Author's Note: Finnaly...sorry about taking so long with this, but it took forever to write this with all my miscillainous school stuff going on, and then so long to type up (10 pages!) that I had to take a few days break before posting.

Chapter 8: Festivals and Fire Cats (Part 2)

Honouneko, the girl's cat, suddenly burst into flames.

"What the…" Miruk jumped back. Did a cat just burst into flames? Now he could see why Sen thought her cat was possessed.

Inuyasha's expression was something of a smirk and a snarl. "I told ya there was a demon."

Miruk just stood there.

The flames disappeared almost as quickly as they had come.

Blinking slightly, Miruk stared at the large creature that had taken the place of the small cat. It was obviously the same animal with the same color and markings, but it now had fangs, jutting down from a more prominent muzzle, and its eyes now had an expression that reminded him of hunting lions from documentaries he had seen when he was younger. Not only that, but there were still a few flickering flames around its paws and tails.

"It's…uh…not like anything I've seen before…" Miruk managed to get out.

"Feh…I've seen plenty of shape-shifting demons before," Inuyasha muttered.

"That's not all she can do," Sen spoke up, "she can fly."

"Fly?"

Sen nodded. "I'll show you." She walked over to the two tailed cat demon and climbed on her back. She then looked over at Miruk. "Well? C'mon."

Miruk looked up at her. "You want me to ride it?"

"Her," Sen corrected, "Honouneko is a girl. And besides," she scratched the demon behind an ear, "when I showed my parents, they thought I had rigged up a projector or used smoke and mirrors or something. I just wanted to make sure you believed me."

Miruk flashed a look at Inuyasha. "Heh…you'd be surprised at the things I believe in."

Sen started speaking again, remaining on top of Honouneko, "If you insist. I've found flying quite exhilarating, but…" She sighed, "That's why I was hoping for an exorcism. I really want to keep her, but I can't have a demon possessed flying cat up in Tokyo's sky."

Heh…if only Kagome was so attached to the demon she found, Miruk laughed mentally. He was about to reply when Inuyasha jumped in. "You'd have to destroy it."

A horrified look flashed across Sen's face. "What?"

Miruk figured out what he was saying. "What my friend means to say is that Honouneko seems to be an actual cat demon, not a demon possessed cat." He let Sen think about that for a second, then continued, "meaning that a powerful exorcism would either destroy or banish her rather than making her a normal cat."

"Oh," Sen was silent for a minute, before getting off Honouneko. With another flash of fire, the now innocent looking demon jumped up into Sen's arms and let out a small mew. "I'm going to think about this." She started to walk back towards the front of the shrine, but she paused and looked back at Inuyasha and Miruk, "You two won't tell anyone that I'm keeping a demon, will you?"

Inuyasha muttered something about not being allowed out of the house.

"What was that?"

Miruk directed Sen back to her intended direction. "He said he won't tell." He shot a look at the dog hanyou, plainly telling him to be careful about what he says.

The courtyard had almost completely cleared out by now, so they didn't have to maneuver through crowds like they had to earlier. They reached entrance in a few minutes.

"I hope I will have the honor of meeting you sometime soon," Miruk said as a farewell.

Sen didn't turn to look at him, and he didn't notice her right hand clenching. "Hopefully if that day comes, you can prevent your hand from 'slipping'."

Miruk grinned to himself as she left. Well…I like a challenge.

He must have been standing there for a while, daydreaming, because the next thing he was aware of was Kagome calling his name and waving her hand in front of his face.

"Oi! Miruk! What's with that happy, dazed look?" Remembering his habit of flirting with almost any woman he saw, "Wait a second, don't answer that."

Miruk debated whether to tell Kagome about Honouneko while she said goodnight to Hojou (who had walked her home). As Miruk and Kagome headed back towards the house, he decided he wouldn't be breaking his promise if he didn't tell Kagome who had the demon cat.

"Apparently Inuyasha isn't the only large demon running loose in the city."

Kagome turned her head to look at him. "Really? Did one show up in your exorcisms?"

"Uh-uh. The stuff brought to your grandfather and I was only truly possessed about five percent of the time, and they were just minor spirits and demons. But someone did bring a pet of theirs."

"And?"

"Turns out it was an actual demon who could change forms. She seemed to have become attached to the demon, so she decided to keep it instead of getting rid of it."

Kagome kept walking. She didn't seem phased by the idea of more powerful demons living in this era. "Was it Sen?"

Miruk paused. "How do you know her?"

Kagome shrugged. "I don't know her really well, she's just a classmate," they had reached the house and she opened the door. "Keeping a supernatural creature does seem like the kind of thing she would do." She let out a yawn, "I'm heading to bed…'Night Miruk."

