(Edited 29 September 2020)

Dying to Live

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

"Kagome, what is that sound?"

Kagome and Souta stood with their ears pressed against his closed and locked bedroom door.

Kagome listened to the familiar clang and scrape of metal on metal: "I'm pretty sure they're sword fighting," she replied a little hesitantly.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Souta burst out anxiously, practically crushing his pointy priest's cap in one flailing fist. "What about my room? You heard that crashing sound before—I actually have things I care about in there!"

It was true; after they'd sprinted up the hill to the house, they immediately found the back glass door massacred and in a zillion little pieces that reminded her of what she had once done to the Shikon Jewel. Just as they were tiptoeing over the shards, leaving their shoes on even as they entered the rest of the house, that was when they heard the loud and destructive sounding BOOM followed by a shattering bang from right above the kitchen. They knew right away where the action was taking place, and Kagome had bolted up the stairs, right on her brother's heels. They tried banging their fists on the door for a few minutes before giving up to listen instead.

"I can hear Inuyasha's voice now, but it's the other man—his voice seems so familiar, but I just can't think who he would be—" Kagome said, straining to hear.

Souta pushed his ear even flatter to the door. "Is Inuyasha… Laughing?" her younger brother questioned his expression dismayed.

Kagome frowned, hearing it too. It was already difficult to hear through two inches of solid wood. Dammit, Inuyasha, speak a little louder! she thought impatiently, trying to catch his words.

A sudden labored creaking from the wooden stairs behind made both Kagome and Souta nearly stop breathing. Simultaneously, the siblings snapped around to see who was coming up into the dark, narrow, little hallway.

"Kagome (huff) don't you dare (pant) do that again," the pregnant demon slayer breathed angrily, her face flushed and her brother looking pale as she leaned heavily on him from coming up the stairs.

"Sango!" Kagome hissed, upset to see her friend so close to danger in her delicate condition.

Kohaku looked immediately guilty: "I tried to stop her, but—"

"Shut up, Kohaku," Sango snapped, the combination of fear and hormones clearly over-running her. Kohaku cowered and helped his sister closer until she quickly let go of him and leaned with her arm against the wall beside Kagome in a pointed show of independence. Gathering herself, Sango breathed deeply before she spoke.

"What's going on with Miroku? Is he in there?" Sango asked.

Kagome's mouth drew into a tight line. Since they'd arrived at the bedroom door they hadn't once heard the monk's voice. "We don't know," she solemnly told her friend.

:

"That's it, isn't it?" Inuyasha exclaimed, his expression positively giddy. Sesshomaru saw his half-brother was clearly going to savor this discovery, much to his nauseated disappointment. "You're human. Somehow, some way, I don't know how, but I don't even have to smell you to know it! And you're makin' fun of me for having no youki energy!" Inuyasha guffawed.

Sesshomaru glared at his half-brother, who only kept grinning wider like someone lacking sufficient oxygen.

"Your powers of observation… are astounding," Sesshomaru sighed, trying to be as drolly aloof as usual; however, ironically in fact, he was the one short on oxygen, and it was much harder to remain cool-headed while also trying to hide the fact that he couldn't breathe as deeply as normal. Instead of just a single stitch beneath his ribs like most anyone might get from overly heavy exertion, Sesshoumaru felt like he had multiple stitches across his whole diaphragm. Even his arms burned from swinging his sword, making him realize he couldn't even remember the last time he'd bothered to practice sparing. Still with his sword poised before Inuyasha, he almost fixed his face in its usual, emotionless deadpan state of perfection… except for a brief wince of discomfort that flickered, unbidden, across his features.

Inuyasha was apparently beyond noticing that particular detail at the moment, though. He still held Tessaiga out as he began to pace over the fallen debris on Souta's tatami floor. Torn down when Tessaiga got snarled in them in an over-the-shoulder swing, the window curtains lay trampled beneath Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's feet. Drywall that the broke free of the wall with the curtain rod lay sprinkled over the fabric, and smaller bits of dust still fluttered in the air between the brothers. A pile of bent and creased books had tumbled off the bookcase when Sesshomaru stumbled backward into it, barely eluding disembowelment. (Despite being the choice of some foolish human warriors, Sesshomaru determined if done wrongly, it might mean a very slow and repugnant death to die in a puddle of one's own juices…) Finally, a stepped-on and cracked picture frame and a broken soccer trophy added to the litter.

