Until The Day I Die

Chapter Three: Brotherly Love

By: Sci-Fi Raptor

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or its characters.

A/N: This story is winding down, and probably has one or two chapters left.

A whiplash that looked like it was made of a soft green light was headed straight at Inuyasha. He positioned himself so that Kagome was in no possible danger. Myoga was probably already gone, so he didn't have to worry about him. He took a hit to the chest and was knocked back. He was flung toward a tree, but he turned himself so that he would hit it and cushion Kagome. All the while, Kagome held on for dear life with her eyes sealed shut. When the impact happened, she could feel him forcing her grip off and she let go. Then he headed to the intruder.

"It's been some time, little brother," said the attacker.

"I can see you haven't changed a bit, older brother," Inuyasha replied.

Brother?! Kagome thought to herself. If Inuyasha was as powerful as she thought, his older brother must have been awesome.

Sesshomaru attacked with his whiplash multiple times, but Inuyasha used his robe to shield from the attack. The two kept on jumping from tree to tree and occasionally intercepted to make a blow (DBZ style!). Sesshomaru kept on using his whip and poison punches while Inuyasha used his punch and iron reaver. Sesshomaru landed and Inuyasha followed, making sure he was between Kagome and his older brother.

"So, what brings you here today?" Inuyasha said, panting from the sudden exercise and wounds.

"To carry out Naraku's orders. I will now take over for you, little brother. But you must die first," he said, taking out Tokygin. "Draw your weapon," he ordered.

"I don't need anything to take you on. A stupid sword won't make any difference."

"Even if this 'stupid sword' is Tokygin?" he said coolly.

"What? Naraku promised that sword to me!"

"He said that if you can defeat me, you can keep the sword and the wretch," he said, gesturing to Kagome.

"Leave the wench out of this," Inuyasha ordered. He regretted it the second it came out of his mouth.

"You have the audacity to order me?" he said, his eyes glowing blood red. He jumped for Kagome, sword flashing.

"Dammit!" Inuyasha said, trying to block him. He landed in front of Kagome and held up Tetsaiga, its sheath still covering it.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed in pure fear. (this is the part when the episode ends and you get really pissed off P)

"Let the weak human protect itself. See how long it can survive against me," Sesshomaru said, hitting the sheath over and over; each blow pushed Inuyasha back. Kagome grabbed some dirt and threw it into Sesshomaru's face. Unfortunately, some invisible shield of his blasted the dust away harmlessly. "Is that the best you can do?" Sesshomaru said mockingly. He directed some kind of energy at her and she flew back. She was about to stand up, but Inuyasha bark for her to stop getting in the way.

"But I can help you," she insisted, getting up. Sesshomaru made another hit that cracked the sheath.

"SHUT THE HELL UP AND LET ME PROTECT YOU!" Inuyasha said in blind rage.

Ba-dump

"What was that?" Kagome said, not sure what he was saying.

"Shut up and let me protect you. You have no idea what kind of mess you've become part of," Inuyasha said. Sesshomaru made a hit that chipped a piece of Tetsaiga's sheath, exposing the blade.

Ba-dump Ba-dump

"Inuyasha…" Kagome said and finally backed off. Sesshomaru made another hit, chipping off three large chuncks.

Ba-dump Ba-dump Ba-dump

What's this that I'm feeling all of a sudden? Inuyasha thought suddenly, his heart racing, not because he was keeping his brother back, but because of some other emotion.

"Time's up!" Sesshomaru suddenly said, and jumped past Inuyasha. Kagome felt something tugging from her shirt. She thought it was Myoga, but it turned out to be the diamond Inuyasha had given her. She took it out.

Ba-dump Ba-dump Ba-dump… Ba-dump… crack. The diamond shot out of Kagome's hand and went towards Inuyasha.

Crack-crack-crack… Testsaiga's sheath exploded and Tetsaiga appeared to have grown larger then it normally was and the part between the blade and hilt was covered in fur. Inuyasha drove the sword up and attempted to make contact with Sesshomaru, but his shield blocked Tetsaiga before it could do any real damage.

Sesshomaru recovered quickly and attacked Inuyasha with his whip. Unfortunately for him, Inuyasha had his own shield. Inuyasha was on his knees, shifting some of his weight to the Tetsaiga, which was grounded into the earth. In the middle of its blade, the white diamond was embedded and glowing, giving off a bright white flash every time Sesshomaru hit the shield.

Seeing that Inuyasha was down, but impossible to attack, Sesshomaru set his sights on Kagome. He was about to slice her head off, but a yellow bolt knocked him away. He turned to see where it came from and saw that Inuyasha had somehow attacked him.

