Merry Christmas/Happy Honokaa/ or any other celebration you may have this December. Season's greetings! rinseternalsoul I' so glad you like her, thank you so much! fluffyloverx3 the song is called Canta Per Me, I don't know who sang it originally but in this story, it was Haruko. Riyo Sohma why would I be mad at you? Haha, odn't worry about it. Thanks! For everyone who reviewed with such wonderful words, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Chapter 24: Closure

Kagome watched with wide eyes as Tetsusaiga was silently unsheathed. Why? Why was Inu-yasha doing this? Why so suddenly out of the blue? Why now when everyone was finally at peace? Why was he doing this? Why, Inu-yasha? Why?

Sesshoumaru took hold of Toukijin's sheath, looking still as calm as always.

"Inu-yasha, what are you—" Miroku started,

"Shut up!" Inu-yasha yelled, not taking his eyes away from his new opponent.

"Inu-yasha, do you have any idea what you're doing!" Sango tried to get some sense into him. No one could understand what he was planning to achieve by challenging Sesshoumaru to a duel. They all know that Sesshoumaru was far more superior. The only reason why he won all the other battles was because Kagome was there to back him up. But from the look on Kagome's face…he wasn't going to win this one any time soon.

"Inu-yasha, don't do this!" Shippou yelled desperately.

"Do you accept my challenge, Sesshoumaru!" Inu-yasha yelled, ignoring everyone else's cry of reason. He needed to try. He knew he had no chance but he needed to try.

This was the time that Sesshoumaru chose to speak. "What do you wish to attain by challenging this Sesshoumaru? Self-emulation perhaps?"

"Shut up!" Inu-yasha yelled again. He lowered his blazing gaze so that his bangs cast shadows over his lonely eyes. "I need to know…" he returned his gaze to his half-brother with such ferocious intensity. "I need to know that I'm losing her to someone stronger!"

Kagome gasped. Now she understood. And the more that it dawned on her that she was the reason for what Inu-yasha was trying to do, the more her heart ached. Tears brimmed in her eyes slowly.

"Your ignorance of my superiority to you offends me, half-breed." He swiftly unsheathed Toukijin and took a defensive stance. "You should know that there is more to love than simply being strong enough."

Love! How dare he call it love! They didn't love each other! No way would he allow it! Loosing his temper, Inu-yasha growled and cried out, "Just shut up and fight!" he lunged forward, sword ready to kill. Sesshoumaru stayed cool and collected but was ready to defend. Inu-yasha was almost close enough to swing his sword when,

"SIT!" wham!

He quickly retaliated, lifting his head from the ground and shaking a fist at Kagome animatedly. "Damn it, wench! What did you—"

"Baka!" he faltered, staring up at her who screamed so angrily. His heart clenched at the sight of them; the tears that were falling like pearls from her eyes. Her fists were tight, so were her shut eyes. She shook in pure anger; her teeth were clenched as well. "You—You selfish, selfish baka!"

"Kagome…" escaped his lips.

"I hate you!" she cried out, "I hate you!" with that, she ran into the forest.

"Kagome—" Shippou ran to follow her.

"Halt." Came Sesshoumaru's stern call. Everyone stopped and looked back at him. He sheathed his sword and closed his eyes calmly, only opening them to stare coldly at Inu-yasha on the ground. "We will not leave until you apologize to her." And then, there followed silence. It ensued until the sun had set and the moon had risen.

Haruko watched Kouga with a wary expression as they walked nearer to the hut. He wasn't swaying like a drunk. He didn't look like a drunk. He didn't even talk like one! But if one had just seen how quickly he had gulped up all those bottles of sake empty…it was a terrifying sight.

"Hey, what's with that?" he suddenly asked, pointing at her face.

"Huh? What?" she asked, touching her cheeks to check if she had any dirt on her face.

"That look on your face. What's with that?"

"What look?"

"That look. That 'what-is-he-doing-still-standing-up-he-should-be-out-cold-by-now' look."

"Oh—gomen." She said, turning her face away.

He gave a soft chuckle "Don't worry about it. A lot o' people are surprised when they see me drink. I'm uncannily resistant to being drunk. That's why I like drinking so much! Ever since I was a kid, no one could keep up with me."

