InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Suffer The Fray ❯ The Game is Manipulation ( Chapter 24 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I hold no claim to the characters of InuYasha...Rumiko Takahashi does. I only claim ownership of Shunsoke, and I make zero profit from writing this.

A/N: First off, let me apologize for the length of time it took me to update. I never intended to make any of you wait this long, but a lot of things got in the way and none of them are really important enough reasons to mention. I will say there was a while where the thought of writing put me in a horrible mood, but I'm very happy to say that I have gotten over that....obviously haha. I had to do a lot of so-called 'brainstorming' while I wrote this and in the course of it all, I came up with another fic idea. So if you like this one, maybe you'll like an Inuyasha AU with a modern twist...that's all I'm saying for now. I've also given a brief summary(because one of my readers asked for one). I hope it helps.

I'd like to give a very special thanks to my lovely betas- clnv & Dei Dei. They make sure you don't have to suffer from the same idiotic mistakes I always make. You probably won't even notice the subtle bits that are theirs, but I know and that's all that really matters. Read on and enjoy!

Summary: Kagome has returned to the feudel era after a five-year absence to put an end to Naraku's schemes once and for all. She and Inuyasha parted on shaky ground and have traversed quite a bit more to admit their love for one another. Sango and Miroku, the married couple, have had their share of misfortune, falling into a trap laid in a desecrated village by Naraku. Kouga and Rin were his weapons of choice...and the wolf prince was saved thanks to Kagome. Rin's status has yet to be ascertained. Hakudoshi had taken up residence in the fortress of Inu no Taisho and under the keen surveillance of Sesshomaru...who has resurrected his dragon companion, Ah-Un, to perform a task along with Jaken. Akago, with his pet, Moryomaru, have teamed up with Kikyo...who in turn has control over Kohaku and Kagura...to set an ambush in order to get to Kagome- the person Naraku secretly fears most. Each of Inuyasha's gang is nursing wounds when they are once again attacked...this time by Kikyo.

Inuyasha didn't hold back an ounce of his strength when he collided with her, throwing her backward and into the unforgiving earth. Kagome saw stars when her head cracked into the ground and she lost all touch with her surroundings. Pain billowed through her skull and muffled the shouting voices of the other people around her. She could barely discern Inuyasha's bellowing yell from the buzz in her ears and weakly rolled onto her belly.

Dragging her arms through the dirt, Kagome levered up and gave a bleary look around. It was as if everyone had suddenly disappeared to leave her alone on the empty street. It was logical that Miroku and Sango were gone; Kirara had taken them and Shippo in her flight from Kagura. What bothered her was how fast Inuyasha seemed to have vanished as well...

Where could he have gone?

Sitting up on her knees, Kagome suffered a wave of nausea as she called out his name. "Inuyasha!"

No answer, not even a rustle of the ratty roof eaves.

Giving her head a gentle shake to help relieve the fog ailing it, she slowly got to her feet and started to make her way towards the building from which Kikyo had emerged. The two of them had been there and gone in the span of a few seconds, and the hut seemed like the only logical place to go. She took a hesitant step up onto the porch, grasping the nearest roof support for balance and leaned toward the doorway.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome let go of the support and moved closer, peering into the darkness of the hut. "Inuyasha, are you in there?"

She had yet to hear a reply and after another few moments of convincing herself that she wasn't suddenly afraid of the dark, Kagome moved through the open doorway. It was as if a heavy bag had been tossed over head because she couldn't distinguish anything in the shadows where the battered roof failed to permit the bright sunlight. A familiar feeling of helplessness spread over her and she released a tense sigh when she remembered she wasn't without other senses.

Quieting the fear running rampant in her mind, Kagome reached out with tiny feelers of her power to permeate the corners of the room. Her wide brown eyes fluttered shut as she searched for him. His aura was even more familiar to her than her own, it was just a matter of locating it. Her feet slid forward of their own accord when her efforts yielded no results and a frown marred her serene features. "Inuyasha..."

As his name fell from her lips, there was a tiny flare to her immediate left. However the feeling she received was the exact opposite of Inuyasha's as the hanyou's aura never failed to comfort and reassure her. This one brought a hollow knot of foreboding in her stomach and she shuddered as its cold burn washed over her.

The anxious hand she hadn't realized she'd reached out jerked back to clench tightly at her side as she opened her eyes to stare into the black veil sheltering the other occupant of the room. "Who's there?"

"Please...you have to leave this place..."

Kagome blinked with confusion. The voice was strained...and feminine. "Who are you?"

"Lady Kagome...please..." There was a painful choking sound that made her wince. "Please...you have...you have to..."

Kagome took a tentative step forward. "Do I know you?"

The voice sobbed quietly. "Yes...you helped me in the past..." She let out an anguished groan. "But that is why you have to leave!" She gasped. "Now!"

Kagome didn't recognize the voice, but she couldn't bear to hear another word and proceeded to walk into the shadows until she finally found the mewling girl hunched against the wall. "Oh Gods..." Kagome grasped her shoulders and tried to lift the girl's face, but she shook off her hands. Kagome smiled grimly and knew now that she wouldn't be able to leave this girl until she found a way to help her. "I'm just trying to help you."

