Winter Chapter 17: Light, an inuyasha fanfic

A note: this chapter is currently in its semi-unbetaed form, in that I had it betaed, changed some of the dialogue and plot points, and then sent it in for re-betaing. Since the results of that haven't come in yet, I decided to just put up the chapter anyhow... for reasons that will be explained in the A/N at the end. Sorry if something in here doesn't make sense, it'll be fixed sooner or later...

Chapter 17

Miroku's hands tightened on the steering wheel.

There… Right on the fringes of his awareness, but still as clear as if it had been right in front of him… He strained for the fading sensation of it, but the feeling was draining away as quickly as it had come.

The power of the Shikon no Tama had erupted. There was no doubt about that in his mind—and no doubt that it had been Kagome who was responsible. She was, after all, the holder of the jewel.

Something's happened… danger? The flash of energy had felt pure, so at the very least, the artifact was still in Kagome's possession. If a youkai seized it, or anyone with less-than-pure intentions, it would likely be a different story.

Too early to panic, he thought, reassuring himself. He couldn't have remained tense for much more than a few seconds. If there's a second wave, of impure energy… then panic is justified. Not until then.

The only thing to do was to keep driving, and wait for any further signs.

:00:00:

Waka very nearly sat bolt upright in startlement. He restrained himself, however, and felt a vague sense of pride in this—it just wouldn't do to let himself show any sort of discomposure, not in front of Tono and his delegates. As the power surging through his connection with the Shikon no Tama began to fade, he allowed his body to relax. No one had noticed; even if they had, it wouldn't have dimmed the satisfaction that had overridden the shock.

I know where it is.

Waka smiled.

:00:00:

It took Inuyasha a moment or two to realize that the scream wasn't Kagome's. By that time, Hiten had already whipped his head around and was staring towards the house.

"Manten," he whispered.

"You're—fighting—me!" grunted Inuyasha, levering the staff out of Hiten's hands once again and feeling the tingle as the charge it carried dissipated into the air. The skin of his hands felt too tight, too hot, but he couldn't pay any attention to that. Kagome… The shriek hadn't been Mrs. Akakitsune's, either, and it had been fraught with pain—which, if he cared to think about it, probably meant something good for his side of the fight, but Inuyasha wasn't thinking about that.

Hiten made a grab for his staff, and Inuyasha kicked it out of reach, seizing the opportunity to lash out. He half-expected Hiten to dodge the blow—but either Inuyasha was too fast, or Hiten was too slow, and it connected solidly with the youkai's cheek at the same moment that Hiten regained his weapon.

There was a satisfying crunch, and the thunder youkai's hand spasmed briefly. Hiten glared at him through a darkening bruise while Inuyasha blinked in surprise. "You…" said Hiten. "Your little human wench will pay for that!"

It took Inuyasha another moment to realize that he meant Kagome—bit slow today, aren't we?—and by that time all he could see of Hiten was a long black braid vanishing around the corner of the house with what could only be described as demonic speed. Cursing, Inuyasha leaped straight up, landing on the roof of the house and immediately launching himself off once again.

:00:00:

Shippou was whimpering into Mrs. Akakitsune's collarbone as Kagome lowered her arms. Her mind was being irritatingly slow in telling her just why she hadn't died a painful death. There were spots in her vision, as if she'd stared directly into the sun, or a particularly bright lamp, and she blinked, trying to clear it.

Manten was screaming as his chest dissolved. His form came into slow focus, colours emerging from the bleached whiteness that had briefly become her surroundings. Kagome swallowed hard as something jumped in her throat, unable to tear her eyes away from the hideous sight as he turned glazed, red-rimmed eyes upon her. He screamed again, blood running down his chin as he began to fall at last. She could see the icy, moonlit ground behind him through the hole in his middle, and felt as if she were going to be sick.

Mrs. Akakitsune was stroking Shippou's head, not looking at Manten but instead gaping at Kagome. "What… what did you do to him?" she said hoarsely.

