Memory of a Soul

Ailian Rhys

Disclaimer: Idea, new characters (not Rinako) and the words are mine. Everything else is just stuff I'm playing with.

Warning: Natsuko's language. Sorry, but it fits her so well….

Chapter Five: Youki

Ryoichi closed the fusuma door behind him softly, listening for the soft click that told him it was in place. He allowed himself a small sigh before drawing his stooping shoulders up and starting down the hallway in the direction of the so-called "servant quarters."

In actuality, these "servants" were all distant descendants of youkai. Yayoi had spent months rounding them all up. How, he did not know, but they all seemed to believe in her blindly. It was almost as if she had brainwashed them all and this was some kind of weird cult…

Ryoichi stopped walking and started to laugh at that crazy—but so true—thought. Yes, this was like a cult. A murdering blind cult of fools who worshipped a demon they knew nothing about...

Not that you should talk, Ryoichi reminded himself smartly. His laughter died instantly. He was no different then all of the fools around here. He had followed Yayoi's insane ideas without flinching. Even when she had told him of sacrifices he had done nothing to stop her. He had chased after her ideals like an eager little puppy.

The part toriyoukai frowned heavily. He happened to spot one of his fellow cult members and flagged the young woman down. She wasn't very pretty but still she wore a beautiful kimono that looked so awkward on her, showing that she was not used to wearing the old garments. She did not bow to him at all and instead gave him an almost insolent glare.

"What'cha want, Ryoichi?"

"I need someone to watch the room the girls are in," he informed her lightly. "And someone to bring them some water or somethin'. They reek."

The woman huffed, folding her thick arms in a very unladylike way. "I've got work to do."

Ryoichi closed his eyes in annoyance. Work with me here… he growled to himself. "I know that, Kane-san. I know. But could ya maybe find someone who isn't busy?" He scrounged up his trademark grin. "Please?"

As predicted the grin melted Kane's defenses. She shrugged languidly. "Sure. Whatever." With that she turned around and continued on her way to the servant quarters.

Satisfied that the new…guests were taken care of, Ryoichi ducked down a side passageway close by and started for the front courtyard. He'd only been in this complex twice, once on a tour with Yayoi and the former owner, a wealthy reclusive old man who was a wee bit obsessed with history. He had been happy to show the "sweet young couple" his lavish home. The second time had been two days before the ceremony when they had brought Sachiko and her belongings up. The place had been deserted then and when asked Yayoi had only given them a vague answer as to the owner's whereabouts.

"He had to leave," she had said indifferently. "He allowed me to use his home while he was away."

Ryoichi's suspicions had been aroused by the evasive answer and so, while the women had moved to settle Sachiko in her future room, he had slunk around the hallways and out into the courtyard. In the back, under an old willow tree, was where he had found it. A fresh grave marked with only a nameless wooden cross.

And yet he had done nothing, had said nothing about it. As soon as he had returned to the two women the thought had fled his mind like a passing dream. Almost as if it had only been an illusion.

The young man clenched his fist, becoming angry with himself. He felt his nails dig into his palm but they did not cut. Not like his youkai claws would.

His fingers slackened with that thought and he raised his one hand up to his face as he stopped in the dimly lit hall. He stared at the pale digits with critical and fearful eyes. There had been claws there earlier. He was sure of it. It had to be true. His back muscles were sore as all hell where the…the wings had sprouted from his back. His skin prickled where the feathers had been. There was no mistaking it.

It had been just as Yayoi had said it would be.

The magic she had invoked had awaken the youkai blood in them all. Something long since dead inside him had suddenly blazed to life last night, stirring his blood to burn like hellfire in his veins.

It had been…it had been exhilarating.

Ryoichi could not remember a time when he had felt so alive. The youkai blood had overtaken his human blood, warming every inch of him. His senses had been alive like they had never been before, as they had no right to be. He could feel every breath the people around him had taken; he could hear every different voice that had spoken into the night. He could see as if it had been the middle of the day. Each little blade of grass had seemed to flicker before him, dancing its own separate little dance on the wind.

And, the best of all, his soul had felt…free. It was so difficult to explain even to himself. There was just this overall wildness about him then. The earth had been a close friend during that time, reaching out to him and giving him so much. His soul had seemed to mix with it, spreading out far and wide through the night, soaring on its own transparent wings to embrace the complexity of the world without a care.

