The room Kagome was given was almost identical to Riquo's. She was buried under a lump of sheets in her bed as the sun began to rise. The sunlight found its way through her curtains and illuminated her face. Kagome squeezed her eyes shut and winced against the sunlight. She rolled over to her left but her face hit something hard. She wrinkled her nose from the sudden contact and peeked one eye open. She glanced up to see Kouga sitting next to her on her bed looking down at her with a smile on his face.

"I was beginning to think you'd never wake up, love."

Kagome quickly moved away from him and snatched her blankets up, covering her chest. He gave her a curious look and laughed. Kagome looked down below the blanket and sighed in relief as she realized she still had all of her clothes on, as did Kouga. She smiled at him mischievously and crawled towards him above the covers. He reached for her and pulled her onto his outstretched legs. She sat with her back against his hard chest. She leaned her head into the crook of his neck and sighed in relief.

"Kouga what're you doing here?"

"I woke up early," he wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck, "and I got lonely, so I came in here."

"And you just sat there?"

"Mmhmm"

"Watching me sleep?"

"Mmhmm"

Kagome shrugged and turned her head towards him. He caught her chin in his hand and lifted her face to his warm lips. Their lips touched and Kagome drooped her eyes closed, drowning herself in the kiss….until something broke through her window.

~*~*~

In Riquo's room, everything was completely silent. The only sound that could be heard, with demon senses that is, was light, even breathing. Riquo lay in a mess of silk sheets, sweat glistening over her body. Her tail swayed back and forth across the bed as she began to wake up.

She fluttered her eyes open, her feline eyes adjusting quickly to the morning light and yawned. She arched her back, throwing her arms over her head when several realizations hit her, stopping her movements. She looked down grimly, Ok…I'm naked….I'm burning up…Inuyasha is next to me too….naked.

Then she remembered what happened last night and snickered to herself. She glanced down at Inuyasha and bit her lip as excitement overtook her. She looked at him again and smiled He looks so peaceful when he's asleep. She sat up and stretched again, only to be yanked down again with her arms pinned above her head on the pillow.

Inuyasha raised himself up on an elbow and smirked at the confused cat hanyou.

Riquo cocked her head, "What was that for?"

Inuyasha lowered lips to her neck and nuzzled her neck, earning a low moan from Riquo, "Because I like having you pinned underneath me."

Riquo closed her eyes and enjoyed the serenity of her situation. She didn't get that many opportunities when she could be happy without a nasty consequence, so she was determined to lengthen any private time she had with Inuyasha as much as she could without interfering with the usual.

Then another thought interrupted her serenity and she frowned sadly. Kikyo. Riquo knew enough about Inuyasha's relationship with the dead woman from stories from Kagome and Kikyo's constant bitching to know that she was not someone Inuyasha would easily forget. Riquo closed her eyes, fighting the onslaught of tears she knew was coming. I can't interfere with that kind of thing. I mean...I'm knew in this little group so it's none of my business anyway. Riquo mentally sighed. Well, only thing left to do is just leave them be. If he is that adamant about being with her, who the hell am I to stop him?

Riquo closed her eyes again  when she heard Inuyasha sigh. In the short time she'd known him, she'd never heard him sigh, which meant something was probably wrong. She scooted away from him a little bit and looked up at his face. Riquo frowned.

Inuyasha's eyes looked tired, like he'd stayed awake for weeks. His brow was scrunched up as if he was in pain. Riquo reached up and stroked his face. He flinched away from her like her hands were on fire.

Riquo glanced at him questioningly and then started to scoot away. She knew when to take a hint,  but Inuyasha grabbed her hand again, rubbing his face against her palm.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push you away," he kissed her palm. Riquo cocked her head to the side. He hasn't looked me in the eye all morning.

"Inuyasha, what's wrong?"

He stopped with her hand and stared her dead on in her eyes like she'd caught him stealing, "Nothing, nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

Riquo was getting annoyed at his behavior. She snatched her hand away from him, "Bullshit! Don't take me for an idiot Inuyasha I think I know when something's wrong! You won't look me in the eye and you flinch against my touch!" she was panting and Inuyasha got more and more nervous. Finally, her breathing evened, "Inuyasha, what is wrong with you? Did I hurt you last night?"

