InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Thicker Than Water ❯ Impasse ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four: Impasse

Inuyasha stood still, listening through the reverberations of the door's closing for sounds of pursuit. On hearing none, he stalked to the room's farthest corner and slid down to sit with his back to the wall, bringing Tetsusaiga up into its familiar place against his shoulder out of habit. He grasped the hilt loosely, his fingers resting on tattered wrappings burnished smooth by use. Slowly his grip tightened, pressing the minute contours of the sword's binding still flatter.

Shit.

What the hell was wrong with him? All of Kagome's yammering about family must have really gotten under his skin - things wouldn't be any different this time just because the girl was his cousin.

Afraid of him. Dammit.

Why did she have to look so much like his mother?

That same heavy hair and determined eyes that his yellowed memories of her held. It had hurt much more than he had expected to get that reaction from someone who looked so much like the first person he had lost.

Screw it. It didn't matter. She would avoid him, he would avoid her, he would get out of Shiroyama as soon as possible, and they would all be happy. For now, he was here, he would do his job, and she would just have to live with it.

Inuyasha passed the short remainder of the afternoon in a fever of seething thought, sometimes slumped against the wall, but more often pacing back and forth along the chamber's length. Long after the room had darkened and the sounds of the keep had quieted, he managed to fall into a fitful doze, frustrated at the useless outcome to his thoughts.

* * * * *

As was his custom, Inuyasha woke early. Momentarily startled at the unfamiliar surroundings and the absence of his companions, he tensed and shifted his grip on Tetsusaiga before he remembered where he was.

Shiroyama.

He stood and secured Tetsusaiga at his hip before heading for the door. The keep lay still around him, bare of any of the sounds he associated with daily routine. It would be a while before Shiroyama started to wake up, and he had no intention of staying cooped up in that room any longer.

As he had guessed, the hallway outside was dark and quiet. The only signs of life were a torch flickering wanly in a wall-sconce, down to its last dregs of fuel, and the even, steady breaths of a sleeper drifting from the room to his right. Choosing a direction at random, Inuyasha set off to begin his exploration of the keep.

Though the Shiroyama was of a fair size, the floor plan was simple. He stuck to the lower level - the tenshu* was most likely guarded. Many of the rooms he passed held snoring occupants, and on a few occasions he barely escaped the notice of a fellow insomniac. When this happened, he usually wound up ducking into the nearest unused room until the other person had passed, not wanting to deal with the awkward scene that would likely erupt should they meet. He was lucky - there was no shortage of empty rooms in Shiroyama. The ones he saw were obviously used for storage, piled high with boxes, but their contents were covered in a patina of dust. He wondered how long they had been that way. Was it like this when his mother lived here? Or had the place since gone into decline?

Probably the latter. Over fifty years had passed since she had lived here. He still found it hard to believe that he had been sealed so long.

The keep was beginning to wake up now. He could hear people stirring down the halls and smell the fire being lit in the kitchens. The sun would probably rise soon. He didn't want to go back to his room, but he didn't want to meet anybody in the halls, either. Maybe he could get outside and wait out the morning there.

Inuyasha carefully scented the air. He had been too absorbed in thought to pay much attention to it earlier, just registering the most obvious odors automatically. To his right lay the kitchens - the fire he had already noted and the lingering smell of the previous night's meal. To the left, he could make out, amongst other smells, a faint draft of fresh air. He turned and headed that way.

He had to duck a few somnolent servants on his way, groggily going about their morning chores, but soon found a door that led to a garden at the keep's back. It was a very small garden, and the meticulously pruned trees were painfully artificial, but it was outside and out of the way, so it was good enough for him.

He made his way to the largest tree in the place and leapt to one of its sturdy lower branches. From that vantage, he could see over the keep's wall and into the valley it sat above. The air was already starting to take the chill of the autumn that would come in earnest in another month or so, but had not yet become unpleasantly cold. Inuyasha shrugged at his thoughts - even if it were cold, it wouldn't matter to him. He'd been outside in far worse. With that, he settled back against the tree's trunk to watch the sun rise over the mountains on the horizon.

* * * * *

The soft murmurs of chatter woke Sango the next morning. Shippou's high, bright voice leapt and jumped around the calmer, warmer tones of Kagome's speech in a manner that put Sango in mind of a flock of sparrows mobbing a crow. A gently wry smile tugged briefly at the corners of her mouth at the familiarity of the scene; Shippou never seemed to have a day when he didn't feel energetic. Her eyes cracked open to the sight of a strange room, spare and neat in the dim morning light.

