X-stasy

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha.

Chapter 3: -Memori-

Isane woke up to the sounds of birds chirping outside the screen door to her room. She stiffened as she realized she was in a very soft bed...a bed that didn't smell of rot and decay. In fact, the room smelled clean, fresh, and new. So very different from the smells she was accustomed to waking to...that of death. Where were her rotting, moth-eaten sheets? What had happened to her dusty, cobwebbed room? The stench of dried blood from long ago fought battles had vanished. Isane hesitated before cautiously opening one eye to take in her surroundings.

She gasped. 'Where am I?...How did I get here?' The cobwebs of Isane's brain weren't making things clear to her. She had forgotten. It had been like this ever since the -incident- now after she slept she simply forgot most everything that had occurred the previous day. The only things she could remember where those things that happened before the -incident- and those were only painful memories Isane wished she could actually forget. But alas she was cursed to remember what she didn't want to and fail to remember that which she would like to. Except perhaps she did remember something...one thing. A man's face shone in her mind-an image of him surrounding her with the top shirt of his strange kimono. Strange-the memory of this man being so close to her did not rouse feelings of hate and revulsion...no there was some other emotions, one she couldn't quite place.

He had a beautiful face, whoever he was. With those piercing golden eyes, an exotic crescent moon upon his forehead, and red stripes on his cheeks...she sighed.

But that still didn't explain where she was at that moment. She was immediately suspicious. Had some male taken advantage of her weakened state during the sunset to capture and bring her here? It was a definite possibility. Isane quickly leapt out of bed and ran over to find her clothes. But her black and red kimono was nowhere to be found. What had happened to it?! She looked down at what she was wearing...a simple kimono she had never seen. Or at least as far as she could tell. She walked over to the armoire that was a deep, Blackwood with gold accents. She opened and gasped when she saw all of the beautiful kimono inside.

She tentatively stroked the soft silk and felt that something wasn't right. These kimono...weren't hers. No, they smelled like...female inu youkai. She looked over at a dusty trunk next to her bed and went over to it. She ran a hand across the dusty surface...this trunk was hers...she opened it and found a few kimono covered in ashes. These were hers...but what about the other kimono? Whose were those? She began to take off her kimono when she felt hands assisting her. She whipped her head around to see who...there was no one.

'What? What's going on...wait I remember the existence of invisible servants...these must be the same sort.' Isane was still as she allowed the mysterious servants to undress her and found that they had taken the liberty of taking one of the cleaner kimono to dress her in from the armoire. She hesitated but allowed them. It was a beautiful kimono and somehow she felt she wasn't worthy of such fineness. It was a beautiful golden silk with an intricately sown red flower pattern. The invisible servants also re-placed the Noh mask upon her face for her. She had been feeling rather naked without it.

After Isane was dressed she found her katana, which also smelt of rot and decay, so she knew it was hers, and stealthily made her way down the hallway. Keeping to the shadows she concealed herself as she decided she must try and escape from this...palace? The place was enormous and richly adorned, yet not overly done. She would have been impressed if she hadn't been so nervous. She wished with all her being she could remember...she scrunched her eyebrows in thought and only sighed in frustration when only blackness was met with her probing.

"Going somewhere?" An indifferent voice drawled from behind her.

She turned around swiftly and saw...him. The man from her memory fragment. "It's you. I remember your face...and this feeling...but nothing else. Why have you brought me here? What do you wish of me?" Isane demanded a bit ruffled.

Sesshoumaru quirked an eyebrow at the woman. Surely, she must remember something of what had happened the previous night. Unless...how muddled was her mind really? She was called the Insane One after all. There had to be a reason for that. But for some reason Sesshoumaru didn't want to believe that rumor. The forever child...he saw that she had her hair in its two buns and pigtails and frowned. He could easily deduce why she had received that name. "Surely, you recall how I saved your pitiful existence?" Sesshoumaru questioned in an unfeeling tone.

"You saved me?" Isane asked, wonder in her voice, and then she laughed. "Doubtful. Why would some -male- save the Insane One? Didn't you know -males- are the enemy of the forever child as they are always trying to steal her innocence? Explain yourself."

Sesshoumaru let out a heavy sigh. "You were attacked by three male youkai at sunset. They had learned of your weakness from an old youkai. I...stopped them before they could harm you. Then I offered you asylum in my home. You remember nothing?" Sesshoumaru's voice was in a snarl. 'Truly, this woman is rather ungrateful.'

