InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ War's Shadow ❯ Darkness ( Chapter 17 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

17 - Darkness

And all of this because Father was too lenient in finishing with them, came Sesshoumaru’s consternated thought. He evaded yet another blast from Ryuujin, which swept a smoking, jyaki-filled trail through the overgrowth where he had been standing. Kanaye had not been exaggerating its formidable strength. Every time he experienced a near miss, it felt like a wall of compressed energy slammed past him, one that rent its fury on everything but him, until it spent itself in a choking cloud.

But Kanaye had also been correct about speed. Despite his predictions earlier in the day that it would not be enough, his last admonishment to be patient and evasive was working. The halberd was bulky, heavy, and was being wielded by someone that was unaccustomed to using it. Kawahira’s swings were slower and less graceful than they would have been with a sword, which gave Sesshoumaru plenty of time to move out of the way, much to his enemy’s frustration.

And frustrated he was. Sesshoumaru descended back to the ground once more, eyeing the dark-eyed Kawahira, who was practically snarling his rage at being unable to connect with Sesshoumaru while he, on the other hand, now bore deep, bleeding claw welts across his arms and face. Only Kawahira’s own speed and the defensive sweeps of the halberd had been protecting him from an incapacitating blow, but while Kawahira’s petulance was rewarding, the more disturbed he became, the more of that creeping evil atmosphere was released, which was only serving to intensify Sesshoumaru’s own youkai instincts.

Something in his skull prompted a transformation, to stomp the wretch out of existence, but his reasoning nature was still very much in control, and so he repressed that surging desire, aware that though his strength would increase, he would become less mobile, and that would be a problem.

Kawahira swung out with Ryuujin once more and Sesshoumaru moved to take the opportunity to evade and attack, but was forced to change his course when Kawahira faked the forward swing and sent the weapon sweeping backward. A rush of fierce energy stormed toward Sesshoumaru and he whirled away from it, the attack slicing just past his face to devastate yet another grouping of trees, which exploded in a shower of crisp leaves, sharp twigs, and a scouring burst of jyaki.

Kawahira drew back, resting the weapon on his shoulder as he breathed heavily. “You can’t hold out forever, Sesshoumaru,” he said, using his sleeve to wipe a trail of blood from his face.

“I am doing better than you are,” Sesshoumaru reminded him evenly, then moved to attack again.

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“Bastard…stop dragging me!” Inuyasha snarled, clasping his hand around Kanaye’s wrist and remembering a little late that his claws were gone. All he had now were ten pathetic human fingernails…nails that weren’t even breaking the skin. He dug in harder out of spite.

“If you had any sense, I wouldn’t have to do this at all,” Kanaye replied harshly, storming his way through the forest, one hand latched onto the sleeve of Inuyasha’s fire rat’s fur coat. The boy was stumbling along behind him, what little grace and speed his half-demon blood offered him gone, lost for the night. “But I promised your brother.”

“Promised him what?” Inuyasha growled, the image of Sesshoumaru and Kanaye making backdoor deals about him coming to mind as more than a little unsettling.

“That I’ll keep Eizan from killing you while you’re in that sad little body. He’s got enough on him at the moment and I don’t want him being bothered with the hot-headed likes of you.”

“Well, aren’t you the nice guy. I’m not buying that crap,” Inuyasha sneered, jerking his arm again, but this time Kanaye wrenched it behind him at a bone-stressing angle and hauled Inuyasha to the front so that he could shove him along.

“To hell with you both. But the longer this takes, the more likely it is I’m going to be burying Sashe. And if all this delay leads to that, I won’t be grieving alone, I can promise you that.”

“Is that a threat?” Inuyasha challenged. “If you’re that worried about her, go get her yourself! We’re not stopping you. But anyone with half a brain can figure out that you don’t go storming up to a fortress’s front door just because you feel like it. For once in his pathetic life, Sesshoumaru’s actually doing something right. Taking out their defenses one by one doesn’t leave much to worry about when you finally get there. We're sort of lacking what Eizan has in huge numbers...like an army, idiot?"”

“Are you lecturing me about warfare?” Kanaye questioned incredulously, releasing his hold on Inuyasha and shoving him away. “This from the boy whose battle prowess consists of wildly swinging a sword and hoping it connects with something? You are disgraceful,” he sneered. “If my brother could see you now, he would be shamed.” Kanaye pointed a clawed finger into Inuyasha’s glaring, unblinking face. “You have no right to Tessaiga. It should belong to Sesshoumaru and it would be with him now if Inutaisho’s weakness hadn’t manifested itself into the form of a pitiful half-demon boy incapable of protecting himself. Sesshoumaru deserved the sword…you needed it. I have to disagree with the decision your father made.”

“He didn’t give it to him, because Sesshoumaru’s a sadistic bastard,” Inuyasha grumbled. “The old man was smart not to let him loose on Japan with the thing.”

“He didn’t give it to Sesshoumaru because he wanted to protect you,” Kanaye argued. “But he always was rather misguided.”

“Do you think I give a damn if Sesshoumaru’s got hurt feelings over some stupid inheritance? It’s his problem!” Inuyasha barked. “Now get off my back. Jeez, what’s the point in bitching at me about this? He can’t use my sword and he needs to get over it.”

“’Hurt feelings’,” Kanaye mocked. “Could you sound any more disgustingly human? It has nothing to do with---” He stopped then, face morphing instantly from argumentative to concentrating. A blanketing quiet fell over the forest that had just moments earlier been listening to the two arguing men. “Kawahira’s reinforcements are arriving…”

“Should we go back then?” Inuyasha questioned, dropping the fight, frustrated that he was not able to sense the same thing.

Kanaye shook his head. “We’re going in the right direction. They’re heading toward the house---“ Kanaye blinked as Inuyasha suddenly shot off into the woods, aiming for his brother’s home and the women who currently inhabited it. “Ah, so now, you’re capable of speed?!” Kanaye growled before moving to follow in Inuyasha’s wake. “Filthy wretch…”

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The day’s heat was shifting as the storm came on, becoming danker and more humid, creating a clinging feeling in the air, one that intensified when Kagome picked up on the first traces of the evil aura. She walked outside, only half-listening to Ashitera’s chattery conversation with Jaken as she peered out over the darkening treetops. The air was heavy, as though it was solidifying of its own will. Something bad was nearby, and it made her thoughts flicker back to the conversations the guys had been having recently about human towns being devoured by clouds of jyaki; the reason she, Rin, and Ashitera had been sent back to wait things out at Sesshoumaru's home. But now…

Inuyasha, where are you? she wondered anxiously. He turns human tonight…and those other two…. Kagome still did not like the idea of letting Inuyasha out of her sight with Kanaye. He was so mean-spirited and vindictive. Of course, there had been a time when she had felt the same way about Sesshoumaru; experienced dread at each of his unexpected, and often violent, arrivals. Even now she wasn’t particularly thrilled with the idea…

As if for the purpose of intensifying her nervousness, a slow rumble started off in the distance, one that finished in a roar that made her jump. Displaced air swept across the treetops and overhead, bringing Rin outside with an apprehensive look just in time to watch the resulting leafy rain from the trees and birds scattering into the sky.

“Kagome…what is it?” she questioned suspiciously, brown eyes falling on the miko’s face.

Kagome half-shook her head, not certain what to make of it. The wolf came bounding out from around the house, all sinewy muscle and bristled fur, looking agitated. Kagome backed up a step in trepidation, and then it was as though someone switched on a light.

“We need to leave, Rin-chan,” she said with quiet urgency, just as Jaken’s head came up to take in his surroundings.

“Ah…there are…,” he began, reaching for his staff.

Rin didn’t stop to listen, instead she turned and flew back into the house, sprinting to her own room which still housed her bow. Slinging the arrows over her shoulder, she rushed back outside to find Kagome with her own bow already in hand, tense face upturned toward the sky, as though expecting it to open up and unleash a horde of creatures. The wolf barked urgently at her the moment she returned and she took that warning to heart.

“I’ll go get Ah-Un,” Rin said breathlessly, bounding down the steps and running for the building that housed the ancient dragon. The wolf’s paws pounded at her heels and, for once, she found the sound to be a comforting one. He's running with me...not after me....

She threw the wooden doors open and stepped inside, the smell of hay smacking her in the face. The dragon’s scaly double heads looked up restlessly at her sudden arrival, giving a low grunt of recognition. Rin smiled in greeting, trying to conceal her nervousness about the situation. She took a step over the threshold and the dragon's tail thumped a greeting.

“Ah-Un, we need you agai---“

But she was cut off by the second explosion.

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Kagome’s heart gave a terrified lurch when a blast suddenly rocked the earth, creating a cloud of dust and debris that rained back down on her and the others. Ashitera shrieked and leapt up from where she had been playing in the grass, gripping Kagome’s leg as she moved to huddle behind her.

Rin-chan!

Before she could even move to go check on Rin, her ears registered an easily-recognizable whistling sound that pierced the air overhead. Kagome reached down and grabbed the little girl by the forearm, hauling her back inside the house. Jaken barely managed to skitter inside the door before she slammed it shut, arrows thumping against the heavy wood an instant later. Kagome quickly reached up and extinguished the light before falling back to her knees, her mind reeling with possible escape options. Ashitera moved to kneel beside her, body shivering in fear, and Kagome reached out to touch her arm in a comforting gesture.

“It’s okay, Ashi-chan. You’ll be all right,” Kagome soothed, and indeed she would be, because if they were captured, Kagome fully intended on placing her back with Eizan’s people. They wouldn’t dare harm their own lord’s grandchild, hanyou or not….

“Jaken?” she questioned quietly, turning in the dark to watch his easily discernible shadow. The toad was making nervous sounds, his head twitching back and forth, as though prepared for an enemy to unexpectedly leap out of some dark corner.

“Sesshoumaru-sama is going to kill me,” he moaned, mostly to himself. They all listened to the sounds of dozens upon dozens of approaching feet, boots banging against steps, shouting voices issuing orders that only served to intensify Kagome’s dread. And then, a simultaneous, eerie quiet settled, and Kagome, too, felt certain that she would momentarily see things lunging at her from the shadows.

