Disclaimer, in case it wasn't obvious. I don't own Inuyasha, or really any other property. Thank you.

Being Alive

Chapter XXI: Mortality

Kagura:

Maybe he doesn't know.

That was a vain hope, she was already aware. The entirety of her flight had been plagued with the what ifs that she was flying towards. There was nowhere to escape to. The whole world, the thing she wanted to wander freely, was nothing more than a prison. A hand was always firmly on her leash, willing to pull on it at a moment's notice. And now she was returning after being told not to fail, having failed in a dramatic sense. The freedom of having the wind blow past her as she took flight through the air was nothing but a lie, and it was one she easily recognized. When she'd grabbed hold of the web again, with the help of this fan, she knew she'd doomed herself once more, only for the chance to one day break free.

But that day meant she needed to take her heart with her. To simply be disconnected, was to die. It all hinged on waiting for the right moment. And now, she was terrified that she'd given that moment away. Naraku would not be pleased with her. The small voice of hope she'd disregarded was still there, whispering that perhaps she could find a way to lie.

She wasn't at her site in the mountains. I went looking for her but I couldn't find her. I will head back out and look more extensively for her as soon as you command.

The way it played through her head, over and over again as she tried to explain away why the old hag wasn't with her felt more and more convincing to her in one way, that it was perhaps her only chance to even buy a few more days time. It might even give her enough time to find a way out of this mess she now found herself in. Just how was she going to get her heart from Naraku though? He could have it in the palm of his hand in a… a heartbeat.

Time… perhaps that was all she could buy. She couldn't acquire freedom. All she could just buy time in the cage she'd been left in. Every second was a victory for as long as she could keep it, even as restrained as she was.

I just need to survive. If I can lie well enough… maybe… maybe something will appear for me.

In the distance, she felt her blood run cold as she approached the destination that pulsed for her. Peaks and valleys were traversed in moments beneath her, but it slowed to a crawl as she pulled back on the wind, trying to absorb every second of being out here before she reached her physical cage.

Swooping over castle walls, she hopped from her feather, landing on her feet from several metres above. There was no one waiting for her, no Chiyaku or anyone else. It was eerily quiet, even for the nightmarish holes that Naraku dwelt within. Right now, she knew she was at the centre of the Spider's web. She never truly escaped it, but approaching the spider itself was never desirable.

Every step she took towards the central structure felt like it was a walk towards her execution. It might have well been. Her feet were graceful, but increasingly cautious in her movement, unconsciously expecting to be attacked as much as she was expecting to be greeted. The steps leading to the large, sliding door awaited her. She swallowed before preparing to make her way up them before something flinched in her back, just beneath her Spider's mark. She tried not to wince, before her breathing hitched, sensing him.

"Kagura," Naraku's voice emerged from behind her. "Welcome home."

It took several seconds as she tried to resist turning.

She wasn't there. I missed her. That's what happened.

Trying to give the appearance of honesty, or at least modest concern, Kagura finally turned to meet her master. Without bothering to look anywhere else, she made sure to meet his eyes, trying to sense his mood before lowering them.

"Naraku," she greeted as her head lowered.

"Where is the demon-ogre, Urasue?" he asked, his tone a deadly calm.

Now with his body in her sight, rather than his face, she noted he was wearing his black and purple kimono. At least there was no horrifying body waiting to shred her to pieces as she remained silent, fearing giving any kind of answer. The well rehearsed lie didn't come from her lips despite her urging.

"The ogre?" she fumbled her words almost as she tried to find her voice. "I… I couldn't find her."

"Is that so, Kagura?"

The words were almost poisonous. Was he just trying to frighten her? Or did he know? She didn't want to look into his eyes, it was too likely to reveal to him her own lies, or discover that he already knew what happened.

"Y-yes," she responded back. "I came back when I sensed you call me. I-"

Her words dropped when she looked up to see his eyes. Not a single word was being believed, and it wasn't hard to notice. It wasn't a vengeful look he was giving her, though it still offered her little comfort. The intensity of his red eyes burrowed into hers as she could almost feel all the horrible things which he seemingly intended to do to her.

"You failed in your task, then?" he asked.

No, no, no, wait-

She raised her hand, trying to not reveal her desperation and failing tremendously. Even she could see the shake in it as she clearly signalled for mercy. He had her heart and she knew he did. Even if the bastard didn't, it was still a fight she couldn't win. As long as she was bound to him, she had no choice but to do as he asked, regardless of what it was. Not that she was morally objecting to destroying a village, the mortals didn't matter to her. It was that she wanted to be free to act on her own. She would be more than happy to kill anyone, if it was going to lead to her freedom.

But she knew that kind of thought was a trap. It was a lie. There could be no freedom through Naraku, or subservience. The only thing she could gain by being like this was the time she so desperately craved.

But, as she'd expected, her heart stopped. Her eyes knit together as her entire body became weak. Her breath caught as she tried to stay standing, as if no matter how much air she brought in, she was suffocating. Her hand remained up, asking for the mercy she wasn't receiving.

"I know, you killed Urasue, Kagura," Naraku said, his tone hardened like a rock, and just as uncaring as she'd expect one to sound. "And I know that she cut you off from my connection with you. Which means, Kagura, that you are hiding something from me."

A lie.

A lie, any lie tried to come to the surface to shield herself. From what was the end of her journey. She didn't reattach herself to the piece of shit and kill that Ogre just to die like this. But she couldn't move. She couldn't even breathe.

"I… I didn't kill her…" she managed to get out.

Her blood still wasn't moving. Her chest felt like someone was squeezing inside of her, slowly pushing their fingers into her. A struggling noise escaped her as her knees started to buckle. It was too much and she knew it. Unconsciously, with what little strength she had left, her hand gripped her fan, unclasping it while managing to look clearly at Naraku. Striking now was her only chance to stave off what was happening to her.

"A fascinating revelation, Kagura, but I am not swayed by such remarks. I think its very foolish of you to lie again, so quickly after our last discussion on loyalty."

Without much of a chance, she flicked her fan upwards, cutting across him with an arc of the wind. It slashed through his form, cutting him from pelvis to groin as blood splattered out of the back of his body. Red eyes widened briefly in surprise as they looked back at her, and she'd hoped the sensation in her chest would stop, but nothing happened. The wound on Naraku himself looked fatal, bisecting him in two. Bloody chunks however, changed from red to a deep, sickly purple. Webbing of new flesh reached out, grabbing the other pats of the body which had been cut free, before moulding them back together in place.

It was too much for her to even remain fully standing as her knees finally completely buckled, falling to the ground as he loomed over her, his kimono ruined and little else.

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Naraku:

Incredibly predictable. Kagura was a creature of her nature, just as he imagined her to be. Much like the wind she embodied, she was bristled in her chains, even ones wrapped around her very heart. It was fascinating to watch her squirm as she realized her very existence was at stake. Over the passage of hours, he'd been considering the most apt way to deal with his wayward creation, the creature made from parts of his body, and bound to his will.

