Disclaimer : My darlings Youko, Sesshie and Kuro-chan are not mine! -SOBS-

Chapter 13: Kanna Emerge

"Kagome!" they called again, louder this time. Kuronue, the first to reach her, cradled her to his chest whereas Youko and Sesshoumaru knelt beside him. "Do you have the antidote for this Youko?" Kuronue's face was drained of colour, for she was hurt, at both front and back, and the blood was oozing out in large quantity.

He was a Koumori youkai, it should not be so unusual for blood to excite him, but strangely enough, her blood did not tempt him. Instead, it made his stomach tighten in the desire to throw up.

"Wait, wait! I'm searching!" Youko panicked, his hand trembling while searching under his hairs for the seed. Sesshoumaru caressed her pale cheek, his face still held his usual emotionless mask, but his eyes were a different thing. Also, if any youkais were calm enough to listen, they would catch the lout and fast beating of his heart, the three of them in fact.

Kuronue was very pale, so much that he looked like a white sheet of paper when a drop of blood trailed down from the corners of her lips. "Faster Youko!" he demanded with a growl. Sesshoumaru lifted his hand, watching as the red liquid flowed down his thumb. Though it was barely visible, the stoic Lord ashen. Why was it so different? It was blood, he had seen so much blood since he was young, why was it so different? Why was his hand trembling?

Youko's eyes widen, his hand froze behind his head, "It can't be..." he murmured, his eyes held a look of disbelieve as he ruffled his hair to search again in vain, "There were none... none left."

Kuronue was stunned, "What the hell do you mean no more Youko?" he yelled out of worry and concern over the unconscious Miko. Youko snapped back, "That herb grows only once a year Kuronue! They were under those freezing water in the village of Ice high up Mt Hiei in the Northern Lands! You know how much we both hated to go there!" they glared at each other for a second before a clawed hand was raised in between them.

"Stop all this foolishness Youko, Kuronue." Sesshoumaru bellowed.

Youko and Kuronue abruptly shut up, their heads whirled to his direction. Sesshoumaru never used their names unless the situation was dire, "This is no time to quarrel, Youko, check Kagome's condition, Kuronue, pack all her things. I will have Jaken to take care of the pups." He left no room for arguments. Earning nods from the two, he vanished without a single trace.

Kuronue picked up her books and put it neatly in her bag pack, trying to regain his calm composure. "Youko, I apologize for losing my temper just now." He let out a breath before asking, "Is she fine?"

Youko was intently examining her two large wounds, "Actually, all it need was a simple mixture of a few herbs...but that antidote doesn't work on ningens..." he gently kissed her temples in apology, "Normal ningen should've been dead..." he trailed, a small smile creeping up his lips.

(A/N: If you watched the episode when Jaken was poisoned by the Saimyoushous, Jinenji told Rin that the herb she needed can only be used to cure youkais, so I assumed that the herbs to cure youkais should be different from the herbs needed to cure ningens)

"So you mean..." Kuronue stared at him, his eyes shone with hope. Youko nodded, "She have about 5 days... enough time to squeeze some herbs out of those Koorimes." He stroked her raven tresses, "She's no normal ningen... She's special." He muttered softly.

Just nicely, Sesshoumaru came back, his expression hard, as though preparing for some war, "How's she?" he questioned.

Youko nodded, "Her Miko powers are fighting it... It felt different than before." He remarked, rubbing his chin in slight confusion, "As though it was... subdued." He stood up, carrying her bridal style, staring at her with outmost fascination.

Sesshoumaru was relieved, 'No... She's a bait to lure Naraku, she can't die now for Tenseiga cannot revived a poisoned body.' He reasoned with himself, no matter how wrong it sounded to him. He was unable to decipher the strange squeeze in his heart, like it was being clenched by some invincible hand, and he refused to identify it either, in fear of the answer he could not deny.

"How many days fox?"

'Back to fox again huh?' he mumbled under his breath. Kuronue was the one who answered the question, "5 days Sesshoumaru." He informed the calm and composed Taiyoukai.

Sesshoumaru took Kagome out of Youko's arms while he was busily mumbling about a certain Taiyoukai whose name would remain unknown. "Hey-" "We have no time to lose fox." Sesshoumaru cut him off as a blue sphere engulfed him, talking him to the North in the speed so fast that it looked like a blue shooting star during the setting of the sun.

