InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Patchwork Family ❯ Identifying the Enemy, a Bond Issue, and an Accessory to Murder ( Chapter 35 )

A/N: All Inuyasha characters and references belong to the creator of Inuyasha, Rumiko Takahashi and published by Shogakukan. Any other characters are more than likely my own creation. If I borrow directly from another story I will do my best to make sure I give credit where credit is due. I will be pulling some material (ideas and inspirations) from Burn Notice, Leverage, Scorpion, Supernatural, and Lockwood & Co.

*** Identifying the Enemy, a Bond Issue, and an Accessory to Murder ***
03202015 (numbers are for my own purposes, don’t mind them)

The meeting broke up, most people retreating to their separate quarters for the night. Sesshomaru stood slowly from his chair and said to Kagome, “there is a face count in my office, if could look at them tonight. I want to get this straightened out and know exactly what we might be dealing with in terms of leaked information.”

Kagome considered him for a moment before she nodded. She’d made her decision to stay, at least for a while. It was time to get started. She was greatly relieved to hear Inuyasha follow behind her as she walked through Sesshomaru’s private sitting room into his office. Her lips twitched a little as she looked around the interior; well-furnished with warmly toned antique furniture and art. This space fit the imposing man it belonged to, in her opinion. She’d turned to look as he gestured at the wall next to the door, papered in carefully labeled photographs, but her eyes stopped when she saw the bank of monitors attached to the wall next to the big desk.

She was dying to run over and examine his set-up. It looked well put together, but would it be the as impressive on the inside, where it really counted? In her experience, advanced computer technology generally wasn’t something most demons were terribly interested in. Kagome tugged her eyes away and put her itchy fingers in her pockets, turning her attention the photos. She raised her brows in surprise, commenting, “this is a big network. How many of these people are more than just stringers?”

Inuyasha stood next to her, looking at the wall of images as well. “Most of these are stringers, and people we work with regularly. Besides those of us that are here at the house there’s about another ten that we consider part of the main crew, but that aren’t cleared to know about headquarters here. Kagome frowned, laying a fingertip against the photo of a dark haired woman. “Here’s Tsubaki… point out those ten for me first; they’re the most important.”

Sesshomaru stood next to them while Inuyasha pointed out faces one by one. When he pointed to an older man with a weathered, lined face, dark eyes and short cropped grey hair, he was frowning a little, waiting for her response. When she shook her head Sesshomaru asked, “are you certain?”

Kagome’s eyes flicked to the Dai Yokai and she nodded. “I don’t know him, but I can only identify the ones I’ve seen. Naraku keeps his people running separate from each other mostly, so I know I didn’t lay eyes on everyone. He’s a real micro manager. Why? Who is this man?”

Inuyasha stepped back from the wall and crossed his arms, setting his feet shoulder width apart. “That’s Vinnie, the guy I was going to have look at your leg. He’s sort of our resident doctor, though Rosalind’s picked up some of what he knows over the years.”

Kagome raised a brow. “The man who’s been gone-- helping a cousin or something since Tsu and Yuko disappeared?”

Inuyasha nodded. “Yeah. I really hope we’re wrong about him. I would have sworn we could trust him. The man has more ethical standards than any of us. If anything, I would have been worried he’d try to give us to the police, not Naraku.”

Kagome looked at the photo thoughtfully and shook her head. “I’ve never seen him.”

Sesshomaru gestured towards a picture of a Japanese man, maybe in his late 30s with short black hair and a small scar cutting through one eyebrow. The edge of a tattoo crept up one side of his neck out from under his shirt collar. Kagome wasn’t sure but it looked like the inked design might be a bird of some kind. “Do you recognize this man?” he asked.

She studied the photo for a long moment, making sure before she shook her head. Inuyasha frowned and said, “that’s Yuko, the guy who no one has seen or been able to contact since Tsubaki left.”

Sesshomaru sat down at his desk then and listened while Inuyasha and Kagome went through each remaining face pictured. He noted the names on a small piece of paper when Kagome identified several of their stringers as people she knew also worked for Naraku and the Anansi on a regular basis, though none of them were terribly important. It just meant the Wardens would no longer be hiring them for any work after today.

It was almost midnight, and the three of them stood around a map spread out on the big desk when there was a quiet knocking sound from the open door. They looked up to see Miroku standing there, looking tense, with a newspaper curled in one hand. “You guys have a minute?”

Sesshomaru nodded once, noting the change in Miroku’s scent, and the way he shifted a little on his feet. Something was wrong.

