Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Nope. Been pretty uncreative with these recently… meh. It's not important.

00:00

It was sunny out in the city, with the sort of overly warm-seeming, slightly muted light that occurs when sunlight is filtered through several layers of smog. The windows of skyscrapers gleamed with reflected light, casing patches of milky light across the nearly-bare sidewalks. The city didn't get much snow. Its citizens made up for that lack with a liberal coating of trash—overflowing garbage cans, old wrappers and cigarette butts littered the ground. If it hadn't been so cold, it probably would have smelled awful—as it was, the lingering smell of decay hung in the air, just enough to niggle, but not quite enough to actually be distracted by. Every street, even deserted ones, had the same type of air—stale, somehow; though it seemed fresher in the wintertime. Maybe it was the lack of humidity that characterized city summers.

At the moment, the inner city was relatively empty. The rush of cars through the streets had slowed to a trickle, as nearly everyone had gotten where they planned to be, and the only people out were those unemployed, those too old to work, or those too young.

Sango pedaled through patches of light and shadow, small candy wrappers skittering across the ground as she swept past. She swerved around a dislodged sewer grating without slowing down, feeling the smooth thrum of her tyres beneath her. She had always preferred her bicycle to a car—she could feel so much more attuned with it, she could sense the road beneath her and each move her small, light vehicle made, every shift of the wind, every…

Every rock on the street. She frowned in annoyance as her bicycle skidded over one such stone with an ominous crunching noise. Hopefully it hadn't burst a tyre… The wind caught her brightly-coloured parka and caused it to flap open behind her, but she couldn't make herself care. This was a good day…

That was, of course, the reason she told her friends at school, who all thought she was insane for taking such an antiquated device everywhere with her. She just happened to like her bicycle. The real reason was that this two-wheeled piece of metal was probably as close as she would ever get to riding Kirara while she wasn't on a mission.

She smiled in anticipation, rounding a corner and allowing the cycle to tilt exhilaratingly to one side as she did so. There were cars on this road—mostly the small private ones, driving slowly since it was no longer Transit Hour. The skyscrapers were slightly taller, and a bit less seedy-looking. The city could get quite dingy-looking in places; rotting signs, water-stained windows, rusted beams, sagging structures… And then there were the dark spaces in between the buildings, where the light of the sun never quite reached. Anything could happen in the darkness of the city. No one ever stood in the shadows if they knew what they were doing. It was sheer foolishness.

Such a simple thing… she had been at home, wondering what exactly she could do to fill up the rest of a rather dull-looking day, when her father called from the Taijiya Core in the inner city.

He'd asked if she wanted to go on another mission.

She'd said yes.

Looking up, she allowed her smile to widen into a grin. She could see the familiar building up ahead, a rough yellow-grey façade made up of thick, coarse stones. There were few windows. There was a reason for that, though occasionally the entirely artificial light could be a bit disconcerting, especially after long training sessions.

Her third mission with her father's Taijiya Corporation… She almost considered it more of a home than the house she shared with her father and younger brother. She enjoyed the work more than she enjoyed just about anything else, and it was generally agreed that she was good at it. The same could be said of many others, of course, as she wasn't yet the best, but few of them actually enjoyed it the way she did. It wasn't fun, per se… she couldn't describe it like that. But it made her feel so alive…

Reaching the front of the building, she rode the bicycle up onto the curb and allowed it to slow down, sliding off it as it neared the fence separating Taijiya Core from the rest of the street. There was barbed wire atop the fence; she hardly gave it a second glance, flattening her ruffled parka as she approached the opening to the main building. There was a guard beside it, a man in a dark suit who could have been any simple security officer. He glanced at her as she passed and smiled in friendly recognition. Sango smiled back. She had come to know just about everyone who worked here, as she'd been coming to this selfsame building since she was barely high enough to approach the security officer's knee. This particular guard's name was Hideki, an old employee of her father's 'firm.'

