InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Trick or Treat? ❯ Cheeky-gami ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

 

Chapter 2 – Cheeky-gami

 

 

 

“Souta!!!” shouted Kagome, as she made a mad dash for the house, only to stumble over her geta-clad feet, nearly smashing her face on the pavement before a pair of strong arms grabbed her from behind, righting her on the woodblock sandals.

 

How the hell do the people in anime run around and jump and fight in these damn things?! Kagome mentally cursed, berating herself one second later for the stupid question. Anime wasn't real, after all. Miroku wore flat straw zori sandals, and they had heel straps to help hold them on his feet.

 

One more second later, her wooden monstrosities were lying discarded in the street, as a barefooted Kagome rushed along after Inuyasha, who hadn't even paused to admonish her clumsiness before darting after her brother.

 

Smashing headlong into a barrier, Inuyasha cursed as the reflective energy crackled all around him, silently grateful that it was at least not a purifying barrier. Skidding to a stop beside her companion at the display, Kagome reached a tentative hand forward from where she stood, about six feet from the front door, and found herself unable to pass through, either, as she pressed her hand against the invisible force field.

 

“What was that?!” she shouted in panic, referring to the monster that had snatched her little brother off the porch.

 

“I'm not certain, but I thought I smelled tanuki,” Inuyasha answered, while smashing his fist hard against the barrier, which only ignited more sparks of energy, as the field appeared to jiggle before becoming solid once more.

 

Fucking thing is designed to absorb the energy of blunt force, but I can't use the Red Tetsusaiga with all these people around!

 

In fact, that was an oddity in and of itself that both Kagome and Inuyasha were beginning to notice at the same time. None of the other families out Trick-or-Treating with their children had seemed to show any response to either her horror-filled cry, or the barrier's brilliant displays of crackling demonic energy.

 

We're probably the only ones who can see the barrier, the miko realized quickly, although that didn't explain why not even one single person had responded to her screaming. Damn television, desensitizing violence!

 

“We've got to find a way to get through the barrier,” she said in a low tone, not wishing to be overheard now that she realized everyone around them was apparently ignorant to the situation at hand.

 

“What do you suggest?” Inuyasha replied with agitation lacing his voice. “A display from Tetsusaiga would probably summon those 'po-lees' foot soldiers you've warned me about.”

 

Kagome was just about to say fuck the police, but quickly realized that Inuyasha was right. If there was really a youkai in there that was holding her little brother hostage, then involving the human authorities was probably the last thing they wanted to do. So many things could go wrong, from it agitating the youkai into taking more drastic actions where her brother was concerned, to even putting the police themselves in physical danger.

 

Kagome would've taken a moment to let herself feel pride in the realization that Inuyasha had matured to the point where he had actually thought that matter through, himself, rather than simply smashing into the house blindly with no regard to the consequences, but she was momentarily distracted by the fact that that thing still had her brother! She would feel pride in Inuyasha's maturity later.

 

“I didn't think tanuki could erect barriers,” she said instead, her eyes quickly scanning the yard for something, anything she could use to channel her miko powers through. Then her eyes spotted the tree growing in the front yard, and her gaze went upward.

 

“Well, either this one's learned a few new tricks over the years, or he's got somebody else in there helping him out,” Inuyasha grumbled, angered by the fact that he couldn't smell through the barrier so he had no way of knowing how many youkai they were dealing with, or Souta's condition.

 

He must have picked up that fleeting scent of raccoon-dog youkai during the second it'd taken Souta to pass through the barrier, not that he knew how that had happened, unless it had been deliberately lowered for the boy; an unsettling thought he would dwell on later, after the boy had been recovered safe and sound. Maybe he would have to use Tetsusaiga after all...

 

“Get me that stick!” he heard Kagome command suddenly, and quickly turning to look her way, Inuyasha saw the miko pointing to a reasonably thin sprig growing from a larger branch on the house's sakura tree.

 

Glancing around to make sure no one was looking in that moment, Inuyasha quickly pounced straight up, a jump that was absolutely nothing for him but still much higher than a normal human could have ever accomplished. Effortlessly snapping the desired sprig off the tree, he handed it to Kagome upon landing.

 

“I thought there weren't any fucking youkai in your time,” he cursed more to himself, standing back to allow Kagome to do her thing.

 

“Well, there was the Noh Mask that one time, and we also know that the Tatari-Mokke has survived to this century,” the miko commented as she closed her fingers around the thin branch in her hands and began concentrating.

 

Of course, I'd never noticed any youkai in my time at all, or ghosts, or anything else out of the ordinary, before being dragged down the Bone Eater's Well. Maybe that experience is what awakened my miko powers? Kagome silently wondered. Still, if there were a lot of youkai still around, even in hiding, wouldn't Inuyasha have been able to smell them before now?

