A/N: And I return here too! Go me! A note to all of you that are more educated than I am. I know NOTHING about exorcisms anywhere. NOTHING. I faked it.

Disclaimer: Nope don't own them. BUT Shimofuri, Taikokajin, Tsukiyume and Sasugainu and such are mine.

Chapter Summary: Last chapter Shimofuri saw that his mother, Taikokajin was dying after Kagome attacked her and escaped from the castle where she was being held. Another inuyoukai lord, a relative to both Taikokajin and Shimofuri, Nishiyori is waging a little war to take over the Middle Lands for himself. Sasugainu, Shimofuri's uncle, Taikokajin's younger brother, is there helping out in the transition between rulers as Shimofuri replaces his mother. Taikokajin has asked that she is not put out of her misery until she sees Tsukiyume safely returned home. Inuyasha and Tsukiyume were heading back to Taikokajin's castle when they scented Kagome. Kagome attacked them but Tsukiyume stopped the attack. Koinu has been kept safe by Kagome all this time despite the demon manifestation(Garou refuses to die like a normal critter).

The Unhappy Homecoming

Inuyasha leapt out from his hiding place, rushing toward the screams. Kagome's cries acted most strongly on his psyche, and without realizing it he'd charged out on the offensive, preparing to slash down whatever threatened his mate. But what he found, as he rounded the rocky embankment and saw the scene clearly in the thin, dappled moonlight, was Kagome's form crouched over the fallen Tsukiyume. Her hands were wrapped around the hanyou girl's throat, seemingly about to squeeze the life out of her.

The scream from Tsukiyume changed, fading and growing quiet until it was almost more of a humming sound. At first Inuyasha thought that she was dying, suffocated, but as he stepped forward, trying to find some way to knock his deranged mate free of the innocent girl, Tsuki spoke up, stopping his approach.

"Don't separate us."

He stared, scowling and tense. Kagome's scream died the same as Tsukiyume's had, growing fainter and thinner until at last there was no sound at all. But as well as shrinking the scream had also changed pitch, from the deeper, gravelly sound of Garou's possession, to the higher, smoother sound of Kagome's cry.

That change made Inuyasha step forward again, grinding his teeth with frustration. Koinu whimpered in his arms and flattened his tiny white ears.

"What the hell…" the growl came out strangled and furious, hardly understandable as words at all. Neither seemed to be in pain, and neither seemed to be winning. In the dark Inuyasha couldn't see the shine of their eyes, for all he knew they might've turned to stone except that he could hear their breathing.

And then Kagome slumped forward like a rag doll and he felt his stomach lurch into his throat. "Kagome!"

"Inuyasha—don't—" it was Tsukiyume, buried underneath Kagome's lifeless, limp weight. She struggled, trying to crawl out but Inuyasha reached them first and grabbed at the hanyou girl with one arm. The other arm held Koinu, who'd begun a first few tentative squalls now that he sensed the end of immediate danger.

Tsukiyume cringed, cowering wordlessly, but the blows and punishment she expected never came. Inuyasha had tossed her aside and squatted alongside Kagome's body instead, as if Tsukiyume didn't even exist. He hesitantly reached out to touch her face, ears straining for the sound of a breath…

When his fingers made contact they crackled, meeting a barrier of bluish energy. It stung, making him hiss with surprise and withdraw. He stared then, watching the rise and fall of her chest until he was satisfied that she was merely unconscious and not dying or in pain. Then, with a slowness that belied the rage Tsukiyume could feel just beneath the surface, the hanyou turned to regard her.

"What did you do to her?" each word was said slowly, heavily punctuated with emotion. Through the dark Tsukiyume could see his ears flatten, amber eyes alight from within.

"I let it touch me…"

Inuyasha's face broke out into a snarl. "What did you do to her! This is magic, it's…"

"It's a barrier, to keep her unconscious, under control. She'd—the thing in her—was going to kill us!" she stammered, blinking, "I had to do it!" she gulped, nervously, tense.

How could she tell him that the voice inside her head, her father's spirit, had stepped into the picture again, instructing her to let the possessed woman grab hold of her? She prayed that her father's spirit had spared the possessed woman but couldn't be certain. She was merely a vassal for it, the living source. As a hanyou the spiritual powers that coursed in her veins from her father were foreign and dormant. They might never have existed but for the fact that she'd used them to save herself—and Inuyasha and Shimofuri—several times.

