This fanfic ignores the events of episode 79 of the anime. It was filler anyways. Most notes and review responses can be found at the end of this chapter – thanks for all your support!

"Please?"

"No, m'lord, I cannot."

"But Jaaaaaken…"

Jaken sighed, looking over his charges wearily. Two round, honest faces peered up at him expectantly--so of course he was instantly distrustful. Big, shimmering puppy eyes never meant anything good, and two sets of them were even worse. What on earth is the young master up to? the toad wondered, feeling vaguely uneasy. Especially with that sorry excuse of a hanyou!

"You know Dad's been telling us to practice!" Sesshoumaru continued in that wheedling tone only a ten year old can produce. Jaken gripped his staff harder and fought the impulse to smack the brat with it.

"I really don't think it's appropriate." he finally stated. And it probably wasn't. The young master might be his social better, but he was three hundred years older and probably wiser. And it just wasn't right to turn kids loose with summoning spells if he didn't have the time (or the energy) to supervise them!

Besides, what could they possibly do with a couple hundred frog sprites?

"I was just gonna teach the hanyou how to do the ol' Roll and Slash attack!" Sesshoumaru offered helpfully, anticipating his guardian's misgivings.

"But I already know that one—" Inuyasha protested.

"Shut up!" Sesshoumaru hissed and elbowed his brother hard. "And I could use some practice too, right?" The full demon grinned toothily, letting Jaken see his nice, new, and SHARP adult fangs. The kappa swallowed hard.

"They'll be no match for you, m'lord…" Jaken whimpered.

"Then give us lots of 'em!" Inuyasha chimed in, throwing his arms wide. "Lots and lots!"

Two sets of puppy eyes turned to him.

"All right, young masters…" Jaken ground out wearily. He was going to hear about this, he just knew it. Still, if it would buy him an hour's peace and quiet…

"Stand back!" the retainer announced dramatically, straightening his cap and sticking his chest out. "I, Jaken, am about to perform the Ancient and Dangerous Summoning rite of…"

"Oh bloody hell! Just get on with it!" Sesshoumaru scowled. Inuyasha darted forward and gave the toad a kick for good measure.

Ungrateful little whelps…! Jaken huffed, reaching deep into his coarse brown sleeves. They think they're so damn smart…

"Hiiiiyaaaa!!!" the toad shrieked, whipping the scroll out with a flourish. The air shimmered with energy, sending ribbons of power shooting toward Jaken's fingertips. The ground itself began to vibrate and the summoning scroll flickered in complement, struggling to jump free of the kappa's grasp not unlike a very large and very aggravated toad. Sweat was beading on Jaken's wrinkled green forehead…then, without warning, he released it. The puppies jumped back instinctively, eyes glued on the glowing paper.

…which fluttered gently to the ground and lay still. Slowly, a line of murky-brown ink crawled up the side of the page and flowered into a strange design. The energy faded.

"Is it dead yet?" Inuyasha asked cautiously, sniffing the air.

"Some spell that was!" Sesshoumaru complained. "It didn't even set itself on fire!"

"Or blow up!" Inuyasha added. "Or turn anybody funny colors!"

"Hey! I told you not to talk about that!"

"Kids these days…" Jaken muttered, slightly annoyed. "In my day, people could appreciate craftmanship! Look at those runes! Look at that symmetry! Perfect execution, if I do say so myself! "

"I don't see nothing…" Inuyasha sniffed again. "And it smells like dead fish."

"Idiot hanyou!" the toad snapped, and picked the paper up by one corner. "BEHOLD!" He flicked the charm once, and the runes writhed under their two-dimensional constraints. There was a rush of warm energy, and a small, red-striped toad appeared at his feet.

"That's it?" Inuyasha asked. "It's so…lame."

The sprite did not look amused.

"EEK!" Inuyasha squealed as a nasty spat of…something…shot out of the creature's mouth and barely missed his foot. "EW! Frog boogers!" the hanyou yelped, ears flat back against his head. Behind him, the grass was sizzling.

"Whoa…" Sesshoumaru poked the "booger" with a stick. "What is it?" he asked as the stick began melting.

