Miroku's kinda hard to write for when he's younger, being perverted is kinda like the backbone of his personality. So sorry for that. I've kinda written myself into a corner here, if anyone has any good ideas or just things you want to see in this story, well, you know what to do. (Message to morons: Review)

Also, this chapter is dedicated to everyone who read my other Inuyasha fic, Nothing can hurt you now. For the reviewers who asked why, here's your answer: Because I am both evil and insane, plus a little bored. That particular fic would probably have been better if I had a real human soul, but mine is a knock-off and devoid of any sense of right or wrong. That said, here's the next chapter! .

My father is really dead.

It's not like it was a surprise, he told me long ago that this would happen. He also told me to stay inside and keep the prayer beads close when it did, but I never was a good listener when it came to the deaths of family members.

I looked at the kazaana in my own hand. Inuyasha had given me a handkerchief to wrap around it, and paired with the prayer beads, I think that this should suffice to keep the void at bay. For a while, at least.

So here I am now, where exactly, I don't know. But I seem to have fallen in with a rather interesting crowd as of late. Four demons, a human woman, and a youkai slayer, all under one roof. And then there's me.

The girl, Sango, she's the most interesting of the lot. She jumped right through a window planning to kill, I gather, anyone with youkai blood. When she realized that nothing evil at all was happening here, she stuck around to hear Inu no Taisho tell the story, for the thousandth time, it seemed, of the hundredth moon and what that meant to the youkai.

Fascinating stuff, I wonder if my father had known any of it.

He had known a good deal about youkai, actually, since one of them had cursed my ancestor, and the curse carried down to me. There used to be a family feud against the demon, but that was ages ago, none of us know where to find him now. He disappeared so long ago, he could be anywhere by now.

There seem to be a good deal more youkai around then I had thought. Four, right here in my own county! Well, Inuyasha says he's a hanyou, but to me half-youkai is just as weird as the original thing.

And then there's Sesshoumaru, who I can't figure out for the life of me. When I first saw him, well, he was saving my life actually, but three minutes later he looked as if he couldn't care less. When Sango came through the window he was there, and looking like he would kill to protect his brother, but when it became apparent that Sango wasn't a threat, he disappeared back into his room, where he's been ever since.

The fact that he burned her wrists and didn't know he did it also leads me to believe that he has a lot more power than he knows about. The burns, when examined, turned out to be more like a rash, brought on by a low level poison.

I will be keeping my distance from him in the future.

Sango, on the other hand...

Everything I've always thought about my ancestors might be wrong. I always thought we were great warriors, fighting off many legged, baby eating monsters.

Sango looked at Inuyasha, happily eating his mustard sandwich. His dog ears twitched at sounds, making her want to reach over and pet one of them.

This is a youkai? This is what we fought?

Or is this the exception, rather than the rule?

This was too much to think about.

"I have to go home. My parents will have realized I'm not in my room by now."

"Bye Sango! Come back to play, okay?" Inuyasha gave her a hopeful grin.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll definitely see you again."

"And me?" Miroku said, appearing behind her.

"Huh? Yeah, I guess."

"Be careful going home!" Izayoi told her, as she walked through the door.

"I will!"

She might stop on her way there. There was a place in the woods, a place where a willow tree had been wrapped in vines, creating a dome of green light. She went there often, it was a pleasant place to just sit and think. And she had a lot to think about now.

Sesshoumaru was trying very very hard to listen to his music and zone out of anything that might be happening outside his door. There were a thousand smells he didn't know, even in his own room, and it was annoying him.

A shadow came between him and the light. Annoyed that he hadn't heard the door open, he cracked open one amber eye, to see someone totally new.

The man had black hear and red eyes. Like Sesshoumaru, he had markings on his face, but they were limited to blue on his eyelids. He was wrapped in a white fur, which completely covered any other features he might have.

"Greetings, lord Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru took off his headphones, and stood up. The newcomer was a lot less scary eye-to eye, but there was still something about him Sesshoumaru didn't trust.

"What do you want?"

"Tell me, Sesshoumaru... Do you know who you are?"

"This is some kind of trick question, right?"