Inuyasha growled, low and threatening, but he appeared to lose interest in her, shifting slightly to cuddle the crying Koinu. For a moment Tsukiyume didn't move, physically she was frozen, mentally she was running her brain into overtime, desperate to think of something that might placate the hanyou and set her free of blame. She wanted to ask if his mate was unharmed, but was afraid of what the answer might be.

At last she blurted, "Take her to a demon exorcist, a priest…"

The hanyou's ears swiveled, tuning into her words, but he didn't turn his attention from Koinu. The baby was whimpering still but beginning to calm under his father's care. When Koinu had finally quieted Inuyasha muttered an answer that Tsukiyume barely made out: "If she dies, so do you."

Her heart thundered in her head, seeming to ricochet between her skull bones. Her ears folded backward, belying her fear. "I-I understand." She searched for her diplomatic training, for the stoic inuyoukai that Shimofuri had tried to teach her as a pup. "That was in the agreement originally, cousin. My safety in exchange for hers. You don't even need to ask it."

Inuyasha said nothing, only Koinu made the tiny blubbering sounds of a baby becoming a toddler, squirming uncertainly in his father's arms. Though he didn't look at her, Tsuki knew that her cousin was still deeply conflicted with their situation, by what might lie ahead of them. He both wanted to kill her already for what had happened, and at once he wanted to send her away to spare her. Instead of lash out with blind anger or frustration, Inuyasha turned his energy on Koinu with a slow, deliberate care.

He opened his haori and the cream-white undershirt beneath it, exposing his bare chest to the night air, and tucked Koinu inside. Gentle, but powerful fingers tied off the undershirt and then the haori, securing Koinu close to his father's skin where he was protected and warmed.

Finally Inuyasha returned to where Kagome's body was still lying, prone and unmoving on the ground. He knelt and touched her, again receiving a slight shock and a crackle of blue energy. This time, however, he ignored it and scooped her up, tucking her across his shoulders carefully, taking her weight like a sandbag or a load of rice.

He twisted around and at last looked at her. "Get up," he grunted, "We've got a long way to go."

It was true that Shimofuri had sat at the head of the room for uncountable years, listening to the meetings between the great lords who ruled the Middle Lands, and sometimes other lords and ladies from even farther away, from other islands of Japan or even the mainland. His mother had once been a sort of curiosity. Other lords came to bid their respect to her just to witness her. Who had ever heard of a woman ruling over a whole territory, as his mother did? And even better, who had ever seen an albino woman do it?

Perhaps that was why she had gone for so long in relative peace. The Middle Lands were notoriously racked by war. No one had believed that a woman could rule successfully over it. If male inuyoukai couldn't manage it, certainly a female would do no better.

They had Taikokajin married off swiftly, almost the very day her father, Shimofuri's grandfather, had died and left his last wishes—one of them being that his daughter replace him as ruler of the territory, not his son Sasugainu. By all accounts Haiseishoku was a fine mate and father, but he was also a firm ruler. Taikokajin had had to step back in her role as ruler and instead appear as a distant, serene lady, a thing only of beauty.

She rejected that role shortly after Shimofuri's birth and the household had gone wild. If there was one thing Taikokajin was, it was not a thoughtless thing; she was a creature of cunning and cruelty. She was as ruthless as any man, perhaps more so.

But that nature had, perhaps, been the thing to drive her mad. Neither of her children exhibited the same harshness, the same unstoppable cunning. Tsukiyume was a timid court lady, her only fault in it being that she was a hanyou and therefore too low to be a bargaining tool through marriage. Shimofuri, meanwhile, had always been known for a calm, gentle disposition.

Nishiyori believed that the young heir would not be able to hold the Middle Lands together. Taikokajin's lands would fall to him, and with it the whole territory.

Shimofuri's head was spinning with all of this and more as he sat with his uncle at his side, listening to his generals report in. They were samurai mostly, sprung up out of farming communities to serve the warlord that controlled their land. This one was his mother's favorite, a man with the family name that Shimofuri had seen several generations of.

The news he delivered was rather bleak. Nishiyori's armies had overtaken many of the border villages, pillaging them and burning the homes to the ground. Shimofuri's hesitation in sending out his mother's armies was proving costly. He tried to keep the uncertainty and fear from revealing itself on his face.

