#inugami - chapter 11

[pink-yuri]

♡ Inugami and Nekoyama ♡

[arisaontheinternet]

OK so the plot is picking up and I've read more chapters. Also my book is due back on the library so expect some long posts today and tomorrow. :D

First the book did have a family tree. Here it is.

The next chapter is called "The Mysterious Monkey." Its pretty sure we find out Take and Tomo are making daily visits to Tamayo to try to gain her favor, and she made sure Monkey is always near by. To make sure no one does anything drastic as she can feel the families hatred. Tamayo though is making an effort to visit Kiyo herself. For this both Money and Kiyo's mother are present and apparently they are mostly awkward silence. The rest of the chapter is a bit more info on the heirlooms and on Monkey's backstory. The heirlooms were originally the 3 sacred treasures of Nasu and Daini gave Sahei them when he began his business. They are currently held by the Inugami foundation. And we learn that Monkey is an orphan taken in by Tamayo's mother and came to the Inugami residence with Tamayo. No one remembers his real name and he is good at growing chrysanthemums.

The next two chapters "The Votive Hand Print" and "Evil Tidings" bring us back to Kiyo. Kindaichi gets picked up by Furudate and taken to Nasu shrine with Tomo and Take. They are there is turns out because the current priest Oyama, who has a scroll with Kiyo's hand print from before he went off to war. They want to confront Kiyo to compare finger prints, Kindaichi says he does not want to witness this so they drop him off at his lodging. Furudate comes to update Kindaichi late that evening and we find out that Kiyo's mother refused to allow him to give his hand print. And there was a big argument about it. We end the chapter with a bit of a cliff hanger. An urgent call in the middle of the night from Furudate, telling Kindaichi to come to the Inugami villa urgently.

The next next 3 chapters "The Chrysanthemum Garden", "The Chrysanthemum Brooch", and "The Fingerprint on the Watch" are where it really starts mysterying. Turns out Take is dead. Warnings for blood and gore the next couple of sentences. Take's severed head is found on top of a chrysanthemum doll and his body is missing. There are bunch of dolls arrange in a scene from the kabuki play The Chrysanthemum Garden. And Take is in the place of the villain. As we investigate we find that Monkey was the one to find the head. The actual murder scene is on top of the boat house. Tamayo's brooch is at the scene of the crime and there is a missing boat. Next the interrogate Tamayo. She says that she had asked Kiyo to fix the pocket watch she got from Sahei and he refused. But while doing this he touched the watch and Tamayo had his finger print. So she had arranged to meet Take at the boathouse at 11 so they could compare the hand print to the finger print on the watch. She snuck out of her room at 11 to meet Take. She gave him the watch but as she went to leave he grabbed her. Monkey showed up and saved her and she ran away. So that leaves Money as the last person seen with the victim.

But there is more. The next two chapters "The Abandoned Boat" and "The Mysterious X" give us another suspect, but first we see that Matsuko (Kiyo's mother) has called everyone together saying that Kiyo will give his hand print. Mostly it seems to allay suspicions. They send the prints off to be compared and say this process will take about an hour. Then a police officer comes in and says they found the missing boat from the boat house. They go to the boat and see that yes the body was definitely in the boat at some point as there is blood everywhere. We hear from an eye witness, the proprietor of the Kashiwaya Inn. Apparently there was a mysterious visitor last night that never showed his face. He arrived at the in a 8PM, but left at 10PM to "visit a friend". He came back around midnight and then checked out at 5AM. Afterwards they find a bloody towel in the room that would have belonged to a war veteran return to Hakata (similar to Kiyo). And the missing boat is of course found near the same inn.

Oh and I have two theories. Been keeping track of when they popped in my head. So far one is that Kiyo, or the masked man claiming to be Kiyo, is Aonuma Shizuma and that there are multiple people wearing the Kiyo mask.

So I'm Going to Solve a Mystery

So I've had an Idea. Not a particular new idea, but a fun one. I just checked out the English language version of The Inugami Curse by Yokomizo Seishi from my local library. All I know about it is from the back of the book, a wealthy man dies, and there is a bloody fight over his inheritance. I picked it up because it was referenced in Don't Call It Mystery. But my plan is to try to solve the mystery!

Opening the book, there is a list of characters. So before reading any more, I drew a family tree. I guess I should clarify that in the book, they use Given then Family name. But since it's a Japanese book, I've swapped it to Family and then Given, and I looked up the kanji because I find that helpful. For instance, Inugami is the characters for dog and God. Or the 3 daughters' names are highest, middle, and lowest child. Also pine, bamboo, and plum/apricot.

[nocrystal]

Kukuri Inugami (Yotsuya Kaidan! by Yuki Tamagawa [2019])

[kemojicws]

CONTENT WARNINGS FOR KEMONO JIHEN/BEAST INCIDENTS

Kemono Jihen/ “Beast Incidents” is a new animanga series that recently began airing and depicts a world in which kemono (”monsters”) live among humans. The protagonist, Kabane, is a human/ghoul hybrid given a special stone at birth by his missing parents, and he teams up with a tanuki named Inugami and his detective agency in order to find them. It’s a great series; but it’s definitely not for the faint of heart, so I’ll be including series-wide and specific content warnings to the best of my ability

GENERAL RATING: 16+ due to gore, dark themes, and frequent references to sex and sexuality

SERIES WIDE WARNINGS:

Gore + Body Horror: Being a supernatural action series, there’s a lot of gore from both combat, to body horror due to unworldly transformations, and this includes blood and guts. In particular, the character Robara pushes the limits of even my body horror tolerance (and a few other things), so please be careful in later chapters. Kabane’s ability involves the regeneration of his body, so expect a lot of decapitation and amputation.

Cannibalism: It’s not technically cannibalism (in most cases) since they’re Kemono, but Inari, Kaede, and a few other characters eat humans. In Inari’s case especially, it’s shown graphically on screen, and is relevant to both plot and backstory aspects. There’s also an arc; dealing with Ogreham facility, that includes humans being raised as “livestock” for Kemono that need to subsist on human meat. Inari also eats other kitsune.

Character Death: I don’t want to spoiler who dies, but it happens semi-frequently.

SPECIFIC WARNINGS:

INSECTS:  Chapters 2, 8, and 9 feature insectoid monsters as antagonists.

CHILD ABUSE/NEGLECT: Kabane is introduced to us as “Dorotabo”, the name of a mud yokai. This mocking nickname is how his entire village refers to him, and they revile his very existence. It’s not graphically shown other than a small spat between Kabane and his cousin, but it’s stated on multiple occasions throughout the series that he was neglected and abused to the point of malnutrition and is barely able to read due to a lack of education.

Aya Tademaru states that her uncle hit her when she “didn’t work”.

FIRE: There’s…a lot of burning, especially as more kitsune are introduced. These scenes often include burnt/charred corpses.

EYE HORROR: Normally I’d just have this under the aforementioned gore warning, but there’s a LOT of eye busting in this series. Especially with the character Kaede. So be aware if you’re sensitive to seeing eyes get punched or stabbed.

SEXUAL ASSAULT:

The Tademaru family backstory includes depictions of sexual assault in vol 3 ch 11, and then i believe it shows up in smaller flashbacks in ch 12 + more depictions of it. It specifically has to do with medicalized sexual assault. The anime is much less graphic in it’s depiction, so that may be an alternative (the scenes in question take place in episode 7) or it may be skipped entirely.

CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ASSAULT/INCEST

volume 6 chapter 20, in the form of a long flashback. Yui was sexually assaulted by the women of his village (as yuki-onna only have males born every 100 years) starting from a young age, and his trauma from the event is delved into in great detail. All of the yuki-onna have the same patrilineal line, making this incestous abuse.

The anime is also much less graphic than the manga is, but due to how it’s skipped around, some of the subtext is lost. It is, however, an alternative to the manga.

While I believe that Kemono Jihen is very respectful with it’s treatment of abused characters, and it focuses more on the recovery and reunion of the victims as opposed to anything irt the abusers (who, in both circumstances, die), it is something to look out for and these scenes may be skipped if necessary. I’m more than willing to provide a summary of events for anyone who skips them.

THE ENTIRE OGREHAM ARC/ HIIROBA: The Ogreham arc starts in chapter 35 and goes to about 40/41. The kitsune involved, Hinata and Robara, are in an incredibly unhealthy relationship– Robara is a serial murderer who uses his “glue gun” ability to maim people, and Hinata is his girlfriend, who attempts to keep him placated and hopes to make a world where he won’t be ostracized. Their dynamic is shown in depth– how they met as children and began “dating” after Hinata found Robara after murdering his own mother (and as his only friend, felt as if she was the only person who could look after him), and how Robara “cheats” on her by getting off to his own victims (never directly shown), to which she responds with violence, telling him they’ll never be able to make a world that accepts him if he continues to commit such atrocities. At the end of the arc, Robara is castrated by an oni surgeon who doesn’t believe he’d stop his crimes if left alone. This arc is incredibly important to the plot, and I’m willing to offer summaries to anyone who wishes to skip it. Robara’s ability leads to a lot of very graphic body horror. Oh also the kemono calculus for this arc is a dong. 

CHARACTER SPECIFIC:

Robara is directly stated to have raped 12 people.

Inari is an incredibly manipulative person + a cannibal, and this is shown on screen

Aya is a character introduced to us as Shiki Tademaru’s younger sister. I wasn’t entirely sure how to handle putting this section in, so I’m going to try and whard what I have to say to the best of my ability. Aya’s design is…unsettling for a child her age– more specifically the outfit she wears, which has a tube top and shorts. Not only that, but there are multiple gags about her crushing on Kabane and acting as if they’re dating. Because the series takes such a staunch and outright stance against CSA, I do genuinely believe these jokes are “haha, kids these days are so mature”– because the author makes multiple references to it as part of the joke…but I still hate them and can’t blame anyone for wanting to skip past them. Kabane never once reciprocates her presumed crush, and it’s very clear that his interest is in Kon (or..as much romantic interest as a 14 y/o can have? It feels weird talking about “romance” here, but..y’know. The “love interest.”), but I’m going to list out chapters that use these gags here so people can avoid them. Usually they’re just filler chapters– if not, I’ll list the page number as well.

Ch. 15– Takeshita Street (This chapter is about Kabane, Kon, and Aya going on a mission together. Kon is jealous that Aya is affectionate towards Kabane, and so ends up attacking her in confusion about her feelings. Kabane states that he can’t let her attack Aya because Aya is Shiki’s little sister, and Kon finds her “sickness” disappears when Kabane tells her he still is her friend.)

Ch. 32 pg. 49: Shiki has kabane ask aya for money because he thinks Aya won’t give it to them if he asks. 

Ch. 60 pg 8: Tunamayo makes a crude joke where he derisively calls Aya a “loli”. He says immediately that it was just a bad joke and Shiki chokes him for it, but it is still there.

OTHER:

There’s a brief, one-panel gag where Zenkichi is dressed as an idol with Iyo and appears to be embarrassed. ch.26, page 30. This can be skipped– it’s a filler montage

UNTRANSLATED CHAPTERS:

Future chapters deal with drugs, cults, and more child abuse. Will update main list when those chapters are translated.

[mihai-florescu]

It's fun!! I got to chapter 11 I think?? The arc where the mosquito women suck people's brain out to do capitalism and Mihai just throws the kids in a life endangering Situation for his own entertainment because the ghoul boy who's name I keep forgetting broke his wrist and at the end of the arc Nobimaru gets introduced too that one.

I'm so bad at remembering names so this is gonna be horrible but I really like Inugami I think his name was he's very neat!! And I really like the kids too Akira especially gnc king <3

And yeah as mentioned I think Mihai is very cool he's such a guy!! When Inugami introduced his character and he's set up like this mysterious, very capable, responsible and wise guy and then just "and then he got addicted to Japanese online-games" that was very funny. And the way he's just living in the basement and him leaving his room being practically unheard of and also the "You were about to call him a Slave weren't you?" "No of course not. Cease those boorish suspicions" exchange I think that was also really amusing. He's very cool I like him :)

I think Inari is very pretty but I don't really have other feelings about her beyond a mild scepticism because her vibes are kinda off but I really like Kon she's very cute very cat-y I like her and. Nobimaru. He's so fun. First chapter he shows up in immediately gets rid of evidence corpses and says he hates his boss I like him he's very fun

I'm not really sure in which direction the plot's gonna go because as for now the main thing seems to be Ghoul boy wanting to find out about his parents but my gut feeling tells me that's more of a ''starting point'' (???) And the actual plot is just like. Vaguely connected to that?? Could also be wrong though so hmm idk what to expect but I'm looking forward to it it's a nice read until now (mangadex tagged it as tragedy though so I'm expecting...well. tragedy ig)

@ your last part y,, yeah,, um. It might be too late now to send the tw list but i think ill dm u regardless, but basically get ready for the next 2 arcs to have some SA and CSA for characters you havent met yet. But im glad you like it so far!^^ the plot does indeed start from "finding parents" but they need to retrieve more kemono calculi before, and that's where we're at now. Excited for you to meet more of the antagonists later<3 but, like, yeah, there are gonna be quite some trigger heavy scenes soon lmk if you have any issues with, well, anything.

