A/N: Hello people! After a long time I'm here again! Yay! I'm kinda happy with what came out from this-Yeah well nothing story changing or anything, just a filler…I guess. Aaaaaanyway…I can't tell you why, but don't kill me, because a dead author means a dead story k? So, characters are exposed, problems arise(maybe) and you'll just have to read to find out.

Genji? Yeah I know, he's such a cute fella! He's one of my favorite characters, see he was also the messenger sent to Sesshoumaru, hilarious ne? He's sorta like the good childish guy. He's gonna have an actual part in a while but I can't spoil the surprise.

Fluff right? Owwww, bad spot there because there's this little anti-fluff virus in my head right now that won't go away. Joy, really, I've tried to put something in the near future, but I have to decide weather to put it or not for the moment or if to delay it until later chapters.

A whole year?! Yes minna-san! It's been a year the 12/22 since this poor little fic started. I actually am a bit surprised; I would have never thought that it was going to take so much to write a fic. I sure didn't start it with that idea. Sometimes I feel bad seeing how long it takes me these days to update. Gee, I'm so sorry people.

[Music] Here I am again with music corner. Well, I just say what I've been listening to when I was writing really. Ok, the songs were: 'Yashal' by 'Elisa' - 'Until it sleeps' by 'Metallica' - 'In the End' by 'Linkin Park'

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-yasha & co. Original characters are my property though, it feels nice to have possession over something.

Red Isn't Only Blood

Charter XI: Happiness and Sorrow

All was lively in the forest of the Eastern Lands, animals, youkai and humans. All had gone back to its normal routine after the blue of the night had been replaced by the azure of the morning sky; you could almost hear the silent humming of a village girl in the happy picture the place made. The sakura trees were in full bloom and their pink petals moved and fell from the gentle warm spring breeze. The trees faded in the horizon but the color of the flowers melted with the sky and it took a nice violet tint. While birds the night before had been still and sleeping they now seemed revitalized and flew in all direction chirping and swirling in front of the travelers that walked the dusty paths through the woods.

Many travelers were happily chatting one another while the walked towards their destinations, like the Lord and Lady of the Northern Lands as they peacefully made their way through mountain trails the could perfectly remember. Lady Yuri was happily chatting with her mate while he simply looked at her and smiled. Lady Yuri was always happy and smiling, the portrait of youth and happiness. Her tail swished behind her as she bounced down the pathway with her back facing the direction she was walking in while she was talking to her mate.

Lord Shisho looked at her with soft eyes as she talked about how much she liked the general Lady Ayame had chosen. He stretched breathing the refreshing morning air, earning a giggle from Lady Yuri. She always seemed to have fun looking at him stretch, something about it being 'cute'. He smiled when she came closer and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek and turned around so she was walking facing the right direction and followed his stride as she continued to talk. Every now and then she would speak about a few pressing political matters they had to think about, but most of the time she commented on simple things. He was enjoying every minute of it; it was rare he and Yuri got to speak and enjoy such a nice morning like this without thinking about their Lands.

Lady Yuri looked at the peaceful face of her mate and was happy. He was usually very tense and had a lot of matters concerning the Northern Lands to worry about. She helped him the best she could, but some of the members of the great council didn't like a female 'interfering', how they liked calling it, with political matters; the only exception, if that was the case, was Lady Ayame, the only heir to the Eastern Lands after the death of the previous Lord. Two major ruling bodies, the Higher Council and the Lower Council, formed the government of Youkai Japan. The first composed by the four higher lords; the second consisted in the lesser lords of small parted provinces. This though, only under the common political aspect of the Lands, when important decisions had to be made; yet, if one of the High Lords refused to participate, then each of the other three Lords was free to do as he desired. What a useless method. Lady Yuri thought.

When it came to a Land's personal business everyone was free to do as they desired. This was something Yuri didn't like about the political system in use. Some of the lesser lords, treated the population without mercy and often killed humans or youkai alike to show who wanted to rebel what was in store for traitors. It was truly disgusting, alas, Lords like her mate Shisho couldn't do quite anything without starting a war and it seemed it was never the right time for it. One year the food for an entire army in a war was scarce, another the soldiers were away in other expeditions and usually the year after that another problem arose. It was always the same way, no way out. It was really a long time since Japan was balanced before this precarious line that threatened to snap each day that passed.