# With Inuyasha #

Inuyasha was kneeling in front of Kouga, his hands on the 5 electrified gashes that scarred his chest. The cuts were not deep, but the attack was not in its full power, it was the searing pain that came along with it that pissed him off. Kouga stared at his bowed head coldly, his claws equipped with the Goraishi, which shone under the orange light of the sun.

(A/N: If you noticed, I don't like Inuyasha and the pathetic abomination of clay A.K.A claypot, I DESPISED them... but I will tolerate them to spice up the story. I also realized that it was very unfair of me to make Kikyo OOC in the previous chapters, so I'll try to portray her character the best I can.)

Kikyo watched from the side, her countenance belied the brown smoldering pupils. She narrowed her eyes to slits at the scene, her eyebrows furrowing as she placed a hand on her chest. 'This feeling... jealousy. I am jealous of Kagome.' An eerie smile crept up her lips, 'This is my destiny... To be filled with hate, anger, jealousy...'

Sometimes, she wondered if she should continue this way, but she knew that she could never leave to the afterworld empty-handed. It was destiny that brought her back, and it was also destiny that she could only go back after she took her revenge... with Inuyasha. Yes, even though she knew that Naraku was to blame, she still harbored the hatred that accused Inuyasha. And with Kagome constantly occupying his mind, the jealousy grew.

'I cannot love, for I only have hate within me. I have lust, I lust for the Taiyoukai. I have greed, I want both Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. I have envy, I envied my reincarnation for being their object of interest. In the end, when everything adds up, all I have is still hate.' She mulled on the irony of her life.

It was Kouga's voice that brought her back to reality, "You hurt Kagome not once, but again and again. You took advantage of her kindness and concern. She had befriended you despite the fact that you're but a lowly hanyou, she cared for you, love you even. Yet you throw her away like some trash..." Kouga snarled, his claws flexed, "I will be the one who removed you from your sin..." He spat on the ground beside him.

They said that memories flashed past your eyes when you were in brink of death. Now Inuyasha was experiencing it, the memories that surfaced from within him... of him and Kagome. He watched the memories with dull golden pupils, their first meeting, the first time he was sat, her determination to kill Yura, the danger she went through, the tears she shed for him, again and again. Yet... she always forgave him, so unlike Kikyo.

'How many times was it? How many times had I hurt her? How many times had those tears fall?' he squinted his eyes, he abused her forgiving character and in the end, he, a hanyou, threw her, his first true friend and perhaps his love, for a dead corpse. What did she feel? Could she ever forgive his largest mistake?

"Sayona-" Kouga froze in mid strike. What were those youki? It was so strong! He lifted his head, as did Inuyasha, who had too sense the ominous presence.

Even their sharp youkai sight could not catch it, all they saw were a blue sphere in between a black and a white streaks, flying so fast that they were gone in the next second. Inuyasha's nose twitch when he caught the distinct scent, now he knew why was the sphere so familiar to him. It was,

"Sesshoumaru"

# Back To Sesshoumaru #

The three of them were silent as they traveled, Youko journeyed by leaping from trees to trees which such speed and power that he seemed to be flying. Whereas Kuronue... well, he was flying with his wings.

"How long till we reach Mt Hiei?" Kuronue asked, he was not one who traveled outside much, therefore he could not pinpoint the exact time they would need. It had been 5 decades since he last ventured to the Northern Lands as neither was he and Youko, nor Sesshoumaru was in friendly terms with Lord Enma.

Lord Enma, just thinking of his name brought a biter taste in their tongue. That Lord thought that Japan should be divided like how some other countries had done. He was different though, his ambition was to divide Japan into three, Makai, Ningenkai and Reikai, a world he wished to rule since he was an elemental youkai who could control spirits. He wanted to control the life after death, wanted to determined the fates of youkais and ningens alike, wanted to tamper with the lives of people, most of all, he wanted to be called, the God.

He tried to convince them into doing it, but all four lords refused. The Lord of Southern Lands, Kaze, was the first who refused.

He was a Lord who was not bothered by the presence of ningens, in fact, his Lands were filled with them. He was kind, and was also intelligent despite his young age. He understood the danger of letting Enma rule his so called Reikai.