"No. Not at all. I can see there is much that even your father has not told you."

"And how would you know? Who are you?"

"You can call me Naraku."

"Naraku, huh? And what brings you here?"

"You have not yet answered my question. Do you know who you are?"

"I suppose you can tell me, if I do not."

"You are the son of the greatest youkai to ever live. But your father has sacrificed his power to live among humans. The next in the line of succession is you, making to the most powerful youkai alive."

"He failed to mention that."

"I thought as much."

"So what does this have to do with you?"

"Another thing he may not have told you is that there is a place for youkai such as us to go, where we can use our power as we wish."

"The sengoku jidai?"

"Correct. Tell me, does 'world domination' mean anything to you?"

"You're not serious."

"But I am. Between the two of us we have more than enough power to take, literally, anything we want."

"If that's true, then why didn't my father do it a long time ago?"

"Your father has a weakness. A soft spot, if you will, for humans. He sees them as a lot more than they are. Youkai like us, we're better than them. Your father doesn't see that."

"So my father gave up infinite power for a human and a half-breed? That's stupid!"

Naraku smiled.

"Exactly."

"All right, I'm listening. So how to we get to this sengoku jidai?"

"Sesshy! Sesshy we're on TV!" Inuyasha came bursting through the door, yelling.

"What did I tell you about knocking!"

Sesshoumaru turned back to Naraku, but he had disappeared.

"Who were you talking to, Sesshy?"

The youkai shook his head.

"Nobody."

"Well come on! We're on TV!"

"We're what?"

He followed his brother to the living room, where everyone was gathered around the screen.

"Mom's over exaggerating again," Jaken said sullenly.

"Sesshoumaru, wait till you see the drawings they got the police investigators to do."

"They're hilarious," Inu no Taisho said.

"I don't think that's exactly the word I would have chosen..." Miroku said.

On the screen, Jaken's mother, who had apparently found someone to interview her, was done sobbing about the horrible possession of her son and was now talking about the young girl who had gone to slay the demons and never returned.

"I gave her my cross, which had warded off the demons in the woods. She left, and shortly after there was an awful explosion," she sobbed. "The girl must have been killed."

"Wait, Sango isn't back home yet?" Miroku asked. "What if something happened to her?"

"She's OK," Inuyasha said. "If she could fight Sesshy she'll definitely be okay."

"She could not fight me, dummy."

Jaken's mother dissolved into tears, and the reporter one again filled the screen.

"There you have it. Monsters, demons, loose in our very own town. We are advising everyone to remain inside until the suspects are caught."

"Fine with us," Izayoi said with a grin.

"We are also asking everyone to keep their eyes open, and help the police to find the suspects. We have had witnesses talk to police artists, who have drawn the following sketches."

"We look scary," Inuyasha said as the pictures rolled by.

"They're stupid," Sesshoumaru said. "They can be prejudiced or honest, not both. I guess we know which one they chose."

He stormed back to his room, and checked under the bed, in the closet, even in his drawers.

"What on earth are you looking for?" Naraku said from the ceiling.

"There you are."

"You think I would hide in a closet? I think you have confused me with your childhood bogeyman."

"Shut up. Whatever deal you're about to push at me, I'll take it, and you can explain on the way to the airport."

"First you have to prove yourself."

"Prove what? I said I'll go, now lets move, I want out of here."

"You have to prove that you're not soft, like your father, or like the humans."

"Fine. What do I do?"

"The girl. Sango. You have to kill her."

"Why her?"

"Why does it matter? One human or another?"

"Fine."

Naraku faded off the ceiling, disappearing like the Cheshire cat. Only he wasn't grinning.

Sesshoumaru climbed out his window again, momentarily wondering at all the things that had happened since he did the same thing late the night before.

Sango's scent was strong outside the window, where she had stopped to look in. From there, it was easy to follow her path away from the house. She had wandered into the forest, for some reason. Sesshoumaru didn't care. It made his job that much easier. The pictures on television didn't look much like him, but there were a limited amount of people with white hair like his.

Find her, kill her, get the hell out of here.

Easy.

