Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters in this fan fiction are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. The original characters and plot are the property of Chiaztolite, who is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Summary of Previous Chapter: Sakki, having ran out of time to exact the punishment that the deities had imposed on her, finally faced Sesshōmaru in a battle. When he seized his victory, he surprised everyone, including the goddess Kinkō, Sonemi, and even Sakki herself by sparing her life.

Rulers of Four Directions

Chapter 31: The Reluctant Lord

The festivities following the mating ritual of Attempting was in full swing. The palace, usually staffed with a bevy of servants and guards, was nearly empty with only the skeleton staff remaining. Nearly all of the Eastern inuyōkai were out on the dunes partaking in the merry event that took place only once a year. Two massive bonfires were built; all kinds of game from the hunt were spit-roasted over the fire. Music and steady beats of the drums filled the air as delicacies and liquors were passed around for everyone to enjoy to their hearts' content.

Yuusou waited around for some time, quietly watching the merriment from the sideline, before he furtively snuck back into the palace. Without wasting any time, he changed out of his aristocratic clothing and into something more common. Just when the moon was momentarily hidden beneath a heavy cluster of dark clouds, he left his chambers, taking nothing other than the clothes on his back.

As he crossed the vast courtyard towards the rear gates of the palace, he felt guilt slowly creeping its way into his chest, though it was insensible. Why should he feel uneasy for leaving the palace that way? He was a mature yōkai, and of noble blood. He should be free to go anywhere and anytime he wished to. Even if he were seen, no one could order him to return, no one could detain him.

"Going somewhere?"

No one could detain him, except one.

That deep, calm voice startled him, cutting through the silence of the courtyard. He turned around and found his grandfather standing a few paces behind him. Lord Shogo's gaze was calm, steady, completely unruffled by his secretive attempt to leave the palace.

"Yes," he answered, forcing himself to return his grandfather's unperturbed stare.

"Hnn," the lord scoffed softly. "Sesshōmaru also disappeared a while ago. Where on earth could he have gone, I wonder."

True, his cousin had disappeared close to the end of the ritual and had not been seen since. One moment they were standing together watching Shouri's interaction with Zoichi, and the next… His cousin looked like he had detected something in the wind and immediately departed to chase it.

"If I saw Sesshōmaru," Yuusou said. "I will tell him you were looking for him."

Lord Shogo let a few beats passed without words. He merely stood watching his eldest grandson in silence, his expressions indecipherable. Finally, he turned around and started to make his way back to the main buildings.

"Well, off you go. Give her my regards," the lord said over his shoulder.

Unsure if he should feel relieved or even more guilty, Yuusou could only nod. He waited until his grandfather disappeared from view before he continued on his way.

No one else saw him left the palace. He crossed the Forest of No Return speedily and encountered no trouble, having been familiar with its entire topography since childhood. He had been making this trip periodically for hundreds of years, he could reach his destinations with his eyes closed the entire journey. Most of the time, he would make sure to keep away from the areas populated by humans, opting for the shadows and darkness of the forest to conceal his movements whenever he travelled. Tonight, however, was different.

There was a human village he had become familiar with during the hundreds of years of going back and forth between the Eastern palace and his destination. The village of Tsurudōri lay near the western border of the Forest of No Return, not far from the western lands where his cousin Sesshōmaru ruled. He had passed the village often enough to know it held a week-long Spring festival every year around this time.

The Eastern lands were secluded. The vast mountainous range and the proximity to the Forest of No Return ensured the humans steer clear from their lands. Because of it, a chance to observe humans and their customs were rare, and he found this opportunity difficult to miss.

He reached Tsurodōri without any troubles. Slowing down his pace, he strolled down the village main street, weaving through rows of stalls, blending with the crowd of people who had come all the way from other areas to visit the Spring festival. His yōkai senses were shut down to the minimum, which was the only way for him to feel comfortable amongst so many humans. Though most of his yōki was suppressed, he allowed a small trace to remain. Not so much that humans and other creatures would sense his presence, but just enough to keep them subconsciously at bay. The small amount of yōki ensured that, although the small streets were filled with people, no one stood in his path or bumped into him.

