The Broken House of Taisho

Chapter 5: The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Kagome walked through the field slowly, smiling at the early blooms. It was so nice that winter was over. The warm sun radiated its joy at its return to Japan after so many months hidden behind the clouds. The hanyou shielded her eyes and looked around. There was no road save the dirt path used by a rare traveler. There were no power lines or any hum of a generator. The City of the West stood in all of its ancient glory on the hilltop as she meandered through the tall grass. She came to a small knoll and paused. The grass was much more lush here and buttercups dotted it with their yellow petals. "It's beautiful here," said a voice behind her, although it didn't startle the hanyou.

Standing up, she turned to face her previously unseen companion. "Yes," she replied, smiling. "I was wondering when I would see you again."

The lady with the golden and copper colored hair smiled in return. "I told you that it would not be for a very long time. Were you expecting me sooner?"

"I would never presume to know what a goddess should do with her time," said Kagome.

Amaterasu laughed softly, sounding like the chiming of church bells far in the distance. "It is true that I hesitate to show myself to you. I only revealed myself to you last time when I felt it was absolutely necessary. And even then, you had already defeated the evil god you call Amatsu."

"You helped us, even when we didn't know who you were," pointed out the hanyou. She gave the goddess a pretty little curtsey. "Please, Amaterasu-sama, are we in danger again? Do we need the help of a goddess one more time?"

"I'm not really here, Kagome," said the glowing divine being.

Kagome looked around. "This is my home. I know that. So why do you say that you're not actually here with me?"

"You're not here either, little one," she replied gently. "This is a dream. This is the City as you remember it best, as you see it in your heart. In reality, you are bleeding on the floor of your own dungeon, taken prisoner by humans who have invaded this sanctuary of yours." Her kimono was fluttering in the breeze that she was claiming did not exist.

The hanyou nodded, remembering her true situation. "If I'm dreaming, then how do I know that it's really you, Amaterasu-sama? No offense meant, but my mind has played many tricks on me over the years."

The goddess shrugged. "I can't answer that. If I am a dream, I would simply be lying. If I am truly Amaterasu, I am telling the truth but you could never believe me entirely." She sat down on a large, flat stone nearby. "I can tell you that it doesn't matter whether I'm here or not. Why shouldn't you trust your subconscious any less than a sun goddess?"

"The sun goddess is infallible," said Kagome immediately.

"And so, if I am wrong in what I tell you, I am a dream. If I'm right, I'm a goddess. It doesn't matter either way."

Kagome sighed, but nodded her agreement. "Very well. Why are you here then?"

"Because I am sworn to protect the youkai population and if I do not help you here, then much would be lost. These humans who have captured you are vicious. They have no concern for the wellbeing of their country or world. They only want what they believe is best for them. They ignore the fact that the youkai are essential to this world," said the goddess with a serious shake of the head. She smiled coyly suddenly. "Or perhaps, I am just your subconscious trying to tell you how serious this situation could be."

"This is the first time I have seen you in five centuries, in or out of my dreams, so I am leaning towards the former explanation," said the hanyou.

Her companion smiled more naturally and stood up. "That is your choice, of course."

"May I ask what you wanted to tell me, goddess?"

Amaterasu began to walk across the knoll and stopped in front of Kagome. Placing her hands on the hanyou's shoulders, the divinity closed her eyes, but not before a single tear escaped. It fell down her cheek and onto the ground, immediately giving birth to an exquisite flame colored rose. "Oh, my Kagome," she said softly. "You are dying."

Kagome felt her chest tighten, but remembered the heavy flow of blood from her injuries and realized that they had gone untended for a long time. Of course, it was possible that her gunshot wounds would not be the reason for her death. "So I will die in my home," she murmured. She blinked and locked eyes with the beautiful goddess. "Is there anything that can prevent this from happening?"

"Fate is not written in stone," her companion said, smiling again, albeit sadly. "You have the power to change it, to remold it to your wishes. We gods have not taken away a person's free will. Not entirely. I hope that you will finish the long and successful path laid in front of you. But you are at a crossroads and one choice leads to death."

"You won't tell me what choice it is that I have to make," Kagome said softly.

"I didn't even say that it was your choice at all," replied Amaterasu. "I will say one thing, however. Do not refuse your power. The evil god once tapped into that power and it scared you. But you are above that now. You have deeper bonds. Remember that."

The hanyou bowed deeply. "I will try my best, goddess," she said. When she straightened up, the divine creature was gone and Kagome was alone in the field once again.

She woke up on the slimy floor of her dungeon cell. Her clothes were stiff with her drying blood and it was caked upon her hands. Her wounds were still bleeding, but much more slowly. Her demon healing was still functioning and Kagome knew that these injuries would not be the cause of her death. She could even move again.

Dragging herself across the floor, Kagome hoisted herself up onto the moldy cot that stood on one side of the cell. Leaning back against the wall, she tried to catch her breath. The dream had been strangely coherent, she decided as she inspected her thigh. Perhaps it was Amaterasu. Even if it wasn't, her warning of death was very real and Kagome was determined to see that it didn't happen.

