Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Par Tout Autre Nom ❯ Chaos of a Beating Heart ( Chapter 37 )

Disclaimers: Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho belong respectively to Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi.

A/N: -tries very hard too look innocent- Now, now… I keep saying be patient an it'll all make sense eventually, don't I? -grin- Everything in that last chapter happened the way it did for a reason, but… you didn't really expect me to make it that easy, did you?? -tsking- honestly. Really, though, this chapter will have answers, and yes, a lot of answers. So a few things you might be going "huh?" about should clear up (F.C.Chibi ^.~). But that's the only spoiler you get! -shakes finger scoldingly- So stop getting ahead of yourselves and making the cliffhangers harder on your psyche than they already sound like they are. LOL! This one was going to get cut in half too, but… then I kinda figured that it's nearly 40 chapters in, and you deserve a few more answers, ne?

Ahhh, much love time, as always. My junkies, chat buddies, reviewers and readers. You're fabulous and wonderful and I adore you all, as you should know by now!! Why else would I put so much into cranking these babies out as quickly? Okay, so maybe I'm scared of Kazusa, but I do it because I love you guys too. You really make my day when you tell me what you enjoy when you're reading, and your thoughts. -super ultra glomps- You're the best!

<~*~*~*~>

By Any Other Name

~Chaos of a Beating Heart~

Kaze looked up briefly, his fingers still poised above the Go board moments before the wind in the courtyard went into a violent frenzy. Dirt and ki swirled up, reaching for something human eyes couldn't see as a blur of white dropped from the sky, hovering to a stop barely a breath above allowing anything more than the energy behind the halted impact to flare outwards. But even that was enough to send chairs and plants crashing over, hair and clothes whipping about fiercely as the unsuspecting family members caught in its path quickly braced against those brutal forces.

Kaze's expression stayed as bland as ever with the exception of one eyebrow arching high when Sesshoumaru's feet came down lightly on the ground and sucked all the winds and ki back into himself like a back draft, leaving a heavy silence weighing in the air before he turned on his heel and stalked towards his private structures. Yet the real curiosity, the thing drawing the young monk's attention was the small youkai draped limply over the taiyoukai's shoulder, all that black standing out in stark contrast to the impeccable white of Sesshoumaru's most traditional attire to make his presence unmistakable.

Before Kaze could think to follow or question, he felt one of the Go pieces smack against his forehead and turned back to his cousin curiously, "What was that for?"

"Can you at least pretend the wind doesn't talk to you for one day?" Shinju prodded without looking at him, sitting back with feigned laziness as he stuffed his hands into the sleeves of his kimono. "I would like to make-believe that you can be surprised the same way I can be when he makes dramatic entrances like that."

Kaze blew out an annoyed sigh, turning back to the board and pressing down his piece to close off his cousin's strategy as though they'd never been interrupted, "Are you going to keep up with that lie forever?"

"It's worked so far," Shinju's smile was smug and quite a bit less innocent than he showed when others surrounded him. "You should try it sometime, Kaze. So many headaches can be avoided if you let them think your senses are dulled like as the rest of the family."

"Otou-sama was correct when he told me that you would be a constant source of frustration in my life," Kaze returned in a mild tone, waiting for the predictable turning up of his younger cousin's nose before he added, "and Okaa-sama is not fooled by your insistences or antics."

There was more genuine warmth in his expression as Shinju turned to watch their lord's progress until he vanished into the trees with his cargo, "Kaa-san has never been fooled by anything we do, Kaze, you know that just as well as I do. But Tou-san was right… she's willing to fake it and play with us."

For a moment there was nothing around them but the murmur of voices raised in speculation over the abnormal morning activity as they sat in companionable silence, the mundane noise punctuated by the soft tap of their pieces as they laid them down. Another moment, and Kaze's eyes lifted to peer over the rim of his glasses at his fidgeting cousin, letting a smile cross his lips as he gave in and reassured him, "Okaa-sama is fine."

"You're sure of that?" Shinju demanded in a serious voice, grinding his teeth together against the urge to leave in search of Sesshoumaru and that youkai they'd met only briefly. "What if he's not-?"

"He would have been more angry if there had been a problem of that sort, Shinju," he nodded, voice purposefully softening to act as a soothing balm for the other monk's anxiety. "Hiei-san was asleep, but there were no wounds. Sesshoumaru-sama was probably only acting out his anger to calm himself and prevent potential difficulties in bringing him to such a state."

