InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Laying Down the Law: Abuna i Dansu ❯ Butoh ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Just a small note today; it's a serious chapter. I should let you guys know that this chapter is very somber and perhaps even an allegory for events that occur in America; I'm not passing political judgment, but maybe reflecting on violent events in our recent history. This chapter will determine the entire future of this series; it's a big deal. Love ya.

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Butoh: a Japanese dance of grotesquerie, embodied by the historical hatred of taboo,

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9191919

There was no sound but the distant buzz of the television. The only light derived from the screen, a light blue which flooded Miroku's bedroom and cast horrible shadows on two blank faces. The motion within the room was limited to the occasional clench of a fist or the desperate grasping of a hand. There were so many thoughts, and yet so few; it was hard to know whether to think or to simply absorb.

Miroku was trying to remember an event in his life that might've been worse than the scene he was witnessing now on his television. His mind, in a tangle, kept drifting back to the death of his mother, then to the war that summer, but none of it even seemed comparable; where those things had only effected a few people, this event was going to impact the entire country, maybe the world.

Sango felt foolish and small as she perched on the edge of the bed in one of Miroku's old dress shirts, legs folded gently beneath her. As she watched the faces passing in frantic blurs across the screen, she thought of her friends and how this would impact their lives. She thought of her mother, her boyfriend, her friends, and she wondered why all of them had to face this when each of them was beautiful to her anyway. She wondered if her dearest companions were now in danger.

"No school."

Sango glanced at Miroku, who had broken their silence for the first time. His violet eyes were half hooded and his lips drawn tight, making him seem twenty years older than his actual age of 18.

"What?"

"No school; look at the bottom of the screen, it says a bunch of schools are out today. It's probably too dangerous for demons right now."

Sango stared blankly down at her lap, wondering if she was going to cry; she wasn't sure if she could muster the tears and simultaneously uncertain that she could stop them. Miroku held her hand tightly as she laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes softly as she wished the television would stop its muted crackling.

"We should call Skull."

9191919

Sesshomaru sat cross-legged on the couch in front of his television, watching the banners as they flashed hotly across the screen. Sesshomaru's gaunt face was placid and of the utmost normality, as though he couldn't even see through his dull amber eyes at all. He looked small there, a skeletal man with a silver braid in sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt; even in the summer he was cold now.

The phone beside him rang abrasively, shattering the silent air he'd so carelessly created. Wondering if this noise would finally wake his brother and sister, Sesshomaru allowed the phone to ring for a few moments before he picked it up in his bony hand.

"Taisho."

"Sesshomaru? It's me."

Looking quite unsurprised, Sesshomaru continued staring at the television as though it held answers to his many questions. "Akago. I suppose you're watching the news."

"Yes. What do you suggest as our course of action?"

The leader was quiet, like a still pond in winter; his pale face reflected the very snow on mountain ground as thoughts began to infiltrate his nimble mind. He finally grew tired of his own indecisiveness and his chaotic thought seemed to pause as he said quietly, "I don't know."

The phone was quiet as Akago mustered up a response. Eventually he murmured, "I was hoping you would know, since I don't. Should we call a meeting? You know this whole incident is going to incite riots all over Kyoto and those will eventually spread here; any human who's ever harbored ideas of human supremacy is going to jump at the chance to cause some damage while the law enforcement is occupied."

"We're a target right now," Sesshomaru replied quietly. "We'll be fodder for angry humans if we get the entire South together, it's too big of a group; we'll have to communicate some other way."

"School's been called off."

"The administration is probably aware that since our school is the most integrated in the city, it's going to be a hot spot for terrorism." A pair of weary footsteps on the stairs caught Sesshomaru's ear. "It sounds like my brother is up; I'll call you when I develop an actual plan."

"Alright; I should wake Gan, at any rate. She'll want to know about this."

Sesshomaru set the phone down gently in its cradle as Inuyasha came up behind the couch, bracing his hands on the back of it as he squinted sleepily at the television. Blinking, he managed to make out the numbers denoting the time in the right hand corner of the screen. "7:45? Didn't we have work this morning?"

"It's too dangerous to go out right now. We don't have school this morning, anyway."

Inuyasha blinked his wide amber eyes, looking confused. "Say what? Why would it be dangerous out?"

"There's been an accident."

Inuyasha allowed his poor dog vision to focus on the television a littler longer, giving in to that natural desire to see something brutal; his eyes were rewarded as several EMT's wheeling a gurney hurried out of an expensive looking lobby, followed by a steady stream of more wounded. The hanyou watched in confusion as the banners along the bottom of the screen began to make sense.

"What happened?" he asked, nonetheless.

Sesshomaru glanced over at his brother as he took a seat beside him on the couch, silver hair still pulled back in a rumpled ponytail as he rubbed his eyes like a small child. The elder brother almost fell bad telling Inuyasha the truth.

"This morning a human with an elephant rifle opened fire on demon businessmen in Madozu Towers in Kyoto. Forty-two dead right now, but the numbers are climbing. The city is in an uproar."

The hanyou seemed unable to compute the news for a moment. Finally he said, "Only demons? He only shot demons?"

"They say he aimed for them. Like he was hunting."

The two brothers sat in silence, watching the blood and flashes of white as the action flurried across the screen in confusing blurs. The television light danced across their faces, Sesshomaru's blank and Inuyasha's painfully stunned; when Shitora crept down the stairs and took a seat between them, they said nothing and only continued to watch the tragedy floating into their living room.

Shitora looked at the screen for an entire minute without blinking; eventually she hesitated a look at her eldest brother, asking quietly, "How many demons died?"

"42. For now."

And together the siblings sat in silence, staring straight ahead at the flashing screen; there was no movement in the Taisho living room, nary even the sound of a breath across the tense air. Only after ten minutes of silence did anyone voice the question.

"Why did he do it?"

9191919

Fennella had been roused at 7:45 by her cousin and hurried down to the ground floor of the Macharyas mansion in a flurry of movement. Her morning had been, in a word, blurry; she could barely remember what had transpired in the past thirty minutes and, frankly, didn't care to. It all involved being shoved into decent clothes by her maids and then passed down to her father's office, whereupon her father had swept her into the backseat of the Macharyas family limousine with nary a word. She'd managed to gather the fringe details of Madozu towers from the cook before she was whisked away on a mysterious journey.

Fenn turned to look at her father, who was staring straight ahead like a figurine. Raion was an enormous man, well past 6 feet and often mistaken for a professional football player. His hair was long, thick and golden red, just like his wife's had been; Raion's yellow cat eyes caught every detail of his surroundings without fail.

Bored by the silence, Fennella began staring out the limousine's back window, fingers tapping distantly on the sill as she readjusted her legs; after a few minutes of nervousness, she decided to sit Indian style to keep her body still. She'd given up drilling her father for answers, seeing as though Raion Macharyas didn't say anything incriminating until he'd decided to, and was now trying to work over the events of the morning in her mind. Madozu towers; who would've thought?

"Your brother's flight is arriving in thirty minutes. Fennella, please be discreet in the airport; we're trying not to draw too much attention to ourselves during this time of...prejudice."

Fennella wrenched her head around, green eyes wide and hopeful. "Ly? Lysander is coming home?"

"Yes. Your brother is no longer, in my estimation, safe in Kyoto," Raion continued, glancing down at his magnificent claws. "He's been away at this ridiculous art institute long enough, in any case. It's time he buckled down on his studies."

Fennella barely heard her father's mumblings, as she'd begun to bounce excitedly in her seat. When she let out a happy laugh, Raion smiled despite himself; Fennella hadn't seen her twin since last April, he remembered. It stood to reason that she would be excited about his homecoming...yet Raion was afraid his son's arrival might spark a few questions in his daughter's mind. Questions which Raion was not ready to answer.

