Hurray, hurrah, hurroo! Guess what I saw yesterday? Spirited Away! It is one of the greatest anime movies I have ever seen, ever! If you haven't seen it already, GO. Even though it's dubbed, Disney actually did a reasonable job. And Kohaku's in it! (you'll see)

Disclaimer: I own kitty ears. But no doggy-ears.

Chapter 6

Flames

Winged as it was, the demon was having trouble making through the skies of the underworld. The black and dreary skies were filled with the cries of the dammed and often jets of cold air would plummet its flight. But it kept steadily on, flying through pathways of polluted clouds and stagnant air, making its way to it's lord.

The crow demon was a common creature of pestilence in Hell, and thus not regarded as any type of suspicion. That was why its master used it and the small brained creature was proud of it's usefulness. It was too stupid to realize that if it died there were hundreds of others of it's kind, willing to give their loyalty for a hunk of flesh. It was why many demons had joined. The promise of soul was tantalizing, the promise of flesh enough to make any common demon turn its head.

All it had to do was watch what it was told to watch and then report back, all while avoiding the high areas and the Great Lords. What the crow saw and heard was The Master's business and The Master's business alone.  Therefore, to keep away from the Lords The Master stayed in this dank hole, swarming with enough pestilence to make a rat squirm.

The demon banked left, recognizing the smell that could only be the poisonous pit of a volcano The Master made his home in. The crow demon avoided rocks, clouds and the odd demon here and there to make it's way into a small hole made solely for it. The Master took no chances and offered no mercy to followers. 

The crow followed the small tunnel until it came to a cave in the heart of the volcano. Inside was less horrid then the out, where at least a few trees grew. Dead trees, but decoration nonetheless. And in the center stood an ancient Japanese-style castle, encircled by a wall of bones and a moat of blood.

The demon cawed twice as it had been instructed, heralding it's presence. It landed on a femur bone by a window, waiting to be brought inside. The window was opened quickly and roughly and the hard eyes of a humanoid female demon, dressed in a classic kimono and carrying a fan, met the eyes of the crowbird. The delicately painted mouth was in a dainty frown as the demon surveyed the scruffy demon.

"You're late." She sniped harshly, stepping aside so that the crow could fly in to deliver it's news. The demon ignored her comments, as she was merely a servant like it since class and rank meant nothing to a demon of it's low intelligence, and flew right past her. The female demon slammed the window behind it, catching a few tail feathers, and sneered in it's direction. "The Master was expecting you nearly half an hour ago."

Crow demons have no sense of time, but the demon didn't even know that much to tell her, if it could tell her anyway. It's voice was only for The Master, for he had made it so.

The demon flew down the corridor and into another dimly-lit room, opened by the female again. The chamber inside was decorated in ancient Japanese fashion, although lit only by two lamps of witch fire, making the interior impossibly cold. Tattered tapestries depicting gruesome tortures hung on the wall and rotting, bloodstained carpets lay across the floor. The paper windows were bloodstained and let nearly no light through, and the place stank of incense. In the center of the floor on a circular mat hand woven from the hairs of humans sat a demon that emitted such a powerful aura he seemed to glow even to the lesser youkai. The Master's face was hidden beneath the blue skull of a bamboo demon, his body cloaked by the same demons white fur.

The crow flew in and landed in front of The Master, cawing it's news to the lord. As the crow spilled it's news the greater demon never moved and sat there as if dead. Only when the crow demon finished did any sign of movement occur, when underneath his mask The Master smiled.

"As I, Naraku have thought, she is the Reborn." He said quietly, to either himself or the crowbird. "And stronger then I thought, having already mastered her powers. Pity though, I almost wished the grave robber had lived. It's much better to hear these things from experience."

The crow cawed again, reminding The Master of something it may not have said earlier, which it hadn't. Naraku made no move, but was interested in the news the crow demon had just given.

"Hmm, so he's the guardian, is he? How… ironic." He sat there for a moment, thinking to himself, rolling over the information the bird had given him. When the smaller demon began to shift uncomfortably for sitting so long, The Master seemed to notice it was there.

