Onigumo was very quiet and timid, much to everyone's surprise, for the following days, ordered not to leave Ah-Un's back. He wouldn't talk to anybody, and often avoided looking at anyone, besides the occasional glances at Kagome that Sesshomaru had picked up on. Sesshomaru, on the other hand, wasn't feeling very talkative either. His mind was filled with the strategies of how to take out Naraku, and how to avenge his brother's death. He also tried to find the right strategy that would keep everyone alive, but he couldn't seem to find one. The only thing he could think of was to fight Naraku alone and leave the others behind somewhere where they would be safe from harm. But, he was pretty sure none of them would be happy with that answer. So, he just had to accept that when the battle came, not everyone may survive.

And those thoughts stayed with him until nightfall, when they camped out for probably the last time before they would meet Naraku. Everyone seemed to know that to, so they tried to ignore it. Instead of worrying, they laughed and talked in front of the fire they had brought to life. Even Rin decided to humor Jaken's picky attitude this night, instead of snapping out at him as she usually did.

Sesshomaru didn't join in though, he just watched the group with intense eyes from his seat against a tree. Onigumo was sitting next to Ah-Un, the two headed dragon seated on the ground, and he was half asleep.

Sesshomaru's eyes wandered to Kagome.

She was sitting next to Rin, whom she was tickling, and looked like she had not a care in the world. But Sesshomaru knew better than that. Kagome wasn't all that care free, she was afraid. The last time they had spoken he had though he may have hit an emotion when he had said that he wasn't InuYasha, but so far, she had seemingly accepted his words, understanding what he had meant.

For that he had been somewhat relieved.

Kagome, in the past, had not wanted to completely let go of her sorrow, and Sesshomaru had noticed this, even if the miko hadn't noticed it herself. But now, it seemed that she had let go and accepted his half-brother's death more than she had before, and that was the best thing she could do at the moment.

He noticed that Rin's laughter had died down, and now the little girl was lying in Kagome's lap, her face not in his vision. He was inwardly glad that Rin was happy with Kagome being here. But then again, she had been the only reason that Kagome was alive today. If Rin hadn't wanted Kagome to be alive as badly as she had, both Kagome and Kagome's child would be in the afterworld with InuYasha. In a way, Rin was the key to many of Sesshomaru's recent actions.

And, to believe that not a year ago Sesshomaru wouldn't have given a damn about any of these people with him, meaning, he wouldn't have given a damn about Kagome. He wouldn't have cared that she was dead, he would have left her there, and he wouldn't be searching for Naraku with the intent of avenging his brother's death.

Mortals and their emotions… was this why his father had loved them so?

---

"I wonder whatever happened to Kikyo…" Koga said, more to himself than to anyone else.

"What do you mean? You killed her, didn't you?" Sango asked, looking over at the wolf demon.

"Oh, yeah, you guys weren't there." Koga said, looking at everyone, remembering that neither he nor Sesshomaru had really spoken about their little run in with Naraku since everyone had been worried about their wounds, "With our last run in with Kikyo, it was really Naraku taking her form. I forgot that we never mentioned it."

"…Kikyo was killed." Onigumo suddenly spoke up, "Naraku lured her to his castle with the rumor that Kagome had killed InuYasha. When she showed up, he filled her mind with that lie then took her life when she wasn't expecting it… I remember the look on her face. From there he used the hatred in her heart once he absorbed her body to control her."

Kagome looked at him with a distant look. So, Kikyo was finally dead. What did that mean for her? She was with InuYasha now… at least he would be happy.

"Too bad," Koga stated, cutting off Kagome's train of thought as he looked up, "She would have been great when we fought Naraku…"

"No, she wouldn't have," Sango disagreed, "If she truly thought that Kagome had killed InuYasha, she would have gone after Kagome, not Naraku."

Koga fell silent then, staring up at the clouds above him.

And for a long time that silence stayed, no one speaking as they let themselves fall into their thoughts. Kagome looked back at Sesshomaru for a moment, and found that he was looking at her. Their eyes met. And for a moment, Kagome thought she had seen Sesshomaru's eyes soften. But she must have imagined it. The coldness was there, in his eyes. She found she couldn't remove her eyes from him; all she could do was stare into his golden eyes until he looked the other way.

You're hiding something from the world around you, Sesshomaru-sama… but what is it?

---

Soon, they were all resting, the night taking over. Rin was asleep next to Kagome, the little girl curled into a ball on the ground, and Kagome was half asleep. And for a long time, nothing happened. The silence just coated over the campsite, and a feeling of relaxation hovered over everybody. But, just when Kagome was about to doze off, Rin began to twitch and shudder in her sleep, obviously having something of a nightmare. The miko didn't want to wake the child, for that could just make it worse, so instead, she watched the child.

