InuYasha slid the door shut the moment the sun sank beneath the horizon and he breathed a sigh of relief. He hated to hide from his friends, this was always the loneliest time for him.

Hundreds of years later and he still missed his mom.

Shippo came and went with food from the Lady of the inn. At the last minute Sesshomaru's servant had come rattling a bag of gold coins, claiming he would need a place that had a bath so the slayer could soak her ankle.

"Sango really must have played it up." Miroku sat in the corner, watching InuYasha stare out the window, "I can't imagine he'd spend money on a place like this for no reason."

"He's a full blooded heir. He probably used Sango as an excuse to spend a shit ton of money." InuYasha didn't add that he probably didn't want to sit too close to his sickening little brother.

They sat in silence for a long while and he only realized once the monk's head fell onto his shoulder, that Miroku had fallen asleep. Some company. He couldn't necessarily blame him though. Staying up all night after traveling all day was difficult on his half demon body, it wasn't advisable for humans.

InuYasha was gentle when he put Miroku to bed and he let his blunt fingers run mindlessly along his soft, dark hair.

Hours past.

He was holding a section of hair, counting the strands in the firelight when an ethereal whistling began floating through the trees.

I'll swim and sail through savage seas

With never a fear of drowning

And gladly ride the waves of life

If you would marry me

The song always came late in the night, when the rest of the world was fast asleep. He sang along, eyes closed and lips quirked upwards. To this day he didn't know who it was watching over him.

But I would bring you rings of gold

I'd even sing you poetry

And I would keep you from all harm

If you would stay beside me

He'd once entertained the idea that his father was looking down on him, singing his mother's song as a way of reminding him of his love.

But he didn't know if ghosts could sing.

XxXxXxXxXx

Kagome was running from Koga. She didn't know why she was with a man with a tail, but she did know that she was tired of him. All he did was order her around and act like he was oh so mature.

He wasn't.

"Sango!" Kagome ran into her room on tiny legs and crawled into bed with her. There was a giant white haired man staring down at her with big, glowing eyes. She didn't know why, but something about him seemed dangerous. Even if he hadn't moved an inch.

And then she screamed.

That woke Sango up. She shot out of bed, backing away from the miniature intruder as she tried to reconcile last night's dream with this morning's reality.

Koga stood in the doorway, growling as he dove forward to catch Kagome. The girl leapt out of the way, climbing into Sesshomaru's lap, suddenly deciding that his murderous aura wasn't nearly as daunting as a man with a tail.

"Creepy, tail man!"

If it wasn't dawn Sango would be amused that Kagome was less afraid of Sesshomaru than Koga, but it was dawn and she'd only just gotten comfortable.

"Kagome, I'm sure he isn't trying to hurt you." She collected the girl in her arms, tying the straps of her tank top until it covered her infantile chest, "but it's really early. Can you go with Koga and go back to sleep?"

The girl shook her head, "can I stay in here with Fluffy?"

"Not happening." He snorted, "wolf take your child and leave."

"What is going on here? When I came by to see Kagome I didn't expect to be hexed and then saddled with a brat."

Sango didn't want to explain, but Koga wasn't letting up. He just kept yelling and making demands. She was starting to think that canines were insufferable as a species.

"Shut up, wolf. Or I'll make it very hard for you to speak again."

Koga clamped his mouth shut, smart enough to understand that the demon lord would be much more ruthless than InuYasha was.

And he was a slave to his instincts before anything else.

"Sesshomaru, be nice." He vaguely wondered if the demon slayer was able to control the massive man before him. And if so, how? Regardless, he listened well as she explained Cupid's Curse. The four trials would be the only thing to set him free; understanding, trust, affection, and sacrifice. Currently he was in the understanding stage. He needed to know what made Kagome who she was and come to understand her at a fundamental level.

"Huh, what was the answer for the two of you?"

Sesshomaru's astute gaze made his tail curl, "if I tell you it won't do you much good." Gods that man was unsettling.

"I have some trauma with my brother," Sango offered easily, "he was killed by Naraku, but he's still being used as a puppet. There was a horrible fight and Sesshomaru stepped up. He helped me to confront my fear of losing the people dear to me."

Koga was even more interested in what it was that she helped him confront. What could someone as cool and as infallible as Lord Sesshomaru suffer with?

But he didn't ask because he valued his life.

"And Sesshomaru isn't that scary. He's just quiet. It can be unsettling if you're not used to being ignored."

Koga shook that off, that woman was clearly a bad judge of character.