"His armies are larger than ours?" Shimofuri finally asked.

The samurai nodded, ducking his head. "Yes, Shishi-sama. Alone Nishiyori's are larger than ours. His province has done better than ours for several years, but he mislead Lady Taikokajin and built this force up in secret."

Shimofuri scowled. "My mother should have foreseen this." It was improper to mention his mother in such a way, but the young lord couldn't help the slight resentment that was growing within him. The mess Taikokajin had left behind would destroy him.

"My armies are at your disposal, Nephew." Sasugainu offered at his side, gently.

"Thank you, Uncle." He was unable to restrain the relief he felt at that offer. He gestured to the samurai, "Defend our lands but do not provoke Nishiyori. This is a battle he started, not us. We will show our fairness to the people."

"Forgive me lord," the samurai cleared his throat nervously. He was very young, Shimofuri thought, and he wondered what had brought the man into this high position so young. "They will see it only as weakness. We must squash them."

Shimofuri senses Sasugainu nodding slightly at his side, but the young demon scowled, irritated with them. "It is not the people that brought on this conflict. Nishiyori uses them. They will respect that we do not destroy them but think before we act with violence. They must continue to prosper—when this is over we will draw heavily on their wealth. Only Nishiyori and his heirs must suffer for this act."

It was an unusual idea to the samurai, and Sasugainu was in favor of swift, decisive violence, but it made sense to them both. Taikokajin had been an unusual ruler. Why would her son prove to be mundane?

The samurai left with his orders, plunging the meeting room into thick silence. Shimofuri feared what his uncle would have to say about his decisions. At long last he sensed movement from Sasugainu, a tiny nod of his head.

"You are Haiseishoku's son."

Shimofuri blinked, surprised at his uncle's words. He turned slightly, gazing at Sasugainu with one steel-gray eye. "Why do you say that?" he wasn't sure whether to be honored or furious with his uncle for not saying he was his mother's son instead, considering that she had been the previous ruler.

There was a small smile on Sasugainu's face as he answered, "Haiseishoku was of a gentle disposition, as are you. His decisions for the Middle Lands always sided with peace and the preservation of prosperity. Lady Taikokajin would not have agreed with your decision."

Shimofuri looked away, staring ahead into the sliding doors, his face impassive. "Tell me what the scouts have said about Tsukiyume."

"They can't find her." Sasugainu answered.

"What does that mean? Is she in Nishiyori's possession? Has our cousin Inuyasha killed her perhaps?" he was proud that his voice revealed nothing of the anxiety he was feeling at any of those possibilities.

"It means she is missing, Shishi-sama, though I believe that if Nishiyori had her he would let you know it." He took a small, quiet breath, revealing a little of his own inward emotion, "You cannot wait for answers, Nephew. You must take Lady Taikokajin's life and begin your reign in her stead."

Shimofuri pinched his lips tightly together and rose serenely from his sitting position. He walked for the exit, a gold-leafed sliding door. "There is still time."

He slid the door open and passed through it, silent as a wraith.

Alone, Sasugainu scowled, grief clouded his face. The empty room was the only witness to his mourning.

It was midmorning when Sango decided to take her nap. Kasai was sleepy, her head bobbing and nodding as she fought her own fatigue, trying to stay awake where she was playing on the floor. Her brothers, Tisoki and Kohimu, were outside throwing snowballs at one another in the yard. The cherry trees in Kagome and Inuyasha's gardens were beginning to blossom, and yet the night before it had been snowing.

The chill in the house made Sango's scars ache. It was the complaint of an old woman, but Sango did not yet feel old. There were too many things left to be done before she could officially complain about feeling old. She was often envious of Kagome and Inuyasha, the couple maintained a more youthful air and appearance. Whether that was because they only had one son to worry over or because they were mates to one another and Inuyasha's lifespan as a hanyou was longer than a normal human's, Sango could never say.

She set braziers burning in most of the rooms and invaded Kagome's closet—though she did so reluctantly—and snatched out the heavier brocade kimono jackets.

Miroku arrived back from the village early—he'd gone out to acquire a few sacks of rice and a few fish that weren't rotten from the market. He was always astonished at how large Kaede's old village was becoming. He brought Sango skin creams and perfumes for her hair, a sweet surprise. Sango would have bathed with them right at that instant, just to banish the feeling that three children were aging her prematurely, but then Kasai started screaming irritably with exhaustion.

