Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Prince of Tennis or any of its characters.

New Beginnings
[20] Hopeful

"It is such an honor having all of you visit my lonely self in my humble home," Sasabe drawled, a small smirk playing at his lips as he took in the group that was currently occupying his living room. He was amused but not surprised to see that every single one of them had positioned themselves in a way so that the priestess was in the heart of the group, heavily protected, away from harm. He took notice of lengthen claws from the three other demons in the room. "You are also not without weapons, I see." He was pretty sure the former demon slayer had some sort of blade hidden underneath her clothing.

"Feh, like we would trust you."

"I don't see you not," he replied immediately. "Naraku is dead and as such, I am no enemy of yours."

"Just shut up and get to the point," Shippo growled, reminding his audience exactly which demon lord he had been spending the past few centuries with.

Sasabe merely smiled, their threats, growls, and claws did not move him. If he was honest with himself, he actually found the priestess to be more frightening than those lot put together. He wasn't going to admit that out loud, however; demons and their delicate egos. "All right, to business, then." He crossed his legs and interlocked his fingers out in front of him as he shifted into a more comfortable position in his seat. "Tell me what you know."

"The Shikon still exists," the priestess answered swiftly.

Sasabe eyed her. It was amazing how she managed to survive, much less come out the victor of the final confrontation between his sire and herself. Petite human body, large innocent eyes, and a scatterbrain-like personality made people underestimate her, as Naraku had. While he wasn't physically present during the battle, he was not unfamiliar with her powers. "Amazing deduction," he cooed, clapping his hands. "I don't understand why you even need me."

She glared but there wasn't any weight behind it. "Look, sorry if I sound a little confuse but I thought I got rid of it five hundred years ago. I demanded its disappearance."

He wasn't impressed. "You must be so proud of yourself."

Before the priestess could fire back a comment, the demon lord stepped forward. "Keep this up and I will kill you and be done with it."

Sasabe stared at him for a moment. Sesshomaru's tone left no room for argument and his words were a promise he intended to keep. Although Sasabe wasn't frightened of the demon lord, he had no doubt in his mind that Sesshomaru had plans of making his death as painful as possible. In the ten minutes they had entered his house, he has somehow gotten on the demon lord's bad side. "I don't know the full story," Sasabe admitted before beginning. "I was created because Naraku felt that he needed a part of himself in the jewel in case something goes wrong. He had hoped to take over the jewel in case it falls into the hands of someone else. Unfortunately, the moment he purged half his soul into the jewel, he created a new identity, so while I do come from him and have half his soul, I am not Naraku." He sighed. "I was present during the final confrontation. I was there when you won and I was there when you put the jewel together." He paused again, eyeing the young priestess. "I was also there when you made your demand."

"Shikon, disappear," Kagome recalled, her voice but a whisper. "Cease your existence."

"Yes," Sasabe remembered. "However, if your demand was obeyed, then—being part of the jewel—should have also disappeared with it. But I didn't."

"Which means the Shikon never really disappeared," Sango said.

"I don't understand," Miroku replied, shaking his head. "The jewel did disappear."

"Not completely, I guess," Sasabe responded. "If it makes you feel any better, when you made your demand, I did feel slightly... disorientated, I guess. Since I was created, I've always known what was going on around me—outside the jewel, I mean. But afterwards, it felt as if I was asleep. And after that, the next thing I knew, I was in the cold clutch of some witch."

"So she did use the real jewel to wish away demons," Kagome said in a small voice, swallowing hard. "But the Shikon has disappeared again, hasn't it? Why are you still here?"

"Ah," Sasabe said. "And that's the important point. I was made to live inside the Shikon, so it is the Shikon where I belong. However, I am strong enough to live outside it for a limited amount of time. When the witch pulled the jewel out, I escaped and hid myself. Up until recently, I've been asleep." He leaned closer, emphasizing the importance of his next statement. "Make no mistake, Holy Priestess, Guardian of the Shikon Jewel, the Shikon is still out there. I can feel it call more me. My power diminishes as we speak and soon, I will not be able to resist the Shikon's call."

"You'll disappear," she breathed in horror. "That's why you told me you wouldn't last long."

Sasabe nodded in confirmation. "Kagome-sama, you are balance. You were pulled into the past in order to right a wrong that in all actuality, has nothing to do with you. Kikyo, Naraku, even the Shikon Jewel, their stories had already happened long before your arrival. Naraku was powerful and there were ways to gain power even without the Shikon. Naraku was also smart and without the manipulation and the false promises of power of the Shikon, he would have been intelligent enough to gather his support and power sloly enough that when people do notice he is a threat, it would have already been too late." At this, Sesshomaru snorted. Sasabe gave him a look. "Why do you think barely anyone has never even heard of Naraku before your arrival? It's because he wasn't stupid then. Anyway, Naraku needed to be destroyed and you were sent back in order to make sure it happened."

