Sango wasn’t to sanguine about the idea of being sealed into a metal monstrosity with Shunusuke, particularly since it would involve being squoosed against Miroku, who didn’t mind the truck concept quite as much as she did. Both he and Myouga were willing to accept the Higurashi’s assurances that this was a perfectly normal, common and safe mode of transportation and the fastest way to get from the Shrine to the resort where Kagome was. Sango also wasn’t too keen on having her boomerang out of arm’s reach, strapped down to the bed of the truck with Miroku’s staff. However, once Shunusuke and Mrs. Higurashi made it clear to her just how far away the beach was and how fast the truck could get them there, Sango swallowed her paranoia and got in the damn truck. She wanted to sit by the door, in case Shunusuke showed his true, untrustworthy colors or tried to grope her (which she suspected he might do, based upon the looks he’d been giving her), and she had to bail. Shunusuke insisted she sit in the middle, though, since she was the smallest and a girl—and the girl always sits in the middle in the cab of the pick-up truck when the other two passengers are guys (it’s an unwritten law). Once she’d established on no uncertain terms that any groping from them would result in immediate castration, Sango settled in between Shunusuke and Miroku and tried to be very brave about all the noise the strange machine made and the unnatural speed at which it traveled. She did this by making Shunusuke tell her everything he knew about what made the truck go. He was delighted to find a girl with an interest in geeky automotive stuff and prattled on for the entire trip about combustion engines, Henry Ford, assembly lines, petrol and customization packages. From this schpeel, Sango learned one, very important thing (which any 20^th century girl knows by the time she reaches puberty): A vehicle is an extension of a man’s penis, and he views his vehicle as a gage of just how much of a man he really is. Judging by the way Shunusuke talked about his truck, both he and the vehicle were more man than any other male on Earth could ever hope to be. Also, he managed to convince a feudal era Buddhist priest that he had to have a hopped-up, four wheel drive truck or a zippy sportscar (in red or black) to be a real man. After kicking demon ass, Sango suspected Miroku would demand to be taken to a "dealership" to select his own, personal, metal penis extension on wheels.
        Like that man’s libido needed help.
        "But most guys our age in Japan don’t have their own cars," Shunusuke was saying to Miroku. "They take public transportation or have a bicycle or a motorcycle. My dad ships this overseas and back for me, so I’ll have it at school and at home. That’s why the steering wheel’s on the wrong side: I bought it at school, and they drive on a different side of the rode over there."
        "Overseas?" Miroku asked, then tried to show off his education by adding: "Do you mean Europe?"
        Myouga sniffed importantly. "Well, of course he means Europe! Where else could he mean?"
        Shunusuke smiled and shook his head. "It’s a big world, Myouga. The country I go to school in doesn’t even exist in your time. The continent’s there, and people live on it, but it’s different. Now it’s run by the descendants of European settlers for the most part and is one of the most powerful countries in the world. It’s called the United States of America, or just America or the U.S.." He looked at Sango out of the corner of his eye to see if she was impressed. She looked curious but not impressed, so he added casually: "I’ve traveled all over the world, actually: Europe, Canada, China, Africa, Australia, America, Brazil, Mexico—all over the place. My Dad takes me around to his company’s sites. He’s the head of one of the most successful microchip manufacturing companies in the world."
        "What’s a microchip?" Sango asked, trying very hard not to sound in the least bit impressed by Shunusuke’s world travels, education or his family’s money and influence. That’s what he wanted, and she’d be damned if she’d give it to him.
        Shunusuke explained computers and their component parts and how important they were to everybody from individuals and schools to businesses and governments. As he spoke, he parked the truck outside the condo and reached out with his mind to determine if anyone was waiting for them there and if so, who. Oddly, no one was there. Probably still at the hotel, he reasoned, which didn’t mean Dad couldn’t have any of his flunkies there in a matter of seconds. He finished his little speech, which none of his passengers understood, then switched off the truck and got out. Sango ignored Miroku’s outreached hand and helped herself out of the cab with a growl to let him know he’d insulted her by the mere suggestion that she might need his help for such a simple task. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she went around to the back of the truck to reclaim her boomerang and Miroku’s staff, which she tossed at him without looking to make sure he caught it with his hands not his face.
