Inuyasha stood up, still holding Ang.  Kagome waved a hand in front of Biiru's face.  "Biiru?  What's wrong?"

"No use, Kagome."  She turned and looked at Inuyasha with surprise.  "Biiru's practically gone into shock.  Whatever she did to him, it's damn effective."

"She. . .she said it wasn't an attack."  They looked at Meg.  "I was talking to her before you all came back.  About how little energy she still had.  But she said the spell she was casting wasn't an attack spell."

"We believe you. . .Inuyasha," Kagome said, turning to face the hanyou.  "Why don't you put Ang in the other room?  Unless you want to keep carrying her."

Inuyasha looked surprised.  "Oh.  Sure. . ." He walked into the other section of Kaede's hut, wondering idly why the girls had nicer pillows.  With surprising gentleness for a half-demon, he put her down on a mat, and drew some covers up, since she looked so pale.  . . .Damn. . .getting soft. . .  He stood up, and walked out of the room, casting her one last glance.

"So, what are we going to do?  Biiru-"

"Oy, Kagome, where did he go?"  Inuyasha looked around.  In the thirty seconds he had been gone, Biiru had disappeared.

Kagome glowered at him.  "If you let me finish. . .Biiru went to lie down.  He's still out of it.  I don't think he's ready to come back down to earth yet.  We'll have to let him recover before we can ask him any questions.  Ang seems at peace with what she did. . .she didn't try to hurt anyone or yell after she did it. . .she smiled.  She might tell us what she did, but probably not how to un-do it.  She probably doesn't have the energy to fix it anyway.  Which takes up all the Priests."

"What about Akira?"

"I don't know.  She might be able to fix it, but then again, she might not know what to do."

"When is she coming back?"

"It's not like I'm keeping tabs on everyone!  Demo. . .I think Ang said Akira would probably be back sometime tomorrow.  Until then. . .we'll have to wait."

~*~

Akira tiredly pushed a tree branch out of her way.  I knew I should have stayed a night.  Oh well. . .too late.  She forcibly secured the branch behind another tree, and then continued to pull the cart behind her.  "I want a horse," she whined.

"Then why not ask?"

"Kaji!"  She dropped the cart handle, and glomped the man.  He smiled, and hugged her back.  "Kaji-kun!"

"You're supposed to call me Kaji-sama, you know."

"You'll always be Kaji-kun to me."

He laughed.  "And I thought you were tired.  Oh," he said, still laughing at her earnest nod, "Don't worry.  I know you are."  He examined the heavy cart of gold, and shook his head ruefully.  How did she carry it so far?  "All you had to do was ask me for money, Akira."

"I know.  But I wanted to earn it myself.  I wouldn't have felt like I had really made up for what I had done if I hadn't made this money on my own."

Kaji nodded.  "I understand.  That's just like you.  But, Akira, I have two reasons for coming down here, other than visiting you.  I have to ask two things of you.  Firstly. . .I can't let you kill Inuyasha."

"Demo-demo-demo-!"

He held up a silencing hand.  "I know.  But Inuyasha must not be killed.  He's the best protection you can have in a time like this.  He may be. . .a bit cruel, but that's totally accidental.  He's actually rather nice.  No killing Inuyasha."

". . .Fine."

"And the other request is easier."  He paused for a moment, and then shook his head.  "A long time ago, Shi Issey, and I were in a situation similar to the one we are in today.  They attempted a merger, and failed.  Biiru was forced to forget, Ang forced to suffer the memories, and I have removed the painful part of the memories from your mind to ease your mind.  I thought it would be kinder to forget. . ."

"Why does Ang hate Biiru?"

"Ang has given Biiru back his memory."  Akira paled.  "Yes, she broke a god seal.  I'm sure she'll be in great trouble when Shi gets around to punishing her, if Issey ever gets around to checking on his seals.  But since they remember, I think you should too.  It'd be. . .unfair, shall we say, if you couldn't."  She nodded.  "I'll give you a horse, and then your memory.  The horse can pull, and you can think about it until you get back to Kaede's."

"Yosh."  Kaji ruffled her hair.  "Hey!  That was mean, Kaji-kun!"  Kaji laughed, and summoned up a horse for her.  "Ooh. . .pretty. . ."

"This is my horse.  She's smart; when you regain your memory, you're going to be too distracted by a lot of it to think clearly.  She's surefooted, smart, and fast. . .she'll protect you if any harm where to come to you.  And she'll keep you out of trouble."

"That implies I'd get in trouble."

