Disclaimer: OOC-ness in the characters may be observed. Story may be a little too melodramatic. But you have been warned. :)

Price of Betrayal, an InuYasha: The Final Act post-canon story. (I tried to be as canon as possible, though I added some elements)

Written in different POV's. The first one that we have here is Sesshomaru's.

Price of Betrayal

A Gothic Romance

Kagome and Inuyasha were born for each other; their fingers were tied to each other by the Red String of Fate. It was told that the string may stretch and tangle, but it will never break. And perhaps, that was why when Kagome and Sesshomaru had found themselves in each other's arms, fate kept on separating them. Over 500 years later, Sesshomaru would discover something. But, how about the Red String of Fate? How would they fight for their hearts' right to choose?

Prologue

I've been here thousands of times before.

That wasn't even a slight exaggeration on my part. As for my hundreds of years of existence, I found myself visiting this place pretty often. In fact, almost everyday. But it'd been a few decades since I last did. Realizing it was all in vain. And now, as my slow footsteps dragged along, the painful feelings this place had never failed to bring me were coming back to me... consuming me... taking me back to those memories. Those ever vivid memories.

My impassive eyes were instantly drawn to the spot I will always recognize—my lonely sakura tree. No matter how much of it had changed throughout the centuries.

With every small, almost hesitant step towards it, I longed to hear the scrunching of grass and earth beneath my shoes. Now it's nothing but asphalt ground that hurts my eyes. I mentally growled at it. The forest was gone. There were just concrete structures right in front of me. Such a sinking feeling as the past seemed to have moved even farther away from reach.

My breathing was slow and heavy, never taking my eyes off the fluttering dry leaves as they settled gracefully on the ground. Then I stopped. Just right in front of my lonely tree. Lifting my gaze so I could see the filtered rays of sunlight between its dry leaves.

I closed my eyes and let the wind blow gently against me, cooling the heat of the sun, as I filled myself of the memories of the distant past. Oh, how it still felt the same when I closed my eyes, as if the forest was never gone, as if it were just yesterday…

And as I let this place take me back to that time, I began to hear the slow footsteps from a distance—the crunching of grass and earth.

A smart pain pierced through my chest; my eyes snapped open, pulling me back to what was now my reality much to my dismay. There were no footsteps. Memories, they were nothing but memories.

So then I sat down on the patch of grass surrounding my lonely tree. The searing pain called again as I reflected those memories.

Once more, I closed my eyes and let myself focus on the faint rustling of dry leaves. The footfalls started again. How nostalgic it felt to hear Kagome drawing closer to where I was. But I knew why the pain was just too much each time the noise played back in my ears. For I know, no matter how close those footsteps might sound...she would never reach me.

Kagome was gone, and I was left with nothing but the remnants of that past inside my head. My chest tightened as I tamed the pain. But I guess, I was ready to be with her in those memories once more...our memories, my only connection to her.

I leaned my head against the bark of my old tree, my eyes still closed as I let the past flood in my mind, as I let this tree travel with me...

...500 years back in time.

Chapter 1

"Bloodstained Sakura Blossoms"

I could still remember every bit of that past clearly, as it has never left my thoughts throughout the centuries. There was never a day that I didn't think about what could I have done differently, or what I would do then if I were the person I was today.

It all started beneath this old sakura tree. It was a beautiful day during the season of sakura blossoms. In fact, as I thought about it now, it was the most beautiful day in spring that I could remember throughout my over 700 years.

*over 500 years ago*

How much time had passed, I didn't know. Everything was dark… it hurt to move, it hurt to even breathe. The faint images of the previous night kept flashing in my head. But the chirping of the birds around was telling me it was long over.

I began to feel a gentle warmth against my skin. Now I could make out the light penetrating my closed eyelids. Morning… it's now morning. And as my eyes were sealed from the glaring rays of the rising sun, I remembered how my feet had brought me in this clearing, beneath this lonely sakura tree. Yes, it was a sakura. It wasn't very obvious to me last night, but now, the scent of its blossoms had become more apparent.

