Author-chan's notes: HEY EVERYONE!!!!!! Author-chan is drunk off coffee, and wants a cookie! And A-chan made a pie! It was made out of yogurt, cream cheese, and brown sugar! LOTS of brown sugar! And don't forget about the chocolate candies with fruits! And then I made cookies, but not just any cookies! A-chan was very smart and made not just chocolate chip cookies, but double chocolate chip cookies! Twice the amount of chocolate than in normal chocolate chip cookies!!! Teheehee!!! ^_^ WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! *runs around the room until off caffeine/sugar high and sane side takes over* Ahem. Okay, now that that's over with, on with the fic!

A Clean Slate

(Chapter Twenty-two: …Are Always Discovered)

Back with the shadowy figures

"So someone is meddling with our affairs," Figure #1 muttered to Figure #2, "We need to find out who it is."

"There's no need for that," an unknown voice claimed, "I can tell you who it is." Both shadowy figures turned to who had spoken.

"MITTSU?!" they both exclaimed at the same time, recognizing their guest. Before them was a third shadowy figure, obviously another personification of fate, as they were.

"Ichi, Futatsu," the third figure (also known as Mittsu) greeted, "It's been a lifetime."

"Or two," Figure #2 (also called Futatsu) grumbled.

"Or three," Figure #1 (also called Ichi) added in a mutter, "Though I wish you had stayed away for a bit longer." Mittsu laughed. (AN: I have no imagination with these guys' names. "Ichi" means "one", "Futatsu" means "two", and "Mittsu" means "three". Yes, very creative A-chan. *grumbles to self* Oh well, it's about time these guys got names, no matter how lame they are. It's stupid calling them Figure #1 and #2 all the time.)

"So, darling siblings, do you want to know who is messing with your affairs?" Mittsu asked mischievously. Ichi rolled its eyes.

"I think we already know, Mittsu-san," Futatsu said dryly, "It's you isn't it?"

"Of course!" Mittsu said cheerfully. Ichi and Futatsu sweat dropped.

"Baka bubble-head," Ichi growled under its breath. Futatsu nodded in agreement.

"Is there something wrong?" Mittsu asked. Ichi and Futatsu rolled their eyes. Mittsu was a complete baka; that's why they hated being with Mittsu.

"Oh nothing," Ichi said, sarcasm dripping off its voice, "It's just that your meddling could cause a blood-thirsty demon to be set lose."

"Hundreds of people will die, the entire land of Japan will be painted red with blood, and it will be all your fault," Futatsu added. Mittsu blinked in confusion.

"Is that a bad thing?" the clueless Mittsu asked.

"YES!!!!" Futatsu and Ichi yelled at their "sibling".

"Oh," Mittsu blinked.

"What are you doing, standing around like a lump?!" Futatsu yelled, "Go in there and fix the mess you made!"

"Well, what do I do?" Mittsu asked. Ichi smacked the third shadow over the head.

"Stop causing Masato to be so suspicious of Yumeko so the dream demon can go into Inuyasha's mind," Ichi told Mittsu as Mittsu rubbed the spot Ichi smacked.

"Why would you want a dream demon to go into Inuyasha-san's mind?" Mittsu asked, its face confused, "You do know that when Yumeko-san goes into Inuyasha's mind her youki doubles in strength."

"Yeah, so?" Futatsu asked.

"Then you want Inuyasha-san's youkai half to feed off Yumeko-san's youki, thus getting stronger than his human half, making it so that his youkai self will take over the body?" Mittsu asked. Both Ichi and Futatsu looked at their sibling, their mouths agape.

"KUSO!!!" they swore.

"So are you two glad I'm meddling now?" Mittsu asked, a smile plastered over its face.

"Hold up a second," Ichi said, "Even if Inuyasha's youkai half takes over the body, the bracelet will still cause him to be stuck in the body of a little kid."

"No," Mittsu shook its head, "The bracelet can't handle the power of a full youkai. With that much youki in him, Inuyasha can destroy the bracelet without even thinking about it."

"KUSO!!!!" the two other shadows swore, "What are we going to do now?"

"Well, if Masato is able to convince the others that they shouldn't let Yumeko into Inuyasha's mind, then we don't have to do anything," Mittsu pointed out.

"Hello?" Futatsu said, "This is Masato. Although you gave him a brief flash of intelligence, how long do you think that will last? And do you think the others will listen to that bone-head?"

