"Welp that about does it then," Totosai sighed as he slid off his trusty bovine and scratched his head, "I'll give it to you Sesshomaru. You've officially gone and become the Great Dog Demon's biggest disappointment."

"Why have you come Totosai?" the daiyoukai asked quietly as he remained completely motionless.

"Oh I dunno. Might have something to do with that," the elderly demon hissed scathingly as he gestured towards the heavily mutilated corpse, "Or maybe the fact that both your sword and his called me here. Either way, here I am."

"This Sesshomaru has no interest…"

"Oh save it," the old man sighed heavily as he poked Inuyasha's body with the end of his hammer and shook his head, "For all your boasting and arrogance couldn't even kill him in one blow. Gave you a hard time did he?"

The daiyoukai bristled at the slight.

"Do not do this Sesshomaru the dishonor. The half-breed died a coward's death."

"Eh? Quit your mumbling and speak up boy," Totosai huffed as he dug one finger in his ear, "For a minute there, it sounded like bullshit."

One eye twitched but in a bizarre turn of events, the daiyoukai didn't otherwise react. Totosai smacked his lips a few times before sighing heavily.

"So you killed him because he was missing an arm, did ya?" the elderly demon replied knowingly before he narrowed his eyes, "Probably had a spinal injury too I take it. Ear is a different color which is odd."

Totosai sniffed once and smacked his lips again before scratching the top of his head. Finally after a few tense moments, the old demon smirked and gave his master's eldest son a smug pleasantly surprised look.

"So go ahead and do it then," he concluded and Sesshomaru let out an uncharacteristically exasperated sigh.

"I grow tired of..."

"And I'm tired of your attitude. If you're going to bring him back, get on with it," Totosai snorted as he lazily cricked his neck, "If not I'll use his bones to..."

Sesshomaru's nostrils flared as he found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. While it had been his intention to bring a fully restored Inuyasha back to life, he had intended to do so in such a way that others may suspect but never truly know it had been his doing. To have the shroud of plausible deniability. Honestly, the entire purpose behind even bothering himself with the whole thing was to make for an even fight when he did kill Inuyasha in the future. Which he fully intended to do. At some point when there were not so many complications which, for some god forsaken reason, necessitated the continued existence of the half-breed. Ending Naraku's miserable existence and compiling the troublesome jewel shards would necessarily require Inuyasha's continued involvement. The greatest threat, at this moment, was undoubtedly the beast who dared to threaten Rin. No one was permitted to harm her. Nothingwas worth endangering her life but many things were on the table to ensure her continued survival.

And, as much as Sesshomaru loathed to admit it, Inuyasha's continued existence tipped the scales of survival in Rin's favor immeasurably. And this was not the first time he'd interceded to ensure Inuyasha would live to see another day for that reason and that reason alone.

That didn't mean he couldn't also enjoy a little torture and relish in the feeling of life draining from the stain on his Father's bloodline, however. More than a few of the injuries had been excessive for his own comfort.

"...getting a little fat after all. Could probably boil him down for dinner," Totosai continued lazily as he scratched at his chest, "Don't know what that girl's been feeding him but he's definitely less lean. Meats probably..."

"Are you finished?" Sesshomaru interjected in a cold monotone fashion and Totosai shrugged.

"Depends," the old man laughed softly as he stretched his arms above his head, "So am I getting some tools and meat or are you..."

"You will speak of this to no one," Sesshomaru replied in a tone that left no room for argument before he inhaled sharply and glanced at the horizon, "The girl is coming."

"Which girl?" Totosai asked before sniffing once and wrinkling his nose, "Ah Kagome. How nice of her to join us. I doubt she'll sit and try to figure out what you're doing. Probably will just hand your ass back to you. Better get on with it. Doubt she'll show you mercy though."

Sesshomaru gave the old man a withering side eyed glare before setting his jaw.

"I leave Inuyasha to you," Sesshomaru ordered with no lack of disdain as he turned to leave.

"Afraid of a human, are we?" Totosai chuckled, "Can't say I blame you. Oh you've gotten yourself in quite the mess."

"Be quiet or I shall kill you," Sesshomaru replied before he let out a short sigh, "This Sesshomaru will seek you out in one month's time. Keep his body hidden until my return."

"Yup. Greatest disappointment," Totosai hummed thoughtfully as he got to his feet and stretched, "I warned him that he was spoiling you but did the Great Dog Demon listen? No. No he did not. Now look at the pompous idiot you've become. Dragging this out to prove some asinine point."

"Bite your..."

"I didn't follow the Great Dog Demon for his strength fool boy. By all means, go ahead and try to strike me down," Totosai laughed softly, "I've killed demons a hundred times stronger than you and used their bones for my own ends. I'm just old and hate fighting if I can avoid it. Especially when those fights are with undisciplined children."

"Is that why you failed to deliver Tenseiga personally? You dislike confrontation? This Sesshomaru heard differently," the daiyoukai replied scathingly and Totosai shrugged.

