Chapter thirteen: Divergence

So this is it, Miroku mused as he saw the demons streak off into Jump City. The grand finale. It doesn't feel very different.

Sango cleared her throat loudly. 'If we're going to be attracting youkai, shouldn't we get farther from the city? I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with so many people around….'

Well, that was an understatement. This time was incredibly crowded. Jostling rushing hurrying crowds that never seemed to end. Sometimes, Miroku longed for the peace of the Warring States Era.

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Kagome had never seen Inuyasha run this fast before.

Watching the two brothers race was interesting. Inuyasha leaped from one building to another, bouncing off them as if he were demonstrating pinball; Sesshoumaru ran on the ground instead, too fast for her to see well, but the mad honking, terrified screams and screeching brakes proved that he was making himself quite visible to the drivers on the road – for a microsecond, anyway. She sincerely hoped that none of them would have a heart attack or something. After all, Sesshoumaru could classify as an A-grade hallucination if you didn't know him. Add Raven to that, and well, cardiac arrest was a definite option.

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Inuyasha gritted his teeth and forced himself to run faster. His lungs were beginning to complain, and it was pure adrenaline that kept him running as he gained inexorably on Sesshoumaru. Damn it, he was built for stamina, not speed! They were almost level now. By sticking to the roof, he was presented with a clear path, whereas Sesshoumaru had to dodge and bound over obstacles. Which was galling, because it meant that that jerkface was actually faster than he was. In a burst of speed, he drew ahead and tossed a smirk at the youkai weaving through the evening rush hour below. Sesshoumaru might not see that smirk, but he'd definitely feel it.

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The little shit was smirking. Sesshoumaru was quite certain he was. He twisted sideways to avoid a bus and in the next beat leaped clean over a taxi. Raven was suspiciously silent, but he could smell the adrenaline pouring off her. Well, at least she was still conscious.

He hadn't intended to wind up on the road, only to make a dramatic exit from the terrace they were on, but once that dratted brat took to the roofs, following would have been unmanly……. or unyoukaily. Whatever. Raven giggled weakly, and he was knew she'd caught that thought.

He chanced injury to look up, and cursed as he saw Inuyasha half a block ahead and in mid-leap. If he accelerated any further, even his reflexes wouldn't be good enough to avoid all the humans scurrying about their business………..since when was he considerate of them anyway? He was getting soft. Going senile, too, probably. It was just his luck that Inuyasha was around to see it.

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She was never going to enjoy rollercoasters again.

Not after experiencing the incredible rush of running (okay, being hugged by someone who was running) through rush-hour traffic at speeds that would have been illegal on a freeway, dodging cars and trucks and pedestrians. Knowing you could die at any moment, that your life was in the hands of someone else (who, moreover, had varying degrees of interest in your continued existence), that was the real attraction of those rides. Except that here, there was no rail, no safety bars, and the obstacles were real and very solid. It was unbelivably thrilling, and she could feel the restrained rumbling laughter in Sesshoumaru's chest as it pressed against her back. He was obviously enjoying it too. It was a really nice feeling. It lasted for all of nine seconds before he had to throw them both sideways to avoid the canopy of a shop, and she was forcibly reminded of the reason Sesshoumaru was carrying her in the first place.

It was getting harder to think. She had expended a tremendous amount of energy trying to hold back Jinx's blast and direct it upwards, and then she'd drowned, been resuscitated and given ten people portions of her power to safeguard them from Trigon's little Medusa trick. Four years ago, that would have literally killed her, but Raven had come a long way since then. Still, there was only so much she could force herself to do before her physical self gave out, and she was dangerously close to the limit. She had seen an illustration in a book of magic once that displayed what happened to those who drew too much energy into an inadequate body. It had been extremely graphic and……..memorable, to say the least; a starburst of energy and then disintegration into bits of tissue.

Well, they were almost at the library. If she could actually contain her fatigue until tomorrow, everything would be just fine. Either she'd be dead, or in a bed somewhere. Both options sounded acceptable as long as no movement, thought or words were required. In fact, dead was actually better since it lasted longer than sleep, and there was no chance of being woken by someone's dreams or by morning light blazing through the east window or by the communicators crackling as that maniac Robin called them out to train or by a cute white puppy dog ear flicking angrily as a dark eyebrow and amber eye filled her line of vision……….

–what?

'So nice of you to join us,' Inuyasha said in his usual harsh voice. 'What were you THINKING to fall asleep!' She cringed as his roar blasted into her unprotected ear.

