Tohru's Demons

Chapter Thirty-Four: Fake Wings


There were many common misconceptions that the Great Lord Sesshoumaru's long white fuzzy thing was actually over-grown armpit hair. That, or it was some sort of weird tail that he, for whatever reason, kept slung over his shoulder due to a kind of strange fashion sense. Neither of these was true, however. The long white fuzzy thing that Sesshoumaru kept slung over his shoulder due to a kind of strange fashion sense (though he did not think it strange in the slightest) was, indeed, a boa. Furthermore, it was his boa. And if anyone voiced any sort of misconception that deemed it otherwise, they would quickly be eviscerated.

At the present time, Sesshoumaru was not standing on a hill. Sesshoumaru did not stand—he struck regal poses and looked man-pretty. In fact, he looked so man-pretty that the great dog-demon's vassal, Jakan, had to work very hard to not have orgasms of delight right then and there at Sesshoumaru's feet. If he hadn't resisted such carnal temptation, his beloved Lord Sesshoumaru would have drowned him in the nearest active volcano.

Of course, it was not difficult to distract himself from Sesshoumaru's incredible godly hotness. Rin was there also. Jakan had never been able to figure out why a demon of Sesshoumaru's caliber had picked up such a scruffy child, much less have saved her life, but there it was.

Unfortunately, Jakan had to suffer for his Lord's fancies.

"Jakan, which of these flowers do you think is prettiest? The pink one, or the red one?" Rin asking innocently, holding out two flowers that looked exactly the same in one fist, and gripping the reins of their two-headed dragon with the other.

Jakan, being the horrible, depraved, sick midget toad-demon that he was, did not see why it mattered.

"Why does it matter?" Jakan snorted. "They both look exactly the same!"

"But I need to know!"

"They're just stupid flowers!" Jakan screeched in his painfully annoying voice.

"Quiet." Rin and Jakan feel silent at once and looked up at Sesshoumaru.

"What is it, Lord Sesshoumaru?" Jakan asked.

Sesshoumaru had long ago cultivated the art of tuning Jakan out, probably due to the sad fact that Jakan had been his loyal servant for the past several decades, and thus always nearby, so whenever Jakan spoke, Sesshoumaru rarely contracted any interesting facial ticks anymore. Sesshoumaru merely shot the toad a withering glance before promptly turning his attention to something far more pleasing to the eye.

It was a silver compass about the size of his fist, the needle indicating that North was here, and then there, and then everywhere with increasing irritation.

The Angel was close.

Without a word, Sesshoumaru stepped lightly away across the grass, his two vassals following behind. And underneath his expressionless mask, Sesshoumaru may have been smiling.

This was proving to be a very interesting day, indeed.


Artemis danced aside as one of the Angel's crossbow bolts slammed into the dust at his feet, and loaded a cartridge of the specially forged 30mm, mercurial explosive rounds into his tri-barreled musket, the Anti-Angel Hell-Cannon. The muzzle came up and the Hell-Cannon roared, slamming back into Artemis's shoulder in a powerful kick, three bullets erupting from its mouth and screaming through empty air where the Angel had just been to completely annihilate several nearby trees.

"Die Scheisse!" Artemis snarled furiously, drawing his rapier and cutting down two more bolts that shot his way, the Hell-Cannon bucking like a bronco in his hand as he fired again in vain. "Der Gott verdammt, how the hell did that thing learn to teleport!"

"You mean…" Koga panted as he desperately struggled to keep up with the Angel, "This isn't normal!"

"Nein!" Artemis replied, knocking aside another bolt and returning fire. "Angels have never done this before!"

"They certainly haven't," Malacoda said, his nine-tailed whip singing through the air around in a swirling dance of death, its arms oscillating and weaving in and out of each other, one licking at Artemis's cheek when he stepped too close, though he simply flicked his head aside as the small metal hook embedded in the end sailed past him.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Artemis said, eyeing Malacoda accusingly.

"Oh, come now, Arty, you know my beautiful leather Mistress goes where she will," Malacoda smiled. "But don't worry; she likes you. So you won't be hurt… much."

"Oh, thanks, you don't know the extent of my consolation," Artemis replied scathingly, skipping back as another of the whip's arms reached towards him.

"Goddammit, what the hell is wrong with this piece of crap!" Inu-Yasha shrieked from behind him, and Artemis glanced back to see him swinging the dull and chipped Tetsusaiga about in a useless attempt to get it to transform. Ideally, his sword was not usually in the rather pathetic state it was in when Inu-Yasha drew it to fight whatever foe was threatening to kill him at the moment. Usually the Tetsusaiga took the form of a gigantic fang, thrusting powerfully from the small patch of white fur at the hilt to penetrate his enemies. It was Tetsusaiga The Steel Cleaving Fang, slayer of a thousand demons!

Now up until recently, Inu-Yasha had taken great pride in his sword, but after what that bastard Artemis had said, the image was somewhat tainted.

"What's Tetsusaiga's purpose?" Artemis asked suddenly, watching the Angel in an attempt to discern some kind of pattern in her movements.

"What the hell are you—" Inu-Yasha started to snarl, but then stopped, realization dawning. "Oh…" he murmured, his face falling with dismay. "Oh, I see. The Tetsusaiga… was created to protect humans, and Angels sort of are human, so…"

"The Tetsusaiga won't hurt them," Artemis finished "It's a shame, really, to be impotent on a such a minor technicality."