"Now, young masters…" Jaken began. "You may be worried, but let me assure you that this acid is completely harmless to demons in small doses, although it may sting a little. It will eat at cloth and other natural materials though, so you must take care to—"

"Yeah yeah!" Sesshoumaru sniffed. "So don't use it the house. Yeah, we know."

"That wasn't what I was getting at--!" Jaken grumbled, and visibly forced himself to calm down. They're only puppies…they don't understand how annoying they are… "Now, as for your target practice…" the old toad turned toward Inuyasha and gave the puppy a wide-lipped grin. He tapped the scroll against his palm and the frog minion swiveled about dutifully.

"Hwark." it said menacingly, and spat a short stream of gunk at Inuyasha.

"Not more boogers!" Inuyasha squealed. He lifted his leg in a panic and hopped backwards away from the sprite, which was advancing on him menacingly. The grass behind him was slowly turning black.

"Now see here!" Sesshoumaru barked and snatched the scroll from Jaken. "You can't do that!"

"Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha grinned, eyes shining with hero-worship. His big brother was standing up for him!

"I wanna hit him!"

"Hey!"

"Sic 'em!" Sesshoumaru yelled, pointing at his brother. The sprite blinked.

Nothing happened.

"I was talking to YOU, stupid!" Sesshoumaru snapped, squatting down to stare at the toad sprite. Its beady little eyes swiveled around before fixating on a particularly interesting fly. "Dammit! Do something!" the dog demon growled, nudging the frog with his foot.

"HWARK!" the frog squawked indignantly, and spat slime at Sesshoumaru's toes. Its pink tongue flicked out and plucked a mosquito out of the air.

"Oi, Jaken…" Sesshoumaru growled, lifting the little retainer up by his collar. "What's wrong with it?"

"N-n-nothing, my lord!" Jaken whimpered, struggling his way out of the puppy's grasp. "It's just that one needs the proper concentration to control them. Here, watch." he instructed, laying one scaly hand over Sesshoumaru's delicate fingers.

"See? You direct it with your ki." Jaken instructed, feeding a bit of energy into the spell. The frog began moving in lazy circles.

"No, I want it to go this way!" the puppy growled, tugging at the scroll. The frog sprite darted right. "Faster! No, slower!" Sesshoumaru ordered, sending a long stream of energy into the spell. "Do a backflip!"

"My lord…" Jaken warned. "You have to do it slower, the construct can't take too much magic at once!" Unfortunately, his pleas fell on predictably deaf ears.

"Right! No, left! Attack Jaken—no, Inuyasha! Yeah, sic 'em—"

The frog stopped mid-hop and hiccuped, vibrating intensely. "Hwark!" it coughed loudly.

"Uh-oh…" Jaken yelped. "Young master, drop that right—"

"Attack!" Sesshoumaru shouted gleefully, pointing at Inuyasha. The scroll sung with energy, and the frog rotated in place.

"No!!" Jaken screeched, just before the minion landed. It exploded right in front of Inuyasha's bare foot, showering the ground with ropes of twisting black miasma. The grass instantly turned black, withering under thick gobs of bubbling acid. Inuyasha squealed and leaped backwards, trying to avoid the spattering substance. Slowly, he turned his gaze to meet Sesshoumaru's, searching for some kind of reassurance. Eventually, the older boy nodded.

"Cool!" the puppies breathed as one.

"A-as you can see," Jaken began shakily. "The basic poison frog sprite has some, er, design flaws that cause it to dissipate if too much energy is applied to the controlling spell."

"Yeah, gotcha." Sesshoumaru pulled the scroll from Jaken's grasp and waved it around in exaggerated circles as he pressed energy into it. The paper shuddered visibly, and several more frog sprites plopped down onto the grass. They were larger than the one Jaken had created, and their yellow eyes sat directly in front of tiny, curly horns.

"Attack!" Sesshoumaru cried, feeding them energy, and the frog-beasts began haphazardly launching acid at each other, bounding around the lawn.

"Young master..." Jaken began.

