Omg I'm sooo sorry you guys! I've just been so busy with homecomming and geometry and Jesus high school is hard! Sorry! I'm going to try and update as much as possible to make up for this!


InuYasha- Chapter 400- Meioujuu

Sesshoumaru walked with Jaken, Rin and Ah-Un, slowly tracing the edge of a lake's shore. Humid mist coated the air, sending sweat trickling down Rin's face. She stared into the murky water, her eyes widening slightly at the sight before her.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, what's that?" she asked innocently.

He reluctantly looked into the water out of the corner of his eye, glaring into the liquid. Beneath the water's surface, a giant demon lay dormant. It was undoubtedly dead, it's head composed of nothing but bone, a horn sticking up from the center of it' s forehead. Upon its back was a giant shell, that of one resembling a turtle's. Its limbs were tiny and bony, matching the neck.

Jaken too leaned over the shore's edge, peering at the dead demon. "Huge bones. Oh this is…"

Sesshoumaru finished for him as he began to continue walking. "It's a Meioujuu."

"Meioujuu?" Rin questioned, "What a huge shell."

"It certainly is," Jaken agreed. "At any rate, the shell of the Meioujuu is said to be on of the hardest of all youkai. In the entire world, the one to have the power to cut the Meioujuu's shell, would be someone like Sesshoumaru-sama, wouldn't it?" Jaken folded his arms and glanced at his departing master, I'll just casually flatter him…

Rin gasped, interrupting his thoughts, "Ah! Jaken-sama! The shell has a bald spot on it!"

"Eh?"

The two leaned closer, inspecting the shell more intently. She was right; the shell was missing a hardened scale.

Rin turned to Jaken, "Do you think someone did this?"

He glared at her, "…How should I know?"

"There are traces of burns from paper charms," Sesshoumaru cut in, without even looking back at them. "Likely, this was done by a human priest."

Rin quickly re-boarded Ah-Un, smiling down at the imp below, "…I bet so. Sesshoumaru-sama sure knows a lot about everything, doesn't he Jaken-sama?"

"Oh shush," Jaken commanded at her, "you're just flattering him."

Later that night, the water was stirred by a splash. Underneath the liquid, a strange substance plummeted downward. It slid into the Meioujuu's mouth, its teeth instantly clamping over it. Skin began to bubble onto the demon's bones, reviving itself easily. It's big, menacing eye shot open, glaring at its surroundings. It swam to the top, breaking the tense water with its massive size. It was shadowed by the dark, its outline only visible by the moon's dim light.

"Damn you human!" it bellowed into the night. Its voice echoed off the silent trees, "How dare you take my armored shell!"

The next morning, InuYasha and his group had made it to a village. Miroku sat with a man at a stand of some kind, Sango standing behind him. InuYasha was off to the side, glaring at the crowd of villagers surrounding him. Shippou and Kirara stared hungrily at a fish stand.

"A youkai that eats armor?" Miroku asked the villager.

"Word is the castles and mansions in the area are being attacked," the man responded. "And that this region will be soon, as well. The castle has become alarmed…. That's just what they say here though." Miroku nodded in response. "The castle's heirloom is old armor…that seems to have some kind of history."

"What should we do, InuYasha?" Miroku asked, standing up.

InuYasha crossed his arms and scoffed, "Doesn't matter to me. All my wounds are healed."

At the castle's gate, the group was surprisingly shooed from the site.

The two guardsmen stood, their lances crossed in front of the doors.

The one on the right spoke, "Turn away," he commanded.

"Whoever you are, you are not allowed in the castle," the one on the left shouted.

"Ah, however," Miroku smiled. He looked up at the castle behind the gate, his face dropping to a solemn look. "There is an ominous youki that is rising from within this castle."

"From within the castle?!" The guards asked in horror.

Miroku tried to explain, "Youki invites youki. If the youki in this castle is unsettled, it will call to more youki."

Sango leaned towards Kagome, "Even if he's lying, he's pretty persuasive, isn't he?"

Kagome hid her mouth with her hand, "True. It's always incredible how he draws people in with words."

Miroku sweat dropped and closed his eyes in disappointment. "Um…" He glared back at them with a handsome smile. "It is the truth,"

Shippou perched himself onto Sango's shoulder, "Aren't you planning on fooling them into giving us food, a place to sleep, and money?" Sango snickered slightly.

"A-hem," Miroku coughed, trying to defend his dignity.

InuYasha interrupted the foolishness for once. He stared up into the sky with fighting eyes. "It's here," he stated calmly.

A black mass of clouds and youki soared through the sky, diving down towards the castle. The people on the inside stared in awe at the thing approaching them.

"Wh…what's that black cloud?!"

"There's something inside of it!"

The youki spread out above them, forming what looked like a ripple of water. Very suddenly, the Meioujuu burst from the cloud, falling head first to the ground. It's talons had grown back, stretching out the earth below. Its eyes were large and strained on its prey, taking in its surroundings with care. Its short black hair grew from the back of its head, barely touching the enormous shell that rode on its back.

