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

Chapter 15:

Draw the Curtains

While surrounded by her friends, Kagome continously filled her arrows with her spiritual powers, and aimed them at the hundreds of identical puppets. Her arrows were able to take down at least three at once, and that was good enough for her. The only thing that she was worried about was what she was going to do after she runs out of arrows. She wasn't sure how she would be useful by then, but for now, she focused on her task to get rid all of these puppets.

Near her, Sango and Miroku were using their own weapons to destroy the puppets. Sango was flying on Kirara; dealing the puppets on air, while Miroku was sucking a lot of puppets with his Wind Tunnel. He often took breaks, and when he does, he uses his ofuda as an alternative to fight the puppets. Overall, the puppets weren't that strong. But with so many attacking at once, it was hard to sit down and take a break.

All of a sudden, she felt a powerful and malicious aura. It was moving so fast, that it didn't give her time to identify what it was. Miroku must've noticed it too, because he was looking at the same direction where she was looking. She saw a figure approaching them in the distance, and she squinted her eyes to get a better look at it. Her eyes widened when it was the puppet master Jikiko. She was flying fast towards Inuyasha's direction.

"Inuyasha—" Kagome tried to warn while turning around, but she was too late. Her eyes widened when the blonde girl had already touched him.

She watched as Inuyasha's hand—with Tessaiga—fell limp. His golden orbs dimmed, and she didn't like the way he was looking right now. She turned her head to the side when she saw Sesshoumaru landing in front of his brother. Her jaw slightly dropped when Inuyasha pointed Tessaiga at Sesshoumaru. What was going on? Why was Inuyasha pointing his sword towards Sesshoumaru? Could it be that Jikiko was controlling him?

"My, my," she heard a feminine voice. She looked up and found a woman—about her height—sitting on top of a cloud. The cloud lowered, and the woman stepped forward towards Inuyasha. Her pale hand reached out and stroked the hanyou's silver tresses. "Look what we have here..."

"What have you done with Inuyasha?!" Kagome shouted.

The woman acknowledged her with an annoyed look, but then, a smile graced her lips. "He is under my manipulation. You see, I'm a puppet master. Controlling puppets is what I do," she said, and her eyes were casted onto Jikiko. "I remember you meeting my puppet. She once let the hanyou go, did she not?"

"Wait—a puppet? But isn't Jikiko a real living being?"

"You have mistaken," the woman said, and chuckled lightly. "It's a long story, but I am the one who created her. And her purpose..." she tilted her head to face Sesshoumaru. "Sesshoumaru, what are you going to do now? The life of your brother is in my hands."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at the woman, but didn't say anything.

A grin made its way to the woman's lips. She glanced at Kagome, who was looking at Inuyasha with worry, and her grin became wider. "You," she said, earning Kagome's attention, "You love this hanyou, don't you?"

Kagome's cheeks were slightly flushed by her comment, but rage overpowered her. She pointed her arrow towards the woman. "Release Inuyasha."

"I don't think it's wise to point that arrow to me. You might hit the hanyou instead," the woman said nonchantly, and pointed her index finger towards Kagome. "However, this will be fun to watch. Hanyou, attack the—"

Kagome gasped when a green whip flew towards the woman's direction. Unfortunately, the woman was fast enough to move out of the way, and much to Kagome's own horror, Inuyasha motioned directly in front of the woman; taking the blow instead.

Words can't describe how furious Sesshoumaru was. Inuyasha had allowed this woman to manipulate him, and not only that, but now he was receiving the blow from his attack. His brother was lucky that Sesshoumaru had enough time to shift the whip before it did some serious damage. Unfortunately, Inuyasha still got hit. He watched as the flesh on Inuyasha's cheek burbled angrily, while Inuyasha remained emotionless.

No matter how much Sesshoumaru hated his brother, he will not fight him in his current state. Inuyasha was not at top strength, and had just recently recovered from his major injuries. This was not a battle Sesshoumaru wished to partake in. If he really wanted a battle with his brother, he would've done it when Inuyasha is in good health—not when he is weak and under control. To think Koukatsu would go as low as manipulating his brother... her time would soon be up, that much was guaranteed.

"Oh, so you do care about your brother," Koukatsu said with a chuckle. "From what I heard, you hated your brother. You even tried to kill him. And here you are, trying to prevent your brother from receiving your poisonous whip. Why hold back, Sesshoumaru? The hanyou is just a mistake your father made. Doesn't he deserve to die?"

It was true that Sesshoumaru hated his brother. Father died because of that filth, and it was all his brother's fault that he had never been able to surpass his father's power. His father had married a mortal woman, sacrificed his life for her, and now the Western Lands had fallen to his care. Father should be the one in charge of the Western Lands. Father should be the most powerful demon alive right now. But because of that woman, everything changed.

