Dedicated to Dennies, who lets me copy her CDs… and for so much more than that.

Kagome stared into the woods in the direction Inuyasha had disappeared.

"Do you think he's okay? Off by himself, I mean."

"I'm sure he's fine. Inuyasha makes a point of being able to take care of himself."

"I know. He's just been acting really weird today. Even weirder than normal."

"Miroku, too." Sango cast a look around the dim circle of firelight. "Speaking of that monk, I haven't seen him in a long time. Where'd he go?"

"Huh? I dunno."

"Well, I'm going to find him."

"I'm gonna try to find Inuyasha. It's creepy not having him around."

"Aww, do you miiiiiss hiiiiim?" Sango said in a sing-song voice.

"No! I just… like having him here."

Sango gave Kagome a knowing smile.

"I know that feeling."

With that she disappeared into the trees.

'What'd she mean by that?' Kagome thought. 'She sounds like Eri. She's always teasing me about liking Inuyasha. Ha! What do they know. I mean sure I like him, but not… like like…

'Wait a minute. What am I doing? I don't have to explain this out to myself. I don't like him and that's all there is to it.

'right?'

Oh, this is stupid.

I'll just go find him, make sure he hasn't got himself killed.

Sesshoumaru moved silently, outside the line of the human's sight. He couldn't depend on the human, apparently the monk had his own ideas as to how the situation should be handled.

Not that he would ever get a chance.

Inuyasha was saying something insignificant, Miroku was assuring him that it would work. Imperceptibly, the monk's left hand was picking at the knot on the sheath on his right.

He would have to work fast, before the thing got opened.

"So let me get this straight. You kill me, Sesshoumaru kills Naraku?"

"Yes, assuming he keeps his word."

"I wish you'd just done it and not stuck your moral crap on me," Inuyasha said, his dark brown eyes narrowing in Miroku's direction.

"I was wondering if I'd be able to live with myself."

"Yeah, well, I could have."

"So you'll do it?"

Inuyasha was quiet for a moment, thinking.

"You'll take care of Kagome, right?"

"Of course."

"And by 'take care' I don't mean-"

"Oh. Come now, would I do that?"

Inuyasha nodded, grinning a bit.

"You're no saint. So how are you gonna pull this off?" Inuyasha dropped into a fighting stance. "If it'll let you sleep at night, I'll fight back."

"Don't bother," said a voice from behind him. The human hanyou spun around, eyes searching the darkness for the speaker. He had a sinking feeling he knew who it was.

"You won't be fighting him," Sesshoumaru said, appearing behind him again.

The familiar claustrophobia set in as Inuyasha realized he hadn't even felt his hated half-brother approach, though the daiyoukai was only a foot or so behind him. He turned again, trying to at least see his enemy.

"This certainly is an interesting development, isn't it, little brother? If I had known about this little transformation of yours, I wouldn't have bothered trying to bribe your comrades."

"Oh, shut up, we don't want to hear your babbling."

"Then I'll go straight to killing you. Monk, no deal."

"Well if I'm not getting anything out of dying, I'll just have to kill you, instead," Inuyasha growled.

"Sesshie," he added under his breath, with a grin.

He might have added something else, but it was cut off as Sesshoumaru lunged at him, his motions liquid and smooth. If it was easy for him to beat his brother as a hanyou, it was triply so as a human.

This fight wouldn't last long.

"How far could he possibly have gone?" Kagome asked herself as she fought the dark forest for passage. Inuyasha usually ran off on nights he became human, but he'd never ventured off THIS far…

Seeing a tall tree, Kagome got an Idea. Hanging her bow off her shoulder she grabbed a low branch, swinging her body on top of it. From there it was easy to climb higher. The only problem was, despite the superior vantage point provided by the height of the tree, the leaves blocked most of her view.

She was about to give up and head back to the camp when she saw a flash of red through the leaves. No wonder she hadn't found him, she was going the wrong direction. Armed with a destination, Kagome dropped back onto the ground, heading for where she had seen Inuyasha.

"Are you trying to run, Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru shook his head, staring through the darkness at his half-brother. "The least you could do is accept your fate, fight like a true demon. Or a man, whichever you'd prefer. Either way, I'll still kill you."

Miroku was long lost behind them as Inuyasha retreated further into the concealing trees, Sesshoumaru following flawlessly.

The darkness was broken for only a second as a band of light flew from Sesshoumaru's fingertips, flying through blackness to hit it's mark, not for the first time, on Inuyasha's skin.

The hanyou said some very colorful words, even for him. The afterimage of the whip shone bright red in his mostly black view.

"Actually, now the only question is how to kill you," Sesshoumaru mused from somewhere he couldn't see.

Inuyasha gritted his teeth and prayed, to whatever god he thought would listen, that the sun would come up.

Soon.

That hope was mostly destroyed as he felt hands close around his neck. He heard someone call his name, he supposed it was Miroku, finally catching up. Not his main concern right now. He tried to fight back, but his brother's arms were longer than his, putting the youkai safely out of range. He clawed at the vice-like hands, only to remember that his claws were in fact gone, replaced by a human's fingernails.

Damn, damn, damn.

The blackness disappeared behind a flood of technicolored bubbles. He stopped fighting, it wasn't worth the extra pain. His name was called again, this time it sounded a lot nicer. He felt a jerk, probably his soul leaving his body. The pain began to subside a bit.

Someone was calling his name. Kikyo?

That's right, she was dead, too, wasn't she?

At least he'd see her again…

Kagome shielded her eyes as the bright green light flipped out again, showing her the locations of both Inuyasha and his attacker. She silently pulled an arrow and drew it, aiming at the whiteness she assumed was Sesshoumaru. But then he moved again, never in the same place for more than a second.

Where had he gone?

She scanned the area, finally landing on the light spot. She heard someone call Inuyasha's name, probably Miroku. So that's where he got to, she thought absently, as she drew the arrow back.

Sango will want to know.

She released the arrow.

Sango was getting really pissed. She'd searched everywhere for that damn monk, and he was nowhere to be found.

When she finally found him, back at their campsite, it all evaporated. Miroku and Kagome were kneeling next to Inuyasha's prone human form. Shippo was taking vigil with them, actually looking worried.

"He didn't try to fight something tonight, did he?" Sango asked, a little bluntly. Three faces turned to look at her, and she backed up a step.

"So what happened?"

"Inuyasha and I were out talking, Sesshoumaru attacked us, Kagome shot him," Miroku said. Sango blinked.

"Well that was pretty basic, but okay."

"He'll be okay, right?" Shippo asked anyone who would answer.

"We'll have to wait until morning," Miroku said solemnly.

"It… is morning," Inuyasha groaned. Everyone looked at him. His half-lidded eyes changed colors, brightening to their usual caramel color, and the black flowing out of his hair like ink being washed away.

"I thought I was dead," he said bluntly.

"Damn, my head hurts," he added, sitting up and rubbing his forehead.

He turned slightly toward Miroku.

"We tell them nothing," he mouthed. The monk nodded.

"What was that?" Shippo asked.

"Nothing, runt," the hanyou said, smacking him over the head. "So where's Sesshoumaru? Dead yet?"

"No, he left after Kagome hit him with her arrow," Miroku told him. "I guess he thought he had accomplished his goal."

"Nah, takes more than that. A lot more."

"So you want to stay here another day?" Kagome asked him.

"Heck no. I'll be ready to leave in an hour or so."

"Good, because I think I felt a jewel shar-"

"Make that five minutes," Inuyasha said, getting up. "Come on, let's go get it before somebody else does."

Shippo sighed. Nothing ever changes.

Okay, that's it. (Sets up flame barriers) Give me your worst!