He started to relax and look around, appreciating the sights and sounds surrounding him. After all, this was a rare opportunity to observe the humans and perhaps learn something new about their race. The smell of food was pungent in the air: savoury and salty mingled with sugary sweet. There was the sizzle of oil and fire, burst of colours in all shades imaginable. Little children were running on the streets, laughing with mirth. Men sat on stools, chugging rice wine and bouncing banters off each other, jesting and laughing with good humour. The younger girls were in their best clothing, all in bright hues of pink and yellow and blues. Some women were sporting more modest colours of deep indigo or black. He guessed it was probably because they were… What was the word the humans used? Married. Yes, they were probably married.

As he strolled along, passing stalls after stalls selling food, masks, clothes, and children's toys, he caught a few glances his way every so often from the girls and the women. They gathered in small groups on the side of the street, whispering amongst each other as they stole quick glances at him. Their soft laughter tickled his ears, their cheeks pinking from the girlish giggles. They liked the way he looked, he supposed. He merely smiled at them and chuckled to himself when they broke into titters.

A feminine trinket displayed at a stall selling kimono and paraphernalia caught his attention. It was a long, slender hairpin with a round jade stone at the end. The tassel underneath the stone was decorated with a handful of pearls. It was human craft, but as he eyed the hair ornament between his fingers, he saw it was very well done. As he stared at the hairpin in his hand, at the gleaming ball of jade, he wondered if it would suit a certain female with chameleon hair and chameleon eyes.

There was a herbal medicine stall next to the kimono stall. He could smell the strong scents of dried roots and herbs. As he examined the hairpin, conversations taking place medicine stall next door drifted into his ears.

"Trust me, young lady, this herb will solve all your problems!" He heard the excited voice of an eager peddler.

"Well, that certainly sparks confidence." The cheerful, melodious voice of the happy customer.

"What's your name, okyaku-sama?" the medicine man asked. There was the rustling sounds of dried goods being poured out of a jar and onto a piece of paper. The familiar earthy scent of a certain substance reached his nose. He found the scent strangely comforting, as they also grew them in abundance in the palace garden, and dried them to use in hundreds of different concoction. How strange it was that he could find something that reminded him of home, here on a street in a human village, surrounded by humans.

"My name is Kagome." He heard the cheerful customer answered. "Higurashi Kagome. And these two are my friends, Miroku and Sango"

"Well, Higurashi-san, if you drink this koicha tea every night as I instructed you, you'll be pregnant before the first cherry blossom blooms." The sound of bashful laughter followed the vendor's words.

For the first time since he found the jade hairpin, Yuusou's head perked up with interest. Koicha tea? Pregnant? The mere thought of koicha tea instigating pregnancy was enough to cause him to scoff silently and shook his head. He shifted his attention back to his own matter, trying to focus his thoughts on the hairpin and how it would look on her. But the bashful laughter of the cheerful girl and the boisterous cackles of the medicine man kept slipping into his ears, muddling his thoughts. There were more rustling noises of paper, a sign that the goods were being wrapped…

This woman would go home and brew koicha tea and drink the concoction day after day in hoping to conceive a child.

Yuusou froze, the pin in his hand was still poised mid-air, though it no longer held his attention. He continued listening to the conversation taking place at the kiosk next door. It is none of your business, a small voice spoke within. Turn around and walk away. He put the pin down, his jaws clenching. His interest in the pretty thing was no more.

'Ignore them. Leave now.'

Which was basically what he did. He took a few steps back and moved away from the medicine stall, intent to leave the festival and be on his way as soon as possible, but the girl's laughter followed him. So innocent, so full of hope.

'You will only attract attention to yourself,' the same voice spoke again. 'Do you want these humans to find out you are not one of them?'

But the girl might become infertile from repeatedly consuming koicha tea.

He stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning in helpless frustration before he turned around on his heels and rushed back to the medicine stall.

They were still there. Good. He saw the figures of her companion: a young monk decked in blue robe, and a young woman wearing a soft rose and mauve kimono. They stood in such position that they were blocking his view to the woman in question. As he approached, they suddenly moved, and he was able to get a good look at her for the first time.

Yuusou froze and sucked in a deep breath. She was a miko.