I learned a new Japanese word today while I was watching some subs. It's actually a curse, 'temeae' (sp?) meaning 'you.' It's the reason that they say Inuyasha swears a lot.

See the word means you, but translated into English it would be more like 'you bastard.' He uses it to talk to pretty much everybody, but there's no way to translate it and not sound stupid, so a lot of it gets lost in the translation.

I picked that up all by myself, I'm so proud.

I would just like you to know that I walked about a mile in the rain to get to a computer with a connection to get you this. (Okay, maybe 'mile' and 'rain' are pushing it, but it was far and wet.)

Review? Please?

Sango sat in the top branches of her tree, staring at the clouds. It looked as if it might rain later. But for now, the sun was shining and all was well.

She remembered the look of fear on Inuyasha's face as she came through the window. The simple amusement in Izayoi's eyes, Inu no Taisho's easy laugh.

Was this what her people killed?

Were youkai so bad after all?

She didn't know, and it was troubling her a lot.

That, and she had to explain to her parents how she had lost her sword. She was not looking forward at all to telling them.

She sighed, settling down onto the branch.

That could wait.

The scent stopped here. She had either disappeared, or gone up... Sesshoumaru's amber eyes followed the trunk of the tree up, up to the girl in the top branches. She was deep in concentration, and didn't even see him.

Perfect.

He pressed his hand to the trunk of the tree, testing his newest weapon. Sure enough, the bark withered and burned from the poison in his hands. It left a black mark in the shape of his hand, which would be there until the tree died.

Trying not to focus too hard on what he was about to do, Sesshoumaru started to climb to tree, not making a sound.

Miroku hadn't been sure exactly why Sesshoumaru had chosen to go out his window instead of the front door, but he had a terrible suspicion it had to do with Sango. He had been worried enough when she hadn't gone home, and there was something about the teenager he just didn't trust at all.

He hadn't been expecting to be forced to use the wind tunnel in his lifetime, but when Sesshoumaru began to climb toward Sango, he didn't really think. He held his hand out in front of him like a shield.

"Sesshoumaru! Get away from her!"

Sango sat straight up, almost falling out of the tree as she did so. She looked at Miroku.

"Miroku? What are you doing here?"

"I swear I'll open this!"

"Open what?" Sesshoumaru said, not slowing. He had almost reached Sango, who had just noticed him. Miroku didn't answer, instead he pulled open the knot on the handkerchief, and pulled the beads aside. The resulting wind shook the trees side to side, threatening to pull them from the earth. Miroku kicked himself for not considering the dangers, but he had had very few options at the time, so he forgave himself.

Sango got a good hold on the tree's trunk, and managed to hold on as the tree waved back and forth in the wind. Sesshoumaru was not so lucky. The bark on the tree dug into his hands, he transferred the pain into a growl, but kept his hold.

Far enough away from this not to be observed, Naraku shook his head. Sesshoumaru was capable of so much more, if he would remember that he was stronger than this. Sighing, he pulled from within his white fur a small hive, watching as several large bees flew on a suicide path into the wind.

Several things happened simultaneously. The bees flew into the kazaana, sending spirals of pain up Miroku's arm. Sesshoumaru was ripped from the tree, flying at great speed toward his doom. Miroku closed the kazaana, and ducked at the same time, barley noticing as Sesshoumaru flew over his head to slam into another tree, and fall to the ground, unconscious. Sango dropped from branch to branch, finally landing on the ground. She rushed to Miroku's side.

"Are you okay? What happened? What was that thing?"

"I'm... okay.." Miroku said slowly. The pain had spread across his chest now, and he was deeply worried for his personal safety.

"What did you do?"

"The kazaana... Air void..."

"And that's... In your hand?"

"Yeah."

"Does it hurt to open it? Is that why you're like this?"

"No... Took something in... Poison?"

"Oh. Oh man... We have to get you to an ambulance or something. Can you walk, if I support you?"

"I can try..."

Sesshoumaru opened his eyes to find Naraku looking disapprovingly down at him.

Ow.

That was his first thought.

And his second.

His third was 'He sure does look pissed."

"What the hell was that thing?"

