"Hey, hey, did you hear?" one of our classmates asked her friends. "At the park last night?"

"That murder case?"

"Yeah, what's that about?"

"Apparently some middle schoolers went out Oyaji hunting and got killed, but their bodies were missing." I shared a look with Kagome. "The only witness swears a woman with the face like a Noh Mask stretched out her neck and she ate all four of them."

"No way! The guy must have been drunk!"

"But then they searched the park and they found the body of some woman and her head was missing."

"What the... you're making this up, aren't you?"

After school, Kagome and I went to the park to check out what the girls had been talking about that morning.

"This doesn't feel right..." Kagome whispered to me.

"What they were talking about sounds like a Youkai," I told her as we watched the police scope the scene.

"But, Youkai aren't around in this tie period," Kagome tried reassuring herself.

"Oh, they're around. They are just better at hiding. Of course, you have lesser demons still running around but most the time they are quickly taken care of by the community who governs them," I explained to her and she just stared at me in shock.

"They have a community?"

"Even in the Feudal Era, they do. Sesshomaru's a Youkai Lord after all," I reminded her. "Makes you wonder if he and Inuyasha are around here hiding in plain sight."

"Would they really still be alive?"

"Sesshomaru has a higher chance of being alive than Inuyasha. Half-breeds don't live nearly as long as their Youkai counterparts, but more than twice as long as humans," I explained to her. "Speaking of Inuyasha, should we call for him?"

"No way!" she denied shaking her head violently.

"There's no way we'd get any studying done with him around and we have two make up tests coming up," she reminded me once we'd gotten back to her house.

"Maybe, but the extra set of eyes would be helpful," I pointed out, going over my notes and book while she dug through her desk.

"Oh no! It's gone!" Kagome cried searching her book once more. "No way! But how?!"

"Calm down, Kagome," I told her handing her my book from my bag. "Just use mine."

"You sure?" she asked hesitantly before talking the book at my nod.

"You were math, I was science. Remember?" I asked her and she nodded again before going over to her desk and began our studying.

Friday

"Eh? Ji-chan's in the hospital?" Kagome asked her mother after school. I'd managed to get my father to agree for me to stay over for the night for extra studying for the makeup test.

"He just has a minor case of food poisoning," her mother told her trying not to make her worry. "But, considering his age, it'd be better if I stayed with him tonight."

"Don't worry, Kagome and I will handle things here," I told her giving her a smile. She smiled at us before walking out the door. I turned to Kagome with a smile. "I cook you clean?"

That night, I'd cook dinner for the Higurashi siblings and myself and, after Kagome cleaned up the dishes, she and I sat in her room pouring over our notes and study guides for the exams the next mornings. Souta was sitting in the room next to me hugging Byou to his chest.

"Say, nee-chan, can I sleep here?" Souta asked his sister as the night went on.

"What are you saying?" Kagome asked turning to him. You're a boy, aren't you?"

"But..."

"You really are a coward," she said and I just sent her a look.

"He's also a child, Kagome." There were times I didn't understand why she was so harsh on him. Seeing what she must have been seeing while traveling with Inuyasha.

"You heard about what happened at the park, didn't you?" Souta asked us.

"Yeah, what about it?" Kagome asked.

"Don't you remember? That lady from the other day?" he asked and I looked at the two of them.

"What woman?" I asked them as the night seemed to get darker.

"The other day we were leaving for school and there was this woman at the bottom of the stairs staring up at the temple. Her face was like a Noh Mask."

"Could she have been...?" Kagome asked and I nodded.

"It's possible she wasn't human," I told them. Suddenly, the window started shaking and I got off the bed. I grabbed Kagome and pulled her to us as something crashed through the window and came towards us. "Get down!" I covered Souta and Kagome from the glass. I turned and saw a Noh Mask staring at us. It was attached to a large clump of bodies all joined together.

"At least we found out what happened to those middle schoolers," I mumbled as Kagome inched back to her desk.

"More... I want a better body..." the mask said. "The jewel... give it to me..." I glanced at Kagome as she reached behind her to the desk before the mask split in two with large teeth and saliva coming from it. "Give it to me!" It attacked Kagome who held up her chair to the mask, denying its order. As it started eating the chair, I pulled Kagome back to me and her brother. She grabbed the jewel and we crashed to the door, her brother sitting next to us scared out of his mind.

"So... Souta..." She grabbed him by the middle as the mask made to attack again. I jumped between the mask and the siblings trying to put up an air barrier as I did. I managed to get the barrier up, but not before it sliced into my shoulder.

"Idiots! What are you sitting around for?! Move it!" I ordered them. Kagome grabbed my arm and we started running with Byou holding onto Souta's leg.

"We've got to get to the well!" Kagome told me as we ran. She was holding onto Souta's hand and I tried applying pressure to my shoulder to stop the bleeding. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be able to heal without water.

"Nee-chan, Amane-chan, you're bleeding!" Souta reminded us.

"Don't worry, Souta, we'll be okay." I smiled at him as we ran. We looked behind us to see the Noh Mask making us scream in shock and fear. The mask attacked and grabbed Kagome's PJ shirt and pulled her away from us.

"It's only after the jewel..." I mumbled before looking down at the young boy next to me. "Souta, go to the well and call for Inuyasha. You have Kagome's blood on your hands so that should get him to come to you. Don't leave the bottom of the well if you make it to the other side!"

"But... Amane-chan..." he placed his hand on my back making me wince in pain as it came in contact with my injury. "I'm so sorry!"

"It doesn't matter, just do as I said," I told him going for Kagome. I grabbed her hand in mine and we started running for it again.

"Wait! What about Souta?" she asked me.

"Don't worry, I sent him after Inuyasha so we should have more help soon. Right now we need to get to higher ground and away from anywhere people could get hurt."

Third POV

After jumping into the well, Souta cried that he couldn't get through and started desperately digging, trying to reach the Half-breed.

"Come on... come on! Nee-chan and Amane-chan are... They're going to die!" he cried harder at those words before he felt himself being lifted from the ground. He looked up to see Inuyasha and another man he hadn't seen before looking down at him. One with a smirk and the other emotionless.

"Looks like you're in trouble, doesn't it?"