“Is there somewhere I can put her?” Kagome asked Jaken desperately, but he didn’t have time to advise her because the roof suddenly gave way in a shower of splintering wood and invaders, dark forms who descended to land on the carefully polished wood floors, weapons drawn and flashing in what little light there was. It was a disorienting sight, these wild-looking youkai disturbing the museum-like quiet of Sesshoumaru’s home.

The first one rose from his crouching stance and pointed at Kagome, his gloved finger as accusing as his tone. “Are you his human?”

His? Sesshoumaru’s? Kagome paused, wondering what the healthiest answer to that might be. Ashitera wedged herself behind her, fists clutching handfuls of her shirt. Kagome decided that now was the time to let them know who Ashitera really was, before any sort of violence began. “I---,” Kagome began, but she was unexpectedly cut off, her head turning to watch in open-mouthed amazement as Jaken ran forward.

“Nintoujou!” he shrieked, and suddenly the northerners were engulfed in a massive wave of fire. The smells of charring wood and flesh mixed horribly into a sickening stench that was accompanied by the most horrific, ear-splitting screams Kagome had ever witnessed. She felt Ashitera bury her face into her back and moan something.

When Jaken extinguished the blast of fire there was nothing left of the group of northern youkai that had been threatening them just moments earlier…but flames were slowly licking their way up the walls, as though surfacing for more of the air that was feeding them from the hole in the roof.

“Jaken,” Kagome breathed in relief, smiling as the retainer turned and regarded her with a triumphant look. “Arigatou…but now he really is going to kill you.”

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When Inuyasha surged into the clearing in front of the house, it was already crawling with armored youkai soldiers, almost all of which were surrounding the main house. He could smell smoke…and fire…even without his youkai senses. A cursory glance revealed that two buildings were resting in heaping piles of broken timber, but the actual house was still intact, thankfully. He stiffened when he heard the sound of another explosion somewhere nearby, vaguely recognized the cloud of dust that shot up into the air to mix with the black night.

“Kagome!” he hollered, the name ripping through his vocal chords like a war cry. His peripheral vision caught sight of a white-and-blue blur that streaked past him to descend on the first line of youkai in an explosion of pure temper and body parts.

Inuyasha sprinted toward the house, feeling as though he was moving in slow motion thanks to his human speed. He drew the stubbornly detransformed Tessaiga, dismayed at the lighter weight. Don’t break on me, you worthless fang, he warned internally. He slid just out of the way of a sweeping sword, barely taking the time to block anything that came his way. He wasn’t looking to fight. He was looking to find Kagome and the others. Then he’d worry about the fighting part of it.

A red-hot streak was unexpectedly cut across his back and he stumbled for a moment before whirling around with a shrieked curse, using the blunted Tessaiga to impale one enemy. He shoved the youkai away and ran on.

“Kagome!” he hollered again, wondering briefly if they had had time to escape already…Ah-Un….but that was one of the buildings that had already been wasted….

He ducked instinctively as Kanaye sent the remains of two youkai flying overhead to impact with an unfortunate third who was leveled off his feet by the weight, inadvertently clearing Inuyasha’s path to the front door.

Inuyasha stormed up the steps, the reek of smoke becoming stronger. He attempted to wrench the door open, but was only partially successful before he was set upon by another opponent who made it his misfortune to try to hinder Inuyasha’s desperate progress. Inuyasha turned and removed the man’s sword arm, barely hearing the pained howl as the youkai backed away.

“Kagome!” Inuyasha roared, banging on the door with his fists. It was opened so unexpectedly that he all but collapsed inside, tripped up by his own momentum. He hit the floor, his arms instantly grabbed by a relieved Kagome who grasped handfuls of his sleeves, as though worried he would somehow dissipate before her eyes.

“Inuyasha!” she exclaimed. He looked up into her smoke-streaked face, his heart giving a grateful thump…and then he was set upon by all the weight Ashitera could gather as she flung herself at him, latching onto him like her savior.

“Inuyashaaaaaa!” Ashitera cried joyfully.

“Hey, hey, kid,” Inuyasha lightly scolded. “Did you think I’d forgotten about you?”

“You worthless hanyou! Now you choose to become human!” Jaken stamped angrily, waving a small green fist. “As always, you expect Sesshoumaru-sama to do all the work!”

“You shove it, toad,” Inuyasha warned, pointing a dangerous finger into the retainer’s face. “Do you see Sesshoumaru here to save your ass?”

“Are you alone?” Kagome asked worriedly.

“Heh…no…but if I don’t hurry, Kanaye’s not going to leave anything for me,” Inuyasha replied restlessly.

“You can’t fight like that,” Kagome insisted, gesturing at his human form.

“The hell I can’t. I’m not rotting in this house like some old woman. Besides, in case you hadn’t noticed, the place is on fire,” Inuyasha reminded her sarcastically, pointing at the burning streak that was cut up the walls. “Where’s Rin?” he questioned suddenly, realizing something was amiss. His head turned from side to side as though in anticipation of Rin bouncing out of nowhere with a greeting.

“I lost sight of her,” Kagome said sickly. “She went to get Ah-Un.”

Inuyasha quickly nodded in understanding, casting a nasty glare at Jaken. “Man, you set fire to his house and you lost his woman. I’m going to enjoy digging your grave, baka.”

Jaken keened a moan of agreement at that as Inuyasha rose to his feet, pulling Ashitera up onto his back and holding her in place with one hand while he awkwardly tried to maintain a grip on Tessaiga with the other.

“You’re not supposed to be out like that,” Ashitera warned over his shoulder, tugging on a dark strand of his hair. “He told me youkai would eat you because he doesn’t like you.”

“He?” Inuyasha questioned in confusion, looking over his shoulder at her intent, cherubic face. “Sesshoumaru?” She nodded and he shook his head. “That moron. Don’t worry about it.” He glanced back at Kagome, feeling uncertain suddenly, wondering if he would regret this decision at the end of the night. But what other option did they have? Stay in this place? It was going to burn. “Okay, Kagome?” he asked. “Stay with me no matter what, got it?”

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m going to take you guys somewhere safe and then I’m going to come back for Rin.”

“But…”

“Kagome… ”

She went quiet at that and nodded, reaching for the bow and arrows she had discarded on the floor. Ashitera’s arms circled Inuyasha’s neck in a stranglehold, Jaken righted his staff, and Inuyasha threw open the door.

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Kawahira’s body slammed into the ground with another bone-crunching impact, but this one was made slightly softer by the steady rain that had begun to fall. He was slower to rise this time and Sesshoumaru dove in to take advantage of that and finish him, but Kawahira’s instincts tightened his hand on the halberd again and he gave a wild swing with it, igniting a ragged blast that cut just past Sesshoumaru, the zig-zagging wave dislodging him from his hovering position in the sky.

Sesshoumaru went back to the ground in a cat-like crouch, quickly righting himself to fling out another claw attack that Kawahira blocked by shielding himself with the halberd’s wide, flat blade.

Again Sesshoumaru repressed the desire to transform, every inhalation of air burning his lungs, sending his youkai blood surging ferociously. He did need a weapon. This was too slow, waiting for Kawahira’s mistakes. His opponent was too well-trained. Thus far Sesshoumaru had avoided being hit head on by any of Kawahira’s swings, but this looked as though it was going to go on for a while…and Sesshoumaru could admit he was beginning to tire from the strain of fighting in such a poisonous atmosphere.

“Sesshoumaru,” Kawahira exhaled the name like a curse, “how long do you intend for this to go on?”

“If you will have enough courtesy to drop dead, it will finish quickly,” Sesshoumaru calmly replied.

Kawahira laughed, low and mocking, as he rose to his feet. “And what are you fighting for? They are all dead by now….” His smile was faintly wicked as Sesshoumaru’s head came up at the words. “Did you think it was just me? I’m only here to kill you. My brother and his army have likely finished with your people. Do you think even Kanaye could hold up against nearly two hundred soldiers on his own?”

Sesshoumaru’s own smile was cold and deadly. “I’ve seen him do better than that…and complain when it was over.”

Kawahira smirked, looking evil and wild from Ryuujin’s suffocating influence. “But would he waste the energy it would take to protect the others? To save her? I don’t think so…and judging from that look that just crossed your face, I don’t think you believe it, either.”

Sesshoumaru took an unconscious step backward, mentally already with her…and seeing what would come of it if Kanaye….

“Should I trust you, Kanaye?”

“It depends on what I’m being trusted with.”

Kawahira looked on in surprise as, wordlessly, the western lord turned and retreated from their battle.

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She choked on another inhalation of dusty, debris-coated air and pulled herself free from the wreckage of Ah-Un’s stable, the wolf’s jaws latched urgently onto her torn sleeve as he pulled on her in an attempt at aid in finding a way free of the splintered mess. Rin tugged her foot loose from under a collapsed beam and pushed herself unsteadily to her feet, head automatically turning to take in the scene.

The smoke was making the night even darker, a swirling black shroud that hampered her sight as she searched the darkness for Kagome, Jaken, and Ashitera. The wolf adhered himself to her side, a solid warm body that was constantly pressed against her leg. She kept a firm grip on his fur, not wanting to lose sight of him, too.

A choking, humid night breeze blew into her face, carrying with it the clash of weapons and the sounds of feral embattled voices that sent a shiver down her spine. She couldn’t tell what was burning, because no flames were evident around her, but her stomach was clenched with nervous apprehension at what she couldn’t see. She kept waiting for him to materialize, like a vengeful white angel, just as he always did. Sesshoumaru truly had impeccable timing, and so it was with growing fear that her sight continued to search the darkness without finding him. Where are you…? Do you not know yet? Or are you unable to come..?

A scream of pain made her jump and turn as she listened to the sound of a body thumping heavily against the ground, now silenced. She felt the wolf's fur bristle under her fingertips, heard the low rumble of a growl emanating from his body.