And for a while, Rin stayed asleep, occasionally moving or emitting a moan of pain. But then, suddenly, Rin shot up to her feet, her eyes filled with fear. Kagome tried to get the girl to come over to her, but the girl was gone to fast, running over to Sesshomaru and collapsing in his lap. Kagome watched nervously. What would Sesshomaru do?

She expected him to simply push the girl off of him, but instead, he laid an arm over her back, muttering something in her ear.

Kagome was utterly surprised. And for a moment she watched, but, in the end, she let out a warm smile. Sesshomaru definitely wasn't what he had first seemed to be. He did hide something beneath his cold mask, just as she had thought. Maybe he wasn't such a cold, heartless person that he appeared to be. Maybe he just didn't have anyone he trusted enough to reveal what he really was.

In the end, he probably wasn't as different from InuYasha as he thought.

When push came to shove and Naraku had been vanquished, Kagome suspected she'd meet a much different Sesshomaru.

Onigumo shivered involuntarily.

"We're close," he muttered, "I can feel it."

Sesshomaru merely nodded and continued walking. He knew that much was true. He could feel Naraku's aura from here, even though he was obviously miles away, and the darkness of the day was an easy enough clue. For the past weeks, the days were dark as the night, only a faint light illuminating the world around them from behind the clouds. But what he hadn't expected was a clear passage there. He had expected demon attacks nearly every day, but none had come. Maybe that was good, or maybe that was bad. He didn't know, to tell the truth. He just continued to move forward, not stopping once.

Kagome, who was walking only a few paces behind him, let Rin rub her stomach again. Granted her stomach wasn't that big, there was now a small bump there, which Rin found absolutely awesome. The little girl was probably the most excited about having the baby come out of the whole group, but mostly because she was the most naïve. For all Kagome knew, she would perish in the upcoming battle. And, deep down, she wouldn't be surprised if she did. But, she tried not to think about it. She didn't want to think about something that sad and dark. She couldn't think about that. She had to think—to know—that she would survive and her child would be born. Otherwise, she might as well be dead.

Suddenly, the group stopped completely. Sesshomaru had stopped moving, and he was looking at something that was, apparently, invisible. He reached out in front of him, his facial expression not changing one bit, and Kagome could clearly see the barrier that his hand had passed through. But, he pulled his hand back, his expression strange.

Then, without warning, he pulled out Tetsusaiga, its blade red. But, even when he tried to break the barrier, nothing happened. He stuck out his hand again, and Kagome could still see where the barrier broke when he did stick out his hand.

Why didn't he just walk through the barrier?

"Miko, come here." Sesshomaru ordered, and Kagome hastened to obey.

"Stretch your hand through the barrier, if you can." He said once she was at his side.

She hesitated for a moment after he spoke, but she did obey, her hand going through the barrier effortlessly. But, after a couple of seconds, Kagome's hand began to feel strange. She stared at it for a moment, and almost pulled her hand back in shock. He nails were long… as long as Sesshomaru's. And on the very edge of her wrist that had penetrated, she saw a violet mark that was twisting around her wrist, looking as if it was to continue, but it was cut off from sight underneath her sleeves.

Sesshomaru pulled her hand back when he took her wrist. The moment her fingertips were back to normal, he let go.

"Jaken, take Rin away from here. Take Ah-Un. Onigumo, dismount." Almost immediately, Sesshomaru's orders were followed, and Koga took a spot behind the now standing Onigumo.

Sesshomaru then looked at the barrier once more, contemplating whether or not he wanted to proceed. But, in the end, he did.

Nothing happened for a moment after he passed through the once again invisible barrier, but then Sesshomaru's body let out an involuntary shudder, and his features began to change.

His hair was turning black, his left arm's markings disappearing and his nails shrinking, and, even though no one could see his face, the markings had disappeared and his eyes were now blue. Kagome felt his demonic aura almost disappear completely.

"Miko, walk through the barrier." Sesshomaru ordered after a moment, his voice lacking its usual coldness.

She hesitated once more, shocked at what she had just seen, and not sure that she would obey. But, she did, stepping through the barrier after inhaling a shaky breath.

And for a moment, nothing happened. Then her body was racked with a harsh pain, her body shaking as well. She looked down at her hands, which were changing. There were two violent markings that twisted around her wrists, disappearing underneath her sleeves, and her nails were just as long and sharp as Sesshomaru's. She looked at her hair, which was hanging down her chest. It was still black, but it was much silkier and smoother, and very strong by the look of it. She ran her hand down her cheek. She couldn't see it, but her eyes were now golden, and she had a violet streak on each side of her cheek, just like InuYasha had had, except hers weren't jagged like his.

Then, the shaking stopped, and she noticed that Sesshomaru was looking at her.

"Wolf, demon slayer… Onigumo." He said, not looking at her any more.

They followed, and went through the same changes as the others.

