InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Youkai and the Exterminator ❯ Chapter FortyNine ( Chapter 49 )

Chapter FortyNine

 

 

“Asshole wolf!”

 

“Stinking mutt!”

 

Kagome was really tired of them both. She was overjoyed to see Inuyasha again, all she wanted was to throw herself into his arms and weep with relief. The long days they were apart had been filled with tension, terror, and worry. The only thing that kept her going was that she knew Inuyasha was searching for her. She wanted him to hold her, comfort her, and reassure her that everything was going to be all right.

 

In addition, what did the stupid ass do? Without even looking at her, he threw himself into yet another insane and pointless fight with Kouga. She didn't know whether to cry or to strangle him herself. Kouga was no rival for her affections, but he just couldn't let it go.

 

Was Inuyasha really so damn dumb that he didn't know he'd already won?

 

“Inuyasha!” she cried out, trying to get him to stop. It was like yelling at a brick wall and for the first time since she'd removed the beads, she really wished she could give him a good, hard sit just to make him listen.

 

“Stay out of it, Kagome,” the hanyou warned, dodging a flying kick from Kouga. “This damn wolf doesn't know when he's finished!”

 

“He's not the only one,” she muttered, covering her eyes as Inuyasha struck Kouga with a savage punch. The wolf reeled, but kept his feet and jumped back into the fight as if he didn't even feel Inuyasha's blow.

 

“You're the one who's finished,” Kouga snapped angrily, nearly catching Inuyasha on the end of his claws. Without the shards in his legs that had made him impossibly fast, and with Inuyasha refusing to use his sword, the two were more or less evenly matched. Inuyasha was fast enough to keep up with the wolf now, and Kouga was strong enough to give him a hard pummeling whenever they grappled together.

 

“Stop it! Just stop it!” she shrieked, so furious that she really wished she could get in there and give them both a thorough beating with her own hands. They ignored her, circling, striking and circling, Kouga lunging to catch Inuyasha's long hair, Inuyasha trying to drive his fists right through the lacquered armor that protected Kouga's chest.

 

They could probably go on for hours, she thought, stamping her foot. Neither would listen to her, she might as well still be on her own. Vaguely, she wondered if she could get Shi to have Kuchinashi intervene and stop the fight…

 

She grimaced. No, that was the last thing she wanted. The demonic horse had a voracious appetite and she wasn't at all anxious to find out if his tastes ran to either wolf demon or hanyou flesh. Kagome had seen the stallion foraging in the brush and then with a snap of impossibly long teeth, he'd come up with something that looked like a raccoon, might have been a badger, and chomped it happily to bits while blood splattered on the ground.

 

She hadn't been able eat that night…or the next morning…

 

They weren't fighting over her, not really. There was just something about Kouga, something about Inuyasha that made them unable to stand each other. Wolves and dogs did not mix, but she had a feeling these two would have felt the same no matter what. They were two boys on a schoolyard and the combination of testosterone and demon blood made what should have been a rivalry into something more explosive than gasoline on an open fire.

 

Bracing herself, Kagome was aware what she was about to do was indeed quite stupid. But no one else was here to stop them and if either of these idiots actually hurt the other, she'd never forgive herself. Kagome took a deep breath and started to wade between the two combatants.

 

A soft hand touched hers. “I wouldn't,” Shi murmured, having come up behind her with an eerily quiet step. “Let them be, child. They can't help being males…or fools.”

 

“I don't want them to hurt each other,” Kagome answered, tense and frightened. They were so intense it was as if the rest of the world had ceased to exist for Kouga and Inuyasha.

 

“Don't worry so,” Shi said, her voice hardly more than a soothing whisper. “If they really wanted to kill they would have already done so.”

 

Kagome wasn't so sure, but there wasn't much she could do at this point other than hope Shi was right. It did seem like Inuyasha was holding back, he knew Kouga had been badly injured not two weeks before but he wasn't pressing the same advantage he would have in a truly serious fight. And Kouga kept striking and punching at Inuyasha with furious speed, although now she noticed how he seemed to miss all his chances for a lethal blow.

 

She had seen them both fight for their lives…this wasn't the same.

 

So what the hell was going on?

 

Just as her spine started to relax, thinking this was just Inuyasha and Kouga's way of dealing with each other, neither able to back down or give an inch, the wolf gave a fearsome growl and launched his body at the hanyou. Inuyasha took the full force of the attack and they went careening into the trees with in a medley of tangled limbs and harsh curses.

