Memory of a Soul
By: Ailian Rhys

Disclaimer: See previous.

Chapter Four: Name

The sky was just beginning to become a dull pale gray, casting everything in a very cold somber light when they finally reached their destination. Rinako peered out of the window and her eyes grew steadily wider as the walls came into view. They were of pale stone and rose high above even the top of the murky SUV. There was a gate in front of them but it was already open with two human men standing on either side. Rinako stared at them strangely as Ryoichi past them. They gave her similar looks in return.

The red sedan pulled up behind the green SUV directly in front of what had to be the main building. Rinako could only stare in all out awe. It wasan ancient palace. Shoji walls, fusuma doors, long verandas and all that. The building was at least two stories tall and had an impeccable beige exterior with dark oak trim. Stretching from it like arms were two other one-story wings that flanked the wide-open courtyard they were in. Rinako peered at the building and saw two other wings reaching back from it in the direction. The place was huge.

This is where they were going?

Rinako could only shake her head in wonder. This was all too far out of her league. She'd expected to be dead now, not in the courtyard of an ancient palace. But that didn't mean that they would stay there.

There was a shift of fabric and a soft moan from the floor and Rinako's eyes instantly snapped away from the window to her friend who was just starting to awaken.

"Azarni" she whispered softly. She heard Ryoichi shift in the front, turning to look at the two. Rinako leaned over to touch her friend's cheek. "Hey, Azarni. You awake?"

Azarni's dark brown eyes fluttered opened slowly, long lashes brushing against her cheek. She blinked at Rinako a few times. "Rinako?"

The young woman nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah. It's me. Think you can sit up?"

Somewhere nearby a car door opened and closed. "Yayoi's getting out now" Ryoichi remarked from the front. "I think you've better get your friend moving, Rinako."

Azarni gave a small gasp, eyes impossibly wide as she stared up at Ryoichi. "Y-You!" she stuttered, mouth moving frantically before any sound came out. She squirmed around, trying to find a way to pull herself up. Rinako reached out a hand to stop her.

"Azarni! Azarni, calm down! Please! Loosing your head won't help us any."

The girl's eyes were huge. "Calm down? Thatthat thing helped to kill my sister!"

Rinako saw Ryoichi flinch out of the corner of her eye. She turned her attention on her friend. Her voice was a hushed whisper when she spoke. "Azarni, I know what happened, I was there. And it was awful. But, we can't think about that now, not if we want to survive. We have to be quiet. Be obedient. I'm certain that's the only way they'll spare us. Getting hysterical will only ruin it all."

"This'll be a good time for that" Ryoichi mumbled before opening his door. Rinako took hold of Azarni's hand before lifting her head to watch what was going on. Yayoi was outside the car, next to the open back door of the SUV. More of the apparently human servants were clustered about. The redhead was bowing to whoever was in the backseat, her kimono sleeves nearly touching the ground. Ryoichi sat with his legs outside the car watching what was going on but still standing guard over the two in the back.

Rinako watched as Yayoi abruptly step back and a white form ducked out. She knew who that was right away and her fingers instinctively tightened around Azarni's hand. The woman winced, struggling to sit up. "What is it Rinako?" she whispered frightened.

Rinako didn't answer and just continued to stare at the youkai in white as he towered above all those in the courtyard. Yayoi was speaking again bowing and scrapping while the servants only watched with wide eyes and open mouths.

Azarni finally managed to sit up and look out the window. She gasped. Rinako jumped at the sound but was instantly frozen when gold eyes leapt over to them. They settled on Rinako heavily as if they were a real physical force before moving away. Rinako shivered her nails inadvertently burrowing into Azarni's palm. Yet the other woman didn't seem to notice at all. She was too busy staring at the demon before them.

"Thatthat's Sachiko" Azarni mumbled, her words hollow.

Rinako glanced down at her friend. "No. No, Azarni. That's not Sachiko"

Azarni just continued to stare at the taiyoukai with tears starting to form in her eyes. "Oh Sachiko" she whispered. "I didn't hate youI swear it!" The tears spilled over as the small group by the car turned away and started up towards the main building. The youkai stood out amongst them all, long white hair shimmering even in the faint dawn light.

