A/N: Hi! I know, i waited a week to repost, but you guys were getting spoiled! Expect the chapters to be at least a week apart from now on. Sorry! Dodges tomatoes Ha! One hits her squarely in the face Dangit... Well, read on while I get a towel!

All's Fair in Love and War

Part 3

"Me? I'm Inuyasha, but I don't expect you to remember it," Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and chuckled. Kagome blinked.

"Uh…" She stuttered. Inuyasha smirked and lunged at her fallen form. Without thinking Kagome threw up a barrier instantly and Inuyasha was thrown to the ground.

"Smart girl," Inuyasha said, standing once again. "King Seiji told me to beware of a girl named Kagome. You must be her."

"What do you want with me?" Kagome asked, standing as well. "To avenge all the demons I killed?"

"Heh. No, they were worthless anyway. I came to observe the fight, but if I kill you it'll be all the better," Inuyasha said. Kagome bit her lip and frowned.

"Go ahead, try it!" She shouted. "I'll kill you like I killed the others!"

"Don't underestimate me, girl. I won't fall so easily." He pulled out his sword, and it immediately transformed to it's larger self. Kagome blinked. "Like it? I got it when my old man passed over."

"I'm sorry…" Kagome couldn't help but feel sorry for the demon in front of her.

"Don't waste your emotion. He died when I was a pup, leaving this masterpiece behind," Inuyasha held up his sword and admired it before pointing it at Kagome. "You deflected my claws, but can you deflect my Tetsusaiga?"

Inuyasha jumped at Kagome again, and Kagome was about to throw up another shield when a large blast knocked him off course. Kagome turned around and saw Miroku standing there.

"Miroku!" Kagome called. The monk ignored her, walking straight up to Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, is it? I hear you're a powerful demon. Or, should I say half-demon." Miroku helped Kagome up, not taking his eyes off Inuyasha. "I also hear that you're the general for the demon army. Tell me, how is it a half-demon managed that?"

"None of your damn business!" Inuyasha spat. Miroku chuckled.

"All right, don't tell me. But you'll have plenty of time to change your mind." He waved a hand, and two rings appeared around Inuyasha's arms, binding them together. Inuyasha scowled as his sword dropped to the ground. He turned and charged towards Kagome, but Miroku waved his hand again and Inuyasha dropped to the ground, bound by the feet as well.

"Damn monk…" Inuyasha was cut off when his mouth was covered as well.

"My my, such language." Miroku smiled and turned to face Kagome. "Are you all right, Lady Kagome?"

Kagome nodded, having lost her voice when Inuyasha charged.

"Good. Now, let's say that we get back to the castle. I believe the fighting is almost over, and we need to tend to our first prisoner of war."

"Retreat!" A loud voice yelled, "Retreat, by King Seiji's orders!" Instantly all the demons retaliated. Sesshoumaru chuckled; they were pathetic, really. The dog demon threw one last punch at the humans before heading back to the royal palace. A few of them fell at his attack, but he was unable to do any more damage. The small demon who had delivered the news of the retreat was leading the way back to the castle, and from what he said the king was angry. Very much so, in fact. Sesshoumaru sighed and walked through the gates to where the king was waiting.

"What's the big deal!" Sesshoumaru asked. "We had them!"

"The deal is your brother!" King Seiji looked royally pissed.

"Inuyasha? What about him?" Sesshoumaru had never really paid attention to him, but if he could make the king this mad, he must have done something bad.

"Your brother escaped!" The king hissed.

"Is that all?" Sesshoumaru sounded bored.

"No! The stupid idiot got himself captured!" King Seiji glared at Sesshoumaru, like it was his fault Inuyasha acted rashly.

"You were the one who contained him. He has my father's blood in him, did you really think he would be detained?" Sesshoumaru was surprised. King Seiji was a full-blood demon, and a very powerful one at that. He hardly ever showed emotion; usually his thoughts were hidden behind a strong mask.

King Seiji blinked. "That doesn't matter!"

"Actually, it does. My father never liked to stay in one place for very long, and if anyone tried to keep him where he didn't want to be, he found the cleverest ways of escaping. I'm not surprised that he broke free. As for getting captured, that's his own stupidity at work. Probably came from that human mother of his, Izayoi." (A/N: If I spelled that wrong, please correct me!)

"That doesn't pardon the fact that Inuyasha is now the first prisoner of war! He could be killed, and then we'd be out of a general and an heir!"

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. "Heir?"

"Yes. I'm not going to live forever, and since Kimi and I have no children, we chose Inuyasha to be our heir!" King Seiji led Sesshoumaru into the castle and through the doors to the throne room, where the queen was waiting.

"Why did you choose Inuyasha, a filthy half-breed?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"He's been like a son to us," Queen Kimi said. "We know he'll run the demons with a firm grip."

"Did you tell him about this?"

"Uh, no. We were planning to tell him when we win the war." King Seiji glared at the dog demon before him.

