Bwahahaha chapter 30! That means if this story is to have 60 chapters, I'm halfway done! Cept I'm not halfway done at all… hm… interesting…

Anyway, another ten chapters from chapter 20! Now I must thank all my readers and reviewers! I love you people! If it weren't for you, I would have never gotten this far! The more reviews I get, the more I write! Stay sexy!

This chapter is a bit on the freaky side.. very much so actually. Very freaky. But OH well. I'm a little afraid of what people will think of this. What can I say, whenever I open my inbox and my email says Review alert!" I get really nervous that someone didn't like Kokoro No Zaigou… my stomach starts churning! lol

Chapter 30: The Activation

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked him as she walked at his side, "Why were you and Hanako asleep together this morning when I woke up?"

Sesshomaru did not respond. He didn't feel like explaining himself to anyone, not now. He did find it rather strange that he had not moved Hanako when she fell asleep on him. But he hadn't wanted to.

Jaken looked up at Sesshomaru in horror. "You were sleeping with her Lord Sesshomaru?" he exclaimed, "I thought you had more sense than that!" He couldn't believe his ears. It was so unlike him.

Sesshomaru looked at the foolish little imp. "It is not what you think, Jaken." He was disgusted at the fact that Jaken would even think such things.

Rin smiled to herself. I'm so glad that she isn't mad at him anymore. Now everything's peaceful again…

The wind blew to him a questionable scent. Blood. The blood of a demon. It was coming from across the river, where Hanako and Chika were. He peered through trees to where they were. He looked closer. Where were they? Did Hanako have to kill off a demon in the woods?

He began to walk toward the river. Rin and Jaken followed him. Sesshomaru sniffed the blood scent more carefully, his mind scanning his memory to see if he recognized such a scent.

He had smelled this same blood when he had hit Chika. It had been dribbling from her mouth.

His eyes narrowed in suspicion. Sesshomaru started to run. What had happened?

"Lord Sesshomaru! What's wrong?" Rin called out to him.

"Stay here, Rin," he yelled back to her. Jaken sensed something was wrong. He began running after Sesshomaru and they both dashed across the river.

They both stopped. Sesshomaru's eyes widened.

Pieces of body were everywhere. Blood stained the grass red. Jaken bent down to take a closer look at an arm. "The flesh is awfully pale…" he commented, "Do you suppose… this is Hanako's arm…?"

Sesshomaru looked at the arm. "No… the blood scent is of a demon's…this is Chika's arm."

Jaken gasped. "What!"

Sesshomaru walked over the body parts. At last he found the head. It was Chika. Her expression appeared shocked and angered, even in death. Something terrible must have happened to her. He felt little concern for her; he hadn't liked her anyways. But where was Hanako?

Sesshomaru sniffed the other lingering scents around the area. At last he found Hanako's, but something else greatly disturbed him.

The scent of Naraku was mixed in with hers. His eyes narrowed in anger. He gazed near a branch that was strangely covered in glitter. He sniffed it. His head felt weary for a few moments, but it soon passed. This glitter was poison powder.

No… he thought, Naraku didn't take her, did he?

It must have been what happened. He attacked Chika and took Hanako. But why? What did he want with Hanako? To lead him somewhere?

Sesshomaru became increasingly angry. He clenched his fists. He shouldn't have left her alone with that foolish slave girl Chika. He took off into the woods, following the two scents that were entwined together. He ran so fast, it was as if his feet were off the ground.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken called out from far away, "Where are you going!"

Sesshomaru came to a familiar place. The scent of Hanako was cut off. He stopped running.

He knew where he was. This was the pond where Hanako and Rin had hung up those wishes. He could see them now, the cold breeze blowing them in the wind as they hung in a willow tree. He peered around him. There was no sign of her anywhere. The scent just cut off here.

Sesshomaru scanned the ground around him. There were footprints in the mud. He walked over to them. It looked as if someone had been kneeling at that very spot near the water.

The black water lay still. He gazed at his own reflection for a few silent moments. He felt it; the strong forces of terrible happenings that had occurred here, but these were not from long ago. What he was sensing had happened just recently. Not even that long ago. The presence of sadness clung to the dead air around him; the presence of misery lay all over the ground. A dark realization overcame him.

No… she wouldn't be in the water… would she…?

It was possible, but very unlikely. But her scent just cut off here, where the water was. He placed his finger in it. It was freezing cold.