[pocket-luv101]

Across Time || Chapter 19

Fandom: Servamp Ships: KuroMahi (main), LawLicht (side) Characters: Kuro, Mahiru, Hyde, Licht

Summary: Mahiru falls into a well and is taken to a new, fantasy world. He comes across a half-blooded cat demon trapped in a tree. After he frees Kuro, he helps him collect the shards of the sacred jewel. (KuroMahi, InuYasha AU)

Ch.1 || Ch.2 || Ch.3 || Ch.4 || Ch.5 || Ch.6 || Ch.7 || Ch.8 || Ch.9 || Ch.10 || Ch.11 || Ch.12 || Ch.13 || Ch.14 || Ch.15 || Ch.16 || Ch.17 || Ch.18 || (Ch.19) ||

“How could you let Father’s sword be damaged? It was cracked in a fight against a lowly warthog demon as well. I don’t understand how someone was able to make a crack in it when it’s forged from Father’s fang.” Hyde said in disbelief after Kuro told him about the events at the herb farm. Mahiru knew how important the heirloom was to the siblings and he worried it could cause a rift between Hyde and Kuro.

“Wait, Hyde, it wasn’t his fault that the tessaiga was cracked. Kuro was trying to protect me and the other people there. The warthog demon charged at us.” He stepped between them to defend Kuro. Mahiru felt guilty that the sword was the damaged because of him. “Maybe we can repair it. Licht, are you knowledgeable about weapons?”

“My village created weapons from the remains of demons we slay. I was in the combat squad but I had a friend who forged weapons. Sometimes, I would watch Kranz repair my boots. We can take the tessaiga to my village and I’ll try to mend it there.” Licht offered. He examined the thin blade that Kuro held between them. “You might be better off finding a new sword though.”

“This is a family treasure. Even if it didn’t have sentimental value, we can’t simply throw it away. The tessaiga holds immense power.” Hyde told him. He grabbed the hilt to show him the power of the sword. Kuro tried to stop him and warn him about the seal he placed on the sword but he was too late. Electricity travelled up his arm and the pain caused him to flinch. He accidentally tossed it into the sky.

Kuro managed to catch the sword in the air before anyone could be hurt. He sheathed the sword and said, “There are two seals on my sword. The first only allows someone with human blood to hold the tessaiga. The other one suppresses the sword’s full power unless a demon holding it uses it to protect someone. With the seals, this sword is useless.”

“The tessaiga is essentially a sword that protects. I don’t think that’s useless.” Mahiru wrapped his hands over Kuro’s on the sword. Most would overlook the simple sword because they didn’t know the story and strength it held. He thought that Kuro was similar. He lowered his voice to a whisper and said, “Your mother forged the sword. Is there a way to repair the crack?”

He doubted the crack would weaken the the blade since his demonic power would reinforce the metal during battles. Kuro looked down at the dull sword where Mahiru was reflected in the metal. He vowed to never use the tessaiga again but it helped him protect Mahiru and Hyde in previous fights. After he thought it over, he said: “It can’t be repaired with simple metal. My mother forged the sword with my father’s fang. Her family may be able to repair it though.”

“Your mother?” Mahiru echoed under his breath. His mother was human so it was unlikely that she was still alive. Returning to his home would be difficult for him due to the memories and loss. He thought of when his own mother died and how lonely that was for him. He lightly squeezed his hands and vowed that he would support Kuro the best he could.

Kuro couldn’t remember the last time he returned to the village he was born in. He looked over the buildings but a lot had changed since he left. While he grew up in the village, he never considered it his home. Memories came back to him and he took a deep breath. He felt a warm hand on his back and he looked behind him to see Mahiru.

“We’re here for you, Kuro.” He smiled up at him reassuringly. Mahiru thought of something he could say to make him more comfortable. “Your mother forged the sword. Did you work with her or helped her forge other weapons? Those must be some interesting memories. I would love to hear about them while we’re waiting for your sword to be completed.”

“I would help sometimes.” Kuro answered but he didn’t explain his family situation to him entirely. The village told his mother that they would only allow a half demon to live in the village if he made weapons for them. His demonic powers were helpful but they never accepted him as part of their village. “Let’s go. The quicker we repair the tessaiga, the earlier we’ll be able to leave.”

He walked forward before the others could follow him. Mahiru quickly ran to his side and took his hand. He pulled him back but it was the concern in his eyes that made Kuro pause. He didn’t want to make him worry and he forced himself to relax. The memories of his childhood came back to him even though he did his best to repress them.

“Everything will turn out okay, Kuro.” Mahiru whispered to him.

Licht glanced around the village as they walked through the gates. The people around them became still and stared at Kuro. Then, they saw Hyde and ran towards the large castle standing at the far side of the village in a panic. He was a demon slayer and he had seen many people’s fear. Yet, something was strange to him and he looked up at Hyde. “Humans are scared of demons but they should be accustomed to your presence if you two grew up here.”

“I was raised in a nearby oni village. We’re siblings so we would play with each other sometimes but Father believed it was best to keep us separate. He wanted us to be the perfect army. Emotions would only cloud our judgement during raids.” Hyde shrugged. His words made Licht’s eyes widened though. He was raised to fight as well but his family had been warm and loving.

Hyde saw the slight hesitation in Licht’s steps and he could guess the thoughts running through his mind. He patted his back and lightly pushed him forward. “It wasn’t that bad for me. I’m sure my big brother had it worse since he’s half demon. Also, he hasn’t returned to the village so they don’t know him well. Though, they would still distrust him even if he lived here for a thousand years. He’s half demon.”

Licht unconsciously placed his hand on Kirara who rested on his shoulder and he lightly scratched its head. He had to admit that he would’ve thought the same as the village before he came to know the group better. He stared at Kuro and Mahiru in front of them.

“That’s strange.” Mahiru’s steps slowed and he looked towards the large building that the villagers had fled to. He could sense a jewel shard within it. Kuro noticed him pause and looked back to him. Mahiru debated if he should tell the others about the jewel shard since Kuro already had a lot on his mind. He smiled at him and said, “Your mother created swords. Did you live in the blacksmith building?”

“This was my house.” Kuro stopped in front of a large gate. A few of the guards blocked them and pointed their weapons at him but he barely reacted to their silent threat. Mahiru gripped the bow over his shoulder, worried that they didn’t recognize Kuro and would attack him. He hoped they wouldn’t have to fight in Kuro’s hometown though.

Kuro expected their reaction and slowly moved his ears. “I am Kuro Sleepy Ash, the first son to Lady Mizuki. She passed away already but I have her sword as proof.”

“You have the tessaiga but are you able to wield it?” The voice wasn’t from the guards before them but someone behind them. Licht heard the unique sound of metal against dirt and he turned around. A man approached them and he had a sword dragging behind him. From his posture, Licht knew that he intended to attack them. The man moved faster than he expected.

He seemingly vanished but Licht quickly realized that the man had leapt over their heads to attack Kuro. It was impossible for a mere human to jump so high so he was likely a demon. While the others prepared to fight, Kuro only let out a groan. He pulled Mahiru against his side to protect him. With his other hand, he blocked the man’s attack with the tessaiga.

“There’s a crack in the blade. That’s irresponsible of you.” The man observed. In response, Kuro pushed on his sword to force him back. He didn’t continue to fight him and sheathed the sword instead. Mahiru had to wonder if they knew each other since Kuro didn’t appear cautious of him. Yet, Hyde didn’t seem to recognize him as he pulled out a spell tag.

The man gave Hyde a brief glance before he spoke to Kuro. “Come inside. You can tell me how the tessaiga was cracked. I’ll decide how much I should kick you for damaging the family’s heirloom.”

“Kuro, who is that?” He asked as the man disappeared through the gate. The guards had lowered their weapons due to the man’s presence. It was clear that they knew each other but anyone from his childhood would’ve passed away long ago. “Is he a friend of yours?”

“His name is Gear and he’s an inugami. We knew each other when we were kids because my mother took him in. We would help her forge swords.” Kuro told him. He took Mahiru’s hand and squeezed it for strength. He took a deep breath and walked through the gate. “We parted on bad terms.”

“The way you’ve treated the tessaiga is disgraceful. This sword was one of your mother’s greatest creation and now it’s mostly rust. Your mother taught you how to polish and care for blades yet it looks like you haven’t treated it in decades.” Gear clicked his tongue as he examined the sword. He couldn’t touch the tessaiga since he was a demon so he had Kuro hold it for him.

“I sealed the sword in my father’s grave and I only reclaimed it a few months ago. Treating the blade after so long would’ve been troublesome so I didn’t bother. My demonic power would make the sword stronger so I didn’t need to worry about maintaining it beyond that.” Kuro shrugged. The glare Gear gave him didn’t faze him though. “Can you fix it?”

“It won’t be easy.” He told him. “I will need the fang of a full fledged nekomata—preferably a nekomata related to the original demon used to create the sword. I know one of your siblings is a nekomata. He will do. How strong are those people you brought with you? What about that man with the arrow?”

“I haven’t seen my brother since he tried to put a hole in my chest last week.” Kuro said sarcastically. He assumed he would speak with Gear briefly about the sword so he told Mahiru to wait outside with Hyde and Licht. “My brother almost killed Mahiru so I would like to avoid facing him again. Is there something else we can use? If I continue to fight while the tessaiga has this crack, what could happen?”

“The blade is strong but it will snap if your opponent strikes it with enough force. We have to repair it with a new fang. You don’t want to fight Tsubaki but your father did have another nekomata. We can use your fang.” At first, Kuro was confused because he wasn’t a full fledge demon. Gear took out a jewel shard from his sleeve and placed it against the sword’s crack. “This should be enough.”

“Is that a jewel shard?” Kuro’s eyes narrowed when he saw how its colour was different from its usual pink. He could only recall once when he saw it a different colour. The tainted jewel had been placed on a mask that took control of Mahiru’s body. “Did someone give you this sh—”

Kuro wasn’t able to complete his question when a sudden wave of pain overtook him. The air from his lungs was forced out of his chest. He collapsed on his knees and he clutched his sword. A red haze overtook his vision but he saw that his claws were growing. He didn’t understand the power raging through him but it was eerily familiar. “What is this?”

“The tessaiga draws on its wielder’s demonic power and the jewel’s power will enhance that ability. A half demon like you won’t be able to bear that power. It will either kill you or force you to transform into a full fledge demon. If it’s the latter, I can take your fang to repair the tessaiga.” Gear explained. He drew his claws and said, “This will be easier if you can keep your sanity through the transformation but that’s unlikely. I hope your friends are strong.”

“Maybe we should go check on Kuro. He said he wouldn’t be long but he also said that they parted on bad terms. I would like to be there to support him if Gear does bring up the past.” Mahiru told Hyde as he worriedly glanced towards the room Kuro went into with Gear. While he hadn’t told him directly, he knew returning home would be difficult.

A pained scream cut through the air and Mahiru jumped to his feet. His heart sank the moment he recognized Kuro’s voice. He ran across the hall and threw open the door before he could think. He saw Kuro on the floor and he rushed to his side. As he called his name, he knelt next to him and placed his hand on his back. “Kuro, what’s wrong?”

“Get away from me, Mahiru.” His voice came out as a hiss but Mahiru couldn’t leave him when he was in pain. He heard Licht and Hyde enter the room and he looked to them for help. The moment he looked away from him, Kuro pushed him aside and ran to the balcony. He only took a few steps before he stopped again. The grip on his hilt trembled violently.

Kuro turned around and Mahiru could see that the shape of his red eyes had narrowed like a cat. He almost resembled a full demon like Tsubaki. Before Mahiru could call Kuro’s name again, he leapt over them to attack Gear. Mahiru was still trying to make sense of the situation as the two demons fought.

“Well, you have some control over your power if you didn’t attack your mate but targeted me.” Gear mused and casually blocked the swing of Kuro’s sword. “Your attacks are sloppy so you don’t have complete control over yourself. Your demon self is fighting through instinct. I knew this would happen once I used the jewel shard on the tessaiga.”

“You did this to Kuro?” Mahiru yelled. While he was angry, he told himself to focus on helping Kuro. He remembered when the mask took control of his body and forced him to fight his friends. He was scared yet Kuro was able to save him.

His mind raced for a way to reverse Kuro’s transformation. Peering closer, he realized that there was a tainted jewel shard in the tessaiga. He didn’t understand fully but his instincts told him that the jewel had caused Kuro’s transformation. He should be able to purify the shard to save him. First, he needed to stop Kuro or else he could do something he would regret.