Most of the forest were still awakening from the harsh winter and the chill in the air had lingered. The mustiness of the earth from the past rainy evening was still in the air, mixed with the scent of my blood still oozing out from my wounds. Throughout the night, at times, I felt delirious—running the duel in my head over and over; reveling in the fact that it had given me a fight of a lifetime. Something quite close to what I had been questing for.

Quite close. My hand closed tight into a fist.

It was a foe of my father, an ancient daiyoukai. Yet no one would ever come close to my old man. It would always remain a frustration for me.

Then my mind began to cloud again; the crippling pains were returning. I held my breath and restrained my moans. But…am I not alone? I could make use of a gasp. No one would see, no one would hear. It wasn't weakness…they were pains of victory. But then, it grew steadily, until they were no longer just incapacitating. They started to assault every bit of my flesh, as if the battle itself wasn't over. Until the dark became darker the birds retired from chirping…the air stopped blowing…

It was awfully quiet.

Until after a long time, soft touches became more and more distinct from the searing pains. It took me a while to pay heed to a scent which wasn't there earlier. Perhaps because in my subconscious, I was familiar with it enough for my instincts to not raise alarm.

As my conscious began waking, I realized that whatever it was, it was way too close to me than what I would allow. My bloodshot eyes snapped open. And as soon as the faint image registered in my vision, my body instantly jerked as I tried to pull away from it, propping my back straighter against the sakura tree. While instinctively growling, baring my fangs, making it clear how I was ready to kill.

And in that split second as my eyes began to make sense of who it was, incapacitating pain restrained me. Damn it. I lifted my head, sucking as much air in between my clenching teeth.

My senses remained fixed on her despite this. I heard her faint gasp, seeing the sudden tortured look on my face. This pain was nothing as it wasn't something unfamiliar to a demon like me. The discomfort was coming from the set of two worried eyes locked upon me.

I held my breath as I felt what was coming.

A touch so tender cradled and warmed my face. "Are you alright?" Her voice was filled with nervousness.

I opened my eyes again, grabbed and whisked her arm away, baring my fangs once more. But as I was holding it up in the air, I felt it stiffened. She was resisting my grip. At first there was fright, but the look in her eyes was immediately replaced with unspoken words. Telling me she didn't mean any harm.

Slowly, my glare started to fade away and I found my grip on her arm easing. Intrigued as I stared back at myself in her brown irises, as they reflected me so clearly. It was as if seeing myself in a complete strange way…a glimpse of something beyond my understanding...beyond this time. What is this?

I knew even her had not a clue about what I was seeing. For when she saw the disturbed look on my face, she started to search my eyes about it.

Then the leaves of the forest rustled as the soft wind passed by, sweeping the meadow…distracting us. I frowned and narrowed my eyes at her. My jaws clenched. Such lowly being did not deserve this much heed from me.

So then I pulled my grip away disgustedly and faced the other way. Shrugging what I saw in those eyes which I hardly understood.

She then redeemed herself but paused for a moment. Probably confused too as to why I backed down.

"What do you think are you doing?" I managed to speak, not giving a hint that even that was difficult.

"Gomen..." her voice was weak. Almost embarrassed at her own audacity to lay her hand on my cheek.

My severely injured arm started to bleed again. She saw it and gasped. She hurriedly took my arm. I growled at her and clasped on her wrist to stop her. But she stared back at me with such defiance, pulling her arm back, "I am not your enemy."

My eyes squinted at her, greatly intrigued of where her boldness to defy me was coming from. "I don't need your annoying presence here, human," I said impassively.

Our eyes were locked at each other for a while, both trying to insist our stance. Until her impression softened. Taking a deep breath, she held my hand and pressed on it gently. Such an unfamiliar touch strangely made me feel uneasy under her stares.

Seeing my submission, she removed my grip on her arm gently. She did so without meeting any resistance. It dazed me how she was able to do that.