The girl's head whipped back and forth violently, an eerie chuckle falling from her hidden lips. "Fool...you need...need to leave this place!"

Kagome felt the stirrings of anger in the pit of her stomach. "Stop telling me to leave! I'm not going anywhere unless you come with me."

"I...can't...stop him anymore..." The girl's spine snapped straight, her arms flying out to shove Kagome backward.

Kagome winced as her backside collided with the hard floor, pain flooding her body again. Stop who? The girl sounded like she was being tortured and she could sense the cloud of evil surrounding her. I helped her once before...

She recalled Miroku and Sango's accounts of a girl possessed in the village and that they believed her to be the long lost ward of Sesshomaru.

Could she be Rin?

She looked up as the girl moved forward into the light and felt her mouth sag open. "It is you!"

Rin stood looking down on her, dressed in the regal kimono Akago had given her the night before and simply lifted her right hand...where Sango's wakizashi was clenched tight in her grip.

Kagome's huge umber eyes flicked between the short sword and Rin's not-so-warm caramel stare, feeling her heart start to gallop in her chest. The girl's innocent aura was completely blanketed now and she could only sense the evil of her possessor. She knew this evil...had faced it in the past...and now knew just how Naraku was able to gain control of her and Koga.

Scooting backward, Kagome felt around in the dark for something she could use to defend herself as she spoke. "Rin?" She tried to pace her breathing before her nervousness made her hyperventilate. "I know you're in there somewhere, Rin. He took control of me once too, but you can break free of his grasp."

"I know you can push him out, Rin." Her hand bumped into a jagged piece of wood. "You can do it because I did it too. If I can do it, you can do it."

A painful grimace wafted over Rin's face. "This girl isn't a miko, Kagome. You know that." She took a few steps closer, the blade glinting dangerously in the rays of light shooting in through the open roof. "Her spiritual power is close to nil. She has no hope of dislodging the piece of my aura that I have embedded in her body."

The voice was Rin's, but the one speaking wasn't the young woman bearing down on her. Kagome wrapped her fingers around the wooden weapon and kept her eyes trained on the blade. "Up to games again, Akago? I would've thought you'd grown out of those childish antics."

He laughed, but it came out of Rin's mouth more like a groaning cough. "It has been awhile, Kagome. I never thought I'd get the chance to kill you again."

"So you're not after the shards this time?"

"They're just an added bonus after I slit your skinny little neck." Rin stalked closer, her feet stopping just inches shy of the miko's. "Father will be so proud."

Kagome couldn't help an anxious laugh. "Father? Ha! That would be the day."

"Much has changed since you ran away with your tail between your legs."

She felt her face flush angrily and gripped the wood even tighter. "Rin! I know you're in there!"

Akago swung Rin's arm out and the blade sang through the empty space where Kagome's head had been. Rin's eyes followed the miko's duck and cover maneuver and she smiled when Kagome got to her feet brandishing her makeshift weapon. "I already told you. She can't hear you."

Kagome started to circle and focused her senses on the clouded aura of the girl opposite her. "You can say what you want, Akago. I can feel her fighting you." She tightened the grip on her weapon as the ripples of Rin's retaliation filtered through the layers of the Akago's evil. "Rin! Fight him!"

"I told you!" The girl lunged forward and slashed outward with the sword. "She is nothing!"

She threw up the wood to block the blow and stumbled backward when the blade split it clear in two. Kagome blinked with astonishment and darted into the neighboring shadows when Rin's puppet-like lunge with the wakizashi nearly impaled her. Her chest heaved up and down as she hid, staring widely at the shuddering body of the girl in front of her as she clutched her throbbing wrist.

Rin had grown up so beautifully that Kagome was captured with awe for several moments. She had always thought the girl had an elfin quality about her as though she was a fairy creature given a human form. Rin had one of those free spirits that was innately attached to her environment to the point it was nearly cognitive. It was as if she could understand the nature of all things, whether they be human, animal, plant, or youkai.

Staring at her now, Kagome saw that the nymph-like quality hadn't really left at all, but had gotten refined to the smallest nuance. Her body may have grown taller, softened with curves, and flourished with grace, but it had retained each and every bit of the magical essence that was the orphan Rin. The effect was enhanced all the more by the sleek, Akita-accented kimono she was draped in. Of the many goddesses Kagome had encountered in her travels, Rin seemed more of a deity then any of the others had.

The young woman's arm jerked as the blade twisted in her hand, and Kagome realized that magic could also be very dangerous if someone thought to take advantage of it.

Feeling the force of Rin's refusal to submit, Kagome knew it was only a matter of time before Akago's hold on her slipped and she would be damned if she wasn't going to help her thwart him. She pressed herself against the wall and silently stood up, hands braced on either side of the wall beside her hips. "I think you need re-evaluate your assessment of her, Akago."

Rin's body jerked like she was suffering from tetanus and her voice growled out of her throat. "I don't understand where this strength is coming from! She should not be able to do this to me!"

Kagome watched Rin continue to convulse, moments of the body's true owner shining through in her eyes and knew what she was going to do only moments before she did it. "Rin! I can help you, but I need you to let go of the sword first!"