 

“Energetic,” was Shi's only comment.

 

Then Inuyasha suddenly rocketed out of the brush, shouting with Kouga clamped on his back, fists flying as the wolf snarled and bit his ear. They whirled around wildly and then Inuyasha swore and flung the outraged wolf off his back and sent him flying right at Kagome and Shi.

 

“Inuyasha!” Her shriek was cut off as a heavy, gray-furred body suddenly shoved her out of the way. The wolf crashed into the big dog, flipping over the tall back as the animal bounded out of the trees. Kagome landed with a hard thump on her behind, barely catching a glimpse of Shi's startled face.

 

“That is enough!” the youkai woman shouted as she stormed over to the furious hanyou. She pushed him back with her tiny hands, barely coming up to the middle of his chest as she glowered up at him. “Behave yourself!”

He stared at her before his lips curled back in a sneer. “Who the fuck are you, bitch?”

 

She planted her hands on her hips, looking somewhat ridiculous as she confronted him. Her advanced pregnancy and short stature made her look like a furious mother hen. “You are behaving like an ass,” she scolded. “Look at Kagome, she's been worried sick and this is how you act?”

 

Inuyasha flushed, refusing to look or answer. What could he say; he sure as hell wasn't going to attack a pregnant woman. Then he caught sight of Kagome as she helped a disoriented Kouga to stand. Ugly jealousy flooded him again and he growled softly. He started to move forward, but Shi caught his arm.

 

“Don't…” she began.

 

“Out of my way,” he snapped, brushing the strange woman to the side. She pulled hard on his sleeve and he yanked his arm away, causing her to stumble. He turned back, instinctively reaching for her, but something heavy slammed into his back and sent him sprawling.

 

A large dog landed hard on his chest and Inuyasha caught a glimpse of enormous fangs as hot saliva dripped onto his face. He had the dog by the throat, claws dug into the thick fur and the animal's entire body was vibrating as it growled menacingly. Angry, he tried to throw the beast off, but the dog was incredibly strong.

 

“Get off me, damn it!”

 

He could hear Kagome's voice screaming, heard Kouga's furious shouts. Inuyasha wrestled with the dog, keeping those fangs away from his vulnerable throat. He managed to hold it back long enough to get in hard punch to the animal's face, but the angry dog didn't seem to feel it. Jaws clamped down on his wrist and he cursed when sharp teeth pierced his skin.

 

“Shi, please do something!” Kagome begged, fearful for both Inuyasha and the protective dog. Blood was running down Inuyasha's arm and she gasped when the hanyou suddenly pulled free, careless of the damage, and reached for his sword as the dog leapt at his throat.

 

The youkai woman hesitated and then shouted a word that Kagome had never heard before…

 

There was a brief flash of light and suddenly Inuyasha was on his back again, staring in utter disbelief at the transforming creature crouched above him. The long gray hair pulled back under the skin, the body grew and lengthened, taking on mass as the shape changed from canine to humanoid. The face above his shifted into that of a man and his mouth dropped open as the angry dog's eyes went from dark brown to pure gold.

 

“What the hell?” he breathed as the man stared down at him.

 

Hair whiter than snow fell across his face as the man shuddered violently and sat back with a bitter smile. Bemused, the very naked stranger put a hand to his now fur-less face, claws tracing sculpted cheekbones that were each graced by a jagged blue stripe. Then he grinned widely and winked at Inuyasha as if letting him in on the joke.

 

“Don't you just hate surprises?”

 

oOo

 

Dusk was falling over the forest and Sesshomaru felt the long shadows start to wind around his feet even before he slowed. It was quiet, unnaturally so, and he took it for a sign that he was getting close. He still couldn't catch a hint of Sango's scent, but every instinct in his body, every twitch of his nerves told him that he was getting closer to her.

 

There were things that couldn't be masked as easily as scent or physical traces. Those were the things that Sesshomaru trusted even more than he trusted his own senses. It might sound absurd, perhaps pathetically sentimental, but when a daiyoukai's formidable strength and power failed him...

 

He had to trust his heart.

 

And that heart told him in no uncertain terms that they would not give up on Sango. She would never give up on him and he was shamed to think that he'd ever distrusted her. He'd let himself be blinded by his pride, his cynical belief that a human heart would never be able to love as completely as a youkai one.

 

At the time he'd taken her love on a whim, decided to have a child with her only to prove his serious attachment to those who dared to take his private affairs lightly. He'd never expected for her to become so important to him, as vital as the power that pulsed within his youkai blood.

