A/N: From here on out, I have no idea what I'm doing. xD Granted if that wasn't a given already, well...

As for Touga, he doesn't play a big part in the story; he's kinda just there for flare. OUO

The Other Side

Chapter 30

Enter Touga and the Aftermath

If there was ever a time where InuKimi wondered what in seven hells happened, it would be now.

Her son had just landed in the courtyard, transformed, and had Kagome in his jaws. She would love to know that story and from what Kenichi had said in his panicked state, it wasn't anything good. The scent of blood filled the area causing her to gasp; Kagome was hurt. Whoever did that to her sealed their fate. She watched at Sesshomaru slowly let go of Kagome, who whimpered at movement before he started licking her wounds. Interesting; so whatever happened caused her son to instinctively react to her. Things were going well in her book.

But onto something more important as she said quietly, "What happened?" InuKimi stood still as she saw Inuyasha jump down from the back of Sesshomaru and land right next to her. He greeted her with a nod before glancing to his friends, Miroku and Sango. Their worried looks didn't help Inuyasha calm his nerves; he was terrified that something bad had happened to Kagome.

"Well, after we got Kagome from the Southern lands lord and we were on our way back, Kagome was kidnapped by someone of Kouga's pack. And from what Sesshomaru and I saw, Kagome had held off Kouga until we got to her but at a cost…" Inuyasha explained as Sango gasped. Inuyasha just knew that Sango wanted to go near her friend to help her out but considering Sesshomaru was still a dog, it was highly ill advised. Miroku continued to stare at Kagome with a suffered look.

"At least you got to her," Kenichi said, his eyes lowered. Inuyasha looked to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked back up to him and gave a half-smile.

"And what do we do now?" Miroku asked as they stared to him. "Do we go after Kouga? Do we stay and help Kagome heal? What do we do now? I personally have nothing against going to Kouga and ripping him a new one." Inuyasha and Kenichi smirked at the idea. InuKimi nodded in agreement.

Sango gave Miroku a look. "Are you serious? The best line of action right now is to make sure Kagome is okay."

"You don't seem to understand, my dear. Sesshomaru is already doing just that while the rest of us do nothing. At least Inuyasha and Kenichi can do something while we wait for her to heal," Miroku insisted as Inuyasha nodded quickly. Sango huffed at the idea.

"And why would Kouga hurt her? I thought that he loved her?"

That was a good point though. If there was anyone that Kouga would hurt or start a fight with, it was Inuyasha but he would never actually hurt Kagome. "You don't know what I saw, Sango." Inuyasha turned to her and gave her a sullen look. Sango looked away from him as she crossed her arms over her chest in exasperation. "And plus, if anything, Sesshomaru will go back and kill him if he didn't already."

"What, you mean there's a chance that Kouga's already dead?" Kenichi questioned with wide eyes. He glanced back to his friend, noting that Sesshomaru had laid down next to Kagome and had stopped cleaning her wounds.

"Yeah; I mean, he was crushed under Sesshomaru's paw and thrown into a mountain before we left. And before that, Kagome had clamped onto his neck; so there's a possibility but it's not set in stone. We didn't exactly check to see if he was alive…" Inuyasha trailed off, eyes back on Kagome.

"And there's a lesson learned; never piss off your brother," Miroku said as if he was trying to lighten the mood. It had its designated effect though; it got InuKimi to smirk, Inuyasha to chuckle, Sango to stifle a laugh into her shoulder and Kenichi to bite his lip to hold off his laughter.

All froze when a growl admitted out of Sesshomaru and as they slowly glanced back over to the dogs, Kagome was trying to felt the need to roll his eyes; typical Kagome, never able to sit still. She totally got that from himself and she wasn't even related to him!

In fact, Kagome barked back as Inuyasha snorted before she jumped away from Sesshomaru. They all watched as Kagome went on defense. Inuyasha didn't understand; why was she acting like that? Sesshomaru was only trying to help, right? Right?

