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Kasumi stood at a cliff, overlooking a lake far below. A cherry blossom tree stood over her, veiling the stars with twilight pink petals. She stared into the sky. Inuyasha was coming. She did not know why after all these years Inuyasha would come looking for her. Perhaps it was to finally kill her. But still, it seemed pointless to reopen an old wound after so many years...
Nami appeared beside her. "You're thinking about the past again."
"I am. I still do not understand why a half-demon, in the company of humans, would come to us."
"Well... you're the intelligent one, figure it out."
Kasumi rose her eyebrows in amusement.
"Ah. I see," Nami sighed. "An old grudge."
Kasumi smiled and looked at her friend. "You know me too well, Nami."
Nami returned her friend's smile. "If I knew half of what went on in your mind, I'd go insane."
Kasumi let out a small laugh. But then she let her smile fade as she returned to gaze at the stars. "The half-demon's name is Inuyasha. He comes to kill me."
"Kill you? For what?"
Nami watched a past memory clouded Kasumi's eyes. But neither said anything. Nami thought her friend would not answer her. She shifted, ready to change the topic.
"An old grudge, my friend. An old grudge."
"Well, I don't understand why you're so worked up about it. Half-demons are weak. And even full fledged demons can't stop us."
"No, Nami. This is one battle I'll have to fight on my own."
"What? Kasumi! No! We're partners- friends."
"And as my friend, you will stay out of this affair and watch his companions so that he cannot push the odds in his favor."
Nami quieted and nodded. "Do you think you can win?"
Kasumi hesitated. The last time Inuyasha tried to bring back the past, he had had her beaten. The only thing that had saved her was Inuyasha's girlfriend priestess who had been a friend of Kasumi's family for many years. But with the priestess's death, there would be no one to stop Inuyasha's wrath. And if rumors were true, Inuyasha now had a dangerous demonic half. If he fought in that, Kasumi didn't know how long she would survive.
"You don't, do you?" Nami said, breaking the remembrance.
"That was a long time ago, my friend. I am much more powerful." She turned to her friend and smiled. "I'm going to bury the past tomorrow."
Inuyasha stared at the stars, hands folded in his sleeves. A crescent moon hung in the sky above him. Kagome and the others were asleep now after having to walk so many miles so suddenly. Inuyasha, however could not sleep. He had failed to protect Kagome. He had failed to recover the jewel shards. He had failed. And now, after so many years, he was going back to Kasumi. Would she remember him? He smiled. Well, he had left a scar on her that she soon wouldn't forget. But then again, perhaps she wouldn't want to help him and would rather kill him.
"Dammit..." he sighed.
He would have to make her remember the old days. The days before... before the Blood Days. He shuddered. Even after all this time, thinking about that made him shudder. He looked to a sleeping Kagome and sighed. The Fate Sisters weren't ones to be messed with. Even if he had a tie to one of them. But, by knowing Kasumi, he had probably put himself in more danger. Especially since it was Kasumi. And he needed Kagome and the others to find the jewel shards. He stood up. He looked down at his friends. Sometimes he wished that for once the past wouldn't endanger his friends.
He picked up his Tetsusaiga and walked away. He disappeared into the woods and began running towards Secluded Lake. He jumped from branch to branch, thinking. Some odd years ago, he had tracked down Kasumi, seeking to unbury the past. They had fought. Inuyasha had been sure of his success, but Kasumi had him cornered. But he lashed out and had her on her knees. Then Kikyo had showed up, forcing Inuyasha to swallow his pride and let the archenemy go. If he ever had a reason to hate Kikyo, that would have been it. But apparently Kasumi's family had been a close friend of Kikyo. And the priestess made Inuyasha promise to never kill Kasumi.
"I'm not sure I can keep that promise, Kikyo. Some wounds run too deep."
He ran through the forest. But he didn't know if he ran to his saviour or to his death.
Kasumi now kneeled by the lake, staring at the reflection of the moon. Kasumi had made Nami stay up by the cherry blossom tree. "No matter what," she had told her. "Stay by this tree. Do not interfere." Nami had agreed, knowing that this was one time her friend was on her own. And now she sat, waiting patiently for Inuyasha and his friends to appear. It was only a matter of time.
A shadow appeared across the lake. Kasumi's ears twitched. She remained where she was.
"Hello, Inuyasha." Inuyasha stepped out of the forest behind her. Kasumi stood up and turned. Inuyasha seemed to be dumbstruck. After all these years, here he was. She stared calmly at him. "So, Inuyasha, have you come to kill me?"
Inuyasha shook himself and drew his sword. It errupted in a bright light and a sword four times bigger than any normal sword appeared. Kasumi smiled.
"I see you have inherited the Tetsusaiga."
She waited for Inuyasha to strike at her. But he stuck the sword tip in the ground next to him. The sword returned to a normal size. He took another step forward. "I'm sorry," he said. "I wouldn't be here unless I had anywhere else to go."
"So you haven't come to kill me."
Inuyasha paused. "No. I came to ask for help."
"Help, Inuyasha? You came to me for help?"
"I did. The jewel shards have been stolen. I saw the bastard, but he was too quick. I couldn't stop him."
"And you think I know where he is?"
"I think you can help me track him down."
"You know what this means?"
"I do. But I was hoping the past would stay buried."
