Chapter 13

Despite the fact that they had left what was left of the slayers village behind, it seemed as though the heavy atmosphere was still surrounding them – it felt as though the entire area was cursed, and Kagome couldn't help the shiver that crawled up her spine as she woke the next morning.

For some reason, the whole area almost felt like... like Naraku. It felt heavy with his malice – but that was impossible... wasn't it? He was dead – she'd even made sure of it! So why did the very air feel as though it were poisoned with his hatred?

"Keh. You feel it too, don't you, wench?" The sound of the hanyou's voice was almost muffled by the heaviness of the air, and Kagome looked around at him as she sat up.

"Yeah," she affirmed reluctantly.

"Feel what?" Mattaki's voice ghosted into the clearing at the same time he did.

"Naraku," she breathed.

He glanced at her sharply. "I thought you had all killed him."

"Feh. We did. But that don't mean that bastard didn't leave somethin' behind," Inuyasha responded. He scowled. "It would be just like him."

"So you mean to say that somehow he survived?"

"No," Kagome shook her head, her brow furrowed as she extended her senses, "but I do think he did something... something we hadn't thought of, like maybe cursed this place to get back at those who beat him. To make sure that he took everyone who dared to stand against him with him, instead."

"A curse?" Mattaki mused thoughtfully, looking around with discerning eyes. "That is very possible. I certainly do not feel the presence of anything... living."

"The question is, what the hell kinda curse is it and where the hell are Sango and Miroku, not to mention Kirara?" Inuyasha barked after a moment, his loud voice finally waking a shivering Shippo from what looked to be a very broken sleep.

They all looked at each other for several long moments, and then Mattaki said, "Well, we will not find answers or your companions while sitting here, so perhaps we should get a move on."

No one argued with that statement and within a short time everyone was packed up and ready to go. The group was grimly silent as they followed Mattaki, who was the only one with a nose strong enough to pick up the fading scents of those they were trying to track, back to the path the others had seemed to take in their escape from the remains of the slayers village.

It was silent for some hours as they continued on but Kagome didn't miss the fact that they were heading for a small mountain, the scents of their missing friends headed as straight as an arrow towards its rolling foothills and rocky flanks, if Mattaki's nose was anything to go by. By late afternoon they were close, and the daiyoukai assured the group that their missing friend's scents were getting stronger.

Kagome was soon convinced that they were there, somewhere on the mountain through her own senses – whatever bad thing was out there was getting a lot closer, and without saying a word to anyone she reached into the little pocket on her pack to take out the ofuda that Miroku had given her what seemed so long ago. Gripping them in her hands she allowed her reiki out to charge them, making them much stronger than they had been with just Miroku's houriki drenching them. She was almost positive they'd be needing that protection very soon.

Just as the sun was beginning its descent into the horizon the group approached a small rocky gorge, and everyone came to a halt without even needing to say a word – whatever was sickening this whole area was concentrated up ahead.

"The scents of the slayer, her firecat, and the monk are also all coming from up ahead," Mattaki said after a moment, Inuyasha nodding behind him as he could also finally smell them. Even through whatever evil lay up ahead.

"Yeah, and whatever is causing all the havoc is also just up ahead. I think we're going to have to go through it to get to them," Kagome replied, her entire body screaming at her that danger lay ahead.

Shippo, who'd been silent pretty much all day snuggled closer to Kagome's neck and shivered, his fear quite plain as his fur bristled – only Kagome didn't find it at all cute in these particular circumstances, and reached up and patted the little kit's back soothingly.

"It'll be okay, Shippo – I won't let anything happen to you," she said quietly.,

Mattaki heard that and turned a narrow-eyed glare on her. "Don't pull any repeats of the other day, Kagome," he warned her in no uncertain terms. "I do the protecting – for you and your son."

Despite the fact that she still didn't like being told what to do, Kagome couldn't help the soft feeling that surged over her at his promise to protect Shippo, too. She'd never asked him to do such a thing – he'd just taken the duty on and that actually meant a lot to her, personally. It also meant that he'd taken her as part of a package deal, knowing that in order to have her he'd have to have Shippo, as well. She studied his eyes for a moment, and smiled softly at him when she saw that he seemed to have no qualms with that fact, either.