"Oh dear," Mittsu whispered.

"We are doomed," Ichi wailed, "We might as well just make welcome banners for Youkai Inuyasha now!"

"We can still stop him from taking over the body though, right?" Mittsu asked.

"Not anymore," Futatsu said, "Although Masato is easy to manipulate, the others won't be. They're dead set on looking into Inuyasha's mind. And we can't influence anything down there anymore. We've exhausted our options."

"I'll start making the welcome banner for Youkai Inuyasha," Ichi sighed.

"Oh, can we put glitter and draw flowers on it?!" Mittsu asked excitedly. Futatsu and Ichi buried their faces in their hands. Yep, Mittsu was an idiot.

***

Back with Kagome, Shippo, Sango, Miho, and the demonic bear

"Sango!" Kagome yelled, as she stepped out to the hot spring and grabbed her bow and arrows. The youkai bear before them roared again.

"Stay down, Miho-san!" Shippo advised, as both he and the young woman backed away. Sango jumped out of the water and grabbed the Hiraikotsu. With an expert movement, the demon huntress tossed the heavy weapon at the youkai. To her surprise, the weapon simply passed through the youkai without doing any damage.

"Nani?!" Sango gasped, as she caught the Hiraikotsu as it flew back towards her.

"It's a ghost!" Kagome said, quickly identifying their foe, "Our weapons won't work against it."

'Then what should we do?" Sango asked.

"Miroku-sama could probably get rid of it with one of his ward papers, but he's not here now," Kagome replied.

"Of all the times he had to decide not to peek at us while we were in the baths," Sango grumbled, "Maybe a purifying arrow would get rid of it."

"Let's see," Kagome murmured, as she strung her bow.

"TAKE THAT!" Kagome yelled, as she let her arrow fly. The bear moved at the last moment, causing the arrow to hit its paw, but the arrow was able to destroy the bear's paw, blasting it away.

"Alright, Kagome-chan!" Shippo yelled as the ghost-bear roared in anger. But his joy was short lived. Suddenly, the bear's eyes glowed, and the paw regenerated itself.

"Sango!" Kagome yelled in warning, as the bear took a swipe at the demon hunter. Luckily, Sango was able to leap away at the last moment. However, the ground that she used to be standing on was reduced to rubble, proving that although they couldn't hurt the bear, the bear could hurt them.

"This can't be happening!" Miho whispered as Shippo quaked in her arms.

"MIHO!!!" A voice yelled from the woods, "I heard some roaring. What's going on?!"

"Kumo!" Miho cried, as the young spider demon stumbled out of the woods. The sun had set already, and Kumo was suffering from his usual night blindness. He didn't see the bear take a swipe at him.

"Get down, fool!" Shippo yelled in warning. But it was too late. The bear-ghost hit Kumo head on, causing the spider youkai to crash into a tree.

"Kumo!" Miho cried out, worried for him.

"Chikuso!" Kumo snarled, as he picked himself up, wincing as he did so.

"Are you alright?" Miho asked. Kumo growled, and looked around wildly, completely blind to the giant bear only a few meters away from him.

"I hate night blindness," Kumo grumbled, "Miho, where are you? And where's that damn thing that hit me?!"

"H-he can't see anything?" Sango gasped.

"Apparently not," Miho said, sweat dropping, "He told me his night vision was bad, but I didn't think it was this bad."

"Uh, Miho, are there people there with you?" Kumo asked, still trying to see.

"Long story, anata," Miho replied, "But yes, there are some new friends of mine with me."

"And there's also a demonic bear ghost," Shippo put in helpfully.

"So that's what hit me," Kumo muttered, "Damn it, but I hope your new friends can fight, cause I'm useless in the dark."

"We can," Kagome answered him, "But our opponent is a ghost. We can't kill it."

"Kuso!" Kumo swore.

"Where's Miroku when you need him?" Sango growled, as she dodged another swipe from the bear.

***

Back with Miroku

"ACHOO!!!" Miroku sneezed loudly, "Hmm, I wonder if there is anyone talking about me."

"HOUSHI-SAMA!!!!!!!" Sango's voice yelled out. Miroku blinked.

"That sounded like Sango," Miroku murmured to himself, "Perhaps she changed her mind, and wants me to take a bath with her!" Miroku grinned to himself, picked up his staff, and ran towards the hot spring.