Kagome closed her eyes, willing the nausea to fade. "I…" I did this? I did, didn't I…

Hiten rounded the corner with such speed as to make it seem he'd appeared out of thin air. Taking in the scene at a glance, eyes lingering on Manten's prone form, he met Kagome's eyes as she looked up.

"You," he growled. "You… killed my brother…"

Killed ...

…Yes… yes, he's dead now… has to be…

She didn't even notice as he lunged forward, even when Mrs. Akakitsune screamed and pulled at her arm, trying to get her to dodge Hiten's blow along with the small family. The staff crackled with the same bluish lightning as it swung towards them, making the air shiver.

She did, however, notice when Inuyasha slammed shoulder-first into Hiten, knocking the youkai sideways into the snow.

Inuyasha was on him before he could sit up. "Don't you dare touch her!" he yelled, swinging a fist into Hiten's face. His yellow eyes were livid, the pupils mere slits despite the darkness of their surroundings. "Fucking bastard!"

Kagome gasped then, fighting the urge to bury her face in her hands. Mrs. Akakistune had pulled her aside, and might even have managed to lead her away from the fight if Kagome hadn't stopped. I can't leave him.

Hiten grinned at him painfully, mirthlessly. His eyes were narrowed, the expression in them matching Inuyasha's own. "You dare tell me what to do, dog?" The grin widened. "I suggest you be more concerned about your own fate than that of the girl.'

Inuyasha frowned, trying to interpret his words, but his thoughts only got as far as shit! before the staff lit up once again and threw him off Hiten, burning into his side at the same time. Inuyasha landed on the ground, trying to catch his breath.

Kagome began to run forwards, but before she had gone two paces Hiten turned and pointed the staff at her. She threw up her arms again instinctively, and there was another flash of light—but this time, it was the blue lightning of the thunder youkai, and it was directed most definitely at her.

"Kagome." Inuyasha sat up, eyes wide with disbelief as the ground tore itself to pieces between him and the girl. He couldn't see her through the light, but he could hear her—and she was screaming. "Kagome!"

Hiten was turning back to him, a grim look of satisfaction spreading across his face. His eyes were too wide, shining with the wrong light. "Manten calls for more blood," he said, but Inuyasha was fed up with listening. The screaming had died down.

"Shut the fuck up!" Inuyasha didn't even bother with the intermediary step of standing up, he just launched himself directly off the ground. Drawing back his arm, he swept his claws forward, slashing at Hiten with a yell. "Sankon tessou!" Trails of light followed his fingertips, shooting towards the youkai.

Hiten dispersed the attack easily, knocking them aside so that they shattered the window behind him, dislodging a few bricks. He began to grin, although it did not lessen the mad gleam in his eyes. Inuyasha was breathing hard, shifting his gaze between his opponent and the wall of blue energy that still separated him from Kagome.

Kagome… Kagome' s...

… body…

The thought of her lying dead and out of his reach drove him to attack again. "Sankon tessou!" once again, except this time, he followed up the energy blades with his body, running in their wake so that when Hiten thrust them aside again Inuyasha had the chance to follow up. Not even bothering this time with projectile attacks, his claws scored four long tears across Hiten's front. Hiten brought his staff down on Inuyasha's shoulder, but Inuyasha had moved before he could charge it again, clutching his bloodied side. He stumbled over Manten, still lying on the ground, and nearly gagged when he saw the youkai's dead features illuminated clearly for the first time by the wall of blue lightning.

And he was the last one to hold her.

Hiten's mad eyes were staring at him, while the thunder youkai's braid flew out behind him in the sudden wind. The staff was crackling with lightning once again, and Inuyasha could see him raising his arm again, preparing to deal what would doubtless be the finishing blow. And Inuyasha was bleeding, and weaponless.

Well… perhaps not quite.

