"So what was that about?" Sango questioned from the staircase, leaning against the wall with a raised eyebrow. Her husband gave his wife a sheepish smile and chuckled nervously.

"You wouldn't possibly be referring to Lord Sesshomaru dropping a bunch of teenage girls onto our couches, would you?" he asked sardonically as he sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair.

"It's probably got something to do with that, yeah," his wife teased, though her tone did not suggest that she was finding any humor in the situation.

Miroku should have known that someday something like this was going to happen. Sesshomaru had been very specific about making sure to keep this a secret from everyone, and that had extended to Sango. That expectation was entirely unreasonable, Miroku had decided, and so he altered the terms slightly without informing the daiyokai. Sango knew that the girls were alive, but she didn't know anything about where they were or the situation surrounding it. The demon slayer had been incredibly understanding, as she knew that ultimately, it didn't have all that much to do with her. What Miroku had forgotten to tell her about ("forgotten" being that he just never mentioned it), was that Inuyasha and Kagome had had a child and that she had been living with Sesshomaru's daughters as well.

"So… are these them?" she asked, moving from the wall to get a better view of the young girls currently sleeping on their couches. Two girls (the twins) were on one couch while the more recent addition (Inuyasha's daughter) was sleeping on the loveseat on the other side.

This was a difficult position and Miroku knew it. Part of him wished that Lord Sesshomaru had never included him in these plans, but he knew that having the daiyokai in debt to him would be invaluable one day. Unfortunately, however, this now meant that he was going to have to give Sango more information than he was sure Sesshomaru would be happy about.

"Yes, these are them. These two are Sesshomaru's daughters,Towa and Setsuna– though to be fair, I have no idea who is who. That one over there," he explained as he pointed a finger at the sleeping quarter-demon, "-is Moroha, Inuyasha and Kagome's daughter."

Miroku watched as Sango's eyes widened and she took a step closer to inspect Moroha. The young girl certainly looked just like her mother, but there was something roguish about her face (even while asleep) that reminded him of her father's tenacity. He observed as Sango slowly fell to her knees, her hands coming up and hovering above the girl's face, as if wishing so badly to touch it. He watched his wife battle with herself for a moment before finally succumbing to the temptation and cupping the young girl's face with a tenderness he had seen her use with their own children. Quiet sobs fell from Sango's lips as she brushed the girl's bangs from her face.

"Oh, Kagome…" he heard her whisper, and he felt his heart break. "She looks so much like them."

Miroku was almost at a loss for words. He couldn't rightly tell Sango the truth about knowing where Moroha was, but he also couldn't lie to her.

"Why couldn't we have kept her with us? I would have raised her like my own, surely that would have been what Kagome wanted," Sango whispered, still running her thumb along the girl's cheek soothingly.

"I don't know what their wishes were, but I know that Sesshomaru must've deemed us too close to the situation to be allowed to be their guardians," Miroku explained gently, knowing that Sango had been horribly stricken by the news of Kagome and Inuyasha's deaths and it had taken years for her to be able to recover from the pain she felt back then. It had been difficult for him as well, but knowing that there was some piece of them left out there had been enough to help him be strong for Sango.

"Sesshomaru told you not to tell me, didn't he?" Sango surmised ruefully, shaking her head.

"Well, he actually didn't want me to tell you about any of them…" he admitted after a moment of consideration. "Truthfully, I know very little about the situation other than what very little Lord Sesshomaru has deigned to inform me. I was tasked with sealing away Moroha's demonic energy and being their 'doctor' for lack of a better word. I've only had to help out once, and all I had to do was send medicine to Sesshomaru's vassal, Jaken."

Sango seemed to consider this information for a moment before nodding her head.

"So what must we do now?"

"Well," Miroku began, his shoulders sagging a bit from fatigue. "I was told that the person in charge of them would be coming by to collect them shortly, though I'm unsure how soon that is."

"Do you think that the girls will remain asleep until that person is able to collect them?" his wife inquired. He was grateful that she didn't question him about who it was that was going to pick them up, as that was definitely on the "do-not-share" list.

The monk glanced at the two half-demon girls and frowned a bit. In truth, he was entirely uncertain when they would wake up. Sealing away demonic power was tough enough to do on a weak demon, let alone the daughters of very powerful demons. He knew that the sealing would last at least until the girls came in contact with Sesshomaru again, but he couldn't be certain if it would change before that. They had extremely powerful auras and just placing a binding spell on them would only be able to hold for so long.

