Tsurai escorted Inu Yasha and Yuki to the lobby, leaving Rei alone and crying in her hotel room. Before they left, Tsurai tore the phone cord in half, searched Rei’s belongings and confiscated a cellular phone. "We’re watching," he told her in a teasing voice that sent a chill down the girl’s spine, "so don’t leave this room." The elevator let them out into a giant room that was empty, except for four youkai and three oni who stood in two neat rows down the center of the lobby. They were dressed as Tsurai was, but where he’d hid his true appearance, this lot showed themselves openly. Two of the oni were females, as was one of the kitsune. Not the giant, hideous sort of oni—these more resembled Yura of the Hair in their humanlike appearance. What gave them away were their horns and terrible red eyes. No two of the kitsune were the same color: Tsurai was black, the other three were red, silver and brown. None of them looked like the man he’d seen in Yuki’s picture.
        Inu Yasha stopped where the line of suits began and let Yuki and Tsurai continue on to the center. He looked around the lobby and through the glass entry doors. Where were the throngs of vacationers that had been there yesterday? And where was Tachimora? Surely Asano hadn’t made that many people disappear with just eight youkai and oni! Something was terribly wrong here.
        Asano’s minions inclined their heads in unison to Yuki (or was that to Tsurai?), who snorted indignantly in return. "Assholes," she muttered, then warned in a louder voice: "I expect to get an explanation for all of this right now! Why was Rei still tied up when I arrived, Tsurai? Where is everybody? And what about Tachimora and his—"
        "Tachimora and his gang have disappeared."
        Yuki spun about at the sound of her father’s soft, cool voice. He stood behind her with a placid smile on his face, but his eyes were hard. This wasn’t the human face Inu Yasha had seen in the photograph but his true face with all of its demonic characteristics: Pointed ears; short, white hair; gold, cat-like eyes and claws. And no gut. The man was as lean and fit as Inu Yasha himself. Inu Yasha had a very bad feeling about Asano which wasn’t helped by the fact that the man scared his own daughter enough for her to break a sweat.
        "The guests have been encouraged to remain in their rooms and the staff to take some time off…elsewhere." the senior Asano continued in his soothing voice. "As for your friend, I ordered Tsurai to make sure the bait didn’t go anywhere before we were through with it. I left the details to him." He smiled. "Don’t worry, Yuki-chan, my business here won’t take long. Everything will be back to normal before the day is out."
        In contrast to his suit-clad employees, Asano wore khaki walking shorts, a short-sleeved madras plaid shirt and loafers. The only things that showed him to be a businessman who wasn’t on holiday (aside from his demon parts) were the pair of beepers and a tiny cellular phone clipped to his belt. There was something vaguely unsettling about such ordinary attire on a man who blithely referred to a human being as "it".
        Yuki’s gaze dropped humbly to her toes, and her fists clenched at her sides. "Daddy, why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I’m so embarrassed."
        Her father took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead, then ran a finger along the shoulder of Inu Yasha’s coat. She looked at him with an expression that was a mixture of hurt and anxiety, but his attention was already off of her and onto Inu Yasha. Asano beckoned him closer, and the other demon unfolded his arms and moved just close enough to smell the newcomer but not close enough that the man could reach out and touch him. Something about Yuki’s father was very wrong. Inu Yasha sniffed, catching Asano’s scent mixed with the spicy cologne he was wearing and the smell of clean cotton. Human and youkai but… His nose twitched as he watched Asano gently push Yuki aside and close the small distance between them. Inu Yasha wanted to move back, put more space between himself and the older demon, but his pride rooted him in place. Neither man would bow to the other, not even the slightest inclination of the head. They just stood in each other’s personal spaces and locked gazes, each taking the measure of the other with their noses.
        Inu Yasha ended the staring match with a self-satisfied snort. "You’re not Sesshomaru’s son. Who are you?"
        Asano clearly hadn’t expected that reaction, and his expression suddenly went very dark. To either side of him, his mercenaries unbuttoned their jackets, ready to move on his command, but Asano raised a hand, a silent order to stand down. "Why do you say I’m not Sesshomaru’s son, Inu Yasha?" He asked in a velvety, steel-edged voice.
        Inu Yasha folded his arms and smirked, allowing his fangs to show over his lips. "I know Sesshomaru’s scent and our father’s scent. You don’t smell like any of my blood. Why did you claim to be Sesshomaru’s son? To trick me? Why?"
        Asano’s eyes narrowed and his mouth turned ever so slightly downward. He glanced at his watch thoughtfully, then motioned with his hand at his mercenaries. "Leave us." In a flicker that even Inu Yasha nearly missed, the mercs disappeared, leaving just Inu Yasha and the Asanos in the lobby. Asano smiled and politely directed Inu Yasha to a collection of leather chairs in a corner near the back of the large room. Ignored, Yuki started to follow, but her father stopped her. "This is between us, Yuki. Give him his coat and return to the condo. I’ll join you there when Inu Yasha and I have finished our talk."
