Edited 11/4/2010

Chapter IIX: It's Raining Tears

Sesshoumaru and Rin set side by side before a fire, cooking fish. Sesshoumaru looked at the fish that was cooking on the fire. The young girl had coaxed him into at least trying some human food and he had agreed to make her happy. He sighed at the thought—he had no desire to try fish that had been cooked. He had always preferred raw meat but Rin had been ecstatic when he had agreed and if it was for Rin he would stomach the cooked fish.

Rin had abandoned her long outer Kimono when she had fished the trout out of the river and now only wore the short inner one that was meant to keep the body tight and thin looking. To modern day standards, Rin was sitting in her underwear. To say Sesshoumaru didn't notice the new features of her body through the white inner kimono, would be to say he was dead.

"Rin, you should put your outer Kimono back on."

"But this one is wet, I should let it dry first." She plucked at the side of the kimono to show him.

Sesshoumaru was well aware that the kimono was wet. He discreetly bit his lip and turned away from the girl as she bent forward to retrieve some of the cooked fish.

"Here," She handed him the odd smelling food and smiled with anticipation as he sniffed it and prepared to eat.

With a slight amount of trepidation he took a bite and chewed halfheartedly. The taste flowed into his mouth and he stopped. It wasn't that bad, his eyes grew wide and he took another bite, chewing it thoughtfully. He had to admit, he liked the smoky flavor of the fish.

"This is exquisite, Rin." Never in his life had Sesshoumaru eaten anything cooked, but this really wasn't that bad at all, he liked it—he really liked it.

She giggled and went about eating her own fish with a grin on her innocent face. "I'm glad Sesshoumaru-sama, truly I am."

He looked at her as she ate, forgetting about the wetness of her Kimono, he stared and studied. She turned to him after a moment, she looked at his stare but didn't seem to register it as she offered him another fish. He took it into his hand slowly and began to eat.

Sesshoumaru kept his eyes on Rin, studying her form as she ate her fish and watched the world around her with child like curiosity. He gulped, it was that look—the one of complete innocence that drew him in. He loved that look. It was something he never saw in anyone other than Rin. He appreciated that part of her, even though she had been hurt so much throughout her life, she had never felt hatred. He couldn't say the same for himself.

That was his weakness, and only thru having known Rin, had he realized that it really was a weakness. He was quick to anger, and he was one to hold a grudge but Rin—she was the opposite. Rin was easy going, she was quick to love, and she never hated. The more Sesshoumaru saw these qualities in her the more he loved her and wanted to have those same qualities.

He sighed as he finished off the last piece of fish. His anger showed thru the most when he thought of his brother. He hated Inuyasha for years and had not really known why. Sesshoumaru looked at the sky and studied the clouds with dark gold eyes. It was Rin who had made him realize his hate for Inuyasha was misguided. His love for Rin had made him question his hate for humans and, further, his hate for half humans.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Sesshoumaru blinked and looked at the epicenter of his thoughts. "Yes, Rin?"

"I'm sleepy." She said with a yawn and stretched. "May I nap for a little while?"

He felt a smile pull at his lips as her kimono tightened around her now subtle chest. The smile faded, however, when he felt an unfamiliar tingle in his lower body. It had been years since he had felt the sensation of attraction. "Sleep Rin, I will watch."

She nodded and stood up, walking to Ahun. Leaning against the dragon she closed her eyes and fell to sleep instantly. It always amazed Sesshoumaru, how she was able to fall asleep so fast. He smiled—maybe it was because she felt so safe, knowing he was watching for danger.

The smile disappeared when a little moister hit his nose. He looked up and blinked quickly, where had the rain come from? He hadn't smelled it—Sesshoumaru sniffed the air and frowned, this was not a natural rain.

Quickly he came to his feet and made it to Rin in only a few strides. The girl had awakened when the rain intensified but found herself already on the move—Sesshoumaru holding her close as they moved towards a nearby cave.

They reached the cave swiftly and became settled before the rain storm dumped a rather harsh amount of water on the landscape.

"Thank-you, Sesshoumaru-sama." She said as she looked at her still somewhat dry kimono. "You kept Rin from getting too wet."

The lord nodded his head in a sign of 'you're-welcome' and continued to study the rain. There was something odd about the rain that was currently falling. It was not a normal rain storm, it was supernatural. He watched as the flowers and greenery of the landscape began to glow, as if they were being healed by the rain.

"Sesshoumaru-sama is there something amiss?" Jaken asked as he stepped closer to his lord, his own eyes catching the odd occurance.