"Wounds are not exclusive to the surface of the skin," Shinju shook his head with a deep sigh, looking far older and more serious than normal, but still closing his eyes and focusing on the meditative sound of polished stone on wood rather than more adding to that remark.

"True," Kaze acknowledged quietly, glancing off in the direction the taiyoukai had gone again. "Even so… there is no one more qualified to make that call and handle things should the need arise. We are both aware that Sesshoumaru-sama will not allow mistakes of the past to be repeated."

They allowed a few more minutes to pass, intently staring at their pieces as they searched for a weakness in the other's strategy before Shinju turned his wrist to stare at the digital display, "Think it's time?"

"You're only saying that because you're losing," Kaze's lips twitched, but he nodded and rose to his feet, tugging the obi loose until he could unwind the material and lie it carefully on his chair before shrugging out of the kimono while Shinju mimicked his actions across the table. He knelt, digging out their boots and tossing the correct pair to his cousin as they straightened the modernized taijiya attire with practiced ease.

"Five hundred yen says he's made copies and resorted to mazing by now," Shinju grinned as he tied his mask in place and let out a piercing whistle back towards the main house.

"I'll take that bet," Kaze smirked and nodded as he slipped off his glasses and laid them gently on the abandoned board. Checking his katanas meticulously and patting down the rest of the hidden arsenal and tools, he habitually made certain everything was in its place by the time the rush of heat drew their gaze up to the twin-tailed youkai bounding across the roof.

"C'mon, Kirara!" Shinju waved cheerfully, slinging the Hiraikotsu across his back. "Let's go save Uncle Shippou before the other kitsune and his friends decide to eat him."

<::………::>

If he had been a creature of any less noble blood and breeding, Sesshoumaru might have given into the urge to openly snarl out every crude, murderous thought pounding in his head with every step closer to the undisturbed privacy of his personal home. He might have given in to the urge to melt the trees down to nothing, rip the walls around them to pieces, devour the kitsune avatar and all his friends on the spot-

Sesshoumaru allowed a faint smirk to curve his lips upward at the mental image accompanying that thought, decided that particularly pleasant fantasy would in no way diminish his carefully maintained reputation. But even so, it was still nearly impossible to convince himself not to tear the shoji in half, rather forcing his clawed fingers to calmly, silently push the delicate barrier aside to admit his entry before closing it behind him the same way.

His eyes shifted towards Hiei when he felt the hybrid's aura react to their surroundings, the familiar pulse and lazy flow of youki making a careful search of the chamber until it retracted to wait, sending out impressions of expectancy that served to calm his temper a slight degree.

"Yes, you know where we are," he raised his other hand, the air in the chamber rising up in a chaotic spiral as he cleared everything from the center of the room without a passing thought to items he could hear breaking in their "reorganization."

With that completed, it was even more tempting to shrug the hybrid off his shoulder and let him simply drop to the floor in repayment for the headache he could feel starting right behind his eyes, but he resisted the juvenile urge as he had all the others and carried him to the cleared space. However, he wasn't above pulling the youkai off with one hand tangled unceremoniously in the back of his shirt, holding him at arms length and letting him dangle in front of him for a brief perusal. The taiyoukai allowed his expression a moment to show the full extent of his incensed disgust before schooling those emotions back to his bland mask and forcing himself to lower the motionless form gently to the ground.

Sesshoumaru knelt slowly, pressing the tip of one finger against the Hiei's shoulder to roll him flat onto his back and drag down across his shirt until that claw came to hover over the smaller youkai's heartbeat, "You are a bothersome thing to force this Sesshoumaru's return, to bring my miko into dangerous circumstances…"

He didn't expect an obvious response given the state of incapacitation Hiei was currently suffering, but instead waited until the youki flowing through his body swayed and gathered itself inward protectively, reacting to the heavy censure in his soft growl.

Satisfied at the calming of the aura and pulse back down into a steady rhythm, Sesshoumaru lowered hand enough for his claw to rest firmly on Hiei's sternum, pressing a second beside it as well before dragging them downwards. He watched dispassionately as the fabric sliced open beneath his fingers, two symmetrical hairline wounds welling up with blood in the wake of his claws until he came to a pause just above the hybrid's navel. An ominous crackle filled the air, energy arcing from Sesshoumaru's palm to the body below him and causing Hiei's muscles to jump and twitch in response to the dance of unfamiliar power over their surface when the taiyoukai's brows lowered in disapproval.

