holding it in both hands as he continued his rapid advance towards her. The usefulness of Gatotsu past, he swung the blade down towards her, striking the mirror but missing her completely. Her face betrayed no emotion as she watched the split mirror fall from her hands. The youkai swung again at the falling pieces and before they were able to touch the ground struck them again. The Toukijin vented its frustrations from being unable to strike anything earlier by splintering the frame into thousands of fragments.

The two combatants considered each other for a few moments as the other three watched, waiting for the death blow. Inuyasha instead turned and nodded to his father then addressed Kagura. "Gomen nasai, kagura-san. Kanna-san will fight no further, and we cannot allow you to either."

With that, he hurled the Toukijin at her like a spear, impaling her leg. The force of the blow drove her backwards a few feet before it lodged into the ground, effectively binding her. Sesshoumaru raised his black sword across his chest in preparation to attack their true target. "Cruel, perhaps, but nonetheless effective," he commented. "It's time to end this game."

The younger nodded. "Youkoso."

// \\

Akito loosed an animalistic war cry as he leaped the loaned Aestivalis over the roof of the estate. Two of the Successors' mecha remembered to raise their weapons and fire, but their shots were wide and sailed mostly harmless over the house. "Mostly" because one of the shots did manage to destroy the neighbor's pool house and another totaled a porsche a few doors down that its owner had just brought home that morning.

The mech-less successors scattered as the Nadesico's crew poured out of the house to subdue them in the confusion Akito created. Akito landed the red Aesti in between the two mecha who had fired upon him. Both leveled their weapons on him but he triggered the jump jets again as they fired, with the net result being a few rounds bouncing off of the Aestivalis' armour and the rest of the rounds embedding into each other. The two units rendered each other into completely ineffective hunks of metal before either of their pilots realized what they had done.

As Akito landed, he unfurled the Katar-like blades encased in the forearms of the mecha and dove forward towards the open back of one of the two still-standing units. The other pilot realized his peril, but not in time to do anything about it as Akito drove the blade into the shield generator,piercing the powerplant beyond. The final mecha found its trigger and turned to rain doom upon its enemy, but found its red unit one step ahead of it. Akito wheeled, still attached to the downed mecha and let the felled Successor shield his own mech from the rain of gattling fire. The Prince of Darkness flashed a brief smirk of triumph as he fired both arm's fists into the felled unit he held, turning a Gekigan-punch into something akin to Gekigan-body toss against the other unit. Genichiro 's Aestivalis arrived in time to see Akito recall the fists back to the unit and return the Katars back into the forearms, and to see the red Aestivalis standing triumphantly amid four scrapheaps formerly known as the Successor's mecha.

// \\

Inuyasha pulled the Tenseiga from his side as he moved to stand beside his father as the two regarded Naraku for a moment before destroying him. Naraku adopted his favorite smirk as he needled, "So, you're going to use a sword which can't cut against me? If you're going to stop playing games by playing another game, I suppose I'll take my leave of you now."

The two of the house of Inutaishou bore identical smirks as Naraku's retreat suddenly stopped when he bounced off of a barrier cast by the younger of the house. "What?" Inuyasha asked innocently, "Did you think that you held the rights to that or something? I suppose I should say something to make you further understand your position or at least scream out my attack, but screw it. I didn't ask for you to be revived, and I'd just like to get this fight over with. End of speech. So. Amakakeru. Ryu. No Hirameki."

Naraku simply accepted the attack, expecting the sword to do nothing to damage him. He felt a tremendous force across his torso which caused no small amount of discomfort, but nothing compared to a Miko's arrow. He smirked as the young youkai flew past. "Is that all?" he sneered.

"Yep, that it is. From me, at least," the demon replied, landing several feet behind Naraku.

