Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or Yashahime.

Chapter 10: Towa's Rage

Kagome and Kaede were still picking off cyber demon soldiers with their arrows as the demon slayers engaged them hand to hand. The situation was starting to look extremely grim however. Both priestess were starting to run low on arrows and casualties among the demon slayers were beginning to mount. Kagome now wondered if they truly had a chance. Suddenly three tracks of yellow light came and took out a quarter of the oncoming soldiers. Kagome knew it could only be Inuyasha's Wind Scar. Kagome looked to her left and saw her husband standing right next to her.

"Sorry I took so long getting here," Inuyasha spoke.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome responded. "I thought you were still dealing with the soldiers attacking at the other side of the village."

"I finished off most of those wimps ages ago," Inyuasha responded as he rested the blade of his sword on his shoulder. "Woulda been here sooner but I got held up. Setsuna showed up right after you and the old lady took off."

"Setsuna's here too?"

"Yeah, and right now Hisui's holding her off so I can help the rest of you deal with this mess."

"Your timing couldn't have been better, Inuyasha," Kaede declared. "Though you think it wise to have left young Hisui to fight such a dangerous opponent on his own?"

"Relax, old lady. The kid's just as tough as his mom. He can hold off Setsuna until after we take care of the rest of this scum. Now let's finish these weaklings off!"

Just as Inuyasha was about to unleash another Wind Scar attack, a familiar voice cut through the air. "Heavenly Arrow Barrage!"

Several sacred arrows glowing with a pure lavender-colored light arced through the air over the heads of Inuyasha and the others. The arrows struck most of the cyber demon soldiers and exploded with flashes of light upon striking, reducing the creatures to piles of bone and metal. Kagome and the others looked and saw Moroha standing behind them with her bow. At this time Kazuki ran up and stood next to her, bending over to catch his breath once he stopped.

"Moroha! What're you doing here?" Kagome asked. "Didn't we tell you to the others to stay in the forest?"

"We did for a bit. Towa's still in the woods with Suzumi," Moroha responded. "Once we got there though we decided to split up to try and throw the enemy off. Kazuki and I thought we should come back here to help the rest of you out."

Inuyasha nodded. "Have any trouble?"

"Well, we did run into this nasty monkey demon named Godo. He was kind of a pain, but I managed to take him out."

Inuyasha then glared down at Kazuki. "And what about this one? He looks ready to pass out."

"I'm…I'm okay," Kazuki responded. "Just need to…catch my second wind."

"Dad, Kazuki was a big help to me," Moroha told Inuyasha. "To be totally honest, I'm not sure I could've beaten Godo without him."

Inuyasha looked down skeptically at Kazuki. "Is that right?"

"Inuyasha, we don't have time for this," Kagome told him. "I think Moroha can help Kaede and I take out the rest of the soldiers here. You should go off and help Kohaku."

"…Fine! I probably should go and make sure Kohaku doesn't get himself killed a second time," Inuyasha agreed. "Moroha, you stay here and help your mom with the cleanup."

With those words, Inuyasha rushed off to the other end of the village to what was surly already a bloodbath.

"Wait, what did he mean by Mr. Kohaku getting killed a second time?" Kazuki asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kagome sighed. "It's a long story, and now's not the time. Moroah, let's go."

"On it, Mom," Moroha responded as she stepped up next to Kagome.

Mother and daughter both readied their bows and pointed their arrows at the oncoming soldiers.

Hisui threw his hiraikotsu at Setsuna, only for the half-demon to roll out of the boomerang's path. Immediately afterward Setsuna spun her naginata and fired off her cyclone burst attack at the demon slayer. Hisui rolled out of the way before the wind blast could strike him and held his hand up as he kneeled on the ground. The giant boomerang of demon bone returned to his waiting hand.

"You're much tough than I expected for a mere human," Setsuna remarked.

"You shouldn't sell us demon slayers short," Hisui responded as he got back to his feet. "We're trained to fight demons from a young age. An opponent like you is no problem for someone of my skill."

"And yet it seems as though you're holding back. Why?"

"It's because you're a member of Lord Inuyasha's family, as well as the daughter of Lord Sesshomaru, whom my uncle greatly respects. Out of respect to them both I am attempting to show you mercy."

"Hah! Mercy is for the weak. As for the rest of the nonsense you just spouted, I don't know why everyone in this era believes I'm related to these half-demon allies of yours. I certainly don't know anything of this Sesshomaru person you mentioned."

"Don't you remember anything about your past at all?"

Setsuna glared coldly at Hisui and pointed her naginata at him. "All I remember is what I was trained to do at the academy. To follow the will of the Empress and kill all those who would impede her will! You are one such impediment, so I must take your head!"

Hisui nodded. "I suppose words are pointless to us then. I'm still going to try and show you mercy! But if you push me too far, I will be left with no other choice but to kill you."