"But how am I supposed to figure out what to do with a human child?"

Sesshomaru's frustrated gaze was shoving him towards the door, "take care of her, the revelation will come in time."

XxXxXxXxXx

Sesshomaru found himself watching Sango walk. Ever since the aphrodisiac powder he felt less in control of himself, as if one touch from the woman before him could send him to his knees.

He was so enchanted by the rhythmic swaying of her hips that he didn't notice when Sango called his name.

"What are you-," she didn't seem as amused with him as usual and she crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm talking to you Sesshomaru." He was about to offer her some cheeky comment about her human heritage or how women talked endlessly about nothing, but something in her aura made him uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry. Will you repeat yourself for me?"

Sometimes the manners his mother drilled into him made an appearance.

"I need to go home. The graves of my people have been left unattended for far too long."

He felt well and truly foolish for not paying attention the first time, especially since she'd been grey all morning.

"You don't have to help me, but I will need you to come with me." She yanked the chains for clarification, "and please don't take my silence personally, I just-," she hadn't expected him to put his thumb to her lips.

"I don't talk much when I visit my mother's memorial, either. Doesn't seem like there's too much worth saying in those kinds of situations."

She nodded, leading the way back to the inn to inform the others of their plans when wind whipped around the clearing. Sango was always at a huge disadvantage when the wind sorceress came to play. Her weapon depended, heavily, upon the kindness of the wind.

"Well isn't this a surprise." Kagura seemed to materialize before them, her closed fan resting heavily on her kimono, "Lord Sesshomaru and the crying wonder. To what do I owe the pleasure of such a match?"

"What do you want, sorceress." Sesshomaru's hand rested on Tokijin, making his intentions clear.

As per usual, Kagura had no intentions of being destroyed by Sesshomaru. She was never violent with him, usually preferring to call him a coward while simultaneously begging to be saved.

Jaken insisted that the sorceress was sweet on him, but the idea of being anything but murderous and hateful towards her made him irate.

"I'm just here to deliver something to that pretty little slayer of yours."

"Rest assured, if I disapprove, you will die." Tokijin hummed with the promise of bloodshed, and Sesshomaru nearly smiled as she balked at him.

"My choices aren't my own. If Naraku wishes it, then I shall do it."

"So be it."

Kohaku's body tumbled from the feather, his chained weapon raised high above his head. Sesshomaru could smell the poison from here, if that blade touched their skin they'd be in a world of pain.

Luckily, Sesshomaru wasn't in the mood to be poisoned by some brat. Disarming the child was neither difficult nor time consuming and he realized that Kagura spoke the truth. They'd expected to catch Sango alone and kill her while she was separated from the pack.

Cowards.

"I warned you, didn't I?" Her hand was sliced from her arm and the feather she reached for fell into blood that was so dark it seemed black. She began spouting the same tired monologue, the words falling from her lips as if they'd been burned into her brain. She didn't even have the sense to silence her begging. Did she think that he wouldn't hear the tireless thumping of the very heart she swore was not in her possession?

Her trembling voice only awoke the predator instinct within him. Her shuffling movements, the widening of her eyes. All of it made him giddy with a blood lust he didn't often indulge, but this sorceress had threatened the life of his slayer. She came as a coward, used trickery and emotional manipulation to achieve her goals.

She intended to harm what his youki had already claimed as his own and it was a sin that could not be forgiven.

Sesshomaru's Tokijin tore into the pale flesh of her chest, blood soaking into the fine linen she'd been clothed in. She bathed the grass in the dark liquid, "even if what you say is true, you have forgotten that he is not the God in this equation." The last thing she saw was his tiny, murderous smile, "I am."

Meanwhile, Sango was busy. She watched as Kohaku stood there, unmoving, glassy eyes staring despondently into her own. Without orders he was dead, he had always been dead. How long had his soul been separated from his body, how long had this not been his brother?

She had to remove the shard, she had to save him from this hell.

And then he was falling, but it wasn't her doing. She wasn't ready. She needed- it didn't much matter if she was ready. She spotted the hellish insect flying high and far with the jewel shard that sustained her brother's life.

Despair clutched at her as hiraikotsu narrowly missed the insect. She needed the shard back.

Sango stared stupidly as Sesshomaru landed in front of her, bug guts on his claws, and a tainted shard in his hands. While he'd initially looked bored and hungry for a challenge, she could feel darkness rolling around his mind, like something was taking over. His expression began to shift, his golden eyes flashed as he tried to shake the feeling away.

