AN: Sorry for taking so long to update. Here's the 7th chapter. Enjoy yourselves.

The Broken Horn

Chapter Seven

Clarity

Kagome slid the door open and poked her head into the Infirmary.

"Hello?"

The lights were on but there was no one in the room. Kagome limped inside as she grimaced at the nasty scratch on her leg. Though, how she got it was her fault.

Things had gone really strange between Inuyasha and her. Every time they ended up in the same room, there would be a long awkward silence between them. It drove her insane, so for the rest of the morning, she stayed in her room – with nothing to do. She didn't want to read her book and she was too awake to take a nap. So to pass some time… she tried to do a handstand – and failed miserably. She didn't like the idea of falling on the wooden floor so she tried doing it on the bed, which resulted in her falling off the bed and onto the hard wooden floor. It was probably the stupidest thing she had ever done in her life. So now she had an ugly scratch on her leg that she needed to take care of.

Kagome looked around her. She had hoped the doctor would be in here since he was the only person of the crew she had not yet met. She pouted slightly. What a shame…

The room was not extremely big, but it was big enough to fit two hospital beds, a fridge, and many cabinets. There was also a wooden desk with many folders and documents piled on it. They looked like they had been pushed to one side for a mortar and pestle and some medical equipment. Kagome opened one of the top cabinet doors to see that the shelves were filled with many containers and jars containing herbs, powders, liquids, and tablets. She reached for one when a sharp voice cut through the air.

"What are you doing?"

Kagome snatched back her hand and closed the cabinet door. She turned to see a tall blonde man standing at the doorway. His hazel eyes scrutinized her behind square-rimmed glasses. Kagome thought his eyes looked vaguely familiar.

"S-sorry! I-I didn't mean to intrude," she stammered. "I was just…um."

He frowned at her as he walked in. "Did you break anything?"

"…No."

"Did you open anything?"

"No."

"'Kay then," he said, sliding the door closed and not sparing her a second glance. He sat at his desk and began to look through his pile of papers, ignoring her presence.

Kagome bit the bottom of her lip, feeling awkward. She sat on one of the beds facing him.

"I'm Kagome Higurashi," she piped.

He glanced at her with an odd look. After a moment he said, "Hokuto Izumi."

"So…I'm assuming that you're the doctor here on this ship."

"I'm not a doctor," he said in a bored tone. "I don't cut people up. I'm a healer."

So then there was a difference.

"So do I call you Healer Izumi…or Doctor Izumi?"

"Just Izumi's fine."

"Ah," Kagome nodded as she searched her mind for something to talk about. "Um, so have you been here long?"

Izumi stopped what he was doing and gave her a hard look. "What do you want?"

Surprised at the sudden question, Kagome blinked. "Uh…"

"I'm busy," he said coldly. "Unless it's important, leave."

Kagome frowned slightly, perturbed by the harshness of his tone.

"Fine," she said stubbornly. "Well, guess what? I do have something for you to tend to."

He raised his eyebrow at her.

"I got a nasty scratch on my leg." She lifted her left up for him to see. "Ooh, it's bleeding a little…"

Izumi sighed irritably and pushed himself out of his chair. He stood in front of her and hovered one of his hands over her small wound. His hand emitted a faint green glow and Kagome watched with amazement as the blood disappeared and her skin mended itself. In seconds, her leg looked perfectly fine.

Kagome's eyes grew wide. "Wow! That was so cool! How'd you do that?"

Instead of answering her question, Izumi returned to his desk.

"Can all healers do that?" she asked.

Izumi shrugged. "Most can, to a certain extent."

Kagome poked her leg. "Remarkable..."

"What are you doing here?" the healer asked with a touch of annoyance in his voice. "Why don't you hang out with the other boys?"

"I can't," she said, looking away. "Inuyasha might be with them."

He frowned at her. "So?"

"Well, recently, it's been really awk –"

Izumi held out a hand. "Stop right there. I don't want to know."

