Chapter 14

Yusuke could only stare in disbelief and confusion as a myriad of thoughts ran through his head at once. His first reaction was stunned excitement. They had found Koenma, which had been the whole purpose of leaving the rest of the group in the first place. The second reaction was that something was definitely wrong.

This Koenma was in adult form; slightly similar to the form Yusuke was used to, with the expected differences of time-appropriate clothing and his brown hair pulled back and tied at the top of his head. Yusuke wasn't used to the hard look of distrust and borderline hatred on Koenma's face.

"Tell me, my young half-breed friend, do you honestly expect me to believe your story?" Koenma asked. "I can tell you now that we would never hire your kind. My father's hatred of demons exceeds even my own."

The underworld prince approached him and stared him straight in the eye. Yusuke found it hard not to look away.

"You know who I am, do you not?" Koenma continued, his look scrutinizing Yusuke's reaction. "You said my name, therefore you must know. I do not know you. I do not associate with your kind. Your people have all but destroyed my people and their will to live."

Yusuke tried to speak; his lips moved, but no sound came out. He was wracking his brain, trying to think of some way he could convince Koenma he was telling the truth. It was unfortunately obvious there wasn't going to be much he could say in his defense that Koenma would believe.

"Don't have anything to say, do you?" Koenma asked, his voice mocking. "I didn't think so. How pathetic..."

"So why exactly are you keeping me here, anyway?" Yusuke asked.

" I am interested in the spiritual power I sense within you," the prince replied. "Something I have never detected in a half-breed demon. You are half human as well, are you not?"

"What does it matter?" Yusuke argued.

"It matters," Koenma replied sharply. "Because your life depends on it."

That worried Yusuke slightly. "Just what are you going to do? If you're going to kill me, at least give me a fighting chance."

Koenma ignored him. "It troubles me to think that a demon could end up with the power of our world. Yet here it is. How you acquired it is beyond me." He frowned and turned away to face the wall.

It more than troubled the prince that a half-demon had somehow acquired the powers of his world. It sickened him to no end. He hadn't been sure of the power he felt within the half-breed, but the stone proved it. The stone would have greatly affected the half-demon had there been no true spiritual power. Where had he gotten that power?

He could sense no shards of the Shikon jewel with the half-demon, either. He felt the constant presence of the shard he held in his robes. Clearly this half-breed could not sense the shard's presence, which was fortunate.

Koenma decided to discuss this with his father. He would know what to do.

"Inuyasha, I think we passed that through here already."

Inuyasha gave Kagome a very unpleasant look. "I know what I'm doing, dammit. I told you, I sense something strange up ahead."

"How far ahead?"

"I don't know!" he yelled, and kept walking. Kagome followed, feeling frustrated, tired, and hungry. They had been walking even after night fell, guided by the moonlight. Not to mention she was sure they were lost. Inuyasha had lost the trail of Yusuke and Hiei's scent long ago, and had picked up the 'strange' scent in their place. She had the impression that he really wasn't as sure about himself as he let on.

In addition to all of that, Botan was still unconscious and appeared to be getting worse. Kagome was worried that all this movement would aggravate the wound even more and then she'd be done for.

"Inuyasha, I think we should stop and rest," she said. Of course she was trying in vain, because he wouldn't hear it.

"It's getting closer. We're almost there."

It was very odd to her that Inuyasha seemed more intent on finding their lost companions than she was. He hadn't been excited about them joining their group in the first place. Kagome wondered just what exactly he was thinking.

"I'm sure they're fine, Inuyasha," she said.

"What makes you think I'm worried about those idiots?" Inuyasha retorted, his eyes flaring. "The two weeks are almost over and I want to get back and make sure Miroku and the others weren't ambushed by those other two."

Kagome sighed. And then her head snapped up as she felt the pulsing sensation of a Shikon shard nearby.

"Inuyasha..." she said. "I feel a Shikon shard."

He stopped immediately and stared at her. "Where?!"

She smiled sheepishly and pointed. "In that direction."

"That's the way we were going in the first place!"

"Details, details."

"Well let's get going," he said, and kept walking.

"Wait, what about the others?"

"We'll find them later. Move, woman!"

The first thing Hiei registered was he had an enormous headache as though he'd been clubbed. Then he opened his eyes and realized he was still in the same room. Yusuke was standing by the window.

"Bout time you woke up," Yusuke said, still gazing out at the moon-lit scenery.