Was that how youkai felt? That the earth belonged to them just as much as they belong to the earth? That they were tied together throughout eternity? And that with the earth beside them they had the power to do anything they pleased?

Who would ever want to be human with that feeling? There had been no stress as a youkai, only a wild sense of abandon, an almost crazy freedom of mind and soul and heart.

But no…Ryoichi knew what youkai were. They were manifested earth spirits and that was all. He could not be one of them, even if he did carry the blood within him. He was sure his very heart would burst if he carried on with that freedom. This was a world of confined souls and leaden hearts. Without that, with the freedom youkai had, one could go wild. Feral. One would never have enough and would continue looking for more, continue striving to see all that the land saw, feel all that the land touched. And that in the end would drive him crazy.

Humans, with their emotions and confined senses were able to focus more narrowly. They would not experience the possibilities laid before a youkai. And they would be better for it.

The young man closed his eyes. If he felt that way, why was he here now? Why was an innocent woman dead, lying contorted on the ground of a cold empty cemetery? Why were two frightened girls mourning behind guarded doors?

It was because he could not resist. Ryoichi could not fight off the youkai urges that seared through him, no more than he could stop his heart beating. That was probably why all of the little youkai cult were here with Yayoi. They felt the same stirrings in their souls.

Ryoichi lowered his hand and bowed his head. He stood like that in the dim hall, feeling slightly ashamed of himself. He had never felt this odd…need of his demon blood before. Even with all of the stories his grandfather had passed down to him. No matter how fascinating he found his ancestral past.

It had all started when he had met Sachiko.

Sachiko…that was why all of this was happening. Why he was following Yayoi blindly, why he could not feel disgust for brutality, why he wanted his youkai self again.

He remembered the first time he had met her. The young woman had stared at him coldly as Yayoi had introduced them, her gaze completely indifferent. And completely oblivious. Sachiko didn't know the struggle just her presence was forcing him into. It had been in that moment that his youkai urges had burst to life. There was this air about her that had tried to wheedle his inbred human defenses into relaxing the hold they had on his demon blood.

Apparently meeting that girl had been his downfall.

Not that Ryoichi could blame it on her. Not really. Because she was dead and he was the one walking down this dark hall to the front to meet Yayoi. He was the one who locked Sachiko's sibling and friend away in the heart of the palace. She'd awakened his dark side; he was the one who was playing along with it.

Just as he was sure he'd start to suffocate in the dim tunnel of shoji walls Ryoichi finally saw the door he had been searching for. He snagged it hastily and shoved it aside to snap against the frame. Beyond the doorjamb spread the courtyard where the vehicles were still parked. Taking a quick glance towards the distant stairs he realized that the taiyoukai was gone now but the crowd was still mingling about.

Stepping out cautiously Ryoichi eased the door shut, allowing it to blend back into the exterior wall as if it hadn't been there in the first place. Except now everyone probably knew about it because of his lovely entrance. Growling bitterly to himself for his stupidity—and also to get his mind off his previous thoughts— he started across the gravel.

Just as he reached the edges of the main porch there was a commotion at the main gate. Turing to see what was going on Ryoichi spotted a black car pulling through, with a familiar face leaning out of the window. The young woman who had been beside him at the ceremony was taking the time to yell at the men at the gateway even as she drove the car up the drive.

Ryoichi rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. Would she ever learn to do one thing at a time? He highly doubted that…

The black car finally came to a precarious stop on the other side of the red sedan. The brakes complained loudly as the, still cursing, woman forced them to stop on a dime. All of the people clustered in the front courtyard backed away from her quickly.

All that is except for Ryoichi who ran forward. "Natsuko!" he called out only loud enough to catch her attention.

Natsuko stopped her grumbling and leaned over and shut off the engine of the beat-up old car. Taking the keys out she tossed them out the window to Ryoichi who almost dropped them out of surprise. "There. I brought the fuckin' car back, like Yayoi said. And you know what, those idiotic assholes wouldn't let me in!" She pushed a wisp of her black hair out of her face with a huff. "Me, the one who set up this whole damn staff in the first place!"

Ryoichi leaned against the side of the red sedan and folded his arms, allowing the keys to dangle from his fingers. He sent her an aggravated stare. "Could you keep it down? We now have sensitive hearing on the premises."

"Who, you, feather-brain?"

