While the moon shows its beautiful silvery form from behind a thick cloud, allowing the world to observe its glow and calming presence, fierce rumbles rise toward the night sky.
These "rumbles" come from within a clearing nestled deep in the forest, one that has a large tree at its center and in which four people are present.
"What's wrong with this guy?"
Jumping awkwardly backward due to the weight of the black-haired priestess, the golden-haired young man extends his hand forward and fires several spheres of fire.
These fire spheres are actually quite small, no larger than five centimeters, but the good thing about them is that they are extremely fast and reach the "enemy" almost instantly.
"Get out of my way!"
Using the old technique of shouting to gain courage and strength—something truly unreliable—the adversary, a white-haired young man with dog ears, uses his enormous sword to cut through the fire spheres.
That worked two or three times, but he was quickly overwhelmed by the numbers and forced to retreat backward, giving the initial victory to the golden-haired young man.
"Release Kikyo right now… or next time I attack you won't be so lucky!"
Recovering some clarity in his amber-colored eyes, the half-dog boy raises his ears threateningly and grips his enormous sword with both hands.
"Luck? Friend, you didn't even come close."
"Aghh… I warned you!"
"Enough, Inuyasha… maybe we can talk to him."
Grabbing the sleeve of the red hakama of the boy named Inuyasha, an almost exact copy of the priestess stops him and then looks toward the golden-haired young man. The latter was surprised—no, more than surprised, he was in shock, because they are identical, and even the one looking at him is wearing a school uniform.
"Kikyo… you're the real one, right?"
"She is Kagome, my reincarnation. That's the only reason we're the same, Asahiko."
"Yeah…? Fine, I'll just ignore the obvious space-time paradox."
Remaining silent for a few moments, Asahiko guides his blue eyes toward the girl named Kagome and then looks back at Kikyo.
Yes, he doesn't understand a damn thing about what's happening here, but it's not like he can ask Kikyo for more explanations either… God knows what the crazy woman will do now that she's so unstable.
"You… you… don't ignore me!"
"Wait, Inuyasha!"
Seeing Inuyasha break free from the bindings that were Kagome's arms on his clothes, Asahiko opens his eyes and makes a maneuver that sends the blood rushing to Inuyasha's face.
What kind of maneuver was it? The kind that ends with Kikyo's arms gripping his neck, their bodies pressed against each other, and one of Asahiko's hands under her legs to keep her steady… Yes, it's really impractical.
"Believe it or not, and even if you think I enjoy it—which I obviously do—this is actually very im—"
"Shut up and die!"
Struck by Inuyasha's sword, which seems to carry the force of a fully charging battering ram, Asahiko's arm holding Cloud Fang begins to tremble and recoil.
That makes him frown, though in the end Asahiko accepts his physical weakness and puts on a strange smile, something that raises Inuyasha's suspicions—but there's little he can do when an imperceptible wave of energy strikes him.
This "wave" of energy causes Inuyasha to fall into a momentary but complete illusion, forcing him to retreat in surprise and giving Asahiko a much-needed breather.
"Illusions, fire… you're a fox just like that raccoon Shippo!"
"And you're a dog and nobody's shouting about it. Hey, control your friend, he's being a bit racist."
"I… I'm sorry?"
"Hahaha, what a curious expression on the face of… of… gulp."
Swallowing hard and ignoring the hands tightening more firmly around his neck, Asahiko points Cloud Fang at Inuyasha, and a red light begins to emerge from the blade.
[There are no souls left to devour. If you're going to use the gate as a distraction, it's now or never.]
"Why so cooperative all of a sudden, Souga? Two seconds ago you were just yelling about killing him, about getting revenge for what his daddy did to you or something like that."
[Yeah… but did you see his expression? The desperation when he realized his female is with us. Hahaha, what a delicious revenge!]
"Manners—are you an animal or what?"
"I am a dragon, one of the noblest and most powerful beasts—"
Cutting off the mental link that transmitted his thoughts in an instant, Asahiko discreetly looks toward the gate of hell that is becoming transparent and then back at Inuyasha.
