Hello guys, I'm back. Sorry to keep you waiting all this time, but I just got home from a couple of trips and I finally have some time to write. Now, I'm travelling again in about a week, so I'll try to leave a couple of chapters more. In any case, If I don't get to submit them, I'll leave them ready to do so as I'm travelling.
I can't give you exact dates, but remember this well, I won't give up on this story. I'll finish it no matter what. Although, I do want to give the manga some time to advance a little more.
Anyways, enjoy the chapter and wait for the next one, it should be ready in a couple of days.
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A week had passed since Kallen's arrival and the students were still trying to get used to her presence. She had won the respect from the entire school just by helping with the hunt of the perverts during the body measurements; a hunting in which she had showed her abilities, winning the admiration of the students. She already had two fan clubs that worshipped her, one formed mostly by lustful men that wanted to be noted by her and the other formed by girls that looked up to her, wanting to become just like the lavender haired vampire.
Her fame had grown even more after the ones who didn't know found out about her kinship with Moka and Kokoa, both the strongest ayashi of their respective grades. For the Newspaper Club members it was trouble. Every time Kallen was with them when Sesshomaru was absent, an endless row of stalkers would follow them. The lavender haired vampire just ignored them unless they gathered the enough courage to go and talk to her. In reality, she showed to be very sweet for those followers who seemed harmless. But she punished the perverts that tried to take pictures of her, especially if she was with her sisters. Gin had received more than fifty punishments by the end of the week.
Leaving the stalkers out, she was enjoying her new job at the academy. She got to be with her sisters and her friends more, helping them with their needs and looking after them; and everyone in the school grounds agreed that it was a much safer and peaceful place now that she was there. Every time a fight would start, she would be there to stop it. Every time a bully picked it up with a weaker monster, she was there to teach him a lesson. She was an efficient worker that took a lot of pressure out of the teachers', Ruby and the Headmaster's shoulders.
Sesshomaru smiled mentally as he thought about how she seemed to like her new job, and he had to admit that he liked her presence too. She was so mature, beautiful, and very powerful too; having her there at the school made him feel good, even though he wasn't sure about the reason.
He was out that night, looking up at the moon and enjoying the fresh breeze. It took a long time, but finally the weather was adjusting and changing into what it was supposed to be in autumn. The heat was going down and the wind was turning colder every day that passed. The silver haired man remembered what he had talked with Kallen a few days before. The entire group was worrying about the weather, especially the Snow Woman, who just wanted the winter to reach them once and for all. Then, he and Kallen had planted the idea about the destruction of the northern island to be interfering with the normal cooling of the country. It made sense, the portion of land his sword had destroyed, even if it was invisible, did influence the weather, and the island he had destroyed was huge.
That topic had put him deep in thought. The Titan, in its last moments, took advantage of the spreading effect of his sword's power to try and destroy him and Kallen along with the island. Even though the one that shot Bakusaiga's blast had been the lavender haired vampire, Sesshomaru suspected that the result would have been the same if it was him who would've done it. That sword was his own weapon, a physical representation of his power. And yet, he hadn't discovered anything about it. He just knew that it had a tremendous power that kept destroying everything that had contact with it.
He couldn't imagine what could have happened if Tsukune and the rest of the group had been there with him and Kallen when they were facing the legendary monster. It was then when he understood the dangers that came with carrying Bakusaiga. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes as he lowered his head to look at the dark ocean. He needed to do something about that. Tenseiga pulsated in his waist, inside its black, silk cover. His healing sword had been acting strangely the whole week, pulsing and shaking with no apparently reason.
'Tenseiga?' Sesshomaru asked himself, arching his brows when a light was emitted from inside the black cover. Holy energy erupted from the sword, like a furious wind that pushed him hard. "Tenseiga…" Sesshomaru said as the light turned more intense. A flash spread into the forest, dying off in a second and leaving a lonely sword wrapped in black silk on the edge of the cliff where its master had been standing. Silently, a blue energy surrounded the healing sword before it disappeared, reappearing again inside the silver haired man's room.
Inside the staff's building, a lavender haired vampire woke up suddenly. She looked outside through her window. 'What was that just now?' She asked herself, getting out from her bed and walking towards the crystal. A bad feeling took over her.
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The next morning greeted the students as they started to head for the main building of the academy, Tsukune being one of them. The human walked happily from the male's dorms; that day, the Newspaper club would have a meeting to discuss the topics and news they would include in that week's edition. They needed to do a high level work that time, because the rumors about an interview with Akashiya Kallen had spread around the school and all the students were looking forward to reading it.