"Hai," she agreed easily, earning an approving growl and a heartfelt smile from the daiyoukai. She stayed quiet as Mattaki ordered them to stay where they were, putting Inuyasha in charge of the group as he went to reconnoiter and find out just what they were facing.

The companions were totally silent as he disappeared, though Kagome did move a little closer to Inuyasha, who simply quirked a brow at her and then smiled a little, one fang hanging over his lip as he nodded at her, knowing what she was doing. Hell, as bad as this place felt he needed the comfort of a friendly presence, as well.

Mattaki was gone about five minutes, and when he returned his expression was quite dire, his eyes dark and very unhappy.

"There is a black cloud that hovers at the head of this ravine as it dead ends there. Just in front of where it sits is a cave – that is where your friends are. It seems that your friend the monk has so far managed to keep whatever is in that cloud out with ofuda, but I can tell you this – that won't last. The cloud grows stronger," he said grimly. "It is only a matter of time."

"Keh. So what are we gonna do?" Inuyasha asked, a scowl on his face.

"We make for the cave. Hopefully the cloud won't try to attack us, but we must be prepared in case it does." Mattaki reached down and drew Tessaiga, handing it hilt first back to his son. "You might need this – what is in that cloud won't be fazed by a plain katana."

Kagome's heart sank; if Mattaki was changing his original plan of making Inuyasha wait to get the sword back, then things were probably going to get nasty very quickly. She could feel her adrenaline kick in, her body tensing for battle just as Mattaki and Inuyasha were – she was used to battles, after all, even though she hated them.

The daiyoukai continued giving instructions. "We will make for the cave – weapons at the ready, but we will not attack the cloud unless it attacks us. Since we don't know what it is, we would be fighting blindly, and I'd rather talk to your companions and find out what they can tell us about this. We need all the information we can get."

"Keh."

"Okay."

He inclined his head to Inuyasha. "You will guard the rear, and I will take the lead – Kagome, you stay between us but keep your eyes open, understood?"

She nodded and had Shippo climb into the hood on her cloak, glad that she'd put it on, as the weather was rather cool. It was a good place for the kit; he was still held by her, but out of the way if she needed to fight, and the hood was much less precarious than if he were just clinging to her.

Anxious and not inclined to hide it, Kagome fell into step as they all moved out, her fingers rifling through the ofuda she still held in her hands. She determinedly readied herself for anything, knowing that if this was indeed a curse from Naraku, it would probably be damaged more by spiritual power than youki. That meant her – with Miroku's assistance in the form of his ofuda... and probably her arrows as well.

It only took about ten minutes at their slower pace to reach the area that Mattaki had told them of, and Kagome could take in what they were facing with her own eyes. There was indeed a dark cloud of energy, malicious in nature, hovering just ten feet or so before the entrance to the cave that he'd mentioned. It appeared that it was being held at bay by the ofuda that were pasted around the entrance, though every so often a tendril of the darkness would reach out and attempt to penetrate the barrier. So far they'd been held off, but Kagome had the feeling that they'd arrived just in time – it didn't look as though Miroku's strength alone would hold the curse off much longer – probably once night fell, strengthening its power, the cloud would indeed break through.

"When we get there, I'm going to have to replenish the ofuda around the cave with the ofuda Miroku gave me that is charged with both our power, otherwise that cloud is going to break through tonight," she said softly, almost whispering. She knew both her companions would hear her, despite her low tone.

Mattaki obviously did; he grunted in acknowledgment, his sword held at the ready as he slowed his pace, leading them towards the cloud – and the cave.

The cloud initially seemed to pay no attention to them, just hovering before the cave entrance as though it had all the patience in the world, but as the travelers drew nearer it seemed to realize they were there, and they could all feel as it reacted to their presence, sending out a tendril towards them which Kagome wasted no time tossing an ofuda at. The tendril dissipated and a shrill piercing cry came from the cloud as it roiled angrily, but it withdrew, and everyone could see that though it seemed like a cloud, it did have some mass to it.