"Foolish creature," Sesshoumaru murmured quietly, splaying his fingers out wide as the energy darkened to a lurid shade of purple and moved in a more deliberate pattern, tracing circles around the center beat of life within the hybrid, learning the vibrations that would identify his aura, the feelings that were so very different from one being to the next. "Do not believe yourself strong enough to fight this Sesshoumaru in this fashion. You would not survive your failure," his hand raised, watching patiently until the searching energy snaked out in a faint circle where his fingertips had rested previously, marking a place.

The magic had barely touched to complete the identifying shape when Sesshoumaru's hand was plunging downwards into Hiei's stomach, ignoring the way the body lurched, back arching up against the violent intrusion of that appendage while his aura made a more concentrated effort to throw it out.

Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow at the black fire sparking to life around his arm, eyes narrowing as he leaned his weight into the steady push deeper, focusing all of his ki forward until the resistance against his fingertips bowed and gave way.

"No one takes what belongs to this Sesshoumaru, hybrid," he intoned quietly, casting a look up at the taut lines of Hiei's expression. His lips pulled up off his fangs in a blatant threat when he felt the unconscious aura trying to gather itself more threateningly, brushing it aside as he impossibly sunk his arm down into the smaller body nearly to the shoulder.

Hiei's mouth fell open in a soundless scream as he reacted to the hand searching so meticulously and intrusively through him, sucking in gulps of air audibly as his hands clenched into fists against the bamboo slats of the floor.

And still he paid no mind, face devoid of expression as he dragged his claws back and forth until Sesshoumaru's fingers finally brushed up against what he had been searching for. Closing them with care to maintain his hold, he leaned back and drew his hand up slowly to prevent causing a potentially deadly shock to the youkai's soul… at least until he determined whether or not this Hiei was deserving of such a technique.

That same brow arched higher when the absent thought sent a jolt up his arm, the pulse within the hybrid's aura taking up a discordant rhythm with his heart the higher his arm rose out of the unconscious youkai. Sesshoumaru paused, still buried to the elbow while he waited until the violet flames surrounding his intrusion expanded outward to wind around the more aggressive streaks of black, steadily absorbing it until the last of the threat was gone.

His lips twisted briefly in sardonic amusement when he felt the energy against his hand reluctantly peeling away, coming fluidly to his knees, "Yes… it is difficult, isn't it? Feeling such warmth and power inside you, and feeling it being taken away an inch at a time… But it is not for you. Release it."

The violet fire grew brighter in response to his voice, wrapping around his hand and up his arm to suppress the last resistance in Hiei's aura and cling to him instead. Sesshoumaru nodded in approval, lifting up and out of the hybrid until he could see the delicate, grey-tinted hand clasped within his own and contrasting harshly against his pale skin.

He breathed out a faint sigh when the slender fingers twitched, spreading out wide before they curled to weakly hold onto his hand in return as he rolled smoothly to his feet, watching that dark fire release his errant miko little by little until he was holding her suspended with her feet still dangling inside Hiei's arched form.

"Step out of him, Kagome," Sesshoumaru lowered his voice in consideration for what he knew her condition would be, tightening his fingers to encourage her glassy eyes to open and turn in his direction, grey and dulled, but still aware. Good…

Again he waited, all his senses closely focused on her as she obviously gathered her conscious thoughts back into herself, lips parting and closing when she decided against whatever she'd been about to say and instead obediently bent first one knee to lift her foot and shakily place it on the floor, then the other.

His arms were ready when her legs buckled, her drained limbs trying to drop her to the floor as her body readjusted to its surroundings and the overload of raw youki that left her natural color drained to that inhuman ash grey. Kagome lifted eyes barely held open to look at his face again when he swept his haori over her naked shoulders, trying to curl in on herself when her entire aura gave off an audible pulse, expanding power outward in a violent shiver that pushed the already disrupted contents of the room harder against the walls.

Sesshoumaru slid his hand into her hair, pulling it aside as he lowered her to the ground, turning to look at Hiei when she convulsed and let out a choking cough. He frowned sharply when he heard the thick sound of liquid hitting wood on the heels of the strongest convulsion, nose twitching in rebellion at the heavy metallic scent of blood. Moving his other hand to offer support to her shaking body, he retracted the range of his senses to tell him clearly just how much blood she'd just expelled, but his gaze remained on the energy he could still see sparking across the hybrid youkai's aura.