Sesshoumaru looked at Jaken and glared at the interruption before nodding slightly. Rin moved to sit next to Sesshoumaru at the mouth of the cave. She watched the rain for a few minutes before she stuck her hand out of the mouth of the cave. Sesshoumaru and Jaken watched as she collected a small amount of rain water in her hand. The girl moved it back to her face and studied the moisture with surprisingly wise eyes. "It reminds me of tears." She whispered as she let the water fall from her hand and looked back at the landscape that appeared to be aglow with spiritual energy.

The demon lord looked at Rin in surprise at her assessment. He glanced at the storm and took in the scent of the rain fully. It smelled of salt—tears.

-break-

"Rain?" Inuyasha said in a shrill voice not befitting of his character. "Where is the rain coming from lately?" He shook his head causing the water to scatter like silent anguish. "Every time I turn around its fucking raining."

He bit his lip and kept up his trek to the god's tree. His feet were muddy and sinking into the ground with each step, causing him to curse. After some minutes he gave up on walking and jumped into a nearby tree. He shook himself like a dog before he continued to jump from tree to tree thru the forest, arriving at Goshinbock some moments later. He stood in one of the lower, younger branches and sighed as he touched the bark affectionately before he moved forward and laid his forehead on the smooth trunk.

Memories cascaded about his mind and fell into place.

"Die Inuyasha!"

His eyes snapped opened as the sound of Kikyo's voice range in his head. He could see her face clearly, the anger that had been in her eyes then. At the time he had not realized that she was hurting—that she felt the same feeling he did—they both felt betrayed. Inuyasha leaned away from the tree and looked below him, at the very spot she had said those words.

"Kikyo," He whispered, the sound of her voice was strange to his ears. He thought for a moment, when was the last time he had even said her name? He wasn't sure, but he knew it had been a long time.

He closed his eyes and thought back in time. He remembered those words, they were the last words he really remembered hearing. He remembered her face, it was the last face he ever remembered seeing. And then he remembered the sensation of waking up again. It had felt like mere moments, he hadn't even realized so much time had passed—he had thought none had passed at all. Maybe a week at most, but certainly not fifty years.

It had been so strange, to fall asleep to the sight of a face in anger and to wake up to the same face filled with curiosity. At first he had not realized it was not Kikyo. Even when the girl had yelled at him, declaring her name 'Ka-go-me' he had been unsure. It was not until her scent had hit his nose that he had really realized she was not Kikyo. The image of Kagome in her school uniform made him smile. She had been so young—so unafraid—it had been her lack of fear that had intrigued him more than anything.

Not even Kikyo had been as fearless as Kagome had been upon first meeting him. Kagome had never feared him, she had never hated his mix blood, she had always liked him just the way he was. But now—

Inuyasha opened his eyes and detached himself from his thoughts but not quick enough. The feeling of betrayal still found its way into his heart.

He put a hand to his chest, this betrayal hurt far worse than Kikyo's ever had. He had always expected Kikyo to hate his demon side—it had been the proper outcome but Kagome—

He had never thought for a second that Kagome would ever fear his demon blood.

"Kagome?" He said as he looked at the clouds. "Is the sky crying for you?" He looked up into the rain and sighed as it touched his face. The contact filled his heart with both love and regret. He took in a deep breath and wiped his face, noticing only now that he was crying, just like the sky. He smiled tiredly as he watched the rain mix with his own tears on his hand. "It's crying for us, isn't it?"

The rain made no attempt to reply.

-break-

"Master! Akkanka-Sama!" Jigoku ran around the same building as before looking for his master who was nowhere to be found. "Where is he?"

He made his way down the elusive corridors and hallways only to end at the wooden door to his master's study. The very study that housed all his plans to kill off the young woman named Kagome.

With trembling fingers he opened the cold timbered door and gazed inside. No one was in the room, not a soul.

"Master must have gone out." He stepped around the door quietly and walked towards the small sitting table with the globe on it. The pads of his hands touched the smoothness of the orb and instantly moved away. The image of the young girl had flashed across it, at his touch, releasing all the feelings of her sadness and bitterness into his heart. His body trembled, never in his life had he been surrounded with that kind of sadness.

"This girl is suffering horribly." Suddenly the globe's composition changed and he saw the picture of a young man with silver hair and golden eyes pass over the surface. The emotions coming off this young man were far more deadly than any that had been coming off the girl.

