A/N: Some people to thank for reviews: Rabe Addler, KitElizaKing, "Guest," and Dragon and Sword Master. And thank you to anyone who put this or its author on their lists. Here's the second gift chapter of this one.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Bleach and Inuyasha characters, mangas, animes, movies, etc. They belong by copyright laws to Tite Kubo et al and Rumiko Takahashi et al, respectively.
Secrets Abound
Take No Prisoners
Blades clashed against weapons unknown to the demons present and they had to change their strategies in order to have a hope of winning. These human children were obviously not ordinary and they soon discovered that Sesshoumaru had not been as foolish as they thought him to be sending them to apprehend them.
Except that they weren't exactly doing any apprehending. Ichigo rejoined his friends soon after his confrontation with the old guy and it was clear by the amount of blood on his shirt and shorts that the demon had come out on the losing end. Rukia gave him a bland look and he merely shrugged, letting her know that he'd killed the guy on accident.
Ishida was busy with the guy that had threatened him and in the small space of the cave; he was at a distinct disadvantage. Chad had had the unfortunate luck to face off against a demon that could fly so all of his shots were going wide as the creature buzzed over head. "Chad, let's switch. I do believe you're more suited to closer combat."
"Hai," the gentle giant agreed and left the flying pest to someone who could actually go into the air to get him.
Orihime was spending more time blocking attacks and shielding her friends that didn't have any actual powers than fighting. Tsubaki hovered at her shoulder, waiting for her command and whispering encouragement in her ear. "Come on, missy, let me at them," he demanded, tempted to tug on her ear. He would have but that might have distracted her and he didn't want his friends to suffer because her concentration was shattered.
"Let him go help Kuchiki-san," Tatsuki suggested, looking around for something she could use as a weapon. She didn't like feeling helpless. It brought to mind the time she faced Aizen and couldn't do anything but be crushed by his reiatsu.
"I could use a little distraction, Inoue-san," the female Shinigami agreed.
"Alright, go, Tsubaki." The camellia cheered and raced off to try to put a hole in an enemy.
"Sometimes I worry about that flower," Tatsuki murmured. Mizuiro and Keigo nodded. Of course, worrying about the flower was tantamount to worrying about their bubbly friend. He was a part of her after all and showed a side of her personality not often seen.
The fighting was spilling out of the cave more and more, giving the three teenagers who weren't fighting a chance to go look for evidence once the coast was clear. They weren't exactly sure what was evidence and what wasn't but Tatsuki was hoping it would be glaringly obvious. "Hey, Arisawa-san, look at this," Keigo called, staring at a set of plans laid out on the stone table the old men had been gathered around. "This looks a little odd," he continued.
Mizuiro paused in looking through another set of papers found in some kind of vault and joined his classmates as they pondered over the plans. "That doesn't look good." The playboy began reading what was written, his brows furrowing in concentration. "Say, what was the name of that jewel that the Taishos told us about?"
"You mean the Shikon no Tama?" Tatsuki asked, looking closer at the giant orb in the center of the paper. Squinting, she saw notations about a priestess and several demons and had a feeling of dread crawl down her spine. Rolling the plans up, she tucked them into her belt loop and looked around the room. "Did you find anything else?"
"Just these papers here," Mizuiro said, taking them out of the vault along with a couple of stacks of paper yen in high bill amounts.
"Guard them," she ordered. "We have to get these to the Taishos immediately. I think it's time to call in reinforcements."
"Don't think there's much need for that," Keigo said, pointing to the bodies littering the ground outside. Some of them were beginning to deteriorate, the slight wind that was blowing taking the demon dust away.
"Wow, they really go to town when they fight, don't they?" Mizuiro asked. He hadn't had much of an opportunity to watch his friends battle. Not that he wanted to. If he was in the vicinity of something that Ichigo or the others needed to fight, it probably wasn't good for his health.