His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits when those tracing flames shot upwards along his sweat-dotted skin, making circles just below his throat before sucking into his body and each throwing off faint pulses of their own as they burned away the last of the fabric holding his shirt together over the chest.

Under Sesshoumaru's darkening scowl, the last of the energy chased itself up to that single spot just below the sternal notch. The sudden hissing sounded unnaturally loud in the stillness of the room as steam rose up in a slow curl from the hybrid's skin, the familiar magic snapping across his throat and flaring blindingly bring a single time before fading to leave nothing behind the pale symbol etched precisely in place until the sight was blurred by the rise of blood.

"You cannot possibly fathom how deeply in trouble you have just become, miko," Sesshoumaru murmured quietly, letting her hair slide out of his fingers in favor of pulling down the haori to press that palm flat against the intricate symbol glowing its answer in deep, lurid red on her bared upper back, waiting for the convulsions to end.

<::………::>

Shippou snarled as he crashed against the ground yet again, dodging the whip that lashed out towards his throat through sheer habit alone as he twisted out of the way and bounded back to his feet. He stood poised warily, attention split three ways and waiting for the next attack as he took stock of his own injuries and brushed them aside for inconsequential. But even so, his shoulders heaved slightly, breathing hard as his eyes continuously darted around the grove to be certain he had their full attention for as long as Sesshoumaru deemed it necessary.

It probably wouldn't have been so bad. Even at their power levels, he might have been able to manage this distraction with words alone if Kurama hadn't tried to search for Kagome's aura on the heels of Sesshoumaru's departure. It was bad enough that she was nowhere to been seen, but the second the kitsune had reached the broken rock and knelt down with that carefully blank expression on his face, Shippou had known he was in trouble.

I should have known she wouldn't risk hurting that damn thing even in this situation, he gritted his teeth as his eyes returned to the vine wrapped around Kurama's wrist, scowling at the way it alternately mewled pathetically, casting about for the missing aura until it caught sight of him and started to hiss it's anger. Even if he hadn't been able to understand what it was saying, it wasn't difficult to see that the plant blamed Shippou for its inability to find its mistress, not to mention the rage it could feel pouring off its much beloved master the longer they faced off in the destroyed grove.

"I'm going to ask you again, kit," Kurama growled out darkly, eyes flashing bright gold as he took a step forward menacingly. "Where is Kagome?"

"Sesshoumaru collected her," Shippou repeated in exasperation, trying not to wince at the pain that chased down his spine for a moment, nervously slanting a look towards the main house at the telltale echo. "I told you, Kurama, she's fine and she's safe. She's stronger than you seem to think she is if you expect something like this to stop her."

"He was only holding Hiei," Kurama squeezed his hands into fists, not taking the bait to change the subject as he bit back the urge to strangle the kitsune standing so tense and flighty in front of them. What the hell is going on here?

"Ah-Un picked her up," Shippou shrugged, grinding his teeth and mentally cursing every twisted god of Fate that he could think of in bringing another kitsune into their midst. He could have lived with any other breed but another of his own kind, another one who wouldn't be so easily put off with smooth lies and half-truths, "You weren't paying attention, and that's why you missed it."

`How stupid does he think we are?' Youko hissed out furiously, folding his arms as well to stop his own desires to tear the boy in half and to hell with the consequences. `And what the fuck is "Ah-Un?"'

"You don't really think I'm so young and trusting that I'd fall for that do you?" Kurama drawled out at Youko's prodding, lifting his hand up to encourage more vines to break away from his whip, growing and braiding themselves together around his arm in preparation to attack him a different way. "You're lying… and you've been lying about her since we first met."

Shippou's eyes narrowed, pushing himself up straighter as he wiped the blood away from his chin, "Your mistake is thinking I have some obligation to tell you the truth about anything that involves my sister or what we do. Whether I'm lying or not, it makes no difference when any answer I give you is a favor. You aren't even supposed to be here."

`Push him,' Youko instructed in a low murmur. `Look at his eyes… he's confused and hurting inside, too much pressure and he'll snap, get careless. If we can push him that far, he'll tell us what we want to know, and we can beat him even with that damn holy magic in his swords.'

You're certain of that? Kurama demanded.

`Positive,' he nodded in answer. `It's one of my best tactics, but it works best on volatile temperaments. He hasn't come down from that crazed-high he went through yet, he's been unsettled by something badly in whatever had hold of him when we found him, it's obvious. His control is going to crack and he'll strike out at the nearest thing.'

Us.