Isane closed her eyes and tried to remember. She clenched her fists when yet again she could not. But she could sense he was not lying to her and so believed what he said. A male saving her...a small smile formed on the face of the Noh mask. 'How odd. How very odd indeed.'

"This old male youkai...is that all you know of him. Nothing else?" Isane questioned her head quirked.

"That is all I know." Sesshoumaru admitted. He vaguely noticed that she looked beautiful in his mother's kimono...he shook his head before such thoughts could continue.

"Then I will seek this male out and kill him." Isane declared turning her back on Sesshoumaru and preparing to walk away. "I will return before sunset." She said on an afterthought before skipping away.

Sesshoumaru was speechless. Here, yet again, this woman was walking...well, skipping, away from him like he was nothing. Well, he could understand some of the reason since she claimed all 'males' were her enemy but he...surely demanded more respect from the likes of her. She did not even remember how he had wanted to take her life for injuring his pride and Sesshoumaru hesitated with whether or not he should simply remind her of that fact. As he watched her walk away from him he mysteriously found he could not.

***

Sesshoumaru quickly walked towards the main audience chamber of his palace trying not to let his thoughts dwell on the woman in the Noh mask let alone the puzzle she presented to Sesshoumaru's mind. He had had far too many opportunities to take her life and yet something had stayed his hand.

Sensing the return of his top youkai spy Sesshoumaru hoped he would have the information he had been seeking for far too long. Opening the doors to the chamber he found the cunning, fox youkai waiting for him.

"My Lord," the fox demon did a sweeping bow, "I have discovered the one who engineered the artificial Shikon no Tamas that were then given to the one known as Junko." The demon paused.

"Pray do continue, Loki." Sesshoumaru said in a low voice.

"It was the dead Miko," the fox demon grinned, "Kikyou."

"My brother's -other- wench," Sesshoumaru growled low in his throat. He clenched his fists, digging his nails into his hands until he drew blood. Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands would not take this lightly.

***

The Insane One closed her eyes and two golden-red hued wings sprouted from her back. She had managed to guide her way through Sesshoumaru's large palace to the outdoors using her keen sense of smell. This brought her to the gardens, which were all very impressive, they contained almost every flower imaginable, and Isane found herself hesitating upon her departure. But she quickly took off into the sky leaving the palace of the Lord of the Western Lands behind her. She had a mission to carry out. She would worry about why she had actually agreed to the Lord's invitation later. Surely, it had only been a lapse of sanity on her part. Surely, she didn't trust him, a male...

Most of the day her search proved futile until she heard rumor of an elderly scholar youkai, which specialized in the demon legends of old. Remembering something of her existence and how it could be found in those legends, and the threat that knowledge caused her when in the wrong hands she quickly sought him out. It led her to the demon town, Shouten. She quickly discovered that the youkai scholar was the keeper of a library and shop, which housed an extensive collection of ancient and rare texts.

Waltzing through the front door of the shop she quickly spotted the old youkai and walked up to him. He had his face buried in a book; thick spectacles on his nose, and ignored her completely. "Woman's novels...are over there." He carelessly waved his hand over to the romance and poetry section of the bookshop.

"I'm not here to purchase anything," Isane said simply. "I'm here to ask you what you know of the Insane One...the forever child."

The old youkai looked up startled. His eyes widened as he realized who was indeed before him. "It-it's you! The Insane One?! What the hell are you doing here? Those young ones failed didn't they? How dare they betray me as well! So, I assume you're here to kill me aren't you?" The old youkai smiled grimly.

"What do you know of me?" Isane asked coldly.

"I know the very truth of your existence, -human-." The old youkai spat the last word at her. "Yes, I know what you truly are. And that is why I sent those young ones to kill you. You are nothing but an abomination. You shouldn't exist in this world and as long as you do the balance of this world is in danger. You must die for the sake of everything. I hold no qualms over what I did. And I would do it again, human."

"I am no mere human, at least not anymore." Isane paused. "Does anyone else know?" Isane questioned nervously. Hopefully, this old youkai hadn't told too many demons her secret. If he had she's be in danger for sometime. And with no real place to go...surly her home wasn't safe. And staying with that demon Lord didn't really seem a very good option. Surely, he was after her power and her body just like every other male. No, he was simply not to be trusted.

The old youkai remained silent, a thin smile upon his dry, cracked lips.

Before the old youkai could bat an eyelash Isane had her powerful, clawed hand gripped about his throat. She was growling deep in her throat. "You shouldn't have done that, old man. No one must know my secret." Isane wasted no time in simply snapping the youkai's neck. Now all that was left where the texts of the library. The library and all of its texts had to be destroyed. No one, could ever know the truth.