She couldn't call it a business without feeling just a little bit wrong. It didn't fit any of the traditional ideas of businesses… at least, not really. On the surface, perhaps. Her father had many businesslike relationships with various manufacturing corporations (mainly the makers of specialized weaponry), which helped greatly. If the population of the city knew that Taijiya Core was actually the home and training base of a youkai exterminating agency, there might be trouble.

If anyone actually believed in it, of course. In Sango's experience, people generally had a bit of difficulty in that department. Maybe it was because the bloody things were so good at hiding…

The lobby of Taijiya Core was full of reddish sunlight, shining in through the row of tall windows just above the entrance. The floor had been recently polished, she noticed, the onyx tiles buffed to the point of reflecting her body as she walked across it. Her father would be in his office, no doubt… that was the location of one of the few telephones in the building, and certainly the only place where there would be no noise in the background. She smiled to the receptionist, as well, a dark-haired woman who was for the most part absorbed with some papers and who glanced up for no more than a couple of seconds.

Sango shed her parka as she walked to the back of the lobby and started up the staircase. Tying it round her waist, she started on her overshirt as she walked through a door at the top of the stairs and emerged into another stairwell, farther recessed than the first. It was dark at first, but as she began to walk upwards it quickly became apparent that there was a light somewhere up ahead. It fueled her hope. They're expecting me…

Down a flight of stairs and through a door was what the rest of the world saw of Taijiya Core. As she walked through another door at the very top of that stair and emerged into a warmly lit hallway tiled with more black onyx, she had entered the places that no one saw, save for those actually employed by the Core. She was now somewhere near the centre of the building, neatly avoiding the few windows that actually opened to the outside world. Perhaps if someone were to actually go over the building they would realize that there were many, many square metres not accounted for. But thus far, no one had done so.

Her father's office was at the end of the hallway. As she approached it she balled up her bicycle gloves and stuffed them into her pocket. The door was firmly shut but not locked, and she pushed it open easily.

Her father looked up as she entered, murmured something into his telephone, and then replaced it in its cradle as he smiled up at her. "Hello, Sango," he said easily. "Glad to see you made it here so quickly."

"I hurried," she said simply, walking towards the desk and draping her parka over the back of a chair before sitting down. "So, what's happening? You called for me?" She leaned forwards in her seat.

"Yes, Sango," said her father, pushing the telephone to the corner of the desk. "Do you remember the case I was telling you about?"

"Which one?" asked Sango, her smile quirking wryly. "Centipede youkai in the sewers? The mask that kept trying to eat people? The dried himono that turns into youkai if it touches warm water?"

He laughed. "No, no… the crime lord. He's been very elusive… but recently we got a name. And a clue."

"Oh?" Now this was interesting. For years her father had been seeing disturbing connections between various bits of criminal activity in the city, from petty theft to mass murders. Of late he had begun to piece together the hints he had and, all in all, the picture they made was not a pretty one. Someone was pulling the strings of both humans and youkai, with malicious intent. Suddenly, a flash of memory… reports of destruction in the inner city on the morning's news… "Was it the laboratory that exploded?"

He shook his head. "No. One of my sources just came through for me… found a one-time follower and actually managed to get information out of it."

"It?" Sango looked at him inquiringly. "A youkai?"

He nodded. "A mid-level, in terms of power. Not much of a struggle, but it was at least capable of speech. It gave us the name of the one it'd been taking orders from, and a place where apparently he intends to strike next."

"Really?" Sango grinned. "That's great! What was the name?"

Her father cleared his throat. "Naraku, apparently. I looked it up immediately, of course, but there aren't any records of that name in our previous case files… it could even be masquerading as a human, though it's likely we won't know that until we catch it."

"So this Naraku is also a youkai, then?"

"Apparently so."

She leaned back in her chair, thoughtful. "And you're sure the source is trustworthy? And that the youkai he questioned wasn't lying?"

"Well, I won't say that neither of those are valid concerns," said her father, "but I place complete trust in all of my operatives. And if he felt the thing was lying, he probably wouldn't have reported the information to me, or reported it with a warning…"

Sango laughed again. "All right. So, what's the real reason for me being called up here, aside from giving me this information?"