"Eh, I am old now. Don't move I used to. It was possible you could've gotten the upper hand and I do enjoy living," the elderly demon chuckled good-naturedly as he swung Inuyasha's mangled body over one shoulder like a bag of meat, "I leave the good fight to the youth of today. Like the little miko coming to whip your insolent little tail."

"She will not succeed."

"Eh? What was that?" Totosai taunted as he threw the body over the back of his bull, "I told you to speak up. I'm old ya know and all you do is mumble."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Several weeks passed by since Kagome had returned to the village. Bloodied. Broken. Grieving. Haunted visions of Inuyasha begging to be spared so he could return to her still playing in her mind's eye. A part of her hoped Inuyasha hadn't begged. That he'd held onto his pride until the very end. That he'd fought for his life and hadn't hoped to use his weakest skill to get out of the death sentence that was eventually carried out. But given how he'd been since the injury, Kagome could imagine it went down as Sesshomaru described. That Inuyasha had begged even if he was missing both arms. That he felt he couldn't defend himself in a fight and tried to reason with his executioner. All he wanted was to come home to her. To be there when she returned from her world. Because even if he was missing both arms as he undoubtedly was given the arm Sesshomaru carried, Inuyasha knew she'd still love him.

Why did she ever let him go back alone?

Letting out a shuddering breath, Kagome wiped a stray tear off her cheek as she watched the still feral Shippo try to carry several large logs to the storage shed. He'd been taking his new self-imposed role as alpha very seriously. It was strange what he'd decided that encompassed. Provide for the village seemed to be his primary purpose. Gather firewood. Hunt meat. Do his best to make her smile. He'd learned or rather remembered a new word too.

Help.

That lone word broke her heart.

"Alpha pup weak," she heard him mumble miserably as his little arms trembled and one log toppled off the pile to the ground, "No. No. No."

"Shippo! Pup!" Kagome called out hoarsely and immediately his head whipped in her direction, "Come have lunch. Pup eat. Pup need strength."

Lowering the logs, Fox kit looked ashamed as he glanced at her and slowly walked towards her with his head bent in submission.

"Pup hunt?" the baby asked hesistantly as he rang his tiny hands and Kagome let out a shuddering breath while shaking her head.

"I have some...some ramen," Kagome answered thickly as another tear slid down her cheek, "Alpha mother provide."

A few moments passed before Shippo rested his paw on her knee, "Alpha mother provide."

A long sigh.

"Pup miss alpha like alpha mother miss alpha. Stay strong. No crying. Make alpha proud."

A shuddering sob escaped her as she buried her face in her hands. That was literally the worst pep talk in the history of pep talks. Maybe youkai emotions were different. Their mind stronger in every possible way - both physically and mentally. It would explain why Inuyasha was always believed so thoroughly that crying was weakness. Allowing himself tears only when he believed there was no longer any point keeping up appearances when his appearance documented how 'weak' he had become. Demons handled their grief and used that pain as fuel to get things done. Demons didn't cry. Didn't need to cry.

But unfortunately for her, humans very much did.

Trying to compose herself, Kagome laughed bitterly as soon as that thought crossed her mind. In her time here, she'd seen plenty of demons and half-demons cry. Inuyasha's issues with showing tears were his own but...but he'd also always hated her tears. If only for his sake, she'd try to do better in that department. And with that resolution a new onslaught began at the memory of his numerous reactions to her tears. His face laced with concern and love hidden just under the surface that she'd always dismissed as being impossible. So much time had been wasted playing will they or won't they. So much time spent in denial.

"Make alpha proud?" Kagome repeated hoarsely as she unsteadily got to her feet, "Alpha always proud of pup. Proud of alpha mother. Alpha loved pup. Loved alpha mother. Alpha proud."

"Pup loved alpha. Alpha mother loved alpha. Alpha knew," Shippo mumbled worriedly as though he believed she might be doubting her memories, "Alpha watching. Pup father watching. Never leave pup. Never leave alpha mother. Reunited one day."

Another muffled sob escaped her lips even as she forced a smile on her face.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Fuck," Inuyasha gasped as consciousness

hit him full force. After so many years of being hunted every action upon waking was automatic, reflexive, efficient. Ears twitching in every direction, his heart pounded like a hypodermic needle filled with adrenaline had just been stabbed straight in. One hand rubbed his face while the other was used to steady himself. How the hell did he even get here? The last thing...

Inhaling sharply, Inuyasha slowly raised both hands in front of his face - amber eyes darting over each in turn as the fingers flexed and bent.

"What the hell," he breathed before slamming one hand down on the leg that felt nothing and embedding his claws deep within. Which he instantly regretted as pain he should've seen coming made him flinch. Letting out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan, the realization that his leg was also fine made him feel worse not better.

