Author's Note: I've had several people ask me why on earth did I name Miroku's reincarnation 'Milk' (miruk is Japanese for milk if you didn't know already). Well, when I first entered the Inuyasha fandom, many people beleived Miroku meant milk rather than the actual meaning (If I remember correctly, it's another name for Buddah. I don't remember 100, but it does have to do with the Buddhist religion). So when I was coming up with names for the reincarnations that appear in this fanfic, I decided to pay a tribute of sorts to my early fandom days.

Chapter 10: Demons, Demons Everywhere…

Not good…Kagome found herself thinking as she backed up, not realizing this was putting her in a more dangerous position with the wall behind her, is he the one who's been responsible for the disappearances Mama was talking about?

The young man smirked and took a step forward for every one she took backwards. For a moment Kagome thought she saw something that looked like a tail flash into view behind him, but it disappeared quickly, not to mention she had other things to worry about.

"You know," he said, almost musingly and smirking leer still in place, "You aren't that bad looking for a human…maybe I'll take you for my mate rather than kill you."

"Eh!" Kagome meeped. Mate! I don't want to be anyone's mate!

"Well…you seem simply speechless by the idea," he continued in an amused tone, "but then again, I guess humans of this age aren't used to running into youkai too often, are they?"

Wait…something flickered behind Kagome's panic, another demon? Where on earth are all of them coming from? Despite knowing what she was facing, she still couldn't get her legs to move anywhere but backwards.

"Now don't be like that, I'm sure you'll find it quite interesting to have me for a hus…hus…" His expression suddenly changed from dangerous to amused as he burst out into laughter.

Kagome just gaped in shock. What on earth is wrong with him?

"I can't believe you believed that," the demon managed to get out between laughter. "Oi…you humans are so gullible."

"So…so you aren't going to kill me? Or…or kidnap me?" Kagome asked weakly.

The demon snorted. "I only kill if something attacks me first. And what use would I have for a human girl? I was just joking as far as the whole mating thing goes." He looked at her thoughtfully. "Although you now know there are demons back here…" He shrugged. "Eh, one of the others might do something, but I don't think it's a problem. My maze illusion keeps any humans confused, and since most don't believe in us anymore, if you tell anyone they'll just think you're making things up."

"Not everyone doesn't believe in demons."

He shrugged again. "Not enough for any of us to be concerned about, and we have our ways of hiding." He waved a hand absentmindedly. "There…now you and your companions will be able to get out without too much trouble." He gave a small bow. "If you ever run into any of the others if you come back here, mention my name and they might leave you alone."

He was about to turn and head off, but Kagome remembered the reason she'd gotten into this situation in the first place. "You may not be an idiotic jerk like the other demon I know, but you should return those items you stole."

The demon held up one of the toys, a joined wooden snake. "While I do admit we occasionally steal to survive, those humans didn't have a right to these in the first place. Sure I lost them a long while back, but they're still mine. Besides…childhood memories can still come in handy." The snake toy suddenly transformed into a large dragon-like creature, which lunged towards Kagome.

Giving a small shriek of panic, she forgot about the wall behind her and fell backwards…

…right into Inuyasha.

"Where the hell did you come from?" He asked, quickly pushing her back to her feet, obviously wanting to have as little body contact as possible.

"The…the dragon! Get rid of it!" She yelled, hurrying to hide behind him.

"Eh? What are you screaming about? There isn't a dragon anywhere near here."

"But…" Kagome cautiously looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, both dragon and demon had disappeared. "But…it was there…and that other demon…"

"What demon?"

Kagome turned to see Miruk and Sen heading towards them. "What were you talking about, Kagome?"

"I…I got lost and found that person from the shop. But…" She blinked for a moment as she realized that the one she'd followed had disappeared. Another illusion? She shook her head to get back on track. "But he saw me and said his name was Shippou and called himself the Tokyo trickster or something like that. But he was a demon! One who can cast illusions or something similar because he was able to make a double of himself and said he was the one who made everyone get lost in this area, and then he made one of those toys into a dragon and…well then I found myself here. He said we could now leave without getting lost…"

"Did you see any tails?" Sen asked as soon as Kagome stopped talking.

Everyone blinked at her. After all, it seemed to be a pretty random question.

"Eh…well…I thought for a moment I saw something like that," Kagome replied after a moment.

"Kitsune." Sen replied immediately. "Although he must have been hiding his other tails. Illusions of this caliber couldn't have been managed by a young one-tail."

More staring.

"You sure you're not a taijiya?" Inuyasha asked, "They're the only humans I know of that know so much about demons."

Sen was quiet for a moment before replying, a little distantly. "I've just been interested in the subject ever since I was little."

"Besides, the legendary taijiya were a myth," Miruk explained, "and even if they were real, then according to the story, the entire tribe was wiped out around five hundred years ago."

