Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, etc., of Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. This story is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.

SHARDS OF DESTINY

Summary: Naraku has somehow managed to cross over to the modern era, and our heroes must band together to try and stop him. But what troubles arise as old relationships are torn apart by new, and the dark spider sits spinning new webs of deceit?

Prologue

When Mrs. Higurashi went out to water her prize-winning petunias, she scanned the darkening skies with a frown. The sun, which had smiled pleasantly down on the late spring day, was hidden behind gathering stormheads. A fitful wind blew, scattering leaves across the paths Gramps carefully swept that morning, and she wondered if she should call Souta in. The boy was kicking his soccerball across the grassy backyard, but missed his aim as a shadow fell across him. He looked up, brow furrowed.

The Goshinboku creaked, its leaves stirring restlessly as it groaned in the rising wind. Mrs. Higurashi, apron flapping around her knees, called uneasily, "Souta! Come inside, honey. I don't think - "

The wind turned bitingly cold, and Mrs. Higurashi shivered with more than just the feel of it. Alarmed, she glanced at her father, emerging with broom in hand. He stared at the boiling clouds, almost swollen purple-black now as their gloom slithered across the hilltop shrine, plunging the sunny day into darkness.

"What the…?" the old priest muttered, looking wildly around. The wind circled around his feet, lashing little pebbles against the side of the house and ripping twigs and the last faded flowers off the trees. The carefully raked yard was scooped up in little puffs, rippling across the sand with a careless hand. The storm seemed to gather in on itself, building ominously above the little shrine.

The wind abruptly changed, its breath growing rank with the stench of rotting corpses as a shriek arose with the wails of a hundred untold horrors. An atavistic fear, near primal in recognition, engulfed Mrs. Higurashi. She blindly turned, the watering can dropping unheeded at her feet as she raced across the lawn to grab her son, enfold him in her tight embrace as they crouched terrified on the grass.

"What is it, Mama?" Souta moaned into her breast, eyes clenched shut as he shook uncontrollably. There was such evil emanating from all around them, a malignance so intense they could feel its stinking breath across their clammy skin.

"I don't know, baby," she whispered helplessly, caught up in the utter agony of indecision. Everything told her to run, run away, but she somehow knew that would only draw its attention - whatever it was. And once caught…

But the horror of that thought was too much for her mind to even encompass. All they could do was huddle, terrified, on the grass, her head bent over his as she watched the unearthly storm swirling high above in savage fury.

"Begone, foul beast!"

Gramps, a ridiculous figure in his wind-kited robes, defiantly raised the broomstick in his spindly old arms like a stave, shouting some mantra lost on the shrieking wind as raw evil surrounded them in pulsating purple energies. His voice, so thin and reedy, gained unnatural strength as he hurled all his will into that ancient renunciation, the prayer-beads around his wrist clacking against the wood of his broom. The old man's eyes bulged, the tendons standing out along his neck and arms as he became the center of a whirlwind of embroiled rage. The vicious screech of the wind grew higher and higher as each slow, agonizing second passed, until they wanted to scream themselves for the torture of it, and then -

"SPIRIT GUN!"

A piercing, blue-white light shot from the upraised grip of a young man standing at the top of the shrine's steps, his red jacket whipping in the rising gale as the flare of energy raced straight for the heart of that stinking cloud of condensed miasma. Mrs. Higurashi ducked, covering her son's dark head with her own as the brilliant flash of light seared across their closed eyes, leaving dazed spots dancing in its wake.

That heartrending shriek rose to an agonized crescendo that rang in their ears as the light flared around them, the fury building until it abruptly vanished with a clap of thunder and a mad laugh. A laugh that lingered in mocking echoes even as the swollen, purple clouds dissipated and the sun shone once more across an unclouded sky. The sudden silence was almost palpable. A bird cheeped inquiringly and Mrs. Higurashi raised her head to stare around her in bewilderment. Souta, shaking and crying, clutched at her, and she hugged him tight, still unable to process the horror that had so recently gripped them.

Everything seemed the same, like nothing had happened, except for the scattered leaves and broken branches lying across the grass. And the old man, slowly crumpling to the ground.

"Father!" Mrs. Higurashi was up and running, Souta beside her, even as the door to the wellhouse abruptly slammed open, people spilling out in a gasping, coughing knot. She instantly recognized Inuyasha from the flash of his silver-white hair and the red glare of his fire-rat robes. Her daughter, streaked with soot and clothing torn, sagged against him, coughing weakly. The others, though, were complete strangers. A dark-haired youth in monkish robes clutched his wrapped arm, pain tightening his features as he dropped to his knees. A slender girl, covered in dust and blood, held a limp white form in her arms as she helplessly retched into the geraniums. A small, rusty-headed boy crawled towards Kagome, who caught him up with a glad cry. "Shippou!"

"Kagome, what...?" Mrs. Higurashi stared helplessly.

"That's what I'd sure like to know." The other boy, clad in jeans and jacket, his black hair slicked back with gel, parked his hands on his hips.

"Urameshi!" A large man barreled over the top of the shrine steps, glancing wildly around. Eyes landing on the dark-haired youth, he abruptly bent over, gasping. "I'm…almost there…just gotta…give me…a second."

"Late, as usual." The young man shook his dark head.

"Kuwabara, are you all right?" Yet another young man emerged from beneath the massive prayer gate, the concern clear in his deep green eyes. His long, red hair was several shades darker than the bright pompadour sported by his large friend.

"Just what…" Inuyasha, battered, exhausted, but not yet defeated, reached for his hilt with blood-splattered claws. "…the fuck…is going on?"

"Inuyasha," Kagome pleaded, but the stubborn hanyou shrugged her off to stagger to his feet. He leaned heavily on his Tetsusaiga, the tattered blade an incongruous prop.

"Again, something I'd sure like to know." The dark-haired boy scowled.

"Look, you - " Inuyasha bristled, but Souta's cry distracted them.

"Gramps! Gramps, are you okay?" The little boy frantically shook the old man, who coughed weakly.

"Father." Mrs. Higurashi's breath caught in her throat as she knelt beside the old man, automatically clasping the dry, wrinkled hand in hers. The pulse was thready beneath her seeking thumb. The old man coughed fitfully, and blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth.

"My beautiful little girl," he said weakly, fingers tightening on hers. He smiled gently, and then closed his eyes.

"Father?" Mrs. Higurashi asked brokenly, clasping his quickly chilling hand to her cheek as the tears fell unchecked.

"Gramps?" Kagome cried, frantically pushing at Inuyasha as he tried to restrain her. "Gramps!"

"Damn you, Naraku," Inuyasha hoarsely whispered, fist pounding into the dirt as he sagged beneath the weight of defeat. "Damn you to hell."