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Disclaimer: There's not much to say here. I haven't updated in nearly two months, I'm sick, I just broke a nail, and Sesshomaru still isn't mine. Sorry kiddos, but… this sucks! Anywho, I'm currently IN LOVE with the song Uptown Girl by Billy Joel, and I feel a lot better. Chapter nine still needs to be redone, so… be happy! I hope to hit 200!

Summary: Sesshomaru's hurt, Rin's at fault, and Jaken's asleep. What more could you ask for, rather than a twenty year-old beauty, and a demon that's finding her strangely attractive…

Three's a Crowd

by Brijustme

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Sesshomaru let out a grunt as he fell to his knees. He had never experienced this much determination in his entire life. As terrible as he was to admit it, but this feeling was better than the thoughts of imagining Inuyasha's blood in his claws all those years ago. That wonderful red substance that all demons lingered about for…

No.

This was different.

He felt his blood become tainted, become black, and it was rushing through his veins so fast that his heart was pounding so hard that his sensitive ears could hear it clearly.

His vision became sharper, and looking down at his hands, they were quickly covering themselves with the familiar fur that he still remembered to this day, as well as his claws that were turning dark purple. He pictured the day he could transform after having his arm cut off as one thing: supreme conquest.

"Supreme conquest…"

He remembered those exact words leaving his father's mouth so many years ago that it was as if he had heard them the day before. Nothing would rid of them. Supreme conquest was what he had been searching for since the day he was born. He had it several times, but they all ended with him empty handed, and he was through with defeat.

But something was not right about this; something was getting in his way. 'That face,' he thought as his eyes snapped shut. 'Her… face.' He could see the face that he hadn't seen in hardly a week. Would she be upset? Disappointed in the one who had raised her? 'Rin…'

This was of no such victory whatsoever, and his eyes snapped up when he heard feet moving away from him. 'Rin…' He had come all this way for her, and he was—right then—transforming into something that could potentially kill her in the future—but this was what he had wanted all along.

'Rin…'

His eyes became a bloodshot red as he leapt off the ground and grabbed Kanna by the throat. This was it. His first kill in his true form; a day like this wasn't meant to be experienced in the cold and in the middle of nowhere, but he could smell it inside her: the thing that drove his senses insane and caused him to kill everything in his path.

This was a secret. He only referred to his true form when it was absolutely necessary. He favoured his true form more, but in his human form he was more… stable. Transforming into a dog the size of a twenty-seven story building in the present time caused everything in his body to go haywire, making the need to kill extreme, and he tightened his claw around his grip on Kanna: her neck.

He couldn't think that she could be any more clueless when her tiny hands wrapped around his fingers, trying to pull them off. He couldn't hear much from her gulping breaths, but the need to hear more of them made him squeeze her neck tighter.

"Foolish… monster," Kanna sneered with a gulp. "I… have… no blood that… you're after."

Lies.

He could smell it… that wonderful substance inside her body that he was craving for. 'I don't eat human food.' This was still as true as it was twelve years ago when he refused the fish Rin had nicely given him when he had gotten hurt. 'Blood…'

He watched as Kanna's face began to erupt in a reddish shade, and the demon smirked. Naraku's blood was in her body; she was simply a doll that processed some of it inside her veins… but very little. Naraku's blood made her move, Naraku's blood made Kanna move—his blood made all of them that he had created come to life.

Growling, he grabbed the girl and held her before him, noticing that her eyes were already rolled to the back of her head without him even doing anything too rational. Her red veins in her eyes made the need to kill her stronger. 'She's weak.'

Then it hit him.

He sniffed her and scoffled before tossing her down. He would rather die than devour the blood of a half demon. It was the same as saying that he ate his niece. Kagome was a part of him, and he simply couldn't do that. But he still watched the doll on the ground. He watched as her black colored eyes stared at the sky as it snowed, and her face took minutes to return to its usual white shade.

His own eyes widened when his head was tipped upwards and he let out a howl. 'I'm taking so long to transform…' he thought while falling to his knees a second time. He was simply too weak to do this—to become his true self. He had to admit that he was in fact possessed. He felt his anger die down, and his body slowly began returning to normal. 'The need to take blood is getting the better of-'

"KANNA!!"

