Disclaimer: Nope. Never did, never will, unless I happen to win the lottery someday.

AN: Yep, another late update, but things have been hectic lately. Besides, I couldn't resist the chance to draw… heh. But some of you are writers, you understand, right? I'll try to get back on schedule as soon as thing cool down. And the voting's over, A won by a landslide (9, give or take, against a 2 and a 0). Well, hope you like the chapter!

Icari
Chapter 25

 "Well, why not?" Rin brushed her fingers through her mate's hair and moved so that she could sit in his arms. They had gone on a walk together for a bit before she had asked him to sit down and told him about her plan, which is flatly refused. "Don't forget Sesshomaru, you were the only one who had asked her to find a mate."

 "I didn't ask, I suggested, and my mind has changed since then."

 "Big brother instinct… lucky I never had a big brother to do this for me." It had been four days since the little incidents the led her to make her little scheme, and they had just fought one of Naraku's puppets, a little high on the mountain. It had been worth it though; the ranges were blessed with an amazing view of the sunsets.

 "Rin… I still don't approve of Yasuo and Icari." When he had said her name, it seemed like he was about to tell her something, but his tone changed from a soft to cold. He was hiding something.

 "You… it's not that you dislike him, Sesshomaru, but… you're hesitant on about something. It'd be easier if you just told me…" She turned so that she could face him, and sat with her knees tucked under her. Rin stroked the youkai's face as he watched her for a second.

 "I… just don't know what would happen to their pup… it would be scorned… they're different species…" Wrong move. The next second, Rin was walking back to the campsite, already a few feet away from him. Momentarily stunned, Sesshomaru could only watch until she disappeared into the thick trees, then he went after her.

 "Rin! Rin, wha-"

 Turning on her foot, Rin glared angrily back at Sesshomaru, her eyes piercing at him. She opened her mouth, as if to speak, but decided against it, and turned again to stalk back to the campsite. A clawed hand stopped her though, and she was turned around to face the inu-youkai.

 "What?" Two golden eyes met two furious brown ones as he asked her that question. He flinched at the look she was giving him; it was one he hadn't seen on her face before, young or older.

 "You do realize what you just said, right?" Sesshomaru nodded.  "Did you even think about what you said? Sesshomaru… you said that Yasuo and Icari's child would be an outcast…" She stepped closer to him now, and tears started to leak through her eyelids. For a moment, Sesshomaru thought she was going to hug him, but both of her hands pushed themselves against his chest, making him step backwards.

 "Did you realize that, despite a few differences, their plight would be exactly like ours? Our child would be a hanyou, just like your brother, and your sister's child would be half water and half dog. They'll all be alike, Sesshomaru, and if you don't want that for your niece or nephew…" She turned her gaze to the ground, and held a hand up to her chest, tears flowing freely down her cheeks now. This time, when she spoke, it was softer. "Then, I don't think you would want your child to be like that.

 "It's been bothering for a while now… you can't stand your brother because he's a half demon… and you still can't, yet our child would be the same… Sesshomaru," her voice strengthened, though her eyes still leaked, "I'm sorry. And I'm going to try to get your sister to choose Yasuo."

And with that, she walked away.

 "Harsh." Sesshomaru growled as the once ignored scent of his brother suddenly hit him full force. "Don't growl at me, at least it wasn't Icari that came." Inuyasha leaned up against a tree casually while he watched his older brother.

 "Why are you here, halfling?" His response was an arrogant "keh!" and the said hanyou pushing himself away from the tree.

 "I guess that means you won't try and get her back. And to answer your question, my ears seem to be more prone to certain words, and I heard Hanyou and Half-demon too many times coming from you guys. And you do realize that when I said 'harsh', I was referring to what she had to go through?" Inuyasha jerked a clawed thumb to Rin's direction.

 "Fuck. Off." Sesshomaru hissed through his teeth. The smaller of the two grunted.

 "Icari and me were talking. She told me that we had to stick together. Our parents may still be watching us, but we're still alone in the real world. It's just the three of us left, out of all six… she wants you to know that." He left too, leaving the youkai prince alone.

 Sesshomaru watched the disappearing red on his brother's haori. A small, quiet phrase flitted through his mind, and he smirked at the irony that it held. His father had uttered it, as his dying words.

 Sesshomaru, I'm counting on you to learn to protect your brother.

*~*~*~*~*

 "Rin! Gods, Rin, what happened!?" Everyone turned as Icari called out the girl's name, and ran to her, eager to learn what was bothering her. Tears ran freely down the girl's cheeks, wetting bits of her kimono.