It took her a moment to remember where they were. After Inuyasha's bad-tempered exit of the previous night, the rest of them had been left to try and reassure Lady Usei that his pique was only the result of nerves, and not of anything personal. Sango felt her mouth tighten into a hard line. She did not think they had succeeded. When they left, the Lady had still been pale as paper. Her hand clenched to a fist underneath the blanket. What had Inuyasha been thinking to growl at her like that…?

No one had gone after him. Kagome had looked as though she wanted to, but had instead set herself to the task of appeasing Lady Usei's worries. After that, they had been whisked away by the steward so quickly they hardly realized it. He had taken them on a lengthy tour of Shiroyama and introduced them to a number of people, none of whose names she could now remember. It had been too much too fast. They had passed Inuyasha's door once in the course of the tour, but it had been closely shut and, to all appearances, deserted. After his display of temper, Sango doubted that Lady Usei would have wanted to disturb him.

With a mental sigh, Sango shook herself free of that line of thought and sat up - there would be plenty of time later to worry over it.

"Good morning, Sango-chan."

"Good morning, Kagome-chan, Shippou-chan."

"Kagome! Now that she's awake can we go get breakfast?"

Kagome sent Sango a rather hangdog look before replying; evidently, Shippou had been up for quite some time. "I'm sorry, Sango-chan. Would you mind if we got dressed quickly and headed for the kitchens? Shippou-chan was too excited to eat much last night."

Sango shook her head, the wry smile making a brief reappearance. "That's fine. We can eat breakfast and then find Inuyasha and Houshi-sama." Her face regained its serious mien at Inuyasha's name. "I think we need to talk to them. Inuyasha was acting strangely yesterday."

Kagome's hand momentarily stilled in its course, halted midway to her pack. "Yes. He was." The hand resumed its journey with more vigor, and Kagome scowled. "He'd better not keep up that attitude of his the whole time we're here. I mean, I can understand why he'd be a bit moody, but…"

A sharp rap at the door interrupted her tirade, and all three occupants of the room exchanged a glance. Who would be knocking on their door? It seemed a sure bet that Inuyasha would be avoiding them for a while, and no matter how good his cover story might be, Sango doubted that Miroku would find a servant willing to lead him to their room before they were up and decent. Finally, Kagome cleared her throat nervously and called out.

"Who is it?"

A somewhat timid alto answered her, muffled by the door. "Sachiko and Hatsue, my lady. Lady Usei sent us."

"Come in."

The door slid open and two girls near Sango's age bowed and entered, one of them carrying a bundle of punctiliously folded cloth in her arms. They hovered unsurely before them a moment, darting curious glances at each in turn before one offered up a watery smile and spoke.

"Lady Usei thought that Lady Kagome might like some more suitable clothes."

And with that, her companion kneeled and began to unfold the package, revealing kimono similar in style to the ones Lady Usei had worn the day before and the ones Sachiko and Hatsue themselves wore.

The first one to react was Shippou, who scampered out from his place at Kagome's side to inspect the cloth's pattern. It was only when the girl unfolding the kimono squeaked and started back that Sango realized that Kagome's enormous pack had hidden him from sight before.

"Oh! I…I'm sorry! I didn't think there was anyone else in the room."

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you couldn't see him. Shippou-chan, you should apologize for scaring her like that."

"But I didn't do anything!"

"I know you didn't mean to frighten her, but it would be rude not to say you're sorry."

"No, it's fine, Lady Kagome," interjected the girl, "He just startled me a bit." Though she spoke calmly, she kept her hand clasped to her chest a few moments longer before hesitantly reaching to continue unfolding the kimono. The handmaidens kept their eyes downcast after that, and Sango could see out of the corner of her eye that Kagome was discreetly biting her lip. The only one unaffected by the uncomfortable atmosphere seemed to be Shippou, who had gone back to his inspection without further ado.

"Wow… Kagome, are you really going to wear this?"

"I…" Kagome tugged self-consciously at the pink flannel sleeve of her pajamas and threw a glance to her pack, where her school uniform lay folded, before returning her gaze to the kimono. "Do you have anything less elaborate?"

Sachiko and Hatsue exchanged a look.

"My lady…"

"Please? I really wouldn't feel comfortable wearing something so elegant…"

The handmaidens seemed to resign themselves, and the one kneeling on the floor began the careful process of refolding the kimono.

"Yes, Lady Kagome. We'll bring you something plainer."