`Exactly,' Youko's smile was dark. `Then we can get him to tell us the truth about what the fuck happened to Kagome and Hiei when they took that attack. Someone took her, and we are going to find out who and when, or we're going to start destroying everything that belongs to Sesshoumaru until he gives us the answers we want.'

Or kills us, Kurama pointed out, not nearly as certain of their victory against the taiyoukai as his counterpart seemed to be.

`We will not die by the hands of these youkai,' Youko promised him in a low whisper, winding his arms deep into their soul. `Push him, Kurama.'

"Now you're lying to yourself too if you think I'll be satisfied with that," Kurama's lips pulled up in an instinctive threat when he and Youko blended to make that statement. "My lover was bleeding and in pain, something hit her hard enough to suck the energy out of my rose and revert it to a seed where she should have been. Sesshoumaru comes flying out of Makai and kidnaps my friend, and now you're standing here as though you have any right to get in my way? You're damn lucky I don't rip you apart right here for this disrespect."

"Don't flatter yourself, Red," Shippou spat out, hunching down with a low-rising growl as his frustration found a convenient outlet for release at this arrogant kitsune trying to take away his sister a second time. The fear was still there, too close to the surface for his peace of mind, and with it came every protective need he'd ever had for the girl who'd given him another chance, another family, "Better youkai than you have been trying and failing to kill me for centuries, which is more than I can say for you, isn't it, avatar?"

Yuusuke and Kurabara nervously backed away from Kurama when they actually felt the growl vibrating off his body, looking up at his eyes to see the irises glowing scarlet as he focused all that chilling rage on Shippou, "Kur-?"

"Your relationship to Kagome is the only reason I haven't tortured you into a slow, agonizing insanity," Youko completely ignored the men flanking him as he took control enough to snarl out that warning in a flat, deadly voice at that insulting jibe. "But then, your words are brave when you know you have a near-invincible taiyoukai at your back to clean up whatever mess your mouth might make, aren't they?"

"I clean up my own messes," Shippou denied that, bristling at the implication he was still nothing but a worthless child, having to rely on the strength of others… just like he had in the distant past. He gritted his teeth hard against the nearly crushing wave of guilt that swept through him as his eyes darted around the smoldering grove, No. It's not the same! I'm better than I was then, I can fight! I can help-

"In the end it was Hiei who had to step in and handle this one, wasn't it?" Kurama taunted, dragging the taunt across the kitsune's senses with great precision when he saw the shadows flash through his eyes to prove its effectiveness. "You fell apart and went berserk… who knows what would have happened if we hadn't been here to save your-"

"It's YOUR fault he's even coming after her again in the first place!" Shippou shot forward so quickly that Kurama barely managed to dodge the swing of those swords, flipping out of the way as the younger kitsune stayed low to the ground with a feral twist to his lips and a purely animal snarl. "You disrupted the pattern, the peace we had… You make her wish for things she had to leave behind!"

Youko smirked coldly from inside their mind, the dangerous growl still pouring through him just as strongly as through Kurama, `Ah, that's it… Get angry. It's so much easier to guide them when they let go… so be a good kit and spill out those lovely secrets for us.'

"Things like her husband?" Kurama's eyes gleamed with shielded excitement at the thought of getting more answers to his questions on that topic, feeling both Yuusuke and Kurabara turning startled looks at him and belatedly remembering they hadn't been present at Kouga's appearance. Shaking off the potential mess he was starting, he pressed on, "Did you kill him for taking her away from you too? Is that how he died?"

"How dare you suggest we would have laid a hand on Miroku!" Shippou landed a kick to his stomach that sent him back against a tree hard enough to feel the ancient wood crack beneath his back. "No one was more upset when he died that I was, but a selfish bastard like you wouldn't understand what our family went through to get to where we are now."

Kurama's smile was cold as he blew out a heavy breath and pushed himself away from the trunk, moving his arms to be certain he hadn't broken anything as he took in the red glow flickering in the other kitsune's eyes, I think I can live with that to finally have a name. We've heard that before, Miroku… when she first touched us, she thought we were her husband.

`Now the interesting question to that will be why,' Youko nodded smugly, touching the tip of his tongue to one fang at the success off his plan. `Why was she expecting a fully grown man to have the soul of a husband who can't have been dead more than a few years?'

Yes, that will be interesting, won't it? Kurama twisted his head to encourage his neck to pop and release the stiffness that had gripped those joints.