Kagome blinked. "Huh?"

"Look around you. Where are you right now?"

"…I'm in the Infirmary," she said hesitantly, uncertain to where this was leading.

Izumi snapped his fingers and smiled. "Exactly!" Just as quickly as it appeared, his smile was wiped off his face. "This is not a teen consolation room. Go blab your problems to someone else!"

She stared at him, feeling even more confused at his sudden outburst. Did she say something wrong?

"Ya stupid teens," Izumi began to mutter. "…Always ranting off your problems on me…I'm your healer…not your damn counselor…"

Kagome just opened her mouth when she heard many footsteps clamoring outside. Suddenly, the door slid open violently. She gasped softly at the sight before her.

With his arm draped over Inuyasha's shoulders, Miroku stood unsteadily on his feet. His face was pale as a ghost and he was shaking uncontrollably as his breathing was sharp and harsh. The others were behind him, concern written across their faces.

Izumi sprung to his feet and helped Inuyasha guide Miroku to the nearest bed. Kagome quickly moved out of the way as they laid him onto the bed.

"What happened?" Izumi demanded.

"We were attacked again," Inuyasha answered grimly.

Kagome stared with shock. Calm, smart Miroku; Miroku's warm, charismatic smile. Miroku whose hand often wandered to inappropriate places. All of that was reduced to the shaken state he was in now.

His eyes were wide as saucers and his face was twisted in a way that seemed like he was watching something horrible. His shaking hands clawed at the bed covers and the strands of his hair stuck to his sweaty countenance.

"Miroku, look at me," Izumi ordered. He placed his hands on the sides of Miroku's face and forced it towards him. Miroku stared at him, his jaw quivering.

Izumi repositioned his hands over Miroku's forehead and eyes. He closed his eyes and his lips moved as if he muttering something but no sound came out. Seconds later, Miroku's shaking stopped and he let out a long sigh. His hands and shoulders relaxed. When Izumi removed his hands, Kagome saw that some color had returned to his cheeks and his eyes were closed in a peaceful slumber.

Izumi stood up and turned around to face the other boys. "You're crowding this room. Leave, all of you."

Sparing their fellow shipmate one more look, they all left except for Daisuke who went to sit by the bedside. Kagome, unsure if he was referring to her too, stayed. She glanced at Inuyasha who was clearly avoiding her gaze.

Izumi went to one of the cabinets and began to rummage through it. After a long silence, he said, "Are you going to give me any details?"

"We were attacked by that girl again."

"So? You didn't have any problems with her before."

Inuyasha paused. "Izumi," he said in a low tone. "She knew how to use Mens Os."

Izumi stiffened.

"Was she…?" Daisuke started.

"No, she had to look at him in the eyes."

Kagome frowned with confusion. 'Mens Os'? What in the world was that? She looked at Daisuke questioningly but he didn't meet her gaze. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his fingers interlaced in front of his face; he stared solemnly at his sleeping comrade.

Kagome turned her head to Inuyasha and was surprised to see that he was looking at her. He quickly averted his eyes and cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable.

"Uh…I'm going to go tell Toji our next stop."

Daisuke looked up. "Where?"

"Marra Town. We need to restock on some supplies," Inuyasha answered. He nodded at Izumi and left the room.

Kagome sighed heavily. She took a seat at Miroku's bedside across from Daisuke.

After a moment of silence, she spoke up. "Will he be all right?"

"He will," Izumi answered. "Scoot over a bit." He opened Miroku's mouth and poured in a small spoonful of a clear liquid.

"What happened exactly?"

"Recently, we've been tailed by a female assailant, " Daisuke explained patiently. "We think her target is Inuyasha but we're not sure why. Miroku's been with him during every encounter and has managed to thwart most of the attacks. I guess this time, she got annoyed and decided that this time she was going to get rid of Miroku."

"What did she do?"

"After today's events, we can assume that she's a practitioner of Mens Os."