"The kazaana, the air void that I cursed his ancestor with a long time ago."

"You knew about that thing?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't think it might be nice to maybe tell me?"

"I wasn't expecting him to show up. But I have disposed of the boy, and he will no longer be bothering us."

"You still could have said something."

"The girl, I may mention, is still alive."

Sesshoumaru sat up, rubbing his head. There was blood on his forehead, dripping from a cut that was definitely going to leave a scar.

"I'll kill her for you once that boy is nice and dead, okay? I can't kill him if he's got a black hole in his hand."

"It doesn't matter."

"Fine, whatever. I am not in any position to be working out riddles right now."

"You took a tree to the head."

"Oh, really? Gee, I just figured I had a migraine." Sarcasm dripped from the teenager's words.

"Another reason youkai are superior to humans. Had you still been human, you would be dead right now. As you are, your injuries will probably have healed completely by the time we get to Japan."

"... Japan? Oh yeah. The well."

"But we have to go somewhere else first. I have something I'd like to take care of before I go back."

"What?"

"A little revenge."

Hospitals, Sango soon discovered, were terribly boring places. Everything was the same color. People all around her were sobbing, and every once in a while an ashen- faced relative would receive the news of a death. The subsequent screams of grief did not fill Sango with hope. Quite the opposite actually.

After half an hour she fed a few quarters into a pay phone and called her parents. The conversation went something like this.

"Hello?"

"Mom?"

"Oh! Sango! We've been so worried!" her mother covered the receiver and yelled back to her father that Sango was on the phone.

"We were worried sick, with all those monsters on the loose and you were missing, and that woman on TV said-"

Her father picked up the other line.

"Sango?"

"Hey dad."

"You went off to try to fight those things, didn't you?"

"How did you know?"

"Your sword was missing. Okay, more important question: Any luck?"

"Um, no. About my sword-"

"Never mind that, honey," her mother said. "Where are you? We're coming to get you. Don't take one step outside whatever door you're nearest."

"I'm at the hospital, mom."

"They hurt you that bad? Those ratbas-"

"Dad, I'm fine. It's a friend of mine that got hurt. I don't know if he'll... Be okay. I'm gonna stay, but I just wanted to let you know I'm alive."

"Oh."

"Oh."

"Well okay then. Give us another call when you want to come home."

"I will, mom."

"Tell your friend to get better for us, okay?"

"I will."

"Bye.

"Bye mom. Bye dad."

Sango dropped the phone back on it's hook. Then she dispiritedly made her way back to the room where Miroku was. They didn't have a name for the poison, not to mention an antidote, so the only course of action left to them was to drain a lot of his blood, and hope the poison was diluted enough not to kill him.

She sat by his bed, trying not to worry. True, she'd only known him for a few hours, but he was like this because he had tried to help her. He had saved her life... And hopefully not sacrificed his own in return.

"Miroku... Don't die, okay?"

The unconscious boy didn't respond. An orderly came into the room with a bunch of papers clipped onto a board. He looked from Miroku to Sango, then approached her.

"Are you a relative of the boy?"

She shook her head.

"Close friend."

"Do you know any family members we could contact? Legal guardian?"

"No. I'm sorry. I don't know anything."

"And you're how close of a friend?"

"He got hurt saving my life."

"Oh."

The orderly suddenly felt uncomfortable under the girl's stare. He coughed, and backed out of the room, leaving the two alone.

Sango watched him go, then looked back at Miroku. He was paler than he should be, and his breathing was shallow.

"You wouldn't die from this, would you? They're just bugs, right?"

But Miroku said nothing.

See, if this were a disney movie, it would be no good, because right now Miroku would wake up and grin, signifying that all was right in the world. Sesshoumaru would see through Naraku and return to his family, who would adopt Miroku, and they would all live happily ever after. Except Naraku, who would probably be killed, humanely, in an accident.

Nice story, way too predictable.

This is not a story written by Disney. It is a story written by me. And I think we all know exactly how many qualms I have about killing people, and that is none. So I shall tell you right now, that people are going to die, next chapter.

Guess who's gonna die, if you're right you get your name on the great Wall of People who Guessed Right!