The blade swung in her direction again. "Shut up, wench!"

The miko was unperturbed. "I need you to do this before I can help you, Rin!" Kagome moved around the wildly swinging sword, hands held in front of her defensively. "I can do the rest, but all I need you to do is drop the sword!"

The girl's arm shot upward stiffly, her slender muscles jumping under her porcelain skin and the blade began to quiver in her grip. A pained snarl spread across her face. "Lit...little bitch!"

Rin's mouth opened in a silent scream and her eyes pinched shut. "No...no!"

"That's it, Rin! Just a little more!" Kagome watched her fingers working on the hilt of the wakizashi, her heart in her throat.

She's so close...

"K...Ka.." Her knees suddenly buckled as her arm turned the blade against her own throat. Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes and she started to sob. "Kagome....help me."

Inuyasha skidded to a halt in the gravel-strewn street, a fine powdery dust swirling around his suddenly still feet. His golden gaze darted back and forth, searching for the red and white clad woman that had suddenly vanished. The quiet breeze flitted through the ruff of fur on Tetsusaiga's hilt as his claws clenched tight around it. "Kikyo! You coward!"

Moving forward, the hanyou prowled down the deserted street. "Show your face, Kikyo! I know you're hiding from me!"

He scented the air, inhaled deeply and latched onto the distinctive scent of Kikyo's soil-infused flesh. He trotted after it, slipping between two dilapidated huts and tracking right along the charred remains of an herb garden. Inuyasha only hesitated his ground-eating stride for a moment when he realized she was watching him from the steps of the adjacent hut and he lunged toward her in instantaneous rage. His keen ears caught the quiet jingling sound in the background, but the buzzing wrath fogging his brain kept him from acknowledging it.

As he dove for the statuesque miko, a glint of gray flashed in his peripheral and something cold and slick seized his throat. Inuyasha suddenly found himself gagging as he attempted to draw a breath from his lungs. He buckled to his knees and tried to break loose using his sword-less hand, his amber orbs glaring at the amused miko gracefully setting herself down on the step before him.

The shrewd woman lifted a delicate brow. "Is there something bothering you, Inuyasha?"

The inu-youkai inside him snarled in response and Inuyasha merely shifted his eyes to the length of chain leading away from his throat. He followed it as far as his predicament would allow, but the angle of the chain told him the other end was somewhere near the hut with the over-baked garden.

Taking a strong hold of the sturdy links, he jerked the chain down and across his body. The abruptness of his action was enough to surprise the person on the other end and Kohaku skidded along the battered floorboards as he was exposed. The boy blinked with wide eyes, but remembered what side of the fight he was on and quickly resumed his expressionless facade.

The tug also managed to give some slack to the chain and Inuyasha sucked in a deep breath. "What...are you do...doing, Kikyo?"

She smiled crookedly. "I was just thinking that it was about time someone put you on a leash."

The hanyou's eyes narrowed as he slowly got up off his knees. "Don't fucking play games with me. I hate being toyed with."

"Then what good are you as a dog?"

"You fucking bitch!" The smarting remark sent him reaching for her neck, but Kohaku managed to barely hold him back. Incensed by his hindrance, Inuyasha whirled on Kohaku.

He stabbed Tetsusaiga into the soil and wrapped his right arm up in the chain, twisting sharply and hauling the boy toward him. The young taijiya was ready though and slashed out with his kusari-gama as he was drug within range. Inuyasha didn't even hesitate as he snatched the blade mid-swing and ripped it right out of Kohaku's hand.

Blood leeched out from between his fingers and ran down the sickle's handle to splatter in the dirt as Kohaku slid to stop in front of him. Inuyasha threw his left fist into his chin and growled at the groaning, fallen boy. "This has nothing to do with you, so get the hell out of my way." He tore the chain away from his neck and slung the kusari-gama to the ground beside him. "Don't even think about using that on me again, or I'll forego my promise to Sango and kill you right here and now."

Kohaku held his mouth as he sat up, light brown eyes narrowed as he reached for his weapon. He moved his hand away from his face and glanced at the blood that graced his palm, feeling his broken lip with his tongue. He got to his feet with the kusari-gama hanging at his side, glancing over at Kikyo.

Any previous amusement had vanished from her expression and she merely glared at him. "Go."

Kohaku's jaw clenched at her rebuke and he turned to face the hanyou. "You shouldn't be here."

Kikyo snapped to her feet. "Take heed of what you say, Kohaku. I cannot protect you from Naraku's ears."

"It doesn't matter anymore. He's already suspicious of me." He began looping the chain of his kusari-gama with his free hand. "I can no longer take part in this scheme, for the shame of withholding precious information from those that need it would undo me."

Inuyasha could see the agitation in Kikyo's face as lines of frustration creased by the edges of her eyes. There's something she doesn't want him telling me.

Sango's younger brother looked away from the miko and settled his heavy gaze on the hanyou. "It was unwise to have left Kagome alone, Inuyasha."

He felt a ripple of unease worm through his belly and focused his attention on Kikyo. "Tell me why."

"I do not think you are in a position to be making demands of me."