Kagome gave him a blank stare.

"Oh, right – um, it's sort of like the art of reading people's emotions and memories. Those who master it are believed to be able to read people's minds – their thoughts, to be exact."

"So like, walking and talking lie detectors…Do you know if she mastered it?"

Daisuke shook his head. "She had to look at Miroku in the eyes, which means she's only got the basics down. Emotions and bits of memories are probably the only things she can read."

Memories and emotions…

"I've studied alchemy for as long as I can remember. When I was thirteen, I was foolish enough to think that I was ready to perform this very advanced transmutation. It rebounded."

Did it have anything to do with that?

"How did that affect Miroku?"

"As you can see, not very well."

Kagome jumped at the sound of Miroku's voice. With his eyes half opened, Miroku slowly looked around and took a deep breath through his nose.

"How are you doing?" Daisuke asked him.

He grinned drowsily. "I've been through worse." He turned his head to look at Kagome. "Aw, look at you. Were you worried? I'm touched, really."

"Don't be stupid." Kagome snorted but a smile pulled at her lips.

She had so many questions piling on her tongue but she didn't know if it was something she was allowed to know. She wanted to ask him, how did this happen? What did that attacker remind him of?

Seeing the curiosity in her face, Miroku said, "I guessing you wanna know, huh?" He chuckled. "You shouldn't hold back, Kagome. No one's going to kill you for asking questions."

Daisuke frowned with a concerned look. "You don't have to talk about it now. We can hold it off for later. You should rest. Let's go, Kagome."

Kagome hid her disappointment. Her curiosity was at its brim…

"Nah," Miroku told him. "I'm fine." He sat up and nestled against the pillows behind him.

For a moment, he gazed at his right hand that lay limply in his lap. "My mother died when I was young. She was a kind, beautiful woman," he said with a soft smile. "My father left us when I was still very small so my mother raised me on her own. When I was eleven, I found out that she was suffering from a terminal disease. A couple of weeks later, she died."

Miroku swallowed the lump in his throat and continued. "I didn't know what to do. No one could take me in and I didn't have anywhere to go. I don't know what I was thinking then or what was going through my head when I decided that…I was going to bring her back to life using alchemy.

"I found a teacher who could build my foundation in alchemy and after about two years, I felt I was ready and left. For another four months, I studied human transmutation and prepared, and then I did it. Well, I told you what happened. The transmutation rebounded and I lost two of my limbs."

Miroku swallowed again as he frowned; he started to look like he was struggling. "I-I did create something though…I-it – "

"That's enough."

Daisuke spoke as he stood up from his seat. He wasn't looking at Miroku but at his lap. Kagome followed his eyes and saw that Miroku was clutching his blanket so tightly that the knuckles of his left hand were white.

"We'll let you have some rest," Daisuke said firmly. He beckoned Kagome with a look and headed out the door.

"Get better," she told Miroku. She nodded to Izumi as she passed him and followed Daisuke out the door.

There was a long silence between the two as both of them walked down the hallway, their footsteps echoed off the wooden planks of the floor.

"How do you do it?" Kagome suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Daisuke stopped and turned to face her. "Pardon?"

Kagome's eyes were downcast. "How do you live in a place like this? Where demons wreak havoc and murder children? Where people are forced to relive their worst memories by others?" She looked up and met his gaze. "What else is there? Do the Undead roam the streets at night? Do these 'Hollows' terrorize cities everyday? How do you live in a place like this and stay sane?"

Nothing but a stoic expression showed on Daisuke's face.

Kagome smiled weakly. "This place isn't as cracked up as he said it was, huh?"

"Arriving at Marra Town in five."

Surprised, Kagome looked up to see a small squared speaker high up on the wall where it met the ceiling. She looked down when she felt a warm hand wrap around her wrist and tugged it. The usual soft smile graced Daisuke's lips again when he spoke.

"Come with me."

…..