I redeemed myself and scoffed it silently as I pulled my eyes away, gritting my teeth. "Stupid," I bit out, still trying to keep my pain from surfacing.

I peeked at her again from the tip of my nose, and saw how she paused briefly and looked at me upon hearing my remark. I looked away irritatedly, though satisfied. But then, she resumed what she was doing without saying a word back.

My wounds would've healed by themselves without her help, and at that time, I just couldn't help myself but resent how she was making me feel as if I was some weak human, vulnerable to pain. It caused my hand to close tight into a fist. She noticed it. "You must keep still or you'll open your wounds again," she spoke quietly, not even looking at me as she was finishing my wounds.

Furious, I turned my head and glared at her, "Leave me alone and I'll spare your life."

She lifted her eyes and stared back at me. But like before, she took a deep breath and exhaled it as she set her gaze back on sewing my arm.

My eyes narrowed, trying to read her thoughts through her movements.

"Don't mistake me for what you can see. I could kill you anytime," I paused and waited, but no reaction from her. "You must have forgotten who I am," I said through my teeth, still hiding my pain.

"I wished you could forget who you are so I could finish," she said silently, still not turning her head to me. It took me a moment before I understood its sarcasm clearly. My jaws clenched, and I could feel that I was about to erupt out of so much fury.

"Leave."

She pulled the needle out from my skin for the one final stitch, then she severed the thread. I waited. But again, no reaction.

"I said leave," I whisked her hand away.

She raised her head to meet my eyes. We stared at each other for a while and I could see a slight display of annoyance on her face.

Then she looked away. Grabbed a tin box. Pulled out a roll of bandage. It enraged me even more, so I tossed her hand away so hard that it left a red impression on her skin. The bandage got thrown away.

She gasped as she followed it with her eyes. Then she took a deep breath. Pursing her lips, she quickly set a glare back at me, "Osuwa-" but she stopped, as if realizing she wasn't supposed to say it. She was panting... until her rage faded.

Suddenly, her face became filled with hurt, and it baffled me to no end. I kept my eyes at her, frowning, until I could no longer take the discomfort her pain was making me feel.

"I said I don't need your help..." I uttered meekly as I leaned myself back against the tree, facing the other way so as to avoid this tortured look on her face.

She moved to pick up the gauze and began binding my arm in no time. I closed my eyes to keep the pain from appearing on my face. I believed she had already done the same thing for the wounds on my chest and abdomen, and I could feel that they started to bleed again. She noticed it, and immediately tended to them. "I told you not to move. Now I have to do this all over…"

"No one said you needed to do anything. Just leave me alone."

The movements of her hands slowed down after hearing that from me. "Stop telling me what to do," she said fiercely. My eyes snapped open when I heard that. "You can't tell me to leave you when I know you are in that condition."

I pursed my lips and cocked my head further to my side, away from her. "What condition? I am not even remotely helpless as to warrant your help," my brows knitted.

"I know. But just keep your mouth shut and let me finish with this."

I clenched my jaws. It seemed that mouth would never fail to anger me.

The soft wind blew again, as if the nature's attempt to ease my animosity towards her. I stared at the shadow of the sakura tree against the ground and realized that it was already afternoon. "Why are you doing this?" I asked, still keeping my head away from her.

It took the grasshopper nearby three chirrups before she gave me an answer. "Why not?" The preciseness, but inadequacy of her answer caused me to roll my eyes discreetly.

A girl who ran into a fallen warrior, one she couldn't leave behind for her conscience would trouble her on her way home. I scorned it. A common tale of humans' self-gratification.

"You just wanted to feel better about yourself," the words escaped my mouth. I wasn't intending to say what I was thinking, yet I didn't regret that I did either.

She paused; she straightened her back and fixed a piercing stare on me. I could feel her pain, and it puzzled me why I felt like taking back my words just so she'd keep from looking at me this way. "You called me stupid…" she began to utter silently, "... you threatened to kill me…you asked me to leave over and over…" she said. It struck me... slowly, I turned my head back at her, and saw the hurt in her eyes.