Realizing that the bullet was still in her leg, the hanyou carefully ripped her pants away from the wound. Clenching her teeth, Kagome pushed her claw into the bullet hole and fished out the offending piece of metal. As soon as it was in her hand, her jaw loosened and she let out a sharp scream that bounced off the walls. "Mother-," she began to mutter.

"Mom?"

Kagome paused in the middle of her rude word and turned her head. Someone was moving in the cell opposite from hers. The figure came to the bars and into the firelight from the lanterns. "Washi," she said softly. "Oh, no… How did you get captured?"

He wrapped his wings around his body. "They shot out one of the tires to the car. I was lucky to keep it on the road and upright." He frowned and lowered his head. "They have Satu also."

"Oh, good Kami-sama," the hanyou swore. "Your father is going to kill me for letting all three of us get captured. After the mall incident, I'm not sure I would blame him either."

"I would not be so sure," said another, familiar, voice.

Kagome leaned over and looked to small part of the cell next to Washi's that she could see without moving from her cot. Sesshoumaru was standing there against the wall, his tail draped through the bars. He was in a business suit in desperate need of a dry cleaning and had dropped his concealment spell.

"I think it would be a bit hypocritical of me to judge you for this," he said, looking at her with his golden eyes.

The hanyou gaped. "I can't believe this. You too?"

He nodded once. "Rin and Midori as well. I do not know where they are. Certainly not here with us. I decided to go to work with the girls and the humans ambushed us in the garage. They knew that the gasoline and oil fumes would impair my sense of smell. They shot me with some sort of dart and I ordered the girls to surrender." He saw his mate raise her eyebrow at the word. "Yes, surrender. Midori is already injured and Rin only has the strength of a human."

"I think that you did the right thing. I was just surprised to hear such a concession of power from you," she replied. She looked at her mate and son and frowned. "That's not really fair. How is it that you got a dart and I got a bullet?"

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "I do not know. Are you able to walk?"

She held up the bullet that had been in her thigh minutes before. "I will be able to soon enough now that this is out." The hanyou paused and studied her cell. "I suppose that you've already tried to escape?"

"The walls are as solid as they were when my ancestor built them, the days when youkai were powerful beyond words," he said tonelessly. "They have reinforced the doors as well. And there is something else, something akin to the dungeon you found me in five hundred years ago. As soon as I awoke in this place, I found that my concealment spell had faded. That had not been my choice."

Kagome twisted her body to face the wall and splayed her hand on the ancient stone. "It's not spiritual power. The dungeon you were kept in before was blessed by a powerful miko. I could feel her aura in that place. But this is dark magic. I can't even purify it because it was by a human hand." She looked at her mate with a joyful sort of pain. "I remember finding you in that dungeon. I couldn't believe that you were so filthy and in such pathetic condition, but you still had the audacity to be a smart ass."

"I remember being so hungry that I was willing to consume you," he replied.

Her mouth dropped open. "You never told me that."

He shrugged. "You never asked and I did not feel the need to tell you. There is no suitable response to such information," he argued.

"Well, I'm glad that I upgraded my status from 'potential dinner' to 'mate and mother of my children'. I prefer that one myself," she replied.

"As do I," he murmured.

They looked at one another and suddenly, their fight about the company, Daichi and their lives in general was over. Although metal bars separated them, Kagome felt her heart warming to his presence. "We've been a bit ridiculous," she said, smiling.

Sesshoumaru nodded once. "Events went out of control. We were wrong to blame each other."

Kagome ached to fall into his arms, to be alone and to be able to kiss him. And although he appeared to have his mask of indifference, she knew he wanted the same. She sighed and decided that their after-fight ritual would have to wait. "What about Daichi?" she asked, now not afraid to mention her son's name.

Sesshoumaru shook his white-haired head. "I have not heard from him, but I have also not seen any sign of him in the castle. I am hoping that he is unharmed."

Kagome took in a deep breath and they stared at one another. "He'll be alright."

"He is a taiyoukai's son," replied her mate, getting another smile.

Washi cleared his throat. "Um, not to interrupt this Hallmark moment of yours, but I think someone is coming down the stairs."

The mates turned their heads and, as if you've suddenly noticed the person next to you has been snoring loudly on the plane three hours into the flight, they heard the heavy footfalls of a man approaching their dungeon level. The door opened and he appeared the frame, with the stronger light of the stairwell torches making him a figure of black. As he stepped into the hallway, Kagome could see that this was a formidable creature, as far as humans would be concerned. The three of them, if they had no bars blocking them, would have been able to rend him apart in a matter of seconds, but still, he was impressive. Standing at least six feet tall, his shoulders were broad and his dark complexion gave him an air of ferocity. He was not wearing Kevlar like the men now standing behind him, nor was he carrying a gun. He had a tailored pinstripe suit on and a large grin plastered upon his face. "Greetings, demons," he said. "How are you faring?"