The moment Fortis Libertas reached the dock, Daisuke was leading Kagome off the ship with Nina at their heels. They were headed off the platform when Chiaki spotted them and shouted, "Where are you guys going?"

Daisuke turned his head and grinned. "Sight-seeing!"

Kagome stared at the Libertas, or what she thought was the Libertas. She blinked several times, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her. The ship was no longer blue and gold but green and silver. Where Fortis Libertas should have been, Balding Dog was in its stead.

"Come on," Daisuke said, pulling her towards the exit of the small quiet harbor.

"Er, hey, Daisuke," Kagome said, slightly stumbling over her feet. "The Libertas looks kind of…different – "

"Oh, yeah. We change her appearance every now and then."

"Why?"

"You've heard the stories about us, right?" Daisuke said while waving at a stocky fisherman who was holding a huge fish in his arms. "We're pretty popular in some places and in other places, just as unpopular. It'd be pretty difficult to move around inconspicuously when everyone knows that the Fortis Libertas crew is in town."

"You don't seem bothered that a lot of people are recognizing you now," Kagome said, noticing that almost every person they passed waved or said hello.

"Hey! Daisuke!"

Kagome turned to see a large man with a bushy red beard leaning forward on the rim of his sloop. Nina barked excitedly.

"S'bout time you came around 'ere, lad! You too, Nina-girl."

Daisuke grinned widely. "Sorry, I've been busy."

"I can see that," the bearded man said, his eyes on Kagome. He gave a toothy smile. "Thassa nice lass you got there, boy."

Several men stopped what they were doing to see who was the girl next to Daisuke,

Daisuke chuckled. "Hands off, Charlie."

There was laughter and cat-whistles. The one called Charlie gave a booming laugh.

"Alright, alright," he said, holding up his hands defensively. "If she's with you," (Kagome raised an eyebrow.) "I won't let lay a finger on her."

Daisuke waved good-bye before turning to Kagome and giving her a rueful smile.

She just rolled her eyes and shrugged. "You were going to say?"

"Ah, right – well, it's the cities where we really take extra precautions, but this town is a bit different from them all. Down to earth, welcoming, we actually rely on Marra Town a lot. But I love this town," he said. "No screaming fangirls or bloodthirsty bounty hunters."

Kagome raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Bounty hunters?"

"Yeah, I don't think I should be proud of it but we got a pretty big price on our heads," he said, grinning.

"For what?" she asked, almost in disbelief.

Daisuke just smiled.

Kagome gave him a suspicious look but smiled. "Well, the whole fangirls thing is a pretty big surprise on its own."

"Ouch."

She grinned mischievously. "So, Balding Dog, huh?"

Daisuke laughed. "Yeah, I'm guessing it was Chiaki's turn to give a name. We just changed it this morning so Inuyasha hasn't seen it yet. I can't wait until that happens."

Despite its size, Marra Town was very busy during the late afternoon. Exiting the harbor, they were immediately in the town's marketplace. Spices filled the busy air. Salespeople were shouting out prices and deals. They set their booths all around next to stores that sold all sorts of things, from grocery foods to books, from jewelry to glassware. There were two inns, an herbal store, and an antiquity store. Men sat in front of drinking parlors, laughing and talking of current events. Women huddled in groups, gossiping. Kids ran around, chasing one another, screaming in delight. The majority of the buildings had two stories. The first floor was usually the store and the second residential. Clothing lines hung from the windows and housewives would stick their heads out, shouting greetings to the people below.

Not too far away was the town square. On the edge, there were booths selling mostly trinkets and toys. In the middle was a simple fountain where the townspeople sat on its rim, reading books or conversing with one another. Children were scattered around on the ground, playing with their tops and puppets. Dogs laid sleepily next to them, occasionally opening one eye to check on the little ones. Cats rested on the windowsills, their tails swinging.