Any answer she gave him was suspect for a multitude of reasons. He sensed the changes in her aura as soon as she'd reconnected with him. Even now he could sense it in the air that hovered between them, though she was still very much his creation, he could sense a multitude of demonic auras coming from her. Perhaps it was an experiment from Urasue, perhaps it was something else, he didn't know yet. What was true however, was it was in Kagura's nature to survive, it was something she craved enough to tolerate her treatment. The unfortunate nature of that truth however, meant that Kagura would lie when it served her as a survival mechanism, much more readily than tell the truth.

Creatures such as Kanna were much more reliable, though they didn't fill the same purpose. At least creatures such as Chiyaku, Kagura, and Shorin could suffer. That was something which he appreciated as much as subservience. Their failures were truly punishable, and their agony was something he relished in almost as much as he relished in the fate of his enemies.

Seeing Kagura kneeling now, and still trying to hold back any semblance of the truth though, only served to fulfill his wish to see her suffer, rather than acquire any useful information from her. Passively, he noted an audience was beginning to form, in that his other incarnations were watching from the sidelines. There was little love loss between any of them as far as he could tell, but their own fates were very obviously concerning to them. They wanted to see if he would extinguish Kagura.

"Do not assume me a fool," he remarked, slowly loosing his grip on her heart. "I know that you killed Urasue. Just as I know that you lost your connection to me. I also know that your aura has changed. I also know that you must be aware of this as well, Kagura. Choose your explanations wisely, and I may allow your suffering to be brief for this transgression."

His marred incarnation managed to climb to her feet again, shakily taking in the air she needed as he knew she was being replenished from her heart not simply being crushed under his fingers.

There was an anxiety he could sense from his creation as she desperately tried to clearly think of a way out of her situation. He relished in the moment, unable to conceal his own sense of accomplishment having cornered her like a rat. A pull came at the edge of the right side of his mouth to allow her to know he was enjoying the spectacle, if only subtly.

"She cut me off from you," Kagura finally admitted. "And she was going to dissect me to find out what made me work, she saw me as a puppet."

"So, she saw you as you are then, Kagura? And you chose to kill her for this?"

An insulted, yet pained expression mixed with her anxious features as he reminded her that she was exactly as Urasue described. Still, her explanation continued, as he expected, knowing was garnering more of the truth. This came in line with the vague details Kanna could provide.

"I killed her once I had the opportunity to protect myself, she refused to work with you," Kagura explained. "She didn't even know who you were, she didn't care. All she wanted was your secrets and then she intended to move on."

"And how was it you were able to reach out to me? How was it you were able to connect with my presence, and your heart once again?"

"It wasn't me," she quickly explained. "I woke up with her cutting me open. I think she must have done something to allow me to reach out to you. I felt different after waking up."

Still concealing secrets, Kagura?

Now this had become fascinating to him. Another lie, despite the threat to her existence. It meant that she wasn't able to reveal the truth, yet he still needed her. He was curious how she thought concealing something from him would benefit her, which meant her change in her aura, meant that she thought it might be a threat to him, or a means of escape.

There was a part of him that demanded he immediately kill her, and simply start over. It was the safest option. Sesshoumaru would have other things he could exploit even from his vision before, Inuyasha, the girl Sango, and the monk. The fact this one held a special significance with the others and was created by him didn't change a thing. Now was the time to end this pitiful creature's attempt to subvert his plans and acquire her 'freedom'.

But there was another voice, perhaps marginally louder that echoed through his mind, even as she held these obvious secrets to herself.

She will attempt to betray me and fail, and her failure to acquire her freedom will make her suffering all the more precious. A creature born into chains, trying to break free, only to die in chains even after every attempt and scheme. I need only make sure she has a minder…

Without changing his expression, Naraku regarded her comment for a moment longer, leaving Kagura to squirm as she awaited his final approval on what she'd said.

"Interesting," he commented, before stepping forward. "I will need to decipher what Urasue did to you then. Follow me, Kagura."

The barely concealed fear never left her features as she took an instinctive step back, trying to protect herself from whatever his plans were. They both knew however any resistance to his mercy was going to be futile. Still, she let him pass by her, before starting to trail behind him as he stepped into the castle. Corridors and rooms later he descended into the passageways below, going deeper and deeper inside.

"Where are we going?" Kagura asked, her tone edging on nervous.

He didn't bother answering her, before sliding open an all-too familiar door. Kagura herself paused as she looked at him, then the door.

"Why do we need her?" she asked, confused. "I don't-"

Several tendrils shot out from him, grabbing her feet as they materialized from the simple form of his body. She dropped to the ground with a violent yank as she screamed out in surprise, confusion, and what he presumed was terror.

"I don't understand! I told you everything!" she howled as he dragged her into the darkened chamber.

The other figure within looked back at him with her hollow, dead eyes. One of his favourite projects of recent days. A fine wound that had been allowed to fester into something even greater than he originally expected. He could feel the self-loathing and hatred almost dripping off of her as she glared back at him, mirroring that same hatred towards him. The most bitter of his most recent creations, and a template for many other things to come… and a near slave to his will.

Without so much as a thought to Kagura's condition, his tendrils hurled her into the side of the hard stone wall. He felt the body smack against it with a dull thwack before her form fell to the ground, looking almost half broken. Blood trickled from the demon's mouth as she lay there, her chest rising and falling, but like that of a struggling, injured animal. It was notable that she was, but that was fine.

"I have decided that this will be your living arrangement for the moment, Kagura," Naraku stated, walking to her side as chains descended from the wall as if on his command. "Killing Urasue has impacted my plans, and I warned you not to fail me again. You can reside here, where you belong, until I require you again."

He shackled one arm, then the other, allowing the imprisoned demon to understand what full, true confinement meant. A curse was already placed upon the chains within the room itself, providing them more than enough protection from the powers of the creatures within. Kagura could reside here until he had further use for her. Of course, letting her stew in her hatred and disappointment was another benefit of leaving her shackled down here.

With Urasue dead, I will need to see what I can discover in the Void. With the use of Kanna, of course.

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Sesshoumaru the Younger:

He-… He was just a half-demon…

Blood seeped into his clothing while he lay in the brush. He had no idea how he'd come to this particular area, only that he had appeared here after the tornado of energy had cut and scorched its way through him. It was the moment of his death which he'd witnessed, only to find himself here now. How far away he was, he couldn't be sure. How he even appeared here was a mystery to him. Something had saved him in the midst of the attack, and the only thing he could conclude that it had been Tenseiga.

When his eyes drifted to the sword, he almost felt himself grunt even from such a small exertion. Inuyasha's attack should have killed him, and recovering would take time. More than his physical body being injured, his pride was injured. He had defeated the one who'd displayed weakness but overtaken him. He'd defeated the monk, and only through foolish misstep, he'd allowed a creature as lowly as Inuyasha to defeat him. Worse, Inuyasha would have killed him were it not for outside interference.

My father's fang, the worthless one left to me, saved me from my failure and my arrogance. How pitiful. I have achieved more power than I could have imagined… yet I am defeated.

He finally had what he'd needed to prove himself the greatest warrior alive, he'd taken the sword, Bakusaiga, from his other-self. It rested in his hand still, even now, he almost feared letting it go. Though what had it earned him other than a miserable defeat at the hands of his worthless half-brother? Looking at the blade itself, he could hear his other-self remarking to him something he put no weight in, though it still played at the back of his mind regardless…

You don't know what it is to earn anything, Sesshoumaru.

