Everyone, even the token non-demon, was able to behave themselves like "civilized demons", except Inu Yasha, who wasn’t willing to be on the same planet with anybody who wanted his jewel shards, much less be mature about it. He sat in a chair with his legs tucked under him, his arms crossed and glared out the glass doors to the porch with a stubborn frown on his face.
        "They’re mine, and you can’t have them," he huffed.
        Hisui flicked imaginary dust off the arm of the couch. She took a deep breath and for the third time asked (with monumental patience, she thought): "Why are they yours? The last report I had of the Shikon Jewel was that it was destroyed, and before that it belonged to a priestess named Kikyo. And yet, Mikoto had two shards. I suppose they escaped when the rest of the jewel was destroyed." She sucked smoke, blew it out, and continued in a thoughtful voice. "Sesshomaru seems to feel Kagome—" she gestured at the girl with her cigarette, "—can travel back and forth in time, back to the time before the jewel was destroyed. That, and what he told me about your mysterious disappearance four hundred years ago, add up to you being able to time travel, as well. If that logic holds true, then by your timeline, the jewel is quite whole…and you and Kagome are still trying to piece it together." Hisui smiled a lethal smile. "That’s it, isn’t it, Inu Yasha? Hmmm…that would mean it wasn’t Kikyo who shattered it, but—" her glittering wolf’s eyes flashed to Kagome, who gulped and abruptly stopped playing with Shippo’s tail. Hisui giggled. "I see. My spies told me the priestess was wearing odd clothing, which I wrote off to some madness she got from being resurrected. I was sure that was what had happened, since I’d also received reports of her murder fifty years before. However, it became obvious later that Kikyo hadn’t been resurrected yet at the time the jewel was broken. Until today, I had no explanation for that discrepancy."
        "What’s your point, bitch?" Inu Yasha asked darkly.
        She smoked, smiled. "My point is this: I’ve been seeking the jewel far longer than you have. Therefore, my claim on it supercedes yours. Hand over the shards."
        "The hell it does," Inu Yasha snorted. He pointed a sharp claw at her, putting his feet on the floor, just in case he had to spring. "Just because you heard of it first, doesn’t make it yours. Kikyo was going to give it to me before Naraku tricked her into thinking I’d betrayed her—"
        "And why on earth would she do something that stupid?" Hisui shot back. "She was a great priestess, guardian of the Shikon Jewel and an enemy of our kind. Why would she give something so powerful to a filthy, half-breed whelp like you? Don’t tell me she thought you were cute!"
        Kagome knotted her fists in Shippo’s tail. Through clenched teeth, she growled: "Kikyo didn’t think he’s cute…she loved him!" She narrowed her eyes at Hisui, who was completely taken aback by her tone. "And it’s true that she was going to give him the jewel, so it doesn’t belong to you at all."
        Everybody blinked at her in astonishment, especially Hisui, who couldn’t believe the audacity of a mere mortal, to dare speak out of turn to the Great Demon of the Northern Lands. She dragged on her cigarette to master her irritation and bored holes into Inu Yasha, thinking: "She’s your woman, put her in her place, idiot!"
        But Kagome wasn’t finished. "I’m the priestess guarding the jewel now, and I’m going to give it to him when it’s whole, too."
        "Kagome…" Shippo hissed, trying to warn her with his eyes to shut up and not reveal anything more about who really had the jewel these days. Knowing she had it would lead to, where is it, which would lead to a fight Shippo didn’t think Inu Yasha could win or Kagome could survive. Not if Hisui Oukami was involved. And since when was Kagome a priestess?
