13

Integra sat down to rest on a bench overlooking the urban sprawl on the other side of a wrought iron fence. The small park behind her was deserted and thick with the buzzing of cicadas in the trees. This was the first break she had taken since the four of them arrived in this suburb around midday. And now the sun was starting towards the western horizon. It was nice to get away from home and roam the streets for a while. But she hadn't expected her feet to hurt this much. She resolved to design a decent exercise routine for herself as soon as she got home.

"Whose idea was this?" Nagira asked as he collapsed beside her.

"I believe it was yours," Integra said. "I seem to recall you saying that we should search for the trail on foot."

"This is where Kaede's village used to be. How was I supposed to know this place had changed so much?" Nagira complained.

"Well, it's been 500 years and this is one of the most populous areas in the world."

"You could have said no."

Integra leaned forward and rested her elbows on her legs, feeling stupid. "I thought there might still be a marker at the trail head."

"Where'd Amon and Robin go? Maybe they had more luck than us."

"You also said we should split up to cover more ground," Integra said.

"I only said that because I knew Amon was going to say it."

"Was he also going to make that Ashton and Demi joke?"

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?" Nagira asked, amused. He leaned back so he could watch Integra more carefully as she pulled a cigar from her pants pocket.

She looked up smirking. "You could tell? I'm impressed."

Nagira took out his lighter and wagged his finger at her while he struck up the little flame. "Don't underestimate me. I'll surprise you."

"I'll look forward to that," Integra replied snarkily, touching her cigar to the flame.

14

Amon rounded the corner into the park at exactly 4:44 pm. He knew that because he could hear Robin making a wish on her watch somewhere behind him. He somewhat expected to see Nagira slacking off, even though it had been his idea to go out there. But to find Integra, who had insisted on coming along, bumming around with him was a surprise.

"Geez, he really said that? To a thirteen-year-old? Unbelievable," Nagira was saying.

"Yes, you would think after two thousand years, he would know better," Integra said. "But he still says perverted things to me every so often."

"So what did you do?"

"Nothing. I was too shocked to speak back then and now I'd rather leave it alone. If I say something about it, that would only draw attention to it."

"You two should be searching," Amon interrupted.

Integra and Nagira turned halfway around and stared at Amon over the back of the park bench.

"We searched all over this neighborhood and we didn't find anything," Nagira said in self-defense.

"Don't scold unless you found something yourself," Integra jabbed.

"We did," Amon said. He paused for a moment to savor their shocked expressions and continued. "The caretaker of the local shrine told us that there's a 16th century trail marker here in this park."

"You're kidding," Nagira said.

"Take a look under your bench," Amon said.

Nagira leaned over in his seat until his head was hanging upside down. He regarded the small stone that jutted out of the ground under the bench.

"It's there, isn't it..." Integra said, closing her eyes.

"Yep, it's there," Nagira said as he sat up again. "I guess we got here first," he chuckled.

Integra sighed.

Robin wasn't paying any attention to the others. She was crouched down beside the bench, examining the marker.

"What does it say?" Nagira asked.

"I think this character means... Dog," she replied.

"We're on the right track," Nagira said cheerfully.

"Where does the scroll say to go next?" Integra asked, getting up from the bench.

"The forest of Musashi," Amon said. "We have to go north from here."

As they all tramped towards the car, Amon congratulated himself for pulling off his little deception so smoothly. It helped that Nagira had suggested they split up. It might have made Integra suspicious if he had said it himself. The local shrine near the site of Kaede's village was the Higurashi shrine and that was a dangerous place for Integra to wander around in. They didn't know when Kagome and Inuyasha would show up there and the risk of contaminating the time-stream was very high. He had taken pains to never mention to her the location of the time portal, just as Kagome had done with him. He knew that if she found out, there was a good chance she would insist on seeing it. And he couldn't allow that to happen.

Story Notes:

"...a wish on her watch..." - This refers to the superstition of making a wish on a clock when the numbers are all the same. ie. 4:44, 5:55. It happens ten times a day but the charm only works if you notice by chance.

"...perverted things..." - Integra and Nagira are discussing one of Alucard's lines from Integra's flashback in episode 10 of Hellsing. In the English dub, it was translated as "You make my blood boil." But in the original Japanese, it was so perverted that I'd rather not repeat it here.