"If we are lucky, that would be the case," Miroku began as he walked to the corner of the living room and grabbed a couple of blankets from a basket. He draped them over the twins and Moroha with a sigh. "Though fortune never has seemed too keen on us."
This drew a dry laugh from his wife who helped to tuck the girls in and remove the hairs stuck to their foreheads.

"I wish I could keep Moroha. Look how dirty they are, they can't be living somewhere all that good," Sango mused as she stood over Moroha with a wistful expression. Miroku was glad that she wasn't looking too deep into the clothing that the twins were wearing, as it would be a dead giveaway to a highly trained demon-slayer like his wife. He approached Sango and rested a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"Someday, I'm sure everything will work itself out," he reassured her, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze as he began to guide her out of the living room. "Come, let's rest. The children will be awake in less than eight hours," he reminded her with a sigh.

This seemed to be warning enough and Sango nodded and followed her husband up the stairs.

"I wonder where he's been keeping them all this time?" Sango whispered, her words more rhetorical than anything.

"Someplace safe, I'm sure."

She was in that place again. The place where reality and dreams merged. She couldn't be certain whether she was dead or alive, but she was certain that the people in front of her were none too pleased to see her.

"Moroha," the man in red grunted, his arms crossed over his haori.

"Dad," she greeted sheepishly, her hand up in a small wave.

"You could've been seriously hurt," the woman in white and red chastised, shaking her head. Moroha chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head.

"Mom," she greeted as well.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, young lady," her mother continued, a stern look on her face.

"I told ya– I'm gunna find you two no matter what it takes," she answered with a defiant jut of her chin.

"Bein' in the city ain't safe, Moroha," Inuyasha pointed out. "Ya've never been there and you ain't got any clue what ya might be gettin' yourself into."

"We have a lot of enemies, Moroha. You should really go home to Koga."

Moroha considered her mothers words for a moment before shaking her head.

"No. I've come this far, I ain't goin' back until I've found you! Besides, I found my grandma and great-grandpa– I must be gettin' close!" Moroha countered, her face brightening as she held up a triumphant fist.

"Moroha, listen to me," her father began, reaching out and placing both of his clawed hands on her shoulders. "The man you met today– Sesshomaru– you need to get as far away from him as possible."

The quarter-demon's eyes widened as she gazed into the grim expression of her father.

"But I feel like I'm so close. Everyone keeps hinting at Sesshomaru being something more to me than just Papa Koga's acquaintance– there has to be more to it! And I know it has something to do with where you two are bein' held," she asserted, pointing a clawed finger at her father's chest.

"Moroha, please," her mother pleaded, "Stop searching for us. We swear to you that we will find you as soon as it is safe, but now is not the right time."

"No!"

"Moroha," her dad gave her a firm shake. "If Zero ever finds you, she'll torture you and the twins and then she'll kill you in a slow, painful death," he explained, the gruffness of his words sinking into her chest like a lead weight. "If you aren't gunna give up, then you need to lay low and find Miroku and his wife, Sango. They're old friends of ours. They can keep you hidden for a short time, but don't go lookin' for that Sesshomaru bastard anymore, got it?"

"Why? What's so dangerous about him? Grandma and Gramps didn't seem to be scared of him." Moroha listened to her mother's sad laugh and her father's rueful snort.

"Those two ain't got a lick of self-preservation instincts in their bodies," Inuyasha supplied.

"Mom and Gramps are very friendly people, is what your father means," Kagome explained, moving closer to bring a hand onto Moroha's head. "Sesshomaru has connections to Zero. Being around him is too risky."

"But then, why didn't he kill me when he saw me?" Moroha asked, her heart beating erratically in her chest. All around her was an unpleasant aura, and she felt herself shudder in response to it.

Her father let loose a low growl and looked upward in the space they were inhabiting. "That bastard…" he grumbled with a shake of his head. When the aura seemed to dissipate, Inuyasha turned to her once again.

"He doesn't have a reason to kill you yet, but he will if you get in his way," the half-demon answered with a shake of his head.

"Who is he to me?" she demanded, her brows furrowing in determination.

"Right now," her father began, "he's the person keeping all of us alive."

Her father's words hit her heart with a force she was unprepared for and she was sure that if this had been the real world, she would have needed to catch herself to keep from falling to her knees. This Sesshomaru person was the key in finding her parents. All she needed to do was get the information out of him one way or another.

