It was a joke! InuYasha stumbled back, gaping at the doctor, up against the wall. Slowly, the hanyou's eye's traced the room, looking left and right for the signs of merriment and laughter at his own gullibility.
It had to be a joke! Souta was crying. The three girls were holding each other, trying to hold back their tears. The odd boy called Hojo looked like he was about to pass out. Kagome's mother was covering her face with her hands, and her grandpa was having difficulty even breathing. There was only a single smile in the entire room: Kagome's. A sad, forlorn, bitter smile, yet a calm one, full of thought and acceptance. The hanyou faced her in horror. She didn't look away from his gaze, and continued to look at him with her sad eyes and hopeless smile. The hanyou stumbled out of the room, and faced the place where he had waited, his head bowed. It wasn't a joke.
IT WASN'T A JOKE! The hanyou stumbled to his knees, supporting himself on a nearby chair. Why? Why? The other waiters in the room were staring at him, but he payed him no mind. Shakily, he rose to his feet, and wandered over to a corner table, staring at a lamp.
It was a beautiful lamp. It had one of those fancy lights that worked without flame, and was hidden behind a brightly colored glass so that it would cast pretty shadows all over the room. It was a very beautiful lamp, all the way up to when it left the hanyou's hand and smashed into the opposite wall in a shower of perfect, multicolored, glass teardrops.
The other waiters in the room screamed in panic, and struggled to get out as InuYasha became a red blur, and the rest of the chairs and tables in the room were turned to kindling in a matter of seconds. With all the room's furniture scrapped, InuYasha dashed out of the room, looking for more things to destroy. Anyone unfortunate enough to get in the hanyou's way was thrown roughly aside, and any unfortunate piece of the building that happened to be located in an inconvenient position was promptly relocated to several different locations.
By the time InuYasha lepta through the swinging glass doors, scattering them in different directions, there was a large crowd in front of the hospital. InuYasha didn't even pause to regard them, but leapt over them into the darkness and disappeared.
Form up above in her room, Kagome looked down at the chaos ensuing the hanyou's rampage with sadness. "InuYasha…" She murmured, pleading for him to come back.
~~
InuYasha burst from the well hurtling into the sky, dimly, he caught the scent of Miroku. He looked down and saw the monk standing next to the well. Waiting right next to him were Sango and Shippo. He dropped back to earth in a slow arc, landing behind them. They turned to face him expectantly. "Well, InuYasha?" Miroku asked. "Where is Kagome?"
InuYasha's eyes flared open in rage. KAGOME! The hanyou was on miroku before the monk could realize it, and a single punch to the nose knocked him halfway across the clearing. Sango looked at him confusedly. "What happened?" She asked. Two rock solid fists descended on her savagely, and the demon slayer crumpled like a leaf in a fire. Shippo looked innocently up at InuYasha.
"What's going on?" He asked, fear thick in his voice. InuYasha glared down at him, his eyes starting to take on a red tinge. Shippo gasped in fear, and stumbled backwards. The hanyou snorted at him, then sprinted out of the clearing like a flash of red lightning.
InuYasha tore through the trees at breakneck speed. Any tree that got in his way was quickly ripped in half, and didn't even put a dent in the speeding beast. InuYasha was following the only thing he could think of at the moment: Kagome's scent. But, he was following it backwards; back to where this all began.
InuYasha arrived at the charred clearing in a mere few minutes, and whipped out Tetsusaiga. "ATMA!" He roared at the top of his lungs. "WHERE ARE YOU!"
As if in a magical response, there were footsteps behind him. InuYasha whipped around, only to find himself starring at the back of a white, regal outfit, and a long, white, fluffy trailing boa.
Sesshoumaru turned to him and starred at him with an expressionless, regal face. "I knew you would-" Whatever the aristocrat was about to say was cut off as InuYasha's claws squarely embedded themselves into his chest. Sesshoumaru's normally impassive face was suddenly contorted in pain. The noble youkai's shoulder guard fell to dust.
Sesshoumaru almost negligently grabbed his half-brother's arm, recovering from the pain instantly. "Well, well, brother," He hissed, for once in his encounters with InuYasha showing a slight sign of anger. "It seems you have improved you're skills recently." He hissed. With that, he wrenched the arm out of his chest, and swung InuYasha away. "However, I don't want to fight you while you're like this." He said, resuming his emotionless expression.
"Well, to bad!" InuYasha yelled at him, exceeding even his normal volume. The raging hanyou charged at him again, but now Sesshoumaru was ready. The noble seemed not to move at all, but merely appeared on the other side of the clearing.
"You are still very slow, InuYasha." He remarked. "However, I want to fight you as a full youkai." He said, pausing slightly for dramatic effect. The effect was lost on InuYasha. Almost as soon as the words had left his half brothers mouth, Tetsusaiga had flown to the opposite end of the clearing.
"You little bastard!" InuYasha hissed as his claws steadily got longer. "I'll rip you to shreds!"