Naraku's sneer lasted only a few seconds. The same amount of time, actually, that it took for Tenseiga's light to fade from around him. The hanyou suddenly felt as if the universe itself was trying to rip him apart. The Tenseiga's power was separating out every demon he had absorbed and resurrecting them, robbing him of his strength and his essence. Then, he saw his doom. Sesshoumaru was cleaving through the mass of newly-revived demons with the black blade his own minion had once wielded. He had never paid attention to the sword's voice before, but it was quite plain now. It sang joyously as it killed and drank the souls of the youkai that had once been a part of him. The Tenseiga had unfortunately not wholly disconnected them from him, and the searing pain of Sesshoumaru's hell-blade roared through him.

Inuyasha had leapt away from where he had landed behind Naraku, fearing that Sesshoumaru had not fully become master of the blade yet and as such his own father might inadvertently turn on him. If the mythos was true it would certainly not be the first such incident in the history of either runeblade. His more permanent landing had placed him beside Kanna, as he knew that if he stood beside Kagura he could not have kept himself from loosing her and placing his father in danger. He watched as Sesshoumaru drove the point of his blade into Naraku's throat. He saw a blur move beside him and turned to see Kanna fall down and begin gasping for air. He grasped the Tenseiga hilt, unsure of what to do, when Kanna rolled onto her stomach. Tenseiga lent him its perception, one which had had grown accustomed to seeing. It was the shadow world between life and death revealing itself before an outsider and still held the ability to weaken his resolve at times. He saw what it was that Tenseiga wanted him to see. It was the thread which connected the scar on Kanna's back with Naraku's. As Naraku's soul fought the Runeblade, it was also trying to reclaim Kanna's and Kagura's souls to fortify itself.

Kanna looked up at him as the youkai withdrew the Tenseiga from its scabbard, her eyes for once betraying her emotions and showing her fear and pain. She watched as his face hardened as he held the blade before him. "Aku. Soku. Zan," he chanted and swung. Kanna felt the blade pass along her back and suddenly felt Naraku's draw on her cease.

Inuyasha watched as she tried to get back to her feet but stumbled. He caught her and laid her out on the grass, the Tenseiga assuring him that she was fine. He quickly moved to where Kagura lay gasping on the grass and quickly repeated the procedure he had performed on Kanna, then removed the Toukijin and healed that wound as well. Kagura gathered herself on the grass, not even attempted to stand. "Certainly took you long enough, kisama."

Sesshoumaru felt the fight suddenly leave Naraku's soul and the blade quickly passed on the strength it gleaned from it. He wrenched his blade free of the corpse which was quickly turning into dust beneath him. He turned and walked towards his son, who was still kneeling next to Kagura. He looked down at the sword in his hand, which still cried for blood and souls. "You have seen all of the violence that there will be today," Sesshoumaru murmured to it. "Silence now."

The blade howled its protest and threw itself at the demon's son, causing Sesshoumaru to almost lose his grasp on the weapon. He stumbled forward and watched his son's face put on his youkai no mizu mask. The younger fluidly parried the blow with the Toukijin, which set up its own howl of protest at being used against the master it had so faithfully served for centuries. The two broke off from each other and the son slowly backed away from his father, sword held defensively in front of him. "I take it there was an under-estimation in the power of your weapon."

"So it would seem," Sesshoumaru returned, the blade twitching in his hands.

Kagura stumbled to her feet, aware of the peril before her but nonetheless feeling slightly giddy at truly being as free from Naraku as she thought she was almost a millennium before. She slowly walked to stand beside Inuyasha despite the rebuke in his eyes. "I think I know what I'm doing, puppy. I have several centuries on you after all."

An eyebrow was raised in reply. "Just be sure you remember you're fighting a weapon, not Sesshoumaru-sama."

"Fu, fu, fu," she retorted, hiding behind her fan. "All those quiet years, and all of a sudden we get two fights in a row where the enemy is a sword not its wielder."

"Whatever," Inuyasha replied, never taking his eyes off of the opposing blade. "Just promise me you'll be careful? We may not be mates but we're still allies."

"Always the softie," Kagura replied, her voice mellowing for battle. "I suppose that's what the doll sees in you. Quite a couple... the porcelain doll and the plushie puppy."

"Shut up and fight, temee," Inuyasha growled.

"That's better, Kagura returned, then without warning darted forward, loosing a volley of windblades.

