InuYami scrubbed her fangs busily with her toothbrush. It was fairly early in the morning, but as usual, she was wide awake. But today was different. Today she had plans to go into the no-man's-land: the attic. Shippou said that her parents kept all their various trinkets from their fighting days. He described all sorts of fabulous items to her, her father's fang-sword, her mother's bow, and more. InuYami had once tried to go into the attic when she was five, but her father had scared her off with tales of a dog demon-eating monster that lived up there.

The youkai crept as quietly as she could to the one part of the hallway. She looked up to see the small hatch door that led up to the attic. But the pull-cord was too high; there was no way she was going to reach it. InuYami smacked her forehead. "What am I, a pup?" she muttered angrily. "I almost touched it when I was half this size!" She crouched low and sprang upwards. The pull-cord was in her hand. She gave a swift tug.

There came a soft groaning from the ceiling, almost as if she had pulled its tongue. InuYami ducked back as the staircase tumbled down in a grumble of dust. She crouched, holding a part of her robe up against her nose so she could breathe. The dust settled, and InuYami pranced up the stairs, giggling to herself.

Where had she gotten the idea in the first place? The young demon thought back to only a few days ago, when her mother had slipped her some warm milk to send her into an easy sleep. They had thought she hadn't been listening, but no. InuYami had heard every word. They had been talking about her mysterious uncle, Sesshoumaru. InuYami knew there had to be something up here of him. Perhaps a claw, or his own fang-sword, or maybe even a lock of his hair. Her father spoke too passionately about Sesshoumaru to have killed him without taking something to remember him by first.

And if that bit of youkai was anywhere, it would be in the one place her parents forbade her to enter. The Attic.

InuYami looked around, robe still over her mouth to keep her from coughing too loudly. It was hot up here. Hotter than she would have though. The young dog demon was tempted to seek out her father's scent; perhaps Sesshoumaru smelled a bit like him. In an act of trust, InuYami took her hand from her mouth and sniffed. Such scents! She padded along on all fours, sniffing here and there. The smells were dusty, but layered in such ways that she could barely keep her nose away from them. Here, a trace of Miroku! There, a whiff of Shippou! And finally, a sniff of something that smelled like her father, but at the same time, more like...more like...more like...

InuYami.

It was as if she and her father's scents were mixed together. Her heart pounded. It had to be the smell of Sesshoumaru. It had to be! He would smell like InuYasha because they were kin, yet like InuYami because they were both youkai. Yes! InuYami followed the trail, her ears doing an occasional twitch to check for her parents' footsteps. The trail led her almost halfway across the loft, until it finally ended at a large chest.

InuYami snorted loudly. Bummer! All this hard work for nothing. Dead end. Game's over. I lost! She became curious. The chest looked like an amusing enough toy. She poked it with a claw. The old, soft wood dented gently under her sharp claw. InuYami nodded. She sniffed the lock. The Sesshoumaru-smell was stronger here, almost as if it was wafting from the keyhole. Her eyes widened excitedly. Yes, whatever her father had kept, it was undeniably here! She became more and more eager to see what it was.

The young youkai tried to pick the lock with a claw. All she got out of that was a painful broken claw. She sucked her finger and kept working. A strange taste entered her mouth. She inspected her finger. Blood. She had never tasted blood before. Out of curiosity, she wondered if that was what would break the lock: the blood of a full demon. Sesshoumaru had been proud of his pure blood, she had heard. It was worth a shot. InuYami squeezed her finger until a dab of red beaded up around her broken claw. She stuck her finger into the keyhole.

At first, nothing happened. Then, in a blaze of light, the lid of the chest sprang wide. InuYami clamped her fangs down on a yelp of fear. She cowered, trembling like a leaf until the light died down. Then she crept over to inspect her new treasure. It was a large metal ring, with spikes running along its outer edge. InuYami tried to lift it. It was heavy at first, but soon became light and easy to carry. She sniffed the cold steel. The scent of her uncle, Sesshoumaru, rose to greet her. She smiled. Whatever this thing was, it had been his.

And whatever it was, it was hers now.

InuYami padded softly out of the attic, her new treasure slung over her left shoulder. She gave the pull-cord another tug, which sent the staircase back up to where it had been. Nodding silently, InuYami slipped into her room, and deposited the spike-band under her bed. So that's what her father had been hiding: his dead brother's fashion accessory. She wanted to tell someone, anyone. Tsugaru? No, he'd tell her father, and InuYami would be in more trouble than she could imagine. Shippou? He was a possibility, but there had to be someone better out there, someone who would congratulate her for her courage and quick mind.

The little dog demon smiled as she thought of the perfect person. Sango. "Naturally," she murmured. "Ms. Sango's so nice, and I bet she'll let me hold Kilala while I tell her." InuYami wondered briefly how she could arrange a meeting with her father's old friend.

It wasn't that hard. Her parents' friends were always visiting, and talking about old memories, and going on and on about how much InuYami and Tsugaru looked like their parents. It would be child's play to find an excuse to talk to Sango. InuYami smiled. In fact, she knew that Sango and Miroku were planning to come down later today. She was always with Sango; the woman seemed to care and understand more than anyone, except for her parents. Yes, she would tell her today. InuYami started to walk out the door, but stopped halfway and checked on the spike-band again. She breathed in the scent of Sesshoumaru deeply, sighing happily.

InuYami padded slowly out the door and into the bathroom. She sniffed her hands and body. Just as she had thought, she smelled of the attic and Sesshoumaru. Kagome wouldn't smell anything unusual, but InuYasha and his sharp nose would find those odors instantaneously. She quickly stripped off her nightclothes and plunged into the spring the bathroom had been built around. "There," she told no one. "Now not even Kilala will smell anything different!" After scrubbing down, InuYami grabbed a towel and dried herself off. She wrapped the towel around her and scurried back to her room to change.