"But this is insane…" Inuyasha mused, his brow now creased and his expression melting into seriousness. "Just what the hell is this all about?"

"INUYASHA! You open up this instant!"

The brothers continued to stare at each other despite the muffled shouts and banging that had erupted again on the other side of the door. The shouts turned up an octave to something more akin to screeches, and with the pain now in his ears as well, Sesshomaru couldn't help but propose, "Let's finish this soon." He adjusted his grip on his sword, and with a nod of his head toward the unconscious monk, he added in his usual, more threatening tones, "or would you like to call in the rest of your… pack… to help you out?" He was careful to put extra disdain-filled emphasis on the "p" in "pack", hoping to insult and further incite Inuyasha.

Inuyasha's expression had changed at this remark, but unfortunately for Sesshomaru, it was more of puzzlement than the look of aggression he expected. What's it going to take? he asked himself, despairingly. Since when did the brute become so damned contemplative?

Shifting on his feet, which Sesshomaru now noticed were uncharacteristically hidden away inside dark leather boots, Inuyasha lowered Tessaiga's point slightly. "Right- like I'd bring them in here after what you tried to do to Miroku," Inuyasha replied, sounding more intelligent than Sesshomaru recalled him being. "How dumb do you think I am?"

Very, Sesshomaru still thought.

"Something's not right about any of this," Inuyasha continued, half-speaking to himself, as he kept totally ignoring the commotion at the door. "How did this happen? What are you doing here really?"

Sesshomaru stewed in aggravation for a moment before answering. He hadn't intended to discuss much with Inuyasha. He decided to stick with his original tact. Although he had already realized that he probably wouldn't get the chance to kill the moron monk, since he hadn't be able to do it in time, he could get Inuyasha to carry out "part B" of the plan.

"Your monk is responsible for this shameful appearance of mine. I've come to slaughter him. Will you stand in my way?" Sesshomaru pronounced, putting on his most murderously calm and collected voice. For added effect, he tauntingly raised one of his slender, aristocratic eyebrows. He had to have Inuyasha's attention now – he'd left the way wide open for a challenge to duel.

Only looking more uncertain though, Inuyasha took a step backward. A deep crease had formed between his contrastingly thicker eyebrows. "Yeah, well—normally I would… but since it's almost like you want me to try to stop you, it's making me feel sorta… weird about this whole thing."

That was it: "Why don't you ever do what's expected of you?!" Sesshomaru suddenly snapped, and his words spat angrily from his mouth, like grease leaping erratically off a hot pan.

His older brother's temper had obviously surged, and his sword was practically shaking in his crushing grip, but Inuyasha was unmoved. Baffled, yes, but Inuyasha was beginning to see that somehow, he was the one in control of this situation. For the first time in my life, at least in regard to him. He snorted, "Sorry, I don't always fit in with your plans, but I was kind of getting married today."

Clearly unimpressed, Sesshomaru ignored the sarcasm. "Why don't you just take me down? You've always wanted to!" he fired back again, brandishing his weapon a bit more threateningly this time. Inuyasha noticed for the first time that his normally perfectly unruffled, always-in-control half-brother was sweating.

"Woah, y'know you're all sorta… red in the face…and your eye," Inuyasha commented, pointing distractedly in his opponent's direction, wondering how and if this really could be Sesshomaru. Then, he retracted his index finger just seconds before Sesshomaru's sword slashed through the air in front of his nose.

Yup, it's definitely Sesshomaru. "Hey! I was just saying, is all!" Inuyasha snapped defensively. Alright, it had been a bit of a jab, but it seemed like something was definitely wrong with the Great Lord of the West, besides just looking more… human than usual…

"Fight me!" Sesshomaru gritted out, his voice much louder and angrier this time. In a flash, his sword commenced swiping mere centimeters from Inuyasha's face, like a very sharp pendulum.

Now, this is getting irritating, Inuyasha thought. Also, he had just started to appreciate his mortal features for the first in his life, mostly because Kagome seemed to like them, and he wanted to keep them the way they were. "No! Not like this!" he retorted, blocking his body with Tessaiga's skinny blade, "and definitely not now that you're telling me to!"

"Ugh!" Sesshomaru bristled over the clangor of their steel, "It makes no difference!"

