Inuyasha was getting sick and tired of hauling this kid around. For four days they had been searching for Sesshomaru, and for each of those days he had been carrying Rin. She had shorter legs than everyone else and would have held them up if they kept to her pace, but Miroku was strong as well, why couldn't he carry her for a while? He'd tried suggesting it, but nooo-oooo. Rin insisted on being perched on his shoulder like some kind of strange bird. It was getting tiresome, especially when she started singing about Sesshomaru and how he would come back to her.

"Give your voice a break, kid," he told her, setting her down when Kagome suggested stopping long enough to have lunch. "It's time to eat."

Rin smiled. "All right," she said, and she skipped off to help Kagome with her pack. She liked the cups of noodles that Kagome had brought, and she'd always hurry meal preparations so she could have some all the sooner.

Inuyasha dropped to the ground, too spent to move anymore or help out. Wisely, no one insisted. They knew he was constantly fighting to keep his temper in check, and that he carried Rin without complaint, and both of those things took a lot of energy to do, so they let him rest.

Kagome was just mixing up the noodles when Inuyasha jumped to his feet, ears a-twitch.

"What's the matter?" Sango asked, startled. Everyone else got up as well.

"There's something coming," he said, pulling out the Tetsusaiga. "Everybody keep your eyes open. Jaken?"

"Hmmm?" Jaken said, shaking the tiniest bit.

"Get Rin out of here," Inuyasha said, listening as hard as he could. "Keep her out of sight. Go with him, Rin."

"What if it is Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked, not willing to give up a chance of seeing her beloved protector.

"It isn't," Inuyasha promised. "It doesn't smell like him."

Everyone was surprised when Sesshomaru actually came through the trees, looking around as if troubled. "What is it?" he asked.

"Lord Sesshomaru!!" Rin cried joyfully, running up to him. "You have returned!"

"Oh, Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken said, relieved. "You came back! I was truly worried, milord!"

"Forgive me," he said to Rin. Jaken?"

"Yes, milord?"

"Have you taken good care of Rin?"

"Oh, yes, milord!" Jaken said, eager to reassure him.

"Spare me!" Inuyasha snapped, breaking in. "That isn't Sesshomaru!"

"What do you mean?" Sesshomaru asked, looking at him.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome said, mentally bemoaning his rudeness. "Your brother isn't attacking you for once, and because of that you don't believe it's him? Come on!"

Sesshomaru smiled. "Come now, little brother. One would think you would be grateful for a respite."

"Lord Sesshomaru," Rin said, pulling on his hand. "It is time to eat, and I am hungry. May we eat now?"

Sesshomaru surprised Inuyasha into almost dropping the Tetsusaiga by chuckling. Chuckling. Sesshomaru wasn't the type to chuckle.

No one seemed to find anything wrong with his picking Rin up and swinging her in the air to make her laugh, either, but that was what he did. Everyone sat down for lunch then, but Sesshomaru didn't eat, he didn't need to, after all. Inuyasha didn't eat either. He still had his sword out and ready, just in case this guy tried anything. It was funny, but during the whole of the conversation, Sesshomaru didn't say a word about where he had been. He had been missing for about a week, and he acted as if he had simply stepped off into the woods to find a place to relax for a few minutes. That wasn't normal.

"Rin was really worried about you," Kagome was saying.

"Yeah, she was worried," Inuyasha said, unable to keep quiet. "So where did you disappear to?"

Sesshomaru looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"You've been missing for about a week, and you don't even know what we're talking about?" Inuyasha said in disbelief. "You know, I'm thinking Tetsusaiga could get it out of you."

Slowly Sesshomaru got to his feet and stared down his brother. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, little man," he said, his eyes turning green.

"Tell us who you are!" Inuyasha snapped. "You're not Sesshomaru; you don't even smell like him! Who are you?! What do you want?!"

Without a word, Sesshomaru sprang into the air, growing larger as he did so. When he changed into a white wolf with several tales, Inuyasha leapt after him, ready to fight. The beast turned, jaws gaping wide to bite.

As he grew closer to the wolf, Inuyasha saw that he wasn't going to come away from this clash without a serious bite. A broken or shattered leg, perhaps, but a bite and serious blood loss was a definite.

A flash of light past his head distracted him for only a moment. It was one of Kagome's sacred arrows! It hurtled right towards the beast's heart; leaving Inuyasha certain that the battle was over.

Down on the ground, Kagome gasped as her arrow passed right through the beast. It wasn't possible! She couldn't miss anymore, why had she missed?

"That's not possible, is it?" Shippo asked in shock. "If it's evil, then it has to be destroyed by Kagome's arrow!"

"What if it's not evil?" Jaken asked, staring up at the battle.

Inuyasha was able to get in two hits before the beast knocked Tetsusaiga out of his hands. He tried using his claws, but the beast's fur was soft and thick and completely protected its skin. There was no cutting through it. When he tried to fetch his sword, Inuyasha was blocked on all sides by the wolf. There was no getting past him.

Kagome was just fitting another arrow to her bow and Sango was getting ready to jump into the battle when the beast turned, grabbed Inuyasha's coat in his teeth, and ran, taking Inuyasha with him.

"Kirara!" Sango called, and together Sango, Miroku, and Kagome took to the sky to chase after them. When they reached a point where they could search for them, there was nothing and no one to be seen.