Sesshoumaru saw the volley coming and suddenly felt oddly detached from the scene. He saw the runeblade leap to meet the onslaught, dragging his arm and his self with it. He tried to reassert himself as the blade's master, failing once again. He watched without hope as the hellbade sheared through the Fuujin no Mai and drove towards Kagura, who was caught unprepared for this event. Every figure of strength he contained battled with the blade to change its path with no success as it pierced Kagura.

For the only time he could remember, his eyes held remorse and apology as his gaze met hers. He heard his son howl in anger behind her and heard the boy drop the Toukijin to the ground. He wanted to tell his son of the futility of Tenseiga at this point but knew his son would ignore even the sword's advice. He watched as Inuyasha leapt over Kagura and collided with him, the force of the impact and Sesshoumaru's grip on the runelbade's hilt removing the sword from Kagura's dying body. Once he felt the blade free of her, he let it fly from his hand to let it fall satiated to the ground. He watched silently as his son drove the Tenseiga into the wound and prayed to the sword.

Sesshoumaru moved to stand beside his son, noting that Kanna was stirring. "Go. Take Kanna and return to the house. They may require assistance there. I shall bury Kagura."

Inuyasha withdrew his sword from the wound and gently laid Kagura on the ground, grateful that at least the body did not suffer the same fate her former master's had. He stood and sheathed the Tenseiga and silently retrieved the Toukijin. He walked over to Kanna and made his reply to Sesshoumaru with his back to his father. "There was indeed a threat at the house, but Ruri and the others have dealt with it. Not all mortals are weak. However, as you are head of this household, I will follow your commands."

He bent and scooped the smaller youkai up, setting her on his shoulder. "Youkoso, Kanna." he said, starting towards the house and leaving Sesshoumaru standing alone.

// \\

Epilogue:

Seth walked along the freshly-built path. His hunch was correct and he soon saw a familiar mane seated by a tombstone on the hill. As he approached, it occurred to him that this was probably the only location on the considerable Inutaishou estate where the ocean was visible. He crossed himself before Kagura's tombstone and seated himself beside the youkai.

"I was in Japan anyways, and was going to stop by and invite your son to come back with me, but I hear Nergal gave him his job back."

"Indeed," Sesshoumaru replied. "Less than twenty-four hours after it becomes evident that the Successors wish to rebuild, the board of Nergal changes its tune."

"They find who's claiming the 'Hakushin' title now?"

"You know what I know. A task force has been created to handle it."

"A task force of one man, I suppose," Seth remarked dryly.

Sesshoumaru shrugged. "Lapis is by his side again, and is keeping in contact with Yurika and Ruri. Akito will not disappear again."

"Heh, I suppose not. By the way, if you ever see that Gigi, kick his ass for me."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, he disappeared on me. Same night Kagura left, actually."

"That certainly explains some things," Sesshoumaru said quietly.

"Eh? Oh, whatever." Seth stood, taking in the vista before leaving. "News also said the Nadesico D was launching. Hoshino her captain?"

The youkai nodded slowly. "With Yurika as resident Admiral and the Chairman in tow."

"Sounds like quite a circus."

"That ship always is. You said you had meant to ask my son to return with you. Have you need of assassins?"

"Just potentially lethal force. What about Kanna?"

"As you said, the ship is quite a circus. One more silver-haired fairy won't make a difference," Sesshoumaru said as he rose, slinging the black blade over his shoulder. "I have already prepared to wander for a few years, and came here to contemplate which direction I should wander in. Shall we?"

// \\

Once again not all our questions had answers. We can only assume that Naraku consumed the assistant professor who released him, but we don't know. Akatsuki-san and Fressange-san never told us why they aided the Heirs either, but we can assume it was to aid Lapis...

// \\

Final thoughts...

Well, that's all, folks. If something about the ending doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll try to put a bow on it for ya. I think I've covered all the questions I intend to leave in an unanswered state. After all, it's Nadesico, so we can't have all the answers, can we?

Naze Nani!


