InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Truth About Cats and Dogs ❯ Epilogue ( Chapter 35 )

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

A/N: Tried my best to not make this chapter confusing, but I think it probably still is! Too many OCs, I guess… Ah well, enjoy!

Recap: Sesshomaru asked Kirara to be his one more time, and she said yes. Sango could barely believe what had happened, but Kirara was confident that the others, even Inuyasha, would understand and accept her decision…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Epilogue

Ten Years Later…

Golden eyes narrowed at the trees ahead. To a casual by-passer the trees were nothing more than another forest; but to the part demon watching them, they were something more. His thick black eyebrows twitched as he saw small specks of green flit through the air, marking the walls of the barrier ahead of him. His concentration only lessened when Kagome stopped by his side, touching a hand to his shoulder and smiling warmly at him.

“Damn it, why are we here anyway?” he snapped irritably at Kagome. “You know I hate Sesshomaru!”

“Inuyasha!” Kagome yelled. “Are you just going to stand there and let your son talk like that?”

“Huh?” Inuyasha grunted, stepping up to Kagome's side.

“He's picked up your bad language, your rude manners, and your hatred for your brother,” Kagome growled, narrowing her eyes at Inuyasha.

“Keh,” Inuyasha replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Why does it always have to be me?” Kagome muttered under her breath.

With a sigh of resignation, Kagome turned back to her son, who was still glowering at the barrier before them, looking more like his father than ever.

“Now you just listen here young man,” she said sternly, waggling a finger at him. “That's no way for you to talk about your uncle Sesshomaru! And I don't want to hear you using language like that again, you hear me?”

“But father said that Sesshomaru is a jackass.”

Kagome's eyes widened, and she moved them to Inuyasha, who flinched slightly under her glare.

“It's true!” he defended himself, hurriedly shrugging off his fears.

“You're not setting a very good example, Inuyasha!” Kagome growled at him.

“Inuyasha never did set a good example for anything!”

Inuyasha spun around to the source of the voice that had just issued the insult, snorting at what he saw.

“Took you long enough Shippo,” he drawled.

“It's good to see you again too, Inuyasha,” Shippo sarcastically replied. “Kagome, how are you?”

“Very well thank you Shippo,” Kagome replied, smiling up at the young fox demon, who had grown to stand almost as tall as Inuyasha.

“Wow, Akiko gets bigger every time I see him!” Shippo blurted, eying the young quarter-demon over in awe. “I'm sure I wasn't that tall when I was his age…”

“You weren't that tall until after puberty…” Inuyasha muttered.

Kagome scowled at him, but Inuyasha turned his back on them all, facing the barrier around his brother's castle, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Hi Akiko,” Shippo said, crouching down in front of him.

“Can you believe he's eight years old already?” Kagome asked, smiling at Shippo as she ruffled a hand through her son's silver hair.

“Ow!” Akiko groaned, ducking away from his mother's hand. “Watch the hair!”

“Yeah, and he looks just like Inuyasha!” Shippo added. “Except of course that he doesn't have those fluffy little dog-ears.”

“Hey!” Inuyasha snapped, glowering over his shoulder at Shippo.

“No, he has human ears,” Kagome said, ignoring Inuyasha's outburst. “It's probably the only part of him that looks like me.”

“Hey Shippo,” Inuyasha sneered, obviously still angered by the reference to his ears. “Where's Soten?”

“Oh, didn't you know?” Shippo asked, standing up again to face Inuyasha.

“Know what?” Kagome asked, looking suddenly worried.

“Soten and Koru left about five years ago,” Shippo explained. “Soten said that she wanted to train to become stronger. I don't know where they went, but I do know that they went to Totosai's first, to get new weapons and armour.”

“Wow, I never knew,” Kagome muttered.

“Ah, who cares?” Inuyasha dismissed. “Here comes Miroku and Sango and their enormous family anyway.”

Shippo turned around to look up into the sky in the direction Inuyasha was pointing, finding Hachi slowly floating downwards towards them, supporting Miroku, a weary-looking Sango, Kohaku and five children.

“Five kids?” Kagome muttered.

“No wonder Sango looks so tired!” Shippo whispered.

Hachi landed, and the four oldest children and Kohaku happily leapt off of his back. Miroku stopped to lift off the youngest child and help Sango down. Inuyasha let out an involuntary noise of alarm as he saw Sango press a hand to her swollen stomach.