        Inu Yasha’s heart stopped at Kagome’s words. She planned to give him the jewel when they’d found all of the shards? Just…give it to him, to do with it whatever he wanted? Was she feeling ok? He gave her a sidelong look and gulped when he found her locked in a look of death match with a demon who could snuff her mortal life with very little effort. If Kagome thought Sesshomaru was trouble…
        Mikoto motioned for Tsurai to bring his ear down so he could speak into it. "Bring me my meds. They’re in the Benz." Tsurai flickered away, and Mikoto rubbed the back of his head where the mother of all migraines was just beginning to make it presence known. He sighed and gave Kagome a weary look. "Why would you want to give the jewel to him? What earthly use could a scruffy, potty-mouthed, walking attitude problem—"
        "Look who’s talking…" Inu Yasha muttered under his breath.
        Mikoto didn’t miss a beat. "—have for something as powerful as the Shikon Jewel?" He turned a disdainful look on Inu Yasha. "Tell me, Inu Yasha, I’m dying to hear your big plans. World domination, perhaps? Full demonhood so you can oust your brother? Buy the rights to the Beatles library from Michael Jackson? Go to Disneyworld? Join the American Republican Party?"
        The first two made sense to Inu Yasha, but those other ideas went straight over his head. Why would anyone keep a library full of beetles, and why would he want to buy it from them? No danger of him wanting that bug library and he hated parties. Disneyworld sounded interesting, though. Could the jewel transport him there somehow? Was that what Asano was getting at? Kagome’s world was so weird.
        He opened his mouth to say something, but Kagome spoke first…with feeling, or maybe that was just the way she was pulling Shippo’s tail. "It’s none of your business what he does with it! Why don’t you just give up and leave? You can’t have the shards back and you can’t have any other part of the jewel we might have and that’s all there is to it. End of discussion."
        Oh yes, this was definitely working up to a truly spectacular migraine. Mikoto groaned. Everything had seemed to simple and straightforward before Shunusuke and Yuki turned on him, and Hisui showed up with her latest boy toy. He was glad Sesshomaru wasn’t here to ad his rapier wit to this discussion. His presence alone made Hisui even shallower, and her affectations even more pronounced than usual. It was as if one look at his pretty face sent her straight to the Bozone—do not pass Go, do not collect 200 dollars.
        "And furthermore," Kagome continued more loudly, as Shippo tried to wriggle his tail out of her hand, "you’ve totally ruined everybody’s holiday! What did you tell all those people to make them stay off the beach? There was nobody out there when I was trying to run away! Did you make them disappear? Is that where the gang went, too—to wherever you disappear people to?! Why do you think you can do that to people?! I hope somebody does call the police and the press, so you get exposed for the—"
        "Kagome, you’re pulling out my tail!" Shippo yowled, not just because it was true but to head her off at the pass before she crashed headlong into the wrath of the Great Demon of the Northern Lands.
        Speaking of which, Hisui’s face had turned a very unattractive shade of red, and her eyes were narrowed in an a way that made her look squinty. Not pretty at all. Mikoto was leaned over with his hands over his ears and his eyes squeezed shut, wishing Tsurai would hurry up with his medicine already. Kagome let go of Shippo, who scrambled off her lap and onto the back of Inu Yasha’s chair where his tail would be out of everybody’s reach.
        "Well?" Kagome demanded. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
        Mikoto looked at Inu Yasha through slit eyes and snorted: "Nice girl, Inu Yasha. She should’ve been a demon."
        Kagome trembled with rage, unable to think of a good come back that wouldn’t indirectly insult Inu Yasha and ruin this nice, united front they had going.
        For the sake of world peace, Shunuske figured maybe he should jump in at this point and get the conversation back on track. He made a time out sign with his hands. "Why do you need the shards, Dad? Grandmother?"
        "Just ‘Hisui’, please," Hisui pleaded and rolled her eyes, but her claws still flexed with the need to shred Kagome’s hide. "’Grandmother sounds so…old."
        Shunusuke sighed. How much shallower could she get? She was over four hundred years old! "Hisui, then."
        "Power, son," Mikoto replied. "The Shikon Jewel gives power to whoever holds it—even a single shard can magnify a demon’s existing power tenfold or more. I had two before your punk friend stole them from me."
        "With the mighty Hisui Oukami standing right there," Inu Yasha mocked. "Way to take decisive action, Granny."