Her father moved some papers aside on the desktop and placed his forearms flat against the surface. "Well, as I said, the second half of the information we received was related to a place that's going to be a future target. We're going to go there soon… tonight, in fact. It is a bit short notice, but the youkai wasn't being very specific."

She nodded. "Okay. So… get things ready, then? Or am I going on this one?"

"You're going on this one."

She couldn't help grinning. Yes, she'd done this many, many times before… but adventure was something that never got dull. "All right," she said. "I'll go get Kirara. What time do I have to be ready by?"

"Oh, say about five oclock," he said, just as the telephone began to ring. "Just go to the Main Core… the others will be there." He pulled the ringing piece of machinery towards himself again, waving to Sango.

"And... what sort of area are we talking about?" she asked, moving back in her chair.

He rested one hand lightly on top of the telephone, ready to pick it up. "A sort of warehouse," he said. "Near the edge of the city... southern industrial district, I believe. The others already know where it is."

She stood, gathering her coat, and was already at the door by the time he answered the telephone.

00:00

Kagome sighed. At least Tsuyu didn't seem to have minded catching her halfway through de-shirting Inuyasha… it was too much to hope that she hadn't seen, but at least she refrained from teasing. I don't know if I could ever live that down…

And now, yet again, she was left in the shop, this time with her mother for company, while silence reigned from the floor above. Everything was perfectly quiet, and it was almost unnerving. No shouting, no crashes, not even one raised voice…

She rearranged one of the shelf displays while her mother chatted with Tsuyu. She could hear the cash register's dull chime; perhaps Tsuyu was making her purchase. That was unusual; generally the other woman would stay in the shop for an hour, just browsing and making small talk.

Maybe Inuyasha just wigged her out a bit, thought Kagome, taking her time spreading the pages of a book evenly so that it would stay upright in its lone display. He sure did it to me… though that could be just because he attacked me the second he woke up. Or maybe it was the blood…

The bell jangled as the door swung closed. Kagome sighed again, finished with the book, and tried not to fidget as she turned around.

Agh! I was never this jumpy before Inuyasha turned up… what's wrong now? For lack of anything else to do—her mother was carefully taking down some figures behind the desk—she dug into her pocket and felt for the small, round shape that she knew was there.

The Shikon no Tama was as warm as ever, apparently. She rolled it between her fingers idly, standing just behind one of the bookshelves, not quite in sight of the window.

I wonder why Inuyasha wants it so much… Her fingers tightened on the small orb as she remembered his hoarse voice from the night before—when I… when I go… you're giving me the jewel… you understand that?

Well, let's see—angry, violent hanyou; small jewel-thing said to be all-powerful. Let's add up the facts, shall we? Kagome sighed. He probably just wants to get stronger or something. Then he could go off and do… whatever it was that he was doing before he came here.

Idiot.

And he hadn't been in it alone. There was that Kikyou too; the ever-elusive Kikyou. What on earth could have happened to them? If they were in love… why did she shoot him? Did she not love him back?

She stared miserably down at the jewel, not even having noticed when she'd pulled it out of her pocket. I'm thinking in circles now… I just wish I knew more about this Kikyou person…

Abruptly she realized that the Shikon no Tama was glowing, a gentle, pale pinkish hue. Ack! When did it start doing that? Why didn't I notice?

Frantically she rubbed at its surface, trying to get it to stop. The last time she'd seen it glowing, it had been right before it threw Inuyasha into a tree. But the light only intensified, throwing shadows across the books behind her and into her cupped palms. Oh, no…

She was thrust into darkness. Her vision cut with a suddenness that made her gasp, and she moved, trying to turn around, see where her familiar shop had gotten to.

"Ah, girl, you'll have to start facing the facts sooner or later."

She gaped into the darkness. Wh-what? Why is that voice familiar? "No, I…"

"You had to have seen it. You saw the look in his eyes, didn't you. Greedy, covetous… he wants it, dear. You have to realize that someday. He wants that jewel more than he wants you and that's a fact."

