InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ When there is a full moon ❯ The return of the vehement Sesshoumaru ( Chapter 2 )

I do not own Inuyasha.

The Return of the Vehement Sesshoumaru

Kagome climbed out of the well, barely able to carry the huge bag that hung on her shoulders. She could just hear the voices of Miroku, Shippo, and Inuyasha as they strolled towards the well. She made a note to 'sit' Inuyasha for not coming to help her with the heavy bag, when she knew full well that he had already picked up on her scent.

Finally, she reached the top and tossed her bag over the rim of the well and sat on it herself in order to rest a bit. But she had precious little time, as she was almost immediately tackled by the little fox-child. She barely managed to keep her balance and at the same time hug the boy affectionately as they greeted each other.

"Kagome-sama!" It was Miroku approaching with an all too mischievous spark in his eyes. "How have you been?"

"Good, thank you, Miroku," she answered pleasantly at the same time smacking away the monk's wandering hand.

Inuyasha remained quiet, staying behind and looking grumpy as usual. He kept throwing hopeful glances at her and then at her big yellow bag. Kagome almost laughed out loud as she caught his eyes and saw him turn the same shade of red as his clothes.

She went to him, forgetting all her previous annoyance at him, and embraced him in a friendly hug. She felt him tense, and then relax into the hug gratefully and this time she laugh out loud.

Immediately, Inuyasha pushed away from her and sat back down gruffly. Still slightly giggling, Kagome reached into her bag and brought out boxes of noodles and placed them in front of Inuyasha. The effect was instantaneous, his face lit up with a hungry smile and his ears twitched with excitement.

Trying not to double over with a fit of silent giggles, Kagome picked up the boxes and placed them back into her bag, saying, "They're for later."

Inuyasha nodded disappointedly and glared at the ground.

"So where are we off to this time?" Kagome asked after the greeting process was over.

"We're off to a village across from the forest. They've been pestered lately by a group of youkai, and lady Kaede thought we ought to check it out." Miroku answered, getting to his feet.

"Feh! It's a waste of time if you asked me!" Inuyasha grumbled, but also got to his feet.

"Well then, off we go!" Kagome declared happily. But before she'd stood up, she froze. She looked around sharply and pointed to the west. "There's a jewel shard coming this way from over there."

Inuyasha jumped at the opportunity. He was halfway across the clearing when he froze in his tracks. He sniffed the air, and Kagome watched as his body visibly tensed. He rushed back to them, half saying half yelling, "It's Sesshoumaru!"

Kagome, who was the only other person there who had already met Sesshoumaru, looked around widely cursing herself for not having a bow and arrow at hand. After all, last time she'd come across his path, she had barely escaped with her life.

She turned to Shippo and very sternly said, "Shippo, I want you to go to Kaede-sama, and get me a bow and some arrows. Be very careful!" Shippo nodded solemnly and dashed instantly towards the village. Kagome felt her heart beat with worry for the safety of her young friend.

"Excuse me Kagome-sama, but who is this Sesshoumaru?" Miroku asked, looking a bit worried.

"Inuyasha's big brother. But he isn't a half demon like Inuyasha, he's the real thing. And judging from the last time I met him, I would have to say he has absolutely no brotherly love for him, or anyone with even a trace of human blood. What's worse is that he's actually very strong, and now he seems to have a jewel shard!" But I would have thought he would never be interested in something with artificial powers, she thought to herself.

"That's bad news!" Miroku exclaimed with unease.

"Keh!" Inuyasha put in. "I can take on Sesshoumaru anytime, especially now that I have the Tessaiga!"

Kagome shot Miroku a doubtful look of worry.

"Is that so brother?" came the unmistakeably cold voice of Sesshoumaru from just behind them. They all whirled around in unison to look at the fearsome youkai. "We'll just have to see about that now, won't we?"

Without hesitation, he launched fluidly towards Inuyasha, aiming for the sword that he clutched in his hands.

Luckily, Inuyasha managed to jump away just in time. But Sesshoumaru wasted no time; he had changed direction in the same breath and punched Inuyasha hard in the stomach.

Inuyasha gasped for air, but managed to move quickly enough to avoid Sesshoumaru's poisonous whip. He stood a good ten yards away, panting for breath.

Meanwhile Kagome and Miroku had pulled themselves behind the well. Noticing the sudden break, Kagome peered over the ledge of the well.

She saw Inuyasha standing on one side, panting, and Sesshoumaru standing across from him, standing regally with a well placed smirk on his face. His cold, golden eyes travelled from his brother to where she sat, crouched behind the well. His smirk spread across his handsome face.

