Inuyasha; A Feudal Fairy Tale – The Sesshoumaru Blues

Chapter Eight – The Showdown

The Inuyasha crew were traveling. Shippou was neatly stuffed behind the demon-sized Kirara. Miroku, as always, was hovering around Sango's butt. It seemed he did so—so frequently he started to form an orbit. Kagome was a couple of paces from Inuyasha. Inuyasha was crowing the group. He had a smug look on his face.

"Just a few more shards, right, Inuyasha? And then the other half from Naraku…" Kagome said quietly. Inuyasha crossed his arms tightly, his sleeves flipping.

"Which will be a piece of cake. I'll teach Naraku a thing or two about stealing." Inuyasha said. It didn't even occur to him that Zayane had taught him morals about stealing.

"Inuyasha, do you still want to be a full fledged demon?" Sango asked, one of her hands resting on the Hiraikotsu's carrying strap.

"Dunno…" He lied in front of Kagome. Of course he wanted to be a full fledged demon and live up to his father legacy. What kind of stupid question was that; Inuyasha wanted to glare at Sango, but with Kagome there that would be quite difficult.

Inuyasha suddenly turned his nose in the air. The familiar aroma. Inuyasha hadn't smelled it for years upon years. The scent reminded him of Zayane, but he knew exactly who it was. Inuyasha wiped the smile off his face. He didn't want to show anyone that he could move his facial muscles that way. Kagome still noticed a change in Inuyasha's behavior.

"Inuyasha, do you smell Naraku scent?" Kagome asked, lifting her hand to her chest in a limp fist. "Is he near?"

"Kagome, I'm gonna need you to take everyone back to the village, back to Kaede." Inuyasha said. He had to ask Kagome's stubborn self.

"No! I won't be taking anyone anywhere, until you tell me what you smell!"

"No! I don't have to, it's personal!" Inuyasha tried to imply he had to mark a tree.

Miroku rolled his eyes, "Here we go…"

"Inuyasha, tell me what you smell or I!" Kagome stopped herself.

"Or you'll what? Sit me? Go ahead. See if I care." Inuyasha started walking off the path towards the scent. The scent was in the air, floating in the near by wooded area. Inuyasha started sniffing it out, ignoring Kagome.

Kagome thought it over. She thought perhaps Inuyasha was trying to use reversal psychology on her. "O-SUWARI!" She screamed once the thought came across her that it might have been. Inuyasha smacked into the ground. He swore he broke his nose that time.

"WOMAN! What the hell crawled up yer panties and died?"

"O-SUWARI! O-SUWARI! O-SUWARI!" Bam, bam, KERTHUD. Inuyasha's body—well practically corps—laid smoking on the ground. Kagome had a huge red blood vain sticking out of her head. Miroku, Sango, and Shippou had irritated expressions on their faces.

"I've never heard him talk like to you, Kagome." Sango said. "Do you think it really was personal?"

Kagome could careless. "It's too bad now!" Inuyasha was making his way to his feet, but he was resting on his elbows for a while because of the pain. "You hear that, Inuyasha?" Kagome hollered to him with her arms pinned at her sides, her hands balled into tight fist. "If you go off to scent, you'll get it again!"

Inuyasha reached to the trees in his delusion from pain, "Oh god, help me…" He said to the trees.

Kagome mistook the move for wanting to go find the scent. "O-SUWARI!" Kagome pointed, and Inuyasha just made a crater in the ground. But there was a shadow looming over Inuyasha. Kagome looked up and all she could see was black. Sango whipped off her Hiraikotsu. All Sango could see was black as well, but she wouldn't take any chances

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango said, with a simple flick of her wrist the Hiraikotsu was slicing through the air at unmatchable speeds. Well, unmatchable until Shuku caught it with one hand. Sango gasped. "No way!" Shuku followed through with the throw, sending the Hiraikotsu back at Sango. Sango couldn't catch it because it wasn't thrown by her hand, she hand no idea how to time it properly with the difference in height. It was never thrown straight-on at Sango; there was always a lack in speed from the Hiraikotsu return lap. Sango dove out the way, as the Hiraikotsu torn up the land in front of her. It finally stopped when it got wedged in a tree a couple yards away. Sango looked over her shoulder in horror.