Akira climbed on the mare.  She was black, but instead of having white socks, fire designs paraded up and down her forelocks, which actually gave off a slight glow.  "Akira, trouble follows you like demons follow the Shikon no Tama.  I'll talk to you later, Priestess."

"Hai, Kaji-sama."

"Be good."

He gently laid a finger on her temple, and then left.  The mare began walking, and pulled the cart along with her.  Akira silently began to sort through her regained memories.

"Oh, Ang. . .is that why you hate Biiru?"

~*~

Biiru could hear in the other room.  The quiet talking wasn't blocked at all by the thin walls.  Miroku had left a little bit ago, disturbed by the silent Priest.  They were quietly discussing the turn of events.  From what he heard, Ang was still breathing, although highly irregularly.

God. . .Ang. . .how could you hate me?  How could you?  He silently tightened his hands.  It's not puppy love!  It's deeper than that!  I love you!

He suddenly stood up.  The others will want to know now.  Now that I can explain it to them, it is my duty as a Priest to explain it to them.  Avoid future problems with this topic.  Plus, Akira isn't here, and Ang won't do it. . .she didn't want me to know, and I'm part of the memory.

He walked back out into the gathering room, and sat down in an opening in the circle.  Everyone stared at him in surprise.

"Biiru, are you okay now?  Do you feel better?  You. . .that looked like a pretty powerful spell."

"Hai, Kagome-san.  Daijobu."  He looked at the girl's side of the tent, hoping to see some movement.  "And Ang. . .?"

"You shouldn't be worrying about her yet, Biiru.  Ang will be fine; you should worry more about yourself right now."  He waved his hand at Kagome, dismissing her advice in annoyance.  "Fine, then.  Here.  There's some of the stew we had for dinner left over."

He accepted it, silently nodding his thanks.  "I'm guessing you all want to know why Ang hates me, now that I know. . ."

"Hell ya!"

"Inuyasha!"  Kagome glowered at him, and he shrugged.  "Only if you want to tell us, of course. . ."

"Spit it out!"

"Miroku!"

"I wanna know!"

Biiru sighed.  "It's okay.  I'll tell you.  It's no longer a secret, after all. . .and in case I forget again, you should be able to help me remember again.  Because I don't want to keep forgetting this."

He paused, gathering his thoughts.  ". . .At certain set times, all Priestesses and Priests-I will call them all Priests from now on, simply because the author is sick of typing 'Priestesses and Priests'-gather.  Get to know newcomers, consider alliances, learn new powers. . .it's like a secret convention for God-endorsed people.  Well, Akira, Ang, And I all met there when we were very young. . .I think maybe only ten or eleven.  We were really only Priests in training.  We hung out; together, trained together. . .we were comrades.  All that good stuff.

"Anyway, we stuck together.  Issey and Shi wanted Ang and I to be with each other, and Akira was our friend.  Kaji wanted us to be happy.  Kaji always has been. . .the most interesting in looking out for Akira, not himself.  He has enough power to be secure, so he's not interested in anything other than her happiness.  So he, naturally, had no interest in a merger with anyone.  Shi and Issey are powerful, and power corrupts.  They both wanted. . .more."

"I'm willing to wager they had designs for us for a long time, probably from the moment we met.  Life and Death are powerful forces.  Why bother making a powerful weapon if its life can be taken away from it in moments?  Or the ability to restore life to all of its dead allies in a single motion.  It makes sense they would want a weapon that could do that.  And if our powers were merged together, then such a weapon would exist.  It makes sense they would want a merger.  We had no right to refuse a demand from them for a merger."

Sounds like he's trying to convince himself of that as much as he's trying to convince us.  Is he trying to justify something, or is he just unsure of his actions now?  Inuyasha was tempted to ask, but he didn't want to distract him.

"Over time, I got. . .feelings for Ang.  I told her that, but she wanted to stay friends.  But I still loved her.  Akira told me I was stupid, but I kept trying to convince Ang she should love me.  But she pushed me away. . .but kept us friends.

"One day, when we were-I think maybe fifteen-Shi and Issey told us they planned on a merger when we were a little older.  I was fine with that; I was ecstatic.  Ang was crushed.  I remember her crying that day.

"I told Issey I'd do it in a heart beat.  Ang didn't give an answer for three days, but when she did, she said no.

"Have you ever seen her arms?  They're covered in scars.  Deep scar tissue neither of us or any other can heal.  The marks of the fury of a goddess.  When Ang said 'no,' Shi was so furious she nearly killed her.  That's the reason Ang had so much of Ang's energy in her.  She used her energy to save her after nearly killing her because she felt guilty about it.