"That may be why he didn't think before he took off. Of course he'll run, he doesn't know he's about to become the most important demon in the eastern lands." Sesshoumaru inspected his nails, which were covered in human blood.

Neither the king nor queen made a sound.

"If that will be all, I'm going to clean myself up. I reek of mortal blood, and it sickens me," Sesshoumaru nodded to the royals and walked out of the room.

"Wait, Sesshoumaru!"

The dog demon stopped and turned around.

"Inuyasha must be retrieved. I give you that task. Get him tomorrow, before sunrise."

"No," Sesshoumaru was the only one to rightly defy the king, and it shocked him.

"That's an order, Sesshoumaru!"

Sesshoumaru shook his head, "I won't. Inuyasha got himself into this mess, he can get himself out."

"You have my permission to kill any humans you meet along the way," King Seiji smirked, knowing that appealed to Sesshoumaru. The dog demon thought for a moment before nodding slowly.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to . . . check up on him," he nodded, "fine. But I'll get him in my own time, no sooner."

"Please hurry, Sesshoumaru!" Queen Kimi called after his retreating form. "Don't let our heir get hurt!"

Sesshoumaru said nothing, stalking off to where he was staying for the war. (A/N: Let's just say that Sesshoumaru is a sergeant or something like that. I'm not war savvy, so I don't know what's just below a general.)

Kagome followed her mother down the long hallway to the throne-room. They passed several rooms where injured humans were lying, getting treated by the palace nurses. She shuddered, deciding she didn't like war.

After Miroku had loaded Inuyasha onto his horse, he led the girl and half-demon back to castle. The monk was right, the fighting had subdued, though it was impossible to see who was victorious. Miroku had led her through the opened gates, and immediately met up with her mother, Yumiko. She had been briefed on what had happened before ordering Inuyasha to be put on high guard in the dungeon.

"Human guards weren't good enough," she had said. "Place General Inuyasha under one of Miroku's advanced miko's watch and make sure he doesn't escape." She had said General in a mocking tone, and had Inuyasha lunge at her for it. She had laughed as he fell to the ground, unable to move from the magic binding. Kagome felt a pang of guilt for the hanyou, but had been unable to do anything about it because at that moment her mother had whisked her away to talk to the king, which brought them to the present time.

"Look alive, Kagome."

"Sorry, mother. I guess I'm not feeling all that well…" Kagome whispered. Yumiko looked at her knowingly.

"I felt the same way when I first went to battle so many years ago. Don't worry, it wears off. King Rei knows about you, but it's good to make a nice impression on your first meeting," Yumiko murmured to her daughter as two soldiers opened the doors to the throne room. The mother walked confidently to the middle of the room before bowing low before a royal-looking man in his late forties. Kagome followed suit, deciding to let her mother do the talking.

"King Rei," Yumiko said.

"Stop bowing, Yumiko. You see me too many times to keep doing that," Rei grinned heartily. Kagome blinked; what odd behavior for a king who is at war. "And I'm guessing this is your daughter, Kagome?"

Yumiko nodded. "This is Kagome. She is a highly skilled miko and a splendid fighter. Of course, she could always use more training, but she held off the demon general until Miroku could get there."

"Really? The demon general?" The king looked upon Kagome with newfound interest. Kagome swallowed and nodded.

"Yes, your majesty," She stated quietly. She really wasn't feeling that well. King Rei grinned.

"So, what happened then?"

"From what Miroku told me, Kagome had followed a stray demon into the forest. She killed him, and then was heading back to the fight when Inuyasha, the general, showed up. She held him off with shields, but for some reason didn't attack," Yumiko glanced at Kagome before continuing. "Miroku arrived just in time to keep her from getting impaled, but I'm surprised that she even held a powerful demon like that off for that long."

"Indeed. The general is a powerful demon, or so says our sources," King Rei laughed, "I bet he's not so powerful now!"

Yumiko smiled grimly, "Yes, Miroku set him in the dungeon under my orders. He is under a miko's guard right now, and will be under their constant eye until we can get some information out of him."

"Good, good. And after you get the information, behead him on my orders," King Rei didn't look too nice just then. Kagome shuddered, but said nothing.

"Very good, your majesty," Yumiko bowed again, "we'll get on that right away." She nodded and walked out of the room, Kagome trailing behind.

"I don't like that man too much, mother," Kagome whispered when they were well out of range. Yumiko laughed.

"Yes, he may seem quite menacing at times. But don't worry; he's a nice man when you get past that," Yumiko leaned in to Kagome, "and he fancies me."

"What?" Kagome gasped. "King Rei of the Southern Lands fancies you?"

"Indeed. Several times he's asked my hand in marriage, but I turned him down."

"Why?"

"He's a nice man, and I do like him, but I don't want to push royalty on you and Sota. It's just not right; you're not raised that way. You wouldn't be able to handle all the parties we are forced to attend. And the manners you'd have to learn, ha!" Yumiko laughed, "Your heads would be swimming in books and poems. You wouldn't like it."

