Well, Miroku's back in the picture. Enjoy. And who is the person who wants Inuyasha dead? You'll see. Anyway, just read on.

-Randall Flagg2

(1)

At long last, the time he had been waiting for arrived. The doorbell rang and Inuyasha jumped up from his bed. He shot to the window and looked out, his hopes growing. Sure enough, there was a taxi cab in the driveway. Inuyasha set down the book he was reading and raced downstairs. He immediately opened the door and there was Miroku. He wore a denim jacket and black wind pants. In his hand was a suitcase. Over his back was a black backpack. The moment he saw Inuyasha, his face brightened. He waved to Inuyasha then began to walk up the driveway.

"Hey Inuyasha! Long time no see!" he called to the white haired boy, his voice cheery. Inuyasha felt happier then he had been in awhile. It was good to see an old face again. The coldness which always seemed to be in his eyes lately suddenly vanished and it was filled with the look of the Inuyasha that had existed before everything had gone wrong.

"Miroku I'm so glad to see you! You don't know what it's been like over here for me! I've been so lonely."

Miroku nodded, his smile remaining. "I know it's been hard on you Inuyasha. I'm so sorry about… that." Miroku was careful not to mention the events which had transpired back then, knowing that Inuyasha would be upset by it. Inuyasha had even gone so far as to ask him not to mention it.

"Well, you might as well come on in. Sesshomaru will be back in awhile." he said, going back inside. Miroku followed. This was going to be fun.

(2)

There had been no changes done to the Masaki household. It was exactly as it had been before. Miroku set his suitcase down on the floor and sat down in a chair.

"So how have you been Inuyasha? Has anything happened while I was away?"

"No, not really. Aside from the karate classes, nothing more." It was a lie. Plenty had happened. He could not bring himself to tell Miroku about what had happened. The shame of his secret would not allow him too. Miroku would never accept him if he knew that he had developed a second personality. Furthermore, his pride would not allow it. This was his burden to bear, and he refused to bring anyone into it.

"So how's life in America? What are the people like?" Inuyasha asked.

Miroku chuckled slightly. "Oh it's really quite different from here Inuyasha! For one thing, onlythe more expensiveschools require school uniforms. In regular schools, the students can go completely casual! You would not believe some of the clothes they wear!" Miroku's eyes lit up with a lustful gleam. "Especially the girls." he said with a giggle.

Inuyasha sighed. "Your hopeless, you know that?" he said with a smirk. "Still it's kind of hard to imagine a school where you can wear casual clothes."

"Oh there's more! You see fast food restaurants everywhere you go, and they have some awesome music! You would not believe some of the songs they've concocted!" Miroku said.

"And also," Inuyasha began, not knowing if he should ask this, "have you found any love interests?"

Miroku's smile faded, but his demeanor did not seem to change. "Oh, I haven't had much luck yet. Almost everybody in my school seems to be taken already." The teenager sighed. "My aunt said if it keeps up, she'd take me back here to see if she could arrange my marriage."

"I don't know. My mother and father met by an arranged marriage and they liked each other!" Inuyasha replied, trying to reassure his friend.

"Enough about that. Anyway, I'm sure I'll find somebody eventually." Miroku sighed again and this time he grew sad. "I still miss Sango though."

"Yeah, sure." Inuyasha said, turning away. Even the slightest mentioning of that faithful past could bring on the tears.

Miroku raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong Inuyasha?" he asked, curious as to why Inuyasha would just turn away like that. "Is something on your mind?"

"No, nothing's wrong." Inuyasha said quickly. His body began to tremble. Steeling himself against what was coming, Inuyasha took a deep breath. In the silence that followed, Miroku heard a small "plop" sound. It was followed by more sounds similar to the first. Miroku quickly knew what was happening.

"Inuyasha, there's no shame in crying. Just let it out." he said, trying his best to avoid heightening Inuyasha's grief.

"I want her back." Inuyasha whispered as the tears dripped down his face. "I loved Kagome more then anything and I never got the chance to tell her how I feel."

"I know the feeling Inuyasha. I loved Sango too and she was… taken from me before I could tell her how I feel." Miroku sighed.

