Author's note: so how did you like the last chapter? I know you've been waiting for me to finish it for a while but bear with me. If you want me to make long chapters than you'll have to wait for a bit before you can read them. Arigato for the long review Jamie! I guess that means you like my story! Oh and about the (blank) on Kagome's arm. I got this really cool Japanese symbol but I guess it didn't go through when I posted the chapter. Just say it was a mark. Don't forget to read my other story, as the petals fall. You may not be able to find it on the search engine but think you can now. And the song every heart will be used in this chapter but I obviously do not own it. But enough talk let's get on with the chapter.

Chapter 6:

The Encounter With Sesshomaru and The Thickening Plot.

"so what should we do?" Inu Yasha asked Kaede, discarding all thought of trying to disguise his emotions. All he cared about was saving Kagome.

"whatever ye do ye must not tell Kagome" said Kaede.

"but why?" asked Shippo, "shouldn't Kagome be able to know?"

"I agree with Kaede Shippo" said Miroku, "think about it, if you were told that you were going to die, wouldn't you get tense?"

"I…I guess" said the kitsune, not wanting to admit that Miroku was right.

"So if we tell Kagome and put that heavy weight on her shoulders," continued Sango, "She's sure to kill herself before we can save her"

"if we can" said Kaede solemnly.

"what do you mean Kaede?" asked Miroku.

Kaede looked down, "no matter what we do" she said "one of us will die."

"CURSE YOU INU YASHA!!!!!!!!!" Kyoto yelled, smashing anything he could find "I WAS SO CLOSE! HOW DARE THAT GIRL FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM!!!!" Kyoto kept smashing things in rage. I'll kill them both! He thought I'll break their bond! And I'll crush their trust in each other! He walked outside and jumped down from the cliff. He walked through the forest, cursing as he went along. How though? He thought how can I…but his thoughts were interrupted by the squeal of a young girl. He ducked behind a nearby bush so he wouldn't be seen. Peeking out from his hiding place, he saw a small toad (toad? I dunno what Jaken is lol) youkai and a little raven haired girl.(ever wonder why their all raven haired?) Beside them stood a tall Youkai in the form of a man. He had purple marks at the sides of his face, golden eyes and pure silver hair. (yay it's fluffy! Oh sorry) Kyoto growled at his unusual resemblance to Inu Yasha. It took all of his strength not to run out and attack the youkai. He watched as the youkai stopped abruptly and sniffed the air. The youkai growled slightly as he sniffed again.

"what is it lord Sesshomaru?" asked the toad demon as he saw his master sniff and growl.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" said the little girl, stopping as well upon seeing her master's action.

"I smell him" Sesshomaru said in his quiet dangerous voice, "I smell the blood of my pathetic hanyou brother"

Hanyou brother? Thought Kyoto as he watched.

"what does he mean master Jaken?" asked the little girl

"he means Inu Yasha, Rin" said Jaken smirking "Inu Yasha is near."

Sesshomaru smirked slightly as well "come Jaken, Rin." He said "we must take advantage of this opportunity to kill him"

So thought Kyoto if he too seeks to kill Inu Yasha, maybe he can be of help to me.

"wait!" yelled Kyoto as the three of them began to walk away. Sesshomaru stopped and turned, he smelled the blood of vengeance and malice. "if you want to destroy Inu Yasha, I can help you"

"what do you mean Kaede?" asked Miroku, "why will one of us die?"

"Many years ago, a sorcerer named Deikai made those tension seals for the soldiers fighting against us in the wars" said Kaede "But he was caught and forced to make an antidote. The antidote was called a healing idol. He started to use it on the soldiers that were affected by the tension seals. But when he touched their hands to give the healing idols to them, instead of healing them, it would transfer the poison in the soldier to him! So instead of calling it a healing idol, they changed the name to a transfer idol and told everyone to never touch one. The tension seals and transfer idols became so dangerous that the formula for them was locked away and kept secret by the Shinobi family."