"Moroha," her father shook her again, forcing her to meet his golden gaze burning with frustration and desperation. "That means you need to stay out of his way. If word gets out about you and twins existing– literally anything at all reaches Zero– we are all done for."

"But, Dad, I heard about you and mom. You two are the strongest fighters there's ever been! Why couldn't you just kill Zero and be done with it?" she shot back with a confused crease between her brows.

"It's much more complicated than that," Kagome answered. "We can't explain anything, but please know that killing Zero would certainly kill us all."

"But… but then…"

"See?" her dad asked gently. "This is a really delicate situation, Moroha. Your involvement could mean the deaths of everyone you care about."

It was a fair argument, and one that she hadn't considered with the information that she had been given (which had been essentially nothing). She couldn't risk encountering that white-haired guy again, but there had to be a way to get information without being around him.

"Go home, Moroha. Let Sesshomaru get everything figured out and we'll see you before you know it," the miko encouraged, smiling softly at her daughter.

Moroha was quiet for a moment, unable to meet either of their gazes. When a short silence had passed over them, she heard her father sigh.

"She ain't budgin, Kagome."

"It's that stubbornness she gets from you."

"Hey, don't blame this all on me– you're plenty stubborn yourself."

"Not about fighting."

"No, but probably about everything else!"

Moroha listened to her parents bicker back and forth for a bit before a soft smile stretched across her face. This was exactly the reason she couldn't give up. She wanted to be part of their arguments, to be there for the small things and the day-to-day stuff. She knew that sitting around and waiting for things to get better wasn't going to make any of that happen for her.

"Keep waiting for me, guys. I'll be there before ya know it!" she promised with a bright smile.

Though her parents were obviously disapproving of her decision, there wasn't much that could be done about it. Moroha was determined, and once she put her mind to something, there was little to nothing a person could do to stop her.

Setsuna knew that she needed to wake up. The problem was that she couldn't remember how. It had been so long since she had been unconscious before that she couldn't figure out how to get out of the weird dark place that she was trapped in. She had been in pain earlier while she was in this space, but the pain had come and gone, and she still hadn't woken up.

It didn't seem like she had any sort of body to speak of in this place, but she felt like maybe she was some kind of cloud of consciousness, drifting through darkness. She tried to go to the furthest corners of this place, but she had the impression that there was neither a beginning nor an end to whatever darkness surrounded her.

After what felt like centuries, a presence made itself known to her. There was nothing to be seen visibly (though she was uncertain that she could see anything anyways), but she felt like there was something just ahead of her. No matter how much she tried to approach it, the presence never felt any closer, though it also never felt any further away.

A feeling came through her, a feeling she was certain came from the other presence in this place. It was the feeling of checking up on someone after they've done something they weren't supposed to do– equal parts concern to frustration. A memory passed through her mind suddenly– the pale face of the man in white, his expression morphed into concentration and perhaps concern? She didn't recognize this memory, but she couldn't deny that it felt familiar.

Go home, Setsuna, the voice from earlier warned her.

Father will find us eventually. I have left a trail, she responded. She was uncertain as to why, but she felt a deep connection to this presence.

It is not safe here.

I know, Setsuna agreed. I cannot leave behind my sister or Moroha.

Take them with you.

They will not leave, Setsuna answered. She would have shaken her head in frustration if she could have.

Tell them it is not safe. Your father is worried about you, the voice tried reasoning.

Chief Koga will find us eventually. I will try to keep them safe until he does.

No, not– Before the voice could finish her sentence, a strange sensation of being lifted came over her. It was almost as if floating to the top of a lake. When she opened her eyes, her gaze met that of an unfamiliar woman looking down upon her.

"Good, you're awake," the woman remarked before moving away slightly to give the teen some space. Setsuna narrowed her eyes at the stranger and sat up slowly, feeling as though every muscle in her body had been worked far past its limits. Everything ached and burned, and her mouth felt like sandpaper.

"I have breakfast in the kitchen if you would like some. Here," the woman reached behind and grabbed a strange clear cup. "You probably want some water."

Setsuna narrowed her eyes and looked back at the concoction being offered to her. The woman claimed that the liquid inside was water, but Setsuna had been taught better than to accept anything from a stranger.

"How did I get here?" she asked instead.

"A demon found you and brought you here. They said that you were already unconscious when they found you," she supplied. Setsuna sniffed the air and found that there was some truth to what the woman was saying, but there was also deceit laced within her words.