 

He'd never expected to need her...

 

For need her he did, with a hard yearning that spiraled beyond sexual desire or infatuation. He might lie to his people, he might even lie to his fool of a brother when it came to how deep his feelings might run, but he couldn't lie to himself. The thought of living on without Sango at his side churned his stomach into a quivering knot. The idea of losing her and the baby sickened him, weakened him in a way that he'd never thought possible.

 

After all these years, he was still afraid of losing.

 

He stopped, the grass making soft whispers around his ankles as he stared at the slowly darkening sky. What he didn't want to admit to was his fear that he was already too late. Sesshomaru knew that he was getting closer to his target, but even now, with all his senses focused…he could not feel the baby's youki. It should be an intangible line that connected them, drawing him ever closer like a bead of water sliding along a hair. He could feel nothing of the child and that absence was becoming a gaping hole in his mind.

 

His father had once used such a connection to find Inuyasha's mother, relying on that bond and letting the unborn hanyou's youki draw him in like a magnet. Sesshomaru preferred not to think about how similar their paths were becoming and yet not. Izayoi had been hidden away by humans, men who'd let their ambition and hatred cloud their judgment, and in doing so incurred the wrath of a daiyoukai lord.

 

His problem was something entirely different and far more deadly.

 

Sesshomaru paused, closing his eyes. His father had nearly been too late, he couldn't afford to make any mistakes. For the first time in his life, Sesshomaru felt a strange sympathy for the long-dead woman who had borne his hanyou brother. How terrified she must have been, how frantic to save her baby's life. Too easily now, Sesshomaru was seeing Sango in such a desperate place and knew that this fear that must have ensnared his father like a trap.

 

He wouldn't let it happen, not now, not when he'd learned that there were things he must protect!

 

So when he finally caught her scent, he thought for a long moment that it might be his imagination and worry. Sniffing cautiously, his heart started to race. It was her scent and whatever had been masking Sango's presence had suddenly disappeared. It was so strong now that she might have been standing beside him, reaching up with one hand to touch his cheek.

 

Sesshomaru turned swiftly, almost expecting to see her and found only empty air. Growling, he paced forward, glaring at the trees if they'd dared to hide her from him. The scent was concentrated, elusive in spite of its strength and Sesshomaru stopped his search and glowered around him imperiously. He knew when he was being toyed with and fury scalded the back of his throat like bile.

 

“End this,” he said, his voice low, but forceful. “Show yourself to me, bastard. I will not be mocked!”

 

A soft laugh answered his words, sweet and so gently taunting. His eyes widened at her voice and he turned around slowly to look behind him. Sango's eyes glittered hatefully at him, peeling off his skin layer by layer until Sesshomaru felt as though his heart had been flayed raw. There was no love in her gaze, only a cruel twist to her lips. The sparkle and smile that had been only for him was gone, exorcised by an evil that could make flowers wilt with merely a glance.

 

“Sango,” her name was like sweetness on his lips, but he found he couldn't taste it.

 

She tilted her head to the side and raised a hand to play with her hair. He found himself watching every move, the way her skin looked waxen, almost bloodless. And her eyes were too dark, her smile carved in stone. The Sango he loved moved with an easy, unconscious grace, let her expressions ripple over her face like the waves crashing upon a snowy beach.

 

Slowly, as if she'd forgotten the most simple of motions, she drew a battered sword. It was rusted and poorly made, not the slim katana she'd carried before. It was also filthy with old blood, the acrid stench thick in his nostrils as she swung clumsily. He sidestepped the slow attack easily and turned the blade aside with a wave of his hand.

 

“Puppet,” he whispered, anger nearly making him sick.

 

But it was no illusion and Sesshomaru knew that this woman, with her dead eyes and fatally mocking smile was truly his Sango. She raised her heavy sword again and hacked at the air, unable to get close to him. Furious, he caught the dull blade in his hand, wrenched her close to him and his eyes widened as what was missing became abundantly clear.

 

No heartbeat…no pulse. A dark malevolence seethed beneath her skin, animating her body. A chasm opened in Sesshomaru's mind, wailing with loss, with bitter regret and an overwhelming grief that spread like a wildfire from the pit of his belly and…

 

“No!” His wild shout made the air around him quiver with pain, shivering the leaves from the trees like a fell wind. Sickened, he shoved her away, sending her to the ground. He wasn't about to be tricked. This could not be his Sango, the woman he loved! Enraged, he drew Tenseiga and stood over her. If this was truly her death he was seeing, then he'd call upon Tenseiga to put things right.