Snapping his head upwards from the snow covered ground, his eyes narrowed at the demon that was knelt before the doll on the ground. 'Why is…' He winced at how pathetically weak he was, and he put a claw on the side of his face. 'She's here?' He watched with intensity as the woman reached into her hair, pulling out a feather, and instantly it transformed. 'She's…' And then the feather was in the air, high out of his reach with Kanna on it.

He took a step back when Kagura took one closer to him. He didn't understand. She didn't look all-powerful like she normally did. Her hair was let down, her first kimono was around Kanna, and she had her fan positioned to the side. He noticed that swirls of wind were already around it. 'She's going to attack,' he thought while looking up. The woman's feather was high in the air, at least fifty feet, so he had no options to slice the girl to shreds and kill her. He couldn't help it. This had happened with Inuyasha as well: once he has a target, he goes with it, even if it has very little blood within it. It was hardly there… but he could smell it.

Kagura watched as the demon's demonic hair disappeared from his body with every blink. 'He's reverting back,' she thought while taking another step closer, her widened red eyes full of shock. The demon had nowhere to go because he was at the end of the cliff. One bad step and he would fall to the ground and smash into massive rocks.

She took another step closer, and another, until the two demons were a mere three feet away. Her cheeks turned red, and she hid her eyes with her bangs… then one of her first tears dripped down her face. "I-" She paused and snapped her head up, her crimson colored eyes full of no forgiveness. "I… you," she spoke while clutching her fan that was in her right hand.

Her hair blew over half of her face, as well as his own, and she listened to his heart with her keen hearing. It was loud, so loud that it sounded like it was knocking on wood. "Is she that important to you?" she said while positioning her fan to her side, ready to strike at the slightest move. She was still alert even if the man she was in love with wasn't moving an inch.

Perhaps he hadn't heard her. "IS SHE—THAT WOMANTHAT IMPORTANT TO YOU?!"

Her eyes widened with shock and lost their natural color, replacing the crimson with a shade of black. "Sess… Sesshomaru…" She quietly got closer to him, and another step was all it took for the demon to step out of his trance he had gone into by her few words. She had seen the shock in his eyes; she had seen it clearly. Right now his eyes were glimmering like she had never seen, quietly looking to the side and trying to think. "You…" She didn't know what to say.

Stepping back two steps, another tear streamed down her cheek. "You truly, deeply, care for that woman." She used her free hand to cover her mouth. She didn't understand.

She never would.

Kagura remembered the first time she met him. She remembered the first time she thought of using him to kill Naraku. She couldn't help but think it was wrong to take advantage of a person… a demon… but she was just that desperate. So she soon started to fall for him as they crossed the other's path over the years.

She fell for his everything: his hair, his towering body… his everything. She would betray Naraku's orders at any moment just to see his face. She would hide behind trees with him aware that she was there… and just watch him. His view and grace was all any woman would need. And when she said any, she meant it.

There was someone in the way.

'Is that so…' the woman thought while slowly lowering her hand from her mouth. Of course she was right. She would love to have this man chasing after her, wanting to return her to where she came from, her home, but he wasn't, and this was reality. The man before her was chasing after someone else, wanting to return her to where she came from, her home, and this was reality also. But it was her choice whether to go by this.

Her eyes slowly looked up at the extremely tall demon. 'I never will understand,' she said to herself while taking another step closer. The two were only a foot apart, and getting closer was out of the question with them already seeming to get close by the snow falling at their feet.

She didn't know what to say to him, causing her to hold her fan out before her in a fighting stance. "I will never understand you," she said with narrowed eyes. "I have tried over the years, I deeply have-" She saw him move slightly, and she knew she had his attention. "But I have given up."

Sesshomaru stared down at her with an emotionless face. He couldn't smell a trace of her scent at all…

Kagura closed her eyes tight, tears streaking loose from them as she made small whirlwinds appear around her green fan. "That woman—that human—obviously means a great deal to you if you're going through all the inconvenient things you're going through to retrieve her," she spoke sternly. "I'm afraid that I'm going to stop you now."

She gave a small grin through her teary eyed face. It wasn't much, but you could tell that it was there. "Determination is something I prove I have," she said with narrowed eyes. "Determination makes me obey Naraku's every-"

That was all it took for Sesshomaru's nails to turn yellow, striking the woman just as she slashed her fan at him and yelled a spell. He did feel her attack even if he had caught her off guard, and he fell to his knees, his wounds reopening yet again.

