Great news! Sesshoumaru's mother has now appeared in the manga! I'm so happy! If you would like to see a picture of her, email me!

Chapter 7

I don't own Inuyasha

It had been a few hours since Kagome knocked Sesshoumaru out with her power trip...

"What's going on?" Sesshoumaru asked. He still felt the jewel shards inside him, so they didn't steal them away, but he couldn't sense his sword spewing out demonic aura. As a matter a fact, he didn't know where his sword was, or where he was for that matter. He was on top of the cat demon, the one they called Kirara. "What did you do to me?

"Calm down," Kagome asked. "We're on top of Kirara, heading back towards Miroku, Sango, and Shippo."

"That's not what I asked! I asked what you did to me! And where is Inuyasha?"

She sighed. "Inuyasha is back with your sword, waiting for Myouga and Saya to show up."

"Saya?" Sesshoumaru knew Saya to be one of his father's many followers, along with Myouga. 'Myouga is a cowardly flea that appears very often, to do something for my father, pester him, or simply to suck his blood. He's still around, and so is Saya? He's a coward too. What good could he possibly do and what's he got to do with my sword?' "What are you getting Saya and Myouga for? Are you doing something to my sword?" Sesshoumaru sat upright on top of Kirara and waited for Kagome to answer.

"Well..." Kagome didn't know how he was going to take the news, so she decided to explain her security plan first. "Well, what I did was have a sacred spell placed on you. I doubt it'll be strong enough to hold you when you're back to normal, but it'll do it now." She didn't want to look behind her to see how upset he was. "Just one little word and you'll be in a lot of pain."

"As if you could—"

"I already did."

Sesshoumaru grunted, remembering what had happened earlier. She did something to him, and get was bound by some kind of scared magic. Whatever it was, it was placed on him and his younger brother. 'What's this?' Sesshoumaru realized that he was wearing a necklace, a big gaudy necklace that he certainly didn't have before. "It's this stupid necklace, isn't it?" Sesshoumaru tried to get it off, but he couldn't. He tried so hard, but he couldn't get it off! "So how does it get removed?"

"I don't know, but I won't keep it on you as an adult. I'm probably sure it won't be strong enough to bind you and it'll just fall off."

He cocked an eyebrow. "You're probably sure...?" She didn't answer. That really ticked Sesshoumaru off. Just because he was a child, didn't mean he wanted to surround himself with children. This girl was simply a girl, and she had no answers to give him, not really. She couldn't even tell him how the spell she put on him could be removed. "A demon can't take it off, but I'm pretty sure that a human could."

Kagome looked a bit worried. "Why would you say that?"

"Because it's sacred beads, Kagome. I'm not stupid! Take them off!"

'He's a bit smarter than Inuyasha. If I don't watch Sesshoumaru, he'll just have Rin take it off.' "I can't do that…"

Sesshoumaru only grumbled. He wanted to hurt her…sort of…he wasn't too sure about that. But he did want to get the necklace off. He couldn't exactly force the enforcer though. "So what do you want of me, human?"

Kagome rolled her eyes at the young boy's comment. "Do you have to talk to me like that? You know that my name is Kagome. Why can't you just call me that?"

"Well, you are a human!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to talk to me like that. My name is Kagome. I know you probably don't believe me, but I don't want to have Inuyasha kill you, nor do I want Naraku to do it. I want to be your friend, so let's just stick together until you're back to normal." She gave a not so convincing smile. "Do we have a deal?"

"No!"

She let out a sigh. "We'll that's too bad, because you're staying."

The little prince was highly insulted. "You can't tell me what to do!"

"Sit!"

"Whoah!" With those words, Sesshoumaru lost his balance and fell off of Kirara. Kagome didn't give him a second thought as the young boy began to plummet down towards a river. He just kept falling and falling, and Kagome couldn't save him. The spell wouldn't stop until he landed, and Kagome could take the risk of catching him and hurting Kirara.

"Come on, we had better go see where he lands, Kirara." Kirara did what Kagome asked of her and they followed Sesshoumaru as he landed into a very shallow part of a river.