"I don't fucking care what you think. I want to know why you're helping that son of a bitch."

"My reasons are my own."

His fingers clenched and he was shocked at his sudden desire to strangle her until she regained her senses. "How can you say that to me after what we've been through because of that fucking bastard?" He yanked the tip of Tetsusaiga out of the dirt and held it low beside his body. "You told me you wanted revenge against him."

She gave him a softly wicked smile. "Do not think I've forgiven Naraku in the slightest. He will receive his dues just as you will."

"Oi," he shook his head negatively. "Cut the shit, Kikyo. I know this isn't really about me, but Kagome." Inuyasha glared at her, feeling the distance between them growing by figurative leaps and bounds with each passing second. "Why are you siding with Naraku?!"

The resurrected miko flinched, her eyes watering and snapped back at him. "To get rid of Kagome!"

Inuyasha tried to ignore the hollowing of his stomach and swallowed his disbelief as well as he could manage. "She's never done anything to you. Why the hell would want her dead?!"

"Because she's taking you away from me!"

Kikyo stalked forward, a slightly mad gleam in her eye as her aura visibly crackled around her body. "You were supposed to join me in hell, Inuyasha. We were supposed to spend the rest of eternity together, but that won't happen until she's out of your life permanently."

She moved in against his body, pressing herself tightly to him. "Your soul belongs to me, Inuyasha."

He knew as he stared down into her eyes that the Kikyo he had once loved was gone completely and a twisted imposter left in her place. It was like something deep inside him had finally been severed and was beyond repair. Even if the Kikyo he knew managed to reclaim her body, there was nothing left to pull him to her.

"No." Gently disentangling himself from her winding grip, Inuyasha pulled away from her awkward embrace. "It may have before, but it doesn't anymore. I gave myself to someone else."

The silken tone of her voice darkened as she gazed at him. "So I have been informed."

The hanyou blinked with confusion. "What?"

Kikyo laughed. "You think I don't know about your little tryst with my reincarnation?" She picked up her weapon and leveled it in his direction once more. "Aiding Naraku does have its advantages."

Inuyasha flicked his eyes in Kohaku's direction. "Was it you?"

"No." The somber boy held the hanyou's stare. "She used Kagura for that. Naraku had sent us to find Kikyo, but I have my reasons for doing as she bids." He started to side-step until he was at Kikyo's side. "But that doesn't mean I cannot warn you."

His hard amber eyes darted back to stare at Kikyo contemptuously as his chest heaved angrily. "You're no better than Naraku."

"Your opinion of me hardly concerns me now." She slid her arrow back into her quiver as Kohaku moved to shield her from the hanyou. Her cold brown eyes flicked back to the hanyou dismissively. "I'm leaving you in the capable hands of Kohaku while I attend to more important matters."

"You're not going anywhere!"

Inuyasha was across the street like a shot, snagging her arm in a bone-crushing grip and shoving Kohaku back with Tetsusaiga. He growled in response to her startled gasp and jerked her until they were nose to nose. "I came after you to find out why you're targeting Kagome and I'll be damned if you're not going to give me the real fucking answer!"

Kikyo twisted her head away, moaning softly. "Naraku wants Kagome to disappear and I'm the only one capable of luring you away in order to do that." She glanced down at the claws digging into her flesh. "You're a fool, Inuyasha. You left her totally defenseless in your verve to hunt me down."

The hanyou ignored the knife of panic stabbing his heart. "She's not as helpless as you seem to think!"

"Really?" Kikyo flared her purifying power around her body to free herself and chuckled as Inuyasha scowled and shook his burnt hand. "I find that hard to believe."

Inuyasha stared at the red, angry flesh of his palm and felt a sudden resignation when he turned his eyes back to his former lover. "What happened to you, Kikyo?"

She blinked at the concern in his quiet question. "You happened to me, Inuyasha." Kikyo bowed her head. "The who and the why do not matter to me anymore. I was a miko that fell in love with the enemy and was granted death as punishment."

"As I felt my heart slowing in my chest, I was no longer angry. I had accepted my fate in hell and was at peace." Her eyes twinkled as tears welled within them. "But because of Kagome and your antics together, my peaceful damnation was uprooted and I was brought back to this torturous realm of life."

"When I saw your face, all of my hate returned to consume me...including the hate I felt at myself for loving you. I thought I was the only one capable of that mistake until I saw you with Kagome and it was then that I wanted you to share my fate."

Inuyasha felt like pulling his hair out. "Why?!"

"Because you were asinine enough to think you could possibly love a human girl and live peacefully...again!" Kikyo balled her delicate hands into white-knuckled fists. "You deserve to pay for that as much as I do, and so does she!"

"You're wrong, Kikyo." Inuyasha calmly lifted his sword to rest it against his shoulder. "Kagome was right. You really have lost your mind."

Her lips quivered with pent up rage. "Pray, Inuyasha. Pray that I rediscover mercy before my eyes fall upon that ignorant girl."

"Let me help you, Kikyo." He started toward her. "I can help you find peace again."

"You disgust me." Kikyo spun on her heel and began to walk.