They took the chance at its withdrawal and made a dash for the cave entrance, at which point Kagome tossed several more ofuda along the perimeter to strengthen the ones already present. They glowed a deep purple, a mix of Miroku's blue houriki and Kagome's pink reiki, and then settled into the rock, putting up a very strong barrier against the cloud as its malice doubled. They could all feel the writhing hatred and twisted nature of it as they all backed into the cave – to the surprise of those already in the cave.

For a moment everyone stared at each other, and then cries of relief came from the huddled forms of Miroku, Sango, Kirara – and surprisingly, Kohaku.

Before long they were all seated around the fire, which got some raised brows from the newcomers, but first things first; it was apparent by the shocked stares at a blushing Inuyasha that his tale would have to be told first.

Kagome chose to give the bare basics of Inuyasha's return, simply stating that the kami had returned him to life and not going into detail as to why – it wasn't really necessary to go into all that. On top of that they had much more serious things to discuss at this time... like what had happened to them, and what the hell that cloud was. She could tell, however, that her friends weren't fooled – they both knew there was something about Inuyasha's return that she wasn't saying but were willing to wait to find out the particulars, since their own circumstance was so dire.

It was, unsurprisingly, Miroku who did most of the talking.

"... everything was going well. We'd repaired Sango's old family home, and were working on reinforcing the little damage to the walls while getting ready to repair the gates, when Kohaku arrived after discharging his debt to Sesshoumaru-sama. Or at least attempting to. Sesshoumaru-sama simply sent him home. But it was as if his coming triggered... something."

"So you mean that once Kohaku showed up, that... cloud thing did, too?" Kagome asked, brow furrowed.

"No, not quite," Miroku murmured wryly as he exchanged glances with Sango and the boy in question. "When he arrived everything was fine. But that night... we could all feel this creeping evil slowly drawing together within the confines of the village. I went out to try to get rid of it, but while it wasn't able to attack me through my ofuda it refused to leave, and only kept getting bigger. Then it was as if a storm settled on the hill, high winds and screaming voices tearing at everything. I've never seen the like," he said. "I could hear wood splintering, and knew that if we didn't get out we'd all be destroyed too, so I made my way back to Sango and we managed – barely – to get out."

Fascinated, Mattaki asked, "So what happened next?"

Miroku rubbed a tired hand across a shadowed face, his eyes squinting as he thought about it. "Well, we made it safely out of the village, with a few injuries, and made our way some ways back, and just watched in astonishment as the entire place was just... wiped out. Little was left when it was over except splinters – and that black cloud. We could feel its evil and that it had the malice of Naraku behind it, and it seemed to be hunting us, because as soon as the village was destroyed it came after us... and we ran. We eventually found ourselves here, and we've been stuck here, unable to get out and not wanting to run and bring it into contact with anyone else. I've tried to figure out how to destroy it, but it's getting stronger," he said tiredly, and they could all tell how badly this whole thing had worn down not only he, but the others, as well. "I... if you all had not arrived when you did, I do not think... we would have made it past this night."

It was silent for some minutes as they all took in what had been said, and then Kagome sighed. "Well, we're going to have to figure something out, because otherwise we're all going to be stuck here."

They all exchanged glances, knowing she was right.

But Miroku at least was feeling a great deal more confident that with their help they could break whatever curse the spider hanyou had left behind, as he hadn't been able to do by himself. In fact, he was pretty certain that Kagome would be able to deal with the cloud herself – after all, she'd been the one to overpower not only Naraku's energy, but the power of the Shikon no Tama, as well. By herself. So she should have no problem with a curse from the dark hanyou, either.

The newcomers broke out the meat they'd hunted, to the telling gratitude of Miroku and the others – it was apparent that it had been some time since they'd had much to eat. But one question remained... their woodpile was getting low, and Kagome certainly didn't want to run out of light.

