(A/N: Poem is again from my sister the poet. It is not copyrighted, thus I have the right to use it. Katherwyne your review came in for Chapter 33 just as I was posting 34 so I was unable to answer your question with that post. So I am doing it here. Koinu is somewhere between 6 months and 9 months. He can crawl and sit up and make some basic facial expressions. He has yet to walk. He is younger than Kasai, Sango's baby daughter. Developmentally he may mature more slowly than a human baby in some ways but faster in others. (I.e. teething may be slower but he might walk faster, it remains to be seen, or rather written. Also I have to say sorry I'm lame, I'm tired. This was written several days ago and ready for you. It is the last non-peaceful chapter!! WOW! Celebration! I hope you like it but I need to be in bed it's like 3AM and I have to be working by 4pm tomorro and I value rest...)
Dsiclaimer: Don't own him. Wish I did, I don't.
Last Chapter: You know what sorry guys but you're going to have to reread it if you don't remember, I'm too tired to write this out right now X-(
Tsukiyume's Sacrifice
Free me of my pain
Fly me away
And set me free
Ease me into
A lulling sleep
That I shall never wake from
Fly me away
Tsukiyume waited outside the doorway, straining her ears and a deeper, inner sense that she hadn't quite known she possessed. Her father's spirit was with her, like a soldier astride his horse, guiding the beast with his intelligence and will. It was his spirit alone that allowed her to access the spiritual powers that resided within her. Normally her demon half was more powerful, the dominant side of her nature. It suppressed the powers that had been passed onto her from her human father, Kokoro the monk.
Yet when he was with her, as he had been since her abduction by the demon Garou, Tsuki was aware of the power hidden inside her, stretching its unseen fingers slowly and with growing confidence.
She felt her father's presence lingering over her, narrow and restrained. He was hiding, just as she was, trying to stay out of sight and sense of the manifestation inside Inuyasha's human mate.
It will be soon now, daughter. She is more powerful than he had ever anticipated, even more than she herself believes. She was never a willing host, he has cheated her, and now she will make him pay.
She nodded to the air, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. Anticipation grew inside her, making her feel as if her body had swollen, as if she'd been dipped into some sort of caustic substance that irritated every ounce of her flesh. It terrified her, to think of facing Garou again, even if it was only in spirit form, and even if it was not truly her that would at last banish him…
Do not discount yourself.
Surprised, Tsukiyume looked around, searching for his face, almost expecting to see it. A pang of regret washed over her, it was such a shame that she had never really known him. What could he have taught her? The monk that Inuyasha shared his home with had intrigued her. She'd wondered over and over again if her father had been similar. Had he dressed that way? Had his demeanor been the same in life? Perhaps they had trained under some of the same men. Could they have known one another in life…? There was so much about him she longed to know, but knew it was lost with him with his untimely death. Why did Mother kill him? Why would she deprive me of knowing my own father?
You were not in her thoughts, Daughter. She did not consider that you would want to know me, though it should have occurred to her. She was close with her own father.
Tsukiyume frowned, closing her eyes frustratedly. It isn't fair…
Many things are not fair. You must live through them nonetheless. Always remember you are more powerful than you believe, Tsukiyume. Look at your cousin, Inuyasha. He is also hanyou, as you are. Do not doubt yourself. When I have gone and left you I pray you will remember my words.
She blinked, fighting the hard, burning press of tears behind her eyes. I will try my hardest, Father.
From inside the bedroom a woman's voice rose, full of a desperate, quivering strength. Tsuki tensed, crouching unconsciously, abruptly alert.
Yes, it is nearly time.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, moving to restrain her. "Don't—"
Her arms fell on his shoulders, her grip was surprisingly fierce. And her touch—Inuyasha gasped and jerked away from her, grimacing with pain. Even through his clothes, the old, dirtied and torn fire rat haori, he could feel where her hands had landed on him, tingling, burning. And when he stared at her, wide-eyed and dismayed, her eyes were no longer just dark and clouded with tears. There was something else there, something he hadn't seen in years, not since the last fight with Naraku…
Miroku, still with his nose spurting blood, blinked with shock, recognizing what was happening. "Kabome…" he snuffled through his bleeding nose.