 

 

That thought was laced with uncertainty, though, considering their present situation, and for once, Kagome found herself moderately thankful that she had lost all of her jewel shards, because she was fairly certain that currently being in the possession of even a single shard would've made matters ten times worse. As it was, she was still worried that Souta had somehow been taken because he was her little brother, which was admittedly a long shot, but could theoretically be possible if some youkai  back in the past had caught wind of who she truly was and had been in waiting all this time in order to make his move.

 

Granted, that scenario seemed incredibly farfetched, so maybe this youkai was just randomly grabbing Trick-or-Treaters? But either way, it had her brother. Worrying her bottom lip as she concentrated on her rising miko powers, Kagome attempted to channel her purifying aura into the stick she held in her grasp as though it were one of her arrows. It would have to be enough. It had to be enough, she prayed, as she closed her eyes and envisioned the stick glowing brightly with purity.

 

She was just about to plunge the projectile into the invisible  barrier between her and her brother when the sound of giddy laughter and shuffling feet broke her of her concentration, causing her energy to snap back towards her hand as the stick stopped glowing.

 

 

“Fuck,” she heard Inuyasha curse quietly from somewhere behind her, and she would have repeated his sentiment, but it was right in that moment that a pair of eight-year-old girls both dressed up like Disney princesses scurried past them, and right through the barrier, to ring the doorbell.

 

“Hey, kids, get away from there!” Inuyasha shouted, once again getting a blast of youkai stench as the girls traveled through the energy field that had apparently been designed to allow human children free passage.

 

But the girls only giggled at his appearance, heedless of his warning as they snickered to themselves about how cute his 'cat' ears were.

 

“Damn it all,” he cursed in rising ire, attempting to step forward but finding himself still unable to approach any closer.

 

Then the door opened.

 

“Trick or Treat!” they sang in unison, smiling at the jolly creature who stood before them in the doorway while holding up their sacks in pleas for candy.

 

It is a tanuki! Kagome realized in wonder, before her fear level began rising once more as the overgrown raccoon-dog merrily invited the children inside to select the candy of their choosing.

 

“No! Don't go inside the house!” she shouted, but as if they could not hear her at all the girls happily complied to the youkai's instructions, disappearing through the door he closed securely behind them.

 

Only the briefest of glances in her and Inuyasha's directions let the miko know that the tanuki was in fact aware of their presence, which she wasn't sure was a good thing or a bad thing. While most tanuki had a reputation for being jolly, and sometimes even helpful creatures, and in fact Miroku's associate Hachi had proven himself quite useful on many occasions, they could also be nearly as devious as kitsune when it came to their pranks, and there were even some legends of more sinister tanuki who had taken to violence in retaliation for the violent acts that had befallen their own kind at the hands of humans.

 

What if he's making 'children soup' in there?!

 

 

Before she could really begin panicking, however, the door slid back open again and the two girls emerged, each wearing huge grins as they silently skipped back out towards their waiting parents. Kagome didn't even care why the girls' parents apparently either hadn't heard or had simply chosen to ignore both her and Inuyasha's shouts that their daughters stay away from the youkai's house, nor did she care why it apparently went beyond the adults' notice that the tanuki's appearance had been far too realistic to be a costume. The fact that the girls had been released while her brother had not been had Kagome's blood boiling, rescuing Souta being the solitary thought in her mind as she quickly began channeling her miko energies once more.

 

“Fucking bastard, just what is he playing at?” she heard Inuyasha mutter beside her, and turning his way, Kagome continued to charge up the sprig in her hands while commenting darkly, “Maybe he just doesn't like girls.”

 

Inuyasha shot her a momentarily confused look at that comment, before realization dawned and he quickly set her straight with, “You're wrong, Kagome. He still has those two girls as well. Those...” he said, gesturing with a wave of his hand to the family heading down the street, “...are shikigami.”

 

Her eyes widened at that revelation, her sense of panic suddenly even stronger than before. “Are you sure?!”

 

Nodding curtly, he silently tapped his nose. Their scent had been unmistakable as soon as they'd emerged through the barrier.

 

Bastard! the miko mentally cursed, before jabbing the pointier end of her would-be arrow into the tanuki's barrier.

 

The barrier shimmered violently, dangerously close to dissipating, but somehow, the seemingly gelatinous properties of the energy field managed to save itself from being completely destroyed. Maybe if she had her real bow and arrows, but despite what Inuyasha had told her Kaede had said of the bow from Mt. Azusa forming a connection with her heart, she had opted to leave her weapon home for the evening. It was just one night, right? What could it hurt? Besides, they were in her time...note the sarcasm.

 

Cursing under her breath, Kagome was just about to try again when the front door slid open and Souta, or at least something that looked like Souta, began walking towards them.