As they exited the room, Sango felt her shoulders loosen, releasing a tension she hadn't realized they held. She was happy that Kagome had not accepted the kimono. Of course she couldn't wear her usual clothes here, where so much might depend on the impression they made, but she was glad that Kagome was not going to turn into a grand lady on her. Between Lady Usei's formality and the deferential handmaidens, she already felt out-of-place.

Sachiko and Hatsue soon returned, this time with a plain yukata. They were adamant in staying to help them dress, though Sango felt it was more out of a thwarted sense of obligation than anything else. The simplicity of their clothing rendered assistance completely unnecessary. She hadn't had anyone help her dress since she was a very young child. It was a strange, uncomfortable experience - she felt tiny and doll-like, not like a real person at all. Finally, they left, and Kagome passed her a weary smile as the door closed behind them.

"Well, that's over. Let's go find the kitchens."

* * * * *

It took them a while to reach their destination. Kagome supposed that they could have asked a servant to show them the way, but after the handmaidens' fussy ministrations that morning, she found herself reluctant to do so. Sango and Shippou made no objection, so they simply wandered the keep's corridors until Shippou's nose hit on the scent of food. Even at that early hour, the kitchen bustled, a squad of servants tending to the fire and food, and more coming and going. In all the commotion, they passed almost unnoticed and managed to snag a portion of leftovers without attracting undue attention.

As luck would have it, they met Miroku on their way out, also on his way to breakfast.

"Good morning Kagome-sama, Sango, Shippou."

"Good morning Miroku-sama."

"Did you just come from the kitchens? If you'll wait a moment I'll join you."

"That's fine. Have you seen Inuyasha, by the way?"

"No, I haven't seen him this morning. He's probably still in a bad mood."

Shippou sniffed. "Of course."

True to his word, Miroku returned shortly and they searched the keep for a place to eat their meal in peace. They finally settled on an out-of-the-way corner of the courtyard where they could watch the people passing by and not be bothered or get in the way. An old maple tree towered over them, its twisted boughs shading the ground - a pleasant place for a meal and a conversation.

Soon enough, all that was left of the food was crumbs and full stomachs, and they settled back to watch the keep's goings on.

"There aren't many people here, are there?" said Shippou.

It was true. Though there was a quiet hum of activity about the house and the stables, the courtyard seemed very empty. The wind kicked up streamers of dust from the bare ground, and a trio of grimy children had the yard's center all to themselves.

"No," replied Sango. "Shiroyama is probably a very small state - I hadn't heard of it before now."

"Nor I," said Miroku, "but at some point it must have been very wealthy. The house must have been a fine one when it was built."

"It's still beautiful," said Kagome. She sighed before continuing. "I hope things go well here."

"They may, at that. The people here don't have much choice in the matter - it's either accept Inuyasha as lord or be conquered," said Sango.

"True. If they needed an excuse to annex Shiroyama before, Inuyasha's presence alone may be enough to deter the neighboring lords from following through on it."

Kagome frowned. "I hope so, Miroku-sama, but it seems strange that they would do that in the first place."

"Yes, it does, Houshi-sama." Sango's fingers tapped slowly in thought. "If they were really interested in Shiroyama, why wouldn't they just attack?"

Miroku shook his head. "I don't know. I agree that it doesn't make much sense, but there isn't anything we can do about it. We'll just have to handle events as they occur."

Kagome scowled, not liking the uncertainties of the situation. Maybe it was just a fluke, or a miscommunication, but it worried her. Miroku was right, though - they had no choice but to take things as they came. Speaking of which…

"Miroku-sama, did you talk to Inuyasha yesterday at all? Do you know what was going on with him and Lady Usei?"

Again Miroku slowly shook his head before replying. "I spoke to him earlier in the day, but I don't know why he left in such a temper or why he started growling like that." Unnoticed, Sango's hands clasped tightly in her lap. Miroku continued, absently cycling the rings of his shakujou through his fingers. "Actually, I was hoping you might know something about it, Kagome-sama."

Kagome scowled harder. "No. He's being stubborn."

It was Sango who put into words what they all secretly feared. "If he acts like that the whole time we're here, his presence will just make things worse."

After a few seconds of tense quiet, Shippou spoke up.

"She was afraid of him. I could smell it."

"Who… Lady Usei?"

"Yeah."

There was a collective wince.

"Oh dear," Kagome sighed. "He won't have taken that well."

"Well, that certainly explains why he left the way he did." Sango frowned. "But why was he growling in the first place?"