The very words were an insult to both of them, but in truth he suspected that it mostly played against him than his counterpart. Somehow saying that the experiences that made him so frail had in fact made him stronger? Ridiculous. Yet his other self, despite having materially lost the sword… had played a role in his defeat. Now here he lay, barely able to move.

There was another thought that drifted forward next, which urged his broken body to move, but he kept himself in place. Jaken and the boy were still there, and it would be some time before he saw them again. If he saw them again, depending on injuries or the mercies of Inuyasha himself. There was a sliver of worry that somehow with Inuyasha now being the strongest of his opposition, that the half-demon might take out his own revenge on his followers. It was more than ironic that by possessing this sword, he felt a small level of concern for others. It was more ironic that despite having the power he so wanted to achieve… he was now defeated. The twists of fate were cruel.

The scents around him were polluted by the stench of his own blood and burnt flesh, leaving him vulnerable as he was. If anything came near, he needed to be prepared to strike at them. Whether it be man, beast, or another demon. It was times like this, times of vulnerability, that the true predators stalked their prey. Despite his exhaustion, and his state of severe injury, he needed to keep his senses honed on anything around him that might endanger him further, or exaggerate his wounds.

The next time we meet, Inuyasha, and Sesshoumaru, I will demonstrate my power as never before. I will achieve the conquest my father tried to deny me.

Though his thoughts were interrupted a moment later as he heard several bushes move to one side. A pair of humans were standing there, their expressions filled with horror and fright, but not of him? They were looking behind themselves even now as they rushed towards the clearing. Something else was happening.

The sound of hooves and footsteps in a large multitude rushed through the bushes behind the pair in their bleak, simple kimonos. Farmers, fishing folk? Local peasants of some form, and clearly not worth his interest. He could smell the stench of whatever hovel they crawled out of following them, and the smell of several horses and unwashed men. It was an irritation at best, even in his wounded state. Part of him almost immediately wanted to flick the sword and slaughter everyone who was disrupting his recovery.

Behind the couple he could see a hand being held beneath the grass-line as the woman tried to run. A smaller set of feet were being dragged along with them.

"Run, Saki!" the man shouted, about to turn and face the pursuers. The silhouettes of the riders could be seen emerging through the trees.

He exchanged a glance with the young man, his eyes frantic as he gave him a look of warning, as if he were involved with the incident.

"Run!" the man warned him, turning back as the woman came clear of the thick grass and trees with a little girl tagging behind him.

"Gods! Spirits! Please!"

"The woman and the man are this way!" a laugh came. "Remember to leave the woman for Kyo! He said he wanted first crack at all the women!"

"To hell with him, did you see that one? I'll have my turn before he does!" another man laughed.

Miserable animals, just as he thought.

There was a pulse from the sword at his side, Tenseiga. The blade which had so generously saved him. It was urging him to act, but he already knew it was without purpose. This was not his fight, and he had no interest in being in it. Ignoring the sensation as it signaled to him was the best scenario.

"Mom! Mom!" the little girl cried out behind the woman. "Dad!"

The words she screamed as they passed the man with his knife drawn offered him little emotional weight either. A dozen arrows came shooting past, two plugging into the front of the man who fell back before his body was crashed into by a horse, as he hit the ground, Sesshoumaru only heard a soft whisper from him.

"Saki… Tak… Takuma… Rin…" there were words left unsaid as Sesshoumaru saw the glint in his eyes simply wash away.

The woman running screamed as she too had been hit by an arrow in the back of the left shoulder, her body rolled forward, hitting the grass as her grip was ripped from the hand of the little girl. Tenseiga pulsed again as Sesshoumaru looked up at the bandits who were now grinning at him as well. One plunged his spear into the back of the already dead man as he grinned devilishly.

"You there! You look noble! You will be our prisoner. Resist, and feel the wrath of the Lord of the Forests, Niwa Kyo!"

A pitiful human. That was who threatened him now. As if murdering a farmer was any display of strength? His wounds still seeped into his body, even rising would take him great effort.

Peering to his right only briefly, he saw the little girl trying to clutch at her mother, both of them almost drenched in their tears. The girl appeared horrified as she looked up at him, her eyes begging for assistance. He only regarded her for a moment before his focused turned back to the fools threatening him.

"Run, Rin, run… please," he heard the mother whisper.

Bakusaiga pulsed in his hand. Without a thought his eyes turned their stare to the sword he now held. Something important was happening, so much so that even this sword, a fang built from his own body, a sword of poison and death urged him to intervene.

There was a familiarity to all this. It was asking him to intervene… as if it knew something about what was happening around him. Had the blades conspired together? Was there a grander purpose now working to manipulate him? Questions emerged that he would need to answer… later.

Picking himself up, pressing his left foot against the ground first before leveraging himself to rise, he managed to grunt as he finished picking himself up.

"Good, now drop your swords and come slowly," one of the dozens of bandits ordered.

Two were already heading towards the woman and her child as the sword pulsed again.

"Remember, Kyo said…"

"I'm bored, and we've been trying to get into the best parts of the village all day! Kyo promised us women, I'm taking my woman now."

"Alright Yuma, but let me have a crack at it after you at least?"

The two men laughed again as he heard the struggling noises from the humans, feeling the intensity of Bakusaiga growing.

Is the sword what made my other self so weak? Does it demand to protect others such as this? Why should I, Sesshoumaru, save anyone?

When he looked at the little girl again, the only one of the would-be victims facing him, he could sense the sword's urgency growing. It wasn't asking him to save just anyone, it was asking him to save the girl. How or why he didn't understand.

"Hey, I said drop the sword!" another goon ordered, the man in his scavenged armour and clothes had continued to approach him when he looked the human square in the eyes. Already the human presumed to reach out to even touch him, to restrain him? To be ignorant was to be human.

To be so finite, yet so foolish.

The man's body made motion to grab at him as another pointed his spear at him. Without a second thought Sesshoumaru grabbed him by the neck with his free hand, batting away the spear with the man's body. Holding him in the air as if he were nothing, he glared down the other humans. They all froze in place at the display. Within his claws he could feel the man's throat trying to expand for air as he held the valve to such an activity closed. It was his decision when he finished him, which could be sooner, or later, depending.

"Release him at once!" the local fool commanded.

To his right, one of the men, the more disgusting of the pair, drew his short sword and rushed towards him. He could hear the sound of his armour rustling as he did. With his sword in hand, without even looking, he made two quick cuts, sheering off the man's right arm before cutting his head in two. The two-thirds of the man's head and helmet slid from his body, and though he didn't look at the display, he knew it's gruesome conclusion. Blood began to pool near his feet while he continued to stare at the man atop his horse, who was now increasingly nervous.

"You will leave this place and never return. Or you will stay here and never leave," Sesshoumaru said bluntly, before snapping the man's neck in his hand as if it were a twig, and dropping it in front of himself.

The spearman who'd been next to him, as well as the other assailant to his right, almost leaped back in fear at the sight.

"Do you believe that we will simply allow this transgression against the mighty Kyo?" was asked. "You will pay for this act of violence and defiance."