"You have improved much, little brother," Sesshomaru said. "It also seems that you value the human's life more then your own; you will share father's fate."

With that, Inuyasha got up and punched the Tokygin out of Sesshomaru's hand, causing its blade to shatter in a dark explosion. Then he grabbed Sesshomaru's hand with both of his own, and started spinning Sesshomarus around himself. When he thought he couldn't go any faster, he let go and sent Sesshomaru flying off into the distance. He didn't notice the little dark green creature move in the shadows. Inuyasha fell to his knees again.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, running up to him. He tried standing up again, using the non-demon form of Tetsaiga as a crutch, but failed. Kagome reached him and offered her shoulder to help him up. When he was finally standing, Kagome suddenly hugged him, holding him as tightly as possible.

"I thought I was going to lose you," Kagome said through the tears. With a lot of strain, Inuyasha lifted up the arm holding the rusty Tetsaiga. The pieces of its obliterated sheath hovered into the air and went back to their place around the sword. Kagome kept blabbing about how she thought she was a goner or something, but all he cared about was the sword. When the sheath was finished, he heard her say: "Are you listening to me?"

"Lets go," he said gesturing for her to on ride his back. She was probably about to say something angry, but after seeing Inuyasha's face, decided against it. She held onto his shoulders as if she were getting a piggyback ride from her father all those years ago. For some reason, her loving attitude made Inuyasha tense.

"Thank you," she whispered into his ear as the blasted out of the forest. She couldn't tell why, but Inuyasha's face looked like she had just severely hurt his emotions.

"Just point the way," he said, straining to say it as calmly as he could.

Sesshomaru stared at his hand for a very long time.

"My brother has grown very strong," he said to Jaken. Then he chuckled. "It seems my brother has shown more of himself then he intended to that human."

"How could you tell?" Naraku's minion asked. Sesshomaru closed the hand into a fist and destroyed Jaken with his poison fist.

"That is none of your business, Naraku," the demon said, opening his hand in the breeze. The wind greedily blew away the ash in his hand. He turned into a blue light and went to the sky.

Naraku subtly flinched as another one of his vessels was eliminated. These dogs think too highly of themselves, destroying my minions on a whim.

"Lord Naraku," another minion said, panting from running all the way through the castle to Naraku's chamber.

"What is it now?" Naraku said annoyed.

"The forest god has dissapeared!" it said.

"What? Who is responsible for this?" Naraku said angrily.

"Inuyasha, my Lord," it said nervously. It knew what Naraku did when he got mad.

Inuyasha? How did a lowly hanyou weild such power? Even though it was his doing that made the gods his servants, he always intended to get rid of them. How then, did he do what Lord Naraku could not? I must reasses the value I have given Inuyasha among my servants… but one can never be too careful.

"Get Kagura," he said, and went into deep thought.

[Day 4]

Seeing that Kagome's kimono was hanging by its threads (hehe), he allowed her to go to a village en route to the next shard to buy something more fitting for the task they were undergoing. Surprisingly, she did not make any attempts to run away.

"How could it take you so long to find a damned dress?" Inuyasha said to Kagome impatiently as she left the shopping square.

"Well, I also did some shopping. We can't live off wild food the whole time."

"Lets go," he said, anxious to get the second shard. Kagome stuffed all the things into a backpack-type thing and put it on. Then she mounted him, but didn't intend to go to another shard first.

"I have a question," she asked timidly.

"What?"

"Why did they give me all this stuff so freely? I'm pretty sure none of them know that I'm a princess. Once you spoke to that guy who helped me, the peddlers let me have whatever I want."

"I have my connections," he said bluntly. "Anything else your highness?" he said contemptibly.

"I heard there's a hot spring somewhere nearby," she said, feeling his dog-ears.

"What about it?" he said, thinking nothing of it, slapping her hands off.

"Well, you did say I tasted nasty…"

"So," he said, picking up pace.

"Well, I thought that maybe I could take a bath there," she said.

"What?" he said, coming to a sharp halt. He set her in front of him so she could see his angry look.

"You could go too, after I'm done of course,"

"We don't have time for this,"

"We still have ten days, one day couldn't hurt," she said, trying to convince him.

"Well…"

"It won't even take the whole day, we can go right after we finish. And since it's on the way to the next shard, we wont be wasting time doing it."

"…alright," he finally agreed.

"Thank you so much!" she said, jumping up to hug him. He brushed her off and walked to the hot spring. Coincidentally, it seemed that they had stopped right in front of it. Kagome quickly caught up.

When they arrived, Kagome made Inuyasha wait in the trees while she stripped. She put all of her stuff (backpack and clothing) on a place she cleared and went into the spring, the shard necklace still on.

