Author's Rant: Enjoy the next chapter babycakes. ^_^

Age Old Emotions

Well. This was a rather, unexpected announcement. Sesshomaru found the higher powers playing with his decision. The saying was tell God your plans and he'll have a good laugh. Inuyasha's face looked the complete opposite of amusement. His hazel eyes glowed with the growing gloom before a rain storm. The way his ears drooped and half his face was hidden behind the booth would've made an excellent image for a children's starvation commercial.

This was Sesshomaru's awfully blessed opportunity to see this child up close and do some comparisons. Her face bore none of his markings, her skin wasn't as pale. He tilted his head regarding the toddler carefully.

She beamed up at him like he was made of candy gold. She mimicked his head cock. When he turned it to the other side, she did too. Sesshomaru caught the smile on the corner of his lips from spreading to wide.

"Uncle Sess, who's this?"

Oh right. Sesshomaru glanced down at his cousin's little boy. Hakudoshi was pointing at the girl, purple eyes narrowed suspiciously and instant disdain for a rival for his uncle's attention.

"Who dat'!" Miroku demanded too.

"Who?" Was all Kagome could muster up and laid her head on Sesshomaru's shoulder.

"I Zaya," The girl piped up in the nick of time. She curtsied cutely, "And you're the P'etty Prince. You h've the moon," She pointed again with vigor on her tip toes as if that would get her up those seven feet of man.

Sesshomaru nearly reached up to cover said moon; his iconic destruction in public. It became a self-conscious habit when people complimented on its darkness to his skin or when trying to identify him as the rookie player on the falcons. Within minutes he'd be saturated up to his neck with screaming fans, marriage proposals and bribes for the games.

Hakudoshi tapped his foot, "I asked you a question."

Sesshomaru looked down at him, "Do what?"

Now Hakudoshi took on a familiar gesture of his mother's placing their hands on their hips and flopping their heads from side to side with each punctuated word, "I. Said. Who. Is. This?"

Zaya placed her hands on her hips too, "I is Za-ya."

Hakudoshi frowned, "Do what?"

Better intervene before he had a kiddie scrap. Sesshomaru half wished he'd combed over his banes better than assumed to hide his moon. There weren't many people in this shop to see the resemblance or cared, thank goodness.

Sesshomaru kneeled down to put Miroku on the floor and shifted Kagome to his left side—where she clung with desperation when Miroku touched the floor, thinking the same would happen to her— and held out his hand, "My name is Sesshomaru."

Zaya giggled and hid behind her hands. She peeked between her fingers at—maybe something was on his face because she started to giggle hysterically and squirmed on her heels. "I k'ow you silly. You're the Prince."

Again with the Prince thing. An interesting title, and question he'd need to ask the guilty party hiding in the back, but it was kind of cute, "Well if I'm the Prince," He reached out for her tiny hand and pressed his lips on her wrist, "Does that mean you're a princess?"

Zaya snatched her hand free, blushing and squealing and shyly peeking at him from under her fringe. Child or not, she wasn't immune to flattery like any other female. Little Zaya ate it all up. "My daddy says I'm a queen."

Sesshomaru lifted his eyebrow at the little diva, than cocked the opposite one behind. Inuyasha wasn't at the booth. His shoes were, however, marching straight toward them and by the time Sesshomaru stood, Inuyasha was whipping Zaya around and bent down to her eye level mouth and eyes thinly stretched to their limit.

"Zaya, what have I told you about talking to strangers, huh?"

"But he ain't no stra-stra-stwanger daddy. I k'ow him. He's the prince."

"I don't care who he is," Inuyasha lightly shook her shoulders. "You do what your daddy tells you, ya hear me? Don't ever wander like that and talk to anybody when I'm not around. Now stick out your hand. Now."

Zaya's eyes widened. "Daddy no, p'ease? I s'rry," She took a step back, poised for flight. Her lone step bumped her back into the twin towers of Sesshomaru's massive legs. All her hopes landed on Sesshomaru when she tossed her head back, eyes watered desperately for his interference.