 

“Inuyasha?” she questioned quietly, glancing his way.

 

Unfortunately, so long as the person before them remained on the other side of the barrier, he wouldn't be able to identify him by scent. He shot his miko companion an apologetic look in that moment, communicating as much.

 

Puffing her chest in determination, then, Kagome stood her ground and waited for Souta, or for the false Souta, to finish making his approach, before she demanded in a tone that left no room for argument, “Who are you?”

 

Unfazed by her outburst, and also seemingly oblivious to the true nature of her question, the Souta-shikigami before them remained stoic, before stating in an authoritative manner of his own, “Masaru-sama insists you leave his property at once.”

 

It was Inuyasha's turn to speak up then, as he cracked his knuckles before stating in a deadly clam manner, “We ain't going nowhere without Souta.”

 

Scent or no scent, it was clear to him now that the thing standing before them was not Kagome's little brother, not even under a mind-control spell.

 

It wasn't breathing.

 

Having zero doubt in the man standing beside her, Kagome took Inuyasha's cue and ran with it, shouting, “Give me back my brother!” before jabbing her makeshift arrow into the barrier a second time, right in front of 'Souta's' face. The boy didn’t even blink at the sudden movement, nor did he move as the energy field once again struggled to maintain itself.

 

“Masaru-sama insists you leave his property at once,” he said again, once the light show subsided.

 

“Or else what?” asked Inuyasha, his tone of voice indicating he had no intention of complying.

 

Once again, the boy gave no answer.

 

Trying a different tactic in that moment, Kagome squared her shoulders before stating, “I insist that Masaru release all of the children he's holding hostage, or else Inuyasha and I will break through this barrier, and when we do, there won't be enough of your precious Masaru left to insist on anything.”

 

Inuyasha glanced Kagome's way at that, both surprised by her threat and impressed by the seriousness he could hear in her voice to back it up. It was clear from the near success of her miko powers that Red Tetsusaiga's barrier-smashing technique would have no trouble pulverizing the energy field that was the only thing truly standing between them and her brother.

 

Still receiving no response from the false Souta standing before them, which they were both beginning to think had been hastily crafted for the sole purpose of delivering his single message, Kagome was just about to nod to Inuyasha her go ahead to use the Tetsusaiga despite any potential consequences when another Trick-or-Treating family came within range, momentarily stopping at the house right next door.

 

“This is just perfect,” Inuyasha heard Kagome mutter under her breath. Then the miko said the second most surprising thing of the night. “Get rid of them.”

 

He blinked. “Kagome?”

 

“Just...you know, don't hurt them, obviously, but do whatever you gotta do to make them leave.”

 

Nodding grimly, Inuyasha waited a few moments until the group of approaching children ran giggling from the house next door, up the street and up the few steps necessary to reach the walkway of Masaru's house. Knowing it was for their own good, the hanyou summoned within himself every dark thought that had been swirling in his head for the last several minutes, ever since he first saw Kagome's little brother get snatched away right out from under his nose. If anything happened to Souta it would be all his fault, and Kagome would be completely within her rights to demand his own life as retribution. Not to mention the fact that there was no telling how many other children that sick bastard already had prisoner in there, though they knew there were at least those two little girls.

 

The thought of allowing any more innocent children to come to harm brought a fearsome snarl to his lips, exposing his fangs, and he used every last ounce of hostility he felt towards his own failure to project himself as the monster that the mothers in his time would tell their children he really was.

 

Leaping towards the group of approaching Trick-or-Treaters with a fearsome roar tumbling from deep within his throat, Inuyasha made sure to achieve an unnatural height before plummeting to the ground mere feet in front of the children, punching the concrete to give impact to his descent, heavy cracks forming around his fist. Then while still crouching on his haunches, he looked up through his bangs, every thought of what he would like to do to that tanuki translating on his face as he gazed at the human children hungrily, his chest vibrating deeply with a demonic growl no human could have possibly hoped to mimic, an animalistic sound that went even beyond a tiger's capability.

 

Screaming in genuine terror, the children nearly fell over each other in their frantic attempts to run back towards their parents. Parents who had also witnessed Inuyasha's display, and unlike the previous adults of that evening, were equally as terrified as their children, scrambling to retrieve their offspring before making a mad dash down the street.

 

At their departure, Inuyasha's ears lowered in shame, a hollow feeling growing in the pit of his stomach, but a reassuring hand on his shoulder quickly brought him back into the here and now.

 

“The greatest heroes are those who do what they know they must, whether or not anyone else is aware of their heroic deeds.”

 

Offering Kagome a brief smile at her words, he nodded his greater understanding, and then rising to his feet, he promptly drew Tetsusaiga, mentally calling forth the necessary transformation for breaking through barriers.

