The Chinese gentlemen have company of the demonic variety. A red oni positions herself on the roof of the mini shrine and flattens her body against the roof tiles. In moments, she’s almost indistinguishable from the tiles. Another red oni, a male, does the same atop the house. A brown fox trots onto the shrine grounds and pauses in the middle of the open area for a sniff.
        Meanwhile, the Chinese men screw silencers onto the muzzles of their pistols, raise them and take aim. One kills the two oni on the rooftops, the other waits for the kitsune to enter the shadows of the mini shrine, then shoots him. The men put away their weapons, collect their cases and move to new positions on the shrine grounds to wait for the next batch of enemies.

        Sesshomaru sits at a table in the back corner of the little a la carte café and observes the movements of his operatives on a palmtop computer that sits on the table next to his fruit cup. He takes a sip of tea, then pops a melon ball in his mouth. So far, so good. He produces a phone from his belt and calls the Asano condo, once again awakening Shunusuke.
        "Time to talk, Asano. Wake my brother and join me in the Dolphin Café at the Green Mermaid in fifteen minutes."
        "He spent the night with Kagome," Shunusuke says through a yawn. "He’s upstairs from y—"
        Sesshomaru hangs up and rings Kagome’s room. After five rings, she answers blearily. "This is Sesshomaru. See that my brother joins me in the Dolphin Café in fifteen minutes."
        "Huh?"
        "I know he’s there."
        Pause. "Ok. He’ll be there."
        Sesshomaru hangs up with a satisfied smirk, thinking he didn’t know Inu Yasha had it in him.

        Hisui takes breakfast with her son at a table at the other side of the café from Sesshomaru. They watch Shunusuke and Inu Yasha enter, looking like they’d slept in the clothes they were wearing and smelling like they hadn’t bathed. The pair sit down at Sesshomaru’s table with uneasy looks in Hisui’s and Mikoto’s direction. Hisui waves. Mikoto looks thoughtfully at them over the rim of his coffee mug, then goes back to reading his newspaper. Hisui does something she hasn’t done since they met, and locks onto Sesshomaru’s mind, only to find to her horror that he’s actually erected a complex barrier maze against her. Sesshomaru turns his head ever so slightly to give her a weary look, then returns to his conversation.
        After several minutes of haggling, Shunusuke admits neither Gin nor Mikoto revealed what interest the elder Asano has in Tachimora, nor what the demon’s plans are for his new human employee. Shunusuke refuses to invade his father’s mind for the information for any price.
        "You are of no further use to me, then," Sesshomaru says and dismisses him with a wave of his hand. "Inu Yasha, stay here."
        Shunusuke doesn’t move. "I’ll help Inu Yasha, if he wants my help."
        He gets raised eyebrows for that. Sesshomaru seems to consider for a moment, then nods and says they’ll discuss it. He then orders the boys something to eat. "I can’t believe you spent an entire night with her without doing anything, brother."
        Inu Yasha turns bright red.

        Hisui learns of her agents’ demises and considers her next move. She suspects the killers belong to her son, but can’t get past his barriers, either. So she glares at him while he calmly reads a newspaper and nibbles a croissant. She wonders if Sesshomaru is responsible and realizes she doesn’t know as much as she thought she did about her lover’s business or what kind of people he has to send against hers. She gnaws a claw and smokes as she thinks about it.
        Mikoto fights down a smirk. His people are watching the resort and all possible exits en route to the Higurashi Shrine. He suspects Sesshomaru will have snipers positioned at the Shrine, as well as people along the route. This should be interesting, he thinks. He’s always wanted to test his operatives against Sesshomaru’s humans and anti-demon tech.

        A former magical girl attaches an electronic safe cracking device to the front of Mikoto Asano’s private safe. According to her information, this is where he’s hiding her magic wand. China is a nice place to visit, but she doesn’t want to live there. She’s been back in Japan for more than a month, and yet Asano doesn’t seem to know or care. She hopes he didn’t notice her leaving the Green Mermaid on her recovery mission and is rather shocked at how easily she was able to get past his security and into his house. Something is definitely suspicious, but she decides to take advantage of her seeming good fortune while it lasts. In twenty minutes, she has reclaimed her magic wand and is headed back to the beach with her prize, still wondering how long her "luck" will hold out.
        One of Mikoto’s Oni notes her departure and reports it to his boss.

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