Silence held for a moment before Miroku cleared his throat. "I think we need to have a talk with him. I didn't get much out of him yesterday, but I had the impression that he was going to try to handle this by himself."

"He always wants to do that," snorted Shippou.

"Well, this time he can't," said Kagome, arms crossed in determination. "Miroku-sama is right - we need to talk to him."

"I'm glad you agree with me, Kagome-sama. In fact, I think you should be the one to approach him."

If we all talk to him, he'll just get more stubborn. Kagome nodded. "All right."

After that proclamation, a peaceful silence arose, shortly broken by a commotion at the courtyard's gates. They all turned to watch as three riders entered. Two looked to be retainers, but the man in the lead was obviously someone of importance. He wore two swords, and though his clothing was not flashy, the cut and the cloth spoke of quality.

"They must be here for the audience this afternoon," said Sango.

"Probably."

"You know," Shippou said thoughtfully, "I don't think Inuyasha was paying much attention when Lady Usei told us about that."

* * * * *

The sounds of clattering footsteps and raucous invective roused Inuyasha from the light sleep he had fallen into.

"What do you mean you can't find him?" complained a nasal, high-strung voice. "How is it possible to miss a man with white hair and dog ears?"

A slightly older voice answered it in the tones of one whose patience is being tried to its limits. "We've already checked his room three times. He's not in any of the other rooms, and he's not in the kitchens or the courtyard. The guards say he hasn't left the keep, and his companions haven't seen him."

"Did you check the stables? No? Well, check them. What about the garden? He must be somewhere! I want this place scoured back to front - we need to find him soon, before the rest of the lords arrive for the audience."

A resigned sigh arose in response. "Yes sir."

From his perch, Inuyasha frowned. What audience? Usei had said something about an assembly yesterday, but he hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation at that point. Was this what she had mentioned?

An ear turned behind him at the sound of the garden's door opening and the now-familiar voice of the searcher, grumbling against his superior. Never one to beat around the bush, Inuyasha dropped out of the tree and came around to face his pursuer.

"What audience?"

The servant jumped and stared blankly for a few seconds before recovering his senses enough to stammer out a "my lord."

"What audience?" Inuyasha repeated, impatient at the delay.

"But," the servant queried weakly, "surely Lady Usei told you about it?"

Inuyasha merely shrugged, unwilling to reveal that, though his cousin might have mentioned it, he'd been too distracted to catch it.

"It's meant to introduce you to the local gentry. Usually it's just a formality, but in your case…"

"Yeah." Inuyasha cringed inwardly. He was going to have to worry about local gentry?

"How many of them are there?"

"Three. Lords Mutsu, Tsuruga, and Uetake."

Three. Just three. He could deal with that. Hopefully. He scowled and slowly nodded his head. He would deal with it. He'd taken up the responsibility of Shiroyama, and if he had to, he'd learn to handle it on the fly.

"When does this thing start?"

"Well, Lord Uetake just arrived, my lord. If you'll come with me…"

Inuyasha nodded again, more sharply this time, and followed the servant inside.

* * * * *

Miroku, Sango, Kagome, and Shippou sat to one side of a spacious room with Lady Usei, waiting for Inuyasha to make his entrance. To their left sat Shiroyama's local lords, patiently facing the dais at the room's back, politely neutral expressions affixed to their faces. One had been sitting there when they arrived, his posture rigid and straight, but the other two had only just arrived. They, in contrast, sat loosely, bored and at their ease. There had been a brief moment of consternation on Lady Usei's side of the room when a servant had entered to whisper that Inuyasha had gone missing and ask if they had seen him. The excitement was short-lived, as another servant soon arrived to tell them he had been found, but it had made nervous wrecks of them all. It was too easy for things to go sour here.

At last, the door at the side of the dais slid emphatically open, and Inuyasha strode in, a pair of servants trailing behind him. At once the two recently arrived lords exploded in angry muttering. Hands were clasped to sword hilts, and one half-rose from his seat. Apparently, they had arrived too late to be informed of Inuyasha's heritage before the audience. The other lord remained still, a slight thinning of his lips the only change in his demeanor. Before confusion could blossom into chaos, one of the attendant servants stepped forward.

"Inuyasha, Lord of Shiroyama."