Still, even after all of that happened, Sesshoumaru found himself—as much as he hated to admit it—reluctant to end his brother's life. He had watched Inuyasha grew up for years. He had witnessed how Inuyasha was able to defeat those who were suppose to be stronger than him. All those years of having to survive on his own had made his younger brother stronger, and capable in hunting down his prey. And soon, Sesshoumaru found himself admiring Inuyasha's strength.

It wasn't just that. After seeing Inuyasha pinned to the Goshinboku, he realised that he doesn't hate him as much as he thought he would. In the beginning, yes, there were numerous of times where he wanted to end Inuyasha as a pup. He ended forcing himself not to, because he wouldn't go as low as killing a defenseless child. However, he did make a promise that when Inuyasha is stronger, he would finally end his brother's life. But years had showed him—had taught him—to accept that it wasn't his brother's fault that Father died. Father died because he chose to sacrifice his own life. When he thought about his father's will, he realised that his hate towards Inuyasha was only because of his anger towards Father.

In other words, yes, Inuyasha will one day die by his hand, but that doesn't mean he would allow it when the time wasn't right.

Koukatsu must've seen a slight shift in his expression, because her face grew serious. "I see you have made a decision."

"Indeed," Sesshoumaru said, and flicked his gaze to the miko that was still staring at them. "Miko."

She blinked. "Yes?"

"You will fight the puppets," Sesshoumaru said, his eyes now drifting to Koukatsu's blue ones. "Koukatsu, we will end this battle."

"You just took the words right out of my mouth," Koukatsu said as her eyes narrowed. She sat down on her cloud, and pointed a finger towards him. "Inuyasha, you will attack your brother—even if it costs your life."

Inuyasha slowly tilted his head, and leapt towards Sesshoumaru. He swung Tessaiga, but the sword met the ground instead. His dimmed golden eyes darted to see where the daiyoukai was standing next. He found his target and repeated the move; launching himself towards his brother's direction.

While Sesshoumaru was dodging Inuyasha's attacks, he was able to create a distance between Inuyasha and Koukatsu. If he dragged Inuyasha away from that woman, then Inuyasha would have no time to defend her by the time he attacks.

Sesshoumaru finally found the right time to attack Koukatsu. Since Inuyasha was now further away from her, Inuyasha won't make it to block his attack again. In one fast motion, Sesshoumaru spun around and moved to where Koukatsu was at. Koukatsu's eyes widened in shock. She wasn't quick enough to fully dodge the poisonous whip he lashed.

The green whip hit her stomach, and she immediately fell onto one knee, while one of her hands wrapped around her abdomen. Sesshoumaru thought he had ended her at first—even though it was a little too easy—but when a smile took over her lips, he was now aware about one thing: this was not the real Koukatsu.

"Oops," she said mockingly, as her blue eyes became dull. "Looks like it will take some time before you find the real me."

Somewhere a little further from the battlefield, the real Koukatsu sat; her legs crossed on the ground. Her fingers steadily moved in order to control the hanyou that was under her manipulation. A smile took over her lips. It was only a matter of time before Sesshomaru would find out that the puppet sitting on the cloud wasn't the real her. Once she felt the said puppet no longer under her control, she knew that Sesshoumaru must've already ended it.

The reason why nobody had noticed her presence here is because she had created a barrier that would cover her aura, and make her invisible. It was the one barrier she had mastered in making in order to hide herself. Thousands of enemies had fallen into the same trap. They thought they had defeated her, and when they least expected it, she striked them down. It was too bad that the Inu no Taisho found out about her trick. But now that she had seen Sesshoumaru, it seemed that the daiyoukai did not pay close attention while his father previously battled her. Or else, he would've known already about her little barrier secret.

She turned her head to the side when she was aware of another's presence. She found Jikiko entering her barrier, and she greeted her puppet with a faint smile. The puppet was able to make it back here without anyone noticing. If there's one thing that everyone lacked, it's attention to their surroundings. Nobody seemed to search for the minor details, and that's how they usually fail. Though, that would give her an advantage because it was something she possessed that others don't.

"Jikiko," she said, breaking the silence, "I think it's time to access the hanyou's powers. List me some moves that the hanyou learned with the mighty Tessaiga."

"Kaze no Kizu, and Bakuryuuha," her puppet answered impassively.

"Hmm... I'll go with Kaze no Kizu," she said, and shifted her fingers so that the attack would be aimed to Sesshoumaru. "Now, Jikiko."

"Kaze no Kizu."

While Sesshoumaru was occupied with battling Inuyasha, he noticed that Inuyasha had paused midway. The hanyou stood still, but then he raised Tessaiga. Inuyasha didn't say anything, but his sword glowed, and he could feel Tessaiga's power coming from it. It only took a second for Sesshoumaru to find out that Inuyasha will be unleashing the Wind Scar.

