Flowers For My Daughter, Pt.1

Flowers for My Daughter
It had been a perfect autumn day: bracing, but not too cold, and the hillsides were carpeted in the rich warm russets and golds of the season. It had been a perfect day for a festival in Kaede's village, and indeed, it had been the perfect autumn festival. The villagers were cleaning up after the day's events, and Kaede was bidding a fond farewell to their guests of honor.

"It was so very nice of you to come," Kaede said as she walked with them along the main road out of the village. "And it is especially nice to see you, Kagome, when you're dressed as befitting a person of your station--and not," she chuckled, "in the barbarous outfits of your own uncultured era." Kagome was dressed in a miko's finery in honor of the day, a flowing white kimono and vermillion hakama, her bow and arrows strung over her shoulder, and she smiled at Kaede's description of her usual clothing. For a long time, Kagome had felt quite uncomfortable in a miko's robes, because it was the clothing that Kikyou had worn--Kagome was especially uncomfortable when she was forced to wear the robes that had actually belonged to Kikyou, and the fact that they were absolutely the same size made it even worse. Kagome had gone through an extremely awkward period a little while after Kikyou had finally and truly died. She never told anyone--not her mother, not even Sango--but one day, she could actually feel the stolen portion of her soul, with which Urasue had reanimated Kikyou, returning to her body, and the rush of Kikyou's considerable spiritual powers joining with and redoubling her own. It made her feel like she didn't know who she was, or which of the souls within her body it was that Inuyasha truly loved.

That all changed forever with the birth of their daughter. When Kagome saw the tears of joy in Inuyasha's eyes and his rapturous smile when he held their child for the first time, and heard the love in his voice when he said "Kagome...she's beautiful," Kagome knew beyond any doubt that Inuyasha was hers, truly and forever; and the shackles of the past, which had held her heart captive for so many years, were gone for good.

Little Izayoi was contentedly munching on a sweet bun, happily holding onto her daddy's hand. She was wearing a red kimono like his, and she also had his long white hair and dog ears, which would perk up adorably when something caught her interest; but like her mother, her eyes were dark, such a dark brown that they were nearly black, and they were flecked with gold that sparkled when she smiled and sparked when she growled.

"It's always a pleasure, Kaede," Kagome smiled. "It's too bad that we can't stay, but tomorrow is a school day, and we need to get Izayoi back in time."

"Keh!" Izayoi crossed her arms, turned up her nose, and stomped her bare foot petulantly. "School is stinky. I don't want to go back. I want to stay here and hunt youkai with Kaede-obachan!"

"Now, Iza-chan," Kagome chided wearily. "We've been through this all before. It's a school day tomorrow, and we're going home, and that's that." She sighed heavily. "Honestly, Inuyasha, I just don't understand her. I loved school at her age. She must get this from you."

"Keh!" Inuyasha crossed his arms and turned up his nose. "Why is it that anytime she does something you don't like, it's because she got it from me?"

Kagome looked darkly at Inuyasha. "You really don't want me to answer that, do you?" she said duskily.

Kaede laughed. "Patience, child," she said half-jokingly to Kagome, and she knelt down in front of Izayoi. "Now Iza-chan, you're a very special girl. I've told you that before--you believe me, don't you?" Izayoi nodded grudgingly. "Well, special little girls have special responsibilities, and one of yours is school. How do you expect to grow up to be as brave as your father or as clever as your mother if you don't go to school?"

Izayoi said nothing, but she looked at the ground and scuffed at it with her feet. "I tell you what," Kaede continued, "the next time you get a holiday, you come back here, we'll have some sweet buns, and then we'll go hunting youkai. Don't worry--they'll still be here when you come back." She stood up, muttering under her breath, "There does appear to be an inexhaustible supply of them." Kaede put her hands lovingly on the little girl's shoulders, and said "Is that all right?"

"O-kay," Izayoi said reluctantly, kicking at the ground again.