Glancing around his surrounding with heartbroken eyes, the dawning realization that everything he has known these past few weeks had been nothing more than a dream felt painful. The possibility that nothing had changed, that nothing had happened a thousand daggers in his heart even if some of it he'd rather have skipped. His injuries. Being murdered. Finally understanding what love could be like and getting to experience that first hand. Having someone who he knew would love him no matter how injured he'd become. The security he felt.

Was none of it real? Had he merely survived his initial injuries and his mind tried to find a way to cope while his body healed? And if so, he'd done it all alone apparently. No one had looked for him. No one had come for him.

Kagome hadn't come for him.

Looking back down at his still raised hand which had previously been missing, Inuyasha bit his lip and shook his head.

That couldn't be right. That just couldn't. No matter what insane thing he did Kagome would never just give up on him like that. It was warmer than it had been that night for one. Noticeably hotter. Which couldn't happen overnight. This change of season would take at least a month. Maybe more. And...and if this was a dream, even if the weather change was merely a coincidence, accepting that would mean that...would mean every good thing he'd dreamt was a lie.

If that was true and none of it had been real, Kagome didn't love him despite how much he loved her. Unrequited love that he'd been struggling with for well over a year still just that. His mind coming up with something to bring him comfort that wasn't based in reality. Her not loving him in turn meant she had never agreed to be his wife. There had been no kisses, no embraces, nothing. Which didn't sit right with him. Even assuming everything after that night was a fever dream, there'd been signs which in retrospect he'd refused to see. Things which now made the truth abundantly clear. Kagome loved him. That much was certain. Besides, he was not what you would call a creative person. There was no way he came up with everything on his own. Especially details of certain things he had never experienced before.

But then...

But then how on gods' green earth was he perfectly healed? It was like he'd never been injured in the first place. And the scents surrounding him were strange too. Totosai's scent was strongest which was borderline impossible. Sesshomaru's scent game next which corresponded to the last moments of his 'dream' which had to be a low point in his life should that have actually happened. The sheer desperation he'd felt cringeworthy at best. God, if that was real, he had literally begged for his life instead of fighting back.

His stomach churned at the thought of such weakness while, at the same time, he admitted to himself that did seem like the most likely way to survive. Never before had Sesshomaru fought him if he was injured or perceived as weak. The bastard wanted a fair fight. Even when Inuyasha was a child, the easiest thing to kill, that asshole had made that much very clear. Maim but not kill. Injure just enough to inflict maximum pain but not grant the relief that was death. Because it wasn't a fair fight until he was grown and could fight back.

Still, Sesshomaru basically ripping his body apart just to put him back together again made no sense either. And killing Kikyo made no sense. And that Kagome wasn't here made no sense.

Unless...

Oh god dammit, was he dead?!

"Oh that sucks," Inuyasha groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose and drew his knees up against his chest. As one hand steadied himself, he tried to think of literally any way to make him dying suck less but came up short.

Unless this was a world that was a version of the one he just left. Which meant there was a version of Kagome here. Just because she wasn't real didn't mean he couldn't pretend she was. No one really knew how the underworld worked anyhow. Just wait out being reincarnated so he could meet the actual Kagome all over again. Console himself with a fake version of her in the meantime. That wouldn't be so bad. Not great but not terrible.

If this was where he'd been injured in the first place, then maybe this Kagome just didn't know how he felt about her. Maybe he'd been dropped into that place in time. Which meant he'd have to start over from scratch. But starting fresh couldn't be too hard, right? Not pleasant but doable. Just say a few nice words, admit he loved her, maybe give her a flower or something and bam, everything else would fall into place.

Or worst case scenario Sesshomaru also killed Kagome and she was in her own version of hell and he'd spend the rest of his time here forever searching for her. Which was also a possibility. The underworld had been described as many things but nice wasn't one of them. Maybe he was the only fucker in this place and he'd be alone forever.

"Why me?" Inuyasha huffed in frustration as he buried his face and drew his knees closer, "Why can't I just have nice things for once?"

Allowing himself a few moments to have a pity party, he finally sighed heavily and got unsteadily to his feet before pausing. A shuddering hope filled sigh escaping him at the realization that his body felt slightly off balance. Almost like he was having to relearn how to stand on his own. Like he had been torn apart and put back together.

A small smile played on his lips as relief coursed through his veins. Maybe all of that wasn't a dream and Kagome just hadn't come back for dinner yet. That would be the best possibility of all. Weirdest and most unlikely, yes - because why the fuck did Sesshomaru feel the need to kill him, heal him and bring him back - but that didn't stop him from hoping.

Adjusting his stance, Inuyasha surveyed the tree line and launched into the trees. Truth be told, the first jump was awkward and unsteady but the second and the third felt just like old times.

"I swear to god if this was a dream I'm going to..."

Failing to stick the landing on the fourth jump, Inuyasha had the air knocked right out of him as he torso collided solidly with a branch. Scrambling to pull himself up, he sprawled out on the branch gasping for air.

"Fucking...kill...somebody..."