"They die off or something?"

"So they were real?"

"I never saw one myself, but I did meet some people who did."

"But then they could be exaggerated stories of just a few skilled demon slayers."

"Feh…highly doubt it."

As Miruk and Inuyasha kept debating, Kagome noticed Sen looking uncomfortable and withdrawn, as if she didn't want to interrupt, but wanted the subject to change.

"We should start heading back," she spoke up, "We've been out for several hours now, and I'm sure everyone's worried where we are."

Inuyasha and Miruk looked over. "You are probably right Kagome," Miruk agreed.

Inuyasha however looked as stubborn as usual. "Why can't I just stay back here with this kitsune friend of yours?"

Kagome glared. "I don't trust you loose in the city."

"But that old man'll throw things at m-"

"Osa-"

"Fine! Fine! I'm coming."

Sen nodded. "I'll leave you here then. I need to go back to the shop for my bike."

Kagome and Miruk said their own farewells before heading back towards what they hoped was the exit, Inuyasha following them dejectedly and muttering under his breath.

They found the exit quite easily and were about to leave the back streets when Inuyasha froze, sniffing at the air.

"What's wrong?" Kagome asked when she realized that the hanyou had stopped following. "If this is some sort of protest to let you stay, I already said-"

"Youkai. Dangerous ones."

"Eh?"

Now that Inuyasha had mentioned it, Miruk could almost feel a sense of some sort that indicated something, as Inuyasha put it, dangerous, was approaching.

All three of them suddenly looked back the way they came as a loud yell cut through the air.

"That sounded like…"

"…Sen!"

Miruk ran off first, followed shortly by Kagome and Inuyasha.

Thanks to Shippou's maze illusion being lifted, they were able to navigate much easier this time, and in almost no time at all they found her sprawled on the ground, unconscious, in one of the wider streets. Miruk and Kagome were about to run over to see what was wrong, but Inuyasha grabbed them both and pulled them around a corner.

"Idiots…I know humans are blind, but I know your eyes aren't that bad. Look before jumping in."

They carefully looked around the corner and this time saw that Inuyasha had meant.

Two people were standing near Sen. Well, one was standing and the other was bent over her. The standing was a woman who seemed only a few years older than Kagome, around Miruk's age. Her back was turned to them so all Kagome could see was her dark hair, pulled into a high knot and decorated with a sort of feather ornament, and her outfit, a red silken dress similar to what one might find at a party. The odd thing was that she was tapping an old-fashioned fan against her side impatiently. The other, who seemed to be inspecting Sen's face, was closer to Kagome's age and dressed in her school's uniform. However, Kagome had a feeling it was stolen as she was certain she would have remembered a boy who looked like him, with pale purple eyes and hair. Not to mention the unearthly pale skin.

"Those're the demons I smelt earlier," Inuyasha muttered.

"Then do something to help her," Miruk hissed back, sounding really concerned for Sen's safety.

"Feh…not my responsibility to save every little human who needs help."

"Why you…" Miruk almost dashed out himself but Kagome threw out a hand, remembering what the kitsune had said earlier.

"Hang on, let me try something," she whispered before stepping out and approaching the demons. "Oi! Could you…" she hesitated as both of them turned to look at her. The younger's gaze was especially unnerving. "Could you please leave her alone? We know one of the demons in this area, a kitsune named Shippou."

The younger smirked. "We have no association with kitsune's of any name. No need to worry about them either since there hasn't been any stronger than a six-tail in over a hundred years."

"But…" Okay, this might be a problem.

"You on the other hand, we're quite interested in," he continued, raising up a glaive she hadn't noticed he was holding and advanced a few steps.

Maybe these are the ones who're behind the disappearances.

"You sure she's the one this time? I'm sick of wandering this oversized city." The woman complained, snapping open her fan.

Yeah…I think that confirms it.

"Leave Kagome-chan and Sen-san alone!" Miruk stepped out of hiding, followed by Inuyasha. Even though he could care less what happened to the humans, any excuse to get his fighting skills back into shape after a five hundred year slumber was a good enough excuse for him.

"Ah…the preistess' hanyou companion," the boy said with a nod towards Inuyasha, "I'm sure our master will be quite interested in you. As for the other…" He looked at Miruk curiously, "You look quite familiar as well…" He snapped his fingers, "Ah yes, that monk's reincarnation."

Miruk and Kagome both froze. So…those dreams really were past memories?

Inuyasha stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "I have no idea how you know me, but if it's a fight you're looking for, I'm ready."

"You plan to attack us unarmed? Very well. Kagura?"

"The woman smirked as she lifted up her fan and gave it a wave. "Fuujin no Mai!"

