Chapter 110

In the heart of Kyoto



Sesshomaru let out an irritated hiss, seeing the damnable idiot woman departing and stealing his battle steed in the process. The situation was grave a while ago, when Rin's life was endangered, but now both his precious humans were on the brink of death. Damn her! The dog demon clenched his fist even tighter.

"I will kill her." He growled. "I will snap that little neck of hers."

Jaken flinched, hearing Sesshomaru-sama's threats. My, my, his companion had gotten herself in quite a trouble, as always though. The imp couldn't really say, what would be more terrifying to her now – riding right into the enemy's den or returning right into their master's clutches. She managed to anger the dog demon particularly much this time. Thinking of the inu-youkai…

"Sesshomaru-sama," Jaken began hesitantly, afraid to be kicked or glared upon. "Why won't you just follow this stupid human?"

Sesshomaru shifted his attention to his minion. The imp barely refrained himself from squeaking from fear, as the golden eyes glared at him.

"I cannot." The inu-youkai snapped at his servant, breaking the eye contact, as though feeling too ashamed to admit it.

Jaken gasped, as his nearly biggest nightmare was coming true. He trotted closer to his master.

"May it be, that… that… your youki is gone?" he inquired nervously, afraid to hear an answer.
Sesshomaru stared at the horizon, when Ah-Un with Mai on his back disappeared a while ago.

"It is." He said quietly, not looking at Jaken. "You are free to leave if you wish."

With that words the inu-youkai left the imp and began walking away northwards, limping and supporting himself with the sheathed Tenseiga. Jaken blinked, as the information was soaking into his brain. No youki? It seemed, that his master just lost his strength, the very strength he, Jaken, always admired. Was it alright to leave? Sesshomaru-sama said so, but the imp was reluctant to do so. Then something dawned on him. The stupid human girl knew of their master's miserable condition and that was the reason she decided to try to free Rin on her own, to protect Sesshomaru-sama. Was Jaken worse than her? How possibly could he leave his master, when he needed his assistance the most?

Jaken set off and sprinted forward, outrunning the dog demon. He whirled around and fell to the ground before the inu-youkai's feet, kneeling and bowing deeply.

"Jaken, at your service!" he cried, banging his forehead against the dirt. "Your faithful servant will never abandon you, Sesshomaru-sama. You can count on me!"

Jaken squeaked from pain, as the dog demon stepped on him and walked over him. Groaning, he pulled himself up and saw Sesshomaru-sama glancing at him over his shoulder.

"Do not waste time. Use Nintoujou to find a swift mean of transportation." The inu-youkai demanded.

Jaken smiled, seeing his master almost back to normal. He didn't even mind having been mistreated just now.

"Right away, Sesshomaru-sama!" he squeaked joyfully and positioned the staff.



"Thanks Ah-Un." Mai said to the dragon, patting the animal's neck. "You noticed already, that he doesn't have his powers, didn't you?"

Ah-Un roared, as though he was agreeing.

Mai sighed heavily. It seemed to be a good idea a while ago, but now it sounded hopeless.

"What am I going to do?" she whined, feeling miserable. "I'm so stupid!"

Indeed, going right into the enemy's lair to retrieve the kids seemed to be Mission Impossible and she was no Tom Cruise. Really, it was a job for some MI6 agent, not for her. She had the general idea of her plan, but too many things could go wrong. She didn't spare a minute to think how exactly she would fool the demons, how would she find the kids and get them out without being caught.

Speaking of being caught, she would be dead meat if her cover got blown. It was too damn risky to succeed, but she was well aware, that Sesshomaru's plan was even more bound to fail. Even if there was a tiniest chance she could save the kids without the idiotic demon getting killed in the process, she had to embrace it and do her best. She had no choice, she just had to become a super spy for the next two days. Mai hoped, that watching all those movies would help. However, it would help even more if she had any of those abilities, the spies in the movies had, for she had absolutely no advantage – neither fighting skills, nor charisma or the excessive knowledge of the enemy's whereabouts and plans. It was simply too amateurish…

"Think positively." The girl told herself aloud.

She will just have to bluff a lot and concentrate. She definitely was able to pull this out. If Sesshomaru was a cool warrior, she could be a cool spy. Damn right. Boosting her confidence was necessary.

Okay, first things first. She needed to disguise herself slightly better to resemble the real lady Anzu.

"Ah-Un, once you see some bigger town or a city, land on the outskirts. I have to buy a few things."

The dragon roared and picked up the speed, even though it was exhausted already.