Rinako turned her eyes away from the retreating figures and reached down to embrace her friend tightly. Azarni buried her face into her friend's shoulder. "Why did I have to be right?" she moaned, her voice muffled. "Why couldn't you be normal, Sachiko!"

Despite the odd positions they were sitting in Rinako tried to comfort her friend by rocking her back and forth. She tucked the young woman's head under her chin and lifted blurry eyes to look for Ryoichi. He still sat in the doorway with his stiff back to them.

"Ryoichi-san"

He didn't look back at them. "Yes?"

Rinako swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. "What do we do now?"

"That's up to Sesshoumaru-sama to decide. I told you that before."

"I know thatbut he left"

"He'll be back, don't worry."

Rinako squeezed her eyes shut and inadvertently bit her lip as she wrapped her arms more firmly about her friend. The woman continued to cry and mumble to herself. No one spoke for a long moment until Ryoichi suddenly spoke up.

"He can hear her, you know."

Rinako cracked an eye open to see the young man still sitting erect in the doorway. "What?"

"Sesshoumaru-sama. He can hear her crying. So I would suggesting having her quiet down a bit before he gets annoyed." Ryoichi turned around and Rinako saw tears similar to theirs shining in his green eyes. He seemed to be trying to ignore them. "You don't want an annoyed taiyoukai."

Rinako shuddered slightly. That was true. Those dead gold eyes were enough proof for her. She swallowed before making the effort to stop her friend's crying. "Shhhquiet now Azarni." She made smoothing motions over the canvas of her jacket. "Shhh" Rinako found herself at a loss for words. What could she say? It wasn't okay. There was nothing for her to look forward too. Sachiko wouldn't come backnothing. Rinako searched her brain, trying to find something of comfort. "We're still together, aren't we? We're still alive. Think of that, Azarni-chan."

Azarni sniffled from her position on Rinako's shoulder. She turned her head so that she could look up at the other woman. "You always try so hard, Rinako-chan"

Rinako gave her a wavering smile. "Yeah, I know."

"Thanks." Azarni slipped from Rinako's grasp and wiped at her eyes. She pushed her long hair back over her shoulder. "I must look a sight"

The dark-haired woman only shook her head. "Azarni"

"Quiet back there" Ryoichi hissed suddenly already back to his watch position. "Yayoi's coming"

Rinako turned to look out the window as Azarni slid up onto the seat next to her. Sure enough the redheaded woman was approaching followed by a small cluster of what had to be servants of some sort. She stopped in front of Ryoichi who remained seated. Her blue eyes drifted over to the girls in the backseat, who stared back at her, before settling on the man again.

"Ryoichi."

"Congratulations, Yayoi," Ryoichi remarked softly, his voice dull.

Yayoi gave him a dark look her comely face surprisingly good at scowling. "Later, Ryoichi. Get the humans inside and settled near the servant quarters. Plenty of eyes there."

"Hai. Then we'll talk later." His tone suggested this wasn't a question.

"Sure. Whatever you want."

Yayoi stepped back and allowed Ryoichi to stand up. He turned around and opened the door nearest Rinako and bent down to her level. Rinako couldn't help but to back up slightly at the proximity. "Come on girls," he said giving them a good attempt at his sunny smile. "It's time t' go."

Both of them crawled out of the backseat and stood on wobbly legs. Azarni rested a hand against Rinako's arm. Yayoi glanced over them both briefly before giving Rinako a nasty look, baring her teeth slightly. Rinako flinched moving to take a step back but she ran into Azarni.

What's her problem? Rinako wondered silently, doing her best not to glare back at the other woman. Getting her captors angry wouldn't be very good for her.

"Come, come, this way," Ryoichi interrupted smoothly, sliding between the redhead and Rinako and taking hold of her arm. "Follow me, I know the perfect room."