So Maia (search for the author Maia Serrelinda) was ragging on me about how one day she was going to go through and count all the "in jokes" I put in my story. So, since everything's finished up with this story, I decided to beat her to the punch. The parts I considered jokes are numbered for each chapter, and anything marked with X is commentary or "not a joke" segments. So, without further ado, here you go:


Chapter 1


1. "Peace and long life, Inutaishou Inuyasha"

This one's pretty obvious, this is the first half of the famous vulcan salute.


2. "Master Project List"

For anyone not in the corporate world, yes, these really do exist.


3. Dean and Greg

Reverse the names, then go read reallifecomics.com. I guess it could also be pointed out that the character Greg is at least a little influenced by Wolfwood from Trigun.


4. Kobiyahshi Maru

Yes, yes, it refers to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn. Kaaaaaaaaaahhhhn!


5. Doctor Urashima of Tokyo University.

Inu's professor back in the day was indeed that Keitaro Urashima. Counting as part of this is the whole Hinata House bit. Though, as Keitaro's grandson, you'd think that he'd at least believe in cursed and possessed weapons. Go figure.


6. "Front"

...is a reference to Jubal Hershaw's, er, system in Heinlen's Stranger in a Strange Land.


X. Star Trek Protocol

Star Trek's protocol is a little more defined than Nadesico's seems to be, and since it influences Nadesico anyways, it seems natural to bring it in. Therefore, it's not really a joke per se, just something to point out.



Chapter 2


1. Bell peppers and beef from a cook named Jet.

Bebop. At least this one has beef in it.


2. Fluffy's car, music, and driving.

A parody of all cop shows from the 80's, up to and including Magnum and what apears to be Fluffy's favorite, Miami Vice.



Chapter 3


1. "Who's the master when it comes to making up some..."

This actually isn't as much a Star Trek joke as it is a Voltaire joke. It's a line from his "The U.S.S. Make Sh*t Up" (sic)


2. Shiner Bock

I'm from Texas. We don't let Zeiggenboch out of the state.


3. Ruri eating Tiramisu

Yes, I do indeed know someone who refuses to eat the bottom half of tiramisu


4. "...only nee-san..."

More Star Trek.


5. "...flicked open a..."

Again, more Star Trek.



Chapter 4


1. Title

It's a joke referring to Mechwarrior II. Load up a madcat or raven with a bunch of lasers and don't stop shooting. You'll see what I mean.


2. The thump to the head.

Sagare Sanosuke, at your service.


3. "Staring up at her with Giant puppy- dog eyes

Yeah. He's being a dead ringer of his uncle here


4. "And now. Go to Hell."

The original line was ''Go to Hell, motherfucker," mimicing From Dusk til Dawn but, you know. Kids reading this and all. Even though I rated it R.


5. The whole ''she cold choose you over me" thing.

This is indirectly influenced by Dracula


6. Bite-/byte-sized, bit-sized pieces.

I know it's a lame, over-used computer joke, but it was funny, huh foo?



X. Shutting Omoikane down.

For those not in I.T., yes, it really can take this long and include this much work to shutdown systems as large and complex as Omoikane. Frankly, if it were anybody else but Ruri it'd probably take 3-4 engineers working most of a day to coordinate something like this.


X. Hari's Sword,

This isn't an in-joke really, as these kinds of swords tend to be pretty prevalent in Anime – the Hinata blade of Love Hina, Tetsusaiga, Tenseiga, and Toukijin of Inuyasha, etc.



Chapter 5


1. Ultra-violence

Clockwork Orange. Not Cartoon Network.


2. IPSCSI

Lookit me, skirting trademarks. iSCSI is a protocol of IBM's... I figure this might be a future, open standard. Oh, and for those who like Naze Nani, I mean the acronym to be Internet Protocol Small Computer Systems Interface.


3. Ruri & the droplets of blood in the air scene.

This is based off of an existing image of Ruri, though in the original it's flower petals wafting around, not blood. I think it was the back of a VCD or something, as well as a pencil board.


4. "...and there really wasn't a place in this era..."

Kinda quoting Shishio here. At least, his spirit's behind it.