"Oh, are you still here? Well, leave now. Go through the exit in the back door." He waved a hand impatiently and the crowbird took wing quickly, flying over The Master's head and leaving through a small exit in the back. After another moment of stillness and silence, Naraku spoke again.

"Kagura." He called sharply, as if impatient that his servant wouldn't appear sooner. The door opened and the female demon stood in the entrance, holding her fan halfway with a look of earnest and confusion on her face.

"Yes Master?" she asked, wondering what he would call for. He hadn't made a move in a while towards the other two existences, but now whatever news the crow had given him must have been important.

"Get ready to leave. I have a job for you."

Her lips curled in a smile and she raised her fan to cover half her face. "Yes Master."

Very important indeed.

"Frankly I don't really see the point." Inu-Yasha grumbled as he was led through the streets by the rest of the group, not even bothering to move out of the way of living pedestrians and leaving a lot of the afternoon strollers with a chill up their spine. Kagome frowned at her guardian's ill manners.

"Inu-Yasha, I don't know how often you sleep outside, but frankly I don't want to. If Shippo can get us a hotel, I want a hotel." She turned back and kept walking, mobbing out of the way when she could, unlike the irate angel. Inu-Yasha snorted.

"It's the middle of the freakin' day!" he argued. "The hell do we need a hotel for now?"  Nobody bothered to answer. It was all clear to them that anything they said would either be ignored or argued against. There was just no reasoning with some people. Inu-Yasha grumbled after realizing that no one was bothering to respond and began to argue with the only person that would listen: himself.

"Let's go find a hotel and sleep through the day like bats." He muttered to himself in a high-pitched voice. "Let's go waste our time sightseeing in the city. Let's go have fun running around on the streets. It'll be fun!" He sighed, as if he were the only intelligent one in the group. "Baka, all of them."

"Does he always talk to himself like this?" Shippo asked Kagome quietly so that Inu-Yasha wouldn't hear. The girl looked back at the young angel and shrugged. "I've known him about as long as you have. My guess is as good as yours." She whispered back. Shippo glanced back at Inu-Yasha, still muttering to himself, and sighed. He had finally found someone more difficult then Miroku.

Suddenly said mortal stopped, and Shippo looked down at his task. "What's wrong Miroku?" he asked, sitting up straight on the boy's shoulder. The monk was looking around the area, as if looking for something. Shippo looked up as well and closed his eyes, sniffing. Then his eyes opened again and he smiled. "Hey, it's the old neighborhood! I thought it looked familiar!"

"The old…" Kagome looked at the both of them in confusion, Sango mirroring her expression. Miroku and Shippo looked at them and smiled. Miroku waved his hand in the air, indicating the area. "This is where I used to live when I was young before I moved." He looked around, smiling. "I still remember everything. Except that tattoo store." His eyebrows furrowed as he looked across the street and Shippo sighed, rolling his eyes. The girls giggled.

"Didn't you say we had somewhere important to go?" Inu-Yasha asked, butting into Miroku's trip down memory lane. Kagome dearly wondered what she had ever done to deserve such a guardian angel. Angel being the operative word.

Miroku looked over at the dog-eared boy and nodded, looking over his shoulder to the left. "If I remember correctly there should be a terminal nearby. I should be able to find a decent hotel for Shippo to reserve for us. In the mean time, there's a restaurant chain just down the corner." He indicated with his hand. Inu-Yasha snorted and started walking the direction the monk pointed, leaving the rest behind. Kagome was beginning to get annoyed with his attitude. Then she noticed Miroku was leaving across the street. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"To remember my old stomping grounds!" he called back, jumping on top of a Toyota and surveying the tall buildings of apartments and other towers. Then he jumped down again and disappeared into the crowd.

"Should we let him go?" Kagome asked Sango and the older girl shook her head.

"He'll be able to find us again and he'll know his way around here if he used to live here." Sango explained, turning in the direction Inu-Yasha went. "Besides, he's been dead for awhile. He'll be fine." She turned her full attention to where she was going, and looked around. "But on the other hand, where's Inu-Yasha?"

"What?" Kagome looked around, not being able to see her guardian anywhere. "Inu-Yasha!" Silence. "Grr… where'd he go?"