“Damn it Sango, you're not pregnant again, are you?” he asked tactlessly.

“Inuyasha!” Kagome snapped. “How I miss those beads…”

Shippo grinned at Kagome's remark, silently thinking that he himself often missed the beads too.

“Wow,” Kagome said as Miroku and Sango drew near. “You had five kids? The last time we saw you…”

“We had three,” Miroku finished for her. “And a fourth on the way.”

“How do you do it?” Kagome asked. “I've got my hands full with just one!”

“Miroku wanted a son,” Sango replied, smiling tightly.

Kagome, Inuyasha and Shippo looked around the five children, who ranged from a small girl who looked barely two years old to a hyper-active nine year old.

“You had five girls?” Kagome asked.

“And you had one boy,” Miroku said, touching a hand to Akiko's head, only for the little quarter-demon to swat it away again.

“You're both crazy, if you ask me,” Inuyasha grumbled.

“No-one did ask you,” Shippo dryly pointed out.

Inuyasha turned sharply, confronting Shippo. Shippo merely smiled, stretching to his fullest height to look Inuyasha directly in the eye.

“I preferred you when you were a little twerp who used magic tricks to fight,” Inuyasha growled at him.

“And I preferred you when Kagome could still sit you,” Shippo calmly replied.

“Okay, enough!” Kagome said hurriedly, holding up her hands to stop them.

Shippo stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha, before turning to Kohaku.

“Hi Kohaku,” he greeted him.

“Hi Shippo,” Kohaku replied.

“Of course Kohaku comes here all the time nowadays,” Miroku said, causing Kohaku's face to turn red.

“Why?” Inuyasha dumbly asked.

“He's got a little crush on Rin!” Sango said, reaching up a hand to ruffle her brother's hair affectionately.

“Sango!” he groaned, leaning away from her.

“Come on, let's just go already,” Inuyasha interrupted. “I don't exactly want to waste all my time here. You know I hate it here.”

“Oh Lord Inuyasha, you say that every time that you come here, and yet I never hear you complaining when we serve dinner, now do I?”

Inuyasha turned back to the now dissipated barrier, pulling a face at the withered old fox demon in front of him.

“Are you still alive?” he asked sarcastically.

“Still alive and very busy with the children,” Rinko replied, smiling dreamily.

“I thought you hated Kirara, you stupid old hag!” Inuyasha bluntly pointed out, walking past her towards his brother's castle.

Akiko hurried after his father, trying his best to mimic Inuyasha's way of walking as he fell into step alongside him. Kagome smiled as she watched them, but she could not escape the slight feeling of anxiety that always tugged at her when they visited Sesshomaru and Kirara.

“I see Inuyasha still hasn't gotten over his dislike for his older brother,” Miroku said with a sigh.

“It's worse than just that,” Kagome replied, her eyebrows knitting into a frown as she turned to look back at Miroku. “He's passed his prejudices onto his son.”

Miroku frowned in question, but Kohaku began to laugh.

“Yes, I'd forgotten!” he said. “Akiko and Toga are just as competitive with each other as Inuyasha and Sesshomaru are!”

“Oh dear, stop your worrying!” Rinko said to Kagome. “They'll grow out of it!”

“Who are you talking about?” Shippo asked, grinning as he spoke. “Inuyasha and Sesshomaru or their two kids?”

“Lord Sesshomaru and Lord Inuyasha are still young-”

“Please stop,” Kagome warned her.

Rinko obediently stopped talking, much to the surprise of the others.

“Come on, let's go,” Kagome said, beckoning for the others to follow her as she started after Inuyasha.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Soten dropped to one knee, clutching an arm around her ribcage as it began to ache and burn with every ragged breath she drew. Shifting her eyes to one side, she saw Koru wasn't faring much better in his battle than she was; but at least he was still moving.

“You're just toying with me,” she said between breaths, lifting her eyes to the figure standing in front of her.

Soten frowned as she found that her opponent was facing away from her. As dishonourable as it was, Soten knew that if she had had the strength, she would have attacked the demon from behind. Soten had passed almost five years travelling and fighting the strongest demons she and Koru could find to help them both to become stronger, until eventually, the only true test of her strength lay in confronting the famous - or perhaps the infamous - dog demon she now battled.

