AN: ok, so I got votes, and this is how it stands, 3 Inu/Kag 0 Koug/Kag! And I do accept anonymous votes too so don't be shy! Ok, so, if you're at my bio page in the future, and READ, what it says, -I know, that's a stretch for me sometimes, I usually skip to the bottom- anyway, if you read it it'll tell you a bit about my future plans for a new story, not very much but a little. Ok, so on with the story!!!!

Oh, and by the way, I got a comment from one reviewer who said Kagome's coming out as a kind of bitch, considering she was with Inuyasha and then went to mate with Kouga. I kinda have to agree. She does seem that way, but ya know, that is just her confusion on the matter. And Kouga of course was the one fueling her to mate with him, she did it only because most likely she was lonely and probably felt more secure with someone with her, and subconsciously she thought Kouga was a close second to Inuyasha anyway. And he was a friend ya know? The only other guy she even liked who was in the Fudle era. So that's my explanation on that one, now remember, VOTE!!!

PS: I kinda explain this later. The whole kag is a bitch thing anyway .

Disclaimer: INUYASHA IS NOT MINE! O-m-g, I think that's the first real one I've ever written! Wow.

CHAPTER 13

A NEW FANG

&

THE BATTLE ROYAL

Li stood there, the smoke slowly disappearing into a faint dust in the air. Nireku glared from where he lay sprawled from the attack. Inuyasha was managing to finally sit up, along with Sesshomaru. Sara was smiling from where she stood, her eyes brimming with tears of joy. Kanna smiled at Li, and then there was Kagome, who was grinning absurdly.

Slowly everyone's gaze fell to the blade in Li's hand. It looked similar to Tetsaiga, however with one large difference. Engraved in the blade, there was a symbol, and it was glowing very faintly. Kagome frowned softly,

What is that? Demonic energy maybe? She thought, but before she could say anything, she saw Li looking around as if searching for someone. Then he looked to Nireku,

"Where is Kite Nireku? I kinda wanted to test this out on him before I killed you with it." He said lightly, Nireku snarled,

"He is already dead pup, I killed him." Nireku's words brought a frown to Li's face,

"Oh?" he said coolly, "That's too bad, he was worth fighting." Li said, Nireku smirked,

"Cry for him if you will, however right now I must say you should be worrying about your own soul." The demon said, and then nodded behind Li, glaring he turned and his eyes flashed.

Kikyou stood there, an arrow aimed at him, Sara lay, now unconscious at the two times dead miko's feet. Kikyou's eyes studied him, concentrating on him. Li just watched her, until he felt that feeling of tiredness begin to descend on him. He shook his head slightly to rid himself of it, but it only grew stronger as he did so. Kikyou chuckled to herself,

"Dear Li, why resist, you know you can't." she said, almost cooing. Li growled, but felt his shoulders slump. He heard faintly the calls of the others, but those grew faint until they were silenced by the void of fatigue.

Only her voice remained…

"Dear Li, I was wondering something, tell me please; what is the trick to defeating your father?" she cooed, Li's mind screamed that this was nothing to speak of. But he did,

"Me I guess, or my mom." He said, she nodded,

"And your mother?" she asked, Li frowned, he knew this one without a doubt: Anè, his little sister of course, who else? But he couldn't form her name on his tongue. Something still told him to keep his mouth shut. He opened it, and then he fought it.

No, no, I can't say anything, can't, say a word…no…

He opened his mouth to say it, though his entire being was trying not to. He was about to fail. Fail at the most important thing he'd ever done, protect his sister. The words began,

"A-" he stopped, Kikyou's scream flew though him, cutting off his ability to speak.

He blinked his eyes, and realized that he had closed them. He looked up and saw that Sara was rolling on the ground, and as a last resort, fighting the older miko.

Kikyou screamed as Sara pulled her hair, and the miko retaliated by scratching the Taji-ya, Sara shrieked and kicked the woman hard in the gut. As the two continued to duke it out, Inuyasha and Miroku just stared,

"I know I shouldn't be watching," Miroku said, "I should just turn away, but, my god I didn't know this kind of thing ever happened." Inuyasha was staring just a dumb founded,

"Uh, yeah, women are so, cruel to each other! Damn." He said, shaking his head,

Suddenly Kikyou slapped Sara with such force that she flew away.

Li's roar cut through everything, as his claws slashed through the air and hit the Kikyou who screamed and rolled away from him, her wound bleeding profusely. Li glared at her, but ran to Sara to check on her, the demon slayer was fine; apparently just a few claw marks. However at that same instant, another roar swept through the village.

Nireku was snarling his head off, and he attacked Li, the force of his blow throwing Li through a hut. Inuyasha and the others jumped up to help, however, just then, Nireku ran to Kikyou, and picking her up he disappeared.