"But you like him?" Kagome peered at her mother as she opened the door to their room.

"A little, yes," Yumiko's eyes twinkled.

"A little what?" Sota bounded over to his mother and gave her a large hug, "Glad to see you're safe, mom."

"Ha ha, you too Sota," Yumiko grinned at her boy, walking over to put her weapon on the bed.

"War is boring. Everyone in my group didn't even get to see the action!" Sota complained. Kagome, who had been side-tracked when talking to her mother about the king, remembered her feelings head on. She ran over to the bathroom (A/N: Let's just say they have bathrooms back then!) and emptied her stomach. Sota was about to say 'Eww!', but he was silenced with a look from his mother.

Yumiko walked sympathetically over to Kagome, rubbing her back. When Kagome finished she handed her a dry towel and a glass of water. Kagome wiped her mouth and took a swig of the clear liquid, spitting the backwash into the sink. She groaned and sank down on the floor.

"Sota, go and find Kohaku and Sango. Stay with them for a while, all right?" Yumiko called to her son. Sota nodded and hesitantly walked out of the room. "Kagome, it's all right, shhh…" Yumiko comforted her daughter. Kagome shuddered.

"It was horrible, mom…" Kagome whispered.

"I know…" Yumiko said, sinking beside her daughter. "War is not a fun thing, Kagome."

"But why does there have to be bloodshed? Why do we have to have a war?" Kagome winced as the memory of the mangled body the demon had carried off came back fresh in her mind.

"Even if there wasn't a war, blood would still be shed. It's the way of nature. Utopias don't exist except in your greatest dreams, Kagome. They never have." (A/N: Vocab word! Oh, my English teacher would be proud.)

"I know…" Kagome opened her mouth to say more, but just then she heard something at the window. Yumiko blinked and got up, then laughed out loud.

"Kagome, come and see what your friend is doing," she called to the girl, "come on, it'll make you feel better!"

Kagome hesitantly stood up and walked to the window, standing by her mother. She grinned as well, it was hard not to. As she watched, Sango was making her way up the castle's rock wall right to her window. She carefully placed each hand so that she wouldn't fall, then progressed higher. Some of the people in the courtyard had stopped what they were doing to watch, and Kagome saw Sota and Kohaku pointing and laughing at the girl's antics. Finally Sango made it to the window and heaved herself into the room.

"Hi, Kagome!" she heaved, panting.

"Sango, there's a new invention out," Kagome giggled. Her mother was right; it did make her feel better.

"Really?"

"Yeah. The door. Start using it!" Kagome doubled over, still laughing. Yumiko hid her mouth behind her hand, trying to maintain her image of sternness. It was a losing battle.

"But Sota said you weren't feeling well, so I decided a little comic relief would be perfect for you!" Sango grinned broadly.

"It worked," Kagome gasped. With a person like Sango around, it was easy to forget the troubles of war. The two continued talking while Yumiko walked over to the door. Apparently someone had been knocking, and only the general noticed it. She opened it and smiled.

"Can I help you, sir?" she asked. The boy nodded.

"General Yumiko, ma'am." He bowed low before pulling out a piece of paper, "Miroku said that he had a note for you." He handed her the note and left quickly. Yumiko shrugged and closed the door, reading it.

Dearest Yumiko,

Inuyasha is secured in the dungeon. I would have just told you, but I wasn't sure if you were back from the king's throne room yet. So, I sent that boy to give this to you. Obviously if you're reading this, you received it.

Get to the point, Miroku. Yumiko thought.

But you probably want me to get to the point. King Rei sent word that Inuyasha is to be interrogated about the demon army before being beheaded tomorrow morningWhich means that we need someone to interrogate him. I believe that Lady Kagome would be the best person to do it. Hear me out. Inuyasha will be well bound, so that he won't be able to move. Kagome will talk to him tonight, at midnight. That way there will be no one around to interfere. I believe she is the best person to do it because Inuyasha has already met her. Well, in a manner of speaking, anyway. Also, I doubt he will respond to anyone else, and we need someone gentle, but firm at the same time. Only Kagome would be able to do that. So, if you agree to it, which I have a feeling you will, send Kagome down at midnight to do it. If not, then I'll do it myself, and if I get no information I blame you

Good Luck!

Miroku

Yumiko shook her head. Miroku had a way of making her smile, he always knew just what to say. She turned to the conversing women in the corner.

"Kagome, get some sleep. At midnight, you're going to interrogate Inuyasha."

A/N: Ok, so that was a horrible cliffy. Sorry! Anyways, hope you liked it and all that jazz. Please review! R.E.V.I.E.W.! Give me and R! Give me an E! Give me a V! Give me an I! Give me another E! Give me a W! What's that spell! REVIEW! Yay! starts cheering Ok, laters!