Hey guys this is kind of a short update. This chapter needed to get out of the way so that I can move on with the series. Please read the note at the bottom!

Chapter Four: I'll stand by your side

Sesshomaru sat on the bed next to the hanyou listening to his labored breathing under the heavy weight of the fever. It had been three hours since Miroku had discovered the missing link to reverting the collar ownership. Sesshomaru was occasionally giving off pleasing aura waves to calm down the hanyou if he whimpered and sought for attention like the wounded pup he was.

Sesshomaru could not explain the bond that he was feeling with the hanyou. It was something that he had never felt before. The instinct to protect the hanyou went down to his demon's core. His youkai was dead set on caring and protecting the hanyou from harm as if the hanyou was his own pup. Sesshomaru could not explain and although he tried to question it, he knew that the bond could not be severed. His youkai was refusing to leave the injured hanyou. Sesshomaru had tried several times to get up and leave but the whimpering of the hanyou went straight through him and kept him at the hanyou's bedside.

Sesshomaru was confused on why the hanyou was so persistent to reach out to him and asked Yasahiro. Yasahiro replied, "He feels safe with you My Lord. He can tell that he is dying and he is afraid. He is just a pup after all."

Sesshomaru thought the words over. Yes the hanyou was dying as the poison continued to seep into his system. The hanyou began to shiver as the cool wind from the window came in. Yasahiro moved to cover the hanyou and on a reflex Sesshomaru growled low. Yasahiro froze and backed away from the hanyou and Sesshomaru glared at him.

Sesshomaru had no idea where the growl came from. His youkai saw the old demon reaching for the injured pup and he felt the need to step in. Sesshomaru then moved to readjust the blanket himself. The entire altercation was awkward. His youkai was never so demanding before.

They sit in quiet in the room listening to the hanyou's labored breathing. After about ten minutes the hanyou starts to whimper again. Sesshomaru attempts to send more comforting aura, but the hanyou instead whimpers louder.

"What does he require Yasahiro?" Sesshomaru asked as the hanyou began to reach out blindly with his good arm.

"I believe he wants to be held My Lord. Pups often need physical reassurance from their parents or caretakers when they are sick." Yasahiro explained. He found the whole thing to be confusing as well. Why was his Lord wasting his time with a hanyou that even if the collar was reverted would not make it through the night?

Sesshomaru said nothing but did not move closer to the hanyou. He was refusing the whimpering that was going straight through him. His youkai was getting riled up and demanding that he comfort the young pup, but Sesshomaru needed to restrain himself. Finally the young hanyou keened loudly which resulted in a shock from the collar. Sesshomaru's youkai won as he stood up and got closer to the hanyou to hold onto his small hand.

The hanyou wiggled his tiny hand in the large and continued to whimper. "I do not understand Yasahiro you said that the hanyou needed to be held." Sesshomaru's eyes never lifted off of the hanyou.

"Yes My Lord, I meant that he needed to be held in someone's arms." Yasahiro was resisting the urge to not laugh at the Lord for fear of losing his head for his mockery. The look that Sesshomaru gave him in disbelief almost made the old doctor lose it. He knew that the Young Lord was in way over his head with this sick pup. The Young Lord would be incapable of giving the sick hanyou the attention that it needed.

Or maybe not. Yasahiro thought as he saw Sesshomaru roll his eyes and then hesitate to slowly pick up the hanyou.

"My Lord," Yasahiro interrupted. Sesshomaru sent him a glare as he stopped. His eyes demanding Yasahiro to continue. "Please make sure not to jostle his ribs too much. They are still very weak and can puncture one of his lungs." Yasahiro reminded. Sesshomaru looked at the doctor and nodded before he slowly moved to pick up the hanyou.

The hanyou cried out as Sesshomaru moved him but was relieved to be in his Lord's arms. Sesshomaru moved so that he was sitting at the head of the bed against the ornate headboard. He placed the hanyou flat in his lap with his ribs over his thighs so that they would lie flat. The hanyou's breaths quickened but he no longer whimpered.

His tiny fist held onto Sesshomaru's chest in order to prevent Sesshomaru from moving away. Sesshomaru let out a comforting growl for the hanyou subconsciously to ease the hanyou even more. Sesshomaru was functioning primarily on instinct at this point. His youkai was not allowing him to contemplate his actions after seeing the hanyou hurt himself with his keening.

Sesshomaru began to run his fingers through the hanyou's hair to continue to add comfort. In a low voice Sesshomaru mutters, "I swear hanyou I will do whatever I can to prevent you from dying." The hanyou responds by giving a small toothless smile.

It was a good three hours more before Miroku had finished the preparations for the collar reversal. There was a large amount of preparation involved in the practice of black magic. Certain ingredients needed to be gathered and certain circles and runes were required to be placed strategically to direct the flow of magic properly.