Inu-Yasha bared his teeth in frustration, snarling savagely, his claws digging into his palms as his hands curled themselves into tight fists. Then he slowly sheathed his sword, his head bowed, and walked forward.

"Fine." The dog-demon hissed. "Then I'll just have to improvise. I don't need a sword to gut this little wench." Suddenly he looked up to glare hatred at the Angel through two small points of burning liquid gold, his voice coming out in a jagged, fanged roar, and he leapt.

"I'LL DO IT WITH MY BARE HANDS!"

A long white fuzzy thing flew into his path.

"Waah!" Inu-Yasha cried, trying to change direction midair and failing fantastically. He barreled face first into the fuzzy thing and somehow managed to half strangle himself.

"Well, little brother, I knew you were slow, but I did not realize just how unorthodox you are."

"Ugh…" Inu-Yasha moaned, pushing himself up out of the dirt, and spotted none other than Sesshoumaru himself standing but a few feet away.

"Dammit Sesshoumaru, what the hell do you think you're doing!" Inu-Yasha snarled furiously, jumping to his feet. Sesshoumaru ran his fingers through his long, silky white hair, giving Inu-Yasha a contemptible smile, and held up his compass.

"Perhaps you are in need of my assistance?" he asked, still smiling, swinging the compass back and forth gently.

"Hell no!" Inu-Yasha snapped, dodging one of the Angel's bolts.

Artemis fired off several shots in quick succession, the loud barks following so fast they sounded like one, shattering the other bolts before they hit him. Then he sauntered over to the Demon Lord and nodded courteously.

"I'm a bit surprised to see you here, Sesshoumaru," Artemis said. The demon regarded him with his usual pokerfaced stare, though the usual disdain in his golden orbs was missing; Artemis was one of the few demons Sesshoumaru held any respect for. He may have regarded Malacoda in the same way, if it wasn't for—

"You just couldn't stay away from me, could you?" Malacoda said, sidling up next to the Demon Lord and slipping an arm around his waist.

"Remove yourself from my person at once."

"I was of the impression that your person liked me."

"I am afraid you are deeply mistaken if you think to have received such a notion from me," Sesshoumaru replied coldly, the effort of looking condescendingly indifferent as Malacoda's hand started to meander down to his rear beginning to make his hands twitch in a desire to kill something. "Now… Get. Off."

With a disappointed little sigh, Malacoda stepped away, though he could not quite hide the mischievous glint twinkling in his eyes, his head flicking to the side carelessly as another steel bolt whizzed past his ear.

"Perhaps it's a good idea to save your little sweet nothings until after we have dealt with this?" Artemis pointed out with a wave at the Angel as it danced playfully through the air.

"Oh, Arty, you're, so boring," Malacoda whined. "Fluffy and I were just having a bit of fun."

"…What did you just call him?" Inu-Yasha gasped after an awkward pause, gaping in open-mouthed shock at Malacoda, who was grinning at the black and murderous rage that had clouded over Sesshoumaru's features.

But he did not have time to retaliate, or even eviscerate, because suddenly the Angel was hovering a few inches from his head, it's crossbow pressed against his temple.

dont ignore me the Angel's voice shrieked furiously in their minds and the bow snapped.

There was a hollow thunk as a steel bolt stuck the ground at Inu-Yasha's feet, and the sharp crack as Sesshoumaru's fist slowly crushed the crossbow, and one of the Angel's small hands, in his vice-like grip.

"That was not a wise decision," Sesshoumaru said coldly, and the Angel screamed, beating its wings wildly, and was gone.

"Alright, Fluffy, show that thing whose boss!" Malacoda cried exuberantly, punching the air.

"I request that you cease calling me by that name at once, Malacoda!" Sesshoumaru snapped, his eyes on the Angel, who had appeared some fifty feet above them. "I am the Great Lord Sesshoumaru, I refuse to be referred to in such a derogatory manner!"

kill you the Angel screeched in outrage, clutching its useless hand.

"Oh, why don't you just bend over and take it like Poland?" Malacoda snorted, his whip flicking out hungrily. The Angel hovered a moment, and Artemis could almost hear its mind working as it calculated its next move. Suddenly, Sango's boomerang whirled beneath the Angel's feet, almost knocking it out of the air, and it shrieked, fighting to regain its balance as Kilala charged. Then Miroku leapt, ripping the prayer beads from his wrist and unleashing the black hole in his palm, which devoured everything in its path with a voracious tenacity.

The Angel struggled futilely, and then disappeared to step out of the air behind the flying cat as she caught the monk and whipped around, growling angrily, fangs bared. But then the Angel extended its good hand…

"KILALA, MOVE!" Artemis yelled. "IT'S GOING TO USE THE GOD'S HAND!"

Kilala balked, confused, but too late—the sound of a thousand beating wings filling the air in a roaring tempest of sound, and a white, plasmatic arm of light streaked past the cat, throwing her into a chaos of frothing terror, screaming and spitting, spinning through the air in wild frenzy.

"Kilala!" Sango cried frantically, trying to calm the hysterical cat, and then they both crashed hard into the ground, where Kilala lay twitching.

"Are you alright!" Inu-Yasha called, running up to them and looking worriedly at his feline companion. Miroku slowly climbed to his feet and brushed himself off as Kilala, now normal sized, was being cradled in Sango's arms.

"I… I think so…" the demon-slayer replied shakily. "I think she's just stunned…"

"What was that!" Inu-Yasha demanded, whirling on Artemis.