"Not exactly, Natsuko. I was talking about—"

"I know, I know. The fuckin' great Taiyoukai. Yes, you've told me that a billion times," the young woman complained, rolling her chocolate eyes, "Fuck, you kept going on for a month on how well he could do this, how he excelled at that. Honestly," she snorted, crossing her arms and leaning back into the worn seat of Azarni's car. "I'd think you had a fuckin' crush on him or something, if it wasn't for the fact that you're straight."

Ryoichi fought down the bubble of fear that rose in his chest. Yeah, sure, he had spent all that time studying up on inuyoukai. But that was only to know more about the entity that they'd be hosting soon. So that he knew what would keep him from getting killed.

And Natsuko's comments were not high on that "staying alive" list…

"Will you ever be quiet!" he snapped.

"Oh, did I hit a sore spot, birdie?" Natsuko grinned at him slyly. "You know how much cats like to chase cute lil' birdies, boy. Even just with wordplay."

Ryoichi bit back a sigh. If it wasn't for the fact that Natsuko was Yayoi's cousin, Ryoichi was sure he would have tied the annoying girl up in a corner long ago. And left her there. With a gag made of an old smelly sock. And then he'd just do stupid things in front of her and she wouldn't be able to say anything. Which would drive her insane.

Yet despite the fact that her mouth never stopped moving, Natsuko did have good points. Like her ability to strategize and organize. She was the one who had coordinated the staff, had the kimonos made up, found ways to get everyone off work. All sorts of things that just made Ryoichi's head spin.

And she was pretty. Not a beauty like Yayoi, but pretty.

Although she held nothing against Rinako…

Ryoichi fought back the blush that began to creep into his cheeks. Yeah, so that girl was pretty…or perhaps angelic was the word. But he had no right to think about that considering that she was now his prisoner.

But he couldn't help it. He'd watched her a few times when she had been at the Yamashita residence and he'd noticed this sort of pure innocence about her that he'd never seen with anyone else. That was a drawing point right there, as well as the fact that she had beautiful eyes and a willing smile…

"What'cha fuckin' thinkin' about, Ryo'chi?" Natsuko's gruff voice interrupted his thoughts. Ryoichi blinked owlishly for a minute. The young woman had the door open now and was sitting with her legs slung out of the car. She raised an eyebrow. "Daydreamin', birdie?"

"No," Ryoichi informed her insolently, closing his fist around the car keys. "I have to hide these somewhere. But after I see Yayoi."

Natsuko was giving him one of her disturbingly knowing grins but otherwise she let the conversation shift. "Yeah, I have to talk to Yayoi too. About how long she's planning on stayin' up here."

Ryoichi shrugged. "I don't know about her, since she's got a job. But I'm straight out of college, so I can hang here if she needs me too…"

"What about that fuckin' cute lil' café job?" Natsuko asked as she slid out of the car and slammed the door closed. Ryoichi winced at the loud noise but didn't say anything.

"Well, I quit that. It was only temporary, anyway."

"Oh really? So no more fuckin' cute polo shirts?"

Ryoichi rolled his eyes as he led her up towards the main house. The staff had calmed by now and was heading off in different directions. "They weren't cute. They were annoying and too foreign if you ask me." Sliding the door open he motioned her inside.

They stepped into a wide hallway that spoke of simple elegance. Here the shoji screens were painted with a flower pattern around the bottom. The floor was shining brightly and there was a small shoe rack to the left. There was only one pair of shoes there, belonging to Yayoi. Apparently youkai did not share the same human tradition of removing shoes.

As they slid off their shoes and set them aside Ryoichi couldn't help but notice that Natsuko was wearing men's clothes. He hadn't really paid attention to it earlier when they had met that previous evening. And it didn't really surprise him at all. She always went against the crowd.

"Come on, bird-brain. Let's find our high 'n mighty Yayoi." Natsuko remarked as she shoved her cloth footwear into one of the slots.

"You don't have to look very far, Natsuko," a velvety voice stated ahead of them.

Ryoichi glanced up to see Yayoi standing in a nearby doorway. She stood straight, watching them with her steely blue eyes.

She gestured them forward with a graceful hand. "Come."

Ryoichi and Natsuko shared a glance before following the woman through the door into what was the main parlor. Yayoi certainly was taking her role of a noble-lady to the extreme. She moved with the small flowing steps of a well-bred woman and kept a quiet and reserved air about her. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew exactly how firm and intimidating she could be, Ryoichi was sure he would have fallen for this sign of meekness.

