‘Keep the secret’ resumed with a vengeance, Kagome and Mayuri raising the stakes absurdly higher with each successive round. By the time they squeezed back through the fence, both women were in mute, red-faced hysterics. The moment the vines swung shut behind them, they doubled-over, laughing themselves hoarse. “We did it,” Kagome gasped, clutching her

Ascending the steps of a wide veranda, the two women drew to a stop before one of the palace’s outer doors. Mayuri bent low at the waist, the ends of her loosely bound hair nearly brushing the floorboards. “Let me know if there is anything at all that you need.” “Thank you, I—” “Kaa-san!” Both

Shouldering her weapons and satchel, Kagome left her home early the next morning and made the short trek over to Kaede’s hut to borrow her horse for the journey ahead. Onyx eyes regarded her steadily as she approached the backyard paddock. Like his owner, Jiro was an aged yet sturdy creature—and a little on the

That night, for the first time in weeks, Kagome’s sleep was dreamless. Groggy and stiff, she awoke the next morning with a refreshing clarity of mind. While she would never stop hunting the Beast, her brother-in-law had been right in one sense—she couldn’t let herself be driven to destruction in the attempt. She needed to

But the nightmares didn’t stop. Even after returning to Edo village, visions of the blackened grove and its phantoms continued to haunt Kagome’s dreams. Each night, more horrors of the past re-emerged, rising corpse-like from the depths of her consciousness to linger floating at the surface. Silver hair tangled with dark twisting branches, demon blood