At the same moment there was a screech of pain from somewhere outside in the gardens, followed by shouts of, "Mom!"

Miroku smiled pityingly at his wife and then heaved a sigh. "I'll keep the boys busy if you'll take care of Kasai." He peeked at the screaming child on the floor and knew at once that she was tired. He lifted his eyebrows at her. "To bed perhaps, lovely Sango?"

Somewhere she found the energy to still feel desire for him, despite the demands of their lives as parents. She smiled and reached out one hand to touch his face, his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "Only if you'll come in to keep me company later…"

Miroku grinned and pulled her close, as if to kiss her. His right hand, however, got the better of him. Sango squeaked and pushed him away, but she was laughing. "Later." Miroku promised her, winking.

"Later." She returned, and then they parted ways, Miroku slipping out onto the verandah to face the screaming boys in the gardens and Sango scooping the exhausted and cranky Kasai up off the floor and moving down the hallway toward the guest room that she and Miroku shared.

A brazier stood in one corner, the coals had mostly diminished, leaving the room dark but warm. Sango slipped into the bed with her little daughter, cuddling Kasai close and humming to her until moments later the child was fast asleep and drooling on Sango's chest.

Ah, the joys of motherhood.

Sleep claimed Sango soon after and she found herself falling into a dream where there was a great commotion outside. The boys were shocked, crying. Miroku was startled nearly out of his wits…

"Sango!" "Mom! Mom!" "Mommy! Momma!"

Cold, wet hands gripped her shoulder and Sango gasped, jerking awake. Kasai started to blubber with the beginnings of a good cry where she still lied on her mother's chest. The room was even dimmer than before, the coals had likely faded completely and the high light of the afternoon had also faded away.

It was both Kohimu and Tisoki that had woken her. Their noses and cheeks were rosy from the chill outside. Tisoki stood to one side form his older brother, crying in loud childish sobs. Kohimu, meanwhile, already trying to grow into a man, was stone-faced.

"Mom—Uncle Inuyasha and Aunt Kagome are back."

That was the last thing Sango had expected to hear. She sprang out of the bed, still clutching the crying Kasai close to her. She might've asked why this didn't seem to be a happy event but something in her gut, a twisting, snaking instinct, kept her from wasting any further time with questions. Gently she prodded Kohimu and Tisoki out of the room. They charged ahead of her down the hallway, unrestrained even indoors.

"Miroku!" she called, searching frantically for her husband. "Where—"

The monk appeared from the sitting room, holding Kagome's limp, dirtied form in his arms. Sango stopped where she was, gasping. "Kagome!"

Kasai started to squall then, loudly. The whole world seemed to be turning upside down. Sango watched with wide, shocked eyes as Miroku passed by her wordlessly, his expression grim and fierce. She bounced Kasai in her arms to try and stop the baby from crying while her eyes roved past her husband, seeking Inuyasha.

The half-demon also appeared from the sitting room, cheeks and nose bright red from the cold outside. Kohimu and Tisoki, who'd run ahead as if to greet Inuyasha, stopped dead and pulled back. Tisoki started to cry loudly again.

It was with a slow alarm that Sango realized why her sons were so afraid of the hanyou—it was because this was not Inuyasha, this was another dog-eared hanyou. The silhouette with the ears atop the head had fooled Sango's eyes at first, but now she saw that this creature was female and wearing brown and gray robes. Her hair was also long and black. Only the dog ears were the same, white and swiveling atop her head. Her eyes were an unusual brown, almost orange…

Sango froze. "Who are you?"

The hanyou—only a girl Sango realized—also stopped. Her ears flattened downward, much as Inuyasha's did when he was upset. "I'm—"

She never finished before another hanyou—this one actually was Inuyasha—rushed in and around her, bumping her aside harshly. "Watch her, Sango. If she tries to run, kill her."

Sango barely had a second to register his words as well as his presence. He was as usual clad in his red robes, which were a little dingy and dirty, and also they were bulbous. He looked lumpy. Only when Sango heard the lump in his haori cough did she realize that it was in fact Koinu, hidden and protected by his father.

Inuyasha disappeared, heading down the hallway after Miroku and Kagome. Shippo hovered in the sitting room, seemingly afraid to pass by the female hanyou. He stared at her backsides, green eyes wide and frightened, his ears plastered tight against his skull.