"Ran's gonna be excited," Fennella chirped, looking as though she could positively glow. "He and Ly talk on the phone sometimes, but I bet they miss each other."

"Ah yes," Raion said wryly, rolling his feline eyes. "Ranbou Ookami will now be frequenting my house again. Maybe I'll just send your brother somewhere else...like Zanzibar."

Fennella laughed. "Do you remember some of the crazy shit they used to do? Like when they put a cherry bomb in the pool?"

Raion sniffed in reply, "I'd rather not think about it; I can only hope they've both grown up enough that my pool will remain intact."

Despite this comment, Fennella only continued to smile and looked brightly out the window, observing the passing cityscape with a new pair of eyes. Raion sighed but smiled as well, shaking his great orange head slowly; perhaps he should've brought Lysander home earlier, yet he hadn't known exactly what to do with his son. Not after the death of his wife.

Narita Airport was, as Raion had expected, packed; demons were taking frantic flights out of Kyoto before the airports could shut down, which he expected them to do in the next hour. Fennella watched the people spilling over the sidewalks and yelling across the crowds, trying to bust their way inside to meet friends and relatives as they entered from the gates. The limousine moved slowly through the mob, it's thick windows and walls only dulling the great noise ever so slightly; Raion watched the goings on with a sophisticated gaze, keeping one eye on Fennella at all times.

The driver pulled the long car around the fence towards the private air strip, where the crowd was significantly smaller; a few well dressed businessmen were lingering near a sparkling black Jaguar, obviously awaiting the arrival of their fearsome leader. When the limousine parked and Raion stepped out into the September sun, the men immediately hurried towards him, whispering new information in hushed voices.

Fennella stepped out as well, brushing off her simple black skirt before shielding her eyes out on the horizon. The airport smelled of gasoline and tar, the sound of motors thick on the air; she could barely tell one thing from the other, nevertheless see against the bright morning sun.

One of her father's workers, a relatively young man with broad shoulders, approached her in his strict black suit. "Miss Macharyas," he greeted formally.

"Rocky," she replied, smiling in an over bright manner; since the day she'd met this young man, she'd tried to embarrass him with her cheerfulness. Most of the time, it worked.

"Your father sent me to tell you to tuck in your blouse," Rocky barked; he was, in every way, a soldier.

Fennella stared down at her silken white shirt tails, shrugging boredly. "Why?"

"Because he said so."

"Did he tell you to say 'because he said so'?"

"He told me not to answer that."

Fennella rolled her eyes and tucked in her shirt tails with an exasperated out stream of air. Fennella's red curls swung slightly in the wind, falling over her eyes every few wind bursts and causing her minor discomfort; now that she knew her brother was coming, she couldn't seem to keep herself still.

"Fennella." Raion approached with his usual stiffness, hands clasped behind his back. "There is no school today but I have business and don't want you and your brother alone in the house. I'll be dropping you off at the Ookami house; tell Kibishii thank you for me."

Fennella raised her eyebrows. "I thought Mr. Ookami was never home anymore with the mafia and stuff."

"Well, that won't be the case for long; he's getting out, I hear," Raion replied; his eyes had yet to leave the horizon.

"I thought you couldn't really just get out like that."

"With connections like Kibishii's, anything's possible. There's your brother's plane."

Fennella followed her father's eyes, watching as a small jet plane began descending to taxi on the runway. It came in low and fast, taking a flawless landing on the strip and kicking up a whole manner of things as it sped along the concrete; as the white plane began to slow, one could make out the word "Macharyas" written on the fin. The roar of the engines caused Fennella to cover her sensitive demon ears, though her father looked unperturbed. The propellers began to slow and eventually came to a stop, leaving a surprising vacuum of sound in their wake. Fennella watched as the jet door opened and the pilot stepped out, waving his hand to Raion, who waved in return. Following at the pilots heels was the one and only Lysander Macharyas.

Lysander stepped into the full sunlight and grinned in a typical Macharyas fashion, fangs gleaming rather eerily. It was strange to watch him for, indeed, he and Fennella were nearly identical. Their faces were like carbon copies of each other, if not for the square quality of Lysander's chin and the stubble on his jaw. Lysander's red hair swept against his shoulders in thick tufts, giving him an unkempt but handsome appeal; he had little of his father's seriousness, after all. Fennella could see that her brother had finally become a man in body as well as mind; his shoulders were the typical Macharyas broad length and his arms were like two great barrels, quite like Raion's.

In the way he carried himself, Lysander was simply kind and generous; he loved all things and wanted nothing but to do good amongst evil men. Ranbou had once said of his lifelong best friend, "Ly could make nice with a rock if you gave him five minutes." Fennella watched her brother with a sort of envy in his ripped jeans and wife beater, neck littered with an assortment of shell and claw necklaces. He was a healthy tan, whereas she was about to enter the pale Tokyo winter season. Smirking lopsidedly, Fennella realized that their time apart might've changed their dynamic.

"Hey, imouto! Just as pretty as when I left!" Lysander exclaimed, voice deep and gravelly; it was strange to see the sound exiting through Lysander's mouth.

Fennella smiled and jogged towards her brother, laughing as he wrapped her in a tight hug and growled, lifting her feet off the ground. Raion watched his reunited children from a distance, smiling faintly.

"He's changed even from the summer," Rocky murmured to his master.

Raion nodded, cat eyes narrowed in thought. "It's like looking at my wife...twice over."

"Yes sir," Rocky said; he couldn't think of anything else to say.

Fennella had yet to let go of Lysander, who was beginning to understand that her prolonged hug might mean more than he'd first reckoned. "Everything okay, cub?"

"I'm not a cub anymore," Fennella mumbled into Lysander's shoulder, shutting her eyes tightly. "I'm just glad your home."

"Me too," Lysander replied, grinning in his boyish way. "Music school was great, but I just want to get back to work."

Fennella removed her face from her brother's chest, looking up at him with glassy green eyes. "Are you gonna...get back in?"

"Like I could say no to Ran. You know he's gonna give me that face and then I'm just gonna get guilty..." Lysander trailed off, trying to look irritated but smiling anyway.

"Yeah, well...they need you. Some stuff went down this summer and I hear Ranbou is out killing every night to clean up after this mess," Fennella said seriously, grabbing one of her brother's bags as they began walking back towards the limousine.

Lysander frowned but said nothing. As they approached the car, Raion nodded to his son, who nodded cheerily in return; there was no hugging involved, as Raion Macharyas didn't hug, but it was all understood. Rocky took Lysander's things with a gruff nod and loaded them in the trunk before the driver was given the nod and the car pulled out towards the Macharyas mansion.

The car ride was silent, Fennella and Lysander sitting close together across from their father, before Raion said in a business-like manner, "Lysander, as I told your sister, my associates and I have some business to take care of this morning and most likely all afternoon. Therefore, with the maids given the day off to tend to their families, you would be alone in the house and I don't want that right now. I'll be dropping you at the Ookami house and you'll spend the day with Kibishii and the kids. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," Lysander said, already smiling again; it looked as though he'd be seeing Ranbou sooner than he'd thought.

The streets were eerily deserted, save the numerous policemen patrolling the sidewalks and alleys. Raion simply sat reading the Economist as Fenn and Lysander stared out the windows, trying to make out the goings on even though there were none. The ride from the airport to the Ookami house was short and silent, leaving the twins with bitter tastes in their mouth as they stepped out of the limousine onto the scrubby curb.

"Be respectful," Raion said shortly before nodding for Lysander to close the door. The boy did so and the limousine crept away, tires barely marring the silence as they crawled across the gravel and out of sight.

Fenn let out a sigh of relief and Lysander smiled; their father made both of them distinctly uncomfortable for obvious reasons. The twins walked up the sidewalk, noting the freshly cut lawn as they climbed onto the porch; Lysander gave the door a short knock and it opened to reveal Kibishii.