Miroku walked in, clutching his newspaper and Kagome put the ruler and red marker she’d been using back on the desk. She turned to step out and give them some privacy but Inuyasha caught her hand and tugged her back to stand next to him. Miroku noticed this and gave Kagome a small nod, letting her know he didn’t mind if she stayed.

She appreciated this, but there’d been an ulterior motive in the form of the big couch in Sesshomaru’s sitting room. She was getting tired and standing on her stiff leg for this long was beginning to become uncomfortable. Inuyasha seemed to sense the conflicting feelings and his brow furrowed slightly as he looked down at her. She shook her head once and gave him a small, reassuring smile, moving past Miroku to slide down into one of the leather chairs sitting in front of the desk.

Miroku laid the newspaper out across the map on the desk as he said, “I may have a problem.”

They all looked at the front page. Kagome scanned the headlines and couldn’t see anything that would be cause for alarm, but then… what did she know?

Council considers Freshwater Reserve projects

Eureka City School District requests vote for bond issue, budget proposal for expansion released

Update: Tree cleared, students to move back into Colter hall; dry week ahead

Two rescued in Humboldt Bay after sailboat capsizes

Then she saw, next to the secondary main news item, two large mug shots with quote boxes next to them. One of them was Miroku, dressed in his suit and tie, looking highly professional and completely legitimate. The guys looked at each other for a moment and Inuyasha asked, “what’s this mean then?”

Miroku ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “I’m not sure. It may not be a problem at all, but…” He shook his head again and sank into the second chair, next to Kagome’s. After a short silence he said, “I stopped using the last name I’d be worried about years ago. The one I gave the school district here when I applied for my job should be safe… but they ran a picture. That’s what I’m concerned about.”

Kagome frowned and reached for the paper, glancing at Miroku. “May I?”

He nodded, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees. As she read the article, Miroku said, “I might need to disappear for a while. I don’t expect I’d need to be gone more than a few months, maybe four at the most. I’ll go someplace far from here and make sure somebody sees me who shouldn’t, draw their attention someplace that isn’t here. Then I’ll high tail it to a safe house for a while and come back when I know I haven’t been compromised.”

Miroku sounded a little tortured as he went on. “This isn’t a Warden problem. I just want to know that I can leave Sango and the kids here with you guys, that you’ll watch out and keep them safe for me.”

Inuyasha sat on the corner of the desk and asked, clearly doubtful, “you’re telling me Sango’s just gonna be fine with you taking off for parts unknown without them? Does she know about this?”

Miroku shook his head, running one hand down his worried face. “No Inuyasha. I haven’t told her. You know how that would go. But I may have to leave to keep them safe and I can’t let anything get in the way of that, even if she never forgives me for it.”

“Who might be looking for you?” Kagome asked quietly, still looking at the newsprint in her hand thoughtfully.

When no one answered she glanced up at them, then specifically at Miroku. Cautiously she said, “you know I can appreciate the problem of newspaper exposure after what it did to me… remember that’s what blew my cover. But your situation might not be as precarious. I might be able to fix it before it’s a problem… if you can tell me what’s going on.”

All three of the guys looked at her for a second before Miroku asked slowly, “what do you need to know?”

Kagome glanced back at the paper and held it up. “For starters, what’s this article? It just sounds like local budget numbers. This won’t get much attention, will it?”

Miroku sat back and breathed out a long sigh as he explained. “The whole thing is a proposal for a budget that would cover some pretty major improvements and new construction for the school district. It’s a lot of data and strategic planning. I’ve been working on it for over a year. The plan addresses some things a lot of people want to see happen. But the whole thing hinges on the county’s willingness to put up the vote for a bond issue to help pay for it. Then, if we get that far, the poll numbers of the registered voters have to be in favor of the project by a 85/15 margin or the whole thing goes up in smoke.”

The accountant-turned-outlaw rubbed his head, looking tired as he finished, “we’re talking about upwards of thirty million dollars in contracts, and that doesn’t even take taxes and permits into account.”

Kagome’s eyes widened and she looked back up at him. “Wow… so where does all that money come from? Local taxes?”

Miroku gestured back to the paper and said, “a good chunk of it would come from a temporary tax increase, yeah. The rest would be covered by federal grants and some allocated state funds.”

She nodded slowly and asked, “so who would notice this story enough to be looking at it, and who are you worried might see it?”

He thought hard before he glanced at Inuyasha uncomfortably and then locked eyes with her again. He reiterated her own statement from earlier in the evening as he said, “I trust Inuyasha, so I’m trusting you… and please remember that if you make me regret it, it’s not just my ass, it’s my family- Sango and my daughter especially.”