        "What’s her problem?" Miroku wondered in disgust as he caught his staff and collected his dignity, then watched her follow Shunusuke into the condo. (Ok, he watched her hips wiggle as she followed Shunusuke into the condo. Details, details.)
        Their reaction to the modern devices and foreign-style furnishings was the same as Inu Yasha’s and Shippo’s had been, but Shunusuke didn’t give them time to explore and no long seemed inclined to explain things to them. He poked his head into each room, then stepped out onto the porch to check the surrounds, the three time travelers right behind him. Seeing no sign of his relations, he left the porch, then the condo, heading for the beach with his suspicious guests in tow.
        "I don’t like this," he muttered as they galloped down the wooden stairs and started off through the trees to the beach. "I know I didn’t fool Hisui. What is she up to?"
        "You expected her to be here at your house?" Myouga asked in a trembling voice. How could this boy not be shaking in his sandals at the very thought of a violent encounter with Hisui Oukami? True, he was her grandson, but Hisui was particularly famous for murdering her closest relations.
        Sango touched the place where the jewel shard rested between her breasts. Was it really the Great Demon of the Northern Lands they would face? The ruthless, bloodthirsty Hisui Oukami? And not only her, but Sesshomaru, as well. Had he changed very much in four hundred years, maybe become more powerful and careless of human life? The Tetsusaiga bounced against her thigh as she walked, and she wondered if Sesshomaru would challenge her for it before she could give it to Inu Yasha. And what should she do about the jewel shard? Should she just hand it over to Kagome, or keep it hidden and pretend she didn’t have it?
        "Stop thinking about it," Shunusuke grunted, with a hard look over his shoulder so she’d know he was talking to her. "Hisui can hear your thoughts even better than I can. Just forget you have it, or she’ll know and take it from you."
        "She can read minds, too?!" Myouga cried at the same time as Sango drawled: "Like she took her son’s shards from Inu Yasha?" Shunusuke could hear her thoughts?! She knew of very few demons who could do that, and Hisui Oukami was one of them. That ability, if nothing else, proved to her that Shunusuke was in fact related to that mighty demon lord. She hoped the rest of what he’d told them was true, as well, especially that part about being on their side. If he had any other of Hisui’s abilities, or even a small part of her power, they were in trouble if he chose to oppose them. She hoped his sister, who had the power to protect Kagome from magic and bullets (whatever kind of weapon those were), was also on their side and not an ally of Hisui’s. And what of Shunusuke’s father? What manner of demon was he? He couldn’t be all that strong, if Inu Yasha could take a couple of jewel shards from him, then just sit down to breakfast with the man. She had to smile at that: Inu Yasha forced to be polite and sit at table with his enemies. He must be squirming in his skin.
        Shunusuke made to reply, then realized Miroku wasn’t following them any more. A quick look around found the priest frozen in place with his jaw hanging open. Sango followed his gaze and was at once disgusted with him and shocked at the indecency of the girls who were the objects of his enraptured attention. Didn’t people wear clothes in Kagome’s time? The girls’ garments (if they could be dignified with such a name) were just big enough to barely cover what was important, and some didn’t even cover those things adequately.
        "It’s…Paradise…" the priest sighed as his companions came along side him.
        Shunusuke grinned. "It certainly is."
        Sango thought she was going to be sick. Then she saw that the young men on the beach wore almost as little as the girls did, and many of those men were…Sango quickly turned her mind from such thoughts. They had important business here and it didn’t involved admiring the scenery! Nice though it was. She grabbed Miroku by the sleeve and shook him with an impatient growl. "We really have better things to do than—" Then she saw a few people she recognized, and now it was her jaw’s turn to hang open. "KAGOME?!" Her friend heard her and broke into a great, big smile. That was about all Kagome was wearing, unless one counted the little bits of fabric that were making a valiant attempt to provide her with some modesty. And was that Inu Yasha with her in nothing but cut off pants? (She hadn’t expected him to be so…skinny.)