 

Why else had his father entrusted this sword to him, knowing one day his son would learn the things Inutaisho had tried to desperately to teach him. But mercy, compassion and pity were far from his heart right now. All he wanted, selfish and painfully aware of it, was to hold Sango in his arms one more time, to feel her warmth, the love that made even a cold heart want to melt like frost under spring's first sunshine.

 

She looked up at him, her expression blank and cold. Grimacing against the pain that was tearing him apart, Sesshomaru raised Tenseiga…and felt nothing answer him. Shocked, he saw the tip of the blade start to shake and realized the trembling was coming from his own hand. The blade remained quiet, nothing more than polished steel, its dull edge gleaming with almost sadistic beauty.

 

“I'm afraid that's not going to work,” a rough voice grated. It was like ground glass in oil and the texture of that dark voice cut Sesshomaru from somewhere deep inside his soul. He hadn't really given much thought to Toutousai's warnings about this monster. He'd dismissed the possibility as the senile ravings of a miserable old fool, but partly he hadn't wanted to think of his precious Sango in the hands of that kind of evil.

 

He'd grown up on stories of his grandfather's madness, his barbaric cruelty. But he'd also grown up knowing that his father had put an end to this creature's reign, and run him through with the Tessaiga, his Tenseiga's mate and bane.

 

Run him through, carved out his blackened heart, and hacked off his own father's head…

 

His back stiffened and slowly, Sesshomaru turned to face his grandfather. He wasn't a man who'd quail at the sight of anything or face the most corrupt evil with anything less than an expressionless face. What he saw wasn't quite as horrible as all that. Vaguely, he remembered when he'd been very young and Naota had made of ghost stories about their mysterious grandsire. The stories had scared Jano and Naota half silly, but Sesshomaru had always scoffed at their weakness. Evil or not, his father's father couldn't have been so monstrous that someone would die just from looking at him…

 

Instead what he saw was something like an ordinary inuyoukai, about his own height, with pitch-black hair pulled back from his face. He might have once been called handsome, but it was hard to tell since his skin was heavily scarred. Countless battles, unimaginable violence, depravity upon depravity until even another demon could feel the malignance that festered inside what was left of his grandfather's soul.

 

His eyes were drawn to a particularly thick and twisted scar, still vivid against the dead white flesh of the bastard's throat. Somewhere in the back of his memories, he could almost his father's voice, a low and bitter mutter.

 

“I ran him through with Tessaiga, but the son of bitch wouldn't die. He fell and kept laughing at me while blood poured from his mouth. I screamed at him to shut up, just fucking die, but he didn't stop laughing until I hacked off his head…”

 

Moreover, his Sango had to endure something like this, a creature so wicked that his death had haunted even the most powerful daiyoukai, his father. Sesshomaru was far from afraid, in fact, he'd never been less afraid of anything in his life. If he'd already lost what was most important to him, his wife and unborn child, he had no place left for fear in his body.

 

Grim with despair he'd never show, Sesshomaru slipped Tenseiga back into its sheath. He turned to face his Sango's murderer, eyes glittering with a golden hatred that matched the black fire of his grandfather's. If there had been a time for compassion or pity, he was too far past it now. The past crimes of his father and grandfather meant nothing to him.

 

“Didn't you come too late to save her?” the dark youkai asked, his voice a sinister whisper as he pointed a long black claw at the corpse of Sesshomaru's wife. He tilted his head to the side as if considering something heinous, then smiled wickedly. “Unless you're the kind that likes them quiet.”

 

“No.”

 

“I am disappointed.”

 

The voice became a sullen buzz in his ears and Sesshomaru felt immense power and madness flow from the undead demon's body. It was like a tide of despair, a thousand deaths of innocence, love turned to betrayal, desire to cruel lust, and passion into apathy. Under that storm of vile youki, mothers would murder their children; men would ravage their wives and then flay the skin from their bodies in the ecstasy of defilement.

 

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow, green youki starting to collect around his fingertips. His eyes widened and then became crimson as power surged within his blood, barely able to contain his form as every nerve of his being ached to devour and crush his opponent.

 

“Good,” his grandfather commented, black lightning crackling just beyond his skin. “You're going to fight. This will be interesting.”

 

Sesshomaru smiled ever so faintly…and attacked.

