Disclaimer: Ah you know I'm kidding...don't own 'em...

Author's Note: YOU ARE GOING TO HATE ME! I'm SO evil! All right...remember when you read this thing...(chokes, swallows nervously) It's not over yet...you can scream at me (in fact I welcome anything you have to say...) but just remember in the back of your head that I CAN mend things...ok...I have to warn you...thid chapter contains a VIVID death scene...my sister is my editor and she says I'm FAR better writing terrible death scenes than I am love stuff...which is odd considering that I've loved before but never died...(shrugs)...just keep that in mind and BEWARE! Oh, yes, I almost forgot: Duzzie thanks a BUNCH for the encouragement...I usually update pretty quick becuase I already have most of it written so I end up putting it in sections here. And FluffyDemoness thanks for reading! You honor me! On Sesshy's past and your story--yea! I read your story (I think, or at least I've read something of yours) ack, if I didn't put it on my favorites I'm going to have to the next time I run across it. And animefanatic16 you reviewed my other story (so you might never read this response) but I had to do it anyway...I'm glad I could draw that response from you (Grins! Big Laughs! YAYS!)

Realizations Written In Blood

It was just before dawn. A light in the east was beginning to banish the blackness of night, and Sesshomaru knew he was running out of time. It'd taken him several hours to track his brother, much to his disgust. The half-breed's scent had changed considerably from what was normal. The result was that Sesshomaru had to rely less on his nose and more on his "blood sense." The trouble with that was it didn't tell him how close he was to his brother, it just told him his brother was around somewhere. Scent could tell Sesshomaru so much more...for instance when his brother had passed a certain spot, and whether or not he'd passed it with his demon blood intact before the nighttime fell, or if he'd passed it after the night descended.

Though he'd searched as far and as fast as he could, the only scent Sesshomaru could find about was that of his brother as a half-demon, not as a human. And unless he could find his brother's human scent, which was difficult because he didn't recognize it, it was unlikely he'd find Inuyasha with time enough to observe the pest. The moment the sun rose again Inuyasha would regain his Inuyoukai's sense of smell and he'd know Sesshomaru was present instantly.

About an hour before dawn Sesshomaru stumbled upon a familiar scent—not his brother's, but one of the girls he traveled with. The scent was left behind less than a day ago, and it wasn't the only one there. A second scent, much lighter and unrecognizable when compared to the first, had been left splattered over the street, as livid in the demon lord's mind as crimson blood. At first the second scent didn't draw Sesshomaru's attention at all, but the familiar first scent on the other hand...

It was that girl. This girl and he had a little of a history with one another. She was the one that'd been there when that little half-breed bastard had cut off his arm! She'd been the one to draw the Tetsuseiga! Growling, Sesshomaru decided to follow the scent. Perhaps she'd lead him to where Inuyasha was likely hiding himself, coward and weakling that he was.

Somewhere, only minutes later, Sesshomaru got a better whiff of the second scent that accompanied the girl, and he realized, with a bit of a shock, that the scent tingled in his mind, partially familiar. He paused for a time, analyzing the scent carefully, trying to search his memories thoroughly. The scent that accompanied the girl was human, but deep, deep within it, was a familiar demon scent. Shocked, Sesshomaru realized that Inuyasha had been there, with the girl, probably still during daylight, traveling. Was it already too late then? Had his brother's time of weakness not been in the night, but during the day? Could his brother's scent have changed so much in such a short time that Sesshomaru, even with his powerful sense of smell, would be unable to recognize it?

Confused, but still very curious, Sesshomaru committed the new scent to his memory, the scent Inuyasha bore while he was human, so different from his scent as a hanyou. When he was sure he could follow the scent, even from a distance, Sesshomaru made sure he changed position to travel cautiously, downwind of where he thought his prey was located up ahead, just a few miles more...

A short time later, with the sun still well below the horizon, Sesshomaru followed both scents to a small abandoned shack. Here, at this place, the scents had lingered and still seemed incredibly fresh. They must've reached the place at about dusk, Sesshomaru theorized, and decided to shelter the night out in the shack. Their scents crisscrossed the grounds outside the shack as recently as a few hours ago. Were they still present? Sesshomaru couldn't be certain unless he drew closer—the scents on the place crisscrossed and from a distance were indistinguishable.