Inuyasha suddenly slammed his fist against the floor. "Damn it, I can't take much more of this!" he snarled. Almost immediately, the tears came back. "I cry all the time Miroku. Every single fucking day of my life I cry and cry until I feel so drained that I can barely function." He buried his face in his hands. "Did I mention I had another breakdown?"

Miroku did not wish to hear the details of that. Deciding to change the subject, he continued with what he was saying. "I had similar problems after Sango died. For a month straight I cried every night for her. I couldn't help it. I would just sob into my pillow until I fell asleep." he soothed. "But I got over my grief and I became happy again! Nobody can grieve forever."

"That's the thing." Inuyasha sobbed. "I feel that if I stop grieving for her I'll forget about her. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did that." Finally the tears came full blast. Inuyasha sank to his knees, sobbing and moaning. Miroku helped him stand up and hugged him.

"It's okay Inuyasha. Just let it all out." Miroku whispered, hoping to calm his friend down. Inuyasha continued to sob against his shoulder. Miroku continued to whisper reassuring words into his ears, until at last, Inuyasha became exhausted and fell asleep. Miroku helped Inuyasha to the couch and laid him down on it. With a sigh, he turned to go when he ran into Sesshomaru.

(3)

Sesshomaru hadn't changed either. His eyes and expression were still as cold as ice. He wore khakis and a burgundy red shirt. When he saw Miroku, his expression did not change. Miroku was not worried. He had been over to Inuyasha's house many times and he knew Sesshomaru inside and out.

"Hello Sesshomaru." Miroku said, knowing he was familiar enough with himto call him by his first name. "How are you doing?"

"Fine." Sesshomaru grunted. He shot an icy look at his snoozingbrother. "My brother has apparently, not forgotten about the Higurashi girl."

Miroku sighed. "I feel sorry for him. He said he's been crying a lot."

"It's pathetic. Every single night he starts bawling his eyes out over that girl. Nothing I say or do can make him forget." Sesshomaru half snarled. "And did you know he had another mental collapse awhile ago?"

"He told me about it, but I don't want to hear about that. Isn't there any way you can help him?" Miroku asked hopefully.

"I'm going to see if I can find a psychologist for him. That's about the best I can do. And that's just the start of the problems we've been having. Something frightening has just happened."

"What do you mean frightening? Has some else happened to Inuyasha?"

"No, something worse. I think somebody is after my brother." Sesshomaru said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Miroku asked.

Sesshomaru sat down on the couch next to his sleeping brother. "It's not really your concern, but my brother received a message in the mail threatening him with harm. And he also received… I don't know if I should tell you this."

"I think I'm old enough to know what's going on, even if it's bad." Miroku said, both worried and curious to know what was going on.

"He received… a box filled with blood. I don't know how the post office missed it, but they did somehow. I think somebody may be out to kill my brother."

"Can't you go to the police about this?"

"I did a few days before you arrived. They said they understood my concern but that it wasn't enough for them to do anything about it. Hopefully whoever is behind this doesn't really mean it."

Miroku was puzzled. He didn't know who could be after Inuyasha. "Well what did the letter say? Did it mention anything?"

"The person said that Inuyasha was going to pay for something he had done, but it didn't specify what. Whatever my brother did, if anything, must have been serious." Sesshomaru said.

"It's probably nothing. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Anyway, I'm just happy to see Inuyasha again. I hope he gets better soon." Miroku said, sitting down on the couch.

"I hope your right Miroku. I hope your right."

(4)

Somewhere in America, in a white painted house, a figure sat. He was in his mid thirties, tall, with black hair which was tied back in a ponytail. The front of his hair parted in a widow's peak. His eyes were cold and piercing. He wore jeans and a grey sweater with a hood. Not many people would think much of this man. He didn't look like anyone special.

The man was engaged in sending an e-mail. His fingers were typing as rapidly as they could on the keyboard. He had to send this e-mail, he simply had too. It was part of his plan. Very soon, he would have what he wanted.

He broke off typing and took a picture out of his pocket. The picture depicted a slim man with shoulder length black hair. The man looked at the picture and a look of rage passed over his face.

"Masaki Inuyasha how could you?" he whispered hoarsely. "How could you kill him? When I find you I'm going to make you ever regret you laid a finger on him."

The man put the picture away and resumed the e-mail.

To be continued…

Not much to say, except I'm glad schools out and I can write a bit more often. See ya.

-Randall Flagg2