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Chapter 9

A Family Lost

They whole group was soon back at the Higorashi shrine, and Kagome had gotten Inuyasha laid down on the couch. He was still out cold from the park, and most of the group stayed in the living room to watch over Inuyasha. Jesse left to gather some herbs outside, and Sesshomaru soon went outside as well. He found Jesse kneeling under the sacred tree gathering some weeds. Jesse noticed Sesshomaru walking up and with out turning his head he said, "What do you need Sesshomaru?"

Sesshomaru stood behind Jesse as he said, "I need to talk."

Jesse stopped for a second before he turned around and sighed. He stood up and dusted a bit of dirt of his cloths. He motioned for Sesshomaru to follow him and they went over to a far part of the shrine. They sat on a bench that overlook the city and after a few silent seconds Jesse asked, "So Sesshomaru, what do you want to ask me?"

Sesshomaru sighed as he said, "You knew my father well, didn't you."

Jesse looked at Sesshomaru with a quizzical look as he asked, "I knew him fairly well. Why do you ask?"

Sesshomaru took a big breath before he said, "Well…If you haven't noticed I would be surprised, but I have feeling for Renamon, pretty strong feelings."

Jesse sighed and smiled as he said, "Oh, that's what you want to talk about. I was worried that it was going to be something that would be a matter of life or death, but please continue."

Sesshomaru looked across the cityscape as he said, "Well, I believe Renamon is the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, but I am worried about several things. One of them is if marrying Renamon would make my father, the great dog demon, proud or ashamed."

Jesse shook his head as he said, "Sesshomaru, I didn't think you would be worried about that. If anything your father's example should make it clear. He married a human, something that made many demons and humans detest him, but he did it any way because he loved Inuyasha's mother. If you truly love Renamon, that is all that matters. I am sure he would be proud that you found someone that you love."

Sesshomaru sighed as he said, "Well, that's one of two problems out of my way."

Jesse gave a questioning look as he asked, "Really, what is the second problem?"

Sesshomaru replied, "It is the fact that both Renamon and I are bound by the life of being someone's protector. I tell many people that I have no one to protect, but I will tell you the truth. I do have someone to protect. I have Rin and Jaken to protect, and Renamon has to protect Rika. We can not forsake those we protect for our love. Neither of use want to do that or can do that. I just don't know what to do?"

Jesse sat back and thought over Sesshomaru's predicament. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes when Sesshomaru stood up and headed back to Kagome's house. Jesse continued to sit and look up at the nighttime sky. His own heart was breaking over the terrible situation between Renamon and Sesshomaru. Jesse then got an idea and summoned up a book from his hut. It appeared out of thin air, and Jesse took hold of it. He flipped through the pages as he said, "This old book has a great amount of power. It can tell me the events of the past, and maybe through them I can determine what to do."

Jesse finally got to the page and began to read. As he read he said aloud, "When the Great Dog Demon died the western lands that he had been lord over passed to one of his two sons, Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru ruled over the lands well with his assistant Jaken, and in the later years of his lordship a young human girl names Rin. He hadn't given up a shred of the land until one day, for what seemed to be no reason, Sesshomaru gave all the lands he lorded over to his half brother, Inuyasha. Inuyasha ruled over the lands with the help of a young priestess named Kagome, a monk, the last two of the Demon Slayer village, and a young fox demon who became an adopted son of Lord Inuyasha and Lady Kagome."

Jesse closed the book and it disappeared as another book appeared. He flipped through the second books pages. After a few minutes of looking through the book Jesse smiled as he said, "Hmm this book says that somehow, some event makes it possible for Sesshomaru and Renamon to be together, but what is it. The page that tells about it seems to have been damaged in this magic book of future events. The only legible word on the page is tragedy. What ever happens must be a devastating event, but what is it?" Jesse closed the book and it disappeared back to his hut on the forgotten island. He stood up and began to make his way back to Kagome's house as he said, "What dark event is coming, and when it will arrive? Those are the biggest questions I have."

