Midnight: So here it is. The end.

Yami Midnight: We had loads of fun writing this. A sequel is on the way.

Midnight: Oh! And if anyone want to see what Katiyo looks like in our brain, just say so and we'll e-mail a little badly done sketch we did.

Yami Midnight: Well, I did. I draw, she writes.

Midnight: Right. Anyway, here we go, (sniff) the end. (Starts crying)

Disclaimer: We own nothing but Katiyo.

Ritual

Katiyo sat on her bed in controlled grief. She had managed to stop crying a few minutes ago, and now she was lost in her own head. Why did I tell him? A voice in her head answered,

It's because you trust him. He saved you and did not hurt you .You told him because you care.

"Because I care... Do I care? All this time, I've denied it. I think...I've...fallen in love." But he couldn't possibly have feelings for me! He's a noble; I'm little more than a peasant. I should leave as soon as I can. I don't want to be hurt again.

Decided, Katiyo got up and put on the replica of her original clothes, and prepared to leave. She was too busy and distraught to notice that a falcon had swooped silently through the open window and dropped a small marble onto the floor next to her. When she heard her window snap shut on it's own behind her, she turned and saw nothing. Must have been the wind. Had her mental state been better, she might have noticed the 'wind' had also placed a magical lock her window. She also might have noticed that perched on a tree outside her window were six old falcons and one young one.

"Did you do it?"

"Yes. It's right next to her."

"Well done, Tomo."

For the first time in his life, Sesshoumaru had no idea what to do. It had been about ten minutes since he arrived outside the door to Katiyo's chambers, and he still couldn't bring himself to open the door. He had to apologize to her, but he just couldn't raise his hand and open the door! He sighed and hung his head. What have I come to? I can't even talk to a girl! I act like some lovesick pup! A young voice startled his thoughts.

"What are you doing, milord?" Rin asked.

"I'm...er...I am...um..." Never had he felt so stupid.

"I don't want Katiyo to go away. Please don't send her away, milord!" Rin ran up and hugged his knees.

"Rin...let go." She obeyed. She looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Katiyo likes it here! I asked her where her home was and she told me she had none! Don't make her go away!"

"She likes it here?" Rin nodded. "She does not feel like she is forced to stay?" Rin shook her head. Sesshoumaru heaved an inner sigh of relief, careful not to let any emotion show on his face. "No, Rin. I am not going to send her away."

"Thank you, milord!" Rin hugged his knees again, and then ran off. Once she was out of sight, Sesshoumaru smiled. He was happy Katiyo did not want to leave. Still, he had an apology to give. Again, he faced the door and muttered a silent curse. He stared at the doorknobs with disgust. He took a deep breath and swung the doors open. When he stepped through the doorframe, he felt a strange fizz on his skin, but only for a blink of an eye. He proceeded into the room.

The sight of the room startled Sesshoumaru. It was a mess! Things were turned over, there were talon marks on the curtains, and there was a frantic falcon circling the room. Katiyo was trying to force herself through a magical barrier around the open window. Occasionally, she tried to get out of the door, but there was a shield there, too.

Getting a closer look, he saw that there was a black cloud surrounding Katiyo's hawk form. Sesshoumaru sniffed the air and found something he did not want to find, Katiyo's scent, but wrong. It was...sick? Sesshoumaru stepped further into the room and Katiyo darted to his face. Thanks to his lightning reflexes, Sesshoumaru caught the distressed falcon in midair and made their eyes meet.

"Return to human, please." Sesshoumaru said in his commanding voice. How could anybody resist that tone? After a flash of light, Katiyo the human shaped demon was in Sesshoumaru's hands. He put her down and she swayed on the spot. There was still a black cloud around her. Looking at her hands, Katiyo saw the black film around them and tried desperately to rub it off, to no avail. Before Sesshoumaru could do anything, she collapsed into a heap on the ground. As little worried, he bent down and checked her breathing, slow and ragged.

He picked her up and headed towards the door, intending to bring her to his healer. When he got to the doorframe, he found he could not get through. He turned and went through the shield back first. He was halfway through when he started to feel relief, only to have it cut short by Katiyo's inability to go through. All of him was on the other side of the door except for his hands, which were holding the girl on the other side of the doorframe. Something did not want Katiyo to leave! Fine, then!

Sesshoumaru entered the room again and placed Katiyo on the bed. No sooner that he had put her down, she was gone, taking the link to her mind with her. Without hesitation, he pulled out the Tensaiga and swiped at the goblins from the underworld, killing them and reviving Katiyo. Her eyelids fluttered open. He leaned over her to look into her eyes, and to his horror, they were still glazed with the effect of a high fever. A hand on her forehead confirmed that.