"You can come over here now, but no peeking!" she said. She didn't want him to see her, but she didn't want anyone to steal her clothes. There are some sick people out in the world, and she was not that naïve. Inuyasha walked to his designated spot backwards, concealing the fact that his face was beet red.

"What're those weird smells?" Inuyasha said after he noticed the exotic and somewhat intoxicating aromas in the air.

"Bathing oils," she said. "How else would I have my picture perfect beauty?"

"Then you should be using more of that stuff," he said. He felt something hard hit him in the back of his head. After waiting nearly an hour for Kagome to bathe, his eyes noticed something that was inside Kagome's worn out kimono.

"What's this?" he asked, taking out an envelope from it. He heard Kagome leaving the spring. He unconsciously turned to look and saw her naked body, glistening from the oil treatment. He dropped the letter and jumped into the nearest tree, his face blushing wildly.

"It's a letter from a friend," she said, drying herself off.

"Why do you still have it?" he asked, staring in the opposite direction.

"It was the last letter I ever got from him," she said.

"Was he close to you?"

"We knew each other since we were kids," she said, sounding nostalgic. "We really liked each other. We were separated as we got older, but we kept in touch," she continued, sounding depressed. "But this was the last letter I ever got from him."

"Oh," Inuyasha said gloomily. Kagome changed and barked for Inuyasha to check her out.

"So, how do I look," she said, suddenly cheerful.

"You shoulda used more oil," he said dryly. His face was nearly impaled by a branch.

"You don't go out and say things like that to a Lady!" Kagome said, enraged. She threw more stuff at him.

"Whatever," he said, jumping into the spring. "I'm going in." He cannonballed and almost got Kagome soaked. He spent a few minutes scrubbing himself and then he jumped out. Then he shook his body doggy-style to dry himself. When he was done, he was met by Kagome's glare. Kagome's wet glare. She screamed at him, enraged and beat him up.

"Isn't this nice," Kagome said as the three munched on their picnic.

"It would be if someone didn't try to make a hole in my head," Inuyasha said angrily, feeling the gauze on his head again.

"I said I was sorry," Kagome said again.

"Whatever," Inuyasha said. After the bathing incident, things had gotten awkward for Inuyasha. He was trying to hide it by starting the search for the next shard, but Kagome insisted that they have a picnic before they head out. So there was Inuyasha. Having a picnic. Precious seconds ticking away until his mission was out of time.

"Can we leave already?" Inuyasha finally said nervously. He had been twitching the whole time, anxious to get moving.

"What's the hurry?" Kagome said, enjoying the sunny day.

"We have to get the jewel to the temple in ten days, and we've only collected one of the shards," he said, becoming more impatient.

"Why do you care if it gets there? Its not as if its your kingdom at stake."

"I have my orders," he said quickly.

"Why do you want to get it so badly?" Kagome said.

"Because master Na-, my master wants me to get it for him."

"Okay, but why do you want it so badly. I don't think anyone could be so into following their orders if they didn't have a stake in it," Kagome said.

"Yes, master Inuyasha, I too would like to know," Myoga said after finishing some fruit juice.

"…Because," Inuyasha started, looking at Kagome's eyes, "…because…" he looked away to the Sakura tree nearby, "its none of your business anyhow. Just shut up and get ready to leave," he said and stormed off to the tree. He jumped onto one of the branches and eyed Kagome from there, patiently watching like a panther stalking its prey.

"What's up with him?" Kagome asked Myoga. Then she slapped him off of her shoulder.

"I don't really know. Master Inuyasha has been acting very strange since his mission started," said Myoga

"What mission?"

"The one his master gave him," Myoga said.

"And who is his master?" Kagome pushed.

"Lord Naraku," he replied. Kagome looked at him in shock. Then she looked at Inuyasha, who replied with a cold stare from his perch on the tree.

There was very little conversation on the way to the next shard. Kagome had hoped to charm or at least have befriended Inuyasha by now and be heading back home, but her manipulations did not fare well. The incident at the spring, her illusion of suffering because of her long lost friend (though not completely false) and the picnic just seemed to make Inuyasha even colder to her. As they scaled the mountains, she could feel that Inuyasha's muscles were tense. There was something wrong with him, but she didn't know what.

There was also the matter of Naraku. Was Myoga lying? Was Inuyasha really following the orders of prince Naraku? The same person that seemed to enjoy the beauty and fragility of nature as she did? The same, handsome man who had conversed with her so easily on the way to the temple, where the jewel was to allegedly stop a certain plague from ruining the country? There was always that eerie feeling she had when she first met Naraku…

She was also worried about what Inuyasha and that 'god' were talking about. What could they possibly talk about that would pertain to her. All she was to Inuyasha was a shard locator, right?