Kagome's son bared his teeth. "Where are my sisters?"

"The females are my guests," said the man. "I saw no reason to imprison a human girl, an infant and an injured demon child. They are resting now."

"So you have drugged them," growled Sesshoumaru. His hands tightened around the bars as his knuckles turned white. "You have no honor."

The man's cheerful exterior morphed into anger for a brief moment before he smiled again. "Honor. What a strange word to come from you, Lord Sesshoumaru." He saw the demon raise an eyebrow. "What? Did you believe that no human was aware of your former title? Even humans have long memories, demon. Ah, but I have not introduced myself and given you my title yet. I am General Basho Hama."

Sesshoumaru and Kagome looked at one another. "A false title to lead a false army," intoned the dog demon, speaking to his mate but wanting to be heard.

The man called Basho narrowed his eyes. "I assure you, this army is very real, as are our bullets. Demons will fall thanks to me."

The mates rolled their eyes. They had heard such confidence before among human enemies. "Why exactly are you targeting the Taisho family?" said Sesshoumaru, already weary of the bad habit that humans had of speaking too long of themselves and their virtues.

"You are of special interest to us," said the general, "but we will eventually kill you all."

"And Rin? She's human. How could you ever wish to harm her?" asked Kagome.

Basho's dark eyes glittered with malice. "In some ways, she is the worst sinner of you all. She chose to be a part of your family, to be a human among filth. Why should she live when she chooses to fraternize with the most vile creatures to walk this earth?" He smiled at the hanyou. "Of course, we are aware that you made the same choice. Quite a gripping story, really, to hear of you losing everyone you cared for and then becoming a half-demon like your dead lover."

Kagome had lived too long to be bothered by mention of Inuyasha anymore. She remembered her time with the hanyou fondly, but she considered him to be her childhood sweetheart. Sometimes, she thought of it almost like a charming dream and her life had really began the moment she had made that choice, that wish on the jewel to become a half-demon. "It was a good choice," she said simply.

"I'm sure you believe that," he replied. "It is because of that choice, of course, that you are of special interest to me though. So perhaps it wasn't such a good choice after all. Either way, you will pay for it."

The hanyou got to her feet slowly, the pain still sharp in her thigh. It had stopped bleeding but the hole in her flesh would take several days to fully heal. "I fail to see how my life has any bearing on yours whatsoever," she said evenly, leaning against the cell door. "You're a child to us. Your life is momentary compared to ours. Any harm we have done to you is unintentional because, frankly, humans aren't valuable to us. We have the knowledge of ages and you… you'll be dead before my youngest child looks to be a teenager, and that's assuming that you won't die in this dungeon today by my hand."

Basho glared at her. "Are you trying to sound superior?" he asked, disbelief lining his face. "You have nothing over humanity, and especially not over me. I will cleanse this world of your kind and I will be revered for it!"

Kagome didn't even have to look at Sesshoumaru to share her thoughts with him, that this 'General' was already beginning to crack. He was as mad as she had expected him to be. It was rather disappointing actually. Sanity obviously left people before they attacked the Taisho family and she wished that for once, she didn't have to listen to an egomaniacal speech before being able to kill the enemy. "Why exactly do you need to destroy all youkai?" she asked. "Other than the fact that we act superior, have no honor and we're filth," she added. "Those are all rather vague reasons, you see."

"You need other reasons?" he asked, jerking his chin up proudly. "Very well, I shall give you the best reason of all. You slaughtered my family!"

He did this with a dramatic flourish and finger pointing and Kagome frowned. Was she missing something here? "We have not harmed a human physically for at least a century, so you are mistaken," she said. Her mind crawled backwards in time and reaffirmed her words. Sesshoumaru had killed a persistent thief in the late 1800s when the human repeatedly tried to break into their home. After that, they had been left alone.

"Do you think that just because you are wealthy and famous that you have no secrets in your past?" Basho demanded. He was beginning to appear wild-eyed, red seeping into his gaze. "I know your shame!"

"My only shame is that I have been forced into my own dungeon and that I must listen to you," snapped Sesshoumaru. His golden eyes were icy. "If I did kill your family, it was a grave error on my part not to kill you as well."

The general was still for a moment and then gave a cry, lunging forward.

"Stop!"

Basho pivoted almost gracefully towards the origin of the voice, a newcomer standing in the doorway. It was a feminine figure, but Kagome could not see the woman's face because of the back-lighting. "I told you to stay in the upper parts of the castle," the general seethed.

"Why would I do that?" the woman purred. "You so clearly need me here to help you keep control of yourself. Don't forget our plans." Her head turned to the other men, the ones with the guns and Kevlar. "Leave us."

Kagome frowned deeply. She recognized the voice. It was one she had heard a thousand times, she was sure, but she could not place it. Sesshoumaru, on the other side of the path, had moved his glare from the general to the newcomer and was bristling with anger. "Sakura," he snarled.

