InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Novus Lux ❯ Convergence ( Chapter 7 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

þÿHello, dear readers! I'm so sorry this has taken so long to get this chapter out. It was a beast to write, especially at first, though finally about halfway through it started writing itself. The last few days have been insane, nothing but going to work, coming home, and then sitting down to write for the rest of the evening. My room is a mess, but I'm not one to get in the way of my muse, heh, particularly as it has otherwise been so elusive recently. Also, I'd like to thank whoever nominated this story for Best AU/AR fic over at the Feudal Association. I'm really excited, as this is my first nomination in a writing category (others have been for artwork). Thank you so, so much! It really does mean a lot!

Some notes:

Taur is a feminine ancient Egyptian name that means "the great" or "the first," and as such, the head of the Order is known as the Taur Priestess, or simply, the Taur.

Kartek is also a feminine ancient Egyptian name, meaning "spark holder."

Chapter 7: Convergence

Kagome raced silently down a long corridor. It wouldn't be long now. She instinctively checked the zippered side pocket of her pants for the flash drive. Good. It was still there. She slipped through a door to her left. The walls were green, run through with wires and circuitry. She swung right down a side path. It was getting hotter. The passage narrowed. Circuitry became more distinctive shapes. Shapes became creatures. Humanoid. She accidentally brushed against the wall.

A sudden blast of electricity radiated outward from where she had touched the surface. Kagome stumbled backward, clutching her elbow against the burn. Shit. Her eyes widened as a low beeping sounded, far away, but getting louder. The circuits around her lit up, humanoid forms glowing and pulsing blue. Beep! No. Beep! Not humanoid. Beep! Demons.

BEEP! At that instant, the creatures seemed to peel themselves from the wall, the beeping reaching crescendo. BEEP! She suppressed a shout. Tried to run. BEEP! Found her way blocked by more blue-lit demon forms. BEEP! Their electricity crackled. BEEP!

Kagome drew a hardened rubber sword. BEEP! Nothing like an insulator to block electrical flow. BEEEEP! If she could just break their circuits- BEEP! She moved- She was a whirlwind- BEEP! Blocking, breaking the electrical flow as she fought her way down the passage- BEEP! But they lit up again behind her as their circuits reconnected- BEEP! And more formed in front of her- BEEP! BEEP! The sound invaded her being, broke her apart- BEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEP! -she couldn't fight- BEEEEEP!- glowing appendages closed on her like devil's ivy- Light- All light- BEEEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP! Too Loud- Too bright- Tried to shout-

Her eyes flew open, and she sat up all at once, tearing the constricting sheets away. The sun was glaring in at her, and her alarm was blaring. Groaning, she smacked the snooze button before searching for the switch to turn it fully off.

"Bloody Hell " She muttered. She'd had the circuit board spy dream before, mostly back when she hacked networks for extra money, but the blue electrical demons were new. Of course her brain would creatively figure out how to shove two extremely uncomfortable subjects together into one disconcerting dream. Huffing, she dragged herself out of bed, wincing at her sore muscles as she glanced down at the clock, which now read 8:02 am. She grabbed her bathrobe to ward off the slight morning chill and shuffled out of her room to make a pot of coffee.

Inuyasha heard a door open and shut, followed by the scuffing sound of feet and the creaks of a few floorboards. That stupid alarm had woken him up a few minutes ago, what with its incessant beeping, which sounded quite like screeching to his sensitive ears. Still, he lay with an arm thrown across his face, not quite ready to give up the warmth of the blankets, though the enticing scent of coffee had started to waft to his nose. He'd slept just fine, which was odd, since usually the first night he stayed somewhere new, he barely got a wink. As much as he hated to admit it, he felt safe with Kagome's barrier in place, and the futon, while not the most comfortable bed in the world, was certainly serviceable.

"Hey, Inuyasha!" Came a disgruntled shout from the kitchen. He laid his ears back in response. He hated loud noises first thing in the morning.

"What?" He grumbled, just loud enough to carry.

"Get your lazy ass out of bed!"

'Keh," he mumbled. Nevertheless, he rolled over, swung his legs over the edge of the futon and pushed himself to a standing position. "Crazy wench..." he muttered, wandering off to the bathroom.

A minute or two later, Kagome heard the toilet flush and the sound of the bathroom sink being turned on. She poured two mugs of coffee as she waited for the toaster waffles to finish up.

She felt, rather than heard him enter the room, and she turned around, holding a mug out to him.

"I hope you like your coffee black, 'cause I don't have any cream."

"Black's fine. Cream gives it a gross texture," he replied, taking the proffered mug. "Thanks."

Kagome merely grunted in reply, turning to the fridge. "Want any yogurt?" She asked over her shoulder.

"Uhh, sure. What kind?"

"Blueberry, Strawberry, or Blackberry."

"Strawberry, I guess."

She grabbed it and a Blackberry yogurt for herself, along with a couple of apples, the only fruit currently in her fridge.

Inuyasha watched her putter around the kitchen, slightly confused. She was being rather short with him verbally, but she was still making breakfast for them both. He stood awkwardly next to the table, unsure whether to sit down or offer to help. He supposed he should just ask.

"Why are you doing this?" Well, that wasn't how he meant to say it at all.

"What?" She shot him a frown over her shoulder before returning to slicing apples.

"I mean-you don't have to be making breakfast. I could help or..."

"You're a guest." She put the apple slices on a plate.

"Yeah, but I'm going to be here a while. You can't do this every morning..."

Kagome turned and shrugged. "You've only spent one night. You're a guest." She set the apples on the table. "And sit down. You're in the way." She brushed past him to get to the toaster, where she removed the second pair of waffles.

"Well, sorry then. Jeesh," he muttered, pulling out a chair and plopping into it.

"I heard that."

"Yeah, yeah. If you're not gonna let me help..." He reached for an apple slice and popped it into his mouth, enjoying the juicy crunch.

Kagome ignored him. She wasn't a morning person to begin with, but she especially hated having to communicate with anyone before she had at least had coffee. Further, her kitchen wasn't particularly large, and Inuyasha's presence was pressing in on her.

She shook herself and set the waffles on the table before plopping into the chair across from Inuyasha. Sighing, she took a sip of her coffee.