"That's my girl." Kaede smiled as she patted Izayoi on the head. "Run along with your parents now, and I'll see you soon!" She turned to Kagome, placed her aged hand in Kagome's young one, and said quietly, "You know that I'm not going to be around forever. Please bring her back soon. And you know, you can do a lot worse than to raise her here. It's safer here than in your era, from what Inuyasha tells me, and the people here all love you. You could do a lot of good here...and they will need someone to take my place when the time comes."

"I'll think about it," said Kagome. "But I will bring her back soon, as soon as I can, I promise." Kagome knelt down and Izayoi climbed onto her back, then Kagome climbed onto Inuyasha's back. Kagome smiled and called to Kaede, "Thank you again, Kaede, for everything! OK, Inuyasha, let's go home!" Inuyasha bounded off into the forest, and the three of them quickly disappeared from Kaede's sight.

Soon they arrived at the bone-eater's well, and they jumped in to begin the journey back home. Kagome was lost in thought as they glided through the time stream, making a mother's usual mental to-do lists: get Izayoi bathed (usually a battle), make sure that tomorrow's school clothes were laid out, find the notebook she keeps misplacing. She was completely shocked when she felt a hard "slam," like an airplane running into turbulence. Something changed in the flow of the time stream, and she felt herself being sucked sideways, down a completely new path. She reached for her daughter, fearing that they might be separated and each might be lost in a different era; but Inuyasha was faster. He had already grabbed the little girl's ankle with one hand, and with the other Kagome's wrist, and his look of grim determination to hold on, no matter what happened, raised her spirits considerably.

After alternately being buffeted harshly about and pulled rapidly in new and uncomfortable directions, they came to an abrupt halt at the bottom of the well. Kagome looked up, and saw the roof of the building on her family's shrine grounds. "Thank goodness we made it home," she said. "Is everyone all right?"

They all nodded, but Inuyasha looked unconvinced. He sniffed the air suspiciously, then he growled, "The air smells wrong...and it feels wrong."

Izayoi sniffed and twitched her ears. "Daddy's right. The city sounds different, too."

"Well, we can't stay here forever," Kagome said. "We don't know who we'll meet out there, so cover up, you two, and let's get out of this well."

Inuyasha pulled a baseball cap from his sleeve and put it on, and from her own sleeve Izayoi pulled out a red kerchief and tied it over her head, covering her ears. Inuyasha climbed up the ladder, looked around, then said "It looks safe. Come on up." Izayoi climbed onto her mother's back, and Kagome climbed up to the top of the well, where Inuyasha helped them over the lip of the well.

They slid open the door of the well-house, and looked out onto the shrine courtyard. It was a late autumn afternoon, and it appeared that here too there had been an autumn festival. There were a few people wandering about the courtyard, but clearly the bulk of the day's activities had already been concluded.

"It looks pretty normal..." said Inuyasha pensively.

"No it doesn't," said Kagome. "Just look at what they're wearing. It's all wrong."

"I can't tell the difference," said Inuyasha. "What you humans wear looks pretty much the same to me."

Kagome snorted. "Of course you wouldn't notice...but I do. Everything is...well, it's old. I haven't seen this sort of thing since I was a child. Just look at their hair...look at the clothes they're wearing."

Inuyasha looked dubious, but he was willing to believe her. Just then, a darling little girl ran up to them. She was about Izayoi's age, and she had dark eyes, a thick head of long dark hair, and a beautiful smile. "Hello," she piped. "Are you here for the festival?"

Kagome made a choking noise; Inuyasha turned to see that she had turned as white as her kimono, and her eyes were wide. "Uh...uh huh," she said with difficulty, and nodded.

The little girl didn't notice Kagome's distress; her eye had been drawn to Inuyasha's and Izayoi's bright red kimonos. "Your kimonos are so pretty! Oh dear...everything's been put away by now..." she said thoughtfully; but then she leaned in close to Izayoi, and with a twinkle in her eye, she whispered conspiratorially, "but I know where they keep the leftovers!"

Izayoi turned to her mother; like all children her age, she seemed perpetually hungry. "Can I go with her, Mommy?" Kagome nodded, her expression unchanging, her wide eyes still fixed on the dark-haired girl.