        Yuki trembled with rage and her entire body glowed with her blue attack energy but she kept her mouth shut and obeyed. Inu Yasha caught his coat which she threw at his face and watched her practically blow the front doors off their hinges on her way out. He refused to take the seat Asano offered him, instead choosing to put on his coat and lean against a nearby post. None of this pleased Yuki’s father, something that gave Inu Yasha great satisfaction. "So, who are you really?" He asked.
        Asano looked quite calm as he struck a casual pose in the overstuffed chair, but his eyes boiled with cold, calculating fury. He forced himself to smile, though it was anything but friendly. "Let me show you something, Inu Yasha." He held up his wrist with the watch face toward the young demon. "Look at the hands on this watch. I think you’ll find they’re rather unique."
        Inu Yasha hesitated, wondering if this was some kind of trick and the watch might explode in his face, or something, but he left the post to have a look anyway. Another bloody machine, thought Inu Yasha, who instantly deduced that the little metal gizmo marked time. Then he saw what Asano wanted him to see: Two tiny shards of the Shikon Jewel, attached at their ends to the center of a disk marked with numbers around its perimeter. With loud growl, Inu Yasha took a swipe at Asano’s arm, trying to snatch the watch before the man could get it out of reach, but Asano was fast. He got his feet into Inu Yasha’s gut, pushed him backwards, jumped out of the chair and took up a defensive stance. Inu Yasha snarled: "Give me those shards! They’re mine!"
        Inu Yasha attacked again, but Asano danced out of the way of his claws. He certainly was nimble enough to be Sesshomaru’s whelp, thought Inu Yasha sourly.
        "I’ll make a deal with you," Asano told his opponent in a cold voice. "Give me the shards you already have, and I won’t make Kagome Higurashi disappear."
        Those were the magic words. Inu Yasha’s claws swiped through the air where Asano had been standing, but he didn’t make another attack. He’d left Kagome at the condo with—"Damn you, Shunusuke!" But Shippo was there, too, and now Yuki was heading back there. No, Shippo was no match for Asano’s lackeys, and they might already have gotten away with Kagome. When Asano sent them away so he and Inu Yasha could "talk", had that been the signal to take her? Wait a second. Asano seemed to assume he had the shards! He could work with this, stall for time while he thought of a way to keep Kagome from "disappearing" and still get Asano’s shards.
        Struggling to think, Inu Yasha took a deep breath and asked with what he thought was admirable calm considering how badly he wanted to kill Asano: "Has she already disappeared? ‘Cause if she has—no deal. And I wanna know who you really are."
        The corner of Asano’s mouth lifted in a little smirk. "I’m sure you do."
        Inu Yasha circled Asano until his back was against the wall, giving him a clear view of the entire lobby in case Asano’s minions returned. "You dared claim to be descended from the great demon of the Western Lands. For that alone I should kill you."
        Asano smiled and threw his arms wide. "Go on then. I invite you try."
        Inu Yasha grinned. "Coward. You’ll just summon your pet youkai to fight for you." He grinned with a wicked sparkle in his eyes and cracked his knuckles, but Asano didn’t look like he planned to even try to defend himself, nor did he appear to be insulted by being called a coward. That was too suspicious. Inu Yasha belayed his attack. Hm. If at first you don’t succeed... He sniffed. "I smell Oni."
        His comment failed to have the desired effect. The cautious spark in Asano’s eyes faded, and the man relaxed ever so slightly. "Oni. Yes, that’s it: Oni. You caught me. How clever you are, Inu Yasha."
        "I lied."
        The defensive look returned to Asano’s eyes for an instant, then he smiled. "I see. You really have no idea what my other half is, do you?" He made himself comfortable in one of the chairs and motioned for Inu Yasha to do the same. Inu Yasha declined his invitation. Asano rested his chin in his hand and sneered: "Cretin."
        "Every chance I get."
        Asano regarded him with mild amusement. "I like you, Inu Yasha. You’re my kind of bastard."
        Inu Yasha prepared to spring. "Eat shit and—" he sprung with shout: "DIE!" …and landed with his claws stuck in the leather upholstery of Asano’s abandoned chair. He felt a movement behind him and flipped over the back of the chair to land facing Asano, who now was the one with his claws stuck in the chair. Inu Yasha took a swipe at him, but Asano flickered out of the way. "Damn, he’s fast!" Inu Yasha thought as he and Asano faced off and considered their next move.

        Meanwhile back at the condo, Shunusuke was having a crisis of conscience. His father’s guard would be there any minute to take Kagome as a hostage for the Jewel, so if he was going to defy his father he had better make up his mind fast. "I’ll be disinherited for this," he thought as he faced Kagome and sweated. "If he doesn’t kill me. No, that would leave him with Yuki, and he’ll never leave the company to her. And Kei’s too human." He took a deep breath and walked off the edge of the proverbial cliff, hoping to hell he’d fly.