No member from the club had any idea about how their decision to interview the newest member of the staff of the academy exited the Club's room. Not that it mattered, anyways. Kallen had accepted right away when they asked her. She was willing to help them with anything they needed; that was her job after all.
A little ahead, Tsukune located the girls. Moka, Kurumu, Mizore, Yukari, Ruby, Kokoa and Kallen were there. He thought about the serious looks on their faces.
"Good morning," he saluted once he reached the group of girls. Kurumu turned around, just noting his presence.
"Tsukuuuune!" She chirped, launching herself towards him and pressing his head against her chest. They tried to push her back so he could breathe again, but it was futile. Soon, his head started to spin from the lack of oxygen, and when he thought he was going to pass out, a CLANG was heard and Kurumu's let go of his head, sliding down from his body. The human took a deep breath and was able to see straight again. Kurumu lay in front of him with a big bump on her head.
"Thank you, Yukari-chan," Tsukune said, smiling to the young witch. After the blue haired Succubus woke up and her arguing with Yukari ended, they focused on a more serious matter. "Why is everyone so serious?" The human asked.
"Kallen-nee-san felt a flaring power inside the barrier last night," Moka answered, and the black haired male turned to look at the older vampire, asking her to tell him more.
"I'm sure I've felt that power before. It was back when Sesshomaru and I fought against the Titan," she explained, "it was the holy power of one of his swords; it flared furiously last night around midnight."
"Tenseiga's power?" Tsukune asked. He hadn't felt a thing.
"Yes. I already informed to the Headmaster about it and he sent me here to look for Sesshomaru," Kallen said, "but I can't sense him anywhere so I thought maybe Kokoa would know about his whereabouts."
Tsukune turned to face the redheaded vampire.
"I haven't seen Sesshomaru-sama since yesterday," she confessed, with a worried expression on her face.
"We were about to go and check if he was in his room," Ruby informed, "the Headmaster felt the wave of holy energy too but he doesn't know what could have provoked it."
The group made a decision and began their way towards the male's dorm, heading for their silver haired friend's bedroom. They reached the door they were looking for and knocked, waiting for an answer; no reply came. Knowing that Sesshomaru wasn't someone who would wait that much to give an answer; they opened the door and entered the room. He was not there, just how they had expected.
"It seems that he didn't even sleep here last night, desu," Yukari commented, looking how the bed was perfectly made.
"Look over there," Moka pointed. In a corner, Tenseiga rested against the wall, wrapped inside its black cover. The group walked towards the sword and Kallen, the only one with the courage enough to be touching one of Sesshomaru's possessions, lifted the weapon and removed the cover.
"It is Tenseiga," she said.
"The other sword is not here," Mizore informed. Sesshomaru wasn't allowed to carry his swords around the school and even if he had left the academy, why would he leave one of his sword behind? And what was the holy wave Kallen had felt then?
"What is going on here?" Kurumu asked, worried. Last time Sesshomaru had disappeared, he had taken off towards the island where he and Kallen faced the Titan. But this time he had disappeared all by himself, leaving his healing sword behind. He definitely wasn't inside the barrier that surrounded the school, Kallen couldn't feel a thing and the Headmaster hadn't been able lo locate him either.
"We need to inform him about this, Kallen-san," Ruby remembered, referring to the Chairman. The lavender haired vampire turned and looked at her before she nodded, wrapping Tenseiga again before the group exited the room, heading for the Headmaster's office.
"I see," the Chairman said, once he listened to what the students had to say. "That's strange."
The Newspaper Club members were gathered inside the white clothed man's office, talking about Sesshomaru's disappearance. Mikogami had been searching for the Daiyoukai since he knew he was missing, but his crystal ball didn't show him what he wanted to know. Lillith was there too, trying to use her mirror to locate the silver haired man. The magic object just showed darkness to them.
"Not even Lillith's black crystal is able to find him," Moka said, worried.
"It can't be. My black crystal is synchronized with Sesshomaru-sama, I should be able to see him no matter where he is," the little fairy explained, confused. The silence spread inside the room, surrounding them until the lavender haired vampire broke it.
"I'm sure it has something to do with Tenseiga," she said. "If not, what was the wave of power I sensed last night?" Suddenly, a dark chuckle was heard.
"Hehehe. This has really complicated," Mikogami said, looking at the group with his glowing eyes, "go and keep searching for him; I'll do some research and try to locate him from here." The group noted that, for the first time since they knew him, the Headmaster was as lost as them. With nothing else to do there, Tsukune and the girls turned around to leave. "Leave Tenseiga with me," the white dressed man ordered before they left, and Kallen turned to give him the healing sword before joining the group again.