Of course! That dream… wait a minute… could that voice have been talking about…

"Are you talking about Inuyasha?" she asked it aloud, wondering if the voice could hear her. She had the distinct feeling that it couldn't—the same sense she'd had in her dream, that she wasn't really there, was pervading this… vision, as well. And, as if to prove that…

"I'm truly sorry, dearest, but… I'd been hoping I wouldn't have to show you this." A rustle of paper. "I knew it would hurt…"

Very suddenly emotion hit her, so quickly and thoroughly that she gasped again. Betrayal… how… how could… she felt tears filling her eyes, in spite of the fact that she didn't seem to have a body in this. Maybe she was crying, back in the real world… She dropped to her knees, sobbing silently.

No… this can't be true!

The thought wasn't hers.

She froze, and very suddenly the darkness began to lift again, sooner this time than in her dream. Instead of snow, and blood, and those amber eyes that she was beginning to anticipate with something akin to dread, it was a man… pale-skinned, too pale almost, smiling at her kindly though his bloodred eyes were cold and distant, with lank black hair tumbling over his shoulders…

"Kagome!"

Someone was shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes to find herself half-lying against the bookshelf, the jewel held loosely in one hand. It was no longer glowing. "Mom?"

Mrs. Higurashi bent over her, concerned. "All you all right, dear? I heard you fall…"

Kagome nodded. "I'm fine, mom… just… a bit dizzy I guess."

Her mother extended a hand and Kagome took it, standing up easily. She smoothed out her shirt, frowning as she tried to remember the details of what she'd just seen. Her mother watched her, still worried.

"Are you sure you're all right?" she asked, then paused, squinting at her. "Were you crying?"

Kagome lifted a hand to touch the still-damp trails on her cheek. I guess I was…

:0:

"Fuck!" Inuyasha cursed as his claw gouged a long scratch right down the center of the book he was holding.

"Now, Inuyasha, swearing is a bad habit." Miroku glanced wryly at him, removing a paperback from the makeshift press he had created by overloading one of the bookshelves in the living room. He glanced idly at its still-wrinkled cover and slipped it back into place, sliding it carefully.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with this now?" growled Inuyasha, holding out the now-battered book and glaring at it as if it had offended him. "The point was to fix the bloody things, bouzu, not rip them to shreds!"

"See if you can get it into one of the shelves," said Miroku, stepping back and looking at the neat row of paperback spines. The books had long since dried out over the two days of being left in their box, and apparently had been pressed somewhat flat over that time period. Perhaps Mrs. Higurashi had gotten to them already… Busy-work, he thought, sitting down on the couch. I suppose it's better than nothing… unless I could help with that window…I don't know the first thing about carpentry, though. He sighed, watching as Inuyasha got over his initial hesitation and moved towards the bookshelf.

I suppose it only makes sense… father wanted me to follow in his footsteps, not go off fixing windows and books. If only that blasted force could do more than just blow things to pieces and purify them…

Inuyasha lost patience with trying to hold the space between the books open, shifting so that he was trying to press the paperback in with both hands. The space promptly closed, and the pages of the book splayed outwards.

"Shit!"

Miroku stood up quickly. Perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to allow the hanyou to help out. He moved forwards just as Inuyasha threw the twisted book onto the floor and snarled at it.

"Well, that's enough for now," he said lightly, walking past Inuyasha and lifting it gently. "We can take them back down to the shop once they start keeping their shape outside of the bookcase."

"That'll take fucking forever, bouzu," said Inuyasha. "What the hell are we supposed to do till then?"

Miroku watched him calmly. "Well, for starters, we can do a bit of catching up," he said.

He could see Inuyasha's internal barriers going up, a flicker in those amber eyes, lasting no more than the space between one second and the next.

And then, very suddenly, the ground went away. Miroku dropped his book, gasping, as a sensation of acute vertigo washed through his being. Inuyasha regarded him in confusion as the dark-haired boy touched a hand to his head, tentatively.

:0:

"So what, you're training to be some sort of monk?" The small silver-haired boy wrinkled his nose in confusion, sitting crosslegged on a floor made of woven mats.