"That didn't take long," Tatsuki commented, studying each of her friends in turn. Ichigo was nursing a burn on his right arm, Orihime's healing shield working to reverse the affects. Rukia's hair looked a little mussed and Ishida was lamenting the wrinkling of his cape. Chad was flexing his right arm, having apparently used it to go up against a stronger than first thought enemy.
"We've pretty much got this whole teamwork thing down," Ichigo told her, a slight grimace on his face. "Ishida, you were right about one of them controlling the weather. SOB singed my arm."
"I'll have you healed up in no time," Orihime assured him brightly.
"I did try to warn you not to let him get off that blast," the archer replied.
Rukia would have said something but Shu and Fumiko arrived on the scene, both twins ready for battle with swords. They blinked at the dying and decaying demons before sighing in relief. "Grandmother had no doubt as to your skill but I still worried," Fumiko admitted.
"Yeah, wish I could have seen you in action," her brother commented. "Although, there is one little problem…"
"They're defeated, isn't that what you wanted?" Ichigo asked, flexing his arm when Shun'o and Ayame were done. He nodded a thanks before fixing his attention on the twins.
"I believe he's referring to the little matter of prisoners, Kurosaki. I do believe Taisho-san wanted prisoners."
"That's right, Uncle was going to interrogate them to make sure that there weren't any more traitors," Shu agreed.
"Well, there is one," Rukia hedged. "I left him frozen and in a barrier on the path. He should still be alive," she informed them.
"It's a good thing too," Tatsuki said. "Look at what we found," the vale tudo champion said, holding out the plans. "I have a feeling this is bigger than you originally thought."
The twins took one look at the piece of parchment and yelled for the wolves. Kouga and Ayame reached them just as Rukia was undoing the spells she'd placed on the fire demon. He was pale with hypothermia and she doubted he'd have lasted much longer but with Orihime's help, the Shinigami was able to revive him long enough to be interrogated by the wolves.
Kouga was ruthless in his methods and the teenagers were glad that they weren't on the receiving end. By the time he was through, the demon was dead and scattering on the wind. Blue eyes as hard as ice gazed at the collected company. "You will all follow us back to the hotel. Say nothing to anyone, not even each other until we reach your suite. Shu, you will call your family and have them meet us here immediately. Fumiko, gather our children and your grandmother and bring them to the suite as soon as you can. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir," they chorused.
Ichigo wanted to object but one look at the wolf's face told him to keep it to himself. Whatever Tatsuki and the guys had found was far worse than what they were expecting. Rukia nudged him forward when the demons began leading them out of the woods and he glanced down at her to see what her reaction was. Violet eyes were filled with worry but she didn't voice her opinion. She was keeping her own council and likely would until she figured something out. Once she knew what was going on, she would decide how to act.
Ishida and the others towed the line, keeping as quiet as they could. Once walking on the beach, they spread out a little so as not to appear suspicious. As far as the other guests were concerned, they were just kids who'd been lost and were being brought back like scolded children. It chafed a bit on the Quincy's nature but he kept his cool, knowing something very wrong had just happened.
Hisana was waiting for them when they returned to the hotel. Taking one look at her family's faces as well as those of Kouga and Ayame, the lady instantly ushered them upstairs where they could talk in private. Fumiko had gone to get the children, Shu moving off to make calls to his family in somewhat privacy. "What has happened?" she questioned, accepting the swords back from Ichigo and Rukia.
"This," Kouga answered and showed her the plans. Hisana's normally mirthful eyes hardened into cold gold and the teenagers shivered at the change in her youki.
"I see. Someone certainly has a death wish."
"Ma'am?" Tatsuki asked. "Do these plans mean what I think they mean?"
"You have been told the story of the Shikon no Tama, yes?"
"We have," Rukia agreed.
"Do you understand how dangerous the jewel was?"
"Yes," they chorused.
"It seems that someone wishes to make another," Hisana finished answering, leaning back in the chair she had commandeered.
"It would take a lot of manipulating and planning," Ayame commented softly.