"Sesshoumaru-sama has been shown to his room," the redhead was saying as she motioned for them both to have a seat at the small table that was set up nearby. Both knelt obediently and Yayoi sunk down gracefully after them.

"Does he…like it?" Ryoichi asked hesitantly. That was a sore point with him. He knew that the youkai would rather be outside in the forest instead of in a home like this. But they couldn't exactly just let him roam free…

Yayoi shrugged elegantly. "I know not. He said nothing of the matter."

"I would assume that the fact that he isn't here complaining is a good fuckin' hint…" Natsuko threw in with her normal absence of tact.

"Sesshoumaru-sama will not complain," Yayoi rebuffed instantly, her hands coming to rest demurely in her lap. "He is much too noble to do such a little thing."

"No, he'll just come and swipe your head off. That's all…" Ryoichi grumbled under his breath, his eyes on the richly polished table.

As he sat there with his two fellow conspirators that full weight of what they had done suddenly dropped on his shoulders. How the hell were they supposed to contain the taiyoukai now? They couldn't let him get out into modern-day Tokyo. That would be a complete disaster. The taiyoukai knew nothing of their modern world. That, and the fact that he abhorred humans, which the world was now full of. It wouldn't take him long to start attacking someone—or maybe even something.

That was the reason that they were up here in the first place. But now that they had him here how were they supposed to keep him here? A demon known for wandering all over Japan for that matter… And a damn powerful one at that.

"We're insane…" he muttered, brushing his dark hair out of his face.

"What was that Ryoichi-san?" Yayoi questioned him calmly.

Ryoichi looked up and saw that both women were looking at him, waiting. "I said that we're insane," he replied at last, his eyes resting on Yayoi.

"Now really, Ryoichi-san, that isn't a very nice thing to say," the woman remarked, returning his gaze icily. For once, surprisingly, Natsuko kept her mouth shut.

Ryoichi didn't back down from Yayoi's gaze. "It's true, isn't it? We go and bring back a youkai from the past that isn't afraid to rip us, and everyone else for that matter, apart. Then we expect to keep him from wandering off? How exactly do you plan to accomplish that task, Yayoi? It's not as if he'll readily agree to help us by staying cooped up in here for however long he lives. Did you even think that far ahead when you thought this scheme up, Yayoi?" he finished angrily.

"Ryoichi-san," Yayoi started silkily. "You didn't seem averse to my ideas when I first presented them to you. You of all people cannot be having second thoughts. You, my loyal friend Ryoichi."

Ryoichi sighed, lowering his head. She was right, of course. He had been all gung-ho to get the plan into action. He'd been excited as all hell to actually see the youkai his great grandfather had always had stories about.

But then it had been only a dream; some distant fantasy of Yayoi's that they only talked about. Not something they actually acted on.

And now here they were in an ancient palace with the Lord of the Western Lands only down the hallway. It had happened, it was done. There was no chance for second thoughts. None whatsoever.

"Just explain one thing to me, Yayoi…" Ryoichi started slowly, grinding the words out. His hands fisted on the table as his hair fell over his face. "Tell me one thing. That's all I ask…"

"What do you wish to know, Ryoichi?"

"Why?"

There was silence. He saw the flicker of Natsuko's hands across the table. He heard Yayoi shifted delicately.

"Actually, I want to know the same thing," Natsuko's voice suddenly interrupted the silence. Ryoichi rose his head a bit and saw the black-haired girl staring at her cousin eagerly. "What the fuck is this all about anyway?"

Ryoichi frowned. Didn't Natsuko know already? But then he stopped and thought about it. Shouldn't he have known already? What kind of idiot was he?

Yayoi sighed briskly. Ryoichi lifted his head completely and openly stared at her, waiting. "I will have to show you something first. Then you will understand." Rising gracefully to her feet Yayoi arranged her kimono skirt about her legs and started shuffling towards the door. "Follow me."

Natsuko rose to her feet and started after her. Ryoichi remained seated and stared after them.

"Ryo'chi?" Natsuko stopped and turned to look at him. "Come on, birdie. Get a move on."

Bowing his head slightly Ryoichi slowly rose and followed. Yayoi lead them out of the room and down the lacquered hallway.

"Sesshoumaru-sama's room is near the back of the main house," Yayoi informed them. "Easy access to the back courtyard."