She gave him a small smirk, "Well, congratulations to you."

He grinned widely at that, crossing his arms at the back of his head as they neared the hut. When she entered, Kouga stopped at the door and put down his hands. "Haruko…"

"Hm?" she asked, looking back at him. She was a bit disoriented, seeing him wear an expression other than a smile or a grin. He was looking very serious, very handsome as well, looking at her with unreadable eyes.

"Out of curiosity, have you ever been in love before?"

Her eyebrows rose and she blinked twice, why did he ask that so suddenly out of the blue? She furrowed her eyebrows and started arranging her bed. "Why ask that so suddenly, Kouga-san?"

He hid a small smile, "Like I said, out of curiosity."

She got into bed and started arranging her blanket. "Haven't you ever heard of the saying that 'curiosity killed the cat', Kouga-san?"

"Can't you see that I'm not a cat, Inu-hime?" he said with a sly smirk and a raise of the eyebrow, leaning his back on the entrance and crossing his arms across his chest.

Haruko gave a slight chuckle. He did have a point. But then again, there was no harm in telling him. "No, I've never fallen in love with anyone before."

"Oh."

"But I did have a big crush on someone."

"Really?"

"Yes." She said, blushing at the memory. "When I was old enough to remember, all I could remember was his smile. The way his emerald eyes sparkled whenever we met." A small smile crept onto her lips. "As a child, I was already being trained in many different fields; music, arts, language, history, math and science. But because of the many subjects I had to learn, I hardly had enough time to play with children outside. At that time, he was one of the children playing outside. But it seemed that he noticed me staring out of my window one day and since then, whenever my lessons would be finished for the day, he'd sneak into my chambers and we would play all night. But we had to be careful, of course. If we got caught, Father would punish us."

He watched her quietly, seeing the small smile on her lips. She seemed deep in thought; probably remembering who it was she used to have a crush on. Silently wishing it was him.

"And I distinctly remember…it was my eighteenth birthday and…there was a ball. Everyone was dancing and having fun. I was sitting on my chair, waiting for my Father to come home from his meeting with the Lord of the North. Then, I saw him, standing as stiff as a statue. I went to him and asked him to dance with me. He said he didn't know how to dance. I said I'd teach him. We danced to a wonderful song. His hand held mine and we chatted idly. Then as the last guests left, I was still sitting on my chair, still waiting for my Father to come home. It was getting late. He came to me and told me to go to bed. I didn't listen to him and continued to wait. The next thing I new he was carrying me to my chambers. It seemed that I had fallen asleep while waiting for Father and he took the liberty to carry me to my bed."

"Hm…and what might be the name of this romantic, debonair man with emerald eyes you so admire?" he asked.

She shook her finger at him, "Now that is a secret. So tell me, Kouga-san, why suddenly so curious?"

Well if they were gonna play twenty-one questions; he supposed there wouldn't be any harm in telling her half the truth. "I just fell in love with someone."

"Really?" she asked, genuinely interested. She smiled, "How long have you two known each other?"

"Three days." He answered looking out into the night sky.

"Three days?" she said softly. From the looks of it, she already knew who it was. But she shouldn't be jumping to conclusions. "S-so soon?"

"I don't think it's soon at all." He defended.

"Yes, it is." She argued.

"Why? How long do you think it takes for a person to fall in love with another person?"

"At least for more than two years."

"You think so?"

"Hai, I do."

"Well, I disagree." She raised her brow at him. "I don't think you need a life time to fall in love." He slowly turned to her with the strangest, calmest smile she'd ever seen him wear. "I think it just takes a moment. One single moment when you realize that that person you're with is making you whole. That the one person standing next to you, smiling and laughing with you, is the one that completes you."

"You're a fool." She softly whispered, averting her eyes from him.

That was when he reverted back to the normal Kouga, grinning widely and boyishly. "Hehe, maybe! Who knows? I'm gonna go check on Arashi and the others okay? Don't wait for me." With that, he left. Just like that.

