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

Chapter 14:

Puppet Master

"Inuyasha, are you okay?!"

Inuyasha whipped his head to the doorway of the hut, where all of his friends enter at once. For a second, he felt claustrophobic that the hut was filled with people in a blink of an eye, but his heart soon managed to calm down, and he found himself enjoying their company.

To answer Kagome's question, Inuyasha answered with a smirk, "Alive and breathing."

"We were worried that Sesshoumaru might hurt you," Sango said.

Inuyasha waved his hand nonchantly. "Dunno what's wrong with him today, but it seems that killing me wasn't on the top of his list," he said, and his face grew serious, "But we got a problem."

"I don't think I like the sound of that," Miroku said, and asked, "What's the problem?"

"I may know the reason why they wanted my blood," Inuyasha said, and subconsciously scratched the base of his ear. "It seems they wanted to resurrect this dead enemy that my dad once fought. They need blood that supports the body they're resurrectin', so they took blood from me."

"But why you?" Kagome asked, her eyes gazing at Inuyasha's golden ones. "Why can't they just get another demon's blood? Surely you weren't the only one who has blood that... supports the body?"

"Because he's an inu-youkai..." Miroku said, his eyes unfocused, but was aimed at the floor. He lifted his head to look at Inuyasha. "You are also the son of Inu no Taisho. Which means, they were aiming for someone that bears a powerful blood. If they were aiming for someone who holds powerful blood, then the enemy they're resurrecting—"

"—is a powerful one, yeah," Inuyasha finished, and sighed. "They didn't attack Sesshoumaru 'cause they knew it would be close to impossible. So instead, they chose me as an alternative."

"But what did you and Sesshoumaru talk about? What does Sesshoumaru have to do with this?"

"My dad fought these enemies with Sesshoumaru. So now that he knows about his enemies bein' alive, he wants to end them... again," Inuyasha said, and crossed his arms. "Arrogant jerk doesn't let me fight them—said that I'm not involved—but I could care less with what he said. They took me, so I'm gonna make them pay."

"Um... yeah, sure," Kagome said her eyes visibly looking at his body's state. She gave him a smile; a smile that almost looked sympathetic. "But, um, maybe you should eat first?"

Inuyasha wanted to tell her that she shouldn't be worried about his body's current condition. But instead, he flushed when his stomach growled—so loud, that it caused everyone in the hut to look at him with those concerned expressions. Right now, he felt somewhat exposed with each and every pair of eyes on him. Okay, so what if his ribs were protuding and he looked so skinny that the wind could blow him away? It wasn't his fault that he didn't eat enough while he was captured.

Thank goodness Kagome went to his folded suikan and kosode, picked it up, and gave it back to him. Quickly, he put on his clothes.

"I'll make ramen, okay?" Kagome asked softly, as if she was talking to a child.

Her tone was suitable with the person she was talking to, because Inuyasha, indeed, acts like a child.

"Keh, whatever."

Everyone watched as Inuyasha ate his fifth cup of instant ramen—in a record time of five minutes. They were glad that he was eating, but at the same time, they were worried. How much food had they given to him while he was captured? Well, judging by the size of his body at the moment, they could tell that it must've been only enough for him to stay alive. He was eating like a starving child, which made Kagome say yes each time he wanted more food.

He swallowed the last piece of noodle, and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his suikan. He hummed in satisfaction, and placed the empty ramen cup next to the others. He wanted more, but frowned when he remembered that Kagome was out of ramen.

Seeing Inuyasha's appetite and dejected look, Shippou felt like he was responsible for what had happened. Standing on his tiny feet, he walked over to Inuyasha, offering his cup of ramen, "Here."

Inuyasha blinked in confusion. "You sure? I've eaten like five already."

Shippou nodded with a faint smile. "Trust me, you need it more than I do."

"Uh... thanks, I guess," Inuyasha said, and gave the kitsune a crooked smile. He took the ramen and started devouring it.

Shippou headed over to where Kagome was sitting. He sat beside her, and crossed his legs. He watched as Inuyasha happily finished his cup of ramen, and he couldn't help but smile at the sight. He looked up when he felt someone touching his head.

"I'm so proud of you, Shippou-chan," Kagome whispered, and patted the kitsune. "You shared your ramen with Inuyasha, even though you knew that it was the last one."

"It can't be helped," Shippou answered with a low voice. "I want Inuyasha to be healthy as soon as possible."

Kagome wanted to tell the kitsune that ramen wasn't exactly healthy, but she decided to tell him another day. She glanced at Inuyasha when she heard a slurping sound, and found him emptying another cup of ramen. The hanyou placed the empty cup aside, and looked disappointed again; unaware that she was watching. From the way he was acting, she could tell that he was still hungry. Poor guy was probably starving back there.