Miroku stepped forward with a hand already on his sutra beads. "How dare you try and hurt Sango!" Miroku sounded kind of apathetic to the whole thing. Miroku just wanted brownie points with Sango that would result in a kiss or a free grope. "Wind Tunnel!" He shouted, pulling the beads away and pointing his cursed hand at the duo.

"We're being sucked in!" Shuku cried out, as Rikkimaru tried to put on the air brakes if there were such a thing. They both flailed in motions that would indicate that they didn't want to be pulled into the void. Inuyasha sat up and unsheathed the Tetsusaiga and it turned into the fang of steel. Inuyasha stuck it into the ground to avoid being sucked in.

"Miroku, what the hell is wrong with you! Turn it off! Turn it off!" Inuyasha called with his eyes closed tight to shield from debris.

"Yeah, turn it off!" Shuku cried, by now she was holding onto Inuyasha's leg because it he was the only thing grounded. Miroku wrapped up his hand, and everyone fell.

"Sorry, it's just that they attacked Sango." Miroku rubbed the back of his head, exposing a nervous smile.

"Well, that thing attacked us!" Shuku pointed at Sango. Sango's eyes went ablaze. But she changed the subject.

"Are you a human, or a demon?" Sango questioned Shuku. Shuku smiled with her moist lips blooming.

"I'm human, Rikkimaru over there, is a half demon… And we're dating." Shuku said. Sango and Miroku went blank faced. Dating. The word was like an infection that was incurable. Sango and Miroku looked at each other. Would they ever engage in the tango known as, dating? They looked away with read faces. Kagome was red in the face, too. Shuku was openly admitting dating a half demon, some thing she could never work of the nerve to say or do.

"A half demon?" Kagome questioned with Inuyasha in mind. Her eyes wandered over to Inuyasha who was already on his feet and looking at the more mature Rikkimaru.

"Long time no see!" Inuyasha said, resting the Tetsusaiga on his shoulder, trying to look as macho as possible. Rikkimaru started to glare.

"Don't get me started about long time." Rikkimaru crossed his arms.

BLUES

"Zayane's dead..?" Inuyasha said, as they were all huddled around a low rise table. All the girls sat in seiza and the boys sat with their legs Indian style. The room was courtesy Miroku and his smooth talking about expelling demons.

There was a look in Inuyasha's eyes that drove Kagome crazy. It was look he got when he heard Kikyou's name. It was tough for Inuyasha to swallow.

"And she didn't die of old age either." Rikkimaru glared at Inuyasha. Inuyasha glared back, he knew it wasn't his fault.

Kagome cleared her throat. "Excuse me, but we still don't know who you are." Rikkimaru exchanged a brutal look at her. Inuyasha cut it off.

"Just introduce yer self." Inuyasha looked off. He didn't want them to hear it.

"I'm Rikkimaru, son of Sesshoumaru—nephew to Inuyasha." They gasped, sucking almost all the oxygen out the room. Inuyasha stick his finger in his ear, playing with his ear wax.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Kagome said, hurt more than anything that Inuyasha would hide something from her. She thought they were closer than that.

"Yeah, Inuyasha. This was pretty big." Sango said.

"No one asked about other family. You humans probably thought I'd get all touchy-feely about such a sensitive subject so decided not to ask me." Inuyasha smarted. He was right though. Kagome didn't want to speak forward, trapped in her thoughts about what else she didn't know about Inuyasha.

"And why don't you tell them, what my mother did for you?" Rikkimaru wanted them to know what a kind person that Zayane was.

"Zayane…" Inuyasha huffed a sigh. "Zayane took care of me when my mother was alive and when she died."