***

The demons of Shouten town watched curiously as Isane emerged from the library, which was engulfed in flames. She had walked right through the doorway, and yet the flames seemed not to touch her, as if she was immune to them. She was certainly a powerful demoness and none approached or tried to stop her as she left the town. In a matter of seconds the entire library had turned to ashes.

***

Isane Rune sighed with relief feeling a weight having been lifted from her shoulders. She had done the right thing. No one could know of her existence or else the balance of all could really be put in danger...all because of a woman's foolish dream long ago...it all seemed so long ago as if none of it were real. But sadly Isane knew that what she did remember wasn't a dream, or a nightmare, but harsh reality.

She slowly walked through the Sendo Valley, which was known for its deadly, youkai bandit gangs. The Wolf's Fang bandit gang, were an incredibly ruthless sort. They attacked whole villages, wanderers, and caravans. Their home turf was Sendo valley, however. Isane came to a stream and leaned over to have a drink. Cupping the cool water of the stream in her hands she realized she would first have to remove her mask before she could drink. But all thoughts of quenching her thirst where forgotten as she looking into her hands and images began to form. This was usually how she helped those in need-water scrying. She could see those that needed her help, women usually, and she would go to their aid.

The images became clearer and Isane could see the image of a village being attacked by a bandit gang. They were burning everything in sight...and carrying away the women. A chill went down Isane's spine and she stood clenching her fists to her side in anger. Those men would surely pay. Every last one of them. No quarter would be asked and none would be given.

Isane took off into the air and quickly found the village that was under attack. The wolf youkai were already celebrating...using the woman for their bodies out in broad daylight. Their screams falling on deaf ears. The face of Isane's enchanted Noh mask shifted into a frown. She landed right in the midst of them, startling several, and causing them to stop in the middle of their cruel, heartless, and cowardly acts.

And then they attacked her. Isane let a few of the blows land just to see...just to feel the pain that those poor women were feeling. No...she was so messed up pain wasn't pain to her. The wounds they inflicted upon her only managed to send pleasant shivers up her spine and soon she was laughing from it...

"Your blows are like the gentle caress of the wind!" Isane's laugh was melodious. "They tickle my skin and play with my senses. You will parish for what you males have done." Isane unsheathed the Fenikkusu, the katana she always wore at her side, whose handle was braided with red and black ribbons, and whose blade long and slightly curved. She held Fenikkusu out in front of her and then began to concentrate on surrounding the blade with elemental fire energy, which caused the blade to glow a deep red. She then attacked her prey. Her blade glinted in the sun as she slashed through the wolf youkai as easily as if they were paper. As her sword cut through them their bodies burst into flames, flesh being burned away, revealing the skeletons of her victims before they turned to a pile of ash.

The wolf youkai couldn't believe what was happening. The woman was grossly outnumbered and yet she was still managing to slay them off one by one. It was a hundred to one! As she killed off their comrades her sickening singsong laughter rang through the entire village making their blood run cold. She was completely insane. She was enjoying the death and carnage-a little too much. It obviously amused her to the point that during her laughter tears must have been brought to her eyes, but of course with the Noh mask upon her face they could not be seen. Soon the cowards began to run. Abandoning the women of the village they had marked as their property.

There were at least fifty men left...

"At this rate it shall take me a little before sunset to slay you all!" Isane announced confidently. 'I'll have just enough time to slay them all. I mustn't waste a moment's time. A few seconds wasted could cost me everything.' Isane gathered her strength and attacked.

The leader of the wolf gang was very frustrated with his men. "Hold men! It is just one enemy!" the old wolf youkai growled, "And she is but a woman! Are you all such cowards to run from one weak, woman?! We are men and we can easily defeat and overpower her by our sheer numbers!" His voice rang out across the battlefield causing the wolf youkai to stop upon hearing his argument. He was right after all...they were men, and she one woman. They had to be able to overpower her, right? With renewed vigor they attacked.

Isane could feel herself tiring as they tried to overwhelm her. One wolf youkai stealthily managed to get past her guard managing to slip a throwing knife past her defenses to imbed itself in her right hand. Now she could only use her left hand to wield her sword...