Youko and Kuronue had different reasons for this. They also believed that it was a foolish decision to let Enma rule, but unlike Kaze, they had some other reasons. They had a hobby, and this hobby involved ningens. They loved playing pranks on ningen villages for they were so much easier to scare compared to youkai villages, they took amusement in seeing ningens' shock and fearful countenance.

Sesshoumaru though, said the most perplexing statement, "The borders between this world and next is not to be tampered with." Then he left without another word.

Now... Kuronue glanced at the bundle in Sesshoumaru's arms, now he had a new reason to keep Japan as it was. He raised his eyebrows when Sesshoumaru wrapped his tail around her to shield her from cold, not minding the blood that soaked through the bandages. 'Hmmm... It seems that he too had another reason.' He smirked, things were getting interesting.

"2 days without rest, 3 with a night rest." Sesshoumaru stated, his eyes staring ahead.

"Make it 2 and a half with a night rest tomorrow." Youko leapt from another, his eyes staring at Kagome, not worrying about the road as the plants moved by themselves to provide him with a landing branch and made way for him. "She needs to get used to the coldness in Northern Lands, or she will freeze if we keep flying like this."

Kuronue chuckled, "You're not flying Youko."

Youko had a smirk adorning his face when he looked ahead, "Whatever"

Unbeknownst to them, a figure was watching them through the mirror of a pale child. "Kukuku... Such weakness my dear Lords." His scarlet eyes gazed out of the window as the mirror went blank. "It's your turn Kanna, Kagura died in front of Sesshoumaru, avenge her." The pale child nodded emotionlessly and stepped out of the room.

"Kukuku..." Naraku chuckled, "Kwakwakwakwa!" his eerie laughter reverberated through the walls of the castle. (A/N: -shiver- that was scary.)

The three Lords were currently resting, slightly fatigued by the long sprint. Sure they were Lords, but it did not mean that they were invincible, they had their limits too! They had placed Kagome on soft grass bedding as Youko took out a roll of bandage that he previously found in her bag from inside his white obi. They had left the bag with the kids so as to lessen their burden, hell that bag weigh heavier than Kagome!

"Time to change bandage!" Youko purred, stalking up to her sleeping form with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Kuronue snatched the bandage from his hands, "Dream on Youko, you'll only rape her, not bandage her." Kuronue narrowed his eyes warily at him who had his oh-I'm-so-innocent-how-could-I-do-such-a-thing face.

Sesshoumaru was a usual, standing under a tree, though this time his eyes were closed, trying to regain whatever energy he lost... well, without avail. "No fair! You just want to see her for yourself!" Youko pouted in accusation. Kuronue stiffened in his tracks, "Hey! You don't go accusing people when you're the one who wanted to see!" a light blush was colouring his cheek beautifully.

Soon, they started to bicker like pups.

"Yes you want to see!"

"No, why would I want to?"

"Yes you do!"

"No I don't!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

Sesshoumaru pitied his abused ears, rubbing his forehead, he wondered whose pup did he kill in his previous life to deserve this. "Why don't you both just do it?" he cut them off. He did not care about them seeing her body, he had seen better, though not as well developed as hers. (A/N: ah, ah, ah, Sesshie-chan is getting naughty -winks-)

The two stopped, their hands gripping each other's haori, "You're right." They replied as though the idea never once popped into their mind. If he was another person, he would have fall to the ground and sighed. But this was Sesshoumaru, he was no other person, though he felt so old right then.

Surprisingly, the two changed the bandage in seriousness, no groping, no caressing, they did not even seem to notice anything except for her injury. It was not hard to understand, just by seeing the blood and smelling the poison was enough to get them out of their perverseness.

# The Next Day #

They were expecting the chilling cold so high up the mountain, but they were not expecting a Koorime to greet them. Said Koorime was leaning against a tree, his arms folded and his eyes closed, waiting. He was roughly 6ft tall, with hairs that put the sky to shame. It was short, barely reaching his shoulders, the front was divided into two by the middle, with green streaks on the right bangs. (Think of Touya with shoulder length hair.)

"I'm Shinji, the prince of the Koorime clan. Your large youki were sensed when you were still miles away." He pushed himself forward and opened his azure eyes. "What brings you here Sesshoumaru-sama, Youko-sama, Kuronue-sama?" he bowed in respect.

