InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Second Chance At Love ❯ Crime and Punishment ( Chapter 28 )

Disclaimer: I still don’t own Inu Yasha .


Chapter 28: Crime and Punishment


Inuyasha’s eyes roamed her figure from head to toe again. He found the navy blue and pink outfit strange and decided he preferred her school uniform to it. It covered her more than her uniform did, but for some reason he found this new outfit to be more disturbing then the first. He liked the longer hair that fell in waves to her waist and eyed it as it waved behind her from the breeze. Inuyasha was relieved to see that her eyes hadn’t changed; they were still the same piercing blue they’d always been. Her eyes had been the first thing to help him distinguish her from Kikyou.

Kagome stood motionless as she slowly took in the scene in front of her. She noticed with a worried glance that both Miroku and Sango were unconscious on the ground at Inuyasha’s and Sesshoumaru’s feet. She could clearly see that Kirara was doing what she could to protect her mistress, but she could also sense the feline’s distress. The neko didn’t know what was happening. And she could see the Obake standing not too far in the background. His eyes were narrowed on her with a knowing look in their depths.

Kagome had no idea what the others were seeing. She knew that she’d undergone the change, but she didn’t know the change would also be physical. The Four Souls had neglected to mention that little detail. She figured it would be just a simple increase in her priestess powers and, you know, whatever is done to lengthen a person’s life span.

The moment she was coherent enough to understand, her eyes had immediately searched out the taiyoukai. He was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen. Her heart had nearly dropped to her stomach at the blank look on his face. It’d been a long time since she’d seen that look in his eyes…and had it aimed at her. For the first time since she’d died, she wondered if perhaps the inu-youkai preferred her dead.

“Hello Inuyasha.”

With half an ear she’d heard the hanyou call out her name in a mixture of shock, wonder, and confusion. She’d focused her attention on her friend out of a sheer need not to meet the indifferent look in Sesshoumaru’s eyes. Kagome tilted her head to the side at the look on his face. She knew it would be a shock to them all at seeing her alive, but there was something else in Inuyasha’s look that made her pause. What was he staring at?
Inuyasha stared at the vision in front of him as he took her in from head to toe. He couldn’t believe what his eyes were telling him. A large part of him wanted to touch her to be sure, so he took a few steps toward her to do just that. He came to a stop a few feet in front of her and slowly reached out a clawed hand towards her face. Inuyasha ignored the unmistakable growl that came from behind him and gently placed a palm to her cheek. He sniffed lightly at the air around her and was relieved to recognize her familiar scent.

But she looked so different.

Kagome placed her hand over the one touching her face after flicking her eyes to the Taiyoukai behind him. Her eyes connected with gold, but, to her dismay, she was still being locked out. She sighed inwardly then returned her gaze to a similar pair of golden orbs, but ones that were open with curiosity, relief, and not just a hint of pain.

Kagome tried to smile at her friend but the look in his eyes wouldn’t allow it to form on her lips.

“Inuyasha?” she inquired with a small amount of worry.

“Kagome…” he breathed her name before continuing, “What happened to you?”

Kagome blinked. Could he sense her change? Was it somehow noticeable? She thought she might be able to hide it for a while… a few years maybe.

“What do you mean Inuyasha?”

“You died.”

“Yes,” she confirmed with a nod.

“We were sure…” he trailed off as if to collect his thoughts then started again. “We were sure he’d killed you.”

The Obake? She’d thought so too, at first. “No.”

“You look different Kagome…” he trailed off as he removed his hand from her face. Inuyasha’s eyes harden as his ears twitched reflexively. He felt her stiffen as he stared at her. “What do you mean ‘no’?”

Kagome recognized the look on his face; she’d seen it enough times before. He was about to yell at her. She wasn’t up for a shouting match with him, she thought as she nervously began to twirl a lock of hair around her finger.

She froze then. Something wasn’t right. Usually when she reached to grab her hair where it hung about an inch or two passed her chest she would grab the end and start twirling… What she was holding wasn’t the end of her hair.

Momentarily forgetting her friend, she cast an inquiring look down and stared in befuddlement at the long, black and fuscia colored strands. Her hair hung in the same thick waves she remembered except now it was much longer, ending just pass her waist, and streaked with… pink? Was that really her hair? Kagome was just about to pull the rest over her shoulder when she got a good look at what she was wearing.

“What happen to my clothes?” she asked no one in particular as she stared in wonder at the strange outfit.

“KAGOME!” yelled Inuyasha in frustration. “Could you focus here? What the hell do you mean no!”

She frowned at the agitated look on her friend’s face as her attention was brought back to the problem at hand and away from her appearance.

“I mean, he didn’t kill me Inuyasha,” she stated simply and waited for the information to settle in the hanyou’s brain.

“Kagome, you were dead. Don’t tell me he didn’t kill you because I saw you. We all saw you!!” he ended loudly.

“I did die,” she agreed with an irritated frown. Why was this so hard for him to understand? “I’m not denying that, Inuyasha. I’m only saying the Obake didn’t kill me.”

“The words I told you so are coming to mind here… I feel I deserve an apology.”

Both Kagome and Inuyasha frowned at the interruption. The Obake raised an expectant eyebrow in return.

“He didn’t?” asked Inuyasha as he turned back towards Kagome. He was confused. If the Obake didn’t kill her, who did? It wasn’t one of them. Did they have another enemy they didn’t know about? And why wouldn’t Kagome tell them who it was? ‘She’s never kept her trap shut before, why the hell is she starting now!’

“Who did?”

Inuyasha spun around, simultaneously, as Kagome looked up when they were interrupted again, but this time by the quiet, silky voice they both knew well.

Sesshoumaru had watched the entire interaction between Kagome and Inuyasha. If the hanyou touched her one more time he didn’t think he’d be able to remain still again. He was genuinely glad she was alive, even though he hadn’t bothered to show it. What for? Inuyasha was doing enough gushing for the both of them. Pathetic. He’d seen Kagome look at him with that searching look in her eyes and he’d seen the puzzled look come over her face when she didn’t find whatever it was she was looking for. Her face was so expressive a person could almost read what exactly was on her mind.

He’d watched the shadow of doubt cloud her sapphire eyes and he could almost guest what she was thinking. Why didn’t he bother to reassure her? It wasn’t in his nature to do so. Letting a person know they matter to you is equivalent to giving them power over you. He would not make that mistake again; it was, perhaps, the only thing he could thank his mother for. Yes, he loved Kagome, but he would never admit to the weakness aloud. It mattered not. She was supposed to love him, not the other way around.

As his mate it was her duty to not only love him, but obey him as well. And in return it was his duty to protect her. Her skill with a bow and arrow was good and she held power in her that was strong. He was glad of that since it meant he would not have to worry over much about her and any pups they might have. Their mother would be able to protect them should he not be available, though he doubted that would ever happen. He wouldn’t allow it.

Sesshoumaru could sense the power inside her. It seemed stronger then what he remembered… yet the same somehow. He’d listened to her conversation with the hanyou and he heard when she’d denied the bakemono being the one to have killed her. First he’d thought she was lying to them out of some misguided sense of protecting the Obake, but he quickly realized she was serious. The Obake hadn’t killed her. That didn’t mean he was going to allow the bake to live. He still had harmed his miko. And while he may not have been the one to kill her, Sesshoumaru was sure he played a part in it somehow and just for that alone, he was going to kill him. This only meant someone else was going to die as well. The question was who.

He was waiting for the answer.

Kagome stared at the Taiyoukai. When she was in the After World he was practically all she could think of. She’d imagined so many things she would have said to him if she’d been given just half a chance. But, now that he was standing in front of her and she had the chance to say all the things she’d wanted to say she couldn’t form a single word. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared back at him. Her mind filled with fuzz as she sank further into the golden eyes that were so much like Inuyasha’s, yet not like anyone’s at all. He had the ability to say just about anything he wanted with his eyes alone; or say nothing at all.