"She was a servant?" Miroku asked. Inuyasha and Rikkimaru gave Miroku a dirty look.

"She was more than that…" Inuyasha looked up reminiscing. Servant felt like a degrading word.

"That's quite obvious." Shuku said and pointed at Rikkimaru. There was a snicker.

"No more jokes! Show some respect!" Rikkimaru demanded.

"She was a servant, right?" Kagome wanted to be sure, as if it justified them making fun of how Rikkimaru was born. And that was the last straw. Rikkimaru slammed his hand down, chopping the table like a twig when it was made out of solid oak.

"Idiotic humans, what would you understand? To belong in a world where there is no one to turn to but your parents! To be rejected by demons and humans alike! To wander this road alone!" Rikkimaru stormed out. The table edges rested on some people knees. Shuku looked around. They looked at her like she could explain the phenomenon. Shuku looked down, thinking she might be able to put in her two cents. Her fist tightened.

"Inuyasha, right? The one with the ears?" Shuku's big grey eyes worked into Inuyasha's thoughts.

"Yeh, what of it?"

"Rikkimaru thinks you had something to do with his mother's death." Shuku said. Again, the room was silent with anticipation, the tension and curiosity building.

"Why would I have anything to do with her death! I've been unconscious for about 50 years!"

"Well, she died in front of the sacred tree, a year after you were pinned there. Rikkimaru told me a dozen times on the way to find you. Sesshoumaru was even doll and pointed him in the right direction." Shuku said. Inuyasha kind of smiled.

"So Rikkimaru knows that Sesshoumaru is his father…" Inuyasha said as Shuku nodded her head.

"He's known since his mother died."

"Damn it. So he's had time to think about this and get a warped idea of how I managed to instigate his mother's death. That's not the case." Inuyasha said, standing up to go after Rikkimaru.

"Inuyasha, wait! Give him some time to cool down!" Kagome tried to reason.

"Not another word, Kagome! You've said enough." Inuyasha said in front of everyone. Kagome gasped, unable to tell him to sit. It pained her so bad, she just didn't want to. Not to mention this was about Inuyasha's sister-in-law who seemed like a real sister more than anything. Shuku closed her eyes sighing. Shuku was afraid it would be a set up for Inuyasha and Rikkimaru would move in for the kill.

BLUES

The sun was starting to set in the horizon, making the sky turn a purple and pink mixture. The clouds were rolling away, but they were still light and fluffy—looking almost like cotton candy. Rikkimaru stood against a tree. The tree marked the start of a forest and the end of an open field. That way, Rikkimaru could see Inuyasha coming.

Those cute ears started to crest a hill before the flat land of the field. Inuyasha walked with strong strides, his hair starting to blow as the wind picked up dramatically. They watched each other, one with hate in his eyes, the other seeking forgiveness and remorse. Inuyasha stopped a few feet from Rikkimaru.

"I'm kinda glad I'm away from them now." Inuyasha said.

"I am too." Rikkimaru agreed. Inuyasha sighed.

"I had no idea that Zayane was dead…"

"You didn't care that she was alive either. Maybe if you did, you would have at least gone to see her and found out that she was via me." Rikkimaru scolded.

"I was busy!"

"Busy doing what? The exact thing my mother told you not to be doing? Going after the Shikon Jewel?"

"That girl in the weird clothes, Kagome, broke it into many pieces. I had to retrieve it back!" Inuyasha raised his voice now. Inuyasha couldn't believe Rikkimaru kept blaming him as soon as he got a chance.

"Inuyasha, you were lower than low. You give half demons a bad name." Rikkimaru said. "But I'll fix that so you'll never be able to neglect the memory of Zayane, or hurt the reputation of half demons ever… Again." Rikkimaru lifted his head and Inuyasha stepped back.

Rikkimaru had the devilish trait that made Inuyasha be feared when he would drop the Tetsusaiga. Rikkimaru's eyes had become red and his iris an off green. Inuyasha frowned. He didn't want to fight with Rikkimaru. Inuyasha didn't want to fight with Rikkimaru if he was going lose control so that he couldn't reason with him, or talk him out of the fight.