"Inuyasha, do you want to head back to my time with me?"

The two appendages on his head perked up, and his brows raised. "Why?"

"Well, we're out of food, and I can tell that you're still hungry. So why not go to my time and get some more?"

His ears flattened as he crossed his arms defensively. "Keh, I'm not that hungry."

She could tell that he was lying just by how his ears were positioned on top of his head. "Are you sure? I'm gonna get more ramen~" she teased.

His ears perked up again, and she found him willing to follow. She laughed, and waved goodbye to her friends. Hastily, she took her yellow backpack and motioned towards the well before Inuyasha was able to offer his back to her. It wasn't like she doesn't want him to carry her, it's just that he looked so frail at the moment, and she didn't want to be the cause of his spine breaking. She looked to the side, and observed as his eyes roamed at their surroundings. The way he looked right now was so child-like. She knew better than to say it out loud, but it she ever had the opportunity, she would've said that he looked extremely cute.

Himitsu had been true to her word. It had been a few days since he left the old miko's village, and now he found himself wandering at an unfamiliar land. To someone afar, they might think that he was walking aimlessly. But in truth, he was actually looking for the most suitable place to battle. He knew that Koukatsu and Himitsu would somehow find him, so all he had to do was wait until they decide to attack him. Even if they plan for a surprise attack, it wouldn't be enough to defeat him.

He stopped when he heard the slightest of sounds. In one swift motion, he turned around and found himself facing a floating cloaked figure. Himitsu. His eyes narrowed as a chuckle escaped from the said figure.

"Are you ready to finish our battle, Sesshoumaru?" she said, and her head tilted to the side. "It seems you didn't bring your brother with you. Are you that confident that you will beat us alone? Let me remind you that it was the Inu no Taisho that battled the Mistress."

"Hn," Sesshoumaru said, unamused. He looked around. "Cease your talking, sorceress, and reveal yourself, Koukatsu."

"Sesshoumaru."

A woman sitting on a floating cloud, cross-legged, greeted him. The cloud lowered, until her legs were inches above the ground. She was wearing a floral pink kimono, her waist wrapped with a golden obi. Her blonde hair was tied into a high ponytail, and it swayed under the gentle breeze.

Sesshoumaru's voice was devoid of emotion when he spoke, "Koukatsu."

"Missed me?" she questioned, and chuckled when his face remained stoic. "Well, I won't miss you when you're gone. In fact, I can't wait for the moment when I defeat you. When you're dead, I'll find your brother. I'm not sure whether to end him or enslaved him—oh, but giving him to Himitsu would be good too... But when I'm done with him, only then I'll take over the Western Lands. How does that sound?"

Sesshoumaru didn't say anything but unsheathed his sword. He had always hated useless chatter. This woman may have big dreams, but it will forever remain unachieved. He will prove it once he made sure that she no longer draws any breath.

"You're so boring, Sesshoumaru," Koukatsu mumbled, and snapped her fingers. "If you want to fight so much, then, be my guest."

With one snap of her fingers, thousands of Koukatsu's appeared, and Sesshoumaru could instantly tell that they were merely puppets that looked like her. This had always been the way she fought. He remembered how his father fought her. Father had to fight each and every one of her puppets in order to search for the real one. It was frustrating, because the puppets would keep attacking, and it would be hard to figure out which one was real and fake.

Letting out a sinister laugh, Koukatsu disappeared, and the puppets started attacking him with their nails. Koukatsu's nails could expand about six inches, and it would be as sharp as a knife. And as expected, the puppets' nails grew, and they all striked at him in sync. Unfortunately, their speed were no match with his. But with so many attacking at once, it was almost impossible to tell where they were attacking.

While he was focusing on getting rid of each puppet, and at the same time dodging their attacks, he had never once lowered his guard with Himitsu. Even if his eyes were trained onto the puppets, he made sure to keep an eye on the sorceress; who was floating above him. He suspected that she was waiting for the right time to attack, but he wouldn't allow it.

Himitsu kept herself fully entertained as she watched the Mistress' puppets attack the inu-daiyoukai. It won't be long till Sesshoumaru couldn't keep up. There were thousands of those puppets, and at one point, his strength would at least be halfway drained. She would use that moment to strike him with her magic. For now, she would charge her power.

Her eyes darted around the many puppets. Even she herself had no idea which one was the real Mistress. The Mistress was definitely the most talented puppeteer. She was able to create this many puppets in span of a few days. Not only that, but she was also able to put her own scent in each of the puppet, making it hard for Sesshoumaru to detect which one was her. They might actually have a chance in winning this time. Sesshoumaru is not the Inu no Taisho, and his strength isn't even close to his father, so it was possible that they would defeat the demon lord.