Sango looked between her sons and the new hanyou female. Tisoki was still crying with fear at the bizarre twist the day had taken, Kohimu was staring with a frown at the stranger, as if ready to fight her himself. She couldn't help but feel a slight pride at that—someday Kohimu would make an excellent demon slayer.

Kasai was still screaming. Sango rocked her daughter in her arms, trying to calm her. She realized, as she worked, that the hanyou girl was staring at her. When Sango returned her gaze the girl flinched away uncertainly.

"I'm a hostage." She stuttered, "My mother—Lady Taikokajin…"

Sango remembered the strange albino inuyoukai that had come while Inuyasha was away for the first time, frightening their whole family with her surprise visit. The girl looked as if she was trying to be brave and honorable, but when she spoke her voice shook with uncertainty.

"My name is Tsukiyume." She nodded forward a little, giving Sango a small bow. Her orange-colored eyes roved over Sango's form, sizing her up. The hanyou girl looked weak and frail herself, but Sango knew that with Kasai in her arms, and bundled up in Kagome's brocade robes she didn't look very impressive herself. She almost snorted, thinking, I look like a spoiled housewife.

She felt a pang of regret that she hadn't killed a demon in months…her muscles were still strong, lifting a child many times a day saw to that, but it had been ages since she'd handled Hiraikotsu…

"I'm Sango." She replied swift and cold. "Tell me, what's happened to Kagome?"

Tsukiyume swallowed and looked distinctly nervous. "Well…"

Kagome's face was twisted with pain as she slept. Miroku had spread her out over their shared bed—how Inuyasha had missed it! But this was not the homecoming he had imagined, not by far. His stomach twisted with worry for Kagome, even as Koinu whimpered and pawed at Inuyasha's flat washboard stomach, reaching up towards non-existent breasts, seeking milk.

Desperation played faintly at the edges of Inuyasha's mind. "Talk, Miroku."

The monk was crouched at the bedside, his face expressionless. The room was cold and dark, unused for months because of Inuyasha and Kagome's absence. "There is a dark energy within her…"

Inuyasha shifted uneasily, "Can you get rid of it? Did you ever really have any kind of power?" he demanded.

Miroku's shoulders stiffened but he made no response. Cautiously he reached forward until his fingertips grazed Kagome's forehead. Unlike Inuyasha, Miroku could touch Kagome without encountering resistance. "Someone has placed this barrier around her, I can feel it." he turned to look at the hanyou over his shoulder, "What is she like while she's awake, Inuyasha?"

He scowled and, as if remembering, pulled Koinu a little closer and tighter to his body. "She was trying to kill us—it was trying…"

"You know what possesses her?" the monk's dark eyebrows shot upwards.

Inuyasha nodded slowly, ears folding backwards. "It's the thing, the demon the pink-eyed bitch sent me to hunt down." He frowned, "She double-crossed us, Miroku. She captured Kagome when she came back through the well and then she held her hostage." The hanyou's expression was one of misery. "She's been sick like this for a long time. I'm not sure how but—the thing, it got a hold on her soul."

Miroku's face was still expressionless, but as he looked back at Kagome's seemingly relaxed, sleeping form, he at last sighed, shoulders sagging. "I am familiar with the barrier spell. I can re-erect it if the exorcism fails; to keep her and all of us safe."

Inuyasha growled, "You had better not fail…"

The monk scowled. "I have limits, Inuyasha. This task may take a temple leader, a Shinto priest…the power that has possessed her; it is like nothing I've felt before…"

Koinu squirmed and then started to cry. He smelled of hunger and stale urine. Inuyasha's ears fell backward again and this time stayed there with distress. "Do what you can."

"I'm going to need sutras." Miroku started, without taking his eyes from Kagome, "Lots of sutras. And ink."

The hanyou vanished out the door before Miroku could say any more. He ran into Sango, still obediently watching after Tsuki. The two women were sizing one another up, wondering warily what their choices were and if killing the other were plausible. Inuyasha had no doubts in Sango's ability, but Kasai would hold her down.

"Kohimu, Tisoki, Shippo." He barked. The boys and the kitsune leapt to attention, coming to stand before him like privates in the army. To Tisoki and Shippo he said, "Hold Kasai for Sango, get her to sleep." Wordlessly, though Tisoki was still crying softly, the little boy and the kitsune tugged on his Sango's arm and took Kasai from her, then vanished down the hallway to try and put the baby to sleep.

