Authoress here.

Our water is shut off, so I'm dehydrated. And my father keeps suggesting walking to the gas station to use the bathroom (gags). I swear I'm the only member of my family with class – which is saying a lot.

(sings) Love (love) and hate (and hate). They're like two brothers (brothers) who go on a date (who...what?).

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Avenue Q.

START CHAPTER

Sesshomaru picked up his half brother's scent when the wind changed. Soon, another familiar scent his nostrils. A moment after he identified smell of rain, the first icy droplets hit him. He stepped under a tree.

Jaken gave him a wondering look as he stood unsheltered. "My Lord, what are you doing? We must keep moving if you wish to catch Inuyasha tonight!"

"Which I do not."

Jaken did not voice his next thought. It's that human girl. He doesn't want her to get feverish so he's blocking the rain from hitting her. Why does he even care?

Sesshomaru fixed his eyes on the imp, letting them narrow slightly. "Do you question my actions, Jaken?" he asked slowly, his voice laced with venom. The last thing he needed right now was his servant questioning his decisions. It was hard enough to explain the reasoning behind his actions in the safety of his own mind.

"N-no, My Lord!" sputtered Jaken, stumbling over his own feet in an effort to get under the tree too. "Of course not!"

"Good. If you ever become a liability to me, I will not hesitate to kill you."

Jaken flinched. "Yes, My Lord!"

A fat drop of cold rain that had not hit leaves on the way through the tree branches above splashed on Akina's face, and she awoke with a start, her hand flying to her sleeve.

Sesshomaru was slightly pleased when he saw that she had been hiding a dagger in her sleeve this whole time. Perhaps if she knew how to use it, she would not be completely worthless when she got her hands on the Tetsuiga.

"How long was I asleep?" Akina asked groggily as she slid out of Sesshomaru's arms. She placed one hand on the tree beside her so she would not fall over when a wave of dizziness hit her.

"Not very." Should I remind her that she smiled before she fell asleep? Sesshomaru wondered.

Akina frowned at a groove in the tree bark, her face suddenly becoming stony in its lack of expression.

What is she thinking about? Sesshomaru tried again to poke into her mind, not having forgotten the shields that blocked out twelve years of her life. He picked up on a few emotions, and without warning, a memory escaped the confines and he saw what she was remembering.

"My beautiful little girl. You're all I ever wanted." This must be Akina's mother.

"You're what I live for! Give your father a hug, eh?" And this man, her father.

And then he saw what came next. As the young Akina stumbled towards her parents, the three of them laughing together, a black arrow sank into her father's shoulder with a sickening thump.

He staggered and fell to the ground, a second arrow piercing the back of his head. The arrow was enchanted and passed all the way though. He heard the echo of Akina screaming in terror as she saw the bloody arrow tip protruding from her father's left eye.

Her mother seized Akina and held her shoulder firmly. "Run away! Get out of here, Akina! Now! I love you!" She shoved Akina into the woods, and the toddler ran for all she was worth.

When the demons got to her mother, the blood splashed onto Akina's back. Tears traced a path down her cheeks like eerie, pale rivers. She hid in a rotten log, cold and scared, until she found it was safe to leave.

Akina, the teenage Akina, let out a soft cry and slumped to her knees beside the tree. Her eyes were squeezed shut tightly, and her hands balled into fists. She leaned forward until her fore head was resting on the tops of her thighs.

"You saw," she accused Sesshomaru softly. "I could sense you there."

The demon lord was silent.

"Now you know why I don't smile," she continued as evenly as she could while fighting back tears. "And why I wander from place to place. I have no home, and no family to go back to."

Jaken was thoroughly confused, not having seen into Akina's mind, but kept silent.

Sesshomaru reached out and placed a hand upon her shoulder, trying to keep up the charade of caring about Akina.

She pulled away, refusing to look at him. "Let's go. You promised to take me out of the woods, and that's what you'll do. After that, I'm leaving."

She can't leave. That ruins the plan completely!

"Akina, wait."

The girl stopped when he spoke suddenly, curious despite her intentions to leave the forest, with or without Sesshomaru. "What do you want?" she asked quietly.

"Girl...Akina," he corrected himself, choosing his words carefully. "Now that Inuyasha has seen you are with me, he will do whatever it takes to capture you. He is my brother, and he longs to see me dead. You are a healer, which would give him an advantage he sorely needs."

"There's something else as well."

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed at Akina's back, shifting to her face as she turned around.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I could feel the energy from that Inuyasha's sword. You have to have human blood in your veins to touch it, which you don't. You've been using me because you wanted it for yourself."

Sesshomaru did not bother answering her.

Several tears escaped her eyes. "I thought maybe this time, my presence wouldn't hurt anyone. I was wrong. First it hurt you, and now it's hurt me. Goodbye, Sesshomaru."

She turned on her heel to walk away, keeping her head high despite the tears that traced a path down her cheeks.

"I promised to lead you from these woods, girl," Sesshomaru said quietly in a manner where volume did not matter, every word was still audible.

"Amazing how easily trust can be won with a few simple lies," she replied coldly. "I thought maybe you were being honest with me, and really wanted me around. We've been going around in circles. I told you I had been to that town in the woods, Nishi. I've known where we were going for some time now. You were trying to win me over so I would get that sword for you."

"I do not think you ever trusted me, girl."

"You know my name!" Akina cried. "The least you can do is use it!"

"If you intend to leave, then go. I have no further use for you."

His words cut deep into Akina's heart, shattering her ability to trust and love in the same moment. "Fine. The next time you're injured, I hope you die a slow, painful death somewhere where no one will ever find your body. No one will cry for you."

She turned on her heel and walked away stiffly, aware of the amber eyes that followed her.

"Whether or not you believe it, there is also no one to shed a tear if you die."

Akina paused momentarily. "Never speak to me again, Sesshomaru. You're a liar, and I wish I'd never met you. I can't believe someone like you could ever make me smile. Goodbye."

An hour later, Akina had managed to successfully set her face to an expression of stony calmness. That mask flickered for a moment when an arrow flew from between the trees and caught her sleeve, pinning her to a tall oak.

"Show yourself!" she demanded, her bottomless hazel eyes flickering around until she spied some movement.

"You smell like Sesshomaru," a male voice growled.

Akina realized that she had heard that voice before. "Inuyasha?" she asked softly, for some reason glad that it was him and not someone else.

The dog demon in question stepped from the woods into her line of vision, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Where is he?"

"Sesshomaru? I don't know."

"But you were with him! You must know where he went!" Sango argued.

Akina seized the arrow in her sleeve and pulled it from the tree bark, snapping it between her fingers. "Actually, I don't. I left him behind about an hour ago."

"A likely story," Inuyasha snarled.

"What did he do?"

Akina glanced at Miroku. "You're that monk from before," she observed. "How are your wounds?"

"Fine. You aren't willing to answer my question, I take it."

She frowned in reply. "It's none of your business."

Kagome stepped forward, and Akina spied the bow. It had been her, then, that had shot the arrow. "You're a human, like me," Kagome said, trying to explain the oddness of the situation. "Sesshomaru hates humans, but he kept you with him. We figured he was using you to get the Tetsuiga."

"So that's what the sword is called," she muttered dismally.

"He lied to you, didn't he?" Miroku asked.

"That is none of your business, monk," Akina spat viciously. He knows he's right.

Miroku smiled. "Now that you're with us, you can heal Inuyasha's wounds and he can go after Sesshomaru."

"I'm not an object that can be won and sold solely for my healing abilities, monk."

Miroku's smile faded. He had figured she would react in some way similar to this before he had even asked the question. "I am aware of that, Akina."

"I'm glad to see you remember my name. Now you can call goodbye to me properly when I turn and walk away," the healer replied icily.

"You can't."

Akina glanced sharply at Inuyasha. "And why the hell not?"

"We're not letting you run to Sesshomaru and tell him where we are."

"He can smell you. He already knows where you are. He can move faster than I can. He's probably already here."

Inuyasha smirked. "I can smell him too, and he's heading the other way."

This news actually surprised Akina, and she raised her eyebrows and blinked a few times. "He...he is?" She recovered quickly, however. "He's probably off to get some other human who will abide by his wishes and help him get the Tetsuiga to kill you with."

"Only the strongest will survive," Inuyasha replied evenly. "Meaning Sesshomaru is going to die."

END CHAPTER

(sings) You can be as loud as the hell you want when you're makin' love!

(cough)

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Authoress running upstairs to get a Life Saver.