Misaki stared at the woman. She was dressed in a simple black, sleeveless dress that had a white hemline. Misaki had never seen such an outfit before.
She and Kagome must have the same seamstress, the cat demon mussed.
"Are you Misaki?" the woman asked.
"Yes."
The woman smiled and clapped her hands. "Good."
Misaki gasped as a stream of fire shot out of her hands. She grabbed Shippo and Kilala and managed to jump out of the way just in time. The fire hit the wooden wall and fizzled out.
"What the---the wood didn't burn?" Misaki asked as she landed safely near the door.
Shippo clung to Misaki. "What is she? She's not a demon."
Misaki frowned. "No, you're right. This person isn't a demon, but she doesn't seem to be human either."
The young woman turned to Misaki.
"Your name means 'beautiful bloom'," she stated matter-of-factly. "A name that your parents gave you in hopes that you would blossom into a beautiful warrior." She clapped her hands rapidly. "My name is Kaiein." Her hands started glowing "It means 'to burn'!"
Misaki dashed out of the kitchen, jumped over the walkway, and fell on her back on the snow. The fire barely missed her, but it singed the edges of the furisode sleeves.
Misaki swore under her breath and ran towards the room where Ekaterina and the others were. She put down Shippo and Kilala, saying, "If she comes, hide under the walkway. The way I see it, her fire doesn't burn wood."
"But---!"
"Don't argue with me. Not now."
Shippo nodded and Kilala meowed in agreement. Misaki jumped over the walkway and slid open the door.
"Ekaterina-san!" she called, running inside.
The room was dark and empty. Ekaterina must've gone out with the others because even the oil lamps were out.
"Dammit all to hell!" Misaki cursed. "Where'd they go?"
"Looking for someone?"
Misaki turned and saw Kaiein standing right in front of her.
I didn't even hear her! "What do you want?" Misaki asked, taking a few steps back.
Kaiein grinned. "Why, you of course. Loathe wants you because you know where the Well is."
"There are very few wells in this forest and are pretty much useless during the wintertime."
"No, the well I'm talking about doesn't have water. It has those who have crossed over. The well I'm talking about was the one you pushed your friend into all those years ago."
Misaki's heart skipped a beat and her face drained of color.
"I know no such well," she said, trying to calm herself. "What are you? Your fire didn't burn the wooden wall, but it did burn my sleeves."
"Nice observation. My fire burns what I want it to burn. It's a nice trick that the Shinchu family had stored in their little archive of forbidden magic."
Kaiein was about to clap her hands again, but Misaki swiftly caught them with one hand and pulled out a wakizashi out of her sleeve.
"You know something about Sesshomaru, don't you?" she asked, pointing the sword at Kaiein's neck. "He would never have told anyone about that incident and the only person I've told is Ekaterina-san. Now, answer me!"
Kaiein stared at the blade, her eyes slowly fading from brown to green. "Okay, okay! I'll tell you, but let go of me. Your nails are digging into me skin."
Misaki tightened her grip on Kaiein's wrists. "I'm not stupid. As soon as I let go, you'll turn this place into a funeral pyre."
"Smart, aren't you?"
Misaki hear footsteps behind her. She let go of Kaiein and turned around in time to see the sharp glint of a sword heading towards her.
Shippo heard a loud yowl coming from inside the house.
"That was Misaki!" he exclaimed. "We have to go in and help her."
Kilala meowed and shook her head.
"Huh? Why not?" Shippo asked.
Kilala meowed again and Shippo sighed.
"Let's go find Inuyasha," he said reluctantly.
They walked out from beneath the walkway. Fire engulfed Kilala and she transformed into her larger self. Shippo climbed onto her back and away they flew. They flew over the dead trees in the Awayuki Forest and spotted them in a snowy field.
"Inuyasha! Everybody!" Shippo called as Kilala landed on the ground.
"What's the matter, Shippo?" Kagome asked.
"It's Misaki! There's this strange woman with really light hair trying to hurt her!"
Miroku turned to Ekaterina. "I believe your prediction has come true."
Ekaterina frowned. "Let's not go there just yet," she said firmly. "Let Misaki take care of it."
"What the hell are you saying, old lady?" Inuyasha demanded.
Ekaterina glared at Inuyasha. "You're not worried about her, just the shard. Don't worry about it and stay here."
Inuyasha scoffed. "Feh! Like I'm gonna listen to you."
Ekaterina clapped her hands and a blue light engulfed them all.
"Stay," she commanded.