Despite being exhausted, coated in sweat, her hair fallen loose from its ties and her clothing torn in several places, Soten was infuriated to see that her proud and aloof opponent was still immaculately clean, not the least bit out of breath and was yet to break a sweat. Standing tall, with a mane of long, silky silver hair, and dressed in a red and white haori and hakama made of the finest silks, Soten's opponent did not even have any weapons or any armour.

“You said this was just a warm-up.”

Soten became frozen by her surprise at finally hearing her opponent talk.

“Are we done now?”

The demon spun around, amber eyes locking onto Soten's fallen form. Soten gulped, finding that her opponent was even less affected by their battle than she had thought. Before she could prepare an answer however, Koru fell to the ground hard in front of her, screaming all the way as he fell. A cloud of dust puffed up around him, coating Soten's sweaty skin with dirt and leaving her choking for air.

“Ah-Un, stop!” the demon said loudly as the two-headed dragon swooped down towards Koru.

“You're showing us mercy?” Soten asked, using her staff and Koru's body to push herself to her feet.

“Uncle Inuyasha and his friends have arrived,” the demon replied, flicking a hand through her hair in a way Soten had often seen Sesshomaru do.

“Oh…” Soten said slowly.

“My younger brother Toga is always fighting with our cousin Akiko, I must go now,” she added. “But thank you for the… Exercise.”

“Exercise?” Soten echoed.

The girl blinked, her face blank as she stared back at Soten. Despite feeling humbled that a child demon who had been alive in the world barely nine years had beaten her with ease, Izumi's uncanny resemblance to her proud father made her an intimidating opponent to any demon, and so Soten decided to accept her loss for the time being.

“Koru?” she whispered as Izumi began to slowly walk away, looking like a smaller replica of her father from behind. “Are you alright?”

Ah-Un flew off over the fields, and Koru slowly opened his eyes. He pushed himself onto his side, shaking his head. To Soten's surprise, Koru had, over the years, grown bigger. She had thought that he was some sort of mini imp, but he had grown large enough that she could comfortably ride him. He slowly got to his feet, the top of his head still only barely reaching Soten's waist in height.

“We had them beat,” he said with a nod of his head, before choking out a mouthful of dust. “But they ran away to go play with Inuyasha's kid.”

Soten pulled a face at Koru, but he remained determined.

“I've decided to stay here a little longer, Koru,” Soten said decisively. “I know we've been here for over a month now, but I don't want to leave until I can beat them both.”

“Beat them both?” Koru asked. “You mean I have to keep fighting that crazy two-headed dragon every day?”

“I managed to beat the poison cat demon, I just need to train a little harder and defeat the fire dog demon!” Soten said, clenching a fist in the air.

“The poison cat is just a little boy,” Koru bluntly pointed out. “And the fire dog is just a little girl.”

Soten scowled at Koru, who slid back a step, grinning nervously.

“Soten?”

Soten and Koru turned, both starting in alarm at the fox demon walking towards them.

“I thought it was you!” he continued. “Say, what happened to you?”

Soten turned to Koru, who quirked an eyebrow at her, eying her over and shaking his head. Looking down at her worn and dishevelled appearance, Soten quickly became embarrassed.

“Oh, well,” she began, laughing nervously. “I was just… I was training.”

“She got beat by Izumi again,” Koru said bluntly.

Soten thumped a fist into the back of Koru's head, knocking him forwards, before grinning falsely at Shippo.

“Kirara's daughter beat you in a fight?” Shippo asked her.

Soten groaned, hanging her head.

“You look a mess, Soten,” Shippo added. “Maybe you should have a bath, or something.”

“Hmph, loser!” a voice sneered.

Soten looked down with wide eyes as a young boy with yellow and black hair marched past her, his head held high in the air.

“Hey!” Shippo called after him. “Toga?”

“You want a fight, fox demon?” the boy asked, skidding to a halt and spinning around to face Shippo.

Shippo's eyes widened in surprise as the little boy fearlessly glared at him, his bright green eyes shining with passionate anger.

“Just like his mother,” Soten whispered to Shippo.

“Oh,” Shippo said, nodding his understanding. “Hey Toga, Akiko's here,” he called to the young poison cat demon.

“I'll kill him!” Toga yelled, turning and running off.

Shippo turned back to Soten, who smiled shyly at him.

“I should clean up,” she said quietly, smoothing a hand over her bedraggled hair.

“Yes, you should,” Shippo replied. “You stink.”