The huge man leaned against the door frame, rubbing his crimson eyes as though he'd just woken up; he was still dressed in only sweatpants, so this might not have been far from the truth. Kibishii blinked momentarily, running a hand through his black locks, before he finally registered the sight before him.

"Come on in, guys. How ya doin' Ly?"

Lysander gave the older man a happy sort of hug, leaving Kibishii pleasantly surprised as he clapped the boy on the back. "Kibi! How are you?"

"Eh, can't complain. Just got home last night and I don't know what to do with myself," the wolf demon replied.

"Oh," Fenn said, nodding understandingly. "Because you don't have work to do?"

"Guess Raion told on me, eh?" Kibishii said gruffly, ushering the twins inside and shutting the door behind them. "Yeah, no work. Can't say I ain't happy, but Jesus I'm bored."

The Ookami house always smelled of steak and cigarettes, a smell which made demons feel strangely at home. Fenn relaxed visibly for the first time that day, untucking her white silk shirt and slipping off her patent high heels. Lysander watched in amazement as his sister became two inches shorter.

"Guess you aren't as tall as I thought," he mused, cocking his red head to the side.

Fenn gave him a light smack to the shoulder as she looked around the Spartan living room; the television was giving the room an eerie white glow, still blaring the news of Madozu. "Where're the guys?"

"Haven't gotten 'em up yet; I figured with no school they'd wanna sleep," Kibi replied, walking boredly into the kitchen and taking a drink straight from the milk carton. "You guys want breakfast?"

"No thanks," the twins said in unison. They exchanged glances, realizing that their tandem mentality hadn't totally disappeared during their time apart.

"You know, I bet Ran would wanna know about this whole Madozu thing," Lysander mentioned, rubbing the back of his neck.

Kibi shrugged as he said down on the couch, obviously still half asleep. "Sure, go wake 'im up; he hits, be careful."

After exchanging a glance with Fennella, Lysander moved slowly towards the once familiar room in the right hand corner. The door was just as he remembered it, slightly splintered along the bottom and scratched from one of Ranbou's wayward claw swipes during a roughhousing session many years ago. Inside, it smelled almost exactly the same yet with a hint of spice from cigarettes, a habit both boys had picked up at age 14 and never quite done away with. There was little or no light inside, as the shades had been drawn on the only window, but Lysander could still make out his friends naked back, laying stretched out across the bed in the corner.

Ranbou was laying on his stomach, face turned towards the door so that Lysander could see the peacefulness there. The boy's normally rigid-with-attitude face was calm and still as he breathed in and out slowly in his sleep. Lysander smiled and took a seat on the edge of the bed, shaking Ranbou's shoulder without looking down.

"Wake up, Ran."

Ranbou let out a whimper of pain and tried to shift away from Lysander's hand; the redhead frowned and glanced down at the shoulder he'd just shaken, noticing for the first time that the flesh was twisted and red raw. It looked to be a fairly recent wound that was likewise overworked, though Lysander couldn't be sure. As he turned to give Ranbou another word of waking, the lion caught sight of a misplaced picture on Ranbou's dresser; it was a picture of Shitora Taisho, eyes unfocused and face placid. She had obviously been photographed unawares, but it made her look all the more beautiful. Lysander furrowed his brow; why would Ranbou had a picture of Shitora, his most hated enemy, on his dresser?

"Ranbou, it's me, Lysander; come on, buddy," he tried again, nonetheless.

Ranbou opened his eyes a crack, dimly aware of someone's nearby presence. His ice blue eyes focused in on the face hovering above him, a face which was distantly familiar but seemed strange as he lay there.

"Huh?"

"It's me, man, for real. I just got in this morning."

Ranbou rubbed his eyes and blinked, this time sitting up until he was staring eye to eye with the one person who knew him better than anyone else. "Ly?"

The lion grinned toothily, emerald eyes sparkling in a way which could only mean happiness. "Forever and today, dude."

A wide smile gradually spread across Ranbou's face before he laughed in sheer surprise and grabbed his longtime best friend in a manly hug; Lysander responded immediately, clapping the wolf on the back.

"What are you doin' here?" Ranbou asked, still grinning.

Drawing away from his friend's arms, Lysander replied blithely, "Eh, Dad had me pick up and leave on account of some stuff that happened this morning; looks like I'm back to stay, too."

"That's great!" Ranbou exclaimed. When Lysander didn't agree and only looked uncomfortably down at the comforter, Ranbou's smile dissolved. "Right? Or do you still wanna go to school over there?"

"Naw, it's not that," Lysander finally replied, fiddling with a tear in the sheets before he looked soberly up at his friend. "It's just...I didn't come home just cause I felt like it. There was...an accident this morning in Kyoto. Like, some really bad stuff."

Ranbou was quiet, searching Lysander's face for answers; the lines around the redhead's forehead and brow were enough to make the wolf nervous, as it was rare for Lysander to ever stop smiling. "What's goin' on, Ly? Was it like...a crash? Are Kina and Koto okay? Or...was it somethin' else?"

"Not a crash," Lysander replied, shaking his head sadly. "More like...an attack."

Ranbou sat quietly, staring at his friend. Lysander and Ranbou didn't look away for several minutes, Lysander because he didn't want to tell and Ranbou because he didn't want to hear. And it was this way for a long time, the two staring in silence, the only sound being the distant buzz of the television in the living room.

9191919

"42?" Kouga asked incredulously.

"43 now," Kibi replied, shaking his head as he stood and made his way towards the kitchen. "Look."

Kouga turned to watch the screen. While her boyfriend's eyes remained trained on the television, taking in every detail hungrily, Ayame couldn't help but stare glumly down at the floor; she simply couldn't watch anymore. It all seemed inappropriate to her, that she should wake up one morning and, without any pomp and circumstance, sit in front of her television and witness the end of an era. It was obvious to those in the room that their perfect world was going to change; coexistence seemed so far away as they sat there, watching the blurry colors flashing across the television, minds blank as they wondered what would happen next. Ayame became vaguely aware of Kouga's hand gripping hers, but she could barely even feel anymore; why did people hate them?

Ranbou and Lysander came walking into the living room, looking less like two friends reunited and more like the members of a funeral parade. Lysander smiled at Ayame and Kouga, who both mustered smiles and waved in return; in the end, this was all the hello he needed in a time such as this.

Ranbou could only stand still for a moment before his legs grew restless and he was off towards the kitchen with his cell phone in his hand. Lysander glanced over his shoulder as his best friend pressed the first number on his speed dial.

"Who you callin', bud?"

"Sukini," the wolf responded dully, turning his back as he meandered slowly around the kitchen.

Lysander raised his eyebrows at the familiar nickname, one which he'd heard everyday of his young life. Fennella saw her brother's confusion and beckoned to him with her index finger, looking rather conspiratorial. Lysander sat beside his sister, eyebrow raised.

"Since when does he call Shitora Taisho?" he whispered, obviously confused.

Fennella sorted derisively, rolling her forest green eyes to the ceiling. "Since they started dating in, like, July."

"What?" Lysander asked, eyes innocently wide and mouth slightly agape.

"Yeah; Kijo said they got together at Race Wars and nobody knows exactly how it happened. Pretty suspish," Fennella reported with a naughty smile, obviously pleased by her own gossip; she was just beginning to realize that her hopeless brother would need an education on every juicy happening since his departure three years previously.

Lysander was about to express his surprise when his facial expression seemed to freeze. "I'm sorry, what was that last word?"

"Suspish."

"What is that exactly?"

Fennella snorted. "An abreev for suspicious, duh."

"An abreev?" Lysander asked obliviously.

"Abbreviation, doofus. Everybody uses abreevs now."

"Oh. Okay...awess?"

"What's that?"

"An abreev for awesome...I guess?"