"No, no!" The slightly older boy, dark hair cropped close to his head, waved his hands as if trying to push the suggestion away. "I'm not going to be a monk. It's just sort of… training. You know all those old stories about mikos and that sort of thing? Well, it's a bit like that… Dad says it is, anyway. I think so too."

"So you'll be able to use magic, then?"

The dark-haired boy shrugged his small shoulders, violet eyes pensive. "Maybe. I'll probably just learn how to do what Dad does—use those funny scraps of paper and things. And maybe I'd be able to feel your youki."

"That'd be weird."

Laughter. "I guess. It'd be really interesting, though…" He paused, looking down at the younger boy. "I still wouldn't be a monk, though."

The silver-haired boy snorted. "Yeah… you'd make a pretty dumb monk." He looked up, golden eyes gleaming. "Bouzu."

:0:

Miroku looked up to see Inuyasha frozen above him, one hand outstretched as if about to tap him on the shoulder. A few seconds passed with neither of them moving; then Inuyasha quickly withdrew his hand, whirling to turn his back on Miroku. "Keh!"

Miroku stood slowly, having discovered that at some point he'd fallen to his knees. Why on earth...

"So what was that, Miroku?" asked Inuyasha, turning his head slightly to cast a disgusted look at his old friend. "Having funny spells now?"

"No," said Miroku, checking himself over to see whether there was any physical damage done. "I just remembered something."

A line appeared between Inuyasha's eyebrows. "Oh?"

Miroku frowned. "I think something might be…"

This was the point at which it seemed to Inuyasha that the dark-haired boy just stopped moving, his eyes widening to an almost comic degree. And then, seconds later, he found himself being hauled out of the room by one shirtsleeve.

"Oi!" he protested, wrenching at his arm. "What, so now you're insane, too?"

"Be quiet for once, Inuyasha," panted Miroku, dragging him through the door into the small staircase. Inuyasha, having resigned himself to being towed for the sake of curiosity, had to move quickly to avoid overbalancing in the narrow space. "I sensed something just now—and it felt like the Shikon no Tama." Of course... it's being used... it triggered a flashback for those receptive to its influence, but... why did I remember that?

"What?" Inuyasha paused in his stepping and nearly fell forwards when Miroku didn't stop as well. "You…sensed it? It's being used?" By Kagome? How can…

"I would presume so," said Miroku, jumping over the last step and bursting out the door at the back of the shop. "Now to check that theory…"

Kagome was standing behind a bookshelf, looking slightly rumpled and clutching the jewel in one hand as her mother watched her nervously. She raised her head as they entered, and Inuyasha was startled and more than a little discomfited by the sight of the fading trails of tears left on her cheeks.

"Did you use it?" asked Miroku, the question emerging before he even fully noticed their bystander. Mrs. Higurashi stared at him, and he tried to smile briefly before turning back to Kagome. This is no time for… "Did you?"

"I… don't know," whispered Kagome. "I think… it sort of did it on its own."

"Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"On its own?" Inuyasha recovered from his discomfort upon realizing that Kagome was no longer actually crying. "Stu—dumb bi—girl, it's not like it has a mind of its own."

"But I… I saw…" she looked up at Inuyasha, and all of the awkwardness returned as he saw the look in her eyes. Haunted, despairing… he'd seen that look before. "Someone was talking about you."

"We-well, I'll bet lots of people do," he said, stammering slightly and hating himself for it. What the hell is wrong with me now?

"There's no time for that," said Miroku impatiently, stepping forwards. "We have to get it out of the shop, now."

"Get what out?" Mrs. Higurashi was frowning at him. "You three aren't making any sense!"

"Shit!" Inuyasha swore, his eyes widening suddenly as he realized the same thing that Miroku just had. "We have to go!" Casting an apologetic look towards Mrs. Higurashi, he strode forwards and grabbed Kagome's elbow. "Come on!"

The bell jangled as the door swung open again, and the strange man from two days ago walked in. He cast them all an odd glance before stalking into the shelves near the window. Mrs. Higurashi was distracted momentarily, her head turning, and by the time she turned back, Kagome was already out of the stacks and currently being towed after Inuyasha and Miroku in their beeline for the door.