Well shit. Who could spank anyone with eyes made for melting you like hot chocolate on Christmas Eve? The little thing had a way of gripping your heart between her stubby fingers. "You told her not to talk to strangers. I wouldn't count me since you know who I am." Or use too, he wanted to add but why stir an already boiling pot?

Inuyasha cast all sorts of ugly glares Sesshomaru's way, "I said stick out your hand. You want three smacks?"

"But she was talking to me and I wasn't gonna do anything to her." Sesshomaru defended.

"Stick out your hand."

"Inuyasha."

"Sesshomaru," Inuyasha sighed and stood. His glances dashed over the three children, recognition shining in his eyes as brief as sunshine through clouds before the shadows overtook them, "Mind your own business. You got your kids. Lemme deal with my child the way I see fit. I raised her not you."

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes razor thin, voice full of venom, "And whose fault is that?"

"You know what? Wow," Inuyasha chuckled nastily. "I ain't got time for this. I'm gone."

Just like that? Oh fuck this. Inuyasha opened this can of worms on himself. The time for talk might as well be now. Sesshomaru was sick of dodging the bullet and Inuyasha's running was going to make Sesshomaru raise all kinds of ape shit.

He quickly scoured the languid quiet cafe for a nearby booth to place the children. There was an available one before the one Inuyasha had. Good. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes down, "Stay here," he demanded not asked. The rest he had to lean in and say to save the children's ears from bleeding, "You fuckin' run again, I'ma chase ya ass all down this block. You got me when I was drunk before. I ain't this time."

As should be expected, Inuyasha's ears flattened like discs and he finished the gap between them, spittle landing on Sesshomaru's cheek, "Being somber ain't gonna make a difference. I'll drop your ass here or there. So am I supposed to be scared?

"All you ever do is run so ya tell me?"

The response spared the demon several seconds. Sesshomaru decided to take his chance and picked up Zaya, his glare daring Inuyasha to object. "Haku get Miroku." Zaya squealed and clutched him around the neck. Sesshomaru steadied her with a curl of his arm. The position placed a handful of hair near his nose.

She smelled . . . nice. Baby lotion, ginger snaps and chocolate from her ice cream. Sweet and innocent as a teddy bear. Sesshomaru had the pleasure of watching Inuyasha's mouth flap continuously as he waltzed passed to put the children safely away. Zaya eagerly took the booster offered by the waiter, next to Kagome, while Miroku and Hakudoshi sulked from the other side.

Inuyasha didn't recover fast enough by the time Sesshomaru came marching back, hand out to grip his upper arm and lead them both outside the shop. He didn't stop there of course. Sesshomaru took them around to stand in front of the window so he could watch the kids and have his say.

It was going to be hard. When Inuyasha defiantly ripped his arm free and squared up from shoulder to shoe, all Sesshomaru could think about was his rage and it brewing like a bad potion.

Looking at this hanyou pissed him off all over again. The loss of real love, the ache of rejection, dammit, he wanted to hit something. He needed to move around. Pacing was his option as he whirled to and fro from one end of the window to the next.

"What the fuck do you want Sesshomaru?"

Sesshomaru stopped walking to deliver the stupidest look of the century, "Are you fuckin' with me Inuyasha? Don't act the stupid ass here. I ain't the one, I swear I'm not." For an instant Inuyasha lost his big man composure and gained it back in the same flash. Sesshomaru caught it anyway. The guilt was written like a permanent marker. "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?"

No answer. Inuyasha gave another reaction. His shoulders quaked, he reached out to hug himself like the air became cooler. It had. The air between them reached below subzero. "I had my reasons." He said at last, though too quiet to sound like a solid explanation.

"Mind tellin' me what they are?" Sesshomaru snapped. "'Cause I think four years is long enough to keep someone in the goddamn dark."

Inuyasha dropped his hands by his side, "Look, don't roll up in here shootin' your mouth off at me a'ight? What I do with my life is up to me, not you. Just drop it and act like you never saw us."