Inuyasha started to jog in order to follow her. "Kikyo, wait!"

Kohaku's kusari-gama lashed out to graze his cheek, stopping his pursuit instantly. The hanyou growled and lightly touched the oozing gash, glaring at the blood coating his fingers as his peripheral watched Kikyo escape. His eyes cut to the boy moving to block his path. "I already told you. I won't hesitate to kill you now."

The black and teal draped boy nodded solemnly. "I understand, but I must still detain you here."

The two of them squared off and began to circle one another, their expressions of calculated resolve etched into each combatant's countenance. Their gazes were heavy and unyielding, searching meticulously for an unguarded angle in which a debilitating blow could be rendered. The air was thick around them despite the cool temperature and sweat beaded on their brows as they came ever closer to the moment when a move would be made. It felt, to both the youkai-taijiya and the hanyou, that time had ceased to pass and they were stranded together in an indefinite animation of the most apprehensive kind.

It was Kohaku that struck first, lashing outward with his kusari-gama with such wicked speed that it was very nearly allowed to strike its target. The Tetsusaiga reverberated with the block and Inuyasha charged forward when the sickle was retracted back. He slashed downward at his opponent, but the boy caught the blade with his own and diverted it to his left.

The move was fluid and precise, but it left his body open to attack and Inuyasha took full advantage of it. Having been pulled to the right, he swung his left elbow backward and landed a solid, nauseating blow to Kohaku's face.

He staggered backward a few steps before jerking the chain of his weapon and swinging it within inches of the hanyou's throat. The desired effect was achieved and they separated to a safe distance, if only momentarily.

Inuyasha watched him acknowledge the blood running from his nose and just shook his head when Kohaku wrapped his chain around his arm, preparing for the next round. "I was serious when I said I wouldn't spare you. Kagome means more to me than you, and although Sango is one of my few friends, I could live with her hating me for the rest of my life if I have to kill you."

"Well, the point is null if you take into account my already being dead." His voice was more nasally than earlier, and he straightened up from his crouch.

The hanyou noted his deadpan delivery and decided to adventure another avenue in his pursuit to dissuade the boy from fighting. The sudden image of Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara evading Kagura popped into his head and he narrowed his amber eyes in agitation. "If you're here, then you have to know that wind bitch is attacking your sister right now."

The abrupt turn of conversation was enough to disorient Kohaku and he shifted uncomfortably. "I have no reason to fear for my sister's life. Kagura would not go to such lengths."

"You and I both know if it were to become a battle to the death that Kagura wouldn't fucking hesitate to kill Sango."

Kohaku's hands clenched violently. "She wouldn't..."

"You don't sound so sure." Inuyasha watched him start to tremble with anger. "I have never trusted a deom and been able to share a happy ending once the dust had settled. I wouldn't trust Kagura as far as I could throw her crazy ass."

"She wouldn't dare betray the pact we made together knowing I would kill her myself if such a trespass was made against my sister!"

He snorted "Kohaku, you can't be serious."

The youkai-taijiya's rage made him snarl, an expression Inuyasha had never before seen grace the somber boy's face. "You know nothing of what I speak. Do not try to infect my mind with falsehoods meant to destroy. I will not allow you to corrupt me."

Inuyasha sighed. "The only person capable of corrupting you....is yourself."

The slight tremble of his body eased and Kohaku went still, head dropping to stare at the ground. He was silent for quite awhile, merely staring intently as the cool breeze ruffled his hair. The air became more and more laden with tension with each passing second until Kohaku finally looked over at the hanyou.

His light brown eyes were once again serene with acceptance. "You must go back to Kagome, Inuyasha." He took a deep, settling breath. "And make haste. Akago laid a trap to capture her for Naraku."

The hanyou's chest constricted painfully. "What kind of trap?"

"He planned to use Rin, who is still under his control, as bait to keep her in one location. After Kikyo lured you away, he was going to move in and take her to the Western Lands."

Inuyasha held his breath for a moment. Sesshomaru's territory? Why the hell would he take her there?

As if it was plain on his face, Kohaku answered his unspoken question. "Hakudoshi has taken up residence in the fortress of your father."

"Does he know he's a dead boy if Sesshomaru finds out?"

"The Daiyoukai is already aware of their presence, but is unable to take action against them."

"Why?"

"That I do not know." He turned away and looked back at the hanyou over his shoulder. "You must not let Kagome be taken. All of your lives depend on it."

He started to run, but Inuyasha's shout stopped him. "Where are you going?"

Kohaku's jaw clenched before he answered. "To protect my sister."

Sango never had a dislocated shoulder before and never wanted one again.

The pain radiating out of the delicate sling of muscles surrounding the battered joint were screaming at her, darkening her vision as she gently propped her unconscious husband against the wall of the stall. She wished she could just lie down beside him and sleep, wished for it with every nauseating slap of pain to her face, but she had to get up and fight.

There was a reason she couldn't succumb to her body's commands...and it was waiting just outside the walls of the shabby little barn in which she was kneeling.

Kirara had taken it upon herself to distract Kagura after some of her wild maneuvering had ended with Miroku falling through the thatched roof of a barn. The nekomata had felt her panic at seeing him smack his head and fall unconscious, quickly depositing the youkai-taijiya and the kitsune on the ground before rejoining the fight.