Reaching out for Azarni's arm with his other hand Ryoichi nearly dragged them away from the car and towards the main building. It was all that Rinako could do to keep up with his fast pace. Just when she reached the point of almost stumbling he slowed down. By now they were between the group by the car and the front steps.

"We have to go up the stairs to the veranda" Ryoichi stated softly, his voice holding a tone of warning. Rinako didn't really understand what there was to worry about until she looked up.

The taiyoukai stood at the top of the stairs watching them. Clustered around him almost like weeds were more humans dressed in ancient kimonos but they were keeping a respectful distance back.

Rinako wanted to run. She wanted to just turn tail and shoot for the gates although she knew she'd never make it. Anything was better than having to go past him. But Ryoichi's grip was strong and Rinako knew she could never leave Azarni behind. All she could do was follow Ryoichi and hope the demon decided to go inside before she got there.

That didn't seem to be happening anytime soon. The youkai simply stood like a silent statue watching her with icy eyes. Rinako couldn't help but look at him in turn. What made him a taiyoukai anyway? He looked human enough, except for the marking on his face and the abnormal hair color. And what was that strange fur thrown over his one shoulder? But as she got closer she noticed a few more things. Such as the claws that could be seen under the hem of his right sleeve, looking natural enough to be just fingernails. Not like Ryoichi's or Yayoi's, which had seemed almost awkward. He also had pointed ears that twitched slightly as she stared at them. What frightened her more than anything else did, however, was his face. No human could remain that still, that completely expressionless. Even a dead man had more feeling behind his expression than this thing did.

If she stopped moving and just stared Rinako believed that she could almost think of him as a drawing on paper. No matter how close they got to him, no matter how many times either of the girls took a misstep on the gravel that resulted in a loud ugly crunch, he didn't move. The demon just continued to stare down at her with a hazy indifference that closed his eyes over completely. And Rinako found that truly terrifying. Was he even alive?

They reached the steps then and Ryoichi started to pull them up after him. Rinako drew back at first realizing something. She was on the side that had to go right next to the youkai. She took a hasty glance over her shoulder to see just how far the gate actually was before Ryoichi gave her slight tug. Swallowing harshly she finally relented, resigning herself to her fate.

Just go, Rinako. Maybe it'll stay like that and not move

The trip up the stairs seemed way too short for their actually size. For every step Rinako took she could have sworn three stairs leapt under her feet. Sooner than she anticipated she found herself a few feet from the taiyoukai. And there was no doubt that he was alive now. Although not a demon herself she could feel the haze of power that radiated off of him like heat. Two swords hung at his side she noticed, and her eyes inadvertently dragged to the one that sat underneath the other. It seemedfamiliar? That weapon felt to be reaching out for her but that was impossible! It was a weapon! And probably a deadly one for all she knew.

Rinako forced her eyes away from the sword. She had to be going nuts. She focussed on the wooden steps under her feet but they didn't stay there for long. Almost as if on their own her eyes lifted again to fix on the demon watching them silently. How in the world could he be that tall? He towered over all three of them, making it easy for him to always appear to be looking down at them all.

Ryoichi pulled her up the remaining steps and they were now on the landing. Rinako lowered her eyes hoping to pass by easily. She could see the white silk of his garments out of the corner of her eye and her mind froze.

MONSTER! Her instincts screamed. Yet a small, weak voice in her head murmured something about not being afraid. Rinako grasped for this voice hoping it would keep her calm. It seemed to be working and her mind started functioning again. They were almost past

"Stop."

Everyone stopped and the twittering servants fell into silence.

There was no mistaking where that cold smooth voice came from. Rinako felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. Ryoichi stopped short his grip closing tightly around Rinako's wrist. He turned his head slowly to the demon behind them.

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Rinako caught Azarni's eyes and saw them shining with fear. She swallowed; her throat was suddenly painfully dry. There was a rustle behind them and soft footsteps. It was almost as if he was moving slowly for their benefit. The footsteps stopped and she felt him standing behind her. Ryoichi relaxed his grip on her arm as she tensed. What had she done now?

"Turn around."