"Boyyy I swear, you better stop talkin' stupid. Goddammit what kind of man do you take me for, huh? Just like that, you expect me to walk away from—" Sesshomaru stopped him to ball his lips against the frustrated growl. "Fuck Inuyasha, I ain't about to turn my back on this. If it were anythin' else I would've dropped your ass like a bad habit. Nah, this ain't a little shit stain you can wipe off and move on. I need to know."

Inuyasha's exterior cracked like the shell of an egg.

"Be real. For once, Inuyasha man up and tell me the truth. Is she mine?"

How had this happened? One minute he planned to spend the entire day with his daughter, to get out and have a moment where all he had to focus on, was her laughter and his concern about winning her a teddy bear. Inuyasha wasn't supposed to be standing here in the chill, watching Sesshomaru's paleness take on a powder pink and his fangs glint in the morning sun.

And facing this dreaded question, "Shit," Inuyasha pushed back his messy fringe, gazing at the pebbles and rocks like they could alternate this dimension to a place where he wasn't confronted by Sesshomaru's fury.

It was bound to happen. Sooner or later all of this would've came to ahead, but this was too soon. No, this hadn't been long enough for Inuyasha to marinate in his crime and be able to answer the questions with a blank face. He was going to have to own up to every bit with the emotions lay bitterly raw. Damn.

Inuyasha took the deepest, longest breath of his life and lifted his head, sure without a doubt that his eyes shun like the moon's final farewell before an eclipse, "I don't know."

"You don't know," Sesshomaru deadpanned like a balloon stabbed of its air. "So you cheated."

Inuyasha neither denied nor confirmed it. He wouldn't have too. His ears always relayed the message like a couple of flag signals. Maybe confessing would've been easier if Sesshomaru's face didn't become twisted and lagged of all its rage into something more distant and cold. Inuyasha would've rather had that heated glare then the coldness of those eyes.

Sesshomaru cupped his hands over his eyes, drawing in breath after tortured breath. The sounds hollowed when his gloves leather lowered over his mouth. He turned his back to Inuyasha. He couldn't keep still and look at him without wanting to hurt him. Inuyasha couldn't blame him. "When, with you?"

"None of that matters."

"Like hell!" The children jumped. Inuyasha saved their worries with a casual wave that the girls returned and the boys ignored. Sesshomaru turned his face to the festival across the street, his back to the children, to keep the red in his eyes from being seen. "You cheated on me and it ain't important? Inuyasha spare me all that cliché bullshit. I'm not gonna coddle you because of the situation you put your damn self in."

"Who the fuck said I wanted coddlin' from you, Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha's pivot put him directly on Sesshomaru's flank. Angling his head in a slight 90 degree gave him the perfect sight-point to slash his now bleeding eyes up at the fool. "I didn't ask you for shit, and don't plan on askin' for shit. I know I made a mistake. I fucked up. But you made your mistakes too Sesshomaru. So don't bring none of that hotty tot mess with me."

"You ain't serious? Ain't no way you gonna throw some age old issues in this. I cheated on you twice, I made up for it each time and begged on my hands and knees to get you back. You said you forgave me, end of story. I'm able to look passed my flaws, and you know why? 'cause there's a lil somethin' called wrapping it up when you laid the pipe. I did. Do you see me with a bunch of baby daddies? No. Do I see you with a baby daddy? God knows how many of those are around here."

Inuyasha visibly flinched under accusation. The tiny speck of regret rose and fell in Sesshomaru like buoy. Times of giving a damn about hurting Inuyasha shouldn't matter. Hell, how long had Sesshomaru been dunked in the dark and gloom, while Inuyasha lived it up with who knows who? No, Sesshomaru deserved the lashing he was delivering and he hoped Inuyasha choked on it.

"You didn't have to put me on blast for the world to know. Since when did you become so cold hearted?"

Sesshomaru felt some of the red receding, but only to where his eyes were tinted with dull carmine, "You outta congratulate yourself. This is the handy work of you leavin' behind my back."