'What the hell are you doing here?' Raven mumbled. Her back was cold. Why was her back cold, and why was she looking at the ceiling?

'Get away, Inuyasha,' Kagome said impatiently as she moved into Raven's line of vision. 'She doesn't need a temper tantrum. Raven, are you all right? What happened?'

'Not……..where's the hotel room?'

'Hotel room?' Inuyasha chimed in. 'What are you smoking?'

'Raven,' Kagome said with the cheery false smile reserved for invalids and lunatics, 'you're not in a hotel room. You're in the Jump City library with us. We came here to look for Trigon, remember?'

Oh. Trigon. 'I remember.' This time she didn't even try to get up. 'All right, which one of you is gonna carry me this time?' Being carried around like a baby rankled, but if the alternative was passing out every few minutes it was fine by her. Everything was warm and fuzzy with fatigue, and her thoughts were drifting. Pity she couldn't do the same.

'I'll do it,' Inuyasha offered. 'That fumblefoot would probably just drop you anyway. Look what he's done already.'

'Well, if you had done it–' Sesshoumaru began.

'Boys, boys, we can have this discussion later. Now, Inuyasha, pick her up and lead the way.' Sesshoumaru rumbled in discontent. 'I'm sure the burns on your back would welcome the rest. One of you should have your hands free, don't you think? And Raven looks like she could use a little less speed in travelling.'

Both brothers subsided. It was quite funny, Raven reflected. She had them both whipped and neither knew it. Subtle compliments worked so much better than orders.

Wait a minute. Did that mean that Kagome was……..that Ses-

'Ahem,' Inuyasha said pointedly as he crouched down in front of her. Kagome helped her onto his back, and they began to walk. Her face was right in front of his ears, which were twitching slightly. Unable to resist, she reached out a hand and caught one of them gently. It flicked away from her grasp.

'Wench!' Inuyasha yelped. 'Don't touch those!'

'But they're so soft,' she protested, while a part of her mind questioned her sanity. 'Besides, the world's ending today. Might as well have some fun, right?'

'Okay. Excuse me while Kagome and I go k–'

'Inuyashaaaa…….'

'What? She started it!'

They walked through the hollow hallways of the library to the dead end that led to the secret chamber. 'Does anything look familiar?' Raven asked Kagome.

The girl shook her head. 'It seems like the kind of place that would lead to the room I saw, but I……I'm not sure. Gah!' For a moment, she sounded very like Inuyasha as she threw her hands in the air, exasperated.

'Does this help?' said Raven, stepping up to the wall. It glowed with Trigon's mark, flaming runes, before it dropped away to reveal a passage. 'So. You still acknowledge me, do you, Trigon? Or didn't you have the time to change the spells?'

Kagome drew in a deep breath. 'The youki here……..It's incredibly strong.'

'Trigon,' Sesshoumaru said flatly. 'He's not here, but he has been.'

'Hah! What does it matter? We're going to kill him anyway,' said Inuyasha.

'Less talking and more action, little brother. I won't ask you to think, since you're obviously incapable of it.'

'OI!'

'It's here,' Kagome said, stopping the quarrel before it could begin. 'It's not the place h…I saw, but it's close. Inuyasha, can you see the bottom?'

'Heh. No.'

'What about you, Sessh-'

'He can see even less than I can, or you,' Inuyasha said. 'Dogs have bad eyesight, and I guess this is one thing where being hanyou is a bit of an advantage over you, right, ugly?'

Sesshoumaru merely Looked at him.

They began to walk down the flight of stairs that led to the chamber. 'That's funny,' Raven mused aloud. 'There used to be a group of guardian wraiths here.'

'Well, maybe they aren't here anymore?' Kagome suggested.

Pale, ghostly apparitions phased through the walls. Wings stretched and fangs bared as they took in the group that had infiltrated their resting place.

'You just had to say it, didn't you?' said Inuyasha, giving her a dirty look. He drew Tetsusaiga and slashed at a wraith, which was quite unconcerned.

Sesshoumaru calmly sheathed Toukijin and drew Tenseiga, carving through a few wraiths without really moving. Beside Inuyasha, Kagome stooped to pick up a stone before throwing it at a cluster of wraiths. Raven opened her mouth to tell her they were incorporeal…….then shut it as the stone began to glow a bright pink in midair, blowing up its targets.

'Not as effective as an arrow,' Kagome said smugly, 'but it'll do just fine.' Inuyasha and Raven, who were both ineffective in this battle, shot her a Look.