"Any sign of anything?" Hiei asked.

"Koenma."

Hiei blinked, surprised. "What?"

"Yeah, I saw Koenma. He and I had a little talk."

The tone of indifference in Yusuke's voice concerned Hiei. He frowned.

"You'd better be telling the truth."

"I am."

Hiei rubbed his temple and stood to his feet. "Well? Why the hell did he stick us in this room, then?"

"He's not exactly the same as he is in the future," Yusuke replied, and told Hiei about his encounter with Koenma.

"Considering the era, I'm not surprised the brat has a vendetta against demons," Hiei said. "Can we get out of here now?"

"I haven't tried. You up for it?"

Hiei's reply was interrupted by a low growl from the darkest corner of the room. They turned to see glowing eyes emerge from the shadows, accompanied by a set of sharp teeth that glistened in the filtered moonlight.

"Indeed," Hiei said, smiling, and drew his sword.

Kagome led Inuyasha through a dense thicket, all the while trying to drown out his mumbling. She couldn't make out what he was saying, and knew she probably didn't want to hear it. He was tired and grouchy, as she was, and neither of them wanted to keep walking, but had to. They couldn't very well stop now that she'd detected a shard. She did feel bad about stopping their search for Yusuke and Hiei, but promised herself she'd apologize to them later.

If they found them alive.

She sighed and continued walking. How long had they been walking now? She looked up at the sky and noticed the moon had gone, and the sky was getting lighter. They had walked all night.

She heard Inuyasha call her name and stopped.

"What?"

"Look, there's a palace up ahead. I can see its towers."

She looked and saw the dark shadows ahead of them through the trees. She could definitely detect the shard in that direction. It was most likely there at that palace. Why did she have a bad feeling about it?

"It could be a trap," she said. "I think we should go find Yusuke and Hiei first and come back with them."

Inuyasha snorted indignantly. "We don't need their help! I'll smash anything that gets in my way. We're getting that shard."

He stomped past her angrily as if to prove his point, and then stopped suddenly. He stood there for a moment, his head raised to the wind, sniffing, and then he sighed.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He turned, a sour look on his face. "They're here, anyway," he muttered.

Kagome smiled, relieved to hear their lost companions were finally found. "Well that solves both of our problems, doesn't it?"

Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and grinned sadistically. "You bet. If I find out they tried to steal the shard from us, you can bet I'll solve our problem. I'll kick both of their asses!"

Kagome frowned. "You think they stole the shard? Inuyasha, I really don't – "

"Kagome, why else would they be here?"

"Well, what if something bad happened to them? How will you feel, then?"

Inuyasha snorted. "They can take care of themselves. They should have kept out of this, anyway."

Kagome gritted her teeth. "Inuyasha, you're such an idiot!" With that, she stormed off. He stared after her, bewildered.

"What?"

Upon arriving at the massive gate, Kagome noticed that the walls looked severely dilapidated and neglected. Peering inside through the cracks, she could see the main courtyard and the buildings within, and it appeared the entire place was deserted. She felt a shiver go up her spine. What if it was another of Naraku's traps?

Inuyasha came up behind her and stared at the gate, clearly coming to the same conclusion. He shifted Botan's weight on his back and a hand reached for the hilt of Tetsusaiga. She glanced at him and he nodded.

"It's probably a trap," he said.

"What about Botan?" Kagome pointed out. The unconscious girl was a dead weight on his back. It would be difficult for him in a fight.

He shrugged. "Don't worry about me."

Inuyasha pulled open the gate and the two of them stepped inside the palace walls. The rest of the estate was in poor shape, and the buildings appeared to be falling apart. Several windows were shattered and there were holes in the roof. Doors had fallen down, some seeming to have been torn down. Plant life had taken over the yard.

There was no one living there. Or so it seemed.

"Can you still feel the shard?" Inuyasha asked.

"Stronger than before," she replied. "It's definitely here." Kagome noticed something moving in the brush. She stopped and stared. Nothing moved.

"Inuyasha, I thought I saw something over there."

"Over where?"

She pointed to the bushes.

"You're imagining things," he muttered.

And then, in a flash, something zipped past her, nearly knocking her over, and was on Inuyasha before either of them realized what was happening. He went down with a yell of surprise, and Botan went sprawling to the ground as well, making a moan of painful protest as she landed on her back. Kagome blinked, still not sure what had just happened.