She moved towards him, her hair swinging in the breeze behind her, as she walked without actually giving her feet the command to do so. She just had to touch him, just one small touch, just to be sure. Kagome didn’t know what she would do if he was to fade away as if he was a figment of her imagination. A mirage that shimmered at the edge of the desert to tempt a person to keep moving when they believed they had nothing more to give. Had she been in a desert she knew he would be her mirage.

She stopped a hairs breath away from him, invading his personal space. Her eyes fell to his neck. She was having trouble looking him in the eye now, her vision was blurring from the tears she hadn’t realized were coming ‘til they were there.

‘Sesshoumaru,’ she reached out with her mind for him because she couldn’t find her voice to do it out loud. She bowed her head to hide her tears, which didn’t make any sense; since she was sure he could smell them on her.

Kagome jumped slightly when she felt the gentle scrape of a claw against her cheek as she felt a firm hand settle beneath her chin and turn her face upward.

Sesshoumaru looked down into her swimming gaze and felt the uncontrollable urge to pull her the rest of the way against him. He hated the smell of her tears. It wrenched at his insides to see her hurting, but he didn’t pull her to him. Instead he brought a hand to her chin and lifted her gaze to his. He breathed in her scent and was thankful that it hadn’t changed like other parts of her had. Truthfully, he could careless how she looked. She was clean, unlike most ningens, and he liked her scent.

“Tell me.” He watched as she closed her eyes, causing a tear to slide down her cheek onto the pad of his thumb. He suppressed the urge to tell her to open her eyes and waited patiently for her to answer him.

Kagome released a breath as a small trimmer went through her body. Her knees had gone weak for a moment when he’d touched her. She slowly got her emotions under control and then opened her eyes to regard him quietly. She took in everything about him, committing it to memory, just in case she didn’t get the chance to again. His eyes were still closed to her, but she decided now wasn’t the time to dwell on it, even if her heart thought it was the perfect time to do just that.

“The Four Souls,” she answered evenly.

He arched a brow at her. Did he hear her correctly? Was she really saying the Four Souls had killed her? That the Shikon no Tama had caused her death? He wasn’t sure he understood.

“It was an accident,” she answered his unasked question. “Can I explain this later? Let’s just say that the jewel had made a miscalculation, but now I’m back.”

It was Inuyasha’s turn to raise an eyebrow at her half explanation. ‘A miscalculation’? Is that what they were calling it now? More like a royal fuck up if you asked him; which nobody did.

He opened his mouth to share his opinion anyway, but paused when the sound of hands clapping stopped him. His focus shifted in the direction of the noise and his eyes hardened as they connected with the Obake’s.

Sesshoumaru didn’t bother to turn or move and Kagome was already facing in the bakemono’s direction but her vision was blocked by Sesshoumaru’s broad shoulders. She mentally cursed her height for the thousandth time in her current life span and her misfortune for acquiring a boyfriend who was too tall for her to see over his shoulder even when she stood on the tip of her toes.

’Did I just call Sesshoumaru my boyfriend?’, she thought in a panic and took a peek from beneath her lashes to make sure he still couldn’t read minds.

“Wasn’t that sweet?” said the Obake with a sneer as he stopped clapping from his position above them. “I hate to break up the happy reunion, but we have a few issues to settle. In case you forgot!”

He folded his arms in front of him in a mock imitation of the Taiyoukai. He’d seen the change in the miko just as the others had, but unlike them, he knew where the surge in her power had come from. He could sense the Shikon no Tama in her ki as its strength sang in her blood. He knew what it meant: the jewel had picked its True Guardian and she was standing right in front of him.

The fact that he’d been right about the miko as the Jewel’s Guardian was his only consolation.

He didn’t care for the demon lord’s attitude, or any of their attitudes for that matter. He didn’t like being ignored either. In retaliation, and without further warning, he struck out at what they all seemed to care for most.

Kagome’s eyes rolled to the back of her head with the sudden stroke of pain that flared through her head. Her hands fingers stiffened reflexively as she clutched at Sesshoumaru’s clothing. She opened her mouth to cry out, but not a sound was emitted as her breath caught in her throat and one corner of her mouth jerked violently and spasmodically. A tear slipped down her cheek as her knuckles grew white with the force of her grip.

Sesshoumaru watched the play of her face carefully as he felt her body shudder through the grip she had on him. He knew exactly what was happening to her. He lowered his hand to rest it over one of hers as he tried to calm her with his own aura. It wasn’t easy though; one had to be calm and relaxed to share the peace in their aura with someone else and he was far from calm. He was furious. He couldn’t believe the Obake had the audacity to pull the same trick on his miko again. His left cheek ticked uncharacteristically as he tried to rein in his rage. When he saw her eyes begin to come into focus he silently made his move.

Faster then the human eye could see, he drew and released Tokijin in the direction of the bakemono and just as quickly followed in its path. Just as soon as the sword had hit and gone through its mark-the bake’s right shoulder-did he materialize in front of him and yank the sword back out. The Obake screamed out in a mixture of surprise and pain as Sesshoumaru spun in a neat circle and sliced at his throat.

The bakemono jumped back at the last possible second; only receiving a small knick on the left side of his neck. He rose towards the sky in attempt some needed distance between himself and the Taiyoukai. His silver eyes were wide as he clutched at his right shoulder with the opposite hand. He had not expected the Taiyoukai to attack or to attack so fiercely. Trails of blood were flowing down his arm and out of his sleeve over his hand, bright red against the pale of his skin. He gave a feral grin as he cut his eyes to the Taiyoukai who stared back at him.

“You wound me, my lord,” he laughed then and flexed his injured arm. He removed his hand from his shoulder to show Sesshoumaru the wound. It was healing rapidly. With his left hand he pulled his own sword from his waist and passed it to his, now healed, right hand. “I’m beginning to think you don’t like me,” he pouted mockingly. He lunged forward then with a broad attack to Sesshoumaru’s left.

Sesshoumaru moved forward towards the blow and blocked it with his sword before returning the attack with one of his own. He stuck his claws through the upper half of the bake’s left arm and released his poison into the demon’s blood stream. The bakemono hissed as he jerked his arm away and swung out with his sword in a deadly arc. The swords tip ripped a nice size gash into Sesshoumaru’s left sleeve.

Sesshoumaru didn’t miss a beat as he punched hard against the bake’s chest instead of looking down to see the damage that had been caused to his clothing. The Obake flew back a couple of feet from the blow, but he didn’t have time to worry about that as he had to dive to his right so as not to get hit with the Taiyoukai’s dokkaso.

As the two demons engaged in battle in the air, on the ground below Kagome had fallen to her knees. Inuyasha was hovering around her trying to help her, but not having a clue how. He could sense the pain she was in, though it had lessened since Sesshoumaru had begun fighting it was still very much there.

Kagome panted heavily as she tried to support her weight on her shaking hands and knees. Her hair fell like a curtain around her as she bowed her head in agony.

‘Remember who you are, priestess…’

‘You are the Guardian…’

‘You are the power of the Shikon…’

‘Use what belongs to you.’

Kagome shuddered as she heard the voices of the Four Souls talking to her. She wasn’t sure where they’d come from or how they were talking to her, but she was grateful. In between seeing Sesshoumaru and the others again and feeling the oh-so-familiar pain in her head again she’d forgotten about her new abilities. In truth, she wasn’t quite sure what all of her new abilities were, but she figured if she was supposed to be some all-powerful being, then an attack like the one she was under shouldn’t be able to affect her so easily.

Slowly and methodically she reached inside of herself for the power she knew was there. Steadily she built up the walls in her head to block her mind from the Obake’s attack. She could feel a calmness washing over her as the pain began to recede and the throbbing that had started recently ebbed and died.