"Yes, it does!" Inuyasha argued exasperatedly, unable to ignore a very strange feeling that was beginning to chaff at him from inside, like something he was forgetting... "'Cause you're makin' me feel all suspicious about it! What—just what are ya tryin' t'pull?" he asked, a little less powerfully, as he managed to swat away one of Sesshomaru's attacks.

Sesshomaru only pressed on, though: "You know what I just- tried to do to one of your humans! I can't be trusted- Destroy me- now! Don't be a fool—dirty half-breed!" he yelled practically in his half-brother's face; however, Inuyasha only gave him a very strange look, and Sesshomaru realized it had to be because of the weak way he was panting between his threats. He's not afraid of me! He knows he's superior to me now!Sesshomaru seethed. Well, damn him to hell! I'll give that filthy hanyou something to fear!

Dirty half-breed. His blood suddenly boiled. Those words… those words shouldn't affect me anymore, Inuyasha thought. Still he stumbled back, hearing its distracting echo in his mind, possessing all other rational thoughts. Just then, he watched Sesshomaru rebound and take a deep, slightly ragged breath. And then, he lunged crazily at Inuyasha like a rabid dog.

The surprising force of Sesshomaru's attack after his energy level had been seemingly decreasing for the past several minutes, pushed Inuyasha's back almost against wall. Now they were practically pressed together against the narrow space of wall between the foot of Souta's bed, the window, and the desk.

Sesshomaru's left hand crushed Inuyasha's right hand, gripping Tessaiga in a hastily thrown-up defensive block across its master's throat and face. I let my guard down for a minute, and he took advantage, Inuyasha thought bitterly, as the edge of Sesshomaru's blade glittered coldly in his face from the light of the window. Sesshomaru's hot, uneven breath brushed his face. Briefly, he observed how haggard his brother's features appeared, though.

The older man tightened his grasp on his younger brother's wrist, and Sesshomaru sneered as he heard the satisfying crack of the tiny bones. They weren't broken, but he saw Inuyasha grit his teeth, and he knew this was the moment to strike.

"You taunt me now, little brother," he said darkly, "but you won't be laughing next time when I come for that little shrine bitch of yours."

Instantly, Inuyasha's eyes grew wide.

:

Mrs. Higurashi had just finished talking to another pair of guests, when she stood on her tip-toes and took yet another look around for her daughter and new son-in-law. Kagome had left in such a hurry nearly twenty minutes before. Now that Kagome hadn't reappeared, and Mrs. Higurashi has realized that Inuyasha and even Sango, Miroku, Kohaku, and Souta were also missing in action, she began to wonder if something was wrong.

"Rina." She turned suddenly, surprised by the gruff male voice that had snuck up from behind her. A wiry man in his late thirties with faded red highlights in his hair and wearing a very loud plaid blazer was standing very close to her. Taken aback at first by his tacky appearance, she recognized him as her late-husband's cousin.

"Oh, Ken. Sorry it's been ages—how are you?" she asked. The last time they had met had possibly been at her own wedding to Taisuke…

"Well enough, but uh… not to trouble ya or anything, but there's a young man—seems to be one of your daughter's bridesmaid's boyfriends—with a broken nose just outside the tent over there. I was getting ready to leave, and I found him sorta bleeding all over the place. His girl says some guy they didn't recognize hit him and ran off," her somewhat seedy in-law casually explained, hands buried in his plaid pockets.

Rina Higurashi gasped. "Oh goodness! Whoever could've done that? Is he still bleeding?"

"A waiter gave us a couple dinner napkins and some ice, but it's still pretty bad. He really needs a lie-down," Ken replied.

"Right, well see if you can gather him up and take him up to the house. He can use the couch in the TV room at the front of the house—just grab a newspaper or magazine to keep the blood off the furniture and carpet. I'll follow you in a bit. I'm just going to take a quick look around for my daughter and the groom," Rina told him.

With a quick wave of "thanks" to Cousin Ken, she hurried off the platform at the front of the tent and began cutting through the crowd of tables and guests. Managing to offer polite greetings without getting held up by anyone too long, she confirmed that Kagome, Inuyasha and their friends were indeed not there. She was just getting ready to leave the tent to make a quick sweep of the yard when a shaky, boney hand suddenly clasped her forearm in a death-grip.

"Rina, I must have a word with you," the hand's owner's gratingly familiar voice came from below Mrs. Higurashi's field of vision.