"Hn," she muttered, trying to discern the situation. A cursory glance around the dwelling had her mind riddled with questions. There were many contraptions that she did not recognize, as well as several scents she had never encountered before. Still, when her eyes landed on the sleeping forms of her twin and cousin, she felt a weight lift off of her chest. "Who are you?"

"My name is Sango. I'm a family friend," the woman answered, no deceit lacing her scent this time.

"Friend of whose family?"

"Hers," Sango replied, pointing a finger to Moroha's sleeping form.

"Explain."

"Well, you see–"

"Ah, Sango! I'm glad to see you've already gotten to meet one of the twins. Let's not bombard her now," a man cut in, his voice full of charm. Setsuna's eyes narrowed at the man as she took in his appearance. The man had black hair which was pulled back into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck. He wore a purple top of a material she was unfamiliar with paired with trousers which were a shade of blue mixed with white made of another material she had never encountered.

"I was just offering her some water, but she seems to be well-trained in distrusting the kindness of strangers," Sango chuckled. "She's a smart girl, I can tell."

"Certainly so," the man nodded. "This must be Setsuna. My name is Miroku. I am the monk who was entrusted with your care until your father can collect you," he explained, a friendly smile on his face. Setsuna was not fooled by his easy smile, nor his friendly demeanor– if anything, it made her distrust him all the more. Chief Koga had drilled into her that trusting anyone before they could prove themselves would inevitably lead to a path of destruction.

"How do you know my father?"

"He's a family friend. I've known him many years now. Oh, that reminds me. Sango? Would you start waking up the twins? They'll miss the bus if they don't start getting ready now," the man asked of his wife, though Setsuna had no idea what a "bus" was. The woman named Sango seemed to narrow her eyes at the man for a moment before sighing and nodding her head.

"I'll get to it. I'll wake Hisui as well. It was nice seeing you girls. Let Moroha know that I said hi," she bid before heading up the stairs to whatever the upper story held.

"How does she know Moroha? She said she was a family friend to her." Setsuna watched as the monk smiled, though she could tell by the way his heartbeat increased that she had asked a question he didn't want to answer.

"Yes. You see, Sango and I were once friends with the late Inuyasha and Kagome, Moroha's parents. We traveled with them and fought in countless battles together. Sango knew nothing of you girls until yesterday," he explained, picking up the cup of water and drinking it himself. When he offered the cup to her, she accepted it, though not without a careful sniff.

"Here, let me show you," he offered, standing up and moving to a shelf on one of the walls of the room, returning with a strange rectangle with a painting inside. In the painting was the monk, the woman, two small demons, and two individuals who she assumed were Inuyasha and Kagome. "When we heard of their deaths, we were devastated. Knowing that someone survived from them, however, has given the both of us a great deal of hope."

"And what of Chief Koga?" she prodded.

"Well," the man chuckled. "He would often come into the group to assist with battles amongst other things."

"Why do you laugh? What is amusing about my question?" the half-demon demanded, her eyes narrowing at the monk in front of her.

"Oh, no, please forgive me. It was not your question that amused me, but the memories it created. Koga and Inuyasha had an… interesting relationship to say the least. I'm sure he's mentioned it to you."

Setsuna nodded at his words as her own memories of Chief Koga's rants about the "mutt-faced dog demon" surfaced. He would always begrudgingly admit that Inuyasha had been a dear friend, but he never hesitated to throw some insults in there any time Moroha wasn't around.

"Why did the demon bring me here? How did they know that this would be a safe place?" she asked, deciding to get straight to the point. The monk's smile faltered for a moment as he seemed to try to come up with an explanation. "Do not lie, I can smell deceit," she warned.

"Well, you see–"

"Ugh… what the hell?" Moroha groaned as she sat up, looking around the room.

"Ah, Moroha! I'm glad to see you are awake! Sango will be pleased to be able to see you awake before you go," Miroku greeted, seemingly grateful to have had an interruption to her interrogation. Setsuna decided to drop the subject for now, but knew that she would need to find a way to get the info from him somehow.

"Where the hell am I? Where's that bastard Sesshomaru? Wait– did you say 'Sango'?" she asked as she woke up, her words slurring until she seemed to recognize that name.

"Yes, that would be my wife. My name is Miroku, I'm a friend of your father's. I know it might be hard to believe, but–"

"You're exactly the people I wanted to see!" the quarter-demon exclaimed with a toothy grin.