 

oOo

 

Kagome was vastly uncomfortable. The day had taken just one too many strange turns and she didn't know what else it might bring. There was just so much a person could put up with, she thought, before one started hopping around and screaming like Inuyasha. At the moment, she was preoccupied with where to look, or rather where not to look, and had to give that most of her attention.

 

Inuyasha and Kouga sat nearby, not fighting but definitely not friendly either. They exchanged occasional growls and glares, but that was all. Actually, they kind of looked like mirror images of each other, sitting stiffly with their fists resting on their knees while she tended to Kohaku. Not that there was anything she could really do for the poor boy, he was still feverish and weak.

 

So she kept bathing his forehead with a damp cloth, because there was nothing more she could do for Sango's brother. He had already been through enough pain for several lifetimes. Kagome wished she had some of the medicines from her time, but spiritually she knew that even the most practical and advanced treatments probably wouldn't help Kohaku. What ailed him was not an infection or a virus; no disease that would follow that could follow the path of diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

 

Kohaku's soul was dying and there was nothing, absolutely nothing she could do about it.

 

“So what's wrong with the kid anyway?”

 

Kagome glanced at their newest companion and immediately blushed hard. She dropped her eyes, embarrassed, and looked anywhere else. She felt his grin without having to see it and nervously folded the damp cloth and laid it to the side.

 

“He's ill,” she said quietly.

 

“I can tell that, girlie,” he said, his voice a low bass rumble. “You've got a real gift for stating the obvious.”

 

“Inutaisho,” Shi said, a warning note in her voice. “Do not try to provoke Kagome, she has enough on her mind without your remarks.”

 

The great and legendary, perhaps infamous, former lord the Western lands snorted and began to pick at his teeth with a claw. Kagome turned her head just enough to peek at him, recognizing the habit as one he shared with Inuyasha and then her cheeks turned pink again. This time he saw her embarrassment and she heard a chuckle. It really wasn't funny at all.

 

Somehow Inuyasha's father wasn't what she expected. Other than the fact she'd thought he was dead. Inuyasha, at least, wasn't all that shocked. He muttered something about Toutousai finally bothering to tell them the truth after all this time and didn't hide his annoyance that the old youkai was right. Kagome didn't know what she'd think either, if she'd suddenly found out that her father was still alive and had faked his death.

 

She supposed that Inuyasha must be going through a lot of turmoil inside. Denial…confusion…or happiness perhaps?

 

Actually, she thought if anything Inuyasha seemed really pissed off…

 

“Damn it,” the hanyou suddenly growled. “Put some fucking clothes on, you ass!”

 

Inutaisho smirked at him. “I like being naked,” he said in lofty, unconcerned tone.

 

Kouga seemed to be choking, he was grinning so hard she thought his face might crack. “You have a great family, mutt,” he said, his eyes sparkling with humor. “My old man told me stories about this guy,” he said, pointing a thumb at the unrepentantly nude dog lord. “I just never thought half of them were true.”

 

“Shut up,” Inuyasha muttered.

 

Inutaisho chuckled again. “I remember your father, wolf pup,” he said easily, resting his elbow on his knee and be damned who saw what. “Scrawny cub who couldn't keep his mouth shut, nothing but bluster and fuzz.” His expression grew fond with memory. “First time I saw him, he challenged me to a fight because I'd crossed into his territory. Wasn't worth killing so I just blistered his behind with my hand.”

 

Kouga stopped laughing. “You…spanked my father?” he asked, outrage creeping into his tone.

 

“He had it coming,” Inutaisho grinned, enjoying Kouga's angry glare. “Brat like you should be grateful too. If I'd taken him half seriously, he wouldn't have lived long enough to knock up your mama.”

 

“Why, you…” Kouga growled, starting to get to his feet. Kagome quickly moved in front of him, settling herself between Inuyasha and Kouga and keeping a hand on both of them. She glanced over at Shi and the youkai woman just shrugged and gave her a what-can-you-do kind of look. It seemed that Inuyasha's ability to rub people the wrong way had been directly inherited from his father.

 

For some reason, she'd expected that this man would be more like Sesshomaru. Everyone at the fortress had spoken of Inutaisho-sama with such respect, awe even. They'd said that Inuyasha resembled him more than his older brother did, but as far as demeanor and dignity went…

 

Inutaisho casually rested his hand on the ground and flicked a pebble into the air, grinning when it struck his son between the eyes. Inuyasha bared his teeth at his sire and she patted his leg to distract him. Inuyasha looked down at her hand and then covered it with his own. The older youkai winked at her, as if he'd known that her touch would calm the hanyou.

