InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ DarkWorld ❯ Family Reunion ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. However, I have a friend who owns 1/124 of it. As for me - nope, nothing, nada. I only write fanfiction, draw fanart, and lay awake at night imagining what could happen if I controlled the wonderful manga or anime. . . Ah, dreams.

Chapter 4: Family Reunion

It'd been a week and still Kagome couldn't think of what to wish for. She discussed the Sacred Jewel with her mother and tried to think of the best wish of all, but for some reason the best wish kept eluding her. Inuyasha was 'escorting' her back to the village and was halfway there when his brother showed up.

Inuyasha grabbed Tetsusaiga and was instantly in a defensive posture. Neither brother particularly liked intiating a fight, but they also got on each other's nerves entirely too well and that meant they always fought.

"Whadaya think you're doin' here?!" he snapped.

Sesshomaru's eyes flicked to Kagome. "I have heard a rumor that the Jewel has been fully purified. I wish to know if it is true."

"And what if it is?"

"Then your woman is more shocking than any human I've met thus far," Sesshomaru returned, cooly as ever.

"Yeah? So what if she is? Ya gonna get goin' now?!"

Sesshomaru's expression changed slightly. "Impatient as ever. It is surprising that you have not yet died from your impatience."

"As if something so stupid could kill me!" Inuyasha shot back. "Not get outta my forest!"

Sesshomaru was starting to look annoyed, and that was never a good thing. "Your forest? It is merely a namesake. It does not belong to you."

"Tell that to everyone who says it is mine!"

"Can't you two ever just say 'hello' and 'goodbye' and be done with it?" Kagome snapped. "Why all the pissing contests?!"

Inuyasha jerked and looked a little guilty at her statement, but it served only to infuriate Sesshomaru.

"Pissing contest," he repeated.

Kagome blushed. "Yeah, well, what would you call it? Power struggle?"

"Shocking human," he replied, as though confiming his opinion of her. "You deserve death for the way you speak to a Lord."

"You ain't touching her!" Inuyasha snapped back and swung.

Naturally a true pissing contest followed, and Kagome left to get Sango and Miroku, just in case they might be needed. When they returned Inuyasha looked tired but Sesshomaru was the bloody one. The fight raged on with neither brother gaining a true upper hand, until a figure stepped out of the forest and spoke.

"Inuyasha?"

---

In the heart of Inuyasha's Forest a woman was huddled in on herself, wounds healing as she lay there. Her hair was long, thick, and light blue, styled with two tight buns on the top of her head which spread into two wildly full locks that reached her underarms, and the rest of her hair touched her knees. She wore light armor, wrapped around her torso with two straps loose and fallen over her shoulders. A strip of cloth was wrapped around her waist, tied at her left hip with one loop and long strip of untied ribbon, reaching halfway down her calves. Her boots were thick and brown, each sporting a round disk of armor over her knees and ribbon tied around the tops, knotted on the outer side of her boots.

She made no movement until a lynx , silver-blue in color and sporting silvery wings, bounded into the area and leapt onto the woman's back.

She lashed out and nearly clawed the lynx, who barely got out of reach.

"Mistress!" the lynx said. "It's me, Kai'rei, your servant. Please, calm yourself."

"Kai'rei," the woman said, and sighed. Upon seeing her face anyone would say she was beautiful. Her bangs parted right, she had a light, bright blue four-point star on her forehead, and a darker blue teardrop at the corner of each eye. Her eyes were both dark and bright, a shade of blue that pierced right through you. "What it is, Kai'rei? You know better than to disturb me when I'm healing."

"I have found someone, Mistress Kamikimimaru! Someone you have been searching for!"

Kamikimimaru sat up straighter. "Who?"

"Inuyasha, Mistress! I know where he lives -"

"But Inuyasha is in a spell, forever asleep."

"No, Mitstress," Kai'rei replied, shaking her head. "A human priestess freed him of his spell and now they fight together. Come, I'll show you where he is!"

That got Kamikimimaru up. Her wounds were mostly healed, showing nothing on her skin, but a broken rib hadn't fully healed and could easily break again if she were to not be careful. She followed Kai'rei as the lynx demon flew ahead, occassionally running on the ground or leaping off tree branches. Her faithful servant led her to the edge of the forest, which she recognized as not too far from a human village. There she saw Inuyasha, fighting strongly against a full demon that smlled of dog. He must be important, for he wore clothes of higher status than Inuyasha.