Lady Yuri kissed Lord Shisho on the cheek before locking their arms and walking peacefully under the bright morning sun. Those problems were important, but more than that, she wanted to spend some time alone with her beloved and enjoy the calm surroundings. When her mate smiled at her she laughed lightly and gently laid her head on his shoulder. She couldn't remember how long it had been since they'd walked like that; it felt good.

***

It had been quite some time since they'd started their way to the Western palace; actually, it was near dusk now. Kagome walked looking at the sky, her arms folded behind her back as she absently talked with Shippou about childish little things. Every now and then her lips would turn upwards at a joke he made, but every time she remembered who she was traveling with and returned to her composed and impenetrable self, who would never smile. It was sad, on some part, after all, her mother had always told her laugher and such were the important things in life, but now, what had she to cheer about when all she knew was going against her in some weird circle of destruction?

Shippou had started to fidget, a clear sign he wanted to ask a question, he frequently asked if he could demand something but then said it was nothing and started talking about the nature again as if he had never said anything from the beginning, like everything was normal again. Unfortunately it wasn't so, many things had changed since she'd left Inuyasha and the gang behind, sometimes she wondered if her reaction to Inuyasha choosing Kikyou was justified in any way. It wasn't like he had openly declared his love for her so his actions were just those of a man who had chosen a person -Let's say corpse shall we? Echoed a voice in her mind she didn't bother analyzing- to spend his life with; he hadn't really betrayed her…in his view of things.

And here I thought I was rid of all these kind of emotional problems. The girl thought exasperatedly, she didn't want to remember now, she had chosen what to do, and that didn't involve anything of the past. That's when images of Sango, Kirara and Miroku came to her mind. She could remember Sango screaming at Miroku and hitting him on the head for being too lecherous, or when the taiji-ya consoled her when she was sad. She remembered the first time she had seen the older woman; she had been tricked by Naraku; like everyone else in her old group of travelers. Kagome felt so sorry for all her friends. Miroku always lived with the curse of a slow and tormented death, which first destroyed him mentally with the continuous reminder of it, and then sucked his body to god knew where to never return again. To top it all today was Kodomo no hi* and Sango wouldn't have Kohaku with her. The taiji-ya wouldn't be able to give him a present for his feast; another thing the younger girl felt sorry for. This brought Souta to the miko's thoughts, she had to drop a present for him down the well when they got near enough to it, maybe she could plop down a set of Shuriken or a dagger, he seemed to like a lot those kind of things, she could also attach a letter with it too. She started thinking about what she could write them.

"Kagome, I know you probably don't want to see Inuyasha but what about Sango, Miroku and Kirara? I 'm kind of...worried, that's all. What if Inuyasha's being a jerk like always!" Shippou said timidly, his eyes wide, rousing her from her thoughts.

Kagome sighed, she knew this would come out sooner or later; she was just surprised it was so early. Looking casually at Shippou she saw his worry for the three friends, maybe after all it wasn't a good idea to bring him with her. He was but a child and she was bringing him tight in the mouth of harms, she was such a despicable person, all she brought to those she loved was sadness and pain. Maybe, it was better for him to go; she wasn't about to follow, because of her, even Sango and Miroku would feel worse than they already did. And tha wasn't her intention. She had to admit that underneath it all she had used them, as shameful as it was she couldn't deny it. When she cried on Sango's shoulder without thinking of how the other girl felt too, wasn't she using her to release her stupid distress? What was her sorrow in comparison to the taiji-ya's and the houshi's; she was but a spoiled brat, who wanted to be loved when she didn't deserve it. Keeping her cheerful demeanor in front of Shippou she smiled nicely and talked like she was thinking about pleasant things, "You're right Shippou-chan," she said, "we have to do something! Captain Shippou, I have a mission for you! Do as I say!" she continued.

