Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 10:

Reunion

Miroku, Sango and Kagome stared, dumbstuck, while Rin waves goodbye to Sesshoumaru. The little girl looked like she was hoping to see the demon lord again, and that alone scares everyone to the core. Sesshoumaru was cold and merciless. It was hard seeing someone—especially a human—showing so much love to such a demon.

"Rin," Kaede called, and the girl with the small ponytail on top turned to face her. "Have you eaten lunch, child?"

"Not yet," Rin said and rubbed her stomach for emphasis. "Don't worry. Rin will ask Jaken-sama and Ah-Un to accompany Rin while she searches for food."

Everyone's eyes widened at her statement. She was only a child, but she was independent to search for her own food. They could only assume that she had been living alone and had been searching food on her own all this time, or Sesshoumaru was the one that taught her to be self-desciplined. If it was the latter, then they couldn't help but admit that the Lord of the West's teachings to a young girl wasn't all that bad.

"Ah, there is no need for ye to do that, child," Kaede said and gestured for her to enter the hut. "There is food inside. You can invite the toad, too, if he wants."

As if he had heard his name, Jaken almost immediately returned to conciousness and was now looking around for his lord. Taking note of his lord's absence, his face turned into something that expressed disgust, and he stood up to brush off his outfit. He grabbed his staff and spun on his heel to head to the opposite direction of where the hut was at. Unluckily for him, Rin had tugged him by his clothes, stopping him from going anywhere.

"Jaken-sama, do you want to have some lunch?" Rin asked with a smile.

"Foolish human!" Jaken said and swatted the child's hand away from him. "I am a youkai. I don't eat what you pathetic humans eat."

"Alright then," Rin said, unfazed with Jaken's behaviour. "Rin will have some lunch then. Jaken-sama, you can take care of Ah-Un then."

Jaken only snorted, and sat beside the twin-headed dragon, who was resting on the grass. Jaken crossed his arms and started sulking, reminding the group of a certain hanyou who would mope if he doesn't get what he wants.

After Rin had disappeared into the hut with Kaede, the group decided that this was the time to discuss what was on their minds.

"Do you think Sesshoumaru would help search for Inuyasha?" Kagome asked and fidgeted with her bow.

"Well, he did say he doesn't permit Inuyasha to die," Miroku said and rubbed his chin. "I believe, in other words, he won't let Inuyasha die. So that would mean he would be helping, but in his own way."

Sango noticed her friend's unease. "Kagome-chan, is something wrong?"

"I just... I don't know what to expect when Inuyasha turns human."

On Kagome's words, everyone turned their heads to look at the sky. They probably have around two more weeks to search for the hanyou before he turns human. To someone else, that would be plenty of time. But to them, with no clues or a place to search, that was a little amount of time, and time was running out. They weren't really sure if Inuyasha was still alive, but knowing that the hanyou was a tough fighter, that was the only fact that reassured them he's probably somewhere... alive and breathing.

Inuyasha hated the tears that had gathered in the corner of his eyes the moment he finished coughing. This was it. Today was the night of the New Moon, and he was going to die. If he had thought he had been weakened drastically the moment he was under this barrier, then he thought wrong. He was going to be human tonight, and he was one hundred percent sure that his human form wouldn't stand a chance bearing these injuries.

Because his human night was tonight, he felt worse than normal days. Even without feeling his forehead, he could tell that he was running a fever. His sense of smell and hearing had been reduced, which doesn't really affect him at the moment. His body seemed like it was on the verge of shutting down, but he was using every ounce of his remaining strength to keep himself conscious. Stupid weakness.

Nowadays, he couldn't even look at himself. Two weeks of this hell had changed his appearance entirely. His body was skeletal and majority of his muscles were probably gone. He could tell that he had formed dark circles under his eyes due to the lack of sleep he was getting. His skin was covered in shades of purple and red hue, and it won't disappear because his healing abilities had been slowed down. Various thin line marks traced along his skin—the result of Naraku carving his flesh with a knife—and also slashes that came from that merciless whip.

Was this the end? Did those two hundred years, including him being sealed onto a tree, is wasted just like that? He was aware that Naraku was his enemy, and he could get killed while battling him, but damn... to die out of the torture given from your enemy... he wasn't sure if he was ever going to be in peace in his grave.

He heard the door being unlocked, and his eyes landed on the person who entered. Jikiko stepped closer to him, her face emotionless, yet there was some kind of emotion hiding beneath that face of hers. She looked down on him, and his eyes met her unreadable gaze.

"What? Does your master need more blood from me now?" he managed to croak out. He actually wanted to snap at her, but that was the most he could manage.

"You're getting weaker," Jikiko said, her eyes remained on him. "You are going to die."

