Konnichiwa! This is my first Inuyasha fic so please be easy on it. If you want to flame, i won't mind and i will appreciate if people alert me of grammatical errors (besides my own talkin like this... ehehe..) anyhoo, i'm trying this story on a whim so bare with me if i make mistakes. I like both pairing of I/K and S/K which is very weird but SO WHAT! ^^; Oh! I've only read up to the 28th book of Inuyasha and i haven't even seen the series so i might make some things OOC so gomen about that! this fic most likely won't have any original characters that practically take up the whole story but minor ones will probably exist... OKAY! let's continue with the story, ne?

Let Your Heart Speak

"Lord of all I survey," mused Sesshoumaru to himself as he gazed out his window to look at the land around the notorious Castle of the Western Lands. The sun was setting, throwing a bloodred glow across everything. It seemed to be particularly appropriate. Below him, Sesshoumaru could see the jutting stones of the demon gate that guarded the approach to his castle. Cold, hard stone, matching the cold, hard feelings in his own heart.

"And is it worth it?" he asked himself.

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Ch.1 - Lord of the Western Lands

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Rin approached Sesshoumaru's room and opened the door. The demon quickly turned to the door with a smoothness that hid his expression of his apprehensive thoughts.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Rin bored!" the girl whined.

His eyes slightly softened and Rin bounded over to him, sitting by him and brushing her small hand through his silky silvery hair. Sesshoumaru's eyes focused on nothing as Rin hummed happily and, for a few moments, the dog youkai that was feared by all the lands was content.

That ended when Sesshoumaru heard the steps of Jaken coming towards his room. The demon got up and opened the door. The toad-like youkai looked up at his lord in panic.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! The castle is under attack!"

*Kaede's Home*

Kagome sighed softly as she laid on her back and stared up at the stars. It was after a normal dinner, Miroku had harassed Sango again and she smacked him again while Shippo was threatened by Inuyasha until she said the magic word. Inuyasha then scowled and stormed out of the room, leaving the group to themselves.

She was now by herself, Shippo asleep and Miroku and Sango helping Kaede with a small potion that would help a nearby town with their illness. She had not interrupted them for she knew that all she could do was be a shard detector. A stupid shard detector, that's all I am... she thought bitterly.

The stars gleamed a little less brightly as tears blurred her vision. It was now like any other night with Kagome silently crying out her heart as she mourned her uncertain unrequited love. What made it uncertain was that at times, Inuyasha seemed to be actually worried about her, almost concerned for her own being, not the shards.

Then, there was Kikyo. Inuyasha still loved her, Kagome knew that, and Kikyo loved him, in some weird homicidal way. Kagome really didn't like the miko after the incident where Kikyo bound her to a tree to watch while she dragged Inuyasha to hell. That wasn't very nice in her opinion but at times she wished she could let Inuyasha to be happy with Kikyo in hell.

Another sigh escaped from her and Kagome gently closed her eyes. She listened to the sounds of the forest before remembering to wash her face to hide the evidence of her tears. She groaned as her muscles refused to function properly again and finally stood up. Stepping between trees, she walked to her favorite lake.

When Kagome reached the edge of the water, she knelt down and scooped up some of the refreshing liquid that was as clear as glass. She splashed it on her face and soon her swollen red eyes had returned to normal. She dried her face with her hankie that she carried in her pocket and sat back to draw her legs up to her chin.

She stared into the water at her own reflection. The girl still couldn't see the similarity between herself and Kikyo. Sure, they both had ebony black hair and stormy dark gray-blue eyes but there were a bunch of girls like that in her world... not that she had seen any.

She got up and wiped off the imaginary dirt from her skirt and turned to walk back to the house when whispers reached her ears. She turned towards the sound and quietly walked towards it. The whispers got louder when she reached a bush and peered through it. The moon became hidden behind the clouds and she couldn't see anything but shadows of the figures.

"You shouldn't be here," a male voice whispered that sounded like Inuyasha.

"I can't help it." the other replied.

The other figure that was obviously a woman closed the gap between them and kissed the man passionately. A rift of the moonlight escaped the clouds and revealed Inuyasha and Kikyo kissing.

The tears returned and Kagome bit her lower lip to not cry out as her heart shattered into pieces. She wanted to turn and run away to kill herself but her eyes stayed glued on the couple.

"I still love you, even though you've changed." Kikyo said breathlessly.

Kagome awaited his response.

"I know." was all he said before he pulled her close and kissed the miko deeply.

That disintegrated the last shard of her heart and Kagome tore away from the scene. The wind roughly burned the tears on her face and she couldn't take it anymore. She went to her room through the window and packed everything in her backpack. As she put her foot on the windowsill, a small voice whispered,

"Kagome-chan. Are you going to leave me?"

Kagome froze and turned around slowly and there stood Shippo who looked incredibly vulnerable. I-I can't leave him, nor can I leave Miroku or Sango... she thought painfully.

She stepped back down and kneeled to let Shippo run into her arms and hug her tightly. The backpack fell to the floor and for the rest of the night, Kagome held the young fox in her arms.

*Back at the castle*

Smoke. That was one of the smells that overrode his senses. He felt himself suffocating but tried to block it out as he killed another. In less than a second, he charged another and killed him with his poisonous claws. Pandemonium was occurring in his castle and he didn't even know why.

Sesshoumaru ruled the lands with a tight but fair law system. The humans were treated fairly, no matter how much he hated them and the youkai were kept under control. Yet, man and youkai alike came here to burn his home and try to kill him. The same thing happened again and again with each of his victims. They died but in a short time, making their death not that painful.

A scream reached his ears and he immediately ran to the sound. Rin.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken yelled but the lord could not hear him. For once, his heart got the best of him and he ran through the burning door to find Rin trapped by two youkai.

Some of her hair was burnt by the fire and her arms were marked with cuts and blood. She stared at him with hope and he killed the two youkai that didn't even know he was there. He quickly picked up the trembling child and ran out of the castle. The smell of burning flesh and blood reached him as he looked out to see hundreds of bodies littered on the ground.

Then, a few servants came up to Sesshoumaru and helped him and Rin with their wounds. Jaken came running.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Are you all right? I can't believe this happened, people and youkai alike were attacking our castle for no reason!" he said.

The dog demon hid his distaste for the scent and passively looked at the damage done.

"They were possessed. All of the ones I fought had black insane eyes until the moment they died." he replied.

Jaken panicked.

"Possessed?! But who in the world would do that?"

Sesshoumaru glared at the sky that was quickly turning from bloodred to midnight blue.

"Naraku."

*The Next Morning*

Kagome woke up with a yawn and saw that Shippo was still fast asleep in her arms. She slipped him onto the bed and walked towards the kitchen. No noises or smacks or voices came from it and Kagome worried. She quickly opened the door to see Kaede, Miroku, and Sango staring silently at...

Kikyo...