Quickly, he whipped the arm that had been clutching his side forwards—and the blood that had previously been dripping from his fingertips was suddenly glowing a startling red and hurtling towards Hiten's face. "Hijin kessou!"

Hiten raised his weapon to block them, startled, and the fire around him faltered. By the time he looked back again, Inuyasha was no longer standing in front of him. Hiten blinked.

"Up here, bastard!" yelled Inuyasha.

Hiten never got the chance to look up. Inuyasha kicked aside the staff and swept both arms down, a single powerful stroke that slammed Hiten into the ground. The thunder youkai let out a startled, choking gasp before falling silent.

By that time the blue flickering that had been forever at the corner of Inuyasha's vision was beginning to fade. He whirled away from Hiten's sagging form, towards the dimming wall of flames—and he could faintly see Kagome's outline.

His rage was gone, replaced by disbelieving numbness. The girl was looking up, her hair whipping above her head as if blown by winds that blasted through the flames. Her face was blurring and refocusing as he stared, a shifting outline amid the chaos of blue and white. Mrs. Akakitsune was standing beside her, curled around a shape that he could only assume to be Shippou.

Kagome was smiling, beginning to look down as her mouth curved. And as she transferred her gaze from the skies to Inuyasha, the hanyou cursed the traitorous eyes that allowed him to see the sadness in that smile. She's dead… she's already dead and I didn't save her

Then the fire began to move. He could see the base of it pulling away from the ground, ascending in a new blast of wind.

"Shit!" He threw himself towards Kagome, calling upon every last reserve of strength he had left over from the fight. He cursed again as he lunged through the fire itself, a brief moment that could have been eternity before he finally contacted Kagome.

He tackled her, knocking her backwards and out of the fire. They landed on the ground together, Inuyasha barely managing to turn so that he wouldn't land on top of her—and he had only a second to muse that, for a ghost, she felt remarkably solid, before she sat up and smacked him on the head.

"Idiot!" she said, scrambling hurriedly to her feet. "What did you do that for?"

Inuyasha sat up to see Kagome running towards Mrs. Akakitsune's form. "Wh-what the hell?"

The young mother was shaking, holding her son tightly enough that he was beginning to utter strangled squeaking noises. She was crying.

"It's okay," said Kagome, trying to calm her. She put a hand on the woman's back. "Come on, we should go back inside."

"It's not all right!" said Mrs. Akakitsune, looking up. Inuyasha, who had been halfway to standing up, started upon seeing the expression in her green eyes. It was frighteningly akin to the look Hiten had taken on towards the end of the battle. Mrs. Akakitsune held her son and shook. "My mate is dead!"

Shippou's father? Inuyasha blinked. The brat had to have had one, evidently. But… when had this happened? Surely not during the fight—there was no way Inuyasha would have been unobservant enough to not notice a strange man, even a strange man who smelt like Shippou, wandering into range.

"I know," said Kagome soothingly. She took a step in the direction of the house. "We should go inside now, it may not be safe out here." She cast a pleading look at Inuyasha, darting her eyes towards Hiten in an attempt to make him understand, before heading towards the house.

"Keh," said Inuyasha. He dragged himself up the rest of the way, dourly noting the condition of his shirt—completely shredded, wet with melted snow and blood alike. And she doesn't care… He frowned. No that wasn't right. Well, I don't care either. I just killed a thunder youkai—let's see anyone try to patronize me now!

No, he certainly didn't care that Kagome was leaving him in favour of helping Mrs. Akakitsune. After all, he was the strong hanyou who won all of his fights; the kitsune was just a woman who'd lost her mate.

Whatever sort of bond that was. He knew about the bonds that could form between mates in any respective species, whether they were human or youkai, but he hardly knew how powerful or weak those bonds might be. Nobody was ever about to let a hanyou get close enough to judge. And his own father had been dead since… well, forever, it seemed.