"I'M COMING SANGO!!!!!!!!!" Miroku yelled.

***

Back with Masato, Kimiko, Aki, Yumeko, and the sleeping Inuyasha/Shiro

"Are you accusing me of being a spy?" Yumeko hissed at Masato. She couldn't believe what was happening. That idiotic human was accusing her of wanting to harm Shiro, a member of her surrogate family. How dare he! He will pay…

"Are your ears clogged up with your youkai powers?" Masato asked sarcastically, "Of course I'm accusing you of being a spy, you witch!"

"Silence!" Yumeko yelled.

"And why should I?" Masato hissed, his eyes narrowed.

"Stop this right now!" Aki yelled, before the two of them ended up fighting.

"Figures you would take her side, freak," Masato grumbled, "After all you love her so much."

"Something is not right here," Aki said, ignoring Masato's statement, "This doesn't feel right."

"If you have forgotten, there's a demon in here that wants to kill the brat," Masato pointed out. Yumeko sent him a heated glare.

"It's not Yumeko-san that feels wrong, Masato-san," Kimiko said quietly, "It's you." Masato rolled his eyes.

"You're all against me," Masato grumbled.

"We are not," Kimiko told him, "But there is something wrong with your behavior. When did you start caring about Shiro?" Masato paused. When did he start to care about the brat?

"Something is not right here," Aki continued, "Masato is acting way too suspicious and protective over Shiro. That's not like him. It's almost as if--"

"Someone was playing with his mind?" Yumeko suggested, "Influencing other people's thoughts is an ability of dream youkai, but only the oldest and most powerful of my kind can do it. I had no idea Onii-sama had that kind of ability."

"Wait," Masato began, "Are you saying that there might me a youkai in my head, influencing my thoughts and actions?!"

"Yep," the others answered him. Masato looked sick.

"Just try blocking him out, Masato-san," Yumeko suggested, "That kind of spell is hard to do, and even my mother, the matriarch of my clan, cannot influence someone for very long or very strongly. Normally, the spell to influence people's minds are only effective against those who have weak wills."

"So that would explain why the spell was put on Masato and not on the rest of us," Aki said thoughtfully.

"What does that mean?!" Masato asked, a vein popping out from his head.

"So Yugata is controlling Masato, and it appears he doesn't want us to look into Shiro's memories," Aki murmured half to himself, "So that gives us more reason to look into Shiro's mind."

"DON'T DO IT, FOOL!!!!!!!" Masato's voice shrieked. As soon as Masato heard himself, he clamped a hand over his mouth, his eyes wide in shock.

"Wow, he really is being controlled," Kimiko murmured.

"Why do evil demons always come after me?!" Masato wailed, "Why can't they take over someone else for a change?!"

"So, Yumeko-san," Kimiko said, "I guess this means you should start looking into Shiro's mind now, ne?"

"No," Yumeko said suddenly.

"Eh?" the others blinked.

"If Yugata is controlling Masato, then it is possible that once we're in Shiro's mind, Yugata will try to attack me through Masato," Yumeko began.

"Then why don't you leave Masato here?" Aki asked.

"Too dangerous," Yumeko explained, "If I can, I would like to have someone watch my back when I go into another person's mind. It's safer that way."

"So does that mean that you won't go into the brat's mind?" Masato said, a hopeful tone in his voice.

"No," Yumeko replied, "I'll go into Shiro's mind tomorrow. Like I said earlier, influencing a person's will take a lot of time and energy. Yugata won't be able to keep controlling Masato forever. By tomorrow, the spell should have worn off, so it will be fine to look into Shiro's mind then."

"That'll work," Aki nodded.

"Does that mean I won't have crazy demons in my head?" Masato said hopefully. Yumeko nodded. Masato grinned a whooped for joy.

***

Back with the shadowy figures (Ichi, Futatsu, and Mittsu)

"Damn," Ichi said as it and its siblings saw what happened in Aki's hut.

"Double damn," Futatsu added with a sigh.

"Triple, triple damn!" Mittsu said cheerfully with a goofy grin.

"Baka bubble-head," Ichi muttered, looking at Mittsu.

"Well, we tried our best through Masato," Futatsu sighed, "We even combined our powers to influence him, but still no luck."

"Well, they decided to wait until tomorrow, so that has to be a good thing," Mittsu said optimistically.

"That's just delaying the inevitable," Ichi said grumpily.

