Decisions

As Inuyasha stood silently on the roof, questioning what he should do with the jewel shard, one other person was awake. Icthalur was lying on a couch, his fingers laced behind his head, wondering about the last nine hundred years of his life.

He thought back to the day when he and Ilyo were supposed to meet in combat to decide the next Lord of the Lands. He remembered returning to his home, and being forced to annihilate his family and friends. He remembered training for years, building up to the day when he would once again meet up with Ilyo and finally get the vengeance he so craved. But when he got the chance, he had let Ilyo explain himself, and he had listened to the explanation and he had believed. Now, he had spent time with his former best friend, and he was already starting to fall back into the life he had lived before, him and Ilyo against everyone.

His thoughts now turned to the girl, Kagome. Ilyo clearly had strong feelings for her. Icthalur had never seen him act that way before. He had even lost control of himself in his attempt to defend her. It was strange very strange and out of character for the large dog demon. Icthalur sighed. He knew now that he had committed himself to helping them in their fight against Kuttsoh-turas just by being back with his friend. He had been alone for so long, and if he deserted Ilyo now, he would never forgive himself.

Just as Icthalur was about to roll over and attempt to get some sleep, he felt a strange power suddenly flare up directly above. The level of power was so ridiculously strong that he immediately shot up off the couch. Closing his eyes, the dragon demon inhaled deeply through his nose. He could vaguely smell Ilyo's little brother, Inuyasha coming from the same direction as the new energy. Getting to his feet, he went looking in search of Ilyo. He could sense his friend somewhere on the floor above him.

Climbing the stairs, he made his way up to the fourth floor and down a long hallway. He turned the corner at the end and found himself in another hallway. He could smell Ilyo scent coming from the room right at the very end of the hallway. He walked over to it quietly, and slowly opened the door. Ilyo was not inside however, which confused Icthalur. He could clearly sense that his friend was near. Then, he noticed the small door in the wall, which was slight ajar.

Icthalur slowly approached the door and went through it. He realized instantly where it led. Directly in front of him was Kagome, sleeping soundly on her bed. Icthalur looked around and noticed the stairs that led up to the roof. Ilyo was sitting on the bottom stair. Icthalur looked closer and realized that the dog demon was fast asleep as well.

Suddenly, Icthalur felt the strange power surge once again. Rushing forward, he leaned down and shook Ilyo slightly. Ilyo's eyes immediately flashed open. "What's wrong?" he asked urgently. Icthalur just pointed upwards, toward the roof.

Ilyo paused, and immediately sensed the immense power radiating from the roof. He also detected the scent of Inuyasha. "Stupid half-breed," he growled. Turning, Ilyo charged up the stairs, with Icthalur hot on his heels. When the duo reached the roof, they were greeted by the sight of Inuyasha, engulfed by an eerie pinkish-white glow. The seven jewel shards were easily visible in his hand.

Ilyo's blood ran cold and he felt horror course through him when he saw what his brother was doing."No, you idiot!" he cried. "You're going to draw Kuttsoh-turas to us." Rushing forward, he attempted to wrench the shards from Inuyasha's hands, but to no avail. Inuyasha drew back his other hand and punched Ilyo in the face. Although it wasn't really that hard, it was enough to make Ilyo step back. In that time, Inuyasha seemed to gain some sort of control over the shards.

Laughing maniacally, the half-demon jumped back from his brother. "You're too late, Ilyomaru. I have already harnessed the power of the jewel shards."

Ilyo merely smirked at him. "It makes no difference, half-breed. Your future self had the entire jewel, and I destroyed him easily."

Inuyasha shrugged casually. "That's true. But this time around, something is different. This time, I've already accomplished my goal. This time, I'm not going to be stupid and stick around long enough to be killed. I have alerted Kuttsoh-turas as to the whereabouts of you guys. Very soon he will arrive and destroy you." With that announcement, Inuyasha turned and leaped off the roof, swiftly making his exit from the castle's ground.

Ilyo watched him run off with a look of hatred in his eyes. "Fucking asshole!" he cursed.

"Should we go after him?" Icthalur quietly inquired.

"No. Thanks to Inuyasha's little display, Kuttsoh-turas has undoubtedly sensed the jewel shards by now. He knows exactly where we are and he could appear at any time, without any warning."

Icthalur nodded his understanding, but then he thought of something. "Won't he go after Inuyasha then? I mean, we no longer possess the shards."

Ilyo shook his head however. "No. Now that Inuyasha has gained control over the shards, he will be able to control how much of an aura they emit. He'll be able to hide himself from Kuttsoh-turas, at least for a little while." He sighed. "No, the god will come here. He will think that we are trying to hide the shards from him. He would just laugh at us if we told him that they were stolen by a half-demon." Ilyo shook his head at the stupidity of his brother. "We'll wait for Kuttsoh to come, and we'll do what we can to defeat him and we'll deal with Inuyasha later." Turning, Ilyo turned and made his way back downstairs. Icthalur followed him.