Kagome blinked twice then gracefully stood to her feet. She took in the scene above her and her eyes began to glow as they focused on the Obake. She was pissed.
Inuyasha had taken a step back when he realized she was standing. He’d watched, puzzled as her body had glowed with a light pink light, but the light had quickly died and she’d started to stand. He watched as she directed her gaze to the sky to look at the battle going on above them and he stared in awe as her entire being began to glow with the familiar fuscia light. Her eyes were glowing fiercely and he jumped slightly as the air crackled around her. He was amazed at the feel of power then he grinned when he felt her anger. Somebody was in trouble!

Kagome raised a hand, palm forwards, in the direction of the bakemono. Her hand began to glow bright and she was just about to release her attack when she heard a slight sound. The light in her hand dimmed as she tilted her head to the side to catch the sound again. She blinked and frowned before sucking in her breath and directing her gaze towards the ground.

!!whimper!!

Sango.

!!grunt. GROAN!!

Her head turned to her other side when she heard more noises. Miroku.

”Miroku?” she breathed as she began to feel his pain. Sango’s pain was slight. “What’s wrong with them Inuyasha?” she asked with a concerned frown. “Why are they laying here like this?”

“That bastard put them in some sort of deep sleep,” he growled angrily. “Whatever it is we can’t seem to wake them up. He’s also controlling them in some way. I don’t know how, but it’s hurting them. All he’d said to Sesshoumaru is it’s just a dream, whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean!”

Kagome narrowed her eyes at the bakemono once more as she trained her gaze up on the sky again. Both demons were fighting viciously and though it appeared that Sesshoumaru was the better fighter and winning, none of his hits seemed to be affecting the other demon much. Oh, he bled like anyone else would he just didn’t seem to suffer any effects from it. It was like feeling the heat of fever, but not suffering any of the weakness, fatigue, and delirium it caused. He was bleeding and hurting, but that’s all he was doing. She watched in sort of a trance as the Obake pulled out a second sword against Sesshoumaru’s one. As she watched metal clang against metal-when she could see it-she grudgingly admitted to herself the bake had skill.

In a skillful move the Obake struck at Seshoumaru with one sword and then lightly spun and came around in a smooth and quick arc, going for the Taiyoukai’s throat. Sesshoumaru dodged the blow easily as he jumped backwards and came down a few paces away. The fight was proving to be more of a challenge then he’d previously thought it would be, he noted with in appreciation. The effort wasn’t due so much to the Obake’s fighting technique so much as it was due to the demon’s ability to heal and regenerate. No matter how fast or how deep he wounded his opponent the blow would begin to heal just as soon as he removed his sword from the bakemono’s flesh.

“Is that the best the Lord of the Western Lands can offer?” taunted the Obake nastily. “I’m disappointed. I had expected better.”

Something flashed in the Taiyoukai’s eyes, but was gone before the Obake could identify it. He waited for some sign of a reaction to his words, but when he realized none would be forth coming, he floated down to the ground. He didn’t look to see if the inu was following him; he knew he was. He waited a split second for the other demon’s feet to touch the ground before attacking.

Sesshoumaru followed the bakemono to the ground and took an immediate step to the right to dodge the sudden attack. The bakemono was too slow. If he was fighting Inuyasha he could think of at least five different remarks he would have made to piss the hanyou off, but since he was fighting the bake he decided to forgo the pleasantries. He blocked another blow from one of the bake’s sword then shot his left hand forward to stab his fingers through the demon’s chest. He watched as silver eyes widened in shock as the bake stumbled backwards. Sesshoumaru took advantage of the bake’s shock and scored two more blows before having to orb to dodge another sloppy attack and reappearing behind the bakemono’s back.

The bakemono grabbed at his chest and immediately started the healing. He still couldn’t believe how fast the Taiyoukai was. He marveled at the inu’s speed. He’d never fought someone faster then himself; it took some adjusting. If it wasn’t for the healing powers he had, that worked faster then any other demon, he would be in really bad shape right now. He retaliated for the blows with an offensive attack of his own, but wasn’t surprised when the dog-demon avoided it. He was surprised when he disappeared though. He blinked in confusion for a moment then immediately swung around, sword out stretched, when he felt the inu-youkai’s presence behind him.

His eyes widened again in astonishment; he’d never seen the youkai move.

Sesshoumaru stood quietly as he stared down at the demon. He was perched gracefully on the edge of the bake’s sword. He refused to let the demon see his hatred for him. He would not allow his emotions to get in the way of his killing the bakemono. Soon he would find a way around the demon’s unusual rejuvenation speed and then he would really show the demon the mistake he made in pissing this Sesshoumaru off!

The Obake withdrew his sword from beneath the Taiyoukai and watched impassively as he dropped lightly to the ground before him. He eyed the demon lord contemptuously as he pondered his next move. He’d never hated someone quite like he hated the Taiyoukai.
The demon lord thought himself better then the Obake and he didn’t like it. He didn’t like feelings of inadequacy in himself and had vowed he would never feel that way again. The fact that the demon lord treated him exactly that way built a rising anger in his soul that was like nothing he could ever remember feeling before.

oooo

Kagome watched the two demons as they eyed one another. She had a feeling the fighting was about to get worse. She took a step in their direction then froze when she heard a groan coming from the vicinity near her feet.

Miroku and Sango.

She’d forgotten all about them as she’d watched the battle between Sesshoumaru and the bakemono play out. She needed to figure out what was wrong with them before she tried to help the Taiyoukai; besides he wouldn’t appreciate her interference.

“Inuyasha,” she called out to him and waited for him to look at her. “I have to help Miroku and Sango now. So I need you to watch them for me,” she nodded her head slightly towards the fighting demons, “and help him when he needs it.”

Inuyasha looked over at his brother and the Obake and had that sudden thought, again, that he’d never truly fought his brother before. “Which one?” he asked with a raised brow. From where he stood, the bake looked to be the one in need of assistance.

“Just watch,” she replied with an irritable frown. Kagome looked over at the two warriors again. She knew how it looked to Inuyasha, but she also knew that the longer they fought the more the Obake was going to want to see Sesshoumaru dead. And the more he wanted the inu dead, the more he’d be willing to do anything to see that happen. She didn’t trust him to fight fairly for long. “And help him. Don’t let him get killed Inuyasha.”

“Yeah,” he said irritably, folding his arms over his chest. “He won’t get killed. Now will you shut up about it!?”

Kagome chose to ignore his attitude and stooped down beside Miroku. She looked over him closely, but could find nothing wrong with him. Her eyes fell on his right hand and she stared at the familiar binding. Could it be? She wondered quietly to herself. After a moment she moved on, deciding that the question of the wind tunnel could wait. She ran a light hand over Miroku’s face. His skin felt like it was on fire and was causing her no small amount of worry.

“Come on Miroku, you have to help me out here,” she said to him, but got no response. She watched in horror as a spasm shook his body and his heart rate began to speed up beneath the hand she had resting on his chest. Kagome tried desperately to think. Inuyasha had said something to her about a dream she remembered. She could see the monk’s eyes moving restlessly beneath his eyelids and decided his dreams was as good a place to start as any other.

Closing her eyes she placed a hand on his forehead and kept the other over his heart on his chest. She took a deep, calming breath then used her ki to reach out towards her friend. She remembered to keep her mind clear and free of any distractions, like Kaede-san had taught her, and steadily felt her way around in search of Miroku. She nearly cried out in glee when she found him.

Kagome stopped and built a link between her and the monk’s conscious. She could feel the barrier that was around him now. She didn’t try to bring it down because she wasn’t sure what kind of barrier it was and, therefore, didn’t know what damage-if any- it might cause Miroku if she did.