The common people screamed from fear, as the dragon landed on the outskirts of the town called Okayama. Mai swiftly grabbed the most valuable thing she possessed right now – her green kimono and jumped off the beast's back.

"Wait for me!" she called to Ah-Un and darted forward, running towards the heart of the city, not wanting to waste any minute. Soon she vanished out of the sight of the scared town people, who though her to be a youkai of some sort.

She was pushing the pedestrians aside, heading towards the mall in the heart of Okayama. Once she reached her goal, she sold her valuable clothing in no time and swiftly purchased some make-up tools, a wig and a couple of other items, not taking her time to bargain. She even bought a couple of ofuda from some phony monk. When she got, what she wanted, Mai ran back, trying to keep a fast pace.

She got to Ah-Un just in time. The dragon was hissing and waving his tail warningly, as the people armed with farming tools surrounded him, their intention to slay the beast. The girl nearly knocked down two tall men, when she pushed her way through the small crowd. She heard someone shouting something to her, but she ignored the people and jumped onto the saddle. Just when she found herself on the dragon, it leapt into the air and they continued their journey to Kyoto.

Bravely overcoming her fear of heights, Mai did something, that seemed to be unimaginable to her some time ago. Not wanting to stop along the way, she managed to change her clothing on the dragon's back without falling down. She even washed her face a bit to seem to be more neat. Put on the cloak made of the black translucent feathers and took out the mirror. Horribly focused, she applied make-up the best she could, given the time and place. She used some dark eye shadow, the carmine lipstick and painted the demon markings, which true crow demoness possessed – reddish curvy lines on her temples. Finally she put on the wig and checked the effect of her efforts in the mirror. Perfect. She was a genius. Now she looked like some evil youkai bitch. With the strong make-up and the wig she barely recognized herself. Mai placed the scent-masking plant near her skin and put on the clawed gloves. She closed her eyes, thinking of how she should behave, if she was to impersonate the leader of the crow clan.



After two hours of trying to make Sesshomaru-sama cough out some information, Jaken learned, what had transpired on Mount Tate. He was certain, that his master omitted a bigger part, especially avoided speaking of what happened aboard the ship, but nevertheless it was enough. The imp understood now the last words, Mai directed at him. It turned out, that if Sesshomaru-sama didn't reach Saga in less than three days, his youkai powers would be lost forever. Jaken narrowed his eyes, staring in front of himself. There was a chance to get back to normal and yet his master refused to take it. Instead he insisted on chasing the stupid human girl and trying to retrieve Rin with his own meager strength. The imp decided to try once again.

"Sesshomaru-sama, we can still go back." He said in the most polite tone he could muster. "We could still reach Saga."

Fortunately the inu-youkai was walking behind the imp and Jaken didn't look back. If he did, he would surely be burnt to ashes with Sesshomaru's mere glare.

"We head to Kyoto." The demon reminded his servant in a tone, that was supposed to end the foolish discussion, but Jaken didn't take the hint.

"Maybe we should do like Mai said." Jaken suggested, hoping, that Sesshomaru-sama wouldn't kill him for mentioning the girl's name. "Maybe you should leave retrieving Rin-chan to her and head to Saga."

Jaken flinched, hearing a low guttural growl behind his back. Now he was seriously too frightened to look back.

"I must take those two human females back." Sesshomaru hissed out, anger resounding in his voice.

Jaken sighed heavily. He tried to make his master reconsider numerous times, but it always ended like this – he insisted on saving the humans. A decade ago he would never suspect, that Sesshomaru-sama would be ready to sacrifice his power and even life for some humans. Apparently the genes were too strong to overcome. The imp sighed again.

"If you go to Kyoto instead to Saga, you will lose your youki forever, Sesshomaru-sama." The imp reminded the dog demon without much hope.

The inu-youkai kept limping behind him, keeping a good pace despite his injury.

"This Sesshomaru will not change his mind." He snapped.

Jaken rolled his eyes. His master was an impressive warrior, but sometimes he was just hopelessly stubborn. Well, if his decision was final, the imp would accompany him to the end, even if his master chose the suicide mission. It was his duty as a faithful retainer to do so. Besides, Jaken couldn't allow himself to be a less dedicated servant than Mai, could he?



It was still around noon, when Ah-Un landed on the outskirts of Kyoto. Perhaps landed wouldn't be the best way to describe, what the dragon did. Actually, it was rather a crash landing, as the beast flew right into some hut, breaking the roof and falling inside. Mai yelped, as she rolled off the dragon's back and landed on the wooden floor.