"How do you plan on keeping him here if he has access to the courtyard? He can easily jump that wall," Ryoichi asked in a subdued tone.

"Ah, yes, well, there is this thing called ancient magic, my friend," Yayoi answered him at last.

"Ancient magic?" Ryoichi asked in disbelief. Natsuko raised a skeptic eyebrow.

"Yes. I believe that it will be enough to hold him in."

Ryoichi opened his mouth to call her insane but a sudden shiver made him stop everything. He stood still in the middle of the hall. "I…I feel it," he whispered. Warmth swirled within his blood, beating against his veins. It was that feeling again, the same one he had around Sachiko. Except now…now it was stronger.

Yayoi stopped as well, turning back to look at Ryoichi. Natsuko slowed beside her. "That is what I wanted to show you both. I seems that Ryoichi noticed it first," she commented, glancing towards her cousin. "Birds have always been much more sensitive to changes than other youkai."

She looked back down the hallway in the direction they had been moving as if she was looking for something. "It's spreading farther than before. His power is returning rapidly."

"What the fuck are you talkin' about?" Natsuko hissed, tensing abruptly. She had to have felt the same thing Ryoichi did.

It finally clicked. After all the stories he had heard from his great grandfather, it finally clicked. Ryoichi now knew what the hell was bothering him so.

"It's Sesshoumaru-sama's youki…" he managed to get out in a breathy whisper.

Yayoi nodded with a smug smile on her lips. "Very good, Ryoichi. I knew all your history lessons would come in handy someday."

"Youki?" Natsuko interrupted angrily with her hands on her hips. "What the fuck is youki?"

"Demon energy," Ryoichi answer plainly. "The more powerful the demon the stronger the youki. But…" he paused with a frown.

Yayoi talked right through his contemplative silence. "Sesshoumaru-sama's youki will continue to grow as he heals from the ritual. Once all the sacrificed flesh reverts to his own he'll be at full power. And that's when you will really notice it."

Natsuko started to fidget rocking from one foot to the other. "But why does it make me feel so antsy?"

Yayoi's only answer was a smirk.

Ryoichi turned to stare down the hallway in the direction that the energy was coming from his frown set firmly in place. Youki could be felt for large distances if the youkai was in its true form. The humanoid, or false from, usually didn't radiate as much, or so his great grandfather had said. Only truly powerful demons had youki that spread farther than a yard away from the youkai in the false form. The greater spread also depended on how easily the youkai in question could control his or her power. Some could even draw it in or push it out at will.

So if that was true…and Yayoi had wanted to show them Sesshoumaru's youki…then…

"How far do you expect it to spread, Yayoi?" Ryoichi asked in a tired voice.

Yayoi continued to smirk. "I would suppose the least distance would be to Tokyo. He is the only full youkai in the world anymore, you know that."

"What the fuck are you two talking about?" Natsuko demanded.

Yayoi turned on her cousin and pinned her firm gaze on her. "Don't you feel it? That pull? Doesn't it call out to you, stirring your blood?" A blissful expression crossed over the redhead's face. "That power, it awakens the blood of a dead race. It will be the saving grace of all of us youkai. Not a single one of us can hide from the pull of pure power. It awakens the soul that's screaming to be free!" Yayoi was lost to her two followers as she spread out her arms, trapped in her own little euphoria.

Ryoichi was the first to feel the stir of weak youki about the woman. "Snap out of it, Yayoi!

At first it appeared that Yayoi would just ignore him but after a moment the power ebbed away and she lowered her arms. Sweeping her red hair behind her she composed herself and glared at Ryoichi. "Why did you interrupt me?"

"Because that is not needed," he barked glaring right back.

Throughout the argument Natsuko stared at Yayoi with a puzzled expression. She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. "So you're planning on using him to…awaken the demon within, then?"

Breaking eye contact with Ryoichi Yayoi sent her cousin a scathing look. "Is that not obvious?"

They both stared at her. "Are you fuckin' insane?" Natsuko cried, echoing Ryoichi/s thoughts.

"Well, you two didn't seem so adverse to the idea before now." Yayoi sent them both a pointed look before she started towards the taiyoukai's rooms again.

Ryoichi followed her to tell her she was crazy. To ask her what the hell she going to do with the taiyoukai as he "awakened the demon within"? He wasn't just doing to sit quietly like some ancient artifact!

