Sorry about the wait you guys, I won't even waste your time and let you read this!

Chapter Nine: Origins Revealed

Kagome rushed across the clearing, praying to the Gods that Inu Yasha was still in one piece. When she arrived she was relieved to see Inu Yasha getting up and dusting himself off. She called out to him, "Inu Yasha!" A smile of relief plastered itself to her face as she ran toward him. She stopped short though when she realized he wasn't smiling or even looking at her. He was looking past her…with animosity.

Kagome slowly turned around to come face to face with none other than Sorikata himself. She stumbled backwards, "How did you…Sango…"

"You think that pathetic human can kill me? Did you honestly believe that I, a shape shifter, could be taken down so easily?" He laughed aloud at the thought. "Foolish, disgusting, human. Have you any idea the power I possess?"

Inu Yasha let out a growl, "I'm tired of listening to your bull shit!" he jumped forward, in front of Kagome's stunned form, protecting her as he readied himself to kill the foul demon.

Sorikata smirked in reply, "Fool. You dare speak to me in such a manner? I don't think so."

"Enough already! Quit yappin' and C'mon!" Inu Yasha insisted, rather annoyed with all of Sorikata's self-praise and over confidence.

"Very well. I'LL HAVE YOUR HEADS!!" With that, Sorikata and Inu Yasha launched themselves toward one another.

Inu Yasha unsheathed his sword as he charged at his enemy, "TETSUSAIGA!!" He swung his sword in an attempt to use the windscar. Sorikata was thrown back, but not destroyed. Mouth agape, Inu Yasha looked on, stunned.

Sorikata let out a diabolical chuckle as he made his way to his feet, "Have you not yet learned that your sword is useless against me? Sure, you can throw me down all you want, but it will never kill me."

"What!?! Just what the Hell kind of demon are you?" Inu Yasha asked incredulously.

"That's right. I am no ordinary demon. My blood is of a higher race; a stronger, more perfect race. Your little toys," he motioned toward the Tetsusaiga, "are useless against me."

"What are you saying," Kagome finally chirped up from behind Inu Yasha, taking the words right out of his mouth…as usual.

"My blood is that of the *kyoudai. It was the strongest race to ever walk the lands. However, their powers were not at their greatest potential back then, and not many could do all that I can."

"Yah? Well if your race was so strong, then where the hell are they now?" Inu Yasha growled.

"Inside of me."

"What?" Kagome and Inu Yasha asked in unison.

"I absorbed them," he explained as he began to shift into the forms of all the identities he had stolen, and destroyed in the process. "If I had been able to hold on to your brother the first time I encountered him, I would have been able to absorb him as well. However, my hold on him has proved quite useful none the less."