"Kohimu," he met the older boy's eye and was startled to see how handsome the child was becoming, growing into a young male version of his mother already. "Run into the village and bring sutra paper, brushes and ink."

"What about money?"

Damn, Inuyasha cursed inwardly and outwardly he growled, "Tell them it's for me! Go!"

Kohimu ran off hurriedly, but not before throwing Tsukiyume a last suspicious glare. Somehow, through his worry and near-panic, Inuyasha felt a second of amusement at the boy. Sango and Miroku had to be so proud…

His own son squealed again, unhappily. Inuyasha might've handed Koinu off to Sango to let her deal with him, but after the ordeal he'd been through, Inuyasha wasn't ready to let his son leave his presence for some time yet. So he left Sango in charge of Tsuki again and hurried off to change Koinu's fouled clothing.

When he had finished he rejoined Miroku only to see that the monk had tied Kagome up while he'd been gone. His mate's ankles were bound, her knees, wrists, and elbows. There was even a rope around her neck that was secured to a heavy wooden dresser.

"What the hell—Miroku!" he moved forward as if to free her but Miroku's hand shot out, stopping him in his tracks.

"She will be violent when the seal is broken. I need her restrained and bound." He turned round to stare at Inuyasha and his eyes locked onto the lump where Koinu was still sheltered in his father's robes. "Tell me, Inuyasha, how does she react to Koinu?"

"She won't hurt him. She wanted to kill me but she wouldn't hurt him." he swallowed uncertainly. "Does that mean she's…?"

"She is still herself below the manifestation. Where are the things I need?"

"I sent Kohimu."

Miroku smiled faintly, nodding. "He'll get them."

On the bed Kagome moaned, tensing against the knotted robes about her body. She mumbled a word.

"What did she say?" Miroku asked, his merely human ears couldn't make it out.

"She's calling for Koinu." And indeed, supporting Inuyasha's observation, Koinu started to squirm and reach out from his father's haori, pawing through the air, searching for his mother.

It left no doubt in either the monk or the hanyou that Kagome was still in her own right mind, somewhere inside her.

A few moments later Kohimu burst into the room, panting and with rosy cheeks. "Father," he gasped and fell onto his knees alongside Miroku, "Here." In his arms he was carrying a thick pad of paper, stretched long for the copying of sutras, spells and charms. Also clasped in his hands were a delicate brush and an inkwell.

Miroku thanked him and then immediately set out to work. Kohimu and Inuyasha watched tensely. He wetted the ink, rubbing it into the brush, and then began to write in a careful, free-flowing, scrawled calligraphy. He brought the words out of thin air, from his memories and long years of training. His lips moved as he repeated the words he was painting onto the paper.

When the first seal was made, Miroku pulled it slowly free from the others and moved it over Kagome's still body. He mumbled a word and then dropped it onto her. There was no sign that anything had worked, but Miroku didn't appear bothered by that. He set to work copying more words onto the sutra paper.

"What did you do?" Inuyasha demanded.

"That was a spell to make the rope bonds strong and unbreakable. When she struggles it will be useless now, no matter what power the manifestation gives her." he glanced at his son, as if aware for the first time that Kohimu had not yet left his side. "I don't want you in here."

"But father—" Kohimu started, flustered and fascinated by his father's knowledge, so rarely demonstrated in the present day.

"There is no argument. This is dangerous. Take care of your mother for me, Kohimu."

Though the boy scowled unhappily he nodded and disappeared out the door.

The next sutra seemed to take longer but at last it was also finished. Miroku blew on the ink a little, encouraging it to dry. Inuyasha recognized it as a stall tactic. Miroku was nervous.

"What's this one do?"

Miroku hesitated again, holding the sutra over Kagome's prone body. "This one will break the seal and allow her to waken." For a moment he appeared he would drop the thing on the sleeping miko, but then he twisted back to look at Inuyasha and asked, "Are you ready?"

Inuyasha shifted, placing one arm protectively over his belly where Koinu was still tucked into his haori. "Do it already…" but his golden eyes never left Kagome, fixated on her nervously, afraid that something might go wrong…

Miroku dropped the paper. It seemed to float down in slow motion. It landed and stuck onto her shoulder, and this time there was a white glow from the paper, illuminating the words Miroku had painted onto the paper. When the glow had ceased Kagome jerked, throwing her weight against her restraints. They held and the first paper that Miroku had made glowed now as well, apparently activating when she struggled.