Izayoi and the little girl ran off together, and Inuyasha whirled towards Kagome. "You let her go?" he said harshly. "I mean, she's just a human, but we don't know anything about her. There's something wrong here--we don't know that it's safe!"

"Yes, we do...it's safe," said Kagome distantly. She continued to stare at the retreating figures of the two girls, then she slowly turned to Inuyasha.

"That little girl...is me."

=================================================
=================================================

"She's me, Inuyasha. I should know my own face." Kagome was finally coming back to the present; the color had returned to her face, and she was speaking normally again. "I don't remember this particular festival, or this particular day, but I do remember the way that shrine festivals smelled when I was a girl, and the clothes that everyone is wearing belong to those years. It's then. That's me. It all makes sense." She grabbed her head with both hands and shook it. "No, no, no, it doesn't make any sense...no sense at all."

Inuyasha had nothing to say to that, so he turned his gaze again to the shrine courtyard. He saw the girls come around the corner of one of the back buildings, trying unsuccessfully to stifle their giggles, their purloined treats hidden from view (or so they thought), and they sat together under the Goshinboku and tucked in. Their mirthful chirping rang across the courtyard, and despite his wariness at the situation, he couldn't help but smile at the sweet sound of his daughter's laughter.

Suddenly, Inuyasha's ears twitched at the sound of the door to the family home being slid open. He turned to see a young man at the door: a slender and handsome man, with a gentle face, who was clearly looking for something or someone. After a few moments, he cupped his hands into a megaphone, and called out, "Kagome! Kagome!" Then, seeing the two girls under the Goshinboku, he headed in their direction.

Kagome's back stiffened. She stood bolt upright, and her face went ashen. She grabbed Inuyasha's sleeve with one hand, and clutched at her chest with the other. "...Papa...?" she gasped; then her eyes closed as she fainted, crumpling into Inuyasha's arms.

----------------------------------------------------------
When she awoke, she was inside the family home, a cool cloth on her forehead, lying on the couch with her head in Inuyasha's lap. The young man that Inuyasha had seen at the door and that Kagome had called "Papa" was holding her hand, concern written all over his kindly face. "Are you alright?" he asked. "You gave us quite a scare. Are you ill?"

With Inuyasha's help, Kagome gingerly eased herself to a sitting position. "I...think I'm alright," she said cautiously. Papa offered her a glass of water, which she accepted and from which she sipped carefully. She looked around the room; it was exactly as she remembered it from her childhood, except that across the room, there sat her daughter and the child Kagome, their eyes very wide and fixed on her.

"I'm all right, honey," she said to her daughter, who visibly relaxed. Izayoi patted little Kagome's hand reassuringly.

"You must have had a difficult day," Papa said kindly.

"You don't know the half of it," Kagome said, holding her head in her hands.

"Well, then!" Papa said, trying to lighten the mood. "Now that we're all here, perhaps we should introduce ourselves. I am Yasuo Higurashi. A pleasure to meet you." He bowed, then looked towards Izayoi. "Now, who is this lovely little girl?"

Izayoi rose, and in her most polite voice, said "My name is Izayoi Higurashi. A pleasure to meet you." She bowed to Papa, and resumed her seat.

"Delightful! Very well done!" He clapped his hands and laughed. "How polite you are! Your mother must be very proud of you." Izayoi and her mother both blushed, and Inuyasha smiled (although he did grumble to himself, "Her father is proud of her too, y'know.") Papa continued, "Higurashi is a fine name indeed—it's not only our family's name, it's the name of the shrine. I wonder if we're all related?"

"I'm sure we are," said Inuyasha, sniggering into his sleeve. Kagome elbowed him in the side, hoping that Papa wasn't watching too carefully. Inuyasha composed himself, then said, "I'm Inuyasha, and this is Kagome."

"Kagome—why, that's my daughter's name!" Papa laughed, and little Kagome rose and bowed just as Izayoi had. "I see you've already met Kagome. She just turned nine this month, you know." It was now little Kagome's turn to blush, even as she puffed up proudly at the mention of her recent birthday. Papa continued, "You look so familiar. We must be related—don't you think so?"