"D'you have any syrup for these?" His voice grated against her ears.

"No."

"Oh."

A pause.

"Do you at least have butter?"

She sighed again. She was being a bad host. "Yeah, sorry. I usually just eat them plain..." She got up and grabbed the butter dish off the counter before rummaging around in a drawer for a knife. "Here," she said, laying them on the table.

She sat back down and picked up a waffle, noting that she probably shouldn't have left them in the toaster quite so long. She bit into it, the accompanying light crunch cracking the silence.

"You're not a morning person, are you?"

She gave him an incredulous look.

"I'll take that as a no."

"We can't all be little rays of sunshine," she said grumpily.

"Keh. Didn't say you had to be."

"Who are you, and what did you do with Inuyasha?"

"What?"

"You're being-" She paused. "Civil."

He rolled his eyes. "As you said earlier, I am a guest. And contrary to popular belief, I'm occasionally capable of decent manners."

She took another bite of waffle in response.

"Besides," he continued, "You did make breakfast."

"I suppose." She shook her head and made a mental note that if, in the future, she desired good behavior from the hanyou, she should add food to the equation.

Sounds of chewing settled over the table again, and Kagome did nothing to break the quiet. She preferred it this way, even with another person at the table. Any other time of day, she would have been perturbed by the lack of conversation, but right now, it gave her room to try to get her brain up to normal functioning speed. It was particularly difficult after a dream like the one she'd had; images of lighted circuit demons and thoughts of secret information swirled and eddied in her mind. Inuyasha seemed to finally accept that she didn't want conversation, and didn't try to say anything else.

He sat quietly, observing. He knew she was grouchy in the morning; he had seen her enough at work first thing to know that, but it seemed that something else was bothering on this particular morning, even beyond just the abnormality of his presence. Picking up on other people's emotions wasn't exactly his forte, but you couldn't live for over 200 years without acquiring at least some affinity for reading expressions and body language. He figured he would let her coffee kick in before he asked her about it.

"I had a fucking creepy dream last night."

Ah, the power of caffeine.

He smirked. So this was the problem. "Yeah?"

"I was a cyber spy."

"That sounds pretty awesome."

A frown pulled at the corner of her mouth. "Usually it is."

"So you've had this dream before?"

"More or less. This time though, instead of getting out of the network with the information like I usually do, there were these...circuit demons."

"Circuit...demons? What?"

Her scowl deepened. It sounded completely stupid when she said it out loud. She pressed on anyway. "Yeah, they were demons, you know, like the ones I...fried...but they were made out of glowing blue wires...they came out of the walls..."

A snort of laughter met her ears.

"Hey! It's not funny! They were practically strangling me!"

He reined in his chuckles. "Sorry, just..."

"Humph."

"Oh, come on..."

She refused to look at him, instead turning back to her yogurt.

"Kagome..."

No response.

The clinking of dishes when they loaded the dishwasher was a welcome respite from almost complete silence. After a minute, he decided to try again.

"I can drive us to Fujiwara."

The scowl was back. "I can drive."

"Do you remember how to get there?"

"...Kind of," she admitted.

"Then it'll be easier if we take my car." He glanced at the clock on the microwave. "Especially since we probably should have left 10 minutes ago."

Kagome's eyes snapped to the clock. It was a quarter to 9. Had they really dawdled that long over breakfast?

"Well, shit. Do I need anything besides normal gym clothes?"

"Nah."

"Good."

...

"'Morning, Kaede!" Miroku called as he opened the front door to Fujiwara Studios. As usual, he was the first to arrive; only his reflection in the line of mirrors on the back wall greeted him.

"Kaede?" He called again, making his way toward the hallway at the back left.

"Back in the weight room!" Came the reply.

He made his way down the hall and through a door to his right.

"What are you doing?" He asked curiously, noticing that she was bent over one of the weight machines with an open toolbox next to her.

"A few of the bolts on this machine were loose. Could you hand me that hex wrench on the floor over there?" She gestured behind her and slightly left.

"Sure." He bent to pick it up, handing it over.

"Thank you, dear."

"You're welcome...Do you need any help?" He wasn't going to tell her, but he didn't like that she dealt with fixing the heavy equipment so frequently. She was getting on in years, and he was afraid she was going to really hurt herself one of these days. However, she stubbornly insisted that she liked "tinkering with things," as she put it, so he had learned to keep his mouth shut.

"Nope, this is the last one."

"Okay, if you're sure..." He continued to hover.

She looked over her shoulder at him. "Is there something else you want?"

Miroku shifted his weight. "Not really."

"Then go on. Go start doing some stretches. This old lady can fend for herself," Kaede admonished good-naturedly.

"Oh, alright," he allowed, an amused smile playing at the corner of his mouth. He turned and left.

He heard the front door open, loud voices floating down the hall. Another voice he recognized as Kali's greeted the arrivals. He picked up his pace.

"Kali!" He greeted upon exiting the hallway into the front room.

"Good morning, Miroku," Kali returned, voice somewhat less enthusiastic than it had been before.

"And who do I have the pleasure of meeting this morning?" He smiled, gesturing toward the newcomers.

She smirked, "I'll be whipping these noobs into shape. They're freshmen at U Chicago. I let them introduce themselves."

The three newcomers looked at each other a bit apprehensively, working out who would be first. Miroku merely smiled genially as he waited. Finally, the girl with short, silvery sandy blonde hair spoke up.

"I'm Shiori," she said softly, proffering her hand.

Miroku shook it. "Pleasure."

"Karia," said the girl with the medium brown ponytail. She was tall, and Miroku actually had to look up at her as he shook her hand.

The lone boy stepped forward. He looked eerily like Karia, with the same medium brown hair and lanky build. "I'm Julian."

"...Are you guys-?" Miroku started to ask as he shook his hand, glancing at Karia.

"Siblings? Yep."

"Twins, actually," Karia added helpfully.

"Ah, I see."

"Well," began Kali, "Now that that's taken care of, I'll show you all around. Miroku, is Kaede done with that weight machine yet?"

"She should be. She was just finishing up when I got here."

"Good. Come on then," she said, beckoning to the group, and they followed her down the hallway.