Inuyasha covered his mouth while coughing, his ears automatically pinned on top of his skull. He cleared his throat and glared at her, "Tell me something I don't know."

"So Jikiko was right. Your aura has changed, hanyou."

Inuyasha whipped his head to where Himitsu's voice came from. She was floating towards them, her cloak swaying against the slight breeze. She lowered herself to the ground until her feet touched the floor. She bent down and inched her face closer towards him, causing him to uncomfortably loll his head back. Due to the closeness between them, he could finally see a feature of her face. He realised that her eyes were yellow. It almost fell to the colour golden, but he could tell that her eyes were a lighter shade. And the only reason why he could see her eyes under the cloak was because of the glow coming from them.

Inuyasha shoved the sorceress away from his face, or at least attempted to. It was more like putting his hand on her. He was glad that she decided to take a step back after his 'push'. Her head tilted slightly to the side, as if she was inspecting him.

"I see," Himitsu finally said. "I looked deeper into your aura and found out that your human side is taking over slowly. I believe your senses has become dull?"

Inuyasha didn't answer, only gave her a look of annoyance.

Himitsu let out a small chuckle. "If yes, then I'm assuming, the very least, tonight you will turn human," when Inuyasha's eyes widened, she added, "I know about half-demons turning weak once in a while, hanyou. But I could care less about that. Now, the matter at hand is that you're dying. I doubt you can survive with those injuries in your human state."

"Keh..." Inuyasha said and coughed. He instantly placed the heel of his hand over his forehead the moment he felt light-headed.

"Waru-sama is releasing you."

"W-What?" that sentence caught Inuyasha off guard. "You're lying... No way he would just... and Naraku wouldn't have agreed to that."

Inuyasha knew about the deal Waru made with Naraku. Naraku had explained to him in an irritatingly excited voice that if he helped Waru capture him, Waru would allow him to torture him—as long as it draws out his blood.

"Naraku's desire has been fulfilled. We have given our end of the bargain, so there is no need to pay heed to his request anymore," Himitsu explained. "Besides, since your health is almost at its lowest, Waru-sama decides that it is time to use the alternative. He doesn't want to kill you because he needs you as a test for something. So we will be releasing you back to your pack. We need you to be in great health for—"

There was a word that had captured all of Inuyasha's attention, "Alternative...?"

"We needed your blood because the blood of an inu-youkai is the strongest among all youkai. Since you are a hanyou, and the other demons that share the same blood as you are a full-blooded youkai, we decided to take you because you are the easiest to capture. But now that we can secure our victory, we've decided to use the alternative now."

Inuyasha's mind may be a bit sluggish, but that didn't stop him from thinking. So he had gotten half the reason why they wanted his blood. They wanted his blood because he was an inu-youkai, the one who bears the strongest blood. But he still didn't know why they wanted it. Are they planning to create a powerful army or something? And if they found an alternative, then that would mean it was another inu-youkai.

He wasn't sure how many inu-youkai were left, but there was only one other inu-youkai he knows, and it's a full-blooded demon.

When Himitsu saw Inuyasha's eyes turning into large saucers, and knowing that he had figured it out, she nodded, "Yes. The alternative is your brother, Sesshoumaru."

Two weeks.

That was how long he had been—he wouldn't admit it, ever—searching for Inuyasha. While crossing Inuyasha's forest weeks ago, he had caught the hanyou's faint scent, along with a scent he had recognised years ago—which was Himitsu's. Not only that, but he also caught the scent of Inuyasha's dried blood on the grass. Since he couldn't detect the direction where the sorceress went, he ended up walking in a straight line, to wherever it leads him. He had been keeping an eye out for that half-breed, and his old enemy. He could tell that Waru was going to send Mouretsu soon, so there was actually no point in searching for the hanyou. He would defeat Mouretsu, and will get himself some answers about Inuyasha. All he needed to do was wait.

He doubt Inuyasha was dead. But since the New Moon was tonight, there was a possibility that the hanyou could die if the enemy attacks while he was weakened. He had seen a few times when Inuyasha was human. The hanyou was vulnerable, but he admired the strength his little brother shown during the night of his weakness. He had always seen Inuyasha hiding in the branches, eyes wide opened in case there were enemies nearby. Even when Inuyasha was weak, he had always been on high alert.

Sesshoumaru stopped walking the moment he heard the faint sound of bushes rustling. He turned his head to the side, and his eyes narrowed at the person standing a few meters away from him.

In front of him stood the body clad in armour. The only part that wasn't covered in armour was his face. Sesshoumaru hated seeing his face, and almost wished that he would cover that unsightly look. There was a smug, but it wasn't just him being cocky. Sesshoumaru knew, that the smug was because of his confidence in his own strength. And as much as he hated to admit, the demon in front of him was one difficult opponent.