His calm demeanour made her lose her calm. She sprang to her feet with stinging anger and studied his body, her eyes stopping on his left forearm. "Inuyasha!" she called, her voice deadly with anger. "He has the jewel shard. He hasn't used it yet though." She added as an afterthought.

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed with anger and surprise. He had not known she could sense the jewel shards. Although, he admitted to himself, he should have known better. After all, was she not the reincarnation of the miko appointed to taking care of the jewel? Yet he still did not like how she had surprised him again, especially since he'd thought he knew everything about her. Oh, well, he thought to himself, all the more reason to kill her.

"Got it!" Inuyasha announced, bringing his attention back to him. Out of the edge of his eyes he saw two hands shoot up and pull down the girl, just as he attacked Inuyasha again.

Inuyasha dodged again, and finally transformed the sword. Sesshoumaru hesitated for just a moment, not sure whether his brother had managed to tap into the sword's full power. His question was answered when Inuyasha swung the sword with growing skill, aiming for his head.

Kagome frowned as she saw Sesshoumaru's taunting smirk.

"What's wrong Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked with concern.

"It's Sesshoumaru, he's completely untroubled by Inuyasha, even though he's using Tessaiga. Normally, the demons would be on their guard by now."

Miroku sneaked a look at Sesshoumaru, seeing his bored expression as Inuyasha swung his sword fruitlessly over and over again. The demon stood his ground without effort as the hanyou was becoming more exhausted by each blow. "I see what you mean."

"I gotta do something." Kagome groaned under her breath. She looked around widely for any signs of Shippo. All she could see was Sesshoumaru's frog servant, the Staff of Heads in one hand and an oddly shaped pine-comb. Kagome frowned again with confusion and frustration.

"I've had enough of this game," Sesshoumaru drawled monotonously. Kagome and Miroku watched with horror as Sesshoumaru flung forward the fluffy boa-like object that hung from his shoulder. It shot towards Inuyasha, and wrapped around him tightly. With a flick of his wrist, Sesshoumaru pulled Inuyasha towards himself like a yo-yo. He encircled one hand around Inuyasha's wrist, emitting the venomous fluid from his palm.

Inuyasha's face contorted with pain. He tried to wriggle out of Sesshoumaru's grip, but he was bound too tightly. He could feel his grip around the sword slacken.

"Stop it!" Kagome breathed, her face pale with dread.

"Which will be the first to drop," Sesshoumaru mused out loud, "the sword or the hand?"

"No! INUYASHA!" Kagome ran out from behind the well, glowing with the purple-blue hue of her miko powers. But even as she ran she could see the sword slip from Inuyasha's desperately clutching hand.

"KAGOME!" Inuyasha yelled exasperatedly. "STAY BACK!" He tried to readjust his grip, but was already too late.

The sword plunged down.

It dug dip into the earth, transforming back into the old and rusty sword that it had originally been.

Kagome froze in her tracks, the luminous miko glow disappearing. Sesshoumaru dropped Inuyasha as though he was yesterday's garbage, and wrapped his left hand around the handle of Tessaiga. No warning sparks flew. He lifted his eyes to the rigidly standing miko, and jerked the sword out of the ground. He was barely able to keep his smile in check as the girl gasped with surprise.

Inuyasha got up from the ground just as Sesshoumaru transformed the Tessaiga. "Now 'brother', I will show you the true powers that dwell within Tessaiga. Watch and learn!" He turned his head towards the nearby mountain. "Jaken."

The servant ran forwards, stopped at the edge of the clearing, and jabbed the pointed head of his staff into the ground. "Come forth Tykotsu!"

At first nothing happened. But then the whole ground shook with such intensity that Kagome lost her balance and fell to the ground, and Miroku had to grab the ledge of the well to keep from doing the same. Shippo, who had just come back from Kaede's, squeaked with fright as a demon twice the size of the largest tree in the forest appeared out of one of the mouth's of the Staff of Heads.

It was the same crimson demon on which Sesshoumaru had been sitting on when Kagome had first met him. The monster lifted one giant arm, and brought it down hard against the mountain skirt.

Instantly, hundreds of youkai rose from their nests along the mountain slope, flying into the air to see what had caused the disturbance.

Sesshoumaru swung the sword around with ease, and five yellow-white claws swept across the mountain.

Time seemed to have frozen. Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku and Shippo looked on petrified at the residue of Tessaiga's attack. "Tessaiga," Sesshoumaru mused, admiring the sword in his hand, "the sword that can kill a hundred youkai in one swipe!"