"Keh! Like you could hurt me in something like that!" he sat up and crossed his arms, the sheet that was covering him falling to his waist. Inuyasha looked away from her stubbornly, but Riquo saw the look of regret that was painted on his face.

Riquo was filled with sorrow. She slid the sheet off her body and crawled over to him. Inuyasha inhaled sharply, at the display she gave him. Riquo knelt in front of him with her head down, as if she was about to start begging him for something.

"Please, Inuyasha. I don't like to see you like this. Just tell me what's wrong, please?"

Inuyasha quickly gathered her into his arms, setting her down in his lap. He removed the sheet that had covered his waist, so there would be nothing in between them. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, lightly rocking her back and forth. She curled up in his lap, staying silent in case he said something.

Inuyasha closed his eyes and concentrated on what he was about to say. He was angry, sad, depressed and frustrated all at the same time. He knew Riquo wasn't going to like hearing this, but for the sake of their lives, it had to be said, "Riquo, I know you don't completely understand how much of a miracle it is that I feel this way about someone. I've been cold for so long, and you managed to break that cold exterior, and I thank you for that," Inuyasha winced, "but..."

Riquo spoke wearily, "But…"

"You're a cat."

Riquo gasped. Tears filled her eyes as the realization hit her of what just happened. I can't believe I forgot...of all the things mama told me...how could I forget that!!

In life, cats and dogs naturally hate each other. It's common knowledge. In demon hierarchy though, cats and dogs hate each other, but if there is a case of bonding between the two, they are forced to hate each other. If they refuse, they are killed. Instantly.

For demons, a cat and dog bonding is considered worse than a demon and a human mating. But since Riquo and Inuyasha are both hanyou's, the punishment would be even worse, just because they're hanyou's.

This is often confusing because Kouga's wolf tribe and Riquo's panther tribe were allies. Well, it was still against demon law, but usually only those tribes that were strong enough and could defend their choices in battle were allowed to continue their alliance. Kouga's tribe and Riquo's tribe were able to fight and defeat the hierarchy but couldn't overthrow it. That would mean defeating the lord of the west. And that at the time was and continues to be Sesshomaru.

Luckily, Sesshomaru wasn't interested in meddling in lower class demon affairs, so he didn't interfere and break up the alliance...but it is also common knowledge that Sesshomaru gets pleasure from making Inuyasha's life a living hell, thus leading back to this situation.

Inuyasha swallowed the lump in his throat, "If Sesshomaru...discovered us...we'd be killed immediately. Hopefully..."

Riquo arched her eyebrows at that, "Hopefully? Inuyasha...what the hell. That doesn't make any sense."

Inuyasha closed his eyes, remembering his past, "My brother is sadistic. He would probably want to torture me...and you," Inuyasha opened his eyes to meet her gaze, "I don't want you to suffer that kind of fate Riquo. That's why we can't be together..." Inuyasha dropped his head, his bangs hiding his face.

Riquo couldn't believe it. This wasn't fair, they had both finally found someone that made them happy and now they were forced to be apart because of a stupid conflict.

Riquo let the tears she'd been fighting fall. I wish mama was here...she always knew how to deal with Sesshomaru...Riquo blinked at that thought. Wait a minute...

"Inuyasha! Sesshomaru already knows!"

"What?! How is that possible?"

Riquo waved her hand dismissively, knowing that Inuyasha was getting nervous, "Remember what we talked about, about my mom and meeting with Sesshomaru?"

Inuyasha nodded dumbly, not getting her point, "Yea..."

"When my tattoo rejected him, he said there was another that would be accepted!" Inuyasha's face began to soften when the realization hit him, "you're his brother so naturally you both share the same mark and you have my mark around your navel...you got it when I was born. So..."

Riquo felt weird about saying this. It was now pretty much obvious that Inuyasha was her predetermined mate...but they did just meet, although they also just had sex.

Inuyasha swallowed the lump in his throat. This was a touchy subject indeed, but if Sesshomaru already knew...

"Do you think he's just waiting for us to get together? He knows that we're...destined...but he would only screw with us when we were together," Inuyasha said.

Riquo frowned, tapping her finger against her lips in thought. True, Sesshomaru was sadistic enough to screw with them if he found out, but for some reason Riquo doubted that he would.