“Sit, Kuro!” He used the enchantment to force Kuro to stop. Gravity forced him to his knees yet he had enough strength to raise his sword for a slash. Mahiru ran behind him and grabbed his hand to stop him. He tried to pry his fingers from the hilt but he had a strong grip. His claws cut into his fingers the more he tried to pull the sword from his hand.

Mahiru realized that it was impossible to take the sword from him. He didn’t let go of his hand but he turned to Hyde. “Place a barrier around me and Kuro while I try to purify the transformation. If this fails, we have to keep him away from other humans. Sit, Kuro!”

He repeated the enchantment when the first spell started to fade. He walked around him so he could face Kuro. Mahiru kept one hand around Kuro’s and then cupped his cheek in his other hand. He let his spiritual energy flow into the sword and hoped it would overcome the demonic aura to purify it. “Please, Kuro, don’t let the shard control you. I know this isn’t you.”

He cursed softly when Kuro tried to pull out of his embrace. It was difficult to concentrate on purifying his sword and hold him at the same time. Mahiru looked into his red eyes and saw that Kuro was struggling against the shard’s influence. With the hand on his cheek, he tilted Kuro’s gaze down to him. “I know you’re stronger than whatever this is. Come back to your senses.”

He rose onto his toes and pressed a kiss against the corner of his lips. Kuro stopped moving as all thought escaped him until he could only focus on Mahiru’s lips moving over his. The kiss was shy and tentative but it slowly grew bolder. The weight of the enchantment disappeared but Kuro didn’t stand. He was certain that the kiss had its own power over him.

Once the tension had left Kuro’s body, Mahiru leaned back. The soft love in his red eyes reassured him that he had control over himself again. He was relieved and he threw his arms around Kuro’s neck. He reached up and brushed his bangs from his face so he could see his eyes. Kuro looked down at him and gasped softly. “Mahiru, your fingers. Let me see them.”

Kuro ripped a strip of cloth from his belt and wrapped it around Mahiru’s fingers. While the marks were small, his heart tightened at the thought that he had unintentionally hurt him. He wanted to hold Mahiru’s hand and comfort him but he didn’t know if he should with his long claws. Mahiru must’ve read his thoughts because he tangled their fingers together. He wanted to return his embrace but then Kuro felt a sharp tug on his jaw. Gear stood next to him and pulled out a fang.

“This should be enough to repair the tessaiga. You should fully purify the shard before Ash is overwhelmed by its demonic power again.” Gear told him. Mahiru let go of Kuro and took the sword from him. He ran his spiritual energy over the shard and weakened the demonic power until he could pull it out of the crack.

“You should’ve told me your plan before you forced me to transform.” Kuro glared at Gear. He held out the sword to him. “Where did you get that tainted shard?”

“A young man has been selling these tainted jewels to demons. He’s travelling with your brother but I don’t recall which one. I’m certain you’ll run into him soon though.”

Kuro stood in front of his mother’s grave. He opened his mouth several times to speak to her but he couldn’t find the words. A warm hand fell on his back and recognized that it was Mahiru even before he turned around. His hand moved from his back to take his fingers into his. “Do you want more time before we leave? I can tell Hyde and Licht to wait for us.”

“I thought I should say a few words to my mother before we go but I don’t know what to say. It has been so long since I saw her. I can barely remember her face.” Kuro admitted. He stared at the ground because he was afraid to see judgement in his brown eyes. He knew the thought was silly since Mahiru was too kind and sympathetic to judge him. “How are your fingers? I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t hurt me, Kuro.” He reassured him and placed his finger beneath his chin. Gently, he turned his face so Kuro could see his smile. His claws had cut his hand when he tried to take the tessaiga from him. Kuro bandaged them afterwards and he still felt guilty. He brought his fingers to his lips and kissed them softly. “You stopped your demon self.”

“You were the reason I was able to, Mahiru. I won’t let anything hurt you again.” He vowed.

Mahiru sat on the ground and Kuro did the same. He leaned his head on Mahiru’s shoulder and felt him tenderly stroke his hair. Since his mother died when he was young, he understood how he felt. “Memories fade with time but the feelings you shared will be in your heart forever.”

He held Kuro’s hand against his heart and looked into his red eyes. “I’m sure she has been watching over us but you can also tell her about our journey so far. You can talk to her about anything that’s on your mind too. She’s your mother.”

“It has been so long that I’m worried she would be mad at me. Angry spirits are troublesome.” Kuro felt guilty that he avoided facing his past but he was able to face those regrets with Mahiru by his side. Gently, he stroked his arm. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Mahiru’s soft scent mixed with the flowers and he relaxed.

Mother, I’m sorry I haven’t returned to speak with you. This place never felt like home without you. But I found a new place I belong. His name is Mahiru and I love him. I also reconnected with my brother and I might be able to talk to the others with his help. I’m doing fine. Kuro opened his eyes once he finished. He stood and held out his hand to help Mahiru up. He shook his head and told him.

“Can you give me a few minutes? I would like to give a prayer to your mother as well. I wanted to wait for you to finish first before I spoke to her.” Mahiru told him. Kuro was curious about what he wanted to tell his mother but he didn’t ask. He nodded and sat next to him again. Mahiru folded his hands and hoped his thoughts would reach his mother.

My name is Mahiru. I don’t know if Kuro told you about me earlier. I should apologize for dragging Kuro along this dangerous quest to collect the shards. You don’t have to worry about Kuro because I will stay by his side and protect him.

Mahiru opened his eyes. He placed his hand in Kuro’s and he helped him to his feet. “Oh, I forget to ask you something. You said you and Gear parted on bad terms but you never told me what it was. He held a grudge against you for years and even forced you into your demon form. He still helped you in the end but I don’t approve of his methods.”

“Mother took in Gear when we were both kids. She thought we would become friends but we were different people. We would play together since the other children were afraid of us.” Kuro told him about their childhood as they walked. “My mother passed away and I left the castle. I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving before I disappeared and he never forgave me for that.”

“It must’ve been painful for you to say goodbye to your only friend at the time.” Mahiru could imagine why he left without telling Gear. “You’re stronger now with more friends.”

[lonestorm]

The Inugami - Chapter 15

Summary: When Kagome Higurashi moved to the bad side of Chicago to help with her grandfather’s restaurant, she expected chaos. Being thrown into a fake gang, caught in the middle of a drug war and grudge that stretches centuries back in time, befriending a grumpy half demon along with a ragtag bunch of three other misfits… wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. High school AU. Inukag.

Rating: T (some language)

Pairings: Inukag, Mirsan

Chapters: Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 8 | Ch. 9 |  Ch. 10 | Ch. 11 | Ch. 12 | Ch. 13 | Ch. 14 | Ch. 15

Shorts: 1. Sesshomaru | 2. Miroku | 3. Shippo | 4. Sango | 5. Sesshomaru | 6. Inuyasha | 7. Shippo

**Also on ff.net here and ao3 here.

The Final Chapter! Thank you to my faithful beta, @akela-nakamura!

Kagome’s boots barely echoed softly through the kitchen of the empty restaurant. It had been kept sparkly clean, smelling strongly of bleach, each surface shining and lonely at the same time without food on the countertops. She knew that hours had been reduced until the Higurashis were to return. 

She lowered her hood, brushing snow from her arms. She was moving mechanically, as if displaying overly human actions would verify her racing heart and anticipation. For the first time in six months, Kagome was about to see the friends that had brightened her world, and the man she was impossibly in love with.

After countless late nights spent speaking quietly over the phone to him, just about how their days had gone, something funny they’d seen, anything that anyone could talk about, she was finally going to see Inuyasha again, face to face. 

He didn’t know that, though. Of all Shippo’s schemes, this surprise was her favorite. Apparently, she was to be Inuyasha’s Christmas present, a role she was all too happy to fill. 

The Higurashis had finished moving back to Chicago just yesterday, into a nicer house this time. The rent was surprisingly cheap for such a decent neighborhood (compared to the last, at least.), and Kagome didn’t bother voicing that she was sure the landlord name “Nonemu” was code for “Sesshomaru trying to not look nice.” 

She startled at the sound of the bell jingling from the front, her frenzied heartbeat coming to an abrupt halt. And then she heard it in person, his gruff and so, so loveable voice only meters away. 

“This had better be good,” grumbled Inuyasha’s voice. Her breath caught. The sound of clomping snowy shoes on the welcome mat. “Comin’ in on one of my only days off…”

“I promise, your Christmas present will be worth it,” Shippo said firmly.

“Why aren’t Sango and Miroku here? Didn’t you get something for them?”

“Of course I did! But this is just for you. They’ll come a bit later, give you some time alone with your present.”

“What? Why would I need- Ugh, Shippo, did you dump five gallons of bleach in the place? I can’t smell a thing!”

Kagome smirked; Shippo had really thought this out.

“Stop whining! You’re about to get the best Christmas present ever.”

“Sounds cocky. I once got a whole sock from my brother.”

“I’ll just assume that’s a ‘Wow, that sounds so thoughtful, Shippo! I don’t even need a present because your friendship is enough of a gift.’ I’ll be back in about twenty minutes.”

“Wh-wha-you’re just leaving me here? You’re just planning on locking me in here, aren’t you?”

“For fuck’s sake. Just… stay here. As one Inugami to another, just trust me.”

“...fine.”

A second jangling of the bell--Shippo had left. Kagome breathed in slowly, steeling herself, shaking out her hands as trying to rid them of water. She paced to the door that led to the dining area. Each step seemed to take too long and not long enough. 

Finally, Kagome pushed the door and immediately saw him, standing with lowered ears, hands in his pockets, characteristically annoyed. Affection swelled in her chest, seeing Inuyasha in that red jacket, beat up boots tapping on the cracked tile. It was as if she’d been blocking out how much she cared for him, and the waves how much she’d missed him crashed over her in an instant. But she was frozen, hardly able to breathe until he finally caught sight of her.

His jaw dropped, and a startled sound seemed to stick in his throat. But he wasn’t still like her--he immediately came forward and leapt over the counter. In an instant, he was embracing her, and she had forgotten how warm, safe, smelling like leather and wind and-

“Home,” she murmured into his chest. “I’m home.”

“I love you,” was all he said back. “I love you.”

SIX YEARS LATER

There was a jangle from the front door, and Kagome looked over to see one of their regulars, Joseph, walk in, smiling and pulling a brown-haired boy behind him. The second boy looked skeptical and closed off, scrutinizing every wall and inch of the ceiling. Kagome watched her husband turn and regard the boys, resting his arms on the bokken that laid across his shoulders.

“Oh, a newb!” Shippo whispered to her in excitement. “Oh boy, Inuyasha is gonna do the thing! I love this part.”

Kagome allowed herself a small smile of agreement. She’d seen such a scene many a time before, but it was always inspiring to witness it again. This was the purpose of the Inugami now, after all. 

“Hey, Joe,” Inuyasha greeted, giving a nod. “Who’s the kid?”

With mildly hidden enthusiasm, Joseph tugged his friend up behind him. “This is my buddy, Derek. He’s the one I talked to you about last week. I talked about Inugami a bit with him and he was thinkin’ about joining. Ain’t that right, Derek?”

Derek huffed, “Tch,” as he was pushed forward to stand about four feet away from Inuyasha. The boy shoved his hands in his jean pockets, clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes up at the older man.

Inuyasha, in turn, stared down at Derek, golden eyes sharpening and chin raising. Finally, Inuyasha growled, “Don’t gimme that entitled teenage bad boy shit face, kid. If you wanna be Inugami, we’ve got a code to follow. So are you gonna listen up or get out like a loser?”

A pause. The boy seemed startled by Inuyasha’s attitude, but soon realized that Inuyasha was truly waiting for an answer. “Uh… Okay, I’ll… listen,” Derek mumbled back.

“What was that?”

“I’m listening.”

“You’re listening…?” Inuyasha drawled, gaze biting.

“S-sir. I’m listening, sir.”

“Alright.” Inuyasha took the bokken off his shoulders, slamming it to the ground at his side. Derek startled backwards into Joseph, who hid a snicker.  “The Inugami have self control. The Inugami do not involve themselves with gangs or gang activity. The Inugami don’t smoke or do that drug shit or even vape. I hate the damn smell and they make you weak. The Inugami don’t drink underage and if they are of age, they don’t drink irresponsibly like a deadbeat. The Inugami go to school and do their damn best in it. The Inugami do not fight unless in defense of self, defense of another, or a controlled spar supervised by an Inugami leader. The Inugami do not steal. The Inugami do not threaten, intimidate, or hurt others. The Inugami respect all humans, demons, and otherwise equally. The Inugami do all they can to help their neighbor. The Inugami keep a cool head and don’t respond to fucking morons that are trying to provoke them-”

Beside her, Shippo coughed in a way that sounded a lot like the name, “Koga?”