The young mother struggled, her face twisting with pain, swinging her legs until they rested on the floor and then, biting her lip, she started to stand up. Inuyasha again reached out to try and stop her—it was a mistake. Touching her bare arm shocked him like electricity. A purple-blue static fuzzed over Kagome's skin, jumping out to burn him when he came close. Koinu's ears turned backward and he whimpered, squirming uncertainly in his father's arms.
"Stop Kagome, you're going to hurt yourself!" Inuyasha shouted at her, frustrated, his tone fraught with concern.
She ignored him. Every movement was a struggle for her, Inuyasha could see sweat beaded thickly on her brow. At her side her hands were clenched so tightly that she had to be cutting herself with her own fingernails. Her jaw was tightened; Inuyasha could hear her teeth grinding against one another. In spite of all of this she fought, fueled from within.
It was endurance and power beyond what a normal human should have, but a mother, at the edge of losing everything that mattered most to her, was indeed no ordinary human. Inuyasha could smell the stink of stress hormones and adrenaline pouring off her…
She started to stand up, her knees wobbling, but her face bent in a fierce, tight mask of determination. Her eyes, when Inuyasha saw them clearly past her half-closed lids, were still the strange darkened shade of purple-blue.
It was her miko powers, asserting themselves, coming to aid her in her most dire hour of need.
Koinu squirmed and reached for her body with his tiny clawed hands. "Mah!" he shouted with a surprisingly powerful voice, "Mah!"
At that sound Kagome turned to look at him and suddenly collapsed, clutching her head and crying out. Again Inuyasha reached for her, calling her name, but his when his hand—the free hand not wrapped around Koinu to support him—touched her it sparked against her skin, her clothes. He growled, trying to overcome the discomfort, but when he reached again, more firmly, the sparking only grew worse until Inuyasha was almost repelled physically by the force. He stumbled backward and into the futon and finally fell, barely catching himself with one arm. Koinu screamed at the abrupt motion.
Miroku stepped forward at last. He hesitated touching her at first and then cautiously laid his hands on her shoulders. There was no burst of purple-blue electrical energy; Kagome's purifying magic did not react with Miroku's human touch. The monk's hands, trying to support her, left bloodstains on the new robes Inuyasha had brought her after she'd nursed Koinu earlier in the night.
"Kabome—Ib's okay, relabs…balm down. Breabe…" (Translation: Kagome it's okay, relax, calm down, breath.)
But beneath his hands she was shaking, almost convulsing. Her jaw chattered as if she were shivering, her hands her up, holding her head, pressing her ears to her skull as if she were trying to block out Miroku's voice. In reality the problem came not from the outside, but the inside.
Give it up little bitch! You know I'm going to win this! You're weak, you always have been!
She whimpered with pain, but the look inside her eyes never changed, though only the dust mites in the floor could see it as she lied, hunched over and holding her head, staring at the hardwood flooring. I never let you in—get out of my head! She had stopped listening to the taunting that had arisen within her when Inuyasha and Miroku had been preparing for their ritual. Her upset had brought out the miko spiritual powers buried within her, strengthening them. That had also stirred Garou's spirit, he could not allow her to find her own strength, he had to quell her outburst or risk everything.
"Leb me help you boo bed," Miroku was saying. She felt his grasp on her shoulders strengthening, pulling on her.
"No!" she shouted, still quivering, but she managed to coordinate her movements enough to pull away from him.
"You're going to kill yourself!" Inuyasha shouted from close behind her. He'd crept up as near to her as possible without actually touching her. Koinu he'd left on the futon, sucking his thumb and watching the events unfolding a few feet away with a bright, intense gaze. His ears swiveled forward and back, unable to make up their minds whether he was content or unhappy with what he saw.
"No!" she shrieked again when Miroku's hands closed over her shoulders, "No!"
Inuyasha moved to sit in front of Kagome, tapping the floor with his claws to catch her attention. It pained him to see the sweat dripping from her forehead, her wild, ratty hair, dirty and going everywhere, this way and that. When she met his gaze her eyes were still tinged purple. Her chin quivered.