She shook her head, erasing the thought from her mind. If Sesshomaru really did mean to separate them, that didn't mean he was going to do it immediately. And she wanted to be with Inuyasha as long as she could.

Riquo smiled and grabbed Inuyasha's face, her hands on either side, "Inuyasha, lets worry about Sesshomaru when he shows up directly in front of us. Until then, let's not worry or think about that, we have bigger problems, like Naraku."

"But...this is our lives we're talking about, Riquo. He could easily kill us both."

Riquo nodded, "I know, I know. But let's worry about that when the time arises. Ok?"

Inuyasha sighed and nodded, "I do want to be with you, you know."

Riquo smiled, "I know, and I want to be with you."

Inuyasha granted her a sexy grin, making her giggle. Then he seized her lips with his in a sweet and loving kiss, holding her close to him. When they separated, Riquo giggled again and lowered Inuyasha's upper body to the bed, positioning herself so that she was sitting Indian-style on his belly with her tail swaying over his manhood.

Inuyasha growled at her teasing and she laughed again. Then her expression softened as she reached over to the nightstand and picked up the peaces to her bangle, placing them individually on Inuyasha's chest.

"Can you fix them?"

Riquo nodded, "I think so. Some of the spells my mother taught me are starting to come back to me. There's also a spell book and my battle equipment back at my village that I'll have to fetch soon. But I can fix this without that."

Inuyasha nodded then gave in to curiosity, "How?"

Riquo smiled and closed her eyes, "Like this."

She rubbed her hands together and then held them above the pieces on Inuyasha's chest. The pieces started to glow orange and Inuyasha could feel his chest getting warm. Then Riquo mumbled, "Ako shima niktic pango..."

Inuyasha knew for a fact that was not Japanese or any other language he'd heard in his life, so he figured that was an enchantment. Inuyasha shifted his weight uncomfortably, not liking the fact that a beginner island mystic was performing a spell on his chest.

Then he saw Riquo's eyes opened and they were completely blacked out, "Don't move."

Inuyasha froze, and no sooner did he do so, he felt the pieces move together on his chest. The movement tickled but Inuyasha didn't want to risk moving.

Then, no sooner than the spell had started, he felt the weight of the full bangle drop onto his chest and the temperature go back to normal. Riquo's eyes reverted back to their normal green color and she sat up straight.

Inuyasha looked back and forth between the unbroken bangle and a smiling Riquo. Inuyasha grinned, "Hey you did it."

Riquo picked up the bangle and extended her left leg so she could slide it on her foot, "Yep, I sure did! And if someone breaks it again I'm gona beat the hell out of them."

Inuyasha snorted and rolled over, taking Riquo with him so he was on top of her. He brushed her brown hair out of her face, taking in her beautiful features, "I'm sorry it was broken to begin with. I still can't forgive myself for..."

Inuyasha stopped mid-sentence at the memory of Riquo and Kikyo's encounter. It still hurt him to think about what he had done to her.

Riquo rubbed her palm across his cheek, her touch opening his eyes, "Inuyasha, don't be sorry for what happened. My bangle breaking or me getting wounded by the arrow was not your fault."

"Yea but the wind scar-"

Riquo placed her fingers on his lips to silence him, "Was an accident in which you fully made up for by finding the several broken pieces to my bangle," she kissed him passionately, "thank you."

Inuyasha stared into her green depths, and smiled. She smiled back at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, reaching up to play with his ears. Inuyasha purred absently, making Riquo giggle.

He then snapped at her wrist, and Riquo squealed. Inuyasha captured her lips again, lowering himself onto her. Riquo moaned, spreading her legs and raising her hips. Inuyasha was about to slide in when...

"RIQUO! INUYASHA! Kikyo's soul seekers are here!"

Inuyasha groaned, damnit Miroku...

Riquo whimpered, absently rolling her eyes. She knew the soul seekers were here so she didn't see what the big rush was.

They both heard Miroku skid to a halt outside their door when Inuyasha started to get off Riquo's naked body. She grabbed his shoulders and brought his ears down close to her lips, "The door is locked."

Inuyasha stared at her and then glanced at the door where they could hear Miroku panting. He smiled and lowered his lips to hers, sliding into her at the same time. Riquo's moan was suppressed by the kiss, and they moved with each other one last time, not knowing if they would be granted another chance.