"I was scared Sesshomaru," Some of the bite wasn't nearly as toothy in Inuyasha's tone. His ears were sagging as if drenched in oily water. "I was pregnant, scared for what I'd done and—and your career. I didn't wanna mess that up. You were so close to gettin' signed. You didn't need all that on your mind."

"So by helpin' me you decide not to tell me what's goin' on and run away?" Sesshomaru let all the red leave because none of it would reflect on he was truly feeling. He wanted Inuyasha to see that hurt from four years ago; that kind of atmosphere that rendered Sesshomaru to his knees when reading that letter. So he turned and stared hard until Inuyasha had no choice but to meet his numb gaze. "I loved you Inuyasha. Dammit, you were the only one for me. I would've moved hell or high water to make you happy and you didn't think to tell me what was wrong? I would've been there—don't turn your face from me!" He grounded out when Inuyasha made to drop his face to the ground.

Sesshomaru tilted Inuyasha's chin up with the curl of his index. Inuyasha's eyes blazed. The color he possessed was so fierce; even as he took on this punishment he had that fire. All that spunk, all that mouth, Sesshomaru remember all those times he tried to overpower Inuyasha with mere presence. Inuyasha would never back down though. He'd puff out his narrow chest and head butt Sesshomaru's every word.

He missed that so much.

Inuyasha could see it all dancing there too, in all his warm glory. It scared him that the skinny chance existed. He loosened his chin and looked through the window. Zaya was fluttering napkins across the table like ballerina's to entertain Koga's baby girl. The two boys were acting like they couldn't give a damn but both their eyes kept straying away when Zaya's voice elevated on whatever story she was saying.

That only made the guilt worse. "You're lyin'." Inuyasha said quietly, facing Sesshomaru's startled expression. "You say that now, but if I would've told you what happened then, you wouldn't be so forgiving. I cheated with someone else, possibly got pregnant by them and, just wow, Sesshomaru really? You wouldn't have been able to look me in the eye without thinking about someone fuckin' me. So how can you stand here sayin' it matters now? It's over and done with."

"No, no it's not. I would've been there Inuyasha."

"No you wouldn't have—"

"Yes I would!"

"No you wouldn't Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha's breathing carried on another beat, heavily escaping his chest. "You got jealous so damn easily. If I so much as blinked at another man, you raised hell. You got thrown in jail for beating a man who waved at me! You," Inuyasha swallowed hard. "You nearly hit me that night you saw me and Naraku studying in my bedroom, knowing damn well he was dating Koga."

"I," Sesshomaru clamped his mouth shut right away.

"The you that's you now probably would've loved me unconditionally but I knew the old you way back when. You wouldn't do nearly the shit you're sayin' now."

"So it's my fault you hightailed and skipped town? That's what ya sayin'?" Sesshomaru chortle's came from the pit of his stomach and rose like crackles of glass shards. "Ya know what, no it ain't my fault. I showed you how much I truly cared. If I hadn't I wouldn't be as jealous back then. No, I didn't want anyone touching you; I couldn't stand when another man looked at you, because you belonged to me. I would've killed anyone who got near you."

Inuyasha clenched his fists tight, "And's exactly what scared me away! That attitude right there horrified me! I was scared for what it'd do to your career, your life, for fuck's sake Sesshomaru, you weren't ready to be a father anymore then I was!"

"I would have tried Inuyasha!" The red was gradually creeping back. Green laced around his irises, dripping a summery disdain. "You didn't care. You were only thinkin' about yourself and now look what it could've cost us. Four fuckin' years that could've been spent raising kids that should be mine and not some other demon!" His voice was inhuman, a double echo of something devilish and a noosed control on his inner demon.

Inuyasha fastened all his demonic rage the same way. If Sesshomaru decided to fight him now, he'd need to flee. Inuyasha would fight back but not here, not in front of his child.

