Here's chapter 21! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or its characters. All rights to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 21: Concern

When Kagome laid down next to Inuyasha that night, she felt exhaustion creeping through her body. It had been a long day.

Kagome hadn't told Rin this, but the yokai that had come out of her after she'd fallen unconscious was the same one that had attacked them on their way to Totosai's cave. Kagome knew this would freak Rin out, she figured she'd let Sesshomaru fill her in on what had happened while she was passed out.

It had been no more than thirty seconds, but when the yokai had receded back into Rin and she'd begun to wake up, it seemed like she'd been asleep for twenty years. It was all very strange. Kagome just had an overall bad feeling about it all.

Kagome felt Inuyasha nudge her from where he was lying next to her.

"Did you see Rin and Sesshomaru?" he asked. "They just went outside." Kagome rolled over so she could look at him.

"So?" she asked right back. Inuyasha frowned. "Seems sorta suspicious, huh?" he pointed out. Kagome was confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "They probably just wanted to be alone and talk for a little while. It's been a long day." Inuyasha sighed and peeked at Totosai and Ayame on the other side of the cave. Seemingly satisfied that they were both asleep, Inuyasha turned back to his wife.

"I think Rin has something do with all of this crap with Koga," Inuyasha confessed. Kagome's eyes widened.

"Inuyasha!" she scolded in a harsh whisper. "How could you say that? It's Rin." Inuyasha frowned.

"I know," he replied. "But have you seen her since that yokai came out of her? She's been acting weird and I don't like it. Something is up with her." Kagome thought for a moment.

"Actually," she began slowly, "I kind of see what you mean. I did think it was odd when she suggested going west so quickly. Maybe that yokai influenced her to say it." Inuyasha shrugged.

"Probably," he replied. "But maybe we should forget about heading to the coast and just figure something else out." Kagome paused to think for a moment.

If they didn't go to the coast, then there was absolutely no way to know what to do next. Kagome knew that, and as difficult as it was for her admit, she knew there wasn't really another option.

Then a realization hit her.

"The yokai that attacked us the other night said that he was working for the person that had Koga, right?" she asked. Inuyasha nodded. "Well, obviously it's the yokai that's inside Rin, so what if it's influencing her to take us to its master?"

"But who could its master be?" he asked. "Who could possibly be scheming all of this?" Kagome shook her head. "I have no clue," she replied. "But something is definitely weird about all of this…I mean, weirder than usual. Bad things that happen to us are always pretty weird." Inuyasha sighed and closed his eyes.

"It's been so long since anything has happened," he pointed out. "It's almost like I've forgotten how to handle it."

"I know what you mean," Kagome replied honestly. "I feel the same." Inuyasha didn't answer, and they fell into a moment of silence. Kagome racked her mind for ideas, and eventually she came up with something, albeit probably a not so helpful one.

"I should check and see if that yokai is still active inside Rin," Kagome said. "It's probably still inside, but it could possibly be dormant. Then we'll know if it really is controlling her. Let's go over to where she's sleeping. She won't even know that I'm doing it." Inuyasha shook his head.

"Sesshomaru is with her, remember?" he said. "He would stop us before we could do anything." Kagome frowned. "That's true," she replied. "So maybe…we should tell him what we think?" Inuyasha chuckled, although it was lacking humor. "You really think Sesshomaru would let us near her if we told him we think she's making suggestions based on a yokai inside of her? Dangerous suggestions?" Kagome groaned.

"Then what the heck are we supposed to do?" she asked.

"Miko," a cool voice said behind them. The couple sat up and turned around to see Sesshomaru. Kagome and Inuyasha hadn't heard him come back into the cave, and Kagome grew concerned when she saw that Rin wasn't with Sesshomaru. She could only imagine that Sesshomaru wanted to speak about Rin without her hearing.

"Uh, where's Rin?" Kagome asked. Sesshomaru frowned.

"She is sleeping," he replied as he motioned to the other side of the cave. Rin was fast asleep next to Totosai; it was almost as if Totosai were a barrier between Rin and Ayame.

"What do you want, Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha asked, getting straight down to business. Sesshomaru ignored him and instead focused on Kagome.

"When you felt the yokai within Rin," he began. "What type of aura did you pick up on?" Kagome frowned at the memory. It hadn't been pleasant.

"It was full of despair," she recounted. "There was nothing good about it." Sesshomaru seemed troubled, and conversely, Inuyasha appeared to be growing impatient.

