Chapter 23: Unpleasant Discoveries

Seconds past, or perhaps an eternity. Inuyasha wasn't sure. He and Sesshoumaru continued to stare at each other in the dimly lit hall.

"You're awake," Inuyasha finally said bluntly. "That's inconvenient." Sesshoumaru's amber eyes narrowed beneath the red hair.

"Inconvenient? And how is that little brother?" The awakened youkai lord stared hard at the hanyou before an unpleasant thought occurred to him.

"What do you mean by 'awake' Inuyasha?" he asked coldly. Sesshoumaru felt a flash of irritation as his brother smirked at him. Come to think of it, WHY was his brother wearing armor...and that fur stole? The fur stole was the mark of leadership for their family! Inuyasha's lips quirked in amusement as he eyed his brother.

"You don't remember, do you?" the hanyou asked. He received an impassive glare. Inuyasha's fangs glittered brightly as he flashed another grin. He didn't remember anything. Heh. The chance to torment his brother was too good to pass up.

"Look at your hands Sesshoumaru," he commanded. His brother's eyes flashed at the authoritive tone in his voice, but looked down. The youkai lord gave an actual jerk of surprise as he stared at his hands.

His hand...they were human hands!

It was also then that Sesshoumaru noticed the red hair framing his face. He instantly whipped out a sword to study his reflection. But instead of unsheathing the Tenseiga, he unsheathed the reverse-blade sword.

Sesshoumaru first stared at his reflection and then at the strange sword. Then he turned a cold stare upon his younger half brother.

"Explain," he growled. Inuyasha smirked again as he answered.

"You're name's Himura Kenshin. You've been reincarnated as a human. Like I said before, you're awake."

Sesshoumaru stared at him in stunned silence.

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Aoshi stared up at the night sky. A new moon...

It seemed more like a dark omen to him.

The others were currently down below deck, trying to sleep. But he couldn't, not after what he'd just seen.

Young Kaia's hand had been bleeding, in the exact spot where he'd cut the creature. Coincidence? He doubted it. Aoshi wanted more than anything to believe that the little girl was innocent, but cold logic continued to point at her.

Kaia was about the same size of the creature and he'd never been with her when the creature attacked. So the question remained, was the child he'd come to know never a child at all? Or was she still the girl he'd met, except unaware of what she was? Aoshi eyed one of his short swords.

Either way, the outcome of this was going to be most unpleasant.

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Sesshoumaru felt a flash of anger. Lies! They had to be lies! But yet, his ever logical mind was screaming at him to listen to Inuyasha. It was obvious that a number of years had passed. Inuyasha was older, darker, and dare he say, a little more mature. The hanyou in front of him resembled their father in far more ways than he cared to admit.

Inuyasha was no longer the cocky and brash young man he'd been.

He stared back down at his hands, his human hands. Impossible! This couldn't be...

"Inuyasha," came another voice, a male one. "What's going on?" Sesshoumaru turned his head to eye the newcomer. A full grown male kitsune glared back at him. The kitsune's green eyes narrowed as he turned to the hanyou.

"Sesshoumaru is awake I see. Kaoru's not going to be happy."

Who was Kaoru? And who was this kitsune? The sudden image of a young kitsune child flashed in his mind and the youkai lord stared. Could this youkai be that very same child he'd seen years ago? But that kitsune child had different, full of childish innocense. This kitsune glared back at him with a tempermental air, not unlike Inuyasha's.

"Are the others still awake Shippo?" Inuyasha asked, never taking his eyes off his brother. Shippo? Ah, yes, he did remember hearing that name before. So this man was that fox child he'd seen before. The kitsune crossed his arms and gave a 'feh' as he answered the hanyou. Oh yes, Inuyasha's influence was all over the fox's behavior. Poor child, having been raised by Inuyasha. He no doubt had learned all of his brother's crude mannerisms as well.

"Mostly," Shippo answered. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and the fox continued. "Sano tried to hide it, but he's awake. His smell's getting stronger, so my guess is he'll be waltzing in here any ..."

"What the hell's going on in here?"

"..minute," Shippo finished. "Sure took your time, didn't you Bird Head?" Sanosuke scowled as he stomped over to the trio.

"Hey! It's the middle of the night, so excuse me if..." Sanosuke stopped dead as he caught sight of Kenshin's face. He blinked once, twice, pinched himself, and blinked again.

"What's up with your face Kenshin?" he asked. His friend's face stared coldly at him as a low growl escaped his lips.

"My name isn't Kenshin, human," he growled. Sano felt his heart skip a beat as he stared at his transformed friend. Inuyasha took the opportunity to point a thumb in Kenshin's direction and quirk his lips dryly.

"Sanosuke, meet Sesshoumaru."

Sanosuke stared hard at the youkai possessed human. Ah hell, this wasn't good. What was Kenshin doing, taking a nap in his mind? Oh hell, oh hell, Kaoru was going to be...

"Kenshin, Sanosuke?" A sleepy eyed woman yawned as she stepped into the hallway. "What's going on?" she asked tiredly. Oh hell oh hell...

Kaoru was awake.

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Aoshi stared sadly at the creature in front of him. The creature...no, the girl, had attacked again. It screetched at him in fury as it cradled it's bleeding arm. The human gripped the short sword in his hand. Could he do it? Could he kill a...a child?

No, it wasn't a child! It was all a facade!

He rushed at the creature before it could react. Aoshi raised his kodachi a fraction as he prepared to strike. But then the unexpected happened. The creature whimpered.

"Mr...Mr...Aoshi?" The voice hadn't come from the creature's lips, but it had come from the body. Another screetch came from it's lips, but underneath it, came another childish whimper. Aoshi's eyes suddenly latched to the back of the creature's head. Cold suspicion churned his stomach as he reached forward and spun the creature around. He lifted back it's jet black hair and stared down in horror.

The terrified eyes of a young Kaia stared back up at him.

Aoshi stared back as well. The demonic face on the other side of the child's body gave another screetch as it tried to claw away from him. Tears dripped down the girl's face as she began to cry softly.

"Mr. Aoshi...I'm scared..."

For the first time ever, Aoshi's sword arm trembled.

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Kagome sighed in distaste as one by one, the soul collectors dropped souls into her body. She hated this, she hated it very much.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to the souls.

"It's not your fault Kagome," Sango said. "I know this doesn't feel right to you, but right now, you NEED to walk in the living world again. Too much is at stake. Besides, you want to see Inuyasha again, right?"

Kagome nodded numbly as the last soul collector deposited it's gift.

"Besides," Sango continued to mutter in the back of her mind, "I need to make sure that Miroku's keeping himself and everyone else out of trouble. There's no telling what that lecherous monk's gotten into."

For the first time, Kagome smiled slightly at that. Sango had told her that Miroku was back as well, if only for a time. Who knows, maybe Inuyasha needed a good sitting as well.

"Inuyasha and Miroku will sure be surprised when they see us, won't they?" she asked cheerfully. Sango agreed as they began to journey back to Naraku's land. They halted at the end of the forest and Kagome sat down.

"What's next?" Kagome asked.

"We wait."

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Author's Note: This part of the story is taken a little longer than I had planned. Originally, the whole little Aoshi and Kaia drama was supposed to have been finished a chapter or two ago, but well...

I'll move on next chapter, I promise! Naraku's butt going to have to be kicked some time. (Although a few other things have to happen first, such as... SAITOH!)

Yes, to reassure all you Saitoh fans out there, he will be making an entrance in the near future.