“Miroku?” she called out to him again, but this time she did it through the link she created.

oooo

Miroku had sensed the new presence immediately after it showed up, but couldn’t tell whom it belonged to. And, to be honest, he didn’t really care at this point. He could feel the other demons surrounding him, but he was in too much pain to even think about getting up much less actually doing it. Even his eyelids hurt; he didn’t even bother trying to open them. He was in so much pain and having heat flashes that part of him almost welcomed the oblivion death would bring. He almost laughed to himself at the irony of his thoughts when he heard her voice calling him.

“Miroku?”

He tried to focus his attention oh her. Well, now that he knew he was dead, when could he get the pain to go away?

“Kagome? Odd, but I always figured it would be my father or mother to be the first to greet me in death. Not that I’m disappointed. It’s nice to hear you again Lady Kagome.”

Kagome sighed in relief when she heard him answer her back. She was so happy she’d reached him that she almost missed his comment about his parents and death. She figured he must really be in some pain if he was already giving up; it wasn’t like him.

“You’re not dead Miroku,” she said softly. She’d never thought her presence would make him think he was dead.

“I’m not? Then how…”

She knew what he was trying to ask. “I’m not dead either.”

“You’re not? But we saw… What did we see?” he asked in confusion.

“You saw me die,” she said with a smile in her voice. It was just like him to worry about her when he was the one in trouble. “It’s a long story. How about we get you out of here and I tell you about it later?”

”All right,” he agreed that he wouldn’t mind getting the poison out of him. “Where are we?”

Kagome opened her eyes then. “Good question,” she breathed as she looked around. She frowned at what she saw. This is his dream? It looked as if she was in a large open field. There was about twenty youkai, all armed, and standing around in a circle. The ground was littered with the bodies of even more demons. It looked as if a battle had taken place. They seemed to all be looking at something that was on the ground in the middle of them. None of them were paying her any attention. Where was Miroku?

She moved forward then. She wanted to see what was so fascinating to all of them. She could see glimpses of something dark through the crowd, but couldn’t make it out. All she could tell is that whatever it was it was lying on the ground at their feet. Kagome spotted a gap in the crowd and quickly moved forward to get a better look.

She gave an audible gasp then.

Miroku was lying on the ground in semi-fetal position. He was sweating badly and his breathing was labored. Every few seconds his body would shutter from the spasms. He was in really bad shape and to top it all off, he had no shield around him for protection. Forgetting, for a moment, who was surrounding her; Kagome quickly dropped to her knees beside her friend’s shaking form.

“Miroku?” she called gently as she laid a gentle hand upon his cheek. “Miroku what happened?”

Miroku’s eyes fluttered open at the feel of a hand against his skin. He tried unsuccessfully to push his face into the cool touch and open his eyes to see who his savior was. He’d heard Kagome’s voice and he’d even responded to her, but he didn’t dare believe she was there with him. No one knew where he was; not even himself.
He took a deep breath and tried to open his eyes again. He knew he was dying, but Kami-sama, what was taking it so long!? He blinked a few times at the sun light, his vision was blurry, but soon he focused on the being kneeling beside him.
He blinked again.

“Kagome?” he questioned quietly.

Her face was the same as he remembered, but nothing else was. Her hair was longer, not to mention it was streaked pink, her clothing was different, and he wasn’t sure if it was his imagination but her aura felt different as well… Like it was her, but something more as well. He wondered if the change was some unknown effect from the future. “You look different,” he whispered.

“Yes, well,” she smiled then, “that’s another story.” She watched as he blinked at her, but said nothing. “You’re sick Miroku. What happened?”

“The wind tunnel,” he replied as he pulled his covered hand closer to him, “it’s back.”

“It’s back?” blinked Kagome. Her eyes flickered to the hand he was craddling before resting on his again. “But, how… I don’t understand? How could that be possible?”

She knew Naraku was dead; she’d killed him. And as long as he was dead there was no way the kazaana could be back.

“Naraku,” he breathed in answer. His eyes flickered to the demons surrounding them then back to her. “He called it a ‘gift’ then set his lackeys on me… and the Saimyosho. I had to use the wind tunnel on them.”

“Miroku no,” she breathed, her voice laced with worry. He’d poisoned himself to survive.

It still didn’t make any sense to her. This was only a dream world. It shouldn’t be able to do this kind of damage, should it? Nothing was real here. But, there was no mistaking the monk was dying. How could someone die in their dreams? Her brow was furrowed in thought as she tried to make heads or tails of what was going on. She glanced at Miroku to ask him another question when she noticed his gaze wasn’t focused on her but something over her left shoulder. Kagome felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she whirled around. She saw the large youkai at the same time as she thrust her hand out to ward him off. And froze.

Her hand had gone completely through the top part of the youkai’s thigh. Kagome stared in shock before quickly pulling her hand away. She stared down at her hand in wonder. There wasn’t any blood or anything wrong with her hand. She touched her palms together then looked up at the demon. He didn’t seem phased by the phenomenon one way or the other. In fact, she noticed, he didn’t seem phased by her presence there at all. His gaze was focused on Miroku.

Kagome looked back and forth between them. She narrowed her eyes at the youkai as a thought came to her. She reached her hand out once more, and once more it went right through the demon’s leg, but this time she was expecting it. She wasn’t there.

Her body was incorporeal.

At first she’d thought it was the demon, but that wouldn’t explain why the demon couldn’t see her. That’s when she realized it was her that wasn’t really here; which actually made sense, because this was Miroku’s dream. Not hers. He’d have to be dreaming about her as well for her to be apart of it, whatever it was.

“He said he was my father.”

Kagome was only hearing him with half an ear. Her mind was busy trying to figure things out so she could get him out of there. So her reply was just as distracted as her mind, but no less honest. “You know that’s not true,” she shrugged. In truth, this would have probably been her answer, with a bit more indignation on her friend’s behalf added, if she had been paying closer attention.

Miroku blinked at her matter-of-fact tone. He felt a heaviness, like a weight, in his chest lift. He hadn’t realized that, though he’d protested, a part of him was afraid that the baboon might have been telling the truth. Kagome’s answer had released him of that fear; he knew who his father was. If nothing else, he knew that.

“You control your dreams, no one else can. No matter how strong the outside force is, your dreams belong to you.”

Kagome frowned as the recent words of Nigimitama came back to her. That was it! Miroku had given over his control of his dreams now someone else was dictating; and he was believing it as if it was real. She had pretty good idea who was behind it too. Just a dream my ass, she huffed to herself. The Obake was steadily racking up points.

She focused on Miroku then. “Miroku you have to wake up now.”

He blinked at her. “What?”

“This is all just a dream. Your dream. It’s time to wake up.”

He looked around at the demons and wondered why they hadn’t attacked them yet. Could all that had happened to him been a dream? He looked down at his palm, the one that held the wind tunnel, and wondered about it too. It felt so real to him. But, if it was a dream, it would explain why he didn’t know how he got there or why no one else was there.

“What about the wind tunnel, Kagome? It feels so real,” he asked with worry.

Kagome hadn’t thought about that. She remembered that his hand was also covered in the ‘real’ world, for lack of a better term, and she wasn’t sure if the tunnel was real or not. Did the bakemono have the power to bring the tunnel back? She wouldn’t be surprised. He was obviously stronger then Naraku and if the hanyou could create it, there probably wouldn’t be any trouble for the other to as well. Or, at least, bring it back.

“I’m not really sure,” she replied honestly. “It’s possible its real, but we won’t know ‘til you wake up.”

He nodded, but said nothing. His eyes were hooded, but she could see the worry and fear he was trying hard to hide from her.

“Miroku. Only you can control your dreams,” she said quietly. “Someone very wise told me that. So, take control Miroku.”

After a moment of silence that felt like an eternity, he nodded at her and pushed himself to a sitting position.

