Exiting the portal, everyone found themselves at a grave. Or rather, a gigantic skeleton of a massive monster who had been wearing samurai armor. Kagome had gaped at it and so did Haruto after setting foot on what had to be Naruko's dead father's bones.
"W-What the... If this is her dad, how come Naruko's so small!?" he asked in disbelief.
"Some yokai can shift their bodies to walk around and fool humans." Yura said beside him.
"Alright then." Shaking his disbelief, he turned to the skeleton, "Where to now?" a loud noise came from inside the stomach, and he didn't hesitate to go there.
"Alright... I'm going into a dead demon's gut... correction: the dog general's gut to help my master confront the pure-bred daughter." Yura grunted to herself, massaging her temples with a hand, "Is luxurious golden hair worth all of this?"
Haruto stopped running to turn around and call out. "Yura! Come on, we gotta catch up to them!" He started running again and Yura watched how his short locks flowed from his movements.
Yura's left eye twitched. "Barely. By just a pinch." She grumbled, forcing herself to follow the boy to the grave. "Hey." She said when caught up to him as he started climbing up the skeleton. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to get up there. What are you doing?" He lightly snapped back to face Yura, barely clinging to giant remains.
"Questioning your resourcefulness." She pointed to her hair, implicitly reminding him of his resources.
"Oh, hehe." He chuckled lowly, a bit embarrassed. "My judgement can stagger a bit when I'm hasty." He weakly pointed out.
"No kidding." She deadpanned, raising up some hair strings along the skeleton. "Now climb on my back and we'll be off."
Haruto awkwardly climbed onto Yura, who held him piggyback style, and they started scaling the giant skeleton. "This feels kinda wrong." Haruto muttered.
"Yes, I can actually agree with you on something." Even Yura was capable of respect for the fallen, albeit only to greater demons. Not to mention a need for self-preservation away from angry Satsuki's. "But we have to interfere with familial business lest your precious dog and girl be murdered." She sarcastically told him.
Haruto narrowed his eyes at his servant and clicked his tongue. "If you weren't carrying me right now, I'd bop you for that."
"As they say, choose your moments." Yura quipped back. Not a split second later, the air seemed to grow more intense. Judging from the way Haruto tensed on top of her, he felt it too. She didn't need to be told to pick up the pace, reaching the back of the mouth of the skeleton shortly before they descended down the throat.
They got in to find who they were looking for, "Naruko! Kagome!" Haruto shouted as he and Yura came down, Haruto climbing off her back. Naruko was being pinned down by Satsuki and Kagome was holding a rusty old sword. "Are you really going to fight her with that?"
"Uh..." Was her response.
"Wait." Yura put on skeptical face. "Is that... Tessaiga?" Given Kagome's weak nod and the sisters not really responding, she correctly assumed that it was. "No, really? That? Is there a catch here?" She asked.
"I'd like to know that myself." Haruto added. "Naruko, your dad wouldn't happen to just have a really twisted sense of humor? Like, would he have done this to mock your sister?"
"How would I know?!" She croaked out before her sister decided to release her throat. "I haven't even gotten to hold the damn thing yet!"
As Satsuki approached Kagome, she stared at the sword, "To think it'd reject me but accept this human..." she turned to Haruto, "You spoke of a twisted sense of humor, I feel it's the universe's."
"If what Yura said about the sword is true, I'm glad you can't hold it." He shot back, raising his fists, "Seems to me your daddy preferred Naruko because she wasn't as cruel as you."
"You..." Satsuki's body shook, her eyes changing, "...have said enough."
Everyone stared in horror when Satsuki's body grew, becoming that of a majestic yet still nightmarish white beast. It was a truly vicious demon dog whose glare froze everyone in fear. Naruko for her part glared at her sibling, baring her teeth. When the gigantic Satsuki went after Haruto, the hanyo girl went after her sister's eye, slashing at it and scratching the eyelid. It got her attention, and made the giant bitch swat her.
"Naruko!" Kagome yelled in fear, clutching the sword.
Haruto was quick to grab her and duck under Satsuki's claw swipe, "Yura, keep her safe!" he ordered as he ran, jumping forward before Satsuki's fangs dug into his flesh, instead breaking one of the ribs. Yura did as she was told, yanking Kagome to safety while the blond kept running in circles, jumping and ducking under the enormous bitch's strikes.
Satsuki's lackey was cackling at Haruto, "You dared make fun of Lady Satsuki, foolish human! Comparing her to that mistake of Naruko was one thing, but saying her father preferred that unneeded love child will be your last mistake! I should be thankful really! Not often can I enjoy seeing her really mutilate an enemy she hates so much! You won't last long running forever!"
"Dammit, can you do anything to slow her down, Yura?" Haruto asked, gripping his fists tighter as he ran faster.
"Only if I had my old hair cocoon, but even that wouldn't be enough!" Yura said as she started to climb up, before gasping in shock, "Be careful, there's poison!"
From her maw, Satsuki was oozing a noticeably toxic drool that when getting in contact with the bones released an obviously poisonous gas. Just as Haruto was ready to curse and stick a fork on himself to show how done he was, a hand grabbed him. Sudden weightlessness made him think that the toxins were so potent he had died instantly and was going to the heavens...
