"Have either of you heard of Umi Byakko?"

Inuyasha turned his head back as he walked ahead of the group, alongside his brother. "Can't say I've heard of the guy, why?"

"He is a Lord of the South."

I nearly fell over. Sesshomaru had stopped but didn't turn his head.

"A Lord?!" No wonder he'd been so formal. Then again, he'd been unconventional at the same time.

Sesshomaru turned his head, "Where did you hear of him?"

"So there are other lords?." Mama inquired.

His gaze was still on me, waiting. "Ah, um . . . I met him at the hot spring."

Mama looked at me incredulously. I was going to reply to her look when, "Idiot! There was a demon and you didn't even call for help?!"

I looked at Inuyasha, "He was polite and didn't threaten me."

At that, Kagome quelled Inuyasha's fury, "Don't get so worked up Inuyasha. She's fine and that's what matters."

"Still. You have my ears and my nose. There's no way you just didn't sense him."

I blushed furiously. How long had he'd been hiding there anyway. I looked away, ashamed. The dirt road was suddenly so interesting.

Why hadn't I heard him? The only explanation was that he was stealthy. Though, I wonder how he got to be so good at it. My brows knit at the thought.

I hadn't smelled him either. Do full demons just smell like nature? So they just blend in?

I sniffed, partly because I was holding back a tear, which I used as a cover up for inspecting Sesshomaru's scent. It was probably impolite in some way, since I should have memorized everyone's scent by now. I wasn't used to this stuff yet.

It definitely didn't smell like nature. I guess you could say it smelled like dog, but dogs don't really have a smell, unless they're wet.

With that thought dancing about in my mind, I nearly laughed. Sesshomaru finding water as a weakness. I imagined him hissing at a roaring river that threatened to splash him. He never did bathe after all, least not in the presence of others.

"Byakko is known for his stealth." Sesshomaru commented, "Inuyasha, you hadn't sensed him either."

Papa glared at his brother for a moment, but he knew better than to argue with the yokai.

It dawned on Kagome what I already noticed. "Sesshomaru! You didn't notice his presence yourself?!"

He said nothing as he looked at Kagome. The glow in his eyes flickered like a flame. It was like he said, You know the answer to that.

So I wasn't at fault here. Haha! Oh how the tables turned.

"I'm only a quarter youkai. And like a newborn too, since I'm new to this stuff. You can't expect me to always be able to defend myself yet!"

"What did he want?" Sesshomaru questioned.

"Come to think of it," I put a finger to my chin, "Nothing. He merely happened to come upon me whilst looking for . . . His friends?"

Huh. That is what he claimed.

"So it was merely a coincidence?" Inuyasha said firmly.

"I guess so."

"Let's get a move on then. Before it gets dark."

I stared at papa's back while, for once, not thinking about anything. I watched the rural view painted around me in silence.

White irises glowed around blue slitted pupils. The wind twisted and danced through his fur as Byakko let his left fore paw delve through the clouds as he flew towards the village. The moon was full and bright above the sea of white and blue.

He sensed a prick in his youki and knew the demon lord was approaching.

He would not bother to physically approach him, of course. The dog demon would simply make sure he was close enough for the tiger demon to hear.

And the threat was made clear. An electric surge blazed in his mind. Contact.

Two powerful beings connected merely by thoughts and the few and far between emotions. A few words, or rather, thoughts, were exchanged and the line disconnected.

Speeding ahead with new vigor, the tiger daiyoukai didn't change his course, but knew he wasn't going to reach his destination. At least, he would not dare. Not yet anyway.

Learning how to climb a tree was tough. Since I wasn't strong enough yet to just simply leap up there, I had to trek my way up with sheer willpower. And nails. Papa was patient, with arms crossed as he instructed me, and mother occasionally paused in her cooking to come out to watch with a look of awe in her eyes.