"Kouga does have some foresight, doesn't he?" she whispered nervously to the massive animal, suddenly finding that any fears she had had paled in comparison to this nightmare. She may not have the sight that Eizan's youkai had, but her wolf did. She reached a hand back to pull her bow from her shoulder, frozen and waiting for the beast to give her some idea of where any potential danger might come from. It was as though Eizan had decided to forgo any sort of true strategy and just send mass numbers of youkai soldiers to raze all memory of the western dogs. It made her want to cry…it made her want to scream…and it made her positively furious. There was a boiling rage in the pit of her stomach, one that consumed her fear. This is my home...and his home.....

The cracking sound of weakening timber mixed with the looming clashing of nearing thunder. Red-orange embers were blown by the wind from their source, striking her skin, quick burning pinpricks that were snuffed out upon contact. Pounding feet came into earshot then, but before she could turn, the snarling wolf was already launching himself at the invader, descending upon him in a blur of snapping jaws.

Her heart caught at the sound of another set of heavy footsteps. She whirled to search the darkness for her faceless opponent, bringing an arrow up in an effort to have it ready if a shadow came too close. She felt a burning sensation in her palm and fingertips and briefly wondered if her hands had been damaged in the explosion…before she took a good look at the carved bow and understood. It gave a hot, black surge of jyaki, singing the off-white color to a forbidding ebony. Rin instantly dropped it, eyeing it in horror as she realized she had just been abandoned by the one weapon she was competent with. What…?

She flinched instinctively as the distinct sound of air-rending metal sliced close to her, but something else shot out of the darkness to connect with it. Another shadow appeared, knocking the weapon from her assailant’s grasp before returning with a backswing to kill him. Her brain took a solid, frozen second to identify the vague shadow as Kanaye, an assumption that was verified a moment later by a very Inuyasha-like expletive.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he questioned calmly when he turned to her. He was suddenly very casual, as though inquiring about the weather rather than pausing for an instant in this violent melee. His attention diverted for a moment as he effortlessly dispatched another victim before turning back to her.

“Where’s Sesshoumaru?” she countered, certain that if Kanaye had returned, then he must be nearby as well. Suddenly, nothing was as important as seeing him.

“He’s busy,” Kanaye snapped. “Don’t worry about him. You’ve got enough problems of your own,” he informed her, gesturing at her empty hands.

"I'm not exactly equipped to fight at the moment," she agreed wryly, pointing toward the rebellious bow. The wolf returned to her side, panting heavily, having finished with his own fight.

"You wouldn't be equipped to fight no matter what you were holding," he pronounced, glancing over his shoulder. He flung out a claw attack as another enemy crossed his field of vision then, with no verbal warning, reached out with his other hand and began dragging her along behind him, right out into the open meadow that lay in front of the house. Here there was some light provided by the flaming remains of one of the other buildings, and Rin felt suddenly exposed. She reached for her knife, feeling certain that such a thing would be worthless in a battle with so many opponents, but even more aware of the fact that her options were now extremely limited.

"What are you doing?" she questioned, not sure whether to trust him and stay or follow her baser instincts and flee from him. Kanaye was certainly not one she wanted to rely on in a fight.

His head swiveled to look at her, eyes flashing with a creepy feral light. "If I'm going to start something with Sesshoumaru, it's not going to be because of something as worthless as you."

Deciding that her flight instincts had been sounding off for a reason, Rin began to back away from that odd statement, but she was stopped when he pulled the knife from her hand and shoved the hilt of his own sword into her palm, closing her fingers around it, as though certain she was too stupid to figure out just what to do with it. Instantly the blade end hit the earth, as her arms were unaccustomed to holding such a heavy weapon.

"What are you doing?" she repeated the question, eyeing the gory, blood-streaked blade with open dismay.

"Hold it the correct way," he hissed at her with an unstated threat, but she took the tone seriously and pulled the heavy weapon back up.

“You have terrible defensive skills, but now’s as good a time as any to learn some," he added, turning his back to her in time to claw up another invader, one that collapsed into parts at his feet.

“What?” she cried incredulously as his words registered to her ears.

"There's no more certain motivation than an imminent threat to your own life," he announced in a thoroughly unconcerned manner.

Rin eyed the sword again, then turned her head in either direction as the wolf's low warning growl began again. "Shouldn't you be using your own sword?" she asked him hesitantly.

“Does it seem like I'm having a difficult time?" Kanaye inquired sarcastically, looking over his shoulder at her. "Stay at my back. If you step away, I will let them have you. I’m not wasting a lot of extra energy on you, so I would advise you to learn quickly. All you are required to do is defend. Watch carefully and do what I tell you."

“You’re joking.”

“I have no sense of humor,” he sneered. “And if they do somehow wind up getting a hold of you, don’t even consider telling them that I taught you anything. The shame will kill me.”

Feeling certain that he had just gone mad right before her very eyes, Rin turned and brought the sword back up, trying to peer through the dusky air. Her thoughts went back to Kagome and Ashitera, wondered if they were all right….

She felt a motion behind her as another youkai was felled by Kanaye.

"Hold it with your right hand at the top of the hilt. Right wrist stays sturdy, left wrist less so to absorb impact. The sword stays up at all times. No swinging, defend only. Match his first stroke and I'll handle the rest. He's coming from the left," Kanaye announced calmly, and Rin, wondering how he could possibly tell that she was holding the sword improperly with his back to her, adjusted her grip accordingly and turned left, but the wolf took the initiative and dove for the assailant. She quickly lost sight of him, but could hear the unmistakable sounds of a vicious, snapping fight.

"There's another one," he supplied, dispatching yet another, but not stepping away from her. "You're going to have to hold it higher if you want to keep your head attached to your shoulders."

Rin brought his sword up higher per his instructions and this time a solid clang met the blade, making her arms shake. There was another movement behind her as Kanaye’s arm extended over her head and ended her attacker's life with one gutting claw sweep.

"It's that easy," Kanaye said, turning back to face the front again.

"Easy?" she repeated irritatedly as the wolf returned to her side.

"Compared to what's coming. Left again."

Rin did as she was told, bringing up the sword to ward off another flashing strike from an oncoming youkai, and this one knocked her back into Kanaye, who briefly paused in his own fight to remove her adversary. "Two more to the right," he informed her, and Rin quickly regained her balance and whirled. The wolf took down one of them, but the sheer weight of Kanaye's weapon made her feel like she was moving in slow motion. The youkai's first blow brought the sword back down and Rin instantly stepped away as he swung at her again. Her heart lurched horribly as she realized she had just done what Kanaye had told her not to do.

Her opponent's sword swung toward Kanaye’s back, but before she could even call a warning, he turned and gripped the oncoming blade, stopping its forward motion before wrenching it out of the northern dog's hands. In a motion Rin's sight could barely follow, he flipped the weapon until he had the hilt end and promptly decapitated his astonished enemy with practiced ease.

As soon as he had finished the grisly task, Kanaye pointed the sword in her direction. "What did I tell you?"

Thoroughly impressed by the display, Rin quickly resumed her position behind him, but protested when his heavy foot stepped back and caught the end of one of her sandals, holding her in place.

"You move too much and it's unnecessary movement," he told her. "That only wears you out more quickly."

"I can't move my foot!" she complained nervously, keeping an eye on the wolf for a warning.

"You don't need to move that foot. You're going to learn to do this properly. Don't turn your entire body. It’s easier for someone more experienced to put you off balance."

You’re really using this as a training session? Rin thought with sick amazement. You are mad!

"Forward and right," he announced again in that same uncaring voice. Lightning flashing overhead to illuminate what Kanaye had sensed. Rin turned to face front again, but the wolf set upon that threat and so she moved right, feeling distracted at not being able to turn her other foot. Her ears registered Kanaye hurling an obscenity at whomever he was fighting, but his heel stayed firmly on the end of her shoe. Even so, she was able to deflect the youkai's sword, something that caught him off guard. She swept outward with a double-handed swing and caught him across the stomach, a demise Kanaye turned quickly to finish before reverting once more to his own fight.

"Did you not hear me when I told you not to swing?" he snapped.

Just as a steady pattering of rain began to fall, Rin found herself calming, her heart fell into a steady thump that kept her adrenaline coursing, but panic was a distant thought as she continuously followed Kanaye's instructions. His restriction of her movements forced her to react more methodically, with less expended energy, and, unable to retreat from them, she fell into a hypnotic rhythm, barely aware of her aching arms, but highly aware of the fact that she was doing precisely what he had instructed her to do and did not have so much as a scratch for her efforts.

Her concentration was shattered, however, when she heard a faint whistling sound; the heavy panting of the battling wolf faded into an ominous quiet. She tried to move away in an attempt to catch sight of him, but Kanaye's foot remained in place. She looked over her shoulder to watch as he finished with yet another, but before she could ask him to let her go, he removed his foot and she turned to face front once more as that slight whistling sound became audible again. She flinched as a white-sleeved arm extended in front of her, opening her eyes to watch in wide-eyed amazement as an arrow head inserted itself through the palm of his hand.

“Kanaye..." she murmured in confusion, mostly brought on by the realization that the arrow had been meant for her. She looked up and into the distance as a figure moved forward. Another flash of lightning lit his face and she recognized the tall, lean form of Keito, who was staring back with cool indifference as he lowered his bow and drew a sword instead.

She heard Kanaye mutter something, then felt movement as he shoved his last victim away with his other hand and whirled around, pointing an angry finger at Keito. “You son of a bitch,” he loudly complained. “Don’t you think that’s a bit of overkill? Poisoned arrows? Just like your pitiful little brother tried on Inuyasha. Are you so scared of her and that half-breed that you can't even kill them like a real youkai? That’s sad beyond words.”

Apparently he found words, however, because Rin heard him muttering annoyed curses in what she assumed were several other languages, angry foreign expletives that were uttered as he extracted the arrow from his hand as though it were a tick. He tossed it to the ground and Rin decided that she didn’t at all like the expression on his face.