Miroku stared at Ekaterina and saw her eyes suddenly turn bright blue. He suddenly felt a different aura coming from her. It was no longer a human aura, but it wasn't a demonic one either.
What is this woman?
Kaiein scowled. "Who the hell are you?" she asked. "You're not the Zashiki-Warashi of this house, are you? Then again, if you were, you would've hurt me, not her."
The teenage boy who had stabbed Misaki turned to Kaiein and shook his head. His longish hair was the color of corn silk and his eyes were sky blue. He was clothed in a white kimono with pale blue hakama. The sheath of his sword was tied to his waist.
"No," he said softly. "I am a Seraph, not a Zashiki-Warashi. The Zashiki-Warashi of this home left long ago. My name is Humility."
Kaiein put her hands on her hips. "Nice name, pretty boy, but this neko-chan is mine."
"Why are all you freaks coming here all of a sudden!"
Startled, Humility and Kaiein turned to Misaki, who had been huddled on the ground. She slowly rose to her knees, clutching the stomach wound Humility had caused, and then stood up on wobbly legs.
"Well, answer me!" she shouted, glaring at them.
Misaki's eyes grew wide as blood spurted out of her wound and a bit trickled down her chin. She doubled over in pain.
"You shouldn't be moving like that," Humility said in his soft voice. "The more aggravated you become, the more serious your wound becomes."
"Gee, thanks for the warning," Misaki mumbled sarcastically.
"I apologize for catching you off guard."
Kaiein let out a loud cackle. "This is a first. I've never seen somebody actually apologize to their enemy." She placed a hand on her cheek and said in an annoyingly syrupy voice, "It's so sweet!"
Humility glared at Kaiein. "Why are you here? What do you want with this girl?"
Kaiein scoffed and placed her hands on her hips again. "I don't want her, but Loathe does. Being a Seraph or whatever, you should know who Loathe is."
Humility nodded. "I have had the bad luck of meeting Loathe."
Misaki sank to her knees and listened closely. Loathe? Humility? Kaiein? Who are these freaks?
"Yeah, it must've sucked. So, why you here, Diligence?"
Humility took a slip of paper out of the fold of his kimono and held it out to Kaiein.
"Loathe asked me to give you this."
Kaiein rudely snatched the paper and read it.
"Oh, geez!" she groaned. "First, the brat wants me to find neko-chan there, now it's this wan-chan. I should be getting paid for this."
"Don't complain to me. You chose to work with Loathe."
Kaiein sighed. "True. Well, see ya later, neko-chan," she said to Misaki and disappeared in a burst of flames.
Humility walked over to Misaki and grabbed her by the shoulders, lifting her up off the floor.
"I apologize for harming you, but if you had attacked her, you would've died."
Misaki scowled. "What makes you say that?"
"That being has no blood in her body, only hot oil. If you had stabbed her, the oil would've splattered on you and burned you alive. Kaiein can't be hurt by brute force alone."
Misaki tore herself away from Humility's grasp. "I bet you're working with her, aren't you?"
Humility shook his head. "Seraphim don't deal with those that ally themselves with Homunculi," he said in a hard voice and disappeared before Misaki's eyes.
Ekaterina's eyes returned to their normal color and the barrier disappeared. She smiled and said, "All right, let's go back."
The group stared at her distrustfully.
"You're not human," Miroku said after a long silence.
Ekaterina's smile faded. "That's not something we should be discussing right now. We should hurry home. Kagome-san, I get a feeling that those items in your yellow pack will be very useful."
"Is Misaki hurt?" Kagome asked.
Ekaterina nodded. Shippo frowned at her.
"Why'd you put up a barrier? You didn't want us to help Misaki, but why?"
Ekaterina glared at him icily. "Let's go home," she snapped in an end-of-discussion voice.
Ekaterina started walking back towards the house, but Miroku grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"Ekaterina-sama, what is the meaning of this?" he asked. "You said the young woman with the shard wasn't supposed to come yet, but according to Shippo's description, she has already been here. If you knew she was coming today, then why did you ask us to come with you today?"
Instead of giving him a straight answer, Ekaterina simply said, "I don't think you want to talk about this in the cold, so let's go inside."
Okay, this chapter was rather weird. For all those that don't know it, a Zashiki-Warashi is the guardian of a house. When it leaves, sadness befalls the house. Homunculi is a term all Fullmetal Alchemist fans should know, but for those that don't know Homunculi are artificial beings. If you look up "Seraphim" in the dictionary, you'll get a definition that has something to do with angels. I'll explain about them in some other chapter because the Seraphim here and what they do is something that popped into my crazy brain a few years ago.