But she wasn't interested in him. She stopped the fight. "Inuyasha?"

That paused the fight. Inuyasha glanced over to her. "Who're you? Whadaya want?"

She paused only a moment before she smiled and ran up to Inuyasha, throwing her arms around his neck. "I've found you!"

He was shocked and she knew it. "Who're you? Do I know you?"

She laughed. "No, not really. But I know you."

"You'd better explain this," Inuyasha told her.

She let go and stepped back. "Well, it's a bit of a long story."

"Then don't waste a second," Inuyasha sneered at her.

Kai'rei leapt onto her shoulder. "My Mistress is the daughter of the Inu-Youkai Lord, Inutaisho."

Kamikimimaru glared at the cat. "Break it to him for me, why don't you?"

Kai'rei cringed.

"That is not possible," the well-dressed demon said. "My father had no daughters."

Kamikimimaru looked at him, his words hitting home. "Your father? You are Sesshomaru!"

He nodded. "My father had no daughters."

"There, ya see?" Inuyasha snapped. "No daughters."

"That you know of," Kamikimimaru returned, smoothly.

"Kai'rei!" a new voice called, one she didn't recognize. She spotted a flea demon, however, taking great leaps towards her.

Kai'rei leapt off her shoulder and met the demon. "Myouga, it's good to see you! How has your master been treating you?"

"He is impulsive and abusive of me," Myouga said, sadly.

"No more than you deserve, I'm sure," Kamikimimaru said to him. "Kai'rei, you have some explaining to do."

Kai'rei nodded. "I expected as much. Myouga and I were both servants of your father. When he learned of you, Mistress, he sent me to watch over you until he could come and take you from your mother."

Kamikimimaru's face darkened. "Mother. Is that all?"

"I was expecting you to wish to tell the story, Mistress," Kai'rei replied.

Kamikimimaru nodded. "I do wish to, yes."

"Then you'd better get talkin'," Inuyasha snapped.

The fight was over, at least until Kamikimimaru could explain everything. She nodded her assent and glanced back at Sesshomaru, seeing that he looked curious, if not intrigued.

"My mother and father grew up together," she began. "As adults they grew apart, though, and went their seperate ways. Later my mother -"

"She became very evil," Myouga interrupted, jumping onto Inuyasha's shoulder.

"Thanks, flea," she said to him. "Yes, she became evil. She was seduced by thoughts of infinite power. As the daughter of Ryuukotsusei, she already had a great amount, but wanted more. The only thing that came to mind was getting a child sired by the great and powerful Inutaisho."

"You can't tell me he agreed!" Inuyasha snapped, looking shocked.

She shook her head. "He didn't agree. He told her he couldn't do it because he was already mated -"

"To Sesshomaru's mother, of course," Myouga interrupted again.

"Of course, since that wasn't obvious," she snapped at the demon. "Are you done yet?"

Myouga cringed and folded his arms.

"Thank you. Mother wasn't happy but understood and left. When she learned of the death of Sesshomaru's mother she thought she had her chance again, and again asked him to sire her child. He flat out told her no, and she stormed off - quite literally. Thunderstorms followed her trail. Only a few decades later she got the idea that she could take a child from him if she could get to him with the right spell."

"My father does not fall victim to spells," Sesshomaru put in.

She shrugged. "I didn't think he would, either. But mother studied with the finest sorcerers and priests and learned that she could put him to sleep long enough to - ah - take the child she wanted. She would have flaunted it in his face -"

"Being the type of woman that she was," Myouga added.

She glared. "But she decided that she would raise the child strongly and have him kill Inutaisho for refusing her. It was when she heard rumors and confirmed them that he had taken a human wife that sent her over the edge. She went to where Ryuukotsusei slept, which was increasing his power with each decade, and woke him. She pleaded with him to kill Inutaisho for her -"

"Ryuukotsusei agreed," Myouga interrupted.

"I've had just about enough of you, flea!" Kamikimimaru snapped. "You want to tell them for me?!"

Myouga cleared his throat and pointedly looked away.

"Good. Now, Ryuukotsusei did agree, but after thinking it over, he figured he'd need more power for the fight and swallowed mother. He lost the fight, as we all know, and after a year I began searching for her. She was still alive within his belly, so I cut her out. She raged on and on about Inutaisho and finally told me that he was my father and all the dishonorable things she'd done and had planned to do."

"Mistress killed her mother," Kai'rei put in. "As her mother had planned to use her to kill Lord Inutaisho."

A glare from Kamikimimaru shut her up. "Your comment is appreciated, I'm sure." She looked up at Inuyasha. "I tried to find you and Sesshomaru. I found you after a number of years, but by then, you were under that spell with the arrow. I almost found Sesshomaru on several occassions, but I was always a step behind. In fact it was Kai'rei who found you -"

"After finding and speaking with me, of course," Myouga interrupted. "Her life was indeed hard and Kai'rei told me that she -"

"Why don't you just fucking say it, flea?!" Kamikimimaru snapped, eyes flashing angrily.

Everyone jumped at the outburst and glanced between her and Myouga.

"I-I'm sorry, Mistress, say what?" Myouga tried.

"I know you want to. My mother fucked my father and fucking ran off with me to fucking raise me as her fucking personal assassin!! Does that about fucking cover it?!"

Myouga looked scared and switched shoulders, hopping from Inuyasha to Miroku. "I believe so, yes," he said.

Kamikimimaru's eye twitched and she turned. She stopped after taking a few steps and looked back at Kai'rei. "I'm leaving. You can stay here of you wish."

"But Mistress -" Kai'rei began.

Kamikimimaru stomped her foot, making the ground shake. "I said I'm leaving!"

A sound had started, a whirring, and it held her still, trying to find the source. She looked and saw some small rectangular black box on the ground. As she watched she started hearing more sounds, and within seconds, she recognized it as music. But nothing she had ever heard before. Then a voice began singing.

"When this began, I had nothing to say and I'd get lost in the nothingness inside of me, I was confused, and I let it all out to find that I'm not the only person with these things in mind," it went.

Kamikimimaru stared at the thing for a while.

"It's my stereo," a girl said, and Kamikimimaru jumped. She jerked back at the human scent and regarded the girl warily.

"Stereo?" she repeated.

The girl smiled and knelt down by the box. "It plays music one of three ways, and right now, the CD player is working. You must have kicked it on when you stomped. Do you. . ." she glanced up, "do you like this song?"

"It is. . .interesting," Kamikimimaru tried.

"I want to heal, I want to feel what I thought was never real," the box sang. "I want to let go of the pain I've held so long, erase all the pain till it's gone, I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm close to something real, I want to find something I've wanted all along, somewhere I belong."

"What do you call this music?" she asked, braving her fear of humans to kneel beside the box and touch it.

"Well, the group that sings it is called Linkin Park, and this song is 'Somewhere I Belong'. They have a lot of songs like this, and they haven't once cursed in any of the song's I've heard."

"I see," was all Kamikimimaru could say. "Somewhere I belong. How fitting."

The girl grinned at her. "I bet you're really happy now that you've found your brothers, huh?"

"It has finished one portion of my life. . ."

The girl's smile was starting to unnerve her.

". . .That it's not the way I had imagined it all in my mind, so what am I? What do I have but negativity cause I can't justify the way everyone is looking at me, nothing to lose, nothing to gain, hollow and alone and the fault is my own, and the fault is my own."

---

Kagome thought this woman was incredible. She looked remarkably like Sesshomaru, but she was short, shorter than Kagome was. Her words and expression were often smooth and controlled as Sesshomaru was, but she had a temper much like Inuyasha's - which she showed a few minutes ago, aimed at Myouga.

She grinned at Kamikimimaru - but the woman was looking over her shoulder at the forest. Slowly the woman stood and kept her eyes locked to the edge.

A giant snake came slithering out, jaws open and aiming for Kamikimimaru. It could swallow her in one bite. But she stood there and waited for it to get to her. At the last second, when Kagome began getting scared, she reached out and grabbed the snake's jaws. I pushed her several feet back before her feet dug into the ground and halted the skid.

The snake's tail whipped around, intent on wrapping around Kamikimimaru, and the woman flipped the snake's jaws, slamming it into the ground and causing the snake's tail to follow the movement. It lifted its head and made to bite her but she slashed its eye, shredding it.

The snake hissed and recoiled, changing form into that of a human-formed demon with green hair, armor and a sword, holding his left eye.

"You bitch!" he snarled.

"Half bitch," Kamikimimaru corrected. "Did someone send you after me, Yoto, or is this a personal visit?"

"Heh, you stupid girl," Yoto replied, and drew his sword. "I've come for you."

"Yet again? Do I truly need to sever your limbs to break it to you that I am not yours, or your brothers', or any of your firends'? You should leave while all of your limbs are intact."

"Submit."

She tilted her head, saying nothing.

"Submit or be killed."

"Are those my actual choices or the options you are giving me?"

"Your only choices," Yoto snarled.

"Neither."

He charged and swung his sword, sending blasts of energy towards her. She showed her skill by simply lifting her left hand, creating a half-circle barrier that sent the blasts to her sides, leaving her unharmed. He yelled and did it again, and again she deflected it.

"You can't keep up that shield forever!" Yoto yelled and charged directly at her, swinging.

She jumped and twisted, grabbed Yoto's shoulders, and when she landed, she threw him away from the group and into a tree, knocking it over. She was already running towards him when he got up, shakily. She punched him, a right hook that knocked him into the ground so hard he bounced. She stepped on his neck when he tried to get up.

"You should learn your place and stay down. It's better for your health."

Yoto snarled and twisted, swinging widely and causing a cut to her left thigh. She leapt back and looked at it, now twenty feet from him. "You are incredibly weak," she said, calmly as ever.

"Weak?!" he replied, and spat. "Weak enough to cut you!"

"It's hardly a scratch. I'm surprised it bled at all."

"My ancestor's sword never causes 'just a scratch'!"

"You put too much faith into a weapon you cannot even weild without missing your target."

"How dare you speak of my ancestor's sword like that!! You - the great and powerful granddaughter of Ryuukotsusei and daughter of Inutaisho - you have no heirlooms from either of them!"

"No, I do not."

"You are unimportant to them!"

"Perhaps."

"The only thing you're good for is breeding powerful pups!"

"Perhaps."

"You could not kill me, woman!"

"I could have at any point."

"You have never killed in your lifespan, have you?! Weak woman!"

Yoto found himself being held up by his throat. "You know nothing of my life," Kamikimimaru whispered. "You know nothing of how I was raised, what I can do, what I have done. You have no place or right to tell me what I can and cannot do." She threw him back. "And I have finished playing."

He hissed this time. Lifting the sword above his head, electricity began crackling around the blade. "My ancestor's sword will finish you! If you refuse to breed then you are useless and a burden!"

Her left hand whipped out and long, thin, bright blue wirelike tendrils flew from her fingertips to wrap around Yoto. Her right hand snapped out and a single wire flowed from her index finger, wrapping around his sword. She jerked her hand and the sword ripped from his fingers and soared over to her. She caught the sword and - keeping her left hand still and holding Yoto in place - threw the sword high in the air. After a few moments it exploded.

"My ancestor's sword!" Yoto yelled. "You will pay for that, bitch!"

Kamikimimaru regarded him with bored eyes. She thrust out her right hand and five more wires escaped and tied themselves around Yoto.

"You can't keep me like this forever!" he snapped.

"Males," she replied, annoyedly. She jerked her hands the the wires went through him, slicing him into dozens of pieces. The pieces floated for half a second before they glowed green and shattered. Not a wisp was left of the man.

She looked at her thigh again. "Annoying," she said.

"You fight well," Sesshomaru said.

She looked over her shoulder at him. "I was born, raised and trained to fight. It's all I know."

"That's a horrible way to live," Kagome said softly. "Nobody should live just to fight for other people."

Kamikimimaru, despite her fear of humans, was beginning to like this girl. "What is your name?"

"Uh - I'm Kagome."

"Kagome, then. Thank you, Kagome. Your words mean a lot to me."

Kagome blushed. "I only said what's true."

"Sometimes that's all it takes."

Kai'rei leapt onto Kamikimimaru's shoulder. "Mistress, you fought wonderfully. I must say, however, that you should not have let him draw your blood. You know the scent attracts more demons."

"Suitors," Kamikimimaru replied, rolling her eyes.

"Um - Kamikimimaru?" Kagome asked.

"Yes?"

"May I call you Kimi?"

She looked shocked. "Kimi?" she repeated. "You wish to call me Kimi?"

"Well, yes."

Kamikimimaru thought about it. "Yes," she finally said. "Provided you do not say it lacking respect."

Kagome shook her head. "Never! Lady Kimi; how's that?"

"Perfect," Kimi replied with a smile.