Kagome's mind raced to think of something to say. Damn, she thought, I should have paid more attention to family history. Inuyasha started to say something, but she cut him off. "Why, yes...yes we are," she said, still formulating her story as she spoke. "Inuyasha is from overseas—he's the adopted son of your brother, Haru." Haru was the black sheep of the family, notorious both for his outrageous behavior and for staying out of touch for years at a time—Kagome had first met him long after she had begun to travel to the feudal era, so she thought his name would provide the safest cover.

"Haru's son from overseas...well, that certainly makes sense. Haru always was the traveler, always up to something odd. Oh dear," he interrupted himself, "how rude of me. Please forgive me—I certainly didn't mean anything by that. How is Haru doing?" Papa asked.

Inuyasha shrugged, and said, "I really wouldn't know." Kagome elbowed him again, and quickly added, "He means that we haven't heard from him in a long time either, have we, Inuyasha?" She glowered at him angrily, and he hastily shook his head.

"Well, cousins, welcome! Our home is yours." He heartily shook Inuyasha's hand, and did the same for Kagome. "Now, what can I do for you? Have you been here before?"

"No...no, we haven't," said Kagome hastily, before Inuyasha or Izayoi could say anything that would require too much explanation. "Could you give us a tour? I'd love to hear all about this place...and not the official tour. The real stories. The family stories—after all, we are family, aren't we?" She laughed (she hoped) disarmingly.

"Right you are," said Papa. "Are you sure you're up for it? Are you well enough to walk?"

Kagome nodded vigorously. "Never felt better. Let's go!"

And so out they went, Papa in the lead, Kagome on Inuyasha's arm, and the two girls chattering merrily non-stop behind them. Papa gave them the cook's tour, showing them every nook and cranny of the shrine grounds. Kagome already knew all the stories, of course, and had crawled over every square inch of the shrine since she could crawl anywhere; but she was deliriously happy simply to hear her father's voice. As they walked around the grounds, she was beaming brightly, and from time to time Inuyasha would feel her grip tighten on his arm and tears of joy would leak quietly from her eyes ("Allergies...it's nothing, don't mind me," she had explained, early in the tour).

She was no less happy to see how Izayoi was enjoying herself with little Kagome; the two had clearly already become fast friends. "She's an...unusual child," Kagome told Papa. "It's not that other children aren't fond of her—not at all—but she's not really...well, she's not really like the other children, and she doesn't have any friends her age who really understand her."

Papa nodded sagely. "It's hard to be unique, isn't it? It's a curse, as well as a blessing."

"Tell me about it," Inuyasha grunted, remembering his own difficult childhood.

The afternoon lengthened into evening, and Papa concluded the tour where they had begun, at the family home. Kagome thanked him profusely: "It meant more to me than I'll ever be able to tell you."

Papa brought them back inside, and they all sat down at the dining-room table. "I'd like to offer you dinner," he said, "but my wife isn't here. Mama's coming home tonight, but when she does, I'm afraid it will be long after dinner time. And, I'm sorry to say, I'm a very bad cook." (Little Kagome nudged Izayoi and scrunched up her face, as if to say "you don't know just how bad." Both girls giggled.)

Kagome leapt to her feet. "Oh please, let me cook! You've been so generous to us—let me thank you by making dinner!"

Papa chuckled. "Well, if that's what you want...I certainly won't say no." He leaned forward and whispered theatrically, "Frankly, even I can't stand my cooking."

Triumphantly, Kagome shouted, "It's settled, then. Izayoi!"

The little girl jumped to attention. "Ready!"

"To the kitchen!" Kagome charged off to the kitchen with Izayoi in her wake, and there was an immediate clatter of pans. Little Kagome ran behind them, breathlessly begging to be allowed to help.

Seeing the flurry of activity in the kitchen, Papa laughed long and loud, and Inuyasha found that the sound of Papa's voice pleased him nearly as much as it did Kagome. Papa's laughter was honest and kind, and his words were gentle, and despite the mistrust that Inuyasha always immediately felt towards new acquaintances, he found that he liked Kagome's father very much.