"How have you guys been getting wood?" she asked, and Miroku looked at her with tired, bleary eyes.

"Ah. As to that, during the day when the energy of the cloud is at its weakest I've taken Kirara out and, with the help of my ofuda, managed to get wood to keep the fire going. I've also managed to hunt up some rabbits and grab a few vegetables, but I won't deny we're really glad to see the food you've brought, since we've had very little to share out between us all. I was also beginning to run low on ofuda, and when I'd leave I'd have to use more, because I'd have to have some for myself and also enough to strengthen the ones around the cave. We really wouldn't have lasted more than another night or two if you hadn't shown up when you did."

Sango nodded wearily. "We had little hope of being found... we can only thank kami that you all came when you did. But," she frowned in curiosity, "why did you show up, anyway? Not that I'm not grateful, as I've said, it's just that we weren't expecting it."

Kohaku nodded, just as tired as the others but obviously still being taciturn, as he continued to stay quiet and simply listen to the conversation.

Listening to them speak, Kagome's face dropped as she realized how close they'd come to losing their friends forever. She felt so guilty that she hadn't decided to come see them sooner.

"Well, I decided to come visit you guys, you know, before winter set in. We went and visited Kaede for a few days, and then came on here." She paused for a moment, and then burst out, "Oh, you guys, I'm so sorry we didn't come sooner! I feel so terrible that you've been through something so horrible."

Kirara mewed at her from where she was curled up with Shippo eating her fill for the first time in almost a week, and Shippo said, "She says not to feel bad – you got here in time and that's what matters. And they all know that if you had known what was happening, you'd have come sooner."

Miroku and Sango echoed her sentiments, and Sango moved to hug her friend, enveloping her in affection. Kagome didn't miss the wince however, when she moved, and suddenly she realized that Sango was still injured, and that's why she hadn't moved much since they'd arrived. Instantly she was digging through her bag.

"You should lay back, Sango," she said crisply as she laid out some blankets, "and let me look you over. Kaede sent us with a nice package of medicinal herbs for you guys for the winter, and I've still got some of my medical supplies." Within moments, she had water boiling over the fire as Sango laid down, obviously in pain, and Kagome opened her First Aid kit and began pulling out antiseptic and bandages.

Once she had everything ready, she had Sango show her where she was hurt, and Kagome had to wince – she had a nasty gouge down her left side, where it looked like some piece of flying wood had caught her. The edges were getting red, and it was apparent that she was beginning to get an infection. With quick efficiency she opened a vial of her most powerful pain killer, a tincture of poppy, which she knew was just a basic form of her era's narcotic pain reliever morphine. She measured out a dose to Sango, and as soon as it began to kick in she started treating the wound by wiping it down with alcohol after telling Mattaki to back away so he wouldn't be overpowered by the scent. Inuyasha didn't have to be told – he remembered that stuff quite well and joined his father against the back wall of the cave.

Sango, by then feeling pretty good and almost asleep didn't react too badly to the terrible sting, and after Kagome had thoroughly cleaned the injury she mixed up a poultice of an herb designed to pull out the rest of any infection left in the wound, and then bandaged her up. By the time she was done Sango was asleep, for the first time in days feeling warm and safe, with a full belly and not in pain.

Once she had Sango settled she turned to Miroku with a militant air. "Alright, you aren't injured, are you?"

Miroku, just glad to see Sango sleeping peacefully and no longer in pain, shook his head. "No, I had a few scratches, but fortunately I missed receiving any serious injuries. The ones I did have are long gone, and Kirara's are as well," he added with a smile as he saw Kagome's gaze fall on the firecat. "It was just Sango that got the serious injury.

After staring at him suspiciously, she decided that he was being truthful and looked at Kohaku, who also shook his head, demurring in a soft voice. Finally convinced they were all okay, she put away all her medical supplies, pulling out her own sleeping bag and laying it out near the fire so she could keep her bum from getting too cold on the hard rock. She also handed a blanket to Miroku, who took it with a grateful smile and a murmured thanks, and then she passed one to an already nodding Kohaku.