"But there is nothing left!" Kagome gasped. There were five deep gouges on the ground. All the youkai had been killed and completely destroyed. Along with them, all the greenery and half of the mountain, and whatever else that might have been in the way had been entirely ravished.

Sesshoumaru walked forwards, and stopped just in front of Kagome, looking sternly down at her in her odd clothes. Kagome slowly turned her eyes up to his; she couldn't even muster the will to get to her feet. She continued to stare at him, and did not even flinch as he put the sword's cold blade under chin. "Stand."

She knew she should, she knew she had to get to her feet, but her body refused to follow orders. She continued to sit limply on the ground, not daring to take her eyes off of him.

Perhaps realising that she wasn't about to stand, Sesshoumaru bent down, grabbed the front of her shirt, and pulled her to her feet.

"Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha yelled; he seemed to have to just snapped out of his trance. "Put her down!"

Sesshoumaru completely ignored him. Instead he pulled her roughly even closer, so that she was inches away from him. Kagome couldn't help but let out a whimper of fright.

"Can you feel it?" he asked, watching her face closely.

Kagome frowned with confusion. "Naño?"

"Can you feel what this sword is built for?" He growled, their face almost nose to nose, and Kagome's frown deepened. "You knew Tensaiga's purpose, so it follows logic for you to know Tessaiga's purpose as well. Now, don't toy with me, woman! Can you feel it?"

Kagome just managed to nod. Her heart was beating fast and loud, so loudly that she knew Sesshoumaru could hear it, especially with his extra-sensitive ears.

"Well? What kind of sword is it?" Sesshoumaru said with his smirk more pronounced than ever as he revelled at her heightened fear.

Sadly for Sesshoumaru, anger was beginning to find its way back to her. Her eyes hardened, and she glared into Sesshoumaru's golden eyes. "Don't you already know? How very interesting!" she commented sarcastically. Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed with rage as they narrowed to a slit.

But almost immediately, his stoic mask was back on, covering his anger. "Someone needs to teach you how to treat a youkai lord." He growled. His hand left the front of her school uniform, only to clasp tightly around her throat. He squeezed hard enough to just cut off her air supply. He saw fear and anger mingle within her eyes as she futilely struggled against his grip.

It was then that he felt a hard tug from where the jewel shard was embedded in his arm. It was as though it was trying to find its way back out. He looked back at the girl, noticing how her face was set with concentration as she openly stared at his left forearm. He dropped the girl as though he had been holding onto something incredibly nasty.

Kagome flinched with pain as she fell hard against the ground, but she couldn't help smiling triumphantly. Even though she'd lost her concentration, she knew she'd found a weak spot.

"No matter," Sesshoumaru turned his back to her. "Jaken! Take care of the rest of them."

Jaken jumped to his feet excitedly, as Sesshoumaru made his way towards his brother.

The toad youkai climbed onto the shoulder of the huge beast before them. He tapped it hard with the end of his staff. "Squish the worthless scum, Tykotsu!"

The youkai lifted one huge palm and brought it down towards a baffled Shippo. "Oh no, you DON'T!" Kagome yelled as she longed for the fox kitsune. She grabbed him by the collar and dodged out from under the descending hand.

Miroku, taking his cue from Kagome, lifted his right hand and aimed his kazanaa at the beast. Immediately, the monster had half of his outstretched arm sucked into Miroku, but the monk showed no sign of pulling back.

Jaken, who could also feel the pull of the kazanaa, reached into his haori and pulled out the pine comb that Naraku had given them for just such a case. He threw it into the air, and even he was surprised as the pine-comb turned into hundreds of oddly shaped bees.

Inuyasha looked on as Miroku sucked in the demon, watching the bees apprehensively, not exactly sure what his brother's servant was up to.

He checked around to see if everyone else was doing okay. Kagome was tending to Shippo, who seemed to be in shock, but they were both otherwise okay. He knew Kagome had extremely lucky to still be alive. He wasn't exactly sure why his brother would take such a deep grudge against a human, but he was on his full guard.

"Well, well Inuyasha!" came Sesshoumaru's voice from very close by. He turned cautiously to him. "Seems as thought you've gotten over the original miko." Inuyasha ignored the taunt, he was not stupid enough to attack especially since Sesshoumaru now had the Tessaiga. "Now, Inuyasha, is the time for your demise!"

With that said, he launched towards him, sword raised above his head.