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The day was ending and Sesshomaru was still missing. The group gathered in front of the main building's entrance, with a new member in their lines.
"I couldn't find him," Gin informed, shaking his head. Tsukune sighed; he had looked for their werewolf friend with the hope he could use his sense of smell to track the demon lord, since Kallen wasn't able to sense his presence. Their senpai, accompanied by Kallen and Kokoa, had found the silver haired man's trace, but it ended right at the edge of the cliff outside the dead forest. The black haired werewolf had several bumps on his head. "It's just like he vanished. His smell leads me all the way from this building towards the ocean."
"Maybe he flew from that point," Kurumu offered. Gin shook his head again.
"Even if that's what happened, I should be able to smell it," he said. Nobody asked about his injuries; they all guessed what had happened. Surely he had said or done something pervert, and Kallen and Kokoa punished him, although they avoided leaving him unconscious because they still needed his help.
"Not only that," Kallen spoke. "I'm pretty sure that the holy wave I felt last night came from that cliff." The group was totally lost, even though they had a lightly formed picture of what had happened; Sesshomaru had been standing on the cliff, meditating like he usually did at nights, then, Tenseiga had emitted a wave of its power for an unknown reason and… poof, Sesshomaru had disappeared.
Kallen bit her bottom lip; she knew Sesshomaru was extremely powerful and was more than able to face any kind of situations, but she still couldn't help feeling worried about him. After what he had done against Fairy Tale, the organization was definitely after his head. But even with that fact she believed that the evil organization wasn't behind the Daiyoukai's disappearance. And what was with Tenseiga's wave of energy she had felt? That question kept appearing in her mind.
"Guys, what do you know about Tenseiga?" The lavender haired vampire asked. Maybe if she knew more about it, she would be able to reach an answer. Tsukune and the girls looked at her before they started to think about it.
"Well, that sword is a memento from his father and has the power to bring dead back to life," Tsukune said, making Kallen to arch her brows.
"What?" Gin asked, thinking that he had heard wrong, "he can bring dead back to life?" The group of friends nodded.
"Tenseiga is a sword that cannot kill the living, but is able to cut the beings from the other world, so it "kills" the Pall-Bearers from the next world, linking life with the body," Moka explained, remembering the time the group had watched Sesshomaru's memories.
For Kallen, it was a whole new revelation. Not only he had a sword that destroyed everything; he could use his other sword to actually defeat death itself. But that still didn't explain his disappearance.
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The darkness was absolute, so was the silence; there was nothing but peace. The silver haired man floated peacefully over the dark water, a warm feeling surrounded him. Slowly, he opened his eyes once again and found darkness. He was tranquil; he didn't detect any evilness anywhere around. He closed his eyes again; he had no idea of where he was, but he didn't care.
"Sesshomaru…" A deep voice whispered. The silver haired demon thought he knew that voice, but he wasn't interested in confirming that. "Sesshomaru…"
The voice grew in volume, making him to open his eyes this time. His nose didn't tell him anything, but now he was sure who the owner of that voice was. "Chichiue," he called.
"Sesshomaru, my son," the silver haired demon turned around, just realizing he was on his feet, and found the only man he respected totally. His father, the Great Dog Demon, was standing there in front of him, smiling at his son. "It's been a while."
"Where are we?" Sesshomaru asked, jumping the whole greeting thing.
"You really don't know?" Inu no Taisho asked back. Sesshomaru furrowed his brows lightly, focusing. He remembered standing on the cliff, back at Youkai Academy, looking at the ocean when Tenseiga had started to glow, engulfing him with its light.
"Tenseiga," Sesshomaru said and his father nodded, "why am I here?" The armored demon smiled warmly at his older son.
"Because the time has come, my son," he answered. Sesshomaru didn't know what he meant.
"Time?" He asked. Inu no Taisho nodded again.
"Your strength has increased at a rate that even I thought was impossible. In the last months, I've seen you grow not only physically, but mentally as well," his father spoke, "your heart and your mind have changed, setting you back on the path that will lead you to the supremacy you have been looking for since you were a pup. However, my son, even in the last battle you had, you still seemed to depend on my power to fight."
Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes.
"When you obtained your own sword, forgetting about me and Tessaiga, you began to stand on your own to defeat your enemies," the armored Daiyoukai continue, "and now that you've reached this level, I think it is time for you to complete that process. However, my son, as that happens, I want to lend you my strength one more time, to help you with this situation that is troubling you." Suddenly, Inu no Taisho's form turned dark and expanded, splitting into thousands of parts.