Koga didn't change much, besides the fact that his eyes turned brown and his tail disappeared, so he wasn't as shocked as the others.

Sango, on the other hand, was a different story.

She obtained black markings that twisted up her arms; two black markings on her face that started from underneath her bangs, traveling down the far sides of her face and curling to a stop a short distance away from the tip of her nose; and red eyes. And, along with these markings, her nails had become longer and dangerously sharp, and her hair had taken on red tips. She looked absolutely deadly.

Onigumo was the only one who didn't change what so ever. He seemed to be immune to the spell placed on the barrier.

"…Kagome…we're demons…" Sango managed to stutter, looking down at her hands in disbelief.

"Yes, and this Sesshomaru and Koga are mortals." Sesshomaru's voice, although missing its edge, was full of bitterness and anger.

Koga didn't look necessarily happy either.

"Why didn't you tell us about this, Onigumo?!" Koga snapped at the unaffected mortal, his brown eyes full of fire.

Onigumo flinched back.

"I'm cut off from Naraku," he said quickly, "I didn't know that this would be here. I don't know anything that he's done since he expelled me from his body."

Koga glared dangerously, but Sesshomaru didn't allow him to say anything more.

"We'll just have to make the best of this, wolf," Sesshomaru said in an undertone as he studied his hair, "I can't say I'm very happy about this either."

Then the former inu taiyokai drew Tetsusaiga, seeing if the sword would still transform while he was in this mortal form. And, much to his surprise, it did. Sesshomaru's first guess was that the sword still recognized him, but then he looked down at his left arm. It hadn't changed a bit, the hand still had its sharp, lethal nails, and the demonic aura was still flooding from it. It dawned on him. This was InuYasha's arm, and InuYasha was a hanyo. If this spell simply changed a demon's blood into mortal's blood and vice versa, a hanyo would be immune to it. This, ultimately, meant InuYasha's arm, Sesshomaru's left arm, wouldn't be affected. And this arm was the only reason he could even touch the Tetsusaiga.

Looking at the sword for a long moment before returning it to his waist, Sesshomaru began to walk again, motioning for the others to follow. They did, but Onigumo kept his distance from the pissed off Koga.

And after a moment of walking, Sesshomaru took a glance at Kagome. She was a fearsome site, and he knew this wasn't going to be the least bit easy. Everyone but Kagome could probably make it in these new forms, since their forms of attacking weren't really affected with this spell. Sango knew enough about demons to make it in her demonic form, and being a demon only made her attacks more deadly. Koga, demon or not, attacked with the power of the shikon shards. When they went through the barrier, the spell would not affect the shikon shards. Koga may be a bit slower than usual, but he could still perform his attacks as long as the shikon shards were still in his legs, granted they may be a bit weaker. He could still fight with Tetsusaiga, so he was fine, even though it would take a while to get used to the lack of power.

Kagome was the only problem. She used her miko powers in her arrows, and in being demon, could no longer use those powers. Miko power was meant to be used to purify demons, and could definitely not be used when you were a demon. So, now, her arrows would have little to no effect on Naraku or any of his minions or detachments.

The only way to be fully prepared was to reverse this spell or break the barrier, but how were they going to accomplish that?

Naraku let out a laugh. He was watching them through Kanna's mirror and he found them an absolute riot. Sesshomaru-sama, yokai lord of the Western Lands, was now a mortal? As was Koga, the wolf tribe leader. And the two girls were quite interesting. His spell made the form of mortals who had turned yokai reflect the true hatred in their hearts. Sango obviously had a dangerous amount of hatred stored in her heart that could actually make her a threat. But, for now, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. All he really cared about was Onigumo. If the man even brushed against his skin Naraku would have ties to his old heart once more, and he would be full yokai no more. This meant he couldn't even kill him personally, so Mine would have to.

And, speaking of the she-devil, she appeared at his doorway.

"What do you want now?" she sounded bored.

"May I ask why you always come before I call you?" Naraku asked curiously, purposely treading on her patience.

"I come because I hate hearing your annoying voice call my name," she snapped, "Now what do you want?"

"Go kill Onigumo."

"Hell no." she stated, with an incredulous tone.

"What?" Naraku asked slowly. The man was hardly ever disobeyed.

"I said no. I'm not going anywhere near that damn Sesshomaru. He's already pissed at me as it is."

"Why do you care?"

"Because I want to keep my head."

"Just go."

For a moment she did nothing, and then stuck her tongue out at him in a childish manner, disappearing into a recently opened Meidou behind her. As she left, Naraku thought he heard her mutter something about at least not having to fly everywhere she went.

Sesshomaru felt Tenseiga pulse, and he knew exactly what it meant.

And sure enough, seconds later, Mine jumped out of a Meidou.

"Hello." She said casually, not looking at Sesshomaru, "I'm don't really want to be here, but orders are orders. I'm not here for you though. I'm supposed to kill Onigumo—"

Then she looked at Sesshomaru and burst out laughing.