The hanyou looked at her mate with wide eyes and then turned back to the door, where Sesshoumaru's secretary, the supposedly dead snake demoness, was stepping down into the softer light of the cells. She smiled at her former employer. "Sesshoumaru," she murmured, purposely dropping the honorific, "how I have missed you."

"This is impossible," choked Kagome, finally finding her voice. "You're dead and he hates demons! How can you be here?"

"Who did you think was giving him all of the information regarding your perfect little family?" asked Sakura, turning her brilliantly cold green eyes to the hanyou.

"Machi," she muttered, almost automatically.

Sakura laughed and Kagome realized that the severe secretary was actually quite a bit more beautiful than she had ever given her credit for. "Ah, Machi… that poor creature," replied the demoness. "She would so love to be the one to destroy you all. She and I became quick friends and she told me simply everything about your lives, everything that she knew. Unfortunately, she's just a bit too dimwitted to ever catch on that she could never destroy the Taisho family. Hell, she was too dimwitted to realize that her friend was just using her."

"You had all the information you needed," said Kagome, growing angry and trying to keep it in check. "You were Sesshoumaru's assistant. How could you have any more access to our lives?"

"Your professional lives, certainly," replied Sakura, "but Machi provided me with information I never would have found in your files. How interesting it was to me to find that the beloved mate of Sesshoumaru was so hated in the beginning. And I must say, quick work on your first son!"

The taiyoukai growled softly. "These are all matters of little importance," he said. "Even Daichi knows that he was conceived before his mother and I became mates."

Sakura tossed her acid yellow hair over her shoulder. In the faded light, it appeared flaxen. "Ah, but imagine my great joy when I heard about the slayer village."

Kagome furrowed her brow, trying to remember. Yes, the slayer village, she recalled. She had needed food and had no choice but to go into a village of demon exterminators to find some. They not only hated demons, but all creatures that willingly associated with them. She had been found out and Sesshoumaru and Washi had had to come to save her. It was the first time she had ever seen the taiyoukai use restraint. He could have killed them all, but walked away, leaving them unscathed. "What about it?" she asked.

"Kita and Danjuro!" cried Basho, coming to life again.

"The two villagers that began the attack on my mate," said Sesshoumaru. "I met them in the forest and killed the man. The woman was killed by the god for giving me information."

"Exactly," said his former employee, licking her lips with relish. "But you left their three children alive. All I had to do was find one of their descendents."

Kagome passed a hand over her face. "All of this is about two people Sesshoumaru killed for hurting me five hundred years ago?"

"Basho, Chie and the baby, who died without her mother," said the general suddenly. "Basho! I was named after him. I am strong like him." He was rocking back and forth on his heels ever so slightly and clutching his hands together, rubbing them obsessivly.

Sakura gazed at her accomplice with a pitying softness. "General Basho began to receive visions of his ancestors after meeting me. He gathered the other descendents, as many as he could, and with others that hated youkai, he formed an army. He has been such a good boy." She went to him and cradled his face in her hands. He curved in on himself a bit, making the demoness look even more powerful, her tall frame overtaking his. "Are you having another vision, my dear?"

Basho was shaking violently, finally crashing to his knees in front of the demoness. "Basho! Chie!" he cried out before falling silent. Staring into the distance, he sat on his haunches with his mouth slightly open.

The snake demon moved away and gave Kagome a self-satisfied smirk. "You've given him hallucinogenic drugs," deduced the hanyou. "Did you steal them from the company?"

"Why work for a pharmaceutical company if you can't reap some benefits?" she replied.

Kagome looked away from her betrayer. "I understand his reasons for this. He's insane and you've simply pumped him full of drugs and ideas that his suffering is because of Sesshoumaru killing his ancestors five hundred years ago. But I am at a loss as to why you would ever behave this way, Sakura. We have done nothing but give you a good job and friendship."

"Stop trying to sound like some blameless saint," spat the snake youkai. Her unattractive features became more prominent as she frowned at the hanyou. "You killed my son."

Kagome paled slightly as she met Sakura's eyes again. "So everything is about vengeance tonight, is it?" she responded after a moment. Coldness had gripped her heart to think that she had harmed the child of someone she cared for – whether that care was deserved or not – but she could not allow emotion to cloud her mind. Let that be her adversary's problem.

"It is how I gained the trust of a human that hates all youkai," she replied, motioning to the still quiet general. "We have more in common that you would believe. He needed me to hear the truth of his family. I needed him because I couldn't raise a demon army against the precious Kagome-sama and her tough love mate. What a perfect pair!"

"If I killed your son," said the hanyou quietly, "your business is with me alone. You've made a spectacle out of our lives when you should have come to me personally."

"Kagome has never killed outside of battle," said Sesshoumaru, an accusing glare in his eyes. "All youkai recognize the right of protecting one's own life in combat."