This Kagura was a fake.

He watched intensively as Kagura fell to the ground, a white light appearing around her body as it disintegrated into ashes and pieces of dirt. She was fake, which meant that she was sent to stall him for some reason, and he had let her do so. 'I should have known better,' he managed to scowl as he looked down at his body.

Sesshomaru's eyes looked to the snowy sky for a huge feather, and he found it, about half a mile away. 'She tricked me,' he thought while wrapping an arm around his waist, forcing his body to stand frailly. He had wasted time; something could be happening to Rin this very moment, and all he could think of was blood and the doll made of dirt on the ground.

He felt his blood start to boil, but kept it low as he began making his way down the mountain.

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"Myoga, just what in the hell are you doing?" Totosai asked irritably as the flea shivered on his right shoulder. "I don't have a clue why you tagged along with me to disobey Inuyasha's orders and search for his pup if you're going to cower in fear of getting mysteriously killed by the master when we return."

Myoga's big eyes looked the elderly man in fear. "You sure are graphical…" he said under his breath while looking down at the bluish trees of the freezing northern lands. "Can you sense the presence of one of our lords?" He felt the giant cow freeze in midair as he asked his question.

Totosai exhaled deeply. "I was afraid you were going to say that sooner or later…" The two and his cow had been searching for Kagome for about three days now. Totosai had originally been in the area to swipe a fang from a leopard demon's mouth in the area, and that's where he ran into Myoga who had been perched in Inuyasha's hair the entire time since the disappearance.

He knew about the explosion, he knew his master wasn't healing, and he knew that the elder youkai brother wasn't healing either. 'Those two are exactly the same,' he thought while shaking his head. 'They're just like their father—believe it or not.'

"It's Lord Sesshomaru all right," Myoga said with a devilish grin, knocking Totosai out of his thoughts. "I think I'll tag along with him and get praise from Master Inuyasha for finding Kagome!"

Looking back and forth from the cow flying in the air and to the coldness of below, he didn't think twice as he hopped off Totosai's shoulder. "SUCKER!"

He fell extremely slow, and only made it to Totosai's hand before he was crushed within it. "Hey! Get your hands off me!!" His small size made it harder to escape.

Totosai held Myoga with his thumb and index finger in front of his face. "Just what in the hell are you doing?" he asked a second time. "You think someone as impatient as Sesshomaru has the time to look after you?" Now that he thought of it… having Sesshomaru looked after the flea wasn't that much of a bad idea.

He tossed him over his shoulder like salt in the present.

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"SESSHOMARU!!" Kagura's eyes snapped open and she set a hand over where her heart should be. Even though it wasn't there, she could feel it pounding.

'What a weird dream…' She shook her head and scowled. 'It'll never happen though. I mean, me looking like that just for him…' Now that she thought of it, she felt different for some reason, as if her troubles had been taken away. 'Usually talking to Kanna does that…'

Kagura sighed in boredom as she overlooked the village where Rin and the two demons were being kept at. They had arrived on a wagon several hours ago, and she hadn't seen anyone leave the huge estate where they were being kept since then. 'Only a little girl to fetch water,' she thought with disgust. Her final aspect of this mission was to make sure Sesshomaru didn't get near Rin.

"Because those are Naraku's orders," she repeated for the seventh time, and let another sigh leave her blue lips.

She wasn't sure where Kanna was, and she would have left the cave in the mountain hours ago to search for her, but she had to obey these last orders. She got lonely faster without her older sister around to give her advice about keeping her heart sealed and in Naraku's hands where it belonged.

"As quiet as you are," she said while lowering her head to her lap. In it was her regular fan that she always used. "You have the tendency to listen to what I have to say," she finished while leaning against the wall of the cave, making sure that she was looking down at the village.

She didn't know whether to call it a village or famous estate. It was a huge seemingly building made into the shape of a square. It was huge, several floors off the ground. But that was the thing. It was the only thing there besides a small pond to the side and its location was off her charts of information. She had to follow the man who had taken custody of Rin in the air to keep up.