"That was the God's Hand, utilizing the Divine Light, an Angel's most powerful attack," Artemis said. "It can rip apart the very fabric of this universe, so be careful. It'll destroy even your soul if it touches you."

"And just when were you planning on telling us this!" Inu-Yasha barked. "After it had attacked!"

"Only certain and very powerful Archangels know that attack, how was I supposed to know the das Ferkel was one of the Elite?" Artemis pointed out.

"We need a plan, Artemis," Malacoda said tightly, eyes fixed on the Angel. "Quick. I think she's about to have another go."

"We can't beat this thing alone, not as we are now, if we can't even catch the bloody thing…" Artemis murmured, glancing upwards uneasily, eyes narrowed in thought.

"Would one of your demons do the trick?" Malacoda asked.

"Perhaps…" Artemis said slowly, and nodded. "Right, you stay here and try to distract it. I'll be back." With that, he turned on his heel and walked away towards where Tohru and the others had taken refuge, some thirty feet away.

"Hey… wait!" Inu-Yasha called after him. "Where… what's going on? Artemis!"

Malacoda put a hand on the dog-demon's shoulder, and grinned. "Don't worry," he said quietly. "Artemis may yet have a way to get us out of this. Just be patient, he's not called the God of War for nothing, you know."


When Hatsuharu saw the Angel pick Yuki up and then slowly pull his arm from his socket, his already reeling mind had almost shut down. But the wave of shock was soon replaced with a tempest of black fury, and something lurking behind his eyes snapped as a twisted mass of roaring rage roiled in his gut.

"I'LL KILL THAT LITTLE BITCH!" the Ox bellowed, tossing his horned head angrily. Kagome and Tohru, busy administering Yuki's arm and trying to get his breathing under control, started and looked up in alarm, though after a few seconds kagome turned back to her work, unruffled; she had dealt with far worse from Inu-Yasha.

"Damn, he's turned Black…"Kyo muttered irritably. "Haru, just give it a rest will ya? There's not much you can do like that."

"Shut up, you stupid Cat!" Haru snapped. "I'm not gonna let that thing get away with hurting Yuki!"

"Just what do you intend to do?" Akito asked quietly, and no one missed the mockery in his cobalt gaze, or the disdain tugging at his mouth. Haru whirled on him and glared hatefully, lips curling back in a ferocious snarl.

"AT LEAST I PLAN TO DO SOMETHING INSTEAD OF HANGING BACK HERE LIKE A GOD DAMN COWARD, AKITO!"

The blood left Akito's face in an instant, and his eyes became the two black holes in the muzzle of a loaded shotgun. But Haru was not in his right mind to notice—until Akito's fist smashed into his face.

"Akito!" Tohru gasped as Haru staggered, blood pouring from his muzzle, eyes wide with shock. Akito ignored her, raising his fist to strike a second time, but Valery flung herself on him and wrestled him to the ground.

"Hey, stop that!" she reprimanded. "This is no time to be fighting! Pull yourself together!"

"Get your filthy hands off me!" Akito roared, throwing Val off and surging to his feet. Haru backed off hurriedly as the Head Sohma spun towards him, shaking his bovine head, droplets of blood splattering everywhere.

"Akito!" Tohru cried, throwing herself between him and the Ox, and Akito seized her wrist to throw her to the ground—

And ended up flat on his back, the wind knocked from his lungs, and Rahallion standing on his chest and snarling into his face. When he looked up, he found Kyo standing over him, fists raised, red eyes wide with anger at Akito and shock at what he, himself, had just done. It was a few seconds more before the realization of what Akito would do in retaliation for striking him made itself known in Kyo's mind, and a feeling a dread tightened in his chest. Akito merely stared, remaining deathly still as Kyo tried not to hyperventilate.

Then Akito slowly climbed to his feet, ignoring Raha's growls, dark eyes never leaving the Cat's fiery gaze. It seemed like an eternity before anyone dared to speak.

"A-Akito…" Kyo finally murmured, and steeled himself as Akito's hand flew towards his face, and even if he had time to dodge, he didn't dare—

"What do you think you're doing?" asked a cold voice, and Kyo gasped. Artemis stood just behind Akito, whose wrist was held in the demon's iron grip, his molten gold eyes glinting like hellfire.

"Let me go!" Akito snarled, enraged. "This has nothing to do with you! Let go!"

"Quiet down," Artemis ordered. "You're acting like a spoiled child. This is no place to be fighting, at least attempt to control yourself."

Artemis released Akito and the Sohma jerked away, hissing with wrath, his hands clenched into tight fists. Artemis eyed him with an air of disdain and boredom.

"Strike me, and I will snap your arm in six different places," he said lazily. The fury in Akito's eyes intensified, knowing it was true. Slowly, reluctantly, his fingers loosened, dropping a cold mask over his features, and regarded Artemis with a look of absolute abhorrence. Artemis flicked an ear indifferently and turned his back in nonchalant insolence.

Haru backed away towards Kagura and had decided it was probably best if he just lay low for while when he felt something touch his foreleg. Looking down he found Millie grinning up at him, with an armful of gauze.

"Your nose is bleeding," she informed him. "If Haru doesn't stop it he will probably die a slow and agonizing death. But don't worry, Millie will save you."

"Oh… thanksh," Haru said in a rather muffled voice as she proceeded to shove super-absorbent materials up his nose.

"Um… Artemis?" Tohru said quietly, casting a faintly worried glance at the fuming Akito. "Artemis, what's the matter?"

