Kagome cuts her eyes towards Yakeru, who is doing a superb job at pretending as though his spinner is much more interesting than the news he just dropped. "So," she says, shifting on the bar stool. "Who is this demon that has you so afraid?"

Maybe with Satoru and Nanami-san gone, Yakeru will be much more forthcoming with his information.

"Kagome-sama, your skin is just glowing!" His green eyes sparkle as the spinner comes to a stop. "Surely, one such as yourself does not need to be concerned with demon affairs."

Or maybe not.

Kagome puffs out her cheeks. Since when did Yakeru start taking after Satoru? Or was he always so deflective? She presses her lips together in a flat line as she stares at him and stares at him some more until his eyes dart around, looking for an escape route that doesn't exist. "Yakeru….," she warns, her voice low as though Yakeru is a young kit up to no good. Which, at this point, she's convinced that he is.

"My lady, he isn't someone that you need to worry about. He cares more about keeping us demons in line." He pauses. "For the most part. As long as we don't overstep and cause too much chaos." He nods his head. "A little mischief is fine, but nothing to alert the general population." He places a finger to his chin as he seems to lose himself in his thoughts.

Kagome nods her head as she slides off the barstool. She dusts her hands together. Yakeru doesn't want to tell her the name of this head demon in charge — fine. She'll just get the name from said demon personally. "You don't have to tell me his name," she says. Yakeru instantly looks relieved at her admission. "I want you to set up a meeting." She smiles.

The distinct sound of Yakeru's mental state breaking snaps into her like a whip. Kagome tilts her head, clasping her hands behind her back as Yakeru falls off of the stool and hits the kitchen floor. He stays there for a moment, convincing Kagome that perhaps her request broke him. Yakeru struggles to his knees. His breath comes out heavy, like he's been in a fight all morning. Now that she thinks about it, he is probably still recovering from the miasma he was exposed to.

"K-Kagome-sama, your mate would have my head." Yakeru clasps his hands together in prayer, muttering, "Inari-sama, make her see reason." His tail swishes behind him fervently to the tune of his prayers.

Kagome hums. Satoru would be pissed if she went to see some powerful demon without him. She lets out an exasperated breath. She can't just charge in recklessly like she used to. "Satoru will be there, of course," she says, directing Yakeru to his feet. "And it is not like we are going there for a fight. Naraku's crimes are on Naraku, not this demon- who-shall-not-be-named." Kagome frowns at the terrified expression staring back at her.

"Satoru is going to kill me," he says, "and if he doesn't then–" He promptly stuffs his claws into his mouth and chews on the ends, becoming more and more unraveled before her eyes.

Her eyes twitch.

Her mouth trembles as she suppresses the urge to laugh.

It shouldn't be funny, but his dramatics are much more preferable to the blank faced Yakeru back at the shop. She was worried about how Yumi's death was going to affect him.

"You remind me of Shippo-chan…. so dramatic," Kagome says. She rolls her eyes and starts to walk out of the kitchen, pausing before walking out. "Try to make the meeting somewhere that has food. Megumi-kun was telling me about some new restaurant that opened up not too far from here. Satoru will be much more agreeable if he eats some dessert beforehand."

"But, Kagome-sama–"

"No buts, just do." She waves at him as she leaves the room. The walk up the stairs more daunting with each step. Yakeru means well, but Satoru and Nanami-san are right. The other clans are more at risk now and if all of them were to get wiped out, then what's stopping the demons from using the curses to overpower the other humans?

Nothing?

But then what stops those curses from overpowering the demons?

The Shikon pulses, jolting her out of her musings as she sits down on the bed. "That's why we need to meet this demon that Yakeru is afraid of. He must have come to the same conclusion," she says, looking down at the floor. "Besides, I have a great feeling about this."


Satoru cracks his neck from side to side as he observes the old geezers over the rim of his shades. He stuffs his hands into his pocket as he puts on a cheerful facade. "Gakuganji! Your skin is looking extra saggy today. Did you change up your skin care routine? I can send you a list of recommendations that'll have you looking nearly as good as me."

"Show some respect." Gakuganji clenches his hands over his cane, which shakes from the pent-up anger that wants to boil over in the room.

"Soo scary!" Satoru coos. He rolls his shoulders back. "Get on with it. I have a shit ton to do today."

An elder with long gray hair pulled back into a high ponytail steps forward. His eyes are just as dull as his hair. "We understand the reasoning behind keeping the attack at Jujutsu High under wraps."

Satoru cringes at the sound of the man's voice. It's all gravely with a weird pitch that makes him want to douse his ears in a fire. Why on earth did they select this geezer to speak for them? To get back at him in any way that they can?

"But with the attack at the Gojo clan, we need to act quickly," the man continues, waving a hand in the air to punctuate his words. "The scroll on the Shikon Jewel was taken." He pauses as though he is an actor delivering his punchline, waiting for the audience to react in horror to the information revealed.

Frankly, Satoru wishes they would just get on with it. A second hanging out with them is far too long.

"That wasn't the only thing that was taken."

"No, but it is the only thing that matters. We know where Sukuna's vessel is. Perhaps these unregistered curses are seeking to boost their own power or—"

"Or they are trying to revive Sukuna," Gakuganji says, doing a piss job at intimidating Satoru with that glare. "Which is why we should have exorcised the vessel a long time ago."

"Be that as it may, we know where the vessel is. The chances of them being able to revive the cursed womb paintings are laughable. What we don't know is where the Shikon Jewel is."