After a little while of silence, Kagome spoke up. "So... this curse. When we were approaching, I kind of probed at it with my senses, and... it's basically made up of Naraku's youki. I figure he thought that you by yourself wouldn't be able to overpower it, and it would be able to destroy you and Sango. He wasn't counting on me and even Inuyasha being around to help."

"You are probably correct, Kagome-sama," Miroku said, though his eyes widened considerably as Mattaki, who had been standing at the cave mouth watching the cloud with narrow eyes, came over and sat behind Kagome, pulling her into his embrace. "Ah, er..." he began awkwardly, then stopped, his eyes darting between the couple on the blanket and Inuyasha, unable to figure out what to say. Kagome blushed, her eyes falling into her lap.

Mattaki chuckled at Miroku's reaction – and Kagome's. "Some things have changed since we first met, monk."

He blinked, then said, "I see that. I suppose it is a fortuitous thing for you both," he chuckled in return after a moment, "seeing as how you will be together for a very long time, indeed."

Fingers fidgeting in her lap, Kagome didn't say anything, and soon the talk turned back to their current problem. They were all, needless to say, well aware that there would have to be some sort of battle to get rid of that cloud – but Miroku was certain that with Kagome's presence, as well as Mattaki and Inuyasha, the cloud would be easy to destroy and was no longer overly concerned. He would be able to sleep fully for the first time since this had all started, and knowing how tired he had to be, the others fell silent and let his weariness pull him under.

Once he was good and asleep Shippo got up and went and tucked the blanket around him and patted him gently. "Poor Miroku – I don't remember the last time I saw him looking so tired," he practically whispered, and Inuyasha nodded.

"Keh. Fuckin' Naraku. Should'a known he'd pull some shit like this," he growled softly, an irritated look on his face. "Everytime you think you're finished with him, like that time with Kaguya, he pops back up again. At least this time it's not really him."

Mattaki looked interested at mention of Kaguya. "What was Naraku's interest in Kaguya?" he asked, obviously knowing of the celestial maiden.

Inuyasha told that tale in short, succinct sentences, and Mattaki became quite intrigued. "So Naraku stole the youki of others to make himself stronger, eh?"

"Yeah." Inuyasha looked over at Kagome. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" he asked.

She blinked. "You mean, using my arrow and the Backlash Wave against it?"

"It should work. This cloud was designed to take on Miroku, basically. It wasn't designed to take on you and I."

"Wait a minute. You learned the secret of the Backlash Wave?" Mattaki asked, definitely surprised.

"What? You think I'm too stupid or weak?" Inuyasha snapped, looking angry. "Yah, I figured it out – when I destroyed Ryukotsussei. And I didn't even get much more than a few scratches when I did it, either," he sniffed, sticking his nose in the air and folding his arms into his sleeves, obviously one-upping his father.

"Well, I imagine it would be easy to kill a being that was sealed and unable to fight," Mattaki said, grinning.

Kagome broke in before Inuyasha could go through the roof. "Ah, well, he wasn't exactly sealed anymore when Inuyasha fought him." When Mattaki shot her an incredulous glance, she continued. "Somehow Naraku found out about the dragon, and who he was. So he went to where you'd sealed him and broke the seal by using his miasma to dissolve your fang. So... long story short Ryukotsussei woke up and recognized Inuyasha as your blood when we arrived, so he attacked him."

Mattaki barked something that had Inuyasha snapping his head around to look at him, then asked, "How did you find the Backlash Wave?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I smelled it. It wasn't hard."

Looking thoughtful, Mattaki eyed Tessaiga where it was sheathed on his son's hip, and then said, "When I retrieved it from where it came to rest when you descended to hell I could feel a difference in it, though I haven't really tested it to see what that difference was. Care to tell me what you've done to my fang?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

His son answered with a matching smirk. "Oi, it ain't just your fang anymore, old man. One of Naraku's incarnations, Goshinki, snapped Tessaiga in half, and when Totosai fixed it he added one of my fangs into the sword. It's got a lot more attacks now than it did when you first had it made."