Ironically, Sesshomaru realized that he, Jaken, AhUn and Rin had passed this place not two whole days ago, journeying aimlessly. Surely Inuyasha would've scented that he'd passed by...unless he'd already lost his senses in the daylight. That could be the only explanation for his half-breed brother having the courage to sleep in a place that'd so recently been visited by his stronger, wiser, more powerful older brother...or perhaps he'd run out of time?

Still intensely curious, Sesshomaru wandered, downwind and stealthily through the trees, his every sense on the blink, waiting, watching.

The wind had picked up, coming from the east. Clouds had appeared within his last hours of travel and search, making the night even blacker. When he looked toward the east there wasn't even a hint of the sun rising. Good, I'll be in time to see exactly when his weakness is...at night or in the day? Spill forth your secrets, wretched little brother!

He approached the shack from behind to be safe, silent and furtive. When nothing protested his presence Sesshomaru slowly circled to the front, noiseless as ever, his senses watchful and wary. There seemed to be nothing amiss outside the shack, Inuyasha didn't appear to be waiting at the doorway keeping watch. That struck the demon lord as odd, considering that this time, of all times, his brother was mostly alone and without protection. Had they stayed here or not? Something seemed wrong.

Curious, Sesshomaru drew closer to the shack's entrance, set his face near the walls and inhaled. He wanted to know all he could without actually having to enter the hut. If he was seen, scented, or sensed by his younger brother there was sure to be a battle, and though certainly not shy of such a thing, Sesshomaru didn't want to waste his time with it. His sense of smell, though it answered one question, revealed several other curiosities. One breath and his sensitive nose told him that the girl his half-breed brother favored was still inside, sleeping. It also told him of something he hadn't expected at all...a new, sharp and pungent scent. A scent he hadn't picked up in a long, long time. Perhaps that is why Inuyasha isn't outside keeping watch...what a fool!

The scent, clear as day to the Inuyoukai's nose, was lust, desire, arousal...his brother and the girl's scents were everywhere, mixed with raging emotions and hormones. Getting passed that first disgusting realization he found one other thing that surprised and pleased him at once. All of the scents here were purely human. Now when he tried to analyze his brother's scent from just outside the shack he couldn't even detect the tiny amount of demon blood he'd found earlier that'd let him know who accompanied the girl. Inuyasha was still weak, as weak as Sesshomaru would ever see him it was likely.

The demon lord, almost on a whim, reached for the shack's door and, as quietly as possible, slid it open. It didn't fight him, and Sesshomaru, in his infinite perfection, didn't make the door moan or squeak upon opening. Once the door was ajar a whole new world of discovery and surprise lied in wait for the Inuyoukai.

He could see and hear the couple now, as well as smell them and the lingering, vulgar scent of their lust from several hours previous...or could he? Confused, Sesshomaru stepped forward, crossing the rotten floorboards of the shack without so much as a creak. Through the dark he could see a pack of supplies strewn about the floor, near to one corner where a bundle of strange, foreign cloth was unrolled. It was similar to a futon he supposed, and must've been used for sleeping because that was where they seemed to be sleeping. He could see the lump of a body, perhaps two hidden inside it, the shine of dark hair in the little light that entered the shack from the open door. Squinting his eyes carefully he could see Inuyasha's haori, dark and discolored in the night.

Yet something was amiss. Sesshomaru could only see one person in the strange sleeping cloth, only smell one person clearly, and only hear one person breathing, yet which was it, the girl or his brother? The haori was his brother's, but the hair was black, the girl's. The scents in the room were heavily mixed. Though the person in the strange futon covers was alone now they hadn't been until recently. So recently, in fact, that even Sesshomaru's delicate nose couldn't pick it out.

Almost out of nowhere his curiosity was swamped by a new emotion that Sesshomaru hadn't expected, wasn't prepared to deal with at the moment: rage. In truth there was no reason for it, though the Inuyoukai did have years and years of anger and bitterness that'd accumulated up inside of him, all aimed at his half-brother. It hadn't been his intention to seek Inuyasha out and kill him, nor even to simply fight him. Yet somehow being in the shack, scenting his brother and the weak human girl, the remnants of their closeness still in the air, enraged him.