“-Inugami don’t whine about shit or think they’re entitled to shit. The Inugami work hard, challenge themselves, and don’t blame other people for their problems. The Inugami accept their cross to bear, their responsibilities, what can and cannot be changed, and their duty to become the best they can be.”

Inuyasha walked up close to the boy, staring down at him with an intense light in his eyes that Kagome had fallen in love with. Derek backed up even further, stumbling, but Joe steadied him. Inuyasha’s bokken was back in its sheath, and his powerful arms were crossed as he went on, “Now, if you think you’re incapable of those simple, moral and reasonable rules, if you just wanna be born as a street rat and die a thug that didn’t leave the world any better than it was when he was popped out of his poor mother’s womb, then you can turn your ass around and get straight back out that door. I ain’t here to give you free shit or coddle you or let you do whatever the fuck you want, whatever feels good.”

Tilting his head, Inuyasha said more quietly, “But if you stay… The Inugami is here to support you in doing shit that does good. The Inugami will have your back, teach you defense, give you a place to go, and make you something to be proud of.” 

Inuyasha pulled the bandana off of the handle of his bokken; Kagome knew it was situations like these for which he always kept an extra red bandana around. The red cloth was held out to Derek, who was eyeing it wide-eyed and white-faced.

“So?” Inuyasha said, hand open. “You gonna stay or go?”

Kagome clenched her fists, an excited smile bursting on her face.

Derek stared down at the bandana, back to his friend, and then up to Inuyasha. “I… I’m gonna stay.”

Finally, Inuyasha gave the kid a quick, rare grin. “Good choice. Here.” Derek took the red bandana, gripping it tightly. His friend gave a whoop and clapped him on the shoulder while Inuyasha dug around in his bag for the registration.

“Just a little stupid paperwork, brat,” Inuyasha explained, holding the paper and a pen out to Derek. “Liability shit, and we wanna be able to contact you if you need help. I’ll give you my number, and the other four Inugami heads will probably give you theirs eventually. What are you doin, signin’ that already?! Always read a contract before you sign it, idiot. There ya go…”

By the time Derek was finished registering, the other Inugami had begun to file in, ready in their training clothes and chatting with one another comfortably, about twenty-five of them today. Kagome couldn’t help but smile at all of them, greet a few; these teenagers, all coming in here trying to make their inner-city life better, to improve themselves. These kids were the dreams of all the original Inugami, and it’s why she came every day without regret.

Inuyasha was talking to some of the kids. When he looked over at her, beginning to start her stretches on the bench next to Shippo, his entire body seemed to relax, and he returned a smile. But when he started to make his way over…

“Whoa,” she heard Derek say quietly, not too far away, to Joseph. He was pointing at her. “Who’s the chick? I’d tap that so hard.”

Joe looked panicked and was about to answer, but that’s when Inuyasha hit Derek in the back of the head, causing a resounding SMACK followed by a high, “Ow!”

“She,” Inuyasha snarled, “would me my wife.”

“Shit,” muttered Derek.

“I guess since you haven’t seemed to catch on to the specifics of ‘respect all humans, demons, and otherwise’ and you have a problem with thinking with your dick, I’ll have to add that the Inugami men are not fucking perverts or fuckboys. The Inugami other than me do not even think about daring to touch her in a way any more than a consented hug. Do I make myself clear?”

“Y-yes, sir! Sorry, sir!”

“Don’t apologize to me, boy; apologize to her!”

“R-right.” The boy turned quickly and practically bowed to her. “I-I’m sorry, um…?”

Kagome smiled in amusement. “Mrs. Tashio will do.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Tashio.”

“I forgive you, Derek. Welcome to the Inugami!” She stood and held out her hand, which he shook tentatively. “I’m so happy you’ve joined us. Oh that’s right, I made cookies today! Do you like chocolate chip? You can have some-”

“Kagome,” Inuyasha sighed, looking only minisculely more grumpy than usual. “It’s like you’re rewarding him!”

“I am!” she said with a huff, putting her hands on her hips. “He joined us! He apologized for what he said, so I think he should get a cookie. Besides, I tried this new recipe and I want the kids to say if they like it…”

“You made it. Of course they’ll like it.”

Her heart swelled. “Oh Inuyasha, really? You think so?”

His cheeks were turning about the color of his bandana that was tied around his head. “Keh, you know I think so.”

Kagome gave him a long kiss for that, and then went back to find the cookies in her bag. As soon as she found them, she began passing them around (with intermittent munching on her own part).

She pretended not to hear Derek whisper to Joseph, aghast, “How did such a cranky, terrifying dude end up with an angel?”

“No one knows exactly how it happened, but Papayasha and Magome are super into each other,” Joseph answered with a shrug. “Also, don’t count on the angel thing. I chose to challenge her to a fight one day and it was the worst decision I ever made.”

“...what did she do to you?”

“I don’t remember much, but I remember that I sure as fuck didn’t like it and felt it for the next week.” 

“Inugami!” Inuyasha boomed. “Assume the position!”

The students scampered into a circle around Inuyasha, Shippo trailing behind, who began to explain what techniques they would be learning that day. As this process commenced, the charming tone over the door chimed, indicating the entrance of Miroku, Sango, and the twins. Both were dressed in gym clothes and each carried an eager toddler, looking windswept and tired, but both smiled at the sight of Kagome waving to them. 

Sango hadn’t changed much in six years; despite having two children already, she kept up with her training well, especially now that they had two extra giggling girls that liked to ride on their parents’ backs during push ups. Miroku had cut his hair to keep the babies from tugging on it incessantly (he’d insisted for months that he’d felt some spiritual energy leave him as it was cut and therefore he was the reincarnation of Samson), so that he looked far more mature than he actually was. 

Kagome greeted them both with a hug and lifted the most wiggly kid from Sango. “Hi guys! So glad you could make it on such short notice!” 

“Ah, we wrapped up the latest case this morning anyway,” said Miroku, setting down his daughter so that she could join in on tackling Shippo. “First case in nearly a year where Sesshomaru hasn’t poked his nose into our P.I. business--not our fault people around here don’t trust the cops and we make major bank.” Miroku rolled his shoulders, stretching out the gun holsters that decorated his sides on straps. He shot a winning smile. “Just surprised we have a short notice call that wasn’t: Help, Inuyasha got poisoned, or help, Kagome was kidnapped, or help, Inuyasha got tackled by a furry convention and is now setting them on fire-”

Sango jumped in before Kagome could stop them, “Help, Kagome put a force field around the pie until I apologize, or help, Inuyasha is out of the dorm room because we were canoodling too long in the library make out corner, or help, Kagome heard me sleep arguing with the drapes and now thinks I have a secret Japanese lover-”

“Yes, okay, noted that we need to call you guys under better circumstances,” Kagome covered hastily. “But this is a great circumstance, I promise!” She stuffed another cookie in her mouth, eyes gleaming. “Cookieh?”

They took a cookie. 

Another chime of the door, and Emma came skipping in, her stoic father gliding behind her. Sesshomaru looked emotionless and statuesque as ever in his full Commander’s uniform, an image of intimidation marred only by the flower crown perched atop his silvery hair. Judging from Emma’s matching set, it was of her creation and insistence. All the teenagers glanced at him or even flinched as he came in, indicating that the cuteness did not, in fact, ruin his effect. Kagome was impressed. 

Sesshomaru beelined for Kagome as soon as his icy gaze found her, and he stopped abruptly several feet away. “What is the urgent matter of which I must attend? Emma and I were on our way to the park. I would prefer if this afternoon activity were not interrupted by my brother’s next grievance.”

Kagome laughed him off. “Oh no, no grievance. Just something we wanted you to be here for and then you can be on your way!”

A half millimeter quirk of the eyebrow. “Why.”

With a nervous laugh, Kagome scurried closer to the circle of students and waved a hand over their heads for Inuyasha’s attention. Best not to trust dog demons to be patient, she’d found. 

His white ears perked up, and he stopped in the middle of demonstrating a new headlock on Derek. “Everyone here?”

“Yep!”

He released the teenager to his half laughing, half pitying peers, and pushed through to her. “Before I get on with the lesson, Kagome and I have an announcement that we wanted you all to be here for.” He put an arm around her, “It regards why she won’t be helping with any sparring from now on.”

The collective “aww” that arose from the kids actually touched Kagome, though she ignored Joseph’s not-so-subtle, “Thank God.”

Inuyasha looked to her with those shining, golden eyes, prompting her to say, “‘Papayasha’ is gonna be an actual Papa.”

The gasps and happy shrieks almost covered Inuaysha’s groan of, “Why are you encouraging them to call me-?”

Sango grabbed her shoulders. “You’re pregnant?!”

“Yup.” Kagome patted her tummy. “Can’t fight any of you--Magome’s got one in the ol’ incubator.”

Sesshomaru was grimacing. “I feared this day. The day in which an army of small Inuyashas are born. I surrender. You can keep the sword. I recognize when I am outnumbered.”

Shippo was in full on tears, clutching his face. “Tiny Inubabies with puppy ears and without Inuyasha’s horrible personality… adorable!”

Miroku only shrugged. “I’m honestly just surprised it took this long. You guys are like Catholic rabbits.”

Sango smacked him, but Kagome was too busy laughing. Surrounded by love and her growing family, she felt so far from that scared, weak girl she had been all those years ago, who felt so far from home. Home was something she created, right here, with her Inuyasha, and with the Inugami. 

[sparklyjojos]

CARNIVAL DAY recaps [11/13]

Today’s recap: Dokuson’s lonely youth, a message from Meiru, and how to make your own Billion Killer.

[tw: suicide]

--

FIFTY-TWO

02 Aug 1997 — 08 Aug 1997

TOWER OF BABEL

--

[This is the last chapter, but it has around 270 pages and we still have A LOT to go through.]

(...Below is BOKU’s testimony. [Originally in first person.])

Dokuson and BOKU learned about the attack on Tsukumo Juku in the afternoon of February 7th. They rushed to the hospital at once. Inugami Yasha told them what had happened and that Gensoukan, Yasha’s black cat, and an old servant of the Inugami family had all disappeared.

Dokuson looked like he was intensely thinking about something he didn’t want to say out loud.

Thanks to quick surgical treatment, it looked like Juku was on his way to recovery; the doctors stated he had already pulled through the worst of it. Relieved, Dokuson and BOKU returned to the JDC headquarters. But then, around midnight, they got the news that Juku’s condition had suddenly worsened, and he passed away before they managed to get back to the hospital.

The same night, the Crystal Nightmare killed Desert Colosseum, and later in the day Ronely Queen died in the Statue of Liberty case. Three dead S-detectives in one day. That last case also claimed the life of Ushiwaka Gigolo.

BOKU remembers that tragic day well. Even Dokuson let grief show on his face, especially when told about Ushiwaka. After a few seconds of deep silence he told BOKU that Kirika would be taking over the representative duties that day, because Dokuson himself would spend the day secluded in the meeting room number six, mourning the dead. Only for one day, though, as humanity would suffer if someone as great as him rested any longer.

Seeing BOKU’s shock (the guy they call a Demon Lord showing feelings?!), Dokuson stated that it’s perfectly natural for him to grieve. A man who couldn’t even mourn the woman who was especially important to him could never become the world’s greatest genius, now could he.

Dokuson said that Ushiwaka had once been his ideal partner both at work and in private. The only condition he wanted a potential partner to fulfill was that they should understand him; Ushiwaka was the first woman he met who understood. (BOKU wasn’t sure how two people with such strong personalities could work as a couple—it’d be like mashing the same poles of two magnets together—but apparently they did.)

But that was many years ago. Dokuson was still young, just an immature boy with barely the glimpse of his current perfection, his heart filled with bright hopes for the future.

Dokuson stressed that what had attracted him to Ushiwaka was not her beauty or genius; the real value and beauty of a person was their soul and heart, their personality. Dokuson, as the self-aware narcissist, knew he possessed a dazzling heart and was because of it the world’s most beautiful person. The world’s second most beautiful person would therefore be someone who could understand and love him the most in the world.

As Dokuson had already explained once, all humans had a narcissistic part to them; without any degree of self-love, people would simply drop dead. Loving others more than yourself was extremely hard. Even the most dramatic declamations of self-sacrifice could be just empty words. People would say things like “I would die for you”, but from Dokuson’s point of view, someone who really understood and loved him should strive to outlive him; he wouldn’t stand for anyone sacrificing themselves for his sake. As far as Dokuson was concerned, those who looked at him and felt even just a little love were the true possessors of beautiful clear souls.

Once upon a time, young Dokuson had no hope whatsoever for being loved by other people. Who could ever love and understand him more than he loved and understood himself? But then came Ushiwaka. She was the first person who loved Yuiga Dokuson more than Yuiga Dokuson loved himself.