Mattaki couldn't help the look of pride on his face as he looked at his son, and Inuyasha practically preened. "What kind of attacks?"

So Inuyasha stood and drew the fabled sword, transforming it into its different forms – red Tessaiga, the barrier-breaker, adamant Tessaiga, dragon-scale Tessaiga, and meidou Tessaiga, as well, explaining what each one was. Of course, Mattaki recognized the meidou form, but the others were a surprise, and Kagome kind of dazed off into her own little world as the two, father and son, had their first true conversation that was without anger or resentment on Inuyasha's part and with a great deal of pride on Mattaki's for the son he'd never thought to know.

He is much, much stronger than I'd ever hoped he would be. Now if I can just teach him some proper technique, he thought wryly to himself.

"Mmm." He frowned after a moment. "Tell me... how did it come about that you got Tessiaga in the first place? It wasn't really meant to be found."

"Feh," Inuyasha snarled lightly, "why don't ya ask that bastard Sesshoumaru? He's the one that figured it out using a totally dirty trick."

"Dirty trick?"

"Yeah. He showed me a carriage with a woman held in chains – it looked just like my mother," Inuyasha said softly, obvious pain in his eyes. "When I tried to save her it turned out it was Mu'onna, instead. That's how he figured it out, and then he took the pearl from my eye and opened the portal to your remains."

Mattaki looked a bit angry at that, but asked, "So you were able to draw it from the pedestal? That wasn't supposed to happen."

"No... Kagome drew it." He barked out a soft laugh. "Pissed the hell out of Sesshoumaru, I can tell you that – that a human female could do something he couldn't. We fought when he tried to kill her, and I cut off his arm."

"It seems as though I need to have a talk with your brother," he said after a moment, obviously displeased with his dirty tactic of using Inuyasha's mother's likeness in such a manner.

Inuyasha shrugged. "I wouldn't bother. It turns out that even though he went along with it, it was Jaken's idea in the first place. That damn little toad." He laughed. "Kagome sure stomped him, though."

"So how did you break Mu'onna's spell?"

"I didn't – Kagome did. Good thing, too – I was almost a goner."

The daiyoukai nuzzled into the little priestess' shoulder affectionately, thankful that she'd been there to help his son. "She wasn't afraid?"

At that Inuyasha laughed harder, though still kept it low enough that he didn't wake the others. "Hell no! She did the same thing she did the other day at the village – she broke the spell on me, stomped Jaken, and cursed Sesshoumaru out. Then when he disappeared into the portal I wasn't even gonna follow – but before I could even think about it she was already halfway through it, claiming that if Sesshoumaru was in there then she had to go in there to, and I quote, 'stomp him'."

Incredulous, Mattaki looked down at a blushing woman who, though seemingly in her own little world had at least heard the conversation somewhat, because she was refusing to look up. He could see the severe blush however, even on the sides of her face, and he nudged her with a laugh.

"Stomp him?" he chortled. "Oh, I would have loved to see that confrontation. Sesshoumaru probably didn't know what to make of you, my dear. No wonder he respects you so much now. You're probably the only one besides me or his mother, or Inuyasha here, that's ever stood up to him. And especially being human. You probably confused the hell out of him."

Inuyasha snorted. "That's putting it mildly. He asked her what she was. Not who, but what. Like she was some kinda bug or somethin'. But he was pissed, that's for sure. So he sends out a bunch of his poison at her – I really thought she was a goner when she went down along with Tessaiga. But then she pops back up out of his poison and the melted bone a few moments later, and I thought he was going to have a heart attack. I almost had a heart attack... especially when she told him she was going to make him pay for trying to kill her – she actually had the nerve to point the Tessaiga at him when she said it too," he said as his father's eyes widened and he almost choked on his laughter. "Then she hands me the sword as cool as anything and tells me to go for it."

Kagome had started to doze off as Inuyasha told his father tales of their adventures, and it only got harder for her to stay awake as he nuzzled her off and on as he spoke with his son. Before long she was completely asleep; despite the danger lingering outside the cave she knew she was completely safe – Mattaki wouldn't let anything harm her.