"You! Dissipate!" Sesshoumaru commanded the nearest sprite, willing it be so with a burst of energy. The minion exploded dutifully, showering the others with acid. When the toads moved next, many of them left legs behind.

"AWESOME!" Inuyasha cried. "I wanna try!!!"

"Sure! C'mon, go for the fat one!"

And so the boys spent the next several minutes playing nicely for once, taking turns blowing up frogs in a perfect example of brotherly bonding. Jaken found it all very heart-warming, save for their increasing proximity to his master's favorite garden. If they kept wandering in that direction, they'd be right in the middle of the rose beds…

"M'lord!" he called urgently. Unfortunately, Sesshoumaru had contracted that temporary deafness so common to children and summoned twelve more spell-beasts instead. They immediately began tearing each other apart in a nearby stand of daffodils. "M'lord!" the retainer screeched, trying to shoo the beasts away from the delicate flowers. The nearest one belched at him by accident, singeing the bottom of his robes. "Hrawk?" it asked, puzzled.

"This rules! Hey, you think we get double points for melting trees?"

"WHAT!?" Jaken screeched. "What are you two trying to pull!?" The puppies ignored him.

"Hrawk!" The frog at his feet replied dutifully. Jaken kicked it.

"Young masters…" Jaken tried. A yew bush went under, caught in the cross-fire between a dozen leaping minions. The scroll roiled in Sesshoumaru's grasp, thrashing as if it were caught in a high wind.

"Ah, er..HEY! Y-you don't want to waste them, do you?" Jaken tried desperately.

"Huh?" Inuyasha asked. Sesshoumaru paused mid-summon, suddenly interested. Half a toad landed heavily behind them, right in the middle of a lilac bush. The flowers crackled and turned black, giving off a nasty burnt-hair smell.

"Regrettably, the spell has its limits." Jaken admitted, secretly thinking that wasn't such a regrettable fact at all. "It may well run out before you get your practice in, if you keep carrying on like this!"

"…oh." the boys sighed. Sesshoumaru waved his hand dismissively and told their current minions to dissipate. They did so immediately, with a loud and satisfactory squelching noise. A few more bushes melted.

"Now, remember, you should start with just a few minions—little ones. Controlling a full-sized frog sprite is a difficult undertaking, which can easily get out of hand…" Jaken turned around and sweat dropped. The puppies were already far in the distance, yapping excitedly about something.

"At least they're out of the gardens…" the retainer sighed, crossing his arms. They'd figure it out, sooner or later, and at least he didn't have to worry about them for a few hours. After all, how much trouble could they possibly get into?

Don't answer that! he told himself firmly, and scurried off to see about repairing the garden before his master came outside for a walk.

"Sweet!" Inuyasha exclaimed, jogging alongside his older brother. "These things are awesome!"

"I told you he'd do it!" Sesshoumaru replied haughtily. "I am his master, after all."

"No, you're not!" Inuyasha huffed. "Dad is!"

"Well, I will be, someday! That counts!" Sesshoumaru retorted. Actually, he wasn't sure if that did or not, considering his mother would probably have some Words about that—she didn't like him hanging around Jaken very much. Somewhere in the back of his head, he realized it was probably for reasons just like the one in his hand right now…

The power. Sesshoumaru smirked, turning the scroll over and over in his hands. Oh, the raw power of it all…he could feel it throbbing along the sheet, cold as iced lightning--revenge just waiting to happen. And he would have it…oh yes, he would indeed.

"So how we gonna do this?" Inuyasha asked, and Sesshoumaru found himself faintly annoyed. He hadn't thought the whole thing through exactly, but that didn't mean it wouldn't work—right?

"Well…" Sesshoumaru began, trying to gather his thoughts. "These are frog sprites, right?"

"Yeah." Inuyasha replied cautiously, giving his brother a dubious "are you sure you know which side of the tree you're barking up?" look.

"And girls are scared of frogs, right?"

"They are?"

"Sure they are!" Sesshoumaru waved one hand dismissively. "It's like bugs an' spiders and stuff. All girls are scared of 'em!"