The hanyou saw that her mate doubted Sakura's reasons and she looked at the demoness in expectation. No one was as skilled as Sesshoumaru when sniffing out lies and deception. But Sakura tossed her head and gave him a steady glare. "He died on the fields outside of this castle, in the great War against the god. He was with the Southern armies." She turned to look at Kagome. "What does it matter that you killed him in battle? Wouldn't you seek revenge if someone killed your son?"

Sesshoumaru still appeared unconvinced, but Kagome nodded. "Yes," she said truthfully.

Sakura shifted on her feet, the first sign of any emotion but her cool indifference so far. Taking a deep breath, she went to the general and lifted his chin. "I believe it's time for the children to be reunited with the parents," she said softly. "Will you get them?"

Basho nodded mutely and got to his feet. Shuffling off to the doorway, he only paused for a moment, his hand on the latch and looking back at his accomplice. Receiving a catlike smile from the demoness, he went through and began to climb the stairs, his footsteps echoing through the corridor.

"So you're going to kill us here?" said Washi, his green eyes meeting hers. "Are you such a coward that you won't let us fight for our own lives?"

Sakura scoffed and turned away. "I have no chance against any of you. I have the presence of mind to realize that. Don't think you can goad me into loosening your chains either. This may be rather unfair of me to do it this way, but if I let you out, that would be unfair to me."

"What do you want us to do? Tie our hands behind our back?" snapped the eagle demon.

"Enough, Washi," murmured Kagome. "We've said enough to her. She's not worth any more of our time." The hanyou steadied herself against the wall as she hobbled back to her cot, ignoring the fire in her captor's eyes.

Watching her former employer sit down gingerly and begin to inspect her bullet wound again, Sakura began to tremble with anger. "Saint Kagome!" she spat. "Always proper and good and kind, even to her enemies. You disgust me. Kami-sama, just your personality alone would be enough for me to kill you! Everyone has been tricked into believing this act of yours too. I think that's the part that sickens me the most. Even Sesshoumaru looks at you differently. I lost any respect I had for him when I realized he didn't see you for the monster you are!"

The hanyou leaned her head back against the wall, not caring if the slimy film got into her hair. "I think you're the big actress here, Sakura," she replied as her eyes slid closed. Blood was pounding in her ears from the exertion of just moving to her moldy bed. "I know I'm not a saint. Sesshoumaru certainly knows it too, but neither of us had figured you out. So I wouldn't really be speaking of being false."

"Accusing me of hypocrisy, are you? I was disguising myself. You just ingratiate yourself to everyone that you can manipulate a cent, a business, a territory out of." Her green eyes flashed to the silent taiyoukai. "I can't believe you fell for it. You know they say that she knew that she was fertile the night you accidentally conceived Daichi."

"Forgive me, but I trust my mate, not them," he replied smoothly, not missing a beat.

Kagome gave him a brief, disarming smile before scowling at Sakura. "You're grasping at straws, trying to drive a wedge between us. That will never happen. Even beyond death, Sesshoumaru will still be my mate and our children will still be our children. We will join our ancestors in heaven and you will rot in hell." She gazed at her new nemesis with hooded eyes. "There was a time that I might have mourned that, when you were still a friend, but you're no longer the person that I knew and I cannot mourn for a stranger's evil soul."

"You don't know anything," hissed Sakura, her hands in fists and her shoulders shaking.

"I know that Amaterasu watches over us," said Kagome, arranging her legs gently into a meditative position and closing her eyes. "Now, I don't want to talk to you anymore."

Sakura made a noise of rage as she watched the two males mirror Kagome's movements and slip into meditation as well. "Fine!" she snapped, throwing up her hands. "Do what you want now because in a few minutes your other children will be here and all of you will be slaughtered like pigs in a market. One by one, as you watch! Do you hear me?"

The silence was oppressive as the three captives ignored their jailer. Sakura paced down the corridor, glaring at each of them in turn with no effect. Finally, she retreated to the doorway, opening it and leaning against the frame to wait for her other prisoners. "I know your composure is just an act," she bit out. "I know that imminent death scares even you."

Her words fell flat and she turned back to her vigil, almost crying out in relief when she heard doors opening above. The sound of several men walking down the stairs echoed as they brought remaining children to the deepest level of the dungeon. Kagome finally cracked open an eye when she heard the soft steps of her elder daughters and smelled the baby fresh scent of Satu. Rin was tending to her baby sister, her features set into an expression of anger and dismay. Midori had the icy, indifferent appearance of her father.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru stood up and went to the bars as Washi kept an eye on the soldiers. The hanyou smiled softly at her daughters but didn't reach out to them. Sakura was watching carefully, staring at the place where her fingers were wrapped around the cell bars.

Basho entered the corridor last, completing the small regiment of twenty armed guards. He held a pistol loosely in his hand. His eyes were no longer crazed, although his hair was still a bit disheveled. Sakura placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "So, who first?" she asked him, her eyes flashing towards the four children and their parents. "Kagome dies last, we already decided that, but which of the children first? The eldest or the youngest? Or perhaps we should let them see their father die? I bet they've never even considered that possibility, that of their indestructible father dying with just a few well-placed bullets. What do you think, my dear general?" Without waiting for an answer she looked at Kagome. "Which would you have die first? Washi has been with you the longest but he is not a blood-tied child. Shall I kill the baby?"