At that moment, he could sense her aura from the bottom of the pond.

No… he thought, Naraku took her… and drowned her at the bottom of this pond…!

His mind was overcome with anger. If only he had been there. If he had been there, he could have ripped Naraku to shreds and taken Hanako back. None of this would have happened if he had been there with her. He vowed never to leave her alone again.

Only one question plagued him: Why?

There was no time to wonder. He had to remove her from this water. He acted on an impulse and jumped in the water. He had to hurry before she lost her breath, or the water weight crushed her.

The freezing, icy water shocked him as he jumped in. He had not expected it to be so cold. Forget her being crushed, she would freeze to death. He regained his senses and began swimming to the bottom of the pond, feeling more and more pressure as he got deeper and deeper. How deep was this thing? It was like the pond was a huge crater in the earth that was filled with water. No light came into the water. He was blinded. He couldn't see anything in front of him.

He reached out him arms in front of him. He felt something soft between his fingers. He searched around for the source. He felt something smooth. A face.

He blinked to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He opened his eyes.

Hanako lay on the water's floor, her body tangled in seaweed and wrapped in chains. His fingers were on her face. His anger flared more. It was true. Naraku had kidnapped her, chained her, and threw her to the bottom of this pond. He scooped her up from the bottom of the bond, her body freezing cold.

He kicked off the bottom of the pond. The heaviness of the chains made it harder for him to rise to the surface. He himself was beginning to run out of breath. Since he was a demon, he could go without air longer than any human could. But it had been a long time…

He finally reached the surface. He climbed out of the water, gripping the side of the pond with all of his strength. He threw her on the grass first, and them himself. He wiped the water from his face. He looked at Hanako before him. He gasped.

She was even worse than he could have imagined. He had not seen her because it had been so dark. Her eyes had brown circles around them, and her skin was a perfect shade of gray. Her lips were a pale blue. Her eyes were halfway open, halfway closed, and her mouth hung ajar as well. His eyes quivered at the sight. This was his fault.

She couldn't be dead. He had just seen her not even an hour before, singing and going about her life, as happily as ever. How could someone who was always so alive be dead?

He placed his hand over her heart. No beating. He felt his own heart racing. He reached for her hand to find a pulse in her wrist. Nothing. He frantically placed his two fingers against her neck. Still no pulse. He backed away on his knees.

She was dead.

He kept his himself from breaking down or saying anything. He closed his eyes for a few brief moments, controlling his rage and sadness. He took deep, shaky breaths, in and out. He felt something pulse at his side.

His hand fell to his sword, Tenseiga. He fumbled it and pulled it out. He had almost forgotten it: the sword that was given to him by his father, the sword that could save the lives of many. He raised it, focusing over Hanako's now dead body. Several imps appeared, the very ones fro the underworld. The very ones who took the souls to the world beyond the living. He gripped Tenseiga, raising it higher.

Don't any of you even dare…

He saw their little eyes look at him. He slashed them to pieces.

…to take Hanako's life away!

The imps disintegrated before him. He but Tenseiga back at his hip and ran back to her. He lifted her head slightly, staring at her face with hope and anticipation in his eyes. He felt her pulse in her neck slowly start up again. His eyes widened. He nearly smiled. For a few fleeting moments, he felt thankful that his father had left him Tenseiga.

Her pulse had started up again, but it was now racing. Going faster and faster. Sesshomaru stared at her. Her chest was having spasms.

Her eyes shot open. Her pupils were so dilated that her eyes at first appeared black. The shrunk in the blink of an eye, and it appeared as if they weren't there at all. She shot upward in an unnatural way and stared at nothing. It looked as if her vision was running away before her.

Sesshomaru stared at her. "Hanako…? Are you alright…?" he asked, his voice still shaking. He was cold as well. His wet hair hung on his back.

Her head shot around. She stood up. She stared blankly at the bushes in a forest.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. He could sense Naraku coming from that direction. He looked back at Hanako.

She was now staring at him as well. Her blank gaze softened. Her eyes appeared empty, like nothing was there behind them. The only thing looking back at him was a glittering sort of dead lust. She reached out her hand to his face, stroking it with her freezing hand. She opened her mouth. It shivered, trying to spew out words.

"…Riyu…"

He raised an eyebrow and his eyes widened. He looked deeper into her eyes. What looked back at him now wasn't Hanako. "Wh-what…?"