They can't handle a silly little Angel, that's what.Raha said disdainfully in her head. Tohru ignored him.

"The Angel is too fast for us," Artemis replied. "It's keeps teleporting all over the place, we can't even come close to it, and it's using the God's Hand."

Told you. Raha snorted.

"Is that what that light was?" Kagura asked, shuddering, and Artemis gave a curt nod.

"But what are you doing back here?" Val wanted to know. "You got a plan, or something?"

"No," he replied flatly. "But I know of someone who might. Lust, I need you. Now."

Kyo and the other Sohmas glanced at Tohru in confusion, looking for some sort of explanation, and then, very abruptly, that explanation rose up from the ground and snuck up from behind and slipped an arm around his shoulders.

"My, my, my, what have we here…?" a voice murmured in his ear, and Kyo leapt away with a startled cry, spinning around so fast he barely managed to stay on his feet, to come face to face with the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen—and being a Sohma, he'd seen a lot of gorgeous women.

This lady was dark and slender, her black hair falling in lazy, winding waves down her back to curl at her curvaceous hips. Red serpentine eyes gazed at him from beneath long lashes, a deadly sort of seductiveness swirling deep within their depths. Lips smiled suggestively at him, glistening like spilt blood, and she inhaled, her voluptuous bosom pressing against the sheer fabric of her alluring, and revealing, black satin dress.

"Who the hell are you!" Kyo snapped, immediately on guard, trying to steady his electric nerves and spinning brain. The woman's smile simply widened, those dragon eyes glittering, her full lips pulling back to reveal glistening white fangs.

"Well, aren't you just ze charmer," she said. "I am ze Sinner Lust, subordinate to my Lord Artemis van Heironymus." Something about her Parisian dulcet tone told Kyo she was anything but faithful. "What do I have ze pleasure of calling such a fine gentleman as yourself?"

Kyo blinked, taken aback, mind still reeling from her aroma as it wafted through his senses.

"Kyo," he said shortly, glaring warily at her, not quite able to tear his eyes away.

Artemis snorted, eyeing the other Sohma men, some of which were staring in open-mouthed shock at the new arrival.

"How… How did she… Where did she come from?" Haru stammered in bewilderment, and Lust cocked in intrigued eyebrow at him. Haru almost melted, literally, on the spot. The Sinner smiled, a small laugh dancing on her long tongue as she turned her eyes back to regard Artemis.

"Well, Master? What do you wish of me?"

"I need to know the best way to defeat an Archangel who possesses the power to teleport, as swiftly as possible."

Lust glanced over her bare shoulder at the Angel who danced playfully in the air, toying with its demonic and human enemies as if they were insects.

"But she's so small!" Lust laughed, turning to Artemis. "Small and weak, and you can't even beat her?"

"I have neither the time nor the patience to deal with your games right now, Lust."

Lust sighed and pulled a laptop from seemingly thin air, where it floating before her as her fingers flew over the keys.

"None of your demons can hope to combat against an Angel and come out alive," she said after a few minutes. "Zough zere is zat one zat can destroy everyzing wizin a twenty-five mile radius, but I doubt you wish to go to such extremes."

"Obviously," Artemis stated flatly, ignoring the stares he was getting from the Sohmas.

"Well, zen, zere is only one ozer option available," Lust said, and her eyes flicked to Tohru and away.

"Oh?"

"Yes… ze Infernal Arts—"

"No!" Tohru cried at once, and all eyes turned to her in surprise. Artemis cocked an eyebrow at her, but she went on regardless. "Artemis, you can't! The Infernal Arts… you know what it does to you!"

"Yes," Artemis nodded, a tiny grin tugging at his mouth. "It gives me a splitting headache, that's what."

"That wasn't what I meant!" Tohru cried, flustered. "The Infernal Arts are dangerous, and we both know your soul can't handle that kind of power; it'll be devoured! You can't—"

"Alright, alright, I understand!" Artemis said hurriedly, holding his hands up in a gesture of acquiescence. "I won't use the Arts. Lust, is there another way, one which doesn't involve decimating myself or the landscape?"

"Hmph," Lust snorted, smiling. "Yes, zere is one ozer way zat I know of." Her eyes flicked to Tohru for a moment. "Ze Pseudo-Angel should work quite well, don't you zink?"

"Pseudo-Angel…?" Tohru repeated, mystified. "Artemis, what is she talking about…?"

Artemis looked away and didn't answer, his eyes narrowed, some internal conflict swirling deep within their depths.

"Die Scheisse…"

"Artemis…?" Tohru asked again in growing concern, putting a tentative hand on his arm. He flattened his ears and didn't respond, so she turned instead to Lust.

"Lust, what's a Pseudo-Angel?"

Lust only smiled wider and slid closer to Artemis, her body rippling as she moved to curl a hand around his neck.

"Well, Master, what will you do?" she whispered for his ear alone, her lips moving against his cheek. Artemis froze, a low growl rumbling deep in his throat.

"Lust…" he muttered warningly.

"What will you do, Artemis?" she repeated. "Destroy a part of your soul… or bring back zose memories you yourself long to forget… ze love she once held for you? Or you could always summon zat demon and allow it to simply destroy us all."

"Get off me. Now." Artemis ordered.

"Ze ball's in your park now," Lust murmured, stepping away. "I suggest you act soon, ze Angel will soon tire of its little game, and zen ze God Hand will crush you all into dust."

Artemis glanced back at the Angel, clenching his fists in frustration, while Tohru looked between them in wide-eyed confusion.