Setsuna nodded. "Just as it should be."

Hagino couldn't help but become distressed as he continued to watch the battles unfolding on the floating spheres in Tamamo no Mae's throne room. The small army they had sent to capture Suzumi was getting completely massacred now that Moroha had returned to the village. Unfortunately Tamamo no Mae did not share his attitude. To the contrary, the legendary fox demon was utterly fascinated by the events unfolding on the spheres. The entire operation was simply one big show to her.

Of course Hagino realized it wasn't his place to fault the Empress for her attitude. From the perspective of Tamamo no Mae, every single person in existence was simply a tiny insignificant creature playing in the palm of her hand.

Tamamo no Mae chuckled as she saw Inuyasha decimating the soldiers attacking the remaining soldiers attacking the village. "Well Hagino, it appears our little errand to capture Suzumi is going to end in failure."

Hagino cleared his throat. "Not necessarily, milady. Lady Nekohime still has Project Angel cornered. If she would only stop playing around and finish off the half-demon girl serving as Suzumi Yoshina's protection, we can finally bring this operation to an end."

"Oh, but why be in such a rush? I certainly wouldn't want to ruin all of Nekohime's fun. Besides, the girl she's fighting is the long-lost sister of our darling little Setsuna. I'm eager to see what she's truly capable of."

Towa leapt to the left to avoid one of the flaming lashes from Nekohime's cat o' nine tails, only to nearly get struck by another. The tomboyish half-demon was starting to become a little exhausted, and incredibly frustrated. It seemed to matter what she did, Towa couldn't even come near her feline opponent. Meanwhile Suzumi continued to watch helplessly while hiding in the bushes.

Nekohime yawned. "I'm starting to become bored. And to think you actually managed to land a wound on Saionji. I mean sure, he was the weakest of us among the Nine Tails, but even so. Right now I find it hard to believe a little girl like you could've even given him a scratch."

Towa gasped as she recalled her battle against Saionji. The reason she had been able to wound the moth demon was because in the heat of the moment she had unleashed an attack similar to Moroha's Crimson Dragon Wave. Desperately Towa tried recalling what she did and felt when she used the attack and raised her sword.

"Azure Dragon Wave!" Towa called out as she swung down her energy blade.

A serpentine dragon made of blue light shot from Towa's sword and headed straight for Nekohime. With a single twist of the cat demon's arm though, the dragon was cut to ribbons by the flaming lashes of the cat 'o nine tails.

Nekohime laughed. "Now that was a little better! Still, a pretty puny attack. Hardly any force behind it. With the way my darling cat o' nine tails was able to cut trough it, you may as well have hit me with a gentle breeze."

"Dammit!" Towa cursed. "Isn't there anything that can get past your damn whip?"

"Oh hardly. This whip was a gift to me from the Empress herself. She's very fond of European torture devices you see. Anyway, she infused this whip with some of her power and gave it to me when I was made a member of the Nine Tails. Since then I've used it to destroy all those who would oppose the Empress and discipline those who would defy or disappoint her. Why I've even had to use it on dear Setsuna-chan quite a few times. She can be such a naughty little sister."

Towa tightened the grip on her sword as the flame of her anger began to intensify. "You…you used that thing on Setsuna?"

Nekohime nodded. "Oh my, many times. Very often the Empress has called me into one of her pleasure dungeons to assist her in making dear Setsuna-chan see the error of her ways. Oh, the things we've done to that girl."

At this point Towa's rage began to boil over. "You BITCH!"

"My-my! Such a temper you have. Guess I'll have to teach you some discipline as well before I send you to Hell."

Nekohime cracked her whip again, and this time Towa not only jumped back and avoided the lashes, but managed to get one of them to wrap around the energy blade of her sword. Towa's body began to glow with a faint silver-blue aura and suddenly the flames from Nekohime's weapon began to die out. At the same time an orange-yellow energy began to flow from the whip into Towa's sword. The energy blade began to intensify.

"Impossible!" Nekohime exclaimed. "Are you actually absorbing the demon energy from my weapon?"

Towa said nothing and only looked upon Nekohime with a murderous glare. At the same time Towa's hair had grown a little longer and the canines in her mouth had become more pronounced. With a twist of Towa's arm, Nekohime's cat o' nine tails was torn from her hand. At the same time the lash that had been wrapped around Towa's sword was cut to pieces. The pieces of the whip dropped to the ground, turned grey and collapsed into dust.

"How's this for a breeze?" Towa shouted as she swung her sword. "Azure Dragon Wave!"

Another dragon of blue light flew from Towa's sword at Nekohime. The light from this dragon was far more intense than the first one Towa had launched. Nekohime jumped backward to avoid the attack, but one of the dragon's claws caught the left side of her face before striking the ground. Nekohime screamed and fell to one knee as she clutched her wound.