Miruk was about to head into the house after her, but he paused. Odd…I could have sworn someone was watching us…

Meanwhile, back behind the house, Inuyasha was wiping his claws on his haori, cleaning them off. "Dunno why you're flying around here," he said to the pile of what looked like insect remains, "but it did feel good to get some target practice." He look a quick sniff to see if there were any more of the pests hanging around, then jumped up to a nearby tree for some sleep.

I'll get back into the house before those two realized I didn't go back inside, he thought as he dozed off.

Several miles outside Tokyo was a gloomy, misty plain of sorts. It had been there for as long as the locals could remember, but they left it alone, people could easily get lost in the mist and never find their way back out. A few of these had actually found the center of the mist, but didn't live long enough to find their way out and tell everyone what was in there.

A group of demons, weaker than ones such as Inuyasha or Honouneko, but still strong enough to tear a human to shreds, patrolled the edges of what seemed to be ancient walls.

On a very rare occasion, someone could have gotten past the demons and the wall, such as the case of nineteen year old Toya. He had always been fascinated by the stories associated with the misty land near his hometown. Armed with a camera and a knife, he ha adventured into the mist, and after a few hours, found himself on the other side of the walls.

"Amazing…" he murmured, raising his camera. He seemed to be in the courtyard of an old fashioned palace. "Who knew there was a historical find so close to town?" As he wandered the courtyard, he couldn't help thinking, But what happened to all the people who disappeared?

"Well, well, well…you're the first mortal in about 40 years to have gotten in here."

Toya whipped around. A boy of about 14 stood fifteen feet away. Toya wasn't sure what surprised him more: the boy's purple hair and pale skin, his sudden appearance, or the curved glaive he had over one shoulder. "Who…where?" He wasn't sure what to ask first, but his right hand went to the knife he had through his belt, just in case.

Taking the blade off his shoulder, the youth gave a few experimental swings; he was very skilled with it. "You can call me Akago…not that you'll know it for long." Toya really did not like the expression on his face.

"D…do you live here?" he stammered. If he could just keep this creepy kid talking, he might be able to make a bolt to the hole in the wall.

"Yeah…for several centuries actually."

Toya felt his back hit one of the skeletal trees that were scattered through the courtyard. If he could just edge around it…I'm pretty certain it's the one near the hole…He continued with his questioning. "Centuries? So are you a ghost or something?"

Before he could move another inch, Akago's blade flashed, faster than Toya's eyes could have followed, and a burst of pain spread through his upper body. The glaive had gone through his shoulder, pinning him to the tree trunk.

"Now if I were a ghost, that wouldn't have hurt." Akago let out a chilling laugh and moved to a few inches in front of Toya. "Now, why bother dirtying my blade with more human blood," he indicated Toya's bleeding shoulder, "when you have a perfect blade for the job." He reached an arm out and Toya held his knife tighter. He wasn't going to let that…that…psycho have anything that could end Toya's life.

But Akago didn't reach for the knife; instead he placed his hand over Toya's heart. Hateful thoughts and memories suddenly flashed before his eyes.

"Well, such a strong hatred toward your parents…this will make things easy."

Toya couldn't figure out where the voice was coming from, all he could think of was how his parents focused all their attention on his little sister and never listened to a word he said. Not only that, they wouldn't let him take the college entrance exams because they wanted him to take over the family business. He was so consumed with jealousy and anger, he didn't notice the unknown force enter his mind until it was too late.

Akago smiled as the human youth's face and eyes went blank; he was now under his control. "I believe you know what I want you to do."

Toya's expression didn't change as he slowly raised his knife above his own throat.

"Human blood is so damn hard to get off," Akago complained, scrubbing at his glaive's blade. He had given the corpse to the demons that always hung around the walls, and changed his clothes, but he was attached to his blade and didn't like it stained with gore.

Akago.

The only reaction the youth gave to the voice was to lean his glaive against the wall and walk out of the room.

Momentarily, Akago arrived at the main audience chamber. The huge room was empty of furniture or decorations except for a low table and mat at the far end of the hall and a few candle stands scattered about.

Kneeling next to the table and holding a circular mirror was a girl who looked to be a few years older than himself. Everything about her was pale, from her skin to her clothing. The exception to this were her blank, downcast eyes, which were as dark as a bottomless void.

Akago ignored her. His attention was on the figure hidden by the flickering shadows the few candles formed. "You summoned me?"

"Look in the mirror," the figure said, gesturing with an arm towards the pale girl.

Bending down to look, Akago watched the scene in the mirror. It was relatively brief; two humans walking into a house together, and then a flash of red, white, and claws before the mirror went dark and the scene started to repeat itself.

Akago studied the two humans this time. "The man looks like that monk your curse destroyed centuries ago," he commented. He hadn't been present during the incident because he had the form of an infant at that time and couldn't move far on his own, but had watched it in this same mirror.