Miroku, meanwhile, was having conflicts of his own. He'd noticed the bees and could not help noticing that the bees had the same jaki coming from them as Naraku. What was more was that the bees were flying into his kazanaa, as though determined to be sucked in. Fine! If that's what they want, then that is exactly what they're going to get! He thought to himself with menace.

"Miroku…I don't think you should be doing that!" Kagome warned. But, alas, it was too late.

As the first bee was sucked in, a hot piercing pain began to spread through his hand. It was spreading quickly, moving up from his hand, into his arm, and eventually reaching his shoulders.

Miroku was frozen with pain and could not close his kazanaa, giving more bees the chance to enter his body.

"Oh no, you don't!" he heard the young miko shout fiercely. She'd reached him and quickly blocked the kazanaa with his prayer beads. "Are you okay, Miroku-san?"

The monk fell to his knees, only to be caught by Kagome before he had completely fallen. She lay him down gently, trying to sooth some of his pain with her ever gentle smile and touch. But he could see within her eyes the true fear that she felt for her friend's safety.

"I think I've been poisoned," Miroku said, his voice breaking despite his best efforts to keep it from doing so.

For a second the fear spread across her young face, and Miroku was touched by her deep concern for her companion.

Kagome frowned with concentration. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure it'll work," she said slowly. "You see, Kaede has been teaching me how to heal using my miko powers. But I'm not sure if it'll work when I don't really know what the problem is…"

"Well, just try it," Miroku said offhandedly.

Kagome nodded, she lifter her hand and placed it over Miroku's cursed hand.

From about ten meters away, Sesshoumaru ceased his attack, sensing the overwhelmingly powerful aura that was radiating from the miko. She was practically glowing with her power. She was bent over the pain-stricken monk, her face set with concentration. Inuyasha took his opportunity and attacked. As though snapping back from a dream, he moved just in time to block Inuyasha's claws.

Once the tingling in his arm had stopped, Miroku took in a deep breath of relief. It had worked. "Are you feeling better now?" Kagome peered nervously over him.

Miroku groaned, "I'm not sure…I might need mouth to mouth breathing."

"Okay," Kagome said, looking up. Her eyes followed Inuyasha's movements. She looked back down at Miroku, worry back in her eyes. Miroku, thinking he knew what was coming up, closed his eyes and waited with his mouth slightly open.

But when he opened his eyes after a few minutes, he had just enough time to move away from Shippo who was trying to give him mouth to mouth respiration, and Kagome was nowhere near them. Oh well, it was worth a try.

Kagome ran back to the edge of the forest where Shippo had dropped her bow and arrow. Good! If he has time to be lecherous, then he'll be okay, she thought to herself. She cringed as she saw Inuyasha take a poisonous blow to the side of his face.

He knew he was going to lose. He had no chance without his sword, especially since it was Sesshoumaru who had the sword. He groaned inwardly as Sesshoumaru leapt for him again. He managed to dodge the sword, but had the air punched out of him as Sesshoumaru kneed him in the stomach. Again Sesshoumaru brought down the Tessaiga, but this time Inuyasha had an idea. He pulled out the sword's sheath and used it to block the blow.

"You think you can win against this Sesshoumaru using a sword sheath!" he taunted, putting more force into his attack.

Inuyasha struggled against his brother, holding the sheath steadily against the sword. But already he could hear it cracking. "Wouldn't that be great," he smirked, trying to cover the cracking sound of the sheath by his own voice. "The great Sesshoumaru losing to a hanyou and his sheath!"

"What is a scabbard in comparison to the Tessaiga?'

"Not just any scabbard. I'll show you what happens when you don't kill me when you have the chance to."

Sesshoumaru smirked with feign amusement. He pulled back, allowing Inuyasha to jump away.

For a second Inuyasha thought his brother had fallen for it. But almost instantly he knew he had been wrong.

"It takes only one swing to end this!" he said as calmly as ever. He lifted the sword above his head, ready to swing it and unleash its power upon Inuyasha.

Whoosh!

Clang!

The sword was surrounded with purple electric shocks as soon as it had been hit, and a slightly glowing arrow landed in the dirt nearby.

Tessaiga's blade turned a pinkish hue, and then was transformed back into its original form.

Sesshoumaru looked at the useless sword in his hand, and then turned his eyes to the direction from which the arrow had come. Inuyasha, mouth slightly opened in shock, followed suit.

There, on top of the hill that had once been a mountain, Kagome stood, poised with another arrow already slung and ready in her bow. "Sesshoumaru!" she called clearly across the field. "The next one's for you!" she had aimed for the spot where the jewel's faint glow she could see.