"You bastard-you killed your own race! But, you're right, though. You're not an ordinary demon…you're just a low class monster," Inu Yasha yelled as he charged forward. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he had to think of something…fast. Another thought hit him as he and Sorikata faced off again, 'Where the Hell is Sango and Sesshoumaru?'

~~~

Sesshoumaru leaned into Sango for more support. He'd be damned if he was going to be brought to his knees by this weakness and he didn't care if it meant he had to lean on a human to keep himself standing. His heart was still aching, pounding desperately to regenerate his blood flow. He could feel breath on his face, soft and light, but fast and short.

He was looking straight into Sango's eyes…possibly into her soul. He could see fear, concern, worry, confusion…definite curiosity, and some other unrecognizable emotion in her. Sesshoumaru analyzed her even closer and as his concentration was directed to her, his pain dispersed, yet he lingered there in their stance, determined to understand her. She was not a foul human nor was she a weak human. He could feel how strong she was as she held him up.

He could feel exactly where her arm rounded his waist and her hand pressed lightly on his back. He noticed how she seemingly instinctively lifted a hand to move the hair out of his face, gently and cautiously touching his cheek as she did so…as if she were afraid that at any moment he would break. He almost became lost in her gaze, her warmth.

He couldn't understand how he could be thinking such thoughts about a human. A human that was a demon exterminator no less. Yet, ever since she had kissed him he had rarely thought of anything else. No human, or demon for that matter, had ever done such a bold thing as to kiss him directly on the mouth without his consent. However, as he stared into her eyes, he yearned for nothing else, and that both shamed and disgusted him.

Then he saw it: Sorikata's reflection in her eyes. He was not dead, but instead, fully regenerated. 'Damn,' he mentally swore, 'He can't be killed by simply being hacked in half. He can shift forms, therefore, he must be able to reform his body."

Sesshoumaru made no attempt to attack him though. Instead, he slightly straightened himself, never taking his eyes from Sango's. He then pulled her into his chest to make it seem as though they were both still unaware. He leaned down to her ear, "Sorikata is behind us-alive, and unscathed. He must have regenerated while you tried to help me." He paused to devise a plan, after only a few seconds he continued, "I want you to grab the hilt of your sword, and be ready to draw…he is approaching us and thinks we are off guard. When he charges, I'm going to side-step, and you're going to strike him, understand?"

Sango swallowed hard. She fought hard to ignore all the little flames that had been ignited when he had pulled her to him, as if to embrace her. Then, when he whispered into her ear, his low, rumbling voice had sent chills up and down her spine, causing her to tingle all over. Still, she was a professional, and she managed to slightly nod in response to Sesshoumaru's question, "I understand," she whispered into his chest.

Sesshoumaru used his excellent sense of hearing and smell to judge when Sorikata was upon them. Then, like clock work, he side stepped, and Sango's sword made contact, penetrating the torso of their enemy.

Sango then tried to withdraw her sword as Sesshoumaru drew Tokijin. Sorikata merely laughed as he pulled Sango's sword deeper inside himself. "Is that all you've got?" he asked challengingly.

This time it was Sango who smirked, "'Fraid not!" Leaving her sword inside of Sorikata, she dove out of the way as Sesshoumaru blasted him with a small amount of the power of his sword.

Sorikata flew backward into a large tree, then ricocheted to the ground with a 'thud.' He then stood, tall with a scowl. "Fool. That will not get you far."

Sesshoumaru glared. No one dared called him a fool…and live to see the next day. He didn't have time to strike at him again, as the now familiar pain clenched once again. Sesshoumaru was forced to the ground, panting and sweating. Fighting for control of his body. The more he struggled, the more the pain increased.

He heard Sango yell to him, "Don't focus on the pain Sesshoumaru! You can beat him!" he looked up to see her running toward Sorikata only to be struck hard in the gut and sent flying to the ground, the grass cutting into her exposed skin and the impact knocking her, for the moment, unconscious. He took her advice, however, as he found himself looking around for something else to concentrate on.

Sorikata continued to make his way to where Sesshoumaru knelt…brought down to his knees. Sesshoumaru's eyes stopped when he noticed Rin lying on the ground, reaching out to him. He could faintly hear her calling to him, "Sesshoumaru-sama…"

Immediately his mind flashed back to the day he met her. He remembered her bruises after the villagers beat her. He knew it had to be them at the time. He could smell adult human male and sweat all over her. He had only asked her where she got them to confirm his guess. Then she had smiled, and he remembered the gap where a tooth should have been. 'There is no longer a gap there,' he realized. It was then that he felt no more pain.

Sorikata approached Sesshoumaru and drew his sword, "I think it's time we finished this, Lord Sesshoumaru." He lifted his arm and proceeded to swiftly bring it down, only to have it flung from his arm. His eyes widened in shock as Sesshoumaru now stood before him, a yellow, whip like energy surrounding him.

"You…how did you…" Sorikata growled, "It is no matter! I WILL kill you!!" He charged the silver-haired demon, surging forward with all he had. He wanted to end this quickly, afraid to lose the upper hand.

Sesshoumaru used his energy again to block Sorikata's attack. The blow sent Sorikata sailing. He landed next to Sango's awakening body. Her small cuts were bleeding, and at seeing the blood Sorikata jumped up, obviously afraid of coming into contact with it.

His actions did not go unnoticed by either Sesshoumaru or Sango. Sesshoumaru found it odd, considering when Sorikata reached into him the day Rin was stolen from him, he had come into contact with his blood. So, why would he be afraid of Sango's blood…

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*kyoudai=powerful (what I want it to mean is, the powerful, so…yah.)

Alright, I'm sorry it took nine days, but I've been sooooo busy. I'm really, really, terribly sorry. Although, I'm sure you all have really, really busy schedules too, and it's probably not that important, you know…SINCE YOU'RE NOT REVIEWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, well, some of you are reviewing, and to those of you who are, I would like to extend a very gracious, heartfelt THANK YOU!! Your reviews are very important to me. Their my motivation-my inspiration. And I really appreciate you taking the time to review.

Also, a special shout out to Aslyin: Hun, you have been so sweet. I should have shouted out to you after the first review you gave me. You have no idea how much I appreciate your praise. It's reviews like yours that keep me going, seriously. Thank you so much for all the kind words and the compliments. I try so hard to be original and to be grammatically correct and as attentive toward my stories as I can. I want everyone who reads my stories to be able to understand what I am trying to describe, what I'm trying to express, and to feel something when they read. I put a lot of effort into my stories, which is part of the reason it takes me so long to update lately. I've been trying to get everything just right and think everything through, and when I get reviews like yours it makes me happy, because it helps me know that I'm getting through to at least one person, lol. Sorry, this ran a little long, lol.

Also to Kawaii Assassin, that would be much appreciated. Like I said, I can't draw a lick, lol. Thank you for doing that. It makes me very happy, and I'm glad you like the story.

To Shinna, misti star, tomb mistress, Lavender Valentine, and scarwind: Thank you sooo much. I'm really happy you guys took the time review my chapter. I'm always happy to get that email that reads: Review Alert! It always brightens my day to read what ya'll have to say.

To all: I should have my website updated tonight around 10:30 or so. I hope all of you stop by, I'll have lengthier reviews for all of you on there, so check it out.

Well, that's all for now, I hope you liked this chapter…I'm not too impressed. I changed it several times so be assured I could have done a whole lot worse…a whole lot worse……lol.

Pammi