Then before his very eyes a poem began to form, words he had never seen before in his life. He didn't even have time to read it before the poem disappeared and in its place formed a signature.

He reached out and touched the name with all the love and affection in his heart. For some reason he felt like this man would be his hero. Even if the man didn't know him, even if he hated him, this man would try as hard as he could to protect him. This man would protect and shield him like no one ever had, not even when he was a little kit.

"Inuyasha," Jigoku read as he moved his hands away from the globe before him. The girl's image returned and the anguish that he had felt lessened drastically. Her sad eyes haunted his soul and he stepped back a little ways before moving his fingers to caress the image one more time.

"How come the girl hurts less than the boy?" He shook his long orange hair thoughtfully and backed away from the reflections on the glass. He moved to the door, his eyes always holding the image of that girl in them until he once again slipped out of the room, his tail swishing behind him as he closed it.

He looked left then right before darting to his room on the other side of the mansion, once there he closed the door hastily and slumped against it.

For a moment he set in silence until a constant sound entered his mind.

"It's raining?" He stood leisurely before walking to the opened window. His hands moved up to touch the edges of the window ledge where some water had collected and he frowned. The winds of this storm were supernatural and the rain—

He touched the moisture to his lips and blinked his eyes in surprise. "The rain—taste like—tears?"

-break-

"Miroku it's been raining for three days straight, I just don't understand it."

Miroku looked up at his wife and nodded before turning to stare outside. Sure enough the rain was still falling and had been falling for quit sometime now.

"Who knows." He stated with a shrug before turning back to his task.

It had been three days since the encounter. Shippo had relayed as much information as he could to the monk, his wife, and Kaede but none of them had been able to determine what had happened or who the people were. Unfortunately, Shippo had been so scared that he was unable to really listen to what had been said. In the end, the only really valuable information the kitsune had shared was that the man named Jigoku was a kitsune as well.

A soft knock on the side of their door alerted them to a presence drawling his attention away from his thoughts

"Come in." Sango called as she glanced around the reed mat that acted as a door. Kaede came into the hut holding a pitcher in her hand.

"Kaede-sama?" Miroku said as he looked at the odd murky water in the clear magic glass that had come from Kagome's time before the well closed. "Where is that water from? It looks murky."

"It is some rain I have collected."

"Why did you collect rain, Kaede-baachan?" Sango questioned as she bounced one of her children lightly, the other sat at her side asleep.

"Look closely and maybe you will understand."

The water was murky, murkier than rain should be but that was not what was extraordinary. Through the fogginess there was a slight glow of power, a pinking that is associated with Miko's magic. The powers swirled around in the glass and seemed to call to them, making them want to taste it and lick it with their lips.

"This is Kagome?" Sango asked with a frown. The old woman nodded at Sango and sighed.

"It is her power," A small smile mixed in with the wrinkles of Kaede's chin. "The rain reacts with Miko's like Kagome. It is almost like the heavens wish to cry for her so her angelic face will not know salt."

"But why?"

"No one knows, but this rain is like Kagome's own tears. It even tastes like salt."

Miroku took the pitcher and placed it to his lips. Upon the first sip he gagged and drew it away forcibly. "God, that tastes horrible but," he brought the glass back and took another small taste, "I think I feel better!"

"What do you mean?" Asked Sango curiosity highlighting her face.

"For the past couple of days my back has ached unbelievably but now," he took another sip before handing it to Kaede and smiling, "Now I don't have a stiff muscle or ache in me!"

"Hmm—Kagome has healing abilities maybe the rain took on this property when it attached itself to her aura."

The hut grew silent for a moment and then grew almost grave as they looked out into the big wide open. All the plants were radiating a bright green and the fields seemed to be taking on a healthier look.

"It's like everything is being rejuvenated." Sango stood up holding her small boy and placed him on her hip as Miroku took the sleeping girl from the ground, holding her to his shoulder. They walked over to the entrance of the hut and watched the changes silently.

-break-

"Rin I want you to stay here."

"Why?"

Sesshoumaru moved away from her and to the entrance of the cave. "There is something supernatural about the rain and I intend to find out what it is. Till then wait for me?"

She nodded and watched as he disappeared from her sight and into the pouring rain. "I'll wait for you forever." She whispered when she was sure he could not hear her.

-break-

Kagome sat silently in front of Kaede's hut, the rain was falling above her head and the sky was growing darker by the minute but for some reason she didn't notice. Her hands covered her face and acted as a protector for her, a means to keep herself calm. She was crying heavy tears of sorrow.