A half smirk played at the corner of Miroku's lips as he wondered whether the newcomers knew what they were getting themselves into. Kali was fair when it came to training, but she would push her pupils to their absolute limits, and even beyond, when they thought they had no reserves left. At least, that was the impression he had gained the few times he had caught a glimpse of her teaching a class. He was glad that as a Spiritualist, he would never have to endure her idea of "a good workout." He pulled a mat from the stack in the far corner of the room, rolling it out on the floor, and sat down, folding his legs into the lotus position. He inhaled deeply, letting his eyes fall closed. A contented smile graced his features as he began to count his breaths, letting all other thoughts float away with his exhalations, allowing in peaceful emptiness as he inhaled.

In... two... three... four... Out... two... three... four... In... two... three... four... Out... two... three... four... In... two... three... four... Out... two... three... four... In... two... three... fo-

The door opened.

"-did you really have to cut that guy off? I know we're running late, but you could have gotten us killed!"

Miroku's posture stiffened.

"It's fine! He didn't even honk at us!" Inuyasha snapped back.

"Yeah, he was probably too concerned with hitting the breaks to honk!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Bullshit. And we're fine, we didn't get hit, so what does it even matter?"

Miroku tried to find his center again. In... two-

"It matters because you're not the only one on the road! You can't go driving around recklessly like that! Someone will eventually get hurt!"

"Will you stop telling me how to drive? It's not like you-"

"Do you guys mind?" Interjected a quiet, but commanding voice from the corner of the room.

They both whipped around, startled. Miroku was glaring at them from the far corner of the room.

"Some of us are trying to meditate," he continued, "And Inuyasha, you should know better than to come in here arguing like that. You know Kaede won't tolerate it."

Inuyasha threw up his hands. "Jeez, why is everything my fault this morning?"

Miroku frowned, trying to hang on to what little inner peace he still had left. "I was stating a fact. Will you let me meditate now, please?"

"Keh, whatever. Where's Kaede?"

"In the weight room."

Inuyasha shot a glare at Kagome. "C'mon then." He turned sharply and started down the hall, Kagome following, scowl etched into her features.

Miroku sighed and resumed his measured breathing, hoping he wouldn't be interrupted again any time soon. Saturdays were supposed to be reserved for private training and showing new people around. Technically, that was all that was going on, but Inuyasha and Kagome, being their usual antagonistic selves, were ruining the relative quiet he usually had on such mornings. Fortunately, he heard Kaede's admonishment float down the hall, which was followed by silence, and then voices too quiet for him to discern what they were saying. Soon, the only thing he heard was the low clanking of the weight machines, an almost Zen sound to his ears in light of the previous arguing.

Kagome let her breath go at the same time as she released the bar, letting the weights clang softly back into place. She was feeling a little off-kilter this morning, since even despite her sore muscles, she had been lifting much heavier weights than she usually was capable of. Kaede had smiled and told her that one of the perks of being a Spiritualist was an increase in physical strength in addition to stamina and faster healing capabilities. The healing ability in particular was nothing on the order of what demons had, whose wounds, unless spiritually inflicted, healed within minutes; rather, a wound that might take weeks to heal fully would instead only take several days. She had been both pleased and a little disconcerted to learn all of that, but it certainly explained why, when she had gotten up the morning after the attack, her body was completely free of bruises and scrapes she had acquired during the scuffle.

"Hey, you mind not spacing out and letting me have that machine?" Inuyasha's acerbic voice cut across her thoughts.

"I've got one more set still."

He rolled his eyes. "Well get on with it already."

"Hmph. You could have a little patience, you know."

"Keh. Some of us aren't slowpokes like you. Hurry up."

"Will you knock it off?" She pulled the bar down to her chest with a little more force than necessary. "You're acting like a 5-year-old."

"No, some of us just want to finish the boring part of the workout in a sensible amount of time," he snapped.

"Oh really?" Kagome asked icily.

"Yes, really," Inuyasha snarked, missing the sly undertone in Kagome's voice.

"Well alright then," she smirked, slowing the pace that she pulled down the bar to an utter crawl. It made the exercise harder, but it was worth it to see the expression on Inuyasha's face.

"You- Oh, okay! Who's the 5-year-old now?" He seethed.

"Hey, don't complain. I'm just playing your game." She allowed the bar to creep back up. She was really sweating now, but she didn't care.

"My game?" He took a step toward her, as close as he could stand without getting beamed by the bar Kagome was painstakingly raising and lowering. "This game takes two, sweetheart, and I don't make the rules by myself!"

Kagome paused, the bar held in front of her chest, as she glared around the wire at him. "Get out of my face."

"No." He moved closer, crowding her even further.

Her glare intensified. "Get. The fuck. Out. Of. My. Face. Now."

He grabbed the bar she was holding and pried it upward, knowing his far superior strength meant that there was nothing she could really do besides let go. Which she did. But he wasn't expecting what came next.

A fist connected hard with his jaw, and he stumbled back slightly, releasing the bar with a raucous CLANG! He stared at Kagome, hand to his jaw, utterly speechless.

"You bastard!" She shouted. "You do nothing but antagonize me all morning and then you have the nerve to yank the bar away from me? What, are you trying to get me to take my charm off and send an energy blast at you? What the hell is your problem?!" She was breathing hard now. I-I just hit him, she thought, what is wrong with me? I'm just so angry-

Inuyasha just stared at her, still trying to catch up with the fact that his colleague had punched him. And it wasn't a laughable effort either. The woman had a mean right hook.

"Well? Don't you have anything to say?" She looked daggers at him.

"I have something to say," came an angry female voice.

They both whipped around to look toward the door. Kali stood there, eyes flaming red despite her charm.

"You are both completely out of line!" She hissed. "Miroku is trying to meditate in the front room, and Kaede and I are showing around new recruits. And here you are acting like the weight room is a schoolyard! If you two really need to duke it out that badly, you can go to the sparring room! That's what it's there for." She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder, indicating the door across the hall.

Inuyasha and Kagome just stood there, frozen.

"Go on! Get out of here!" She snapped.

They both seemed to shake themselves out of their stupor to move toward the door.