Inuyasha made his way over to Hiten, stopping when he could look directly down at his enemy. Might as well check how thoroughly he'd done his job…

The sound of a wheezing voice startled him. "You're… a bastard…"

He sneered down at Hiten, who had half-opened bleary red eyes to glare at him. "What? You still alive?"

"If you think… I'd be killed… so easily…" Hiten coughed, and then grinned up at Inuyasha through a mouthful of blood. "You've got another thought… coming…"

"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted. "I'm about to put you out of your misery, asshole. Don't think much of it."

He raised a hand, tensing his claws so that they cracked threateningly. Hiten closed his eyes and laughed.

"Too bad I'm probably about to… save you the trouble… bastard…" he rasped. "Manten must be lonely…"

"Your stupid brother isn't feeling much of anything where he is now, idiot," said Inuyasha. Hiten opened his eyes again.

"Don't… insult my brother… bastard." His eyes were beginning to glaze over. "Naraku thought he was the best for this job…"

"Keh! Well, obviously he wasn't, idiot, because he failed. And so did you." Inuyasha spat his words at the thunder youkai, a brief return of the rage he'd felt earlier fueling his annoyance. "Naraku must be a pretty shitty judge of ability."

He lifted his hand again, about to deliver a finishing blow, and then paused. Hiten's chest had stopped moving.

"About damn time," he muttered, letting his arm drop to his side once more. Following Kagome inside was a very appealing prospect just now—and so he checked on Manten to make sure the youkai was dead as well before heading towards the window.

:00:00:

The scenery, while it might have been beautiful at any other point in time, was beginning to grow monotonous. As Miroku found his mind wandering, whether from the lateness or from sheer boredom, he found other things to think about. For instance, the fact that he would soon need to look over his vehicle—there was an odd rhythmic clunking noise coming from the back. And how Mrs. Higurashi, despite her lack of spiritual training, could hide her emotions as well as anyone he'd ever met. And how that bruise, or whatever it was on the palm of his right hand, still didn't seem to have gone away.

Strange, really, how quiet one car ride could be.

If they turn out to have left again by the time we arrive, I shall hunt down Inuyasha and personally throttle him, thought Miroku. After all, it wasn't as if they could be in much danger any more... he hadn't felt the Shikon since that moment earlier; and as Kagome was likely the only one who could shield its aura, and the jewel would probably send out another wave of power if she died, the logical deduction was that they weren't in danger.

Set aside for now the fact that Miroku was, once again, using his training to feel for the jewel, for Kagome's shifting aura and Inuyasha's youki; despite all the promises he'd made to both himself and to his father's memory...

Yes, he would kill Inuyasha when he caught up to him. Kagome not so much—she was, after all, very pretty.

"Turn right here," said Mrs. Higurashi, gesturing towards a fork in the road. Miroku turned, mentally cursing the distance that was easily twice what he'd originally assumed. Judging by the last couple of days, the hanyou could cover more ground in less time than Miroku's car… even, while barefoot and (most likely) carrying a human girl.

"How close would you say we are, now?" asked Miroku, without looking away from the road.

Mrs. Higurashi thought for a few seconds before replying. "We should be nearly there. Give it another five minutes or so to the outskirts…"

And then perhaps another ten minutes to find the house… blast, if only there were some way of making telephone calls from cars…

"Miroku," said Mrs. Higurashi after a minute or so. She sounded edgy again.

"Yes?"

"Do you think… he wouldn't purposely hurt her, would he?"

Ah… so the reassurance Kagome's telephone call gave her is beginning to wear off…

"No, Mrs. Higurashi," he said. "Inuyasha may seem to be rude and occasionally violent, but he wouldn't hurt anyone intentionally." Not badly, anyway. And non-humans, in his view, likely don't count…

The car lapsed back into relative silence. Again. Miroku resisted the urge to tap him fingers against the steering wheel as he drove, just to break up the sound of slush moving about beneath the tyres. I shouldn't be so impatient… After all, years of training should have taught him better.