Abruptly, she flew out of the way the moment a green whip was sent towards her direction. Only her hood was blocking anyone from seeing the shocked expression on her face. She snapped her head to the side, and found herself locking eyes with Sesshoumaru.

"How were you able to—"

She looked down, and found the puppets staring blankly upwards. That's right... The puppets couldn't fly.

She dodged the poisonous whip again, and backed away from the floating inu-daiyoukai. How could she have forgotten that Sesshoumaru could fly too? She definitely had to keep reminding herself not to compare Sesshoumaru with his younger brother.

"Even if you're able to fly, then I'll just make all the puppets fly," Himitsu announced, and waved her hand. The puppets immediately started to float. "Let's see if you can dodge this, Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes in annoyance, and started dodging the attacks from the now flying puppets. Himitsu moved further away from the demon lord, and forced herself to calm her breathing. For a split second, she thought she was going to die with Sesshoumaru's close promixity. The look he gave to her just now was something that promised death, and she did not expect it to look so scary on his expressionless face.

Calm down, she thought and exhaled deeply. We're prepared for this.

The puppets proved itself to be very irritating—almost as irritating as Jaken. Sesshoumaru imagined each puppet as Jaken, and a snarl made its way to his indifferent facade. He swung his whip, and managed to slice five heads at once. Though, even if he could get rid many at once, his efforts were pretty much useless. They just keep on coming. If he allowed this to continue, his youki would be drained again. It wasn't as if he had any objections with his youkai taking over by then, but with so many puppets still alive, who knew how much youki it would take to get rid of all of them?

He closed his eyes and continued lashing his whip at the puppets. As he attacked, he made sure to use as little energy as possible. Using Tokijin consumes more energy than when he uses his whip, so he had decided a while ago to sheathed his sword and use the poison running through his veins.

He flew away when his instincts were kicking in. The moment he was out of the spot he was previously floating, lightning striked. He lowered himself and landed gracefully; his feet slowly touching the ground again. His face gave away none of the emotions of fury he was feeling right now.

Himitsu had decided to attack with Koukatsu's puppets, which means he had to put twice the effort.

"Didn't know you could dodge that, Sesshoumaru," Himitsu said from above, her voice evident that she was smiling. "But you wouldn't have survived this long if you weren't able to dodge such a mere attack."

One of the puppets managed to pierce their nails right through his abdomen a few seconds after he landed. Blood soaked from where the hand pierced, and he swiftly ended the puppet in one spin. His face twisted into a disgusted expression at his now blood-soaked clothes—and this wasn't the first time. Still, the injury was too small for him to even care that it was bleeding.

He heard Himitsu muttering something under her breath. As he was about to dodge another attack from a few puppets, his eyes barely widened when he heard a voice he did not expect around this time.

"Kaze no Kizu!"

He halted his movements and stared what laid upon him. In front of him, the Wind Scar had wiped out around fifty of those puppets. He flicked his gaze to where the attack had come from, and found his younger brother wielding Tessaiga.

That little imbecile. What was he doing here?

"Oi, Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha called, a cocky grin on his face. He swung Tessaiga over his shoulder and scanned the battlefield. "Looks like you need some help."

Sesshoumaru took a moment to examine his brother's state. Inuyasha looked better than when he had last seen him, but he still looked awfully skinny. But his brother's condition wasn't enough to cover up his already building rage.

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru said, making sure that he sounded emotionless when he said that. He continued with a clipped, "What is your purpose here?"

"What else am I here for? I'm here to fight."

He narrowed his eyes, "This isn't your fight, Inuyasha. You are only interfering. Leave."

Inuyasha swung Tessaiga towards a puppet that tried to attack him. "Well, too bad big brother, 'cuz I am involved. If I gotta remind you that they took my blood, then I'll do just that. But let me tell you that this isn't the time," he said and blocked some puppets that tried to stab him, "So how about you just accept that I'm gonna fight?!"

"Inuyasha!" Sesshoumaru heard someone call.

Sesshoumaru did not realise that Inuyasha's companions were also here. He honestly could handle this alone, but now that his brother was here; whether he liked it or not, he might as well he use this opportunity to actually take down his enemies. He unsheathed Tokijin and started swinging them towards the puppets.

"So," he heard Inuyasha say from behind him, "where do ya need me to attack?"

"This Sesshoumaru does not need help from the likes of you," Sesshoumaru said and pierced Tokijin at one of the puppets. He looked up and found Himitsu waving her hands; already planning to release another of her spell. "Attack the puppets."

