Okay, took my dear sweet time, but it's done.  And Akira-chan only got to annoy me once.  How sad.  Well, this is a weird chapter.  Very weird.  In fact, I don't like it.  But I like the events, because I do.  Fear my power.

Well, gonna go work on the other story.  Which should be done already.  Ah, oh well.  Enjoy. . .and it won't hurt to R&R, will it?  ^~

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.  Honestly.  Even my soul isn't mine.  I sold it awhile ago. . .now I have nothing to sell.  This sucks.  But if you touch Akira, Megan, Biiru, Ang, or this plot, my sold soul will hunt you down and eat you.  I bet you taste good.

~*~

". . ." Inuyasha watched Akira fired another fireball.  And as Biiru dodged again.  And another hut burst into flames.  "Oh.  My. God."

"You could have done something!"

"Why didn't you?!"

"I did!"

Another fireball.  "I wasn't allowed to do anything!"

Another dodge.  "What are you, a lemming?!"

"Stop calling me that!"

"No!"

"God!"

Another fireball.  Another dodge.

"Hey!  You two wanna stop destroying the village?"

The two turned and looked at him.  Akira was floating in the air, fireball at the ready, while Biiru was almost cowering behind a shield.  Akira yelled, "Yes!"  And Biiru screamed "No!"  They resumed their big dodging-firing of fireballs.  Inuyasha growled to himself.

"Fine.  Then I'll kill you both!"

"Shut up!"  Akira fired a fireball at the hanyou.  He jerked the Tetsusaiga out of the sheath and swung it, knocking the fireball back at her.  She batted it back at him, watching it with interest until she got bored, and then allowed it to hit her.

After the smoke cleared, Akira was still hovering there, not a hair on her head disturbed.  Inuyasha blinked.  "Nani. . .how are you alive?"

"Oh, fire can't kill me.  I don't feel temperatures.   That's why I'm the miko of fire!"

"And you can't stand water, huh?"

She growled at Biiru.  "Go away, lemming!"  She threw another fireball at him, which instead of exploding seemed to take great joy in following him around and nudging him.  His robes were in great danger of catching fire.

She turned back to Inuyasha, ignoring the mixed cries from behind her of, "I'm not a lemming!"  "Ouch!"  "Hot!"

"What were you saying?"

He shook his head.  "And you two are friends?"

She shrugged.  "You could say that.  Mutual acquaintances through Ang.  Which reminds me. . .she okay now?"

He rolled his eyes.  "You all were about to let her die. . .?"

She shook her head.  "Course not.  Kagome may be a miko, but she's not used to her powers.  She can't use them on command.  Us being in the room would make her powers really spastic, since we have greater power."

"Why?"

"Because we're allied with gods.  There are three commoner types of miko.  A regular miko, like Kagome, a Miko, or one allied with the gods, and an empty miko.  One who has lost their alliance with the gods.  Then there are ones that are mixed, and it gets kinda complicated."

"How?"

She sighed.  "A regular miko allies with a god, breaks the alliance, joins with another god, and continues the pattern.   They retain slight powers after they leave, so they'd be really powerful."

He shrugged.  "Whatever.  You two need to stop destroying the place."

Akira looked around.  A few buildings had caught on fire.  Her eyes glazed over.  She glared at Inuyasha.  "You call this destruction?"

He shrugged again.  "Not really.  But you're getting there."

"You wanna see destruction?"

She turned, and gathered a huge fireball in her hand.  Inuyasha watched with a sense of growing apprehension.  Wonder if Kagome will kill me if I killed her?

Akira practically growled as she tossed the immense fireball down at the ground.  Inuyasha didn't even bother trying to knock it back at her; he just jumped out of the way.  It hit the ground with an explosion, catching the nearby area on fire, but destroying most of it.  Inuyasha stared at her in shock.

"What are you thinking? People live here!"

"I don't care!"

She readied another fireball.  Biiru jumped in the air next to her, and grabbed her wrist, and stared directly into her eyes.  "Akira. Calm down."