"I don't have time for this," Shippou's lip curled up in disdain, chin kicking up at a positively regal angle as he flicked both swords and sheathed them in an expert motion before reaching into his torn shirt to find three of his enchanted leaves. "You're trespassing, and you should know as well as any youkai that it gives me the right to kill you."

"You think you can do that, Shippou?" Kurama challenged, making his posture as casual as possible while his aura stayed warily attuned to the energy he was pouring into those leaves. He's panicking, he knows he just screwed up by telling us that much.

`Not yet… but he's definitely putting all this frustration on our head,' Youko tilted his head to regard the kitsune. `It has to be something about that memory he was going through, all this has to be connected, there's just no other way. Look at him, Kurama, his hands are shaking.'

"I will protect Kagome," Shippou replied in a hard voice, showing in no uncertain terms that he intended to do just that, regardless of the cost.

`On one hand, I admire his loyalty,' Youko chuckled softly, very little humor in the sound as their ki again flowed together in preparation to the promise he could see in the kitsune's eyes. `And we can be certain that our lover is safe in his care, he'd defend her to his last breath.'

That's going to make it hard to get him out of the way without killing him, Kurama frowned slightly at that thought, glancing around at the plants at their disposal. Shippou was already drawing his energy off the forest to make it easier to fight all three of them, but even his focus was straining the longer they had to keep up the constant battle. And they were a considerably older kitsune than he was, "You can't win, Shippou. Even if you manage to beat me, what about Yuusuke? Kurabara? Can you fight us all? You don't want to kill us, I can see it in your eyes."

Shippou let out a bark of rude laughter, "Oh? What do you think I want to do? March you up to the main house and have tea? Don't flatter yourself, Kurama, I have my orders and I'll do what I have to."

"Then so will we," Kurama nodded, sliding his feet into a more open stance. "You will not keep me away from her."

"She doesn't need you," Shippou shook his head, flinging out the leaves and smirking when Kurama was forced to leap away from the holy power lashing out around them as the trees groaned and swept their branches around to strike him.

`So he wants to play with plants, does he?' Youko's lips curved in a feral smile, feeling their eyes spark bright scarlet as he turned and held out a hand to the tree, expounding his youki in a forceful wave to exert his dominance and end the attack. `All right, little kit, let's play with plants.'

Shippou flipped agilely away from the return swing of the tree, eyes widening in alarm when Kurama pulled back his arm and plunged the vine blade he'd created down into the ground. His eyes flashed as he expanded his aura, trying to feel what the older kitsune had intended, but the attempt to dodge came a second too late as those vines ripped out of the ground beneath his feet and latched onto his ankles to slam him back down.

Kurama smirked briefly when he heard the rising curses from the boy pinned effectively to the grass by his vines as they separated and continued to wind themselves around his body to keep him right where the older kitsune directed. Carefully he focused on releasing his arm from the other end, keeping only his whip and the rose he fully intended to wrap around Kagome's wrist himself to be certain it didn't find itself away from her again.

Youko chuckled inside his mind, folding their arms again as they walked towards that seething bundle of kit jerking against the inescapable bonds of his net, `Careful… your friends will accuse you that you really have gained some sort of fetish for- what did Hiei call it? Organic bondage?'

You really have the worst timing on occasion, Kurama rolled his eyes, feeling more than seeing his two friends cautiously approaching from behind him as they stared down at Shippou's mutinous expression. Now is not the time to discuss sexual preferences.

`Oh! So you are into bondage,' Youko grinned widely, highly entertained by the idea that even in the midst of this extreme mess, he could still find a way to tease his counterpart about such things.

"Showing me your bedroom tricks isn't impressing me, you know," Shippou muttered sourly, unaware that he'd just continued on the same vein as Youko. His eyebrow twitched when they came close enough to get the full effect of his glare as the bite of the plants began to force his mind back down to a calmer state, "I'm flattered, really, but you're not anywhere close to my type."

Youko snickered at the muttered curses that brought from Kurama as a few helpless laughs snuck through his friends as well when the idea clicked in their heads and took on a whole new light, `They'll never look at your whip the same way again.'

There are times you make me hate myself, Kurama reached up and rubbed his hand over his eyes, on one hand grateful that Shippou was a kitsune and could just as easily bounce from his dangerous mood to a more agreeable one as his own other half. But on the other hand… he was a kitsune, and there would be a trade-off somewhere, which apparently had translated for Shippou into sarcasm and innuendo, two of their favorite fallbacks.