When Ilyo reached the bottom of the stairs, he immediately knew that Kagome was awake. He could smell her tears. From this, he quickly deduced that she had heard what had been said on the roof. Her tears were expected; she had been good friends with Inuyasha, after all.

"Kagome?" Ilyo walked over to her quietly, forgetting about the presence of Icthalur behind him. At the sound of Ilyo's voice, Kagome sat up in bed, attempting to hide her tears.

"Yes?" She tried to answer him normally, but her voice caught in her throat and she began to sob.

Ilyo was nervous, unsure of how to deal with crying girl in front of him. Sighing, he decided on a direct approach and sat down on the bed, beside her. "Inuyasha is not worthy of your tears. The stupid half-breed has alerted Kuttsoh-turas of our presence. He wants us destroyed. He cares nothing for his own family and friends."

Kagome nodded her understanding. "I know, but still. We have been friends for so long. I don't know how he could have done this."

She started to sob again and Ilyo responded bluntly. "It was power. He has always craved power, whether it came from his sword or the jewel shards. It was always about power for him. And when he heard the story of how his future self had gotten power, he was scared. He is not evil, just power-hungry. He didn't want to kill you. This way, he gets power, and Kuttsoh-turas does the killing for him. But he still remains stupid. He must realize that if Kuttsoh kills us, he will come after him." Ilyo lapsed into silence, pondering Inuyasha's motives. Suddenly, he felt Kagome wrap her arms around him.

"You're right," she said. "I might never fully understand why Inuyasha has done this, but you're right."

Ilyo turned his head to look at her. Even though it was very dark, it being night, he could clearly see her face. She was still sniffling slightly, but she was no longer fighting back full blown tears. She truly is quite pretty, he decided.

Meanwhile, Kagome was looking straight up at him. He looks quite handsome, she thought. She shifted her body so that she was leaning across him, looking directly up at him. Their eyes met, and they both knew what was coming next.

Their lips met in a soft kiss that quickly turned urgent. They stayed locked in this position for a minute, an hour, a day. Well, at least thirty seconds. They were interrupted from their kiss however, by the sound of a throat being cleared. Ilyo broke the kiss and looked behind him, suddenly remembering that Icthalur had been standing there.

"Well, I believe that we should now go and wake both Sesshomaru's. We have to prepare for the arrival of Kuttsoh-turas." Icthalur was very serious as he said this, but then his face split into a wide grin. "That is if you two are finished." Ilyo growled at him, only causing him to start laughing.

"Come on, let's go, lover-boy. We don't know when he'll arrive." Ilyo was reluctant to move, but he couldn't question the wisdom in his friend's words. When he looked down at Kagome, she saw the look in his eyes, and quickly got off of him. Blushing a bit at due to her intimate moment being witnessed by Icthalur, she stood up as Ilyo did and followed him and the dragon demon from the room. The two friends appeared to be walking silently, but they were actually conversing with each other by thought.

Nice work, Ilyo. Good timing too. Get even closer to her just before a battle that could kill one or both of you, Icthalur thought with a smirk on his face.

Ilyo appeared emotionless, but inside, he seethed at being lectured by his friend. Well, I had to do something. She is very attractive, and she obviously likes me. I feel an overwhelming need to give her what she wants, and she wants me.

Icthalur grinned at his friend's rather blunt statement. It's your choice, but in my opinion, you should have waited until after we defeat Kuttsoh-turas to return any sign of love. Now, if you die, she will probably go insane from the grief.

Ilyo was about to give Icthalur a punch to the head, but refrained when he saw the truth behind his friend's words. It was too late to take back his actions now however.

At that moment, they arrived at the door to Sesshomaru's private room. Ilyo knocked urgently on the door and a voice said, "Enter." Ilyo opened the door and the three entered the room. It was not what they had expected at all.

Though the rest of the castle was cluttered with beautiful artwork and treasures, this room was utterly bare. There was a small dresser in one corner, a simple bed pushed up against the far wall, a television on a small table, and nothing else. Sesshomaru was sitting on his bed, watching a news program on the television. He turned as they entered his room, smiling at the surprised looks on their faces.

"I've found that I sleep better with fewer comforts. I believe that it serves as a reminder of past times when I slept on the ground while traveling." Sesshomaru's eyes got a faraway look in them as he remembered his glorious past. Then, his attention returned to the present. "I presume that you are here to tell me about the energy I sensed earlier?"

Ilyo nodded. "Yes; it was Inuyasha. He stole the shards of the Shikon Jewel from Kagome and is now using them to boost his own power. He has control over them now, but before he did, the power that they were emitting was immense. I have no doubt that Kuttsoh-turas has sensed that power, and he could arrive at any time. We need to prepare." Sesshomaru nodded his understanding, but was interrupted before he could speak.

The other Sesshomaru stood at the door and his announcement shocked everyone. "There is no time to prepare. The god has arrived and he is crying for our blood. He awaits us on the front lawn. He has given us twenty minutes to come out to meet him, or he is coming in to get us."