...but you could say that it was her love—and the frustration and regrets it led to—that in the end caused Dokuson to fully blossom into his narcissistic self.

Though they were young, Ushiwaka had already found her unique style of reasoning, which relied on falling in love with someone. Tragically, her feelings would disappear once she solved a case—this happened with their relationship too. It’s not that Ushiwaka had only pretended to love Dokuson all this time; she explained at length that she had genuinely been in love with him, but her feelings came to a sudden end along with a case.

Back then, Dokuson found this explanation hard to accept. He wanted to know more about Ushiwaka’s reasoning method and investigated on his own, full of immaturity and confusion about feelings.

And then, though he never meant to kill anyone, he pestered Ushiwaka’s new boyfriend with questions and cornered him psychologically so badly that the man committed suicide.

Ever since Dokuson was a small boy, he had a mysterious power of tragically manipulating others using words. When he was five and a police officer tried to reprimand him, he started lecturing the officer in turn, making the man completely break apart mentally and commit suicide soon afterwards. It seemed like just a tragic coincidence at the time.

Dokuson would only realize what he’d done much later in life, after his words had already taken the lives of many other people. The death of Ushiwaka’s boyfriend was the turning point. Now aware of the powers of his words, fully understanding his guilt, he consciously limited and softened his speech. No one else fell victim to his words since that time ten years ago. He decided to never use his power again unless it would be absolutely necessary.

The power to kill others with words wasn’t something unique to Dokuson; he was just an extreme case, but every person had the potential to wound others deeply. He would bet that even BOKU had unwittingly said something that indirectly led to someone’s death.

Dokuson didn’t intend on running away from his faults, and specifically because he was so deeply aware of them, he could keep growing. People learned by making mistakes. Even Dokuson, this shining beacon of the human race, had accumulated many horrible deeds throughout his life. After all, those called the great men of history were often “wrongdoers” who logically strode away from the common path, often seen as heretics or eccentrics by their contemporaries. Those who only followed what others did would never become great. If someone had to dirty their hands for the sake of erasing evil, then wouldn’t that role be perfect for Dokuson, the one with the power of a hundred million people? He was enough; he wouldn’t want to create a second or third “Dokuson”—for the sake of the world and humanity, and (most importantly!) so that his name would stay special and unique.

(...Dokuson was doing his confusing philosophical rambling again, but BOKU kind of understood what he was trying to say. Dokuson felt like a rehabilitated prisoner who would see young criminals that reminded him of past himself and want to guide them to a better way of living. He detested the past himself who killed Ushiwaka’s boyfriend, and took care not to create “another himself” with his actions.)

Dokuson had many enemies, but the one who truly hated him the most was himself. No one could possibly hate themselves more than Dokuson, maybe except for people about to commit suicide. In order not to be devoured from the inside by this burning self-hatred, Dokuson had to always maintain his narcissism on the highest level—if he didn’t, his state of mind could lead to another tragedy like with Ushiwaka’s boyfriend. In this way, Dokuson became the world’s greatest narcissist to atone for the past.

Another part of his atonement was the kunoichi detective Sarutobi Shinobu. A long time ago, Sarutobi, Ushiwaka, and Dokuson had decided to fight the evils of this world in remembrance of Ushiwaka’s tragic boyfriend. Sarutobi Shinobu, real name Sado Nawa, was the dead man’s sister.

The four Sado siblings were Hifumi, Shigorou (the one who died), Nawa (Sarutobi), and Kutou (involved in the Three Monkeys Killer case). The D-name “Ushiwaka Gigolo” came partially from Shigorou’s name. How Sarutobi came to work for Dokuson was too complicated of a story to be told now.

 Dokuson said that love never lasted in the same shape forever, and it was impossible to continue loving someone for eternity. The Dokuson who talked to BOKU at the moment and the Dokuson who was once loved by Ushiwaka were two different people. However, all the memories still remained within him, and he would want to take some time to remember the golden past.

After saying all that, Dokuson closed himself in an empty meeting room.

--

Twenty-four hours later BOKU opened the door to the meeting room and found Dokuson in a strange pose: sitting motionless at the table with his eyes closed, holding a red rose between his teeth like a tango dancer. It seemed to be the same rose he always wore in his chest pocket.

Dokuson didn’t look angry at the intrusion, but BOKU still had a feeling like he’d just walked in on something no one was supposed to see.

Dokuson put the rose back in its proper place and said that he’d been meditating in order to rest his mind and body, “just like you all sleep at night”.

(That was… a strange way to phrase it. But now that BOKU thought about it, in all his days and sometimes nights at JDC he’d never once seen Dokuson nap, despite his job being so exhausting. He also never saw him eat or go to the bathroom. Not even once. Did Dokuson intentionally ignore all his needs until he was alone late at night or what? At least now BOKU could understand a bit where Dokuson’s atmosphere of a superhuman came from; things like eating or sleeping were necessary for people to seem human, but were absent from the concept of “Yuiga Dokuson”. That nickname of Demon Lord sure fit.

A lot of people perceived Tsukumo Juku in a similar way. Someone had even joked once that the God of Detectives was removed from the concept of mundane actions like eating or sleeping. But no matter how supernatural of an atmosphere a person had, they couldn’t just completely get rid of all their bodily needs… though they could probably limit them to as low as humanly possible. Probably one of the reasons why they both seemed so otherworldly?)

But back to the topic, Dokuson explained his rose meditation. He had been plagued by debilitating insomnia as a child, and even now couldn’t sleep like others did. When tired, he would just perform his rose meditation, which would clear his head as well as sleeping. And no, it wasn’t just a convoluted way of napping, as Dokuson stayed conscious of his surroundings the entire time, even though it could take him some time to come out of the meditation and respond to stimuli. (...that still sounded like napping to BOKU.)

As for why a rose or another long slim object was needed, holding it in one’s mouth would force the facial muscles into the same position as during a smile. Even a forced smile caused the brain to release chemicals acting like antidepressants and helping boost the immune system. And so, Dokuson would switch into “relax mode” and for a short time sleep while staying awake. He just had to remember to often swap the rose for a new one to hide the teeth marks. 

So he did just nap after all… That’d be it for this mystery. Though it was still weird that Dokuson allegedly only meditated four times a day, one hour of sleep in total. His day was technically much longer than BOKU’s. Dokuson had said once that things that would take BOKU half a day could be done in his fifteen minutes, so maybe it’s that relative difference in day length he meant? BOKU made some calculations out of curiosity. He was twenty-one and Dokuson was twenty-six, and his half a day of work was equal to Dokuson’s fifteen minutes… then going by proportions, BOKU’s entire life work could be achieved in Dokuson’s four months...  and going in the opposite direction, BOKU would need like a few thousands of years to achieve the same as Dokuson did in his entire life… Huh. Maybe that’s why Dokuson claimed he had a mental age of three thousand years and tended to talk like an old man.

Dokuson said that even though he was so “old”, the “generation gap” between him and other people could be crossed with enough understanding. This attempt to understand another person was the most important thing everyone should strive for, otherwise society would collapse. Dokuson personally treated everyone around him like great teachers (as even after he had become the best in the world, all those teachers would show him what not to do). From the point of view of Dokuson—the oldest person on Earth—everyone was his junior; it didn’t mean he looked down on them, but that he didn’t feel inferior to them and was glad they still had space to grow (as the perfection that was himself couldn’t grow anymore). He felt like an old champion of life looking at young trainees.

Dokuson stated it’d be good if BOKU also became the best in the world, which would simply require him to believe he was the best. As Dokuson knew for sure he himself was actually the greatest, he wouldn’t care if BOKU had a similar conviction.

(...so what Dokuson was trying to say here... was that it was fine for BOKU to just be himself. This actually made him feel a lot better.)

Asked about how he grew up (to be like this), Dokuson said that it could be summed up the easiest by invoking the feeling of loneliness tied to insomnia. Ever since childhood, his life had been full of endless futile hours spent alone in darkness, comparable to prolonged psychological torture. If sleep made people forget all the bad things in life, maybe that’s why sleepless Dokuson was so quick to grow up; he couldn’t just relax and move on at the end of the day. Endless monotony of the night, lying alone with just his thoughts, all of it was maddening—people naturally yearned for variety.

Staying awake for a few days had an interesting influence on one’s mind, and after a certain point allowed for better concentration and drawing on the body’s hidden power, similarly to how during an accident people can see events in slow motion or use amazing strength. As Dokuson couldn’t sleep, this tension of a crisis never had a chance to dissipate. Even at that tender age he had to deal with hell on earth, trying to adapt to the loneliness of the night without going insane. And so, with his abilities constantly pushed to the limit, with survival instincts taking lead, Dokuson managed to survive hell—and that’s how he came to be like this.

(BOKU didn’t know whether or not this tale was true or not. All that mattered was that Dokuson seemed to believe his own words, and that they allowed BOKU to get a better understanding of what kind of a person he was.) 

--

A week after the Crystal Nightmare, on February 15th, Firannu Meirunesia died in the Billion Killer case in Venice. Meiru’s usual partner Somedaring Amagoi wasn’t there at the time, as she had gone missing shortly after the much earlier Tower of Pisa incident.

Right before the Venice case, Meiru had called Dokuson from St Mark’s Clocktower. They said that they may have just figured out something about the Billion Killer trick, and that Amagoi had been kidnapped by someone. If Meiru would survive the day, it would mean their reasoning was off, and if they died soon, it would mean they were correct. Meiru didn’t want to tell Dokuson everything, but gave him three clues. First, Amagoi was dead. Second, it wasn’t impossible for them to solve the Billion Killer if they were ready to put their life in danger. Third, the Billion Killer incidents consisted of thirteen unprecedented tricks mixed together.

Those three clues together implied that Amagoi’s kidnapping (death?) had something to do with the Billion Killer. But how would Meiru know that Amagoi was dead? Who killed her and how? Dokuson thought it interesting that Meiru hadn’t said anything about Amagoi being killed, just that she was dead.

Asked about why he hadn’t stopped Meiru from putting themselves in danger, Dokuson said it would be a disservice to an S-detective like them. You never stop an S-detective gambling with their life, just like you don’t stop magicians or stuntmen from dangerous shows of skill.

But how could Meiru get to the truth faster than the greatest genius that was Dokuson? Well, Dokuson had already told BOKU once [way back in Carnival] that no one could solve a case without the necessary data, which no one had yet… except for the members of the villainous group.

Just like Meiru had played out a persona during investigations, they also played out the role of being an S-detective; in fact, maybe that double-role reasoning method originated from having to work on both sides of the conflict. They had to be involved either with RISE or another organization that allowed them to get secret data.

Lemuria Sullivan had already shown that even S-detectives had less than perfect sides to them. Amagoi’s real kidnapper was probably Meiru. But even then, an important part of Meiru’s personality was being a splendid S-detective, so maybe they felt compelled to solve even their own crimes by giving Dokuson hints. Perhaps they were more afraid of losing their detective reputation (and thus a part of their identity “dying”) than of actual death.

What did Meiru mean by “thirteen unprecedented tricks”? Way more than thirteen Billion Killer incidents had already occured (twenty-eight at the time of this conversation), so those thirteen tricks would have to repeat, but then they wouldn’t exactly be “unprecedented”. Perhaps the word meant something else? Dokuson suspected they wouldn’t be able to solve the Billion Killer just yet, and Meiru could have been just taunting them.

--

Dokuson always seemed to think highly of Tsukumo Juku. He said he was able to pin down Tsukumo Jaki’s identity (Yakuma Suzume) with help from Juku and Sarutobi, and that Juku would be needed to end the Crime Olympics. Unfortunately, Juku was murdered before they could achieve that goal.

BOKU learned a few interesting things talking with Dokuson and Inugami Yasha (who had been working as the vice-representative of JDC ever since the Crystal Nightmare).

Juku had theorized that the Billion Killer tricks were the thirteen Miraculous Illusions of his father Saimon Ryuusui. Jaki / Yakuma could know them, as he was probably Endou Masato, whose father Naomasa (already dead) had once been Ryuusui’s thirteenth disciple. Naomasa coincidentally (?) was also a university teacher of Tousen Yomiko, a private detective that had been lifelong trusted friends with Juku. Yomiko was permitted to use the Endou family’s mountain house called Gensoukan, and it was on her recommendation that Juku and Yasha came to live there. Yomiko disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle shortly after telling Juku about Gensoukan.

Naomasa’s sons Naoto and Masato had both disappeared a few years earlier. It was more than possible that Masato disguised himself as Yakuma, manipulated his mother into giving Yomiko the keys to Gensoukan, and made Yomiko disappear to cover his tracks. It was unknown what relation Masato / Yakuma / Jaki had with Tamei Madoka, the writer who had assassinated Juku and died from Alive.