…Then again, if certain recent events were to be believed, all the training he'd undergone was for nothing. No, worse than nothing… it was better left unlearned, unknown; it was tainted knowledge.

Father…

He forced his mind away from those thoughts fiercely. Later. He would think about it later. When he was ready, and the memories were more than a week old…

"There's Dawn Avenue," said Mrs. Higurashi, and Miroku all but twitched out of his seat. He hadn't even noticed when they'd entered Glennesville; the once-darkened road was now illuminated faintly by intermittent lampposts, and the glimmering reflections of windows marked the presence of buildings where before thee had been just trees.

Think about the matter at hand. Focus… Concentration yielded a surprise. There was youki nearby, and it was unfamiliar.

He turned onto Dawn Avenue, keeping himself outwardly unaffected as he sorted through the sensation. There were multiple youkai at their destination, he realized. Inuyasha's was present, though more subdued than was usual; there were two others, which felt similar somehow. He dismissed the possibility of a fight almost before it even entered his mind, and relaxed subconsciously. All three auras were at rest—whatever was happening to Inuyasha, he was calm, and so were his potential adversaries.

The car's headlights fell upon a mailbox with the number three labeled clearly upon its side. The metal of the container was dented slightly on one side, as if someone had bumped a car into it or kicked it very hard before proceeding. Miroku had already begun the turn by the time Mrs. Higurashi said tersely, "we're here."

Number Three Dawn Avenue turned out to have a rather long driveway, and for some reason, despite the innate calmness of the youki he could feel, a sense of foreboding began to creep over Miroku. He showed none of it outwardly, but when they finally came within sight of the house and Mrs. Higurashi had gotten out of the stopped car, Miroku took a moment to open the glove compartment and reach inside for his ofuda.

He hadn't touched them in days, but they were reassuringly familiar. His right hand, of all things, began to throb as he closed his fingers around a decent-sized handful and fumbled the compartment shut again. It continued to twinge as he stuffed the ofuda into a pocket and left the car—it crossed his mind that perhaps the scraps of thick paper were the cause of it, somehow, but still… better safe than sorry. Without the shakujou he'd been training with for so many years, they were his only weapon.

Mrs. Higurashi had already rung the doorbell by the time he caught up to her. The snow on the ground was churned up with many footprints—had something happened? It was becoming harder to keep his face devoid of emotion, especially after a surreptitious glance around revealed a dark patch nearly hidden by shadows. It could almost have been blood…

The house was smallish, an inconspicuous structure made of red bricks with one square window on either side of an unobtrusive wooden door. Faint light filtered out from behind light greenish curtains, providing some illumination to the clearing in front of the house.

Miroku made sure that he was standing in such a position that he would be able to act immediately, should whatever opened the door turn out to be threatening.

They didn't have to wait long. The door opened and Mrs.Higurashi's eyes widened. The young-seeming red-haired woman who had opened the door looked inordinately happy to see them, mouth already half-open in a joyous call—but that expression didn't last much more than a few seconds.

Rather, it swung to the opposite extreme. Kagome arrived at the doorway just as it seemed that the woman would burst into tears. Smiling quickly at Mrs. Higurashi, she put an arm around the woman's shoulders, drawing her back into the house.

"Come on," she said, retreating further into the home. She looked back over her shoulder to find Miroku blinking at her and Mrs. Higurashi looking confused. "You'd better come in too," she said, almost apologetically.

It didn't take long before half the story—the half that didn't require mention of youkai—was laid out: murderous bandits had killed Mrs. Akakitsune's husband while he was away from the house, and then had come to finish the job by killing those associated with him as well. Inuyasha and Kagome had helped beat them back.

"Where is Inuyasha, anyway?" Miroku had asked, peering around the small living room. It was evident that the hanyou wasn't in that room, but he could definitely feel his friend's youki nearby…

Kagome had looked at the floor. "He… got hurt again, so I bandaged him, but with everything else that's been going on, we didn't want to get blood around the house… so he's staying in the washroom."