There was no mistaking that uniform: the white hakui and the vibrant red hibakama marked her as a shrine maiden. Even though she wore her arm's length black hair loose instead of in the traditional fashion of a low ponytail, she was still a miko.

He felt suddenly dizzy. Was it fate that their paths crossed?

She was about to leave the medicine stall, smiling and waving at the crook who had sold her that quack medicine. One of her hands was holding the herbs neatly wrapped in brown paper. He hurried and stood in front of her.

"May I see that?" Holding out one hand, he asked.

The smile froze on her face. She looked stunned, naturally. A stranger had just asked to see some medicine she just bought at a stall at the night market. In her confused state, as though daydreaming, she handed the package over for his inspection. He unwrapped it and held the contents to his eyes. Sure enough, it was dried koicha. He sighed heavily and went to approach the vendor at the medicine stall, unwrapped package still in hand.

"Could you explain why you urged this young lady to drink Koicha tea to help her conceive?" He asked. "Are you not aware of what it could do to her body? Koicha tea is what the females of the whorehouses drink at the end of the night to avoid unwanted offspring. Drinking it for days straight, not to mention weeks or months, will render even the most fertile female barren."

The vendor paled, but he did not respond. Or perhaps he could not. His mouth kept opening and closing like a fish out of water, though no sound emerged.

"You may want to study your goods properly before selling them under false pretenses," Yuusou told the medicine man, keeping his voice calm yet grim, unyielding. The vendor buckled under his cold, frosted glare, though it lasted only for a few seconds before the man turned all red from collarbone to hairline and started pointing and shouting indignantly.

Yuusou felt a tug on his sleeve. Turning around, he came face to face with… what was her name, again? Kagome. Higurashi Kagome. He had never heard such an unusual name.

"Hey…" She said. "How do I know you're not the one lying?"

Now it was his turn to be stunned. Him? Lying?

"Do you have any proof that you are right?" She asked again.

He opened his mouth. Proof? Why would he have to prove himself to anybody? He was the young inuyōkai lord of the Eastern lands, eldest grandson to Lord Shogo, the oldest pure blooded inuyōkai ever walked the earth. He had studied the field of medicine for over half a millennia. He had also studied under his grandmother while she lived. Lady Kisa – also known as Kisa the Yōkai Healer – the greatest healer of all time, said to be capable of even bringing those back from the dead using her yōki alone. If he had studied under her just a while longer, he would have inherited all her skills. Still, his mastery over potions and poisons and thousands of different varieties of plants and their usages was now second only to his grandfather. To be demanded that he prove his accuracy in his assessment was downright ridiculous.

But of course, he could not say any of those things.

"I do not have proof, unfortunately," he said slowly. "All I have to give you is my word."

Kagome stared at the mysterious young man standing in front of her.

His eyes had sparked with a flash of indignation when she asked for a proof. And what beautiful eyes they were. His irises were the colour of milk chocolate with tiny gold flecks and his pupil was deep, inky black. He had a pair of mysterious golden-brown eyes canopied by thick, sooty lashes. He looked almost like a foreigner, she thought. Or like a person of mixed race. He was well-dressed too. Even though he was wearing the standard haori-hakama like most commoners, it looked like they were made from the highest quality cotton that must have been dyed multiple times to achieve such deep, rich indigo. As she stared at him, she felt a tug of familiarity, a vague sense that she had seen this man somewhere. But his brown eyes that regarded her held no sign of recognition and instead, he looked at her with a thin frown on his forehead.

"I do not have proof, unfortunately," he said. "All I have to give you is my word."

Strangely enough, she believed him, even if he had only his word to give. That tug of familiarity again… Something inside her told her that he could be trusted, though she could not explain who he was and how she felt she had met him before. Sango and Miroku came to stand beside her. They were both staring at the same mysterious young man with a mixture of caution and curiosity.

"Do you think this man is telling the truth, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked.

Kagome nodded. "I think so," she replied. "I don't think he would come back just to lie, or to play a prank on me."

The man's attention was no longer on her, but at the crowd gathering around them to watch the commotion at the medicine stall. The deceitful medicine vendor was still shouting at him, pointing accusing finger at his person. She saw his lips moving to mutter a string of silent curses as an expression close to alarm passed through his strikingly handsome face.

"Forgive me," he suddenly said. "I'm afraid I have to go."