"My eye! My face!" Nekohime cried out. She then removed her hand, showing the three claw marks over her shut left eye, which was now crying tears of blood. Nekohime got to her feet and glared at Towa. "You'll PAY FOR THIS!"

Suddenly Nekohime began to glow with a flaming blue aura. In a matter of seconds she had morphed into a gigantic hissing black cat with one eye scarred shut.

"TO HELL WITH MY MISSION!" Nekohime roared. "I'M GOING TO DEVOUR BOTH YOU AND THE GIRL!"

Towa barely heard a word the giant demonic cat had said. Meanwhile her hair had grown a little longer and purple stripes had appeared on her cheeks. Her fingernails had grown into claws and a purple crescent moon had appeared on her forehead. Nekohime raised her right front paw and attempted to crush Towa and pin her to the ground like a mouse. Towa easily jumped out of the attack's path to the right however and leapt at Nekohime with her sword raised. With one swing Towa managed to cut off the cat's left front leg.

Nekohime yowled in pain as blood gushed from her wound and she shrunk and slowly morphed back to her humanoid form. Her amputated leg meanwhile burst into blue flames and quickly burned to ash in a matter of seconds. Clutching her stump of an arm, Nekohime remained on one knee and glared at Towa. The cat demon instantly became filled with terror though when she saw Towa's appearance. She realized the half-demon tomboy could tear her to pieces, and she was on the verge of doing so.

"This…this isn't over!" Nekohime declared before quickly pressing the buckle of her belt.

With a flash of red light, Nekohime vanished. Suzumi emerged from the bushes and slowly walked towards Towa. Right away she realized something wasn't right. She called Towa's name and let out a cry when Towa turned to her, growling. Suzumi was startled by how much Towa had changed. She also wondered if Towa still recognized her.

"Towa? Are…you okay?" Suzumi asked as she cautiously approached. "It's all over now. Nekohime's gone."

Towa relaxed and in one startling second her features returned to normal. "Sorry. Guess I was a little amped up there."

"Do you…remember what just happened?"

"Of course." Towa then began to scratch her head. "Although…it was sort of like my mind had gone blank. Guess I was just running on adrenaline in the end, huh?"

Suzumi smiled. "I guess. Anyway, we should probably return to the village. For all we know, this forest could now be swarming with troops. Besides, I'm a little worried about your uncle and the others."

Towa nodded. "Right. Plus for all I know, Setsuna could be there too. We better move."

Towa took Suzumi's hand and the two of them began to run back in the direction of the village. As they ran, Suzumi couldn't help but think about Towa's unsettling transformation during the battle and the fact Towa hadn't realized anything had happened.

As he stood watching in the throne room, Hagino was stunned by what he had just witnessed. He could hardly believe the third most powerful member of the Nine Tails had been so badly wounded by a mere half-demon girl.

Tamamo no Mae on the other hand laughed with delight. "This is just too much! Well, I suppose I'll have to punish Nekohime for this little failure later. Still, young Towa is quite the girl. I find myself wishing we had gotten her instead of her sister."

Hagino cleared his throat as he pulled on his collar. "I should point out milady that once again we have failed to capture Project Angel."

"Oh never mind all that Hagino. You always obsess over the most pointless little details. We'll capture the girl eventually, if not today then tomorrow. In the meantime, it seems I may have found the most wonderful new toy. I can't wait to see how little Towa develops."

Hisui was on one knee catching his breath as Setsuna slowly advanced towards him. He had received a couple of wounds but they were minor. The real problem was his stamina was starting to run out. Hisui realized he could only hold out for so long against a superhuman opponent like Setsuna. The battle was now getting to a point where Hisui might be forced to take Setsuna's life in order to save his own.

"You shouldn't have been holding back," Setsuna declared as she closed in. "If you hadn't, you might actually have survived this battle."

Hisui smiled and closed his eyes. "I'll admit things do look grim, but it's not over yet."

"Of course it is," Setsuna declared as she raised her naginata. "You just haven't accepted it yet."

Hisui was about to roll out of the way when the naginata swung down, but before he could the blade struck something else. He looked and saw Towa holding Setsuna's weapon back with her sword.

"Lady Towa?" Hisui spoke, stunned.

Setsuna jumped back and pointed her naginata at Towa. "You again! Where's the girl?"

"Setsuna, you have to stop this!" Towa told her. "We shouldn't be fighting!"

"Not all the nonsense about us being related again. Just give it up already!"

"You really don't remember me, do you? I guess I can't blame you. I don't really remember those days either. But you and I really are sisters!"

"I told you to quit spouting nonsense! Now get out of my way!"

Towa shook her head. "I can't let you hurt anyone!"

"Then fight me! It's the only way you'll save your comrades."

Towa tightened her grip on her sword. "Okay then. If that's how it has to be…then I guess I'm gonna have to knock some sense into you!"

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