The wet sheen of her eyes flickered; she was searching the room, gaining an understanding of her surroundings. She saw Miroku first and made a hissing noise that was not human. Her eyes were dark, too dark even in the dim, gray room.

"Monk—you dare to think you can restrain me?" she laughed with a masculine voice that was very clearly not her own, it drew a shiver of disgust from Inuyasha. That faint movement sent Not-Kagome's eye to him then.

"You. Hanyou. I offered you a fine bargain. The whelp, he would be immortal…"

Miroku mumbled something and Kagome snarled, trying to twist away from him. "You are pathetic!" it laughed, "You think you can scare me from this bitch's body? Think again you fools!"

Miroku was already putting his brush to another scroll, mumbling the words as he painted them. Not-Kagome twisted her body around, trying to listen to those words. She scoffed and scorned him, calling his attempts futile. But when he lifted the sutra up and over her body the beast cringed and tried to writhe out of the way.

"Damn you, stupid monk!" there was a harsh sound, Kagome drawing in her breath sharply. She was going to spit at Miroku but the monk moved more swiftly than she could. When the sutra hit her she began screaming with both the demon's male voice and with Kagome's own.

"Inuyasha! Help me! He's hurting me!" she shouted, and Inuyasha cringed, scenting her tears, her distress. He took a step forward but Miroku stopped him.

"It's trying to trick you Inuyasha. That's not Kagome. The sutras don't hurt her, they hurt it."

Not-Kagome snarled and sneered up at him, though at the same time her face was also twisted with pain and clouded with tears. "He's going to kill me, Inuyasha!" but the effect its plea had was diminished because it finished with several cackles.

Koinu choose that moment to whimper and start pawing at Inuyasha's haori again. Not-Kagome saw the movement and froze, her teary, wet eyes focused completely on the small movement in her mate's clothing. "Koinu…"

The baby squealed in response, recognizing his mother's voice. He made tiny sounds, almost words. He was trying to call her mama.

Kagome's eyes lightened, her head sagged against the bed as tired neck muscles at last gave in. "I'm home." She murmured, sounding astonished. "I'm alive…"

"That's right, Lady Kagome, and surrounded by friends." Miroku spoke calmly, warmly as he peered down at her, but Inuyasha noted that the monk's body was still very stiff.

"Inuyasha," she murmured his name and her fingers flexed. She tried to stretch out her arm toward him but the ropes restraining her body were too much of a hindrance. All movement stopped soon enough and she fell limp again, as if unconscious.

Instinct at last overwhelmed caution and Inuyasha tried to press forward again, calling her name, ears pricked and listening with concern. Miroku made a sharp noise in his throat, like a hiss, and reached out to try and stop Inuyasha but the hanyou was overcome with the need to physically reassure his mate. He pushed Miroku out of the way with a few muffled curses.

He knelt very close to her bedside, almost directly over her. Kagome's eyes were closed, her breathing was slow and even, deep as if she were sleeping.

"Kagome…" he reached out one hand to touch her face tenderly, but as his hand hovered in the air near her head Kagome suddenly stirred, leaping and reaching for him.

Inuyasha jumped backward, shocked, golden eyes wide and horrified. The thing straining against the ropes on the bed was once again Not-Kagome. The eyes were a deep, pitch black, like Miroku's ink before it was painted neatly onto the sutras. And yet despite their intense color her gaze seemed to glow unnaturally. She pressed against the restraints, reaching out toward Inuyasha and Koinu and cackling madly back deeply in her throat.

"This body is mine! I will never give her up! The monk may rob me of power and he may tie me down but he cannot get rid of me because I refuse to leave! You will only free this poor, pathetic bitch by doing what I tell you to, wretched hanyou."

In the dim grayness of the bedroom—once a place of warmth and security and love for the couple—Inuyasha felt the beginnings of fear tinged with despair wriggling in his guts. The demon manipulated his mate at its own will and Miroku's expression looked particularly grim as he stood at the foot of the bed, contemplating Not-Kagome as she struggled.