She glared back at him, and tried to force her fireball down on her head.  He didn't move at all, even when a stray strand of hair caught on fire.  Inuyasha blinked.  He must really trust her. They're both psychos.

Eventually, they both let their magic drift them to the ground, and Biiru let go of her hand, and Akira allowed the fireball to shrink.  "Don't blame in on Inuyasha.  If you need to see him suffer, don't kill the townspeople. He doesn't care about them."  She nodded. "Now, if you were in a large, barren field, this would be different.  But not in a populated area."

She nodded.  "Fine."

Kaede pushed aside the cloth on her door.  "What is going on out here?  I can hear a fire. . ."  She looked at the village.  "What have you done?"

Akira sighed.  "Long story short, I threw a fireball at it."

"People will die!"

From inside the hut, Ang's voice drifted out.  "Two people have died.  Three are close to death.  And twenty others are probably going to die."

"How could you know that?"

"I used to be the Priestess of Death, wasn't I?  I can sense when people are going to die.  Want to know how you'll die, Miroku?"

"Ang!"  Biiru snapped at her, obviously annoyed.  "Enough!  How are we gonna save them?"

"Call a rainstorm."

"Do you know how?"

"No.  Kagome might be able to, but it'd take too long to teach her.  Your best bet. . .is just to try to save them all."

Biiru nodded.  "Fine.  Akira, you're immune to the fire.  Start looking.  Inuyasha, go with her.  You can probably sense the people.  You can smell through the smoke, right?"  He nodded.  "Good.  Go."

Inuyasha looked like he was going to protest, but thought better of it when Kagome came out of the hut.  They ran off.  Megan and Miroku trailed her, but Ang didn't make an effort to make, since she didn't come out.  "Kaede, you should probably make some kind of medicine that will ease the pain of those who were burned.  Miroku, can you suck in flames with your hand?"

He looked surprised he knew about it, but affirmed he could.  "Good.  Go and try that.  Megan, go with him and try to move the people out of the area."

"What are you going to do?"

He smirked.  "I can see those who are alive and those who are already dead.  If I get to the dead ones within five minutes of their death, I can restore them."

Megan nodded.  "Yosh.  Let's go."

~*~

Kaede looked at Ang.  Her eyes were half open, but she seemed to be staring directly at what Kaede knew to be the heart of the fire.  Miroku was sucking at it, but Biiru advised against using his hand too often.  And, taking in large chunks of the fire did burn Miroku.  Biiru had healed him several times already.

"You could help, you know."

Ang looked at her.  "I could."

Kaede waited for her to say something else, but she didn't.  Finally, she said, "Why don't you?"

"Because the dead aid me."

"Biiru is saving them."

"Only the living.  The living are of no help to me."

"How so?"

". . .My job as a Priestess was to take souls that did not wish to pass on.  After I finished them, I could use the power they had in their soul for myself.  Although demons are much more helpful. . .humans have a degree of power in their souls."

"You're using the souls of the dead to give yourself power?"

"It's harder to store now.  Shi won't help me anymore.  Most of it is going into curing me."

". . .So you're using their souls to heal yourself."  She didn't say anything.  Kaede resumed stirring her salve, mulling over that.  It disturbed her.  Using the souls of the dead was wrong.  They had earned their peace.

"It's no different from what your sister does."

Kaede looked sharply at her.  "What do you mean?  Kikyo does not steal from the dead."

"No.  She simply takes from the living.  What's worse, taking something the owner is not using and never will, or taking something the owner needs and is using?"

". . .How do you know about this?"

"I listen.  I've learned bits and pieces over the month or so I've been here.  So. . .her name is Kikyo?"

Kaede didn't answer.  Sister. . .if I justify what you are doing, I justify this girl.  And yet I cannot fault you.  The salve was done.  Kaede took it outside to heal the wounded, leaving Ang behind, silently absorbing the souls of the dead.

~*~

Today's usage: 14

Record: 73