Chapter 31

"Earlier than expected? You mean you think Naraku was intending to come after us from the start?", queried a nervous Jacinta.

"Well, duh, why the heck do you think he's trying to be revived and get his body back? To play tiddlywinks?", cracked Kentaro.

"Kentaro's right. The only reason Naraku has to come back is to take possession of the sacred jewel, get revenge on those who killed him ..." started Inuyasha.

"And try and take over the world.", finished Yasha. His offhanded comment drew some giggles from a couple pups,

"What's so funny?", asked their annoyed father, which only drew more giggles.

"Nuthin' dad,",snicker snicker "Nuthin' at all.", said Yasuo.

"Ok, before we go any further, fill us in and get the giggles out.", commanded their father.

Yasuo and Shima forced themselves to stop giggling as they changed their voices to sound like "Pinky and the Brain"

Yasuo - "So whaddya want to do tonight, Naraku?"

Shima - "Same thing we do every night, Adimara, TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!"

Laughing uncontrollably over their little joke, the boys soon had others laughing at their weirdness. Sesshoumaru just shook his head and commented,

"Your pups really need to be set straight, Inuyasha."

"Awww, Uncle, you need to lighten up.", cracked Hajime, still giggling from his brothers' antics.

"We are about to go into battle. This is why you should not go, because you do not take it seriously.", Sesshoumaru said in his quiet, commanding voice.

"Geez, Uncle, it may be a battle but it's not like in the feudal era.", commented Yasha, "We march into Jamesville, it'll be like the Union Army marching into Atlanta. As we stand right now, I think our presence in Jamesville will, like, double the population."

"And we can surround the enemy and take him out before he even realizes what hit him.", said Shaoran.

"That would require quiet and I have never seen your father, in my entire life, enter a battle quietly.", remarked Sesshoumaru.

"We'll gag him.", said Bunza.

"Or have Okaa-san place a mute spell on him.", said Jasmine.

"Hey, now wait a god-damn minute you guys!", Inuyasha started, as the giggling started up again. Maybe his pups could use a lesson in self-control.

Yasha sighed, "Either way, we outnumber him and can out gun him. He's toast."

"I doubt he'll be that easy.", said a female voice. It was Lizzie.

"Huh?", a few people chorused.

"Jamesville is dead until crab season starts in October. Only the natives live there. It's not a beach resort, it's just the docks. There's some fishing year round and some of the mainland locals go to the fish market there. But, if all of you go onto the island at once, now, Jones/Walters/Naraku, whoever he is, will know the gig is up. He'll split."

"That's true." mused Inuyasha, "Hey, Yasha, getting back to your original thought, why else do you think we got pulled into this early? I agree that Naraku was scheming to be brought back to avenge his own death ..."

"He was in a quiet town, preparing for more deaths. And then you, his arch enemy, went on vacation near where he was powering up, but he wasn't ready to battle you yet. To prevent you from destroying his plans, he launched what attacks he could on you. From having our secret known to neighbors, to capturing your soul so you went on a rampage, to reviving long dead foes. Anything to keep you occupied until his transformation was complete."

"Dad's rampage could have been part of Naraku's plan. The deaths of more innocents.", Izayoi said, passing a squirming Tia to her mother for feeding.

Lizzie looked at them wide-eyed. 'The deaths of innocents? Could they be talking about the wild animal rampage the other day?', she thought, as she looked at Inuyasha.

"How did you manage to cover that up, Uncle? I haven't looked at a paper yet.", asked Bunza.

"There's an animal experiment lab not far from here. I basically let slip that a giant, hybrid, white, coyote/wolf/wild dog escaped. Also said we killed it. Created a fake to show off to the world."

"At least you made it part dog,", Kouga said smugly, crossing his arms and leaning back on his chair, "I'd hate to think you'd put that kind of blame all on us wolves."

"We ain't wild, you mangy beast.", Inuyasha snidely commented.

"That's your opinion.", shot back Kouga.

Kagome had a look of sheer anger on her face, "Don't you make me say the word ..."

Sweatdrops appeared on both men's foreheads at her words. Lizzie didn't understand Kagome, but she understood what they were talking about. She had heard the news about the so-called animal rampage and the death of the culprit. It was false? Kagome's husband was to blame? Her conscience bothered her,

"I'm sorry, but, are you saying that the animal that they showed on the news WASN'T the one responsible for all those killings?", she spoke up.

Now it was nearly everyone's turn there to sweatdrop. Inuyasha, already suffering from the knowledge, never looked at her. Kagome spoke up and explained about Kanna and her mirror,

"Without his human soul, Inuyasha no longer had a conscience. He was just a rampaging demon."

"Is that an excuse? Kouga and Sesshoumaru are full-demons and I don't see them going on murder rampages.", Lizzie said, shocked.

"The demon blood within him is too strong for a half-demon. When his human soul was sucked out, the primitive side of his demon blood took control.", Sesshoumaru tried to explain.

"30 men, women and dogs were killed. I don't accept that. He should pay for what he's done.", she replied adamantly, drawing a hushed silence from the crowd.

"It's not an excuse, no.", said Inuyasha quietly, "And I live with the torment every day and I will for the rest of my natural life. But, to turn myself in and pay for my crimes, as you say, would turn our world, the demon world, upside down. We can't risk that."

"How can I live knowing the culprit is still walking around? I would be an accomplice.", Lizzie said, quietly.

"I can take care of that.", said Sesshoumaru, quietly.

"Huh?", said Lizzie.

"No, Sesshoumaru. I'll handle it", Kagome said, getting up from the table and approaching Lizzie, who, for the first time ever, backed away.

"Don't be afraid Lizzie. I would never hurt you.", Kagome said quietly, as she placed her left hand on Lizzie's forehead to perform a memory spell, and said, "You know it was really that wild, hybrid beast they showed on the news that did all the killings, right?"

"Yes, of course. The news said so. A hybrid coyote/wolf/wild dog killed those people and it was killed also. I saw the pictures.", Lizzie said.

"Good, Lizzie. Now,", she said, turning to the others and sensing their collective sighs of relief, "Let's change the subject, shall we?"

"What were we talking about?", said Inuyasha.

"About the best time to approach Naraku.", said Yasha, quietly.

"Since Jamesville starts to get crowded in October, that would be the best time.", said Shinta.

"Won't Naraku get suspicious if all us Japanese people start flowing into Jamesville?" asked Shirrow.

"I'll create jewelry with spells of normalcy on them.", mused Kagome.

"Uhhh, been there, done that, still doesn't answer the question.", said Shirrow.

"I'll create spells of normalcy with new looks. Western looks. So we all look Canadian. It will also cover our armament - disguising our weapons to look like everyday objects, like, cell phones.", Kagome said.

"But, dad said a demon can see through those spells.", said Dakota.

"And then there is Adimara, she is a witch.", commented Sage.

"I said they could see through SIMPLE spells,", said Inuyasha, "Give your mother some credit. SHE is a sorceress. I think that's a little higher up on the totem pole than just plain witch and the spell won't be a basic spell.

"October will be good for me,", said Kagome, "I'll need this time to prepare the spells on the jewelry."