Soten gasped, but before she could respond, Shippo ran off after Toga.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Ah!” Inuyasha yelped, stumbling to a halt. “Oh, it's only you, Izumi.”

Izumi stared back at Inuyasha with an expressionless look worthy of her father's.

“Wow, you've grown since we last saw you!” Kagome said.

Izumi moved her eyes to Kagome, but her face remained expressionless.

“Izumi, how are you?” Sango asked her.

“Very well thank you, Miss Sango,” Izumi replied, bowing her head politely. “I trust you are well too?”

“She's pregnant again,” Inuyasha bluntly answered.

Izumi turned her head to Inuyasha, slowly running her eyes over him with a look that made him shiver involuntarily.

“You're a jackass!” Akiko yelled, pointing a finger at Izumi.

“Oh look at you, you're adorable!” Rin cried, grabbing her arms around Akiko and lifting him up into the air.

“Hey, get off of me!” Akiko cried, struggling in her arms.

“Loser!” Toga laughed, pointing a clawed finger at Akiko.

“Oh, look at you, you're so cute!” Kagome squealed, grabbing Toga up into her arms.

“Hey!” he yelled, kicking and trashing in her arms. “Release me at once, mortal!”

“You look just like you father,” Rin said sweetly as she placed Akiko back on his feet.

Akiko grunted indignantly in reply, straightening out his clothing.

“And you are so like your mother, Toga!” Kagome said as she lowered Toga to the ground.

“Hey jackass, I hope you've been training real hard!” Akiko yelled, pointing at Toga.

“Fool!” Toga spat back. “I could defeat you with both my hands tied behind my back!”

The two growled, baring their teeth at each other.

“Now children, no fighting!” Rin warned them.

“Die!” Akiko cried, leaping at Toga.

As the two collided, they fell to the ground, with Akiko on top of Toga.

“Perish, you fool!” Toga snarled, shoving Akiko over and pinning him down.

“Hey, stop that!” Kagome cried, moving towards them.

“Toga, leave your cousin alone!” Rin said, grabbing the back of Toga's haori and pulling him back.

Kagome and Rin managed to pull both boys apart and to their feet, but moments later they burst free and flew at each other again. As the others shouted at them to stop, Izumi calmly glanced from her brother to her cousin, before taking a step forwards and grabbing them both by the hair at the back of their heads. They barely had time to react before she brought her hands sharply together, knocking their heads together.

“Ow!” they both cried, falling back from each other with tears in their eyes.

Inuyasha looked down at both boys before turning his attention back to his niece, again cringing at her resemblance to his brother.

“You're welcome, uncle Inuyasha,” she said flatly, her voice still devoid of emotion.

“Sango!”

“Huh?” Sango mumbled, looking up. “Oh, Kirara!”

Sango started to waddle towards her old friend, who was racing towards her with her arms in the air, looking as much like a child as she ever had. Kirara quickly reached Sango, grabbing her arms around her and squeezing her into an uncomfortably tight embrace.

“Ooh, sorry Sango!” she said quickly, stepping back and looking down at Sango's swollen abdomen. “Wow, you're having a sixth child?”

“Yes,” Sango replied, forcing a smile. “Pray for me that this time I have a boy.”

Kirara laughed, but Sango seemed less than humoured.

“Miroku, Inuyasha, Kagome, Kohaku!” Kirara called, waving a hand at them.

Hooking an arm through Sango's, Kirara started towards her old friends, her smile fading as she saw the two boys on the ground.

“What happened here?” she asked, glancing between the two.

“He started it!” Akiko quickly replied, pointing at Toga.

“Liar!” Toga yelled back.

Kirara paused, looking at each boy in turn before turning to her daughter for a more sensible explanation.

“They both attacked each other at the same time,” Izumi explained.

“Hey, it's not Akiko's fault,” Inuyasha said, much to Kagome's surprise.

Kagome turned to Inuyasha with wide eyes: she rarely heard Inuyasha defend his son in anything, since he usually insisted that his son would learn about life by defending his own name and correcting his own mistakes.

“Oh?” Kirara said, narrowing her eyes slightly at Inuyasha.

“If you'd taken a normal demon as your mate, none of this would have happened,” Inuyasha continued. “I still don't understand why you had to run off with that jackass.”

“Hey, don't talk about my father like that!” Toga cried, leaping to his feet to confront Inuyasha.