Koinu squalled in Inuyasha's haori, upset at the sudden movement his father had made to evade Kagome's possessed grasp. In response to the sound, Not-Kagome relaxed a little and instead focused her energy in staring at the lump in Inuyasha's haori.

"My baby…" she spoke with Kagome's voice, but the eyes were still deep and unnaturally dark. "Give me my baby…"

Inuyasha shifted Koinu, bringing the pup out into the air so that Kagome could see him clearly, but he made no move to return the baby to her. "Koinu's safe, Kagome." He looked toward Miroku, who still hadn't moved since Kagome had sprung, surprising them. "I thought you did this sort of thing all the time, monk." He growled.

"With objects or animals, Inuyasha." Miroku responded, closing his eyes tiredly. "And it's been years since I was trained in such ways."

"You've done it before—then what's the problem?" he remembered Miroku warning him that things might not work, but he refused to believe that Kagome was beyond aid.

"This spirit is the difference. Normally the spirit has other interests and no agenda. When it is blocked and restrained, as I have already done with Lady Kagome, they usually grow bored and leave the body they inhabit behind. This one has an agenda—it won't leave and even if we try to wait it out…"

Inuyasha scowled, "Wait it out?"

"There is one last sutra I have yet to place. That last one restrains the spirit, giving Lady Kagome back control of her body. Leaving several of the sutra spells on Lady Kagome would give essentially block the spirit. Most spirits leave then afterwards, but this spirit would not."

"Then do it." Inuyasha snarled, irritably. Koinu had started squirming and crying in his arms. His tiny fists beat on his father's chest. He stank of hunger. On the bed, lying still and peacefully for the moment, Kagome was staring at Koinu and crying softly.

Miroku sighed, heavily. "You don't understand Inuyasha. It isn't a cure. The spirit won't leave and the sutras can only act to suppress it on most levels. Physically it will make her miserable. She will be bedridden, sickly, for the rest of her life. I have seen it before when a person is inhabited in such a way—they suffer and die young."

Inuyasha resisted the urge to start shouting and cursing the monk. And after that urge passed he felt weak, shaky. His arms quivered as they held Koinu. The baby continued to scream, Kagome hadn't stopped crying silently on the bed. Inuyasha wondered how much of it all she understood. Was the monster taking refuge within her cackling somewhere evilly just for her ears alone?

Anger swept over the hanyou again. Without taking his eyes from Kagome he shouted at Miroku, "There must be someone—some stupid monk somewhere—dammit, stupid fucking…"

Miroku pursed his lips and stared at the floor. "I will prepare the last sutra."

"Damn you! Dammit!" Inuyasha stomped his foot and started to pace. Koinu buried his head into his father's shoulder and continued his unheard crying. The tiny white ears were plastered to his head with his distress and growing hunger.

Miroku once again sat at Kagome's bedside and began to wet the ink.

Not-Kagome laughed eerily, in a way that carried both the monster's male and Kagome's soft human female voices. They twisted as one in her throat, sending waves of nausea rushing through Inuyasha's body.

"Fools, all of you. The monk is right, Inuyasha. A spirit with a vendetta—we cannot be destroyed or banished until we have exacted our revenge." Kagome grinned, her white teeth leering sickeningly against her pale, gray skin. "I will make her suffer, Inuyasha. I will starve her, weaken her. She will survive years without really living, without the strength to leave this bed. She will never play with her whelp; she will never pleasure you again. When she dies at last I will move onto someone else…"

"You're full of shit." Inuyasha spat, but he felt as if he were about to vomit and his voice shook with weakness.

"The monk told you I cannot be gotten rid of. You know I speak the truth. You have only one way to save this wretched little bitch and that is to surrender to me…your bitch and the whelp will live…"

Miroku had finished the last sutra. He stood over Kagome's bedside and lowered the piece of paper towards her face.

Not-Kagome grinned a last time, looking distinctly triumphant. "Think on it, Inuyasha."

The sutra touched her skin and flared to life brightly. Inuyasha and Miroku both shielded their eyes against it. Then it faded and left Kagome silent and limp, sleeping deeply. On her forehead was a tiny symbol in fresh ink, the mark of the last sutra working its magic over her for the long term.

Miroku sighed and ran one hand through his black hair. "I've done all that I can."

Ah yes, I know, you all hate me. :-) Leave me a message. All Questions and comments are listened to/answered/and appreciated.