"You seem happy today, InuYami," InuYasha remarked as his daughter skipped down to breakfast. "What's got you wagging your tail?"

"I don't have a tail, Dad," InuYami retorted, sitting down. "I guess it's just because Ms. Sango and Mr. Miroku are coming today. It's been a while since all of us have seen them."

"Since you and Tsuga have seen them," Kagome corrected. She placed the breakfast tray down and sat beside Tsugaru. "Your father and I have seen them many times, usually when you're asleep." She paused. "How's your claw, Yami?"

InuYami held up her finger. The claw she had broken had been trimmed down and was much shorter and less sharper than the other nine. "It doesn't hurt anymore," she said.

"I can't see how you even broke it in the first place," InuYasha murmured. "I mean, a demon's claws are stronger than most metals. We used them to fight long before anyone got the idea to make swords and such."

"I jammed it on my nightstand," InuYami lied. "I think it happened while I was asleep."

Tsugaru snatched up a warm roll and devoured it in demon gulps. Kagome scolded him gently and wiped the butter from his face. InuYami laughed and snuggled closer to her father, who laid a hand on her shoulder. The young youkai reached for a roll and ate it slowly, savoring the warmth. She grinned.

"When are they coming?" she asked excitedly.

"Around noon," Kagome replied, "so you have some time to kill before they get here."

"I wanna go hunting!" Tsugaru cried happily. "Shippou said we could catch squirrels today. He's gonna show me how!" He got up to his feet. InuYasha scoffed softly.

"Twenty years and he's still a little nuisance," he muttered. "He's trying to make my son into a real dog, I bet. Playing fetch, chasing squirrels. I should give that idiot a piece of my mind." He growled under his breath.

InuYami smiled. She felt a strange tug in her gut, almost as if someone was trying to pull her somewhere with an invisible rope. It frightened her. She closed her eyes, hoping it would pass. An image of Sesshoumaru's spike-band formed in her mind's eye. She could still smell his tempting scent: warm like her father's, familiar like her own. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to race up the stairs and see the treasure once more, to sniff and smell its demon aroma. But she resisted. Her father might follow her and see the stolen band.

The hours passed quickly. Soon InuYami was bouncing up and down at the front door. "Go outside and greet them if you're so excited," Kagome said, laughter creeping in her voice. InuYami did not need a second invitation. She raced out the door, quivering excitedly. No one was out here just yet. She leapt up into a nearby tree to wait.

She had just begun to doze off when there came a low roar from the sky. Startled, InuYami fell from her perch and landed with a thump on the ground. She shook her head briskly. Kilala, in her huge demon form, was standing patiently outside the gate while her two passengers climbed off. InuYami ran as fast as she could to the gate. Sango looked up. "Ah! A friendly face. Excuse us, child, but do you know where we can find Mr. InuYasha and Mrs. Kagome?" she asked.

"Ms. Sango!" InuYami cried. "It's me! InuYami!"

"Inu...Oh!" Sango smiled. "You've grown so much, I didn't recognize you."

InuYami swung open the gate and wrapped her arms around Sango. The woman swept her up and hugged her back. Behind them, Kilala gave a soft meow and, in a blaze of fire, changed into her smaller form. The two-tailed cat blinked up at InuYami, purring.

"Kilala remembers you," Sango said. She let InuYami down. The youkai crouched on the ground, wiggling her hand for Kilala to bat.

"Hey, girl..." Kilala mewed and rubbed her head against the girl's hand. InuYami picked her up, cuddling her close.

"InuYami!"

"Hi, Mr. Miroku," InuYami said, looking up to see his face. The monk winked at her and ruffled her ears in a friendly way. He was strange, but he was always nice. InuYami stood up and led the way to the house. "Mom! Dad! Tsugaru! They're here!" she called into the house. There was an almost immediate flurry of activity. Everyone rushed out to see the visitors.

Kilala jumped from InuYami's arms and padded over to see Tsugaru. The hanyou scooped her up, tickling behind her ears with his little claws. InuYami smiled, but she couldn't help a feeling of jealousy. She wanted to hold Kilala.

Kagome all but tackled Sango. InuYasha gave Miroku a playful punch on the shoulder and asked him if he had gotten lucky with Sango yet. Miroku responded that it wasn't good to speak of such things around children like Tsugaru and InuYami. He also threatened to beat the hanyou over the head with his staff if he wasn't careful. Sango looked over and said that InuYasha wasn't the only one getting beat up if he didn't watch himself. Miroku looked away, his face turning a faint pink. InuYami wondered what she meant. Surely Miroku wasn't a bad person?

Tsugaru, as usual, started his plea for attention. InuYami flinched, flattening her ears angrily. He was such a wimp. Couldn't go five seconds without being the center of attention? With a shrug, she headed up to her room again. Once inside, she picked up the spike-band and rubbed it against her face, reveling in the feeling of the cool, demon-scented metal. When the clamor had died down slightly, she reappeared in the kitchen.

Kagome gave her daughter a tray to take into the living room. InuYami took the platter and balanced it on her head as she walked. She made it into the room without spilling anything. She set it down and curled up beside her father, listening to the stories the visitors had come with.

InuYami felt a strange sensation well up inside her belly at the sight of Tsugaru holding Kilala. Suddenly she felt strange power run through her body...like nothing she'd ever felt before. She closed her eyes, hoping it would pass. The tug in her belly came back, and she excused herself to her room, where she took out the spike-band and cradled it in her arms.

Once InuYami had left, though, the band began to glow eerily. A forgotten voice of the past spoke. Finally...I see my heir...