sorry for the major lack of updates. work is a little bitch and i'm also in the middle of a move. i'm hoping things will settle down soon and I'll be able to update more. i'm still alive though.

Sesshomaru had never been in so much pain in his life. It was like fire was licking the inside of his stomach but pain was radiating into every fiber of his being. It was something he had never really experienced before and the pain was deafening. He could see shadows moving about his eyesight, muffled voices, hands on his body… Nothing was as it seemed. The only thing he could compare it to was when InuYasha cut off his arm and he had to get his strength back from that fight. He was in a lot of pain then too but losing an arm at his full power and being shafted at his weakest was something completely different.

His body suddenly convulsed and he coughed, blood coming up his throat and out. Suddenly he was very scared. He'd never done this before, the whole almost dying thing, and for once in his life, he was truly afraid of it.

Sesshomaru coughed violently and Kagome ran to his side as he started to convulse.

"We need something done, quick!" she yelled.

She grabbed his hand and held it tight.

"Hold on, Sesshomaru… Don't worry…"

"Please move, Kagome. We have to get him into the healing house." Miroku said, coming in with a doctor.

They transferred him from the floor to the portable bed and Kagome wished there was something she could do. She had to find a way to get InuYasha back to normal before he killed them all. She clenched her fists in anger, feeling weak and feeble.

"Kagome, don't worry." Sango said. "They'll get him all fixed up."

"I'm not worried… I mean, I am, but that's not what's wrong… I'm just so fed up with what's happening to my friends. InuYasha is going insane and he just tore a hole into his brother. He's changing into something he would never want to be. Full yokai or not, this is not InuYasha. It's Kikyo's doing…"

"Unless we can figure out a way to get them to switch again then what can we do though? They're stuck in each other's forms."

"Then I'll just have to do more research… I'm going back home."

Sango looked at her in surprise.

"Home? Now? What about Sesshomaru?"

"I'm not going to be long. I'm just going to get a better understanding and maybe get some answers that we just can't seem to find here. InuYasha gets stronger everyday and not in a good way. I want to fix this before we lose him forever."

Sango nodded. "Alright then. You say that your world is in the future of ours so maybe you're right. I'm not sure how we can get in touch with you if Sesshomaru wakes up…"

"I'll check in in about two days and see how he's doing. I'll also bring some medicine from my world as well."

They hugged and Kagome left for the modern world.

Sango walked back into the hut where Miroku and Kaede were working on Sesshomaru. Miroku stood up and went back over to her.

"Where's Kagome?"

"She said she had to go and do some more research to see if she could find something to help in regards to the switch. She went back to her own time."

Kaede looked up. "She left? With Sesshomaru in such a state?"

"Why would she leave Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked, tears in her eyes.

"That annoying, scrubby little human!" Jaken growled, stamping his feet angrily. "I ought to use my staff to burn her to a crisp! Leaving Lord Sesshomaru like this is unforgivable!"

"She will be back soon. She did this to gain more insight as well as get some more advanced medicine from her world. Kagome never does this without a reason. She won't be gone long… How is he?" she asked, walking to Sesshomaru.

Coming around the other side of Kaede, Sango looked at Sesshomaru laying on the cot. It was apparent his body had never been delivered such a shock. He was pale, an unearthly pale, and his body had a sheen of sweat where it was trying to register the blow it received. His eyes were closed but it was obvious he was in immense pain and his clothing was soaked red, his lips also having a tint of pink from coughing up blood.

"I've managed to stop the bleeding but healing the wound is different than keeping it patched up. I fear the herbs I have here will not be enough. I will need a second opinion…"

"Maybe we can go to a nearby town and see-"

"And see what, Miroku?" Sango growled. She clenched her hands. "What are we supposed to ask them? 'Excuse me, but we have a wounded hanyou who was wounded by a full yokai and we wanted to know how to heal him properly.' What town would possibly want to help us?"

"Jinenji!" Shippo yelled.

"What?"

"Remember when Kirara was hurt and InuYasha and Kagome had to find something to cure her? They met another hanyou named Jinenji."

"Oh, yeah… I forgot about Jinenji." Sango said.

"He grew herbs for healing. He would be the perfect person to speak to regarding Sesshomaru since he's also half yokai."

"And he won't hurt Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin said, getting excited.