Taking in a shaky breath she did as he said. Ryoichi relinquished his hold on her and she slowly turned. Trying to appear as humble as possible she stared down at his richly embroidered shoes. They were actually quite beautiful, she noticed, quite an odd thing for footwear

"Look at me."

Rinako bit her lip. That had been the last thing she'd wanted him to saw. Squaring her shoulders she steadied herself before forcing her head up all at once, getting it over with as soon as possible. Her eyes met gold once and she almost lowered them again.

He appeared to be studying her, his gaze scanning her quietly. She tried her best not to squirm her hands unconsciously tightening into fists. She heard Ryoichi shift uncomfortably behind her and Azarni's labored breathing.

When his gaze once again rested on her face there was a momentary pause before his hand shot out from the sleeve of his robe and took her chin. Just the very tips of those dagger-like claws rested against her skin as if he didn't really wish to be touching her. Rinako tried to take a step backwards but found Ryoichi's hands suddenly on her back holding her in place. Her heart was pounding. It made so much noise she was sure the whole world could hear.

The taiyoukai tilted her face up slightly being surprisingly gentle with what had to be weapons. He turned her face to one side, then the other, seeming to be interested in something about her. Rinako didn't know what it could be. She held her breath, waiting.

That cold stare seemed to be taking in every part of her face. It made her skin start to tingle. Rinako couldn't help feeling as if she was some sort of animal on display. Yet just as suddenly as he had taken a hold of her she found him bent down to her level his long white hair spilling over in front of her face as he came close to her neck. She heard what she thought was a sniff. A gentle breath of warm air touched her skin and she stiffened.

Is he gonna eat me or something?

But apparently he didn't like what he found there. The claws disappeared from her skin roughly, leaving small stinging scratches behind but he didn't break the skin. She didn't even see him move but there he was, standing up straight again. His face was as smooth as always but for the first time she saw something in her eyes, a touch of irritation that made her nervous.

"You are called Rin."

Rinako couldn't really tell if that was a question or not from his tone but he did seem to be waiting for something from her so she decided it was. The problem washer mind wouldn't work well enough to form a response. All it would focus on was that he knew her nameor at least part of it. Had they told him on the way? Or perhaps it was from Sachiko? But wouldn't Sachiko remember Azarni first since she was her sister? Andwhy did he even care what her name was? But there was one thought that kept overriding the others. A panic-stricken voice whispered it to her over and over again in her brain.

A monster knew her name.

Rinako stared at the taiyoukai dumbly. She felt Ryoichi poke her in the back but she didn't respond. The youkai in front of her studied her as the silence wore on until he seemed to become even more annoyed. His eyes narrowed slightly and darkened.

"I ask nothing twice, girl."

The young woman swallowed trying to get rid of the dryness in the back of her throat. Come on, Rinako, she told herself. Don't piss him off. She just hoped her answer wouldn't get him angry. She thought about just leaving it as it was but no one called her Rin anymore. That had been her mother. She'd only seen the woman a few hours after work most of the time but she still couldn't let anyone else call her by her mother's special nickname. Especially not some mythical demon who Sachiko died for

"Err" she began, almost kicking herself for her brilliant entrance. "INo one calls me Rin" she fumbled, "my lord," She took a deep breath as those golden eyes narrowed even more. "I go by Rinako."

"Rinako," he repeated coldly.

"Y—yesmy lord."

He stared at her silently with his eyes still narrowed. Rinako felt her heart leap up into her throat. He didn't seem happy. What was he going to do?

Thankfully nothing. He only made a brief dismissive gesture towards Ryoichi who snagged Rinako's arm again and asked her quietly to follow him. The young woman tried the best she could, finding her legs to have turned to jelly sometime during the confrontation. She felt Azarni's eyes on her as she stumbled along but she couldn't bring herself to look at her. Her thoughts ran like playing children in her head, each screaming to be heard above the others. She still felt the surprise and fear from him having known her name but now there was something else that wiggled its way into her mind.