"Could you please tell me what's going on?" she asked.

"Yes, I believe we would all like to know," Hatori said quietly from his water cup. Artemis didn't reply at once. One black-leather gloved hand ran through his hair indecisively, remorse making his eyes hard and regret tightening his jaw into tortured silence.

Finally he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Alright…" he murmured ruefully. "Tohru… Come here."

Tohru stepped closer, eyeing Artemis wonderingly, and he regarded her expressionlessly for a moment in silence. Then he shook his head and pressed two fingertips against her forehead.

"Don't move, Tohru," he said quietly. "This won't take long."

"Artemis what—"

The rest of Tohru's sentence was cut off as Artemis pulled her closer and she squeaked in protest.

"Hey…!" Kyo objected angrily. "Let her go!"

"I'm sorry," Artemis muttered into Tohru's ear, ignoring the Cat. "I hate to hurt you like this, but I can't risk losing my soul."

Tohru went very still, feeling her heart skip a beat, and wondering why his voice was so filled with lamentation it to pour from him like blood.

"The bird of Hermes is thy name," Artemis went on softly. "Eating your wing to make you tame."

And then the world exploded into a sound so loud it drove the ears of all who heard it six feet into their skull. Kyo cried out and clapped his hands over his ears, only to realize the sound was in his head. Then a brightness assaulted his sight, and the sound transformed into music so terrifyingly beautiful is disdained to annihilate them all. Kyo couldn't breath and fell back into the grass, peering up at a vision of ephemeral, ebullient light.

Tohru stood in the midst of that glory, listening to the singing of the universe with Her head cocked to the side, brilliant blue eyes distant as if staring at something faraway, white hair fluttering about Her face, wings outstretched to the heavens. About Her feet plants surged into growth, twining with quickened impatience about Her ankles and spreading out around Her in zealous passion.

Kyo fought to make his lungs work as an iron band tightened around his head, crushing it… the suddenly Tohru was gone, Her axes, Lapis Lazuli, screaming through the air towards the Angel, who disappeared in the blink of an eye, and the sky was filled with darting light as both beings spun and weaved, dodging and ducking in a spiraling aerial dance that rose higher and higher into the clouds.

Then abruptly, the Angel was inches from Kyo's nose, and he, with a startled cry, whirled and struck the Angel hard across the cheek. She shrieked and reeled, then drove forward and her palm pressed against his face—Kyo's heart stopped when he realized it was about to use the God's Hand—that his head was about to be evaporated and his soul eternally obliterated from the face of the earth—

Kyo gasped as something smashed into his chest, sending him crashing to the ground, the Angel knocked aside and howling in outrage at the loss of it's prey. Claws dug into his shoulders and Kyo lifted his head dazedly to see none other than Rahallion standing smugly on top of him, staring down at him as if to say, 'Now you really owe me one, don't you, Cat?'

Kyo grunted and pushed himself up, eyes darting upwards in search of the Angel as She came rushing down from the Heavens, the silver axes alive with song, and with a horrible ripping noise, slashed through the Angel's right shoulder and red blood poured out over the ground. The Angel cried out, and in desperation, opened a door to another universe and fluttered through, the Pseudo-Angel hot on her heels…


Shigure could not relax. It had nearly been three hours since Hatori has disappeared through the door, and Shigure was getting more and more anxious as his watch ticked away the time. He was seated at the kitchen table, a cold cup of untouched tea in his hand, watching as Ayame nervously paced back and forth.

Isuzu was sat on her bed in her dark room, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, her head on her knees, one of Haru's many accessories clutched in her fist. She had not moved from that position for nearly an hour and a half, and had not even looked up when Hiro had poked his head in about thirty minutes before.

Ritsu, too, was in his room, flitting about in nervous agitation, as was Kureno, who was trying to read a book to calm his nerves but his eyes did not seem to want to stay focused on the page…

After Hiro had checked up on Isuzu he had returned to Artemis's study, but there was no point in watching the DVDs now, with Kisa so worried about Tohru…

In fact, all of their nerves were so shot that when the entire castle seemed to explode they all shouted soundlessly, even their voices driven back by the sheer magnitude of the noise that crashed and resounded through the halls and didn't seem as if it would ever stop.

Shigure, along with the rest of his cousins, leapt to his feet and ran outside, Ayame not far behind, and there he stopped dead, staring in open-mouthed wonder at the sight of the two beings that met his wide eyes, so breathtakingly magnificent they had to have been sent from God.

They had to be Angels. But there was something very wrong with the smaller one, and as she flew over him, something splattering his robes as she passed, he realized what it was. She had no face. Then Shigure looked down and realized that the wet something on his robes was blood.

"Inu-Yasha!" Artemis called above the deafening sound of music that filled the world, climbing through the door as Shigure looked up, fingering uncomprehendingly at the sticky stain that was slowly spreading across his front. "Attack Sesshoumaru!"

"What!" Inu-Yasha cried, jumping through the door.

"And just what, may I ask, will that accomplish?" Sesshoumaru wanted to know, following his brother.

"If you attack a full-fledged demon your sword will transform, correct?" Artemis said.

"Oh!"

"So attack Sesshoumaru!"

"My pleasure!" Inu-Yasha cried exuberantly, and without further ado, rushed at his brother, drawing the Tetsusaiga and thrusting it down powerfully as it burst into the enormous fang of his father, blazing with righteous fire that ripped apart the earth as it charged across the spaces at the Great Lord Sesshoumaru. Who stepped aside and let the blast engulf a hapless nearby boulder, which promptly collapsed into a pile of sand.