He shook his head, silver hair floating around his head as the blood lust began pounding at the back of her mind. It was a hammer, slamming into her conscious, wrecking her thoughts and making it impossible to link one thought to another.

Her chest- his chest- burned and she cried out at the same time that his snarling rippled through the clearing. She shoved herself out of his head, gasping against the feelings that were shoving against the confines of his will.

She tried not to show her surprise as she realized that she was faced with a beast.

"Sesshomaru, let's put down the jewel shard." Her voice was soft, trying to beat down some of the undefined hatred that was beating at her. She took another step closer and he flared to life. Her mind was overcome with images of blood and gore, she curled around herself, trying to remind herself that the desires that drowned her weren't hers.

He needed her. She couldn't fall to the floor useless when he was reigning in a monster, wrestling it for her safety.

Rushing him was a terrible idea.

She'd thrown herself towards him, biting down on her tongue so she didn't cry out when his claws cut through her flesh. The sight of her shameless bleeding was temptation enough, she wouldn't appeal to the beast with her whimpering.

"Give me the jewel shard, Sesshomaru." She could feel indecision that tore at him, could practically hear the beast demanding that he murder her. His hand went to her throat, the claws biting down into her skin with a playful amount of pressure.

"Let her go, you bastard!" InuYasha rushed him with his sword, swinging it wildly, but avoiding using the wind scar.

Sesshomaru shoved her into the dirt, turning his gaze on InuYasha. To feel his skin coming apart beneath his claws, to tear into him with his sharpened canines, the fantasy filled him with a haze far darker than the last.

Sango felt that detached, murderous glee fill his mind like rolling black smoke.

He would toy with InuYasha, like a dog played with a squirrel, and when he was broken and bleeding, he'd leave him to die.

She had to stop him.

Her head was spinning from blood loss, but her grip on hiraikotsu was steady. The pain of being hit with her boomerang made him stagger and InuYasha lunged forward, narrowly missing the hand where the jewel shard lay.

Sango noted, as she dealt with the phantom pains that made her vision grey, that his pretty features were warped and the smile he wore was too big for his face.

Sesshomaru advanced on her, snarling as he did. Maybe the boomerang hadn't been the best idea? Regardless, she had to do something. InuYasha would die if she didn't.

If she could steal his attention -for just a second- she could get the shard from him. So she fell into his embrace, stretching despite the blinding pain of his claws sinking deep into her hips.

"This armor of yours is going to be the death of me." She dragged herself upwards, using his shoulders to get her bearings, "now stop attacking us you stupid demon."

"Who are you to tell me what to do, slayer?"

She could feel the indulgence he offered her, even in possession he was amused by her, "I'm the one in charge."

"Sango what are you doing? He's going to murder you!" InuYasha leapt forward, swinging his sword at empty space. Sesshomaru had moved, taking her with him into the air.

"You should listen to the half breed."

She wrapped her hands in his hair and tugged his head back, "and you should listen to me." The blade she held to his throat drew the smallest line of blood. He released her hips, bringing his shard hand up to cut her again.

Amidst his snarling she kicked his wrist and he thoughtlessly released the jewel shard. His transformation was instant. The first thing he saw was a delirious Sango. His clothes and hands reeked of her blood and he was pretty sure his shoulder was broken.

Slowly, he put them both back on the ground, backing away from the blade that she'd held to his neck.

"This is why papa said not to court a demon."

XxXxXxXxXx

All Sesshomaru heard was 'court' because he was not courting anyone, much less a human, but if she thought he was then maybe he should be more direct? He would not have a relationship end without him giving it his best.

Sure, he found her easy to be around. She was beyond tolerable and strong and oh so beautiful, and if she wanted to be with him then he would make a bigger effort to get to know her.

"Could you day dream after we find a solution to Sango bleeding to death?"

"Shit." He hadn't meant to say that out loud and InuYasha's childish laughing was making him irate, "this is why I'm glad we didn't grow up together." He hadn't meant it harshly, but, judging by his sudden, stony silence, it had been taken that way, "just watch over Kohaku's body."

Sesshomaru pocketed the jewel shard, gritting his teeth against the aura it exuded. He was in control of his own actions.

He carried her gingerly, careful not to jostle her.

"Jaken, bring the priestess' yellow bag." Ever so gently he began peeling her kimono from her shredded flesh. He cut the pieces that would not come free and covered her more private bits with cloth.

Upon peering at the contents of the priestess' futuristic bag he quickly found that he had no idea what to do. There were sprays and thread and creams and he was suddenly at a loss.