"Kagome! Please…there's no other way!" he scowled, feeling desperation at the edge of his brain. "Please! Don't do this!"
You know he's right, little bitch! It is the only way I'll leave you alone in this small little mind of yours that you cherish so much. Do us both a favor and let him get on with it. You won't miss him much, no one will. You can't win, I will just kill you and take one of them…
"No!" she screamed again. Shaking, Kagome pulled back from the hanyou. She cried in pain with the movement, holding her head and rocking. "No, no!" but in her head she was screaming at Garou: No, I'm not going to die here; I'm not going to die now. I'm going to live and see Koinu grow up, I'm going to have more pups for Inuyasha.
You delude yourself, stupid bitch. My plan will succeed, I will prevail. You're too weak to survive; you will only perish if you keep fighting me. All roads lead to the same thing: I will gain your mate's blood and his soul, and through him we will be reborn…
You are the unnatural one here, Kagome had ceased to hear Inuyasha and Miroku's voices. She might've slipped into unconsciousness but she was certain that she could still feel Miroku's touch every so often, trying to drag her back to the futon. She dislodged his hands each time and continued to suffer, convulsing, crying, in pain. You can't cheat death for very long…
The same could be said for you, little bitch. He cackled inside her ears.
Kagome winced at the internal sound, but her soul did not quail, in spite of his words, his laughter, his scorn, she was full of nothing but determination. The pain seemed, somehow, duller, more of an aching throb. It no longer stole her breath away, no longer completely obliterated the world…No, she whispered internally, now isn't my time. It's yours.
The voice inside her fell silent, and abruptly Kagome felt something twist within her, expanding and reaching. She whimpered, pawing her hands on the floor as the pain inside her cascaded and reached a crescendo. Her cries grew into a higher pitched wail of agony.
Inuyasha snarled, reaching for her again, but microseconds before his hands touched her, Kagome's body flashed and purple-white. The electric-like current wavering around and over her body flickered wildly, flaring with a sudden energy burst. The hanyou withdrew, startled, ears laying flat.
"Kagome!" he shouted, ducking low to try and see her face. Her sweat was a heavy reek, droplets of it were scattered beneath her on the smooth, wooden flooring. "Kagome, please!" he wasn't sure what he was begging her for but he'd been reduced to helplessness and he knew he despised that.
The brightness of the now purple-white aura around Kagome didn't dissipate, but her screams lightened, becoming only faint mewlings of pain. At first Inuyasha was sure she was about to succumb and pass out—or perhaps even worse, die—but although her convulsive shaking hadn't eased at all, Kagome's breathing had become somehow more stable, stronger. The miko energy swirling around her twisted, thickening.
Kagome screeched, flattening herself against the floor. Her hands were no longer holding her head, now they pawed at the floor so hard her nails traced grooves and scratches into the polish. She called his name, "Inuyasha!"
He reached for her, but at that moment the purple-white miko energy swarmed, and abruptly changed color to black. Kagome cried out, long and wailing, as the aura coalesced, seeming to peel away from her body like the skin of a potato when cleaved away by a knife. It was black like tar now, thick and sickly, but somewhere within it, Inuyasha could sense lights like red stars, eyes taking in the room, an evil, conniving intelligence hidden just inside…
Garou…
There was a clattering sound from the doorway into the bedroom and Tsukiyume appeared, her young plump face tight with tension and fear. She pointed one clawed finger at Miroku and shouted, "Put the charm on her, now!"
Miroku obeyed, searching with his bloody palms on the ground around his knees, amidst all of the sutras. Most of them were useless, written earlier when they were devising their plan where Kagome couldn't see. The ink characters were scribbled out, mixed up, or simply made up. Only one of them was real, buried safely below the fake ones to hide it from Garou's potential gaze. It was a sutra meant to protect the one who wore it from invasion by a spirit.
The monk slapped it onto Kagome's back where she still shivered and quivered weakly, covered in sweat from her ordeal. She stretched out her shaking, convulsive hands toward Inuyasha, speaking his name in a pleading whisper—but for once in his life Inuyasha didn't really hear her. His eyes were locked onto the black spirit hovering in the middle of the room.