Instead the complete opposite happened. Sesshomaru straightened up, back still ridged, but his poise human enough to keep the demon's face on and his thirst for control in check. "I want a DNA test," Sesshomaru said after the twentieth pant. All the villains in the world couldn't hold a candle to Sesshomaru's malice. "Inuyasha," he controlled his impulse to lash out and palmed the air as if wishing it were his neck. "You kept her away. You did that shit on purpose. So help me if that child is mine, I'm suing the fuck outta you."

Inuyasha stepped back incredulously, "You're gonna try to take my daughter?"

"If she turns out to be mine, I'm filing for joint custody and if the judge permits it, I'm goin' for full."

Inuyasha's blanched, "Well go on ahead. Do what you have too, but you're not gettin' my baby Sesshomaru. Whether she's yours or not ain't gonna mean shit. Visitation rights is all you're gettin'."

"We'll see," Sesshomaru glanced at the window.

Inuyasha did too. By now all the children were laughing and playing together. Zaya had worked Kagome into being amused at every little thing she did. Hakudoshi was showing the trio how to make salt bounce off a spoon. Miroku ohhed and awed at everything.

Inuyasha's mood dampened. He wished . . . he wished for a lot of things. If it turned out Zaya was Sesshomaru's too, then he'd kept her away from a family that'd adore every hair on her head. Strange how suddenly all that mattered when it hadn't before. For a long time, Zaya had been his main companion, his little rock to get through the days.

"I know she's mine."

Inuyasha blinked. Oh yeah. Sesshomaru was still here. "You don't know that."

Sesshomaru's frown wasn't facing him, but Inuyasha knew it was there. "You don't want her to be?"

"I'm just being realistic."

"Whatever, she's an Espada just like her little cousins. Look at her face. Her nose. Her ears—"

"Those are my ears—"

"That hair," Sesshomaru paused on that part. "Her eyes are violet. Her hair's black." He finally gave Inuyasha his questioning eyes. "Did we conceive her on your human night?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, "No Sesshomaru. I'm sterile those nights. " He didn't understand why every idiot thought a hanyou got pregnant because of their human night. What fool started that false fad anyway? That excuse was getting tired. "Doesn't matter. We should've been using the rubber anyway. You knew my blood type was P since we were kids."

"I did know. So then the eyes and ears are from your side and the rest is from mine," Confirmed Sesshomaru. "Only an Espada can charm folks off the bat. She's got her cousin's eatin' outta her hand. And we don't make ugly babies either, so I know she's mine." Pride was woven in there with enough proudness to choke a vanity model.

Inuyasha hid a tiny smile. Trust Sesshomaru to theorize every beautiful thing as being the result of him somehow. Inuyasha felt flattered at least. He wanted Zaya to be his. That was a blessing in itself. Inuyasha sighed, "I'll have my lawyer contact you to make arrangements."

"Alright," Sesshomaru sighed too. All the fight had left both of them. There was sure to be more rounds after this but they'd consider this a draw. "We got a freebie this week so schedule it anytime to fit your convenience. Until then, I'm going inside to spend time with my daughter."

Inuyasha froze, "Say what?"

Sesshomaru was already walking toward the door.

Oh fuck him sideways. "No!" Inuyasha reached him as the door opened. He closed it back and yanked Sesshomaru's heavy ass around. "Don't do that, fool. You'll mess up her head. What if you find out she ain't yours, then you gonna up and leave? Stay the hell away until we can figure out what to do next."

Sesshomaru's cocky smile caused a stir in Inuyasha's pants. That smile. Shit, no. He didn't need to be thinking about stuff like that. "But I told you the girl is mine. I'd know my own child." He pulled free and went inside.

Inuyasha watched him leave. He felt that wiggle of frustration pull a string only Sesshomaru knew how to play. Damn him.

Of course he knew his child. This wasn't how he'd wanted to get his bloodline started but it was a start.