Across town Renamon, Rika, Rika's mother Mukino, and Rika's grandmother Seiko were eating dinner when Renamon suddenly got a chill down her spine. Suddenly, a dark mist began to float into the house, and Renamon got up quickly and headed out into the yard where Naraku was floating with his usual cocky grin on his face. In an instant Rika and Renamon had biomerged to Sakyuamon and was standing in a battle stance.

Naraku chuckled in a low voice before he said, "Foolish creature, do you believe you can stand up to me by yourself."

Sakyuamon nodded as she said, "When it comes to defending my family I would rather die then let you into this house, and I have the perfect thing to hold you off with." With that Sakyuamon's sacred staff began to glow and in a few seconds it transformed into a long sword, it had transformed into the Rensaiga.

Naraku just continued to smile as he formed his right hand into a sword and lifted his left hand and motioned for Sakyuamon to attack him. Sakyuamon answered his call and lunged at Naraku. Their blades clashed and they traded sword clashes for several minutes. While this was going on Rika's mother watched in horror while Rika's grandmother rushed over to the telephone. She picked it up and quickly dialed the number for the Higorashi Shrine. The phone rang a couple times before Kagome's grandfather picked up and said, "Higorashi Shrine."

Seiko sighed in relief as she said, "Thank goodness, Higorashi, this is Seiko. Rika and Renamon are fighting some strange man in are yard. She is holding him off for now, but I don't know how long she can hold out."

Higorashi's worried voice came over the line as he said, "Get yourself and Mukino to safety. I will get Inuyasha and Sesshomaru to go and help Rika as fast as they can."

Seiko looked out the window and watched Sakyuamon force Naraku back for a minute as she said, "Please Higorashi, I don't know how long Rika and Renamon can hold out."

Kagome's grandmother hung up the phone and ran into the living room where Inuyasha had woken up and was now eating down some ramen. Sesshomaru turned his head and asked, "What is it old man?"

Kagome's grandfather took a big breath as he said, "Sesshomaru, Inuyasha you must hurry to Rika's house. Naraku is attacking them. They are holding him off for now, but who knows how long they will be able to hold out."

Inuyasha slurped the last of his Ramen down and stood up as he said, "Sesshomaru, Miroku, Jesse come on. Sango, you stay here and make sure everyone is safe incase Naraku decides to send a Demon Puppet here to attack you."

Sango nodded her head and said, "Of course Inuyasha."

Inuyasha then ran out the living room door with Sesshomaru and Mirkou on his heals. Inuyasha burst out of the house and began running down the shrine steps, but soon saw Miroku and Sesshomaru flying on Sesshomaru's cloud and Inuyasha got the hint that they could go faster if they flew. Jesse had summoned his own form of flying cloud, but it traveled much slower. As they flew across the city Sesshomaru looked straight ahead with his emotionless eyes, though in his mind one thought kept crossing mind. He was thinking, "Naraku, if I find one scratch on either Rika or Renamon I will hunt you relentlessly until one of us is dead."

When Rika's house came into view they saw Sakyuamon block one of Naraku's attacks. Inuyasha quickly leapt down from Sesshomaru's cloud and readied the wind scar. He came down right behind Naraku and released the wind scar, striking Naraku in the back. Somehow, Naraku survived the attack with barely a scratch and he turned around to face Miroku, Sesshomaru, and Inuyasha. He chuckled a bit and then said, "It seems I have overstayed my welcome." With that Naraku leapt high and began to jump from roof top to roof top. Inuyasha quickly went after Naraku and Sesshomaru, Miroku, and Sakyuamon soon followed at their heels.

They chased Naraku for a good twenty minutes, but as they chased the evil half-demon across the roof tops Sesshomaru, Miroku, and Inuyasha were getting a bad feeling in their guts. Naraku had never run away from a fight like this. Sesshomaru was the one that realized that Naraku must be trying to lead them away and he spun around. Sakyuamon noticed that Sesshomaru, who had been following her, had turned around and was heading back to Rika's house. Sakyuamon thought about it for a second and then turned around herself and went after Sesshomaru.