The thing twisted, sending out a black tendril that reminded Inuyasha a little too much of Naraku's monstrous, absorbing limbs. It first shot out one of these feelers straight at him. The hanyou snarled, reaching for Tetsusaiga with one hand while brandishing his talons with the other. The tentacle moved too fast for him to draw his sword…
"Iron Reaver!" he shouted, slashing at the thing—but his claws passed through nothing but dust…
Panic bugged out his amber eyes. He fell backwards, fighting with Tetsusaiga's hilt.
Kagome was screeching, calling his name in her faint, croaking voice. She was too weak to move after him, but her arms reached outward, her tears fell onto the floor. Miroku had moved to her side protectively and was holding his once-cursed hand, rubbing the palm as his violet eyes followed the encounter. "Inuyasha! You're wearing the charm, it can't hurt you!"
The hanyou could not crawl fast enough to stay away from the thing's reach. It raced toward him until it touched and seemed to penetrate his chest. Inuyasha snarled, slashing at it with both clawed hands. He cursed violently.
The spirit arm retracted suddenly, just as a bright spurt of light leapt out of the hanyou's haori where he'd hidden the charmed prayer beads Miroku had given to him earlier. The demon spirit seemed to howl, on a deep, primordial level, filling the room with a rumble that would've reminded Kagome of bass in a stereo in the modern age—if, of course, she hadn't been so weak and was able to think and observe clearly.
It had been thwarted, the inuhanyou is so desperately needed was protected. But its choices were not gone just yet, there was still the baby's soul. It careened toward the child sitting innocently on the futon, shooting out multiple tendrils toward him.
Inuyasha sat up all over again, still breathing harshly from his first encounter with the monstrous spirit. He shouted at Miroku, "Koinu! It's after Koinu dammit! Stop it you idiot!"
Tsukiyume was still half hidden in the narrow doorway, as if trying to block the exit with her body. "He's protected too. It has no one to go to but…" her ears flattened despairingly, her orange eyes were wide and shining with unspent tears.
Inuyasha stared at her, comprehension dawning at last. "You planned this—you knew…"
Across the room Koinu started crying, alarmed as the spirit probed him with its undead arms—and was almost immediately repelled again by a blast of white energy. It recoiled, howling again and filling the room with a frightening mood of rage and desperation. Without moving it shot out more probing spirit arms, attacking Miroku and Kagome at once, and finding them also protected by the sutras.
And then it at last spotted the last life force in the room—and it pulsed, alarmed. It recognized Tsukiyume as the one who had ultimately killed its body, cleaving it apart and at last ending his reign of horror over all hanyous. Now rage and vengeance blinded it. The enraged soul raced for Tsukiyume, sending out tentacles and filling the room with its rumbling snarl.
Tsukiyume stood her ground for a second, and then she began to shake as fear and panic consumed her. At last she stumbled backwards, only to run into the screen door that she herself had made sure to shut. Her orange eyes were wild with fear, her white ears flat on her skull. She was fumbling with the door just as the first tendril of the spirit's arm reached into her, making her choke and gasp.
She cried out and twisted round, looking to the other stricken people in the room. "Help me!" her claws pierced the screen door, tearing wide holes into it and filling the room with a long, loud ripping sound. "Help me!" now her cry was full of pain.
Inuyasha's face became a thick mask of rage at her cries. The girl was not truly close kin, she was the daughter of the one responsible for the entire mess, but she'd saved his life numerous times…he owed her. She was related to him, albeit distantly. The instinct of the inuyoukai ran thickly within him.
He lunged at the black ball of the spirit, slashing through it. "You're wasting your time with her, fucker! You coward!"
At his slashes the ball shivered, breaking apart and then re-massing. It pulsed, flashing white in its depths. Inuyasha felt the hair on his arms stand up as he sensed its gaze, its attention turning again to him.
But its spirit arms had not let go of Tsukiyume. Three of them now swarmed around her, over her, and in her. The hanyou girl collapsed against the screen door, beginning to convulse as Kagome had earlier. Her claws scraped onto the floor.