"Rikkimaru! Wait!" Inuyasha called with his hand on the hilt of the Tetsusaiga, ready to draw if necessary. Rikkimaru made a seal with his hands and lifted his right hand to his mouth in a fist, extending the pinky finger.

"Fang of Fire!" He said, blowing a stream of fire from his hand. Inuyasha unsheathed the Tetsusaiga and it morphed into its fang self. Inuyasha pushed it in front of his face to protect the area. The fire rat garment he was wearing would protect against extreme heat, but he didn't have a mask to protect his face. Rikkimaru's assault stopped when he had to take another huge breath of air to rip another chain of fire at Inuyasha. It was Inuyasha chance to break Rikkimaru's offence.

Inuyasha rushed Rikkimaru, giving a battle cry—lifting the Tetsusaiga over his head. Inuyasha dropped it as fast as he could, but Rikkimaru leapt out of the way, blowing into his hand, shooting an even bigger burst of fire at Inuyasha. Inuyasha used the Tetsusaiga to block again, his feet digging into the ground. He started sliding trying to keep his feet grounded, ripping up grass. Rikkimaru stopped taking another breath.

It was a trick to get Inuyasha to buy into Rikkimaru doing another Fang of Fire. Rikkimaru started melee fighting with Inuyasha, his mother's specialty. Rikkimaru slammed his claws against the Tetsusaiga's fine Japanese steel. Inuyasha held him off, thinking that being on the defensive would be better plan.

"Rikkimaru!" Inuyasha tried to snap him out of it, but Rikkimaru was long gone in his bottled up hatred for Inuyasha.

"You got my mother killed! All she ever wanted to do was serve your family, and she did so in death! And you care naught about what happened to her once you were conscious! You chased after the Jewel and apparently human skirts!" Rikkimaru made another seal with his hands. He was in typical Iron Reaver stance.

"Stop it! Before you do something you'll regret!" Inuyasha would stand for no more. It was about time he performed the Wind Scar.

"Iron Reaver, Death Dealer!" This was something new to Inuyasha. After all, Zayane had taught him the Iron Reaver to protect himself or inflict harm on others. It wouldn't surprise Inuyasha if her son knew more Iron Reaver techniques than himself. It seemed more like the Wind Scar in formation. Inuyasha would have to take a rain check on the Wind Scar. He'd have to counter it—and do so well if he wanted to make it out of the battle unscathed. Inuyasha was hesitant about using the Backlash Wave. It might over power Rikkimaru in such away that it could critically injure him or even lead in death. He had no choice; Rikkimaru was out to take his life and Inuyasha would have to defend himself in a manner that he would with any other demon out to do the same thing.

"Backlash Wave!" Inuyasha swung the Tetsusaiga, striking up the air that would give force to the Backlash Wave. Little tornados formed of light blue energy. They pushed back Rikkimaru's attack. The sound of the Iron Reaver, Death Dealer and the Backlash Wave connecting caused a huge sonic boom. Everyone that was packed at the inn watching patiently for Rikkimaru and Inuyasha to return heard it. Kagome jumped in her seat. She knew exactly what it was.

"The Backlash Wave." The Inuyasha party said at the same time, looking at each other.

Rikkimaru was shocked by the strength that Inuyasha had.

"This can't be happening!" He said, as the Iron Reaver technique was being thrown back at him. Rikkimaru lifted his arms to shield his face. "Gyaaah!" He screamed as he was engulfed by the Backlash Wave. Inuyasha gritted his teeth together.

"Dammit! It was too strong for him!" Inuyasha sheathed the Tetsusaiga to cancel the wave out, but it was too late. The tornados ripped up the ground leaving the lifeless Rikkimaru in its wake. Inuyasha rushed to Rikkimaru hiding his pained eyes to see the sight.