Something was clutching her heart tightly, to the point of pain. She had thought that she would feel better after her conversation with Inuriku but now she felt worse. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo said that they had found her passed out the other day, a strange man leaving the hut right before they got to her.

According to Shippo he was a Kitsune. Kagome knew that Kitsunes were known for trickery and magic, the thought left her wondering if, perhaps, that kitsune had something to do with her current state. Was it possible that he was the one doing this to her?

"Inuyasha." She muttered softly between her fingers as she felt her heart clench again. Somewhere deep in her mind she could feel a tight pull, as if something was keeping her from feeling what she wanted to feel. She rubbed at her face feverishly in an attempt to extinguish the nagging feeling.

"Kagome?" She turned abruptly and saw the object of her broken heart in front of her. He was soaking wet.

His hair was sopping causing it to stick to his face and cover his eyes, only allowing a small smidgen of gold to flock with the silver strands. She looked up towards his ears and sighed, they were both buried into his mane of hair tightly. It was like he was submitting to her.

"Inuyasha?" She breathed out. The urge to run to him, hug him and kiss him and maybe even make love to him was powerful but something in her mind pulled even tighter leaving her unable to move.

"Kagome, I wanted to talk to you. If that's okay?"

She blinked back at him and struggled with her own body. She couldn't do it, she couldn't say yes and she couldn't say no. He took her silence as a kind of yes and moved his lips to speak but stopped.

She looked like a frightened doe caught in a trap. Her body was poised and ready to run but her eyes, her beautiful eyes looked like they wanted him, like they loved him. He felt the muscles of his face grow tight and the veins in his neck pop to the surface with the strain that came from wanting to be near her.

"Inuyasha?" She managed to say around the pain in her mind.

"Kagome are you okay?" He moved closer to her but she backed away causing him to stop.

One of his hands extended slowly and brushed her arm causing her to tremble and look away into the dark nothing of the impending night. She didn't understand it, what was holding her back? She remembered Inuriku telling her that someone was trying to destroy a part of her mind, that they had control over it. Could it be that they had control over the part of her that loved Inuyasha?

Inuyasha moved away from Kagome when she shied from his touch and smiled blindly. "I miss you, Kagome."

Abruptly she looked up at him and began to stare. His face was a picture of love, devotion, self loathing, self hate, deprivation, affection, and something she feared to name. His eyes were beginning to hollow, his body beginning to shut down, and it looked as if it hadn't eaten in days, maybe even weeks. The once full build of the hanyou was dimensioning and turning into a shell of a man. He was frightfully skinny, his normally baggy clothes barely staying on his now small frame. His hair even appeared duller than it should have and his once bright and brilliant eyes were haunted with loneliness.

"Inuyasha?" She said, she felt the part of her mind that had been tightly sealed shut begin to open.

He moved to kneel before her on one knee, and looked her in the eyes. His lips trembled and his gaze faltered momentarily as he started to talk, as he started to recite.

"There once was a time,

When we all lost our minds,

And feared to say,

What we thought true.

Then I met a woman,

Who feared not the world or my cares?

And my sanity was questioned.

Oh, be the time,

That I stop this love I feel,

In my mind, in my soul.

I'll give you the moon

So long as you ask

Or even the stars.

Let me hold you to me

And protect you, don't flea!

I mean not to scare you,

I have good intentions.

Do not fear my eyes

Or my hair when it's dyed

With care of blood sunsets

That you do fear

Let me love you Kagome."

He held out a flower at the end and smiled boyishly when she managed to reach out and take it. She found the ability to smile as that park of her mind opened even more.

"The name is Sweet-Briar and it means," He stopped and looked at her longingly for a moment as she smelled the flower and closed her eyes in happiness. "Poetry—it means poetry."

She nodded her head and looked up at him. He was looking at her with eyes full of hope, full of love and want and need. Her heart raced in her chest as she felt her own love and need and hope boil within her. All of the love she had for him swelled to the surface as she took in the sight of Inuyasha—cold and wet but in love with her. And in that moment, if only for a second, the door slammed opened and Akkanka lost control.

She jumped into Inuyasha's arms in the pouring down rain and kissed him with all the adoration in her heart. Their lips smashed together in an odd mixing of hunger, loneliness, affection, and love.

He put his arms around her and drew her to him, all of his pent-up emotions unlocking the flood gates and surfacing. He brought his hands under her bottom and motivated her to wrap her legs around his waist. Her legs did not ignore him.