Finally. Finally when he went to the gatherings he'd have a child too. He'd have his own flesh and blood child sitting in the corner playing with blocks, gurgling all kinds of noise and asking him for apple juice too. Wait, did Zaya like apple juice? No she was probably like him and enjoyed grape. He wondered what her favorite color was? What was she allergic to? Was she afraid of the dark? What's her favorite bedtime stories? Her favorite cartoons? Has she ever been to Six Flags?

So much to learn, so much to look forward too. Sesshomaru felt the prospect of being a father pump bliss in his feet. His smile on the inside could light the way for ships on the darkest night.

But the smile he gave the children could barely overlap a penny.

"Prince!" Zaya called, waving frantically from her seat. She surged to her feet and held out her arms.

Sesshomaru proudly picked her up and held her overhead, staring into those bright sunny eyes. His world rained with sprinkles of her laughter, her beautiful chubby face, her beautiful, beautiful, beautiful smile. Sesshomaru could help it. He brought her down and held her close. She smelled so good, felt so wonderful filling his arms.

God help him, this child was his. No question around it. She was. Sesshomaru heard Inuyasha's disapproval and didn't care to snap at him for being so uptight.

Sesshomaru took his seat with Zaya in his arms and scooped up Kagome in the other, both girls sitting happily in his lap. "Now who wants some ice cream?"

"Me, me, me, me, me!" The children cheered as one.

Inuyasha remained standing by the table.

"Sit daddy sit!" Zaya pointed across the table. "Sit, sit, sit!"

"S'it, s't, s't!" Mimicked Kagome. "S't, s't, s't!" Apparently she liked that word because she wouldn't stop saying it until Inuyasha sat down next to her brother and Hakudoshi.

Whom Sesshomaru noticed kept giving Inuyasha a strange look. Hakudoshi flipped his head from side to side as he would when thinking hard and contemplating how to question it. Sesshomaru ordered them all a round of ice cream in a large glass bowl with plenty bananas, strawberries, chocolate syrup, sprinkles and chocolate brownie and vanilla ice cream.

"Uncle Sess?"

Sesshomaru looked at Hakudoshi as he was spooning some ice cream in Kagome's mouth. "Yeah?"

Hakudoshi pointed at Inuyasha's hip, "Is this the man with the fat back? Mama said he had puppy ears."

Inuyasha sputtered around the spoon in his mouth. Sesshomaru grinned, "Who told you that?"

"You said that to Uncle Naraku and Mama when you came by my house. I know. I was getting a popsicle." Haku added in the extreme unlike chance that Sesshomaru didn't believe him. "I heard Uncle Naraku say does he still have a fat back? And mama said he the one with the puppy ears right? And you said yeah that's him and he still got that fat back." Now it was Inuyasha's turn to answer a question. "Are you the man with the fat back?"

The spoon was still in Inuyasha's mouth as he glared at Sesshomaru and lightened the leer on the child.

Hakudoshi rolled his eyes when no one answered him so he asked again, "Are you the man with the fat back?" He looked like he was tempted to check himself.

Inuyasha licked the spoon clean, and pulled it free, "I don't know." Sesshomaru looked like the cat who ate the canary when Inuyasha leveled him a promising death threat. "Why don't you ask your uncle if I'm the man with the fat back?"

Sesshomaru showed his apology with a shrug and a wink. What? He wasn't supposed to appreciate the body? He was a man after all. If it looked good he was in his rights to bask in its handsomeness. He caught Inuyasha's tiny smile too. The hanyou always thought no one ever noticed those but he always caught them.

All hatred and attitude aside, Inuyasha was still fine.

The rest of the ice cream delight carried on in comfortable silence, most of the conversation dominated by Zaya asking Sesshomaru all sorts of silly questions like did he have a white horse, a giant castle, a dragon in his backyard, and everything else under the moon.

"Daddy c'n I see the Prince's castle?"

The silence changed immediately. Inuyasha stopped stirring his spoon in the melted ice cream and Sesshomaru looked at him to wait and see what he'd say.

"Uh, we'll see baby."

Sesshomaru didn't take that answer well enough, "You can come whenever ya want, Queen. I'll let you see all my dragons, horses and my big scary cat."

