Hey, guys! A few words, first:

Artgirl 150—I'm updating, I'm updating!

White Wolf's Fang—no need to kiss my feet or die, thanks. I'm updating.

Chocobo-girl—glad you love it so much!

Jillytee—happy to amuse.

KC Whitestar—I love getting reviews, and I especially love the word you used: huggles. I use it all the time now.

Chibi Fluffy—no bloodshed, please!

AddictedtoInuyasha—hope this helps calm the cravings.

Okay, here it is: Chapter 9

Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, and Shippo were out in the gardens the next afternoon. Shippo was telling them all about the plan very quietly, and Inuyasha had to admit that he was impressed. That wily monk still had a few tricks up his sleeve, there was no doubt about that.

"So here I am," Shippo finished, toying with a blade of grass. "What do you do here all day? This is kind of boring."

Sesshomaru looked at him and muttered something about children.

"We lounge about looking decorative," Inuyasha said grimly. "And we try to not step on each other's toes too much. I'm getting sick of it, though, and I'm ready to do something drastic."

"I was ready long before this," Sesshomaru snarled, his claws digging into the ground for lack of anything else to throttle. "That witch—"

Inuyasha suggested that Shippo go have a look in the koi pond while Sesshomaru vented his anger using words that were not suited to a kit's ears. He sighed, thankful that Kimi was not around to hear. If she did, she'd be shocked speechless and order Sesshomaru only to speak when he had something nice to say. If that happened, Inuyasha was pretty sure that Sesshomaru would be permanently mute.

"Better?" Inuyasha asked once Sesshomaru had run out of steam.

"Better," he muttered. "I want out!"

"I know exactly how you feel," Inuyasha said, "but how—"

Noise cut him off. Roars, blasts, and shouted oaths and curses reached their ears. Inuyasha reflected that all of his hard work to keep Shippo's mind pure had just flown out the window at something that Kagome would call "warp speed." He and Sesshomaru ran to the source of the noise and spotted two demons in battle. It looked as if their tempers had snapped.

One of the demons had kicked the other into the far wall, crumpling it. Sesshomaru acted in a flash, grabbing Inuyasha and dragging him over to the open space.

"You don't have a collar," he said quickly. "You'd be able to run away and find a way to defeat her. Do it now while everyone's distracted."

"I don't run away from a battle!" Inuyasha protested, growing angry.

"You're running to find a way to defeat her, not running away in cowardice!" Sesshomaru hissed. "Don't be stupider than you already are and go!"

Vowing to get Sesshomaru back for the stupid remark, Inuyasha was up and over the wall in seconds. He'd have to find Kagome and the others, and together they could storm the place and battle Kimi. Hopefully a defeat was forthcoming.

He wasn't sure how long he ran, but when he stopped for a drink, he saw that it was sunset. He'd been going a couple of hours already. Maybe he'd better find a place to perch for the night and—

Hot, heavy fur suddenly enveloped him, and he felt his chest begin to cave. He struggled, then realized what it was that had attacked him.

"Tala!" he squeaked, unable to get anything more out. "Get off!"

Tala did so, but took hold of his jacket in his teeth. "Lady Kimi is not pleased," Inuyasha heard, and he felt his stomach sink. Maybe running off wasn't such a good idea.

Space

"Oh, no!" Kagome moaned, watching the scene in the crystal. "That wolf caught him."

Miroku swore, Sango groaned, and Kagome allowed the crystal to go dark. "Now what?"

"We'll have to think of something else," Miroku said thoughtfully. "Something she won't expect."

Space

Inuyasha sat on his mat on the floor, feeling ready to sink through it and disappear forever. Kimi wasn't just angry, she was about ready to do something serious. He'd been waiting ever since Tala had brought him back, and that just made it worse. Why didn't he think to check if he were being followed? Elementary rule of survival, always watch your rear!

Sesshomaru was brought in and made to sit down beside him. It looked as if Tala had pulled him all the way here.

"I want the truth," Lady Kimi said, glaring at them both. "Whose idea was it?"

Neither of them said anything.

"Tell me."

Silence.

Inuyasha remembered the one time he had tried lying to his mother and realized that the silence now was much like the silence then. He'd crumbled under the force of it and had told his mother the truth, but he wasn't about to tell her anything!

"Very well, then. Come here, Inuyasha," she said sweetly, a tone that chilled him more than her anger had. Following the spell of the room, he rose and went to her, but vowed not to tell her anything.

"Kneel," she said, and he knelt.

"Look me in the eyes."

He had no choice but to obey, and he felt his mind open to the events of that afternoon and beyond. He fought against her intrusion, but she saw every moment he had lived, experienced all he had experienced, and she let him go only when she was satisfied. Her smile was very, very cold. "I see. I have a fitting punishment for the pair of you, I think. Come here, Sesshomaru."

Inuyasha sagged onto the floor, released by the compulsion, and he saw his brother approach her. Don't look her in the eyes! he thought, unable to speak but Sesshomaru didn't hear him.

Her eyes locked with Sesshomaru's, and for a moment, it seemed as if nothing had happened. Then, his eyes changed, his fangs and claws disappeared, and he seemed different beyond the superficial changes. What had she done?

Sesshomaru broke away from the contact, howling, but it was an entirely human howl. Inuyasha gasped and made it to his feet, trying to calm Sesshomaru. What had she done to him?

"I've made him mortal," she said, sounding pleased with herself. "It looks like he can't handle human emotions. All the things he's done, the pain and death he's sown and seen…it's an awful lot, and he's just now realizing exactly what he's been doing all his life and what he's been seeing. Any normal human would have been driven mad by now."

"What have you done?" Inuyasha demanded. "He can't possibly survive this—he's not used to them—you can't do this!!"

"I already have, my boy, don't you see?"

"But I'm used to emotions since I'm half human!" he protested. "He has no protection at all! It'll destroy him!"

She appeared to be considering his words, and with a small wave of her hand, Sesshomaru's howling stopped only to be replaced with racking sobs. "I've dampened them. He'll be able to live with them for now, but I won't take them away again. It is his punishment for thinking to defy me."

Inuyasha stared at her. This woman was mad, truly mad.

"And now," she said, advancing towards him. "I have a gift for you, my little runaway. Stay right where you are."

Inuyasha tried to run, but his feet were frozen to the floor. In her hands she held a collar.

"That's right now, what a good little boy," she cooed. "Let me put this on you."

He couldn't move, and he felt the brush of her cold fingers on his throat as she fastened the collar around his neck. It seemed as if a heavy blanket settled around him for a moment only to disappear a moment later.

"There," she said, looking pleased. "Now, to make sure you don't try to run off again…"

She looked at him, and suddenly he felt very peculiar. It seemed as if she and the room were growing bigger…in fact, everything seemed to be. What..?

"There," she said again, leaning down and picking him up. "I've always felt that small ones are more tractable, and they certainly can't climb over walls to run away."

"What have you done to me?" Inuyasha shrieked, startled at how high his voice was.

"What, you didn't realize?" she asked. "I've given you the body of a five-year-old, that's all. You'll spend the night with me, little one, and then you'll never want to run away from me ever again."