She looked at him innocently. "Riyu-chan… I… I did what you said… but why…did you tell me to do this? Wh-why couldn't I join you…?"

Sesshomaru looked at her with a horrified expression. When he resurrected her with Tenseiga, he had resurrected something else.

"No, Hanako. This is not Riyu. Riyu is dead."

Naraku walked out of the bushes, Kagura following him close behind. Sesshomaru glared at both of them.

"I must thank you, Sesshomaru," Naraku said, "If you had not showed up so unexpectedly, everything would have gone wrong with her."

Sesshomaru stared at Hanako, who was still looking up at him. She never blinked. She never once took her eyes off of him. She continued to haunt him with her wanting stare.

"Naraku…" he growled, "What did you do to her? What business do you have with her?"

Naraku laughed at him. "You really don't know any of it, do you? You know nothing about her."

Sesshomaru only got angrier. "I don't care what she is right now! I only want to know why you took her from me… and what the hell you did to her!"

"Why so angry? I thought you did not care about the lives of others." Naraku sighed. "But she is more mine than she will ever be yours…"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean! I bought her! She is my property!"

"Correction: you took her."

Sesshomaru stopped. His eyes widened again.

"And how would you know that?"

Naraku smirked and looked at Hanako, who was still gaping at Sesshomaru. Her mouth hung open slightly. "I know a lot more than you think I do… I know a lot more about her than you think I do…"

Hanako spoke softly. "Riyu-chan… why do you ignore me?" Her voice was hollow and lonely.

Sesshomaru looked at her with a saddened expression. Did she not even remember him anymore? Did she forget him just as she had forgotten her entire past? Perhaps Naraku had been the cause of that as well. It bothered him so much. How did they know each other? No, Hanako did not know him. The time she had mentioned his name, she had asked who he was. Did she know him before she had lost her memory?

"That is not Riyu," Naraku said, looking at Hanako with admiration. He had not expected some of her old memories to come back as well. It was expected that Riyu would come into the picture, however…

Hanako pointed to Sesshomaru, her eyes still never leaving him. "…Riyu."

Kagura looked upon Hanako with horror. Naraku had turned her into some mindless minion. A zombie. This was his idea of "all-powerful"? This was how he had wanted her to be in the beginning? She was a brain-dead fool that couldn't take her lustful eyes off of Sesshomaru because she thought he was someone else. Her restless spirit had not moved from its spot. The rumors had been true that went along with her legend. When Riyu died, she had gone insane. Did Naraku see that as well? She peered at him. It didn't look like it. She peered at his pocket that had the little red bead in it. It was glowing pink. An idea made itself apparent in her mind.

Hanako had once promised to set her free. If she set her free now, perhaps she would repay the favor. Kagura slipped into his pocket and took it out. Her eyes never left him. He didn't notice. He was too busy watching Hanako mistake Sesshomaru for Riyu, while Sesshomaru took out Tokijin and held it to Naraku.

"I will kill you…" Sesshomaru said, becoming angrier.

Naraku shook his head. "Don't get so mad. If you kill me, there will be no way of knowing about Hanako, now will there?" he cackled.

Sesshomaru reluctantly lowered his sword.

Kagura looked at the red bead. She wasn't sure how to use it, but she knew it controlled her. She pressed it between her fingers, just as she had seen Naraku do.

Hanako's eyes widened. Her hand fell to her side. Sesshomaru gazed at her, his confusion growing more and more.

She looked up at the sky. Within an instant, she had flown off into the sky.

Naraku's eyes widened. He turned around. Kagura stood dumfounded, holding the bead in her hand.

Naraku took it from her and hit her down. "Fool! What did you do! Follow her, now!"

Sesshomaru watched them quarrel for a few brief moments, and then looked into the sky. She had flown off somewhere. What had happened to her? There were so many unanswered questions. He felt the worry plague the back of his mind. If only he had been there…

When had this happened? When had be become so… compassionate? He still questioned himself; he still questioned Hanako. When had he suddenly taken on the role of her protector?

When he had begun to have feelings for her.

He had feelings for Hanako. It was strange, but it was true. It was wrong, but it was still so true. He found it hard for it to be wrong. How could something so wrong feel ever so right? He flew off into the sky after her. He didn't know anything about her, but it didn't matter now. He wouldn't let her go, not the woman he was beginning to really like.