        Myouga jumped from her shoulder to hitch a ride on Miroku’s as the priest ran for Kagome with a delighted cry. Shunusuke trotted behind him, though his face wore a worried expression. With a deep, lamenting sigh, Sango gave up and followed. Inu Yasha playing at the seashore, Kagome practically naked in public and not seeming to mind in the least—and was that Shippo disguised as a human (with his fluffy tail hanging out of the top of his short pants)? Who were those other girls with him?
        One of the girls ran to Shunusuke and wrapped him a big hug, then stepped back with a giggle to look Miroku up and down. She was drop dead gorgeous and wearing even less than Kagome: Her butt was fully exposed with only a string in her crack to keep the front part of the so-called outfit over her privates. It looked like it was made of gold silk. "Probably couldn’t afford any more than that," Sango thought with a disparaging snort.
        "Are you Miroku?" Yuki asked coyly and ran a finger down the priest’s chest. She reached around his neck to give his ponytail a little flip. "Kagome’s told me all about you!"
        Not used to a woman doing anything but calling him a pervert and slapping him, Miroku was at a complete loss for words. Yuki, however, was not. She grabbed both his hands with a gleeful squeal and started jumping up and down excitedly, hypnotizing Miroku with her big, bouncing chest.
        "Ask me!" She begged. "Please-oh-please-oh-please?! C’mon, ask! Ask!"
        "Eh?" Miroku blinked at her breasts stupidly. He was the only one who didn’t realize he was bouncing along with her.
        "What you always ask!" She giggled. "Please, Miroku? I have the perfect come-back, so you have to ask me! Puh-LEEZE?!"
        Suddenly, Miroku stopped hopping and grinning as the realization sank in that she was probably mocking him. Oh great. Kagome had told this vision of loveliness all about Miroku the lecherous priest, who asked every pretty girl he met to bear his child. No doubt, Kagome had neglected to explain his reasons for being so gung ho to reproduce in favor of the humor she found in his predicament. How could she?! Sweet, kind Kagome was making fun of him. Miroku’s face fell and he tried to free his hands without success. "It isn’t funny," he grumbled. "Didn’t Kagome tell you why I need an heir?"
        Yuki stopped bouncing. "Of course she did," then her face lit up once more and she clasped his hands to her chest and looked deeply into his eyes. "But I still want you to ask me!"
        "So you can poke fun at me, too, Miss--?"
        She batted her eyelashes at him and pulled him even closer to her scantily-clad, impossibly well-endowed body (in Miroku’s opinion). "I’m Shunusuke’s sister Yuki. Please ask me, Miroku," she pouted, biting her lower lip in a most irresistible fashion.
        He caved. "Very well. *sigh* Will you bear my child?"
        Yuki grinned mischievously. "No, but we can have fun practicing!"
        "Eh?"
        "I think you’re really cute!" She gushed and waggled her eyebrows at him suggestively.
        Was he dreaming? Did this beautiful, mostly-naked woman just declare him cute and suggest they have sex for its own sake? This really was Paradise. Or a dream. He liked the Paradise idea much better since it was less likely to end up in him awakening to find none of it had really happened.
        Kagome huffed. "I knew it. He finally finds a girl who actually wants him, and he has no idea what to do about it."
        Inu Yasha hooked his arm around her neck with a stiff smile and pulled her in the direction of the water. Shippo and Rei giggled and followed them, hand-in-hand. Sango watched them splash into the waves in a state of utter shock. This was beyond surreal. Poor little Sota had risked his life to bring help to his sister, so they’d all rushed like mad to get here and rescue Kagome from the evil Hisui Oukami and Sesshomaru—and nobody seemed to be in the least bit of danger. In fact, they were happy and having fun. Even Inu Yasha was enjoying himself (gods, was he actually laughing?), frolicking in the surf like a puppy. Where were the bad guys they were supposed to be so terrified of? Why wasn’t Sesshomaru bugging Inu Yasha to hand over the Tetsusaiga or die? Where were those two kitsune they’d fought at the Higurashi Shrine? Just what in the bloody hell was going on here?!
        And why was Shunusuke holding her hand?! How dare he be so forward! Sango snatched her hand out of his with a meaningful little growl. "I don’t know how men are supposed to behave in your time, but in my time we have a thing called decency! You just don’t grab a girl’s hand in public anytime you feel like it!"