“Who are you, of all people, to lecture me about fair play?” Keito inquired darkly, eyes flickering from Rin to Kanaye and back again.

“I’ll show you some fair play. Move,” Kanaye ordered, turning and giving Rin a none-too-polite shove backward that set her on her rear in the wet grass.

Keito shrugged as though completely unconcerned. "We'll do it how you want it, Kanaye. That stuff ought to slow you down at least." He frowned uncertainly as a faintly evil smile spread across Kanaye's face.

"You've clearly never fought a real youkai," Kanaye accused with evident condescension, "if you think that such a thing would hinder me in the least." He extended the fingers on his bloody, wounded hand, as though stretching them in preparation for another death.

Keito eyed him suspiciously, as though internally debating whether Kanaye was bluffing or not. "Why are you interfering at all? My people are taking care of the hanyou. Just let me have the girl and we're done here.”

Kanaye's head tilted exasperatedly and he answered in a long-suffering tone, "That bastard my brother spawned made me give my word this time, and I don't feel like letting a runt like you turn me into a liar." His eyes passed over the spectating Rin before returning to Keito, fanging a mean smile. "Besides, it's a matter of who I like the least in this, and you win that prize. You're not used to coming in first, are you, Keito?"

"Mutt," Keito challenged with a growl. "You're pretty damned cocky, aren't you? You talk really big, but that poison is affecting you. I can hear it slowing everything down. Why don’t you go sleep it off and I’ll take the girl? What does Sesshoumaru need to know about it?"

Rin looked from face to face, surprised that Kanaye was holding onto his temper when he so easily displayed it to them every day ... but there was also something chilling about it, as though the battle had already been decided in his mind and he was simply biding his time, playing with Keito like a cat with its still-live dinner. Unfortunately for Keito, he leapt to a fatal subject.

"Besides, you wouldn't dare kill me," Keito breezily claimed. "We have your bratty daughter, remember? My father is not nearly as attached to her as she believed him to be."

Even without spiritual powers, Rin could feel the darkening of the air around her, crackling witha pent, unexpressed energy. It provoked a flight instinct, like some primitive human response to a predator, but she repressed it, morbidly rooted to the spot to watch as Keito talked himself into an early grave.

"Say her name," Kanaye invited in what, on the surface seemed a very collected tone, but Rin could hear the change in timbre, from arrogant and self-possessed to deeper and feral. She almost felt like warning Keito not to respond to that request, though he, too, appeared to be catching on to the fact that Kanaye was building up to something.

Keito backed up a step, clutching his weapon, eyes narrowing as he stared back at his youkai opponent. "Sashe?" came the unfortunate word.

Rin quickly backed away and averted her eyes from the scene that reached her ears in choked screams, tearing claws, and a gut-wrenching, horrific growl that reverberated from the ground to the soles of her feet. The sounds stopped nearly as quickly as they started and she brought her head up to find Kanaye stepping away from what was left of Keito; unrecognizable pieces of flesh littered the ground, making Rin feel vaguely ill. Kanaye wiped his claws clean then turned to look in her direction, still appearing lost to that raging youkai, eyes bloodshot to a fiery red, and that terrifying aura of evil clinging to him like his own skin.

He took a few steps toward her, covered in blood like a monster from a nightmare...but then he looked away, blinked his eyes, and suddenly came back, simply pushing it all aside. As though nothing had happened at all, he walked toward her, pausing to pick up his sword, then turned his head toward the forest, likely listening to something.

Amazed at the nearly instantaneous change in him, Rin said hesitantly, "Are you…? You seemed a bit ... out of control ...."

He turned to look back at her and graced her with a slow, chilling smile, much like the one he had given the deceased Keito. "What are you talking about? I was never out of control."

Rin did not respond to that, instead turning to walk away, scouring the darkness for the missing wolf. She found him sprawled across his last deceased victim. Her throat constricted at the sight and she felt a horrible guilt seize her, gnawing at her insides as she reached out one hand to touch the velvety fur.

"Stop acting like you've lost your best friend," Kanaye growled, reaching over and pulling out yet another of the poisoned arrows, this one having inserted itself in the wolf’s thigh. He eyed it distastefully before tossing it to the ground. “A creature as big as he is will just sleep it off.”

Rin looked up to reply, but her worry was replaced with unfathomable relief as Sesshoumaru materialized behind Kanaye.

"Sesshoumaru..."

He met her gaze intently, then turned his head to look about, a deep frown etched into his face as he eyed the catastrophic mess that was laid out all around him.

"I suppose you've taken care of Ryuujin then?" Kanaye questioned.

"I didn't have a chance," Sesshoumaru replied. He turned toward the forest, seeming oblivious to the rain that was beginning to come down in sheets. There were more of them. He could smell Inuyasha’s human blood and deduced that things were likely not going well for the half-breed. Sesshoumaru glanced down as Rin's hand wrapped around his.

“Everything is all right here,” he said quietly, as much a question as it was a statement. He watched as she shook her head in agreement. She was scratched and disheveled, but looked well enough, and he could admit feeling some twinge of gratitude when she smiled at him despite the stressful circumstances and his absence.

“Kanaye really worked hard with me. I think I’m starting to grow on him,” she teased.

“Like a fungus,” Kanaye snapped, expression turning vicious at her accusation. “Don’t start feeling warm and fuzzy just because I said I dislike you less than Keito. That isn’t saying much, you stupid girl. If I hadn’t given my word to him, you would have been on your own.”

Rin’s face went serious suddenly and she turned back to Sesshoumaru. “I don’t know where Kagome and Ashitera are. We were…separated.”

“They're likely with Inuyasha,” Sesshoumaru answered her. “I have to finish something. Stay with Kanaye.”

“I’m not finished---“ Kanaye fiercely began, but Sesshoumaru stopped him.

“You’ve done enough tonight,” he said simply before vanishing from sight again.

----------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------

Inuyasha stumbled back from the slumping body of another northern youkai, heavily inhaling air. He felt like an old man. That’s what this was like…fighting these devils with a fraction of the speed and strength he normally possessed. He heard another arrow whistle through the night and the accompanying cry of agony as a demonic aura was purified.

“Kagome…,” he said, moving backward until he was closer to her again. Rain began to fall, blurring his vision. Ashitera remained where he had ordered her to stay, balled up between himself, Kagome, and Jaken, hands over her head as she had been instructed. She was a brave little kid, that one….

Jaken’s Nintoujou lit the clearing again, giving him a good view of just how many more he had left to take care of. “Kagome…I can handle the rest,” he said, listening as her own rapid breathing matched his own. She was worn out; he could see it in her shaking arms and her fading power. She couldn’t continue purifying with those arrows…it was exhausting.

“Inuyasha, you told me to stay with you, didn’t you?” she asked him with forced cheerfulness.

“Baka,” he gruffly replied, swinging out again as two more soldiers descended on him. One managed to claw at his throat before the arm was removed, but it was enough to make him briefly lose his balance as he worried that that would be the fatal one. The fresh scent of his own blood permeated the air yet again and he inhaled a ragged lungful of air.

At this point, I wouldn’t mind even seeing old Kanaye, he thought wearily as he dispatched another ill-trained solder. He wondered what it meant, this long delay from Sesshoumaru. Since when did it take that guy more than a couple of minutes to fight anyone except him?

You goddamned bastard…if he killed you, I’ll never forgive you. That’s my job and I’ve earned the privilege.

He heard Kagome’s knees strike the ground.

She’s so tired….

And movement toward her in response to the display of weakness.

Bastard, just you try it.

Inuyasha launched himself at the oncoming youkai whose face was dark and deadly, likely mirroring his own expression. They met in a clash of blunted sword and sweeping claws. Tessaiga slid through his adversary’s stomach, but a hand grasped onto his and snapped the bone in his thumb, jerking it free from his grasp as the youkai fell to the ground, agonizing over his own more serious wound.

Practically snarling his anger, Inuyasha stepped forward, removed Tessaiga with a merciless jolt, and switched it to his other hand, turning to watch the feral-eyed darkness as his opponents waited.

“None of you wants to be next, huh?” he called in a gravelly voice, turning in a less-than-graceful motion to point Tessaiga at them each in turn. “You think that just because I’m human right now you can kill me so easily? You believe I am so weak? Whatever form I’m in, I’ve still got demon blood in my veins…and its strength exceeds yours no matter what.”

As if to mock him, he felt the muscles in his arms begin to quiver slightly. “I’m more motivated than any of you!” he roared at them, as though to talk past his own weariness. “You see these piles of your dead? If you think I’m pissed now, just you wait until that sun rises.”

“Kagome-san…,” Ashitera whispered, and he looked behind him to see the little girl carefully crawling her way to the kneeling Kagome, who wrapped a comforting arm around her.

Two more demons took that opportunity to lunge toward them and Jaken unleashed another inferno, crowing at their demises as he incinerated them to ash. Inuyasha turned back, preparing to take on another who appeared ready to accept his challenge, but before he had a chance to swing Tessaiga, a whip-like energy attack swept in over his head, halving the surprised youkai into two equal parts that met the ground with a heavy, smoking thump.

“You are a hot-headed brat, aren’t you?” Sesshoumaru said quietly, taking in the impressive assortment of deceased northern youkai as Inuyasha lowered Tessaiga and straightened his posture.

“If by hot-headed you mean I intend to keep breathing, then yeah…that’d be true. You were so damned slow, I figured he’d finished you off.”

“Prepared to take over in my stead in such a form?” Sesshoumaru questioned derisively of the ragged human Inuyasha.

“Inuyasha-sama has a better ring to it.”

“Then I shall place it on the marker when I bury you. Get lost. You smell terrible. It’s distracting,” Sesshoumaru complained disdainfully.

“What? Squeamish at a little blood? You’re such a girl,” Inuyasha mocked, glaring as Sesshoumaru moved away to start on the remaining line of youkai.

Inuyasha took the opportunity to turn back to Kagome. “Take the kid and move out of the way.” He then pointed at Jaken authoritatively. “And you, frog, you stay with them.”