She brought her knees closer to herself, wrapping her arms around them. "You fool." She whispered again. Who was the fool? Him? Or her? Had she been waiting for nothing all along? Passing up every opportunity for love just for an imaginary romance in her mind? Or was it he who was the fool? He who thinks of love as something so magical, so mystical? He who believes in letting his heart lead the way? It seemed that our hearts and minds will be forever wondering who the true fool between the two was. Or better yet, who was the bigger fool; the one who believes in her mind or the one who believes in his heart?

Sesshoumaru walked towards her crouched form, sitting on a stump covered in moss with her hands covering her face. He said nothing, she said nothing. Gracefully, he sat beside her. Silence…

"It's unfair…" she finally spoke. He said nothing. "Just when everything was going well, just when everyone was finally getting along…just when I decided I loved you…Just when I finally became happy…he comes along and tries to rip me away from everything." She started sobbing, crying her pains out.

Still he said nothing. He simply listened. Soon, she reached out for him. He opened his arms and let her cry onto him. "He doesn't know how torn he makes me feel. And I hate him for it!" she cried. "I don't want to hurt him…But—But if I stay with him…I know—I know I'll still be in pain…"

He began stroking her ebony locks softly, staying silent still. "I don't know what I should do anymore…Sesshoumaru—I—"

"I want you to speak with him."

She looked up at him then. "What?"

Sesshoumaru looked down at her, "Speak with him. Give him…closure."

"Closure…"

"Yes. My brother is dense. He will only understand…when you tell him."

Closure. Was closure really the answer? Was it actually a good idea? Well, if it was what Sesshoumaru thought was best, then… "A-Alright."

He felt so low at that moment. He could barely even look at his reflection on the lake he was sitting by. What he did…that was definitely a wrong move. He regretted it deeply. But…how could he apologize to her? His pride was too big for him to go to her and apologize. How can he face her?

"Inu-yasha…" he stiffened at the sound of her voice. But in the back of his mind, he wondered why her tone held nothing but gentleness. Calmly, she walked to stand by his side.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence that fell over them. He didn't dare look at her, so he averted his eyes.

"I'm sorry…" she said. He looked at her then, a bit enlightened that she was the one who apologized. He was just about to say he was sorry too and make up with her when she continued to speak, "I didn't mean it when I said 'I hate you'. So…let's be friends again, ne?"

He froze, "Friends…"

She looked down, letting her bangs cast shadows over her eyes. "Hai…friends. That's all we can ever be now, Inu-yasha."

"But…"

"I did. I did, love you. But it was one-sided. You loved someone else. And even now you still love her. And I don't have the right to get in between the two of you."

"Kagome—I—"

"Inu-yasha…With Sesshoumaru…I have a place where I'm truly needed. And at the same time, I have someone I truly need. I'm happy when I'm with him. And I know that…he's happy with me too."

"How do you know that, Kagome?" Inu-yasha tried to save the last grasp he had on her. He felt it slipping away ever so slightly.

A small smile answered him. "I met my daughter, didn't I?"

He looked down at his reflection, seeing a lonely look in his eyes. "So…you're dumping me?"

"No, Inu-yasha. I'm giving you…closure…"

"Closure…"

Haruko lay on her bed, staring at nothing in particular, remembering that fateful night of her 18th birthday.

She woke up groggily, opening her eyes slowly, only to realize that she was being moved. She looked up and found the handsome face of her mother's guardian, Shippou-sama. He was carrying her bridal style down the halls toward her chambers.

"Shippou-sama…"

"Go back to sleep, Lady Haruko" his soft, gentle voice served as her soothing lullaby.

"Is Father home yet?" she asked as if about to fall asleep any moment now.

"No, not yet, Lady Haruko. Please, go back to sleep."

"I want to wait for him, Shippou-sama. Please bring me back." She gently requested, her eyes slowly closing. Her eyelids were too heavy.

"He'll be home any moment now, Lady Haruko. Now go back to sleep. I'll put you to bed."

"But—"

"Shhh…" he said, opening the door to her chambers. Gently, he laid her down on her bed and pulled the cover up to her chin. "It's been a tiring day for you, Lady Haruko." He whispered, stroking her cheek gently with the back of his hand. Slowly, she fell asleep.

She did not know of the small kiss he gave her on top of her forehead. And she didn't hear what he said, "Sleep well, koi…"