X-stasy

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha.

Chapter 10: -Kigi-

Sesshoumaru ran through the forest in the direction in which he had heard Isane's scream of sheer horror. He had a bad feeling about this as he hopped from branch to branch as the others followed close behind him, InuYasha being able to sense his yoki. If anything had happened to his Isane or to Rin he didn't know what he'd do. But he was sure that the Shadow Demon would pay.

There-he saw something up ahead in a clearing. He leapt gracefully to a branch overlooking the clearing and his breath hitched in his throat at the sight before him. There was the Shadow Demon-its form distorted as tentacle-like arms suspended the two beings that meant most to him in the entire world.

"Isane..." Sesshoumaru breathed. "Rin..."

Isane's hair he noticed had two stripes of white hanging down on either side of her face and she seemed unconscious, her head lying on her chest. The Shadow Demon was obviously consuming her fears, trapping her in a Nightmare, and slowly killing her. Sesshoumaru's blood boiled with rage as he thought of what nerve this demon had to try and take Isane's life. After all, if anyone was worthy enough to do so it would only be him-ever.

Without much thought Sesshoumaru, his animal instincts beginning to take over, he leapt down towards the demon intending to use his poison claw and rip it to shreds. "You bastard! Get your hands off my woman!" Sesshoumaru cried.

The Shadow Demon only opened its eyes to reveal a sliver of silver energy. It was enough. Sesshoumaru found himself suspended in midair. He was paralyzed by fear it seemed. "Damn it!" Sesshoumaru growled as he tried to summon his yoki power to no avail.

The Shadow Demon began to take on a more human form and his resemblance was unmistakable-it was the shadow of Naraku. Naraku's shadow began to laugh at Sesshoumaru's plight, helpless as he was to do anything against him. The laugh was a sickening hollow sort of laugh that made Sesshoumaru feel sick to his stomach.

"How does it feel Sesshoumaru...to watch the ones you care about suffer and not be able to do anything about it?" A creepy smile formed in the shifting face of the Shadow Demon and he leered at Sesshoumaru. "I may not be able to kill the immortal woman but I could have her trapped in Nightmares forever. IF I CAN'T HAVE HER NO ONE WILL!!!"

"Damn you! Coward! Why don't you come out and face me like a man, Naraku? Instead of continuing to send these golems to do your dirty work! I know you're listening! Answer me!" Sesshoumaru bellowed and his voice rang among the petrified trees.

"Hmmm well that's...a secret." Naraku's shadow declared.

"Argh!" Sesshoumaru continued to struggle against the unseen force of his own fears that had paralyzed him.

"Isane!" came a feminine voice and suddenly the dark clearing was illuminated in light. The Shadow Demon's hold loosened ever so slightly upon Isane and Sesshoumaru found that he was no longer trapped. Not one to lose an opportunity he quickly managed to snatch Isane from the demon's grasp. He set her down gently in the blink of an eye and was going to go back for Rin when a being leapt down from the trees and stopped him in his tracks. A curved blade attached to a chain flew threw the air towards him and he barely managed to dodge out of the way in time.

"Kohaku!" Sango's pained voice rang through the air and she covered her mouth in shock, her eyes widening in fear.

Kagome continued to hold her flashlight, which she had procured from her seemingly bottomless yellow backpack, with shaking hands, illuminating the figure of the boy in front of them. It was indeed Sango's brother. He had the same bushy brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, and the same cute freckles innocently dotting the bridge of his nose.

Kohaku with those same lifeless eyes of his...and seemingly incapable of feeling fear. If anyone would be a match against a Fear Demon it was he. Kohaku quickly yanked his chain weapon back and stared back at Sesshoumaru with a merciless expression upon his face.

For a moment Sesshoumaru wasn't sure what he should do. He could attack and easily defeat the boy but he was sure that Isane would be displeased with his actions if he disposed of the boy. Why did her opinion suddenly matter so much to him?

"Sesshoumaru no!" Sango said running up next to him. "This is my fight!"

"As you wish," Sesshoumaru simply stepped out of her way.

"Kohaku!" Sango said readying her boomerang. "Kohaku snap out of it! Please! Don't you remember me?! Please don't make me fight you!" Sango begged but Kohaku simply prepared another attack with his kusarigama.

The Chain-Blade went lunging towards Sango and it was all she could do to block the attack. Tears stung at her eyes as she watched her once brother and now pawn of the evil demon Naraku attacking her ruthlessly...his own sister. This was worse than any mere Nightmare that Shadow Demon could possibly produce because this...was reality.

Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru was turning his attention back to the Shadow Demon, which had Rin still in its grasp.

"Kagome." Sesshoumaru simply stated.

"Right!" Kagome knew what he intended and turned the flashlight on full power before turning it on the demon.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Naraku's shadow threatened and for the first time the others were able to put one and two together...their opponent was no longer just a Shadow Demon but Naraku's Shadow! Naraku's golem began to wrap several tentacle-shaped shadow arms around Rin's prone form and then a small, shrill scream of pain and horror was issued forth from the girl's lungs. A girl-child's scream filled the air and one would think such a sound could melt the coldest of hearts...

Sesshoumaru was beginning to lose control and his eyes were turning red. He was beginning to transform.

Just when Sesshoumaru was going to try attacking the temporarily weakened Shadow Demon, due to Kagome's flashlight, someone beat him to it.

"Rin!" came a worried voice.

Every turned surprised to see that Kohaku had stopped attacking Sango and was instead attacking the Shadow Demon. Caught off guard the Shadow Demon could only retreat as Kohaku released a barrage of several attack managing to slice through several of the shadow arms and making the Shadow Demon's form appear even more warped than before.

"You said! You said you wouldn't hurt her!" Kohaku's trembling voice rang. "You promised!" Kohaku continued to attack the Shadow Demon with such ferocity that even Sesshoumaru found that he was slightly impressed. His training under Naraku's harsh will had not been in vain. Soon Kohaku managed to slice through the very arm that was suspending Rin. Rin plummeted through the air towards the ground but Kohaku simply leapt under her and caught her in waiting arms.

He then leapt back still cradling Rin's prone form and distancing himself from the now injured Shadow Demon.

"Now's our chance!" Kagome exclaimed shinning her flashlight back at the Shadow Demon, who was trying to pull its wounded body back together.

"Indeed," Sesshoumaru agreed and was lunging at the demon before it disappeared into the shadows. It had decided to retreat. But at the moment he didn't really care. He was most worried for Rin's safety.

Kohaku still had Rin in his arms and looked confused as to what he should do next. Suddenly small chocolate brown eyes opened and blinked up at him. "Kohaku..." Rin's weak voice questioned and then she smiled.

A slight blush crept across Kohaku's face as he looked down at Rin. "Uh...are you alright?" He asked tentatively.

"Yes...I...you saved me...thank you." Rin said slowly as her strength was returning to her bit by bit.

"Don't mention it." Kohaku said meaning it. "I...didn't want you to be hurt again because of me. I'm sorry...about the last time."

Everyone was watching the scene with baited breath wondering...if Kohaku had come back to them.

But Kohaku slowly handed over Rin to Sesshoumaru's waiting arms and was about to retreat.

"No!" Came Sango's shrill voice. "Kohaku don't leave us!"

"I have no choice." He paused. "Take good care of her." Kohaku said sadly and suddenly a hand snatched him up into the air. It was Kagura. She had an emotionless expression upon her face as she carried Kohaku away, but she didn't look very happy either.

"Kohaku," Sango cried and sank to her knees. Silent tears began to stream down her face. Miroku was at her side in an instant and placed a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her. Lately her pain was his pain. He knew he would do anything if it meant never seeing Sango cry again. But he had felt so powerless during this fight, unable to use his Wind Tunnel even if he had wanted to. What good was he to the group now he wondered simply with his Buddhist powers. For one they weren't doing an exorcism but trying to eliminate the most power demon in existence. Even if he was a half-breed of sorts.

Sesshoumaru looked down at Rin and allowed a smile to grace his lips. "I was worried about you Rin." He found himself saying before his pride could stop him.

Rin beamed up at him. "Sesshoumaru...Rin missed you! Kohaku took care of Rin while Rin was prisoner. You won't kill him will you?"

Sesshoumaru was about to say that depended on Kohaku's actions but upon seeing Rin's pleading face he sighed. "Of course not."

Sesshoumaru's eyes then trailed over to where he had left the limp form of Isane and was angered to see that Kouga had taken the opportunity to take her limp form in his arms. He didn't even realize he had growled until he saw Rin's worried expression.

"Is something wrong Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin questioned and looked over to Isane and Kouga. And with the innocent kind of wisdom only a child could possess she understood. "Why don't you go to her...Rin is ok now."