Kagome nodded once, giving him a reassuring look as she told him, “I swear. I won’t turn you in…” she narrowed her eyes a little and amended, “unless I find out you slaughtered a bunch of innocent children someplace and tossed them in a mass grave. Then you’re sunk. I can’t see you doing something like that, but you should know I have my limits on what I look the other way on. I may be dancing the other side of the legal line now… apparently…” her eyes flicked to Inuyasha as she remembered their conversation at the garage. Then she said, “but I’m just not a black hat by nature. I don’t know that I ever could be.”

She glanced nervously at Sesshomaru, adding, “all of you should probably know that.” Her scent spiked with fear and nerves as she met Sesshomaru’s eyes, but she stayed firm in her statement. She was surprised when Sesshomaru said evenly, “granted. I would have little respect for one who maintained no standards.”

Her fear receded a little and she swallowed, glancing at Inuyasha and finding nothing but approval, even amusement, on his face. This reassured her and she focused again on the man in the chair next to her. Miroku sighed and said, “mostly, it will only be people in this voting district that will be interested in the article. Some of the surrounding counties whose economics are impacted by ours will take notice. It’s a lot of money. It’s Interpol that I know would love to get their hands on me, and the CIB in I’m sure there’s also a notice file floating around somewhere in the white collar division of the FBI system here in the states.”

Kagome made a small ‘hmm’ sound, chewing her bottom lip as she considered these details. She met his eyes and asked carefully, “you said white collar division… what are we talking about? Embezzlement? Trading infractions? Or are they looking at you for violent crime as well?”

Miroku’s eyes dropped to stare at his knee as he said, “um… let me think…” Then he listed off, “racketeering, insider trading, blackmail and bribery, money laundering, but the only violent crime they want me for as far as I know, is that I was implicated as an accessory to a murder about six years ago.”

Kagome raised an inquiring eyebrow. “Implicated as an accessory?”

Miroku gave her a cool look and said, “and I accessorized… a lot. I’m not sorry I did it. Is that what you want to know?”

She returned his cool look, but again remembered the talk she’d had with Inuyasha earlier that afternoon. ‘Yeah, I kill people. I killed someone a few days ago; but only after he all but managed to kill you first.’ Life wasn’t always black and white, and she ought to have enough personal experience to know it by now.

Gently, trying to sooth his offended dignity, Kagome asked, “can you tell me what happened?”

He searched her face for a long moment before he glanced at the Taisho brothers and explained a story that he’d never really told in full detail. “I was working with a couple friends in the UK, running a game on this big shot lawyer. In the course of things, my buddy that was the team’s operator found out this guy was raking in a massive amount of money off the books and stashing it in Irish banks. When he finally tracked the transactions back, we found a dozen sets of parents in different parts of England and Scotland who’d all had children kidnapped; mostly six and seven year old girls and boys… all with blond hair and blue eyes.”

Kagome closed her eyes and shook her head, “oh no…”

Miroku nodded, his mouth set in a hard line, as he’d tasted something bitter. “This man deserved to die. Only four of the kids were relinquished when the ransom was paid. Two of the parents were never even sent a ransom request. These kids disappeared forever somewhere in and he and his hired man collected a paycheck for it.”

She put a hand over her mouth, nodding her head once in understanding as he finished answering her question. “We were putting all the pieces together into a neat package for the police but before we got them the file, he did it again right in front of us. What was I supposed to do? Just watch? And hope the police got their crap figured out in time? Our bruiser and I cornered him behind his office and beat the snot out of him until he told us about the roost where his goon was keeping the little girl.” He paused for a second, eyes a little unfocused as he remembered events long passed. “Her name was Anna Marie Collingham, she was a sweet kid. She was home by dinner time… and he and his muscle man weren’t… and that’s what happened.”

There was silence for a long minute as Kagome digested this confession. Sesshomaru looked supremely unconcerned, and though Inuyasha wasn’t apathetic, it was clear this wasn’t news to him either.

Kagome tossed the newspaper on the desk and sighed as she said, “thanks for telling me.” She closed her eyes again and breathed deeply for a second, making a mental list of what needed to be accomplished. Finally she opened her eyes and said, “if the article is as big a deal locally as you say, then the odds are good that trying to scrub it online will be very difficult until the vote has been completed and they move on with the project, until it’s no longer newsworthy. I wouldn’t even bother trying until then because the online guy at the paper, if he’s doing his job, will notice it’s gone and repost it. He needs the page views for the website, that’s a big part of how his value to his company is measured. But, I can definitely remove the photo from the website and fix it so they won’t run your face again unless they want to be the subject of a federal level lawsuit. How concerned are you about the printed copies?”