"And the woman looks like that wench Kikyou that I killed before your time," the figure explained.

Akago thought about this. "You think they might be reincarnations," he deducted.

"Exactly. And if the priestess has come back…"

"…So might have the Shikon no Tama!" Akago exclaimed, excitement in his voice. He had heard the story many times about the Jewel that could grant its owner immense power. Around five hundred years ago, his master had tried to steal it from the priestess protecting it, but she lived long enough to order it burnt with her remains.

"I had almost given up on ever finding anything as powerful, but now that this girl ahs shown up…and it seems she might have unsealed a certain hanyou as well…" Akago remembered the claws at the end of the scene. "I would very much like to meet this human."

Akago started to head towards the hall's entrance, "I'll go and retrei-"

His shadow cloaked master motioned him to wait. "I want you to bring your sister."

"But.." Normally his sister was required to stay so events in the outside world could be viewed through her mirror.

"Not the sister you think of, but another one I had to get rid of soon before I created you. She was too free-spirited, but I think she might have her uses now." He beckoned Akago to come closer. "Since you now have the heart that made me a hanyou, I'll need to borrow it to recreate her."

Akago shivered. He had to do this once before, and it had been a very unpleasant experience, almost as if he had been snuffed out of existence for a few hours. But he couldn't disobey his master.

"As you wish, Naraku-sama."

Back in the Tokyo suburbs, Sen was the latest addition to the world of haunting dreams.

She was riding on the back of Honouneko, but instead of the towering buildings she had flown around the few times she had been on the cat demon, they were flying through mountains and valleys.

Sen was also aware that she wasn't in her usual clothing or even the pajamas she had on now. Instead she was wearing a tight, black outfit and what seemed to be light armor. A brief flash of pain alerted her to several cuts, scratches, and bruises on her body.

As Honouneko avoided a jutting cliff, her arm slipped and her elbow bumped into something hard and large behind her. Turning, she could see what looked like the end of a giant boomerang behind her. It seemed to be tied across her shoulders and back.

Cool. Sen thought, trying to grin, but her face seemed set in an expression of fear and hatred.

"Onee-san?"

Startled, Sen craned her neck so she could see behind the boomerang.

A pair of wide, terrified eyes looked back at her. They belonged to a boy of about thirteen, dressed in a similar outfit to hers. He also was covered in cuts and scratches like she was.

He moved his bangs out of his eyes. "Are you alright, onee-san?"

Sen found herself replying, "Fine, just worry about resting yourself." Her words were tinged with worry, pain, and anger, reflecting her expression.

The boy picked up on the anger. "I'm really sorry…but I had to…I…" Sen didn't have to look back to realize he was crying.

She reached a hand back to grab one of his own. "It wasn't your fault. I had to do the same. I'm sure our friend's spirits understand that it was in self defense."

"But killing them destroyed any chance of them coming back!"

"But if we had managed to kill that mirror demon, their souls could have been lost forever."

The boy made a sound as if to reply, but was cut off by a growl from Honouneko.

"What is it, Kirara?" Sen asked. Wait a minute…her name's Honouneko, not Kirara, she thought as she looked in the same direction of the cat demon.

Smoke was rising from behind the ruins of what looked like a huge wooden wall. "Please don't let us be to late…" She whispered, feeling a pain in her heart.

As Honouneko landed, Sen grabbed the giant boomerang and held it at the ready. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the boy do the same, except his weapon of choice seemed to be a chained sickle. "Stay alert, Kohaku," she said, "keep an eye out for any demons that might still be lurking around."

Placing what seemed to be a face guard or mask over her nose and mouth, Sen darted into the smoke that was hiding whatever lay beyond, Honouneko and the boy, Kohaku, next to her.

When the three finally passed through the unusually thick smoke, Sen almost dropped to her knees.

Bodies covered the ground and wreckage of what must have been a village. Some were the grotesque corpses of demons, but most of them were humans. "No…to late…," she said emptily.

"You got here much more quickly than I expected."

Kohaku threw his sickle in the direction of the voice that had spoken, but obviously missed, because laughter was heard coming from another direction. "I wonder what it must be like to loose everyone you know in one day," the voice sneered.

"You cowardly bastard!" Sen yelled, trying her own luck with her boomerang, yelling "Hiraikotsu!" This time, something made contact, but only a glancing blow. The laughter seemed all around them now, Sen noticed as she caught the returning boomerang with practiced ease.

"We can't see him with all this smoke," Kohaku said in an undertone.

Sen thought quickly. "The village center. It's open so there shouldn't have been much wreckage to catch fire."

With a nod, the two darted forward, Honouneko following Sen. The smoke was extra thick at some points, and she kept loosing sight of her dream-brother.