Not long after he found out what Inuyasha was planning, the Wind Scar appeared. Sesshoumaru managed to avoid from getting hit, and landed right behind the hanyou. Inuyasha whipped around to swing his sword at his brother, but Sesshoumaru was fast enough to knock Tessaiga out of his hands, and slammed his brother's back onto the earth ground. Tessaiga landed a few meters away from them, out of Inuyasha's reach.

"Inuyasha, you will cease this nonsense," Sesshoumaru said, as if that would snap his brother out of Koukatsu's control. He moved his head to the side when Inuyasha tried to swipe his claws at him. He narrowed his eyes, and glanced around to search for one of Inuyasha's companions.

He spotted the monk that was sucking puppets with his hand.

Miroku was busy using his Wind Tunnel. As he kept his focus onto the puppets, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stood. He pulled the beads to cover his Wind Tunnel as his body tensed at the sensation. Sango must've noticed his body gesture, because she started approaching him.

"Houshi-sama, is something wrong?"

Miroku glanced at her as he shivered. "I'm not sure, Sango. But I feel like someone is watching me..."

Sango blinked at him, and her eyes scanned at the surroundings. "Sesshoumaru is looking at you."

"Wh-What?" Miroku stuttered, and slowly turned his head to where Sango was looking. There, he saw Sesshoumaru glaring daggers at him. "Oh Buddha, he looks like he's going to kill me."

"Maybe he needs your help?" Sango commented.

"I hope so," Miroku said, gripping his staff. "I'm going to go to him."

Sango smirked. "Make sure you make it back in one piece, Houshi-sama."

Miroku laughed nervously, and started heading to where Sesshoumaru was at. A frown carved his lips as he saw Inuyasha struggling under Sesshoumaru. Kagome had informed him that Inuyasha was under the puppet master's control. It would explain the lack of shouting from his friend.

Before Miroku could ask whether Sesshoumaru needed his assistance, the daiyoukai startled him when he spoke, "Monk, you will assist this Sesshoumaru."

It wasn't a question—more like a demand. But Miroku valued his life, so there was no way he would decline. "How may I assist you, Sesshoumaru?"

Sesshoumaru was silent for a moment, before answering, "Are you capable in detecting a hidden demonic barrier?"

"If I concentrate hard enough, then yes," Miroku said with a nod. "But I don't see how that's going to help in this situation."

"This Sesshoumaru believes Koukatsu is hiding in a barrier that hides her presence," Sesshoumaru said, while his arm continues holding down both of Inuyasha's. "You will call the taijiya and miko. They are in charge of watching Inuyasha."

"I... Yes, of course," Miroku said, and turned around to head to Sango. He stopped, and glanced back at Sesshoumaru. "Now?"

"Do not test this Sesshoumaru's patience, Monk."

"Now it is," Miroku muttered to himself, and hurried to Sango and Kagome.

Kagome was busy firing arrows, but when she spotted Miroku, she stopped. Sango, on the other hand, continued swinging her Hiraikotsu towards the many puppets, with Kirara helping by her side. The puppets weren't as many as they were before, but there was still about a hundred more.

"Miroku-sama, is something wrong?" Kagome asked.

"If Sesshoumaru asking for my help is wrong, then yes," Miroku said, and shook his head as an indication to stop joking around. "Kagome-sama, Sango, Sesshoumaru wants you two to watch over Inuyasha."

"What?" Sango said, dodging a puppet's attack and quickly detaching its head. "What about you?"

Miroku swallowed the thick saliva that had gathered in his throat. "As for me, I will be assisting Sesshoumaru."

Kagome and Sango snickered. Unable to control her laughter, Kagome had to cover her mouth with the sleeve of her school uniform, making it painfully obvious that she was trying her best to fight off from laughing.

Miroku sighed dejectedly. "Are you two coming or what?"

"We're coming, we're coming," Sango said, giving a wide smile. She swung Hiraikotsu over her shoulder, and followed Miroku.

Kagome and Sango gasped as Inuyasha was now lying on his stomach; Sesshoumaru pinning his hands behind his back. Sesshoumaru noticed their staring, but his expression remained neutral—as if he wasn't sitting on Inuyasha right now. His eyes landed on Miroku, and he stood up from his position. He didn't notice the slight gasp that came out of the monk when he approached him.

When Sesshoumaru ordered for Miroku to follow, Miroku turned around to face his friends. "I'll be right back," he said, and spared a glance at Sesshoumaru. Noticing that Sesshoumaru wasn't looking, he looked back at his friends and whispered, "Please pray for my safety."

Sango gave a thumbs up, while Kagome burst out laughing.

