Sesshomaru turned and saw a female demon. She was panting hard and there was sweat running down her face, which was strange because the weather was icy cold. She was staring at him with an intense look of happiness.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The girl blinked and looked startled. "It's Misaki. Don't you remember?"
Sesshomaru glared at her. Of course he remembered her. How could someone ever forget a traitor?
Sesshomaru and Misaki looked towards the house when they heard the sound of rushing footsteps. First came Ekaterina, then Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kilala.
"Sesshomaru!" Ekaterina exclaimed with shock.
The dog demon walked towards the woman. "I was told that my Father left something of his here a while back. Something that was meant for me."
"So it is you? You are his eldest son, correct?"
"Yes."
For a moment, no one spoke. The wind whistled through, gently ruffling their clothes.
"Please wait a minute," Ekaterina said and rushed back inside.
Sesshomaru turned his gaze to Inuyasha. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"That's my line!"
Misaki stood still and watched the half-brothers arguing. She smiled slightly.
So they are brothers. Now I can tell.
Ekaterina came back and threw something in Sesshomaru's direction. Sesshomaru effortlessly caught it with his left hand.
Odd. I don't remember him being left-handed. And why is his right sleeve moving like it's empty?
"I don't know what it's for," Ekaterina admitted, gesturing at the strange object in Sesshomaru's hand. "Is that all?"
Sesshomaru nodded and started walking away. When he passed by Misaki, the cat demon felt a sudden chill pass through her body. She watched Sesshomaru's form shrink smaller and smaller into the distance. She wasn't the only one that was dumbfounded.
"Hey didn't seem to notice Misaki at all," Sango whispered.
"What's going on? You think he'd at least say something to her," Kagome murmured.
After a few tense minutes, Misaki whirled around and started running in the direction that Sesshomaru had left.
"Sesshomaru! Sesshomaru!" she called, dodging stray branches here and there.
Sesshomaru stopped and turned around. "What?" he asked coldly.
Misaki stopped and stared, her eyes round with surprise. There's something wrong here. He's . . . he's so cold!
"You . . . do remember me, right?" she asked hesitantly.
The two didn't speak for a moment. Not even the wind dared to whisper anything in their ears. The silence was broken by a knife-like word that stabbed Misaki right in the heart.
"No."
Misaki's heart skipped a few beats. She felt all her hope and happiness just slid out of her and sink into the snow. "What?"
Sesshomaru didn't bother to answer her question. He turned around and started to leave.
"Wait!" Misaki grabbed Sesshomaru's shoulder and whirled him around so he could face her. "It's me! Misakichi! You really don't you remember?"
Sesshomaru glared at her coldly. "Let go."
"No!" Misaki shouted and shook him. "Sesshikichi, please! We haven't seen each other in hundreds of years, but you can't say you've forgotten about me" Tears filled her eyes. "We used to be best friends. Don't you remember?"
Sesshomaru grabbed her hand and dug his nails into her wrist. Misaki let out a yowl and pulled her hand away. She stared at the burned flesh with shock and then turned her gaze back to Sesshomaru.
"You're nothing to me," the dog demon said to in a voice colder than the frigid air whirling around them. Without another word, he turned around and walked away.
Tears streamed down Misaki's face one by one. She tried to speak, but the lump in her throat wouldn't allow her to say a single word. She stood there, her entire body shaking from all the tears that had built up within her being too fast and couldn't escape fast enough.
"W-wa-wait," Misaki whispered and sank to her knees. She stretched out her arm, straining to reach him. She wanted to get up and run after him, but her body remained a trembling mass of flesh and bone that refused to obey. He's leaving me. He's going to leave me . . . just like last time. "Sesshikichi! Sesshikichi, please wait!"
Sesshomaru continued walking, not caring for Misaki's pleas.
"SESSHIKICHI!" Misaki screamed in a desperate attempt to get him to stop leaving and walk back toward her.