Kasumi put on a small smile. "If I know anything about the past, it won't be forgotten until one of us dies."
"Yeah... So, if I defeat you, you will help me?"
"If I am alive to do so, yes."
Inuyasha lunged for his sword. He whirled back around. Kasumi was gone. Inuyasha stood stock still, trying to hear any sign of his enemy. Kasumi, however, stood in the shadows behind the young half-demon. She stood as still as Inuyasha. A frog jumped into the lake. Inuyasha flipped around, ready for attack. Kasumi drew her long sword and attacked. Pure luck saved Inuyasha from a sudden death. He flipped around to meet Kasumi's attack. The two stood, locked in combat.
"Impressive," Kasumi seethed.
"You think this is impressive? Wait 'til you see my next one."
He broke away and swung his sword over his head. A bright light circled the sword. "Wind Scar!" he cried and swung the sword down. A powerful blast raced along the ground toward Kasumi. But Kasumi was already conjuring a trick of her own. She switched her grip on her sword and drug the tip of the sword on the ground in front of her. "Wind Shroud." A wall of wind engulfed Kasumi. The Wind Scar enveloped the small tornado and was dispersed. Inuyasha smiled triumphantly and let his guard down to watch the dust settle. Kasumi picked up her sword and charged out of the dust cloud. A dumbfounded Inuyasha was barely able to lift his sword to block Kasumi. Kasumi crossed blades with him then flipped away.
"How'd you like that trick, Inuyasha?"
He smirked. "Looks like you've learned a couple of tricks since we last met."
"You have no idea."
Kasumi powered up. Wind gathered around the blade of her sword. She twisted her hand and thrust the sword at Inuyasha. "Crashing Way!" The power around her sword swept toward Inuyasha, crushing the ground as it made a beeline for the half-demon. But Inuyasha was ready for the attack. He swung his sword across the attack's path.
"Backlash Wave!"
Kasumi's attack met Inuyasha's red energy. Suddenly, her attack was reflected back toward her.
"What?!" she gasped.
She focused energy under her feet and rocketed herself into the air. She quickly sustained herself in the air to gather herself for a final attack. She began gathering energy. She let herself fall through the air. Inuyasha stood, ready for attack. Energy swirled around Kasumi. She switched her sword so that the blade pointed towards the ground.
"It's over!" she roared. "Hurricane Strike!"
She landed a few feet in front of Inuyasha. The blade sank into the earth. The air and energy seemed to disappear. For a split second, there was silence. The air errupted with a full fledged hurricane, circling around the sword. Kasumi held onto the sword for dear life. Inuyasha was sucked into the void of wind. Trees were being stripped from the ground. Even the lake behind her was emptying into the hurricane. Inuyasha was nowhere to be found. If he was lucky, he was dead by now.
Suddenly, a blue flash flew through the wall of wind. It struck Kasumi in the shoulder. She let go of her sword in shock. "A Sacred Arrow?!" she managed to exclaim before she was sucked into her own attack. Kasumi was rocketed through the wind and spat out over the lake. She plummeted through the air and into the lake.
Inuyasha was also thrown out of the hurricane. He crashed into the bank of the lake. The Tetsusaiga was thrown into a tree and sank deep into the bark. The hurricane slowly began to blow itself out until only Kasumi's sword stood upon the bank. Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara came out of the forest. Kagome spotted Inuyasha sprawled out on the bank. She ran to him.
"Inuyasha!" She crouched down beside him. "Inuyasha! Are you all right?"
She turned him over. She slapped him in the face to get him to wake up. Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes. "Wha-? Kagome. What are you doing here? Where is Kasumi?"
"I woke up to discover that you were gone. So we followed you," Miroku said, walking over to the two. Sango followed.
"Who is Kasumi?" Sango asked.
"The fox demon I was fighting."
"Oh, well, I shot her. She was sucked into the storm. She's probably dead now."
"What?!" Inuyasha roared, standing up, fuming. "What did you do that for?!"
Kagome stood up, simmering. "Well, excuse me. I thought you needed help."
"I had everything under control!"
"You were no where to be found!"
"Whatever! And now thanks to you, we'll never get the shards back!"
"Oh don't worry yourself, Inuyasha, it takes a lot more than a Sacred Arrow to kill me."
Inuyasha whirled around to see Kasumi standing on the bank with an arrow sticking out of her shoulder. He could see that she was in pain, but she wore a simple smile to try and reassure her opponent. Inuyasha smirked.
"That was quite a move you had there, Kasumi."
She shrugged. "I try."
Kagome was bristling at Inuyasha's sudden change in mood. "You know her?"
Inuyasha looked down at her. "Of course I do."
"And next time, aim," Kasumi said sharply, pulling out the Sacred Arrow and throwing it at her feet.
Kagome fumed. Inuyasha turned to Kasumi. "Sorry about that. But does that count in beating you?"
"No."
"No?! What'd'you mean no?"
"No usually means the opposite of yes, Inuyasha."
"You were defeated fair and square!"
"As were you."
Inuyasha boiled, then looked away and folded his arms. "Fine. A draw."
Kasumi shook her head. "No. An interruption. We will have to settle our differences later." Inuyasha looked at her. "I want to know more about the demon you couldn't even catch to fight. The one who stole the jewel shards."