Fears
Ilyo groaned with annoyance at the sight of his friend trying to 'have fun'. It was typical of the dragon demon to wreak havoc and leave a trail of bodies wherever he went, but Ilyo had hoped that his friend would have at least tried to be civil while Kagome was with them.
Icthalur stood his ground as the men advanced on him, even though all of them were clearly itching to cause him some pain. Then, one of the guys threw a punch, and Icthalur started to laugh.
Ducking under the blow, he came up and caught the guy with a vicious uppercut, sending him flying through the air. He came crashing down a second later, right onto a pool table. Without waiting, Icthalur dove at two other guys who were standing close together. Although they were big guys, both well over six feet and at least two hundred fifty pounds, Icthalur was larger. When he hit them, the force of the collision drove the men backwards into the bar. They hit the bar so hard they actually broke through it, sending small pieces of wood flying up into the air. The two men hit the ground on the other side hard, immediately rendering them unconscious.
Casually rising to his feet, Icthalur brushed some wood splinters off of his jacket and turned towards the three remaining men. One of them was the one whose beer he had drank. The other two guys rushed Icthalur, attempting to overwhelm him, but he was ready for that. Ducking at just the right moment, he lowered his shoulders and launched himself forward. He planted his shoulders firmly into the stomachs of both men before straightening up with both of his foes resting on his shoulders. Then he began to spin in circle, taunting the men loudly as he went.
"What the hell is he doing?" Kagome whispered to Ilyo.
Ilyo smirked. "He's showboating for the crowd." He gestured towards the other patrons, who were cheering wildly and laughing. Then, he turned his attention back to his friend.
Once Icthalur felt that he had showed off enough, he simply fell forward, driving both bodies into the ground with incredible velocity. It was immediately evident that neither man would be in any condition to re-enter the fight after that.
Getting back to his feet, Icthalur dusted off his coat and went to sit back down with Ilyo and Kagome. He was halted before he went very far however, when a barstool suddenly came into contact with the side of his head. He turned to glare at the man who had hit him. It was the same guy whose beer he had drank.
The man shrank back from Icthalur's intense stare as the dragon demon slowly shrugged out of his coat. Turning, he handed it to Ilyo. "Watch my coat. I don't want to get it any dirtier than it already is." Ilyo nodded as Icthalur turned back to his foe.
The man gulped nervously. Now that Icthalur had removed his jacket, the immense muscles in his arms were extremely visible. Kagome noticed a small tattoo on his arm, but didn't say anything.
Grinning, Icthalur leapt at his opponent, tackling him to the ground. Getting quickly to his feet, he dealt a powerful kick to the man's ribs. Then, he kicked him again and again, and he started yelling.
"A bar stool? Are you fucking insane? Using a weapon in a bar fight is not cool! The last guy who did that to me is dead! I killed him with my bare hands!" As he screamed this, his eyes started turning red. Ilyo figured that he better interfere before his friend killed the poor guy.
"Enough. You've had your fun; now stop before you kill him." Ilyo's calm voice brought reasoning back to Icthalur. He stopped kicking the man's ribs, but when he heard the guy groan in pain, he turned and delivered a final kick to his head, effectively knocking the poor bastard out cold. Ilyo chuckled at his friend's enthusiasm.
Icthalur retrieved his coat from Ilyo, and quickly slipped it back on. Getting up, Icthalur tossed some money on the counter and all three friends left the bar before somebody could call the cops.
When they got outside, Kagome thought about Ilyo and Icthalur as they made their way down the street. She had just seen them destroy almost twenty rather large men without even breaking a sweat. Even though all of the men had seemed ready to kill both of them, Ilyo and Icthalur had simply grinned. Kagome quickly came to a realization as they walked along; she was out with two remorseless killers.
She had watched as Ilyo killed Hojo with only the slightest bit of encouragement from Icthalur. Then he had thrown the dead body onto the ground and walked away like it was nothing. Then she thought about Icthalur. He had killed a god, just to send a message, and then, in the bar fight, she was sure that he would have killed that guy if Ilyo hadn't interfered. Thinking about all that made her start to get a little nervous.
Suddenly, Icthalur halted. The other two stopped as well. Icthalur looked at Ilyo and smirked. "You're little girlfriend is getting scared." Kagome gasped.
Ilyo turned towards her, concern in his eyes. "What's wrong?" He turned back to Icthalur a second later when the dragon demon started laughing. "What's so funny?"
Icthalur stopped laughing long enough to reply. "She is afraid of us. She thinks that we are remorseless killers." Kagome's eyes widened.
Ilyo saw the look on her face and quickly explained. "He can read minds people's minds. It is a power that only the most powerful dragon demons have." Kagome gulped and was about to say something, but Ilyo interrupted her. "There is no need to be afraid of us. The only reason I killed Hojo is because if I had left him alive, he would have only tried something else. Some people are just too stubborn and stupid to admit when they've been defeated."
Kagome accepted his explanation, but she wasn't done. She was about to ask another question, but Icthalur answered her question before it left her lips. "There are a lot of gods out there. I figured, what's one less. And the bar fight, that was just fun."
Kagome shuddered at the callous way he just explained away the slaying of a god and the senseless beating of a bunch of guys. She couldn't help but admit to herself however, there probably wasn't a safer being in the world than her at that moment. That thought was actually pretty comforting.
Regardless of her slight nervousness from their lack of guilt, she had found herself starting to like Icthalur. He was a lot like Ilyo in many ways, but very different in others. He was obviously quicker to anger and more reckless. He seemed to enjoy violence much more than the dog demon did as well.
She went over their fighting tactics in her mind next. Although both had been impressive, Kagome thought that Ilyo was the better fighter. Her view might have been slightly biased due to her emotions of course but in her mind, the way Ilyo had masterfully dealt with Hojo's goons put him slightly ahead in the combat department.