Jesse had arrived at Rika's house a few moments after Naraku had escaped and the others had gone after him. Jesse checked on Seiko and Mukino, and was happy to see they were alright. Still, something didn't feel right. Soon, a black mist began to flow through the house again, and Jesse, Mukino, and Seiko heard a low evil chuckle.

Sesshomaru came into the yard. They had only been gone about thirty minutes, but the courtyard was already filling with the scent of blood, human blood. Sesshomaru looked around the courtyard and saw a demon puppet which was still in one whole unit. That meant that the demon puppet had not been destroyed, it had just stopped working. Sesshomaru could sense Sakyuamon coming, and he decided to see if his fears were true.

Sesshomaru quickly stuck his head in the house and saw a horrible sight. Rika's mother and grandmother had been slain by Naraku. Jesse was also lying on the floor, but he was still taking shallow breaths. Sesshomaru quickly took out the Tenseiga, and he attempted to bring Mukino and Seiko back to life, but for some reason the sword of the heaven could not bring them back to life. Sesshomaru then realized that Naraku must have sucked the souls out of their bodies before he murdered them. This would be the only way the power of the Tenseiga to bring humans back to life could be stopped. He walked over to Jesse and bent down to his old friend and asked, "What happened."

Jesse took a few shallow breaths before he said, "Naraku left a demon puppet here. He lead you away and then brought the puppet to life. I tried to protect them, but he overpowered me. The puppet then pulled the souls out of there bodies. He placed sacred symbols on the bodies before he murdered them. Those symbols prevent the souls from reentering the body. They stop the Tenseiga from working."

Sesshomaru nodded his head and said, "Are you going to be alright." Jesse nodded as the pair heard Sakyuamon land in the yard and Sesshomaru quickly ran out to meet her.

Sakyuamon split into Rika and Renamon before Rika said, "Sesshomaru, why did you turn around?"

Sesshomaru walked up to Rika and said, "Rika, please go to your room, I need to talk to Renamon a second." Rika didn't like the tone in Sesshomaru's voice, but she did as she was asked and went straight to her room.

Renamon gave Sesshomaru a quizzical look when he got close to her and whispered the terrible truth into Renamon's ear. In an instant Renamon ran around him and into the room where the slaughter had occurred. Renamon feel down at the door and began to tremble as Sesshomaru came up behind her and tried to ease her pain. Renamon cried for a few minutes before she dried her eyes enough to ask, "How are we going to tell Rika?"

Sesshomaru sighed as he said, "There is no easy way to tell her. All we can do is tell her the truth, that Naraku tricked us and did as he always did. He tried to defeat his enemy's through dishonorable tactics and evil means."

Renamon looked at the Tenseiga and was about to ask when Sesshomaru shook his head and said, "I have already tried, but Naraku has done something that is preventing the Tenseiga from resurrecting them. I am sorry Renamon, there is nothing I can do." Renamon motioned toward Jesse, who was using some of his magic to heal the worse of his wounds, but Sesshomaru shook his head again.

Renamon cried on Sesshomaru's shoulder and after a while he stood her up and led her to Rika's room. He sat Renamon outside the door to Rika's room, letting her rest on the patio's edge before he went into Rika's bedroom. Rika looked up as Sesshomaru came in and waited for an explanation. Sesshomaru bit his lip a second before he said, "Rika, while we were chasing the real Naraku a demon puppet came here and… Well your mother and grandmother are…they are..."

Rika got a scared look on her face as Sesshomaru seemed unable to say what had happened. He finally took a deep breath, and with a stern but forced coldness he said, "Naraku has killed your mother and grandmother."

Rika's mind seemed unable to process the reality that Sesshomaru had just told her. Sesshomaru then opened the bedroom door and got Renamon's attention. Renamon came in and began to comfort Rika while Sesshomaru shut the door, leaving them alone. He waited outside the door, the sounds of crying attacking his ears relentlessly. Finally Miroku and Inuyasha returned to the house, and Sesshomaru told them what happened. Inuyasha growled a bit in anger of Naraku's actions, but Miroku sighed as he said, "We have to call Kagome, she will know what we should do."