 

“After all that, I'm sure somebody is going to be summoning the soldiers of your time, anyway, so we better get this over with.”

 

“I agree.”

 

Running and jumping in order to come down at just the right angle, a monstrous cry of “Tetsusaiga!” provided the only warning before fang hit barrier, and the resulting flash of energy was enough to temporarily light the sky as if it were daytime.

 

There's no way nobody else saw that, Kagome feared, feeling with certainty that they were now playing 'beat the clock' on top of everything else.

 

For what seemed like an eternity, but really only took a few seconds, Inuyasha remained suspended in midair, unmoving from his spot as Red Tetsusaiga's combative forces finally won out over the strange energy of the tanuki's barrier, causing the field to momentarily shimmer around the entire house before fizzling out completely. It was then that the stink of the simplest of all shikigami magic assaulted his nose from the direction of the false Souta, and after sheathing Tetsusaiga, it only took one swipe of his claws for the replica of Kagome’s little brother to be reduced to nothing more than shredded pieces of paper.

 

Under normal circumstances, Inuyasha would've just stormed right into the house by that point, but he could now smell that there were over two dozen different human children inside, and right in the main room, so he didn't dare risk doing anything that could potentially harm any of the children.

 

“Fuck, Kagome, he's got a horde of kids in there!” he shouted, just as the miko stomped past him and up to the front door, which was of course locked.

 

She then proceeded to pound on the door with her fist, demanding, “Masaru, your barrier is down! Open the door this instant or else we'll break inside!”

 

“Kagome, look!” Inuyasha called out in that moment, pointing to where another Souta-shikigami was approaching them from around the house, apparently having exited through a backdoor somewhere.

 

The superiority in craftsmanship could be spotted almost immediately, as this Souta moved more like Souta, and was even frowning at them with one of the boy's traditional scowls. It was also mimicking breath with its chest movements, and were it not for his newfound ability to scent the imposter, thanks to cutting through the barrier, Inuyasha worried that even he might've been fooled, at least for a minute. There was still no sound of a heartbeat, after all.

 

“You guys really shouldn't be here,” 'Souta' said as he approached them, in a tone of voice that even sounded identical to Kagome's little brother.

 

“Can you tell us what the fuck is going on? And why the fuck you're here?” Inuyasha demanded more than asked.

 

The shikigami's frown deepened, but then surprisingly, he answered. “Masaru-sama means you no harm. I am to return with you to your home.”

 

“Oh hell no!”

 

Inuyasha blinked in surprise, his brain taking a full two seconds to process the fact that that curse had not come from his own lips, although he had been thinking the exact same thing.

 

Marching right up into the false Souta's face, Kagome wagged her finger at the spirit puppet as she proclaimed, “We're not going anywhere with you. I'm not leaving this house without my real brother!”

 

The shikigami almost looked concerned before it stated, “You better leave before the police show up, someone is bound to have called them.” Turning its head, the shikigami glanced meaningfully in Inuyasha's direction.

 

The hanyou tensed slightly at the obvious meaning behind what he couldn't be sure was a lightly veiled threat or a genuine warning, but Kagome merely snorted, her newfound bravado allowing her to brush off her previous concerns as she stated nonchalantly, “Good, I want the police to show up. Inuyasha can make himself scarce in a heartbeat, so then all they'll find is a helpless, crying, fifteen-year-old junior high school student who keeps insisting behind her frantic sobs how the horrible man inside this house has kidnapped her little brother.”

 

Inuyasha relaxed tremendously at Kagome's words.

 

Under normal circumstances, especially under such conditions, he knew he had to worry about her safety above his own, but she was right. This was her time, and he was truly the only one in any danger should any foot soldiers show up. If that happened, although he would hate to do so, he could leave her alone to speak to the men herself, to tell her version of events that would leave him completely out of the picture.

 

Not that he would truly go anywhere, keeping Kagome within his sights at all times, but it was dark out, and Kagome was right, he could make himself scarce in a heartbeat. The shikigami seemed to comprehend the truth behind Kagome's statement as well, as an expression of confusion came over the boy's features, as if he didn't know what to say next. He probably didn't, if he hadn't truly been given free will to speak for himself. His master's latest plan had failed, so now what?

 

Sending the miko a quick look, Inuyasha slipped away during the shikigami's moment of confusion, as it apparently awaited new instructions via the spiritual connection it shared with its master. While Kagome kept that thing distracted, he would try to find a way inside the house.

 

Finally, having apparently received its instructions, the false Souta spoke up once again, admitting, “He will be returned to you at sunrise, as all of the children shall be returned to their homes once this night is over.”

 

“Why?” Kagome asked then, narrowing her eyes. “What does he want with them in the mean time?” Come on Inuyasha, please hurry...

 

“That is not your concern.”