 

“So how long have you two been fucking?”

 

Kagome gasped, her eyes going wide and Inuyasha surged forward as if he wanted to strangle his father and put him back into that mystical and entirely false grave. Shi was even faster, darting forward to smack the back of Inutaisho's head hard enough to make the old dog's eyes water.

 

“Bitch, if you weren't pregnant!”

 

“Don't let that stop you,” she sneered, grabbing a handful of his hair. “I am not intimidated by your bluster and you should apologize for embarrassing your son and Kagome!”

 

Inutaisho batted her hand away. “I'm supposed to apologize to them for being honest?” He stood up and glowered at them all. “So what if I asked how long they'd been screwing each other, I'm just making pleasant conversation!”

 

Kagome covered her eyes and Inuyasha put a protective arm around her shoulders, ignoring the jealous glare from Kouga. “Nothing pleasant about you, asshole,” he practically barked. “Put on some fucking clothes! Nobody here wants to see you strut around naked, you perverted old fart!”

 

“Don't lecture me, boy,” Inutaisho snapped. “You haven't earned the right.”

 

“Oh yeah?” Inuyasha was shouting now, on his feet before Kagome could stop the confrontation. “I think I've got the right, you miserable old goat. You fucking faked your death, ruined everyone's lives and abandoned my mother. You left the both of us to fucking die. I don't give a damn what your reasons were. You're the one that doesn't have any right to ask me anything!”

 

“You don't have a clue,” Inutaisho sneered, folding his arms over his chest the exact same way Inuyasha did when he was supremely pissed and trying to keep from beating hell out of someone. “I didn't intend to abandon anyone.”

 

“Bullshit,” Inuyasha said, calmer now that his father seemed to be the one out of control. “Toutousai told us you showed up forty years ago with no explanation and disappeared again. Want to explain that, great lord Inutaisho?”

 

Flushing, his father looked away, rubbing the back of his neck in distraction. Shi sighed and stood up, going to rest her small hand on his arm. “You should tell him,” she murmured. “He is your son and he deserves to know the truth.”

 

“There's nothing to tell,” he answered, his voice dark and foreboding. “I fucked up. He's right about that and I don't expect to be forgiven.” Grimly, he faced his hanyou son. “You can hate me if you want, I really don't give a damn. But I am sorry about your mother and I'm sorry your brother was too much of a hateful prick to protect you.”

 

Inuyasha's expression softened slightly at his father's description of Sesshomaru. “Yeah, well…he's a bastard, but I did survive without his help. Now I can rub it in his face whenever I want.” Then Inuyasha's face grew serious and he instinctively reached for Kagome's hand. “Shit, I almost forgot…”

 

Kagome's heart jumped a little bit and she clutched Inuyasha's fingers. “Sango,” she whispered. “Sesshomaru went after Sango, didn't he? That…thing…still has her. Inuyasha, we have to help him!”

 

“Since when does Sesshomaru need anyone's help?” Inutaisho muttered. “He could be up to his neck in shit and he'd never ask anyone to dig him out. Stubborn little prick…”

 

“Sesshomaru?” Shi suddenly butted in, her face drawn and concerned. “He's in trouble? Kagome, you didn't mention this…”

 

“Sango was taken,” Kagome said in a small voice, tears starting to form in her eyes. “She's pregnant with his baby and that disgusting monster…” She shuddered and pressed her face against Inuyasha's chest, her skin crawling with the memory of that thing and his dark, burning eyes. “I…I think he wanted her because of the baby, because she was human and the baby wasn't…”

 

“Human?” Inutaisho took a step back, shocked. “Sesshomaru and a human woman? That's…impossible.”

 

“No, it's not,” Kagome bit out, angry at the disbelief in the older youkai's eyes. “I'm sorry, you don't know your sons at all, Inutaisho-sama. Sesshomaru loves Sango, loves her more than anything and it would destroy him to lose her now! And Sango is my friend; she's fought at our side all this time. After what Naraku did to her and Kohaku, she deserves to be happy with Sesshomaru!”

 

“Kagome,” Inuyasha murmured, touching her hair.

 

“No,” she answered fiercely. “I know you have your own reasons to hate him, Inuyasha. But I think your brother has changed. Sango wouldn't love someone who is cold and selfish. It's not because he used Tenseiga to save Kohaku's life that she loves him!”