The inuyoukai smiled slightly as he talked with his son as Kagome's aura succumbed to her weariness and she fell into sleep; he rumbled deep in his chest a soothing cadence while he enjoyed the conversation with Inuyasha. From the things he was hearing, their little group had definitely gone through quite a few adventures. He'd have enjoyed seeing some of the things they'd encountered, he couldn't deny.

As the fire started to die down he finally got up and settled Kagome in her bag before stoking the fire up a little. Inuyasha had finally fallen silent, and both exchanged a glance as they heard a hiss and one of the charged ofuda crackle. It was late, approaching midnight, and the cloud was at its strongest at this point.

But it was not strong enough to counter Kagome's reiki, and each time the cloud touched one a little more of its strength would diminish.

He moved over to the entrance and looked out, his eyes flaring redly in challenge to the cloud as it took notice of his presence – it was aware, in a limited sense, and definitely angry as it roiled and churned with discontent at its failure to expend its fury on its chosen victims. He snarled at it and flared his aura, and the cloud moved back in response, nowhere near as strong as the daiyoukai facing it.

Inuyasha joined him at the entrance to the cave and looked out at the last remnant of the spider hanyou with eerily glowing eyes. "Keh. From the moment I found out about that bastard Naraku I've hated his guts. I thought we were done with him when we finally sent his ass to hell. And then we find this shit."

"This wasn't the only thing he left behind," Mattaki grunted.

Inuyasha's head whipped around and he looked at his father with lowering eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Mt. Hakurei."

The hanyou froze. "What about Mt. Hakurei – and how do you know about that, anyway?"

"When Kagome finally recovered from her injuries she asked to go back to Hakurei. She told me what happened there, and she wanted to make sure that all those clumps of flesh were destroyed. We found the passage where you went into the mountain, and I even have that mercenary's trick sword. When we got to the heart of the mountain I flew her down to the bottom, and indeed, she found some of the clumps of flesh that were still living, though most of it had turned to stone when the mountain blew its top and the sun found them. So she purified what remained so that nothing could possibly happen to bring that bastard back."

Inuyasha punched the side of the entrance as he glared at the black mass that was pierced by occasional eerie swirling lights. "Fuck!" he gritted. "I'm so sick of dealin' with this bastard! Won't he ever just die?"

His father reached out and clapped a hand to his shoulder. "Yes. We'll take care of this last bit of mischief he left behind and that will be the end of it. It's too bad he wasn't an ally instead of an enemy, though," he mused, as Inuyasha looked at him incredulously. "Come, my son, you must admit that evil aside he was a tactical genius."

Disgruntled, Inuyasha growled sourly. "Keh. Maybe, but he was as evil as they come and he destroyed way too many lives. I just want this shit to end."

"Yes," he drawled thoughtfully, "I agree. I never had to truly deal with him, but his interference even this much has annoyed me. I too will be glad to end this." He glanced back to the sleeping people. "I wonder what your friends will choose to do now, though... what with the village having been so totally destroyed."

Shrugging, Inuyasha cast a last glance filled with hatred back at the black mass and then turned and went back to the fire to sit against a boulder near it. Clutching Tessaiga in his familiar pose, he said, "Dunno... but I don't think they're gonna end up goin' back. Too much bad stuff has gone on there. It's too haunted now, and I don't think a cleansing's gonna really be enough."

As the fire crackled behind him Mattaki had to agree, and with one last warning glance and snarl at the writhing cloud he turned and made his way over to Kagome, sitting with his back against the wall right behind her.

It fell silent as the two dozed off and on, one snoozing as the other watched, switching off and on through the night.

As morning approached and Mattaki woke up so Inuyasha could sleep, he pondered their situation.

Daylight would bring an impromptu planning session, and he knew he'd have to make very sure that Kagome didn't just jump into the middle of it all in her determination to finish Naraku's interference in her friends lives once and for all. He sighed.

This is most definitely not going to be easy.