A pause filled the air, silence coming over all of them except for the rattle of armour and swords. Even as that quieted, he could hear their collective breathing. Their nervousness betrayed them. They were attempting to use their numbers to win, but they feared for their own lives. They were fearful, as they were all weak.

They were as weak as any coward he'd seen before.

When he spoke, he broke their silence.

"Will I?"

There were stalled breaths amongst the bandits as whatever noise they had made, went still. His own patience was running thin, but exerting the effort to kill them ran the risk of becoming dangerous to himself. His own body had yet to recover. He was still in a weakened state and this interruption had carried on too long. Without their submission and withdrawal, he would have to act, as the standoff ate away too much of his time.

"Enough of this! One man cannot stop the warriors on our band! Charge!"

Spears locked forward as several men with swords charged him first. They were moving in slow motion, with their weak arms and legs driving them into battle. Even as he was, it only took him seconds to dispatch them. The blade carved up through one man, splitting him open down the middle before his claws tore out another's throat. Two were decapitated at once a moment later with another swing of his sword, killing them at a distance without even coming into his physical range. Only once two were killed without even being in his presence did the attack slow as the moral of his foolish attackers lay open in front of him, and was found wanting, just as he knew it would.

Much to his own mistakes, he felt two arrows puncture his shoulder and one hit him in the chest. When he didn't flinch, he saw the terror appear across his attacker's faces. They now understood at least an idea of what he was.

"How could a man survive… unless…"

Green energy dripped from his claws before he raked them forward, cutting across a dozen men. Their screams filled the air as his acid cut into them and burned what was left of their lives away. Bodies fell to pieces as parts of them simply died. With the power gathering in Bakusaiga itself, he lashed out after his prior attack, as bodies were simply vaporized, their screams vanishing in a second as the trees themselves simply melted away.

Another cadre of warriors were just outside of where the brush had been, they looked over in horror as to what had just happened. One appeared to be the bandit leader himself, given the superior quality of his armour. Sesshoumaru just turned to face the group at a distance, and immediately noticed the horde turn to flee.

Pursuit was beyond his cares, and perhaps beyond his ability at the moment.

Beneath him, he could see the corpse of the father who'd been fleeing with the family behind him. When Tenseiga pulsed again he felt his heart beat once inside his chest, before Bakusaiga pulsed once again. With his free hand, he reached for Tenseiga, before waiting for the minions of the afterlife to appear. As the creatures emerged in front of him, he almost flinched, as if having second thoughts as to what he was doing.

Why should he perform such an act? Just because a blade told him so? Was this the same as his encounter with the boy Kohaku? That had proven… successful.

He cut across the creatures as the man's eyes opened.

"… I'm sorry…" the man finished before coming alive completely. His eyes shot open as he started looking around himself in a panic.

Sheathing his swords within another heartbeat, Sesshoumaru turned to go back to where he'd been sitting before, only to see the little girl staring at him, as if he'd delivered them from something beyond comprehension, her jaw was dropped, and her mother looked frightened. His own feet started to drag as he felt himself stop in his tracks.

Damn… I… can't be this weak.

The world was gradually starting to spin, before he felt his consciousness beginning to fade.

Before he could even recognize it, everything went to black.

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Inuyasha:

It'd been almost a day. The fact that they'd just let the kid go, along with the frog-man and the cat, was completely bonkers to him. Sesshoumaru and Miroku were just fine with it. Firstly, why? They'd just tried to kill them. This was as bad as letting the wind-sorceress go, though at least he could understand that, because it was obvious to him that Sesshoumaru had some kind of history with the woman. What history did he have with a kid and a cat-monster? Apparently, he knew the little toad, but even that was ridiculous. But still, it was crazy.

Am I the only one here trying to survive to see the end of the week?

Why was it he was the one talking about keeping prisoners, or putting people out of their mercy. Because right now he knew what was going to happen. Those little bastards were going to go find the other Sesshoumaru and link back up with him. Why would they want that? Well, it didn't matter anymore, what was done, was done.

The only thing to deal with now was the fact that Sesshoumaru didn't have the stupid sword anymore. Everyone was banged up after the big fight too.

Miroku was still clutching that arm close as well, and it looked like it was slowly getting better. No open wounds caused by the Bakusaiga meant that hole in his hand was just digesting it, apparently. It was still discoloured and off, and Miroku didn't seem like he wanted to even think about using the Wind Tunnel, but that was where things apparently stood. Beyond that a few cuts, a few scrapes, a few bandages and maybe a head wound, but he thought the monk was going to be fine. Watching him walk with a limp was kinda funny for the first few minutes, but it got old after about an hour.

Then there was himself. Oh boy, cuts, claw marks, a bite wound, a bunch of burns from Sesshoumaru's other self being a total asshole, but he was more or less in the clear. They'd not even needed to tear up any fabric to patch him up, clotting was working just fine. The only thing he'd admit to was being stiff as hell and sore to boot.

For the first time ever though, he was the one walking at the head of the pack. It felt strange, like that he somehow got a promotion. Admittedly he walked with a bit more of a swagger in his step, but there was a very odd thing about being the one at the front. It meant you were always looking back. Even though Sesshoumaru never seemed to do it, he felt like he was minding what Miroku and his brother were doing even more from the front. He wanted to make sure they were keeping up.

Of course, Sesshoumaru hadn't gotten out of that fight clean. Miroku had spent hours patching him up, and he could still hear Sesshoumaru complaining about it.

"I am fine, I do not require any assistance."

Well, now he was walking slower than Miroku and his limp. He was missing his sword, and no matter how hard he tried to conceal it, Inuyasha knew something was wrong. Whatever it was, it was very wrong. At first glance you'd only notice the slow walk, but his scent was off, and they both knew Sesshoumaru was keeping his distance to avoid letting him know. It was futile, he knew anyway. He was healing very slowly. Maybe he wasn't even healing at all. By now even he'd have been well on his way to recovery, let alone a full-demon, like Sesshoumaru.

He's not wanting to show what's happening. That either means he thinks this is something that will pass, or he knows this is something worse than that, and there wouldn't be anything we could do anyway.

A sense of realization began to rise within him with the internal monologue. He paused atop a rock as he moved ahead through the forest, turning to Miroku with his limp, who looked back at Inuyasha with the same concerned look he was having himself. They both knew something was deeply wrong. And apparently someone else did as well…

"Lord Inuyasha, Lord Sesshoumaru's wounds appear to be… severe, perhaps you should consider slowing down for him," Myoga said. "Not that Lord Sesshoumaru would be open to such an idea, but perhaps you should pressure him."

"Yea, that'll go over well."

"Perhaps… I can be of some service. There may be healers I could find, or, or I could come back with some kind of plan…"

"Myoga, no one's going to complain if you wanna leave," Inuyasha reminded him. "Do whatever you've gotta do."

When the small demon hopped off his shoulder, Inuyasha barely paid it any attention, though it was obvious Myoga was recognizing what they all were. He doubted very much he was going to come back with anything of note however.

Hopping down a second later, his feet touching the forest floor, he approached Miroku, looking past him to see Sesshoumaru beginning to struggle forward, almost wincing seeing it. A few months ago, there was no way he couldn't have imagined being bothered by that sight. Right now, though, it felt painful for him to see. The fact his brother was trying to conceal how badly he was injured even now as telling of how stubborn he was.