She looked down. "Ah, Aunt Mari, how are you enjoying the wedding?" Rina asked, trying not to quail at the sight of the little, elderly woman. Aunt Mari had distinguished herself to Rina at her own wedding years before and all other Higurashi family functions since then.

Aunt Mari cut rapidly to the chase: "I have a complaint."

Ugh, of course, but why now? Rina wanted to ask. "Right, I see, but I was just on my way to find Kagome. It's a bit urgent—"

"It's the groom's family," Aunt Mari pronounced, ignoring Rina's words. "I don't like them."

Rina tried to smile good-naturedly at Aunt Mari. "Now, Aunt Mari," she started to say, trying to gently pull away from the old woman.

Aunt Mari only latched on tighter. "Two of them refused to speak to me. It's a sign of poor breeding," she warned.

This time Rina grimaced. "Aunt Mari, I really need to go up to the house to check on something. After I—"

"The house? Good, I need the toilet," the feisty, little geriatric announced and linked arms with Rina.

"So, we were discussing your new in-laws…" Aunt Mari pressed on, as Mrs. Higurashi was forced to assist her up the slope to the house.

:

"Fuck you, Inuyasha!" a very enraged, pregnant demon slayer railed at the still locked door.

"Sis, please calm down—the babies," Kohaku pleaded, his hand just hovering over her shoulder. He dared not touch her with that magnitude of anger rolling off of her.

"Kohaku's right," Kagome said, taking a break from also rapping on the door. Anxiety was etched on her face now too, though. For the past few minutes quiet had fallen on the other side of the door, and they had been hopeful that someone would open it; however, when still no answer came, they grew more worried. Sango looked ready to cry.

Inuyasha, what in the world is going on in there? Kagome wondered. She didn't like the sudden silence at all.

The shuffle of footsteps and the cracking of glass on the floor below broke the silence. "Oh boy, what happened here?" Kagome heard Ayumi's muffled voice coming up through the floor, followed by a lot of scuffling sounds and Yuka and—strangely enough—Uncle Ken's voices.

"Let's get him over here," came Uncle Ken's deeper voice.

"Right," Yuka's voice followed.

"You doin' alright?" Uncle Ken asked someone.

"Yeah, I think so," replied a younger man's voice.

Kagome's breath caught, as she and the others upstairs listened to the activity downstairs. They all froze as someone came pounding up the stairs and dashed into the narrow hallway.

"Kagome!" Ayumi exclaimed, nearly plowing into everyone congregated in front of Souta's door. "So this is where everyone is!"

"Ayumi, is that Hojo that you guys just brought into the house? Is he okay?" Kagome asked, her concern showing, as she moved toward her friend.

"Yeah it is. He's gonna be okay, but some jerk really busted his nose! I haven' t really got the whole story yet, but can you believe that?! Your uncle just sent me up here to look for – uh, let me see— acetaminophen, rubbing alcohol, medical tape, gauze, and cotton pads or a new sponge," Ayumi finished, counting the needed items off on her fingers.

Letting out a relieved sigh, thankful that at least Hojo was not dying, Kagome swung into the hall bathroom, flicked on the light, and grabbed the things Ayumi needed. "Alright, thank God he's doing alright. New sponges are in a package under the kitchen sink," she added.

"Under the kitchen sink, right. Oh – uh, he also wants to know where there's a bottle of vodka, sake, or plum wine, too. And by the way what happened to the back door?" Ayumi asked.

"Uh-" Kagome barely had time to formulate an answer, when something rattled loudly against the adjoining wall followed by a monstrous slamming noise that reverberated through the whole house.

"Oh, gods," Sango choked.

"There goes everything that was on my bookcase," Souta moaned.

"TAKE IT BACK, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Inuyasha's bloodcurdling scream roared through the wall.

Overwhelmed, Sango burst into tears, crying Miroku's name. Uselessly, Kohaku tried to calm her.

"What was that?" someone asked downstairs.

"Kagome?"

Recognizing her mother's voice coming up from the bottom of the stairs over all the other sounds, Kagome grabbed onto Ayumi to stable herself emotionally. She then shot glares at Sango, Kohaku, and Souta to hush them. "Yeah, Mom?" she called, trying to make her voice sound normal over the sound of men grunting and wood splintering down the hall.

