Chapter 12: Brotherly Love and the Naïve Queen

Inuyasha cricks his neck as he yawns, stretching out sore muscles before suddenly snapping his mouth shut. Her scent was missing. His eyes rove the campsite, picking up clues.

No Kagome. No haori. (A.N. aka, that coat thing, just in case you didn't know) Kagome's bow and arrows resting against a tree opposite of his. He drops to the ground and cautiously sniffs. No scent other than that of Kagome's, and that was headed...he groans when he realizes. It headed straight towards the ridge.

'Kagome, you idiot. What were you thinking? Even if you make him believe I'm still around, he won't care. Oh shit. He'll kill her, to get rid of any evidence I exist, he'll kill her!'

He quickly turns to the horizon, where the first rays of dawn are making themselves known, 'Shit!! I bet my life he's planning on killing her at sunrise. The idiot's always had a flair for the overdramatic. I've got to move!'

With that he grabs her weapons before running for the ridge at full speed, jumping from treetop to treetop to save on time. 'Stay alive Kagome.' He silently pleads, 'I'm coming. Just stay alive!'

- - - - - - - - -

'Inuyasha, help!' Kagome whimpers mentally as she walks onto a scaffold that seemed to have been made haphazardly. All she really wanted to do was fall, cry and wait for the blow, but her pride refuses to let her do that. So instead, she stands, head held high, though her eyes implore Hojo to do something.

He merely turns his eyes to the ground, looking dejected, and then leaves her to stand alone.

Kagome gulps, looking down at the sea of violent faces, all alight in the savage joy of anticipation of seeing death. She suppresses a shiver, pulling the red coat closer around her, unconsciously running a hand over her shoulder, where she'd re-hidden the precious book.

Suddenly everything goes quiet as Sesshomaru makes his appearance. Soldiers quietly clear the way and bow as he passes, emotionlessly walking up the steps. He regards her for a moment before turning to the crowd, "This Sesshomaru rules with an iron hand. When he rules this land it will be no different. This woman has lied. What is law for lying to this Sesshomaru?"

A shout of "Death!" goes up before things go quiet again.

Sesshomaru turns, coolly gazing at her while drawing one of the two swords she notices dangling at his side. A hushed whisper goes through the crowd as he lifts it high over his head.

Silence claims the very air as he speaks again, "This is the fabled Tokijin, which only this Sesshomaru can wield. As an example to this land, this girl will have the honor of being felled by it."

"Honor my ass!" comes a familiar, gruff voice.

Kagome's eyes brighten and look to where the voice came from, only to be greeted with a thud and a blinding cloud of dust. As the cloud clears, Kagome smiles widely, recognizing the still blurry form without any trouble, "Inuyasha!"

Sesshomaru raises an eyebrow and lowers his sword, "Little brother, this Sesshomaru sees you indeed live. You...have changed. Did you let your bitch do this to you? (A.N. Meant in the female dog sense, not the profane one. Back to the story)"

Inuyasha growls, "Shut up Sesshomaru, it's none of your damn business. It's my business though, that you're even here, not to mention that you attacked one of my villages. On the wishes of our father, explain yourself." By this time he'd made the jump to up on the scaffold with no real difficulty, ignoring Kagome's gasp of amazement in favor of staring his older brother down.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrow, "This Sesshomaru has no need to explain himself to a half-breed. He see you have a new weapon with you." He mentions wryly, motioning to the bow and arrows, "Will our father's sword no longer work for you?"

Inuyasha growls low, practically ripping off the objects, stomping over to Kagome and shoving them into her hands, "They're hers. She left them at camp. And my sword works just fine. Want a demonstration? I'd gladly show you as I kick yer' ass back over the border!"

By this time some of the bolder guards try to sneak up the steps to try to ambush the younger brother. Suddenly the foremost soldier is staring at an arrow that lands not two inches from his foot. He hurriedly looks to where it came from only to find himself staring down a cocked arrow held in place by a ticked-looking Kagome.

"Don't. Move. The next one that does dies." She says in a deadly calm voice.

Inuyasha smirks as he hears the men gulp, "Looks like your men aren't as brave as they're said to be. They're afraid of a woman! Can't really blame them though, the wench is pretty handy with the bow. Now, we gonna fight or what?"

Sesshomaru seems about to retort when a feminine voice comes through the air, "Sesshomaru-sama! Sesshomaru-sama! Hey, where is everyone?"

Inuyasha's eyes widen, "You're kidding me. You brought her along? How did you manage to destroy a village if she's with you?!"

Sesshomaru doesn't get a chance to answer as a pair of bright eyes and a head of bouncy black hair comes around the corner, a smile instantly lighting her face when she sees the stoic king, "Sesshomaru-sama!" she says joyfully, racing as much as she could in her oversized dress. She latches onto his arm lovingly when she reaches him, smiling up at before noticing the other occupants of the structure, "Inu-kuro! (A.N. Okay, I'm pretty sure I said this in a previous AN, but just in case, kuro (at least I'm pretty sure) means puppy.) is that you? I hardly recognize you! What happened?"

Inuyasha grumbles at the nickname before mumbling, "I had some trouble with a witch, that's all."

The woman giggles a little before turning to Kagome, who was a bit off balance due to the sudden change of mood, "I'm sorry, I don't quite remember you. Kikyo was it?"

Kagome shakes her head, putting her bow behind her back, "No, my name is Kagome. We haven't ever met before. It's very nice to make your acquaintance though milady."

The girl smiles widely, "Please, just call me Rin." She then turns to Inuyasha again, "Inu-kuro, what are you doing here? We've only been taking this seeing trip for a day or two, I didn't even think you'd know we were here yet."

An idea flashes through Kagome's head, and she speaks before Inuyasha can reply, "Actually, we didn't. We were on our way to see about a report on a destroyed village when we happened upon your encampment. Inuyasha was just asking for Lord Sesshomaru's help in helping the village that was attacked since we think it would be best if his subjects at large did not see him in his present state."

Rin's eyes go wide before she looks up at Sesshomaru, oblivious to the looks that the brothers are giving Kagome, "Oh Sesshomaru-sama! Those poor people! Can we help them, can we? It would mean ever so much to me if we could."

Sesshomaru closes his eyes as if contemplating, but everyone already knows the answer. He takes a deep breath and has a small grimace on his face when he says, "For you Rin. Only for you."

At this Rin squeals happily and hugs him tightly, making him look rather uncomfortable.

Kagome lets out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, thinking, 'Well this should be interesting. Oh well, at least they would kill each other for a while.'

A.N. Yay! No one dies! Lol, the best of both worlds, butt-kicking attitude but a non-violent solution. Sorry if Sesshomaru seemed a bit over the top, he just came out that way in this chappie. Next chappie, the village, I'm still deciding whether or not I want it to be Kagome's village, I guess we'll both find out! Now to the Reviewer Replies!

RebelWriter- I know, I don't understand it either, but oh well, it's their story. And this one won't be that way, so you know at least one story you can count on to have butt-kicking girls! Lol

RoseMaiden-Alright, I'm typing up the first chappie now. I may even get it up tonight! If not, than please be content with a songfic I wrote a while ago for Rurouni Kenshin that I found, and I'll get the first chapter up ASAP .

Copperline Kitty-Lol, I'll go as fast as I can, but I've also got school to worry about (Belch.), so I have to balance a bit.

Stary Kagome-Sorry for not responding to your review for chapter 10 if you got it in before I updated, but I didn't get it in time. Well, now you know how she got out of her predicament -.

Well, that's all for now, R&R please!