DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha and all its characters belong to me! At least they will do when I take over this puny world, and Takahashi-sama gives them to me in return of me sparing her life. Mwahahahaha! Don't you agree Takahashi-sama? Isn't it a good deal? OWWW! That hurt! I take that as a no then. Oh well… It was a good try…

SPECIAL NOTE! PLEASE READ:

Hello all. Did I mention that if I don't get at least 20 reviews for THIS story, then I'm not posting the next chapter? Well now you know!

The Half-Blood Princess

Chapter 5

Two jealous cousins equal trouble

Sesshoumaru glanced at his half-brother's cheerful face. He growled softly under his breath. A monster unknown to his demon self blazed with rage inside of him, desire to rip and tear at Inuyasha's happiness, dripping from its fangs and claws.

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Next to that hated brother, stood a true angel. Her violet hair matched her sparkling, amethyst eyes, and her beauty shone out for miles, blinding all that crossed her. Her air of commanding authority was also strangely attractive. As Sesshoumaru watched the half-demon princess, his anger and rage for Inuyasha vanished, and the monster in the pit of his stomach settled down and began to purr softly. A soft smile formed on his face, but then, realising what he was doing, Sesshoumaru quickly replaced the smile with a twisted frown and shook his head.

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What was going on with him? Why did his heart begin to beat faster when he saw that annoying female? He was a great demon lord's eldest son for god's sake! He couldn't be going soft. Anyway, he was going to inherit his father's name, so he couldn't afford to go soft. …oh yeah. He had been going to inherit the Ayakashi name … until he forfeited it onto his younger brother because Minato-hime had wanted it so badly. He sighed as he lent against the nearest pillar. Something was changing and he didn't like it.

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Inuyasha was still in a daze. It had been less than a week ago that he had met Minato for the first time, and he was already so hopelessly in love with her. The cute way she had of twisting her three-coloured strands of hair around her finger when she was nervous or shy, her sweet pout, and her bubbly nature flooded with happiness, he loved them all. She was perfect in every way. Everything had happened so fast. One second he was the ignored, youngest half-demon cur that his great demon father had produced, always teased and bullied, and the next moment, he was fiancée to the princess, truly loved, centre of all attention, and heir to the Ayakashi name. He still didn't understand how his brother had agreed to forfeit such an honour, but he was too happy to bother himself about stuff like that. He gazed adoringly at his beautiful young, half-demon fiancée.

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"Inuyasha." An angelic voice shook him awake. "Hm?"

"Are you alright with marrying me? I mean, now I think about, I sort of forced you into this, didn't I? I mean-"

"No, I'm really happy that you persuaded me into this. Now, I've realised my true feelings. I love you Minato." Minato turned her face away, but Inuyasha could tell that she was really thrilled. He smiled, laughed, and dragged her away towards her favourite Nadeshiko trees.

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Minato was living in paradise. She hadn't smiled this much in such a long time. She had finally found a half-demon who truly loved her as much as she loved him. She sneaked a peak at Inuyasha and giggled again. He seemed so serious, as he led her to her favourite part of her garden. But a part of her told her that this happiness wasn't going to last. After all, how can a dog-demon love a cat-demon? Her mother had been a beautiful and perfectly adorable cat-demon, but that hadn't stopped her from having serious problems with the dog-demons. Had Inuyasha looked at his love at that precise moment, he would have seen a lonely longing in her captivating eyes, and an icy cold, sad smile lingering on her lips. And in front of her, she saw her favourite Nadeshiko flowers, a slightly brown, dying colour tingeing the edges of the petals.

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By the time dinner came, and the King, his daughter, her fiancée, and his brother and father, had all sat down, Minato, a perfectly innocent look on her face, commented casually, "So dearest father of mine, you don't have any other nasty surprises waiting for me, that you forgot to say? I'm not going to wake up to find tomorrow, for example, that you're remarrying?" Celestin looked up, delighted.

"Of course not! And there aren't any nasty surprises my dear. I only have one pleasant surprise!" Minato groaned and replied to the amusement of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, "What? Like you're going to stop throwing surprises at me? What is it. Go on." Celestin began to blabber happily, "Well my darling, I've agreed to have your delightful cousin, Youlouzoku Kouga, to come and stay with us, so he can get used to his soon-to-be brothers! Isn't it wonderful! Isn't it-"

"YOU IDIOT! Why in hell's name did you invite that bastard over! Do you even realise what'll happen when he meets Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru-sama? You no-brained dumbass! He hates dog-demons! He's a wolf-demon for god's sake! Do you think he'll just go, 'Hi!' and make friends with his most hated species of demon? Of course not! Could you not get any dumber? I bet you my life you have done something worse again! What else?"