Inuyasha was pinned by a snarling creature neither of them had ever seen before. It was large, muscular, and reddish-brown. It had sharp teeth and claws, which Inuyasha found himself face-to-face with. Its eyes glowed golden and its tail swished, much like a dog's.

It resembled a dog, Kagome realized. But she had never seen a dog with glowing gold eyes.

"Inuyasha!" she cried.

"Get this thing off me!" he yelled and tried to push himself up, but the monster would not relent. "Dammit its breath stinks!"

Kagome pulled out an arrow and took aim with her bow. The animal didn't seem to even notice she was there, and she had a perfect shot. Luckily it had not injured Inuyasha yet; it seemed to just be holding him there, snarling. Both were snarling, actually. Either way she had to get it off Inuyasha before it decided to swipe at him with those monstrous claws. She fired, and the arrow glowed with pure light as it struck the animal's side.

It howled and crashed to the ground. Inuyasha jumped quickly to his feet and sputtered, "What the hell is that thing?"

"I don't know, but it's getting up!" she cried. Indeed the creature was standing to its feet. As the two of them watched in awe and disbelief, the purifying arrow disappeared before their eyes. Disintegrated. Gone.

"How could it do that?" Kagome breathed. "It nullified my purifying arrow."

"That's because it isn't a demon."

She stared at him. "It's not?"

"No. I don't sense one ounce of demonic energy coming from it. Do you?"

She shook her head. "Now that I have time to think about it, no, I guess I don't. That's odd."

"Does it have a shard?"

"No. Nothing," she replied.

The monster was crouched into attacking position, its glowing eyes focused on the pair. Inuyasha stepped in front of Kagome and withdrew Tetsusaiga.

"Alright, you ugly bastard, let's get it on."

"Inuyasha, be careful," Kagome warned, and dragged Botan off to one side where they would be out of the way. She felt a little confused with herself; as she hadn't even noticed its lack of demonic aura until Inuyasha had mentioned it. Even so, an arrow should have affected it in some way, whether it was a purification arrow or not. It had had no affect whatsoever.

The creature circled Inuyasha, its teeth bared as it growled angrily at him. Inuyasha watched it carefully, poised and ready for when it attacked. For the moment it seemed content to do nothing but watch him. It remained crouched in attack position, and Inuyasha stayed prepared. He wasn't going to let his guard down for this one.

At that moment, Kagome felt the hair on her neck and arms stand up as an enormous amount of energy filled the air. Even the creature stood still, as though waiting, and Kagome's head began to hurt because of the pressure. Inuyasha looked from side to side, his ears twitching.

"What's going on?" he questioned.

Then a wall exploded, hurling chunks of debris towards Inuyasha. He swore, blinking through the dust and saw two shadows running towards him. Momentarily forgetting the creature, he raised his sword in preparation for an attack.

"Get out of the way!" someone yelled, and shoved him aside. He went sprawling in the dust.

Then the dust cleared and Inuyasha found himself looking up at Yusuke. Hiei was behind him, fighting off another one of the creatures. This creature was attacking Hiei full-force, and apparently had already gotten a few hits in judging by Hiei's blood-soaked arm and torso. Yusuke had also been nailed; his left cheek was sporting a nasty gash.

Inuyasha momentarily forgot about the monsters and jumped to his feet, pointing a claw in Yusuke's face.

"What the hell are you doing?" Inuyasha accused. "Where's the shard?"

Yusuke blinked. "What shard?"

Kagome screamed. "Inuyasha, behind you!"

Inuyasha snarled and whirled around to find the first monster leaping at him. He blocked the creature's attack with the sword, barely.

In the time it had taken for Yusuke to knock Inuyasha down, two more creatures had gathered in the palace courtyard. Inuyasha, Yusuke and Hiei found themselves back-to-back, surrounded by four of the mysterious beasts.

"What are they?" Yusuke asked. "My attacks don't work on them."

"The sword also has little effect," Hiei added, his voice sounding strained. "Their wounds heal fast."

Inuyasha snorted. "Let's see if this heals. Wind scar!"

Taking aim at two of the monsters, Inuyasha blasted Tetsusaiga's wind attack with tremendous force. Inuyasha smirked as Hiei and Yusuke watched in awe, but his gloating was short-lived when the monsters flew out of the blinding white light, directly towards them.

"Inuyasha!"