Sango's fingertips touched the bandage covering the gash on Miroku's head, frowning at the sight of blood on the fabric. The fall must have opened it up again.

Tears of frustration threatened to well up in her eyes, but she blinked them back and turned to the young kitsune standing watch at the barn's entrance. "Shippo, what's happening?"

His brilliant green eyes flashed nervously in the dark. "Kirara's not doing to well." His voice trembled despite the serious look on his face. "I don't know how much longer she can keep this up."

First Miroku...

Now Kirara...

Sango took a deep breath and willed herself to ignore the pain of her shoulder, rising to her feet and starting toward Shippo. Her Hiraikotsu still rested where she'd thrown it in her rush to get to Miroku and she slipped the fingers of her right hand into the handhold, hoisting it up without missing a stride.

The fire fox watched her solemnly determined march with astonishment. "What are you doing, Sango?"

She didn't so much as acknowledge him with her attention, but still answered his question. "Ending this."

"You can't! You're still hurt!" Shippo darted away from the crack between the doors and wrapped himself around the leg closest to him. "You don't stand a chance out there by yourself!"

This time, she turned her tormented violet eyes to stare sternly down at him. "I appreciate your concern, Shippo, but we're all going to die here if I don't do something right now."

"But..."

Sango could see the tears twinkling in his eyes and softened her tone, kneeling down and setting him away from her leg. She gripped his small shoulders tightly. "I need you to be strong for me, Shippo. I need you to be strong and watch over Miroku, because I'm the only one that can do anything about Kagura."

She could feel the tears she'd so diligently dismissed earlier returning to course down her own cheeks. "Can you do that for me, Shippo? Can you be strong for me?"

He let out an almost imperceptible sob, and nodded rapidly. "Y..yes. I'm strong."

"I know you are." She pulled him into her arms and hugged him tightly. Sango set him back after a reassuring kiss to his forehead and stood up. "You're very brave, Shippo. I'm so proud of you." She tightened her grip on Hiraikotsu and gave him a nod. "Now go."

He dashed back through the tattered barn to Miroku and Sango turned her sights to the doors of the barn. Sliding up against them, she used the cover to survey the commotion going on outside.

There was an abundance of dust clouding the air, but she could still make out the form of Kirara. Paws aflame, she hovered opposite and above Kagura, who was standing upon the last erect support beam of the house across the way. The wind sorceress's expression was mildly annoyed, her fan open and held in front of her face, preparing to deliver another round of her trademark blades of wind.

It was clear that she had hit her mark more that once.

Kirara's creamy coat was marred by several bloody ruffs and her breathing was heavy. Sango felt such an insane rush of rage at the sight of her companion that she nearly charged out of the barn without thinking. It took a great amount of self-control to stay concealed from them both, but she managed it.

There's only one way for me to have any chance at all with all my injuries, and I must surprise her.

Gritting her teeth, Sango knew she must wait until Kagura attacked Kirara.

Her plan however, was altered when it was the neko-youkai that lunged down at the awaiting wind demon. Kirara snarled and dove, executing a swift barrel roll to the right as Kagura's Fujin no Mai was sent slashing in her direction. Kagura leapt down from the perch as Kirara's enormous paw swiped the top right off the beam in a sickening crack.

Sango watched Kagura land gracefully on the ground, her back to the barn, and knew that now was her chance. She slipped out between the doors and adjusted her grip on her weapon. Unable to use her left arm as a counter-balance, she exchanged her usual throwing maneuver for one similar to a discus throw, whirling her entire body to propel the bone boomerang across the clearing with enough force to be deadly.

Kagura couldn't get away by the time she realized what was going on, Hiraikotsu battering her to the ground as her left arm was shattered. She hit the ground with an agonizing thud, moaning as she clutched her maimed limb.

The youkai taijiya retrieved her weapon and allowed Kirara to slide beneath her and lift her into the air. The nekomata rumbled underneath her as she staved off a nearly incapacitating pulse of pain. Blinking back the darkness in her vision, Sango focused her attention on the woman slowly getting to her feet.

Kagura's haunted face was taunt with pain, but she seemed to be just as efficient at holding it at bay. Her arm hung limp and useless at her side, the other retrieving her fan and slapping it shut. Her kimono was tattered and coated in dust and her hair was disheveled.

It was a sight she had never seen before. She looks haggard...and ill. There were shadows beneath her persimmon eyes were more pronounced now that she looked harder and the vividness of those brilliant eyes was dull. Her normally porcelain skin was much more pallid than she remembered. Something's wrong with her...

"What a pair we make, hm?"

Sango noticed her eyes were resting on her own disabled left arm. "I do not consider myself remotely similar to you in any way."

"You always were the rude one." she snorted. "Sure, Inuyasha knew how to be uncouth, but you...the slayer..." She lifted her closed fan and pointed it at her. "You know how to insult in a subtle and underhanded manner." Kagura smiled slyly. "I like that in a woman, but sweetie, look at yourself. We are not so different."

"Then please, share your wisdom with me."