As for how Masato would be able to make himself look exactly like Yakuma, both brothers had once been known as genius surgeons.

The thirteen Miraculous Illusions had apparently been invented by Saimon Ryuusui, but were still unfinished by the time he showed them to young Juku. Dokuson had no doubt that Endou Masato had learned about the Illusions from Naomasa, stole their secrets, and eventually perfected them into the Billion Killer tricks. (It couldn’t have been Naomasa who stole and perfected them first, because then they wouldn’t be “unprecedented” like Meiru said; the word implied only one person had used the perfected illusions so far.)

It’s likely that Juku had been killed due to him being the only person who had seen the Miraculous Illusions in person. Many people close to him had also died or disappeared.

--

Whenever BOKU listened to Yasha and Dokuson discussing things, he always got a strange feeling that they were treating Juku’s death lighter than they should. Like they were too quick to stop mourning. It’s true that in the era of the Crime Olympics death became more commonplace, but still... it almost felt like Juku’s death had never happened at all.

BOKU had been there in the morgue when the white sheet was pulled back and he, Dokuson and Yasha were shown Juku’s dead face. It was quite striking how his face, although still extremely handsome, had become just beautiful in a normal, comprehensible, flawed way after his death. BOKU instantly thought that the body could have been switched, but both Dokuson and Yasha stated without hesitation that this was not the case and the body definitely belonged to Tsukumo Juku.

Even so, BOKU still had a strange feeling (was just deluding himself?) that perhaps Juku was still alive somewhere.

They had no idea how Gensoukan had disappeared. Endou Naomasa’s wife insisted that while the family let Yomiko access their grounds, there never had been any Gensoukan built there. Just like BOKU felt that Juku’s death had never happened, Yasha was starting to feel strangely like his memories about his time at Gensoukan, and even Kanaihidetaka and Sayo had all been just illusions.

Dokuson thought that Gensoukan had been removed somehow after the assassination, maybe by lifting and moving the entire blocky construction. If Tsukumo Jaki had been able to pull off the blooming sakura trick, he should have no problems organizing Gensoukan’s “disappearance”.

--

One day, Dokuson told BOKU and Yasha that he would no longer be JDC’s leader. Not because he was trying to escape responsibilities. On the contrary, this action would allow him to save humanity. He had had another plan once, but that one was rendered impossible by Juku’s death, so there was only one thing Dokuson could do now—become the Billion Killer. That is, become the one everyone thought was the Billion Killer, a comprehensible bad guy figure needed to allay some of humanity’s confusion.

That had been the plan even earlier—Dokuson would pretend to have been the Billion Killer, and Juku would pretend to expose his crimes to the world. Juku hated the idea of tarnishing Dokuson’s name, but in the end agreed to the plan seeing the other’s burning determination.

Now that Juku was gone, Yasha would have to take over the Heroic Detective role in the plan. Yasha wasn’t as known and beloved as Juku, but popular enough that people would believe him and the (carefully faked) proof he presented; he would become the hero who forced the Billion Killer to run away in fear and no longer manipulate JDC (which was except for “the Billion Killer” wholly innocent, of course). They didn’t have to worry about Dokuson—the world’s greatest genius would be able to hide even if everyone on Earth was looking for him.

And so, Dokuson left a recorded confession and fled on June 6th. Sarutobi Shinobu disappeared the same day. Manji Tawawa also left JDC, claiming she would pursue Dokuson on her own.

Yasha became the leader of JDC and presented their fake scenario as real to the world, claiming that he had infiltrated JDC as an undercover private detective to investigate and expose Dokuson. Just like planned, people seemed to completely believe him.

BOKU honestly wondered if Dokuson’s actual goal in all this wasn’t to get everyone on Earth to remember his name, with saving humanity as just a bonus perk.

When the Billion Killer cases stopped following Dokuson’s escape, BOKU and Yasha realized that maybe Dokuson actually was the real Billion Killer, and had only revealed his identity because he had wanted to stop the cases anyway.

Then again, no more cases didn’t have to mean the real Billion Killer was finished; it could only look like the cases stopped. The only undeniable proof that something was a Billion Killer’s incident was a skull left on the scene by the men in black. If Dokuson managed to hide the skulls or stop the men in black, then even though the cases still happened, the Billion Killer disappeared in the eyes of the public.

Well, whether or not Dokuson was the actual Billion Killer (and he always vehemently denied being a part of RISE), he certainly had suspicious knowledge of the scheduled cases.

Dokuson also hadn’t looked surprised at all when Kakuusan Kanke told them about what had happened in the Earth House—she ran into Nemu, Hyouma, and someone who looked like Unomaru. From what Nemu and Hyouma told her, Otohime was also held in RISE’s underwater fortress called the Sanctuary, and there would be seven “guests” in total (the three plus Yaiba, Christmas, Diana Hosey, and the Hantos that counted as one). Kanke also learned that apparently the higher-ups of RISE were six out of the seven S-detectives.

--

No Billion Killer case (or at least a confirmed case) occurred for a month after Dokuson had disappeared, but many horrible events still happened.

In the chaos before the Carnival Wave would come, three men in black showed up and led BOKU and Yasha to a nearby hotel, where to their absolute surprise they met Ajiro Souji. A lot of confusing explanations followed. Ajiro said the tsunami wouldn’t touch Kyoto, so they didn’t have to worry about survival.

RISE had changed their plans a little and now wanted to add Yasha, BOKU, Kanke, the writer detective Nakamoto Hiroya, and the editor detective Outa Katsushi to their final guest list. Yasha and BOKU should go with the men in black now, while Ajiro would return to JDC.

Yasha wondered whether Ajiro would be able to take care of JDC without them, but Ajiro assured them that wouldn’t be a problem—because as much as it pained him, he was going to suspend JDC’s functioning completely until August 10th. JDC as an organization couldn’t stop the Cosmic Bomb, so maybe at least the people could spend their last month in peace, without having to worry about work. If humanity would survive after all, suspending JDC now would allow for less people to die needlessly, so that everyone would be ready for re-mobilization after August 10th.

And so Ajiro stayed behind, while Yasha and BOKU were taken to the Sanctuary and learned many strange things...

--

[>>>NEXT PART>>>]

[pink-yuri]

♡ Inugami and Nekoyama ♡

[mleephoenix]

Phoenix Vol. 11

Sun Part 2

A fitting finale to arguably Tezuka’s most complete and compelling story, the second part of Sun is a rollercoaster of impactful characters, engaging storytelling, and important themes. He masterfully blends a well-written and emotional story with his themes of humanism, religion, and reincarnation, which actually makes it harder to discuss these individual moments (but I’ll try).

Tezuka’s sense of imagination is boundless. The future underwater base where they eat plankton and wear animal helmets is bizarre, which I assume was the intended reaction, and the various characters and spirits of the past are also quite imaginative. Of course, Tezuka manages to fit in some self-aware humor as well.

The plot is bold and well-paced. The characters are convincing and multi-dimensional. I was heartbroken after Princess Tochi’s death because I sympathized with her situation (after cuddling with Inugami). I admire characters like Iki no Fubito Karakuni, who is devoted to the capital yet understanding and reasonable (honorable mentions: Prince Oama, Inugami/Suguri, Prince Otomo). I’ve previously separated Suguri from Inugami personality-wise but now realize the obvious similarities between them; they’re both passionate and prideful about their beliefs and what they think is right. They both kill a significant amount of people, which interestingly affords them no karmic retribution, however they do so in service of the cause that they believe in. I initially thought the love between Suguri and Yodomi was forced since it happened so fast, but I was gladly proven wrong. The future part of Sun may not be as complex and interesting as the past, but it still showcases amazing character development and incredible plot moments. I did not expect Suguri to turn into a wolf or live the explosion, but I guess it’s because of fate or something. I also found the ending very satisfying. In the past, I liked the connection to Strange Beings with the reference to Happyaku Bikuni.

There’s plenty of parallelism throughout the story. Most of the actions that Suguri and Inugami are reflections of one another (wolf head, self-sacrifice, attaining peace at the end). There’s also a parallel between the death of Princess Tochi and Yurika since they both loved “bad guys” who immediately regretted killing their lovers. There’s the obvious parallel of using religion as a weapon of power, but also between Oama and Saruta, who both lead a revolution against abusing religion, but hypocritically abuse religion when in power (although Oama has just intention at first). This parallelism ties into the theme of karma and reincarnation and how everything that happens has happened before in some way.

The themes remain the same as in the previous volume for the most part. Inugami and Suguri are blatant manifestations of Tezuka’s humanist mantra. The Church of Light is overtly hypocritical, criticizing “materialism” and claiming to be the absolute truth while killing non-believers, brainwashing people, and using duels to control prisoners. In both the past and future, religion is used as a vehicle for power, however the phoenix reveals something new about it.

The phoenix tells Inugami that “all faiths and religions are ultimately correct” and they’re only bad when associated with attaining (and taking advantage of) power. Sun is noticeable more forthright than previous chapters when it comes to depicting spiritual beings, however, the phoenix implies that it doesn’t matter. Whether you attribute natural occurrences to religion or not, you should have the freedom to believe it.

Some interesting quotes and panels, mostly featuring Prince Oama:

“…Perhaps that’s what people mean when they talk about faith…that each person has to be able to sense his or her own god…” - Oama

“I, too, am like a cornered wolf, who must finally show his fangs…” - Oama

[sanctuary-for-strange-people]

Hey, what's up!I would like to know your opinion about some manga that I have had the pleasure of reading and the misfortune of wasting time with others.1-Dear My Teacher 2-Exciting Feelings 3-Hoshikawa Ginza Yonchoume 4-Inugami-san to Nekoyama 5-Love Death 6-Miss Sunflower 7-Murcielago 8-Nana to Kaoru 9-Netsuzou Trap (I liked it at first, but I was disappointed with the development of the story) 10-Otome Kikan Gretel 11-Splatoon: Yuri Squids 12-Tamen De Gushi 13-The Love Doctor. Thanks ♥

1 - Dear My Teacher - didn’t read cuz it’s not finished yet2 - Exciting Feeling/Fluttering Feelings - ONE OF THE BEST STORIES I EVER READ, and it’s really sad what happened to the author :(3 - Hoshikawa Ginza Yonchoume - didn’t read yet but good you wrote it to me, cuz now I see it’s “completed” so I can finally read xD4 - Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san - watched anime, read few chapters. Cute and funny :3 I like it!5 - Love/Death - read, and it was ridiculously funny and strange xD also liked it :D (especially 1st pair)6 - Miss Sunflower - still ongoing = didn’t read but I hope it will finish soon cuz I REALLY want to read it7 - Murcielago - not sure if I will read it.8 - Nana to Kaoru - I never heard about this title before but description isn’t very interesting to me9 - Netsuzou Trap - I read few first chapters for curiosity but I don’t like cheating. It’s not title for me10 - Otome Kikan Gretel - didn’t hear about it11 - Splatoon: Yuri Squids - just read it now (didn’t know it even exists xD). Was cute, but for sure it won’t stay in my memory for too long XD12 - Tamen de Gushi - I like it, but I wish author would focus more on yuri couple rather than everyone else xD13 - The Love Doctor - I like it, but I’m not reading it right away when it comes out xD (I don’t really have time)

[pink-yuri]

♡ Inugami and Nekoyama ♡

[pink-yuri]

♡ Inugami and Nekoyama ♡

[pink-yuri]

♡ Inugami and Nekoyama ♡

[sparklyjojos]

Let’s Read & Suffer: Tsukumojuku by Maijō Ōtarō [part 12]

Today`s recap: This. This is why this recap is called “Let`s read & SUFFER.” (tw: csa, gore, torture, eye horror, all of the above rolled into one)

(this part is infamous for a reason, please heed the warnings)

STORY 3 PART 6

As promised, Tsukumojuku went to Okubo's house. The garden in the back seemed to be where the corpses of his victims were hidden, no doubt a lot of headless women. Probably lots of boys, too.

Looking through the basement window, he saw a bed and various tools that must have been used on the victims. A military uniform from the Vietnam War was hanging on the wall. Okubo probably wore it for the power fantasy while torturing his victims. There was also a flag and decorative sabres of the Korean People's Army, and similar kinds of incredibly fucked up memorabilia.

When Tsukumojuku rang the doorbell, Okubo opened him wearing an apron, acting friendly led him to the kitchen and offered him croquettes. Tsukumojuku said he wasn't hungry (he wanted to go home, fast) and sat on the table.

Which was a pretext Okubo was waiting for to hit him for ‘misbehavior’, then drag him into the next room, kick him repeatedly in the face, and completely unleash his sadism. (Desperate to destroy beauty because of his own ugliness, Tsukumojuku thought.)

Okubo then took Tsukumojuku’s eyes out and put them on the.dresser.

