The night was perfect. The clear and boundless sky proudly displayed an intricate light show, with bright burning stars and small, blinking planes, enticing all viewers. The air carried the scents of flowers on it's balmy wind, while the greenery of the town seemed to prepare itself for the next morning's dew, though it was only eight at night.

Rin's delighted laughter filled the air as Kagome and Sesshomaru stood outside, murmuring goodbyes to Inuyasha and extracting promises for him to visit soon. Once his car had left their driveway, hand in hand, the happy couple entered the Taisho mansion, in search of the child they had to put to bed.

"Rin!" Kagome sang, "it's time for bed and you know it!"

Giggles erupted from behind the couch and Sesshomaru plucked the girl from her hiding place and carried her to her room. The both sat on her bed as she whispered good nights and gave out bed time kisses. Secretly, the young girl couldn't have been happier, unsure as to what had happened between her sister and Sesshomaru, but knew it would be exciting. They were starting to act like the parents she'd seen on tv shows, and she wondered with sweet, girlish innocence if they'd have a baby sometime soon.

As Kagome exited Rin's room, she began to turn towards Sesshomaru when the phone in her pocket buzzed. Raising an eyebrow, she fished it out and read the message.

Hello, Kagome-san, I was wondering if you had a moment to talk?

Hayate's formal message was polite, and it didn't seem to be too late to call him. She pursed her lips and debated what would happen if she did or didn't call, and decided that if she didn't get in touch with her spiritual mentor now, when would she? He was a busy man.

"I'm going to call Hayate," she told Sesshomaru.

"I thought I told you to find someone new." His tone wasn't commanding, merely inquisitive, and she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I didn't know we'd actually discussed the matter. I was just... rambling then, and you know it," she blushed, referring to their quick chat the night before.

"Still, he has been slow in contacting you. That is hardly professional."

"Yeah, well, I missed an interview while away on vacation with you, and the company agreed to let me have one more. Everyone deserves second chances," her look was pointed, subtly reminding him of all their fights.

After a moment, he sighed and entered their bedroom, content to wait for her. She dialed the number and waited for Hayate to pick up.

"Hello?" Hayate's voice was nearly the same as she remembered, with only the phone corrupting his distinct tenor.

"Hi, Hayate-san? It's Kagome Taisho. You wanted to speak to me?"

"Ah, yes, thank you. Being that tonight is the new moon, I thought it would be very beneficial for you to practice with me. While I haven't been with you helping you exercise your reiki, I have been studying more about the art. There are several situations in history where a miko or monk uses their power on the night of a new moon and it increases, making them invincible. I believe these coincidences are more than just that-I'm willing to bet there's a correspondence between the moon and your reiki. I understand it's late, but would you like to give it a try?"

She paused for a moment, taking all the information in. Then, with a quick glance at her watch, she responded, "Sure. I don't want to be too long, so no longer than an hour, but tell me the place and I'll be there soon."

She took directions from him, and then snapped her phone off and entered the bedroom, finding Sesshomaru waiting on the bed. He frowned at her, having heard everything said on the phone as she grabbed a jacket and slipped on a pair of shoes.

"Kagome," he warned, his voice deep, "this isn't a good idea."

"I know it's not the best, but I want to practice. It's only an hour," she huffed.

He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Kagome took her turn in waiting for him as he contemplated it, until she felt him nod. Breaking apart, he peered at her with his golden eyes.

"Don't be long, don't dawdle, and keep your phone with you." With a sigh and shake of his head, he muttered, "You're too carefree."

She smiled, and kissed his cheek. "I'll be fine, don't worry. I never knew you were such a worry wart, Sesshomaru."

He raised an eyebrow.

Walking out of the room, she laughed as she went. "I mean, if I didn't already know you were an inuyoukai, I'd think you were a neko. You're a real scardy cat!"

His dark chuckle was the last thing she heard before she left the house.

Arriving at the agreed location, Kagome sat in her car for a moment, attempting to figure out why she was getting deja vu. Hold on... deserted coffee shop... That's it! She whipped out her phone and sent Sesshomaru a quick text telling him -something he probably had already figured out- that the location Hayate had suggested was none other than the coffee shop Sesshomaru had taken her too when he told her about Naraku's sudden appearance.

It's funny... that feels like such a long time ago, with how things are now. Back then, we were barely friends, and now... We're so much more.

Exiting her, car, Kagome walked over to the shop, mulling over what she would order to drink. She pushed against the door to walk inside, only to face plant into the glass window of the door.

"What on earth-" She flitted her gaze over the coffee shop to find their store hours. It had closed thirty minutes ago.

"Huh?" Pursing her lips together, she turned around and leaned on the door. Why the heck was it closed? Why had Hayate suggested someplace that wouldn't be open? An uneasy pit formed in her stomach, but she bit her lip and ignored it.