***

Sesshoumaru traveled through the air searching for the scent of ashes and death that was Kikyou. Soon he found her. She was surrounded by her servants, the soul-stealers, which were hovering ominously in the air around her. She was wearing her traditional miko outfit of her white shirt, and blood red pants. There was a slight breeze, which was causing Kikyou's long hair to stir around her, as if it were alive. Or perhaps, it was just her power that was stirring it so...

'I'll be doing InuYasha a favor getting rid of her myself.' Sesshoumaru mused as he touched down upon the ground in front of the beautiful, and deadly miko.

"Sesshoumaru," Kikyou stated calmly eyeing him, "to what do I owe this honor?"

Sesshoumaru growled low in his throat. "You were the one to create the artificial Shikon no Tamas and then gift them to the feline youkai known as Junko were you not?"

A light smile graced Kikyou's lips. "I did."

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Why?"

"Because I wanted you dead." Kikyou easily admitted.

That's all Sesshoumaru needed to hear.

***

Isane staggered through the forest. Yes, she had managed to defeat them-all of them. But now she didn't have enough strength to fly and as she looked at the darkening sky above her she knew there was no way she could return to the palace of the taiyoukai before sunset. She was on her own. Not that she needed help from a -male- anyways. Even if he was rather handsome-Isane shook her head expelling the unwanted thoughts from her mind. She couldn't allow herself to become soft, especially when an arrogant and powerful inuyoukai lord was concerned.

The dagger the wolf youkai had thrown at her was still painfully imbedded within her right hand. She looked down at it curiously for a moment. There was no reason to tend to the wound if she was to be restored at sunset anyway. But the wound still pained her at that particular moment. She reached down and slowly pulled the knife from her hand relishing in the pain. She let out a small moan of pleasure as she did this and then looked around self-consciously wondering if anyone had seen that sickening display of confused emotion. It was all part of the curse anyhow, Isane sighed. There was really nothing she could do about it.

A chill suddenly went down her spine. Someone-was in trouble. She could sense the need for her assistance close by. Isane quickly leapt up to the treetops and skipped her way along towards the cry for help she had heard within her mind's eye.

Touching down upon the ground where she sensed the need of her assistance she gasped at the sight before her. The inuyoukai lord from this morning was attacking a helpless woman!!! His sword Toukijin was drawn as he attacked the woman, who was defending herself with nothing but a bow and quiver of arrows. Although she had to give the woman some credit, her arrows weren't just ordinary arrows, as they sped through the air they were enveloped in a bright, holy light-the light that a powerful priestess could only produce. The arrows hit the blade of Sesshoumaru's sword deterring it from its intended course. But the woman Isane noticed was running out of arrows and soon she would be at the taiyoukai's mercy.

"Sesshoumaru!!!" Isane's voice rang through the forest. "How dare you attack that helpless woman! I thought...I thought you were different! But I was sadly mistaken! You're just like all the others, a true male through and through! I should have known. And now you will share the fate that countless others before you have suffered-prepare to be reduced to a silvery pile of ashes, Lord Sesshoumaru!!!" Isane unsheathed her Fenikkusu with lightning speed and was in front of the taiyoukai in less than the second, standing in front of Kikyou protectively.

Sesshoumaru growled, "Stay out of this. wench! This does not concern you!"

"Oh I think it does concern me!" Isane spat. "Here I find you trying hurt a fellow woman who's all alone in the middle of this spooky forest! No quarter will be asked Sesshoumaru and none will be given! Now fight me!" Isane cried as she leapt high in the air to bring her sword down upon Sesshoumaru. The blow would have sliced him neatly in two if he hadn't brought Toukijin up to block the hard downward swing just in the nick of time. Sesshoumaru had to admit he was rather impressed by the woman's uncanny speed and agility. Also with the way she handled her sword-so fluidly, reminding him of the water of a fast flowing stream.

Kikyou noticing that Sesshoumaru's attention was elsewhere for the time being decided to simply take her leave. The fight was beginning to become tiresome for Sesshoumaru, who still had his unfinished business with Kikyou, although he admitted to himself he wouldn't mind sparing with the masked wench some other time. Right now however he was busy. Taking his eyes off of Isane, just long enough to see that Kikyou had already disappeared, had nearly cost him his life. Steel passed the right side of his cheek sickeningly close, leaving a thin trek of blood where the edge of her sword had pierced his delicate skin there.