Sesshomaru transformed back into his humanoid form and raised an eyebrow to the black inu. Kagome merely snarled in defiance. He looked to his claws in boredom before she pounced after him, he simply moved to the side as Kagome skidded to a halt. "Uh… what's happening now?" Inuyasha asked as Kagome leaped after his brother. He side-stepped her again much to her annoyance. He never got an answer though once Kagome shot a bit of energy to Sesshomaru's back with her tail.

He stumbled forward as he sharply turned to her with a snarl. Kagome waved her tail at him before taking off into the distance; Sesshomaru on her tail. Inuyasha blinked. "Well that was interesting," Kenichi commented as he rubbed his jaw in wonder.

"Indeed; perhaps they were talking to one another through a different means of communication?" InuKimi helped out as they looked to her. "But regardless, she got his attention." A grin slowly made its way onto her face causing Kenichi and Inuyasha to step back away from her. Sango and Miroku shared a look and decided that they too should back away.

Kenichi groaned and said, "You're still trying to get them together aren't you?"

"But of course; they will eventually be with one another anyways. I'm just helping them out quicker."

Their heads shook in disbelief. "Well, I'm all for getting Kagome with Sesshomaru." That was a new voice; InuKimi paled at the tone and just knew that voice before she slowly turned to the front of the courtyard in surprise. "Perhaps this time around, he'll listen to me."

There standing mere feet away from them was a man but not just any man; Sesshomaru's and Inuyasha's father. He stretched out his muscles before smiling at the group. Their expressions were one to remember and would stay with him for the rest of his life. His ex-mate couldn't help but gape at seeing him; it was a look that made him grin at her. He took in his youngest son and was proud of what he had become. Inuyasha's eyes were wide, mouth dropped and then made a good impression of a fish. Kenichi only twitched. Sango's and Miroku's mouth formed in a circle shape in awe.

"You're—you're alive? What?" Inuyasha gaped.

"Did someone magically bring him back to life or something? What the hell?" Kenichi added, hand resting on his sword.

"Well that's not something you see every day," InuKimi said, not taking her eyes off of him.

"What, not happy to see me?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows with a smile.

"I wouldn't say happy. What are you doing alive? Better yet, how are you alive?" Inuyasha placed his hand on his sword as well as his father laughed.

"Let's just say, Fate brought me back."

"What?" InuKimi and Kenichi squeaked out, before sharing a look.

He waved his hand dismissively as if to say don't worry about it. "So, where is my older pup and his soon-to-be mate?"

"They went in that direction," Inuyasha said, pointing straight ahead.

"Together? Interesting."

Suddenly a black inu was running at them before she transformed and flipped around to hide behind Inuyasha. "Inu, call off your brother!"

"You aggravated him; I'm not helping you. Never piss off Sesshomaru, it's like a golden rule!" Inuyasha whined, forgetting all about his father, who was taking in this scene with a knowing smirk.

"I was playing! I didn't think he'd take it seriously!"

"Were talking about Sesshomaru, right? Of course he'd take it seriously! You're just an idiot!"

Kagome pouted and said, "You're supposed to be my friend. Friends help each other."

"Not when they annoy someone that could kill you."

"Step aside little brother," came Sesshomaru's smooth voice. Inuyasha listened as Kagome gaped at him. Traitor! She looked to Sesshomaru; he was displeased. Kagome then hid behind InuKimi, who chuckled at her behavior. Sesshomaru's eyes followed her before locking eyes with his mother. InuKimi smiled then nodded her head to her left causing Sesshomaru to look. He absently noticed his father standing there before he gazed back to Kagome. "Perhaps now would be a good time to test it out?"

"Pft, no way. You're just looking for an excuse to use me as bait."

Everyone's head turned to Sesshomaru. He grinned sinisterly. "What's wrong, scared?" She gasped at him as everyone's head turned to her now.

"No! I'm—just terrified of you."