Papa clapped Inuyasha on the shoulder. "Well, son, it's clearly for the best that we stay out of their way." He laughed merrily again."I see that you're wearing a sword," Papa said. "I can tell from the way you wear it that it's an old friend." Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow curiously at Papa, who continued "Oh, yes--I can see that you're a real swordsman. By the way you carry your sword, and the way you hold yourself, I can see the strength of the warrior within you." Papa rubbed his hands together thoughtfully, and continued, "I've studied the bushido all my life. I did it all—judo, aikido, bow, staff, and of course the sword. I was quite the swordsman in my youth." Holding an imaginary blade before him, Papa rolled his wrists with a smooth and supple motion, as though he was drawing an elaborate figure in the air with the sword's tip: then he thrust forward with the speed of a striking snake, and Inuyasha blinked in surprise to see such a quiet man move with such graceful and deadly accuracy.

Papa laughed and shook his head. "Ah, but that was before the children—but of course, you know how the young ones cut into your practice time." Inuyasha knew no such thing, as Izayoi had been hunting youkai with him since she could walk, but he nodded politely just the same. "I was hoping that the children might like to take up one of the warrior's arts. Souta's a little too young yet, but I took Kagome out to the archery range one day and let her shoot." He looked to be sure that his daughter was out of earshot, and whispered, "She was just terrible."

Inuyasha snorted, and tried vainly to suppress his laughter. Hearing his snickering, Kagome stuck her head in the doorway and asked, "I thought I heard my name. Was someone just talking about me?"

"Why, no, dear, what makes you think that?" said Inuyasha, a look of total innocence on his face.

"No...'dear'? He's got to be up to something..." Kagome muttered to herself. She glowered threateningly at Inuyasha, and returned to the kitchen.

"The shrine has a lot of old weapons," Papa continued. "Grandpa has a lot of stories about them and their 'noble heritage' and 'grand traditions,'" he said, mimicking Grandpa's orotund delivery, "but I'm not convinced that any of them are true. Most of them change every time he tells them. And frankly, I don't know where he finds these old things...sometimes I think he's just a sucker for a good sales pitch." He chuckled, then added, "Of course...I do have a few that are really old, and really do have a noble heritage. I keep them in the shrine, behind the altar. One of them belonged to my great-great-grandfather, and even he didn't know how old it really was. He called it 'Onikoroshi': the demon slayer. It doesn't look very impressive—it's just an old black halberd...but the family legend says that it has some sort of spiritual power, and that when it is used to save the life of another, it will always strike true." Papa leaned towards Inuyasha, and whispered, "But I'd never tell Grandpa that—I don't want to steal his thunder, and he'd never know what to do with a story that was really true." At that, they both burst out laughing.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Kagome was furiously preparing what she hoped would be a feast fit for a king. The girls were busily peeling vegetables, and she was getting everything ready to make her signature omelets ("Nobody can make omelets like I can...this is going to be a real treat for Papa!" she chuckled to herself.) She stuck her head out the kitchen door again to check up on Inuyasha. She saw that Papa was showing Inuyasha one of Grandpa's rusty old swords, and although she couldn't hear what he was saying, she could see him mimicking the overblown and grandiose gestures Grandpa always used when telling one of his long and dubious tales. And when Papa struck a fierce samurai pose with the sword and the blade fell off and clattered loudly on the floor, both he and Inuyasha howled with laughter.

"Oh, good, they're getting along," Kagome sighed with relief. Even after many years of bringing him to visit the modern era, she was always more than a little nervous about what Inuyasha might do or say. Inuyasha's self-control had improved significantly over the course of their relationship (she had seen to that, at least), but he was always impetuous, and would more often than not say the first thing that popped into his head, without foreseeing or caring about the consequences. She went back to her cooking, and soon was showing both girls the fine points of omelet crafting. She was so caught up in her lecture that she didn't see Papa point to Inuyasha's sword, Inuyasha look around the room at all the precious and breakable objects and then gesture to the door, and both of them walk outside.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome thought she might have seen the flash of Tessaiga's transformation through the kitchen window, but she was quite sure that she heard her father's whoop of glee. There was no mistaking Inuyasha's shout of "Kaze no kizu," though. She rushed to the window just in time to see the blinding flash of Tessaiga's mystical lightnings tearing through the chill evening air, and the house shook at the thunderclap as they soared upwards into the sky. She blinked at the flash, and when her vision cleared, she saw Inuyasha with Tessaiga over his shoulder, grinning broadly with unmistakable pride, and her father dancing beside him, shouting "Amazing! Absolutely amazing!"