Sesshoumaru and Kagome moved through the wraiths quickly, killing quite a few before the others retreated, shrieking soundlessly as they waited for their prey to slip up.

'How come his sword has them all scared?' Raven mumbled to Inuyasha as he carried her further down the stairs.

'Tenseiga works against the undead.' Sesshoumaru's eyes never left the wraiths as he replied. His brother snorted.

'Yeah, and did I mention it can't cut butter unless it's from a zombie cow?' Inuyasha chimed in helpfully. 'He really burst a bunch of blood vessels when the old man left him that sword, I can tell you.'

'Insolent half-breed…….(snarl)'

'Ah-ah-ah, I've got a passenger,' Inuyasha said gleefully. 'Can't risk Rae-Rae's life….'

'Call me that and die.'

'Kagome, silence this fool, or I shall not be responsible for…'

'Inuyashaaa………'

'All right, all right!'

Oh yeah, Raven thought. Really whipped. Both of them.

The walk to the chamber took forever and a minute. When they finally reached the base, Kagome's gasp spoke more eloquently than anything else she might have said.

'So this is it, then,' Inuyasha said.

'Yeah,' said Raven, eyeing the giant stone hand that arched palm upwards to the ceiling. Four years ago, she had hovered over that palm and opened the portal to let her father into the mortal world – and died in the process. A part of her, at any rate. It wasn't a terribly nice memory to be reliving, and when she caught Sesshoumaru's eye she realised just how weird her expression must be. 'So what do we do now?'

'I will wait for Trigon here,' Sesshoumaru announced. 'If this is where he will be resurrected, then he will come here soon.'

'I'm staying too,' Raven said immediately. 'And so should the two of you. We're the strongest fighters here; the others' powers don't work so well against Trigon.'

'The jewel shards……' Kagome said worriedly. 'I have to get them back before evening then. They lend more power to my arrows, and…….drat. I need a bow, too.'

'There's no rush,' Raven said evenly. 'The portal opens at moonrise. We have nearly four hours to get everyone here and prepare for the battle. Of course, if Trigon and Jinx's body come here before then…….'

'Damn, you're optimistic,' Inuyasha commented.

'He'll find us anywhere. What difference does it make where we wait for him?'

'Refer to the previous sentence.'

'Words with two syllables? You're improving, brother.'

Inuyasha growled, but distractedly. 'I'm going to kill you for that, flea-brain.'

'In our next life, perhaps. In this one, I, and only I, am allowed to kill you. Remember that, Inuyasha.'

They were delaying leaving, Raven knew. Damned stubborn men. Youkai, whatever. They were male, and the inherent stupidity of the gender was obvious.

'Are you going to swallow your pride and actually tell each other to be careful, or will gratuitous death threats suffice?' she inquired dryly.

Both took a step back at her words, white hair swishing indignantly around amber eyes, arms (or arm) crossing across chests, faces twisting into an identical grimace of disgust, brows creasing. They looked more alike at that moment than she had ever seen them. She didn't say it, though, having an intense desire to survive the next three seconds.

'Keh!' said Inuyasha, giving up first. 'Kagome. Hop on and I'll take you back to the Tower.' The miko shook her head and climbed up on his back.

'Take care, Sesshoumaru. You too, Raven,' she said with a worried brave smile before the hanyou leapt upwards and out of the chamber.

'I swear, that girl is a saint.'

'Hn?'

Raven turned to Sesshoumaru, amused and irritated. 'How she can put up with the two of you is beyond me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to meditate for a while. You're welcome to be bored as much as you like.'

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When Kagome and Inuyasha reached the harbour, none of the others were in sight. Inuyasha sniffed at the air for a second.

'Stop it, wench,' he said, knowing without looking that there was a look of goofy bliss on her face. She had a curious fascination with the way his nose twitched. It was even worse than her obsession with his ears.

'Aww,' she complained with an unrepentant grin.

He caught that wimpy wolf's scent again, mixed with the wind user's. He sneezed. That was one mating he was never going to get used to. Mating Naraku's spawn, freed or not, was freaky, to use these Titans' words. He sneezed again; Kagome giggled.

'What?' he snapped at her.

'You sneeze like a…..like a dog!' she wheezed between chuckles.

'It's not funny!' he protested.

'Sorry,' she said, still giggling. 'It's just, I never heard you sneeze like that before. It's exactly like…..' And whatever she thought, it set her off all over again until she collapsed on his back with mirth, clutching his shoulders for support as he flew through the air.