They thought Sukuna could never find a vessel and yet here they all were.

Murmurs break out in the room as the other higher-ups lean in towards one another. Irritation bubbles in his chest as the heat spreads up his neck. Where do they get off referring to Yuji as though he isn't a person? None of them seem to grasp the sacrifice that Yuji is making… no, they just do not care to, choosing instead to look at Yuji as though his live isn't worth the effort.

"Alright, so we find this jewel. I fail to see how this has to do with the near extinction of my clan," Satoru says, his voice cool and collected. "Or why it's more important than tracking down Sukuna's fingers?"

"It's not just some jewel, boy," the elder hisses out. "It is a wish-granting jewel that only brings calamity. Until now, we thought demons were long gone. It is no coincidence that the school was attacked, nor your clan. This will only create a ripple effect."

"Perhaps we should start with investigating that Kagome—"

"You leave my fiancé out of this," Satoru warns, his cursed energy rising—reminding them that he could crush all of them in the blink of an eye.

There is more murmuring amongst themselves before the elder with the annoying voice speaks up. "This isn't a matter that involves her, though we are thankful for her aiding the students in battle. I, we, are proposing instead to have everyone keep a lookout for any suspicious activity or energies. That energy surge we all felt could have very well been the Shikon itself. Is everyone in favor?"

A chorus of "Yes." Rings out, signaling that the meeting is over. Satoru swaps out his shades for his blindfold as he makes his way over to Shoko's area. His mind is cluttered with thoughts of how pointless the meeting was. Nothing got accomplished. Find the jewel, but no word on what it looks like, and the complete dismissal on retrieving the cursed paintings is baffling.

It's for the best, he thinks, that they are focusing on retrieving a jewel and not considering the possibilities of it merging with someone, but ignoring the other items that were stolen is not the answer.

"Does your six eyes also give you a sixth scent or something?" Shoko's bored tone draws him out of his musings. The bags under her eyes are darker. No thanks to him dropping Cho off in the early hours of the morning. She sounds detached, which only further confirms to him that somewhere in between him dropping Cho off and his meeting with the higher ups, that something went wrong.

"What happened?" He follows her into the makeshift hospital room, noting how the Cho appears to be fast asleep on the bed even with the machine beeping every so often. The room is dimmed, but still has that distinct clean smell that only comes disinfecting so often.

"Cursed like Tsumiki." She sighs. "I thought little of it when she fell asleep because of the things that she went through, but she's showing the same symptoms."

"There weren't any curses at the manor. Naraku got in somehow, but none of the estates are equipped to keep out any demon."

"She came from the insides of a demon. That alone is bound to have some kind of effect on her."

"But if it's a curse like Tsumiki, then she should be fine with Naraku being dead." Satoru stands over Cho. "Unless it's the same curse." He grits his teeth. Kagome may not like his methods, but one way or another, he's going to get some information out of Yakeru, starting with who this powerful demon is.

Turns out, he didn't need to threaten Yakeru. Somehow Kagome got the fox to set up a dinner meeting at the new restaurant he had been thinking about dining at. "So, where exactly are all of the other customers?" Satoru throws an arm over the back of Kagome's chair, watching how the staff seems to scurry about.

Something is off about them. Similar to Naraku, but not the same.

"Paid to not have anyone else here." Yakeru halfway turns and nods at the staff. "Don't worry, they're half demons. They won't go blabbing."

Makes sense that Yakeru would be rich. He wonders if all the foxes share the wealth or if it's just simply because of how long Yakeru has been alive.

"Any update on Cho?" Kagome asks. A girl with dark brown hair sets out a plate of macaroons in front of them. Kagome swipes two before he does.

"Well, Cho is–" His reply gets cut short at the sudden flare of energy. His own powers rise in response, as the air becomes denser. It is as though his throat wants to collapse onto itself, as the power is so much more oppressive than any special grade he's gone up against. Satoru pushes his energy down. Starting a fight is not what this meeting is about… maybe if Kagome wasn't in attendance.

The demon walks over to them, his glamor fading away as golden eyes ignore both him and Yakeru and focus only on Kagome. "Priestess," he says coolly, still not paying attention to Satoru, which only causes worry to fester in Satoru's gut.

How does he know Kagome is a priestess?

Are there more demons that are even close to being as strong as this one?

He opens his mouth to greet this demon, knowing that in these cases it would be better to be tactful, but Kagome beats him to it.

"Sesshomaru!" she yells, practically leaping out of her chair and startling everyone, Satoru included, with the outburst.

Wait.

She knows this demon?

He chances a glance at Yakeru, who sits there slack-jawed and looking even more devoted. Sesshomaru pulls out a chair and sits next to Yakeru. Kagome is buzzing with energy next to him. Satoru decides he hates this Sesshomaru with his stupid perfectly carved face and golden eyes that only seem to spark when landing on Kagome. Irrational? Yeah, but he sees how the foxes fawn over her, the last thing he needs is this one doing the same.

Not on his watch.


A/N: Andddd not one person is surprised by this reveal. I've gotten a lot of requests for Sesshomaru and I imagine that the special grade curses aren't going to be too happy with Sesshomaru around. Okay, next chapter will show our favorite trio. I thought it would be too messy to have three POVs in this chapter. Thank you all for your support and I hope that you guys are taking care of yourselves! Get lots of sleep and stay hydrated.