"Shinobi?" said Inu Yasha suddenly, "I've heard that last name before! It's Kyoto's!"

"that explains where he got the formula for the tension seal" said Miroku.

"and that means that he has the formula for the transfer idols too" said Sango.

"but even if we make a transfer idol how can we use it?" asked Shippo "I mean who would be willing to give up their own life?"

Inu Yasha looked down at the ground, he could feel tears stinging in his eyes but fought to hold them back me he thought I would.

"a pathetic human thinks he can help me?" said Sesshomaru snickering "and just how?"

Kyoto looked at the youkai before him and smiled "I too seek to destroy Inu Yasha, I suggest we work together"

"who are you?" said Sesshomaru "before I make an agreement I must know"

"I am Kyoto Shinobi" said Kyoto "the one who's family your cursed hanyou sibling killed"

Sesshomaru tensed up as he heard this. For he indeed remembered when they had lived in this man's village. He remembered their cursed family and their hatred for Inu Yasha.

A young youkai with silver hair and golden eyes ran through the village calling out someone's name. The youkai had long silver hair, bright golden eyes and purple marks at the sides of his face.(dun dun dun! Its sesshy) "Inu Yasha!" the youkai called out. He stopped as he heard laughing and snickering coming from behind a nearby hut. The youkai hid behind a bush and listened carefully to what they were saying.

"so, you in or out?" said a male voice that Sesshomaru guessed was a young boy.

"I still don't see what your trying to do" said another voice.

The other boy groaned in annoyance "ok" he said "let's go over this again"

Sesshomaru peeked out to see Kyoto talking to another boy.

The memory then became unclear. Sesshomaru couldn't remember the rest. What had they been talking about? What was the secret plot Kyoto and the boy were concocting? He decided not to think about that now. All he knew was that this boy coveted Inu Yasha's death as well and he wasn't about to let the chance to kill Inu Yasha slip through his fingers. Slowly, Sesshomaru held out his hand "you have a deal" he said, smirking.

Kagome was still unconscious. She had been lying in the hut so long it had grown to be the night time and Inu Yasha was starting to get worried. He sat by her side, watching her as though testing her to see if she would even flinch on account of his stare. The others stood idly outside the hut watching the pair inside. None of them knew what they should do. It seemed wrong to tell Inu Yasha that things were ok because they were not and everyone knew it. The situation was very serious and telling Inu Yasha, who cared for Kagome more than anything, that she was ok would be cruel. But, on the other hand, her condition was fixable, but the only way to save her was for someone else to die.

"what should we do?" said Shippo to his friends nervously.

"none of us know Shippo" said Sango sadly, "we'll just have to wait until she wakes up before we can do anything."

Shippo looked solemnly at the ground "but what if she doesn't wake up"

"that won't happen!" yelled Inu Yasha, coming out from the hut, "Kagome will wake up and then we'll get that transfer idol and we'll save her"

"but" said Shippo "who would give up their life for Kagome?"

Inu Yasha bonked him on the head hard "I would!" he said "and if any of you really cared about her, you would too!" with this he went back into the hut to watch over Kagome.

The others processed what he had said and agreed. If they really cared about her they would. And they did care about her. She had always been a good friend to them, she had understood their problems and helped them get through it, she stayed by their side even when it would have been safer not to and she had trusted them and wanted their friendship even when she had been betrayed. Everyone agreed that she was the glue that kept the group together, without her, there would most likely be hatred and distrust spread throughout the group. But regardless of all this, they were still reluctant to give up their lives. (a/n: ok, I know your thinking that they are really selfish right now, but come on, would you just go "sure I'll kill myself, no problem"?) they were ashamed of their thoughts but they could not help it and felt unsure of what to do.

Don't die Kagome thought Inu Yasha as he watched over the unconscious girl, her raven locks sprawled untidily around her head like a halo of black hair. He wished more than anything that she would open her eyes and speak to him, tell him she was ok, that the mark had never been real. Reality? The word had never registered in his mind properly. No matter what anyone said or did to help him, Inu Yasha was never familiar with reality, thinking that every good thing that happened to him was just a dream and that soon he would wake up to find himself alone in his own cold world feeling number and more shameful than before. And this time was no different. He sat by her side, silently praying that this was not reality, that the tension seal was just a dream, that the risk of losing what he thought was the most precious thing in his life was only an illusion. He wished, hoped and begged that it was not real but new deep down in his heart that no amount of praying or wishing would change the fact that Kagome's life was indeed threatened. What was even worse was that he could not tell her, he could not hold her and comfort her or, more likely, let her comfort him. He could not shed tears in front of her, could not confess his sadness and despair. Struggling hard to hold back the tears that stung his eyes, he tried his best to maintain an unreadable expression. He pounded the floor in frustration, cracking the brittle wood of which it was made. He would kill Kyoto for doing this to him! He would kill Kyoto for bringing back the numbing pain of his sadness.

Sesshomaru snickered as he saw Inu Yasha struggling with his human emotions. He felt pity for the poor worthless half-demon. After all, he would hate it if he was the one who had to deal with silly adolescent feelings like love and compassion for humans. He turned to Kyoto, "are you in or out?" he was saying. Upon hearing this, Sesshomaru was instantaneously greeted by a brief continuation of the memory.

Young Sesshomaru watched as the boy and Kyoto went over their plan.

"what if someone finds out about this?" Kyoto was saying to the other boy.

"they won't" said the other boy firmly, "even if they do we can make sure they never tell…"

But Sesshomaru couldn't remember what had happened next, regardless of his countless mental efforts. It was now clear to him the memory would return to him in small bits. He frowned, getting what he wanted had usually never been hard, but this time was different.

"well…?" said Kyoto, still waiting for an answer. (a/n: I think I should end it here. But then you'd have to wait long for the next one, should I torture you, or not torture you? Yes? Or no? decisions, decisions. Ok I'll keep going)

Sesshomaru smiled evilly, forgetting the memory for a moment and focusing on the deal he was being offered. "in"

Inu Yasha was still watching over the young miko in front of him. Please wake up Kagome he thought pleadingly please. As if in answer to his prayer, he noticed her slightly stir from her unconsciousness. He watched her intently, daring her to open her eyes. Kagome's eyes fluttered open and she sat up immediately. Panting, she looked at her surroundings. After one complete survey of the hut, Kagome's gaze finally met Inu Yasha's. "I-Inu Yasha" she said weakly before she fell back, the shock of waking up wearing off. Inu Yasha caught Kagome in his arms and checked to make sure she was still awake and ok.

"Kagome?" Inu Yasha said unsuredly, "are you ok?"

"yes" she said "but I feel so…tense"

"what!" said Inu Yasha concerned for her life, he hadn't known the curse would take effect so quickly. He thought of ways he could make her calm down and only one seemed appropriate. Oh Lord he was going to hate this but…. "Kagome, quickly, sit me!"

"what?" said Kagome "why"

"just trust me and do it" Inu Yasha replied. "and feel free to do it as many times as you want" he added as she started panting again.

"O….K….?" said Kagome who was a little weirded out that Inu Yasha would jump at the chance to be sat, "Um….sit?"

She watched as the hanyou was instantaneously pulled to the ground and couldn't help but giggle at the sight. She had always thought the look of him when he had been sat was hilarious. "Sit' she said, this time a little more sure of herself. She laughed out loud as Inu Yasha's face met the floor once more. "Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit," she continued in a sing song voice as Inu Yasha fell to the ground countless times. "I love that necklace!" said Kagome, laughing uncontrollably and pointing to the necklace around Inu Yasha's neck. She watched as he sat up and could only laugh more, her tension slipping away, at his now red face.

"ok, ok you had your fun" said Inu Yasha almost annoyed tone. He stood and pulled Kagome, who was still giggling slightly, to her feet as well. The two walked out of the hut to meet their still concerned friends.

"Kagome!" said Shippo happily at the sight of his friend, he ran to her and jumped into her arms.

"Hey Shippo" said Kagome "I'm guessing you missed me?"

Shippo laughed as he pressed his head into her shoulder. Sango and Miroku noticed her arrival as well and ran to her too. "Glad to see your ok Kag-chan" said Sango, relieved that her friend was not dead. Miroku nodded in agreement as the three of them walked over to the verandah of the hut.

"why are you guys so worried?" asked Kagome sincerely, "what happened to me?"

"you mean you don't remember?" said Inu Yasha.

"well, I remember some stuff" said Kagome, blushing at the thought "but then everything went blank. I couldn't really tell what was happening, but I knew I was doing something wrong. I tried to stop myself, but my body wouldn't listen. Usually I can fight manipulation curses, but this time something held me from resisting"

Inu Yasha stiffened, he knew what she meant. The thought that he didn't care about her, that he had no room for her in his heart, that he only loved Kikyo. He scowled and looked away, he would kill Kyoto for that, there was no way he would let Kyoto get away with filling Kagome's heart with such lies.

"But all the while I didn't know what it was I was doing wrong" Kagome continued "until I heard something, it was words, and a voice too. The words weren't recognizable at first, and neither was the voice. But then I realized it was Inu Yasha's voice, saying the words to our song" Kagome blushed at this point "it was then that I knew I was killing Inu Yasha! And no amount of magic could make me ever kill my friend, so I did my best to fight it and finally broke through, but then everything went black again."

She looked up at her friends who had circled around her. She realized all she had let out in what she had just said and blushed, she felt like an idiot, now everyone would know how she felt about Inu Yasha. Yes, it was true, she loved Inu Yasha very much and would never want to hurt him. But though she had said she didn't know what had kept her from resisting the spell, it was more clear to her than it ever would be to any of her friends. Her love for Inu Yasha was dangerous, and it would be threatening to his life as long as Kyoto knew her weakness, rejection. She was more scared that Inu Yasha did not return her feelings than she was of the countless demons she had battled many times before. And as long as Kyoto knew that, Inu Yasha would be in danger. Kagome grew worried, how long would it be before Kagome could no longer resist his spells at all? She knew that as Kyoto discovered the groups' weaknesses his magic grew stronger, for the strength of black magic increases by using other's pain and suffering. She looked at her friends again, who had now gone into their own small conversations, and stood. She walked away from the group as stealthily as she could, she needed some time to herself. Kagome noticed their conversations had grown quieter and immediately began to run lest she be seen. Kagome forced her legs to run until they could carry her no longer. She was still weak from the spell and had trouble controlling her body. Finally, unable to run any farther, she knelt down on the ground, panting and out of breath. She looked up to see the Goshinboku tree towering over her, she crawled slowly over to its trunk and leaned against it, grateful for a place to relax. She had been feeling so weird ever since she had woken up, like a heavy weight had been placed on her. Whenever she felt even the tiniest bit of concern, her heart stopped! She would feel herself losing consciousness when it happened too. She couldn't understand why or even what was happening. Hard as she tried she couldn't remember ever having this problem before. It certainly wasn't an illness from her time, that she knew for sure. But what was it? Should she ask her friends, or would that just make them more worried. She didn't know what to do, she was so confused. She felt tears sting in her eyes and didn't think twice to let them flow freely down her face. She felt so bad for Inu Yasha, he had to deal with the return of his old friend who now wants to kill him and he may die because of her and her feelings for him. She wept rather loudly and soon Inu Yasha's inu ears picked up her voice. He followed the sound until he too came to the Goshinboku tree. Landing on a branch, he made himself comfortable to spy on Kagome, who was crying below him. He watched as she looked up at the numerous stars above her. He listened carefully and heard the soft tinkling sound of her voice. He looked down and tried to hear what she was saying. He soon realized that she was not speaking, but singing.

Dare ni she sang omoi tsutaetara. Every heart. Kokoro mita sereru no darou. Inu Yasha suddenly felt himself losing focus of everything else but her singing. He had never known Kagome could sing so well. Nagai nagai, yoru ni obieteita. Tooi hoshi ni inotteta. He watched her stand and look at the stars, with shining eyes she continued. Meguru meguru toki no naka de. Bokutachi wa ai o sagashiteiru. Tsuyoku, tsuyoku naitai kara. Kyou mo takaisora miageteiru. She took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. Stretching her arms high above her head she grabbed the lowest branch of the tree and swung herself onto it. This was a new technique her brother had shown her. She chuckled to herself, it was the first time he had taught her something without making a fool of himself. Suddenly she heard the leaves of the branch above her rustle violently. She frowned curiously as she looked to find the origin of the noise. She saw a pair of golden eyes look straight back at her! Blushing madly she yelled "INU YASHA!!! SIT BOY!" He fell to the ground immediately. Kagome jumped off from the branch she had been sitting on and looked down at him "Just what did you think you were doing?" Kagome said irritably as Inu Yasha meekly looked up at her. Kagome sighed and walked away "you're no better than Miroku sometimes you know that?" said softly as she went.

Inu Yasha ran to catch up with her "what do you mean by that?" he said as he ran.

Kagome turned to look at him, "what is it with boys and eavesdropping?" she sighed.

"I wasn't eavesdropping!" yelled Inu Yasha in a defensive tone.

Kagome gave him a look that said yeah right and continued walking away.

"I wasn't" said Inu Yasha again "I heard you crying and I came to make sure you were ok"

Kagome stopped dead in her tracks. Was he serious? She blushed a dark shade of red, hoping he was telling the truth. It was moments like this that made Kagome realize what a mystery Inu Yasha still was to her. Every time she was convinced he was a jerk, he totally surprised her by doing something nice. She turned to look at him, searching his eyes for a hint to see whether or not he was lying. "is that true?" asked Kagome, surprised that she had been brave enough to do so.

Inu Yasha gave her one last look before looking away, "feh" he muttered "only because if you died, I wouldn't have a jewel detector anymore"

That did it! Inu Yasha knew how much Kagome hated to be called a jewel detector. " Inu Yasha sit boy!!" she yelled "SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT BOY!" She watched angrily as Inu Yasha fell to the ground and had his face forced deeper into the ground on account of the added sits. With that she ran deeper into the forest. What happened to the kind Inu Yasha she had been noticing the past few days? The one that actually had a brain in that oversized head? The one that had opened up to her and let her cry in his arms?

Suddenly, she heard the rustling of trees above her, looking up she saw Inu Yasha right above her! "Don't follow me!" she yelled "I hate you!"

If she had taken an arrow and plunged it into his heart it wouldn't have hurt as much as what she had just said. Inu Yasha paused, landing on a tree branch, as he watched her run deeper into the woods. He realized that he had truly hurt her feelings. He should have known not to call her a jewel detector. But still, what she had said to him had definitely hurt him more. Was she telling him she didn't love him? Or even like him? He jumped off again, determined to find out.

Kagome leaned against a thick tree, panting as tears streamed down her face. He was a jerk! She hated him! No, that was a lie, she could never feel anything for him but love. But it wasn't returned, she knew that now. Just as she had suspected, he could only love Kikyo. She knelt down, crying harder than before. She knew she shouldn't love him, that their relationship was dangerous. But before she could think about the subject anymore, her heart skipped a beat. Finding it hard to breathe, she put a hand to her heart, which was now pounding faster and faster. She felt a piercing pain in her chest as her heart went on fire. Her fingers went numb, then the numbness slowly inched up her arms and through her body. Her eyes involuntarily blurred and began to close. She could feel herself fading as she laid down in the grass. Just before she blacked out once again she heard a muffled cry "Kagome!"

Author's note: finally done! Gomen about the wait but I had a total writer's block, but that's over now and I promise I will try to make faster updates.
ai o fureta no mono wa jya nai, tada kanjou no mono ga desu na.

Translation: Love is something we cannot touch, but it is something that can be felt.