Inuyasha nodded. Bugs an' spiders were pretty scary, after all – he'd almost been eaten by the centipede in the cellar last year, until Dad had come and gotten rid of it. (They'd made its legs into play swords.) He still didn't see what made a bunch of toads so scary though, and said so.

Sesshoumaru looked annoyed.

"C'mon!" the full demon snapped. "What's not to hate? Girls like ribbons, and dolls—and—" he paused, trying desperately to think of anything he really knew about girls. "—and, oh, I don't know, butterflies and stuff."

"Like 'fluffy widdle puppies'?" Inuyasha smirked, earning him a fierce nip. "Ow! Hey! Dad said no biting!"

"That was in the house! We're not in the house anymore!" Sesshoumaru huffed, wiping his mouth. "Anyways, girls like cutesy stuff – and toads are real ugly."

"Well, girls do run away from Jaken..." the hanyou offered slowly. He fought the impulse to cover his ears at the memory. The puppy wasn't sure exactly what Jaken had done, but he knew it involved approaching one of the young ladies with a bunch of flowers. "And some of 'em scream a lot!" he added enthusiastically. "That's what we want, isn't it?" But I still dunno if it was Jaken…could of been the flowers. She sure dropped 'em fast.

"Exactly! So all we have to do is make these frogs attack Yasuka!" Sesshoumaru announced triumphantly. It really did seem like a fool-proof plan, although he didn't know how they were going to pull it off; they couldn't go back in the woman's quarters after their last fiasco, and he had the distinct feeling that the frogs didn't do so well on their own. The stupid things had jumped straight through their own poison while fighting, for godssake---and although that was certainly cool, it was definitely not reconnaissance material. He'd just have to find a way to lure the girls out and sic the frogs on them while sitting in a tree or something…

"Ouch!" he yelped as he walked smack into his brother. "What'd you stop for?" he growled, wondering when Inuyasha had pulled ahead of him.

"Check the wind!" Inuyasha barked, sniffing carefully. Sesshoumaru complied, inhaling delicately. Floral smells--many of them--and the personal scents of the girls they'd tangled with earlier…and the unmistakable stench of his nemesis, Yasuka. So they're out picking flowers… If he had a tail in his human form, the demon would be wagging like there was no tomorrow. What better way to scare a pack of girls than a few toads in their bonnets?

"Let's move!" Sesshoumaru yapped gleefully, and Inuyasha nodded, his mind made up.

So if they're out picking flowers…must have been Jaken after all.

"What do you see?" Sesshoumaru whispered down to his brother.

"They're just…sitting there." Inuyasha replied blankly from his vantage point.

"And? How many? What's their offensive?"

"There's…six, seven of 'em. I think they're making flower chains." the hanyou counted, squinting at the top of the hill. "What's an 'offensive'?"

"Oh, for godssake!" Sesshoumaru groaned. The tree rustled, and the full demon dropped gracefully to the ground. "Never send a hanyou to do a youkai's job!" he snorted.

Some distance away, Michiru lifted her head and squinted at the tree line.

"Oh shit!" Sesshoumaru hissed. "Get down!"

"Huh?" Inuyasha began. "I—mmmph!" Sesshoumaru's hand snaked up and yanked him to the ground.

Michiru continued staring directly at the bushes they were hiding in. After a few heart-stopping moments, she shrugged and turned away.

"That was close." Sesshoumaru pronounced. "I don't think they saw us. So, now, that we've verified the Target…" He took a moment to page through his copy of the Art of War. "We move in fast and Slit Their Throats—er, flower baskets!"

He began crawling toward the edge of the tree line.

"Wait, you idiot!" Inuyasha dug his claws into his half-brother's arm. "They're gonna SEE us!"

"No, they aren't!" Sesshoumaru snorted, peering up at the flower hill. "We're camel-flaw-jed." he attempted. "That means that they can't tell we're here, 'cause we blend right in."