Sesshoumaru blinked down at Rin's shinning face and couldn't refuse her. "As you wish." Sesshoumaru gently set Rin down to go and see how Isane was doing. Kagome and InuYasha were also looking at Isane with worried expressions on their faces.

"How...how is she?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"It seems like she's trapped in a coma." Kagome responded. "And I don't know what we can do...Isane was the only one of us that could heal such a thing." She was hitting her flashlight against her hand as its light flickered. The batteries wouldn't last much longer and they would be vulnerable to attack by the Shadow Demon. "Darn it!"

"The Lady Isane...saved many of my clan." Kouga's solemn voice explained. "I feel obligated to protect her and do what I can for her. I only wish I had the power to bring her back from Nightmares."

Sesshoumaru nodded but still didn't like the fact that Kouga was holding his Isane. But there was really little he could do about it. He only could look at her from afar and felt so far away. He wanted to grasp her to him tightly and never let her go. But his pride would never allow him to reveal such weakness of emotion to everyone present. Especially Kouga who had in a way had become his rival for Isane's affections. All Sesshoumaru knew was that he didn't trust the wolf demon in the least. He still thought he was definitely up to something...

He frowned as he noticed that Isane's breathing was ragged, coming in and out in short gasps. Her condition was worsening...she would either stay in the coma...or she'd end up dying...death. Now there was an interesting option.

"What if...we were to kill Isane." Sesshoumaru began getting many horrified looks in response. "Use your brains for once." Sesshoumaru sighed. "Isane is an immortal being. When she is killed her body restores herself and any previous wounds she may have had are healed as well. She is reborn, and back to her original state as if any of those wounds that had been inflicted upon her had never happened. Perhaps, it would be the same if we were to kill her now. She would die...but be restored and perhaps in perfect health."

Kouga looked skeptical. Kagome looked hopeful. "You really think that could work Sesshoumaru?" She asked.

"Yes I do." Sesshoumaru said looked at her trying to relay a message with his look alone.

It must have worked for Kagome nodded sagely and that determined look she sometimes had in her eyes shone brightly. "I believe Sesshoumaru is right. And it may be the only way to bring Isane out of this coma. And I think...since Sesshoumaru was the one to suggest this he should be the one to kill Isane-"

"You can't be serious!" Kouga blurted crushing Isane to him protectively getting a glare from Sesshoumaru in response.

"Kouga...Sesshoumaru has known Isane a lot longer than you have. And well...let's just say they're good friends. He only wants to help Isane and I can sense that. I also trust Sesshoumaru with Isane. Sesshoumaru can bring Isane back to us. I just know he can! So please...stop being so selfish if at least for Isane's sake."

Kouga sighed but stood up. He hesitated at first but relinquished Isane to Sesshoumaru. The taiyoukai nodded respectfully before looking again to Kagome, which had almost become the unlikeliest sort of ally he had ever had.

"I would like to do this alone..." Sesshoumaru said again giving Kagome a look and hoping that she would understand.

Kagome smiled. "I know, this will be hard for you. And we shall respect that and leave you two alone."

Kouga was about to object when Kagome gave him a rather threatening stare. He seemed subdued after that. No one dared to stop Sesshoumaru as he left the clearing, Isane in his arms.

ooo

Sesshoumaru walked away from the clearing distancing himself just enough to get privacy for what he was about to but not enough to put the two of them in danger. He then set Isane's limp form on the ground and simply stared at her. He knelt by her side and fingered the locks of hair on either side of her face that had turned white. He suddenly felt like it was all his fault. He should have been more careful. He should have watched out for her more. He had been careless.

She seemed so frail and weak. Something else was wrong besides her being trapped in endless dreams he decided. And he wondered if killing her was really the best idea he could come up with. He looked at her unconscious form and was decided. He couldn't stand being without her. He wanted her presence...he wanted her near him. He wanted to embrace her again and feel her slim arms embracing him in return.

Sesshoumaru removed the red haori from Isane, keeping his eyes averted as much as possible. Although there wasn't really much he hadn't seen already considering all the times he had been present for her restoration. Setting the Fenikkusu sword upon the folded haori Sesshoumaru unsheathed his spare sword and held it in his two hands. He then poised the sword over Isane's stomach, and actually hesitated. Looking down at her he found he almost couldn't do it.

'What am I doing? This isn't like me. I never would have hesitated with something like this before...before Isane. Has this woman changed me in some way? What's happening to me? Never mind, it's not like she'll die permanently...she'll be restored...right?' Sesshoumaru took a deep breath steeling himself before he ran Isane through.