Miroku looked a little surprised, but said, “well, there isn’t much we can do about printed copies is there? The horse is already out of the proverbial barn there.”

She considered that, then said, “if money isn’t an issue you could offer to purchase all the remaining uncirculated copies, but that could be a hefty bill.” She glanced at the date of the publication. It had run that morning. “Most copies will have moved out to racks or in the mail and be long gone by now. But we could go lift all their extras and burn them. A newspaper generally has a big stack of extras for archive purposes, and they sit at the front desk for a week or two in case someone comes to the office to purchase a back issue.”

Kagome frowned and looked at the clock on the wall. It was about one in the morning. She was tired, but she said, “the Times-Standard is a daily I think, so the best time to go do that would actually be now. It’s late enough that the person who updates their website will be leaving, and the early birds and carriers will start coming in around 4 a.m.”

Sesshomaru looked amused somehow and, in her weary state, she wasn’t sure whether or not this irked her. Inuyasha and Miroku just looked surprised. Miroku asked, “how on earth do you know all this?”

She shrugged and said, “I’ve done security work for a newspaper, even jerry-rigged a network for a small daily in Oregon once when theirs barely functioned and the corporation that bought them was forcing one IT guy to cover three newspapers with 250 employees. He didn’t have time to sleep and go to the bathroom, let alone come down there from to redirect their server pathways. And newspaper people love to talk… so I just listened.”

Kagome frowned through the headache she was getting and said, “if there’s a computer I can use here, I can go ahead and take the photo off their website now, and then take it down again a few times over the next couple days when they put it back up. I can’t call them and make it stick until I have something from my stuff in When I have my gear, I can also scrub you from all the police records on the county, state and possibly federal levels… but I can’t do Interpol or the CIB, however…”

She thought for a second and then said slowly, “I can’t promise anything, but I know of someone I might be able to track down that definitely could wipe you from Interpol records; digitally I mean. Anything hard copy we’d have to locate and swipe by hand, which would be a massive and likely impossible undertaking. But this guy might clean you from their digital systems if you pay him well… and if I push his buttons right. He’s not known for his good temperament.”

Miroku looked a little stunned and let out a big breath. “Okay… yeah- that would be great, I mean… I’ll pay whatever he wants.”

Kagome looked at the clock again as it crept closer to 1:15 a.m. “Do you want to snag their extra print copies? If you do, we need to go now.”

Miroku thought about this hard and, much to her relief, shook his head. “I doubt it would be worth the trouble. Like you said, thousands of copies have already gone out and I don’t imagine a hundred more will make much of a difference. It’s really the online stuff that worries me.”

Sesshomaru looked across his desk at her and said, “if you can guarantee that it will not be traced back to me, you can use this machine here.”

She glanced up and saw him push a thin silver laptop across the desk. She hesitated a second then picked it up, reassuring him, “I can wiggle the path around so if anyone looks, it will lead back to an IP address at the Super 8 motel in south Portland.”

She waited to open the computer until Sesshomaru gave her a nod of approval, then got to work. While she tapped away at the keyboard on her lap she shot him a slightly teasing look, smiling a little as she said, “awfully trusting of you, lending a hacker your personal laptop.”

Sesshomaru lifted one sardonic brow and Inuyasha shifted to stand behind her chair and watch, arms crossed over his chest. She looked at Sesshomaru again, nervous that perhaps she’d let her mouth run too far amok. In case she had, she said anxiously, “don’t worry. I promise to respect your privacy…” She pulled up the newspaper’s website and said, tapping a few keys, “however… the Times-Standard has no such luck tonight.”

Sesshomaru leaned back comfortably in his chair and said, “I keep nothing requiring privacy on any computer, particularly machines with internet access.”

Kagome smiled as she found what she needed and slid her way into the website host’s asset manager. Her eyes flicked up to Sesshomaru once as she grabbed the newspaper again to type in the headline she wanted to pull up. “That’s smart. It’s shocking how often people who are otherwise really smart don’t understand that closed network with an air-gap, no internet connection, is all it takes. Then… if someone like me wanted to do this…” she clicked and tapped away, then saved the asset changes. “They would have to physically break into the building and then get logged into an on-location employee account to do it. It’s do-able, but it would be a pain in the neck. ”

She exited the browser and closed the computer, setting it carefully on the desk. She handed the newspaper back to Miroku and told him, “the story’s still up, but the photo’s gone. Remind me and I’ll do it again tomorrow. We’ll see how good the web guy is at his work, if he noticed the image asset was deleted.”