Ignoring Jaken’s rude rebuttal, Inuyasha moved back to rejoin the fray, swinging the blunted Tessaiga with a renewed energy. It was amazing what a little backup could do for one’s sense of how a fight was going. Shrieking cries of agony pierced his ears from behind as the sounds of Sesshoumaru’s methodical claw swipes worked on destroying the remainder of the invaders.

Inuyasha looked back at his brother, eyeing him for a moment as he caught sight of Sesshoumaru’s face, which bore an expression that was hateful and vindictive. It was an anger Inuyasha recognized well because he had been on the receiving end of it more times than he could count. He realized then just how long it had been since he had seen it aimed at him.

Inuyasha moved to intercept one of the group that was working on besieging Sesshoumaru, but he stopped briefly when he picked up on a sound that was very similar to one of those trains from Kagome’s time. It arrived before he had time to do anything more than pull at Sesshoumaru’s sleeve and yell, “Move, baka!”

This time even Sesshoumaru was caught by surprise and he looked up at Inuyasha’s tugging motion, the seething blood in his head recognizing the oncoming attack that swept through the woods like the hand of a god. Sesshoumaru gritted his fangs in pain as something shot through his chest, briefly extracting the air form his lungs as he was flung backward into a very uncomfortable impact with the ground, Jaken’s screeching piercing his ears.

Riotous sound faded to silence. The dust began to settle. Ashitera whimpered a cry. He opened his eyes and inhaled a hot breath; extended his hand toward Tessaiga’s hilt, which lay in Inuyasha’s open palm, at once both beckoning and forbidding. Kawahira’s voice echoed resoundingly in his ears as the choking aura of Ryuujin swept in. Without hesitation his hand circled Tessaiga’s hilt, ignoring the barrier that instantly lit up at his unwelcome touch. With a flurry of movement, Sesshoumaru rose unsteadily to his feet and swung the sword in a sweeping arc, his eyes locking onto Kawahira’s face in time to witness the open-mouthed surprise that was there. A responding Kaze no Kizu shot back through the way Ryuujin’s attack had come, shaking the earth in a storming rampage.

When it cleared, Sesshoumaru dropped Tessaiga to the ground, barely feeling the burn in his hand as he tried to decide whether or not that wild swing had connected with Kawahira and killed him. Darkness settled again and the choking jyaki dissipated. He looked about, noticing that the rest of the invading soldiers were gone, either destroyed by their commander’s own attack or fleeing in the face of such displays of power.

Sesshoumaru turned and took in the damage. A line of trees had been leveled to the ground for a distance that challenged even his sight. A dazed Jaken was sprawled out in the mud, groaning dramatically, fingers twitching. Ashitera was working to squeeze her way free of Kagome’s tight grasp. The miko herself was securely unconscious, lying on her side in the dirt as though having been in the process of turning away from the blast.

Sesshoumaru stepped around Inuyasha, his ears recognizing a dull, tellingly slow thump. He was astounded the human brat was still alive at all, as he had absorbed the same hit Sesshoumaru had…and Sesshoumaru could admit to feeling a bit unwell. He looked on as Ashitera got to her feet and ran toward him, crossing the distance to latch onto his knee with an impressively strong grip.

“You can’t leave anymore!” she cried the demand, burying her dirty, dusty face into his leg.

And what am I to say to that? he wondered. “I had to fight elsewhere. I returned when I knew something was wrong.” And why appease her? It’s none of her business.

"They won't come if you're here," came the muffled moan, her fingers tightening on the handfuls of material she was clutching.

They? They are your own people, he thought with a frown. Are you already forgetting...? "It won't happen again," he replied gruffly. And it certainly would not because he was finished with these tactics.

Ashitera released him and looked up with tearful eyes and trembling lips. She then extended her hand and displayed a scratch across her palm, her expression telling him that she was having trouble deciding whether to be proud of herself for behaving during the battle…or start a terror-induced crying fit because of the injury.

“It’s not fatal,” he assured her distractedly, looking away and listening in an attempt to get his bearings. He wanted to know if any others were lurking nearby…

“What’s…fatal?”

 220;Nevermind,” he murmured, turning to look back to where Kawahira had been standing. Was it so easy to get rid of him? Or is he retreating? Sesshoumaru took an indecisive step in that direction, not willing to let Kawahira get away and heal and then return at his own convenience.

“Miko!” he called, glancing back over his shoulder, hoping to jar the woman awake. This type of situation was more her forte than his, and she could summon Kanaye so that he would be free to pursue Kawahira. He moved a few steps closer, listening until he picked up her heartbeat…and then the second one. Kagome’s face was pale and exhausted and utterly senseless. Certainly no help was coming from there….

They have been fortunate in this…and perhaps now they will see that this is not the place for them. This is not like fighting Naraku’s laughable horde. They are of a higher order and surviving takes more effort.

It was the smell that caught him off guard then, that change in blood from human to…something else…something more like him. A blood-chilling, feral growl prompted Sesshoumaru to turn and watch as Inuyasha, silvery-haired and clawed once more, pushed himself up from the ground with a snarling expression that recognized nothing save his own lust for blood.

“Are you so close to death?” Sesshoumaru questioned him quietly. His eyes went beyond the half-demon’s loss of control to the idea of Kawahira’s successful retreat. And my place is…what? Destroying my enemy? Or keeping this worthless thing from destroying himself? Suddenly, the situation was a little less clear and Inuyasha resolved it for him.

“Go sit with her,” Sesshoumaru ordered Ashitera, pointing to Kagome. He moved across the now-cleared section of forest, watching as Inuyasha’s awkwardly bent form rose to a standing position, his face streaked by those cursed markings.

“You are wasting my time. I don’t appreciate it,” Sesshoumaru said coldly to the senseless Inuyasha. He looked up at the sky, trying to ascertain the amount of time there was until sunrise. If Inuyasha was in this form, it was his demon blood’s last-ditch effort to save him, which meant that pulling him out of that form before sunrise, while he was human and incapable of healing from what had hit him, would likely mean his death.

“And so…I am to keep you busy, am I, brat?” Sesshoumaru asked in annoyance. Your life rests in my hands, does it? That is not a very healthy thing for you…. He stepped out of the way as Inuyasha roared a chord-rending sound and lunged, claws sweeping manically in an attempt to connect.

Sesshoumaru gave him a heavy shove, pushing him away. “This is truly pathetic, half-breed. Could you not have just gone gracefully into death? Or is dying in your human form so repulsive to you that you fall to such desperation?” Sesshoumaru murmured, twisting away from another round of claw sweeps from the feral half-demon.

He caught sight of the hole in Inuyasha’s chest, the one that matched his own, and remembered the clawing pull at his sleeve and the warning….

“You are so proud of that human heart,” Sesshoumaru continued, “but it will kill you. I knew it from the time you were born. Physical weakness is nothing compared to mental weakness, and though you excel at both, it is the second which will bring your end.”

Sesshoumaru shoved Inuyasha away again, his face contorting angrily when his brother’s claws scratched down the side of his face. “I hated you,” Sesshoumaru growled angrily. “I do not have words to describe it….”


“Are you off to see that woman again, Father?” Sesshoumaru inquired darkly, suspiciously eyeing Inutaisho’s retreating form.

Inutaisho turned in his attempt to walk away, eyeing his son thoughtfully, as though uncertain of how much he should know. It was his innate trust in him that finally prompted the revelation. “You should know, Sesshoumaru….”

“What?”

“You will have to learn to accept her,” Inutaisho admonished in a calm voice, sounding subdued but unapologetic. “She is expecting my son and your brother. He will be born later this winter.”

“My…,” Sesshoumaru began, stopping short, certain that his own astonishment and dismay were plastered across his features. “Father, you didn’t…”

“You’ll have to accept them both,” came the no-nonsense reply.


Sesshoumaru caught Inuyasha’s wrist this time and thrust him away, sending the wild, bloody hanyou into the dirt. Inuyasha snarled, pushed himself up with more difficulty, and then launched himself at Sesshoumaru again. Sesshoumaru waited, ready….


“My equal! You must be out of your mind!” Sesshoumaru raged at Inutaisho, turning to point an accusing finger. “Your stupidity brought this disgrace upon us and you expect me to pay the price of your self-indulgence! I will not have anything to do with him or her or your perverse behavior! I will not place myself between your enemies and your mistake!”

“Sesshoumaru…,” came the warning growl.

“They can both go to hell and I will gladly send them there the moment you turn your back long enough to allow me the chance!”

It was then that Inutaisho lost his temper as well….


Sesshoumaru growled in response as Inuyasha’s fist connected with the wound in his chest, and he retaliated likewise, sending the hanyou flying backward to collide with the ground. Sesshoumaru inhaled several quick breaths, watching as Inuyasha remained bent for a moment, and then, renewed by the unceasing youkai blood, came at him again….


“He’s not coming back?” Inuyasha asked slowly, his tiny fingers breaking the reed he clutched in his hand into several even pieces. His young face was confused as he looked up at Sesshoumaru, who hovered over him with a frosty, unfriendly expression.

“No, he is not. If your mother is too childish to tell you, then I will…our Father is dead, and is so because he chose to protect you and that weak female.”

“No way. Nothing can beat him!”

“You stupid half-breed,” Sesshoumaru snarled, and Inuyasha appeared taken aback by the sudden harsh wording. “What do you know of anything? If Fate knows any justice, you will follow him soon.”


Inuyasha hit the ground once more, this time his lungs wheezing for breaths that were more difficult in coming. Sesshoumaru wondered if the boy's weakening body would even be able to hold up until sunrise, youkai blood or not. He was also tiring and for once he did not feel like fighting the hanyou…unfortunately, Inuyasha was not similarly inclined.

Sesshoumaru sensed the arrival of Rin and Kanaye. Instantly, Rin ran over to Kagome and Kanaye watched the scene with wide-eyed amazement.

“What are you…?”