Fennella mulled over this for a moment, rolling the word around in her mouth, before she finally said, "I like it. So yeah, awess."

"Fennella, maybe a little seriousness please?" came Ayame's gently chiding voice from the adjacent couch. "There's just been a mass killing of your own kind and you're acting like you don't even care."

Fenn turned to face her leader, blushing as she felt the weight of this chastening descend upon her head. "Sorry, Kijo," she murmured respectfully, bowing her head slightly and drawing her lips together. Lysander narrowed his eyes, feeling miffed on his sister's behalf, though he said nothing.

Kouga glanced at Ayame, noticing her stern tone; his girlfriend's lips were drawn in a tight line and were quickly losing their color. Ayame had always reacted violently to tragedy and this was just another example of her grieving; normally, she would never take such a tone with her core members, especially over something so harmless.

Sesshomaru, meanwhile, was sitting in his family's kitchen sipping a cup of coffee as the radio talked quietly in the corner. When the phone rang, he barely looked up from his reading to answer; the sound had become rather common place in the past hour.

"Taisho Residence."

"Hey, Shomo, it's me."

Sesshomaru allowed the coffee to slide down his throat, soothing it with steam. "Ranbou. I trust you've been listening to the news."

"Who isn't watchin' the news? But hey, listen, Lysander's back in town. For good."

Sesshomaru's silver eyebrows rose delicately, making his gaunt face look handsomely surprised. "Oh? On what occasion?"

"His dad, you know. He wasn't gonna keep him up in Kyoto while all this was goin' on."

"Well, this is good for you," Sesshomaru mentioned. "You need help with work; you've been overworking yourself."

Though Sesshomaru couldn't see, Ranbou blushed in embarrassment. "Whatever, man, I'm a big boy; I can handle it."

"I'm sure."

At that moment, Shitora came waltzing into the kitchen, still dressed in her pajamas and looking pleasantly relaxed. While Madozu towers was wearing on everyone's minds, the Taishos were a resilient lot and rather impervious to emotional damage. Sesshomaru, Inuyasha and Shitora had all begun to move about their daily lives as though nothing were amiss and it was simply the Taisho way.

Sesshomaru's face bore the hint of a smirk as he murmured, "I know you didn't call for me, Ranbou; here's my sister."

Shitora glanced up at her boyfriend's name and smiled slightly as she took the cordless phone, heading to the counter to make some toast. "Hey, Bo. How about this crazy shit, huh?"

"Tell me about it, baby girl. That human guy must've been one screwed up motherfucker."

"I mean, like, 42 people. What did he have against 42 random demons he never even met?"

Ranbou winced slightly. "43 now, kid. They keep finding more."

Shitora didn't respond for a moment, as though the information struck her. "Oh," she said finally. Sesshomaru studied his sister as she spread peanut butter on her toast, phone cradled against her shoulder. "Well, we turned off the TV because it was pissing everybody off."

"I know what you mean. By the way, guess who's takin' up space on my couch with his ass, which got fat while he was away at art school?"

Shitora furrowed her brow. "You don't mean Ly, do you?"

"Yep. His dad brought him back cause of the towers; looks like he's here to stay."

"No way! Put him on!" Shitora said excitedly; despite the fact that Lysander had always been Ranbou's best friend, Shitora and he had enjoyed a friendly relationship in their childhood. No matter where his loyalties lay, it was hard to dislike Lysander.

"Oh, I know where all your lovin's goin', Sukini," Ranbou joked, grinning broadly. He began walking towards the living room towards Lysander, who was listening to the conversation with interest.

"Yep, you know me; my affections are wavering," Shitora joked in reply.

Lysander took the phone as Ranbou held it out to him, smiling at his best friend just long enough to raise his eyebrows in disbelief. "Hello?"

"Ly! It's Shitora!"

"Hey kid, what's up?" the boy asked in his carefree tone. "I hear you're going out with this mess over here."

Ranbou feigned an offended face and crossed his arms in a huff, though Shitora only laughed. "Yeah, don't even ask; it's a long story."

"I bet; it started when we were what, five?" Lysander replied cheekily.

Shitora made a small sound of derision. "We weren't that little, Ly. Anyway, how was school?"

"Eh, you know Fine Arts school, it was...artsy."

"What did you study?"

"Eh, everything once and a while, mostly voice and guitar." It was as Lysander said this that he caught a rather disgusted glance from Ayame across the room; apparently she didn't approve of such frivolous conversation in a time of crisis. "Uh, Tora? Let's catch up soon, maybe not now, but soon. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay; I don't feel very talkative anyway," Shitora admitted. "Bye, Ly. See you soon."

"Yeah, Bye," Lysander said, trying to keep his voice chipper; it was rather out of place to hear Shitora sound so defeated. As he handed the phone back to Ranbou, looking slightly disheartened, the wolf offered his best friend a wide smile. Soon enough, Lysander found himself smiling too; that's why they were best friends, after all.

"So, you doin' alright?" Ranbou asked conversationally, moving into the kitchen and away from prying ears.

In the Taisho kitchen, Shitora's grip on the phone tightened visibly and Sesshomaru glanced up from the paper; finally, Shitora bit out, "Fine. I'm doing fine...it just freaked me out a little. You don't think..."

When she trailed off, apparently unable to continue, Ranbou prompted carefully, "I don't think...what?"

"That...that people might...try to hurt us? I dunno...like a coup or something?"

Shitora's voice sounded so small, so afraid, that Ranbou felt his confidence wavering. "A coup? Don't even worry baby girl, like hell they will."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, pup," Kibishii murmured under his breath as he came wandering into the kitchen, grabbing a beer bottle from the refrigerator.

"Shut yer face, old man," Ranbou replied hotly.

Shitora was silent for a moment, gripping the phone. "Oh, you're dad is home?"

"Yeah...where's yours?"

"Huh. Wish I knew."

Ranbou had run out of things to say because his mind had likewise left the conversation; in his head, he'd created a picture of Shitora standing in her kitchen, twisting the cord around her finger as her sad amber eyes strayed, unfocused, out the window. Even in his thoughts, she looked distraught and frail.

"Do you wanna...come over? Or do you want me to come there?"

In the Taisho kitchen, Shitora paused in her nervous dance. "Wh...why?"

"I dunno, you sound like you need a friend. Or something," Ranbou replied easily, wondering if he'd accidentally performed one of his many boyfriend faux-pas' just now.

After a nerve-wracking silence, Shitora mumbled, "Yeah, I guess I could. I'll come to your place, is that okay?"

"S'fine with me; the house is kinda full, but I guess that's nice right now. You can see Ly, in any case," Ranbou mentioned, trying to conceal his relief that she was finally coming; his demon instincts were screaming to be near his loved one in a time of danger.

Shitora breathed in a deep sigh, sucking the cold in through her fangs and trying to bring life to her lips; they'd become practically dead to feeling from so much frowning. "I'll be there in five minutes."

"Okay. I'll be waiting."

"Hey Ran?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Ranbou frowned to himself; he knew this, of course, but Shitora only said it when times were incredibly bad. It simply wasn't her way to express a deep emotion until it might never get a chance for expression again, though this didn't bother him. The thing that bothered him was that Shitora was worried enough to profess it.

"I love you too, baby girl."

Shitora smiled weakly and hung up the phone, closing her eyes and listening to the sound of larks twittering in the backyard. Strange to think that the dead from Madozu would never hear that sound again.

The Taisho daughter turned to find Sesshomaru peering quizzically at her over his spectacles, looking rather like a concerned librarian. "Are you insinuating that you're going to drive to the Ookamis'?"

Feeling rather affronted by her brother's stiff tone, Shitora replied defensively, "It's not like I'll get hit with a terrorist pipe bomb on the way."

