Harshly but quickly Kagome bathed, more out of compulsion than anything else. She felt the need to purge herself of Sesshoumaru, at least in ritual. She felt the need to punish herself too, though she tried to suppress it: the maddening urge to excise herself of the shame that snaked like dark poison through her

Shouldering her weapons, Kagome headed outside. On the last porch step, she paused, looking out over the sprawl of Edo village. Not that it was much of a village anymore. Toward the coast, rows upon rows of hastily-constructed huts now lay in concentric rings around Edo proper, creating a spiderweb of new dirt paths and

As the trees began to thin, Kagome reined in her flat-eared, whinnying mount. At her side, Rin followed suit. Before them a valley stretched, the sky above it unnaturally dark, as though a sinister storm had rolled in from the north. As Rin glanced warily aside, Kagome nodded in affirmation. Even from this distance, she

“Well met, priestess,” the captain said, his lips crooking up at the corners. “My men and I owe you an immeasurable debt.” Kagome shook her head. “Putting down murderous youkai is my job around here.” “Is that so?” Hawk-like, the captain appraised her. “Then might you be the one they call ‘The Shikon Miko’?” “That’s

As Kagome reflected upon this remark, the skies above began to darken once more. While Rin gasped in surprise, Kagome slid her eyes shut, praying to the gods for restraint. When she opened them again, it was as though a second storm had descended upon the valley. Unnatural lightning split the churning, thunderous clouds, the

Near her porch steps, Sesshoumaru stood, no less formidable in broad daylight than he’d been in the midst of his demonic maelstrom. Even with his youki concealed, she could feel the cold fury radiating off him as he stared her down, and though momentarily caught off-guard by the vehemence of it, Kagome’s hackles rose to