Two whole days til New Year's Day! I've decided to finish this story by doing a double update. That's right. Two chapters. I start my student-teaching on Jan. fifth and I'm a little excited and nervous. Anyway, enjoy the rest of the story.

Chapter Four- The Demon and the Human

Kagome stared into the crackling fire as the sky darkened. Beside her was Human Inuyasha, who laid on his back and stared up at the stars with a smile. It was a smile that didn't come as a result of finding a shard and killing a demon. It was a smile that comes from sitting with friends or inner peace.

'Of course he's at peace,' she chided herself. 'He's not half-demon anymore. He's happy being human. Is it wrong to make him give up his happiness in order to make life normal again?'

The growl of an approaching demon reached her ears and she turned to see Demon Inuyasha coming towards them at a fast clip. The demon came to a stop in front of his human side, who sat up with a friendly smile.

"How's it going?" he asked the demon.

"The Tetsusaiga," the other growled. "Where is it? Give it to me!"

Kagome then noticed the sheathed sword hanging from the human boy's waist. She wondered why the sword was with Inuyasha's human half and not his demon half

Human Inuyasha looked at the sword before shrugging and holding it out to his demon half. "Here. I don't plan on fighting anyone."

Smirking, the dog demon reached out and grasped the sword by its sheath and hilt. Energy crackled from the sword and leaped onto the hand holding it. Inuyasha hissed in pain, dropping the weapon. He stared at his burned palm in disbelief. "Why did my sword reject me!?"

Human Inuyasha shrugged. "Search me." Kagome, however, quickly realized why. The sword, back the demon graveyard, had rebuffed Sesshomaru because he was a full-blooded demon. Inuyasha, being a half-demon, was able to hold and use it. But now, the half-demon didn't exist and the sword stayed with the one who could hold it.

Human Inuyasha picked up the sword and put it in his lap as the demon stalked off to a tree to get some sleep. Kagome sighed. Having two Inuyashas was getting to be a headache and she wished there was just one: the half-demon.

'Talk about being beside yourself,' she thought.

The sound of approaching footsteps reached the miko's ears and she turned to see Sesshomaru heading their way. He didn't seem threatening, yet he looked like he was on a mission.

The boy beside her also noticed Sesshomaru. A grin lit up his face as he called, "Hey, bro! Nice to see you."

The regal demon stopped in his tracks. He raised an eyebrow as he examined the human. He had Inuyasha's voice, face, and clothes, but he was human! Also, he seemed happy to see his older brother. That didn't seem right.

Kagome jumped up and steered Sesshomaru away saying, "Why are you here?"

"I met up with Inuyasha in the mountains and he was all demon. He headed down here and I followed. Only now he's human."

"Well, see, we found a shard that had been cursed. The first half-breed to touch it gets split into two pure bloods."

"I see. So I have two brothers."

"Yeah. We're trying to think of a cure."

"Why? He's better this way." Sesshomaru headed toward the mountains to rejoin his followers, leaving an open-mouthed Kagome in his wake.

Whoa! That was kind of mean of Sesshomaru to say that, but I think he would probably feel that way in any event. Will Inuyasha remain two different people or will the group come up with a cure? Find out in chapter five.