"Don't joke about things like that Shitora and, yes, you very well could be. I don't want you driving, I'll take you," Sesshomaru argued, shaking his silver head.

Shitora frowned. "Why? What could you possibly do driving that I couldn't do?"

"I would just feel better driving you, you don't know what people could be thinking right now."

This only caused the hanyou girl to begin walking rather stiffly towards the key rack, whereupon she grabbed her car keys angrily. "I'm going, whatever Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru stood and removed his glasses, saying sternly, "Shitora, stop right there; I'm driving you and that's final."

"Who says?" Shitora replied haughtily, eyes becoming rather orange.

Sesshomaru replied levelly, "I say and I'm in charge right now, so I'm driving and that's final."

"Like hell!"

"Shitora, just stop arguing and do as I sa-"

"You're not my fucking dad Sesshomaru! You can't even take care of yourself so who are you to take care of me?!" Shitora screamed, cheeks reddening as her fists clenched into small balls at her narrow hipline.

Sesshomaru's eyes widened and he reeled backwards as though he'd been hit. Shitora felt a flinch in her heart, the one reminding her ever so gently that she'd just said something terrible. Her brother recovered too quickly for her to make an apology, retaking his seat as his mouth dissolved into an unintelligible line of unintelligible demeanor.

Shitora bit her lip and glanced down at her feet as the anger faded. She said quietly, "I mean, you can take me if you want..."

"You're absolutely right; it's not my place to take care of you anymore. After all, you're sixteen. You don't need me like you used to," Sesshomaru replied, replacing his glasses on the bridge of his nose as he whipped the paper back in front of his face.

Shitora closed her eyes tightly, wondering what had possessed her to mention Sesshomaru's sickness in that moment; she had yet to ask him about his new eating tendencies because she didn't want to hear the answer. What if she couldn't help him, couldn't fix it? Sesshomaru and Inuyasha had taken care of her during their young lives and well into their older ones. It broke Shitora's heart to think that she wouldn't be able to help them in return when the time came. And that time was now. And she couldn't help. It was one of her worst fears come to life.

"I...I'll be going then. And...remind Inuyasha that Kaede left medicine for Kagome on the sink. Tell her not to move too much, okay?" Shitora whispered, saying needless things just to fill the silence between them.

Sesshomaru replied in a dull monotone, "I will."

After staring at her brother and the paper in front of his face for a few more moments, Shitora practically ran from the kitchen, the door slamming behind her. She couldn't bare to stand there in a room full of her own mistakes. Once again, Shitora found herself running from her wrong doings. Even with the guilt, she continued to commit them time and time again. And it would never stop. She knew it would never stop.

*!*!*!*

Kagome would always remember the look on Inuyasha's face when he awoke her on that morning. There were curious lines around his mouth and eyes, as though the early shadows were hitting him in just the right places to make him seem old and tired. The amber there was barely yellow, barely even orange; the color was barely discernable at all. His mouth was turned down at the corners, though not dramatically enough to be considered a frown; it was only classifiable as a face of a no expression. The orchestration of his features was difficult to decode, yet Kagome knew that something unkind was going on around her.

The aching in her back was annoying, persistent, and much like the effects of a nasty bout of flu on a weak body. Kagome winced and lay perfectly still in Inuyasha's bed, surrounded by the scent of him as he looked caringly down upon her, brushing the hair out of her face with his tan, calloused hand. The worries she'd carried the night before about staying in his bed seemed so far away; she'd fallen asleep as he carried her up the stairs and had only woken up once that night. Inuyasha had placed her on her right side and then placed a pillow against her back; he then laid on the other side of the pillow with his arm stretching out over Kagome's stomach, rubbing it in soothing circles. This had kept her more comfortable than any night she remembered.

Kagome couldn't help but smiling as she reached up her hand, cupping Inuyasha's cheek. "Good morning," she murmured, brown eyes warm and sparkling.

Inuyasha covered her hand with his, closing his eyes and savoring her closeness; he didn't want to wipe the smile off her face, especially when she seemed so happy after her terrible ordeal. He took a deep breath, upsetting the white bangs on his forehead; Kagome could sense his despair and he knew it. She was simply waiting for him to talk.

"Something bad's happened," he began, barely knowing how to start.

"To whom?" Kagome asked quietly, thinking of her friends and family first and foremost.

"To some businessmen you don't know. Didn't know." Inuyasha paused before starting up again. "A crazy human guy opened fire in the lobby of the Madozu Towers...killed 43 demons. Demons. Demons only."

Kagome closed he eyes and her smile faded, leaving a simple line in its place. Kagome stared at her eyelids, unable to release her focus, and thought of far away plains and skies where she knew no one. The thought of pain hurt her. Not just her pain, that is, but everyone's pain; she cared for every living thing. For a moment, she wondered if she could will this world away and make a new one with just her heart, thought she knew that was impossible.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," she said slowly, every word perfect and honest; her voice was so delicate and downcast that Inuyasha felt tears coming to his eyes for a strange reason. The fact that Kagome, the girl whom he loved, would feel so much hurt for his people made him want to weep.

"Is the city okay?" she asked after a moment; Kagome was no stranger to disaster and she knew well that every catastrophe was closely followed by a few more. In truth, she was thinking of her family.

Inuyasha shrugged, shaking his head sadly. "We don't know; the towers were the only place physically affected, but Shomo says he thinks it'll start riots. I heard him and Akago talking about it on the phone this morning."

This only caused Kagome's stomach to sink; Akago and Sesshomaru were always right and she had no doubt that their suspicions in this instance, as well, were true.

She and Inuyasha sat still as their minds wandered to and fro, troubled and cold. Finally, Inuyasha gave up on his tired body and lay down beside his love. Kagome turned and nuzzled her head into Inuyasha's bare shoulder, draping her arm across his chest. The contrast of pale skin and tan was startling and beautiful, like cream on coffee or clouds on sky; Inuyasha, in turn, closed his eyes once more and wrapped his arm around Kagome's thin shoulders, trying to draw her closer than he ever truly could.

*!*!*!*

The Taishos were not the only ones to have turned off their television. The Shark house was rather quiet that morning as the men sat around in their sleep attire, reading the newspaper and speaking in hushed tones. Akago had, after his conversation with Sesshomaru, woken Gan and then excused himself to the deck where he was currently working on his sixth cigarette. The other Sharks residing in the house had risen to find the television blaring the news of Madozu and their leader standing astride on the balcony; the boys had sat around the glowing box for nearly thirty minutes before one of them rose and switched it off, shaking his head dully. The television had yet to be turned on again.

Gan had decided to use this unfortunate day off to get ahead on Kayo's French homework, yet her mind was focused on many other things. As she sat cross-legged on the divan in the living room, staring blankly down at Les Faux-Monnayeurs, she couldn't help but allow her vision to stray out the window; Akago was leaning on the banister, staring out at calm seas as smoke rose in a telling trail above him. She knew the events of the morning were bothering him, yet she knew not how to assuage his pain; she was, after all, human, and Madozu meant less to her than it did to him. Gan cared about the death and carnage, about the loss of the families involved, but she would never understand a personal attack on her entire race. Humans, after all, were always the attackers.

"Gan-dono, would you like something to eat?"

Gan turned to regard the Shark who had spoken, an electricity-demon by the given name of Konomi. The demon was now looking at her through with burning orange eyes, framed by locks of thin black hair; it was for these looks alone that the boys had began to call him "Halloween." Halloween served as part of Akago's core and house cook, having lived under the tutelage of an Italian chef for many years of his youth. Though Gan wasn't sure about the details surrounding Halloween' s upbringing, he was always cheerful and ready to make anyone a hearty meal.

Gan sighed and rubbed her eyes blinking down at the page before her; the words were rather blurry. "I don't know, I'm not very hungry."