A few minutes later, Riquo arched her back in climax right as Miroku banged on the door.

"Riquo! Hurry up! Kikyo's soul seekers are here and we can't find Inuyasha!"

Riquo snorted, "Idiot."

Miroku knocked on the door again, "What did you say?"

"I said I'd be right there!" Riquo shouted, rolling her eyes again.

They heard Miroku run off and Inuyasha slowly pulled out of her. He stood off the bed, grabbing Riquo's hand in the process to help her out of bed.

Inuyasha led her over to the dresser where her original clothes were. He picked up her black top and slid it over her head and arms, following the garment down with a trail of kisses. He fitted the top over her breasts, massaging them each. Riquo tilted her head back as he did so.

Inuyasha slid his hands down her body, until he was on his knees at her naked waist. Riquo met his eyes and he grinned, inching closer and closer to her entrance. As he did so, he picked up her skirt, and moved her legs until they were in her skirt. Inuyasha blew lightly at the junction of Riquo's thigh's, making her shiver. He lapped his tongue out at her sweet spot, sliding up her skirt at the same time until she was completely dressed.

Riquo collapsed onto her knees in front of him and kissed him passionately. They held each other for a while, afraid to leave the room in fear that their entire existence together would disappear. Riquo twitched her ears and glanced down, realizing that Inuyasha was still naked.

Inuyasha quickly dressed and with both of them gripping each others hand, opened the door that led out into the massive hallway. No one was around so both hanyou's proceeded to walk towards the entrance to the palace. Once they got to the door that led outside to the front of the palace, Inuyasha let go of her hand. He glanced at her nervously, hoping she didn't take that the wrong way. She caught his gaze and winked at him.

The large wooden doors were open and the others were out there waiting. Riquo blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust to the light. When her vision was cleared she gasped and ran towards Kagome. Kagome was sitting on the grass with her knees up to her chest and her arms around her knees. Her eyes were wide and she was mumbling something incoherent. Sango was trying to calm her down and Miroku was talking to Kouga. Kouga turned and sniffed as Riquo sped towards Kagome.

She skidded to a halt in front of Kagome's panicked form, "Kagome! Are you alright?"

Kagome continued to stare at a random spot in the grass mumbling to herself. Not getting an answer, Riquo asked Sango, "What the hell happened to her?"

"Kouga said a soul serpent broke through Kagome's window. Scared her to death apparently."

Inuyasha walked up, "Will she be ok? She doesn't need to be on a battle field if she's in that kind of state."

That snapped Kagome out of it, "I'm fine, Inuyasha," she stood up shakily and grabbed Sango's hand for a little support, "there is no way I'm going to miss a chance to fight Naraku."

She bent down slowly to pick up her bow and arrows, "Ok then! Let's get going! Sango, is it okay if we ride Kilala?"

Sango shook her head and patted the fire cat that was drooping over her shoulder, "The last time she carried all of us, minus Kouga and Riquo, and it really wore her out. She still needs to rest some."

"WELL THEN HOW THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET THERE?!?!!" Inuyasha seethed, "what're we supposed to do walk? That'll take days! Weeks maybe!"

Sango was taken aback by Inuyasha's sudden outburst. Riquo elbowed Inuyasha in the side to try and get him to shut up.

"What?! We need some way to get there don't we?"

Sango narrowed her eyes at Inuyasha, fed up with his sudden rudeness to her, "Well that's just too bad Inuyasha! Unless you have the strength to carry 5 people on YOUR back I suggest you keep your mouth shut!"

That shut Inuyasha up real fast. Sango was still seething when Miroku walked up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Both of you please calm down. I think you're forgetting someone I know that is very capable of carrying all of us at once to Naraku's castle."

Kagome snapped her fingers, "Hachi!"

"Where can we reach him, Miroku?" Riquo asked.

Miroku pulled out a simple tiny flute from his robes, "Riquo, Inuyasha, and Kouga...I suggest you cover your ears, this may hurt."

All three of them covered their ears with their hands. Miroku blew into the flute, playing one simple note. Inuyasha, Riquo, and Kouga  winced at the sound even with their ears covered. When Miroku put the flute back into his robes they uncovered their ears with a sigh.

"So now what?"

Miroku sat down on a stump cross-legged, "We wait. It usually does not take Hachi long to come after I have summoned him."