Kagome put a hand over her mouth as she yawned, trying to silence any acknowledgement of the annoying lack of energy when there was important work to be done. Miroku ran his fingers through his dark hair and stood, offering her his hand. She hesitated a moment and accepted the hand-shake as he said, “thank you Kagome. I mean it. I really appreciate this.”

She gave him a small smile and took her hand back. “I’m sorry I can’t do anything about the rest so quickly. When I have my gear I could even set up a web crawler that will let me know if your picture pops up elsewhere on the internet.”

He shook his head, impressed. Then he took the newspaper, standing thoughtfully for a moment before he said, “if I ever did have to go… or if something happened to me… Sango and Shiori…”

Inuyasha shook his head and tossed a paper clip off the desk at Miroku. “You idiot. What do you think we’d do? Toss ‘em in the street?”

Miroku looked at his friend for a long moment, then nodded once. “Thanks Inuyasha.”

Inuyasha snorted out a laugh. “Juan would come after me with that big elephant gun of his.”

Miroku chuckled at the mental image, a wry grin settling on his face. Inuyasha added, “laugh it up buddy, because I’d step back and point her grandfather in your direction. He’d track you down and bring you back at gunpoint just so Sango could strangle you for leaving her in the first place. I’ll just make popcorn and watch.”

Miroku made a small sound of amusement and sighed wearily. He waved the newspaper at them as he turned to leave. “Sounds like a plan, I’ll see you guys tomorrow. T.G.I freakin’ F, and all that.”

When he was gone there was a moment of silence before Kagome stifled another yawn. Inuyasha sat down on the arm of the chair next to hers as he said, “yeah, I’m thinkin’ it’s about that time, at least for you. But first…”

He turned his eyes towards his brother. “When Kagome and I head up to Portland, I’m thinking we’re going to put her grandmother on a plane to the safe house near Glacier Bay. I need the number to call the house keeper up there to get the place stocked and get her a ride from the airport.”

Sesshomaru considered this, his eyes falling to Kagome, who sat in the big chair, looking small and biting her lip nervously before she said, “it would mean a lot to me. She’s all I have left. I’ll find a way to pay back the expense.”

Sesshomaru shook his head once and opened a filing cabinet next to his desk. He handed Inuyasha a scrap of paper with a phone number on it and told him, “wire them funds for groceries and extra fuel for the boat and generator.”

Kagome was frowning again and asked suddenly, “what’s the date today? When can I leave for ”

Inuyasha glanced at the calendar that sat on the desk. “It’s March 20th…” he said thoughtfully, then he frowned as well, trading a weighted look with Sesshomaru. “Thursday,” Inuyasha said slowly. “I have some stuff I need to help with before we go, and you need a little more re-coop time before you hit the ground running again.”

She wanted to argue, but as she was depending on his help and resources, and as a small part of her knew he was right about her health, she just nodded her reluctant agreement.

Sesshomaru’s expression was a little stiffer than usual as he asked, “how long will you need in ”

Kagome glanced from one demon to the other, sensing a tension that hadn’t been there before, and said, “I’m not sure. A couple days, I think, to get what I need, run a few errands and somehow talk my grandmother onto a plane to ”

She sat up straighter as she thought of something else. “And I may need to go back in a few weeks, just for a day or so.” Hesitantly she suggested, “if I get that Yamaha in the shop running, maybe I could take that up there and back from April 12th to the 14th?”

Inuyasha shook his head immediately. “No. I’ll take you back up. What for though?”

Kagome chewed her lip for a second, trying to decide how to explain her special errand. On the 13th of every month, she had a standing engagement with the ghosts of Portland, and any others that could find her there with needs only one of her kind could fulfill. Finally, she said vaguely, “I have an appointment. I don’t want to miss it. I missed the last several after Naraku…” She chewed her lip again, feeling guilty for abandoning her post, though she knew she hadn’t had a choice in the matter. “I don’t want to miss it this month,” she said quietly. “It’s a sort of maintenance thing for the work I do.”

“Okay…” Inuyasha said, grudgingly accepting that he was just going to have to pull more information out of her later. Right now, she looked like she was about to slide down in the chair and fall asleep. She’d been through enough for tonight.