"Inuyasha," Miroku said stiffly, though quietly, his own tone filled with pain as he leaned one arm against a tree, and propped himself up with his staff. "We have to stop moving. Sesshoumaru's condition hasn't improved. I also want to see if I can get a better look at him. Perhaps there is something I missed. There are also some herbs nearby I can try when we begin changing our bandages."

Getting a sharper look of his brother didn't ease his own concerns as Sesshoumaru closed with them. He looked awful, and there was part of him beginning to wonder if he was barely holding himself together.

"Alright, we'll stop here, but it's because you are having trouble, got it? There is no way he'd stop if he thought we're doing it for him," Inuyasha said, before turning his attention back to Sesshoumaru, his own thoughts being pushed down. "… Do you think the salve is going to help?"

The monk looked back at the struggling demon, before looking back at Inuyasha. The eyes said it all. They were the same eyes the healer gave him when he'd asked if his mother was going to be alright when she'd gotten sick. It didn't seem possible that things could go like this. What was causing this? It was just a couple wounds, why wouldn't he heal properly? He'd had holes punched in himself before and lived to tell the tale. Did Sesshoumaru know? He wouldn't get an answer out of him anyway. Miroku had been traveling more closely to Sesshoumaru, so maybe he was seeing something that Inuyasha couldn't notice.

"It's better than trying nothing," Miroku said quietly. "I also don't know if they will help a demonic body heal. But I can say if things don't change soon, he will be unable to travel within a day, and if things do not improve from there… I… don't believe lord Sesshoumaru will survive."

Hearing it aloud allowed him to digest it himself.

Well, I'm the head of the pack right now anyway.

"Hey! Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha shouted as his brother approached them. "We're making camp for a bit. Sit down."

An incredulous glare came back at him. It was a combination of disbelief and contempt all wrapped into one. He was guessing he'd just insulted him, but right now that didn't matter. To be fair, once they got his wounds sorted out again, Miroku was going to need to rest again anyway. They were all lucky to have gotten out of that fight alive.

Though he noticed the sheen of sweat that was covering Sesshoumaru's skin, which also looked increasingly unhealthy. His nose picked it up first. His own ears twitched as he noted the struggle of his lungs as well. Infection? What kind of would could be left on his brother to leave him with this kind of infection? From himself? Was it a poison attack that did it? Right now, he didn't understand fully, but he knew that things were not getting better or even staying the same like he originally hoped, they were getting worse. Actively worse, and he could see it clearly.

"I am fine," Sesshoumaru's voice pierced through his thoughts as he stared at him, not realizing his own features had shifted so thoroughly to concerned.

Placating Sesshoumaru wasn't only not going to work, it was probably the worst idea he could think of.

"You're not fine," Inuyasha challenged back, making sure to present as much authority as he could. "Why even bother pretending? I can smell the infection, or whatever that rot is, and I can see you're sweating."

There was the death-glare he'd been waiting for, being upgraded from just contempt to something beyond it. Well that was just perfect. Maybe putting up the wall was the worst idea on his part, he was guessing Sesshoumaru was weak enough to just back down to him being in charge, but that seemed to be working out poorly at best. The best concession he'd been given was he got to go first? Perfect. There wasn't even a verbal answer from Sesshoumaru he was so furious.

He noted that Sesshoumaru's eyes drifted from him to an empty space nearby, seemingly in shock.

"Hey, what is it? Do you sense something?"

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Sesshoumaru the Elder:

Everything was as he'd have predicted. Breathing had become more difficult, there was swelling and discomfort. Inside his body he could feel important pathways of energy and strength diminishing as his own frame slowly started its act of betrayal. Had he been a lesser demon, or perhaps had his body not been in-tune with venom in its truest form, Bakusaiga's poisonous energy would have already annihilated his body. It was remarkable to him that this would be his fate at all, to suffer under the wrath of the sword made from his very own power. But even now, he knew the wound upon his chest grew worse, not better. The heat he could feel radiating through his body, the strain of every blood vessel.

He was dying. He knew it himself, and the others knew it through how obvious his condition had become. A greater part of him had assumed that Bakusaiga's energy wouldn't have had this impact on him, or at least he would have slowly healed. Instead, it was as deadly as his nature, just as it was meant to be.

Being confronted by his brother was hardly his imagined idea of a dignified end. He'd have rather died fighting, or moving, or doing anything, then succumbing to fever and infection while having others trying to attend to him. That was a death as miserable as his father's. No, it was more miserable, in fact.

"I'm fine," he said bluntly to Inuyasha while the monk refused to spare him more than a few second glance, trying to stay out of what was now very much a stalemate.

"You're not fine," Inuyasha challenged, his tone and body-language trying to impose an authority which Sesshoumaru did not accept. "Why even bother pretending? I can smell the infection, or whatever that rot is, and I can see you're sweating."

The declaration of the truth was a weapon which Inuyasha did not wield with any degree of skill or finesse. Even if he had, Sesshoumaru would have seen it for what it was. It wasn't just about his brother now trying to assert his will and make manifest himself in some role as a leader. He was trying to somehow salvage a situation that they both knew was very much over. To comply would be to toss away what dignity he had left to himself.

In truth, it would have been better for Inuyasha to cut him down, at least for his own pride's sake. They were beyond that now however. Even as he glared at Inuyasha for daring to confront him as he had, he strangely had the sense that his brother would find the strength to continue down the road he needed to. There would be only one Sesshoumaru in this time. He hadn't had the courage to kill his other body, if only because this wasn't his home. Perhaps it was why he couldn't bring himself to slay any of them. Kohaku, Kagura, Jaken, Inuyasha, the other Sesshoumaru, they were all chapters to a book he'd closed in his own world, bar himself.

The fever he had sensed hadn't declined either. What was worse, even keeping his eyes as focused as he had felt like an intense strain, and the world itself around him was becoming increasingly malleable.

However, in the corner of his eye he saw a figure emerging from the bushes. The steps it made were familiar to him as he felt something at the edges of his consciousness beginning to erode away.

Where am I?

The light-headed feeling that he was now experiencing was now related to minimal blood making it through his body, demonic or not. A few colours began to distort for him briefly as well as he tried to keep his mind focused in any way he could. But there was a girl now walking towards them, in the strange foreign clothing he'd seen a century prior. It was impossible not to notice it.

Kagome?

"Hey, what is it? Do you sense something?"

His eyes followed her for several seconds as she stood behind Inuyasha, as if expecting to surprise him. He didn't sense anything. No divine powers, no noise, no scent, but his eyes betrayed him and his mind believed it for every motion she made in the sun. He knew it was impossible, but he almost expected to see Inuyasha turn and greet the woman, even if rudely. But inevitably there was nothing.

"Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha's voice asked. "What is it?"

"Lord Sesshoumaru!"

Rin.

It wasn't the voice of the mature woman, the one who'd asked him never to forget her, that came to his senses. It was the sound of the little girl he'd saved from death, and the one who promised to be his loyal follower. The one who he traveled with while pursuing Naraku. The little girl who somehow knew what he was feeling, without he himself even knowing it often.