"Kagome, is everything okay up there?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, and Kagome could hear the strained tone of her mother's voice.

"Uh, yeah, everything's okay, Mom," she answered, wincing as Inuyasha's voice yelling "Fuck" drifted down the hall.

"Are they fighting? They're fighting, aren't they. I knew it! The apple never falls far from the tree!" a distinctively irritating, older female voice said below.

"Kagome, as you can hear, your Aunt Mari is here, and she wants to use the bathroom," her mother called again. "Can she come up?"

Everybody upstairs looked at Kagome. Oh, God, think fast Kagome! she commanded herself. Pained groaning coming from Souta's room gave her an idea. "Uh, I don't think that's a very good idea," Kagome replied. "Sango's sick, from, y'know, the pregnancy and stuff—oh wait, hang on," she interrupted. "Quick, go in the bathroom and pretend to vomit and flush the toilet," she whispered urgently to Ayumi, snatching the first-aid items out of her arms. Once Ayumi finished performing her sound effects, which also helped momentarily block out the sounds of the fight, Kagome yelled down again: "Sorry, it just happened again – and then Miroku got sick too, so it's a big mess."

"Well, do you need help?" her mother's voice wafted up uncertainly.

"No," Kagome said, perhaps a bit too forcefully before softening her response. "No, no-no, Souta, Kohaku, and Inuyasha are helping already."

"What about the bathroom?" Aunt Mari interjected sharply.

"Okay, Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi replied ignoring Aunt Mari for a moment. "But you and Inuyasha need to come back down to the reception as soon as possible – your guests are starting to wonder about you. The Takedas from next door are at the reception. I'll ask them if they'll let Aunt Mari and the other guests use their bathroom for a little while."

"Thanks, Mom," Kagome called down, signaling Ayumi to flush the toilet once again for good measure.

Once Aunt Mari's whining complaints were out of earshot, Kagome heard her uncle call up after Ayumi. With promises to explain later and instructing her friend to also keep everyone away from the upstairs, she shoved the medical supplies back into Ayumi's arms and sent her on her way. Finally, she turned back to everyone else in the hall.

"Okay, that's it: we're getting into that room," she told them.

:

When Miroku's eyes first began to flutter open, he caught only blurred flashes of color. Flickers of motion. The deep indistinct rumble of human voices. Then, he realized everything in the room was on its side, and he tried to sit up too quickly. Oxygen, followed by blood, rushed dizzyingly to his brain, and the back of his head immediately began to pound deafeningly.

Oh hells, he remembered the door rushing toward his face the sickening crack of his skull against the wall. He rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands.

Slumped in the corner of the room, sort of behind the door with his head practically on the door jamb, he heard the incomprehensible murmur of voices in the hallway first, but his attention was almost immediately snatched over to what was happening in front of him.

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were literally at each other's necks, their swords apparently discarded somewhere in the room at some point. With his hands wrapped tightly around Sesshomaru's neck, Inuyasha was throttling his older brother against the now almost totally empty bookshelves, knocking him against it.

Inuyasha! He came for me! That's right! Miroku thought, his eyes a-twinkle with a rush of affectionate, brotherly appreciation for his friend. Just then though, Sesshomaru, who was growing a little blue in the face, made a funny pursing motion with his lips and spat in his younger brother's face, sort of ruining the heroic mood.

"Fuck!" Inuyasha growled, his face as red as his usual Robe of the Firerat with anger. Blinking, he tried to clear Sesshomaru's saliva from his eyes. His hands loosened on Sesshomaru's gullet just enough for him to speak.

"Get yer sword 'n' fight me—f'real," Sesshomaru grated out.

"No," Inuyasha snarled enigmatically. "I won't give you the satisfaction."

For a moment it looked like the tide might turn in the fight, as Sesshomaru struggled free just enough to drive his heel sharply down on Inuyasha's toes, but in seconds the brothers slipped, tearing the pages of books scattered across the floor. They crashed to the floor loudly, and Inuyasha was on Sesshomaru once again. Miroku watched, still inert, as they scrabbled briefly, snatching at each other's hands, reminding him of little boys rough-housing. Finally, though, Inuyasha pressed his hands to either side of Sesshomaru's head and held tight. "I'm not gonna kill you, but I am gonna fuck you up until you take it back. Take. It. Back!" Inuyasha commanded savagely, bouncing his brother's head against the tatami mats on each of the last words.