“Good,” she smiled. “See you out there.”

She saw his eyes widen as she released the link and disappeared.

oooo

Kagome blinked as her vision cleared. She looked around. She saw Inuyasha’s back to her and sighed. She was out. Patting Miroku on the chest, she rubbed her other hand down the side of his face and infused a little energy into his prone body. She hoped he’d wake up soon.

“How is he?”

She turned her head in the direction of the question coming at her. Inuyasha. He didn’t bother turning around to her. She had no idea how he knew she was back, but she decided not to ask him yet. “He’ll be fine once he wakes up.”

“Will he wake up?”

She tilted her head to the side as she regarded his back. She sensed a tension in him. “Yes.”

He didn’t respond.

After a moment, after she realized he wasn’t going to, she continued, “I have to help Sanogo now. How is Sesshoumaru doing?”

“He’s alive,” he responded irritably.

What was that all about, she wondered? His moods changed like the wind! Kagome gave him a thoughtful look then shrugged it off. “I’m going to help Sango now.” She didn’t get a reply.

Kagome sighed to herself and moved over towards the taijiya. She stared down at the face of the girl who was like a sister to her and had to blink away the tears. She could see Sango’s eyes moving restlessly, just like Miroku’s were, and every now and then the exterminator would frown or cry out. Kagome ran a healing hand over the gash along her friends side and within moments the cut disappeared.

As she did with Miroku, she placed a hand on her chest and the other on her forehead then after clearing her mind, she carefully built the link and closed her eyes. Kagome could feel the connection to her friend and sighed in relief. Sango was conscious, at least, in her dream.

oooo

Slowly she opened her eyes after the link was complete. Kagome stared at the scene in front of her in a mixture of awe and disbelief and not just a little pain. The ground was practically littered with the bodies of youkai of all sizes and types. There had to be over sixty bodies! But, there were about thirty more demons still standing and all of them were focusing on one target.

Her eyes landed on her friend then.

Sango was surrounded on all sides. Her ponytail was flying through the air behind her as she slashed, dipped, whirled and flipped her way through a crowd of brutal demons by herself. She was covered in dirt, grime and blood. Kagome could see the exhaustion on her face, but what surprised her were the tears in her friend’s eyes and streaming down her cheeks.

Kagome had only known Sango to cry for one reason, and one reason only: Kohaku. She looked around then and jerked when she saw the boy. He had that very familiar vacant look in his eyes, but that wasn’t what had caused her initial shock. It was the fact that she could clearly see a Shikon shard in his back. But, Kagome knew that wasn’t possible. Her hand came up to close around the sphere hanging around her neck. Whoever thought this dream up, she thought ruefully, was very thorough in their imaginations.

She could tell that Kohaku was gunning for his sister, even though at first glance it appeared as if he was helping her since he was hitting as many demons with his weapon as he wasn’t hitting Sango. She understood why she was crying now.

Poor Sango, she sighed to herself and felt a tear escape down her face. The taijiya was going to have to fight her brother if she didn’t wake up soon. And Kagome knew that would kill Sango.

Kagome looked towards the castle and saw Naraku, without his baboon pelt, standing in the doorway watching the battle. Something was different about the demon…. She blinked and took a step in his direction. She scanned his face again trying to find what was bothering her when her eyes locked on his. They were brown instead of red. He wasn’t Naraku in the dream… She wondered then, if he was the prince Sango had told them about that had harbored Naraku when her father and the other exterminators of her village had been killed.

She turned back towards the battle and her heart nearly leaped into her throat. Kohaku had aimed and released the blade side of his weapon at Sango. It landed barely a half an inch away from her. Too close. Kagome could feel her heart race as she thought of just how close that was to hitting her friend and felt an unhealthy rage build up inside of her. She clamped down hard on it as she noticed that Sango didn’t even bat an eye at the near miss. She didn’t even bother to turn away from the centipede youkai she was currently battling. Kagome wondered if it was Kohaku who was responsible for the cut on her side; a cut that was still there-and bleeding badly-in this dream world.

“Sango?” she called out to her friend lightly, not wanting to distract her. “Sango please…”

A tear trickled down Sango’s face as she heard her friend’s voice echo in her mind. Even in death, Kagome was still with her. “Kagome…” she breathed. She vowed she would not lose another family member. She didn’t know how they’d gotten their hands on Kohaku or a jewel fragment, but she would not let them keep him.

Kagome heard Sango call out her name, but she could tell from the wistful look on her face that she was speaking more to her memory then to her. Sango didn’t know she was there. Her friend was so far into this world that was created with her dreams that she couldn’t see its flaws.

“Sango, it’s not real!” she yelled at her this time; to hell with distractions. “SANGO!! LISTEN TO ME!”

Sango paused for a split second, just in time to let a tiger demon almost get a hit in, before she dropped and spun in a round sweep kick and knocked the youkai’s feet right from under him. The voice how sounded so real, but Sango refused to be fooled. Kagome was dead.

Kagome watched as the taijiya continued fighting and knew that no matter what she said or did she wasn’t going to be ever to reach her. She needed help. She needed someone who Sango couldn’t easily ignore. Kagome could think of only two people who Sango would listen to other then herself, and one of them-their image, at least- was already there. She closed her eyes then and prepared to sever her link. She hoped the other one had finally woken up.

oooo

Kagome gasped as she came out of the semi trance state too fast. She sat still a moment and waited for everything she was seeing three of became one again then hurriedly moved over to Miroku.

He was still asleep.

She noticed his breathing was better and his fever had gone down slightly, but now she needed him to wake up. He was Sango’s only hope now.

“Miroku wake up!” she called and shook him. “Come on Miroku. You need to get up now!”

Miroku stirred but his eyes didn’t open.

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!” she looked up quickly with an angry reply ready, but Inuyasha wasn’t looking at her. He was staring at the fight between Sesshoumaru and the Obake. “That bastard’s cheating!”

“This coming from the person that once told me, ‘there’s no such thing as cheating in a battle’,” she raised one finely shaped brow.

“Yeah, well that was different,” he replied; unconcerned. “It’s not ‘cheating’ when I’m the one doing the cheating.”

“Hmm,” she replied as she focused her gaze on the other two demons. She blinked. Was her eyes deceiving her or was she seeing three bakemonos? The Obake had obviously duplicated himself and was now attacking Sesshoumaru on three sides; though the Taiyoukai was holding up well. “Go help him!”

Inuyasha gave her a look over his shoulder that clearly said ‘why?’ but turned around and unsheathed Tetsusaiga anyway. It didn’t look like Sesshoumaru needed any help to him, but he wanted a piece of the bake too. So, he went anyway.

Kagome watched for a moment as Inuyasha took on the bakemono at Sesshoumaru’s back. They fight well together, she thought idly; when they’re not fighting each other, that is. She turned back to Miroku then and resumed trying to wake him up,
“Miroku, wake up! Sango needs you!!” by the time she finished her statement she was nearly yelling into the monk’s ear.

Miroku flinched. His eyes began to flutter then they opened. Violet orbs stared back at her.

Miroku had been in the middle of trying to get out of his dream world when he’d heard Kagome shouting at him. He’d successfully made the youkai that had been surrounding him disappear. He had taken a look around him, saw the scenery, saw the dead bodies, and told himself that what he was seeing wasn’t real. Miroku shut his eyes and was calming his breathing when the next thing he knew he was getting yelled at. What he’d heard had nearly made his heart stop. He could hear the anxiousness in Kagome’s voice and a small spurt of fear crawled down his spine. Sango.

A shock went through his body and stole his breath when his vision suddenly began to
blur. Miroku blinked his eyes to clear them, but the effort was useless. When his vision cleared he was staring into a pair of familiar blue eyes.