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King Celestin, realising what a state he was in, began to stumble and stutter again. "Erm… Well, I thought it would be pleasant have the rest of the family over as well, so I invited them all, and I then realised that because our family multiplies very fast, it turned out that there weren't enough rooms for you four to have your own rooms, so I'm afraid, Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru and Kouga are going to have to share your bedroom and, well… I um… suppose that sums… everything… … up…"

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Celestin promptly jumped up and ran for the door, but was unfortunately a moment too late, and just as he opened the door, the door slammed shut with such force, that everyone in the room jumped. Then, Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, and Inutaisho saw what had caused the door to shut so suddenly. Five long and thin knife like blades had pierced right through the door, keeping it firmly shut. As they looked to see the origins of such lethal weapons, they were surprised to see that Minato's nails had grown twenty metres, and become very sharp.

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The expression on her face was empty. No signs of anger, sadness, despair, nothing. Celestin began to cower. The three onlookers couldn't blame him. After all, King Celestin was a mere, very stupid human, with a quick-tempered cat-demon daughter. Sesshoumaru was interested with this new surface of the princess. It seemed that she really wasn't someone to take lightly. She really did have the blood of a demon with a strong backbone in her.

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"My room? The four of us sharing MY ROOM! You could offer him yours, and you could sleep in the throne room, FATHER. After all, it is your fault that you didn't think this through carefully enough, isn't it." A cold, chilling voice ran through the room, a thin layer of ice covering the words, daring the four in the room to break it's fragile surface. Minato paused for a while, and continued, "I'm afraid I won't take having two dog-demons and a wolf-demon having childish battles in my precious bedroom. I'm sure you understand that, don't you."

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Sesshoumaru sighed, and commented blankly, "If it's us you're worried about, then don't bother worrying. It's a waste of energy to even bother lifting a claw to strike a stupid demon like a wolf. Your darling cousin will manage to live without even enduring the pain of a single scar." Minato glared at him, and spat, "Why would I worry about you? I'm worried about my room, my possessions, my privacy, and my husband-to-be. Nothing else. And if you three have to share my room with me, then, all of those things will become endangered. DAD!"

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But despite her frivolous attempts to dissuade her father, the next day still brought her dreaded cousin, Youlouzoku Koga. Sesshoumaru regarded the wolf coldly as they stood on the floor right outside Minato's room. Koga's long black hair tied into a ponytail with a bit of brown fur was especially annoying to the elder demon. "Hey, Minato. Let me in. It's your cousin. Koga." Koga sounded reasonably calm, taking into account that he had been waiting to be admitted for three hours now. His response was a loud crashing sound of something having been thrown against the door, and smashing. "Minato!" he growled. The door swung open suddenly, and Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru and Koga found themselves face to face with a furious princess. "And that's Minato-HIME to you too!" she spat, and the door was slammed shut, and bolted.

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Koga placed his hands on his hips, threw his head back and laughed. Inuyasha growled dangerously, and his hand flew to the Tetsusaiga at his waist, as Koga walked purposefully towards his cousin's bedroom door. Sesshoumaru threw his half-brother a warning look, and Inuyasha slowly drew his hand away from the weapon, but his eyes remained on Koga, and he could tell that Sesshoumaru didn't like the wolf either. Koga ran his hands gingerly over the lock on the door, and chuckled. "This is child's play. Hey Minato, I'm coming in!"

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With lightening speed, his right leg came swinging up, and broke through the bedroom door. But the smug look on his face vanished, and he pulled back out quickly with a yelp of fear and pain. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha blinked. A sweat drop appeared on Inuyasha's head, and he said out loud more to himself than to anyone else, "Erm… That was clever. Breaking into an annoyed demon-girl's room… Very clever… Always knew that wolves were idiots." He received a furious glance from Koga, blood dribbling down from his leg, and an amused look from his elder brother who replied, "I must say Inuyasha, you are one to speak." The tension in the air increased, and Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga transformed, Koga's stance shifted, and Sesshoumaru's eyes began to turn red.

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Minato sighed and flopped onto her bed. Now look what had happened. Her door had been broken, and her hands were covered with her horrid cousin's blood. "God. Why does my dad have to be so stupid…?" Suddenly, a sharp stench hit her sensitive nose and a wave of sickness enveloped her. "Damn you Koga… Sesshoumaru… Inuyasha… You three are so not fighting outside my room!"