"Sorry, Mom," said Kagome, catching some of their urgency, "I'll explain it later!" She waved awkwardly to her mother as she was pulled towards the door. If I ever do find out what's going on, she thought ruefully. This is just getting ridiculous…

She shivered the instant they were out the door. Of course, she hadn't had enough time to put on a coat, none of them had, but she didn't even have boots this time and her indoor shoes were already full of rapidly-melting slush. Oddly, neither of the boys seemed at all perturbed by their complete lack of footwear, though they could have simply been hiding any feelings on the matter…

"All right," she said, pulling her arm out of Inuyasha's grip as the door jingled shut behind her. "Now will you tell me what's happening?"

"Haven't you guessed it, bitch?" spat Inuyasha, whirling on her. "Now that you've reactivated that stupid jewel, all the youkai within a mile-wide radius will be coming for it! Don't you know anything?"

"Well maybe if someone were to tell me these things, I wouldn't be so confused!" she yelled back, never mind that her mother and the single customer could probably hear her through the frosted-over glass of the door… "I mean, you still haven't told me a single thing about what happened—neither of you—and I just had a really freaky dream and I think it was about you, and I still don't know what's—"

"Look out!" yelled Inuyasha, and suddenly leaped several feet straight up into the air. Kagome heard a dull thud from directly above, and looked up to see Inuyasha sink his claws into a youkai as he drove it into the brick façade of her house, inches below her bedroom window. She squeaked involuntarily and moved away from the wall.

Miroku cursed quietly as he craned his neck, looking up Where did that thing come from? The roof?

Inuyasha grinned as he felt the thing's dying struggles. This was more what he was used to—this was steadier ground. He ripped his claws free of the creature, planted his feet solidly against the brick wall, and wrapped a hand around its neck, pushing off hard. A crack rang through the air.

Kagome winced at the sound. Oh, no… mom can probably hear that from inside the shop! And there's a man in there…And, much deeper-it's dead, oh, kami, he just killed it- "We have to move!" she said, pulling her feet out of the sucking mess that was trying to snare them. She started on the rather difficult task of beginning to leave. "We can't stay near the shop!"

Miroku nodded quickly, then started to move after her as Inuyasha dropped to the ground beside him, towing one dead youkai by the arm. "I don't think you should leave that here," Miroku remarked.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with it then?" said Inuyasha.

"Come on!" said Kagome, stopping and turning around. What if more of them come… we could be attacked again at any moment! Oh, kami… I guess the time for disbelief is long over by now… "We have to get out of here!"

"Where will we go?" asked Miroku, hurrying forwards. Inuyasha, a sour look on his face, dragged the youkai corpse with him as he followed the others.

Lucky the street's been empty so far, but luck can only last so long… "We have to go down one of the side roads," said Kagome, whirling again. "Hurry up!"

And there's a dead monster, too… what do we do with it? Bury it in the park?

The woods… that's the only place. The edge of town's not too far away…

If we're attacked again…

Suddenly Kagome stopped. A person was walking around the corner… "Get out of sight!" she hissed to Inuyasha. He performed another one of those flying leaps—I guess now I know how he got so far into the forest without leaving any footsteps—and landed on the roof of Tsuyu's house, draping the youkai across the snow-covered shingles before moving to the edge and peering over.

"Heads up, bouzu!" he called suddenly.

Miroku whirled just in time to dodge another youkai, a lumbering mononoke this time. Kagome yelped as the person approaching from the other end of the street suddenly sped up, rushing towards them with obviously inhuman speed.

"Three of them?" said Inuyasha, almost thoughtfully as he continued to watch from above. Miroku had picked up a branch and was swinging at the mononoke, broad stroked mixed with twirling hand movements that indicated he'd done this sort of thing before. Kagome was trying to get out of the path of the oncoming third youkai, but it was obvious that it would soon catch up with her. Miroku had barely enough time to spare her a glance or two while he tried to keep the mononoke away. It had long, spindling arms covered in scales—snake youkai, perhaps?—which made this task very difficult.