He realized that she was a good enough opponent that it wouldn't do to ignore her. He smirked slightly as he decided to turn on the offensive. But Isane was just as stubborn as the youkai Lord and would not be forced back. Instead she doubled the energy she placed into her attacks, as well as the speed, as if she were becoming desperate. Sesshoumaru had failed to notice the setting sun, but Isane hadn't. She had to end this battle as quickly as possible if she were to remain alive. She was sure the youkai lord would show her no mercy now that she had discovered his true colors. Isane briefly wondered how it was they had met exactly, and if something similar had occurred.

Sesshoumaru could tell what Isane was doing but he had other plans. He wanted to face Isane in a true fight and not a rushed and desperate one such as this. He decided therefore that he would try to reason with the illogical woman. "Wench! Stop this foolishness at once! You misunderstood my intentions entirely. Though it's none of your business I had fair enough reason to attack the dead Miko!" Sesshoumaru began trying to explain himself to Isane.

But she would not listen to reason. She was too far gone in the heat of battle to do so. "You think me naive and easily convinced by such lies! Well I will not be the fool, and you will not manipulate me! Now die, male!" Managing to get past Sesshoumaru's defenses she managed to wound Sesshoumaru deeply on his right side.

Sesshoumaru blinked down at his wound in disbelief. Never before in battle had he received such a deep wound, and so early on in a fight. Except for when he had faced his brother for the Tessaiga. And still the woman came at him even harder than before. He could notice however that she was tired-very tired. Her breathing was coming out in gasps, and he could smell blood though he hadn't been the one to wound her. Sesshoumaru's eyes traveled to her right hand and saw the wound there. He casually wondered how she had gotten hurt and found he didn't like the idea of some unknown force having injured her.

Once again Sesshoumaru found himself distracted. Isane showing no mercy nearly cut off his head. Instead she only managed to take a bit of his hair with the savage blow. The face of the Noh mask's shimmered and the lips turned into a smile, which kept on widening...

Sesshoumaru frowned, marring the features of his beautiful face. He had to end this fight quickly as well. His mind was wandering too much and he could not afford to underestimate his opponent any longer. He realized that his sword Toukijin was a heavier blade than the thin bladed katana sword that the masked woman wielded. 'This is what makes her seem faster than I,' he decided. Sheathing his sword he decided on a change of weapons, summoning his green energy-whip. With a flick of his wrists Sesshoumaru sent the whip flying towards Isane with great speed.

But Isane simply stood where she was and let the lash of the whip fall upon her directly. Sesshoumaru flinched as the lash cut open the front of her kimono and a red slash was revealed from having cut deeply into her skin there. He hadn't meant for that to happen. She was supposed to be quick enough to have dodged but it seems she had other ideas. He thought for a moment that her body was wracked from the pain and then he sickeningly realized that it was instead wracked by laughter she was trying to contain. Finally she let it out.

"Hahahahaha! Oh what a powerfully sweet lash you have Sesshoumaru! Do you realize the pleasure you have unintentionally caused me!" The tremors of pleasure from the lash fluttered through Isane's body and she could feel a warmth building within her just bellow her belly.

Sesshoumaru was disgusted by her behavior and a bit sick at himself for reasons he would not admit to...he dissipated his energy whip and faced Isane unarmed. "Wench...you are being rather unreasonable." Sesshoumaru said in a deadly voice, running his hand through his hair casually deciding he had had enough of this fight.

As Isane tried to concentrate her attention back to the youkai lord she saw her opportunity. He would die now at her hand. Going in fast she raised her sword going in for the killing blow. Sesshoumaru was indeed caught off guard by how fast she was able to change from being in the throngs of pleasure to being on the attack once more. Like it was an on and off switch...

Before he could react the blade was inches from his throat...

But then...

"NO!" Isane cried as she realized the sun had touched the horizon and her body was being engulfed in flames. Her agonizing screams of pain echoed through the forest as her body was once again reduced to a pile of silvery ash.

"And that was supposed to be my fate," Sesshoumaru mused aloud, a smug smile on his lips. This wench rather amused him if nothing else. He watched fascinated as her body once again began to restore itself. For the first time he realized just what that entailed-this woman was immortal, a true immortal being. What was the story behind her truly, he wondered. He felt Tenseiga begin to pulse with energy at his side. He unsheathed the sword and pointed it at the clay doll at his feet. Again he saw the ethereal fairies fluttering around the woman's prone form.

'I should kill her now...the Tenseiga craves her blood.' Sesshoumaru slowly walked over to the woman's fallen form and raised Tenseiga above her. Again, something stayed his hand. 'But why does this sword, which has the power to save a 100 lives with a single stroke wish the death of this woman? No, this woman is too much of a mystery to end her life so soon. I will wait, at least until I have my answers. And then when I no longer have a use for her, and she ceases to be of amusement, I will take her immortal life!' Sesshoumaru smiled a cruel smile as he continued to watch her.