It was almost embarrassing. Something that was supposed to be so easy and I had to learn when I was already an adult. "I wish I hadn't said that I was practically like a newborn earlier."

The embarrassment didn't help my frustration. Though my legs were strong from biking to school for six years and riding horses for five, my arms were pitiful to even look at in terms of muscle.

I doubt Byakko was even the slightest bit intimidated by me. I sighed as I sat on a thick branch, gazing at the house that stood before what the villagers called "The Forest of Inuyasha."

Imagining what my parents might be doing, I focused on the hut, glowing alight with occupancy.

First came the smell, the scent of fish. Not the kind that you eat, but the kind . . .

Oh my god. They're . . . I couldn't believe they were doing it when I sat merely fifty feet away and twenty feet up.

My mental inventory of smells may not be that big or vast yet, but even I know what female arousal smells like. And if you add that to the combination of male and sweat, you find your mind falling into the gutter.

"Tch!" I lept to my feet, "You two are nuts! You better be glad that I don't care!"

"Inuyasha?" she said breathlessly.

He looked back to her. His ear had twitched and he wore a random smirk. "It's nothing."

His hips moved, summoning a moan from her. Then, resting on his elbows, he lowered himself, searing her neck with feverish kisses.

Keh. Good thing Kagome can't hear that well.

I picked an herb and put my nose to it, "Ah!" I knew this one.

I smiled at my mother and cocked my head to the side, clasping the stem of the plant with both hands, "It's rosemary!"

Mama smiled, "Un. At least you'll be able to know your herbs faster than I did."

I set the herb in her woven basket and looked back the herb garden that had been behind the house. The wind tickled and whispered between the leaves. "Well, even though I didn't have this nose before," I admitted, "I still liked to cook and spice up some dishes so that they didn't get boring after a while."

"Ah!" she clapped her hands together and held them in front of her face, "You like to cook!"

I blinked a few times, stunned at her suddenness. It took me a moment to react. "Well, I am a girl, and for us, cooking is just part of survival."

Her eyes widened at that, "Oh." Her smile disappeared and I could feel my ears flatten against my skull. Did I say something wrong?

"Um, what's wrong?"

Her gaze fell on the grass to her right. "It's just . . ." She sighed. I waited. There could be a million things she wanted to say, but would she actually say what was on her mind? Papa had said that she tended to avoid touchy subjects unless you pressed her. As I had been leaning forward trying to see her expression, I sighed and sat back with perfect patience and perfect posture. "You . . . don't have to tell me, if you don't want to."

Her eyes sparkled, "OHHH!" She started tearing up.

I nearly fell backward, "WHAT? What did I do?!"

Containing herself, she said, "There it is again."

"What -what are you talking about?" I relaxed. Spending time with mama sure seemed to be an emotional maze. Though it wasn't straining, I could see how anyone would give up and get lost in the ways of her brain. I bet Inuyasha had trouble with it, but he probably got frustrated a lot and threw fits about it. With that thought in my mind, I smirked, I also bet that I'm better than him at something for once. I'll ride out this maze with my hands on my hips and confidence in every step. There is no puzzle I can't solve! I put up a fist, setting the challenge.

Mama didn't notice. I was looking away when she said, "Ah. There's just so much of him in you."

"Huh?" Him? Father? I felt defeated, somehow. That was no puzzle at all. But the scroll had endlessly listed the arguments and fights her and Inuyasha had during their journey. I don't understand. How could have it been so hard for him?

"Yep. I've been watching you for a while now." She explained, "Every now and then I glimpse and I see a bit of me in you but then it's gone in the next moment."

"Well maybe during the new moon, I'll be myself again."

I looked at my daughter, surprised. The wind blew strands of her white ponytail about her shoulders. She was now the one looking away, but instead of looking down, her eyes took to the skies. Her copper eyes reflected so much of my own. She has my spirit.

"I don't know why, but being a demon . . . I feel different."