"I appreciate your cynicism. It's fitting for a slayer of your misfortune." Kagura tapped her fan thoughtfully against her chin, sauntering slowly closer as her arm swung unnaturally. "Your ingrained prejudice will probably abhor this, but we are both victims of the same twisted maniac."

Sango nearly scoffed at her gall. "I thought you were bosom-buddies with Naraku."

"Ah, there it is. One of your perfectly veiled insults." Her red eyes hardened, along with her bemused tone. "Why don't you just come out and say what you want to say, slayer?"

"You are just as evil as Naraku, killing with an abandon that puts the worst youkai to shame. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were his wench and those two deranged boys of his were spawned from you." Sango felt liberated in a small, tiny way and was pleased to see that she had left the wind youkai completely speechless.

Then, hesitantly, she began to laugh. "You give me too much credit."

"I don't hear you denying it."

Her laughter ebbed to complete silence. "Naraku disgusts me. Nothing would bring me greater pleasure than to kill him myself."

Sango didn't believe her. "Then why haven't you?"

"He'd kill me before I had the chance, which is what I was trying to tell you if you weren't so self-absorbed to hear me."

"Oh, well, forgive me if I find it hard to be sympathetic."

"You're right." Kagura closed her eyes wearily. "I've never given you a reason to trust a word I say, but I'm tired of this."

Now Sango did scoff. "Tired? You're tired? What the hell do you have to be tired of? You enjoy madness and mayhem just like any other demon."

"Truly?" She shook her head. "You just assume that I'm just like every other youkai you've encountered, but did it ever occur to you that I detest the things I am told to do?"

"Then, if that's true, what reason can you possibly give for continuing to do them?"

"I wish to keep my life."

Sango looked into her distressed eyes and didn't want to accept what she saw there. She didn't want to think of Kagura as a being with feelings of despair and destitution because those things would make her have to feel as well. It was too complicated to convey emotion to her and it was easier to just take her at face value. "I don't believe you."

"You are Naraku's victim because he holds hostage something most precious to you. This is where you and I are the same."

"Don't you dare use Kohaku as an excuse!" Sango's fingers gripped Kirara's fur so tightly, her knuckles ached. Snatches of the visions Rin planted in her head filtered through her mind's eye until she could hardly see straight. "What could he possibly have of yours that is so important?!"

Kagura made to step forward, but her feet fumbled, sending her back into the dirt. Her body trembled as she slowly pushed herself up with her single, functional arm, groaning as she did so. "My heart, Sango. Naraku holds my heart."

Sango's heaving chest stilled at her words, unable to comprehend what the wind witch had just said. Her heart? Does she mean she's in love with him? Her eyes darted back to her pained face.

Something's wrong with her...

She looks haggard...and ill...

I wish to keep my life...

Sango's violet eyes blinked with realization. Kagura meant a flesh and blood, beating heart.

Everything that had always seemed odd about her suddenly made sense, from her confessed distaste of murder to her participation in keeping secret the time of Inuyasha's human transformation. Her rebellion against Naraku had become apparent to all of them during the last few months before their final encounter with Naraku before his hibernation...to the point she was the one that had shown them the way.

She was a slave to Naraku's will and Sango felt her cheeks burn with shame. The things she had said had been vile, acid from her tongue, and she had thought Kagura had deserved each and every word. She tried to tell herself that the broken youkai at Kirara's feet was just using this as a ruse, but the bleakness in her voice could not be dismissed. Sango knew now just how right she had been in her comparison.

They were two of kind. Both manipulated by a monster holding what they held most dear. Naraku held her heart tight in his grasp and he held Kohaku's life by a slowly unraveling thread.

Sango slipped the Hiraikotsu's strap over her head so it hung off her back and slipped from Kirara's back to cautiously approach the fallen wind sorceress. She gently touched her trembling shoulder and Kagura jerked back with surprise, head whipping up to meet her eyes warily. The slayer held up her hand. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"I would've thought differently from your tone earlier." She stared at her derisively.

"I didn't know. I apologize for my behavior."

Kagura allowed herself to be assisted into a sitting position. "Don't apologize. How could you have known if I hadn't told you?" She laughed softly. "It's not like I didn't hide it well."

She watched her refined face surrender to the pain in her body and Sango was struck by how fragile she appeared. It was as if there was no longer any strength in her body, despite how much was left in her spirit. She watched the ragged rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. "He's weakening you."

"More like he's killing her."

Sango froze, unable to move or speak lest her heart stop beating. Kagura, generous as she was, spoke for her. "A 'Hello' would have been a kinder greeting, Kohaku."

"Kohaku..." Tears blurred her vision as she gazed at him, unsteadily getting to her feet and approaching him cautiously. He was the same as she remembered, just tall enough for his head to reach her shoulder with his pulled-back cap of black hair and with the same number of freckles spattering his cheeks. A boy on the brink of becoming a man...

She wanted to snatch him into her arms and hold him until she knew for sure that he was real and not a figment of her imagination. So long she had been without him that she had nearly forgotten that innocent face, haunted by crimes committed in the past and it hurt to remain where she was. The need to shelter him was powerful, but she was held back by the stern look on his bloodied face.

