. : Inazuma : .

: . By Akikazu . :

. : Last Time : .

"I really like you Sakura-chan, I'm just so confused," he confessed.

"I really like you too."

I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I .

Itsuki was so distracted that he nearly missed her words.

"Home," she sighed.

I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I .

It took only seconds for the nurse to page the doctor that had been assigned to the newly awakened patient. The doctor was on her way.

"If you'll wait a while, Doctor Itsuki will soon arrive."

NOTE: The italic divider I s will mark the change of time from the present to the past and then back to the present afterwards.

: . Chapter Eighteen . :

Kun Loon Higurashi stirred fitfully on her bed as the nurse left. She was truly disturbed by this new development in the lives of her family, or at least what was left of it. She knew that her illness was a far cry from natural or even unplanned. Someone out there was plotting and she had a slight idea who it was.

Doctor Itsuki… The name brought up horrible memories and Kun Loon had to stifle the urge to run and break out into hysterical laughter. Her father would remember even better than she could but he was dead.

Grief filled her heart, over ridding the panic that had been deeply instilled into her. For some reason she had thought that he would live forever. Now he was gone, lost to them by all natural means.

"Hello again, experiment zero eight. It's been a long time since we've last seen each other hasn't it?"

The panic returned. She knew that voice! It haunted her dreams, constantly hovering on the brink of her awareness. Kun Loon turned and faced someone she had prayed that she had seen the last of. But despite her efforts the woman remained.

"Itsuki-san," her voice trembled.

"Tsk, Itsuki-sama, zero eight. Now I've already run all the papers so we're going to be move you to a more… appropriate setting."

The golden eyed doctor moved aside to let a hulking man into the room. The brute didn't say anything but lifted Kun Loon and started to follow Itsuki-san as she left the room and strode down a hallway. They were paused a couple of times by other doctors and nurses in the hallway but eventually got on elevator that was empty of anyone save the three of them.

"I'm so happy that our virus had the effect it was supposed to have. Without it we would have never been able to get you here, though you were the first human that we've ever test the stuff on," Itsuki-san commented.

The doctor took opened up a secret panel and pressed her hand to it and then took out a card and swiped it. The elevator beeped and dropped at a faster speed than it was supposed to.

"Since we've last had you with us we've moved facilities. Now we're right under the hospital, which we own. I've taken over the command from my mother a couple of years ago too. We're a thriving faction now, though my children are constantly running off and disappearing, even with some of our best spies on them." She tossed a look back at Kun Loon and added, "you'll be happy to know that they both go to the same school as experiment one zero."

Kun Loon's eyes widened, Kagome? Was she safe or were this monster's offspring hunting her down as they even now stood in this elevator. What about Sota? Then another thought occurred to her.

"Are you responsible for my father's death?"

There was a flicker in Itsuki-san's eye before she smiled coyly, "experiment zero three has long outlived his objective. If he had remained in our facilities we would have done it long ago."

She couldn't believe this. They had all assumed that father had died from natural causes. But now this monster was implying- no she was saying that he had been killed purposely. And on top of that her illness had been planed by these very same people. They were nothing but experiments to these people.

"Experiments one zero and one one have slipped out of our view for these past few days. So has my son, Naoya so I'm sure he's involved in this, he may even be setting one zero up for a fall. This is all very convenient, since my children know where their loyalties lie."

Her heart beat faster. Kagome had already suffered so much, true she had blocked her memories of her time as an experiment but she had also suffered at the hand of Inu Yasha. He had those same golden eyes and she knew that Kagome would eventually link them with her memories, just as Kun Loon had. When she was a small child, even after they had escaped and she had blocked her own memories, Kagome had had nightmares involving golden eyes. Kun Loon could only hope that her nearly instinctive fear would cause her to shy away from Itsuki-san's children. However, Kagome had never been one to let fear dominate her and this hope was nearly a lost cause.

The elevator shuttered to a stop.

"We're here," Itsuki-san announced.

The doors opened and Kun Loon was met with the cold, sterile environment that mimicked the E.G.O. aura. Neither Itsuki-san nor the hulking brute that carried her paused to look at their surroundings but instead they both marched off till they came to another set of doors with little glass, mesh windows at their tops. Itsuki-san opened one of these doors and the brute that carried here promptly threw her in.