"...but I'm still here. Do you really think I am doing this to feel good about myself?" I stared back at her, completely baffled and absorbed by her words. I held my breath as I tried to understand every bit of it.

"Well, Onii-san… you are stupid."

The aristocrat in me couldn't believe what I just heard.

She turned away and grabbed her tin box again, pulled it closer. I was left startled as I followed her hands with my eyes. She untied her hair and leaned over to me. I had no time to react until I felt her hands gathering my hair into a knot. Her sleeves were hanging loose, brushing my shoulders slightly.

When she pulled away, I wondered for what it was. I saw her grabbing some more bandages, then I understood. She paused and stared at me briefly, as if asking. I stared back like a scolded child but showed no objection. That was when she began wrapping the bandage around my torso.

Her face would slightly brush the side of mine each time she'd bend over to reach for my back and fetch the gauze. My eyes were just watching her as she was doing all that, judging how stupid could she be to presume I needed all these. But her touch was tender and warm, that even in as much as I resented her human hands, I sat still and allowed it.

I swallowed and thinned my lips. Looking at her now aggravated this strange feeling inside me. Is this guilt? Every movement of her was telling me of how wrong I was. She cared for me. It didn't matter, but I was greatly moved to just keep my mouth shut.

In a while, she's done. And strangely, it felt too soon. I followed her hand as she reached for her basket. By then I realized that she had to run back to the village to get it upon seeing me. There was no way she'd be carrying it around here; this forest wasn't a place to gather herbs. She pulled out what seemed to me as a ball of cotton, then she poured something on it. It was almost the color of dried blood, but brighter.

"You didn't have to scare me away. There's not a need to appear fearsome either," she spoke quietly, almost just to herself. Then she started treating my minor wounds. "I knew these would heal soon. But they do hurt now, don't they? This will lessen the pain. You do not always need to endure it if there's a way to make it feel better."

This stupid human girl. I scoffed. But the words calmed my animosity in a way, though I was hating how concerned she was as if these wounds meant anything to me. I turned my head away from her. "You are just wasting your sentiments," I said. But then, I resolved to just ignore her presence. The sooner she was done, she sooner she would leave me alone.

If not, I'd just take the life out of her.

We were reduced into a long silence. Until I began wondering what had brought her in this forest in the first place. But later, I found myself asking something else. "Why did you come back?" I asked, considering the years that passed when my brother used to wear a defeated look on his face during her absence. I was curious. Though why, I was unsure…for I never really cared about this girl.

She paused and stared at me. And once she got what I was implying, she opened her mouth to answer but resolved to just sigh and look elsewhere. It was as if she had decided it was a nonsense inquiry. Damn it. She was more annoying when her mouth was kept shut.

I had been making a lot of noise, I guess. I kept my eyes away and just listened to her movements. The birds were chirping in a relaxing melody. While she continued treating my wounds.

Soon, I began to appreciate the simplicity of that moment. And forgot that she was there all together. Everything was so peaceful as the soft wind would slightly whirl around. Leaves were rustling softly…

"I love him," she said quietly. My face slightly cringed, realizing it was her answer to my question.

Hearing that made me more aware of her now. I paid a great deal of attention to her hands, even to her occasional sighs, and I could tell just how much pain it had caused her to confide to me that one simple statement. I ran the words over and over in my head as I continued to pay attention to her gentle hands. The tenderness of her touch was like the extension of those words, but I could not completely make any sense out of it.

I closed my eyes and convinced myself that I should not concern myself with such things. As time passed beneath this sakura tree, her touches became more confident that she would from time to time rest her palm against my chest. And I thought, probably, she supposed I had fallen asleep.

When she finished, she placed her soft hand on my cheeks, the exact way she did earlier. It fired up my skin. Brushing off my bangs, she traced my markings with her fingertips. It was so timid...there was nervousness, but I could feel her fascination. A sigh passed her lips. Then she began to stroke my cheek affectionately with the back of her fingers. I saw it, peeking through the slit opening of my eyelids.