Sesshoumaru briefly looked up, locking his sight on Kanaye as he evaded another claw sweep. “I am waiting for an opportunity to force him back into his hanyou form…he will not be capable of it until sunrise,” Sesshoumaru replied, purposefully omitting details.

“Why bother? He’s certainly more useful like that,” came the drawled, disinterested response. “I can take over if you like,” Kanaye added in an evil voice, flexing his claws.

“Move the others and go clean up,” Sesshoumaru replied coolly, ducking out from under another wild swing. Inuyasha stumbled and hit the ground, his claws digging deep, muddy ruts into the earth as he forced himself back to his feet, swaying wearily, chest heaving. The snarl began to fade, but the eyes remained blood-shot and soulless.

“You’re nearly finished, I think,” Sesshoumaru commented. Inuyasha roared and leapt at him again….


“My advice to you is to leave.”

“Sesshoumaru!” Izayoi exclaimed in surprise and some fear, as though not certain whether it was a threat or a suggestion.

“They are on their way. I have warned you and that is the extent of what I will do. If you have family, I suggest you go to them with the boy.”

“But I---“

“Do what you like then. I do not care,” Sesshoumaru replied stiffly, sweeping a frigid glance across Inuyasha’s sullen, childish face as he turned and faded back into the night. “But if you choose to remain, I will not protect you…or him.”


Sesshoumaru evaded another of Inuyasha’s sloppy, tired attacks, barely having to lay a hand on him. He could feel the slow heat of day approaching and the sky was lightening to a hazy purple. He could almost sympathize with the state of his brother’s body because he, too, was starting to truly feel Ryuujin’s impact and he wanted nothing more than for the night to end….


“Am I coming with you then?” came little Inuyasha’s careful, suspicious question and Sesshoumaru found it difficult to believe that there had been a time when the boy had actually regarded him with trust and affection.

“No, your place is not with me,” Sesshoumaru replied coldly. He had come only to see if Tenseiga might be of some help; certainly not because he wanted the woman’s life to continue on, but because she had a debt to repay for having given birth to his father’s bastard child and Sesshoumaru would be damned if he would let her escape the burden of raising the boy. Unfortunately, Tenseiga had decided not to aid in restoring her life…and Sesshoumaru was certain there was some justice in that.

“But you are---“ Inuyasha began, his face momentarily losing that careful, cool façade…one Sesshoumaru was certain had been acquired from the few times the boy had ever been around him.

“Inuyasha, I once told our father that I will not bear the responsibility of his mistakes. I am holding to my word. Remain with the humans. You are more like them than you are like me…”


The rain began to let up. Sesshoumaru’s distracted delving into his thoughts finally caught up with him and Inuyasha was able to latch onto his hand, wrenching it in an attempt to break the bones. Sesshoumaru responded by catching his brother’s arm and holding it in a vise-like grasp to prevent further damage.

The sky slowly lit from purple to something paler. Something in Inuyasha gave in along with the sunrise because he suddenly slumped forward, a dead weight Sesshoumaru knelt with, still holding Inuyasha’s arm to prevent any last second retaliation as he moved to reach for Tessaiga, which lay forgotten on the ground.

The hanyou’s body pulsed with a thump and reverted from white-haired and dog-eared…to black-haired…and then back to hanyou form again. Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth in irritation as the barrier attempted to repel him again. He quickly grabbed the sword and wrapped Inuyasha’s fingers around it.

“I warned you, little brother,” he said quietly, a tone that was nearly challenging. “Whatever happens now, my conscience is clear.”

Inuyasha exhaled a labored breath, his head still hung tiredly. He was silent for a while, as though gathering himself, but a raspy voice finally spoke quietly, “Sesshoumaru…”

“What?"

"They … burned your house …”

“Yes, I noticed,” Sesshoumaru replied blandly, wondering where the brat was going with this line of conversation. He was not overly surprised by the next comment.

“You are…now the most conceited homeless man in all of Japan.”

Sesshoumaru glared in annoyance at the comparison to those pitiful human street urchins. “Don’t make those your last words. That was pathetic.”

Inuyasha chuckled wearily, so devoid of energy he could not summon enough mobility to pull away. “It’s all I could think of.”

Sesshoumaru exhaled an aching, exasperated breath, glancing up as the sun began its slow crawl above the horizon. “You’re welcome, Inuyasha,” he replied sarcastically, pushing the limp, exhausted body away from him.

------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------

Kawahira would be the first to admit that he was in a terrible rage when he found his way home. His pride was damaged, he was hurting like hell, and he could not dismiss the understanding that, despite all the destruction that had been wrought, he had somehow managed to lose that battle. His first act when he stormed through the front doors was to sling Ryuujin off of his shoulders, sending it skidding across the floor to completely dismantle a heavy mahogany table. Instantly, a servant hurried to pick it up and followed in his wake, struggling with the sheer weight of the blade.

The other servants recognized this mood, and bowed and scraped their way into a retreat, fleeing from him as though he was magically parting water and walking across. He ignored them completely. He had been able to smell it for quite a while now and understood why it was that Keito had never met up with him again. This place reeked of death and tracking its source led him to his father.

Eizan was standing alone, arms folded, posture stick-straight and brittle. It was a pose he knew well and it meant that Eizan was furious and about to do something to alleviate the stress. There had been a time when he had feared that mood…but Kawahira was long grown now and no longer afraid of his father.

“There you are,” Eizan grated out in a ferocious voice, head coming up to peer at him with a flashing, vindictive gaze. “When you were late in returning, I assumed I could expect a second delivery.”

“Delivery?” Kawahira repeated, a question that was answered by a note that was thrust into his face.



Kawahira looked up from the brief message and searched his father’s face for a moment before allowing his gaze to drop to a bundle that lay wrapped on the floor; obviously the source of the death stench. “Is he serious?” Kawahira asked with sick anger.

“Do you know him to have a sense of humor?” Eizan spat back, wrathful. “He returned Keito in pieces. Dozens of them. And …”

“What?” Kawahira asked, subdued and feeling like an iron weight had just dropped across his shoulders. Ashihei is gone, Elif fled, and now Keito….

“I am going to return the favor,” Eizan hissed, bringing Kawahira’s thoughts back to the conversation. “Retrieve Sashe.”

---------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Zadi tended to keep to herself in Eizan’s sprawling fortress. She appreciated having as little contact with them as could be arranged, for the simple fact that the massive egos that resided in this place were positively stifling…and infuriating. On this morning, however, there was something else in the atmosphere that brought her from her room, out into the open, watching as people moved quickly and quietly, whispering to each other in dark corners.

This…isn’t good news, she decided, crossing the richly-carpeted floor. Outside, dawn was coming on, slowly fading the night, but it was doing little to alleviate the dark feeling that had seized the castle, the very air. It felt unhealthy, diseased.

She wandered down a darkly-shadowed corridor, her ears trying to pick out stray words here and there from the small clusters of people she passed. Unfortunately, whenever they would catch sight of her, they would flee and return to whatever they were supposed to be doing, leaving her with little idea of what was causing the stir. She looked up ahead as the unmistakable form of Kawahira crossed her sight, followed closely by four guards who were pulling the still-chained Sashe along with them. The girl, despite her disheveled appearance, was walking very regally, like a queen going to the gallows, and it was that poise more than anything that unnerved Zadi enough to chase after them.

She slowed before they caught sight of her, trying to look cool and removed as she joined the party. Sashe glanced quickly at her and then away, as though fearful that the very exchange of looks would endanger them.

“What is this about, Kawahira-sama?” Zadi questioned with vague, uncaring curiosity.

“My Father asked to see Sashe. If you are so interested in why, then feel free to come watch, though I will warn you that it is unlikely to end well for our prisoner.”

Zadi fought the urge to look at Sashe again, but felt certain that Kanaye would be proud beyond words of her behavior. There was no fear, no anxiety. She was behaving as though she was deigning to be in their presence at all. Yes, certainly his child, Zadi thought wryly.

When they arrived, Eizan turned and Zadi was immediately struck by how frozen and angry he looked, as though it was taking supreme restraint on his part not to fall into a temper-induced rage. She watched his eyes as they swept past her to Sashe, and understood that this was the moment she had been dreading; when she would have to fulfill her promise and do whatever was necessary to get Sashe away from them.

Eizan’s eyes were hooded by death and they locked on Sashe with an unflinching vindictiveness, like a black-eyed snake coiling around its prey.

“Leave her and go,” he ordered the guards in a frosty voice, leaving only Kawahira and Zadi, who hoped she would not receive a similar order because it was one she would have to disobey and violently so. Her eyes fell to the weapon that lay against the stone wall, frowning as she realized that it was this thing that had been the source of the sickening malaise she had felt in the castle. The jyaki it was giving off was like a vaporous current to her sight, unsettling and dangerous, but it might also prove to be Sashe’s savior….

“Zadi, is there a reason you’re still here?” Eizan inquired with false politeness, though his tone could not have been any less welcoming.

She turned her attention from the halberd and looked toward him. “Curiosity only, my Lord. I sensed that something was amiss and I wondered what it was.”

“Then allow me to show you,” he graciously offered, moving to throw back the covering from the bundled object that lay on the floor at their feet. It took Zadi a horrified moment to understand what she was looking at and hoped that the expression wasn’t crossing her face. She glanced quickly at Sashe, who was wearing a look of complete disinterest, one that flickered from the display back to Eizan’s face.

“Who is…?” Zadi began, but Eizan quickly answered her.

“That was Keito. Kindly returned to us by Kanaye in the state you see now…with this.” He offered her a letter, which she opened and quickly read, feeling a sick knot twist in her stomach as she scanned the words and the neatly inked signature. Oh, Kanaye, you stupid, stupid…BAKA!

She glanced up angrily, allowing the emotion to cross her face as she was certain that it was genuine enough to make Eizan believe she was quite offended on his behalf. She crumpled the letter in her hand. “And now…?”

Eizan did not reply directly, instead moving across to Sashe. He grasped her chin in his hands, turning her head up so that she was forced to meet his stare. “My dear girl, it seems sleeping in the gutter agrees with you. I’ve never seen you look lovelier.”