“Don't talk to my father like that, runt!” Akiko snapped, leaping up in front of Toga.

“Who are you calling a runt, idiot?” Toga retorted.

Akiko shoved Toga back with both hands, and the two began fighting again, leaving Kagome and Rin trying their best to wrench them apart again.

“Inuyasha, I love your brother,” Kirara said.

“That's not possible!” Inuyasha argued. “He's such an arrogant bastard!”

Inuyasha let out a choking sound as he suddenly found a clawed hand clenched around his throat.

“Izumi!” Kirara yelped, her eyes doubling in size at what she saw.

“Let go of me!” Inuyasha warned.

But Izumi stubbornly held onto Inuyasha's throat, her eyes red and her fangs lengthened in her jaws.

“Izumi, stop that right now!” Kirara ordered.

“I won't let anyone talk badly about my father!” Izumi snarled, her eyes still fixed on Inuyasha.

Kirara started towards them, but stopped after just two steps as a hand grabbed Izumi's arm, yanking her back from Inuyasha. Izumi instantly opened her hand, her eyes fading to amber once more and becoming uncharacteristically large and worried as she looked up at the person holding her back.

“Heh, I see the apple didn't fall too far from the tree, huh Sesshomaru?” Inuyasha asked, smirking at his brother.

Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows at Inuyasha, before slowly and purposefully moving his eyes to the two boys. Inuyasha followed his lead, inwardly cringing at the scene playing out before them.

“Kiss my feet!” Akiko yelled as he tried to stuff one of his bare feet into Toga's mouth.

“Likewise,” Sesshomaru said, turning back to Inuyasha. “I see your boy has just as much grace and finesse as you do, dear brother.”

“Hey, they're just playing!” Inuyasha hurriedly defended himself.

“Your son is older than mine,” Sesshomaru pointed out.

“Yeah, and your son is a pure demon!” Inuyasha argued back. “I've seen him transforming! He's a cat, like her!”

Inuyasha pointed at Kirara as he spoke, who shook her head, opening her mouth as though she wanted to say something to contradict him.

“Except he has your poisonous claws and fangs!” Inuyasha added, pointing at Sesshomaru. “And your crazy girl just tried to strangle me! I'm a guest here, teach the little pest some manners!”

Sesshomaru paused, before yanking Izumi forwards again. She stumbled forwards, digging her heels into the ground to stop herself from colliding with Inuyasha. She slowly looked up at her father, her face almost as emotionless and blank as his, bar the vague look on suppressed fear that tugged at her features.

“Why did you try to strangle the life from Inuyasha?” Sesshomaru asked her.

“Because…” Izumi began, her voice shaking despite her best attempts to remain stoic. “Because he called you an arrogant bastard, Sir.”

Sesshomaru did not respond immediately to her response, and Izumi's expression slipped a little further, her eyebrows lowering and her eyes widening in her fear. Sesshomaru opened his hand, releasing her arm. He then lifted his hand to her head, touching his palm to the top of her head.

“Good girl,” he said softly.

Izumi sighed in relief, flashing a smile at her father before quickly regaining her composure and adopting her aloof, emotionless look once more.

“What?” Inuyasha yelled. “What the hell did you do that for, you stupid jackass? Now she thinks it's okay to try to kill me!”

“I expect my children to look after each other, and to uphold the honour of their family's name,” Sesshomaru calmly replied.

“She tried to kill me, Sesshomaru!”

“You said yourself, she is just a child.”

“A child who can turn into a gigantic dog demon, nearly as big as you in your true, hairy-assed form!”

“I wonder if your mouth stopped running if your brain might actually start working.”

“Look who's talking? You never shut-up! And you're always speaking crap! You're just still mad because I got the Tetsusaiga!”

“I am not so petty as you, Inuyasha.”

“Oh yeah?”

Inuyasha pulled the Tetsusaiga from his side, still encased in its scabbard, and began waving it around in front of Sesshomaru's face, sticking out his tongue at his older brother. At his side, Toga and Akiko stepped apart from each, both tilting their heads in opposite directions as they watched Inuyasha in a state of bemusement. A silence slowly built around the group, and was only broken when Shippo spoke up.

“And that was how I managed to convince old man Totosai to make me this sword,” Shippo said to Kohaku.

“Wow,” Kohaku replied, nodding his head. “Do you think I could use the same trick to get him to make me some new armour?”