What are you thinking? I wanted to ask, but I feigned unconsciousness for a little bit longer.

She was able to break the wall between us by just defying me this way. And maybe, for her there was not such a wall—I wasn't a demon who was supposed to be strong; she was not a human who was supposed to feel fear...I could rest the strong me, with her eyes only looking at me with complete understanding. And it seemed in this moment, I liked the mere idea of it.

I was allowed to forget the darkness of who I was, and just lie here, in her care. Without feeling ashamed.

It filled me with amusement...a warmth that was stroking my immortal heart. And for the first time, I liked the feeling of being so close to someone else.

When I felt her pulling away, I discreetly opened my eyes and looked back at her. I saw her gathering my things. She glanced at me, and I saw how she tried to look unsurprised. "Your swords are here. And your haori," She placed them right beside me. My broken breastplate was not mentioned but it was there, looking unmarred compared to how it was when my feet had brought me in this clearing.

Then our eyes met.

I could not recall us ever being locked into each other's gaze for that long. She was asking me something unspoken, and it was as if my face was giving the answers away.

Something was hard not to notice with this human girl as we held our gaze. Her aura now was different. I guess she had grown into a woman from that strangely dressed young girl. But her eyes...they had changed, so much that they were no longer the same pair of eyes she used to have years ago. I could see deep-seated sadness in them.

In a while, she sat beside me. She made it feel like I wasn't someone who at one point in the past had tried to kill her without second thoughts.

"A lot has changed," she let out a deep breath. Her head turned back at me, and I glanced at her from the corners of my eyes. I knew what she was talking about. Somehow, it annoyed me upon realizing she was right about it. Just the fact that she was still here with me, breathing, was enough evidence.

A brief moment had passed while the sakura blossoms were flying in the air. "You still resent Inuyasha, don't you?"

I frowned and thinned my lips. It had been three years since the defeat of Naraku, and I guess, a lot had changed but my relationship with Inuyasha was something that was far from changing significantly.

She looked away from me when she got the impression.

A long silence followed as we both watched small birds flying around the clearing, and the sakura blossoms fluttering on the ground. She hated what she had seen on my face. That was when I realized why it did hurt for her to tell me that she loved him...for she knew I still harbored hate for that hanyo.

"It's not his fault he's half-human, half-demon. And there's really nothing wrong with that."

I paused my thoughts, but kept my silence. My eyes narrowed. I didn't need to be lectured about it. Yet, she was not making it sound like she was, it was more like just venting out the heaviness from her chest in the air. It just happened that I was there to take a sip of it.

And by then I already knew what she was trying to do. "I guess it doesn't really matter a lot if both worlds can't accept him. But what would make a big difference is your opinion of him," she continued. Then I remembered asking her earlier why she was helping me...

So, this is all about him…

I was enraged again for a moment, but it didn't last for long. I glanced at her and saw the pain etched on the features of her face while her eyes were fixed at the skies. It made me feel weak, as if the pain was in my own chest, so much as to suffocate me.

From my observations, I could tell why she felt the need to tell these things to me. Inuyasha had still been a constant object of discrimination in their village. And perhaps that was why they had to build their hut on top of a hill.

Inuyasha was used to it. Throughout his hundreds of years, he had learned how not to be bothered anymore or seek acceptance. His arrogance and aloofness from the rest of the world were proof. Yet this girl—I could not expect her to take it lightly.

She was then hardly two decades old from the way she looked, and her fragile human heart could not help but feel the pain of it on behalf of my brother. But those were not of my concern.

I grabbed my haori and tried to move to put it on. She was surprised but hurried to help. I tried to dodge her yet she insisted. Her arms wrapped again around me as she put it on me. The tip of her nose had almost touched mine, but never once did I blink away. My brows knitted as I was trying to decipher her thoughts at that moment.