Kagome's legs linked behind him and her lips ravished his in a searing connection of hot wet jaws. Everything around them seemed to stop. All the feeling in their hearts ceased to be, it was just Kagome and Inuyasha—Kagome and Inuyasha who had been separated for nearly a year—Kagome and Inuyasha who had loved each other since they first met—Kagome and Inuyasha who wanted nothing more than to continue loving each other till the day they died—Kagome and Inuyasha, nothing more, nothing less.

Slowly the sky began to fall apart, the clouds disappearing in mere seconds leaving a bright and shinning sun in its place. No more tears fell from the sky, nothing could rain on their parade.

Kagome and Inuyasha were panting against each other as he trailed opened mouth kisses down her collar bone, using his nose to move the folds of her kimono down lower. Her face was contorted into the portrait of bliss and she was moaning out his name with every kiss he gave her. Somehow, as if by a higher power, he was still standing and keeping her secure in his arms.

Slowly he became aware of the position and knew he needed better leverage to continue his menstruations. He backed her up into the side of the hut, pushing her flat against the hard wall. Kagome moaned as he allowed his arousal to press into her thigh before rubbing himself against her center.

Kagome could honestly say she had never thought of sex that much as a teenager. She had thought of love, of the odd kiss here and there, but she had never really thought of sex until Sango and Miroku had married. After their wedding night, she had asked Sango what it was like to be with a man. The exterminator had barely been able to respond from embarrassment but in the end had told her that it had been scary at first; that she hadn't know what to do with Miroku's arousal.

As Kagome felt Inuyasha press himself firmly against her, she felt differently than the exterminator. Kagome knew exactly what she wanted to do with his arousal; she knew exactly what she wanted to do with him. Kagome wanted to have sex, she wanted to be a part of him, she wanted it here and now—where anyone could see. She didn't care—she just wanted to feel this physical symbol of love as clearly as she possibly could.

Slowly the sky began to grow thick with a supernatural variety of cloud. The wind picked up and howled in time with Kagome's pants and Inuyasha's growls of passion. The sun grew hazy and misty appearing far away as everything dimmed to a crimson red. The trees bowed their branches towards the swirling amount of energy encompassing the couple.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku cried out as he ran towards them Sango and Kaede following. Miroku's cry did not reach Inuyasha's ears, however. Miroku, Sango, and Kaede all stopped with wide eyes as the hanyou without care or worry sliced opened Kagome's kimono with well intentioned claws exposing Kagome's breast.

-break-

"Shit!" Screamed Akkanka, the globe that housed all of his magic had just shattered to the floor. Little fragments of it where imbedded in his feet. "Fucking damn it." He cursed as he jumped away from the shattered crystal to remove the shards from his feet.

Jigoku stood beside him his eyes wide. They had just been standing, talking about what they needed to do in order to gain more control of the Miko, when the source of all his Master's power was destroyed. He looked around confused, there was no evidence as to what had caused the orb to shatter.

"Fuck!" Akkanka gritted his teeth as he ripped a piece of glass from the bottom of his foot. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

-break-

Slowly Inuyasha let his mouth surround Kagome's nipple and swirled his tongue. She in return groaned and dug her fist into his hair drawing him so close that he could scarcely breathe against her breast. She moaned out his name and took one small ear into her mouth, licking the edges. Inuyasha groaned against her chest, bucking his hips at the action.

Sango licked her lips involuntarily as she took in the erotic scene in front of her before she shook her head rather violently, chastising herself for her thoughts. Taking her eyes off the scene she looked at the sky and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. All the clouds that were building were silver and gold. Suddenly without it ever registering in anyone's mind it began to rain again.

"Inuyasha!" They all heard Kagome say and as she said it the rain changed to a strange silver color, "Inuyasha," It turned into liquid gold, "Inu—Inu—Inu—Inuyasha!" She screamed the name at the top of her lungs causing those silver/gold clouds to drop blood red rain.

-break-

Akkanka opened every single drawer or hiding place that was left in his study. He threw papers on the ground, destroyed other string connections, and cursed under his breath. He had to find it; it was the only way to correct what had gone so horribly wrong.

Akkanka had not thought he would need the little doll but, it seemed, if he could ever find it, that it would come to be of great use.

"Shit." He said as he threw another stack of papers up into the air. "Where the fuck it is?"

Jigoku searched the room, knowing what his master was looking for. He didn't see it readily. Where could it be? They had to find it soon or all was lost. All the hard work they had done would go to waste. A part of Jigoku hoped that would happen. He wanted to protect the girl, protect the boy.