She'd seen something else in the demon's eyes before he'd dismissed them, something more than the irritation. She couldn't quite describe what it was but it seemed almostsad. Maybe even wistfulShe felt a pang in her heart. So did that mean that creature could actually feel something? Or was she just imagining things for her own piece of mind, trying to make the taiyoukai seem more human?

Rinako bit her bottom lip and peered over her shoulder. She found that he was watching her retreat down the hall, his gaze sharp. When their gazes met he stared at her for a moment before turning to descend the stairs the cluster of humans fluttering after him. A few of their eyes drifted in her direction but no one said anything to her.

Rinako sighed, turning to face forward again.

*

"And this, ladies, is your room," Ryoichi stated giving them one of his gallant smiles. He pulled the plain fusuma door aside and swept his hand into the room before bowing slightly. "After you."

Rinako allowed Azarni to go first, wanting to see her friend safely into the room before she slid off her shoes and stepped inside. As soon as they were in Ryoichi snapped the door shut behind them and placed himself in front of it in a seemingly casual manner, but Rinako knew better.

Trying to ignore the thought that they were prisoners here Rinako took in the surroundings as if this was a fancy hotel she was staying in. It was a traditional room. There were no beds. A tall cupboard stood to the side in which she knew the bedding had to be. There was a low table under a high window that had a paper screen over it, which was painted with a bland brown trim around it. There were no chairs and the dressing stand was on the ground, the mirror shinning dully in the pale light from the window. There was one plant in the corner that looked a bit wilted and some storage cupboards. One tapestry hung on the wall over an empty space where the futons were to go. It was an inking of a landscape as seen from atop a hill.

To Rinako's surprise, however, there was a pile of suitcases and bags thrown in the far corner. She stared at this mess in surprise wondering where they had come from. Was this someone else's room as well?

Azarni was walking in a slow circle around the room taking in everything from the authentic shoji walls to the shining wood floor. She came to a stop in front of the pile of luggage and, after staring at it for a while, bent down and shifted one of the smaller bags aside to reveal a big suitcase. She gasped.

"Rinako! These are Sachiko's!"

The young woman hurried to her friend's side, her heart pounding. She stooped down beside Azarni and followed her friend's hand, which was pointing out a name etched into the identity tag on the suitcase. Yamashita Sachiko. There it was, in neat precise script Rinako had seen the older girl use on occasion.

Rinako felt her heart clench suddenly and she sunk down beside Azarni. The image of Sachiko convulsing and falling replayed before her mind's eye before the young woman could stop it and she shuddered.

"Well," Ryoichi's voice stated suddenly. Rinako turned slowly to look at him and saw that he was staring at the bedding cabinet. "Perhaps you will be able to use her belongings then. They were in the master rooms but apparently Yayoi had them moved."

Ryoichi continued to stare at the cabinet as he started to recite, as if it was a planned speech, "You are to remain in these rooms unless called for or otherwise instructed. You are near to the servant quarters and there will be constant traffic outside your door. Someone will look in on you and will see to your needs. I do not have the authority to say if you are either guest or prisoner here," he added, looking at them both finally. "Yet if there is no aggression on your part I suppose there shall be none on our part until Sesshoumaru-sama tells us so" he hesitated slightly, before shrugging effortlessly. "There you have it. Nothing much else to say until I talk to Yayoi. I'll send some food over and you two better get to sleep." His green eyes scanned over them, his nose wrinkling. "Or, perhaps you should get cleaned up first. You're a mess."

Rinako blinked, confused, before taking a quick look down at herself. She felt her nose wrinkle in turn. In all the fear and the information Ryoichi had given her she hadn't realized what they were both covered in. Both were covered in dirt and—she shuddered at this—their jackets were smeared with whatever they'd thrown up earlier. Now that she was conscious of the fact Rinako noticed how much they were starting to smell as well.

She forced herself to stand on trembling legs. Azarni stayed seated next to her, looking very much like a dispirited doll as she sat there staring at the floor. "YeahI think we could do that."