 

The miko was just about to supply another colorful retort to such an asinine statement when the sound of breaking glass followed by children screaming had her ignoring the false copy of her brother in favor of running around to the back of the house. There she found a perplexed and slightly nervous Inuyasha standing just inside the broken sliding glass door that led into the kitchen, the hanyou staring helplessly at a small group of children who were cowering away from him, some even pleading behind sobs for him not to eat them.

 

“I ain't gonna eat ya, ya dummies! I'm the good guy!”

 

He took a step forward.

 

Their whimpering increased.

 

Then the Souta-shikigami appeared behind Kagome, and staring at Inuyasha in aghast horror, it demanded, “What did you do?!”

 

“I didn't do nothing!”

 

“You broke the spell!”

 

“It's all right kids...shhhh...you're safe now,” Kagome said, attempting to sooth them while watching her step as she tiptoed around the broken glass to approach the nearest child.

 

But the way he was staring back at her with wide, fearful eyes, and the way the other kids all tried their best to scoot themselves away from her, made it clear in that moment that the children were just as terrified of the miko-turned-kitsune as they were of the inu-hanyou. Maybe they didn't realize she was human?

 

“It's all right, the tail's not real. I'm just wearing a Halloween costume,” Kagome tried then. “Come on, kids, don't you want to go back to your parents?”

 

No response.

 

Turning to glance back Inuyasha's way with a helpless shrug of her shoulders, the look in her eyes clearly portrayed the message 'Now what?'

 

The hanyou shook his head in uncertainty to the miko's silent question before turning back to narrow his eyes at the fake Souta still standing behind him. “What spell?”

 

“My spell.”

 

Inuyasha and Kagome both whipped their heads forward at the new voice.

 

“Masaru-sama!” all of the children cried out in unison as they scrambled to their feet and ran to hide behind the fat tanuki for protection.

 

“It's all right children, all right. You're safe. Go wait in living room.”

 

Silently nodding their obedience, all of the children ran out of the kitchen and into the adjoining living room, in which Inuyasha and Kagome could see several other children sitting seiza on the floor as if nothing had happened. One child was wearing a straw hat and a red vest.

 

“Souta!” Kagome shouted, starting to head for the living room herself before the tanuki quickly moved to stand in her way.

 

“Quiet, quiet!” he hissed while frantically waving his hands. “Spell is easily broken. Don't want you ripping away any more dreams. You've created so much more work for me already, so much more work.”

 

“Just what the hell did you do to them?!” the miko demanded in a low voice, allowing her powers to rise to the surface just enough to let the overgrown rat standing before her know what she really thought of him.

 

Inuyasha had to fight his body's natural urge to step backwards at the uncomfortable tingling sensation that started crawling on his skin as a result of her flaring powers; he would not increase the distance between himself and Kagome while in the presence of a strange youkai, no matter what.

 

“Apologies, apologies!” Masaru stated while doing his best to bow around his overly large belly, extremely nervous to realize he had accidentally angered a miko. “I promise you I mean no harm to anyone, no harm! Come, come, see for yourselves what I have done.”

 

That said, he turned and headed into the living room, where most of the children appeared to be in some sort of meditative state. Gesturing for Inuyasha and Kagome to follow him, they did so while remaining very wary of the situation around them. The Souta-shikigami followed after them as well, but thankfully chose to remain quiet for the time being.

 

Once everyone was in the living room, Masaru gestured to the children who had been seated in the kitchen during Inuyasha's initial break-in. Frantically, those children all scrambled to once again stand next to the tanuki, then one by one, Masaru began chanting some kind of spell, while removing small leaves from his robes and placing one in the center of each child's forehead. Instantly nullified, the children all walked slowly to find a suitable place to sit down, and then became motionless, an eerily peaceful expression forming on their otherwise vacant faces.

 

It's like Kaou all over again! Kagome worried frantically. He's giving them internal peace, but at what cost?!

 

Inuyasha had come to a similar conclusion, and was quicker at voicing his opinions out loud as he stated vindictively, “Thought you said you weren't hurting them? This sure as hell looks unnatural to me.” Scanning the room for a moment and allowing his eyes to settle on Kagome's little brother, he asked, “What have you really done to them?”

 

Part of him just wanted to grab Souta and run, but he didn't want to risk hurting the boy if being ripped out of whatever illusion he was currently trapped in could possibly really hurt him, and besides, they couldn't just abandon all those other children, right?

 

“Not hurting, not hurting!” Masaru insisted, pulling another leaf from his vest and holding it up for Inuyasha's inspection, as if the inu-hanyou could identify by smell what specific type of magic had been used. Maybe he could have, had he been more familiar with tanuki illusions, but as it was...

 

“Why don't you tell me what it is doing?” he rephrased, talking slowly while grinding his teeth.