Sesshomaru's teeth chattered audibly upon each impact: "No! You'll- Have to- kill me- first!"

:

"Alright, on three," Kagome directed, as her brother and Kohaku shifted their weight back and forth in unison, preparing to charge the door. She started to count. "One. Two—Sango, I said 'stay back'—," Kagome cried, impatiently spinning on the person pulling on her arm. She looked directly into two wide, frightened brown eyes.

"Is Sesshomaru in there?" the vaguely familiar young woman asked, her voice filled with terror as she gripped Tenseiga's sheath in her hands.

For a moment, everyone in the hall just stared.

:

The shriek of "THREE," followed by the pound of feet like an approaching herd of rhinoceros, were the only warnings before Souta's bedroom door snapped free of its feeble doorknob lock and flung open with an incredible blast. Souta and Kohaku burst in first, grunting and rubbing their shoulders as they collided with the bed. Acting fast, Kagome leaned in and caught the door before it swung shut again, bouncing back on its hinges. Sango pushed against her from behind, and suddenly everyone caught sight of Inuyasha and someone, bloody and tumbling over each other, Inuyasha raining blows down on the stranger's face.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shrieked in shock at the sight of the disaster around them, and automatically, Inuyasha's attention was broken as he looked up.

In that moment of distraction, the person under Inuyasha growled and yanked downward on his assailant's collar to attack with a headbutt. A loud thwack emitted by their hard skulls cracking together before both men groaned in painful regret at the move.

Kagome ran to her husband's side for the moment he was dizzied and immediately began pushing him aside just in time, for a second later, the young woman from the hall was crouched defensively over Sesshomaru, holding the sheathed Tenseiga in between them like a warding spell.

"Leave him alone! I won't let you kill him!" she shouted.

"Rin?" Sango asked in confusion, as she steadied herself against Souta's bed, and Kohaku reflexively stretched himself in front of her in defense. "If that's Rin, then who…" the demon slayer started to ask the question on everyone's mind, when she suddenly noticed her husband slumped behind the smashed door, eyes spinning with stars. "MIROKU!" she cried forgetting everything else and dragging Kohaku over to help her check his condition.

"My room…" Souta sulked sadly in the background.

"Is it… Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked in confusion, helping her husband up, when suddenly Inuyasha sprang up and shoved her with a shocked "Eep!" behind him.

"Yeah- Stay behind me, Kagome!" he snapped, barring his teeth, a reaction left over from more than a century of semi-animal instinct.

"You better stay away, too!" Rin threatened boldly, still holding up Tenseiga.

"Rin, move," Sesshomaru snarled, finally regaining himself.

"NO!" she yelled, sounding angrier at him than anyone else.

"Get out of the way, Rin!" the weird human Sesshomaru shouted once again in front of everyone.

"I won't let you do this!" she replied, turning her back on Inuyasha and Kagome for a moment.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed, not expecting his move, as he sprung in Rin's direction in her moment of distraction. Realizing it, the girl screamed too and stumbled backward toward Sesshomaru, who rolling forward masterfully, swept her aside with his left arm and made to pull Tenseiga free of its sheath with his right.

It was unclear, what Sesshomaru planned to do next with Tenseiga— the sword that could not cut, even if he willed it. For almost forgotten among all the chaos, Souta had torn from its outlet the cord of the heavy antique AM/FM radio that sat on his bedside dresser. It was the last piece of electrical equipment not yet damaged in the room. Striding calmly up behind Sesshomaru, he plunged it deftly over the back of his head.

With a deafening crack of heavy plastic on bone, everything was over in an instant.

:::

Note: Oh. My. Goodness. This chapter is finally done!

Don't get me wrong, if I sound relieved, I had fun writing it, but I feel like this chapter took me FOREVERRRRRRR to put together! Finally, I just dropped almost everything I could for the past day – I couldn't take it – it had to be finished. XD

Anyway, lots of love to my dear reviewers, followers, and favoriters ~ With the last chapter, I started trying to send thank you replies to those of you who added this story or me to their watch lists ~ I really appreciate your support, and I want you to know! I'll try to keep this up with your responses to this chapter too. I especially want to do this, as I know that it's taking me a lot longer to find sustained time to write these days, making posts a lot longer in coming. I want you all to know I'm still here, fightin' and writin'! Hugs ~ Origaimikungfu.