My face cringed when she guided my arm into the sleeve. "Gomen…" She paused worriedly. I just grimaced, averting my eyes.

Then she sighed and continued with a little hesitance. Her sleeve slid down her arm, baring the bruise I had inflicted on her earlier. But she did not hate me. I felt bad. I felt irritated, too. All these were the manifestation of her love for my brother...I despised her in silence. The look in her eyes, the warmth of her touch, they were bled from that love. And I didn't want a single drop of it.

When she had finally put the haori around me and on my arms, she paused when her eyes caught mine. I saw her blushed upon realizing we were that close. My heart throbbed loudly once, and felt my own blood rushing towards my face. I inched away and pulled my stares, feigning nonchalance.

She finished what she was doing with utmost care as not to hurt me further. Her hand reached for my back as she wrapped the obi around my waist. I could tell that she was nervous under my supervision, and she wasn't able to tie it the right way the first time. I thought she'd rather that I closed my eyes again, like earlier when she traced my face.

"Don't bother yourself with that," I had found myself saying. But I was ignored again. Scoffing her domineering behavior towards a great demon such as myself, I could tell why she was able to put up with my brother.

As soon as she was done, she backed away. I pulled the ribbon on my hair to untie it. She was just watching me with worry in her eyes.

There was a sinking feeling inside me that I could not understand, which was making my lips press into a hard line. "Please rest for a little bit longer," she said timidly.

"Leave me alone..." my voice lacked the usual authority it had.

"I will."

Her voice sounded so detached that it sent pains to my chest greater than those of my wounds. I didn't understand this feeling completely.

"Close your eyes. I'll be here when you wake up," she continued, just throwing glances at me from the corner of her eyes.

I clenched my jaws but chose to say nothing.

I took a deep breath and held it for moments. Releasing it, I closed my eyes with the trace of my restlessness still vivid on my face. My senses hearkened each breath that she'd take... assuring myself that she was still there. Yet it felt different this time. She was there, but I no longer felt the warmth I was made to feel earlier. I felt more than just alone. And for the first time in my existence, it bothered me for feeling so.

The lulling sound of soft wind, the rustling of trees and grass, later sent me into a deep slumber. Despite this strange melancholy that was consuming my being, I trusted those words, in a way. In irony of my wish to be left alone, I held on to her words...like a promise that instilled this strange desire and hope, that somehow, the warmth I once felt would come back upon the next awakening of my eyes.

Strange human girl, I thought.

When the dark haze lifted as I slowly opened my eyes, my senses immediately picked up that I was all by myself. I stirred and looked around. The shadow of the tree was slender and longer against the ground in front of me, telling me the sun was about to set.

'Close your eyes. I'll be here when you wake up.'

A voice in my head woke up my guard. I straightened up and scanned my surroundings further. The girl was nowhere in sight.

I let out a deep breath. Foolish girl.

She told me she would be here, but she wasn't. Well, why would it matter? After all, I asked her to leave over and over. She would be back tomorrow for all I care. Yet I was hating on her. I believed the words. I didn't really want her to stay, but no one tells this Sesshomaru something they don't mean.

I kept reflecting her image in my head sitting down beside me. Even when she wasn't around, her lingering presence was still infuriating.

She must have gone back to the village to see Inuyasha.

Then her words about my brother consumed my thoughts. I could not believe Inuyasha had acquired a human wife that would just annoy me this way.

Until the air dashed away my pondering. It brought me a scent that my nose abhorred so much. A demon. I could sense the malice of its aura.

'Close your eyes. I'll be here when you wake up.'

The words played in my head again. A clenching pain struck my chest.

Suddenly, the air brought me another scent. Blood.

Only then did I notice her things were still beside me.

I was greatly enraged…and I felt anxious. I didn't think twice for a second. And in spite of too much difficulty, I rushed to get to where the demon was hiding. Damn it. How could I have missed sensing it in my sleep?

My heart was beating fast.

Stupid miko.