As they shoved past Kali, Inuyasha hissed under his breath, "Why do you have to be such a bitch, Kagome?" And we seemed to finally be getting along yesterday- what the hell happened?

"I don't know-why do you have to be such a dick, Inuyasha?"

"Don't forget to wear padding, guys! And shut the door!" Kali called after them. She was pissed, certainly, but she didn't need a broken hanyou and Spiritualist on her hands.

"Yeah, whatever!" Inuyasha snapped over his shoulder. He turned to see Kagome pulling on pads.

"I thought you wanted to duke it out properly," he sneered at her.

"Oh, I do. You should put on some pads too. I don't want to have to pull my punches."

"Is that so?" But he pulled on his sparring pads anyway.

Kagome walked to the center of the room, Inuyasha close behind.

"Charms or no charms?" Kagome asked, fingering the gold ankh around her neck.

Inuyasha considered for a moment. Charms would limit them both, but ultimately would skew the fight heavily in Inuyasha's favor. No charms would even the playing field a bit, and probably make things more interesting. And he was in the mood for a really good fight.

"No charms."

"Alright then." She unclasped hers and put it into the small zipper pocket of her pants, watching as the henna-like spiritual markings wound their way up her arms. She sensed Inuyasha's demon aura strengthen, and when she looked up, two white ears perched atop his head and his canines had lengthened into fangs. A touch of red had also crept into his eyes, making him look a little bit intimidating. She shook off the feeling and glowered steadily back at him, pushing away feeble internal protests.

Kagome didn't know it, but the edges of her eyes had taken on a similar quality, though instead of red, Inuyasha saw gold flecks dancing at the edges of her sclera. No matter. He'd win this anyway. He shot her a confident smirk.

"Ready?"

"Hell yeah."

They leapt forward.

...

"Sango, where are we going?" Kohaku asked as he trailed after her down the hotel hallway, heading toward the elevator.

Sango glanced around suspiciously for a moment before replying. "There's a...conference."

"So this is what all those secret phone calls were about last night," he deduced.

"Yes- but I don't want to discuss this out here."

"...Right." Kohaku muttered. He'd thought that by staying at the Hilton, one of the busiest and fanciest hotels in downtown, they would be more or less safe. Apparently Sango didn't think so. He could see that she had been constantly on edge since their arrival the night before, and it was making him nervous. He wouldn't tell her that, though. She'd feel guilty, and then I'd feel guilty for making her feel guilty, and then she'd feel guilty for making me feel guilty for making her feel guilty and- He shook his head, halting that useless train of thought just as they arrived at the elevator.

Sango pushed the 'down' call button.

Kohaku leaned against the wall, crossing his arms, and stared absently up at the gold-trimmed ceiling.

"Kohaku- " Sango started, then stopped.

"Hmm?" He lowered his gaze to see Sango looking at him apprehensively. "What is it?" He asked, letting his arms fall to his sides.

"Just...you should know that-"

The elevator dinged. Sango cut off whatever she was going to say, a temperate expression sliding over her face.

"Well, never mind, it's not important. We should get going." She stepped into the elevator, Kohaku following closely, a frown pulling at his mouth.

He knew that change, that face. It was the one she used whenever she didn't want anyone to know what she was thinking. It was the one she used when she faced off against a demon, which Kohaku had only seen her do once outside of training. It was calm. Collected. Precise. Deadly. That face meant he wouldn't see his sister for a while. He would instead see the Demon Slayer.

The elevator dinged again, doors opening, and they stepped out to the fourth floor. Sango motioned Kohaku to follow, turning left, the direction of the conference room, according to the sign posted on the wall directly in front of the elevator.

It was eerily silent when they arrived at a rich brown door, significance only distinguished by a small, gold trimmed sign that read "Conference Room 4B" next to the frame. Sango didn't knock. In fact, she did nothing but stand there, and Kohaku was just about to open his mouth to ask what was going on when Sango's cell phone rang.

"Sango speaking."

"Passphrase?" Kohaku heard the voice on the other end inquire loudly.

Sango rolled her eyes. "Jarius, you know who we are."

"Protocol," he replied. "Passphrase, if you wouldn't mind."

If there was anything Sango disliked about the Slayers, it was the passphrase nonsense. A suspicious organization to begin with, half the time they didn't even trust their own members with certain information, hence the passphrase system. However, Sango was one of the few with top security clearance.

"Fine," she huffed. "I'd like to order an egg and cheese omelet. With salsa on the side," she muttered.

"Your brother's going to be in on all of this too?" he asked in surprise.

Sango sighed. "Yes, why else would I order salsa? And 'He's going to be in on all of this too,' isn't the correct reply phrase."

"Right, sorry. I can get that for you right away. Cash or credit?"

"Cash." Credit meant that she thought she might have been followed by a third party.

"Be here to pick it up in 20."

"Right. Bye." Sango pocketed her phone.

The door opened.

...

Kagome was breathing hard, focused intently on the hanyou as they circled each other. So far, all they had done was trade physical blows, allowing their lack of charms to give them greater strength and speed, but otherwise not making use of their more unusual abilities. She was sore and sure she was sporting a few bruises courtesy of Inuyasha, but she'd managed to land a few good hits on him herself. She wasn't entirely sure how, but she fought beyond the level she expected, as though someone else was guiding her body.

Suddenly, Inuyasha rushed her.

Kagome sidestepped quickly, but not quickly enough. He snagged her arm with a glancing blow, knocking her sideways. She whirled to face him just as his foot came at her in a flying kick. Reacting on instinct alone, she pulled out of the way, grabbed his ankle and used his momentum to fling him to the ground. She followed him down, landing an elbow in his chest. She heard the rush of air leave his lungs, but didn't have time to savor the small victory before she found herself flung sideways and pinned roughly on her stomach, right arm twisted painfully behind her back.

"You give?" he whispered, face hovering next to her ear.

"No," she spat. Shit. The arm that he wasn't holding behind her was pinned underneath her body, and between her own weight and the added weight of Inuyasha, it didn't look like she'd be able to move.

"Keh. Well you're certainly not going anywhere any time soon."

Kagome smirked suddenly. "Is that so?"