The door was shut and locked again before she had time to react.

"Welcome to your new home, experiment zero eight. I hope you enjoy your stay, you'll be here for a long, long time," Itsuki-san's voice chimed from a PA speaker near the high ceiling.

Kun Loon was trapped and she knew there was no way out.

All she was left with was too much time to recall a similar situation that had long sine taken place.

I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I .

For as long as she could remember and then probably longer Kun Loon, at least that's what her father called her, had lived in captivity. Other than the occasional glimpse of another person or the world outside the rooms in which she lived, her world consisted of her, her father, and the three connected room in which she called home.

Kun Loon, or zero eight as she was often called by the voice on the loud speaker, was the second and only surviving child of her parents. Unfortunately her mother, once a highly respected choir girl, had died during her birth. Her father didn't like to speak of it and so she knew that the memory pained him, though their relationship was not brought around in a usual manner.

When she was young, which wasn't all that long ago considering she was only sixteen at the moment, her father would tell her many stories that he had picked up when he was free, the meaning of this last word she did not know though he used it often enough. He had once lived on a shrine and, though his powers were weak, he came from the bloodlines of a great warrior, an Arayashiki warrior.

You see Kun Loon was a one of a kind person, she inherited both Arayashiki and Wiz-Dom blood from her father and mother respectively. Both sides of her blood lay dormant because of what the people that hovered outside the walls were doing.

However, no matter how dormant her blood was she had an amazing sense of perception, and it was that exact sense that told her that something was going to happen today. She changed quickly into clothes that were always provided. The clothes were both neater and nice than they normally were, backing up her premonition. Then, just as she secured the obi of what she like to call her uniform, the door to the room opened. This was indeed an event because the doors to the rooms were hardly ever opened, especially while she was so near to them.

A girl about her own age stepped inside the room and looked around curiously until she spotted Kun Loon. The strange girl had dark blond hair and startling gold eyes, she wore clothes that Kun Loon had never seen before as all the clothes that she had ever seen were in the traditional style. Kun Loon was slightly envious for the clothes that the girl wore looked far more comfortable than any Kimono that she had ever worn.

"Kon'nichiwa zero eight, today's the day that I'm to take you to your new home," the girl announced awkwardly.

"Oh, I should go get my father then," Kun Loon replied softly while turning.

The other girl blinked, "oh no, I don't think you understand. I'm taking you, and only you, experiment zero three is to remain here."

The girl had emphasized the last word and Kun Loon frowned. What was the girl implying.

"Well… Um, I'm sorry I don't know you're name."

"You're to call me Itsuki-sama."

Kun Loon blinked taken aback but only for a second as she continued on.

"Well Itsuki-san if I leave my father will be alone. I couldn't possibly leave him like this."

"Experiment zero eight, you are to come immediately or I shall have to use what may be considered excessive force," Itsuki-san's eyes narrowed. Then she added for good measures, "what happens to zero three isn't my problem you are. I'm sure that they still have a use for him if he's still here though the chance of finding another Wiz-Dom girl to breed with him seems unlikely."

"Oh… Well will you at least be sure to notify my father of where I have gone?" Kun Loon asked though she knew she was graining on Itsuki-san's last nerves.

"Yes! If you come now I'll have zero three notified about your whereabouts," she practically screamed.

"Very well then, lead the way, Itsuki-san."

"Itsuki-sama!"

This time she did scream. Then she turned on her toe and marched away, Kun Loon, with a small smile on her face, followed after the fuming girl obediently.

"May I at least ask why you insist upon calling us experiments?" Kun Loon asked after five minutes of walking down a dark hallway.

"Because you are! We created you! You wouldn't exist if we didn't need to breed all the factions together! We need to win this war or at least control it!" Itsuki-san glanced back at her before looking back forward. "All you have to do is breed with the mate we have already created for you. My parents are already searching for a suitable man for me. When it's time my child and your offspring will be set together and from them we'll have the combination of the factions and the Aquarian Age will be ours."

Kun Loon was a little taken aback, how could she dismiss their situation like that? She was taking about their lives and their children's lives!