And so they waited. Inuyasha sat off by himself with his back turned to everyone, Kouga played tag with Riquo, Kagome and Sango sat in the grass and talked while Miroku listened perversely.

Suddenly, not soon after Miroku blew his flute, the wind picked up around them and a huge shadow descended over them. Miroku tilted his head up and waved, "Hello Hachi!"

"How can I be of service, master?"

"It's simple really Hachi, we just need transportation some where. See those floating snakes? Just follow them and take us where we need to go."

Hachi lowered his giant yellow body down to the ground and everyone climbed on his back. Without a moments hesitation, they were off, following Kikyo's soul seeker's to Naraku's castle.

Riquo sat at the end of Hachi's tail, her legs on either side and her elbows propped in between her legs, her chin resting in her palms. They passed over a small lake with a little island in the middle of it with trees covering the entire island. She sighed, she missed her home and without her spell book and her battle equipment, she knew she'd be completely useless in this battle. She was strong but no that strong, and her bangle's could only do so much.

I could take both of them off though....

Riquo shook her head, that was not an option. Taking those off put everyone around her at risk, and that's not something she wanted to put her new friends through. Riquo sighed again, she wasn't sure how she was going to fight this battle.

"Hey you."

Riquo was startled out of her thoughts and glanced back to see Kagome smiling behind her. Kagome sat down behind Riquo, both of her legs hanging off one side of Hachi's tail.

"How are you doing?" Kagome asked.

"Fine, I guess. Just got a lot of stuff on my mind."

"Wana talk about it?"

Riquo smiled, thinking back to when they lived in the same era, "Don't I always?"

Kagome smiled back at her, knowing that her hanyou friend wanted to ventilate some of her problems. Riquo turned herself around and sat the same way but facing Kagome.

"It's just that...I don't think I'm strong enough to fight with you all against Naraku. If I practiced some of my spells and had my equipment then maybe I'd have a chance, but with just my menial strength and my bangles...I know it's not enough."

Kagome put her hand on her friend's shoulder in a comforting gesture, "Riquo, trust me when I say this," Riquo met her eyes and Kagome smiled at her, "any strength we have will help. I'm only a human girl-"

"With miko powers." Riquo added.

Kagome nodded, "But those can only go so far. I haven't fully developed them, not to the level they should be at anyway. Trust me, Kouga has told me how strong you are and what you are capable of, with or without your island magic."

Riquo smiled back at her, "Thank you Kagome. I could always count on you to believe in me."

The two girls laughed, reminiscing and enjoying themselves. Then Riquo scrunched up her noise as they came closer to the castle.

"The demonic aura is really strong around here, we're definitely getting close."

No sooner had she said that, dark clouds began to descend on them. Hachi reared back in fear.

"Master! This demonic aura is so strong! What have you lead me into?"

"Just keep going Hachi!"

Hachi hesitantly began to move forward, but was startled by one of the soul seekers flying in front of his face. He screamed and jerked backwards in the sky. Everyone was knocked around on his back, but managed to stay put except for Kagome.

"Aaaaah!"

"Kagome no!!!" Kouga shouted.

Before anyone could act, Riquo roared, causing Kilala to immediately bound off Sango's shoulder and transform into the sky. She descended down towards the falling Kagome, and managed to get underneath her, so Kagome fell onto the fire cat's back with a grunt.

"Oh, thank you Kilala! You saved me!"

Kilala roared and flew up next to Hachi. Kouga extended his arms and helped Kagome onto Hachi's back and immediately embraced her.

"I was so scared I was going to lose you."

Kilala retracted her form and hopped back onto Sango's shoulder. Sango pat the small cat on the head, "Good girl Kilala." Kilala meowed in response.

Miroku smacked Hachi on the head with his staff, "Hachi, ignore the aura and keep going forward and be careful!!"

Hachi sniffed in fear, "Yes master."

The rest of the journey continued without incident, save for Hachi's occasional whimper as the surroundings got darker. Finally, the soul seekers descended in front of a dark and eerie castle. The miasma was thick, so that the castle was just a dark silhouette without detail.

The soul seekers disappeared over the top of the castle, while Hachi quickly lowered himself to the ground in a panic. Once everyone was off his back he ascended back into the sky.

"Good luck my friends and farewell," and with that he took off.