"Oh, really?"

"Probably shouldn't have mentioned that…" Kagome shifted her eyes before they settled of the older male. Then her jaw dropped at him, he waved back at her. "Um, come on! It was just a little bit of harmless purification. You're fine!"

"My back hardly feels fine. Now, why don't we see what happens when you come in contact with my poison?"

"Inuyasha, if I say I love you to the moon and back would you help me out?" Kagome pleaded as Inuyasha snorted.

"As much as I love you, no."

"Traitor!"

"You two aren't even mated yet and you're already acting like you are." Sesshomaru's and Kagome's heads turned towards him, finally realizing just who he was. "So, Sesshomaru, why doesn't she have your claim mark?" Kagome burned red.

"Excuse me?"

"You know, the thing that warns other males that she's being courted? You haven't done so, so I can only assume that she's on the market at the moment, yes?"

"First Inuyasha, then Kouga, now you? I gave up," Kagome muttered under her breath.

He turned to her with a serious look on his face that made Kagome wish she was invisible. "You're a black female inu. Do you know how rare those are?" Kagome shook her head. "Rare and you have the symbol of the west? It's unheard of, let alone, never recorded. And the fact that you're unmated; I'm surprised neither my pups managed to mate with you yet."

Kagome wished the ground would swallow her whole. Then she glared at him, wondering what he was insinuating. "I'm supposed to mate with the current lord. You are neither." Inuyasha's, Miroku's and Sango's eyes widened; having completely forgotten about that tidbit.

He smirked at her; a smirk that reminded of Naraku two years ago. She shivered. "All I would have to do is battle Sesshomaru, defeat him, and take over the West once again. Then I would have you."

"W-what? What?! No!" She quickly turned to Sesshomaru, who by now was growling lowly that his father would even suggest such a thing. "Please tell me he's lying?"

"Unfortunately he is not but he could not defeat me even if he tried. He is all talk and no bark."

"Are you challenging me? A battle for Kagome? I'm down for that."

"I am not some chew toy!" she yelled, causing the demons to flinch. She even hurt her own ears. "Back the fuck off!" InuKimi's eyes went to their fullest as she covered her mouth with her sleeve. "I've already been in a battle for dominance; I don't want there to be another one! If you so much as come near me—I don't care who revived you—I'll murder you in cold blood," she threatened.

"You do know that your display is nothing but a turn on? I love a female that fights for what she wants." His eyes twinkled in the sunlight as Kagome snarled at him.

Sesshomaru stepped up and said, "Back off."

"You know, Touga; Inuyasha, Kenichi and I have been in the middle of… helping Kagome. So, when I say back off, I'm not playing. You have had three people tell you to back off; clearly you're in the wrong," InuKimi stated, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Four if you count me. You'll never have Kagome," Inuyasha chimed in.

"And five if you count me," Kenichi added with a growl.

To which all Touga could do was laugh. He slowly started to clap as they all stared at the demon. "I'd take my—if I had a hat—I'd take it off to you. Congrats, you passed."

"What…? A test?" Kagome stuttered, peering over InuKimi.

"Correct; I wanted to see if they would protect you. I'm surprised with Kenichi though; you seem to make friends easily," Touga said before he bowed to her as Kagome blinked.

"Touga you ass." InuKimi twitched.

"I apologize for the emotions that I caused. I had to make sure that at least Sesshomaru would do something for you. And now that he has, I'm in for playing matchmaker."

Kagome moved to stand near Inuyasha and whispered, "Your father's weird."

He whispered back, "I'm starting to notice that."

"So… what now?" Miroku finally said, leaning on his staff. If he was honest with himself, Touga was two seconds away from getting killed not just by Kagome, but by everyone around him. He didn't like the way that they were all played. He shared a glance with Sango, she silently agreed with him, not that he could blame her.

"I'm going to the well." Kagome straightened herself out and stood tall—or tried to, considering she was rather short.