"Ouch." She whined, rubbing her aching butt.

Ah-Un let out a whiny roar, close to moaning. The girl patted the poor beast. It was trying hard and was pushing itself to its limits, flying at the top speed. Mai thought, that they were close to breaking the sound barrier. Now the dragon simply ran out of its strength, as the previous days were also tough on him.

Mai got up and covered herself with a plain brown cloak, that was supposed to hide her youkai disguise from the human inhabitants of Kyoto. She checked her appearance once again in the mirror and took out a map.

"All righty, I'll be on my way." She muttered to herself, before turning to Ah-Un. "Find yourself a safe place to sleep and get some rest, okay?"

The dragon somehow pulled itself up and dragged itself out of the hut, breaking the wall and making himself a new door. Mai sighed, pitying the owners of the place. Surely they would be depressed, once they got back home. She took out the rest of the money, that was left from selling her kimono, and placed it on the table as a small compensation for the damage. She pulled up the hood, so that it covered her face and stepped out of the cabin, heading towards the pulsing heart of Kyoto.

She was walking fast, but the distance was great. First she had to pass the outskirts, what meant walking among the rice paddies and shabby huts. Once some drunkards tried to stop her and swindle some money from her to buy themselves more sake, but the girl lifted her hood a little and sent them her best glare. It proved to be enough, now when she had the fake demon markings and the dark make-up on. The men fled in no time.

As she was approaching the gates, the crowd was getting bigger. She took out the map, careful to cover the silver claws with the cloth. She stared at the piece of paper and turned it couple of times, not sure, where she exactly was. When she was crossing the gate, she asked one of the guards for directions and learned, that it was the eastern gate. Fine, if she was walking into the city from the east, then… Mai turned the map upside down, positioning it the right way. The girl was slowly heading towards the place marked with a red dot on the map. She was constantly bumping into the people, as her nose was in the map. Soon enough she left the poor districts, closing to her destination.

Once her goal was near, she stopped to look at her surroundings. She was in the middle of the city, among the rich residents. The houses around her weren't simply wooden huts, but residences. As she was approaching the red dot, the residences turned to palaces. She was being stared at, for her plain brown outer robe was something uncommon here. Mai was currently surrounded by fancy clothed noblemen and noblewoman, palanquins were coursing through the broad street.

The girl blinked. It was not what she expected from a meeting place for a secret youkai organization. She thought, that she would have to get to some back alley, not a palace. She carefully examined the map, trying to determine, which building was her destination. All right, sixth from the left. She lifted her eyes from the piece of paper and counted. One, two, three, four, five, six… eh? She checked the map again, but she wasn't wrong. The second most grand palace was where she had to head to. The biggest one she recognized as the residence of the Emperor himself, but the other one…

She targeted a man, that wore not so fancy clothes, probably a servant running with errands.

"Excuse me." She spoke, stopping him. "To whom belongs that palace?"
The man gawked at her, as though she was an alien.

"You don't know?" he asked with disbelief.
Mai glared at him from under her hood. If she knew, she wouldn't have asked. Simple, as that.

"The head of the Court Council resides there." The man explained.
Mai gasped, hearing it.

"You mean, the Emperor's Court Council." She asked.
The man nodded.

"Yes, he's the right hand of the Emperor, a very important person. I'm in hurry." The man excused himself and left Mai alone.

The girl stared at the residence. So a youkai was the Emperor's main advisor? So the bastards had the main human boss of Japan already in their hands… not good. The more she learned about this Alliance of a Flame, the more worried she was. Apparently those guys had an impressive backyard and a good financing source. Well, she couldn't allow herself to waste more time. She had to get Rin and Kohaku out of there as soon as possible. She clenched her teeth and stalked towards the palace.
Once she was at the gates, the guardians crossed their naginatas, denying the entrance. Mai straightened her back, trying to appear higher and more intimidating. She took out the letter.

"Oh my," she said, copying lady Anzu's style of speaking and using the most arrogant tone she could muster. "It seems, that I have been invited."

She passed the letter to one of guards, flashing with the silver claws. The man took it and read carefully, before handing it back to Mai. The girl tried not to show, how tense she was, when there was an uncomfortable silence.

Then, both of the guards bowed deeply, opening the gate.

"Greetings, honorable lady Anzu. Lord Ichizo is eagerly awaiting your arrival." One of them said.
Mai nodded and stepped inside.


Author Note:

Hey, everyone!
Thank you vey much for reviewing the previous chapters. I'm sending virtual hugs and cupcakes to you.
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