Rikkimaru's kimono was tattered, ripped to pieces in some areas. There was a trail of blood going down from his forehead, running over his left eye and falling into his jet black hair. There was another trail of blood from his mouth, going down his chin. It looked like Rikkimaru sustained head trauma injuries. Inuyasha got down on his knees, lifting Rikkimaru up a tad to rest his back on one of his knees. Inuyasha put his hand under Rikkimaru's head for support. His eyes were closed tightly, as if still bracing for the impact.

Inuyasha couldn't believe what he had done to his nephew. It was truly an accident to teach Rikkimaru that Inuyasha didn't want to fight with him. Inuyasha just wanted to warn him, but it back fired—more like back lashed. Rikkimaru's eyes twitched slowly to open.

"Rikkimaru…" Inuyasha said gently. "I'm so sorry…"

"I can't avenge my—mothsrrhhg shhhrrg." Rikkimaru tried to form his words but they were being blocked out by the river of blood starting to flow from his mouth. It over flowed his mouth and poured out over the sides. Inuyasha pulled Rikkimaru in tighter, as he looked at his hand supporting his head. It was covered in thick deep red blood. Inuyasha held back his tears. He was afraid he killed the last remnant of Zayane he had left to remember her.

"Rikkimaru! Just hold on! I will get help!" Inuyasha shouted the tears running down his face. Inuyasha was pessimistic. As if help could really save Rikkimaru; perhaps he could still try.

"What have you done?" Shuku cried at the top of the hill that was before the torn up flat lands. Her short legs moved her as quickly as possible to Rikkimaru. Inuyasha looked up to Kagome, who held a hand over her mouth to hide her shock. Sango and Miroku were also shocked, and Shippou was as always afraid of what Inuyasha could really do.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome started. Shuku was already in front of Inuyasha.

"Let him go! You've done enough, don't you think?" Shuku's eyes were burning with tears. This couldn't be happening to her first love. "Rikkimaru!" She cried out, with her arms tightly at her sides. Inuyasha eased Rikkimaru into his arms. Miroku rushed down to give assistance to Inuyasha. Miroku made a jester to piggy back Rikkimaru to the nearest location to treat his wounds, and say monk prayers over his body. Inuyasha slid Rikkimaru onto Miroku's back, and Miroku was headed up the hill to treat Rikkimaru, to try and save him.

Shuku turned to Inuyasha after making sure Miroku had taken Rikkimaru over the hill.

"How could you?" Shuku cried, punching Inuyasha in the chest. It was as far as her hands could reach. "How could you do this to him? How could you try and take him away from me?" Shuku pounded away at Inuyasha's chest. It hurt much more than a normal human's punch. Shuku started bawling her eyes out, unable to hold back her emotions. "How could… How could…" Shuku stumbled on her words, choking on the tears swallowed and lumps forming in her throat from crying so hard.

Inuyasha moved his arms outward, and pulled Shuku in for a tight embrace. Shuku nuzzled her head into his chest, letting all her tears out. Her shoulders bounced madly, as she tried to stop herself. Inuyasha's face was dry by then and no one could tell that he, too, had been crying. Inuyasha placed his hand on Shuku's head, pulling her closer, her fair pale skin smelling like strawberries. He took a deep breath of Shuku when he was taking a sigh. Inuyasha could see why Rikkimaru would fall for such a human, but Inuyasha simply wanted to comfort Shuku. It was all he could do to honor Rikkimaru.

"It's alright…" Inuyasha said. Kagome looked away with lonely eyes, wishing Inuyasha could comfort her like that. She didn't want to pull him away either. Kagome knew it was what Shuku needed, even though it was out of character for Inuyasha to even shake hands with a stranger. Kagome knew there was a greater force causing Inuyasha to act the way he did. And that was his human heart.

つづく(Tsuzuku)

Author's notes/Translation notes:

No translations this time. Awww, Inuyasha is being nice for once. He really liked Zayane to watch over him—such a shame Rikkimaru thinks other wise. –sad face-