“Eizan,” she replied in a frosty, venomous voice, “If I had had my way, you would be sleeping beside Ashihei right now.”

He gripped her face harder, claws scraping the pale, flawless skin, and still he could not get the expression out of her that he wanted. He settled for words, instead. “I’m going to send you back to your father in the same manner I received Keito. But I’m going to make you write the letter.”

Zadi watched the exchange with heartfelt dread, certain that this was the best moment she would have. Kanaye could not have meant for this to happen; surely he understood that having him and the others nearby would mean a better chance of escape for Sashe. Zadi felt a sudden overwhelming desire to strangle the eccentric youkai.

She allowed her powers to seek out the frightening jyaki of the halberd, instantly feeling as though something slimy was crawling across her skin. She wondered if she should risk warning Sashe to move out of the way, since all of this would be for nothing if the girl was harmed as well….

Appearing casual and hoping to avoid being shredded by shrapnel herself, Zadi moved to the other side of Kawahira, placing him between herself, Sashe, and that horrific weapon….

“Are you certain this is wise, Father?” came Kawahira’s words, sounding uncertain, but they were enough to jolt Zadi into pausing her plan. “She might be useful later.”

“Wise or not, it is deserved….”

“You should listen to your son, Eizan,” Zadi found herself inserting with cool detachment. “There is a reason why he is good at what he does and I agree with him. Kanaye is an animal driven by the most primal of instincts. Are you not better than he is? Retaliating in the same fashion will only make you look as though you are lowered to his level. And it certainly won’t win you sympathy from the other lords….”

Eizan’s cold gaze swept back to Zadi and she could practically see his mind churning over her words. She slowly released the halberd’s jyaki.

“I’m listening,” he hissed furiously, moving to seat himself.

--------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------

He could hear her coming, and he would have bet his sword arm that it was because she was meaning for him to hear her tearing toward him, like a woman driven by…fear, perhaps? Kanaye swept silently through the trees, honing in on her location, each of her steps being punctuated by snapping branches and the occasional curse.

No, not fear…this bitch is angry, he decided. He stopped then and listened…waited…and finally she stopped, too, and he knew that she knew he was nearby. He could hear the manic thrum of her pulse, the rapid inhalation of breaths. If one ignored her scent, it was easy to imagine that he was in some truly live and conscious forest, pounding organs and rampant, wild emotions….

But it was impossible to ignore that it was Zadi, because every time he was anywhere near this insane woman, she took up the entire space. Not physically, as she was quite possibly one of the scrawniest and least intimidating women he had ever known, but she…just herself…it was like being surrounded on all sides by a foe that you just could not quite get enough of, a welcomed conflict, one that he didn’t want to end because then it would be gone. Intoxicating, addicting, and infuriating beyond description because of it…

And that’s probably why you still live, you damned shrew….

He worked up his best intimidating expression and surged through the trees, fully aware that she was now coming in his direction because, she, too, knew his location, something she was not shy in letting him know, because the instant she caught sight of him, she stopped for one instant, one brief moment where she blinked at him as though he was an apparition, a stricken look like she had just witnessed a god’s ascension.

Perhaps that is also why I almost like her… Yes, every time he met up with her, she always gave him these awestruck looks, as though she had never seen him before.

…but then it changed, morphed. Her expression went vicious, eyes slanting into a fury that, if not for the rigid control of his facial muscles, might have had him grinning stupidly at her out of sheer amusement. Because, apparently, he could piss her off by doing nothing to her save existing on the same planet.

Yes, I do almost like her very much… Not quite. But it’s a damned shame she’s not a youkai.

“Kanaye, you idiot!” she yelled at him, stalking forward and giving him a good shove as though to express her frustration, but it was like trying to push back a stone wall.

He stared at her disapprovingly, but found himself mesmerized by her sudden display of temper. Her eyes were lit with anger, a beautiful (beautiful? Eh … perhaps … for a human) fury that he would have been content to watch if not for her obvious demand for interaction.

“What is it, shrew?”

“You’ve got to … you’ve got to stop being so … you!” she shrieked at him. “Do you know what you’ve done? Eizan got your message and your disgusting little delivery---”

“My only regret is that I wasn’t present,” he said calmly.

“You weren’t, but Sashe was! I’ve never seen Eizan so angry! Not a furious anger, it was a frigid, scary anger and I can tell you that if I had not been nearby, you would have received a similar gift.” His face lost all trace of humor and fell to an expression that was much more reminiscent of the one she had seen on Eizan. She blinked at the sudden change and found herself caught between wanting to strangle him for his stupidity or hug him for the desperate things he did.

“Kanaye…,” she exhaled so wearily that she felt certain she didn’t need to say another word, the tone said it all. Without considering the movement, she reached out and clasped onto his wrists, surprised when he didn’t immediately pull back. “What were you thinking?”

“It was…less thought and more action,” he admitted in a subdued voice. “What was Eizan’s response?”

“She’s all right,” Zadi said, releasing his arms. “I talked him out of retaliating, but it wasn’t easy. You put me in a terrible position. I thought I was going to have to try to fight it out there.”

“And you were afraid,” he assumed, taking in her tense posture and anxious expression.

“Terrified!” she shamelessly admitted. “You don’t understand … my people and I … we defend ourselves. We don’t engage in conflicts just for their own sake, for some petty argument or an old grievance. I’m not some hardened warrior. I don’t like to fight.” She hugged her arms together as though she was suddenly cold. “But I will do it. I’ll do it for you, but don’t become overconfident! You have no idea---“ her rant was halted suddenly when he resumed their physical contact by extending two large hands, hauling her roughly forward until she was standing a finger’s width apart from him.

“Ka---Kanaye…” she stammered as his hands continued to loosely surround her upper arms.

“I cannot stand you,” he complained in a half-sigh.

She felt her throat tighten at those words, constricting like a vise. They bothered her enough that she wished she hadn’t heard them, but the tone in which he had spoken them made them sound like some sort of endearment and so she was caught, half-melted by the tone and sick at the words. He was so damned enigmatic. He could expel words of hate in the silkiest voice and keep her rapt attention just by looking at her. It was positively revolting.

“I … wish I could say the same. I would be home now, if that were the case,” she stated, noting to herself that she sounded sulky. “What…what are you doing?” she queried hesitantly as one of his hands left her arm, fingers threading into her dark hair until it was nearly painful. She briefly wondered if he had lost what sanity he still maintained when he lowered his face to sniff at her hair.

“Disgusting, isn’t it?” he replied, amber eyes flickering to her face. “I have no idea, but I do what I want…and I’m doing what I want. Or are you doing it to me?” he asked with low suspicion.

“Doing what?” she asked quietly, wondering at the obvious confusion in his own voice.

“I don’t know.”

“You’re…not making any sense.”

“Shut up,” he ordered in a soft bark. “I am trying to decide if I should keep you or break your worthless neck.”

“Keep me?” she asked, and this time her heart lurched with a jolting pound that sent blood rushing all through her body. She felt his hand creep slowly around her neck, as though he seriously was contemplating ending his own uncertainty, but the fingers only lightly grazed the skin, creating a tingling shiver. She listened to his rumbling laugh at her response.

“You are incredibly easy,” he accused with arrogant male pride. “One touch. You’d hit the ground if I stepped away. But that is inherent to you humans, isn’t it? You have so very few moments such as these in your short lives. You behave like children every time you experience something beyond the doldrums of your daily existence.”

She had no idea what he was trying to say to her, but smiled at what sounded to be his own internal warfare. Whatever was going on in his head, she was fine with holding onto him until he reached a decision. She released a calming breath and allowed herself to lean forward, taking advantage of his strange mood. “Please don’t start a fight,” she requested in a conciliatory tone that was prompted by her suspicion that he would destroy the moment by reverting to his usual jerk persona. She shamelessly wrapped her fingers in the folds of his haori as though to keep him grounded. “I don’t want to have to fight you.”

He made a sound that was something close to a short, self-deprecating laugh. “Human or not, there is something I cannot help but like in a woman that can kick my ass and walk away.”

“I don’t like doing it,” she complained, feeling distracted by the heat his close proximity was providing. “I hate that it happened at all.”

“That’s a shame. You exploit my biggest weakness…my temper. You’ve come to like me too much. That is a problem.”

“I do like you. I can’t explain it.”

“Then let me give you some advice,” he said, pulling away as though recalling himself. “Don’t let me walk on you…because I will.”

Zadi frowned at that. “What are you saying?”

His eyebrows rose, but his face remained unreadable, a vague shadow at this distance. “I’m saying you’re finished. Go home. Don’t return to Eizan. I’m about to go get Sashe myself. The waiting and plotting is finished.”

She drew back, brow furrowed into an expression of dismay. “You can’t do that. You’ll only get yourself killed and Sashe as well, because with you gone she’s useless leverage against anyone else.”

“Honestly, what does any of that matter at this point?” he questioned with casual curiosity. “He has my hands tied. If I’m going to have her name flung in my face every time I fight them, then I need to get this over with because she’s going to die,” he said with unflinching resolution. He paused and watched her give him another of those pathetic looks and added, “Do you know how long I’ve lived? If I’m finished, I’m all right with that. If saving my ass means outliving my daughter, I’ll go ransack hell and be glad of it. All I have to do is get the girl loose. She can take of herself because I’ve made sure of it.”

Zadi watched his face as he spoke, saw how serious he was and it unnerved her. It was like she had just delved inside for a good look at the real Kanaye. “You’re a good father.”

“Not really,” he remarked, settling himself on a large, moss-covered rock and stretching out his legs. “She’ll be the first to tell you that. It’s paternal instinct to remove a threat to your young. Even I have that much in me.” He lightened the mood by smiling wickedly then. “You have no idea how many suitors have met a bad end because of that “instinct”. She tries to hide those relationships, but I always find them. Eizan will be one in a long list.”