"Okay… now what?" Inu-Yasha asked.

"Now you send a Cutting Wind towards Tohru," Artemis replied calmly, and Inu-Yasha's mouth dropped open.

"You want me to attack her!"

"No, I want you to attack Sesshoumaru, who will be conveniently positioned in front of Tohru."

Everyone, including Rahallion, stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

"Trust me, I have a plan," Artemis said. Sesshoumaru stared impassively at Artemis, gazed up at the Angel and Tohru, looked back at Artemis, and nodded.

"I see," he said quietly.

"Oh really? Would you mind explaining it to me?" Inu-Yasha snapped scathingly.

"There is no point in explanation when your pathetic mind could not possibly comprehend." Sesshoumaru spat. "Now, if you please?"

Inu-Yasha attempted fratricide via eyeballs, and then decided his sword was probably a more conventional way to achieve his goal.

"Fine by me!" he snarled, and sent the biggest Cutting Wind he could at Sesshoumaru, who again stepped easily out of the way and watched as it shot off towards the Pseudo-Angel.

"Tohru!" Artemis shouted, and She turned to see the blast hurtling towards her with a sound of fury. Then she gently stretched forth her hand and all the energy of Inu-Yasha's attack gathered in her palm, curling itself into a tight ball of pure destructive force. She pulled it to her chest, and then threw it out towards the Angel, whose petrified screams could not be heard over the awful, ghastly noise that seemed to fill the world and something massive passed through her small body like a wind, leaving an awful, ghastly silence in its wake.

And then the Angel's body came apart like a wooden doll, and her limbs fell softly to earth. For a moment, Tohru was completely still, and then her wings slowly dissipated, floating away like smoke on a breeze, and she tilted and fell backwards into Artemis's arms, where she collapsed into unconsciousness.

Almost immediately there were a number of explosions, and Hatori, Kagura, Hatsuharu, and Yuki were back in human form, their mind too numb from the sudden and complete stillness of sound to comprehend exactly what was happening.

"Kagome," Artemis called into that utter quiet, his voice sounding distant even to his acute ears. "I require bandages at once. Tohru's hands got ripped up pretty badly."

"Wh-what?" Kyo said sharply, and hissed when his eyes fell on Tohru's palms: deep lacerations covered every inch from wrist to fingertip, and were bleeding heavily. Kagome hurried over with Hatori's new medical bag, biting her bottom lip at the sight, and pulling out supplies.

"Here, I'll do it," Hatori said quietly, taking the bandages from her hands. Kagome looked up at the Doctor, dressed only in his pants, his shirt tucked in the crook of his elbow, and nodded mutely, not trusting her voice and intensely aware of the fact that she was blushing a deep scarlet. Hatori wordlessly took his bag and set to work on Tohru's hands, his cold eyes betraying nothing of the emotions and thoughts chasing each other round and round in his head.

When he had finished, Artemis picked Tohru up, nodded to Hatori, turned on his heel, and headed towards the castle without a word. Lucifer was awaiting him at the door, took hold of the demon's shoulder, and in the blink of an eye, all three vanished.

"Tohru!" Kyo cried, alarmed.

"Don't worry," said a voice from behind him, and Kyo turned to see Malacoda carrying Yuki's limp form on his back. "We'll be in the infirmary." The demon informed him, and with that, he too, was gone.

"Come on, I'll show you where that is," Val said, smiling wanly, and motioned to Inu-Yasha and his companions. "You guys come, too. You look like you could use a good rest before you head out, and we have rooms to spare."

Kagome cast a pleading look at Inu-Yasha, who was too exhausted to argue, and nodded.

"I will have to decline," Sesshoumaru said with cold politeness. "There is another that I must get back to as soon as possible." His eyes darted to Tohru. "I trust she will be…"

"Don't worry, she'll be okay." Val smiled.

Sesshoumaru nodded and turned away, walking through the door back into his own universe. Val sighed and motioned for the others to follow and made her way to the castle, the Sohmas a few paces behind.

All but one. Shigure stood very still, rubbing his blood-soaked fingers thoughtfully. He remembered the first time he had seen Tohru's two blades, the morning she had returned from her first excursions into the multiverse almost a week before—had it truly only been less than a week? It had felt as if a year had passed since then—and he had caught a strange scent lingering on her blades, Lapis Lazuli, that had scent shivers down his spine, though he had not known if they were of joy or of fear. His mind had screamed that something was horribly wrong about the smell, but his heart had disagreed with just as much fervor.

He had determined to ask Tohru about it later, but in light of all that had happening, it had completely slipped his mind. But now he knew what that smell had been.

It had been Angel's blood.

"Hey, Shigure, are you just going to stand out here in a daze are do you want to come in?"

Shigure turned to see Valery standing next to him with a crooked little grin, and a smile crept into his mouth and just stayed there.

"Well, hello again, Valery," he said. "No, I was just thinking. I'll be with you in a minute. Unless…" he stepped closer, his smiling turning promiscuous. "You would rather stay out here for a little while longer?"

Val chuckled. "Well, aren't we just shameless? Stay back, or I'll Pocket Ninja you again."

"Oh, is that what you did when you reached into my robe and grabbed my—"

"Yup."

"Interesting. Mind showing me more?"

"Oh, sure! Anytime!" she said cheerfully.

Shigure blinked. He had not quite expected it to be so easy.