Turning to look at her, he felt a wave of relief come over him for the first time since he'd come here. She was running at full speed, her orange and white kimono brightly displayed in the sunlight, he almost expected to see Jaken chasing after her. He knew she was safe in that moment before she reached out, grabbing his hand. He felt it, as his eyes widened with surprise. He heard her footsteps as well.

"Lord Sesshoumaru! You made it! We've all been waiting for you!"

When she'd pulled him forward, he felt himself almost helplessly walking after her as she tried to keep running towards the trees where Kagome had emerged.

"It's going to be great! We'll be able to go on another journey! Master Jaken is waiting as well!"

Jaken?... I saw Jaken earlier… with Kohaku.

It wasn't a coherent thought. The sweat on his brow felt thicker for some reason as he almost felt himself struggling to think.

"So many people want to see you again!"

He felt himself pause as they moved past Inuyasha, who'd seemingly frozen in place. When he turned to look back at him, he could see Kagome hugging her husband from behind. They were standing there together, almost like the last time he'd seen them together, alive. The way she held onto him was almost as if he was apart of her, and despite their human blood, by the time of their marriage he'd approved of their lives together. The only noteworthy element was he despised when Kagome called him big brother.

The world behind him had become something else entirely. He could see rolling hills and fields, and a village in the distance. Was that where he'd left Rin? He thought he had left her with Kagome and the villagers. Briefly, he wondered if the Monk was going to appear again, when he realized the monk was here already. He wasn't dead in this world, he was alive.

This world? I… can't… think…

His free hand came to his face, feeling wet as it pulled away a second later as he just tried to even think about where he was. The grip on his hand got tighter as Rin started pulling harder.

"Lord Sesshoumaru! Come on! Look, it's just past the trees!"

It's so warm.

It'd become increasingly hot out, despite the fact it'd been moving progressively into fall. The leaves were even beginning to shift in colour, preparing for their transition to winter. Why was it so warm? He, Sesshoumaru, never even noticed such things outside of the most extreme conditions. He felt like something jostled him a second later, like some outside force had grabbed him.

Rin's hand was gone, and his eyes began looking around immediately for her, looking in every direction.

"Rin?" he asked aloud.

He couldn't move. Trying to pull himself forward, he felt something restraining him seemingly as he almost snarled, his eyes frantically looking as he saw the little girl standing in front of the trees. Kagome, Inuyasha's wife, walked over to her, reaching out and taking her hand.

"It's okay, Rin, he can't make it this time, maybe next time."

The disappointment on the girl's face was real, and he could see her staring back at him, before she smiled brightly as she always did.

"Thank you for saving me, Lord Sesshoumaru," she said, her tone the sincerest he'd heard since he'd last seen her. "Just like you've not forgotten us, we've not forgotten you."

"Wait," Sesshoumaru managed. "… You… don't need to leave."

… They were no longer listening…

The pair moved into the forest as he pushed again to follow. The air was cool on his skin… his bare skin, as he felt himself getting warming by the second. The wound on his chest ached as it continued to intensify. When he closed his eyes for a brief second, he hissed before something felt like a blade of ice carving through the fire in his chest. The pain was excruciating,and immediate. A feral noise escaped him as he looked around frantically, before seeing himself.

Not his double, but his body. It was laying where he'd been a few minutes earlier, when… Rin… grabbed his hand.

A miserable death.

The skies were clear above him as he felt his shoulders behind held down on both sides.

"Hold him, I'm almost done," the monk's voice dully reached him.

"I'm trying," Inuyasha's voice followed next. "He's not exactly cooperating. Or did you not notice him trying to get back up and start walking around twice."

He was on his back. He could feel that his robes were open, at least around his chest. There was a tightness around his chest, not from his heart, but from around it. Something was being tied off there. Bandaging? New bandaging? When he looked to his left, the world blurred around him as a mix of colours while a sensation in his skull throbbed. There was another wave of heat around him as he tried to even breathe, realizing how painful it was.

"I'll need to get more fresh water soon; we need to keep him cool," the monk's voice thudded against the insulation he felt he had around himself.

The red and silver blur he looked at slowly took shape as his eyes began to focus on him. Even speaking felt impossible, despite himself urging words forward. The ones that came to mind didn't even feel like they made sense. Finally, his throat contracted enough to say something, anything.

"Rin… … I… where?"

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Miroku:

The collapse had been unexpected. It'd been especially unexpected when he clearly started looking at empty spaces of forest and ignoring them entirely. Already Miroku had a horrible sensation when the brothers had started talking, but he'd not realized just how far gone Sesshoumaru had been. The strange smile he wore as he looked down as if someone was running past him, before his entire body fall forward, collapsing into the ground was not good. He was too weak to be of almost any use, but Miroku started to hobble towards the fallen demon when he was almost knocked over by the red-clad half-demon.

"Careful when moving him, I can't be sure if its blood loss or-" Miroku's words were stopped in their track when Inuyasha almost flipped his sibling over, at least putting him on his back.

Or completely ignore me. I'm just the one with some idea of how to heal people.

Still, he understood the urgency. He felt the urgency even. They'd already fought against multiple foes together, and the elder of the two brothers had shown him enough respect for him to understand that he was trusted by him. Even when he'd helped patch him up only a day ago, Miroku had been surprised he'd let him. It'd not looked great then, but things looked a lot worse now.

Inuyasha had been pushing ahead, just expecting them to keep up. At first Miroku had thought the slow-pace of Sesshoumaru had been for his sake, trying to keep slowed in order to allow him some opportunity not to accidentally fall behind. But unlike Inuyasha, he got to see more of Sesshoumaru, even his extra senses could feel a flagging demonic aura after only a few hours. Before they'd even briefly rested this morning, he knew that Sesshoumaru's wounds were not healing as they should have been. It spoke to his strength in its entirety that he was even able to fight on after his battle with the other Sesshoumaru. Now however, now Miroku was preparing himself for the worst. It was sadly ironic that the one Naraku feared the most, the son of the great demon-lord of the west, was killed without even his involvement. Even now he was trying to ease Inuyasha into the idea that perhaps it was time to begin closing affairs with his sibling. If there were things left to say or do, now was the time to do them.

"Are you just going to fucking stand there, or are you going to fucking help me?" Inuyasha barked back at him as the fevered Sesshoumaru's head wondered from left to right. He wasn't even sure that the demon was in the same world as themselves at that moment.

"Get the robe open, I need to check the wound," Miroku ordered, noting the relief on Inuyasha's face.

Even if it didn't work, it didn't hurt to try. It might have even helped ease Inuyasha's mind during all of this, as at least they'd be doing something other than watch his brother die without any help over the next few hours.

When the robe was peeled back, it looked worse than expected. The bandages were stained a deep gore, mixed with the signs of infection. The flow of energy throughout the body was being disrupted by the taint of the wound, much as it would have inside a human. Given that Sesshoumaru himself was a demon with poisonous properties, it was almost mind-boggling that this was the case.

As the bandages came loose, he immediately noted the smell and almost gagged, having to raise his robe to cover his nose. The smell of necrotic decay was already there. Inuyasha froze in place having shred away the edges of the sweat-soaked cloth and turned his own head away, knowing exactly what this entailed.