In a few moments...a bit longer than Sesshoumaru had expected Isane's body was engulfed in flames. He then watched as her body convulsed and then burned to ashes. The ashes began to stir and become wet as they always had. But things seemed to be taking longer than usual.

Something was wrong.

Worry welled up in Sesshoumaru's chest as he looked down at Isane's ashes. He suddenly remembered the Tenseiga and held it above her prone body to see what was wrong. The sight before him shocked him to the core of his being. The worker-fairies that usually restored Isane back to life were working very slowly, as if they lacked the energy to complete the task at hand. Their small faces were haggard and drawn, they seemed short of breath, and several of the fairies were simply too weak to even aid the others in Isane's resurrection.

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened and he felt that he had made a terrible mistake. What if Isane wouldn't be restored? This would be all his fault. Her death would be on his hands. The Tenseiga still in his trembling hands, Sesshoumaru continued to watch as the worker fairies tried their best to form a clay body that resembled Isane. The clay was finally beginning to harden and the fairies looked fairly pleased that they had been able to make it so far. But the clay remained hardened and would not break.

"Isane...please come back to me." Sesshoumaru said in a low voice looking at the clay doll, which resembled the woman he deeply cared for. "Feng, God of the Moon, take pity upon one that carries your blood in their veins. Please let Isane come back to me." But still nothing happened. Sesshoumaru traced his finger along the clay cheek of Isane sadly. Her face must be very beautiful. He was saddened to think she had yet to show him her face. Why was that exactly? He shook his head. They were meaningless thoughts anyways if she would never reawaken.

"Isane..." Sesshoumaru said and saw a wet spot formed on the clay doll. Had he shed yet another tear for her?

Suddenly the clay began to break away and revealed the naked form of Isane. Her whole body was convulsing and she seemed to be in extreme pain. Sesshoumaru's eyes widened in horror when he saw that the wound he had inflicted in her stomach was still there. Also the two strands of white hair, which now hung on either side of her face, had not gone away. Something was wrong, something was horribly wrong.

Isane wrapped her arms around herself and curled up on her side. She reached out for her Noh mask and Sesshoumaru simply placed it in her waiting hand. Once she had it one her face she sharply looked back at Sesshoumaru. She then began to scream in horror.

Sesshoumaru was thoroughly startled and worried with what was going on. He let his instincts take over and he wrapped Isane into his arms trying to sooth her but it only seemed to make things worse. She struggled with all her might against him and he could feel hot blood seeping from her stomach onto him.

"Get away from me," Isane's soft but steely voice said. "Get away from me! You demon!"

Sesshoumaru felt stung and quickly released his hold upon Isane. She then crawled away from him like an animal and hissed at him much like a cat. "You stay away! You murderer! You tried to kill me!"

Sesshoumaru was bewildered that Isane knew about what he had done. But also had a feeling everything was a big misunderstanding.

"Isane...I only tried to resurrect you. You were in a coma and it was the only way." Sesshoumaru tried to reassure her.

"Lies!" Isane spat backing up into a tree. "You hate me and you tried to kill me! How dare you try and lie to me when the very evidence is in your hands!"

Sesshoumaru looked down at his hands surprised to see he still had the Tenseiga in his grasp. "Isane...it's not what you think. I would never try to kill you!"

"But you did! You tried to kill me with that abomination!" Isane pointed at the sword with a trembling finger. "With tha-that awful sword of yours! I will never forgive you for all the horrible things you said to me! I hate you! Get away from me! Ahhhh!!!! Someone help me! Someone please help! HELP!!!" Isane cried as loud as she could.

"Hush...Isane." Sesshoumaru was really worried. What had come over her to make her act this way? And as he looked back at her he saw that she was clutching her bleeding stomach, one arm wrapped tightly around it in an effort to stop the bleeding. "Isane I must treat that wound."

"You stay away, demon male!" Isane cried as Sesshoumaru approached her. But he simply ignored her cries and wrapped a sash about her midsection in an effort to stop the bleeding. There was really nothing else he could do. Isane clawed at his face as he treated her wound and Sesshoumaru had to pull away from her before she could do any more damage.

He noticed that Isane was beginning to mutter to herself and frowned. She had been making such progress to be reduced to this. That Shadow Demon would pay, Naraku would pay for whatever it was that he did to Isane exactly. She just wasn't the same. And she seemed to fear him without any logical reason...