"Yeah, yeah." Inuyasha sighed and pushed a prickly leaf away from his sensitive ears. They were supposed to look like trees, but somehow he failed to see the resemblance. He was covered in mud and leaves, right down to his toes, and he absolutely hated the branches threaded through his silky hair. It made him feel nasty all over. And Sesshoumaru – Inuyasha hoped they didn't have to go back inside for a loooong time, because they were going to hear about his brother's uniform. To his credit, Sesshoumaru had had enough sense to take off his fancy outer layers, but that didn't make up for the ruin of his under-robe. It looked like rabid wolverines had been at it.

"Well? Whaddya waitin' for?" Sesshoumaru hissed. "Get moving!"

"Okay…" Inuyasha whimpered, and pressed himself as flat as he could against the ground. The tall grass poked into his nose, and he tried to suppress a whimper.

They crept forward silently, as fast as they dared, dragging themselves by their elbows just like the Art of War told them to. Well, almost. It was kind of hard to actually move using only your elbows, so Inuyasha was cheating a little bit. Well, a lot. He was actually up on his hands and knees crawling, but that shouldn't really matter since they were camel-flaw-jed, right? Besides, the pup noted with a scowl, it wasn't like Sesshoumaru was doing any better. They were nearing the crest of the hill when Sesshoumaru abruptly stopped, and dropped completely flat against the grass.

"Get down!" Sesshoumaru whispered, and thrashed one arm in Inuyasha's direction. His other hand flared out, summoning charm in hand.

"It's showtime…" the full demon whispered, and his fangs glistened when he smiled.

"Oh my, Naoshi!" Michiru called softly from somewhere above them. "You should see what odd weeds we have in this garden!"

"Oh, those little things…" her companion replied. "Funny how they just keep creeping up on us."

"I have half a mind to uproot them, myself!" Michiru laughed, kneeling in front of a pale white wildflower.

"I-I don't think they're so bad." Yasuka murmured softly. She reached down, then blinked slowly as the basket in her arms wriggled and moved.

"Kyaaaaa!"

"Oh man, this is awesome!" Inuyasha howled. Sesshoumaru had produced a pouch of stuffed rice, and they were both sitting back watching the spectacle—the girls were running helter-skelter, meeting boulder-sized toads in every direction. Michiru had initially attempted to make a stand against them, but totally lost her composure when Sesshoumaru had exploded a frog directly against her fancy dress. She was now holding the remains of her robe around her tightly and screaming profanities in every direction. A very impressed Inuyasha was attempting to take notes.

Yasuka streaked by in front of them, completely disheveled. Her elegant court robes were coming undone, and her long bow streamed out behind her like a paper dragon's tail. If she keeps running that fast, she'll jump right outta her clothes! Inuyasha thought. The picture was so funny that he laughed until he snorted a chunk of rice ball up his nose.

Sesshoumaru was enjoying the spectacle too, though he seemed a little preoccupied. Little beads of sweat had broken out on his forehead, and he was struggling to hang on to the summoning scroll. His eyes were darting back and forth between his frog servants wildly, and he was starting to pant.

"Hey, you okay?" Inuyasha asked, poking his brother in the side for good measure.

"What?" Sesshoumaru turned his head briefly, and one of the large frogs swerved mid-hop and almost slammed into Inuyasha. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Yeeeaaugh! Sorry I asked!" the hanyou yelped, side-stepping the confused minion. It was a big sprite, nearly two feet at the shoulder, and it had three spiky horns sticking out of its back.

"Hwark?" it asked, reaching out with a two-inch thick tongue to snatch the hanyou's rice ball.

"Hey! That was mine!!" Inuyasha screamed, and thumped his fists against Three-Horn's broad mouth. It narrowed its red eyes, then lashed out and flipped its tongue around his wrist.

"Help!!!" the alarmed hanyou squealed. "Lemme go!!" Three-Horn pulled harder.

"Aw, for cryin' out loud…" Sesshoumaru sighed. "Hang on, I'll get it to let go."

Sadly, in the meantime, their quarry managed to slip away, as the sprites began losing their focus. Some of them even began chasing each other, having forgotten who exactly their quarry was supposed to be. The girls escaped quickly, some even scrambling on all fours to get away from the menace.

"Your father's hearing about this!" Michiru yelled from the base of the hill, holding the ruins of her court robes around her hips. Inuyasha could barely believe it, but it looked like she was ready to cry, even.