It wasn't working. Inuyasha growled to himself. What fool idea had Tsukiyume come to? Sacrificing her own body to free Kagome's? I have to help her!
"Miroku! Do something, dammit!" Inuyasha again slashed at the spirit, dispersing it slightly. But with a sinking, feeling dawning inside him, he realized that the spirit was only growing smaller and smaller not because of his attacks, but because it was sinking into Tsukiyume's body.
"Give it up you stupid asshole!" he slashed a last time and then, fishing one hand into his haori, he pulled out the charmed beads that protected him from the demon's spirit. "Come and get me!"
The spirit pulsed once, pausing. Tsukiyume's screams became fainter.
"That's right! You don't want her do you, you sick bastard? Take me!"
Miroku was fumbling on the floor, searching for a sutra that he hadn't dirtied with the blood from his nose. The ink had spilled onto the floorboards. He cursed. "Inuyasha! No! don't do that!"
The spirit paused one more moment, contemplating perhaps. And then it flashed, sending a shockwave out through the room. The blast knocked Inuyasha backwards and threw Miroku clumsily over Kagome's still prostrate body. Koinu tumbled on the futon and began to cry.
Your charms will not affect me once I am inside my newest host. I will use her body to kill you and take what I need…the spirit taunted, speaking inside Inuyasha's head with a cackle. When the hanyou looked up he saw the spirit shrivel into itself and then ram into Tsukiyume's shuddering body.
The hanyou girl began to scream in agony, long and bloodcurdling.
Inuyasha leapt to his feet and ran for the girl. Her body was clouded over by the spirit, making her look as if she were smoking or smoldering like the coals in a dying fire. When his hands touched her they came away stinging and burning—almost but not quite the same pain that Kagome's purifying magic had done to him…
Get back.
Inuyasha froze, shocked. The voice had spoken in his head, but it was not the demon spirit's, but some other force. What the hell…?
The voice repeated its former command, this time making Inuyasha cringe: Get BACK!
The blackness of the spirit had disappeared, driving itself into Tsukiyume's body. The girl's shuddering at last stopped, thought her face remained twisted sickeningly with pain. Sweat beaded on her forehead, her ears, Inuyasha noticed, still quivered.
She opened her eyes slowly—they were still the same orange color as before. For a moment Inuyasha nearly breathed a sigh of relief—and then he saw them darken over from the pupils outward, until her whole iris looked like a pot of black ink.
Inuyasha had already started moving away from her, anticipating the ugly confrontation about to come, when the girl's clawed hand shot out and snatched his ankle. She grinned leeringly, her fangs glistening. "I've got hold of you now…" it was Garou's voice, speaking through the hanyou's girl's vocal cords.
Snarling, Inuyasha kicked out at her, hitting the girl in the face with his foot. She let go, groaning. Inuyasha smelled her blood spurting into the room, mingling with Miroku's and Kagome's sweat. The entire bedroom stank like a war zone.
"Shit." He cursed, moving to stand between the collapsed Kagome, the confused Miroku, and Koinu still whimpering on the futon. "This ain't good."
"Why bibn't she brobebt herbelb?" Miroku blubbered through his nose. (Translation: Why didn't she protect herself?)
"I don't know." Inuyasha growled. "Take Kagome, Miroku. Keep her safe."
The monk hesitated, "Boinu…" (Translation: Koinu?)
Inuyasha was already moving to protect his son, scooping his tiny son into his arms, but always with one amber eye watching Tsukiyume where she was gasping on the floor, half-choking on the blood from her nose. He'd not spared any force with the blow, and though part of him wanted to feel guilty for that he knew there hadn't been any other way to get clear of her before the thing tried to kill him. Am I going to have to kill her now?
Tsukiyume looked up at him from the floor. Blood had trailed from both nostrils, circling around her mouth, flowing in the laugh lines of her face. It dribbled down from her chin, smearing over her lovely, pale neck. Like blood on the snow…blood on white rose pedals. But her eyes when she stared at him were pitch black like the ink Miroku used to make his sutras.
