A/N: Wow!.! Thank you all so much for your reviews!.!.! Honestly, with the way it was going in the beginning, I never would have imagined this story would reach at least 100 reviews! You've all made me so happy! Well, because you've all been so nice, I decided to work on my story instead of pack for vacation, and post it today. I know this chapter is a little short, but I hope that it will suit your tastes...

Disclaimer: I really have no right to be playing with Takahashi-sama's characters. But I've done it anyway, and I hope no one gets angry!

Previously:

The young trainee shot the arrow. Honestly, Kagome was very, very surprised at how far Rin's arrow traveled. Not only that, but it definitely had the aura of a purity arrow. After a few moments of hanging in the air, the arrow landed. Outside the barrier. A small ripple began to emanate from where the purifying arrow hit the barrier, and the barrier slowly began to fall. Within seconds of its rupture, Sesshoumaru was at Kagome's side.

"What happened?" he asked, calmly. Kagome stared up at him in surprise, and partial concern that he might think she had anything to do with trying to run away.

"I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin said, dropping her bow and bowing to Sesshoumaru. "Kagome told me not to, but… I did it anyway. I'm sorry!" she pleaded. But now, Sesshoumaru's attention was elsewhere. He was staring beyond the barrier. Kagome followed his line of sight. Beyond the barrier- where Sesshoumaru's full attention was now concentrated- stood Inu Yasha.

CHAPTER 11: blood brothers

Following the direction in which Sesshoumaru had flown away with Kagome last night, Inu Yasha found himself lost in a perpetual forest. Having just drawn his Tetsusaiga, Inu Yasha was about to transform it into its red version in order to break what he was guessing to be a barrier, when it was broken for him. Out of nowhere, an arrow whizzed by his cheek. He hadn't even heard it coming. Shocked, the hanyou stood with his Tetsusaiga drawn, staring at the direction from whence the arrow came. Now, where there had only been trees, a giant castle stood instead. In front of that castle were Sesshoumaru, Kagome, and Rin. The three of them, in Inu Yasha's opinion, were standing unnaturally close to each other. It almost looked like they were… he didn't want to think it, but the word kept coming back to him. They looked almost like a family. In a brief second, Sesshoumaru was standing directly in front of Inu Yasha, while the two girls remained further off at the archery range.

Kagome was surprised to see Inu Yasha standing there, outside the barrier. She hoped upon hope that Sesshoumaru's scent had completely worn off by then. Maybe it was subtle enough that it could be justified by her living in his presence for four days. Thankfully, Sesshoumaru ran to meet him.

"What brings you here, Inu Yasha?" he asked, not altogether interested. In fact, he was slightly annoyed that his brother followed him. He had thought Inu Yasha would have respected his older brother's wishes and remained at his father's castle until he delivered Kagome to him. "Did you think this Sesshoumaru wouldn't be true to his promise?"

"Keh, whatever. I just wanted to see Kagome," he said, keeping his sword out, ready to strike.

"Tch," Sesshoumaru scoffed at his brother's defensiveness, "put that away." Inu Yasha stared at his brother, trying to read his eyes. There seemed to be a reason behind his brother's order, but…

Inu Yasha inhaled in a short gasp of understanding when he saw Sesshoumaru's eyes glance behind him at the girls. "I see," the hanyou said. Surprisingly, he sensed no hostility from his half-brother. Glancing over at the girls, and back at Sesshoumaru, Inu Yasha sheathed his sword. 'He never cared about battling in front of them before... why start now?' Inu Yasha asked himself.It was nowhis older brother's turn to let out a small sound of surprise.

"That lanyard, where did you get it?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice. Usually, Sesshoumaru used few words, and those he always used when the two brothers fought were nowhere near this level of seriousness. Inu Yasha smirked, glad he was finally able to surprise his brother.

…meanwhile, with the girls…

Kagome and Rin continued to watch the interaction between the two brothers. It seemed like they were discussing something of great importance; the downward, threatening angle of Sesshoumaru's head and the offensive posture of Inu Yasha worried her.

"I guess maybe we should call it quits for today," Kagome slowly told Rin, her eyes still on the two brothers. Rin nodded in agreement. She had studied harder than normal today. However, the girl still wanted to practice some archery, so she remained outside. Kagome notified Rin that she was going to the onsen for a quick soak before dinnertime, just in case Sesshoumaru wanted to have dinner again. In reality, she was worried the scent of Sesshoumaru might still remain intermingled with hers.

…back to the boys…

"It was a gift from father," Inu Yasha said to Sesshoumaru. "He told me I am accepted into the taiyoukai heritage," the hanyou boasted. His thoughts of seeing Kagome were completely overridden by his wishes to strike a blow to his brother's ego. Eyes only focused on his brother, the hanyou didn't even notice Kagome leave the archery range.

"Hm," Sesshoumaru smiled lightly, closing his eyes and bowing his head slightly. "I see. So that's how it is, father." The taiyoukai looked at his brother once more. "Then, Inu Yasha- Shall you join me for dinner with Kagome and Rin?" Inu Yasha stared at his half-brother, completely shocked out of his skull. For the first time, Sesshoumaru was speaking decently to him.

"A.. ah…" he replied in the affirmative, still shocked. Sesshoumaru's eyes ran down Inu Yasha's form, and back up to his eyes. His face, though generally emotionless, now displayed something like disdain.

"Then let me take you to where you can get more.. appropriate clothing." Sesshoumaru turned, and began to walk back to the castle. Inu Yasha caught up and walked alongside his half-brother.

"Just.. exactly… why are you acting so different, all of a sudden?" he asked, giving Sesshoumaru a strange look. Sesshoumaru smirked.

"I wasn't aware of it- was it me who changed?"

'Well, who else would it be?' Inu Yasha asked himself, not thinking that he had changed, himself.

"That lanyard, Inu Yasha- are you aware of its significance?"

"All I know is that father said it meant that he consented to my being in the taiyoukai heritage."

"And- are you a youkai, Inu Yasha?"

"Keh, isn't it obvious?"

"Indeed, it is."

"Tch." They reached the room where Sesshoumaru had been leading Inu Yasha.

"Hand me the Tetsusaiga," Sesshoumaru said, calmly.

"Are you stupid?" Inu Yasha moved his right foot behind his left, preparing a fighting stance.

"Baka. I have no use for that sword anymore." Something in his gut convinced Inu Yasha to believe him- besides, he could smell no deception on his half-brother. Keeping the shaft just in case, he tossed Tetsusaiga at Sesshoumaru. The youkai caught the sword and handled it, showing no signs of harm from the sword's barrier.

"The… barrier?" Inu Yasha asked, stupefied. Sesshoumaru smirked at his little half-brother.

"Exactly." The taiyoukai tossed the sword back.

"What's the meaning of this?" Inu Yasha asked, eyeing the new lanyard suspiciously.

"It means that now the Tetsusaiga will accept full youkai blood." Seeing the look of confusion on his half-brother's face, he turned toward the closet of clothing, and began to look for something befitting to Inu Yasha. "Inu Yasha, although you are still a hanyou, your acceptance into the clan integrates you into the taiyoukai bloodline. There is but one ritual you must complete with this Sesshoumaru before you will be able to understand the full effect of what this means."

"Ritual?" Inu Yasha had never heard his half-brother speak so much in his entire life.

"Do you know nothing? What, did you waste your time at Father's home, searching through his things?" The taiyoukai shot a reprimanding look over his shoulder at Inu Yasha, who then remembered the red scroll.

"The-- the only- ritual I read about… was the… marking… ritual…" he said, slowly and nervously backing away from his older brother. Although normally cool and collected, a small sweatdrop could be seen at the back of Sesshoumaru's head. Sesshoumaru grabbed something from the closet and turned around to face Inu Yasha.

"Not like that, Inu Yasha," Sesshoumaru stated simply, tossing some garments toward his younger brother. He heard an audible sigh of relief come from Inu Yasha's direction. "But- we can complete the ritual now, before dinner, if that is your wish."

"What makes you so willing to do anything for me?" Inu Yasha asked suspiciously, his guard still up around his brother.

"Unlike you, little brother, I remember father well. He was a taiyoukai of great power and strength- of body as well as mind. Although I did not respect his willwhile I pursuedthe Tetsusaiga,father's wishes have becomevery dear to me. Inu Yasha, although you and I have battled many times, no one but me will take your life."

"Keh, likewise," Sesshoumaru closed his eyes for a moment, and reopened them, staring straight into the eyes of Inu Yasha.

"Are you aware, Inu Yasha, of what this means?" His brother gave Sesshoumaru a completely blank look. "Because of this, it is also my duty to protect you from others." Inu Yasha failed to say 'likewise' on this one. Of course, this didn't matter to Sesshoumaru, since he didn't believe he needed his little half-brother protecting him, anyway. Although Inu Yasha was, to say the least, surprised at these words, he flashed back to many times when his brother protected him... from himself as a raging youkai, from the crazed youkai disguised as "Princess Sara," and others- as well as when he was a child. Although at the time he hadn't understood, Inu Yasha now knew that his brother was, in a weird, twisted way, protecting him from harm.

"I see. So that's what it was, all along."

"Now.. do you want to complete the ritual?"

"What exactly will it do?"

"Although you will fundamentally remain a hanyou, Inu Yasha, you will be able to not only choose the night of your transformation into human form, but also, you will be given the strength of body to withstand your youkai blood. You will retain your consciousness when you transform into a full youkai." Again, Inu Yasha was taken aback.

"Full youkai?" he asked. "The only time I was ever a full youkai was when I released the Tetsusaiga…" he trailed off, remembering the aftermath of the damage he had done as a rampaging lunatic youkai.

"In addition to controlling your transformation into a human, you will also be in control of transformation into a youkai whenever you wish, as long as you remember that it is necessary to be in human form once every month. This is the power available to taiyoukai- to integrate a hanyou to fit within youkai parameters. Inu Yasha, you are already stronger than most youkai. This ritual will officially bring you into the inu taiyoukai family, and you will be heir to the kingdom alongside of this Sesshoumaru."

"Keh, I can't say that I really care about that last part, but the rest of it sounds good. How does this ritual work?"

"Do you trust me, Inu Yasha?" Sadly, Sesshoumaru received no answer from his younger half-brother. He, of course, ignored the silence anyway. "Hold out your arm." The hanyou did as instructed and tentatively raised his arm. Somehow, he knew his brother wasn't lying about any of what he said. Sesshoumaru slit Inu Yasha's wrist with his claw, and quickly tore at his own wrist using his fang. He pressed his wrist against Inu Yasha's, with such force that it pushed Inu Yasha's back to the stone wall behind him. The pressure on his arm also made Inu Yasha have to support his wrist using his other arm. "You must not pull away," Sesshoumaru instructed. Inu Yasha, by now, was concentrating completely on his wrist.

"It….. st-tings," he managed to say through his clenched teeth.

"Just a little more," his brother said, as calm as ever. He watched the transformation begin to take place. Slowly but surely, and beginning at near-imperceptible levels, stripes of dark fuchsia began to form along Inu Yasha's cheeks- matching his own. They were not at all like the single, ragged purple stripes which had plagued his cheeks when his youkai blood first took control. This was the only visible change in Inu Yasha, but his body also began to tone and strengthen itself to support its new infusion of power. With the change in his body also came a change in his scent. Although fundamentally the same as it was originally, the smell of his blood slowly attained more attributes of an inu taiyoukai, until his hanyou scent almost fully disappeared. Now he smelled like a full youkai who merely had human companions. Finally, after nearly two minutes, Sesshoumaru withdrew his wrist. Inu Yasha grabbed his wrist with his hand, and dropped to the floor on one knee.

"KKKKKhhhhhh…" he winced with pain- again, through clenched teeth. The stripes slowly faded from his cheeks as his body began to calm down from the blood transfer.

"Inu Yasha, remove your hand." Contrary to his usual rebellious spirit, Inu Yasha heeded his brother's advice. When he did, he realized that the incision Sesshoumaru had made was completely healed. It normally would've taken him a few minutes to heal from a cut. However, this cuthealed only a few seconds after its separation from Sesshoumaru's wrist-definitely a variance from his norm. Sesshoumaru stepped in front of him, and heavily placed his hand on Inu Yasha's shoulder. "We are now… blood brothers."

A/N: Again, thanks you guys, for reviewing my story! Knowing that there are so many readers is really, really exciting. I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter, even though it was kinda short. But rest assured, I will definitely update as soon as I get back! Yay! I get to see my chibi neice! I'll see you guys a little after the 17th!

toxiclollipop: see, I updated! Hmm, Inu-chan could probably have smelled his bro's mark on her, but… Sesshoumaru provided quite the diversion, didn't he? That sly dog… Yay, vacation!

kagome of the western lands (Exunamoon and 'you don't need to know,' this is also for you well I guess I can't promise anything.. the story has been writing itself, lately.. I'm afraid I'll trap myself in a corner if I promise stuff… ((cowers in corner, away from evil computer))

Kitty Mew 2005: thanks very much for joining! Too bad about the anime expo, huh? I was looking at everyone, wondering if any of them read my story… haha… Thanks for your reviews!

DarkDemoness14: hahaha!.! I'm so sorry!.! They really seemed like good places to end!.! Your review made me laugh, though. Thanks a lot for reading!

eathine ruby: hehe, glad you like it! I use 'youkai' instead of 'demon' and the honorifics like '-sama' because that is the way they use the words in the Japanese Inu Yasha… which is the one that I watched the most. But I'm glad you like it, otherwise!

destinyheart15: Thank you very much for your awesome compliment! I hope you found this chapter to your liking, as well (smiles)..

WriterOfDragons: of course! reviewers are so key when it comes to stories on I value everyone! Glad you liked the idea about the different marks… I dunno where this stuff comes from, but… it's pretty cool when it works out well with the story, isn't it? Heh, heh… Thanks for reading my other stuff! That story didn't get many reviews, either…

Thanks to my special reviewers Yami Pandora, chii576, kitsunekilala, RinCutie7244 (thanks for your encouragement!), Jessica L (you had me laughing out loud at your story- hehe!), Corie, pinkpreppypunk (glad you liked the idea!), PuRIfYiNgRaiN, gatewayofdarkness'swrath, hermonine (my faithful reviewer! thanks for your support!), Midnight Faerie (it is good to see your name.. thanks for reviewing my story!), Kantra (yay!.! You get a lollipop!.!.! you're my 100th review! Thanks very much!), and whimsy (keep sending me your input, yo!)