“Well, thank Kami!” exclaimed Kagome. She’d been fighting to keep herself from shaking the monk to death when his eyes had opened.

“Sango…” he’d stopped and swallowed for a moment then tried again, “Where’s Sango?”

“The Obake put her in a dream reality like yours,” she responded. “I can’t get to her.”

“What do you mean ‘like mine’?” he could feel the panic rising inside him.

“Shes’ in a dreamscape like you were and the world is a bit different, but not by much,” she said with a twist to her lips. “Miroku she’s put her heart and emotions into what she’s doing and seeing. She believes the world around her is real and can’t hear me when I call for her.”

He gave her confused look. “Why does she believe it? Even I was a little skeptical about the things going on around me, even though I could not figure out what was the problem besides Naraku.” He didn’t understand why Sango was taking everything at face value. Was there a Naraku in her dream too? And if so, why wasn’t that making her wonder?

“She’s fighting with Kohaku, Miroku” she responded quietly. She knew this was the reason Sango couldn’t see what was going on; she wasn’t trying to. “In her dream he still has a jewel fragment in his back,” she added knowing that would explain everything.

Miroku blinked at her before a scowl came over his face. Suddenly he sat up. He grimaced for a moment at the stiffness in his back, but didn’t stop. His body felt weak and stiff from lying on the ground for as long as he did, which he figured must have been pretty lengthy from the uncomfortable stiffness. From what he could tell by the position of the sun and what he could remember before things changed, he’d guess that they’d been out for a couple of hours at the most. He slowly stood up then moved over to Sango’s unconscious figure and dropped heavily to his knees beside her. Placing a palm against her cheek he looked up at Kagome with a determined look on his face and in his eyes.

“Can you take me to her?”

Kagome had been going to suggest she do just that, but now that she’d seen him move she wasn’t sure it was a good idea he go. He didn’t look strong enough to take on such a battle.

“Yes,” she nodded with a frown, “but-”

“My mind is fine Kagome,” he answered before she could even finish the question. “It is my mind that is going not my body. I will be fine.”

Kagome gave him an assessing look then, apparently after getting whatever confirmation she was seeking, nodded. She turned to look at the fight that was still going on between Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru and the Obake and saw that they were still fighting, but now there were four bakemonos instead of three. She gave a slight frown before turning back to Miroku. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were doing fine -it was Sango who was in need of her help now. She moved closer and taking Miroku’s other hand, she placed it over Sango’s heart then placed her own on top of his. After telling him to close his eyes, using the rhythm of Sango’s heart beat she searched for a connection to Sango’s conscience and latched onto it.

Slowly she sank once more into Sango’s dream pulling Miroku along with her.

oooo

Inuyasha used his blood and slashed at one of the bakemonos then moved on to another. He’d watched how fast the Obake was able to heal himself, but it was frustrating dealing with it first hand. How the hell did Sesshoumaaru deal with it? It was impossible to kill him, any of them since the duplicates could regenerate just as fast, or even hurt one for any length of time.

They needed to find a way around the bake’s healing power or this was going to start going down hill really soon.

He took a glance in Sesshoumaru’s direction and saw that the Obake had stepped the fight up a little by pulling out a second sword. Sesshoumaru was using Tokijin to defend himself with when needed. It seemed like the Obake was moving faster too. He moved forward when another duplicated bake was blocking his path. From the corner of his eyes he could see that there was two more bakes on either side of him and he could sense another one behind him. He wasn’t sure when the fourth duplicate had come along, but it was obvious that the Obake didn’t need to concentrate on one task to accomplish it.
Blocked on all sides, he was surrounded and couldn’t get over to his brother were he to try again.

“Looks like I’m the popular one,” he growled and hefted Tetsusaiga over his shoulder.
Inuyasha ducked as the bake on his left charged forward swinging his sword. He swiped out at the bake’s feet then spun around to strike at the demon behind him. He jumped in the air when the other two struck out at him simultaneously then counterattacked with his claws.

“IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!” yelled Inuyasha with a swipe of hi hand.

He blocked another blow from behind as he dodged a fourth attack when the first two rejoined the fight.. With a series of kicks, blocks, and attacks he was a non-stop target as dodge, ducked and parried his way through the four duplicates. They had quickly learned that to attack him all at once was infinitely better then one at a time and was making good use of their new found knowledge.

Inuyasha was very aware that all he was able to do was block any blows that came his way, which were many, and what he couldn’t block, get out of the way as quick as possible. They weren’t giving him any opportunities to use Tetsusaiga. Twice he’d begun to call on the Wind Scar only to have his intentions interrupted by an attack from behind or somewhere else. He seemed to permanently be on the defensive. It was pissing him off!

He blocked another punch directed at his rib cage and jumped back from a kick towards his head and froze when he bumped into something solid. His skin prickled with anticipation as he wondered if it was another duplicate, but didn’t dare take his eyes off the other four to look.

He sighed in relief when a familiar scent hit his nose.

Sesshoumaru didn’t even budge when he was bumped in the back. He’d seen the collision coming three minutes before it happened and could have easily avoided the hanyou if he chose. He’d been eyeing Inuyasha’s fight for a while and was disgusted to see that Inuyasha had allowed the bakemonos to put him in the defensive position. They obviously knew what the Tetsusaiga was capable of and weren’t about to risk Inuyasha using it. He found that interesting; they were afraid of Testsusaiga. If he wasn’t mistaken, he had a feeling that they were going to do everything possible to keep Inuyasha exactly where they had him. Only the baka wouldn’t have fallen for such an obvious ploy, he thought in irritation as he kept his eyes on the Obake in front of him.

“Has your eye sight begun to fail you as well Inuyasha?” inquired Sesshoumaru to the hanyou pressed to his back.

“Shut up, Sesshou,” replied Inuyasha irritably. He didn’t have time for Sesshoumaru’s wit. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed your little fight. So, what’s the problem Sesshoumaru? Getting slow in your old age?”

Inuyasha shrugged it off for after a moment as he realized he wasn’t getting a reply. Odd, but he wouldn’t look a gift dragon in the mouth. If he’d been able to face his brother he might have rethought that decision after getting a look at the demon lord’s face. For the first time in years you could actually see the shock on Sesshoumaru chiseled features. Later, the Taiyoukai would be thankful to know that the Obake was the only one to see him with his guard down and even more thankful that the Obake’s curiosity had kept him from taking advantage of the very rare moment.

Sesshoumaru stood frozen, back to back with his brother, partially surrounded by bakemonos, and in a tense state of shock.

Sesshou. Inuyasha had actually called him that. It had been so long since he’d heard the stupid nickname, that the hanyou had come up with all on his own he might add, that it had taken him completely off guard. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Inuyasha had said on purpose to get just that effect, but the hanyou didn’t even seem to realize what he’d said. Sesshou. Inuyasha use to call him that horrid name when he was a pup no matter how many times he told him not to, but Inuyashs would just look up at him, say okay, and call him the name again five seconds later. He’d continued to call him that until there fights had made him see the error in doing so. He didn’t even realize Inuyasha remembered the ridiculous name; he’d only just recalled it recently himself.

Hearing it said out loud had taken him completely off guard. It had been a very long time since he’d last felt so open and exposed over something Inuyasha did. His chest tightened with a feeling that was foreign to him and he wondered if this was what fear felt like. After a moment he threw that notion away; since the feeling was in response to something Inuyasha said and he refused to believe he would ever have cause to fear him. Not in this life time or any other!

The familiar mask slipped back over his features when he saw the open look of curiosity in the Obake’s eyes. He clamped down on his irritation at Inuyasha and returned the inquiring look with a patented blank look of his own.

The Obake watched the Taiyoukai suspiciously. He’d clearly seen the look of surprise on the demon lord’s face and wondered at its cause. In the entire time he’d watched the demons and their ningen friends he’d never seen the inu lord express any type of emotion for anything or anyone, not even the miko, yet something the hanyou brother of his had said was able to? It made no sense… and he wanted to know what it was.