The latter has already overcome the strange sensation caused by being targeted by Cloud Fang, so he rests his sword on his shoulder and looks ready to charge forward, as if he were about to drive in a nail.
"Hold on tight, Kikyo. I'm about to do something crazy."
"Of course, do it."
"… Tsk. After this, we're going to need a heart-to-heart talk."
Speaking partly in mockery and partly in truth, Asahiko raises Cloud Fang toward the sky just before the reddish energy reaches its limit, drawing everyone's attention before releasing the energy rapidly forward.
That "energy slash" cuts through the ground like a hot knife through butter, but even so Inuyasha easily dodges it. Obviously, that was to be expected, since the attack was more than obvious—but what wasn't obvious is what happens next.
The reddish energy doesn't continue forward indefinitely; instead, after being dodged by Inuyasha, it bends and rushes at full speed toward the semi-transparent gate of hell.
Boooom
A deafening noise spreads through the surroundings, making everyone clutch their ears—everyone except Asahiko, who quickly sheaths Cloud Fang and shifts Kikyo's hold into a princess carry.
With her firmly held and seeing the other two writhing on the ground from the noise, Asahiko turns around and leaps into the sky, leaving the clearing behind.
"Damn you, come back here right now!"
"Inuyasha, the arms—the arms!"
"Goodbye, Inuyasha~ I believe you'll be able to solve this problem~"
Calmly waving to Inuyasha and Kagome below as he lands in a nearby tree with Kikyo, Asahiko glances at the gate releasing more pale arms before running off.
…
"Any explanation for what just happened back there, Kikyo?"
"…"
"Nothing to say?"
Walking through the forest momentarily lit by the moon, Asahiko maintains the same position with Kikyo—a princess carry—and tries to start a conversation.
But… it didn't work. The only response, if it can be called that, was Kikyo tightening her grip around his neck for a single instant, and then nothing.
Silence became omnipresent for a moment, even more so when the moon hid behind the clouds and shadows filled the space. Everything seemed lost, with Asahiko accepting that maybe silence was for the best—but surprisingly, Kikyo lets out a quiet laugh.
"Jajaja… he left me… No, it was her, it's all her fault."
"… Kikyo?"
"Jajaja, yes, yes, it's all… How sad, don't you think?"
Shifting from madness to rationality in an instant, Kikyo opens her brown eyes and looks directly at Asahiko, making the hairs on his neck stand on end from what he sees.
It wasn't anything magical or even supernatural; rather, within those brown orbs swirls a barely contained madness—a crack in the impenetrable façade Kikyo has always worn.
"Sad?"
"Yes, look at me, making excuses and blaming others… Hahaha."
"That's… something human. Anyway, where are we going now?"
Abruptly ending the topic he himself had started—one that seems like a bomb about to explode, especially when Kikyo's eyes slip back into madness—Asahiko breaks their prolonged gaze and keeps walking through the forest.
Was what he did cowardice? Honestly, yes—but he already has more than enough problems of his own to start defusing someone else's. Besides, playing dumb, ignoring everything strange, and moving on has worked so far… so why change it?
"We're heading to where everything began. I have some questions…"
"Yeah, now say that in a less cryptic way and with clear directions. I remind you that I'm the one carrying you."
"Go that way."
Raising her arm with the little strength she has left, Kikyo points in a specific direction, one obviously covered in trees and through which Asahiko will have to force his way.
"Are you sure…? I'm just saying, since there aren't any stars to guide you or anything."
"I can observe the world through the eyes of my shikigami. So yes, I know where we're going."
"Oh, great."
Accepting her explanation without thinking too much about it, Asahiko tries to shrug and only manages to make Kikyo's body collide more forcefully against his, causing them both to look at each other again.
Luckily, this time he found nothing terrifying in her gaze—only the cold, sober indifference that has always characterized her. At least, that was the case until he turned around, at which point rationality vanished from Kikyo's brown eyes and a flash of madness resurfaced.
Yes, who would have thought that ignoring the problem isn't always the solution—but the consequences will be seen another time, so who cares?