"Keh, knew you need my help," Inuyasha said to himself; his voice sounded smug. His sentence was audible to Sesshoumaru, but the daiyoukai showed no sign that he heard. Inuyasha lifted Tessaiga, "Kaze no Kizu!"

Sesshoumaru launched himself towards Himitsu's direction. To defeat Koukatsu, it seemed that he have to end her troublesome sorceress first.

This had not been according to plan. Although there was already a possibility that it would happen, but she didn't expect everything to be like this. She had miscalculated. With the hanyou's companions, it would give Sesshoumaru enough advantage to win this battle. But this wasn't over yet. While the daiyoukai was so busy attacking the puppets, she had already been charging her power, and now it was ready to be used.

She moved to the side as soon as she felt a powerful aura flying towards her. A grin stretched on her lips when she found Sesshoumaru's anger barely suppressed. Oh, they had done a fine job in annoying the demon lord to this extent.

"I didn't know your brother would end up helping," Himitsu said, slowly retreating her hand under her cloak. "Don't you think it's a bit dangerous for him to fight in his very fragile state?"

A cold smile made its way to Sesshoumaru's stoic face. "Inuyasha is more than capable to handle some mere puppets."

Unexpectedly, Sesshoumaru swung Tokijin her way, causing her to bend her back a bit so that the sword wouldn't hit her. Sesshoumaru was serious if he decided to use his sword; which wasn't good. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have her own tricks under her sleeves.

"Do you think this is the end for me, Sesshoumaru?" Himitsu questioned.

"This Sesshoumaru does not think otherwise."

"That is unfortunate then."

She chanted a spell in a foreign language, and the sound of thunder could be heard. All of a sudden, lightning started striking; planning to aim her enemy.

Each time a lightning tried to strike Sesshoumaru, he would already be at another place when it hits. Himitsu frowned. Even if her lightning was fast, it seemed that Sesshoumaru was faster. A slow smile made its way to her lips. If she couldn't aim for him, then she'll just have to aim for the second on top on her list.

"Too bad your brother isn't like you," Himitsu said, and pointed her finger to Inuyasha and his friends. "I heard that the hanyou would sacrifice his life just for the sake of those pathetic humans."

Sesshoumaru glanced down, and found his brother pushing away the miko before lightning was able to strike down on her. But for the price of moving that woman out of the way, a puppet used this chance to pierce his brother's shoulder. Blood oozed out from the injury, and Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at Inuyasha's weakness for caring about his friends. Unfortunately, it couldn't be helped. Inuyasha has a human heart inside of him; which prevents him from being selfish.

Himitsu chuckled, and Sesshoumaru put his focus on her again. "Aren't you going to help your little brother, Sesshoumaru? Unlike you, he saves people."

"Inuyasha will not die," Sesshoumaru said emotionlessly. "However, you will," he lifted his sword, "Sou'ryuuha."

Blue sparks formed, and a giant dragon made out of lightning appeared. The dragon locked its eyes with Himitsu, and it flew right to her direction. Seeing the dragon made out of lightning, the sorceress tried to flee as fast as she could, but her speed lost towards the dragon's. She screamed in agony when lightning surrounded her, and soon, her body dropped from the sky, landing on the ground with a loud thud.

Sesshoumaru lowered himself, until his feet met the ground. He took a few steps forward, and stared down at the limped body in front of him. He could hear her breathing becoming slower, and concluded that she was in a barely alive state. This time, he was not going to repeat the same mistake. He lifted Tokijin, but before his sword hit his target, he heard her final words.

"Your brother..."

The sword moved towards her head, quickly detaching it. He sheathed his sword and turned his body to look at Inuyasha. His eyes widened slightly when he saw a tiny figure approaching his brother at a really fast pace.

On full speed, he moved across the battlefield to stop whatever the small figure was about to do, but he was too late. The figure—which was a child with blonde hair—had already touched Inuyasha, causing his brother to freeze. Sesshoumaru watched as his brother's golden eyes were glazed, and soon, Tessaiga was aimed directly at him.

"My, my," Sesshoumaru looked up and found Koukatsu floating down on her cloud. She stopped just beside his younger brother, her hands stroking his silver hair. "Look what we have here..."

A/N: Yup, can't wait to write the next chapter. -laughs evilly while rubbing both palms-

- Replies -

roseeyes: I read some fanfics that wrote this alpha/beta thing, but I honestly have no idea what it is lol. Guess I'll have to try and search it up later. But I'm glad you like that part. And another person who loves seeing their favourite characters getting tortured? Fanfiction just keeps getting better. Never will I ever regret joining this site.