Before Kagome even opened her mouth to offer her gratitude, he bolted and left, weaving a zig-zag path through the tightly packed street of the village festival. So fast did he run that his indigo clothing became a blur amidst the crowd. She stretched out her hand nevertheless in an attempt to stop him.

"Wait!" She called out. "I haven't even thanked you yet!"

He did not stop but raised one hand and waved. "Wait!" Kagome yelled again, louder this time, but the young man ignored her, making no effort to slow his pace. Before too long, he had disappeared.

"Who is that man, I wonder?" Sango murmured, still looking towards the direction where the man had gone, even though they could no longer see him.

"He seems educated, and well-dressed," Miroku said, fingers propping his chin in a gesture of deep thoughts. "A physician, maybe? A herbalist? Or at least an apprentice?"

"Possibly. He's certainly young enough to be an apprentice," Sango said. "He seems to know quite a bit about medicines and herbs. Well, more than this guy anyway." With her thumb, she gestured towards the fuming medicine man. "Imposter," she scoffed at him. Many people had angrily demanded refunds, convinced that he had been a phony all along and sold them herbs that were defective or even dangerous. If the man made even a cent tonight, he should count it as a tremendous blessing.

"There's something strange about that guy," a voice, coming from inside the large wicker basket Sango carried on her back, chirped in. "I don't really know what though… He just felt strange."

"You sensed it too, Shippō?" Kagome glanced at the basket briefly.

"Sense what, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked.

"I'm not quite sure," Kagome muttered, flicking her long raven hair behind her back. "I can't quite put my finger on it… Just like what Shippō said, he felt strange. Not quite human but not yōkai either."

"A hanyō then? Does he feel like Inuyasha?"

"He certainly doesn't look like a hanyō, does he?" Sango wondered. "More like a human."

Kagome mulled over the questions for a brief moment, chewing the tender flesh of her bottom lip as she mentally compared her mate aura with the mysterious young man's.

"Not quite," she answered slowly. "More like Inuyasha in his human form."

Sango and Miroku looked at each other.

"But the moon is only half full tonight," the blue-robed monk murmured thoughtfully.

"In any case," Kagome quickly said. "I really want to speak to him. Maybe he's the person who could help me."

Miroku gestured at a nearby alley with his chin. "Since he was so desperate to escape the crowd, I have a good guess where he's heading," the monk said, grinning mischievously. "And I know a shortcut."

Yuusou practically flew through the streets, cursing himself for the unintentional attention he had attracted from the crowd. So much for his plan to slip through the human village unnoticed. This was what he got for trying to help.

'No good deed goes unpunished,' he thought with a sour smile.

He heaved a sigh of relief when he was finally out of the crowded village and into the stillness of a bamboo forest just outside. Leaning against a large tree, he brushed the back of his hand against his forehead, breathing deeply. Now he only needed to pass through the bamboo forest, cross a river, entered another forest and he would be at the cave. His little detour to visit the spring festival had cost him more time than what was ideal, but if he transformed back to his true form, he would reach his destination in no time. It bothered him that in this form, his movements were clumsy, sluggish, not to mention agonizingly slow, but it was the consequence of suppressing his yokai energy to maintain his human disguise. Perhaps later on he could figure out a way to be perceived as human without having to suppress so much of his yōki.

His peace did not last, however. The three humans he thought he had managed to outmaneuver burst into the bamboo forest. They found him straightaway, a solitary figure standing amidst a cluster of trees and bamboos.

"You… sound like.. you know… a lot about medicines…" the woman named Kagome stammered, struggling to pronounce her words as she fought to regain her breath. He stood still a few paces in front of her with his hands clamped behind his back.

"Yes, I do." he finally replied.

"Are you a physician?"

"Of some sort."

"You look so young to be a physician already."

He lifted his shoulders in a careless shrug. "I started my education young," he said.

"I was wondering if you could help me," she said. "I have been looking for a physician who could help me with… errrrr… fertility issues."

Well, that much was clear, he thought. Obviously, she had asked the vendor for a cure for the presumed "fertility issues", which prompted the ignorant swindler to wrongly point her towards koicha tea.

"I see. I —" He cleared his throat. "Well, I wish you luck with that."