And he agreed to this? Perhaps Inuyasha had grown a bit of patience in his absence. Miroku had smiled. It certainly wouldn't hurt him to be a bit more agreeable…

Kagome couldn't help but be impressed with Mrs.Akakitsune. She had held together remarkably well, save for her one slip at the door… she'd even lent one of Mr. Akakitsune's old shirts to Inuyasha. Kagome had worried that she would remain in a state of panic after the reality of her 'mate's' death had sunk in, but once the hysteria of the fight had faded she had quite calmly put Shippou to bed, helped Inuyasha clean up, and then sat down to a cup of tea with Kagome in the living room. Together they had concocted the story to tell Kagome's mother

Mrs. Higurashi didn't seem to suspect anything. At the beginning of the story, she had simply looked puzzled, but when she heard of Mr. Akakitsune's fate she suddenly became a lot more talkative. Kagome smiled somewhat sadly as she and Miroku left the room surreptitiously, and the boy glanced at her with curiosity.

"It's… my mum's probably remembering when my father died," she explained quietly. When Miroku opened his mouth to ask something else, she held a finger to her lips.

"Shippou's asleep," she said, in response to a second questioning look.

"Shippou?" said Miroku, making sure to keep his voice low.

Kagome nodded towards the living room, where Mrs. Akakitsune and Mrs. Higurashi were speaking earnestly to one another. "Her son." She smiled. "He's really cute."

"Ah." Miroku hesitated for another moment. "Miss Kagome..." There. It was half out, and he'd have to ask her now or else make a fool of himself. "What exactly occurred here, before your mother and I arrived?"

Kagome glanced at him, puzzled. "Well... uh... Shippou was..."

Miroku shook his head. "No, no... I mean, I felt a surge of power from the Shikon no Tama, earlier. Something must have happened." He fixed his eyes on her profile, perhaps taking just a little bit of time to enjoy the view.

Kagome frowned again, though more in thought than in mere confusion. "Manten..." she said slowly. "He was trying to attack us... I don't really know what happened after that. There was lots of light, and afterwards, Manten was dying."

Miroku nodded.

"I think the Shikon no Tama was protecting me somehow," Kagome continued, no longer quite speaking to Miroku alone. "Maybe it sensed that we were in danger..."

Miroku had his own thoughts on the matter, but that could wait.

Inuyasha was sitting on the edge of the tub in the washroom, keeping one hand pressed against his side. There was blood on his fingers, and some of it had gotten onto the ledge—the streaks of red stood out luridly against the white porcelain. He looked up as Kagome and Miroku entered the washroom through the half-open door.

Miroku took in Inuyasha's less-than-pristine appearance. "Well," he said blandly. "Those bandits certainly did a number on you."

"Shut up, bouzu," said Inuyasha, glaring balefully up at him. He shifted on the ledge, wincing, as Kagome knelt beside him to check on the source of the blood. Pulling the hem of Inuyasha's shirt upwards revealed a hastily-applied bandage running up his side, right beside the still-healing scar from the wound inflicted days before. There was a good deal of blood.

Miroku raised his eyebrows as Inuyasha winced. "I'm surprised, Inuyasha—I wouldn't have imagined that a pair of humans could do this to you."

"Fuck you," said Inuyasha, hands tensing on the ledge of the tub as he tried to keep from clutching at his side again. Kagome was straightening the edges of his bandage, muttering 'sorry!' every time his claws grated against the porcelain. Inuyasha met Miroku's eyes. "It was a pair of youkai, and you damn well know it already, bouzu."

Miroku held up a finger, smiling innocently. "Ah, but there you're wrong. I suspected. I didn't know until you told me just now—there is a difference, you see."

Inuyasha closed his eyes. "Shut up."

Kagome patted down the edges of the bandage and stood. "It looks as if it's stopped bleeding," she said, and then bit at her lip. "I do wish we had more gauze, though…"

"Keh!" Inuyasha stood as well, a little stiffly, and lowered his shirt. "It'll heal fast enough, with or without gauze."