They finally came to a stop at another door and Itsuki-san unlocked it, careful to hide the door opening combination. The girl then stepped back and motioned for Kun to get it. Just as she was shutting the door Itsuki-san spoke one last time.

"The mate we've created for you is in the next room over. Experiment zero seven had to be subdued before we could get him in here."

Before Kun Loon could even gasp the door shut, the lock snapping into place. It took the surprised girl a moment to regain her composer before she could hustle over the door to the other room and flung it open. Kun Loon was fervently praying that Itsuki-san had been playing a cruel joke.

She saw no one on the bed and let lose an exaggerated sigh of relief. Kun Loon turned to leave the bedroom and shrieked. He had been standing right behind her! Eyes so blue that they could only be on a celestial, were narrowed at her. The look was only a step above a full out glare, and such a small step it was.

"Um… Kon'nichiwa, I'm Kun Loon. May I asked your name, Tenshi-san (translation: Mr. Angel)?" Kun Loon squeaked.

"I don't have one," the man grunted.

Kun Loon's eyes widened, genuinely stricken with all of her uneasy forgotten.

"Don't have one? Would you like me to help you acquire one Tenshi-san?"

"No," he growled. "You won't be here long enough for that. You're leaving now."

"I won't? I do not think we have a choice in that Tenshi-san, Itsuki-san was quiet vehement about locking we in here."

He finally back away, his eyes filled with annoyance.

"Stop calling me that stupid name."

"Black…"

That was the color of his hair, midnight black with an ominous red tint. Was that even possible? It must have been or he wouldn't look like that. Or maybe it was just the impression she got from his aura.

Then she realized that he had spoken and a blush heated her face. He must think her quite the featherbrain to say that then stand here staring at his hair.

"Ah, gomen nasai, Tenshi-san, I didn't hear what you said. Could you please repeat it?"

A scowl made its way onto his face and he threw his hands up in the universal sign of giving up on a lost cause. He then turned around and stomped into his room before pushing her out and slamming the door shut. Kun Loon landed hard on her bottom.

She muttered an injured noise before picking herself up off the ground and leaving the doorway, she refused to look like a fool just because she wanted to get to know the guy that Itsuki-san was to be her 'mate'.

Kun Loon spent the rest of the day familiarizing herself with the other bedroom, which she had claimed as hers. It was hours before she had gathered enough vehemence to approach the man's door with an offering of food.

Her first soft knock went unanswered. Her second and third, each growing louder in turn gained the same response, nothing. And so she reasonably went on to the next way to gain his attention.

"Tenshi-san? Are you there? I have some food for you. I know you didn't eat earlier and I don't want you to starve on my account."

There was still no response so Kun Loon cautiously opened the door with one hand while balancing the plate of food on the other. He was asleep, at least she assumed so because he was an unmoving lump on his bed. Then he rolled over to face her, his face was relaxed and smooth and his nose twitched slightly as she came closer. Not wanting to disturb the sleeping man, Kun Loon left the plate on his bedside table and snuck back out of the room. Wordlessly she wondered what a child of theirs would look like.

After hearing the door click behind her, the 'sleeping' man's eye opened and he sat up.

I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I .

While her mother was tucked, not so safely away in the E.G.O. headquarters, Kagome awakening up from her peaceful slumber. She almost immediately noticed that she was in a much different position than she had started off with, she was flat on her back rather than propped against Itsuki's back. She was also on a bed, and so Kagome could safely hazard a guess that Itsuki had gotten them back to the city.

Kagome sat up, battling a moment's dizziness, and looked around. She couldn't tell if she was relieved or disappointed that Itsuki wasn't in the room. The door slid open and previously mentioned boy looked in. He saw her sitting up in bed and entered the room, stopping a respectable ten feet away and leaving the door open.

"Good morning," he greeted.

"Have I been out long?"

She was slightly confused about that. It had taken them several days to get to the graves and Itsuki was carrying her on the way home when she had last been awake. Itsuki shook his head, giving a negative answer to her question.

"Then how'd we get back so fast?"

"I called Kaname and his elder sister picked us up."

He winced after saying it, looking as he expected retaliation but none was forth coming. She knew that one of the beings in her mind had caused the reaction but there would be no retaliation because the 'voices' had completely faded from her consciousness, however Kagome could still sense them on the fringes of her awareness. Kagome really had nothing to say about how they got home. In fact she was grateful that they wouldn't have to spend the next day or so traveling. Soon she would be back with Sota.