"Well, follow the clues." Sango began walking down the sidewalk in the basic direction. "We know he went this way, and he'll probably be in the one of the restaurants Miroku mentioned. Besides, both you and Kirrara should be able to sense him easily enough."

Kagome followed behind her friend, glancing back to where Miroku vanished then turning back trying to find Inu-Yasha. Her guardian had been moody lately, ever since this morning. It might have been Naraku, since he had been moody since they had found out who it was that had killed Miroku. But then again, Inu-Yasha had been moody since she had first met him. But still, now…She wondered if it had anything to do with the news of her… abilities. His reaction certainly hadn't been good then, she remembered.

~"Inu-Yasha, did you know about Kagome's unique abilities to sense the aura of the living and otherwise?" Miorku asked, keeping it as calm and formal as possible.

Inu-Yasha's reaction was anything but calm and formal. His eyes widened and he folded his ears back as he looked from Miroku to Kagome to Sango to Kagome and back to Miroku. "She can fuckin' WHAT?!" he freaked out, grabbing Miroku by the collar. "What did you fuckin' say?!"

"Inu-Yasha, sit!" Kagome shouted, sending Inu-Yasha slamming downwards. She didn't like the look in his eyes at all: worry, anger and most of all, fear. Inu-Yasha squatted down and looked her straight in the eye. Then he grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Is this true?!" he shouted.

"SIT!" Kagome shouted and dog boy fell into a rather, er, unpleasant spot. Kagome screamed, jumped up, and hid behind Sango, leaving a very embarrassed Inu-Yasha to pout. "Try to get hold of a situation and everyone gets on your back." He grumbled

Sango tried to calm both him and Kagome down while stopping her own laughter. "What's so special about Kagome feeling energies anyway?" She asked.

Inu-Yasha visibly stiffened, but kept his back to the group. "Nothing." He muttered almost inaudibly.

"Does it have anything to do with her being a Reborn?" Miroku asked. Inu-Yasha got up and walked over to the monk and glared at him. "What did we discuss about keeping this quiet?" he growled between clenched fangs. ~

She still didn't know what a Reborn was, and she wondered if she would ever find out. Whenever the word came up somehow the subject always changed. It was as if the angels were hiding something from her. She wondered what could be so important about Reborns that the guardians won't even tell their tasks about. Or Inu-Yasha was just being picky.

"Oh, here he is." Sango interrupted Kagome's thoughts. She looked up to see Sango pointing at a Wacdnald's, where one could see Inu-Yasha leaning against the building looking for all the world like a strange decoration, if you didn't count the fact that some people were walking through him. Kagome sighed. This was going to be a long day.

"Oi, Inu-Yasha!" Sango yelled as she and Kagome crossed the street. The angel looked up and gave a curt, very curt, nod in their direction. When the other two girls reached the sidewalk, only then did he move by getting up and stretching. "So, are we going in or what?" he asked as if he could care less.

A VERY long day.

Kagome ignored her guardian and walked right by him in the restaurant. She looked around at the number of people inside and decided there was a good chance of what she wanted to be out.

When the concept of breakfast had first been introduced to her she didn't really understand how exactly ghosts ate; after all, they were dead. Then Sango and Miroku explained, or at least tried to, that there was a strange type of astral plane that spirits lived on, some type of supernatural force field that surrounds everything. It was the reason ghosts could stand on roofs and still go through walls and apparently the concept worked on food too. Regular food was easy if you just wanted an apple or a fish or something since all you had to do was grab it (which Kagome noticed Inu-Yasha did a lot). The regular food was still there, but the astral plane duplicate was gone and busy being put into the eater's stomach. Special dishes were different, however. If you wanted a specialty from a restaurant you had to wait until it was already prepared; ghosts weren't able to create their own meals using original foods. The entire concept of it required a lot of physics that Kagome really didn't understand. She had never liked physics anyway.

Now, as she stood in the Wacdnald's, she looked around for her favorite meal. Sango came up beside her and looked around as well. Then she grinned and pointed. "Look Kirrara, that guy just ordered a cheeseburger and fishsticks! What a break!" the girl and her guardian took off, leaving Kagome and Inu-Yasha by themselves.

