Night had deepened, yet the campfire still burned bright.
Yura lay on her side, pretending to sleep, while Jaken curled into a ball and snored softly.
Wide awake, Inuyasha sat alone amid the thick branches of a treetop.
With both hands behind his head, he gazed at the moon hanging on the horizon.
The moonlight seemed almost unnaturally bright, and a faint halo shimmered around its edge.
‘Is the night of the new moon already drawing near?’ The half-demon fell into thought.
Half-demons in this world differed somewhat from the mixed-blood demons found in other anime.
At a certain time, their demonic energy would recede like the tide.
Their bodies would briefly lose every demonic trait and assume a purely human form.
Half-demons called this vulnerable period the New Moon.
It came once a month, though its timing differed for each half-demon.
Whenever his New Moon approached, the old Inuyasha would hide in a cave, a hollow tree, or behind a roaring waterfall, waiting alone for dawn.
Only his late mother, Izayoi, and Kikyo had ever known this secret.
‘Do I still need to hide now?’ His human body had already entered the realm of the superhuman under the reinforcement of magic power.
No, it had gone far beyond merely entering it.
[I Alone Across the Myriad Worlds] had doubled every basic attribute of his body, from strength and speed to endurance and perception.
Even with nothing but that body, he could carve out a place for himself in this demon-infested Warring States era, just as Bankotsu, leader of the Band of Seven, had done.
And he still had the [Device], whose true power had yet to be revealed.
Inuyasha estimated that his human form was at least as powerful as he had been in the original story when he first mastered the Backlash Wave.
That was enough to handle most situations.
At the very least, he had nothing to fear from Sesshomaru before his brother obtained Tokijin.
Besides, the Black Pearl hiding Tessaiga was still lodged in his eye.
He needed that big dog to take it out.
Wind swept in from the valley, stirring the silver bangs across Inuyasha’s forehead.
The moon shone high above, and all creation lay silent.
“Not sleeping?” A soft, gentle voice drifted down from above, carried into his ears by the night wind.
Inuyasha ignored her.
He had sensed Yura swinging through the forest on strands of hair long ago, moving lightly before landing soundlessly beside him.
The comb tsukumogami said nothing more.
She smoothed her windblown hair and followed his gaze toward the moon.
“Are you worried about the war in the Western Lands?” Yura asked, merely looking for something to talk about.
“Everyone in the Western Lands could die, and it would still have nothing to do with me,” Inuyasha scoffed.
He had very few fond memories of that land from his childhood.
Choked speechless, Yura simply squeezed in beside him.
He had already touched every part of this body, so she might as well use her charms.
Inuyasha never turned down an offered advantage and drew her against his shoulder.
Just as Yura’s interest began to rise, his low voice sounded beside her ear.
“On the night of the new moon, my New Moon begins.” It was like being doused with cold water.
Yura turned sharply, her eyes wide and her disbelief plain to see.
A half-demon’s New Moon was a secret every half-demon guarded with their life.
Yet he had revealed it as casually as if he were telling her it might rain tomorrow.
Inuyasha met her stunned gaze with a faint curl of his lips.
Beneath his silver bangs, his calm eyes gleamed with a golden arc in the moonlight.
“That will be the last chance I allow you to commit insubordination.” Yura froze for a moment.
Unable to understand the way his mind worked, she decided it was not worth trying.
Nor did she bother wondering whether he was telling the truth.
It made little difference either way.
Yura pressed back against him, then turned and straddled his lap.
Her slender shoulders and jade-white skin looked downright criminal beneath the moonlight.
“I am committing insubordination right now.
What are you going to do about it?” “You insignificant demon, how dare you!” The night spent disciplining the demoness with his rod passed in a blur.
…
Before the sky had fully brightened, while morning mist still clung lazily to the valley, Jaken jolted awake and sprang to his feet.
After years of roughing it beside Sesshomaru, his other talents might be questionable, but wilderness survival had been carved into his bones.
Leaning on the Staff of Two Heads he had retrieved the night before, Jaken peered around.
Inuyasha and Yura were nowhere to be seen, and even he could guess what a lone man and woman had gone off to do.
‘How depraved!
Still, this is my chance to prove my worth.’ Jaken tucked the hem of his robe into his belt and hurried to the stream on his short legs.
The first rays of dawn revealed crystal-clear water, where silver-scaled fish lazily flicked their tails between smooth pebbles.
He drew a deep breath, fixed his eyes on the fattest one, and lunged.
“You mere fish!
Today, you shall witness the skill of the great Jaken-sama!” Before long, Jaken was squatting beside the fire.
He gutted each fish with a small knife, skewered them on sharpened branches, and set them over the flames.
Their skin slowly turned golden as the fire licked across it.
Fat dripped and sizzled, filling the forest with the smoky aroma of roasted fish and the stream’s faint sweetness.
“With Inuyasha-sama supporting Sesshomaru-sama, they will surely wipe out those damned panthers.” “And I, the great Jaken-sama who brought Inuyasha-sama back, will have rendered outstanding service.
Heh heh.” Thinking of how Sesshomaru-sama would never say it aloud but would surely be pleased inside, Jaken grinned so hard he nearly blew bubbles from his nose.
Still vigorous after the night’s exertions, Inuyasha caught the aroma of roasted fish and patted the warm, boneless softness sprawled across him.
“Time to get up.” Yura murmured against his chest and lazily pushed herself upright.
A few tousled locks stuck out beside her ears, only settling when the morning breeze swept over them.
…
By the time the sun climbed over the mountaintop, the three of them were following the flecks of morning light through the forest, bound for the Western Lands.
Jaken led the way with the Staff of Two Heads, chattering endlessly about the surrounding terrain and the demons that lived along their route.
Yura followed behind him, her hair drifting lazily in the morning breeze.
Now and then, strands sliced apart insects in the bushes or slipped into the grass to sever vines blocking the path.
Inuyasha brought up the rear, walking as he gnawed on half a roasted fish left from breakfast.
The moment they left the forest, the view ahead opened wide.
A gentle grassy slope descended toward low hills in the distance, and unobstructed sunlight poured down, forcing them to narrow their eyes.
Inuyasha looked back toward Kaede’s Village.
He could no longer see the village, the Sacred Tree, or the hillside where Kikyo slept.
He turned around, tore off the last mouthful of fish, chewed, and swallowed.
The next time he returned, everything would be different.