The trees rustled. My hair slipped between the threads of the wind. Kaze. What a comforting presence . . .

Akane had returned with Miroku and he boasted about her success in slaying yet another demon. As I placed my bare feet on the floorboards they subsequently creaked in slight displeasure. She was in the process of cleaning her sai when I walked into her family's hut. The monk was out at the moment, on a walk with his dear wife. Kurenai was napping in the corner.

"Oh," She said, not expecting anyone, "Hello Moriko."

"Hi." I sat across from her.

"Can I help you with something?"

"Hmm." I looked out the window. I hadn't known why I'd come. I mean, what was I going to say? I couldn't just talk about the weather. I hated small talk more than anything. I'd gotten to know Kurenai well, but I wanted to get closer to Akane.

"It must be hard." she said, "I know you're trying. I can see it."

I blinked. "Um thanks?"

She paused in her work. "I'm not sure what your world was like, but I know it was completely different than here."

"Oh yeah. That doesn't bother me so much though."

"Oh?"

"I mean, yeah, simple things like going to the bathroom and cooking food are a bit of an adjustment for me." I rambled, suddenly finding much to say, "And dealing with this new demon side of me is getting easier. I have a bad feeling I'm going to be getting a workout from now on from father. What I've read in that scroll so far is proof enough that I've got to get stronger."

I tweaked the end of a strand of my silver hair between my fingers, studying it as if it could give me all the answers.

"Well, we're all here for you. Don't be afraid to ask for help."

"Un. I know. What I don't know is all of you. You all know me and treat me as family when I don't know any of you at all."

It was all coming together. "I . . . feel very disconnected." My ears flattened. I kept my head down. I hated feeling like this.

"Oh, I see."

I took solace in the silence she offered me. After a while, I glanced at her sai. The weapons gleamed, deadly in all their glory. "Nice daggers." I muttered.

"Un. They're made from the steel claws of a crocodile demon." She smiled, "Mama slew it for me and made these back at her old village."

"Ah. The village of the slayers."

"Correct. They've rebuilt it since its destruction, and we often visit it, but no one actually lives there. Eventually I plan to visit for good. I'll carry on our tradition and help rebuild the glory of the slayers."

"Kurenai too?"

"Hai. She wants to come with me."

"Does she have sai too?"

"No she has Kenkonken."

"What's that?"

She rose from her knees and went to her sister's pack, a small bundle that rested by her sleeping head. She pulled out circular blades for me to see then quickly put them back.

"So you two obviously practice the art of demon slaying, what about priestesshood?"

"Oh. We don't have much spiritual power at all." She said, "But our brother does."

I perked up at this, "You have a brother?"

"Un."

Though everyone I meet seems to be indifferent towards me, I realized that I craved meeting new people. Even if they were the same as the others. After all, I'd met Byakko and Hatake. They treated me not necessarily normally, but I knew that they were being themselves around me. And that made it seem different. She didn't say anything more about her brother. Her expression grew awkward.

"Um. You said you weren't part demon before?"

"No. Of course not. I was human all my life till I came here."

"Oh so this," she pointed to the empty air above her head, "is new?"

"Eh." I itched the top of my nose carefully with a clawed nail. "Add it to the list."

Another awkward silence presumed.

(Author's note: Heehee! I love how she kinda caught those two doing it without the embarrassment of Kagome knowing.

So yeah, Byakko can transform too. He's basically like Sesshomaru (I made him up so we can have more hot characters but he'll be important to whatever plot there's going to be for this next generation) but he's a white tiger demon as his name suggests.

Miroku's son is going to be important to the plot as well. I'm kinda trying to assemble and decide who my main characters are going to be and as I begin to finish that step I'll start thinking about my antagonist(s).

In case you were wondering, Byakko was spying! He's secretly a pervert but Moriko will never be sure. xD

I really really really really really wanna spoil all my plans for this but I know I'm not supposed to do that!)