"You'll pay for that—all of you! You should have taken the easy way out Inuyasha. Now I'm going to kill all of you, including your poor sweet little bitch!"
Somehow, though it hardly seemed possible, Tsukiyume's nearly childlike voice laced with the deep, throaty masculinity of Garou's, was more disturbing than Kagome's mixed with the monster's.
"No—I'd kill the girl first." Inuyasha responded darkly.
Tsukiyume grinned sickeningly. "You are too soft, Inuyasha. You couldn't," midway through the sentence Garou allowed Tsuki's voice to filter through naturally, childlike and pure; it sent a sour chill down Inuyasha's spine. "You couldn't kill me, cousin, could you?"
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes defiantly, taking the dead demon's words as a challenge. Without looking at Miroku, who had by now scooped up Kagome into his arms, Inuyasha commanded, "Get her out of here Miroku!"
But Kagome fought in his arms, blearily looking around her, "No! Stop!"
Tsukiyume was slowly pushing herself to her feet, looking stronger and stronger by the minute. Hatred, rage, blood thirst…there were expressions on her face that had never before appeared there. Her black hair, longer than Kagome's and straight as a board, reminded Inuyasha sickly of his mother. Her white ears had gone still on her head, giving away nothing, or perhaps the demon inside her skin had not learned, or did not care, to manipulate them.
"I'm going to slash out your throat, Inuyasha." She said, licking her lips, "And then I will tear your whelp apart too—and suck the marrow out of his bones."
The words were so ugly, the threat so obscene, Inuyasha felt his guts curdle. What response was there to that really? He had to kill her to save his family, to save himself, but it would haunt him too—she was just a girl, just a hanyou girl…an inuhanyou girl, his kin…
There was no choice.
When the official documents had been drawn up, signed, and witnessed properly, and the three lords, particularly Sesshomaru and Shimofuri, had all drank sake on the deal, Sesshomaru abruptly surprised them again.
"Sasugainu." He did not look at the other demon lord. His expression was completely bland and bored. His golden eyes revealed nothing of what he was thinking or planning.
"Yes?" Sasugainu's eyebrows shot high into his forehead. He peeked at his nephew but Shimofuri did not return the glance.
"You may leave us. I must speak with shishi-sama." The respect he afforded Shimofuri made both lords stare at him with unbridled surprise.
Sasugainu threw Shimofuri a questioning look before he left, waiting to see if his nephew was comfortable with being left alone with Sesshomaru. Shimofuri nodded, giving him the signal that he should do as Sesshomaru asked. Slowly Sasugainu rose to his feet and bowed, giving his thanks to both his nephew and Sesshomaru. Then he slipped out of the room silently.
"Lord Sesshomaru?" Shimofuri asked, not bothering to disguise his surprise. "What do you wish to speak with me about?"
"You have heard nothing from Inuyasha or your hanyou sister?" Sesshomaru demanded bluntly.
Shimofuri shook his head curtly. "I have heard nothing from either of them. The scouts my uncle has sent out to search for them have returned to us empty handed."
Sesshomaru appeared unconcerned. "Your sister will be with my little brother. You should send someone to get her from his estate shortly."
Shimofuri, caught by surprise, scowled. "How would you know…"
Sesshomaru interrupted him uncaringly. "I have scouts of my own. But that is not important. What I want of you, shishi-sama, is to ask what plans you have for your sister."
Now Shimofuri blinked, taken aback. "What?" how many females does Sesshomaru want?
"She is of marrying age but as a hanyou she is worthless to you in alliances within the clan. She has been sheltered by Taikokajin in this castle for many years; she is trained as a diplomat. I have use for her."
Shimofuri felt himself bristle instinctually. Dog demons were loyal caretakers of their mates and closest kin. It was farthest from Shimofuri's mind that Tsukiyume should be shipped off away from his care—though as a female it was her duty to leave her birth home and marry into another family. Yet as a hanyou Sesshomaru was correct, no one would want her as a wife…but Shimofuri still couldn't see exactly what Sesshomaru's interest in her was.