But as they drew closer to the inuyoukai, the more his youkai blood pounded in his veins. The youkai rapture he knew before started to overcome his senses again. The muscles on his back twitched spasmodically wanting to let his true wings free.

Needless to say, the thought that Yayoi was crazy fled his mind like a dream.

Who would want to be human when one could know eternity?

*

Sesshoumaru sat in the middle of his so-called "room" in a straight-back, cross-legged position. His golden eyes were fixed on nothing, staring off into middle space as he tried to reel his senses in. They were so disorganized and disobedient, running off like those of an untrained pup to wander around the new area he found himself in. That would not do at all. He needed them focussed back in again.

It was very difficult to fall into a meditative trance when his senses were picking up the scent of every single being that traversed these infernal halls. Sesshoumaru was not interested in knowing each servant's smell yet. That would come, in time. Yet one quick head-count had lead to this annoying little escapade of the senses.

Biting back a growl, Sesshoumaru drew most of it in until he was focussed on the room about him and only the normal guarding amount of it remained outside to hint at any trouble. The room was large enough, he supposed, although he never liked to be indoors for long. The most trouble came from the fact that this was a human home. The wood reeked of lacquer, a bitter sulphurous stench. Nothing like the wood paste the youkai households used that only left the original scent of the tree behind. Not only did the wood smell of it, but so did the furniture and even the sheets after a time. Along with that were human perfumes with all those faux smells that he couldn't even register. It was all very irritating.

Then there were the walls. He could see shadowed shapes of the furniture in the other room through them easily enough. Why humans used such flimsy material was unknown to him. The few youkai –such as his late father—who had made palaces even remotely human-like had used much hardier material, such as youkai spider silk.

Sesshoumaru felt his ears twitch as one of the servants started talking in a nearby corridor and he forced his senses in again. A healing trance was definitely in order and here he was contemplating the differences between human and youkai craftsmanship. He who had spent his life outdoors with the earth.

He knew why his senses were like this, of course. Sesshoumaru had an idea as to which spell that inuyoukai had used. A spell that required live flesh and blood. So in essence this was a type of rebirth. The magic converted the flesh to be his own, which in turn drew back the spirit. And of course, as with any birth, rebirth or true, a youkai's senses and instincts were somewhat… misconstrued for a while. Considering that his had not been used for at least one hundred years, this lack of order was to be expected.

Yet that did not mean he had to be pleased with it.

Using his pure will alone the taiyoukai managed to harness his thoughts in one direction. He focussed on Tenseiga. The sword was still alive, oddly enough. It lay at his side brimming with that mysterious energy it always had when awake. Sesshoumaru didn't quite understand why the blade was so active. Stretching out his only arm he wrapped his fingers about the hilt.

The world narrowed instantly as an analgesic wave of warmth flooded through him. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and allowed the sensation to pass. He knew what the sword was doing now. It was trying to speed up the magic's process and make this his body alone. It was a useless gesture on Tenseiga's part. His inbred healing ability could do that easily enough on its own. But it was a thoughtful one, oddly enough.

"I did not know you thought so highly of me," he muttered before he could stop himself.

Sesshoumaru opened his eyes to stare at the sword, his clawed thumb idly tracing over the ridges on the hilt. Perhaps this was all because of guilt. Did the Tenseiga believe that it had failed him, allowing him to die as he had done? His fist tightened around the hilt abruptly and Tenseiga's power drew back slightly.

"No," he ground out. "You did just as I ordered you to do."

Ordered it to do… That turned his mind in a completely different direction. That girl. The one who smelled so much like her, who looked so much like her. The girl who stared at him with fear and not devotion. The woman who went by a different name.

Rinako is similar to Rin, he told himself. Yes, similar, but not the same.

Sesshoumaru was not at all familiar with human customs and beliefs. Could humans be reborn? Was that even possible? Those weak pathetic creatures were allowed the chance to wander through life again as blindly as before?

She had not been blind, he reminded himself, grudgingly. She had not been weak despite being only a child.

Sesshoumaru couldn't sanely believe that little girl was still alive. It had to have been at least a few hundred years, if the absence of youkai in the area told him anything. Yet…could human souls truly be used again? They were not like youkai spirits, tied to the earth and only one body. They were…

He didn't really know.

What does it really matter? He asked himself. You have no need for a human child.

Very true. But…if that was her, then it would be at least one familiar thing in this strange new world he found himself in. And it was strange indeed. Youkai hiding as pure humans, an absence of open youki. Those vehicles. His ears still rang from that damnable noise. Not to mention the heavy putrid scents that now filled the air.