That being said, she was proud of both of them. Even though they had ruthlessly destroyed their opponents, they had refrained from using any powers on them, relying solely on brute strength. She knew without a doubt that if it had been Inuyasha or Sesshomaru, all of the guys would now be dead, torn apart by claw or sword.
Suddenly, she realized that both friends were waiting for her to say something. She looked at them and smiled. "It's okay. I'm over it now." Nodding, Icthalur turned and started walking again. Ilyo and Kagome quickly trailed after him.
As they walked along, they decided to head home on foot, rather than by air. After all, it was a warm, clear night. A huge full moon hung low in the sky, providing a lot of natural light.
As they slowly strode down the street, Kagome started shivering a bit in the slightly cold air. Ilyo noticed this and quickly took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. She smiled in gratitude and pulled it tightly around herself. Then she noticed the small tattoo on his arm. It was the same as the one on Icthalur's arm.
"What's that?" Ilyo looked at the small drawing on his arm. He smiled when he looked down at it. All it consisted of was a black line and a red line, crossed to form an x. The x was contained within a black circle.
"It is a marking that is given to all three of the prospective Lords when they are born. The circle represents the one who has the tattoo and each line represents one of the others potential rulers. When one of them dies, the line that corresponds with that particular demon turns from back to red. Since the panther, Iristlen, has already died, one of the lines is red." Kagome indicated her understanding, and the three began to walk again.
After about an hour and a half of walking, the threesome finally arrived back at Sesshomaru's castle. As they reached the front door, the coppery stench of blood suddenly wafted out to them. Kagome stopped. "Hey, that smells like Inuyasha's blood." Ilyo merely nodded and strode quickly into the castle, Icthalur right behind him. They were greeted by a familiar sight.
An extremely bloody Inuyasha was leaning on the transformed Tetsusaiga, breathing heavily, while glaring intensely at the past Sesshomaru. The demon Lord was holding Tokijin in his only hand, his face expressionless.
Kagome noticed present day Sesshomaru watching the two intently. She approached him with a question. "What's wrong with those two now."
Sesshomaru looked at her before answering. "My past self took it upon himself to enlighten Inuyasha with the details of his future self. As soon as Inuyasha heard the part about how he had killed you, he accused my past self of trying to turn you guys against each other. Then, he attacked him. Unfortunately for Inuyasha, he is too dense to realize that he is no match for me, whether from this era or another."
Kagome understood perfectly. Regardless of how many times Inuyasha had got his ass kicked by Sesshomaru in the past, he always tried to defeat him the next time they crossed paths. Some people would have called that bravery, but Kagome called it stupidity.
Inuyasha finally noticed the new arrivals. Aiming one last poisonous glance at his brother, he sheathed the Tetsusaiga and approached Kagome. "Kagome, this bastard was trying to spread lies. He said that my future self killed you in the past. That's ridiculous, I..." He was halted by the look of sadness on Kagome's face.
"It's true, Inuyasha," Kagome revealed. "We've already met your future self. It was obvious from his actions here that he had killed me in the past."
Inuyasha growled loudly at this. "Where is the bastard? Let me at him! I'll rip his head off!"
At that, Ilyo smirked. Kagome however, was the one who replied to Inuyasha's demand. "Well, there's no need for that. Ilyo here has already taken care of him."
Inuyasha looked surprised, but he was not the first one to speak. Icthalur laughed. "You killed your brother? What did he do?" Then, Icthalur paused. "Ah, never mind. I see exactly what he did. Threatened your little girlfriend, did he? How did you kill him?" Icthalur seemed genuinely interested in how Ilyo had disposed of Inuyasha.
However, Ilyo looked reluctant to tell him. "Well, I hit him with a lightning bolt," he finally admitted.
Icthalur gasped. "Really? I haven't seen you resort to using that much power since that time the Panther army attacked us. Did the runt put up that much of a fight?"
Ilyo looked even more uncomfortable answering that question. "No, he didn't put up much of a fight. But I lost control."
When those words left Ilyo's mouth, Icthalur eyes widened."You lost control? In all the years we were so close, you never lost control once." Icthalur shook his head and then turned to Kagome. "He must really like you, Kagome."
Kagome blushed and giggled nervously.
Ilyo looked embarrassed about admitting that he had lost control of himself. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed." Turning, Ilyo walked off, going to his room, leaving Kagome, Icthalur, both Sesshomaru's, and Inuyasha and standing around. Icthalur was the next to go. He stalked off in the opposite direction of Ilyo; he obviously knew where he was going. Then, both Sesshomarus excused themselves, leaving just Kagome and Inuyasha standing there, alone.
Inuyasha turned to her. "I'm glad that you have found someone to love. I'm over my feelings for you." Kagome smiled at him, but stiffened with shock when he embraced her. However, all he did was hug her gently for a moment before turned walking away.
Kagome watched as he climbed up the main staircase, glad that her friend had seemed to accept that she was with Ilyo now. After several minutes, she finally decided to attempt to navigate her way back to her room.
Luckily for Kagome, her sense of smell allowed her to quickly find her room and it wasn't long before she was curled up in bed. Before she fell asleep, she took a moment to ponder the meaning of the embrace Inuyasha had given her. With her enhanced hearing, she could hear her friend pacing back and forth across the roof. She quickly decided that he must have gone up there to clear his head or something like that.
Inuyasha had indeed gone to the roof, though clearing his head was not the reason why. Instead, he was looking at his closed hand, debating whether or not to use the objects enclosed in it. He opened his clawed fist, revealing the seven jewel shards he had lifted from Kagome's pocket when he had hugged her.