"Kill Sesshoumaru first," she replied without hesitation.

Sakura's brow lifted in surprise. "Your mate? Well, I should have known you would want your children to live as long as possible, but I didn't think you would give your mate up so soon. You think you're sacrificing him or something? This isn't an exchange, it's a sequence of the executions."

Kagome lifted her chin and looked at her mate for a moment. He was calm, although his eyes were burning a hotter gold than usual. "Try to kill Sesshoumaru first and then he will kill all of you. Try to kill our children first and we will both kill all of you. No choice is better for you."

"And how would he escape the bars?" asked Basho, his voice rippling with laughter.

She shrugged and smiled foxily, her lips pulling back to show her pronounced canines. "It doesn't matter. He will escape and he will kill you. Getting out of difficult situations is his forte."

"Only when you have a goddess on your side!" screeched Sakura, glaring at the soldiers who were beginning to look uneasy.

"And how do you know we haven't got one?" murmured Kagome, her brown eyes glittering.

Sakura let out a strangled cry of frustration and pushed forward through the ranks. It was a large corridor with exceedingly large cells to accommodate monstrous youkai, but the soldiers had packed themselves into one end of the hall as tightly as possible. The snake demoness finally burst through and shoved Midori onto the ground, smiling briefly as the girl hit her injured arm upon the stones and yelped. Next to her, Rin automatically tightened her hold upon Satu, but her human strength was nothing against Sakura's and, to prevent her youngest sibling from being ripped apart, she let go as the demoness grabbed the baby. Rin was pushed roughly into the bars of Washi's cell and hit her head with a dull ping of the metal. She slid down to the ground as the eagle demon rushed forward and reached through the bars to comfort his sister. Midori was in the middle of the hallway, out of everyone's reach. Kagome watched as Sakura clutched the baby against her chest. "This is the first," she snarled.

Heat began moving through Kagome's body as the anger she had suppressed successfully came back with fervor. She reached through the bars, pressing her body against them as hard as possible, just to gain a few extra millimeters. There would be bruises soon enough, if she lived until then. She didn't even feel it as one of the soldiers brought the butt of his gun down upon her forearm. Kagome only growled as Sakura took a knife from one of the men and raised it. Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome could see Sesshoumaru doing the same as she was, growling with a volume that would have made most youkai quail with fear. His eyes were bleeding red but she knew he could not transform in the magically imbued dungeon.

Had anyone been paying attention, they would have noticed that Satu was not making a sound.

Before Sakura could begin to bring down the knife into the heart of the infant, she screamed and dropped the blade. She tried to drop Satu as well, but the baby was holding onto her long tresses and the lapel of her suit with a fierceness that Kagome had never seen in a child under the age of ten. The blanket dropped away to the ground and the entire family saw that Satu was aglow with a brilliant pinkish gold. The smell of burning flesh came through the air and with a jolt, Kagome realized that Satu, her youngest child of only four months with three-fourths demon blood, was purifying the snake demoness. Sakura dropped to her knees and continued to scream.

Basho rushed forward, pushing aside the frightened soldiers and tore at Satu's grip until she came free. The baby fell the few remaining inches to the ground and landed safely on the blanket. Sakura fell backwards, gasping for air in Basho's arms. "I'm… I'm alright," she breathed after a few moments. "The brat didn't get a good hold on me."

Midori ignored her injured arm and darted forward to grab Satu, but Basho had the advantage of proximity and swept up the child before her sister could get there. Midori cried out in alarm, an unnecessary noise because Kagome was watching intently. She felt the heat spread through her limbs again and snarled at the human holding her infant. No words came out of the furious mother's mouth, only a piteous, raging howl.

Sakura had regained some of her strength and kicked out at Kagome's middle daughter, hitting her squarely in her already injured arm. Midori cried out again, but fell silent when the demoness's foot connected with her temple. Rin tried to go to her sister's aid, but she was still weak and could only crumple to the floor again.

Kagome fell to her knees, her chest suddenly not able to expand. Basho looked at her and picked up the knife that Sakura had let drop. "She's a monster, don't you see? More than any of you! She holds spiritual powers in a tainted vessel. She's an abomination!" he yelled at her.

Sesshoumaru was snarling like a tiger, clawing at the bars and not being able to even scratch them. Kagome sat in her cell, heaving as Basho lifted the blade. Firelight glanced off of the metal, displaying its sharp edge.

Time seemed to slow down and Kagome became aware of every sensation moving through her body as if she was just learning what sensation meant. The heat of her rage became a burning ache in her limbs and heart. Red bursts of color blossomed in her vision, almost painfully bright. Her wrath seemed to spread beyond her skin and into the cell, pushing up against the walls and out into the corridor. Her skin prickled and she stood up, barely able to keep her balance with the pressure building in her head. It felt as if she was aware of everything and anything in her immediate vicinity: the beat of her enemies' hearts, the miko powers that she never knew Satu possessed, the viscous anger of her mate.