Inuyasha's eyes widened fractionally as he felt a swift surge of spiritual power. The next thing he knew, he was sprawled on his back, reeling from a blow to his sternum. Were it not for the pads he wore, he was certain the bone would have been fractured. He looked up to see Kagome standing over him, her forearms and hands glowing a soft gold, while her spiritual markings seemed to swirl and pulse. When the hell did she learn to do that?

"Seems you underestimated me, Inuyasha." She couldn't help the genuine grin that spread across her face. She had learned something new, and the only teacher was their fight.

"Tch." He saw her grin, sensing the shift in her mood. Curiosity piqued, he wondered if he could draw any new techniques out of her, while hopefully avoiding most of them. A devilish smirk crossed his face as he rose to his feet. He would push her to exhaustion.

...

Sango was met with Jarius' warm brown eyes as she and Kohaku stepped over the threshold. A smile danced at the edges of those same eyes as he shook her hand with mock solemnity.

"Sango," he greeted.

Sango couldn't help the small chuckle that burbled forth. The burly dark skinned man had always been able to find the cracks in her firm Slayer exterior to make her laugh. He was one of the few men who she would have been romantically interested in if she hadn't known he swung the other way.

She sobered. "How are you, Jarius?" she asked sincerely.

He sighed. "I've been better, as I'm sure you have also. Things have been..." He glanced at some of the other people in the room, all quietly talking amongst themselves for the moment. "Stressful," he finished, meeting her eyes again.

Sango had followed his gaze around the room. She took a small step toward him. "Jarius, where's Trent?"

All of trace of smiles left Jarius eyes immediately, replaced by anger and worry. "He's in hiding...recovering."

Sango's eyes widened fractionally. "What happened?"

Jarius' lips tightened. "That's one of the things being discussed at this conference today."

She nodded, knowing he wouldn't discuss his partner and lover any further. "I see." Then, "Will the Chief Commander be here any time soon?"

He shrugged. "He's still in a briefing with the four Lieutenant Commanders."

"Hmm." Sango frowned. "He's usually quite punctual. You're sure nothing's wrong?" Plenty was wrong, of course, but Jarius understood the question.

He tapped his headset. "No, he checked in about two minutes before you and Kohaku got here." He acknowledged the nervous boy with a smile.

Kohaku smiled tightly back. Despite the seeming calm quiet conversation in the room, he could feel the tension as people's eyes strayed from their discussions, distracted and worried.

As if on cue, Jarius' phone buzzed. "Chief?" He answered. Then, "Yessir, we'll have it for you in 20 minutes."

He hung up and approached the door, where he punched a ridiculously long numerical code on the pad by the door. Several clicks followed this action as locks opened.

The four Lieutenant Commanders walked in, followed closely by the Chief.

Everyone stopped talking immediately. Silently, they proceeded to their seats at the long table, the Chief nodding his acknowledgement as he passed to the head of the table.

When all were seated, the Chief looked around the table, holding each gaze for a second or two before moving on to the next individual. No one was left out.

"Bellum oportet ad pacem et ordinem,"* the Chief intoned solemnly.

"Enim in chaos nihil viget,"* they replied in quiet unison.

"And so we continue to strive." He gave a tight smile. "Let us begin. We have many things to discuss today, but I think we need to drive home the gravity of this situation first. Jarius, if you would share?" He gestured to the man a few seats down to his right.

Jarius swallowed and nodded, but his voice was steady when he spoke. The words sounded practiced. "Two nights ago, around 8 pm, I left the apartment I share with Trent to go to the grocery store. It was his kid sister's birthday yesterday, so he wanted to make her a cake, but we were out of eggs. I told him to get the rest of the ingredients together and wrap her present, and I'd go to the store to pick some up..."

Jarius stood in line for the cashier, shuffling his feet impatiently. There really shouldn't have been so many people at this hour, but of course he'd managed to get unlucky. The single cashier was taking her sweet time too, apparently insisting on chatting with each customer. He breathed a sigh of relief when he was finally able to place the eggs on the conveyor belt.

"And how are you this evening, sir?" She asked, batting her lashes a bit. She was pretty; he might have flirted if he wasn't in such a rush and actually straight.

He merely grunted in reply as he swiped his credit card.

She pursed her lips, but didn't say anything else as she tore the receipt off and handed it over. He gave her a quick nod and walked out as fast as possible.

About the time that he'd picked up the eggs in the refrigerated section, a niggling sense of tension, of something wrong, had crept up his spine and taken up residence at the back of his neck like some sort of blood-sucking insect. And like a tick, he hadn't been able to shake it off. The farther he got from the store, the faster he walked, until he was jogging, then all out sprinting back to his apartment.

The second Jarius arrived at the building's front door, he knew something was amiss. The lock had been expertly picked, and he sensed the presence of three strange demons via the counter-charm embedded in his forearm. He nearly went dashing straight up the steps, but caught himself.

He checked the catch on each of the knives hidden inside his jacket sleeves before pulling a black compact Glock from the hidden holster at his hip and fitting it with a silencer. He sprinted up the steps, silent as a ghost.

Like the front door, the lock on his second floor apartment had also been picked. He could hear the sounds of muffled scuffling inside. Resisting the urge to simply barge in, gun blazing, he pulled the door open the slightest bit, careful not to let it creak, and peered inside. He was not entirely prepared for the scene that met his eyes.

Not two feet from the door, a demon lay dead in a slowly expanding pool of blood, crimson staining their creamy carpet. Beyond him, he could see his lover, partially hidden by the sofa, held down by one demon while another was just slicing into his forearm. The demons had their backs to Jarius, but Trent's pained eyes found him, and Jarius brought a finger to his lips. Trent looked away, tried not to cry out as blood ran freely down his arm.

Jarius pushed the door open just slightly more, taking careful aim at the demon cutting into Trent's forearm. He squeezed the trigger.

The demon snapped backward, shoved by the momentum of the bullet ramming into his skull. His companion's head whipped up and reached for the dropped knife, but Trent grabbed him, yanking him back to the floor in a scuffling match.

Jarius swept into the room, put three more bullets into the demon he had pasted to the floor just to be safe, and then undid the catch for the knife in his left sleeve. And not a moment too soon.

Trent was severely weakened, and the demon had just shaken him off and sent him reeling with a vicious kick to the chest. He snatched the knife from the floor.