        Mother and son flexed their claws and narrowed their eyes at him. Shinai came to attention, his hands coming out of his jacket pockets, ready to go for his gun. He’d exchanged his beach bum gear for a nice, business casual look: Khaki pants, loafers, white polo shirt and green khaki blazer. Unlike his brother, he failed to see the point of wearing sunglasses indoors.
        Shunusuke gritted his teeth. "Inu Yasha, will you give it a rest for a second?"
        Once again, Kagome spoke before Inu Yasha could even open his mouth. "Don’t ignore me! I asked a very important question: What happened to all the people that were at this resort, and what did you do to make them go away?"
        Hisui’s peeved glare turned from Kagome to Mikoto. "What does it matter how he did it, he’s going to fix it, aren’t you, Mikoto darling?"
        Mikoto rubbed his temples but didn’t look at her. The rug was a much more soothing color and it didn’t make loud noises at him. At least it was getting dark outside, so he didn’t have to deal with glaring sunlight coming through the porch doors. "Yes, mother, I’ll fix it. As soon as we resolve the issue of the jewel shards Inu Yasha stole from me."
        "How can I steal what belonged to me in the first place?"
        Hisui lunged for him first, but Shinai was half a step behind her. Inu Yasha and Shippo dove in opposite directions, leaving Hisui on her knees in the chair, swiping at the air, and Shinai precariously balanced with his fingers on the back of the chair, trying not to fall on top of her.
        "Mother, stop it!" Mikoto barked, sending icicles of pain lancing from one end of his skull to the other. He squeezed his head between his hands and whimpered. Where in the hell was Tsurai?
        As if on command, the kitsune reappeared with a bottle of pills in one hand and a bottle of sparkling water in the other. Mikoto fumbled with the cap to the pill bottle, finally got it open, threw two of the pills into his mouth, then chugged them down with half of the bottle of water. He pocketed the pills, then leaned back with his eyes closed to wait for them to (maybe) take effect.
        Hisui came around the back of the couch and gently stroked his hair away from his face. "I’m sorry, darling, I didn’t realize you were getting a headache. We’ll finish this discussion when you feel better. I’ll make sure the shards don’t leave before then." She lightly kissed his forehead, then fixed Kagome and Inu Yasha with a terrifying glare. "You will stay here until this matter is resolved."
        Inu Yasha hmphed. "Or you’ll do what?"
        "Kill you."

        The original condo-dwellers sat in the living room and wondered what they should do next. Inu Yasha was all for taking Kagome and Shippo and going back to his time but he didn’t want to talk about it in front of Shunusuke and Yuki. For all he knew, their supposed betrayal of their father was really just another ploy to make him and Kagome trust them. Kagome was more concerned with where she was going to sleep that night. All of her things were back at the hotel: Her clothes, her toothbrush, her make-up. It was nice of Yuki to loan her clothes again, but they didn’t fit quite properly, since Yuki was taller than she was and smaller in the hips. She really wanted to be in her own space with her own things. In fact, packing up and going home sounded like a great idea, except Hisui said she’d kill them if they tried to leave. Kagome’s stomach went suddenly chill. Home was where her big chunk of the jewel was, stuck, unprotected, in her desk drawer. True, she was the only one who knew it was there, but once the Asano’s figured out neither she nor Inu Yasha had it with them, it would only be a matter of time before they could guess it was at her house. The thought of Asano’s creepy, dark-suited henchmen rooting through her home, maybe even threatening her family, was too much to bear. She had to get the shard away from there and to a safer place, and the only place she could think of was the past, where Inu Yasha had hidden his treasure, the Tetsusaiga. Of course, the Tetsusaiga didn’t attract greedy demons as the jewel did, but it was better off there where Hisui and Mikoto couldn’t get to it, than—Wait. Hisui sought the jewel four hundred years ago and failed to get it. Hadn’t she said the jewel had been destroyed? Then the past had to be the best hiding place for it. But how to get it there, if they couldn’t leave here without getting killed? The best candidate for sneaking away was Shippo, who could disguise himself as anything. No, that wouldn’t work: Both Hisui and Mikoto had kitsune working for them, and they could probably see through Shippo’s illusions, or at least detect them. And those twins, Shinai and Tsurai…they knew what they all smelled like now. If they’re tracking ability was anything like Inu Yasha’s, none of them would get past those sensitive noses. Yuki and Shunusuke couldn’t be trusted, even though Yuki had saved her life. If it came down to a choice between her and their family, Kagome bet they’d pick their family.