"So, what do you like?" Kagome asked, scanning the crowd as an excuse not to look at the angel. Inu-Yasha did the same.

"I really don't care." He said. "Although the double ones are pretty good." Kagome had to smile at that. Even when they were supernatural deities, boys still had a bottomless pit for a stomach. Her guardian shrugged and snatched out, grabbing a double burger from some passing guy's tray and taking a giant bite out of it. He noticed Kagome's eyes on him and swallowed quickly. "What?"

"Why are you avoiding me?" She asked and Inu-Yasha almost choked on his next bite. He looked at her. "What?"

"You've been avoiding me since this morning." Kagome said simply. "Why?"

"Eh…" Inu-Yasha backed up, thinking frantically. "No I haven't." When in doubt, deny.

"Yes, you have." Kagome said sharply. "You haven't spoken to me since this morning and I want to know why. Is it something I did?"

The angel was suddenly horribly fascinated by his burger. "No." he mumbled, flicked off a sesame seed with a claw.

"Inu-Yasha!" Kagome stormed up to him and grabbed one of his little doggy-ears, pulling his head in her direction so that he would be forced to look at her. Something in his eyes caught her off guard however, and the pair of them stood frozen, her hand still clutching his ear, his claws still halfway to flicking off another seed. They stood there for Kami knows how long when Sango's voice broke whatever spell was hanging over them.

"Fire!" She shouted, jumping over tables to land beside the frozen pair. They both snapped out of their trance and turned to look at her. She was breathing heavily and the giant boomerang Kagome had seen before was strapped to her back again. Kagome looked at it, wondering once again what it was. "Sango, what-?"

"Come on!" Sango interrupted, grabbing Kagome and Inu-Yasha's arms and dragging them outside. Their attention was immediately brought to a building on fire, Miroku and Shippo running up to meet them.

"What's gong on?" Inu-Yasha barked, food forgotten. Miroku stopped in front of them, out of breath, and then looked up at the four.

"A demon has set that office building on fire." He said. "Luckily it was still under construction, so nobody got seriously injured. There are, however, injuries." A few sirens broke through the air and they watched as the ambulances and fire trucks pulled up to burning building, as fire fighters and paramedics set about to do their work. Kagome's heart almost stopped when she saw one ambulance, recognizing it immediately, remembering that it was around this time, just yesterday…

"Kagome!" Sango was shaking her and shouting her name, and Kagome turned to looking at her blankly. "I'm sorry what?" she asked, not having heard the previous bit of Sango's question.

"I asked you if you have any experience in weapons." The older girl repeated, and Kagome noticed that Sango's outfit had changed as well, now being black with pink and red ribbons, along with the giant boomerang.

"Well… I've done some archery." Kagome started.

"Good enough." Sango cut in. "Remember how to change? Now just think of a bow and arrow in your hands."

Kagome blinked for a second, then realized what Sango was asking. She nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating on the feel of a quiver of arrows and a bow in her hands. She tried to remember every detail about them so that she could envision them to their extreme. She suddenly felt a weight and opened her eyes, seeing the quiver full of arrows and the bow clutched in her fists.

"Kagome!" Inu-Yasha shouted from the top of the fire truck where he was perched. He could smell the demon underneath all the fire and the smoke, a regular fire demon all right. Spirits couldn't help stop the fire or save lives, but they could at least kill the demon. He clenched his claws in anticipation, then looked back over at his task. She had the bow and arrows now. Good. If she was anything like… like before then this should be simple. Sango and Miroku were inside, along with their angels, trying to lure the demon out. Inu-Yasha and Tetsusaiga could easily take care of it, but he knew Sango was probably hoping that Kagome would shoot it and help out too, or else she wouldn't have asked Kagome to get weapons.

There. He could feel it. Inu-Yasha looked down to see full-formed Kirrara and Shippo with fists full of foxfire emerge from the building, then a bright red flash jumped over head, followed by Sango's boomerang. Weapon and demon made contact and the pyro demon was down for the count. Inu-Yasha grinned. Showtime.