Sighing irritably, Kurama flicked a hand to tighten to vines and spread him out in a more vulnerable position, making sure he wouldn't be swinging his swords anytime soon, "If I ever lost my mind enough to feel the need to show you my `bedroom tricks,' you would know. Now let's try this again, where is my-"

"Hiraikotsu!"

Reflex had them leaping away from the restrained kitsune just as they finally had a chance to see what that massive boomerang looked like flying through the air, curiously trailing it back to the boy standing like an acrobat on a sizeable flying cat above them. Shinju held his hand up, catching the handle on the return and bearing the force of it's path with practiced ease as he brought it to rest, "Oi, Uncle, what are you playing around for? Sesshoumaru-sama said to be serious!"

The popping sound brought Kurama's gaze back down to his trap, gritting his teeth when he saw the little fox spring away from the loosened vines and transform back into his least-favorite investigator with a shake of his head, Dammit all… this is setting us back!

Kirara landed with a growl for the three watching their addition tensely, tossing her head back as the two humans slid off and gave her reassuring pats to calm her own need to go to Shippou's defense.

"What the hell is that thing?" Yuusuke demanded, pointing at Kirara as his own strained temper searched for an outlet. "Where did you two come from?"

"This is not a thing, this is Kirara, and she's been in our family for generations," Kaze informed him crisply, offended at the insult to their guardian. "As for where we came from, Sesshoumaru-sama is a firm believer in having all bases covered."

"Never would have guessed," he muttered out, sharing a frustrated look with Kurama as Shippou moved to stand with the taijiya, rubbing at his healing wrists as calmly as if he hadn't been staked out at their mercy less than a minute ago. "So what are you planning to do? Try to kill us?"

"We'd rather not, especially since Kagome-sama is so fond of you, but I don't suppose there's any way that you'd agree to be patient and wait for Sesshoumaru to return your friend is there?" Shinju shrugged, reaching up to rub the back of his head as his eyes creased in a way that showed he was smiling at them behind the mask.

"Is there any way you'll tell us why he kidnapped Hiei in the first place?" Kurama returned the question, cocking his head to one side as the vine on his arm mewled again and reached out for the pair. It can feel her on them?

`They might have been the ones who pulled the pickup then,' Youko regarded the boys more alertly, trying to detect how long ago they'd been in contact with Kagome, and more importantly, in what state. `With that fire cat, they could have made it in without us seeing it, and they could have just as easily gotten away over the fight in all the smoke.'

Shinju and Kaze were shaking their heads in unison before Shinju answered them, "Sorry, I can't tell you that, but I can assure you that he's not dead, and he'll return to you on his own once he wakes up."

"What about Kagome?" he rested one hand on his hip, mind racing for a way to trick them into directing all their focus on Yuusuke and Kurabara long enough to slip past them without getting anyone killed.

"Sesshoumaru-sama will take care of her," Kaze lifted his swords up into a classic defensive position beside his brother. "Her injuries are not fatal, but she will need time to rest and recover."

`Then she was hurt,' Youko's eyes darkened in anger, elongating their fangs in reflex to his rising anger. `And they won't let us see her?'

"You can't stop me from going to her," Kurama murmured softly, dipping his chin just enough to hide his eyes beneath his bangs.

Shinju sighed, hefting the boomerang and giving him an apologetic shrug, "Sorry… but that's exactly what we intend to do."

<::………::>

"Nice of you to let me stop throwing up half my weight in blood before you started to scowl again," Kagome whispered, forehead resting on the floor as she focused on very carefully breathing in and out against the pain rushing through her with every beat of her heart.

"This Sesshoumaru can be solicitous when the situation calls for it," he snorted, just before she felt his palm come down flat on her back, pressing on the darkly glowing symbols as the cooling flood of his own youki forced its way in.

Kagome nearly moaned in relief, shoulders slumping and sinking down until she was sitting on her knees with her upper body draped down weakly over the floor, trying not to think too hard of the smear of blood leading from her current position to the disturbingly sizeable stain the taiyoukai had dragged her away from, "Don't stop doing that. Please."

Sesshoumaru watched the grey tint around the pulsing marks ripple and lighten, letting out his own sigh of relief at seeing her purification reawakening slowly, "You will now explain to this Sesshoumaru when your intelligence left you and made jumping into a strange hybrid youkai appear to be an option. You were not in need of another carrier, miko."