"Really?" he asked eagerly.

"No. Nice try, though," Val grinned and scampered away. Shigure stared after her, shook his head, and hurried to catch up, smiling to himself the entire time.

Oh, yes, Valery, I can tell this is going to be a very interesting game indeed.

The moment Shigure entered the infirmary, his cheerful façade dropped away, and his eyes turned grim. Yuki lay motionless in his bed, his breathing still slightly labored, his arm splinted and up in a sling, and his chest bandaged. Tohru lay in the bed next to him, her bandaged hands at her sides. Kyo sat next to her bed on the side farthest from Yuki, his eyes never leaving her face, elbows on his knees, chin resting on interwoven fingers. His hair had fallen into his eyes, and his expression was indiscernible.

Kagura sat next to him, her knees drawn up to her chest. Kisa's arms were tight around Hiro's shoulders, and his eyes shone brightly as they stared at the unconscious girl. Behind them stood Koga, Inu-Yasha, Kagome, Miroku, and Sango, with a sleeping Kilala in her arms. On the other side of the bed was Ritsu, looking fretfully between his cousin and Tohru, standing next to a tense Haru, Isuzu and Momiji standing on either side of him. Kureno stood on the far side of Yuki's bed, alone, shifting his weight nervously as his eyes wandered between the Tohru, Yuki, and the rest of his cousins.

Hatori, fully dressed now, stood between the two beds with arms folded, one curled hand touching his lips, dragon eyes narrowed in concern. Ayame stood next to him, twisting his long white braid in his hands anxiously.

Millie, in her rabbit form, was curled up next to Tohru's head. Raha's wing lay protectively over the little bunny's back, and he showed his teeth to anyone that thought to even look at him funny.

Akito was nowhere to be seen.

Neither were Artemis, Lucifer, and Malacoda.

"Oh, Shii-chan…" Ayame said, spotting him. "This is… this is… Yuki… and Tohru… they just won't w-wake up…"

Shigure pulled his friend into a tight hug, but Ayame, in his state of shock, didn't seem to notice.

"Excuse me, I'll be back in a moment…" Val quietly.

"W-wait… what about my brother…?" Ayame gasped. "God, what happened to them…?"

Val gave him a sympathetic look, but shook her head.

"I don't have time to explain right now," she said quickly. "But there is someone who does. Don't worry, she'll be here in a moment."

And with that she slipped out and her quick footsteps faded away down the hall. Several minutes passed in silence, in which Momiji's eyes slowly became heavy and his head nodded in an attempt to stay awake.

That's funny… he thought fuzzily. You'd think I'd be bit more awake with Tohru and Yuki in this condition…

Looking around, he noticed his cousins were also beginning to look increasingly lethargic, slumping in their seats or resting their heads in their hands in a dull sort of stupor.

"Well, aren't we a cheerful bunch."

Momiji blinked at the new voice that seemed to come from nowhere and looked up slowly in search of the source. He found it after a moment, but for some reason he was just too… his mind searched sluggishly for the word he wanted, and finally hit upon one he liked. Slothful. Yeah, that was it. For some reason he was just too slothful to be overly surprised.

It was a slender woman dressed in a gray, colorless kimono, stretched out on a rafter and gazing down at them through lazy blue eyes, her silver waist-length hair pulled back and tied near the end in a very loose pony-tail.

"Oh, hello…" Ayame said, looking up at her with sleepy eyes. "Who are you…?"

"Name's Sloth," the woman replied, smiling. "I'm another of Artemis's slaves."

Haru frowned. "Slaves?"

"He didn't tell you exactly what the Sinners are, did he?"

"Sinners?" Hatori said, looking at her in mild confusion.

"Yeah, the other one, Lust, said she was his subordinate," Haru answered.

"Wait a minute, you're named after the Seven Deadly Sins?" Shigure asked, his brow raised.

Sloth nodded. "Yup, our creator called us that. His name," her eyes flicked to Hiro and Kisa. "Was William Farinata Ptolemy."

"Ptolemy!" Kisa gasped. "The man that created the Angels and demons?"

Sloth smiled and nodded. "The very same, though we were around before even them. One of Farinata's earlier experiments, shall we say, before his great discovery of what is now Hirofuriae's entire theology. We were in servitude to him until about 1492, when we were forced into a… new line of employment, under Artemis."

"Why?" Hiro asked.

"Oh, he killed us," Sloth said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"What!"

"Yes, I imagine he failed to mention that little fact… You see, the soul of every demon Artemis kills is eternally bound to serve him as his slave."

Suddenly Sloth sank straight through the rafter and dropped down onto the floor, that indolent little smile still playing about her lips as she reclined in a vacant chair, watching the Sohmas faintly alarmed expressions in languid amusement.

"He can summon us at will," she went on. "And we must obey all his commands. Though… it doesn't come without benefits."

"B-benefits…?" Kagura said weakly, staring at the Sinner with wide eyes and trying to calm her shaking nerves.

"Oh, yes. We're quite powerful now, actually. With one kiss Lust can make anyone, male or female, fall so desperately in love with her that they would be willing to do absolutely anything on her behalf, even throw themselves to their deaths or attack their own comrades if she wished it so." Sloth paused, and cocked her head in comfortable carelessness. "As for me, my very influence can make anyone in the same room grow quite… slothful."

"And there are other people like you?" Ayame asked, finding it a little difficult to think at the moment. All he really wanted to do was put his head down and take a nap.