Quickly Jigoku squashed those thoughts, if Master even began to feel some of them he would surely be struck down.

Akkanka stood in the middle of the room, his eyes were wide and furious. "Where the fuck is it!" He screamed and ripped a hole into the wall. As his hand moved his kimono opened up somewhat, allowing the small figurine of Kagome to fall out onto the floor.

"Master!" Jigoku yelled and pointed.

Akkanka nearly howled with relief as he took the carving and held it tight between his hands. He began to mumble under his breath. Old words, of an old language. Slowly the doll began to glow and he smirked. This might work better than he thought; behold the greatness of mistakes.

"Kagome," he whispered with all the venom in his voice dripping from his tongue. "Come back to me, Kagome." Strings fired from the doll, new strings to attach to the old ones. If they attached, it would be easy to once again close the door.

-break-

Kagome moved her lips away from Inuyasha's ear and trembled with a sensation she had never felt before. She felt his lips taking over hers and claiming them, she felt the passion, the fire, the heat, but something else was seeping into her being, a something she thought she had forgotten.

She felt something pierce the back of her head, it invaded her mind, showing her images of razor like claws and red hot blood. She felt her body hit the ground, she could feel the life fade from her eyes. It was all coming back to her in an involuntary rush.

Her eyes snapped open the weather around them disintegrated as dark and demanding clouds came over the village. Lightning began to drop from the sky and hit the ground leaving smoldering sections of dark earth.

Kagome's hands came up to clutch Inuyasha's shoulders, her nails digging into his flesh. He gasped and looked into her eyes, they were big and hollow and then instantaneously they were filled with fear.

Miroku, Sango, Kaede, and Shippo all stared as Kagome became nothing but a mass of fear. The door in her mind had once again been shut and tied. This time it was so tight that Kagome could not feel any love for the hanyou at all. She felt nothing but deep, condemning fear.

No one was prepared for the scream that left Kagome's mouth. She pushed Inuyasha away so violently that Inuyasha fell to the ground. Inuyasha howled in anger from his place in front of her, his heart breaking within his chest.

"Why!" he screamed as loud as he could. He pounded his fist into the ground. He was filled with so much anger, with so much rage. He had been so close to her and now, he was even further away.

Kagome stopped and looked at him as the man who loved her broke down at her feet. Villagers peeked out of their huts to watch,

"Why do you hate me? Is it because I'm a hanyou?" The sky turned deadly black and a new power flared from within Inuyasha's chest. "Why," he screamed at the top of his lungs rocking the world, "Why was I ever born!"

At that same moment a giant bolt of lightning filled the air, a sickening crack was heard as it struck its target in Inuyasha's forest. All heads turned towards the direction of the old faithful tree, Inuyasha's included. An ironic smile came over his features as he chuckled and completely broke.

Even his God's tree was dead.

-break-

The rain subsided and cleared leaving only the trees dripping with water. Puddles were splashed in by children playing and the odd adult here and there. The world seemed mystical; everything fresh and radiant after the storm, making the world oddly clean.

Inuyasha set under the remains of the God's tree his back bent forward and his face hidden between his upturned knees. Long ago he had stopped trembling and now simply stayed completely still. One ear flicked to the side sending a mass of water into the air.

No one had come with him this time. He had no shoulder to lean on, not even Sango. He had not allowed them to follow, he didn't want them, he didn't want anyone—he simply wanted to die.

"Okaa-san," He whispered in a faint voice that soon turned into a harsh cough which burned his throat and nose. His eyes scrunched up and he sneezed, he brought a hand up to rub his nose and happened to glance to his left where he saw flowers growing hardily from the rain. He snorted at the irony.

A set of gold eyes watched him from a distance, studying his saddened face and slouched over appearance. They were filled with both pity and regret. "Inuyasha," He whispered as he stepped closer to the figure. He overheard the hanyou repeat the Miko's name over and over, his heart clutched in his chest.

"Kagome," Inuyasha said as he felt the dissipating Miko energy left from the rain. "Kagome—Kagome—" He put his hands over his eyes and wiped the stray trails of moister.

He heard the feet approaching him but didn't move until the voice called to him—a voice he had not been expecting to hear. "You've been crying a lot lately haven't you, little brother."

Inuyasha turned quickly towards the voice. It had been the same calm and collected voice he knew all too well and yet, it had sounded different. It had sounded like it actually cared.

"Sesshoumaru?" He whispered as he gulped.

End of Chapter

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