 

It was taking Inuyasha every ounce of willpower he had within himself to not just tear the fucking tanuki to shreds, but he also worried if the youkai's sudden death could have a negative effect on the children, if the tanuki was somehow directly linked to the spells they were all under, and that worry alone was stilling his hand, at least for the moment.

 

“I cannot tell,” Masaru started, then faster than either of them could have ever anticipated a tanuki could move, he slapped the leaf on Kagome's forehead while uttering his chant.

 

“You mother fucking-!!!”

 

“Not hurting!” Masaru insisted. “Showing!” he exclaimed. “Only for a minute, then we awaken, promise promise!” he stated, holding up his hands in a pleading gesture to still the hanyou's desire to attack, as Inuyasha tightened his grip on Tetsusaiga's hilt.

 

The fucking bastard knows I won't blow him to pieces where he stands with all these kids in the house, fucking hell! Kagome...

 

Gazing worriedly at his miko, it was in that moment that Inuyasha realized with tremendous relief that Kagome hadn't fallen as completely under the spell as the children had, probably because of her miko powers, which always seemed to render it nearly impossible for anyone to cast a spell on her properly. She was definitely seeing whatever it was Masaru wanted her to see, but at the same time, she was also still aware of her true surroundings, which became obvious when she began speaking.

 

“It's...okay, Inuyasha...” she managed to say slowly, the far off and somewhat glossy look in her eyes that revealed she couldn't really see him in that moment combating with the awareness in her voice that proved she at least still had her mind about her.

 

Then her hand rose slowly and managed to peel the leaf from her forehead, much to Masaru's surprise, as he stared at the woman with an open expression of disbelief. Apparently, it had been his intention to put her just as deeply under as the children, and that knowledge made Inuyasha want to maim the fucking excuse for a dog even more slowly and painfully than before.

 

Kagome's instant shift in emotions quickly drew the hanyou's attention away from his adversary, though, as he stared at the miko with unveiled concern.

 

“Are you really all right? You smell upset.”

 

That statement caused the miko to flinch ever so slightly, before quickly plastering on one of her award-winning fake smiles.

 

“I'm fine! But...” She turned to scowl in the tanuki's direction. “What you're doing is still wrong, no matter your intentions. Release these children at once, or else I will do it for you.”

 

Thoroughly frightened of the woman he had since realized was not only a miko, but an extremely powerful one, Masaru bowed in apology once more before quickly scurrying about, waking the children from their trances. Childish whines of disappointment soon filled the room, as though all of their fun had been ruined, and in that moment Inuyasha gestured with a gentle tug on Kagome's sleeve for the miko to follow him back into the kitchen.

 

“Hey, what was that all about, really?”

 

Oh, Inuyasha, I can't hide anything from you, can I?

 

“Remember that flower-youkai, Kaou?”

 

He bristled at that name.

 

“What of it?”

 

“Well...” she started before hesitating, unsure of how to phrase this, before deciding to just plow on through. “Masaru's illusions pretty much work the same way, showing you what you want to see, except the difference here is I don't think there are any negative side effects, like Kaou's spell, which was actually turning people into plant food. I think Masaru really did only want to give everyone visions of happiness, so he was telling the truth when he said he wasn't hurting anybody,” she explained.

 

“If that's true, then why did you suddenly get so sad afterwards?”

 

Desperately trying to hold back her tears at his comment – even childishly reminding herself that it would ruin her makeup if she didn't, anything to keep from crying – Kagome looked Inuyasha right in the eyes and admitted, “It was such a beautiful illusion, that returning to the real world is what hurts.”

 

She...she's upset that she came back...to me?

 

Before he could misinterpret her meaning any further, Souta came running into the kitchen, chattering a mile a minute about all of the cool adventures he'd just been on in the Sengoku jidai. Yes, he knew it had only been a vision, but it had been so real, the boy honestly didn't care.

 

“-and then this giant dragon showed up, and you were there, Inuyasha! You drew your sword while I-”

 

“Hold on a minute, squirt. Let's back it up to the part where that mongrel dragged you through his front door,” the hanyou said, sending a purposeful glance in the apprehensive tanuki's direction, as Masaru stood in the entrance to the genkan, seeing every child off as they left for home, some of them accompanied by one of his shikigami if they were too nervous to travel alone.

 

“Oh, uh...sorry?” Kagome's brother lamely excused.

 

“Sorry? You're fucking sorry? Do you have any idea what you put your sister and I through?!”

 

“He couldn't help it, Inuyasha,” Kagome spoke up on Souta's behalf, having witnessed first-hand what Masaru's illusions were really like.