My brother is a parasite, he thought, his fists clenching in the dark, I should've killed him long ago when he was still merely that human whore's whelp...Inuyasha was a defilement to Inutaisho's otherwise proud memory. Inuyasha was a stain. Inuyasha was a blemish. Inuyasha was the weak link in a chain of demon heritage that stretched back into the times of creation itself...

At his side the demon lord's terrible sword, the Tokijin; pulsed and throbbed abruptly. Forged from the teeth of a demon that Inuyasha, in a blood lust, had slain, it was a sword that was particularly fond of revenge. Especially revenge on Sesshomaru's hanyou brother.

Yes, revenge. Sesshomaru smiled slightly in the dark, but the smile was dry and as frozen as Antarctica's icecaps. Tokijin and I both have solid reasons for revenge, do we not?

The haori seemed to be glaring at the Inuyoukai lord from its place protecting the black haired wearer on the ground. Black hair—Inuyasha was human this night. Ningens...black hair...Sesshomaru's eyes widened in realization. This night he wouldn't recognize his miserable hanyou sibling, the same as when he'd failed to recognize his scent!

I do not scent him here—but that doesn't mean he isn't the one sleeping there!

A clawed hand flicked through the stale air, a body wrapped in a silky white kimono lunged forward. The terrible claws, glowing a sickly green, grasped the black hair, pulling the body from the innocence of sleep, throwing the unfortunate creature in the red haori across the room. There came a gasp from the foul hanyou in the haori as he hit the wall, hair askew, body frail now, crunching on impact.

Triumphant, swift as a cat, Sesshomaru drew Tokijin and strode forward just as the miserable half-breed was starting to move, trying to look up and meet his attacker...the sword pulsed and beat, throbbing in his hands, it chanted in his ears like his heart: power, power, power, power!

He skewered his brother through the gut, securing him straight to the wall of the rusty old shack with one clean, confident, fluid stroke. It was a thing, almost, the demon lord mused, of beauty...

Chuckling through the darkness, cold as liquid nitrogen he regarded his kill, smirking, wild with blood lust, with the kill. The Inuyoukai's eyes flashed red, glowed through the darkness as he smelled the rank stench of blood flowing forth from his rotten, disgusting, tarnished, dirtied brother...

Suddenly, from the form he'd pinned to the wall with his evil sword, like a butterfly with a pin, there came a gasping cry of agony, of sheer shock. As if the cry had been a blow, Sesshomaru's eyes returned to normal, the devious, cunning, cold smile left his face. As one turned to stone, the demon lord stared at the form, his eyes narrowed. Had one looked carefully into his face it might have been possible to see the horror dawning in his eyes as realization took him.

The blood...the blood wasn't a hanyou's at all...

But this was the new moon...Inuyasha wasn't a hanyou right now, he was a human, completely devoid of demon strength, power, healing, and senses. Everything had changed, appearance, scent...

As if to slap him out of this denial the figure slumped against the wall gave a ragged, convulsing scream of terror and agony. It lifted bloodied, pallid hands toward the sword lanced straight through its body, shaking feverishly. With his highly acute hearing Sesshomaru could hear the choking, gasping sounds it made, and was, more and more, beginning to feel nauseated by a horrible realization.

Then it happened. The dying thing wearing the red haori lifted its head, writhing against the sword, trying, perhaps, to pull the offending object from itself, screaming, and Sesshomaru saw the face of what he'd thought—what he'd been so sure was his brother—and his stomach clenched up violently. Brown eyes. Black hair. Fine, feminine features, all of them now scrunched together in horrendous agony. Pallid skin. Around the lips and in the teeth blood was beginning to pool and spill over onto her white and green schoolgirl's uniform. Each scream that was torn from her lungs was more horrid and terrible than the last, and so utterly not his brother's that Sesshomaru felt as if he might truly be sick.

He'd killed the girl.

Endnote: Yes, I did warn you...I'll update soon...though you're going to hate me ALL over again in the next chapter...REVIEW! Anything is welcome...suggestions and such...and you know what irks me about both the anime and manga as far as I've seen? Sesshy is a bad guy, ohhs, ahhs, and he has the same dad as Inu, but DANG IT! Who's his mother? Is she alive? Dead? ANSWER US! WE LOVE SESSHY TOO!!! Sorry, moment over...all comments and such welcome!