"Where is my armored shell?!" It screeched. It shot its tongue from its body, the length of it covered in scales. The tongue wrapped around three castle guards, bringing them back up to the beat's giant-fanged mouth. The men screamed in protest and shouted for fear of being eaten.

Just then, something flew through the air, slicing the demon's tongue clean off its body. The man fell with the severed piece of flesh as the boomerang returned to its master. Miroku, Sango and Shippou all rode on Kirara, InuYasha jumping next to them with Kagome held tightly to his back.

"It's thinking to eat the armor!" Miroku reminded the group.

InuYasha gasped as his nose caught scent of something. This youkai…he thought, "It's Moryoumaru's scent!"

Everyone gasped in surprise as InuYasha unsheathed his sword, swinging it down. "Kaze in Kizu!"

The bright light blinded the area, but it left the Meioujuu unscathed. InuYasha had long since removed Kagome from his back, keeping her from danger. He now stood before the demon, battle ready.

"Kaze no Kizu didn't work?!" Kagome inquired, shocked.

Shippou, too was amazed, "It didn't even leave a scratch!"

"You fool," growled the Meioujuu, "the body of the Meioujuu won't be injured by such a feeble breeze."

The Kaze no Kizu is a "feeble breeze"?! This angered the hanyou, "Bastard! Are you Moryoumaru's cohort?! Or did you just eat a piece of his flesh?!"

"Moryoumaru?" the Meioujuu asked, confused. "I don't know him. Damned brat; you interfere with me in that youkai body that is half human…"Balls of dark energy, illuminated by electric light, arose from the shell. The demon was darkened by the contrast of light, only the whites of its eyes visible. The group stared on in horror. "My Raimeihou can blow you apart!" It yelled as the balls flew towards the group.

InuYasha jumped over one, sticking Tetsusaiga into the ground. He glared at the demon, "Damn annoying creep," he cursed. He focused his energy on the Tetsusaiga, its blade coating with adamant. "Kongou Souha!" he shouted as the spears flew to the Meioujuu. The diamonds scratched along the shells surface, making strange noises as they collided.

Kagome gasped as Shippou exclaimed, "Kongou Souha is working!"

Wind blew InuYasha's hair forward and up, signaling the demon's leave. It ran back into the clouds, disappearing into the gradually clearing sky. It cursed down at the group, "Damn you. If I were complete, with my armored shell…"

"Damn it! It fucking got away!" InuYasha glared at the sky.

Shippou played critic, "I he'd absorbed its youkai energy with the Dragon-Scaled Tetsusaiga, and he might have won."

"Shh! Shippou-chan!" Kagome ordered, pressing her finger to her lips.

Atop a rooftop on one of the castle buildings, Byakuya stared at the previous sight of battle, his arms crossed. Hmm…that damned InuYasha still hasn't made anything of the Dragon-Scaled Tetsusaiga? Well then…. "The Meioujuu, eh? That Moryoumaru certainly picked an interesting youkai. By accident or not…let's see if we can follow it, hm?" He released his eye from its socket, the vesicle instantly growing wings and flying after the demon.

A village man addressed the group after he had been bandaged. "You…all of you. Thank you for saving the castle."

"No, no. Besides, it was after the armor," Miroku responded modestly. The old man led the group into the castle's safe house, by candlelight. "The armor was passed down to this castle from long ago. Back then, it was made from the shell of a youkai that was exterminated by a powerful monk. So it was probably this…Meioujuu's shell, wasn't it?"

"Ahh," Miroku sighed at the sight of the armor. "I'm certain it was. It's manifesting terrible youki."

Sango stood in the back, next to Kagome, "It'll come again, huh?"

InuYasha looked back at them, "Feh. It'll be the same, even if it keeps coming back."

"This Meioujuu," Kagome took the opportunity to ask him, "it smelled like Moryoumaru, right? I wonder if Moryoumaru intends to absorb it?"

"That's true…" Sango agreed.

"…It seems like he's been using different methods of gathering youkai energy," Miroku concluded.

InuYasha grasped the hilt of his sword. "Feh, in that case, before he absorbs the Meioujuu, I'll slice him apart, piece by piece."

Back at the Meioujuu's lake, the demon had retreated to the water's depths. It lay on the lake's bottom, "Damn you. Damn you boy…how dare you…." Its arm was outstretched before it tiredly. Suddenly, a bump formed on the youkai's arm, causing it to jump. A pair of white lips the tiniest hint of a purple scar popped out from the bump.

"So, Meioujuu," the lips spoke softly, cunningly, just like Naraku. "With my powers, your wounds will soon be healed."

The demon gasped, "Wha…?! Who are you?!"

Ignoring the question, Moryoumaru's lips told a command, "Go to the castle once more, and then… go get the Kongou Souha."