"I am inclined, with all due respect Lord Sesshomaru," he bowed a little to emphasize this, "To tell you that Tsukiyume is none of your business."
Sesshomaru's golden eyes narrowed slightly, pinning the young lord. "I will be frank with you, Shimofuri. I would keep your sister in my palace as a companion to my mate. She would be mentor and teacher to any hanyou offspring I should father. If the chance arises and she sees it fitting, I would allow her to marry whomever she chooses in due time. But in the meantime, as this war with Nishiyori goes on, I would have her in my palace as assurance that you and Sasugainu keep your end of the bargain."
Shimofuri's gray eyes widened, shocked and outraged. His lips thinned into a hard line, but to his credit he did not give in to the urge to curse and shout at his cousin, his newest and most powerful ally. At last he spoke in a cold voice, "And what assurance do I have in return, Sesshomaru?"
The older lord's lips quirked slightly. "You will win this war. And of course you will be able to visit your sister at any time you desire. She will write to you of course, and I will provide her with training and an education." He stared past Shimofuri with an almost smug expression, "For a hanyou it is more of an honor than she could ever have expected."
Staring at the older, very powerful inuyoukai lord before him, Shimofuri realized he had no true choice in this matter. Tsukiyume would be forced to become apart of Sesshomaru's household, whether he liked it or not. It would become tied in with their agreement for the civil war. Suddenly Shimofuri felt as if he had not merely given up Nihsiyori's lands to the demon lord of the Western Lands—he had also sold out his soul. He was powerless now to deny Sesshomaru anything for fear that he would withdraw his aid and leave them to die at Nishiyori's hands.
He sighed internally but let very little of his despair show over his features. "It will be as you wish, Lord Sesshomaru."
The possessed Tsukiyume dropped into a readied crouched position, sniffling blood. She flexed her clawed hands, throwing Inuyasha a snarling grin. But then her eyes flicked to Kagome and the monk. With Tsuki still half in the way of the door Miroku had no where to run…
"The window, Miroku!" Inuyasha shouted frantically, "The fucking window!"
The monk jumped into action, hurrying over the futon and toward the wall opposite Tsuki, behind Inuyasha…
Tsukiyume rushed at him before he'd even stepped onto the futon, moving with the great lunging speed of the inuyoukai family, much like Inuyasha himself. She snatched Miroku's leg, making him fall headlong onto the futon. Kagome cried out, tumbling with him onto the mattress. The possessed hanyou girl lifted her clawed hands, ready to slash both the monk and Inuyasha's mate to bloody bits. She grinned, fangs gleaming past her bloody lips.
But Inuyasha collided with her, slashing with his own claws before she could strike. He used his shoulder to knock her away and then, as fast as he could manage, he knelt and passed Koinu—who he'd been holding previously—to Kagome. He threw the dazed and still bleeding Miroku a quick, meaningful glare. "Get them out of here!"
Kagome reached out and tugged on Inuyasha's hakama pants. "Inuyasha! Please! Don't fight it! Let me…"
He didn't hear the rest of her words before Tsukiyume's claws ripped into him from behind, driving straight through one shoulder. He screamed; his ears were full of the possessed girl's cackling as she tossed him backward, toward the door. He fell, skidding across the floorboards, leaving a thick trail of blood from his punctured shoulder.
Flexing her bloodied fingers triumphantly, Tsukiyume sneered down at him. "Finally—I can smell your blood." there was a brief show of euphoria in her now black eyes, a slow, warm smile… "At last…"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed from behind Tsukiyume, "Inuyasha!"
The hanyou leapt to his feet, his face a mask of pain mixed with determination. He held the bleeding shoulder a little strangely, but his stance was still strong and undefeated. "You sick fucker!"
"Who should I kill first, Inuyasha? The little bitch, the monk, or your whelp? What about the other woman and the other children?" Not-Tsukiyume cocked her head to one side, smiling with sick glee, "Perhaps I shall restrain you as you restrained me within the bitch's body and then I'll make you watch as I kill all of them, one by one…"
Behind Not-Tsukiyume as she made her speech, a second drama was playing out as Kagome passed Koinu to Miroku and crawled toward Tsukiyume's legs. There was once again a thin purple-blue hue to her eyes. Though no one could see it the glow was centered now at the tips of each of her fingertips.