Ryoichi nodded once before turning on his heel and closing the door behind him quietly. Rinako stared at the door long after he'd gone, trying to come to grips with the situation. Okay, so now they were trapped in this room. That she got easily enough. But the whole thing he'd said on aggressionthat was something she'd rather not dwell on

"I want to open them."

Rinako spun around to face Azarni who still stared at the floor. "What?"

The other woman slowly lifted her head a spark of determination coming alive in her eyes. "Yes. I want to open Sachiko's things. Maybe there's a clue in there somewhere as to what's going on."

"I have an idea of what's going on," Rinako began slowly remembering that Azarni had not been awake in the car. "Ryoichi told me some things while we were coming up here. You were still out," she finished a bit sheepishly.

Azarni stared at her for a minute, her expression blank, before she nodded. A look of resolve crossed her face. "Right then. You tell me what you know while I go through Sachiko's things."

Taken aback by her friend's newfound courage Rinako could only nod in agreement before rattling off what Ryoichi had told her. She tried to shorten it a bit without skimping on any of the details but found it rather difficult. As she spoke Azarni opened the big suitcase and looked through it, finding only a bunch of newly purchased kimonos still wrapped in their bags. She laid these out on the floor before starting on the smaller bags.

"Taiyoukai's were pretty much the big-shots," Rinako was saying, trying to remember all of what Ryoichi had babbled about. "Maybe even a very loose sort of government? I don't know. But Ryoichi said they were powerful though. Physically as well as socially."

"That's the kind of demon Sachiko always said she was," Azarni murmured quietly as she shuffled through what appeared to be a cosmetics bag.

Rinako was taken aback by this. "Did she? Idon't remember that"

Azarni shook her head. "No, you wouldn't. She never got into those details when you were playing. She did sometimes when it was just the two of us, though."

Rinako swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. She would have to tell Azarni soon

"Wellthat creature out there is one of those demons. Ryoichi said he was once the Lord of the Western Lands. Said that's how the Taiyoukai seperated their lands, by regions. The one we've got here is supposed to be a very great one called Sesshoumaru."

"Strange name" Azarni muttered pulling another sack towards her. This one appeared to have been patched up in many places and the white fabric was turning somewhat gray. She held the pack up with one hand. "Why does she have this old thing? We could have gotten her a new bag"

"Maybe it's something special"

Azarni had a hard time opening the old latch, which was bent and seemed to have been jammed into the bracket. It took some wiggling and pushing but soon it came free with a sharp click. Rinako watched her work silently not wanting to get to the morewell devastating part of the conversation. She didn't want to tell Azarni that creature outside was Sachiko. No. She couldn't

"Look at all this!" Azarni cried digging her hands into the worn bag. Rinako moved a bit closer to watch her friend pull out small trinkets and scraps of paper. The trinkets were all small things like plastic toys from vending machines, old ticket stubs, and even broken pieces of children's toys. Azarni set these aside gently before taking up one of the sheets of paper and smoothing it over her knee. It looked to be the beginning of one of Sachiko's many feudal fairytale stories. The handwriting was spidery and unorganized as if she'd been writing in the dark for a long time. This page looked particularly childish with a few margin doodles and many cross outs.

Rinako bent over to take a closer look at the paper and a certain drawing caught her eye. It seemed to be of a little girl with large eyes and hair pulled up sloppily to one side. Although only a childish sketch Rinako could still see the delight on the girl's face as she beamed out from the paper. The young woman stared at this little figure for a long time, completely taken aback. The girl looked very similar to Rinako when she was a little girl. The smile looked so much like her own Had Sachiko been drawing her?

Azarni didn't seem to notice this little picture and laid the paper aside to sit with the other ones. The young woman shoved her hand into the white satchel again, digging around inside. Her movements stopped and her eyes grew wide. She glanced over at Rinako with her mouth open in a silent O'. "Oh godI think I found her diary."

Forgetting the little girl instantly Rinako leaned over. After some struggle with the old fabric Azarni drew out a small black book. There wasn't a lock or even a snap on it, just a plain old book.

"A diary? Are you sure that this isn't an old writing notebook? For stories and all that?"