Looking up at the half-demon, Miroku met the golden eyes of the sibling.

"Get fresh water," Miroku ordered. "I can hear a stream nearby, take these," he ordered, handing over several jugs. "I believe I have enough medicines left to try and put something together, but we need water."

The small containers were almost ripped from his hands as Inuyasha jetted away. In front of him he could see Sesshoumaru's vacant eyes looking around himself.

"Rin?" the name left his throat, with some effort, but he could hear the gentle nature of how it was spoken.

Rin? Someone he must have known from his own time then? I doubt he knows them now.

They needed to control the fever, and he had no idea if anything was going to work on Sesshoumaru at all, given that he wasn't human. Still, Inuyasha wanted him to try, and he himself wanted to try. Doing something felt like it was better than just waiting for the inevitable. He'd need water to finish this particular mix, but it was ready to go once the half-demon returned.

In the meantime, he groaned while trying to get up, feeling his back protest given how badly he'd been thrown around only a day prior. A few pieces of wood and branches were all he needed to start getting a basic fire going. Piling the refuse into a small area he'd started to clear of forest debris. He knew he was going to need to make several tonics to try and keep things under control, and then there was the fact he was going to need warm water to treat the wound area. Cleaning it again seemed inevitable.

Admittedly, despite their demonic nature, he knew these people were his friends. Any preconceived notions he had of their better or worse natures, especially after their first encounter, was put at ease in his mind. Sesshoumaru's refusal to kill the frog-demon, as well as his unwillingness to let Kohaku, the boy following his other self, be killed, was admirable. There was a good heart there, and despite the atrocities he knew Inuyasha had committed, he knew that had much more to do with the blade he'd been carrying, than himself. Even if so far he'd done his best to be as impartial and detached from the outcome of what was happening, there was a sense of finality to it all that he felt was tragic. Much as he'd watched his father swallowed by the wind tunnel, or seen people killed by demons of all assortments, or been witnessed to curses… or simply been there for families, despite his less than honest plying of his trade, when they put their family to rest in the fields outside of their homes, he knew that putting Sesshoumaru to the Earth by the next day would not be an easy task. It'd not be easy for himself, or Inuyasha.

He spared a pitiable glance as the degenerated dog-demon and simply continued his preparations, waiting for the water they would need to at least try and do something.

When Inuyasha emerged from the trees, he heard Sesshoumaru murmuring something, his eyes attentive for a second to the motion.

For a brief second, he thought he'd heard him say something very sad, though he wasn't entirely sure.

Wait, you don't need to leave.

Inuyasha just looked back over to him, and Miroku didn't give much of a look back. There was just work to do.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Inuyasha:

Hours.

They'd struggled for hours. First him trying to keep Sesshoumaru from moving, especially when he clearly didn't know where he was. As soon as they started cleaning his wound again and trying all the salves, tonics, and teas Miroku could mean, he'd become more active in the ways they'd not wanted. In a way Inuyasha was thankful his brother was too weak to really do much on his own.

The cool air of the fall evening was, he was hoping, enough to help stave off some of the worst. His brother was still sweating though, and now looked much further towards… the end of his struggles. What was worse, was that he'd seen this before. When his mother had gotten sick, it'd taken longer to get to this point, but he remembered being there when she'd died. She was thinner, having been wasted away for some months before it happened, but she was just as silent and placid.

The small fire near him had been stoked earlier before Miroku finally passed out. The monk himself had tried being up with him for just as long but it'd just not been possible. He was hurt and only human. It was left to him to preside over this. His eyes turned to the flames of the fire, idly wondering what tomorrow would bring. His hopes for recovery dashed, now they turned towards a hope, mixed with fear, that his brother's suffering would end sooner than later.

When he turned his attention back to his sibling, Inuyasha could see the new bandages were already soaked through. So, that's how this was going to end for Sesshoumaru? It not only didn't seem fair, but it was just another thing to be ripped out of his arms seemingly. Kikyo, his mom, really anyone he was close to. If someone had asked him if he'd thought after 150 years that Sesshoumaru would have turned out to be anything but a cold killer, before Kikyo shot him, he'd have said they were mental. He'd been no brother to him, not at all.

But he could still remember when he thought Sesshoumaru was going to kill him, after Lyssa's hold over him had been broken. Kneeling there just hoping for a quick death for the things he knew he'd done. The last thing in the world he expected was to see his brother's hand reached out to him, offering him a lifeline, a way out. Now, when push came to shove, he couldn't even do the same thing.

He couldn't even offer him solace to whatever fevered delusions he'd been having. Names were being said, along with half-pronounced words whenever he did speak. The only name he'd heard clearly to remember it was Rin. Though once or twice he'd heard Kagura, or Kagome? He didn't know, he seemed to be having some kind of… well, he knew he was having a series of delusions.

Whoever that Rin was, must be important to him.

The silence around him, from the trees and from the other figures in the makeshift camp gave him the chance to turn his attention upwards, Inuyasha's eyes looked to the clear skies above, as if looking for some salvation from the present. Stars covered the surface of the open space as far as his eyes could see. Dots of light rained down on them from all directions.

I see the past. I see the reminders of the moments which have faded from all memory but my own.

The words hadn't left him. They were all there in the stars. Kikyo, his mom, and soon Sesshoumaru. He remembered when he first met Kikyo, and the first time he got her to smile. Just thinking about it now despite how grim everything seemed even got him to smile. Even when people were gone, you could still remember them. The moments were forever.

"Inuyasha."

It was almost like he could hear her saying his name. Only her voice was deeper than before-

Blinking, he sharply turned his head to the still Sesshoumaru, his head was barely turned towards him, but he was looking directly at him. There wasn't an expression on his face beyond a look of weakness. It wasn't something he ever imagined was possible. Part of him instinctively wanted to play the tough-guy still and act like he didn't care all that much that things were happening. It was instinct, it was a defense mechanism, but he knew better right now. He knew better if only because he was now certain these might be some of the last words they exchange.

"Hey," he responded back. "How're you feeling? You starting to get better? I can grab you some water-"

There was a small shake to his brother's head. It was enough for him to stop saying anything himself and look away briefly. At least he was finally coming to a bit, though there was already an understanding that this was it.

"This… death… isn't… fitting," he managed before swallowing.

Yea, you don't say?

When he turned his attention back towards him, there was a look on his brother's face, something that was more determined. He already knew what he was going to ask him.

"Don't ask me that," Inuyasha snapped stubbornly, offended even at the proposition of it. "I'm not going to kill you. You'll be recovering by morning."

It was a lie. He knew it was a lie certainly when he said it. Honestly, he was hoping that the fever and delusions would be enough to help his brother along, in the context that he was really hoping that he believed him. The last thing he wanted to do was… kill him. That's what he wanted to talk about? That's what he gathered all his energy for anyway?! Why the Hell would he put that on him right now?

Because he trusts me.

There was a hard blink. For whatever reason he felt his vision beginning to blur. The finality of it all seemed to be approaching and now it was being shouldered on him, wasn't it? There wasn't going to be some thing where he followed around his older brother as they went to hunt down Naraku. It was just going to be him and the monk going it alone. All of the judgement calls he thought he'd have made that were different were going to be his to take. Being responsible for himself was something he'd always been until recently. He chaffed under Sesshoumaru's authority, but right now despite that he didn't want to even imagine that being gone.