 

“Used Tenseiga?” Inutaisho's face suddenly lit up in a wild grin, he threw back his head and laughed, a sound so free, and happy it seemed to lighten the very air. Kagome stared at him, suddenly seeing the figure that had become a myth. When he smiled and laughed like that, other creatures instinctively wanted to follow him. It was a charisma that both of his sons had inherited, for all Inuyasha covered it with belligerence and Sesshomaru disguised it with aloof disinterest.

 

For the first time, she could really see them as brothers, different and unique versions of this strange and confusing man.

 

“He used Tenseiga, I always knew he had it inside him.” Inuyasha thought his father looked exceptionally proud. Still grinning, he strode over to put his hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. “And you with Tessaiga, eh? I knew I made the right decision, Sessh's pride be damned! Bet he had a hard time swallowing that!”

 

Inuyasha smiled, looking shy at his father's praise. “Yeah, he did.”

 

Kagome's eyes were misty, seeing the affection in Inutaisho's eyes, Inuyasha's embarrassed acceptance of it. Yes, this was what she'd wanted to see, this was what Inuyasha had needed all his life. After losing his mother at such a young age and the harsh rejection of his embittered older brother, nothing could heal his insecurities more than his father's approval. If she hadn't been so worried about Kohaku and Sango, she would have sighed at this perfect moment.

 

Inutaisho rested his hand on his son's shoulder a moment longer, then frowned before moving to touch the top of Inuyasha's head. “Damn, you're fucking short, kid,” he blurted out. “You didn't get that from me!”

 

“You asshole!”

 

Inutaisho grinned when his son batted his hand away. “Easy to set you off,” he commented. “I was like that at your age too. Although,” he said, frowning again. “You should have matured more by now. It's like you stopped growing for a while or something…”

 

“It's none of your damn business,” Inuyasha said hotly. “Just keep your mouth shut about it!”

 

“Perhaps it was due to the spell that sealed him to the tree,” Shi said, her voice serene and calm. “You did mention finding him that way when you awoke forty years ago.”

 

The forest went utterly still and Kagome could sense an aura of palpable rage surrounding father and son. Inuyasha's hands were clenched into fists and his arms were shaking. She took a deep breath in through her teeth and told herself she was not going to interfere. If what Shi had just said were true, it would mean that…

 

“You just left me there?” Inuyasha demanded, his eyes fairly snapping gold sparks at his father.

 

Inutaisho seemed preoccupied by the state of the dirt under his feet. “You looked fine,” he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck again. “Perfectly preserved I'd say.”

 

“And you just left me hanging there!”

 

Wincing, the former lord of the West offered a sheepish grin. “Damn, I haven't heard anyone yell that loud since Naota put a nest of baby snake demons in your brother's porridge…”

 

“Don't change the subject!” Inuyasha was blistering with anger and took a swipe at his father's bare torso with his claws. Inutaisho looked startled and chagrined, but sidestepped the attack as if practiced in dodging angry hanyou. The attempt did nothing to pacify Inuyasha, who advanced again with claws raised.

 

“Your own kid and you just left me hanging on a tree for another forty years? What kind of father are you?” Inuyasha bellowed.

 

Eyes snapping, Inutaisho made no attempt to evade Inuyasha. “It was a shrine maiden's spell,” he retorted. “I figured you'd done something to deserve it!”

 

“What the hell kind of excuse is that!”

 

Suddenly, in a blur too fast for mortal eyes to see, Inutaisho was behind his angry son and gripping the back of his hair. “Did you deserve it?” he asked softly, giving Inuyasha a quick shake like an older dog disciplining a puppy. “What did you do, attack a village or something?”

 

Inuyasha didn't answer, but his face turned as red as his haori. Naraku had been the one to attack him, attack Kikyou…but he'd gone after the jewel all on his own. He'd been determined to punish her for betraying him and if he hadn't been so damned mad and hurt, he never would have gone after the sacred jewel again.

 

“Maybe,” he muttered.

 

“Thought so,” Inutaisho said, letting him go. He glanced over at Kagome and smiled, absently patting his son on the head again. “But you wouldn't be traveling with a priestess if you hadn't changed your ways. And I don't think that little girl would love you if you kept attacking innocent humans.”

 

With a smile, Kagome nodded and put her hand on Inuyasha's arm. “Of course not,” she said softly, watching his ears twitch at her words. “He has a kind and brave heart, for all he tries to hide it.”