All three Lords narrowed their eyes at him, the prince of Koorime clans? 'Why will the prince of Koorime clans went through all the troubled to greet us?' Kuronue pondered, was it because of the threat they might pose?

"We want the Koori no ha-bu." Youko demanded, since he knew of their status, why bother to keep a low profile?

Shinji nodded, "Please follow me, you can put her in one of the empty huts." Youko, seeing the blizzard at the direction he was heading, gave Kagome a brief worried glance, would she be alright?

Kuronue was getting slightly suspicious as he fixed his gaze on the prince. Shinji's eyes were staring ahead, to where he was leading them, no emotion was flickering past his face.

They were led right into the village of Ice, the central village of the Koorime clans who lived all around the large mountain. Koorimes knelt at the sight of them, their heads hung in submission. Koorimes were polite beings, but somehow, the respect they received were very unusual, they acted way too polite that made the three Lords developed a sense of wary.

Shinji showed them into a simple hut. Sesshoumaru nodded in acceptance, "Kuronue" he handed the fast asleep woman to him, "We'll be back." He stated, taking off his black outer haori and draped it over her body. Kuronue went to the corner and sat down, Kagome held tightly to his chest, "I'll see you at dawn." He said as they left.

Kuronue observed his bundle and wiped the sweat on her brow tenderly. These feelings were so foreign to him since he was not one who was interested in women. To him, they were only stress relievers, nothing more. Yet, he knew that she was different, something about her screamed the one and only. She intrigued him, attracted him like a bee to honey. All he wished from her was to see those beautiful smiles, it made him feel so miraculously warm inside.

He rubbed his temples with a thumb, watching her disturbed face with a frown. 'Is this... Is this what ningens call... love?'

# Some Time Later #

Kuronue narrowed his eyes at the door, catching the approaching sound of footsteps. His right hand went to his scythe that was strapped to his black obi behind him.

A soft knock was heard before a female Koorime entered, a basket of fruits in between her waist and hand. Kuronue eyed her cautiously, scanning her every movement. Her eyes were dull scarlet, her face held no expression as she knelt before him and presented the basket to him. Then she left without a word.

Kuronue gulped, how long was it since he last ate? A week? Fruits were his weakness, it was very too hard to resist the temptation. He took a peach, his favourite fruit of all. He looked left and right for a spy or Youko in hiding. He never want anyone to know his fetish for fruits despite being a three quarter blood sucking Koumori youkai, he would be a laughing stock!

Sniffing for any sign of poison, he took a bite when none was sensed, happily savoring its sweetness. He ate three of it before Koorimes suddenly burst into the hut.

BLAM!

Kuronue growled and got onto his feet in alarm, "What's the meaning of thi-" he gripped his forehead with a hand when the image in front of him swirled around.

'Damn... it was poisoned?' he cursed himself or letting his guard down. His line of sight was getting blurry and rubbing his eyes was all he could do not to drop his eyelids.

When he realized it, the room was filled with youkais, males and females alike. They were muttering incarnations under their breath, sending ice beams at him.

Having no way out, Kuronue sprung up with Kagome in his arms, bursting out of the house through the straw roof, barely dodging the ice attacks.

He willed his wings to flap as fast as they could, why were they attacking? Is this what they were planning in the first place? 'Screw it, all the signs were there! How stupid am I?' he stared down, seeing the Koorimes running after him like bitches in heat chasing after the last man in earth.

This time, they sent thousands of icicles towards him. "Wha!" Kuronue swayed as he tried to dodge them and fight his sleepiness. 'Damn sleepiness, pain in the ass.' He growled as he tried to keep Kagome away from the icicles. He cursed when an icicle scrapped him on his thigh.

'Eh wait...' he felt less sleepy than before, smirking, he grabbed the icicle that flew his way. He faced the thousands of ice that head his way, 'I know that I hate ice.' With a constriction of throat, he let out a screech after making sure to create a barrier on Kagome's ears. (A/N: Uhh... he's a Koumori youkai -smile sheepishly-)

All the ice shattered into nothing at his high pitch shriek. The Koorimes and Ice apparitions covered their bleeding ears in reflex. That was what Kuronue needed, a distraction. Gripping the icicle in his hand tight, he plunged it into his thigh without hesitation, biting his own lip at the searing pain. He could care less about his injury, he need to bring Kagome into safety, and he could not risk anything.