"It's a beautiful night, hey?" Inuyasha asked, looking back up at the stars. "…"

Time wasn't on his side. He knew Sesshoumaru hadn't moved, but he knew he was still looking at him.

"Answer me something, Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha started. "The night I woke you up on the new moon, what caused that? You never told me."

It was the one question he thought he could ask. Asking about events or things that could happen felt like they were empty, or selfish, especially at a time like this.

There was silence. It lasted for what seemed to be an eternity, even if it was only for a few minutes. Maybe if he just didn't answer, he wouldn't need to go through with what he'd implied. The question could just be left hanging in the air and-

"Regret," the voice broke through the stillness of the night. "I saw my… regrets… and my… past. A dream… all of it… nothing more."

When he turned to face him one more time, sitting nearby, he saw the half-truth in Sesshoumaru's eyes, but it was more than he ever expected. Was he really going to go through with this? Part of his mind was already racing for something, really anything, that might be an alternative.

Rising to his feet, Inuyasha placed his hand on the hilt of the Tessaiga. It felt wrong even thinking of doing this. Killing his own brother? But doing it to end his suffering, and maybe giving him some dignity in a dead? Seeing how he was now, Inuyasha didn't want to see this frail, dying body in place of the Sesshoumaru he'd known.

"Thanks, Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha managed quietly. "… I didn't have a brother until we met. A real brother."

Fuck. Here we go. There isn't anything left to do.

Resigned to their mutual fates, he saw Sesshoumaru manage to nod towards him, acknowledging he knew what was coming next. Miroku would understand, come morning. Preparing to draw the sword their father gave them,

The ground shook behind him a second later and even Sesshoumaru's head turned, if subtly, to look past him.

What the Hell?

When he turned to face whatever it was, there was only a shadow, a swirling mass of something that was there but almost had no presence. A wave of demonic energy started to spark from within it before his nose detected a stench from it. It smelled like death and demonic magic. Turning his eyes to Miroku, he saw the monk starting to wake from his slumber, before being shocked by what was in front of them as well.

"Uh!"

The mass grew for a brief moment as Inuyasha saw horrific horns protrude from the shadows, and deep, glowing red eyes appear in the midst of it. A deep, bestial noise emerged from this thing in its guise of shadows. Ripping Tessaiga from its sheath, the blade transformed in front of him with a golden light as he saw the wind gradually forming for his eyes to see. There was nowhere to cut the wind, not yet.

A massive wave of necrotic energies burst from the shadow cloud, blasting past him at high speeds, powerful enough to quash the fire which they'd setup for their camp. Only when the darkness was complete, and only the light of the half-moon in the sky was left illuminating the forest, did he see the red eyes make themselves manifest. The gigantic form seemed to shrink with every step before it emerged in a form it'd decided on.

It was female, that much he determined as the shadow-oily form finalized taking its shape. Pale skin, so pale he could see it as if it were in the day covered its arms and neck. It was wearing a black tunic with light grey patterns running through its left side, and a pair of black pants. A belt hung at its hips made of seemingly a white leather. Its face seemed to almost be a void, before he noted the silver of its mask finally emerge in the glint of the moonlight. The mask of a woman's face, without colours of patterns on it. The only thing he knew of what her face looked like were the red eyes glowing behind it. There were no pupils, but even then, the eyes eventually fell into complete darkness. A long black braid descended from her hair, with hair that looked like the very midnight they were standing in.

When it took a bow in front of him, Inyuasha started to growl. With the way this thing presented itself, and the way it smelled, there was no fucking chances being taken. It wasn't even looking at him, it was looking through him, he then realized. It'd only spared him a moment's notice… he could almost sense the red eyes he could no longer see were looking at Sesshoumaru.

"You have been very hard to track, you must forgive me. I know you've been suffering with that wound for some time. I've tasted it in the air."

"Who the fuck are you?" Inuyasha demanded, holding the blade firmly in his hands.

The red glow of the eyes turned to him again just as it combed several black bangs from its mask, returning to its full height. It was almost the same height as himself, he noted as it returned to form.

"You may call me Kaishi," she responded simply. "There is no need for that sword. I am not your enemy… I've come to help."

"Kaishi?" Miroku's voice sounded from the side. "A death demon. Of what nature? I detect only the worst from you. I can feel the misery you bring with you. You aren't here you help."

The red shifted away from him a second later and he heard something close to a hiss come from the creature. It was impossible to tell where she was looking, unless she was looking directly at you. But it did give him one advantage at least, she might not be paying as much attention as she should have.

"What kind of help are you offering?" Inuyasha asked, knowing already at best this was faux help.

"To take away the pain of decision. Sesshoumaru… the son of the great General, one of the most powerful beings alive… he wishes to die. You would not wish to carry that burden, Inuyasha. He could face a slow, painful death. Or one without guilt on your part. I wish only to provide for him the death he desires."

She's been spying on us this whole time, picking up our names. This is all a front.

"You wish to consume his soul," Miroku countered immediately. "His desire for death is what drew you to us."

Fuck. This is bad.

The creature didn't seem bothered by the accusation in the slightest, which was more than telling.

"No, his wounds are what drew me here. The stench of the death of a being so grand drew me here. I was called here, as a call home… and the last note of that call was given to me only moments ago. Now, allow me to help… as Sesshoumaru would want."

A second of conflict emerged for Inuyasha, but only a second. Instead, he braced himself for battle. The monk was in no position to help, and neither was Sesshoumaru. He didn't care if Sesshoumaru wanted to kick off, he was going to have to wait. There was no chance in Hell he was going to let whatever this thing was do anything.

"Inuyasha, we can't let-"

"You want him? Come get him. But you're going to have to come through me. If you think you can, then he might not be the only one with a death wish tonight."

Red eyes flashed at him one more time as he listened to his brother breathing in the background. It wasn't over yet. He wasn't dead yet, and it'd not be up to this bitch to try and steal anyone's soul.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Author's Notes:

Whew!

It was really hard to try to find a way to write a vulnerable, dying Sesshoumaru. I'd planned this from before the fight for the Tessaiga, specifically making sure he took a wound from the Bakusaiga during the fight that wasn't just some small scratch.

Even though the chapter's somewhat tragic, it's also given me a chance to demonstrate how much Inyuasha's changed over the last 12 chapters, and also about how he's come to care about his sibling. It's more overt than usual given the severity of what's going on, but as he said in the chapter, months earlier he thought Sesshoumaru was an asshole. But as with time, experiences, and getting to know him, ironically, he's seemingly harsher than Sesshoumaru at this point… not of course realizing Sesshoumaru knows most of the people he's sparred, Inuyasha really does care about his brother. For him the entire thing is hard to deal with, he's watching someone he cares about die, and there isn't anything he can do.

Again. Just like with his mom and Kikyo. :\

Chapter 's 21-23 are very important, and then we break into chapter's 24-25 (and maybe 26) which are going to be a BIG focus on Kagura.

But! Thank you everyone for reading. I always appreciate reviews! *holds out hat and has pleading eyes* please gib review. lol