Inuyasha whirled to her. "Kagome, no."

"I'm different now! Maybe I can do something! I have to try…"

"Well what would happen if you actually manage to get what you wanted but instead the well doesn't listen to your pleads and sends you elsewhere with no ability to come back to us?" Inuyasha asked, throwing caution to the wind. He did not want Kagome anywhere near the well, especially now that it was broken.

Kagome deflated so fast and sniffed. "That would be bad but it's a chance I'm willing to take. Please Inuyasha! You don't understand, I miss my family! I have to do something."

"I had my family die when I was little—eventually yours comes back into your life!"

"That's different! Your mother is the only one dead at the moment if you haven't noticed! Your father, albeit weird—is very much alive now. Sesshomaru and InuKimi are still around as well. Hey, look, family! I have no one around! I am stuck here; I have to try whether you say yes or no!"

Inuyasha brought out the Tetsusaiga, causing everyone to be alarmed. "I will fight you for it." Kagome looked confused. "If you can defeat me in battle, I will listen to you and you can go to the well to see if there's anything you can do. If you cannot defeat me, then you have to stay here. Got it?"

"Are you insane?" she cried out as she jumped away from him, landing a little behind Sesshomaru. "I don't want to fight you."

"Those are the rules; you listen or you don't."

Kagome's eyes held unshed tears, causing Sango to take a step forward but was stopped by Miroku, who shook his head. "Inuyasha, please I don't want to fight you."

"Then you'll stay."

She looked to the ground as if she was about to admit defeat but then the sky darkened, clouds overhead moving rapidly. InuKimi quickly warned everyone to take shelter and those that were smart, moved out of the way. Inuyasha and Kagome were the only ones left. It started to pour, soaking them to the bone as Kagome's head snapped to Inuyasha. His eyes widened, Kagome's eyes were white. She raised her hand in the air, crimson swirls whirled around her arm. "You want a fight, you've got it," she said, eerily calm. Inuyasha's blood ran cold; he was in deep shit now, wasn't he?

They all watched as a sword materialized in her hand as lightning struck right next to them. Inuyasha had no warning except to bring his sword up to his face to block her attack. The sheer amount of power behind her attack caused him to slide backwards. He grunted under the weight of her sword before he pushed her back and released his attack. He aimed his Wind Scar away from the castle and noticed that Kagome flinched; almost as if the land itself hurt her.

Kagome was handling her sword with her left hand and used the other to heal up the land. Inuyasha momentarily paused to see what she did and regretted it. Kagome slammed her sword into his stomach; he cried out in pain as she pulled out her sword then swung it down, intent to kill. But before she could even come anywhere near Inuyasha's head, another sword blocked her. She stared at the golden eyes of Sesshomaru. In the back of her mind, she realized that Sesshomaru was protecting his brother and inwardly smiled.

He pushed her backwards with just his demonic aura; she stumbled and turned to him, instinct reacting as the demon came at her. Vines appeared around her like a wall, stopping his attack at her but gave her enough time to do her attack. Her sword glowed bright red as what looked to be sparks coming off of it as she aimed it straight to Sesshomaru. A single stream of lightning lashed out fast and deadly, expected to hit Sesshomaru in the chest but he simply threw it off of him and into the sky. The sky lit up, giving Sesshomaru a small window to see the deadly beauty in front of him.

Her hair was swirling around her like it had a mind of its own, her eyes white as snow and narrowed on him like he was prey. Sesshomaru dashed forward noticing his brother get up, clutching his stomach. Their swords connected but he was powerful for a reason, he pushed her sword out of her hand and was surprised when she simply called upon her powers for another one. This one had a hue of blue; it was the only thing he noticed before she brought her hand up and used the sword's power. A dome surrounded her, knocking Sesshomaru away from her. It wasn't purification powers but something else, something his nose couldn't pick up on.