The demon dove towards Trent's unmoving, bloodied form, intent on retrieving the counter-charm in his arm, and Jarius dove for the demon.

The demon was faster than Jarius gave him credit for, and he shimmied out of the way, just avoiding the flashing metal of Jarius' blade. Putting the sofa between them, the demon pulled a silver ring off his finger, pocketing it quickly. Where before Jarius only saw a ghostly outline of the demon's true form, now the demon stood before him in full, arms blue scaled and fingertips clawed. Silvery eyes burned menacingly in their sockets, and a scaled tail lashed back and forth behind him.

"Let's go, human. The orders were only for one counter-charm, but I'm sure the boss wouldn't object to two."

Jarius just smiled, though half of his mind was with the man lying on the floor, barely breathing. "You've done me a favor and gotten away from my partner." He drew his gun once more and pulled the trigger, all in one smooth motion, but the demon was too fast without his charm.

Jarius barely managed to get his knife and gun up to meet the other's claws before he was knocked backward into the lazy boy chair. The demon pressed forward, engaging both arms, trying out out-master the human in strength. He would have, but Jarius gave just a little bit before shoving as hard as he could back at the demon with his right arm and pulling the lever on the chair with his left. The foot-rest caught the demon hard under the chin, knocking him back. Jarius took the slim opening and pulled the trigger on his Glock.

The bullet found home in a spray of blood in the demon's chest, and as Jarius sat fully up, he put two more the collapsing demon's head. He leapt out of the chair and drew his knife across its throat- he could never be too sure, and knew from experience that the reptilian demons could be particularly hard to kill, despite the specialized bullets the Slayers used.

Covered in demon blood, but fortunately none of his own, he rushed to Trent's side.

"Trent!" He called loudly, feeling the man's neck for a pulse. It was there but weak. His breath came shallow and fast. Jarius noted clinically that he'd sustained several wounds in addition to the one in his arm, a long shallow gash across his chest and another, deeper one across the top of his thigh. Bruises littered his face and neck; his nose was probably broken, and his lip split and bleeding. His sandy brown hair was matted with blood just above his left ear.

"Trent!" He shouted again.

The man groaned in response.

"Trent, everything's gonna be okay, you hear me? I'm calling Emergency Medical right now." He flipped open his phone and pressed the speed-dial number. "I'm gonna get some first aid supplies from the bathroom. You just hold on." He jumped up and made a beeline for the bathroom closet, phone to his ear.

"...he's in recovery now, at an undisclosed location," Jarius finished. He was staring at his hands. Telling everyone what had happened had clearly cost him.

Silence reigned for a moment before the Chief spoke.

There was sympathy in his eyes, but his voice was all business. "So, not only was one of our group viciously attacked, they also attempted to take his counter-charm. This shows planning. In combination with the rash of fires on demon-owned businesses, we are positive that an organized force is working against us. Sango here," he gestured down the table, "informed us last night via telephone of the attempt at intimidation that took place at her home. She has also said that she may have some useful individuals for us to work with. If you could tell us about them, Sango?"

She nodded sharply. "A colleague of mine is a half-demon, whose brother, I discovered, after some digging, is none other than Sesshoumaru Taisho, the liason between the Youkai Courts and the human government. As such, he sees and knows just about everything that goes on politically and judicially in both communities. Both he and his brother are the sons of the Inu-no-Taisho." She paused for effect, glancing around the room. "Yes, the Inu-no-Taisho. The younger son, the half-demon, had somehow escaped our notice of that fact, but he is also the son of Izayoi, the powerful priestess who helped de-throne Naraku 200 years ago. I have reason to believe that both he and his brother would be quite helpful to us, as would another colleague of mine, Kagome Higurashi. She is newly a priestess, as powerful as I have ever seen, and appears to have a target painted on her back. As far as I know, the Order has not contacted her yet. Lastly," she directed her speech at the Chief, "I think it would be wise to contact all of these individuals, as well as the Order, and bring them here to pool our information. We may yet be able to obtain a clearer picture of what's happening."

The Chief glanced at the four Lieutenants before nodding slowly. "Masumi," he said, addressing the tiny black-haired Lieutenant to his left. "Do we have a secure phone line yet?"

She nodded. "Joren said his team was able to secure the offices and run the appropriate software. We should be good to go for the line in this conference room."

"Excellent." He pushed the conference call device across the table toward Sango. "If you would do the honors."

She nodded assent and dialed Inuyasha's cell phone.

...

Inuyasha had hold of Kagome's closed fists, preventing her from executing the latest move she'd stumbled upon: a blazing ball of energy shot from the palm of her hand at about the speed of a cross-bow bolt. He'd been almost unable to avoid the missiles, and had finally given up and charged, hands blazing red with his own power. Hence, their current predicament.

Instead of trying to physically break his grip, Kagome had been attempting to out-power him with her energies and throw him off that way. But every time she let her energy surge forth, his directly countered it, and the red and gold swirling around their locked arms grew.

At some point, it had become impossible to simply let go.

They glared at each other across the glow, their sclera red and gold, respectively, though their irises still showed, an indication that they were in control of their energies.

Frustrated, Kagome concentrated, shoving more of her spiritual power into the glowing, undulating mass of their locked grip. Immediately, she felt Inuyasha's rise. Something tipped.

With a roar, red and gold burst upward from their joined hands, slamming into the ceiling. They were flung hard into the ground with a collective yelp. Bits of ceiling tile rained down on their prone forms.

Kagome blinked from her position on her side. What in the hell...? One minute, their energies were swirling between them, the next, she lay on the floor, covered in tile and copious amounts of white dust.

She heard a groan next to her.

"Inuyasha?" She asked cautiously, rolling over to look at him.

He blinked stupidly at her for a moment, white covering his face.

"What the hell was that?" She queried.

He pushed himself to a sitting position before responding, and she followed suit.

He frowned. "It was...some sort of combined attack. Normally demon and spiritual energies wouldn't...but we're a unique case, so..." He trailed off, brushing bits of tile off his sleeves.

"Apparently," she giggled.

"What's so funny?" Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow at her as her giggles turned into outright peals of laughter. It was a relief after their fight and being so angry, still for reasons she couldn't entirely figure out.