He straightened and reached out a hand to pull her up. She took it, wincing as the weight settled on her stiff leg, and not minding in the least that he kept her hand in his. Inuyasha turned to say over his shoulder to Sesshomaru, “I’m going to take a run around the perimeter before I crash, but this one’s headed to bed. You’re staying up?”

Sesshomaru nodded once, understanding the real question and answering in the affirmative. While Inuyasha was out, he would leave his doors open and keep an ear on the hallway, and the open doors of Inuyasha’s rooms, in case there was a problem between now and sunrise. Even Sesshomaru was noticing the extent to which his half-brother was connected with and seemed to worry over this young woman. Frankly, he was a little impressed at how late his younger brother had managed to hold onto his half-demon appearance after the sun had set. He’d seen Inuyasha do such a thing before, but never for more than an hour or two. He smirked and flicked a hand dismissively. “Yes. I have paperwork to go over.”

Kagome was tired enough that her attention wandered and she caught very little of this exchange. Inuyasha steered her across the hall, through his sitting room, and into the bedroom. She pulled her pajamas from her plastic bag and changed quickly, brushing her teeth and hair before she returned to the bedroom. Inuyasha stayed, waiting until she slid into bed to sit on the edge of the mattress. While she’d been in the bathroom he’d changed into a pair of sweat pants. He’d only needed as much sleep as she did the night before because it had been several days since he’d gotten much rest at all.

When he sat down next to her where she lay in bed, she turned to look at him. Her eyes drifted over his bare chest and arms, and her sleepy self couldn’t think of a reason why she shouldn’t be happy at the sight. Inuyasha lips twitched in amusement at her slightly dopy smile and brushed her long hair aside to kiss her temple. Then he dropped a warm kiss on her lips and said, “I’m going for a run. I’ll be back before long. Just go to sleep.”

She paused for a second, then nodded, sinking deeper into the blankets and murmuring, “okay…”

He reached out to turn the lamp off but she shifted a little and shook her head against the pillow. “Leave it on… please, just till you get back.”

He remembered what Rosalind had told him that afternoon about night lights, remembered Kagome’s terror when she’d woken up that morning in the dark, and nodded once, rubbing her shoulder a little through the blanket before he got to his feet again. He had to get moving. He couldn’t hold the pull of the impending change back much longer.

Inuyasha walked out of the house barefoot, without turning on the porch light, and let his eyes comb carefully over the road leading to the driveway. The beach and yard were empty in the dark night. He shuddered, closing his eyes for a second as he felt the last of his demon blood withdrawing, the human part of him surging to the forefront and dimming his senses. It had been all he could do to stave off the cycle.

He’d never managed to hold it at bay this long before and it made something in him ache uncomfortably. His chest was tight as his silver hair turned pitch black, and he felt the disorienting sensation of his ears changing both location and structure. That was always the worst part. The way it effected his inner equilibrium always made him feel like he was about to fall over for a second.

He opened eyes that were no longer gold, but a dark chocolate brown, and mostly as blind in the dark as those of any other human. He didn’t want to pile this weirdness on Kagome on top of everything else, and a part of him always felt-- maybe not shame anymore, but he felt less than what he normally was on these nights. The new moon forced this on him, his demon energy and power waxing and waning with its light.

He stretched a little and took off at a fast pace. He’d wait until he was sure enough time had passed for Kagome to be asleep. He had excess energy to work off anyway. As soon as the sun came back up, his demon blood would rise again with it, restoring him to his normal state and appearance.

As Inuyasha ran, he tried to map out the things that had to happen in the next week. It would have been easier if all this had hit at a different time… any other time, really. He’d get through tonight with his little human transformation issue contained for the next month. He knew Kagome wanted to leave sooner for While he hadn’t been lying when he told her she needed to give herself more time than that, her recovery hadn’t been his only reason for putting the trip off until Thursday. There was another problem to be dealt with. This was an inconvenient time for it to return, but there was little that could be done about it.

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru functioned under a truce of sorts these days, and it made things easier on both of them, though neither would ever admit it out loud. Sesshomaru knew about Inuyasha’s new moon phases of human vulnerability as well as his full moon phases where his demon blood would roil and surge, overwhelming the human side of him. On these nights it was only the proximity of the sword his father had left him that kept him safe and in full control. Without them ever having discussed it, Sesshomaru had kept his brother’s secret. In return, Inuyasha helped Sesshomaru cover a weakness of his own. Even a demon as strong as Sesshomaru didn’t live and fight to be a Dai Yokai without taking some hits along the way.