'You're crazy,' he grumbled, but he could feel her laughter ripple through him, sparking his own, warming him and filling his heart. Impulsively, he leaned his head back against hers until they were almost cheek to cheek, a rare true smile breaking through. 'Kagome,' he half-whispered. He didn't say anything more, but from her suddenly indrawn breath and the way she nuzzled back into his hair – and the pure joy that he could feel in her – he knew she understood.

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After the third nightmare, Raven gave up on sleeping. Even floating over the stone floor, it was uncomfortable. Meditating wasn't useful either. She was tired enough to cry, except she was too stubborn to do it.

What made things worse was the infinite patience with which Sesshoumaru was waiting, sitting on a fallen slab (one she had used to create a Slade sandwich the last time she had been in here) in a pose reminiscent of Inuyasha, long fingers curled around Tenseiga. He hadn't moved a muscle that she could notice in the last hour. His eyes were fixed on her, making her even more twitchy.

'So, this pack thing,' she said finally, stretched out wearily over the stone floor. 'If I'm your pack, that makes you part of mine by default, right?'

'Not necessarily,' he replied after a pause. 'If you acknowledge it, I will know.'

'Oh.' She thought about it. 'So why didn't I-'

'Wrong kind of demon. Besides, you're hanyou. Nobody could have told you, even if you could have sensed it.'

She sighed and turned restlessly before giving up and sitting crosslegged, drawing her cloak around her. A few minutes passed.

'Raven.'

She looked up at him.

'How did you defeat him if he was so much stronger than you then?'

'How did I defeat him?' Raven smiled thinly. 'It's quite simple. At birth – at conception, actually – Trigon divided my emotions into different aspects; Happy, Brave, Rage, Wisdom among others. He linked my powers to them, so that if I felt anything, things around me went out of control. He thought I would never learn to control my powers; but I did. The Azarathian mirror, the one Rin fell into, it helped me contact and empathise with my different emotions until I could begin to truly feel. Still, before I joined the Titans, I was a shell, afraid to feel because I might damage others. In Azarath, I was an outcast, tolerated because I would be a danger if they alienated me. My mother…….I was a reminder of the worst thing that ever happened to her. Anyway, after I joined the Titans, I began to feel more and more. And I discovered something that could defeat my father – unity of purpose. On two occasions, my emotions came together perfectly, making me completely normal – and incredibly powerful. The first time was within my mirror-mind, against Trigon. It was Beast Boy's idea, actually.' She smiled slightly. 'Who would have thought it. The second time…it was a mistake. I thought someone….was something he was not.'

'You don't have to talk about it if you do not wish to,' Sesshoumaru reminded her.' You owe me nothing, Raven.'

'No, it's okay, really.' And it actually was. 'If all my emotions work together, it gives me much more strength than action through calmness, which is what controls my power. But I can't really use it that often.'

'Why?'

'Oh, yes. Work with absolute emotion and unity of purpose against Plasmus, or while playing stankball. Yeah, right. Lazy would rebel, and Rage would be beating on the others while Wisdom wondered what she was required for……aah. I don't even want to think about that. Well, when I fought Trigon, I was able to harmonise myself, and I hit him with everything I had. He died, and I unwound time until everything returned to normal.' his eyebrows had climbed steadily throughout the last few sentences, and she caught his expression. 'It wasn't that much, really. I did it unconsciously.'

'And this transformation of yours, what happens when you are in harmony?' His red-striped hand made a graceful gesture on the word "harmony".

'It's easy to notice. Everything I wear turns white.'

'Yes, that would be noticeable,' he said, eyeing her ink-coloured cloak. 'So will you turn white tonight?'

'It's not something I control. -Damn it, why can't I sleep!'

He watched, amused, as she twitched irritably. 'And don't look so smug! I'm tired! Why don't you try helping for a change?'

'I suppose I could come over and choke you until you slipped into unconsciousness,' he offered with a straight face. She looked at him doubtfully for a second before deciding that he was joking. She hoped.

Then she got an idea. 'Say, Sesshoumaru,' she said. 'I just figured out how to sleep comfortably on this floor.'

'I don't think I'm going to like this…….'

An evil smile curled her lips.

A/N: well, a rather light chapter. I so want to grab Inuyasha's ears myself. They are TOO cute! So I allowed Kagome and Raven to do it instead.

Points to anyone who can guess what the last line indicates!