Hands relaxed back to sides, but the muttering increased in volume. Inuyasha stepped forward, and the assembled lords came to their senses and bowed reluctantly. Though the servants flanked a central spot of the dais, where Inuyasha was clearly expected to sit, he remained standing. Miroku studied his face carefully, looking for some indication of his mental state. He didn't know how he would handle the situation - nothing like it had come up before in their travels. Inuyasha's people skills were lacking even on his most amiable days, and his experience with public speaking was most likely nil. Miroku knew from his own travels that first impressions were often the most lasting - a slip here could cost them badly in the long run. He had confidence that Inuyasha was aware of the situation's perils, but so much of his conversation seemed guided by habit. Reactions ingrained over years would be hard to keep in check.

Inuyasha stood uneasily at the edge of the dais and shifted his weight from one foot to another, the only clue to his probable nervousness. The lords waited cautiously for him to speak, wariness and distrust inscribed in their expressions. He at last let out a dry snort and crossed his arms.

"I'm Inuyasha." He paused, scowling, obviously at a loss as to what more he should say. After a few seconds, he shrugged and continued. "As of now, Shiroyama is my land. Anyone who thinks he can screw with it has to deal with me."

One of the lords who had entered late, a man with an ascetically thin face seated at the room's leftmost edge, spoke up in a piercing voice, needle-sharp.

"I do not recall that Shiroyama was ruled by youkai."

"It is now," Inuyasha snapped.

The lord's expression did not alter as he replied. "I am sorry, my…lord, but you will have to provide more justification than that."

Miroku frowned as Inuyasha's ears pinned back and his jaw tightened. The man was trying to provoke him - that insulting, oily tone made no secret of the fact. They would have to watch him.

Finally, Inuyasha ground out a response. "Shiroyama is mine by hereditary right."

Dead silence met that announcement, and sensing that he had quashed any opposition on those grounds for the time being, he raised an eyebrow and continued.

"Any more questions?"

The room was absolutely still. The lords were clearly disgruntled, but seemed unwilling to take the fight any further at the moment. Inuyasha waited tensely, almost hoping that one of them would ask a question - it would at least be a start to understanding how to deal with them. As it was, he couldn't help but think that he ought to say something more, but nothing occurred to him. The lords stayed silent, and with no reason to continue, he brought the meeting to an end.

"Dismissed."

The lords got up and bowed stiffly before exiting, and Inuyasha headed for the side door by which he had entered.

* * * * *

It hadn't gone too badly, reflected Miroku. He had been unquestionably blunt and painfully succinct, but it could have been much, much worse. Now, if only they could talk him around into accepting their help.

"Kagome-sama, I believe now is your chance."

Kagome started, evidently caught up in her own reflections on the audience. "Eh?"

"You can follow him from here so he can't disappear again. It would be best to talk to him as soon as possible. Why delay when the opportunity presents itself?"

Slowly, she nodded. "All right. I'll see if I can get him to see reason."

"Sit him good, Kagome!" called Shippou.

* * * * *

Kagome stood at the door to Inuyasha's room, hands planted at her hips. She was annoyed at the tack Inuyasha had taken in their latest venture, and had been for some time. It really grated that he seemed to think he could put them off like this. The sooner she set him straight, the better for all concerned.

"Inuyasha! Open up!"

Silence.

"Come on, I know you're in there!"

She tugged at the door, but it didn't move. The air lay still as a tomb, and she belatedly wondered if he had given her the slip somewhere along the line and she was shouting to an empty room.

"Let me in, or I'll say it!"

When nothing happened, she drew in a deep breath in preparation and yelled it out with all her might. At least this way she would know for sure whether or not he was in there.

"SIT!"

"Fuck!"

Thun-CRUNCH!

Now that wasn't a sound you normally heard after a sit.

Oh god, maybe I've finally broken his back.

"Inuyasha? What was that? Are you all right? Open this door!"

The door came rattling open and she was met with the familiar timbre of Inuyasha's angered shouts.

"Kagome, you stupid… Now look what you did!"

Kagome was too absorbed in horrified contemplation of the hole in the floor to make any retort. Torn planks reared their splintered heads around Inuyasha in a rough circle, and a tatami mat lay haphazardly caught on one projection where it had been dragged into the hole along with him.

"Oh no."

Inuyasha somewhat stiffly picked himself up off the ground and absentmindedly flicked the dirt from the ends of his sleeves. "Well?" he said crossly. "Close the door already - or do you want everyone to see this?"

Momentarily aghast at the unexpected destruction, Kagome cautiously stepped around the hole and closed the door behind her. She remained staring frozenly at the crater while Inuyasha hopped out of it and frowned down at the protruding floorboards. Then her brain kicked into gear.

"Oh no… Look at the size of that thing! Inuyasha, what are we going to do? Why didn't you just open the door?"