Soon the clay broke away in a flash of light and revealed the newly restored Isane Rune. Sesshoumaru dully noticed that the wound in her right hand was no longer there. Her entire form was trembling and it pleased Sesshoumaru to see the woman who had nearly managed to defeat him was looking so weak and frail before him now. He then watched as she kept her head bowed so he could no see her face, it was hidden behind the cascade of her red hair, an unsteady hand reached for her Noh mask. But Sesshoumaru was too fast for her this time and snatched the mask away.

The girl actually whimpered when he did this. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at her. "What's wrong, did you lose something?" He mocked.

"Give it back..." came the woman's low, melodious voice, "Give it back to me! Have you no honor! You must give it back to me. No male is permitted to see my face!" She cried from her pitiful position on the ground. She snaked a hand around to cover her chest, and keeping the curtain of her hair blocking her face she prepared to stand to defy him.

"Oh?" Sesshoumaru sounded amused. "And why is that exactly?"

"It has been that way...ever since that day long ago. The day when -he- betrayed my heart. The day all men became my enemy. Now...I wait...and will not show my face again until I have found someone worthy of my heart again." Isane sighed. "I know it sounds foolish-" But before she could continue Sesshoumaru had tossed the mask towards her. She caught it dumbly and quickly placed the mask on her face obscuring her features.

Sesshoumaru was just as dumbfounded by what he had done as she was. And then he became angered by it. Angered at himself, and especially at the woman in front of him. Before Isane knew what was happening she was pressing back into a tree, having been lifted off the ground, with Sesshoumaru's powerful, clawed hand about her neck. He began to tighten his grip on her throat wanting to smell her fear...

Instead Sesshoumaru got a rather nasty surprise. -She was aroused-. His harsh treatment of her was actually arousing her. Sesshoumaru suddenly felt ill.

Isane, dangled helplessly in Sesshoumaru's grasp and relished his harsh hold upon her. She could feel his power just in the way he was holding her like that pinned up against the tree. His body dangerously close to her bare, exposed flesh. She felt the warmth building between her legs as Sesshoumaru leaned in even closer to snarl at her.

That's when she noticed something as well. He had pressed in just close enough for her to feel it...the evidence of his own arousal pressing up against her thigh. He was aroused...aroused by treating her this way. And she was aroused by it.

"You disgust me," Sesshoumaru breathed, "you are actually enjoying this aren't you, wench?"

The Noh mask's features shifted into a frown. "As are you."

-CRACK-

The sound which resounded through the forest startled a few black crows from the nearby trees so that they flew to the sky, cawing as they went, a few lone feathers falling to the forest floor...

Sesshoumaru tossed Isane's lifeless body into a nearby tree. It hit with such force the tree bark cracked sending splinters around her. Then the lifeless body of Isane sunk to the base of the tree, her head tossing in a freakish manner now that the neck had been snapped.

The powerful taiyoukai, Lord of the Western Lands was trembling. Sesshoumaru's body was shaking with anger and rage due to the pure disgust he had of himself at that moment. This was a side of him he never wanted to unleash...a side he kept hidden...a side of himself he hated. The reason he had isolated himself from...female youkai. There was a sickness in his blood...a curse he had inherited from his own damned mother. The powerful taiyoukai had a weakness after all. If one would consider finding pleasure in another's pain a weakness. Some, nay, many demons would have considered it a strength. Because after all demons were innately evil, although Sesshoumaru had always prided himself that he had complete control over that evil. Until now that is...

Until Isane had come into his life everything had been under his complete control...

And now...things seemed all out of whack to Sesshoumaru. What was happening?

He clenched his fists tightly, digging his claws into his hands and not evening realizing he was poisoning himself with his own venom. Blood ran down his wrists and seeped into the earth. He then turned his attention back to the woman he had just killed. He watched slightly detached from reality as Isane's body once again restored itself. He felt a nausea welling up within him. He thought he was going to be sick...

Soon Isane was restored and he felt like cutting her hand off that was groping for the Noh mask upon the ground in that creep manner. Then when Isane finally had her mask in place she took notice of the taiyoukai...

Her head quirked to the side, "Who are you?"

Sesshoumaru's vision was clouding as the poison was beginning to take effect. He then collapsed unconscious to the ground.

To be continued...

Japanese translation notes:

Memori: memory