        Shunusuke gave her a smile that made her knees suddenly feel like jelly, then he looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry. I was just going to suggest we go sit over there and talk."
        He pointed to his right at a large, striped towel laid out on top of the sand. There was a bright pink bag and a number of small bottles containing a brownish liquid set in the sand by the towel. It looked like someone else had already staked out that territory.
        "I think someone’s already there," Sango told him in an aloof tone and went to collect Miroku’s clothing and staff.
        As she folded the priest’s robes, Shunusuke went and sat down on the towel. "It’s alright. It’s just Yuki. She won’t mind. Come on over and sit with me and I’ll tell what’s happened up to this point."
        That got her attention. Well, she wasn’t going to sit with him all by herself, that was for sure. This guy was cut from the same mold as Miroku. She set the priest’s cloths and staff down next to the obnoxiously colored bag, then called out to her friends in the water to join her and Shunusuke. Kagome and Inu Yasha would make sure Shunusuke didn’t lie to her. As she sat down next to him, Sango gave Shunusuke a smug look, but his reaction wasn’t at all what she’d expected.
        "Thanks. That saves me having to call them myself." He smiled his dazzling smile at her again as one by one their companions plunked themselves down onto the towel.
        "Such lovely eyes," Sango thought, then hastily rid her mind of such sentiments. The man was as much a womanizer as that blasted priest! He probably ogled Kagome like that, as well as every other pretty girl that came within range. She bet he made passes at them, too, the lecher. She watched him out of the corner of her eye. He was handsome…and looked quite strong, too. Big muscles on those arms and legs. She was startled out of her thoughts by a sprinkling of cold water as Miroku reached over her to grab his robe and toss it over his head.
        "What’re you blushing about?" Inu Yasha grumbled at her as he sat down on Shunusuke’s other side. Without warning, he reached over and plucked the Tetsusaiga out of her belt and laid it across his knees. "Thanks for bringing this."
        Sango nodded dumbly and tried to will her cheeks back to their normal color, leaving Inu Yasha’s first question unanswered. Miroku’s loincloth had been…slipping, showing her more of the priest than she cared to see. She’d never look at him the same again after that. What was the matter with her? She was acting like a child! With that thought firmly in her mind, Sango growled at Shunusuke: "Well, what’s going on? Why is everybody acting so silly?"
        Everybody but Shunusuke and the new arrivals turned a shade paler and glared at the condo. Shunusuke followed their gaze, then told them with a chuckle: "There’s nobody there. In fact, I don’t sense any of them anywhere near here. If Hisui and my father, or any of them, are around, they’re at the hotel and can’t hear us talk."
        Inu Yasha’s face turned bright red with rage. With a furious growl, he drove his fist into the sand and cursed Hisui to all kinds of hells. "I’ll fucking kill that bitch!" He started to get up, but Kagome threw herself at him and pinned him down.
        "No, don’t! Remember what she said!" Kagome pleaded, and Inu Yasha calmed right down.
        Shunusuke narrowed his eyes at her. "What did she say, Kagome?"
        Myouga wrung his hands. "She probably threatened to kill us all!"
        Tears welled up in Kagome’s eyes as she replied: "Hisui said she knows where I live, and she’ll kill my family if we didn’t act like everything’s normal. She said she has my brother…"
        "I knew it!" Myouga lamented.
        Sango gave the flea a stern look. "No! Sota was safe when we left the shrine! We fought off two kitsune who were threatening your mother, but your family’s safe now!"
        Shunusuke balled his fists in his lap and bowed his head. "They could always have gone back as soon as we left. Damn them!"
        "When they realize neither the jewel shard nor the Tetsusaiga is at your family shrine," Miroku mused, "they’ll have to come to us to propose a trade." He wished Yuki and Shippo weren’t between him and Kagome, so he could offer more comfort to her than just words. Not that she needed him with Inu Yasha sitting right there, holding her hand and—eh? Inu Yasha was holding Kagome’s hand? What had happened between them in four days that Inu Yasha was suddenly bold enough to be so affectionate with her in front of strangers? Dog Boy hadn’t done that, had he?!