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The bedroom door slammed open, and the three males straightened up instantly. Minato's shadow was framed in the door, and an overwhelming aura of darkness enveloped her. Demons began pouring out of the nearby rooms, attracted by the noise. Then, a cold, quiet voice sounded, "Hey. Last time I checked, it wasn't proper manners to break down a girl's door, and then fight outside it when not granted entry. Don't you agree, my dear Koga?" Inuyasha felt a chill run down his spine. The voice was so unfeeling, even taunting. Did this really belong to his wife-to-be?

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Sesshoumaru's eyes returned to white immediately and a curious look crossed his face. Her aura wasn't one of a half-demon like his brother any more. It was one of a full demon like himself or his father. And her appearance had changed too. Two sharp-looking canine fangs had appeared, giving her a slightly vampire-like look, her nails had grown a good metre, her eyes had changed from a gentle violet colour to a piercing yellow colour, and all light seemed to have drained out of her face, making it a pure white colour.

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Koga sighed, crossed his arms, and turned to look at the cat-demon. "Minato, honestly, if you're going to transform, could you at least try to not change your eye colour as well? The purple and the yellow clash. It's annoying." The slight silence that followed was one of utter shock, and one of Minato's great aunt's half-cousin's other cousin's daughter's hair pin fell out of her hair and dropped to the marble floor with a light ringing sound. Minato smiled coldly, she too crossing her arms, and tilting her head to the side slightly, and said in a voice empty of all emotion, "Well, I'm so sorry my dear cousin, if you are not satisfied with my appearance. On second thoughts, I don't think I actually asked you for your opinion. Hm?" Koga opened his mouth, but at that moment, Minato smiled at him again, and he decided against speaking, and shut it again a defiant look in his eyes.

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Sesshoumaru saw his brother shiver slightly at the corner of his eye, and silently averted his eyes back to the wolf. What a stupid wolf. First, he doesn't realise that any girl would get angry if he broke down their door, and then, he has the idiocy to taunt with a furious, transformed full demon. What an idiot. Inuyasha is dumb too, but this wolf is worse. I never dreamt that you could actually get any stupider than my idiotic brother. Just shows that you learn a new thing every year. But even as he stood there, Sesshoumaru couldn't rid the envy for Koga and Inuyasha, which seeped deep into his heart, that Koga had Minato for a cousin, and Inuyasha was going to marry her. Minato… Could I have made the wrong decision when I met you?

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The two enemies stood opposite from each other. Youlouzoku Koga stood tall and proud, hate and anger for his cousin reflected in his eyes. His complete opposite, was Minato. She didn't draw herself up unnecessarily and waist energy. Her eyes were empty, and infinite chasms of endless gold. Silence settled over the spectators, and the two opponents stood their ground, a silent argument forming between them. Finally, Koga couldn't take her cold demeanour any more, and with a tornado of wind, kicked off from the ground and sped towards the cat before him, the mere distance of 7 metres over in the blink of an eye. But the smug smile vanished and was replaced with shock and surprise when his foot didn't come into contact with the expected flesh of her stomach, but the soft skin of her hand.

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Sesshoumaru blinked, as did every other demon in the large, crowded hallway. Youlouzoku Koga… a master in the use of his legs in combat. He was said to have the ability to run faster than the wind, and his leg kicks contained immense power behind him. His speed gave the illusion of invisibility, and a single well-aimed kick of his could break through three neighbouring sky towers. But here was the famous ice-princess, Minato, holding that rumoured foot, in mid-strike, like it was the most ordinary thing in the world to stop the kick of a renowned kick master with a catch of a hand. The pools of gold remained empty and cold. Slowly, she looked down at her hand in surprise, almost as if her incredible catch had been mere reflex. Koga, catching sight of this, growled, and leapt back.

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The King, watching from somewhere farther away, sighed, shaking his head sadly. His daughter's demon blood had taken full control of her now. She wouldn't revert back until the one who had caused her transformation lay at her feet, dead. He had only witnessed that event once, but the horrors were dreadful enough to not want to see them ever again, but here he was, utterly powerless to stop his one memory of his dear wife, from shredding her own blood-relative to pieces. Minato, will you not return to the loving, caring daughter I love so much?

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Koga was one of the most proud wolf-demons there were. He would never admit defeat, or submit to any demon. It was that trait of his that assured his absolute victory at the end of any battle. But, as he stood in front of the royal princess, her eyes and countenance unreadable and expressionless, for the first time in his life, Koga felt fear course through his veins. "Damn." Those were the only words he spoke through clenched teeth, before he charged again, to what would be certain death.