"Ohhh you have a cat?"

"She's gonna be your cat too."

"She is?!"

"Sesshomaru," Inuyasha squeezed out of the booth. "Lemme chat with you outside." He threw a thumb over his shoulder and turned on his heel without another word.

A parental disagreement. Sesshomaru should've expected this. But he was looking forward to his first one. "Stay here pumpkin, kay? I need to talk to your daddy."

Zaya giggled at the nick name. "Mmkay."

Sesshomaru tossed a wink and left out the door, a prep in his swagger and a limp nobody could steal from him. Whatever Inuyasha had to say wasn't about to ruin his mood.

"What do you think you're doin'?" Inuyasha spat out.

Sesshomaru shrugged, "Bondin' with my baby."

"Sesshomarrruuuuu," Inuyasha washed his face with his hands. "You can't do that. You just don't do that. Making all these promises, trying to buy her affections—we haven't even taken the test yet. Just-just slow down."

"Slow down? Inuyasha if anything, I need to move as fast as I can. I've missed everything. Her first steps, her first walk, her first smile, three birthdays, three Christmases, three Halloweens," Sesshomaru knew it was hopeless. Inuyasha did spoil his mood. "Which is your entire damn fault to begin with."

"And that's why I don't want you gettin' too comfortable! We don't know if she's yours Sesshomaru. Stop while you're ahead. Whatever lil fantasy you got cooked in your head leave it for after the test."

"I know she's mine."

"Then why were so hell bent on getting a test?"

"To get her from you!" Sesshomaru angrily reacted. It all came out like an overflowing faucet. Sesshomaru couldn't hold it back. "You think I want my daughter raised around somebody who's probably parading men in and out his house? You think I want a man raising her who kept her away from her family? You don't deserve her Inuyasha. She needs a stable parent. Someone who ain't gonna always run from his fuckin' problems like you—"

"Alright I get it! Damn," Inuyasha shouted, with a harsh struggle to swallow back his anguish, because of course that is something Sesshomaru should say. It would hurt. He deserved to have his chance to deliver hurt. Inuyasha ran a hand over his hair, and his ears, broken down enough for today. He gulped back something sour. Fuck if he'd start crying in front of Sesshomaru. "Get my number from Koga. Set up the meeting for Thursday or Friday. I'm off then." He left.

Sesshomaru didn't stop him this time. He let the hanyou leave with his daughter and bore the sad eyes of his little family when he went to take them home. Sesshomaru wasn't going to feel bad for what he'd done. He wasn't. No matter how much his chest ached.

He wasn't going to give a shit.

What mattered now was the test. Come Thursday as early as possible. He was going to see if Zaya was his baby girl.

Inuyasha's cell phone vibrated when he sat back from buckling in Zaya. One look at the screen said unknown. The label spoke louder than words. Inuyasha held back the shattered tone in his voice and answered with a wicked, "What!"

"My, my, my, is that anyway to answer your lover?"

"What the fuck do you want now?"

Sweet, acidic chuckles oozed over the receiver, "Don't be that way baby. I was just checkin' on you to make sure you were alright. I saw Sesshomaru and you havin' a lil chat from over here and you weren't looking so good."

On a panic filled rotation, Inuyasha's eyes swam across the vicinity. He didn't see him. He didn't see him anywhere.

"Don't bother lookin' for me sweetheart. You know I'll show myself when I'm ready," Some more diabolic chuckles.

Inuyasha's skin felt so dirty listening to his freak. "I gave you what you wanted. Just leave me alone."

"Nah, I told you before what I want, you won't give me. All it takes is one word."

"No," Inuyasha flatly said.

"Then expect a call from me from now on until it becomes a yes. Don't toy with me boy, I'll make your life hell."

Click.

Inuyasha leaned back against his car. Life was punishing him it seemed. All his sins were just piling up one after the other.

TBC: We'll find out next chapter if Zaya's his. Don't assume anything with me guys. You know I'm always unpredictable and this story's still got a ways to go.