Tsukumojuku still clearly saw everyhing that happened to him next.

(But it wouldn't be long, right? Okubo surely would be spent and done soon. It'd surely end soon. ...But it didn't.)

[Again, I really don’t want to describe all the horrors that Okubo unleashed on him: let’s just say it got to the point where skullfucking was involved, and Tsukumojuku detachedly noted that it didn't hurt that much, since the brain doesn't feel pain. JESUS CHRIST, WHAT AM I READING. The fact that Tsukumojuku survived this makes me sure he really does have some sort of insta-regen powers.]

---

After this horrifying part, Tsukumojuku was allowed a break to go to the bathroom, clean himself up, and put his eyes back in.

What he had intended to happen was that Serika and Seshiru would surely come to kill him, having had enough of hiding and escaping (he wasn’t naive enough to think they felt anything but hate for him, even after he’d helped them). They would definitely come here... And then he'd trick Okubo into killing them before making him faint and thus getting rid of two birds with one stone. This was why even through all the terror he couldn’t afford to just make Okubo faint -- if the twins happened to show up when Okubo was out cold, they’d kill Tsukumojuku easily.

But it was getting late, and the twins still hadn’t appeared.

---

Tsukumojuku was then taken to the basement, handcuffed to the bed, and tortured even worse.

(At one point he looked at the nearest mirror-like surface, and realized that somehow, beaten up and mutilated, he was still too beautiful. Even he himself felt dizzy just glancing in the mirror.)

Finally Okubo implied that he was going to kill him, and Tsukumojuku decided that it wasn’t worth it anymore to wait for the twins to show up. He attempted to trick Okubo into looking into his eyes, but as the man had already fainted once because of him, he wouldn’t fall for it again.

Okubo went out of the basement for a second, and Tsukumojuku thought: Alright. Now or never. Once the man got back, he'd have to at least glance at his face when trying to cut his throat. There was a chance.

But Okubo really had learned his lesson. He returned with a circular saw rather than a knife, and was closing in not looking at Tsukumojuku at all. He crept closer and closer, Tsukumojuku trying to do something, anything to get free, the saw buzzing right next to his neck--

The door flew wide open. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO MY LITTLE BROTHER, YOU BASTARD?!”

It was Seshiru.

Seshiru and Serika, dear Seshiru and Serika. The army knife that had allowed them to escape was now pointed at Okubo.

Okubo instantly charged at them, and chaotic battle ensued. Seshiru plunged the knife into Okubo's side and held onto it even after having his stomach slashed horribly, tried to stab Okubo’s head but his side got caught by the saw’s blade, and he only didn’t get cut in half because Serika smacked Okubo on the head with an electric baton she’d probably stolen from the police. Finally the knife was plunged into Okubo’s throat, and once he fell to the ground, Seshiru kicked the abandoned saw towards him, killing him for good.

“What the fuck did you do to my baby brother?!” Seshiru yelled again, ignoring the blood pouring from his no doubt mortally wounded stomach, and plunged the knife into Okubo, again, again, again, not stopping for even a moment.

With tearful eyes, Serika released Tsukumojuku from the handcuffs, and he asked her if she’d heard of Seiryoin Ryusui. She didn't. Good. Tsukumojuku hit her with her own electric baton, and she fell on the ground unconscious.

Seshiru finally stopped and looked at him. “What are you... doing?”

Tsukumojuku approached him without a word.

“Even when... I helped you with all my heart...” Seshiru managed through the blood bubbling in his throat.

“I was going to kill you from the very beginning, Seshiru. I had promised it back then. But still... I’m happy that you called me your brother. Even if not a single one of us is a Kato anymore. ...Seshiru, do you know the author Seiryoin Ryusui?”

“...no... I don't...”

“I see.” Tsukumojuku took one of the sabres decorating the wall and stabbed it into the X mark on Seshiru’s chest, staying calm on the outside but with internal turmoil.

(”I loved you Seshiru I loved you Seshiru I wanted to become your brother”)

After a long quiet moment, Tsukumojuku swapped his clothes and wallet with Seshiru's. Using the sabre he cut off Seshiru's head, and put it in a bag he’d found in the basement. He slung the bag over his shoulder, picked up still unconscious Serika, and left.

---

Using a public phone at the Nagoya station, Tsukumojuku called the police. “This is Kato Seshiru speaking,” he said. [Note: he’s using Seshiru’s proper name kanji here -- 聖思流 -- rather than katakana like he always did.]

He said he wasn't going to surrender, but explain what was happening. The investigator, Okubo Kengo, was the real murderer in the throat-cutter case, and the police would find a lot of evidence if they checked his house. He, “Seshiru”, had witnessed Okubo killing the great detective Ryuuguu Jounosuke, and after that him, “Seshiru”, killed Okubo in return.

Yes. Him, “Seshiru”, killed Okubo. The murdered boy called Ryuuguu Jounosuke was actually his dear little brother, Kato Tsukumojuku. (He felt safe making this claim: since the police would have a lot to do once they found out about all of Okubo’s crimes, nobody would think to check the identity of that one corpse too carefully. Kato Tsukumojuku would be declared dead).

After hanging up, he got a taxi. Holding still deeply sleeping Serika close, he looked at the passing scenery lost in thought.

“My name is Kato Seshiru, Inugami Yasha, a great detective, and I’m the brother of Serika, Kirika Mai, a great detective.

We are going to the Illusionary Castle to meet Seiryoin Ryusui.”

STORY 3 PART 7

In the middle of the night, a phone rang.

Emiko stirred awake and picked it up. It was Tsukumojuku. “Where are you now?” she asked. Far away, he said. “Wha? Where?” On the way to Seiryoin Ryusui, to settle things. “No, it's fine... just come back home...” Had she been sleeping? “Yes, sleeping a lot. What time is it? Why are you out at this hour?” He was already far away, seeking Seiryoin out, and he wasn't coming back. “That's stupid.” It was. “You should be more selfish sometimes.” I love you, Emiko, he said right before she hang up.

She must have drifted back into sleep, just like the children beside her; a deep, deep sleep.

He then went into Emiko's dream and wanted to continue the conversation, but she was angry with him and they fought. Even in a dream she somehow managed to hang up on him. “Be more selfish,” she repeated.

You are cursed. Crops don't grow from your soil. You will wander around the earth. But those who kill you will suffer vengeance seven times over.

END OF THE THIRD STORY

---

IMPRESSIONS:

Hey uh, so this was. Fucked up as hell. Believe me, this recap skips --a lot-- of pages full of graphic csa and gore. Was all of that really necessary, Maijo? Was it really? You could convey the same thing using just a small percentage of these descriptions.

All you need to know about this part is that it’s quite infamous in the fanbase. Now I truly understand some tweets I saw, back from around the time when Jorge Joestar was released, that were made by people unsettled after learning Tsukumojuku showed up in it. (”Wait, you mean that Tsukumojuku is in it? From the incestual gorefest book? Are the Jojo novels rated R now?!”). Although, for a lot of people Tsukumojuku being there was actually the reason to buy the book in the first place because they liked him so much, so... go figure.

Guess who will never be able to reread that one part of Jorge Joestar where Kars explains how “brains feel no pain” without immediately getting reminded of this chapter which used the exact same style of explanation, urgh urgh urgh nope

You know things got bad when you’re actively cheering for Seshiru. For fucking Seshiru. How did you manage to make me feel bad for Seshiru after all that he did in the First Story, Maijo Otaro. How.

Just like the Second Story ended with Adam and Eve, this one ends with Cain and Abel (Genesis 4):

11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear.14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

>>>>NEXT PART>>>>

[lonestorm]

The Inugami - Chapter 14

Summary: When Kagome Higurashi moved to the bad side of Chicago to help with her grandfather’s restaurant, she expected chaos. Being thrown into a fake gang, caught in the middle of a drug war and grudge that stretches centuries back in time, befriending a grumpy half demon along with a ragtag bunch of three other misfits… wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. High school AU. Inukag.

Rating: T (some language)

Pairings: Inukag, Mirsan

Chapters: Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 8 | Ch. 9 |  Ch. 10 | Ch. 11 | Ch. 12 | Ch. 13 | Ch. 14

Shorts: 1. Sesshomaru | 2. Miroku | 3. Shippo | 4. Sango | 5. Sesshomaru

**Also on ff.net here.

The only activities Kagome was interested the entire next day were sleeping and pretending to sleep.

She’d woken as soon as Sesshomaru parked at her house. Once she’d come to her senses, she’d bolted up to the front door and into her mother’s awaiting arms. Her mother had been crying, Kagome had been crying, and Sesshomaru was hardly any help when he came to the door and only said, “Miss Higurashi and her friends are uninjured and safe. Goodnight.”

“We saw the news as it was almost over!” her mother had said, tearfully stroking Kagome’s hair while Kagome sipped the tea her mother had made. “I-I drove over and t-tried to get close but the police k-kept me away from the s-scene and s-sent me home a-and I was w-worried about l-leaving Sota when all those criminals are r-running about and I-I knew that Inuyasha was with you-”

“I understand, Mama,” Kagome had said, trying to keep her voice even. “I was safe with him, and I would’ve wanted you to stay with Sota.”

“Oh, darling, are you o-okay? I heard what happened and… dear, I’m just happy you’re safe!”

Kagome had been out of tears to cry, but hugged her mother for a long time. Then her mom had led her up to bed and tucked her in, saying, “Just get some sleep. For as long as you want. Come and get me when you’re hungry.”

Kagome had been up there all day; she’d taken a shower, drinken some water, and eaten half a bowl of soup. Then just laid in her bed, staring at the wall, mind either blank or buzzing. She’d texted her friends at one point, growing worried that she hadn’t heard from them. They were all okay, but Inuyasha hadn’t answered. Perhaps he was still asleep. She didn’t blame him; he’d put up a hell of a fight against the most villainous, powerful drug lord in history.

In honesty, she didn’t know what to think. All she saw when she closed her eyes was blood erupting from Naraku’s face as she shot it five times. All she heard was emptiness and all she felt was cold. Soldiers off at war, killing every day because they needed to protect their country and all innocents; how did they do it? Kagome felt like hiding from the world and locked in the horror of her own mind from killing one person. And… a rather horrible person at that.

And that was the strange thing. Kagome didn’t regret killing him. She just wished that it needn’t have happened. She wished there wasn’t blood on her hands…

Tiny, gentle hands.

Kagome stood very suddenly, marching over to her bathroom and flipping on the light; she hadn’t realized how dark the room was now…

She turned on the sink and began to scrub her hands together furiously under the water, pumping the soap and scrubbing again. Kagome was almost desperate to see red running off her fingers and down the sink, but her hands stayed pale and cold until she rubbed them raw-

“Kagome? What are you… stop that--you’ll hurt your hands,” a familiar voice scolded, and a clawed hand turned off the sink.

Inuyasha took a towel off of the rack and wrapped her hands in it, carefully rubbing them dry. She watched him dully, his golden eyes narrowed in concern as he ran the towel along her fingers. When he’d finished, his hands took hers and led her back to her room. Where they just stood, his large, gentle hands holding her tiny ones.

A pause. “I’m sorry I didn’t answer the phone. I was asleep and didn’t hear it.”

“I figured. It’s okay.”

Another silence. “Are you okay?”

Kagome didn’t know quite how to answer, but finally just said, “No.”

“S-sorry,” he muttered, dropping one of her hands to tug on his hair. “That was a stupid question. I just-”

“It’s okay,” Kagome told him. “I… I’m not okay. But I will be.”

He didn’t seem to know what else to say, and neither did she, so he just pulled her into an embrace. His arms were strong, chest warm, and she was lulled into security at the feel of his heartbeat against her cheek.

And, in the infinity of that moment, saying it was all too easy. “Inuyasha?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m in love with you.” Kagome felt his breathing stop, and he became completely still. But she wasn’t afraid anymore. “It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way, or don’t say it back. I just think you’re infuriating and frustrating, grumpy and impossible, and overly aggressive. And I think you’re loving and kind, protective and strong, I want to see you every day and hear you laugh--you make me happy and I’m in love with you. I just wanted you to know. I thought you were going to die yesterday without knowing. That fear was worse than the fear of telling you. So I’m telling you.”

He began to breathe again. Sort of. His breaths came more in chokes as he stammered her name. She wasn’t upset; she’d known he wouldn’t say it back, which is why she’d told him it was okay. Kagome finally understood, after numerous frustrating months--as intensely as Inuyasha craved love, Inuyasha feared it.

But he backed slightly so that his forehead was against hers, glowing, golden eyes drifting to a close as they breathed in and out together. He struggled, for words, opening and closing his mouth, and then his shoulders sagged, as if he’d given up. On words, at least.

His nose brushed hers. A gentle, preciously endearing nuzzle that he repeated before lifting one hand from where it had been wrapped around her waist like the other… and he ran it along her face, slid his warm fingers to the back of her neck with his thumb stroking her cheek.