Daisuke and Kagome stood at the end of the large alley that separated the market and the town square. Nina ran towards a group of children who were playing with their tops. She jumped into their circle, interrupting their game. The children shrieked in delight. Some tried to retrieve their tops as others reached out with their hands trying to pet the bouncing canine.

Kagome smiled, looking from the market to the square. "It's quite a lively place."

"Yes," Daisuke said. "But do you notice something else?"

Kagome did notice. She didn't immediately, but now she saw it in plain sight. In this town, humans and demons mingled. The jewelry merchant in the market was obviously a demon. His horns were like antlers with necklaces and bracelets hanging off of them. A crow half her size was perched on a short wooden railing talking and sharing liquor with a human man. She-demons gossiped with the female humans and a one-horned demon that looked a lot like a humanoid cat was the fabric seller shoving her products into passerby's faces. There were also demon younglings among the circle of children, their horns merely stubby bumps on their heads.

Daisuke lead her to near the back of the town where most of the townspeople resided. The atmosphere quieted down and the air freshened. Older men sat in front of the homes playing chess. Housewives talked to each other while keeping an eye on their kids who were playing on the small streets. Demons and humans were living with one another in harmony.

"Most of the villages, towns and cities of this world are like Marra Town. Demons and humans live together in peace. Wild demon or Hollow attacks are rare due to the efforts of people like us," Daisuke said quietly. "There are some places that have never been attacked. There are some places where Hollows and the Undead are only stories meant to frighten children. They are kept ignorant of these evils by exorcists, demon exterminators, and clerical orders so that they may live their lives in peace."

Daisuke and Kagome strolled down the small street as others stopped to smile in greeting the boy-Shinigami.

"Unfortunately," he continued, "you reside with a band of exorcists, therefore, most of the places that you go to will be invested with evil." He gave her an apologetic look. "But this is how we stay sane. It's towns like this one."

Kagome smiled, "Well, if what you're saying is true, then I guess this place isn't that bad."

"No," Daisuke smiled back. "It isn't. Come on, there's more I want to tell you."

She raised her eyebrows. "More?"

Daisuke nodded and he led her past the simple bungalows until they reached an open field filled with tombstones. Kagome stared. It was a cemetery.

"You know, this town used to be heavily infested with Hollows and Undead," Daisuke said. "It was amazing that there were still inhabitants here. Instead of fleeing, they stayed and fought. Most of these graves belong to those fighters." He sat on a wooden bench nearby and motioned to her to do the same. "Marra Town was actually the first town we cleansed as a group, as the crew of Fortis Libertas," he said as Kagome took a seat. "Which is the reason why this town is special to us. This area has incredible natural resources and the people are amazing but this place is practically unknown to the main market; mostly scoundrels come here, like yours truly," he gave a smart smile before continuing. "This island is in the middle of nowhere, difficult to plot. Even if you've been here before, it's not easy to find your way back here again. We've been going here for the last two years so we have no trouble.

"Inuyasha struck a deal with the townspeople here. We'd protect them from pirates and they'd provide us with supplies, keep our visits here a secret, and hide us without question when needed."

"You guys drive a hard bargain," Kagome commented.

"Ah, well, they kinda owe us so no one's complaining," he said with a grin. He looked ahead and cleared his throat. "Uh, speaking of which, Inuyasha's been acting strangely." He glanced at her and noted her discomfort. "Do you know why?"

"No," Kagome said quickly. "Why would I know?"

Daisuke shrugged, his skin giving off a soft warm glow as the sun set.

After a quiet moment, he said, "He'll get you home. He's not the sort that breaks promises."

Kagome looked up, surprised. "How did you…?"

Daisuke smiled sheepishly. "You two weren't very quiet."

"Yeah, I bet you were straining to listen, too," she muttered.

"Kagome." His tone grew serious. "A man can't achieve his goals if there isn't someone there to believe in him."

"There aren't a lot of people your age who talk like you."

"I'm twenty."

"That doesn't make you old."

Daisuke chuckled softly. "Well, the things I say...other people may not say it out loud, but they think it."