"Yessir!" Shippou chirped

"You have to keep watch at what happens in the Hunter's group, am I clear? And don't come looking for me, I will come when the time is right and you shall report all you found. Plus, I am trusting you shall keep safe Miroku-san and Sango-chan from the mean hanyou and the pot, Ok?" Kagome half joked as she kept her nice façade with her adoptive kit, she wasn't about to let her bad mood taint him as well. His innocence had to be preserved; it was too rare to get broken.

"Yessir! I won't let you down Kagome-mama! I will report everything, not a detail less than happens!" He yelled.

"Very well, I shall now escort you to your operating base, follow me in a moment." Kagome concluded, jogging towards the Lord of the Western Lands that walked in front of her.

"Sesshoumaru, is it a problem if we stop, it'll take a few moments only to do certain things." She asked half politely, she wasn't in the mood to have a verbal fight with him so she could just stick with formality for now. She was going to give him a piece of her mind later. Something was bothering her though, her muscles hurt for some reason and she was mentally strained for all the events that had occurred in the last forty-eight hours, maybe she was ill; who knew.

He was roused from his thoughts as the woman asked him to stop, he never actually understood why humans needed to rest so much, they even slept away half of their life. Back to the matter at hand, could he waste his time waiting for Kagome while she went to put down the child where her former companions were now apparently residing, then a face appeared in his mind and he decided what to do. He would let the girl go, then they would head for his palace, where they would discuss. Looking her way he found she was looking expectantly at him; instantly he felt angry, he knew all to well what she was doing and he couldn't tolerate her for that, Kagome, this woman, had understood what many others didn't even dream of imagining. She just had to irritate him to his limits and she would win an argument; he hated it. Being put down by a woman, human woman no less, was beyond all logic and coherent thought.

Yet there was something, when she started being uncooperative and arrogant he felt the utmost desire to go away, let her rant until she was finished and maybe, just maybe, then come back and see if she was in the mood of being polite, once in a while. Frowning, he sat on an exposed root of a tree and addressed her, it didn't look like she was going to talk again anyway, "You may go, but forty minutes and no more, if you're late I shall drag you all the way to the Western Lands."

He watched her huff in annoyance, then walk away towards the village he smelled nearby and felt like he'd done something he shouldn't have. He didn't know why, but he had a bad feeling, like when he would leave Rin alone with Jaken and know she wasn't in good hands. Still, at the moment he didn't care a bit, after all if was Kagome he was thinking about, which therefore was already a waste of time, but more importantly, nothing bad could happen to her, she could protect herself.

A question he sometimes pondered on while looking at her was; could she protect herself from her own thoughts? Sincerely, the last two times they had met he'd watched her, just to pass time. After all, it wasn't like there were a lot of things to do at a ball and when Lord Shisho was constantly chatting about how strange she was it was difficult not to think about her as well. She had looked so untouched by all the stares of the youkai that were around her, she had fitted in, talking to those who addressed her, in a polite and calm way, never daring to say a word more or to reveal any of her thought by her actions.

Even though she had talked with most of her former friends, there was still an underlying base of insecurity behind it all. Maybe a sign that she didn't forgive herself for something that had happened, as to what; he didn't have a clue. It also wasn't as if he actually was going to ask her personally, it was just slight curiosity that had induced him to such conclusions; she was after all a strange being, examining her ways of living had proven quite amusing at times. Obviously not when she knew about it; it never stopped angering him the way she treated him. He might have had intention of killing her more than once, but she had asked for it. First she had done something to Rin -exactly what he didn't quite understand- and then she had willingly insulted him many times. Whatever the feeling was he didn't ponder much more on it, after all, she was already gone. Relaxing his muscles but keeping his senses alert he put his arms behind his head and fully rested against the tree. Forty minutes…ha, like she would make it; he was betting it would take at least an hour.