 "Oh Icari-sama! Your brother and I, we had a fight and…" She lifted her right hand to sweep away any remaining tears, but more came to take their place. "Icari…" Her tears turned into soft hiccups, but she still didn't say anything about what happened. Everyone stared as she ran into the older youkai's arms, the one that had almost become her sister.

 "Shush, honey. Calm down and tell me what happened."

 "Okay everyone, back up, give them some air." Kagome stood up from her kneeling position and began to usher the crowd away. No sooner had she walked out of reaching distance, two dark swirls of clouds came down and surrounded the two women. Everyone started, but kept still to wait and see what they were up against.

 The dark cloudy forms disappeared and two other woman stood, both clutching to Icari and Rin. They struggled frantically while Kagura clutched the youkai by her throat while Kanna kept a firm grip on the human. Kagura smirked.

 "Thank you so much for making this easy." Hundreds of demons barged in right then and headed straight for the group, grabbing Kagome and Sango. The demons holding on to the girls joined the demon woman as the others held everyone else back.

 "Argh! Let them go! Just-" Inuyasha's face made a horrid cracking noise as a demon hit him on the head. Kagura smirked again, and looked at the four girls held captive before giving Icari a glance. Red marks ran down her arm where Icari's claws had scratched at uselessly.

 "My, what a lovely bunch… Naraku has many plans for them. And you, the water demon…" Yasuo snapped his head up as she addressed him and snarled, seeing Icari straining for freedom in her arm. "Such a shame, really. You and I really are special; elemental demons are so rare. I would've liked to get to know you…"

 "Why you little- auguk!" Yasuo was held back as he tried to lunge at the woman, and was beat down to the ground. He heard Icari call his name along with a few gasps from the others, but stayed down. Something was wrong, he couldn't move.

 "I'll just take these…" Kagura picked the talismans out of each demon's robes, but made a face when she realized Sesshomaru wasn't here. "We'll have to get it later." They all nodded, and the gust of wind came again, lifting the four captors in the air, and the other demons slammed the rest of them into the ground before taking off.

They didn't get far, however, because Inuyasha had his Tetsuseiga out in a moment and had done the winds scar attack, killing them all instantly, before looking up to see where the others had gone. They were nothing but small dots in the sky.

Rin watched in horror as the figures on the ground disappeared, and she flew higher into the air. As they flew, she tried to remember all the landmarks around them, for future use, like Sesshomaru had told her to once. The demon's, Kanna's, hand slipped for a bit, freeing Rin's mouth. It was her one chance to yell, for anything.

 "Sesshomaru!"

His name hit his ears, and he noted that it was Rin, from far away. Something had happened to her, but he knew that he wouldn't catch up in time, so instead headed back to the campsite, to see what had happened. He should've never left her alone.

 "Inuyasha! What happened!?" A few more leaps and he was at the campsite, but the fire was out, Inuyasha stood there, Tetsusaiga out and severely disheveled. Moreover, he was looking at him as if he'd seen a ghost.

 "Y-you called me by my first name…" Then he averted his eyes and stared up into the sky, in the direction he had heard Rin call his name before collapsing onto the ground. Sesshomaru caught him and looked around. The women were all gone, Yasuo and the monk resembled piles of fabric sitting there, stupefied, and the kitsune was moping around. Jaken was stuttering as he watched the sky.

 "Jaken! What happened here?" The toad thing looked at him, his eyes wide as he did.

 "L- Lord Sesshomaru! The demons K-Kagura and K-Kanna have taken L-Lady Rin!"  His eyes slit as he surveyed the scene, silently asking another question. "Yes, Milord, they have taken your sister and the other two human girls as well."

 "Jaken, help me make these people rest. We're going to find Naraku in the morning."

 "But, Sire! Why not go right now and leave these weaklings behind?" Closing his eyes, Sesshomaru drew in his breath, and mentally stamped down the last of his dignity and ego.

 "This, 'weakling' is my brother, and I have to act like it. And these 'weaklings' have defeated a lot in the years. We will be needing their help for this." He turned and left to tend to Inuyasha, leaving Jaken to gap for a few moments before turning to aid the others.

*~*~*~*~*
Sorry for the crappy chapter! I've been a bit out of it, never mind the homework and work around the house, so now I can't really concentrate on the story. I'll try and get another chapter out tomorrow as a make up chapter for making you all wait. And don't go telling me that I don't need to worry about this because this is as much for me as it is for you. How? I'm trying to get this story done by February, so quick updates, and I'm trying to learn a thing or two about punctuation. ^^ Anyways, as a small reminder, The polls are now closed and A won.