But, he knew he wasn’t going to find out from the ice lord.

He saw that the half-breed was once again engaged in battle with the replicas he’d made of himself. His whole goal in creating the clones was to keep the hanyou and his sword occupied. He’d seen the intent in Inuyasha’s eyes to fight him and he’d heard the Guardian tell the hanyou to help the Taiyoukai and he couldn’t allow that to happen.

“Kill the hanyou,” he ordered the other bakes as he grinned at Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru could hear the battle going on behind him, but didn’t turn around to see how Inuyasha was doing. He knew perfectly well what the bake was up to. Inuyasha was the only one among them who could wield the Tetsusaiga without any consequences and he was sure the Obake knew it. Get rid of the hanyou, you get rid of the Wind Scar and the Backlash Wave.

What the Obake didn’t know was that Sesshoumaru could also wield his father’s sword, but he could not do so without causing injury to himself. He also hadn’t ever done the Backlash Wave, though he did not doubt his ability to perform the technique.

“Don’t worry about the hanyou my lord,” began the Obake as he walked closer, “We promise not to make it hurt too much.”

Sesshoumaru arched a brow.

“You have a lot to say for a youkai who had to make clones of himself to defeat a simple hanyou.”

The Obake narrowed his eyes in anger. “I’m getting tired of your attitude Taiyoukai. I promise you’ll join him after,” he growled before he attacked.

Sesshoumaru jumped gracefully out of the way as he unsheathed Tokijin from its sheath once more. He narrowed his eyes as he met the Obake blow for blow. He could tell the demon was trying to put him on the defensive and allowed him to have his dream for awhile. He could sense the Obake’s excitement as he became more confident of the battles outcome. There was glint in the Obake’s eyes as he slashed at Sesshoumaru with a speed he hadn’t shown before then. He dodged and blocked as he waited for the opening he knew was coming.

The Obake grinned as his breathing quickened. He spun and struck, ducked and swiped, as he attacked the youkai with both his swords. He threw one of his swords, point first at the demon lord in a copycat move of the Taiyoukai’s earlier attack and then jumped high in the air when the inuyoukai stepped nimbly to his left and turned his head to watch the swords flight. Just as he’d hoped he would do.

With a swift over head stroke, he brought his other sword down from over his head directly in the other demon’s direction from above with feral growl.

Sesshoumaru stepped to his left and spun around with a swing of his sword. Metal clashed against metal as their swords collided. The Obake had also spun around on his heal to meet the attack coming from behind, just barely keeping from having his head sliced. He hadn’t expected the Taiyoukai to realize his plan. Sesshoumaru swiped swiftly at the bakemono as he attacked with no mercy, quickly switching his position from defense to offense.

The Obake backed up as he tried to find a way to get back on the offense, but could get no opening. The Taiyoukai’s strikes were too swift and powerful that all he could do was block and move. He’d pulled out another sword, but even his two against Sesshoumaru’s one wasn’t making much of a difference. The Taiyoukai was just too fast.

Sesshoumaru aimed a powerful hit to the Obake’s left shoulder with his fist then using his sword knocked the demon on his unguarded wrist bone on his right hand causing the Obake drop one of his swords reflexively.

The Obake cried out as his newly emptied hand shot to his opposite shoulder. He held his other sword up in defense, but was caught off guard when Sesshoumaru’s sword clanged against his own, knocking it out of the way, and then sticking his poisoned claws through his right shoulder. He growled in frustration as he jumped back from the unexpected blow.

Sesshoumaru slashed at the demon with Tokijin then, “Kanetsu.”

A powerful blue wave of light shot forth and slammed into the bakemono sending him flying across the field to land face first on the ground.

His clothing was ripped in many places and his other sword was some ten feet away from him. He shook his head to clear his vision as he raised himself to his hands and knees. How could he have let the Taiyoukai humiliate him like that? He was the more powerful one, not that dog demon! How dare the inu presume to think he could defeat him! He’d show him! His anger boiled as his mind whirled around his embarrassment. Sesshoumaru would pay, if it was the last thing he ever did. His finger nails dug into the ground as he came up with a devious course of revenge.

He clenched a ball of dirt into his hand as he pushed himself to his feet. Silently he brushed himself off as he grimaced at the pain shooting through his body. He could feel his regenerative powers working as he turned slowly and eyed the Taiyoukai. One of his swords was lying on the ground about half way between them he noticed and slowly began to move towards it. He could have easily called it to him or even more easily conjured another one, but he needed to get closer to the Taiyoukai and he doubted it would be a good idea to allow the lord to close the distance between them.

Gracefully, he bent over to retrieve the sword when he reached it.

“I under estimated you,” he began in a neutral tone as he straightened back up. “You’re a far greater warrior then I anticipated.” He received no reply, not that he expected to, but he wasn’t attacked either and took that as a good sign to continue.

“You’re faster then any demon I’ve ever fought before, and I’ve fought many.” He began to move closer and almost cried out with joy when the other demon stood his ground. Keeping his hand concealed behind the excess cloth of his pants he held eye contact with the inu-youkai as he spoke to his ego. “So, I’ve been asking myself, just how can I make sure you don’t walk away from this fight alive?” He used the index finger of his opposite hand to tap against his chin as if in deep thought. “Hmm. Good question for me, isn’t it? And I believe I know just the way…”

The Obake stopped when he was about five feet away from Sesshoumaru. It was much closer then he’d imagined he’d get before he figured the Taiyoukai would attack him. His silver eyes gleamed as he grinned at the demon lord then, in a quick move, he flung the hand he was hiding forward and tossed the ball of dirt right into Sesshoumaru’s eyes.
Sesshoumaru growled fiercely and jumped back. He had been expecting the Obake to pull a stunt like that when he realized the demon was deliberately trying to get closer to him. He’d decided to wait and see what the bake would try when he started spouting off his idea of praise. In truth, only a little of the dirt had actually made it to his eyes, but he shut his eyes and lowered his head to hide that fact from the other youkai.

oo

Inuyasha had been trying to keep one eye on the fight between the Obake and Sesshoumaru while fighting his own battle. It wasn’t easy when you had four opponents, but he managed fairly well.

He managed so well that even from the distance he was away he could still tell that the Obake was trying to get closer to Sesshoumaru after that fall he’d taken when Sesshoumaru used Tokijin.. What he didn’t understand was why his brother was allowing it. What was Sesshoumaru up to, he asked himself as he moved out of the way of one attack and brought his sword down on the shoulder of one of the clones in front of him. He’d froze in mid stroke when he’d heard Sesshoumaru growl and turned to see his brother swiping at his eyes and only continued when he was sure Sesshoumaru could still handle himself. The Obake had regained both his swords somehow and was now attacking Sesshoumaru with a vengeance and a skill he didn’t think the demon had possessed earlier. Sesshoumaru was still dodging him and blocking all of the bake’s attacks, but Inuyasha noticed he was back on the defensive and every now and then he would shake his head as if to clear it.

His attention was taken away from the other two when two of the clones tried to cut him in half from behind. He flipped backwards into the air and landed a distance away. The moment his feet hit the ground he charged forward, Tetsusaiga thrown over his shoulder, and returned the attack of the four clones. He was finished with being on the defensive; it was time to show them what his sword could do!

Inuyasha blocked one and cut another through the chest as he fought all four at once. With a fighting style all his own he delivered a series of swipes, punches and kicks that left him a little bruised from hits the other four had gotten in, but in better shape then they were.

!!ARGHH!!

