Kagome sat up with a start.

In a brilliant crash, her reiki met the invasive demonic aura, a flash like lightning sparking out across the invisible plane where their energies collided. Purifying vapor blossomed in a shimmering veil between them. As the crackling mist dispersed, a stunningly handsome face stared back at her, faintly smiling.

“Kagome-sama,” the daiyoukai greeted her smoothly from the spring below. “Please, be at ease.”

Flushed with sake and adrenaline both, the miko glowered. “Hirokin, right?” Not waiting for the river demon to respond, she bit out, “How did you get past my barrier?”

“Like most land-dwellers, that is where your power ends.” Examining the fine points of his pearly nails, Hirokin continued blithely on, “It is enough to thwart the common intruder. But by taking underground waterways, I was able to subvert your defenses easily enough.” The slant of his smile steepened as he met her gaze again. “An opening you will be quick to close, I am sure.”

Kagome’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re here to make me feel stupid. If that’s the case, mission accomplished. Now, leave.”

The river demon chuckled. “Pardon my bluntness—I was under the impression you would prefer it, based on your ruthless nature.”

“My ‘ruthless nature’?” Kagome said, bristling. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Blue and slitted in the afternoon light, Hirokin’s striated, reptilian irises glittered. “Have you not been cutting down my kind like chaff over the recent months?”

“Word sure spreads fast,” Kagome remarked. “Anyway, what’s it to you? Did I kill one of your friends or something?”

“On the contrary,” Hirokin said, drifting closer to her. “It is a scourge of enemies you’ve laid waste to. Sesshoumaru-sama should thank you for the service.”

Uncertain whether or not he was mocking her, Kagome glared back.

“The Eastern Lord is recently deceased,” Hirokin explained shortly, his thin smile taking on a furtive edge. “Perhaps you were unaware that you killed his only son and heir.”

Kagome stiffened. “Sorry, but when it comes to defending my village, I don’t always have the luxury of taking down enemy youkai’s names and lineages beforehand.”

“Be that as it may,” Hirokin resumed without missing a beat, “the death of a cardinal lord creates a rift which rebels and upstarts will seek to fill. Or would—if not for your interference. One might go so far as to venture that the East is in fact your domain.”

Well, Kagome thought, that explained the increase in demonic attacks. Though she wasn’t sure what to make of her supposed new status.

“Still,” she said warily, “none of this explains why you are here.”

“Perhaps I simply wished to pay the esteemed Shikon Miko a visit,” he said silkily, still gliding toward her through the spring. “It has been far too long, since last we were alone together.”

Kagome tensed at his loaded tone, suddenly conscious of the fact that she was still perched stark-naked before him on the slab. With feigned casualness, she crossed her arms over her bare chest. Folding her closed legs primly beneath her to the side, she fixed him with an imperious look. Hirokin smiled a bit too knowingly nevertheless—as the listing blue-and-white silk of his haori slipped from him like a receding wave.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi