InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Laying Down the Law: Abuna i Dansu ❯ Antikrystos ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Gee...I wonder what's wrong with Sesshomaru? Well...it might be anti-climatic, but this chapter will tell you.

Kagome became vaguely aware of the sound of her cell phone, which cut like a knife through the dark of her room. She couldn't even compute the noise as her eyes flutered open; for a moment, she thought it was just the remnants of her dream, but the glowing on her bedside table said otherwise. In a blind swipe, Kagome managed to enclose the phone in her hand and flip it open.

"Hello?" she asked groggily, voice hoarse with morning.

"Kagome, it's mom; I'm sorry to call you so late, but I thought you should know."

"Know what? What's going on?" she asked, suddenly aware of herself; this sounded like the beginning of the late night phone call she'd always dreaded.

"Well, the riots are getting too close to the house and your stepfather thinks we should leave. So Tomo is going to movie Grandpa, Souta and me to a second location that his company has ready for us. Don't be afraid, Kagome, everyone's fine, I just didn't want you to call the house phone and be scared when no one answered."

Her mother's voice had lost a good deal of its usual happiness and Kagome frowned. "Wait, you're leaving the shrine?"

"We have to, sweetie."

"But...what if the riots get to the house?" Kagome asked desperately, mind jumping back to her beautiful home, the house she'd grown up in since the day she was born.

Her mother replied almost stiffly, "Kagome, it's all about safety right now. I'm sorry about the shrine, but Tomo thinks there will definitely be some damage. Better lamps and couches than us, don't you think?"
Kagome took a deep breath and replied soberly, "Of course mom, that's not what I meant. You're more important, you know I mean that."

With a heavy sigh, her mother replied, "I know, I didn't mean to jump on you, Kagome. Everything is tense here. I don't want to leave the shrine either...but the riots are less than a mile away and moving towards the house. They're destroying everything in their path and...we just have to leave. Alright? Tomo and I both have our phones and Souta is bringing his computer, so you can reach us that way too. Okay darling?"

"Yes mama," Kagome whispered, voice breaking slightly.

"I have to go Kagome; be strong," her mother said, voice smiling but tone hurt and worn. The phone clicked off and Kagome's ears were met with nothing but the dull ring of the line.

In this silence, tears began to flow freely down Kagome's cheeks like rain from her eyelashes. Her shoulders were trembling and her hands like two ice blocks, frozen and cold in their places. The phone dropped uselessly from her grip and hit the floor with a dull little sound. The darkness seemed to enclose her as Kagome choked on a sob; her shrine. Her keepsakes, the photographs, the wall in the kitchen where her mother had marked her childrens' growth. The tree in front of which her grandpa told stories and tales. The shrine house in which Kagome's father had confessed to her about his sickness, the house where her mother had told her of her father's death. Those old stone steps, cracked by every footstep she'd taken. All of it...all of it was now in the path of destruction and there was no telling what would be taken and broken. Her shrine. Her house. Her home.

Never before had Kagome felt so far away from Kyoto; she had seen the summer as a little adventure, a by-road she'd happened to chance upon. Now she realized that her mother and brother and stepfather and grandpa were still back home in Kyoto, being a family without her. Besides her new found lonliness, Kagome was now beginning to grasp the fact that the shrine, the only thing which linked her to her father, was in danger. Did that mean she was in danger of forgetting him too?

With these new doubts came a new shower of tears. Kagome's shoulders shook with grief and she pressed one of her hands to her face, using the other to steady herself as she cried uncontrollably. Everything she'd trapped inside her stone-cold front for the past few weeks was flowing forth like a river. Everything had been so wonderful, and now...now, everything was as terrible as she could imagine.

"Kagome?" The girl startled and whipped her teary-eyed face towards the door, only to find Axle standing curiously there in a pair of surfing shorts. His eyes were cloudy with sleep and his blue dreadlocks falling free for the first time she'd seen; he looked concerned and pained as he stood there in the doorway. "Are you alright?"

"My house...the sh-shrine...m-my family has t-to leave...r-riots...I g-grew up th-there...my d-dad...I can't..." was all she managed to get out before a new wave of tears claimed her; she turned away in embarassment, realizing how little sense she was making.

Axle managed to get the basics out of this and he closed his eyes softly; he'd known it would be only a matter of time before this disaster would affect Kagome too. Though the Jackrabbits had left with little on their backs, home no doubt destroyed in their wake, Kagome was dealing with the pain of separation and connection. Whereas Axle was free of Kyoto and the trouble behind him, Kagome still had loved ones and physical ties to her hometown. Axle knew Kagome was made of tough stuff, but anyone was eventually bound to break down.

"Kagome, I'm so sorry," he murmued softly, entering the room with quiet footsteps and taking a seat beside her on the bed.

When he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, Kagome leaned in to him and was soon cradled in his arms like a child, her feet thrown over his lap and her face buried in his naked chest. Axle sighed heavily, holding her as only a friend could; he felt rather helpless, being so alienated from the emotions no doubt whirling around in her head, but he could just grasp the hurt she was feeling. He knew that hurt rather well, in fact.

"Maybe the riots won't reach your house," Axle said soothingly, rocking Kagome gently back and forth as she cried. "I mean, the police might get there in time."

"Stop tellin' the girl fuckin' lies, Axe," came Mad Max's distinctive cockney drawl from the hallway. He entered into the darkness of Kagome's room as light from the hallway spilled in behind him; his bare chest, covered in tattoos, was the same caramel tan as his arms, the color his face might've been years ago. His twisted expression was a mixture of sadness and bitterness.

Axle growled, "Sensetivity would be nice, mate," unconsciously holding Kagome closer to him.

"Don't preach to me; she knows you're lyin' just like I do, so fuckin' cut it out," Max replied stiffly, taking a seat on Kagome's other side and resting his hands on his covered knees.

"I'm just trying to be positive," Axle mumbled quietly, glancing down at the sobbing girl in his arms; he doubted she was listening to either of them. "Her house man, she grew up there. And her family's been relocated because of the riots. Positivity just might do us all some good, aye?"

Max shrugged, crimson mohawk catching the light from the hallway ever so slightly. "It depends on wotcha use it for, mate. The way I see it, we're fucked, she's fucked and everyone else is gettin' there. All of fuckin' Japan is fucked. Positivity ain't gonna put food on the table or regulations on fuckin' demon-haters, so just keepin' a stiff upper lip ain't enough."

"For once, I think this all may be as bad as you're makin' it out to be," Axle snorted, raking his claws along Kagome's back absent-mindedly.

This motion unconsciously reminded her of Inuyasha, who always did the same when she was upset, and her sobbing began to lessen. Inuyasha would help her through this time, she knew, and she had a whole slew of friends and core members alike who were looking out for her well-being. If her family got into some sort of trouble, her friends would help her and she knew it. Even at that exact moment, Axle was holding her and Max was sitting patiently by, each offering support in their own way. She had friends. Good friends.

"Thank you, both of you," she whispered, clinging to Axle still.

"Yeah," they both muttered in reply.

Kagome glanced over slightly and realized that Max wasn't the only one in the room with tattoos. She now noticed that the inside of Axle's wrist sported a dark shape and she took his hand in hers, holding it up to the light before she giggled tearfully.

"You got a tattoo of the queen on your wrist?" she asked feebly, still smiling. Indeed, there was a detailed image of Queen Elizabeth II's face decorating the underflesh of his muscled forearm.

"Hey, God love and save her," Axle replied with a hint of humor. As an afterthought he began to sing, "God save the queen, long live our noble queen, God save the queen."

"I mean it man, no future," Max said with a wink in Kagome's direction. She began to laugh slightly; with her limited punk rock knowledge, she'd managed to pick up on the Sex Pistols joke.

"No future is right," Axle sighed. "Who knew the Sex Pistols were visionaries?" When Max raised his hand boredly, Axle rolled his eyes and muttered, "Oh shut up, Max."

Returning to school was a solemn affair for students and teachers alike. The National Emergency had ended the previous day, four days after Madozu Towers had occurred, and Japan's capital was currently in a state of political disarray; there seemed to be no all-encompassing proposals of how the situation should be dealt with and, as a result, the board room was nothing but screaming and arguing. Scores of police and, in time, the national guard, had managed to quiet the riots until it was safe to walk on the streets again. The only catch was that there was now a soldier at every corner, watching for trouble.

In Southern Tokyo district 3, the North and South reuinted under these tense circumstances in the hallway of South Tokyo High, glaring at one another but feeling too tired to start fights or riots; arriving back at school was stressful enough as it was. There seemed to be nothing to talk about but Madozu; the adults were constantly in hushed conversation while the girls mourned over the loss of life and the boys talked egotistical strategy with one another. The disunity made apparent by Madozu was unsettling and the students were uncomfortable because of it.

Most startling about this incessant need to talk of tragedy was the fact that South Tokyo High's faculty seemed to have come to a tacit agreement with one another and none of them were speaking on the matter of the Madozu Tower Shootings. Even when students would ask, there was a shook head or disapproving silence. When the students looked downtrodden, the teacher could only continue, knowing that opening a can of worms like Madozu Towers would prove a complicated situation.

"...Dans ce cas, vous changeriez ce verbe à...can someone tell me?"

Kayo turned to address his AP French class, only to find several blank stares, thick with fatigue and worry, staring back at him. The young man furrowed his brow and sighed, knowing that most of his efforts were fruitless; the student body was confused and anxious and school was practically the last thing on their minds. The blue haired man sighed, running a hand over the back of the tan neck and unconsciously fingering the edge of his tiger tattoo; he briefly remembered the story behind that particular decoration and, without a second thought, placed the chalk he was holding in the board tray.

"Alright, new lesson," Kayo announced suddenly, clapping his hands together and moving to sit on the edge of his desk facing the class. He allowed his legs to dangle freely, more casual than any of his students could remember seeing. "What do you want to know?"

The teenagers continued to stare blankly back at him, though with a little more confusion this time. "About...what, Sensei?" Kagome asked, eyebrow raised.

"About the world. What do you want to know?" Kayo replied, face rather light as opposed to its normal sterness. "No one else is going to answer you about what happened in Kyoto because they're ignorant and think you don't want to talk and don't need to know. But I'll tell you whatever you want."

The class exchanged glances, shrugging their shoulders, before Shitora asked, "What's the government going to do about all this?"

Kayo snorted. "The House of Representatives and the House of Concilliors are in session right now, but you can bet nothing good will come out of there. The riots have made the lot of Kyoto insane, so I doubt the government will be any different."

"Why is the government doing anything? It's not like legislation can do nothin' about prejudice," Ranbou said derisively, ice blue eyes cold and dark.

Though Kayo was used to dissent when it came to the government, he could see something in the Ookami boy's eyes that told more than a simple teenage rebellion. It probably had less to do with the government and more to do with prejudice, he supposed.

"True story, Ookami," Kayo replied nonetheless. "But they'll certainly try. They know that if they do nothing, the'll be cornered by the public outcries from demons and humans alike."

"The humans don't have any reason to complain; they're not the ones dying," Ayame pointed out.

Kagome sighed. "They're in a little more trouble than you think; demons are rioting back and attacking innocent humans now."

Sesshomaru glanced sideways at his brother's girlfriend, who's voice was strong but eyes wavering. Though the others hadn't even caught that tremulous edge, Sesshomaru could see right through her front and he frowned; perhaps Kagome knew something that they didn't.

Indeed she did. Kagome ignored the snorts brought forth by her comment and took to staring out the window; she hadn't heard from her mother in days and had no idea how the relocation had gone or if the shrine was intact. From what she'd seen on the news, riots had caused millions of yen in damage and the number was growing the more the census studied. Her house was right in the danger zone and Kagome had an awful feeling that the shrine had been virtually destroyed. Even now, she had yet to tell anyone but Axle and Max about her family's predicament; when she saw how the others were suffering, she couldn't bring herself to burden them with her problems as well. Still, it was getting harder not to talk about it the worse her worries got.

"Humans always play the victim, just because we're stronger," voiced one demon boy from the front, crimson eyes narrowed hatefully. "It's always been that way and this is just an example of one really jealous guy, okay?"

"You don't do that from jealousy, you do that from fear," Gan said stiffly, feeling a burn of anger as the boy practically zeroed in on Kagome.

But the boy was not finished. "Oh, cause you would know all about that Kiretsu, wouldn't ya? You wanna shoot us up too? I don't trust a single fucking human in this school, lemme tell you that!"

"Get out of my classroom," Kayo said boredly, pointing to the door. "I wanted to talk, not argue and accuse. Get out."

The boy grabbed his things hotly and left the door in a rush of useless noise, slamming the door behind him. There was a strange quiet in the wake of the dissenter and Akago murmured baldly, "Talk about jealousy and fear," still stinging from the insult paid to his second-in-command.

"Expect a lot more of that," Kayo said in reply, pointing towards the desk where the angry demon boy had sat. "He just illustrated every reason why humans all over Japan should be watching their backs. Demons won't take this laying down, so all of you humans should be careful. As for the demons, there are just as many angry humans out there looking to get a bite out of your tale. So if you want my advice, don't go out alone for a while, especially you girls. This is a prime time for retalliation from both sides and you should practice caution."

"We can look out for ourselves just fine," Shitora said stubbornly, crossing her arms pertly.

Kayo stared at the hanyou girl, eyes slightly sad. "You would think so, wouldn't you? But girls are going to be the first target and hanyous the next. So you of all people should be careful, Taisho."

Shitora blinked, eyes wide at the mention of her heritage. "Hanyous? Why?"

"Because at this point, you're the unknown. Humans don't trust you because you're demon and demons definitely won't trust you because you're human. You'll have more trouble from the demons than anything; they think that humans are untrustworthy right now and the fact that you have some in you won't sit well with a lot of conservatives. So...you get the picture," the blue haired man finished, eyes boring holes through Shitora's skull.

Sesshomaru watched Ranbou's jaw tighten visibly, eyes suddenly sparkling with worry; he obviously hadn't thought about the numerous cons to this situation. But Sesshomaru had thought of them all. Specifically concerning himself, Sessohmaru knew he was a prime target for an act of violence; he was a powerful demon obviously down in his health and he had ties to one of the most powerful clans in the city. If someone wanted to hit the demons where it hurt, Sesshomaru was a good candidate.

At that moment, the bell rang and Kayo gestured towards the door. "That's your life lesson, no homework tonight." The students sighed in relief, thanking their teacher before gathering their things and exiting into the crowded hallway.

Sesshomaru walked slowly through the crowd, brushed this way and that by the slightest wind from his peers. He opened his locker in silence, looking like the living dead as he turned the lock to a fro with a dull look in his amber eyes. He was feeling weaker and sicker this day than any other past; he knew that his self-inflicted starvation was bringing him to his end because, indeed, even demons could only live for so long. Yet even as he stood there, he didn't regret his decision; he deserved every single hunger pain.

"Hey, Sesshy."

Rin saddled up beside her boyfriend and began opening her own locker, which had been next to Inuyasha's since pre-school and, consequently, two away from her boyfriend. She looked lovely today, fresh and revived after several days of tears and sadness. Her pretty porcelain face was slightly tanned from laying by the lake in her backyard and her warm brown eyes were sparkling with renewed hope. Sesshomaru knew that his wretched state brought her hope down and this fact alone killed him.

"Hey," he replied, voice deep with guilt.

Rin seemed not to notice his apprehensiveness and continued cheerfully, "Friday's the big game; are you ready, you think?"

Sessohmaru's eyes widened slightly. Friday was indeed the season opener, but it had all but slipped from his mind during the days off from school. He glanced dismally down at his body and realized that football would probably be the worst possible idea for him; but no matter, he deserved the pain of every hit.

"We look good this year," he replied, leaving his own thoughts shadowed in the back of his mind.

"I knew you would," Rin replied, smiling warmly at him; she felt as though all she could give him now was silent support. Voicing her doubts seemed to do little but push him farther away and she couldn't stand for that. No, she would just have to wait it out; it wouldn't be long before Sesshomaru's secrets unwraveled, she reasoned. How right she was.

Sesshomaru simply smiled in reply; just her pretty face could do that to his normally stern expression. She reached up on her tip toes and Sesshomaru bent his head indulgently; they shared a sweet, short kiss before Rin said lightly, "Well, time for English. See you later!"

"Bye baby, " he murmured, watching as she ran down the hallway, plaid skirt dancing around her small legs.

The dog demon closed his locker pensively and shouldered his bag, walking slowly down the hallway, right past his science classroom, right past the ringing bell and right past the exit door. He soon found his feet leading him towards the athletic offices and, before he knew it, he was standing in the doorway of Bear's office. The sound of the news blared from the radio, talking of Madozu and its consequences.

The enormous demon glanced up from game plans to find Sesshomaru Taisho, a withering wraith, standing like a ghost before him. The boy's eyes were hollow and Bear felt that familiar fear grip him once more; he hated to see something like this get ahold of one of his boys.

"Hey Shomo, what's up?" he asked nonetheless, smiling as only Bear could.

Sesshomaru walked quietly inside and set down his bags before taking a seat in the nearest office chair. "I want to listen to the news," he said simply, leaning back as white threads of hair danced in front of his eyes; he needed to get his bangs cut, he realized. Everything about his hygene but washing had disappeared from his routine as of late.

"Alright," Bear replied, running a hand through his short black hair. "Need a pass for class?"

"Science."

"Done."

"Hey Yash, are you racing this weekend?"

Inuyasha glanced up at Kouga, who had taken a seat beside him on the lawn. The students were currently on their lunch break, many of them reuiniting with friends for the first time since Madozu. The Fangs had taken up their usual spot beneath the oak tree and had spread out like a city as core members and Nakama members joined their picnic. Kagome was currently sitting beside Inuyasha quietly eating from a bento box.

"Shomo hasn't talked about it with me yet," Inuyasha replied, not wanting to talk to the wolf any more than necessary.

Kouga nodded and quickly rose from his recently taken seat, retreating back to the area reserved for the Ookami siblings and their significant others. Ranbou and Shitora were playing a good healthy game of "penis replacement," taking modern movie titles and replacing one of the words with Penis. "Charlie and the Chocolate Penis" was their most recent creation; the pair was still consumed with laughter while Kotone rolled her eyes and Kinanme chuckled as well. Skull and Bones were talking in hushed voices and seemed not to notice the conversations around them.

Ayame glanced up at her boyfriend, smiling encouragingly. "Is he racing?"

"He doesn't know, Sesshomaru's not talking," the wolf replied, taking a seat beside the redhead and reaching for his roast beef sandwich. "I don't know, Aya, I'm gettin' kinda worried now."

"About Sesshomaru?" she prompted, green eyes curious and concerned. "Is he still not talking?"

"Not a word," Kouga replied, shaking his black head sadly. "He could be dying of Silim's and we'd never know."

"Watch your mouth pup, don't wish that on nobody," Ranbou said roughly, recently torn away from his laughter by Kouga's words of derision. The eldest Ookami had taken to chastising his brother and sisters for negativity in this time of disaster. Like Axle, he believed that hope would replenish itself as soon as positivity did. Kouga's bitterness was dragging down the environment, as far as Ranbou was concerned. Besides this, the mere mention of Knocturn's five scared any demon witless. It was, conceivably, their only weakness.

Kouga snorted. "I don't wish it on anybody, Ran, I'm just sayin'; he's bein' so fucking quiet, I don't know what to think."

Shitora picked uselessly at the grass, listening as the others talked about her brother and what they had determined was some sort of sickness. She couldn't be sure, but the hanyou girl almost wanted to say that her brother was suffering from some kind of mental disorder. It was possible that the side-effects were not only mental but physical, wasn't it?

"Hey, doin' okay Sukini?" Ranbou asked, nudging her with his arm.

"Yeah, just thinkin'," she replied, shrugging her small shoulders.

Ranbou nodded slightly, eyes sobering. "About Shomo?"

"Who else is on my mind these days anyway?" Shitora grumbled, silver brow furrowed in an unintentionally cute manner. "He's scarin' me now. It's gone on too long, don't you think?"

The pair turned to look at Sesshomaru dozens of feet away, his pathetically bony shoulders peeking out under his curtain of silver hair.

"Yeah," Ranbou muttered, narrowing his eyes. "Something ain't right there, I know that."

A few blankets away, Kagome and Inuyasha had resumed their lunch after Kouga's retreat, still sitting in what was now an uncomfortable silence. Inuyasha glanced up at Kagome, who hadn't been herself for several days. He felt as though it were time for him to say something, though his brain couldn't formulate the proper words.

"Kagome, is something wrong?" he asked eventually, ears twitching like satellites in his confusion.

Kagome glanced up at her boyfriend's concerned face; this seemed to be a trend, she realized. She and Sesshomaru just seemed to be worrying everything with a heart these days. "I'm fine," she replied, deciding to not elaborate at the moment; Inuyasha probably had enough to worry about, what with his stick of a brother and the sister he'd yet to apologize or speak to since that fateful morning five days ago.

"You're not, okay? You've been really depressed for like a week," Inuyasha continued, determined to get to the bottom of his girlfriend's strange behavior.

She sighed in reply, rolling her brown eyes to the clouds. "I have a lot on my plate right now, that's all."

"Can I help?" he pressed, amber eyes wide and honest.

Kagome felt her heart twinge painfully and she nearly winced; she felt guilty enough to die. "Sorry, Inuyasha; I don't think so."

"Oh. Well, I'm here anyway," the hanyou replied awkwardly, ears drooping as a blush spread across his cheeks. Kagome smiled at the sight of him and reached up to rub his ears in the way that he loved.

"I know you are, dog-boy."

Gan had been watching the scenes around her with a limited amount of interest and chuckled darkly, taking a bit out of her turkey sandwich as Akago turned to regard her sudden laughter curiously.

"What are you laughing at, Gan?" he asked, pushing up his glasses as they threatened to slide off his nose; his white braid was hot on the back of his neck, even in the waxing summer.

"The hum of either army stilly sounds, that the fixed sentinels almost receive the secret whispers of each other’s watch," Gan quoted smartly, glancing around at the numerous couples, all of whom were sitting in relative silence. "Shakespeare knew what they didn't."

Akago followed her gaze and nodded in understanding. "Ah. There seem to be a lot of secret wars going on, hm?"

"Madozu troubled all of their relationships," Gan replied dismissively, waving her hands emphatically. "They rely too much on one another; it's made them weak."

"True," Akago mused, crimson eyes quick and calculative. "But I remark with yet another excerpt from King Henry: Every subject’s duty is the king’s; but every subject’s soul is his own. If they want to turn off their dependence, I have faith in all of them. Besides, you surely suffer from dependence as well, Gan. You're not so inhuman."

"Actually, I am."

Akago laughed heartily at the blonde, who rolled her violet eyes at the boy's hilarity. Whenever she insisted about her apathy, he only laughed; what did that mean? Did he not believe her? Or did he simply not care? As she watched the handsome boy, nay, man, laughing with that bright smile of his, she began to blush; he was entirely too handsome for his own good sometimes. It was a small wonder he was so full of himself, just like the rest of them. Demons had better genes behind them, so it stood to reason that they might be prettier than humans; still, Akago surpassed nearly every demon expectation Gan could think of.

"Excuse me."

Gan and Akago both looked up towards this voice and found themselves staring at the face of a boy with unruly white blonde hair and a bright smile; his mouth was wide and his eyes a devestating blue, not to mention the clear tan face and handsome body to match. Most noticeable about him were his numerous piercings, coming it at two eyebrow rings, two ear rods, four ear piercings, and a pair of good looking snakebites on his lower lip. Gan and Akago's eyebrows went opposite direction, up in appreciation and down in suspicion respectively.

"I'm Ren Tokihisa, one of the Reikon Elite Fighters; I don't believe we've ever actually met," the boy said with an honest smile.

When Akago said nothing and only continued to stare at the newcomer, who was paying a little more attention to Gan than he liked, Gan rolled her eyes and rose to speak with the boy.

"I'm Gan Kiretsu. We're honored, Ren," she said kindly, smiling despite the jealous waves rolling off her leader. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Well, truthfully, Kiretsu-san, I was wondering if I could speak with you alone," the nearly white haired boy replied, smile still in place no matter how nervous it might've been.

Gan opened her mouth to speak when she was cut off by a chilling voice from behind her. "No you most certainly may not; anything you have to say to her you may say in front of me, gunsotsu." Akago stood to regard the boy, arms crossed and crimson eyes narrowed dangerously; though they were about the same height, something about Akago was entirely too frightening.

Ren raised his eyebrows at this address; "gunsotsu" was a term used predominantly in the Northern gangs to denote rank. Leaders like Naraku must have used the word liberally, Ren surmised, for while it's literal translation was "soldier," it normally meant "slave."

"Akago," Gan hissed, face suddenly angry. "What's wrong with you?"

Akaog grabbed her arm and pulled her backwards until they were nose to nose, his angry crimson glare right in her face. "He's just another one of those bastards, one of many to come I'm sure, who wants to use you for sex and tell his friends about his exploits. Don't even give him the time."

"You don't even know him!" Gan exclaimed, mortified by Akago's new overprotective streak. Her violet eyes turned a dark wine grape and she said lowly, "If you're going to scare off every male within the nearest ten miles, what's the point of me even going out of the house?"

"To go to school, of course."

Gan lowered her eyebrows. "Oh, that's it." With a quick turn which caused her blonde locks to swing like a curtain around her shoulders, she faced Ren and said sweetly, "Come right over here and we can have a word."

Ren smiled, giving Akago the sparest of glances before Gan led him some fifteen feet away towards a nearby oak tree. When they'd settled under its shade, Ren cleared his throat and said strongly, "Kiretsu-san, I wanted to know if you would go out with me this weekend."

"On a date?" Gan asked curiously, head cocking to the side in fascination; she'd heard tell of them, but have never actually ventured on one.

"Yes, a date," Ren replied, smiling in his handsome manner. Gan couldn't remember finding piercings abnormally attractive before, but his snakebites were certainly catching her eyes in a pleasing way.

Gan furrowed her brow, unsure about the idea, when she felt a burning in the side of her face; it turned out to be the subconscious product of Akago's stare, which was burning a hole through her head. Out of the corner of her eye, Gan could make out her leader sitting pompously with his arms crossed, looking put-out like a petulant child. This clenched the entire deal for Gan.

"Of course, that sounds great," Gan exclaimed, smiling prettily; she noticed, with some delight, that this smile caused Ren to swallow rather hard and look away with a heavy blush on his cheeks. "Where are we going?" Part of her was wondering if he would attempt to take her to the movies or something equally juvenille. Even if he did, it wasn't as if she could back out now, not with Akago watching.

"There's a car show in the Expo Center; it's an exhibit on American Gangster cars from the 20s and 30s," Ren answered, eyes lighting up at the very mention of cars. "We could catch something to eat at the coffee shop nearby afterwards."

Gan smiled as well, pleasantly surprised; as it turned out, this idea actually interested her. "Wow. That sounds really interesting; Cadillacs and Bentleys, that kind of thing?"

"That's what I'm thinking," Ren said easily; the more he talked with her, the more casual it became, thank God. Ren had never spoken easily with girls before. "So, I can pick you up at your house at 2 in the afternoon on Saturday; is that okay for you?"

"That sounds fine; thank you so much," Gan said sincerely, smiling again just for good measure; he was a likeable boy and, to his credit, incredibly good looking. Gan considered this a fine choice for her first date.

Ren offered her a hand and they stood together, waving goodbye before Ren went walking back towards the rest of the Reikon Elite, who were yukking it up under a tree on the edge of the lawn near the Fangs.

Gan brushed off her school skirt and went stalking towards her lunch, which was consequently located near the still fuming mad Akago. His crimson glare followed her from the tree to the blanket, where she failed to greet him and instead began gathering up her things.

"Where are you going?" he demanded, tone sharper than his usual light drawl.

"To talk to my friends," she replied frostily.
"Who?"

"Why do you care?" Gan shot back, eyebrows dangerously low. She turned on her heels to go, but Akago interrupted her once more.

Standing irritatedly to his feet, Akago crossed his arms and declared, "Because I'm your leader and whether you like it or not, your business is my business."

"Oh really?" Gan challenged, turning and taking a few daring steps near him.

"Yes, really," came his smug reply.

"Oh, well then, how's this?" Without warning, Gan reared back her right fist and punched Akago right in the face, eyes aflame and tension rising off of every limb of her body. "I'm going to go see Mizumi and Shale!"

As Akago stumbled backwards, face a perfect picture of utterly innocent surprise and hand clapped to his cheek, Gan noticed the numerous stares their little tiff had risen from the surrounding teenagers. Many of the girls looked rather afronted by the action and something suddenly occurred to Gan.

"Right, sorry," she said lightly. She closed the gap between herself and Akago for the second time and, this time, delivered a vicious slap to that very same side of his face. "Girls slap, my mistake."

And with this, Gan the Gun reshouldered her bag proudly and stormed away from the scene of the crime, leaving Akago supporting himself against the oak tree with his crimson eyes wide and a mixture of red slap-burn and bruising beginning to rise to his face; Gan had unfortunately unclosed her fist and left a few nailmarks on the flesh of his cheek. When he finally got control of his faculties, a bit of that anger began to revisit him and his expression turned from stunned surprise to complete and total fury.

"Oh, for the love of God! That was bit of on overreaction, don't you think?!" he yelled after his retreating second-in-command, who only held up her middle finger without turning to face the defeated Shark. "Christ..." he muttered, rubbing his face ruefully and discovering that it was incredibly tender to the touch; it slowly sunk in that the pain was immense and he'd never been punched harder in his life; his palm was dotted with blood.

It was after a few moments of silence, during which girls began to giggle at Gan's stand and the boys shook their head in despair (another man down, sheer tragedy) the truth of the recent events began to dawn on Akago. He had just been punched and then subsequently slapped by Gan, his second-in-command and closest friend, in broad daylight at school.

"She hit me," he whispered, stunned, to himself. "I...I can't believe she hit me!"

"As though you didn't deserve it," came Kagome's voice from behind him. Shaking her head sadly, Kagome reached into Akago's glass of ice water and folded up some of the cubes in a napkin, handing it to him wryly. "An ice pack for the defeated man."

Akago took it without a word, pressing it to his face as he sunk down against the tree trunk, suddenly numb. "She hit me. I just can't believe it; she's never hit me in all of these four years. Hasn't even come close. Never. And what did she hit me over? A boy. She hit me because I was trying to protect her from some ill-willed suitor. I can't believe it."

"Listen to yourself for a second," Kagome urged, eyebrows raised as she knelt down beside him. "'Protect.' 'Ill-willed.' As far as I could tell, that nice boy was neither of those things. Don't you think you were being a little over-protective?"

"Certainly not," Akago snorted in reply. "She has no idea what she's getting into, Kagome. She doesn't know what men are like."

Kagome was silent for a moment before she said flatly, "Seriously? Seriously. Did you just go there?" When Akago didn't answer, she continued disparingly, "Oh, you did. You totally just went there. Dude, please revisit the past few years with me; what was she pretending to be?"

"A boy," he mumbled in reply.

"A boy. And who did she spend all of her time with?"

"Boys."

"Who did she talk to?"

"Boys."

"And you think she doesn't know anything about men? Maybe you need to rethink yourself for a second, Akago, because you're the smartest guy around and you can't see what's so plain to the rest of us. That's not why you keep on scaring away all of the boys who want to ask her out; it's for a completely different reason," Kagome mumbled, shaking her head in despair; men were so ridiculous.

"I don't know what you mean," Akago confessed, sounding sort of hopeless.

"Just watch Inuyasha for a few days and then get back to me. Tell me what you think your problem is," Kagome said mysteriously, offering him a smile before she stood and walked back towards Inuyasha, who was thoroughly amused by the entire punching incident and was still laughing quite heartily.

This left Akago sitting alone against the tree with his own thoughts, mind a befuddlement of raging confusion. Why did women make everything so complicated? Or maybe...I'm making it complicated?

The sun barred down upon the football field as the team sat in a circle, stretching their muscles and chatting before practice. Sesshomaru normally used this time to talk to Kouga, but he'd felt rather strange since that morning and he couldn't understand it. It was a physical feeling, a feeling that something within him was not quite right. For the time being he was contenting himself with silence and thought; somehow, he was becoming too tired to think.

"Shomo? Are you okay?" Kouga asked.

"Yeah," the dog demon muttered, shaking his head to clear it of some of these aching thoughts; when this only succeded in causing his vision to blur, Sesshomaru felt his stomach give an unpleasant lurch.

"Alright, ladies, you know what drill we're doing," Bear called out, earning groans from the boys; the massive demon only smiled. "Our weakest point is right when we come off the line of scrimmage, so we're gonna be doing line of scrimmage and throws to our running backs all day."

The boys stood and prepared themselves for a long day of frustrating practice; repetitive full-on drills got tiring after about ten reps, so they could only imagine what two hours worth would feel like in the end. The boys lined up on the forty yard line according to their practice teams, the red and black. Sesshomaru tugged at the neck of his red practice jersey, which was becoming uncomfortably hot. It the next second, his body was suddenly encased with shivers; the silver haired boy shook out his arms, hoping this would get rid of the ridiculous tingling. Throwing his braid back over his shoulder dismissively, the Fang leader put his helmet on with a decisive smack and took his place beside Bankotsu on the line of scrimmage, finding himself face to face with Ryuukoytsusei as always.

Ryuu rolled his shoulders lithely, causing the black fabric to ripple atop his impressive muscles. As of late, the dragons ferocity in practice had decreased an incredible amount; no one was quite sure of the motivation behind this, but Bear had a fair idea. In the coach's estimation, it had something to do with the fact that he'd paired him with Sesshomaru; as Sesshomaru got skinnier, Ryuu got less aggressive and it definitely wasn't just a lack of work ethic. There was perhaps the rarest hint of sympathy in there.

Though he normally met eyes with an amber gaze of impressive strength between the face bars of his helmet, today it was not fated to be. Ryuu could see before the whistle even blew that Sesshomaru Taisho was not himself; those amber eyes were dull and out of focus, a pathetic immitation of the leader's former glory. The dog demon shook his head weakly, as though trying to will something away. Ryuu opened his mouth to say something when the whistle blared across the field.

Sesshomaru's thoughts began to disappear one by one along with his physical control. He could barely make out a blurry image of Ryuukoytsusei who was looking at him strangely, a mix of his usual carnality with a dash of concern. As his vision blurred even more dramatically than before, fleeting bits and pieces of thoughts scampered through his mind.

Rin.

Inuyasha.

Shitora.

Kouga.

His gang.

His family.

His life.

What was left of it now?"

"Nothing," he whispered to himself blearily.

With this, Sesshomaru fell forward, body limp and arms suddenly heavy at his side. In a single second, the entire world was gone and Sesshomaru Taisho was left with nothing but blindess and silence. The beating of his own heart provided a dull thump in the back of his aching head, but the pain began to gracefully dissipate. Without another word, Sesshomaru fell into a heavy unconsciousness.

Ryuu's eyes widened and he managed to catch Sesshomaru before he fell face first on the ground. "Taisho?" he asked gruffly, giving his thin shoulders a small shake. "Taisho, cut it out."

Bear was just watching Ranbou, preparing for the throw to Kouga, when he heard Ryuu's low but confused voice from the field amidst the grunting and grating of hits. The two were still on the line of scrimmage, as opposed to the chaos of the play buzzing around them. Bear could make out through the legs and cleats one simple thing; Sesshomaru wasn't moving.

"Stop! Stop! Everybody Stop!" Bear shouted, running onto the field and pushing boys this way and that as he made his way quickly to Sesshomaru's side. The movement around them began to come to a slow halt as the boys noticed their massive coach sprinting onto the green.

Ryuu tore off his helmet and said stiffly, "He's out; he fell just as the whistle went."

Bear muttered a curse and covered his eyes for a brief second; he should've known that morning when Sesshomaru visited his office in that catatonic state. He should've known that no matter how strong he was, not even Sesshomaru's body could withstand the stress he was putting on it. No one could function without food, not even him.

"What's wrong with him? Shomo? Whatsamatter?" Inuyasha asked, voice growing rather nervous as he bent down beside his brother, who was still a hollow shell of a man, even covered with football pads.

"Shit, I knew I should've done something," Kouga murmured as he arrived on the scene as well.

Helmets were torn off and scared glances exchanged as the boys began to realize that something was indefinitely wrong with their fearless leader. Bear removed Sesshomaru's helmet and placed his finger on the boy's neck, praying to every God in heaven that he could find a pulse. A pulse he found, though it was pathetically weak compared to a normal man's.

"He's in trouble. Somebody call an ambulance," Bear said finally, shaking his head.

"The nearest ambulance is two miles from here," Kouga pointed out. "It's quicker for us to just take him to Tokyo Memorial ourselves."

"Who's car is nearby?" Bear asked, glancing up at the boys.

"Mine is," Ryuukoytsusei said when no one answered; he made it a habit to move his car to the athletic parking lot before practice. "I'll take him."

"Like hell I'll trust you alone with him," Kouga barked, hackles risen at the very thought it.

"Then quit yappin' and follow me," Ryuu replied with a hint of dragon's snarl in his voice. With this, the Dragon bent down and lifted Sesshomaru Taisho into his arms, startled at how little he weighed. Jerking his head towards the parking lot, he called out commandingly, "You Ookamis, Taisho come with me. Hiashi, go get his sister and mine. Somebody call Takeyama and Tsume. We're going."

The boys all nodded, knowing that even the heretical Northerners knew that, if a leader was weak, his sub-leaders should be present at all times. Ryuu had called upon the present Southern leaders, Sesshomaru's second-in-command, and his brother to follow. Bankotsu would retrieve the rest of Sesshomaru's family and the other leaders. It was a perfectly set out plan and the Southerners were struck dumb as the Northerner walked off with Sesshomaru limp in his arms and an army of Southerners following behind.

"Practice is over for now," Bear declared, voice shaking and weak. "I'll let you guys know how he's doing tonight." And with this, the coach followed after the parade of gang leaders, whipping out his cellphone to call the principal, his own brother.

The other boys nodded dumbly, exchanging glances as they stood there stupidly, too stunned to talk. Sesshomaru Taisho was down.

Akago rummaged boredly through the Shark house refrigerator, shoveling fresh ice cubes into a plastic bag and holding it up to his face. Unbenkownst to him at the time, Gan had unintentionally opened her hand at the last second and the bloody scratched were now very defined. He had decided that there was no work to be done at the warehouse and instead retreated back to home, hoping that Gan would do the opposite; he was too embarrassed to face her at the moment. As luck would have it, his phone rang just as the front door opened and slammed shut, bringing with is her familiar scent.

"Oh perfect," the white-haired boy declared, picking up his blinking phone and answering it with a bitter, "Tsume."

"Akago, it's Ranbou. Sesshomaru collapsed during practice and we're on our way to the hospital, meet us at Tokyo Memorial as soon as you can, okay?"

Akago was barely able to process the information as the color drained quickly from his face. After he swallowed with some difficulty, the Shark leader managed to get out, "Yes, I'll be right th-"

"Gimme that. Tsume, it's me.'' Akago knew the voice to be Ryuu's and his eyebrows could only raise moderately before the man started talking once more. "Lemme talk to the Gun."

Gan stormed into the kitchen, only to find Akago standing with the phone is hand, a back of ice dripping uselessly on the floor as his eyes grew fearful. She was about to let loose on him for the second time that day when she noticed something strange about him.

"Akago? What are you looking like that for?"

In reply, he only held out the phone to Gan, his hand shaking slightly. "It's Ryuu...Sesshomaru's ill."

"What?" she asked softly, anger suddenly fading from her face. She reached out and took the phone. "Hello?"

"Kiretsu, get to the hospital; I don't want them throwing a bunch of medical shit at us that we don't know what to fucking do with. Call Takeyama."

With this, the line went dead and Gan simply stood there, frozen, holding the phone as he violet eyes trembled visibly. "We've got to go," she said quickly, looking up at Akago with her face full of fear before tossing him the phone and throwing down her back-pack, grabbing her keys from the table where she'd just discarded them.

Akago nodded and threw the ice bag into the sink, slipping his feet into a pair of old motorcycle boots on their way out the door. Suddenly their personal problems didn't seem so vast. As they ducked down into Gan's mustang, Akago withdrew his phone for the second time and hit nine on the speed dial. When a cheerful voice answered the other end, the Shark's heart dropped ten feet inside his chest.

"Hey Akago, what's up?" Rin chirped.

The boy closed his eyes softly, taking a deep all-consuming breath before he murmured, "Rin, Sesshomaru is sick. He collapsed during football and the boys are taking him to hospital. Do you know where Tokyo Memorial is?"

The silence on the line was deep and cavernous. Akago could just picture the look of complete and total confusion on Rin's face, the tears welling up in her eyes as the severity of this dawned on her. She was probably covering her mouth with one dainty hand, lips slightly parted; he could feel her heart breaking as she replied weakly.

"Yeah...yeah, I do. I'll be there as soon as I can! Don't let him...don't...just...keep him there!"

With this, the line went dead and Akago stared down at his phone. "That could've gone better."

"She'll have to come to terms with all of this soon enough," Gan replied. She glanced over at Akago to say something else, but gasped instead; the entire right side of his face was a hideous red, black and blue mess . "Oh, Akago, your face..."

"Nothing to worry about," he mumbled in return, ducking down his head so as not to cause her more grief. Despite the fact that it was his face, she seemed more mortified by it than he was. In truth, he was feeling more and more like he deserved it, for some reason.

"But I...shit. We'll have to ice it when we get home. I won't say I'm sorry for hitting you, but I'm sorry it looks so bad," Gan finished, still regal and proud despite her guilt and surprise.

Akago chuckled humorlessly. "Point well taken."

At that moment, they pulled up in front of the intimidating 22 story skyscraper known as Tokyo Memorial Hospital. As Gan parked the car and turned of the ignition, Akago remarked ruefully, "I think I'm more surprised about all of this than I should be."

"Sesshomaru, you mean?" Gan asked as they walked quickly towards the sliding door.

"Yes; it's not like we didn't see it coming," he replied.

Gan remained silent as they walked inside, but Akago could feel the anxiety rolling off of her in waves; it made every single one of his senses scream. As they entered the cold, strange smelling lobby, with its white walls and desperate feelings, several voices called out to them. An assortment of football players, Coach Bear, Shitora and Mizumi were huddled in one corner of the waiting room, all looking confused and hurt by whatever was going on.

"Do we know anything?" Akago asked urgently, glancing around the dismal circle.

"Nothing; they're checking him out," Bankotsu informed them.

Gan nodded slightly, glancing towards the double doors which led to the examination rooms. "Did they say they allowed a family member?"

"We didn't ask; should we ask?" Inuyasha prompted, glancing sideways at Shitora, who had pulled her knees up to her chest and hidden her face in the crook provided.

The blonde sighed, rubbing tiredly at her face. "I have no idea. Hold on."

She approached the woman at the desk, who was working busily away at paperwork. "Excuse me, can the family members of Sesshomaru Taisho see him?"

Without even sparing her a glance, the woman looked down at her patient list and shook her head. "Sorry, no one but authorized personnel in the intensive care ward."

"Intensive care?" Gan murmured, clearly surprised; how bad off had he been when they carried him inside?

Nodding slightly, Gan turned and walked slowly towards her friends, brow furrowed; she tried to brighten her face, lest she alert them to how dangerous this situation was becoming, yet her mask did little to fool them.

"No?" Inuyasha asked, already knowing the answer.

"No," Gan confirmed, taking a seat beside Akago; the look on her face said everything and more.

The vaccuum created by hospitals is a thing to be admired; one building can suck up sound, sight and feeling the minute you walk in the door and there's nothing you can do about it. Sesshomaru's friends and family were currently experiencing this terrible vaccuous catastrophe in all its glory; no matter how positive they tried to stay, the situation only seemed more dire the more they dwelled on it. Sesshomaru didn't get hurt, he didn't get sick, he didn't trip or falter; how was he in the hospital, in intensive care no less?

Gurneys rushed past, doctors called out orders, nurses gathered things from the counter and hurried off again. Families talked in hushes voices and ambulances roared outside; the smell of sickness and medicine and death permeated the place. It was almost unbearable to be there, let alone have a loved one expiring inside.

The sliding doors opened again five minutes later and Rin rushed in, breathing heavily as she stared around the waiting room. Inuyasha sighed and stood, calling out, "We're here, Rin."

The girl turned to face Inuyasha, feeling as though she were looking at Sesshomaru for a moment; silver hair, amber eyes...yet it wasn't him. She realized that this was her mind already trying to find a substitute for her boyfriend, as though he were actually on the brink of death or any such thing. As the word "death" entered her mind and spun around like a siren, the moment suddenly seemed to hit her. Inuyasha walked to meet her as she began to cry, tears rolling down her cheeks and disappearing on the tile floor. The boy embraced her as she issued a sound of despair and he managed to lead her towards their chairs to sit her down. The others refused to watch her, for it only solidifed the moment.

"He's not...is he...please t-tell me..." she spoke jibberish into Inuyasha's shoulder.

"We don't know," Inuyasha replied, trying to stay strong for everyone because he somehow knew this was all going to be difficult. It was something in his instincts, something in his senses. It just told him the truth.

Mizumi glanced at her brother, who was sitting quietly beside her staring off into the distance. She was confused by the goings on, specifically because she'd heard her brother and Sesshomaru Taisho were bitter enemies. She couldn't grasp the reason why her cold and angry brother would carry his enemy to the hospital and then wait patiently to hear news of him. Perhaps he wasn't the man she thought he was. Perhaps he was more.

Bankotsu sighed, eyes half hooded as he reclined back against the chair back and cold wall. He watched the other interracting, watched Mizumi give her brother a confused glance, watched Bear clapping Inuyasha on the shoulder with one of his broad hands. A moment later, Gan leaned over and whispered something to Akago, who nodded before they lapsed back into silence. Rin was still crying softly, eyes wide as the tears rolled forth; she was clutching Inuyasha's arm so tightly it was a wonder he hadn't lost feeling in it. Kouga had his elbows balanced on the chair arms and his fingers templed; he was staring at the wall across from them, ice blue eyes cold and unfocused. There was no telling what sort of dismal, contemplative thoughts he was entertaining at this point. Shitora had yet to lift her head from her knees, if only to grasp Ranbou's offered hand. The lifelessness of it all was startling to Bankotsu, who was used to his lively friends and their notorious humor and conversation. This just further proved the fact that Sesshomaru was the heart and life of the Fangs and everyone they knew, everything they stood for. Without him, they were just a bunch of ridiculous teenagers in leather running around trying to make trouble.

Inuyasha, while calm on the outside, was positively dying on the inside; all he could think of was that ridiculous fight they'd had a few days ago. He'd yet to apologize to Shitora and Sesshomaru was, therefore, still short with him. What if Sesshomaru died? Inuyasha knew he was blowing things out of proportion, but his mind couldn't help but turn to the worst. What if his brother died before he could ever apologize for that stupid fight? The stupid shit he'd said...it seemed so pointless and useless now. When he continually said that Sesshomaru wasn't his dad...something told him that was wrong. He's looked to Sesshomaru for everything since his father became scarce in the fourth grade. When he really stopped to think about things, it were as though his life was a wheel and Sesshomaru was the axle. Everything revolved around him.

"I called Kagome on my way," Rin whispered as more tears wet Inuyasha's jersey sleeve. "She'll be here soon."

The very sound of her name calmed a good number of his nerves and he let out a tense breath. "Okay."

True to form, Kagome arrived at the hospital five minutes later. Her caring brown eyes found her friends instantly and she rushed over, bending down before Inuyasha and Rin with a smile on her face.

"He'll be okay, alright? You know Sesshomaru, he's tough as nails."

Even though cheer is normally the last thing a mourning person wants to hear, it all sounded so beautiful coming from Kagome's mouth. Rin nodded slightly, reaching out to hold Kagome's hand, which she offered gladly. Inuyasha tried a weak smile in return, though it didn't go far; it died pathetically on his lips. Kagome reached out her other hand and cupped Inuyasha's cheek, still smiling.

"Tough as nails, Dog-Boy. You heard me."

Inuyasha bowed his head slightly, reaching up to place his own hand over Kagome's. They sat quietly like this for a moment before Rin scooted over a seat and allowed Kagome to sit between them; that way, both of them had a shoulder to cry on, if only metaphorically.

It was at least an hour before a doctor came forth from the pit with Sesshomaru's file in hand. He was a middle-aged coyote demon, worn and stained by a life at the hospital. He nevertheless gave a weathered smile to the teenagers as he stepped forward with his clipboard.

"Hey guys. Sesshomaru's people, I take it?" They all nodded urgently and sat up straight in their chairs, exchanging nervous glances. The doctor flipped the sheet over, staring down at his notes before declaring, "Sesshomaru is suffering from, ultimately, anorexia nervosa. The side-effect he's getting from that are what really brought him in here today; in particular, bradycardia and low phosphate levels."

"What the hell does all that mean?" Ranbou asked almost defensively.

"Bradycardia is a slow heart rate and low phosphate levels are a symptom of anorexia; that explains the muscle weakness and the fainting," Gan murmured, almost as though she were talking to herself.

"Slow heart rate?" Rin asked fearfully; the very sound of those words sent off warning bells in everyone's mind.

"It's more symptomatic and hypoxic than anything else," the doctor assured them. "Once we get some food in him with an IV, that should straighten itself out. As for the phosphate levels, we can give him drugs to fix electrolyte imbalances. The hardest part of treating anorexia is changing the mental status of the patient."

Just as the doctor said this, a nurse hurried forward and said, "Doctor, we need you in exam room 4."

"Coming," he replied before returning his attention to the frightened looking teenagers. "I have to go in the back, but they should be moving him onto the floor in just a moment; intensive care was just a precautionary measure. He'll be placed in room 214 for observation and you can visit within the hour. Best wishes to all of you." And with this, the doctor was gone, white jacket billowing out behind him as the doors swung shut.

There was a relieved sort of breath which floated around the group, though the news still held a bad tone to it. All eyes turned to Gan, as though they were asking what the next medical course of action would be.

The girl sighed and said quietly, "Some of this is good news, but not all of it. He came in here early enough into the disorder that the side-effects are limited, but anorexia itself is terrible to treat. There's something in Sesshomaru's mind that's keeping him from eating, something he's making himself do it for. Until we get to the bottom of that, we can't help him and neither can they."

Another sad tremble ran over the friends and suddenly their despair was back; while the hospital could treat him to a certain extent, they were still no closer to understanding the reasoning behind Sesshomaru's strange behavior.

After a few minutes of motionlessness, Kouga stood from his seat and approached the front desk. "Do you know if Sesshomaru Taisho has been moved to his room yet?"

Again, without a glance in his direction, the doctor typed in a few numbers on her computer and declared, "He arrived five minutes ago. Room 214."

"Thanks," Kouga replied, taking a steeling breath before he walked slowly towards the elevator, practically weighed down by this whole experience.

None of the others made as though to follow him, knowing that perhaps Kouga was the only one who could crack this mystery. He had known Sesshomaru the most the longest and was with him the most total time per day. If Kouga Ookami, the only man Sesshomaru trusted completely on this earth, couldn't understand him, there was no helping left to be done.

The elevator was old and rickety and smelled like urine. Kouga exited quickly on the second floor, following the signs as they directed him towards room 214. He passed scores upon scores of sick and injured, catching snippets of conversation or tearful hellos, even a few goodbyes. The dismal scenes which greeted him along the way didn't help in his ultimate journey, but they might've prepared him more precisely for the sight he was about to behold.

The door to room 214 was open and Sesshomaru's scent washed over Kouga as soon as he entered. There were two nurses within, one checking the status of the IV bag and one jotting down notes on a clipboard; they glanced up at Kouga's entrance but seemed hurried and uninterested. Tokyo Memorial, the largest and only public hospital in the city, was always swamped with work and there was no time to waste on guests or family members. All the staff could worry about was the clientel.

"Buzz if you need anything, Mr. Taisho," one of the nurses said before the two of them exited the room in a rush, scampering down the hallway to answer a page.

Kouga stood in the doorway for a moment, staring at Sesshomaru in the hospital bed; surrounded by white, he seemed as small as a child. He had never looked thinner, Kouga noted, and his silver hair was now a dull gray, as though he were aging right before his friend's eyes. The hollows in his face were catching every shadow like dark gloves; the overal paleness of Sesshomaru combined with the light in the hospital made it seem like he was disappearing back into the mattress. The numerous cords running through him, IV and heart monitor included, made a sight rather like a spider web; the heart monitor beeped slowly in the background, the only constant sound Kouga could hear.

Sesshomaru's eyes were open and he seemed alert; every sign of wakefulness could be found in those golden orbs. Kouga walked forward and pulled up a chair propped against the wall, taking a seat beside the bed as his anxiety waned. At least his was awake. And alive.

"Well, I bet you already knew this, but you're anorexic," Kouga said unceremoniously, voice almost joking.

The dog demon gave a dull snort and closed his eyes softly. "As though they could even understand." His voice was hoarse and foreign, not at all his usual aristocratic monotone.

Kouga bit his lip, nearly bringing it to blood with his fang, before he murmured, "Could I? Understand, I mean?"

Sesshomaru was silent for so long Kouga wondered if he'd fallen asleep. The heart monitor continued soldiering on in a manner that Kouga's only peace was that his friend was alive. Finally, the dog demon turned his head until his eyes and Kouga's were locked. "Do you remember when Kaede used to tell us stories from the bible?" Kouga nodded solemnly, not wanting to interrupt with words of his own. Sesshomaru continued, "She told us so many stories where the people would repent for things they had done through days of starvation or by flogging themselves. Most of them just prayed for days on end until they felt clean again." With an almost eery smile on his face, the dog demon concluded, "This is how I pray."

Before Kouga even knew what was happening, Sesshomaru's thin hand reached out and he knocked Kouga lightly on the chest in just a certain spot near the abdomen. Though it was hardly Kouga's intention, a wince overtook his face at the sudden pain; he couldn't deny the fact that those scars still hurt, even after weeks of recovery.

"I did that," Sesshomaru said simply. "I'm a sick fuck."

In this single, solitary moment, Kouga finally understood; penance. Sesshomaru was punishing his body as a penance for hurting his friends the day of the battle. Kouga could barely even remember becoming a demon, let alone charging around as one. He could only recall waking up, chest on fire and tears suddenly springing to his eyes. Sesshomaru's acid claws certainly caused them all a fair amount of damage, but Kouga had never for once regretted him like the dog demon was suggesting. Kouga's blue eyes grew wide and hurt, the color of an ice storm in winter; he looked at Sesshomaru with an unreadable expression on his face.

"I...Sesshomaru, we all hurt each other that day...we weren't ourselves," Kouga stumbled out, avoiding his friend's gaze.

"I didn't have a mark on me except from when they changed me back. I'm a sick fuck," Sesshomaru repeated. His gaze was eerily fixed on the ceiling, as though he couldn't see side to side.

Kouga gestured with his hands before he even began talking, as though he were just trying to get the words out. "It's not your fault that you're stronger than us, Sesh-"

"I'M NOT STRONG. I'M WEAK!" Sesshomaru shouted suddenly, head raising off the pillow as his eyes flashed crimson and his fangs seemed to leap from his mouth in this display.

Kouga's first instinct was to scoot away, though he knew that was almost what Sesshomaru wanted of him; Sesshomaru was trying to prove to himself that his friends were afraid, that he was a frightening and dangerous demon who deserved his self-inflicted punishment.

"No you're not," Kouga argued, crossing his arms with a well-placed eye roll; maybe if he played it off, Sesshomaru would calm down. "Shut up Sesshomaru, you've been kicking ass since you were born. It's just the way you are."

"I literally tore my friends limb from limb and was about to start in on my girlfriend. I stabbed you in the stomach. I cut down my own brother. I'm an animal. No wonder that man went right into Madozu and started shooting; because of things like me. I'm not even human," Sesshomaru said quietly, eyes suddenly focused back on the ceiling.

"Don't talk about Madozu like that and of course you're not human! You're a demon and you should be damn pro-" Kouga suddenly stopped talking and his angry face drew a blank. "Wait, who told you about the fight?" Not even Kouga knew such details. "You just saw their wounds, right? You don't-"

"I remember. I've been remembering a little more each day. After a while...I made my self so sick that I couldn't eat anyway," came Sesshomaru's quiet confession; what little color there was to his face disappeared and left him alone in the bed, blending in with the starched white sheets.

The breath left Kouga's body in a woosh and he sat, deflated, in the chair beside Sesshomaru's sick bed. For a moment, he didn't know what to say. The wolf looked down at his clenched fists, waiting for some miraculous answer to come to him. It was a sorry picture they made, Sesshomaru a ghost in a hospital bed, and Kouga a hunched figure in a folding chair. Kouga's tan fists found there way up to the sheets, whereupon they promptly clenched portions of the bed covers within their grasp.

"I-I don't care, Sesshomaru," Kouga spat out, lowering his head as tears rolled down his cheeks; it was finally getting to him. His best friend was sick, in the hospital, and the world was falling apart around them, even outside the hospital. "I don't care that you feel guilty, I don't care! You're obviously not going to r-respond to anything I say, so how's this? It hurts us more to watch you d-doing this to yourself! We're your f-family, Sesshomaru, and we can't do this! Rin can't do this, Inuyasha and Shitora can't do this...man, I can't do this." As he said this, Kouga reached out and placed his hands atop Sesshomaru's, feeling the foreign bump of the IV beneath his palm. "Please, Sesshomaru, I'm beggging you. Stop this. Please."

The dog demon furrowed his brow as Kouga broke down in front of him; he hadn't seen Kouga cry since his mother died and he certainly hadn't expected Kouga to cry over him. The guilt was returning to the pits of his stomach even as he looked at Kouga, face pressed to the mattress at his side as tears wet the sheets.

"Kouga, I didn't mean-"

"You never mean to, Sesshomaru! You never mean to! I've been your best since we could walk and every single time you have a problem, you keep it to yourself and none of us know what's wrong, why you're hurting. And we can't help you because we don't understand and that kills us, Sesshomaru. It kills me. Every single time. Please...don't do this, man, none of us can take it anymore. We only want to help you because you're our friend and we love you and God help me if I don't sound like a huge fag right now, but goddamit, I love you, man. Too much to watch you doing this to yourself. If you won't recover for yourself, do it for us; at least it'll keep you alive to see your own wedding."

With this, Kouga rose so violently that the chair knocked back and, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand, he stormed out of the room, obviously exhausted for the day. Sesshomaru lay there, oh so silent, watching as his best friend fled the room. Even as he lived, the dog demon would never forget the sight of Kouga's tear stained face, pale rivulets amongst the tan of his skin, staring at him with those conflicted blue eyes torn between hate and love. The Fang leader leaned back against the pillows, staring still at the ceiling, however uninteresting it might've been.

"It's time to stop this," he said to aloud to himself. "I'm done."

And with this, the decision was made; Sesshomaru was done with this sickness.

Just as he decided this, there was a tentative knock on the door frame. He turned his gaze to find Rin standing there, shoulders hunched and the smell of tears fresh like dew on her cheeks and eyelashed. She looked beautiful to him, his beautiful little Rin with her delicate doll features and honest eyes. Her ruby red lips were turned down in a frown and her cheeks were pale, sallow almost. She was sick over him, he could see.

"Sesshomaru? Are you awake?"

"Yes, baby."

She crept closer, as though unsure of herself, but when she reached the bed there was no hesitation. She observed his cogniscent state and crawled atop the mattress, smiling at him as she arranged herself alonside his frail body. She placed the flat of her hand over his heart, smiling contently as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"A still beating heart. That's what I like in a man."

Sesshomaru, despite the closeness and serious quality of the moment, couldn't help but chuckle, albeit darkly. "Your standards will never change, I hope."

"Not when it comes to you."

"Are you going to yell at me?" he asked, sounding dull, though rather like a child.

"I wanted to, but I ran out of anger, so...can I just lay here? I feel like we haven't just laid together in a while," she said softly, closing her babydoll eyes as her warmth enveloped him.

Though tears threatened to come to Sesshomaru's own eyes, especially after evoking them from Kouga, he settled on a watery smile. "Of course."

"I love you Sesshomaru."

"I love you too, Rin."

Suddenly, penance seemed ridiculous to him; these weeks of no nourishment had been all for naught. Kouga was right; it hurt them more to see him unwell, something he most certainly couldn't stand for. The dog demon smile to himself, enclosing Rin's hand with his own. All was right. As right as it could've been, anyway. And that was all that mattered to him in the end.

"Sympathizing with the likes of them...you got no pride in your own race!"

Gan cried out as the dark shadows closed in around her, clubs and guns and a whole matter of weapons upraised. They spared her no malicious chuckle as they descended down upon her, watching hungrily as she tried to move away from them, only to bump against the alley wall.

Akago tried to move but found himself frozen; his mouth opened in a desperate scream but no sound came out. His hands urged to reach her, his legs to go to her, but he could only watch as the first shot was fired and blood exploded in an artistic array from her chest...

Akago shot up in bed, chest heaving and hands ice cold; the fine sheen of sweat on his brow had nothing to do with the summer breeze and he was well aware. He was suddenly pained and reached up a hand to his bruised and battered face; it was bleeding again. Though he knew the difference between dreams and reality, the overall vividness of the vision had stunned him into a rock solid fear. It was invading his chest like a poison, spreading through every organ and making his whole body ache. Though it was all rather improbable, as Gan could take care of herself and Akago would never be unable to protect her, the sight was one he would never forget, even if it had been so hatefully concocted by his own mind.

Blood fell in small splatters near his leg and the white haired boy remembered his face; with a sigh, he slid off the bed and walked towards the door, moonlight lighting his way as his feet met the hardwood. He passed his mirror on the way out and snorted; white hair in a messy braid, clad in only bed pants, face bleeding all over his hand; where was the fearless Shark leader now? Ever since he'd returned from the hospital with Gan those four hours ago, Akago had been questioning himself; if Sesshomaru could find himself completely weak and incapable, perhaps the same fate awaited the Shark.

The house was quiet though the sound of some snoring could be heard from the boys' quarters. It had become a Shark habit to leave the deck doors open at night and the breeze was creeping inside, creating a pleasant smell of sea air and the rosemary Halloween had cut from his herb garden.

Akago opened the kitchen cabinets, looking into the enormous first aid stash they'd become in the habit of keeping. He found bandaids and antiseptic, along with cotton balls and pain killers. He reached up to clean the cut when he discovered that his cheek was still incredibly swollen, so much that treating it with bandaids or anything like that was pointless.

"God, can she hit," he muttered, brain briefly returning to the picture he'd witnessed just before his face lost it's feeling: Gan, violet eyes burning and face outraged, preparing to punch as her blonde hair flew back. This provoked another snort from Akago, who realized that he found her attractive even when she was causing him pain.

The ice pack he scrounged up from the refrigerator did him good, but just barely; he resettled the white dishtowel on his face, glancing out the kitchen window at the beach. The lights were on at a beach house just a ways down and he could make out a couple dancing slowly in the moonlight with his demon vision. They looked so happy...it was beautiful. Oh, lord. If I was ever going to question my sexuality, this is not the time; I would most certainly find myself gay. Gayer than...Marvin Gaye. I'm so tired I can't even come up with a good analogy.

When something wet hit his foot, Akago returned his attention to his own kitchen, finding the white towel soaked with blood and his foot dotted with red. "Fuck!" he exclaimed softly, reaching up a tentative hand to his face. "Why won't this stop bleeding?"

"Akago?"

She approached so softly, it was a wonder she was human at all. Akago turned to find Gan padding softly towards him on the hard wood, bare feet pale beneath the hem of her bed gown; it was a filmy thing with a white silk slip inside, so angelic; she looked otherworldly, despite the tiredness in her violet eyes and the rumpled quality of her blonde locks. Akago barely knew what to say at first; he'd never seen her in a dress before and he couldn't say the sight displeased him.

"What are you doing up so late?" she asked when he never responded to her first question; she'd been awoken by a dream she daren't repeat in her mind and had a sudden urge to get out of her bedroom. It was haunted with the remnants of her nightmare and she was only hoping that, when she woke up in the morning, she wouldn't remember it at all.

Akago frowned and set down the soaked towel in the sink. "Nothing, I couldn't sleep after...well, I couldn't sleep."

"Me neither," she agreed quietly, hoping not to awaken the other demons in the house; she knew from experience that their sensetive hearing picked up anything and everything. Her eyes were just becoming used to the darkness when Akago turned his face away from her, facing the window secretively; it was too late, however. She saw the trails of red leaking down his face. If the bloody towel in the sink were any indication, lack of sleep wasn't his only motivation for this late night kitchen rendevouz.

"Akago, what's this?" she demanded, hurrying around the kitchen island towards him and squinting up at the sight of his cheek. He gave up trying to hide it and turned sheepishly to face her, revelaing the deep red rivulets and gaping wide gash on his cheek. Gan gasped despite herself; she'd known it was looking rather bad on the way home from the hospital, but she hadn't even noticed the cuts, barely. "My God, when did those get there? They weren't nearly that big earlier..."

"I don't know," Akago confessed. "I don't think you did it, though, so stop looking at me that way."

Embarrassed at being caught, Gan blinked away her guilty expression and adopted her usual stern one. "Well, let me look then. Did you get into some other fight on the way home or was I just not paying attention?" As she said this, Gan grabbed Akago by the chin and stared intently at the injury, not noticing the near longing in his eyes.

"I might have aggravated them in my sleep; I probably moved a little," he responded. There was no telling what sort of mad movements he'd made during that dream.

Gan shook her head slightly, eyes troubled. "Well, these are going to need stitches," she announced, allowing her hand to drop and rushing towards the first aid cabinet. "Have you put anything on it yet?"

"No."

"Good. I'm going to clean it with some alcohol to make sure it isn't infected; God knows what could've gotten in there by now."

Gan turned away to pour alcohol on a rag and Akago decided the give in to his manly temptations; he allowed his eyes to fall right to her backside. He hadn't taken a good look recently, but he had to admit; it was impressive. It probably had to do with her many years as a boy, during which she had to physically exceed most standards of her sex to keep her cover. In fact, Gan was overall incredibly fit; Akago smiled slightly as he continued to stare shamelessly. He may have hosted the mind of an aristocrat, but the sexual pull of his desires was too strong to deny. For now, he would just look. For a while, anyway.

"Hold still," Gan murmured, reaching up and soaking the cuts with alcohol. Though Akago flinched, he said nothing and only stared down at Gan, who had just begun to notice his gaze. "I know it hurts, sorry about that," Gan excused, thinking he was simply angered by the seering pain.

"It's not a problem," Akago replied, averting his gaze suddenly; she must have noticed he was staring at her cleavage.

"Let's get these stitches done," Gan murmured, averting her own gaze; he must have noticed she was staring at his naked abdomen.

She'll never like me that way.

He'll never like me that way.

I should just give up...

But I can't.

"Kouga, what's the call on this Honda?"

"Where are this months appropriation lists, Kouga?"

"Hey, what do you want me to do with these left over spark plugs?"

"Kouga, hey-"

"I need you, Kouga-"

Kouga leaned back mournfully in his chair, ignoring the sound of fluttering paper as several bills and documents clattered to the ground in messy stacks. Ever since Sesshomaru's admittance into the hospital three days previously, he'd been swamped with work and questions as he took his temporary place at the head of the Southern Cores. Though it had always been understood that he would take Sesshomaru's place during times of crisis, no one had ever stopped to imagine Kouga as the ultimate leader. Theoretically, Kouga could handle every procedure and occurence that might take place under his rule, but this was all a bit different; Sesshomaru's illness was causing a stir that not even Kouga could deal with.

"Jeez, make a line or somethin'," Inuyasha complained as he manuevered his way around the mob near the work table. "He'll get to ya in a minute."

Kouga sighed and rubbed his blue eyes fretfully. "Don't make promises I can't keep, mutt."

Inuyasha restrained the urge to punch Kouga in the jaw for this nickname; it seemed to always set him off in the worst way. Biting his lips stiffly, Inuyasha allowed his hand to clench at his side; he would cut Kouga slack out of sheer pity, but the rest of his forgiveness wouldn't go so far. If Kouga insulted him one more time, there would be death to pay.

"You'll get to em, alright. Don't be a baby," Inuyasha replied when his anger had been successfully satiated.

Kouga let out another sigh, one of the only sounds he seemed to be emitting these days; he knew Inuyasha was only trying to be nice, a rare occurrence to be sure. If anything, Kouga could use a friend right now.

"Yeah, I will. Whadya think of this?" Kouga asked, pushing a piece of paper across the table towards Inuyasha.

The hanyou scratched dully at his bare chest as he glanced over the paper, silver hair blowing slightly in the wind from the resting fan. The paper was decorated with several cut-out letters from a magazine, letters which spelled out the following message: "Demons go home."

"Go home?" Inuyasha asked, brow furrowed. "Where is it that they think we're from exactly?"

Kouga shrugged and pulled the paper back to his side of the table. "I dunno. It was taped to the door when I got here this morning. But you know, a really dangerous guy woulda spraypainted or something, don't you think?"

"Every human is dangerous, man," Inuyasha replied quietly. The two sat in silence for a moment, thinking their own thoughts about the tense air of Japan. Finally, the boy murmured, "We should get to school. I don't need some kinda angry phone call from my old man when the semester ends and I have 9 skips."

Kouga nodded and gathered his things up from the table. "Hey, Yash, that reminds me: did you ever call your dad about Sesshomaru?"

The hanyou froze.

"Whoops."

"Macharyas, god damnit!"

Fennella sighed and placed her hands fretfully on her hips, still panting from the most recent run through. "Sorry."

"Can't you manage, like, a little grace? Just pretend your not an Amazon for a minute."

Mizumi actually winced at Shitora's comment; speaking of someone who could use a little grace. The elite dance team was currently utilizing their after school practice in the dance balcony, a location which was quickly becoming stuffy and hot with derision. The sixteen girl team was performing at a level which most would find competitive, but Shitora was obviously dissatisfied. Her choreography was physically exerting, though it seemed simple for her; every other move was a turn or a jump and the others were falling steadily behind. While the more skilled dancers could more or less handle the stress, Fennella was suddenly finding her lack of formal training quite crippling. She could perform every move without trouble, of course, or she never would've made the dance team; the real problem lay in her inability to carry herself with finesse, as Shitora didn't mind reminding her. The redhead looked away from the hanyou as she stormed up, shaking her fist murderously.

"Shape up Macharyas, or I swear to God..."

"Okay!" Mizumi interrupted, deciding to use her position as co-dance captain to intervene. "Let's take it from where we started last time, okay? Focus on turn out and staying over your feet."

Shitora turned immediately to the Dragon girl, muttering, "Who asked you to talk?"

The green haired girl did not reply and instead pressed the play button on the boom box, returning quickly to her position in the front row; they began. Triple pirouette, russian, high kick-

"Stop!"

Many of the girls let out frustrated sounds as they stopped mid-way into their next pirouette and dropped back down to earth. Shitora was in a foul mood, as the entire dance balcony was fully aware, but she'd become somewhat of a tyrant during their practice. It was already 6:20 and all they could think of was homework, tests, quizzes, boyfriends, dinner. Anything but dance; after two and a half hours, anything but dance.

But Shitora hadn't stopped thinking about dance all day in hopes that it might distract her from thinking about Sesshomaru. Her older brother was still in the hospital after these three days and she was becoming more confused by the hour; since when did her unbreakable brother need medical treatment around the clock? Why couldn't he just come home and they could all return to normal?

"Your russians were pathetic; I know your more flexible than that, ladies," Shitora scolded, amber eyes fierce and sad; perhaps if she danced harder and yelled louder, Sesshomaru's pale form beneath cold white sheets would stop infiltrating her concious.

"It's already 6:20, Shitora, can we please go home?" one of the girls asked, out of breath and tired.

Her white ponytail swished officiously as she strutted up to the boom box, spandex booty shorts shaking rhythmically back and forth. "Not until you get this right."

"C'mon, Fennella, figure it out," someone hissed, earning a stern look from Mizumi; due to Shitora's unwanted attention, the others were now supposing that it was predominantly the lion's fault that they were still slaving away.

The music began again and this time, the girls carried a renewed since of heat; Shitora finally let them continue past the problem section and the team thrived, moving in complete unison as they danced gracefully across the balcony, drum beat honing in on their feet as they turned, split and kicked. Mizumi watched her hip position carefully in the mirror and was just about to turn a pirouette when she made out the sight of someone struggling in the back of the troupe. A little blonde head was bobbing as a smaller girl tried to keep up with the pack, finding it nearly impossible as they dissolved straight into a leap. Mizumi frowned and began watching the girl out of the corner of her eye; she was much smaller than the other girls, but well built like dancers tended to be. Her turn-out was fabulous, but she looked sadly out of breath.

Shitora seemed to notice the straggler as well, but held her tongue; that girl would hear about it later, she decided. Right now, Shitora could only think of meeting up with Ranbou in the parking lot and going to get a distracting hamburger, whereafter she would hopefully have some distracting homework to do, before or after a distracting make-out session.

Meanwhile, the football team was finally coming in after a late practice, covered in mud and grit from the torn up fields; a recent rain storm had made the ground wet and sludgy, much to their dismay. Their cleats clicked on the tile floor as they made their way through the main building, hoping to avoid the upcoming storm by staying indoors. The team was silent, as they had been since Sesshomaru's collapse that monday. Ranbou sighed heavily, wiping a smudge of dirt from his cheek; he was trying to hold them all together, but Sesshomaru was their leader off the field and not even Ranbou could compete with that. Ryuukoytsusei glanced at Ranbou and snorted quietly to himself; the wolf was beginning to struggle under the pressure.

Inuyasha glanced up at the Dragon and asked rudely, "What? You got somethin' to say?"

"Yash," Kouga pleaded, giving the hanyou a significant glance; he was in no mood for Inuyasha's attitude.

"I was just askin'," Inuyasha shot back, mud decorating his white hair nastily. "If he's got somethin' to say, he should say it, not just snort like an asshole."

Ryuukoytsusei rolled his eyes; he couldn't even find it in himself to be insulted because the charge was so mundane and ridiculous. "My apologies for not saying everything that comes into my head like you, Taisho."

Inuyasha was about to respond when Bankotsu put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head; they all knew from personal experience what could happen when Ryuu actually was offended. The team continued through the dark hallways, passing lockers and trophy cases until they saw a light in the distance; it was spilling into the hallway from a large window, one which they knew belonged to the dance balcony.

"Are they still here?" Kouga wondered aloud, glancing at his brother.

Ranbou only shrugged and when they boys drew nearer, they could hear the faint traces of music even through the sound proof glass. It was the strains of "Higher Ground" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers; the dance team was still inside, dancing in perfect unison, turning and jumping and generally outperforming artists many years their elder. The football team stopped before the window and began to watch, finding themselves suddenly entranced and mightily surprised; they had yet to see many of the girls dance and it was more than a wake-up call for several.

Ranbou's eyes grew rather wide and he let out a soft, "Whoah." Shitora had been quiet and withdrawn since Sesshomaru's admission into the hospital, but she was certainly anything but at the current time. Her face was light, eyes happy and smile faint, but it was all there; the signs of love. She seemed to be the best dancer in the room, if ability and position had anything to do with it; this was when Ranbou's eyes caught sight of the girl next to her. Scratch that, second best dancer, he thought regretfully to himself. The little green haired girl next to her was practically dancing circles around Shitora, even though she seemed unoffensive and relaxed. There was nothing affontive about her, but even as she twirled, she exuded excellence.

"Shit, Shitora's really good," Inuyasha murmured, brow furrowed; he didn't know anything explicit about his sister's career, except that she'd unpacked a box of trophies. He figured dance trophies were something like recreational soccer trophies, multiple and on every teenager's shelf. But now he could see that perhaps she was more competitive than he'd first imagined.

"So's the chick next to her," Manten pointed out, using his chubby finger to designate the green haired girl in the front row.

"Don't point at my sister," Ryuu grunted gruffly, batting away the boy's hand as he continued to watch with grim satisfaction; she was indeed the best.

When the football team turned to regard Ryuu with incredulous glances, the dragon showed no sign that the attention bothered him. In fact, he released a small smile and the other boys shivered; that was most definitely not normal. Their attention was diverted, however, when a loud crash exploded from inside the dance balcony and a piercing scream accompanied it shortly after. The boys whipped back around to face the window and were met with the sight of a smashed boom box laying in ruins on the floor, it's pieces scattered across the hardwood. Shitora was standing, hand still poised from the blow she'd delivered, with a murderous rage in her amber eyes.

"Macharyas! I TOLD YOU," she began, growling with a vengeful rage as she stalked dangerously towards Fennella in the back of the troupe. The lion looked rather surprised and as though she didn't know what to do; she stood stock still, watching Shitora approaching her with a deep pain in her eyes.

"Shitora, stop!" Mizumi shouted immediately, sprinting after her fellow dance captain and grabbing her arm with demon strength at her aid. Even as Mizumi's clawed hand enclosed around Shitora's bicep, the dragon knew she was about to endure copious amounts of pain. She closed her eyes, preparing for the impact.

Shitora didn't even make a sound as she delivered a vicious hit to Mizumi's face, tearing her eyes away as Mizumi fell like a sack of rocks to the floor and rolled slightly, gasping as blood poured down her face. Fennella snapped into action and and was just stepping forward to deal Shitora a blow in return when she found herself dragged bodily backwards by a pair of strong, muddy arms.

"Don't even think about it, Fenn," Bankotsu growled in her ear, still retaining his hold as the lioness wrenched her body back and forth, roaring as only a lion could. Despite the fact that Bankotsu would've liked nothing more than to watch Shitora get her face rearranged, he knew that aiding Mizumi was a definite no-no in front of her brother. In that case, he would help in the only way he could by restraining the only girl he would willingly touch.

"Sukini, cut it out!" Ranbou shouted commandingly, wrapping his arms around Shitora's waist and hauling her backwards whilst she swiped blindly out with her claws, screaming bloody murder.

Inuyasha rushed forward and stood before Shitora, grabbing her chin in his hand and demanding fridigly, "Stop right there, imouto, or yer gonna be in a world of hurt."
When met with the amber eyes of her brother, ones that looked just like her own, just like Sesshomaru's, Shitora suddenly paused in her clawing and stared, desperate and lost, into Inuyasha's face. Ranbou, rather surprised by her radical transformation, glanced down at her and saw the beginning stages of teardrops forming in the corner of her eyes.

Rolling his own eyes, the wolf muttered, "Yeah, that's right, let's have a public smackdown and then a breakdown to spice up the entree. I think we're calling it a day, Sukini." With this, he began pushing the girl forcefully towards the doorway, despite the fact that her feet weren't even moving as she found her body swept away.