"You should make me dinner if you're going to undress me like that." Her voice hoarse and he barked a nervous laugh.

"Are you well aware that you are bleeding to death?" Without a hope in the world he began cleaning the wounds of blood, a Herculean task since he could see bone.

Suddenly, the prank he'd played on that futuristic priestess seemed childish.

"Rin, Shippo," he could smell them around the corner, "go and watch Kohaku's body. Protect it with your lives. And send InuYasha and the monk to me." This was no time to be prideful. He stared at a container with clacking capsules, trying to sort things out while Sango laughed at her own jokes.

Delirium was clearly setting in.

The monk entered, but InuYasha stayed outside, probably pouting, "he's no good with first aid," was the clipped explanation.

Sesshomaru moved away as the monk rooted around in the bag of items, "disinfectant spray," he shook it a bit before applying a liberal coating on each wound, "humans are quick to get infections in open wounds. This stuff kills those little creatures."

He'd never admit that he appreciated the monk's clipped explanations. The feeling of being useless when his slayer lay in a puddle of her own blood was one he never wished to repeat.

Miroku handed over the needle and thread, "tie the thread in a little knot around the needle," and then got to work with laying out the creams and bandages for their mission.

He did as he was told, fretting lightly as she twitched from the pain.

"I'm sorry, slayer." His whispering seemed to bring her some comfort, "I should have taken into consideration that the shard was from Naraku." Her eyes were glassy and her breathing shallow.

"Big...stupid...bottom." She smiled at him, hiding the pain beneath layers of teasing and amusement. And he indulged her, because all of this was his own fault.

"Me? A bottom? You must have lost more blood than I thought."

"Yes, you," she tried to smile again, to ignore the burning that reached deep into her shredded flesh, "you were into it." The blackening splotches threatened to drag her back into unconsciousness, "sing to me, Sesshomaru." The request left her lips before she could consider that he would deny her.

He'd never had anyone ask him to sing to them before, but there was no request that he could deny. Not when he'd hurt her.

Upon one summer's morning

I carefully did stray

Down by the walls of wapping

Where I met a sailor gay

She felt the bite of a needle in her flesh, but she didn't let it consume her. She rode the gentle waves of his voice back into the blackness, straining her ears until all was lost.

William when you go I fear

You'll never return again

My heart is pierced by Cupid

I disdain all glittering gold

There is nothing can console me

But my jolly sailor bold.

Sesshomaru watched her go limp, ignoring the look that the monk wore as he finished up with one of her deeper gashes.

"I can't decide if I hate you or not," Miroku muttered truthfully, "one minute you're hurting InuYasha and the next you're cradling my best friend and singing her lullabies."

"Your feelings towards me are not my problem."

He watched the demon stroke her hair, gentle and transfixed, as if he were gazing upon the gates of heaven.

"But they are," Miroku tied a bandage around her forearm, "do you think Sango will ever love you if you push away the people she holds dear?" He hadn't expected an answer and when the pitiful lie hit his ears he struggled to bite down a laugh.

"Her love is not what I'm after. I wish to be free of these restraints, that's all."

"I'm sure," he shooed Sesshomaru to the other side of the slayer, "take my advice, demon, if you continue to be cold you will never win Sango's heart. She will always choose her family-,"

"She has no family. None of us," he seemed to berate himself for a moment and Miroku swore to revisit that slip, "none of you do."

"We are each other's family and she will choose us. Always." Sesshomaru wasn't a fan of his blind confidence.

"And if she doesn't? What if she decides that a life with me is worth more than a life with you all?" He knew he was being crude and contradictory, because he literally just said he didn't want her,, behaving like a child despite his ageless existence. But he hated being told he would have no choice besides cooperation.

"Then every time we cross paths you'll be the one faced with her tears as she swears that she's fine, that it's nothing."

He didn't have to finish the scenario. Sesshomaru would never be the reason for her silent tears, not if he could help it.

Even if she was just a human.

"It's hardly any of your business."

"It's like talking to a wall!" Miroku dried his hands and stood to leave, "my goal is to be kind to you, Sesshomaru, not use the obvious crush you have on my best friend as a weapon against you. I don't know who hurt you, but not everyone is trying to get the upper hand. Sometimes, people just want to help."

Sesshomaru snorted at that once the door closed, "he think I'm stupid, slayer, but humans are just as ruthless as demons and Gods I'd hate to scatter bits of him all over the mainland."

A.N./ I have so much filler it's INSANE. Filtering through plot and brain fart is...an effort.