 

“When the leaf first gets applied to your forehead the situation is instantly explained to you in your mind. The children were all given once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to live out whatever was their hearts' most deepest desires, and they had all instantly surrendered to the illusion, knowing that a replacement would be sent home with their parents so that their absences wouldn't be noticed, and also knowing that it was only for one night, in which they could live out up to weeks of adventure in their minds, but then still be returned home before sunrise the following morning. What child could honestly say no to an offer like that?”

 

Inuyasha just snorted.

 

“Right. And he was doing this out of the kindness of his heart?”

 

“That's right!” Souta chimed in, quick to defend his new friend. “Don't you dare say anything bad about Masaru-sama! He let me fight youkai alongside you back in the past!”

 

Kagome and Inuyasha both stiffened at the boy's words, since the nature of the tanuki's magic had meant that Masaru had not personally been able to see any of the children's dreams. It was beyond unwise to inform a youkai of Kagome's world about the time portal that led back into Inuyasha's.

 

Even Souta seemed to realize his slip of the tongue as his eyes grew huge with worry, but fortunately, the tanuki didn't catch on to Souta's actual meaning, as he stated while entering the kitchen, “Yes, yes, the days of us youkai are truly in the past.” Then he gazed somewhat nervously in Inuyasha's direction, imaging just how fearsome the man must've been 'back in the day'.

 

Masaru had fortunately been born after the time of the Sengoku jidai, and had therefore never heard of Naraku or the Shikon no Tama. He had no idea who Inuyasha and Kagome actually were, and merely thought the human boy had been told stories by the hanyou of his previous adventures from the 'good ol' days'. Considering how strong Inuyasha's youki was, it was very likely that he could in fact make it to Kagome's time without showing much sign of aging, so there would really be no way for a youkai as weak as a tanuki to tell how old Inuyasha actually was from appearances alone.

 

In fact, it was probably the strength of Inuyasha's father's blood flowing through his veins that had caused the tanuki to think him older than he really was in the first place, believing it would take a long time for any youkai of mixed blood to gain as much power as the inu-hanyou obviously possessed, if that trick sword of his was any indication.

 

Back in the Edo period, Masaru had masqueraded as a priest for several years, and as a result he had learned how to create things like repelling barriers and shikigami, but as a youkai, he was still relatively weak. A tanuki's natural magic was based on illusion. He could never hope to defend himself from a youkai as powerful as Inuyasha; the fact that he was technically hanyou was irrelevant.

 

“Please, please...” Masaru said then, in an obvious attempt to beg for his life. “I meant no harm, truly. Not hurt the children! Give adventure!”

 

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, looking for all the world like he wouldn't be able to say anything that didn't include at least verbally tearing the raccoon-dog to shreds, so Kagome stepped in in that moment, able to empathize, sort of, but yet also firm in her conviction that what he had been doing was wrong, regardless of his intentions.

 

“But you were taking children away from their parents,” she explained. “And if that wasn't bad enough, you were also replacing them with shikigami, who can only go so far in projecting their own illusions. What if one or more of the parents discover the counterfeit?” she pointed out. “The very fabric of modern society could crumble to pieces if large groups of parents all start coming forward with the same claim of their children being replaced with magical copies.”

 

It wasn't hard for Kagome to deduce that there were probably more youkai still around than just Masaru, but having grown up in that time and seen for herself first-hand how nobody truly believed that youkai still existed (or even ever existed), it was obvious that whatever few youkai were still around were living in hiding. Taking that into consideration, Kagome imagined that if somebody like Masaru managed to blunder bad enough to make a spectacle of himself in all his youkai-glory front and center on the six o'clock news, it would not only rock the modern human world to its very core, but probably throw a giant monkey wrench into the entire youkai underground, as well.

 

Masaru gulped as Kagome made her point very clear, the miko having hit the nail on the head with her conclusions. Not having ever really thought that much into it before, Masaru had been doing this for years, always in a different area so as to share his gift with as many different children as possible. Halloween was a night of magic, after all. But the miko was right, Masaru realized in that moment; the modern human world no longer believed in youkai kind, and it would disrupt the human world if a large group of people ever actually discovered what he had been doing. Not to mention the amount of trouble he could get into if more powerful youkai suddenly deemed him a threat to their anonymity.

 

Then Kagome made her closing argument.

 

“And even assuming you get away with it free and clear, you're still guilty of kidnapping,” she said, her tone dripping with condemnation.

 

Masaru cringed. He hadn't ever thought if it that way before, either.

 

“Apologies,” he said sincerely, bowing as lowly as his belly would allow.

 

Nodding her head in the smallest of bows in return, Kagome attempted to maintain the position of superiority the tanuki had apparently placed on her, as she stated, “You are forgiven. Do not do it again.”

 

His scowl quickly wanting to turn into a smirk at Kagome's tone, Inuyasha turned and stomped back outside to hide his momentary amusement. Stupid fucking raccoon-dog had caused way more trouble than was necessary with that fucking barrier, not to mention the way he'd snatched Souta right before their eyes like that.