        Hmm… If she could get back to her hotel room, she could call home and maybe convince Sota to take the jewel to Kaede. No, she couldn’t put her little brother into that much danger. There was no way to tell what he’d run into when he emerged from the well in the past. He could get lost, too, then he’d be easy prey for any demon who sensed the shard. Gramps? Kagome thought about it for a few moments, then rejected the idea. If he ran into a demon, he’d do something stupid like try to fight it with his imaginary priestly powers (the man thought he was Obi Wan Kenobi for some reason). Mom was totally out of the question. It would just have to be Sota, if they couldn’t escape Hisui’s spies and leave the beach. If she could get back to her hotel room without anybody being suspicious, she could call him—assuming Asano hadn’t thought far enough to tap the phone lines, or disconnect them. Rei had called from the hotel to tip off Inu Yasha about the bad guys. That either meant all the phones were working, or that Asano had left Rei’s working on purpose, knowing she’d try to call Inu Yasha. No, that didn’t make sense. How would Mikoto know Rei was her friend? The answer was clear before she even finished the thought: Both Yuki and Shunusuke had seen her in Rei’s company yesterday and had been present when Rei called about Asano’s men. They also knew from Shippo that Rei was her friend. So it was entirely possible that Rei had been used to lure Inu Yasha to the hotel and that hers was the only operating telephone, if was still working anymore at all.
        Kagome heaved a heavy sigh and asked disgustedly: "Do you think Hisui would pitch a fit if I slept in my own hotel room tonight? I don’t think I could keep my eyes open another second," which was basically true, so Shunusuke wouldn’t sense it was a lie. Could he hear people’s thoughts, or just sense their emotions? Well, however his talent worked, it was creepy.
        Yuki shrugged. "Do you want me to take you back?"
        Inu Yasha growled. "I’ll do it."
        Yuki’s face fell, but she didn’t say anything. How could they not trust her after she’d saved Kagome’s life? Beside her, her brother’s expression mirrored hers, but Shunusuke could understand why Inu Yasha would be reluctant to trust them. "That sounds like a good idea. I don’t think the restaurant’s working, though. Do you want to eat before you go, or take something with you?"
        Kagome saw that as a golden opportunity to see what Shunuske knew about the state of the phones at the hotel. "I was thinking of ordering delivery from my room, but thanks."
        "I thought Rei said all the staff at the hotel was gone," Shunusuke asked, "and Dad said the lobby was wrecked when he fought Inu Yasha. Maybe you should take something with you from here."
        Well, there was that, wasn’t there. Kagome exchanged looks with Inu Yasha and Shippo. Shippo shrugged, Inu Yasha scowled. "We’ll take something with us," he grunted on the way to the refrigerator to see what looked good. Kagome and Shippo followed him.
        "I know you don’t trust us," Shunusuke said quietly, watching Inu Yasha ransack the fridge like a pig rooting for tubers, "but Yuki and I really are on your side. We don’t think what Dad’s doing is right. Just keep that in mind, ok?"
        Inu Yasha paused in his snack safari long enough to give Shunusuke a grim look over his shoulder, then went back to handing food to Kagome for her to make something interesting out of it. After a few minutes, they had a sack of rice balls and a Tupperware bowl of miso soup that Kagome heated in the microwave. With a promise to return Yuki’s clothes the next day, Kagome, Inu Yasha and Shippo headed for the Green Mermaid, down a disturbingly empty beach.