"So—so that was—was what that bar—barrier was for!" She said between laughs, "That is so—so great! So how do y—you like being a mortal, Sesshomaru-sama?!"

Sesshomaru thought about growling, but turned against it when he realized it would just make him look worse, mostly because he couldn't really growl as a mortal. Koga, on the other hand, hadn't thought much about that aspect. His… "growl" had only made Mine take on another fit of laughs.

"N—Naraku actually picked a—a good spell this time!" She laughed, but suddenly quieted down and stood up straight, her expression serious, "Well, as much as I'd like to stay and laugh some more, I've got a job to do."

Suddenly she had her swords drawn, and she was behind Sesshomaru and Koga before they could blink, one of her swords through Onigumo's stomach. Then, a Meidou appeared, and she jumped in with Onigumo.

She was gone as quickly as she had appeared.

And with her disappearance, Sesshomaru realized how screwed they were right now. If that Mine girl could do that, and no one reacted, they were as good as dead. He would have reacted himself, he had tried, but his body had slowed him and his reflexes were even slower. And if neither Sango nor Kagome could think to react quickly enough, that was even worse. He had to keep in mind that, even though everyone's bodies had changed, they still held their own minds. He would still try to react as he always had, and Kagome wouldn't react, just as she always had.

He turned to the group, noting that they all looked as if they had came upon the same realization that he had, and spoke.

"If we want to defeat Naraku, we have to break this barrier."

Mine began to laugh again as she disposed of Onigumo's body, remembering Sesshomaru. And as she retreated back to the castle, she didn't stop. All she did was make her way towards Naraku's room, going to, for the first time, congratulate him. And when she appeared at his doorway, still laughing as she opened the door, he spoke.

"Speak of the devil." He muttered, "Why are you laughing about?"

"Sesshomaru…" She said in a gasp for breath between fits of laughter, "What in—in the hells did you d—do to them?"

"It's a blood reversing spell, Mine."

"I—I was speaking the obvious." She said, still laughing, "That wa—was so rich! I couldn't believe the look on his face when he realized he could—couldn't keep up with me!"

"I'm glad you find it funny." Naraku said plainly, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "For it will only make this battle easier for us. Speaking of which, did you kill Onigumo?"

"Y—Yeah." Naraku wondered how she could stay laughing that long as she spoke, "Got rid of his body t—to."

Then, suddenly, she straightened up and her laughing ceased.

"So, do you think they'll find a way around your spell?"

"Most likely, but it is nice to give them a scare." He answered with half a mind, staring out his window as he memorized both Sango and Kagome's new demon auras that were radiating up the mountain.

"Hmmm… Red Tetsusaiga won't do it though, right?"

Naraku nodded absentmindedly.

"Then I'm interested in how they'll do it." And with those last words, Mine left the room.

Sesshomaru stared up at the cloudy sky, flexing his fingers. How he hated this. The feeling of having no power, of being vulnerable, was eating at his mind. He swore that Naraku would die a slow death for this.

He almost jumped when Kagome came up beside him, but held back the urge.

"I'm useless now, aren't I?" she asked softly, looking up at him.

He looked down at her, "No. You just need to learn how to use your power."

"But I don't exactly have time to do that, do I?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Sesshomaru saw a crow demon perched nearby.

"Get your bow, miko." Sesshomaru ordered, coming to a halt as the rest followed the action, "Shoot at that crow yokai over there."

Kagome obeyed, but she didn't shoot right away. She could tell by just looking at it, that she wouldn't be able to hit the bird accurately without her miko powers.

"See if you can use your demonic power like you used your miko power," he said quietly, stepping to the side as she pointed the arrow at the bird, "Direct your demonic energy into the arrow, and fire it just like you would have before."

Kagome hesitated, searching for that flow of energy Sesshomaru had mentioned, and when she found it, shot the arrow as she moved that energy.

For a moment, the arrow did nothing as it flew, but then it took on a green hue, the arrow soon encased in a green glow. And the moment it hit the bird, it fell, beginning to dissolve from where the arrow had hit. Kagome found it hard to believe what had just happened. What had she done?

Sesshomaru smirked, recognizing the green color, knowing exactly what it was.

"A poison arrow by the looks of it, miko." He said, turning his gaze down towards her, "You are anything but useless."

Inside, Kagome blushed horribly, unaware that it wouldn't show externally. But still, she wondered why she had just blushed at his words. She had done that when InuYasha had praised her on anything, even though he had done that very little, so why was she doing it now?

This went unnoticed by Sesshomaru, though, who just started walking as the caravan followed his footsteps. Sesshomaru had no idea how disconnected he was going to be without his demonic powers.

A.N. Sorry this isn't all that long, but, on the other hand, it was my quickest update! 3 days!