Suddenly, something within her heart broke apart and she roared her frustration as ripples of searing power washed through her body. Basho had halted his assault on her child and was staring up at her. Kagome realized that the bars of her cell were bent and broken, barely clinging to their hinges in the stone walls, but it was a passing thought that mattered little. Her children's lives were still in danger and she felt the sway of this newfound power.

The soldiers were scattering, or trying to. Kagome swept them against the walls with a few swings of her hand, which had miraculously grown large and strong. Many of them were screaming with high-pitched shrieks, the sound of mice before being eaten by a predator. Kagome bent down and snapped one in half with a movement of her powerful jaws. Although most prey would mobilize in the face of the death of a comrade, the soldiers were cowed. Kagome killed them with a lazy ease before turning to Sakura and Basho.

Blood was dripping from her mouth as she looked at them. Basho still held Satu, but had lost the knife. Kagome had a momentary animalistic confusion about their shocked faces, but thought little on it. Blocked by her body, Midori and Rin were under her protection now, but the baby was still in danger.

Kagome let out a terrifying roar and batted at Sakura. She cried out and buried her acidic claws into the hanyou's paw. 'Paw?' Kagome thought dully before shaking off the pest. A small movement, but it threw the demoness into the wall, putting her atop the dead bodies of her army. She scrambled, finding no solid ground in the mass of blood and viscera. "Basho! Help me!" she called, tripping over the men.

The general trembled and offered up Satu, holding her beneath Kagome's nose. The hanyou took the baby and turned to gently set her down in the curve of Rin's body. When she looked back, Sakura and Basho were disappearing through the door and up the stairs. Kagome roared again and followed, her body barely squeezing through the frame. The smaller staircase hampered her movement, but she did not lose the pair's scent and when she emerged at the top of the dungeon, she saw their shadows fly around the corner.

Kagome loped after them, letting out deafening roar after deafening roar. She could hear Sakura crying in desperation and it fueled her to move faster. She was dimly aware that the hallways in certain places would be too small for her and she had to catch them before they got away.

The hanyou had a stroke of luck in that neither Basho nor Sakura knew the castle as she did. They had only explored the central portion of it, where the ceilings were high and the corridors were wide. The pair turned and Kagome gave a howl of predatory joy. They had a choice of two sets of doors, one to the grand throne room and one to the outside. Outside they would have no chance, but inside, they could at least keep an eye on her.

They barely closed the doors behind them when Kagome ripped them off the hinges and prowled into the room. There was only one other exit from the throne room, into a smaller space used for post-audience meetings. Basho and Sakura froze as she stalked across the hardwood floor, realizing that her slower gait meant that she was comfortable in her surroundings and confident of her success. Sakura grasped at Basho's suit lapels. "I can't die like this!" she screamed. "Do something!"

Basho took out a pistol he had been hiding in his jacket pocket and pointed it at Kagome's nose. His shoulders were square as he faced his enemy. Sakura slinked off behind him, making for the door to the other room.

He didn't have the opportunity to squeeze off a bullet. Kagome's eyes flashed as this double threat of being injured and losing her prey and bounded forward, flattening him to the ground in less than a blink. The gun slid across the ground, away from everyone. Basho was struggling beneath her paw, clawing at it with his ineffectual hands. Kagome simply pressed down on him until she heard the bones crack and he went quiet.

Sakura screamed, attracting Kagome's attention. She pulled at the door, but it was locked and she didn't have the presence of mind to knock it down. She was a fly, her screaming just a buzzing around the triumphant Kagome's head. Irritating, and easily gotten rid of.

Kagome leaned over and buried the tips of her claws into the snake demoness's torso, spearing her heart, stomach and liver with her natural blades. Sakura fell limp at once and Kagome pulled away, turning from the bloody sight without interest. Every other step she took left a bloody print upon the floor as she made her way slowly back towards the dungeons. A few unlucky remaining soldiers met their end as they scrambled through the hallways, terrified about the unknown entity in the castle and meeting her head-on. She could tell that some had escaped, but they were not a threat and so she did not pursue.

Turning the corner she was met with the sight of her family stumbling out of the darkness of the dungeons and into the well-lit hallways. They all stopped when they saw her, standing at the other end of the corridor and splashed in blood. Even Satu seemed to look at her with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

Sesshoumaru stepped forward first. "I know you cannot speak," he said, "but I also know you will not harm us, Kagome." He gestured to the four children surrounding him. "Look, they are all safe. Come back to yourself now."

Kagome tossed her head, barely understanding the words he was saying to her. She growled softly, a warm growl meant to comfort and give confidence, but her children appeared uneasy and she stopped.