She took a deep breath. "Well-I mean, look at us," she gestured to the bits of dust and tile covering them. "This is pretty ridiculous."

The corner of his mouth inched up. "I suppose it is. You know, I'm surprised no one's come running yet." He glanced up, taking in the one-foot hole in the ceiling, the cracks that radiated three feet outward in any given direction, and the accompanying scorch mark. His mind was going about a mile a minute.

Kagome followed his gaze. "Kaede's not going to be terribly pleased, is she?"

He jerked out of his thoughts. "Probably not. It's just a good thing this room is magically reinforced, or we'd be staring at the sky right now."

Kagome snorted. "More likely we'd be buried under a pile of rubble. Wouldn't that be fun."

"No kidding."

She sighed. "We should probably go tell her..." She stood up, beginning the process of brushing herself off.

Inuyasha stood as well, brushing harshly at his sleeves and pants. Kagome finished as best she could with her clothing, and then began the arduous process of picking bits of tile out of her hair. She was concentrating on a particularly stubborn piece that managed to thoroughly snarl itself in her tresses when suddenly, Inuyasha was in front of her, his warm hands over hers.

"Let me," he said quietly.

Slowly, she dropped her hands, standing stock still as he worked the tile out of the tangle of hair. She hardly dared to breathe. What is wrong with me? She thought for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. First, I can't stop sniping with him, and now I'm all-I don't even know-

"Almost got it."

She licked her suddenly dry lips.

"There. Little bastard." He flicked the offending piece of tile away.

She looked up slightly, meeting his eyes. He was surprisingly close. "...Thanks," she said a little thickly.

"Sure." He peered at her.

"Um-" Her eyes traveled up to his pointed, furry ears, which were coated in a thick layer of white dust and tiny fragments of tile. Without thinking, she reached up. "You've got-bits-"

He tensed slightly in surprise as she brushed at his ears. Her touch was gentle though, and he relaxed right away. It wasn't something he'd normally allow, but he'd been the one to intrude on her personal space first. After a minute, he realized three things. First, her motions had turned from brushing to stroking, second, his eyes were closed, and third, stopping her was entirely unappealing. He sighed in appreciation.

Kagome blinked in surprise as she felt Inuyasha lean into her hands. Further emboldened, she began to massage his ears in slow circles, luxuriating in the softness of the fur and skin under her fingers. I can't believe I'm-and he's letting me-no, not even just letting me-

She heard a soft groan escape him as she rubbed at the base of his ears, fingers occasionally skimming his hair and scalp. She sucked in a sharp breath at the sound.

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open, warm gold catching Kagome's gaze. Her hands stilled on his ears before sliding down to rest in his hair, one finger just touching the base of each ear. She felt their breath mingle in the small airspace between them.

He raised his hand, brushing a dark strand of hair behind her ear, following the curve of its shell before letting his fingertips trace gently down her neck. He swallowed. What am I-this is-

"Kagome," he breathed, the name escaping his parted lips almost of its own accord.

The depth of his eyes was almost hypnotic, and the sound of her name, the puff of air from that spoken word landing lightly on her lips, elicited a delayed, "...Yes?"

He said nothing, instead sliding his hand from her neck into her dark, wavy hair.

She shivered.

Even sweaty and covered in dust and bits of tile, Inuyasha thought she was beautiful. It seemed to him that they were like magnets whose poles were constantly shifting; one moment they utterly repelled each other, in the next were hopelessly drawn together. Not really drawn together yet, but if I- his head tilted slightly -if we- he could feel her stuttering breath on his lips- should we-

"Inuyasha!" The door opened with a bang.

They froze.

"Inuyasha, Sango's on the phone and she wants to- oh- uh, did I interrupt-" Miroku surveyed the whole scene, "-how did you manage- what in the world happened?" He stepped over the threshold, looking from the pair covered in particulate matter to the hole in the ceiling to the broken tile scattered on the floor.

They realized at the same time that they hadn't strayed from their somewhat compromised position, and they abruptly removed their hands from each other, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Uh, well-" Kagome faltered.

"It's kind of a long story..." added Inuyasha.

"We're not entirely sure how we managed it-"

"It was some kind of combined thing-"

"Yeah."

They stared sheepishly at Miroku, who was regarding them with a curious expression.

"You know, Kaede's going to-" Miroku started.

"I'm going to what?" Kaede's voice floated behind Miroku, and she summarily appeared in the doorway along with Kali.

They stopped and stared.

"But," said Kaede, "this room has been reinforced. How on earth did you two manage...this?"

Inuyasha sighed. "We combined our powers...accidentally."

"This is some accident," she admonished, but her scowl was itching to turn into a smile. "You said you managed to combine your powers? Now that is interesting." She walked over to examine the hole and scorch mark in the ceiling. "We'd have to find a better location than this to practice, of course," she muttered.

"You're not...mad...at us, Kaede? And...how did you not hear it anyway?" Kagome asked hesitantly.

"We were all outside seeing off the new students," Kaede replied, answering the second question first. "And of course I'm peeved. But your discovery is much more important than a little mess. Besides, you two will clean it up and patch it for me." She started toward the door. "I'll find you some brooms."

"Miroku! Miroku!" A tiny voice was coming from somewhere. They looked around. Miroku looked at his hand, still holding Inuyasha's cell phone. "Miroku!" It was Sango on the other end of the line. He put the phone to his ear.

"Heh, sorry Sango. We have a bit of a, ah, situation here..." He paused. "No, no, nothing like that-yes, of course. Here he is." Miroku handed the phone to Inuyasha, who took it with a frown.

"Hey Sango, what's up?" A look of confusion crossed his face. "Now?- Uh, I suppose. Who all should come along?" He looked around the room. "Are you serious?- Yeah, I'll bring everyone here- I dunno, 25 minutes maybe?- Sure- Yeah, we'll head out as soon as we get cleaned up- What? Oh, don't worry about it, just an, er...accident of sorts- Yeah, minor enough- Okay, see you soon- Bye." He flipped the phone closed, a dark look twisting his features.

Everyone looked at him expectantly.

"We have a conference to go to. All of us. This Naraku business has just gotten more complicated."