"Kamikimimaru," Sesshomaru interrupted. "Come with me." He was walking away before anyone could argue.

Kimi looked at Kai'rei. "I will understand if you wish to stay and catch up with Myouga."

"Then you are leaving with Lord Sesshomaru?" Kai'rei asked.

Kimi nodded.

"Then I will stay," Kai'rei replied, jumping down.

"I will whistle should I need you," Kimi told Kai'rei as she followed Sesshomaru.

"Leaving just like that?!" Inuyasha snapped.

Kimi paused and smiled at him. "Goodbye for now, little brother," she said and winked. She waved and disappeared into the trees.

---

Inuyasha spent a long time being quiet and thinking that night. Long after everyone else had gone to sleep, he was up and thinking about Kamikimimaru, and everything she said. Her mother actually put their father to sleep, raped him, and left while thinking Inutaisho would never find out. What a stupid woman.

And she raised Kimi to be her 'fucking personal assassin', as Kimi had put it. She'd wanted a son, got a daughter and probably treated her worse for it. Kimi had killed her mother when she learned of all the aweful things she'd done, and left to seek out her brothers - who had no idea she even existed. She was younger than Sesshomaru by at least a century, but older than Inuyasha - but by how long? Twenty years sounded about right, for her age and skill.

She said she found him while he was under Kikyo's spell, and her face seemed disappointed when she rrecounted that detail. She tried to find Sesshomaru as well, but was always just short of reaching him. Kai'rei, her demon lynx servant, had found him and led Kimi to him.

Her hug had shocked him. He'd been entirely prepared to attack her if she seemed threatening, but instead she ran up and hugged him. Being shorter than Kagome - in fact hardly taller than Kaede - made him have to lean down so she could stand on her toes. She looked shocked when she found out the one he was fighting was Sesshomaru, her elder brother.

Her tale was continually interrupted by Myouga, and she showed her vicious side when she snapped at him for it. In fact, Inuyasha himself never used that many 'fuck's in one sentence. He didn't remember ever using more than one in a sentence. He could safely say that while Kimi was female and the middle child, she was the most powerful, even if she were not the fastest or strongest.

Sired by Inutaisho and Ryuukotsusei's daughter. Half dragon, half dog, with Sesshomaru's whip - but ten of them, and they were lightning. Plus Sesshomaru's whip hurt, but it couldn't go straight through you or wrap around you like hers could.

She grabbed that snake by its jaws and slammed in into the ground with a strength Inuyasha wasn't sure he had. Soon he would have to find her again and compare, hoping that even if he was half human and the youngest, he was still stronger than her. She ran towards that demon and socked him a hard one, not moving so fast as Sesshomaru - perhaps not even faster than an unencoumbered Inuyasha - but faster than he had expected.

Pale skin, bright blue hair, four-point star, teardrops, armor, that wrap around her waist, boots with ties - who had put together her outfit? It was strikingly different that what he would have expected from a daughter of his father's, even a warrior daughter.

And Inutaisho had sent Kai'rei to her, knowing that she was his daughter. But why hadn't he come for her? Why didn't he take in the only daughter he had, as Inuyasha would have expected of his father? What hindered him? What was more important than taking your daughter from her evil mother and taking care of her?

Inuyasha wouldn't have allowed it. He would have likely killed the mother for trying what she had and taken his daughter back before the child could create memories of her mother. With a mother like hers, it was better not to remember anything. He could only imagine having a mother who hated everything and only wanted to use you. And she lived her life not knowing who her father was.

It was no wonder she killed her mother. The shock of hearing who your father was, what your mother had to do to concieve you, why you were conceived, and what your mother wanted you to do would be enough to enrage anyone. He couldn't imagine being in that situation.

In truth, he didn't want to.

---

Kimi followed Sesshomaru all the way to Ah-Un, his dragon, where Rin waited with Jaken. He made quick introductions and eyed Kimi as she took a few steps back, eyes glued to Rin.

"Why is there a human child with you?" she asked, shocked.

"I do not have to explain my reasons," Sesshomaru told her, indifferently.

"You're not taking care of her, are you?"

"I am."

Kimi opened her mouth to ask why, but she knew he wasn't going to say. In fact, from the looks of it, he himself did not know. She stared at the child a few moments more before Jaken called to her.

"Ah, Lady Kamikimimaru!" he said. "My Lord's younger sister, I see. Which of his parents are you related to?"