The tall demon paused for a moment before moving out of the kitchen, taking a bold seat beside his golden-haired leader. Gan barely even noticed him as she continued to stare down at her work; for whatever reason, Halloween was much like a large child and often sought close physical contact with others. The Sharks were generally used to patting him on the shoulder or giving him brotherly hugs. It was like a group project to care for and look after Halloween, almost in thanks for his cooking. As part of Akago's core, his job was quite different. When need be, Halloween could become quite violent.

Gan thought less of Halloween and more of her homework, though it was difficult to concentrate while constantly blinking her violet eyes and squinting at the words.

"Confound it," she whispered irritatedly, shaking her head.

Halloween furrowed his brow. "Gan-dono, are you having trouble seeing?" His voice was deep, almost like a foghorn.

Gan furrowed her brow, looking down at the words for the umpteenth time; they were still dodging in and out of focus. "Of course not," she said, nonetheless.

"Maybe you need glasses," Halloween suggested, shrugging his pale shoulders.

This provoked a snort from Gan. "Oh yes, with my non-existent health insurance, I'll waltz into the nearest Optometrist with my non-existent prescription and my non-existent money and ask for some glasses. That will go over well."

Halloween watched his leader continue to struggle, cocking his head to the side; some of the black hair has escaped his ponytail and he looked much like a curious puppy.

"Toumoku uses reading glasses; maybe you could borrow his," the boy pointed out, smiling helpfully.

"No, no, I'll be fine Halloween," Gan protested, waving off the suggestion dismissively as she continued to squint and shake her head. After a moment's silence, during which Gan found herself unable to make out more than two words of Les Faux-Monnayeurs, she set down the book rather angrily and muttered, "Fine, I'll go get some bloody glasses."

Halloween rose and waved cheerfully at Gan's retreating back, declaring, "And I'll make you some breakfast anyway!"

Gan walked through one of the white linen curtain-ways onto the deck, turning her head slightly as a particularly aggressive burst of salty sea air hit her full on. Akago was still leaning against the banister, eyes lazing on the distant horizon; he looked morose and, dare Gan think it, sad. Those normally playful crimson eyes were dozy and defeated, as was the slump of his shoulders. He was still wearing his sweatpants and white wife beater from the previous night, his snow-white hair constricted in a low ponytail. Everything about him was abnormal; the Akago who woke every morning at five and dressed immediately, who greeted his men cheerfully and offered Gan a smile, was currently distracted by heartbreak.

Gan felt immediately bad for approaching him and was just turning to leave when his soothing voice stopped her.

"No need to leave, Gan; I'm not unreachable just yet."

The girl drew in a breath and paused; "yet?" Gan hoped this wasn't an indication that he was planning on becoming unreachable sometimes in the near future. Twisting her fingers awkwardly together, Gan began walking slowly towards her leader and friend. Another ocean breeze upset both their hair as she allowed her right hand to fall delicately on the wooden banister's edge.

"I'm sorry to intrude, Akago," she said respectfully, violet eyes downcast.

Akago surprised her by turning with a smile on his face, crimson eyes still slightly warm if not for their sadness. "You're never intruding Gan, please."

It was in that moment, as she observed that smile and drank in the sight of Akago's handsome face, that Gan the Gun began to feel the strangest warmth around her cheeks. She began to realize soon, however, that this was the phenomenon known as "blushing." If Akago noticed, he said nothing; the only indication of his noticing lay in the twinkle in his eye.

"Thanks," Gan mumbled, looking quite awkward. When the moment had passed, she looked up from her shoes and asked carefully, "If you're using them I understand, but I was wondering if I might be able to borrow your reading glasses."

Akago furrowed his brow and the corners of his mouth began to dip. "Oh? Whatever for, Gan?"

"Well, I was having trouble...have been having trouble reading for several weeks now; the words keep getting all blurry. And then Halloween insinuated that I might need glasses so...here I am begging you for yours," Gan explained, rolling her eyes and using her typically-Gan hand gestures.

Akago's frown deepened. "Blurry? Do you need to go to an optometrist?"

"No!" Gan exclaimed, much sharper than she meant. Upon seeing the confused look in Akago's eyes, she sighed and closed her eyes, counting to five as she'd taught herself many years ago. "No," she repeated, quietly this time. "I don't have the means by which an optometrist would treat me. Money, insurance, none of that."

Akago sighed and turned to look at the sea, seemingly to think of options for this trouble. Eventually, he reached into his pajama pocket and produced a set of black-rimmed spectacles. He handed them to Gan, who received them and looked them over curiously before placing them on her face. Akago smiled; they made her look as severe as her spirit seemed.

"Those will do for now; I suppose you could go to the school nurse...when we return," he stated, trailing off when he unintentionally reminded himself of the disasters outside his house.

Gan bit her lip and then turned to rest her own arms on the banister, folding them placidly as she observed the blithely twittering sea birds dancing near the surface of the glassy waves. She could do very little to help Akago and she knew this well; it was the uselessness that really made her angry.

"What do you think was going through that man's mind when he walked inside?" Akago asked airily, sounding so concentrated yet so far away.

Gan shrugged, a motion which upset her golden waterfall of hair. "Probably self-righteous thoughts that would make us all ill. Or maybe...maybe thoughts we could never understand because he was mad. Madness is confusing...and so is all of this."

The quality of the girl's voice was morose and nearly sarcastic, though everything Gan said sounded something like this. Akago glanced sideways at Gan, who was becoming too thin for his taste. Maybe she was always that thin but you never noticed in those clothes she wore, he chastised himself lightly. You didn't notice a lot of things, Akago...and in the end it cost you. Now, you've come to like you second in command more than is completely appropriate; you're destroying every barrier of leadership that makes your operation so divine. What are you planning, old boy? What exactly will you do with this?

"Akago? You're thinking too hard."

Akago jerked back to the conversation he'd previously been frequenting, looking at Gan, who was regarding him with mild concern. He smiled bitterly. "I know it. And it hurts my brain indefinitely. But the real problem here is the future: I don't know what will become of us, Gan."

"What do you mean?"

Sighing, Akago explained, "Sesshomaru and I touched on it this morning, but I might as well just lay out my thoughts for someone who cares. Do you remember the occurrence in America? Five or six years ago, I think it was? Well, when the Americans realized that they were under attack and that so many of their own had just died, they became angry and then subsequently went to war in their anger. And this, this incident at Madozu...it makes me furious. It makes me want to rip people apart, to kill every living thing that might ever cause another demon harm...and that scares me. Anger is a sword that only the very skilled can wield...and I am simply not that skilled."

Gan was quiet as she digested these mighty words; it was a common occurrence that Akago said marvelous things, things that no mortal could understand until he stood still and thought about them deeply. After she finally understood the feelings Akago was trying to express, Gan nodded slowly.

"Yes...you would say that. But I've never met someone who can control their temper quite like you can," Gan confided, smiling sadly. "I mean, look at me; I get irritable over every little thing. Sesshomaru throws things sometimes, unexpectedly. And then Ryuu...well, that's about the strongest example of 'no restraint' that I can give you."

Akago laughed slightly at the mention of his friends. "Indeed. I only get angry inside, but that eventually makes an atomic explosion. Normally, it happens when no one can see it."

Gan snorted. "Secretive Mr. Akago, emotional trap-box."

The white haired boy furrowed his brow, never even looking down as he retrieved a box of Parliaments and lit a cigarette on the end of the smoldering one between his lips.

"That's me, I suppose. An emotional trap-box."

The two were silent for a moment, allowing the unspoken words between them to flit back and forth like traffic on a two way highway. The two were caught in a limbo during which they couldn't decide whether to talk about the Madozu towers or to let it lay. Eventually, Akago made their decision for them; he was never one to wallow in sorrow.

"What's our next French assignment about, may I ask?"

Gan decided to tactfully overlook his dramatic subject change and instead replied in kind, "Oh, Les Faux-Monnayeurs, le fléau de mon existence adolescente."