Shippo shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

“We should go inside now,” Rin suggested. “I suppose it would be cruel to confuse Master Jaken any longer.”

“Have you been playing tricks on him again?” Kohaku asked, smirking at Rin.

“Only because you told me to!” she replied.

Kohaku laughed, and together with Shippo, he followed Rin back towards the castle. One by one the others slowly walked after them, until soon only Inuyasha and Sesshomaru remained standing outside in the extensive gardens of the Inu Royal Palace.

“Are you finished gloating yet?” Sesshomaru asked his brother.

“I dunno, jackass,” Inuyasha sarcastically replied. “Are you finished being ugly yet?”

“Perhaps you would prefer to sleep outside tonight?” Sesshomaru calmly replied.

“Keh, better that than sleep in a place that reeks of you!”

“Very well. I am certain the servants will enjoy partaking in your share of the food tonight.”

Sesshomaru turned on his heel and began to walk back towards the castle, leaving his brother floundering behind him.

“Damn it, Sesshomaru!” Inuyasha yelled after him. “I hate you!”

“The feeling is mutual, little brother,” Sesshomaru muttered, before disappearing into the castle.

Inuyasha tied the Tetsusaiga at his side once more, grumbling under his breath as he did so, before stomping his way up to the castle. He did not care where he slept that night, whether it was in the family wing of the castle, in the servants' quarters, in the garden, or even in a tree beyond the boundaries of the castle grounds, but Inuyasha was not about to surrender his share of the food for anyone or anything; not even his pride.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sesshomaru looked up into the night sky, basking in the soft light of the full moon that flooded the courtyard. On such a clear night, he often wandered out onto the balcony of his tower to contemplate any concerns he had. The air was still and silent, and the light of the moon and stars gave an added layer of tranquillity to the atmosphere.

But, Sesshomaru thought to himself, apparently on this night, he would not be allowed to enjoy the serene environment alone. A sniff of the air informed him that a demon was stalking him from the depths of his room.

“You have a perfectly serviceable room of your own,” he said, his voice quiet but firm and clear. “Although I have yet to see you use it.”

“It's boring down there.”

Sesshomaru turned his head to one side, looking back over his shoulder as Kirara stepped out of the shadows and onto the balcony.

“And besides, you would miss me if I stayed down there all the time,” she added, smiling coyly at him.

Sesshomaru turned his head away from her, tilting his chin upwards with an air of indifference. Kirara walked forwards to stand at his side, looking up at him, a hint of a smile still present on her face. Deciding that she was in another one of her “playful” moods, Sesshomaru kept his head in the air, pretending to ignore her presence whilst trying to figure out what she was planning to do next.

Kirara pursed her lips to suppress a smile. She could tell that Sesshomaru knew she was toying with him, and as usual, he apparently thought that he had out-witted her. These games, Kirara thought to herself, were the best of all. Knowing all the best tricks for breaking through his air of impassiveness, Kirara took a moment to pick the most appropriate for their situation, before again biting back a grin.

“Oh,” she mumbled, hunching her shoulders slightly and forcing a small shiver.

As she had expected, Sesshomaru instantly removed his fur boa and turned around to wrap it around her body. As he turned to face her, Kirara looked up into his eyes, allowing her smile to slowly grow wider as he slowly brought his eyes to hers, his fingers gripping into the fur at her shoulders.

“You see?” she whispered. “You're not really so unfeeling as you would have everyone believe you are.”

“How interesting,” Sesshomaru replied, his face blank of emotion and his voice betraying nothing of his true feelings. “You see my actions as an act of sympathy. A kind gesture because you felt too cold out here.”

“But of course,” Kirara replied.

“On the contrary,” Sesshomaru replied, his voice a little lower as he gripped his hands into fists around the fur, his action forcing Kirara to stumble a step closer to him. “I now have you exactly where I want you.”

“Very funny,” Kirara scoffed, twisting her body in an attempt to turn away from him.

To her alarm, Kirara found that the fur had tightened around her shoulders to the point that she could not turn in either direction, nor could she move back. The only direction she could move freely in was forwards, and forwards only brought her closer to her mate. Kirara's smile slowly gave way to a frown, a small part of her disappointed and angered at her defeat.

“Maybe next time,” Sesshomaru whispered.

Kirara abruptly met his eyes, her frown fading as she saw a slight flicker of mischief pass over Sesshomaru's eyes. Although his face remained almost blank, Kirara could distinctly make out a small smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

“I'll get you one day, Lord Sesshomaru,” she said slyly.