There was another silence before Kagome spoke again.

"What make you think I don't believe him?"

When Daisuke did not answer her, Kagome stood up suddenly. "It's dark," she said, "we should head back."

Daisuke grinned charmingly as he leaned back on his arms. "What? You don't like the dark?"

Kagome lifted an eyebrow inquiringly. "Do you?"

Daisuke looked up at the night sky as his smile softened. "Yes."

Kagome looked up. "Why?"

"Because when it gets dark enough, you can see the stars."

As if on cue, something bright in the sky shone. More followed it and soon, the whole dark sky was glittering with diamonds.

As Daisuke's words registered, realization dawned upon her and she said softly. "I have to get back."

"Alright," Daisuke said as he stood up and brushed the back of his pants. "We'll have to find Nina –"

Kagome was already running.

…..

"Is this supposed to be funny?"

Toji and Laurence were both carrying a large crate about to board the Libertas when they both turned to look at Inuyasha.

"What?" they asked.

Inuyasha gestured at the Libertas's most recent alias. Laurence blinked at the words Balding Dog and Toji sported an innocent expression on his face, but Inuyasha knew better. After living with this crew for about two years, he could pretty much guess who the culprit was.

"Where's Chiaki?" he asked.

"Uh…" Toji and Laurence both looked away and Inuyasha knew that their minds were furiously conjuring up a decent story to cover for their fellow mate.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you half-wits helped the dolt," he scoffed. "Don't you have anything else better to do?"

"Hey!" Laurence said, indignant. He planted his fists on his hips "That's no wa – OUCH!" When Laurence released his edge of the crate, Toji was unable to accommodate the sudden imbalance quickly enough and fell forward. As a result, the crate landed on Laurence's toes.

"Oh, that's not good," Toji said as he watched Laurence clutch his toes, swearing loudly.

Inuyasha smirked and he was about to tell them off when he heard someone running towards them.

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha turned. Seeing Chiaki, his eyes immediately narrowed. "You – "

"Pirates."

His anger vanished and he blinked. "What?"

Chiaki's expression was grim. "Pirates. Just twenty miles east of here. One of the boys on the lookout post spotted them."

Laurence abruptly shut up and Toji slowly stood up, both of their expressions matching Chiaki's.

Inuyasha shrugged, not understanding why he was seeing this as a dilemma. He saw Kagome a short distance behind Chiaki looking a little breathless herself. He eyed her curiously but turned back to Chiaki. "Alright. Well, we'll finish loading and then we'll sail out and meet them."

Inuyasha moved toward the ship. He did not really want to be anywhere near Kagome…but Chiaki caught his arm.

"No, Inuyasha," he said. "You don't understand. They're heading this way."

It didn't take too long for Chiaki's word to sink in. Inuyasha began snapping orders.

"Leave all the things we still need to load; we'll come back for them. Now go get everyone and move it," he said. "We're leaving in five."

Chiaki and Laurence took off into the town and Toji followed Inuyasha onto the Libertas. In the next two minutes, the rest of the crew climbed on board and in the next couple of minutes, they were moving out of the small harbor and into the open sea.

Kagome stood there, feeling slightly at loss despite the constant movement around her. Everyone was running around, carrying things out, roping things up, and just doing something. Needless to say, she was feeling a bit useless at the moment. She wanted to help but she couldn't think of any way of how she could, and there was that tiny fear that she'd be more of a hindrance than anything. Kagome gave a small sigh and found a seat on a wooden crate a little out of the way. While she watched everyone work around her, she felt something wet touch her hand. Kagome looked down.

Wagging her tail, the furry canine prodded Kagome's hand again with her nose causing Kagome to smile.

"What?" she asked.

It was then when someone noticed her. Miroku, who was carrying what looked awfully like a bazooka under his arm, stopped near her with a rather surprised look on his slightly pale face.

"Kagome," he said. "I don't think you should be up here. It won't be very safe here in a couple of minutes."