"So?" Sesshoumaru called back, grinning wolfishly. "Whaddya gonna do about it? I'm the prince, lady! And I sez you gotta go home and LEAVE US ALONE!"

Michiru made a strangled sobbing noise, and lashed her ruined robes even tighter around her chest. Then, with eyes blazing, she turned her nose up and raised her voice to the wind.

"Alright, ladies, you heard our almighty prince. We shall retreat to the Women's Quarters, and I shall see to it personally that none of the women go anywhere near His Most Graceous Lordship for THE REST OF HIS NATURAL LIFE!"

She stormed off importantly with the remains of her party in tow, as if she'd somehow won the argument. The brothers waited a moment, then said it as one:

"Yesssss!!!!"

They flopped backwards onto the green, content to be kings of the hill together for just a little while. They had fought, and they had won! Inuyasha couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so good. He didn't even mind the grass in his nose now, though he did have the strong urge to sneeze.

"So, now what?" the hanyou wondered after a few minutes.

"Hrmmm?" Sesshoumaru drolled.

"What does Sun Tzu say you do after you win the battle?"

"Uhh, I dunno. I think you're supposed to party and stuff. With drinks and dancing girls and all."

"Oh." Inuyasha said, and scratched a rock out of his hair. "But how are we supposed to find dancing girls since we just got all of 'em mad?"

"That's not the point, doofus! It's symbolic," Sesshoumaru pronounced. "I bet it's okay if we substitute."

"Hrm." Inuyasha replied. He briefly picture Jaken substituting as a dancing girl, then hurridly decided he had better things to picture. Like Yasuka, running from the frogs. Now THAT was quality entertainment.

"Hwark!" a sprite coughed from somewhere behind them, and a stream of acid came raining down on them. Inuyasha squealed and slapped at his legs as the sharp sting of toxics ate through his clothing.

"Hey!" Sesshoumaru yelped, and jumped to his feet. His skin was rosy where the acid had hit it, though his healing powers were already at work repairing the damage. "Cut that out!"

A large red sprite was staring at them balefully, and acid dribbled out of the side of its mouth. It made a low burbling sound at the back of its throat, then launched another attack.

"What the--? No, stop!" Sesshoumaru growled, focusing some energy into the controlling spell. It seemed to have little effect, though a few other toads turned around and faced away from the boys. "Dammit, which one is it--ow!" he yelped as another burst of acid showered his toes. "What's it doing?!"

"Maybe it's still tryin' to chase the girls." Inuyasha said, earning a withering glare from his brother.

"Excuse me?!"

"You've got long hair. I think it wants to chase you." Inuyasha observed sagely.

"What the--? Okay, idiot. Now, it's time for you to go bye-bye." Sesshoumaru smirked, raising the charm. "Nobody calls me a girl and gets away with it!"

Unfortunately, the red frog didn't seem to agree.

"Hwark!" The frog croaked disapprovingly and lashed its tongue at the puppy, smacking his wrist hard. The paper flew from his hand and floated into the midst of the toads, and disappeared from view.

"Hey!" Sesshoumaru yowled, rubbing his hand. "Give that back, you worthless piece of—"

"Hwark!" Big Red interrupted, and narrowed its eyes.

"What, you're getting fresh with me?!" Sesshoumaru snapped, staring it straight in the eye. "I said, give it back!"

"...hwwwarrk?"

Neither puppy needed a translator to recognize "Oh yeah? Who's gonna make me?"

"Inuyasha…" Sesshoumaru said, taking a step back toward his brother. "Make him give it back."

"I can't!" the hanyou whimpered, slowly coming to the same conclusion his brother had. "Without the charm-thing we can't do much of anything and…uh-oh"

A hundred beady eyes fixed on them, and Sesshoumaru swallowed hard.

"Hwark!" Big Red called out, and squelched one fat forefoot into the ground.

"Hwark." Another echoed.

"Sesshoumaru…" Inuyasha caught his brother's eye.

"Yeah?"

"What do we do now?"