Turning, he twisted at one of the knobs on the tub, growling at it when it refused to move. Kagome moved up behind him and pulled his hands away gently, then turned it in the opposite direction. Water began to pour from the faucet, and Kagome, not waiting for Inuyasha to move back into place, sloshed it against the ledge so that it washed away the blood.

Once the rim was clean, she stood up once again and turned to face Miroku. "Uh… Miroku?" she began hesitantly.

"Yes, Miss… ah, Kagome?" said Miroku.

"Do you know anything about disposal of youkai corpses?"

Miroku blinked. "Well… not a lot… why?"

Kagome stared at the ground and fiddled with the hem of her own shirt. "Because… the ones that attacked us are still out back somewhere. I don't want to leave cleaning up to Mrs. Akakitsune by herself…"

Miroku chuckled. "Don't worry about that, Kagome. Youkai corpses don't last long—they tend to dissolve within seconds, with a few exceptions… but they all vanish in the end." He laughed again, as if he hadn't been talking about decaying corpses. Makes it dreadfully hard to study them.

Kagome considered his words, still fiddling with a loose thread. "So… those youkai that were fighting us earlier today… they'll all be gone by the time we get back?"

Miroku nodded. "Most likely, yes. Unless they're a good deal stronger than they seemed."

"All right." Kagome took hold of Inuyasha's arm and smiled weakly at Miroku. "We'd still probably better check, though, right?

"If you don't want to, Miss Kagome, Inuyasha and I would be happy to go on our own," Miroku told her.

Inuyasha shot him a dour, vaguely disgusted look.

"Oh, no, I'll do it," said Kagome quickly, hoping to reassure them. They don't think I'm afraid to, do they? Perhaps it was a bit… distasteful… but she didn't like to think of herself as squeamish.

Well, maybe sometimes. But only around worms, and it was too cold for worms.

As luck would have it, the youkai-dissolving rule didn't apply to clothes.

:00:00:

The records of the inner city told of a city flooded with light, even at nighttime. Whether streetlamps, or light from storefront windows, even the small residential roads always had at least semi-decent illumination right up until the small hours of the morning, and even then it was never pitch-black.

After the fire that had reduced the central Archives to smoking rubble, there was precious else known about that time period—except for the fact that it was long over. Main roadways were lit until about three a.m, but beyond that, the streetlamps went out. By that time, the residential streets tended to have already been reduced to obscurity—power, after all, was rather expensive; even more so now that Sarushiro Tono had cut down on the funding for those services.

It was not at all difficult for those engaged in shady dealings to find themselves a headquarters of some sort. People tended not to care what other people did, in the city.

But then again, ease no longer mattered. The Core, the only real source of trouble for the city's criminal element, had been effectively removed—operatives had already been sent to the houses of any Core Taijiya who had been excluded from the rout, to fill them in on what they'd missed in a rather physical manner. Soon the only law enforcement within the city would be the police… and they were hardly a threat.

The plans were proceeding quite nicely. Next step was to boost morale again—reassure the minions that they were, after all, on the right side if they wanted power. Naraku needed something to do this… some extravagant gesture that would prove it; some way of thumbing his metaphorical nose at any who would oppose him.

So, he chose the logical course of action: he took over the old Core.

:0:

"Sir?" said Byakuya, bringing Naraku's attention languidly back to the pair in front of him. The effeminate young man stood just in front of his younger-seeming companion, a small pale girl who was, despite her age, one of Naraku's best operatives. The basement was cloaked in darkness, but her white clothing stood out clearly—light grey, against the welling blackness behind her and Byakuya.

"Be silent," said Naraku, turning his thoughts once again to the matter at hand. After a few more moments had gone by, filled with nothing but silence, he leaned back in his seat and narrowed his eyes. "Have you heard anything else?"