In truth, Naruko was mad, "Why are you doing trying so hard to get involved!?" she asked while pulling Haruto out of her dead father's stomach.
As the group escaped the corpse and landed on one of the shoulder pads, they tried to catch their breath, "She's mad, she's really mad..." Yura panicked.
"She's not the only one." Naruko growled at the blond, "Why do you keep trying to fight her needlessly!? It's not your fight, it's mine!"
"I just—" he started, but she walked forward, ignoring him.
"Listen to me for once!" She said and took Tessaiga from Kagome, who hadn't let go of it despite the fear, "I don't need you to get hurt, look at yourself! She doesn't give a shit about anything but power. All you are to her is trash, mere insects. Sad truth be told, you can't really fight her." She growled when her sister appeared, glaring at the group, "But... I can. And there's no way I'm letting that bitch harm either of you." Naruko turned to face her sister, Tessaiga in her hands and ready to fight.
"Naruko..." Kagome was touched, as was Haruto.
Why? Yura asked herself, unable to really grasp Naruko's thought process. Why is she so attached?
"Let's see if this rusty toothpick of our old fart's good enough to gouge out her eyes... Oi, Satsuki!" Naruko muttered and then shouted, aiming the ancient sword at her sister, "Give me everything you got! The anger over a human humiliating you and another took this sword from you! I want to make it hurt even more when it's me who stops you from laying a finger on them!"
As one, both sisters charged at each other, murder in their eyes. With a roar of rage, they attacked, Satsuki trying to stomp her sister while Naruko swung her sword at her sibling. Everyone immediately went quiet when seeing the legendary Tessaiga glow, and felt their jaws fall the moment Satsuki backed away, her claw dripping with blood from nearly being slashed completely off. Naruko was too high on adrenaline to notice that her sword had become a large slab of steel with white fur where the thick, single-edged, five-foot-long, one-foot-wide blade and the handle were connected.
In her rush, the dog girl hefted her gigantic katana over her head and delivered a single, clean swing that slashed her sister's chest, just like Satsuki did with Haruto. Due to the pain, the anger, and the humiliation, Satsuki felt her mind start to shatter from the wounds. Falling on her knees, the eldest daughters of the demon dog general clutched her chest. Her kimono was opened slightly, showing her new injury. Between her breasts was a gash that would leave a scar, ruining her perfect skin. And the one who did that was her half-breed sister to protect some humans.
"This is..." Naruko was stunned to see her big sister down, and could only admire her new weapon awestruck. "A sword made from his own fang."
"Lady Satsuki, we must retreat!" Jaken said as he helped his mistress run off, using his staff to summon a smoke screen that blocked everyone's view.
Naruko quickly went after them with a cry of "No you don't!" but after slicing the smoke there was no one to fight with, "That bitch!" she cursed as Tessaiga returned to its unimpressive form. Growling, she hefted it on her shoulder before turning to the amazed trio behind her, "Let's go back... you need help from that old hag again, Haruto." She said, pointing to his chest.
"Oh yeah." Haruto agreed, remembering that he was injured.
Back with Kaede and a still warm dish of hotpot, Haruto told her of what happened, "So that was Tessaiga's power. What do you think, Granny?"
"Aside from your recklessness and lack of tact, it seems you all were lucky at best." The priestess said as she finished wrapping bandages around the boy's chest, "I'm surprised you managed to get to that grave. With your wounds, you should have passed out hours ago. Are you sure you're human?"
"That's what I'm asking myself now..." he said and looked at his hands, "Still, to think Naruko's that strong... I really need to step up my game."
"Learning to control that power inside you is the best you can do." The one-eyed elder said, "However, something bothers me. Naruko couldn't draw Tessaiga's power until seeing you try to fight her sister, and then she only channeled its true form when protecting you from Satsuki, someone far more powerful than her. Do you have any idea why that would be?"
"Girls are too full of surprises for me to try to guess, Granny, let alone magical swords." The blond shrugged, "What do you think, Kagome?"
"Huh?" said girl was snapped out of some trance.
"I asked you what do you think about what Granny said." He repeated.
"Oh, that..." she giggled awkwardly, "I think it's best if Naruko finds on her own, don't you?"
"Well, she has to, we both have to try to learn how to fight now." Haruto said thoughtfully, "Perhaps I could try and spar with her to see if I control this energy inside me better..."
"I... am sure that could help." Kagome said, Why does the idea of him and Naruko sparring give me chest pains?
Yura groaned, All that effort and still no reward. To think I even have to put up with—
"Oh, now that I think about it..." he looked at his ponytail, "Hey, Yura, mind giving me a haircut? You can keep the hair. After today, I think you earned it." He gave her a light smile.
Said hair yokai's eyes lit up, "Y-You mean it! Yay!" she actually squealed like a little girl, getting the three with her to sweat awkwardly.
Meanwhile, off on a tree branch, Naruko observed the rusty Tessaiga with a grin, "Well done, Lady Naruko! With this blade, your path to surpass your sister will be a breeze!" Myoga the flea cheered for her.
"Nah, don't sell it short." She chuckled. She looked off in the direction of Haruto. "I'll need to see what he can do too."
"Him?" the insect asked curiously.
"If Satsuki thinks he'll get much stronger, I wonder what'll happen if I let him do that..." she leaned against the tree, "That should be a good match to see what this thing can do."