"Oh no...what has he broken now?" Kagome muttered to herself as she returned to her cooking. Shortly Inuyasha and Papa returned, and Papa was simply beside himself with merriment.

"Oh, is Grandpa ever going to be jealous! I've got a story that beats all of his!" He was grinning from ear to ear at the thought. "And this actually happened!" He clapped and rubbed his hands together with eager anticipation. "I can't wait to tell him!"

Kagome glared angrily at Inuyasha. "What's your problem?" he growled at her. "I shot it up into the air. Nothing got hurt. What's the big deal?"

Kagome sighed heavily. "Just don't do it again, Inuyasha. We have to repair the shrine enough during our own time—I don't want them to have to start doing that now."

Papa finally mastered his enthusiasm, and asked Inuyasha, "So tell me again...what makes your sword grow so large?"

Inuyasha said matter-of-factly, "It's one of my father's fangs."

Papa shook his head in awe. "Now...that's got to be a real story. You must mean your birth father, of course," he chuckled again. "Haru had many odd traits, but seven-foot fangs were not among them." He scratched his chin, and said thoughfully, "Although even Haru would have written us about something this unusual. Does Haru know about this?"

With a completely deadpan expression, Inuyasha said calmly, "Probably not."

There was a loud clatter in the kitchen, and all eyes turned to Kagome, who had dropped a pan and was busily mopping the floor where it had fallen. She smiled innocently enough, but her eyes looked daggers at Inuyasha. She got to her feet and said sweetly, "Dinner's ready!" Papa walked past her and sat down at table, but before Inuyasha could join him, Kagome grabbed him by the sleeve and hissed in his ear, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yup," said Inuyasha, with a straight face.

=================================================
=================================================

Papa was talking about the rest of the family. "My wife, Grandpa, and my son are off visiting relatives. Grandpa and Souta are coming back tomorrow, but I need to pick up my wife later this evening." He leaned back from the table, one hand behind his head, an embarrassed look on his face. "I...I'm afraid I need to ask you a favor. When I leave to pick up my wife, could I ask you to watch Kagome for me? I'd take her with me, but she usually takes a bath tonight," and he leaned forward and whispered with one-parent-to-another confidentiality, "and she does not like missing her bath, and I'll never hear the end of it if she does." He straightened up and resumed in a normal conversational tone, "So...would you be willing to watch my daughter while I go pick up my wife?"

"Of course we'll be happy to help any way we can," Kagome chirped happily. "Frankly, Izayoi could use a bath tonight too."

Izayoi's ears twitched visibly under her kerchief. "A bath? Keh!" she announced from across the room. "I hate baths."

Little Kagome jumped up joyfully, "No, Iza-chan, baths are fun! Let's go take one together!" She grabbed Izayoi's hand and headed for the bathroom. Izayoi grudgingly allowed herself to be led away, and her gloomy and resigned expression caused all the adults to laugh.

Papa clapped his hands with joy again. "My Kagome...she does love her baths!"

"So does mine," laughed Inuyasha.

Kagome blushed and hid her head in her hands. "Wait 'til I get you alone," she muttered into the sleeve of her kimono.

----------------------------------------------------------
To Kagome's great relief, the bath was as big a success as the dinner. Izayoi suffered little Kagome to scrub her back with far fewer protests than she offered when her mother tried to do the same, and much more quickly than Kagome expected, the two girls were happily soaking in the tub, chatting and giggling. While the girls were enjoying their bath, Kagome sat quietly in the corner and did her best to appear absorbed in her magazine so she wouldn't get caught listening to them.

Izayoi sighed contentedly and slid under the water until her nose was just under the surface, and happily blew some bubbles. Forgetting that she was among strangers, she untied her kerchief and shook her head, wiggling her ears with relief. She settled back into the bath, only to look up and see little Kagome staring at her.