        Taking Kagome by her shoulders, he looked deeply into her eyes, putting a little mental nudge to obey him behind his words. "You have to get out of here," he told her. "My father has two shards of the Shikon Jewel and wants the ones Inu Yasha has. He plans to hold you hostage until he gets them, so you have to run. Shippo can impersonate you to give you time to get away."
        Shippo and Kagome gulped. "But—" Kagome started to argue, but Shunusuke added more force to his silent command, and she stopped. As he guided her toward the door, he pleaded: "Please trust me! I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my father’s plan before, but—" he shook his head and confessed with sad eyes: "I’m afraid of him, Kagome. I’m afraid of what he’ll do to you to make Inu Yasha give him the shards. Please, please run away."
        Behind him, Shippo had already assumed Kagome’s form, wrapping his tail around his hips under the shorts. He untucked the shirt so it would hang over the shorts and hide the evidence. "I’ll hold them off as long as I can, Kagome," he said gamely but inside he felt like he was going to lose his lunch. "Go on!"
        Tears pooled in Kagome’s eyes, seeing the fear in Shunusuke’s face. A boy shouldn’t be so terrified of his own father, she thought, then she gave Shippo a grateful look and took off down the stairs.
        Shunusuke closed the door and collapsed with his back against it to regain his composure. He couldn’t be nervous when his father’s mercs arrived looking for their hostage, couldn’t give them a reason to think he’d just turned traitor on his own family. Many people over the centuries had died for betraying Mikoto Asano, even family members…even first-born sons. But he was convinced he was doing the right thing. His father wanted the whole jewel so he could become a full demon. Shunusuke pushed himself away from the door and sat down on one of the living room chairs to wait. With a sigh, he scrubbed his hands through his hair, then fingered out the tangles and brushed it behind his ears. His father was ruthless and power-hungry enough as a half-breed, Shunusuke hated to contemplate what routes the man’s ambition would take if ever he became a full-blooded youkai. A demon at the helm of a global corporation, with the Asano family's money and connections, touching governments all over the world. Gods, the implications were terrifying.
        Shunusuke looked up just as Shippo took the chair beside him. "They’re here."
        The words were just barely out of his mouth when a trio of dark-suited men appeared in the room, one behind the couch in front of Shunusuke and Shippo, the other two to either side of it: Two kitsune and an Oni. "Shit," Shunusuke thought. "Only three of them. Where are the other five? And there's Tsurai, grinning like a devil. Sonnuva bitch." He reached out with his mind, beyond the house, and his stomach clenched. They were spread out around the condo, even beyond the drive that lead to it. Wherever Kagome had run, she probably hadn’t gotten far enough to elude them. Shunusuke tried to keep a straight face while he waited for the shit to hit the fan.
        Tsurai took one look at Shippo and chuckled. "Nice try, little brother, but we’re too old to be fooled by a kit’s feeble tricks. Let’s have a look at you."
        Shippo glared defiantly into the older kitsune’s eyes as he dropped his disguise but said nothing. There was a chance they still didn’t know where Kagome was, and he sure wasn’t going to be the one to blow it for her.
        "So young. Hm." Tsurai removed his sunglasses and tucked them into a pocket inside his jacket then seated himself on the couch where he primly crossed his legs and arranged his luxurious black tail in his lap. Once he’d found a pose that pleased him, Tsurai gave Shunusuke a playful look and waggled a scolding finger at him. "Such a disobedient son! Asano-sama will be so disappointed." With a wink, he pursed his lips at Shunusuke and mused: "What shall we do about you, Shunusuke? I could report this to Asano-sama right now and never see you again, or I could give you an opportunity to redeem yourself by telling us where you’ve hidden Kagome."
        Shippo choked but quickly mastered his expression. They hadn’t found Kagome yet! There was still hope that she’d get away! Beside him, Shunusuke remained impassive, though he was thinking exactly the same thoughts. Tsurai noticed the brief change in Shippo’s demeanor and smiled. "You know where she is, don’t you, kit?" Shippo made a sour face and looked away. "I see," Tsurai nodded thoughtfully. "Obviously you haven’t realized the implications of what you’ve done. Please allow me to enlighten you: You won’t leave this house alive, little kit. This is it. The end of the line. The big roundup." He frowned at a bit of lint he discovered on his knee and brushed it away. "If you tell us where she is, I might be persuaded to let her live." He held up two fingers. "You see, I have two sets of orders: If she comes willingly, spare her. If she resists or flees: Kill her. Which do you gentleman prefer?"
        Shunusuke felt the light touch of Tsurai’s mind on his and slammed a barrier over his thoughts. If only he could protect Shippo! "You’re lying," he said to distract his father’s head man. "Your orders are to keep her alive. You’re slipping, Tsurai-Shi," Shunusuke crossed his arms and put on a smug expression, "I got into your head before you could throw up a barrier."
        The kitsune laughed. "Now you’re lying," he smirked. "I never let my barrier down." He blinked at Shippo, then made a quick gesture with his hand. The other two mercs disappeared. "Thank you, Shippo. She can’t have gone far."