"And now, the witch made a wish that unbalanced the entire world which means it's Kagome-sama's duty to make sure the wrong is righted," Miroku finished, recalling the conversation in Sesshomaru's car.

Sasabe nodded.

"Why?"

Everyone turned their attention towards the priestess. Her question may have made her sound dumb to any eavesdropper but Sasabe understood the real question behind the word and he was sure he wasn't the only one.

"Because, Lady Kagome," Sasabe said. "The witch never died."

The muscle in Kagome's jaw twitched and she nodded stiffly in understanding. "Which means that if she managed to pull out the Shikon once, she can do it again."

"The first time she did it, the world had hope. The Holy Priestess was only five hundred years in the future, it could wait that long. However, as demons begin appearing more and more, she will notice and she will rise to power once again. And the first thing she'll do is to get rid of the one and only threat that stands between her and her utopia."

Kagome shuddered. Being the Shikon Priestess barely fazed her since she had Kikyo to help guide her. Even traveling back into the Federal Era and knowing that he needed to defeat Naraku before he went around to dominate Japan barely even fazed her since she had her friends to back her up. But this... this... knowing that she is the only thing that stands between a witch and the end of the world... well.

"Atobe," Tezuka greeted, if a bit hesitantly. "What are you doing here?" The Hyotei tennis captain had never shown interest in their practice before so for him to actually show up was quiet surprising. Tezuka had a feeling that he was going to end his day with a migraine... And just when he thought that with Higurashi's absence, he would have a normal day.

"Well," Atobe drawled, grinning in a way that made Tezuka hope Echizen's complete attention was directed towards his current mock-match. I was hoping to spot that lovely fan of yours." He made a great show of skimming the court and sighing dejectedly when he couldn't find her.

Tezuka sighed, eyeing Echizen from the corner of his eyes. So much for that, he thought when Echizen's opponent scored a point with a service ace. It wouldn't have been odd—Seigaku High had good players, after all—if said opponent wasn't Horio with five years of tennis experience. So, Tezuka was not the least bit surprise when Echizen all but abandoned the mock-match, turning slowly and narrowing golden-brown eyes in Atobe's direction.

"What lovely fan?" he bit out.

"Why, the beautiful one from last time, of course. The only one worthy of having me as a lover." He grinned, flicking his hair out of his eyes with a quick toss of his head. "The one with that silky black hair, delightful green eyes and delicious-looking lips."

Tezuka was surprised Atobe remembered the color of Higurashi's hair—even if he did get her eye color wrong. Echizen, however, either didn't notice the mistake, ignored it, or didn't know the color of Higurashi's eye himself—which, unfortunately, was actually a high possibility. However, one didn't actually needed to know someone's eye color in order to be in love with them, as Atobe claimed to be even though Tezuka could recall the exact color and shade of Echizen's eyes.

"Leave," Echizen hissed out. "Or I will be shaving a monkey."

One day, Tezuka thought, Atobe was going to realize that Echizen's threats were not just mere words. If he gets annoyed enough, Tezuka didn't doubt that Echizen would make good on his promise. While Echizen is kinder than most people believe him to be, Tezuka knew that Echizen can be quiet ruthless when he wants to be. Tezuka is not the one for violence on the tennis court, especially after his first year in junior high but Echizen had no problem giving people black eyes using his Twist Serve if he—or someone else—had been wronged.

Tezuka almost shuddered at the memory.

"Atobe," he repeated. "What are you doing here?"

Atobe sniffed, obviously offended. "Well. And to think I was about to extend my invitation to the likes of you."

"Atobe."

"Fine, fine. My fellow regulars and I will be training for the nationals in the mountains. I have a cabin up there with multiple tennis courts for our use, of course and I thought I would be generous and invite you and your team since some of you can actually play tennis." With that he flashes Tezuka what appeared to be a flirtatious grin. Tezuka actually felt his eye twitch.

"Atobe's personal cabin?!" someone screeched in surprise.

The tennis captain stiffened up visibly. "My invitation limits to your regulars, of course," he said, eyeing Horio distastefully. He grinned again, this time aiming it in Echizen's direction. "Unless you wish to invite that ever-lovely fan of yours."

Tezuka had a sinking feeling that Atobe had forgotten Higurashi's name. "Thank you, Atobe," he said honestly. "I think I will take you up on your offer." As annoying as Atobe is, training in the mountains against people whose style they were not used to playing everyday was good for them. There was no way Tezuka would pass the chance up.

"Of course," he only replied, quiet confidently. "I didn't think you would decline." He smirked again. "Now that I have business out of the way, where is that lovely fan of yours?"