"I can handle it," Kagome said stubbornly. She was curious about what the pirates would be like so she didn't want to leave.

Miroku smiled and took hold of her arm. "I insist."

"We're approaching!" someone shouted.

Inuyasha emerged from the secondary hatch with Toji following close behind; both were fully armed.

"Positions on the starboard side!" Inuyasha bellowed.

Miroku gave Kagome a do-what-I-say look before joining the others.

"He doesn't really think I'll listen to him, does he?" Kagome muttered under her breath when a cold chill ran down her spine.

"Well, you really should go below deck but it's alright," the dog said, "I'll protect you."

"Right –" Kagome stopped abruptly, forgot about the chill, and slowly turned to look at Nina. "Did you just…?"

To make things even stranger, Nina grinned at her, making herself look even more intimidating. Kagome looked around her to see if anyone else had noticed that the dog was talking to her but no one seemed to be affected.

"They know," Nina said, knowing what was running through Kagome's mind. "Everyone on this ship does."

"No one said anything about a talking dog."

The dog shrugged. "It wasn't that important."

Kagome stared. "Really now?"

"FIRE!"

Kagome whipped around at the sound of gunfire and explosions. Her eyes widened at the sight of the huge ship that seemed to loom ominously over her. Practically twice the size of the Libertas, the ship nearly engulfed the Libertas with its shadow. Yet despite their advantage of having higher ground, the crew of this large ship seemed to be suffering severely from the attacks of the Libertas crew. Kagome noticed how their movements were clumsy and awkward and their shots missed their targets completely.

Kagome stayed low to the floor with Nina close to her side as bullets and whatnot whizzed overhead. To her amazement, the bullets did not splinter the wood but bounced off them. Either the bullets were made of dough and the pirates were using slingshots, or the Libertas was a really abnormal ship.

She turned back to look at the opposing side and as she watched them get gunned down by bullets that emitted a golden light in the form of a cross when they hit home, she slowly realized why their movements looked so familiar. Gunon Town. They were Undead. Kagome scooted closer until she was behind Ling. Ling must have felt her presence because he turned to look at her with mild surprise.

"Shouldn't you be below deck?" Before Kagome could say anything, Ling shrugged it off and told her, "Ah well, just stay low and close to Nina."

Suddenly, there was a heavy thump. Kagome peered over Ling's shoulder and a sickeningly crunch of wood as some of the Undead were knocked over by an unknown force. When Kagome squinted, she could see a large blurry form that was almost 15 feet tall. As it moved forward, there was more breaking of wood.

Ling slipped on round sunglasses with green shades and Kagome saw that everyone with the exception of Inuyasha, Miroku, Daisuke, and Chiaki did the same.

"What's –" Kagome began but was cut off by deep monstrous scream. The chill came back and she started to feel a bit nauseous.

"Here." Nina dropped a pair of green shades in her lap.

Kagome slipped them on and felt her throat tighten at the sight before her. The blurry form was replaced by what she could only call a monster. Wicked tusks protruded out of its mouth and its massive body was covered with shaggy dark fur. Its front limbs were arms and hands but its back ones were ended with hooves. But what was most disturbing was that it was wearing a white mask with wicked carvings and dark markings, that and there was a medium-sized hole on its chest that ran all the way through to its back. It screamed again when Miroku fired at it with his bazooka-like weapon.

"It's a Hollow!" Inuyasha shouted over the creature's roars. "Load your spiritiron cartridges!"

In the next second there was rapid gunfire and the Hollow was struggling to get up under a rain of explosions. To deliver the final blow, Daisuke pulled out his fan and swung it in an arc in front of him, releasing a silvery-blue crescent shaped light. It collided into the Hollow's head and its mask shattered along with its body. Then it vanished into the air.

The Undead stared at where the Hollow was standing before, frozen. Now that their great creature was destroyed they seemed at a loss about what to do.