"If you are a physician, could you perhaps take me as your patient?"

His eyebrows must have arched close to his hairline. How ridiculous. She did not know what she was asking. He was not in the trade of assisting human women get pregnant.

"Madam," he said. "I'm sorry, but you need to find someone else to help you with this. I can't help you."

He turned around and started making his move to depart, but the persistent female called out again.

"Wait! But why can't you help me? Aren't you a skilled physician?"

He turned to look at her over his shoulder. "I'd like to think so," he said.

"Then, why not?"

How could he explain to her that this was completely outside of his field of practice? He did not even know much about the reproduction system of a human female. He supposed he could try, but he would rather not involve himself in this matter.

"Well, I just—" He paused. "I just can't. Forgive me, I really have to—"

"Wait! Surely there is something I can offer you to help me with my… umm… my problems. I can pay you, of course."

He took a step back and shook his head. "I have no need for money."

The monk spoke up to help her out: "Do you need any charms, sutras, or any protections from evil?"

"No, thank you."

"What about the service of a demon exterminator?" Asked the other woman in pink and mauve kimono.

He almost laughed. He would not tell them that if he needed a demon exterminated, he preferred to do the job himself. "I appreciate the offer," he said. "But I have no need for such service."

Just then, the basket on the back of the woman in pink rattled. They all quieted, which made the rattling and the shaking of the basket that much more obvious.

"What's inside the basket?" he asked, eyeing the large wicker container suspiciously.

The woman who carried it exchanged a glance with the monk in the blue robe. It was a very quick, barely discernible glance, but it failed to escape his attention.

"Food," she answered at the same time the man exclaimed: "Clothes."

Awkward silence descended upon them as the two humans glanced at each other again. He pressed them no further. His instinct told him there was something inside the basket that was neither food nor clothes and had he not suppressed his yōki, he would be able to discern it in an instant. His gut feeling told him it was a living being, most likely a yōkai, which they needed to shield from prying eyes. The presence of a yōkai in the middle of human crowd could only cause riot. A young one perhaps, judging from the size of the basket, still a baby compared to himself.

But why were these humans traveling with a young yōkai, especially when one of them was a demon exterminator?

Nevertheless, he could not linger there. Sometimes young yōkai had sharp senses and not rarely were they more sensitive than fully grown yōkai. He could not afford the slight chance the little yōkai figuring out what he was. These humans, if they were demon exterminators, would most likely want to battle him if they found out, or at least runaway screaming, and he did not want to cause an upheaval so close to a human village.

But before he had the chance to do anything, he felt a probe from her, the one named Kagome. His yōki was low, but he definitely detected a thread of energy coming from her.

'Reiryoku?' He wondered as soon as he sensed the spiritual power she exerted to get a feel of him. 'A reiki user?'

They were not common humans, he concluded. The monk, the demon exterminator, the young yōkai inside the basket, and a miko with reiryoku. His interest piqued, he let his yōki flared a bit, answering the thread of reiki she sent out to explore him. Almost immediately, she gasped.

What happened next was mayhem.

There were rapid footsteps, and a blur of something red appeared out of nowhere, leaping in the air and landing right in front of the miko, protecting her.

"Inuyasha!" She called out.

Inuyasha?

That blur of red turned out to be a silver-haired, dog-eared creature with golden eyes not unlike his. A hanyō. He wore a bright red nubakama and sashinuki — the garb he recognized as the robe of the fire-rat, and wielded a sword he also recognized as Tessaiga.

These findings were surprising enough already, though what struck him the most was how this hanyō reminded him so much of his uncle Renmaru.

Inuyasha took a stance with Tessaiga gripped tightly in both hands, those familiar golden eyes glaring straight at him.

"Kagome, I don't know what this man said, but he's for sure not who he said he is." He bared his fangs. "He's not human."

Certainly now, with the arrival of the hanyō, Yuusou found himself in a much more interesting predicament than he previously believed.

Inuyasha.

Sesshōmaru and Shouri's half brother.

He wanted to laugh at the coincidence. First, he had learned she was a miko trying to conceive a child. Now it was revealed that she was the mate of his cousins' half-brother. Were these merely coincidence? Or was it written?