"Where you been?" Kagura asked while slowly closing her eyes, figuring that a short nap wouldn't do much in making progress. "Hopefully your injuries aren't that bad?" She could detect the feeling of pain in her older sister's body, and she opened her eyes with shock. Kanna was wearing her first kimono…

"I am fine," Kanna said while sitting across from her sister so she too could look out at the village in the center of a valley. It was the same as any other location. It was in the middle of nowhere actually, and had a frozen waterfall not too far away, which was where they were, in the mountains. 'If that demon is that determined to get that human,' she thought while clutching her small hand into a fist. 'He'll go through the inevitable to get to her.' She set a hand on her chest. 'I almost did not make it away…'

She looked over at her sister who looked to be taking a nap. 'Younger sister has had feelings for that demon for so long,' she said to herself while slowly shaking her head. 'Naraku cannot have that, and neither can I.' She had been close to using the clone to confess its feelings to Sesshomaru to put the demon on hold, but she was already far enough.

'That demon was actually listening,' she thought with realization. 'He's quite good at that.' A man that listens is something that most human women look forward to. She wasn't sure if this was true, but she had heard things such as these while traveling with Kagura to villages in the past.

She nodded her head, understanding quickly. "Younger sister," she called across from her in a whisper, and when Kagura looked up, her red eyes full of interest, she shook her head. "If I did something to affect your relationship, please do not stop talking to me," she said quietly. "Naraku may have power over us, but I think you should tell that youkai your feelings."

Kagura's eyes could only be described as wide, and she gulped. "That's ridiculous!" she said, completely unaware that her sister had used a clone to make herself confess half of her feelings for the demon already. "I couldn't possibly when all he can think about is that wench!" she said with a snarl. "This is why I'm going to make up a plan of some sort to kill her in my dreams so that I can't get my heart ripped out and-"

"Now you are talking childishly," Kanna informed.

Kagura nodded her head. "Indeed I am," she said with a small smile. "Kanna, that woman was somewhat right," she said with a pointed finger. "How can you go all these years without having feelings for anyone of the matter?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. She and her sister didn't have regular conversations on a basis. In fact, she was taking advantage of the opportunity.

Kanna sighed softly. "Sister," she began, "I was given the heart and soul of a child, so I am completely unaware of what you are speaking of," she informed quietly. "That human is going through the same thing you are."

Kagura stuck her tongue out. "It's obvious that I'm better suited for him," she said with a grin. "I'm pretty sure I know everything these is to know about someone that's mute all the time, and I've had so many encounters with him…"

"Without any clothes," Kanna put in.

Kagura's grin widened.

"Of course."

She folded her arms across her chest and blew a puff of air so her bangs lifted. "It's obvious that to this day that I, a woman older than her, looks better."

Kanna nodded.

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"I don't have time for that…" Sesshomaru said while continuing to push his body through the lifeless forest as fast as he could. He, to this hour, had no idea where he was going, but he had a lead from Myoga that he and Totosai had passed Lord Jai's castle was all he had to look to. Completely defenseless, he was on his way.

"Of course you do!" Myoga said from his perch on a lock of Sesshomaru's hair hanging on the left side of his face. He held onto the end of it, bouncing about as Sesshomaru's long paces caught up with him. "The least you can do is stop to look at your wounds!" the flea encouraged. "You are exactly the same as your father! I advise that you wait to rescue the woman and tend to yourself!!"

Sesshomaru pushed his legs faster, not bothering to listen to anything the nuisance was saying. "You think I have the time to stop and care for myself when I'm trying to stop myself from transforming into a blood thirsty monster more than once in a day?" he gritted between his teeth, and he felt satisfied when Myoga said nothing. In fact, he turned white.

Silence

He wondered how long it'd last.

"PLEASE MY LORD!!" Myoga pleaded. "You're going down the exact path you father went down, and I don't think you remembered clearly, but…" He paused and gulped. "He lost his life because of it." Still the dog demon didn't stop. "Lord Sesshomaru, Inuyasha isn't suitable to become lord of the western lands! You and I both know that having a hanyou lord will only cause destruction!" Still nothing. "You must stop!"

He sighed when the demon only walked faster. "You take after your mother when it comes to your looks, but you and your father are exactly alike…" he said under his breath. "And look at me," he said while looking to the sky. 'I was with his father when he died, and now the son is doing the same thing, charging after a woman with blood seeping through his body.'