Inuyasha spun around when he heard the scream of rage. He knew it couldn’t have been Sesshoumaru because it wasn’t in the youkai’s nature to be so loud, which meant it had to be the Obake’s¦ but why? Eyes wide, he stared as he realized the bakemono had made more replicas, but this time only twice, and had Sesshoumaru standing in the middle of them. Simultaneously all three bakes had charged forward with their swords ready, one coming from behind Sesshoumaru, another from above, and the last from in front, and was about to cut the Taiyoukai down.

Inuyasha felt his heart jump to his throat at the impossibility of the situation. There was no way that Sesshoumaru could block all three blows when he couldn’t see them coming. He felt his heartbeat quicken and could hear it echoing in his ears.
He had to do something!

“NO!!”

He went to move in their direction when his path was blocked by one of the clones again. Inuyasha growled in anger and after a moments hesitation he continued forward and ducking underneath the bake’s out-stretched sword sliced him through the waist as he moved passed him. The other three tried to block him as well, but Inuyasha refused to be stopped.

For a moment all three bakemonos and Sesshoumaru had froze when they heard Inuyasha shout. Sesshoumaru’s ears twitched, he could hear the distress in the hanyou’s voice, but he dared not open his eyes in case the Obake might notice and figure he was playing. Sesshoumaru could feel the other two bakemonos surrounding him and figured the Obake had created more clones. He could hear both the bakemono’s and Inuyasha’s heartbeats so he knew exactly where they were. The clones fighting with his brother didn’t have any heartbeats and neither did the other two near him. Sesshoumaru was facing Inuyasha’s direction so he turned his head so his ear was facing forward. Something wasn’t right. Inuyasha’s heartbeat had sped up and he could smell the hanyou’s anxiety. Inuyasha couldn’t possibly be afraid of the Obake, could he? The idiot didn’t even have the brains to be afraid when he fought Sesshoumaru, but he would show fear to the Obake?

‘That baka better have a good explanation for insulting him when this was over,’ he said to himself with an inward growl.

Inuyasha’s heartbeat was getting louder and Sesshoumaru figured the hanyou was coming towards him. The stench of his distress was hitting him in the nose and he wondered again what had the hanyou so worried. He didn’t sense any change in Kagome and knew she must still be helping the taijiya and he couldn’t think of any other reason that could put Inuyasha in such a panic.

Inuyasha watched in horror as the Obake and his two copies gave a sinister grin in his direction then all of them surged forward with their swords pointed straight at Sesshoumaru. He ran faster and was side-by-side with Sesshoumaru when the first hit landed. Using Tetsusaiga he blocked the Obake’s hit from behind while Seshoumaru blocked the other two on his own with his whip and Tokijin. His eyes widened as he stared into the smiling silver eyes of the Obake. Too late he realized he’d forgotten the Obake was carrying two swords. When he saw it heading for Sesshoumaru’s back he did the only thing he could think of doing; he pushed back against the sword he was blocking with his own and used the leverage to spin himself around placing his own back between the blade and Sesshoumaru.

“Aniki…”

Sesshoumaru froze.

Inuyasha sucked in his breath as he felt the metal pierce the lower left side of his back. He gave an involuntary cry when the sword was yanked back out of him with a vengeance. His body shook as he staggered forward, bumping into Sesshoumaru, who stiffly turned around. The numb feeling that was spreading through his body traveled down his arms to his fingers making him drop Tetsusaiga. He stared up at Sesshoumaru as he brought a hand up to his side to press against his wound before bringing up to his face. His fingers came away soaked in his own blood as his eyes fell on his hand. If he could feel anything other then the pain in his back, he might have worried over the amount of blood he was losing, but instead his head was spinning and he was beginning to feel a little light-headed.

“INUYASHA!”

His vision was beginning to blur when he thought he heard a familiar voice call his name. Inuyasha turned in the direction the voice seemed to have come from and blinked when he saw Kagome running towards him. He could have sworn she had sounded to be much further away then what she seemed to be. It felt as if he was looking at her through a tunnel as his peripheral vision seemed to have darkened all of a sudden. He knew she was worried, he heard it in her voice and thought he could see it on her face.

“Ka… gome…”

He tried to speak, to tell her that he would be fine and that it was only a little scratch, but his voice didn’t seem to want to cooperate. He turned his head to tell Sesshoumaru to tell her he was fine, but the quick movement proved to be more then his precarious mind could handle, because in seconds his vision went completely black

The last thing he noticed before the world descended a round him was a pair of gold eyes and the sound of laughter.

oOo

Kanetsu: One of Tokijin’s two attacks. A large energy wave that has a bluish tent in color and is very powerful.

Duchess: Well, there’s chapter 28!

Inuyasha: It’s about damn time! Though I must say this damn story is going down hill…

Duchess: SHUT UP INUYASHA! It is not! *looks around at the rest of the cast* Is it?

Kagome: Of course not, Duchess. Inuyasha’s just upset because you killed him. *gives sheepish smile* Heeh, didn’t really see that one coming…

Sesshoumaru: It’s the best part of the story.

Duchess: Shut it Sesshou! *turns back to Kagome and misses the look Sesshou aims at her* And who said anything about being killed?? I don’t recall saying anything like that, but if the baka wants to be killed *shoots angry look at Inu* I’d be happy to help!

Sango: *points her finger at the computer screen at the end of the chapter. Ah, Duchess it says right here tha-

Duchess: *waves hand* I know what it says. That is not a death… It’s..uh… it, it’s a potential death. He doesn’t know if he’s dead. Last I checked, Inuyasha was not that bright and definitely couldn’t see the future!

Inuyasha: Are you calling me stupid!?

Duchess: *moves closer to the hanyou* Did it sound like I was calling you stupid?!?!

Inuyasha: YES!

Duchess: GOOD! YOU’RE NOT AS DUMB AS YOU LOOK!!

Miroku: Excuse me.

Inuyasha: WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING DUMB!?

Duchess: *shakes finger from side to side* Tsk, tsk Inuyasha. You’re proving my point again… I thought I was quite clear about who I was talking about!!

Inuyasha: Why I-

(giggles giggles giggles )

Duchess: *turns towards the laughter with narrowed eyes* blink blink Celeste?

A female neko-oukai stood beside Miroku. Her hair and eyes were a dark hunter green, but her eyes were rimmed with silver. Her hair was long and curly and nearly touched her waist. She wasn’t very tall and had a thin build and soft curves. She had black cats ears and a sleek tail that kept waving back and forth as she laughed.

Celeste: *waves while still laughing*

Miroku: She was ringing the door bell. I though I’d answer it, since no one else seemed to hear it.

Duchess: *grins sheepishlu* Sorry. Guys, this is Celeste; one of my editors. Celeste; the cast. Who you already know.

Celeste: *smiled at everyone after she stopped laughing then her eyes fell on Sesshou and they turned a bit dreamy* Hi, I’m Celeste.

Sesshoumaru: *arches a brow then looks at Duchess* Is she under the impression that I cannot hear?

Duchess: Just say hi! Must you make everything so difficult?

Sesshoumaru: *moving towards Duchess* Last I heard, you like me this way…

Duchess: *eyes wide, starts to back up* Uhh… umm… I, I think I should be going now… You know… chapter to finish.

Sesshoumaru: Not right now, you don’t.

Duchess: Yes… yes I do. *blushes and turns to flee* Nice to see you Celeste! Make yourself at home!!!

Celeste: I think I will! *moves to intercept Sesshoumaru* Is… there something I can help you with?? *smiles sweetly*

Sesshoumaru: *watches as Duchess gets away then looks down and arches a brow at Celeste* Hm. Do not worry, she won’t get far. * he disappears*

Celeste: Well… he didn’t say ‘no’. I think I’ll make sure I’m here when that beautiful specimen comes back… *grins wickedly*

Shippou: *eyes wide* Well… on that note; We’re back!! Go review everyone. Chapter 29 War and Peace will be out soon!