Sesshoumaru didn't need the Art of War to tell him the answer.

"We run."

Inside the eastern apartments, Inutaishou was still attempting to make his books balance, although it was getting increasingly difficult as the day grew brighter. It was so difficult to be a dog inside, he mused, when the day practically begged for him to grab it by the throat and shake it.

"Such a nice day…" he murmured, sipping his tea. Birds singing, leaves rustling, sun shining brightly…so much pleasantness, and right outside his study too! If he only had the time, he might be tempted to go outside and compose a verse on the beauty of it all. But there were books to be balanced, and after that whole fiasco with his wife and main consort…

"Pity." he murmured, and tried his hardest to focus on the accounting.

Two puppies sprinted past his open window, screaming as loud as their winded lungs would allow.

Inutaishou bit into a tea cake.

An endless stream of frog sprites poured after them, spitting acid.

"Hrn. Looks like the boys are having fun." the Western lord said absently, dipping his brush in his tea and taking a big sip of ink.

The frogs thundered after the puppies in an endless stream, making heavy thudding noises that sounded like one of the "elephants" from Dad's bedtime stories.

"How we gonna stop 'em!?" Inuyasha shrieked.

"Keep running before they stop US!" Sesshoumaru replied, vaulting over a hedge.

"Hey, I know! Over here!" Inuyasha squealed, diving through the rose bushes. Sesshoumaru followed suit.

"Get in the water!" Inuyasha yelled, pulling his brother toward the ornamental carp pond.

"What the--they can swim, you idiot!" Sesshoumaru snarled. "That's bees you duck underwater for!"

"Oh, yeah."

"Dammit, now we're trapped!" Sesshoumaru whimpered.

Neither spoke as the toads thundered forward.

"Sesshoumaru?"

"Hrn?"

"I'm sorry I called you Fluffy."

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I filled your pillow with mud."

"What?! You did that!?"

"Oops."

The leader of the frogs hopped forward, the big red one they seen before. "Hwaaaark?" it asked them, opening its wide mouth menacingly. The others rustled in the background making a variety of noises, but none of them sounded good.

This is it. thought Inuyasha despairingly. Here I am, Dead in my Prime, all because of a stupid bunch of girls...well, because we were getting revenge on a stupid bunch of girls and did some stupid stuff, but... If there was a moral in there, it was beyond him. He was too busy watching the slow advance of Big Red, and his second-in-command Three-Horn...

...who was currently wearing a very strange, white hat on his head. Inuyasha squinted, curiosity momentarily overcoming terror. No, it wasn't a hat, it was more like a paper, caught between the thick, stubby horns...

"Look!" Inuyasha squealed joyously, and Sesshoumaru stopped wailing.

Both puppies scrabbled for the charm and threw everything they had into it, ignoring Three-Horn's acidic protest. "D-DISSAPATE!" Sesshoumaru screeched, shutting his eyes.

For a moment, nothing happened. Glittering eyes surrounded them, and Big Red loomed large and disapproving. He opened his mouth again...

Then, somewhere in the back, something coughed.

The puppies hit the water just in time.

"Oh, to hell with it!" Inutaishou groused, slamming his brush down on the tabletop. It was high time for a break, the demon lord decided. The Western Lands could run themselves for a while, and HE would go out for a walk in them. Starting with his rose garden.

Fetching a fresh cup of tea from a serving girl, he slid the screens aside and stepped out into the sunlight.

Instead of flowers, a horrible wreck spread out in every direction. The landscape was decimated as if some ugly giant had fallen from the sky and smashed his guts out, then left them lying on his formerly green garden. Where roses should be there was nothing but ruin, and black lumps of nasty smelling stuff that should have been bushes.

A frog leg fell from the remains of a tree and landed in his tea cup.

His eyes narrowed.

"JAKEN!!!!!"

Thank you all for the wonderful, wonderful reviews--they're what made me want to go back and finish this sucker, now that I'm back into writing. There were too many reviews to respond to individually, bless you all, but I can definitely promise the last chapter is coming. And for those of you who have taken poor Yasuka's side...well, you won't be disappointed ^_~