Sesshoumaru began to float away, but he quickly composed himself and stood up. It was safe to say that he was pissed off at Kagome, though. When Kagome and Kirara came to him, he was angry enough to snap her neck. "What is wrong with you human? I'm going to kill you!"

"Well, you can't very well do that, now can you Sesshoumaru?" Kagome crossed her arms and waited for him to get back up. "So what are you going to do?"

Sesshoumaru removed a flopping fish from his shirt and just began to grumble. "Fine! I'll help you get Naraku, since you want it so badly, but I don't need your help! Just remember that!"

Kagome wasn't going to say anything else. All of this downsizing had to be hard on Sesshoumaru's ego. 'I hope he doesn't remember any of this when he gets back to normal...' "Well then, let's get going."

"No..." Sesshoumaru lifted his soaked body out of the river and tried to shake himself dry. He couldn't quite get himself completely dry, though. "You haven't told me about my sword!"

"Oh yeah…" 'I hope he doesn't get too upset.' "Well, the sword is still pretty dangerous, and you running on jewel shards to tame it isn't such a good idea."

"It worked well enough to almost kill Inuyasha…" he muttered under his breath.

"Hey, I heard that, and I don't want to see you two try and kill each other ever again!"

"Why? He doesn't like me, I don't like him. Now that I think of it, we're not even real brothers. He's got a filthy human mother, while my mother is a full demon. That means we're only half brother."

"Come on, don't talk like that. You guys still have the same father. The demon blood flows through your veins and his belong to your father, so maybe you shouldn't be so harsh."

"No, my blood is full demon. His is half." 'I guess even as a kid, he holds disgust towards that fact. He sounds more like a kid whose parents have suffered through divorce rather than the same Sesshoumaru I know.' Kagome had never really given thought to Sesshoumaru's mother though. She always thought about Inuyasha's, but not Sesshoumaru's…"Look, I'm sorry about your relationship with your younger brother, but it's not too late to change things." Kagome tried to offer up a friendly smile.

Sesshoumaru didn't look like he was going to budge.

"Come on." Kagome almost wanted to huge him, but she contained herself enough to gently touch his shoulders.

Her touch made him feel a bit awkward, and he quickly moved away. "Tell me about my sword, please!" He turned his head to hide his cheeks.

Kagome didn't even notice it. "We came to a decision that the best thing to do about your sword was to have Saya seal its power for a little bit. I know he won't be able to seal if for long, but hopefully, you'll be back to normal soon."

"You sealed my sword?"

"I'm sorry, but it was the only thing we could do."

Sesshoumaru was angry with Kagome, but he couldn't really do anything to her. "I've got something that I need to do." He mostly just wanted to get away from her.

She was a bit upset, because she didn't completely trust Sesshoumaru. "And what would that be?"

Sesshoumaru had a smart mouth comment to counter her question. "You're not my mother, so why should I tell you?"

Kagome could feel her eye starting to twitch. "Uh...listen Sesshoumaru, I feel a little guilty doing this little trick on you. I can do it to Inuyasha and not really feel guilty, because most of the time he deserves it and he's a jerk. You're not exactly a nice kid, but you are a kid. I don't want to have to say it."

He mumbled something, but she couldn't understand it.

"What was that?"

"I'm going to find Rin." He wouldn't look Kagome in the eyes. He himself was a little embarrassed about even saying it. He didn't know why he was going back for her and Jaken. He said he would, but he didn't know why. "I said I'd come back, and I'm not a liar, so I'm going."

That was a good reason, and it made Kagome happy that he cared. "Alright then, I won't stand in your way. Go ahead a get your friends."

Kagome sounded ridiculously corny. "They're not my friends!" Sesshoumaru corrected. "They're associates of mine that I for some reason beyond my comprehension, have an obligation to."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

There was an awkward silence between the two of them, and Sesshoumaru decided to leave before it became even more awkward. There was something odd about Kagome, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He didn't even say goodbye. He just left to go find Rin and Jaken. If they did just as he instructed, then they would be in the exact same spot he told them to stay in.