Kagome blanched slightly. "How- how does Sango know about Naraku?"

"She's a Demon Slayer."

"...Oh."

"Anyway, we should hit the showers as quickly as possible. I want to be out of here in ten minutes. We'll all take my car. There's just enough room." He started toward the door.

"You better drive in a more sane fashion this time around..." Kagome muttered as she followed him out.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"Keh."

"Showers and dressing rooms are this way," Kaede said, directing Kagome toward another door down the hallway.

"Thanks," Kagome replied, then turned to Kali. "You wouldn't happen to have any spare clothes I could borrow, would you? Mine are kind of...uh, yeah." She gestured to her sweat-sodden and dust covered attire.

"Sure, I'll go grab you something from upstairs. Go ahead and jump in the shower. I'll set them out for you."

Kagome smiled at her. "Thanks."

"Sure thing."

...

Fifteen minutes after Sango's last phone-call, Jarius was letting Sesshoumaru and the Chief Youkai Justice into the conference room, followed closely by a small group from the Order that included the Taur Priestess herself. Chairs were brought out, and everyone shuffled around to make room for the new arrivals.

Sango was just starting to wonder where Inuyasha and his group were when her cell phone rang. She looked to the Chief for permission to answer it. He nodded at her.

"Hey, Inuyasha. You here?- Okay good. Go ahead and use the valet parking. The Slayers will pay for it- yes. And then go to the front desk and tell them you'd like directions to conference room 4B, and ask them to bring up a plate of sandwiches- why? Don't worry about it, it's just procedure- what do you mean, can we actually-I suppose it is about noon, isn't it. I'll talk to the Chief- yeah okay. See you soon." She hung up.

The Chief looked at her questioningly.

"Inuyasha wants to know if we can actually order some sandwiches or something," she managed to say with a straight face.

The corner of his mouth quirked up. "It is about that time as you said, isn't it? And we will be here for a while... I'll give our team down at the desk a call and see if they can do something about that for us."

There was a general murmur of relief around the table. It seemed everyone was on the same page, but no one had wanted to speak up.

...

Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Kali, and Kaede stepped out of the elevator onto the fourth floor, following the sign pointing the way to conference room 4B. The group was silent as they made their way down the hall, still feeling the gravity of what Inuyasha had relayed to them on the ride over. They stopped outside the conference room door, and Inuyasha was just reaching up to knock when his phone rang. It was Sango again.

"Hey Sango, we're-"

"Actually, this is Jarius," a deep voice corrected.

Inuyasha jumped slightly. "Oh, uhh-"

"Passphrase?"

"Um...we'd like to order some sandwiches?" He said tentatively, reusing the phrase Sango had told him earlier.

"Eh, close enough."

Inuyasha heard a click. Frowning, he snapped his phone shut just as the door opened.

The group proceeded through the doorway, ushered in by a tall, burly man, whom Inuyasha assumed was the one he'd spoken on the phone with. The earlier shuffle of people and chairs repeated itself, and soon they were all comfortably, if a bit closely, seated. Inuyasha nodded at Sesshoumaru and a demon he hadn't met but knew to be the Chief Youkai Justice, and smiled in mild surprise at Kikyo and two other priestesses he didn't know, one of whom was clearly the Taur Priestess. He blew out a breath. So this really was serious.

The Chief Commander cleared his throat and looked around at everyone. "I am glad you all could make it. Before we start, let me remind you all that what is said here today does not go beyond this room without my, the Taur Priestess', or the Chief Justice's explicit approval. You all are here because you have been deemed trustworthy and useful. Do not disappoint."

There was a wave of nods and a general murmur of assent.

Over the next 20 minutes, the Chief Commander outlined both Jarius' and Sango's stories, stopping occasionally as questions arose. As the discussion was winding down, the conference call device in the center of the table beeped, signaling an incoming call.

Sango looked in surprise at the Chief. She didn't know anyone had the number to their line.

A frown creased the Chief's brow. "That would be our informant. But I said not to call unless an emergency came up..."

Everyone looked at each other apprehensively. The Chief sighed and pushed a large green button.

"What have you got for us, Kartek?" He queried.

"Am I speaking to just you, or are there others present?" Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha both stiffened as the extremely familiar female voice came over the speaker.

"A whole group of us. But you may speak freely," the Chief replied.

Sesshoumaru's lips tightened. That is most certainly not someone named Kartek, he thought to himself. It appears I will be having a word with my wife when I get home tonight. He glanced at Inuyasha to see if he had betrayed anything about his knowledge of who was on the other end of the line. The only sign was the slightly shocked expression in his eyes.

"You told me not to call unless there was an emergency. Well, we've got one. The elderly Demon Slayer, Mr. Corey, the one who insisted on keeping his counter-charm, was found dead this morning by his neighbor. I wasn't even aware that there was a plot around him, or I would have informed you so that we could prevent this. He's likely been dead for a few days, but his reclusive nature meant that we didn't know. We should have kept closer tabs on him. Not only did they kill him, but there was a cut in his forearm-they took his counter-charm."

The room was instantly in an uproar as everyone tried to ask questions at once. Finally, over the din, the Chief shouted, "Silence!" and the room quieted.

"Well, now we have an explanation for how Naraku was able to target those demon-owned businesses," the Chief said. "We need to get that counter-charm back. And make sure he can't get his hands on any others."

"Word is a group of thugs calling themselves the 'Novus Lux Army' has it," the voice from the receiver put in. "They've been bragging about it. I didn't take the talk seriously until Mr. Corey was discovered."

"I see..." the Chief mused.

"Should we try to take it from them?" asked Sango.

"It's probably a trap," the informant advised.

"Probably," the Chief agreed. "But all the same, we can't afford to let this go. We need a plan."

*The phrase that the Slayers opened their meeting with is in Latin, and means, "War must lead to peace and order, for in chaos nothing thrives." I used Google translate though, so if one of you happens to be fluent in Latin, and it's somewhat off, I'm sorry. You can correct me and I'll fix it.

Also, a shout-out to AM78: Thank you so much for the help with the details on the gun stuff! If I got anything wrong, please let me know so I can fix it. :)

Anyway, until next time, wonderful readers.

-ebj