Azarni shook her head. "No. I remember picking this up once and having Sachiko yell at me for it. That was the first time she got really mad at me," she added her voice becoming sad. "I didn't know why she got so pissed though. At the time I didn't think she had much of a social life to hide from me anyway, so there couldn't be much in here."

She turned the little book over and over in her hands as if trying to decide something. "She made me promise never to read it" she turned her eyes towards Rinako. Her voice was hesitant when she spoke. "But you can. Maybe it'll say something about all these weirdoes."

Rinako stared at the journal as if entranced. Yes, it may be able to answer many of their questions. It could tell them if Sachiko had known what was going to happen the last night and if she'd meant to have it happen. It may be able to explain exactly how that creature could be Sachiko. If even the human girl knew Rinako had the feeling this all went much deeper than it appeared to at first. It was only a gut instinct but she had a suspicion that it was right.

But should she read it? It was Sachiko's after all, a private journal she'd already banned others from reading. It would be a great dishonor to the dead to go through her personal things, wouldn't it? But then againmaybe Sachiko would want them to know

Rinako sat in hesitation for a moment before tentatively reaching forward to take the small book gently. Azarni watched her with disquieted eyes as Rinako put the small book on her knee and her fingers slid under the front cover. She paused a moment before flipping the cover over with a jerk of her wrist. Rinako took a breath before looking down.

The handwriting looked like that of a younger girl, neat on occasion but often times slipping out of place. There were many cross outs and a few more sketches in the margins. Rinako skimmed through the pages once, seeing just how many were written on. The writing seemed to improve until it was the precise characters like those on the suitcase. Yet, strangely, from then on it seemed to change again. The strokes were bolder and lined up in perfectly straight rows although the paper was not lined. Some of the kanji that caught her eyes seemed very old-fashioned, many of them having more shapes and lines compared to their modern counterparts. It almost looked as if Sachiko had been trying to mimic a man's writing. An ancient man's handwriting

Rinako felt her stomach clench uncomfortably as she continued through the later pages, watching as the drawings completely disappeared and instead side-notes sprung up in their places. Sometimes the script was Sachiko's normal writing and sometimes it was the strange old calligraphy that was really starting to creep Rinako out. There was even one section where Sachiko had written in both, comparing them side by side. And side by side they did look rather alike. Some of the curls came out the same way and lines shared the same thickness. It was unreal.

Rinako felt sick. She wanted to burn this book right then and there but forced herself to keep looking through the pages. She didn't even know if she could bring herself to read it at all.

Azarni stared at her the whole time and Rinako felt her friend getting anxious as the silence drew on. But Rinako couldn't find anything to say and only continued through, hoping for an end.

There were only a few pages left to the book when the writing stopped. The last entry was rather short compared to the others and written in Sachiko's normal handwriting. Rinako forced herself to read it.

All of the color drained from her face. Etched onto the clean white sheet were the words:

Yayoi finally arranged it. Tonight is the ceremony. Now I will finally meet with that spirit that has haunted me for all these years. I'm positive that my visions tell the truth and that the creature that will come out of the grave will be none other than the ancient Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands. My true self.

Maybe upon our meeting the dreams will stop and I can put that life to rest. Yayoi thinks so.

That's all I ask for. For him to leave me alone.

Rest peacefully, Taiyoukai.'

---

And there's chapter four for your reading pleasure. Not much to say about this, except I think my slow plot may have taken another step uphill

My brain is itching to write the next part (right now anyway) so it may come out sooner than this one did... (Hopefully. Jeez, I am such a slacker) Sorry for the wait, by the way.

Oh, and I think I'll plug my own stuff The only reason I'm doing this is because I spent so long writing the damn thing and now it's buried in the Inu-Yasha fandom (like everyone else's stuff) It's a child Rin and Sess relationship story: A Family of Rin's Own. It shows the father/daughter relationship they kind of share I need some feedback on my Sesshoumaru in that. It was a bit tough keeping him IC while having him change as well Hard!

Enough of me, and my horribly long authors notes. Have a nice day/night/afternoon/whenever you read this.