Resting this large gun on his shoulder, Inuyasha grinned. "Gentlemen, get ready to board."

……

Five minutes later, everybody had boarded the large pirate ship except for Laurence, Ling, and Shun who stayed to watch over the Libertas. They rounded up all the Undead on deck and as Daisuke and Inuyasha had their guns trained on them, the others searched the ship for loot; Kagome sat grudgingly on a barrel next to Inuyasha with Nina. Otherwise, she risked being sent back to the Libertas. Toji stayed above deck and Miroku and Chiaki went below.

Miroku kicked a lid off a large wooden box and took a sniff of its contents. His face twisted into a grimace. "Grave dirt."

"And lots of it," Chiaki said kicking open another box, revealing that it shared the same substance.

Miroku looked up and saw that the room they were in was filled with many of these boxes. They found a chest of jewels and gold or two but most of the other chests and trunks were full of Dark objects, which they were careful not to touch with their bare skin. But there was something else that Miroku noticed. All of these trunks and boxes had the same symbol engraved into them: a skull with a pentacle on its forehead, inscribed in a circle.

Miroku looked up at Chiaki who too noticed it.

"Hey, Miroku," Chiaki called. "Come over here."

Chiaki pushed aside a trunk as Miroku approached him.

He pointed. "Look."

On the floor where the trunk was covering it was a hatch locked with a heavy iron bolt. Strangely, on the hatch was the same symbol that was engraved on all the other boxes.

Chiaki tapped the symbol with the tip of his gun. "This symbol looks awfully familiar."

Miroku agreed but he couldn't exactly place it…

Suddenly, without any warning, the symbol began to glow blood red.

.…..

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha!"

The hanyou turned around irritably. "What?" he snapped.

Unperturbed, Toji piped. "Their computer system is a Touch-Screen type!"

"What?"

"Touch-Screen! It's basically this huge clear plastic plate that's controlled by a three-finger glove with tips that are magnetic sensi-"

"Yeah, yeah, what's your point?"

Toji looked at him with huge puppy eyes. "Can I take it?"

Inuyasha blinked.

"I mean, it'd be so much easier to operate," Toji said quickly. "Not only will it be a huge technological advancement for us, it'll save us a lot of room. And…it looks really, really, really cool," he added.

Inuyasha waved his hand nonchalantly. "Fine, whatever."

Toji let out a loud whoop and would have given Inuyasha a huge hug if it hadn't been for his threatening glare.

"Can I go look at it?" Kagome asked Inuyasha.

"No."

She gave him an agitated glare but he ignored it.

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha turned to see Miroku and Chiaki coming from the hatch, running

"What?" he said slightly frowning at the alarmed expressions on both of their faces.

In a dark tone, Miroku said, "There's a necromancer onboard."

The Mr. Mop and Mrs. Bucket thing--wasn't that in 'Treasure Planet'?

Mm-hm.

u could make sango a coordinator, u know in like gundam series.

I've never watched Gundam before. I don't think 15 minutes count. Commercials included.

Why did Inuyasha really bring Kagome to his world?

He got lonely and Miroku won't play Hot Wheels with him anymore.

…All joking aside, that is a spoiler question I cannot answer. (grins)

its getting good but dont kill daisuke off hes the nice one.

Daisuke: I am nice. (looks at renko)…You're not gonna kill me off, right?

renko: …I don't know. You do kinda owe me money. For a while now, actually.

BTW, is the date ruined? Or did Inuyasha salvage it at the last instant?

Mm…I'll leave that to your own interpretation.

"Toji, who was clipping his toenails at the table, turned to see what she was looking at." Eww! At the table!

Don't worry, he cleaned up after himself. Of course, after Charlotte bashed him over the head and gave him some foot odor cream.

Were Kagome's evil/dead senses kind of stolen/inspired by from the old kingdom trilogy?

No. I honestly wasn't thinking about that trilogy when I wrote that.

Alrighty. 'Til next time.