Bloodied?

Sango's heart leapt into her throat. "Why are you bleeding? Are you hurt?"

"I would surmise that Inuyasha got his licks in?"

Sango's eyes darted to Kagura's face and back to Kohaku's. "Inuyasha did that to you?"

He nodded. "Do not be angry with him, Aneue. He did what he must to return to Kagome and I would have expected no less." Kohaku gestured to his face. "It's only a bloody nose."

"But why were you fighting him in the first place, Kohaku?"

"It was my role in this to occupy Inuyasha while Kikyo and Akago went after Kagome, just as it was Kagura's to occupy you and the monk."

"Miroku. His name is Miroku." Sango spat at him distastefully, the familiar feeling of betrayal welling up inside her at his matter-of-fact tone. "I thought you would've known my husband's name with Naraku's amazing omnipotence."

The hard lines of his face tightened before they relaxed and he shook his head, light brown eyes softly closing. "I know you're going after Naraku because of what he's done to me and our family, but I want you to go home before its too late."

"Too late? Kohaku, what do you mean?"
He glanced over at Kagura, still sitting on the ground cradling her broken limb. "Will you be alright while I talk to her alone?"

The wind witch gave him a demure smile. "Yes. I'm going to party to my new found infirmary."

With a grim nod, Kohaku gestured for his sister to follow him. Sango watched all this warily, flicking her gaze to Kirara's when she fell into step behind Kohaku. The nekomata turned and trotted off toward the barn where the others were still hidden. She took a tight hold of Hiraikotsu's strap and tried valiantly to quiet the foreboding whispers floating through the back of her mind.

No matter how hard she tried to ignore it, the sense that Kohaku was going to dismiss her would not relinquish the hold it had on her heart. She had put the pieces together rather quickly that he had unlocked all of his caged memories by the look of recognition and shame in his eyes the last time they had met. That being true, it also meant that he had realized his fall to Naraku's manipulation and Sango knew Kohaku well enough to know he would want to atone for his weakness.

She knew he would want to do away with Naraku himself and keep her safely tucked away with her own need for vengeance unsatisfied. Frustration made her stop following his measured steps, gripping her sling as she spoke. "This is far enough, Kohaku. I don't want the others to be out of sight."

Kohaku spun slowly on his heel, looking down at the rusty stain along the kusari-gama's blade. He ran a finger contemplatively along the edge. "I didn't know he was your husband." His hand fell away from the weapon and he dropped them both to his sides, his face full of remorse when he looked up. "I would have made sure I was the one to deal with you."

"Deal with us?" Sango didn't hide her disappointment from her voice. "Kohaku, listen to yourself. You're not supposed to be dealing with us at all. You're supposed to let me protect you from Naraku."

He scowled at her, his jaw visibly clenching. "I have a right to seek Naraku's death, more so than you."

"I am not arguing whether you have a right or not, but I'm your older sister, Kohaku. I was supposed to keep an eye out on you, to keep you safe, but I failed and you died." Sango sucked in a deep breath to compose herself before she got hysterical. "I just don't want you to get hurt again when there's something I could do about it."

"I'm not going give up my intentions to kill Naraku just to pacify your guilt over my death."

She hung her head, relenting to the tears that hounded her. "I don't want you risking your life."

"You think this is a life?!"

Kohaku's shout struck her as sharply as a slap to the face. Her head whipped up in shock, violet eyes wide above the tears tracks obscuring the dirt smudged across her cheeks. "Ko..Kohaku..."

"It doesn't matter what happens to me, Sango. I can't survive without the jewel shard imbedded in my back and eventually Naraku will take that from me. I think I would rather risk death and regain my true life than to allow myself to just sit idly by when he kills me."

"Then let me help you!" Sango lurched forward and took hold of his arm. "Let me help you stay alive!"

He gripped her fingers with his own and sighed. "Look at me, Sango. Five years have passed since I saw you last and I can see the subtle differences age has given you. You look older, more like mother." He touched her cheek as she turned her face to him. "No such change has happened for me because I do not live. I merely exist."

Sango sobbed, dropping her head to his shoulder. "No. Stop." She jerked him into a one-armed embrace. "Stop trying to distance yourself from me."

She felt the breath hitch in his chest. "I'm sorry, Aneue. I have to do what I must to keep you safe." He less than gently pulled away and caught her as her legs buckled out from beneath her. "I will rectify my mistake so that the ones I've killed were not slain in vain." He brushed his fingers along her hair. "Go be with your husband."

The slayer watched as her brother strode back toward his ally; shoulders squared beneath a weight too great for him to bear alone and cried the last of her tears. She shakily got onto her knees and using Hiraikotsu regained her footing. Sango stood alone in the yard in front of the barn, watching as Kagura produced her feathered vessel to carry him away with her. Her red-rimmed, violet eyes followed him up into the sky and she fought to straighten herself up and square her own shoulders...dislocation included.

"Kohaku!"

She waited until he finally relinquished to the weight of her stare and turned to look back.

"I'm not giving up on you!"

A/N: Comments from the peanut gallery are, once again, warmly welcomed. Finally!! ~Reux