He sighed in relief as the pain took over his drowsiness. He brought Kagome to a pine tree, settling her gently on Sesshoumaru's haori, "Shh... I'll be back." He whispered and laid a tender kiss on her forehead.

Taking out his scythe, he faced the enemies, floating over, he estimated their numbers. There were approximately 50 of them. They charged at him, making swords out of ice, not caring about their bleeding ears.

"Baka! You'll need another thousand of your kind to put a scratch on me!" Kuronue glared at them, dashing to them as a black streak.

It all happened too fast! One second an Ice apparition was positioning his ice sword, the next second the ice sword was sliced into two, along with their neck. Kuronue's face held a sinister smirk, he was ruthless when it came to killing, he loved the warmness of their life blood spilled on his body, the terror in their face.

His ears twitched every now and then as he sliced through another one, making sure that Kagome was still fast asleep. He never wanted her to see him in this state, this merciless youkai. He only want her to see him as the normal Kuronue, the Kuronue she was accustomed to.

"Die, die." That was the only word that was heard. Kuronue had a suspicion of them being controlled, oh well, why should he care? There were many Koorimes in Mt Hiei, one village should not affect their population that much.

He decapitated another insolent one, annoyed by their persistence. After all, these youkais were not meant to be fighters, but it seemed that they would fight till death claimed them. Short to say, he was pretty impressed by their leader to obtain such loyalty from them. 'Grr... I'll make sure I castrate that puny prin- Damn!' his head throbbed in pain, he was getting dizzy.

Taking his dizziness to advantage, one of them brought down his ice sword to him. But before it could hit, Kuronue had vanished, mutilating him into unrecognizable pieces. He shook his head, 'Just a few more Kuronue...' he told himself, eyeing the 4 leftover, not even noticing that he was coated by his enemies blood from head to toe.

He bit his lip again, dodging an uncalculated attack and beheaded the careless youkai with his scythe. Blood splattered about the snow ground. They never let him rest, attacking him almost immediately. Kuronue gritted his teeth, squinting his eyes for better vision.

With a loud roar, he called for Youko with his telepathic abilities while slicing two of them on their stomach. As their guts spilled and their bodies went limp, he struck his hand out at the last one, his claws deeply embedded in his chest, pulling out the essential organ to function.

He panted as he let the organ dropped from his hand, watching as the last enemy went limp and fell with a soft 'thud'. His breathing was ragged as he tried to fight his drowsiness, but it proved to be harder than he thought. He dropped to his knees, praying that Youko heard his call and hurried back before another got there first. 'Damn it... Kagome...' the desire to sleep finally consumed him, causing his body to slump onto the crimson snow.

After he went into the state of unconsciousness, a small pale figure that was camouflage by the snow stepped out from behind the pine tree, the same tree that Kagome was resting under. "Kagome..." she called softly, a petite and holding a black shard.

She bent down in front of the Miko and pushed the shard to her forehead, her eyes void of emotion. Kagome, having no more power to resist it, whimpered as the shard fused into her forehead.

The next second, her dull eyes snapped open.

TBC...

Reviews:

Tomoyo and 13 friends: Uhh... your friends will hurt you?I guess I saved you with this update P

keewlseshyluver: No problem!Another super long chappie for you!

kikyouhater37: Uh...hope that this is fast enough

KuroNinHaku: OMG Youko and internet? I can imagine what kind of sites he would go to! ahahahhaha

know-it-all: Ya I know that there are a lot of Sess/Kag, but... well don't worry,Youko and Kuronue will continue fighting for her!

Theatres des Vampyre: Well I think that Inuyasha have a scent of smell. Don't you know that dogs love bones? hauhauhauha

xBankotsu's Girlx: hahaha I prefer Fluffy, but oh well, I'll try to put in a few words of iceberg! hauhauhau : P

starlitbaby701: Should'n't that be my question? You omigosh so many times! Are you okay? hahahhaha : P

Kill-All-Flamers: I juz can't help it! Cliffies are just soooooo... -thinking of a word- ok let's rephrase that, Cliffies make everything interesting: P

Lady Inu: Hiei will be coming, but not now, somewhere later -grins- I don't want to spoil everything so... Well Hiei will be coming!(dunno what I'm talking abt)

KishLover123: Yesh this will be a Sess/Kag no matter how many people want it to be a You/Kag/Kuro