Only as Kagome was microseconds from reaching the monster did Inuyasha at last catch sight of her. His heart and stomach lurched into his throat, panic made his amber eyes expand several times. "Kagome! No!"
Too late Tsukiyume saw that the hanyou had lost interest in the threat and was worried about something else. When it looked was exactly the moment Kagome's hand closed over her ankle.
"NO!" Garou-Tsukiyume screamed, immediately falling flat as if the energy had been drained from them. Her claws scratched into the floor, making everyone cringe. "You bitch! No!"
Kagome seemed to grow stronger, pulling herself forward; she laid a second hand over Tsukiyume's back. There was a sudden burst of purple-white light. It grew huge, making everyone else in the room cringe and hide their eyes.
A shockwave tore through the room, cracking the paper over the screen doors, making Kasai begin crying in the other room with Sango. It flattened Inuyasha and Miroku to the floor for the second time.
Garou's voice screamed, higher and higher, agonized, torn apart. And then it faded away abruptly, vanishing. Tsukiyume's female soprano screamed with it at first, and then died as well, falling into nothing.
The light changed becoming more white than purple, and slowly receded, fading back into Kagome. The mother miko was left laying flat, chest heaving, her body faintly sizzling and glowing. Her hands were still lying on Tsukiyume's body.
Inuyasha, despite his profusely bleeding shoulder, was the first to recover. He pushed himself up to his feet with his good arm, taking in Kagome's breathing with one ear and Koinu's crying with another. He approached Tsukiyume and Kagome slowly, cautiously—and then stopped dead in his own bloody tracks.
Tsukiyume had no white dog ears. Her face was covered by her long, flowing black hair, but her head was clearly devoid of the dog demon appendages. She's been purified.
He moved to Kagome's body, kneeling at her side. "Kagome?"
As he rolled her over, his fingers still sparking faintly when he touched her, Kagome's hand rose up to touch him, brushing lovingly over his cheek. She smiled at him, though her facial muscles quivered with exhaustion. "I told you not to fight her, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha pulled her close to him, squeezing her tightly. "Kagome!" there were no words to describe his relief. Even if he'd tried he couldn't have found them, let alone articulate them. There were only actions, the comfort of her warm body in his arms, the smell of her body now returning to a normal, healthy state…
Nearby Miroku had quieted Koinu and was still holding the baby, staring at the couple first and then, very slowly, his eyes drifted to Tsukiyume. "Is she Beab?" he sniffled through his nose. (Is she dead?)
Almost in answer to his question the hanyou girl moaned and moved, trying to sit up.
Inuyasha drew away from Kagome, staring with a silent snarl at her as she stirred. Kagome looked as well, though with far less suspicion. "I purified her." she sighed, closing her eyes.
"Anb the ebil spirib?" Miroku asked, tensely. (And the evil spirit?)
No one answered right away; all eyes were turned to Tsukiyume as she sat up and turned to face them. Her face was a mask of pain, covered in blood. She made a few tiny squeaks of pain and surprise in her throat.
When she lifted her eyes to them they were no longer black like ink with Garou's evil influence, but they weren't orange either. They were an almost hazel color, light brown flecked with spots of olive green. "Wh-what happened?" she blubbered through her swollen and bleeding nose.
At last the tension left Inuyasha's body. His ears drooped tiredly. "It's finally over."
(A/N: YES! It is finally over. That was a long chapter! But as an extra treat I even have a bit of next chapter ready for you! Some merriment has returned for our very LAST chapter:
"Yes, but I was told to say to you that Lord Shimofuri, ruler of the Middle Lands, extends his greatest thanks. He admires you and welcomes you to visit his lands at any time you so desire it. Is there anything you want me to tell Lord Shimofuri for you…?"
Inuyasha blinked, taken aback. He shrugged off the surprise swiftly and snorted. Amusement sparkled in his gold gaze. "Sure. Tell him he's a good kid."
Update coming soon…)