Everyone stared at the spot where the demon had just stood, until they heard a sound come from the rubble of the hut. Li stood coughing slightly, but grinning,

"Well, I think I figured out how to push his buzzer!" he said, laughing.

Sara sat with Li in his hut, helping him heal his wounds. Kagome and the others had managed to all fit in the little house. Just barely however. Kagome was sitting on the floor, Inuyasha on her left side, Kouga on her right. Beside him were Miroku and Sango, and Anè sat on Kanna who was sitting by Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. Kanna had no idea why, but the child had plopped herself down onto her lap when she'd heard her brother was back.

Li's new sword sat propped up beside him within reach, his eyes were closed but he wasn't in any pain, his head was just leaning on the wall behind him as he listened to the events of the weeks he'd been gone. Nothing had really happened, other than this little incident.

"That's just about it." Said Inuyasha with a shrug, Li made no response at first. He just sat there, a small frown on his face, thinking. And then, just before Kouga burst out yelling, Li's eyes snapped open.

"I think there was only one thing that bothered me about this last fight with Nireku," he said, everyone listened, "Kite. I don't see what made Nireku so mad as to kill off one of his most powerful fighters. Either he's more crazy than we thought, just plain stupid, or there is something else going on here." He said; the frown still on his face. Something about it was obviously bothering him about this.

"So," said Kouga indifferently, "he's a bit more off his rocker than we thought, so what?" Li's frown deepened,

"Well, the fact is, if Nireku was as mad as your suggesting, I'd be able to have beaten him by now. Madness is a serious weakness as much as an asset, if he was mad I could kill him with the abilities my mother gave me. But he's not. He's just evil. There's a difference." Li said,

"So he's stupid?" said Kouga, again indifferently, again, Li shook his head,

"No, he's not a fool other wise Sara and I could have kill him the first time he attacked her out side her village ages ago. If he'd have been a fool, he'd not have been able to escape us." Li said wryly, "No, there's something else going on here. Something that happened to make Nireku want to kill Kite before he should have." Li said more seriously, a troubled look on his face.

"Something," said Sara, "or someone." Everyone stared at that statement, every one of them were thinking of the same person; Kikyou. Then looked to Inuyasha.

When he realized everyone was staring at him, glanced around,

"What!" he snapped, "Why are ya all lookin at me?" he asked, Miroku chuckled, and slapped him on the shoulder,

"Because you know more about that undead 'priestess' than any of us. So, is there something she could have done?" the monk asked, Inuyasha shrugged,

"When I knew Kikyou, I knew her. I had absolutely nothing to do with her magic's though. She was enough for me to handle." He said, Sesshomaru scoffed,

"And you did it so well if I recall." He said,

Inuyasha growled and was about to argue, but Li cut in,

"Listen, if Kikyou did something, we'll know soon enough, I have a friend tailing them, he's good at that sort of thing. If something's up, we'll know." Li's voice made room for no argument.

"So kid," Said Kouga, "What exactly in all the seven hells were you doing all this time, you were gone almost three months!" Li sighed, and said,

"If you really want to know, I died." At this the entire hut went still, Li just gave Kouga a grave look and continued, "Totosai's little sword, Kairujon, here was the one he made for me…"

Flash Back…

(Totosai's voice)

"You Li, you have trained hard these last few weeks, and the sword you will need is prepared. However you should know; this sword will not be happy with a wielder that is of an impure soul, it will test your soul, and your life, your heart, and everything else it can find a flaw in. Be prepared to fight for you life, and all you desire, if you lose, you will die."

End Flash Back…

Li shrugged as he ended his story.

"And it did. It made me relive everything I ever did wrong in my life, by its standards anyway, and made me tell why, for every deed done in cold blood, or for a wrong reason, I was punished by what ever level of a wrong I had committed." His words were ice, as if he was recalling a lost dream, he shivered, "and it killed me many times over, but my soul wouldn't allow me to fail, so, somehow, I mastered the blade. Only Totosai could explain it well enough for everyone to get it. I have started over, now with no regrets as to what I have done before, as well as with no wrong doings left behind; if I can't move on I wouldn't be able to use this sword at all." He said, his eyes smiling once more, "Now everyone, with you alls permission, can I get some sleep?" he asked sarcastically.

Everyone filed out with a good night of some sort. Anè left grinning with Kanna holding her hand and Miroku and Sango left together, soon, Sara was the only one left. The two hadn't even made eye contact until the room was entirely empty.

As soon as it was, Sara pounced on Li. Pinning him to the ground and hugging him hard.

"YOU LOSER IF YOU EVER LEAVE ME AGAIN FOR SO LONG, I'LL KILL YOU WHEN YOU COME BACK; DO YOU HEAR ME??!!!!!!!!!!" she yelled, Li's ears were flat against his head, but he nodded, a small smile on his face,

"I did it though." He whispered, "I did it, we can bond now. It's safe." His voice was soothing, but she just sighed and stood again,

"It was safe before you fool! You were the only one who thought it was dangerous!" she yelled, Li sighed and stood as well,

"It was, ever since Nireku has been after me you've seen all the demons that come with him, if I wasn't strong when we bonded…." He trailed off, but she just spun on him, poking him the chest,

"I think you were plenty strong enough back then, you didn't need to go!" she yelled. And finally, Li lost his calm, he exploded,

"What would you have had me do Sara?!" he yelled, "You would have me lose you cause I wasn't strong enough? NO! I refuse to do that! I lost everything that mattered to me, my dad, my family, I've lost it all in one way or another, I will not lose you too!" he shouted, and she'd never heard him do that before, she blinked, and then glared,

"You think so little of my abilities then? Am I not talented enough to protect my self even a little?" she snapped, Li shook his head,

"I didn't say that, I meant something entirely different! I just, I'm, I…." he stopped, shrugging in confusion. Then he wrapped his arms around her, "I am responsible for you Sara, I feel like I am anyway, if you died. What would be left for me?" he asked softly, she smiled, then shrugged,

"I'm never going to leave, but I couldn't tell you anyway." Then she kissed him, and he gladly returned the favor…

Inuyasha and Miroku both hear Sara's rantings as they left the hut. Inuyasha winced and sighed,

Poor Li, he thought, and then looked to Miroku. The man had a similar expression of pain and sympathy on his face, and then he glanced at Inuyasha,

"Something wrong Inuyasha?" he asked, Inuyasha hesitated, then nodded,

"Yeah, there is." He muttered, "Can we talk?" he asked, and Miroku gave a bit of a quizzical look, and then left with the hanyou.

Inuyasha and the monk walked through the dark forest, and Inuyasha told his friend of the incident with his mate… or was she?

"Well Inuyasha," said Miroku, pulling Inuyasha from his reverie, "I think that Kagome is probably just as confused about this as you are. Most likely-" he stopped, "Inuyasha do you want my opinion?" he asked,

Miroku had learned long ago that sometimes Inuyasha just told him things to tell them, and other times he would actually need advice. This time it appeared to be the latter,

"Go on." The Hanyou muttered, and Miroku continued,

"I believe that when Kagome went to Kouga just after you left she was looking for some place to feel safe, and Kouga seemed like a good friend to go to. He of course wouldn't have thought of anything like that, and so as time passed, he would have made advances, and tried to convince her that you no longer cared for her. After a while, she probably began to worry about that herself, if she hadn't before, so she decided that she would be with Kouga, feeling that she owed it to him, and that you no longer needed her beside you. What do you think of that?" he finished,

When Miroku looked to Inuyasha he saw the hanyou's face was slightly sad, and yet, smiling, which was rare in of its self, but what he said was even more so.

"Well, I hope she finds her way soon, I don't want this to confuse her so much that she gets sad or anything over it." He said, Miroku nodded calmly, but inside he was as sad as Inuyasha looked, sad for Inuyasha himself,

he was put through so much even before I knew him, and Kagome healed this, and then she took it away, now what does he have?

Then Miroku looked up to Inuyasha and said,

"I'm sorry Inuyasha." the hanyou blinked, then smiled,

"Why? I still have Li, and he's what I did all this for in the beginning, he's worth all of this Miroku." He said, and then walked into the darkness.

Miroku looked after him, then sighed and went to his own wife.

Kagome lay next to Kouga, tossing and turning in the night. Her son's words echoing in her head, slowly tears began to fall,

"I have started over, now with no regrets as to what I have done before…"

Kagome shuddered, and thought, I only wish I could, I have so many regrets, I have let my son down in so many ways, and I let, Inuyasha down to. I still love him, I think I always did, but what can I do now?

Suddenly Kouga sat up beside Kagome; he looked down to her,

"Kagome," he whispered, "I only want you to be happy, you know this right?" he whispered, Kagome tried to blink her tears away, but Kouga stopped her, wiping them away for her, she muttered,

"Of course, you love me." She said, he nodded and pulled her to him,

"Yes, but do you love me?" he asked, she nodded, and then he said, "More than Inuyasha?" his words were not pained, as they had every right to be, but instead, oddly tired, as if he'd seen this coming. Kagome sobbed, and tried to say yes, but found her voice gone.

Kouga pulled back and kissed her fore head,

"Kagome, I know the answer, but I know that you do love me, and if I'm second best to that mutt face, well, for Anè's sake, I'll live with that. But you need to be happy, she likes him, like an uncle or something, and she loves Li, he's alright, as friends we could be civil, but me and you Kagome, I'm not going to pretend with you, if you don't love me more than him, go to him, I just want you happy." He said, and then stood and left her alone in the room to ponder her thoughts.

Inuyasha woke that morning, the sun shining through the leaves of the God Tree where he'd spent his night. Not that he'd slept much, he mostly been pondering his thoughts.

And they are just as confusing now as they were two hours ago. He thought darkly, and then he sighed and jumped down out of the tree.

Inuyasha slowly walked along the worn path that went through his forest. As he wandered, he felt his mind start to do so as well, flying through all his memories to find when this had all began. Years ago, when he'd first met Kikyou, and then Kagome, how had it all come to this moment?

He had always been cursed it seemed, his father dieing, then his mother, and his relationship with his brother, and Kikyou as well. How Naraku had come after him, and he'd almost lost his friends so many times.

But that was all nothing compared to losing Kagome and Li. He'd thought he had finally found a place to rest his head when he found her. He thought that that was that, his happy ending, his reward for doing all he'd done, resisting temptations of becoming a full demon, sending Kikyou to hell, defeating Naraku. He'd done so much, what fate was is that had decided that none of it had been enough? Who decided that everything and everyone he'd lost up to that point wasn't worth it? That he had to lose more. Lose perhaps, no, defiantly, the most important people in his life? His wife and his at the time unborn son?

He sighed again. This was not the first morning that he'd woken up to these thoughts and the helpless injustice of the world seemingly hanging off his shoulders. No, this had happened before, but he always came to the same conclusion, he was cursed.

"No your not!" came a voice behind him, he turned, it was Li, standing there smiling at him, Inuyasha blinked, he hadn't realized he'd been talking out loud. Li continued, "If you were curse dad, would I have ever met with you again? Let alone forgive you and everything? Nah, if you'd have been cursed, we'd never have seen each other again." He said,

Inuyasha just stared at his son for a moment, then smiled, and nodded,

"You're right I guess, I'm just tired that's all." The hanyou said wearily, and took a look around him. And just about jumped out of his skin. He was standing out side the well. Li was sitting on the edge of it now. Li quirked an eye brow at his fathers sudden nervousness,

"Uh, dad?" he said, Inuyasha shook himself,

"It's just, this is where," he dropped off, unable to continue, Li just nodded,

"Yeah, this is where I go to think. Mom came through there right?" he said, motioning to the well beneath him, Inuyasha nodded mutely, but inwardly he smiled, this boy had so much of his mother in him. Li however stood and looked to be leaving,

"Where you going Li?" Inuyasha called to his son, Li shrugged as he walked away and didn't turn,

"You look like you need this place more than I do right now. See ya!" and then he disappeared into the forest. Inuyasha stared after him for a moment, and then he sat down and leaned against the well.

"That boy is smarter than me!"

Sara's eyes opened to the morning's light. Li was just coming to lay beside her, she however sat up slowly so he just sat there his legs crossed. She smiled at him and got into his lap. He leaned his head on her and they watched the sun come in through the window. Both praying that the day would give them just a little more rest.

"Where were you?" she asked him, he just kissed her head,

"No where mate." He whispered, she sighed and leaned against him,

"We do have to get up now don't we?" she asked, he shrugged,

"Only when they call us." He said, she smiled,

"Yeah, right." She scoffed, he growled and they both laughed softly, both knowing that they would be called for before the light was fully in the sky. Just at that moment there was a knock at the door.

Sara groaned, and she crawled over to get herself covered with the blankets while Li opened the door. It was the wolf man from yesterday Sara recognized him at once. He had been the one who had approached her with being the second in command.

Which isn't such a grey area any more I guess. She thought to herself, and almost started giggling madly.

"Yes?" Li asked him, "Tire what's wrong?" Tire nodded a bow and said rather nervously,

"Sorry to disturb you, but we have found the sent of Nireku when he was leaving the village yesterday, we think we know now how he disappears, but we want you to check it out if you will." Li nodded and went to put a shirt on, Tire gave Sara a nod and she gave him a short wave with a wry smile on her face. Li chuckled as he was searching for his shirt, Sara glared,

"How do you do that? Do you have eyes in the back of your head now too?" she asked, Li just chuckled again.

"No, love, we're as good as bonded now, in fact, all it will take is a bit of a spell from my mom, and we will be, so I can already see things like that even without eyes in the back of my head. I could see things like that without eyes." He said, she snorted.

Then he stood and turned to her, gave her a kiss and took his shirt –which she had been using to cover her chest without knowing it- slipped it on ignoring her gasp and he grinned leaving the room with Tire who was looking diligently in the other direction.

Sara glared at the closed door.

"Jerks, the whole lot of men are jerks!" she snapped to herself and then began looking for her own cloths.

AN: OK, well I kinda wanted to do more with this but I'll stop here for now, I'll update as soon as I can, see ya. Oh, and keep reviewing!