"Yes," Sloth said. "Aside from myself and Lust, there is also Pride, our leader, Wrath, Greed, Envy, and Gluttony."

"What happened to Tohru?" Kyo asked suddenly, his voice very quiet. "Val said she'd send someone to explain…"

"Ah, yes… Tohru. I assume you all witnessed her… transformation?"

All nodded mutely and waited for her to continue.

"Tohru is what we in Hirofuriae refer to as a Pseudo-Angel, a fake Angel. Her 'holy' abilities are erratic, unreliable, and take a great toll on her body, as you can see. It will be several hours before she'll wake up, and many more days before she's going to be able to move."

"But… she'll be alright?" Kyo wanted to know.

"Yeah, she'll be fine, your cousin, too. I think Artemis, Lucifer, and Malacoda are working on collecting medicines from the castle's apothecary right now."

"All three of them need to be present to get a bit of medicine?" Hatori asked dubiously.

"The King of Hell's apothecary can be a very dangerous place to be," said Sloth, and Hatori didn't argue. "As for Tohru's talents, they are directly linked to Rahallion."

"Rahallion?" Kisa asked, glancing perplexedly at the familiar, who flicked an ear indifferently.

"Yup. As far as we can tell, when he was transmuted into a physical body, that's when Tohru gained her holy abilities. It has a lot to do with the psychological and spiritual ramifications that come with releasing a person who doesn't want to be released. I'd explain it all, but it would take forever, you probably wouldn't understand it since I don't get even half of it, but it doesn't matter because I'm just too damn lazy to care. But most of everything that has changed in Tohru is because of him, from her power to open doors, to her very psyche."

"I see…" Shigure said thoughtfully. "That would explain why she's a bit more relaxed nowadays. And why she gets angrier easier."

"Yes," Sloth nodded. "As Raha is directly linked to her mind, the absence of him attributed to the absence of some of her emotions, such as anger. And as anger can act as a stress reliever, that makes her calmer in turn. Without Rahallion, she is incomplete as a human being."

Suddenly, Sloth rose and gave a short bow.

"If you don't have anymore questions, I think I'll go take another afternoon siesta. I just finished this morning's, you see."

"Wait," said Inu-Yasha. "My Cutting Wind... Tohru absorbed it. How...?"

"Simple. Tohru's own God Hand is incredibly unfocused. It goes everywhere, and the chances of her hitting the Angel were very slim. She converted the kinetic energy of your Cutting Wind and used it to give her own attack direction."

"But how did Artemis know it wouldn't kill her?" Inu-Yasha pressed. "How did she change it?"

"Tohru's powers are those of a creative force. Your attack is of a destructive force. Normally, the two forces would cancel each other out, but as her abilities have lain dormant for nearly a year, they've built up an excess of energy, having no outlet, so she was able to overrule your attack and turn it to her advantage. She probably won't be able to do that again, so don't worry."

Inu-Yasha nodded slowly, and Sloth, with a leisurely little wave, began to sink into her own reflection without a sound. "Oh, and don't bother to call if you need me," her grinning head added before it, too, was swallowed up into the mirror-like and ornate marble floors.

To be continued…


Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket. But that's okay, I still have Artemis!

IMPORTANT! YOU MUST READ THIS AND REPLY IF YOU WISH TO SEE THE NEXT PLANNED CHAPTER!

In Chapter Thirty-Five there is a rather major spoiler, which is planned to come into play quite a lot from now on. I need to know if everyone is aware of what will happen to Kyo after his graduation. If I get too many negatives on the subject, I'll need to rethink how Thirty-Five's going to go. If you already know, then please… just review anyway. Thank you for your cooperation!


Translations:

Die Scheisse—Expletive deleted

Der Gott verdammt—God damn it (hopefully at least, there were several translations of this so I just picked whichever one sounded the coolest. Please forgive me if I'm wrong.)

Das Ferkel—Filthy brat

Also, on Shigure's realization about the axes, refer back to Chapter Eight. For the Pocket Ninja Val preforms on Shigure (use your imagination, I don't want this to become R-rated) refer to Chapter Thirty-Two, near the end.


FINALLY! Finally, finally, finally Chapter Thirty-Four is finished! WOO-HOO! Throws streamers and runs about gaily, crying for joy Oh, wow, that took forever, didn't it? I'm really, really, really sorry, but my Muse ran off somewhere and I couldn't find her for months. Well… my Fruits Basket Muse anyway. I acquired a few other Muses and started a couple of other fanfics… In fact, I believe my Furuba Muse went off with the Phantom of the Opera, and that's why I couldn't find her, because I saw that movie and everything just dropped off the face of the planet. Yeah, that must be it.

But anyway, I have returned, Fruits Basket fans! You can all bask once again in my glory! Bask, I say! So, yes, I'm back and hoping things might go quicker around here now that Senior year is winding to a close and I have been accepted into college, so… yeah, life is good now that it's not trying to rip my brains out through my nostrils.

And to Writersrus05, believe it or not, I know exactly what I'm doing. I have been writing since about Kindergarten, so I should have a pretty good idea by now how to draw out suspense and the plot and the like.

And yes, you will all eventually see my newest characters, the Seven Deadly Sinners, otherwise (unofficially) known as Artemis's Dead Sexy Demon Whores among a few close friends and myself.

Well, I hope you enjoyed. Remember, reviews make the world go round! And do tell me if I need to make any corrections, I was too lazy to proof read this one. Until we meet again!

Signing off,

Raha