Miroku turned to Sango. "Let's see if we can get something from this Jinenji fellow. Ms. Kaede, please do all you can and if Kagome comes back, let her know where we've gone."

"Kirara." Sango said.

Kirara changed forms and whisked them off as the others turned back to Sesshomaru, hoping either of their parties found something to help him.

After a few days, Kagome came back to the village with some painkillers and a medical book. She couldn't find anything on the pot that Kikyo had used to switch their bodies around so she decided to try and find something a little more useful. A medical book that showed the inside of a human might help Kaede with healing if she knew exactly what she was looking at. Plus, the painkillers Kagome got could knock out an elephant. Good thing her Grandpa had fallen down the stairs and they gave him some pretty strong painkillers until he could have surgery. Well, not good he fell, but a good coincidence in regards to having on hand prescription drugs.

As she walked to the village, she thought she sensed something nearby but ignored it until she realized it was following her.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she growled, stopping in her tracks.

"I see you left him to die." She heard someone say softly.

She turned angrily and found InuYasha walking slowly up to her but he looked different. He looked like he had been through the ringer himself. She made a face at him.

"What happened to you?"

"Disobedience." He snarled in response but it was towards something else than at her. "You left Sesshomaru."

"I needed to get some stronger medicine for him as well as see if I could find anything regarding that stupid jar."

"Did you find anything?"

"Not a damn thing… If you'll excuse me, I'm going to try and help your brother."

"He's not well. I can smell the death stench from here… You shouldn't have left him."

"What does it matter to you? You're the one who gave him that death dealing blow hoping he would turn into a full yokai. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"For your information, it's not me."

"Oh really? Then please tell me who that other InuYasha with white hair and a red clothing is. Please, tell me. I'd like to purify the hell out of him."

InuYasha winced. "I'm being controlled. If you haven't noticed," He pulled at the conformation beads. "I've got an extra set of beads on me."

"That didn't seem to be a problem when you wanted to leave to the road less painful." Kagome spat. "Besides, you said that you could infiltrate and that you'd be fine. Clearly, that wasn't the case and you lied to me."

"Fine, I'll be straight with you: yes, I lied. I lied because I wanted to get out and get away from you. You were hurting me to a point I couldn't even try to stay… but Kikyo is doing worse. Physical scars hurt but mental ones… She's making me do things I don't want to do."

"I think all she's doing is telling you simple things and your newfound body is elevating your desires. You've always hated Sesshomaru, all those years of hurting you and teasing you and despising you… you had a chance to get revenge and you did. Poor Lord Sesshomaru, a silly hanyou in a vulnerable state. Who wouldn't pass up that opportunity?"

InuYasha sneered at her but he knew she was right. Everything was very jumbled in his brain. He wanted to stay with Kagome because she was emotionally supportive but physically dangerous. Kikyo was physically safe but emotionally and mentally dangerous. He wasn't sure which of the two was the better of the evils. Plus, his new form wasn't really helping his decision, all of his thoughts starting to follow a more instinctual pattern rather than rational. It suddenly dawned on him that he was not like Sesshomaru's yokai form.

"There's something wrong with me…" InuYasha said softly, reaching up to cup his throat. "I just realized that… that I'm not like Sesshomaru."

"What do you mean?"

"Sesshomaru was a full yokai but was sophisticated, elegant, regal, and most of all collected. My yokai… my form… it's not any of those things. It's wild, untamed, and unbridled. That's not the way it should be. Something else is going on…"

Kagome sighed. "Well, I guess when you figure yourself out, if you can bear to stand it, I'll be there for you. I always will be… in the mean time, I have to go help Sesshomaru."

"If you can, ask him why I'm different."

Kagome stopped walking and looked over her shoulder briefly. "If he's still alive."

InuYasha watched her walk off towards the village and growled a little. He hated not being able to be there for her and even though it thrilled him immensely, doing what he did to Sesshomaru was not something he would really ever do. He had to get to the bottom of this… and the only way to do it was the give in to Kikyo's wants.

He would have to try and love her all over again.

sorry it's so short.

it looks like inuyasha really is going to have to go with his infiltration plan after all. he's starting to realize that maybe it's a matter of the mind and not the heart as to the reasons he's doing what he does. i mean, if someone is mind controlling you, you wouldn't know... anyway, i hope this made sense since i haven't worked on it in a while.