"Very well," Yuusou murmured to himself. "Perhaps it really was fate that our paths crossed."

He let his disguise fell away. His yōki, unsuppressed, surged back in full force, pulsing inside him like a heart newly resuscitated. His hair, lengthening, changed colour from raven to silver. The markings on his face and body returned, and his eyes too, had gone through the transformation back to their golden colour. He shook himself as though shedding off excess water. It was so good to have all his senses in full force again, unfettered and unimpeded.

Kagome and her comrades watched, in a mix of fascination and horror, as the mysterious young man in front of them transformed from a human to a yōkai. And not just any yōkai, judging from the massive amount of yōki in his aura. He was at the same caliber as Sesshōmaru, which means he was most likely a yōkai lord as well. Furthermore…

This yōkai also had a purple crescent moon insignia on his forehead. Just like Sesshōmaru.

The first thing he did after his transformation was fixed those glowing amber eyes on the basket on Sango's back and said:

"Let the poor kitsune out before he asphyxiate inside that basket. I can hear him gasping for air."

No one would tell him the reason Shippō gasped for air was because of the shock from watching him transform from a human to a full-blooded yōkai. Sango hurried to let the little kitsune out.

"That crescent moon," Inuyasha said, golden eyes narrowing in alarm. "Are you related to Sesshōmaru?"

The corners of his lips twitched into a smirk. "Sesshōmaru is my cousin."

"So… Shouri is…"

The mysterious yōkai nodded. "She was raised as my sister."

The atmosphere seemed to take a completely different turn. Inuyasha slowly lowered his sword, though his stance did not change, and he had not lowered his guard by any means. Higurashi Kagome looked stunned, and a little pale. Her other comrades looked quite mortified, though not so much that they felt the need to turn away. In fact, they looked too interested in what was going on to avert their eyes.

He sighed quietly. "Would you still like my assistance in your efforts to conceive?" He asked the miko.

The yōkai's question stunned Kagome somehow, even though she had spent many minutes earlier tonight trying anything short of literally twisting his arm to aid her. She sought Inuyasha's eyes, silently asking her mate what he thought she should do. What they should do. Inuyasha stared back at her. She could see the hesitation and the concern swarming in his eyes. But there was hope too, and she saw the yearning they had shared together for the past year to start a family reflected in his eyes.

She had known he had grown up without a family. For almost all his life, he had been alone. Thus she also knew, with his whole heart, he wanted one.

And, gods, she wanted to give it to him.

She faced the yōkai and nodded. Like the few high-level demon she had met, he was exceedingly handsome, tall with athletic build and an aristocratic face. His eyes, however, were a little different with those other high-level yōkai. She wanted to say his eyes were… amicable? Kind? But it felt so strange to use those words to describe a yōkai of his caliber.

"May I?" He asked, extending his hand. He wanted to check her pulse? She hesitated for a few seconds, but her yearning for a child with silver hair and golden eyes overcame any fear that stood in the way of realizing that dream. She moved closer to the yōkai and offered her right hand.

It had been a little over a year since she and Inuyasha got married. Since the day they were wed, they had never prevented pregnancy. Inuyasha had always believed that one day, their child would come. But she had come from a very different era, one with vast progress in healthcare and medicine, including that in the field of fertility. When six months of actively trying for a baby had come and gone, she became concerned and anxious. If she had been in modern era, she would have made an appointment at a fertility clinic. She knew there were many things that could be done, had she been in the proper era: medicines, cycle monitoring, intra-uterine insemination, surgical procedures and perhaps, even in-vitro fertilization.

But what were her options in feudal era?

Kaede-sama had examined her and confirmed there was nothing wrong with her, nothing deficient, as far as the old priestess could tell. Kagome had looked after herself, watched her diet, making sure she got sufficient rest and exercise, but so far… nothing. She had consumed every single herbs, teas, and traditional medicines they said would help her conceive. Nothing. Earlier tonight, she had seen the medicine stall and thought: what harm could it do to consult one more person to see if he had anything that could help her condition. It almost got her to drink something that could have rendered her infertile for the rest of her life, so… hooray for trying.

And now… She looked at the male yōkai in front of her. She never thought she would be in this situation: enlisting the help of a yōkai lord who also happened to be a physician to aid her in her journey to conceive. But here she was.