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha agreed, and while Renamon and Rika comforted each other Sesshomaru went back to the Higorashis Shrine, being the messanger of the terrible news. When Kagome, Sango, and the others heard they were speechless, but Kagome knew who she needed to call. Kagome quickly looked through the phone book and found the number for Henry Wong's apartment. She dialed the number and after a few rings someone picked up and a little girls voice came over the line saying, "Hello, this is Suzie."

Kagome regained her composure long enough to say, "Can I please speak with Henry Wong?"

Susie replied, "Sure." She set down the phone and ran to get Henry. In a few minutes Henry came over the line saying, "Hello."

Kagome tried to retain her composure, but her ability to keep her voice steady was beginning to fail. None the less she gathered herself up enough to say, "Henry, this is Kagome Higorashi. I am the girl who introduced you to Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, and the others."

"Oh yeah, I remember. So, why are you calling me so late?"

Kagome took a deep breath as she said, "Well…A little while ago my grandfather got a call from Rika's grandmother. They were being attacked by Naraku. Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, and Miroku rushed over to help, but when they arrived at Rika's house Naraku turned and ran away. Inuyasha, Miroku, Sesshomaru, and Sakyuamon chased after him, but then Sesshomaru realized that something was amiss. He turned around and went back to Rika's house, and…and."

Henry's voice got a worried tone as he said, "and what Kagome?"

Kagome took a quick breath and quickly spat out, "Rika's mother and grandmother are dead."

Henry almost dropped the receiver, but her caught himself as he said, "So, what are we going to do?"

Kagome replied in a sorrowful voice. "If we let the police get involved they might find out about Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, and the others. I remember you telling me about a guy named Yamachi. Do you think he could help?"

Henry thought a second before he said, "I don't know, I will give him a call. My father has his cell phone number. I will also call the other tamers, I think it best if they hear it from me."

Kagome agreed and hung up the phone without another word, and both the tamers and the feudal era gang spent the rest of the night in quite respect. In the morning a knock came at Kagome's front door. When Kagome answered it she saw a guy with a black business suit on. He stepped in slightly as he said, "I am Yamachi, and I need to talk with someone called Sesshomaru."

Kagome nodded her head and fetched Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru and Yamachi talked for an hour, finally coming up with a way to give Rika's mother and grandmother a proper burial without getting the police involved. They would only invite the tamers and the feudal era gang. Miroku would preside over the burial, given his monk status. Yamachi could provide the coffins and they could bury them on the property owned by the Higorashi Shrine. The only hitch was getting rid of the evidence so anyone who went into the house wouldn't know what happened.

Luckily Jesse was able to help with that. He went to the house and with a quick couple of spells cleaned the place up and transported the two bodies to the Higorashi shrine for the burial. The burial was held the next day, everyone was dressed in black except the feudal era gang. They had nothing black to change into, and they knew how to pay their respects no matter where or when they came across death. As Miroku was performing the burial the sky mourned with them, letting a cold sad rain pour down right after Inuyasha and Sesshomaru finished covering the graves. As a last step Jesse leveled the mounds and grew some grass so no one would know the graves were fresh. The double tombstone, brought to the grave by Sesshomaru and carved by Jesse. In the quite Miroku read it aloud, "Seiko and Mukino Nonaka, Beloved mother and grandmother". Followed by the dates of their births and the same date of there deaths.

Rika and Renamon returned to the now empty house. The tamers all headed home and the feudal era gang went into Kagome's house. The last two left outside were Yamachi and Jesse. Jesse realized that the tragedy his mystic book had described was this event. He turned to Yamachi as he said, "So, what happened to Rika."

Yamachi sighed as he said, "Well, according to the law she is supposed to go to her father. Her only living family, but unfortunately when I called him he said he didn't have the means to care for Rika. That only leaves her to go to an orphanage."

Jesse fell silent for a second before he said, "I may know of another way, but I will have to clear it with a few people first. Can you give me that time?"

Yamachi nodded his head as he said, "I have called in a few favors, so you have till tomorrow at 5:00 to get everything in order."Jesse nodded and decided to go and talk to Rika and Renamon tomorrow morning, giving them time to grieve.