        "Hisui doesn’t strike me as the bargaining type," Inu Yasha seethed. He turned a cruel look on Shunusuke. "Sorry, but it looks like I’ll have to kill your grandmother."
        Myouga’s eyes bugged. He hopped off the towel onto his master’s shoulder and cried: "Have you lost your mind, M’Lord?! This is Hisui Oukami we’re talking about! She’d squash you like a—like a flea!"
        Inu Yasha illustrated his servant’s point by squashing him. "Shut up!"
        Shunusuke closed his eyes and bowed his head. "You’d also have to kill my father and your brother and everybody who serves them. Think you’re strong enough to do that, Inu Yasha?" Suddenly he met Inu Yasha’s gaze with sharp eyes and a wicked smirk. "You couldn’t fight your way out of a paper sack with a sword and your martial skills are haphazard at best. You’re just mean and determined, and I don’t think you could beat my family and their guards—even with help from a demon hunter and priest."
        Shippo cleared his throat.
        "You’re a kid, Shippo," Shunusuke told him bluntly. "You’re obviously resourceful and brave enough, but your skills are nothing compared to the kitsune working for my family. They’re older and better trained than you are. Nothing personal, I’m just stating the facts."
        Yuki nodded solemnly. "He’s right. Before you go into battle, you need to know who you’re facing, how many of them there are and what kind of skills and weapons they have. Even if all of us went against them, we’d get our asses kicked."
        "And that," her brother finished, "would just leave my father and his mother to duke it out over the shard—and I can tell you who’ll win: Hisui—and Sesshomaru will finally take the Tetsusaiga. We need a better plan."
        Myouga wailed: "We’re doomed!"
        "I said: Shut up!" Inu Yasha flicked the flea off his shoulder and into Miroku’s lap. "If we don’t kill them, they’ll keep coming after the shard," he grumped.
        Very quietly, Kagome replied: "Unless we can keep it until it’s whole again, and you use it to become human, like you were going to do with Kikyo." She looked away, over Shippo’s shoulder at the happy teenagers playing in the surf. Rei was there, too, watching them from the waves. Shippo had told her to stay behind and not get involved in his problems any more deeply than she was. Kagome had to agree: The less Rei knew, the safer she’d be. "That would use up all of the jewel’s power," she continued, just above a whisper," then it wouldn’t exist anymore." She cleared her throat and added gamely: "All we have to do is keep them away at least that long, right? And they can’t get us in the past."
        All eyes turned expectantly on Inu Yasha, who flushed and fiddled with the Tetsusaiga to avoid looking at anybody, especially Kagome. He hadn’t decided what he was going to do yet! Why’d she have to bring it up? "I could also use it to become a full demon," he mumbled.
        "Or that…I guess."
        "Who’s Kikyo?" Yuki asked and got two very dirty looks for being nosy. She backed down fast. "Sorry I asked."
        Sango sighed. "At any rate, we need a plan to deal with this situation, whether or not you think we have a fighting chance against Hisui and her minions, Inu Yasha."
        Shunusuke didn’t miss the jab. Other than Inu Yasha, he figured Sango was the only one of Kagome’s friends with any serious combat training, and after talking to her on the drive to the beach, he admired her intelligence. He’d rather hoped she’d at least recognize his fighting skill after seeing him action back at the shrine and respect his opinion a little bit, not ignore him. Well, Inu Yasha was known to her, and he was a stranger who was blood related to her enemies. In that light, her distrust was understandable.
        Inu Yasha was still a little suspicious of Shunusuke but he was beginning to trust him again, knowing that the man had risked himself to go to Kagome’s home and protect her family. He wished he’d been there, too. Defending Kagome and her family was his job, not some stranger’s! Anyway, he wanted to see how well Shunusuke’s dojo training translated into a real combat situation, if it translated at all. He’d have to grill Miroku about it later.
        "Alright," he sighed in disgust, "what are our options outside of killing them all?" He frowned at Shunusuke and said with a disdainful snort: "Now’s when you start talking about that fruity peace and love shit."
        Kagome narrowed her eyes at him and growled: "Are you sure you don’t mean ‘fruity peace and love SIT’?"
        SPLAT!
      "$#%@!"