Inuyasha snorted, "I feel like the fool just condemned us to death."

They stood in front of the castle, waiting. Naraku's stench was all over the place, so bad that Riquo had to cover her noise, not being used to being in such close proximity of his scent.

Kouga and Inuyasha also recognized Kagura's scent as well as Kanna's and Kikyo's. Inuyasha initially attempted to ignore the scent but he couldn't help but latch on to her scent like a life line. Instinctively, Inuyasha scooted closer to Riquo, as a comforting and protective gesture.

Riquo glanced at him and wrapped her ebony tail around his thigh, "Nervous?" she whispered.

Inuyasha snorted, "Keh, stupid woman."

Riquo smiled knowing he was. Then she frowned when Kikyo's scent became more distinct.

Kagura's scent also became more distinct, and then wind picked up around then to confirm their suspicions. Kouga growled loudly, "Come out and show yourself, wench!"

"What's the matter wolf? Is the wind bothering you?"

He growled again and was about to retort back but was stopped short as an arrow with a massive aura shot over his head. He whipped around and saw Kikyo standing on the roof of another section of the palace.

She strung her bow again, "This time I won't miss."

Kouga looked around, wondering who she was trying to hit. Then Kagome shrieked and ran over to Riquo. Kouga followed her with his eyes, his jaw dropping when they fell on Riquo.

Inuyasha stood with tetusaiga drawn in front of Riquo's chest. An arrow was sticking out of the sword...directly in front of Riquo's heart. Riquo snarled pushing tetusaiga aside and walking past Kouga.

"You filthy manipulative bitch!" Riquo spat. More jaws dropped around her. Kikyo smirked, motioning for her soul seekers to lower her to the ground.

She snickered at Riquo, "What's the matter hanyou? Do you want to kill me?"

Riquo growled, "In the messiest way possible."

Kikyo laughed, "You naïve little fool. You think Inuyasha will let you kill me? He's been under my manipulation for years and not even you can break him from that."

Riquo laughed despite herself, "Really? It's a shame you don't have demon senses otherwise you'd know that I already have."

Kikyo's eyes widened marginally, trying to keep her cool and failing. Her expression kept changing back and forth between a blank expression and one of anger. Her angry expression dominated as Inuyasha walked up to Riquo and put his arm around her waist.

"Kikyo, I'm sorry, but you've tortured me for too long. You need to rest in peace once and for all. Goodbye."

With that he caught Riquo's sight and squeezed her waist. He turned around and walked towards the others.

"Kouga, try and distract Kagura, keep her wind powers focused on you so that I can use the tetusaiga without her interference. Kagome, you and Kilala can take post from a further distance and pick off anything that tries to sneak up on us as well as Kanna, since your arrows are the only thing that can defeat her. Sango, Miroku and myself will look for Naraku.?"

Miroku closed his eyes and raised his hand in a blessing, "Be safe all of you, let this battle be our last against the evil that is Naraku."

Each of them closed their eyes in a silent prayer, hoping for the same thing. After they relished in their own silence, they looked each other in the eye and smiled, reminiscing on their times together. Kouga took Kagome in his arms and held her close to him whispering in her ear, "Please be safe. If anything happens, take the fire cat and flee this place."

Kagome shook her head, placing a small kiss on Kouga's lips, "I will not abandon any of you."

Inuyasha also brought Riquo into his embrace, ignoring Kikyo's close proximity, "I don't know what the future holds for us, but please, for our sake, stay alive so we can live and be happy after this battle."

Riquo smiled at him, "I will join you shortly in the fight against Naraku when I am through with...these matters. I promise you I will fight for our lives with everything I have in me."

Miroku lightly placed his arm around Sango's shoulder. No words were exchanged between the monk and the slayer, all that needed to be said was said when Miroku kept his arm in its place.

Both couples separated. Kouga turned his back to Kagome as she climbed atop Kilala, and faced the wind sorceress that had slaughtered his comrades so long ago. Kilala flew to a nearby rooftop, out of the way of the battles that were about to commence, but close enough for Kagome's arrows to have an affect.

Riquo let go of Inuyasha and took a few steps back, watching him turn and retreat, Sango and Miroku on his heels as they closed in on the entrance to Naraku's castle.

Riquo then focused her attention on the dead priestess with a malicious grin, "You're mine."