He walks into the room and bows announcing, "My Lord it is time." He looks up and is astonished to see the hanyou placed in the Lord's lap but a look from Yasahiro encourages the monk to hold his tongue.

Sesshomaru says nothing as he carefully lifts the feather light hanyou and steps away from the bed giving Miroku the go ahead to lead him to the room where the preparations took place. Miroku used one of the many guest rooms for the process and Sesshomaru knew his mother would not be pleased with the runes drawn all over the floors and walls or the fact that the furniture was piled haphazardly in the corner.

Sesshomaru shrugged it off. There were a lot of things in this situation that his mother was not going to be happy about: the room, the black magic, and importantly the hanyou. The hanyou was probably the thing that she was going to lose her mind over the most in the entire scenario.

"Please place him in the middle of the circle My Lord." Miroku asked as he and Yasahiro moved to the corners of the room. Sesshomaru placed the hanyou down as gently as he could to avoid any of the injuries from jostling.

"Now explain." Sesshomaru ordered as he retreated from the circle gracefully avoiding stepping on any of the interlocking lines.

"The basics of what is going to happen is that your aura needs to overpower the current aura that is around the hanyou's neck. That will not be hard to do for you but will be difficult is that the collar is attached to the hanyou's jugular. When the collar is broken his jugular will be severed and he will begin to bleed out My Lord." Miroku gulped and both Sesshomaru and Yasahiro looked at him.

"Would he be able to survive that?" Sesshomaru asked. This process was supposed to save the hanyou not kill him.

"After the collar is broken and his throat is cut, My Lord would need to say a list of three commands that he wants the hanyou to live by. At the culmination of listing the three commands the Lord must give the hanyou a name and force his aura to wrap around the boy's neck. The aura acts not only as a collar but as a contract that ensures that the master has control over the slave's very life." Miroku was unsure about the whole process. He knew that his father's notes were not wrong, but the entire process scared him.

Sesshomaru thought about his commands and the room was silent for a good ten minutes. The only sound that could be heard was the hanyou's labored breathing from the center of the room. Yasahiro and Miroku knew better than to interrupt the Young Lord as he was thinking.

Sesshomaru then stepped up to acknowledge that he was ready to proceed with the procedure. Miroku instructed him to stand on the outside of the circle and had Yasahiro stand near the door on standby the collar was not able to be reformed.

Miroku began to chant and the runes lifted off of the wall and began to dance around in a circle. The circle began to speed up with the continued chanting before it formed a cyclone figure. The cyclone then formed the shape of a faceless demon in ragged clothing. The demon walked along to the chanting. Its steps were in tandem with each of the accentuated chants. The demon then approached the hanyou and stood in front of it. It looked from the hanyou and moved its faceless face up as if to stare at Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru held his ground as the creature then pulled a knife from the runes in the air and offered the knife handle to Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru then began to pump his aura into the knife so that it began to glow filled with the raging energy of the Demon prince. The faceless demon then grabbed the knife and swung it over its head.

The knife then came down and with a glow sliced the hanyou's neck and the collar broke. A purple light emerged as Miroku continued to chant. When the purple light disappeared the blood began to seep from the hanyou's neck. The faceless figure then willed the knife away and pulled a strip from the remaining runes that were dancing around it. Miroku began to chant quieter as the faceless demon looked up at Sesshomaru again. Sesshomaru then took that as his time to speak.

"I Sesshomaru, Prince of the Western Lands claim this hanyou to be my slave." Sesshomaru spoke clearly and made sure that his voice was firm as he continued to will his aura into the collar, never breaking his eye contact with the face of the faceless demon.

"My first command is that the hanyou will use his full healing abilities to heal any of the injuries that are inflicted upon him. My second command is that the hanyou may talk at any volume without repercussions. My third command is that the hanyou will not die until I, Prince Sesshomaru of the Western Lands allows it to die. I name thee INUYASHA!" Sesshomaru yelled as he put more of his aura into the collar.

The faceless demon then took the collar and bent down and wrapped the pale hanyou's bleeding neck with the collar. The collar gave off a large red light as the prince's aura affixed the collar to the hanyou's neck. The room was quiet and no one dared to move. Finally the chanting began to slow down and the runes and the demon began to disappear. Light was brought back to the room as Miroku took in a gulping breath at the culmination of his chanting.

Everyone was unsure if the hanyou was still alive. Finally there came a ragged breathing from the middle of the remaining circle. Inuyasha was alive and he now belonged to Lord Sesshomaru.

Hey guys, sorry for the short update. This chapter was tricky to write because I was trying to come up with a ritual for the collar removal. Now that the collar is removed I can proceed with the story being a lovely parental. Yes I know that the characters are OC. That was my intention from the beginning.

I have already planned out the next chapter and I guarantee that it will be a long one. I hope to write it by next week and upload it.

Please leave reviews for me! They really do inspire me to keep on writing and I want to know what you all think of my work!

Promise you all cute things next time!