"Mouretsu," Sesshoumaru said, pouring disdain in the youkai's name.

"Sesshoumaru," Mouretsu said and the smug turned into something more like a challenging smile. "How many years since we last fought each other? More than a hundred years?"

Sesshoumaru only narrowed his eyes. "Cease your stalling and get to the point."

"Cold as ever," Mouretsu stated and placed a hand over the hilt of the sword by his hip. "I remember that day crystal clear. Your father was fighting the Mistress while you fought me. Speaking of your father, how is he?"

"Resting well in his grave."

Mouretsu looked genuinely surprised. "I didn't expect someone so powerful to die," he said. Then, a sinister grin tugged at his lips, "Alright, enough talking. How about you finish what you started? 'Cause back then, you weren't quite done yet."

Sesshoumaru scowled at him. He hated being reminded of his failures, but he assured himself that the mistake he made won't repeat twice. He will end Mouretsu, once and for all.

Seeing Sesshoumaru's deathly gaze on him, Mouretsu decided to taunt him further, "Oh, right. Let me show you your prize to you if you win."

Mouretsu whistled, and Sesshoumaru's eyes barely widen at the sight.

In front of him stood Inuyasha, whose head was bowed and hands laid limply by his side. His hair was caked in dirt and blood. At his hip, Tessaiga was absent. By the hanyou's neck laid a sword, threatening to cut his head off in one swing. Behind him stood a youkai with a huge built—mascular arms and a fairly powerful aura. When the hanyou was ordered to look up, Sesshoumaru could tell that Inuyasha had been facing abuse and torture—just by the bruises on his face. His cheeks were hollow, indicating that the hanyou had not been eating well. Even without looking at his face, Sesshoumaru could also tell that the hanyou had gotten smaller, or thinner, just by looking at his body. His suikan and hakama may have been able to make him look like some walking cushion, but they weren't enough to cover up his now frail body.

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru said, his voice low and hinted with slight anger. "What has happened to you?"

Inuyasha gave him a weak smile. "A lot."

Sesshoumaru could tell that Inuyasha was trying his best to stand. He may be good at hiding his pain to humans, but to him, he could see right through his body like an x-ray vision. Not only that, but now that he had focused his senses on the hanyou, Inuyasha was facing illness. Death was halfway surrounding his little brother, and there was no way he was going to survive tonight when he turns human.

"You two seem to be close to each other," Mouretsu said and smirked, facing Sesshoumaru. "Alright, Sesshoumaru, if you battle with me and win, I will give the pup to you."

Inuyasha let out a humorless chuckle. "You're being stupid..." he said and added, "Do you know that you're insulting him just by giving me as a prize?"

The youkai standing behind Inuyasha kicked the hanyou right behind his legs, causing Inuyasha to drop to his knees. He grabbed the top of Inuyasha's hair, and pulled it with such force, that Inuyasha thought his hair would rip off right then. "So, what do you say, Sesshoumaru?" the youkai spoke and brought the sword closer to Inuyasha's neck, the tip almost touching the skin. "Will you accept this battle? If not, then he dies."

Inuyasha blinked rapidly, on the verge of passing out. "When will you ever learn? Sesshoumaru doesn't care... what happens to..."

Inuyasha's sentence was cut off when he let out a yelp—the moment the youkai's grip on his hair tightened. Pain was shooting through his scalp, and he almost felt like doing anything to get the pain off him.

"This Sesshoumaru accepts," Sesshoumaru answered, his tone remained impassive. But underneath the facade he played, he was furious with how his brother was treated by the lowly youkai. "It will be an offence to Father if this Sesshoumaru does not finish what he has started," he then turned to face Inuyasha. "Half-breed, I will deal with you later."

Inuyasha was forced to bring his head low when the youkai pushed his head down. His hands gripped the soil of the earth. What the hell? Why was Sesshoumaru accepting this guy's offer? He could just ignore the guy and kill him. More importantly, what did he mean when he said that he has to finish what he had started? Do they know each other? He could only assume that Sesshoumaru had met this guy before, and if he plans on finishing him, then this guy truly was worthy of his time.

The temperature around them dropped several degrees as a cold smile made its way to Sesshoumaru's lips. "Shall we begin?"

A/N: Just wanna let you guys know that blood will be present in the next chapter... possibly lots of 'em. I've honestly been waiting to write the part where Inuyasha meets Sesshoumaru, because I love the two of them... even if they hate each other lol.

By the way, the translation for "Mouretsu"/猛烈 is "furious". I also forgot to tell you guys that I've edited the end notes for chapter three and four, explaining the meaning of Jikiko and Himitsu, and a few others.