Sesshomaru paid no heed. He continued walking until he had disappeared from Misaki's gaze.
"No! NO! NO!" she screamed and grabbed her head. "No . . ."
She pounded her fists on the cold snow and sobbed and sobbed. Her entire body shook with the sadness and anger that had built up inside. They were feeding off the fear she had carried her entire life.
He hates me. I knew I should've stayed, but . . . but I was so scared! If I had been stronger then I would've stayed, but . . . but . . . Oh, Sesshikichi, I'm so sorry!
The sky was dark. Several clouds were joining together to form rain clouds. Here and there were little patches of midnight blue sky with tiny stars twinkling. Slowly, the happy stars were being smothered by the dark gray rain clouds.
"Is she back yet?" Shippo asked.
Kagome shook her head. "No. Are you sure it was Sesshomaru she ran after?"
Shippo nodded. "You saw him, didn't you?"
"Perhaps she ran off with him," Miroku suggested.
"But she did run off," Shippo said, confused.
"Shippo, the running off I meant has a different connotation that you'll understand when you're older."
Shippo stared at him curiously. "Huh?"
"You see, if two people run off together, they---OUCH!"
Sango put down her boomerang, glaring at him icily. "You were saying, Miroku?" she asked in a voice that clearly said, "If you want more, keep talking, you perverted monk."
Miroku rubbed the lump on his head and turned to Shippo. "They pick daisies, Shippo."
Shippo made a face. "I get the feeling that if you tell me the truth, Sango will beat you to a bloody pulp.
Miroku laughed sheepishly and shrugged.
Kagome noticed that Inuyasha was frowning.
"What's the matter?" she asked him.
"That girl's going to come back in tears," he said simply and walked inside.
Kagome stared at him leaving for a little while and then turned back to face the snow. He doesn't really believe that, does he? But with Sesshomaru---
"Hey, I think that's her!" Shippo exclaimed suddenly.
A figure clad in an ice blue furisode kimono was slowly making its way toward them. As it got closer, the group could clearly see that it was Misaki.
"Hey, Misaki!" Shippo called and ran over to her.
Misaki stopped when Shippo reached her feet. He looked up at her and noticed her eyes were red and there were tears frozen on her face.
"Misaki, are you crying?" Shippo asked, concerned. "Did Sesshomaru make you cry?"
Misaki knelt in front of Shippo and shook her head. "No, he didn't really make me cry," she whispered. Her lower lip started to tremble so she buried her face in her hands and started to sob from sadness . . . and shame.
"It's not nice to make girls cry."
Sesshomaru stopped. He had sensed that someone had been watching him for a long time.
"Come out."
Kaiein appeared from behind a tree. She sighed with contempt.
Why me? she whined in her head.
The stoic expression on Sesshomaru's face changed to mild shock.
"You're---!"
Kaiein grinned. "Wow, you certainly grew a lot since the last time I saw you. Back then, you only reached to, what, my knees?"
Sesshomaru pulled out his Tokijin and aimed it at Kaiein.
"You know that doesn't work," she said calmly. "You tried to stab me back then, but what happened? Your sword passed through me." Kaiein pulled out the Nemuri plant and concentrated on it. In an instant, the little flower burned to a tiny bit of ash and released a purple-colored haze.
"I suggest you not fight it. This isn't a holy place nor is it a normal place. This is the place where people from other worlds come. This is a place for those who have been damned."
I can't believe how much this chapter sucks! Ahhhh, bad Rioko, bad! Feel free to throw things at me. I know this chapter sucks.
By the way, I am fully aware that Sesshomaru is one of the strongest demons out there and he's seemingly immune to a lot of things (Fujiko-chan won't shut up about it). I don't know if he's immune to the powers of the Awayuki Forest (this forest is made up, thought). And a Cherub is more powerful than a demon, by the way. Well, if you don't want to see anything that doesn't go with the series and that'll make you think, "This is so out of character and sucks," then you might want to stop reading now.