Inuyasha grinned, kicked the first youkai's corpse so that it wouldn't be visible from the road, and leaped down. Surreally, the small-town quiet remained undisturbed—the only sound was of Miroku panting as he fought, and the slishing noises made by the slush on the sidewalk being moved around.

Kagome stopped right before she ran headlong into the range of Miroku's stick, and turned again to find that her view of the pursuing youkai had been blocked by a figure clad in dark blue and topped by a mass of silver hair. She gasped, heart beating loudly to her ears in the improbable near-silence, and could do little more than watch as Inuyasha leaped forwards to engage the youkai.

She winced at the sound of his claws slicing through the monster, and when he moved to attack the youkai from the other side she was shocked to see that he was grinning.

It was the first time she'd seen him smile.

His fangs were showing.

Abruptly she realized that she was digging in her pocket again. Hah, of course! The jewel! Her fingers slid onto the warm, smooth surface, and she wrapped her hand around it. If it's supposed to be so powerful, maybe it can do something to help us now…

She didn't bother to think about the fact that she hadn't the foggiest notion as to how one went about using the thing, or that the last time she'd even held the thing it had made her see visions. In her mind, she could see the attacking youkai being thrown backwards in the same way that Inuyasha had been when they'd first found the jewel.

She pulled it out. All right, now it's just got to do something…

"M-Miss Kagome! Don't!" Miroku swung his makeshift staff through the mess of spindling arms and into the side of the mononoke's head, knocking it to the ground, and hurried forwards. All of his senses were on high alert now, and the tingling feel of youki was growing stronger by the second—what is she doing? Kagome turned slightly, still clutching the jewel, and he realized that he could feel it, too, beneath the increasing amount of youkai energy.

Inuyasha, having despatched the third youkai with as much expediency as the first, found himself facing Kagome, Miroku and the fallen mononoke… as well as the bird youkai that was descending from the sky directly towards the girl. Golden eyes widened.

"Kagome!"

:00:00:

Second edit. Bloody continuity...! My beta is currently in France (woohoo!) So... I'm on my own from now on. Urrk...

As for those books...Mrs. Higurashi did find them, but they'd already been sitting and mouldering in the box for awhile and so she could only save the ones that hadn't been really badly damaged. For the most part, since they hadn't been moved TOO much, the only damage was to the shape of the covers, and so flattening the dry books would help... yeah. they'd have to stay in that 'press' for awhile, no, Miroku had no idea what he was doing really, and yeah... that's what I do to fix my books (I'm a sad little whelp). And yes, it was just pointless busy-work for Inuyasha and Miroku. Otherwise they'd have both gone stir-crazy.

In case anyone is curious regarding Miroku's relative comfort in situations involving footwear (or the lack thereof), I noticed in the first issue of the manga in which he appears (tankoubon volume six, I believe) he doesn't have any shoes. In the next scene, of course, he acquires those little sandals that he wears for the rest of the series, and in the anime… but it's true that he was barefoot in his first appearance, and I just figured I'd go with that… also, my little spoiler-ish contribution (stop reading if you haven't watched the anime series finale) Kagome ends the series unshod as well. Fun, ne? (Though... the manga still hasn't ended. It's still going... and going... on and on, ad infinitum, only less boring.) I'm such an otaku...

And... as for Kagome's small dream-sequence, it is basically the dream in Chapter 1. It does give new information, though. So, if anyone wants to see the original version, just go back to chapter 1. There are differences!

The inch-thick layer of ice on top of the snow outside has become more like five inches, and it's now invisible, owing to having been covered up with more powder snow (probably another five or six inches, total). It's thick enough that when you walk and your feet go through the top layer of snow, you're not actually standing on ground, you're standing on ice. It's a very odd thing to realize while you're staggering around beneath two duffel bags and a laptop. ... Yeah, I do know a lot about snow, don't I? And... I didn't drop the laptop... but that is a thought, isn't it? Hmm...