"Keh. Don't try and pass the blame off on me, wench. You're the one who said it." Giving the hole a speculative glance, his eyes suddenly widened and a small and rather unctuous grin made its appearance. "You know what this means, right?"

Kagome was still lost in contemplation of the disaster. "Oh, god. Do we even have enough money for repairs? This can't possibly be cheap. What on earth are we going to tell Lady Usei? How…"

"Never mind all that!" he interjected, annoyed that she was missing the important part. "You can't sit me in here."

At those words, Kagome jerked out of her stricken reverie with a start. "No, I suppose I can't," she muttered grimly. She glared and continued. "I'll save them all up for when you're outside." Inuyasha's smile died an instant, painful death and Kagome recalled her original purpose in coming.

"Don't think you're off the hook, mister." The hole in the floor was a catastrophe, all right, but she wasn't going to let Inuyasha use the distraction to weasel his way out of this.

"I came in here for a reason, you know. What's the deal with you lately? What was going on with you and Lady Usei yesterday?"

Inuyasha scowled and crossed his arms. "None of your business."

"Of course it's our business! We're your friends, and we're supposed to help you out!" Between the hole and his obstinacy, Kagome was really steaming. He was impossible.

"I don't need any help!"

"Yes you do! So stop avoiding us and just…"

Inuyasha's eyes darted from the hole to the door and back to her face. Suddenly, he took a step forward, and with a heave, lifted her up and over the hole to set her down just outside the room.

"H-Hey!"

"Look, it's my problem, so I'll deal with it."

The door flew shut, and Kagome pried furiously at it for a few moments, though she realized that he was probably smugly holding it shut until she left.

"This isn't over yet, Inuyasha!"

* * * * *

Inuyasha heard Kagome stomp off, most likely fuming, and scowled. It looked like it might be more difficult than he had originally thought to keep them out of this. From what Kagome had said, it sounded like they were all in on it now - he would have to find some way to avoid them. No easy task within Shiroyama - the keep wasn't that big, and he was hard to miss.

Miroku's comment about the mountain the day before came back to him and he quirked an eyebrow in thought. If not within Shiroyama, then perhaps he could get outside the keep, at least for a day. He wasn't even sure how big the state was - going on a tour of it would give him time to decide on a course of action, and if he was going to be lord, then he ought to know the land in any case.

Remembering the audience and the snide impudence of the thin lord who had questioned him, he scowled and nodded to himself. It would definitely be worth his time to learn as much about Shiroyama as possible.

*tenshu - Also called a donjon. The central tower of a castle. In later years, they were built up as much for aesthetic and symbolic purposes as they were for defensive ones. In a dated, somewhat ramshackle mountain castle like Shiroyama-jo, however, the tenshu is likely to be a simple turret mounted on the main residence.

AN: First and foremost, thanks to Chri for beta-reading. This story is much better for his input.

Secondly, thanks to all of you reading. I hope I've made it worth your time. Starting this chapter, I'm finally going to give in and do individual shout-outs. I'm not going to respond to one-line "Your story sucks/rules!" comments, though. Don't misunderstand me - I'm grateful for them, but, leaving aside for the moment the fact that I'm not talkative to begin with, there really isn't much I can say to that besides "thanks." And, well, I already said that. So, without further ado:

Karris - Thanks for your comments. I try my best to make the characters as tangible as possible, and it's gratifying that you seem to think I'm on the right track.

Calendar - Sorry. Going to have to let you stew a while longer. Dramatic tension is good for the soul. Hey, on the bright side (for me, at least) you're the first reader I've made whimper! I'm honored.

Kristen Sharpe - You're right. What's fun for us isn't fun for the characters. We're all sadists here, aren't we?

Melodylink - Well, I tried to update soon, but this was as good as it got. Almost a month exactly. This is probably as good as it will ever get, actually. Since the chapters for this have a lot of… um… "moving parts," it takes a while to work the kinks out of them.

Kris-chan - I'm glad you're enjoying it. The portrayal of Inuyasha as stupid has always been a pet peeve of mine - I maintain that he'd be long dead if he really were as numb-brained as some seem to think he is. Hopefully, I'll be able to live up to your expectations.

AmunRa - You thought this was a story about the past? Huh. Out of curiosity, was there anything specific that gave you that impression? Ah, well. In any case, I'm glad that you're glad that you're wrong.

Chri - You already know what I had to say, so I'll refrain from rehashing it here beyond saying thanks again.

Once again, thank you for reading. I'll see you again (relatively) soon.