 

Still blushing a bit, Inuyasha met her eyes and returned her smile. “If I do, it's because of you,” he murmured so softly that she almost couldn't hear the words. “Having you at my side is…”

 

“Oh I think I'm gonna be sick,” Kouga groaned loudly. Inuyasha shot him a glare, but the wolf waved his hand in disgust. “Never mind, mutt, right now I just want to go find that other bastard. I don't care if he stole Sesshomaru's woman or not, but he's gonna pay for what he did to Kagome.”

 

“We have to help him,” Kagome said firmly.

 

“Yes. We must.” Surprised, she turned to look at Shi, but the pregnant youkai wasn't speaking to her. Instead she was giving Inuyasha's father a look that seemed to be asking something, but she couldn't define what.

 

“No,” he said at last, glancing away from the appeal in Shi's eyes. “Sesshomaru wouldn't want our help, Shi. Trust me on this, I know the boy and while I don't know what he's up against…”

 

A new voice interrupted him, strident and hard. “You're lying, lord Daimyo,” Naota said, his tone as brittle as the long years that had separated him from his family. “You know exactly what has been stalking this forest.”

 

“Naota,” Inutaisho whispered and for the first time, Kagome thought he looked ashamed.

 

Stepping from the trees, Inuyasha's cousin only had eyes for his uncle. Kagome heard Inuyasha inhale suddenly, sniffing the air and she knew that he hadn't sensed Naota's approach. In contrast, Inutaisho's face had become a stone mask and she was able to see his resemblance to his eldest son in the look of cool disdain that fell over his features. Grimly, he faced his nephew, the man who had thrown away everything to protect what Inutaisho had left behind.

 

“Why is he lying?” Kagome whispered as Inuyasha's fingers tightened on hers.

 

“Because there's no way he couldn't have felt it,” Inuyasha muttered, his face looking suddenly old and tired. “No way in hell…why else would he have come back now?”

 

“Not just for that,” Inutaisho answered, his voice as smooth as frozen glass. “If Sesshomaru fails to destroy him, I will do what needs to be done.”

 

“That's not gonna save Sango!” Inuyasha shouted.

 

Naota hadn't taken his eyes from Inutaisho or he might not have heard Inuyasha at all. “Are you done lying to them? Or are you going to keep up this pretense for another century? Tell them!”

 

Old pain crossed Inutaisho's face and Shi murmured something, touching his hand as if encouraging him. He sighed heavily and turned to look at Inuyasha and Kagome.

 

“It's my fault he's come back,” Inutaisho said simply. “I executed him…for the monster that he was. But death wouldn't satisfy my hatred, as I found out too many years later. I used Tenseiga to resurrect his dismembered corpse, and sealed it under a mountain so that he would be conscious and suffering until the end of time.”

 

“That's…insane,” Kagome whispered. “Tenseiga wouldn't allow such an abominable…”

 

Quietly, Inutaisho held out his hands and they shimmered briefly. Then, like the painful growth of a diseased plant, markings appeared and spread out from his palms. The black stains wrapped around his wrists, writhing like snakes up his arms, across the front of his shoulders to form a pattern on his chest.

 

Naota moved closer, resting his hand briefly on Inuyasha's shoulder before he went to stand in front of his uncle. Some of the marks looked more like symbols, ancient and forgotten writing. He barely recognized any of them, but they seemed to be burned into Inutaisho's skin.

 

Cautiously, he touched one of the marks and saw it shift and move as if something alive. His eyes narrowed and he shifted his gaze to his uncle's unconcerned face. “These look like the markings of the dragon clan,” he said softly, almost hesitant. “I thought they were all…destroyed.”

 

“And I was the one who destroyed them,” Inutaisho answered readily. “For that power and for my revenge, I have paid dearly. By leaving when I did, I at least managed to keep this curse to myself…and not having my sons pay as I have.”

 

Naota's mouth twitched. “So you eliminated them and stole the secrets they guarded. And then you poisoned yourself by misusing both Tessaiga and Tenseiga, leaving them powerless in your hands. That's why you left your swords behind and that's why you faked your own death. To escape…”

 

Smiling bitterly, Inutaisho reached out and embraced the nephew who had been as close as his son. “Sometimes you need to throw away everything, lose everything, before you can humble yourself enough to learn from your mistakes.

 

“I only hope it isn't too late for Sesshomaru to learn from his.”

 

oOo