Akago chuckled slightly before he furrowed his brow in confusion. "Wait, what was that you said?"

"Le fléau de mon existence adolescente...?"

"Yes," Akago murmured, turning to squint curiously down at his second in command. "What is 'fléau' exactly? I don't think I've ever heard it."

Shrugging, Gan replied lazily, "It's equivalent to our 'bane.' So, I said it was 'the bane of my teenage existence.'"

"Hm." Akago smiled to himself before allowing his red eyes to fall on Gan's violent ones. "You are simply too smart, Gan. You surpass me."

This only caused Gan to blush again and she looked down at the splintering wood of the banister in embarrassment. Akago laughed heartily at the girl's shame and gave her a delicate pat on the shoulder, eyes once again alive with the life of his cheerfulness. As he gazed out at the climbing sun, Gan turned shyly up to look at her leader's aristocratically handsome face. Something about it was just so beautiful...Gan could get lost in the very vision of him. A smile soon captured her lips as well and she allowed her gaze to stray towards the very same sun which captured Akago's attention now; at any rate, she'd brought back his smile. That suited her well enough for now.

*!*!*!*

"Shale?"

Shale's eyes opened slowly at the sound of a nearby voice; it was small and light, like the tinkling of little bells. The fuzzy shape above her slowly grew into focus and she recognized the doll-like face of Mizumi Tousen, her crimson eyes curious and slightly concerned; a piece of wavy green hair had fallen over her shoulder and was tickling Shale's bare arm.

"Mizumi?" Shale asked sleepily, sitting up in her rickety bed and rubbing her wide blue eyes. "What time is it?"

"Oh, maybe 10:30 by now," Mizumi replied, shrugging like a five-year-old.

Before Mizumi could say another word, Shale had yelped in surprise and leapt up from the bed, running desperately around in her bed shorts looking for her school uniform. The girl was a tangle of tan arms and legs as she scrambled about like a lopsided windmill, her lame leg keeping her from true speed; every time she moved, her white blonde hair shimmered like a curtain, catching the sunlight from the solitary window.

"Um, Shale?" Mizumi asked in confusion, watching her friend run back and forth.

"Got to get to school!" Shale explained shrilly, though her nervous rantings were cut short as she stumbled on one of her school shoes and went tumbling down to the hard wood floor. Mizumi winced as the girl fell with a thump; probably half of the apartment building had woken with the noise. "Ow..." Shale moaned quietly.

"We don't have school today." Mizumi stood from the bed and hurried towards the collapsed blonde, offering her a hand of assistance. "There was a disaster in Kyoto and school was called off early this morning."

Shale paused in her flailing, staring curiously up at the dragon girl. "A disaster?"

"Yeah, at Madozu towers. It's all over the television," Mizumi explained. With their combined efforts, Shale managed to work her way into a standing position.

As she rubbed the back of her head ruefully, Shale reported, "Well, I don't have a television."

Without another word, Mizumi grabbed Shale's hand and began leading her rather forcefully out of the bedroom and into the living area. Shale yelped and managed to grab her bathrobe as her small friend dragged her around her apartment; about halfway through their journey, a thought occurred to Shale.

"Mizumi...how did you get in here?"

"The hole in the wall," Mizumi replied, as though the answer were obvious.

It was then that Shale recalled her rather awkward meeting with the Tousen siblings the previous night; it had all consisted of Ryuu losing his temper and punching a hole through their shared wall. As they entered Shale's living room, she shook her head in a wry gesture; one of the Tousen's had hung a white sheet over the hole, as though this would provide the both of them with more privacy. So much for walking around in the nude, Shale thought to herself.

Nonetheless, Mizumi pushed the sheet aside and stepped through the hole, bringing Shale to do the same. The blonde found herself in the midst of a Spartan apartment, one which smelled distinctly of soap and cleanliness; this surprised her, since teenagers were rarely clean, yet she could already tell that Mizumi and Ryuukoytsusei were much different from the average high-schoolers.

Mizumi practically pushed Shale down on the couch, pointing almost accusatorily at the television. "Look!"

Shale watched the television as though in a trance; she watched the bodies being wheeled out, watched the reporters gesturing to the bullet-holes now littering the lobby walls of the acclaimed Madozu towers. She tried to put together reasons in her head, reasons as to why a man could kill another like that, but she could find none. It was all painfully reminiscent of America and its many catastrophes. Perhaps Shale had expected the Japanese to be more respectful or more loving; she was beginning to realize, with a painful slap, that humans and demons all over the world were exactly the same.

"My god. Why? Why would he...why?" she stuttered out, voice quiet and strained.

Mizumi, who seemed to have sobered a great deal, took a seat beside her friend. "Who knows? Ryuu said he was just some 'fucked-up sonofabitch' who was jealous of demon powers."

"Don't swear, pup," came a gravelly voice from the kitchen.

Shale turned and discovered that, unbeknownst her, Ryuukoytsusei had been sitting in the kitchen all that time. He was sitting at the kitchen table with papers laid out in a sea before him. His green hair was in its usual style, half up and half down, yet he looked quiet casual in a simple white wife beater and sweatpants. He seemed unperturbed by Shale's presence in his living room; in truth, he'd been slightly threatened by the presence of a human in his home until he realized how much it meant to Mizumi. According to the gossip he'd been catching from his boys, Mizumi could use all the friends she could get.

"Is that really why he did it, you think? Because of...powers?" Shale asked, sounding quite bewildered.

Ryuu glanced up from the paperwork he'd so promptly returned to when he realized the question was directed at him. "People are like that; they get jealous and do stupid shit," he grunted in reply, meeting eyes with Shale briefly before returning to his work; taking over the North had become a full time job, what with Naraku's left over work. The former leader had apparently never documented any of his activities and now, Ryuu was rather stuck as he tried to turn the North into a business. If they were going to compete with the South, they needed to organize.

"But...to kill someone?" Shale continued; her blue eyes were wide with hurt.

Ryuu found himself torn from his work again as he stared up at this persistent blonde girl, who looked more upset by the Madozu towers than even him. How could a human possibly understand the pain of a demon on a day such as this? Obviously, she was feeling enough pain that she couldn't let him work in peace.

"Everybody kills, it's just a matter of when," Ryuu responded cryptically. He didn't even have time to pick up his pen again before Shale replied.

"You can't honestly believe that, Ryuukoytsusei!" she exclaimed, looking almost pained. "I mean, decent people don't kill! People like me and Mizumi don't kill! You don't kill! Only people who are really sick in their soul can kill so uselessly like that," Shale lamented, shaking her blonde head mournfully. Her blue eyes were filled with such passion that Mizumi could only look on in wonder.

Ryuu stared at the girl for a moment, crimson eyes a mixture of confusion and wryness. Eventually, he murmured, "You don't think I kill." It was less of a question and more of a statement, as though his disbelief were too potent to produce any sort of concrete query.

"No, of course not," Shale replied dismissively. She obviously hadn't caught the surprise in his voice and continued on in her despair. "You don't have that killer's crazy in you like this guy apparently did," she mumbled, gesturing limply to the television. "Only someone really diseased in their heart could actually walk in their and just kill 43 people. Those 43 people had families. A lot of them probably had wives and kids who will never see them again. What if one of those kids didn't get to see their mom or dad before they went to work? They never got to say goodbye! And that guy just thinks he can take away a life like that, just like that? What kind of...bastard!"

It was at this time that Ryuu smelled the first hint of salty tears, thought Shale's face was dry; it was Mizumi beside her who had begun to cry. Tears were now pouring down her porcelain cheeks as she stared silently at the television; she'd been unable to connect to the towers until Shale talked about children never being able to say goodbye. The very thought made her so terribly sad, she wondered if she could ever possibly be happy again.