As she ran, her heart felt like a dagger was repeatedly stabbing her heart as she saw the bodies of people her dream self must have known.

When she finally reached the village center, she saw that she had been right in thinking the smoke would be much thinner. She looked around, but Kohaku wasn't there yet. Please be alright, she thought. Even though he was only a dream character, Sen seemed to have become quite attached to him.

Honouneko suddenly started growling again, watching the space behind Sen. Turning, she saw Kohaku finally stepping out of the wall of smoke.

She was going to call something out to him, but the cat demon suddenly leaped at him, fangs bared.

"Kirara! No!" It's Honouneko, baka! Sen mentally yelled at her subconscious.

She was about to try and knock Kohaku out of the way, but before she could step forward, a cloud of dark mist suddenly appeared around the cat demon. Honouneko dropped to the ground, twitching slightly.

"Heh, not many creatures can remain conscious after inhaling my miasma," the voice came from behind Sen again.

She whirled around, Hiraikotsu at the ready. "Show yourself!"

More laughter. "You might want to deal with the danger behind you first before fighting me."

Hearing a noise, Sen ducked to the side as an object went flying by her face, leaving a cut on her shoulder. If I hadn't dodged…She turned around to face her new enemy…

…and found herself facing Kohaku, only his eyes looked dull and blank as he jerked his weapon's chain, retrieving the sickle from where it landed after soaring past her.

"No!" Sen cried, realizing that the boy's mind was no longer under his control. This realization seemed to shock her so much that she barely reacted in time to block the next attack with her own weapon.

The battle commenced, Kohaku on the offensive and Sen on the defensive, not wanting to hurt him. The entire time she was yelling at him to snap out of it.

By now the fight had been carried into the smoke, which Sen now realized was tinged with miasma. It was becoming harder and harder to block Kohaku's attacks since she couldn't locate his position easily.

After a few minutes of no charges from Kohaku, Sen found herself in a clear area near one of the walls that had protected the village. Sitting atop the pile of splintered and broken logs was a white baboon.

"Are you having fun?" the baboon asked.

Wait a minute…did that…Sen realized that it was actually someone dressed in a baboon pelt. Maybe its whoever or whatever is controlling my brother, Sen heard a distant, back part of her mind think. "What have you done to Kohaku!" She yelled, raising her Hiraikotsu.

The figure laughed, the same laugh that had been following her through the village. Now she knew the source. "I haven't touched your darling little brother, only asked a favor of another demon who can control human minds."

Sen was now shaking in anger. She couldn't think of something horrible enough to call this…thing. Her earlier name for him seemed almost too kind for him now. Despite her trembling, her aim remained steady as she hurled her weapon at him.

The laughter continued as the boomerang sliced through him, a mound of dirt and a wooden object falling out of the pelt.

"Damn…only a puppet," Sen growled. She raised an arm to catch her returning weapon, but let out a yell as something cut a large gash in her arm from behind, knocking her hand out of the way. Grabbing her wound, she noticed two things as she turned around; first, her attacker had indeed been Kohaku, and second, the boomerang was still flying thought the air at a fast speed.

Time seemed to slow down as Sen realized that the boy was directly in the giant object's way. She tried to reach him first, but with the pain from her shoulder wouldn't and time still moving slowly, she could only watch in horror as it slammed into Kohaku's chest, at which point everything resumed normal speed. Kohaku was carried by the momentum of the weapon to a nearby ruin of a house, where he was crushed between the two. He slumped to the ground.

Gods, please let him be ok…that distant part of Sen's mind as she rushed over.

When she reached the wall, Sen dropped to her knees and pulled him close to her. Sen could tell from the crushed ribs and the blood around his mouth that he didn't have much time left. She thought his eyes would have been dull and cloudy, but they seemed as bright as ever. He seemed to have been released from the mind control; Sen was happy about this in a way she didn't want him to die as a mindless doll. "Kohaku," she cried, holding him closer.

With his last bit of energy, Kohaku gave his sister a smile and said, "I think I understand now how Haru and Tonami and the others felt earlier…and you're right. Their spirits won't be angry at us." He closed his eyes, "And I'm not mad at you, onee-san."

The last thing Sen remembered before waking up was being hunched over Kohaku's body and crying.

That must have been the most realistic dream I've ever had she thought, feeling her tear streaked cheeks and looking around her darkened room. This one must have meant something…I'll use my dream dictionary in the morning.

As she was about to fall back asleep, another thought entered her head when her eyes noticed Honouneko sleeping on the carpet beside Sen's bed. I wonder… "Honouneko."

The cat demon raised its head and blinked.

"Kirara?" Sen tried the name from her dream.

With a loud, happy mew, the small demon leaped up onto Sen's bed, then tried to get on her shoulders, purring continuously.