Ryuukoytsusei, meanwhile, was crouched down on the floor beside Mizumi as she gathered herself together, hand still clamped over her nose as she attempted to stop the blood from flowing over her lips; puddles of red were collecting around her knees on the floor, ruining her dance tights.

"I'm okay," she murmured, voice muted and dulled by the injury.

Ryuu felt the beginnings of an all-consuming rage creeping up into his subconcious and he shut his crimson eyes tightly; he was trying to restrain the urge to pummel the nearest Taisho, only because Mizumi hated the violence of his fighting tendencies. In keeping with her wishes, Ryuu drew his dark desires inside himself and smothered them like a cloth over fire. He listened carefully to the sound of Ranbou's heavy cleat-steps and Shitora's dragging toes as they exited the dance balcony. The lion girl stopped struggling and her feet therefore quit their tapping on the wood. Several cleats shifted this way and that, feeling suddenly as though they were ruining the floor. The other dancers were so confused and frightened by the scene that many of them hadn't moved a single inch since the fight began.

"So this would explain how you come home fucking cut up from dance practice," Ryuu said under his breath, offering Mizumi a hand, which she accepted slowly. She was avoiding meeting his eyes and instead focusing on her feet; her jazz shoes were soaked with blood.

The other boys failed to hear this as they relaxed their muscles; the violence came to a close and they then looked awkwardly around the room, nodding to girls they knew and shifting back and forth in their uniforms.

"How long has this been going on?" Inuyasha asked, voice hoarse and tone belaying the obvious trouble he was having believing Shitora's cruelty.

"This is the first time," Mizumi blurted out, shaking her head slightly, whether it be from her nose or the self-doubt at the fact that she was lying to a Taisho. "She's just having a bad week because of Sesshomaru-san, it's not a big deal, I'm cool with it."

Ryuu and Fenn both turned to Mizumi with stunned expressions on their faces, opening their mouths to protest when she shook her head more vehemently. She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have Ryuukoytsusei think less of her because of cruel treatment. What if Inuyasha never talked to Shitora again? He would be ashamed, Mizumi knew, as Shitora was being rather cowardly and cowardice didn't sit well with dog demons. If anything, she was just trying to keep the peace.

Inuyasha looked skeptical and rose an eyebrow, asking tentatively, "You're sure?"

"Yeah, it's totally cool, don't worry about it, I should go clean up," Mizumi managed to get out. With this, she walked quickly towards the door, hand still settled over her bloody nose. As she exited, an uncomfortably cool wind swept around the place and the teenagers shivered, knowing that something meaningful had transpired during those few minutes.

As soon as Mizumi was out of hearing range, Ryuu turned to Inuyasha with a look so frightening on his face, that several of the girls gasped and stumbled back, shivering from the darkness there. "Keep your sister under control or I'll rip her to pieces and leave her body parts in a dark alley. Step wrong with me, and you'll be next. Don't cross me, Taisho, or my sister. Or all of you will pay."

With this, Ryuu followed hot on Mizumi's heels, ragged green ponytail swaying dangerously back and forth as he exited. Another silence consumed the group as they exchanged glances, some of them in muddy football uniforms and others in scant dance wear. Finally, Bankotsu cleared his throat and life resumed inside the dance balcony, bringing with it many awkward goodbyes as the football players exited and the dancers began packing up their things. This encounter certainly did not bode well for the dance team.

In the parking lot, Ranbou was still practically dragging Shitora as he manuevered her towards the car, her bags as well as his own in his arms. When Shitora wouldn't even open the car door for herself, eyes still wide and confused, Ranbou threw the bags to the ground and furrowed his brow angrily.

"Okay, that's it, what the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded.

Shitora raised her gaze to meet Ranbou's, those ice blue eyes capturing her as they always did. "Nothing."

"Well, then what were you thinking back there, actually hitting that girl? Are you out of your fucking mind? Those girls didn't do shit to you and there you went, just ready to smack a bitch for some kinda dance problem. That's nuts, Sukini," Ranbou countered, throwing his arms akimbo and subsequently causing droplets of mud to fly this way and that.

"Oh, you're one to lecture me on the subject of unnecessary fighting," Shitora replied sarcastically, suddenly finding her voice as the outrage kicked in. Her white hair blew gently to the side as the evening wind increased, rolling across the near empty parking lot.

Ranbou growled, "I don't know what yer talkin' about."

"Oh don't you?" Shitora hissed, taking threatening steps towards him as she bit out her words. "You can't handle what happened this summer so you're taking it out on every poor fuck who steps wrong around you. You're gone every single night, Ranbou, and don't think I don't know. You keep on saying 'stay with me on this,' but you can't even stay with yourself. You're an assassin, not a pyschopath, so stop acting like you're a five year old child with an anger problem!" Her words were mincing and high pitched, grating with desperation as she gritted her fangs, shutting her eyes to the world.

Ranbou looked struck for a moment before he recovered with wrath at his aid. "This ain't about me, this is about you. I can kill assholes, Sukini, that's not a problem. You can't just go beating up nice girls in school; that's wrong and you know better."

"Don't lecture me," Shitora roared, eyes tinting a threatening orange. "I'm handling my problems the way I know how. That girl is in my way and it's no one's fault but hers."

The wolf snorted. "Do you hear yourself talkin', Sukini? You sound like Naraku with your 'it's all their fault, I'm just takin' out the trash' crap. I'm sorry about what happened to Shomo, I really am, but everyone else is handling it like an adult and you should follow their example."

"I'm not your kindergarten student!" the hanyou screeched, giving Ranbou a threatening push to the chest. "You don't know how the hell I feel about Sesshomaru and it's none of your business!"

"I'm your boyfriend, Sukini, I'm trying to help you!" Ranbou replied loudly, eyes desperate and hands tense.

"Well go help yourself! Go tell someone's mom that you were just taking out some frustration when you saw their son and remembered that he once took a Fang's hubcaps and you shanked him! At least I'm not a killer!" came Shitora's air-splitting return.

Ranbou screamed, "I kill for you!" throwing his arms down in a frustrated gesture as his claws began protruding even further from his fingertips. "I kill for you and for my family and your family and our friends, for everything we have! You think I like offing these guys? That I like not gettin' any sleep and running around town like some kind of psycho? I hate killing! They always expect me to do it because I'm the only one that can handle it when really I can't; I do it anyway, though, because I'm not a little baby in dance class whining about how I'm not the best!"

"Like hell you can't handle it, you've got the emotional capacity of a rock," Shitora cried out, whiping her arm across her eyes as the tears began to prick. "What about killing can't you handle? You do it so much that you're not even a real man any more. I should have known bet-" But she was interrupted by crass, crude words of raw, fresh anxiety.

"I kill those assholes just like they killed my mom and it makes me want to rip my own heart out!"

The truth was piercing and cold, like the blade of a knife slipping easily into the sheath of human flesh. Shitora choked on the foreign notion and stared at Ranbou with eyes so hurt, not even he could stand the sight of them. Words bubbled up in her dry throat. "Wait, what? You...Ran, I..."

She stumbled over her protest, her guilt, her confusion. Ranbou turned his rugged face away, strands of ink black hair obscuring his eyes from view. "Forget about it. It's not like you give a shit since I don't have the emotional capacity to care. My bad. All those times I said I loved you? I was lying. Have a great life, Shitora."

Shitora's eyes grew wide and her breathing stopped for a single, solitary moment; he was turning away, he was leaving. He didn't love her, he was leaving, he was getting in the car, he was leaving her. Wait, I need to think (he doesn't love me) I need to think about this for a minute (he's leaving) before he just drives away and we don't (he doesn't love me) settle this. I can't do this without him, Ranbou, Sesshomaru, no please (don't leave me) I can't (please love me) I don't think I can...Ranbou please...

The screeching of tires didn't serve to snap Shitora from her trance and the tears leaked naked down her face as Ranbou disappeared from sight, the jet black fins disappearing behind the school fence as the smoke billowed from the tailpipe. The absence of sound was louder than the screaming of thousands as Shitora lost feeling in her hands. He didn't love her? Wait...

"He doesn't...he really doesn't...oh my god," Shitora whispered, clasping her hand to her heart as it gave a sharp, painful throb. She'd never stopped to think about what would happen if Ranbou stopped loving her. She'd become so used to the feeling of love surrounding her, just like the comfort of a blanket, that the sudden chilling cold was causing her to burn. She felt delicate, as though her little heart and soul would shatter if she even touched them lightly. She was alone, standing stupid in the middle of the parking lot. Her bags were at her feet and everything was at an end. Her perfect summer fairytale was at an end and it was all her fault.

"Shitora, what the hell were you thin-" Inuyasha yelled as he came storming out of the main building, preparing to demand the truth until he realized the scene before him was wrong. Ranbou's parking space was empty and Shitora was standing there like a doll, bags strewn about the ground and arms completely limp. She was so still, so strange, it was as though she was made completely of glass. "Tora?"

When Shitora turned to face her brother, the pain in her eyes nearly choked him like two little hands around his neck. "He left. He said he didn't love me and he left. He doesn't love me," she babbled, voice quiet and child like.

Inuyasha hurried towards her, furrowing his brow in confusion. "Wait, what? You're not making any sense."

"He...he doesn't...he doesn't love me. He doesn't love me and it's all my fault."

Inuyasha's eyes grew dark with worry as he began to put together her mutterings; obviously, she and Ranbou had been in a fight and said thing they didn't mean. It was there, plain as day, every time they so much as looked at it each other; it frankly made Inuyasha sick to watch the love pouring off them like rain, but he never said a word. Now, as he stood dumbly in the school parking lot with his broken little sister, Inuyasha was beginning to realize how different things would be if all this were true. Shitora was shaking and he didn't know how to comfort her; Sesshomaru always did things like that. He didn't know what to do without Sesshomaru.

"Get in the car, let's go visit Shomo," he said finally; if he couldn't handle things alone, Inuyasha would simply take Shitora to the hospital where their leader was now laying, sick. Even a sick Sesshomaru was far better than anyone else.

"He left me," Shitora whispered, looking suddenly alarmed.

"Fuck Ranbou, Sesshomarui is still here," Inuyasha growled, dragging Shitora towards his Lamborghini. "Get in the car and shut up."

"He...he doesn't..."

Inuyasha started the engine, not getting nearly the high he normally got from that gentle but powerful purr. As he drove out of the parking lot, the previous night's rain resumed and splattered dimly on his windshield. Shitora could only stare out the window, face pressed against the glass as a single solitary thought parted from her lips.

"Ranbou doesn't love me."

Wow, that's a lot of fun. I think I'm gonna go off myself now. Kidding.

This was a pivotal chapter for a lot of reasons, but you probably won't get it until later; I write with too many intricacies and it gets all tangled and weird, so sorry about that. I had Shitora and Ranbou go away for a while so that I can make myself focus elsewhere. I think they're pretty much done; they were a bad couple anyway, like, a bad match. But look forward to SangoxMiroku...?

Yep, kidding again. I'm a funny one. You know I would never really break them up, but fights are so delicious. And in all reality, it makes them go away so that I can look at Sesshomaru and Bankotsu and all that good stuff. Don't worry about it. Thanks to all my reviewers and those of you who apologized, don't worry about that either; I'm cool, I was just being difficult. You're forgiven no sweat.

KOLU