"Still…" Mittsu said hopefully.

"Baka, baka bubble-head!" Futatsu wailed.

***

Back with Kagome, Miho, Sango, Shippo, Kumo, and the bear youkai/ghost

"HOUSHI-SAMA!!!" Sango yelled again, as she dodged another swipe from the bear.

"It's no use, Sango!" Shippo wailed, "Miroku can't hear us! We're dead!"

"Not yet, we're not!" Kagome yelled, as she fired another holy arrow at the ghost. Although Kagome hit her target, the bear simply regenerated itself again.

"Kuso!" Kumo swore, "If I could see I could--"

"Do nothing," Miho finished, "This bear is a ghost, remember? None of your attacks will do anything."

"Chikuso," Kumo swore again.

"SANGO!!!" a voice from the trees yelled. Everyone turned his or her head to the voice.

"I don't believe it," Sango whispered, "That hentai actually came."

"Sango, I'm so glad you changed your mind about taking a bath with me!" Miroku cried, as he burst out from the woods, smiling lecherously. Sango and Kagome sweat dropped. Shippo rubbed his temples.

"Ahou ga," the kitsune muttered.

"Houshi-sama!" Sango growled, "Stop fooling around, and exorcise this bear will you?!" Miroku smiled at her.

"Anything for the lovely Sango," Miroku said, still grinning his lecherous grin.

"Is he really a monk?" Miho whispered to Shippo who was sweat dropping.

"Yep," Shippo sighed, "I don't know how though. Maybe it was a divine miracle, or a demon's curse."

"Ah," Miho said, nodding. That made sense. Meanwhile, Miroku had whipped out a ward paper and was chanting a spell.

"HIYA!" Miroku cried out, throwing the ward paper at the demonic bear ghost. The youkai ghost gave off one last mighty roar, then disappeared into nothingness. Miho looked on in awe.

"Sugoi," she whispered in awe, "It disappeared!"

"Rest in peace," Miroku said calmly to the vanished bear, looking like the perfect Buddhist monk. Meanwhile, Miho looked towards her companion.

"Kumo!" Miho cried out, running towards the spider youkai, "Are you alright? That bear hit you hard back there."

"Miho?" Kumo murmured, reaching out to her instinctively, "I'm fine. What about you?"

"I'm fine," Miho said with a laugh, stepping into his embrace. The pair of them stood like that for some time, neither one of them saying anything.

"Sango!" Miroku suddenly cried, breaking the silence, "Us too! Leap into my arms!" The monk opened his arms wide, grinning like an idiot.

"HENTAI!" Sango yelled, smashing the Hiraikotsu into his skull, "I'm not dressed!" Kagome blushed, realizing what Sango said. The youkai bear had appeared out of nowhere, and when she and Sango had gone to fight it, they didn't have any time to pull on any clothes. Miho also didn't take the time to put on her kimono.

"MIROKU!!!" Kagome shrieked, "Turn around so Sango and I can put on some clothes!"

"But what about that other man?" Miroku asked, "He's the one standing there holding a naked woman in his arms."

"N-naked?" Kumo sputtered, blushing furiously. He quickly ran his hands across Miho's body. He didn't touch a shred of cloth. Miho also turned very red. She had forgotten about her state of dress.

"KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Miho screeched, jumping away and grabbing her kimono. Kumo became an incarnation of a tomato, as he spun away, spouting out apologies.

"Miroku!!! TURN AROUND!!!" Kagome and Sango shrieked at the monk.

"Anou, Sango," Miroku began. His statement was left unfinished as Sango whacked him over the head with the Hiraikotsu, successfully knocking him out.

"Ahou ga," Shippo sighed as the girls hurriedly pulled on their clothing.

Author-chan's notes: Hey everyone! Aren't you glad I was able to update faster than last time? Heehee! ^_^ A-chan is very proud of herself. I'm also proud of my new Inuyasha wall-scroll, my Rurouni Kenshin poster, and my Vash plushy!!! *hugs Vash plushy* KAWAII!!! ^_^ *sane side takes over for a brief while* Hmm, it seems my insane persona had been eating cookies again. Be afraid. Be very afraid. *insane side takes back control* YES, YES, YES!!! Must have more cookies!!! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! *sane side makes an appearance again* Ahem. Next chapter should be more serious, I'm just on an insane sugar high right now.

Please R+R!!!