Inuyasha, ignoring his pain, used his barrier shattering attack and was pleased when the barrier broke but annoyed when Kagome used her holy powers to create another barrier around herself. Lighting flashed around the area, striking down mere feet from where Kagome was, dust floating up around them. While she was in her barrier, she moved to where the lightning had struck and when the dust disappeared, there was Kagome with a lightning rod. She had it behind her back and smirked; Sesshomaru and Inuyasha at the same time, came after her.

The rod was brought to the front, blocking both their swords and didn't seem to throw Kagome back like they wanted to. Kagome had a thin layer of her barrier around her and seemed to be in perfect control. Inuyasha murmured in pain from his stomach and jumped back. Something big was about to happen, he could feel it; Sesshomaru seemed to notice that as well and backed away from her.

Kagome gathered energy in her left hand as she glided around the brothers, circling them. She gained speed, her hand—barely touching them before a sphere entrapped them together. "This is not good," Inuyasha said, stating the obvious. Sesshomaru literally felt like his power was being drained from him and staggered to breathe. Inuyasha glanced to him then back to Kagome, before connecting the dots. Kagome had actually hurt Inuyasha and was focusing on hurting Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru relied on his power and she was draining him. Just how powerful was Kagome? And what was she holding back from saying?

Slowly though Inuyasha started to feel his feet get wet, he quickly looked down and gaped. The sphere was filling up with water! Well shit. Now he decided that it was a good time to panic. Sesshomaru was unresponsive, limp and Inuyasha didn't know what to do. He shared at a glance with the others before he noticed that they were trapped within the castle with no way of coming to help. He didn't want Kagome to go to the well; he had a feeling that something bad would happen to her. Inuyasha didn't want to say anything to her about that though but still, maybe if he had, they could have avoided all of this.

By now the water had risen to their waist as Kagome was watching them with a knowing smirk. She knew what she was doing but if that was the case, why didn't she stop with her attack? The more he thought about it, the higher the water would rise. When it got to his neck, he gave in and yelled, "Alright! I get it; you win! Stop this!" He pleaded with his eyes towards Kagome but she—she didn't move or make any indication that she heard him. The water was still moving upwards and no one could get to them. What was he to do? Hold his breath and hope for a miracle? "Kagome stop! You're going to kill us!"

Kagome's eyes flickered to him and for a second he thought she heard him but that thought disappeared when the water made it to his nose. "Mama; stop! You're killing Inuyasha and Sesshomaru! Please!" Shippo begged, crying. Kagome had a moment of recognition and slowly turned to the small fox, trapped from inside. "Inuyasha said you win. You can stop fighting!" Shippo's worried look made her pause. "Please!"

Her hand came up and made Shippo afraid that she was about to aim it towards him but then the sphere dispersed and the brothers fell to the ground. Inuyasha started coughing up water before scrambling to try and wake up Sesshomaru.

The next few minutes caused an uproar. Kagome collapsed, probably passed out from exhaustion; they assumed that, that was the first time she has ever used whatever power that was. Inuyasha's voice trembled when his brother didn't wake up. InuKimi and Touga rushed to aid their pups while Miroku and Sango rushed to Kagome's side.

"He's completely drained; that'll take weeks for him to recover," Touga stated, brow furrowed before looking to the fallen woman. Just from where he was, he could feel that she was in the same boat as his oldest but there was something else as well.

He narrowed his eyes, trying to connect what he was feeling. Then he saw it; there was a single red string—nearly invisible to the eye—attaching him to her and vice versa. He decided that he would keep that to himself for the moment or until they both woke up. "I'll grab Sesshomaru; Kimi grab Kagome. They need to be placed in the same room to heal."

InuKimi frowned; Touga knew something—more than he was leading on. She walked over to Kagome, noticing how pale she was and scooped her up. She would have to ask Touga at a later time for the information that he was withholding. "Why do they need to be in the same room together?" He hummed to her; it was a sign that she was being ignored.

Reviews are welcomed.