And this time, when he tilted his head and pressed his lips against hers, it was different than the first. That was rushed, intense, desperate. This was slow, gentle, and long. Long and longing all at once. Her eyes had long since closed, drowning in the kiss as her arms twined upwards, fingers trailing along the back of his neck and making him sigh.

Kagome didn’t remember how long they stood there, melting into one another. She just remembered kissing him again and again, and him kissing her back again and again, until they were both breathless.

She did remember burying her face back into the crook of his neck and murmuring, “Stay. Please.”

“H-huh?”

She almost laughed at his embarrassment. “I just want to see you when I fall asleep and wake up. That’s all.”

He relaxed. “Of course.”

And so Inuyasha crawled under the covers, pushing her hair away from her face and lying opposite to her, so that Kagome could see him. He and his gentle gaze were the last thing she saw before she closed her eyes, his large hands holding hers the last she felt, and his low, soft voice humming the last she heard…

Goodnight, my angel

Time to close your eyes…

“Last time,” Shippo said wonderingly from behind her as they made their way to the front doors of the school. “Last time Inuyasha ever got punched in the face by Koga in these halls, last time I got food thrown at me on the roof, last time we all walk through school like badasses dressed in red that are the reason a third of the school was arrested…”

“Whaddya mean ‘last time Inuyasha ever got punched in the face by Koga in these halls’?” Inuyasha grumbled, elbowing Shippo in the side while smudging away the blood under his nose.

Kagome laughed and linked her arms through Inuyasha’s and Sango’s on either side. “I have no doubt we’ll get people arrested, get food thrown at us, or get punched in the face in the future.”

Miroku sighed, sliding an arm around Sango’s waist. “After this year, I will forever feel nostalgic when I get my ass kicked.”

“You should see the other guy!” Inuyasha protested, still stuck on the Koga issue.

“I did. He looks just as messed up as you, as always,” Kagome pointed out.

The response was a minor “keh” and he released her arm in order to hold her hand. Kagome felt a smile twitch on her face, but then tried to compose herself; he’d been very bashful and red when the rest of the Inugami had finally noticed him doing it, but now they were conscientious enough to pretend they didn’t see Inuyasha and Kagome’s intertwined hands.

There had been small signs of more romantically inclined affection, but nothing more. They hadn’t kissed again, or spoke of any sort of relationship. But Kagome was fine with that; Inuyasha needed time, and she was happy enough to remain at his side.

“To the restaurant?” Kagome suggested. “Mom said she’d make brownies.”

The Inugami didn’t need another reason--they made their way to their own little home base, laughing and trying to ignore the fact that this would be the last time they walked out of a school day arm in arm.

But this change was hardly a blip on the screen compared to what had happened in the last few weeks. The news reporters calling their homes, waiting outside of the school until the cops chased them off. The questions from random people on the streets who had seen their faces in the paper. The amount of people that saw the need to bring up, every day, that Kagome had killed a man.

Luckily, she had a loyal puppy that would growl until they ran away.

“So…” Miroku began, casually holding his jacket over his shoulder with two fingers, like he thought he was some kind of Hollister model (probably why Sango rolled her eyes), “What are we going to do this summer? Before we’re dragged off to be indoctrinated by higher education.”

There was an awkward silence. Kagome felt an unspoken thought lingering around them--that their every focus had been on Naraku for nearly nine months, and… now what?

Luckily, Shippo broke the tension. “Road trip?”

“Inuyasha and Shippo in the same car for hours at a time?” Sango scoffed. “Yeah, that’s a no.”

“It wouldn’t be so bad!” laughed Kagome. “Going on adventures together!”

She was surprised to see a smile on even Inuyasha’s face, but it didn’t last, as something seemed to occur to him. “Maybe, but we gotta remember, there are still Spi-”

Inuyasha paused in the middle of his sentence, nose twitching. “Get down!” he shouted, tackling Kagome and Shippo to make a domino effect--a bullet hit the concrete where they’d just stood.

Miroku’s barrier rose immediately after, deflecting every other gunshot in the alleyway.

“What’s happening?” Shippo cried, glancing across the rooftops wildly. “Who’s after us? And in broad daylight?!”

“They’re angry,” Inuyasha growled, curling his fingers so that his claws glinted. “They aren’t thinking straight. It’s the Spiders that got away.”

Gritting her teeth, Kagome thrust out a fist where she saw a Spider peeking over the roof. Pink light shot out and hit the enemy like a wall, causing him to cry out and fall back. Inuyasha leapt out from the barrier and raced up the building to slash his claws through two, sending them tumbling off the roof. Two Spiders landed in a heap in the dumpster, and the third was shot with Sango’s long distance taser.

Inuyasha jumped to the ground in a crouch, and then strode to the dumpster where he dragged out the only conscious Spider. Holding him up by the shirt, the half demon growled, “I woulda thought you’d learned your lesson not to mess with the Inugami when Naraku got shot in the face.”

Clawing weakly at Inuyasha’s hand, the Spider gave a choked laugh. “Th-that girl k-killed him… the man who gave us Shikon… w-we who remain… won’t r-rest until she’s DEAD!”

Inuyasha knocked him out cold.

Eyes alight in rage, Inuyasha took out his phone and presumably called his brother. “Yo, asswipe. We’ve got four dirtbags that tried to kill us over here. What? No, I’m fine… How pathetic do you think I am? Hoping I’ll kick the bucket sooner? I’m not being dramatic! Ugh, fine, yeah, they’re in the alleyway by the liquor store and bakery. Two on the roof and two in the alley. We’re leaving.”

The walk to the restaurant was quiet, filled with nervous energy. Inuyasha was scanning all around constantly, glaring and snarling at anyone who dared even look their way. Though they put on happy faces when Kagome’s mother handed them brownies and milk upon their arrival at the restaurant, they soon slipped back into morose silence.

When they’d finished eating, and all stared at their plates, Shippo finally voiced what they were all thinking. “It’s not safe here for Kagome. Anywhere in the US.”

Kagome already had her defense prepared. “It was never safe here for any of us.”

“Shippo is right,” Sango said, shaking her head. “Now their sole target is you. They don’t have Naraku holding them back because he wants to use you or kill you himself. They’re angry and irrational and they could be hiding anywhere with whatever remains of the rest of the Shikon.”

Miroku added, pushing a hand through his hair, “Shikon makes them stronger, faster… Naraku paced their doses, but he’s not there to do that anymore. The Spiders are even more dangerous to you than before. Naraku kept a record of the gang members, correct?”

“Yeah,” Inuyasha said, standing and beginning to pace. “Sesshomaru has them. By his estimate, there are about forty left.”

“It’s nothing we can’t handle!” Kagome insisted. “We’re the Inugami! We took down Naraku, and rounding up the last of the Spider shouldn’t be-”

“What about your family, Kagome?” interrupted Inuyasha suddenly. His fists were clenched. “They could use your family against you. And we… we’re not the only ones that care about you. Do you think they’ll really be okay with you involving yourself in more danger like this? Right after they finally think you’re safe?”

Kagome deflated, rubbing her temples. “I… they believe in me…”

“So do I!” Inuyasha shouted, rounding on her and slamming a hand on the counter. “Dammit, Kagome, do you think I want you to leave? No! But if it means you’ll be safe, you need to leave until we catch the Spiders!”

“To where?” she cried, standing up to face him. “Where can be safe enough from them? And how long would it take to catch every last one? It’s unrealistic!”

“To where they can’t find you or can’t afford to follow,” Sango muttered. “And where we have allies willing to protect you just in case until we round up the last of the Spiders.”

“Japan,” Miroku realized, staring straight ahead. “It’s far, familiar, and the wolf tribes would be more than willing to make sure no Spiders made it to the country.”

Kagome’s mouth dropped open, and she looked to Inuyasha, expecting him to protest asking Koga for help. But he only nodded, eyes narrowed in thought. “Maybe Sesshomaru could use witness protection funding to get them tickets… and we could keep the restaurant running ourselves…”

“And I don’t get a say in this?” she fumed, stomping up to Inuyasha so that she looked him dead in the eyes. “My family? We can’t just pick up and move back, Inuyasha! I have school here in three months! You taught me to fight, and you can’t stop me from doing so!”

“I’m not stopping you,” he said, and this time, he didn’t sound angry. Just weary. The fire that she’d always admired in his eyes seemed to be flickering into an ember. “I won’t have to. Once we tell your family-”

“Then don’t tell them!”

“No. I’m not keeping your level of safety a secret from your family.”

“My family doesn’t need to know-!”

“Doesn’t need to know what, Kagome?”

Kagome froze when her mom appeared in the doorway, posing her question with concern. The unthreatening tone was somehow more guilt-provoking than a shout.

“It’s no big deal, Mama,” Kagome tried weakly. She felt Inuyasha’s stare burn into the back of her head, and her mother’s eyes turn sad… she couldn’t lie to those.

So she told her what happened.

And when she finished, Kagome’s heart dropped when she heard her mother say what she’d been fearing: “I’m sorry, Kagome, but Inuyasha is right; we need to go back to Japan for a while.”

The airport was bright, with bustling, excited people rushing to their next destination, and the thrill of adventure lingering in the air.

But none of that seemed to affect Kagome.

Shoulders hunched and hands gripping her carry-on backpack, she and her family made their way to airport security. It would be a half an hour before they would be able to board, and somehow that fact wasn’t quite hitting her yet. She was sure she wouldn’t fully understand that she was being torn away from the closest friends she’d ever had until she was settled back into Japan.

As if coming to an unconscious consensus, the group stopped. Kagome’s mother, brother, and grandpa walked a short way away to give the Inugami some privacy.

Sango hugged her first, tight and fierce. “We will see you again. Soon. I promise.”

Kagome just nodded, holding back tears that were burning at her eyes.

Miroku was next, wrapping her in his comforting, brotherly embrace with her head tucked to his collar. “You’ll be back before you know it. We’ll hardly last long without you.”

She let out a watery laugh and squeezed his shoulder. “I-I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“I won’t!” Shippo said dramatically, flinging himself on her. “Inuyasha’s gonna be so mean to me when you’re gone!”

“I’m sorry, Shippo,” she said, managing a smile. “Looks like you two will actually have to learn how to get along, huh? Bummer.”

With this comment, she looked to Inuyasha, who had been silent the entire morning. As soon as she caught his gaze, he looked at the floor. His ears were laid back flat, arms crossed tightly. “Stay safe. There are Wolves stationed onboard the plane, just in case. They’ll meet you at the airport and escort you home. There will be a 24 hour guard and surveillance wherever you or your family goes to ensure safety. Like we told you, we can’t contact you with your new phone, or it’ll be traced. Koga will give us encrypted reports of your safety, and you’ll be informed once we capture all the Spiders. Leave the restaurant to us.”

“Okay.” They had already gone over all of this, of course. She knew it was just all he could think of to express what he meant.

Her hand shaking, Kagome stuck a hand into her jacket pocket and pulled out its contents. She held it firmly enough to see her knuckles turn white as she stepped up to face him. “I-I have a little something for you. It might be kind of stupid, but, well… just to remember me by.”

His golden eyes met hers, and soon fell upon the heavy, golden locket on a thick chain that she draped around his neck and tucked beneath his shirt. “I got that when I was sixteen, for my birthday. Hold onto it for me?”

Inuyasha nodded, loosening slightly as his fingers touched where the locket rested against his heart. His gaze searched her, hungrily, as if he wanted to memorize every inch of her face. “Kagome, I…”

He was struggling again. Trying to make words come out, but seeming to choke on them as soon as they came to his mouth. But his eyes implored, struck deep within her in a way that carved them into her mind. “I know,” said Kagome. Not caring who saw, she kissed him one last time. His hands gripped her waist desperately, fingers still curled upon air when she stepped away and turned before her friends could see that the tears had spilled over.

Kagome left before she lost it completely and they soon were strapping into their seats on the plane. She felt completely drained and numb, and it wasn’t even 11 in the morning.

“Sis! Good to see you!”

Giving a little start, she looked up to see a smiling Hakkaku peer over the seat in front of her. Ginta popped up behind her. “Yeah, we missed you!”

For a moment, she felt a flicker of warmth. “Good to see you too, guys. Thanks for being here.”

Hakkaku’s face slipped from joy to concern. “Hey… you okay?”

Emotion built up in her throat. “I-I… I’m just… going to miss them.”

When the plane took to the sky, Kagome stuffed in earbuds to drown out her own thoughts. Out the window she stared, wondering if Inuyasha would think of her nearly as often as she would, him, as the music lifted her higher than the clouds.

Loving can hurt

Loving can hurt sometimes

But it's the only thing that I know

When it gets hard

You know it can get hard sometimes

It is the only thing that makes us feel alive...