"Our father, of course." She glared at him. "What kind of a respectful woman would have a child and then forsake her mate to take another child? Do you have no working brain?"

Jaken stuttered and was hit on the back of his head with a rock. He began bowing and apologizing as soon as he got up again.

"Jaken is funny," Rin said, and Kimi yelped and jumped back. "Huh? Lady Kamikimimaru? What is wrong? Did Rin scare you?"

"Stay away from her, Rin," Sesshomaru said. "We are leaving."

Rin spun and stood at attention. "Okay!" She climbed onto Ah-Un as Jaken sat upon one of its heads.

Sesshomaru took the reigns and led the dragon as Kimi walked beside him. "A human."

"She is very loyal and obediant," Sesshomaru replied.

"But she's human."

"What did your mother do to you take make scared of humans?"

She didn't answer.

"Did she do anything?"

Again, Kimi didn't answer. She looked in front of her and kept her mouth shut.

"You are not answering. Why is that?"

She sighed. "Because I'd rather not say anything on this subject."

"A child of my father's would not be afraid of humans," Sesshomaru said, his words a challenge.

"Our father was not my only sire," Kimi countered. "I'd prefer it greatly if you dropped the subject."

"At another time, you will tell me." It wasn't a request, or a question.

"At another time," Kimi agreed.

They stopped hours later to let Rin stretch her legs, gather flowers and eat. The child, while human, was undeniably cute as she handed Sesshomaru a gathering of flowers and even handed a few to Jaken. She offered a handful to Kimi, but it only frightened her Rin put them to the side. Undaunted, the girl tried several times to get Kimi to speak with her, until Kimi went so far as to dive behind Sesshomaru to calm her heart. Sesshomaru then ordered Rin a second time to leave Kimi alone, specifying that it included speaking, touching, and giving flowers.

Kimi felt bad that the child had to be restricted around her. She hadn't meant to be afraid of humans, but that's what happened and she couldn't just turn it off. She knew it annoyed Sesshomaru, but considering she wasn't expecting him to accept her so quickly and bring her with him, she didn't know what he could be thinking or what he might do. She half expected to wake in the morning to find him, Jaken, Ah-Un and the child gone.

He was definitely less cruel than she had been expecting. From all the stories she'd heard, she expected to meet a harsh, brutal, uncaring person much like a male version of her mother. But this was different. Her mother had cared little for her safety, welfare, and emotions. She had tried to build Kimi into a war machine, to fight without question and kill without mercy. When Kimi had been injured, tired and in pain, her mother pushed her on, demeaning her and telling that she was no child of hers if she couldn't finish her assignment.

It had been horrible. At the time she thought that her mother was acting as any mother would and so she had no reason to complain, but upon freeing her from her prison in Ryuukotsusei, and upon hearing the tale, she'd been filled with rage beyond anything she'd ever felt.

How could her mother do such things?! To conceive her from a rape, raise her as an assassin, and try to order her to kill her own father, who was by all accounts fair, loving and good, fierce only when needed. Who did she think she was?! Each of the aforementioned acts were punishable by death, and Kimi had delivered, feeling little for the death of her mother.

It was dishonorable to kill one's parent willingly, but her mother had been more than deserving, and Kimi was not only the only one with the power to defeat her mother, she was the one with the best rights.

She'd had it long coming.

It might have damned Kimi's soul, but she saved not only herself, but everyone her mother had wanted to kill - their father included. It was a harsh blow when Kimi learned that he had died anyway, and to this day she wondered how he could have died when he survived so much. She knew it was shortly after Inuyasha's birth, so she guessed it had something to do with that, perhaps he was trying to protect his wife and newborn, but it was a blow nonetheless.

The death of a father you did not know was the death of a father you did not know, honorable or not, and it was what made her certain she had to find her brothers.

And she had. At long last, she found them, and knew Sesshomaru's face, and Inuyasha's attitude. If not for her half-demon brother being her brother, she would have kept a healthy distance from him, for he was half human. She had surprised herself by hugging him earlier.

Sesshomaru brought her out of her thoughts by telling her they were going to leave again, but this time they all were going to sit on Ah-Un so they could cover more ground and avoid the swamps. She didn't get on Ah-Un, but flew next to him, having the ability through her mother. She hadn't flown in her human shape for some time, and had nearly forgotten what it felt like.

It was nice.

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End chapter four. To be continued.