Curved blades seemed to appear from the edge of her fan and soared towards Miruk and Inuyasha. The first dived out of the way, but the later simply braced himself and held up his arms to block them. The blades cut into his sleeves and sides before dissipating. They did leave marks, some bleeding, but in some places there wasn't a single scratch and Kagome remembered how strong the fire rat cloth was when she had first found it.

"Heh, that all you can do?" Inuyasha asked, "I've got my own version of that trick." He dug his own nails into one of the cuts before flinging the blood towards the woman. "Hijin Kessou!"

She sent another wave of wind blades to intersect with the attack, as well as another one to follow right behind it.

Meanwhile, Miruk has run over to Kagome and grabbed her arm. "Can you get to Sen and try to help her out of here if I distract the other one?"

"I…I can try," she replied hesitantly.

"You don't have much battle experience do you?" Without either of them noticing, the other demon had come over behind them. "Rule one: Never keep your back open."

Miruk tried to turn and push Kagome behind him for safety.

But the demon moved with a speed to rival Inuyasha's and jabbing the staff end of the glaive into Miruk's stomach and the flat of the blade against his head, the young man was down and out almost instantly. "Rule two: take the strongest out first." His attention was now on Kagome. She tensed up, ready to try and dodge. "Rule three: Collect your reward when all threats are gone."

"All threats aren't gone; Inuyasha can still take you easily." Kagome protested, sounding more confident than she felt.

"Going after Kagura barehanded? He doesn't stand a chance." Halfway through what he'd been saying, he swung the glaive's flat side towards Kagome's head, but she surprised herself by actually dodging it. However, the young demon kicked out at her legs, knocking her to the ground. Before she had a chance to try and get back up, a surge of pain erupted in the back of her head and she slumped back down, unconscious.

Seeing this, Inuyasha felt his fury rise. He didn't know why since he hated the girl, but he later convinced himself that his subconscious had pulled up a distant memory of Kikyou, and because of their similarities, he had acted on that.

"Bastard!" He yelled, turning his back on the wind demon and leaping for the other.

He didn't notice the slight nod the younger gave the older, but he did notice the purple barrier that sprang up in front of him. He skidded to the ground to prevent crashing into it. "Coward!" He yelled, seeing Kagome and Miruk inside, Sen a few feet behind the back half of the barrier. "Why not face me? Can't hurt anything but defenseless humans?"

He'd been about to try and shatter the barrier with his attacks, but the storm came out of nowhere. Small tornados touched down around him. He might have stood a chance had it not taken him by surprise, but trying to survive the biting, thrashing winds that were swirling around and occasionally a lot of his strength was lost. Squinting, he could make out the barrier, the hair of those inside not even lightly played with by the winds around them.

When the winds died down, Inuyasha was dropped to the ground, growling weakly. He struggled to get up, but before he had a chance to do anything, the glaive flashed and the other demon had both of the hanyou's arms pinned to the ground, skewered by the blade.

"Tsk tsk. We want you alive for now. Don't kill yourself by trying to attack us again." He gave the hanyou a strong hit to the side of his head, enough so that Inuyasha was balanced on the edge of consciousness and unconsciousness.

The wind demon walked over to look down at the hanyou. "Huh…would have thought he would have put up more of a fight."

"I'm sure being sealed for five hundred years had something to do with it," Akago replied unconcernedly, "Plus he's only half demon. Wouldn't have made a difference." He jerked his head towards Kagome and Miruk. "Take those two. I need to be in contact with this one if I need to look into his heart in order to subdue him if he comes to."

Kagura made a face, obviously annoyed at being ordered around by someone younger, or should be younger, than her, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. "And the other girl?" she asked, pointing towards where Sen lay.

Akago looked over, obviously thinking. "Take her with us. The humans will eventually find the bodies of those we mistook for our actual targets. The more corpses there are, the more suspicious the humans will become, not to mention the demons who's territory we're intruding on." He shrugged. "We can deal with her when we get back home."

Kagura sighed. "Fine, but you'll have to take someone else in that purple bubble of yours. I can only manage two extra people."

"Fine…I'll take the monk," he muttered, naming the captive closest to him, "But hurry it up, Naraku-sama's already getting impatient with how long this has taken us." The shield re-formed around him, Inuyasha, and Miruk, but this time it formed a whole sphere, lifting the three of them off the ground and into the sky.

Muttering under her breath about 'being bossed around by a brat,' Kagura dragged Sen over near Kagome. Removing a feather from her hair, she tossed it upwards. A strong wind blew, and the three of them were suddenly traveling after Akago and his captives on a much larger version of the tossed up feather.

Three unnoticed figures lurking in the shadows of an intersecting alleyway slunk away. "You really think Shippou'd be interested in some mere humans?" one grumbled.

"He was talking to them earlier," one of the other two pointed out, "besides; I'm more concerned about those demons. I haven't smelt that scent in years. And if I'm right…we might be facing troubled times ahead."