'Fear...she fears me? But why...the Shadow Demon must have manipulated her dreams and turned them into a Nightmare. A Nightmare in which I must have tried to hurt her with the Tenseiga. That must be it! Damn that bastard Naraku. He will pay dearly for this.' Sesshoumaru clenched his fists at his side in sheer anger. But also felt this was somewhat his fault for having threatened Isane with the Tenseiga before. If only he hadn't done something that stupid.

Isane was beginning to laugh hysterically. "Death...Life...Death...Life...live...die...live...die. It's all I ever do. Am I alive? Am I dead? What's the difference. I'm both alive but I'm also dead. I should have died long ago. I should have died that day. Red...red blood flows down my wrists...hot...hot blood. Light...the light was so bright...so warm. She...so beautiful....wrists...stopped bleeding. Safe. Safe. Never alone. Love...how I love him! The power of love! Ahahahah!"

Suddenly Kouga entered the area Sesshoumaru and Isane were in. "What the hell is going on?" He asked quickly taking in the situation. Isane was bleeding from a wound in her stomach, which had been wrapped. But she was obviously crazed and afraid. Sesshoumaru was lost in thought and seemingly didn't care at all about what was happening to Isane. "Bastard! What did you do to Isane? Isane are you alright?" Kouga used the speed provided by his Shikon shards to be by Isane's side in an instant.

Isane slowly tilted her head up to look at Kouga. Suddenly she let out a sharp cry and flung her arms around his neck, pressing her naked body to his. "I'm so afraid...he...he tried to kill me. Help me please! Don't leave me alone with him! I'm so afraid!" Isane murmured as she trembled against Kouga.

Kouga quickly wrapped his arms around her and tried to comfort her. "Shhh it's alright now. I won't let anyone hurt you least of all him." Kouga shot Sesshoumaru a look.

Sesshoumaru simply looked at Kouga blankly too hurt by Isane's state of mind and reaction to him to do or say much of anything. He never thought it could hurt so much to be treated so coldly by Isane but it did. Awareness filled Sesshoumaru and he bent his head in defeat thinking back to what Kagura had told him. Maybe if he had confronted his feeling about Isane sooner she wouldn't be in this predicament.

'It seems I care for the wench...I never should have let her out of my sight. Not for an instant.'

Sesshoumaru suddenly sensed the Shadow Demon and hate welled up inside of him. A hate so pure and precise that he transformed into his demonic form instantly. He had set his red gaze upon his prey and he would make sure it didn't escape him. Leaving Isane in Kouga's care he ran after the Shadow Demon.

ooo

The hairs on the back of Kagura's neck stood up on end. She knew something was up. She flew threw the air as quickly as she could on her feather. Knowing she just had to find Sesshoumaru and knowing that he was in some kind of danger. She could sense him...he was alone and getting closer to the location of Naraku's shadow. A scowl formed on Kagura's red lips. She had warned him of the demon, and had even told him what he had to do in order to defeat it. And now he was off putting himself carelessly in danger.

"Sesshoumaru!" Kagura cried as she sped down through the air towards him. He had transformed and was in his full dog demon form she noted. "Sesshoumaru stop! Where do you think you're going?! You can't face that demon alone! If you do you'll die!"

Sesshoumaru simply ignored her and continued his pursuit.

"Sesshoumaru you idiot!" Kagura growled. "You're going to go and get yourself killed! You can't defeat that demon alone! You have to wait for Isane! You and Isane can defeat it together!"

Sesshoumaru looked up at Kagura at this point and sent her a message telepathically. 'Stay out of my way Wind Sorceress this doesn't concern you.'

Kagura felt hurt, after all she was sincerely worried for Sesshoumaru's well being. "Fine be that way you stubborn bastard!" Kagura yelled at him, words which were far from what she wished she could have said. 'Oh, Sesshoumaru...it does concern me...I don't want you to die...'

Kagura watched in pain as Sesshoumaru continued on his way and knew what she had to do. She had to go and get Isane. She was his only hope.

Kagura quickly sped off in the direction in which she sensed the strange woman to be in, her rival. Kagura sighed. There was nothing she could do about it at the moment. Sesshoumaru's well being was more important than any rivalry for Sesshoumaru's heart. And she knew deep down that Isane was the only one that could save him, from himself.

ooo

Japanese trans:

Kigi: Fear

To be continued...