Luckily, they listened, and it didn't take too long for him to catch back up to them, but once he got there, he realized something was wrong. Ah-Un looked restless and even wounded. That wasn't a good sign. Sesshoumaru was also picking up the scent of Naraku in the air. That also, wasn't a good sign. What really was a bad sign was the fact that Jaken was hovering over Rin's body, looking as pale as a green demon possibly could. That definitely wasn't a good sign. "Jaken..."

Jaken let go of Rin to reveal her lifeless eyes. Jaken got on his hands and knees and began to beg and plead for forgiveness. "Oh Lord Sesshoumaru, I am so sorry for what has happened to Rin! I will give my life in order to restore her back to normal!"

Sesshoumaru felt a bit...panicked? He didn't know why. He didn't even think he liked that girl. Now he was actually afraid that she was gone. 'No...' His ears twitched, picking up her heartbeat. She was alive, but that really wasn't the problem. Even if she were dead, reviving her would be easy, if Sesshoumaru could wield his sword. Sesshoumaru didn't know what was wrong with her. "What did you do Jaken?" Sesshoumaru saw him tremble in fear, but that wasn't good enough. He was going to stomp Jaken's head to death, but a voice from the enemy saved Jaken's life.

"Why are you getting so worked up for a little human girl, Sesshoumaru?" Sesshoumaru saw the culprit right in front of him. He looked just like a boy. He looked even younger than Sesshoumaru did. He had purple eyes and white hair, but his demonic aura seemed strong, and his scent was like Naraku's.

"Did you do this?"

"No, Kanna did, but it was my idea."

Sesshoumaru balled his little hands into fists. "And what did you do to Rin?"

"Don't even care to know my name?"

"You're vermin. You are, Naraku, and whoever else he sends. That coward turned me into a child, didn't he?"

"It would seem your senses are still sharp. I've heard much about you, but I'm afraid I haven't quite had the pleasure of meeting you until now. My name is Hakudoushi, and I had Kanna suck Rin's soul out."

"Her soul?" 'What does she have to do with anything? Why her?' "What's so special about her?"

"Nothing. This is obviously a trap, meant to get you killed."

"Then what makes you think I'll fall for it?"

"You want to get the girl's soul back?"

Sesshoumaru really just wanted to say no, but for some odd reason, he did want to get the girl's soul back. For some reason, he just couldn't let her be. "What do you want me to do? Do you want me to kill Inuyasha?"

"This time it's not about you killing Inuyasha. This time is about you dying."

"I'm not going to be killed by you. You're an inferior demon!"

Hakudoushi only smiled. "If you truly believe that you are not going to be killed by me or my trap, and believe that you can save the girl's soul, then follow me." Hakudoushi didn't say another word and began walking.

'If he thinks I'm going to be killed by his trap, than he's even more foolish than he appears.' Sesshoumaru was still angry with Jaken. He was unnaturally angry. Though Hakudoushi only appeared to be a boy, it was obvious that he was stronger than Jaken. They were obviously ambushed, but Rin's soul was gone, and Sesshoumaru couldn't help but blame Jaken. He wouldn't even really talk to his follower. He simply said "Stay here with Rin." Sesshoumaru wouldn't even look at him. He just grabbed the reigns of Ah-Un and began to leave with him.

Hakudoushi felt good about himself. Him seeing Sesshoumaru so upset and about to fall into a trap was indeed great. Sesshoumaru would die, and Inuyasha would perhaps follow. 'I wonder where Kagura has gone. She was supposed to accompany me. Naraku will certainly punish her.'

'I'll get your soul back, Rin.' Why? He wasn't so certain. He just knew that it was something that he had to do. For some reason, he had obligations to her, and he was going to save her. He knew that he was plunging right into danger, but he had confidence, even though he knew he wasn't as strong as he should be. He would go, and risk his life, for a reason unknown to him. 'And I'm not going to die, either!'

To be continued...

A/N: What is Hakudoushi planning for the little prince? Will he turn out alright in the end? Will he save Rin? Well, you'll have to wait and see!