“I hope that you do, Lady Kirara,” he replied.

Kirara giggled, leaning closer to her mate, who in turn leaned closer to her, tilting his head slightly as the space between them decreased. Kirara closed her eyes in anticipation of a kiss, only to open them again a second later at the sound of a loud, high-pitched voice screaming across the courtyard.

“Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!”

Kirara looked first at Sesshomaru, who had turned his head away from her, looking out towards the apparent direction of the disturbance. Turning her head, Kirara saw Akiko fall to the ground in an ungraceful pile of red cloth. A second later, Toga dropped down next to him, growling at his fallen form. Toga began to stalk towards Akiko, but Akiko slyly swung around one leg, whipping Toga's legs out from under him and throwing him back onto his back.

“Stupid jackass!” Akiko snorted, standing up and readjusting his clothing, looking and sounding more like his father than ever, in Kirara's opinion.

“I'll show you!” Toga snarled.

Kirara gasped as her son's eyes turned red, glowing through the darkness as his body began to slowly mutate. Akiko took two nervous steps back, yelping as Toga's body shot into the air in a ball of light. A second later, a large cream and black cat landed in front of Akiko, green venom dripping from his fangs.

“Hey, that's cheating!” Koru yelled, diving towards Toga.

“Koru, look out!” Soten cried.

Koru screamed as Ah-Un dove towards him, unable to move before the two-headed lizard collided with him, sending him hurtling towards the ground.

“Fool, keep your eyes on your own opponent!” Izumi snarled.

Kirara gasped, turning to her daughter, who was floating in the air above the others. Her body was engulfed by a burst of bright orange flames, which she leapt out of a moment later in the form of a large silver dog, small spurts of fire licking around her ankles and the tip of her tail. Soten spun around, her jaw dropping as she saw the fire dog demon diving towards her. She hurriedly rolled out of harm's way, and Izumi landed hard on the ground, shaking her head with a disgruntled growl.

Akiko ran towards Izumi, grinning to himself as Toga bounded after him. Toga lunged forwards, swiping a paw at Akiko's head; but the quarter-demon dropped to the ground, and Toga's paw swung through empty air before whacking off the back of Izumi's head. Izumi instantly turned on her younger brother, snarling and baring her giant fangs at him.

Kirara gasped again, but before she could see what happened next, a door closed in front of her, blocking out the fight scene. Looking around, Kirara saw that Sesshomaru had dragged her back into his room and closed the balcony doors. She looked up at him questioningly, but as usual, his expression was blank.

“We didn't see that,” he said quietly.

“We…” Kirara began, turning her head back towards the closed doors.

Sesshomaru leaned forwards and gently placed a kiss on her cheek. Kirara smiled as something inside of her melted, and she turned back to face Sesshomaru, delighted to find that, even after ten years together, his touch still had the same effect on her.

“See what?” she asked, snaking her arms around his neck.

As Kirara moulded herself into Sesshomaru's embrace, the two became oblivious to the struggle that continued on outside of the castle.

“Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! I'm telling mother!” Toga sobbed, as he lay on his back in his human form, trying his best to block his sister's attacks.

Izumi had also returned to her human form, and was pinning her brother down with one hand whilst punching at his torso with the other. Akiko stood back and grinned smugly at the whole scenario, despite the glower Soten was giving him. A moment later however, Akiko's grin vanished as Izumi stood and turned on him.

Akiko's eye grew wide and he tried to back away from the angry dog demon, but to no avail. Izumi raised one hand to her opposite shoulder and then swung it around hard, backhanding the quarter-demon across the face.

“Where were we, thunder demon?” she snarled, rounding on Soten before Akiko had even hit the ground.

“Um…” Soten began nervously.

“Pst, Soten, look up there!” Koru whispered, poking Soten in the elbow.

Soten turned to the castle, looking up to a balcony to see Rin and Kohaku sitting together gazing lovingly at each other and Shippo standing by the railing looking down at the chaos below.

“If you back out now, Shippo will think you're a coward!” Koru added.

“Yes, thank you, Koru!” Soten drawled, before sighing roughly. “We were right about here, dog demon!” she said to Izumi, grabbing up her staff again and bringing it around towards the young girl.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: Probably an abrupt ending, but I was finding it quite hard to make a more definitive end.