"Are we at Kaname-san's house then?"

Itsuki nodded, a small, pleased grin on his face. Kagome only had to wonder about the look for a second before Kaname himself stormed into the room. He was silent or nearly so because she hadn't sensed him but then again she really wasn't paying attention. Kagome knew she had to work on that, such mistakes could get her killed out on the battle field.

"Good, you're awake. Now could you please get Itsuki to leave? He's long since overstayed his welcome, again," Kaname muttered.

"But I'm always over here Kaname."

"Exactly! When was the last I actually invited you over?" Kaname stressed the word 'invited'.

"But you have yet to throw me out," Itsuki pointed out.

"Not for a lack of trying, my sister won't allow it."

During the exchange Kagome sat back and watch the two exchange verbal barbs. Then she noticed that Kaname was actually losing patience with his friend. Kagome recognized this as an uncharacteristic action for the serious boy.

She cut in just as Itsuki was ready to let lose of another smart comment.

"Did something happen while we were gone Kaname-san?"

Kaname turned and gave her a piercing look. The look in his eyes was hard and searching but not being one to back down, Kagome found it in herself to meet the look.

Finally he relented.

"There have been more attacks. All of us have been attacked at least five times within the past couple of days and they always catch us when we're alone. Amou also sense the Eraser fleet drawing in closer. He's also sensed an increase in mind breakers in the area. Nakaura Sensei has received word that Darklore activity has increased and number of murders in the general area has increased by two fold." He took a breath before continuing, "and on top of that, my friend goes missing for about a week, after which I receive a phone call. In the end I learn about what he's doing out in the wilderness with a girl that I have yet to label as a friend or foe, is that it was a 'binding experience'. That's what's wrong."

No one spoke, there was really nothing more anyone could say.

With all the problems popping up against them and her comrades facing unfavorable odds, Kagome was in her element. She had finally come home.

I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I . I .

It was noon the day after the incident with Sakura when Noya finally cornered Sota in the young boy's room.

Sota had been enjoying the quiet before he had to leave for the noisy chaos of the cafeteria when Noya's aura suddenly appeared right behind him. Sota had turned quickly to face his angered teacher.

"Kon'nichiwa Noya Sensei," he greeted politely.

"Sota, I know you have an excellent memory. So, excluding that excuse, can you please tell me why you didn't obey my command about my sister?" Hi voice was sharper than normal.

Sota had to gather his aplomb before he could answer him. Then, seconds later, Noya's growl warned him of incoming danger. Sota had barely enough time to duck before a fist whizzed over his head.

"Tell me!" Noya demanded.

"I like Sakura, a lot, and I know she likes me. I'm not going to let you mow me over just because you're an overprotected brother and I'm not going to give into your intimidation," Sota replied.

This time Noya pounce, very much like a giant cat. He caught Sota head on and the two fell to the floor with a thud.

"Then you won't leave her be if I order you to?" Noya's voice was so low that he nearly didn't hear him.

"No."

"You pass," Noya announced after a second.

Seconds later Noya's weight lifted off Sota and the boy pushed himself off the ground. He was confused but accepted Noya's help to get off the floor all the same.

"Pass? Pass what?" Sota asked, allowing curiosity to get the best of him.

"I'll let you see Sakura. If you'll stand up to me to get to her, I really have no choice but to let you two, be together," his teacher replied simply.

"It was a test?" Sota couldn't help the incredulous note that crept into his tone.

"Yes."

"Oh."

And there was really nothing more to say.

. : End of Chapter : .

: . Author's Note . :

Hello! Merry Christmas and happy holidays from rainy Oakland.

This is you're Christmas update but hopefully I can update once or twice before Winter Break is over. I have a Muichimotsu update (hopefully) and maybe a Christmas special out before Christmas is over, but there's only tomorrow and the day after! Not enough time!

Plus my brother is here and I only see him twice a year, I love him to pieces so it's hard to drag myself away from him and the PS2 (mine is broken). But for you, my readers, I will try!

Now I'm sleepy so I will depart!

Sorry no next time, this time.