The taiyoukai held up a hand and disappeared into a room adjoined to the hallway. It was once used as a supply closet and had fallen into disuse, but a large mirror still stood in it. It had been a gift from a visiting dignitary and as soon as he had left, Kagome had thrown the hideous thing into the nearest pit where she would never have to look at it again. Sesshoumaru brought it out and wiped away three centuries of dust with his coat sleeve (the suit being ruined anyway). He walked forward without hesitation and laid it down in front of his mate. "See? Look at yourself," he said, pointing to the silvery surface.

She leaned over, really only curious at what he was pointing at. In the reflection, she saw a beast of unimaginable terror. A long brown snout protruded from between high set, thin cheekbones. Black eyes rimmed with red stared at her as her ragged dog-ears twitched. Streaks of red and black went through her brown fur, although it was difficult to tell what was her own coloring and what was blood. She was standing on her hind legs, with her massive paws swinging in front of her. A tooth as long as Sesshoumaru's hand peeked out of her jaws on each side and her pelt was filthy, as if she had been rolling around in sewage. If she had had her mind, she would have thought her image was not unlike that of a werewolf, albeit one of epic size. Her powerful muscles, thick around her tree trunk bones rippled as she crouched down and put her claws on the reflection. Her fifteen foot tall frame barely fit into the circumference of the mirror at the short distance.

She growled her discontent with the image. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "Then change back if you don't like it," he said. When she looked at him again, he shrugged. "Remember things. That is how I do it. Remember what it's like to have a hold on your senses again."

Kagome shook her head again, slowly, as if she was trying to get water out of her ear. She let out a gasp of air that sounded like a soft woof. Images began to flash through her mind. Sesshoumaru was standing beside her, telling her that they were fighting for Japan and not one another. She was falling back against the pillows and being handed a small but healthy son, who was wailing heartily. Midori and Rin were braiding each other's hair on the carpet in front of the fireplace. She felt the safety, the joy and the amusement of these moments and hundreds of others in a few brief moments.

Her chest contracted and she curled in on herself. The silver glass was cool beneath her cheek. She could still taste and smell the blood that covered her, but it wasn't so pungent anymore. Lifting her head, she could see her own reflection in the mirror.

Sesshoumaru took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "You will learn to transform with your clothes," he was murmuring before she was even aware of her nakedness. Washi had politely turned away, his wings coming up to shield him entirely. Rin and Midori concerned themselves with the baby. Sesshoumaru helped Kagome to her feet. "Midori, get your mother some clothes from the bedroom."

The girl nodded and went off, giving her parents an encouraging smile as she passed by. Kagome shivered a bit. Castles were drafty, even in the spring. Sesshoumaru's coat was long enough to cover the essential parts, but her legs were still bare. The taiyoukai gathered his mate against his chest, trying to share his body heat. He looked down when she began to sob into his shoulder. Rin and Washi appeared startled, taking a step backwards.

"Kagome, we are all fine," Sesshoumaru said. "Crying is not necessary."

She nodded and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. "It was so overwhelming," she whispered. "And I love you all so very much."

Sesshoumaru stroked her ebony and crimson tresses as she clung to him. Rin and Washi stood silently, uncomfortable with the fact that they were intruding on what would normally be a private moment between their parents. Midori came back, restoring purpose to the family with the offering of one of Kagome's finer yukatas. She looked at her father. "They trashed some of the rooms. They didn't get to the East wing or your study, but there's some major repair work to be done."

"Then we will do it," replied the taiyoukai, glancing over at Kagome. "But later. For now, we must call the Demon Squad and then go home to rest."

The hanyou nodded her agreement. Words seemed to be too much of an effort at the moment. She retreated to an empty room to change and then joined her family in the front courtyard, where they were waiting for Detective Ito. The sun filled the yard with crystalline, golden light, making the granite benches warm and soft. Kagome nestled down next to her mate and accepted Satu from Rin. The fresh yukata felt like heaven against her roughened skin. It bathed her in relaxation. Her bullet wound was still sore, but she successfully ignored it. She stared down at the face of her little daughter and pushed back a strand of fine blond hair. "I always assumed that the blond would grow out," she murmured, "but I think that our child might have golden hair."

"It is possible," said Sesshoumaru. He peered over his mate's shoulder to the swathed infant. "She is a miko after all."

"She is, isn't she?" Kagome asked, her eyes widening. "I never thought there would be another priestess in the family. Not from me anyway. I always thought my brother would pass it on, but that our demon blood would cancel it out."

Sesshoumaru nodded, thankfully not displeased at the thought of having another powerful priestess under his roof. "We will get her proper training in time."

They fell silent. Rin braided Midori's hair in loose plaits while Washi dozed with his wings wrapped around him. Kagome shifted so that she was in Sesshoumaru's lap. If he was surprised by her unusually intimate move, he didn't say anything. She made sure Satu was secure and happy before laying her head on her mate's shoulder. It would only be a short time before the whine of a siren woke her, but she savored this moment of peace and fell asleep.

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A/N: One more chapter and then it's done, kids. Review, review and review more!