It was all too much. Between trying to find a way home and deciding if Naraku was really a bad guy, Kagome could only think about it later. Right now she had to focus on breathing; the high altitude of the mountain was starting to get to her. Inuyasha and Myoga were seemingly unaffected.

"Can I just wait for you at the base?" she asked Inuyasha between deep breaths. "You can leave Myoga there to watch over me." Inuyasha stopped climbing.

"I can't leave you behind, Kagome. I need you," he said, with a certain genuineness that made her blush. Maybe she could- "Otherwise there would be no one to purify the corrupted shards and seal away the demon within the gods." Her hopes sank down the Sea of Japan. There was no way he would let her leave if that was true. How did I end up in this mess again?

He started scaling the mountain until he reached a flat clearing somewhere near the top. Snow was actually falling down here (they were in one of feudal Japan's hottest summers), but Inuyasha finally found the temple. He made a mad dash into it and slammed the door shut behind him.

"This is the most convenient place for them to make a temple…" Inuyasha started.

"Who are they?" Myoga asked.

"You know, them," Inuyasha said. Myoga gave him a blank look. "You know, those people that built this place." He seemed to have no idea about what he was talking about.

"Yoohoo, anybody in here?" Kagome said, walking cautiously behind Inuyasha. She was answered by the eerie silence, broken only by the howling of the wind from outside.

"Do you know anything about this place, Myoga?" Kagome asked the flea.

"Yes. This is a famous shrine located on top of mount Fuji. The shrine was known to have emanated a glowing aura that had control of the seasons in this particular region."

"It also had the power to control the winds…" a cold voice muttered. Inuyasha was holding Kagome behind him instantly.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" he barked.

"Well, well… if it isn't Lord Inuyasha…" the voice said from a dark corner. Slowly, the figure walked towards the group; everything it touched froze, including the air which was forming a mist around it. Kagome's mind flashed back to the forest temple and the statue of the earth type god. Is there some kind of connection? She thought.

Before she could voice her thoughts, the creature jumped to Inuyasha who slashed the demon-form of Tetsaiga at it. He made contact, but the tip of Tetsaiga was frozen. Dammit Inuyasha thought. "Kagome, stay back!" he ordered as the god launched itself again. Inuyasha blocked, but his sheild took the hit, freezing the diamond embedded in Tetsaiga; there was a thin bubble of frost surrounding Inuyasha that instantly shattered as the god broke contact.

"I see that you have gotten stronger since we last met," it said mockingly.

"Shutup you bastard!" Inuyasha barked. Inuyasha quickly shifted his eyes between the god and Kagome. Realizing what he was trying to do, Kagome searched the being for the presence of the shard, and found that it was embedded between its eyes. "Its between the eyes!" she siad, just as the being lunged at Inuyasha once again. Inuyasha knew that if he even made the slightest contact, his sword would be done for, so he stabbed the floor, kneeling.

"Ho ho hoo, do you admit defeat?" the being cackled.

"No, just getting ready to kill you," he said in a cocky fashion. Bright yellow bolts surged from Tetsaiga and stabbed at the ice monster.

"Ahh!" it shrieked as the Shikon Jewel shard was being assaulted. In punched through the wall and ran outside, burying its head in the snow. The icy wind greedily stormed into the room, covering everything with snow. They would all be dead in a few minutes.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried as a strong gust threw her out of the temple.

"Inuyasha-dono," Myoga said from his shoulder, "Kagome is in trouble!"

"But you never seem to be…" he said under his breath. He lept outside to try and catch Kagome, but to his horror, the ice god already had her. He stood there wide-eyed, staring at the Kagome-sickle that the god held in an intimate embrace.

"Inuyash…" Kagome thought as she went unconcious.

"You bastard…" Inuyasha cried, clenching his hands into fists.

Hundreds of feet below the feirce battle, a lone figure tried to climb the very same mountain. As he reached towards a foothold, the foothold he was alread on crumbled and he was hanging with one arm. He frantically tried to put his other hand on the handhold, and scarmbled up from his death to a ledge.

"Man these hills are trecherous!" Prince Hojo said as he sat down to catch his breath. He had spent a long time doing it, but he finally tracked down Princess Kagome. He took a jewel out of his pocket and held it by a golden string that was affixed to it. As if sensing that Hojo was looking for the Princess again, the jewel glowed and an arrow pointed towards the summit. Hojo frowned, knowing that even if he checked again, it would still point the same way. Before he restarted his treck, he took something out of his backpack. He smiled as he pulled out at root of some plant. Its good for your health… Hojo repeated to himself, trying to down the bitter herb.

Is Kagome dead?

More importantly, is Hojo Kagome's brother?