5. El Ray

It's gonna be all beans and rice and tortillas, Richie. (Dusk 'til Dawn)


6. The shuttle's shape...

... is pretty much ripped straight out of star Trek, even though they never used Runabouts this way.


7. Seth.

Yep, I see Seth as a descendant of the same one who fought vampires at the Tittly Twister. Did they look like psychos? No. They were fucking vampires. Psychos don't explode when sunlight hits them.


8. "Your shit is most certainly not togther."
While I try to keep Sess's son's mouth cleaner than his uncle's, corrupting this quote was too much fun to pass up. And this exchange used to be a lo more profane. Once again, watering things for the kiddies. The original, again from From Dusk 'Til Dawn, was "now is my shit together or is my shit together?"



Chapter 6


1. Oro!

Kenshin, obviously. Where else have you heard that (un)word?


2. "... was a sword twice the length of Tetsusaiga or Tenseiga"

Indeed, this is intended to be the sword of the dhampir D from Vampire Hunter D.


3. The shots scene.

Geez, why don't I just call this "Nadesico: Inuyasha: From Dusk 'Til Dawn"?


4. "He began caterwauling..."

For those that need it spelled out, Sess was singing the Motor City Madman's "Cat Scratch Fever."


5. "... to know his face was nearing incandesance..."

From the Nadesico Thumbnail Theatre of the Christmas Episode. Gotoh Hoary: I have achieved Incandesance.



Chapter 7


1. Dean in the access panel.

Scotty. Jefferies Tubes.



Chapter 8


1. "How about I give you the finger..."

Hmmm.... Sess quoting The Matrix....


2. "I-nu-yasha."

The way the dub actor says it amuses me. Bugger off.



Chapter 9


1. McLeoud

Okay, so the whole thing's a lame Highlander Joke. At least the character knows it.


X. Blood and Souls...

This isn't a joke, but a direct rip from the Elric Saga, and I figured I should point it out for anyone who hasn't read any of the works. "Blood and Souls for Arioch!" Is the battle cry of Elric, as well as a phrase he uses in summoning his patron demon.



Chapter 10


1. "You say that word a lot..."

Riping off Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride.


2. "A fine mess..."

Abbott and Costello


3. "So, would he count..."

I'll break the trend and point out a Nadesico joke, since it may not have come out very well – Saburouta is ripping off Ruri's "are you a good guy or a bad guy?" she asked of Akatsuki in the movie.



Chapter 11


None that I could remember, actually....



Chapter 12


1. The chapter's title

This is one Nadesico joke I have to makr for those who've only seen the ADV Sub of the movie. Don't know if the line made it into the dub or not, but in the fansub I have (or the VCD rip, dunno which), this is what Akatsuki says after the pan smacks him in the head.


2. "Tales from the Meiji..."

Pretty obvious reference to Rurouni Kenshin, The Wandering Samurai: Tales from the Meiji Era. How much longer could that title get?


X. The Fountain.

It made an appearance in the first story, and makes one here. However, there's no joke. Maybe between Fluffy and his son, but none from me. Just kind of a "this one time, at insert-camp-type camp..."


// \\


So I guess the final count's 41. Unless I missed some. Which is possible. Damn, needed one more and it'da been perfect. 'Less you want to count that one as the 42nd, which would be appropriate.


I haven't figured out if I want to do anything else with this crossover/au... thing I've created. May go off the deep end and follow Sess and Seth around in the next one. I dunno if I want to follow Ruri and Inu into space. Granted, the fanboy in me wants Ruri to have someone like Yurika & Akito have each other, but at the same time I don't know if I want to keep going until her story closes, you know? Granted, if ever there is more Nadesico, I'll be already conflicting with the canon at this point. :) We'll see, I suppose. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to contact me either at the address in my profile or through iyami-sama@serial-experiments.org. Although you could also PM me (Count_Twit) over at peacefuldays.org – if you've made it this far you're probably a die-hard Nadesico fan and the webmaster overthere's always looking for fresh blood and souls... er, new members :)


Later!