"Why are you asking?" he inquired.

"I heard what you said about Rin being influenced by the yokai," he replied. "And…it appears that you are correct." Kagome's eyes widened.

"How do you know?" she asked. Sesshomaru, surprisingly, wore a conflicting expression. It was almost as if he were having an internal argument.

"Rin spoke to me about it," he finally said. "The yokai has been speaking to her. It is what has encouraged her suggestions for which directions we must follow." Kagome frowned. So Inuyasha and I were right…

"Does she know why it wants her to bring us there?" she asked. The conflicting look returned to Sesshomaru's face. He didn't answer her, so she took it as a sign that he knew but was choosing to respect Rin's privacy until she could tell them personally.

"What do you think we should do then?" Kagome asked instead. Sesshomaru shook his head.

"That is something I am still unsure about," he replied. Inuyasha huffed and began to get up from his seat on the ground.

"Rin has some explaining to do," he said as he began to march over to her, obviously intending to wake her up. "She needs to tell us exactly what's going…" Before Inuyasha could finish his sentence, he was being slammed onto the ground of the cave in a crash.

It's a freaking miracle that the others didn't wake up at that sound, Kagome thought to herself. These two can be so immature.

"You will do no such thing," Sesshomaru said with his hand still around Inuyasha's throat in the same manner he'd used to pin him in the first place. Kagome noticed that Sesshomaru's grip wasn't tight, unlike the other times he'd attacked Inuyasha. Not only that, the force he'd used to slam Inuyasha to the ground seemed to be half-hearted; it wasn't nearly as violent as usual. That's when she knew that behind Sesshomaru's cool demeanor, he was worried.

Worried about Rin. Kagome knew she needed to handle him with kindness instead of Inuyasha's rash attitude.

Once Sesshomaru had finally released Inuyasha and the hanyo was rubbing his neck with his hand while glaring at his older brother, Kagome spoke.

"We can wait to make any decisions until Rin tells us herself," she said. "Thank you for telling us what's happening. I'm sure Rin will want to tell us the rest herself." Inuyasha sputtered next to her.

"Why are you thanking him?" he asked in disbelief. "He's a piece of crap!" Kagome shushed him.

"Go to sleep," she commanded. "You're annoying me right now." Inuyasha frowned, but Kagome spoke before he could start another argument.

"We'll listen to Rin tomorrow," she said to Sesshomaru. "Thanks for the warning. We'll be understanding. If it's bad, none of us will leave her. We'll stick by her side and help her however we can."

Kagome decided to ignore Inuyasha when he muttered, "Speak for yourself."

Sesshomaru ignored him, too, instead choosing to actually meet Kagome's eyes: a first for him.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. Kagome's eyes widened.

"Um, you're welcome," she replied. Sesshomaru turned away then and began to make his way back over to Rin. Kagome watched him sit down next to her and take one of her hands into his. From the way he was looking at her, Kagome knew that Sesshomaru would stay by her side no matter what happened. In that regard, Kagome was thankful for him.

"Whoa," Inuyasha whispered from beside her, his anger at his brother seemingly dissolved. "That was a…new reaction from him." Kagome smiled and laid down. Inuyasha followed suit as his wife curled up against him.

"You have to have an open mind tomorrow," Kagome murmured. "Sesshomaru certainly does…and that's saying something. You have to be the same." Inuyasha scoffed quietly.

"Fine, woman," he replied. "Since you're begging." Kagome giggled.

"You're a saint," she teased.

As Kagome began to fall asleep, her thoughts drifted to Rin.

I hope she's okay, she thought to herself as she teetered on the brink of slumber. I hope whatever is happening isn't too bad…

Kagome fell asleep soon after, completely unaware of the hell that was soon to unfold.

To be continued…

So, yes, this was a rather short chapter. Sorry about that. Hopefully the two chapters in one night thing made up for it ;)

Speaking of chapters…here's to 21 of them! I can't believe it! This fic started out as a 2 page one-shot, and now look how far it's come…see what I did there? Ahaha I'm hilarious.

Real quick: WildHeart44 left a review on chapter 19 wondering what's going through Sesshomaru's mind during all of this. You'll find out firsthand in the next chapter!

Keep an eye out for chapter 22 within the next week and a half or so! Thanks again for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews. You guys rock!

Much love. :)