"I don't know what exactly Shi said to her, but it was basically, 'You don't have a choice.'  Ang didn't try to get better. . .which is why she was still living off so much of Shi's power.

"We had hoped eventually she'd simply like the idea, or just give in to Shi's demands.  But no matter what anyone said or did, no matter which death threat Shi threw at her, she hated the idea.  So one day, Shi and Issey wanted to talk to me, without Ang knowing.  I snuck off-Ang was happy to pretend to not see me, after all-and we met in the woods.  They had decided that it was time to simply force Ang into the agreement.  After all, if we could get her to agree once, she would be eternally bound to her word.  That's why we rarely seriously give our word on anything.  That also means. . .I'm trapped by my word forever also.

"They gave me a high-level spell to control her will, and the power to cast the spell on her.  All I had to do was use the spell and then tell her to inform Shi she had agreed on the merger, and the whole thing would be over with.

"I went back to camp, debating over whether it would be right to cast such a spell on someone I loved.  I spent the whole day in silent thought, wondering if it would be better to live with Ang's love being forced, or winning her true love, and having that for the rest of my life.  After all, forced love is totally unconditional.

"Akira knew something was up, but Kaji had asked her to please stay out of the whole issue between Shi and Issey, and anything related to the merge.  So all I had to do was tell her it was related to that and she would sigh, and go back to whatever it was she was doing.  Ang wasn't as easy to lie to.  I ended up telling her I was debating if I should leave for a mission or stay with her.

"That night, I snuck into her room, and I finally made my decision."

"You didn't cast it."

Biiru looked surprised at the interruption, and shook his head at Kagome.  "I never said that, Kagome-sama.  That night, I ended up casting the spell on Ang.  She woke up the next morning, unable to make major decisions without me affirming whatever it was.  She didn't realize it, because the spell is very subtle.  But. . .

"I couldn't command her to agree to it.  I knew she didn't want to, and that it'd be against everything she is if I forced her into it.  So I didn't do it.  I commanded her to make her own decisions.  But, if I ever give her an order in the proper form, she'd have to obey it.  Sloppy planning on the gods' part.  They must have been very desperate at that point.

"So the gods still didn't have what they wanted.  Furious at me, because I hadn't 'done my duty,' they told Ang about the spell.  She was absolutely livid at me.  She stomped off as soon as she could without a word to Akira or me.  Shi and Issey started contracting again, and forced Akira and I to forget. . ."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes.  Finally, Inuyasha shook his head in disgust.  "Pretty low, Biiru.  Trying to force her to love you, even though you know she doesn't.  That's one of the sickest things I've heard in my life."

Biiru glared at him across the flickering firelight.  "And what that the priestess, hanyou koinu?"

The two glowered at each other, each refusing to break the gaze.  The room shifted uneasily; it two of its more powerful components locked in a death-match through those little things called eyes.  Kaede morosely wondered how much more her home could take before just giving up totally.  "So," Megan said, trying to break the mood, "she hates you because you can control her?"

"But I wouldn't!"

Inuyasha chuckled darkly.  "Doesn't matter, Biiru.  Just because you could, she hates you.  That's the way her mind works.  She doesn't hate you as much as she hates your power over her.  Until you're wiling to give up that power over her, you could never convince her to love you, Priest."

". . .So, what exactly are you saying?  Drop the spell?  Then she won't hate me?"

"It's not as much of hate as. . .extreme dislike?"

Biiru glowered at the half-demon's answer/question.  "Extreme dislike and hate are the same damn thing, baka!"

Inuyasha stood up, looking a little too eager for Kagome's liking.  "Would you like to take this outside, Biiru?"

Biiru stood up and nodded.  "Gladly, hanyou."

"Osuwari."

Inuyasha hit the floor a little harder than usual, practically growling at the dark-haired girl as he managed to pull his face up from the ground.  She ignored his threatening growls.  "Little. . .!"

"Shame on the both of you!  We don't have time for acting like two-year-olds," despite the fact Inuyasha always acts like that. . . "And we don't have the time to be fighting!  Biiru, you're still a little shaken by that spell Ang cast on you.  You haven't regained your full strength.  And Inuyasha, you're supposed to be protecting us, not trying to kill us by making a hut collapse on our heads!"

". . .I wasn't going to hurt the hut.  Just Biiru."

"You should be protecting us from demons!"

There was a large crashing sound aside, and a disturbing howl.  Like what Inuyasha might have sounded like if he had somehow managed to get his ear trapped inside a strange demented form of a Pop Tart.

Miroku sighed.  "Speaking of demons. . ."

~*~

See, Akira!  It's posted.  Nyah!  Um. . .hooray, now we wait for the next chapter?