Izayoi slumped dejectedly. "Oh...my ears." She was utterly crestfallen. "You probably don't like me any more. You think I'm weird now."

"No, no, no, Iza-chan!" little Kagome piped. "They're so cute! I wish I had ears like that. Do you think I can pull mine up until they're like yours?" She tugged at her own ears for a few moments, trying to get them to stick up through her hair like Izayoi's. The sight was pretty comical; and Izayoi laughed, which started little Kagome laughing, and soon they were giggling and splashing happily again, the moment's awkwardness quickly forgotten. Mother Kagome smiled too, heaving a quiet sigh of relief that another bath-time battle had been won, and returned to her magazine.

----------------------------------------------------------
With unusual difficulty, Kagome talked her daughter out of the bath (normally, it was a struggle to keep her in for more than a few minutes) and took her downstairs to brush her hair while little Kagome finished getting ready for bed. Izayoi was babbling happily about her day's adventures with her new friend, when Inuyasha walked in with a dark and concerned expression.

"I've been all over the grounds," he said. "I can't find anything unusual, but still...something just feels wrong."

Izayoi suddenly sat upright, her ears twitching nervously. She bared her little fangs and growled, "Jyaki."

Kagome put down the hairbrush. "I feel it too," she said. Inuyasha twitched his ears, and expectantly sniffed the air.

Suddenly, there was a shriek from upstairs, and little Kagome came running down the stairs. "There's a monster in my room!" she screamed. "There's a monster in my room!"

Inuyasha reached for Tessaiga, but Kagome put a restraining hand on his arm. "Don't bring out that huge sword right now...she's scared enough already."

Little Kagome came around the corner in tears, pointing to the stairs. "There's a horrible, horrible monster in my room! It tried to eat me!" She looked around the room in a panic. "Where's my papa? Where's my mama?"

Kagome knelt before the little girl ("I can't believe I'm comforting myself," she thought) and put on her cheeriest face. "Your mama and papa aren't here right now, but don't worry. Monsters in your room? We'll take care of that!"

Izayoi hugged little Kagome, and did her best to be comforting. "My mommy and daddy are really good at this. They'll get rid of that monster right away--you'll see!"

Inuyasha and Kagome left little Kagome in the care of Izayoi, and crept slowly up the stairs. Inuyasha ripped the cap off his head and petulantly stuffed it back into his sleeve. "Keh. I can't hear anything with this thing on." He sniffed at the air. "There's definitely something in there," he whispered.

"I could have told you that," Kagome whispered back. "I was never scared of the dark. I never saw monsters in the closet, or any of that sort of thing. If I...I mean, if she, said that there was something there, I knew that it had to be true." She grabbed the sleeve of his kimono. "Inuyasha, do what you have to...but can you please try not to destroy my house in the process of saving us all?"

"Fine. Why don't you take care of it, then," he whispered irritatedly. He padded softly up the stairs ahead of Kagome, who nocked an arrow and drew her bow, aiming directly at the door to the child's room.

Inuyasha pressed his back to the wall next to the door, stealthily reached for the knob, then flung the door open. A thick grey-green tentacle shot through the open door, reaching for whoever would have been standing on the threshold. Inuyasha saw Kagome's eyes flash angrily. She loosed her arrow, which flew through the door and destroyed whatever had been inside in a shower of glimmering violet sparks.

The two of them rushed into the room; there was only an ugly stain on the floor, and a breeze blowing through the open window.

"Well, that's how it got in, but I still don't know what it was," Kagome mused. Inuyasha said nothing; his face was ashen, and he was grinding his teeth so hard that she could hear it from across the room. "Inuyasha, what's wrong?" Kagome asked.

"That smell...I'll never forget that smell as long as I live." He balled his fists, and his knuckles popped with the force with which he clenched them.

"No...No!" Kagome shook her head vehemently. "It can't be. It can't be."

"It is," said Inuyasha grimly. "It can't be anyone else." His eyes narrowed to angry slits, and he growled with utter hatred.

"Naraku."