"It's no use. That cloud had a powerful spell on it. I now have a sickness that transcends death. No matter how many times you revive me, I will die again." Katiyo's voice was strained with the effort. She tried to turn to face him, but hissed and winced in pain, clutching her side.

"Hold still. What is causing you pain?" Sesshoumaru said, only a little worry in his voice. It was getting harder and harder to keep emotion from creeping into his voice. In his desperation, he failed to notice that the link he had to Katiyo's mind no longer existed, it had vanished the moment she had temporarily died.

"It's infected my blood. It's designed to kill falcons. Soon my organs will give up the ghost. I can't heal it, no one can heal it, so just let me die." She sounded very serious. Sesshoumaru could tell this was not going to get better by just reviving her. He needed to do something, and fast. With that, her eyes rolled into her head and she fell back down in the pillow. Sesshoumaru reached for the Tensaiga but heard her breathing and lowered his hand. It seemed she had only fainted. Only fainted! Unless I don't do something quick, she will either suffer and have to be revived for the rest of her life, or she will die. I cannot let that happen!

"No...don't! Leave me alone...I don't want to...please..." Katiyo said while tossing and turning on the bed. Apparently her abnormally high fever had caused her to start hallucinating. That can't be good, Sesshoumaru thought. He stood watching Katiyo hallucinate, feeling completely useless. A part of him wanted to cry out at his foolishness, and another wanted to break something in rage because a foolish girl he had no idea why he cared about had gotten herself sick and was causing him this pain and confusion. Then it hit him.

"Blood! That's it! 'It's infected my blood. It's designed to kill falcons.' All I need to do is change her blood. But how?" Sesshoumaru exclaimed out loud. Then it hit him again.

His blood could kill off the disease, considering it was more powerful than some falcon spell, the shield on the door had proven that. As soon as he thought of this, the steps for blood bonding surfaced in his mind.

The mates in question had to ingest each other's blood in order for the ritual to be complete. One blood was exchanged, the persons in question would feel each other's presence at all times due to the small part of themselves inside the other. Once this is combined with the marking, the male's demon mark will appear at the same place on the female.

Sesshoumaru hesitated for a second, wondering what would happen if Katiyo found out that he had performed half of the dog-demon mating ritual on her. That thought soon passed as he looked at Katiyo again, her face pouring sweat and her lips cracked and dry. She must never know. After finding that a logical way out of the possible mess, he picked up Katiyo's hand and gently cut a shallow gash along her wrist. Bright red blood swelled from the scratch while Sesshoumaru did the same to himself. The blood cannot mix. If it does, she will feel me, and that is not what I want. He held his wrist a few inches above hers and let his blood drip into her. One drop...two drops...three drops...four drops. Katiyo relaxed softly into the pillow, her fever going down, casting away the hallucinations. Sesshoumaru let go of Katiyo's hand to rummage in the front of his shirt to produce a handkerchief. He tore it in two and tightly wrapped half of it around her wrist, and half around his.

As he turned to leave, he stepped on something that made him pause. Removing his foot, he saw that he had stepped on a small marble. Detecting something amok with it, he drew Tokijin, threw the marble in the air, and then sliced it in half as it fell. Instantly, the shield on the window and the door disappeared and Sesshoumaru could distinctly hear voices outside the window. Soundlessly creeping over, he cracked his hands, summoning his whip, and threw open the window. With one swift movement, anyone with an acute sense of hearing could hear seven small thumps as seven immobile bodies hit the ground. Satisfied, Sesshoumaru closed the window and dared one last lance at the girl now fast asleep, dreaming away her illness. Focusing on her, he could tell exactly where every strand of hair fell, where her hand rested on her stomach and how she had a faint throbbing in her wrist. He made a silent promise that Katiyo would never know of his offence.

He let a small smile grace his face as he walked out of the room, no longer feeling useless.

Midnight: Well, there you go. Hope you enjoyed this story as much as we did.

Yami Midnight: Notice the ending. You will have to join us in the sequel to find out more of Katiyo's adventures with the sexy Dog-Demon.

Midnight: Remember, she will be meeting Inu-Yasha in the sequel! Ohh!! I can't wait!

Yami Midnight: How can you not wait? The story comes form your own brain!

Midnight: So?

Yami Midnight: sigh Anyways, the next story will be called, Twists of Unlikelihood. I hope you will be there! If not, I might have to send you to the shadow realm...

Midnight: Ya, right. (sigh) Ja ne!