***

She was bringing Shippou back, it finally dawned on her; she had done it for his well being, sure, but could she handle it? A life with no giggles every now and then, no optimist whatsoever? She hoped, because as much as she wanted to deny it there had been times when she'd been very happy at Lady Ayame's. There were people like Genji that often helped her in various task, whatever they were; she inwardly smiled at the memory of the first encounter between her and the soldier. He'd just come back from a expedition in the mountains and was rather sore; Kagome had seen the pained look in his eyes. She had been instructed not to talk to anybody or leave the area of the palace she was in, but he'd seemed so sad. She remembered the day, it was one of the few happy memories.

She had eluded all those who passed in the corridors and reached the balcony and had jumped down from it to the ground, heading to the military quarters. It hadn't been difficult finding him, for some reason his aura was special, in a way she couldn't quite point out. She'd found him in one of the smaller gardens watching a field, it continued for miles, seeming endless. She'd watched him, keeping hidden, and had gotten a seat next to him after a while. He'd jumped then, instantly recognizing her. Lady Ayame's human apprentice, he'd seemed uneasy, or maybe just shocked.

She'd asked him what was wrong and he'd been instantly wary of her, after all, who was she to know that he, a youkai, was sad. Yeah, good question. Strangely enough she'd told him something very few knew about, her father. She had wanted to share something about herself with him so he'd trust her; but it had been stupid, to say such a thing, it was her personal sorrow, nobody else's. Strangely, he really had opened after. His brother had died in the battle, and he felt guilty, go figure, everyone does at some point in the life. After a long talk she'd left him, Lady Ayame and the maids were probably going crazy looking for her. They'd laughed together then, the two had formed a life bond, they'd shared the deepest scars of their life with one another, without knowing each other. Quite hilarious really, the memory still brought a smile to her lips.

"Here we are Shippou-chan, final destination, your operating base is set and ready." She said to the little kitsune. Whoever had invented the phrase 'Parting is such sweet sorrow' was so wrong. The little kit was so important to her after all, she knew that once she was gone he would start crying and it made her sad, it was just the 'happiness' of the moment that clouded his young mind from the truth. Actually, in any other occasion the situation would've been comical, imagine, a girl tall 5'4 wearing an armor, telling a kitsune that barely reached her knees that a very normal human camp was a military base; if to that you added the fact that before they'd been walking around with a god knew how powerful demon lord.

"Ok well, bye bye mama, see you in…a few days ok?" Shippou said a bit uncertain.

Then that was why he wasn't very, very sad. He thought they were going to be separated only a few days. Poor kid, she felt so bad leaving him. The girl knew she was being cruel, but if he could stay alive thanks to her cruelty then so be it. Nobody was going to die on her from now on, nobody she cared for at least.

"Ok, good-bye Shippou-chan, say hello to Sango and Miroku for me." She said with a smile, waving as he skipped his way to Kaede's village. She wasn't going to be weak anymore; she'd walk and wouldn't turn back, because if she did she probably wouldn't still have the resolve to keep going and it would kill her. Turning back she started looking at the sky again, it was red and orange, like the leaves during fall. Like a famous poem by Ungaretti says: 'Si sta come d'autunno, sugli alberi le foglie'*; so she let herself be guided by the gentle breeze.

***

Translation:

*"Staying like leaves on the trees in autumn." It's a famous poem by Giuseppe Ungaretti, an Italian poet, born in 1888 and died in 1970. I had to change the form to make the translation have some sense in my way of words, so if you've read a decent translation or anything could you point it out please?

I wanted to recommend a fic this time:

"Finger Paintings" by "Reiku Toukijin" I really can't say much without spoiling the whole thing. It partially takes time in Segoku Jidai and partly in Tokyo, even though the interesting part are in the latter. I really like the sotry. This is the story id:1322365. Try it out.

A/N: Here I am, did you like it? What a stupid question…I've made it over a thousand times. Anyway, I've been reading the Anita Blake Vampire and Merry Gentry series lately, had to order them from Amazon because in Italian only two were translated, here we always don't get the interesting stuff…*pout* Oh well. Whatever, as you may have seen, my other fics have started moving again, joy. No, really, I'm happy about it because it means no writers block for me, but then again, writing three in a time, jesus help me. It's been long since. = ) But I think I can manage!

-Kayrin