"And it would have to be done so quietly that not even Shippou's group of spies could get a whiff of it. There isn't much his network of kitsunes can't ferret out." Kouga sighed and tilted his head back.
"What did the fire demon say, Kouga-san?" Orihime asked. "It was kind of hard to understand him through his tears."
"He said that a demon yakuza who went by the name Naraku was gathering sources and allies to bring forth another jewel. He'd figured out how to do it and was just waiting for the right person to come along."
"Naraku? Isn't that the name of the guy who you all fought against five hundred years ago?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah. It isn't the same guy obviously but just the thought of someone using that name turns my stomach."
The daiko and his friends had only heard about Naraku and it sent shivers down their spines. "Lady Taisho, Kouga-san, if you'll allow me to make a call, I believe the Gotei Thirteen can be of assistance," Rukia said formally.
"In what way, child?" Hisana inquired.
"Obviously this person has kept a low enough profile to escape notice. He's probably got people on the look out for certain kinds of youki or the spiritual energy used by clerics. If by chance we can use the Stealth Force and Lady Yoruichi's talents, we may be able to get passed their guard. They probably know of the existence of Shinigami but as none of us have ever bothered with them before, they might not think to suspect us of interfering. If they manage to create a new jewel and it becomes as powerful as the old one, it could do some real harm to the balance of souls."
"It will harm souls," Ayame whispered. "I remember Kagome telling me about her time in the jewel. All those souls, both youkai and Midoriko's trapped for centuries inside of it fighting. The jewel became sentient and just wanted to keep on trapping souls inside of it for eternity. It would have used Kagome's soul along with Naraku's to continue the vicious cycle."
"Make your call, Kuchiki-san. Find out if your people are willing to help. In the meantime, we will wait and see what my son has to say." Hisana tilted her head in thanks before turning her attention to her grandson. "Shu, what is taking you so long?"
"Uh, I'm waiting for Father to get done swearing." The quarter demon ran a hand through his still blue locks, the cell phone held far away from his ear with the other.
"That could last until next century. Oi, dog breath, just get your butt down here!" Kouga shouted, earning a few chuckles.
Presumably there was more swearing because Shu groaned and continued to keep the communication device away from his ear. "Yeah, yeah, we get it, Oyaji," he said after a moment. "See you shortly." After finally hanging up, the young Taisho came and collapsed on the sofa.
"He's still as charming as ever. I could barely hear your uncle. Sesshoumaru must be in a foul mood."
"Uncle told me to leave any prisoners to him. I didn't have the guts to tell him that there weren't any," the young man admitted.
"Oops," Ichigo said, having a feeling it was only going to make things worse when the demon emperor found out that he wouldn't be able to kill anyone right away. "Well, it's not like he would have let them live anyway, right?"
"No, but it might have put him in a better mood. I do so hate it when he sulks," Hisana said.
"Don't we all?" Kouga added and the others nodded their agreement.
Ishida was tempted to ask what happened when the dog demon sulked but thought better of it. He really didn't want his imagination to conjure up any visions of what might happen. Inoue-san could probably do that for them. Hopefully she would think 'sad dog' not 'enraged demon' but one never knew with her. "As we can't do anything until the rest of the Taishos arrive, might I suggest we clean up and order something to eat? I don't know about you but I am rather tired of my current state."
"Go for it," Kouga said. "You should have just enough time." He watched the human teenagers go to their rooms before looking back at his compatriots. "Lady Hisana?" the wolf tribe leader asked when he saw her pensive look.
"I am fine, Kouga. I was just thinking that it was probably best the children ended the traitors' lives. Sesshoumaru would not have been merciful."
"No, can't say I was much better."
"Just goes to show how little we've really changed," Ayame said. "This isn't the time to be 'civilized.'"
"We shall be taking no prisoners this time either," Hisana said firmly.
"Hai," both wolves and Shu agreed.
There was no room for leniency when the fate of the world was at stake.