"I know that," her fingers weakly curled into fists, letting her eyes drift closed against the disjointed feeling of Hiei's darkest emotions beating at her soul, crying and screaming against the purification that rose to contain it and meld it with all the others. "It was a reflex, and I didn't intend to get absorbed, but… his desire at the moment we faced the explosion was to protect me from injury. I couldn't stop it when we hit the rock, I just… I just slipped inside."

"Does he understand what happened, miko?" Sesshoumaru turned to scowl at the unconscious youkai he'd intentionally moved off to the side, just in case.

Kagome shook her head, "No. I could feel it. He's never had someone inside his soul like that and there was a lot of smoke, so he was misinterpreting what his senses told him."

"He was, or you were guiding those interpretations?" he arched an eyebrow, but felt a tiny curl of amusement at the hint he could hear in her voice, proven by the way she squirmed in embarrassment at the accusation.

"Like I said, Sesshoumaru, it was an accident," she grumbled, taking in a shaky breath when the tangled youki expanded against her efforts to restrain it, sensing the power so close at hand. "I didn't think you'd appreciate if I told him he'd just absorbed the Shikon-no-Tama, and managed to join the family."

"Then his sanity is still intact?"

"The circle wouldn't be there if it wasn't, you know that," Kagome scolded quietly, the majority of her attention turning inward, fighting to soothe the violent emotions and coax them down to accept her powers rather than attempt to singularly possess them. "You didn't hurt him, did you?"

"He is uninjured," Sesshoumaru didn't sound overly enthusiastic about that particular fact, shifting his hand to add more of his youki to her aura when he sensed the new streak of rebellion. "For the moment."

"You were worse," Kagome snorted, wishing she had the energy to roll her eyes. "It'll settle down, trust me… it's just… not a very easy aura to pull in. He's used to housing a lot of pain and torment, but he has it under control."

"For his sake, you had best be correct, miko," his fingers curled, letting the very tips of his claws contact her skin and rise tiny pools of pale violet fire as her aura naturally attempted to retreat into the familiar presence. "This Sesshoumaru will not hesitate to rend his soul from your body and his own should it prove too wild to control. This creature will not be allowed to become a danger to our family, even if you desire to protect the things you possess."

"He'll be a strong ally," she whispered, bringing one arm down to wrap around her stomach as the pulse inside expanded with more force. "I know you felt it, and his mind was still his own the entire time. He won't be one of the ones that has to be absorbed, Sesshoumaru, he'll stay in one piece even after he finds out how his powers were enhanced."

"But that is the question now, Kagome," Sesshoumaru leaned down, making certain her hair was moved aside to whisper in her ear. "Now he is sleeping, and has no knowledge of what has changed within his soul… The insanity has waited to come to others when they wake, it may still corrupt him."

"If that happens, I'll take him myself, you know I will," her brows furrowed in agitation, shuddering when too much attention left the painstaking adjustment, dragging another spasm through her already aching body.

Sesshoumaru's hand stayed a steadying presence throughout it all, the low hum of his youki calming her senses and buffering against the darkness within until the tremor had passed. Holding her hair aside when it brought a new wave of tainted blood to be vomited out, and gathering her up against him when it left her weak and shaking violently in the aftershocks.

Finally, Sesshoumaru's hand lifted to circle her throat, carefully pulling until she was again sitting on her knees, but this time half-dangling from his hand as he kept her weight suspended to straighten her spine, "Come into me, miko. This Sesshoumaru will offer the protection of his soul until your own is healed."

Kagome's lips curved in a faint smile of gratitude even as her eyes opened a slit and flashed scarlet in the deepening shadows of the room as her soul warmed to the command, reaching backwards and letting her body follow suit until the hard wall of his chest softened against her. A long sigh of pleasure left her lips at the potent flood of youki pushing out the pain and soreness the more her senses blurred and extended to lock into his offered soul until her eyes slipped closed and the last of her body faded into the stoic taiyoukai.

Sesshoumaru's entire form gave off a heavy, disjointed pulse as the mark below his own throat flared to life and hummed deeply under the power thickening his blood with its intoxicating warmth. His head tilted back, taking in a deep breath through his nose as the nearly overwhelming feeling settled firmly into place, expertly quieting the pulse and leaving him with the well-known tingling sensations tracing across his skin. Whispering all it secrets and strengths to his body, light and heavy all at once… like a fullness, or a sense of completion.

Like being whole.

Sesshoumaru chuckled softly, the warmth and privacy bringing the emotion much closer to the surface as he dipped his head in agreement to Kagome's purred description, "Yes, miko. We feel whole."