"No, sir," said Byakuya, watching him with a faint smile. It was very likely that the boy could see Naraku clearly through the darkness; given that he was a youkai, it was far from impossible. Byakuya gestured towards the small girl, indicating the round mirror she held loosely in both hands. "Neither Hiten nor Manten has sent word. Kanna here believes that they are dead."

"Tell me their last-known whereabouts," said Naraku.

"A small town called Glennesville," said Byakuya promptly. He appeared to have prepared his answers already; there was a rehearsed smoothness to his responses. "They were approaching the home of their subject."

Naraku's eyes narrowed further, though his expression betrayed little besides mild distaste. "So they failed in their mission."

"No, sir," said Byakuya. "They completed the mission—they were on their way to…" here he paused "apprehend the rest of the subject's family. Something would seem to have prevented that."

"Ah." Naraku thought for a few more moments, while Byakuya smiled and Kanna waited impassively. Kanna's bespelled mirror could only reflect the actions of those she had seen with her own eyes, and then only if she knew roughly where they were. If Hiten and Manten were truly dead, so was her usefulness in this affair, for the moment at least.

"Byakuya," he said at last.

The young youkai looked up. "Yes, sir?"

"Go to the home. Do not take any action—do not allow yourself to be seen. When you have determined the truth, return here."

Byakuya inclined his head slightly, then turned to leave. Kanna remained, watching Naraku with her blank, pale eyes. He ignored her, instead turning his thoughts to the news he had just received.

Glennesville… The news was certainly interesting, to say the least. He knew the name of that town. But where…

A slow smile crossed his face as Kanna continued to watch him. Glennesville, if he was at all correct, was roughly where he'd last sensed the jewel... It was nice to know that the young Taijiya has been the correct choice. Whoever was currently possessing the jewel was strong enough to take down two relatively powerful youkai... and pure, which meant that it was human. Another human would stand a better chance against such a foe than a youkai of any sort—and so long as he had the boy, the Taijiya's loyalty would be unquestioning.

Thoughts of this could wait for later, however. He still had another plan waiting to be executed.

"Kanna," he said.

The young youkai girl kept her eyes trained on his, perfectly expressionless. She made no noise to indicate that she'd heard him... but then again, she never did.

"Fetch me the telephone," he told her. Kanna turned away and moved to the back recesses of the darkened room. The bright colour of her white dress stood out less sharply the farther away she moved, and then came back into focus as she moved closer. Against its paleness the darkness seemed to swirl, shadows coming alive and struggling to absorb the only disturbance in its uniform blackness. Which was in itself an odd concept—there was nothing to absorb, really. Kanna, after all, was nothingness personified.

She approached Naraku's seat and held out a smallish rectangular telephone—newest of the inventions he'd commissioned. It was technology he himself had gleefully held back from the rest of the world, some hundred years earlier in his previous incarnation. And with it, he could make a call from anywhere.

Naraku picked it up, still smirking.

It was time to have another chat with the wind witch.

:00:00:

So... two things have happened since the last chapter. (And no, I don't mean within the story... if I meant within the story I'd have to cut that number down to zero point two...dumb writer's block).

First: This is the one-year anniversary of this story... it was exactly one year ago that I published it. I feel all special now...

Second: Winter was also nominated by the Inuyasha FanGuild for Best Characterization (For Miroku)! I didn't win, but the fact that I was even nominated in the first place makes me rather happy. So, thanks to any and all who were involved in that... It's nice to know that people liked it enough to consider nominating it.

And so, here there be chapter. And, at last, they're (partway to) getting back out of the deep countryside... and the plot stumbles back onto its shaky feet and plods along doggedly (heh heh... terrible pun when speaking of IY fics), towards its inevitable conclusion... One more note, actually:

Just a reminder that there are no widely-available cellphones in this world. It's different from the canon... and that happens to be one of the differences (although come to think of it, the cast of IY didn't seem to big on cellulars in the first place... what with the whole 'Sengoku Jidai' thing...)