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It was as Koga charged for the second time at his cousin, that Sesshoumaru noted the defeated look in the wolf's eyes, and the cold emptiness in Minato's eyes that he had never seen before in the bubbly princess. Something's wrong with the princess. Why doesn't anyone notice? Well, it seems that at least that wolf realises. What about Inuyasha…? God! Why does he look so goddamn weak and hopeless and helpless! I feel disgusted. He looked at the female in question and stared at her, analysing her every inch. He could tell that the wolf's time was running out. He by no means intended to save the beast's life, but he at least wanted Minato to realise what she was doing when she killed him, so to not cause her unwanted pain later when she came back to her senses. Suddenly, an idea struck him. It was the most obvious, stupidest and simplest idea possible, but as Sesshoumaru watched the female cat, a mad voice told him that his plan might just work. So, he bit down his pride, and prepared himself to do the most unbelievable thing possible.

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Inuyasha was dazed and horrified. What had happened to his fiancée? What the fuck was wrong with her! He hadn't though of her as a cold hearted bitch who was going to kill her own cousin, no matter how cruel or wicked, for breaking down her fucking wooden bedroom door! He couldn't believe it. He was still waiting for her to whip round to face him like she always did, and smile joyfully at him and go, "So what did you think? Fooled you didn't I!" but that never came. Instead, Koga continued fighting her, and was slowly but surely getting killed. It was then that he saw his elder brother stalk towards the fight. What…?

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Sesshoumaru knocked the weakened wolf out of the way with the flick of his hand, but realised that stopping his sister-in-law-to-be, would be much more challenging. Almost as if she didn't see him, Minato made to pass Sesshoumaru, but she found a white kimono sleeve blocking her way. Slowly, she lifted her face to his and stared into his deep pools of amber. She opened her mouth as if to say something, and everyone in the hall waited for those words with baited breath. What she said next broke their hearts, for with the word, "Move," she sealed Koga's death warrant. Sesshoumaru, unlike the others, had been expecting that word, so he returned her cold gaze with equal coldness, as he replied, "No." For the first time, emotion entered her yellow demon eyes: anger. Almost like a reflex, her nails began to grow long, thin and sharp, and her two canine teeth grew slightly longer, and pointed.

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"What?" If looks and words could kill, Sesshoumaru would have been lying dead at her feet. Sesshoumaru sensed the change of emotion in her aura, and he quickly grabbed both of her shoulders and shook her hard. "I don't care for the safety and life of that worthless, pathetic wolf, but I won't have you killing him when you aren't in full control of your emotions and actions. If you're going to kill him, do it when you're not emotionally high-strung, and when you're not being rash!" What am I saying? Sesshoumaru was surprised himself at his thoughts and words. This is basically saying that I care for this worthless half-breed girl. This Sesshoumaru would never fall in love with a hanyou. Never. Yet, he found himself staring into her eyes with a determination that he was ashamed to be showing to a hanyou. But for all his sacrifices, the princess could only scoff at him. "Why would you care how I feel, you human hating monster!" The anger in her eyes was now joined with loathing.

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Sesshoumaru bit his lip, aware that they had the full attention of everyone in the palace. God, she's right. It was stupid coming out here. I thought maybe talking to her would shake some sense into her, but it seems I was wrong. But seeing the triumphant look in her demon self caused something to snap deep inside of him. Oh well, I better say it. I can't deny it anymore. Damn it, this has turned out to be the worst day of my life. Worse than when father cheated on mother. "Because-" Sesshoumaru felt everyone's gaze piercing through his back. Even Minato had an eyebrow raised in question. "Because… Dammit. Because I love you, you dimwit!" And with that, he leant towards her surprised face, and kissed her.

Coming up next chapter (if posted)…:

Sesshoumaru has confessed his feelings to Minato. Everyone sobers up. Inuyasha gets pissed, Minato gets confused, how could this scenario get any worse? …What are you doing here Kikyo!

Author's note:

Thank you everyone who has read up until here. I am eternally grateful for my reviewers whose reviews have kept me writing. As mentioned at the top, I have decided that until I get 20 reviews (I have 13 at the moment), I cannot bring myself to write the next chapter, because this one definitely went on for too long. ALSO, I MEANT TO REPLY TO EVERYONE'S REVIEWS, BUT SINCE THAT IS NOW BANNED, I WILL EMAIL YOU WITH REPLIES. IF YOU WANT A REPLY TO YOUR REVIEW, PLEASE WRITE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS ON IT, TO SAVE ME THE TROUBLE OF HAVING TO GO AND CHECK IT UP. I WILL CHECK YOUR EMAIL UP ANYWAY IF YOU REVIEW ME, SO PLEASE BE THOUGHTFUL…

Thank you!

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