The flea got his hopes to stopping Sesshomaru back up. "But what about Lady Rin?! Are you possibly thinking of leaving her alone in this world with a toad and her pet?!"

Sesshomaru stopped mid-step.

"My lord, think about this," Myoga eased. "If you die… if you truly care…" Myoga grinned when he got his master's attention when his eyes widened. "You'll turn around and return to the western lands, recoup, and then continue to retrieve your Rin and niece!"

Sesshomaru could only look down at the flea that had been passed down to his younger brother. 'This thing is so annoying,' he thought as he slowly continued, matching the pace of a regular human. "Your ways of manipulating me are a waste." He looked ahead of him. He had seen nothing but trees for hours. "Nothing's going to stop me now."

He managed to look through the forest frantically as the sun quickly went down. A new fear for Rin was being discovered from the darkness of his black hole within him. He cared for her, he knew he did.

"Where is she…" he spoke harshly while looking to the sky. It was a mixture of orange and red, the colors he didn't wish to see. Having Rin lost in a forest and alone didn't go very well together in his head. He was of the opposite sex of her, and even things he shouldn't be thinking went through his mind when he thought of Rin alone.

He searched for her for about two more minutes, then felt satisfied when he saw her seated on the edge of a hill. From his perch behind her he could tell what excuse was coming. 'She got lost in the sunset,' he thought as he slowly sat next to her, careful not to disturb her.

"Isn't it beautiful up here?" she asked while looking over at him.

He stared at her as well, and said nothing. He almost never said a word around her, but she always knew he was listening. He came to see that she talked quite a great deal when there wasn't someone interrupting her at the end of every sentence. The more he listened, the more he came to see that she had a lot to say.

He looked out into the horizon when she looked to her left, looking him square in the face. He liked her like this, but they both knew that he would kill himself if he were to admit it. So he kept quiet and slowly looked down at her.

"You're late," was all he said, and he watched as her face turned red, her eyes widened, and she bit her bottom lip. He liked her like this, shocked and unaware where she was. This eighteen year-old was still as innocent as she was all those years ago, and she always would be.

"It's good that I have Lord Sesshomaru around, don't you think?" she said with a smile as she stood. She stretched her arms and shoved her hands into her kimono sleeves. "You are always around to find me."

He nodded.

Rin looked down at her feet, causing the demon to stand and start leading the way back to their campsite. "Will you promise to always come find me? Even if I'm upset?" She paused, and he turned to face her, looking down at her and ushering for her to finish her statement.

"You always listen."

"It's impossible! It's too risky! Please reconsider!" Myoga pleaded with all his heart. The western lands simply weren't ready for a new leader, and he was positive that Inuyasha himself was aware of this. He had just finished settling down. He had a family, and so did Sesshomaru, though his was rather unstable. "You have yet to heal from the wounds you received in the battle from the snake demon!"

Sesshomaru stared ahead of him and stopped walking. 'I can sense that bastard,' he thought through Myoga's words that he was still saying. 'I'll find you, I promise,' he thought while wrapping his right hand around the handle of the sword hanging on his left hip.

"I can't."

Myoga raised an eyebrow. "Ne?" he said while hopping from the lock of hair and onto the demon's left shoulder. He had to get around to asking why he had his arm returned to his body. "You said something?" What Sesshomaru had said was quiet, almost as if he didn't want what he had said to be heard. 'Just like his father.'

"I can't let him—anyone—kill Rin."

"I'm sorry to say that she isn't in my care anymore."

Myoga's eyes widened as he was flicked off Sesshomaru's shoulder and landed on his rear as he hit the ground. After rubbing it for several minutes, he came to see that a third demon had joined their conversation. All he could do was gulp.

Lord Jai.

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Bri Note: Hello there! So… confused much? Remember I have a reason for everything, even the disguise Kanna had, so chill! I'm so sorry! You see, I'll carry on from where I left off. Well, I had this thing, and then there was this thing that got in the way, and then, OOH, there was this extreme thing that stopped me from doing this thing. Anywho, enough excuses! I'm lazy. L-A-Z-Y. Please review! I just realized that 32 of you like this story, so I'm hoping to know what you like about it…

Much Love,

Brijustme