Shale followed Ryuu's gaze and gasped slightly. "Oh Mizumi, I didn't mean to make you cry, I'm so sorry; I shouldn't have said those things, it only makes the situation worse."

Despite Shale's blathering, Mizumi only wiped the tears away with the back of her hand before replying quietly, "No, I'm glad you did. I felt terrible for not understanding all of this...but now I understand a part of it. And it's so awful...you're right. That's what you meant, wasn't it Ryuu? When you called him a fu- I mean, those words? You meant that he was so messed up, he just..." the girl trailed off as another wave of sadness hit her and she looked down at her folded hands, ignoring the tears as they fell like little rain drops on her pale arms.

Ryuu stood quietly from his seat, rubbing his eyes tiredly before making his way over to the couch. Shale watched as the burly dragon took a seat on Mizumi's other side and simply sat there, never moving as Mizumi leaned against him and cried her bitter little tears. He never made any sort of motion, except to move his left arm around Mizumi's tiny body; his right arm remained still on the arm-rest and his eyes stared, unfaltering, at the carnage on the television. Shale shook her head, marveling half at the mysterious Tousens and half at the television's horrors. She felt as though she understood the brother and sister more now, just from being with them in a time of crisis; it was a shame it had to come to that.

"Do you want me to make something to eat?" Shale asked suddenly.

Ryuu found himself glancing at her for the umpteenth time; this time he was faced with the honest blue eyes he'd seen the day she stumbled into him at school. Nevertheless, it was Ryuu's nature to be suspicious of everyone.

"Why?" he asked blankly.

"Because I bet you're both hungry and...I'm from the deep South in America. It's all I know how to do in time of crisis," Shale confessed, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

Ryuu continued to stare at her in silence; he swept her face and body for imperfections that might lead his mind to some sort of valuable conclusion. He used his dragon senses to look for impure motives in her mind, tried to decode the happiness that was always inherent in her face even in times of sorrow.

When she began to confuse him so much he could no long think, Ryuu finally replied, "'Skillets under the sink."

Shale smiled briefly, albeit weakly, before leaping to her feet and tottering towards the kitchen. Ryuu watched her go, eyes straying to her lame leg; even he was curious, though he could never admit it by asking. After all, it was her business. As the gentle clatter of pans began to fill the air, Ryuu shook his head and glanced down at Mizumi, who was still crying softly; the day was getting stranger by the minute.

*!*!*!*

"...and as predicted by the Police Commissioner a few hours ago, riots have broken out in the Southern half of the city. The Kyoto police have dispatched several units to deal with disturbances, which are getting quickly out of hand."

Rin stared blankly at the screen, which had become her dearest friend and most hated enemy, both within the span of the past few hours. From the time when she'd seen innocent men being wheeled out on gurneys to now, while she watched the angry faces of rioters as they kicked through storefront windows and began torching doorways, Rin's heart had hardened considerably. She felt helpless and numb as she glanced at Sesshomaru, who, besides the feeling of his hand on hers, showed absolutely no feeling of life whatsoever. Since that morning, he had been eerily quiet.

"Sesshomaru?"

Sesshomaru turned to face his girlfriend, who's eyes were boring holes into his head; it wasn't so much the actual staring as it was the weight of his guilt. Rin had a full time job worrying about him and he was fully aware.

"Yes Rin?" He asked, trying to seemed unfettered like usual; if there was anything they needed right then, it was a sense of normality, contrived or not.

"I...I was going to ask you. I didn't want to be a bitch about it, I was really just going to let you have space...but it's getting too serious," Rin whispered, looking down at their intertwined hands almost nostalgically.

Sesshomaru closed his eyes, waiting for her to speak. He could already hear the words in his mind but soon they would come to fruition in the real world.

"Sesshomaru...why aren't you eating?"

The dog demon took in a deep breath, opening his amber eyes and turning to address this question head on once and for all. His mouth was just opening when the abrasive ring of his cell phone cut the moment short. Rin and Sesshomaru looked helplessly at one another, as though wondering if all of this would ever come to an end, but Sesshomaru reached over to grab his cell phone nevertheless. He stared at the caller ID, face a mask of silent confusion.

"Who is it?" Rin finally asked.

"Skull," came Sesshomaru's reply. With a click of the call button, Sesshomaru had answered the urgent ring. "Taisho."

"Shomo? It's Skull. We've got a bit of a situation, mate."

The normally light-hearted demon's voice was grave and worn. "What is it?" Sesshomaru prompted.

"Well, you're probably watchin' the news, then?"

"Yes," Sesshomaru replied slowly, tightening his grip on Rin's hand as she made a small sound of impatience.

Skull continued tightly, "Well, I don't have much time, so I'm going to get right to the bloody point. I'm worried about the safety of my core, get me? And we have a small window right now. I'm takin' em out."

Sesshomaru digested this for a moment and finally said, "Are you sure, Skull? That's very drastic."

"Sesshomaru, the bloody bungalow is on fire and we're hiding in the surf shed."

"I retract my previous statement," Sesshomaru mumbled, sounding incredibly troubled. "You have a place here if you need it. How many of you are there?":

"Six."

The dog demon furrowed his silver brow. "Is that all?"

"The others left, mate; it's just me, Bones, Max, Axle, Kina and Koto. We're all gettin' out as we can...the others couldn't stay."

This comment brought a certain sadness to Sesshomaru's features, one that could never fully be treated; the sadness was like a disease with no cure, one which spread it's way slowly across his face and eventually devoured the happiness in his eyes. Rin watched the transformation and closed her eyes softly, leaning down and pressing her lips to the back of Sesshomaru's smooth hand. The silver haired leader looked down at his girlfriend, who met his amber gaze fearlessly with her strong brown one. It was in that moment that the smallest spark of happiness reappeared and Sesshomaru's lips turned up in a soft smile.

"We're ready for you here, Skull," Sesshomaru said, smile obvious in his voice.

Though Sesshomaru couldn't see, the sound of his smile made Skull squint as though he were trying not to cry; this life was over and he knew it. It was time to start over whether or not he and his friends were ready; he'd never imagined a life without the Jackrabbits, though it seemed as thought it was time to let that all go too. Knowing that Sesshomaru and the rest of the South was waiting for him made Skull slightly less reluctant to leave his home...but only slightly.

"We're comin' on then," Skull said quietly, so quietly that a human might not have heard him.

Sesshomaru did, however. "See you in four hours or so."

"Faster than that if I can make it, Shomo."

"Bye Skull."

Sesshomaru put the phone down on the table and switched off the television, thanking whatever gods there be for the absence of noise. Rin honored this silence for a moment before she asked, "So they're coming?"

"Yes. Do you have room?"

"Of course."

When neither could think of anything particularly meaningful to say, Rin looked earnestly up at her boyfriend and moved closer to him, taking his thin frame in her arms as though he were a broken doll. Almost hesitantly, Sesshomaru returned to hug, finding his arms shaking as he held his girlfriend to his chest. The summer air was suddenly quiet cold as they held one another and Sesshomaru closed his eyes tightly; in the life of the Fangs, it was one thing after another. It sometimes seemed as though they would never find peace.

9191919

I bet you guys are just really happy now. Sorry. But don't worry, things will look up eventually; this is our new conflict however. I've been listening to a lot of Tori Amos and Regina Spektor, so pardon some of my new metaphors; they're a little crazy. I'm experimenting.

Thanks to my reviewers, sorry for the long wait; I have no excuse. Hurt me hurt me. You guys light up my life and I'm not just saying that. I love you guys more than I can possibly explain.

NOW A POLL: WHAT COUPLE DO YOU WANT TO SEE MORE OF? WHAT/WHO DO YOU WANT TO SEE LESS OF? I WON'T BE OFFENDED IT THEY'RE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS, I PROMISE.

KOLU