Seeing Miroku's leaving form, Kagome focused back onto Inuyasha. Her eyes widened when she saw Inuyasha making his way to Tessaiga. Not knowing what to do, she decided that this was the time where she needed to use the word. Besides, she won't make it to Tessaiga even if she started running now.

"Osuwari!" she shouted, loud enough for the word to reach Inuyasha's ears. When the hanyou was slammed to the ground, Kagome started running to Tessaiga. She watched as Inuyasha pushed himself up. She mentally apologised to the hanyou, and gave another, "Osuwari."

She reached Tessaiga and tossed it to Sango. Sango caught it, and gave Kirara the task to watch over the sword. Now that Tessaiga was beyond Inuyasha's reach, taking care of Inuyasha won't be too hard. Still, Kagome couldn't afford lowering her guard. Inuyasha was under control, and his strength was much more stronger than any of them.

"Oh, so that's what it's for."

Kagome and Sango looked up to find Koukatsu sitting on a cloud. They had no idea that this wasn't the real her, but it didn't matter anyway. They watched as she lowered herself, and got off the cloud.

"So the beads are to subdue him. How interesting..." Koukatsu said, and fingered the beads around Inuyasha's neck. "Do you find it enjoyable?"

"What?" Kagome asked in confusion.

"Do you like slamming him to the ground?" Koukatsu repeated her question, and noticed the wide-eye expression coming from Kagome. "Maybe you don't, but you still use it, right? Which means... you don't have much faith in him," she said, her voice soft as silk. At one point, she was already beside Kagome, her mouth at the miko's ear. She whispered, "If you do trust him, those beads won't be there."

"Hiraikotsu!"

Koukatsu laughed as she leapt back; avoiding herself from getting hit by the flying boomerang.

Kagome stood still, her thoughts swirling around in her mind. Koukatsu was right. If she did trust Inuyasha, those beads would've been taken off from him already. But she still used it—especially in an argument with Inuyasha. But... But...

"But... the beads had saved Inuyasha before," Kagome said, her voice almost inaudible.

"Don't try to defend yourself," Koukatsu said as a sly smile appreared on her lips. "How many times have you saved him with it compared to when you use it to subdue him?"

More times than she could count, that's for sure. She remembered that she saved Inuyasha only once with the beads. The other times...

Sango's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "Don't listen to her, Kagome-chan. She's just trying to make you take off the beads from Inuyasha."

"But—"

Kagome's sentence was cut off when she heard Koukatsu chuckle. "Why would I want her to take the beads off?"

"Because Kagome-chan is the only one who can take them off," Sango said as she narrowed her eyes at Koukatsu. "And when she uses it, it'll stop you from making Inuyasha do things."

"Oh, that can easily be fixed," Koukatsu said, and walked behind Inuyasha. Her slender fingers lightly touched the beads around Inuyasha's neck. She muttered something that was inaudible to Kagome and Sango. Then, she slowly slid her fingers off the beads. "Now, let's see what you got."

Koukatsu pointed her finger to Kagome and Sango; a silent order to Inuyasha to attack his friends. With no hesitation, Inuyasha leaped forward to Sango, who was blocking his path to Kirara. Sango tried her best not to get hit from Inuyasha's claws. While dodging Inuyasha, Sango made eye contact to Kagome as a sign to use the beads, while Inuyasha was getting close with his speed.

Kagome nodded. "Osuwari!"

Her face paled when Inuyasha wasn't slammed to the ground. She heard Koukatsu laugh, but her voice was muffled in her ears; due to her panic.

"Osuwari!"

"It's no use," Koukatsu said, watching the scene in front of her with an amused smile. "I may not be able to completely remove the spell, but I can choose whether to activate it or not. It is a benefit that comes with manipulating others."

Sango let out a cry of pain when Inuyasha landed a kick towards her stomach. She doubled over, while Inuyasha hovered above her. His clouded eyes were locked onto her, before he moved to get Tessaiga from the guarding Kirara. Kirara growled and dodged when Inuyasha swung his claws at her.

"Sango-chan!" Kagome cried and hurried to her fallen friend. "Are you okay?"

Wrapping a hand around her abdomen, she let out a faint smirk. "Gotta admit, his kick packs a punch."

Both, Kagome and Sango were shocked when they suddenly heard Koukatsu shout, "Hanyou, you will come with me!" They turned their heads and found Koukatsu grabbing Inuyasha's wrist, and dragging him to wherever she was going.

Kagome instantly grabbed her arrow, and pulled it against the string of her bow. She filled the arrow with her spiritual powers, and fired it towards Koukatsu. "Oh no you don't."

A/N: This chapter would've been way longer, but if I don't stop it here, I might not be able to finish it in time to update. So I apologise for suddenly cutting it off like that.

- Replies -

roseeyes: Don't worry, all children are safe back at the village haha. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!