Flipping her phone out-yet again- she found the screen alight with a message from Hayate.

Oh, wow, how embarrassing! Sorry, Kagome, that shop's not open right now. Could we meet up at a different place, or would you rather have lessons at more practical times later?

The rest of his message conveyed how sincerely apologetic he was, and how he wanted to make it up to her. Kagome frowned, but opened her phone to call him back. As the first shrill ring sounded in her ear, she heard a bush rustle in the woods behind the shop.

All at once, she felt her blood run cold. The fear that had driven her to seek comfort next to Sesshomaru at night returned, sinking it's claws into her mind and inducing a hazy, panic filled hiccup. Without a second thought, Kagome closed her phone before Hayate picked up and began a steady walking pace to her car.

She wouldn't run to safety, no she wouldn't succumb to this terror, her logical mind argued. There was nothing to be afraid of. But when she turned to look back at the coffee shop as she opened the door to her car, the sight she saw made her heart skip a beat.

A figure was standing next to the shop. The figure, clearly male, was shrouded in the darkness, and she could only make out the barest of features. Her mind hastily supplied her with Kikyo's memories of a man who was less human than beast, one who had traded his humanity for a devilish strength.

"Naraku," she breathed, her eyes widening with recognition.

Taking no chances, she lept into her car and slammed the door shut, not bothering to fasten her seat belt before peeling away. She was nearly out of the parking lot when something stopped her. Forcing her eyes to remain open and her hands to relax from their white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel, she slowly turned over her should to look out the rear window of the car.

Two large figures that she hadn't seen before were grasping the back bumper of her car, hoisting it off the ground so she couldn't drive away. She watched in horror as they lifted her up, and with strength that had to be youkai, the two men hauled her car into the air and threw it.

Kagome screamed. Screaming was the only thing she could do. Watching her life flash before her eyes as the car hurdled through the air, she only had one thing running around her head:this couldn't be it. She had so much to do, see, taste, touch, find... In her mind, there was no acceptable reason for her to die. It didn't matter if her body was broken by the fall or not-she had to survive.

And as the car crashed into the earth, she shielded her eyes, unwilling to let that be the last thing she saw. She felt the skin on her arms be cut by the fragments of broken glass and her body was jostled about the container. Numbly, she wondered why she didn't hurt as badly as she would've expected, but as a wave of nausea hit her, she shook the thoughts away.

As suddenly as the car had been thrown, she was being plucked out of the wreck that didn't seem nearly beaten up enough to have been thrown in the air, and tossed on the ground. Naraku stood above her, his arms crossed. She couldn't make out his face due to the darkness of the night and her light-sensitive eyes, but she figured he was smiling.

She knew she had to get out of the situation she was in, but for the life of her, Kagome's frantic mind couldn't supply her with logical solution. It wasn't like a knife would've been much use to her if she'd had one; and there was no way she could get her hands to stop shaking and point a gun at him. It wasn't like it mattered though, because Kagome was unarmed and just about as vulnerable as one could get.

So she struggled. Trying to run, she lifted her body up, only to be kicked down by the man in front of her. Her mind screamed at what a bad idea she had thought up, but her body moved on it's own accord, attempting to balance on her knees and scramble away.

She hear Naraku's scoff and held her breath, expecting to hear him remark on her pathetic endeavor to flee. He kicked her again in the stomach and she doubled over, blocking her face. When he grabbed her hair, she let out another scream, and tried to claw him with her blunt nails.

The only thing Kagome hadn't expected at that moment, was to hear a beastly roar. Well, she stared at the enormous dog demon in front of her that was ripping Naraku's lackeys apart in his mouth with wide-eyed shock, maybe I would've expected a roar. Just not in my favor, that's all.

Sesshomaru, in his complete inu form, looked back at her with blood red eyes. Prowling over to her, he focused his attention on the man before her.

Hands still shaking from fear and utter shock, Kagome frantically pushed the off-guard hanyou at her husband and ran towards the wreck that had been her car. A second growl erupted behind her but she didn't dare look back. But as a third met her ears, she vaulted over the wreck in an attempt to take cover on the other side of it, only to promptly fall awkwardly on it, banging the side of her head.

Sesshomaru's white tail race by her was the last thing she saw before her world was swallowed into darkness.

Hello, Gracie here! Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter, and thanks so much for the frequent reviews. And yes, I know, Kagome is severely lacking in the bad-ass department right now, but it's not going to last (that's all I'm going to say...) so don't be too bothered by her completely normal reaction to Naraku's sudden appearance. I know she's always fainting during these battles.

But anyways, I just wanted to point out the title of this chapter and the last. The last one was the calm, which was before the storm. Which is like the saying 'the calm before the storm'. Okay, really dorky, I know I know, but I thought it was funny... ~Gracie :)

All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi