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Chapter 20 ;; THE PAIN OF THE PAST WEARS FUR. And is hot, very hot.

Sesshomaru walked through the quiet forest. The words the asinine honyou had said were running through his clever mind. 'Only humans would live by such a foolish belief. This Sesshomaru would never die for other creature.' An image of Rin and Jaken flashed into his mind. Jaken looking up at him with admiration and respect. Rin singing childish songs and picking flowers. Rin hugging Jaken while the little toad demon tried to push her away.

His golden eyes narrowed at such silly thoughts. The demon lord cared ONLY about power and strength. The welfare of a weak demon and a human child were of no concern to him. A butterfly flew across his line of vision and the heartless demon wondered when the cold would pass. Rin hated being confined to indoors and Jaken liked the attention he received but longed to travel. They were unhappy.

Ah and Uh walked over to their master. Sesshomaru patted the loyal creature. The beast seemed lonely without Rin to cuddle and sing to it. 'How was Rin able to mean so much to us. A student and friend to Jaken. A playmate and owner to Ah and Uh. A …A daughter to me. Have I become weak? Is that why I care for a human child?'

Jaken ran outside and up to his master. "Jaken, stay with Rin." Deciding that being around humans was effecting him, the demon lord set off into the air.

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Inuyasha watched Rin and Shippo draw pictures of the girls. The young girl kept yawning but refused to go to bed. She was waiting for Sesshomaru to return. 'Why dose he look after her when he rejected me?' Rin was a happy child, always singing and smiling. She was sweet and loving. The little girl cheered everyone up.

Shippo held up a picture and Rin clapped her hands and hugged the boy. A slight blush spread across the cub's face and his little tail waged. 'Pup is following in Miroku's steps. Shippo better not let Sesshomaru see how he feels. The bastard treats the girl like she's his pu… Shit. It that why he cares?' Inuyasha smirked. The idea of his unfeeling older brother wanting a family struck the inu-honyou as funny. 'Bastard is tired of being alone and the only ones who will stay by his side are a noisy toad demon and an orphan brat. Maybe if he wasn't such a bitch…then he'd have his OWN family.'

The children laughed and Inuyasha glanced over at their pictures. Rin had drawn a picture of Sesshomaru smiling at a beautiful woman holding a baby. Next to them stood Jaken, Rin and a silver haired little girl. 'Poor kid has impossible dreams.' A second picture caught the inu-honyou's eye and his heart skipped a beat. Kagome was holding his hand and Shippo was standing beside them wearing a red robe. That wasn't the only thing in the picture that shocked him. Inu-honyou pups surrounded them. Some had silver hair and some had black hair.

'Rin's not the only one with impossible dreams.' Inuyasha did what he always did when his emotions become too strong to handle, he tried to ignore them. The teenage honyou had no idea that he was being watched by pondering eyes.

Without Sesshomaru around for Angel to drool over the sisters went back to planing. They quietly the left the manor house and wondered over to the creek. The sound of water canceled out all other sound and ensured that no honyou or demon could hear them.

"This is taking longer then I had originally planed." Pagan complained. "I mean, they like each other and there is nothing to stand in there way. So…"

"Wrong!" Angel frowned at her. "Kikiyo is a hug road block. Also Inuyasha has all these issues and so dose Kagome. I'll lay them out for you.

1.Inuyasha has all this guilt about Kikyou's death.

2. Kikyou is still alive…uh…around.

3. Kagome doubts what Inuyasha feels for her.

4. Kagome doesn't know what to do about her feelings.

5. Kouga has a huge crush on Kagome.

6. Kagome thinks that Inuyasha sees her as Kikyou's replacement.

"Maybe we have been going about his all wrong." Both were silent. "So we change tactics. We hit every point, one at a time until nothing stands is our…Ah…their way." The sisters smiled and start to plot. Again.

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The little flea demon had shown up a few hours after Sesshomaru had left the manor house. Sango and Kirara were outside practicing their fighting skills. Shippo and Rin were still drawing. Inuyasha was watching the youngsters and looked very unhappy. Kagome was studying for a test. The two sisters immediately started to interrogate the flea demon.

They knew that Inuyasha's hearing was very good and didn't bother to whisper. Angel had decided that the two inu-brothers should get along and needed to know what the problem was so that she could fix it. It wasn't right for brothers to hate each other. Family was love and happiness and understanding.

"Tell me all about Sesshomaru? He is so cute. I need to know everything about him."

A loud snort come from Inuyasha. The inu-honyou was lying on his side and staring at the wall. Myoga ignore him and started to speak.

"Sesshomaru is the lord of the western lands. He is cold and driven by the need to surpass his father in strength and skill. After their father's death, the western lands…Sesshomaru was consider too young to rule so distant relatives on his mother's side took over the task. By the time he was old enough to rule his Uncle refused to step down. He was a tormented and evil demon, who delighted in hurting other. Even his own nephew. Lord Sesshomaru had to kill his own uncle to regain the western lands. The demon lord has spent his whole life repairing the damage that Ryocuso and his own Uncle caused. He has spent years trying to gather up the other inus and trying to stay alive."

"Dose someone want to kill my future husband?" Angel paled. Kagome patted the stress out winged honyou on the back.

"Several demon are highly interested in killing him. If Lord Sesshomaru were to die then the western lands would fall into chaos. Unless Lord Inuyasha decided to take control."

"FEH! Like I care want happens."

Miyoga ignore the honyou and continue speaking. "Demons would fight over the land. I'm afraid that Lord Sesshomaru is not an ideal choice for a female such as yourself."

"What do you mean by that?" Angel growled and bared her small fangs.

"Are you insulting my sister?" Miyoga cringed in fear and backed away from the two angry females.

"No, It's…Lord Sesshomaru will need to marry an inu-female of great power. It's his duty as lord of the western lands."

"I wouldn't be to sure about that." The sexy girl grinned and thought about how the demon had acted at the lake.

"How old was Sesshomaru when Inuyasha was born?" Kagome had a little brother of her own and she could never treat him the way Sesshomaru treated Inuyasha.

"130 but in human years that would be…13. Demons age very slowly compared to humans. Why I'm…" Inuyasha ignore the flea demons speech on how demon age.

'13 years old. He was only a kid when dad died. Is that why I didn't see him until I was older? Maybe he couldn't come for me. I never wondered about how dad's death effected him. FUCK, Sesshomaru's own Uncle turned on him. No wonder the bastard acts like he can't trust anyone. Maybe he…I don't care.'

"Sesshomaru looks just like is father. Same hair, eyes, build. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's father was brave, strong, compassionate and did what he thought was right. He was a great demon and I wish that he…" Miyoga looked straight at Inuyasha. "It's a shame that you never knew him. You remind me of him sometimes."

Inuyasha felt pressure build in his chest. "Feh, He's dead. No one can change that." He stood up and stormed out of the room. Kagome jumped up and ran after him. Everyone stared at the closed door.

"Oh man, You guys upset Inuyasha. This is all your fault Myoga. When he gets back NO one talks about his dad." Pagan had forgotten that they had started the conversation on Sesshomaru. She growled and swatted at the old flea demon. "BAKA!"

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Kagome cursed the honyou's speed and prayed that Inuyasha would stop soon. She found him sitting on the hill over looking Jijenji's village. He ignored her and looked away as she sat next to him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Feh, you sound just like Angel. Talk, talk, talk, is her answer for everything. Some things can't be fix by talking." The modern girl rested her head on his shoulder and he felt the pressure in his chest ease. He'd always loved that about her. The way she touched him and tried to comfort him and…loved him. Some thing might escape his notice but that night in her bed had made things clear. They hadn't made love but they had kiss and touched. The young miko wouldn't have let him touch her like that unless she loved him. Kagome loved him.

Before Kagome only two people had claim to love him. His beautiful mother and Kikyou. After his mother had died Inuyasha had doubted that she care about him. She had been treated like an outcast by her relatives because of him. How could she love a child that only brought her pain? It was only later that he begun to see that his mother had loved him with all her heart.

Kikyou had claim to loved Inuyasha but she never touched him in public. Never did she invite him into the village or let the villagers see them together. The miko had wanted to spend the rest of her life with him but only if he became a human. After returning from the dead Kikyou tried repeatedly to kill him and had insulted Inuyasha.

'I don't know if Kikyou really did love me but I know that you love me, Kagome. I don't know what to do about your love. Feh, except for to mate. I should have taken you that night. You'd be carrying my pup. You would my mate. Mine. Maybe I can still make you mine.'

Kagome was quietly listening to Inuyasha's heartbeat. It had slowed down and he started to relax but she was noticing a change in him. His shoulders were tense and his heart began to speed up. "Inuyasha is something wrong?"

She looked at him and recognized the look in his dark gold eyes. It was the same one he had had at the lake and the night they had almost made love. 'Just because I let him touch me doesn't mean that I'll jump into his arms whenever he wants. What kind of girl dose he think I am? He still runs after Kikyou and thinks that I'll…I'm not…Miroku.'

He leaned close, his eyes dark and intense. "Owsari!"

"Bitch, what was that for?" He looked up at her with angry eyes. Kagome was standing over him and glaring.

"You were thinking something naughty." A blush spread across his face and he couldn't meet her eyes. "I knew it. What kind of girl do you think I am? Miroku! I have some self-respect. You make me so mad. Owsari!" Angry, Kagome stormed back to the Manor house.