He jumped down, ready to kick some serious demon butt and to show all these guys just how cool he was. As he landed a few feet away from the demon he froze. No, this couldn't be. He could smell it. Dimly, but it was there, that foul stench he would never forget. He looked down at the demon and snarled.

Sango caught her boomerang as it came back and watched Inu-Yasha land. Good, she thought, he's going to finish him off. But instead of just killing it with that sword of his, Inu-Yasha picked the flaming demon up by the neck and started shaking it, trying to wake it up. What was wrong with him?

"What's he doing?" Miroku asked, coming up beside her. Sango could only watch as Inu-Yasha dropped the demon, spit on his burning hands, and then kick the pyro for his trouble. It certainly looked like he wanted to wake the thing up. But what would Inu-Yasha want with a pyro demon?

"Inu-Yasha!" Everyone looked over to see Kagome run up, concern on her face. She was obviously having the same brainwaves as everyone else, and Inu-Yasha's attitude was worrying her. At that time, Kirrara and Shippo decided it would be best to try to figure out Inu-Yasha's attitude in person. Sango and Miroku followed behind.

"What's wrong, Inu-Yasha?" Miroku asked as they came up. Kirrara sniffed the air, then began growling, hackles raised. Shippo also looked disturbed by something the mortals couldn't see or smell. Inu-Yasha snarled, kicking the demon again. It stirred, showing that the rough angel's tactics had worked and now the pyro was awake. Inu-Yasha drew his sword and pointed the rusted Tetsusaiga at the demon's throat. With one simple flick of his wrist and a brilliant flash of light, before everyone's eyes Tetsusaiga transformed into it's mightier form.

"Who do you work for?" Inu-Yasha snarled, pressing the sword tip against the demon's chest. "Who do you work for?" The demon made no move. "Answer me!"

"Inu-Yasha…" Kagome looked at her guardian. She could only remember one other time she had seen Inu-Yasha like this: when Miroku had mentioned it was Naraku who had killed him. Was it Naraku that was causing this reaction too?

"Well?" Inu-Yasha growled, digging the sword deeper. The demon laughed, not seeming to care that it stared death straight in the eye. It giggled insanely, staring coldly at Inu-Yasha.

"Knew you would ask, he did." The demon laughed, pointing at the infuriated angel. "Knew you would smell him, knew you would react. He has a warning for you, Inu-Yasha: You cannot defeat The Master and he will prevail and take what is his! The Master it great, The Master knows all and sees all. Beware divided one! The Master cannot die!" With those words and a final insane cackle the demon drove itself onto the sword. It exploded, sending fire everywhere and burning everyone. Inu-Yasha didn't move even as a hot coal hit his cheek. He just stood there, stock still, staring at the place where the demon had once been, vengeance on his features. His mouth twisted as he answered the one question in everyone's minds, speaking as though the very word had a foul taste and he just wanted to spit it out as fast as possible.

"Naraku."

End Chapter 6

Roku! Number 6 is finished and done! Now all you need is a little preview push in the right direction to drive you all insane! *laughs maniacally* Ah, 'twas a mistake to open the Halloween candy early. Mistake indeed… (Yay, Halloween! Free candy! I'm gonna be Kuro-Neko-Sama from Trigun! I would have been Sango in her tejika outfit, but I couldn't finish it in time. Ah well, anime chara, anime chara. Nyaooooo)

PREVIEW OF CHAPTER 7: BALANCE

The two of them glared daggers at each other, nearly at each other's throats, neither giving in. Then both of them turned around and faced their back to each other on opposite sides of the bed. Inu-Yasha snorted, not believing that he was forced to be stuck with such a stubborn wench like her.

"Bitch."

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "Sit."

Sango, Kirrara, Miroku and Shippo came inside just at the right moment to see Inu-Yasha eating carpet. Kagome walked up, grabbed a bag and stormed off with Sango in tow to eat somewhere else without jerks.

"I see Inu-Yasha's already had his meal." Miroku said, placing the burgers onto the table. Inu-Yasha sat up and turned his back to then, pouting.

 "Shut up monk."

As you can plainly read, Chapter 7's more of a fun chapter then the last two. I'm going to explain everything in this chapter. Everything without giving away too much that is. ^_^

~Ama