Sesshoumaru watched with interest as his half brother went through his transformation. His claws and fangs grew longer, and his eyes started to glow even brighter red. His ears and hair seemed to bristle, and get wilder and more savage. Long stripes climbed up his cheeks, and a low growl started in his throat. For a brief second, Sesshoumaru felt taken aback at the sheer hatred and anger that literally poured from the now youkai. InuYasha rose halfway out of his crouch, full of bloodlust, and full intent on killing the youkai in front of him.
Then, InuYasha started to do something totally unexpected. He laughed. A horrible, shrieking, laughter that promised of spilled blood. Sesshoumaru felt a brief shock as a cold sensation ran down his spine. Was this feeling fear?
Before he could consider the feeling any more, InuYasha was on him. The hanyou-gone youkai was no longer even thinking, but was merely fighting with his instincts: act then react.
InuYasha dropped down out of the air at Sesshoumaru like a giant bird of prey. Sesshoumaru barely managed to dodge the slash in time, then found his feet take out from under him as InuYasha's claws flashed under him. The noble youkai landed on his back, and pushed backwards with his feet, narrowly avoiding getting his lead taken off. This was not how this was supposed to happen! How could InuYasha have gotten so powerful, even if he suddenly became full youkai? It was as if he was possessed by something even more powerful!
All Sesshoumaru's thoughts, however, were being handled by his subconscious. All his real thoughts, however, where on staying alive. No matter what he did, Sesshoumaru couldn't get at InuYasha. He fired his whip out, InuYasha managed to contort himself around it, and keep on hurtling at him. If he dashed forward, InuYasha flashed behind him. The hanyou was untouchable, and all the while his insane, haunting laughter rang out, echoing through the trees and over the darkened horizon.
InuYasha continued to batter away at his half brother, slashing at the aristocrat's defense, boiling red waves radiating from his claws. Then, in a last ditch effort, Sesshoumaru reached behind him, and hurled his fluffy boa at the unsuspecting hanyou. The soft white mass wrapped around InuYasha several times, and proved to be very strong… but it fell to pieces in seconds. Sesshoumaru starred at the hanyou, his expression still somehow monotone, but underneath his mind was calculating and re-calculating.
All the thought, however, turned out to be in naught, as InuYasha ripped out of the last section of Boa and came hurtling at him like an unearthly beast, his eyes, claws, and clothes creating red blurs in the air. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed, and came to only one solution: he braced himself for the final blow.
But the blow never came. There was a high scream, and something dashed out of the woods at InuYasha. Sesshoumaru's eyes widened as he saw the little girl, Rin, throw herself heedlessly in front of InuYasha, arms wide, and feet firmly planted. Time slowed down as InuYasha hurtled towards the young woman. As InuYasha's claws raced towards her stomach, something snapped in Sesshoumaru. There was a white blur, and Sesshoumaru was on his feet, and racing with InuYasha towards the girl.
But, he wasn't quite fast enough: Rin's scream pierced the night sky.
A split second later, Sesshoumaru's whip smashed InuYasha away from Rin. The girl, however, was completely unharmed, albeit very pale, and shaking. Sesshoumaru glanced at her, saw she was alright, then turned to InuYasha. The hanyou was once again just that: a hanyou. His eyes were back to a cool amber, and his claws were back to their normal size. He was trembling all over.
That girl's expression. It had been just like the one that had been burned into his memory as Atma had struck Kagome. A mix of pain and betrayal, and shock at having a protector fail. "I couldn't get there in time." He gasped, feeling pain and guilt well up in his chest. Sesshoumaru perked an eyebrow, but said nothing, staying on guard. "It's my fault." The hanyou stammered. "I made her run back." One clawed fist slammed into the ground. "I couldn't get there in time." He said.
So that's what is happening Sesshoumaru realized. His little human companion was wounded in the fight, and now she will die. Nothing happened on Sesshoumaru's face.
Slowly, an idea began to form in InuYasha's pain fogged brain. He looked up at Sesshoumaru, and pointed across the clearing at Tetsusaiga. "Take it." He said, almost pleading. "Do whatever you want." His voice was gravely, and had a desperate twinge. "Just leave Tensaiga here." He said.
Sesshoumaru looked at his half brother almost in pity. Looking down at Rin, he could almost feel what the hanyou felt. He looked back up. "I cannot." He said.
InuYasha's expression sank into disbelief. "Wha?" He said.
Sesshoumaru came as close to a smile as InuYasha had ever seen, and looked up from the odd human that stood at his side. "I find that Tensaiga is much more valuable than a hundred Tetsusaigas." He said, drawing the girl slightly closer to him. "And most certainly I cannot go against Atma. I would kill myself, and Rin." He said, glancing down at the girl again. The girl squished closer to him in response.
InuYasha's eyes took note. Is he actually protecting a human?
Sesshoumaru looked at him evenly. "However, there is one who would dare to defy Atma without a second thought." He said. "She should have plenty of power to help you're woman." He said. InuYasha flinched at the word "Woman," but said nothing.
Sesshoumaru turned to leave. "Make no mistake, InuYasha." He said over his shoulder. "I will kill you." He started to leave, taking the girl with him. His voice rang out from the trees. "But until then, seek out Vadise."