Now the air felt thicker when he breathed as if there was something other than air. He had had difficulty breathing properly at first. Although he would never tell those human-youkai that. All he wanted to do was cough up the terrible oppressive substance and find some fresh air. But there was none. Were the humans trying to poison the youkai then? Whatever it was, Sesshoumaru was still laboring with it, although it was not as unbearable as the night before. It was very inconvenient when he needed his sense of smell, however.

Sesshoumaru growled out loud. Where exactly had his discipline gone? Sesshoumaru had never had this much trouble concentrating since he was only a pup. Years of training had solved that problem. He wasn't looking forward to doing the same thing again.

Closing his eyes the taiyoukai focussed on his own youki and began to pull it in. With it, as usual, came a few more wayward senses and he shut them down. But not before he noticed that woman's scent.

Damn it.

Now he was cursing. A sure sign that he was getting irritated. But irritated with himself?

Ignore her, he warned himself. Think on it all later. Once you are focussed. Once your mind stops running away with everything.

Withdrawing his hand from Tenseiga Sesshoumaru placed it on his knee before pulling himself to sit up straight. Eyes still closed he concentrated and finally he felt the numbing sensation of trance form at the edges of his mind. He didn't let himself fall as deeply into it as he wanted too. He didn't trust these human-youkai at all. But he let his mind shut down until everything was a dull sensation.

Sesshoumaru planned on staying in his still and silent half sleep at least until the noon hour. No one was moving near his room and his senses stayed quiet.

That was until he felt the human-youkai draw near. He caught their scent first, then he heard hushed voices. They were coming towards him.

That was all it took for Sesshoumaru to snap awake, his instincts coming into play. He found himself growling, his whole body tensing up and ready to spring. He fought down the reaction. Sesshoumaru didn't trust them at all, that was clear, but they had revived him. They had to have some reason in mind. And he was actually curious to know. He focussed on their approach.

An inu, tori, and neko, all working together. Youkai must definitely be scarce now for that to happen. He couldn't tell what they were discussing. They spoke softly and were a good distance away still. But he did catch the neko's voice every so often. Her language reminded him of…

Sesshoumaru snarled. Not him. Leave that territory untouched for now.

Inu-Yasha was not his concern any longer.

He was pulled from his thoughts when a timid wave of youki erupted from the trio talking in the hall. Sesshoumaru blinked in surprise. Youki? It was so pathetically weak that he didn't recognize it at first. Was that all the power they had then? Their youkai blood must have been buried under many layers of human blood.

Yet the scent of their youkai blood had seemed much greater before. Was it awakening then? They did not seem like the hanyou. There wasn't any bloodlust. Not yet, anyway.

The energy stopped almost as quickly as it had started.

If that was all the inuyoukai could do, then she was truly pathetic. Jaken had been able to muster more than she had.

Sesshoumaru frowned at that. That stupid toad wasn't here any longer. He had no retainer. A lord such as he should have at least one. These human-youkai had to know that at least. Yet he wasn't looking forward to one of their weak little human servants being around him. He could smell a hint of youkai on them all but it was hidden far deeper than the original three.

Two of which were coming towards him again. The inu and tori. Sesshoumaru stared fixedly at the far wall not wanting to turn to face them when they eventually entered. But, strangely, they did not come. They stopped halfway and turned down a side passage.

Curious, Sesshoumaru tested the air and noticed that the toriyoukai was starting to awaken as the inu had done. And he was following her without the hesitation the taiyoukai had sensed before.

Raising a fine eyebrow Sesshoumaru couldn't help but smirk. Tricky woman that inuyoukai was. He would have to watch her.

----

And there is chapter five. Not my greatest one yet. The ending part with Sesshoumaru is kinda crappy in my opinion, but my brain is starting to melt already. Why? School's coming. Tomorrow. Today is my last day of freedom. And, as usual, school melts my brain. Or fries it. Whichever.

As to what the heck is going on with Sesshoumaru, let me you ask this. Has anyone ever tried to fall asleep and your brain just won't stop thinking? It keeps whirling and no matter what you try to do you just can't sleep. Well, that's what he's going through. Except he has a bit more sensory distractions than we do…

I don't think there's anything else. So, bye! ::waves:: (Gasp! A short A/N! Wow…)