 

Hey...wait a minute...

 

“I do have two questions, though,” Inuyasha asked from his place just outside the doorway as he turned around, critically observing the position of Kagome's feet as the miko carefully tiptoed her way back through the broken glass to follow him out into the yard. Then he looked back up to meet Masaru's eyes as the tanuki appeared in the doorway. “Why the hell did you snatch Souta like you did, instead of just inviting him inside like those girls? And what the fuck was up with that barrier?”

 

Lowering his eyes in embarrassment, not to mention the fact that the inu-hanyou still had him on edge from the sheer strength of his youki, Masaru sheepishly and somewhat nervously admitted, “I had sensed you, but hadn't known you were with the boy, hadn't known! I...I had thought...you were hunting him?”

 

Inuyasha merely snorted, a quiet “Feh” muttered under his breath as he turned his head away in disgust.

 

The raccoon-dog thought he'd been hunting Kagome's brother? He'd thought he was fucking protecting Souta by quickly yanking him inside because he could sense foreign youki nearby?

 

Well...

 

Inuyasha's scowl lessened ever so slightly. He was a very powerful youkai, after all, so he couldn't really blame the tanuki for being afraid of his aura. Heh.

 

Immediately noticing the hanyou's change in mood, Kagome had to fight her own secret smile.

 

“And the barrier?” the miko asked a second time, having realized Inuyasha had brought up a very good point.

 

If they had been able to just go up to the door and knock from the very beginning it would've definitely alleviated a lot of unnecessary anxiety.

 

“Barrier made to protect children. Designed to keep out only youki and reiki, only youki and reiki, who might sense magic and come looking. All others can pass through.”

 

Oh...so it hadn't just been permitting the children passage alone. Kagome supposed that actually made sense, because otherwise, what would've happened had a parent been walking up to the door alongside their child?

 

And speaking of parents and their children, or older siblings and their younger siblings, whatever the case may be...

 

“Come on, Souta, we're leaving,” Kagome called into the house, rolling her eyes at the sight of two Soutas stepping around Masaru and through the broken door into the backyard.

 

“Can I keep him?” one of the two Soutas asked, as if his clone were a puppy that had followed him home.

 

“Absolutely not.”

 

“But-”

 

“No.”

 

“I will only last until sunrise,” the Souta-shikigami offered out of nowhere.

 

“Please...” the real Souta begged then. “I can pretend I have a twin brother! Just until we reach the gate?”

 

He was careful not to say 'torii' gate, lest the tanuki realize they lived at the Higurashi Shrine. He'd already flubbed once that evening, and didn't need to be inadvertently giving the youkai directions to the magic well.

 

Rolling her eyes, Kagome acquiesced without further protest at the realization that the shikigami of her brother was preprogrammed to self-destruct at dawn.

 

“Just until the gate,” she emphasized, quickly catching on to her brother's wordage and secretly proud of his quick thinking in that regard. “I don't want to have to figure out what to tell Mama.”

 

“Yay!” the real Souta cheered, jumping for joy and actually punching his fist into the air in his excitement. “This is gonna be great! Come on!”

 

That said, he immediately began running up the street to the next house, his shikigami twin obediently running after him.

 

“Hold on a second, you two!” Kagome called after her brother, grumbling to herself as he immediately didn't listen, although she seriously doubted there were any more youkai hiding out in any of the other houses on that particular block. What would be the odds of something like that?

 

The distant sound of police sirens did tell the miko that they should probably try the houses a few blocks over anyway, though.

 

Retrieving her geta from where she'd left them in the street, Kagome glanced back towards Masaru's house with a mild sense of concern for the tanuki's welfare, should the authorities actually show up to investigate a call about youkai activity at that address. But instead of the tanuki, she was relieved to see an average looking middle-aged man standing in the front yard, waving his farewells when he saw her glance his way.

 

Of course he could change shape, she realized with a giant 'duh' directed at herself; he was a tanuki. Everything would be fine, then, Kagome realized with a sense of relief. He really had meant no harm, after all, so the inherent kindness of the future-born miko meant she wanted no harm to come to him, either.

 

Having already come to the conclusion that his companion wouldn't allow him to pound on the tanuki, even just a little bit, Inuyasha stood several houses up with his arms crossed tightly within his sleeves, trying to keep himself about halfway between Kagome and Souta, so as to best keep an eye on the both of them.

 

Plus, he wanted to be as far away from that bastard's house as he could get before any foot soldiers actually showed up. Those strange whining sounds were getting a little louder. Kagome seemed to realize that as well, as she held her geta in her hands for a moment as she jogged quickly to catch up to him, hastily instructing that the lot of them should turn right at the next corner.