Shaking her head in exasperated sympathy for Sashe, Zadi moved to kneel in front of him, looking prayerful. He watched her in the black night, all insubstantial shadow to normal sight, but lit to his eyes. She possessed an inherent grace, something that had no right belonging to a human. She could go from vengeful bitch to serene goddess in the quickest mood shifts he had ever witnessed…other than his own. And perhaps that was why he did not rebuke her when she placed her hands on his knees and leaned forward, eyes earnest and willful.

“I’m going to help you.”

He stared at her, something in him appreciating the fact that he had somehow managed to trust that what she said to him was truth. “To quote my nephew…,” he began, “…’don’t do something stupid’. You’ve repaid whatever debt of guilt you feel you’ve collected. I am surprised you have lasted as long as you have with them.” Her eyes were blue pools of sincerity, so clear he could see himself reflected back in them…and barely recognized himself. Woman, what are you doing?

“I can get her free easily, if you can just help her get out,” Zadi answered.

“I don’t need your help.”

“I’m extending it anyway.”

He frowned in honest confusion. “Where did you acquire so much devotion to me? It is stranger than I can say.”

She smiled at him, moved by whatever bizarre mood had seized them. It felt unbelievably good, being allowed to sit and just speak with him like two normal, everyday, conversing people. “Call it instinct.”

“Because you love me,” he stated with disapproval. “I very nearly feel sorry for you. I have done nothing to encourage that sort of behavior. Are you really willing to fling yourself off a precipice just for the sake of winning my favor? It’s ridiculous.”

She laughed at that, her fingers tightening their grip on his knees. She leaned forward until her body was as close to him as she was able to be, pressed against his legs like some child that was in the process of being scolded. “I don’t want you to go to hell, Kanaye, because I am certain you will and that they are waiting for you with outstretched arms.” He made a sound of agreement at that and she laughed again. “We can absolutely do it together. I know it.”

“An eternal optimist, aren’t you?”

She could admit to herself that she felt some trepidation at the thought of facing Eizan and his fortress all but alone, but she would do it. “I understand what you mean about reaching a point in your life when you realize that you have lived long enough to be at peace with death.”

“What would you know? You’re practically a child,” he scoffed, watching her upturned face. He could admit that something in him liked that look of unconditional adoration she was giving him. He couldn’t remember ever having seen…or experienced…such a thing.

“How old do you think I am, Kanaye?” Zadi asked him in an odd tone.

“I’m not very good with human ages, so I cannot guess,” he replied. “About the same age as those two idiot women I find myself around so much of the time these days. Thirteen? Eighteen? Twenty-Five? I don’t know.”

“I am nearly one hundred and fifty years old. My first confrontation with Eizan was a century ago when my people and I first arrived in Japan,” she replied.

“And how have you managed that?”

She shrugged her shoulders lightly. “I am not completely certain, to be honest. We developed our powers in direct response to a threat from demons and spirits who sought us out for one reason or another. We have always had spiritual abilities, but my own…unique ability…is one that is shared by only a few others in my tribe,” she began to explain, mind flickering back through old memories. “I stopped aging for a long while at approximately fifteen or so. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when, but one day I was approaching my thirtieth birthday and I realized that I wasn’t changing…hadn’t in years…nor had the others around me with the ability to manipulate youki. And I think it is because…”

She looked from his face to his legs; her palms were resting on his knees and she could feel that ever-present thrum that radiated from him. It was like being nearly frozen to death and then settled in front of a roaring fire, heat surging through her very bones. A thrilling, comforting current…

“Because…?” he prompted, appearing interested.

She looked at his face again. “I think the youki of the demons I attack extends my life,” she said bluntly, wondering if he would, as a youkai, be disgusted by such a thing, but his expression did not change.

“So…you’re…some sort of youki-sucking leech?” he questioned mildly.

“Don’t put it like that!” she exclaimed, horrified at the comparison. “It’s not intentional. It’s…a side-effect. I went for several decades without having to use my powers at all and I very, very slowly began to resume aging again until I reached what I am now. And then, of course, Eizan came to find me again and…”

“Saved you from turning into an old hag, huh?”

“That is not why I’m doing this!” she exclaimed vehemently. “I took his offer because of Ashitera. I knew her mother very well and I didn’t want to see that little girl growing up as an outcast of youkai society.” She lowered her tone and added, “I will be glad for the day when I become an old woman, because that means my people have been at peace long enough for me to reach that age.”

He surprised her by genuinely smiling at her then and she felt certain her heart was going to thump right out of her chest. My gods, you are a beautiful man….

The smile was quickly accompanied by a sly look in his eyes as he said, “That explains why you like me so much. I have plenty of youki and a temper problem that constantly sends it surging. Youki to spare, eh? ”

She nodded at the partial truth of that. “That may be part of it. I don’t know. I was drawn to you repeatedly for that feeling…it’s an addictive, wonderful feeling, but then…”

He watched as her hands moved to grasp onto his and he could hear the heavy thudding of her heart. You poor, wretched woman….

“It also explains why you feel a constant need to touch me,” he mildly rebuked, looking on with vague interest as her fingers swept over his knuckles. Strangely, he was suddenly not as opposed to the contact as he once was….

“Kanaye,” she whispered his name in a tone that made his nerve-endings pay attention. You’re a hypnotic little wench, aren’t you? A damned Siren.

“Don’t tell me something I already know,” he brushed off the admission he knew was coming. “You’re not going to hear it back. It is impossible for a youkai to love a human. I am incapable of it, and you can be as hopeful as you want, retain that little fantasy of convincing me to feel the same in return, but it will not happen.”

That adoring light left her eyes for an instant and he suddenly regretted the words. Regret? Why the hell should I? It’s the truth and it’s best to put her out of her misery. Yes, misery… “Don’t think that you are special because you have been spared. Any romantic notions you have of me are false.”

She gave a choked laugh at that, and he looked down in surprise as her hands clasped onto his even harder, her nails digging faintly into his skin. “It’s sick, isn’t it?” she asked, sounding somewhere between humored and miserable. “I understand that. But unlike youkai, we feeble humans cannot just switch our feelings off and on when it suits us to be cold-hearted. They are what motivate us. I care for you despite yourself, even at your worst, and that’s why I’ll be with you until Sashe is free. Then we can part, but not until then.”

His face was unreadable as he listened, then nodded slowly. “We are finished when Sashe is free. You’ll be able to return to your village, ensnare some poor, defenseless human male, make him miserable for a few decades by giving him a dozen brats just like you, and then enjoy the privilege of becoming an old woman. ”

“Something like that. It’s all I can have,” she agreed with a smile that didn’t quite match the look in her eyes. “And I’m all right with it.”

“Are you?” he asked in a voice that questioned her honesty, but moved on before she could respond. “Then if your intent is to continue being a thorn in my side for a while longer, I will allow it.” He shook his head, appearing at once uncertain and exasperated. “This friendship shit of yours is twisted and unhealthy.”

She brightened up at that, grinning at his very childish grasp of even the most basic of relationships. “Then you are my friend?”

“I will be your friend for now,” he replied with lofty ego, rising regally, as though in the process of granting a favor. “It would be crueler than even I am capable of being not to befriend something as lost and infatuated and brainless as you.”

Her mouth fell open at the pure ego that motivated the words, but she withheld a retort, instead smiling in reply and saying simply, “Then I’ll go back and wait for you to come.” She watched as he mockingly inclined his head at that and then evaporated into the dark trees. As soon as he was gone, her mood drifted to something sadder. The next time she saw him it would be under more dire circumstances….

Still, his offer of friendship came back to mind and the smile returned as she, too, began walking back through the thick, humid forest, everything in shades of gray, black, and blacker still. Her brain could barely fathom the changes that had occurred within the last few months…to have gone from his assassin to his…

Friend? Certainly that. Whatever he needs….

She was so distracted by her pounding head and heart, that she didn’t sense it coming. Suddenly, she was grasped from behind and twisted back around, clawed hands gripping her arms in a painful, awkward embrace. At first she thought he had finally had it with her, and had decided to end it all right then. Her own surprised backward steps betrayed her by wedging her against a tree trunk, bark scraping the skin on her back, his claws puncturing into her arms.

Her body's immediate shocked conclusion was that this was some sort of assault…and indeed it was…but not one she intended to fight. Kanaye's head descended, mouth scouring her own with heated, rapid kisses. It was hungry and animalistic, though she could almost laugh at the idea that this demon was capable of any sort of calm, romantic overture in the first place.

He was a selfish creature that only knew best how to take, and so she allowed him his way at first, her astonished brain still trying to process the sudden change in momentum. There was something…desperate about this, the thought thumped through her mind and it made her heart clench. The way he was clinging to her, as though simultaneously wanting to break her and get something he was missing. It was then that she understood his own confusion was even more rampant than hers, and that careful barrier he consistently erected between them had been lowered in an attempt to understand…

She finally murmured a protesting sound as his fangs scraped her lip, drawing blood, and it was at that point that she reached up and grasped the sides of his face, fingers tracing across each cheek as she gently pushed him back enough to draw breath again. His own chest was heaving, like an animal that had just chased down its hunt.

Zadi inhaled a few steadying breaths, looking at his expression, which was mixed between dismay, desire, and complete confusion. She then pulled his face back down to her again and this time she kissed him; slowly, languidly, and he seemed to catch on to how rough he had been because the pinching grip on her arms lessened, the palms of his hands moving to rest on either side of her head, claws digging into the tree’s bark. The movements of his lips became softer, lazier in response to her, almost as if his body was relaxing with the idea of doing it at all.

“I think you are more than my friend,” she murmured against his mouth, extending her arms around him so that he was just as trapped as she was.

“Think what you like,” he breathed in return, his eyes opening when she pulled back from him wearing a playfully seductive smile. Now that he had let himself go, it was becoming nearly painful, this sickening lust that had seized him to his very bones. What have you done, you witch?

“I despise you,” he growled in a voice that was very nearly a groan, lowering his face into the silky strands of her hair. “And one day I will take great joy in murdering you, but until then…”