He found her pulse without any hesitation; his thumb and forefinger pressing lightly on either side of her wrist. She had expected a yōkai's hand to be cold, but his was warm. Really warm, actually, skirting on the edge of being hot… It took her a few seconds to realize he must have used his yōki to produce the warmth, most probably to encourage the flow of her blood so he could assess her circulation. She stared at his hand. His fingers were long and elegant, topped with tapered claws with razor-sharp tips. She wondered if, like Sesshōmaru, he could produce lethal poison from the tips of his claws. She imagined it would be so easy for him to sink his claws into her hand and inject poison into her bloodstream.

Just then, he raised his eyes to hers and arched his brows.

"I will not poison you, so calm yourself," he said, a light humour in his voice.

It took him only a few seconds to feel her pulse. "What do you think?" She asked anxiously after he released her wrist. "Is there something wrong with me?"

He shook his head. "Most of the time it's not about what is wrong, but what can be improved. There are some things we can work on when it comes to your circulation, but I will not suggest anything until a full examination is done."

"A full examination? You mean…" He must have meant physical examination. Oh God. She felt her heart fell into the pit of her stomach. "And you're the one doing it?"

He flashed her a funny look. "If the idea troubles you, I can have a female assist me with it."

"Yes please," she said, sighing in relief. "That's much preferred."

"Alright." He nodded. "Meet me here tomorrow night around this time. I will bring someone."

He disappeared in a flash without so much as a goodbye, leaving only a light breeze and a few bamboo leaves floating in the air after his departure. When it was clear that he had gone, everyone in the group let out a collective exhale.

"Well," Miroku spoke first. "That was certainly… unexpected. It was the first time I met that type of a yōkai lord."

"And he can transform into a human?" Shippō chimed in. "Willingly? What's up with that?"

That's right, Inuyasha thought. Up till towards the end, he really felt like a human. A strange human, yes, but somehow he managed to erase any trace of yōki in his aura. If his yōki did not flare up in response to Kagome's probing, he could have passed undetected as a human.

"In the end he left before we even asked his name," Kagome sighed.

"I'm surprised he entertained our chit-chat for so long," Sango said. "He could have transformed much sooner and left. Or worse, transformed and fought us."

Inuyasha shook his head, agitated. Now Sesshōmaru's cousin had appeared. And they were to see him again tomorrow night? He had said he would bring someone – a female. Would it be Shouri? What would he say to her when he saw her again? Did she already find out that Sesshōmaru was her real brother and, by extension, he was her half-brother? How would she feel about having a hanyō as a half-brother?

That last question was enough to get his ears to flatten against his skull. He was about to get another sibling who despised him. Wonderful. I can't wait, he thought bitterly.

They left the bamboo forest and started heading back to their own village. They had planned this trip to Tsurodōri a while back, having heard from a travelling peddler that said village held a magnificent spring festival every year. Kagome had talked Sango and Miroku into leaving their brood of children with Kaede, citing that the two hard-working parents had earned a well-deserved break. Inuyasha was not as easy to convince, especially considering he would not be able to walk around in the village full of people. But the idea of good food from the festival, and of pleasing his mate, enticed him nonetheless.

The sky was clear, the weather was cool and crisp, and their path was well lit by the moonlight. As they strolled down the road in pairs, Inuyasha voiced his worry out loud:

"Kagome, do you think it's really alright for us to ask him for help? I know he's not Sesshōmaru, but he's a full-blooded yōkai like Sesshōmaru. His cousin. Why is he willing to help us? What's in it for him?"

"I don't know," Kagome answered truthfully. "But you know, Inuyasha, I just have a good feeling about it."

"A good feeling?"

"Yeah. I feel like I can trust him, somehow."

"Heh. I just hope we won't regret it."

"It's not a big deal, is it?" She said, laughing awkwardly, obviously trying to downplay what would take place the next evening. "We'll just meet him tomorrow night. Seriously, what could go wrong?"

"You just talked a yōkai lord of the east – Sesshōmaru's cousin, no less – to give you a physical examination so he could help you get pregnant," Sango pointed out, prompting Kagome's heart to do a little somersault in her chest. "Yeah, what couldn't go wrong?"